An image registration detection system in a multicolor marking platform determines registration of non-black colors using either the reflectance or the density of a test pattern as a measurement parameter. A method is also provided to determine the degree of registration error of each non-black color using the density of the test pattern. The present invention encompasses any marking platform that develops multicolor images in color separation layers that are in superimposed registration with one another, including electrophotographic and ink marking platforms. The apparatus and method disclosed require less measurement precision than prior color registration methods. Registration measurements can be performed on images formed on a photoreceptor, images transferred to an intermediate substrate, images transferred to a target substrate, or images fused to a target substrate. The method disclosed also requires less processing overhead than prior registration methods while providing a more precise method of estimating registration error.

The present invention relates generally to a digital rendering system and, more particularly, to an apparatus and improved method for measuring color registration and determining registration error in a multicolor marking platform.
A digital rendering system renders a digital image, consisting of electronic pixel data, to a human readable version of the image. Digital rendering systems typically include: 1) an input section, sometimes referred to as an image input terminal (xe2x80x9cIITxe2x80x9d) or a digital front end (xe2x80x9cDFExe2x80x9d), 2) a controller, sometimes referred to as an electronic subsystem (xe2x80x9cESSxe2x80x9d) or an image processing system (xe2x80x9cIPSxe2x80x9d), and 3) an output section, sometimes referred to as an image output terminal (xe2x80x9cIOTxe2x80x9d).
The input section either generates or translates one form of image data to digital image data that can be provided to the controller. The input section can be a scanner, individual computer, distributed computer network, electronic storage device, or any device capable of generating or storing the digital image. The controller processes the digital image data to create machine readable image data that is compatible with the output section. The controller also controls operations within the output section. The output section receives machine readable image data from the controller and produces a human readable version of the digital image. The output section can be a display device (e.g., cathode ray tube (xe2x80x9cCRTxe2x80x9d) monitor), marking platform (e.g., copier or printer), electronic storage device, or any device capable of producing a human readable image. For marking platforms, the output section is sometimes referred to as a print or marking engine. Again in reference to marking platforms, the human readable image is created by depositing marking material on a print page. The print page is often a single sheet of white paper, however, numerous other materials are available. Two technologies commonly used in marking platforms are ink marking and toner marking. Ink-jet printers and offset printing presses are common examples of platforms that implement ink marking technology. Marking platforms that use toner marking include electrophotographic printers, copiers, and multifunction peripherals. Toner marking is also known as electrophotographic marking.
Generally, electrophotographic marking employs a charge-retentive, photosensitive surface, known as a photoreceptor. The photoreceptor is a photoconductive region on the surface of a rotating drum or moving belt. The photoconductive region may only have one imaging region or there may be multiple imaging regions, particularly for the belt. The electrophotographic process begins by applying a uniform charge to the photoreceptor. In an imaging and exposing step, a light image representation of a desired output is focused on the photoreceptor and discharges specific areas of the surface to create a latent image. In a developing step, toner particles are applied to the latent image, forming a toner or developed image on the photoreceptor. This toner image is then transferred to a print page. The toner particles are heated to permanently affix the toner image to the print page. Finally, the photoreceptor passes through a cleaning step to prepare it for another electrophotographic cycle.
The electrophotographic marking process outlined above can be used to produce color as well as black and white (monochrome) images. Generally, color images are produced by repeating the electrophotographic process to print two or more different image layers or color image separations in superimposed registration on a single print page. Commonly, full color copying or printing is provided by subtractive combinations of cyan, magenta, and yellow toner. Such color mixing to produce a variety of colors is called process color separation. To produce black, a combination of equal amounts of cyan, magenta and yellow toner layers are mixed, or a fourth black color toner layer may be used as a substitute. To extend the color gamut of the process color output, as in high fidelity copiers or printers, additional colors of toner (e.g., red, green, blue, or a customer-selectable color) may be used in combination with the three or four color separations. Alternatively, where the additional colored toner is not mixed with the process colors, referred to as spot color separation, the additional toner image layer is used to set off certain portions of text or graphics in the composite full color image. Color images can also be produced with two colors, such as black and red, by a highlight color copier or printer. Highlight color copying or printing can use process color separation to produce images similar to halftone or gray-scaled images or spot color separation to produce images with the two colors unmixed.
A multicolor electrophotographic process may be accomplished by either a multiple pass or single pass marking engine. Marking platforms with a multiple pass marking engine require less hardware and are generally easier to implement than systems with a single pass marking engine. However, systems with a single pass marking engine provide much greater throughput.
A multiple pass marking engine uses multiple cycles of the electrophotographic process described above, one cycle for each color separation. During each cycle, a toner image layer for one color separation is formed on the photoreceptor and transferred to an intermediate substrate or to the print page. In the multiple pass architecture described, the composite color image is accumulated on the intermediate substrate or the print page in successive electrophotographic cycles. In the case where the image is accumulated on an intermediate substrate, the composite toner image is transferred to the print page and then fused. In the case where the composite toner image is accumulated on the print page, the composite toner image is fused after the last color separation is transferred. In an alternate multiple pass architecture, the composite color image is accumulated on the photoreceptor in multiple cycles and, after the last toner image layer is developed on the photoreceptor, the composite toner image is transferred and fused on the print page.
A single pass marking engine employs multiple charging, imaging and exposing, and developing devices, one set for each color separation. In the single pass architecture, each color separation device set sequentially applies a toner image layer to the photoreceptor. Within each color separation device set, the electrophotographic steps of charging, imaging and exposing, and developing occur as described above. The composite color image is accumulated on the photoreceptor in a single electrophotographic cycle in the single pass marking engine. The composite color image on the photoreceptor is then transferred and fused to the print page.
Another type of single pass marking engine, often referred to as a tandem architecture, employs multiple photoreceptors in addition to the components of the previously described single pass marking engine. In the tandem architecture, each color separation has a set of charging, imaging and exposing, developing, and photoreceptor devices. Additionally, an intermediate transfer belt in the tandem architecture accumulates the individual toner images in a composite image in a manner not unlike the single photoreceptor in the previously described single pass architecture. Each photoreceptor sequentially transfers a toner image layer to the image area on the intermediate transfer belt. The composite color image is accumulated on the intermediate transfer belt in a single electrophotographic cycle and then transferred and fused to the print page.
While the color imaging techniques described above are discussed primarily in reference to electrophotographic marking, they are also applicable to ink marking and any other type of marking platform that creates a composite multicolor image by combining multiple color separation layers. In multicolor marking platforms that form and transfer individual color separation images in superimposed registration with one another, proper or precise registration of individual color images is usually an important and difficult problem. In order to deliver good quality composite color images, strict specifications are imposed on the accuracy with which a multicolor marking engine superimposes the various color separations. Registration errors, for example, can arise from motion errors of the image receiving members or from alignment errors of individual color separation development members. Techniques for improving registration in marking platforms often involve placement of registration indicia marks on a surface, detection of such marks, assessment of registration conditions, determining the degree of registration error when a misregistration condition exists, and controlling marking platform members to correct for registration errors. Detection systems, both mechanized and human are used to measure color registration and determine registration error in both the process direction and lateral (cross-process) direction.
One common way of improving color registration, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,287,162 and 5,748,221 and incorporated herein by reference, is to use bi-level detectors to measure the diffuse reflectance of a sequence of color registration marks, such as chevron marks. Process and lateral (cross-process) registration errors are determined from timing functions which relate the velocity of the image receiving members to the time centroids of the chevron marks pass by the detectors. This technique requires precise construction and alignment of detectors, precise measurement of diffuse reflectance, precise measurement or precise control of the velocity of image receiving members, and significant processing overhead to perform color registration measurements and determine registration error.
Another common way of improving color registration, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,574,527, 5,839,016, and 5,909,235 and incorporated herein by reference, is to use an optical sensor to measure the diffuse reflectance of either a sequence of color registration marks or a set of multicolor test patches. When color registration is detected using a sequence of color registration marks, process and lateral (cross-process) registration errors are determined based on timing functions much like the chevron marking technology described above. This technique requires precise measurement of diffuse reflectance, precise measurement or precise control of the velocity of image receiving members, and significant processing overhead to perform color registration measurements and determine registration error.
When color registration is detected with the optical sensor using a set of multicolor test patches, at least four, preferably ten, test patches are required for each non-black color to be registered. Each multicolor test patch is comprised of a set of color registration marks on a set of black registration marks in a predetermined registration condition. For each predetermined registration condition, an expected reflectance value and a registration error are known. At least two, preferably five, test patches are grouped to measure process registration. Likewise, at least two, preferably five, test patches are grouped to measure lateral (cross-process) registration. The actual reflectance of each patch is measured and compared to an expected value corresponding to the predetermined registration condition of the patch. Actual registration error in the process direction is estimated by comparing the measured and expected values for the process group of test patches and interpolating between or extrapolating from the known process registration error for the predetermined registration conditions. Actual registration error in the lateral (cross-process) direction is estimated in the same manner using the lateral (cross-process) group of test patches. This technique requires precise measurement of reflectance and significant processing overhead to perform color registration measurements and determine registration error.
Specular and diffuse reflectance are parameters that have been used for some time to control various processes in marking platforms, including toner concentration, developability, discrimination between opaque paper and transparencies, and gloss. However, the reflectance, and the corresponding density, of a test pattern has not will be been used as a parameter for controlling the registration of colors in a multicolor marking platform. Techniques for measurement of color registration and subsequent determination of registration error can be improved over prior techniques by employing an apparatus and method which employs the reflectance or density of multicolor test patterns as a control parameter. A need also exists for streamlining the color registration process by reducing the spatial precision necessary in measuring color registration in a multicolor marking platform and by reducing the processing overhead necessary for determining registration error.
The present invention provides a multicolor marking platform with a color registration measurement system that uses either the reflectance or the density of a test pattern to determine the registration of one or more non-black colors in reference to a black color.
The present invention also provides a method of determining the degree of color registration error of the non-black colors in reference to the black color from the density of the test pattern.
An advantage of the present invention is that it is applicable to any marking platform that develops multicolor images in color separation layers that are in superimposed registration with one another, including but not limited to electrophotographic and ink marking platforms.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it requires less measurement precision than prior color registration methods.
Another advantage of the present invention is that its color registration measurements can be performed on images formed on a photoreceptor, on images assembled on an intermediate substrate, on images transferred to a target substrate, and on images fused to a target substrate.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it requires less processing overhead than prior color registration methods while also providing a more precise method of estimating color registration error.

Method for measuring color registration and determining registration error in marking platform


A multi-function device (MFD) is disclosed. For example, the MFD includes a communication interface to establish a communication path with a network, a user interface to display a plurality of fields associated with different settings of a configuration file of the MFD, a processor, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions. The instructions when executed by the processor cause the processor to detect selection of a field associated with a setting of the configuration file, establish a connection with at least one networked MFD on the network, query the at least one networked MFD for a value used in the field associated with the setting of the configuration file that is selected, receive the value from the at least one networked MFD, and populate the field with the value.

Multi-function devices (MFDs) are devices that can perform a variety of different functions. The MFDs can print, scan, copy, fax, email documents, and the like. The MFDs can provide a variety of different options to perform the various job requests, such as different colors, different paper sizes, changing a print quality, changing a size of the image and/or text to be printed, stapling, collating, providing different email addresses, selecting which network storage service to send the scanned document to, and the like.
Thus, MFDs are complex devices that may involve many different configuration settings to operate properly. The configuration settings may determine how the MFD communicates over a particular communication network, how the MFD communicates with other endpoint devices, how the software presents a graphical user interface, and the like.

Multi-function devices to populate parameters for configuration files via communication with networked multi-function devices


Method and System for implementing a Finite State Machine (FSM) using software executed on a processor and having accurate timing information is described, where the accurate timing information is determined without the need to execute the software. An exemplary embodiment includes an IC having an embedded processor and a programmable logic fabric, where part or all of an FSM is implemented using assembly language code stored in a memory, for example, a cache memory, of the embedded processor.

Integrated circuits (ICs) having programmable logic, for example, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), are popular hardware devices for quickly implementing circuit designs. An FPGA typically includes an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) surrounded by a ring of programmable input/output blocks (IOBs). The CLBs and IOBs are interconnected by a programmable interconnect structure. The CLBs, IOBs, and interconnect structure are typically programmed by loading a stream of configuration data into internal configuration memory cells that define how the CLBs, IOBs, and interconnect structure are configured. The configuration data may be read from an external memory, conventionally an external integrated circuit memory EEPROM, EPROM, PROM, and the like.
In order to improve the usefulness of the FPGA, a processor core, such as the PowerPC® processor of IBM Corp. of Armonk, N.Y., was embedded in an FPGA, for example, the Virtex-II™ Pro FPGA from Xilinx, Inc. of San Jose, Calif.
FIG. 1 illustrates a generic prior art diagram of an FPGA having an embedded processor. The FPGA 10 includes a programmable logic fabric 14 having the CLBs and interconnect structure, and an I/O ring 16 having the IOBs. The IOBs are fabricated on a substrate supporting the FPGA 10 and are coupled to the pins of the integrated circuit, allowing users access to the programmable logic fabric 14 and the processor core 12. The processor core 12, includes a central processing unit (CPU) 8 connected to one or more cache memories 9.
FIG. 2 is conventional bus architecture for an FPGA 10 having the processor core 12. An example is IBM's CoreConnect™ Bus Architecture. Most of the components and buses shown in FIG. 2 are implemented in the programmable logic fabric 14 of FIG. 1. The processor core 12 communicates with the On-Chip Memory (OCM) 110, via an On-Chip Memory (OCM) bus 112. The OCM 110 includes one or more of the FPGA's Block Random Access Memory (BRAM) modules (not shown). There are three major buses, i.e., bus 114, bus 115, and bus 116 that allow processor core 12 to communicate with other components or devices. A bus may have a bus arbiter, which controls access to the bus, e.g., PLB ARB 122 for bus 114 and OPB ARB 127 for bus 116.
Bus 114, also called a processor local bus (PLB) 114, connects processor core 12 to high-speed devices/components 120. These high-speed devices/components 120 could include memory, FSMS, and other high performance peripherals. A device/component that takes control of PLB 114 to handle its own transfer is called a "master", whereas a device/component that receives commands from the master to send data is called a "slave".
Bus 116, also called an on-chip peripheral bus (OPB) 116, provides processor core 12 access to low speed devices/components 125. These low speed devices/components 125 could include UARTs and Ethernet connections. Note that low speed devices/components 125, like high speed devices/components 120, can include both masters and slaves. However, to prevent these low speed devices/components 125 from affecting the performance of processor core 12, OPB 116 is not connected directly to processor core 12. Instead, OPB 116 is coupled to PLB 114 via an OPB bridge 118. OPB bridge 118 can automatically convert data formats and protocols, thereby facilitating the transfer of information between OPB 116 and PLB 122.
Bus 115, also called a Device Control Register (DCR) bus 115, allows the processor core 12 relatively low speed communications in order to manage status and configuration registers, e.g., Device Control Registers, on the other devices/components. DCR bus 115 connects, via a daisy chain arrangement, the processor core 12 (master) to the OCM 110 (slave), high-speed devices/components 120 (slaves), and low-speed devices/components 125 (slaves).
A conventional component implemented in an FPGA without an embedded processor is an FSM. Particular FSMs may contain a large number of states, and may involve much computation to determine the next state and the state outputs based on varying inputs. However, these FSMs may actually have relatively relaxed timing constraints compared to the rest of the system, e.g., the other components implemented in the programmable logic fabric, which suggests that the FSM may be implemented in software rather than in hardware. Hence for an FPGA with an embedded processor, having the processor implement part or all of the FSM would free up the associated programmable logic fabric resources.
An example of implementing an FSM in hardware and software is the Berkeley POLIS system. POLIS is a complete co-design solution, which uses the co-design finite state machine (CFSM) as the central representation of the required system behavior. The single CFSM can be partitioned into multiple software or hardware sub-networks. A hardware CFSM sub-network is constructed using standard logic synthesis techniques, and can execute a transition in a single clock cycle.
A software CFSM sub-network is transformed into a software program and a simple custom real time operating system. The program is generated from a control/data flow graph, and is coded in C. In order to get accurate timing information, such as the time duration for each state and each state transition, the C code must be instrumented and the code executed on the processor. The instrumented version counts the actual processor cycles used, hence giving an accurate way of extracting timing information.
The interfaces between the hardware and software sub-networks are automatically synthesized in POLIS and come in the form of cooperating circuits and software procedures (I/O drivers) embedded in the synthesized implementation. Communication to the I/O drivers can be through specific I/O ports available on the processor, or via general memory mapped I/O.
One of the significant disadvantages of the CFSM approach is that the code must be instrumented (each line of C code has appended to it instructions to count clock cycles associated with executing the line of code), and the code must actually be executed before accurate timing data is known. It would be much more efficient if timing data could be determined from an examination of the code, before execution of the code.
Another disadvantage of the CFSM approach is that, although the CFSM at the top level has a uniform view of the FSM, at the lower implementation level, a hardware FSM looks significantly different than a software FSM. Hence the interface between the software part of and the hardware part of a single FSM and generally, the interface between a software FSM and the hardware components, for example, the hardware implemented in an FPGA, is relatively complicated. It would be desirable, if the interface between the hardware logic circuitry and the processor consume minimal resources and be designed to shield the hardware logic circuitry from the processor and vice versa.
Accordingly, there is a need for better techniques to design and implement an FSM using software executed on a processor and having accurate timing information.

Using an embedded processor to implement a finite state machine


A method for hosting one or more versions of a service using a service proxy includes specifying an interface definition of a service which defines and uniquely identifies an interface version for the service, and an implementation definition of the service which uniquely identifies an implementation version for the service; generating one or more service proxies each representing an interface version of a service; providing a proxy configuration that contains entries for a plurality of service implementation versions, wherein each proxy utilizes the proxy configuration to access a certain one or more of the implementation versions which share the same or a compatible interface version of a service, and wherein the proxy configuration contains attributes that include information about each of the implementation versions; and wherein the proxy dynamically selects one of the implementation versions in the proxy configuration to route one or more client service requests to based on the attributes.

The present invention relates generally to Web services and, more particularly, to a system and method for hosting one or more versions of a service using a service proxy.
Web services have become important building blocks of distributed applications due to the growing adoption of service-oriented computing. As a result, Web services have matured to the point where service lifecycle issues such as managing multiple versions of services have become inevitable as well as challenging. As such, the solutions to these issues have become paramount. Service version management is no exception. Versioning of Web services is challenging, because it inevitably affects each part of the service lifecycle. In particular, managing the transition between service versions is difficult in a distributed environment without explicit version support. In approaching this problem, one is faced with the fact that versioning in a distributed environment such as the Web is ultimately an end-to-end issue touching all aspects of the service lifecycle.
This lack of versioning support in relevant standards and tools has meant that developers have been forced to address this problem in an ad hoc manner with approaches that have limited the flexibility of both service providers and service consumers to accommodate change. The Web services model of once published/always published and the expectation of continuous availability of services make dealing with version changes especially difficult not only for service providers but also for service consumers and service developers.
A commonly-used solution for versioning a Web service is to create an entirely new Web service with a new Web services description language (WSDL) file and new namespaces. This is less than ideal, as it requires the re-building of client applications. Also, there is no meta-data to capture the changes and the relationship among different versions. The OASIS WSDM-MOWS 1.0 draft specification states that a Web service's description, interface, service, and endpoint can be separately versioned and defined in their own individual namespaces. This is an approach to describe the changes in detail, but does not address how to manage these separate versions in the deployment cycles. Other approaches focus on the data models and subscription and notification mechanisms for the service registry, and they also deal with the issues for the service consumer of how to discover and subscribe to a version of a service. Still other approaches introduce some application program interfaces (APIs) for generating a dynamic proxy for the service consumer so that the Web service client application does not need to be re-built every time the target service changes, although this approach does not address the needs of the service provider. Thus, the current approaches focus on controlling versions in the service registry and the service consumer.
What is needed is a system and method for solving the versioned service problem in such a way that is transparent to the existing service-client programming model (e.g., insulates service consumers from minor version changes), supports continuous service availability, allows for concurrent deployment and utilization of multiple versions, and gives services providers the flexibility to manage version transition decisions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for hosting one or more versions of a service using a service proxy

International Business Machines Corporation


Operating speed of an image recording apparatus is optimized within the range in which throughput capacity is not decreased, and exposure processing can be performed so that uneven exposure is not generated in a photosensitive material. When operation causing the photosensitive material to be in a nip state or a nip released state is performed during scanning exposure of the photosensitive material with a light beam, assuming that a maximum value of ascent/descent speed is set to W when each roller comes into contact with the photosensitive material or separates from the photosensitive material, an exposure angle is set to θ, and exposure feeding linear speed is set to V, a drive controlling section sets the ascent/descent speed W to a value determined from an equation of W=V×0.004/tan θ and performs moving action.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus which exposes a photosensitive material to for an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital photo printer becomes commercially practical as a printing device utilizing a digital exposure technology. In the digital photo printer, the image recorded in a film is photoelectrically read, the read image is converted into a digital signal, various kinds of image processings are performed to obtain image data for recording, scanning exposure is performed to a photographic paper with a recording light beam modulated according to the image data to record the image (latent image), and development processing is performed to the latent image to output a print (photograph).
Basically the digital photo printer includes an input machine having a scanner (image reading device) and an image processing device and an output machine having the printing device (image recording apparatus) and a developing device.
In the scanner, projection light of the image taken in the film is photoelectrically read by an image sensor such as CCD and transmitted in the form of the image data (image data signal) of the film to the image processing device. In the image processing device, the predetermined image processing is performed to the image data and transmitted in the form of output image data for image recording (exposure condition) to the printing device.
With reference to the printing device, for example, in the case where the printing device is one which utilizes the light beam scanning exposure, the scanning exposure is performed to the photographic paper with the light beam to form the latent image in such a manner that the photographic paper is scanned and fed in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to a main scanning direction while the light beam modulated according to the supplied image data is deflected in the main scanning direction. On the occasion, the back print is recorded on the back side of photographic paper, and it is sent to the developing device.
In the developing device, the predetermined development processing and the like are performed to the exposed photographic paper to make the print in which the image taken in the film is reproduced.
In the image recording apparatus, after a long sheet of the photographic paper wound in a roll shape is cut in a predetermined length to form one sheet-like photographic paper, the image recording is continuously performed in such a manner that the main scanning of the photographic paper is performed with the light beam while the photographic paper is fed in the sub-scanning direction.
In the image recording apparatus, two pairs of feeding rollers are provided on an upstream side and a downstream-side in a feeding direction while sandwiching an exposure position. During the image recording, the two pairs of feeding rollers feed the photographic paper while maintaining planarity of the photographic paper by nipping the photographic paper.
In the image recording apparatus, in order to secure the planarity of the photographic paper at the exposure position, it is desirable that the pairs of feeding rollers, which are arranged in immediately before and immediately after the exposure position, are approximated to the exposure position as much as possible. However, there is a limitation of the approximation to the exposure position due to a size of roller diameter of the pair of feeding rollers and the arrangement and structure of a driving system for driving the pair of rollers.
Accordingly, in the image recording apparatus, there is a possibility that uneven exposure is generated, because a front end of the photographic paper becomes free and the photographic paper is curled after the front end of the photographic paper passes through the pair of feeding rollers located on the upstream side of the exposure position in the feeding direction until the front end of the photographic paper reaches the pair of feeding rollers located on the downstream side of the exposure position in the feeding direction.
Therefore, in the conventional image recording apparatus, as illustrated in FIG. 13, a sheet-like photographic paper A is nipped by a pair of feeding rollers 100 on the upstream side in the feeding direction and a pair of feeding rollers 102 on the downstream side, which are located across an exposure position P, thereby the photographic paper is accurately fed. Further, while a flatter guide 104 supports a back surface of the photographic paper A in the vicinity of the exposure position P, a pressing roller 106 provided between the pair of feeding rollers 100 and the exposure position P abuts on an emulsion surface of the photographic paper A. As a result, the photographic paper A is prevented from rising, and the image recording is performed well.
In the conventional image recording apparatus, in the case where the photographic paper A having a predetermined thickness enters the position between the pair of feeding rollers 100 on the upstream side in the feeding direction, between the pair of feeding rollers 102 on the downstream side in the feeding direction, or between the flatter guide 104 and the pressing roller 106 and in the case where the photographic paper leaves the position between the pair of feeding rollers 100 on the upstream side in the feeding direction, between the pair of feeding rollers 102 on the downstream side in the feeding direction, or between the flatter guide 104 and the pressing roller 106, sometimes the uneven exposure (uneven print density) is generated due to a fluctuation in load which is caused by shock, vibration, position shift, or the like.
Therefore, there has been proposed an image recording apparatus in which, in order to prevent the uneven exposure (uneven print density) generated by the fluctuation in load which is caused by the shock, when the photographic paper A enters and leaves the pair of feeding rollers 100, the pair of feeding rollers 102, or the pressing roller 106, while movable nipping rollers constituting the pairs of feeding rollers 100 and 102 are retracted from fixed rollers of the pairs of feeding rollers 100 and 102, the pressing roller 106 is separated from the flatter guide 104 to prevent from generating the shock (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-206638).
In the image recording apparatus described in JP-A No. 2000-206638, when the photographic paper A enters and leaves the pair of feeding rollers 100, the pair of feeding rollers 102, or the pressing roller 106, even if the pressing roller 106 is separated from the flatter guide 104 while the movable nipping rollers are retracted from the fixed rollers, in the case where clearance (separation distance) is small in the separating action, the end portion of the curled photographic paper A collides with the roller to generate the fluctuation in load. As a result, there is a possibility that the high-quality print can not be obtained because the uneven exposure is generated.
In the image recording apparatus described above, when the photographic paper A is placed on the fixed roller, the movable nipping roller is pressed against the photographic paper A to nip the photographic paper A, or the movable nipping roller is separated from the photographic paper A. When the photographic paper A is placed on the flatter guide 104, the pressing roller 106 is pressed against the photographic paper A to nip the photographic paper A, or the pressing roller 106 is separated from the photographic paper A.
In the image recording apparatus described above, when action speed is too fast in pressing the movable nipping roller against the photographic paper A or in separating the movable nipping roller from the photographic paper A, or when the action speed is too fast in pressing the pressing roller 106 against the photographic paper A or in separating the pressing roller 106 from the photographic paper A, there is a possibility that the uneven exposure (uneven print density) is generated by the fluctuation in load. Further, in the image recording apparatus described above, when the action speed becomes slow in pressing the movable nipping roller or the pressing roller 106 against the photographic paper A or in separating the movable nipping roller or the pressing roller 106 from the photographic paper A, there is a problem that exposure processing speed is decreased to decrease the throughput capacity.


Embodiments of methods and systems for optimizing operation of a wind farm are presented. The method includes receiving new values corresponding to at least some wake parameters for wind turbines in the wind farm. The method further includes identifying new sets of interacting wind turbines from the wind turbines based on the new values. Additionally, the method includes developing a farm-level predictive wake model for the new sets of interacting wind turbines based on the new values and historical wake models determined using historical values of the wake parameters corresponding to reference sets of interacting wind turbines in the wind farm. Furthermore, the method includes adjusting one or more control settings for at least the new sets of interacting wind turbines based on the farm-level predictive wake model.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wind turbines, and more particularly to methods and systems for optimizing operation of a wind farm.
Renewable energy resources are increasingly employed as cleaner and cost-efficient alternatives to fossil fuels for supplying global energy requirements. Wind energy, in particular, has emerged as one of the most favored renewable energy resources on account of being plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, and clean. Generally, wind energy may be harnessed by wind turbines that are designed to produce electrical energy in response to a wide spectrum of wind speeds. These wind turbines are typically located in a wind farm spread across a specific geographical region such that the wind passing over the region causes the blades associated with the wind turbines to rotate. Each of the rotating blades, in turn, causes a rotor of an associated generator to turn, which aids in generating electrical power.
Traditionally, wind farms are controlled in a decentralized fashion to generate power such that each turbine is operated to maximize local power output and to minimize impacts of local fatigue and extreme loads. However, in practice, such independent optimization of the wind turbines ignores farm-level performance goals, thereby leading to sub-optimal performance at the wind farm-level. For example, independent optimization of the wind turbines may not account for aerodynamic interactions such as wake effects between neighboring turbines within the wind farm that may affect a farm-level power output.
Typically, wake effects include a reduction in wind speed and increased wind turbulence at a downstream wind turbine due to a conventional operation of an upstream wind turbine. The reduced wind speed causes a proportional reduction in a power output of the downstream wind turbine. Moreover, the increased turbulence increases the fatigue loads placed on the downstream wind turbine. Several studies have reported a loss of more than 10% in the annual energy production (AEP) of the wind farm owing to the wake effects between neighboring independently optimized wind turbines within the wind farm.
Accordingly, some currently available approaches attempt to optimize power generation at the wind farm-level by mitigating an impact of the wake effects through a coordinated control of the wind turbines in the wind farm. Typically, mitigating the wake effects involves accurately modeling the wake effects experienced at different wind turbines in the wind farm. For example, empirical or semi-empirical thrust-based, and/or high fidelity physics-based models may be used to model the wake effects between the aerodynamically interacting wind turbines in the wind farm.
Conventionally, the empirical or semi-empirical models (engineering wake models) are generated based on field-experiment data and/or historical wind information. Accordingly, these models may be used to design the layouts of wind farms so as to optimize one or more performance goals before installation of the wind turbines. Alternatively, these models may be used to optimize performance of the wind farm subsequent to the installation.
One optimization approach, for example, employs the engineering wake models to determine control settings for the wind turbines. Particularly, the engineering wake models determine the control settings so as to operate upstream turbines at lower efficiencies, which in turn, allows for greater energy recovery at the downstream turbines. Another approach uses the engineering wake models for adjusting a yaw alignment of the upstream turbines relative to an incoming wind direction to steer the resulting wake effects away from the downstream turbines.
However, the conventional engineering models do not account for prevailing wind inflow and other ambient conditions such as atmospheric boundary layer stability and longitudinal turbulence intensity. As the ambient conditions over the wind farm tend to change frequently, the wake models estimated using the engineering wake models may be inaccurate for use during real-time implementation. Inaccurate modeling of the wake conditions, in turn, may result in use of incorrect control settings for the wind turbines in the wind farm. Thus, the conventional optimization approaches using the engineering wake models usually provide only a marginal improvement in the farm-level performance output.
Accordingly, hi-fidelity wake models, for example, based on computational fluid dynamics modeling have been explored to provide greater accuracy in modeling wake interactions. The hi-fidelity models entail measurement and analysis of a wide variety of parameters that necessitate additional instrumentation, complex computations, and associated costs. The cost and complexity associated with the hi-fidelity models, therefore, may preclude wider use of these models in every turbine in the wind farm and/or for real time optimization of wind farm operations.

Systems and methods for optimizing operation of a wind farm


When the frequency bandwidth of a high frequency signal to be amplified is changed, the linearity of a high frequency module deteriorates. A high frequency module has an amplifier circuit including an amplification transistor and a variable impedance circuit, and an output matching network. Based on an amplifying operation, the amplified high frequency signal will contain unwanted signals of secondary distortion components. In a frequency band that generates such unwanted signals of secondary distortion components, the output impedance of the amplifier circuit is changed so that the impedance will not match between the amplifier circuit and the output matching network. The output impedance of the amplifier circuit is changed by controlling the variable impedance circuit.

The present invention relates to a high frequency module, and particularly relates to technology that can be effectively applied to a high frequency module, which transmits high frequency signals, for use in a portable terminal.
Patent Publication JP-A-2009-165100 (Patent Document 1) discloses an amplifier circuit capable of reducing high frequency components and maintaining linearity by forming a low-pass filter with a passive device at the bias portion of an amplification transistor and thereby adjusting the impedance.
Patent Document 1: Patent Publication JP-A-2009-165100

High frequency module and portable terminal using same


The present invention relates generally to automatic vehicle navigational systems, and more particularly, to an automatic vehicle routing and recommendation system. Even more particularly, the present invention is directed to a system for choosing one of a plurality of potential vehicles in a fleet for routing the fleet vehicle over the shortest distance and/or time from a current location to a target point such as a fire or a passenger for a taxicab.

The present invention relates generally to automatic vehicle navigational systems, and more particularly, to an automatic vehicle routing and recommendation system. Even more particularly, the present invention is directed to a system for choosing one of a plurality of potential vehicles in a fleet for routing the fleet vehicle over the shortest distance and/or time from a current location to a target point such as a fire or a passenger for a taxicab.
Systems exist for routing a vehicle, such as a taxicab or a fire truck, from a current location to a target location. However, such systems have the drawback that even with today""s high speed computers, the systems are unable to route or recommend, in real time, which of a plurality of vehicles would be able to reach the target location first.
For example, there is a large effort called the Military Tracking System (MTS) for the logistical support of 40,000 vehicles. The 40,000 vehicles are tracked using known GPS technology. Many of these 40,000 vehicles are constantly moving and their locations are constantly dynamically changing. Potentially, there could be 40,000 changing positions per second.
This problem is due to the fact that this can be a mathematically difficult problem to solve. For example, if there are 40,000 vehicles moving around within a street set network having 100,000 segments that pose for a classical operations research optimization, a linear optimization problem. A matrix would be created having 100,000 street segments which would be a 100,000 by 100,000 matrix. Even though the matrix may be sparsely populated, it would be impossible to calculate which of the 40,000 vehicles could reach the target location in real time.
Classically, the matrix would have to be built and the matrix would be inverted. A lot of work goes into how the matrix is created and how to make the matrix efficient and how to do the matrix inversion efficiently.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a system and method for recommending a route for one of a plurality of vehicles to a target location which is determinable in real time.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an algorithm which can be solved in real time for providing a recommendation and routing of one of a plurality of vehicles to a target location in the shortest time/distance.
It is a further object of the present invention to eliminate most of the mathematical processing needed to solve an algorithm for recommending and routing a vehicle to a target location where the vehicle is chosen from a plurality of vehicles in a fleet.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of recommending which of a plurality of vehicles should be routed from a present location to a target location on a tessellated map plane. The tessellated map plane overlays a street network and are divided into a plurality of tessellations. A plurality of dynamically changing vehicle locations representing a location of a vehicle are continuously stored with each of the vehicle locations being a present location and being within one of the plurality of tessellations. For each of the plurality of vehicles, a next tessellation is determined adjacent the tessellation within which the vehicle is located. If the second location is not located within the next tessellation, a further tessellation is determined until a tessellation is determined including the target location. One of the plurality of vehicles is selected which would travel the shortest distance from the present location to the target location.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description thereof are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

Automatic vehicle routing and recommendation system


An organic light emitting diode display includes: a substrate including a first and a second gate electrode formed over a first and a second region, respectively, a first and a second gate insulator formed on the first and the second gate electrode, respectively, a first and a second semiconductor layer formed on the first and the second gate insulator, respectively, the first semiconductor layer including a first channel region, the second semiconductor layer including a second channel region, an interlayer insulator formed over the substrate and over at least part of the first and second semiconductor layers, a first and a second etching stop layer formed over the first and second channel regions, respectively, and surrounded by the interlayer insulator, and a first and a second source electrode and a first and a second drain electrode contacting the first and the second semiconductor layer, respectively, through the interlayer insulator.

Field
The described technology relates generally to an organic light emitting diode display capable of excluding a heat treatment process for minimizing deformation such as the shrinkage of a substrate, or the like.
Description of the Related Technology
In general, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) is a diode that electrically excites an organic compound, which emits light. Organic light emitting diodes are classified into a passive matrix type and an active matrix type, depending on a driving method of a matrix of N×M pixels. The active matrix type organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) generally has lower power consumption than the passive matrix type. The AMOLED may be more suitable to implement a large dimension, and generally has higher resolution.
Organic light emitting diodes may also be classified into a bottom emission type and a top emission type, depending on an emission method. In a bottom emission type, light emitted from an emission layer is typically emitted to the outside through a thin film transistor display panel, and in a top emission type, light emitted from the emission layer is typically emitted to the outside through a common electrode. In a top emission type, the aperture ratio is generally not influenced by signal lines and a thin film transistor.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


The invention relates to a method of monitoring the welding operation in a stud welding process, wherein a part (19) to be welded is immersed into the melt by moving the part (5) towards a workpiece (17), with a physical quantity depending on the force required for moving the part (5) being measured at least during the phase of immersion of the part (19) to be welded into the melt and the measured gradient of the physical quantity plotted against time being compared with a predetermined set gradient. Furthermore, the invention relates to a stud welding device for carrying out such a method.

The invention relates to a method of monitoring the welding operation in a stud welding process and a device for carrying out the method.
When carrying out a stud welding process, in order to obtain the best possible welding quality, it is necessary to observe the set values of relevant welding parameters with corresponding accuracy. In the stroke ignition method and in similar methods which the present invention relates to, the parameters welding current, welding time, length of projection, stroke or lifting-off distance when drawing the arc, and dampening during immersion in particular are decisive for the quality of the welding connection between the stud and the workpiece.
Measuring and monitoring the electric parameters, namely, the welding current and the welding voltage, has been known and commonly applied for quite a long time, but particularly in case of the stroke ignition method, observing the mechanical parameters such as the length of projection, the lifting-off distance and immersion dampening, has only been made possible by pre-adjusting these parameters in the stud welding device or the corresponding welding head.
What is disadvantageous here, however, is that the movement of the stud of known stud welding devices inserted into the welding head is not monitored and thus deviations of the movements from predetermined set values are not detected. This means that a negative influence on the welding quality resulting from the fact that a predetermined length of projection or lifting-off distance was not observed, or deviations from the set value of dampening during immersion are not detected.
In order to solve this problem in the tip ignition welding process, the German patent DE 41 24 511 C1 proposes that the actual value of the immersing speed of the welding stud into the welding pool that is created at the point of welding of the workpiece be measured and compared with a set value for the speed obtained empirically. Deviations of the actual value from the set value which are outside a predetermined range of tolerances then show the insufficient quality of the welding connection that has been completed. As the immersing speed is the decisive parameter for the welding quality in the tip ignition welding process, the document DE 41 24 511 C1 proposes that this value be determined by measuring the time which the welding stud requires in order to cover a short distance Δs immediately before it is immersed into the melted mass of the workpiece.
In the stroke ignition welding process, however, the quality of a welding connection does not only depend on the immersing speed, but also on the dampening during immersion, which means that what is decisive is the time gradient of the movement of the stud or the time gradient of the stud speed from the point of time when it is immersed into the melt. Furthermore, it is desirable to monitor the observance of the predetermined parameters "length of projection" and "lifting-off distance", because they have an influence on both the stud speed during the phase when it is immersed into the melt and on the behaviour of the electric arc.
From the documents DE 39 29 669 A1 and DE 43 07 325 A1, stud welding devices are known, respectively, whose aim it is to effect a movement of the moving part assembly (which comprises all moving parts that cooperate to perform the actual welding movement such as the stud holding device, the charging head, the feed cylinder, the feed piston, etc.) or of the stud holding device as exactly as possible and in line with a predetermined course. For this purpose, in the device according to DE 39 29 669 A1, a control magnet is connected with a path measuring device and an electronic control in order to thereby determine the actual value of the regulating distance of the armature of the control magnet, to compare it with a set value and to effect control of the movement of the armature with which the moving part assembly is connected. In the device according to the document DE 43 07 325 A1, the moving part assembly or the stud holding device of the welding gun is moved with the aid of a lifting magnet which acts as a controlled brake so that no additional damping units or devices are required. What is disadvantageous in these devices, however, is that insufficient welding quality of completed welds is not recognizable if—for whatever reasons—the course of welding deviates from an ideal or predetermined course.
For this reason, in the document DE 43 14 528 C2, it is proposed to continuously measure the time gradient of the movement of the stud towards the workpiece, at least during the entire phase of movement when the stud is immersed into the melt of the workpiece. Hereby, deviations of the measured course of movement or of the time gradient of the speed of movement determined therefrom from a predetermined set value for the course or the gradient can be detected.
In spite of this well-tried method, in practice, there was an increased demand for more exact and more detailed information about the quality of a weld, particularly in case of aluminium welding.

Method for monitoring a welding process during the welding of studs and device for carrying out said method

Nelson Bolzenschweiss—Technik GmbH & Co. KG


The present invention provides a pressure reducing valve having excellent responsiveness, durability, and reliability and stable output characteristics. A pressure reducing valve includes a housing, and the housing includes a valve passage connected to a primary port and a secondary port. A valve element is provided in the housing. The valve element can adjust an opening degree of the valve passage by moving between a closed position where the valve element closes the valve passage and an open position where the valve element opens the valve passage. The valve element is pressed toward the closed position by secondary pressure. A spring member is provided to bias the valve element toward the open position against the secondary pressure. Further, a rolling bearing is provided on the valve element, and the valve element is movably supported by the rolling bearing.

A device configured to use a gas, such as a compressed natural gas or a hydrogen gas, is supplied with a fuel gas from a gas supply source of high pressure in light of the conveyance efficiency and the amount of storage, reduces the pressure of the supplied fuel gas up to working pressure or pressure equal to or lower than withstand pressure, and uses the obtained fuel gas. Therefore, a pressure reducing valve configured to reduce the pressure of the gas to the working pressure or the like is provided between the gas supply source and the device. One example of the pressure reducing valve is a pressure reducing valve described in PTL 1.
The pressure reducing valve described in PTL 1 includes a main body. An opening is formed in the main body, and a valve element is provided in the main body. The valve element is slidably supported by the main body and can perform a reciprocating movement between a closed position where the valve element closes the opening and an open position where the valve element opens the opening. The valve element receives secondary pressure toward the closed position, is biased by a spring toward the open position, and is located at a position where the acting force of the secondary pressure and the biasing force of the spring balance. On this account, the reduced secondary pressure is maintained at substantially constant set pressure corresponding to the biasing force of the spring.


A system and method is provided for identifying the source of an unauthorized copy of content. The method includes embedding a unique user fingerprint code to into each of a plurality of authorized copies of content and identifying an unknown fingerprint code in an unauthorized copy of the content. Each member of the unknown fingerprint code is compared to each corresponding member in each of the user fingerprint codes. A score is assigned to each of the user fingerprint codes based on the comparison and users associated with scores exceeding a threshold are identified as a source of the unauthorized copy.

There is an increasing use of global distribution systems such as the Internet for distribution of digital assets including music, film, computer programs, photographs, games and other content. There is also a concurrent increase in the unauthorized copying, or pirating, of digital content causing considerable economic losses to content providers. Effective countermeasures are important to the viability of businesses engaged in the distribution of digital media.
Many types of countermeasures have been developed to prevent or deter the creation and distribution of unauthorized copies of digital media. Some countermeasures, such as encryption, are directed at preventing pirating in the first place, while others try to locate the source of the unauthorized copies. For example, technologies such as digital watermarking and traitor tracing are directed to finding the sources of unauthorized copies. Digital watermarking involves the addition of a unique mark on each copy of distributed digital content. If an unauthorized copy of the watermarked content is found the watermark may be used to identify the pirate.
In general, a digital watermark may be a pseudo-noise pattern representing the identity of the user, which is superimposed on the content to be distributed. Later, when an unauthorized copy is found, the presence of a particular watermark pattern should reveal the identity of the traitor who has compromised the content. A pirate, knowing the existence of the watermark, may attempt to erase the watermark from a copy before distributing illegal copies. To prevent the erasure of watermarks, content providers may distribute the digits of the watermark into locations in the content that are unknown to the user and which are not needed for the intended use of the content. Without knowledge of the location of the watermarks, attempts to erase the watermark may result in the altering of non-watermark bits and possibly rendering the content unusable.
One way that pirates attempt to remove digital watermarks that are located in unknown locations is by colluding attacks, where multiple watermarked copies of content are compared to find locations where they differ. The pirates may then assume that the watermark is located in these positions and erase or replace the bits in these positions. If successful, the result may be the generation of an unauthorized copy that is still usable because the bits needed to operate the content have not been altered, but which no longer contain a meaningful watermark that can be used to find the source of the unauthorized copy. Once such an unauthorized copy of unwatermarked content is made available, virtually unlimited copies may be distributed resulting in serious economic harm to the content owner and distributors.
The design of effective watermarking systems requires a proper balance between a number of factors, including the imperceptibility of the watermark to the user so that the content is not degraded, the ability of the watermark to maintain its integrity under various noise and distortion conditions, the security of the watermark against manipulation or erasure, computational costs in the watermark embedding and extraction process, and the probability of errors. Errors may include false accusations that a legitimate user is a pirate or the inability to detect a colluding attacker.
Given the ability of pirates to use collusion attacks to remove digital watermarks, various methods and systems have been proposed and developed to create digital watermarks that are difficult to alter. Also, methods and systems have been proposed and developed to analyze altered watermarks found in unauthorized copies to detect at least one of the sources. One such technique for digital watermarking has been proposed by Gabor Tardos in "Optimal Probabilistic Fingerprint Codes" in Proceedings of the Symposium on the Theory of Computing (STOC) '03, pages 116-125, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In this reference (hereinafter referred to as "Tardos"), a digital watermark called a "fingerprint code" is proposed, where individual users are given equivalent copies of content that have slight variations assigned according to a fingerprint code. If a pirate copy of the content is later obtained, it should be possible to detect at least one of the users who leaked the pirate copy, even if multiple users have colluded to construct a pirate copy by mixing the different variations that they have.
The Tardos fingerprint code technique assumes that when a group of colluding attackers analyze multiple copies of the same content and find only a single symbol at a given position in the code, then the attacker will insert that symbol in the code. However, if the attackers observe more than one symbol at a given position in the different copies of the content, they might insert any symbol, including an unreadable symbol, or a symbol they have not seen in the copies. These assumptions are applicable for content protection of things like text documents and software where it is very difficult for the attackers to guess the precise points of variation. In such content once a particular point of variation is identified, it is easy for the attacker guess what all the variations might be. Because attackers have this capability, a binary code is the most reasonable fingerprint code to use for text documents and software.
The fingerprint code as disclosed in Tardos has a length that is proportional to the square of the number of colluding attackers that could be detected. This was a significant improvement over the previous state of the art. Reducing code length is important because longer code lengths impose greater computational and memory burden on systems processing the content. Also, a larger code length may increase the perceptibility of the code and may degrade the quality of the content to the user.
In contrast, there is another set of assumptions that leads to a different type of code, called a "tracing traitors" code. In a tracing traitors code, the attackers are assumed to only be able to generate a symbol they have seen among the copies. This is a reasonable assumption for content like movies and audio, where the variations might be multiple seconds long. One example of a tracing traitors code is used in the Advanced Access Content System used on DVDs. However, fingerprint codes, such as the Tardos fingerprint code, may also be useful with movies if the variations are very small, such as the case where the individual pixels are the points of variation. Another example is the tracing technology defined by the Self-Protecting Digital Content (SPDC) system of Cryptographic Research Incorporated, which implies a fingerprint code.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for reducing the pirating of digital content by determining the source of unlawful copies. There is also a need for such systems and methods which have reduced fingerprint code length, so that they do no impose undue memory and computational costs, do not degrade the quality of the content and do not increase the perceptibility of the code to the user. In addition, there is a need for such systems and methods which have fingerprint codes which maintain their integrity under various noise and distortion conditions, are secure against manipulation or erasure, and which have a low probability of error.

System and method for tracing tardos fingerprint codes


The specification discloses an apparatus for assessing the ingress of air into a steam system which includes a steam condenser having an exit, a vacuum pump arrangement for maintaining the exit under a partial vacuum, and pipework connecting the exit to the vacuum pump arrangement. A pitot probe is positioned at a first monitoring point in the pipework to sense the total dynamic and static pressure of the entire flow in that pipework. A second probe is positioned at a second monitoring point which is displaced from the first monitoring point and adjacent the exit from the condenser, to sense the static pressure and temperature at that second monitoring point. An indication of the amount of air flowing past said first monitoring point is derived from the total pressure, the static pressure and the temperature, which are measured at the first and second monitoring points.

In the generation of power from steam, particularly but not exclusively electrical power, it is common practice to use a steam turbine supplied with superheated steam from a boiler system. Downstream at the turbine, a condenser system is provided to condense the steam; and in order to achieve the optimum efficiency of the system, it is conventional to maintain the condenser system under a vacuum so that the maximum pressure drop is achieved across the turbine, are so that the system is devoid of air. Vacuum pumps are conventionally provided to extract the air from the system on start up, and to maintain that situation.
However, in any practical system, leaks arise with the result that air gets into the system, causing a loss of efficiency. If the ingress of air can be satisfactorily monitored, and as a result maintained at a minimum, for instance by locating and repairing any leaks which allow the air to enter the system, then the overall efficiency of the plant can be improved and maintained.
Systems for monitoring the ingress of air into such a system have been proposed in which a monitoring point is established in the final pipework from the condenser system to the air pump arrangement used to extract air f rom the system. Such monitoring systems have relied on the measurement of the velocity of the total flow in such pipework, together with the absolute pressure and the temperature at the monitoring point. From the temperature of the flow, it is possible to establish the vapour pressure of the steam present in the gas, and by deducting this from the absolute pressure, to determine the ratio of steam to air present in the gas. This ratio, together with the total flow through the pipework, can give an assessment of the amount of air being extracted from a system at a given time, and thus of the amount of air that must be leaking into the system.
Such previous monitoring arrangement shave suffered from errors, and have proved unreliable in practice.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved monitoring arrangement for assessing the ingress of air into a steam system.

Assessment of air ingress to steam systems


A radiation irradiating apparatus includes a processing circuitry. The processing circuitry acquires a past cumulative dose distribution associated with patient identifying information, from a storage that is storable a cumulative dose distribution. The processing circuitry calculates a first cumulative dose distribution and a second cumulative dose distribution during a radiation irradiation to a patient associated with the patient identifying information, the first cumulative dose distribution being a cumulative dose distribution, the second cumulative dose distribution being generated by adding the first cumulative dose distribution to the past cumulative dose distribution. The processing circuitry displays, on a display, at least one of the first and second cumulative dose distributions during the radiation irradiation.

At present, the U.S., Europe and therearound perceive, as problems, increase in exposure due to radiological image examinations. Customers have a problem to reduce exposure to patients. The total dose of American citizens has increased six times as much as that in 1980. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine has warned medical doctors of not executing unnecessary radiological image examinations. American medical technologists have been educated to perform lower-dose examinations.
In recent years, a dose tracking system (DTS) has been developed that visualizes a cumulative dose (exposed dose) due to radiation irradiation during application of a radiation irradiating manipulation (an examination (imaging), therapy, surgery and the like which are accompanied by radiation irradiation) to a patient. This system sequentially (in real time) displays the cumulative dose totalized from the start of the radiation irradiating manipulation to the present time.
During application of a further radiation irradiating manipulation to a patient having already been subjected to a radiation irradiating manipulation through a conventional DTS, the total cumulative dose sometimes exceeds a threshold even though the single cumulative dose does not exceeds a threshold for a single radiation irradiating manipulation. The single cumulative dose is a cumulative dose to be sequentially calculated during the radiation irradiating manipulation under execution. The total cumulative dose is a cumulative dose calculated by adding the current, single cumulative dose to the cumulative dose due to past radiation irradiating manipulations.
Excess of the total cumulative dose above the threshold causes a possibility of following occurrence of erythema on the skin of a patient, which is radiodermatitis.
There is a problem in that displaying only one of the single cumulative dose and the total cumulative dose is insufficient to monitor the cumulative doses during execution of a radiation irradiating manipulation. However, this problem itself has not been identified from a conventional viewpoint. Consequently, there is no technique to effectively display both of the single cumulative dose and the total cumulative dose.
A set of FIGS. 17A and 17B is a block diagram showing functions of the radiation dose management system according to the present embodiment; and
A set of FIGS. 18A and 18B is a flowchart showing operations of the radiation dose management system according to the present embodiment.

Radiation irradiating apparatus and radiation dose management system


The blinking illuminated product box is a box on which are blinking, battery operated lights of either multi-color or singular color which emit light in a variety of blinking patterns. The boxes are constructed in a variety of shapes and sizes, colors and patterns. The externally mounted light-emitting diodes are on the sides of the box, the top of the box, or on the top and sides of the box. The light-emitting diode multi-wired unit is turned on and off by a slide switch which is part of the multi-battery pack. The pack is mounted in the inside of the box. Rubber o-rings are used to mount the light-emitting diodes in place. A false bottom or top of card stock paper, foam or other suitable material such as a felt or other decorative material is placed in the box to provide protection and visual obstruction of some or all of the wires.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a blinking illuminated product box, and more particularly to a gift packaging which uses external light-emitting diodes which blink in a pattern of light on a box.
2. Description Of The Related Art
In the past, gift packaging has been accomplished in a variety of ways. If an individual wanted to wrap a box, he or she would usually select a decorative paper which wrapped around the box and had to be secured in place by tape, glue or other adhesive. A bow or ribbon could be attached to the decorative paper. More recently, boxes which include pre-printed designs have been used in order to avoid the requirement of using decorative paper. What is needed, however, is a packaging which includes a series of light emitting diodes which will allow even less time go and energy to be spent by a consumer in wrapping a gift.
Others have used a variety of means for lighting portions of articles. A variety of patents to Franc, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,666,937; 3,700,879; 3,720,825; 3,732,414; 3,737,648; and 3,740,543 disclose a variety of ways of lighting paper products. However, none shows the configuration disclosed in the present invention.
Other ways of lighting cards and other paper materials are shown in the patents to Schmidt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,014; Wilbur, U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,081; Dejean, U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,126; Steiner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,747; Feng, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,263; and Ming-Ho, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,147,129 and 5,217,286. None of these patents discloses a gift packaging with a light-emitting diode configuration as disclosed in the present application. While some of the products disclosed in these patents may be attached to other types of gift packaging, they are not in themselves gift packaging. Other configurations, used with clothing and jewelry and dissimilar to the present invention, are disclosed in the patents to Fenton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,976 and Eisenbraun, U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,325.
Other technologies have been used when lighting a box. Most other patents dealing with lighting a box usually relate to the lighting of the interior of the box or attaching a light to the exterior of the box. These include the patents to Thompson, U.S. Design Pat. No. D278,420; Baker, U.S. Design Pat. No. 325,672; Dickson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,730; Chao et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,320; Cunningham, U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,132; Chabria, U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,917; Geeting et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,433; and Manrubia, U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,771. These patents all deal with providing sufficient light to enable a user to see the interior of the box or to see other articles with flashlight-type attachments. These configurations are not useful in the present invention, where the light emitting diodes do not generate a light for illuminating something that cannot be viewed due to insufficient light.


A remote ordering system for a restaurant drive-through lane, consisting of an input device having a keypad, a battery, a first memory, a first processor, and a transmitter; and a drive-up ordering station adjacent the restaurant drive-through lane and unconnected to the input device, the ordering station having a posted visual menu, a receiver tuned to the transmitter, a second processor adapted to decode information received from the transmitter through the receiver and produce decoded information, a display to display the decoded information, a second memory to store item numbers and prices, and a communications link to a point-of-sale system. Preferably, the remote device is hand-held and operated from within the vehicle. A data processing method for ordering menu items from a vehicle at the drive-up lane of a restaurant, includes the steps of:. (a) displaying a welcome screen on a display on a drive-up ordering station adjacent the restaurant's drive-up lane; PA1 (b) sending a start signal from a remote device in the vehicle to the drive-up ordering station; PA1 (c) displaying an enter item number screen on the display; PA1 (d) sending an item number from the remote device to the display; PA1 (e) displaying an item identifier and quantity screen on the display; PA1 (f) sending an item quantity from the remote device to the drive-up ordering station; PA1 (g) calculating an item total and displaying an item total screen on the display; PA1 (h) displaying an enter/remove/finish screen on the display; PA1 (i) optionally repeating steps (c) throughj (h) for additional items; PA1 (j) calculating an order total and displaying an order total screen on the display; and sending order information to a point-of-sale system connected to the drive-up ordering station.

This invention relates to a remote ordering system for a restaurant drive-through lane.
The drive-through lanes in many restaurants have added a very beneficial feature for both the consumer and the proprietor. The drive-through allows the proprietor to remain open longer, while the restaurant is being cleaned for the next day. The drive-through also allows more efficient handling of customers with a reduction in staff count.
The customer gets the benefit of staying in his or her vehicle while being serviced. This is especially important to young families and to those with mobility problems, such as the aged or infirm.
Drive-through lanes have been around for quite some time. However, in the typical drive-through lane, a customer places an order by speaking into a microphone to a an attendant. The quality of these microphones is generally poor, resulting in miscommunication and errors in the order. By the time the customer finds out about the error, he has already waited in line several minutes and must then wait several more minutes for a correct order to be filled. This results in the loss of customer goodwill.
A problem with previous drive-through ordering systems that do not use a microphone is that they require the customer to lean out of the vehicle to press a button on a menu or use a touch screen. This is awkward if not impossible for some people, such as very obese people. Also, this exposes the customer to rain, snow, etc. while the order is being placed. Generally speaking, there is no feedback as to the type, quantity, or total price of items ordered, and no capability to back up to correct an incorrectly-entered item.
There is a need for a remote ordering system for a drive-through lane that addresses the above problems. Additionally, the system should provide a completely transportable, hand-held remote device that can be assigned to customers who order frequently from the restaurant. Optimally, the device will have a customer identification which is transmitted with each order so that the restaurant can perform statistical analysis.

Remote ordering system for restaurant drive-up lane


An apparatus comprising a latch comprising a differential inverter configured to receive a differential input signal and generate a differential output signal, a pair of cross-coupled inverters coupled to the differential inverter, and a first clock switch configured to couple the differential inverter to a voltage source, a second clock switch configured to couple the differential inverter to a ground, wherein the first clock switch and the second clock switch are configured to receive a differential clock signal, and wherein the first clock switch and the second clock switch are both open or both closed depending on the differential clock signal, a second latch, wherein the first latch and the second latch are configured as a frequency divider, and a logic circuit coupled to each latch, wherein the logic circuits are configured to generate both an in-phase reference output signal and a quadrature output signal.

A latch is an electronic circuit that may be used to store one bit of information. Latches are useful in a variety of applications, including quadrature generators. A quadrature generator may comprise a frequency divider that utilizes at least two latches. A frequency divider circuit may receive as an input signal a periodic signal of a given input frequency and may produce an output signal that is a periodic signal with a frequency that is a fraction (e.g., one-half) of the input frequency.
Quadrature generators may be used in mobile wireless communication devices, such as cell phones or smart phones, as part of, as an example, a local oscillator (LO) circuit. Given the constraints on power consumption of modern mobile wireless communication devices it is desirable to find new ways to reduce power consumption without sacrificing performance. An improved latch configuration is one means for reducing power consumption of a quadrature generator and therefore a communication device.

Low power high speed quadrature generator


An electronic device (12, 13) is substantially enclosed by a fluid encapsulant (17). The fluid encapsulant consists essentially of a silicone resin and a catalyst selected from the group consisting of platinum and tin. The silicone resin is selected from the group consisting of polydimethylsiloxane, polymethylphenylsiloxane, polydimethyldiphenylsiloxane, and mixtures thereof. Such silicone resins comprise molecules terminating in vinyl components and hydride components. The ratio of vinyl components to hydride components is maintained within the range of five to twenty. As will be explained more fully later, this ratio of vinyl components to hydride components assures that the resin will remain substantially a liquid even after cure, due to limited cross-linking or polymerization during the cure. The electronic device is contained within a container (16) having a sealed cover (18) for containing the liquid encapsulant during the operation of the electronic device.

The U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,275, of Wong, granted Sep. 24, 1991, contains a discussion of numerous references describing the use of silicone resin as an electronic device encapsulant. Various silicone resin compounds and mixtures have been shown to have the appropriate electrical and mechanical characteristics for covering an electrical device such as an integrated circuit and protecting it from outside contaminants, while constituting a good dielectric which does not interfere with the electrical performance of the device.
A method for mounting integrated circuit chips which is becoming more widely used is known as flip-chip surface mounting. The circuitry of an integrated circuit chip and the active devices of it are typically formed on only one surface of the chip. With flip-chip surface mounting, solder bumps are used to bond the active surface of the chip to the surface of a substrate such that the active surface of the chip faces the substrate surface and is separated from it by a small distance. Such chips may be protected from outside contaminants by a hermatic package, which of course is relatively expensive, bulky, and further complicates the assembly process. It has been difficult to use silicone resin encapsulants for many of such devices because many resins, even in their uncured condition, cannot dependably fill the small gap between the semiconductor chip and the substrate surface. A larger problem is that silicone resins normally have different thermal expansion characteristics from either semiconductors or the ceramics that are typically used as substrates. Consequently, under extreme temperature conditions, the differential thermal expansion of the silicone encapsulant may break the solder bonds joining the chip to the substrate. Finally, any material used as a non-hermetic encapsulant must often withstand relatively high voltages per unit of distance, due to the increasingly close spacing of conductors on integrated circuits, as well as the absolute voltages developed.
There is therefore a continued long-felt need for dependable encapsulations for electronic devices, particularly encapsulations for flip-chip surface mounted integrated circuits that are subjected to relatively high electrical voltages and to relatively wide changes of temperature.


A digital device including a scent emitting unit and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. The digital device includes a display unit for displaying a first image including a first object having a first scent property and a second object having a second scent property, a sensor unit for sensing a distance from a specific body part of a user, a scent emitting unit, and a processor. The processor controls the scent emitting unit to emit any one of a first scent, a second scent or a mixture of the first scent and the second scent according to the distance from the specific body part of the user, and a mixture ratio of the first scent to the second scent in the mixture is changed according to a predetermined condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital device and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly, to a method of controlling a scent emitting unit for emitting a scent, the strength of which is changed according to a distance between a digital device including the scent emitting unit and a specific body part of a user, and a digital device therefor.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With development of techniques related to an electronic display, various types of electronic displays have been released. In addition, digital devices such as smart phones and smart TVs using various types of electronic displays have also been released. For example, a digital device including a scent emitting unit has been released.
A digital device including a scent emitting unit emits a scent corresponding to an image displayed on a display unit. However, a conventional digital device including a scent emitting unit only emits a scent corresponding to an image displayed on a display unit but cannot control a scent according to user's intention.

Digital device and method for controlling the same


A motorized seat belt retractor, comprising: a take-up spool configured to rotate in a winding direction and an unwinding direction; a motor for providing a driving force in a first direction and a second direction to the take-up spool, wherein the take-up spool rotates in the winding direction when the driving force is provided in the first direction; a mechanism coupled to a shaft of the motor, the mechanism being configured to rotate freely in the first direction and rotate in the second direction when either i) a predetermined force is applied to the take-up spool in the unwinding direction during or after application of the driving force in the first direction or ii) the motor applies the driving force in the second direction in order to overcome a predetermined resistance of the mechanism; and a locking retractor configured to prevent the take-up spool from rotating in the unwinding direction when the predetermined force is applied to the take-up spool in the unwinding direction during or after application of the driving force in the first direction.

Vehicles are provided with a seat belt and a seat belt retractor. Once the seat belt has been extended or unwound and a tongue is engaged into a latching or buckle device, it is desirable to retract or wind up the excess amount of the seat belt.
Vehicle seat belts are also provided with an automatic winding device that, upon sensing of a predetermined condition will wind up a predetermined amount of slack or amount of seat belt webbing during a predetermined activation event (e.g., a massive deceleration or vehicle conditions sensed before an accident). This device employs a motor, which is energized to wind up the seat belt. In addition, seat belt retractors are also equipped with an automatic locking retractor (ALR) or an emergency locking retractor (ELR) or a combination (switchable) ELR/ALR retractor 12, which will lock the seat belt retractor up (e.g., prevent further pay out of the seat belt webbing) when there is an abrupt pulling (tension) on the belt sensed by a web sensor or there is activation of a G sensor, which in combination of G sensor activation and web payout will cause lockup of the seat belt retractor. In either occurrence, there will be a lockup of the seat belt retractor. In order to unlock ELR/ALR retractor the tension upon the seat belt must be removed, and in the case of activation by a G sensor, the sensed condition must no longer exist.
During operation, a pretension signal will be sent to a motor of the motorized retractor to retract a portion of the seat belt when an imminent danger or predetermined condition is detected. In addition, this predetermined condition is also likely to activate either the G sensor or the web sensor. Upon receipt of the pretension signal, the motorized seatbelt retractor will respond by quickly tensioning the belt to a predetermined level and thereafter a pyrotechnic pre-tensioner and inflatable cushion deployments will follow if an event (e.g., collision) occurs. Some of the features of a motorized seatbelt retractor are: it removes seat belt slack when an imminent danger is detected; and the motorized seatbelt retractor will pull and hold an occupant in a designated position prior to the collision occurring. In addition, the motorized seatbelt retractor is configured to work in harmony with a pyrotechnic pre-tensioning device in order to maximize the distance between the belted occupant and other parts of the vehicle.
If the imminent danger is avoided and no longer present (e.g., collision avoided), the motorized seatbelt retractor is configured to reset itself and remain on a standby mode for the next pre-tensioning signal. However and during this same sequence of events, the ELR/ALR retractor may have locked up due to a quick seat belt web payout or web payout when a G sensor is activated. In addition, a clutch of a gear train of the motorized seatbelt retractor will also become engaged at the beginning of the pretensioning cycle. Moreover, the lock up of the ELR/ALR retractor and the clutch of the motorized seatbelt retractor will keep the tension on the seatbelt and the occupant. As discussed above, this lockup can be initiated by: activation of the web sensor when the seatbelt is subjected to a quick web payout or activation of a G sensor during a G event (above approximately 0.5 G) and where there is relative movement between the web spool and lockup wheel, which is caused by seat belt web payout during the activation of the G sensor. Accordingly, the lockup occurs when the predetermined conditions are sensed and there is seat belt webbing payout. Thus, there is need to provide a means to unlock the belt if the predetermined event is no longer occurring or passes.
One method employed to provide an unlock feature for motorized seatbelt retractors is to provide the motorized retractor with a quick but relatively high burst of current at the end of the pretensioning cycle wherein there has been a lockup of the ELR/ALR retractor. This burst of current will cause the web to pay-in further due to the movement of the gear trans by the motor, which in turn causes a relative-movement between the web spool and lockup wheel. This relative movement will in turn reset the lockup sensors, which in turn unlocks the retractor, and thus returns the webbing to a comfortable tension. However, this method of unlocking of the lockup sensors may not be favorable in that it requires additional tension to be applied to the seat belt that is already in a tensioned state. In other words, and in order to unlock the device, the seat belt webbing has to be pulled in further when it is already in a tensioned state. This additional tension is often referred to a "Second Stroke" phenomenon. In addition, the clutch of the motorized gear train may also need to be unlocked after this sequence via reversal of the motor (e.g., driving the motor in an opposite direction).
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an apparatus and method for unlocking the motorized retractor after the same has been locked in accordance with a predetermined event (e.g., imminent danger, high G forces, high tension e.g., web payout) and the condition or sensed event passes without the activation of a second system (e.g. inflatable cushion, pyrotechnically activated pretensioning device). Moreover, it is also desirable to provide such an apparatus that has a retractor that locks up only when predetermined tensions or forces are applied during or after motorized retraction.

Apparatus and method to reduce/eliminate lockup of seatbelt retractor during motorized pretensioning activation