Provided are methods for the solubilization of cellulose into soluble sugars without the need for high temperatures, high pressures, strong acid solutions, and/or added water. The produced sugars can be fermented into ethanol. In one embodiment, the method comprises contacting a cellulose-containing material with a solid acid material and agitating the cellulose-containing material and the solid acid material for a time sufficient to produce an aqueous solution comprising a quantity of soluble sugars.

Ethanol is the most widely used liquid biofuel in the world. In the U.S., ethanol is typically used as a gasoline additive and is blended into gasoline at up to 10 percent by volume to produce a fuel called E10 or "gasohol." In 2005, total U.S. ethanol production alone was 3.9 billion gallons, or 2.9 percent of the total gasoline pool. In 2006, that number increased to 4.86 billion gallons, and is well on pace to further rise in 2007. Therefore, the efficient and inexpensive production of materials to produce ethanol is of great interest.
One source of feedstock material to produce ethanol is soluble sugars produced by hydrolyzing cellulose. Such hydrolysis processes currently draw significant interest because large amounts of cellulosic feedstocks, such as biomass materials, can be easily and cheaply obtained, and environmentally, the burning or landfilling of waste cellulosic materials can be reduced. Exemplary types of biomass materials include switchgrass, wood, paper, agricultural residues, industrial solid wastes, and herbaceous crops. The hydrolysis processes are characterized by the breaking of the bonds between the glucose monomer units of cellulose to provide soluble sugar moieties, which are fermentable into ethanol.
Two hydrolysis methods are commonly used: acid hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis. However, neither process is optimal. Acid hydrolysis can be performed with dilute or concentrated acid. Unfortunately, dilute acids require high temperature and pressures while concentrated acids must be removed from the product before fermentation can occur. On the other hand, enzymatic processes require a stable supply of enzymes and pretreatment to more easily hydrolyze the cellulose, especially with lignocellulosic material. Also, as set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,419,788 and 4,461,648, for example, because of the complex chemical structure of lignocellulosic material, which includes lignin and hemicellulose that coat the cellulose, microorganisms and enzymes cannot effectively attack the cellulose without prior treatment because the cellulose is highly inaccessible to enzymes or bacteria. Accordingly, there is a need for a more efficient and inexpensive method of producing fermentable sugars for the mass production of ethanol.

Solid acid catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulosic materials

University of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


Ophthalmic lens compositions comprising a cured polymer mixture of (A) an unsaturated polyester resin composition, (B) a monomer of the formula ##STR1## (C) an optional vinyl, acrylate monomer, or other monomer or mixtures thereof, and (D) a free radical generating catalyst system. Such a curable plastic material can form ophthalmic lenses of superior properties including high index of refraction which reduces the amount of material required for corrections.

Many eyeglass lenses and other optical products are now being made of synthetic resins because of cost, weight, strength and processing considerations. When they can be molded with suitably precise curvatures and high purity, optical plastics can be employed wherever temperature sensitivity, index of refraction, and dispersion characteristics are not too limiting. The most used resins for these purposes are polycarbonates, which can be molded or cast by production equipment into finished or semi-finished form at relatively lower cost than glass, despite the much longer history of glass technology. Plastics have excellent impact resistance, and although they are less abrasion resistant than glass, hard thin coatings are now available that can overcome this deficiency.
Special requirements must be met in casting eyeglass lenses from synthetic resins. The requirements are quite severe and have resulted in domination of the plastic eyeglass market by one particular formulation. The cast and finished product must not only be clear and without noticeable coloration, but must be free of impurities, bubbles and striations. The materials should not attack or be incompatible with the molds and gaskets used in the casting process. They should have relatively low sensitivity to process conditions, with the consequent low yields that such criticality usually causes.
In most instances, the eyeglass blank is cast in thick semi-finished form, with its convex (outer) surface having a specified curvature. The inner (concave) side is then ground and polished down to the desired final lens thickness and the needed curvature for a given optical prescription. Consequently, the material must abrade in such manner that it does not adhere to or clog the finishing surface or abrasive material and slow the finishing operation. Currently, five steps are used in forming and finishing a contour and if this procedure can be shortened, substantial benefits can be realized by optical finishing laboratories.
In addition, hardness, strength, and impact resistance must meet certain minimum levels. For example, the material must be hard and tough enough to withstand, without cracking, the dropping of a standard steel ball from a certain minimum height. Resistance to notch sensitivity should be high so that there is a reasonable margin of safety in the event of impact.
One drawback in the manufacture of plastic ophthalmic lenses relates to the index of refraction of the underlying lens material. Plastic materials tend to have a low density and relatively low indices of refraction. The index of refraction of plastic lenses should approximate or exceed that of the glasses most widely used. If the index of refraction is relatively low, e.g. less than 1.5, thick lenses are required for high corrections. Materials having higher indices than about 1.55 are currently sought, because the lens can then be thinner and lighter for a given correction. In reducing lens thickness, however, improved mechanical properties are usually needed in order to maintain appropriate margins of safety.
The material must also, for eyeglass applications, be capable of compatibly receiving, and firmly bonding to, the available abrasion-resistant coatings, a number of which are now in use. Preferably, it should also be capable of receiving a tintable coating in any of a wide range of colors.
Generally, plastic lenses have been made from a variety of conventional plastic materials, such as polycarbonate, polyethylmethacrylate, and polyallyldiglycol carbonate. For many decades, the principal optical plastic used for making eyeglasses has been "CR-39", a polycarbonate product of PPG Industries. It has met in adequate degree all of the significant requirements as to optical properties, strength, index of refraction, cure time, processing criticality and compatibility with coating and tinting materials. Although improved over the years, its cost is relatively high, the index of refraction is only in a medium range, and its processing properties require relatively long cure times and involve substantial shrinkage.
Acrylics and polyesters have been given consideration over the years because they are inherently lower cost materials than the polycarbonates. As examples, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,265,763, 3,391,224, and 3,513,224 record prior efforts to cast eyeglasses using polyester resins. U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,224, for example, proposes the use of a major proportion of an esterification reaction product, together with from 5% to about 20% by weight of methyl methacrylate and less than suitable for ophthalmic lenses. The esterified reaction product is mixed with the methyl methacrylate, thoroughly blended, and then catalyzed with 1.5 parts of benzoyl peroxide. Following curing for in excess of 17 hours in a casting cell at an elevated temperature, a grindable optical lens is said to be produced, but no figures are given for hardness, impact resistance, or index of refraction.
An attempt to achieve a balance of properties suitable for eyeglass lenses using polyesters and acrylics is evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,224 to Sherr. The major portion of the composition taught by that patent is the esterification reaction product of fumaric acid, trimethylene glycol and neopentyl glycol, together with 12% to 18% of styrene and 8% to 12% of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, suitably catalyzed after mixing. The styrene was used to increase the refractive index, but had a tendency to induce extensive cross-linking and therefore brittleness which was counteracted by the ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, which independently aided the impact strength. While this composition was said to be suitable for casting lenses, it required heating at 60.degree. C. for 16 hours, then 100.degree. C. for 90 minutes and finally gradual heating to 135.degree. C. The resultant lens had a Barcol hardness of only 31 and a refractive index of 1.5248, which properties do not meet current norms. Furthermore, the heating times and levels required were much too great.
Some commercial efforts, more recent than the patents listed above, have been reported pertaining to polyester casting materials for eyeglass lenses. These were apparently unsuccessful because of insufficient impact strength. Changes in the formulation were then understood to have been undertaken to improve toughness by increasing flexibility, but it is believed that the resultant material became extremely difficult to contour and polish. The products now appear to have been withdrawn from the market. A polyester based optical compound of about 1.56 index of refraction is now being offered on a commercial basis, however.
The current state of the art as to high index materials is summarized by an article by K. Angel in the magazine Optical Index for May 2, 1988 entitled "The High Index Race is on to Introduce Superior Products" (p. 24). This describes how the thinner, lighter lenses are expected to be increasingly employed for progressive, multifocal and higher correction lenses.
The relative cost of "CR-39" is only one reason that improved optical plastics are being sought for eyeglasses. "CR-39" undergoes substantial shrinkage when curing, so that most lens casting systems which use this material are adapted to compensate for shrinkage in such a way that they can form only one or two lenses at a time. The length of the cure cycle also increases processing and capital equipment costs. For long term storage, "CR-39" and its catalytic agents must be held at very low temperatures, because at ambient temperatures they tend to become explosive with time. The basic polycarbonate system is also quite reactive, and requires an alkaline catalyst, so that it gradually but persistently attacks molds, retainers, and other associated elements. This means that the molds have a limited life, and must be replaced regularly, further increasing costs.
In the casting of plastic eyeglasses, the resin is introduced between spaced apart glass or metal mold surfaces, encompassed about their periphery by a resilient gasket or retainer ring that is non-reactive, or substantially non-reactive, to the polymers being cast. It must therefore flow and remain stable for a reasonable interval without entraining bubbles or creating voids. As the material cures, generally under elevated temperature, pressure is applied to one or both of the dies to compensate for shrinkage, with the ring gasket compressing to accommodate the dimensional change. Examples in the patent literature are numerous, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,316,000, 3,240,850, 3,605,195, 3,211,811, 3,240,854, 3,422,168, 3,070,846, 3,056,166, 3,109,696, 4,191,717, 4,227,950, 4,197,266, 4,251,474, 4,257,988, 4,279,401, 4,273,809 and 4,284,591.
Most commercial eyeglass lens casting today, using "CR-39", is based upon the use of individual molds because of the mentioned shrinkage and control problems. However, many efforts have been made to cast lenses simultaneously in multiple molds, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,871,610, 3,,806,079, 3,871,803 and 3,423,488. It is not known that these approaches have resulted in any successful high yield production manufacture, because commercial processes still largely rely on single or dual mold machines. Nonetheless, the potential benefits of using multiple mold casting machines are evident, if adequate yields of high quality products can be attained.
Standard corrections can be used for a substantial fraction of the eyeglass wearing population. About 50% of single lens corrections are accounted for by a limited number of curvatures. For these users, substantial savings can be realized if the lenses can be cast directly to prescription, as long as quality standards can be maintained. However, temperature, pressure and resin variations must be very closely controlled and the problems of casting to prescription curvatures are excessive with currently available materials.
The storage and processing characteristics of a resin system for casting optical products can be regarded as having almost equal importance to finished product properties. The fact that many chemical alternatives are available in a resin system to alter viscosity, strength, or toughness does not mean that all final objectives can be achieved. Styrene is incorporated in significant amounts in polyester resin systems to make the mass flowable and because it cross links on polymerization. When the styrene is increased, there is no marked increase in index of refraction. However, increased styrene has a tendency to increase brittleness and accelerate exothermic reactions resulting in fractures and discoloration within the coating. Improving index of refraction while also obtaining high impact strength, high resistance to notch sensitivity, low cure time, excellent casting properties and enhanced finishing characteristics therefore requires overcoming significant problems.
Optical plastics having superior properties for single vision eyeglasses obviously can be used with benefit in multi-vision glasses (bifocals and trifocals) as well. Moreover, they can be used for other optical applications, such as single or multi-element light focussing lens systems. The capability of plastics for complex curvatures such as aspherics and fly's eye lenses is well recognized. In addition, the optical properties of high index materials create potential for use in other applications, such as prisms, multi-faceted bodies and fresnel lenses.

Optical plastics and methods for making the same


A memory controller component of a memory system stores memory access requests within a transaction queue until serviced so that, over time, the transaction queue alternates between occupied and empty states. The memory controller transitions the memory system to a low power mode in response to detecting the transaction queue is has remained in the empty state for a predetermined time. In the transition to the low power mode, the memory controller disables oscillation of one or more timing signals required to time data signaling operations within synchronous communication circuits of one or more attached memory devices and also disables one or more power consuming circuits within the synchronous communication circuits of the one or more memory devices.

Mesochronous clock signals are often used to time signaling operations in synchronous memory systems. By using the same clock source to provide transmit/receive timing within both the memory controller and memory devices, frequency drift is avoided, resulting in a relatively simple, robust timing arrangement. Because the clock reference is distributed in space between controller and memory, however, the clock domains of the two chips generally have an arbitrary phase offset with respect to each other that must be compensated to enable synchronous communication. Complicating matters, the chip-to-chip phase offset tends to drift substantially with temperature and voltage, in large part due to the clock buffering circuitry provided within each chip to fan-out the clock to the various transmit and receive circuits.
Many modern memory systems manage the chip-to-chip phase drift by transmitting strobes or other source-synchronous timing signals to control data sampling within the recipient device, in effect extending the clock domain of the transmitting device into the receiving device. Unfortunately, this approach suffers a considerable power/cost penalty as additional signal drivers, pins and precisely routed signal lines (to match the propagation time between strobe and data lines) are usually required.
Another approach is to compensate for the drifting phase offset by providing a phase-locked loop (PLL) or delay-locked loop (DLL) within the memory controller and each memory device to maintain alignment between the reference clock and the distributed clock (i.e., the multiplicity of nominally same-phase clocks distributed to the various receive and transmit circuits). By this arrangement, a substantially fixed phase relationship may be maintained between the chips despite environmentally induced drift between their respective clock-buffer delays.
While the PLL/DLL approach avoids many of the penalties of source-synchronous arrangements (especially the consumption of precious pins), PLL and DLL circuits tend to be power hungry, consuming power even during idle periods (to maintain phase-lock) and requiring considerable time and additional power to restore phase-lock when awakened from a disabled, power-saving state. All these disadvantages are particularly problematic in mobile applications (e.g., cell phones, laptop computers and the like), where performance demands and bursty transaction profiles make it difficult to disable locked-loop operation and yet the large idle power of the locked-loop circuits drains precious battery life.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Memory controller with transaction-queue-dependent power modes


A desired printer can be reliably selected and the setting of which printer is permitted to communicate with which mobile terminal can be easily altered. A mobile terminal acquires printer identification information from a printer by NFC communication, and transmits the printer identification information and mobile terminal identification information to a server, thereby requesting an authentication. The mobile terminal transmits print data to the printer to instruct a printing execution when the authentication is successful. Therefore, the desired printer can be reliably selected by placing the mobile terminal close to the desired printer. Any stolen mobile terminal can be disabled for any printer only by rewriting the centrally managed information on the server.

(a) Field
The present invention generally relates a network printing system and a network printing program. In particular, the present invention is suitable to be used for a network printing system that is adapted to execute printing by transmitting print data from a mobile terminal to a printer by using a short-range wireless communication technology.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, portable tablet devices and smart phones (hereinafter referred to as "mobile terminals") have been widespread, so many clerks of stores are carrying the mobile terminals for performing the settlement process. That is, by placing printers in a plurality of locations in the store and connecting the mobile terminal to any printer, the settlement process can be performed and the receipt or the like can be issued from a printer of any location. Since the mobile terminal is capable of being carried, a wireless connection is preferable rather than a wired connection when the mobile terminal is connected to the printer.
Here, it is required to use a printer, which is not used (or occupied), for the settlement to reduce the customer's waiting time at the time of settlement. That is, the printer to be used when the clerk to issue the receipt may be different for each settlement. Therefore, the mobile terminal carried by each clerk does not need to always establish a connection with the same printer. Accordingly, it is required that the clerk can connect his or her own mobile terminal to a desired printer as necessary.
In accordance with such a demand, the conventional technology displays an available printer list on a display screen of the mobile terminal and selects a printer that the user wants to use in the list, thereby establishing a communication between the selected printer and the mobile terminal. According to this technique, the user can freely select the printer that the user wants to use.
However, simply displaying the available printer list on the mobile terminal cannot provide information about where printers of the available printer list are installed. For example, if a plurality of printers of the same model are installed side by side, it is not clear which printer outputs the receipt when a certain printer is selected from the available printer list.
Another conventional technology exchanges information between the mobile terminal and the printer by NFC (Near Field Communication) communication, thereby establishing the communication between the mobile terminal and the printer (for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-241114). Because the communication distance of NFC is less than 10 cm, it is necessary to place the mobile terminal physically close to a desired printer for the printing. Therefore, the technology for establishing the communication using NFC can clarify that the user wants to communicate with which printer.
In a system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-241114, only one printer capable of NFC communication (hereinafter referred to as "a NFC compatible printer") is provided. The other printers are connected on the NFC compatible printer via the network. Therefore, when printing is executed on the printer other than the NFC compatible printer according to an instruction from the mobile terminal, it is necessary to send print data to the other printer through the NFC compatible printer. In this case, if the printers connected to the network are the same model, it is not clear that the printing is executed by which printer on the network when the mobile terminal selects a certain printer.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-241114, if all of the printers connected to the network are replaced with the NFC compatible printers, it may be clear that the mobile terminal communicates with which printer. However, in this case, the following problem can occur. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-241114 discloses that the printer stores model IDs (usage IDs) of the mobile terminals on which the communication is permitted in order to restrict the mobile terminals that can use the printer. The printer determines whether the mobile terminal is permitted based on the model ID when performing the NFC communication. In this case, when all of the printers disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-241114 are replaced with the NFC compatible printers, it is necessary to store the model IDs of the mobile terminals in each of printers. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to store the model IDs in all of the printers.
In particular, it may be a problem if the mobile terminal used by the clerk in the store is stolen. In this case, the model ID of the stolen mobile terminal is stored as the usage ID of the communication enabled mobile terminal in each printer. Therefore, in order to disable the stolen mobile terminal, settings for the model IDs of the mobile terminals stored in each printer must be changed. It may also be a problem if the clerks are rearranged or recruited. In order to alter the setting of which printer is permitted to communicate with which mobile terminal, the settings for the model IDs of the mobile terminals stored in each printer must be changed. Such change of the settings would considerably increase the workload.

Network printing system and network printing program adapted to execute printing from a mobile terminal to a printer by using wireless communication


A bracket for supporting a length of lumber adjacent a vertical member such as a stud. The bracket has a central bar to which a pair of end bars are welded. The end bars extend in both directions away from the central bar. The central bar is then placed adjacent the face of a vertical stud and the end bars are sufficiently separated so that the bracket may be rotated a small amount. The bracket is then rotated and a length of lumber is then inserted between the upper and lower bars in a cantilevered member and held securely so that it may be worked on, such as cut to length, along the cantilevered ends. The process of using the bracket is also disclosed and a bracket having four end bars is also disclosed.

The field of the invention is carpentry tools and the invention relates more particularly to devices for holding such as a length of lumber.
The most common device used to support a length of lumber to permit the length of lumber to be sawn or planed or otherwise worked on is a pair of sawhorses. For instance, in the construction of a single family residence, a pair of sawhorses is commonly used to cut lengths of lumber to provide firebreaks and other wooden structures. Unfortunately, the sawhorses can get in the way and tend to take up a lot of room when not in use. While brackets have been provided to assist in assembling a sawhorse, they do not replace the sawhorse. One such bracket is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,412. Brackets have also been used to hold forms such as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,787,799 and work support brackets have been used such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,064. None of these eliminate the necessity for a sawhorse.

Bracket for supporting a length of lumber and process for using the same


A commercial interface (SBB) is provide in each Internet access network (IN-AN) for carrying out cashless payments. When a mobile communication terminal (KE) asks for a link to be established, a traffic relationship is established towards the commercial interface (SBB). After a cashless payment has been made using the commercial interface (SBB), the Internet access network (IN-AN) can be used by the mobile communication terminal (KE). This method provides for an improved flexibility of use of the Internet access network (IN-AN).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for using various Internet access networks with mobile, Internet-compatible communication terminal devices, for carrying out cashless payments.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet communication network represents a global overlay communication network in which Internet access networks or Internet servers are connected via public and private communication networks. Access to the Internet ensues mainly via subscriber line areas or feeder networks of public or private communication fixed networks (e.g., the telephone network of the ISDN communication network). Alternatively, access is provided via communication radio networks (e.g., the public mobile radiotelephone network or a wireless network working according to the DECT or CDMA transmission method). Since the Internet access networks or Internet servers are regionally or super-regionally operated, the respective Internet user or the user's Internet communication terminal device must be logged on at the respective Internet server or Internet operator. This registration is required for a charge registration for Internet services. This means that the respective Internet access networks can only be used by the logged-on or registered Internet users or their communication terminal devices in the respective region or can only be reached via expensive, narrowband connections via the worldwide telephone network.
A mobile Internet protocol is being currently designed for Internet users in which mobile Internet communication terminal devices are allowed to have worldwide access to the Internet by different Internet access networks or different Internet operators. This service of the mobile Internet permits a mobile, global utilization of the Internet.
European patent document EP 0 765 068 A2 discloses a method for payment of an Internet use in which the respective Internet can be used given a use of many and different Internet service providers after a request by the Internet and a transmission of the credit card number.
International patent document WO 97/41586 discloses a method for the connection of a user to the Internet in which the user cannot directly access the Internet but rather access it via a further Internet service provider. To this end, specific logon and check procedures are provided at the further Internet service provider that represent the basis for the usage time and the charge registration.
International patent document WO 97/14118 discloses a computer network in which geographically distributed computers access the Internet via a central server. The computers can communicate with the server via different communication networks that permits a communication after an authorization procedure and a payment for the use of the server.

Method for using internet access networks through mobile internet-compatible mobile communication terminals


A displaying device includes a first body and a second body which are pivotally connected. The first body includes a rotating member rotatably mounted thereto and an arcuate slot defined therein. A combination wrench is displayed on the displaying device with a box end thereof retained by an engaging member which may reciprocatingly slide along the arcuate slot upon activation of a driving mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tool displaying device and, more particularly, to a device for displaying a combination wrench, spanner, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wrenches, spanners, etc, are often displayed behind windowpanes or packaged and thus cannot attract the buyers as the buyers cannot touch them. The present invention is intended to provide a displaying device to solve this problem.


An automatic rivet feed apparatus which can be used as a retrofit to an existing power driven riveting tool or incorporated integrally into a riveting tool. A rivet strip holds each of the plurality of rivets at individual fixed positions on the rivet strip. Included is a rivet strip release hook which stops the rivets, as they are advanced one-by-one, at rivet pick-up point and releases each of the rivets from the rivet strip. A hand mounted on the end of a pneumatic ram grips the rivets at the rivet pick-up point. The pneumatic ram moves the rivet forward and rotates to place the rivet in alignment with the nose piece of the riveting tool. The pneumatic ram then retracts and inserts the mandrel of the rivet into the nose piece and returns to the rivet pick-up point to repeat the steps.

1. The Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to apparatus used to fasten materials together using rivets. More particularly, the present invention is related to apparatus used to install blind rivets.
2. The Prior Art.
In instances where two layers of material must be securely joined together, rivets often perform better than screws, bolts, and other types of fasteners. Rivets have found numerous uses in modern fabrication technology.
In particular, "blind rivets," or rivets which can be installed by one worker from one side of the work, are widely used. Blind rivets generally comprise a rivet with a bore therethrough and having a head, a shank, and a tail positioned on the shank opposite to the head. The head is formed so that it will grip the surface of the material being fastened. A mandrel is provided through the bore in the rivet.
In use, the tail of the blind rivet is inserted into a pre-drilled hole provided in the material. The rivet is set in the work piece by drawing the mandrel through the bore in the rivet. As the mandrel is drawn through the bore, the shank of the rivet expands and clamps the parts together. In some types of blind rivets the mandrel is then discarded, in other types, the mandrel is kept and reused.
Blind rivets have become so ubiquitous in the fabrication arts that numerous tools are now available to assist with installing blind rivets. Hand operated tools are useful in small scale work but power driven riveting tools are now the norm in industrial and commercial settings. Such power driven riveting tools can be powered from pneumatic, electric, or hydraulic sources.
While blind rivets generally perform well and are easy to install, efforts have been made to streamline the installation process. Most power driven riveting tools require that the operator insert a new rivet into the nose piece of the riveting tool each time a rivet is set. The manual loading of individual rivets takes a considerable amount of an operator's time.
In order to improve the efficiency of riveting operations, various apparatus have been proposed to automate the loading of rivets into the nose piece of riveting tools. One such apparatus requires the operator to insert the nose piece riveting tool into the rivet loading apparatus. Disadvantageously, the time required to move the riveting tool away from the work piece and to the loading apparatus can equal or exceed the time required to manually load a rivet.
In order to allow an operator to keep the riveting tool at the work piece while a new rivet is being loaded, other rivet feed apparatus have been made available. Some of these apparatus utilize a large floor mounted console (e.g., twenty-five pounds) which contains a large supply of rivets. Pneumatic power forces the new rivets through a tube to the nose piece of a pistol unit where the rivets are one-by-one loaded for use. Such large units lack portability, are expensive to acquire and maintain, and often require the purchase of rivets and supplies from a single source.
These and other drawbacks are inherent in the rivet feeding apparatus available in the art. In view of the drawbacks found in the present state of the art, it would be an advance in the art to satisfy the long felt need to provide an automatic rivet feed apparatus without these drawbacks.


A method of controlling the removal of peelings from a potato product in a peeling machine having abrasive rollers, a rotatable discharge gate, and a discharge conveyor includes providing a shadow-free lighting structure over the conveyor, taking photographs of product on the conveyor flowing under said lighting structure, determining the number of dark pixels in each photograph and passing that number to a processor, placing a defined value for the preferred number of dark pixels in the processor, comparing the determined number of dark pixels with the predetermined value of dark pixels, and adjusting the operation of the machine to increase or decrease the amount of peelings being removed to bring the number of dark pixels subsequently determined closely to the predetermined value of dark pixels. A product peeling machine has a high speed camera over the conveyor. A high speed camera is mounted over the conveyor to take photographs of groups of product moving with the conveyor. A computer control is connected to the camera for measuring the number of dark pixels in the photographs and comparing them with a predetermined number of desired dark pixels.

The present invention relates to the field of peeling methods and devices for peeling vegetables, fruits, and the like.
Vegetable (e.g. "potato") peeling devices are old in the art. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,914, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. The drawings of U.S. Pat. No 3,745,914 are incorporated by reference. Such devices comprise a hopper which has an auger or the like deliver potatoes or the like to an abrading chamber which includes a plurality of elongated closely aligned rotatable abrasion rolls. Material to be peeled is fed into the chamber. A tumbling action takes place as the materials move longitudinally along the rotating rolls to an exit opening which is controlled by a moveable gate. The degree of peeling is controlled by the speed of rotation of the rolls, the volume of material in the chamber, etc. However, control of the peeling process could be more accurate.
Experience has shown that all adjustments within a continuous peeler are relative to the product infeed rate. This infeed rate if variable will render a variable peel result and therefore render ineffective the individual controls within the peeler itself.
Therefore, a principal object of the invention is the provision of a machine and method for controlling the degree of peel of the potato or the like through photo analysis, and the controlling of the machine to alter its operation to adjust the degree of peel to a predetermined standard.
A further object of this invention is the provision of a special discharge gate for the peeling chamber to carefully control the volume of material in the chamber and the rate of discharge of the material.
These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and description which follow.

Method and apparatus for peeling potatoes and the like


A measuring device for analyzing an analyte contained in a sample. The device includes a hollow housing, a sample holding part provided inside the housing for holding the sample, a sample supply inlet provided for the housing so as to communicate with the sample holding part, an optical measurement part provided for the sample holding part for making an optical measurement, a reagent holding part provided for the sample holding part for holding a reagent for the optical measurement, and at least one electrode provided on an outer surface of the housing.

Measuring instruments conventionally used in the field of clinical tests are mainly large-sized automated devices and POCT (Point of Care Testing) devices.
Large-sized automated devices are installed in hospital clinical laboratories and commercial clinical laboratories and capable of testing samples of many patients for a large number of items (e.g., see Patent Document 1). For example, a large-sized automated device of Hitachi 7170 is capable of performing 800 tests per hour for up to 36 items. Thus, they contribute to higher test efficiency and are equipment suited for hospitals with a large number of examinees.
Meanwhile, POCT devices refer to devices used in clinical tests that are conducted in medical settings other than hospital laboratories and test centers, and include devices for use in home healthcare (e.g., see Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3). Such examples include blood sugar sensors, pregnancy test drugs, ovulation test drugs, and HbA1c/microalbumin analyzers (e.g., DCA 2000 available from Bayer AG). These POCT devices are inferior in versatility to large-sized automated devices, but are capable of focusing on a marker substance specific to a disease and measuring the marker substance in a simple and prompt manner. They are thus effective for screening and monitoring examinees. Also, POCT devices are small and portable, can be introduced at low costs, and can be used by anyone without requiring particular expertise in operation.
Currently, there are many items measured in clinical tests. When a body fluid such as urine is used as a sample, the measurement methods are roughly divided into optical measurement type and electrochemical measurement type. The above-described conventional large-sized automated devices and POCT devices use either type of measurements for making measurements.
Recently, swelling medical expenses and an increasing number of patients with life-style related diseases have been imposing a burden on medical economy, thereby necessitating a reduction in medical expenses and suppression of increasing patients with lifestyle-related diseases. One fundamental solution of such problem could be Evidence Based-medical (EBM). EBM allows objective management of medical care according to individual patients' needs, and it is expected that practicing preventive healthcare will lead particularly to a reduction in the number of patients with lifestyle-related diseases, etc.
To establish and practice EBM, test information obtained from clinical tests is essential. Test information in EBM includes test results and solutions for patients based on the test results. As used herein, "solutions for patients" refer to guidance on lifestyle such as diet control, treatment by medication, and the like. That is, in EBM, tests are conducted in order to allow those who are to receive medical care to "find their problems" and "make a decision on courses of treatment". In order to provide safer and better solutions in EBM, it is necessary to clearly present problems to those who are to receive medical care. Hence, in clinical tests, it has become important to obtain the test results of a plurality of interrelated test items easily and promptly.
The above-described conventional large-sized automated devices are versatile and capable of testing a large number of items regardless of whether or not they are related to a disease. However, since such devices have complicated structures, they are difficult to operate for those without expertise. Further, there is a problem in that it takes long time to obtain a test result so that it takes long time to feed back the result to the examinee. Also, although the POCT devices are superior in operability and capable of easy and prompt tests, they are unable to test a plurality of items, since they are measurement devices designed specifically for markers that are related to specific diseases.
Thus, there has been proposed a device for use in biochemical or clinical tests, which includes a cavity into which a liquid sample flows by capillary action. The cavity includes an electrode structure for measuring at least one electrical characteristic of the sample, and a reagent such as an antibody or enzyme capable of being released into the cavity. A wall of the cavity is transparent so that the cavity contents can be optically measured (e.g., Patent Document 4).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 09-127126
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 07-248310
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 03-046566
Patent Document 4: U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,868

Measuring device, measuring apparatus and method of measuring


Methods and apparatus to assemble actuators are described. An example method includes positioning a biasing element in a cavity defined by a housing of an actuator such that the biasing element is in an uncompressed state and at least a portion of the biasing element is to extend outside of the cavity beyond an end defined by the housing; compressing the biasing element to a compressed state until the portion of the biasing element extending outside of the cavity is positioned inside the cavity; coupling a cover to the end of the housing to capture the biasing element in the cavity; and maintaining the biasing element in the compressed state during the coupling such that the biasing element does not engage the cover.

Control valves are commonly used in process control systems to control the flow of process fluids. A control valve typically includes an actuator (e.g., a pneumatic actuator, a hydraulic actuator, etc.) operatively coupled to a flow control member to automate the control valve. In operation, a control fluid (e.g., air) is supplied to the actuator to position the flow control member relative to a valve seat to regulate fluid flow through the control valve.
Many process control applications require actuators (e.g., valve actuators) to include fail-safe systems. A fail-safe system provides protection to a process control system by causing the actuator and, thus, the flow control member to move to either a fully-closed position or a fully-opened position during emergency situations, power failures, and/or if the control fluid (e.g., air) supply to an actuator (e.g., a pneumatic actuator) is shut down.
To provide a fail-safe system, some actuators include a biasing member disposed in a cylinder of the actuator. However, in some instances, including a biasing member may significantly increase a dimensional envelope (e.g., length) of the actuator. In other instances, including a biasing member may require complex assembly or tools if the cylinder of the actuator has a smaller dimensional length than the biasing element.


A hand guard of a firearm for receiving an accessory of the firearm includes: one or more Picatinny accessory rails running longitudinally along a barrel of the firearm; a linear cavity parallel to the barrel of the firearm and parallel to an accessory receiving surface of the one or more Picatinny accessory rails; the one or more Picatinny accessory rails including one or more through holes fluidly connecting the linear cavity to the accessory receiving surface; and wherein the one or more Picatinny accessory rails includes a flange facing toward the linear cavity and running parallel to the barrel of the firearm, the flange including a track with a flat surface as a guide for a nut or ferrule for attaching the accessory of the firearm to the one or more Picatinny accessory rails of the hand guard.

Hand guards with MIL-STD-1913 rails (also referred to as Picatinny rail hand guards) have seen wide use on firearms since their invention, the MIL-STD-1913 attachment system is widely lauded for its attachment strength, standardized small increment longitudinal attachment positions, repeatability of attachment position, and its inherent quick attach/detach capability. However hand guards with MIL-STD-1913 rails have long been viewed as having 2 major drawbacks when compared to simple non accessory mounting hand guards. Those being bulk, and weight. The bulk, or width of these hand guards has been considered necessary to allow versatility in accessory attachment, due to the attachment clamps surrounding the dovetail. In order to provide clearance for the clamps surrounding the dovetail, the specification calls for 0.367″ minimum clearance from the outermost plane of the rail to any obstructions located inward from that plane. If adjacent rails are placed too close to each other, the clamp from one mounted accessory can create an obstruction preventing the mounting of an accessory on an adjacent rail. To avoid this interference, manufacturers typically space the outermost plane of the rails between 1″ and 1.25″ from the centerline of the firearms barrel, leading to a typical industry standard of between 2″ and 2.5″ wide hand guards, whereas a standard non accessory mounting hand guard typically has a width of 1.5″ to 1.75″ for comfort. The weight is an inherent byproduct of the bulk, as a larger hand guard contains more material, also the rail profile themselves comprise a significant amount of material that would otherwise be unnecessary on a non-accessory mounting hand guard. Several methods have been used to address the weight and bulk issues associated with Picatinny rail hand guards, while still maintaining the ability to attach accessories.
One common method is to limit the attachment rails to small sections of the hand guard, in areas where it is most likely for someone to attach an accessory, and make the rest of the hand guard narrower/less bulky, for hand placement. This however limits the locations for both accessory mounting, and comfortable hand placement, significantly decreasing the modularity of the system.
Another common and increasingly popular method, is to forgo the MIL-STD-1913 rails altogether, in favor of a narrower hand guard with specific shaped holes to which accessories can be bolted directly, either by a nut and bolt, or a bolt that threads directly into the holes in the hand guard. The two most popular of these attachment methods are the Key-Mod and M-Lok systems. This method solves the weight and bulk issues associated with Picatinny rail hand guards, but introduces other issues, such as the following: The bolt on accessory attachments are typically not as strong, not as quick to attach/detach, nor as repeatable as MIL-STD-1913 attachments.
The incremental longitudinal spacing of these systems is typically much larger than the 0.394″ of the MIL-STD-1913 rail, the two most popular systems have twice the distance between increments. The hand guards designed for direct bolt on accessories can easily become too hot to comfortably hold, due to several factors; They are typically narrower placing them closer to the source of the heat (the firearms barrel), and are constructed with far less surface area than a hand guard with MIL-STD-1913 rails, which dissipates the heat to the atmosphere.
To increase modularity, these systems usually include sections of MIL-STD-1913 rail that bolt on, however, where the rails are bolted on the bulk is increased, and the weight of those sections is significantly more than the weight of a similar length section of a hand guard with integral MIL-STD-1913 rail, due to the attachment hardware.
One method attempting to increase the modularity of attachment systems has arisen U.S. Pat. No. 9,599,439B1 Which adds direct bolt on attachment provisions to the MIL-STD-1913 rails on the hand guard, allowing users to attach accessories that were designed for either system. This method, however does not address the 2 major drawbacks inherent in typical Picatinny rail hand guards. Additionally this particular method compromises the standard 0.394 spacing between longitudinal attachment positions, requiring that some recoil grooves be omitted, or repositioned to provide purchase for the nut used to attach bolt on accessories. It is also more difficult to manufacture, requiring an undercut or rabbet be made on the inside portion of the rail in which to house the nut used for accessory attachment.
This invention solves the inherent bulk issue with Picatinny rails, by moving the outermost plane of the rails inward towards the barrel, while still allowing for attachment of accessories at the same longitudinal position on adjacent rails, either by means of one MIl-STD-1913 clamp and one bolt on accessory, or two bolt on accessories. It mitigates the weight issue, both by decreasing the bulk, and by the addition of the holes for bolt on accessory mounting. Additionally, this invention mitigates both the heat issue of hand guards with bolt on accessory attachments by retaining the increased surface area of the MIL-STD-1913 rail, and the drawbacks of the bolt on accessory mounts, by allowing for MIL-STD-1913 clamps to be used where the superior attachment method is needed.


An apparatus includes a processing unit and a memory. The processing unit is configured to encode a plurality of bits to obtain a plurality of encoded bits, the processing unit is configured to determine an inversion decision. When the inversion decision indicates that the subset of the encoded bits shall not be inverted, the processing unit is configured to store, as a stored word, bits of the first codeword into the memory. When the inversion decision indicates that the subset of the encoded bits shall be inverted, the processing unit is configured to invert each encoded bit of a subset of the encoded bits to obtain a second codeword and to store the second codeword into the memory.

It would be highly beneficial if improved concepts for multi-bit correction would be provided.
It becomes increasingly important to increase the reliability of memories and also to reduce power consumption in the new arising types memories.
A lot of types of memories, for example MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory), R-RAM (Resistive Random Access Memory), exhibit an asymmetrical behavior with respect to permanent faults and errors. For example, a lot of memories exhibit in general more stuck-at-0 memory faults than stuck-at-1 memory faults. Other memories exhibit in general more stuck-at-1 memory faults than stuck-at-0 memory faults.
For example, flash-memories are asymmetrical with respect to power consumption for writing 1 or 0. In other words, power consumption differs, when a 1 is written into memory compared to when a 0 is written into memory. In R-RAMs errors are unidirectional, mainly, stuck-at-zero errors occur, but not stuck-at-one errors. Also, regarding MRAMs, mainly stuck-at-0 faults occur, but not stuck-at-1 faults.
It would be highly appreciated, if improved concepts for data storage would be provided.

Apparatus and method for improving data storage by data inversion


When data retransmission is used to handle errors caused by impulse noise, buffer memory requirements may be reduced and/or data rate increased by detecting impulse noise at the transmitting equipment and initiating retransmission in response to such detection rather than waiting for a retransmission indication from the receiving end. The decision to retransmit may be made dependent on the strength or other properties of the detected noise burst. The decision criterion may be made adaptive by correlating noise burst properties with received retransmission indications or the absence thereof.

High speed data connections over telecommunications transmission lines such as existing telephone lines is an important technology. In particular, various kinds of DSL, such as e.g ADSL and VDSL2 are in, or are expected to come into widespread use to supply high speed data to customer premises such as homes and businesses.
DSL communications are sensitive to noise interference. In particular, impulse noise can be a problem. Impulse noise occurs as a burst or repeated bursts of very strong noise, and it can severely disrupt the reliability of the DSL connection. Impulse noise may be produced by various household electrical equipment present at customer premises (either when faulty or as a part of normal operation).
Trellis coding is a way to protect the data stream against noise interference. It works well for background noise, but is not efficient against impulse noise.
Reed-Solomon codes with interleaving is another noise protection scheme, which may be used against impulse noise. However, since impulse noise bursts are strong but relatively rare events, it is not very efficient in terms of use of memory and bandwidth. Coding and interleave must be configured for worst case noise impulses, and so most of the time, the bandwidth and memory resources allocated for noise protection aren't really needed.
A recent development of the VDSL2 standard is the inclusion of physical layer retransmission, which is described in "Draft Recommendation ITU-T G.998.4 Improved Impulse Noise Protection (INP) for DSL Transceivers". Such retransmission is particularly useful for protection against impulse noise, as it uses bandwidth only when the transmission of a data unit was actually affected.
Several methods for impulse noise protection are described in the publication "Impulse Noise Protection Initiatives in VDSL2 Systems" by Rahul Garg, Sunita Meena, Hemant Samdani and Patrick Duvaut of Conexant Systems Inc.; in U.S. Pat. No. 7,443,916 B2 (Sedarat et. al) as well as
"Impulse noise protection for multicarrier communication systems", Hossein Sedarat, Benjamin Miller, and Kevin Fisher, 2005 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing
As with any electronics equipment and methods for use therein, there is always a desire for improvements such as reduced memory usage and increased performance. A problem is thus to find improved ways of impulse noise protection.

Method for handling transmission errors on a telecommunications transmission line


A noise attenuating device for reducing acoustic resonance in a cavity of an aircraft with an opening in a skin of the aircraft defining a first surface area and an opening peripheral edge includes a connection mechanism for securing the noise attenuating device in proximity to the opening in the skin of the aircraft and an exterior surface. The exterior surface defines a second surface area that is less than the first surface area of the opening and a device peripheral edge, which has a first section having an edge profile complimentary to at least a portion of the opening peripheral edge and a second section having an indented edge profile in relation to the first section such that when the noise attenuating device is secured within the opening, at least one gap is formed between the device peripheral edge and the opening peripheral edge.

As should be apparent to those skilled in the art, there are a number of reasons for an aircraft to include an opening in its skin. One of these reasons includes the need to access one or more relief valves from the exterior of the aircraft.
Relief valves are provided in many different devices to protect one or more components from damage should pressure in a fluid system exceed a predetermined value. In some instances, the predetermined value may be a maximum pressure for safe operation of a component and/or system.
Aircraft often include fuel tanks that are incorporated into the wings of the aircraft. During fueling, it is possible, albeit unlikely, that the aircraft may be over-fueled. If so, it is possible that the pressure of the fuel may exceed a design tolerance. Since the fuel tanks are incorporated into the wings of the aircraft, excessive pressure on the interior of the wings might negatively impact the fuel tank and/or the wing.
To avoid an overpressure condition in the fuel tanks, aircraft are provided with fuel tank overpressure relief valves that open when the pressure in the fuel tanks exceeds a predetermined value. Excess fuel is discharged through the relief valve until the overpressure condition abates.
As a safety device, a relief valve is not expected to operate very frequently, if ever. However, as should be apparent to those skilled in the art, when valves are not operated regularly, they can "stick" when actuated. This may result in a condition where more than the design pressure is needed to actuate the relief valve, especially after a long period of non-use.
So that the fuel tank overpressure relief valves on an aircraft operate as designed, the maintenance schedules for aircraft include steps for manually opening and closing the fuel tank overpressure relief valves.
As should be apparent to those skilled in the art, the outlet openings from the fuel tank overpressure relief valves are located on the underside of the wings of the aircraft.
It is known that these outlet openings (and the conduits that lead to them) can generate noise during operation of the aircraft. Specifically, when air flows over the outlet opening, an acoustic tone may be generated as a result of acoustic resonance inside the outlet opening and attached conduit.
Noise is a concern for aircraft manufacturers that seek to design aircraft with quiet operations.
While some solutions have been proposed by the prior art to abate the noise generated by these outlet openings, a need exists for improved solutions.

Noise attenuating device to reduce noise generated by an opening in a skin of an aircraft


A molding die is mainly constituted of a die surface shell layer (15) having a die surface (32) responsive to the shape of a composite item and a support (16) supporting the die surface shell layer (15). The die surface shell layer (15) is made of a material having air permeability, and a prepreg material (34) is placed on a die-shaped surface (32) thereof. Then, the prepreg material (34) is covered with a nonpermeable vacuum bag film (35), and a cavity portion (30) of the support (16) is evacuated. The die surface shell layer (15) has air permeability, whereby it follows that air present on the die-shaped surface (32) is also discharged into the cavity portion (30) through the die surface shell layer (15). Consequently, the prepreg material (34) is pressed against the die-shaped surface (32) by the atmospheric pressure outside the vacuum bag film (35), and strongly adheres.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molding die and a molding method, and more particularly, it relates to a molding die and a molding method employed for molding a composite item.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a composite item is manufactured by autoclave molding of a prepreg material of glass fiber, carbon fiber, aramid fiber or the like, or hybrid fiber of glass fiber, carbon fiber, aramid fiber or the like. In the autoclave molding, a molding die manufactured by machining a metallic material such as an aluminum material or a low-expansion metallic invar, or an epoxy resin mold or a nickel electroformed mold inversion-manufactured from a master model of synthetic wood or the like is used.
In molding, the prepreg material is set on a die-shaped surface of such a molding die in an autoclave, and the prepreg material is thereafter covered in order of a peel ply, a bleeder cloth and a vacuum bag film. A stud to which a vacuum pipe is coupled is passed through the vacuum bag film and set in contact with the outer edge of the bleeder cloth. Then, the interior of the autoclave is set to a high pressure (0.3 to 0.7 MPa), and evacuation is performed through this vacuum pipe. Thus, air around the prepreg material is discharged through the peel ply and the bleeder cloth, and the prepreg material adheres to the die surface with pressurization from the outer surface of the bleeder cloth.
Then, the temperature in the autoclave is increased to a prescribed level (at least 100° C.), and this state is held for a constant time. Thus, the prepreg material is hardened in a state deformed into a desired shape. When the hardening terminates, a composite item is manufactured by extracting the prepreg material from the autoclave and releasing the item from the molding die.
The aforementioned conventional autoclave molding is premised on the use of the high-priced autoclave, and hence the cost for the composite item increases. Further, it follows that the autoclave is occupied for a constant time including the rise and fall times of the temperature, and it cannot be said that productivity is excellent. In addition, evacuation of the prepreg material is performed in the autoclave, and hence the adhering situation of the prepreg material to the die surface cannot be sufficiently confirmed. Particularly in a large-sized composite item, it is not easy to increase adhesiveness of a central portion by evacuation with the stud, and hence there is a possibility of reducing the yield of the item.
The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the aforementioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a molding die and a molding method improving the quality and the productivity of a composite item without employing an autoclave.


A coding method, apparatus, and medium with software encoded thereon to implement a coding method. The coding method includes encoding cluster of consecutive non-zero-valued coefficients, the encoding of a cluster including jointly encoding joint events that each are defined by at least two parameters: the number of zero-valued coefficients preceding the cluster, and the number of non-zero-valued coefficients in the cluster. The encoding of the cluster also includes encoding a parameter indicative of the number of amplitude-1 trailing non-zero-valued coefficients in the cluster, in one version with the parameter indicative of the number of trailing amplitude-1 coefficients part of the joint events such that the coding is according to a 3-dimensional joint variable length coding table. The method further includes encoding the amplitudes of the non-zero-valued coefficients that are not encoded by the joint encoding, e.g., encoding the amplitudes of the other than the trailing amplitude-1 coefficients.

Transform coding and decoding of video data includes usually includes what is called entropy coding. For compression, the pixel information of a picture, e.g., of a residual picture after motion compensated prediction, or of a picture for intra-coding is divided into blocks. The blocks are transformed, e.g., by a discrete cosine transform (DCT) or a similar transform, and the resulting transform coefficients are quantized. The quantized transform coefficients are ordered, e.g., from low to higher frequencies along a path in the two dimensional transform domain. The ordered series of quantized transform coefficients is then losslessly encoded by an entropy coding method. One popular entropy coding method is variable length coding in which one or more events, representing one or more quantized coefficients of properties thereof are encoded by codewords such that events that are more likely-to-occur are encoded on average by codewords that are shorter than are events that are less likely-to-occur. Variable length coding (VLC), due to its nice tradeoff in efficiency and simplicity, has been widely used in entropy coding, particularly when the codec is desired to have low computational complexity.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/069,621 to Chen et al. published as US 20060039615, patent application Ser. No. 11/385,183 published as US 20070019877, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/270,138 published as US 20060056720 describes joint amplitude and position coding methods for variable length coding of quantized transform coefficients as occur in transform image and video compression methods. The methods described in these applications were found to be relatively efficient in coding consecutive nonzero transform coefficients compared to separately encoding runs and the amplitude levels. Assuming conventional transform and quantization of image blocks in which the most-likely-to-occur quantized transform amplitude is 0, and the next most-likely-to-occur amplitude is 1, some of the coding methods disclosed in the above-mentioned patent publications takes into account that the most likely to appear non-zero-valued coefficient has amplitude '1' in an ordered series of quantized transform coefficients and encodes the appearances of amplitude-1/non-amplitude-1 coefficients together with coefficient positions using a multi-dimensional variable length code (VLC) mappings, e.g., a multi-dimensional VLC table. In other words, in one implementation, the following quantities are coded jointly by one variable length codeword: run-length of zeros that precede one or more nonzero coefficients, run-length of the nonzero coefficients, and which of those nonzero coefficients have a magnitude of 1. A separate 1-D VLC is then used to code the amplitudes of non-1 non-zero coefficients.
Experimental results have shown that the joint amplitude and position coding described in the above-mentioned patent publications are successful entropy coding schemes. However, in the joint-coding implementation, the size of the code table used to carry out the joint encoding can grows exponentially as the run-length of nonzero coefficients increases. This may require a prohibitive amount of memory in practical, e.g., low cost and/or low power implementations.
A method that allows for smaller code table sizes while preserving much of the coding efficiency is therefore desirable.
Above described U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/976,847 to Junlin Li et al., titled "REDUCED CODE TABLE SIZE IN JOINT AMPLITUDE AND POSITION CODING OF COEFFICIENTS FOR VIDEO COMPRESSION" includes limiting the jointly coded amplitudes to the last few coefficients of the nonzero cluster, up to a pre-determined number denoted M of such trailing coefficients, such that the size of code table is reduced while the coding efficiency substantially still preserved. The number of trailing coefficients is determined (and also fixed) before the code table is constructed.

Variable length coding of coefficient clusters for image and video compression


Kneading elements, extrusion apparatus, and methods of manufacturing honeycomb bodies are described herein. A kneading element (1802) has an inner surface (1804) defining an opening (1806) configured to couple the kneading element (1802) to a shaft (46,48). The kneading element (1802) also has a continuous closed curve elliptical outer surface (1808). The opening (1806) has an axis (1814) that is off-center with respect to a geometric center (1816) of the kneading element (1802) as viewed in a transverse plane perpendicular to the axis.

The manufacture of ceramic honeycomb structures may be accomplished by the process of extruding ceramic powder batch mixtures through honeycomb extrusion dies to form honeycomb extrudate, and drying and firing the extrudate to produce ceramic honeycombs of high strength and thermal durability. The ceramic honeycombs thus produced can be used as catalytic substrates or filters for engine exhaust after treatment.

Kneading elements for extrusion apparatus and methods of manufacturing a honeycomb body


There is provided a heat exchanger realizing downsizing, weight saving, and cost reduction in comparison with a conventional heat exchange element or heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is provided with a first fluid flow portion formed of a honeycomb structure having a plurality of cells partitioned by ceramic partition walls and extending from one end face to another end face in an axial direction to allow a heating medium as a first fluid to flow therein, and a second fluid flow portion formed of a casing containing the honeycomb structure therein, the casing having an inlet and an outlet for a second fluid, and the second fluid flowing on an outer peripheral face of the honeycomb structure to receive heat from the first fluid.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for transferring heat of the first fluid (high temperature side) to the second fluid (low temperature side).
Background Art
There is demanded a heat collection technique from a high temperature gas such as a combustion exchange gas from an engine. As gas/liquid heat exchangers, fin-provided tube-type heat exchangers for an automobile radiator, an outdoor unit for an air-conditioner, etc., are general. However, for collecting heat from gas such as automobile exhaust gas, a general metal heat exchanger has poor thermal resistance, and the use at high temperature is difficult. Therefore, thermally resistant metal material and ceramic material having thermal resistance, thermal shock resistance, corrosion resistance, and the like are suitable. Though there is known a heat exchanger made of heat resistant metal, heat resistant metal has problems such as difficulty in processing, high density and heavy weight, and low thermal conductivity besides high cost.
Patent Document 1 discloses a ceramic heat exchanger where passages for a heating medium is disposed from one end face to the other end face with forming a passage for a medium to be heated in a direction perpendicular to a gap between the passages for a heating medium.
Patent Document 2 discloses a ceramic heat exchanger where a plurality of ceramic heat exchangers each having a heating medium passage and a non-heating medium passage are formed therein are disposed in a casing by means of a string-shaped sealing material made of an unfired ceramic material between bonding faces of the heat exchangers.
However, since Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not have good productivity because they have many steps such as plugging and slit forming, the costs are high. In addition, since the passages of gas/liquid are disposed on every other line, the piping structure and the sealing structure of the fluid are complex. Further, a heat transfer coefficient of liquid is generally 10 to 100 times larger than that of gas, and, in these techniques, heat transfer area on the gas side becomes insufficient, and the heat exchangers are large in proportion to the heat transfer area of the gas regulating the heat exchanger performance.
In Patent Documents 3 and 4, there is a tendency of increase in costs because the honeycomb structural portion and the tube portion have to be manufactured separately and then bonded together to have poor productivity.
Patent Document 5 discloses a honeycomb heat exchanger where a ceramic honeycomb for passing a low temperature fluid therethrough is bonded unitarily to the outer peripheral portion of a ceramic honeycomb for passing a high temperature fluid therethrough by means of a ceramic cylindrical body. Both the ceramic honeycombs are bonded together to make the heat exchange area of the fluids wide, thereby aiming at a high heat exchange amount. However, heat is transferred between the outer peripheral wall of the central honeycomb formed body and the outer peripheral wall of the outer peripheral ceramic honeycomb for exchange, and there is a ceramic cylindrical body between them to inhibit the fluids from being mixed upon breakage. Therefore, the heat exchange route is long, and the thermal resistance of the solid portion is large, which is considered to have a large loss of heat exchange.
Patent Document 6 discloses an apparatus for evaporating liquid by bonding ceramic honeycombs together. Since liquid passes along the minimum distance of the high temperature portion honeycomb, sufficient heat exchange cannot be conducted.
Patent Document 7 discloses a reaction container for conducting a uniform combustion heat generation reaction by air and a fuel with a catalyst on a ceramic honeycomb with a low pressure loss. The outside medium to be heated is not flowing, and it has a large loss of heat exchange.
Patent Document 8 discloses a heat exchanger where heat of the ceramic honeycomb is transferred to the outside, thereby lowering the gas temperature and generating steam. There is a phase transition from liquid to steam, and a strong structure for supporting the volume change is required.
Patent Document 9 discloses an exhaust heat recovery system using a ceramic honeycomb. However, the exhaust heat recovery system uses a heat acoustic phenomenon.
Patent Document 10 discloses an engine exhaust gas heat exchanger. In the heat exchanger, a catalyst conducting exhaust gas purification is a honeycomb structure, and heat exchange is conducted by the gas spouting portion at the back of the honeycomb structure and the fluid flowing in the periphery of the gas spouting portion.


A lithography system has a magnification module having multiple magnifications at a same time within an object plane, which can include a pattern generator therein. The pattern generator is used to pattern light from an illumination system, which is directed by a projection optical system onto a substrate to form features on a substrate. Having multiple magnifications in the object plate allows for patterning of both large and small features on an image plane, which can include the substrate therein. In one example, an array of pattern generators are used. In this example, substantially an entire surface of the substrate can be patterned with large and small features at substantially a same time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a lithography system.
2. Background Art
Pattern generators are used in lithography systems to pattern substrates during an exposure process. Example lithography systems include, but are not limited to, reflective or transmissive maskless, immersion, and photolithography system. Example substrates include, but are not limited to, semiconductor wafers, flat panel display substrates, flexible substrates, and the like. Light interacting with an illumination spot on the pattern generator becomes patterned. The patterned light is projected using a projection optical system onto one or more target areas of the substrate during the exposure process to form features on the substrate.
FIG. 14 shows a portion of a conventional lithography system 1400. System 1400 includes pattern generator 1402 that directs patterned light through a pattern generator group of optical elements 1404, an intermediate group of optical elements 1406, a substrate group of optical elements 1408, and onto a substrate 1410. System 1400 includes a fixed magnification at an object plane 1412 and a fixed distance between object plane 1412 and an image plane 1414. For semiconductor fabrication this was possible because both pattern generator 1402 and substrate 1410 had relative sizes that allowed for a fixed magnification and distance.
However, for flat panel display fabrication using a fixed magnification is no longer desirable because in flat panel display fabrication substrate 1410 is typically many times larger than a size of pattern generator 1402. For example, in flat panel display fabrication pattern generator 1402 can have 1 million pixel areas or active areas, while substrate 1410 can have billions or trillions of pixels areas of the same size. Thus, in flat panel display fabrication substrate 1410 can be about 3 to 6 orders of magnitude larger than pattern generator 1402. Having a fixed magnification results in only being able to pattern one sized feature at a time, which substantially decreases throughput. Throughput is low because various sets of features have different sizes, and with a fixed magnification only one size feature can be pattern during a single exposure.
Therefore, what is needed is a lithography system and method that allow for an increased throughput through patterning of all feature sizes in during each exposure, possibly patterning features over an entire surface of a substrate substantially at a same time. What is also needed is a lithography system and method that can allow for various magnifications, numerical apertures, resolutions, and/or working distances between various parts of the lithography system.

System and method utilizing a lithography tool having modular illumination, pattern generator, and projection optics portions


A process for preparing isoxazole compounds of formula I:

Isoxazole compounds, such as those of formula I described below, are useful intermediates in the synthesis of a variety of products, including antibiotics and other pharmaceutical compounds, agricultural chemicals, dye compounds, etc.
Isoxazole compounds can be prepared, for example, from hydroximoyl halides via intermediate formation of a nitrile oxide. This process requires multiple steps and requires potentially expensive reagents. Desirable, therefore, is a more direct route for the synthesis of isoxazoles.

Process for preparing isoxazole compounds

Abstract: in which a nitroaryl of the formula (II):

Abstract: is contacted with an alkyl acetoacetate of the formula (III) or a salt thereof:

Abstract: in the presence of an activating agent and a base to provide the isoxazole compound.


A guest disk may be setup through the assistance of a restore environment. A restore environment may be bundled with partitioning software, and the restore environment may be a small, lightweight Linux™ environment that is operating-system agnostic. The restore environment allows any operating system image file to be deployed on the guest disk. The guest disk may be created through the use of virtualization software and a guest operating system.

Servers and personal computers often rely on the Microsoft™ Windows™ operating system to execute applications and services. Depending on the Microsoft™ Windows™ edition, multiple licenses may be required for the same computer if multiple instances of Windows™ are loaded onto different partitions on virtual machines sharing the same hardware platform. A partition of a server may be a Unisys Specialty Engine (or "guest"), a general purpose partition, or any other type of partition. For example, a partition of a computer may be created using virtualization tools.
Installing Windows™ on a storage array conventionally requires Microsoft™ created tools for installation. For example, to install and configure a Windows™ operating system on a partition, a computer may use a separate partition or restore environment running the Enterprise Edition of Windows™ to provide an environment capable of setting up and installing guest operating system images by using standard Windows™ disk partitioning (diskpart.exe) and disk imaging tools (imagex.exe) provided by Microsoft™ for OEM image deployment. So, deploying a Windows™ operating system image on a guest partition or guest disk requires a separate Windows™ environment to run on the platform, such as the Enterprise version of Windows™ installed on a designated restore partition. In other words, a single computer may need two or more licenses from Microsoft™ to run the guest partitions in order to properly license the Windows™-based restore environment. Companies that manufacture and sell computers typically do not want to buy additional licenses from Microsoft™, especially if a license will only be used to instantiate the guest partitions. These companies may purchase dozens, hundreds, or thousands of Windows™ licenses from Microsoft™ for the installation of guest partitions. Thus, a tool is desired to reduce the Microsoft™ license requirements in order to lower licensing costs.
Also, as mentioned above, deploying the Windows™ operating system images conventionally requires Microsoft™ tools. Because Microsoft™ designed their tools to only install operating systems created by Microsoft™, these installation tools are operating system-specific. Operating system-specific tools may limit a company's deployment flexibility because only Windows™-compatible applications may be used. Some companies may wish to use, for example, Linux™-based environments, Linux™ operating systems are based on open-source software and may be requested by the customer because of interoperability with the customer environment, reduced licensing fees or Independent Software Vendor (ISV) support requirements. Given all these factors, companies may desire a computing platform capable of deploying and running both Windows™ and Linux™ guest partitions (or potentially other operating systems, like FreeBSD). So, a set of operating system agnostic installation tools are desired.
The systems and methods described herein attempt to overcome the drawbacks discussed above by bundling a restore environment with partitioning software. The restore environment may be a small, lightweight Linux™ environment that is operating system-agnostic so that any operating system image file which has been previously captured may be deployed on a guest disk on demand.
In one embodiment, a method of creating and capturing a guest disk image comprises: creating, by a computer, a plurality of virtual disks from a single storage array, wherein the virtual disks include at least one virtualization software disk and at least one guest disk; installing, by a computer, virtualization software onto the at least one virtualization software disk, wherein the virtualization software bundles a virtualization software console and a restore environment; installing, by a computer running the virtualization software, a guest operating system that bundles virtualization drivers onto the guest disk; booting, by a computer running the virtualization software, the guest operating system through the virtualization software console; configuring, by a computer, settings of the guest operating system depending on applications or services offered by the guest disk; booting, by a computer running the virtualization software, the restore environment from the virtualization software console; capturing, by a computer, a guest disk file system into a disk image file; and saving, by a computer, the disk image file to the at least one virtualization software disk.
In another embodiment, a method of deploying a guest disk comprises: launching, by a computer, a virtualization software, wherein the virtualization software includes a bundled restore environment; booting, by a computer, the restore environment; downloading, by a computer, a compressed image file from a storage disk; expanding, by a computer, the compressed image file directly onto the guest disk using a script run within the restore environment; and configuring, by a computer, boot settings to boot the installed guest disk operating system instead of the restore environment.
In another embodiment, a computer system comprises: at least one processor; a memory; physical data storage hardware, wherein the physical data storage hardware includes at least one guest partition disk and at least one virtualization software disk; and a virtualization software, installed on the virtualization software disk, configured to partition computer hardware resources and install an operating system on the virtual guest disk, wherein the virtualization software includes a restore environment that runs in a portion of the block of memory, and the restore environment is configured to capture and deploy a guest disk image of an operating system installed on the guest disk.
In another embodiment, a method of creating and capturing a guest disk image comprises: creating, by a computer, a plurality of virtual disks from a single storage array, wherein the virtual disks include at least one virtualization software disk and at least one guest disk, and wherein the at least one guest disk is minimally sized to accommodate operating system and data files and minimize unused space; installing, by a computer, virtualization software onto the at least one virtualization software disk, wherein the virtualization software bundles a virtualization software console and a restore environment; partitioning, by a computer running the virtualization software, the guest disk into at least an operating system (OS) partition and a data partition; installing, by a computer running the virtualization software, a guest operating system that bundles virtualization drivers onto the OS partition of the guest disk; booting, by a computer running the virtualization software, the guest operating system through the virtualization software console; configuring, by a computer, settings of the guest operating system depending on applications or services installed on the guest disk; booting, by a computer running the virtualization software, the restore environment from the virtualization software console; capturing, by a computer, a guest disk file system of the OS partition into a first disk image file and a guest disk file system of the data partition into a second image file; and saving, by a computer, the first and second disk image files to the at least one virtualization software disk.
In another embodiment, a method of deploying a guest disk comprises: creating, by a computer, a plurality of virtual disks from a storage array, wherein the virtual disks include at least one guest disk; partitioning, by a computer, each virtual disk into at least an operating system (OS) partition and a data partition; launching, by a computer, a virtualization software, wherein the virtualization software includes a bundled restore environment; booting, by a computer, the restore environment; downloading, by a computer, a OS partition image file and a data partition image file from a storage disk, wherein the OS partition image file and the data partition image file are smaller than a final customer system's OS and data partitions; expanding, by a computer, the OS partition image file directly onto the guest disk's OS partition using a script run within the restore environment to create an OS file system; expanding, by a computer, the data partition image file directly onto the guest disk's data partition using a script run within the restore environment to create a data file system; and resizing, by a computer, an OS file system and the data file system to access unused portions of the OS and data partitions based on the size of the final customer system's OS and data partition.
Additional features and advantages of an embodiment will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the exemplary embodiments in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Technique for deploying operating systems in a virtualized environment


The invention relates to ophthalmic molding formulations and to tinted, high Dk ophthalmic moldings. This invention also relates to a method for making a tinted ophthalmic molding. The method comprises: (a) providing a polymer precursor having cross-linkable or polymerizable groups; (b) providing a pigment dispersion comprising an inorganic or organic pigment and a dispersing agent; (c) mixing the pigment dispersion with the polymer precursor to form a tinted prepolymer mixture; (d) dispensing the tinted prepolymer mixture into a mold; and (e) forming a tinted ophthalmic molding from the tinted prepolymer mixture, the molding comprising a polymer matrix having the pigment entrapped therein. With this method, tinted ophthalmic moldings, particularly edge-to-edge soft, tinted contact lenses having improved properties, are prepared with an improved efficiency.

1. High Dk Ophthalmic Moldings
In the field of ophthalmic moldings, and in particular in the field of contact lenses, a biocompatible lens may be generally defined as one which will not substantially damage the surrounding ocular tissue and ocular fluid during the time period of contact. The phrase "ophthalmically compatible" more appropriately describes the biocompatibility requirements of ophthalmic lenses.
One ophthalmic compatibility requirement for contact lenses is that the lens must allow oxygen to reach the cornea in an amount which is sufficient for long-term corneal health. The contact lens must allow oxygen from the surrounding air to reach the cornea because the cornea does not receive oxygen from the blood supply like other tissue. If sufficient oxygen does not reach the cornea, corneal swelling occurs. Extended periods of oxygen deprivation causes the undesirable growth of blood vessels in the cornea. "Soft" contact lenses conform closely to the shape of the eye, so oxygen cannot easily circumvent the lens. Thus, soft contact lenses must allow oxygen to diffuse through the lens to reach the cornea.
While there exist rigid gas permeable ("RGP") contact lenses which have high oxygen permeability and which move on the eye, RGP lenses are typically quite uncomfortable for the consumer. Thus, soft contact lenses are preferred by many consumers because of comfort. Moreover, a contact lens which may be continuously worn for a period of a day or more (including wear during periods of sleeping) requires comfort levels which exclude RGP lenses as popular extended-wear candidates.
In order to balance the ophthalmic compatibility and consumer comfort requirements in designing a daily wear soft contact lens, polymers and copolymers of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were developed. These hydrophilic polymers move well on the eye and provide sufficient oxygen permeability for daily wear. Certain soft contact lenses have been approved by the FDA for extended wear periods of up to about 6 nights of overnight wear and seven days of daily wear. However, the consumer cannot safely and comfortably wear these poly(HEMA) lenses for extended periods of seven days or more, because the oxygen permeability is insufficient. True extended wear (i.e., seven days or more) of these lenses may result, at a minimum, in corneal swelling and development of surface blood vessels in the cornea.
In order to improve oxygen permeability, polymers containing silicone groups were developed. A variety of siloxane-containing polymers have been disclosed as having high oxygen permeability (high Dk). For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,228,741; 3,341,490; 3,996,187; and 3,996,189.
2. Tinted Ophthalmic Moldings
A number of dyes have been incorporated into ophthalmic moldings, such as contact lenses, for a variety of reasons. Two popular type of dyes include ultraviolet (UV) light absorbing agents. One common reason for incorporating dyes into contact lenses is to produce a lens that changes the apparent perceived color of the wearer's iris. Another reason to dye a lens is to enable the user to easily locate a lens in a clear solution within a lens storage, disinfecting or cleaning container. Dyeing a lens for this purpose is for "visibility tinting" the lens.
Visibility tinting may be accomplished by applying a dye to a portion of the surface or by applying the dye to the full front surface of the lens. Alternatively, the tint may be incorporated into the full body of the polymer matrix of the lens. There have been a number of patents and published patent applications relating to tinting contact lenses or making contact lenses that change the wearer's iris color. However, these processes are not yet totally satisfactory, for example, with respect to the types of lens materials used to tint, the production efficiency, and/or the quality of the products obtained.
Thus, there remains a need for an ophthalmically compatible, visibility tinted transparent polymeric lens material which is suited to short and extended periods of continuous contact with ocular tissue and tear fluid. In addition, there is still a need for a method of making an improved visibility tinted, i.e., a full body, edge-to-edge tinted contact lens with an improved efficiency by minimizing in-line production steps. Also, there remains a need for a method for tinting or coloring a lens that does not require the use of reactive dyes and associated wet processing necessary to remove unbound dye, activator and reaction by-products.
Moreover, there is a need for tinted ophthalmic lenses with improved properties, for example, with respect to high oxygen permeability, increased mechanical strength, reduced leaching or migration of dye or pigment out of the lens material and color retention during exposure to UV light during photopolymerization.

Tinted, high Dk ophthalmic molding and a method for making same