A method and apparatus for providing welding power with an arc-width control is disclosed. The power supply includes a power circuit that provides a welding output characterized by a plurality of welding output parameters, and the power circuit receives at least one control input. A controller provides control signals to the power circuit. The controller receives user inputs for arc width and wire feed speed. The controller has an arc width control module that provides control signals that adjust one or more welding output parameters. The adjustment has a gain responsive to the wire feed speed input, such that there are at least three gains over a range of possible wire feed speeds, in one embodiment. The arc width control module provides control signals that adjust at least five welding output parameters in response to the wire feed speed input and the arc-width control input, in another embodiment.

Electric arc welding is well known, and is performed with a variety of processes using a variety of types of equipment. One electric arc welding process is a pulse spray process, which is typically performed using a wire feeder and a power supply. An example of a prior art power supply used in pulse spray welding is a Miller S64M™ wire feeder. The Miller S64M™ wire feeder may be used with a Miller XMT304™ power supply.
Typically, in pulse spray processes, power is provided from the power supply to the wire feeder, and the wire feeder provides the wire and power to the arc. The wire feeder typically includes a controller, which may be part of or separate from the wire feeder, and which controls the wire feed speed based on a user-selected input. Additionally, the controller provides a command signal to the power supply which causes the power supply to output a current and voltage at a desired magnitude. The command is produced at least in response to a user-selected wire feed speed. The current amplitude is often controlled as a function of time, switching between a background current and a peak current, thus creating a pulsed output.
The welding process is often controlled by controlling various welding parameters. For example, the pulse spray process is typically controlled by controlling such welding parameters as peak amps, background amps, pulse width, voltage, ramps, and frequency. The parameters are typically controlled using a controller which provides control signals to the wire feeder (or power supply). Some welding power supplies control the ramp up and ramp down (transition from background to peak, or peak to background). Also some welding power supplies provide an adaptive output voltage where the voltage is controlled to provide a desired or constant arc length. As used herein, welding parameters refer to parameters of the welding power output, such as peak amps, background amps, frequency, pulse width, voltage (constant or adaptive) ramp up, and ramp down. Adaptive voltage, or adaptive arc length, as used herein includes adjusting (changing or scaling) an output parameter, pulse frequency modulation for example, to maintain a constant or desired arc length. Because these welding parameters are used to control the output it may be said that the output is characterized by a plurality of output parameters.
Some wire feeder controllers include factory programs which preset various welding parameters. The values for these parameters are stored by the controller (often in digital or other types of memory). Also, many controllers allow the user to store user-created programs which store user-selected welding parameters. In such a case, the user teaches or sets the desired values for welding parameters, and stores them in the memory.
When the user wishes to access either the factory preset or the user-created programs, they are individually selected using some type of digital interface. Then, the controller commands the power supply to provide power at the called for current, peak current, background current, frequency, ramps and pulse width, thus providing the desired welding parameters.
Different types of welding require different types of arc characteristics (such as the plasma cone angle\width and intensity, hereafter referred to as arc width). For example, flat, horizontal down, welding typically may be performed using a relatively wide arc. Conversely, overhead welding, or welding in other difficult or inconvenient physical positions, often requires a narrow arc.
The preset factory programs are typically set to provide for welding with a wide arc, since this is the one most inexperienced welders will use. To access the narrower arc the welder must adjust the welding parameters manually and individually until the desired arc is obtained. It may be necessary to decrease one parameter as another parameter is increased, without changing other arc characteristics. Without changing other arc characteristics, as used herein, refers to not changing an arc characteristic from the standpoint of the user and/or in such a way the arc is adversely affected, such as not changing arc length to the extent the weld is adversely affected or the user notices the change.
However, many welders lack the experience to know how to properly adjust the various parameters, and in particular welders do not understand the interaction between adjusting various parameters. For example, to decrease arc width, frequency is increased. However, increasing frequency also increases arc length. Many welders do not know this, nor do they know how to adjust the other welding parameters to offset the effect of changing frequency on arc length.
Some prior art systems provide for the user to automatically adjust arc width. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,575 (owned by the assignee of the present invention), the system adjusts welding parameters with a single knob (i.e. a single arc control input) that controls arc width (or a different arc characteristic) without adversely affecting some other arc characteristics. Specifically, the arc width adjustment is made by adjusting three or four welding parameters simultaneously, such that one or more other characteristics of the arc are minimally affected. Simultaneous, in this context, means at the same time from the standpoint of the user and the welding process. They might occur one after the other, but so far as the user observes by watching the welding process, they occur at the same time.
A single digital knob (or other input device such as a digital input panel, keyboard, analog knob, sliding switch, etc) on the controller allows the user to select between an arc width adjustment of 0 and 20. An arc width adjustment of 0 is no arc width adjustment, and an arc width adjustment of 20 is the maximum arc width adjustment (narrow arc cone) in the preferred embodiment. No adjustment is having the parameters be as they were in the original program, which is typically best for flat, horizontal down, welding (i.e., using a wide arc).
While the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,575 is a considerable advance over the prior art, it only controls three or four parameters, and does not control adaptive arc length (output voltage) in response to the arc width setting. Thus, when changing arc width the arc length other characteristics may remain constant in some circumstances, but under other circumstances changing the arc width will also change the arc length. Also, that system provided two gains, one for over wire feed speeds of more than 225 IPM, and one for less than 225 IPM. This caused a step change from above and below 225 IPM, which was noticeable at the arc.
Accordingly, it is desirable that a welding power supply and wire feeder include a controller that allows the user to adjust the arc width using a single knob, such that more five or more welding parameters, preferably including arc voltage, are adjusted to obtain a desired arc width, while maintaining one or more other characteristics of the arc, preferably including arc length.

Method and apparatus for arc welding with arc control


A knockdown chair kit may be assembled by the end user without glue, nails, rivets or other fasteners and is strong and durable enough to to support an adult human in regular use. The kit is fabricated by means of laser cutting. The chair is made out of plywood, solid wood, wood composite, plastic, metal or other similar thin, flat stock. It uses a series of hooks, which hooks fit into slots having matched positions, in order to rigidly interlock the component members of the chair together and prevent them from pulling apart. A series of pegs are flush-mount, i.e. their height equals the thickness of the planar stock, so as not to project outwardly therefrom. A feature of the knockdown furniture kit is the use of a pair of hooks to grasp matched slots in the two ends of a U-shaped arm rest. The pair of hooks anchor the arm rest horizontally so as to present a flat surface for the user's arms to rest upon. At the same time, the arm rest itself remains in a stressed curved position, which position locks all previously assembled pieces together into one rigid whole.

It is known to use interlocking tabs and slots to make children's toys out of cardboard and other planar stock. Until now, it has been impractical to make full-sized functioning furniture utilizing such tabs and slots, due to difficulty in cutting flat stock with the precision necessary to produce a joint that is capable of supporting significant weight during prolonged periods of use. With the advent of precision laser cutting methods, such furniture is now possible, utilizing the teachings of the present invention. This invention is believed to represent the first knockdown (i.e. self-assembled) piece of furniture which takes advantage of the benefits of the laser cutting process.
Prior developments in this field may be generally illustrated by reference to the following information disclosure statement:
______________________________________ Pat. No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 5,000,514 M. Hanson Mar. 19, 1991 4,509,794 B. Roland Apr. 09, 1991 2,518,955 A. Stelzer Aug. 15, 1950 2,632,498 P. Curtis Mar. 24, 1953 2,486,987 G. Scarlett Nov. 01, 1949 4,593,950 V. Infanti Jun. 10, 1986 1,508,697 L. Junker Sep. 16, 1924 1,419,647 W. Shepherdson Jun. 13, 1922 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,419,647, 5,000,514, 4,509,794 and 2,518,955 teach kits that feature knockdown chairs with arms in which tab-and-slot construction is used to assemble the chairs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,794 uses both hooked tabs and non-hooked positioning tabs. However, the latter are not flush-mount.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,632,498, and 2,486,987 teach kits similar to those above, only the chairs do not have arms.
The rest of the patents are representative of what is in the art.
None of these references describe a chair with true horizontal arm rests. By this is meant arm rests wherein the plane of the planar stock comprising the arm rest is disposed horizontally, as opposed to prior art arm rests wherein the plane of the stock is disposed vertically and the only horizontal area with which one may support one's arms is the narrow edge created by the thickness of the stock.
All of the patented designs treat the planar parts as rigid masses only capable of either sliding or rotating into position. The present design addresses and relies upon the flexibility of the material. It cannot be assembled or locked if made from rigid stock. Twenty-one snap lock elements (sixteen in the arms, two in the front, and three in the seat) of the total of seventy-four joining elements in the chair, depend on the flexibility of the material in order to function. Further, none of the above prior art designs make use of planar flexing when fully assembled to achieve their joining or locking.


Analogs of 6-monoacetyl morphine (6-MAM) are described. These include analogs derivatized at either the C-3 position, the C-6 position, or the nor position of the molecule. These analogs allow for elaboration with linkers terminated by a functional group such as an activated ester, the functional groups being useful for attaching the molecule to other entities such as proteins, polysaccharides, and reporter groups.

Heroin (diacetylmorphine) is an opioid developed as an antitussive agent during the late nineteenth century. Heroin abuse soon became a problem and continues to be so now, more than a century later. Following ingestion, heroin is quickly metabolized to 6-monoacetyl morphine (6-MAM) and then to morphine, which in turn undergoes extensive metabolism.

Acetylcodeine is a synthetic byproduct present in street heroin but not in pharmaceutical diacetylmorphine, which is used in heroin-assisted treatment for opiate dependent drug users. Acetylcodeine (AC) was investigated as a urinary biomarker for detection of illicit heroin use. Detection of acetylcodeine could play an important role in determining if addicts enrolled in heroin maintenance programs were supplementing their supervised diacetylmorphine doses with illicit heroin.

The problem presently unsolved by the prior art is the unavailability of antibodies which will allow detection of 6-MAM or 6-MAC as markers of heroin abuse without interference from other opiates such as morphine or codeine which may derive from legitimate medical prescriptions, e.g., cough syrup, or even diet, e.g., poppy seeds. The present invention provides chemical analogs useful in development of antibodies that recognize 6-MAM and 6-MAC and in production of conjugates useful in immunoassay methods for detection of 6-MAM and 6-MAC.

6-monoacetylmorphine derivatives useful in immunoassay


The disclosed bar code reader includes an auto-focusing component for rapidly producing in focus images. An imaging system makes use of an aiming pattern that impinges upon the coded indicia of a target. The imaging system includes a light monitoring pixel array and a focusing lens that is fixed with respect to the pixel array for transmitting an image of the target object onto the pixel array. The imaging system also includes a movable mirror mounted for movement along a path of travel to reflect light passing through the focusing lens onto the pixel array. A drive motor moves the mirror relative the lens to adjust a focus of an image of the object formed at the pixel array. An automatic focusing component of the imaging system analyzes the aiming pattern reflected from the target object and projected onto the pixel array by the lens. The automatic focusing component issues commands to the drive motor causing the mirror to move along its path of travel to a suitable position for properly focusing the target object onto the pixel array.

Various electro-optical systems have been developed for reading optical indicia, such as bar codes. A bar code is a coded pattern of graphical indicia comprised of a matrix or series of bars and spaces of varying widths, the bars and spaces having differing light reflecting characteristics. Systems that read and decode bar codes employing CCD or CMOS-based imaging systems are typically referred to as imaging-based bar code readers or bar code scanners.
Imaging systems include CCD arrays, CMOS arrays, or other imaging pixel arrays having a plurality of photosensitive elements or pixels. Light reflected from a target image, e.g., a target bar code is focused through a lens of the imaging system onto the pixel array. Output signals from the pixels of the pixel array are digitized by an analog-to-digital converter. Decoding circuitry of the imaging system processes the digitized signals and attempts to decode the imaged bar code.
The ability of an imaging system to successfully decode an imaged bar code is directly dependent upon the ability to move the lens to a suitable position whereby a satisfactorily clear image of the target bar code is focused onto the pixel array. The imaging system focusing lens is driven by a motor, such as a piezo motor, along an axis perpendicular to the pixel array or sensor plane to permit focusing of the bar code image on the pixel array.
Whether the imaging system is housed in a handheld, portable bar code reader or a permanently mounted reader, the user of the device cannot be expected to manually focus the imaging system by moving the lens, thus, there is a need for an automatic focusing system or auto focus system for an imaging system.
Bar code imaging systems require a variable focus optical system to maximize barcode reading range and deliver high quality images over a range of distances. The high scan rate for barcode reading imposes a high-speed requirement on the auto focusing technique to be used in the imaging system.
A typical two-dimensional barcode imaging scanner has an aiming pattern generator for the user to aim the scanner at the target and a separate illuminating system for illuminating the entire two-dimensional field of view. One auto-focusing technique that uses this aiming pattern is described in U.S. published patent application 2006:0038017 published on Feb. 23, 2006, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
This above published application improves imaging quality through use of an auto-focus mechanism. Use of a moving lens tends to increase the device size. It is therefore desirable to create a compact auto-focus mechanism that does not appreciably increase device dimensions in relation to existing fixed focus imaging devices.

Compact autofocus bar code reader with moving mirror


When dynamic image signals from a plurality of dynamic image signal sources are simultaneously received by a plurality of receivers, a dynamic image signal to be transmitted is transmitted while being divided into one or a plurality of partial dynamic image signals. In each of the plurality of dynamic image output devices, a desired number of received partial dynamic image signals are displayed in a desired size, thereby preventing a decrease in transmission efficiency caused by transmission of a large amount of dynamic image information exceeding the capacity of a transmission path.

The present invention relates to a dynamic image transmission apparatus capable of transmitting dynamic image signals from a plurality of dynamic image signal sources to a plurality of dynamic image output apparatuses and, for example, to a dynamic image transmission apparatus that can be used in a dynamic image network for a TV meeting.
The present invention also relates to an image transmission apparatus for transmitting a plurality of dynamic image information signals through a multi-channel transmission path.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus for encoding one-dimensional data such as voice data or two-dimensional data such as image data, and outputting decoded data.
A dynamic image transmission apparatus of this type is arranged as shown in, e.g., FIG. 34.
In FIG. 34, reference numerals 101a and 101b denote video cameras as dynamic image signal sources; and 102a to 102d, modulators each having a function of modulating a dynamic image signal output from the video camera 101a (101b) or a video tape recorder (VTR) 103a (103b) at a desired frequency, and outputting the modulated signal onto a coaxial cable 110. Reference numerals 103a and 103b denote VTRs; and 105a to 105c, demodulators each having a function of selectively demodulating a desired one of a plurality of dynamic image signals modulated by the modulators 102a to 102d, and output onto the coaxial cable 110. The modulators 102a to 102d, the coaxial cable 110, and the demodulators 105a to 105c form a dynamic image signal transmission channel. In this case, a multi-channel transmission path is constituted since a plurality of modulators and demodulators are used.
Reference numerals 106a to 106c denote output devices such as displays, video printers, and the like. The output devices 106a to 106c output dynamic image signals demodulated by the demodulators 105a to 105c.
The modulation frequencies used in the modulators 102a to 102d are controlled to utilize frequencies which are not used for transmission on the coaxial cable 110 at the beginning of transmission of dynamic image signals from the dynamic image signal sources.
As a second prior art, a dynamic image transmission apparatus comprises an arrangement shown in, e.g., FIG. 35 so as to synthesize dynamic images of a plurality of attendants, and to display synthesized dynamic images on each terminal.
More specifically, in FIG. 35, reference numerals 151a to 151c denote terminals A to C as motion picture signal sources; 155a and 155b, terminals D and E as dynamic image output devices; and 160, a coaxial cable as a transmission path.
In the terminals A to C (151a to 151c), reference numerals 152a to 152c denote image input devices A to C; and 153a to 153c, size converters A to C each having a function of converting a dynamic image of, e.g., the face of an attendant input at a corresponding one of the image input devices A to C (152a to 152c) into a desired size, and a function of modulating the input dynamic image signal at a desired frequency, and outputting the modulated signal onto the coaxial cable 160. The dynamic image signals which are converted into a desired size, and modulated by the size converters A to C (153a to 153c) are output onto the coaxial cable 160.
In the terminals D and E (155a and 155b), reference numerals 156a and 156b denote image synthesizers D and E for demodulating the modulated dynamic image signals from the coaxial cable 160, and synthesizing the three demodulated dynamic images from the terminals A to C (151a to 151c); and 157a and 157b, image output devices D and E such as displays.
FIG. 36 shows an example of dynamic images synthesized by the image synthesizers D and E (156a and 156b). More specifically, the image output devices D and E (157a and 157b) display the synthesized dynamic images, as shown in FIG. 36.
As a third prior art, an apparatus comprising an arrangement shown in, e.g., FIG. 37, is known.
In FIG. 37, reference numerals 171a to 171c denote image input devices F to H each having a function of receiving a dynamic image signal of, e.g., the face of an attendant, modulating the dynamic image signal at a desired frequency, and outputting the modulated signal onto a coaxial cable 180; and 172a and 172b, terminals F and G. The terminals F and G (172a and 172b) respectively comprise size converters F and G (173a and 173b) for demodulating the modulated dynamic image signals from the coaxial cable 180, and converting the demodulated dynamic image signals into a desired size, synthesizers F and G (174a and 174b) for synthesizing the dynamic image signals received from the image input devices and output from the size converters F and G (173a and 173b), as shown in, e.g., FIG. 36, and image output devices F and G (175a and 175b) for outputting the dynamic images synthesized by the synthesizers F and G (174a and 174b)
However, in the above-mentioned prior art arrangements and methods, since one channel having a predetermined transmission capacity is assigned to the transmission of one dynamic image, when an image having a small amount of information such a frame having a small number of high-frequency components of a dynamic image to be transmitted is transmitted, the transmission capacity of the transmission channel is partially wasted, resulting in poor utilization efficiency of the transmission path of the entire network.
In particular, in the second prior art apparatus, for example, when it is attempted at the terminal D 155a to display only an image A from the terminal A 151a in a large scale, the operation of the size converter A 153a of the terminal 151a must be switched. However, since the terminals D 155a and E 155b share the received dynamic image signals, the image A is also displayed in a large scale on the terminal E 155b. In this manner, in the second prior art, it is impossible to change the output image size according to a request from a reception-side terminal without influencing an output image on another reception terminal.
In the third prior art apparatus, since the size converters F and G (173a and 173b) are arranged on the reception-side terminals F and G (172a and 172b), each terminal can output an image in a desired scale without influencing an output image on another reception terminal. However, since a transmission-side terminal cannot detect the size of a dynamic image signal requested by the reception-side terminal, even when the reception-side terminal requests only a reduced image signal, the transmission-side terminal must output an image onto the transmission path without reducing the image, i.e., without compressing the transmission band. For this reason, the frequency band of the transmission path is wastefully used.
As a conventional transmission system for transmitting dynamic image information in multi-channels, for example, the following system is known. In this system, a multi-channel transmission path is constituted by using a coaxial cable, and a plurality of modulators and demodulators, and a plurality of dynamic image information signals are transmitted.
However, in a transmission system of this type, when all the transmission channels of the multi-channel transmission path are busy, a transmission request of newly generated dynamic image information must wait until one of the transmission channels is ready, resulting in poor response to a transmission request.
As a method of solving this problem, the rights of use of transmission channels are sequentially changed in a predetermined time unit, thereby realizing transmission of dynamic image information signals numbering more than the number of transmission channels of the multi-channel transmission path. In this case, every time the right of use of the transmission channel is lost, dynamic image information is undesirably disconnected.
Furthermore, in the conventional transmission system, the transmission capacity per transmission channel is uniformly and permanently assigned. For this reason, when dynamic image information having a small amount of information to be transmitted is transmitted, e.g., when a reception-side terminal requests to display an image in a reduced scale, the transmission capacity is not fully utilized, and is partially wasted, resulting in poor utilization efficiency of the transmission path of the entire network.
As still another image transmission apparatus, for example, an apparatus, which encodes an image by a differential encoding transmission method, and transmits the encoded image, as shown in FIG. 38, is known. In FIG. 38, an input dynamic image signal 871 to be transmitted is input to an A/D converter 872 for converting the dynamic image signal into a digital signal, and a system clock generator 873 for extracting a sync signal from the input dynamic image signal, and generating various system clocks to be used in the system. A delay device 874 delays the A/D-converted image signal by one system clock period (T0).
A subtracter 875 calculates the difference between image signals of adjacent pixels sampled at an interval of one system clock period. A modulator 876 modulates the output from the subtracter 875 in correspondence with the format of the transmission path, and outputs the modulated data.
In still another conventional image transmission apparatus, as shown in FIG. 39, an input dynamic image signal 881 is transmitted through a plurality of transmission channels and a plurality of differential encoders 1 to n (883 to 885) using a plurality of interleaved system clocks from a system clock generator 882, thereby prolonging the system clock period.
However, in the conventional image transmission apparatus shown in FIG. 38, the period of system clocks obtained from the system clock generator is equal to the sampling period of adjacent pixels to be sampled, and is normally as fast as 100 nsec or less. For this reason, the A/D converter, the delay device, the subtracter, and the modulator, which operate based on the system clocks, are required to perform high-speed operations. As a result, it is difficult to manufacture and adjust the apparatus, resulting in an increase in cost.
In the prior art apparatus shown in FIG. 39, an image signal transmitted through each differential encoder has a low image redundancy (self correlation) since it is constituted by non-adjacent pixels of an input dynamic image signal. For this reason, the number of bits upon quantization must be increased, thus deteriorating encoding efficiency.
In still another conventional dynamic image transmission apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG. 40, video signals output from a plurality of video cameras 981 and VTRs 982 are modulated at desired frequencies by modulators 983, and the modulated signals are sent onto a coaxial cable 984. The video signals from the coaxial cable 984 are received by demodulators 985. The video signals modulated by the modulators 983 are demodulated by the demodulators 985.
A plurality of demodulated input video signals are input to and synthesized by a synthesizer 986, and the synthesized video signals are displayed on a monitor television (TV) 987. The video signals output from the synthesizer 986 can be recorded by a video printer 988.
However, in this conventional dynamic image transmission apparatus, when a plurality of video signals from the video cameras 981 and VTRs 982 as dynamic image sources are synthesized, and are displayed on the monitor TV 987, since the modulators 983 individually assign modulation frequency bands corresponding to transmission channels to the plurality of video signals, the number of transmission channels is inevitably increased as compared to a case wherein a video signal from a single dynamic image source is displayed on the monitor TV 987.
When a plurality of display requests for displaying a plurality of video signals on the monitor TV 987 connected to the apparatus are simultaneously issued, it is often impossible to meet such display requests due to the limitation on the transmission capacity of the coaxial cable 984.
Conventionally, most apparatuses of this type convert input data into data in a frequency region using an orthogonal transform method such as a DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) method, and compress the data amount by using control of, e.g., quantization characteristics of a quantizer such as nonlinear quantization, assignment of the number of quantization bits, and the like in correspondence with the statistical nature of input data, a run length method for totalizing converted zero data, and the like.
However, in the orthogonal; transform method using the DCT method, N2 multiplications using a cosine function as a coefficient must be performed for N input data, as shown in the following equation:       F              (      u      )        =            ∑              X        =        0                    N        -        1                                C                          (          u          )                                  f                          (          x          )                                  xe2x80x83                  cos                    xe2x80x83                                    (                                    2                            x                        +            1                    )                          2                    N                                  xe2x80x83                  π                    xe2x80x83                  u
where u=0, 1, . . . , Nxe2x88x921 transmitting the divided dynamic image signals to the dynamic image output devices through a plurality of transmission channels, selection means for selecting a desired number of divided dynamic image signals from the dynamic image signals transmitted by the transmission control means, means for controlling to vary an output size of a dynamic image to be output from the dynamic image output devices according to the number of divided dynamic image signals selected by the selection means, and means for reconstructing a dynamic image signal corresponding to the output size in accordance with the output size.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image transmission apparatus, which can improve utilization efficiency of a multi-channel transmission path.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an image transmission apparatus comprising means for dividing an image to be transmitted into pixel units each including a predetermined number of pixels, encoding means for dividing pixels constituting the pixel unit into predetermined pixel sets, and encoding an image on the basis of average values of image, signals of pixels constituting the pixel sets, and transmission means       C              (      u      )        =      {                            1                                      (                          u              =              0                        )                                                            2                                                (                          u              ≠              0                        )
Since the orthogonal transform precision depends on the bit length of the coefficient of the cosine function, the bit length of the coefficient of the cosine function is set to be large. For this reason, it takes much time for a multiplication between the coefficient of the cosine function and input data, and the scale of a processing circuit is also increased. Therefore, an encoding/decoding device using such a DCT method has a low processing speed, and cannot be rendered compact.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image transmission apparatus, which can prevent a change in output image in each reception terminal from influencing an output image on another reception terminal, and can improve utilization efficiency of transmission frequency bands on a transmission path.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an image transmission apparatus for transmitting dynamic image signals from a plurality of dynamic image signal sources to a plurality of dynamic image output devices, comprising signal dividing means for dividing a dynamic image signal to be transmitted into one or a plurality of dynamic image signals, transmission control means for having channels, numbering more than the predetermined number, for transmitting the encoded image.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image transmission apparatus, which can perform data encoding/decoding processing at high speed.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an image transmission apparatus for encoding input data, decoding the encoded data, and outputting the decoded data, comprising first calculation means for calculating an average value of a data series constituted by a plurality of data, second calculation means for successively dividing the data series by 1/2 until the number of data constituting each data series becomes 1 so as to form a plurality of partial data sets, and calculating average values of data belonging to the partial data sets after the divisions, means for obtaining a plurality of encoding conversion formulas using the plurality of average values obtained by calculations of the first and second calculation means, and third calculation means for obtaining a data value constituting the data series according to the plurality of encoding conversion formulas.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

Dynamic image transmission method and apparatus for enhancing spatial resolution of image data


In a heat roll fixing unit, adapted to be positioned in a printer employing an electrophotographic system for forming an image on a continuous-sheet to be fed in the printer, a pair of rollers is provided that are arranged to be brought into and out of contact with each other for pressurizing the continuous-sheet to fix the image thereon. One of the pair of rollers is a heat roller that is heated by a predetermined heating member. The heat roll fixing unit further comprises a sheet separation mechanism located at the downstream side of the pair of rollers and arranged to be operable when the pair of rollers is brought out of contact with each other for separating the continuous-sheet from the heat roller. Thus, the continuous-sheet can be prevented from remaining in contact with the roller after the fixing operation in the heat roll fixing unit. It thus becomes possible to avoid jamming of the continuous-sheet.

The present invention relates to a heat roll fixing unit for fixing toner on a surface of a recording sheet employed in an image formation device, such as a printer, for forming a visible image by a so-called electrophotographic system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a structure of the heat roll fixing unit in which it is possible to prevent the recording sheet from being caught around a roller and thus being poorly fed through the printer.
Conventionally, there has been known a so-called electrophotographic system, wherein a latent image is formed by exposing a photoreceptor on a surface of a photoconductive drum, adhering toner to the latent image to change the latent image to a visible toner image, and transferring the toner image to a recording sheet and fixing the image to the recording sheet at a fixing unit.
An example of an image formation device using this electrophotographic system is an electrophotographic printer for forming an image on a continuous-form recording sheet similar to that used in a conventional line printer and the like.
The continuous-form recording sheet, similar to that used in the line printer, is a folded sheet provided with a perforated tear line, referred to as a fan-folded continuous-form sheet (hereinafter, simply referred to as a continuous-sheet), and the folded portion thereof can be easily torn off along the perforated tear line.
Usually, in a image formation device using the conventional electrophotographic system, such as a copy machine and the like, a so-called heat roll fixing method is often used as a method of fixing toner, having been transferred on the recording sheet in accordance with the latent image, by which the recording sheet is pressed against a heated roller and toner is heated and fusedly adhered to the recording sheet by the heat applied to the roller.
To effect the heat roll fixing, a fixing roller pair is composed of the heat roller heated to high temperatures and a press roller, which are disposed in parallel to each other with the recording sheet held therebetween to cause the recording sheet to be pressed against the heat roller for heating. The heat roll fixing method is advantageous in that the fixing can be carried out at high speed with a high thermal efficiency.
When the heat roll fixing method is employed in the electrophotographic printer using the above continuous sheet as the recording sheet, a drawback arises in that when the continuous-sheet is held between the heat roller and the press roller when printing is not executed, the same portion of the recording sheet is burned or blistered by the heat applied from the heat roller. To overcome this drawback, a structure of the rollers, in which one roller can be retracted to prevent the recording sheet from coming into contact with a heat roller when printing operation is not executed, has been proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI 1-163790.
Nevertheless, even if the heat roller is, for example, rockably retracted when printing is not executed, a problem arises in that the continuous-sheet may be bent to a direction in which the heat roller is retracted and may be continuously in contact with the heat roller with the result that such drawbacks as burning and blistering occurring. Further, a drawback also arises in that the continuous-sheet is adhered to the heat roller by the depositing force of the toner and cannot be separated, therefrom and thus the continuous-sheet may be caught around the roller and cannot be fed, i.e., a so-called jam may occur.


A removable grip for a five-gallon bucket that includes a prying tool for removing a lid of the bucket. The grip includes an elongated body in which a channel is formed. The channel includes a centrally disposed widened portion that is configured to accept an existing grip formed on a bail of the bucket handle. The channel also includes narrow portions at each end of the widened portion that accept the bail. Flexible tabs within each narrow portion lock the grip onto the bail. The prying tool includes a flat end and a hooked end. The flat end can be used to pry open the lid of a paint bucket and can be a screwdriver end. The hooked end can be used to pry up the tangs of the lid of the five-gallon bucket to remove the lid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a removable grip for carrying a bucket and, more particularly, to a removable grip for carrying a five-gallon bucket, that includes a hook tool for removing the lid of the five-gallon bucket and a pry tool for removing the lid of a paint can.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Five-gallon buckets are commonly used in various trades for carrying and storing many things, such as various solvents, chemicals, paints, and the like. The size of the five-gallon bucket provides a convenient way of holding a large quantity of such products for larger jobs without being overly burdensome. However, the weight of such products makes these buckets somewhat difficult to manage, especially when they are full. The buckets are typically molded plastic and are equipped with a wire bail for carrying the bucket. Because of the weight of the bucket, the bail may dig into the user""s hand when he is carrying the bucket. A small plastic grip is sometimes provided on the wire bail to lessen the stress on the user""s hand, but these grips are typically not enough to significantly alleviate the discomfort of carry the buckets because they are not wide enough and do not adequately conform to the hand of the user.
Various grips are known in the art for carrying buckets to reduce the stress on the user""s hand. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,433 issued to Curtis discloses a paint bucket handle accessory including an elongated grip having a slot that accepts a wire bail of the paint bucket. Various other designs of this type are also known in the art.
Plastic five-gallon buckets typically include a lid that is secured to the bucket by a series of tangs that conform to the upper edge of the bucket. Various tools can be used for removing the lid of these buckets, such as a screwdriver. Other types of buckets, such as paint cans and metal five-gallon buckets, have other types of lids that also require use of a similar prying tool to be removed.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a removable grip for a five-gallon bucket is disclosed that includes a prying tool for removing the lid of the bucket. The grip includes an elongated body in which a channel is formed. The channel includes a centrally disposed widened portion that is configured to accept an existing grip formed on a bail of the bucket handle. The channel also includes a narrow portion at each end of the widened portion that accepts the bail. Flexible tabs within each narrow portion lock the grip onto the bail. In one embodiment, the prying tool includes a flat or screwdriver end extending from one end of the body and a hooked end extending from an opposite end of the body. The flat end can be used to pry open the lid of a paint bucket, and the hooked end can be used to pry up the tangs of the lid of the five-gallon bucket to remove the lid.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


An additive manufacturing system includes a laser array including a plurality of laser devices. Each laser device of the plurality of laser devices generates an energy beam for forming a melt pool in a powder bed. The additive manufacturing system further includes at least one optical element. The optical element receives at least one of the energy beams and induces a predetermined power diffusion in the at least one energy beam.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to additive manufacturing systems and, more particularly, to methods and systems for fabricating a component using a laser array by inducing power diffusion in energy beams generated by the laser array.
At least some additive manufacturing systems involve the buildup of a metal component to make a net, or near net shape component. This method can produce complex components from expensive materials at a reduced cost and with improved manufacturing efficiency. At least some known additive manufacturing systems, such as direct metal laser melting (DMLM) systems, fabricate components using an expensive, high-powered laser device and a powder material, such as a powdered metal. In some known additive manufacturing systems, component quality may be reduced due to excess heat and/or variation in heat being transferred to the metal powder by the laser device within the melt pool, creating a melt pool with varying depths.
In some known additive manufacturing systems, component quality is reduced due to the variation in conductive heat transfer between the powdered metal and the surrounding solid material of the component. As a result, the melt pool produced by the laser device may become too deep, resulting in the melt pool penetrating deeper into the powder bed, pulling in additional powder into the melt pool. The increased melt pool depth may generally result in a poor surface finish of the component. In addition, in some known additive manufacturing systems, the component's dimensional accuracy and small feature resolution may be reduced due to melt pool variations because of the variability of thermal conductivity of the subsurface structures and metallic powder. As the melt pool size varies, the accuracy of printed structures can vary, especially at the edges of features. Controlling melt pool characteristics generally requires control of the heat transfer between the laser device and the melt pool including the power density of the beam spot generated by the laser device used to melt the powdered material to form the melt pool.

System and methods for fabricating a component with laser array


A multi-functional screwdriver including a shaft forming a pair of coplanar bends rotatably mounted to a handle having therein a compartment for storing a plurality of bits is disclosed. To prevent rotation of the shaft within the handle, a locking device is provided which includes a locking member and a collar assembly. The collar assembly includes a lever collar attached to the handle, a locking clamp collar attached to an upper section of the shaft, and an insulator collar for rotatably connecting the lever collar and locking clamp collar. The locking member pivotally attaches to the lever collar and is removably inserted into a depression in the locking clamp collar to prevent the shaft from rotating within the handle.

When inserting or removing a fastener with a hand tool into or from a work surface, a workman's efficiency is limited by the ability of the tool to translate mechanical force exerted by his hand to the fastener through rotary movement. For example, a tool such as a conventional screw-driver having a fixed handle mounted to a straight shaft imposes a physical limitation on the workman, allowing him to utilize only the torque which he can exert through his hand by the twisting of his wrist. Additionally, because the wrist cannot rotate completely about a circle, to complete a cycle of rotation with a conventional hand tool, the workman must periodically release his grip on the handle of the tool, rotate his hand back to a starting position and re-grip the tool handle to continue applying force.
Attempts have been made to provide rotary tools permitting better translation of the workman's exertions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,886 to Jin discloses a hand screwdriver including a freely rotatable handle and a bent shaft having an end recess which selectively bears against one of two conical protrusions within the handle. The conical protrusions provide a fixed position wherein the shaft is fixed to the handle and a rotatable position wherein the shaft is relatively rotated with respect to the handle. The screwdriver further includes a protective coating about the upper portion of the shaft adjacent to the handle for protecting a workman from electrical shock. A shortcoming of Jin is that no means is provided for preventing rotation of the handle relative to the shaft. As such, a workman cannot impart sufficient torque to a fastener when using the screwdriver of Jin to break the fastener loose from a work surface when tightly held therein. Likewise, a workman cannot provide sufficient torque to a fastener to tightly insert it into the work surface. A further shortcoming of Jin is that the protective coating about the shaft fails to envelop the entire shaft thereby needlessly exposing a workman to electrical shock from the unprotected portions of the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,642,569 to Winslow et al discloses a hand tool including a bent shaft having a handle rotatably attached to an end thereof. Contrary to Jin, a pressure plate is slidably mounted within the handle which slips through a slot therein and is bearable against the handle, selectively fixing the handle to the shaft. This way, a workman can impart increased torque to a fastener than if the handle and shaft were not fixable together. The screwdriver of Winslow et al however provides no suitable means of disengaging the pressure plate from the shaft. For example, a workman attempting to grip the pressure plate while wearing gloves to pull the plate out of the slot will have great difficulty doing so.
Despite the above teachings of the prior art, a need still existed for a hand-powered tool which facilitates the translation of rotary motion from a workman's hand to a fastener through a freely rotating angled shaft while providing practical means of preventing rotation of the shaft when needed. Based thereon, I developed a novel combination of hand-tool accessories with the multi-functional screwdriver as disclosed and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,687 B1 for Multi-Functional Screwdriver. The invention in my patent provides significant advantages over the prior art. However, while an improvement, further improvement has been made to my invention and an improved multi-functional screwdriver is disclosed herein providing further advantages to the workman.


Systems and methods for assisted direct start control are provided. An example method varies engine torque, forward clutch engagement pressure, and wheel brake pressure during a vehicle launch responsive to longitudinal vehicle grade to improve launch performance.

Vehicles have been developed to perform idle-stop when idle-stop conditions are met and automatically re-start the engine when re-start conditions are met. A number of methods may be used to enable a smooth launch control of the automatic transmission when re-start conditions are met. In one example, the vehicle may be started in a "Drive" gear and further coordination of an engine rotation speed and an engagement state of one or more forward clutches may enable vehicle launch with minimal "lurching".
One such example of a vehicle re-start and launch method is illustrated by Katou et al. in EP 1,348,895A2. Herein, a method is described for a smooth launch control of an automatic transmission vehicle using a hydraulic system and by detecting an engagement pressure of the forward clutch. Specifically, if the engagement pressure is below a predetermined value, an engine torque reduction is commanded by an electronic controller 12 until the desired forward clutch engagement pressure is reached. The method also enables an adaptive control of the timing of an initial engine combustion based on a time to the predetermined forward clutch engagement pressure.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential issues with such an approach. As one example, modulation of the forward clutch during a majority of automatic re-starts may lead to excessive wear of the forward clutch. As another example, if the system is tuned for level grades, insufficient driveline torque may be generated when the vehicle is launched on a grade.
Thus in one example, some of the above issues may be addressed by a method for controlling a system including an engine. The method may include operating in a first mode during a first vehicle grade and during automatic re-starting from an engine stopped condition. The first mode may include starting the engine in a driving gear, and adjusting engine torque responsive to launch behavior. The method may further include operating in a second mode during a second vehicle grade and during automatic re-starting from an engine stopped condition. The second mode may include starting the engine in the driving gear, and adjusting one or more of a transmission forward clutch and wheel brakes responsive to launch behavior.
In this way, it is possible to reduce clutch wear while also addressing the issue of consistent launch performance on various grades. For example, in one example, on lower grades, fuel economy concerns may drive the selection of engine torque modulation as the driveline torque modulator. In such a case, engine torque may be adjusted responsive to vehicle launch behavior, such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and clutch pressure, etc. By using at least engine torque modulation for automatic re-starting on lower grades, forward clutch degradation as well as brake caliper wear may be reduced. In another example, on steeper grades, coordinated adjustment of the forward clutch and/or wheel brakes responsive to vehicle launch behavior, including vehicle speed, engine speed, clutch pressure, and other control parameters, may be used to modulate driveline torque during the automatic re-start. Thus, by considering longitudinal vehicle grade, a smoother launch may be achieved more consistently, across a range of grades, while reducing wear of the forward clutch and brake caliper. Further, fuel economy benefits of the vehicle may also be achieved by selectively using engine torque modulation under certain conditions, and forward clutch modulation and/or wheel brake modulation under other conditions.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and methods for assisted direct start control


A method of controlling water heater pilot flame ignition includes receiving, by a controller of a water heater, a user input and controlling a pilot gas valve to start a gas flow to a pilot burner in response to the user input. The method further includes, in response to the user input, controlling, by the controller, an igniter to generate an ignition spark for lighting a pilot flame. The method also includes controlling, by the controller, the pilot gas valve to maintain the gas flow to the pilot burner if the pilot flame is lit.

In a typical atmospherically vented gas-fired water heater, a standing pilot flame may be used to ignite the main burner of the water heater. Atmospherically vented gas-fired water heaters generally rely on a mechanical piezo push button to generate a spark to ignite the pilot flame. A consumer typically has to press the piezo push button multiple times until the pilot flame is lit. The consumer may also need to control the flow of gas to the pilot burner while pressing the piezo push button. The consumer may also need to know where to look to check whether the pilot flame is lit. For example, the user may first need to remove a cover to make the pilot flame viewable in order to check whether the pilot flame is lit. Thus, a solution that simplifies the ignition and reignition of a pilot flame while providing a continuous pilot flame may be desirable.


Tissue anchors include a flat, broad, and large contact surface for engagement with a portion of tissue. Several embodiments of composite tissue anchors include a support element and an overlay element. Tissue anchor assemblies include two or more tissue anchors, a connector, and a cinching mechanism. In some embodiments, the tissue anchors included in the tissue anchor assemblies are of different types, sizes, and/or shapes.

Many surgical and other therapeutic or diagnostic procedures include steps of reconfiguring, fixing, or otherwise manipulating tissue in some manner, or joining two or more portions of tissue together. Several devices have been used to perform these functions, including sutures, staples, screws, anchors, clips, tags, and other similar types of devices.
Many of the conventional sutures, staples, clips, tags, and anchors that are used in these procedures require extensive training by the clinician to achieve competent use. In addition, many of the devices concentrate significant force over a small surface area of the tissue, thereby potentially causing the suture, staple, or anchor to tear through the tissue.
Many of the procedures require regions of tissue within the body to be approximated towards one another and reliably secured. For example, several surgical procedures are performed in which tissue in the gastrointestinal lumen is approximated, such as gastric reduction. The gastrointestinal lumen includes four tissue layers, wherein the mucosa layer is the inner-most tissue layer followed by connective tissue, the muscularis layer and the serosa layer. One problem with conventional gastric reduction systems is that the anchors (or staples) should engage at least the muscularis tissue layer in order to provide a proper foundation. In other words, the mucosa and connective tissue layers typically are not strong enough to sustain the tensile loads imposed by normal movement of the stomach wall during ingestion and processing of food. In particular, these layers tend to stretch elastically rather than firmly hold the anchors (or staples) in position, and accordingly, the more rigid muscularis and/or serosa layer should ideally be engaged. This problem of capturing the muscularis or serosa layers becomes particularly acute where it is desired to place an anchor or other apparatus transesophageally rather than intraoperatively, since care must be taken in piercing the tough stomach wall not to inadvertently puncture adjacent tissue or organs.
One conventional method for securing anchors within a body lumen to the tissue is to utilize sewing devices to suture the stomach wall into folds. This procedure typically involves advancing a sewing instrument through the working channel of an endoscope and into the stomach and against the stomach wall tissue. The contacted tissue is then typically drawn into the sewing instrument where one or more sutures or tags are implanted to hold the suctioned tissue in a folded condition known as a plication. Another method involves manually creating sutures for securing the plication.
One of the problems associated with these types of procedures is the time and number of intubations needed to perform the various procedures endoscopically. Another problem is the time required to complete a plication from the surrounding tissue with the body lumen. In the period of time that a patient is anesthetized, procedures such as for the treatment of morbid obesity, GERD, or other procedures must be performed to completion. Accordingly, the placement and securement of the tissue plication should ideally be relatively quick and performed with a high level of confidence.
Another problem with conventional securement methods is ensuring that the staple, knotted suture, tag, anchor, or clip is secured tightly against the tissue and that the newly created plication will not relax under any slack which may be created by slipping staples, knots, or clips. Other conventional tissue securement devices such as suture anchors, twist ties, crimps, etc. are also often used to prevent sutures from slipping through tissue. However, many of these types of devices are typically large and unsuitable for low-profile delivery through the body, e.g., transesophageally, transrectally, or transvaginally.
Moreover, when grasping or clamping onto or upon the layers of tissue with conventional anchors, sutures, staples, clips, etc., may of these devices are configured to be placed only after the tissue has been plicated and not during the actual plication procedure.

Low profile tissue anchors, tissue anchor systems, and methods for their delivery and use


The invention comprises a fray-resistant wick made up of an elongated fiber core with a web surrounding the core, and a jacket surrounding the web. The web has a lower melting point than both the core and the jacket, with the web and jacket fusibly or adhesively bonded to the core to form an integral structure. The core or jacket may comprise a fiber glass yarn, and the web a thermoplastic resin such as polypropylene. The method of making the fray-resistant wick comprises forming an enlongated core of the fiber material and surrounding the core with the web, and then surrounding the web with the jacket. Heating the core, web and jacket to a sufficiently high temperature fuses the core and jacket to the web, thereby forming an integral wick structure. In an alternative embodiment, the method comprises surrounding the core with a web of adhesive material for the purpose of bonding the core and jacket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wicks. More particularly, the present invention relates to wicks resistant to fraying. While the invention is subject to a wide range of applications, it is especially suited for use in liquid fuel appliances; and will be particularly described in that connection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wicks are absorbent material adapted for liquid transfer applications. Although often used to transfer liquid fuel to a point of combustion, wicks may also be used for transfer of ink and lubrication, air freshener and perfume delivery, and gas and liquid filtering applications.
Traditionally, wicks have been manufactured as long strands of absorbent material. During manufacturing, these strands are cut into usable lengths. Not only may the process of cutting the wick strand fray the wick as cut, but it also exposes the wick to additional fraying during use.
To reduce this fraying, mechanical means for binding the ends of the wick have been used. For example, metal wire has been wrapped around the end portion of the wick to prevent fraying or the ends have been bound by tying a knot in the wick to prevent fraying beyond a predetermined point.
The mechanical means for reducing fraying of wicks have many disadvantages. The mechanical means involve an added step in the wick manufacturing process, which adds to the costs of the product. Furthermore, during use, a wick is often inserted into an opening that is of the same inner diameter as the outer diameter of the wick. Mechanically fastening a wick end to prevent fraying can add to the overall dimension of the wick or distort the shape of the wick. Either way, such change in shape can make it more difficult to insert the wick into the device in which it is used. This difficulty can increase the cost of manufacture for the device in which the wick is used, and may increase the cost of maintenance for such a device, by increasing the labor necessary to position the wick.
Mechanical means for reducing fraying have another disadvantage. Mechanical means, such as wire or knots can restrict or prohibit fluid flow along the wick beyond a certain point on the wick.
Non-mechanical means for reducing fraying are also disclosed in the prior art. For example, an absorbent inner core wick may be surrounded by a nonabsorbent nonporous plastic wrap. The plastic wrap is intended to reduce the fraying of the absorbent inner core. This wick construction, however, has certain disadvantages. In particular, because of the outer plastic wrap, such a wick is not absorbent along the outer periphery of its length. Absorption is limited only to the cross-sectional area of the end of the wick. This, of course, reduces the effectiveness of the wick itself.
In another non-mechanical means, the outer portion of a wick core material is heat-fused to an open mesh braid of textile strand material surrounding the core. The braid binds the wick and helps to reduce fraying while the open portions of the mesh element allows for some absorption along the outer wall of the wick. Accordingly, there is some improvement in absorption by the wick as compared to the prior art of a complete plastic wrap. There is, however, still restriction along the mesh portion of the outer walls of the wick.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for a wick, and method of making such a wick, that will reduce the fraying of the wick by nonmechanical means while maximizing absorption of the wick.

Fray-resistant wick and method of manufacturing same


This disclosure describes an apparatus and system for classifying audio and video data captured by a portable recording device. The portable recording device may comprise a camera system enclosure that captures audio and video data that reflects a user's point-of-view perception of their surroundings. The video and/or audio data may be transmitted in real-time, or near real-time, to a Central Multimedia Management (CMM) System at a Network Operations Center, or one or more mobile computing devices, via one or more networks. Alternatively, or additionally, the video and/or audio data may be stored within memory of the portable recording device. This disclosure further describes a CMM system that may act as a central repository of multimedia data from one or more portable recording device(s). The CMM system may further generate and assign incident report forms for each individual instance of real-time data that is recorded by a portable recording device.

Law enforcement agencies are increasingly equipping their law enforcement officers with portable recording devices. Such law enforcement agencies may have policies mandating that their law enforcement officers use these portable recording devices to record their interactions with the public, to better serve and protect the public from improper policing, as well as protect law enforcement officers from false allegations of police misconduct. In some examples, law enforcement officers may use data recorded by a portable recording device to annotate incident report forms. However, the task of generating incident forms from individual instances of multimedia captured by a portable recording device can be a laborious task that requires a significant time commitment from a law enforcement officer, detracting from their other official duties.

Portable recording device multimedia classification system


An encoder structure for use in a DMT communications system, has a turbo encoder for encoding a portion of a data stream and generating a coded output. A data combiner has a first input receiving a remaining uncoded portion of the data stream and at least one further input receiving the coded output of the turbo encoder. A selector determines the portion of the data stream applied to the turbo encoder based on the data rate, latency requirement, coding gain performance and circuit complexity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of digital communications, and in particular to a method of implementing turbo trellis code modulation in a flexible manner that can be adapted to transmission conditions.
2. Description of Related Art
In a digital communications channel it is common practise to include some form of coding scheme to increase the data throughput. Recently, turbo codes have gained in poplularity due to their large coding gains. See Berrou and A. Glavieux, "Near Optimum Error Correcting Coding and Decoding: Turbo-Codes", IEEE Trans. on Communications, Vol. 44, No. 10, October, 1996. A turbo coder is a combination of two simple encoders. The input is a block of K information bits. The two encoders generate symbols from two simple recursive convolutional codes, each with a small number of states. The information bits are also sent uncoded. A key feature of turbo codes is the interleaver, which permutes the original K information bits before input to the second encoder. The permutation ensures that input sequences for which one encoder produces low-weight codewords generally causes the other encoder to produce high-weight codewords. Thus, even though the constituent codes are individually weak, the combination is powerful.
Turbo codes have been applied in DMT (Discrete Multitone) systems, for example, used in xDSL transmission. In xDSL systems, turbo code can be used to replace other types of trellis code to get better Bit-Error Rate(BER) performance. See, Hamid R. Sadjadpour, "Application of Turbo Codes for Discrete Multi-Tone Modulation Schemes", AT&T Shannon Labs., 1999. However, when the constellation size increases, the coding gain advantage of turbo code starts to diminish. This is because the redundant bits make the constellation size even larger. Turbo-trellis coded modulation, in which only the least significant bit (LSB) in constellation is coded has been introduced to achieve better performance than other trellis-coded modulation.
DMT is a type of Multicarrier Modulation. The basic idea behind multicarrier modulation is that multiple channels can be established with digital signal processing techniques using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). A DMT modem encodes bits into symbols and sends them through an inverse FFT and then converters the digital signal into analog, to send it through the copper phone wires. The receiving modem reverses the process. Many subchannels are used to transmit data, each having a different carrier and a different QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation) constellation containing different number of bits per constellation. The multiple of carriers are implemented through the Discrete Fourier Transform. The number of data being transmitted per DMT symbol varies from 16 bits per symbol for ADSL upstream data transmission to a maximum 15000 bits per symbol for VDSL system. Since turbo code works well with a large interleaver size (typically larger than 1000 bits), at low data rates more bits, and possibly all the bits, need to be transmitted transmission to meet the latency requirement of the system. At high date rates, it is too costly to code all the data. Also, the performance will suffer for high constellation if all data are encoded.
There is a need for an effective encoder suitable for DMT applications.

Flexible bit selection using turbo trellis-coded modulation


A method and apparatus is described for composing a machine readable document template having a portion for inclusion of data content. The method and apparatus comprise generating a formatting rule applicable to data content for inclusion in the data content portion and storing the rule separately from the data content portion.

A known machine readable document template is available in the "Yours Truly Designer" (YTD) product available from IPG-IDP Hewlett Packard Company. The machine readable document template includes a plurality of fields which may require modification. However in the known arrangement it is difficult to derive from a modified template that modification has taken place, or what the modification is. In addition there is limited flexibility as to the types of modification available.

Composing a machine readable document template

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A protective cover of a gas sensor includes an inner protective cover which covers at least an end portion of a sensor element, an outer protective cover which covers the inner protective cover, and an intermediate protective cover which is installed between the inner protective cover and the outer protective cover. A1/A2≧1 provided that A1 represents a total opening area of the inner gas inlet holes provided for the inner protective cover, and A2 represents a total opening area of the outer gas inlet holes provided for the outer protective cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas sensor for measuring gas components such as NO, NO2, SO2, CO2, and H2O, contained in the atmospheric air or the exhaust gas discharged from vehicles or automobiles, for example. In particular, the present invention relates to a gas sensor which has a protective cover surrounding a sensor element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of gas sensors have been suggested and practically used. For example, there are oxygen sensors based on the use of oxygen ion conductors, NOx sensors (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-271476), HC sensors (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-247995), hydrogen sensors based on the use of proton ion conductors, H2O sensors, oxygen sensors based on the use of oxide semiconductors such as SnO2 and TiO2.
Among the gas sensors as described above, the oxygen sensor based on the use of ZrO2 and the oxygen sensor based on the use of TiO2 are widely used for controlling the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas discharged from an automobile and/or controlling A/F (air-fuel ratio), because such gas sensors operate stably even in the environment of the exhaust gas discharged from an automobile. The NOx sensor, which is based on the use of ZrO2, is also at the stage of practical use to control NOx discharged from an automobile.
As an oxygen sensor attached to an exhaust tube of an internal combustion engine, a sensor having a protective cover provided around a sensor element to bring about a uniform flow of the exhaust gas, or a sensor having a protective cover for avoiding condensed water produced upon the start-up of the engine (droplets of water) is used. Sensors described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,597,850 and 4,683,049 are known as oxygen sensors to each of which a protective cover of a double structure is attached.
As for the conventional protective covers as described above, if a water protective cover is used, the response of the gas sensor may be delayed. Accordingly, it has been suggested that an inner protective cover of a double-structure protective cover, which is disposed close to a sensor element, has inner gas inlet holes facing the sensor element for improving the response performance (Japanese Patent No. 2641346).
However, in the conventional protective cover, the gas sensor is supposed to be positioned upstream with respect to the catalyst. If the sensor and the cover are installed downstream with respect to the catalyst, a problem was found in relation to water resistance (performance to avoid condensed water produced upon the start-up of the engine). Further, another problem was found in relation to water resistance depending on the angle of attachment to the exhaust tube of the internal combustion engine.
In order to obtain the quick response performance, it is conceived to provide a structure in which the inflow amount of the measurement gas is increased. However, in this structure, the droplets of the condensed water produced upon the start-up of the engine also tend to come into the sensor element. That is, it is difficult to balance preventing the sensor element from the droplets of water with improving the response performance.
Further, considerable temperature change or fluctuation may occur in the sensor element as the measurement gas flows into the protective cover, and cracks may appear in the substrate of the sensor element.


Devices and methods for assaying a sample for the presence of at least one analyte are provided. The subject compression devices include a base and a cover configured to apply a compression force to a structure comprising a first substrate separated from a second substrate by a separator when present in the device. The subject methods include contacting a sample with a first surface of a first substrate to produce a substrate supported sample, placing the substrate supported sample in contact with a second substrate to form a structure that includes the first and second substrates spaced-apart from each other by a separator, wherein one of the substrates is an array substrate having at least one array, applying a compression force to compress the structure together using a compression device and reading the at least one array to obtain a result.

Array assays between surface bound binding agents or probes and target molecules in solution may be used to detect the presence of particular biopolymers. The surface-bound probes may be oligonucleotides, peptides, polypeptides, proteins, antibodies or other molecules capable of binding with target molecules in solution. Such binding interactions are the basis for many of the methods and devices used in a variety of different fields, e.g., genomics (in sequencing by hybridization, SNP detection, differential gene expression analysis, identification of novel genes, gene mapping, finger printing, etc.) and proteomics.
One typical array assay method involves biopolymeric probes immobilized in an array on a substrate such as a glass substrate or the like. A solution containing analytes that bind with the attached probes is placed in contact with the array substrate, covered with another substrate such as a coverslip or the like to form an assay area and placed in an environmentally controlled chamber such as an incubator or the like. Usually, the targets in the solution bind to the complementary probes on the substrate to form a binding complex. The pattern of binding by target molecules to biopolymer probe features or spots on the substrate produces a pattern on the surface of the substrate and provides desired information about the sample. In most instances, the target molecules are labeled with a detectable tag such as a fluorescent tag, chemiluminescent tag or radioactive tag. The resultant binding interaction or complexes of binding pairs are then detected and read or interrogated, for example by optical means, although other methods may also be used. For example, laser light may be used to excite fluorescent tags, generating a signal only in those spots on the biochip that have a target molecule and thus a fluorescent tag bound to a probe molecule. This pattern may then be digitally scanned for computer analysis.
As will be apparent, control of the assay environment and conditions contributes to increased reliability and reproducibility of the array assays. However, merely placing a substrate such as a coverslip over the array, as is commonly done, is often insufficient to allow precise control over the assay and permits leakage and evaporation of sample from the array site, where in many instances the quantity of sample is extremely limited.
During an array assay such as a hybridization assay, the assay is often performed at elevated temperatures and care must be taken so that the array does not dry out. Simply positioning a second slide over the array allows contents to leak or dry out during use, adversely impacting the assay. In addition, the substrate carrying the array cannot be tipped or moved from the horizontal position without risk that the substrate or cover slip will slip off. Maintaining the array in a humid environment may reduce drying-out, but offers only an incomplete solution.
Various closeable chambers or containers have been developed for conducting array-based assays which attempt to solve the problem of sample evaporation. However, many of these chambers fail to provide a complete seal around the array assay area. As such, leakage and evaporation of contents from the chamber still exists in these chambers. Furthermore, many of these chambers are complex and have numerous components that must be assembled by the user. Due to this complexity, the assembly process is often time-consuming and labor intensive.
Thus, there continues to be an interest in the development of new devices for array-based assays and methods of using the same. Of particular interest is the development of an array assay device, and methods of use thereof, that provides a fluid barrier around the assay area to prevent leakage and evaporation from the array assay area, is easy to assemble and use, includes a minimum of components, and that may also be capable of testing multiple samples with multiple arrays without cross-contamination.

Devices and methods for performing array based assays


Apparatus and method for operating the apparatus is disclosed for transferring reclaimed refrigerant from multiple recovery cylinders to a larger shipping cylinder using a vapor compressor and four-way valve to first transfer liquid refrigerant and then vapor to the shipping cylinder. This system includes flexible hoses for liquid and vapor transfer and employs valves near the couplings for connections of the hoses to the cylinders. Operating methods then permit transfer from successive cylinders to the shipping cylinders and change-outs in the shipping cylinders without loss of significant refrigerant to the atmosphere, and without inclusion of air into the refrigerant in the shipping cylinder.

Since as early as the 1600's, importance has been placed on cooling space or substances below ambient temperature. By 1930, it was discovered that when certain refrigerants underwent liquid-gas phase changes, large amounts of latent heat were absorbed and could be used to effect cooling. Today, such refrigerants are used throughout the world in annual volumes measured in the thousands of tons. Unfortunately, many of these refrigerants are now known to significantly damage the atmosphere and environment. By 1990, over fifty nations had agreed to phase out the production of chloroflorocarbons (CFC's) by the year 2000 and hydrochloroflorocarbons (HCFC's) by the year 2040. The United States has also passed statutes which, in effect, create the objective of immediately reducing emissions of these substances to the lowest achievable levels throughout the production, distribution, use and recapture for reuse, reprocessing or final disposal.
Equipment for handling these substances through production, distribution, and use have been generally available in the past simply because of the value of the product for sale at the time it enters use. However, no equipment or procedures have heretofore existed for recovering these substances without significant losses to the atmosphere. Not only must such equipment assure loss control, but it also must be cost effective and safe, but must also adapt to varieties of refrigerants, refrigeration system lubricants, and other contaminants. Furthermore, to permit reclamation and reuse of refrigerants, the reclamation equipment must prevent cross contamination of the products. Such equipment must accommodate refrigerants having various rapid phase change characteristics and must do so in a manner to permit safe normal functioning of the equipment under virtually all climatic conditions. The equipment must minimize inclusion of non-condensible gases, such as air, with the refrigerant in the ultimate storage and shipping cylinder. Further, the equipment must retain refrigerant contaminants, such as lubricants, until the reprocessing can effectively refine the refrigerants. The problem of reclamation is further complicated by the fact that the many tons of refrigerants which are to be recaptured from market use are not distributed evenly over the geographic area of use.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has approved pressure cylinders in two sizes for refrigerant recovery and shipping. A small cylinder (see FIG. 1, hereafter described) will hold about fifty pounds of liquid refrigerant and are used by repairman to transfer used refrigerant from the refrigeration equipment to a collection point. The cylinder includes two valves, a vapor valve connected to the upper portion of the cylinder. Larger shipping cylinders (see FIG. 2 hereafter described) are capable of holding about 1000 pounds of liquid refrigerant and includes a similar arrangement of vapor and liquid valves.
At the present there are two basic means for transferring refrigerant liquids and vapors from one chamber to the other. One is commonly referred to as single direction pumping of both refrigerant liquids and vapors, and a bi-directional procedure in which only vapor is pumped, by a reversible vapor pump (see FIGS. 3a-3c hereafter described).
In the single direction pumping procedure, a liquid vapor pump is connected to the liquid valve and the liquid-vapor pump first draws liquid form the recovery cylinder and forces the liquid into the shipping cylinder. As liquid is removed from the recovery cylinder, the vapor pressure drops which in turn permits a portion of liquid in the cylinder to vaporize to maintain the vapor pressure. In other words as liquid is being removed form the cylinder, an amount remaining in the cylinder is undergoing phase change to maintain a relatively constant vapor pressure over the liquid in the cylinder. Upon completion of liquid transfer, the pump continues operating and vapors are down from the recovery cylinder in diminishing volume and compressed into the shipping cylinder where an amount converts to liquid phase. Vapor transfer from the small cylinder continues and the refrigerant vapors are eventually removed sufficiently from the recovery cylinder to prevent contaminating or mixing with the same or other types of refrigerants.
The single direction pumping of recovered refrigerant liquids and vapors has a number of problems: Non-vaporizing and heavy contaminates are concentrated in the diminishing liquid volume of the recovery cylinder. Dip tube inlets are not necessarily positioned exact to the bottom of the cylinder and the scavenging vapor flow velocity up through the tube is ever diminishing. Accordingly, an amount of contaminants such as compressor oil is likely to be retained in the recovery cylinder. Combination liquid-vapor pumps are inherently less efficient than vapor pumps because of the relation of fluid pressure, liquid versus gas viscosity and pump displacement relative to horsepower. Consequently single direction refrigerant pumping is typified by a long vapor draw-down cycle.
A number of problems are associated with current bi-directional vapor pumping systems for means of transferring recovered refrigerants. The transfer conduits fill with non-condensible air when the cylinders are disconnected and the air becomes trapped in the recovery cylinders and shipping cylinders subsequently attached. This gas is eventually transferred to the shipping cylinder and being non-condensible can prevent complete filling with liquid refrigerant. When the cylinders are disconnected from the attached conductors, the refrigerant is vented to the atmosphere. The capacity to transfer from only one recovery cylinder to the shipping cylinder is inefficient and not cost effective. There is no means for determining when all liquid refrigerant and liquid contaminants are transferred from the recovery cylinder so that the vapor pump can be reversed to begin vapor draw-down. If reversed while liquid is still in the recovery cylinder, then transferring the vapor can take longer and damage the vapor pump. The vapor pressure and accordingly vapor density at the vapor pump intake varies depending upon refrigerant temperature. If the system is designed to transfer the liquid at an efficient rate under the most unfavorable conditions, then there is a likelihood that the vapor will be heated excessively as it is pumped into the recovery cylinder. Heated vapors drawn from the recovery cylinders and transferred into the shipping cylinders progressively induce a higher level of retained vapor pressure with each transfer operation, eventually exceeding the safe operation of the system. Improperly directing the vapor pump to draw vapors when in fact liquid transfer is required can result in overfilling recovery cylinders with liquid from the shipping cylinders and can result in ingesting the liquid refrigerant into the pump. The same can occur if the shipping cylinder becomes overfilled with liquid during liquid transfer.
Pumping refrigerant vapors is a well developed art and offers a wide variety of reliable vapor pumps in various sizes. This fact coupled with limited vapor pumping capacity of combination liquid-vapor pumps potentially makes bi-directional vapor pumping the desired method for production transfer of recovered refrigerants. The present invention is of an improved Transfer System providing features necessary to fulfill regulatory demands for controlling refrigerants and further accommodating the needs of industry in processing large volumes of recovered refrigerants.

System for transfering used refrigerant from multiple small recovery cylinders to large shipping cylinder


An exemplary portable electronic device includes a main body and a battery therein. The main body has a wind power generating and charging module mounted therein. The wind power generating and charging module includes a wind turbine generator and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured for controlling the wind generator to charge the battery.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to portable electronic devices, and particularly, to a portable electronic device with a wind power generating and charging module.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are now in widespread use, and consumers can enjoy great convenience provided by such multi-functional devices. Usually the portable electronic devices need battery to provide electric power.
Currently, in the trends of promoting environmental protection and energy conservation, the use of solar or wind power for electricity generation has become increasingly popular. Although, there is portable electronic device with wind generating module, but, when there is no wind, the wind generating module is useless.
Therefore, what is needed is a portable electronic device capable of overcoming the described limitations.


A plastic pipe adaptor (10) includes a length of pipe (12) having a plastic pipe wall (14) with a substantially rigid pipe stiffener (32) disposed inside the pipe and a substantially rigid collar (34) disposed about the pipe exteriorly of the pipe wall (14), the collar having a recess (40) therein. The stiffener (32) and collar (34) are positioned such that a portion (50) of the plastic pipe wall is disposed between the stiffener (32) and the collar recess (40) and at least a portion (52) of the pipe stiffener is deflected outwardly against the pipe wall portion (50) by an amount sufficient to wedge the pipe wall portion (50) into engagement with the collar recess (40). The result is a firm grip to the pipe which allows the collar to serve as an attachment to another member such as a mechanical joint (30). A method of making the adaptor (10) is also described.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to adaptors for mechanically coupling plastic pipes to other members such as metal pipes, unions, and mechanical joints, and more particularly, to such adaptors for mechanically coupling polyolefin water pipes to cast iron mechanical joints.
II. Description of Prior Art
Typical water pipe systems use very rigid pipes, such as ductile or cast iron, concrete and/or PVC pipes which mate with fittings such as mechanical joints. While such pipes are advantageously strong, many are very heavy and cumbersome to work with, and in the case of iron suffer from corrosion. PVC pipe may crack when flexed and has numerous mechanical joints which present potential for leak sites. A substitute for such pipe is flexible polyolefin-type plastic pipes which are lightweight, easy to work with, corrosion resistant and are fused together at the joint to form a continuous pipe to thereby minimize leakage. Polyolefin pipe, however, suffers from certain drawbacks that have impeded widespread use in water pipe systems and the like.
In particular, mechanically mating the end of a polyolefin pipe to some of the other members in a water system, and particularly to metal mechanical joints, presents significant difficulties due, for example, to the cold flow properties of the polyolefin-type plastic. More specifically, the ends of such a pipe tend to deform under pressure leading to an inadequate seal at the mechanical connection. Moreover, the pipe end may work loose from the mechanical joint due, for example, to the greater expansion/contraction rate of that type of plastic as compared to other more rigid pipes. In such a case, the connection pulls apart.
To reduce the drawbacks of using polyolefin-type of plastic pipe, therefore, there has been a need to stiffen the pipe end so that it will not deform under pressure nor work lose from the joint. One approach utilizes a length of such pipe one end of which is adapted to couple to the polyolefin pipe of the water system in conventional manner such as butt fusion. The other end of the adaptor includes an integral flange to be gripped by the mechanical joint components. To form the flange, the end of the pipe may be extruded with a pipe wall that is much thicker than a typical pipe wall, which thickened end is then machined to define a nominal thickness pipe wall with the integral flange thereon. Such an approach is costly and of questionable vitality in that the flange may be insufficient to properly retain the pipe in sealing engagement with the mechanical joint.
Another approach force-fits a rigid tube such as a steel tube inside the polyolefin pipe at the pipe end in sealing engagement with the inner diameter of the plastic pipe wall. The rigid tube act as a stiffener at the pipe end. And while the stiffening tube is believed to provide better resistance to pipe end deformation, the polyolefin pipe end may still come loose from the mechanical joint.

Plastic pipe adaptor for a mechanical joint


In a data recording method for a write-once type recording medium capable of pseudo overwrite, it is judged whether data to be recorded in the write-once type recording medium exists. If it is judged that data exists, it is judged that the data is to be recorded from the next writable address (NWA) indicating the boundary between a recorded area and non-recorded area. If it is judged that the data is to be recorded from the next writable address, the data is recorded from the next writable address; and if it is judged that the data is not to be recorded from the next writable address, recording of the data is suspended. While data to be recorded exists, the aforementioned steps are repeated. If no data to be recorded exists, the data whose recording has been suspended is recorded.

According to a conventional write-once type recording medium such as a DVD-R, an entire recording area can be written only once physically. In other words, according to a write-once type recording medium, as shown in FIG. 4A, new data can be recorded only in a area starting from a NWA (Next Writable Address) 105 provided at a boundary between a recorded area 101 and an unrecorded area 104, and data recorded in the data-recorded area before the address of the NWA cannot be overwritten physically.
However, recently, a method capable of pseudo-overwriting of data in the recorded area of the write-once type recording medium has been developed. For example, a write-once type recording medium such as a BD-R (Blu-ray Disc Recordable Format) can be provided with a replacement management area while keeping the same characteristics as that of the conventional write-once type recording medium. In addition, a record/reproduction device (disk drive and the like) for a write-once type recording medium can perform a replacement process to such a write-once type recording medium. Thus, the replacement process enables recording (overwrite) of data to the recorded area, which is impossible for the conventional write-once type recording medium (refer to Non-Patent Document 1, for example). Such overwrite is referred to as the "pseudo overwrite" hereinafter.
With reference to FIG. 4B, the pseudo overwrite will be described. When data is overwritten in a partial area 102 of a recorded area 101, the data to be overwritten is recorded in an unrecorded area 103 starting from the NWA 105. Then, replacement information showing that the area 102 is replaced with the area 103 is recorded in a replacement management area in the recording medium. As a result of the replacement process replacing the area 102 with the area 103, a NWA 105b is newly set after the area 103. Note that management data is recorded in anywhere in the recording medium similar to user data.
This method allows pseudo overwrite of data to be achieved in the recorded area of the write-once type recording medium. However, since the pseudo overwrite is accompanied with the replacement process, the replacement information relating the areas to each other is generated. The replacement information is recorded in the write-once type recording medium, consuming the recording area. Thus the replacement process cannot be performed infinitely. That is, the number of times of the pseudo overwrite processes is limited in the write-once type recording medium. In addition, when the user data is overwritten in the above BD-R, it is necessary to record the user data in the area 103 in the unrecorded area 104 shown in FIG. 4B, and record the management data already recorded in the recorded area 101 and including an updated address of the user data recorded in the area 103 (refer to Patent Document 1, for example).    Patent Document 1: JP 09-259575 A    Non-Patent Document 1: Universal Disk Format Specification (Revision 2.60) 2005, chapter 152, 6.16.3

Data recording method and data recording device for write-once type recording medium