A change computing arrangement computing an amount of change in a measured value of a measurement signal of a raindrop sensor in a raindrop quantity sensing execution time period that is a time period, during which a wiper blade moves outside of a sensing range of the raindrop sensor. A difference computing arrangement computes a difference between a predetermined reference value and an initial measured value of the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor. A determining arrangement determines the quantity of raindrops on the windshield based on the amount of change, which is computed by the change computing arrangement, and the difference, which is computed by the difference computing arrangement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a raindrop quantity sensing apparatus and a wiper control system having the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In a vehicle, such as an automobile, wiper blades are driven by a wiper motor, so that each of the wiper blades is swung forward from a stop position to a return position and is then swung backward from the return position to the stop position. By repeating the above reciprocal wiping movement of the wiper blades, raindrops on a wiping range of a windshield of the vehicle are wiped.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Number 2000-085538 discloses one such a technique. According to this technique, a quantity of raindrops in a sensing range of a windshield is measured with a raindrop sensor at the time, at which the wiper blade reaches the sensing range, and is thereafter measured with the raindrop sensor once again at the subsequent time, at which the wiper blade reaches the sensing range again. Then, an amount of a change in the quantity of raindrops is computed based on these measurements. Thereafter, a quantity of raindrops, which is measured right before the reaching of the wiper blade to the sensing range, is added to the amount of change. In this way, the quantity of raindrops is measured without a need for providing a raindrop quantity sensing prohibited time period, during which the sensing of the quantity of raindrops with the raindrop sensor is prohibited.
However, when the quantity of raindrops is determined based on the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor, which is obtained while the wiper blade is amid of moving in the sensing range, the state of raindrops in the sensing range may be disturbed by the wiper blade, or the wiped water, which is wiped by the wiper blade and is placed in the sensing range, may be erroneously additionally measured. Thus, in such a case, a quantity of raindrops fell from the sky on the sensing range may not be accurately determined. In view of this, a passing time period, during which the wiper blade moves in the sensing range of the raindrop sensor, is set as a raindrop quantity sensing prohibited time period for prohibiting the sensing of the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range. Also, a time period, during which the wiper blade moves outside of the sensing range, is set as a raindrop quantity sensing execution time period for executing the sensing of the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range. The quantity of raindrops in the sensing range is determined based on the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor, which is outputted in the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period.
FIGS. 11A and 11B show such an example. Here, a range, through which the wiper blade moves during the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period, is set as a raindrop quantity sensing execution range Ap. Also, a range, through which the wiper blade moves during the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited time period, is set as a raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab. The raindrop quantity sensing execution range Ap is separated from the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab at a boundary Z. In FIGS. 11A and 11B, the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab includes a range other than the sensing range Ad of the raindrop sensor for the following reason. Specifically, the wiping level of wiper blade 10 may be sequentially changed to the intermittent drive operation at the long intermittent time interval, the intermittent drive operation at the short intermittent time interval, the continuous drive operation at the low wiping speed and the continuous drive operation at the high wiping speed depending on a need. The intermittent time interval and the wiping speed may vary from a vehicle to vehicle regardless of a vehicle model (regardless of the same model or different models). Furthermore, the raindrop sensor is placed in the predetermined location in the windshield. Regardless of the vehicle model, the location of the raindrop sensor may vary. Thus, the wiping speed of the wiper blade 10 and the distance from the stop position to the sensing range Ad of the raindrop sensor may vary from the vehicle to vehicle, so that it is difficult to accurately set the time period, during which the wiper blade 10 moves in the sensing range Ad, as the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited time period. In order to reliably include the time period, during which the wiper blade 10 moves in the sensing range Ad, into the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited time period, and also to tolerate the above variations, the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited time period includes the time period, during which the wiper blade 10 moves outside the sensing range Ad. Thus, the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab includes the range other than the sensing range Ad of the raindrop sensor.
Now, a sensing principle of the raindrop sensor will be described. The raindrop sensor includes a light emitting device and a light receiving device. The light emitting device may be a light emitting diode, which outputs an infrared light toward the sensing range Ad in the wiping range Aw of the windshield. The light receiving device receives a reflected light, which is outputted from the light emitting device and is reflected from the windshield, and outputs a measurement value, which corresponds to a quantity of the received light. When no raindrop is present in the sensing range Ad, the infrared light, which is outputted from the light emitting device, is substantially entirely reflected by the windshield (total reflection) and is received by the light receiving device. However, when raindrops are present in the sensing range Ad, a portion of the infrared light, which is outputted from the light emitting device, penetrates through the windshield through the raindrops present in the sensing range Ad. Thus, the amount of light, which is received by the light receiving device, is reduced. Specifically, when the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range Ad is reduced, the amount of light, which penetrates through the windshield, is reduced. Thus, in such a case, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor is increased. In contrast, when the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range Ad is increased, the amount of light, which penetrates through the windshield, is increased. Thus, in such a case, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor is reduced.
The sensing operation of the raindrop sensor will be now described further with reference to FIGS. 12A to 12D. With reference to FIG. 12A, the wiper motor begins to rotate at the time t10 to swing the wiper blade 10 and is stopped at the time t14. Thereafter, the wiper motor begins to rotate at the time t15 to swing the wiper blade 10 and is stopped at the time t19. In each operating state, i.e., ON-state of the wiper motor (a period between the time t10 and the time t14, a period between the time t15 and the time t19), the wiping range Aw is wiped by the wiper blade 10. In each stop state, i.e., OFF-state of the wiper motor (before the time t10, a period between the time t14 and the time t15, and after the time t19), the wiper blade 10 is stopped in the stop position (FIG. 11).
As shown in FIG. 12B, the wiper blade 10 is moved from the raindrop quantity sensing execution range Ap into the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab at the time t11 (end of the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period) that is reached after elapse of a predetermined time period ΔT1 from the time t10, at which the wiper motor is shifted from the stop state to the operating state. Then, for example, the wiper blade 10 is swung forward to pass the sensing range Ad at the time t12 and is returned at the return position. Thereafter, the wiper blade 10 is swung backward to pass the sensing range Ad at the time tb once again. Furthermore, the wiper blade 10 is moved from the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab into the raindrop quantity sensing execution range Ap at the time ts (beginning of the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period), which is reached after elapse of a predetermined time period ΔT2 from the time t10 described above. Similarly, the wiper blade 10 is moved from the raindrop quantity sensing execution range Ap into the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab at the time te (end of the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period) that is reached after elapse of the predetermined time period ΔT1 from the time t15, at which the wiper motor is shifted from the stop state to the operating state once again. Next, for example, the wiper blade 10 passes the sensing range Ad at the time t16 and is returned at the return position. Then, the wiper blade 10 passes the sensing range Ad at the time t17 once again. Then, the wiper blade 10 is moved from the raindrop quantity sensing prohibited range Ab into the raindrop quantity sensing execution range Ap at the time t18 (beginning of the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period), which is reached after elapse of the predetermined time period ΔT2 from the time t15 described above. The predetermined time period ΔT1 and the predetermined time period ΔT2 are set each time depending on the wiping speed of the wiper blade 10.
FIG. 12C shows the shift of the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in a state where moderate rain shower (moderate rainfall) exists. As shown in FIG. 12C, the measurement signal, which is outputted from the raindrop sensor, changes with time. Specifically, the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range Ad is increased with time, so that the measurement signal, which is outputted from the raindrop sensor, is gradually reduced. At the time t12, at which the wiper blade 10 passes the sensing range Ad, the scraped water, which is scraped by the wiper blade 10, as well as the adhered water, which is adhered to the wiper blade 10, are brought into the sensing range Ad to cause an increase in the amount of light, which is outputted from the light emitting device and penetrates through the windshield. Thus, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor largely drops once. Right after the time t12, the sensing range Ad is wiped by the wiper blade 10, so that the amount of light, which is outputted from the light emitting device and penetrates through the windshield, becomes substantially zero. Thus, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor is largely increased. At the time tb, at which the wiper blade 10 passes the sensing range Ad upon returning from the return position, the scraped water, which is scraped by the wiper blade 10, is relatively small due to the small distance from the return position but causes the decrease of the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor once again. Right after the time tb, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor is increased to the level, which is the same as that of the time t12. Thereafter, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor is gradually decreased. Thus, as long as the same level of rain shower exists, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor basically shows the above shift.
However, when the temperature of the raindrop sensor changes, the above shift may not be maintained in some situations even in the case where the same level of rain shower exits. Specifically, the raindrop sensor has a temperature characteristic of changing the measurement signal thereof due to luminance characteristic of the light emitting device of the raindrop sensor. That is, in the case where the same quantity of raindrops is present in the sensing range Ad, when the temperature decreases, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor increases, and vice versa. Therefore, even when one-to-one relationship between the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range Ad and the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor is preset, this relationship changes upon changing of the temperature of the raindrop sensor. Thus, it is not possible to accurately determine the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range Ad based directly on the measurement signal received from the raindrop sensor.
Therefore, according to the previously proposed technique, the amount of change ΔV is computed by subtracting the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor at the end (time te) of the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period from the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor at the beginning (time ts) of the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period. The quantity of raindrops in the sensing range Ad is determined based on this amount of change ΔV. In this way, even when the temperature of the raindrop sensor is changed, the quantity of raindrops in the sensing range Ad can be determined. The principle of this determination will be described below.
For example, it is assumed that the state of rain is changed from the moderate rain shower to heavy rain shower (large rainfall). In such a case, the quantity of raindrops fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad per unit time is increased. Thus, under the heavy rain shower, the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor at the time ts is reduced in comparison to the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor at the time ts under the moderate rain shower. Similarly, the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor at the time te under the heavy rain shower is reduced in comparison to the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor at the time te under the moderate rain shower. That is, the measurement signal Va and the measurement signal Vb are both reduced at the time ts and at the time te. In general, the time interval between the time ts and the time te is longer than a time interval between the time tb and the time ts. Thus, when the rainfall is increased, the quantity of raindrops fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad during the time interval between the time ts and the time te is increased in comparison to the quantity of raindrops fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad during the time interval between the time tb and the time ts. When the quantity of raindrops fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad is increased, the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor is reduced. Thus, when the state of rain changes from the moderate rain shower to the heavy rain shower, the amount of decrease in the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor becomes greater than the amount of decrease in the measurement signal Va. In other words, the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor shows the greater decrease in comparison to the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor. Thus, when the state of rain changes from the moderate rain shower to the heavy rain shower, the amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period is increased. The amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal is also increased when the state of rain changes from the no-rain state to light rain shower (small rainfall) or changes from the small rain shower to the moderate rain shower.
Now, for example, it is assumed that the state of rain is changed from the moderate rain shower to the light rain shower (small rainfall). In such a case, the quantity of raindrops fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad per unit time is decreased. Thus, under the light rain shower, the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor at the time ts is increased in comparison to the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor at the time ts under the moderate rain shower. Similarly, the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor at the time te under the light rain shower is increased in comparison to the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor at the time te under the moderate rain shower. That is, the measurement signal Va and the measurement signal Vb are both increased at the time ts and at the time te. In general, the time interval between the time ts and the time te is longer than the time interval between the time tb and the time ts. Thus, when the rainfall is decreased, the quantity of rain not fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad between the time interval between the time ts and the time te is increased in comparison to the quantity of rain not fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad in the time interval between the time tb and the time ts. In other words, the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor shows the greater increase in comparison to the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor. Thus, when the state of rain changes from the moderate rain shower to the light rain shower, the amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period is decreased. The amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal is also decreased when the state of rain changes from the heavy rain shower to the moderate rain shower or changes from the small rain shower to the no-rain state.
Furthermore, although the time interval between the time ts and the time te is relatively long, it is not long enough to cause a substantial change in the temperature of the raindrop sensor. Thus, the temperature Ta of the raindrop sensor at the time ts can be considered as generally the same temperature as the temperature Tb of the raindrop sensor at the time te. Therefore, according to the previously proposed technique, regardless of the temperature of the raindrop sensor, whenever the amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period is increased, it is determined that the rainfall is increased. Thus, the wiping level of the wiper blade 10 is increased. In contrast, whenever the amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period is reduced, it is determined that the rainfall is reduced. Thus, the wiping level of the wiper blade 10 is reduced.
When the rainfall is shifted in the order of the small rainfall, the moderate rainfall and the large rainfall and is thereafter increased to an extremely large rainfall, the following disadvantage is encountered. FIG. 12D shows the shift of the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in the case of the extremely large rainfall.
Specifically, at the time of the extremely large rainfall, the amount of raindrops fell from the sky on the sensing range Ad per unit time is extremely large. Thus, the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor at the time ts under extremely heavy rainfall becomes smaller than the measurement signal Va of the raindrop sensor at the time ts under the large rainfall. However, the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor at the time te under the extremely heavy rainfall is not significantly reduced in comparison to the measurement signal Vb of the raindrop sensor at the time te under the large rainfall. That is, at the time of the extremely large rainfall, the entire surface area of the sensing range Ad is quickly covered with the large quantity of raindrops between the time tb and the time ts. Thus, even when the raindrops are kept applied to the sensing range Ad, the amount of light, which is outputted from the light emitting device and penetrates through the windshield, cannot increase largely from the time ts to the time te. Therefore, in the case where the state of rain is changed from the heavy rain shower (the heavy rainfall) to the extremely heavy rain shower (the extremely heavy rainfall), although the measurement signal Va and the measurement signal Vb are reduced at the time ts and the time te, respectively, the measurement signal Va shows the greater degrease in comparison to the measurement signal Vb. Thus, the amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period becomes small. Therefore, according to the previously proposed technique, which uses the amount of change ΔV in the measurement signal of the raindrop sensor in the raindrop quantity sensing execution time period, it is not possible to distinguish the shifting of the rainfall in the order of the large rainfall, the moderate rainfall, the small rainfall and no rainfall from the shifting of the rainfall from the large rainfall to the extremely large rainfall. In such a case, the wiping level of the wiper blade 10 could possibly be reduced at the time of the extremely heavy rainfall where the highest wiping level of the wiper blade 10 is required.

Raindrop quantity sensing apparatus and wiper control system having the same


The present invention relates to an electronic device (301) in which acceleration of data processing operations is provided, the device comprising a secure execution environment to which access is controlled. A basic idea of the present invention is to provide a device (311) for acceleration of data processing operations (an “accelerator”). In particular, the accelerator is used to accelerate cryptographic data operations such that it performs cryptographic operations on data provided to it via a first logical interface. The cryptographic operations are performed by means of encryption/decryption keys provided to the accelerator via a secure second logical interface which may share a same physical interface (312) with the first logical interface or which may use a distinct physical interface (414) from that of a distinct physical interface (412) used as the first logical interface.

Various electronic devices, e.g. mobile telecommunication terminals, portable computers and PDAs, require access to security related components such as application programs, cryptographic keys, cryptographic key data material, intermediate cryptographic calculation results, passwords, authentication means for externally downloaded data etc. Typically, it is necessary that these components, and the processing of them, is kept secret within the electronic device. Ideally, they shall be known by as few people as possible since a device possibly can be tampered with if its security related components are known. Access to these types of components might aid an attacker which has a malicious intent to manipulate a terminal.
Therefore, a secure execution environment is introduced in which environment a processor within the electronic device is able to access the security related components. Access to the secure execution environment, processing in it and exit from it should be carefully restricted. Prior art hardware comprising this secure environment is often enclosed within a tamper resistant packaging. It should not be possible to probe or perform measurements and tests on this type of hardware which could result in the revealing of security related components and the processing of them.
In order to protect data in the device, data residing in permanent, i.e. non-volatile, memories should be encrypted. Data protection is highly desired, since a malicious person may try to access sensitive data in the device in case this person attains access to the device, e.g. by stealing it. Another scenario where attempts may be made to access sensitive data is when a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system is included in the device. This DRM system stores copyright protected contents and associated digital rights that determine what type of access a user has to the contents. The DRM system is thus used to protect the contents from being accessed by an unauthorized user, misused and/or wrongly distributed. Since the contents and the rights have an economic value, the user may try to access the contents by bypassing DRM control functions. Encryption of the data residing in permanent memory should be secure, efficient and low-cost. As mentioned hereinabove, in current device architectures, it is possible to handle security related components securely in the secure execution environment. However, this may be problematic and results in quite an amount of overhead in terms of transfers of data and control signals, as secure entries to—and exits from—the secure execution environment must be undertaken when performing encryption operations.
On the other hand, encryption can be made highly efficient by using prior art hardware accelerators outside the secure environment. However, another problem arises in that it may then be possible for eavesdroppers to get ahold of security components, such as encryption/decryption keys, from the accelerators, since the components consequently are in the clear. This may be solved by introducing security measures in the device, but will most likely require additional hardware and software and thus create unacceptable escalations of device costs.


The present invention relates to certain phenalkyloxy-phenyl derivatives of formula (I) and analogs, to a process for preparing such compounds, having the utility in clinical conditions associated with insulin resistance, to methods for their therapeutic use and to pharmaceutical compositions containing them.

Insulin resistance, defined as reduced sensitivity to the actions of insulin in the whole body or individual tissues such as skeletal muscle, myocardium, fat and liver prevail in many individuals with or without diabetes mellitus. The insulin resistance syndrome, IRS, refers to a cluster of manifestations including insulin resistance with accompanying hyperinsulinemia, possibly type 2 diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, central (visceral) obesity, dyslipidemia observed as deranged lipoprotein levels typically characterised by elevated VLDL (very low density lipoproteins) and reduced HDL (high density lipoproteins) concentrations, the presence of small, dense LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) particles and reduced fibrinolysis.
Recent epidemiological research has documented that individuals with insulin resistance run a greatly increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, notably suffering from myocardial infarction and stroke. In non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus these atherosclerosis related conditions cause up to 80% of all deaths.
In clinical medicine there is at present only limited awareness of the need to increase the insulin sensitivity in IRS and thus to correct the dyslipidemia which is considered to cause the accelerated progress of atherosclerosis.
Furthermore there is at present no pharmacotherapy available to adequately correct the metabolic disorders associated with IRS. To date, the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been focused on correction of the deranged control of carbohydrate metabolism associated with the disease. Stimulation of endogenous insulin secretion by means of secretagogues, like sulphonylureas, and if necessary administration of exogenous insulin are methods frequently used to normalise blood sugar but that will, if anything, further enhance insulin resistance and will not correct the other manifestations of IRS nor reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In addition such treatment involves a significant risk of hypoglycemia with associated complications.
Other therapeutic strategies have focused on aberrations in glucose metabolism or absorption, including biguanides, such as methformin, or glucosidase inhibitors, such as acarbose. Although these agents have been efficacious to a degree, their limited clinical effect is associated with side effects.
A novel therapeutic strategy involves the use of insulin sensitising agents, such as the thiazolidinediones which at least in part mediate their effects via an agonistic action on nuclear receptors. Ciglitazone is the prototype in this class. In animal models of IRS these compounds seem to correct insulin resistance and the associated hypertriglyceridemia and hyperinsulinemia, as well as hyperglycemia in diabetes, by improving insulin sensitivity via an effect on lipid transport and handling, leading to enhanced insulin action in skeletal muscle, liver and adipose tissue.
Ciglitazone as well as later described thiazolidinediones in clinical development either have been discontinued reportedly due to unacceptable toxicity or show inadequate potency.
Therefore there is a need for new and better compounds with insulin sensitising properties.
Co-pending PCT application SE00/02383 discloses the use of compounds of the general formula (I) for the treatment of conditions related to insulin resistance
and stereo and optical isomers and racemates thereof as well as pharmaceutically acceptable salts, prodrugs, solvates and crystalline forms thereof, in which formula A is situated in the ortho, meta or para position and represents
wherein    R is cyano, when X is 0, and when X is 1 then R is;            —BRa or SCORa, wherein B is O, S, SO or SO2, wherein Ra represents hydrogen, alkyl, aryl or alkylaryl and wherein the alkyl, aryl or alkylaryl group is optionally substituted one or more times by Rb, wherein Rb represents alkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, cyano, —NRcRc, ═O, halogen, —OH, —SH, -Oalkyl, -Oaryl, -Oalkylaryl, —CORc, —SRd, —SORd, or —SO2Rd, wherein Rc represents hydrogen, alkyl, aryl or alkylaryl and Rd represents alkyl, aryl or alkylaryl;        —BB1Ra, wherein B1 is O when B is S, SO or SO2 or B1 is S, SO or SO2 when B is O, and wherein B and Ra are as defined above, or alternatively R is N Ra Ra, wherein each Ra is the same or different and wherein Ra is defined above;                    R2 represents alkyl, halogen, aryl, alkylaryl, alkenyl, alkynyl, nitro or cyano and wherein the alkyl, aryl, alkenyl, alkylaryl and alkynyl group is optionally substituted by Rb, wherein Rb is as defined above;            —BRa wherein B and Ra are as defined above;                        —SO2NRaRf wherein Rf represents hydrogen, alkyl, acyl, aryl or alkylaryl and Ra is as defined above;                    —SO2ORa, wherein Ra is as defined above;            —OCONRfRa, wherein Rf and Ra are as defined above;                        —NRcCOORd, wherein Rc and Rd are as defined above;        —NRcCORa, wherein Rc and Ra are as defined above;        —CONRcRa, wherein Rc and Ra are as defined above;        —NRcSO2Rd, wherein Rc and Rd are as defined above;                    —NRcCONRaRk, wherein Ra and Rc are as defined above and Rk represents hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, or alkylaryl;            alternatively R2 is —NRcRa, wherein Rc and Ra are as defined above;            R1, R3 and R4 are the same or different and each represents hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cyano, halogen or alkylaryl wherein the alkyl, aryl, alkenyl or alkynyl group is optionally substituted by Rb;            n is an integer from 1 to 6;            X is an integer 0 or 1;            m is an integer 0 or 1;            D is situated in the ortho, meta or para position and represents alkyl, acyl, aryl, alkylaryl, halogen, —CN and NO2, wherein the alkyl, aryl, or alkylaryl group is optionally substituted by Rb;                        —NRcCOORa, wherein Rc and Ra are as defined above;        —NRcCORa, wherein Rc and Ra are as defined above;                    —NRcRa, wherein Rc and Ra are as defined above;                        —NRcSO2Rd, wherein Rc and Rd are as defined above;        —NRcCONRkRc, wherein Ra, Rc and Rk are as defined above;        —NRcCSNRaRk, wherein Ra, Rc and Rk as defined above;                    —ORa, wherein Ra is as defined above;            —OSO2Rd, wherein Rd is as defined above;            —SO2Rd, wherein Rd is as defined above;                        —SORd, wherein Rd is as defined above;        —SRc, wherein Rc is as defined above;        —SO2NRaRf, wherein Rf and Ra are as defined above;                    —SO2ORa, wherein Ra is as defined above;                        —CONRcRa, wherein Rc and Ra are as defined above;        —OCONRfRa, wherein Rf and Ra are as defined above;            D′ is situated in the ortho, meta or para position and represents hydrogen, alkyl, acyl, aryl,            alkylaryl, halogen, —CN, —NO2,        —NRfRb, wherein Rf and Rb are as defined above;        —ORf, wherein Rf is as defined above;        —OSO2Rd, wherein Rd is as defined above;            D″ is situated in the ortho, meta or para position and represents hydrogen, alkyl, acyl, aryl,            alkylaryl, halogen, —CN, —NO2,        —NRfRb wherein Rf and Rb are as defined above;        —ORf, wherein Rf is as defined above;        —OSO2Rd, wherein Rd is as defined above.
Compounds disclosed in this application are disclaimed from the present application.


A gaming system is provided including a central game processor, a plurality of master processing units and a plurality of slave terminals operable by players to play the game. The central game processor communicates with the master processing units and supplies the various games available in the system. The master processing units store and administer the games as they are played on the slave terminals connected to each respective master processing unit. A preferred game includes a fixed pool of game plays and a predetermined number of winning plays within each pool. Each player, through his or her slave terminal, can purchase plays in each fixed pool stored in the master processing unit to which that terminal is coupled. When a particular pool is exhausted, for example, through the purchase of all plays, the central game processor provides another fixed pool of plays to that master processing unit to enable continuous play.

Lottery games where a player purchases a printed ticket and gambles on winning a prize or sum of money are known in the art. Lottery games of this type, however, generally require little or no skill on the part of the player to play the game. At most, some minimal physical act may be required of the player to reveal a preordained outcome included on the ticket. The outcome of the ticket has likely been determined in advance of the purchase, usually at the time the tickets are printed. In these games, a player can determine immediately whether the ticket was a winning ticket by simply examining the face of the ticket.
Other lottery-type games that require additional, non-skilled acts on the part of the player are also known. These games may involve the scratching of a removable surface deposited on the face of the ticket in order to reveal whether the ticket constitutes a winning hand. The information printed on the ticket will usually also indicate the amount of any prize won. In paper pull-tab versions of this type of lottery game, the player may peal back or tear off a paper covering to determine if the ticket was a winner. Even this version of the lottery ticket, however, lacks a sense of competition between other players or any feeling that a player can affect the outcome of the game.
The recent proliferation of the video game has provided greater reach or marketability for such lottery or gambling devices. Video games of chance, such as video poker or video black jack, are examples of such video gambling machines. These video games are very accessible and can be installed in bingo parlors or gambling halls so that many players can play at one time.
Even where these video lottery games or gambling devices have succeeded in attracting more players, they also have lacked an element of competition whereby a player can compete not simply against a machine, but against other players as well. Such competition would provide an element of thrill to the known lottery game, or even require a degree of skill from a player. In the prior paper lottery systems or video gambling machines, the player essentially competes against the machine and has no indication that other players are also competing to win the same or different prizes.
What is lacking, therefore, is a lottery game that would overcome the above disadvantages of the previous lottery systems and would provide the advantages of the now popular video games. These advantages include greater access to more players, ease of operation and administration, and minimal overhead in the form of human administrators. Such a video lottery system would also provide a game where players could directly compete against each other and thus have an impact on their chances of winning.
One video lottery game is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,998, but lacks this element of competition between players. According to the patent, a pool of tickets is produced and divided into mini-pools among multiple terminals operable by various players. Each mini-pool includes a fixed ratio of winning tickets that are allocated from the greater pool. However, each player only purchases plays from the respective mini-pool allocated to his terminal and gambles on the random nature of prize distribution within that pool. Simultaneous competition against other players is not provided.
If a degree of competition were provided to this video lottery system, a level of skill and the thrill of competition with others, would advantageously be added. Competing with other players at the same, or even a remote, location adds an element of fun not provided in the previous gaming systems described above.

Video gaming system with fixed pool of winning plays and global pool access


An aid for dining in stand-up and similar situations where a person may simultaneously support a plate and a beverage container by a single hand. The invention comprises a universal food holding receptacle that is stably mountable on upright beverage containers of widely diverse shapes and sizes. The user holds a lower portion of the beverage container in one hand and uses the other hand for other activities such as taking food items from the food holding receptacle that is supported on the beverage container. The food holding receptacle is stably mounted on the beverage container in loose-fitting relationship so that the receptacle can be repeatedly mounted on and demounted from the beverage container in a facile manner while dining. The same food holding receptacle may also be used, after turning upside-down, to stably support beverage containers of diverse shapes and sizes.

Guests at cocktail parties often stand while eating. In such cases, they frequently hold a plate of food in one hand and a beverage container in the other hand. This creates a problem in trying to transfer food from the plate to one's mouth using the hand that is holding the beverage container. There is also difficulty in trying to support both the plate and beverage container by a single hand while using the other hand to transfer the food to one's mouth. Similar situations occur at other types of parties, and at picnics, barbeques, and sporting events, in fast food restaurants, cafeterias, airports, and other venues where food and beverage are served. The difficulty of trying to support a food holding receptacle and a beverage container simultaneously either while eating or while carrying the food and beverage represents a long-standing problem and the problem continues to the present day.
This problem of trying to comfortably hold a plate of food and a beverage container in a stand-up dining situation has been the subject of many patented inventions. Each of these prior art inventions suffers from one deficiency or another that, apparently, has prevented the widespread adoption of any one of those inventions.
There are two general approaches in the prior art to simultaneously supporting a food holding receptacle and a beverage container by a single hand. In the first general approach the beverage container is held in one hand and a plate or other food holding receptacle is supported on or by the beverage container. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,373 issued to McKee describes a plate that is supportable on a beverage container. The plate is similar to a regular plate, but the base of the plate has an upwardly protruding annular, hollow ridge. The cross section of the ridge resembles an inverted "V". Accordingly, the ridge has a hollow, upward facing, annular cavity on its undersurface. The upper part (rim) of a beverage container such as a glass or a paper cup is press fit into the cavity of the inverted "V" allowing the plate to be supported on the beverage container. The plate described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,373 is not stably supportable on beverage containers of a wide variety of shapes and sizes; it is stably mountable only on those beverage containers with upper diameter (rim) dimensions that match the annular cavity dimensions.
In another variation of this general approach (U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,052 issued to Damato) the base of the plate contains a radially scored section. The beverage container is forced downward through the scored region of the plate creating a cavity in the plate that encircles the beverage container. The plate is held on the beverage container by the force-fit between the two components. In this approach the beverage container, with the supported plate, is held in one of the user's hands, leaving the user's other hand free to remove items of food from the plate. There are several problems with this approach including the difficulty of removing the plate from, and replacing the plate on, the beverage container without spilling some of the beverage or tossing food items from the plate. This is especially true considering that the plate must generally be repetitively mounted on and demounted from the beverage container in a dining situation.
In another variation of this approach (U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,860 issued to Comeaux), a plate sits directly on top of a drinking glass. The underside of the plate has a non-slip surface to hinder the plate from sliding off the glass. In this case the user holds the beverage container in one hand, while the plate is supported by the beverage container. This invention suffers from several disadvantages. For example, if another person bumped into the diner, the plate could be easily knocked off the beverage container. Such a design would be even less satisfactory for use with certain beverage containers such as bottles.
In still another variation of this approach, exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,954,195; 5,984,131 and 6,360,885 all issued to Krueger and Perez; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,480 issued to Krueger, Perez and Jansson the base of the food holding receptacle contains an upwardly protruding hollow hub that is attached to the base of the plate. The food holding receptacle is pressed onto the upper portion of the beverage container; the beverage container enters the hub from below the plate, through a hole in the base of the plate, until the hub snugly surrounds part of the upper portion of the beverage container. The user holds the beverage container in one hand with the plate supported by the beverage container. This leaves the user's other hand free to pick food items from the plate or for greeting other people. The inventions using this approach as described in the above-cited prior art patents suffer from the disadvantage that different hub shapes are required for beverage containers of different shapes and sizes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,195 describes several embodiments of such a plate, each with a differently shaped hub to snugly fit part of the outer surface of different beverage containers. The plate is mounted on a beverage container by pressing the plate onto a top portion of the beverage container. One of these embodiments has a hub with an interior section that matches exactly the outer surface of a conventional beverage can; that embodiment is designed to be supported on a conventional beverage can.
Another embodiment shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,195 is designed to be supported on frusto-conical shaped beverage containers such as those in the shape of the commonly used paper or plastic disposable cups. Another embodiment shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,195 is designed to be supported on a particular shaped bottle. The snug-fitting, or tight fitting, relationship between the food holding receptacles and the beverage containers in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,195 hinders the facile mounting of the food-containing receptacle on a beverage container and also hinders the removal of the receptacle from a beverage container. Repetitive and facile mounting and demounting of a receptacle is important for a food holding receptacle that is mountable on a beverage container and intended for use in a dining situation such as a cocktail party.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,131 describes a food holding receptacle in the form of a plate-lid that is designed for mounting on a beverage container with an upper portion of specific dimensions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,885 describes a food holding receptacle that is mountable on frusto-conical cups of different sizes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,480 discloses plates each requiring a differently shaped hub for use with bottles of different shapes. In each of the Krueger et al. patents described above the inner surface of the hub is designed to be complementary in shape to part of the outer surface of a specific beverage container in a manner that the hub snugly surrounds part of the beverage container. Such receptacles, if commercialized, would require the availability of several receptacles with hubs of different interior shapes and dimensions to accommodate different beverage containers such as bottles, cans, stemware glasses, and so on. The need for multiple food holding receptacles with hubs of different dimensions to accommodate beverage containers of different shapes and sizes represents a significant obstacle to the widespread commercialization of these receptacles and would generate consumer hesitance in purchasing them.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,820 issued to Boerner has a downwardly extending member or members on the underside of the base of a plate. This member extends essentially perpendicular to the base of the plate and lies alongside the outer wall of a beverage container upon which the plate is supported. The user simultaneously grasps the extending member and the beverage container by a single hand and thereby supports both the plate and the beverage container. In an alternative embodiment of the Boerner invention the downwardly extending member is in the form of a cylindrical arc that extends around more than half the circumference of a cup with a handle, thereby directly supporting the plate; in this case the user does not grasp the extending member but holds the cup by its handle, with the plate supported on the cup. Mounting Boerner's plate on a beverage container requires coordinating the position of the downwardly extending member or members with the position of the users hand relative to the beverage container or the position of a cup handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,240 issued to Norris comprises a plate having handles in the form of loop-shaped members extending downwardly from the underside of the plate. The plate is placed on top of a beverage container that is held in a user's hand, and the plate is gripped by the user placing a finger and a thumb from the hand that is holding the beverage container through the loops. Mounting of such a plate on a beverage container requires proper orientation of the plate relative to the fingers of a user who is holding the beverage container; this attention to the relative orientation of the plate combined with the need to insert fingers into loop shaped members renders the repetitive mounting and demounting of such a plate cumbersome.
Other approaches to mounting a plate or similar receptacle on a beverage container are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,058,737; 5,176,283; 5,240,136; and 5,292,028 all issued to Patterson and Patterson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,079 issued to Jeng; U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,847 issued to Caldi; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,864 issued to Asselin.
The second general approach to simultaneously supporting a food holding receptacle and a beverage container by a single hand involves holding the receptacle in one hand with the beverage container supported on or by the receptacle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,743 issued to Costarella and Shohara describes a plate containing a downwardly extending hollow tubular section. The beverage container is mounted on the plate by inserting the beverage container into the hollow section. The beverage container rests on the side walls of the hollow section. The user holds the outer wall of the tubular section in one hand with the beverage container supported on the plate. This plate is not designed for supporting beverage containers of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. While the plate is capable of holding beverage containers with lower portions that are roughly frusto-conical in shape, some parallel-sided vessels such as many cups, bottles, cans and glasses will simply slip through the hollow tubular section.
In another variation of this approach (U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,700 issued to Dumke) the base of the plate contains a hole in the center surrounded by an upwardly-protruding frusto-conical lip. The beverage container is inserted in the hole from above the plate and rests on the perimeter of the hole. The plate, with the beverage container supported thereon, is held in one of the user's hands, leaving the user's other hand free to remove items of food from the plate. There are several problems with this approach including its unsuitability for use with some beverage containers that are not frusto-conical in shape.
In still another variation of this approach exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,070 issued to McSpadden the base of a tray has a section containing a substantially cup-like depression. The beverage container is mounted on the plate by placing the bottom portion of the container into the cup-like depression from above. The beverage container rests inside the cup-like depression. The bottom of the cup-like depression may be removable to facilitate taller (frusto-conical) cups, in which case the container protrudes from the underside of the depression. The user holds the outer wall of the cup-like depression in one hand while the plate is resting on part of that hand and wrist. This leaves the user's other hand free to pick food items from the tray or for other activities. This approach suffers from the disadvantage that many types of beverage containers cannot be stably and comfortably supported on or by the tray.
Other approaches to supporting a beverage container on or by a plate or similar receptacle are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,125 issued to Roberts; U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,528 issued to Pace and Girovich; U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,932 issued to Friedrich; U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,459 issued to Mazzotti; and U.S. Pat. No. D211,532 issued to Ashton. The plate disclosed by McKee in U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,373 (described above) is also capable of supporting a beverage container.
In addition to the prior art found in patents, there have been and are several items on the market for addressing the problem of supporting a plate and a beverage container simultaneously while dining. In particular, plates variously referred to as party plates, cocktail plates or buffet plates are available for holding stemware. Some of these commercial products are occasionally seen at buffet functions and can be found in specialty stores. However, none of these commercial products has gained widespread acceptance. Most stand-up dining events do not use such plates, and these plates are generally not found in supermarkets and department stores.
A major deficiency in all of the inventions embodied in the above-cited patents and commercial products is that none of them is universally applicable to a wide variety of beverage containers of different shapes and sizes. In particular, no single prior art plate for addressing the problem at hand is suitable for effective use with bottles, cans, stemware glasses, non-stemware glasses, cups and mugs. The prior art teaches the use of differently configured plates for different types of beverage container. Accordingly, stores would have to provide multiple versions of such plates if they were to accommodate the diverse shapes and sizes of common beverage containers. Similarly, consumers would have to purchase several versions of such plates, each specifically designed for different types of beverage containers. Fast food establishments and cafeterias would similarly have to provide a different food holding receptacle depending on the beverage container chosen by a customer. However, some recent disclosures have addressed the issue of food holding receptacles intended for use with several types of beverage containers. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,625, Gibbar describes a drink vessel holder that is supported on a plate; the drink vessel that is held within the drink vessel holder is supported on and by the plate, and the plate is held in the user's hand. Gibbar states (Col. 2, lines 26-28) that "Such a device must be able to accommodate a large variety of drink vessels that are commonly found at parties." A disadvantage of Gibbar's device is that it requires the hand that is holding the plate to also secure the drink vessel holder to the surface of the plate; alternatively the user must use an adhesive strip to attach the drink vessel holder to the plate. US Pat. Application 20040099670 to Michaeli describes a plate having a peripheral recess with a wall that partly surrounds and supports a beverage container. The wall is made of a flexible material that "is sufficiently flexible to receive and accommodate beverage containers of different diameters" (Abstract). Michaeli states that "beverage containers of most shapes and sizes" (Col. 2, Par. 0025) and "cans, bottles or cups" of a specified diameter (Col. 2, Par. 0026) can be accommodated by the plate of his invention. This design has several deficiencies. Part of the plate must be made from a flexible material. Also, the user grasps both the beverage container and the plate thereby requiring an extra degree of dexterity and care by the user.
The present invention provides a food holding receptacle that is capable of being stably supported on a wide variety of bottles, cans, stemware glasses, non-stemware glasses, cups and mugs, taken one beverage container at a time. A given sample of the present invention is not limited to specific dimensions for the beverage container. In addition to those capabilities some embodiments of the present invention are also capable of stably supporting a variety of bottles, cans, glasses, cups and mugs, taken one beverage container at a time.
The problem of trying to support both a food holding receptacle and a beverage container simultaneously is not limited to the immediate period during which the food and beverage are being consumed. For example, it can be awkward trying to make one's way through a throng of people in a stadium or other packed event while carrying a food holding receptacle and a beverage container simultaneously. The present invention alleviates that problem.

Universal food-holding receptacle for use with beverage containers of diverse shapes and sizes


On an air-conditioning control panel equipped with an inside/outside air changeover switch which enables selection of an inside air recirculation mode, an outside air intake mode or an inside-outside two-air layer mode and comprises an inside air recirculation button and a light-emitting diode indicator, when the inside air recirculation button is turned on to light up the light-emitting diode indicator, the manual operation mode is selected for control of air-conditioning operation and the inside air recirculation mode is selected for air inlet operation. Further, when the inside air recirculation button is turned off to extinguish the light-emitting diode indicator, the automatic control mode is selected for control of air-conditioning operation and either the outside air intake mode or the inside-outside two-air-layer mode is selected for air inlet operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive air conditioner having an air-conditioning control panel including a changeover switch for switching between an automatic-control-mode air inlet switching function and a manual-operation-mode air inlet switching function, and a visual indicator arranged to be turned on when the changeover switch is pressed once and be turned off when it is pressed again.
2. Description of Related Art
One type of known automotive air conditioner has an inside/outside air (air inlet) mode switching function for choosing between an inside air recirculation mode and an outside air intake mode automatically (under automatic control), and has an auto switch (of pushbutton type) on an air-conditioning control panel for designating such automatic control. The air-conditioning control panel is also equipped with a manual switch (of pushbutton type) for allowing a passenger in an automobile to manually choose between the inside air recirculation mode and the outside air intake mode.
The manual switch has, for example, two light-emitting diode (LED) indicators. When the inside air recirculation mode is selected for air inlet operation manually (by pressing the manual switch), an inside air recirculation LED indicator is turned on. Then, when the manual switch is pressed again, an outside air intake LED indicator is turned on (the inside air recirculation LED indicator is turned off).
When the auto switch is turned on, the inside air recirculation mode is chosen automatically to increase cooling performance in cooling-down operation in summer. Then, when inside air in a passenger compartment is cooled down to a certain temperature level, the inside air recirculation mode is switched to the outside air intake mode automatically for the purpose of ventilation. In other words, under normal automatic control, the inside air recirculation mode is chosen when a cooling load is significantly large, and the outside air intake mode is selected when it is not.
In an arrangement that the auto switch and manual switch mentioned above are equipped on the air-conditioning control panel, however, there is a disadvantage that the number of parts mounted thereon increases. Furthermore, recent technological trends are toward a larger size of air-conditioning control panel for incorporating a diversity of automotive air-conditioning functions, resulting in a problem that it is difficult to mount instruments, cassette deck, radio set, and other passenger compartment equipment at convenient positions near passengers (driver in particular)


An aerodynamic cargo container with rounded rear doors is disclosed. The aerodynamic cargo container includes an angled rear area that reduces base drag when the container is transported. The rear sliding door allows for partial opening of the door and allows for operation of the door when the rear of the container is in close proximity to another object. The crash attenuating skirt deflects vehicles away from the cargo container. A pair of cargo doors may define the curved contour of the trailer rear section. These doors may have a plurality of pivoted and segmented sections that assume the curved contour of a stationary edge when the doors are moved to a closed position.

There are many types of cargo containers. There are cargo containers designed to be loaded onto ocean going ships. There are cargo containers specially shaped to fit into the curved hulls of airplanes. There are cargo containers that are transported by train. Cargo containers are often transported as trailers by trucks.
There are several problems associated with cargo containers. One problem is that the rectangular shape of the container creates drag that hinders the transport of the container. It is desirable to have an aerodynamic cargo container that reduces drag.
A drag force acts on an object which moves in a fluid environment such as air or water. This drag force includes several specific drag forces wherein the main one is known as a pressure drag force. The pressure drag force is caused by a net pressure force acting on the object. The rear end contribution to the pressure drag is called "base drag". Flow separation at the base of the moving object creates a vortex system and reduces base pressure thus increasing drag. This problem exists for truncated objects, which have blunt bases, such as a box, a cylinder and the like. Drag forces on the trailer reduce the fuel efficiency of the truck pulling the trailer, and increase the cost of transporting the cargo container. It is desirable to reduce the cost in transporting a cargo container.
Another problem is that automobiles often crash into the rear of trailers causing injury to the automobile and passengers. It is desirable to have a trailer that is designed to reduce the damage caused to automobiles and passengers that crash into the rear of a trailer.
Another problem is that cargo containers pulled by trucks must often be moved into close proximity to a loading dock so that the cargo can be loaded or unloaded. The hinged doors of a cargo container can limit how close a cargo container can be positioned to a loading dock. It is desirable to have a cargo container that can be opened while in close proximity to a loading dock.
There have been attempts to solve some of these problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,894 that issued to Kingham teaches a transportable hauling container, such as a trailer of a tractor-trailer combination, has a rear portion that is configured in or convertible to a wedge shape. Movable portions are located at the rear sides of the trailer that can pivot inward toward a longitudinal centerline. Movable flaps also are located at the rear top of the trailer, which can pivot downward in alignment with the movable portions. The movable portions and flaps can be secured relative to each other in various combinations, thereby providing a more aerodynamic configuration of the trailer rear end. The container or trailer can be configured in such an arrangement, or be convertible from a standard configuration which also includes doors at the rear of the trailer, to a more aerodynamic configuration. A method is also disclosed, which includes operations for converting such a convertible trailer between the standard and aerodynamic configurations.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,780 that issued to Hart teaches a rail car enclosure having a bottom deck, sidewalls and a curved roof defined by at least one slope on each side connecting a flat top of the roof with the sidewalls and the deck connecting the opposite end of each sidewall to form an open end of the rail car. At least one intermediate deck extending between and connecting the sidewalls. An upper track mounted on the uppermost intermediate deck and a bottom track mounted on the bottom deck such that the upper track and bottom track curve around the sidewalls of the rail car. A plurality of panels hinged together at the marginal edges thereof to form a left and right door to slide on the upper and bottom curved tracks between a closed and stowed position. The doors parallel to the exterior of the sidewalls in the stowed position and standing substantially in one plane to fill the open end of the rail car in the closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,745 that issued to Davis teaches a truck body streamlining device, and more specifically to a collapsible, pivoted rear door attachment which when deployed in its operative position forms a reduced air drag surface on the rear of the truck body to minimize the wind resistance of the vortex which normally forms at the rear of a square backed truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,330 that issued to Peisner teaches an end closure for a rail car which comprises a pair of sliding doors mounted for movement between open and closed positions. One of the doors has a recess to clear a brake lever when the door is open. A panel is provided to close the recess when the door is closed. The panel is automatically moved to a position opening the recess when the door is opened and automatically moved to a position closing the recess when the door is closed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,563 that issued to Blunden teaches an end closure for a rail car which comprises a pair of sliding doors. Locking mechanisms provided for securing the doors in closed position extending across the end of the rail car as well as in open and in intermediate positions. Each door moves from closed to open position through an opening in the side wall of the rail car to an open space on the outer side of the side wall within the allowed rail car clearance.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a cargo container with an improved aerodynamic design, doors that can be operated while the container is in close proximity to a loading dock, and a rear skirt that attenuates the damage caused to automobiles that crash into the rear of the container.


Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for generating video mask information, a method for preventing occlusion from barrage, a server and a client. The method for generating video mask information comprises: identifying, for any video frame in the video data to be parsed, an area where a target object is located in the video frame; selecting a plurality of geometric figures to fit the area where the target object is located, to allow a combination of the plurality of geometric figures to cover the area where the target object is located; and generating the mask information of the video frame according to a fitting parameter of the plurality of geometric figures, and sending the mask information and data of the video frame to a client synchronously. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are adopted to avoid occlusion caused by the barrage information on the video image while the vast majority of the barrage information remains and reducing a bandwidth consumption of the client.

With a continuous development of barrage technology, barrage information published by a user is often played in a video playback screen in a current live video or video-on-demand field. Bad occlusion effect on a video image being viewed by the user may be caused sometimes while interactivity is enhanced among users in this way.
In view of this, a series of methods have been proposed in existing technologies to prevent the video image from being occluded by the barrage. One implementation is: a barrage shield control element may be set in a player so as to shield the barrage at a specified position in the video image. However, the number of the barrage exhibited will be greatly reduced in this manner, and too many barrages will be lost though the image is not occluded. Another implementation is: a server may generate a binary mask image consistent with the video image, and send the binary mask image to the client together with video data after compressing the binary mask image. The client may, by parsing the binary mask image, learn which areas in the current video image display no barrage information, so that main objects in the video image may be prevented from being occluded while most of the barrage information remains. However, the amount of data of the binary mask image generated in this manner is too large, which greatly increases bandwidth consumption of the client, thereby causing the video to be stuck when the bandwidth of the client is insufficient.

Method for generating video mask information, method for preventing occlusion from barrage, server and client


A system and method of automated Data Center Bridging (DCB) configuration of an access switch includes a control unit, a memory, and a port configured to couple the access switch to a peer device. The control unit is configured to operate the port according to a state machine including a DCB disabled state, a DCB downstream state, and a DCB upstream state. When the port is in the DCB disabled state, the control unit exchanges network traffic on the port without any DCB extensions. When the port is in the DCB upstream state, the control unit exchanges network traffic on the port using DCB extensions based on the DCB configuration and receives the DCB configuration from the peer device. When the port is in the DCB downstream state, the control unit exchanges network traffic on the port using the DCB extensions and transmits the DCB configuration to the peer device.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to automated Data Center Bridging (DCB) configuration of access switches.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Additionally, some embodiments of information handling systems include non-transient, tangible machine-readable media that include executable code that, when run by one or more processors, may cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of methods described herein. Some common forms of machine readable media include, for example, floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, and/or any other medium from which a processor or computer is adapted to read.
Computer networks form the interconnection fabric that enables reliable and rapid communications between computer systems and data processors that are in both close proximity to each other and at distant locations. These networks create a vast spider web of intranets and internets for handling all types of communication and information. Making all of this possible is a vast array of network switching products that make forwarding decisions in order to deliver packets of information from a source system or first network node to a destination system or second network node. Due to the size, complexity, and dynamic nature of these networks, sophisticated network switching products are often used to implement the interconnection fabric.
Information handling systems and data centers often include large numbers of networked devices including end stations, hosts, servers, network switching devices, and/or the like. The networked devices are typically coupled together using one or more local area networks (LANs). The LANs provide physical interconnectivity between the networked devices and provide one or more protocols for forwarding and/or exchanging network traffic between the networked devices. One of the more popular types of LAN is the Ethernet. The Ethernet includes a large family of protocols and standards for implementing physical interconnectivity, network access, and data link functionality. In the TCP/IP network model, Ethernet typically provides network functionality up through layer 2 of the network protocol stack.
In most cases, Ethernet provides a best efforts delivery model for network traffic. This means that networked devices using Ethernet make a best effort to deliver packets of network traffic to the desired destination, but no guarantee of delivery is provided. Changing network conditions such as network congestion, delay, and/or the like may result in the dropping of packets and thus the non-delivery of the affected packet. Some mechanisms, such as link-level flow control (LLFC), may provide some basic mechanisms for addressing congestion, but other layers in the network protocol stack, such as the layer 4 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), have traditionally been used to provide guaranteed delivery mechanisms that ensure lossless delivery of network packets.
More recently, the Ethernet standard has been extended to provide better management and control of network traffic and network bandwidth at the layer 2 level. Several of these Ethernet extensions are included in a group of features often referred to as Data Center Bridging (DCB). DCB typically provides network resource sharing mechanisms that allow multiple types of network traffic to more effectively share network links between networked devices and to improve the likelihood of lossless delivery of network traffic. DCB includes mechanisms for priority flow control (PFC), bandwidth management, congestion notification, and other related mechanisms. PFC may provide the ability to create multiple queues for a network link with each queue being assigned a different priority. Bandwidth management may include Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) that allows the bandwidth of a network link to be divided among different groups and/or types of network traffic. Congestion notification allows a network switching device to notify the peer devices at the other end of each network link that it is congested and can no longer receive and/or handle additional network traffic.
In order to support DCB, the network devices using DCB should be consistently configured. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved systems and methods for managing the configuration of network devices using DCB, including the automated DCB configuration of access switches.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for automated DCB configuration of access switches


The present invention provides a mounting system for a plumbing fixture fitting that provides a secure mounting even when the mounting conditions are not optimal.

When installing a plumbing fixture fitting, such as a faucet, the underside or backside of the mounting surface needs to be even in order for the faucet components, such as a spout and/or a handle, to be securely mounted to the mounting surface. If the underside or backside of the mounting surface is uneven, the faucet components may not be securely mounted to the mounting surface.

Mounting system for plumbing fixture fitting


The invention includes a method and apparatus for generating a link transmission schedule for handling traffic variation in wireless networks without dynamic scheduling or routing. The method includes determining fixed traffic capacities associated with respective wireless links of a wireless network according to a routing algorithm, and generating, using the routing algorithm and the fixed traffic capacities, a link transmission schedule including at least one condition by which traffic is transmitted using each of the network links. The link transmission schedule is adapted to remain substantially fixed during dynamic traffic changes. The routing algorithm may be a two-phase routing algorithm in which traffic is distributed by each node in the wireless network to every node in the wireless network using traffic split ratios. For two-phase routing, fixed traffic capacities may be determined using ingress and egress traffic capacities and traffic split ratios associated with respective nodes in the wireless network.

Interest in use of wireless mesh networks (WMNs) for new applications such as community wireless networks and networks requiring rapid deployment, as well as for increasing the coverage and capacity of traditional wireless networks, is increasing. The increasing interest in WMNs is primarily due to lowered need for wired infrastructure support, as well as falling prices of wireless components. Disadvantageously, however, although operationally similar to a wired backbone network, use of wireless links in WMNs presents several unique challenges, such as generating sufficient throughput from the system, guaranteeing quality of service for end users, and scaling the network to a large number of nodes. A variety of approaches have been attempted for addressing such challenges.
In one approach, physical layer improvements (e.g., using multiple channels, multiple antennas with space-time coding, and directional antennas for minimizing interference) are implemented for improving the throughput of WMNs. In another existing approach, since standard single-hop media access control (MAC) does not work well in multi-hop networks, existing MAC layers have been redesigned and new MAC layers have been proposed (e.g., a MAC layer tuned to an underlying physical layer). In another existing approach, protocols (e.g., routing protocols such as link quality based routing protocols and network protocols such as new TCP variants) developed for ad hoc mobile networks have been pared down in an effort to render the protocols suitable for use in WMNs.
In spite of some of progress of existing approaches in achieving increased data rates at the physical layer, due to further MAC layer and routing protocol limitations, increased physical layer data rates in multi-hop wireless networks have not resulted in increased throughput at the application layer. Furthermore, such inefficiencies of MAC layers and routing protocols may be exacerbated in moderate-sized networks in which traffic must traverse multiple hops between source and destination. Thus, although some minor improvements in network throughput of WMNs may be achieved by existing processes utilizing dynamic routing and scheduling, such throughput improvements are insufficient for supporting widespread adoption of WMNs.

Method and apparatus for link transmission scheduling for handling traffic variation in wireless mesh networks


The thermobonding interlining is a nonwoven covered on one face with dots of thermobonding resin. According to the invention, the nonwoven is a web, containing no binding agent, of which the g/m2 weight is less than 50, which is produced from fibers in a thermoplastic material, such as polyamide; the mean diameter of the fibers is comprised between 1 and 5 .mu.m, the consolidation of the nonwoven is obtained by intermingling of the fibers by high pressure streams of fluid, notably by injection of water at pressures of 40 to 80 bars, or by thermal bonding. For example, the fibers being obtained from a mixture of constitutents having different melting points, the bonding points result from the melting and bonding of the zones of fibers having the lowest melting point.

Nonwovens are now commonly used as interlining. Cohesion of the nonwovens is obtained either by the addition of binders or by localized thermofusion, applying either on only those fibers known as thermofusible fibers which have the lowest melting point, in the case of a mixture of fibers, or on all the fibers of the nonwoven, in the case of a one-constituent nonwoven.
The characteristics of the final interlining are partly conditional upon these different binding methods.
European Patent No. 0 363 254 describes a thermobonding interlining which consists in a binder-free nonwoven and, since the bonding is not induced by heat, said interlining contains no additional thermofusible fibers. The aim of this patent was to obtain a thermobonding interlining of this type where the thermofusible resin would not come through the material, even in the case of a low g/m2 weight rate. According to said European Patent, said aim was reached with a nonwoven constituted of a web of g/m2 weight comprised between 50 and 150, produced from microfilaments of mean diameter comprised between 3 and 5 .mu.m, the intermingling of which microfilaments is obtained by high pressure streams of fluid.
Therefore, according to the teaching of said patent, the aim could only be reached with a g/m2 weight of 50.
But now, interlining has evolved to such an extent that g/m2 weight smaller than 50 can be used, for example 17 to 25 g/m2 for blouses, 25 to 35 g/m2 for front interlinings in women's clothing.
The problem arising is therefore that of finding a thermobonding interlining having a g/m2 weight less than 50 g/m2 without the risk of the thermofusible resin coming through the material.

Thermobonding interlining containing microfibers


A groove track and a land track are alternately and spirally formed on an information recording medium. On the land track neighboring the groove track, pre-information indicating position information of a track on a disc is formed as a prepit. On the information recording medium, an embossed area is formed so that information about a copyright and for preventing an illegal copy cannot be rewritten. In the embossed area, an embossed configuration including a pit and a space of predetermined depths is formed. The prepit in the embossed area is formed so that the prepit has an optimized configuration according to a pit length and a space length in the embossed area which the prepit neighbors. Consequently, interference between the embossed configuration and the prepit can be prevented even in a case that the prepit is formed in addition to the embossed configuration in the embossed area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording medium such as a CD and a DVD.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known a disc such as a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable), a DVD-R (a DVD-Recordable) and a DVD-RW (a DVD-Re-recordable) as an information recording medium on which information is recordable and rewritable.
A groove track (a track for recording) slightly wobbled in a disc radial direction is preformed on those discs in order to record information in an unrecorded area. The groove track is formed on the disc, according to a wobble signal produced by frequency-modulating a carrier having a predetermined frequency by using pre-information indicating position information of the track on the disc.
In order to extract the wobble signal from the groove track, a reflected light from the groove track of an irradiated optical beam is received by a photodetector divided into two detecting elements with a parting line optically parallel with a tangential direction of the groove track, and a differential signal of the outputs from those two detecting elements is produced and supplied to a BPF (Band Pass Filter) having the above-mentioned predetermined frequency as a center frequency.
The disc is rotation-controlled so that an average frequency of the wobble signal extracted via the BPF is equal to the above-mentioned predetermined frequency. The wobble signal thus extracted (hereafter, it is called "extracted wobble signal") is utilized as a reference signal for generating a recording clock signal. Namely, the extracted wobble signal is a continuous signal having a frequency component which is synchronized with the rotation of the disc, and the recording clock signal which is accurately synchronized with the rotation of the disc is generated by generating the clock signal synchronized, in phase, with the continuous signal.
In addition to the wobbled groove track, so-called prepits are formed on a land track neighboring the groove track at a predetermined interval. Since the prepit is formed on the land track, it is also called "Land Pre-Pit" and "LPP", and the prepit is sometimes called "LPP" in this specification. The prepit is also utilized for phase-adjustment of the recording clock signal, which is generated from the extracted wobble signal. Since the prepit is preformed at the predetermined interval in an information recording area on the disc, an information recording and reproducing apparatus generates the recording clock signal based on the extracted wobble signal, and at the same time, the apparatus adjusts the phase of the recording clock signal based on a detecting result of the prepit. In that way, the information recording and reproducing apparatus generates the accurate recording clock signal in order to record information on the disc and performs information recording based on the signal.
In some discs, the groove tracks for recording information are formed discontinuously (intermittently) in the lead-in area in which the information including the information about a copyright and the information for preventing an illegal copy is recorded. This area is sometimes called "embossed area". Namely, though the groove track is continuously formed in a data area for recording information, the groove track is discontinuously formed in the above area within the lead-in area. As a result, the configuration of the disc surface is such that convex and concave portions are repeatedly formed.
As to an unrecorded disc such as a DVD-RW, the important information such as information for preventing the illegal copy is recorded in advance in an embossed area in the lead-in area, and needless to say, the information is readable. However, since the groove tracks for recording are intermittently formed in the embossed area, even when the predetermined information is recorded in order to illegally re-write such information, the re-written information cannot be reproduced correctly. In that way, the important information as to preventing the illegal copy and the like is prevented from being re-written.
Next, a recording format of the DVD-RW will be concretely described. FIG. 1A schematically shows a cross section of the DVD-RW, and a lead-in area 51, a data area 52 and a lead-out area 53 are provided from inside to outside of the disc. The lead-in area 51 is the area in which various control information and management information are recorded, and the data area 52 is the area in which video information and the other recording information are recorded. The lead-out area 53 is the area which prescribes the outermost portion of the data area 52.
FIG. 1B shows a more detailed data configuration of the lead-in area 51. The lead-in area 51 includes, from inside of the disc to outside, an initial zone 511, a buffer zone 512, an RW physical format information zone 513, a reference code zone 514, a buffer zone 515, a control data zone 516 and an extra border zone 519.
The control data zone 516 includes a control data block 517 located inner side and a servo block 518 located outer side thereof. Inner side of the control data zone 516 is an embossed area in which the embossed pits are intermittently (discontinuously) formed in a circumference direction (the tangential direction) of the disc on the groove track for recording the information.
It is noted that, in most discs, embossed pits readable as an RF signal are formed in the control data block 517, and embossed pits unreadable as the RF signal are formed in the servo block 518. Thus, the control data block 517 and the servo block 518 are respectively expressed as a readable embossed area 517 and an unreadable embossed area 518 for convenience afterward.
In the readable embossed area 517, control data such as information about the copyright and information for preventing the illegal copy is pre-recorded before the shipment of the disc from a factory. The control data is recorded as the deep embossed pits which can be read out by the recording and reproducing apparatus of the optical disc. However, since the embossed pits are intermittently formed in the readable embossed area 517, the control data cannot be read out correctly even though the data is rewritten. As a result, illegal rewriting of the control data can be prevented. It is noted that the prepits are not formed on a land track L in the readable embossed area 517 in most DVD-RWs.
On the other hand, unreadable embossed pits are formed in the unreadable embossed area 518 in order to prevent reading out the information which is rewritten and recorded in the area. In most DVD-RWs, the embossed pits formed in the unreadable embossed area 518 are shallower than the embossed pits formed in the readable embossed area 517. Also, the prepits are formed on the land track L in the unreadable embossed area 518 as well as on the land track in the data area. It is noted that the prepits in the unreadable embossed area 518 are formed in order to establish clock synchronization for writing the information in the extra border zone 519 following the unreadable embossed area 518. When the information is written on the DVD-RW, the information is recorded based on the recording clock signal which is generated from the extracted wobble signal and the detection signal of the prepit. However, since the prepits are formed discontinuously, the recording clock signal having an accurate phase cannot be generated without reading the area of the DVD-RW for a certain length to read out plural prepits.
On the other hand, in order to record the information in the extra border zone 519, the accurate recording clock signal has to be generated at the head of the extra border zone 519. So, the plural prepits are detected in the unreadable embossed area 518, which is formed just in front of the extra border zone 519, and the accurate recording clock signal is generated. In that way, when a light beam for recording arrives at the head of the extra border zone 519, the accurate recording clock signal has already been generated.
In this view, in the unreadable embossed area 518, no information is recorded, and the prepits are merely formed according to the predetermined rule. Thus, the recording and reproducing apparatus generates the recording clock signal of the accurate phase, which is described below, by reading out the prepits in the unreadable embossed area 518 to record the information in the extra border zone 519 based on the recording clock signal.
As described above, no prepit is formed in the readable embossed area in the control data zone because the embossed pits and the prepits interfere with each other in the embossed area, and in many cases, neither the embossed pits nor the prepits can be read out correctly. This is why the unreadable embossed area which follows the readable embossed area is formed on purpose to read out the prepits.
However, as to the unreadable embossed area, conditions for manufacturing are strict. Concretely, some conditions have to be satisfied at the same time, e.g., (1) making it possible that the prepit signal is accurately read out by keeping the level of the prepit signal, (2) making it possible that a push-pull signal is accurately output in order to execute tracking control by a recording apparatus, (3) making it possible that a DPD (Differential Phase Detection) signal, which is one of tracking servo systems in the DVD-ROM, is accurately output in order to execute the tracking control by a reproducing apparatus. So, in the unreadable embossed area, the pit deeper than the groove and shallower than the embossed pit is formed on the disc so that each level of the prepit signal, the push-pull signal and the DPD signal satisfies a standardized value. Thus, very precise adjustment is needed in cutting.
In addition, if such a new format that the ROM area is formed for some purposes inside the disc of the DVD-RW, in addition to the control data zone is proposed, the unreadable embossed area has to be formed after the readable embossed area, i.e., the ROM area, without exception, like the case of the above-mentioned control data zone. The unreadable embossed area, as described above, is formed in order to generate the recording clock for the following recording area, and hence no information can be recorded therein. Namely, recording capacity of the disc is decreased by the quantity of the unreadable embossed area thus formed.


A method and a system for avoiding collisions between aircraft. The method includes computing a default fly out maneuver regarding how the aircraft shall be maneuvered during a fly out action, predicting a fly away path including a prediction of the position of the aircraft during the fly out maneuver, sending information about the own fly away path to the other aircrafts, receiving information about fly away paths from the other aircrafts, detecting an approaching collision, and activating the fly out maneuver upon detecting an approaching collision. The method further includes carrying out the following steps after activation the fly out maneuver: receiving the current position of the aircraft, and calculating a compensated fly out maneuver for the aircraft based on the current position of the aircraft, the previously predicted position, and the default fly out maneuver.

The purpose of an Automatic Air Collision Avoidance System (ACAS) is to prevent collisions in the air between aircraft, each having the system. A fly out is an automatic maneuver performed to avoid collision with another aircraft. Once the fly out maneuver is activated, maneuvers ordered from the pilot are disregarded. Each aircraft with the system continuously computes an escape angle and load factor to be used by the aircraft during a fly out maneuver for the case of an approaching collision. The escape angle is a relative roll angle. At the same time the aircraft computes optimized fly away paths in the air. The fly away paths are computed by means of an aircraft response model. The fly away path is a prediction of the space within which the aircraft will be located with a certain probability if a fly out maneuver will occur.
The fly away path is a trajectory in the air surrounded with a cone shaped space. The size of the cone shaped space surrounding the trajectory depends on uncertainties in the prediction of the fly away path. The uncertainties in the prediction is for example due to inaccuracy of the aircraft response model, timing accuracy of fly out activation due to inaccuracy in the assumption of when the fly out maneuver will begin, and last instance maneuvering. The computed fly away path is sent to the other aircraft. When the other aircraft receive a fly away path, the path is booked. Thus, the booked fly away paths are known to all neighboring aircrafts having the system.
The aircraft continuously receive fly away paths from the other aircraft. The system detects an approaching collision based on the own fly away path and the fly away paths received from the other aircraft, and upon detecting an approaching collision activates the automatic fly out maneuver. During the fly out maneuver the aircraft is ordered to take the escape angle and load factor computed at the same time as the last booked fly away path. A collision is detected when the system detects that the own booked fly away path crosses a booked fly away path of another aircraft. The fly out maneuver should occur within a booked space that is known to the other aircrafts. If no collision is detected the system computes a new escape angle and load factor to be used during a fly out maneuver, and a new fly away path based on the fly away paths received from the other aircraft. The new fly away path is sent to the other aircraft.
A problem in connection with automatic air collision avoidance systems is that in some situations the uncertainties in the prediction are large. To make sure that the fly out maneuver is within the booked space of the fly away path, the width of the booked path is increased. When the width of the booked path is increased, the risk for nuisance is increased. With nuisance is meant an event, which results in an unintentional or unpredicted response or activation of the system. When the risk for unintentional or unpredicted activations of the fly out maneuver be-comes too high, the system for automatically avoiding collisions is turned off and by then the availability of the system is decreased.
This problem is particularly troublesome since the uncertainties are largest in situations where the risk for collision is high, and accordingly where the collision avoidance system is mostly needed. The uncertainties are particularly high in situation where the aircraft are maneuvered with much dynamic, for example during an air raid. The uncertainties are lowest when the aircraft is maneuvered on a straight line, and increase when the aircraft is turned. The increased uncertainties during dynamic maneuvering are due to increased uncertainties in the prediction of the fly away path, which depends on increased uncertainties in the aircraft response model, increased uncertainties in the input data to the model, and to increased uncertainties in the prediction of the start position of the fly out action due to last instant pilot maneuvering. Last instant pilot maneuvering is maneuvers ordered to the aircraft during the time delay between computing a fly away path and receiving and booking the fly away path by the other aircrafts.

System and a method for automatic air collision avoidance