Prior Art/Technical Problem: During the establishment of a call through a switching network 20, the path is selected on the basis of the instantaneous loading of the switching network and maintained during the call. The problem of eliminating local blocking by rearranging existing connections has not been satisfactorily solved because of errors occurring during the rearranging process.. Basic Idea: Provide in an ATM exchange operating with virtual connections the same devices which assure the correct order of the cells in the "connectionless" mode.. Solution: Each output of the switching network is followed by an output unit 30 which ensures that the cells are output in the correct order.. Advantage(s): Virtual connections can be adapted to the instantaneous loading of the switching network error-free at any time. The assurance of the correct order can be implemented so as to largely compensate for delay jitter.

This is the usual design of many of the ATM exchanges that have become known so far. Reference is made to Section 3, headed "Vermittlungsablauf", on pages 6 to 9 of an article by W. Schmidt in "Der Fernmelde=Ingenieur", No. 9, Sep. 1987, where the basic switching sequence in an ATM exchange of such a design is described.
Path information can be both connection numbers (Virtual Channel Identifiers, VCI), which are evaluated in each switching element with the aid of connection tables, and a number of addresses (routing tags) with which the individual switching elements are directly controlled. Examples of this are known in the art.
During the establishment of a call through a switching network, the path is selected on the basis of the instantaneous loading of the switching network and maintained for the whole duration of the call. It may happen that all paths that are possible for a new connection are already so heavily loaded that the new connection cannot be accepted. In many of those cases, however, one of the existing connections preventing the new connection can be routed along an alternative path through the switching network which is still sufficiently loadable. This problem also arises in conventional exchanges. The problem of eliminating local blocking by rearranging existing connections has not been satisfactorily solved because of errors occurring during the rearranging process.

ATM exchange which resequencies the cells using their sequence numbers


A merchandise display system including one or more display units is described. The merchandise display system may include a base unit having a refrigeration unit that cools one or more display units. The refrigeration unit may be removable from the base unit. The one or more display units may attach to another display unit or a base unit. The display units may be stackable on top of one another. The display units may also be configured to attach to the base unit. The one or more display units may include one or more doors, which allow access to display units. The display units may include a C-shaped panel that forms the side walls and back wall of each of the display units.

Commercial refrigerators have had the same design and construction for many years. Commercial refrigerators are typically large heavy boxes that have failed to keep up with design trends and consumer expectations. Because of the large size, commercial refrigerators are often under-utilized and only partially filled. The walls of commercial refrigerators are generally formed from two thin steel plates with insulating polyurethane foam injected between them. This construction makes the commercial refrigerators heavy, time-consuming to build, and difficult to recycle. Additionally, many of the commercial refrigerators have negative impacts to the environment because of the type of refrigerant and compressor used.

Modular refrigerated merchandise display system


A digital audio mixing system for live performance venues includes a software user interface and system host PC with an internal digital signal processor to perform digital mixing functions. The system includes a console having an array of multiple touch screen displays with corresponding fader board (tactile) control surfaces operatively connected to the host PC, and an audio patch bay unit. One or more stage boxes are linked to each other and to the system host PC by wired or wireless connections. The user interface includes multiple functional views and configuration presets, displayed in setup and real time modes, to allow the user to operate the system in a user friendly and simplified environment.

The present invention relates to audio mixing systems. More particularly, the present invention pertains to audio mixing consoles and mixing systems for use in live performance applications.
Audio mixing consoles are used to control and adjust the audio characteristics and sound mix of audio signals generated by musical instruments, microphones, and like, as perceived by listeners at live audio performances. In recent years, analog mixing consoles (sometimes referred to simply as "mixers") used in live performance applications have been supplanted by digital mixers. However, one of the single biggest flaws with conventional digital mixers is that their user interfaces resemble their older analog predecessors. For example, analog mixers use large arrays of mechanical and electromechanical knobs and faders to allow the console operators to individually adjust the audio characteristics associated with multiple audio sources and channels. Such arrays are simply not necessary for a digital mixing product but their use has not been entirely abandoned. With conventional digital mixer user interfaces, an experienced audio professional is required to page through multiple layers of on-screen menus to locate the desired feature on the mixer. This experience can create even more frustration than operating a product containing dedicated adjustment hardware. In addition, conventional digital mixer interfaces are confusing and not intuitive such that to operate them efficiently one must have extensive training in interpreting the displayed menus.
As an example of the inefficiencies caused by extensive menu layering and confusing digital mixer nomenclature, a sound engineer at a live performance venue may notice that an on stage guitar monitor has excessive audible "boom" on the bass drum and that the vocal is buried in the audio mix. Using a conventional mixing system and user interface, the sound engineer has to understand and recall which sub-mix the guitar player is on (assuming the guitar player has the luxury of his own sub-mix). Further, the engineer has to recall from memory which mixer input is associated the bass drum. The engineer then has to find the low frequency EQ knob and turn it down, assuming this is possible without affecting the overall house mix. Also, the sound engineer has to remember where the vocals come in, how they are mixed into the sub-mix, and then turn them up but not so much as to cause feedback.
What is needed, then, is a digital audio mixing system for use in live performance applications that provides a more efficient and understandable user interface.

Live performance audio mixing system with simplified user interface


The present invention relates to a photo diode and its method of formation. The photo diode comprises a photo sensor area positioned in a predetermined region on the substrate, and a dielectric area positioned on the substrate surrounding the photo sensor area. The dielectric area comprises a field oxide layer covering a portion of the dielectric area and at least one dummy active area surrounding the photo sensor area, and a narrow slot of the field oxide layer exists between each dummy active area and the photo sensor area. In the formation of the dielectric area, the dummy active area reduces the thickness of the field oxide layer in the slot and decreases the stress causes by the field oxide layer. So the leakage current of the photo diode in unlighted status can be decreased and improve the signal to noise ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photo diode on a semiconductor wafer, and more particularly, to a photo diode with dummy active areas.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The photo diode is a bi-electrode semiconductor device comprising a photo-conductivity cell and a junction diode and is typically used in the design and layout of optical products such as cameras and scanners. When not lit, the leakage current represents the noise but when lit the leakage current represents the signal. The photo diode manages signal information utilizing the signal-to-noise ratio. By increasing the intensity of the ratio of the signal to noise, the contrast of the signal and the quality of the photo diode are improved.
Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the prior art photo diode 10. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the processing of the field oxide 16 on the photo diode 10. The formation of the prior art photo diode 10 is performed on the substrate 10 of a semiconductor wafer. The photo diode 10 comprises a photo sensor area 12 positioned on a predetermined area of the substrate 14, and a field oxide 16 positioned on the substrate 14 surrounding the photo sensor area 12. The field oxide 16 acts as dielectric insulating material to prevent short circuiting secondary to contact between the photo sensor area and other units.
In the formation of the prior art photo diode 10, a pad oxide layer 17 and a silicon nitride layer 18 are deposited in order on the substrate 14 and are used as a mask for the local oxidation of silicon to define an active area for the photo sensor area 12.
When the semiconductor wafer undergoes thermal oxidation in a furnace, the field oxide layer 16 is generated only on the portion of substrate 14 not covered by the silicon nitride layer 18 due to the fact that moisture and oxygen do not penetrate the silicon nitride layer 18 and substrate 14 well.
However, moisture and oxygen can still reach the substrate 14 immediately surrounding the silicon nitride layer 18 by spreading horizontally to cause oxidation. This causes a bird""s beak profile on the field oxide layer 16, as shown in FIG. 2 and subsequent stress between the substrate 14 and the field oxide layer 16. As the thickness of the field oxide layer 16 increases, so does the stress between the substrate 14 and the field oxide 16. This leads to increase of leakage current in the PN junction of the photo sensor area 12 and noise of the photo diode 10.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a new photo diode and its method of formation, which reduces the leakage current of the photo diode when unlit, decreases the intensity of the noise and improves the quality of the photo diode.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a photo diode on a substrate of a semiconductor wafer comprising:
a photo sensor area positioned in a predetermined region on the substrate; and
a dielectric area positioned on the substrate surrounding the photo sensor area, the dielectric area comprising a field oxide layer covered on portion of the dielectric area and at least one dummy active area surrounding the photo sensor area which is not covered by the field oxide layer;
wherein a narrow slot of the field oxide layer exists between each dummy active area and the photo sensor area and the thickness of the field oxide layer in the slot is reduced by the dummy active area when forming the field oxide layer in the dielectric area.
It is an advantage of the present invention that stress between the substrate and the field oxide layer is reduced and the signal to noise ratio of the photo diode is improved.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

Photodiode with photosensor area laterally surrounded by field oxide and dummy active area regions


Provided are a server for maintenance, a remote monitoring system, and a remote monitoring method. The server is connected, via a network, to a plurality of working machines each including a working machine display device that displays machine state information and a working machine operating device to be used for predetermined operation, and to a monitoring terminal that includes a display part and remotely monitors information on the working machines. Communication between each of the plurality of working machines and the server is one-way communication from the working machines to the server. The server includes a first storage part, a second storage part, and a display processing part. The display processing part generates a display part simulated image, and causes the display part of the monitoring terminal to display a maintenance screen including the display part simulated image.

There is known a remote monitoring system for displaying information about a working machine on a terminal located at a remote place (for example, Patent Literature 1). When some problem occurs in a working machine, a remote monitoring system of this type is used for solving the problem while an operator of the working machine and a service staff member on a terminal side communicate by telephone or e-mail, and share information on the working machine.
However, in the conventional remote monitoring system, a display format of a display device mounted on the working machine differs from that of the terminal side. For example, information is graphically displayed on the display device of the working machine, while information is displayed in the terminal in tabular form. Therefore, it is difficult for the operator of the working machine to communicate with the service staff member on the terminal side, and thus it takes time to solve the problem.

Server, remote monitoring system, and remote monitoring method


A joining machine for joining ends of successive strips in a strip treatment installation includes a device welding a first end of a strip to a second end of another strip, a first pair of symmetrical clamping jaws including a first upper and a first lower clamping jaw gripping the first end of a strip, a second pair of symmetrical clamping jaws including a second upper and a second lower clamping jaw gripping the second end of a strip, the clamping jaws holding and positioning the first end facing the second end for welding the ends together. At least two clamping jaws of the two pairs each include a part for contacting one of the ends to be welded to another end. The part has a geometry and at least one constituent material reducing a strength of eddy currents likely to be created in the clamping jaw by electromagnetic induction.

1 Field Of The Invention:
The present invention relates to clamping jaws of a machine for joining strips By welding, a heat treatment device for the heat treatment of a weld joining Two successive ends of strip by electromagnetic induction and a joining machine suited to the heat treatment by induction of welds for joining steel strips.
The invention relates in particular to welds for joining steel strips running continuously in a cold rolling installation or an installation for treatment such as surface pickling, continuous annealing, electroplating or dip coating and in particular to welds produced using a laser beam and more particularly to heat treatment preceding and/or immediately following the production of said welds. In the rest of this document, the expression "treatment installation" will be used to refer to rolling installations or to the above mentioned treatment installations.
In order to improve the productivity of steel strip treatment installations, avoiding in particular the transformation of said strips reel by reel, modern high-capacity treatment installations are capable of operating continuously by joining the ends of steel strips supplied successively in the form of a reel at the input to the treatment installation, the tail of a strip at the end of treatment being joined to the head of a new strip inserted in the input of the treatment installation.
During this joining operation, the movement of the two ends of strip to be welded into the treatment installation, i.e. the tail of the strip at the end of treatment and the head of the new strip to be treated, is stopped and the sections downstream of the treatment installation (i.e. the sections situated after said tail of the strip according to the direction of travel of the strip) are fed by a strip accumulation device previously filled during the period of time separating two successive joins. Such a joining operation is well known to a person skilled in the art whose efforts relate to the speed of the joining operation, so as to limit the stoppage time for the end of strip and, consequently, the capacity and cost of the accumulation devices.
The joining operation is undertaken by a welding joining machine or welding machine which comprises, in addition to the welding device itself, two pairs of clamping jaws intended to immobilize the strips during joining by welding, respectively a first pair of clamping jaws intended to immobilize the tail of the strip engaged in a section of the treatment installation situated downstream in the direction of travel of the strip and a second pair of clamping jaws intended to immobilize the head of the new strip introduced upstream of the joining machine. Different welding methods used by different welding devices are known to a person skilled in the art. This involves for example flash butt welding, resistance seam welding, MIG, TIG or laser or laser hybrid welding.
The welding joining machine must be capable of producing a high-quality weld. In fact, the breakage of a poor-quality weld during movement of the strip in the treatment installation, or even the need to re-make a weld deemed incorrect or of poor quality may give rise to serious production losses. The decisive elements in the quality of a weld are essentially:                the metallurgical quality of the welded joint, particularly for steels susceptible to metallurgical alterations of the zone thermally affected by the welding operation,        the geometry of the welded section, which should ideally be free from excessive thickness and/or under-thickness in relation to the section of the strip,        the continuity and compactness of the welded joint.
The metallurgical quality of the welded joint, or of the weld, depends essentially on the welding method used and the thermal cycle it induces in the zone affected by welding, and the different pre- and post-heating or annealing treatments applied locally in the welding machine itself or immediately downstream of the welding machine.
The geometry of the welded section depends on the welding method and the means of completing the weld produced after welding. For example, flash butt welding produces a bead which has to be planed and flash butt welding machines are generally equipped with a planing unit integrated into the welding machine. Resistance seam welding also produces an excessive thickness due to the overlapping of the sheets to be welded and which usually has to be flattened by roller devices integrated into the welding machine. Laser welding allows fine management of the welded section also associated with a very limited zone affected by heat.
The continuity and compactness of the welded joint depend essentially on the welding parameters used. These welding parameters are mostly electrical parameters which are easily and reliably manageable. However, another parameter is vital in order to guarantee the continuity and compactness of the welded joint. This involves the straightness of the edges to be welded and their relative positioning during welding. The edges to be welded refer to the end of the tail of the strip at the end of treatment opposite the end of the new strip engaged in the treatment installation.
In order to guarantee the quality of the joining weld, it is necessary that the ends of the strips to be welded are perfectly aligned and rectilinear. For this purpose, welding machines generally include said two pairs of clamping jaws intended to immobilize the ends of strips intended to be joined by welding. Generally, said ends of strips are immobilized in the clamping jaws with a slight overhang resulting from their precise and clean cropping by means of shears integrated into the welding machine or, in certain cases, from their cutting by means of a laser beam. Also, centering devices integrated into or attached to the welding machine make it possible to align the ends of strips before their immobilization in the clamping jaws.
The considerable broadening of the ranges of steel grades and thicknesses treated in treatment installations and the ever increasing productivity requirements have led to more and more frequent use of welding machines involving the laser welding method. This laser method in fact makes it possible to extend the range of products able to be welded toward very fine thicknesses. It also makes it possible to limit the zones thermally affected for a very wide variety of steel grades, including special metallurgy steels developed for the automobile industry. However, in view of the small thickness of the laser beam, the relative positioning of the edges to be welded has to be extremely precise, as described in the applicant's application EP 1591190.
Although the laser welding method, owing to the extreme concentration of the welding energy, results in reduced affected zones, numerous steel grades with high characteristics are nonetheless still susceptible to hardening and, correlatively, to fragilization. In order to prevent this fragilization and this hardening, heat treatment of the weld may be necessary. Different types of heat treatment of the weld may be used, either by annealing after welding, the purpose of which is metallurgically to restore acceptable ductility to the weld, or by pre-heating capable of reducing the cooling rate of the weld and thus limiting its hardening.
In particular, annealing of joining welds by means of heat treatment by electromagnetic induction is known to a person skilled in the art. For this purpose, a heat treatment device using electromagnetic induction is placed downstream of the welding machine. Once the joint has been welded, the clamping jaws holding the ends of strips in place are opened and the welded joint is moved in the direction of travel of the strip to the electromagnetic induction heat treatment device, where said welded joint is processed by annealing. The annealing of the joining weld by means of an electromagnetic induction heat treatment device situated downstream of the welding machine unfortunately implies a great extension of the welding time, requiring a reduction in the speed of travel downstream of the accumulation device or greater accumulation capacities. Also, the time elapsing between the completion of the welded joint and the start of annealing by means of the electromagnetic induction heat treatment device is capable of harming the quality of the weld.
Heat treatment by electromagnetic induction is also described in patents for the continuous production of welded metal tubes from steel strips, such as for example in patent JP 08-174254. In this case, an electromagnetic induction heat treatment device follows the movement of a laser welding head in order to anneal the weld immediately after welding by the welding head. However, the implementation of such an electromagnetic induction heat treatment device following the welding head of the welding machine is not applicable to the weld joining of heads and tails of strips by a strip joining welding machine.
In fact, the joining of strips depends on the use of said clamping jaws, while the latter are not present in the case of tube welding. Said clamping jaws are needed for the precise positioning of the ends of the strips to be welded, in order to guarantee the quality of the weld. Also, in order to guarantee the best possible positioning of the two edges to be welded to one another, and particularly in the case of thin strips (for example less than 1 millimeter thick), the overhang of the edges to be welded—i.e. their protuberance with respect to the clamping jaws and thus the separation of said pairs of clamping jaws from each other, or the inter-jaw space—must be as small as possible.
Owing to this minimization of the inter-jaw space, it is difficult to position an electromagnetic induction heat treatment device close to the weld capable of heating the weld without inducing great risks of heating the clamping jaws by circulation of electrical currents induced by the electromagnetic field (i.e. eddy currents) and consequently disturbances in the heating of the weld or without reducing the precision of the positioning of the ends of strips to be welded. In fact, in the case of joining thin strips, the choice of an inter-jaw space making it possible to limit said heating of the clamping jaws, or simply to free a space for the positioning of the induction treatment device, may result in excessive overhang of the edges to be welded, which consequently no longer allows for the correct relative positioning of said edges to be welded. In particular, in the case of joining extremely thin strips, with a thickness for example between 0.1 and 0.4 mm, the ends of strips to be welded are cut by laser, and not using shears. It follows that no space is placed between the lower clamping jaws (i.e. positioned beneath the strip to be joined) so as to allow the passage of shear blades intended to cut said ends. Consequently, it is impossible to position an electromagnetic induction heat treatment device beneath the strip without positioning the clamping jaws far away from the weld so as to free a space for said heat treatment device, with catastrophic consequences for the quality of positioning of the edges to be welded, or without opening and separating the clamping jaws after welding, with consequences for the complete welding and annealing cycle time, and making it impossible, in this case, to carry out pre-heating of the zone to be welded.

Machine for joining the ends of steel strips which machine is suited to the induction heat treatment of joining welds


A pressure splitter is made having a series or orifices, at least one of which has its effective size change with changes in temperature. This size change is provided by using materials with different thermal expansion rates, these different rates changing the relative positions of a body and the free end of a temperature responsive member. This same principle can be used in conjunction with a pressure responsive element, such as a sealed bellows, to provide a splitter which has an intermediate pressure which changes in response to both temperature and pressure. A splitter with temperature compensation only can be used to effectively modify carburetor fuel flow providing a more constant fuel/air ratio. A splitter using both temperature and pressure responsive elements can be used to more effectively maintain carburetor fuel/air ratio over a wide range of relative air densities caused by changes in atmospheric temperature and altutude.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to a pressure splitter having a system of orifices with a pressure sensing port located between two of the orifices, at least one orifice having its size vary with temperature. As the temperature controlled orifice(s) change(s) in effective size, the pressure in the sensing port changes. This temperature controlled orifice can be used in conjunction with fixed orifices, or may be used in conjunction with pressure controlled orifices. It can be used in gas or liquid mediums. This device is especially effective in the regulation of carburetor fuel flow as a function of ambient air temperature, or as a function of ambient air temperature and atmospheric pressure.
2. Description of Prior Art
A pressure splitter is a hydraulic or pneumatic device which has an inlet opening to a region of high pressure and an outlet opening to a region of lower pressure. At least two orifices are positioned in series between this inlet and outlet, resulting in an intermediate pressure existing in the region between the two orifices. Each orifice performs a throttling operation in which total pressure drops across the orifice. The pressure drop across both orifices essentially equals the total pressure applied to the splitter, and the intermediate pressure therefore lies somewhere between the inlet and outlet pressures depending on the relative sizes of the orifices. The orifices are usually small in area compared to the chambers to which they are connected, therefore establishing a low fluid velocity ahead of the orifice. The pressure drop across the orifice is a result of the force required to accelerate the fluid medium through the orifice. More than two orifices can be used in the splitter, in various series and parallel combinations, but usually just two series orifices are used. The orifices can be fixed in dimension and consequently their area, but they may also be variable in area, either manually or automatically adjusted by a needle valve, for instance.
Carburetors operate using air pressure differences acting to force a fuel into a bore of the carburetor, and hence to an engine. This fuel flow is through one or more fuel metering orifices. Modern carburetors use multiple systems or circuits to provide the proper fuel/air ratio required for all engine operating parameters. These systems provide a balance between economy and power, enabling maximum power to be delivered by the engine upon demand, but maximum economy whenever possible.
Two basic elements determine the fuel flow in any of these various circuits. The first element is the physical size of the fuel metering orifice, and to a lesser extent, connecting passageways which comprise the particular fuel circuit. The metering orifice is usually sized to be considerably smaller than the other parts of the fuel delivery system, and for the purpose of analyzing fuel delivery, it can be assumed that the metering orifice constitutes the entire fuel delivery system. The second element is the pressure difference existing across the fuel delivery system, or essentially, the pressure existing across the metering orifice. For any given set of conditions, the fuel flow through the fuel delivery system varies approximately as the square root of this pressure difference.
The pressure difference acting across the fuel metering orifice in its most basic configuration consists of the pressure existing on the fuel in the fuel chamber of the carburetor, less the pressure existing in the carburetor bore where the outlet of the fuel delivery system is located, less the head pressure of the fuel. The pressure existing on the fuel in the fuel chamber is controlled by an average reference pressure established by a vent. If the vent is entirely external to the carburetor and its air induction passage, the venting is called external, and atmospheric pressure is the average reference pressure used for the carburetor. If the vent communicates with a region of the bore or other area of the air induction passage, for instance the air cleaner, this venting is called internal. In this case, the average reference pressure used for the carburetor will be slightly less than atmospheric, depending on the location of the pressure sensing end of the vent. Both types of venting, internal and external, are well known in the art.
The pressure existing in the carburetor bore and other parts of the air induction system, and hence existing at the outlet of the fuel delivery system, is determined by engine operating conditions, the position of a throttle valve, a variable venturi if so equipped, and the shape and cross sectional area of the carburetor bore. As a gas, or in this case air, is moving at a velocity, the static pressure (the pressure measured by a pressure sensing orifice with its surface parallel to this flow) will be lower in regions where the velocity is greater. Therefore, as engine speed is increased and the carburetor throttle is opened, air velocity in the bore increases, and pressures perpendicular to the wall of the bore decrease. Also, the bore is normally shaped so that there is a region having a decreasing cross sectional area, called a converging section. The portion having the smallest cross sectional area is called the throat, and air speed will be highest in this region. The converging section and throat comprise the venturi; most carburetors have a venturi with fixed dimensions, but some carburetors have a venturi with operably variable dimensions. It is in the throat that a high speed fuel delivery orifice is usually located. The surface of this fuel delivery orifice is usually parallel to the air flow, or in other words perpendicular to a radius of the bore. Locating the fuel delivery orifice in the throat perpendicular to a bore radius gives the maximum fuel flow possible for a given orifice, bore design, and engine operating condition, since this is the region of the bore where the static pressure is lowest.
The fuel head pressure is simply the pressure required to raise the fuel against gravity a height equivalent to the difference between the level of the fuel delivery orifice in the bore and the level of the fuel in the fuel chamber. It is important that this level be controlled for uniform operation of the carburetor.
There are two basic types of carburetors, float bowl carburetors and wet diaphragm carburetors. In a typical float bowl type carburetor, fuel flows from a larger fuel tank into the float bowl of the carburetor, the level of fuel in the float bowl being determined by a float-actuated valve. This system is well known in the prior art and is discussed in my co-pending applications Ser. Nos. 08/664,187 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,928) and 08/846,815. This fuel level, as discussed above, is important in determining overall carburetor performance. In this case, the venting system used, whether internal, external, or a combination of both, determines the pressure existing in the air occupying the space above the fuel internal to the carburetor. This pressure may contain pressure pulses due to fuel inlet valve instability or due to pressure pulses in the carburetor bore, but the average of this pressure is one parameter which determines average carburetor fuel delivery.
In a typical wet diaphragm type carburetor, fuel flows under pressure from the larger fuel tank to the carburetor, and the pressure internal to the carburetor is controlled by a diaphragm-operated valve. This is also discussed in 08/664,187 and08/846,815. In this case, there is no fuel level specifically, as there is no void internal to the carburetor; it is completely filled with fuel. In this type carburetor, the dry side of the diaphragm, or the side of the diaphragm opposite the side in contact with the fuel, is housed in a chamber which is either internally or externally vented. The average pressure of this chamber, while not being the actual pressure existing on the fuel internal to the carburetor, is the average reference pressure which determines the fuel pressure internal to the carburetor. This average reference pressure exists on the dry side of the diaphragm, while the fuel pressure internal to the carburetor exists on the wet side of the diaphragm. The movement of this diaphragm positions the moveable member of an inlet valve, and hence regulates the average fuel pressure in the carburetor and therefore helps determine average carburetor fuel delivery.
Changes in atmospheric conditions, such as temperature, barometric pressure, and elevation, all of which determine the relative air density, have a considerable effect on the fuel delivery requirements of the engine. Changes in relative air density, without a corresponding change in carburetor tuning, cause a change in the fuel/air mixture ratio, resulting in engine loss of power or a waste of fuel. For instance, a snowmobile engine, which has carburetors tuned or jetted for proper operation at -40 degree Fahrenheit, will run overly rich and get the "blubbers" when run at +40 degrees Fahrenheit, unless the carburetor has the main jets changed to lean the mixture. In extreme cases, the mid-range operation of the carburetor must also be modified by moving or replacing a needle which affects the effective size of the fuel delivery orifice at part-throttle positions. Changing main jets and repositioning or changing mid-range needles is time consuming, results in loss of fuel, and requires partial disassembly of the carburetor. Some carburetors have external mixture screws which adjust an opening in a fuel feed port which parallels the main jet. These systems are expensive to manufacture, and each carburetor must have its own adjustment system. Also these systems work by changing the effective size of the fuel delivery orifice, and not by changing the pressure acting to move the fuel through the fuel delivery system.
Prior art has discussed the use of internal vents to regulate the flow of fuel to an engine. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,799,585 to Ensign (1931), 1,785,681 to Goudard (1926), 1,740,917 to Beck (1926), and 1,851,711 to Linga (1932) use an internal vent orifice in the carburetor bore which has its pressure affected by the throttle position. All of these devices are complex and add considerably to the cost of machining the carburetor. Except for 1,740,917 to Beck, they are not externally adjustable, and consequently are not usable to change fuel flow necessitated by a change in atmospheric conditions, for instance. They only change the shape of the fuel flow versus engine demand curve, and for any fixed set of operating conditions, the fuel flow is determined and not adjustable. U.S. Pat. No. 1,740,917 to Beck uses an internal vent positioned adjacent the throttle, and uses a manually adjustable external vent to provide an external adjustment of the fuel flow. This system is not automatic in its operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,198 to Bostelman (1990) describes a carburetor altitude compensation system using a pressure splitter to regulate the fuel flow through the carburetors. In this system, a sealed metering chamber and diaphragm is used to position a valve (choke), which changes the intermediate pressure existing between two orifices. One orifice is located in the line from the venturi region of the carburetor bore, providing a vacuum which tends to decrease the flow of fuel. The other orifice is in the line connected to a region of essentially atmospheric pressure, for instance the air cleaner. This line tends to establish the float bowl pressure at atmospheric pressure, at which maximum fuel flow will occur. The movement of the diaphragm causes a change in the relative size of the two orifices, therefore causing a change in the intermediate pressure existing between the two orifices. This intermediate pressure is applied to the carburetor and is the carburetor reference pressure, and fuel flow varies as the reference pressure varies. This system, like the adjustment in 1,740,917 to Beck, establishes a pressure by balancing two series orifices, one or both orifices being variably throttled. Systems operating on a similar principle using valves and thermodynamic throttling are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,968,189 to Bier (1976), 4,660,525 to Mesman (1987), 4,574,755 to Sato et al. (1986), 4,376,738 to Reinmuth (1983), 3,789,812 to Berry et al (1974), and 3,730,157 to Gerhold (1973). All of these systems use a valve of some nature, usually of a needle type or a sliding type, which is usually operably closed to create an effective valve opening small compared to the area of the conduits to which it is attached, and perform a throttling operation to reduce the total pressure after passing the valve. None of these systems, however, employ an atmospheric temperature controlled orifice in conjunction with a fixed or atmospheric pressure controlled orifice to regulate carburetor fuel flow.
Other carburetor fuel regulating inventions are contained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,859,397 to Tryon (1973) and 3,880,963 to Bier et al. (1973). These inventions use pressure or temperature sensing devices to change the effective size of the fuel metering orifice, and do not operate on the principle of affecting the carburetor reference pressure. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,652,065 to Casey et al. (1972 and 3,861,366 to Masaki et al. (1975) use a complex system of amplifiers, sensers, and electronics or pneumatics to affect the flow of fuel through the carburetor. These two systems also do not affect fuel flow by affecting the carburetor reference pressure.
Valves utilizing materials having different thermal coefficient expansion rates to vary the open area of the valve have been developed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,833,171, 3,719,322, and 3,696,997 to Gifford (1974, 1973, and 1972 respectively), 4,759,883 to Woody et al. (1988), and 3,456,722 to Cornelius (1969) all describe valves operating on this principle. These valves are used to control the rate of fluid flow by changing the effective size of a flow controlling orifice, but are not used as a pressure splitter. In other words, there is no provision for a second orifice, used in conjunction with the variable orifice, to establish an intermediate pressure somewhere between the inlet pressure to the valve and the outlet pressure from the valve, and no provision for sensing this intermediate pressure. These devices are simply valves, not pressure splitters, and therefore are ineffective in establishing carburetor reference pressure.
In my co-pending application Ser. No. 08/846,815 I describe a carburetor fuel flow regulator which affects the fuel flow by varying the carburetor reference pressure. This regulator, however, uses a moveable member which changes gas flow speed parallel to an orifice, thereby affecting the static pressure existing in the orifice. Flow is isentropic, and total pressure is conserved. This regulator is not a pressure splitter.

Temperature responsive pressure splitter


A system for analyzing athletic activity is usable with an article of footwear including a sensor system with a plurality of force sensors configured to sense force exerted by a user's foot, an electronic module contained within the article of footwear, and a plurality of sensor leads connecting the sensors to the electronic module, wherein the electronic module collects data based on force input from the sensors and transmits the data. The system also includes an electronic device in communication with the electronic module. The electronic device includes a processor that receives the data from the electronic module, compares the data to a footstrike template corresponding to a desired footstrike pattern to determine whether a deviation from the footstrike template exists, and generates an indication to the user when the deviation from the desired footstrike pattern is determined to exist, which may also include a degree of such deviation.

Systems for analysis of athletic activity that utilize data collected from athletic activity are known. Such data can be analyzed and presented to a user in a number of different forms and formats, including by indication of performance metrics. However, uses for such athletic activity data and metrics can be unnecessarily limited. As one example, such data and performance metrics are often limited in providing active, real-time feedback and/or forward-looking feedback to the user. Accordingly, while certain systems for analyzing athletic activity provide a number of advantageous features, they nevertheless have certain limitations. The systems, apparatuses, and methods disclosed herein seek to overcome certain of these limitations and other drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide new features not heretofore available.

System and method for analyzing athletic activity


A battery pack including an external case having improved strength to protect a bare cell is provided. The battery pack includes a bare cell, a cover plate attached to one of long side surfaces that are widest planes of the bare cell, and an external case including a resin portion and a reinforcement plate and accommodating both the bare cell and the cover plate, wherein the resin portion surrounds sides of the reinforcement plate.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a battery pack.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a battery pack includes a bare cell formed by accommodating an electrode assembly in an insulating case, and an external case accommodating the bare cell. In order to protect the bare cell, an external case having improved strength is highly required.


A moving system includes a moving vehicle, a vending device, and moving supplies. The vending device is affixed to the moving vehicle, defines an enclosed volume, and includes a sealing device affixed to the vending device for sealing the enclosed volume of the vending device. The moving supplies are disposed within the enclosed volume of the vending device and are available to be dispensed.

The use and rental of accessories which are related to home or business moving, for example, furniture pads, wheeled dollies, and the like, are known in the art. Generally, these items can be rented from, for example, a moving supply and moving truck rental company. An example of such a do-it-yourself moving rental company is the world famous U-Haul International, Inc., which annually provides moving vehicles and supplies to a very large number of consumers of such products and services.
In order to control the rental process, these items are typically kept on the premises of the rental company and are rented separately from a moving truck or trailer. The supplies must then be loaded on the moving vehicle or otherwise be transported to the place they will be used. The on-premise supplies also take up space which might be used to store other items. If these supplies were merely left on a moving vehicle, monitoring the use of these items to determine which moving vehicle users should be charged a rental fee would be difficult. Further, storage of these items on the floor of the moving vehicle, especially if not used, would diminish the most useful space available for cargo.
It would be useful to have a device, system, and methods which would allow, for example, moving supplies to be conveniently and safely stored "adjacent" the moving vehicle, for example, within the utility box of the moving vehicle. Additionally, it would be useful to provide a method for monitoring the usage of such supplies so that those who make use of the supplies can be charged an optional rental fee. It would also be useful to have an integrated system for providing equipment and supplies to a moving vehicle user by providing such supplies on the moving vehicle.

Moving vehicle equipped with vending device


Systems and methods are provided for providing, based on a model, an indication that an appraisal value for a property is likely to be faulty. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving information representative of at least one of a borrower, a property, or one or more demographics, such that the received information corresponds to a date. The method determines a score based on the received information and the model, such that the score provides the indication of the likelihood that the appraisal value was faulty on the date.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to financial systems and to systems and methods for processing financial information. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for evaluating the likelihood that an appraisal of property is faulty.
II. Background and Material Information
When an application for a mortgage loan is processed by a financial entity such as a lender, bank, mortgage bank, mortgage broker, or mortgage originator, the property securing the mortgage is usually appraised. Since various financial entities have an interest in knowing the true (or fair) market value of the property securing the mortgage, the appraisal of a property is an important part of the mortgage loan application process.
An appraisal provides a property value estimate indicating a market value for a property. The appraisal may be performed in various ways including, for example, an in-person property appraisal performed by an appraiser. During the in-person appraisal, the appraiser physically inspects the property. With or without a physical inspection of the property, recent sales information for comparable properties may be used to generate an appraisal.
Alternatively, an automated valuation model serves as a tool that utilizes various factors (e.g., ZIP code, lot size, number of bedrooms, etc.) to appraise a property. Examples of automated valuation models may be found in one or more of the following applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/730,289, filed on Oct. 11, 1996, entitled "METHOD FOR COMBINING HOUSE PRICE FORECASTS"; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,831, filed on Jul. 15, 1998, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING HOUSE PRICE FORECASTS BASED ON REPEAT SALES MODEL" (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,070); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/134,161, filed on Aug. 14, 1998, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING PROPERTY VALUE ESTIMATES"; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/728,061, filed on Dec. 4, 2000, entitled "METHOD FOR FORECASTING HOUSE PRICES USING A DYNAMIC ERROR CORRECTION MODEL"; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Other types of appraisals that provide an informed estimate of property value may also be used to appraise a property. Because of the various forms that an appraisal may take, an appraisal may be burdensome for a financial entity to process and/or interpret. For example, a financial entity may find it difficult to readily assess the reliability of an appraisal and, as a result, order an unnecessary reappraisal of the property.
A financial entity may use an appraisal as part of its mortgage loan approval process. For example, when a borrower applies for a mortgage loan, the appraisal may be used by a bank to verify the value of the underlying property. The bank uses the property value as a factor in approving or rejecting the mortgage loan application. For example, when an appraisal indicates that a property is worth less than the mortgage amount, a bank may not be willing to accept the financial risk and will therefore reject the mortgage loan application. On the other hand, the bank may simply tell the borrower that the maximum amount borrowed cannot exceed the appraised property value, or a percentage thereof. For these and other reasons, the appraisal is usually considered an important part of the mortgage loan application process.

System and method for providing automated value estimates of properties as of a specified previous time period

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)


A ball bearing cage having a first ring element and a second ring element is provided. The ring elements are each formed from sheet metal, and each include axial bulges separated by support surfaces. Ball guide pockets are formed between facing bulging inner walls by joining the support surfaces of the two ring elements. The ring elements are formed in such a way that the bulging inner walls that define the ball guide pockets define a channel cross-section which is concave in relation to a ball and which has an inner and an outer ball contact zone. The channel cross-section has such a depth in a groove base lying between said inner and outer ball contact zones that, when the ball comes into contact with the ball contact zones, an intermediate space remains between the ball and the groove base lying between the ball contact zones.

From DE 925 203 A a ball bearing cage of the construction noted above is known. The two cage halves are here riveted in the area of connecting sections or connected to each other by a special connecting structure formed by the cage halves.
From DE 39 39 438 A1 a ball bearing cage for a grooved ball bearing is likewise known that is assembled from two ring elements. The ring elements are shaped so that the ball guide pockets formed therein have a non-round contour in a top view of a ball guide pocket.
Finally, from DE 36 40 633 A1 another ball bearing cage assembled from two ring elements for a grooved ball bearing is known in which the contact plane between the two ring elements is offset in the axial direction relative to a ball center plane defined by the ball pocket centers.
Sheet metal cages with inner, spherically concave pockets (ball-shaped pockets) are used to a great extent in grooved ball bearings. The cage is here typically made from two ring-shaped cage halves that are assembled in the axial direction and can be connected to each other in different ways (e.g., riveted cages, tabbed cages, and welded cages). The balls are here guided into the functional position (installed in the bearing) by the cage in the ball-shaped pockets. Here, care must be taken that the cage remains guided by a roller body, i.e., the cage does not contact the bearing rings. The roller body guide or the radial play is defined by the ring domed geometry of each ball guide pocket. The design/definition of the unsupported ball span is typically tailored to the ideal geometry. The radial clearance is here defined by the diameter of the cage pocket at the cage outer edges.
Sheet metal cages of this construction are produced by punching (cutting). Thus, all of the punching surfaces on one side have a punch entry and on the other side a punch outlet/punching burr. In order to not disrupt the movement of the ball (noise, friction), the punching direction is normally selected so that the punch entry is on the inside of the ball pocket. Because the sheet metal is also thicker with increasing ball diameter, the dimension of the punch entry also increases. Consequently, the unsupported ball span is large and the cage can run, under some circumstances, on the bearing ring.

Ball bearing cage, and grooved ball bearing provided therewith


A method for making a bioprosthetic heart valve includes providing a non-contact cutting apparatus and a layer of tissue. The non-contact cutting apparatus may include a laser cutting system or high pressure water jet system. A leaflet is cut from the layer of tissue using a predefined template, and a plurality of alignment holes in the leaflet are created in the leaflet, e.g., along a peripheral edge. A support structure is provided having a plurality of alignment holes corresponding to alignment holes in the leaflet. The leaflet is secured to the support structure by securing one or more sutures through corresponding alignment holes in the leaflet and the support structure to provide a leaflet subassembly. A bioprosthetic heart valve is made by securing a set of leaflet subassemblies to a frame.

Bioprosthetic heart valves can replace defective native or previous prosthetic valves in patients. Bioprosthetic heart valves generally include a plurality of leaflets attached or otherwise coupled to a frame, stent, or other support structure. The leaflets may be formed from a synthetic material or biological tissue, such as bovine pericardium.
Sutures may be used to secure the leaflets to the support structure of the valve. Typically, a person, such as physician or even a specially trained seamstress, uses a needle and suture thread to pass one or more sutures through the leaflet and the support structure. This process is generally a manual operation and, consequently, may introduce a degree of variation between different sutures placed on a single valve. For example, the placement or even tightness of the individual sutures on a prosthetic valve may vary to some extent even with the most skilled artisan. The variation in which the sutures are placed in the valve may adversely impact the hemodynamic performance of the leaflets after they are secured to the support structure. For example, the particular location of a suture may impact the stress and/or strain characteristics of the leaflet.
In addition, in a multiple leaflet prosthetic valve, one or more leaflets may have different performance characteristics from the remaining leaflets because one or more sutures are inserted slightly off from their desired locations. Variability is thus introduced within a single valve (e.g. intra-valve variability), which may adversely impact the valve's hemodynamic performance. Similarly, even if there is no variability between individual leaflets on a single valve, variability may be introduced between different valves (e.g., inter-valve variability). This latter problem may arise, for example, because a number of different persons are employed to affix the individual leaflets to support structures or otherwise assemble the valves.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,705 discloses a method of manufacturing and testing a tissue heart valve during open heart surgery. A piece of autologous tissue from the body of the patient is cut with a plurality of holes being formed in the tissue by a cutting die. The tissue is situated between first and second stents so that the holes are registered with corresponding tissue alignment members in one of the stents, and the stents are positioned together to securely clamp the tissue therebetween.
In some prosthetic heart valve designs, the suture holes may be located close to the edge of the leaflets. When such leaflets are formed from bovine pericardium or other biological tissue, a die cutter may have difficulty punching or otherwise forming holes near or adjacent to the edge of the leaflets.
Thus, apparatus and methods for making leaflets and/or prosthetic valves that reduce intra-valve and/or inter-valve variability may be useful.

Apparatus and methods for making leaflets and valve prostheses including such leaflets


Disclosed is a compound represented by chemical formula (1):

1. Field of the Invention
One aspect of the present invention relates to at least one of a compound, an optical resolution method, and a derivative of an optical isomer of an amino acid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, it has been considered that amino acids present in a living body of a higher animal are only L-amino acids. However, it is found that D-amino acids are also present in a living body, due to development of an analysis technique in recent years.
From the viewpoint of elucidating of a physiological role of an amino acid in a living body, development and study of an analytical technique for precisely quantifying an amino acid (see, for example, K. Shimbo et al., Anal. Chem., 2009, 81, 5172-5179; K. Shimbo et al., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 2009, 23, 1483-1492; and S. A. Cohen et al., Anal. Biochem., 1993, 211, 279-287) or a D-amino acid and an L-amino acid (see, for example, R. J. Reischl et al., J. Chromatogra. A., 2012, 1269, 262-269) are being advanced by utilizing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
However, an optical resolution method as described in K. Shimbo et al., Anal. Chem., 2009, 81, 5172-5179; K. Shimbo et al., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 2009, 23, 1483-1492; S. A. Cohen et al., Anal. Biochem., 1993, 211, 279-287; or R. J. Reischl et al., J. Chromatogra. A., 2012, 1269, 262-269 has a problem that a performance and a sensitivity of optical resolution are low. Furthermore, in order to prepare an analytical sample, it is necessary to conduct a reaction between a mixture of optical isomers of an amino acid and a compound for optical resolution for a comparatively long period of time while heat is applied thereto.

Compound, optical resolution method, and derivative of an optical isomer of an amino acid

Abstract: or chemical formula (2):

KYUSHU UNIVERSITY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION


A system and method for fine-grained privacy control of image and video recordings uses a model-based approach to solve privacy issues. The method includes steps of: receiving a digital capture of a subject bound by privacy constraints; receiving information regarding the subject, the environment, and the privacy constraints; using the information to generate a model image of the subject within the environment; associating a disposition tag with an appearance of the subject in the model image; and comparing the model image with the digital capture to determine coordinates in the recording where a privacy control action, such as a blocking action, should be applied.

Privacy concerns are escalating, due in part to the rise of ever smaller personal "stealth" video recording devices such as Google Glass™ and other head-mounted displays (HMDs), as well as the emergence of civilian drones, now easily available to consumers. Some establishments address this privacy issue by banning HMDs from their premises, although this may cause problems for some who make use of HMDs with prescription lenses. However, the problem of selectively jamming the recording of visible light reflected from physical objects is unsolved.
Existing solutions to the problem of blocking photography of individuals or objects typically require jamming photography using flashes of visible light. This can be disruptive to the environment in general and to individuals in the environment who are not performing recordings. As an example, consider a scenario in which a user is in a semi-public setting, wearing a recording HMD. Much of the scene may be free from concerns, but person 1 and statue 2 should not be recorded. One solution is to jam the recording of these objects. Jamming recordings such as photographs and video requires the ability of the jammer to interfere with the recording device in such a way that the jammed object cannot be recorded, but this jamming may also interfere with the recording of other objects and people in the vicinity.
Furthermore, while jamming is simple when the object emits a jamming signal on a unique channel that is to be recorded (e.g., radar, radio, etc.), it causes problems when the traditional jamming signal would interfere with recording of an otherwise normal day-to-day, public sensory environment and signal (such as visible light and photography). In other words, jamming recording may work, but it is not selective and it may have the side effect of blocking recordings being performed by others, a source of annoyance.
As one interesting example, "Google Glass anti-glasses" developed by Japan's National Institute of Informatics obscure people's facial features when seen on cameras using infrared technology. This solution is specific to faces and does not utilize a reflectance model to predict the image captured by a camera before it is captured. The New York Times, in an article by Jenna Wortham published on Jun. 29, 2013, reports on "stealth wear," clothing and accessories that protect a wearer from being recorded. Stealth wear includes hoodies and cloaks made from reflective fabrics and a purse fitted with an electronic device that reacts to a camera's flash with lights so bright that the subject's face is obscured.
There is a need for a method and system to overcome the above-stated shortcomings of the known art.

System and method for fine-grained control of privacy from image and video recording devices

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method and system is presented for determining a track record of a moving object by determining at least one characteristic property of the object, such as the velocity, acceleration, cetripetal acceleration, total travelled distance and total time. This is solved by utilizing a plurality of received Global-Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, each of the coordinates comprising the momentary position and the actual time of the moving object, and storing the at least one coordinates data in a storage means. From these coordinates the at least one characteristic property of the moving object is determined and thereby the track record of the moving object.

Today, we are facing a global problem, which increases every year. This is the heavy traffic, including car traffic, air traffic and traffic at sea. The result is a huge increase in accidents every day leaving thousands of people injured or killed all over the world. In addition to affecting peoples health and lives, these accidents also involve a huge cost for the society. Accidents, on land, in air or at sea, may be related to many different reasons. In the western world, the statistics tells that the group that causes the most car accidents are young people around the age of 17-20 years old and professions such as food deliveries. Besides this, dangerous roads, sailing routs and frequently turbulent air spaces are areas of focus, when looking at statistics of accidents. By monitoring these risk groups or areas, the accident frequency may be reduced, as well the cost that follows the accidents.
Another important application is by creating an additional "Black box" for aircrafts, being a data storing and reporter means to monitor repeatedly the exact position of the aircraft in a more detailed way than it is done today. If an aircraft is outside its predefined route, a warning could be sent; to the air-traffic control. The warning signal could also comprise unusual flying behaviour. In today's systems the communication to the air-traffic control can be disconnected within the aircraft. This is a possible scenario, where an airplane is hijacked. In such cases it is impossible to monitor the trajectory of the aircraft. Accordingly by implementing such a data storing and reporter means in the fin or the tail of the aircraft as an example, the connection to the air traffic control cannot be interrupted.
It is apparent that there is a need for device, a data storing and reporter means, for obtaining a track record of a moving object.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,079 a system and method is presented for monitoring movements and performance of a motor vehicle, in order to locate it and determine the manner in which it is driven. This is solved by evaluating and recording the driving method over a period of time. One of the variables that is monitored is the acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle, determined by a sensing module. From the acceleration the location, the speed and direction of travel is calculated. It is however mentioned that the position of the vehicle may be determined from the Global-positioning-system (GPS). The operation of the system is controlled with a microprocessor, wherein a separate performance analysing computer with a fuzzy logic circuitry and a neural network circuit is provided to process data collected from the sensing device to analyse how the vehicle is driven.
Another invention is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,239-A patent, where a GPC receiver obtains GPS signals and automatically or manually stores information such as position and time of position. The system in this invention sends information from system/device to computer in a control unit where a track record can be created. A similar device has been described for airplane in JP 10035593. A tracking recorder for three-dimenstional positioning utilises GPS coordinates and calculates from these coordinates variables such as latitude, longitude and altitude. These informations can be used afterwards to, show the flight route.
US 2002/029109 A1 discloses s system for recording positional and operational data of a vehicle including a GPS receiver and a storage means for GPS data. The stored data may comprise parameters such as velocity and distance travelled, as well as supervision of a moving object with regard to a three-dimensional frame set.
The problem with the above systems is how complicated they are and the lack of real time processing and communication of collected and calculated data obtained and processed by these system. For example, these systems do not utilize the GPS coordinates in order to determine variables such as the acceleration and the perpendicular acceleration, which is important for determining in which manner a moving object is steered and how accurately it maintains it's route.

Method and system for determining a track record of a moving object


A method is described for producing a sawing bead for use in a sawing cord. Sawing cords are used for cutting hard and brittle materials. In the method, laser cladding is used to form an abrasive layer on a small metallic tube (204) or sleeve. The abrasive layer (220) comprises a metal matrix material in which abrasive particles such as diamond, cubic boron nitride or other hard cutting materials are embedded. The metal matrix material preferably comprises an active metal that improves wetting and adhesion of the abrasive particles. Although the abrasive particles are relative large—with a particle size in excess of 100 μm—they are evenly distributed throughout the abrasive layer. This is achieved by letting the tube (204) rotate relative to the laser cladding system possibly in combination with a relative axial movement so that the cladding track loops on itself thereby forming an abrasive layer (220). Additionally the method allows to shape the sawing bead for improved geometrical tolerances and centricity. Production times are less than ten seconds per bead and the method is easily automated.

Beads having an outer abrasive layer of a metal matrix in which diamond grit is embedded appear to be first described in the beginning of the fifties of the previous century (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,839, filed 1952). Such beads are strung onto a steel cord and are separated by means of springs (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,839) or by means of a plastic material (see e.g. FR 1.203.000, filed 1958). The plastic material could also be injected between the beads by the aid of a mould (FR 1.203.000, first addition, filed 1959). The ideas of fixing the wire directly to the steel cord e.g. by means of a pin (GB 759,505, filed 1953), by means of soldering (FR 1,265,542, first filed 1960) or by means of swaging (U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,101, first filed 1968) were also explored.
Initially, these sawing cords where used on stationary saws, where they competed with gang saws (reciprocally driven frames with parallel mounted steel lamella on which diamond containing bits are mounted) and circular disc saws. The sawing cord was made in a closed loop by splicing the steel cord as e.g. described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,773,495, filed 1953). After tensioning the loop over two large wheels driven by a motor, the cord could be used as a saw. Current state of the art machines are available wherein up to 80 loops are driven parallel to one another to separate a block of stone into a series of slabs. In an alternative use, such diamond bead sawing cords started to appear in quarries at the beginning of the seventies of the previous century where they were used for block extraction.
A number of methods have been explored by which the abrasive material—mostly diamond—can be fixed onto the beads. There is the method of affixing the diamonds to a metallic tube by means of electrolytic or electroless deposition of nickel (WO 2002/40207). There is also the method of embedding the abrasive particles into a braze that is directly applied on the metal sleeve as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,925.
The method that has become the most successful is via the route of powder metallurgy (described already in U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,839). To this end an annular abrasive element is made from diamond grit that is thoroughly mixed with metal powder and an optional organic wax for forming a paste. The mixture of metal powder normally contains high melting temperature components such as cobalt, tungsten, iron, nickel sometimes in combination with low melting temperature components such as copper, tin, silver to improve consolidation. Possibly compounds such as tungsten carbide can be added to influence hardness and wear of the bead. The mixture is brought in a mould. This preform is sintered into a high density bead by application of pressure (by ram pressing in the mould or by applying isostatic pressure through immersion in a high pressurised fluid) and temperature. Suitable gasses are applied in order to prevent the powder from oxidising during sintering.
In the sintering process the annular abrasive element is heated to a high temperature followed by a slow cooling i.e. in a quasi thermal equilibrium. Even if not all components of the alloy get the chance to melt, the addition of melting point lowering components will lead to intermetallic phases between the different components through diffusion. The metallographic cross section of such annular abrasive element shows therefore a globular and/or granular structure. In the classical bead sintering process it is generally preferred that grain sizes should be small in order to obtain sufficient matrix material hardness. This grain size can be affected by varying the properties of the starting powders and the conditions for their consolidation. In any case grains remain visible in a properly etched metallographic cross section and no directional growth effects are visible. See e.g. "Powder Metallurgy Diamond Tools" by Janusz Konstanty, Chapter 5, 2005, Elsevier Science Title, ISBN 978-1-85617-440-4.
The selection of metals, amount and type of diamonds, and pressure-temperature trajectory is internal know-how of the producers that greatly influence the quality of the final product.
After sintering the annular abrasive element is fixed to a metallic sleeve slightly longer than the abrasive element by means of a braze. The combination of the metallic sleeve with the abrasive element is called a bead. The need for a metallic tube to fix the abrasive element on can be eliminated by forming the abrasive element sufficiently precise as described in US 2007/0194492 A1.
Sintered beads have become the technological leader because:                they have a sufficiently thick abrasive layer        wherein the diamonds are randomly embedded throughout the layer,        the matrix material wears at the same pace as the diamonds are used up        while the matrix material retains the diamonds well and        because the beads can be reproducibly made with narrow geometrical tolerances.
Thereafter the beads are threaded onto a steel filament carrier cord ('steel cord') and subsequently fixed by springs or a plastic. This 'threading step' is tedious and time consuming. As the surface of the beads is smooth due to the pressing in a mould, the beads must be 'dressed' before being used. This is usually done by using the sawing cord initially at low cutting speed till the abrasive particles are freed from the surface and cut better. Such 'dressing step' is time consuming.
Another method for producing abrasive layers is currently making its inroads into the world of saw blades for cutting stone namely laser cladding. In laser cladding a stream of powder is fed into a high-intensity beam of a laser that is focussed on the surface of the substrate by means of a carrier gas stream. The powder is a mixture of metal powder and abrasive particles (usually diamond). The powder melts and forms a pool of molten metal that solidifies and fixes the abrasive particles.
DE 195 20 149 A1 discloses a process for laser-cladding a substrate whereby by means of a cooled (or heated) mould a near final finish of an abrasive or wear resistant surface can be formed. The cladding is applied onto the mould after which the mould is removed. The application only discusses the deposition on relatively bulky substrates such as a saw blade. The cladding is performed in one single layer.
WO 1999/18260 (EP 1027476) describes a cutting tool built on a steel substrate with an abrasive coating comprising abrasive material embedded in a wetting agent containing metal or metal alloy matrix where between the abrasive coating and the steel substrate a non-ferrous layer is present that is substantially free of wetting agent. Although the abstract mentions a saw cable as an example of a cutting tool, this is not further exemplified in the description.
In laser cladding, the low density of diamond relative to that of a molten metal makes the diamonds float upward in the metal pool which leads to a non-homogenous distribution of the diamonds (see FIG. 16 of "Herstellung diamanthaltiger, endkonturnaher, Metallmatrix-Verbundwerkstoffe durch Laserstrahlbeschichten" by A. Lang and H. W. Bergmann in "Material-Wissenschaften and Werkstofftechnologie", Vol. 27 pp. 215-226, 1996). One solution is to use finer abrasive particles where the up-floating is slowed by the viscosity of the metal pool. But for many technological applications—notably stone cutting—fine diamond particles are not an option.
Another solution is described in WO 1998/15672 where a particular arrangement of vertical substrate surface movement with a laser cladding tool in horizontal direction leads to an upwards rising of the diamond particles in the direction of the deposited layer. Again the deposition is in one layer.
WO 02/06553 discloses a method for making sawing beads according the laser cladding method. No details are given on the metallographic structure resulting from the method, nor of the materials used. Considerable pre- and post-processing of the resulting carrying tube is necessary in order to obtain the sawing bead.
Although the described methods for making a cutting tool by means of laser cladding sometimes suggest it to be suitable for making beads for sawing cords, this turned out not to be straightforward at all as the inventors experienced. All patents describe the deposition of a laser clad abrasive layer on a massive low carbon steel substrate (such as a sawing disc or tube). In those cases a large heat sink is available to drain off the excess heat.
The inventors faced and solved four major problems                One problem is to drain the heat sufficiently fast from the tiny metal sleeve of less than one gram (!), such that it does not deform or, total disaster, completely melts. On the other hand sufficient heat must be supplied in order to be able to obtain a strong bond to the sleeve and to form a dense abrasive layer. This is called the 'heating problem';        The 'geometry problem' whereby it turned out to be difficult to produce the beads consistently within geometrical tolerances and with sufficient roundness and centricity. This problem is particularly important as during use the sawing cord must rotate in order to ensure a uniform wear of the abrasive layer.        The 'particle distribution problem' whereby it turned out to be difficult to have a uniform distribution of abrasive particles in the abrasive coating. This is important as during use the matrix material gradually abrades away unveiling radial lower laying diamonds in the layer. If all diamonds are e.g. on the surface, they will wear first and no lower laying diamonds are available.        The dressing problem, which is the problem that abrasive particles are buried under a layer of matrix material and are not active from first use onward.


Predictive phonetic data search is described. In an embodiment, a search request to locate a term is received, where the term can be a word, a group of words, and/or any combination of characters and numbers. A numeric index is then searched to locate a number that matches a numerical equivalent of the term designated in the search request. The term is obtained from a term index that is mapped to the number in the numeric index that matches the numerical equivalent of the term, and the term is returned in response to the search request.

A television remote control and some portable electronic devices, such as a cell phone, are difficult to use for text-based searching with current text input methods, particularly due to the limited set of input keys available on such devices. For example, other than the various configuration and television-specific input keys, a television remote control only has a standard numeric input keypad that includes the numbers zero through nine to input a channel selection. A viewer cannot easily input letters for a text search in an electronic program guide to search for a specific program, music, television content, or various other applications that may be available via the viewer's cable provider or other television system content provider. Further, conventional text searching techniques require that a user-entered search term be spelled correctly to locate the desired term.
Other electronic devices, such as a cell phone for example, are typically equipped with a conventional alphanumeric input keypad that includes the numbers zero through nine along with the alphabetic characters "A" to "Z". Although zero (0) through nine (9) is a total of ten input keys, an alphanumeric or numeric input keypad is commonly referred to as a "9-key" keypad. The letters on a "9-key" keypad are distributed along with the numbers two (2) through nine (9). For example, the number two (2) includes the letters "A", "B", and "C", the number three (3) includes the letters "D", "E", and "F", and so on with each consecutive number being associated with the next consecutive three letters. The letters "Q" and "Z" may not be included on some keypads, but if they are, the number seven (7) has four associated letters to include "Q" and the number nine (9) has four associated letters to include "Z".
There are techniques available to enter text with an alphanumeric "9-key" keypad, however they are cumbersome and in some cases, can require more user inputs than would actually be required to input a text string for the word itself, such as with a computer keyboard. For example, multi-tapping (also referred to as triple tap) is a technique to enter text and/or letters with a "9-key" keypad, such as with a cell phone to create a text message. As described above, the letters "A", "B", and "C" are associated with the number two (2) input key on the keypad. Pressing the input key once enters an "A", twice enters a "B", three times enters a "C", and four times enters a "4". Spelling out even short words for a text input can require multiple key entries. For example, to spell out "CAB", a user would have to press the number two (2) input key a total of six times - three more inputs than would even be necessary with a conventional keyboard.
An alternative text-entry technique is "T9" ("text on nine keys") which selects a letter that is associated with a key input to spell a word correctly based on a likelihood of letter combinations. With "T9", a user may only have to press an input key once rather than multiple times as with multi-tapping. For example, to again spell out "CAB", a user would only have to press the number two (2) input key a total of three times (once for "C", twice for "CC", and a third time for "CAB"). The "T9" technique is not without its limitations however. Depending on the presumed likely letter combinations, a user may have to switch back to multi-tapping to create a word that "T9" does not recognize, or the user may have to input several "T9" key combinations to create the word.
Irrespective of the technique implemented to enter text with an alphanumeric "9-key" keypad, the conventional text input techniques are cumbersome, often require more key inputs than would otherwise be necessary, and/or require unnatural combinations of key inputs.


An SLO (service level objective) is represented by a model that includes nodes that represent elements in a system that are used to fulfill the SLO and information that represents dependencies between the elements. Telemetry information is received describing a condition of an element in the system. The telemetry information can be applied to a particular procedure associated with a particular node in the model to determine if there is a problem associated with the element represented by the particular node. At least a portion of the telemetry information is applied to procedures to determine problem cause information describing which elements have problems relating to the SLO. A relative contribution of elements to a problem associated with the SLO is determined by analyzing the problem cause information and the dependencies between the elements.

For most corporations, services and applications are deployed by an internal IT organization on behalf of an internal customer. This relationship between the service owner and the operator of the service is typically formalized in a Service Level Agreement (SLA). The SLA will define the expected QoS (Quality of Service) that will be delivered by the service operator. The challenge for the service operator is to measure against the SLA and ensure that the service is consistently delivered at the appropriate level. Ultimately, the best QoS and cost efficiencies will be gained when the SLA lifecycle can be automated. The SLA life-cycle involves translating the SLA into individual Service Level Objectives (SLO) which are individual metrics that depend on Key Performance Indicators (KPI). KPIs are performance statistics that must constantly be measured to know if a particular SLO is being met or violated. The full SLA life-cycle is monitoring the SLO and making adjustments to the infrastructure when SLOs are violated or are in jeopardy of being violated.
A Service Level Management (SLM) tool measures KPIs to determine SLO violations. Many SLM tools use a reactive approach in which performance problems are identified after the fact an SLO violation has occurred. Some SLM tools use a more predictive approach by using self-learning techniques. These tools learn the typical behavior of the system by capturing daily, weekly, and monthly activities. They then compare the current performance metrics to the historical ones and trigger alarms when pre-set thresholds are violated.
Most SLM tools however, do not have any specific knowledge of the inner workings of elements such as application servers. Therefore, the SLM tool provides limited performance monitoring. For example, if a J2EE application makes requests of multiple back-end nodes such as directory servers, message queues or legacy systems, there is no easy mechanism to break down the response time across these components. Thus, when an SLO is violated, it is quite difficult to track down the actual cause of the violation. The problem is exasperated with web services, as a particular request may not only span multiple nodes within the datacenter, but may span across the internet as well.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods that allow automatic discovery of problems pertinent to SLO's associated with SLAs.
The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Method and apparatus for identifying problem causes in a multi-node system


A method that provides access to Privileged Accounts to users by way of a two-way-encrypted credential store. In accordance with this invention, a process that needs to retrieve credentials for a third party system causes the operating system to launch a second process. This second process runs under a secured user id without interactive access. The requesting process can then pass generalized command streams to the second process, including tokenized credential retrieval requests. These tokenized credential retrieval requests are processed to authenticate the requests, perform audit logging of requests and retrieval of credentials. Tokenized credential requests transformed by the second process into credentials, which can be embedded within a command stream and then either forwarded to a sub-process or returned to the requesting process.

Computer security has become a critical issue is today's world. On one hand, enterprises are providing an ever-increasing number of services via computer systems for increasingly sophisticated, real-time transactions. At the same time, hacker break-ins, computer terrorism and employee (or former employee) sabotage is increasing. Thus, there is a tension between the need to keep computer system accessible in order to keep business moving while preventing unauthorized access.
For example, sophisticated transactions involving stocks, bonds, derivatives, futures, etc., and combinations thereof, are executed internationally. These transactions are carried out on one or more secure account on one or more computer systems. Such secure accounts include, but are not limited to, trading services, price-feed services and data-feed services. These secured accounts are referred to herein as "Privileged Accounts." It is clear that Privileged Accounts must be secure to prevent tampering, unauthorized acquisition of private data, etc. It is also clear that that Privileged Accounts must have some form of access to keep these accounts up-to-date and operative to prevent financial loss, incorrect or missing data, unconsummated time-sensitive transactions, etc.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a secure system and method for accessing Privileged Accounts.

Setuid-filter method for providing secure access to a credentials store for computer systems


An apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises a sample and hold circuit, a converter, and an adjustable current circuit. The sample and hold circuit is adapted to receive an analog input signal and to output an amplified signal. The converter is coupled to the sample and hold circuit and that converts the amplified signal to a digital signal. The controller is coupled to the converter and that receives the digital signal. The controller includes a plurality of voltage ranges, wherein each voltage range is associated with a current value, and the controller compares the digital signal to at least one of the voltage ranges to output at least one of the current values. The adjustable current circuit is coupled to the sample and hold amplifier and to the controller so that the adjustable current circuit provides a generally constant operating current that corresponds to the current value output from the controller.

Cameras that take moving pictures and still pictures have an ADC that converts the image data detected with an image sensor to digital data. This digital data is then processed by an image processor or stored in a nonvolatile storage medium.
Because the analog signal output from the image sensor is a typically weak signal, the held sample is first amplified by an amplifier and then output to a converter in a latter stage for conversion to a digital signal. The amplifier is usually set for operation with a high operating current so that even when an analog signal of maximum amplitude is input, it is still possible to output a distortion-free waveform. However, when a small amplitude analog signal is input continuously, although a low operating current is enough for the small amplitude analog signal, a large operating current is employed. The use of these large operating currents can reduce battery life and cause other deleterious problems.
Some examples of prior art camera systems are PCT Publication No. WO2008052569, and U.S. Patent Pre-Grant Pub. Nos. 2001/008268; 2003/011698; 2006/109360; and 2006/237629.


This invention pertains to neutralized silicone elastomer dispersions and methods for making neutralized silicone elastomer dispersions. This invention also pertains to compositions comprising the neutralized silicone elastomer and an acid reactive compound. The silicone elastomer dispersion are neutralized typically by blending the silicone elastomer dispersion with a base such as sodium bicarbonate or by adding a basic neutralizing agent to one or more of the raw materials used to make the silicone elastomer dispersion and removing the basic neutralizing agent by filtration or any other suitable means.

Silicone elastomer dispersions have found a wide use in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions. However, many of the cosmetic and pharmaceutical actives in these compositions degrade when exposed to acidic materials. Many of these actives are added into the composition in such small quantities that the presence of any acid can cause the degradation and ineffectiveness of a significant portion of the ingredient. It has been found that some silicone elastomers dispersions may contain low, almost undetectable, levels of acid. Therefore it is desirable to use a neutralized elastomer dispersion in these cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions.