A gear position locking mechanism of a vehicle is presented. The vehicle has a gear lever unit and a gear box. The gear box is provided with a gear position sensor. The gear position locking mechanism of the vehicle includes a driving unit and a rocker arm. After receiving a target position signal sensed by the gear position sensor, the driving unit drives the rocker arm to automatically lock the gear lever unit, so that a gear lever of the gear lever unit cannot be shifted by hand. As the rocker arm is provided to prevent a gear position from being directly shifted by hand, the structural design inside the gear lever unit or the gear box does not need to be changed.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a gear position locking mechanism of a vehicle, and more particularly to a gear position locking mechanism in which a rocker arm capable of being controlled to swing is applied to retain a gear lever of the vehicle, thereby preventing the gear lever of the vehicle from being shifted.
Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, Taiwan Patent No. TW 1294839 discloses a gear lever unit 10 of a vehicle. The gear lever unit 10 has a wall plate 11, the wall plate 11 is provided with multiple positioning slots 111, and a gear lever 13 and a positioning unit 14 are respectively disposed on two sides of the wall plate 11. The gear lever 13 and the positioning unit 14 are assembled on a base 15, and the base 15 is rotatably and pivotally connected to the wall plate 11, so that the gear lever 13 and the positioning unit 14 can synchronously rotate relative to the wall plate 11. The positioning unit 14 has a positioning pillar 141, the positioning pillar 141 faces a positioning slot 12 of the wall plate 11 and has a slot hole 1411 on an end surface which is spaced from the positioning slot 12 by a small distance, and a compression spring 16 and a steel ball 17 are disposed in advance in the slot hole 1411. The compression spring 16 is pressed against the steel ball 17 to make the steel ball 17 retained in the positioning slot 111, and the gear lever 13 produces a gear position retaining force of certain degree under a counter force of the compression spring 16, to prevent slip of a gear position caused by shaking of the vehicle in traveling. However, this patent fails to ensure absolute locking of a gear position when the vehicle stands still (especially on a slope) or in special circumstances.

Gear position locking mechanism of vehicle


A portable electronic apparatus includes a structural member, a sound member, a circuit board, and a frame. The structural member has an opening and an accommodating recess. The sound member is accommodated in the accommodating recess, and has a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sound outlet. The sound outlet is located at the top surface. The circuit board cover plates the opening and has a first through hole corresponding to the sound outlet. The circuit board is disposed between the frame and the structural member. The frame has a second through hole corresponding to the sound outlet. The sound member is electrically connected to the circuit board. The sound outlet is communicated with the first and second through holes.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus, and more particularly, to the portable electronic apparatus having a sound box structure.
2. Description of Related Art
With the fast progress in technology, electronic products all are developed towards lightweight and compact design; especially, thinning design has become a mainstream in the present market of consumer electronic products.
The consumer electronic products, such as notebook computers, tablet computers, cell phones, PDAs, etc., now all need to have audio-video function to meet the consumers' requirements. In addition, because of the advantages of mobility, powerful capabilities of transmitting and processing data, and multimedia technology Integration, portable electronic apparatuses have become one of the most important electronic products. These kinds of the electronic products can play audio and video files with multimedia technology, show images by display modules, and output sounds by audio player modules (e.g., speakers), so as to achieve the purposes of communication and entertainment.
With more and more emphasis on audio-video performance, a portable electronic apparatus is equipped with more speakers. However, if the locations of the speakers and the sound field (i.e., the sound box structure) are not properly configured and designed, the speakers will be unable to achieve the desired effects and make the audio unnatural due to losing the spatial characteristics of the sound field. Even worse, the improper configuration of the speakers may deteriorate the performance in receiving signal of antennas.


Implementations are disclosed for a centralized peripheral access controller (PAC) that is configured to protect one or more peripheral components in a system. In some implementations, the PAC stores data that can be set or cleared by software. The data corresponds to an output signal of the PAC that is routed to a corresponding peripheral component. When the data indicates that the peripheral is “unlocked” the PAC will allow write transfers to registers in the peripheral component. When the data indicates that the peripheral component is “locked” the PAC will refuse write transfers to registers in the peripheral component and terminate with an error.

Software executing by a microcontroller can become unstable due to software bugs or running the microcontroller in environmental conditions outside a specified range (e.g., under voltage, clock spikes). Microcontrollers are used in embedded applications, where equipment can be stuck or permanently damaged (e.g. motors, halogen bulbs), if such malfunctioning software unintentionally writes to peripheral registers that control critical functions in the application. The two common failure types are runaway code, such as jumping to the wrong location in the program memory and a loose pointer which points to a wrong address in a data memory space.
Protection against unintended register modification has traditionally been handled locally within each peripheral component by some form of lock mechanism. For example, the need to write a key register to unlock access to another register. The exact mechanism is often specific to each peripheral component. The driver code for the peripheral component becomes more inefficient and complex because it needs to handle the unlocking Typically, the driver will unlock the peripheral register immediately before modifying its contents, so inadvertent jumps to the driver code (runaway code) could result in writing a random value to the peripheral register. Sometimes only system-critical registers are protected to avoid over-complicating the driver. This solution leaves many registers and peripheral components without access protection. This is unfortunate since difference features can be critical in different systems. For example, a random write to a general purpose I/O (GPIO) port register can be fatal in one system but not in another, so it is normally not protected.

Centralized peripheral access protection


The present invention relates to a luggage cart with a telescoping handle and fixed wheels including the addition of a foldable supportive wheel structure which is incorporated within the telescoping handle of a conventional luggage cart with fixed wheels to reduce the load that is applied to a user when a conventional luggage cart is employed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a luggage cart having a telescoping handle and fixed wheels located at the bottom of the luggage cart.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional luggage carts having telescoping handles and fixed wheels are well known for conveniently transporting personal items when the user is traveling. The carts reduce the burden of transporting the weight of the personal items during transportation. One example of a prior art luggage cart is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,037 to Hsich.
Physically, the reduction of the load of the weight of the luggage cart is governed by the principle of leverage. A level of comfort to enable reduction of the load that the user can achieve is dependent upon how the user applies the physical principles of leverage based on the physical condition and body height of the user.
It is also well known that achieving a level of comfort by using a conventional luggage cart is limited, since complete reduction of the load of the luggage weight is very difficult to achieve. This is due to that fact that complete reduction of the load to a user from the luggage weight can only be achieved when the telescoping handle is raised high enough so that a particular large angle is reached, which is defined by the luggage body relative to the ground. In that orientation, the center of gravity of the luggage weight is perpendicular above the center of the wheels. At this particular position, the law of leverage permits the user to have zero load from the luggage weight.
However, it is also well known that the particular position is physically very unstable since the position of center of gravity of the luggage weight is higher than that of a support point where the wheels contact the ground. In addition to the instability, it is also difficult for the user to pull the luggage cart in this orientation when there is the large angle relative to the pulling direction.
To compensate for and overcome such difficulties, the user usually will lower the telescoping handles in order to exchange stability as a tradeoff in order to make pulling the luggage cart easier. However, as a result, if the user has to travel a long distance with the luggage cart, the burden on the user will be increased. This problem will be worsened if the user is elderly or physically weak, or is carrying other items, or is carrying a baby.
Many inventors have tried to improve the comfort to users by utilizing a luggage cart. One such inventor is Miles. The Miles invention shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,245 discloses an improvement in handle design by adding a secondary grip extension. However, the invention does not solve the problem disclosed above.
There is a significant need to significantly reduce the load of the luggage weight as a luggage cart is being pulled.

Luggage cart having a telescoping handle with the addition of a foldable supportive wheel assembly


A shooting range target assembly and a method for moving and positioning the target in a controlled manner are disclosed. The assembly includes a conveyor line containing a carriage, a drive, a target assembly, a turning and positioning mechanism and a programmable logic for setting and controlling the movement of the carriage. Controlling the movement, positioning of the target and maintaining target position are accomplished by properly balancing a torque force applied onto a pulley wheel, a drag force applied by a detent assembly and a force applied by a brake. The assembly is configured for moving the target along the conveyor and turning it such that the front side, the back side or an edge faces the shooter.

In target shooting practices using handguns, it is often desirable to use a moving target configured for quickly appearing and disappearing. A number of prior art references provide systems for conveying shooting targets to various locations and turning the targets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,522 teaches a target holding and turning assembly which includes a turning motor a target-holding shaft, an outer sleeve and a support bearing collar.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,427 the turning mechanism is operated by a timer that operates a solenoid and a cylinder that retracts a piston rod to turn the target boards.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,346 uses a target positioning assembly that allows the target holder to be rotated 360 degrees.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,689 is for a target support structure and system which holds and turns a flat target from edge to face and back again. Targets are held and turned at the bottom and are supported at the top by a pivoting connection attached to a stationary bar frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,180 describes a target system having a plurality of flat target boards mounted on posts which are rotatably journaled on an elongated base. Each post is rotatable ninety degrees. A drive crank arm is pivoted to the base for horizontal swinging movement and is pivotally connected to an elongated drive and synchronizing bar which in turn is pivotally connected to a plurality of lever arms connected to the respective posts to swing the target boards simultaneously between full view positions easily visible to a shooter, and edge view positions not visible to the shooter.
Preferred embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,016 are implemented as track-based systems, as the track provides not only stability to the target carrier, but also protection from stray bullets to the conductive cable. For a first embodiment of the invention, power is transferred to a target carrier via a stationary inductor and a movable cable, which also provides motive force to the target carrier. For a second embodiment of the invention, power is transferred to a target carrier via a stationary cable and an inductor movable with the target carrier. For this second embodiment of the invention, electrical equipment on board the target carrier includes a drive motor for moving the carrier bi-directionally along the track. For example, the decoded signals may direct the drive motor to move the carrier forward or backward, or direct a target-pivoting motor to rotate the target to a desired position.
FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,177 illustrates a partial perspective view of a turner. In particular, the turner is substantially perpendicular to the shooting direction. Thus, as the turner actuation device is actuated, the turner pivots, on hinge, to a direction substantially traverse to a shooting direction. Alternatively, the turner unit device can be rotated 90 degrees and be removably fixed to the turner mounting receptacle.
FIG. 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,012 illustrates a side view of an exemplary embodiment of the target system. In particular, the target system has all targets oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to a shooting direction. Furthermore, FIG. 4 illustrates how the plate rack righting mechanism cooperates with a plate rack righting lever to right one or more plates on the plate rack. Specifically, upon activation, the plate rack righting element interacts with the plate rack righting lever to return one or more plates of the plate rack to the upright position.
The invention in U.S. Pat. No. 7,303,192 uses a drop/turn assembly. The target adapter is formed with a body, a stand, a target shaft and a bullet deflection plate. As described, the shaft is twisted, and may be moved vertically such that the interaction between the twisted shaft and the slot formed in the top plate causes the shaft to rotate. As shown, the shaft has a first twist and a second twist causing the shaft to rotate twice while moving vertically. Accordingly, the bullet target which is mounted to the shaft may be rotated such that it is initially not presented to the shooter, is presented to the shooter for a period of time, and is then moved so as not to be presented to the shooter.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,914,004 and 8,016,291, a target actuator is configured to rotate the drive shaft so that the target may be disposed in three distinct positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,950,667 uses target holders connectable to corresponding drive shafts for rotating the targets.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,162,319 describes an omni-directional target system that includes a target movable between a retracted position and an extended position and an actuation mechanism for moving the target to the extended position, the target and the actuation mechanism being releaseable so that the target can be moved back into the retracted position despite movement of the actuation mechanism. No details about the actuation mechanism are provided.
The mechanism for turning the targets in US20060240388 comprises of a plate having an arm and hole for attaching a spring to the base at the hole. The spring urges the plate to rotate in a clockwise direction. The plate is also formed with the lever and the hole to which a cord or cable may be attached. The cord would be used to rotate the plate in a counterclockwise direction and thereby rotate the target.
US20080174071 describes a target connector for rotating and holding the targets in place. The device is different than the device of the present invention.
USRE38540 uses a target-pivoting motor to rotate the target to a desired position.
With many of the the systems disclosed in the prior art, the motor used for moving the target is moved to and is exposed to the line of fire which is a significant drawback since a misdirected shot could damage the motor.


Embodiments perform an automated process flow using machine learning. Embodiments train a machine learning component using training data that represents a user's past interactions with a software application when performing a plurality of process flows. Each process flow includes a series of tasks in a sequence. Embodiments receive data related to tasks within the software application. Embodiments predict, using the trained machine learning component, a series of tasks and a sequence for the predicted series of tasks based on the received data. Embodiments then perform the predicted series of tasks in the predicted sequence.

Enterprise applications have grown into robust offerings that provide dynamic service. In some implementations, a human agent is relied upon to operate an application and follow a process flow in order to perform some function. For example, updating an item of information in a customer profile can include a multi-step process performed by an agent using a customer relationship management software application.
There have been various computer automation techniques that have attempted to address some of these concerns. However, the previously implemented techniques failed to replicate the activities of a user, and thus generated complex problems that were difficult to solve using machine learning. For example, some complex problems cannot be solved by machine learning algorithms due to a lack of training data, a problem type that is not conducive to machine prediction, or other complexity factors.


A vehicle seat for accommodating at least two users includes: a seating portion frame, a first backrest and a second backrest which are pivotally hinged to the seating portion frame according to a transverse axis via a common hinge. The common hinges includes: a pivot pin comprising at least one central portion having an outer wall, and a housing, having an inner wall, arranged on the seating portion frame, and receiving interiorly the central portion of the pivot pin, by immobilizing the pivot pin. The inner peripheral wall of the housing bears against the outer wall of the central portion. The outer wall of the central portion includes at least one elastically deformable rib so as to be maintained constantly bearing against the inner wall of the housing.

In a well-known manner, a vehicle generally comprises at least one seat intended for accommodating a driver or a passenger of the vehicle, hereinafter designated by the term "user". The seat can be intended for accommodating a single person or several persons sitting side by side, and can be disposed at the front or at the rear of the vehicle. The seat can also be part of a bench that can accommodate several persons side by side.
Thus, in terms of the invention, the term "seat" according to the invention designates a front seat of the vehicle as well as a rear seat of the vehicle. In the same way, the term "bench" according to the invention designates a front bench of the vehicle as well as a rear vehicle bench. Likewise, the invention can be implemented for bench seats intended for any type of vehicle and in particular automobile vehicles.
A vehicle seat generally comprises a seating portion frame, configured to be connected to the floor of a vehicle.
Generally, a bench is provided to accommodate at least two passengers, even three, positioned side by side and can be comprised of a single or of a plurality of seats positioned side by side.
A bench seat, which is provided to accommodate at least two passengers side by side, also comprises at least one first backrest, pivotally hinged according to the transverse axis of the seat to the seating portion frame, as well as one second backrest, also pivotally hinged to the seating portion frame according to said transverse axis.
The hinge between the first backrest, respectively the second backrest, and the seating portion frame, about said transverse axis is generally formed by a pivot pin, engaged with the seating portion frame, received in a corresponding housing arranged in the first backrest, respectively the second backrest, said pivot pin and said corresponding housing being configured so as to authorize the rotation of the housing about the pivot pin, and therefore of the first backrest, respectively of the second backrest, relative to the seating portion frame, about said transverse axis.
Also in a known manner, a common hinge at the seating portion frame can be provided for the first backrest and the second backrest, at an intermediate zone, in the transversal direction of the seat, of the seating portion frame, comprising a common pivot pin received simultaneously in a corresponding housing, arranged in each one of the first and of the second backrest, and so as to allow for the simultaneous hinging of the first backrest and of the second backrest relative to the seating portion frame.
Such a common pivot pin is fastened to the seating portion frame, so as to remain immobile relative to the latter. In order to facilitate the mounting thereof and the fastening thereof on said seating portion frame, it is generally mounted by force in a corresponding housing arranged on the seating portion frame, the pivot pin and said corresponding housing being configured to provide the immobilization of the pivot pin by friction between the outer peripheral wall of the pivot pin and the inner peripheral wall of said housing.
In the seats of the prior art, the outer peripheral wall of said pivot pin is of substantially cylindrical, or conical shape, as well as the inner peripheral wall of said housing.
Such a design of the pivot pin and of the housing, impose a high precision of the shape and of the dimensions of the outer peripheral wall of the pivot pin and of the inner peripheral wall of the housing, so as to provide an optimum maintaining of the first and of the second backrest on the seating portion frame.
However, and according to the observances of the inventor, such a precision of these dimensions is particularly complex to obtain, and, although the latter can be obtained and guaranteed at the time of manufacturing of the seat, the stresses undergone by the pivot pin and by the housing during the use of the seat can cause a modification in the shape and/or dimensions of the outer peripheral wall of the pivot pin and/or of the inner peripheral wall of the housing, thus creating clearance between the outer peripheral wall of the pivot pin and/or of the inner peripheral wall of the housing, so that the pivot pin is no longer fully immobile relative to the housing, and can be moved relative to the latter. During the use of the seat, and in particular during the movement of the vehicle to which it is fastened, these movements of the pivot pin relative to the housing will generate noise, due to the repeated contacts between the outer peripheral wall of the pivot pin and the inner peripheral wall of the housing.
In addition, these repeated contacts between the outer peripheral wall of the pivot pin and the inner peripheral wall of the housing risk causing a deterioration of the pivot pin and/or of the housing, which can even bring about a disengagement of the first backrest and/or of the second backrest relative to the seating portion frame.


Systems, apparatus, and methods are disclosed for providing an electrical torque command to an electric motor and/or a combustion torque command to an internal combustion engine in response to a torque output value determined in response to an oxygen limited torque response of a conventional baseline engine and a torque curve of the internal combustion engine of a hybrid or start-stop vehicle.

The present application generally relates to managing the torque output of a hybrid or start-stop vehicle, and in particular to limiting the torque output during transient conditions. Vehicle torque output may be controlled in various ways, some of which may result in efficiency and/or optimization issues. Therefore, a need remains for further technological developments in this area.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for transient torque limiting


A system and method for determining an orientation of a vehicle are provided. The system and method determine (with a sensor assembly disposed onboard a first vehicle) a direction in which a fluid flows within the first vehicle. The first vehicle is included in a vehicle consist with a second vehicle. The orientation of the first vehicle relative to the second vehicle is determined based at least in part on the direction in which the fluid flows within the first vehicle. The fluid may be air in an air brake pipe of the vehicle consist.

Some known vehicle consists include several vehicles that generate tractive effort for propelling the vehicle consists along a route. For example, trains may have several locomotives coupled with each other that propel the train along a track. The locomotives may communicate with each other in order to coordinate the tractive efforts and/or braking efforts provided by the locomotives. As one example, locomotives may be provided in a distributed power (DP) arrangement with one locomotive designated as a lead locomotive and other locomotives designated as remote locomotives. The lead locomotive may direct the tractive and braking efforts provided by the remote locomotives during a trip of the consist.
Some known consists use wireless communication between the locomotives for coordinating the tractive and/or braking efforts. For example, a lead locomotive can issue commands to the remote locomotives. The remote locomotives receive the commands and implement the tractive efforts and/or braking efforts directed by the commands. In order to ensure that the remote locomotives receive the commands, the lead locomotive may periodically re-communicate the commands until all of the remote locomotives confirm receipt of the commands by communicating a confirmation message to the lead locomotive.
In order to set up the consists to wirelessly communicate in this manner, an operator typically travels to and boards each individual remote locomotive in turn. While onboard each remote locomotive, the operator enters an orientation of the remote locomotive relative to the lead locomotive. This orientation is used to ensure that commands received at the remote locomotive from the lead locomotive are correctly interpreted. For example, if the lead and remote locomotives are facing the same (e.g., common) direction, then a command to move forward at a designated throttle setting may be implemented by the remote locomotive rotating wheels of the remote locomotive in the same direction as the lead locomotive. But, if the lead and remote locomotives are facing opposite directions, then the command to move forward may not be implemented by the remote locomotive moving the wheels of the remote locomotive in the same direction as the lead locomotive. Instead, the remote locomotive may need to rotate the wheels of the remote locomotive in the opposite direction to move the consist forward.
The orientations of the remote locomotives relative to the lead locomotives may be needed for correct operation of the consist. Using manual entry of the orientations, however, is time consuming and prone to human error. Entering an incorrect orientation can cause damage to the consists, such as when the incorrect orientation of a remote locomotive results in the lead and remote locomotives attempting to move in opposite directions. This can cause unsafe compression or stretching of the portion of the consist between the lead and remote locomotives.

System and method for determining vehicle orientation in a vehicle consist


In one aspect of the invention is a method for locking in all client requests having the same session I.D. to the same server to facilitate secure e-commerce transactions. A client's session I.D. is mapped to an SSL context between a dispatcher and a server such that all subsequent client requests having the same session I.D. are forwarded to the same server.

The demand for e-commerce brings a unique set of challenges to network infrastructures. For example, one server may be inadequate to provide the required capacity and scalability to serve the increasing size of e-commerce transactions. Server load balancing (SLB) was developed to overcome this problem, where a number of servers (server farm) act as a single server and a special device (dispatcher) dispatches requests to servers in a manner that balances the load on all the servers in the server farm. Some SLB schemes may dispatch requests to the server having the least load, and other SLB schemes may dispatch requests to any server such that the network is optimized, for example. For purposes of simplicity, the server selected by any given SLB scheme is referred to herein as the "best server".
In e-commerce transactions hosted on a website, however, SLB introduces a new problem. When a customer sends information to a website that utilizes an SLB scheme, the information is sent to the best server computed by the dispatcher, Server A, and stored locally on that server. For example, a customer of Amazon.com® selects books and places them in the shopping cart, and then decides to visit other areas of the site before purchasing. When the customer returns to the shopping cart, effectively to access state information (the state of previously stored information), the SLB scheme again computes the best server, this time Server B, to direct the customer's request to. Since the distribution of requests amongst the servers in the server farm may have changed since the customer's last request, the best server on the subsequent request is different from the best server on the first request. Consequently, the customer's information does not exist on Server B, and the shopping cart may be empty when the customer returns to it.
One current solution to this problem is to globally maintain state information, such that the state information can be accessed by any server in the server farm. For example, state information can be maintained in a special state server, or even one of the servers in the server farm. One of the disadvantages to this, however, is the latency associated with memory accesses by the servers, as well as dispatcher latency associated with storing state information.

Mechanism for locking client requests to a particular server


A method for managing contents of Video On Demand (VOD) services, where a Middle Ware (MW) controls the stored contents on a VOD server according to the VOD service information correlated with a channel is provided. The corresponding device and system are also provided. Therefore, the specific service forms are separated from the stored contents, and the MW controls the contents in a centralized manner according to the service information; the VOD server does not need to store the contents of each service separately, but adds and deletes the stored contents according to the unified control from the MW, thus avoiding repeated storage of the same data for different services.

With the development of the information communication technology, traditional analog television is replaced by Digital Television (DTV) and Internet Protocol Television or Interactive Personal Television (IPTV). Compared with traditional television, IPTV and DTV can provide various VOD services for flexible use.
Currently, a VOD service system is composed of a VOD server, an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) system, a Middle Ware (MW), and a Set-Top Box (STB) serving as a terminal. The VOD server is responsible for providing the program contents corresponding to various VOD service modes; the EPG system demonstrates the program contents and relevant services; the STB updates the EPG in the EPG system and provides the EPG for the user, and sends requests for using various VOD services as instructed by the user; the MW provides a service management and integration platform so that multiple "capability" components such as VOD server, EPG authentication server, and authorization and encryption system work on a unified platform.
A VOD service system in the prior art provides the following VOD services:
Time-Shifted Television (TSTV) or Pause Live Television (PLTV): This service allows the user to play back a live television program in a time window of a specific length; in the process of watching a live television program, the user may play back the program through a fast rewind key; TSTV imposes a specific time limit, called "time window", on playing back. Generally, the operator sets the time window to 0.5-1 hour. When the program is played back to the start time of the window, no further rewinding is allowed and the normal play resumes. If the program is played in fast forward mode to the end of the window, the current channel is closed automatically, and the live channel is activated.
True Video on Demand (TVOD): This service allows the user to watch a program played in a past time segment; the operator generally records the programs played on a channel selectively, or records the whole channel according to the play time segment and provides the programs in a list for the user; the user may demand a specific program or the programs in a specific time segment as required. The recorded contents are generally retained for 1 day to 1 month.
Network Personal Video Recorder (nPVR): This service allows the user to reserve recording of a future program and watch the recorded program at any time in the future; the operator may define certain channels for providing nPVR services and display the future EPG of such channels to the user, and the user may select a future program to be recorded; when it is time to live cast the program, the VOD server starts recording and saving the media file; the user may demand and watch the programs recorded by the operator anytime within the maximum retention period specified by the operator, and the watching process is similar to that of TVOD. Moreover, the nPVR service may be independent of the EPG. When the user is watching a live program, the user may choose to record the program anytime.
In the technical solution in the prior art, all the foregoing three services are provided by the VOD server.
To implement the TSTV service, the VOD server generally records a live channel with the time shifting capability cyclically according to a set time window. When the user performs time shifting, the live mode is changed to the VOD mode; upon completion of time shifting, the live mode resumes.
For TVOD services, the VOD server uses an independent file for recording the programs. Upon expiry of the file, the contents are deleted directly.
For nPVR services, the VOD server records the programs independently to generate every media file according to the subscription request of the user, and the media files are managed by each user.
However, the prior art suffers from at least the following defects: The storage of the VOD service contents and the provision of the VOD service mode are both undertaken by the VOD server, and one service corresponds to a type of stored contents; consequently, the content management is decentralized and some contents are stored repeatedly. For example, if the CCTV1 channel is defined as a time-shifted channel, the VOD server may retain the files in a specific time segment of the channel as time-shifted recorded files; if the "News Broadcasting" program (which is broadcast from 19:00 to 19:30) on this channel supports TVOD, the program broadcast from 19:00 to 19:30 may also be saved as another file; finally, if a user uses News Broadcasting as an nPVR content, the system may record and retain another file for the user; therefore, in the worst circumstances, the same content corresponding to three services is stored repeatedly in three files. In a VOD service, the expense of storage accounts for a high proportion. However, the prior art is unable to manage or utilize storage properly.

Method, device and system for managing contents of VOD services


In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a logic cell library is built. Within the logic cell library a timing model for a first logic cell is generated. In order to generate the timing model a number of indices which specify input ramp for the first logic cell is selected. Also, a number of indices which specify output load for the first logic cell is selected. Also selected are a minimum value for the input ramp and a maximum value for the input ramp. A maximum output load for the timing model is calculated. This is done by calculating, for every input transition in the logic cell which causes an output transition, an intermediate value to be an output load value which results in the first logic cell producing an output signal to the first logic cell which has the maximum value for the input ramp when an input signal to the logic cell has the minimum value for the input ramp. The maximum output load is chosen to be a minimum of the calculated intermediate values.

The present invention concerns design and manufacturing of integrated circuits and pertains particularly to an accurate timing model for logic simulation of integrated circuits which utilizes tabular timing models.
When designing an integrated circuit, it is generally desirable to simulate the fimctioning of logic circuitry within the integrated circuit. In order to accurately access the performance of the circuitry, it is desirable that the logic simulation of logic include an accurate assessment of timing delays through the circuitry, at least in the critical paths.
In general, timing delays through circuitry are caused by propagation delays through and between logic cells which comprise the circuitry. The actual amount of propagation delay through and between logic cells is generally dependent on various capacitances within and between the logic cells, as well as the current available to charge or discharge the capacitances.
When developing a timing model, it is important, therefore, to take into account the time delay introduced by charging and discharging the input capacitance of logic cells. This time delay is directly affected by the input current available to charge or discharge the input capacitance to the logic cell. This input current, in turn, is directly affected by the fan out of the output of the logic cell providing the input current.
Timing models for logic circuits are often stored in a cell library used to design the logic circuit. The timing model is used in event driven simulation and synthesis of circuits constructed from the elements of the library. The timing model generally describes the cell delay between each input pin and output pin transition. There is often a separate timing model for each cell in the library.
For submicron circuits, an accurate cell delay model generally depends upon the ramp (or transition time) of the input pin for each cell in the library. The ramp is the time it takes for the voltage of the node to pass between two pre-specified values. Generally, the model also describes the ramp of the output pin. The output ramp model depends upon the load on the output pin. In addition, for some cells, the output ramp model also depends upon the input ramp.
In some commercial simulators and synthesizers the cell delay and output ramp models are stored in the form of tables. For example, this is done in a Design Compiler from Synopsis. In such a tabular cell delay model, the information is stored in a list of input ramp indices (ir.sub.1, ir.sub.2, ir.sub.3, ir.sub.4, . . ., ir.sub.m), a list of output load indices (c.sub.1, c.sub.2, c.sub.3, c.sub.4, . . ., c.sub.n) and an "m" by "n" array of cell delay values. For each input ramp index and each load index, there is listed an output ramp and a cell delay. This is done, for example, in a separate table each for the output ramp and the cell delay. Depending upon the implementation, the input ramp indices and the output load indices may or may not be shared by the table for the output ramp and the table for the cell delay. For cells where the output ramp does not depend upon the input ramp, the table for the output ramp is simplified so that for each load index there is listed an output ramp.
The particular values chosen for the indices may vary depending upon the cell used. Also, for a particular cell, the particular values chosen for the indices may vary depending upon the input pin/output pin combination which a particular table represents.
When a circuit is constructed from elements of the cell library and then simulated, the cell delays and output ramps for each cell instance are calculated from three criteria. The first criteria is the cell delay and output ramp models for the cell. This is essentially the tables described above. The second criteria is the load(s) on the output pin(s) of the cell instance. This is obtained from the capacitances of the output node wires and the input capacitances of subsequent cells driven by the output pin(s), This information is contained in the netlist of the circuit. The third criteria is the ramp(s) of the input pin(s) of the cell instance. These are equal to the output ramps of the cell instances driving the input pins of the cell instance.
When the timing models are stored in table format, the value of the cell delay and output ramp for a cell instance are obtained from interpolation (or extrapolation, if the input ramp and/or output load are outside the range of the indices) of the table values.

Determining maximum load index for tabular timing models


A portable terminal includes a near-field communication (NFC) device for performing information communication via near-field communication; a write button; and a read button. In order to write information stored in the portable terminal into an information providing apparatus, a user moves the portable terminal close to the information providing apparatus such that a distance between the portable terminal and the information providing apparatus is 10 cm or less while pressing the write button. In order to read information stored in the information providing apparatus into the portable terminal, a user moves the portable terminal close to the information providing apparatus such that a distance between the portable terminal and the information providing apparatus is 10 cm or less while pressing the read button.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication apparatuses performing near-field radio communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Functions of portable terminals, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and notebook computers, have been advancing, and many portable terminals have been provided with radio data communication functions. An inventor of this invention has proposed that near-field radio communication interfaces used in technologies for non-contact IC cards be used in such portable terminals in Matsuo, T. "Overview of Non-contact IC Card Technology 'FeliCa'." (in Japanese) Interface, CQ publishing Co., Ltd, (March 2003): p. 66-75. Using near-field radio communication interfaces in portable terminals provides the portable terminals with functions similar to those of non-contact IC cards. In addition, the portable terminals provided with the near-field radio communication interfaces are capable of operating as readers/writers to communicate with other apparatuses.
When portable terminals function as readers/writers, in order to communicate with other apparatuses, the portable terminals must be positioned close to the other apparatuses and some operation input must be performed, unlike IC cards. However, portable terminals, which are small, are difficult to operate. In particular, performing an operation when portable terminals are close to other apparatuses may be very inconvenient for users.


Plastically deformable support bodies (16) are embedded in a gel-like elastic body (15). A bottom-surface adhesive layer (15b) of the gel-like elastic body (15) is bonded to a floor surface (F), and a pressurizing plate (13) is kept on a top-surface adhesive layer (15a). A leg section (2) of equipment (1) is restrained from moving laterally with a bolt (22) provided on the pressurizing plate (13). A load of the equipment (1) is used to apply pressure to a vibration-damping pad (12) via the pressurizing plate (13). A restraint wall (18) is disposed around the vibration-damping pad (12) and a caulking compound (20) is packed in the opening between the pressurizing plate (13) and the floor surface (F). The caulking compound (20) is blocked by the restraint wall (18), and the gel-like elastic body (15) is allowed to deform due to a gap (19) formed between the restraint wall (18) and the vibration-damping pad (12). According to the present invention, a simple and hygienic seismic isolation structure can be used to prevent vibration, noise, and toppling of equipment installed on a floor surface without using anchor bolts.

Conventionally, facilities installed in factories, etc., are typically secured to the floor surfaces with anchor bolts. For example, the equipment 51 shown in FIG. 13 is installed via nuts 54 on a concrete floor surface F with anchor bolts 53 that penetrate leg portions 52. However, there are types of equipment for which anchor bolts 53 cannot be used as means for preventing its toppling. For example, pieces of equipment on production lines of drinking water or food or in kitchens are installed with their legs set on waterproof floor surfaces F without using anchor bolts in order to meet the hygienic requirements and ensure the transportability of the equipment.
Additionally, seismic isolation structures with vibration-proof rubber interposed between the equipment and the floor surfaces are widely used for the ease of their installation. Patent Document 1 proposes a technology for preventing toppling of a gravestone by embedding spherical bodies in elastic sheets, interposing the elastic sheets between the middle stone and the headstone, and allowing plastic deformation of the spherical bodies to efficiently absorb the vibrations of an earthquake.

Seismic isolation structure for equipment, and seismic isolation method


A multi-trunk antenna structure that includes a main trunk and a plurality of upper trunks is provided. The upper trunks extend upwardly at a desired angle from the main trunk and provide a desired girth of the structure near the top. A plurality of antennas are attached to desired upper trunks at a desired height above ground level. The antennas can be adjusted to a desire azimuth. The antenna structure can include branches so that it resembles a Eucalyptus tree, an Oak tree, or other type of tree. The trunks of the structure can provide raceways for antenna cabling.

1. Field
The present invention relates to antenna support structures, and more particularly to a system, method, and apparatus that supports and conceals radio antennas.
2. Related Art
The widespread growth of wireless communications has resulted in a dramatic increase the number of radio antennas placed throughout communities. While consumer demand for increased coverage and capability of wireless communications system continues to increase, and thereby increase the need for more antennas, there is resistance by the same customers for the placement of the antennas. Typically, radio antennas are not aesthetically pleasing and are generally not well received by the local communities.
Therefore, there is a need for improved antenna placement that is more aesthetically pleasing.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System, method and apparatus for supporting and concealing radio antennas

Solar Communications International, Inc.


Thermodynamic properties of a natural gas stream can be determined in real time utilizing modeling algorithms in conjunction with one or more sensors for quantifying physical and chemical properties of the natural gas. Related techniques, apparatus, systems, and articles are also described.

Recent deregulation and subsequent open access to the natural gas pipeline industry has strongly encouraged or, in some cases, forced gas businesses toward greater reliance on local energy flow rate measurement. What was once a large, stable, and well-defined source of natural gas is now a composite of many small suppliers with greatly varying gas compositions or involved with gas blending operations. While natural gas still has many advantages and its usage is increasing, it is no longer the inexpensive source of energy that it once was. Under-billing at tariff transfer points can cause revenue losses while over-billing can require accounts receivable corrections that can result in sizable additional costs.
One currently available approach to energy flow measurement uses a gas chromatograph (GC) for composition assay in conjunction with a flow meter. Such measurements are generally cost effective only for large capacity supplies (typically in applications where the volume is on the order of 1 to 30 million scf/day). The capital and the high maintenance costs of SC-based analysis systems can prevent their use in many applications. SC analysis can also be limited to measurements of only clean dry natural gas free of liquids or other contaminants that can foul the GC column. Such conditions are generally not present in a natural gas pipeline. SC systems can also suffer from slow analysis and calculation rates, with a typical analysis cycle requiring four or more minutes of sampling and analysis time. Natural gas moving at a pipeline velocity of 25 ft/sec travels over a mile in four minutes. Thus, a calculation of energy content flow based on GC measurements will in some applications be representative of gas that is already a mile or farther down the pipeline. Operation and maintenance costs of operating GCs can also be quite large due to the required consumable carrier gases and the regular maintenance required to assure that the instrument will continue to provide accurate data.
Another alternative method for measuring the potential energy of natural gas in a pipeline is calorimetry. The flame calorimeter is used to measure the properties of gas reactions. The gases concerned are fed at a known, constant rate to a jet at which the reaction occurs. The reaction chamber and gas pipes are contained in a thermostatically controlled water bath to ensure constant temperature. The reaction is then started and the temperature rise measured after a known amount of gas has been fed into the reaction. Calibration of the calorimeter, either with a standard reaction or by electrical means, allows calculation of the enthalpy (ΔH) of the reaction because the reaction is conducted at constant pressure. Flame calorimetry can be performed in near real time depending on the design of the device employed. However, if the heated mass has a large heat capacity, it will take longer to register a meaningful temperature shift which results in a delay. In addition, calorimeter design is very difficult, especially for processes involving very small energy changes, e.g., energy changes on top of a large background such as pipeline gas. Maintenance and calibration of these devices may also require considerable resources.

Energy flow measurement in gas pipelines


A circuit and method reduces disturb in a memory array resulting from one of two supply voltages dropping below a predetermined value. Memory control logic is operated using a logic power domain. Higher voltages than that of the logic power domain are generated in response to an oscillator oscillating. The higher voltages are used to operate the memory array. Operation of the oscillator is controlled with the memory control logic when the logic power domain is at least at a first level or value. The oscillator is disabled when the logic power domain is below the first level. The disabling of the oscillator has the effect of preventing generation of the higher voltages. This facilitates preventing the higher voltages from reaching the memory array when they may not be properly controlled.

1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to semiconductors, and more specifically, to semiconductor data storage devices.
2. Related Art
Semiconductor memories that are embedded in an integrated circuit with other types of circuitry typically require two differing power supply voltages to operate. A first power supply voltage is used to power control circuitry for the memory. Such control circuitry frequently is implemented with logic gates and is powered with a supply voltage that is relatively low. A second power supply voltage is used to power memory operations such as programming or erasing the memory. Such voltages, especially for memories such as FLASH memory, are typically much larger in magnitude than the power required for logic circuitry. Should the low valued power supply voltage fall below a critical value required to power the logic circuitry, erroneous logic signals may be generated. With incorrect logic values the bit cells in the memory array may be incorrectly exposed to the high voltage power supply which is typically generated by charge pumps or voltage multipliers. Erroneous coupling of the high voltage to a memory cell will change the electrical characteristics of the memory cell. Erroneous data may result from the changed electrical characteristics thereby creating unreliable operation.

Method and circuit for preventing high voltage memory disturb


There is provided an apparatus for manufacturing sterilizing water, in which the sterilization power of a chlorine-based solution consisting of sodium hypochlorite or chlorine dioxide or a mixture thereof is fully achieved while the generation of chlorine gas is restrained, and desired sterilizing water is manufactured by properly feeding and mixing three liquids of water, an acid solution, and a chlorine-based solution at a fully controlled concentration. In the apparatus for manufacturing sterilizing water of some aspect of the present invention, after both acid solution and chlorine-based solution have been diluted with raw water in a feeder, the dilute solutions can be mixed with each other by a mixer.

Conventionally, sodium hypochlorite solution having sterilizing properties has been used as a bleaching agent or a mold remover. Also, the use of chlorine dioxide for sterilization of city water has been studied. Such sterilizing water in which the concentration of chlorine is increased as compared with city water etc. to enhance the sterilization power has been used at job sites requiring sterilization, for example, for HACCP-compatible food processing, stock raising such as breeding of SPF pigs, and medical care.
It is known that the bactericidal action of the above-described chlorine-based compound changes greatly according to the state of the chlorine-based compound in aqueous solution, and depends heavily on the acidity (pH). Especially in the case of sodium hypochlorite, bactericidal action differs greatly depending on the pH range, between a strongly acidic condition, a weakly acidic through neutral condition, and an alkaline condition.
In the strongly acidic condition (where pH is lower than 3.8), chlorine gas is liberated from sodium hypochlorite solution. This chlorine gas is toxic, and hence the application of the manufactured sterilizing water is undesirably limited to a substantial extent, though the sterilizing water has a bactericidal action. Also, in the alkaline condition (where pH exceeds 7.5), the ratio of ionization of chlorine in the solution into the form of hypochlorous acid ion (OCl—) increases. The hypochlorous acid ion has weak sterilization power, being about 1/80 of the sterilization power of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) with the same chlorine concentration. Therefore, to raise the sterilization power, the chlorine concentration must inevitably be increased. However, even if sterilization power is raised by increasing the concentration, though sterilization power rises, the concentration has to be increased still further, since sodium hypochlorite solution itself is alkaline.
On the other hand, in the weakly acidic through neutral condition (where pH is in the range of 4.8 to 7.5), a large amount of chlorine takes the form of hypochlorous acid (HOCl), so that the sterilization power can desirably be raised without the production of chlorine gas. For example, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 10-182325 (No. 182325/1998) has discloses a "Device for Reinforcing Sterilization Power of Sodium Hypochlorite". This Document discloses that either acid or chlorine-based solution is diluted and fed to a water flow by separate feeders. In this disclosure, acid solution or chlorine-based solution is poured into a flow path by a pump. A configuration is mainly disclosed, in which hypochlorous acid is fed to the water flow from a chlorine-based solution tank by a pump, and subsequently acid is fed by a pump. Further, in mixing, mixing means consisting of an agitator or the like is used.
However, the apparatus and method for manufacturing sterilizing water disclosed until now have the following problems:
(1) In the publicly known configuration, an acid is used to make the liquid into a weakly acidic condition, wherein the finally manufactured sterilizing water, chlorine gas is liable to be produced due to nonuniform concentration of acid or hypochlorous acid.
(2) In order to control the acidic water to which sodium hypochlorite solution is fed so as to provide a proper acidity, a precise control system is needed, and also, a plurality of feeders are needed. Thus, the apparatus becomes large in scale, and the installation location is limited, resulting in a high cost.
(3) Also, a pump is used to feed acid or sodium hypochlorite, meaning that the pump must be controlled with high accuracy.
Furthermore, while an agitator etc. could also be used in a mixer, such a configuration has the following problems:
(4) A mixer which comprises an agitator or the like desirably has a fixed shape in order to mix the liquid efficiently, but the material thereof is limited because the mixer itself is used to mix solutions in a wide range of acidity conditions, from acidic condition to alkaline condition. In particular, when a resin is used to make a mixer, no suitable mixer is known in terms of acid resistance and alkali resistance.
(5) Where the flow path must be straight in order to arrange the mixer in the flow path, the design of the whole of the apparatus is severely restricted, and making the equipment smaller is hindered.
Furthermore, a Venturi type feeding method, which utilizes negative pressure, could also be adopted for feeding acid or hypochlorous acid according to the quantity of production per unit time of the sterilizing water. However, this method has the following problems:
(6) Where a pump for producing a water flow is arranged on the upstream side of a mixer, acidic water is produced by a Venturi type feeder and further sodium hypochlorite solution is fed by the Venturi type feeder, and a faucet etc. are provided on the downstream side thereof as an outlet for the sterilizing water. In such a case, since the degree of opening of the faucet can be adjusted arbitrarily, acid solution and sodium hypochlorite solution must be fed in proportion to the current flow rate according to the degree of opening of the faucet.
(7) With this method, it is necessary to precisely control a very low flow rate of the feed chemical. If the flow rate is controlled by using a needle type flow regulator, the shape of an opening for restricting the flow rate becomes a doughnut shape or the like having a very small cross section, so that the flow rate is varied by the deformation of flow regulator due to thermal expansion of material of the flow regulator caused by a change in environmental temperature. This phenomenon is particularly prominent when the flow regulator is made of a resin to ensure chemical resistance. Further, if small quantities of dust etc. are contained in the flowing liquid, the flow path is soon clogged, which hinders stable feeding operation.
(8) The negative pressure for this suction feeding operation is approximately 100 to 1000 mm in water-gauge pressure (=about 980 to 9800 Pa=about 0.00968 to 0.0968 atm). This negative pressure is at the same level as the pressure produced by a difference in height of water of about 10 cm. Therefore, the flow rate of the suction fed liquid is affected by a minute change in pressure of water flow that achieves suction.
(9) When the whole of the apparatus is in actual use, it is favorable to provide a safety device that monitors the quantity of feeding of acid or hypochlorous acid as appropriate so that the supply of sterilizing water is shut off when the flow rate exceeds a certain value. In this case, the manufacture path of sterilizing water can be shut off by using an electromagnetic valve etc. as the safety device. However, if the flow rate in the supply path of acid or hypochlorous acid is used as the judgment criterion, a flow sensor is needed to detect the flow rate in the supply path of acid or hypochlorous acid. An inexpensive flow sensor that has high chemical resistance and is capable of detecting a very low flow rate sensitively is not yet known.
(10) Furthermore, if the path to be detected contains air bubbles, the flow sensor generally produces an error. When the apparatus for manufacturing sterilizing water is in actual use, it is favorable to maintain a state in which air bubbles do not intrude into the path during the operation and shutdown of the apparatus.
(11) Also, when acidic solution or chlorine-based solution is fed at a low flow rate, even if it is attempted to directly regulate the quantity of feeding thereof, dust etc. contained in the solution exerts an influence on the regulating portion, so that it is not easy to perform stable operation for a long period of time.

Apparatus for producing sterilized water


A plug-and-play solution deployment mechanism and infrastructure to automate deployment of network cluster devices is disclosed. The solution includes an agile hardware topology discovery mechanism to automatically map the hardware of the cluster devices. The solution includes an intelligent engine for recognition of BIOS configuration setting and BIOS configuration of the devices. The solution also includes a demand-driven Cloud architecture design engine to design and test a cloud architecture incorporating the cluster devices.

The emergence of the cloud for computing applications has increased the demand for off-site installations, known as data centers, that store data and run applications accessed by remotely connected computer device users. Such data centers typically have massive numbers of servers, switches, and storage devices to store and manage data. A typical data center has physical rack structures with attendant power and communication connections. The racks are arranged in rows throughout the room, or rooms, of the data center. Each rack may hold multiple devices such as servers, switches, and storage devices. As different functions are requested by operators of data centers, specialized servers are required. Such specialized servers may include a storage server, a computing server, a graphic processing unit server, or a network switch server. Connecting each of the servers in the rack to switching devices for communication is time consuming. Further, each type of server in a network for a data center requires different setups of hardware and software.
Each type of device must be installed in a rack or cluster that may have a variety of desired nodes, such as computer servers, controller servers, and storage servers, for example. The management and data switches that connect all the nodes in a rack must be connected and properly configured so each node may communicate data to each other. The individual operating systems on each rack node must also be configured, and any specialized software must be installed. Finally, the connections and functions of the nodes must be validated. Thus, setup of a rack or cluster of nodes for a data center is often a time consuming and manually intensive endeavor.
The traditional deployment method for preparing a cluster of nodes for operation is considerably complicated. A large amount of manual tasks is required prior to the deployment process. For example, switch configuration, hardware information collection, and BIOS setup must be performed by technicians for each network and node in the cluster. Further, solution prerequisites and configurations need to be defined for each network and node after hardware information is collected manually. After deployment, several validation tests need to be manually executed on the deployed solution for a functional check of the solution.
One example of the complexity relates to composing systems to operate under a Cloud infrastructure. Operators are looking for ways to construct their cloud infrastructure correctly to prevent costly repairs and trouble shooting. However, to precisely compose a system for OpenStack cloud environment is not feasible due to the lack of collecting hardware topology, especially on non-uniform memory access (NUMA) balanced design hardware. Operators always encounter difficulties in identifying hardware component allocation in current introspection processes provided by Ironic or Maas, which does not include hardware topology information. Lack of hardware topology information during installation will cause certain problems. For example, it is often difficult to identify the connection between the network interface cards (NIC)s and the corresponding slots when user installs more than one MC card to a system.
Another complicated issue is adjusting BIOS configuration setting during installation. Traditionally, to alter a BIOS setting, users need to apply a BIOS change through either baseboard management controller (BMC) console redirection, or physically go on-site and have a keyboard and monitor connected to a server for examination of the BIOS settings. Such procedures are time consuming and inefficient.
Another issue is the challenge of planning and designing an OpenStack cloud architecture. Such architecture is always challenging and requires deep understanding of OpenStack services, user requirements, and detailed hardware design. Administrators currently spend a lot of time digging into OpenStack services, deciding which machine model to use, and learning how to select all of the configurations based on the hardware layout. Currently some open-source projects have attempted to implement automation aimed at facilitating the OpenStack cloud deployment. However, such projects only focus on the software deployment part of OpenStack cloud deployment.
As demonstrated by the examples above, current solution deployment for networked devices is a time-consuming job and may result in numerous human errors. Thus, there a need for a streamlined process to allow for composition of systems for network based operation. There is a further need for a flexible BIOS configuration mechanism to allow for automatic adjustment of BIOS settings for networked devices. There is also a need for a system for efficient planning of an OpenStack cloud server network.

Mechanism for hardware configuration and software deployment


The present invention relates to a rational, elegant means of producing, loading and using Class I molecules to specifically activate CD8 cells in vitro, and their therapeutic applications in the treatment of a variety of conditions, including cancer, tumors or neoplasias, as well as viral, retroviral, autoimmune, and autoimmune-type diseases. The present invention also relates to vectors, cell lines, recombinant DNA molecules encoding human .beta.2 microglobulin or Class I MHC molecules in soluble and insoluble form, and methods of producing same.

The efficiency with which the immune system cures or protects individuals from infectious disease has always been intriguing to scientists, as it has been believed that it might be possible to activate the immune system to combat other types of diseases. Such diseases include cancer, AIDS, hepatitis and infectious disease in immunosuppressed patients. While various procedures involving the use of antibodies have been applied in those types of diseases, few if any successful attempts using cytotoxic T cells have been recorded. Theoretically, cytotoxic T cells would be the preferable means of treating the types of disease noted above. However, no in vitro procedures have been available to specifically activate cytotoxic T cells.
Cytotoxic T cells, or CD8 cells as they are presently known, represent the main line of defense against viral infections. CD8 lymphocytes specifically recognize and kill cells which are infected by a virus. Thus, the cost of eliminating a viral infection is the accompanying loss of the infected cells. The T cell receptors on the surface of CD8 cells cannot recognize foreign antigens directly. In contrast to antibodies, antigen must first be presented to the receptors.
The presentation of antigen to T cells is accomplished by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules of the Class I type. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) refers to a large genetic locus encoding an extensive family of glycoproteins which play an important role in the immune response. The MHC genes, which are also referred to as the HLA (human leucocyte antigen) complex, are located on chromosome 6 in humans. The molecules encoded by MHC genes are present on cell surfaces and are largely responsible for recognition of tissue transplants as "non-self". Thus, membrane-bound MHC molecules are intimately involved in recognition of antigens by T cells.
MHC products are grouped into three major classes, referred to as I, II, and III. T cells that serve mainly as helper cells express CD4 and are primarily restricted by Class II molecules, whereas CD8-expressing cells, which mostly represent cytotoxic effector cells, interact with Class I molecules.
Class I molecules are membrane glycoproteins with the ability to bind peptides derived primarily from intracellular degradation of endogenous proteins. Complexes of MHC molecules with peptides derived from viral, bacterial and other foreign proteins comprise the ligand that triggers the antigen responsiveness of T cells. In contrast, complexes of MHC molecules with peptides derived from normal cellular products play a role in "teaching" the T cells to tolerate self-peptides, in the thymus. Class I molecules do not present entire, intact antigens; rather, they present peptide fragments thereof, "loaded" onto their "peptide binding groove".
For many years, immunologists have hoped to raise specific cytotoxic cells targeting viruses, retroviruses and cancer cells. While targeting against viral diseases in general may be accomplished in vivo by vaccination with live or attenuated vaccines, no similar success has been achieved with retroviruses or with cancer cells. Moreover, the vaccine approach has not had the desired efficacy in immunosuppressed patients. One way around this difficulty would be to immunize a heathy individual, isolate the CD8 cells from this individual, and inject these CD8 cells into the disease-afflicted person. This experimental protocol seems to work in inbred mouse strains, but it has not been successfully tried in humans. There are several possible explanations. First of all, peptides are unique for a given MHC; in other words, certain antigenic peptides bind preferentially to particular MHC species and do not bind well to others, even in the absence of the "preferred" MHC molecule. Furthermore, MHC molecules are highly polymorphic, which fact generates at least two problems. First, the CD8 cells of an individual can only interact with peptides bound to precisely those three to six Class I molecules present in that individual. Second, CD8 cells react violently with all Class I molecules which are different from those expressed in the individual from whom the CD8 cells are obtained, regardless of what peptides the Class I molecules contain. This reactivity has been observed for some time and is termed allo-reactivity. It is the underlying cause of the immune rejection of transplanted organs.
Thus, apart from the rather heroic experimental protocol in which one individual is used as the donor of activated CD8 cells to another individual, it is difficult to find two unrelated persons with the exact same setup of Class I molecules. For this reason, at least one researcher has taken the rather non-specific approach of "boosting" existing CD8 cells by incubating them in vitro with IL-2, a growth factor for T cells. However, this protocol (known as LAK cell therapy) will only allow the expansion of those CD8 cells which are already activated. As the immune system is always active for one reason or another, most of the IL-2 stimulated cells will be irrelevant for the purpose of combatting the disease. In fact, it has not been documented that this type of therapy activates any cells with the desired specificity. Thus, the benefits of LAK cell therapy are controversial at best, and the side effects are typically so severe that many studies have been discontinued.
Several novel molecules which appear to be involved in the peptide loading process have recently been identified. It has also been noted that Class I molecules without bound peptide (i.e., "empty" molecules) can be produced under certain restrictive circumstances. These "empty" molecules are often unable to reach the cell surface, however, as Class I molecules without bound peptide are very thermolabile. Thus, the "empty" Class I molecules disassemble during their transport from the interior of the cell to the cell surface. This is an elegant means by which the immune system can ensure that only cells that are actively synthesizing viral proteins are destroyed. For example, when a virally infected cell is killed, it will release viral peptides. If neighboring cells were expressing "empty" Class I molecules--i.e., those without bound peptide--these cells would be coated with the released viral peptides. Since cytotoxic T cells (or CD8 cells) have no means of ascertaining how or why a peptide happens to be bound to a Class I molecule, cells which passively obtained a viral peptide coating would be killed as well as those which were actively synthesizing the viral proteins.
Viral peptides in vivo are broken down by a large particle known as the proteasome. This enzyme complex also breaks down normal, cellular proteins, which suggests that peptides derived from our own cellular proteins compete with virally-derived peptides for binding sites on Class I molecules. Thus, only some of the Class I molecules on the surface of a virally-infected cell would actually contain viral peptides, as the majority of the Class I molecules would contain peptides derived from our own, cellular proteins. As there are tens of thousands of Class I molecules on the surface of a cell, and as CD8 cells can recognize as few as 200 Class I molecules loaded with a given viral peptide, this competition between peptides derived from viruses and cellular proteins does not completely compromise the efficiency by which the CD8 cells can destroy a virally-infected cell. Nevertheless, if one were able to "engineer" cells to express Class I molecules displaying only one species of antigenic peptide--i.e., if all Class I molecules had the same peptide bound thereto--it would arguably increase the efficiency of CD8 activation.
Class I molecules bind peptides in a specific manner. All peptides have to be about 8-9 amino acids in length and their sequences must fit the peptide-binding pocket of the Class I molecules. In this respect, Class I molecules display some resemblance to antibodies. However, while a given antibody tends to bind only one antigen, a given Class I molecule can bind many hundred different peptides. As the number of viruses and other pathogens is quite large, it is apparent that our immune defense would be poor if we had only a single Class I molecule, even if it is capable of binding and altering many different peptides. For this reason, all humans have between three and six different Class I molecules, which can each bind many different types of peptides. Accordingly, the CD8 cells can recognize many thousands of peptides bound to one or another Class I molecule.
As selection seems to be the dominant force in evolution, pathogens emerge which cannot be recognized efficiently by the immune system. Thus, a viral sequence, which gives rise to peptides that bind efficiently to a variety of Class I molecules, may mutate such that it is not recognized by any of the three to six Class I molecules present in an individual. This virus may therefore not be recognized by the immune system and may consequently cause the death of the affected individual. If all individuals had an identical set of Class I molecules, such a virus might conceivably eliminate an entire species. However, individual variation is a safeguard against that possibility, as some 100 different forms of Class I molecules are present in the population. Thus, a mutated virus may injure some individuals, but it is unlikely to result in the extinction of an entire population, since different individuals possess different sets of Class I molecules.
If Class I molecules can bind a variety of peptides, including peptides derived from our own cellular proteins, one may wonder why the CD8 cells of the immune system do not recognize and destroy our own tissues. While the answer to this question is not entirely clear, two distinct mechanisms are presently believed to be operating. First, CD8 cells that can react with self-peptides are eliminated in the thymus. Second, CD8 cells become non-responsive (anergic) to self-peptides in the peripheral organs of the immune system. Since every possible type or epitope of cellular proteins is not synthesized by the cells in the thymus, the second mechanism would appear to be the more likely explanation. This mechanism appears to be operational for the level of self-peptides normally encountered. If this level is increased by some means, it can be shown that individuals do indeed have CD8 cells that can recognize and destroy cells expressing self-peptides. This latter observation is significant with regard to the concept of using the immune system to eliminate tumor cells.

Drosophila cell lines expressing genes encoding MHC class I antigens and B2-microglobulin and capable of assembling empty complexes and methods of making said cell lines


A springy contact element to be arranged between electrically conducting housing parts, wherein a first housing part has a sheet metal which can be shaped and has a sheet metal tab located within a slot of the sheet metal and forming a unitary part of the sheet metal, is formed by cold forming the sheet metal tab. The sheet metal tab has a thickness reduced relative to a thickness of the sheet metal by cold forming the springy contact element, wherein the springy contact element has an arc-shaped tab portion projecting out of a plane of the sheet metal. The springy contact element has a base portion and is connected with the base portion to the sheet metal. The springy contact element has a support area located at a spacing relative to the base portion, wherein the support area of the springy contact element is supported on at least one support surface of the sheet metal. The at least one support surface of the sheet metal extends transversely to a longitudinal tab axis of the sheet metal tab away from a first longitudinal slot edge and engages underneath the support area.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a springy contact element, according to the preamble claim 1, to be arranged between electrically conducting housing parts, in particular, between a plug-in housing and a mounting shaft.
2. Description of the Relevant Prior Art
Electronic devices such as measuring racks or computer units but also devices of the electronic entertainment sector such as, for example, a car radio, must be shielded sufficiently against electromagnetic interfering radiation. The shielding is conventionally achieved by grounding an electrically conducting housing wherein an exchangeable plug-in housing is connected by spring contacts with the ground of the mounting shaft. In this connection, the contact springs must ensure a reliable contacting even for repeated insertion and removal of the plug-in housing.
A contact element of the aforementioned kind is known from DE 195 07 846 C1. The housing part, comprised of a sheet metal that can be shaped, of the plug-in housing or of the mounting shaft has a sheet metal tab formed as a unitary part out of a slot of the sheet metal which, for forming the springy contact element, is reduced by cold forming relative to the thickness of the sheet metal. In this connection, the contact spring is of a wavy shape across its length wherein an individual wave projects arc-like from the plane of the sheet metal. Since the contact element is secured by a base portion on the narrow side of the slot and the wavy shape provides a longitudinal shortening, the contact element, when greatly loaded, penetrates through the slot and, in this connection, an elastic deformation can occur which disturbs reliable contacting. It is therefore also suggested to support the contact spring with its free end on the narrow side of the slot. However, this impairs the shaping because only a minimal longitudinal shortening by shaping is permissible.
It is an object of the invention to configure a springy contact element of the aforementioned kind such that a high spring stiffness results for a free selection of the shape.
The object is solved according to the invention by the support area of the contact element having correlated therewith a support surface of the sheet metal which extends transversely to the longitudinal tab axis away from the longitudinal slot edge and which engages underneath the support area.
The support surface of the sheet metal correlated with the support area of the contact element extends transversely to the longitudinal tab axis away from the longitudinal edge of the slot so that a support action for the contact element is realized on a configurationally selectable point of the longitudinal edge of the slot. Accordingly, across the entire length of the slot, independent of the shortening resulting from the shaping of the contact element, a reliable support action can be selected which ensures a torsion-free receiving of forces by the contact element. Advantageously, the support surfaces of the sheet metal on the longitudinal tab edges of the slot are positioned at a spacing opposite one another so that to the left and to the right of the longitudinal tab axis at the edge of the slot a support action is provided. A torsion of the contact element formed by the sheet metal tab about the longitudinal tab axis is thus reliably prevented.
Advantageously, the support area at the free end of the sheet metal tab is formed so that its entire length can contribute to the spring properties of the contact element.
Expediently, the greatest width of the support area before cold forming can be slightly greater than the spacing of the support surfaces; this can be achieved, for example, in that the free end is realized with a greater width than the remaining sheet metal tab. Preferably, the support area receives the required width by cold forming in order to rest against the support surfaces of the sheet metal positioned approximately opposite one another at a spacing transversely to the longitudinal slot axis.
When the free end of the sheet metal tab in plan view is formed by cold forming to a disk shape, it is expedient to bend the disk-shaped end approximately about a diameter which is transversely positioned to the longitudinal slot axis so that the disk-shaped end becomes stiffer and can thus dissipate high support forces onto the support surfaces without deformation.


A magnetic head has two poles separated by a gap and at least one saturable element. The saturable element joins the poles and is outside the gap and parallel to the gap. The head may be in the form of a matrix device having a number of poles mounted over a similar number of pads in the substrate. The saturable element may link two poles of the head by means of a pole of another magnetic head.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a magnetic head designed notably to form part of a recording and/or reading matrix device.
A magnetic head is a device for the recording and/or reading of information on a magnetic medium, notably a tape. The recording is done by varying the magnetization of the medium locally. This type of magnetic head can be used in magnetic recorders serving for example in computer applications or in on-board equipment or else in video recorders for professional use as well as for large-scale consumer use.
A head such as this has a magnetic circuit with two magnetic poles separated by a non-magnetic gap. For the recording of information elements, a magnetic field is induced in the magnetic circuit and the magnetic medium is placed close to the poles and the gap. Consequently, the magnetic circuit gets closed by the magnetic medium at the position of the gap. This enables the magnetization or demagnetization of the medium at this position.
The reading of information elements recorded on the medium is obtained by an electrical signal that results from an electromotive force induced by the variation of the magnetic flux in the magnetic circuit formed by the medium. This variation of flux arises out of the variation of the magnetization of the medium during a relative shift of the medium and of the head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a recording matrix device, it is generally assumed that there is a ratio of 3 between the level of excitation of the address heads and the parasitic signals present in the non-address heads. It is the magnetic medium that provides for the threshold effect discriminating between the levels of write signals and the levels of parasitic signals. In a strong writing field, there appear saturation effects that reduce this ratio of 3. It has been proposed, in the French patent application No. 2 639 137, to place an element, in the gap, made of magnetic material with saturation lower than that of the material of the poles. When the saturable material is not saturated, the magnetic field remains confined in the magnetic circuit and does not go through the medium. When this material is saturated, the magnetic field does not remain confined in the gap. A part of this field goes into the medium and magnetizes it. A recording is done only when the current producing the excitation goes beyond a predetermined threshold.
However, the saturable element introduced into the gap can conduct only a small magnetic flux owing to its size. This material gets saturated swiftly and the writing takes place for low values of excitation. Its effect is almost negligible. This drawback is especially appreciable for matrix devices with narrow tracks. It is not rare for the surface area of the gap perpendicular to the magnetic medium to be in the range of some tens of micrometers square.

Magnetic head with saturable element between the poles outside of the gap