A technique for use in a direct digital color proofing (DDCP) system (500) for printing a "modelling" color(s) in a halftone color proof image such that the modelling color simulates a ("special") color that does not lie within a gamut of colors reproducible through only primary color (e.g. cyan, magenta, yellow and black) halftone printing. Specifically, a wide range of such modelling colors can be produced by independently and appropriately setting dot size, particularly in combination with solid area density, for the halftone dots (110, 120, 130, 140) produced for different primary colors and then printing the resulting dots on an overlaid dot-on-dot basis with proper registration. Appropriate dot gain and density look-up tables (230, 720; 240, 940) are respectively used to transform continuous tone separation values and bit-mapped data to vary dot size and solid area density of these halftone dots for each such primary color prior to printing these dots using a proofing engine. A unique set of tables is used to produce each different modelling color.

Graphic arts applications frequently require the accurate reproduction of a high resolution color image (commonly referred to as an "artwork"), such as a color photograph, a color drawing, a color layout and the like. A typical application might involve printing a high resolution color image or a series of such images on a page of a periodical, such as a magazine, or a corporate annual report.
In order to verify that a conventional color printing process generates a color halftone image that is an accurate reproduction of an original color artwork, a so-called "proof" image is generally made from a series of halftone separations of the artwork. The proof image is taken to be representative of the reproduced halftone image that will be generated by a multi-color printing press. Oftentimes, the proof image contains unexpected and unsightly Moire patterns, poor tone and/or color reproduction, or other artifacts which generally can be removed through appropriate rotation of a screen angle used in generating one or more of the separations or through appropriate color corrections. Once these adjustments are made, new separations are produced. Thereafter, the entire proofing process is iteratively repeated until a set of separations is found which will yield an acceptable depiction of the artwork.
The conventional iterative manual photographic process of producing an acceptable set of halftone separations, due to the inherent variability of the process, can be very tedious and inordinately time consuming. Unfortunately, in the graphic arts industry, publication deadlines are often extremely tight and afford very little, if any, leeway. Consequently, the available time in a graphic arts production environment allotted to a color technician to generate a set of halftone separations to meet a particular publication deadline, for example, is often insufficient to allow the technician adequate time, due to the trial and error nature of iterative process, to generate that set of separations which produces a very high quality halftone color image. As such, the technician is often constrained by time pressures to produce a set of separations that produces a visually acceptable, though not necessarily a very high quality, image.
In an effort aimed at reducing the time required and accompanying expense associated with the proofing process, the art has turned away from conventional manual photographic based proofing processes, particularly for use in high volume graphic arts applications, to other technologies. One of the first such technologies was electro-photography based proofing; an illustrative system employing this technology is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,459 (issued to C. Cowan et al on Nov. 24, 1987 and assigned to the present assignee hereof--hereinafter referred to as the '459 Cowan et al patent). While this system does produce an excellent quality proof, this system appears to possess various limitations which, to a certain extent, have restricted its commercial attractiveness.
Specifically, many printing presses today utilize five or six differently colored inks. Typically, four of these inks are the primary colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (C,Y,M,K), with two additional inks being so-called "special" fifth and sixth colors. For the most part, printing presses fix the density at which a single colored halftone dot is printed, i.e. either the press deposits a fixed quantity of ink at a particular location on a page or not. As such, it has become apparent in the art for quite some time that a significant number of colors, such as for example phosphorescents (e.g. "hot pink"), pastels and golds, will fall outside the bounds of a gamut of colors that can be printed using only these four primary colors at fixed density levels. Accordingly, these colors, hereinafter referred to as "special" colors, can not be readily reproduced through the use of fixed density halftone printing using the four primary colored inks alone. As such, whenever such a special color is desired, an ink that has been specifically mixed to that color is generally used as either the fifth or sixth colored ink. Using that ink, the special color is printed in accordance with the halftone dot patterns on a corresponding separation for that color of an original artwork. In addition, from time to time, a printing job may call for an exact color, such as illustratively so-called "KODAK" yellow, that lies within the gamut associated with the four primary colors. ("KODAK" is a registered trademark of the Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, New York.) However, to provide higher quality color reproductions and increased reliability of the color reproduction process than that generally obtainable through use of only fixed density primary color printing, a fifth or sixth ink that has been mixed to that specific color will be used, rather than the primary colors, to tone corresponding areas of each halftone reproduction.
In view of the use of five and six color halftone color printing, a concomitant need has arisen for some time in the art to be able to model both the fifth and sixth colors within a proof image. Generally speaking, this modelling could be accomplished through either of two approaches. First, one approach might be to produce a separate film within the proofing process for each special color that is to be used and then use an ink that has been matched to that color to tone corresponding halftone dot patterns therefor in the proof image. Unfortunately, this approach is likely to be quite expensive and cumbersome to implement and use. Fortunately, a reasonably close, rather than an exact, match is often adequate for use in analyzing a proof image for defects, particularly when a viewer is concerned with page layout, i.e. the areas on the proofed image in which corresponding portions of the replicated artwork are to appear, and the like. Accordingly, a second approach might be to produce a corresponding resultant color in some fashion through use of the four primary colors which, while being a reasonably close rather than an exact match to each special color, will nevertheless represent each of the special colors that is to be used.
The electro-photographic proofing system described in the '459 Cowan et al patent permits an operator to independently set the solid area density, over a reasonably wide range, of the halftone dots for each primary color. In this manner, dots of a different solid area density can be produced for each different primary color in a given proof image. Then, by accurately superimposing the primary colored halftone dots with different corresponding solid area densities in a common proof image, an extended range of colors, at least to a human observer, can be produced for use in simulating a special color(s). Unfortunately, in practice, this range, while greater than that obtainable without varying the solid area density between dots of different primary colors, nevertheless proved to be somewhat inadequate for use in modelling various special colors.
For a variety of reasons, such as for example, increased flexibility, control and throughput over that provided by electro-photographic proofing systems, the art is currently turning towards the use of so-called direct digital color proofing (DDCP) systems. These systems directly generate a halftone color proof image from a set of digitized continuous tone (contone) separations. Specifically, DDCP systems manipulate the separations in digital form to electronically generate appropriate halftone separations, including, inter alia, electronic screening and dot gain compensation, and then directly write the proof image using an appropriate marking engine (also referred to herein as a "proofing engine").
Therefore, a need presently exists in the art for a technique for inclusion in a DDCP system that can be used to model, not necessarily exactly, a wide range of special color(s) in a halftone color proof image through use of the available, illustratively four, different primary process colors (C,Y,M,K) and specifically halftone dots formed of these individual primary colors. Specifically, such a technique should significantly expand the range of special colors that can be modelled in a color proof image over that heretofore obtainable in the art, such as through electro-photographic technologies, as well as be compatible with digital marking engines.

Technique for generating additional colors in a halftone color image through use of overlaid primary colored halftone dots of varying size


An electrotransport device (10) for delivering therapeutic agents includes an adjustable voltage boos multiple controller (100, 200) for boosting the voltage from a power source (102, 202) to a working voltage Vw having a value just sufficient to provide the desired therapeutic current level II through the electrodes (108, 112), at least of which contains the therapeutic agent to be delivered.

The term "electrotransport" as used herein refers generally to the delivery of an agent (e.g., a drug) through a membrane, such as skin, mucous membrane, or nails, which delivery is induced or aided by the application of an electric potential. For example, a beneficial therapeutic agent may be introduced into the systemic circulation of an animal (e.g., a human) by electrotransport delivery through the skin.
The electrotransport process has been found to be useful in the transdermal administration of drugs including lidocaine hydrochloride, hydrocortisone, fluoride, penicillin, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, and many other drugs. Perhaps the most common use of electrotransport is in diagnosing cystic fibrosis by delivering pilocarpine salts iontophoretically. The pilocarpine stimulates sweat production; the sweat is collected and analyzed for its chloride content to detect the presence of the disease.
Presently known electrotransport devices use at least two electrodes, positioned in intimate contact with some portion of the body (e.g., the skin). A first electrode, called the active or donor electrode, delivers the therapeutic agent (e.g., a drug or a prodrug) into the body by electrotransport. The second electrode, called the counter or return electrode, closes an electrical circuit with the first electrode through the patient's body. A source of electrical energy, such as a battery, supplies electric current to the body through the electrodes. For example, if the therapeutic agent to be delivered into the body is positively charged (i.e., a cation), the anode will be the active electrode and the cathode will serve as the counter electrode to complete the circuit. If the therapeutic agent to be delivered is negatively charged (i.e., an anion), the cathode will be the donor electrode and the anode will be the counter electrode.
Alternatively, both the anode and cathode may be used to deliver drugs of opposite electrical charge into the body. In this situation, both electrodes are considered donor and counter electrodes. For example, the anode can simultaneously deliver a cationic therapeutic agent and act as a "counter" electrode to the cathode. Similarly, the cathode can simultaneously deliver an anionic therapeutic agent into the body and act as a "counter" electrode to the anode.
A widely used electrotransport process, electromigration (also called "iontophoresis"), involves the electrically induced transport of charged ions. Another type of electrotransport, electroosmosis, involves the flow of a liquid solvent from the donor reservoir, which liquid contains the agent to be delivered, under the influence of the applied electric field. Still another type of electrotransport process, electroporation, involves the formation of transiently existing pores in a biological membrane by the application of high voltage pulses. A therapeutic agent can in part be delivered through the skin by passive diffusion by reason of the concentration difference between the concentration of drug in the donor reservoir of the electrotransport device and the concentration of drug in the tissues of the patient's body. In any given electrotransport process, more than one of these processes may be occurring simultaneously to a certain extent. Accordingly, the term "electrotransport", as used herein, should be given its broadest possible interpretation so that it includes the electrically induced or enhanced transport of at least one therapeutic agent, whether charged, uncharged, or a mixture thereof.
The terms "drug" and "therapeutic agent" are used interchangeably and are intended to have their broadest interpretation, namely any therapeutically active substance that is delivered to a living organism to produce a desired, usually beneficial, effect. This includes therapeutic agents in all the major therapeutic areas including, but not limited to: anti-infectives such as antibiotics and antiviral agents; analgesics, including fentanyl, sufentanil, buprenorphine and analgesic combinations; anesthetics; anorexics; antiarthritics; antiasthmatic agents such as terbutaline; anticonvulsants; antidepressants; antidiabetic agents; antidiarrheals; antihistamines; anti-inflammatory agents; antimigraine preparations; antimotion sickness preparations such as scopolamine and ondansetron; antinauseants; antineoplastics; antiparkinsonism drugs; antipruritics; antipsychotics; antipyretics; antispasmodics, including gastrointestinal and urinary; anticholinergics; sympathomimetrics; xanthine derivatives; cardiovascular preparations, including calcium channel blockers such as nifedipine; beta blockers; beta-agonists such as dobutamine and ritodrine; antiarrythmics; antihypertensives such as atenolol; ACE inhibitors such as ranitidine; diuretics; vasodilators, including general, coronary, peripheral, and cerebral; central nervous system stimulants; cough and cold preparations; decongestants; diagnostics; hormones such as parathyroid hormone; hypnotics; immunosuppressants; muscle relaxants; parasympatholytics; parasympathomimetrics; prostaglandins; proteins; peptides; psychostimulants; sedatives; and tranquilizers.
Electrotransport is also useful in the controlled delivery of peptides, polypeptides, proteins and other macromolecules. These macromolecular substances typically have a molecular weight of at least 300 Daltons, and more typically have a molecular weight of 300-40,000 Daltons. Specific examples of peptides and proteins in this size range include, without limitation, the following: LHRH; LHRH analogs such as buserelin, gonadorelin, nafarelin and leuprolide: insulin; insulotropin; calcitonin; octreotide; endorphin; TRH; NT-36 (chemical name is N=[[(s)4-oxo-2-azetidinyl]carbonyl]-L-histidyl-L-prolinamide); liprecin; pituitary hormones such as HGH, HMG and desmopressin acetate; follicle luteoids; aANF; growth factors such as growth factor releasing factor (GFRF or GHRH); bMSH; somatostatin; bradykinin; somatotropin; platelet-derived growth factor; asparaginase; chymopapain; cholecystokinin; chorionic gonadotropin; corticotropin (ACTH); erythropoietin; epoprostenol (platelet aggregation inhibitor); glucagon; HCG; hirulog; hyaluronidase; interferon; interleukins; menotropins (urofollitropin (FSH) and LH); oxytocin; streptokinase; tissue plasminogen activator: vasopressin; desmopressin; ACTH analogs; ANP; ANP clearance inhibitors; angiotensin II antagonists: antidiuretic hormone agonists; antidiuretic hormone antagonists: bradykinin antagonists: CD-4; ceredase; CSFs; enkephalins; FAB fragments; IgE peptide suppressors; IGF-1; neurotrophic factors; colony stimulating factors: parathyroid hormone and agonists; parathyroid hormone antagonists: prostaglandin antagonists; pentigetide; protein C; protein S; renin inhibitors; thymosin alpha-1; thrombolytics; TNF; vaccines; vasopressin antagonist analogs; alpha-1 antitrypsin (recombinant); and TGF-beta.
Electrotransport devices generally require a reservoir or source of the agent, or a precursor of such agent, that is to be delivered into the body by electrotransport. Examples of such reservoirs or sources of, preferably ionized or ionizable, agents include a pouch as described in Jacobsen U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,878, or a pre-formed gel body as disclosed in Webster U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,529. Such reservoirs are electrically connected to the anode or the cathode of an electrotransport device to provide a fixed or renewable source of one or more desired therapeutic species.
Recently, a number of U.S. patents have issued in the electrotransport field, indicating a continuing interest in this mode of drug delivery. For example, Vernon et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,755, Jacobsen et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,359, Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,545, and Jacobsen U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,878 disclose examples of electrotransport devices and some applications thereof.
More recently, electrotransport delivery devices have become much smaller, particularly with the development of miniaturized electrical circuits (e.g., integrated circuits) and more powerful light weight batteries (e.g., lithium batteries). The advent of inexpensive miniaturized electronic circuitry and compact, high-energy batteries has meant that the entire device can be made small enough to be unobtrusively worn on the skin of the patient, under clothing. This allows the patient to remain fully ambulatory and able to perform all normal activities, even during periods when the electrotransport device is actively delivering drug.
Nevertheless, some limitations still remain, restricting the wider application of this valuable technique. One such limitation is the size and cost of electrotransport delivery devices. In particular, the batteries needed to power electrotransport devices comprise a significant contribution to the overall size and weight, as well as the cost, of these smaller, patient-worn electrotransport delivery devices. A reduction in the number and/or cost of these batteries would allow electrotransport drug delivery devices to be made smaller and at lower cost.
One method of reducing the number of batteries used to power an electrotransport device is to use a voltage boosting circuit. Boosting circuits are well known in the electrical arts. Conventional boosting circuits take an input voltage (e.g., 3.0 volts) and boost it by a predetermined multiple (e.g., ×2) to give a "boosted" output voltage (e.g., 6.0 v=3.0 v×2). Voltage boosting circuits have been used in transdermal electrotransport delivery devices. See Maurer et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,081 (at column 2, lines 34-39).
These circuits allow an electrotransport device to deliver a predetermined level of electric current with fewer batteries, or battery(ies) of lower voltage, than would otherwise be needed without the use of a boosting circuit. Thus, conventional boosting circuits help reduce the size and cost of an electrotransport delivery device by requiring fewer, and/or lower voltage, batteries to power the device.
The problem of reducing the cost of the power supply for an electrotransport delivery device is complicated by the fact that the electrical resistance of the patient body surface (e.g., skin) is not constant during electrotransport delivery. Since the voltage (V) necessary to drive a particular level of electric current (i) through the patient's skin is proportional to the resistance (R) of the skin (i.e., according to Ohm's Law wherein V=iRskin), the voltage requirements of the power supply are not constant during electrotransport delivery. For example, when electrotransport administration is begun, the patients initial skin resistance is relatively high, requiring the power supply to produce relatively high voltage to deliver a predetermined level of electrotransport current. However, after several minutes (i.e., after about 1 to 30 minutes of current being applied through the skin) the skin resistance drops, such that the voltage requirement needed to deliver a particular level of electric current becomes significantly less than the voltage required at the start of electrotransport delivery. See for example Haak et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,242 which discloses the variable skin resistance and the use of 2 or more batteries connected either in parallel or in series to accommodate the changing skin resistance.
Although conventional voltage boosting circuits can supply the output voltage necessary to accommodate the high initial skin resistance, they reduce the efficiency of the apparatus and require more battery output voltage during periods when the skin resistance is lower than the initial state, resulting in lower efficiency and increased battery size and costs.
Jacobsen et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,359, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a DC-DC converter having a transformer to inductively couple periodic variations of current in a primary coil to pulses of current in a secondary coil at a fixed voltage multiple of the primary power supply. These pulses of secondary coil current are conducted through the skin by therapeutic electrodes. The average, or DC value of the secondary current is controlled by an error voltage and feed back circuit such that the average value of the secondary current is held constant.
One disadvantage of the Jacobsen circuit is that the peak value of the fixed and multiplied voltage appears directly across the electrodes. The peak voltage is unnecessary for conditions where the skin resistance is low, and results in unnecessarily high current pulses of therapeutic current and possible adverse effects on the skin.

Electrotransport delivery device with voltage boosting circuit


Methods and apparatus are presented for reducing the number of bits needed to represent an excitation waveform. An acoustic signal in an analysis frame is analyzed to determine whether it is a band-limited signal. A sub-sampled sparse codebook is used to generate the excitation waveform if the acoustic signal is a band-limited signal. The sub-sampled sparse codebook is generated by decimating permissible pulse locations from the codebook track in accordance with the frequency characteristic of the acoustic signal.

1. Field
The present invention relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to speech processing within communication systems.
2. Background
The field of wireless communications has many applications including, e.g., cordless telephones, paging, wireless local loops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), Internet telephony, and satellite communication systems. A particularly important application is cellular telephone systems for remote subscribers. As used herein, the term "cellular" system encompasses systems using either cellular or personal communications services (PCS) frequencies. Various over-the-air interfaces have been developed for such cellular telephone systems including, e.g., frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA). In connection therewith, various domestic and international standards have been established including, e.g., Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Global System for Mobile (GSM), and Interim Standard 95 (IS-95). IS-95 and its derivatives, IS-95A, IS-95B, ANSI J-STD-008 (often referred to collectively herein as IS-95), and proposed high-data-rate systems are promulgated by the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) and other well known standards bodies.
Cellular telephone systems configured in accordance with the use of the IS-95 standard employ CDMA signal processing techniques to provide highly efficient and robust cellular telephone service. Exemplary cellular telephone systems configured substantially in accordance with the use of the IS-95 standard are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,103,459 and 4,901,307, which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. An exemplary system utilizing CDMA techniques is the cdma2000 ITU-R Radio Transmission Technology (RTT) Candidate Submission (referred to herein as cdma2000), issued by the TIA. The standard for cdma2000 is given in the draft versions of IS-2000 and has been approved by the TIA. Another CDMA standard is the W-CDMA standard, as embodied in 3rd Generation Partnership Project "3GPP", Document Nos. 3G TS 25.211, 3G TS 25.212, 3G TS 25.213, and 3G TS 25.214.
The telecommunication standards cited above are examples of only some of the various communications systems that can be implemented. With the proliferation of digital communication systems, the demand for efficient frequency usage is constant. One method for increasing the efficiency of a system is to transmit compressed signals. Devices that employ techniques to compress speech by extracting parameters that relate to a model of human speech generation are called speech coders. A speech coder divides the incoming speech signal into blocks of time, or analysis frames. Speech coders typically comprise an encoder and a decoder. The encoder analyzes the incoming speech frame to extract certain relevant parameters, and then quantizes the parameters into binary representation, i.e., to a set of bits or a binary data packet, that is placed in an output frame. The output frames are transmitted over the communication channel in transmission channel packets to a receiver and a decoder. The decoder processes the output frames, de-quantizes them to produce the parameters, and resynthesizes the speech frames using the de-quantized parameters.
The function of the speech coder is to compress the digitized speech signal into a low-bit-rate signal by removing all of the natural redundancies inherent in speech. The digital compression is achieved by representing the input speech frame with a set of parameters and employing quantization to represent the parameters with a set of bits. If the input speech frame has a number of bits Ni and the data packet produced by the speech coder has a number of bits No, then the compression factor achieved by the speech coder is Cr=Ni/No. The challenge is to retain high voice quality of the decoded speech while achieving the target compression factor. The performance of a speech coder depends on how well the speech model, or the combination of the analysis and synthesis process described above, performs, and how well the parameter quantization process is performed at the target bit rate of No bits per frame. The goal of the speech model is thus to capture the essence of the speech signal, or the target voice quality, with a small set of parameters for each frame.
Of the various classes of speech coder, the Code Excited Linear Predictive Coding (CELP), Stochastic Coding, or Vector Excited Speech Coding coders are of one class. An example of a coder of this particular class is described in Interim Standard 127 (IS-127), entitled, "Enhanced Variable Rate Coder" (EVRC). Another example of a coder of this particular class is described in pending draft proposal "Selectable Mode Vocoder Service Option for Wideband Spread Spectrum Communication Systems," Document No. 3GPP2 C.P9001. The function of the vocoder is to compress the digitized speech signal into a low bit rate signal by removing all of the natural redundancies inherent in speech. In a CELP coder, redundancies are removed by means of a short-term formant (or LPC) filter. Once these redundancies are removed, the resulting residual signal can be modeled as white Gaussian noise, or a white periodic signal, which also must be coded. Hence, through the use of speech analysis, followed by the appropriate coding, transmission, and re-synthesis at the receiver, a significant reduction in the data rate can be achieved.
The coding parameters for a given frame of speech are determined by first determining the coefficients of a linear prediction coding (LPC) filter. The appropriate choice of coefficients will remove the short-term redundancies of the speech signal in the frame. Long-term periodic redundancies in the speech signal are removed by determining the pitch lag, L, and pitch gain, gp, of the signal. The combination of possible pitch lag values and pitch gain values is stored as vectors in an adaptive codebook. An excitation signal is then chosen from among a number of waveforms stored in an excitation waveform codebook. When the appropriate excitation signal is excited by a given pitch lag and pitch gain and is then input into the LPC filter, a close approximation to the original speech signal can be produced.
In general, the excitation waveform codebook can be stochastic or generated. A stochastic codebook is one where all the possible excitation waveforms are already generated and stored in memory. Selecting an excitation waveform encompasses a search and compare through the codebook of the stored waveforms for the "best" one. A generated codebook is one where each possible excitation waveform is generated and then compared to a performance criterion. The generated codebook can be more efficient than the stochastic codebook when the excitation waveform is sparse.
"Sparse" is a term of art indicating that only a few number of pulses are used to generate the excitation signal, rather than many. In a sparse codebook, excitation signals generally comprise a few pulses at designated positions in a "track." The Algebraic CELP (ACELP) codebook is a sparse codebook that is used to reduce the complexity of codebook searches and to reduce the number of bits required to quantize the pulse positions. The actual structure of algebraic codebooks is well known in the art and is described in the paper "Fast CELP coding based on Algebraic Codes" by J. P. Adoul, et al., Proceedings of ICASSP Apr. 6-9, 1987. The use of algebraic codes is further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,816, entitled "Dynamic Codebook for Efficient Speech Coding Based on Algebraic Codes", the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
Since a compressed speech transmission can be performed by transmitting LPC filter coefficients, an identification of the adaptive codebook vector, and an identification of the fixed codebook excitation vector, the use of a sparse codebook for the excitation vectors allows for the reallocation of saved bits to other payloads. For example, the allocated bits in an output frame for the excitation vectors can be reduced and the speech coder can then use the freed bits to reduce the granularity of the LPC coefficient quantizer.
However, even with the use of sparse codebooks, there is an ever-present need to reduce the number of bits required to convey the excitation signal information while still maintaining a high perceptual quality to the synthesized speech signal.

Sub-sampled excitation waveform codebooks


A sheet processing apparatus comprising a sheet stacking member for stacking a sheet to be discharged, and an offset mounting member for offsetting a plurality of sheet bundles on sides in a sheet bundle takeout direction and in a direction opposite thereto, and mounting the offset bundles onto the sheet stacking member. The offset mounting member mounts the first sheet bundle on the side in the sheet bundle takeout direction. When there is a sheet bundle on the sheet stacking member, the first sheet bundle is mounted by offsetting the first sheet bundle in a direction opposite to that of the last sheet bundle mounted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus to be provided in an image forming apparatus forming an image on a sheet, such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine or a printer.
2. Description of Related Art
In the area of image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a type is recently proposed, in which a plurality of sheets bearing an image formed sequentially by image forming means are subjected to a prescribed post-processing and discharged onto a stack tray, incorporating a sheet post-processing apparatus known as a finisher.
Post-processing applied in the sheet post-processing apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a "finisher") includes, for example, a processing called sorting or offset in which sheets are discharged at positions different between jobs, a staple processing of aligning ends of sheets for each job, and side-marking the ends of the aligned sheets, and a punching processing of punching a hole at ends of the aligned sheets. In the finisher, bundles of the thus post-processed sheets (hereinafter referred to as "sheet bundles") are discharged onto a stack tray, thereby providing convenience to users when an image forming apparatus is shared by a plurality of users through network connection.
A known conventional finisher comprises an intermediate processing tray serving as a sheet stacking base which temporarily stacks sheets for carrying out the above-mentioned sorting or offsetting post-processing, conveying means such as a roller which conveys the sheet having an image formed thereon to the intermediate processing tray, aligning means which performs width-direction alignment for sheets on the intermediate processing tray, and sheet discharging means which discharges the sheet on the intermediate processing tray aligned by the aligning means onto the stack tray. The finisher based on the staple processing or the punching processing is provided with binding means called a stapler for binding the end of the sheet bundle on the intermediate processing tray or with punching means for punching a hole at the end of the sheet bundle on the intermediate processing tray.
In an image forming apparatus having a finisher added thereto, when an image is formed on the sheet in the image forming section, the sheet is mounted on the intermediate processing tray by the conveying means, and width-direction alignment is carried out by the aligning means on the intermediate processing tray. The sheet is then discharged by the sheet discharging means such as a discharging belt onto the stack tray.
When a selection is made to conduct offsetting the discharged sheet bundle for each job, in the conventional finisher, the aligning means is controlled so that the discharging position of the sheet bundle in the preceding job and the discharging position of the sheet bundle in the current job are different (shift) from each other. For example, the aligning means is controlled for each sheet stacked onto the intermediate processing tray so that the sheet is at a position on the near side relative to the apparatus main body in the preceding job, and the aligning means is controlled in the next job so that the sheet is positioned to the far side relative to the apparatus main body. In the following job, the aligning means is controlled so that the sheet is positioned on the near side.
However, in the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, when offsetting of the sheet bundle is selected upon execution of a new job, after the end of a prescribed job, from the state in which the sheet bundle has been removed from the stack tray, if the sheet bundle has been aligned to the near side in the immediately preceding job, the sheet bundle in the new job is started from the far-side alignment. When taking out the sheet bundle mounted on the stack tray in the offset state, therefore, it may become difficult to take out the lowermost sheet bundle, or the lowermost sheet is often left behind in some cases.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Sheet post-processing apparatus having offset mounting means


A trainable, extensible, automated data-to-knowledge translator is described. One aspects of the present invention includes a computerized system having at least one repository to store user-specified rules that govern the processing of data by the computerized system and at least one processing module to process data according to the rules and to generate knowledge from the data. Another aspect of the present invention is a computerized method of translating data to knowledge. The computerized method includes providing user-specified rules to govern the behavior of a computerized system for translating data to knowledge, and processing data according to the rules to generate knowledge. A further aspect of the present invention is a computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for executing a method of translating data to knowledge. The computerized method comprises receiving data in an unstructured form, converting the data to a neutral form, processing data according to user-specified rules to translate the data from the neutral form to knowledge, and exporting the knowledge to a knowledge repository.

Many products such as decision support systems require knowledge in order to make intelligent decisions. A decision support system is a computer-based system that combines knowledge, analytical tools, and models to aid a decision maker. A decision support system commonly includes a knowledge database or a knowledge repository. Knowledge is extracted from the knowledge database or repository and analyzed using the analytical tools and models in order to assist with decisions. In order to be useful to the decision support system, data must be analyzed, translated and organized into structured, meaningful knowledge before it is stored in the knowledge database.
Often, data is in the form of human readable documentation, which to the decision support system appears as unstructured, meaningless data. Data refers to information, raw facts, and the like. Data may exist in a variety of forms such as in paper documents or in digital documents. Data on its own has no meaning to a decision support system. For a decision support system to process data, the data must first be translated into a form that the decision support system can process.
As used herein, knowledge refers to information that can be processed by a decision support system. A collection of knowledge is referred to as a knowledge base or a knowledge repository. Even structured data formats such as the standard generalize markup language (SGML) or the extendible markup language (XML) may be unsuitable to the decision support system since not all of the needed knowledge may be tagged by markup. Human translation of data to knowledge is laborious, expensive, and error-prone; especially for data sources that are periodically updated. Special purpose knowledge base construction programs are often too inflexible to directly apply, or too costly to modify for new types of data and/or knowledge repositories.
What is needed is a way to convert unstructured, meaningless data, such as human consumable information, into structured, meaningful knowledge, i.e., machine consumable knowledge.

Trainable, extensible, automated data-to-knowledge translator


An auxiliary lighting system contains at least one photoelectric cell to convert ambient light into energy and at least one light emitting diode. The photoelectric cell converts ambient light into energy which is stored in a storage cell. A switching system provides energy from the storage cell to the light emitting diode upon certain conditions, generally by time or by lack of ambient light.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved system for providing pathway indication through unlit areas. For example, outdoor parking lots are often illuminated by light poles, which for economic reasons, are often designed to be automatically turned off after a set time, for example at midnight. After this shut off time, navigating or exiting the parking lot can be extremely hazardous. In fact, the light poles themselves can be a significant obstacle to safe egress of the parking lot.
A similar situation can exist in interior areas of residences and buildings, whether for economic or other reasons. After the interior lights of a building are shut off, for whatever reason, navigating of the building's interior, or exiting the building can be hazardous.
II. Summary of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,928 discloses an egress direction indication system utilizing an indicator with at least three electroluminescent lamps in a linear arrangement and circuitry for sequentially illuminating the lamps on a repeating basis, in order, from one end of the linear arrangement to the other. The lamps are mounted on a circuit board with a lens covering the lamps. The circuitry lights in a first direction under one sensed condition and lights in a second direction in a different sensed condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,068 discloses a light system with controllable light sources positioned along alternative routes of movement to serve as an optical means for influencing people to follow an indicated route to a selected area. A command system allows a selection to be made controlling the direction of movement to be indicated. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are a preferred light source.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,375 discloses an emergency egress illuminator and marking light strip. This patent teaches a system for the lighting of a floor of an emergency egress passageway during clear air conditions and also marks an emergency escape path. The system utilizes two narrow strings of narrow cone LEDs each in a transparent tubular housing, which is mounted on the passageway wall.
While these systems are suitable for their intended purposes, they are not ideally designed for applications such as described above. This is because the present invention provides improved energy efficiency over the systems known in the art, and is thus more economical. Additionally, the present invention is optimized to operate in conditions of power failure or other interruptions of main power supply.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an economical lighting system to allow safe egress from a darkened area, such as a building interior or parking lot, when a primary light system is unavailable.

System for providing pathway indications through unlit areas


An inflatable device that includes a inflatable component and a base inflatable component. The inflatable component is releasably connected to the base inflatable component by a component connector. The component connector includes a base and a cap, wherein the cap releasably connected to the base.

Outdoor sponsored events and activities have gained in popularity over the last several years. During sponsored events and activities such as carnivals, fairs, sporting events, trade shows or the like, various areas are partitioned off to define the area for a particular activity or event. Sporting events sponsored by local and/or national advertisers are very common year-round. These sponsored activities include basketball, volleyball, tennis, hockey, bike racing, skating courses, obstacle courses, skill games, etc. Many of these sponsored activities are one- or two-day events and are commonly situated in a park, a parking lot, a city street, etc. At such events, the event organizer is typically required to assemble temporary facilities for the particular sponsored event or events. Typically, metal or wooden fences are temporarily assembled to partition off various areas for the events. Structures for concession stands, amusement activities, information booths, retail stands, etc. also have to be temporarily assembly for the event. Such structures are also typically wooden and/or metal structures. An event such as outdoor hockey requires a rink to be set up. Such rinks typically include a metal and wood or a foam and vinyl structure which forms the peripheral boundary of the rink. Other types of outdoor events include challenge courses. These challenge courses typically include one or more obstacles for a participant to overcome. Like the rink setup, these challenge courses typically include fenced boundaries and other structures to define the course. Skill games, such as ball pitch games, typically include a metal and wood or a foam and vinyl structure. Such fences, barriers, and other structures require a substantial amount of time and manpower to transport, assemble and disassemble. It is not uncommon for an event organizer to spend several days preparing a site for a single day event. Events which require a large structure to be assembled, such as skating rinks for outdoor hockey and/or challenge courses, require even more time and expense to set up. Although these outdoor sponsored events have become very popular with the public, the complexity and cost of setting up and sponsoring such events has caused many sponsors to limit the number of sponsored events and/or seek other, less expensive and complex activities to sponsor.
Many of these past problems have been addressed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,937,586 and Des. 413,169, which are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,586 discloses an inflatable device which includes one or more inflatable modules. At least one air portal is positioned in the inflatable module to form a fluid passageway between the interior of the inflatable module and an adjacently positioned inflatable module. Multiple inflatable modules can be connected together to form a variety of structures. Such structures can include, but are not limited to, a skating rink, wall partitions, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,586 discloses two principal configurations to connect two or more inflatable modules together. In one configuration, two adjacently positioned inflatable modules share a common side wall and a common air portal. The inflatable modules form a sectional unit designed to be inflated and deflated together. In another configuration, two adjacently positioned inflatable modules each have an individual side panel and side air portal. The adjacently positioned side panels of the two inflatable modules are connected together permanently or by a quick connect arrangement to facilitate the connecting and separating of the inflatable modules during assembly and disassembly, respectively. The two adjacently positioned air portals can also be connected together. The air portals between the inflatable modules can be designed to limit the fluid flow between the inflatable modules to at least partially control the pressure in various modules and/or to dampen the pressure fluctuations between various inflatable modules.
Many of the past problems associated with temporary booths or other covered structures have been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,679 and Des. 365,400, which are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,555,679 and Des. 365,400 disclose an inflatable structure that can function as a portable booth for retail, information, concessions and/or amusement activities at various outdoor sponsored events. This inflatable structure can be conveniently and quickly assembled and disassembled at various outdoor sponsored events without the need to build or assemble metal and/or wood structures at such events.
Although U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,555,679; 5,937,586; Des. 365,400; and Des. 413,169 disclose a significant improvement in assembling portable structures and connecting together various types of inflatable modules, there remains a need for a connection arrangement for inflatable modules that need to be periodically replaced due to wear, and/or for inflatable modules that are interchangeable to meet a particular use of the inflatable system. In certain types of inflatable systems such as, but not limited to, obstacle courses, challenge courses, hockey rinks, etc., certain components are subject to an increased amount of wear, thereby resulting in such components needing to be periodically replaced. For instance, in an inflatable obstacle course, there may include one or more inflatable obstacle structures such as, but not limited to, inflatable tire shaped components for running through, inflatable walls to climb over, inflatable obstacle pillars to run through, and the like. These types of components are subject to significantly increased wear as opposed to the inflatable running surface of the inflatable obstacle course and the boundary walls of the inflatable obstacle course. In past designs for the inflatable obstacle course, these inflatable obstacle structures were sewn to the surface of the inflatable obstacle course. Connection mechanisms such as VELCRO, and zippers were not used, since such connection mechanisms did not retain the inflatable obstacle structures in place, and/or became damaged during use. As a result, when one or more inflatable obstacle structures needed to be replaced, the inflatable obstacle course had be completely deflated and sent to the manufacturer so that the worn or damaged inflatable obstacle structures could be unstitched and removed and new inflatable obstacle structures could be restitched onto the inflatable obstacle course. In addition to the time, cost and inconvenience of having to ship the complete inflatable obstacle course to the manufacturer for repair, the restitching of the new inflatable obstacle structures onto the inflatable obstacle course was both time consuming and complex due to the shapes of the inflatable obstacle structures.
Another problem associated with prior obstacle courses, challenge courses, etc. was that the configuration of the obstacle courses, challenge courses, etc. could not be altered without having to deflate the course and send the course back to the manufacturer for modifications. As a result, the course could not be modified or changed to accommodate various types of events, such as for different age groups, different sexes, different ability levels, etc. In addition, inflatable sponsorship components on the inflatable course could not be easily changed to reflect the different sponsors at different events.
In view of problems and costs associated with replacing inflatable components on an inflatable system and/or modifying the inflatable components on the inflatable system, there is a need for a simple and cost effective connection device which can be used to quickly and cost effectively replace worn inflatable components and/or change out inflatable components on an inflatable system.


The Customized Electronic Services Delivery System provides customized electronic services to passengers who are located onboard an aircraft by storing data indicative of a plurality of electronic services that are available to passengers who are located onboard an aircraft, as well as data indicative of preferences of passengers for the plurality of electronic services. Once a correspondence is made between the electronic services and an identified passenger, the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System advises the passenger of the availability of the customized services and establishes wireless communications between the passenger's electronic device and the selected electronic service. The electronic services include in-flight entertainment services as well as destination-based services which link the passenger's existing travel plans with offers for additional services that are available to the passenger at their nominal destination and their planned travel schedule.

It is a problem in the field of wireless communications to manage the wireless services provided to passengers who are located in an aircraft as they roam among cell sites in the non-terrestrial cellular communication network.
In the field of terrestrial cellular communications, it is common for a wireless subscriber to move throughout the area served by the network of their home cellular service provider and maintain their desired subscriber feature set. Feature set availability throughout the home network is managed by the home cellular service provider's database, often termed a Home Location Register (HLR), with data connections to one or more switches (packet or circuit), and various ancillary equipment, such as voice mail and short message servers, to enable this seamless feature set management.
If the wireless subscriber were to transition inter-network, from the coverage area of their home cellular network to a network of the same or another cellular service provider (termed "roaming cellular service provider" herein), the wireless subscriber should have the ability to originate and receive calls in a unified manner, regardless of their location. In addition, it should be possible for a given wireless subscriber's feature set to move transparently with them. However, for this feature set transportability to occur, there needs to be database file sharing wherein the home cellular service Home Location Register (HLR) transfers the subscriber's authorized feature set profile to the roaming cellular service provider's database, often called a Visitor Location Register, or VLR. The VLR then recognizes that a given roaming wireless subscriber is authorized for a certain feature set and enables the roaming cellular service provider network to transparently offer these features to the wireless subscriber. In this manner, the roaming wireless subscriber retains the same authorized feature set, or "subscriber class", as they had on their home cellular service provider network.
When wireless subscribers enter the non-terrestrial cellular communication network (that is, they fly in an aircraft as passengers), they encounter a unique environment that traditionally has been disconnected from the terrestrial cellular network, where the wireless network of the aircraft interfaces the subscriber (also termed "passenger" herein) to various services and content. The aircraft wireless network, therefore, can function as a content filter or can create unique types of content that are directed to the passengers who are on-board the aircraft. The management and generation of this content have yet to be addressed in existing wireless networks. In addition, various services which relate to the subscriber's travel plans and/or the flight on which the subscriber is travelling are presently not offered to the subscriber.

System for customizing electronic services for delivery to a passenger in an airborne wireless cellular network


A label applicator for applying labels to cup-shaped packaging containers including a label storing device means in the form of label rolls, from which labels are removed with the aid of a removal device and labels are applied by a transfer device to the packaging containers. The labels are applied by a contact pressure device to the jacket faces of the packaging containers. Because the application of the labels to packaging containers takes place after the forming of the containers, the design of the label application device is simplified, and accessibility to the containers is improved.

The invention is based on a method and apparatus for applying labels to packaging containers. In a method of this type, known for instance from German Patent Disclosure DE 29 43 076 A1, the labels are placed by a transfer device at a defined point in a forming tool for deep-drawing of cup-shaped packaging containers and are fixed in it by means of a vacuum. Next, a previously heated zone of a sheet of plastic is drawn into the forming tool, so that in the final phase of forming the containers, the labels stick with their adhesive-coated sides to the jacket faces of the packaging containers. A disadvantage of apparatuses operating by this method is that the forming tool is complicated in design, since it has vacuum connections for aspirating the labels against the forming tool, and must also be moved up and down for insertion of the labels. Moreover, the apparatus is relatively poorly accessible, since the transfer device for the labels is located in the immediate vicinity of the forming tool.

Method and apparatus for applying labels to cylindrical packaging containers


A display apparatus comprises a display panel, a first polarizing plate and a second polarizing plate. The display panel comprises a first substrate including a pixel electrode, a second substrate opposite to the first substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between a first surface of the first substrate and a first surface of the second substrate. The first polarizing plate comprises a first polarizer having a first polarizing axis, and a first λ/4 phase difference plate having a refractive index between about 1.35 and about 2.05 in a thickness direction. The second polarizing plate comprises a second polarizer having a second polarizing axis crossing the first polarizing axis, and a second λ/4 phase difference plate having a refractive index between about 1.35 and about 2.05 in a thickness direction. Accordingly, light leakage in a side view may be reduced and viewing angle may be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to flat panel displays. More particularly, example embodiments of the present invention relate to a flat panel display polarizing plate capable of improving display quality and the display apparatus having the polarizing plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have seen increasing popularity for their relatively small thicknesses, light weight, and low power consumption, making them desirable for use in many different devices, such as monitors, laptop computers, cellular phones and so on. Recently, LCDs have also been used in digital information displays (DIDs). The DID is a display apparatus commonly used in providing information in public places such as airports, subway stations, shopping malls, theaters, and the like. The DID may display various digital information similar to a conventional signboard.
The typical LCD apparatus includes an LCD panel displaying images according to the light transmittance of a liquid crystal, and a backlight assembly disposed under the LCD panel to provide light to the LCD panel.
The typical LCD panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate opposite to the first substrate and having a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second substrates. The liquid crystal has an anisotropic refractive index, so that the liquid crystal induces a phase difference in light generated from the backlight assembly, where the magnitude of the phase difference depends on the incident angle of the light.
For example, when the LCD apparatus includes the liquid crystal layer in a vertical alignment (VA) mode, incident light that is perpendicular to the liquid crystal layer passes through the liquid crystal with no phase difference, but light that is obliquely incident to the liquid crystal layer may have a phase difference imparted. In this manner, LCD panels often both refract, and generate a phase difference in non-perpendicular emitted light.
Thus, the amount of light from a side view is different from the amount of light from a front view, so that at some viewing angles, light leakage occurs. Accordingly, in LCD apparatuses with a liquid crystal layer in VA mode, a contrast ratio (CR) varies in accordance with the viewing angle. For example, the LCD apparatus displays images having a high CR in straight-on front views, and images having a low CR in side views.

Polarizing plate and display apparatus having the same


Provided is a method for operating a power steering system and to such a power steering system. A motor torque is computed by an electronic processor and is established by suitable motor actuation, wherein a plausibility check of the computed motor torque is carried out, taking a measured manual torque into consideration. A value of the additional torques of at least one special function is further considered in the plausibility check.

The invention relates to a method for operating a power steering system, to such a power steering system, to a control unit, and to a computer program and a computer program product for carrying out the method.
Power steering systems, which are also referred to as power-assisted steering systems, are used to achieve a reduction in the force that the driver must apply for steering. When using electric power steering (EPS) as the power-assisted steering system, a motor torque is computed depending on various input variables, the motor torque being superimposed, as added torque, on the manual torque that is applied by the driver.
So as to limit potential impact from faults in EPS systems, additional measures are known, which hereafter are referred to as safety measures. To this end, monitoring of the combination of manual and torque motor torque can be used to prevent safety-relevant operating situations by providing for a limitation to allowed combinations in the function path.
The published prior art DE 10 2009 000 165 A1 describes a method for operating a power steering system, in which a motor torque is computed by an electronic processor and established by suitable motor actuation. A plausibility check of the computed motor torque is carried out within the framework of the safety design, which is represented by a three-level design, for example. Contributions above the motor torque limit curve are integrated, and an integrator is decremented by contributions below the motor torque limit curve. The target motor torque is limited in level 1 to a first integration threshold. The limitation is monitored in level 2. Additionally, an intrinsically safe motor torque limit curve is used, as a function of an actual torque.
Over the past few years, special functions have been further developed, which utilize the EPS system by way of torque superposition, so as to achieve added value in terms of driver assistance. Examples include a parking steering assist function or a lane-tracking assist function (lane departure warning and lane maintenance support). As the degree of assistance rises, increasingly greater superimposed steering torques are required. These functions alter the manual torque depending on particular situations. Consequently, the combination of manual torque and motor torque is also altered, which has not been taken into account in the existing design.

Method for operating a power steering mechanism


In a photomask projection system, a photomask mask is illuminated by light from two lasers. A beam from one of the lasers is mixed with a beam from the other laser to provide two mixed beams each containing of portion of the beams from both lasers. The mixed beams are directed at an angle to each other and intersect on the photomask.

Coupling of two or more laser beams often becomes necessary if a beam from a single laser cannot provide sufficient power (if the beam is CW beam), sufficient average power (if the beam is a beam from a repetitively pulsed laser), or sufficient peak power (if the beam is repetitively-pulsed beam or an individually-pulsed beam) for a particular application.
Beam combining methods may be summarized as being of two different types. One type, which is often referred to as temporal interleaving, is used exclusively for combining beams from repetitively pulsed lasers. This type of combining is useful in applications in which an increased average power in a sequence of pulses is as advantageous, or preferable to, increasing the peak of pulses in a sequence thereof. In this method, beams from two or more repetitively-pulsed lasers having the same pulse repetition frequency (PRF) but having a phase difference therebetween are combined along a common path to provide a combined beam having two or more times the PRF of the individual beams and an average power which is about the sum of the average powers of the individual beams. Such a method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,555.
Temporal interleaving cannot be used when it is desired to combine beams either for increasing CW power or for increasing peak power in a pulse or a repeated sequence of pulses. Spatial combining methods have been used for this type of combination. Prior-art spatial beam combining methods include combining two plane-polarized beams which have orthogonally oriented polarization planes using a polarization-dependent transmissive and reflective beam combiner such as a McNeill biprism. This method however, is practically limited to combining only two beams, and is not practical for combining unpolarized beams. Methods for combining more than two beams include combining beams having slightly different wavelengths using a diffraction grating, prism or dichroic mirror. This method is only useful however in applications that are insensitive to the bandwidth of radiation. Another method of combining two or more beams is simply to cause the beams to propagate at an angle to each other and overlap in a common area in a plane in which a substrate being treated by the combined beams is located. This may be termed oblique coupling and the beams are only coupled at the location at which they intersect.
In most applications requiring a plurality of laser beams to be coupled into a single beam or into a common area, whatever coupling method is employed, it is important, at least, that the light-intensity distribution across the coupled beams not be influenced by variations in the intensity distribution in individual laser beams. This is particularly true in very high-power excimer-laser-illuminated photomask (mask) projection systems used in material processing applications, or in optical lithography applications used in semiconductor device manufacture. One step that has been proposed to at least partially achieve such a result is to subject each of the beams to be combined to a beam homogenization step, before the beams are coupled. This is disclosed in detail in German Patent Publication No. DE10301482, and is described briefly below with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is substantially reproduced from the German '482 publication, and depicts a photomask imaging (projection) apparatus 10 in which a beam 12 from one laser, and beam 14 from another laser, initially propagating toward each other, are caused to propagate parallel to each other by mirrors 16 and 18, respectively. Beam 12 is homogenized with the aid of a homogenizer 20A including the cylindrical lens arrays 22 and 24. Beam 12 is incident on cylindrical lens array 22 and cylindrical lenses 23 in the array divide the beam into a plurality of ray-bundles 26 with rays in each bundle initially converging. Ray bundles pass through an intermediate focus from which rays in the bundles diverge, and are incident on corresponding cylindrical lenses 25 of cylindrical lens array 24. Beam 14 undergoes this same division and optical operation in a homogenizer 20B identical with homogenizer 20A.
Bundles 26 are individually divergent on exiting cylindrical lens array 24 and propagate parallel to each other. The bundles are intercepted by a collecting or condenser lens 28 arranged on an optical axis 11. Homogenizers 20A and 20B are disposed symmetrically on opposite sides of axis 11. Lens 28 reduces the individual divergence of bundles 26 and causes the beams to be mutually convergent, causing the bundles to intersect in a plane 34 (mask plane or object plane) in which a photomask (object) would be located. A field lens 32 close to the mask plane further reduces the individual divergence of the bundles enabling them to pass the entrance pupil of the projection lens 38.
Because of the symmetrical arrangement of the homogenizers about axis 11, ray bundles from homogenizer 20B also intersect with each other, and with ray bundles from homogenizer 20A, such that, in plane 34, homogenized beams 12 and 14 are effectively coupled and the intensities of the beams are summed. Object points 36A, 36B, and 36C in plane 34 are imaged by a projection lens 38 into an image plane 40 in which a substrate would be located to receive a mask image, as is known in the art. Only one image point 42B (an on-axis image point) is depicted in FIG. 1 for economy of illustration.
It has been determined that in the above-described beam coupling apparatus the homogenization of the beams prior to coupling is insufficient in itself to provide uniform, temporally-constant illumination in image plane 40. This is believed to be a result of one or more of the following problems.
As may be seen in FIG. 1, ray pencils originating from homogenizers 20A and 20B (laser 1 and laser 2) are incident in mask plane 34 at different angular directions, and consequently fill complementary portions of the projection cone converging on the image plane 40, as exemplified for image point 42B. Only under perfect imaging conditions, for example diffraction limited, and, in particular, if image plane 40 and the substrate surface perfectly coincide, will the image power distribution be independent of the angular distribution.
Under practical conditions, some deviation from this perfect condition has to be reckoned with, for example, because of residual field curvature of the projection lens 38, or because of dynamic variation of the substrate plane position with respect to the image plane 40 during high speed scanning operation. In order to counter these deviations, the projection lens is typically designed to be telecentric, with the tacit assumption of angular symmetric illumination.
However, if, for example, the powers of the beams leaving the two homogenizers 20A and 20B differ, or in the case of interleaving laser operation, the illumination cones for each image point will show an asymmetric angular power distribution, and the telecentricity of the image projection is impaired, giving rise to variations of the image power distribution (shot-to-shot variations) under practical operation conditions. Another problem, albeit less severe is as follows
The illumination provided by any one beam in plane 34 is asymmetric because of the non-symmetrical oblique incidence of rays in the plane. Rays from beam 14, incident in plane 34, are shown in dashed lines to highlight this. The coupling method relies on there being an exactly complimentary asymmetry in one beam compared with the other. Accordingly, if the power in the two beams is different there will be some residual asymmetry of illumination in plane 34 in which the beams are coupled.
Precise intersection of the beams requires that the pointing of beams to be constant. Unfortunately, in high-power lasers of any kind, this is rarely the case. Pointing varies temporally, and differences in pointing in beams 12 and 14 may lead to poor definition and variable illumination at edges of the area illuminated in plane 34. Finally, but not exhaustively, when the beams are delivered by pulsed lasers, the pulses in each beam must preferably be synchronized to at least consistently, if not exactly, overlap in time. In excimer laser beams, where pulses may have a duration as short as about 20 nanoseconds (ns) or less, an exact or consistent temporal overlap is very difficult to achieve. This can lead, for example, to illumination in plane 34 having, at the leading edge of the pulse, primarily the characteristics of one laser beam, and at the trailing edge of the pulse the characteristics of the other laser beam.
Clearly, while the above-discussed problems are discussed in the context of one particular method of beam coupling at least one of the problems would be encountered in other beam coupling methods. Accordingly, there is a need for a method of solving or at least mitigating these problems to expand the use of beam coupling methods for delivering high laser power or laser energy.

Method and apparatus for coupling laser beams


A process and a device (1-8, 10-13) for balancing a rotating body (9) by the addition of balancing weights, start the body (9) rotating and measure the unbalance. The inertia of the body and the balancing weights to be emplaced in each weight plane at a corresponding predetermined diameter is evaluated. The rotating body (9) is stopped and blocked in a position corresponding to the emplacement of a weight in a first weight plane and in a first predetermined radial direction. Used in the balancing of vehicle wheels.

Known vehicle wheel balancers have the drawback either of being rudimentary and requiring several operations for computation and successive testing, or on the contrary of being sophisticated in the sense of requiring a tree-structured program that indicates to the operator a series of operations to be followed in a certain order and requires the operator to recommence the sequence of operations when the sequence has been partially or poorly executed.

Process and device for balancing a rotating body by addition of balancing weights


A transfer method is performed by an information processing apparatus. The method includes: selecting, based on a load status of the information processing apparatus, candidate transfer data that is among the received data and to be transferred to one or more other information processing apparatuses; selecting, based on load statuses of multiple other information processing apparatuses, one or more candidate transfer destination apparatuses among the multiple other information processing apparatuses as candidate transfer destinations of the data; determining, based on throughput between the information processing apparatus and the candidate transfer destination apparatuses, data to be transferred among the candidate transfer data, transfer destination apparatuses of the data to be transferred among the candidate transfer destination apparatuses, and the sizes of data groups including the data to be transferred; and transferring, to the transfer destination apparatuses determined for the determined data groups, the determined data to be transferred.

A system is used, in which multiple servers collect a large amount of data uploaded from an information processing terminal and accumulate the data in a distributed manner.
As a related technique, a technique has been proposed, which searches for a broker node, which is able to transfer meaning information transferred by a high-load broker node and is in a low-load state, and switches a node for containing a sensor node to the low-load broker node (refer to, for example, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2010/107105).
As another related technique, a technique has been proposed, in which a data provider transmits data to a destination on a broker unit, a data receiver specifies the destination as a receiver in a broker, and the broker relays the data transmitted toward the destination (refer, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-91454).
As another related technique, a technique has been proposed, which stores sensor information transmitted from a sensor, delivers the sensor information to another server coupled to a communication network, and stores sensor information delivered from another server (refer, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2015-232820).
In a system for accumulating data items in a distributed manner, when the capacity of a server that has received a data item uploaded exceeds an upper limit, the server transfers the data item to another server and causes the data item to be stored in the other server that is a transfer destination server. In this case, it is considered that the data item to be transferred, the transfer destination server, and a data group size at the time of the transfer are determined based on throughput. However, when the optimal data item to be transferred, the optimal transfer destination server, and the optimal data group size at the time of the transfer are to be determined to maximize the throughput, the amount of calculation increases, depending on the number of servers and the number of data items.
According to an aspect, an object is to suppress the amount of calculation to determine data to be transferred, a transfer destination device, and a data group size at the time of the transfer.

Computer-readable recording medium storing transfer program, transfer method, and transferring device


A protective covering device for the bottom of an athletic shoe having cleats, spikes, studs, or other traction and stability-enhancing protrusions is disclosed. The covering protects against damage—to both cleats and hard surfaces underfoot—while at the same time being aesthetically pleasing and durable, fitting the profile of the shoe, and being easy to use. The protective covering also helps to avoid grass, dirt, mud and other foreign objects becoming stuck in the cleats. The protective covering may attach to the shoe in a variety of manners, including by cage or teeth-like gripping mechanisms, by side grips, by elastic band, by drawstring, adhesion, vacuum, or another mechanism.

Athletes participating in activities such as football, baseball, soccer, golf, softball, rugby, lacrosse, field hockey, cycling, and track often wear specialized shoes designed for the particular activity. These shoes may have cleats, spikes, studs, or other protrusions (shoes of this type are collectively known as "cleated shoes") to improve traction and stability on the soft surfaces where these activities take place, such as a grass or turf field. However, these protrusions are frequently made of metal, hard plastic, or hard rubber, and can be damaged and/or cause damage when they come in contact with hard surfaces underfoot, such as concrete, wood, or tile floors. The damage may include breaking or wearing down of the cleats, which can significantly shorten the lifespan of the shoes, requiring the wearer to purchase replacements more often than would otherwise be necessary. In addition, walking on surfaces such as wood flooring with cleats may cause dents or scratches to the floor.
Cleated shoes are a necessity to many athletes participating in athletic events, but given the risk of damage to their footwear, the athlete is left choosing between three unpleasant options: (1) allowing damage to his or her cleated shoes or the solid surface; (2) finding a softer surface to walk on; or (3) removing the footwear and changing into another pair of shoes. Oftentimes an athlete would rather accept the minor damage to his or her cleated shoes rather than spend time changing into a pair of cleat-less shoes just to walk from, for example, an athletic field to a locker room. This damage can build up over time, resulting in worn out shoes after a short period of time, perhaps after only one season. Monetary cost can also add up and be especially pertinent to high school athletes; a pair of high-quality, stylish cleats can carry a price tag of several hundred dollars. In addition to the damage to the cleats or hard surface, dirt, mud, and other debris can become lodged in the cleats. An athlete wearing cleats after an athletic activity can therefore track dirt into a car, home, locker room, school, or other location.
While several shoe protectors have been implemented to try to offer protection for cleated shoes, these typically require various straps or other attachment mechanisms to keep the cover fixed to the athletic shoe. These are often less appealing to a fashion-conscious athlete and sometimes difficult to attach to one's cleated shoes with convenience.
Consequently, there is a need for a protective covering for cleated athletic shoes that is low-profile, stylish, matches the profile of the shoe, and is easy to attach and remove.

Protective cover for cleated athletic shoes


A coupling member for receiving wire strands of a stranded composite core conductor includes a substantially cylindrical body having first and second ends. A first through hole extends from a first opening at the first end to a second opening at the second end of the body for receiving a wire strand of the stranded conductor. A first protrusion extends axially outwardly from the first end of the body. A first recess in the second end of the body is adapted to receive a protrusion of an adjacent coupling member.

The vast majority of high voltage transmission conductors used includes strands of high strength steel surrounded by multiple strands of aluminum wire. The steel strands are the principle load bearing component holding up the wire, while the softer, more elastic aluminum strands include the majority of the electrical power transport component. Many variations of transmission wire operating at between approximately 115 kv to 800 kV revolve around this basic design concept, but all have these two basic components.
More recently, a single carbon fiber based pultruded composite core with an epoxy and/or fiberglass protective coating has emerged as a substitute for the steel support stranding in high voltage transmission conductors. Its attraction stems from three comparative broad areas. First, the carbon fiber based pultruded composite core has a proportionally higher tensile strength than commonly used high strength steel. Second, there is substantially less physical expansion/contraction properties when subjected to temperature changes than steel. Third, there is a higher tensile strength to weight ratio than steel resulting in a smaller overall diameter with higher strength.
The single carbon fiber based pultruded composite core results in an equal or greater tensile strength that can be achieved with a smaller overall diameter of carbon based pultruded rod than its high strength steel counterpart. Additional aluminum strands can then be added to the conductor, allowing more electrical load to be carried on the line. Because the carbon composite core has a dramatically lower coefficient of expansion than steel under high current load and/or high temperatures, the composite strands will not cause the conductor to "sag" (droop) between towers. When existing steel high voltage transmission lines sag, contact with the ground foliage can occur resulting in outages.
Carbon based, or "composite core conductor" as it is commonly referred to, is a viable alternative in re-conductor applications where existing capacity can be increased by replacing existing transmission conductors with steel wires with new composite based ones. Exemplary composite core conductors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,041,909, 7,179,522 and 7,368,162 to Hiel et al., each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Existing composite core conductors have a single pultruded core with a coating thereon serving as the sole structural support for the conductor. Single core design composite supported conductors may be at a higher risk of failure if a portion of the core is damaged accidently or intentionally. It is not uncommon to have rifle bullets from hunters either accidentally or intentionally strike and damage conductors. Damaging a portion of the single unitized composite core design can put the entire composite core rod structure at risk under a tensile load. Multiple stranded supported transmission conductors have a much higher reliability and survivability than single strand supported conductors of comparable tensile strength. Higher safety and reliability margins in tensile requirements can be achieved economically by adding strands to the design.
Accordingly, a need exists for a smaller diameter carbon based conductor support structure that is bundled together to replace the single unitized core conductor. Multiple stranding reduces the probability of total failure should one or more of the multiple strands become damaged. The integrity of the remaining strands with full tensile capability provides a higher probability of remaining intact and preventing the transmission wire from separating and falling to the ground.

Stranded composite core compression connector assembly


According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of loading a filtering device includes measuring a metric indicative of an initial loading of the filtering device and desirably positioning a quantity of matter proximate the filtering device. The method also includes applying a negative pressure to the filtering device such that at least a portion of the quantity of matter is drawn into the filtering device. The method further includes measuring a metric indicative of a final loading of the filtering device.

Engines, including diesel engines, gasoline engines, natural gas engines, and other engines known in the art, may exhaust a complex mixture of pollutants. The pollutants may be composed of gaseous and solid material, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides ("NOx"), and sulfur compounds.
Due to heightened environmental concerns, engine exhaust emission standards have become increasingly stringent over the years. The amount of pollutants emitted from an engine may be regulated depending on the type, size, and/or class of engine. One method that has been implemented by engine manufacturers to comply with the regulation of particulate matter, NOx, and sulfur compounds exhausted to the environment has been to remove these pollutants from the exhaust flow of an engine with filters. Extended use and repeated regeneration of such filters may cause the pollutants to build up within the filters over time, and various devices and methods exist for removing built-up pollutants from the filters. It may be difficult, however, to evaluate the effectiveness of these devices and methods consistently, and in a timely manner, due to the length of time involved in building up the pollutants within the filters.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,545 (the '545 patent) teaches a system for removing particulate matter from an engine filter. In particular, the '545 patent discloses a filter connected to an engine exhaust line, a valve structure within the exhaust line, and an air feeder. When air is supplied to the filter in a reverse flow direction, the air may remove captured particulates from the filter. Although the '545 patent may teach the removal of matter from a filter using a reversed flow, it may be difficult to evaluate the system's ability to remove the matter from the filter as compared to, for example, other matter removal systems. In addition, it may be difficult to perform consistent and repeated testing of the system's ability to remove matter from the filter due to the relatively long period of time it takes for the filter to become loaded with matter. It may also be difficult to desirably vary the loading conditions within the filter, and quickly and consistently test the system's effectiveness in removing matter under such conditions.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.


A method for protecting powder metallurgy alloy elements from oxidation and/or hydrolyzation during sintering. The method includes (1) coating the admixed alloy elements in an inert (e.g., nitrogen) atmosphere with a hydrophobic lubricant that is capable of becoming mobile during pressing, the amount of lubricant being at least 45% of the total volume of all components to be added to the base metal powder; (2) mixing the lubricant-coated admixed alloy elements with the base metal powder to form a mixture; (3) pressing the mixture to form a pre-sintered part having a green density that is from about 95% to about 98% of a calculated pore-free density; and (4) sintering the part.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention provides a method for protecting powder metallurgy alloy elements from oxidation and/or hydrolyzation during sintering and powder metal compositions formed in accordance with the method.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditionally, copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and molybdenum (Mo) have been used as alloy elements in powder metallurgy part-making applications. The oxides of all three elements are easily reducible during sintering. Therefore the effectiveness of such alloy elements is generally what one would expect, and the resulting parts exhibit the properties one would expect. One recent problem with the use of these alloy elements, however, is that the cost of some of them, particularly nickel and molybdenum, has risen dramatically since 2003.
Another problem is that these alloy elements are not the most effective alloy elements. There are other alloy elements such as chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), and silicon (Si) that could produce better results if there was a way in which one could use them as alloy elements in powder metallurgy. Some of the strongest and hardest steels, and the best electromagnetic steels, include these alloy elements.
The use of elemental chromium, manganese and silicon is problematic in conventional powder metallurgy. These elements are prone to oxidize and/or hydrolyze during sintering. When pre-alloyed with iron or steel powders, they are known to produce adverse affects in powder metallurgy processing such as poor compressibility. Furthermore, when they are combined with other elements or compounds (e.g., FeCr, FeMn, FeSi), they tend to be extremely abrasive, which adversely affects die wear. Elemental chromium has been successfully pre-alloyed and used in powder metallurgy, but it has to be run in a very dry furnace (−25° F. dew point) and is known to adversely affect the compressibility of the powder. Manganese, which would likely be the most effective alloying element, has not been pre-alloyed at useful levels due to poor compressibility and has not been admixed in elemental form effectively because it oxidizes and hydrolyzes during sintering. Silicon is also subject to oxidation. Oxides formed of both manganese and silicon are stable and hard to reduce in a normal sintering cycle for powdered metal.

Method for protecting powder metallurgy alloy elements from oxidation and/or hydrolization during sintering


Method for observing an emission of light from a sample in a medium of refractive index nL disposed against a surface of a transparent support of refractive index nS, greater than nL, the emission of light comprising luminous components oriented toward the support and forming an angle θ and including supercritical luminous components and critical or subcritical luminous components, implementing an observation device applying filters to the signal; and transforming the signal into an image zone of the sample Modulation of the signal is carried out, in which components of the emission of light are allowed to pass through so as to obtain image zones, the modulation pertaining to all or some of the collected signals; and at least one useful image zone of the sample is produced by combining image zones, the combination evidencing differences between the image zones related to the modulation.

The light from the sample may result from diffusion or fluorescence. Fluorescence microscopy is a technique that takes advantage of the phenomenon of fluorescence in order to observe various compounds. Fluorescence is the property possessed by certain bodies to emit fluorescent light by themselves.
The fluorescence of an observed compound can be primary, if the compound is fluorescent itself (e.g., chlorophyll, oil) or secondary, if the observed compound is marked with a fluorescent substance known as a fluorochrome or fluorescent marker.
In particular in cell biology, a large number of molecular events occurring at the cell surface are studied by fluorescence microscopy, such as cell adhesion, the binding of hormones to receptors in the plasma membrane, the secretion of neurotransmitters as well as membrane dynamics (endocytosis, exocytosis).
A fluorescence microscopy device usually comprises a light source for excitation, means for separating the excitation photons from the emission photons, a lens system for capturing the photons and, in general, imaging means.
Fluorescence techniques can be used with different types of microscopes, notably:                A conventional optical microscope where the excitation light may pass through the sample or the lens. In the latter case, this is epifluorescence microscopy;        A confocal microscope, for example by laser scanning that in particular enables three-dimensional images of the sample;        A total internal reflection fluorescence microscope (usually called TIRF), which uses an evanescent wave to excite the fluorescence that is of only a very shallow depth, immediately adjacent to the interface of the sample substrate (usually glass) and of the liquid medium (usually water), in which the sample is disposed. Lighting is performed by a laser beam incident at a supercritical angle to create an evanescent wave (exponentially decreasing orthogonally to the interface).
TIRF microscopy, although currently booming and allowing precise observations, has some disadvantages. Indeed, the use of an adapted laser source is costly and the excitation field thus generated may not be homogeneous (due to interference from the coherence of the beam). In addition, lighting by the lens does not allow a homogeneous excitation and the resulting depth of penetration is not constant across the field to be observed. Moreover, there are containment losses of the excitation field related to the intrinsic light scattering by the cells.
FR-A-2943428 discloses a method of observation by fluorescence microscopy of a sample comprising fluorescent components in a liquid medium of refractive index nL arranged on a transparent support of refractive index ns, which is greater than nL and less than or equal to 1.55, and an observation device comprising a full-field immersion lens, whose numerical angular aperture, ON, is greater than or equal to 1.33 and less than or equal to ns, and a set of lenses for forming an image in at least one image plane, and which further comprises a mask arranged in the rear focal plane of the immersion lens or a conjugate plane of said rear focal plane, so as to obscure the fluorescence emission components of the sample in the angular directions in which the angle θ is less than or equal to a critical angle θc, with θc=arcsin (nL/ns), and the angle θ defined as the angle of an angular direction of the fluorescence emission relative to the perpendicular direction of the support surface on which the sample to be observed is arranged.
This observation method permits obtaining high-quality fluorescence images with a low-cost device or improving the quality of images obtained by TIRF microscopy.
The device and the method described above lead to very satisfactory images with good resolution. Nevertheless, in certain circumstances, one may wish to improve the resolution.

Method of observation of the emission of light from a sample by dynamic optical microscopy

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique