A sensor device includes a base body 12 having a vibrating portion 14, a piezoelectric element 20 fixed onto one surface of the vibrating portion 14 and having a piezoelectric film 22 and a pair of electrodes 24a, 24b which are in contact with the piezoelectric film 22, a space 16 that allows a fluid to lead to the other surface of the vibrating portion 14, and introduction holes 18 that communicate with the space 16, and the sensor device 10 is in a longitudinal shape. A recess 15 which contains at least an opening end of the introduction hole 18 on the surface side of the sensor device 10 in its region and extends up to the rear end portion 10xe2x80x2 of the sensor device is formed on the surface of the sensor device 10 by a protrusion 13 disposed on the surface of said sensor device so as to extend substantially continuously from the periphery of the introduction holes 18 to the rear end portion 10xe2x80x2 of said sensor device.

The present invention relates to a sensor device having a piezoelectric element for measuring the viscosity, the density, the concentration, etc., of a fluid.
Up to now, in order to measure the viscosity, the density, the concentration etc., of a fluid, a sensor device using a vibrator such as a piezoelectric element has been used. FIGS. 20A and 20B show an example of the sensor device of this type, in which FIG. 20A is a perspective view of the sensor device, and FIG. 20B is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the sensor device taken along a line VIxe2x80x94VI. The sensor device 40 includes a base body 12 having a thin vibrating portion 14. Onto one surface of the vibrating portion 14 is fixed a piezoelectric element 20 having a piezoelectric film 22 and a pair of electrodes 24a and 22b which are disposed to be in contact with the piezoelectric film 22, and the other surface of the vibrating portion 14 faces a space (surrounded space) 16 defined in the interior of the base body.
Also, introduction holes 18 that communicate with the space 16 are defined in the vicinity of a tip of the sensor device 40 in such a manner that a fluid flowing into the space 16 from the introduction holes 18 is led to the vibrating portion 14. The piezoelectric element 20 is covered with a protective cover 17 so as not to be in direct contact with the fluid
In the sensor device 40 thus structured, a fluid to be measured is allowed to flow into the space 16 from the introduction holes 18 so as to be in contact with the vibrating portion 14. In this situation, a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric film 22 to vibrate the vibrating portion 14, as a result of which in the case where the viscosity of the fluid is large, the amplitude of the vibrating portion 14 becomes small whereas in the case where the viscosity of the fluid is small, the amplitude of the vibrating portion 14 becomes large, thereby being capable of measuring the viscosity of the fluid by detecting a current corresponding to that amplitude. Also, in the case where the viscosity of the fluid correlates with the concentration of the fluid or the density of components in the fluid, the concentration and the density of the fluid can be measured.
As one application of the above described sensor device, there is a case in which the sensor device is built in a lead storage battery to measure a change in the density of an electrolyte. In other words, since a sulfuric acid aqueous solution is used as the electrolyte in the lead storage battery, and the viscosity of the sulfuric acid aqueous solution correlates with the density thereof, the density can be detected by the above sensor device. Also, since the density of the electrolyte changes depending on the charge and discharge of the battery, the charge and discharge state of the battery can be notified by measuring a change in the density.
FIG. 21 shows a state in which the above sensor device 40 is built in the lead storage battery. A porous sheet (separator) 34 is interposed between a pair of electrodes 32a and 32b of the battery, and the sensor device 40 is embedded in the porous sheet 34. The sensor device 40 in this state is accommodated within a battery case, and the electrolyte is injected thereinto in such a manner that the electrolyte is infiltrated into the porous sheet 34 so as to be fully supplied between the electrodes 32a and 32b, and the electrolyte that percolates from the porous sheet 34 enters the introduction holes 18, flows into the space 16 and is then led to the vibrating portion 14.
By the way, in order that the electrolyte is allowed to flow into the space 16 as described above, it is necessary that an air existing in the space 16 is exhausted to the exterior simultaneously, that is, the air is replaced by the flow-in electrolyte. However, in the conventional sensor device 40, when the sensor device 40 is built in the battery as shown in the figure, an opening end of the introduction holes 18 that communicate with the space 16 is in a state where it is in contact with the porous sheet 34. This makes it hard to discharge the air within the space 16, and the entrance of the electrolyte to the introduction holes 18 is irregular. As a result, there arises such a problem that it is difficult to replace the air within the space 16 with the electrolyte.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems with the prior art, and therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a sensor device which is capable of readily replacing an air by a fluid to be measured within a space.
In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, there is provided a sensor device which comprises: a base body having a vibrating portion; a piezoelectric element fixed onto one surface of said vibrating portion and having a piezoelectric film and a pair of electrodes which are in contact with said piezoelectric film; a space that allows a fluid to lead to the other surface of said vibrating portion; and introduction holes that communicate with said space; wherein said sensor device is in a longitudinal shape, and a recess which contains at least an opening end of the introduction holes on the surface side of the sensor device (a fluid flow-in side) in its region and extends up to the rear end portion of the sensor device is formed on the surface of the sensor device by a protrusion disposed on the surface of said sensor device so as to extend substantially continuously from the periphery of said introduction holes to the rear end portion of said sensor device (an end portion on a side far from said introduction holes).
Also, according to the present invention there is provided a sensor device which comprises: a base body having a vibrating portion; a piezoelectric element fixed onto one surface of said vibrating portion and having a piezoelectric film and a pair of electrodes which are in contact with said piezoelectric film; a space that allows a fluid to lead to the other surface of said vibrating portion; and introduction holes that communicate with said space; wherein said sensor device is in a longitudinal shape, and a plurality of introduction holes are provided and a first recess which contains at least opening ends of a part of the introduction holes on the surface side of the sensor device in its region and extends continuously up to the rear end portion of the sensor device and a second recess which contains at least opening ends of other introduction holes on the surface side of the sensor device in its region are formed by a protrusion disposed on the surface of the sensor device, the protrusion is covered with a cap member in such a manner that a cylindrical space that opens only on a side of the rear end portion of the sensor device (an end portion on a side far from the introduction hole) is formed by said protrusion, said cap member and said first recess, and said first recess and said second recess are isolated from each other.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a sensor device which comprises: a base body having a vibrating portion; a piezoelectric element fixed onto one surface of said vibrating portion and having a piezoelectric film and a pair of electrodes which are in contact with said piezoelectric film; a space which is defined within said base body and allows a fluid to lead to the other surface of said vibrating portion; and introduction holes that communicate with said space; wherein said sensor device is in a longitudinal shape, and said space forms a cylindrical space and has a gas exhaust hole that opens on one end portion of said cylindrical space.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Sensor device with fluid introduction holes


A new cultivar of Rhododendron plant named ‘Hort200101’ that is characterized by dark shiny green leaves, dark red flowers, an absence of bracts and red branches.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rhododendron plant botanically known as Rhododendron simsii and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Hort200101'.
The new cultivar is the product of a breeding program conducted by the inventor in a cultivated area of Kruishoutem, Belgium. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Rhododendron cultivars that have long lasting flowers and bright green leaves.
'Hort200101' is a hybrid that originated from the hybridization of the female or seed parent a proprietary selection of Rhododendron simsii identified as '97468' (not patented) and the male or pollen parent a proprietary selection of Rhododendron simsii identified as '93085' (not patented). The crossing was conducted in 2001. The cultivar 'Hort200101' was selected by the inventor in December of 2002 as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a greenhouse environment of Kruishoutem, Belgium.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar 'Hort200101' by cuttings was first performed in December of 2002 in Kruishoutem, Belgium. Since that time, under careful observation, the unique characteristics of the new cultivar have been uniform, stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


There is provided a processing method for performing a recovery process on a damaged layer formed on a surface of a low-k film of a target substrate by introducing a processing gas containing a methyl group into a processing chamber. The method includes: increasing an internal pressure of the processing chamber up to a first pressure lower than a processing pressure for the recovery process by introducing a dilution gas into the processing chamber maintained in a depressurized state; then stopping the introduction of the dilution gas, and increasing the internal pressure of the processing chamber up to a second pressure as the processing pressure for the recovery process by introducing the processing gas into a region where the target substrate exists within the processing chamber; and performing the recovery process on the target substrate while the processing pressure is maintained.

Recently, in order to meet demands for high-speed and high-integration semiconductor devices having highly miniaturized wiring patterns, inter-wiring capacitance needs to be reduced while wiring conductivity and electromigration tolerance need to be improved. For the purpose, copper (Cu) having high electromigration tolerance and higher conductivity than that of conventionally used aluminum (Al) or tungsten (W) has been used as a wiring material. Widely used as a technique for forming a Cu wiring is a damascene process that involves previously forming wiring trenches or connection holes in an interlayer insulating film or the like and then burying Cu in the wiring trenches or the connection holes (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Meanwhile, along with the miniaturization of the semiconductor devices, a parasitic capacitance of an interlayer insulating film becomes an important factor in improving wiring performance, and a low dielectric constant film (low-k film) made of a low dielectric constant material is used as an interlayer insulating film. As a material of the low-k film, a material having an alkyl group such as a methyl group as an end group is generally utilized.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional damascene process, the low-k film is damaged during an etching process or a resist film removing (asking) process. Such damage causes an increase of a dielectric constant of the low-k film, resulting in diminishment of an effect of using the low-k film as the interlayer insulating film.
As a technique for recovering such damage, Patent Document 2 discloses a recovery process using a silylizing agent is performed after the etching or the resist film removing process is carried out. In the recovery process, a methyl-group-containing gas such as the silylizing agent modifies a surface of a damaged layer of which the end group becomes a —OH group by a damage inflicted thereon, so that the end group becomes a methyl group or a group containing a methyl-group.
Since the processing gas such as the silylizing agent for use in performing such a recovery process is usually of a high price, it has been attempted to minimize a usage of the processing gas by diluting the processing gas with a dilution gas such as a N2 gas.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-083869
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2006-049798
However, if a main processing gas diluted with the dilution gas is introduced into a chamber, a sufficient recovery process may not be achieved due to a reduced concentration of the processing gas and a reduced reaction by the dilution of the processing gas. Moreover, such a recovery process is performed while a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a wafer) having a low-k film is heated by a heater installed in a mounting table after the wafer is mounted on the mounting table. Since the inside of the chamber is in a depressurized state, it takes time until the wafer reaches a preset processing temperature. Thus, if the processing gas diluted with the dilution gas is introduced into the chamber, the introduced processing gas would remain unnecessary until the wafer reaches the processing temperature.

Processing method for recovering a damaged low-k film of a substrate and storage medium


A process of making a strained silicon-on-insulator structure is disclosed. A recess is formed in a substrate to laterally isolate an active area. An undercutting etch forms a bubble recess under the active area to partially vertically isolate the active area. A thermal oxidation completes the vertical isolation by use of a minifield oxidation process. The recess is filled to form a shallow trench isolation structure. An active device is also disclosed that is achieved by the process. A system is also disclosed that uses the active device.

One area of interest for improving the speed and performance of semiconductor devices includes strained silicon technology, which has been shown to enhance carrier mobility in both n-channel and p-channel devices, and is being considered to improve the electron mobility and drift velocity in n-channel MOSFETs in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology.
There has been considerable research using strained silicon germanium layers on silicon to increase the hole mobility of p-channel CMOS transistors. Thin layers of silicon germanium have been fabricated on silicon because of the tolerance of the thin silicon germanium layers to strain.
Solid phase epitaxial (SPE) regrowth of silicon on sapphire is known. The SPE regrowth of silicon reduces defects and dislocations that occur during the initial epitaxial deposition of silicon on sapphire because of a large lattice mismatch. A silicon implant amorphizes the initial silicon layer, and regrowth is accomplished at a low temperature. Subsequently, strained layers of silicon germanium have been grown on silicon by SPE.
Silicon germanium layers have been grown on silicon by ion implantation and regrowth by laser melting. Silicon germanium layers have also been formed by ion implantation and regrowth by SPE. The use of ion implantation to form silicon germanium layers, and the use of SPE to regrow layers of silicon germanium on silicon have been described separately and in combination with one another.
Thin layers of strained silicon are being considered for CMOS n-channel devices. Thinner layers of silicon are more tolerant of strain. One technique for producing strained silicon involves epitaxially growing the silicon and silicon germanium layers using an ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD) process, a costly and complex process, to form silicon layers on relaxed silicon germanium layers. A large mismatch in the cell structure causes a pseudo-morphic layer of silicon on relaxed silicon germanium to be under biaxial tensile strain. The biaxial strain modifies the band structure and enhances carrier transport in the silicon layer.
The strain on the silicon layer depends of the lattice constant difference between silicon and silicon germanium. The lattice constant of silicon germanium is between the lattice constant of silicon (5.43095 Å) and the lattice constant of germanium (5.64613 Å), and depends on the percentage of germanium in the silicon germanium layer.
There is a need in the art to provide improved methods of forming strained silicon structures to improve the speed and performance of semiconductor devices such as CMOS n-channel devices.

Strained Si/SiGe/SOI islands and processes of making same


A float register spill cache method for improving the efficiency of usage of floating point single precision registers computer using a microprocessor conforming to the SPARC-V9 architecture specification. Values are temporarily stored in a plurality of double precision registers which are utilized as a float spill cache having a plurality of float spill slots. Values are generally shifted from one of the single precision registers to a second single precision register which is used as a spill pad, and then from the spill pad to a selected one of the float spill slots.

Register spilling is an expensive operation in that it is comparatively slow in an environment where operational speed is the primary goal in the design of computer architectures, and in software intended to take full advantage of such architectures. In general, register spilling involves the movement of register contents from the CPU's register file to a much slower and less efficiently accessed secondary storage medium. Register spilling occurs when, because all available registers are in use, it is necessary to insert instructions in generated code to store the content of a register into a memory location. This is done in order to free up the register for allocation to a computation. Because of the inherent cost of register spilling, much effort has been directed toward the allocation and usage of registers, with one of the principle goals of such effort being the minimization of the necessity to spill registers. An example of such an effort is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,958, entitled Register Allocation by Decomposing, Re-Connecting and Coloring Hierarchical Program Regions, issued to the present inventor.
SPARC-V9 is a microprocessor specification created by the SPARC Architecture Committee of SPARC International. SPARC-V9 is not a specific chip. Rather, it is an architectural specification that can be implemented as a microprocessor by anyone securing a license from SPARC International. FIG. 1 depicts an aspect of the SPARC architecture in diagrammatic form. A computer 10 has therein a microprocessor 12. One skilled in the art will recognize that the microprocessor 12 is greatly out of proportion in the diagrammatic view of FIG. 1, and only a few relevant logical components of the microprocessor 12 are illustrated therein, in order to better illustrate the aspects of the computer 10 which are relevant to this present disclosure. The computer 10 will generally be equipped with a number of ordinary peripheral devices, such as a monitor, a keyboard, and the like, and such peripheral devices will include an external memory device 13 for transferring programs and data into and out of the computer 10. The external memory device 13 can be any of a great number of different device types, such as a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, a CD ROM drive, or the like. Also, it should be noted that, although the microprocessor 12 is illustrated in the view of FIG. 1 as an integral unit, it is not required by the SPARC-V9 specification that the SPARC-V9 architecture be implemented in a single chip.
The V9 version of the SPARC architecture defines thirty two (32) single precision (32 bit) floating point registers 14 which are designated as %f0 through %f31 inclusive, and thirty two (32) double precision (64 bit) floating point registers 16 designated as %d0 through %d62 inclusive. The first sixteen (16) double precision registers 16 overlap with the thirty two (32) single precision registers 14 such that each double precision register 16 corresponds to and uses the same physical or logical memory as two of the single precision registers 14. For example, the double precision floating point register 16 designated %d0 overlaps with the two single precision registers 14 which are designated as %f0 and %f1. The second sixteen (16) double precision registers 16 do not overlap with the single precision registers 14. The first sixteen (16) double precision registers 16 are designated by even address numbers %d0, %d2, %d4 . . . %d30, while the second sixteen (16) double precision registers 16 are designated herein by even address numbers %d32, %d34, %d36 . . . %d62. This arrangement is discussed in more detail in The SPARC Architecture Manual edited by David L. Weaver and Tom Germond and published by PTR Prentice Hall under the auspices Of SPARC INTERNATIONAL (ISBN#0-13-099227-5). It should be noted that the terms "single precision" and "double precision" are sometimes susceptible to different definitions. As used herein, these terms will be synonymous with "low precision" and "high precision", whether low and high precision are defined as being single and double precision, respectively, or double and quad precision respectively, or the like.
A stack memory 18 is also included in the computer 10, as depicted in the logical diagrammatic view of FIG. 1. As used herein, the term "stack memory" is intended to refer to that portion of a memory unit which is allocated as a "run time memory". An example of a typical register spill to and reload from the stack memory 18 might be annotated as follows:
spill: PA1 reload:
st %f2,%sp+92! PA2 Id %sp+92!, %f10
where;
`st` and `Id` are the spill and reload commands, respectively;
%sp is stack pointer location--in this example, the %sp+92 indicates a stack memory location of %sp+92--this memory location is an example only and is of no articular significance;
%f# (where "#" represents an integer) defines a single precision floating point register 14 having a size of 4 bytes such that, in the example above, the single precision floating point register %f2 is depicted as being first spilled into the memory stack 18 at location sp+92, and then the data in location sp+p2 is reloaded into the single precision floating point register %f10.
According to the SPARC-V9 architecture, single precision arithmetic operations may only be applied to operand within the single precision registers 14. Furthermore, the result of single precision arithmetic operations may only write to the single precision registers 14. Therefore, when only single precision arithmetic operations are being accomplished, or during a combination of single precision and double precision arithmetic operations which is weighted toward the single precision operations, the double precision registers 16 will be underutilized, while the available quantity of single precision registers 14 may be insufficient to prevent the necessity for excessive register spilling.
To the inventor's knowledge, no prior art method or means exist for allowing the use of the double precision registers 16 to augment the simple precision registers 14. Indeed, since the SPARC-V9 specification specifically disallows the writing of single precision data to the double precision registers 16, it would seem to run counter to both intuition and the intent of the SPARC-V9 creators to accomplish this.

Float register spill cache method, system, and computer program product


A pickle line assembly is provided having a roll tank, a pickle tank, and an expansion seal. The roll tank includes a front and rear face that are angled towards one another at the upper end. The pickle tank includes front and rear openings, which can be brought into registration with an opening in the front face and rear face of the roll tank. Expansion seals are configured to surround a perimeter of the pickle tank substantially near the front and rear openings, and are angled at approximately the same angle as the front and rear face of the roll tank. The expansion seal encloses the path between the pickle tank and roll tank, and the tilt angle of the front and rear face of the roll tank allow the pickle tank to be vertically raised and lowered into position without interference.

Pickling is the process of chemically removing oxides and scale from the surface of a metal by the action of water solutions or inorganic acids ("pickling solution"). A typical pickling apparatus includes multiple pickle tanks. The pickle tanks are filled with the pickling solution, such that, as the metal being processed is fed through the pickle tanks, the metal is submerged in the pickling solution. The exposure of the metal to the pickling solution is determined by the length of the pickle tank, the rate at which the metal is fed through the pickle tank, and the number of pickle tanks in the assembly.
As the metal, or pickling material, is moved through the tanks, the pickling solution may splash or overflow within a pickle tank. Splashing and overflow can allow the hazardous pickling solution and fumes to escape the tank. Additionally, the materials frequently used to form pickling tanks (e.g., polypropylene) experience significant expansion and contraction from changes in temperature, thereby allowing the pickling solution and fumes to leak from the pickle tank, especially at the seam between the pickle tank and roll tank.
In addition to splashing and leaking pickling solution, traditional pickle line assemblies are open at the top between the pickle tanks and roll tank. After the pickle tank has been moved into position with the roll tank, closure plates are typically attached to the assembly to cover the top opening between the pickle tank and roll tank. The closure plates can reduce the amount of pickling solution escaping the boundaries of the pickling line assembly, and can contain the fumes from the pickling solution. The necessity of closure plates increases assembly and installation time of the pickle line assembly. Furthermore, despite the closure plates, an annular open space remains around the perimeter of the intersection of the pickle tank and the roll tank from which pickling solution and fumes can escape.

Pickle line assembly with inclined expansion seal


An apparatus and method for making a composite packaging material for easy-open packages includes means for pulling a running length of packaging film, the film having defined rupture characteristics. The packaging film is perforated with a sequence of spaced apart at least one perforation separated from another at a substantially constant fixed interval between adjacent ones of the sequence along the length of the film. A tape with a continuously extending dry edge is formed from a continuous supply of tape and tape pieces are formed and spaced apart along the length of the film. Successive discrete pieces of tape are adhered to the packaging film in overlying sealing relationship to successive ones of the sequence of at least one perforation.

Conventionally, many products are packaged in plastic wrappers, some in shrink film. In the past, such wrappers have not been air and moisture proof, and during packaging, storage and display, over time, air and moisture can penetrate the wrapper and contact the product within, causing spoilage of spoilable products such as meat, fish and poultry due to oxidation and bacterial action. In some cases, such as packaging fresh meat, the package may be oxygen flushed to preserve color, and in other cases flushed with other gases such as nitrogen.
Such wrappers, however, despite being permeable, are physically strong and tough, and are time consuming to open, often requiring the use of cutting implements. Accordingly, two problems have existed with regard to such packages, first, the use of non-spoilage retarding air and moisture permeable wrapping materials, and second, consumer inconvenience because of the difficulty of opening such packages.
The first problem has been effectively solved by a new, non-permeable, shrink film, made by Sealed Air Inc. and marketed as Cryovac BDF film. Unfortunately, this improved film is even stronger and tougher than the previously used films, and has materially worsened the already bad package opening problem. Prior attempts to solve the opening problem for packages wrapped in this new film, as well as for the previously existing wrapper films, have not been successful, because such attempts have not been able to maintain the non-permeability barrier, thus negating the value of these packaging films.


Disclosed is a wholly aromatic polyamide prepared by reacting 1,4-naphthyl or 2,6-naphthyl containing diacids with aromatic diamines. The polymers of the invention are readily soluble in a variety of organic solvents including DMAc, NMP and pyridine, and have good thermal stability. Transparent, tough and flexible films of these polymers can be cast from the solutions thereof and these polyamides are easily processable high-performance polymer materials.

The present invention relates to organic soluble wholly aromatic polyamides, and in particular to wholly aromatic polyamides prepared by the polycondensation reaction of 1,4-naphthyl or 2,6-naphthyl containing diacids and aromatic diamines.
Wholly aromatic polyamides (aramides) are characterized as highly thermal stable polymers with a favorable balance of physical and chemical properties. However, these polymers are generally intractable and lack the properties essential for successful fabrication into useful forms such as films and fibers due to their high melting or glass transition temperature and their limited solubility in organic solvents. For example, polyamides or polyimides having the structures indicated below generally have high glass transition temperatures (T.sub.g) and melting points (T.sub.m), and accordingly can not easily be fabricated into films or fibers. ##STR1##
Some melt processable linear polyimides having structures indicated below have been developed. ##STR2##
These polyimides have superior thermal stability, chemical resistance, dimension stability, mechanical properties and electrical properties. However, their solubility in organic solvents is still low and accordingly they are not suitable for being fabricated into films or fibers.

Organic soluble wholly aromatic polyamides and preparation of the same

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An air mover assembly may include an air mover comprising a body and a cable extending from the body and one or more air mover holders mechanically coupled to the body. The one or more air mover holders may comprise a plurality of cable maintenance features and a keying feature. The plurality of cable maintenance features may include a first cable maintenance feature configured to maintain the cable in a first configuration of the air mover in a first airflow direction and a second cable maintenance feature configured to maintain the cable in a second configuration of the air mover in a second airflow direction. The keying feature may be configured to mechanically interface with an interfering feature of a chassis when an attempt is made to improperly insert the air mover into the chassis in accordance with a proper airflow direction configuration of the chassis, in order to prevent improper insertion of the air mover into the chassis in accordance with the proper airflow direction configuration of the chassis.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
As processors, graphics cards, random access memory (RAM) and other components in information handling systems have increased in clock speed and power consumption, the amount of heat produced by such components as a side-effect of normal operation has also increased. Often, the temperatures of these components need to be kept within a reasonable range to prevent overheating, instability, malfunction and damage leading to a shortened component lifespan. Accordingly, cooling fans and blowers, referred to generally herein as "air movers," have often been used in information handling systems to cool information handling systems and their components.
In datacenter environments, it may be desirable to configure the datacenter such that some aisles in the datacenter are "hot aisles" to which air movers exhaust air and some aisles are "cold aisles" from which air movers intake air. Developers of information handling servers are moving towards supporting server chassis in both "standard" orientation with power supplies at the hot aisle of the server chassis and in "reverse" orientation with power supplies at the cold aisle of the server chassis. In both instances, the internal architecture of the server may remain the same in both orientations, meaning that the orientation of air movers must match the airflow direction of the server chassis. In other words, the server chassis must support two orientations of the air movers while also ensuring that orientations are never incorrect and never mixed within the same server chassis.

Air mover direction keying for dual airflow direction information handling system


In road white line recognition apparatus and method, a road extended in a forward direction of a vehicle is photographed through a photographing device, a deflection luminance information when a luminance information of an image photographed by the photographing device is represented by a luminance information that a surface of the road naturally has and the deflection luminance information from which the luminance information that the road surface naturally has is excluded is detected on the basis of an approximation function obtained by approximating the luminance information of the photographed image to a horizontal direction of the photographed image, a normalized luminance information is detected by removing the deflection luminance information from the luminance information of the photographed image, and a road white line is detected on the basis of the normalized luminance information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to road white line recognition apparatus and method to recognize a road white line used for displaying a traffic lane divisional zone on a road surface on which the vehicle travels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various techniques for recognizing a road white line (or road white lines) through a monitor image and a relationship between the vehicle and the road white line is used for a vehicular automatic control or partially for an automatic control (for example, a vehicular velocity control system or a vehicular lane keep control system) have conventionally been proposed.
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Heisei 5-347000published on Dec. 27, 1993 discloses a previously proposed road white line recognition apparatus. In the disclosed road white line recognition apparatus, white line candidate points constituting each road white line are detected from the photographed image and a road shape or a posture of photographing means such as a camera to obtain the photographed image is estimated on the basis of positional coordinates of the white line candidate points. At this time, a processing region (hereinafter, referred to a threshold value calculating region) to calculate a luminance (or gray level) threshold value of the photographed image used to extract white line candidate points is set by threshold value calculation region setting means, a position and a range of the threshold value calculating region are dynamically varied, and the threshold value of the luminance of the photographed image used to extract the white line is calculated by a combination of a maximum value and an average value of the luminance in the threshold value calculating region so that an assured extraction of the road white line can be achieved even if a contrast of the photographed image is varied.
In details, as described above, whenever the photographed image is inputted, the luminance threshold value of the photographed image used to extract the white line from the photographed image is calculated. Hence, the luminance threshold value used to extract the white line is dynamically updated. Thus, with respect to a variation in a contrast on a road image, a capability of extracting the white line from the photographed image is optimized. Hence, even if the contrast between the white line and road surface is varied due to such a change in a quantity of light of a surrounding of the road surface as is found in a difference in a day time and in a night time, a variation in a white line detection capability can be reduced.

Road white line recognition apparatus and method


Multi-functional showerheads which include a central water supply shaft along which an outer housing is selectively adjustable so that the showerheads are operable in a first mode wherein the housing rotates to provide a massage action and in a second mode to provide a fixed or rotary shower spray.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to showerhead assemblies and, more specifically, to such assemblies that are operable in a push-pull manner to allow selective adjustment of the showerheads to obtain different operating or spray characteristics. The showerhead assemblies of the present invention are operable in a first mode to provide a whirling massage action where the fluid discharge nozzles are rotatably carried by an outer housing which rotates and a second mode wherein the other housing remains fixed or rotates to provide a more conventional shower spray.
In each embodiment of the present invention an impeller structure is provided within an outer housing which impeller is acted upon by fluid passing through the showerhead assembly so that a rotating action housing is achieved.
The impeller structures will vary between embodiments and will include, blades or turbine wheels, arcuate conduits and molded fluid conveying channels which are acted upon by water being conveyed through a supply shaft to a plurality of spaced discharge nozzles and openings. To allow a massaging action to be developed in instances of low water pressure, the discharge nozzles associated with the first mode of operation may be configured to converge inwardly from the interior of the outer housing toward the exterior thereof with such openings being angled so as to direct fluid outwardly at an angle with respect to the elongated axis of the showerhead to thereby create thrust in the direction of rotation initiated by the impeller structure. In addition, pressure regulatory valves control fluid flow through the showerhead assemblies.
In the second mode of operation, the outer housing of each showerhead assembly is shifted axially with respect to the central supply shaft so as to realign the central supply shaft with respect to the housing so that fluid flow is through a second chamber and therefrom through a spray plate mounted to the lower portion of the outer housing. In some embodiments, the outer housing will rotate with the central supply shaft and in other embodiments the outer housing rotates about a fixed central supply shaft when in the first mode of operation.
The showerhead assemblies may also include secondary impellers for creating rotation of the outer housings regardless of the spray mode selected.
2. History of the Related Art
Heretofore there have been a number of developments made in the construction of showerheads to allow the showerheads to operate in multi-functional modes so that water may be discharged not only in a conventional fixed spray pattern but discharged in a manner to promote a massaging action by either pulsating or whirling the water supplied through the showerhead. Unfortunately, many conventional showerheads which are designed to offer a massaging mode require complex internal components which must be sealed relative to one another. Most conventional massaging showerhead assemblies are relatively expensive to produce and due to the complexity of the components often do not operate in a manner which fully prevents leakage of fluid through the various components when the showerheads are in use. Also, such showerheads often do not function properly under conditions of low water supply pressure.
In one type of showerhead, the outlet or face is provided with a number of different orifices which may be rotated into alignment with the fluid supply channel through the showerhead assembly. In this manner, an individual selectively rotates the face plate of the assembly to align predetermined orifice configurations with the fluid supply in order to obtain different flow characteristics or spray patterns.
In somewhat related showerheads, as opposed to having a rotatable outer orifice or discharge plate, an interior valving plate, disk or series of disks are utilized to alter the flow through the showerhead to obtain either pulsating flow characteristics or to divert the flow of fluid through the showerhead to separately spaced orifices mounted in a fixed face plate.
In addition to the foregoing, other conventional showerheads have utilized impellers mounted within the showerhead to establish a pulsating or whirling effect of water being discharged therefrom. Generally, the impellers are mounted in the fluid supply path so that as the fluid passes through the showerhead, the impeller is rotated thereby effecting the pattern of fluid exiting the showerhead. In some of these showerheads a selector valve or plate may be included whereby the fluid flow may be directed away from the impeller through another fluid outlet. Some examples of prior art showerheads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,622,927 to Sarbu, U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,451 to Gore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,587 to Carson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,648 to Deines et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,783 to Holsted, U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,891 to Kwan, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,595 to Yamin.


A seatbelt device for a vehicle comprises a belt which restrains an occupant, a retractor which supports the belt so as to wind up one end of the belt, a frictional-force applier which is configured to apply a frictional force to the belt by contacting the belt, and an actuator to actuate the frictional-force applier so as to change the frictional force.

The present invention relates to a seatbelt device for a vehicle.
A vehicle, such as an automotive vehicle, is provided with a seatbelt device for the vehicle which restrains an occupant seated in a seat by means of a belt. When the vehicle has a sudden deceleration or an emergency, such as a collision, the occupant is restrained from moving forwardly by the seatbelt device for the vehicle, whereby the occupant is protected.
In this kind of seatbelt device for the vehicle, one end of the belt is fixed to a vehicle floor via an anchor member or the like, and the other end is supported by a retractor so as to be wound up. The retractor comprises a pretensioner mechanism to eliminate looseness of the belt by quickly winding up the belt in an emergency, a lock mechanism to restrict drawing of the belt from a spool in the emergency, and a load limiter mechanism to keep a restraint load by the belt when the lock mechanism is in operation under a specified load value.
In the emergency, the pretensioner mechanism and the lock mechanism of the retractor operate, so that the occupant is prevented from moving forwardly due to the inertia by the belt, whereby the occupant restraint at a seat is achieved. Further, when a tension of the belt reaches a specified value in a state where the lock mechanism is in operation, the load limiter mechanism operates so that the restraint load applied to a body of the occupant is kept under the specified load value.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2015-128925, a load limiter mechanism comprising a torsion bar is known as the load limiter mechanism of the retractor. One end of the torsion bar is fixed to a locked portion to be locked by the lock mechanism, and the other end of the torsion bar is fixed to the spool. In this kind of load limiter mechanism, when the tension of the belt reaches the specified value in the state where the lock mechanism is in operation, the torsion bar is twisted and deformed, so that the spool is allowed to rotate to some extent. Thereby, the belt is allowed to be drawn to some extent, so that the restraint load applied to the body of the occupant is kept under the specified load value.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2015-054647, a load limiter mechanism comprising two torsion bars is known as the load limiter mechanism of the retractor as well. In this kind of load limiter mechanism, a first operation manner where one of the torsion bars operates only and a second operation manner where the both torsion bars operate are selectively executable. Accordingly, the first operation manner or the second operation manner is selectively executed in accordance with a situation, such as a body size of the occupant and deceleration in the emergency, whereby the appropriate restraint load in accordance with the situation is obtained.
However, in the retractor comprising the single torsion bar disclosed in the above-described first patent document, the value of the restraint load is fixed once the torsion bar is assembled, so that the restraint load in accordance with the situation, such as the occupant's body side and the emergency, may not be obtained in some cases. For example, in a case where the occupant is small body-sized or a collision speed is relatively low, an excessive restraint load is applied to the occupant's body, or in a case where the occupant is large body-sized or the collision speed is relatively high, the restraint load becomes smaller than the best magnitude.
Further, in the retractor comprising the two torsion bars disclosed in the above-described second patent document, a structure for switching the operation modes may be complex and the retractor may be improperly large-sized as a whole. Moreover, the layout flexibility of the retractor itself and its surrounding parts may be inferior.


An apparatus having a plurality of phase change material-containing wall panels. The wall panels have a thickness and sides. The wall panels define an inner major surface and an outer major surface. The sides of the wall panels are hingedly interconnected to define a closed structure. Two diametrically opposed hinge interconnections are proximate the inner major surface. The remaining hinge interconnections are proximate the outer major surface.

Medical supplies such as blood, medicine, and vaccines often need to be maintained within a given temperature range. Transport is particularly challenging. The currently accepted method of transporting blood is to place the blood in a reusable cardboard box lined with expanded polystyrene, called a "Collins Box." The liquid blood products are covered with 14 pounds or more of cubed, wet ice which is double bagged and secured with electrical tie-down straps to maintain temperatures of 1° to 10° C. within the box.
Using a Collins Box requires the need to procure and store at least 14 pounds of cubed wet ice for each box. For large shipments of blood requiring multiple Collins Boxes, significant amounts of storage space is needed for the cubed ice. Using ice also allows for highly non-uniform temperatures within the container.
There have been some attempts to replace the ice in Collins boxes using phase change material containing panels. Examples can be found in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2004/0079793 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,077 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,417 B2. The past attempts at using phase change material containing panels are complicated to properly assembly for use and leave gaps between panels that can affect the uniform temperature in the inner chamber.
Therefore, a need exists for a blood transportation system that requires less storage space for components needed for use, is easy and uncomplicated to assemble, and provides a more uniform temperature within the inner chamber during transport.

Collapsible interconnected panels of phase change material


Hydrogen peroxide is vaporized (20) and mixed (30) with ammonia gas in a ratio between 1:1 and 1:0.0001. The peroxide and ammonia vapor mixture are conveyed to a treatment area (10) to neutralize V-type, H-type, or G-type chemical agents, pathogens, biotoxins, spores, prions, and the like. The ammonia provides the primary deactivating agent for G-type agents with the peroxide acting as an accelerator. The peroxide acts as the primary agent for deactivating V-type and H-type agents, pathogens, biotoxins, spores, and prions. The ammonia acts as an accelerator in at least some of these peroxide deactivation reactions.

The present application relates to the art of deactivating biological and chemical warfare agents. It finds particular application in conjunction with G-type agents. However, it will be appreciated that it also will find application in conjunction with V-type and H-type agents, as well as biological agents.
Liquid oxidants have been developed which can deactivate biological warfare agents. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,957 to Wagner, et al. In Wagner, a strong oxidant solution is sprayed as a liquid onto equipment in the field which is or has potentially been contaminated with biological or chemical warfare agents. After treatment, the solution is rinsed from the equipment with water which can be permitted to flow onto the ground as non-toxic. Although effective, the liquid Wagner solution has drawbacks. First, it is difficult for liquids to penetrate crevasses, fine cracks, ducts, and partially protected or lapping parts. Second, in enclosed spaces such as the interior of airplanes, tanks, and buildings, cleanup and disposal of the liquid solution can be problematic. Third, liquids can damage some equipment, such as electronic or electrical equipment.
Blistering agents, such as HD (sulphur mustard) undergo oxidation to non-vesicating products (sulphide to sulphoxide). With the correct choice of agents, the further oxidation to the sulphone does not occur. This is preferable as both the sulfide and the sulphone have vesicant properties; whereas, the sulphoxide is non-vesicant.
Peroxide causes a perhydrolysis reaction neutralizing V-type nerve agents, e.g., VX nerve agent. In the perhydrolysis reaction, the peroxide moiety substitutes one of the groups around the phosphorous atom at the active site of the nerve agent molecules. Perhydrolysis is more effective against V-type nerve agents than base catalyzed hydrolysis by water. In the presence of water, such as a water and ammonia wash, the base catalyzed hydrolysis reaction can form EA2192 which is also highly toxic.
On the other hand, G-agents, such as GD does not undergo an autocatalytic perhydrolysis neutralizing reaction with hydrogen peroxide. Rather, G-type agents are typically deactivated with an ammonia based compound.
The present application delivers a vapor phase deactivant which is effective against GV and H-type agents, as well as against biological agents.

Activated vapor treatment for neutralizing warfare agents

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A frame moving apparatus includes a first plate having a top side and a bottom side. A second plate has a top side and a bottom side. A plurality of gripping members is attached to and extends downwardly from the bottom sides of the first and second plates. A post extends upwardly from the top side of the first plate. A handle has a lower end attached to the top side of the second plate. An elongated member has a first end pivotally coupled to the handle and a second end attached to the post. A fixed surface is gripped with the second plate and a wall frame is gripped with the first plate. An upper end of the handle is moved toward or away from the first plate so that the wall frame is moved in a same direction as the upper end of the handle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to frame moving devices and more particularly pertains to a new frame moving device for assisting a person in the movement of a wall frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of frame moving and alignment devices is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,979 describes an aligning bracket device for aligning pre-cast concrete structures. Another type of alignment device is U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,255. A device for moving floor boards during the construction of a wood floor is found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,916,017.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device and method that assists a person in moving a wall frame. Such a device would be used when aligning a wall frame with a particular wall line or could also be used when positioning the wall frame in a perpendicular relationship with a fixed wall frame. The device could be used to hold the wall frame in place while it is being secured.


A combination air freshener and ornament has an ornament body and a support stand that serves dual purpose as a hanging hook when the ornament is in a hanging configuration and as a support stand when the ornament is in a standing display configuration. The support stand optionally has plugs at each end that removably engage with a receiving hole in the ornament body. The ornament body and/or the support stand are formed of fragranced polymer. One embodiment forms the ornament body in a gingerbread man configuration and the support stand in a candy cane configuration.

Effective continuous action air fresheners release a sufficient amount of fragrance such that for a given enclosed space, such as a room or a motor vehicle passenger compartment, the fragrance is readily perceptible when someone enters that space. In addition effective air fresheners deliver fragrance for an acceptable period of time, such as 30 to 60 days. Moreover, such air fresheners should maintain fragrance character over this time period, such that the odor impression of the fragrance when the air freshener is activated as compared to the fragrance character at the end of the functional life is relatively the same.
Consumers may prefer portable air freshener devices that may be installed quickly and removed quickly from living spaces. Devices that may be moved from one location to another location easily also are preferred. Consumers further may prefer air freshener devices with outer configurations that more discretely fit within a living space, or configurations that add decorative flair during holiday seasons. Improvements to air freshener devices for household use continue to be sought.
Christmas tree ornaments are hung to conifer tree branches with Christmas tree hooks, ribbons, string, bands and clips, such as clips with spring-biased jaws. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,526 for a hook-type hanging device. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,886,688 and 7,275,727 for band-type hangers for ornaments. Improvements for ornaments and means for hanging ornaments continue to be sought.

Brandywine Product Group International Inc.


A method for operating an internal combustion engine in controlled self-ignition, a fuel-air mixture being introduced into a combustion chamber at least partially in a gas-exchange cycle, and being compressed in a compression stroke, the load range usable for the Otto engine self-ignition is broadened in that, in the fuel-air mixture, during the gas-exchange cycle, a flame front is generated at one or a plurality of places by spark ignition, which compresses and/or heats up the remaining fuel-air mixture, and converts the latter thereby at least partially to intermediate combustion products.

In direct injection gasoline internal combustion engines known from the related art, gasoline is injected directly into the combustion chamber of a cylinder of the internal combustion engine. The gasoline-air mixture compressed in the combustion chamber is then ignited by the ignition from an ignition spark in the combustion chamber. The volume of the ignited gasoline-air mixture expands explosively and sets in motion a piston that is able to move back and forth in the cylinder. The back and forth motion of the piston is transmitted to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine.
Direct injection internal combustion engines are able to be operated in various operating modes. A so-called stratified operation is known as a first operating mode, which is used especially in response to smaller loads. A second operating mode known is a so-called homogeneous operation, which is used in response to greater loads on the internal combustion engine. The various operating modes differ especially in the start of injection and the injection period, as well as the point of ignition.
In stratified operation, the gasoline is injected into the combustion chamber during the compression phase of the internal combustion engine in such a way that, at the time of ignition, there is a fuel cloud in the immediate surroundings of a spark plug. This injection can proceed in different ways. Thus, it is possible that the injected fuel cloud is at the spark plug already during, or immediately after the injection, and is ignited by it. It is also possible that the injected fuel cloud is supplied to the spark plug by a charge movement, and is only then ignited. In the case of both combustion methods there is no uniform fuel distribution present in the combustion chamber, but rather a stratified charge.
An advantage of the stratified operation is that, using a very slight quantity of fuel, the smaller loads present are able to be carried out by the internal combustion engine. Greater loads, however, cannot be satisfied by stratified operation.
In the homogeneous operation used for greater loads, the gasoline is injected during the intake phase of the internal combustion engine, so that a swirl (voracity), and thereby a distribution, of the gasoline in the combustion chamber is able to take place even before ignition without a problem. To that extent, homogeneous operation corresponds approximately to the operating manner of internal combustion engines in which, in the usual way, fuel is injected into the intake pipe. If necessary, one may also use homogeneous operation for smaller loads.
In the operation of an internal combustion engine in the HCCI mode (homogeneous charge compression ignition), which is sometimes also designated as CAI (controlled auto ignition), ATAC (active thermo atmosphere combustion) or TS (Toyota Soken), the ignition of the air-fuel mixture does not take place by spark ignition, but by controlled self-ignition. The HCCI combustion process may be brought about, for instance, by a high proportion of hot residual gases and/or by a high compression and/or a high intake air temperature. A prerequisite for the self-ignition is a sufficiently high energy level in the cylinder. Internal combustion engines that are able to be operated in the HCCI mode are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,520, U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,054, German Patent No. DE 199 27 479 and PCT International Patent Publication No. WO 98/10179.
By contrast to a usual combustion having spark ignition, the HCCI combustion has the advantage of reduced fuel usage and lower pollutant emission. To be sure, the regulation of the combustion process and especially the control of the self-ignition of the mixture is complex. Thus, what is needed is a regulation of the actuating variables that influence the combustion process for, for instance, the fuel injection (injection quantity and start and duration of injection) internal or external exhaust gas recirculation, intake valves and exhaust valves (variable valve control), exhaust gas back pressure (exhaust gas flap), possibly ignition support, intake air temperature, fuel quality and compression ratio in the case of internal combustion engines having variable compression ratios.
At this time, controlled self-ignition is only able to be used within narrow load ranges, since self-ignition is only driven by its kinetics of reaction, at present.
Therefore, the present invention is based on the object of widening the load ranges that are usable for Otto engine self-ignition.

Controlled self-ignition of an otto engine by supporting spark ignition


Disclosed is a check valve for preventing liquid from entering an attached tube. The check valve includes a cylindrical housing having an inner surface and a removable plug that is at least partially within the housing. The plus has a side wall with at least part of the sidewall sloping in an inwardly direction from a top surface to a bottom surface towards a central axis. The side wall is operable to contact the inner surface of the housing and form a seal, thereby preventing liquid from passing through the housing, the housing being fixedly attached to an inner surface of a tube.

One of the key features of a municipal sewer system is a "clean out" which is used to provide access to the various piping and drain components of a sanitary sewer system. In particular, a clean out allows for the cleaning of sewer drain piping when a stoppage occurs. The clean out, which includes piping that connects with a sewer lateral drainpipe, also includes a clean out cap which prevents groundwater from entering the clean out piping and thus the sewer system.
One of the most common causes for the introduction of groundwater into a sewer system is a broken or missing clean out cap at a clean out location. The introduction of groundwater into a sewer is a common problem for wastewater utilities and is typically the primary cause of wastewater backups and overflows. Not only are property damage and health hazards caused by wastewater backups and overflows, but processing costs can dramatically increase for a wastewater treatment utility company. Therefore there is a need for an article that prevents the introduction of groundwater into a sewer system through a clean out when the clean out cap is broken or missing.


An apparatus for securing cargo to a flatbed of a carrier vehicle. The apparatus includes two pulley blocks, the first pulley block and the second pulley block. The first pulley block having a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end having two pulleys arranged side-by-side. The second pulley block having a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end of the second pulley having two pulleys arranged side-by-side. A first strap having a first end coupled to a first hook and the second end is coupled to a proximal end of the first pulley block. A second strap having a second hook at one end and the other end can be inserted into the second block pulley through its proximal end. The free end loops around the pulleys of the two pulley blocks and exits from the first pulley block. The free end of the second strap is having a handle.

Small vehicles, such as motorcycles, snowmobiles, motor sled, and like are transported on a bed of a carrier vehicle, such as a truck or trailer. Transporting voluminous cargo on a truck's or trailer's flatbed is a known commercial practice. Keeping the cargo stationary on the carrier vehicle's bed is important for the safety of the cargo as well as safe driving. Loose cargo can move around during transit and get damaged or make driving difficult. The cargo, including the small vehicles, are generally tied down to the carrier vehicle's flatbed using retainers, such as cables, webbings, chains, or straps. The carrier vehicle's flatbed can have hooks, apertures, and like for fastening the retainers. To keep the cargo stationary, the retainers should be subjected to sufficient tension, which requires a lot of force. Additionally, more than one person may be needed to secure the cargo on the carrier vehicle's bed. Despite all the laborious efforts, the straps may not be tightly secured to keep the cargo stationary, thus increasing the risk of damage to the cargo.
Winches are known to be used in carrier vehicles for securing cargo. However, the winches are costly and are permanently coupled to the carrier vehicle's bed. Additionally, the use of winches may not be feasible with certain carrier vehicle or cargos. Therefore, a long-term desire is there for an apparatus that can secure cargo on a carrier vehicle's bed with fewer efforts and quickly.

Tie-down apparatus for securing cargo on a carrier vehicle


A dynamic vision sensor may include a pixel array including at least a first photoreceptor and a second photoreceptor, the first photoreceptor and the second photoreceptor including at least one first pixel and at least one second pixel, respectively, the at least one first pixel and the at least one second pixel configured to generate at least one first photocurrent and at least one second photocurrent in response to an incident light, respectively, and the first photoreceptor and the second photoreceptor configured to a first and second log voltages based on the at least one first photocurrent and the at least one second photocurrent, respectively, processing circuitry configured to, amplify the first and second log voltages, detect a change in intensity of the light based on the amplified first log voltage, the amplified second log voltage, and a reference voltage, and output an event signal corresponding to the detected value.

Various example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to an image processing device including a vision sensor, a system including the vision sensor, and/or a method of operating the vision sensor.
In general, an image sensor may be broadly divided into an image sensor that operates synchronously and an image sensor that operates asynchronously. A typical example of the image sensor that operates synchronously is a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensor. A typical example of the image sensor that operates asynchronously is a vision sensor such as a DVS (dynamic vision sensor), however, the dynamic vision sensor may also operate synchronously on a frame basis.
The dynamic vision sensor (DVS) functions like a human retina without collecting scene in frames. That is, the dynamic vision sensor may transmit only a change in brightness (e.g., an event) of a pixel at a particular position in the scene when an event occurs.
The output of the dynamic vision sensor is a stream of events in which each event is related to a particular state. For example, the particular state is a binary value that indicates whether the brightness of the associated event changes positively or negatively in comparison to a position of the event in the camera array and a state immediately before the associated position.

Dynamic vision sensor and image processing device including the same


A light-emitting diode and method of manufacturing the same, including a flat portion and a mesa structure including an inclined side surface formed by wet etching and a top surface. A protective film and an electrode film sequentially cover a part of the flat portion and at least a part of the mesa structure, the protective film including an electrical conduction window arranged around a light emission hole and from which a compound semiconductor layer is exposed. The electrode film is a continuous film that contacts the surface of the exposed compound semiconductor layer, covers a portion of the protective film formed on the flat portion, and has the light emission hole on the top surface. A transparent film is formed between a reflecting layer and a compound semiconductor layer. A through-electrode is provided in a range of the transparent film which overlaps the light emission hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting diode and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A point light source type light-emitting diode is known in which light generated by a light-emitting layer is extracted from a portion of the upper surface of an element. In this type of light-emitting diode, a light-emitting diode is known which has a current blocking structure for limiting an electrically conductive region of a light-emitting layer to a portion of the plane of the light-emitting layer (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the light-emitting diode having the current blocking structure, a light-emitting region is limited. Since light is emitted from a light emission hole which is provided immediately above this light-emitting region, it is possible to obtain a high light output and to input the emitted light to, for example, an optical component with high efficiency.
In the point-light-source-type light-emitting diode, a structure is known in which an active layer has a pillar structure in order to narrow a light-emitting region in a direction parallel to a substrate and a layer including a light emission opening (light emission hole) is provided on a light emission surface of the top of the pillar structure (for example, see Patent Document 2).
FIG. 15 shows a resonator-type light-emitting diode in which a lower mirror layer 132, an active layer 133, an upper mirror layer 134, and a contact layer 135 are sequentially formed on a substrate 131; a pillar structure 137 includes the active layer 133, the upper mirror layer 134, and the contact layer 135; the pillar structure 137 and the periphery thereof are covered with a protective film 138; an electrode film 139 is formed on the protective film 138; and a light emission opening 139a is formed in the electrode film 139 on the top surface 137a (light emission surface) of the pillar structure 137. Reference numeral 140 indicates a rear surface electrode.

Light-emitting diode and method of manufacturing the same


By providing a unique housing member within which a plurality of separate display and holding members are operatively interconnected for sequential display relative to each other in a unique, cooperative, continuous, extending manner, a unique, hands-on, visually exciting and interest generating multi-panel display and holding system is realized. In the preferred construction of the present invention, a plurality of separate and independent display and/or holding members are cooperatively interconnected to each other for sequential movement relative to each other. Furthermore, each of the display/holding members are also constructed for being automatically positioned in a precisely desired continuous array in response to the receipt of pulling or movement force applied to one of the display/holding members or to a designated lead element.

With the ever increasing quantity of products and services being offered to consumers, substantial interest has been given to promotional display systems for advertising such products and services. In this regard, a wide variety of advertising displays and promotional literature has been created and distributed to consumers. However, due to the deluge of material to which average consumers are constantly exposed, greater emphasis has been placed upon developing eye-catching, visual displays and promotional material which will receive consumer attention.
Although various novelty products and printed displays have been created in an attempt to satisfy this demand, these prior art products have failed to provide the desired interest generating result with production costs which advertisers are capable of justifying. In attempting to generate a unique advertising display, some prior art products have employed complex folding systems which produce a three-dimensional display when unfolded or opened. However, in spite of the unique visual appearance generated by such products, the overall cost of production and complexity of assembly of these systems has prevented such prior art systems from becoming popular.
Other prior art displays have attempted to generate consumer interest by providing unique visual images or other indicia as an integral part of the display. However, these prior art attempts have also failed to generate the interest being sought, largely due to an inability to physically involve the consumer in the promotion or display.
In addition, other products, such as greeting cards, have attempted to generate consumer interest. However, consumer involvement in the card display has not been achieved.
Furthermore, consumers have long sought to obtain a unique display system which the consumer could adapt by mounting pictures, cards, or the like on uniquely constructed support panels. However, no such system exists in the prior art.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a multi-panel display product which is capable of being produced at a reasonable cost and provides an exciting, interest-generating display and/or holding member.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-panel display product having the characteristic features described above, which enables the consumer to physically control the presentation of the display in a unique, hands-on manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-panel display product having the characteristic features described above, which is capable of mass production and assembly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a multi-panel display product having the characteristic features described above, which provides a unique, eye-catching, exciting and surprising display which is produced in response to action by the consumer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-panel display product having the characteristic features described above, which the consumer can adapt for personal use and display of personal photographs, cards, pictures and the like.
Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.


A children's toy is disclosed, including a block, a casing affixed to the block, and a magnet housed within the casing, the magnet freely moveable within the casing. The freely moveable magnet allows for universal magnetic connections to be made with other similar blocks, as well as other fixed or moveable magnetic elements. Also disclosed are a variety of connectors that connect to the blocks in several different manners.

A wide variety of block toys presently exist, including those permitting connection of individual blocks by mutually snapping concave portions and convex portions formed in and on the individual blocks and those making use of a magnet arranged on a block and a magnetic member arranged on another block so that these blocks can be connected together by magnetic force.
Of the above-described conventional block toys, the former type of block toys, in which individual blocks are connected together by mutual snapping of concave portions and convex portions formed in and on the individual blocks, are limited in the direction of connection. A limitation is therefore obviously imposed on the number and variety of structures which can be formed by connecting the blocks. The latter type of block toys, which make use of blocks provided with magnets and blocks having magnetic members, are severely limited in the number of ways in which the blocks may be attached to each other, decreasing the versatility of the blocks and potentially frustrating a child attempting to build with the blocks.
Prior magnetic block systems have used rotatable disk magnets that are fixed in casings, but the magnets are not freely moveable within the casings. Instead, these magnets are polarized so that the poles are on opposite circumferential edges, and the magnets can only rotate about one fixed axis to align their poles with each other. However, in developing the present invention, freely moveable magnets polarized at opposite faces were found to form stronger magnetic connections than rotatable magnets polarized at opposite edges when incorporated into building blocks.


A debugging apparatus is disclosed which verifies a program to be embedded into a target machine by running the program in an environment which is one or the target machine, an emulator, and a simulator. Each environment includes operation state information of the program and inputs and outputs the operation state information in a form unique to the environment. The debugging apparatus includes; target environment storing unit for storing an identification name of the target environment; receiving unit for receiving a command from an operator; instruction detecting unit for detecting a certain instruction in the command; specifying unit for, when the certain instruction is detected, specifying a target environment specified by the identification name as a source target environment and for specifying any of the rest of the environments as a destination target environment; reading unit for reading operation state information from the source target environment; converting unit for converting the operation state information into operation state information written in a form unique to the destination target environment; setting unit for setting the converted operation state information in the destination target environment; and operation resuming unit for resuming the operation of the program in the destination target environment.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a debugging apparatus, and more specifically, to a debugging apparatus for debugging a debug target program by changing hardware environments without changing program operation state.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Microcomputer systems are indispensable to electrical appliances today. In developing programs for such microcomputer system, debugging is very important since microcomputer systems require such a quality as enduring mass production.
For debugging programs, the debug target programs are run in hardware environments to find errors (bugs). The bugs found are deleted from the programs.
The hardware environments in which debug target programs run are classified as follows:
(1) target machine prototypes; PA1 (2) evaluation boards; and PA1 (3) simulators on host computers.
The hardware environment of (1) above is called "monitor type." In the monitor type hardware environment, operations of prototype microprocessors are monitored and simple debugging is performed.
The hardware environment of (2) above enables a high-quality debugging, using an in-circuit emulators (ICE) and various debugging tools. This hardware environment is called "ICE type."
The hardware environment of (3) above is called "simulator type." The simulators used in the environment are divided into two types: instruction level software simulators and logic level software simulators. Instruction level software simulators are such software systems as realizing, in a host computer, pseudo operation states of microprocessors by executing instructions of the microprocessors in the host computer.
The logic level software simulators simulate hardware operations and are generally used for designing microprocessor chips.
Meanwhile, these three types of hardware environments have their limitations respectively in the ability of testing operations.
In the ICE type hardware environment, the trace function can be used to output history of program operations. In the monitor type hardware environment, in contrast, it is difficult to use the trace function since it requires a great amount of memory capacity. Therefore, the operator is obliged to analyze the cause of bugs with other less-quality functions in the monitor type. It may be said that the program verification in the monitor type is insufficient since various cases such as multiple interrupts, interrupts at an appointed time, etc cannot be applied to the debug target program. On the other hand, modifying the hardware monitor machine is not realistic.
The limitations of the ICE type hardware environment derive from the difference in the circuit structure between the evaluation board and the target microprocessor. Even if the microprocessor appears to operate perfectly on the evaluation board, it is not enough to permit the shipping of the microprocessor. The microprocessor should be verified with its peripherals. Lines in the evaluation board, for example, may longer than those of a prototype microprocessor. This may generate a time lag when using the peripherals, which results in incorrectness of the microprocessor verification.
The limitation of the simulator type hardware environment derives from the slowness of operations. This is because the simulator itself uses the host computer. A process which takes one second in the ICE type or monitor type hardware environment, for example, takes several minutes or tens of several minutes in the simulator type hardware environment.
When an error occurs in a certain situation in a hardware environment, the operator may desire to reproduce the same situation in another hardware environment. Reproducing of such situations, however, generally requires a lot of trials and errors before the reproduction succeeds, such as transferring values at the time when an error occurred to the other environment, or running the debug target program from the beginning, etc. Such trials and errors takes a lot of time in the development of the microprocessor.

Debugging apparatus for debugging a program by changing hardware environments without changing program operation state

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Systems, methods, and devices for combining user communications are described herein. In some embodiments, indicators corresponding to online participants accessing an online event are provided on a user interface. An input selecting one of the indicators may be detected from an online participant, and a merged display of the selected indicator and the indicator of the online participant who made the selection may be presented on the user interface. In response to the input, a communications link between the online participants of the merged display may be created. The communication link may allow transmission of reception of prioritized communication between the online participants of the merged display.

With internet capabilities becoming more and more robust, events such as lectures and presentations, may now be accessed remotely instead of solely being in-person experiences. For example, events that typically were only accessible to individuals who purchased tickets to view the event live, now may also include an online portion. In fact, some events have moved to be solely online experiences, with all participants and the host remotely logging into the event. Individuals may now have the ability to access live events from the comfort of their own home via their user device (e.g., laptop, desktop, mobile device, etc.).
Although events may be accessed by individuals both in-person and online, integrating these two aspects may raise various difficulties. For instance, online participants often are not able to interact with the event in the same manner as individuals who are physically present at the event. For example, students in a classroom may raise their hand to ask a teacher a question, whereas online participants of the classroom may not. Students accessing the class remotely may be at a disadvantage because they may not be able to interact with the teacher and/or other students of the class in the same manner as those who are physically present in the classroom.
Thus, it would be beneficial for there to be systems and methods that integrate online participants into a live event seamlessly so that they may interact and experience the event as if they were physically present.
With these abilities now affordable to online participants accessing online events, the number of online participants has also vastly increased. This can make organizing and tracking all of the online participants a much more complex task due to the large number of online participants. There are a variety of ways that a host of an event may manage the online participants. For example, each online participant may have a corresponding indicator that may be displayed on the host's device, which the host may place within various groups, select to be spotlighted, or perform a myriad of other options with. However, as the number of online participants grow, the ability to display an indicator for each online participant on a single display screen becomes especially difficult. As another example, a random sampling of online participants may be displayed on the host's device. However, this approach also has inherent drawbacks because the host may not be able to recognize one or more individuals attempting to interact with the event because their corresponding indicator(s) may not be visible to the host because they may not be included within the current random sample of participants.
Thus, it would be beneficial for there to be systems and methods that allow a host to monitor and manage indicators corresponding to a large amount of online participants of an event that allows the participants to easily interact with any attendees of the event, presenters of the event, and/or other online participants accessing the event.
Often times within online events, online participants may desire to form groups including one or more additional online participants. Typically, this is performed by creating a "room" where participants may congregate such that communications of the individuals within the room are prioritized over communications from others. However, this may provide drawbacks to individuals who desire to be in a small group or conversation with only a select few participants, or for individuals who may not want to privately communicate with every participant who has entered the room. Furthermore, participants located within a specific room may decide that they would like to form an additional subgroup within the room including one or more participants from the room, which in typical scenarios may require a separate room to be formed for the participants to then transfer to.
Thus, it would be beneficial for there to be systems and methods that allow users to form group communications directly by selecting particular participants from an online event to form the group with.

Systems and methods for forming group communications within an online event


A system for generating a transaction profile includes a communication status analyzer, a consumed resource quantity analyzer, an analyzer for analyzing an association between a processing group and a process, an analyzer for analyzing consumed resource quantities and communication quantities for respective processing groups, a transaction profile generator, and a transaction profile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for generating a transaction profile in a computer system performance measuring and analyzing system, a method of generating a transaction profile using such a system for generating a transaction profile, and a program for performing such a method of generating a transaction profile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer system performance is analyzed by a conventional computer system performance measuring and analyzing system according to the following process (see Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2003-157185 and "Measurement and analysis of system operation using a hybrid monitoring process", Information Processing Society Research Report, Mar. 16, 1991, Vol. 91, No. 28 (OS-50), p. 81–87). 1) A measuring probe is embedded in the software of a computer to be measured. 2) A program to be measured is executed. 3) A profile generator analyzes the performance using, as input data, event trace data generated as a result of the program sequence. Details of event trace data are shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings.
The profile generator performs the following two types of tabulating operation using process switching events (events "resume" and "save" in FIG. 1): 1) The difference between a time (e.g., t4 in FIG. 1) when an event "save" occurs and a time (e.g., t1 in FIG. 1) when a corresponding event "resume" occurs is determined to calculate a CPU consumption time for the process run in the time zone (the process "web" in the time zone t1–t4 in FIG. 1), and such CPU consumption times are tabulated. 2) Since communication events (e.g., an event "receive" occurring at time t2 and an event "send" occurring at time t3 in the time zone t1–t4) occurring between an event "save" (e.g., t4 in FIG. 1) and an event "resume" (e.g., t1 in FIG. 1) mean communications that are performed by the process run in the time zone (the process "web" in the time zone t1–t4 in FIG. 1), data sizes for respective communication paths (each uniquely determined by a combination of its own port number, the companion address, and the companion port number) of communications performed by the process are tabulated. These tabulating operations make it possible to obtain figures on consumed resource quantities (CPU consumption times) and figures on communications (transmitted data sizes and received data sizes for respective communication paths) for respective processes.
According to the conventional event tracing analysis, however, in order to obtain transaction information (figures on consumed resource quantities and communications) about transaction processing required for a system performance simulation based on figures tabulated for respective processes, it is necessary to 1) identify processes with respect to the transaction processing and 2) check and tabulate profiles about the processes with respect to the transaction processing.
If a transaction is processed by software components as a plurality of program parts, then in order to perform a simulation on the assumption that the software components are placed in different servers, profiles need to be tabulated for a set of processes (processing group) involved in the processing of the transaction with the software components. To meet such a need, it is necessary to 1) identify processes involved in the processing (i.e., designate names or process numbers of those processes) and 2) determine an association between those processes and processing groups.
The above practice is possible if all computer programs used by a system are self-made products, and software components and execution statuses are recognized. However, if commercially available package software and self-made software are combined into a system, as practiced at present, then it would be difficult and not practical to attain detailed information about components and execution statuses of package software. According to the conventional practice, therefore, it is difficult to make a detailed analysis of loaded locations with respect to each component and only insufficient information is available for optimizing system performance.

System, method, and program for generating transaction profile for measuring and analyzing computer system performance


A method provides for a first networking node in a first network access to a second network by a mobile communication device including the steps: by a first gateway in the first network, extracting payload data and header information from a first data packet originating from the first networking node and addressed to a second networking node in the second network, and sending the extracted payload and header information as payload of a second data packet to the mobile communication device; and, by the mobile communication device, receiving the second data packet, retrieving therefrom the extracted payload and header information, and sending the extracted payload and header information as payload of a third data packet to the second gateway; and, by the second gateway, receiving the third data packet, retrieving therefrom the first data packet and forwarding the first data packet further to the second networking node.

Today, most smartphones can be configured as a mobile hotspot. When acting a hotspot, the smartphone shares its Internet connection with another device over a wireless link. The smartphone's Internet connection is typically established over a cellular network using for example UMTS, HSDPA, LTE etc. The wireless link with the other device is then established by a second wireless interface on the smartphone. This wireless link may for example be established by Bluetooth or Wireless LAN, also referred to as WLAN or Wi-Fi.
In one application, a smartphone configured as mobile hotspot can be used to connect a client device such as a laptop or tablet to the Internet. The client device then connects as a wireless client to the smartphone that is configured as a wireless access point.
In a second application, a smartphone configured as mobile hotspot can be used to connect an entire local network to the Internet. This application is particularly useful for local networks composed of end users that are connected to the Internet over a wired access network, for example by cable, optical fibre or twisted pairs. The mobile hotspot could then provide an extra Internet connection in order to speed-up the connection using multi-path techniques or to serve as backup connection in case of failure of the wired connection. As the local or home networks often contain a wireless access point, either separately or integrated in a router, this second Internet access can be provided without further hardware upgrades.
A problem with current mobile hotspot solutions is that the smartphone always needs to be configured as an access point. This way, the wireless interface can no longer be used for wireless access by the mobile device over the same interface. For example, in the second application, the smartphone could no longer be used to access the home network or to connect to the Internet via the wired access network.
A further problem is that in order to implement the mobile hotspot functionality the networking stack of the mobile device needs to be changed. Such functionality cannot be provided by a user application or an app that is typically distributed through an application store. Therefore, the mobile hotspot functionality can only be implemented by the smartphone vendor, by rooting the device or when administrative privileges are assigned to the application which is in general not the case for apps.

Mobile communication device for providing network access from a first network to a second network


Drawer assembly for mounting to a cargo area of a vehicle. The drawer assembly includes: a drawer body defining a longitudinal axis and configured to be mounted to a track system to allow moving towards and away from the cargo area along the longitudinal axis; and a utility module pivotally mounted to the drawer body about an axis arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The utility module is pivotable between a storage position, where the utility module is received within the drawer body, and an access position, where the utility module is arranged to extend away from the drawer body.

Automotive vehicles are sometimes adapted to have integrated kitchen facilities to allow preparation and cooking of food. These facilities are intended to be used where there is limited or no access to conventional kitchen facilities, for example, when camping in a remote area.
One approach to provide a kitchen facility in a vehicle is to carry the facility in a drawer which is mounted within the vehicle such that the drawer can extend from the rear or side of the vehicle. However, known solutions typically mount the kitchen facility, such as a stove-top and/or sink, in a top surface of the drawer such that only limited or no functional space is also provided to allow preparing food or storing utensils or cookware. Furthermore, many known approaches require a set-up period prior to use which is inconvenient and time consuming.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each of the appended claims.