Electrical circuit protection arrangements with PTC devices and mechanical switches. The combinations of this invention permit the use of mechanical switches and PTC devices to switch voltages and currents in normal circuit operations, wherein the voltage and/or current ratings of the mechanical switches and PTC devices are much less than the normal operating voltages and currents of the circuits. This feature permits the use of smaller and less expensive mechanical switches and PTC device than would otherwise be required in such circuits. The arrangements of switches and PTC devices also permit the PTC devices to limit the magnitude of the fault current passed to the circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical circuit overcurrent protection.
2. Introduction to the Invention
Mechanical switches are widely used to control the flow of current in electrical circuits. The term "mechanical switch" is used herein to denote an electrical switch which comprises mechanical contacts which open or close in response to a mechanical (including manual), electrical, thermal or other form of activation. Such devices include simple manual switches, circuit breakers, Ground Fault Interrupts (GFIs), relays and bimetal devices (also referred to as electrothermal relays, thermally activated switches and electro-thermal devices). GFI's compare the current flowing at two different locations in a circuit, and interrupt the circuit if the currents differ by more than a predetermined amount, e.g. as the result of a ground fault between the locations. They do not, however, protect against faults which do not result in such a current imbalance, e.g. an overcurrent resulting from a short within the load which does not go to ground.
When a mechanical switch is operated to interrupt current flowing through it, arcing nearly always occurs between the contacts as they separate, even under normal operating conditions, and current (in the form of an arc) continues to flow through the switch until the arc is extinguished. The arc will damage the contacts to an extent which depends upon the current, the voltage, whether the current is AC or DC, the speed at which the contacts operate, and the material of which the contacts are made. A mechanical switch is usually rated according to the maximum current that it can safely interrupt at a stated AC or DC voltage and for a stated number of operations.
Arcing across contacts opening under high current conditions can cause such contacts to burn and result in catastrophic failure of the mechanical device. With such limitations in mind, attempts have been made to devise circuit configurations which limit the current flowing through the mechanical contacts, or limit the voltage across the mechanical contacts, or limit both the current and the voltage, as the mechanical contacts open, in order to protect the circuit protection switches and thereby protect the electrical circuits.
PTC circuit protection devices are well known. The device is placed in series with a load, and under normal operating conditions is in a low temperature, low resistance state. However, if the current through the PTC device increases excessively, and/or the ambient temperature around the PTC device increases excessively, and/or the normal operating current is maintained for more than the normal operating time, then the PTC device will be "tripped," i.e. converted to a high temperature, high resistance state such that the current is reduced substantially. Generally, the PTC device will remain in the tripped state, even if the current and/or temperature return to their normal levels, until the PTC device has been disconnected from the power source and allowed to cool. Particularly useful PTC devices contain a PTC element which is composed of a PTC conductive polymer, i.e. a composition which comprises (1) an organic polymer, and (2) dispersed, or otherwise distributed, in the polymer, a particulate conductive filler, preferably carbon black. PTC conductive polymers and devices containing them are described, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,237,441, 4,238,812, 4,315,237, 4,317,027, 4,426,633, 4,545,926, 4,689,475, 4,724,417, 4,774,024, 4,780,598, 4,800,253, 4,845,838, 4,857,880, 4,859,836, 4,907,340, 4,924,074, 4,935,156, 4,967,176, 5,049,850, 5,089,801 and 5,378,407, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
In a batch of PTC devices made by the same manufacturing process, uncontrollable variations in the process can cause substantial variation in the conditions which will trip any individual device. The largest steady state current which will not cause any of the devices in the batch to trip is referred to herein as the "pass current" (I.sub.PASS) or "hold current", and the smallest steady state current which will cause all of the devices to trip is referred to as the "trip current" (I.sub.TRIP). In general, the difference between I.sub.PASS and I.sub.TRIP decreases slowly as the ambient temperature increases. Depending on the particular type of device, I.sub.TRIP may for example be 1.5 to 2.5 times I.sub.PASS at 20.degree. C. For any individual device, the pass current and the trip current are the same. However, in this specification, reference is made to a PTC device having an I.sub.PASS and a different I.sub.TRIP, because as a practical matter, the manufacturer of an electrical switch must make use of PTC devices taken from a batch of such devices. Generally, the higher the ambient temperature, the lower the pass current and the trip current. This phenomenon is referred to as "thermal derating", and the term "derating curve" is used to denote a graph of temperature against pass current.

Overcurrent protection circuits comprising combinations of PTC devices and switches


Methods and arrangements for planning and scheduling change management requests in computing systems are disclosed. Included are an arrangement for deciding whether or not an RFC should be done, an arrangement for assigning individual tasks to acceptable servers for each RFC to be done, and an arrangement for assigning the start times to said individual tasks for each RFC to be done.

Change Management is central to ensuring the availability, reliability, and quality of information technology (IT) services. Change Management signifies the process by which IT systems are modified to accommodate considerations such as software fixes, hardware upgrades and performance enhancements. The change management process typically starts with the submission of a Request For Change (RFC), which can be viewed as a job in scheduling terms. Many RFCs may be considered for execution concurrently. Some or all of these RFCs may be chosen to be done during a period of time known as a change window. The RFC describes what is to be done, usually in terms of hardware/software artifacts to change (deploy, install, configure, uninstall). It might also indicate the deadline by which the change needs to be completed. Examples include changing the schema of a database table in a running application and installing a new release of a web application server in a multi-tiered eCommerce system. An important observation is that many changes are not explicitly included in the RFC. Rather, they are merely implied. For example, applications must be recompiled if they use a database table whose schema is to change. Implicit changes are a result of various kinds of relationships, such as service dependencies and resource sharing. There is a well-established methodology for change management. Some key steps in this methodology are:
1. Assess the impact of changes in terms of the resources and services affected;
2. Create a Change Plan that dictates how the change should be implemented;
3. Verify the Change Plan (for example, through review by a change management team in discussions with affected departments);
4. Test the Change Plan by doing "dry runs", especially for very disruptive and/or high risk changes;
5. Ultimately implement the change by executing the plan.
A Change Plan typically consists of a set of tasks needed to complete the RFC, such as "bring down application server 1" and "copy x.ini to server 2". The plan itself specifies the partial order of tasks. Note that items (2)-(5) relate to creating, evaluating, and implementing the Change Plan.
In the current state of the art Change Plans are created manually, not automatically. But this manual creation process is time consuming, difficult and error prone. For a large computing system it may be almost impossible. A need therefore exists for automating change management.

International Business Machines Corporation


A shooting processing section shoots a user as an object, and an editing processing section allows the user to edit a shot image obtained by shooting. An input receiving section receives, a plurality of times, selection of manipulation processing to be applied to the entire shot image, and a manipulation processing section generates, when the selection of manipulation processing has been received this time, an image after manipulation processing that is the entire shot image to which the manipulation processing received this time is applied over the manipulation processing, selection of which has been received previous time. The present invention can be applied to a photo sticker creating device, for example.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a photo decoration device, and especially relates to a photo decoration device that allows a user to easily select manipulation content with high flexibility, and enables the user to easily imagine a finish after manipulation.
Related Art
Photo sticker machines that take photos of users, allow the user to edit images obtained by taking photos, print an image after editing on a sticker sheet, and provide the sticker sheet are known. Hereinafter, taking photographs of the users and obtaining images will be referred to as "shooting" or "shooting the users". Such photo sticker machines are installed in amusement (play) facilities, or the like. Main users of the photo sticker machines are females.
Among such photo sticker machines, there is one that displays, on an editing screen, a plurality of sample images to which images for compositing have been composited in advance, and a foreground color palette used by the user to select a color of a foreground image and a background color palette used by the user to select a color of a background image, of the images for compositing composited to the respective sample images (see JP 2010-109651 A).
Further, there is one that allows the user to perform adjustment of redness (a tone of the skin of an object), adjustment of brightness (whiteness of the skin of the object), and adjustment of sharpness in order to adjust a finish state of a shot image (see JP 2004-349959 A). On an adjustment screen for performing the adjustment, each adjustment state is marked in seven stages.
Further, there is one that varies two of four pieces of correction information: brightness, tone, contrast, and vividness of shot images, which are arrayed and displayed in a matrix manner, in stages into two directions of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction of an array, thereby to allow the user to select a shot image to which desired correction processing is applied.


A method, system, and machine-readable medium for controlling access to data of a tape data storage medium are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a method is provided which comprises conveying data access control metadata from a tape cartridge comprising a tape data storage medium to a host, receiving decrypted metadata from the host, comparing a checksum value determined utilizing the decrypted metadata with checksum data stored within the tape cartridge; and processing a request to access the tape data storage medium received from the host based upon a comparison of the checksum value and checksum data. In the described method embodiment, the data access control metadata comprises encrypted metadata corresponding to a data storage parameter, where data is stored within the tape data storage medium utilizing the data storage parameter and the decrypted metadata is generated by the host utilizing the encrypted metadata.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to data storage and management and more particularly to a method and system for controlling access to data of a tape data storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the use of data processing systems has become more prevalent, the techniques used to store and manage data produced by such data processing systems have evolved. One mechanism for storing and providing access to such data is the tape storage system. A conventional tape storage system comprises a tape storage drive such as the 3592 Enterprise Tape System provided by International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, N.Y. and a removable tape data storage medium upon which data may be stored. It is frequently desirable to control access (e.g., to prevent data from being accessed or to otherwise obscure the data's content or meaning) to data stored within such removable tape data storage media in order to prevent unauthorized access.
As removable tape data storage media are, by definition, removable, they are subject to loss, theft, or other circumstances in which the physical possession of the media is compromised. For example, removable tape data storage media are frequently transported from a primary physical site (e.g., where an associated tape storage drive utilized to store data initially within the removable tape data storage media is located) to a secondary physical site (e.g., for archive or interchange purposes). Since the physical possession of tape data storage media is so difficult to control, conventional tape storage systems utilize various logical techniques to prevent unauthorized access to stored data.
One logical, rather than physical, technique for protecting removable tape data storage media-stored data from unauthorized access involves the use of full data encryption utilizing an encryption standard such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or Data Encryption Standard (DES). Data to be stored within a tape data storage medium is encrypted by a host data processing system using a data encryption key prior to being transferred to an associated tape storage drive such that the original data may not be obtained from the tape storage drive without first performing an inverse "decryption" operation utilizing an associated decryption key. Utilizing a symmetric encryption system or method, a single "symmetric" key is utilized for both the encryption and decryption operations. By contrast, in "asymmetric" encryption systems or methods, distinct, although related keys are utilized for encryption and decryption operations such that it is computationally infeasible to decrypt data which has been encrypted, even when the key utilized for encryption is known.
While full data encryption may be used to provide significant protection to the content of encrypted data, it suffers from a number of significant drawbacks. More specifically, although data encryption protects access to the content or substance of data, it does not prevent access to the encrypted data itself. Accordingly, if an associated decryption key's value were compromised or sufficient computational resources could be applied to analyze the encrypted data, the data's content could be determined. Moreover, the resultant "encrypted" data generated by conventional encryption techniques is relatively random and consequently may not be compressed to the same extent as unencrypted data. The processing and storage of such compression resistant data may incur a significant storage capacity and data processing performance penalty. Additionally, the performance of encryption and decryption operations is so computationally intensive that specialized hardware may be required, causing tape storage drive designers and providers to select between affordability and performance.

Method and system for controlling access to data of a tape data storage medium using encryption/decryption of metadata


A mobile apparatus for testing the integrity of a joint between two sections of concrete pipe in a test-as-you-go method of assembling concrete pipe sections to form a continuous pipe. The apparatus includes a wheel mounted frame which carries a flexible seal used to cover the interior of the entire pipe joint to form a substantially closed annular space. That space and a connected tank provide a substantially known volume for measurement purposes. The pressure in the known volume is monitored over a set period of time to determine the integrity of the pipe joint. The apparatus is moved along the interior of the pipe to test each joint after it is assembled. A method of testing the pipe joints is also disclosed.

At the present time, the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) has three standard tests for concrete pipe sewer lines. According to ASTM test C969-82 (Reapproved 1987) a length of sewer pipe no greater than 700 feet can be tested by either infiltration or exfiltration methods. In both of these tests, care must be taken to properly plug and seal the ends of the sewer pipe and all connections to the sewer pipe. For the infiltration test, if ground water conditions permit, the amount of water leaking into the sewer line is measured, and the rate of infiltration is determined. If the rate is less than or equal to the allowable limit, the section of sewer pipe tested is acceptable.
For the exfiltration test, the sewer line is filled with water to the recommended test head and the rate of water loss is determined. If the rate is less than or equal to the allowable limit, the section of sewer pipe tested is acceptable.
In both the infiltration and exfiltration tests, the ground water conditions around the pipe have a material affect on the test. Also, in exfiltration tests, an extended period of time is required for the pipe itself to stop absorbing water before the test can be carried out. In each of these tests, if a section of pipe fails, a difficult problem is presented in how to repair either the material making up the pipe or the joint in the pipe that is leaking.
The American Society for Testing Materials also has a low pressure air test method to demonstrate the integrity of the installed material and the construction procedures. This practice is used for testing 4 to 24 inch circular concrete pipe sewer lines utilizing gasketed joints. The ASTM designation for this test is C924-89. Great care must be taken with this test to properly prepare the pipe. The ends of the pipe have to be plugged and sealed to prevent any leakage. The seals must also be able to withstand the pressure so as not to be blown out. Even though only three to five pounds of air pressure is used in the test, this can be a dangerous procedure. Also, a large enough air compressor is required for the test to supply the volume of air needed. In the test, the sealed pipe is pressurized and the length of time it takes for the pressure to drop a predetermined amount is used to determine the integrity of the pipe.
The ASTM also has a standard test designation C1103-89 for the joints in installed precast pipe sewer lines. This test is usually used with large precast concrete pipe. The pipe must be large enough for the equipment used to carry out the test and for workers to set up the equipment. In the test, a ring is assembled and positioned internally about the joint in the pipe. A pair of inflatable sealing members near each edge of the ring are inflated, forming an annular space inside the ring. The space can then be filled with air or water and, if the rate of loss of the air or water through the joint is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the joint is acceptable. If the joint leakage is greater than the predetermined amount, steps must then be taken to repair the joint. This test is typically a "go/no go" test.
None of the previous tests provide a convenient means for testing each pipe joint in a large precast sewer pipe after it has been assembled in a "test-as-you-go" method. Even in the test employing the ring with the inflatable seals, a substantial amount of time is lost in assembling, testing, disassembling and then moving on to the next joint.


A hardening accelerator for mineral binder compositions, in particular for cementitious binder compositions, is provided. The hardening accelerator contains a combination of a) a first amino alcohol (A) including at least one primary alcohol group, and b) a second amino alcohol (E) including at least one secondary alcohol group.

Hardening accelerators are used in mineral binders for hardening binder compositions after mixing with water. Hardening accelerators can be used, for example, in order to cast concrete at low temperatures or to increase the early strength of mortar or concrete compositions.
In this context, various substances can be used which accelerate the hardening of mineral binders, for example, cementitious binders. Such substances include, for example, hardening accelerators based on amino alcohols, halides, pseudohalides, nitrites, nitrates, aluminum salts, alkali hydroxides, alkaline earth hydroxides, glycols, glycerol, or α-hydroxycarboxylic acids.
WO 2003/000617 A1 (Sika AG) describes, for example, a hardening accelerator based on an alkanolamine, an inorganic nitrate, a carboxylic acid, and a polyol.
However, the known hardening accelerators have various disadvantages. Thus, in the case of halides, pseudohalides, nitrites and nitrates in concrete, there is a risk of stress crack corrosion of pre-stressing steels. Alkali hydroxides, aluminum salts, glycols and glycerols often have an undesired stiffening behavior, and α-hydroxycarboxylic acids are dosage sensitive. Therefore, there continues to be a demand for improved hardening accelerators for mineral binders, which do not have the above-mentioned disadvantages.

Hardening accelerator for mineral binder compositions


The present invention relates to a circuit arrangement for the error-free analog-to-digital conversion of N analog input signals Ni in a plurality of digital output signals corresponding to the number N using exactly one analog-to-digital converter, wherein N>=1, wherein further N′ other redundancy inputs N′i are provided, and being fed to the said analog-to-digital converter, wherein the N and the N′ inputs are supplied to at least one analog multiplexer, and wherein the circuit arrangement has an error monitoring functionality, and each input signal Ni is counter to the corresponding redundancy signal N′i. The invention also relates to the use of the circuit arrangement in electronic motor vehicle control units with an anti-lock function.

It is known in the art to design circuits parts that are especially important for the function redundantly or partly redundantly in order to improve the general reliability in operation of circuit arrangements for control units. In the simplest case, the entire circuit is designed fully redundantly, hence is duplicated, and subjected to a more or less distinct spatial/physical separation so that errors will concern, if at all, only one of the duplicated circuit parts. It is a disadvantage in this procedure that frequently the expenditure in cost, the space required, and the current consumption is doubled as well. To process safety-critical signals, it is customary to use two analog-to-digital converters for redundancy reasons. Herein below, the entire analog/digital interface will be referred to as an analog-to-digital converter, that means, including analog multiplexers at the input as well as result registers and (digital) multiplexers at the output of the analog-to-digital converter.

Electronic circuit arrangement for error-free analog/digital conversion of signals


A process for removing anionic impurities from a caustic aluminate solution having aqueous tetrahydroxy aluminate ions is described. A caustic aluminate solution is obtained such that anionic impurities are partially or substantially substituted into tetrahydroxy aluminate ions to form substituted aluminate ions. A suitable calcium compound, such as quicklime, is reacted in a conventional slaker (10) with a slaking solution, for example water, and stored in an agitated storage tank (12). The resulting slurry is pumped to a reaction vessel (14) where it is reacted with a caustic aluminate solution under appropriate conditions such that the calcium compound is converted into tricalcium aluminate (TCA) precipitate. Upon reaction substituted aluminate ions are substantially incorporated within the TCA precipitate to form a substituted TCA precipitate enabling the anionic impurities to be removed from the solution via the substituted TCA precipitate for disposal or recovery. The caustic aluminate liquor may be optionally fortified with an anionic impurity by mixing it in a mixing tank (16) with the anionic impurity.

In the Bayer process, a concentrated sodium aluminate solution is produced by digesting milled bauxite in a caustic solution under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure. During the milling and digestion steps, a variety of species other than alumina are also extracted and enter the liquor stream. In the Bayer process, these species are generally considered to be undesirable impurities, and due to the cyclic nature of the Bayer process, can accumulate in the refinery's liquor streams unless they are removed by some means. Each of these species will eventually reach a steady state concentration that is a function of the input with bauxite and other sources and the output with the refinery's red mud residue, side-stream removal processes and with the product alumina.
Efficient removal processes for many of the most prevalent Bayer process impurities have been developed. For example, a process for the removal of carbonate ions is described in commonly owned International Application No. PCT/AU99/00757. Sulphate and/or oxalate are removed from caustic aluminate solutions in a process disclosed in commonly owned International Application No. PCT/AU00/00208. However, there are many other species that are typically present at low or trace concentrations in the liquor stream for which to date there are no specific processes for removal or control. These include fluoride and a number of metallic oxo-anions, such as vanadate.
Often, the concentration of most of these species is low because their content in bauxite is low, and also because they are partially removed in an uncontrolled manner as a side effect of the main unit operations of the Bayer process. One of the most important and undesirable of these side-reactions is incorporation of these anions into gibbsite during precipitation, which results in contamination of the refinery's product.
More harmful effects can occur if one or more of these impurities starts to accumulate. The fluoride anion is particularly damaging, as it is capable of forming low-solubility sodium double salts with a number of other anions, such as sulphate, phosphate, silicate and vanadate. This will tend to occur in the most concentrated liquor streams in the alumina refinery, particularly the evaporators, forming a scale that reduces the evaporator's efficiency, adversely affecting productivity and increasing operating costs. At sufficiently high concentrations, these double salts can also co-crystallise in the precipitation circuit, resulting in poor physical and chemical product quality characteristics and very likely provoking a severe loss of productivity.
It is common in some alumina refineries to add lime prior to, or within, digestion to control the phosphate and titanate concentration in the liquor stream, ostensibly to precipitate these anions as calcium phosphate or calcium titanate. This procedure can be effective in controlling these impurities, but is inefficient and can lead to increased calcium contamination in the refinery's product.
To the inventors' knowledge, there have been no processes published which deal with the removal of sodium fluoride or sodium vanadate from caustic aluminate solutions such as Bayer refinery liquors. However, several processes describe the recovery of the aluminium and fluoride values from spent potlining material from aluminium reduction cells. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,559, the potlining material is first dissolved in a caustic soda solution to generate a fluoride-rich sodium aluminate solution. This solution is then evaporated to remove fluoride via the crystallisation of fluoride salts. The precipitated fluoride salts are separated from the liquor and then reacted with a calcium hydroxide slurry to precipitate calcium fluoride, while the clarified caustic aluminate solution may be directed to the liquor stream of an alumina refinery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,426 discloses a similar process in which the potlining material is simultaneously leached and reacted with lime to precipitate calcium fluoride. The solids are separated, and the clarified liquor again used for some suitable purpose such as Bayer precipitation. In both cases, the caustic aluminate solution generated in the process contains a substantial residual concentration of sodium fluoride, and is hence probably unsuitable for adaptation for use in an alumina refinery. Furthermore, unless the solid calcium fluoride produced in these processes is disposed of in a dry disposal area, it may react with dilute caustic aluminate solutions, releasing the fluoride ions into solution such that they ultimately return to the refinery.
Some of the inorganic anions extracted from bauxite are of potential value if they can be economically purified and recovered. However, the inventors are unaware of any published processes for doing so, other than the solvent-extraction of gallium from Bayer liquors as disclosed in, for example, EP 206081. A process which describes the extraction of rare earth elements from red mud by digesting the mud in a dilute acid solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,424, but suffers from the same limitations as all such red mud-based processes, in that the volume of material to be processed is uneconomically large.
Under the appropriate conditions, caustic aluminate solutions will react with calcium from some suitable source such as slaked lime to form the thermodynamically stable and sparingly soluble tricalcium aluminate, Ca3[Al(OH)6]2. This material is commonly referred to in alumina industry parlance as TCA, or C3AH6 in cement industry notation. This reaction is utilised most commonly in the alumina industry to produce TCA crystals of a controlled particle size for use as a filter aid in the polishing or security filtration facility of the refinery, in which fine residual mud particles are "polished" from the green (or pregnant) liquor stream. The use of TCA for this purpose, and a process for the creation of an improved TCA filter aid are described in commonly owned International Application No: PCT/AU01/00886, filed on 20 Jul. 2001.
It has been known for some time that if the sodium aluminate solution also contains an appreciable concentration of sodium silicate, then at least some of the silicate will become incorporated into the tricalcium aluminate. This has been interpreted as a solid solution of calcium aluminosilicate within tricalcium aluminate, with the silica replacing water (Roach, Light Metals 2000, 97, Ed. R. D. Peterson, The Minerals Metals and Materials Society, 2000). To the inventors' knowledge, this behaviour has not been specifically utilised on an industrial scale to remove sodium silicate from Bayer process liquors.
It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or in any other country.
From the preceding discussion, while there are a number of processes available which remove impurities that are at relatively high concentrations in caustic aluminate solutions, there remains a need for a process which can remove some of the other impurity anions present at low or trace concentrations, in a form that allows easy and environmentally acceptable disposal or recovery.

Process for the removal of anionic impurities from caustic aluminate solutions


A circuit controlling the gain of an amplifier in an optical transmitter used for optical communication, including a detection circuit for measuring the power of the RF input to a laser; a gain controller or controlling a gain of an amplifier, and a switch connected to the gain controller, wherein the gain controller is adapted, in response to an activation of a switch, to: (i) automatically vary gain of the amplifier, and (ii) set the gain of the amplifier at a level corresponding to a reduction in the noise and/or distortion associated with the transmitter.

The invention relates to the measurement and adjustment of the power of an RF signal input into a laser used for optical communication, typically over a fiber optic link.
It is important to regulate the RF power of a signal input into a laser transmitter: if the power is too high, distortion results; on the other hand, if the power is too low, noise results. Both distortion and noise lead to degradation of the signal transmitted over the optical communications link (such as a fiber optic cable) and it is therefore desirable to reduce both noise and distortion in the signal.
The reduction of noise and distortion may involve first determining the amount of noise and distortion in a signal, and then reducing these unwanted features. There are a number of ways in which the distortion and noise of a signal may be measured. For example, Third Order Intercept, Carrier to Intermodulation, Spur Free Dynamic Range, Noise Figure and Carrier to Noise Ratio are all methods which may be employed to measure noise and distortion. Noise Power Ratio (NPR) is particularly useful as this is a single measurement combining the effects of both distortion and noise.
A number of methods of regulating the power of a RF signal input to a laser are known. A first known method of regulating the power of the input RF signal to a laser (herein referred to as "SL") is by using a fixed gain amplifier. However, such a fixed gain amplifier produces a gain for the RF input signal to the laser which may, as the characteristics of the RF input signal vary, result in degraded performance. An amplifier with a fixed gain setting is unable to adapt to changes in the power of the RF input signal. A fixed gain setting which may be optimal initially may therefore result in noise and distortion as time progresses. Furthermore, where the RF input signal for the laser includes more than one data channel multiplexed over a single optical fiber link, with each of the channels corresponding to a different data source, an optimal setting for one of the channels will not necessarily be optimal for any of the other channels, resulting in further potential degradation of the quality of the communication. For these reasons, such fixed gain amplifiers often result in degraded performance.
A second known method of controlling the power of a signal input to a laser involves the use of a manual gain control. Manual gain control suffers from the disadvantage that it requires a degree of skill and expertise on the part of the user to be implemented effectively. Furthermore, if the power of the RF input signal varies significantly over time, further user intervention is required to optimize the gain of the amplifier. Similar to fixed gain control, manual gain control suffers from the disadvantage mentioned above: where the RF input signal to the laser represents multiple data channels multiplexed over a single optical fiber link, the user is unable to easily determine the optimum gain setting to avoid noise and distortion in the RF input signal.
A further known method of optimizing gain control is automatic gain control which suffers from the disadvantage that where multiple channels are transmitted across a single fiber optic communication link, a change in gain in a particular channel may degrade the performance of another channel.
It is also known to combine automatic gain control with fixed gain control by switching between these two modes so that the gain setting for fixed gain control is automatically determined during an initialization step using automatic gain control. However, this requires a certain degree of expertise on the part of the user and can result in errors if not implemented correctly.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important therefore that the claims be regarded as including equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the scope of the present invention.

RF signal power regulation in optical transmitters


An image reading apparatus is provided that includes a reading unit for reading images from both sides of an original, an adjusting unit that adjusts image data of the front surface and image data of the rear surface of the original, a determination unit that performs determination processing for paper fingerprint information of the rear surface of the original using image data that is obtained after adjustment of the image data of the rear surface by the adjusting unit, and a printing unit that prints the image data of the front surface. The adjusting unit performs a different adjustment for the image data of the front surface and the image data of the rear surface of the original.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus in a system that certifies the originality of a paper sheet by using a paper fingerprint that represents the bumps and entanglements of random fibers on the paper surface, as well as a control method of the image reading apparatus and an image reading method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because the bumps and entanglements of fibers on the surface of a paper sheet cannot be controlled in the manufacturing process, each individual paper sheet has a different pattern, similarly to the way in which the fingerprint of each person is unique. This unique pattern is referred to as a "paper fingerprint". By identifying and managing paper fingerprint information that represents this kind of paper fingerprint, the paper fingerprint can be utilized as original certifying means.
However, when it is attempted to acquire the aforementioned paper fingerprint information using a general-purpose scanner, there is a problem that the amount of light of the scanner light source at the time of normal scanning is too large, and is it not possible to extract the paper fingerprint information because the image of the location (background of the paper sheet) from which it is desired to acquire the paper fingerprint information is scanned as white.

Image reading apparatus and method that determines originality of paper sheet using fingerprint of rear surface


An instrument tracking device for cooperating with an instrument during a surgical procedure where the instrument has an elongated body extending along a first longitudinal axis and including a working member at a distal tip includes a body having a distal end and a proximal end. An opening can be formed through the body along a second longitudinal axis. The opening can define a passthrough in the body from the distal end to the proximal end. A first tracking coil can be disposed in the body and can define a first tracking coil axis that is substantially coaxial with the second longitudinal axis of the body. A connection mechanism cooperates between the elongated housing and the body that secures the body to the elongated housing of the instrument upon passing at least a portion of the elongated housing through the passthrough of the body in an assembled position.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Surgical procedures can be performed on anatomies such as the human anatomy for providing a therapy to the anatomy. One area of surgery includes procedures performed on facial cavities of a patient such as on the ear, nose or throat (ENT). In such a procedure, a working member such as a shaver, bur, or other tool connected to an instrument (e.g., a handpiece) may be inserted into such a cavity to perform a shaping procedure for example. As it is desirable to minimize trauma produced by such procedures, it is favorable to avoid any supplemental incisions or other axis portals to be formed in the patient tissue.
Because the viewing angle of a surgeon at the area of interest can be obscured by the surrounding tissue of the cavity, the ability of a surgeon to effectively apply a therapy can be reduced. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism so that a surgeon can provide a therapy without minimization or reduction of effectiveness of the procedure or in viewing the area to apply the therapy. Navigation of instruments relative to the anatomy can be used.
In some navigation systems, instruments are provided with tracking devices. Sometimes however such tracking devices can be difficult to manipulate or cumbersome to the instrument. In other instances, the tracking devices can protrude a significant distance from the instrument and interfere with a surgeon's sight line. Other tracking devices fail to provide accurate positional information in 3-dimensional space or may be susceptible to electromagnetic interference because of metal objects.


A barrier operator comprises a current limit portion and a barrier operator portion. The current limit portion is coupled to a mains supply and the barrier operator position is coupled to the mains supply and the current limit portion. The barrier operator portion actuates a movable barrier. The current limit portion regulates electrical current to at least one additional device.

Barrier movement operators generally include power and control systems for responding to operator inputs and sensed conditions to move a barrier between open and closed positions with respect to an opening. The barrier may be a door, a gate, a window, a window shade/protector or similar apparatus. Garage door operators are a common form of barrier movement operator.
One type of garage door operator comprises a head end with control circuitry and a motor that extends and retracts a trolley connected to the door. The trolley moves along a rail connected between the head end and a support wall of a garage at a point above the garage opening. Such a trolley and rail type of garage door operator is generally supported from an overhead structure such as the ceiling joists of a garage. Support is often achieved by vertical metal support members from the housing of the head end to the ceiling joists which may result in a less than stylish connection.
Ancillary equipment or accessories can be used to improve the functionality of the garage in which the garage door operator is mounted. For example, additional lighting is often placed in the garage, which in some instances, may be controlled by the controller of the head end. Also, a readily available extension cord and/or a mechanic's light is sometimes provided in the garage. The garage door operator itself may gain advantage to having an attached security camera, monitor, motion sensor and other sensing equipment. In previous systems, the inclusion of such additional equipment results in a mix of non-similar items affixed throughout the garage.
In previous systems, the amount of current that an electrical outlet can supply to an operator and its accessories is limited by a circuit breaker. The current flows from the outlet to the operator and the accessories. When the barrier is moved, the movable barrier operator requires a large percentage of the current flowing from the outlet to operate. Both during the starting of the motor and situations where high force is required, the amount of current needed is at a peak. If during the starting of the motor, the sum of the operator current and the current supplied to the additional devices is above the threshold of the circuit breaker, the circuit breaker trips, current flow is halted, and the operator is unable to complete its operation. When the circuit breaker trips, the operation of the operator and the additional devices is impaired resulting in significant inconvenience to the user.
Previous systems do not deal with this situation effectively. Also, in previous systems the power made available to the ancillary devices is the same regardless of whether the operator is active or inactive or which of the ancillary devices is in operation. This results in an inefficient use an allocation of system resources.

System and method for controlling current in a movable barrier operator


An apparatus for connecting a router blade to a router chassis is provided. The apparatus includes an engagement portion; a first side portion coupled with the engagement portion; and a second side portion coupled with the engagement portion. The engagement portion includes a connector system that is operable to couple a router blade with a router chassis. The first side portion is operable to engage the router blade and the router chassis. The second side portion is operable to engage a router blade and the router chassis. The engagement portion, first side portion, and second side portion are sized to engage the router chassis and receive the router blade.

A network router may provide service to a network. Service may include, for example, routing, caching, voicemail, and security. The hardware and/or software that provide the service may be disposed on network blades, which may be connected to the router. A network administrator may add and/or remove one or more network blades to customize the service provided by the router.
The service blade may be inserted into a network chassis of the network router. The network chassis is sized to receive the network blade. As network router technology has developed, the size of the network chassis has increased to accommodate larger network blades. For example, the width of the network chassis has increased to accommodate wider network blades. However, the old service blades, which were sized for the older network chassis, no longer fit into the network chassis.


A dual seal coupling fitting enables quick measurement of pressure. The fitting includes primary and secondary valves and has one end shaped like a male portion of a quick coupler and another end screwable into a threaded bore defined in a pressure bearing housing. The fitting defines first and second cylindrical sections in communication with each other. The primary valve situates in the first section, the secondary valve in the second section. The primary valve includes a valve stem with a poppet head. A first mechanism compresses the poppet head against an outer valve seat to close the primary valve thereby preventing leakage of pressure. The secondary valve features a cylindrical seat piece and a retainer. The piece secures within the second section and defines through itself an inner bore. The piece at one end forms an inner valve seat and at an opposite end situates adjacent the first mechanism. The retainer has at one end a post approximate a terminal end of the valve stem within the inner bore. The retainer also has a check valve retained within an annular recess defined about a base of the post. A second mechanism compresses the check valve against the inner valve seat to close the secondary valve thereby further preventing leakage of pressure. Mating a female portion of a quick coupler to the male portion opens the primary and secondary valves and enables quick measurement of the pressure via a gage attached to the other end of the female portion.

A typical freight train includes one or more locomotives, a plurality of railcars and a pneumatic trainline referred to as a brake pipe. The brake pipe consists of a series of individual pipe lengths interconnected to each other. One pipe length secured to the underside of each railcar interconnects to another such pipe length via a flexible coupler situated between each railcar. The brake pipe supplies the pressurized air that is required by the brake control system to charge the various reservoirs and operate the air brake equipment on each railcar in the freight train.
A train operator situated in the lead locomotive can manipulate a brake handle to apply and release the brakes on the railcars as desired. The brake handle can be moved from and in between a release position at one extreme in which brake pipe pressure is maximum and the brakes are completely released to an emergency position at another extreme in which brake pipe pressure is minimal and the brakes are fully applied. The brake handle positions thus include brake release, minimum service brake application, full service brake application and emergency brake application. When the brakes are released, the reservoirs and the brake pipe are generally charged to the same pressure: typically 90 psi on a freight train and 110 psi on a passenger train. When the brakes are applied, the pressure in the brake pipe is reduced via a valve located in the lead locomotive. The exact amount by which the pressure is reduced depends into which of the application positions the brake handle is placed. It is this pressure reduction that signals the brake control valve on each railcar to supply pressurized air from the appropriate reservoir(s) to the brake cylinders. The brake cylinders convert this pressure to the mechanical force that the brake shoes apply to slow or stop the rotation of the wheels on the railcar. Assuming the brake signal is successfully communicated throughout the train, the brakes of all railcars in the train respond in generally the same manner.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the air brake equipment of a typical freight railcar equipped with empty and load brake equipment. The air brake equipment typically includes one or more brake cylinders, an emergency air reservoir, an auxiliary air reservoir and an "ABD" or similar type pneumatic brake control valve. The operation of the pneumatic control valve as well as a description of its components is provided in the aforementioned copending application.
Each freight railcar may include empty and load brake equipment such as a P-1 load proportional valve and an S-1 type or an ELX type load sensor valve all of which are made by the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and are well known in the brake control art. The objective of empty and load brake equipment is to reduce braking on the railcar if it is empty and to permit heavier braking on the railcar if it is loaded. On a freight train with railcars equipped with empty and load brake equipment, the braking is more uniformly applied throughout the train in accordance with the load borne by the railcars. This tends to reduce the slack between adjacent railcars and improves overall handling of the freight train.
Regarding the operation of a load sensor valve, the S-1 load sensor valve, for example, automatically senses whether the railcar is loaded or empty generally by measuring the relationship between the body of the railcar and the top of the side frame of the truck. Each railcar typically has two trucks, one at each end. Each truck includes the wheels and axles and other parts that together form the structure that supports the body of the railcar. Suspension springs are used to dampen vibrations that would otherwise be transmitted from the wheels to the railcar body and that may otherwise damage the load being transported. These suspension springs deflect or compress to an extent proportional to the weight of the load carried by the railcar.
Typically mounted to the underside of the railcar body, the S-1 load sensor valve uses its sensor arm to measure the distance between the railcar body and the top of the truck side frame. When loaded, the railcar body further compresses the springs thereby reducing the distance between the railcar body and the truck side frame. The distance that the sensor arm can travel is therefore limited. Conversely, when the railcar is empty, the springs are less compressed thereby maximizing the distance between the railcar body and the truck side frame. The distance that the sensor arm can travel is then at its maximum.
When the S-1 load sensor senses that the railcar is empty, its internal mechanism serves to regulate the flow of air to the P-1 load valve. When the railcar is empty, the P-1 load proportional valve controls the flow of air to the brake cylinder so that the brake cylinder pressure is approximately 60% of what it would be if the railcar were loaded no matter how much the pressure is reduced in the brake pipe. During brake applications, the equalizing volume is used to maintain a satisfactory relationship between pressure in the empty and load brake equipment and that in the control valve and its reservoirs when the railcar is empty. Empty and load brake equipment such as the type alluded to in this document is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,005,915 and 5,100,207. These patents are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and their teachings are incorporated into the present document by reference.
Whether of the S-1 type or ELX type, the load sensor valve features one or more internal chambers or passageways. An interconnecting pipe connects at least one of these chambers or passageways to the brake cylinder as shown, for example, in the schematic diagram of FIG. 1. An S-1 load sensor valve of the type shown schematically in FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The left side of the housing of the load sensor valve features a generally cylindrical portion flanked by two bolts. Between these bolts and screwed into a threaded bore in the cylindrical portion is a pipe plug. Removal of the pipe plug provides direct access to the chamber that communicates with the brake cylinder via the interconnected pipe shown in FIG. 1. The threaded bore in the housing can thus be used as an access port through which to access the pressure in the brake cylinder from the load sensor valve.
The American Association of Railroads (A.A.R.) has proposed that each railcar of a freight train be provided with a mechanism that would allow the pressure within the brake cylinder to be read quickly. At present, the A.A.R. is considering whether to issue a specification requiring that a commercially available quick connect type fitting be used to access the pressure within the brake cylinder. The disadvantage of such a fitting, however, is that it provides only a single seal with which to contain the pressure to be measured. That is, while such a fitting is not being used to access the pressure, it offers only one seal to prevent leakage of the pressure that it is supposed to contain. Unless the fitting is routinely covered to protect the seal when the fitting is not being used to access the brake cylinder pressure, the seal is exposed to dust, dirt and/or other potential contaminants. It is, of course, important that such a fitting prevent leakage of pressure from the brake cylinder otherwise operation of the brakes may be adversely affected.
It should be noted that the foregoing background information is provided to assist the reader in understanding the instant invention. Accordingly, any terms used herein are not intended to be limited to any particular narrow interpretation unless specifically stated otherwise in this document.

Dual seal fitting for enabling quick measurement of brake cylinder pressure


A system for manufacturing printed circuit board units having facilities for automatically performing a component replacement work or component replenishment work which may take place during the changeover of products and ensuring an effective flexible manufacture of the printed wiring board units includes a plurality of the processing cells. Conveyance passages, on which automatic conveying vehicles travel, extend across the processing cells. Along the conveyances passages, there are provided storages opposite to the processing cells. Predetermined electronic components are arranged in advance onto a pallet in a predetermined sequence by an automatic on-pallet arranging unit provided separately from the processing cells, and the pallet is supplied into the processing cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system for manufacturing printed circuit boards and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a system and a method for the manufacture of the printed circuit boards suitable for effectively manufacturing different kinds of printed circuit boards in small numbers.
2. Related Art
Electronic equipment such as communication equipment generally comprises printed circuit board units (or electronic circuit packages) loaded into a shelf and consisting of printed circuit boards and electronic components mounted thereon. In the field of making industrial products such as communication equipment, particularly, the diversification of the customers' needs requires a flexible manufacture of the printed circuit boards, which inevitably leads to an increase in kinds of printed circuit boards and to a demand for the establishment of the way of effectively manufacturing different kinds of such products in small numbers.
A typical production control system includes a conveyance means such as a driverless, automatic conveying vehicle travelling between a plurality of processing or manufacturing cells or units (processing equipment) and storage units for storing products, a process controller for controlling the processing units, a conveyance controller for the control of the conveyance means, and a host computer which interchanges information with the above-mentioned controllers and issues instructions to the controllers in accordance with a work planning and a process sequence. The production control system called FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) presents a production system capable of coping with a flexible manufacture and executing desired operations while passing a variety of products between the processing cells in accordance with the predetermined procedure.
The conventional methods of manufacturing printed circuit boards include an in-line system in which the processing units are placed in series by way of conveyors, and a parallel line system in which the processing units are arranged in parallel and the printed wiring boards are loaded into or unloaded from the processing units by means of the automatic conveying vehicles.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a conventional in-line system having a plurality of processing cells or units 1a and 1b linked in series by conveyors 2. A rack 3 containing a plurality of printed circuit boards on which electronic components are to be mounted, is loaded onto the conveyor 2 through a loader 4, and is conveyed by the conveyor 2 in the direction shown by arrow A. In the processing cells or units 1a and 1b, the printed circuit boards are removed from the rack 3 for the predetermined operations, and then are passed into the downstream processing units by conveyor 2. The printed circuit boards which have been thus completed through the variety of processing steps are discharged by an unloader 5.
FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows a conventional parallel line system having a plurality of processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . , 6n arranged in parallel along which a conveyance passage 7 extends. An automatic conveying vehicle 8 travels on the conveyance passage 7. A loader/unloader 9 designed to load and unload the rack 3 containing a plurality of printed circuit boards is provided on each of the processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . , 6n.
The rack 3 containing a plurality of printed circuit boards is mounted on the automatic carrying vehicle 8 through the loader 4, and brought into any one of the processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . 6n by way of their respective loader/unloaders 9 in accordance to a working procedure. In the processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . 6n, the printed circuit boards are dispensed from the rack 3 to undergo a predetermined operation and returned into the rack 3. The printed circuit boards are then transferred to the subsequent processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . , 6n on the basis of the working scheme. After the completion of all the processing operations, the finished printed circuit boards are ejected through the unloader 5.
Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown another conventional example of the parallel line system. Across a plurality of processing cells or units 12a to 12e arranged in parallel, is provided a passage 14 on which an automatic driverless vehicle 15 travels for carrying and loading workpieces, such as printed circuit boards, into the processing cells or units 12a to 12e. The processing cells 12a to 12e include their respective loaders/unloaders 13 for loading and unloading of the workpieces. Perpendicular to the passage 14, there extends a second passage 16 on which a stacker crane 17, having an automatic loading/unloading function, travels. Storage units 18 are disposed along each side of the second conveyance passage 16.
In the conventional parallel line system as shown in FIG. 3, the workpieces, such as printed circuit boards, stored within the storages 18, are dispensed onto the automatic vehicle 15 with the aid of the stacker crane 17, and transported to the desired processing cells 12a to 12e.
However, the in-line system shown in FIG. 1 and the parallel line system shown in FIG. 2 are both production lines having only processing cells or units, and hence involve the following problems.
(1) For the flexible manufacture, both manufacturing systems require that the processing or manufacturing units should be constructed to enable an arrangement or a replacement and replenishment of electronic components to be mounted on the printed circuit boards when changing the types of the printed circuit boards being made. At the time of such change in kinds of the products, e.g., printed circuit boards, the processing units are deenergized and hence the operating time of these units is adversely reduced. In the case of a chip component mounting machine, for example, the actual operating time thereof is in the order of 50 through 60% of the entire manufacturing time, with the remainder spent on the arrangement of the components or the like.
(2) Although the printed circuit boards are manufactured by the processing units in accordance with the manufacturing process, the processing time in each of the processing units at each processing step is not fixed due to the different requirements of operation. As a result, the processing units in less loaded processing steps remain idle and have a long waiting period for subsequent workpieces to arrive and be processed, which disadvantageously results in poor productivity of the production line.
On the other hand, the conventional production line shown in FIG. 3 has a problem that the storage units and the automatic vehicle must be separately and systematically controlled, which leads to a complicated control as well as higher production costs of the system. There also arises another problem that the distance of conveying the printed circuit boards can be long, and the productivity of the system is impaired in case the workpieces are to be temporarily withdrawn into the storage u its due to the fact that the workpieces cannot be conveyed between the processing units. Moreover, it takes an excessive time to transfer the workpieces when it is required that the workpieces be taken out from the storage units, because they are transferred by the automatic vehicle after the movement of the stacker crane.
In addition, the conventional automatic conveying vehicles travel at a relatively slow running speed of the order of 30 m/min. due to the travel on the floor in the factory, which results in further deficiency of the conveying process.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing printed wiring boards


A magazine with an elongated indicator member attached to the follower and projecting outside the body of the magazine so that the length of the indicator member indicates how many bullets remain in the aperture. The indicator member is provided with a series of knots at predetermined intervals so that the number of knots on the portion of the indicator member projecting outside the body of the magazine equals the number of bullets remaining in the magazine. More elaborately, each knot can correspond to a predetermined number of remaining bullets, or the knots can vary in configuration to provide a tactile code of the number of remaining bullets so that the user only needs to feel the knot closest to the magazine to determine the number of bullets remaining.

This invention relates to magazines for firearms, and specifically to indicators showing the number of bullets remaining in a gun magazine.
Guns are usually constructed to fire a plurality of bullets, often by employing a removable magazine that contains a plurality of bullets (as used herein, "bullets" includes "cartridges"). Typically, a magazine comprises a hollow body configured to accept a plurality of bullets and having a bullet aperture through which bullets are loaded into the magazine and through which bullets are urged to enter the gun's firing chamber. The magazine is usually provided with a follower that is urged towards the bullet aperture, usually by a spring, so that a new bullet is urged towards the bullet aperture after a bullet is removed from the magazine.
It is very desirable to be able to determine the number of bullets in a magazine so that the user knows how many shots he has left. Of course, this can be determined by knowing the capacity of the magazine when full, and counting the number of bullets that have been fired. However, guns are often used in stressful situations, such as in gun battles, and it is therefore very easy to forget the number of rounds that have been fired. In such circumstances, it is also impossible to eject the magazine in order to count the number of bullets remaining. Also, the user might not be able to look at any visual indicator of the number of bullets that may be left in the magazine, either because of the circumstances or because there is not enough available light.
Many patents have been issued relating to indicators for magazines.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,377,661 to Baker discloses a magazine having a flexible ribbon joined to the follower and having an indicator means attached, where the position of the indicator means along a slot informs the user of the number of cartridges within the magazine.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,202,768 to Arnold discloses an indicator tape having indicating characters that are selectively displayed in a frame as ammunition is discharged.
U.S. Pat. No. 382,455 to Butler discloses a bar having gear teeth on an edge and a series of figures intended to be visible one at a time through an opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,568 to Sakewitz discloses a magazine having a plate marked with numbers that moves past two windows in the grip of a gun to indicate the number of cartridges remaining.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,620,582 to Stukas discloses a magazine having a slot on the side which would show the number of cartridges remaining.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,756 to Jakubaschk, et al., discloses a magazine having an indicator that follows a spring as it uncoils.
A number of other patents have been issued for indicator means for guns, including U.S. Pat. No. 343,471 to Maynard, U.S. Pat. No. 502,389 to Whitten, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 784,786 to Gottardi, U.S. Pat. No. 1,326,234 to Veeder, U.S. Pat. No. 1,332,936 to Veeder, U.S. Pat. No. 2,569,995 to Kapsa and U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,626 to Bartolles.
Of the above mentioned references, only U.S. Pat. No. 784,786 to Gottardi provides a means for determining the number of cartridges remaining without looking at the gun. Further, except for U.S. Pat. No. 2,377,661 to Baker, all of the above references require structures in the gun to cooperate with the magazine for the indicator to function. Thus, it would be impossible to provide existing guns with the indicators disclosed in the above references (except for Baker) unless the guns were modified to provide the requisite cooperating structures. This prevents retrofitting existing guns with these indicators by merely providing replacement magazines (except for Baker).
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an indicator that simply and reliably indicates the number of bullets remaining in a magazine.
It is also an object of this invention to provide such an indicator that can be used quickly, easily and reliably without the user looking at the magazine or the gun.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an indicator that is self-contained in a magazine and that does not require cooperating structure on the gun so that the indicator can be used on existing guns merely by replacing the magazine.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide such an indicator that can be easily retrofitted to existing magazines.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide such an indicator that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.


A product information system for selecting, monitoring and purchasing of products in a retail establishment includes a product selection device, a data processor, a registry retrieval device, a point-of-sale data input device, and a host computer. The product selection device identifies desired items selected by a registrant and routes the desired items to a registry database on a host computer. The data processor is adapted to communicate with the product selection device to thereby collect the desired items selected by the registrant and route the desired items to the host computer. The registry retrieval device is configured to retrieve updated registry data from the host computer in response to a request from a purchasing customer. The retrieval device has an output unit for displaying an updated list of items in the registry database. The point-of-sale data input device identifies desired items which have been purchased by a customer for routing to the host computer. The host computer has a storage unit for maintaining the registry database and a data processor for processing selection and purchasing transactions. Thus, desired items consecutively selected by the registrant are added to the registry database to create a registry list, and desired items purchased by the customer are associated with the registry database to create an updated list reflecting the purchase of said desired items.

A typical consumer purchases gifts for others in connection with a wide variety of events, such as weddings, baby showers, birthdays, or the like. In the case of a wedding, couples typically create a registry of desired gifts at one or more stores prior to their wedding in order to give purchasers an idea of what items would make good wedding presents. However, as the number of gift purchasers for a given occasion grows, the chances of duplicating gift purchases increases substantially because the registry may not reflect gifts already purchased by other customers. Moreover, a purchasing customer typically has to travel to that particular store to retrieve the registry and make the purchase, which can be inconvenient and is sometimes impractical, depending on where the customer lives.
In department stores, supermarkets, and other retail establishments, products for sale are typically labeled with a uniquely identifying bar code. These products can be scanned at a checkout station to initiate an automatic retrieval of price from an in-store processor and computer database. Typically, the only information provided to the customer is the price of the product at the checkout station. Some attempts have been made to provide the customer with a portable scanner which interacts with the customer to provide more information about the product while the customer is making purchasing decisions throughout the store rather than at the checkout station.
For example, some portable devices provide individual shoppers with microprocessor units that can scan the bar codes, display updated product prices and other information derived from the in-store database, and allow manipulation of information such as keeping a list of items purchased, the total cost, sales tax, etc. However, these types of units require that the product information be updated after the unit is returned to a staging area where the unit's power is recharged. Thus, there remains a lag time which can cause discrepancies between the product information in the portable unit and at a checkout station, even though both locations derive the information from the same in-store database. Therefore, it remains desirable to provide a product information system that provides "real-time" updated information from a host database. In addition, it is desirable to provide the customer with information reflecting input by third parties, such as the registrant or other customers, whether the information came from the same store or other stores.
Other attempts have been made to provide portable scanners containing a display device and a reading device for taking stock of the number and type of available goods for inventory purposes. Such systems have also been utilized with wireless communication systems between the reading device and the in-store data processing unit. For example, one such system incorporates a compact hand unit comprising a transmitter for wireless communication of the code detected to a receiver in an in-store data processing unit. Typically, transmission is effected by radio waves, especially in the VHF range.
Nevertheless, it remains desirable to provide a handheld wireless system in connection with a local area network adapted to interface with an in-store processor, a registry retrieval device configured to retrieve updated registry data from a host computer in response to a request from a purchasing customer, and a point of sale data input device for identifying desired items which have been purchased.

Registry information system for shoppers