The present invention provides a service system of a thumbnail image and transmitting/receiving method thereof, by which a thumbnail image service of high quality of service and various application services can be provided to a user and by which a broadcasting station or thumbnail image service provider produces to transmit the thumbnail image to reduce a price of a broadcast receiver. The present invention includes a transmitting unit generating at least one thumbnail image for a specific program to transfer on a transport channel and a receiving unit demodulating the transferred at least one thumbnail image to display or store.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting service, and more particularly, to a service system of a thumbnail image and transmitting/receiving method thereof.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a thumbnail image is implemented by displaying a specific frame of a moving picture to be smaller than its original size for summarizing, browsing, or searching a received or stored broadcast program. Namely, the thumbnail image provides implicative information to a user using a still image instead of a moving image. The thumbnail image enables to summarize contents of a video, which is received from a broadcasting station or recorded in a personal video recorder (PVR) of a digital TV, via several small pictures. And, the thumbnail image enables to generate a key frame for video indexing or a representative image for the purpose of a preview or digest for a program in a program guide. Hence, the thumbnail image is applicable to various fields of use.
Yet, the current system adopts a method of generating a thumbnail image via receiver such as DTV, set-top box, PVR, and the like instead of transmitting a thumbnail image from a broadcasting station. Hence, the receiver needs a separate thumbnail image generator to generate a thumbnail image.
A thumbnail image generator generally adopts a method of generating thumbnail image for the I-picture feasible for extraction of thumbnail image from an inputted video frame. This is to minimize hardware necessary for the thumbnail image generation using a DC value of the I-picture only.
However, in order to generate a thumbnail image enabling a user to clearly comprehend the meaning of program contents, the receiver substantially needs additional hardware and software. And, such an implementation needs high complexity and efficiency. Although the thumbnail image provides high quality of service to a user, the configuration of the receiver is considerably complicated as well as a price of the receiver is expensive.

Service system of thumbnail image and transmitting/receiving method thereof


A load lock is comprised of a housing defining a partial chamber therein opening to a first face, the load lock defining a given point on which the center of a substrate is supported. A swap out plate is secured to the load lock and covers the first face thereof. The swap out plate defines a partial chamber therein and has a horizontally extending slot communicating with the chamber. A substrate support is secured to the load lock for supporting a substrate thereon such that the supported substrate extends between the swap out plate partial chamber and the load lock partial chamber.

The present invention relates generally to material transfer devices, and in particular, to improvements in material transfer devices wherein the device structure is standardized and a fitted swap out plate is used to accommodate variations in the angular relationship between the transfer device and the transport chamber to which the transfer device is connected.
In the fabrication of planar substrates or articles, it is well known to employ a processing chamber within a clean room and to supply a batch of substrates to be processed using two stations situated in a side-by-side fashion and connected to the transport chamber. Within the transport chamber is provided a transport apparatus which is capable of selectively extending a substrate holder into one of the side-by-side loading and unloading stations. In addition, the transfer apparatus is capable of rotating in 360.degree. to move a substrate holder into one of the number of processing stations which are disposed about the chamber. In this way, the transport apparatus is capable of moving a substrate between selective ones of the processing stations, as well as between each of the loading stations as prescribed by a controller. A load lock is provided and functions to move substrates from one position to another irrespective of the number of the processing modules which are coupled to the processing chamber. The functions of each processing chamber are however primarily dictated by manufacturers specific requirements. For example, a transport chamber might require connection with six separate processing modules which must be connected to it in such a manner as to allow the transport apparatus to move radially outwardly to each of the processing modules from a common center disposed within the transport chamber. However, the number of processing modules which are used and attached to the process chamber, determines the angular faces of the transport chamber. As such the angular faces change with the number of process modules added, e.g. number of side faces to be attached. As illustrated in the prior art drawings of FIGS. 1a through 1e, the systems which are used in the manufacture of such substrates can vary from a three processing station system as shown in FIG. 1a, up to as many as a six or seven processing stations, as illustrated in FIG. 1e. In addition, each system must be able to handle wafer sizes of up to 300 mm in diameter. In addition, the system must be configured and designed to meet SEMI/MESC standards. In the past, one answer to this situation was to rework the configuration of the load lock stations to accommodate the different angles which existed between the load lock and transport chamber. However, the customizing of each load lock station involved a significant amount of labor and expense which otherwise would be desirably avoided.
In addition to the above, there is also a need to provide a high throughput transport device which can move a substrate or workpiece between remote locations within highly confined areas as defined by a limited footprint. This is because in the process of manufacturing, not just in the semiconductor industry, the need to move a workpiece from one position to the next, not only requires a high throughput rate, but also accuracy of repeatability of placement of workpieces in registration at predetermined orientations on a support surface. Still a further constraint is a to fabricate a positioning machine which is capable of working in a clean room environment where the existence of particulates is minimized, if not nonexistent.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interface between a load lock and a transport chamber which is adaptable to connect a standardized load lock to a processing chamber with different configurations as defined by different angular faces in the processing chamber.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide an interface of the aforementioned type which is easily manufactured and can be readily connected to a standardized load lock assembly.
It is still a further object of the invention is to provide a system interface which is capable of working within a vacuum environment with exposure to wide ranges of vacuum.
Other objects of and advantages of the invention will become apparent by the following specification and appended claims.


A method for assembling a piston on a rod, and resultant piston and rod assembly, uses one or more lock rings that are mechanically deformed radially inwardly into respective locking grooves in the rod, thereby axially locking the lock ring to the rod. The lock ring can function as an axial stop for the piston or can be formed integrally with the piston. The method of assembly minimize unwanted strains and stresses in the piston and rod, while providing a secure and durable joint between the piston and rod.

As is well known in the art, cylinder products use piston and rod components that are attached to each other by various methods. One such method is peening. Peening requires forces axial to the rod in order to deform material from the rod to interfere with a chamfered area of the back of the piston. During the attachment process these forces have to be countered. The force can be frictionally countered on the outer diameter (OD) of the rod, but this may result in marring of the rod surface. If the rod surface is marred, the operation of the piston/rod assembly can be negatively affected. Alternatively, the force can be opposed at the opposite end of the rod, which can result in column loading of the rod and the potential for bending, particularly when subjected to forces necessary to cause adequate deformation for high strength applications.
Another prior art assembly method for attaching the piston to the rod uses a threaded joint. Assembly is effected by simple rotation of the piston and rod relative to one another. During assembly of the piston on the rod, the unthreaded portion of the rod typically acts as a pilot for centering the piston on the rod. The piston and rod may be torqued relative to one another to provide an assembled joint of a desired strength, and a set screw or pin may be installed tangentially to the threaded area of the joint to lock the piston and rod against relative rotation. In order to provide a pressure tight seal between the piston and the rod, and further to add strength to the assembled joint to prevent the parts from separating during operation, an adhesive heretofore has been used at the threaded joint. This, however, usually requires the mating surfaces of the piston and rod to be clean to obtain proper adhesion between the piston and rod. The cleaning process is costly, primarily because of the time needed to clean the parts. In addition, further time is needed to allow the adhesive to properly cure before the assembly can be further assembled with other components of a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder.


Glaucoma can be treated by implanting an intraocular shunt into an eye. The eye has an anterior chamber and sclera. A shunt can be placed into the eye to establish fluid communication between the anterior chamber of the eye and a space between layers of the sclera.

Glaucoma is a disease in which the optic nerve is damaged, leading to progressive, irreversible loss of vision. It is typically associated with increased pressure of the fluid (i.e., aqueous humor) in the eye. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness. Once lost, this damaged visual field cannot be recovered. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, affecting 1 in 200 people under the age of fifty, and 1 in 10 over the age of eighty for a total of approximately 70 million people worldwide.
The importance of lowering intraocular pressure (IOP) in delaying glaucomatous progression has been well documented. When drug therapy fails, or is not tolerated, surgical intervention is warranted. Surgical filtration methods for lowering intraocular pressure by creating a fluid flow-path between the anterior chamber and the subconjunctival tissue have been described. One particular ab interno glaucoma filtration method has been described whereby an intraocular shunt is implanted by directing a needle which holds the shunt through the cornea, across the anterior chamber, and through the trabecular meshwork and sclera, and into the subconjunctival space. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,249, U.S. patent application publication number 2008/0108933, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,511.
Proper positioning of a shunt in the subconjunctival space is critical in determining the success or failure of subconjunctival glaucoma filtration surgery for a number of reasons. In particular, the location of the shunt has been shown to play a role in stimulating the formation of active drainage structures such as veins or lymph vessels. See, for example, U.S. patent application publication number 2008/0108933. In addition, it has been suggested that the conjunctiva itself plays a critical role in glaucoma filtration surgery. A healthy conjunctiva allows drainage channels to form and less opportunity for inflammation and scar tissue formation, which are frequent causes of failure in subconjunctival filtration surgery. See, for example, Yu et al., Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, 28: 303-328 (2009).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A stabilizing suspension system is provided for vehicles carrying telescopic booms or aerial work platforms having a fixed axle and a oscillating axle. Hydraulic cylinders are connected to each end of the oscillating axle, each cylinder being capable of extending and retracting. An off level sensor senses the angle of tilt of the chassis in both left and right directions and, when a predetermined threshold of tilt has been detected, the hydraulic cylinder on the downhill side of the chassis is locked against retracting, but is free to move in the downhill direction to allow the downhill wheel to remain in contact with the ground.

This invention pertains generally to a stabilizing suspension system for a vehicle capable of travelling over rough terrain. More particularly, the invention pertains to a passive stabilizing suspension system for use in vehicles carrying telescopic booms or aerial work platforms. These vehicles are generally intended for elevated use only on firm level ground, otherwise the vehicle may overturn. However, in order to move the vehicle into position, it is desirable that the vehicle have the capability of travelling over rough terrain, and to be able to move on rough terrain while elevated.
The prior art includes the Barnhart U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,331 dated Sep. 5, 1995, which teaches an active stabilization system. That patent discloses a sensor which is activated by oscillation of the rear axle. The sensor controls an active mechanism which extends a hydraulic cylinder on the front axle, thereby exerting enough force to raise one front corner of the chassis. The Barnhart patent requires that both the front and rear axle oscillate, although the rear axle has limited oscillation, but the freedom of both axles to oscillate can result in a rocking of the chassis and superstructure. The system of the Barnhart patent may, therefore, tend to bounce or rock back and forth between stops provided on the rear axle. Another disadvantage of the Barnhart patent is that it teaches an active suspension, that is the fluid is actively pumped to the hydraulic cylinder on the lower side in order to achieve sufficient force to raise the chassis. Such an active system is relatively complicated, relatively expensive to manufacture and somewhat more subject to malfunction.
The prior art also includes the Nakagawa U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,604 dated May 10, 1983. That patent teaches the use of an oscillating axle with two hydraulic cylinders disposed between the axle and the chassis. When the operator parks the vehicle and applies the brakes, the cylinders are filled with fluid to make the axle act as a fixed axle. However, a major disadvantage of Nakagawa is that the stiffening of the cylinders to resist tipping only occurs when the vehicle is parked.


An array substrate and a display device are provided, and the array substrate, comprising: a substrate; and gate lines (2) and data lines (1), formed on the substrate and configured to defining pixel units, wherein, each data line (1) is located in a middle part of a corresponding pixel unit and configured to dividing each pixel unit into a first sub-pixel unit (7) and a second sub-pixel unit (8), wherein the first sub-pixel unit (7) is connected to one thin film transistor (6) and the second sub-pixel unit (8) is connected to one thin film transistor (6) for independent charging, and the thin film transistors (6) are located in a region corresponding to the corresponding gate line. The data line (1) is arranged in the middle of the corresponding pixel unit, and the first sub-pixel unit (7) and the second sub-pixel unit (8) are connected to two individual thin film transistors (6) to be independently charged, a width of the gate line can be greatly reduced, and the aperture ratio of the pixel can be improved.

In the manufacture field of a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), a transmittance of a panel is an important product performance.
With the development of lithography and manufacture technology, a more sophisticated structure of the panel can be produced. In the prior art, loss of an aperture ratio is reduced by continuously decreasing a width of a data line, however as the width of the data line decreases, a phenomena of an open circuit of the data line may occur with a higher possibility, design and manufacture of a pixel structure having a high aperture ratio and easy to repair, will have broad application prospects.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional pixel structure. The pixel structure comprises a data line 1, a pixel unit and a gate line 2, wherein the data line 1 is located at one side of the pixel unit. The current pixel structure is designed to have a two-domain structure formed of upper and lower domains, so as to avoid a phenomena of color shift, and an irregular shape of a electrode may inevitably appears in a middle part of the pixel structure, a liquid crystal disorder will occur at an interface region 3 of the upper and lower domains, and which is easy to produce more dark regions, and affecting an entire transmittance of the pixel structure.

BEIJING BOE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Intermediate representations of computer code are efficiently generated. More particularly, methods described herein may be used to construct a static single assignment representation of computer code without unnecessary phi-function nodes. Potentially necessary phi-function node assignments may be analyzed to determine whether they directly reach a non-phi use or a necessary phi-use of a corresponding variable. Those that ultimately reach such a use may be determined to be necessary and a pruned static single assignment may be constructed by including those potentially necessary phi-functions determined to be in fact necessary. Also, some phi-function nodes may be determined to be necessary based on their dependency relationship to other phi-functions previously determined to be necessary (e.g., because they directly reach a non-phi use). A phi-function dependency graph may be used to record dependency relationships between phi-function nodes. The analysis can proceed during a forward walk of a control flow representation of the program.

Software compilers use internal data structures (e.g., control flow graphs, data flow graphs, etc.) for maintaining abstract representations of a program being compiled. Among other things, these program representations are used for implementing optimization techniques (e.g., constant propagation, redundancy elimination, etc.). Thus, the form of internal data structure representations of a program can directly influence the power and effectiveness of the various optimization techniques.
More recently, static single assignment (SSA) form and control dependency graphs have been used for representing data flow and control flow of a program in an efficient manner so as to improve the effectiveness of the compiler optimization techniques. In particular, SSA form can be viewed as a sparse representation of the traditional use-definition and definition-use chains related to a program. The SSA form provides several advantages to optimizing compilers. For instance, in SSA form, strict discipline is imposed on the name space used for representing values in computation. Thus, each reference of a name in an SSA form corresponds to the value resulting from precisely a single assignment (this explains the "Single Assignment" in the name SSA). Also, in an SSA form, each use refers to a single name.
Thus, to produce SSA form, a compiler may rewrite the intermediate code representation by inventing new names for each definition and substituting these new names in subsequent uses of the original names. Typically, unique names are created by adding a subscript to the name provided in the original program code. For instance, if a program had a variable "X", then an assignment to the variable in the program's SSA representation may be renamed "X1" whereas another assignment may be renamed as "X2" and so on. Such renaming is simple in the context of straight-line code. However, the presence of more complex control flow presents a challenge for such a renaming process and the interpretation of the resulting code. For instance, if a name in the original code is defined along two converging paths, the SSA form may have multiple names when it reaches a reference.
One way to solve this problem is to introduce a pseudo function (typically referred to as a phi-function, phi-function node, phi-node, φ-function, φ-function node or φ-node) which takes as its arguments the two renamed names converging at the paths and results in a single value being assigned to a new name depending on the control flow. The phi-function can be added into the SSA form where appropriate. For example, a phi-function such as φ(X1, X2) may resolve which value, X1 or X2, applies at a particular convergence path depending on how control flow reached that path (i.e., via the path 1 or 2). A phi-function is sometimes referred to as a "join" function.
Several methods have been proposed for constructing SSA form from the original code related to a program. Each method may result in varying forms of the SSA form with differences in the size of the name space and the number of phi-functions. For instance, Cytron et al. proposes a "minimal" construction for SSA form in their paper titled "Efficiently computing static single assignment form and the control dependence graph," (ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems, 13(4), 450-490, 1991). The so-called "minimal" construction inserts a phi-function at every point where a control-flow merge or join point brings together two SSA form names originating from a single name of the original code. However, this method may insert phi-functions that are unnecessary in an SSA form. For example, phi-functions may be inserted to resolve converging paths of a variable that are never used after the merge. Such values are also typically referred to as not being "live."
The so-called "minimal" SSA construction as taught by Cytron et al. relies entirely on the dominance frontier information of the variables of the program, which accurately captures the potential flow of values in a program but ignores the actual facts related to the data-flow. In particular, Cytron et al. ignores any knowledge about the lifetimes of values determined from analyzing their definitions and uses. Because of this, the so-called "minimal" SSA construction method may in fact insert an unnecessary phi-function at a join point or a merge point for a variable that may not be live.
Several proposed methods address the unnecessary phi-functions. For instance, Choi et al. (Jong-Deok Choi, Ron Cytron, and Jeanne Ferrante; "Automatic Construction of Sparse Data Flow Evaluation Graphs," Conference Record of the Eighteenth Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, January 1991) propose a method for generating a pruned SSA form wherein all unnecessary phi-functions may be eliminated from the final SSA form. The method proposed by Choi et al. uses a traditional liveness analysis (e.g., via a backward walk) on the original, yet to be renamed variables in a prepass. In a different pass, Choi's method generates an SSA form relying on the liveness analysis, indicating which variables are live. However, such a process may be inefficient and time consuming because it requires multiple passes over the flow graph to generate a pruned SSA form without any unnecessary phi-functions.
A method of generating a so-called "Semi-Pruned" SSA form has also been proposed. For instance, Briggs et al., propose such a method in "Practical improvements to the construction and destruction of static single assignment form," (Software: Practice and Experience, pages 28(8):859-881, 1998). This method proposes a less expensive local liveness analysis for each block of a control flow graph. However, this method does not always remove all the unnecessary phi-function nodes. Thus, there is a need for a method of generating a pruned SSA form which is efficient and accurate.

Efficient construction of pruned SSA form


First and second parts of a lens-fitted photographic film package are fastened to each other through engagement between hooks and engaging portions which are formed integrally on the first part and the second part, respectively. Holes are formed at the root of the hooks. Each hook is formed with a projection having a sloping surface which extends from the root of the hook toward an engaging surface of the hook and is inclined in a direction to occupy the space behind the hole. A stick-like tool is inserted into the hole in the direction in which the first part is pushed onto the second part to assemble the parts. The tool pushes the hook by sliding along the sloping surface of the projection and bends the hook in a direction to disengage the engaging surface of the hook from the engaging portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens-fitted photographic film package, and more particularly to a construction for securing together the components of the lens-fitted photographic film package, which facilitates disassembly of the lens-fitted photographic film package.
2. Related Art
Lens-fitted photographic film packages (hereinafter referred to as film packages) are now on the market, for example, under a trademark "Quick Snap", which are a single-use camera pre-loaded with photographic film. The film packages make it possible to take pictures whenever desired without buying or carrying an expensive and heavy camera.
The film package comprises a front cover section 1, a main body section 2, and a rear cover section 3, as shown in FIG. 7. The main body section 2 accommodates an exposed film 4 which is previously pulled out from a film container 4a and is wound in a roll. A shutter cover member 5 for mounting a taking lens 9 is fixedly attached to the front of the main body section 2. When a shutter release button 6 is depressed, an exposure mechanism including a shutter actuating lever 7 and a shutter blade 8 is released from a cocked position to expose the film 4 to light passing through the taking lens 9.
When assembling the film package, the main body section 2, in which the exposure mechanism and film winding mechanism are incorporated and the unexposed film 4 and the film container 4a are accommodated, is closed by the rear cover section 3 in a light-tight fashion. The shutter cover member 5 for mounting a taking lens 9 is fixedly attached to the front of the main body section 2. Thereafter, the front cover section 1 is fixedly attached to the front of the main body section 2.
These parts may be permanently secured to each other, for example, by ultrasonic welding. But recently, the parts have been more usually assembled by snap-in engagement with each other, because this method is advantageous in view of the cost and the efficiency of assembly.
For example, a pair of hooks 10 are formed integrally on the shutter cover member 5, and a pair of engaging portions 11 are formed on the main body section 2, so that the shutter cover member 5 can be fastened to the main body section 2 by engaging the hooks 10 with the engaging portions 11, as shown in FIG. 8. Similarly, as is shown in FIG. 9, the front cover section 1 is fastened to the main body section 2 through engagement between hooks 16 and 17 which are formed integrally on the front cover section and the main body section 2, respectively.
Engaging surfaces 10a and 11a of the hooks 10 and the engaging portions 11 are substantially perpendicular to a direction A in which the shutter cover member 5 is attached to or detached from the main body section 2. Engaging surfaces 16a and 17a of the hooks 16 and 17 are also substantially perpendicular to the direction A.
A snap-in type bottom lid 3a is formed on the rear cover section. The bottom lid 3a is pried open by a photofinisher, to remove the film container 4a containing exposed photographic film therein from the film package.
Meanwhile, for environmental protection and the recycling of industrial waste, the reuse of the film packages should be affirmatively promoted, instead of simply throwing them away after the exposed photographic films have been removed therefrom for development and printing. To recover the bodies of the used film packages, they must be disassembled and the individual parts sorted according to their materials. To disassemble the bodies, it is necessary to disengage the parts from one another.
Conveniently, this disengagement process is carried out by hand. For instance, when the shutter cover member 5 or the front cover section 1 is removed from the main body section 2, a tool, such as a stick or screw driver is inserted into a hole 12 or 15, and the hook 10 or 16 is bent by the tool in a direction transverse to the direction A, so as to separate the engaging surface 10a or 16a from the engaging surface 11a or 17a, respectively. The holes 12 and 15 originally served as holes allowing removal of the molds for forming the engaging surfaces 10a and 16a by molding.
However, according to the above-described conventional arrangements, it is necessary to move the tool first in the direction A and then in a direction transverse to the direction A, as indicated by arrows shown by chain-dotted lines in FIGS. 8 and 9. This is cumbersome and reduces the efficiency of disassembly. Furthermore, the hooks 10 and 16 are frequently broken when bent by the tool, because the hooks 10 and 16 can be bent unnecessarily far. The shutter cover member 5 with the hook 10 broken or the front cover section 1 with the hook 16 broken cannot be directly reused as a part of a new film package.
Although it is desirable to automate the disassembly process, a complicated and hence expensive mechanism would be necessary for automatically moving the tool in the above-described manner. Moreover, because the depth of insertion of the tool into the holes should be limited, such an automatic disassembly mechanism requires high accuracy in positioning the workpieces and in other operations. This further increases the cost of disassembling the film packages.


In an embodiment, a method is provided. The method of this embodiment provides transmitting data from a source node to a destination node, receiving a special flow control pause frame transmitted by the destination node in response to the destination node detecting a flow modification condition, and adjusting transmission of the data to the destination node in accordance with information included in the special flow control pause frame.

When a source node sends packets to a destination node in a communications network, packets may be stored in an input buffer of a network component where the packets may be retrieved and may be processed by the destination node. If a source node transmits packets to a destination node faster than the destination node can process the packets, congestion at the destination node may occur as traffic in its input buffer builds up. Therefore, flow control may be applied to control the traffic from the source node to the destination node.
An example of a flow control scheme is described in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) 802.3 specification, IEEE Std. 802.3, 2002 Edition, current edition published on Mar. 8, 2002. Under the Ethernet flow control scheme, when a destination node becomes congested, the destination node may send a flow control pause frame to the source node. The flow control pause frame may signal the source node to stop all traffic to the destination node. In some cases, however, this may not be desirable.


An electronic circuit (101) for controlling a spark of a spark plug (SP1) in a capacitor discharge ignition system (100) for a combustion engine. The electronic circuit (101) comprises an ignition coil (110) dimensioned and configured to provide current to the spark plug (SP1), an ignition capacitor (C1) dimensioned and configured to supply energy to the primary winding (L1), an voltage source (130) dimensioned and configured to supply energy to at least one of the ignition capacitor (C1) and the primary winding (L1), a first switch (SW1) connected to the first primary terminal (TL1) and the first source terminal (TS1), a second switch (SW2) connected to the second capacitor terminal (TC2) and the second source terminal (TS2), and a third switch (SW3) connected to the second capacitor terminal (TC2) and the first source terminal (TS1). A capacitor discharge ignition system (100) including the electronic circuit (101) and a combustion engine including the capacitor discharge ignition system (100).

Automotive ignition systems produce high voltage electrical discharges at the terminals of one or more spark plugs to ignite a compressed air fuel mixture. The electrical discharge is required to be released when the piston is at a particular physical position inside the cylinder. Further, to optimize engine performance, improve fuel economy, minimize spark plug electrode wear, and polluting emissions, the time of occurrence and duration of the spark should be controllable in accordance with a predefined discharge profile.
A typical CDI system, illustrated in FIG. 1, has a capacitor C1 as energy storage. Energy stored is E=½×C1×U{circumflex over ( )}2. A voltage level U is supplied to the capacitor C1 by a voltage source V1 when a switch SW1 is open and switch SW4 is closed. When the capacitor C1 has been charged to a pre-defined voltage level U, the further switch SW4 is opened and when the switch SW1 closes a spark is released over the spark plug electrodes as follows. A transformer T is connected to the capacitor C1 which is arranged to supply a very high voltage to a spark plug SP1. A high voltage over the spark plug SP1 is required to create a plasma, i.e., a spark. To achieve the high voltage some hundred volts is applied over the transformer's primary coil L1, which transforms these some hundred volts up to some 50 kV, i.e., the high voltage required to create a flash-over, a spark.
The transformer primary coil L1 and the capacitor C1 constitute a so-called resonance circuit with frequency 1/√(L1×C1). The resonance would continue endlessly if it weren't for energy losses that exist in the physical components of the CDI system. Energy losses give rise to heat, and accordingly the energy output to the spark is reduced.
FIG. 2 illustrates the voltage over the capacitor C1 as a function of time, see solid line, and the current through the primary coil L1, see dotted line. Moreover, a graph, see dashed line, illustrates voltage over spark gap, or spark plug electrodes, as a function of time. The graphs are in different scales and units to improve legibility. At time t0, the switch SW1, as shown in FIG. 1, is opened and the further switch SW4, also shown in FIG. 1, is closed. At time t1, the switch SW1 is closed and the further switch SW4 is opened to form the spark. The current through the primary coil begins and increases while the voltage over the capacitor decreases. The increasing current through the primary coil is transformed to an increasing voltage over the secondary coil. The (voltage) increase continues until the voltage across the spark plug electrodes is so high that an electric break-down is created, generating a plasma between the spark plug electrodes, i.e., a spark has been initiated. The polarity of the spark alternates thereafter due to the resonant circuit formed by the capacitor C1 and the transformer T, known to be a resonant circuit of this kind. Eventually, the spark is extinguished (not shown). Additionally, FIG. 3 illustrates current through the spark gap, see solid line, and current through primary coil, see dotted line. Time t1 is the same as in FIG. 2.
Various solutions for varying spark duration in CDI systems exist. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,792, issued Dec. 16, 2003, to Dutt et al. discloses a capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) system that is capable of generating intense continuous electrical discharge at a spark gap for a desired duration and may include a second controllable power switching circuit with its input terminal connected to an output terminal of a high voltage DC source device. An output terminal of the second controllable power switching circuit is connected to an input terminal of a first power switching circuit. The second controllable power switching circuit may also have a control terminal connected to an output of a controller. The first controllable power switching circuit may be used for discharging a discharge capacitor, and the second controllable power switching circuit may cause charging of the discharge capacitor. As such, an ignition current through an ignition coil of the system is enabled for any desired number of cycles during both the charge and discharge cycles of the discharge capacitor. A train of ignition current signals makes the spark extendable to any desired length of time. However, a disadvantage with such a solution is a limited flexibility to generate a spark with desired properties, and a high production cost. For some applications, specifically for applications requiring flexible spark characteristics and cost-efficient solutions, such as SI-ICE fuelled by alternative and renewable fuels, new, more cost-efficient and flexible solutions are required.

Electronic circuit and capacitor discharge system comprising electronic circuit


An apparatus and method are provided for detecting buries objects, geological formations or sediment properties by transmitting an acoustic signal and receiving a scattered signal. An acoustic source and an array of receivers are used to correlate the scattered signal with the transmitted signal.

This invention relates to a non-destructive method of measuring buried objects, geological formations and sediment properties. More particularly, this invention relates to transmitting signals from a source and receiving with receivers the signals scattered by buried objects, geological formations and sediment properties. A device for carrying out the measuring method is also provided.

Method of measuring buried objects, geological formations and sediment properties


A solid state reversing DC motor starter that is testable on-line and satisfies the requirements for nuclear safety grade equipment. The motor starter employs a bridge of solid state switches which connect the polarity of the motor winding to conform to the desired direction of travel. The reversing switch bridge is in series with the main switch that is coupled in parallel with a reduced current by-pass flow path.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to DC motor starting circuits and more particularly to DC motor starting circuits that are testable on-line.
2. Background of the Invention
One of the new generation advanced passive nuclear power plants supplied by Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC, Pittsburgh, Pa. known as the AP1000 plant, has no class 1E AC power source. The plan is to use the 125 VDC power station batteries to operate safety grade valves to control various aspects of the nuclear power generation process. The intent is to use DC motors to operate valves that are either to large for solenoid powered operators or which must have a "fail-as-is" characteristic. A suitable DC motor starter is not commercially available to meet the particular requirements of nuclear class 1E equipment.
Additionally, the trend has been to increase the operating fuel cycles of nuclear plants to enhance their efficiency. This mode of operation puts a further strain the reliability of the nuclear components due to the extended time between outages during which the equipment may be serviced.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a solid state reversing DC motor starter that can meet the stringent requirements of nuclear safety systems.
Furthermore, it is an object of this invention to provide such a solid state reversing DC motor starter that is testable on-line to ensure its integrity.
Further, it is an object of this invention to provide such a DC motor starter that is immune to single failure caused spurious actuations.
It is also an object of this invention to provide such a DC motor starter that is testable on-line without requiring motion of the motor.

On-line testable solid state reversing DC motor starter


An image forming apparatus of the type transferring a toner image from an image carrier to an intermediate transfer body by primary transfer, and transferring it from the intermediate transfer body to a recording medium by secondary transfer is disclosed. Before the primary transfer, a charge of the same polarity as the charge of the toner image is deposited on the intermediate transfer body. The charge deposited on the transfer body reduces the scattering or blurring of the toner image apt to occur when toners of different colors are superposed, without deteriorating the paper-free feature of the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copier, facsimile apparatus, printer or similar image forming apparatus and, more particularly, to an image forming apparatus of the type transferring a toner image from an image carrier to an intermediate transfer body (primary transfer) and then transferring the image from the intermediate transfer body to a paper or similar recording medium (secondary transfer).
2. Discussion of the Background
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of copying or printing full-color images is extensively used today. Two different systems are available with this type of image forming apparatus for transferring a full-color image to a paper or similar recording medium, as follows.
(a) Transfer drum system: Yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (Bk) toner images are sequentially formed on a photoconductive drum or similar image carrier and transferred to a paper retained on a transfer drum one upon the other.
(b) Intermediate transfer system: Y, M, C and Bk toner images are sequentially formed on a photoconductive drum or similar image carrier and transferred to an intermediate transfer body one upon the other in a primary transfer region. Then, the resulting full-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body is transferred to a paper in a secondary transfer region.
The intermediate transfer system (b) is advantageous over the transfer drum system (a) in that it has a paper-free feature, i.e., it can transfer toner images even to, e.g., thick papers. In addition, the system (b) is free from the problem of the system (a) that an image cannot be formed in the leading edge portion of a paper which is clamped on the transfer drum.
In the above system (a), a paper must be wrapped around a film covering the surface of the transfer drum. To electrostatically retain the paper on the film, the film is formed of an insulating material. By contrast, the system (b) does not wrap a paper around the intermediate transfer body, so that the transfer body can be formed of a material having a medium electric resistance (volume resistivity of 10.sup.7 .OMEGA. cm to 10.sup.14 .OMEGA. cm). A charge deposited on a material having a medium electric resistance attenuates naturally with a given time constant. Therefore, the system (b) does not need discharging means for forcibly dissipating the deposited transfer charge. Such discharging means is essential with the system (a) using the insulator. It follows that the system (b) successfully reduces ozone and saves power while achieving the paper-free feature and full-surface copy.
However, the problem with the intermediate transfer body implemented by a material having a medium resistance is that the material is electrically unstable, compared to an insulator. As a result, characters and lines transferred to the transfer body are apt to suffer from a defect generally referred to as scattering or blurring.
The following approaches (1)-(5) have heretofore been proposed in order to obviate the scattering or blurring of images particular to the system (b).
(1) After toner of high resistance has been non-electrostatically transferred to an intermediate transfer medium, a heat roller is pressed against the transfer medium with the intermediary of a paper so as to effect transfer and fixation (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-34570).
(2) After conductive toner has been non-electrostatically transferred to an intermediate transfer medium, a heat roller is pressed against the transfer medium with the intermediary of a paper so as to effect transfer and fixation (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-34571).
(3) Every time a toner image is transferred to an intermediate transfer medium, a charger for peeling a paper discharges the toner image (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-282571).
(4) A higher transfer potential is assigned to the last transfer step than to the immediately preceding transfer step. In addition, a preselected voltage is applied to an intermediate transfer body during the interval between consecutive transfer steps.
(5) Means is provided for discharging a charge deposited on an intermediate transfer body at a position preceding means for transferring a toner image from the transfer body to a paper (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-147170).
However, the above approaches (1) and (2) are difficult to achieve the paper-free feature although successfully obviating the scattering of toner due to the transfer and fixation using a pressure. The approaches (3)-(5), each needing discharging means, cannot sufficiently reduce ozone or save power (advantage particular to a medium resistance material) although successfully obviating the scattering of toner in a monocolor mode; it is noteworthy, however, that the system (b) using a medium resistance material halves the number of discharging means, compared to the system (a) using an insulator. Another problem with the approaches (3)-(5) is that when two to four different colors are transferred one upon the other, the scattering of toner cannot be sufficiently reduced.
The scattering of toner to occur when different colors are superposed will be described hereinafter. For the analysis of scattering particular to the primary transfer, use was made of a conventional ordinary color copier. Scattering on an intermediate transfer belt was observed after the primary transfer effected in each of C and M monocolor modes and in each of C.fwdarw.M and M.fwdarw.C bicolor modes. The observation showed that the toners were scattered little in the monocolor modes. In the bicolor modes, the toner of the first color (transferred first) was scattered little as in the monocolor modes without regard to the kind of toner, but the toner of the second color was partly scattered around image portions. For such experiments, the toners were deposited in an amount of 0.56 mg/cm.sup.2 in the monocolor modes and in an amount of about 1.1 mg/cm.sup.2 in the bicolor modes.
The above experiments were repeated except that the developing conditions were so selected as to double the amount of toner deposition. It was found that the toners were scattered even in the monocolor modes to the same degree as in the bicolor modes of the previous experiments. Moreover, in the bicolor modes, each toner of the second color was scattered more than in the bicolor modes of the previous experiments.
As the above experiments indicate, when two to four colors are transferred one upon the other, the scattering becomes more conspicuous as the amount of toner to deposit on the intermediate transfer belt increases. Further, the experiments showed that the scattering did not occur at a position upstream of a primary transfer region, but occurred at a position downstream of a nip for image transfer (between the nip and a transfer bias roller). Further, in each monocolor mode, the scattering occurred at a position upstream of the above nip, i.e., at the inlet of the nip.
A color copier using the transfer drum system was remodeled for evaluation. Scattering on a transfer drum was observed after the primary transfer effected in each of the same monocolor modes and bicolor modes, while varying the amount of toner deposition. Substantially the same degree of scattering occurred in both the monocolor modes and bicolor modes, but the scattering of the second color was not as noticeable as in the intermediate transfer system. Moreover, while the scattering tends to decrease with an increase in the amount of toner deposition, the transfer drum system is obviously superior to the intermediate transfer system for the amount of toner deposition of about 1 mg/cm.sup.2.
It follows that the scattering of toner to occur when different colors are superposed (or when the amount of toner deposition is great) can be considered as a problem particular to the intermediate transfer system using a medium resistance material.
The scattering of toner to occur in a monocolor mode will be described hereinafter. To transfer toner from a photoconductive element to an intermediate transfer body, a preselected transfer voltage is applied to a nip where the two members contact each other. The resulting charge forms a n electric field for image transfer at the above nip and causes the toner to be electrostatically transferred from the photoconductive element to the intermediate transfer body. When the intermediate transfer body is implemented by the previously stated medium resistance material, the charge deposited on the transfer body partly leaks to the outside of the nip. Specifically, when the transfer body is formed of an insulator, the charge deposited thereon remains at the same position. However, when use is made of a medium resistance material, the charge deposited on the transfer body moves away from the expected position. The movement of the charge occurs toward the upstream side and downstream side, with respect to the direction of movement of the transfer body, away from the position where the charge has been deposited on the transfer body. If the charge moves to the inlet of the nip, i.e., a gap immediately preceding the position where the photoconductive element and transfer body contact each other, the charge forms an electric field on the transfer body at the inlet of the nip. This electric field causes the toner transfer from the photoconductive element to the transfer body to occur before the latter contacts the former (so-called pretransfer). The pretransfer occurs at a position slightly deviated from the position of transfer at the nip, resulting in the scattering.


A valve device is incorporated within a printhead of an ink-jet pen for regulation of ink flow and pressure within the printhead. The valve device includes a valve member comprising a resiliently deformable flap positioned in an ink channel, adjacent a firing chamber. The flap is deflectable into and out of a position to regulate ink flow and pressure both to and from the ink firing chambers.

An ink-jet printer includes a pen in which small droplets of ink are formed and ejected toward a printing medium. The pen is mounted to a reciprocating carriage in the printer. Such pens include printheads with orifice plates having very small nozzles through which ink droplets are ejected. Adjacent to the nozzles are ink chambers where ink is stored prior to ejection. Ink is delivered to the ink chambers through ink channels that are in fluid communication with an ink supply. The ink supply may be, for example, contained in a reservoir section of the pen or supplied to the pen from a remote site.
Ejection of an ink droplet through a nozzle may be accomplished by quickly heating a volume of ink within the adjacent ink chamber. The thermal process causes ink within the chamber to superheat and form a vapor bubble. Formation of a thermal ink-jet vapor bubble is known as "nucleation." The rapid expansion of ink vapor forces a drop of ink through the orifice. This process is called "firing." Ink in the chamber may be heated, for example, with a resistor that is responsive to a control signal. The resistor is aligned adjacent the nozzle.
Ink-jet printheads typically rely on capillary forces to draw ink through the ink channels to the ink chambers. As used herein, the term "back pressure" means a partial vacuum within the printhead. Back pressure is considered in the positive sense, so that an increase in back pressure represents an increase in the partial vacuum. The capillary forces overcome a slightly positive back pressure created by a regulator. Once ink is ejected from the chamber, the chamber is refilled by the capillary force, readying the system for firing another droplet.
As ink rushes in to refill an empty chamber, the inertia of the moving ink causes some of the ink to bulge out of the orifice. Because ink within the pen is generally kept at a slightly positive back pressure, the bulging portion of the ink immediately recoils back into the ink chamber. This reciprocating motion diminishes over a few cycles and eventually stops or damps out.
If a droplet is fired when the ink is bulging out the orifice, the ejected droplet will be dumbbell shaped and slow moving. Conversely, if the ink is ejected when ink is recoiling from the nozzle, the ejected droplet will be spear shaped and move undesirably fast. Between these two extremes, as the ink motion damps out in the chamber, well-formed drops are produced for optimum print quality.
Print speed (that is, the rate at which droplets are ejected) must be sufficiently slow to allow the ink motion within the chamber to damp out between droplet firing. The time period required for the ink motion to damp sufficiently may be referred to as the damping interval.
To lessen the print speed reduction attributable to the damping interval, ink chamber geometry has been manipulated. The chambers are constricted in a way that reduces the ink chamber refill speed in an effort to rapidly damp the bulging, refilling ink. Generally, chamber length and area are constructed to lessen the reciprocating motion of chamber refill ink (hence, lessen the damping interval). However, printheads have been unable to eliminate the damping interval. Thus, print speed must accommodate the damping interval, or print and image quality suffer.
Ink-jet printheads are also susceptible to ink "blowback" during droplet ejection. Blowback results when some ink in the chamber is forced back into the adjacent part of the channel upon firing. Blowback occurs because the chamber is in constant fluid communication with the channel, hence, upon firing, a large portion of ink within the chamber is not ejected from the printhead, but rather is blown back into the channel.
Blowback wastes some energy that is for ejection of droplets from the chamber ("turn on energy" or TOE) because only a portion of the entire volume of ink in the chamber is actually ejected. Thus, reducing blowback reduces TOE to increase the thermal efficiency of an ink-jet pen. Moreover, higher TOE results in excessive printhead heating. Excessive printhead heating generates bubbles from air dissolved in the ink, causing prenucleation of the ink vapor bubble. Air bubbles and prenucleation result in poor print quality.

Microfluid valve for modulating fluid flow within an ink-jet printer


A system and method for signal processing are disclosed. One problem in measurement-while-drilling systems including a downhole acoustic transmitter is the presence of uphole generated noise and reflected signals. By proper spacing and timing of multiple transducers and measurements, the present invention filters from the received, corrupted signal the uphole noise and reflected signals. Thus, a more accurate depiction of the transmitted signal is generated uphole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to measurement-while-drilling systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to downhole data transmission in a measurement-while-drilling system. Most particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing noise and reflections from a surface-received waveform to yield a more accurate depiction of a signal transmitted from downhole.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern petroleum drilling and production operations demand a great quantity of information relating to parameters and conditions downhole. Such information typically includes characteristics of the earth formations traversed by the wellbore, in addition to data relating to the size and configuration of the borehole itself. The collection of information relating to conditions downhole commonly is referred to as "logging." Logging has been known in the industry for many years as a technique for providing information regarding the particular earth formation being drilled and can be performed by several methods. In conventional oil well wireline logging, a probe or "sonde" is lowered into the borehole after some or all of the well has been drilled, and is used to determine certain characteristics of the formations traversed by the borehole. A wireline sonde may include a source device for transmitting energy into the formation, and one or more receivers for detecting the energy reflected from the formation. Various sensors have been used to determine particular characteristics of the formation, including nuclear sensors, acoustic sensors, and electrical sensors. The sonde typically is constructed as a hermetically sealed steel cylinder for housing the sensors, which hangs at the end of a long cable or "wireline." The cable or wireline provides mechanical support to the sonde and also provides an electrical connection between the sensors and associated instrumentation within the sonde, and electrical equipment located at the surface of the well. Normally, the cable supplies operating power to the sonde and is used as an electrical conductor to transmit information signals from the sonde to the surface and to control signals from the surface to the sonde. In accordance with conventional techniques, various parameters of the earth's formations are measured and correlated with the position of the sonde in the borehole, as the sonde is pulled uphole.
While wireline logging is useful in assimilating information relating to formations downhole, it nonetheless has certain disadvantages. For example, before the wireline logging tool can be run in the wellbore, the drillstring and bottomhole assembly must first be removed, or tripped, from the borehole, resulting in considerable cost and loss of drilling time for the driller (who typically is paying daily fees for the rental of drilling equipment). In addition, because wireline tools are unable to collect data during the actual drilling operation, drillers possibly must make decisions (such as the direction to drill, etc.) without sufficient information, or else incur the cost of tripping the drillstring to run a logging tool to gather more information relating to conditions downhole. In addition, because wireline logging occurs a relatively long period after the wellbore is drilled, the accuracy of the wireline measurement can be questionable. As one skilled in the art will understand, wellbore conditions tend to degrade as drilling fluids invade the formation in the vicinity of the wellbore. In addition, the borehole shape may begin to degrade, reducing the accuracy of the measurements.
Because of these limitations associated with wireline logging, there recently has been an increasing emphasis on the collection of data during the drilling process itself. By collecting and processing data during the drilling process, without the necessity of tripping the drilling assembly to insert a wireline logging tool, the driller can make accurate modifications or corrections "real-time", as necessary, to optimize drilling performance. For example, the driller may change the weight-on-bit to cause the bottomhole assembly to tend to drill in a particular direction. Moreover, the measurement of formation parameters during drilling, and hopefully before invasion of the formation, increases the usefulness of the measured data. Further, making formation and borehole measurements during drilling can save the additional rig time which otherwise would be required to run a wireline logging tool.
Techniques for measuring conditions downhole, and the movement and location of the drilling assembly contemporaneously with the drilling of the well, have come to be known as "measurement-while-drilling" techniques, or "MWD." Similar techniques, concentrating more on the measurement of formation parameters of the type associated with wireline tools, commonly have been referred to as "logging while drilling" techniques, or "LWD." While distinctions between MWD and LWD may exist, the terms MWD and LWD often are used interchangeably. For the purposes of this disclosure, the term LWD will be used with the understanding that the term encompasses both the collection of formation parameters and the collection of information relating to the position of the drilling assembly while the bottomhole assembly is in the well. The measurement of formation properties during drilling of the well by LWD systems improves the timeliness of measurement data and, consequently, increases the efficiency of drilling operations. Typically, LWD measurements are used to provide information regarding the particular formation in which the borehole is traversing.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an LWD system. A well bore or borehole 100 contains a drill string or drill pipe 110 including a hollow center region 111, and defines an annulus 130 (the region between the outside of the drill string and periphery of the borehole). Also shown are stand pipe 115 including an area of curvature 112, drill bit 125, and transmitter 140. Stand pipe 115 connects above the earth's surface (or rig floor) 117 to desurger 160, pressure transducer 150, signal processor 155 through a transmission line 158 and transducer 150, a mud pump 120, and drill string 110. Desurger 160 contains a high pressure area 162 and a rubber interface 164. Drill bit 125 attaches to drill string 110 at the lower end of the drill string. Transmitter 140, part of a bottom hole assembly (not shown in its entirety), is located near the bottom 111 of the drillstring, proximate to drill bit 125.
Typically, a pit at the surface of the earth (not shown) contains drilling fluid or mud 122. Mud pump 120 forces the drilling fluid 122 into region 111 of the drill string, where it flows in a downward direction as indicated by arrow 124. Eventually, it exits the drill string via ports in the drill bit 125 and circulates upward via annulus 130, as indicated by flow arrows 126. The drilling fluid thereby lubricates the bit and carries formation cuttings to the surface of the earth. The drilling fluid is returned to the pit for re-circulation.
Acoustic transmitter 140 generates an information signal 170 representative of measured downhole parameters. Information signal 170 typically is an acoustic pulse signal that travels in an upward direction 175 along the mud column (inside region 111) at the speed of sound. One suitable type of acoustic transmitter employs a device known as a "mud siren" which includes a slotted stator and a slotted rotor that rotates and repeatedly interrupts the flow of drilling fluid to establish a desired acoustic wave signal in the drilling fluid. Such a mud siren conventionally operates at carrier frequencies ranging from 12 Hz to 24 Hz, with data transmission rates ranging from 3 bits per second (bps) to 6 bps. Other acoustic transmitters are also known. These alternate transmitters have lower data transmission rates around 1 bps and frequency spectrum in the range of mud pump noise, so that signals are more difficult to recover at transducer 150. Driving electronics (not shown) in the bottom hole assembly include a suitable modulator such as a phase shift key (PSK) modulator, a frequency shift key modulator (FSK), or an amplitude modulator (AM), each of which conventionally produces driving signals for application to transmitter 140. Pressure transducer 150 receives the acoustic mud wave 170 at an uphole location, such as at the surface of the earth. Pressure transducer 150, which is, for example, a piezoelectric transducer, converts the received acoustic signals to electronic signals. Transducer 150 outputs the received waveform to signal processor 155 via the transmission line 158. Signal processor 155 operates to process and demodulate the received signals.
The presence of extraneous signals and noise along the mud column complicates the interpretation by signal processor 155 of an acoustic signal 170 received at pressure transducer 150. For example, the noise generated by the drilling assembly, the flow of mud through the drillstring, the grinding of the drilling components, and other mechanical and environmental noises make it difficult for the pressure transducer 150 to receive the transmitted acoustic wave 170 and to isolate the data contained in the acoustic waveform from extraneous noise. In particular, the operation of the mud pump 120, and specifically the action of its pistons (not shown), generates significant acoustic noise.
In addition to noise, reflection of acoustic signals is a significant problem. Upon the generation of an acoustic signal 170 by transmitter 140, the acoustic signal travels upward 175 toward and past pressure transducer 150. This acoustic signal may then reflect off mud pump 120, desurger 160, or both. The reflected signals rebound and travel in the opposite direction, namely downward 124 back towards the acoustic transmitter 140. As such, it is particularly difficult for the pressure transducer 150 to distinguish whether a received wave form is an upcoming waveform, a downgoing waveform, or a combination waveform. Indeed, if pressure transducer 150 is located at a node where the upcoming and downgoing signals cancel, pressure transducer 150 will erroneously indicate that no signal has been sent by downhole transmitter 140. Even if pressure transducer 150 is not located at such a node, the presence of the reflected, downgoing acoustic signals from the mud pump and desurger complicate analysis of the received waveform. These effects are in addition to the noise created by the mid pump's pistons.
Mud pump 120 acts as a solid reflector to the acoustic signal 170. As such, upon arrival at the mud pump 120, signals from transmitter 140 are reflected back in the opposite direction. These reflected signals maintain approximately the same amplitude and frequency of the original signals 170, but normally have different phases. Although there is not any appreciable difference for the range of transmission speeds currently available, at low frequencies, these reflected signals attenuate more slowly, and so the mud pump reflection phenomenon is more significant. As such, present transmission frequencies all are "low" enough that this is a significant effect. The exact nature of the signal reflected off a mud pump is difficult to predict for a myriad of reasons. For example, there are a variety of different mud pump manufacturers, and mud pump seals may be in different states of wear from mud pump to mud pump.
Desurger 160 includes a high pressure area 162 and a rubber interface 164. Rubber interface 164 and high pressure area 162 combine to absorb energy from the system and thereby dampen many of the transients present in the drilling system. Such absorption of energy helps to ensure that the system becomes and stays stable. Stability in the system minimizes the chances that energy from the mud pump pistons cracks or otherwise damages the piping of the drill string 110. However, this advantageous feature of desurger 160 is mitigated by the desurger's propensity to reflect and distort acoustic waves. Acoustic signals, and particularly lower frequency acoustic signals, reflect or bounce off desurger 160. As such, the desurger reflection phenomenon is more significant at lower frequencies. The character of the signals 190 reflected from desurger 160 is generally more complex than the character of the mud pump signal reflection 180. A signal 190 reflected from desurger 160 not only has an altered phase when compared to the transmitted signal 170, but also may have a significantly different amplitude and frequency distributions. Once again, the exact nature of the reflected waveform 190 is difficult to predict.
Therefore, pump noise and reflected signals often corrupt the signal 170 received by transducer 150. Signal corruption degrades the signal-to-noise ratio of the waveform received by transducer 150. As is well known, a lower signal-to-noise ratio decreases the reliability of the received waveform, and thus limits the data transmission rate. Conversely, a higher signal-to-noise ratio increases the reliability of the received waveform and allows an increased data transmission speed.
As such, an invention is needed to eliminate much of the noise and the reflected signals from the mud stream so that transducer 150 may better retrieve the data encoded signal 170 from the mud stream. Ideally, such an invention would not depend on knowledge of the waveform corresponding to the noise and reflected signals. Preferably, such an invention could be installed at the surface, where the acoustic signals are normally received, so as not to complicate the downhole assembly. In addition, such a solution preferably could be integrated into a known MWD system, so as to minimize costs.

Multiple transducer MWD surface signal processing


A computer system monitors the execution time of each of a plurality of tasks over a plurality of time periods. The system receives a first input that selects a particular time period from the plurality of time periods, and further monitors the execution time of the plurality of tasks in the selected time period. The system receives a second input that selects a particular task from the particular time period, and monitors the execution time of the particular task in the particular time period.

In many computer business systems, tasks are monitored so that the status, health, and efficiency of the computer system can be determined. However, many a time, the monitoring of tasks for system developers is not the same as the monitoring of tasks for users or customers of the computer system.
For example when monitoring the start time or expected start time of a task, a developer has to know the exact time in order to know when to run the task. Users of the system also need to know the start time or expected start time of a task, but more important to such users is when they can obtain the calculations, results, or other output of the tasks.
As another example, when a task fails to run properly and/or completely, the task can be rerun or retried. If it runs successfully in the rerun, the task may still successfully complete before the expected end time of the task. In this situation, the user probably does not care about the unsuccessful first try or the errors associated therewith. The user is simply pleased that they obtained their results on time. The developer on the other hand needs to be aware of the error and needs to investigate the error to determine the cause of the error and a fix for the error.
Alternatively, a task can run successfully, but finish executing after its expected end time. From the developer's viewpoint, the task executed successfully because no errors occurred during execution. However, from the user's viewpoint, there was a problem because they did not receive their results on time, and something must be done to address this situation.
Similarly, when tasks are executing, alert messages can be generated. Such alert messages can be useful to the developer because they report on the status of a task. For a user however, they only want the results of the task and they want those results on time.


Improved customer relationship management systems and methods are provided. A system can include a private blockchain network of real estate transaction related information and a computer-based network, which can be configured to transmit educational materials to a user, authorize transfer of profit sharing to members of the system; provide artificial intelligence based information to the user, transmit sales and marketing materials to the user, authorize membership, and gather real estate based information.

The world is changing and the sharing economy is one of the current changes affecting the global economy. There are several drivers of this sharing economy. Business models are adapting to the sharing economy; customers are becoming linked through social networks; and advances in electronic commerce make it easier to use shared goods and services. The sharing economy involves using information technology that provides individuals and businesses with information that allows resource optimization, i.e., the sharing of goods and services where society benefits.
Changing the customer experience is causing market disruption that is driving companies to reinvent their business models. Customer experience is the most important aspect of a successful company. Customers have become accustomed to getting their needs satisfied at places of their own choosing and on their schedule. Realtors are not only competing against each other for a listing, but with the experience the customers have had with other business such as Starbucks, Airbnb, or Lyft.
The real estate industry has been undergoing dramatic changes during the past decade. There has been a significant increase in the number of licensed agents and resulting competition has driven down the average commission paid by sellers. Alternatives to the commission model have emerged such as flat-fee and for-sale-by-owner tools. Mobile applications, such as Zillow and Trulia, are also changing the way realtors do business. Price increases for inclusion in MLS and any related fees are rising and are in turn reducing net compensation for many real estate agents.

Artificial intelligence real estate platform


The present invention relates to a shredder for plants especially including a hitching device and a casing which is open downward and which is fitted with lateral skids. This casing has at least one gearbox with a substantially vertical shaft which can be driven in rotation and which carries one or more knives at its lower end. The invention is noteworthy in that the casing is connected to the hitching device by rods which are articulated to the casing and to the hitching device by axes and in that structure which allow the casing to pivot and to move with respect to the hitching device in directions transverse to the direction of forward travel are arranged between the rods and the hitching device and/or the casing.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shredder for plants especially including a hitching device for the coupling to a tractor and a casing which is open downward and which is fitted with lateral skids allowing it to move along the ground, which casing has at least one gearbox with a substantially vertical shaft which can be driven in rotation and which at its lower end situated inside said casing carries one or more knives traveling in a substantially horizontal plane close to the ground.


A robot arm mechanism capable of structurally eliminating or reducing a singular point posture within a movable range has a plurality of joints. The first joint is a rotational joint that rotates on a first axis, a second joint is a rotational joint that rotates on a second axis, and a third joint is a linear motion joint that moves along a third axis. The first joint, the second joint and the third joint are arranged in order from a base. The first joint is arranged so that the first axis is perpendicular to the base. The second joint is offset with respect to the first joint in a direction (Z axis direction) of the first axis and a direction (Y axis direction) perpendicular to the first axis.

FIG. 13 shows a conventional vertically articulated arm mechanism. The vertically articulated arm mechanism requires three-degree-of-freedom (x, y, z) regarding a position and three-degree-of-freedom (φ, θ, ψ) regarding a posture, which are generally realized by rotational joints J1, J2 and J3 called root three axes and rotational joints J4, J5 and J6 called wrist three axes. For example, a revolute joint is applied to each of joints J1, J4 and J6, and a bending joint is applied to each of joints J2, J3 and J5.
This type of the articulated arm mechanism has singular points in which a degree of freedom in a specific direction is lost despite being within a movable range. The singular point posture causes uncontrollable condition due to countless solutions (sets of joint angles satisfying a certain coordinate position) that exist for a coordinate transformation operation of Cartesian coordinates and sets of joint angles, and causes "out-of-control" because an infinite angular velocity is required for the joint and a movement of the joint becomes rapidly fast in the vicinity of the singular point. Thus, in current situation, the problem is handled by avoiding the singular point or sacrificing a hand movement speed. For example, as the singular point, there is a so-called wrist singular point at which axes of rotation RA1, RA4 and RA6 of the rotational joints J1, J4 and J6 are made coaxial by setting all the bending joints J2, J3 and J5 to zero degree as shown in FIG. 14A; and in this situation, it is impossible to uniquely determine rotation angles of these rotational joints J1, J4 and J6. This situation similarly occurs when at least two rotational joints are aligned in the same axis. As other singular point postures, known are a so-called shoulder singular point at which an intersection point of the axes of rotation RA4, RA5 and RA6 of the joints J4, J5 and J6 of the wrist three axes is located on the axis of rotation RA1 of the rotational joint J1 forming an arm base as shown in FIG. 14B, and a so-called elbow singular point at which an intersection point of the axes of rotation RA4, RA5 and RA6 of the joints J4, J5 and J6 of the wrist three axes is located on a plane including axes of rotation RA2 and RA3 of bending joints J2 and J3 of the root three axes as shown in FIG. 14C.


An urn vault includes a base and a top portion which has one or more side walls, wherein the side walls protrude downward. Each opposing side wall is bonded length-wise to each adjoining side or to itself, creating a seamless cast top portion open at the bottom that lowers onto the base. Attached to the base are guide rails, bonded equidistant from the outside base edge on all sides of the base. This “rail system” is the fastening guide for the top portion which lowers onto the base, wherein the inside of the side walls interact with the outside edges of the four guide rails. In certain embodiments, the urn vault may be comprised of one or a combination of polymers. A system and method are further included.

Cremation urn burial vaults ("vaults") are utilized to hold burial urns containing cremated remains, such as cremated human remains. Vaults currently available to consumers and made of concrete, steel, granite, marble, ceramic, stained glass, steel, or wood are unnecessarily heavy. According to subject matter disclosed herein, a cremation urn vault is of lower weight than vaults of comparable size and capacity. Having lower weight relative to their size and capacity, vaults according to the disclosed subject matter can be handled, transported and installed in a manner requiring less complexity, fewer personnel, less and lighter capacity handling equipment, and at less expense than required for existing, heavier vaults of comparable size and capacity. The disclosed subject matter provides lighter, more easily-handled cremation urn vaults. Disclosed subject matter provides vaults that are impervious to nature's elements to a greater degree than the above-mentioned urn vaults of existing design. The disclosed subject matter provides vaults having stronger structure than existing vaults and capable of withstanding the heavy weight of covering soil and heavy equipment that can pass across the covering soil. Disclosed subject matter provides a protective and sealable urn vault with far greater stability and durability than existing designs. The disclosed subject matter also provides vaults suitable for efficient, streamlined installation into a burial position in the ground. Embodiments also provide such vaults suitable for family members to safely lower the vault into a burial position by themselves, allowing additional opportunity for closure for grieving family and mourners. Disclosed subject matter also provides a vault that can be buried with reduced complexity and reduced installation costs. Disclosed subject matter provides a vault having a structural design and qualities of permanent durability that are suitable for selection for permanent burial of cremated remains by surviving family with confidence and peace of mind.
Disclosed subject matter also provides vaults of size, capacity and reduced weight suitable for purchase by consumers in advance of death ("pre-need") from suppliers such as funeral homes and funeral directors, and which can be easily handled, readily taken into immediate possession by consumers, and stored by consumers for later use at the time of death of a family member. Disclosed subject matter also provides such vaults that are suitable for customization of features desired by consumers and such as, for example, appearance features, in advance of death. Disclosed subject matter also provides such vaults that are suitable for easy handling, display, sale and delivery by suppliers such as funeral homes and funeral directors to consumers. Disclosed subject matter provides vaults that can be readily handled, displayed, sold and delivered in advance of death, on a pre-need basis, by suppliers such as funeral homes and funeral directors without requiring special handling equipment and heavy delivery trucks for transporting the vault to a location specified by the consumer. Disclosed subject matter provides such vaults having a design suitable for large scale, substantially automated manufacture in a relatively short manufacturing period, and with relatively low costs for manufacturing, transportation and storage. Disclosed subject matter provides an attractive, secure, and stable sealing urn vault that does not suffer from burial position stability problems, sealing problems, structural disintegration and weakening or breakage, and installation problems suffered with existing vaults.
Many cremation urn vaults are designed with a base adhered to sidewalls and a lid that closes from the top. Essentially, many cremation urn vaults are simply heavy boxes. These existing vaults are generally intended to seal and protect the urn contained therein from contaminants and the soil environment, but can fail for various reasons. Factors contributing to the failure of vaults of existing design include problems associated with the detrimental heavy weight of existing vaults, inferior construction materials, utilization of construction materials having improper material properties for the application and design dimensions, failure to incorporate adequate dimensional tolerances in the design considering the materials of construction, selection of material that are subject to failure or breaking down when permanently exposed to soil conditions, and problems caused by the difficulty of handling and burying heavy vaults formed of such materials.
The disclosed subject matter provides a polymeric urn vault of sound structural design and capable of being handled easily for burial. Disclosed subject matter provides a vault that is decorative and can serve as a display for an urn in a home setting (not buried). Disclosed subject matter provides a vault that seals tightly when underground, eliminating the threat of water, air, insects, and molds entering the urn having cremated remains contained therein. Disclosed subject matter provides a vault that in a buried position is capable of withstanding the weight of soil and heavy equipment atop the soil. Disclosed subject matter provides a vault that is sealed in a proven manner. In embodiments, a vault is sealed in the manner of an inverted empty glass, which is sealed when turned upside down in a sink full of water such that trapped air inside the glass presses against and prevents entry of the surrounding water.
Many vaults of existing design are very heavy and require either heavy machinery and/or extensive man-power for handling. This weight problem creates additional labor and increased costs. Concrete urn vaults, the most prominent on the market today, can weigh well over 100 lbs. and those skilled in the art recognize that these are extremely difficult to lower into burial spaces. Also, most concrete vaults are installed with an additional inner polymer liner to protect the urn because over time, water and moisture will weaken the integrity of the aggregate concrete, leading to cracks and eventual failure. Once failure occurs, the plastic liners collapse, leaving the cremation urn and its contents vulnerable to underground elements. For the size required, granite and marble urn vaults are usually cost prohibitive and their weight is similar, if not greater than concrete. Ceramic and glass are too fragile to entrust with protecting a family's "buried" urn. Wood is a bio-degradable substance that deteriorates quickly when buried, much like water-based, aggregate concrete. Also, if a family were to request a disinterment to remove a buried urn or add an additional urn, a concrete urn vaults would be extremely difficult to remove and if in fact the vault is still intact at the time of removal, the concrete lid would have to be broken in order to remove the urn. The concrete lid pieces falling into the vault could also damage the urn. Steel urn vaults do not seal, leaving the enclosed urn vulnerable to insects, molds and more, and even galvanized steel will succumb to rust in a moist environment. According to the disclosed subject matter is provided an extremely strong, durable, and easily handled urn vault capable of being reopened and resealed if requested, and which can be easily manufactured and quickly assembled with relative ease and reduced cost for handling and transport. In accordance with the present disclosure, there is provided a sealable polymeric urn vault that is both functional and decorative. Embodiments provide a cremation urn vault that comprises four polymeric side walls which are bonded together to provide a completely sealed square or rectangular environment devoid of any penetration by water, moisture, air, mold, or insects. In embodiments, the urn vault includes a generally square piece of polymer serving as the base and a generally square polymeric top panel which will have the four adjacent side walls cemented to its edges with all four protruding downward. Each opposing side wall is bonded length-wise to each adjoining side, creating a seamless polymeric box that is open at the bottom and lowers onto the base. All polymeric pieces are bonded using a special solvent adhesive that molds adjoining pieces into a single entity by first softening the polymeric surfaces to be joined and subsequently fusing them together when the solvent dissipates. This leaves a strong, glue-free joint. This is referred to as "solvent welding" or "adhesive bonding". Both terms will be used throughout this disclosure. Because the solvent adhesive used is formulated for adhering polymeric sheets together, the resulting pieces have the tensile strength of a single, solid sheet of polymer. In embodiments, attached to the base are guide rails which are bonded equidistant from the outside edge of all four sides of the vault. This "square railing system" serves as the resting guide for the seamless polymeric box which then lowers onto the base with the four side walls resting against the outside of the four rails. The fit is such that the top walls are held securely in place by the guide rails with no opportunity to slide or move in its position on the base. In embodiments, underneath the base are four square cubes that are set near each corner. The four cubes serve as pedestal feet which enable the device to be moved by being lifted from beneath the base. Also, the underneath space created by the pedestal feet may allow the use of straps or ropes if the urn vault is to be lowered into the ground, such as from any distance that makes it difficult to lower the vault by hand. In embodiments, the urn vault can be made of panels having different wall thickness such as, for example, greater wall thickness, as desired to provide support and extra protection from unusually heavy equipment or extremely harsh environments. According to embodiments, a polymeric urn vault can be altered to meet any urn size requirement. In embodiments, the urn size can be altered by increasing the height or length, or both, of the sidewalls, and the base unit dimensions can be adjusted accordingly. It will be understood that the scope of disclosed subject matter is not limited to the particular structures, dimensions or configurations set forth herein.
According to disclosed subject matter, a polymeric urn vault serves to protect the integrity of a cremation urn enclosed therein for a substantially longer period of time than concrete urn vaults when buried in soil. According to disclosed subject matter, a polymeric urn vault is impervious to the elements that target the two inherent weaknesses of concrete. Unlike concrete, disclosed subject matter comprises a vault formed of polymeric material that, in one aspect, may be selected for possessing the properties of being substantially unaffected by moisture; being resistant to degradation upon prolonged exposure to chemicals present in soil environments; substantially resistant to impact; and possess necessary structural strength. Vaults constructed of existing materials such as concrete, steel, marble, granite or bronze require extra labor and machinery to move them into place. Disclosed subject matter provides a polymeric urn vault that is very light weight and suitable for use as a decorative presentation device in the homes of families that delay urn burial. In a home, the vault can both separate and protect the cremation urn in a decorative environment until a time is selected for burial. The vault and urn can be moved to the burial location. Once the vault is lowered into the burial position with the urn inside, a solvent adhesive is administered along the outside of the vault base guide rails to permanently bond adjoining parts of the vault, and thus sealing the urn inside for all time. In an embodiment, at the time of interment the base and top can also be placed in position without the bonding compound, leaving the vault in a position to be opened at any point in the future should the family wish to do so. Even without the use of the sealing adhesive, the weight of the topsoil and grass may hold the top of the vault in place with the trapped air pressure sealing the urn inside, free of the threat of water, insects, mold, and the weight of heavy equipment.
Disclosed subject matter provides a sealing urn vault that protects the cremation urn in an isolated, underground environment created by trapped air pressure which prevents any water, moisture, or underground contaminants from entering the urn vault.
Disclosed subject matter provides a cremation urn vault that offers a sealed environment even if the urn vault is not permanently sealed by solvent adhesive. Once the top is placed onto the base and is held in place by the base guide rails, the trapped air pressure inside the vault provides a sealed environment in order to repel water, chemicals, and insects as when sealed permanently.
Disclosed subject matter provides a sealing cremation vault that when no solvent adhesive is required, the vault may be reopened simply by removing the fill dirt and lifting the vault top off of the base at any time in the future. This is required if a family requests a disinterment or if they wish to place a second urn inside the vault which can then be permanently sealed once the final urn is in place. No other existing cremation urn vault serves this purpose.
Presently, cremation ashes are placed into various types of cremation urns, including wood, bronze, marble, ceramic, and even plastic containers. A large percentage of these families are choosing to bury the cremation remains in cemeteries, private sites, and garden settings. If the cemetery or cremation garden requires an outer burial container for cremation ashes or if the consumer wants additional protection for the buried urn, the urn vault of the current disclosure serves that purpose. If an urn vault is not required, but the family requests the vault just to guarantee the integrity of the urn itself, this urn vault serves that purpose. If a grieving family wishes to take part in the burial ceremony to achieve closure, they may place this cremation urn vault into the designated grave space themselves. Subject matter of the disclosure serves that purpose as well, and this is an act not allowed by current urn vaults. Where families wish to delay the act of interring the cremation urn, disclosed subject matter serves the purpose of providing a protective and decorative display device for the urn both before and after the burial.
For purposes of clarity and brevity, like elements and components will bear the same designations and numbering throughout the Figures.


A method of providing biocompatible surface texturing on a metal component of an implantable device and the device so produced. The coating is provided by applying particles of metal falling substantially entirely in the range of 1 to 5 microns to a surface of said component to provide a layer of generally uniform thickness and sintering said particles to one another and to said component to provide a generally continuous external surface having surface texturing in the form of projections formed from said sintered particles. The particles are preferably applied to a depth of 1 to 25 microns. In a preferred embodiment particles of titanium are applied to a surface of a titanium component.

The present invention relates generally to implantable medical devices and more particularly to implantable medical devices having metallic components or enclosures, such as cardiac pacemakers, nerve stimulators, implantable drug dispensers, implantable defibrillators and the like.
In the context of implantable medical devices employing metallic enclosures or components, there have been numerous proposals for enhancing the biocompatibility of the surfaces of the enclosures or components. Typically, implantable electronic medical devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, nerve stimulators or drug pumps, have enclosures fabricated of titanium or stainless steel. These enclosures are typically polished or bead blasted, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,473 issued to Johnson et al. In the context of other devices employing metal components, such as implantable heart valves and orthopedic prostheses, the use of porous sintered metal surfaces as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,516 issued to Pilliar and U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,984 issued to MacGregor is proposed. Such porous sintered surfaces are also suggested for a wide variety of other implantable devices, including artificial blood pumps, pacemaker electrodes, vascular access tubes, vascular grafts, and the like in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,458,366 and 4,627,836, both issued to MacGregor. In these applications, the particle size is chosen to provide for an interconnected network of pores in the resulting sintered structure which are sized to permit ingrowth of soft or hard tissue, depending upon the application.
In the context of implantable pacemakers, cardioverters, defibrillators and other electronic stimulators, it has also been proposed to provide for porous, high surface area coatings such as porous sintered coatings in order to enhance the available surface area of the electrodes for enhanced electrical performance. For example, high surface area electrodes for location on electrical leads are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,158 issued to Bolz et al, while high surface area electrodes forming a portion of the enclosure of an implantable stimulator are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,637 issued to Elmqvist et al.
Recently, work done by Dr. Andreas Von Recum, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,494 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,834 suggests that soft tissue implant devices such as catheters, heart valves or reconstructive surgical material should be provided with a surface which has indentations or openings with bridging distances in the range of 1-4 microns, surrounded by solid surfaces having mean bridging distances in the range of 0.1-2 microns.

Implantable medical device with biocompatible surface and method for its manufacture