A network environment to which an information processing device is connected is recognized and an operating environment of an OS running on the information processing device is changed to an operating environment according to the recognized network environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an environment setting method and device for setting an operating environment of an operating system (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated to "OS") running on an information processing device, wherein the information processing device has the OS running therein as well as an application program running on the OS to perform processing including communication over a network. The present invention further relates to an environment setting program storage medium containing an environment setting program to be executed in the information processing device for implementing the functionality of the environment setting device in the information processing device, and to an information processing device including the functionality of the environment setting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, environments have been provided for personal computers (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated to "PCs"), personal digital assistants, cellular phones and their peripherals, and even home electric appliances to operate as information processing devices that are connected to a network to provide information processing capabilities. Networks have become essential in business operations. As continuous connection environments using ADSLs and CATVs are becoming widespread and more and more households are using more than one devices and appliances with information processing capabilities, the number of households that create home networking environment is increasing. In addition, more and more facilities such as airports, railroad stations and hotels and other open-air facilities are creating networks called "HotSpots" and are making available them to the public.
Furthermore, when a user connects his or her portable information processing device such as a notebook personal computer (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated to "notebook PC") to a network, he or she is often required to change the operating environment of the OS of the information processing device according to his or her current location and circumstances because the operating environment of an OS or settings for an application program may vary depending on connection methods.
According to a prior-art approach, different sets of network settings for an OS or application program for different locations are provided beforehand and the user can determine and select an appropriate set of network settings based on his or her current location to change the operating environment of the OS running in the information processing device or settings for an application program.
Another prior-art approach is described in Japanese published unexamined application No. 2001-202249. The application discloses a technology that facilitates setting of an environment for an application on each of terminals connected to different networks that supports a network environment to which the terminal is connected. Specific steps of the environment setting process are as follows.
First, different sets of application setting information for different network environments are stored in an information storage medium (memory card) beforehand.
Then, a user attaches the information storage medium to his or her terminal. The terminal sequentially reads a number of sets of setting information stored on the information storage medium that support network environments and sets the setting information one after another to try and determine whether or not the terminal can be connected to servers or access services.
If the terminal can successfully access the network on such a try, the setting information used on that try is eventually set in the application software, then the process ends.
The above-described tasks for setting the operating environment of an OS and the like are considerably complicated and are not routinely performed by ordinary users of information processing devices such as notebook PCs. Therefore, it is hard for an ordinary user to change the environment of his or her device each time he or she carries it into a new place.
Even for a user who is familiar with setting change tasks and has a good command of environment change, it is burdensome to change settings each time required.
According to the above-described prior-art technology in which a user can select an appropriate set of setting information from among pre-provided sets of setting information for different networks to cause an information processing device to automatically change settings, the setting change tasks can be simplified.
However, as the number of network environments (places) in which an information processing device is used increases, it becomes difficult to select setting information appropriate to a network environment. A user may select wrong setting information and, as a result, cannot properly use the network or must make several selection tries before he or she can select appropriate setting information.
According to the technology disclosed in the Japanese published unexamined application described above, a user can use a network without selecting setting information appropriate to the network. The technology makes a plurality of terminals statically connected to different networks ready for using one of the networks, but is not intended to allow one device to be used in a plurality of network environments.
Furthermore, in some cases, even though setting information allowing a network to be successfully used is selected according to this technology, the setting information may not be necessarily most appropriate to the user.
For example, a large intranet may be created in a company by connecting smaller networks created for its divisions or factories. In such an intranet environment, an employee can access network resources of his or her division or factory from any of the other divisions or factories within the intranet regardless of the location of the division or factory. However, in most intranets, network resources that employees are permitted to use when they access an external network from the intranets are specified for each individual division or factory. One such a network resource may be a proxy server.
In the above-described technology, the trial process will end when one network is successfully accessed. If there are a plurality of sets of setting information that allow the network to be accessed successfully, the one that has the highest priority is selected in a trial process and those having lower priorities are never selected. Thus, if there are a plurality of sets of setting information that allow the network to be accessed successfully, the highest-priority one is always selected.
Therefore, the above-described technology cannot address the case described above. A selected set of setting information that allows a network to be accessed successfully is not always setting information that is appropriate under operational regulations. Therefore, eventually, the user has to change manually the information set in the application software.

Environment setting device, environment setting program storage medium, information processing device and environment setting method


A device for fabricating a toothing at an inner facing edge of a three-dimensional pot-shaped body produced by forming and fine blanking exclusively implemented by cutting and/or shaving with a fine blanking die and/or a shaving device. The device includes a base plate and a pressure pad between which the pot-shaped body is receivable. A pilot die is received within a hollow space of a die and is biased in an advancement direction of the die such that a portion of the pilot die protrudes from the hollow space and contacts the base of said pot-shaped body before the die when the die is advanced in the working direction. A groove is thereby created between said curved edge of the pot-shaped body and the pilot die for leading a fine blanking burr or shaving chips into the recess of the pot-shaped body. Further advancement of the die fixing and pressing the burr or the chips into the recess.

The invention relates to a method for fabricating a toothing at a three-dimensional body produced by forming and fine blanking, especially an attachment for car seat components or the like produced out of a flat strip, wherein the flat strip is formed by forming and fine blanking in a tool into a pot-shaped body with inner forms in a base of the body, including impressions and/or projections and/or indentations and/or recesses and/or sinks and/or holes and/or pivots and a substantially evenly curved edge. Subsequently, a toothing radially extending to the inner side of the body is fabricated into the edge.
The invention further relates to a device for the fabrication of a toothing at a three-dimensional pot-shaped body produced by forming and fine blanking, especially a hinge attachment for car seat components or the like, with a tool for forming teeth into a substantially evenly curved edge of a pot-shaped body having inner forms in a base thereof, such as, for example, impressions and/or projections and/or indentations and/or recesses and/or sinks and/or holes and/or pivots, wherein the teeth of the toothing radially extend to the inner side of the pot-shaped body, in which the three-dimensional body is fixed between a base plate and a pressure pad.
Conventionally, seat adjustment components, for example, fixed and swivelling hinge parts of hinge attachments, are produced by forming, fine blanking or stamping, with the necessary high dimensional accuracy for their final intended use. These hinge parts for transmitting rotational movements have inner or outer toothings, which are formed as projections in one piece with the respective hinge part (DE 32 44 399 C2, DE 28 34 492 C2, DE 32 27 222 C1).
It is common to produce toothings at hinge attachments by fine blanking (DE 32 44 399 C2, DE 198 01 431 A1). These known hinge attachments all consist of disk-shaped attachment parts. But when the body hinge attachments have a dynamically balanced, i.e., three-dimensional, form, toothings heretofore could not be economically produced by common fine blanking, because the burr developing during fine blanking cannot be removed, even by a downstream second process step due to the three-dimensional transitions in the region of the fine blanking surface. Consequently, inner toothings at three-dimensional hinge attachments are produced by cold forming (see, for example, DE 197 50 184 A1). This, however, is connected with the disadvantage of reduced dimensional accuracy of the teeth, because the tips of the teeth are always rounded. Furthermore, cold forming is associated with the disadvantage that an additional heat treatment, for example, interstage annealing of the cold formed toothing, becomes necessary, which in turn leads to a loss of time and higher production costs.
In view of the current state of the art, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and a device for the fabrication of a toothing at a pot-shaped body produced by forming and fine blanking, in a way that the fine blanking of toothings is economically applicable also in case of dynamically balanced three-dimensional bodies, such as, hinge attachments with simultaneously increasing dimensional accuracy of the toothing, wherein the process safety is increased because of the cessation of the heat treatment and the tool can be designed more compactly.

Device for fabricating a toothing at a three-dimensional body produced by forming and fine blanking


A vascular nerve ablation (denervation) system includes a multiplicity of expandable needles which open around a central axis to engage the wall of a blood vessel allowing the injection of a cytotoxic or neurotoxic solution for ablating conducting tissue in and near the vessel wall of a renal artery or pulmonary vein. The expandable needles are formed of self-expanding materials and include structures which limit the distance of penetration of the injection needles into the tissue of the wall of the blood vessel.

At the present time, physicians often treat patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) using radiofrequency (RF) catheter systems to ablate conducting tissue in the wall of the left atrium of the heart around the ostium of the pulmonary veins. Similar technology, using radiofrequency energy, has been used inside the renal arteries to ablate sympathetic and other nerve fibers that run in the outer wall of the renal arteries, in order to treat high blood pressure. In both cases these are elaborate and expensive catheter systems that can cause thermal, cryoablative, or other injury to surrounding tissue. Many of these systems also require significant capital outlays for the reusable equipment that lies outside of the body, including RF generation systems and the fluid handling systems for cryoablative catheters.
Because of the similarities of anatomy, for the purposes of this disclosure, the term target vessel ostial wall will refer here to either the wall of the pulmonary vein near the left atrium for AF ablation applications or the wall of the renal artery near the aorta for hypertension therapy applications. It is anticipated that ablation of nerve fibers for renal sympathetic denervation could be performed more distally as well.
In the case of atrial fibrillation ablation, the ablation of tissue surrounding multiple pulmonary veins can be technically challenging and very time consuming. This is particularly so if one uses RF catheters that can only ablate one focus at a time. There is also a failure rate using these types of catheters for atrial fibrillation ablation. The failures of the current approaches are related to the challenges in creating reproducible circumferential ablation of tissue around the ostium (peri-ostial) of a pulmonary vein. There are also significant safety issues with current technologies related to very long fluoroscopy and procedure times that lead to high levels of radiation exposure to both the patient and the operator, and may increase stroke risk in atrial fibrillation ablation.
There are also potential risks using the current technologies for RF ablation to create sympathetic nerve denervation inside the renal artery for the treatment of hypertension. The short-term complications and the long-term sequelae of applying RF energy inside the renal artery itself are not well defined. This type of energy applied within the renal artery may lead to late restenosis, thrombosis, embolization of debris into the renal parenchyma, or other problems inside the renal artery. There may also be uneven or incomplete sympathetic nerve ablation, particularly if there are anatomic abnormalities, or atherosclerotic or fibrotic disease inside the renal artery, such that there is non-homogeneous delivery of RF energy. This could lead to treatment failures, or the need for additional and dangerous levels of RF energy to ablate the nerves that run along the adventitial plane of the renal artery.
The Bullfrog® micro infusion catheter described by Seward et al in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,547,803 and 7,666,163 which uses an inflatable elastic balloon to expand a single needle against the wall of a blood vessel could be used for alcohol injection but it would require multiple uses as it cannot deliver an ablative substance around the entire circumference of the vessel. The most number of needles shown by Seward is two and the two needle version of the Bullfrog® would be hard to make small enough to fit through a guiding catheter into a renal artery. If only one needle is used, accurate rotation of any device at the end of a catheter is difficult at best and could be risky if the subsequent injections are not evenly spaced if the rotation is off. Another limitation of the Bullfrog® is that inflation of a balloon within the renal artery can induce restenosis due to balloon injury as well as the removal of the protective layer of endothelial cells. Finally, while injection of ethanol as an ablative substance is well known and used within the heart and other parts of the body, there has been no development of an ethanol injection system specifically designed for the circumferential ablation of sympathetic nerve fibers around the renal arteries.

Expandable catheter system for vessel wall injection and muscle and nerve fiber ablation


Methods and apparatus for conducting fracturing operations using a wellbore fracturing assembly are described. The assembly may be mechanically set and released from a wellbore using a coiled tubing string. The assembly may include a pair of spaced apart packers for straddling the area of interest, an injection port disposed between the packers for injecting fracturing fluid into the area of interest, and an anchor for securing the assembly in the wellbore. At least one of the packers includes a pressure balanced mandrel. After conducting the fracturing operation, the assembly may be relocated to another area of interest to conduct another fracturing operation.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a mechanically set packer suitable for use to isolate a zone in a wellbore. In one embodiment, the packer includes a pressure balanced mandrel to facilitate release of the packer. In another embodiment, the packer includes a pressure balanced mandrel to prevent application of excessive hydraulic force on the packing element. In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to an assembly of packers for isolating a zone within a wellbore.
2. Description of the Related Art
In certain wellbore operations, it is desirable to "straddle" an area of interest in a wellbore, such as an oil formation, by packing off the wellbore above and below the area of interest. A sealed interface is set above the area of interest and another sealed interface is set below the area of interest. Typically the area of interest undergoes a treatment, such as fracturing, to assist the recovery of hydrocarbons from the straddled formation.
A variety of straddling tools are available, the most common being a cup-type tool. These tools are effective at shallow depths but may have maximum depth limitations at around 6,000 feet due to the swabbing effect induced on the wellbore liner by the tool coming out of the hole. Another type of tool includes hydraulically actuated packers disposed above and below an area of interest. However, this hydraulically actuated tool relies on a valve to open and shut to allow a fluid back pressure to set the packers, which is susceptible to flow cutting during pumping operations.
There is a need, therefore, for a mechanically actuated packer having a pressure balanced mandrel. There is also a need for a mechanically actuated packer whose actuation or de-actuation is not affected by the fluid pressure flowing therethrough. There is a further need for a wellbore isolation assembly equipped with a tension actuated packer having a pressure balanced mandrel.

Method and apparatus for isolating and treating discrete zones within a wellbore


A personal hygiene device may have a main body with an absorbent material configured to absorb a fluid, a sensor disposed within the main body, and a controller configured to communicate with the sensor. The sensor has a conductor and an insulator containing at least a portion of the conductor, and the sensor is configured to detect a first electrical value and a second electrical value that is different from the first electrical value. The sensor is also configured to transmit a signal to the controller upon detection of the second electrical value.

Many types of personal hygiene devices (e.g., products) exist in the market today. Examples of such personal hygiene devices include tampons, bed pads, disposable diapers, and disposable sanitary napkins. In particular, feminine hygiene products may be used during a woman's menstrual cycle. Women may experience various menstrual flows over the course of each cycle, with some days having a heavier menstrual flow than other days. Because of this variance in flow, it is sometimes difficult to accurately predict and judge when a hygiene product should be used or replaced. This often causes personal hygiene products to become oversaturated leading to potential accidents or overflow beyond the absorbent area of the product. Furthermore, continued use of an oversaturated hygiene product may lead to negative health side-effects, such as toxic shock syndrome and other infections.
Many women manually track or monitor their menstrual cycle for predictability to avoid the unexpected start of menstruation in the absence of a personal hygiene product or accidents of the sort discussed above. There are over two hundred smart device applications available to monitor menstruation manually. Users enter data into the application on a smart device, for example a smart phone or other hand-held device, and the application generates data predicting, for example, menstrual start day, flow pattern, and length of menstruation. Many of these smart device applications issue alerts when menstruation is expected to start and end. All available devices, however, rely on data based on the subjective and manual entry of the user and may not reliably meet the primary needs most female hygiene product users have; namely, predictability and reliability. None of these applications are able to actively monitor the active absorption capacity of a personal hygiene product while a user is wearing or using it.
In addition to the need for predictability and reliability in use of a personal hygiene product, a personal hygiene product is situated either proximate to or inserted into the body and as a result is able to collect data about patterns of discharge and biometrics in a way that a manual-entry application is unable to capture. This data is beneficial, to avoid social embarrassment, and also for a user's overall health, for example, to provide accurate data to a physician or to alert the user if there are disruptions in normal patterns of bodily fluid discharge.
For example, menstrual issues and patterns of discharge are one of the most common reasons for a woman to see a doctor. Generally, a doctor's first response will be for the woman to keep a "menstrual diary" as a record of the period dates, length of periods, flow, etc. Menstruation that departs from a normal monthly cycle, such as lasting longer or shorter than usual or not occurring at all, may indicate an underlying health issue. For example, abnormally long menstrual bleeding may indicate irregularities such as polyps, fibroids, cancer or infection within the uterus or cervix. A number of conditions may be revealed from menstrual flow data; including dysmenorrhea (painful periods); oligomennorhoea (irregular periods); amenorrhea (lack of periods); and menorrhagia (heavy periods).
The location of a personal hygiene product may enable it to gather internal and external biometric data such as temperature or pH. Menstruation, for example, also includes discharge with biometric information. Monthly menstruation involves a process in which the uterus sheds the endometrium to allow a new lining to replace it. Menstrual fluid comprises uterine blood, meaning the endometrial tissue, vaginal secretions, and cervical fluids. Menstrual fluid also includes information through hormones such as estrogen and progesterone and enzymes related to pregnancy such as hydrolytic enzymes and lysosomes.
In the home health setting, for example, individuals receive periodic check-ups by home health staff ranging from multiple times daily to weekly. Isolated visits may not capture or accurately give warning if an individual has additional health issues if those issues do not present during a check-up. The valuable biometrics that may be gleamed from a personal hygiene product would accurately convey extensive data that if available electronically to a health professional would provide a more accurate and holistic understanding of the patient's health. Additionally, a personal hygiene product with a sensor system may facilitate remote monitoring either by a health care professional or family member.
The proper combination of a personal hygiene product incorporated with a sensor system capable of interfacing with a smart hand-held electronic device would meet the ultimate needs of personal hygiene product consumers. The sensor system needs to be biocompatible and comprise an array capable of wireless communication. Accordingly, there exists a need for providing a personal hygiene product capable of gathering, processing, and communicating data about the product's absorbent capacity and individual user's bodily fluid discharge to the smart hand-held electronic device of a user. There are also exists a need for an individual user to be able to interface with the data once communicated to the smart hand-held electronic device.

Personal hygiene device for detecting a fluid


A more efficient process of sealing an anodized aluminum article, which can facilitate higher production rates than conventional sealing techniques, includes steps of providing an article comprised of aluminum or an aluminum alloy that has been anodized, treating the oxide layer with a solution containing an anion capable of combining with a cation to form a water-insoluble precipitate, and contacting the treated oxide layer with a second solution containing a cation which combines with the anion to form a water-insoluble precipitate. In certain embodiments, the oxide layer can be treated with a dye to provide a sealed anodized aluminum article exhibiting enhanced dye retention.

Anodization is an electrolytic passivation process that increases the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of an aluminum or aluminum alloy component. The process is used to improve resistance to corrosion and wear. Paints, primers, coatings, and adhesives adhere better to anodized aluminum and anodized aluminum alloy surfaces than to untreated surfaces. Another advantage of anodization is that relatively thick porous surfaces can be developed which are capable of absorbing dyes to provide a variety of different colors.
The porous surface developed by anodization creates a vulnerability to corrosion. To reduce this vulnerability to corrosion, a sealing process is often employed. Sealing can also be used to improve dye retention.
In preparation of aluminum or aluminum alloy articles having an anodized surface, the sealing step is often the most time-consuming, energy intensive, and expensive step. In accordance with the various embodiments of the invention, one or a combination of two or more of these issues are addressed.
Currently, there are a large variety of sealing methods commercially employed and described in the patent literature.
The most basic type of sealing involves simply immersing the anodically treated aluminum or aluminum alloy article in water at or near the boiling temperature. The hot water dissolves material from sidewalls of pores in the oxide layer. This material is hydrated to form boehmite, aluminum hydroxide gel, pseudoboehmite, and crystalline boehmite. These various hydrated products then swell and become less water soluble to partially close or seal the pores. This method is inefficient with respect to both time and energy. It typically takes about an hour to properly seal and anodically treated aluminum or aluminum alloy having an oxide film layer thickness of about 0.6 mils, and the energy required to maintain water at or near the boiling temperature is substantial. In addition, material from the oxide layer is destroyed, making the oxide layer softer and less resistant to abrasion.
Other methods of sealing aluminum oxide layers formed by an anodic treatment have been developed. The most popular of these methods involves immersing the anodically treated aluminum article into a solution of hot nickel acetate. The hot water dissolves material from the sidewalls of the pores in the oxide layer, and the dissolved material reacts with nickel ions to form a solid. The time required to seal a 0.6 mil thick oxide layer using this method is about 30 minutes (i.e., about half the time of using hot water at or near the boiling temperature). However, this still represents a very time-consuming and energy intensive process that causes damage to the oxide layer resulting in reduced hardness and reduced abrasion resistance.

Process for the manufacture of sealed anodized aluminum components


A display device includes a display panel having first and second opposing glass substrates forming a display surface, a transparent member, a first adhesive material bonding the transparent member to the entire display surface of the display panel, and a plate-like member disposed on a rear side of and supporting the display panel. A second adhesive material different from the first adhesive material is disposed between a rear surface of the transparent member and a front surface of the plate-like member so as to fixedly bond the transparent member and the plate-like member to one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device including a thin display panel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a reinforced structure of a display device in which a display panel is sandwiched between a plate member and a protective plate or a touch panel disposed on a display surface side. For example, the present invention is applicable to portable electronic devices such as a cellular phone, a PDA, or an electronic dictionary, and a display device thereof. Examples of the thin display panel include a liquid crystal display device of a passive matrix system, which uses an STN or TN liquid crystal, a liquid crystal display device of an active matrix system that drives the TN liquid crystal by a TFT element in a VA mode or an IPS mode, an organic EL display, and a plasma display.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal panel has been known as a typical thin display panel. The liquid crystal panel has a structure in which two glass substrates each having a color filter or a TFT formed thereon are bonded to each other with a sealing agent provided on an outer periphery of the glass substrates, and liquid crystal is sealed in a gap between those glass substrates. Drive signals are applied to electrodes disposed on the surfaces of the glass substrates to drive the liquid crystal. The drive signals are supplied by a driver IC mounted face-down on the glass substrates by an anisotropic conductive film. The liquid crystal panel controls liquid crystal molecules according to an ON signal or an OFF signal contained in the drive signal, and controls the absorption and transmission of light by means of absorptive polarizing plates disposed on the front surface and the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel for display.
The display systems are classified into a reflection type and a transmission type. In the transmission type, a backlight is disposed behind the liquid crystal panel. The backlight is classified into a side light system in which a light source such as an LED or a cold cathode fluorescent tube is disposed at a side surface of a light guide plate, which surface-emits a light therefrom, and a direct type system in which the light source is disposed directly below the display surface, and the light is diffused with a diffuser into a uniform light to conduct surface emission. Further, in order to improve the luminance, a diffusion sheet or a lens sheet may be disposed. The lens sheet has a structure in which a plurality of fine lenses are arranged linearly in parallel to each other, and has a function of condensing the light in one axial direction. In order to condense the lights in an x-axis direction and a y-axis direction, two lens sheets may be disposed in lamination. When the pitches of prisms of the lens sheets interfere with the pixels of the liquid crystal panel to generate a moiré pattern, there is employed a method involving changing the pitches of the lenses. The diffusion sheet is configured such that ink containing fine particles is formed on the surface of a transparent film.
In order to efficiently emit the light, a sheet having a high reflectivity of light, such as a sheet on which silver is deposited is disposed under the light guide plate of the side light system or under a fluorescent tube of the direct type system. As a method of fixing the backlight and the liquid crystal panel to each other, there has been generally used a light shielding double-faced tape having a thickness of about 0.02 to 0.10 mm. The light shielding double-faced tape is disposed in the outer periphery of the display portion of the liquid crystal panel, to thereby fix the liquid crystal panel onto the backlight. The light shielding double-faced tape used in this example is a double-faced tape which is white on the backlight side and is black on the liquid crystal panel side. As a method of improving the impact resistance, there is given a method in which an elastic member having light scattering particles is used as a shock absorbing member, and the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel and the light emission surface of the backlight are attached firmly to each other (for example, refer to JP 2999369 B).
Further, there has been known a structure in which a concave portion into which the diffuser or the lens sheet are incorporated is defined in the light guide plate of the backlight, the light shielding double-faced tape is disposed on the outer periphery of the light guide plate, by which a film is bonded to configure the backlight, and the film and the liquid crystal panel are bonded firmly to each other, to thereby improve the thrust strength (for example, refer to JP 2004-347957 A).
In the actual product, a protective plate, a transparent touch panel, or the like is disposed as a transparent member on the liquid crystal display surface. The protective plate is made of acrylic such as PMMA or hardened glass. A metal thin film made of chromium or nickel and a color print such as black may be laminated on the outer periphery of the protective plate to form a window frame. Further, the window frame may be formed by means of only color printing. In general, a hard coating for damage prevention is formed on the surface of the PMMA. In case that the glass thickness is 10 mm to 0.5 mm, chemically hardened glass is frequently used as the hardened glass. In particular, when the glass thickness is thicker, an air-quench hardened glass is adopted. The touch panel is classified into an analog resistive film system, a digital resistive film system, a capacitance system, an ultrasonic system, or an electromagnetic induction system. In the case of the electromagnetic induction system, a glass substrate for damage prevention may be bonded onto the display surface of the display panel. Similarly, in the capacitance system, the hardened glass may be bonded onto the display surface.
The transparent member and the display panel are bonded and fixed to each other by the frame-like double-faced adhesion tape disposed on the outer periphery of a display area. Alternatively, a transparent adhesive or a transparent adhesion sheet is disposed on the entire area including the display area so that the transparent member and the display panel are bonded onto each other over the entire surface.
Further, as structures where the display device including the transparent member on the display surface side is housed in an electronic device, there are given a structure in which the display device is held from the upper portion of the outer periphery of the transparent member with an aid of an exterior case including an opening at a display portion, a structure in which the transparent member is provided with a step, and a lower level of the step is held by the exterior case, and a structure in which the transparent member includes an outer peripheral portion for fixing, which is larger than the display panel, an adhesive sheet is bonded onto the rear surface of the outer peripheral portion, and the outer peripheral portion is bonded and fixed to the electronic device.
As the thinned portable device such as a cellular phone is increasingly desired, it is necessary to made thin the glass substrate that constitutes the display panel, and to thin the light guide plate of the backlight of the side light type. For example, in the liquid crystal panel, the thinning is advanced to such an extent that the thickness of the glass substrate is 0.10 to 0.15 mm, and the thickness of the light guide plate is 0.25 mm. However, because those members are thinned, the glass substrate is frequently broken due to an impact caused by dropping or the like. Under the above-mentioned circumstances, in order to prevent the glass substrate from being broken, there is adopted a system in which a hardened glass is used for the protective plate on the display surface side, or the protective plate is bonded to the entire display surface of the liquid crystal panel with an aid of an optical adhesive or an optical sheet.
However, there are many cases in which a case of the main body of a cellular phone and the like is largely deformed due to the impact caused by dropping or the like, and the liquid crystal panel is damaged due to the deformation. Under the above-mentioned circumstances, the material of a frame of the backlight is changed from plastic to a material that is high in Young's modulus, such as magnesium. However, the breakage of the liquid crystal panel due to the impact, in particular, the breakage that occurs in the glass substrate on the rear surface side upon receiving damage from a part which is disposed on the back side can be hardly reduced.
Further, in the structure where the liquid crystal panel and the light guide plate of the backlight are bonded tightly to each other with an aid of the elastic member, there arises such problems that peeling is liable to occur due to thermal expansion at high temperature or at low temperature, and the luminance is deteriorated because the optical sheet such as the lens sheet cannot be provided.
In order to prevent the peeling, there is proposed a structure in which the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel is bonded directly to the entire light emission surface of the light guide plate by the optical adhesive. In this structure, the optical adhesive exists between the optical sheet provided on the front surface of liquid crystal panel and the light guide plate. Because the refractive index of the optical sheet is close to the refractive index of the optical adhesive, the optical function of the optical sheet is deteriorated, and the luminance of the display surface is deteriorated. Even in a structure where the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel is bonded to the entire surface of the light guide plate without the optical sheet, the luminance is deteriorated as compared with the backlight using the optical sheet. In any cases described above, the optical disadvantage occurs.
Further, when the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel is bonded directly to the light guide plate by the optical adhesive, the strength is improved with respect to an impact in the pushed direction, but the seal of the liquid crystal panel is peeled off when an impact is applied in the peeling direction.
In the electronic device using the display device, when the display device with a structure in which the transparent member is bonded onto the display panel is held by the exterior case from the outer peripheral upper surface, the electronic device is thickened by the thickness of the exterior case. In this case, the electronic device is limited in terms of design. Further, even in the structure where the transparent member is provided with a step, it is necessary to thicken the transparent member in order to form the step. In the structure where the transparent member is enlarged, and the adhesive sheet is disposed on the rear surface, an "adhesive fixation overlap width" that is equal to or higher than a given width is required. This leads to such a problem that the frame becomes larger.


An apparatus for detecting a pointer within a region of interest includes at least one pair of imaging devices. The imaging devices have overlapping fields of view encompassing the region of interest. At least one light source provides illumination across the region of interest and is within the field of view of at least one of the imaging device. A filter is associated with the at least one imaging device whose field of view sees the light source. The filter blocks light projected by the light source to inhibit the imaging device from being blinded by the projected light.

Touch systems are well known in the art and typically include a touch screen having a touch surface on which contacts are made using a pointer such as for example a pen tool, finger or other suitable object. Pointer contacts with the touch surface are detected and are used to generate output pointer position data representing areas of the touch surface where pointer contacts are made.
International PCT Application No. PCT/CA01/00980 filed on Jul. 5, 2001 and published under number WO 02/03316 on Jan. 10, 2002, assigned to SMART Technologies Inc., assignee of the present invention, discloses a passive camera-based touch system. The camera-based touch system comprises a touch screen that includes a touch surface on which a computer-generated image is presented. A rectangular bezel or frame surrounds the touch surface and supports digital cameras at its corners. The digital cameras have overlapping fields of view that encompass and look across the touch surface. The digital cameras acquire images of the touch surface from different locations and generate image data. The image data is processed by digital signal processors to determine if a pointer exists in the captured image data. When it is determined that a pointer exists in the captured image data, the digital signal processors convey pointer characteristic data to a master controller, which in turn processes the pointer characteristic data to determine the location of the pointer in (x,y) coordinates relative to the touch surface using triangulation. The pointer location data is conveyed to a computer executing one or more application programs. The computer uses the pointer location data to update the computer-generated image that is presented on the touch surface. Pointer contacts on the touch surface can therefore be recorded as writing or drawing or used to control execution of an application program executed by the computer.
Although this camera-based touch system works extremely well, it has been found that when the digital camera frame rates are high, in less favorable light conditions, the ability to determine the existence of a pointer in the captured image data is diminished. As a result, there exists a need to improve the lighting environment for the digital cameras to ensure high resolution irrespective of ambient lighting conditions.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/354,168 to Akitt et al. entitled "Illuminated Bezel And Touch System Incorporating The Same", assigned to SMART Technologies Inc., assignee of the present invention, discloses an illuminated bezel for use in the above-described camera-based touch system. The illuminated bezel projects infrared backlighting across the touch surface that is visible to the digital cameras. As a result, when no pointer is positioned within the fields of view of the digital cameras, the digital cameras see bright bands of illumination as a result of the projected backlighting. When a pointer is positioned within the fields of view of the digital cameras, the pointer occludes the backlight illumination. Therefore, in each captured image the pointer appears as a high-contrast dark region interrupting the bright band of illumination allowing the existence of the pointer in the captured image to be readily detected.
Although the illuminated bezel works very well, because the illuminated bezel completely surrounds the touch surface and makes use of an array of infrared light emitting diodes mounted on a printed circuit board that is disposed behind a diffuser, manufacturing costs are significant especially in cases where the illuminated bezel surrounds large touch surfaces. As will be appreciated, lower cost backlight illumination for touch systems of this nature is desired.
Also, although the existence of the pointer in captured images can be readily detected, currently the use of monochrome digital cameras to capture images increases costs and provides limited information concerning attributes of the pointer used to contact the touch system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus for detecting a pointer within a region of interest.

Apparatus for detecting a pointer within a region of interest


An organic EL lighting device for a vehicle is provided, which includes an organic EL lighting portion provided in a matrix form on a ceiling of the vehicle, an organic EL touch portion provided on the organic EL lighting portion, an organic EL detection portion for detecting a position in which the organic EL touch portion is touched, an organic EL determination portion for determining a lighting area of the organic EL lighting portion based on the position detected by the organic EL detection portion, and an organic EL driving portion for lighting the lighting area of the organic EL lighting portion determined by the organic EL determination portion.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) lighting device for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an organic EL lighting device for a vehicle which can adjust a lighting area and a light distribution intensity using a film type organic EL panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art In general, in the center of a headlining of a vehicle, a lamp for lighting the vehicle interior is installed.
The lamp includes a housing fixed to the headlining, two bulbs fixedly installed in the housing, and a lens covering the bulbs. When the lamp is turned on, light emitted from the lamp is distributed throughout the interior of the vehicle.
However, since the lamp in the related art is fixed to the center of the headlining, the intensity of the light varies depending on distance from the lamp, with intense light being limited to only certain locations within the vehicle. Further, the intensity of the light distribution from such lamps cannot be adjusted. Thus, there are problems in that a driver or a passenger must move closer to the lamp for adequate lighting, which is inconvenient.

Organic electro-luminescence lighting device for vehicle


A small axial lost motion connection between an armature disk and a needle valve allows armature disk to snub rebound of needle valve upon impacting a valve seat.

A phenomenon that is often present in an electrically operated needle valve is the needle valve bouncing that occurs when the needle valve closes on a seat. Where the needle valve is part of a solenoid operated fuel injector, the occurrence of such bouncing will typically result in an extra amount of unscheduled fuel being injected from the fuel injector into the engine, and this extra fuel can have an adverse effect on fuel economy and engine exhaust constituents. It is therefore desirable to eliminate such bouncing.
Various means for eliminating such bouncing have been proposed, including those found in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,878,650; 5,033,176; and 5,139,224.
The present invention relates to an impact dampened armature and needle valve assembly wherein a very small amount of axial lost motion is provided between the armature and the needle valve so that when the needle valve impacts the valve seat at closing, the armature motion toward the seat is not immediately arrested, but rather will continue until it impacts a flange of the needle valve. By use of known computational and/or empirical techniques, the timing of the armature's impact with the needle valve flange can be set to occur just as the needle valve begins to bounce from the seat such that the armature substantially reduces or even fully cancels out the bounce.
An advantage of the invention is that no additional impact damping mechanism need be added to the needle valve and armature. All that is required is to axially capture the armature on the needle valve so that a small amount of axial lost motion travel of the former relative to the latter is present. The amount of such lost motion is quite small in the case of a fuel injector, and a dimension of the order of tens of millionths of an inch is typical. The attainment of such dimensions is possible with modern manufacturing techniques and materials.
The foregoing features, advantages, and benefits of the invention will be seen in the ensuing description and claims which are accompanied by a drawing. The drawing and description disclose a presently preferred embodiment of the invention according to the best mode contemplated at the present time for carrying out the invention.

Impact dampened armature and needle valve assembly


An interface circuit in an electronic device (such as an access point) may receive a wake-up-radio (WUR)-setup request associated with a recipient electronic device, where the WUR-setup request specifies one or more proposed data criteria or wake-up criteria that indicate when a wake-up frame is to be transmitted to the recipient electronic device. In response, the electronic device may determine one or more data criteria (or wake-up criteria) for use based at least in part on the one or more proposed data criteria. Then, the interface circuit may provide a WUR-setup response intended for the recipient electronic device, where the WUR-setup response indicates acceptance of the one or more proposed data criteria for use as the one or more data criteria or a proposed modification of at least one of the one or more proposed data criteria.

Many electronic devices communicate with each other using wireless local area networks (WLANs), such as those based on a communication protocol that is compatible with an IEEE 802.11 standard (which is sometimes referred to as 'Wi-Fi'). However, a radio in an electronic device that communicates using wireless communication in a WLAN may consume a significant amount of power.
In order to address this challenge, a new radio technology called Low Power Wake-Up Radio (LP-WUR) is being considered (in the discussion that follows a LP-WUR is referred to as a 'wake-up radio' or a WUR). The WUR may be a companion to the main Wi-Fi radio in the electronic device. Notably, by using the WUR, the electronic device may turn off its main radio and may selectively wake up the main radio in response to the WUR receiving a WUR packet from an access point. For example, the access point may send the WUR packet when there is a down-link packet for the electronic device.
However, the frequency of wake-up frames can increase the power consumption of the electronic device. In addition, the wake-up frames may increase the transmission overhead.

Wake-up radio with urgent-data criterion


The sheath for receiving a head-rest branch includes at least one wedge disposed in a window formed in a wall of the sheath and adapted to be disposed between the bushing and the branch, said wedge having a thickness greater than that of said wall so that, when the sheath is housed in the bushing and the branch is received in the sheath, the wedge is compressed between the bushing and the branch.

Receiving sheaths housed in a bushing are already known.
Generally, the bushing belongs to the frame of the seat and more particularly to the frame of the back-rest.
Given the manufacturing tolerances, the play may be particularly great between the bushing and the sheath, and also between the sheath and the branch. However, this play is responsible for noise and vibration as well as jolting when the vertical branches slide within the head-rest.


Method and apparatus are disclosed for verifying access to logical volume stored on at least one of the plurality of storage elements. The access can involve verification that the appropriate logical volume is being accessed and may also or instead include checking of authorization of a user to access that logical volume or logical entity. A database may be maintained to track users or host computers that are permitted to access the logical volume.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data storage for computers, and more particularly to access verification for requests to memory.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Virtually all computer applications (or programs) rely on storage. This storage can be used for both storing the computer code and for storing data manipulated by the code. (The term "data" refers to any information, including formatting information, error detection and correction information, executable code and data for manipulation by an application program.)
Storage technology has developed in a variety of different directions. Accordingly, a wide variety of storage systems are available. It has become impractical, therefore, for the person writing the computer application to also be responsible for detailed control over how data is stored on the storage system.
For this (and other) reasons, application programs typically run on an operating system (e.g., Unix, Windows, MS DOS, Linux, and the many variations of each). Once again, however, the operating system may be used with a variety of storage systems.
It would be highly inefficient to have to change the operating system, or the application programs, every time a change is made to physical storage. As a result, various layers of abstraction have evolved for viewing how data is actually stored in the storage system.
FIG. 1 illustrates one way of viewing the layers of abstraction. At the top level 10, the application program may assume that data is stored in a manner that has very little to do with how the data is placed onto the physical device. For example, the application may view the storage system as containing a number of directories and data files within the directories. Thus, in an application written for use in the Unix operating system, the application will assume that files are stored according to the Unix directory structure (including hierarchical directories and files located within the directories). This assumed organization of physical storage may have very little to do with how that data is actually stored onto the actual storage devices. This view may be referred to as the "logical view" because of the separation between the logical view of data from the application level is divorced from any view of how the data is physically stored. A logical entity, such as a file, database or other construct, may be referred to at the logical level as a "logical object."
The application level 10 interfaces with the file system level 12. The file system level is concerned with how files are stored on disks and how to make everything work efficiently and reliably. Thus, the file system level may be responsible for storing directory structure, and for breaking up files into constituent data blocks for storage onto a physical storage system. For example, in most implementations of Unix, each file has an associated I-node. This node may contain accounting and protection information and, additionally, a set of pointers to data blocks.
Relatively early in the development of computer systems, disk drives became a fundamental device for storage. Accordingly, computer operating systems have been developed assuming that memory will rely on input/output ("I/O") to a disk drive. The file system 12, therefore, may assume one or more "volumes" which correspond to a physical storage unit such as a disk drive (or any other unit of storage), with data stored in blocks on the disk drive.
The demand for storage to be available for use by applications has sky rocketed. As a result, a number of separate physical devices may be required to accommodate the total amount of storage required for a system. In addition, storage systems are often changed or reconfigured.
To insulate the operating system from any changes within the physical device storage system, some mechanism is often employed to flexibly map a standard (volume) view of physical storage onto an actual physical storage system. Thus, an operating system or application may rely on "volumes" of data. Again, these "volumes" may not correspond to how data is actually stored on physical devices. Accordingly, these are "logical volumes" (as opposed to actual physical storage volumes) and are themselves "logical objects."
The logical volume manager ("LVM") 14 of FIG. 1 can help achieve the function of mapping the file system view of data storage into an intermediate layer.
For purposes of the specification and claims, "logical volume" refers to a logical entity that generally corresponds to a logical abstraction of physical storage. "Logical volume" may include, for example, an entity that is treated (logically) as though it were composed of consecutively addressed blocks in a fixed block architecture or records in a count-key-data architecture. "Logical volume" includes not only standard logical volumes, but also components of a standard logical volume, hyper-volumes, partitions, striped volumes, and concatenated (or meta) volumes. A logical volume may be physically stored on more than one storage element.
Finally, the actual storage reading and writing (and, potentially, additional mapping onto physical storage devices) occurs within the physical storage system level 16, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus, for example, the logical volume manager may map the file system level view of data (as logical volumes or some other logical entity) into volume sizes corresponding to fixed physical storage segment sizes for storage on a physical device (e.g, block sizes). The physical storage system level may then map the logical volume manager level ("logical") volumes onto physical storage segments (e.g., hyper-volumes discussed below).
Logical volume managers have been implemented for use with the HP-UX by HP and by VERITAS for Solaris operating systems (i.e., VxVM), as examples. The Symmetrix line of storage systems, available from EMC Corporation, of Hopkinton, Mass., is one system capable of mapping hyper-volumes onto physical devices. (The Symmetrix product line of integrated cached disk arrays is described in numerous publications from EMC Corporation, including the Symmetrix model 55xx product manual, p-n200-810-550, rev.f, February, 1996.)
In the VERITAS Volume Manager, sold by VERITAS of Mountain View, Calif., logical volumes are assigned tags, which consist of an identifier for the host computer on which the volume manager is located and a time stamp indicating the time at which a logical volume was created. If a logical volume is electronically moved among the storage elements, it is assigned a new tag. Although logical volumes handled by this Volume Manager are not intended to be accessed by more than one host computer at any point in time, this has been done by manipulating the Volume Manager to provide tags for shared logical volumes to other host computers.
In any event, in the above examples, the mapping of application level data into actual physical storage occurs across four levels: application level to file system level; file system level to LVM level; LVM level to physical storage system level; and physical storage system level to the actual physical storage devices. More or fewer levels of mapping can be done. In some systems, for example, only one level of mapping is performed, e.g., mapping from the application level directly onto actual physical storage devices. In many systems, the mapping stage at the LVM level is omitted. Similarly, in many systems, no mapping is done at the physical storage level (e.g., data is stored directly onto actual devices corresponding to the format of the preceding level and without any further mapping onto physical storage components.) As another example, the file system level could be omitted and the application directly with logical (or actual) volumes.
FIG. 2A illustrates an example of the mapping that may be performed by the logical volume manager 14 and the physical storage system 16, to store data onto actual physical devices. The application/file system's view of the storage system contemplates three separate storage devices—volume A 20, volume B 21, and volume C 22. Thus, as far as the file system level 12 can discern, the system consists of three separate storage devices 20-22. Each separate storage device may be referred to as a "virtual volume," "logical volume" or "virtual disk." This reflects that the operating system's view of the storage device structure may not correspond to the actual physical storage system implementing the structure (hence, "virtual"). Unlike the application level 10, however, the file system 12 perspective is as if the file system 12 were dealing with raw physical devices or volumes.
As far as the file system level is concerned, the virtual volumes may be divided up into "partitions," which are continuous segments of storage. These partitions are, in fact, "virtual" partitions, because the partition may actually be stored across a variety of physical storage segments (e.g., hyper-volumes).
In FIG. 2A, the data is physically stored on the physical storage devices 24-26. In this particular example, although there are three physical devices 24-26 and three volumes 20-22, there is not a one to one mapping of the virtual volumes to physical devices. In this particular example, the data in volume A 20 is actually stored on physical devices 24-26, as indicated at 20a, 20b and 20c. In this example, volume B is stored entirely on physical device 24, as indicated at 22a, 22b. Finally, volume C is stored on physical device 24 and physical device 26 as indicated at 21a, 21b.
In this particular example, the boxes 20a-20c, 21a-21b and 22a-22b represent contiguous segments of storage within the respective physical devices 24-26. These contiguous segments of storage may, but need not, be of the same size. The segments of storage may be referred to as "hyper-volumes," and correspond to segments of physical storage that can be used as components when constructing a virtual volume for use by the file system. A hypervolume may be comprised of a number of "data blocks." A data block is a unit of storage (e.g., a 512 byte block) that is written or read at one time from the physical storage device.
Array management software running on a general purpose processor (or some other mechanism such as a custom hardware circuit) 23 translates requests from a host computer (not shown) (made assuming the logical volume structure 20-22) into requests that correspond to the way in which the data is actually stored on the physical devices 24-26. In practice, the array management software 23 may be implemented as a part of a unitary storage system that includes the physical devices 24-26, may be implemented on a host computer, or may be done in some other manner.
In FIG. 2A the array management software 23 performs the functions of both the logical volume manager 14 (if present) and the physical storage level 16, by mapping the file system's virtual volumes 20-22 into segments that can be stored onto physical devices 24-26. The array management software 23 also performs the functions of the physical storage system level 16, by determining where to store the hyper-volumes 20a-20c, 21a-21b and 22a-22b.
The physical storage devices shown in the example of FIG. 2A are disk drives. A disk drive may include one or more disks of a recording media (such as a magnetic recording medium or an optical recording medium). Information can be written and read from this storage medium for storage purposes. The recording medium is typically in the form of a disk that rotates. The disk generally includes a number of tracks on which the information is recorded and from which the information is read. Each track may include more than one "data block." A data block is a unit of data that can be read as a single unit. A data block may be a 512 byte block of data, an 8k segment on a 32k track, or some other structure. In these examples, the size of the block is fixed. In other cases, the block may be of variable size, such as a CKD record. In a disk drive that includes multiple disks, the disks by convention are described as though they are stacked so that corresponding tracks of each disk overlie each other. In this case, specification of a single track on which information is stored within the disk drive includes not only specification of an individual track on a disk, but also which of the multiple disks the information is stored on.
To identify an individual data block, an address may include a specification of the disk (which may consist of several "platters") a specification of the track within the disk (or "cylinder"), a specification of the head (or which of the platters comprising the "disk") and a specification of the particular data block within the track. The specification of the position of the data block within the track may, for example, be addressed as an offset, e.g., this is the third data block appearing on the track. Thus, an address of ddcccch:offset may specify a block—disk dd, cylinder cccc, head h and the specified offset. The physical storage devices for use with the present invention may, however, be formed in any other geometry, addressed in any other manner or even constitute a different type of storage mechanism.
FIG. 2B illustrates one example of mapping between the top level of abstraction—the application level—to the actual physical storage level. An application level file 200 includes visual information. This information is in the form of a conventional file and includes a series of bits.
When the application level file is mapped onto physical storage, the application level file may be converted into segments of the individual bits, e.g., segment 203. Thus, a segment of the application level file 203 is mapped (for example according to the general mapping structure described above with reference to FIG. 1) onto actual physical storage devices 204-206. In this example, the first segment of bits in 203 in the application level file 200 is mapped onto physical storage device 204, at a portion 208 of the physical storage device 204. As shown in FIG. 2B, the individual segments of bits in the application level file 200 may be mapped anywhere among a plurality of actual physical storage devices. The granularity of the segments of bits (e.g., segment 203) may correspond to one of a variety of different levels. For example, the granularity of the segments may be a 512 byte data block. In another embodiment, the granularity may correspond to the amount of data stored in a track of the physical storage devices 204-206 (when the physical storage devices are disk drives).
FIG. 2C illustrates an example of a logical object 27 that includes six data blocks or logical block elements 27a-27f. The logical object itself may be any data structure or collection of data. For example, the logical object could be a database table, a portion of a file system file, or a complete file system file, a logical volume or any other identifiable logical object. Each of the data blocks 27a-27f may be a fixed size data block, or a varying size data block such as a CKD record.
In the example of FIG. 2C, the logical object is stored on a physical storage device 28. In this example, the storage device includes a number of columns, each representing a track of a disk.
Each row of the physical storage device represents a physical data or block element within the applicable column/track. For example, row 28a, column 28b, stores a data block corresponding to the logical block element 27b. Track 28b would store physical data blocks that have the contents of logical block elements 27a and 27b. As can be seen from FIG. 2C, the logical block elements can be stored in any order on the physical devices.
While the physical storage device 28 is illustrated as a contiguous array, this need not be the case. For example, each of the tracks, such as column 28b, may be stored on a different disk drive or be part of a different hypervolume.
In a system including an array of physical disk devices, such as disk devices 24-26 of FIG. 2A, each device typically performs error detection and/or correction for the data stored on the particular physical device. Accordingly, each individual physical disk device detects when it does not have valid data to provide and, where possible, corrects the errors. Even where error correction is permitted for data stored on the physical device, however, a catastrophic failure of the device would result in the irrecoverable loss of data.
Accordingly, storage systems have been designed which include redundant storage capacity. A variety of ways of storing data onto the disks in a manner that would permit recovery have developed. A number of such methods are generally described in the RAIDbook, A Source Book For Disk Array Technology, published by the RAID Advisory Board, St. Peter, Minn. (5th Ed., February, 1996). These systems include "RAID" storage systems. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks.
FIG. 3A illustrates one technique for storing redundant information in a RAID system. Under this technique, a plurality of physical devices 31-33 include identical copies of the data. Thus, the data M1 can be "mirrored" onto a portion 31a of physical device 31, a portion 32a of physical device 32 and a portion 33a of physical device 33. In this case, the aggregate portions of the physical disks that store the duplicated data 31a, 32a and 33a may be referred to as a "mirror group." The number of places in which the data M1 is mirrored is generally selected depending on the desired level of security against irrecoverable loss of data.
In a mirror group, the copies are "linked." That is, any update to one mirror causes an update to each other mirror in the group.
FIG. 3A shows three physical devices 31-33 which appear to be located in close proximity, for example within a single storage system unit. For very sensitive data, however, one or more of the physical devices that hold the mirrored data may be located at a remote facility.
"RAID 1" is an example of data redundancy through mirroring of data. In a RAID 1 architecture, a number of different mechanisms may be used for determining how to access and update data to improve, for example, performance of the storage system. In any event, a RAID 1 architecture certainly has the ability to recover lost data. Unfortunately, the RAID 1 architecture multiplies the cost of physical storage by the number of "mirrors" included in the mirror group.
FIG. 3B illustrates a solution that requires less added storage. In FIG. 3B, data is stored at locations 34a-34d. In this particular example, the physical device 33 includes parity information P1 at 35a, 35b. The parity information is generated by a simple exclusive-OR ("XOR") of the corresponding bits of data. Thus, the parity information P1 would be generated by XORing the corresponding bits of the data D1 and data D2.
A variety of mechanisms are known for distributing the parity information on the physical devices. In the example shown in FIG. 3B, all of the parity information is stored on a single physical device 33. In other cases, the parity information may be distributed across the physical devices.
FIG. 4 illustrates the concept that, within a given disk array, there is no need for all of the data to follow the same redundancy rule. In FIG. 4, a first group of storage segments on physical devices 40-42 form a mirror group 44. In the mirror group 44, the entire contents of a single logical volume (HV-A) are mirrored on three different physical devices 40-42.
In FIG. 4, a single virtual volume is stored on the fourth physical device 43, without any redundancy information, as indicated at 46.
Finally, a last group of data segments 45, on all four physical devices 40-43, implement a parity redundancy scheme. In this particular example, the parity information is stored in segments of memory on two different physical devices 42-43, as indicated at 47a and 47b.
The storage system of FIG. 4 contains redundant information that permits recovery from errors, including use of a mirror for data located at a remote facility, that also permits recoveries from catastrophic failure.
FIG. 5 illustrates one system for additional backup, which may be used or adapted in accordance with certain aspects of the present invention. In FIG. 5, a computer or client 50 performs its operations using storage system 52. The client 50 may be any conventional computing system, such as a network client available from Sun Microsystems, and running the Solaris operating system (a version of Unix), an HP client running HP-UX (a Hewlett-Packard client, running a Hewlett-Packard version of the Unix operating system) or an IBM client running the AIX operating system (an IBM version of Unix) or any other system with an associated operating system. The storage system 52 may be any conventional storage system, including a Symmetrix storage system, described above. The client 50 may be connected to many other devices over a network 56.
A backup storage system 54 is also attached to the network 56. The backup storage system 54 includes a backup storage device (which may be disk drives, tape storage or any other storage mechanism), together with a system for placing data into the storage and recovering the data from that storage.
To perform a backup, the client 50 copies data from the storage system 52 across the network 56 to the backup storage system 54. This process can be explained in greater detail with reference to FIG. 1. The storage system 52 may correspond to the actual physical storage 16 of FIG. 1. For the client 50 to write the backup data over the network 56 to the backup storage system 54, the client 50 first converts the backup data into file data—i.e. gets the data from the physical storage system level 16, and converts the data into application level format (e.g. a file) through the logical volume manager level 14, the file system level 12 and the application level 10. Thus, an actual data file may be communicated over the network 56 to the backup storage device 54. When the backup storage device 54 receives the data file, the backup storage system 54 can take the application level 10 data file, convert it to its appropriate file system level 12 format for the backup storage system, which can then be converted through a logical volume manager 14 level and into physical storage 16.
This form of backing up data may be referred to as "logical-logical" backup. That is, the logical data is backed up on the backup storage device 54. The data to be backed up is presented independent of the manner in which it is physically stored on storage system 52 at the physical storage system level 16, independent of the file system level mechanisms on the client 50, and independent of how data is stored on the backup storage device 54.
The EDM (EMC Data Manager) line of products is capable of logical-logical backup over a network, as described in numerous publications available from EMC, including the EDM User Guide (Network) "Basic EDM Manual".
FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of an alternative structure for backup of data which may also be used in accordance with the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, a direct connection 60 is established between the storage system 52 and the backup storage system 54. In this embodiment, the backup storage system may be a system as generally described in EMC Data Manager: Symmetrix Connect User Guide, P/N 200-113-591, Rev. C, December 1997, available from EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. The direct connection 60 may be a high speed data channel, such as a SCSI cable or one or more fibre-channel cables. In this system, a user may be permitted to backup data over the network 56, or the direct connection 60.
Whether the restore and backup process is done at a logical level or at a physical level, backups in the prior art require copying a complete file (or in some instances even more, such as an entire partition) for the backup. Methods of backing up and restoring data on the system of FIG. 6 are described in co-pending and commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/052,579, entitled "Logical Restore From A Physical Backup In A Computer Storage System," filed Mar. 31, 1998, and naming John Deshayes and Madhav Mutalik as inventors, and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIG. 7 shows a storage system 70 that may be used as the storage system 52 of FIG. 6. The client 50 may be connected to the storage device using a channel or bus 71. The channel for communication with the client 50 can be any suitable connection such as fibre channel, Small Computer System Interface ("SCSI") or Enterprise Systems Connection Architecture ("ESCON"). While only one communication channel 71 into the storage system 70 is shown in FIG. 7, other channels may be included. (While the method and apparatus of the present invention may be described with reference to the storage system of FIG. 6 and the physical storage system (and associated features and methods) of FIG. 7, this is not intended to be limiting. The present invention has broader application. Certain aspects of the invention may be applied to any storage system.)
Within the storage system 70 is a host adapter 72. In this particular embodiment, the host adapter 72 is responsible for managing and translating read and write requests from the host computer (e.g., client 52 or backup storage system 54), which are based on the virtual disk structure (e.g., from the file system or logical volume manager level), into one or more requests corresponding to how data is stored on the actual physical storage devices 76a-76d of the storage system 70. Thus, in this embodiment, the host adapter 72 implements at least some of the array management software 23 functions of FIG. 2. The host adapter 72 can be implemented in any of a number of ways, including using a general purpose processor or a custom hardware implementation. In addition, multiple host adapters may be included to facilitate having additional I/O channels for the storage system 70.
The host adapter 72 communicates with the other components of the storage system 70 using an interconnect such as bus 73. The bus 73 may be any suitable communication element, including use of SCSI, ESCON, and other bus protocols.
Access to the physical storage devices 76a-76d is controlled through the use of disk adapters 75a-75d. The disk adapter 75a-75d can also be implemented using a general purpose processor or custom hardware design. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, a disk adapter is provided for each physical storage device. A disk adapter can, of course, have more than one storage device attached to it. In addition, disk adapters may include secondary connections to the physical storage devices of another disk adapter. This permits recovery from failure of one disk adapter by shifting its functions to the second disk adapter.
In the embodiment of FIG. 7, reading and writing to the physical storage device 76a-76d through the disk adapters 75a-75d is facilitated through use of a cache 74. The cache 74 may be a random access memory having greater speed than the disk drives. When reading data, if the data is being temporarily stored in the cache, the read request can be fulfilled more quickly by taking the data from the cache 74. Similarly, when writing data, the data to be written can be stored in the cache. The other components of the system can proceed, while the data is written from the cache to the applicable physical storage device.
Any of a variety of mechanisms can be used to implement and manage the cache. An example of such a mechanism is included in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,568, entitled "System for dynamically controlling cache manager maintaining cache index and controlling sequential data access," issued on Jul. 16, 1996. Similarly, writes may be accomplished through the cache using any of a variety of mechanisms and strategies. One mechanism for writing from the cache is to store the data to be written in the cache, and mark a "write pending" bit. When the write pending bit is encountered, the applicable data can be written to the disk. This technique is described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,493, entitled "Disk storage system with write preservation during power failure," issued on Aug. 23, 1994.
The cache may be divided into more than one area. For example, the cache may include an area 74a for storing data being read or written from physical storage devices 76a-76d. The cache may further include a "mailbox" area 74b. The mailbox area 74b may be used to facilitate communications among the disk adapters 75a-75d and with the host adapter 72. For example, each disk adapter may have its own area within the mailbox 74b. Each of the disk adapters 75a-75d can post or read information from the applicable mailbox area 74b, to communicate status and other information.
A remote adapter 78 may also be attached to the bus 73 of the storage system 70. The remote adapter may be employed for communication with remote data facilities ("RDF"), for example, connection to another storage device to maintain a mirror redundancy group. One form of RDF link and method of implementation is described in various publications available from EMC Corporation, including SYMMETRIX Remote Data Facility Product Manual, P/N 200-999-554, rev. B, June 1995. RDF embodiments are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,347 (Yanai) which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. It should be appreciated, however, that the present invention is not limited to the use of RDF or to a system that employs SYMMETRIX disk arrays, and can be employed with any of numerous other types of storage systems.
A service processor 77 may be coupled to the bus 73 of the storage system 70. The service processor 77 may include a display, keyboard and other I/O devices to permit an operator to use the service processor 77 for configuring the components of the storage system 70 and for running or initiating diagnosis and maintenance facilities.
While the method and apparatus of the present invention may be described with reference to the systems and concepts described above and in the discussion of the related art, this is not intended to be limiting. The present invention has broader application. Certain aspects of the invention may be applied to any storage system. Accordingly, the invention is only limited by the claims set forth below.

Method and apparatus for verifying storage access requests in a computer storage system with multiple storage elements


Gelled or solid topically-effective compositions comprising a topically-active compound, like an antiperspirant compound; a borate crosslinker; a surfactant, and preferably, a nonionic surfactant or nonionic surfactant blend; a carrier comprising water; and, optionally, a hydrophobic compound, are disclosed.

Antiperspirant compositions are well-known in the cosmetic art. An ideal antiperspirant composition is stable for the life of the composition, effectively delivers the antiperspirant compound to the skin, does not leave a visually-observable white residue on the skin or clothing, and is esthetically pleasing to the consumer.
Antiperspirant compositions are available in a variety of forms, such as aerosol suspensions; pump sprays; roll-on powders; emulsions or suspensions; and solid gels, waxes or suspensions. Antiperspirant compositions traditionally have been prepared as either oil-in-water emulsions or water-in-oil emulsions. Therefore, antiperspirant compositions of any form typically have a milky or opaque appearance and are manufactured by complex methods. Antiperspirant compositions prepared as emulsions often feel wet or oily when applied to the skin, and often remain tacky after the carrier of the composition evaporates. In addition, many emulsion-type antiperspirant compositions leave a white, staining residue on contacted skin or clothing.
Gelled emulsion-type antiperspirant compositions are used by rubbing an area of the body, such as the underarm, to apply a layer of the composition to the skin, and thereby reduce odor and/or perspiration. Gelled or solid antiperspirant compositions preferably possess the esthetic properties of nonbrittleness, smoothness, nonoiliness and nontackiness. Clarity, or transparency, of antiperspirant compositions also is a long-sought desirable esthetic property. Another highly desirable, but hard to achieve, esthetic property is avoiding a visible residue, e.g., a white layer, that is left on the skin or clothing after the antiperspirant composition is applied.
Nonemulsified antiperspirant compositions also are known in the art. However, nonemulsified compositions often require shaking prior to each use in order to redisperse the insoluble antiperspirant compound that has separated from the composition. Nonemulsified antiperspirant compositions that do not require shaking prior to each use, such as an antiperspirant creme or paste, typically include a relatively high percentage of suspending agents, like an organoclay. The presence of an organoclay in an antiperspirant composition is a principal source of the whitening and staining of skin and clothing.
Investigators have searched for antiperspirant compositions, and especially transparent antiperspirant compositions, that display the above-listed desirable properties. A gelled or solid antiperspirant composition is difficult to formulate and manufacture because the composition requires sufficient firmness to withstand rubbing across the skin to deliver a sufficient amount of the antiperspirant compound to the skin, and the composition also should be nonbrittle to resist fracturing and crumbling. Additional formulation parameters include viscosity control, lack of syneresis and nontackiness. Transparent, gelled or solid antiperspirant compositions are more difficult to formulate because of the added requirement of transparency.
A transparent gelled or solid antiperspirant composition which has esthetic and functional properties equal to or better than presently-available antiperspirants compositions is highly desired by consumers. However, providing a commercially-acceptable, transparent gelled or solid antiperspirant composition requires overcoming several formulation and manufacturing problems.
Transparent antiperspirant compositions, especially in the gel or solid, i.e., stick, form, are particularly favored by consumers because such transparent products are esthetically-appealing and project the appearance of product purity, safety, good performance and being non-whitening. However, due to the instability and the difficult manufacture of transparent compositions, transparent antiperspirant compositions are not readily available to consumers.
Solid antiperspirant compositions are divided into three main classes, i.e., compressed powder sticks, gel sticks and wax sticks. Each of these classes has advantages, but each class also has particular disadvantages. Compressed powder sticks for example are frequently brittle and hard, and leave a cosmetically-unacceptable powdery residue after application. Frequently, wax-based products are cosmetically unacceptable because of such factors as hardness, greasiness and tackiness. The opacity of wax sticks and the visually-observable white residue remaining after application also are esthetically undesirable.
Gel-type solid antiperspirant compositions have several advantages over both compressed powder sticks and wax sticks. For example, the gelled antiperspirant compositions leave less residue or dust on the skin. The gelled antiperspirant compositions also glide easily over the skin surface resulting in an easy and comfortable application of the composition.
However, the preparation of antiperspirant compositions in the form of an effective and stable gel is difficult. For example, a critical ingredient in gelled antiperspirant compositions is the gelling agent. Many prior gelled antiperspirant compositions comprise gelled hydroalcoholic solutions including a gelling agent, such as sodium stearate, to form the gel. However, common gelling agents cannot be used in the presence of acidic antiperspirant compounds because of an interaction between the gelling agent, which is alkaline, and the antiperspirant compound.
Prior transparent, gelled or solid antiperspirant compositions also typically were divided into three main classes. One of these classes is the optically-clear gelled emulsion compositions. These compositions include a water phase and an oil phase. The oil phase is suspended in the water phase by using a sufficient amount of an appropriate emulsifier or emulsifiers. The emulsions conventionally contained waxes, silicones, clays and emollients. The optically-clear gelled emulsion compositions are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,673,570, 4,268,499, 4,278,655, and 4,350,605; EP 0 450 597; and in "Deodorant and Antiperspirant Formulary", Cosmetics & Toiletries, Dec. 12, 1985, vol. 100, p. 65-75.
The optically-clear gelled emulsion compositions often exhibit the disadvantages of composition instability during storage; the development of a hazy or milky appearance during storage; a stringy, tacky, oily consistency and other undesirable esthetics. In addition, the emulsion gel compositions often leave a visible residue, in the form of a white layer, on the skin or clothing. Another disadvantage of optically-clear gelled emulsion compositions is the complex method of preparing an optically-clear gelled emulsion composition. The method traditionally requires high shear rates during mixing, high processing temperatures, and a series of cooling and heating process steps. In one embodiment of the present invention, optically-clear gelled emulsion compositions are prepared by a simple method to provide antiperspirant compositions that overcome the above-described disadvantages of optically-clear gelled emulsion compositions.
A second class of transparent gelled or solid antiperspirant compositions is antiperspirant compositions thickened with 3:2,4-dibenzylidene-sorbitol (DBS) or DBS derivatives. Such transparent antiperspirant compositions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,822,602 and 4,725,430; European Patent Publication 0 512 770; WO 91/15191; and WO 92/19222.
Transparent, gelled antiperspirant compositions thickened with DBS or DBS-type compounds have a major disadvantage in that the compositions are unstable in the presence of highly-acidic antiperspirant compounds at elevated temperatures. In addition, another disadvantage is the high temperature required for manufacturing DBS-thickened compositions (i.e., about 230.degree. F. to about 240.degree. F.).
The third class of transparent gelled or solid antiperspirant compositions is the acid-base complex gels. These transparent antiperspirant compositions are prepared by interacting the active antiperspirant compound with a carboxylic acid salt. Transparent acid-based complex gels are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,255,082 and 2,876,163; and in European Publication No. 0 448 278. Govett et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,607,658 and 2,654,616 disclose a gel comprising an aluminum chlorohydroxy complex and a borate.
For example, EP 0 448 278 discloses complexing an antiperspirant aluminum salt with ammonium acetate. U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,163 discloses complexing an antiperspirant aluminum salt with various water-soluble inorganic salts, like an alkali metal oxide, hydroxide, or carbonate, or a salt of an organic or inorganic acid, such as sodium carbonate, sodium phosphate, or sodium glutamate.
This third class of transparent antiperspirant compositions has a major disadvantage in that the active antiperspirant compound is partially deactivated by the salt, thereby reducing the efficacy of the antiperspirant compound and, accordingly, the antiperspirant composition. In addition, the resulting gels or solids are very brittle, tacky, and/or possess other undesirable esthetic properties, such as in the compositions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,082, which are emulsions or sols and therefore are often opaque.
Although numerous patents disclose transparent gelled or solid antiperspirant compositions, the gelled compositions designated as clear or transparent do not have the clarity desired by consumers. Some transparent antiperspirant compositions also exhibit syneresis, or phase separation, during storage. Moreover, many of the prior art transparent compositions become cloudy or hazy after standing for a period of time. Typically, haziness increases to such an extent that the composition is cloudy and has little or no transparency about a month after preparation. Antiperspirant compositions conventionally have a product life in excess of one month. Therefore, the length of time the composition retains its transparency is an important esthetic property.
Investigators have continually sought to provide a gelled or solid antiperspirant composition having both long-term stability and sufficient esthetic and functional properties for consumer acceptance. These esthetic and functional properties include transparency, a sufficient hardness for application to the skin, a low degree of brittleness to resist fracture and crumbling of the composition, no visually-observable whitening of the skin and clothing, and the ability to effectively deliver the antiperspirant compound to the skin without providing a tacky or sticky feeling. The present invention is directed to providing gelled or solid antiperspirant compositions, and preferably transparent compositions, exhibiting these consumer-acceptable esthetic and functional properties.


A control system (18) and method for an automotive vehicle (10) includes a pitch rate sensor (37) generating a pitch rate signal, a longitudinal acceleration sensor (36) generating a longitudinal acceleration signal, and a yaw rate sensor (28) generating a yaw rate signal. A safety system (44) and the sensors are coupled to a controller. From the sensors, the controller (26) determines an added mass and a position of the added mass, a pitch gradient and/or a pitch acceleration coefficient that takes into account the added mass and position. The controller controls a vehicle system in response to the added mass and the position of the added mass, the pitch gradient and/or pitch acceleration coefficient variables.

Recently, vehicle roll stability control (RSC) schemes, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,446, have been proposed to address the issue of friction-induced rollovers. RSC system includes a variety of sensors sensing vehicle states and a controller that controls a distributed brake pressure to reduce a tire force so the net moment of the vehicle is counter to the roll direction.
During an event causing the vehicle to roll, the vehicle body is subject to a roll moment due to the coupling of the lateral tire force and the lateral acceleration applied to the center of gravity of vehicle body. This roll moment causes suspension height variation, which in turn results in a vehicle relative roll angle (also called chassis roll angle or suspension roll angle). The relative roll angle is an important variable that is used as an input to the activation criteria and to construct the feedback pressure command, since it captures the relative roll between the vehicle body and the axle. The sum of the chassis roll angle and the roll angle between wheel axle and the road surface (called wheel departure angle) provides the roll angle between the vehicle body and the average road surface, which is one of the important variables feeding back to the roll stability control module. Trucks, SUVs and cars sometimes are used for carrying heavy loads. For example, a truck full of cargo is loaded in the rear, a trunk of a car may be loaded, and SUV or van may be loaded on its rear. The rear loading may cause the vehicle to have a pitch due to the increased load.
A large rear/trunk load (additional mass) may saturate the lateral forces on the rear axle of the vehicle, making the vehicle more prone to oversteer. In terms of stability, a GWAR (gross weight at rear axle) may cause the vehicle to move with a large side slip angle during some aggressive maneuvers. When the vehicle is sliding at a very large sideslip angle, it gets into nonlinear range of its vehicle dynamics, and sometimes the vehicle could be tripped and rolled over. It is usually hard for the ordinary driver to control and the vehicle dynamics controls have to be activated. Hence, it would be desirable to adjust control authority in stability controls in order to achieve improved performance for a vehicle with large trunk or rear loading.
The large vehicle trunk loading may also have adverse effect on vehicle sensor readings. For example, the trunk loading could cause the vehicle pitch down towards its rear axle. Such loading-induced pitch may cause erroneous readings from a pitch rate sensor, a yaw rate sensor and a longitudinal acceleration sensor. Hence it is desirable to determine such loading-induced pitch misalignment based on the detected trunk or rear loading and to use this information to compensate the sensor signal outputs. Such trunk loading induced pitch misalignment can also be used to conduct vehicle body leveling control and to adjust the orientation of the headlights.

System for dynamically determining vehicle rear/trunk loading for use in a vehicle control system