A digital to analog converter for an analog Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) includes a digital inlet, a latching circuitry, a voltage level shifter circuitry, a switching circuitry, and a resistance network with a resistance compensatory circuitry. The resistance network with the resistance compensatory circuitry is electrically connecting with the switching circuitry and adapted to regulate a pattern of the analog output signal so as to optimize the analog output signal. Specifically, the resistance network with a resistance compensatory circuitry is to produce the best linear conversion from the digital signal to the analog signal for use by the LCD.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a digital to analog converter, and more particularly to a digital to analog converter with resistance network with a resistance compensatory circuitry which is adapted to optimally convert a digital signal into an analog signal for use by analog-type LCDs.
2. Description of Related Arts
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) have been widely accepted as a major alternative to traditional Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) display. They have the advantages of being smaller in size, clearer in displaying images, and substantially reducing radiation. There exist two major types of LCD, namely, analog and digital LCDs. The distinction implies that the LCD in question may only accept respectively, analog or digital signals for displaying a particular image on the screen. In order to process digital signals in an analog LCD, or vice versa, it definitely requires a converter which is capable of converting a digital signal into an analog signal or vice versa.
Generally speaking, analog LCDs enjoy considerable competitive power as compared with digital LCDs. What this implies is that the need for a better quality converter never stops. As a matter of fact, almost all converters which are capable of transforming digital input signals into analog output signals involve certain loss or distortions in the signal converted. The key question becomes how to minimize such loss or distortion during signal conversion, while at the same time keeping the conversion process efficient and economical.
A digital to analog converter with improved switched R-2R network is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,473. There are a variety of digital to analog converters available for converting digital input signals into analog output signals depending upon the desired conversion functionality. The variations in the digital to analog converters available may have different predetermined resolutions of a digital input signal, receive different encoded digital input signals, have different ranges of analog output signals using a fixed reference or a multiplied reference, and provide different types of analog output signals. Additionally, there are a number of digital to analog converter performance factors to consider such as settling time, full scale transition time, accuracy or linearity, and a factor previously mentioned, resolution.
The digital input signal is a number of bits wide, defining the resolution, the number of output levels or quantization levels and the total number of digital codes that are acceptable. If the digital input signal is n-bits wide, there are 2n output levels and 2 n−1 steps between levels. The digital input signals may be encoded in straight binary, two's complement, offset binary, gray scale code, binary coded decimal or other digital coding. The range of analog output signal values usually depends upon an analog reference. The analog reference may be internally generated but is usually externally provided for precision. The analog output signal range may be proportional to the digital input signal over a fixed analog reference level as in a fixed reference digital to analog converter. Alternatively, the analog output signal may be the product of a varying input analog reference level and the digital code of the digital input signal as in multiplying digital to analog converters. The analog output signal may be unipolar ranging in either positive values or negative values or it may be bipolar ranging between both positive and negative output values. The analog output signal may be an analog voltage signal or an analog current signal.
Additionally, the type of electronic circuitry used to form a digital to analog converter varies as well. Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) technology, metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) technology or a combination thereof is used to construct digital to analog converters. BJT technology may be PNP technology with PNP transistors or NPN with NPN transistors or both, while MOS technology may be PMOS with P-channel field effect transistors (PFET), NMOS with N-channel field effect transistors (NFET) or CMOS technology having both PFETs and NFETs.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a conventional digital to analog converter is usually embodied as an R-2R network digital to analog converter comprising a R-2R network. The R-2R network digital to analog converter usually comprises an R-2R network 121, a switching circuitry 111, and a digital signal input 131 which contains a four digital input terminals D0, D1, D2, D3, appeared in the FIG. 1.
The R-2R network 121 comprises resistors 124, 126, 128 each having a predetermined resistance r, resistors 122, 123, 125, 127, 129 each having a predetermined resistance R which is twice the resistance r. In other words, R=2r.
The switching circuitry 111 comprises four switches 112, 113, 114, 115 wherein each of the switches 112, 113, 114, 115 comprises an inverter 201, a CMOS transmission gate 202, two PMOS transistors 212, 222, and two NMOS transistors 213, 223.
The R-2R network digital to analog converter usually comprises the digital input 131, the R-2R network 121, the switching circuitry 111, and the digital input 131, an analog supply voltage level VDD, and a ground level GND. The digital input terminals D0, D1, D2, D3 individually control switches 112, 113, 114, 115 to cause the R-2R network digital to analog converter convert the value of the digital input 131 into the analog output signal. The linearity of an R-2R network digital to analog converter is very important for accurate conversions and is usually specified in units of least significant bits (LSB) of the n-bit of the digital input 131. Under an idealized situation the R-2R network digital to analog converter could have a good linearity for accurate conversions if the resistance of each resistor of the R-2R network 121 is greater than the intrinsic resistance of the corresponding switches 112, 113, 114, 115.
There are disadvantages regarding this conventional R-2R network digital to analog converter which is applied to an analog LCD. A conventional analog LCD comprises a RGB terminal comprising a red video terminal, a green video terminal, and a blue video terminal for receiving analog RGB signals respectively through a convention AV cable comprising three wires, which are connected to the analog LCD via the video red terminal, the video green terminal, and the video blue terminal respectively. The equivalent input impedance of each of the video red terminal, the video green terminal, and the video blue terminal of the analog LCD could be treated as a capacitive loading. As a result, when the conventional R-2R network digital to analog converter is utilized in practice, one may implement three separate R-2R network digital to analog converter for converting three distinct digital signals, video red signal, video green signal, and video blue signal, to three distinct analog signals. The resistances of resistors 124, 126, and 128 of the R-2R network 121 and resistors having a predetermined resistance 2r must be reduced in order to change the analog output voltage from a maximum value to a minimum value or vice versa in a fixed unit time period when the input signals of the digital input terminals D0, D1, D2, D3 of the digital input 131 are suddenly changed from high voltage levels to low voltage levels or vice versa. However, the linearity of the R-2R network digital to analog converter becomes poor when the resistances of resistors of the R-2R network 121 are reduced. In other words, signal distortion or loss is expected to be very severe. It is due to that the resistance of each resistor of the R-2R network 121 is not greater than the intrinsic resistance of the corresponding switches 112, 113, 114, 115.
Referring to FIG. 3 of the drawings, in order to resolve these severe distortion and signal loss problems, a unity gain buffer 321 is coupled to the R-2R network digital to analog converter 301. With the help of the unity gain buffer 321, the resistances of the R-2R network digital to analog converter 301 would select an optimal value which is greater than intrinsic resistance of the switches 303,304,305,306 in order to optimize the performance of the digital-analog converter.
However, a major drawback of employing this unity gain buffer 321 is that a high quality unity gain buffer 321 is usually expensive. Moreover, the performance of the digital to analog converter is then solely dependent on the performance and characteristics of the unity gain buffer 321 such that the flexibility in introducing any additional features to the R-2R network digital to analog converter is substantially undermined.


A refrigerator according to the present disclosure includes at least one storage chamber and uses an electromagnetic wave to heat a stored object inside the storage chamber. A first electromagnetic wave shield is provided on a door of the storage chamber, and a second electromagnetic wave shield is provided on a housing part of the refrigerator that is in contact with the door while the door is closed. This makes it possible to provide a structure capable of exhibiting a function as an electromagnetic wave shield even for a refrigerator door in which wiring to a grounding part is difficult.

In recent years, there has been a growing need for thawing stored objects such as foodstuff kept frozen and frozen food in a short time in refrigerators. PTL 1 discloses a refrigerator including a heating chamber that uses microwaves to heat a stored object.
Further, PTL 2 discloses a high frequency heater that thaws a stored object using high frequency waves in a HF to VHF band instead of microwaves. Unlike microwaves, the high frequency waves in the HF to VHF band have high rectilinearity, and form an electric field between two electrodes to heat the stored object.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


An optical pickup apparatus includes an objective lens that focuses light on an optical recording medium; an actuator that drives the objective lens in a direction of an optical axis of the objective lens toward or away from an optical recording medium in response to an input voltage applied to the actuator; an actuator driven distance sensor that senses a distance the actuator moves according to time or the input voltage applied to the actuator; an input voltage calculator that calculates an input voltage to be applied to the actuator that compensates for a hysteresis phenomenon that occurs during movement of the actuator based on the distance sensed by the actuator driven distance sensor; and a controller that controls operation of the actuator according to the input voltage calculated by the input voltage calculator.

1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the invention relates to an optical pickup apparatus and a controlling method thereof, and more particularly to an optical pickup apparatus capable of accurately detecting a kind of optical recording medium by compensating for a hysteresis phenomenon that occurs during movement of an actuator, thereby making the actuator move linearly, and a controlling method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
CDs, DVDs, and more recently, BDs (Blu-ray Discs) are widely used as optical recording media. Since a distance between tracks and a minimum pit length on the CD, DVD, and BD media are different for each type of medium, a wavelength of a laser used in recording and reproducing data and a data recording are also different for each type of medium.
An infrared laser having a wavelength of 790 nm is used for recording and reproducing data on and from a CD. A data recording capacity of a CD is 650 MB.
A DVD is made from two discs having the same thickness glued together to form two sides. A recording layer is formed on either one surface or both surfaces of either one side or both sides to form a DVD having from one to four recording layers that can be designed to be read from either one side (single-sided) or both sides (double-sided). A red laser having a wavelength of 635-650 nm is used for recording and reproducing data on and from a DVD. A single-layer DVD has a data recording capacity of up to 4.7 GB.
A BD, unlike a DVD, is made from one disc and is designed to be read from one side. A blue laser having a wavelength of 405 nm is used for recording and reproducing data on and from a BD. A maximum data recording capacity of a single-sided, single-layer BD is 25-28 GB.
Also, a distance from a surface of the medium to a recording layer is different for each type of medium. For example, the distance from the surface of the medium to the recording layer is approximately 1.2 mm for the CD, 0.6 mm for the DVD, and 0.1 mm for the BD.
An optical pickup apparatus is used to record or reproduce data on or from CD, DVD, and BD media. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical pickup apparatus includes a laser diode 10, an HWP (half-wave plate) 15, a beam splitter 20, a reflecting mirror 25, a CL (collimating lens) 30, an OL (objective lens) 40, an HOE (holographic optical element) 35, a photodetector 50 such as a PDIC (photodiode integrated circuit), an actuator 60, and a controller 65.
The laser diode 10 includes a plurality of light sources to generate laser light having at least two different wavelengths for use in recording or reproducing data on or from at least different two media selected from a CD, a DVD, and a BD. The HWP 15 rotates the polarization direction of the laser light from the laser diode 10 to be perpendicular to the plane of the figure. The beam splitter 20 reflects the laser light toward the reflecting mirror 25 through the CL 30 which collimates the laser light. The reflecting mirror 25 reflects the laser light toward a medium 70 through the HOE 35. The HOE 35 circularly polarizes the laser light, and the circularly polarized laser light is focused by the OL 40 on the medium 70.
Light reflected from the medium 70 passes through the OL 40 and the HOE 35 toward the reflecting mirror 25, which reflects the light toward the beamsplitter 20 through the CL 30. The light then passes through the beam splitter 20 and is incident on the photodetector 50.
The actuator moves the OL 40 in a direction along an optical axis of OL 40 toward or away from the medium 70 to perform a focusing operation, and moves the OL 40 in a direction perpendicular to tracks of the medium 70 to perform a tracking operation.
Because different wavelengths of laser light are used to record and reproduce data on and from a CD, a DVD, and a BD, it is important that an optical pickup apparatus is capable of detecting the kind of optical recording medium mounted on the optical pickup apparatus and generating an a laser light appropriate for use with the detected kind of optical recording medium. To this end, when the optical recording medium 70 is mounted on the optical pickup apparatus, the controller 65 controls the actuator 60 to move toward or away from the optical recording medium 70 until two pulses are generated in an output signal of the photodetector 50 while the actuator 60 is moving in one direction, either toward or away from the optical recording medium 70. One pulse is generated when a focal point of the light focused by the OL 40 moves onto the surface of the optical recording medium 70 and the focused light is reflected from the surface, and the other pulse is generated when the focal point passes moves onto the recording layer of the optical recording medium 70 that is closest to the surface of the optical recording medium 70 and the focused light is reflected from the recording layer.
Referring to FIG. 2, the magnitude of an input voltage applied by the controller 65 to the actuator 60 to drive the actuator 60 to move toward or away from the optical recording medium 70 varies linearly with time. It is desirable that the actuator 60 move at a constant speed, and accordingly the input voltage and time satisfy a linear function.
Assuming that the actuator 60 moves at a constant speed, a time interval between the two pulses in the output signal of the photodetector 50 will depend on the distance between the surface of the optical recording medium 70 and the recording layer of the optical recording medium 70 that is closest to the surface of the optical recording medium 70, with a greater distance producing a greater time interval. Thus, in an ideal case, a time interval between the two pulses will be least for a BD for which the distance is 0.1 mm, will be greater for a DVD for which the distance is 0.6 mm, and will be greatest for a CD for which the distance is 1.2 mm.
FIG. 3A shows a DVD and the two positions of the OL 40 at which the two pulses are generated. A distance between these two positions is 0.6 mm and corresponds to a time interval t1 between the two pulses as shown in FIG. 3A.
FIG. 3B shows a CD and the two positions of the OL 40 at which the two pulses are generated. A distance between these two positions is 1.2 mm and corresponds to a time interval t2 between the two pulses as shown in FIG. 3B.
However, it turns out that, contrary to the ideal case discussed above, the time interval t2 between the pulse corresponding to the surface of the CD and the pulse corresponding to the recording layer of the CD is actually smaller than the time interval t1 between the pulse corresponding to the surface of the DVD and the pulse corresponding to the recording layer of the DVD. This result is shown in FIG. 4.
As discussed above, in the optical pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1, an input voltage applied by the controller 65 to the actuator 60 to drive the actuator 60 varies linearly with time. However, a hysteresis phenomenon occurs as shown in FIG. 5, in which an actual driving voltage forms a hysteresis curve when plotted against distance to obtain a motion curve of the actuator 60. The shape of a portion of the hysteresis curve obtained when the actuator 60 moves toward the optical recording medium 70 is different from the shape of a portion of the hysteresis curve obtained when the actuator 60 moves away from the optical recording medium 70. Furthermore, the actuator 60 does not move at a constant speed in response to a linear input voltage. Rather, the actuator 60 moves slower when the actuator 60 is very close to or very far from the optical recording medium 70, and moves faster when the actuator 60 is at intermediate distances from the optical recording medium 70. Thus, the motion curve of the actuator shown in FIG. 5 is a non-linear motion curve.
Since the driving speed of the actuator 60 varies depending on the hysteresis phenomenon, the time interval between the pulse corresponding to the surface of the optical recording medium 70 and the pulse corresponding to the recording layer of the optical recording medium 70 may be different from an expected time interval. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, in a case where the time interval t1 between the pulse corresponding to the surface of a DVD and the pulse corresponding to the recording layer of the DVD is increased as much as t′ from the ideal case (t1), and the time interval t2 between the pulse corresponding to the surface of a CD and the pulse corresponding to the recording layer of the CD reduced as much as t″ from the ideal case (t2), the controller 65 may confuse the CD with the DVD. If the controller 65 confuses the CD with the DVD and the laser diode 10 generates laser light having a wavelength of 650 nm for use with a DVD when a CD is actually mounted on the optical pickup apparatus, an error occurs and the optical pickup apparatus stops working.
Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the speed of the actuator from changing due to the hysteresis phenomenon, so that the actuator can be driven linearly.

Optical pickup apparatus and controlling method thereof


A method for making multi-channel structures suitable for use as filters, catalyst carriers or the like. A composite rod comprising an outer shell and an inner core is formed of respective mixtures of powders. The mixture for the outer shell comprises a sinterable powdered structural material such as ceramics, metals, intermetallics, and a powdered binder. The inner core comprises a powdered carbon channel-forming filler material such as graphite or amorphous carbon, and a powdered binder. The composite rod may be deformed, as by extrusion, to reduce its diameter. A bundle of composite rods is assembled and deformed, as by extrusion, to reduce the diameter of the bundle and of its component composite rods. Further bundles of the reduced diameter bundles of composite rods may be likewise deformed by extrusion to reduce further the diameter of the component composite rods of the successive bundles, thereby also increasing the number of such rods per given cross section area of the bundle. The final assembly of bundles is consolidated and the binder is removed, as by heating, followed by removal of the carbon inner cores of the composite rods of the assembly of bundles by oxidation and sintering of the remaining structure of ceramic or metal, as the case may be.

Various methods are known for making channeled materials. J. Reeman, R. W. Buswell and D. G. Ainley described the method of producing cooling passages in high-temperature turbine blades by the incorporation of cadmium wires in the blade pressing and their subsequent removal by evaporation during sintering, as reported and cited in "Fundamental Principles of Powder Metallurgy" edit by W. D. Jones, and published by Edward Arnold Publisher Limited, London 1960, page 341. This method is very labor and time consuming and does not allow the manufacture of micro-channeled materials with small and uniformly distributed channels.
A directional solidification method called GASAR has been developed for producing solids with controlled porosity 1-3! as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181549 issued Jan. 26, 1993. Metals are melted in a given atmosphere of a gas (usually hydrogen), poured into a mold while subjected to a desired pressure, and cooled. As the metal solidifies, the solubility of the dissolved gas goes through a sharp decrease and bubble nucleation occurs. Bubbles which form in the liquid float to a hotter region and are reabsorbed. Bubbles which form at the solid-liquid interface may grow as either isolated or continuous porosity, depending on the solidification conditions. The final microstructure of the porous materials depends on both thermodynamic and kinetic processes. Homogeneous nucleation of bubbles under GASAR processing conditions is impossible, the process is limited to systems which do not form hydrides, the eutectics are highly asymmetric, which leads to an extremely small range of compositions and solidification temperatures where stable eutectic growth is possible. This method does not allow the manufacture of long structures with through microchannels of a given diameter. Moreover, this method cannot be used for producing channels oriented in two or more desired directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,264 issued Apr. 4, 1989 to Marsha L. Langhorst discloses that hollow glass fibers have been made by drawing down tubes which can be used to produce glass polycapillary materials. Seven glass tubes, 1.8 mm outside diameter by 1.4 mm inside diameter, were placed inside an 8 mm outside diameter by 6 mm inside diameter glass tube and this assembly was drawn with a glass tube drawing machine. The subject patent cites an article by H. D. Pierce Jr. Et al, Technical note "A method for the Preparation of Glass Multicapillary Columns", vol. 17, J. of Chromatographic Science, 5/79, 297, as the source of this work. This method cannot be applied to the powder or brittle materials, such as ceramics, intermetallics, carbon, etc.
Extrusion method for forming thin-walled honeycomb structures was developed by D. Rodney et al. as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,654 issued Feb. 5, 1974. Rodney et al disclose the use of an extrusion die having an outlet face provided with a gridwork of interconnected discharge slots and inlet face provided with a plurality of feed openings extending partially through the die in communication with the discharge slots. Extrudable material is fed to the die under pressure wherein the extrudable materials flow to the interconnected discharge slots communicating with the outlet face, wherein a portion of the material flows laterally within such slots to form a continuous mass before being discharged longitudinally therefrom to form a thin-walled structure having a multiplicity of open passages extending therethrough. The longitudinally discharged mass is rigidified to prevent deformation of the passages. The disadvantage of this method is a very complicated and very expensive tooling, which does not allow the production of the channels less than 0.5-1 mm in diameter and interchannel walls less than 0.2 mm in diameter nor does it allow the production of structures with channels oriented in two or more directions.
Although not concerned with the manufacture of channeled materials, it is noted that some of the procedures used in carrying out the present invention to produce channeled structures, are also used in making monolithic fibrous ceramic structures, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,524 issued Sep. 20, 1988 to William S. Coblenz.
The Coblenz patent discloses a method of producing fibrous monolithic ceramic product of high density. This product is formed of a plurality of coated fibers and each coated fiber comprises a ceramic core with a ceramic coating. The green body of ceramic materials from which the product is formed is plastically deformed and densified by sintering. However, there is no disclosure or suggestion in this patent for using procedures to produce a multi-channeled structure such as that disclosed and claimed herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,245, issued Oct. 23, 1990 to Masaru Sugimoto et.a., discloses a method of producing a superconducting cable or coil comprising a bundle of coated metallic filaments, for example, coated with an oxide, that are drawn and heated in oxidizing atmosphere to form a superconductor. Again, this patent neither discloses nor suggests a process for making channeled structures as disclosed and claimed herein.

Multi-channel structures and processes for making structures using carbon filler

Materials and Electrochemical Research (MER) Corporation


An airbag device configured to be disposed in front of an occupant in a vehicle includes: an inflator configured to generate gas; an airbag that is folded and housed, the airbag being configured to be inflated and deployed by the gas generated by the inflator; and a holding member including an attachment portion to which the inflator is attached, and holding the folded airbag capable of being inflated and deployed from an occupant side opposite the attachment portion. The holding member includes an inhibiting portion that covers a part of the folded airbag from the occupant side and that is configured to partially inhibit initial inflation and deployment of the airbag. The inhibiting portion has a first region and a second region where inhibiting forces that inhibit the initial inflation and deployment are different from each other.

An airbag device that protects an occupant by inflating and deploying an airbag at the time of collision of a vehicle is known. For example, an airbag device for a passenger seat is inflated and deployed in front of a seated occupant at the time of collision of the vehicle, and receives and protects the occupant moving forward. Generally, the airbag is folded and housed in an instrument panel in front of the passenger seat.
As a technology related to the airbag device for a passenger seat, an airbag disclosed in WO 2009/066404 is compressed to form a plurality of layers in an upper-lower direction and includes the upper layer portion to be deployed first and the lower layer portion located below the upper layer portion. The upper layer portion of the airbag is inflated and deployed from a windshield side by covering the lower layer portion of the airbag with an inner flap.
Although the airbag device with the inner flap described in WO 2009/066404 can control a timing of inflation and deployment of the airbag in a vehicle front-rear direction, the airbag device cannot control a timing of inflation and deployment of the airbag in a vehicle left-right direction (vehicle width direction). That is, the timing of inflation and deployment of the airbag can be controlled in only one direction.


A system uses a common error processing process within a computer system wherein other processes that detect errors send an error message to the common process and the common process is used to display all error messages, and display the help file. The common error process detects whether the system is a distributed application running on multiple computer systems, and if this is so, the common error process sends any error messages to other computers within the distributed network, so that the error messages are displayed on all computers when one computer has an error. The system reserves an amount of memory when it is started, and keeps this memory reserved throughout operation of the system. If an out of memory error occurs in a process, the reserved memory is released, to provide sufficient memory for building an error message.

When developing a complex application or complex system of applications, an error handling system is needed that handles normal error conditions in the application or system and unexpected exceptions caused by the inevitable software errors made by the developer of the application or system. Complex applications or systems often create difficult error handling problems for the user of the system. The error handling must have a uniform look and equal access to the help system supplied with the application or system. Ideally, exceptions are reported through the same error handling as expected error conditions are reported. In a complex application or system, errors and exceptions may occur concurrently in different processes and if improperly handled, may cause a bewildering series of error messages to occur and, sometimes, create more exceptions in an attempt to concurrently access the error handling or help system.
One important aspect of error processing is to attempt to produce the earlier error message first within the system. That is, the first process to detect an error more often finds the actual, or root, cause of the error, and it is important that the error message displayed by this first process be the first or top most error message on the display screen connected to the computer system that displays the error. This may not occur if multiple processes detect the error, since some of those processes may have a higher priority than the process that first detected the error, and the process with the higher priority will display its message before the other processes. In this situation, the message from the process that first detects the error may be buried within the user screen and not easily visible.
Another problem that can occur is that one or more processes may consume all the memory available within the computer system. When this happens, there is insufficient user memory for the error process to display an error message. Thus, the user is uninformed and the system simply "crashes", without informing the user as to the cause of the "crash".
Another problem that can occur between applications that are distributed over more than one computer, is that the application may have a problem on a remote computer and the user at the local computer, who is actually running the process, will be unaware that an error has occurred or unaware of the cause of the error. Thus, it is important when an error occurs in a distributed system, that error messages be displayed on all computers that are operating the distributed system.
There is need in the art then for an improved system for displaying error messages in an application or system of applications. There is a further need for such a system that attempts to display the first occurring error on the most prominent portion of the computer screen attached to the process that is running. Another need is for such a system that gives equal access to a help file for all errors. Still another need is for such a system that can display out of memory error messages, even though the system has no memory available for use in constructing the error message. A still further need is for such a system that can remotely display errors in an application or system application. The present invention solves these and other needs in the art.


A method includes receiving, at a content provisioning system from one or more client devices, one or more requests for file digests stored in respective data stores of a plurality of data stores in a distributed file system. The file digests are distributed across different ones of the plurality of data stores in the distributed file system. The method also includes determining a location of a given one of the requested file digests in one or more of the plurality of data stores and retrieving the given file digest from the determined location. The method further includes shuffling the distribution of the file digests across the plurality of data stores in the distributed file system.

Information processing systems increasingly utilize reconfigurable virtual resources to meet changing user needs in an efficient, flexible and cost-effective manner. For example, cloud computing and storage systems implemented using virtual machines have been widely adopted. Other virtual resources now coming into use in information processing systems include Linux containers. Such containers may be used to provide at least a portion of the virtualization infrastructure of a given information processing system. However, significant challenges arise in deployment of virtualization infrastructure in multi-tenant environments. For example, it can be difficult to manage content provisioning for data stored in distributed file systems such as cloud computing environments.

Shuffling file digests stored in data stores of a distributed file system


A method, system and device for call switching between a mobile device using a mobile communication network and any data communication equipment using other type of communication network without any disconnection of a on ongoing call is provided. In a method for a call switching service, the first and second mobile devices establish wireless communication channels with the mobile communication network, respectively. The first mobile device transfers a call to specific data communication equipment. The mobile communication network establishes a call channel between the specific data communication equipment to which the call is transferred and the second mobile device that is not transferring the call to the specific data communication equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a call switching service. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system and mobile device for performing a call switching service without any disconnection of an ongoing call.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the advancements in electrical technologies, mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular. Typically, a mobile device not only provides a voice call service using a mobile communication network, but also offer one or more of a video call service, a data transmission service, and any other various additional services, thus evolving into a multimedia communication device.
Meanwhile, there have been recent efforts to enable various electronic devices, other than traditional communication equipment, to operate as data communication equipment by assigning a specific address structure, e.g., an Internet Protocol (IP) address, to them. Therefore, based on the specific address structure, such electronic devices come to offer a voice call service, a video call service, and various data transmission services through a communication network.
However, if a user who uses a voice or video call service through a mobile device desires to use it continuously through data communication equipment, the user may suffer inconvenience by having to stop a current call and then reconnect for a new call using data communication equipment. Accordingly, there is a need for a new approach to call switching between a mobile device and data communication equipment.

Method, system and mobile device for call switching service


A photographic objective of the modified double gauss type is presented. The object has a forward group that includes three lens elements (L1, L2, L3) and has the refractive power sequence ++−. The objective also includes an aperture and a rear group including lens elements (L4, L5, L6) of refractive power sequence −++. The lens element of negative refractive power (L4) is designed as a meniscus with an aspheric surface concave relative to the aperture, and a lens element of negative refractive power (L7) with surfaces concave on both sides is arranged downstream of the last lens element of positive refractive power (L6).

The invention relates to a photographic objective of the modified double gauss type comprising three lens elements (L1, L2, L3) and having the refractive power sequence positive, positive, negative, an aperture and a rear group including lens elements (L4, L5, L6) of refractive power sequence negative, positive, positive, wherein in the rear group the lens element of negative refractive power (L4) is designed as a meniscus with an aspheric surface concave relative to the aperture, and a lens element of negative refractive power (L7) with surfaces concave on both sides is arranged downstream of the last lens element of positive refractive power (L6).
Photographic objectives of the double gauss type are distinguished by an arrangement, symmetrical relative to the aperture, of lens elements with the refractive power sequence ++−/−++ or −++/++−. U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,097 B2 discloses such an objective with the refractive power sequence ++−/−++ in which all the lens elements are designed as individual lenses. The relative aperture of the objective is 1:2.9.
DE 22 22 892 C3 discloses an identical objective in which the two lens elements adjacent to the aperture are designed in each case as a cemented meniscus which is hollow toward the aperture. The objective has a relative aperture of 1:2 and exhibits a compact overall lens.
DE 40 05 300 C2 discloses a wide-angle objective of the modified double gauss type with the focal length f=35 mm, which exhibits a compact overall length, a good imaging quality and a high aperture of 1:1.4. The first lens is designed as a cemented component that is concave on the object side and has a positive refractive power overall. The two downstream lenses of positive and negative refractive power are likewise designed as cemented components, the surface that is convex on the object side being designed aspherically. A lens of negative and positive refractive power is embodied on the image side as a cemented component, a meniscus of positive refractive power that is concave on the object side being placed upstream of this cemented component. The further image-side lens of positive refractive power is cemented with a lens of negative refractive power, the object-side convex surface of this lens element being of aspheric design.
The concave front surface of the objective leads firstly to a widening of the incoming imaging beam which must be counteracted by appropriately strong refractive powers of the downstream lenses toward the aperture.
The two aspheric surfaces are relatively expensive to manufacture. Moreover, these surfaces are very susceptible to tilt errors and centering errors and therefore lead to an increased outlay on assembly during the manufacture of the cemented components and insertion into the objective system. The design of the first lens element as a cemented component raises the number of the lenses to be fabricated, and thereby likewise leads to a rise in cost.

Photographic objective of the modified double gauss type


An electronic camera that creates an image file by processing image data obtained through an image-capturing operation, includes: an image-capturing unit that generates the image data by capturing a subject image; a data extraction unit that sets an image plane range corresponding to an image portion of the image data and extracts data of the image portion in the image plane range; a data insertion unit that writes data of a predetermined specific image over the image plane range of the image data and generates data of a processed image; and a file creation unit that creates an image file by storing the data of the processed image into an image data area of the image file, which is referenced as image data and storing the data of the image portion into a non-image data area of the image file which is not referenced as image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic camera that inserts a visible specific image (a so-called digital watermark) indicating a copyright or the like into a captured image in such a manner that the original image can be restored later.
The present invention also relates to an image processing method adopted to restore an original image by removing a specific image from an image file created in an electronic camera or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are digital watermarking technologies known in the related art whereby a digital watermark is embedded in image data. For instance, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2000-358154 discloses a method of embedding a visible digital watermark in image data by altering the color of a portion of the image data within a specific range.
In addition, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2000-151411 discloses a method whereby a digital watermark is attached after first decoding compressed data resulting from image compression and then the image is compressed again.
When major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, take place, great volumes of image data of images photographed by a plurality of contract photographers are gathered at a newspaper publisher or the like. Under such circumstances, it is desirable that the newspaper publisher handling such large volumes of image data be able to distinguish at-a-glance a specific photographer, a specific event or the like quickly, simply by looking at each set of image data.
In addition, the photographer will be able to subsequently claim copyright with great ease to image data he is dispatching if the image data are distributed in a state that will enable at-a-glance identification of the photographer.
Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention conceived that such needs might be satisfied by attaching visible information indicating a copyright or the like to image data in an electronic camera.
However, it will be difficult to attach information indicating copyright or the like in a legible state by adopting the method disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2000-358154, in which the color within a specific image plane range of the image data is altered. In addition, the method disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2000-151411 requires compressed data to be first decoded before attaching a digital watermark and then the data to undergo image compression again. For this reason, the onus of the processing executed in the electronic camera is heavy, leading to problems such as a lower photographing speed per frame.

Electronic camera and image processing method


The invention is a housing assembly that is designed to be placed over the coupling area between two power/extension cords. The assembly includes a two-part central housing in which the two parts are joined together by a quick-release-type coupling that includes a gasket or "O"-ring. At each end of the housing are two threaded end caps. Located at least partially within each end cap is a compressible bushing. The bushings have a central thru-bore through which the power cord passes. As the end caps are tightened onto the housing, the housing contacts and compresses each of the bushings to create a leak-free sealing of the interior of the housing.

A common problem at construction sites is the lack of accessibility to electrical power throughout the site. Electrical power is normally supplied by the utility company to a single point at the site. From there, power cords in the form of extension cords are run as needed to different locations throughout the site. This leads to the existence of a large number of power cords snaking throughout the area and the cords often become damaged or disconnected.
To protect the coupling area between two extension cords from damage and/or inadvertent disconnection, a number of housing-type devices have been invented that cover the area of the coupling. For examples of such devices, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,464,893, 3,281,755, 3,014,194, 3,344,393, 4,143,934, 4,643,505, 4,998,891, or the inventor's prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,654.
Prior art protective housings normally comprise a central cylindrical tube that surrounds the coupling area between two extension cords. The tube is normally composed of either one or two parts and includes a fastening structure that unites the housing around the electrical coupling. In some cases, a gasket or plug will be located proximate end portions of the housing to prevent moisture or dirt from entering the housing and affecting the electrical connection.
The prior art protective housings, while accomplishing their intended goals, suffer from certain failings.
One of the primary reasons for using a housing is to prevent water or moisture from reaching the plug and socket connection. In the prior art devices, the design of the seals and how they interact with the housing often results in leakage through the seals. Water can then collect within the housing and cause a short-circuiting of the electrical connection.
The manufacturing costs to produce the prior art devices are prohibitive in most cases. Complicated housing shapes are used that have extremely tight tolerances to achieve the necessary protective qualities of the devices. In addition, the manufacture of most of the prior art housings often entails multi-step machining operations and the joining of dissimilar materials. All of these factors lead to high costs that have made this type of product unsatisfactory for most common usages.
The tight tolerances and complexity of the prior art units also adversely affect their durability. For many devices, after repeated use, the units become difficult to assemble and the worn sealing surfaces further exacerbate any problems with leakage into the housing.


Machine dishwashing detergents comprising builder(s), surfactant(s), and optionally further ingredients, and furthermore 0.1 to 50% by weight of one or more nonionic surfactants which, in 80% strength by weight solution in distilled water, have a viscosity (Brookfield, spindle 31, 30 rpm, 20° C.) of less than 450 mPas.

The present invention relates to machine dishwashing detergents and methods of using these compositions. Specifically, the invention relates to machine dishwashing detergents which comprise nonionic surfactants which have particularly low viscosities in aqueous solution.
Machine dishwashing in domestic dishwashing machines is a process which differs fundamentally from laundry washing in domestic washing machines. Whereas in a washing machine the item to be washed is permanently agitated in the liquor and, in this way, the washing is mechanically assisted, in a dishwashing machine, the rinse liquor is applied by a spraying system to the surfaces to be cleaned. There, the cleaning liquor must itself counteract even stubborn soilings without assistance by mechanical influences. The performance level of machine dishwashing detergents must therefore be much higher than that of conventional textile detergents.
In addition, there is a trend in machine dishwashing toward ever lower temperatures, ever shorter rinse cycles, and a reduced dosing of detergents for ecological reasons, in some countries it also being necessary to observe restrictions with regard to the use of certain ingredients (for example phosphates).
The performance requirements of modern machine dishwashing detergents are continually increasing under the abovementioned framework conditions. As a result of these increased performance requirements, there is a continual need for performance-enhanced machine dishwashing detergents that achieve high cleaning performances at a lower concentration, also at lower temperatures and short wash times.
The object of the present invention was to provide machine dishwashing detergents which meet the increased performance requirements. The compositions to be provided should be superior to conventional compositions, even when compared at a lower concentration, in particular on greasy soilings. In addition, the compositions should be able to be prepared as conventional machine dishwashing detergents ("cleaners") in powder or granule form or as tablets or in pourable supply form, and also in the form of a combination product ("2in1" products which combine detergent and rinse aid, and also "3in1" products, which combine detergent, rinse aid and salt replacement).
It has now been found that machine dishwashing detergents that satisfy the profile of requirements given above can be provided if they comprise builders and certain nonionic surfactants, and also optionally further ingredients of cleaning compositions.

Dishwasher machine detergents with low viscosity surfactants

Henkel Kommandigesellschaft auf Aktien (Henkel KGaA)


The invention includes a heat transfer geometry having first and second flow channels in parallel with each other. The flow cross-sectional area of individual channels varies along the length of the flowpath, with one channel undergoing an expansion and the other undergoing a contraction. Different amounts of additional heat transfer surface are located within different regions. In at least some instances, contraction and expansion may occur as a result of a shift of both the left and right boundaries which principally define the channel, and may occur symmetrically with respect to a centerline of the individual channel. With a cell being a first channel and associated second channel, the overall exiting flow may be offset slightly from the overall entering flow. An array may be formed containing multiple cells, and cells at edges of the array may be atypical so that the overall array fits within a simple geometric envelope.

In the field of convective heat transfer, there is in general a tradeoff between heat transfer and pumping power. Power to operate a pump or fan to move a fluid involved in heat transfer is often an expense associated with achieving heat transfer. This is especially of concern in heat exchangers in which the fluid on at least one side is gas such as atmospheric air. Also this is especially of concern when, as is usually the case, there are limitations on the overall space which can be occupied by the heat exchanger. Designs, tradeoffs and calculational methods for heat exchangers are given in "Compact Heat Exchangers" by Kays and London. There is a continuing need for improvement in regard to the tradeoff between heat transfer and pumping power. Such improvement would increase the efficiency of any of the various devices employing forced convection heat transfer or even natural convection heat transfer.
Issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,815 discloses a geometry of fins designed to provide an improved ratio of heat transfer to pressure drop or pumping power, by using fin-to-fin spacings which are different in different regions of a fin array. The fin geometry of that patent is shown in FIG. 1. The geometry illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,915 accomplishes that intended goal, but in that geometry the flow may be subject to certain geometry-related flow losses at the changes of cross-sectional area. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,915, when the flow at transition region 175 of the second channel expands from a smaller flow cross-sectional area in region 170 to a larger flow cross-sectional area in region 180, the flow on the right side of the narrow region 170 of the channel essentially may not have to shift at all, while the flow on the left side of the narrow region 170 of the channel may have to shift considerably more. Such flow shifting and associated possible separation of flow from its adjacent solid boundary are possible sources of loss of pressure or head, and so it is desirable for the flow to have to shift as little as possible. In order to avoid such separation of flow from solid boundaries, it has typically been necessary to maintain the divergence angle of the flow at a sufficiently small value, which in turn has required a considerable length of transition region in order to achieve a desired expansion of cross-sectional area.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide designs of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,915 but having improved flow patterns in the transitions between regions, such as to provide for smoother flow and hence smaller pressure losses associated with the expansion or contraction. It also is desirable for the transition region to occupy as little of the overall flow length of the heat exchanger as possible.

Optimized fins for convective heat transfer


One embodiment of an aerator is disclosed that has a hollow intake housing with a horizontally disposed lip on a lower portion thereof. This intake housing converges a flow of bubbles into a draft tube. These bubbles are injected into a fluid in which the aerator is installed at a location that is directly under the intake housing. A fluid flow is also drawn into this draft tube through the intake housing. Fluid exiting the opposite end of the draft tube is directed into a hollow discharge housing having a divergent inner surface. A wave generator (e.g., a rotating impeller) is mounted within the hollow interior of the discharge housing. The upper end of this discharge housing also includes a horizontally disposed lip to direct a flow out of the aerator at least generally parallel with an upper surface of the fluid.

In order for many bodies of water to develop and maintain a healthy eco-system, a non-specific amount of circulation is typically required. This is because many of the bacteria that are necessary for breaking down or digesting nutrients are immobile, and therefore, need to be placed in intimate contact with nutrients, necessary to thrive, by circulation of the water. Furthermore, in the majority of applications, bacteria also need oxygen to survive and flourish. The most readily available source of oxygen is from the atmosphere.
Oxygen can enter the water through contact with the atmosphere which may be accelerated through mixing, as happens in nature through waterfalls, streams, rain, and wind. It has been found that adding artificial aeration, to assist nature, to natural and man made ponds and lagoons can greatly increase the health of the ponds. This may be especially useful in sewage lagoons and the like as the decay process could be accelerated and unpleasant smells reduced.
In order to combine the movement of liquid and supplying of the oxygen, past prior art has typically used one of three methods: (1) a surface splashing action (2) an aspirator/boat prop effect which draws atmospheric air in and then forces air bubbles out or (3) compressing atmospheric air and then releasing it at the bottom of the body of liquid. In each of these actions two things are readily apparent (A) high energy input with corresponding high maintenance needs and (B) the action created is always turbulent.
The use of pond aerators on floating bases has been well established such as those shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,243 granted to Aide and U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,859 granted to Henager. In these patents, devices are typically supplied with a draft tube placed just below the surface of the water. This tube houses a propeller or impeller that is connected to a drive means. A draft line is placed at a predetermined depth and connected to the draft tube. Thus, as the drive means turns, the impeller or propeller draws water from a certain depth and defuses it at the water surface. This process circulates and turns the water in the pond. As power to the pump can be a significant issue in remote areas, such as the middle of a pond or lake, the efficiency of the whole unit is crucial to its success. This has required that alternative means of driving the pump on pond mixers would be desirable. One solution has been to use wind power, however wind powered pumps are large in size, expensive, cumbersome, and create a need for complex and expensive anchoring systems.
A floating water circulation apparatus is described in International Publication No. WO 00/71475 A1, that was published on Nov. 30, 2000, and that is entitled "Water Circulation Apparatus System and Method" (hereafter "System"). The System has some limitations in certain environments that are reduced or removed with the present invention. In order to understand the significance of the present invention, the principle functions of the System warrant a brief review.
The System generally relates to an aeration system for lakes and ponds and is specifically designed as a floating device which draws oxygen-depleted water from the depths of the ponds to the surface where it is set in motion on the surface and where the thin surface layer of water will absorb oxygen from the air (reaeration).
The System is essentially a solar powered floating hydraulic pump. One unique aspect of the System is in the manner in which the discharge is distributed by a distribution dish. The head required, and therefore the horsepower, for the effective distribution is less than one inch. The combined effect of the conical shape of the distribution dish, the orientation and the width of the lip on the distribution dish, and the position and operating speed of an impeller that is also utilized by the System, produce near-laminar flow on the surface. In this mode, the discharged water flows radially outward in thin successive sheets over the surface of the pond or lake in near frictionless fashion (laminar flow) to the pond embankment. When this surface layer is initially depleted of oxygen, it will, as it progresses across the pond, become saturated with pure oxygen by exposure to the atmosphere.
At the embankment, the laminar flow on the surface establishes a shallow head, causing the water to descend to the depth at which an intake screen of the System is set. At this depth the water migrates radially inward to the intake screen in a horizontal zone which is somewhat wider than the vertical distance across the intake screen (18 inches) that is attached to an intake draft tube of the System. The intake draft tube is flexible and while the intake screen may be raised or lowered, the intake draft tube will often block or inhibit omnidirectional flows to the intake screen.
The volume of liquid pumped directly by the solar powered impeller utilized by the System may be characterized as a Direct Mechanical Displacement (DMD), and in relation to the System is defined as the volume of water that is drawn into its intake draft tube and discharged over the edge of its distribution dish over a given amount of time. The DMD is measured in gallons per minute. In the case of the System, the value of the DMD is a function of the diameter and total internal friction of its intake tube, the diameter and pitch of its impeller, the slope of the sides of its conical shaped distribution dish, the depth of the impeller beneath the surface, the depth of the edge of its distribution dish with respect to the surface of the pond, and the shaft-horsepower (and resultant revolutions per minute) applied to its impeller.
The DMD produced by the System induces additional currents in the pond that are directly dependent upon the DMD. In its progression across the pond, the thin surface layer, with its higher velocity relative to the water beneath it and diverging streamlines (relative direction of flows), create a pressure differential which results in upward currents in the water beneath the surface that are referred to in International Publication No. WO 00/71475 A1 as "induced flows". Eventually, through the combination of DMD and induced flows, the entire pond volume between the depth of the lowest point of openings in the intake screen and the pond surface becomes mixed. Provided oxygen-depleted water continues to enter the intake draft tube, the pond in which the System is operating will absorb greater quantities of oxygen from the air than would otherwise be provided by unassisted natural forces.
Once absorbed in the surface layer, which happens relatively quickly (30–40 seconds), the oxygen begins to diffuse downward. Compared to the rate at which oxygen from the atmosphere is transferred into the surface layer, the speed of diffusion is relatively slow and is dependent upon the gradient of oxygen depleted water beneath the surface and upon mixing action. The rate of diffusion is therefore the controlling function. The volume of oxygen absorbed is directly proportional to the size of the surface area of the oxygen-depleted water layer. The size of the surface layer increases with the square of the distance the laminar flow has proceeded (at the rate of about 1'/sec.) from the distribution dish. The volume of reaeration therefore depends upon time and distance from the distribution dish. Likewise, the rate of diffusion, which depends upon the supply, in this case, reaeration, and the demand (relative depletion) in the water below, the total oxygen transfer via reaeration effects by the System require some distance to become appreciable. Experience with the System has shown that the combined effects of reaeration and diffusion is not fully optimized at distances of less than 100 feet from the distribution dish, when the impeller is consistently rotating within the range of 75–115 RPM.
Because the supply of oxygen by reaeration is a function of the degree of surface area, oxygen-depletion, rate of mixing, as well as atmospheric conditions, the efficiency of the System is dependent upon the environment in which it may be located. Its beneficial effects are severely limited when operating in a pond with a small surface area (less than 1 acre) and when the rate of oxygen uptake by biological and chemical reactions in the pond exceed the rate of supply through natural reaeration. Also, under these conditions, the distribution dish of the System eventually fouls due to plant growth, reducing its efficiency.

Wave generator with oxygen injection for treatment of a body of fluid


A magnetic write apparatus has a media-facing surface (MFS), a pole, side shield(s), a side gap and coil(s) for energizing the pole. The pole includes main and assist portions. The main portion is ferromagnetic, includes a pole tip and includes side surface(s) having a flare angle from the MFS. The pole tip occupies a portion of the MFS. The flare angle is nonzero and acute. The assist portion adjoins the main portion, extends from the main portion in a direction having a component in a cross-track direction, and has a depth of not more than three hundred nanometers. The side shield(s) occupy another portion of the MFS, have a back surface, and are between the assist portion and the MFS. The assist portion is conformal with the back surface of the side shield(s). The side gap is between the main portion of the pole and the side shield(s).

FIGS. 1A and 1B depict air-bearing surface (ABS) and top views of a conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10. The magnetic recording apparatus 10 may be a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) apparatus or other magnetic write apparatus. The conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10 may be a part of a merged head including the write apparatus 10 and a read apparatus (not shown). Alternatively, the magnetic recording head may only include the write apparatus 10.
The write apparatus 10 includes a leading shield 12, a nonmagnetic gap layer 14, side shield(s) 16, a pole 20 and a trailing shield 30. The apparatus 10 may also include other components including but not limited to coils for energizing the pole 20. The trailing surface (top) of the pole 20 is wider than the leading surface (bottom) of the pole 20.
Although the conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10 functions, there are drawbacks. In particular, the side shields 16 may have tails 17 developed during fabrication. These tails 17 cause the side shields 16 to have a longer effective throat height (distance from the ABS). The tails 17 also result in additional shunting of magnetic flux from the pole 20. Thus, performance may be adversely affected. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving the performance of a magnetic recording write apparatus 10.

Magnetic recording write apparatus having a pole including an assist portion extending in the cross-track direction


Apparatus arranged in a closed system for removing particulate matter and gases from a polluted gas stream that includes a sorbent particulate charging and injection gun for electrostatically charging sorbent particles and injecting them into a polluted gas stream to charge and agglomerize pollution particulates therein, the stream flowing into a collection system housing that contains a series of moving and static bed filters and provides for operations at pressures less than atmospheric, and at temperatures up to two thousand (2000) degrees F. The filter beds are maintained across the housing and spaced apart from front to back therein, each filter containing a media material selected for removing the charged agglomerized pollution and sorbent reacted particulates and reacting with gases in the polluted gas stream, providing for removal thereof to clean that gas stream that is then vented to atmosphere. At least one and preferably a plurality of moving bed filters are arranged in the collection system housing, each, in turn, receiving and passing the gas stream therethrough, which filter beds each include rotary airlock and rotary valves for maintaining a closed system and preventing infiltration of outside air within the housing while still allowing new media materials to be added and vented out of the filter, and including a static filter bed or beds arranged as the last filter bed or filter beds in the series that provides for a removal of any remaining pollutants from the gas stream prior its venting to atmosphere.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus for removing particulate matter and gases from a polluted gas stream, and more particularly to apparatus for adding electrostatically charged sorbent particles to a polluted gas stream containing particulate matter that becomes charged and adhere to the sorbent particles that are then removed, along with the sorbent reacted gaseous pollutants, in a series of moving beds of granular material with the removed materials recovered for use or disposal and the cleaned gas vented.
2. Prior Art
Only in recent years have air pollution control apparatus and methods been developed for the efficient and effective removal of fine particulate matter, particularly submicron particles produced in high volume processes. Earlier particulate removal systems experienced substantial difficulties when they were required to meet strict requirements and regulations as have been imposed by governmental agencies for the removal of such particulate matter. Also, the removal of noxious gases has often present problems of a generation of non-disposable wastes as were produced in earlier industrial gas cleaning systems.
Only recently have systems been implemented that overcome some of the above set out difficulties. Specifically, U.S. Patents to Schuff, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,220,478 and 4,290,786, are directed, respectively, to a method and to an apparatus, for removing particulate matter from a gas stream that, like the present invention, involve injecting electrostatically charged particles of a sorbent material into a gas stream to form a large charged surface area to induce charging the particulate matter entrained in the gas stream. The charged particles contained in the gas stream together with the injected particles are passed through a porous moving bed of media of granular materials, wherein, as a result of the electrical charge on the particles and the inertial impact forces of the respective particles, the particles attach to the changing media. The media, together with attached sorbent additive and particulate matter are then separated for use in a product manufactured from which generated particulate matter or are disposed of, with the cleaned gas leaving the moving media for venting.
Like the earlier Schuff patents, the present invention involves an electrostatic charging gun for imparting a strong electrostatic charge onto sorbent particles introduced into the polluted gas stream. The sorbent particles all bear the same charge and thereby repel one another and are accordingly rapidly dispersed through the gas stream, creating a large charged surface area inducing charging of the particulate matter within that gas stream. This charged surface tends to agglomerate the submicron and larger particulates with the gaseous pollutants chemically reacted with the charged sorbent particles and with the media bed materials. The gas flow contained agglomerated particulates and sorbent particles with captured pollutants is then passed to moving media bed arrangements for the filtration and collection of the sorbent reaction product and particulates and gases from the gas stream, cleaning the gas stream that is then vented to atmosphere. The Schuff apparatus and method for its use, however, present limited capacity for particulate removal from high volume polluted gas flows. The present invention overcomes these deficiencies by including a capacity for increasing sorbent flow and adjusting electrostatic charging, and provides multiple moving beds of media material to present a large surface area of exposure to the gas flow containing sorbent reaction products and particulates, and the inclusion of a static bed for complete pollutant removal. Additionally, unique from the Schuff patents, the present invention includes an airlock system that includes a capability for maintaining the beds at a pressure less than atmospheric without the infusion of outside air for more efficient contaminant removal with the system capable of operating at temperatures up to two thousand (2000) degrees F.

Apparatus for removing particulate matter and gases from a polluted gas stream


A rotation instruction is transmitted to a motor in a state where a workpiece placement table connected to a rotation shaft of the motor is clamped by a clamp mechanism provided in a rotation table, and a clamp torque is measured based on motor torque information in accordance with the rotation instruction and a change in rotation shaft state (a rotation position, a rotation speed, and the like).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotation table, and particularly, to a rotation table with a clamp torque measurement unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a rotation table of a machine tool, a clamp operation is performed during an index operation so as to hold a rotation shaft. When operations such as an unclamp operation, an index operation, and a clamp operation are repeated, a clamp mechanism is degraded, and hence there is a case in which a necessary clamp torque may not be exhibited. In a case where the necessary clamp torque may not be exhibited, when a rotation load is applied to the rotation shaft, the rotation shaft may not be held, and hence a slip occurs. Thus, the machine tool stops with an alarm generated by the slip, and a workpiece which is being machined becomes a defective product.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide means for periodically measuring the clamp torque of the clamp mechanism so that a deviation in rotation shaft does not occur due to a decrease in clamp torque during the machining. Further, if the clamp torque can be temporarily increased even when a decrease in clamp torque is checked, the machine tool may be used continuously, and hence the sudden stop of the machine tool may be prevented. That is, the maintenance timing may be extended.
A rotation table with a clamp state checking means disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-248242 includes oscillation instruction means for repeatedly instructing a normal rotation and a reverse rotation of a direct drive motor, positional deviation information calculation means for calculating positional deviation information based on position information output from a position detector, and determination means for determining a clamp state based on the positional deviation information output from the positional deviation information calculation means. The rotation table causes a slight oscillation operation in the rotation shaft due to a change in torque, and determines whether the clamp operation is completed or not based on the fluctuation range of positional deviation that occurs at that time. However, it should be noted that the rotation table does not accurately measure the clamp torque.
As described above, in the above-described known rotation table with clamp state checking means, the clamp torque needs to be accurately measured. However, as a method of measuring the clamp torque, there is known a method of applying a torque to the rotation shaft from the outside in the rotation direction and measuring the rotational displacement at that time. When the rotation torque increases, the slip occurs at the stage in which the rotation torque becomes larger than the clamp torque, and hence the displacement in the rotation direction increases. Here, it is possible to measure the clamp torque by measuring the changing point of the displacement and the rotation torque at that time.
However, in this method, since a jig for applying the rotation torque from the outside needs to be attached to the rotation table, there is a need to remove a machining jig or a workpiece on the rotation table once. Further, there is a need to perform an operation in which a measurement jig is removed after the measurement and the workpiece and the machining jig are set up again. Here, it is not realistic to remove the workpiece or the machining jig for the measurement of the clamp torque.

Rotation table with clamp torque measurement unit


A beverage cartridge system is adapted to brew a beverage through a brewer having a holder adapted to receive the cartridge system. The holder may have a deep well with one or more needles therewithin to pierce through the bottom of the cartridge system when inserted into the well. The cartridge system may include a short cup and a tall cup, where the tall cup is taller than the short cup to pack more beverage grind. The cartridge system may include a filter within an outer cup. The bottom of the filter may be deep enough to be juxtaposed to the bottom of the cup. The filter may be formed from a material that is substantially resistant to piercing by the needle within the holder such that when the outlet needle pierces through the bottom of the cup, the outlet needle raises the filter at a point of contact, and the filter substantially resists the outlet needle from piercing through the filter during a brewing process.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed a beverage brewing system, and in particular, to a brewing system for making hot beverages such as coffee, tea, coco, milk, and soup.
2. Background of the Invention
There are many ways to brew coffee including drip and French press methods. Recently, brewing coffee through a single-serve cartridge has become popular for its convenience and a variety of coffee flavors which are offered. Single-serve cartridges are packed with premeasured coffee grind which can be inserted into a brewer to inject hot water into the cartridge to brew the coffee. Like any other beverages, one of the important criteria for a success of the beverage is its taste, and coffee is no different. In this regard, the Coffee Brewing Center (CBC) during the 1960's, led by Dr. Earl Lockhart, has done a lot of research in understanding the physics and science behind what constitutes a good tasting coffee. The CBC has come up with what is called the "Coffee Brewing Control Chart" like the one shown in FIG. 1, which provides a graphical representation of strength, extraction and brew formula in an easy to read format.
According to the chart shown in FIG. 1, an ideal tasting coffee is obtained when there is a good combination of strength and extraction. Strength is also referred to as total dissolved solids ("TDS"), and the ideal TDS level is 1.15%-1.35%. For example, TDS level of 1.00% means there is 1.00% of coffee concentration and the remaining 99.00% is water in the cup. According to the chart, coffee having a TDS level below 1.15% may taste weak; while coffee having a TDS level above 1.35% may taste too strong. As a reference, coffee from a traditional coffee house, such as Starbucks®, may have a TDS level from about 1.20% to about 1.35%. In practice, many consumers may find that a cup of coffee with a TDS level from about 0.80% to 1.00% to be mild and acceptable taste; while a TDS level from about 1.00% to about 1.15% to be regular strength taste; and a TDS level from about 1.15% to about 1.35% to be a strong coffee taste. The TDS level may be measured using a number of different instruments such as hydrometers, conductivity, Brix and moisture microwave. In particular, a conductivity meter measures the amount of coffee flavoring material based on its conductivity across a coffee infusion.
The chart in FIG. 1 also indicates that the ideal extraction level for coffee is 18%-22%. Extraction means amount of coffee that has dissolved from the coffee grind into the coffee drink. For example, if 10 grams of coffee grind is brewed, and after the brewing there is 8.0 grams of coffee grind left, then the extraction level is 20% because 2 grams or 20% of the coffee grind dissolved into coffee. Extractions below 16% may indicate a coffee taste that is under-developed such that it may have a weak peanut-like flavor, while extractions over 22% may indicate a coffee taste that is over-extracted so it may taste bitter.
Many hot beverages, such as coffee and tea, are now provided in single serve packs which can be inserted into a brewer to inject hot water into the pack to brew hot beverages. For instance, US. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0051478 entitled BEVERAGE FILTER POD by Karanikos et al. (the "'0051478 Application"), which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a beverage filter cartridge having a cup like container where the interior is divided into two chambers by a cup-shaped filter element: a first chamber inside the filter and a second chamber located between the filter bottom and the container bottom. The upper rim of the filter is joined at the upper rim of the container side wall, and the filter side wall has exterior channels that face the container side wall and lead downwardly from the peripheral juncture to the second chamber. The filter sidewall is folded to provide exterior channels. And according to the '0051478 Application, during the brewing cycle, the channels provide a passageway for beverage to permeate from the first chamber to the second chamber, and in so doing, improve the full saturation of the beverage grind in areas adjacent to the container side wall.
A beverage grind, such as grinded coffee, is poured into the first chamber, and a cover, such as an aluminum foil, is used to seal the container. An input needle can pierce through the cover to inject hot water into the first chamber to mix with the beverage grind to produce a beverage. The filter element is permeable to allow liquid beverage to pass therethrough while retaining the granular beverage grind within the filter. The beverage passes through the filter via the exterior filter channels, and into the second chamber. An output needle can pierce the bottom of the container to allow the beverage to flow out from the second chamber. While the cartridge described in the '0051478 Application is able to brew a sufficient cup of coffee, the cup size of the coffee is limited because there is a limit as to how much coffee grind the filter can hold.
To brew a bigger cup of coffee, US. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0303964 entitled CARTRIDGE WITH FILTER GUARD by Beaulieu et al. (the "'0303964 Application"), which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a more elongated filter compared to the filter disclosed in the '0051478 Application such that the space in the second chamber is minimized. With a bigger filter, more coffee grind may be inserted into the cartridge to brew a bigger and/or stronger cup of coffee. In order to protect the filter from the output needle piercing through the bottom of the filter, a filter guard is provided between the filter and the bottom of the cartridge so that the filter guard makes contact with the output needle to protect the filter. While providing a larger filter to hold more coffee grind somewhat enabled brewing a stronger tasting coffee or a larger cup of coffee, coffee made from the cartridge generally described in the '0303964 Application resulted in TDS levels of about 0.95%, which may be considered weak according the chart shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, there still is a need to brew stronger tasting coffee using a single-serve cartridge.
As of 2013, the market leader of single-serve cartridge platform in North America is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters®, which sells its single-serve platform under the Keurig® brand name, collectively referred to as Keurig®. Keurig® offers over 200 varieties of single-serve cups, also known as K-Cup®, which works with several of Keurig's® brewers offered in the market today. There is estimated to be over 12 million U.S. households with Keurig® brewers in use largely due to its convenience where a single cup of coffee can be made without much of a cleanup. A good example of types of brewers offered by Keurig® is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,138, which is incorporated by reference.
FIG. 1B is a copy of FIG. 3 of the U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,138. The brewer 10 includes a brew chamber 18 comprised of a cartridge receptacle 20 and a lid 22. The receptacle 20 has a removable holder 23 configured and dimensioned to receive a beverage filter cartridge 24. The holder 23 has a needle at the bottom to pierce through the bottom of the cartridge when the cartridge is pressed down into the holder. The cartridge 24 includes an outer container internally subdivided by a paper filter into two compartments: top and bottom compartments. The top compartment is defined by the shape of paper filter to hold coffee grind within the paper filter. The bottom compartment is a remaining empty space with enough space so that the bottom needle does not pierce the paper filter in order to prevent the coffee grind from washing out during the brewing process.
The holder 23 is removable so that it may be easily cleaned. One of the common elements of the brewers offered by Keurig® is that they all utilize essentially the same holder 23. The holder 23 is configured such that when the cartridge 24 is inserted into the holder 23, the cartridge 24 substantially fills the void within the holder 23 such that there is little gap between the holder 23 and the cartridge 24. This means that the outer shape of the cartridge 24 is constraint by the holder 23 such that cartridge 24 may not be enlarged, which means that there is a limit as to how much coffee grind that can be packed within the paper filter in the cartridge 24. As discussed above, without being able to enlarge the cartridge, only other option is to enlarge the paper filter as much as possible to hold more coffee grind to make a stronger cup of coffee, but doing so lowers the paper filter closer to the bottom needle, which increases the risk of the bottom needle piercing the paper filter. As discussed above, the cartridge disclosed in the '0303964 Application utilizes a filter guard to protect the paper filter from the bottom needle. While the cartridge disclosed in the '0303964 Application can hold more coffee grinds, there is still a limitation due to the fixed outer size of the cartridge 24. As such, there is a need to brew a stronger and bigger cup of coffee when utilizing the Keurig's® brewers.
There are many factors that can determine the taste of coffee; however, the temperature and flow rate of the water passing through the coffee grind can have significant impact on the coffee taste. In general, water temperature between 190-205° F. may be considered a desirable temperature range to brew a good balance tasting coffee. For instance, if the water temperature is below the desired temperature, the coffee may be under-extracted such that the coffee may taste sour. Conversely, if the water temperature is above the desired temperature, the coffee may be over-extracted such that the coffee may taste bitter. With regard to the flow rate, if the hot water passes through the coffee grind too quickly, then the coffee may be under-extracted; however, if the flow rate is too slow, then the coffee may be over-extracted. As such, there is a need for a brewer that can more precisely control the temperature and flow rate of the water.
Another concern is when the single-serve beverage cartridges are offered in commercial settings such as in offices and food service industry. In commercial settings, such as in the office services, the beverages may be serviced by a professional catering service that periodically restock the inventory of beverage cartridges at the offices. This, however, can be a time consuming process, since the professional catering service may need to contact the office manager prior to visiting to get an inventory of beverage cartridges it needs to restock the cartridges. This means that someone from the office may need to manually count the inventory of cartridges it has or does not have, and pass the information to the catering service. Alternatively, the catering service may need to carry the inventory with the truck and driver, and have the driver manually count the inventory, and restock the office. All of these manual operations may be an inefficient way of restocking the beverage cartridges. As such, an improved inventory management system is needed.
The single-serve beverage platform is largely a razor and razor blade business model, where the catering business may offer the brewer for free or at a low price with the understanding that the office customer will purchase the cartridges from the catering service. In certain situations, however, the office may purchase unauthorized cartridges from less expensive retailer to save costs. Unfortunately, such unauthorized purchase of the cartridges can have negative financial impact on the catering business. As such, there is a need to improve the inventory management of the cartridges.


The present invention has objects to provide a thermostable cellobiose 2-epimerase, its preparation and uses. The present invention attains the above objects by providing a thermostable cellobiose 2-epimerase, a DNA encoding the enzyme, a recombinant DNA and transformant comprising the DNA, a process for producing the enzyme, and a process for producing isomerized saccharides using the enzyme.

"Isomerase" is a generic term meaning a enzyme catalyzing conversion of isomers. According to "Enzyme Nomenclature", Academic Press Inc., USA, 1992, it includes the following six groups: (1) EC 5.1; racemases and epimerases catalyzing optical isomerization, (2) EC 5.2; enzymes catalyzing geometric conversion of cis-trans isomers, (3) EC 5.3; enzymes catalyzing aldose-ketose conversion, keto-enol tautomerization, and intramolecular rearrangement of double bond, (4) EC 5.4; enzymes catalyzing intramolecular rearrangement of substituent to produce structural isomers, (5) EC 5.5; enzymes catalyzing intramolecular lyase-reaction, and (6) EC 5.99; enzymes catalyzing other isomerization. Among these isomerases, for example, the following enzymes are well known as isomerases catalyzing isomerization of neutral saccharides: xylose isomerase (EC 188.8.131.52) catalyzing conversion between D-xylose and D-xylulose, or between D-glucose and D-fructose (aldose-ketose conversion), aldose 1-epimerase (EC 126.96.36.199) catalyzing conversion between α and β anomer of aldose, ketose 3-epimerase catalyzing epimerization of C-3 position of ketopentoses and ketohexoses to produce the corresponding epimers (q.v. Japanese Patent Kokai No. 125776/1994 or International Patent Publication No. WO 2007/058086). These enzymes are widely used for industrial production of isomerized saccharides, quantitative determination of saccharides, and preparation of rare saccharides.
On the other hand, Tyler et al., Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Vol. 119, pp. 363-367 (1967), reported that Ruminococcus albus, an anaerobic bacteria, produces a cellobiose 2-epimerase, and it epimerizes C-2 position of reducing-terminal glucose in cellobiose to produce epicellobiose (4-O-β-D-Glucosyl D-mannose), which enzyme has been assigned a enzyme number of EC 18.104.22.168 in Enzyme Nomenclature referred to above. Ito et al., Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communication, Vol. 360, pp. 640-645 (2007) and Ito et al., Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vol. 79, pp. 433-441 (2008) disclosed the amino-acid sequence of the cellobiose 2-epimerase, the DNA sequence encoding the amino-acid sequence, and that the cellobiose 2-epimerase acts on cellooligosaccharide or lactose, as well as cellobiose, to produce epicellooligosaccharide or epilactose (4-O-β-D-calactosyl D-mannnose). Furthermore, Taguchi et al., FEMS Microbiology Letters, Vol. 287, pp. 34-40 (2008), disclosed cellobiose 2-epimerase produced by Eubacterium cellulosolvens, also an anaerobic bacteria.
Nishimukai et al., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 56, pp. 10340-10345 (2008) disclosed that when epilactose, converted from lactose by cellobiose 2-epimerase, was ingested in rat, it exerted physiological functions of promoting calcium absorption in the small intestine, increasing the amount of short-chain fatty acid in the intestine, and lowering the plasma cholesterol level, suggesting that epilactose is expected to be developed for a prebiotic material.
However, the above known cellobiose 2-epimerase have problems that they are hard to use for industrial production of epilactose or epicellobiose because of their low heat-resistance. Heat-resistance is an important property for practical application of enzyme reaction, and a highly heat-resistant enzyme is economically beneficial because a longtime reaction can be carried out with a small amount of the enzyme, resulting in low consumption of the enzyme. In consideration of industrial use, enzyme reaction is preferable to be conducted at 55° C. or more, preferably, 60° C. or more. In the above regard, a cellobiose 2-epimerase with higher heat-resistance is desired.

Cellobiose 2-epimerase, its preparation and uses


A consumption request, for consuming storage assets, is parsed to determine if it can be matched to an existing deployment of one or more storage assets, to correspond to matching storage assets that satisfy the consumption request. If the consumption request cannot be matched to the existing deployment of one or more storage assets, a determination is made whether the existing deployment of one or more storage assets can be modified to satisfy the consumption request. If the existing deployment of one or more storage assets cannot be modified to satisfy the consumption request, a determination is made to see if other other storage assets can be deployed or reconfigured to satisfy the consumption request. At least one storage asset is modified, deployed, or reconfigured, to satisfy the consumption request.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In data storage systems, users of different storage technologies store enormous amounts of data on different storage devices. From a storage array of storage devices, a user may choose any combination of the storage devices to create a virtual storage resource or logical unit. Computer systems are constantly improving in terms of speed, reliability, and processing capability. As is known in the art, computer systems that process and store large amounts of data typically include a one or more processors in communication with a shared data storage system in which the data is stored. The data storage system may include one or more storage devices, usually of a fairly robust nature and useful for storage spanning various temporal requirements, e.g., disk drives. The one or more processors perform their respective operations using the storage system. Mass storage systems (MSS) typically include an array of a plurality of disks with on-board intelligent and communications electronics and software for making the data on the disks available.
In addition, enterprises are dealing with more data than ever, and traditional infrastructure no longer provides the reliability, performance and efficiency that enterprise workloads (e.g., enterprise information handling systems) require. This reality is challenging information technology (IT) managers to adopt simpler and more streamlined and cost-effective approaches, such as software-defined infrastructure (SDI). SDI enables enterprises to enjoy the power and efficiency of IT as a service by separating hardware and software and focusing on extensive automation and orchestration. This allows IT to supply the business with scalable, agile resources for cloud- and web-based services and native cloud workloads.
Also, information processing systems increasingly utilize reconfigurable virtual resources to meet changing user needs in an efficient, flexible and cost-effective manner. For example, cloud computing and storage systems implemented using virtual resources have been widely adopted. Other virtual resources now coming into widespread use in information processing systems include Linux containers. Such containers may be used to provide at least a portion of the virtualization infrastructure of a given information processing system.

Consumption-based elastic deployment and reconfiguration of hyper-converged software-defined storage


A method, apparatus, and system for adaptively synchronizing a sampling clock.

In certain computer networks including, for example, the Internet, nodes communicate by way of modulated and demodulated asynchronous signals. Those asynchronous signals may be transmitted and received by, for example, modems or broadband communications such as Digital Subscriber Line ("DSL") transceivers. Those transceivers may furthermore operate under one or more common protocols such as, for example, Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP"). Transceivers communicating by way of common protocols may exchange capabilities and select a common mode of operation. Such an exchange of capabilities and a selection of a common mode of operation are sometimes referred to as a "handshake." That handshake may be accomplished by way of a mechanism such as International Telecommunication Union Standard G.994.1 for DSL communication, for example.
Synchronization of information transmitted between transceivers is a requirement in communication systems, including DSL transceivers. Timing offset is furthermore a factor in synchronization due, for example, to imperfections in hardware. Moreover, calculation of timing offset may be computationally demanding. System overhead is required to accomplish such synchronization computation, taking system capacity from other functions. Thus, there is a need for a system, an apparatus, and a method that efficiently calculates timing offset. There is also a need for a system, an apparatus, and a method that synchronizes signals applying that calculated timing offset.