A voraxial separation system having an auxiliary filter is disclosed for separating flowable composite media into components. The voraxial separation system receives a flowing stream of composite media and utilizes centrifugal force to separate the stream into component radial layers according to specific gravity whereafter one or more radial layers may be extracted from the stream. An auxiliary filtration apparatus includes a conduit having a flowable media input, a generally cylindrical filter disposed within the conduit, and filtered and unfiltered media outlets. An elongate spray tube is disposed within the tubular filter substantially adjacent to the radially inner surface of the filter. The spray tube is fluidly connected to a pressurized fluid source and defines a plurality of spray outlets disposed in a direction radially outward so as to direct pressurized fluid onto the cylindrical filter from the filter interior thereof to clean the filter of accumulated substances. A rotational drive system provides powered rotation of the spray tube, and a spectrophotometer assembly monitors the accumulation of component medium on the filter and adjusts rotation speed of the spray tube in response to filter loading.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for separating flowing substances, including fluids and solids, by means of centrifugal separation, and more particularly to a voraxial filter system adapted with a self-cleaning filter apparatus for providing auxiliary upstream and/or downstream filtration and separation of substances.
2. Description of the Background Art
Cyclone or centrifugal separators have been used in many applications to separate one fluid form another on the basis of specific gravity, whether or not those substances are of the same or different physical states and particularly for the separation of light liquids from heavy liquids and gases from liquids. In addition, centrifugal separators have been adapted to separate solids of varying densities and/or solids from fluids.
An inventor of the present invention has contributed to advancements in the art of centrifugal separation of miscible and immiscible media, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,840, issued to DiBella on May 18, 1999, which disclosure is incorporated herein as part of this disclosure by reference. An inventor of the present invention has also contributed to determining the identity and concentration of substances in a multi-component medium by measuring the spectral response of fluid media as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,980, issued to Anthony on Aug. 3, 1991, which disclosure is incorporated herein as part of this disclosure by reference. As disclosed in the '840 patent, the combined teachings provide a voraxial separation system that includes pump means delivering a continuously flowing column of the media from a media source, a separation tube through which a column of the flowing media is continuously passed, means for spinning the column about the axis of the tube at sufficient speed that centrifugal force within the column causes the component media to separate into radial layers, extraction conduit means for selectively extracting one or more of the radial layers from the tube, bleeder means for introducing a fluid such as air into the tube to alter the diameter of the radial layers, and a probe and spectrophotometer which provides monitoring and automatic feed back means for measuring the component medium content as the media enters and exits the separation tube and for adjusting the rotational speed of the media and the rate of fluid introduction from the bleeder means. An alternative to the bleeder means is provided in the form of a mechanism for altering the diameter of the extraction conduit means.
With virtually any type of centrifugal separation apparatus, however, a potential exists for relatively small quantities of substances to remain entrained in the flow and pass through the separation apparatus. As a result, attempts have been made to improve the separation efficiency of such systems by addition of additional stages of centrifugal separation and/or by the addition of non-centrifugal filtration means. These attempts, however, have met with limited success. It has been found that certain substances are not adequately separated by additional stages of centrifugal separation devices. It has also been found that downstream filters are susceptible to clogging, thereby requiring time consuming maintenance and cleaning.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a flowable media voraxial separation system which separates one or more fluids and/or solids of different specific gravities and/or densities by centrifugal separation means wherein separation efficiency is increased by use of a self-cleaning filter system specifically adapted for capturing one or more substances and releasing captured substances in response to filter loading.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a voraxial system wherein the non-centrifugal filter is adapted so as to be self-cleaning.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a voraxial system wherein filter-cleaning cycles are periodically or continuously controlled in response to filter loading.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a self-cleaning tubular filter having a radially inner rotating spray tube that functions to clean the tubular filter by selective application of a pressurized fluid.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a self-cleaning tubular filter having a radially inner rotating spray tube which functions to clean the tubular filter by selective application of a pressurized fluid wherein the pressurized fluid may comprise a pressurized gas or a pressurized liquid.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a self cleaning tubular filter having a radially inner rotating spray tube which functions to clean the tubular filter wherein the spray tube rotates at sufficient revolutions per minute so as to create a vortex within the tubular filter to effect finer separation of substances.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.

Voraxial filtration system with self-cleaning auxiliary filtration apparatus


Methods and systems to alleviate congestion in leaf and spine network topologies. Control information may be advertised by spines regarding the leaves to which it is connected. The control information is advertised to other leaf switches connected to the advertising spine. The control information may include a destination leaf ID, an enroute spine ID, an FL flag and an FF flag. The FL flag is a “Flow Learn Flag,” that is set by the advertising spine that a leaf switch toward which the spine may be facing congestion above at a first predetermined threshold level. The FF flag is a “Flow Freeze Flag,” that is set when all links to the corresponding destination leaf identified are congested, and the congestion level has crossed a second predetermined threshold level.

Many organizations, including businesses, governments, and educational institutions utilize computer networks that connect to a plurality of computing devices. The computing devices may be at the same or different locations and may be, for example, computers, servers, etc. Common types of computer networks include local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs).
In computer networks, one or more intermediate network devices (i.e., switches, bridges, routers, etc.) are often used to connect together the computing devices. Between the various intermediate network devices and the computing devices are wired or wireless connections, referred to herein as links. One or more consecutive links form a communication path that is usable to transfer information (in the form of packets) between the computing devices. Protocols exists to optimize routing among the intermediate devices. In such a configuration, there may be circumstances where congestion conditions exist at a particular intermediate device (e.g., a switch). Congestion avoidance often takes the form of back off algorithms and prioritization; however, these do not adequately address leaf and spine networks.

Congestion notification in leaf and spine networks


In a method for configuring a network of managed objects with a set of templates comprising event detection criteria in the context of network monitoring, a new template, which comprises at least one event detection criterion associated with a type of managed object, is developed. The new template, including a specific identifier, is stored on a table of a database which has a plurality of tables, of which each table corresponds to a type of managed object within the network. Each table contains at least one previously developed template, which includes a specific identifier and comprises at least one event detection criterion corresponding to the relevant type of managed object. After that, a set of templates which comprises the new template and at least one previously developed template is defined, so that the set of templates contains at least one template from among each table. Finally, the network is updated, so that each managed object contains the relevant template from the set of templates.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to network monitoring, and specifically, to event management.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The purpose of monitoring a network is to manage network performance, discover and solve network problems, and plan for network growth. According to Morris Sloman (Editor), "Network and Distributed Systems Management", Addison-Wesley, England, 1994, pg. 303, monitoring can be defined as the process of dynamic collection, interpretation, and presenting of information concerning objects or software processes under scrutiny. Monitoring can be used for general network management, such as performance management, configuration management, fault management, or security management. One application of monitoring is event reporting which is explained below using definitions taken from the aforementioned text at pp. 303 to 347.
The network to be monitored is comprised of one or more managed objects. A managed object is defined as any hardware or software component whose behavior can be monitored or controlled by a management system. Hardware components may be hubs, routers, computers, bridges, etc. Each managed object is associated with a status and a set of events. The status of a managed object is a measure of its behavior at a discrete point in time. An event is defined as an atomic entity which reflects a change in the status of the managed object. The behavior of the managed object can be defined and observed in terms of its status and events.
The status of the managed object lasts for a certain time period. Examples of a status are "process is idle" or "process is running". An event occurs instantaneously. Examples of an event are "message sent" or "process started". Since the status of a managed object is normally changing continuously, the behavior of the managed object is usually observed in terms of a distinguished subset of events, called events of interest. Events of interest reflect significant changes in the status of the managed object.
In order to monitor the events of interest, events of interest must be detected. An event is said to have occurred when the conditions which are defined by event detection criteria are satisfied. These conditions are detected by appropriate instrumentation, such as software and hardware probes or sensors inserted in the managed object.
Event detection may be internal within or external from the managed object. Internally performed event detection is typically performed as a function of the managed object itself. Externally performed event detection may be carried out by an external agent which receives status reports of the managed object and detects changes in the status of the managed object.
The occurrence of the event may be detected in real-time or delayed. Once the event is detected, an event report is generated at the managed object. The event report may comprise an event identifier, type, priority, time of occurrence, the status of the managed object immediately before and after the occurrence of the event, and other application-specific status variables.
In order to monitor the dynamic behavior of the managed object, the event report may be conveyed from the managed object to a central unit. At the central unit event reports may be gathered, visualized, and recorded. The central unit may be a Network Management Station (NMS) on which an appropriate software, usually called a manager, resides. The manager executes management applications that monitor and control the managed objects. Physically, an NMS, sometimes called a console, is usually an engineering workstation with a fast CPU, megapixel color display, substantial memory, and abundant disk space. The NMS may comprise a database on which incoming reports sent by the managed objects, such as event reports, are stored.
Received reports can be viewed with the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the NMS.
In order to carry out event detection, each managed object must know its event detection criteria. The event detection criteria for a specific managed object can be defined using an appropriate template. Once this template is created, the relevant managed object or its agent will be configured with that template.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show an example of such a template 1 for a managed object, which is a computer run by the operating system Sun-Solaris. The managed object is monitored by the Network Management System HP OpenView, which monitors its logfile. Template 1 has a name-field 2 for defining template 1. In this case, the name of template 1 is "R0_HS_MST_VB22F_Syslog". Additionally, template 1 has a description-field 3, in which a short description of the event detection criteria may be written. Template 1 has also a field 4 which specifies the path and the name of the file to be monitored. The name of the logfile is "syslog". Furthermore, the time period in which the logfile "syslog" is automatically checked by the managed object for a new entry is defined by a field 5 of template 1. In this example, the logfile "syslog" is checked each minute.
The actual event detection criterion or event detection criteria of the managed object are defined utilizing a list 20 which is shown in FIG. 2. For this example, list 20 contains only one event detection criterion which is: "Refused connect from denied node".
FIG. 3 shows a list 30 which is used to define the message of an event report sent from the managed object to an NMS if an event defined by the event detection criterion occurrs. The message can be written in a message test field 31. For this example, the message of the event report is "Connection refused from <*.node>", when there is an unauthorized attempt to log on the managed object. "<*.node>" is actually a wildcard, which is replaced by the actual system's name from which the unauthorized log on was attempted.
Usually a network contains different types of managed objects. Those different types of managed objects may be different types of computer controlled devices or apparatuses, such as magnetic resonance or computed tomography apparatuses. Furthermore, events of interest are normally different for each of the different types of managed objects, resulting in the development of different templates which comprise event detection criteria specific to the different types of managed objects. For example, an event of interest specific to the magnetic resonance apparatuses may be a failure of one of their high frequency components, while an event of interest specific to the computed tomography apparatuses may be a problem associated with their x-ray generating components.
In addition, a template related to a type of a managed object may be modified over time, because a user monitoring the network may be interested in a modified set of events of interest involving that type of managed object. Then, not only a new template for that type of a managed object has to be developed and tested, but the managed objects of that type have to be reconfigured with the newly developed template, and also the modifications have to be recorded.
If the network is comprised of relatively many different types of managed objects and their event detection criteria are frequently modified, then administrating the process of developing and testing the new template, reconfiguring the relevant managed objects, and reporting the modifications may be particularly cumbersome.


Delivering a filtered search result includes identifying a filtered search result in response to a search query from a user that is associated with at least one member of an augmented social group where the augmented social group including social network connections of the user and individuals other than the social network connections who share a common interest with the user and delivering the filtered search result to the user through a user interface.

The present invention relates to delivering a filtered search result to a user, and more specifically, delivering a filtered search result to a user associated with members of the user's augmented social group.
Search engines allow users to input search queries based on keywords. The search engine searches online resources that match the keywords in the search query. The search results are delivered to the user as a listing of results. The results generally include a list of items. Often, the titles of the item, a link to the item's online location, and a short description showing the item's relevance to the keywords are displayed with the items. Some search engines select items to be included in the list based on the item's content and metadata tags. A hyperlink markup language (HTML) title tag of the items can be used as the title of the items in the list while the description tag is used for the short description.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


When a sensitivity of film used for photographing is less than a predetermined sensitivity, or when an external light brightness measured by a photometry means is more than a predetermined brightness, a strobe exposure is controlled to decrease gradually from 0 EV flash, wherein a standard strobe exposure can be obtained, to -1 EV to -2 EV to -2 EV . . . . On the other hand, when the external light brightness is less than the predetermined brightness, the 0 EV flash is performed compulsively regardless of the film sensitivity, and the ratio of the strobe exposure becomes high, so that the exposure contribution rate of the external light is relatively lowered. As a result, the spectral characteristics of the external light source have small effect on the image surface when the high-sensitivity film is used, and the color fading caused by the spectral characteristics of the external light source can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a built-in flash camera, and more particularly to a built-in flash camera provided with a function of automatic exposure and a strobe which flashes regularly for photographing under proper exposure.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a person is photographed against the light, their face looks dark because of the back light, or there is a shadow on their face when the sun is just above them even if there is not the back light. In order to eliminate the above-mentioned problem, there is known a method of flashing the strobe regularly even in the daylight, so that the strobe light can be added to the exposure by the external light. When a negative color film is used, it is preferable that the strobe always flashes, because its latitude is broad with regard to an overexposure. A Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 56-149022 discloses this kind of the built-in flash camera in which the strobe flashes regularly.
There is proposed another built-in flash camera, in which a focusing part for measuring a subject distance, and which gradually controls an exposure of the strobe in accordance with the external light brightness and the subject distance (refer to the specification of a Japanese Patent Application No. 6-255599). It is also proposed that the strobe exposure is changed in accordance with the an exposure value (EV) in view of a film sensitivity.
However, in the conventional built-in flash camera, an external light brightness (BV) for changing over the control of the strobe light is shifted according to different film sensitivities. Therefore, when the high-sensitivity color film is used, the exposure of the strobe light is decreased, and the color fades due to the strong influence by an external light source.
Specifically, when the high-sensitivity film is used, the photographing can be performed even in the external light of low brightness. The exposure required for photographing can be obtained even if a quantity of light flashed by the strobe is decreased. The above-mentioned photographing in the external light of low brightness is performed in a room for example, and is performed under the light from the external light source such as a fluorescent light in many cases. Since the photographing using high-sensitivity film is strongly influenced by the color of the external light source (fluorescent light), there is a problem in that the photograph is blue-tinged.
In the case of the photographing under the fluorescent light, the print tends to be green because of the spectral characteristics of the light source. The extent of the color fading varies according to the type of the light source.


A device for detecting cut of a tape generates a cut signal of a tape by using a pulse generating portion and a light signal generating portion when a number of pulses per second generated by the rotation of a detecting gear is larger than the maximum number of pulses per second during normal operation. A first gear is rotated by a rotation driving part in forward play operation mode of a tape. A second gear is rotated by the rotation driving part in reverse play operation mode of the tape. A detecting gear of a detecting gear portion is engaged with the first gear or the second gear according to the operation mode. A pulse generating portion generates pulses corresponding to a speed of revolution of the detecting gear and a light signal generating and pulse detecting portion detects the generated pulses. A microprocessor decides the revolution state of the engaged gear from the number of detected pulses per second.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for detecting cut of a tape, particularly to a device for detecting cut of a tape for promptly detecting cut of a tape by detecting a difference of a revolution speed of a gear according to a tape state.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, apparatuses like a video tape recorder, an audio tape recorder, and a reel tape reader comprise a driving system for rotating a tape reel. The driving system comprises a forward reel gear for operating a forward play mode of a tape and a reverse reel gear for reverse playing the tape. Each gear operates as a main rotating reel gear or a follower gear according to an operation mode. The tape is wound in a forward direction or a reverse direction according to the rotation of the main rotating reel gear.
In these apparatuses, a microcomputer is used for controlling a rotation of the main rotation reel gear. The microcomputer controls the main rotation reel gear to stop the rotation when a stop signal or an end signal is inputted. If the tape is cut during the operation mode, the main rotation reel gear connected with the driving system continues to rotate but the following reel gear unconnected with the driving system stops rotating because the state of the tape being cut is unrecognized. As a result, a user waits to start the operation mode for a long time frequently because the microcomputer does not recognize that the tape is cut. Thus, various apparatuses and methods for detecting a cut of a tape are proposed to detect the cut of the tape.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one conventional apparatus for detecting cut of a tape. The apparatus for detecting cut of a tape comprises a forward reel gear 100 to be rotated by a rotation driving part(not shown) during the forward play operation mode of the tape and a reverse reel gear 200 to be rotated by the rotation driving part during the reverse play operation mode of the tape. Forward reel gear 100 comprises a first photoelectric pulse generator. The first photoelectric pulse generator comprises a first rotating plate 110 to be rotated according to the rotation of forward reel gear 100 and a first photo sensor 120 installed at a predetermined position in a lower direction of first rotating plate 110. First rotating plate 110 comprises four first light reflecting portions 112 for reflecting light outputted from first light sensor 120 and four first absorbing portions 114 for absorbing the light.
Reverse reel gear 200 comprises a second photoelectric pulse generator. The second photoelectric pulse generator comprises a, second rotating plate 210 to be rotated according to the rotation of reverse reel gear 200 and a second light sensor 220 installed at a predetermined position in a lower direction of second rotating plate 120. Second rotating plate 210 comprises four second light deflection portions 212 for reflecting the light outputted from second light sensor 220 and four second absorbing portions 214 for absorbing the light.
An operation of the conventional device for detecting cut of the tape according to a construction described above is described below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
The microcomputer(not shown) detects the presence of an input signal(S1). When the input signal is present, the microcomputer operates first and second light sensors 120, 220.
Next, the microcomputer decides whether the input signal is to indicate the forward play operation mode(S3). If a result of the decision is true, the rotation driving part(not shown) is connected to forward reel gear 100 because forward reel gear 100 is the main reel gear(S4). If the result is false, the rotation driving part is connected to reverse reel gear 200 because reverse reel gear 200 is the main reel gear(S5).
The tape is wound around the circumferential face of the main rotating reel gear when the main reel is rotated by the rotation driving part. The following reel gear is rotated because the tape is wound around the main rotating reel gear.
Lights outputted from first and second light sensor 120, 220 arrive at first and second rotating plates 110, 210 according to the rotation of the main rotation reel gear and the following reel gear, and thus pulses are generated. The microcomputer counts a pulse repetition rate(P1) generated according to the rotation of the main rotating reel gear and a pulse repetition rate(P2) generated according to the rotation of the following reel gear(S5).
With cut of the tape, the main reel gear continues to rotate by the rotation driving part, and the following reel gear continues to rotate by inertia because the following reel gear is unconnected with the rotation driving part. Thus, the microcomputer checks whether P2 equals zero because the following reel gear is stopped(S6) first. When P2 equals zero, the microcomputer outputs a signal of the cut of the tape by deciding the tape cut state(S7). When P2 is unequal to zero, the microcomputer counts the pulses generated by the rotation of the reel gears.
When the input signal is not a signal for indicating the forward play operation mode, the microcomputer connects the rotation driving part to reverse reel gear 200 because reverse reel gear 200 is the main rotation reel gear. After that the operation operates in described order.
A conventional device for detecting cut of the tape has a complicated construction because first and second photoelectric pulse generators are installed at forward reel gear 100 and reverse reel gear 200 for counting pulses generated according to the rotation of forward reel gear 100 and reverse reel gear 200.
Also, in an operation mode, when tape is cut, the main rotation reel gear continues to rotate by the rotation driving part and the following reel gear continues to rotate by inertia. Thus, the time for detection is long because cut of the tape is detected after the following reel gear completely stops to rotate.

Device for detecting cut of a tape having engaged gear detecting means


The present disclosure relates to (thio)morpholine derivatives of the formula (I)

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid that mediates a wide variety of cellular responses, such as proliferation, cytoskeletal organization and migration, adherence- and tight junction assembly, and morphogenesis. S1P can bind with members of the endothelial cell differentiation gene family (EDG receptors) of plasma membrane-localized G protein-coupled receptors. To date, five members of this family have been identified as S1P receptors in different cell types, S1P1 (EDG-1), S1P2 (EDG-5), S1P3 (EDG-3), S1P4 (EDG-6) and S1P5 (EDG-8). S1P can produce cytoskeletal re-arrangements in many cell types to regulate immune cell trafficking, vascular homeostasis and cell communication in the central nervous system (CNS) and in peripheral organ systems.
It is known that S1P is secreted by vascular endothelium and is present in blood at concentrations of 200-900 nanomolar and is bound by albumin and other plasma proteins. This provides both a stable reservoir in extracellular fluids and efficient delivery to high-affinity cell-surface receptors. S1P binds with low nanomolar affinity to the five receptors S1P1-5. In addition, platelets also contain S1P and may be locally released to cause e.g. vasoconstriction. The receptor subtypes S1P1, S1P2 and S1P3 are widely expressed and represent dominant receptors in the cardiovascular system. Further, S1P1 is also a receptor on lymphocytes. S1P4 receptors are almost exclusively in the haematopoietic and lymphoid system. S1P5 is primarily (though not exclusively) expressed in central nervous system. The expression of S1P5 appears to be restricted to oligodendrocytes in mice, the myelinating cells of the brain, while in rat and man expression at the level of astrocytes and endothelial cells was found but not on oligodendrocytes.
S1P receptor modulators are compounds which signal as (ant)agonists at one or more S1P receptors. The present invention relates to modulators of the S1P5 receptor, in particular agonists, and preferably to agonists with selectivity over S1P1 and/or S1P3 receptors, in view of unwanted cardiovascular and/or immunomodulatory effects. It has now been found that S1P5 agonists can be used in the treatment of cognitive disorders, in particular age-related cognitive decline. Although research is ongoing to develop therapeutics that can be used to treat age related cognitive decline and dementia, this has not yet resulted in many successful candidates. Therefore, there is a need for new therapeutics with the desired properties.

(Thio)morpholine derivatives as S1P modulators

Abstract: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, a solvate or hydrate thereof; with the proviso that the derivative of formula (I) is not 2-(4-ethylphenyl)-4-morpholinoethanol or 4-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-morpholinyl]benzeneacetonitrile or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, a solvate or hydrate thereof. The compounds of the invention have affinity to S1P receptors and may be used in the treatment, alleviation or prevention of S1P receptor mediated diseases and conditions.


A first operation unit stores first code information having a bit length shorter than a first set bit, receives dictionary information expressing each set bit corresponding to each code information, reads the set bit corresponding to the first code information from the dictionary information to obtain the first set bit, and further, changes setting according to the first set bit to execute any of a plurality of operations so as to obtain an operation result. A second operation unit stores second code information having a bit length shorter than a second set bit, receives the dictionary information from the first operation unit, reads the set bit corresponding to the second code information from the dictionary information to obtain the second set bit, and further, changes setting according to the second set bit so as to execute any of the operations with respect to the operation result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device using a dynamically reconfigurable circuit technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, advance in functional complication and variety is made in apparatuses requiring low cost and low power consumption, such as a mobile apparatus. Thus, such an apparatus requires high function. In order to achieve both high function and low power consumption, a special hardware must be manufactured and developed. However, the foregoing advance in functional complication and variety is a factor of increasing the cost of manufacturing and developing the specific hardware year by year. A semiconductor device using a dynamically reconfigurable circuit technique has attracted interests as a device for reducing the cost of manufacturing and developing the special hardware.
The semiconductor device using a dynamically reconfigurable circuit technique is provided with a reconfigurable circuit such as FPGA and a storage. The storage stores a plurality of set information required for configuring a circuit (hereinafter, referred to as execution circuit) executed by the reconfigurable circuit. The foregoing semiconductor device is a device which reads circuit information necessary for an operation to configure an execution circuit according to a rule predetermined by software. The foregoing semiconductor device differs from the conventional semiconductor device using a FPGA in that the execution circuit is changed in an operation.
The foregoing semiconductor device is used, and thereby, the cost of developing a special hardware is reduced like the FPGA. In addition, the execution circuit is dynamically configured, and thereby, various functions are realizable on a small semiconductor device. Thus, it is expected to reduce the cost of manufacturing the special hardware.
The following examples are given as the semiconductor device using a dynamically reconfigurable circuit technique. One is NEC Electronics, DRP (Dynamically Reconfigurable Processor, ""Reconfigurable system", Ohm Company, page 189-208. Another is University of Carnegie Melon, Piperench ("PipeRench: a reconfigurable architecture and compiler", IEEE Computer volume 33, Issue 4, April 2000 page(s): 70-77").
The DRP of NEC Electronics has the following configuration. According to the configuration, a basic element executing an operation, that is, PEs (Processing Elements) are arrayed tow-dimensionally, and a state transition controller is arranged on the center. The PE is an operation device capable of configuring an execution circuit. A command memory in the PE is stored with a plurality of set information such as a kind of operation and the connection relationship between PEs. Each PE reads set information from the command memory according to a command pointer given from the state transition controller, and then, dynamically configures an execution circuit.
The Piperench of University of Carnegie Melon has the following configuration. According to the configuration, a stripe comprising a basic element executing an operation, that is, a plurality of PEs and a bus connecting them are connected like a pipeline. The PE is an operation device capable of configuring an execution circuit, and connected with a controller existing outside the PipeRench via a global bus. PE set information such as a kind of operation and the bus connection relationship is transferred from the controller existing outside the PipeRench to the PE via the global bus. According to the foregoing information, the PE dynamically configures an execution circuit.
The following condition must be satisfied in order to realize a semiconductor device using a dynamically reconfigurable circuit, which has a high function, small area and low power consumption. Namely, when a semiconductor device executes processing, set information required for the next processing must be stored in a storage at a high speed as much as possible. Thus, even if the size of the storage previously included in the semiconductor device is small, various execution circuits are configurable on the semiconductor device without a big delay. Therefore, it is possible to realize a semiconductor device, which has a high function, small area and low power consumption.
However, the conventional semiconductor device using the dynamically reconfigurable circuit has the following problem. Specifically, the size of set information to be written to the storage for executing a processing is not sufficiently small. For this reason, when the semiconductor device executes a processing, it is difficult to sufficiently store set information required for the next processing.
The foregoing PipeRench and DRP have the following problem. Specifically, a set change of the semiconductor device is limited to a rough set change such as a change of operation kind; however, the size of set information is not sufficiently small.
The following method is given as a method of making small the size of set information written to the storage included in the semiconductor device using the dynamically reconfigurable circuit. According to the method, the storage of the semiconductor device is stored with set information compressing information by a compression coding capable of restoring the original set information (hereinafter, referred to as compression). Then, the set information is properly decoded when an execution circuit is configured.
However, the foregoing PipeRench and DRP have the following problem. Specifically, one controller concurrently gives instructions to configure an execution circuit to a plurality of dynamically reconfigurable circuits. For this reason, the number of the dynamically reconfigurable circuits controlled by the controller increases to some degree, and thereby, time is taken to decode. As a result, the processing performance of the semiconductor device is reduced.


A gearbox arrangement including a dual-clutch gearbox and an adjoining range gearbox. The dual-clutch gearbox comprises an extra motion-transmitting connection adapted to transmit rotary motion from a primary gear to the output shaft without use of the range gearbox, so that the gearbox arrangement provides an extra gear of at least one primary gear. The extra gear is so dimensioned that it has a higher transmission ratio than the gear achieved by the primary gear with a low transmission ratio in the range gearbox, and a lower transmission ratio than the gear achieved by the primary gear with a high transmission ratio in the range gearbox.

The invention relates to a gearbox arrangement which comprises a first gearbox with an adjoining range gearbox.
The first gearbox is with advantage a dual-clutch gearbox. A dual-clutch gearbox comprises a first set of components substantially corresponding to the components in a first mechanical gearbox, and a second set of components substantially corresponding to the components in a second mechanical gearbox. The first set of components cover all the odd-numbered gears in the dual-clutch gearbox and the second set of components cover all the even-numbered gears. Switching between the two sets of components involves using clutch devices which make it possible to engage and disengage the respective sets of components. The fact that the two sets of components are used alternately makes it possible to effect stepped upward and downward gear changes in a dual-clutch gearbox without torque interrupt.
Many heavy vehicles often have a first gearbox connected by a first motion-transmitting connection to a so-called range gearbox. A range gearbox usually comprises a planetary gear which can provide each primary gear in the first gearbox with respective high and low transmission ratios. To operate the range gearbox, a driver can move an operating means, which may be fastened around a gear lever in the driving cab, to a position which indicates a desired gear position of the range gearbox. The driver moving the operating means to a desired position usually results in activation of an operating cylinder which is controlled by compressed air and which moves a ring gear of the range gearbox between the respective high and low transmission ratio positions. Alternatively, the gear change may be indicated by an automatic system. As the ring gear is connected in the low transmission ratio position to a stationary clutch cone and in the high transmission ratio position to a clutch cone on a rotating shaft, there has to be a torque interrupt during a gear change process in the range gearbox in order to synchronise the speed of the ring gear before it can be moved between the two positions.

Gearbox arrangement which comprises a first gearbox with an adjoining range gearbox


A polishing device capable of polishing a repaired surface in a specified shape, comprising a polishing panel body holding a polishing material on a surface opposed to the repaired surface and polishing the repaired surface in the specified shape with the polishing material and a holding part installed on the polishing panel body and held when the polishing panel body is operated, wherein the holding part is installed on the polishing panel body rotatably about an axis set on the polishing panel body, whereby a controllability can be improved, the labor of a worker can be reduced, and the disturbance of smoothness on the repaired surface and the premature wear of sand paper can be suppressed.

When the coated surface of a vehicle has been flawed or dented and needs repairing, a process is performed in which the primer, surfacer, and paint with which the panel surface (steel plate) has been coated are peeled off by polishing. Further, a process is performed in which the damaged portion is filled with putty etc. and in which the putty surface and the body surface are polished so as to make them flush with each other.
Usually, in these processes, the operation is conducted by using a polishing device which is, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, equipped with a polishing panel body 100 having a sandpaper 101 constituting the polishing material glued to its surface opposed to the surface to be repaired, and a holding part 102, 103 fixed to the polishing panel body 100.
The holding part, which is formed in a variety of forms according to the use, e.g., for both hands or one hand, is roughly classified in the following two patterns: a first pattern in which it is simply formed as a plate as shown in FIG. 21, and a second pattern in which it is equipped with a bar-shaped grip. In both patterns, the holding part is firmly fixed to the polishing panel body 100 so as to protrude upright from the center of the polishing panel body 100.
The polishing operation using the polishing device is performed not only on a flat portion which allows the operation to be conducted in an easy position, but also on a portion having a curved surface and a portion requiring operation in an uneasy position, e.g., a portion around a tire house and an inwardly bent portion at the lower end of a door. Thus, the operator has to appropriately change the operating direction of the polishing device or the way he holds the holding part.
However, the conventional polishing device, in which the holding part and the polishing panel body are fixed to each other, can only be held at a fixed holding angle. In other words, the degree of operational freedom of the polishing device is rather low. Conducting operation while holding the holding part in an irregular fashion leads to a pain and fatigue in the hand, resulting in a substantial reduction in the general operational efficiency.
Further, when the conventional polishing device is being used, the plate-shaped holding part protruding upright from the polishing panel body is held by hand, so that the external force (pressure) transmitted from the holding part to the surface to be polished is transmitted to a point considerably spaced apart from the surface to be polished. Thus, polishing is performed with the polishing device being in an unstable state, so that the smoothness of the surface to be repaired (the surface to be polished) is disturbed or the sandpaper undergoes unsymmetrical wear, which can not only impair the operability of the polishing device, but also adversely affect the vehicle repairing operation itself.


The invention involves generating and presenting, typically electronically, a number of design alternatives to persons who are participating in the design, selection, or market research exercise. The participants (referred to as “selectors”) transmit data indicative of their preferences among or between the presented design alternatives, and that data is used to derive a new generation of design alternatives or proposals. The new designs are generated through the use of a computer program exploiting a genetic or evolutionary computational technique. The process is repeated, typically for many iterations or cycles.

This invention relates to improvements in the process of developing new products and services, and the attendant activities of consumer research, market segmentation, design iteration and market testing, as well as the marketing of such products and services, through direct customer participation. The invention also relates to the process of collective decision making, which presents issues in many respect parallel to those encountered in the design and product development process.
Early in human history, the distinctions between the designer, the manufacturer, and the user of an artifact simply did not exist. People made their tools for their own use, and built their dwellings in an unselfconscious process passed across generations. Later, as the various arts and crafts evolved, the artisan or craftsman embodying both design and manufacturing functions remained close to his customers. The small volumes involved and the largely custom nature of craft production meant that the product responded directly to the needs and wants of individual customers. The industrial revolution brought an increase in the division and specialization of labor, along with the attendant economies of scale and scope. As a result, the design and production functions became distinct, production volumes increased, and products became more standardized. A particular product usually now had to satisfy a larger group of customers. That trend took a major leap with Ford's development of mass production.
Many products today require for their design large groups of people with highly specialized skills and knowledge, often numbering in the thousands, and often spread across continents. Furthermore, the development lead-time for some products can easily stretch to many years (e.g., new generation aircraft). The complexity of these products and services, and of the processes used to develop them, is reflected in the organizational structure of the companies which design and make them. Within the typical product development organization, the stakeholders in a given product development project include such diverse departments as product planning, styling, engineering, sales and marketing, manufacturing, after-sales service, legal affairs, and more recently, members of outside part supply companies. Each of these departments or organizations has its own objectives, constraints, and performance measures, and its executives and managers their own goals and idiosyncrasies. These and other factors have conspired to increase dramatically the distance between the people who design products and services, and the customers who consume them, whether the distance is measured in terms of geography, time, and technical knowledge, or in terms of worldview, goals, and daily concerns.
In the past, many product development organizations relied on a few powerful individuals in their design or marketing departments, or in their executive ranks. These individuals in turn relied on their knowledge of the market and the customer, on their understanding of the technological possibilities, and on their vision, judgment, experience, preferences, prejudices and biases. In recent years, as consumers have grown increasingly sophisticated and knowledgeable, and as markets have become increasingly fragmented, this job has become more difficult.
More recently, companies have adopted flatter, less hierarchical organizational models, with decision making responsibility pushed lower through the ranks, and they have embraced a new focus on the "voice of the customer." This movement was intended to remind them that they are mere proxies for the ultimate consumer of the goods or services being designed, and that the needs and desires of the customer should be the paramount input to that process.
The process of going from the voice of the customer to a product or service that reflects it remains fraught with errors and the potential for distortions. The first source of error is in ascertaining the wants and needs of the customer; the second is in the process of translating that input into a decision, product, artifact or service without coloring and distorting it. Practitioners have developed and used several tools and techniques intended to assess the needs of the customer and to translate these needs into a product concept and into engineering requirements. These higher-level tools include Concept Engineering, and the House of Quality and Quality Function Deployment. A critical aspect of these higher level tools and methodologies is that they not only bring the product development team or organization closer to the customer, but also play an important role in creating a consensus between the different functions in the product development team, and in bringing the different parts of the organization together to work toward a common goal. In other words, whenever conflicts arise between different parts of the organization, they are supposed to be resolved by going back to the voice of the customer. If honest differences in interpreting the voice arise, the solution would be to seek clarification from the customer. These tools represent significant improvements in the product design and development process, but remain cumbersome and difficult to use, as their protagonists point out, and they require significant commitments of time and effort on the part of their users.
The tools and instruments that traditionally have been deployed by market researchers range from the highly qualitative methods borrowed from ethnography, such as open-ended interviewing, participant observation, and focus groups, to the highly popular quantitative statistical methods such as survey research and conjoint analysis. Some of these tools and techniques suffer from several shortcomings, which are detailed below.
During the development of a new product or service, the design organization typically will undertake a number of market research studies. Early on during the project, these may be more qualitative in nature, intended to uncover latent needs, or to develop new ideas for products and services. Later, the research may be more focused, intended to obtain feedback from current or potential customers on certain features or attributes of the proposed product; these could rely on qualitative methods, a focus group for example, as well as quantitative ones, such as surveys or structured serial interviews. One problem with consumer clinics is that potential customers are typically shown, and asked to comment on, a limited number of alternatives. This is done in order to keep the cognitive demands on the participants at a reasonable level, as these clinics are generally limited to a period of less than two hours, including the time necessary for providing the participants with the background and contextual information necessary for properly assessing the designs presented to them. Another reason is that the designs shown to the participants are in the form of models or prototypes that are costly to produce. In the traditional consumer clinic, people are suddenly taken from the world of today and asked to comment on future designs that they had not previously seen and which have not had the time to sink in.
Furthermore, consumer clinics, in which new products are shown to participants who are asked to comment on them, assume that people have preexistent preferences that are well-developed and stable. They therefore assume that the attitude that the participants form upon seeing the new product are valid and reflect the attitudes they will have when (and if) the product goes on the market. Yet, it is well-known that in many cases, people's long-term disposition towards a product differs from their initial reaction. For example, it is not uncommon for a consumer to feel initially that the styling of an outgoing automobile model is more attractive than that of its newly introduced replacement, only to change his or her mind after a few weeks of seeing the newer one on the road. Conversely, it is not uncommon for people's assessment of the attractiveness of a new product to plummet after the novelty wears off. This phenomenon is probably a reflection of two countervailing human tendencies, the desire for novelty and variety seeking on the one hand, and the comfort of the familiar on the other. Due to their compressed format, Focus groups and consumer clinics are vulnerable to this phenomenon.
Another problem with clinics and focus groups has to do with the interpersonal dynamics that the situation entails. In general, group dynamics are desirable in the sense that the discussion that takes place between participants is the mechanism for generating data, and the desired output is the active sharing and comparison of the participants' experiences and opinions. Problems arise when one or a few strong individuals end up dominating and biasing the discussion. Another difficulty is finding participants who do not know one another. This is desirable in order to avoid having one participant choose a particular design simply because his or her friend also chose it. This situation arises often when the product or service being designed is targeted at a small group of users, or users who are all members of the same group, for example, designing a benefits package for the employees of one company. Similar problems arise when the potential customers for a product happen to be competitors, and therefore less willing to sit together and share their preferences.
The interpersonal dynamics in the traditional focus group or consumer clinic are magnified when the designs being presented are radically novel or unusual. In such cases, many participants find it difficult to express their true opinions in front of the group. They find it safer to retreat to the safety of negative criticism. They tend to focus on what they find wrong with the design, instead of looking at the whole design and its potential benefits. Furthermore, it is well known that in the case of many products and services, consumer preferences vary geographically or ethnically. Southern California is considered to lead the rest of the country in automotive trends. Color preferences in the USA are different than those in France or China. For that reason, companies will generally hold consumer clinics in several different markets, each of which would be considered representative of a particular geographical area. This adds to the cost of using that format for eliciting consumer preferences.
Conjoint Analysis is used to assess consumer preference for different choices of products and services. It is a multi-attribute utility or preference measurement technique that explicitly accounts for the subjective tradeoffs people make when deciding among alternatives with multiple features and benefits. In its basic form, Conjoint Analysis is a decompositional technique: the parameters that measure the importance the decision maker ascribes to the different aspects of the product are derived, using statistical regression techniques, from the decision maker's evaluations of a number of full profile descriptions of the product or service. Conjoint Analysis has been used in a wide range of applications, from developing soaps and dietary supplements to improving the appeal of military careers within the Department of Defense.
The first step in conducting a Conjoint exercise is to identify the relevant attributes of the product or service in question, and to identify the levels of interest for each attribute. This is typically based on previous experience with similar products, and on earlier qualitative research such as an open-ended interview or a focus group. As an example, in the case of an automobile study, engine displacement may be one attribute of interest, with 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 liters the three levels to be tested; and body style may be another attribute, with "sedan" and "coupe" as the levels of interest. Next, a number of full-profile descriptions of potential products, that is, descriptions in which every attribute is represented by a value, usually using a highly fractionated factorial orthogonal design (i.e., only a small fraction of all possible product profiles are used in the test.) These profiles are shown to the respondent, traditionally in the form of prop cards, and the respondent is asked to rank them by order of preference or to rate each of them on an interval scale, for example, from 0-100. The responses then are analyzed using statistical tools such as Ordinary Least Squares regression to estimate the "part-worths" for each of the attribute levels, that is, the contribution of each attribute level to the overall preference level of a profile. Returning to the earlier example, it might turn out that for one particular respondent, a 2.0 liter engine has a part-worth of 0.0, the 2.5 liter a part-worth of 0.5, and so on; the "sedan" body style may have a part worth of 0.0, whereas the "coupe" style may have a value of 0.8. Once the part-worths for an individual are obtained in this way, it is then possible to search through all the possible combinations of attribute levels to synthesize the optimal product for that individual, that is, the product that would give him or her the highest possible level of utility, or that he or she would have the strongest intention of buying.
Conjoint Analysis studies typically are conducted with more than one individual, and part-worths are typically obtained for a representative sample of consumers. This multi-respondent data can be used for several purposes. One is to identify the product design that would result in the greatest market share for the product development organization, given the attributes of competing products on the market (current and expected; this is known as the "share-of-choices" problem. Another purpose is to identify the product design that would maximize overall consumer utility, that is, the sum of utilities across all the consumers; this is known as the "buyer's welfare" problem. Solving these search problems is a hard computationally; mathematically, these are known as NP-Hard problems, requiring heuristic dynamic programming procedures for their solution. More recently, the adaptive search techniques of Genetic and Evolutionary Computation, more specifically Genetic Algorithms (GAs), have been used more effectively to find solutions to these problems. In that case, Conjoint Analysis data collected previously, using standard Conjoint Analysis techniques; in a separate and subsequent step, that data was subjected to the aforementioned search technique to find the optimal solutions or designs.
Another purpose of collecting Conjoint data from a representative group of participants is to identify distinct market segments with different preference profiles. This is done through cluster analysis, a statistical technique for finding subgroups of respondents such that respondents within a subgroup value the different product attributes similarly, but differently from respondents in other subgroups. Once clusters are identified, those that present significant commercial potential can be targeted with specific product designs.
Conjoint Analysis offers two major advantages over other techniques. One advantage stems from its decompositional nature.
Conjoint Analysis has shortcomings. The first is the tediousness of participating in the process as a respondent. Generally, the product designers and marketers, by virtue of their intimate involvement with and knowledge of the product, want to answer a large number of issues and test a large number of attributes. The customers on the other hand are generally less engaged and reluctant to submit to lengthy questionnaires. And even though highly fractionated factorial designs are used (a research design that itself introduces serious shortcomings, as discussed later), respondents typically still asked to rate a considerable number of possibilities. For example, in a case where there are 12 product attributes, with four different levels for each attribute, the respondent would face about 35 profiles. That number is often multiplied by a factor of 3 in order to reduce the effect of random errors, resulting in the respondent having to face over 100 questions. The laboriousness of the process often leads to confusion and loss of attention and focus on the part of the respondents, who often end up resorting to heuristics as a shortcut for getting through the questionnaire. (several example Conjoint exercises can be found on the World Wide Web; see, for example, www.conjointonline.com.) For example, instead of properly weighing all the attributes against one another, they only rely on one or two to make their decision, leading to inaccurate results.
More recently, several modifications to Conjoint Analysis that aim to reduce the tediousness of the process, and the resulting inaccuracy of the results, have been proposed and used in practice. These hybrid techniques do not consist exclusively of full profiles of hypothetical products, as in conventional Conjoint Analysis, but they start off by asking the respondent a set of self-explication questions (non-conjoint questions that involve no trade-offs), and follow that with partial-profile descriptions. Examples of such techniques include Adaptive Conjoint Analysis and the newer Hierarchical Conjoint Analysis.
In Adaptive Conjoint Analysis as implemented by Sawtooth Software (the most frequently used technique for commercial conjoint studies in both the United States and Europe, the survey starts by asking the respondent to eliminate those attribute levels that he or she would find unacceptable under any conditions. Those levels are no longer used in the subsequent part of the interview. Next, the respondent is asked to reduce the levels in each attribute to the 5 levels he or she is most likely to be interested in. The next step in the process asks the respondent to rate the importance of individual attributes; these ratings attempt to eliminate those attributes deemed unimportant, and to generate initial estimates of the respondent's utilities, which subsequently are used to generate a set of customized paired-comparison questions using partial profiles. With each response, the estimates of the respondent's utilities are updated, and appropriate paired-comparison questions generated. These questions are designed to converge and focus on the subspace of attribute comparisons that appears most favored by the respondent based on the earlier responses, with the objective of refining the estimates of that respondent's trade-off profile within that limited subspace.
Clearly, Adaptive Conjoint Analysis relies heavily on the self-explicated evaluation component of the questionnaire, where the decision maker is asked explicitly to indicate his attitude towards various attributes separately. A key assumption behind that method is that the respondent's attitudes and preferences are pre-existent and stable. Adaptive Conjoint relies on that assumption to quickly narrow the choices presented to the interviewee and reduce the workload imposed on him or her. Adaptive Conjoint thus precludes the possibility that the respondent might uncover or evolve new personal preferences or attribute trade-off profiles as he or she participates in the study. The problem with that approach is the danger of reification of any preconceived notions or partial, ill-formed preferences the respondent might have a priori, resulting in a sub optimal to the product design problem. In fact, users of Adaptive Conjoint Analysis are warned against allowing respondents to eliminate attribute levels (the first step described in the previous paragraph) "unless there is no other way to make an interview acceptably brief."
A more recent development, Hierarchical Bayes Conjoint Analysis, improves on Adaptive Conjoint through the use of more robust and theoretically more defensible statistical methods. It does not however address the problem described above. Furthermore, Hierarchical Bayes Adaptive Conjoint Analysis relies on the responses of other participants in the study to improve the estimates of each individual's utilities; in other words, Hierarchical Bayes makes it possible to trade the number of the respondents surveyed with the workload on any individual respondent. It is highly computationally intensive procedure however, requiring several hours of running time on a typical personal computer; it is therefore not very useful in a real-time online context. The existing software products perform the Hierarchical Bayes analysis of the data obtained through an Adaptive Conjoint study after the fact, offline.
The second major shortcoming of Conjoint Analysis, one that is not addressed by any of the improved methodologies discussed above, stems from the assumption that the different product attributes are independent of one another. Conjoint Analysis is a "main effects only" model; it assumes there are no interactions among attributes. In the additive part-worths model that is used universally, an individual's preference for a particular product is assumed to consist of the sum of independent functions of the attribute levels in that product. Using an automotive example again, a consumer's preference for exterior color, bright red versus dark gray for example, is assumed not to depend on body style, whether the automobile in question is a sport coupe or a luxury sedan. Yet we know empirically that bright red is a more popular on sporty cars than it is on luxury sedans. If the researcher suspects that there may be some interaction between two attributes (based on product knowledge or from statistical analysis), the solution within the Conjoint Analysis framework is to define composite variables ("superattributes") that are a combination of the two interacting attributes. These super-attributes are given the levels formed by combining the individual attribute levels. Returning to the previous example, the composite attribute would be "color-body style", and it would take on four levels (two times two): "bright red sports coupe", "bright red luxury sedan", "dark grey sport coupe", and "dark grey luxury sedan". The problem with that work-around is that it is highly deleterious to the respondent workload. (It is after all the main-effects only aspect of conjoint that makes possible the highly fractionated factorial designs.) Instead of two attributes with two levels each, we now have three attributes with a total of eight levels. This combinatorial explosion is much more severe when a more realistic number of individual attribute levels is used: in the case of five colors and five body styles, we would go from 10 levels (5+5) to a total of 35 levels (5+5+(5.times.5).) The number of parameters to be estimated by the Conjoint study, and therefore the number of questions respondents are subjected to, increase in proportion to the number of these levels.
The "main-effects only" nature of Conjoint Analysis has a more subtle and insidious effect, as it affects how many marketers and product developers come to think about their products and services. By relying on Conjoint Analysis to obtain the voice of the customer, they tend to design studies that use those attributes of the product which are more readily decomposable; and they present them in a way that makes it easy for the respondents to separate them. Respondents end up focusing on a few of these attributes, and using them heuristically (as mentioned earlier), and not performing the additional mental processing that would reveal possible interaction between attributes. The result is an artificially good fit to the additive partworths model, but poor predictive accuracy.
More fundamentally, the very notion that a product or service can be adequately described to a consumer by a set of attribute levels is itself problematic. Since it works by presenting decomposable stimuli to the respondent, Conjoint Analysis is particularly ill-suited for understanding how consumers evaluate important classes of products, namely, products that are perceived holistically by the consumer. Examples of such "unitary" products include, but are not limited to aesthetic objects, foods, fragrances, and music. Even though a perfume expert (known as a "nose" in the trade), upon smelling a scent, may be able to analyze it and describe its major attributes, that faculty is not available to the majority of perfume buyers. In such cases, where the respondent cannot break the stimulus presented to him or her into component parts or attributes, attempting to build simple models of the respondent's preference based on factorially designed studies is unlikely to succeed.
By contrast, this invention does not require that the same factors used by the marketer or designer to alter the product be presented to the respondent to assess his or her preference. In the present invention, the respondent is presented by a stimulus that matches the way in which he or she perceives the particular product or service in real-life.


A method of repairing a liquid crystal panel by irradiating a defective pixel of the liquid crystal panel with laser light, comprises: in a defective pixel including a dust, irradiating at least part of the defective pixel outside the dust with laser light while the dust is not substantially irradiated with the laser light. Alternatively, a method of repairing a liquid crystal panel by irradiating a defective pixel of the liquid crystal panel with laser light, comprises: in a defective pixel including a dust, determining a non-irradiation area including the dust and an irradiation area not including the dust, and irradiating at least part of the irradiation area with laser light while the non-irradiation area is not irradiated with the laser light. An apparatus for repairing a liquid crystal panel, comprises: a laser oscillator which emits laser light; a stage on which the liquid crystal panel is mounted; an optical section which guides the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator to the liquid crystal panel mounted on the stage; and a controller which controls at least one of the stage and the optical section so that, when a dust is included in a defective pixel of the liquid crystal panel, at least part of the defective pixel outside the dust is irradiated with the laser light while the dust is not substantially irradiated with the laser light.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for repairing a liquid crystal panel, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for repairing a liquid crystal panel by irradiating pixels having display defects due to dust with laser light.
2. Background Art
Liquid crystal panels are prevailing as screen devices for various home appliances and information terminals including televisions, personal computers, and mobile phones. For further dissemination, it is important to increase the screen size and resolution and to reduce the manufacturing cost.
For repairing defective pixels in an active matrix liquid crystal panel, there is a method of repairing by laser light irradiation. For example, a "bright spot defect" occurs due to failure to block transmitted light caused by a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) malfunction and a defect in the pixel electrode or alignment film. For repairing pixels with bright spot defects, there is a method of repairing by irradiating the alignment film of the defective pixel with laser light to disturb the orientation, thereby decreasing the transmittance to reduce the bright spot defect contrast (e.g., JP 5-313167A (1993) and JP 8-015660A (1996)).

Method and apparatus for repairing a liquid crystal panel


A method and system for automatically connecting one customer device with another over a Bluetooth or similar connection. The automatic connection may be made by generating a unique identifier to store on a new customer device and a backend system associated with an existing customer device and connecting the new customer device with the existing customer device using the unique identifier.

Currently, in order to connect two devices using Bluetooth, the devices must be paired by a user manually confirming the identity of the device(s) being paired. Specifically, the device to use must be put in discovery mode by pressing a button or opening a Bluetooth setting scene. Then, a user must enter a settings screen to select the discoverable device on the connecting device. For security reasons, the user may also be required to input a PIN in order to pair the devices via Bluetooth, precluding other devices from being paired without the user's authorization. Accordingly, pairing two devices over Bluetooth requires a number of user inputs, several of which are subject to user error, with its attendant drawbacks on consumer satisfaction, network efficiency, and security.
These and other drawbacks exist.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for automatic bluetooth pairing


In a synchronous semiconductor memory device including a memory cell array, a burst counter for generating an internal address signal in synchronization with an external clock signal and a decoder for reading out data from the memory cell array according to the internal address signal, an internal clock generation circuit generates an internal clock signal having a frequency equal to 1/2 of the frequency of the external clock signal in synchronization with the external clock signal, and a data output circuit outputs the data read out of the memory cell array in synchronization with both a rising edge and a falling edge of the internal clock signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a synchronous semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, it relates to an improvement on a heavily loaded signal line that is adapted to operate at a high frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, under the circumstances where microprocessors are designed to operate at high speed, there is a strong demand for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices operating as main memories that offer a high access speed exceeding 100 MHz. In an attempt to meet the demand, a number of synchronous semiconductor memory devices have been developed (see: JP-A-61-148692, JP-A-6-76566 & JP-A-8-96573). A synchronous semiconductor memory device latches an external address with a data write/read instruction and executes the operation of reading/writing the data at the external address and then it receives a synchronous clock signal and generates predetermined internal addresses starting from the external address to read/write the data at the internal addresses. Thus, a synchronous DRAM is a DRAM that operates in synchronization with a clock signal, so that the data with the addresses that are internally and automatically generated following the data at the address latched by a read/write instruction are continuously output at high speed or data are input to the addresses continuously at high speed. This is called a burst operation.
In a prior art synchronous semiconductor memory device including a memory cell array, a burst counter for generating an internal address signal in synchronization with an external clock signal and a decoder for reading out data from the memory cell array according to the internal address signal, an internal clock generation circuit generates an internal clock signal having a frequency equal to the frequency of the external clock signal, and a data output circuit outputs the data read out of the memory cell array in synchronization with the internal clock signal. This will be explained later in detail.
In the above-described prior art synchronous DRAM device, however, the internal clock signal operates at the same frequency as that of the external clock signal, so that the life span of a signal line for the internal clock signal is reduced by deterioration of its reliability due to electro-migration.

Synchronous semiconductor memory device capable of improving load of clock signal line


Method and systems are provided for receiving and transmitting signals over a time division duplex communication path (the “Path”). Operations may include sending a first signal via an uplink portion of the Path, and receiving a second signal via a downlink portion of the Path. The Path operates over a first band having a first frequency range and during a communication time including an uplink period (TU) and a downlink period (TD). The uplink portion is sent during the uplink period, uses a first portion of the first frequency range and is disposed between a first uplink guard band portion and a second uplink guard band portion. The guard bands are allocated from a second portion and a third portion of the first band. The first band is disposed between a second band, providing a second communication path, and a third band providing an FDD communication path.

The invention relates generally to wireless communication systems and more particularly to a communication method that uses time division duplexing.
In addition to traditional voice services, next generation wireless communication systems have to support various different types of multimedia services, including broadcasts, video conferencing, and interactive applications, for example. Many of these multimedia services may require flexibility in their use of spectrum capacity to operate effectively. The typical spectrum management approach is to assign frequencies to a particular use. This approach, however, has become somewhat limited in view of the complexity and overlap between the operations of next generation services and applications. One regulatory solution has been the introduction of flexible-use spectrum in which users of assigned portions of spectrum have more freedom to decide which technologies and services to deploy. In this regard, flexible-use spectrum can allow spectrum users to make timely commercial choices and can let market forces determine which competing technologies and services will be offered in a particular frequency band. Such approach can result in a more effective use of spectrum than that which occurs by imposing a technology or a service by regulation. As a result of these efforts to open up the spectrum, new user-based communication techniques are being considered that address aspects that are particular to next generation services and applications. For example, communication methods that include duplexing techniques or schemes that incorporate the inherent asymmetry in data flow that is characteristic of many multimedia services are being considered for next generation wireless communication systems.
Duplexing techniques include time division duplexing (TDD), frequency division duplexing (FDD), and/or hybrid duplexing, the latter of which includes aspects of both TDD and FDD schemes. In TDD, bidirectional communication or data flow is implemented through a communication link by separating the communication time within a given frequency band associated with the communication link into alternating transmission time slots and reception time slots. A time guard is used between time slots to reduce or minimize the likelihood of interference. In this scheme, a satellite or a base station, for example, can allocate a number of transmission time slots different from a number of reception time slots to a mobile device within a given time interval to produce asymmetric data communication. As the area of coverage provided by the satellite or the base station increases significantly, the guard time between time slots may be increased to compensate for delays that result from a longer signal round-trip between the satellite or base station and the mobile device. The increased delay can reduce the communication efficiency of the TDD scheme. In many instances, however, the time guard is sufficiently small even when large areas of coverage are concerned such that the TDD scheme efficiency remains adequate for many services or applications.
In FDD, bidirectional communication or data flow is implemented through a communication link by partitioning a given frequency band associated with the communication link into separate transmission and reception frequency bands that operate concurrently. Because the transmission and reception bands are separate from each other to reduce the likelihood of interference, no time delays occur associated with the transmission or reception of signals (i.e., no round-trip delays). Although the FDD scheme may be suitable for large areas of coverage because time delays do not play a significant role, the fixed and balanced nature of the transmission and reception frequency bands limit the flexibility that is necessary for asymmetric data communication in next generation wireless communication services. Some FDD schemes achieve asymmetry by using an auxiliary frequency band separate from the paired transmission and reception frequency bands to provide additional capacity in one direction of the data flow. This approach, however, requires the communication system to include additional hardware and/or software to handle the separate frequency band through which asymmetry is achieved.
Thus, a need exists for new methods for asymmetric communication in wireless communication systems.


A mail sorting process used with a sorting machine where the next successive sort is performed during the sweeping operation of the previous sort. In a first sort, a batch of mailpieces are sorted and directed to a selected first array or group of destination pockets or bins. After the first sort is completed, the mailpieces are swept from the pockets in a sweeping operation. A second sort for sorting a second batch of mailpieces to a selected second array or group of destination pockets is begun during the sweeping operation of the first sort. As such, the sorting process sorts a batch of mailpieces to a group of destination pockets while another group of destination pockets used during a previous sort are being swept.

With a large number, and continually growing, number of mailpieces being processed, it is becoming increasingly important to provide an efficient process to sort the mailpieces. In general, one large sorting machine is used to sort the mail for delivery to various geographic locations. Typically, the mailpieces are sorted according to a sort scheme into numerous groups (e.g. a range of ZIP codes, ZIP code (5 digits), ZIP code (9 digits), etc.).
The United States Postal Service gives more monetary discounts to a mailing that has a finer resolution of sortation (i.e. postal carrier route level). As such, with existing finite sized sorting machines, a large number of sort schemes and sorts will be required to properly sort the mailpieces to the resolution dictated and for carrier route qualified mail.
The present process of sorting mail utilizes one large sorting machine performing numerous sorts according to a sort scheme. A batch of mailpieces are fed into the sorting machine with the address or bar code of each mailpiece being read. The sorting machine directs each mailpiece into an appropriate destination "pocket" or "bin" in accordance with the sort scheme. After the entire batch is sorted with each mailpiece sorted into a particular pocket, the sweeper then "sweeps" the mailpieces. During the sweeping process, all the mailpieces in the pockets are removed from the pockets. After completion of the sweeping process, a new batch of mailpieces can be sorted.
The problem with the present sorting process is that it is necessary to stop the sorting machine after all the mailpieces for a particular sort scheme are sorted. This is required to allow the sweeper to sweep the sorted mailpieces from the pockets before the next sort scheme can be run. Mailpieces directed to the same pocket from two different sort schemes cannot be mixed as they are directed to different geographic locations. As such, the amount of time for the end-of-sort-scheme sweep is non-productive time. During this time, the sorting machine is not sorting any mailpieces to the pockets. Consequently, the sorting machine is not being used efficiently. With the increased number of sort schemes needed to sort to the postal carrier level, the amount of non-productive time is increased dramatically, and the time inefficiency of the sorting machine is exacerbated.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a sorting process that minimizes or reduces the amount of time the sorting machine is not in operation (sorting mailpieces to the pockets). Such a system will increase efficiency by minimizing the amount of time that the sorting machine is not processing mail. Furthermore, a sorting process is needed that realizes efficient use of the sorting machine down to the postal carrier level.

Method and apparatus for sorting mailpieces


A surgical instrument includes a handle portion having a distal end, a proximal end, and a substantially hollow body defining a valve chamber therein; a curved incising tube partially housed within the handle portion adjacent the handle portion proximal end, extending a predetermined distance from the handle portion, and in fluid communication with the valve chamber; a local anesthetic inlet tube partially housed within the handle portion adjacent the handle portion distal end, extending a predetermined distance from the handle portion, and in fluid communication with the valve chamber; a local anesthetic delivery actuator disposed on the handle portion, whereby the local anesthetic delivery actuator is selectively operative between opened and closed valve chamber positions.

Women account for over 10 million of the diagnosed incontinence cases. A majority of women dealing with incontinence suffer from stress urinary incontinence ("SUI"). Generally, women with SUI involuntarily lose urine during normal daily activities, such as laughing, coughing, and regular exercise.
Specifically, SUI is commonly caused by a functional defect of the tissue or ligaments connecting the vaginal wall with the pelvic muscles and pubic bone. Typical causes include repetitive straining of the pelvic muscles, childbirth, loss of pelvic muscle tone, and estrogen loss. These types of defects result in an improperly functioning urethra. Unlike other types of incontinence, SUI is not a problem of the bladder.
Normally, the urethra, when properly supported by strong pelvic floor muscles and healthy connective tissue, maintains a tight seal to prevent involuntary loss of urine. When a woman suffers from the most common form of SUI, however, weakened muscle and pelvic tissues are unable to adequately support the urethra in its correct position. As a result, during normal movements when pressure is exerted on the bladder from the diaphragm, the urethra cannot retain its seal, permitting urine to escape. Because SUI is both embarrassing and unpredictable, many women with SUI avoid an active lifestyle, shying away from social situations.
Non-operative treatment options for patients with SUI can be attempted, by instructing such patients to perform pelvic exercises, known as "Kegel" exercises, with the intention of strengthening the supporting muscles. However, when these exercises fail to reverse SUI, surgical repair is advised.
Among the many surgical options for SUI, the introduction into the abdominal cavity of a urethral "sling" has emerged in the past decade as the most effective. In this surgical procedure, the sling, typically in the form of a mesh or tape-like material, shaped like a flat ribbon, is passed through pelvic tissue and is positioned around the urethra and the bladder neck, forming a loop located between the urethra and the vaginal wall and thereby creating a supportive sling effect. The sling is extended over the pubis and through the abdominal wall and is tightened, after which the surplus material is cut and removed, and the sling is left implanted in the patient's abdominal cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,909 discloses a treatment method and device for SUI. The device described, which allows a mesh or tape-like sling to be placed under the urethra, and includes two special needles. These are mounted in turn, by screw fastening, on a reusable steel insertion tool made of a handle and of a threaded manipulator rod, which allows each of the needles to be manipulated in turn. Each needle is fixed to one of the ends of the sling.
Often patients needing the surgical sling procedure are uncomfortable general anesthetic and would prefer the procedure be performed as an outpatient surgery with local anesthetic. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a surgical instrument for use in treating SUI that has a local anesthetic delivery system integrated therein. It would also be beneficial to provide a surgical instrument for use in treating SUI that allows the instrument operator to administer the local anesthetic with one hand, as it is often the case that a second hand is needed to guide the incising portion of the surgical instrument through the patient's abdominal fascia and soft tissue.
This invention addresses that need and advantageously overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.

Surgical instrument having an integrated local anesthetic delivery system


An improved personal mobile charging device for providing back up electrical charging or standby power for personal electronic devices comprising an elongate rectangular body having a top, a bottom, two elongate sides and two short sides typically made of leather and having thin flexible lengths of material representing an outside surface (2) and an inside surface (4) creating a space for the permanent placement of at least one battery (8) protected by a circuit (12) with integrated plug (14) that regulates over and under charging and discharge of power to connected personal electronic device wherein the embodiment can be perceived as ones primary fashion belt or strap.

A multitude of standby or backup charging apparatus for personal electronic devices are known. Typically, these charging devices provide standby or backup power for small personal electronic devices such as cameras, mobile phones, mp3 players, tablets, etc. Most of these backup or standby batteries are a size and shape that one must carry in a pocket, purse or case in addition to one's personal items. A majority of backup or standby batteries incorporate a single small battery pack or only offer a single charge. Most common embodiments of the rechargeable personal electronic device battery are relatively small rectangular blocks that are of specific shapes or designs that tend to be proprietary to the specific manufacturer of a said electronic device, with particular slots, notches, etc. to attach to a specific device.
Naskali U.S. Pat. No. D423,449, Takashita et al. U.S. Pat. No. D509182 and Griffin Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 8,072,183, disclose examples of battery design intended to be integrated into or used for a specific device. Designs for backup and/or standby batteries tend to mirror the specific battery design, as is shown us by Suk et al. U.S. Pat. No. D548,178, Jiang U.S. Pat. No. D648,270, and Hamilton U.S. Pat. No. D650,737 by the relatively small rectangular block that while provides standby or backup power also requires it to be a additional item carried in one's pocket or bag. These devices are normally compact in size and they are typically a standalone device that must be carried or packed away in one's purse or case for later use. The normal size and shape of these batteries are related to how one must carry or pack these devices and typically they use as little space or surface area possible thus limiting their overall charging or backup power ability and more importantly these devices are a size and shape and a separate container that one must carry individually in a pocket or case.
There is a multitude of and varied selections of styles, shapes and sizes of fashion belts or straps used to hold up ones garments or carry or support bags, purses, backpacks, etc.
The present disclosure generally pertains to the integration of one or more flexible, rechargeable and very thin standby or backup batteries into the internal structure or area of a fashion strap or belt worn by men or women as an accessory to their clothes, a support for trouser position around one's waist, a means of support for carrying holsters or pouches for tools, personal electronic devices, etc., a strap of a purse, briefcase or backpack. The integration of a standby or backup battery into the inner area of the fashion belt or strap allows for a larger surface area than a typical backup battery, circling one's body or use in a carry strap for purses, cases or backpacks and in a width and depth that would provide for a larger battery area or a multitude of batteries and subsequent charge in a convenient and relatively light weight carrying case.
Fashion or utility belts and straps have been in use for many years and encompass various shapes, as illustrated by Combier in U.S. Pat. No. 596,849, Elliott in U.S. Pat. No. 1,331,457, Lane in U.S. Pat. No. 2,681,453 or Fitzgerald in U.S. Pat. No. 1,345,917.
It is known that modern personal electronic devices when used regularly require recharging or additional charge during the course of the day. It is necessary for one to carry one's home or AC charging device when traveling or away from the office or home where charging can be easily achieved. It is during travel, times away, or periods of extended use of our personal electronic devices that the batteries can be expended and a recharging or backup power is needed.
It is typical in airports for travelers to search for an electrical outlet to recharge the batteries of electrical equipment such as mp3 player, cell phone, computer, etc.
Meyer et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 2,304,367, Niecke in U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,615, Share in U.S. Pat. No. D278,386, Leiserson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. D279,424 and Lueschen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,026 have shown us that a battery belt can be used for powering lights and other devices but as we can see, their designs, while they are perhaps innovative, are heavy, bulky and definitely not convenient to wear or designed to be worn as a primary belt or strap.
Mason in U.S. Pat. No. 3,374,636 shows us the internal integration of shot or weight in his belt/strap design. In an embodiment, the invention relates to a combination and internal integration of one or more very thin and flexible lithium polymer or similar compact battery designs, permanently incorporated inside the body or housing of a fashion belt or primary belt/strap. The belt or strap may utilize modern thin and flexible battery technology to provide backup or standby power for personal electronic devices or any other electric device that could utilize an integrated plug for conveying an electrical charge.
The rechargeable batteries inside the belt or strap preferably use known charging technology so the user can plug the belt or strap in to normal household power to charge the internal battery or batteries. Once the batteries are fully charged they will be readily available for use utilizing a small plug, using current known micro-usb, mini-usb or similar known adaptors, located on the belt in an obscure or hidden area for transferring or maintaining the electrical charge to one's device when and where needed, conveniently and discreetly, any time or place. Chang in U.S. Pat. No. D308,910 discloses a very basic belt view and Naymark et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,023 and Bugnaski in U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,536 show devices using straps or belts with pouches or pockets for carrying batteries or other devices. Lueschen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,026 shows a device that incorporates a battery pouch or compartment attached to a belt, as does St. John in U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,978. The inventions all place or attach their devices to the outer surface on the belt or strap, with the exception of Shi et al in U.S. Pat. No. D647,279, who imbeds a pocket on the inner surface of the belt for removal for battery storage, thus just another pouch or pocket. These designs require that the attached devices be removed from the belt or strap before the said belt or strap could be inserted into the trouser or garment loops for use as a primary garment or trouser support or fashion accessory. If these devices cannot be removed from the belt or strap then the device would be worn as an additional item over the top of one's primary garments or fashion accessories. In an embodiment, this invention utilizes the internal space inside the belt or strap to create the permanent compartment for the battery thus eliminating the need to carry an additional battery in a pouch or pocket or freeing said pouch or pocket for other items or devices. The device may also become the wearer's fashionable primary trouser or garment support or fashionable primary strap for purse or case.