In the operation of a main steam condenser of a steam turbine driven by a boiler and having a gland steam condenser, the gland steam condensate is normally fed from the gland steam condenser into the main condenser condensate. To avoid contamination of the main condenser condensate by oxygen-rich water, for at least part of the start-up period of the turbine, the gland steam condensate and other drain accumulating in the condenser is prevented from entering the main condenser condensate which is to be fed to the boiler. The gland steam condensate is fed to said main condenser and stored in a reservoir separate from the hot well thereof, to undergo de-aeration before being fed into the main condenser condensate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a condenser and a method of operating a main steam condenser of a steam turbine driven by steam from a boiler, with condensate in the main condenser being fed to the boiler.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A main steam condenser having an isolatable condenser hot well unit is proposed in JP-A-2-95704 and is illustrated in FIG. 8 of the drawings of this application. The condenser includes a tube bundle 28 in a tube bundle unit 2 comprising condensing tubes for cooling and condensing the steam turbine exhaust steam with sea water or the like, and a hot well unit 3 for storing the condensate, isolated by a condenser partition 7 having a shut-off valve 4. The shut-off valve 4, disposed in the partition 7, is open in normal running so that the water condensed in the tube bundle unit 2 is stored in the hot well unit until it is fed to the boiler. When the operation of the condenser is interrupted, the shut-off valve 4 is closed to leave only the tube bundle unit 2 open to the atmosphere so as to prevent the condensate in the hot well unit from deteriorating by oxygen or the like dissolved in the condensate during the interruption of the operation of the condenser. At start-up of the plant, the drainage stored in the tube bundle unit during the interruption is discharged to outside via a drainage pipe 9 having a valve 10 and vacuum in the tube bundle unit 2 is raised by an air extractor 17 in a line 18. The shut-off valve 4 is opened to connect the tube bundle unit 2 and the hot well unit 3 when their pressures are substantially equal to each other.
The partition-type condenser of this construction is being widely adopted in a combined cycle plant for daily start-stop (DSS) operation in which the condenser is started and stopped every day so that it may be used a daytime power source. By the start-up method described and the condenser used therefor, the plant can be started for a short time period and with power economy.
As mentioned, the drainage accumulated on the condenser partition 7 while the condenser operation is interrupted can be discharged to the outside of the condenser, but no consideration is made for the treatment of the drainage which is generated at the start-up to the plant. Specifically, the drainage generated during the period or interruption of operation when the condenser is open to the atmosphere contains a considerable amount of oxygen, so that the drainage cannot be mixed with the condensate in the hot well unit. Therefore, the drainage which is accumulated on the condenser partition during the stop period of the condenser is discharged to the outside of the condenser. On the other hand, the drainage generated at the initial stage of the plant start-up has low quality, but in a later period has a high quality. Thus, it is effective for economical plant operation to recover those two types of drainage to the condenser, but this has not been considered in the prior art.
Incidentally, according to the prior art, the drainage accumulated in the condenser tube bundle unit 2 at the start may be mixed directly into the hot well unit 3 by opening the shut-off valve at an early stage after the start. However, since the drainage at this stage contains considerable amount of oxygen, the quality of the condensate water after the mixing highly departs from the required value for the boiler supply water so that hot well condensate 29 has to be de-aerated.
It is also conceivable to recover the drainage during the start-up to the outside of the condenser. However, discharging drainage in this way while raising the vacuum requires a powered drainage discharger for discharging it to atmospheric pressure, because the pressure of a tube bundle unit 2 of the condenser 1 is negative. If such a drainage discharger is used, ambient air may flow back into the condenser 1 to obstruct or delay the rise of the vacuum in the condenser.
A further matter which is given little consideration in the prior art is recovery of the condensate of turbine gland seal steam. When a turbine has a steam gland, the gland seal steam discharged from the steam gland may be condensed in a gland steam condenser 15. Steam is fed to this condenser 15 via line 21. The heat exchange is effected in condenser 15 by main steam condensate from the hot well 3, which may be recirculated directly to the hot well via line 16. The destination of gland steam condensate from the condenser 15 is not mentioned.
JP-A-4-112903 proposes a turbine steam condenser system in which the gland steam condensate is returned directly into the hot well. There is no partition in this case between the hot well and the tube bundle unit and the proposed method is disadvantageous in that it is now appreciated that initially at start-up of the turbine, the gland steam has a high oxygen content, so that its condensate is unsuitable to be fed into the main steam condensate, for re-feeding to the boiler.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,706 proposes a partition between-the hot well and the tube bundle unit similar to JP-A-2-95704.

Condenser for a steam turbine and a method of operating such a condenser


An analog to digital conversion circuit receives a transducer output signal and outputs a data bitstream, where a latch or flip flop has an input that receives a clock signal. An AC-DC power converter receives the clock signal and produces a DC voltage which may power the analog to digital conversion circuit. The AC-DC power converter has a rectifier, an energy store and a voltage regulator, charge pump or filter, which draws power from the energy store to produce the DC voltage. A control circuit delays replenishment of the energy store by the rectified clock signal, responsive to the clock signal. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

A conventional, digital acoustic microphone integrated circuit package produces as its output a pulse density modulated audio data stream, in accordance with an input clock signal generated external to the integrated circuit package. The addition of an input power supply pin and a power supply return or ground pin will increase the pin count of the package to at least 4 pins. In order to allow two identical ones of such a package to share a single, time division multiplexed bus, for example in applications that need multiple acoustic microphones operating simultaneously, the microphone integrated circuit also has an address section which receives an external address signal that is used to specify which integrated circuit should send its data during a high phase of the clock signal and which should send its data during the low phase of the clock signal. This brings the pin count in the latter application to at least 5 pins. Some applications however are constrained in either the pin count of the digital microphone integrated circuit package itself, or in cabling, connector routing or a printed circuit board/flex connections to the package, such that a reduced pin-count digital microphone integrated circuit package would be desirable.


Provided is a method for manufacturing a touch panel. In the method, a substrate is prepared, a transparent electrode is formed on the substrate, an interconnection electrode material is applied to the substrate by printing, an interconnection electrode is formed by drying the interconnection electrode material, and a circuit board is disposed on the interconnection electrode.

Recently, various electronic products are equipped with touch panels so that users can input commands by touching a display screen with their finger or an input instrument such as a stylus.
Touch panels can be classified into: a resistive type and a capacitive type. Resistive type touch panels detect the location of a touch as a glass substrate and an electrode are short-circuited by a pressure applied through an input instrument. Capacitive type touch panels detect the location of a touch as the capacitance between electrodes is varied by the touch.
Such touch panels include interconnection electrodes for connecting electrodes to external circuits. Many processes such as a vacuum deposition process, a photolithography process, and an etch process are necessary for forming interconnection electrodes.
Thus, process complicity, time, and costs are increased due to interconnection electrodes.

Touch panel and method for manufacturing the same


A battery having a built-in controller is disclosed that extends the run time of the battery. The controller may extend the run time of the battery, for example, by converting the cell voltage to an output voltage that is greater than a cut-off voltage of an electronic device, by converting the cell voltage to an output voltage that is less than the nominal voltage of the electrochemical cell of the battery, or by protecting the electrochemical cell from current peaks. The controller may also include a ground bias circuit that provides a virtual ground so that a converter may operate at lower cell voltages. The battery may be a single-cell battery, a universal single-cell battery, a multiple-cell battery or a multiple-cell hybrid battery.

Consumers use primary consumer batteries in portable electronic devices such as radios, compact disc players, cameras, cellular phones, electronic games, toys, pagers, and computer devices, etc. When the run time of these batteries is over, the batteries are usually thrown away. At this time, only about 40 to 70% of a typical battery's total storage capacity has usually been used. After that portion of the initial stored energy has been used, the battery generally cannot supply enough voltage to drive the electronic device. Thus, the consumers generally throw the batteries away even though the battery still contains between about 30 and 60% of its storage capacity. Extending the run time of these batteries by providing a safe deeper discharge may reduce waste by allowing the electronic devices to use up to the full storage capacity of the battery before throwing it away.
In addition, consumers constantly demand smaller and lighter portable electronic devices. One of the primary obstacles to making these devices smaller and lighter is the size and weight of the batteries required to power the devices. In fact, as the electronic circuits get faster and more complex, they typically require even more current than they did before, and, therefore, the demands on the batteries are even greater. Consumers, however, will not accept more powerful and miniaturized devices if the increased functionality and speed requires them to replace the batteries much more frequently. Thus, in order to build faster and more complex electronic devices without decreasing the battery run time, the electronic devices need to use the batteries more efficiently or the batteries themselves need to provide greater utilization of stored energy.
Some more expensive electronic devices include a voltage regulator circuit such as a switching converter (e.g., a DC/DC converter) in the devices for converting and/or stabilizing the output voltage of one or more batteries. In these devices, multiple single-cell batteries are generally connected in series, and the converter converts the voltage of the batteries into a voltage required by the load circuit. A converter can extend the service run time of the batteries by stepping down the battery output voltage in the initial portion of the battery discharge where the battery would otherwise supply more voltage, and therefore more power, than the load circuit requires, and/or by stepping up the battery output voltage in the latter portion of the battery discharge where the battery would otherwise be exhausted because the output voltage is less than the load circuit requires.
The approach of having the converter in the electronic device, however, has several drawbacks. First, the converters are relatively expensive to place in the electronic devices because every device manufacturer has specific circuit designs that are made in a relatively limited quantity and, thus, have a higher individual cost. Second, battery suppliers have no control over the type of converter that will be used with a particular battery. Therefore, the converters are not optimized for the specific electrochemical properties of each type of battery cell. Third, different types of battery cells such as alkaline and lithium cells have different electrochemical properties and nominal voltages and, therefore, cannot be readily interchanged. Additionally, the converters take up valuable space in and add to the weight of the electronic devices. Also, some electronic devices may use linear regulators instead of more efficient switching converters, such as DC/DC converters. In addition, electronic devices containing switching converters can create electromagnetic interference (EMI) that may adversely affect adjacent circuitry in the electronic device such as a radio frequency ("rf") transmitter. By placing the converter in the battery, however, the source of the EMI can be placed farther away from other EMI sensitive electronics and/or could be shielded by a conductive container of the battery.
Another problem with present voltage converters is that they typically need multiple electrochemical cells connected in series in order to provide enough voltage to drive the converter. Then, the converter may step the voltage down to a level required by the electronic device. Thus, due to the converter's input voltage requirements, the electronic device must contain several electrochemical cells, even though the electronic device itself may only require a single cell to operate. This results in wasted space and weight and prevents further miniaturization of the electronic devices.
Thus, needs exist to use more of primary consumer batteries' storage capacity before throwing the batteries away and to use less space and weight for the batteries in order to further miniaturize portable electronic devices.
Additionally, a need exists reduce the cost of DC/DC converters for electronic devices such as by designing more universal circuit designs.
A need also exists to design a converter that may take advantage of specific electrochemical properties of a particular type of electrochemical cell.
In addition, a need also exists for developing interchangeable batteries that have electrochemical cells with different nominal voltages or internal impedance without altering the cell chemistry of the electrochemical cells themselves.
Moreover, a need exists to develop hybrid batteries that allow the use of different types of electrochemical cells to be packaged in the same battery.
Further, a need also exists to protect sensitive circuitry of an electronic or electric device from EMI interference caused by a switching converter.

Primary battery having a built-in controller to extend battery run time


In a method for the processing of fish, poultry or other meat products being conveyed in a plurality along a processing line, components which are to be excluded from consumption are separated and edible products obtained as a result for consumption are checked with an automatic inspection device for residues left behind. Separation takes place in such a way that, in the case of a number of edible products, minimized residues of at least one kind are deliberately permitted and induced for further processing of the edible products, in particular to optimize the edible product recovery. The automatic inspection device is adjusted to detect the minimized tolerance residues, and inspected edible products with and without the tolerance residues are separated from each other. In an apparatus for carrying out the method, a separating device with at least one separating tool is designed in such a way that, in the case of a number of edible products, minimized tolerance residues of at least one kind are left behind for further processing of the edible products, and the inspection device is connected to a separator device which distinguishes edible products with and without residues according to the inspection results and discharges them separately from each other.

The invention concerns a method and an apparatus for the processing of fish, poultry or other meat products being conveyed in a plurality along a processing line. This involves meat products which have inedible components or components which are to be excluded from consumption and separated (components to be separated). It is known that meat products obtained by separation, namely fillets, can be checked. with an automatic inspection device for defects left behind, namely bone residues in fish fillets or poultry fillet pieces.
For example, it is known that fish fillets from which pin-bones have been separated can be inspected with a sensor device for detecting pin-bone residues left behind. Fish fillets which have pin-bone residues are delivered to an inspection station in which the bone residue is indicated on a display, in order to be removed manually by processing personnel. The inspection results are also used to obtain information on the product quality.
When filleting fish and meat products, a higher yield of flesh is obtained by making cuts closer to the bone. However, this is associated with the uncertain risk that dangerous hidden bone residues, for example of the wishbone in poultry or the collar bone in fish, or areas contaminated with them will be left behind unchecked in the fillet (edible product). This situation is aggravated for example if bone splinters and/or haematomas arise during slaughter. To reduce the risk of bones, processing staff therefore endeavour to adjust their manual or automated filleting machines in such a way that if possible the whole of the bone/contaminated area is separated. As a result, the yield for obtaining fillets is impaired because defect-free flesh is also cut away to an unwanted extent.
For deboning or filleting front halves of poultry, machines which separate the poultry breast using computer-controlled cutting knives and scraper blades are known. The separated poultry breast pieces (edible products) are taken by a conveyor belt to a station at which workers check the fillets manually for bone residues and also remove them manually. It is usual then to subject the fillets which have been found to be defect-free and separated to a final inspection which is carried out manually or by means of an X-ray device.
In order to debone fillets practically without residues and remove bone components from them, it is precisely in conjunction with an automatic inspection with respect to maximum reliability for the removal of defective residues that it will be appropriate to carry out manual trimming following automatic inspection by personnel. Naturally it is important that the activity of trimming can be made as simple and reliable as possible in order to make it easier and safer and if necessary also reduce requirements of personnel qualifications. For this purpose auxiliary devices which show fillets that have bone residues on a monitor to facilitate trimming are known. Even such auxiliary systems with monitors can lead to personnel fatigue or inattentiveness if defect residues occur at relatively long intervals, particularly irregularly and/or with considerable variation in appearance.

Method and device for processing fish, poultry, or other meat products transported in multitude along a processing line

Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud. Baader GmbH + Co. KG


The present invention relates to a camera enabled mobile device and method of toggling between an augmented reality image viewing mode and a rendered image viewing mode based, in part, on viewability of an augmented reality target (visible or invisible—markerless) proximate the camera enabled mobile device. The method comprising steps of positioning at least one of an augmented reality target in a physical location, aiming the camera at the augmented reality target, initiating, once, an immersive user software experience, determining which of the augmented reality appliance images and the rendered appliance images are associated with the augmented reality target, then toggling between the augmented reality image viewing mode when the augmented reality target is viewable by the camera else entering the rendered image viewing mode.

Before our invention augmented reality markers were commonly used to trigger an augmented reality experience to start or be initiated on a mobile device. In this regard, as long as the mobile device could "see" and recognize the marker the augmented reality experience continued to display and be viewable to a user. This would typically continue until the marker was no long visible to, or recognized by, the mobile device and without the marker, as a reference, the experience would stop and often be no longer viewable to the user.
To restart the augmented reality experience the user would have to reacquire, "see", the marker again with the mobile device and then the augmented reality experience would be re-triggered and start over.
A shortcoming is that losing recognition of the marker caused the augmented reality experience to stop and regaining the marker recognition caused the augmented reality experience to start over, often forcing the user to redo from the beginning whatever they might have started in the way of interacting with the augmented reality experience.
Another shortcoming is that when a marker, including invisible markers, must be recognized in order to keep an augmented reality experience continuously executing, it can make it difficult for a user to interact with the mobile device. In this regard, the user must often hold the mobile device to insure the marker will be recognized, often requiring placement and steadiness of the mobile device at awkward handheld angles, in the user's hand, at steep vertical inclines, for extended periods of time, making it difficult to use the mobile device, without losing recognition of the marker. As such, it can be difficult to use the mobile device for both meaningful work and augmented reality at the same time.
Other experiences utilize the marker to trigger the augmented reality experience but then, at some point, redirect the user to a webpage or other non-augmented reality site or application. In this regard, in these types of experiences, when recognition of the marker is "lost" after redirection there is no way back to the augmented reality portion of the experience. As such, another shortcoming is that the user cannot return seamlessly to the augmented reality experience from a redirected experience.
For these reasons and shortcomings as well as for other reasons and shortcomings there is a long felt need to be able to acquire a marker, once, to initiate an augmented reality experience and then be able to toggle between an augmented reality image viewing mode and a rendered image viewing mode so that the user can maintain an uninterrupted viewing when the marker is "lost" or otherwise unrecognizable. This ability can improve the usability of augmented reality experiences by allowing the user to set down a mobile device and continue the experience. This ability can also aid users of wearable augmented reality devices by allowing them to continue to view the experience without requiring that they maintain an optimal view of the augmented reality marker.

Toggling between augmented reality view and rendered view modes to provide an enriched user experience


A drill string having a core sampling device at its lower end is suspended in an earth borehole by a rotary drilling rig at the earth's surface. Drilling fluid pulsations are monitored in the drilling fluid standpipe to generate characteristic signatures of normal coring operations and a precursor, abnormal, signature when the core sampling device first begins to jam, before catastrophic jamming has occurred. Responsive to the abnormal signature, remedial action is commenced, such as reducing WOB, RPM, or terminating the coring operation. The system is also used to determine that an activatable downhole tool has one or more of its parts moved from a first position to a second position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to a method and system for detecting the early stages involved with the jamming of a core sampling device, before catastrophic jamming has occurred, and more particularly, to a method and system for taking remedial action, based upon such early detection, to prevent such catastrophic jamming of the device.
2. Description of the Background
Conventional devices for obtaining core samples from an earth borehole comprise a tubular housing attached on one end to a special bit commonly known as a core head, and at the other end to a drill string extending to the earth's surface. The tubular housing in turn comprises an inner and an outer barrel with a space between. During normal drilling the drilling fluid flows through the interior of the inner barrel. When a core sample is required, the flow passageway in the inner barrel is blocked, often by dropping a ball from the earth's surface, thus diverting the flow into the space between the inner and outer barrel and down through the bit. The absence of flow in the inner barrel allows the earth formation to enter and fill the barrel, which is then subsequently recovered as a core.
One disadvantage of conventional methods is that in many situations jamming of the core in the inner barrel can occur. This causes the drill string weight to be transferred substantially away from the outer barrel to the core and to the inner barrel, causing fracture of the core and cessation of core acquisition. In this event either penetration of the formation ceases or drilling does in fact continue, resulting in milling of the formation by the corehead, rendering that portion of the formation permanently unrecoverable since the milled material simply gets pumped to the surface with other rock cuttings. This situation is particularly undesirable in formations where coring as a means of evaluation is imperative due to the inherent limitations of wireline logging in those types of formations. This is discussed in the paper by Bradburn and Cheatham entitled "Improved Core Recovery in Laminated Sand and Shale Sequences", Journal of Petroleum Technology, December 1988.
The prior art, in addressing the problem of jamming, has had only limited success. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,275 to Frank L. Campbell et al., a core jamming indication is sought by noting rotation of the inner barrel which is normally stationary relative to the outer barrel. However, by the time such rotation has occurred, the core is almost certainly broken off. Furthermore, the method relies on use of expensive Measurement While Drilling (MWD) equipment to signal this event to the surface.
This type of system will, in most cases, result in catastrophic jamming of the core sampling device, or in one of the other equally troublesome problems above discussed, before the surface personnel are aware of the problem.
As another example of the prior art, in PCT Application No. WO92/02707 filed by Arno et al., a downhole core sampling is disclosed in which jamming of a core causes the inner barrel to be pressed against the outer barrel, cutting off the flow passage between the barrels, thus causing a significant increase in the pressure of the drilling fluid detectable at the earth's surface. However, the mechanical means required to produce the flow passage blockage is triggered by significant loading on the core, at which point core fracture has in all probability occurred.
Thus, each of these two prior art attempts to detect jamming involve the same problems, that of (1) requiring modification of the core sampling devices themselves, and (2) resulting all too often in catastrophic jamming of the device or fracturing of the core sample.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method and system for the early detection of the jamming of the core sampling device, before major problems develop, thus enabling timely remedial action to be taken.
It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved method and system for determining the movement, or other activation of parts in downhole tools.

Method and system for the early detection of the jamming of a core sampling device in an earth borehole, and for taking remedial action responsive thereto


A projection assembly and projection method for accurately reproducing animated and live characters, objects, and effects. The projection assembly uses a high precision robotic mirror system to achieve very high levels of image resolution, brightness, and contrast. The assembly includes a projector receiving an input image stream, and a mirror assembly is positioned proximate to the projector outlet. The mirror assembly uses positionable mirrors to reflect the projected images onto a display surface at positions that define an animation pattern on the display surface for the projected image or character. The assembly includes a motor controller assembly positioning the mirrors based on position data defining the animation pattern. The projected images may be provided in a projection area that is a fraction of the size of the display surface, such that the resolution and output light of the projector are concentrated on the display surface within this projection area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to projection and display systems and technology, and, more particularly, to projection systems adapted to display images or characters with high resolution and brightness on a display surface or screen such that the images or characters are animated or move on the surface or screen.
2. Relevant Background
In theme parks and other entertainment venues, guests and visitors are often entertained by movies and animated films. For example, queue areas may include display screens where a short animated film is shown to make a wait more enjoyable and may be used as part of the overall show or for advertising upcoming events, other attractions, and available services and products. It is desirable for these movies and animated works to be shown in high resolution or with good quality, and this is typically not a problem in environments where the lighting, the distance from the projection screen or surface is easily controlled, and other display or projection parameters may be easily controlled or changed to suit the needs of the display.
However, there are many applications where the designers of a movie or animated film display have to overcome challenging design parameters. For example, theme and amusement parks may include rides in which the guests or passengers are moved through a show area in vehicles and due to space constraints, a display or projection screen has to be placed very close to the side of the vehicle. As a result, the displayed image may only be several feet from the viewing passengers or guests, and such closeness to a projection screen can make it very difficult to provide high quality images (e.g., images with relatively high resolution and brightness). For example, a projection or display screen may be similar in size to those found in movie theaters, and use of a single projector such as one with a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels or the like would result in the image appearing grainy and dull to viewers due to the relatively large pixel size (e.g., similar to sitting closer than the front row to watch a movie at a theater).
In other applications, it may be desirable to display animated characters or movie/film images to select groups of the riders or guests in the vehicles (such as to guests as their vehicle passes a portion of the display or projection screen/surface), and it is difficult to provide high quality imagery on only a portion of the screen or provide characters that can move with the vehicle. Another problem facing many ride designers is how to maintain a desired level of darkness or blackness on unused portions of the screen such as when the character is only located in a portion of the large screen. Typically, a single projector will project some lower level of light onto these non-projected areas causing the screen about the displayed image to be undesirably gray or illuminated.
The problem may be stated more generally as involving media playback on a large screen, and the media playback may include animated characters, such as animals, people, or other characters from an animated work or film. The use of a single projector does not provide enough pixels or a high enough resolution to create an acceptably sharp image for an audience located only a few feet away (e.g., as may be viewed through an opening, a window, or a porthole of a ride vehicle such as may be provided in an underwater ride like a submarine, a spaceship, and many other vehicles or in non-ride applications).
In an attempt to overcome the problems with using one projector for a large screen, some projection systems have been created that utilize numerous projectors that each project on a smaller subset of the display surface. Each of these projectors typically has to be arranged to overlap or feather their edges to create a continuous image. High resolution can be achieved by synchronizing all of the playback devices providing images to the projectors. In one exemplary implementation, a tiled projector system was utilized that included 90 projectors with 90 synchronized, high definition playback devices such that these projectors acted together to display a movie or a set of animation images (e.g., at a rate of 24 to 30 frames per second or the like). In other words, each projector was used to display images on a much smaller area of the screen to provide an adequate resolution or number of pixels within each smaller area (e.g., onto about 1/90 of the screen area in this example). While useful in some applications, the use of numerous projectors to display a movie typically is very expensive, and it is complex to design the physical arrangement of the projectors and the control and feed/input of the playback devices (e.g., costly and time consuming to produce the input media and to blend all of the projected images together to provide a single high resolution image). During use to display a movie or animated work with a smaller number of character images, most of the projectors are projecting nothing and only project a character image when it passes through a corresponding projection field (e.g., the projector remains on even when not in use to project an image and often creates an illuminating effect that undesirably leads to a graying effect).
Hence, there remains a need for improved visual display techniques and systems such as for creating an animated character or image on a display surface (such as projection screen or the like) that has high quality even when viewed from small distances (e.g., less than about 10 feet and often less than 5 feet). Preferably such techniques and systems would be inexpensive to install, would require minimal maintenance, and would be configurable to position into small or limited physical spaces. Also, it would be preferable if such techniques and systems would provide a bright image while providing, in some applications, very dark or black surrounding areas such as to bide or not illuminate surrounding portions of the display surface or screen.

Method and system for projecting an animated object and concurrently moving the object's projection area through an animation pattern


An inspection system for ultrasonic inspection of a part, such as an aircraft component. The inspection system may include one or more transducers, an acoustic coupler made of an acoustic coupling compliant solid, a low friction contact film, a location sensor, and a processor. The contact film may substantially surround the acoustic coupler or portions thereof. The transducers may transmit ultrasonic or sound waves through the acoustic coupler, the contact film, and at least partially through the part being inspected thereby. The location sensor may sense and output information regarding how far the ultrasonic inspection system has traveled along the part. The processor may associate signals from the transducers with signals from the location sensor to determine precise locations on the part at which particular signals are received by the transducers.

Commercial airplanes and components thereof are increasingly being manufactured from composite materials that may require ultrasonic inspection to determine part integrity. Inspections may be performed from one side (i.e., pulse-echo inspections) or from two sides, referred to herein as the through-transmission (TTU) methods. In either case, a transducer that transmits and/or receives sound waves must be acoustically coupled to the inspected part. Water or some other liquid is typically disposed between the transducer and the inspected part to provide a medium through which sound waves can travel. This can be accomplished by submerging the transducer and the part within a pool of water during inspection, but this method is inefficient and not practical for large parts.
Alternatively, a method known in the art as the "thin film" method may include a shoe surrounding the transducer and interfacing with the part to at least partially contain the water locally between the transducer and the part. However, because water leaks out between the shoe and the part, new water must be continuously pumped in to replace the water escaping. This method also requires that the escaping water be captured. Furthermore, when the surface of the inspected part is sharply contoured or roughly textured, the leakage rate may become so high that the water cannot be adequately contained long enough to maintain coupling.
In some alternative methods, a conformable solid or gel couplant is used to fill a gap between the part to be inspected and the transducer. For example, the gel may be Aqualene material by Olympus or Aquaflex by Parker Labs. However, these solid or gel couplants are not suitable for C-Scan inspections of sharply contoured or roughly textured composite parts, because they are too rigid to conform well to roughly textured surfaces and are easily damaged by sliding over roughly textured surfaces.

Modular film-covered elastomeric inspection device


A softswitch interconnecting networks of different transport protocols is provided. The softswitch includes a signaling agent coupled to the networks and operable to receive incoming signaling messages, translate the incoming signaling messages to a call model event, and route the call model event. The softswitch further includes a call agent in communication with the signaling agent and operable to receive the call model event, request outgoing resources for establishing data sessions, generate outgoing signaling messages, and send the outgoing signaling messages to the signaling agent. The signaling agent then terminates the data sessions on the requested outgoing resources.

In the short span of five years, the Internet has changed inter-personal and inter-organizational communication. This phenomenon is largely the result of an open control language of protocol, the Internet Protocol (IP). The introduction of new control vocabularies and syntax, such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), expanded the Internet into the World Wide Web (WWW), a multimedia communications distribution network with any-to-any connectivity. Other manifestations or generations of IP are evolving, which will have equally profound impact, such as one that is transforming the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
The command and control of the PSTN is built around a connection-oriented class structure. Call processing is completed by a complex array of switches, processors, and control networks, such as the Signaling System 7 or SS7. The PSTN is built on a class structure of specialized devices that perform single-purpose functions. For example, a Class 5 switch provides local access and call waiting; a Class 4 switch provides long distance, toll calls, and billing. Connectivity is also connection-oriented, where two devices must establish a discrete, deterministic connection or voice channel before communication can begin. The voice channel also must remain in place for the duration of the call. The PSTN is also a hierarchical one-to-many network that may result in traffic congestion, or blocking, thus creating the need for centralized control to proactively re-route the traffic. New service and feature development on this complex network is time consuming and strenuous, requiring 12-18 months of development. Service providers are spending billions of dollars annually to support this specialized infrastructure, as margin continues to erode and new development has stagnated.
The expanding interest in IP telephony has been driven by the opportunity to reduce network costs. IP-based communication is both classless and connectionless. IP networks deconstruct the class-based switch hierarchy into a powerful, any-to-any, class-independent network of packet transfer devices. Every packet of information carries all the necessary control information to "connect" the originating device to the destination device using only the needed resources. The convergence of transport and access networks, increased resource utilization through packet switching, and favorable regulatory conditions have propelled IP telephony to the top of many competitive service providers' network agenda. While technology cost reduction is still important, the competitive service providers have learned to focus on service differentiation in order to sustain competitive advantage. Service differentiation occurs at a high level than network interconnection. It requires transparent bridging of the media, control and application layers between IN (Intelligent Network) and IP networks.

System and method to internetwork telecommunication networks of different protocols


An auxiliary wheel rim for use in a vehicle wheel for enabling the car driver to drive the car to the repair shop safely upon explosion of the tire is disclosed to include a plurality of first rim element, a second rim element, a third rim element, a plurality of links respectively fastened to the lugs of the first, second and third rim elements with pins to connect the first rim elements in series between the second rim element and the third rim element; and screw bolt fastened to the second and third rim elements to connect the linked first, second and third rim elements into the desired annular auxiliary wheel rim.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle tires and, more particularly, to an auxiliary wheel rim for use in a vehicle tire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional vehicle tires include two types, namely, the one with inner tube and the other without inner tube. A tire with an inner tube is inflatable. When the inner tube of a tire pierced by a pointed external object, it leaks, and the driver must stop the car immediately. A sudden explosion of a tire may cause a traffic accident when the car is running on a freeway. A tubeless tire or the so-called high-speed tire does not explode when pierced by a pointed external object, giving a sufficient time to let the driver drive the car to a garage for repair. However, because no significant tire pressure loss is shown when one tire of the car was pierced by a pointed external object, the driver may keep driving the car on a highway or freeway. In this case, an accident may occur.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an auxiliary wheel rim for a vehicle wheel that eliminates the aforesaid problems.


There is provided a display panel including a plurality of white subpixels configured to display a white image, a gate line connected with the white subpixels and extended in a row direction, and an in-pixel gate driver including in-pixel elements exclusively in the white subpixels and connected with the gate line to supply a gate signal to the gate line.

The inventive concepts described herein relate to a display panel with a thin bezel.
Flat display panels are roughly classified into either light emitting panels or light receiving panels. Light emitting panels include plasma display panels, organic light emitting panels (OLED panels), and so on.
An OLED panel includes an organic light emitting device formed of an anode, an organic light emitting layer, and a cathode. Such an organic light emitting device is illuminated by energy generated when excitons arising from combinations with electrons and holes go to a ground state from an excited state in the organic light emitting layer, and this illumination is used for displaying an image on the OLED panel.
An OLED panel usually includes a plurality of pixels and a gate driver for driving the pixels. A general gate driver is provided into a non-display area adjacent to a display area. The display panel is designed to have a bezel width corresponding to the non-display area.

Display panel having an in-pixel gate driver


A magnetic marker is formed from a magnetic material having a hysteresis characteristic which is such that upon subjecting the material to an applied alternating magnetic field, the magnetic flux of the material undergoes a regenerative step change in flux at a threshold value when the field increases to the threshold value from substantially zero and undergoes a gradual change in flux when the field decreases from the threshold value to substantially zero. For increasing values of applied field below the threshold, there is substantially no change in the magnetic flux of the material. The aforesaid hysteresis characteristic of the marker is achieved by causing the material to have domains with a pinned wall configuration. Deactivation of the marker is realized by disabling the pinned walls from returning to their pinned condition via application of a deactivation field of high frequency and/or amplitude.

This invention relates to electronic article surveillance systems using magnetic phenomena and, in particular, to markers, methods and apparatus for use in such article surveillance systems.
Electronic article surveillance systems in which magnetic markers are used to detect the presence of articles under surveillance are well known in the art. French patent No. 763,681 to Picard discloses an early system of this type. The Picard patent teaches that low coercive force, high permeability metals, such as permalloy, when subjected to an alternating magnetic field induce harmonics which distinguish these metals from other magnetic metals. These metals with their unique harmonics can thus be used as magnetic markers to identify objects which carry the markers.
Since the early days of the Picard patent, substantial effort has been expended in an attempt to improve the existing markers. This effort, for the most part, has been directed at finding new materials having a lower coercive force and higher permeability than was previously used. Because the voltage pulse generated by the presence of the marker is dependent on the hysteresis characteristic of the magnetic material of the marker, by using materials with lower coercive force and higher permeability, higher order harmonics with higher amplitude values could be realized for lower values of applied field, thereby making the markers more distinguishable.
While the search for materials with higher permeability and lower coercive force was thus the direction of most researchers, a radically different approach is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,025, entitled "Article Surveillance Magnetic Marker Having an Hysteresis Loop With Large Barkhausen Discontinuities", and assigned to the same assignee hereof. In the '025 patent, a magnetic marker is disclosed which does not depend upon a high permeability, low coercive force material. Furthermore, the output pulse developed in response to the presence of the marker is substantially independent of the time rate of change of the interrogating field and the field strength as long as the field strength exceeds a low minimum threshold value. More particularly, the '025 patent teaches that by forming the marker so that the magnetic material of the marker retains stress, the marker exhibits a hysteresis characteristic having a large Barkhausen discontinuity. Accordingly, upon exposure to an interrogating field exceeding the low threshold value, the magnetic polarization of the marker undergoes a regenerative reversal. This so-called "snap action" reversal in the magnetic polarization results in the generation of a sharp voltage pulse, rich in high harmonics, which affords a more distinguishable detectable signal.
In addition to the highly advantageous harmonic content and pulse output of the marker of the '025 patent, the marker is also advantageous in that it allows for deactivation by a number of techniques. These techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,516, entitled "Method, System and Apparatus for Article Surveillance", and also assigned to the same assignee hereof. More particularly, the '516 patent discloses one practice for deactivating the marker of the '025 patent in which the amorphous material of the marker is crystallized. This is accomplished by heating at least a portion of the marker above the crystallization temperature, either by application of an electric current or radiant energy such as laser light. Another procedure disclosed in the '516 patent and useable with this type of marker involves the application of mechanical or radiant energy means to relieve the internal stress in the marker. While some of these deactivation procedures enable deactivation without touching the marker, they also require careful application of the deactivation energy so that the energy is not blocked from reaching adjacent articles.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved magnetic marker for electronic article surveillance systems wherein the marker undergoes snap action or step changes in its magnetic flux at low threshold values of the applied field, while also being hands-off (i.e., non-contact) deactivatable by simple means.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of making the aforementioned improved magnetic marker.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an electronic article surveillance system incorporating the aforementioned improved magnetic marker.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an electronic article surveillance system incorporating both deactivation means and the aforementioned improved magnetic marker.

Deactivatable E.A.S. marker having a step change in magnetic flux


A new, safe and sanitary edge trim for use with commercial ventilation hoods usually located over stoves and ovens is disclosed. The edge trim is particularly suitable for use with ventilation hoods over cooking units where the fumes to be exhausted may carry large amounts of grease and/or fats. The trim of this invention includes a slit cylindrical stainless steel member which tightly fits over the edge of a side wall of the ventilator to which the trim is to be added. The cylindrical member is spot welded to the stainless steel ventilator sidewall with a stainless steel welding rod and a heli-arc welder at spaced locations along the joint. A bead of suitable grease or animal fat imperveous putty or other filler material is located on both surfaces of the ventilator side along the full length of the juncture of the ventilator side and the slit stainless steel cylindrical member. Thus, there is achieved an edge trim which is not hazardous if struck by ones head, and which at the same time prevents the accumulation of grease and animal fat. The edge trim of the prior art ventilator hoods presented both a fire hazard and a location for the growth of germs and bacteria.

This invention relates to a protective trim for use with commercial ventilating units over stoves, ovens and the like. More particular, this invention relates to the trim for the edges of such ventilators to prevent the hazard of inflicting a severe cut on the head of someone accidently impacting the edge of a ventilator. At the same time, the invention eliminates the possibility of the accumulation of grease or animal fat which accumulation presents both a fire hazard and a location for the growth of bacteria and germs.
Until the present invention, commercial ventilating hoods were only able to protect against one of two types of hazards. They either protected against the accumulation of grease and the resulting fire hazard and bacteria growth hazard by providing an unguarded edge, or they protected against the possibility of severe cuts to the head of a person impacting the edge by using a folder over edge to eliminate the risk of cuts. However, it will be appreciated in the case of the unguarded or untrimmed straight edge, severe cuts to the head often resulted if someone were misfortunate enough to impact the edge. On the other hand, if protection against such cuts was attempted by folding the edge over, often an even more severe hazard was created by such a folding edge affording a location for the accumulation of grease and animal fat. Such an accumulation of grease provides an excellent location for the growth of bacteria and germs, thereby resulting in both undesirable odors as well as health problems. Even of more significance, however, is the fact that such accumulation of grease presents a severe fire hazard, which, of course, could have disastrous results.


A method for forming a semiconductor device includes forming a barrier layer over a dielectric layer, a concentration of an impurity in the barrier layer increasing as the barrier layer extends away from the dielectric layer; and performing a plasma process to treat the barrier layer.

The semiconductor industry has experienced rapid growth due to continuous improvements in the integration density of a variety of electronic components (e.g., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.). For the most part, this improvement in integration density has come from repeated reductions in minimum feature size, which allows more components to be integrated into a given area. As feature sizes continue to shrink in advanced processing technologies, it becomes more challenging to form layers in narrow openings with high aspect-ratios.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A utility bar is disclosed comprising a bowed shank, a lever piece and a junction that couples the shank to the lever piece. A chisel may also be coupled to the bowed shank.

Applicants incorporate herein by reference any and all U.S. patents, U.S. patent applications, and other documents cited or referred to in this application or cited or referred to in the U.S. patents and U.S. patent applications incorporated herein by reference.
Numerous utility bars or prying tools have been known, these exhibiting different configurations and sizes. Most of the bars operate as a lever. A first class lever is one wherein the load to be overcome is at or near one end of a rod, and a force is applied at or near the other end of the rod, and a pivot point (fulcrum) is somewhere along the rod in between the applied force and load. Thus, the user seeks to obtain a mechanical advantage by placing one end of the rod adjacent to the object to be moved, and providing a pivot point about which a longer moment arm is provided so that substantial forces can be applied to the object to be pried open or moved. Examples of utility bars are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,429 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,553.
This invention, with its several desirable features, is summarized in the CLAIMS that follow. After reading the following section entitled xe2x80x9cDETAILED DESCRIPTION,xe2x80x9d one will understand how the features of this invention provide its benefits, which include, but are not limited to providing a utility bar with a bowed shank that an offers improved mechanical advantage and affords the user a free end spaced from a surface of an object being levered.
The utility bar of this invention comprises a lever piece and a bowed shank integrally formed from a single piece of metal. The lever piece and a bowed shank form a substantially L-shaped prying hook, The bowed shank has a curved, longitudinally extending center line, with a first end and a second end between which the curved centerline extends. The lever piece and centerline of the shank form an angle of 90xc2x0 or less.
The lever piece faces inward from the first end, and has a substantially flat and straight exterior surface. The lever piece and a bowed shank are joined together by a junction having a curved outer surface that merges with the exterior surface of the lever piece. The junction is substantially V-shaped with two legs of the junction forming an angle of 90xc2x0 or greater. An interfaces between the junction and the lever piece define a start position of a traveling pivot point lying inward of the centerline. The greater the distance this start position is from the centerline, the greater the mechanical advantage provided. The bar may also include a chisel piece at the second end of the bowed shank. The chisel piece may face either outward or inwards.


A continuous-filtering fryer apparatus for continuous filtering of cooking oil while cooking having a tank with a bottom and side walls extending from the bottom, an inlet port extending into the interior of the tank, an outlet port affixed to the tank and in communication with an interior of the tank adjacent a bottom of the tank, a pump connected to the inlet port and to the outlet port so as to draw cooking oil from the tank and to pass the cooking oil to the inlet port, heating elements extending into the interior of the interior of the tank, and a filter plate attached to the inlet port adjacent to the bottom of the tank for removing particles from the cooking oil. The inlet port is positioned so as to be below the level of cooking oil in the tank. The filter plate has a first mesh screen, a second mesh screen, and a layer of porous material sandwiched between the mesh screens. A lower cap is threadedly connected to the outlet port and an upper cap is threadedly connected to the lower cap with the mesh screens and porous material layer interposed between the lower cap and the upper cap. A method for continuously filtering cooking oil while frying comprising circulation of cooking oil through a mesh screen and related piping returning the cooking oil to the tank until an aggregation of particulate matter accumulates on the outside surface of the mesh screen and thereafter continually circulating the cooking oil during frying operation.

Cooking oil is extensively used in the food industry to cook various comestibles. Animal fat or other suitable material may sometimes be used as the cooking material in lieu of cooking oil. The term "cooking oil" is used herein to designate any such material.
Frying is frequently accomplished in relatively deep containers with the comestible to be cooked immersed in the cooking oil. In cases where quantities of food are regularly cooked in such a manner, the cooking oil becomes contaminated with various particles of food or other impurities, and charred food particles produce an odor which adversely affects the taste of foods cooked therein.
Existing commercially-available systems and apparatus for filtering cooking oil require that the cooking operation be interrupted to filter the cooking oil. Wire mesh strainers have long been known and used to remove relatively large particulate matter from cooking oil. Strainers have not been effective, however, to remove sufficient particulate matter to provide particulate-free cooking oil, and have been demonstrated to only slightly prolong the usefulness of the cooking oil. In order to effectively remove and control free fatty acids in the cooking oil, suspended particles of the size of two (2) microns and larger should be removed from the cooking oil.
As presently commercially practiced, cooking oil is cleaned by pumping it through a filter assembly often containing filter paper or other disposable filter element. A filter powder is normally applied to the filter element by dispersal in the cooking oil. This filter powder serves to precipitate particulates and to control odors. Filter powders commonly consist of diatomaceous earth or pearlite. Various other filter powders are used which are made up of various chemical mixtures.
The principal disadvantage of presently practiced methods of filtering cooking oil is that such methods require that the cooking operation be ceased during the period that the cooking oil is filtered. This results in significant down-time.
Filtering apparatus utilizing paper filtering medium require additional down-time due to the necessity of replacing filter elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,525, issued on Feb. 21, 1989, to the present inventor, describes a cooking oil filtering apparatus which can be used to effectively remove particulates from the cooking oil. This filtering apparatus is inserted within a tank of cooking oil and is generally suspended from the top of the tank. The cooking oil is drawn through wire mesh screens by applying a suction into the wire mesh screens. As the cooking oil is drawn to the wire mesh screens, the screen serves to remove particulates from the cooking oil. The particulate-free cooking oil is then drawn into an outlet and drawn upwardly through the tank to a pumping apparatus. The pumping apparatus will then pass the cooking oil outwardly so that it flows back into the tank and is delivered onto the top surface of the remaining cooking oil in the tank. This process is carried on until particulate matter is removed from the cooking oil. A filter powder is dispersed in the cooking oil to accumulate on the outer surfaces of the wire mesh screens. A Re-issue Application, application Ser. No. 07/813,870 has been filed in relation to the subject patent. The subject apparatus eliminated the need for filter paper. However, it remains necessary with the subject apparatus to discontinue the cooking process while the filtration is accomplished.
Various other U.S. Patents have described cooking oil filtering apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,203, issued to Kyle, discloses a cooking oil filtering apparatus and filter therefor using a layered filter formed of a porous web of microfibers and supported by a material more porous than the microfiber web. The filter material which is used is replaced from time to time. U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,871, issued to Bisko, shows a cloth filter jacket for a cooking oil filtering apparatus. The purpose of this apparatus is to provide a jacket which enables cleaning of the filter assembly by scraping. This serves to prolong the time between disassembly of the filter apparatus and replacement of the disposable filter element. U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,605, issued to Shepherd, discloses a filter assembly in which the cooking oil is pumped through the filter assembly. The filter assembly includes a disposable filter medium. U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,818, issued to Gedrich, shows a cooking oil filtering apparatus providing pumping of the filtered cooking oil to its original, or other, container. The filter assembly which is disclosed includes a disposable filter element. U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,641, issued to Miles et al., discloses a portable filtering apparatus providing pumping of the cooking oil through the filter assembly. The filter assembly includes a disposable filter element. U.S. Pat. No. 2,635,527, issued to Overbeck, discloses a deep frying strainer to be located at the bottom of the cooking oil container to strain food particles from cooking oil as the strainer is lifted from the container. The liquid is forced through the strainer by the action of gravity. Although this device is beneficial for the removal of much of the particulate matter, this device does not effectively remove smaller particulate contaminants. Klopfenstein U.S. Pat. No. 2,359,368, discloses a filter element disposed in a tank containing an unfiltered liquid, for supporting a coating of filtering material such as diatomaceous earth.
Other United States patents depicting filtering and/or straining apparatus include Knight U.S. Patent No. 445,223, Webb U.S. Pat. No. 2,424,211, Hunter U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,740, Avery U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,220, Wagner U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,094, Holman U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,374, Kuether et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,623, Whaley et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,097, and Prudhomme U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,434.
Other publications describing cooking oil filtering systems include:
"New! Permafil Oil Filters;" Filtration International, Inc., Houston, Tex.; date unknown. PA1 "Permafil" Brochure; Edible Oil Division, Houston, Tex.; date unknown. PA1 The Filter Magic.RTM. Sytem by Frymaster Wellbilt Co. Bulletin No. 818-001 Rev November 1986, date unknown. PA1 Re Nu Brochure, Re Nu Vacuum Filter Manufacturing Company, date unknown. PA1 R. F. Hunter Co., Inc. Brochure, date unknown. PA1 Robot Coupe USA Inc. Brochure, date unknown. PA1 Castle Filter Brochure, The Prince Castle Co., date unknown. PA1 Fastfilter.RTM. Assembly and Operating Instructions, date unknown. PA1 Custom Built-In Micro-Flo Oil Filtration, Dean/Alco November, 1984.
The patent references and commercial publications do not teach nor disclose a continuous-filtering fryer of the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus that effectively filters cooking oil during cooking operation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus that effectively removes particulate matter from cooking oil without the necessity of regular replacement of the filter element.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus incorporating a permanent filter element to provide for relatively efficient and economical filtering of cooking oil.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus requiring relatively infrequent shut-downs for cleaning operations.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus utilizing suction to draw cooking oil through the filtering medium.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus which prevents aeration and splattering of the cooking oil.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus having the filtering element located in the relatively cool area of the cooking oil located below the heating elements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frying apparatus in which the filtering element is supported from the bottom of the tank so as to provide for unimpeded access to the top surface of the cooking oil.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.


A device is provided for continuously winding webs of fabric wherein one end of each of two winding shafts is connected permanently and force-lockingly to a respective rotary drive. The drive is connected permanently and force-lockingly to the elements of an automatic guide, which is attached to a single turning disk or plate which is held by the device on the drive side of the device. The shafts can be swivelled around a central axis of rotation of the turning disk or plate in order to move with respect to the central axis of rotation. The shafts can also move head-on constantly parallel to the central axis of rotation. The other end of each winding shaft represents an essentially free end which is held only for specified path distances by the guide elements. The device on the operator side of the device is designed in such a manner that it does not prevent removal of a finished roll of a web by means of a suitable transport device, for example, a lifting car, situated parallel to the axis of rotation of its winding shaft.

Such a device is known, for example, from the European publication EP-PS 0 243 748 wherein a winding apparatus is disclosed in which a web of fabric, slit first by means of a longitudinal cutting device into several smaller parallel lengths, travels over a guide roller. The guide roller guides the individual webs alternatingly on an axis of rotation. The axis on which the webs are guided is on opposite sides of the winding device adjacent to the guide roller and oriented parallel to the axis of rotation of the guide roller. Each winding device comprises a winding shaft, which can be moved between two turning disks by means of linear guides and drives., disposed there, for their bearing arrangements--which also include the rotary drive of the winding shaft--on the horizontal diameter of these turning disks during continuous parallel positioning of their axis of rotation to the axis of the turning disks. At the same time, each pair of turning disks exhibits two such winding shafts, of which the one is moved, upon completion of the winding operation, with its axis of rotation into the axis of rotation of the turning disks. Then the other winding shaft, which is empty, is moved out of its furthest possible distance from the guide roller so as to rest against the latter by rotating the turning disks by 180.degree.. Then a severing knife, which can be pivoted into the suitable web of fabric, for slitting the web is operated between both winding shafts, preferably in the immediate vicinity of the still empty winding shaft. The resulting end of the web is pulled on the spool. The resulting beginning of the web is pushed by means of a pressure roller coupled to the severing knife on the still empty winding shaft or a winding sleeve slid over the shaft in order to start a new roll. The winding shaft with the finished roll is moved to the maximum possible distance from the guide roller in order to remove the roll.
During the last phase of completing a roll and during its travel into the removal position, a swivellable feed roller rests against the roll and maintains a uniform winding density of the roll, even during the finishing segment.
The aforementioned device has a significant advantage over the prior art devices of this class, for example, the devices described in Great Britain Patent No. 932,151, U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,429 and Great Britain Patent No. 1,177,431. In the devices of these publications a rocker-like arrangement is used having a common axis of rotation arranged half-way between, and parallel to, the winding shafts. The rocker-like arrangement comprises two winding shafts arranged parallel and at a constant interval.
The drawback with this device is that it requires, first of all, a large number of mechanical mechanisms and individual parts for the parallel movement of the winding shafts. These parts are especially required to maintain the synchronism of both winding shaft drives. The parts requirement has an effect both on the amount of the production costs and that of the maintenance needs and costs for the device. In addition, to remove a completed roll from the device, the corresponding winding shaft must always be removed from the region of the winding disks, after both of the shaft's arrestable mountings have been detached and then removed from the roll. Removal requires a special, and expensive, winding shaft extraction machine. The machine has a weight of usually more than 100 Kg and a considerable length of usually at least 2.5 m. The extraction machine must be able to immediately, or at a later winding cycle, be inserted with the system running. The machine is needed for a freshly slid-on winding sleeve, or, without such a winding sleeve in arrestable mountings between the turning disks. Great care must be taken in the process or otherwise the risk of an accident to the operating personnel and apparatus rises significantly due to the bulky and heavy nature of the winding shaft and running system.
Therefore, the present invention is based on the problem of providing a device for continuously winding webs of fabric where the removal and insertion of the winding shafts is neither labor intensive nor expensive and there is a low risk of any damage and injury. Simultaneously, the number of mechanical mechanisms and individual parts is drastically reduced.

Device for continuously winding webs of fabric


A moving tray sorter has a set of trays configured to extend upwardly from a horizontal plane at the point of sheet entry and each tray has progressively from the sheet inlet end a back stop against which the trailing edges of sheet are aligned, a horizontally extended section and an upwardly inclined section of a substantial angle from the horizontal providing trays which are short, which occupy a relatively small area or footprint and which support sheets of relatively large size and overhang without droop of the sheets at the outer ends.

Sorters of the general type here involved are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,042 granted Feb. 28, 1995, as well as in pending application, Ser. No. 334,907, filed Nov. 7, 1994 for Telescoping Registration For Sheet Receivers (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,437, Jul. 2, 1996) which is co-owned herewith and to which reference may be made for an understanding of the prior art.
Such sorters typically have a number of trays extending upwardly at an angle in the direction of sheet infeed from a horizontal plane, and the trays are progressively moved by appropriate cams upwardly and downwardly past the sheet entry location so as to receive sheets in collated or sorted relation or in groups or sets. Routinely the trays have had a length necessary to accommodate sheets of various sizes, say, ranging from normal letter size paper with a dimension of 81/2.times.11" to larger sheets of paper on the order of 11.times.17". The length of the trays heretofore has been of such dimension as to accommodate the longest sheet dimension for which the sorter is designed in such a way that the surface area of the tray is sufficient to fully support a smaller size sheet and the lengthwise dimension of the tray is sufficiently long as to avoid drooping of the outer ends of the larger size sheets.
Such construction of the trays has typically required the use of trays of such a length that the overall footprint of a sorting machine embodying the trays is fairly large as a function of the tray length.
Also, the per tray cost of such sorter is a function of the size of the trays due to the cost of tray material.
The same problems apply, also, in the case of fixed bin sorters of the type wherein sheets of paper are fed from a sheet transport system by appropriate gating mechanisms, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,914 granted Sep. 8, 1987, for example.
In either case, sorters of the types shown in the prior art referred to above have trays which extend upwardly at an angle from the point of horizontal entry of sheets of paper into the tray, and the trays have been of such length, as a matter of necessity, either to fully support the maximum size of sheets to be received by the trays or, at least sufficiently long as to prevent excessive overhang of a sheet or a set of sheets beyond the outer end of the tray to the extent that the sheet or set of sheets droops or hangs downwardly from the outer end of the tray, due to the inherent lack of beam strength in ordinary paper used in an office environment for printing by office copiers, printers and facsimile machines.
Particularly in the case of moving bin sorters of the types generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,047, in which the trays are relatively close together at their outer ends while being opened at their inner ends for feeding sheets between the trays, avoidance of overhang of the sheets from the outer end of the tray above the sheet receiving tray and resultant drooping of the outer ends of such sheets is necessary. This is because the drooping of the outer ends of such sheets interferes with freedom of movement of sheets into the sheet receiving tray below. Therefore, trays have been relatively long, as mentioned above.
Also, in the case of sorters of the moving bin types, as referred to above, the trays have been disposed at a relatively low angle of inclination from horizontal, from the point of infeed of sheets, due to the need to eliminate, as much as possible, the tendency of succeeding sheets fed into a tray to displace proceeding sheets in a sheet feeding direction. This tendency results in faulty alignment of the trailing edges of the sheets against the ususal back stop, and such misalingment is unsatisfactory in the case of sorters which have facilities for automatic in bin or tray stapling.
The cause of the tendency of successive incoming sheets to displace preceding sheets is the speed of contact of the incoming sheets with the previous sheet combined with the interfacial drag friction of the two sheets resulting from moisture in the incoming sheet, static attraction or other factors.

Tray configuration for sheet receiving apparatus


Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with dynamic predictive modelling. According to one embodiment, a method includes creating a joined pair including a snapshot time and the forecast time. The joined pair is stored in the storage device. A subset of data associated with the joined pair is selected from data stored in the storage device. The subset of data is selected based, at least in part, on predetermined increments of time between the snapshot time and the forecast time. The snapshot time, the forecast time, and the subset of data is provided to a processing device from the storage device.

The manner in which financial institutions manage risk is under increasing scrutiny. For example, government regulators require that financial institutions both evaluate existing risk as well as forecast risk based on changing market conditions. Federal regulators specifically require that financial institutions stress test their portfolios by creating models that reflect the financial institution's portfolios. The models offer insight into the sensitivity of the portfolio now and in the future. This modeling requires massive amounts of data to be stored, managed, and manipulated. Moreover, the resulting manipulated data and models then have to be stored, managed, and manipulated. Given how massive the data, manipulated data, and models are, the modeling requires substantial and increasing amounts of storage, processing power, time, and resources.


A small engine carburetor with manually controlled choke and throttle valves and associated idle ports and main metering nozzle supplied with fuel from a common metering chamber. The A/F is automatically adjusted by a solenoid operated poppet valve and/or gear driven needle valve and cooperative electronic control circuitry and system components built-in to the carburetor. A combined accelerator pump and idle circuit shut-off mechanism is also built-in and mechanically operated by the throttle shaft so that only the main nozzle supplies fuel when the engine is running above fast idle. A mechanical choke/throttle interlock mechanism also prevents partial choking when the engine is running above fast idle, and throttle operation above fast idle when choking. An electric motor worm gear drive unit controlled by the automatic system is detachably coupled to, and provides fine incremental adjustment of, the main metering needle and is self-locking to retain set adjustment during engine running and at engine shut-off. Control system components are arranged in a compact overall package characterized by a laterally offset, skewed orientation of control box and carburetor body, with a diaphragm fuel pump and metering chamber sharing box and body for intercooling of electronic and electrical components by incoming fuel while assisting fuel vaporization in the carburetor venturi passage.

In all internal combustion (i.c.) engines the so-called air/fuel ratio (A/F) is of great importance to the function of the engine. To obtain a proper combination of low fuel consumption, low exhaust gas emissions, good operability and high power the A/F must be kept within relatively close limits. As a rule, an A/F slightly to the lean side of the optimal power value is preferred (so-called "lean burn").
In present day high cost, sophisticated internal combustion engines, such as provided in automobiles, the problem of A/F mixture variations has been largely overcome due to the relatively recent developments in electronic fuel injection systems. Typically, such automotive fuel systems employ an electro-mechanical fuel pump delivering fuel at relatively high pressure to a solenoid-type electrically controlled and actuated fuel metering valve which is computer operated in accordance with a complex system. Many parameters of engine operation and ambient conditions are sensed continuously, and these monitored parameters are fed to an electronic processing system to control the fuel metering valve in accordance with the resultant matrix of such parameters. Again, however, the cost, complexity, bulk and reliability of such fuel injection systems is such to make the same highly impractical for use in the field of small single or dual cylinder engines such as used on chain saws, weed whips, lawn mowers, garden tractors and other small lawn, garden and forestry appliances.
In addition, small carburetors that are used in chain saws and other small engines have been decreasing in size because of the demands for smaller units to fit within all hand-held chain saws. There has also been pressure on the manufacturers of carburetors to reduce the cost of these carburetors because of the keen competition in the field. It is also desirable that servicing of the carburetors be accomplished in as expedient a manner as possible and that the number of parts in the carburetors be reduced. These factors further mitigate against use of such known prior art solutions.
Accordingly, carburetors still remain the only practical choice for gasoline fuel feeding to such small engines wherein the fuel flow to the fuel supply opening in the carburetor throat is controlled by a needle valve. Typically such carburetors are provided with a main adjustment orifice to control the main fuel supply, and an idle adjustment orifice and associated needle valve to control supply of fuel to the idle circuit located downstream of the main fuel jet in the vicinity of the throttle valve of the carburetor.
Future legal restrictions on emissions of CO will not allow manual adjustment of the carburetor. With the tolerances of manufacture of the carburetor that can be obtained it is not possible by using fixed nozzles in the carburetor to both fulfill the aforementioned legal restrictions and simultaneously assure the engine/appliance operator a good operability at all combinations of air pressure, temperature, varying fuel quality, etc. The preferred A/F is normally influenced by a number of factors. Some of these are known when the engine is designed and can therefore be corrected from the beginning, but others depend on variations of external circumstances such as air pressure, temperature, fuel quality, variations connected with the manufacture of the carburetor, and last but not least, the manner in which the carburetor engine choke and throttle controls are manually manipulated by the operator of the engine-equipped appliance.
Certain i.c. engines, such as the aforementioned automotive engines, have been provided with special oxygen sensors or lambda sondes in the exhaust system. It is thereby possible to sense engine combustion performance and the sonde measurements can be used in a self-adaptive closed loop control system to control the A/F in order to provide a good result under all conditions on a "real time" basis. However, this is an expensive and complicated control system which for reasons of cost and operational reliability can hardly be used in the aforementioned small engine consumer products such as chain saws, lawn mowers, etc.
According to present techniques used for adjusting the carburetor, the operator adjusts the carburetor manually at full throttle to obtain a recommended maximum speed of rotation. This technique is unsatisfactory to meet even the wider emission tolerances to be allowed for small engines since it does not ensure in any way that the contents of HC and CO are kept within prescribed limits. As indicated previously, products such as chain saws, lawn mowers, clearing saws, etc., require low manufacturing cost due to the low price of such consumer products. Nevertheless, due to advances and cost reductions in solid-state microcomputer electronics in the last few decades low cost solid-state magnet-type ignition systems are now customarily provided which operate without the generator or alternator of automotive systems and which provide a ready source of low wattage power and engine speed (tachometer) signals.
The availability of such solid-state ignition systems has enabled some of the foregoing problems as they relate to carburetors designed for small engines to be generally addressed by provision of an A/F control system, apparatus and method as set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,226,920; 5,284,113; and 5,345,912, which are incorporated herein by reference. As pointed out in the '920 patent, it was previously known to detect small variations in engine speed from one revolution to another by electronic means connected to a magnetic ignition system in which the signal generated by the ignition flywheel magnet in the primary or charging winding is used for measuring the speed of the engine by measuring the period of time between pulses. This method is very accurate in detecting even small speed variations and also provides a rapid response.
The '920 patent provides an A/F control system which combines the electronics of the ignition system with an electrically adjustable carburetor fuel system and comprises an electronic detector and control unit which uses a portion of the energy of the ignition magnet for feeding current to the electronic equipment so that no extra generator or battery is required. This system also includes a electronic data processing means, an electronic memory and an electro-mechanical control unit for adjusting the A/F. This adjustment is performed after a period of time during which the speed of the engine has been generally constant. The parameter used for adjustment is the first derivative of engine RPM. A basic reference value is established on the given engine measurements in the laboratory and stored in the memory of the control system.
The generally constant engine speed is detected by calculating the average value of the first derivative of the engine speed function, the speed of revolution of the engine being considered to be generally constant when the average value of the first derivative is approximately zero. The system adjusts the A/F step wise or successively when the engine is operating under load until the first derivative of speed variations has reached a predetermined level, or a break point of lean adjustment as detected as a function of a reduction of the speed revolution of the engine. If the measured discrete absolute value of the first derivative of engine speed variation when averaged exceeds a reference value measured in the laboratory, the system determines that the air/fuel mixture is too lean. The A/F mixture is then adjusted richer in steps of about 4% until the average value of the first derivative is close to the reference value. In this manner the air/fuel ratio of the engine is adjusted with regard to a previously known speed dependency of the A/F to provide a modified speed dependency of the ratio preferably approaching a constant A/F over the operational speed range of the engine. Although the '920 patent states generally that the adjustment to A/F is carried out by a micro computer which controls drive circuits of an electric motor connected to the fuel nozzle of the carburetor of the engine whereby various adjustments can be made to the fuel nozzle by the computer, no such fuel nozzle control mechanism is otherwise shown or described.
The '912 patent adds a second A/F control system and means for adjusting the A/F based on actual operating conditions using a feedback system which takes all variations into account affecting the A/F at the time of sensing. A fuel needle is provided for A/F testing which is actuated between open and closed positions by a solenoid valve to thereby open and close a secondary or by-pass flow path to the main fuel nozzle of the carburetor. When this by-pass path is closed the secondary flow is shut-off while the primary flow continues, thereby reducing total fuel flow to the main fuel nozzle and thus changing the A/F to a leaner mixture for a short period of time. The change of speed of rotation on the engine occurring in response to this leaning of the A/F mixture is measured to determine whether the A/F in existence prior to the shut-off adjustment test is a leaner or richer mixture compared to a preferred level or optimum point in the engine power curve. The A/F is then adjusted by a predetermined step towards the preferred level by actuating an A/F adjusting means, such as by modulating the air pressure differentials acting on the diaphragm of the carburetor. It is to be noted that the '912 patent also suggests that, instead of controlling the reference pressure in the diaphragm air chamber, one or two fuel nozzles could be controlled by a throttle needle in the main throttle flow and controlled proportionately by an electric motor. However, such an alternative is neither shown nor further described.
The test procedure is repeated by the second control circuit until the change of engine RPM indicates that the mixture ratio is at the preferred level. This adjustment is then maintained for a period of time after which the second or test control circuit resumes the testing and adjustment of the mixture ratio.
The periodical testing in which the solenoid needle is actuated to close the secondary fuel feed to temporarily lean out the mixture must be of as short a duration as possible so that the engine user is generally unaware of the test procedure taking place. This test control circuit can thereby provide A/F correction for a plurality of disturbances to which the engine might be exposed, such as variations of air pressure and temperature, fuel type and quality as well as defects in the manufacture of the carburetor such as tolerance variations.
Other strategies for adjusting and/or controlling an electrically adjustable carburetor are set forth in the published European patent application Publication No. 0 297 670 A2 published Jan. 4, 1989 and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,617,892; 4,949,692 and 5,284,113. In the first three of these approaches, the absolute value of engine speed is utilized rather than the first derivative of speed variations of the engine. In EPA 0 297 670 A2, a control unit develops a control signal for a stepper type motor having a pinion gear on its output shaft engaging a rack teeth on a rod to rotate a threaded fuel needle to thereby control flow through a fuel nozzle to thereby vary the air/fuel ratio delivered by the carburetor to the engine.
As shown semi-schematically and briefly described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,113, an externally mounted electric motor 16 rotates an angled gear 17 on a shaft 14 threadably engaged in a carburetor housing bore 18 and having a fuel flow adjusting needle 12 at its inner end, which can be made as a self-braking screw to maintain the adjusted needle setting when the engine is shut off. However, no disclosure is provided as to how such a needle drive is to be constructed and integrated into the carburetor structure in a practical manner. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,892 no fuel flow controlling devices are shown and are merely stated generally to be a fuel injection system or a carburetor with electrically controllable metering. U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,692 references generally an electronic fuel metering valve not otherwise shown or described, or an electrical flow controller (EFC) such as that manufactured by Borg-Warner Corporation, U.S.A. said to operate as a variable orifice which responds to a digital pulse width modulated electrical signal at a fixed frequency. Again, only a schematic showing is provided without any disclosure of how such adjustable fuel flow devices are to be constructed and/or manufactured nor economically integrated into a small engine diaphragm carburetor in a practical manner.
Although the method of controlling a carburetor with electrically controllable metering in accordance with the previously discussed '912 patent has been deemed to be one preferable approach with respect to the problems associated with controlling A/F ratio in small engine diaphragm carburetors, attempts to implement this method in practical devices has led to the discovery of several additional problems needing solution. In order to obtain simplicity and reduce costs in this type of carburetor it would be desirable to eliminate, for regulation of the A/F mixture, the added external equipment associated with the vacuum pump and vacuum line connected to the air chamber of the diaphragm carburetor as set forth in the '912 patent. Also limitations of the '912 patent "test-adjust-repeat" fuel control mechanism also inherently makes it difficult to shorten the duration of each lean out phase of the test cycle so as to minimize interruption of the normal engine operating mode. It has been found that shutting off fuel flow through a second or tributary fuel path between the diaphragm fuel metering chamber and the main jet or nozzle does not adequately satisfy the need for a precisely controlled and short lean out time.
Additionally, the working environment for diaphragm carburetors on small engines subjects the carburetor and the automatic control components to severe vibrations, engine heat, rough handling and other adverse working conditions. These environmental conditions render reliable and repetitive automatic control mechanisms difficult to achieve in a practical and economical manner, particularly when attempting to finely adjust the A/F over a small range to optimize the proper combination of low fuel consumption, low exhaust gas emissions, good operability and high power.
Moreover, in order to adapt such electrical adjustment systems to conventional diaphragm carburetors for small engines, it is necessary to retain the conventional butterfly choke valve and idle fuel feed system customarily provided in such carburetors. This poses additional problems in attempting to implement the periodic test-lean-out-adjust control system of the '912 patent in practice. In conventional non-electrical small engine carburetors utilizing a flexible diaphragm for regulation of fuel flow to both the main and idling nozzles or orifices, when the engine is operating at wide open throttle the fuel bleeds or is removed from the idle circuit of the carburetor. Consequently, when the engine goes from full throttle to idle, it frequently stumbles and sometimes stalls because the idle circuit then supplies insufficient fuel to the engine. If the carburetor is automatically controlled such that the A/F is maintained on the lean-burn side, such as according to the automatic control system of the '912 patent, it has been found that this stumble and stall problem is aggravated because the mixture is already on the lean side. Furthermore, when operating at part throttle, the carburetor tends to supply a fuel mixture which is richer than the idler mixture for operation of the engine due to an adverse influence of continued fuel supply from the idle circuit of the carburetor, and which is not subject to automatic A/F control.
One solution to such problems as embodied in a non-electrical carburetor is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,233 issued in the name of Mark S. Swanson and assigned to the assignee of record herein, which is incorporated herein by reference. In this invention a combination accelerator pump and shut off device is provided to control the fuel to the idle chamber. Preferably, the accelerator and shut off device is actuated by movement of the throttle from its idle position to initially supply a relatively small quantity of additional fuel for accelerating the engine, and to shut off the idle circuit under wide open throttle operating conditions. This prevents bleed back of fuel in the idle circuit so that when the throttle returns to its idle position and the shut off device opens, idle fuel remains available and thus is immediately supplied to the idle jet for operation of the engine under idle conditions. Moreover due to the "lost motion" between the piston and valve of the '233 patent mechanism, when the throttle is only partially opened the supply of fuel to the idle well and associated idle ports is shut off, thereby eliminating the influence of the idle circuit on the A/F mixture under engine partial load conditions so that the fuel mixture is determined solely by the main nozzle of the carburetor. It has been found that such problems as disclosed in the '233 patent with respect to a conventional non-electrical diaphragm carburetor are also present and even more severely impair electrically controlled fuel metering to optimize the A/F, particularly when utilizing the method and devices of the aforementioned '920 and '912 patents inasmuch as they control A/F adjustment by modulating fuel flow only to the main nozzle.
Additional problems in implementing electrically controllable metering in a small engine diaphragm carburetor have been found to arise from the need to retain manual control of both the choke and throttle valves, thereby allowing the uncontrollable variable of operator manual intervention in the control system to defeat the automatic system goals.
Of course, there are also the overriding problems associated with attempting incorporate the automatic system components into a low cost and compact carburetor package without unduly complicating the component design, increasing the cost of manufacture and assembly of the carburetor and sacrificing operational life and reliability as well as serviceability.

Carburetor and method and apparatus for controlling air/fuel ratio of same