A grommet configured to be installed on a wire harness and to be inserted in a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile, the grommet includes an inner sleeve made of a resin configured to store therein a connector, a grommet main body made of an elastomer and having an enlarged tubular portion and a small diameter tubular portion configured to receive electrical wires. The inner sleeve protrudes from the large diameter tubular portion and includes a peripheral wall having four corners and locking hooks configured to be inserted into the penetration hole. One locking hook is located on an outer face of one side of a rectangular or near-squared shaped frame. Another locking hook is located on an outer face of an opposite side of the rectangular or near-squared shaped frame. At least one of the four corners of the peripheral wall is notched.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grommet with a resin inner sleeve, and specifically relates to a grommet in which a connector installed on a wire harness is fixed to the grommet by internally fitting the connector on the inner sleeve located in the inside of the grommet main body. The grommet is installed in the penetration hole of a car body panel such that a car body hooking hook protrudes from the outer face of the inner sleeve.
The present invention also relates to a grommet equipped with a resin inner sleeve, and specifically relates to a grommet which is assembled on a wire harness that is wired in an automobile. The grommet is mounted in the penetration hole of a car body panel. The inner sleeve is internally fitted inside of the grommet main body made of an elastomer. The grommet is installed in the penetration hole of a car body panel with a car body hooking hook protruding from the outer face of the inner sleeve.
2. Discussion of Background Information
A first type of grommet shown in FIGS. 8-10. A grommet 1 is used with a door harness which is wired to a door side is hung in the penetration hole of a car body panel through the penetration hole of a door panel. The grommet 1 is conventionally installed on a wire harness between the door panel and the car body panel. An inner sleeve 3 made of a resin is assembled inside of an enlarged tubular portion 2a of the grommet 1. The enlarged tubular portion 2a is located at one end of the grommet main body 2. The grommet main body 2 is made of a rubber or an elastomer. The grommet 1 is designed to be hooked into a penetrating hole H2 of a car body panel P2 by inserting the locking hook 3a, which is located at the outer face of the inner sleeve 3.
Specifically, the grommet 1 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is hooked in both the penetration hole H2, which is located on the car body panel P2, and in the penetration hole H1, which is located on the door panel P1. The grommet 1 includes another enlarged tubular portion 2c which is mounted, i.e., hooked, in the penetration hole H1 of the door panel P1. The enlarged tubular portion 2c is located at one end of a bellows shape small diameter tubular portion 2b of the grommet main body 2. Both the enlarged tubular portion 2a and the enlarged tubular portion 2c are continuously formed with the above-mentioned bellows shape small diameter tubular portion 2b. A hooking groove 2d is provided at the outer peripheral face of enlarged tubular portion 2c. This hooking groove 2d is fitted in the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H2 and allows the grommet 1 to be mounted in a sealed condition in opening H1.
With reference to FIG. 8, the inner sleeve 3 is made of a resin and is hooked into the grommet 1 by being internally fitted on the enlarged tubular portion 2a of the car body panel P2 side of the grommet 1. A locking hook 3a is used for a car body hooking is provided at the outer face 3b of the inner sleeve 3. The outer face 3b and hooks 3a protrude past an edge opening of the enlarged tubular portion 2a. The locking hook 3a passes through the penetration hole H2 and is hooked at the peripheral rim of the inner face side of the penetration hole H2. A seal lip 2f which is provided at the opening peripheral rim of the enlarged tubular portion 2a, is adhered on the peripheral rim of the outer face side of the penetration hole H2. The grommet 1 is fixed on the car body panel P2 in a condition in which sealing is retained.
With reference to FIG. 9, a connector 4 is fixed by locking on the locking portion 3d is fixed to the grommet 1 by being internally fitted inside of the above-mentioned inner sleeve 3. However, because such connectors ideally have many square shape terminal-storing chambers, the external shape of the connector 4 is typically made square or rectangular. As a result, the inner sleeve 3 to which the connector 4 is externally fitted is also made with an approximately and/or near-square or rectangular shape. Because of this, a radius of curvatures R1 (which is, for example, approximately 5 mm) of the four corner portions 3c of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve 3 must be small. This means that the penetration hole H2, which is drilled in the car body panel P2, becomes a near-square or rectangular hole that has square corners with small radius of curvatures. However, holes which are shaped in this way allow a concentrated shear stress to be generated at each of the four corner portions, and this results in a decrease in the strength of the car body panel P2.
On the other hand, in order to improve the strength of the car body panel, the penetrating hole can be made with a shape that is closer to a circle, i.e., the closer the hole is to a circle the better it is. FIG. 10 illustrates one such shape. As can be seen, it is better to make the radius of curvatures R2 (which is, for example, approximately 10 mm) of four corners 3cxe2x80x2 of the inner sleeve 3xe2x80x2 large. However, since the external shape of the connector 4xe2x80x2, which is stored inside the inner sleeve 3xe2x80x2 is square or rectangular shaped, for the reason indicated above, the connector-storing space located inside of the inner sleeve 3xe2x80x2 necessarily decreases as the radius R2 increases. As a result, such inner sleeves 3xe2x80x2 cannot receive relatively large connectors, i.e., connectors which have many poles or terminals cannot be used.
A second type grommet shown in FIGS. 15A-17. The grommet 1 is used with a door harness which is wired to a door side and is hung in the penetration hole of a car body panel through the penetration hole of a door panel. As can be seen in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the grommet 1 has been conventionally installed on a wire harness between the door panel and the car body panel. An inner sleeve 3 made of a resin is assembled inside of a enlarged tubular portion 2a of the grommet 1. The enlarged tubular portion 2a is located at one end of a grommet main body 2. The grommet main body is made of a rubber or an elastomer. The grommet 1 is designed to be hooked into a penetration hole H1 of the car body panel A via the inserting of locking hooks 3a and 3b, which are provided at the outer face of the inner sleeve 3.
Specifically, as can be seen in FIG. 15A, the grommet 1 is hooked in both penetration holes H1 and H2 which were provided on the car body panel A and the door panel B. The grommet 1 includes another enlarged tubular 2c and this enlarged tubular portion 2c is mounted in the penetration hole H2 of the door panel B. The enlarged tubular portion 2c is located at one end of a bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion 2b of the grommet main body 2. The bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion is continuously formed with the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portions 2a and 2c. A hooking groove 2d is provided at the outer peripheral face of the enlarged tubular portion 2c. The hooking groove 2d is configured to be fitted in the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H2 and allows the grommet 1 to be mounted in opening H2 in a sealed condition.
With reference to FIG. 15A, the inner sleeve 3 is made of a resin and is hooked into the grommet 1 by being internally fitted inside the enlarged tubular portion 2a of the car body panel A side of the grommet 1. Locking hooks 3a and 3b are used for hooking the grommet 1 to the car body. These are provided at opposite locations on the outer face of the peripheral wall 3e of the inner sleeve 3. The outer face and hooks 3a and 3b slightly protrude from or past the edge opening of the enlarged tubular portion 2a. The locking hooks 3a and 3b pass through the penetration hole H1 and hook at the peripheral rim of the inner face side of the penetration hole H1. A seal lip 2f is provided at the opening peripheral rim of the enlarged tubular portion 2a and is designed to be adhered on the peripheral rim of the outer face side of the penetration hole H1. This allows the grommet 1 to be fixed on the car body panel in a condition in which sealing is maintained.
With reference to FIG. 15B, in considering the work required to install the grommet 1 in the penetration hole H1 of the car body panel A in the assembly line of an automobile, one should note the locking hooks 3a and 3b. As is notable from FIG. 15A, locking hook 3a is located on one side of the sleeve 3 and locking hook 3b is located on an opposite side. Locking hook 3a is made as the fixation locking hook and protrudes at the edge of the peripheral wall 3e of the inner sleeve 3. On the other hand, as can be seen in FIG. 15B, the locking hook 3b, which is located on the opposite side, includes gaps in the form of side grooves 3c. These grooves 3c are notched in the peripheral wall 3e. A movable piece 3d which constitutes the movable locking hook is thus formed at the edge outer face.
With reference to FIG. 16, it can be seen that in installing the grommet 1 into the penetration hole H1, the edges of the enlarged tubular portion 2a and the inner sleeve 3 must be made oblique with respect to the penetration hole H1, such that the locking hook 3a which is fixed, is inserted and hooked in the penetration hole H1 first. Then, the movable locking hook 3b is inserted into opening H1. Upon being inserted, the movable locking hook 3b is subjected to bending so that it can be hooked in the penetration hole H1.
With reference to FIG. 16, in some instances, when the fixation locking hook 3a is preliminarily installed in hole H1 and the movable locking hook 3b is subsequently put in hole H1, the grommet 1 experiences a condition in which the edge of the movable locking hook 3b or the peripheral wall of the movable locking hook side is slightly inserted into the penetration hole H1, but the fixation locking hook 3a is hung on the peripheral wall of the penetration hole H1. This can result in the movable locking hook 3b being pushed in to be inserted, but without proper positioning the penetration hole H1.
As can be seen in FIG. 17, the height of the peripheral wall 3f of the inner sleeve 3, which is brought in contact with the inner peripheral face of the penetration hole H1 of a car body, is made the same around the whole peripheral at fixation of the car body. Accordingly, when the grommet 1 is to be inserted and hooked in the penetration hole H1, and the edge of the peripheral wall 3e is obliquely arranged (as shown in FIG. 16), the fixation locking hook 3a is preliminarily inserted into the penetration hole H1. However, in some cases, the edge of the peripheral wall 3f of a side at which the movable locking hook 3b is provided, does not reach at the car body panel A as shown in FIG. 16, and there results a condition in which it is hung on the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H1. As a result, the movable locking hook 3b can assume a condition in which it will be prevented from being inserted into the penetration hole H1.
Accordingly, although it is required to position the movable locking hook 3b into the penetration hole H1 in order to fix the grommet 1 therein, the fixation locking hook 3a side can be so deviated from the normal insertion posture, that instead of being fully installed therein, it instead hangs on the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H1, which can cause it to be easily detached. As a result, a worker will be required to reposition the fixation locking hook 3a side of the grommet 1. This additional repositioning results renders the installation process of the grommet 1 inefficient and makes the installation process more difficult.
The present invention provides for a grommet which can has a large connector-storing space inside of an inner sleeve and which has large radius of curvatures at the corner portions of the outer peripheral of the inner sleeve so as to improve the strength of the car body panel.
The present invention provides a grommet with a resin inner sleeve which is installed on a wire harness and which is inserted in the penetration hole of the car body panel of an automobile. The inner sleeve is made of a resin and is configured to store a connector at the enlarged tubular portion of a grommet main body. The grommet main body is made of an elastomer. The above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion is located at one end a small diameter tubular portion which is configured to receive electric wires. Locking hooks are provided on the grommet which can be inserted and locked in the above-mentioned penetration hole. These hooks are protruded at the outer face of a pair of opposing sides of near-square or rectangular frame peripheral wall of the above-mentioned inner sleeve. The outer face and hooks protruded from the edge opening of the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion. One or more corners of the four corners of the peripheral wall are also notched.
Because one or more corners among four corners of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve are notched, the shape of the corresponding corner portions of the penetration hole of the car body panel, which is externally fitted with the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve, can have enlarged radii of curvature. These enlarged radius corners are configured to receive the notched portions of the inner sleeve. In this way, the strength of the car body panel can be improved.
Further, the connector, which is stored inside of the inner sleeve, need not be made smaller in order to enter into the above-mentioned notched portions from the inside, when the radius of curvature is made larger as described above. The invention thus provides an inner sleeve configuration in which does not require that the connector be smaller. As a result, the space which receives the connector inside of the inner sleeve can be effectively utilized.
When a locking portion is provided at one side of the inner wall of the inner sleeve, and the like, a gap exists between the outer peripheral of the connector and both end corners of a side at which the locking portion was provided. As a result, notches are not required at the two end corners of the inner sleeve of the side which has the locking portion. Thus, the connector can be enlarged in like manner as the radius of curvature of the portion which is situated at the above-mentioned notched portions of the penetration hole of the car body panel.
On the other hand, when the above-mentioned locking portion is not provided at the inner wall of the inner sleeve, the notches are provided for all four corners. If all four corners of the connector are inserted in corresponding notched portions of the inner sleeve, the space inside of the inner sleeve can be most efficiently used. In this way, a large connector can be stored in the inner sleeve.
When the number of the notched portions of the above-mentioned peripheral wall is selected to be any of one to four, with regard to the shape of the inner sleeve and whether or not a locking portion or other device is utilized, the invention provides that the strength of the car body panel is not substantially diminished and provides that a large connector can nevertheless be stored inside the inner sleeve.
The locking portions are protruded at the outer faces of the inner sleeve and are arranged substantially orthogonal to the side having the above-mentioned locking portion. The inner sleeve is hooked at the peripheral rim portion of the penetration hole when the inner sleeve is inserted in the above-mentioned penetration hole. Accordingly, the inner sleeve and the grommet main body which is externally fitted thereon, can be fixed on the car body panel.
The present invention also provides a grommet having a resin inner sleeve which is installed on a wire harness that is inserted in the penetration hole of the car body panel of an automobile. The inner sleeve is configured to store a connector at the enlarged tubular portion of a grommet main body. The grommet main body is made of an elastomer. The above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion is arranged at one end of a small diameter tubular portion which is configured to receive electric wires. Locking hooks are designed to be inserted and locked in the above-mentioned penetration hole. These hooks protrude at a central edge outer face on each of two opposite sides of near-square or rectangular frame peripheral wall of the above-mentioned inner sleeve. The outer face and hooks protrude from the edge opening of the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion. Moreover, the thickness of one or more corners among four corners of the peripheral wall are made thin and the radius of curvatures are made large.
As described above, since the thickness of one or more corners among the four corners of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve is made thin and the radius of curvatures of its outer face are made large, the radius of curvature of the portion which is situated at the above-mentioned thin portion among the corners of the penetration hole of the car body panel can be made large. As a result, the strength of the car body panel can be improved.
Further, since the thickness of the above-mentioned two end corners is made thin and the radius of curvature of its outer face is made large, the radius of curvature of its inner face can be made small. This, allows the space inside of the inner sleeve to be more effectively utilized, without requiring the connector, which is stored inside of the inner sleeve, to be made smaller.
Further, when the locking portion is located at one side of the inner wall of the inner sleeve, a gap is arranged between the outer peripheral of the installed connector and at both end corners of the side of the inner sleeve which has the locking portion. As a result, the radius of curvature of these corners can be enlarged in like manner as the above-mentioned thin portions, without the need to thin these two corners.
On the other hand, when the above-mentioned locking portion is not utilized in the inner sleeve, all four corners can be thinned. As a result, the space inside of the inner sleeve can be most efficiently utilized, and an even larger connector can be stored in the grommet.
Thus, when the number of the notched portions of the above-mentioned peripheral wall is selected as any of one to four, in accordance with the shape of the inner sleeve, whether or not a locking portion is utilized, the strength of the car body panel need not be reduced or diminished in order that a large connector can be stored in the inside of the inner sleeve.
The present invention also provides for a grommet which can be installed more efficiently and requiring less work. In particular, the grommet is designed so that the movable locking hook side can be retained at the position of the penetration hole in a condition in which the edge of the fixation locking hook, which even if hung on the peripheral rim of the penetration hole, allows the movable locking hook to be pushed in and inserted without requiring the grommet to be reposition in the penetrating hole.
The grommet also includes an inner sleeve made of a resin which is installed on a wire harness that is inserted into the penetration holes (which can, e.g., be drilled) of the car body panel of an automobile. The inner sleeve made of a resin is stored and fixed in the enlarged tubular portion of a grommet main body. The grommet main body is made of an elastomer and includes the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion at one end of a small diameter tubular portion. The small diameter tubular portion is configured to receive electric wires. A difference of height of the peripheral wall is provided in the above-mentioned inner sleeve. The peripheral wall protrudes from an edge opening of the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion. A fixation locking hook protrudes from an end outer surface of the peripheral wall at a lower position. A movable piece which notched both sides is also provided at the center of a side of the peripheral wall. An edge position of the movable piece is made lower than both side walls and is made with the same height as an edge position of the above-mentioned fixation locking hook. A locking hook protrudes from the outer face of the movable piece, and the position of the hooking face of the movable locking hook with respect to the fixation locking hook is made with the same height. The above-mentioned fixation locking hook is configured to allow it to pass through the penetration hole of the above-mentioned car body panel in advance. In this way, it can be hooked on the peripheral rim of the penetration hole. The fixation locking hook also serves as a reference position so that the peripheral wall edge of the movable locking hook side of the peripheral wall can be inserted into the penetration hole of the car body panel. In this way, the movable locking hook is hooked in the penetrating hole after the above-mentioned fixation locking hook is hooked.
The difference in height of the peripheral wall of the above-mentioned inner sleeve is formed by providing a step in the area of the edge of the peripheral wall. Alternatively, this difference in height can be provided for by inclining or tapering the edge of the peripheral wall.
The inner sleeve of the above-mentioned grommet utilizes a protruding peripheral wall on both sides of the movable locking hook. This protruding peripheral wall is configured to be higher than the peripheral wall of the fixation locking hook side of the peripheral wall. Upon installation of the grommet, the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve is first inclined. Then, the fixation locking hook is preliminarily inserted into the penetration hole of the car body panel. In this way, the peripheral wall edge of both sides of the movable locking hook is inserted into the penetration hole in a condition in which the fixation locking hook is hung on the peripheral rim of the penetration hole. Final installation can then occur by pushing in the grommet and this can occur without requiring the positioning the movable locking hook side to the penetration hole, thereby reducing the work required to install the grommet.
When the connector is stored by hooking it into the above-mentioned inner sleeve, the connector which is connected with the electric wire terminal that is inserted into the small diameter tubular portion of the grommet main body, is stored and locked inside the inner sleeve. Then, the grommet can be installed. To facilitate this installation, the above-mentioned fixation locking hook and the movable locking hook are arranged opposite one another and are arranged by providing a difference in height at the peripheral wall of the short side of the inner sleeve.
The invention provides for a grommet configured to be installed on a wire harness and to be inserted in a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the grommet includes an inner sleeve made of a resin configured to store therein a connector. A grommet main body is made of an elastomer and includes an enlarged tubular portion and a small diameter tubular portion configured to receive electrical wires. The inner sleeve protrudes from the enlarged tubular portion and includes a peripheral wall having four corners and locking hooks configured to be inserted into the penetration hole. One locking hook is located on an outer face of one side of a rectangular or near-squared shaped frame. Another locking hook is located on an outer face of an opposite side of the rectangular or near-squared shaped frame. At least one of the four corners of the peripheral wall is notched.
The invention also provides a grommet configured to be installed on a wire harness and to be inserted in a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the grommet includes an inner sleeve made of a resin configured to store therein a connector. A grommet main body is made of an elastomer and includes an enlarged tubular portion and a small diameter tubular portion configured to receive electrical wires. The inner sleeve protrudes from the enlarged tubular portion and includes a peripheral wall having four corners and locking hooks configured to be inserted into the penetration hole. One locking hook is located on an outer face of one side of a rectangular or near-squared shaped frame. Another locking hook is located on an outer face of an opposite side of the rectangular or near-squared shaped frame. At least one of the four corners of the peripheral wall has a thinned section.
The at least one of the four corners may include an inside radius of curvature that is greater than an outside radius of curvature.
The invention also provides for a grommet configured to be installed on a wire harness and to be inserted in a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the grommet includes an inner sleeve made of a resin configured to store therein a connector. A grommet main body is made of an elastomer and includes an enlarged tubular portion and a small diameter tubular portion configured to receive electrical wires. A first side of a peripheral wall of the inner sleeve protrudes from the enlarged tubular portion by a first distance. A second side of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve protrudes from the enlarged tubular portion by a second distance. The second distance is greater than the first distance. A fixation locking hook protrudes from an edge outer surface of the first side. A movable locking hook protrudes from an edge outer face of the second side. The movable locking hook has an edge which is arranged below ends of adjacent side walls. An edge of the movable locking hook is arranged on approximately the same plane as an edge of the fixation locking hook. The fixation locking hook is configured enter and hook into the penetration hole on the car body panel before the movable locking hook.
The grommet may further include at least one stepped peripheral wall arranged between the first side and the second side. The grommet may also further include at least one tapered or inclined peripheral wall arranged between the first side and the second side. The grommet may further include at least one peripheral wall which is stepped. The grommet may further include at least one peripheral wall which is inclined or tapered.
The invention also provides for a method of installing the grommet into a penetration hole of a car body panel of an automobile wherein the method includes installing the wiring harness in the grommet and hooking the inner sleeve into the penetrating hole so that the enlarged tubular portion engages the car body panel.

Grommet with resin inner sleeve and method of installing the grommet


Apparatus for electro-erosive cutting. A cathode in the form of a wire advances through at least one wire guide, with one guide being upstream and the other, if any, downstream of the workpiece in terms of the direction advanced by the wire. The at least one wire guide is an open, specifically a notched, wire guide, one that does not surround the wire, that is, and has associated with it a closed wire guide, specifically a wire guide in the from of a torus that surrounds the wire.

The present invention concerns apparatus for electro-erosive cutting. A cathode in the form of a wire advances through at least one wire guide, with one guide being upstream and the other, if any, downstream of the workpiece in terms of the direction advanced by the wire.
Many types of apparatus, machinery, and systems for electro-erosive cutting are known. The basic apparatus usually comprises a stand with transmissions and wiring, a rinsing system, a generator, and numerical or computerized numerical controls. A cathode in the form of a wire cuts a blank out of the workpiece, which constitutes the anode, starting with an already drilled opening or reference point.
In the working zone (the erosion zone), the speed of and tension on the wire are prescribed and regulated. The aforesaid wire guide or guides ensure that the wire is at least extensively precisely positioned. The guides are usually accommodated in what are called wire-guide heads.
There is in the field of electro-erosive cutting a particular need for wire guides that can be used to cut at a conical angle to the normal. This need applies especially to wire guides accommodated in stationary heads. Definite limitations have been demonstrated for cutting at angles of 0.degree. to 45.degree.. Although the problem is not as serious when the wire-guide heads rotate, rotating heads are more expensive.


A system, method and computer program product for continuously tracking business performance impact of order sourcing systems and algorithms that decide how ecommerce orders should be fulfilled by assigning the items of the order to nodes in a fulfillment network such as stores, distribution centers, and third party logistics—to provide automatic root cause analysis and solution recommendations to pre-defined business problems arising from KPI monitoring. A Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard architecture operates with: 1) a monitoring module that continuously monitors business KPIs and creates abnormality alerts; and 2) a root cause analysis module that is designed specifically for each business problem to give real time diagnosis and solution recommendation. The root cause analysis module receives the created alert, and triggers conducting a root cause analysis at an analytics engine. The BI dashboard and user interface enables visualization of the KPI performance and root cause analysis results.

An order fulfillment and sourcing engine touches every aspect of an e-retailer's business, e.g., warehouse inventory, fulfillment center processing capacity, and outbound shipments. Business users need a BI (business intelligence) dashboard tool or like data visualization tool for displaying the current status of metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitor KPIs performance, diagnose operational disruptions and find solutions in real time.
The standard practice in the industry is to monitor business KPIs for an order fulfillment system in real time. However, such practice only tracks the outcomes of the order fulfillment optimization system, and does not provide explicit and automatic root cause analysis when a business KPI deteriorates.
Business users have to perform ad-hoc data analysis to diagnose a problem, which could take very long before finding a solution. If the order fulfillment system goes offline due to the delayed diagnosis, the retailer could lose millions of dollars in sales.

Tracking business performance impact of optimized sourcing algorithms

International Business Machiness Corporation


An electronic level includes a visual scale (similar to a ruler scale) having a number of parallel line segments. The inclination of the device is shown by illuminating various of the scale line segments on either side of a central line. When the device is at a null (typically level or plumb) only the central scale line is illuminated, indicating the inclination away from the null. Each scale line segment indicates a fraction of an inch of inclination per e.g. two feet of horizontal distance (the two feet being the level length in one version) which conforms to the normal use of such levels by building tradesmen. The level is calibrated by taking two readings with the level rotated 180.degree. between readings. The readings are averaged and negative feedback is provided to the level sensor itself to null out any system mechanical or electrical offsets.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic level and specifically to the visual display and calibration of the level.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic levels known in the art include that sold by Wedge Innovations Inc. and as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,662 issued Mar. 27, 1990 to Butler et al. (assigned to Wedge Innovations Inc.). Furthermore, such prior art electronic level displays show the inclination in degrees or percent slope, which are typically not the inclination measurements used by building tradesmen (carpenters, masons etc.).
Butler et al. also disclose at col. 9, lines 6-11:
The rise/run mode 122 is determined by first using the determine angle routine of block 146 and the display routine of block 148. The display function is calculated at twelve times the tangent of the angle determined by block 146. This gives the rise to run value of inches per foot.
Prior art devices thus often do not provide a satisfactory indication of how far from level or plumb one is in a mode useful to tradesmen who tend not to think in terms of inches per foot or percent slope or angular slope.

Electronic level displaying inclination with regard to instrument length


An emergency light fixture is permanently mountable in a conventional power utlet box having, in fixed relation, a threaded bore for accommodating a screw for a face plate and slots for accommodating an electric plug. The emergency light fixture includes a housing, an electric plug extending from the rear wall of the housing, a battery, a battery charger, and a lamp mounted in the housing and wired to provide illumination during a power outage. The fixture also includes an aperture in the rear wall of the housing for accommodating a screw for permanently attaching the housing to the outlet box. The aperture is in fixed relationship with the electric plug so that the aperture is aligned with the threaded bore in the outlet box when the electric plug is aligned with the slots in the outlet box.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to emergency light fixtures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Emergency light fixtures are now required to be installed in public places such as hotel rooms in order to provide like in case of a power failure which cuts off the electricity to the normal lighting system. Rigid building codes require such emergency light fixtures to be permanently installed so that they cannot be removed by unauthorized personnel. Typical emergency light fixtures require customized design to accommodate the location in which they are installed and require skilled electricians to install the fixtures. In addition, if a building needs to be retrofitted for emergency light fixtures, additional wiring and alteration of the walls is required.
The requirement that emergency light fixtures be permanently installed so that they cannot be removed by unauthorized personnel has produced a variety of drawbacks. Since the emergency light fixtures must be custom designed to accommodate an appropriate location, they are expensive to manufacture. In addition, because the emergency light fixtures must be installed by a skilled electrician or other trained workers in order to connect the emergency light system to the electrical system of the building and mount it on the walls of a building, the labor costs are quite high.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency light fixture which is of simple design and which can be manufactured in high quantities for low cost.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an emergency light fixture which can be permanently installed by an unskilled laborer without the need for an electrician or other skilled personnel in such a manner that it cannot be removed by unauthorized personnel.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Chloride Systems, a division of Chloride Power Electronics, Incorporated


This invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits which find utility in analogue systems. An integrated circuit of the invention comprises an array of configurable analogue cells each of which is capable of interconnection with other cells in the array by means of an interconnection network. Each of the cells can be selectively and individually selected by means of select signals and emanating from shift registers. When selected the cell may be configured with configuration data which both sets the cell to take up a particular electrical configuration by means of digital data and sets various programmable resistors and capacitors in the cells to particular values by means of analogue signals. The configuration data is held in a random access memory. Some of this data is converted to analogue form by means of a digital-to-analogue converter. The circuit is controlled by a central control and is capable of being configured to implement particular analogue functional applications from a plurality of possible analogue functional applications. Provision in the circuitry is made to automatically compensate for manufacturing component tolerances.

The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits which find utility in analogue systems.
Known analogue circuits for instance, graphic equalizers, audio music synthesizers, special purpose filters, spectrum analyzers, and so on, employ design and manufacturing techniques which involve the use of discrete components on printed circuit boards. Such circuits are generally quite bulky, labor intensive in assembly processing, give rise to reliability problems and as a consequence are relatively costly.
Analogue circuits of the above mentioned type have been fabricated in semiconductor integrated form, however, there are difficulties in using current manufacturing processes in producing integrated circuits with accurate resistor values and large value capacitors. Nevertheless, integrated circuits such as operational amplifiers, oscillators and phase lock loops do exist, but these circuits have the disadvantage of having to be specially manufactured for the particular application exclusively, which is extremely costly.
An aim of this invention is to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages and problems by the provision of a relatively inexpensive standard semiconductor integrated circuit which is suitable for a wide range of functional applications without the requirement for any major change in the manufacturing processes of such integrated circuits.


A dual spark plug ignition engine with an EGR system is provided with an ignition system which is arranged to achieve single spark plug ignition by sensing a considerably low intake vacuum which represents high power output engine operating range. The engine is further provided with an engine starting sensing switch to cause the ignition system to carry out dual spark plug ignition during engine starting although the intake vacuum is considerably low as at the high power output engine operating range.

This invention relates to an improvement in a dual spark plug internal combustion engine having two spark plugs in each combustion chamber thereof, which is provided with an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system for recirculating a considerably large amount of exhaust gases back to the combustion chamber.
In connection with the control of nitrogen oxides (NOx) formed in automotive internal combustion engines, a dual spark plug internal combustion engine provided with an EGR system has been proposed as disclosed in the pending application of Yasuo Nakajima et al., U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 815,449, filed on July 13, 1977 and entitled "Multiple Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engine with Exhaust Gas Recirculation", now abandoned. In such an engine, two spark plugs are located relatively separate from each other in each combustion chamber. They ignite the air-fuel mixture which is mixed with exhaust gases recirculated back into the engine intake air at a relatively high EGR rate (the volume rate of recirculated exhaust gases relative to engine intake air), for example, about 30%. By virtue of the dual spark plug ignition, fast burn is achieved in the combustion chamber even though the air-fuel mixture is mixed with a considerably large amount of inert exhaust gases. NOx formation is greatly lowered without degradation of engine stability, resulting in an improvement in the driveability of a motor vehicle on which the engine is mounted.
The engine of this type requires operation on a single spark plug ignition in which one of the two spark plugs in each combustion chamber is put into inoperative condition during high power output engine operating condition. If dual spark plug ignition is continued during high power output engine operation, combustion pressure in the combustion chamber is excessively raised, shortening the life of the engine and increasing engine noise. This excessive rise in combustion pressure results from improved combustion in the combustion chamber, which is caused by the fact that charging efficiency of the engine is improved and EGR rate is decreased to a great extent from view points of engine power output and fuel economy during high power output engine operation.
In view of the above, it has also been proposed, as disclosed in the pending application of Shigeo Muranaka et al, U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 787,211, filed on Apr. 13, 1977 and entitled "Improved Dual Spark Plug Ignition Engine", now U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,860, that one of two spark plugs in each combustion chamber is rendered inoperative upon sensing a low intake vacuum which represents the high power output engine operation. However, such an engine has encountered the problem in which dual spark plug ignition is not operable during engine starting even though dual spark plug ignition is necessary for effectively initiating ignition of the air-fuel mixture. This results from the fact that the intake vacuum is very low or close to atmospheric pressure because of very low engine speed during cranking by the starting motor.

Ignition system in dual spark plug ignition engine with EGR system


A method and apparatus is disclosed wherein fixed rate vector quantized data is transmitted from a first location to a second location via a first medium. The fixed rate vector quantized data is received at the second location and transformed to variable rate vector quantized data. Then, the transformed variable rate vector quantized data is transmitted to a third location via a second medium. At the third location, the variable rate vector quantized data may be received, and if desired, transformed back to fixed rate form. A distortion adaptive vector quantization method is employed to transform the fixed rate vector quantization data to variable rate vector quantization data.

The background of the present invention is described herein in the context of pay television systems, such as cable television systems or direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems, that distribute program material to subscribers, but the invention is by no means limited thereto except as expressly set forth in the accompanying claims.
In a typical cable television system, cable television operators receive much of their program material from remote earth station transmitters via a plurality of geosynchronous orbit satellites. The cable operator selects the program material to be made available to its subscribers by making arrangements with the satellite distributors of that program material. The cable operator receives the transmitted program material at its "cable head-end," where it then re-transmits the data to individual subscribers. Frequently, cable operators also provide their own local programming at the site of the head-end, and further include network broadcasts as well.
In a DBS system, individual subscribers are provided with their own satellite receiver. Each subscriber establishes a down-link with the broadcasting satellite directly. Thus, there is no need, as with cable systems, for re-transmission from a cable head-end.
Typically, in both types of systems (cable and DBS), the program material (both video and audio) is originally in analog form. Conventional transmission techniques place substantial limitations on the maximum number of viewer channels that can be transmitted over any given transponder on a satellite since each channel requires a minimum bandwidth to avoid noticeable degradation and the total number of channels that can be transmitted over a given satellite transponder is limited by the bandwidth of each signal, and of the transponder. Also, in cable systems, the electrical properties of the coaxial cable limit its bandwidth and therefore place substantial limitations on the number of channels that can be delivered to cable television subscribers using conventional transmission techniques.
As a result of the desire to provide more program channels and/or HDTV to subscribers over existing broadcast bandwidths, the pay television industry has begun to investigate digital image transmission techniques. Although the desire is to minimize the transmission bandwidth of program material, thus allowing more channels to be transmitted over an existing broadcast bandwidth, digital image transmission further offers the advantage that digital data can be processed at both the transmission and reception ends to improve picture quality. Unfortunately, the process of converting the program material from analog form to digital form results in data expansion which increases the transmission bandwidth of the program material rather than decreasing it. Therefore, digital transmission alone does not solve the bandwidth problem, but instead makes it worse. However, through the application of digital data compression techniques, large bandwidth reductions can be achieved.
Data compression techniques minimize the quantity of data required to represent each image. Thus, more program material, or more channels, can be offered over an existing broadcast bandwidth. However, any data compression achieved is offset by the data expansion which occurs during the analog to digital conversion. Therefore, to be practical, the compression technique employed must achieve a compression ratio high enough to provide a net data compression. Digital data compression techniques, such as Huffman encoding and LZW (Lempel, Ziv and Welch) encoding, offer, at best, compression ratios of 2.5 to 1 and do not compensate sufficiently for the data expansion that occurs in converting data from analog to digital form.
In response to the need for high compression ratios, a number of so-called "lossy" compression techniques have been investigated for digital image compression. Unlike the Huffmann and LZW encoding techniques, these "lossy" compression techniques do not provide exact reproduction of the data upon decompression. Thus, some degree of information is lost; hence the label "lossy." One such "lossy" compression technique is called DCT direct cosine transform) data compression. Another method, which, until recently, has been used principally for speech compression, is vector quantization. Vector quantization has shown promise in image compression applications by offering high image compression ratios, while also achieving high fidelity image reproduction at the receiving end. It has been demonstrated, for example, that using vector quantization (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "VQ"), compression ratios as high as 25:1, and even as high as 50:1, can be realized without significant visually perceptible degradation in image reproduction.
Compression of video images by vector quantization initially involves dividing the pixels of each image frame into smaller blocks of pixels, or sub-images, and defining a "vector" from relevant data (such as intensity and/or color) reported by each pixel in the sub-image. The vector (sometimes called an "image vector" or "input image vector") is really nothing more than a matrix of values (intensity and/or color) reported by each pixel in the sub-image. For example, a black and white image of a house might be defined by a 600.times.600 pixel image, and a 6.times.4 rectangular patch of pixels, representing, for example, a shadow, or part of a roof line against a light background, might form the sub-image from which the vector is constructed. The vector itself might be defined by a plurality of gray scale values representing the intensity reported by each pixel. While a black and white image serves as an example here, vectors might also be formed from red, green, or blue levels of a color image, or from the Y, I and Q components of a color image, or from transform coefficients of an image signal.
Numerous methods exist for manipulating the block, or sub-image, to form a vector. R. M. Gray, "Vector Quantization", IEEE ASSP Mag., pp. 4-29 (April, 1984), describes formation of vectors for monochrome images. E. B. Hilbert, "Cluster Compression Algorithm: A Joint Clustering/Data Compression Concept", Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., Publ. 77-43, describes formation of vectors from the color components of pixels. A. Gersho and B. Ramamurthi, "Image Coding Using Vector Quantization", Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Acoust., Speech, Signal Processing, pp. 428-431 (May, 1982), describes vector formation from the intensity values of spatially contiguous groups of pixels. All of the foregoing references are incorporated herein by reference.
By way of example, a television camera might generate an analog video signal in a raster scan format having 600 scan lines per frame. An analog to digital converter could then digitize the video signal at a sampling rate of 600 samples per scan line, each sample being a pixel. Digital signal processing equipment could then store the digital samples in a 600.times.600 pixel matrix. The 600.times.600 pixel matrix could then be organized into smaller blocks, for example 6.times.4 pixel blocks, and then each block could be converted into an image vector. Each of these image vectors would then be compressed as described below.
In an image vector quantizer, a vector quantization "codebook" is created from training data comprising a representative sample of images which the quantizer is likely to encounter during use. The codebook consists of a memory containing a set of stored "codevectors," each representative of commonly encountered image vectors. For example, one codevector might be a 6.times.4 pixel solid black patch. Another codevector might have all white pixels in the top three rows, and all black pixels in the bottom three rows. Yet another codevector might have a gradient made up of white pixels in the top row, black pixels in the bottom row, and four rows of pixels in between having shades of gray from light to dark. Typically, a codebook of representative codevectors is generated using an iterative clustering algorithm, such as described in S. P. Lloyd, "Least Squares Optimization in PCM", Bell Lab. Tech. Note, (1957) (also found in IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, Vol. IT-28, pp. 129-137, March (1982); and, J. T. Tou and R. C. Gonzalez, "Pattern Recognition Principles", pp. 94-109, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass. (1974). Both of these references are incorporated herein by reference.
Each codevector in the codebook is assigned a unique identification code, sometimes called a label. In practice, the identification codes, or labels, are the memory addresses of the codevectors. (In the appended claims, the term "ID code" is sometimes employed to refer to these labels or addresses). For each input image vector, data compression is achieved by selecting the codevector in the codebook that most closely matches the input image vector, and then transmitting the codebook address of the selected codevector rather than the input image vector. Compression results because generally, the addresses of the selected codevectors are much smaller than the image vectors.
By way of example, the codevector having the solid black patch described above, might be assigned address #1. The codevector having the white pixels in the top half and black pixels in the bottom half might be assigned address #2, and so on for hundreds or thousands of codevectors. When quantizing a full image, a vector quantizer divides the full image frame into a series of image vectors (i.e., from each of the blocks of sub images). For each image vector, the vector quantizer identifies one closely matching codevector. The vector quantizer then generates a new signal made up of the series of labels, or memory addresses where the codevectors were found. For the example of a full image of a house, the vector quantizer would divide the full image into numerous image vectors (from each of the blocks, or sub images). The quantizer might then replace image vectors from shadowed areas with address #1 (the solid black patch), and it might replace the roof line image vectors with address #2 (white in the top half and black in the bottom half). As mentioned above, compression results because, typically, the length of the labels or addresses is much smaller than the size of the codevectors stored in memory. Typically, the addresses are transmitted by any conventional technique so that the image can be reconstructed at the receiver.
Reconstruction of the original full image at the receiver (or at least a very close approximation of the original image) may be accomplished by a device which has a codebook, identical to the codebook at the transmitter end, stored in a memory. The device that performs vector quantization and compression at the transmitter is called an encoder, and the device that performs decompression and image reproduction at the receiving end is called a decoder. The decoder reconstructs (at least an approximation of) the original image by retrieving from the codebook in the decoder the codevectors stored at each received address. Generally, the reconstructed image differs somewhat from the original image because codevectors do not usually precisely match the image vectors. The difference is called "distortion." Increasing the size of the codebook generally decreases the distortion.
Many different techniques for searching a codebook to find the codevector that best matches the image vector have been proposed, but generally the methods can be classified as either a full search technique, or a branching (or tree) search technique. In a full search technique, the vector quantizer sequentially compares an input image vector to each and every codevector in the codebook. The vector quantizer computes a measure of distortion for each codevector and selects the one having the smallest distortion. The full search technique ensures selection of the best match, but involves the maximum number of computational steps. Thus, while distortion can be minimized using a full search technique, it is computationally expensive. Y. Linde, A. Buzo and R. Gray, "An Algorithm For Vector Quantizer Design", IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. COM-28, No. 1 (January 1980), incorporated herein by reference, describes the full search technique and the computational steps involved in such a search. The full search technique is sometimes called "full search vector quantization" or "full search VQ".
The tree search technique reduces the number of codevectors that must be evaluated (and thus reduces search time), but does not necessarily identify the very best match. Consequently, to maintain a given level of distortion, the tree search technique requires a larger codebook than the full search technique. The tree search technique can be considered as one that searches a sequence of small codebooks, instead of one large codebook. The codebook structure can be depicted as a tree, and each search and decision corresponds to advancing along a branch of the tree to the next level or stage of the tree, starting from the root of the tree. Thus, only the codevectors along certain branches of the tree are searched, thereby reducing the search time. A detailed description of the tree search technique may be found in R. M. Gray and H. Abut, "Full Search and Tree Searched Vector Quantization of Speech Waveforms," Proc. IEEE Int. Conf Acoust., Speech, Signal Processing, pp. 593-96 (May 1982), and R. M. Gray and Y. Linde, "Vector Quantization and Predictive Quantizers For Gauss Markov Sources", IEEE Trans. Comm., Vol. COM- 30, pp. 381-389 (February 1982), both of which are incorporated herein by reference. The tree search technique is sometimes referred to as "tree-search vector quantization", "tree-search VQ" and "TSVQ." Notwithstanding the larger memory that is required to maintain a given level of distortion, this technique has found favor for compressing dynamic images because it is computationally faster.
Transmission of the VQ data (i.e., the codebook labels or addresses) to a receiver for reconstruction of the image can be either "fixed rate" or "variable rate." Fixed rate transmission occurs when all of the transmitted address data has the same length, and a vector address is transmitted for all vectors in the image. Fixed rate transmission is usually implicated when full search VQ has been employed. Fixed rate transmission may also be implicated when tree search VQ has been employed if the vector quantizer always selects a best match codevector from the same level of the tree (addresses at a given level of the tree have a fixed length). Fixed rate transmission is typically preferred when the VQ data (i.e., the addresses) is to be transmitted over a noisy medium, because variable rate signals are more sensitive to transmission errors, as described hereinafter.
As mentioned, tree structured codebooks can provide fixed rate transmission (by always encoding from the same level of the tree); however, tree-structured codebooks are particularly suited for variable rate transmission. Variable rate transmission occurs when the encoder selects codevectors from different levels of a tree structured codebook; in other words, for a given set of input image vectors, the encoder does not always select codevectors from the same level of the tree. Since the addresses associated with codevectors in higher levels of the tree usually are not as long as addresses associated with codevectors in lower levels of the tree, varying the level from which the codevectors are selected also varies the address length, and thus the length of the transmitted data.
Several techniques are available for implementing variable rate VQ. In one technique, the quantity of compressed data generated by an image depends on the image content. For example, a variable rate VQ system might employ two different vector sizes. A large vector size might be used to describe simple parts of the image, and a small vector size might be used to describe complex parts of the image. The amount of compressed data generated depends on the complexity of the image. Sung Ho and A. Gersho, "Variable Rate Multi-Stage Vector Quantization For Image Coding", University of California, Santa Barbara (1988) (Available as IEEE Publ. No. CH 2561-9 88 0000-1156) teach one such technique. This reference is incorporated herein by reference. A disadvantage of this type of variable rate VQ is that the decoder is always more complex than a fixed rate decoder since the decoder requires a video buffer store to reconstruct the image, whereas a fixed rate decoder does not.
Another variable rate transmission scheme is described in E. A. Riskin, "Variable Rate Vector Quantization of Images", Ph. D. Dissertation--Stanford University, pp. 51 et seq. (May, 1990), incorporated herein by reference. Riskin employs an "unbalanced" tree structured codebook. An "unbalanced" tree structure is simply an incomplete tree; in other words, some branches of the tree may extend to further levels of the tree than other branches. As is common in tree search VQ, Riskin's codebook is searched by advancing from level to level along selected branches. However, since Riskin employs an unbalanced tree, some searches will terminate at higher levels than others because some branches do not extend as far down the tree as others. Encoding will occur at different levels of the tree, thereby achieving variable rate transmission since the address length is a direct function of the level from which a codevector is selected. One disadvantage of this method is that because the branch lengths are fixed, users cannot increase the accuracy by encoding further down the tree if desired; encoding must always stop at the end of a branch, whether it extends to only a first level of the tree or a bottom level.
A more preferable implementation of variable rate VQ is disclosed in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 794,516, filed Nov. 19, 1991, and entitled "Image Compression Method and Apparatus Employing Distortion Adaptive Tree Search Vector Quantization," which is incorporated herein by reference. Rather than employing an "unbalanced" tree, this method employs a "balanced" or full tree-structured codebook (i.e., where each branch extends all the way to the bottom of the tree). Variable rate transmission occurs because for each input vector, the level of the tree at which a matching codevector is selected depends upon whether a measure of distortion between the input vector and the best match codevector at a given level satisfies an adjustable threshold. If the distortion measure is less than the threshold, the codevector at that particular level is selected. However, if the distortion measure is greater than the threshold, then the best match codevector at the next level of the tree is selected, and the process is repeated until the distortion measure is less than the threshold, or until the last level of the tree has been reached. Different input vectors will be encoded at different levels of the tree, and therefore, variable rate transmission is achieved.
Generally speaking, variable rate transmission offers the advantage that the average rate at which VQ data is transmitted is less than the rate that would be experienced if fixed rate transmission were employed for the same image at the same distortion level. In the context of pay television systems, this advantage can be significant, since it can represent a much greater increase in the number of channels that can be carried over existing media (such as satellite and cable) than would be realized if fixed rate transmission were employed. As mentioned above, however, variable rate transmission is more susceptible to transmission errors than fixed rate transmission. Errors in variable rate transmissions make it difficult to parse the variable length addresses at the receiving end. A single uncorrected error can cause a relatively long sequence of data bits to be lost. Conversely, in fixed rate transmission, a single error typically affects only a single vector address.
The error rate in a given transmission is highly dependent on the transmission medium. For example, satellite transmissions are more susceptible to error than are coaxial cable transmissions. This is particularly significant in the context of pay television systems where cable operators receive program material via satellite and retransmit the material to subscribers via coaxial cable. Because satellite transmissions are notoriously noisy, pay television systems would benefit from the use of fixed rate transmission over the satellite. Cable operators, however, would rather employ variable rate transmission because of the higher compression ratios that can be achieved. Furthermore, because magnetic storage media are also notoriously noisy, subscribers wishing to record program material on a VCR can achieve a higher fidelity recording with fixed rate data. Thus, subscribers will want to transform the variable rate data back to fixed rate.
One possible solution for cable operators is to receive the fixed rate transmissions at a cable head-end, decode the information to reproduce the compressed images, and then perform variable rate vector quantization on the reproduced images for transmission to subscribers. This solution is disadvantageous, because vector quantization is performed twice (fixed rate at the source; variable rate at the cable head-end). Each time vector quantization is performed, more distortion is introduced. Furthermore, the cable operator must invest in a costly variable rate vector quantizer. Subscribers wishing to record program material on a VCR at a fixed rate.
Therefore, there is a need for a method of transforming fixed rate vector quantized data to variable rate and back again without the need for re-quantizing the data. Such a method would be particularly advantageous in the context of pay television systems since cable operators could receive fixed rate data over the satellite, transform the data to variable rate, and transmit the variable rate data to subscribers. Subscribers could then easily transform the variable rate data to fixed rate for recording on a VCR. The method and apparatus of the present invention satisfies this need.

Method and apparatus for transforming between fixed-rate vector quantized data and variable rate vector quantized data


A structure for coupling a safety car seat or a stroller seat with a stroller to allow users to use two hands to grasp two sides of the safety car seat or stroller seat and to press a pushbutton adjacent to the palm to release a latch mechanism located below the seat without other people""s help. The latch mechanism includes a pushbutton and a latch block. The pushbutton is located beside the handles at two sides of the safety car seat or stroller seat so that a user may grasp two sides of the stroller seat and press the pushbuttons and transmit the pressing force through a transmission mechanism to the latch block and to turn the latch block to release the seat.

The invention relates to a safety car seat or stroller and particularly a child seat mountable to a stroller in a latched fashion or detachable from the stroller.
Safety car seats or stroller seats that are fastenable to strollers have recently been in great demand. They allow sleeping infants or young children to be carried from the cars to the strollers, or from the strollers to the cars conveniently without interrupting the sleeping of the infants or children.
Numerous proposals and designs of this nature have been disclosed in the prior art. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,105 to Barron C. Merten, et al. discloses an xe2x80x9cInfant car seat mountable on a grocery cart.xe2x80x9d which has an infant car seat coupled with a handle located at a rear end to trigger a spring-controlled hook. When removing the infant car seat from the grocery cart, the handle is pulled to release the hook, and the infant car seat may be disengaged from the cart and taken away.
However Merten""s design requires the user to grasp the car seat with one hand, and to pull the handle with other hand. In general, it is difficult for people to balance the car seat with only one hand. Removing the car seat directly from the grocery cart with one hand while the child is still in the car seat is risky. It would be safer to remove the child from the car seat first, then remove the car seat from the cart. However, doing so would wake the child if s/he is sleeping.
Another similar concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,535 to Hitoshi Kato, et al. titled xe2x80x9cFolding stroller with detachable seatxe2x80x9d. It has a foldable body coupled with a latch mechanism. Users must move a handle located below the mechanism to release the seat from the latch mechanism before removing the seat. As the handle is located at a distance from the body where user""s hand has to grasp, it is inconvenient or even risky for one person to maneuver the handle with one hand and to remove the seat body with the other hand. A similar design appears in U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,577 to Kato, et al. However, it does not offer solution to overcome the problem set forth above.
There are also many approaches being proposed to couple an infant carrier to a stroller. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,798 to John Walters, et al. titled xe2x80x9cChild stroller and infant carrier systemxe2x80x9d has a U-shape safety bar with a recess in its center located on the infant carrier, and a latch in front of the infant carrier for users to selectively couple the carrier to the stroller. When a user moves the latch, the infant carrier may be released from the U-shaped bar. Hence, a user may move the latch with one hand and remove the carrier by the handle with the other hand, which is more convenient.
Nevertheless, for lager size structures, such as those to couple a safety car seat to a stroller, or to couple a child seat to a stroller, there are usually no handles for users"" hands to grasp. John Walters"" design is thus inapplicable. Other alternatives and structures have to be considered.
The primary object of the invention is to change the structure of safety car seats, infant carriers or stroller seats, to make them capable of coupling with strollers, and also to make them easily removable from the strollers.
In the embodiments of the invention, a user may grasp two sides of the child seat (or infant carrier) with both hands, and press a pushbutton located adjacent to the palm to separate the child seat from the stroller, so that the child seat may be easily removed.
The invention provides a latch mechanism that includes at least a pushbutton and a latch block. The pushbuttons are located on both sides of the safety car seat or stroller seat to allow users to grasp with both hands. Through a transmission mechanism, the pressing force and action will be transmitted to the latch block and turn the latch block to release the latched engagement.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are only for reference and illustrative purposes, and thus are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.


A compressor includes a particularly shaped discharge valve which extends into the discharge port. The shaped valve includes a convex portion on the seat side of the valve which extends downwardly into the discharge port. The shaped valve furthermore includes a concave portion on the seat side of the valve that begins where the convex portion ends. The beginning of the concave portion on the seat side of the valve is located so as to prevent flow separation of the refrigerant when flowing along the convex portion of the valve as it leaves the compression chamber of the compressor.

The present invention relates to refrigerant compressors, and more particularly to discharge valve assemblies for such compressors.
There are various types of refrigerant compressors which perform the function of compressing refrigerant fluids. These include reciprocating compressors, rotary compressors, and scroll compressors.
Reciprocating compressors include at least one cylinder with a piston reciprocating therein so as to both draw fluid into the cylinder and thereafter compress the fluid before discharge. Such a compressor requires a means for regulating both the inflow and outflow of the fluid to and from the cylinder.
A rotary type refrigerant compressor typically includes a roller or piston, which rotates or orbits within a cylinder in such a manner so as to define a compression chamber and a suction chamber. The rotary piston rotates beyond a top dead center position to a point where the compression chamber is at a maximum volume. As the rotary piston rotates beyond the top dead center position, it begins to compress refrigerant fluid contained in the compression chamber. This compression of the refrigerant fluid continues until just prior to the top dead center position where the compression chamber is now adding minimum volume. It is necessary to provide a means for regulating the inflow and outflow of the fluid to and from the cylinder within the rotary type refrigerant compressor also.
A discharge valve is normally used to regulate the outflow of compressed fluid in both reciprocating and rotary compressors. The discharge valve is in communication with the compressor chamber provided in a cylinder head of the rotary compressor or in a valve plate adjacent the cylinder in a reciprocating type compressor. The discharge valve may be of the flat leaf spring-type in either compressor. Typically in a rotary compressor, the flat leaf spring-type valve is biased toward a valve seat while a volume of fluid is compressed with increasing force within the compression chamber. At a certain point, the force becomes sufficient to overcome the biasing of the leaf spring, thereby causing the valve member to become unseated so as to allow compressed refrigerant fluid to enter a discharge chamber.
A problem with such leaf spring valve members has been that they do not extend into the discharge port. This results in a volume of fluid in the discharge port which re-expands in the cylinder during the next cycle of suction.
Various valve arrangements have been devised which extend into the discharge port so as to thereby reduce the re-expansion volume. An example of such is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,894, which discloses a rotary-type compressor with a discharge valve having a discharge ball which is biased against the discharge port. This particular discharge valve arrangement requires both a discharge ball and a separate discharge valve stem as well as a machined valve seat to accommodate the spherical ball. Another example of a discharge valve device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,604. This patent discloses a discharge valve having an elliptical curved cross section, which extends into the valve port. This valve assembly also requires a machined valve seat so as to conform to the elliptical shape of the valve.
A problem with the above described discharge valves is that flow separation occurs at some point along the curved portion of the valve when compressed refrigerant flows out of the discharge port. This tends to decrease the overall effective clearance volume between the valve and the valve seat. It moreover produces a certain amount of kinetic energy formed at the point of flow separation, which can produce an unacceptable noise level when the valve opens.
The present invention provides a shaped valve which extends into the discharge port so as to reduce the re-expansion volume. The shaped valve includes a convex portion on the seat side of the valve which extends downwardly into the discharge port. The shaped valve furthermore includes a concave portion on the seat side of the valve that begins where the convex portion ends. The beginning of the concave portion on the seat side of the valve is located so as to prevent flow separation of the refrigerant when flowing along the convex portion of the valve as it leaves the compression chamber of the compressor. The beginning of the concave portion can be defined by a radius measured from the centerline of the discharge port to the circumference of a circle defining where the convex portion ends or the concave portion begins. This radius is greater than one-half of an inside radius as measured from the centerline of the discharge port to the innermost point of contact of the valve seat with the seat side of the valve.


A telemetry antenna system for transmitting data from underground utility meters includes a telemetry board, a radiator assembly connected to the telemetry board and a housing assembly for housing both the telemetry board and the radiator assembly. The radiator assembly preferably includes two metallic plates separated by an air gap dielectric and connected by a plurality of inductive shunts. Capacitive tuning pads are also included on the plates and are connected by shunts. The housing assembly preferably includes a cylindrical base having an integral annular ring. The base houses the telemetry board. The radiator assembly is operably connected to the telemetry board and is housed and located within a radome which sealingly engages the annular ring. The radome is sealingly secured to the annular ring of the base by a retaining ring which is tightly, releasably fastened to the annular ring of the base. The housing assembly may include additional elements such as an end cap, base lock, spine and/or bulkhead.

Numerous underground devices such as water meters, gas meters, valves and so on, use radio telemetry for the transfer of data from the meters and/or valves to a handheld computer, fixed network or other mobile reading technology. When providing radio telemetry for these underground devices it is often necessary to place a telemetry antenna at surface level, e.g. on the lawn, sidewalk driveway, pavement, or atop a utility vault or lidded pit, and/or below grade. The surface level location of the antenna can subject the antenna to severe weather conditions as well as to other open exposure conditions such as harsh chemicals and the footsteps of people and animals. Thus, the unit containing the antenna is desirably small, rugged, weather resistant and has a very low profile.
Units containing the telemetry antennas are usually battery operated and may be randomly placed within a data-collection network. In view of these operating conditions, it is desirable for the telemetry antenna to have high efficiency and a near omni-directional radiation pattern. Further, it is desirable to obtain highly uniform electrical performance from the telemetry antenna when mounted upon various dielectric, metal and combination surfaces. Thus, the use of a shielded electronic housing, a substantial integral ground plane, and a sealed radome are desirably used in combination with the telemetry antenna. Additionally, it is desirable that the telemetry antenna's frequency range have the ability to meet varying domestic and foreign telemetry band allocations by altering tuning and matching elements without multiple component changes and costly tooling alterations. In addition to the above-desired features, it is also desirable that the telemetry antenna system be adapted to excitation at off-axis locations.
Currently, there are no telemetry antenna systems which meet a substantial number of the above-listed desires. Thus, there is a need for a telemetry antenna system that can address many, if not all, of the preferred and desired features.


A method for providing information about the rate of a selected chemical reaction in each of at least one selected volume elements (voxels) in a sample includes the steps of: exciting a reaction-rate-dependent chemical-shift spectrum, by a selected stimulus (such as one of saturation-transfer and inversion-transfer RF signal pulses) to label the NMR signal of a first reaction constituent; spatially localizing the NMR response signal, provided by the excited resonance, to a selected voxel within the sample; and acquiring and processing the NMR response data from the localized voxel. The excitation, localization and data acquisition subsequences are repeated to generate data substantially proportional, or equal, to the reaction rate constants in the selected voxels, and in planes and/or volumes thereof.

The present invention relates to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging and spectroscopy and, more particularly, to novel methods for providing NMR images containing spatially-localized information about chemical reaction, or metabolic turnover rates between selected chemical species.
Hitherto, positron emission tomography (PET) was virtually unique in providing information about metabolic turnover, or chemical-species reaction rates, useable in medical diagnosis of human beings. However, because the PET image intensity is derived directly from substances which must be introduced into the human body via the bloodstream, the metabolic information for a region of tissue of interest is obscured by the amount of blood flow, the vascularization and even the number of tissue cells present in that tissue region. It is desirable to provide a non-invasive procedure. Further, because PET requires the use of a cyclotron, the cost of each PET metabolic imaging procedure is much more expensive than the cost of a typical NMR imaging procedure; consequently, PET useage is presently reserved for research, rather than everyday routine clinical, diagnostic use. It is highly desirable to provide a procedure in which the chemical reaction rate of a selected chemical species can be measured in each of a plurality of spatially-localized volume elements (voxels), and in which the resulting chemical reaction rate information can be made available for display and analysis. It is known, as described in "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and its Applications to Living Systems", David G. Gadian, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1982), that saturation-transfer and inversion-transfer NMR spectroscopy techniques can be utilized for measuring whole-sample chemical reaction rates or metabolic turnover rates. However, there has hitherto been no method for obtaining a suitable NMR signal which is substantially proportional to the chemical reaction rate in a localized volume of a heterogeneous sample, to allow noninvasive measurement of metabolic turnover in normal and diseased tissue in voxels of living human beings, while directly observing naturally-abundant metabolites involved in human biochemical reactions, without obscuration of the voxel reaction rate information by flow, vascularization or cell density.

Spatially-localized chemical-reaction-rate NMR spectroscopic imaging


Quantum communication transmitters include beacon lasers that transmit a beacon optical signal in a predetermined state of polarization such as one of the states of polarization of a quantum communication basis. Changes in the beacon polarization are detected at a receiver, and a retarder is adjusted so that the states of polarization in a received quantum communication optical signal are matched to basis polarizations. The beacon and QC signals can be at different wavelengths so that the beacon does not interfere with detection and decoding of the QC optical signal.

In quantum communication, two parties exchange information encoded in quantum states. Typically, the quantum states are specially defined properties of photons such as pairs of polarization states (e.g., 0° and 90°, or 45° and 135°) or circular basis states (e.g., left-handedness and right-handedness). Through the quantum communication ("QC"), the two parties produce a shared random series of bits known only to them, which can then be used as secret keys in subsequent encryption and decryption of messages.
A third party can, in theory, eavesdrop on the QC between the two parties. Such eavesdropping perturbs the QC, however, introducing anomalies that the two intended parties can detect. Using conventional communication, the two parties post-process the results of the QC to remove any partial information acquired by an eavesdropper, and form shared secret keys from the remaining information resulting from the QC.
For example, according to one general approach to QC, a transmitter sets the quantum state of binary information, makes a record of how it set the quantum state, and transmits the information. Table 1 shows an example of quantum states and bases for different polarizations of photons. For the bases and states shown in Table 1, the transmitter selects a basis (rectilinear or diagonal), sets the polarization state for a photon in the selected basis, and records the bit value (0 or 1), the selected sending basis and the time of transmission.
TABLE 1Example bases and quantum states.Basis01Rectilinear (+)90° 0°Diagonal (×)45°135° (or −45°)
A receiver receives the binary information, measures the quantum state of the information and makes a record of how it measured the quantum state. The measured state depends on how the receiver performs the measurement (e.g., with measuring basis of rectilinear or diagonal). The transmitter and receiver are expected to record different bit values in some instances because the transmitter and receiver at times set/measure the quantum-state-encoded information in different ways. Thus, after exchanging information in quantum states, the transmitter and receiver compare their records of how the quantum states were set and measured. For this comparison, the transmitter and receiver exchange information over a public channel. Then, the transmitter and receiver produce a shared series of bits (keys) from the encoded information for which quantum states were set and measured in the same way by the transmitter and receiver.
For the bases and states shown in Table 1, for example, the receiver selects a basis (rectilinear or diagonal), measures the polarization state in the selected basis, and records the measured bit value and measuring basis. No possible measuring basis can distinguish all four states, so the receiver essentially guesses either rectilinear or diagonal. If the measuring basis happens to match the sending basis, the receiver should measure the correct bit value. If the measuring basis does not match the sending basis, however, the measured bit value is as likely to be correct as incorrect. For example, if the sending basis is diagonal for the bit value 0 (polarization state of 45°) but the measuring basis is rectilinear, the measured bit values of 0 (90°) and 1 (0°) are equally likely. The transmitter and receiver compare the sending basis and measuring basis for a given photon, and keep the bit value for a photon if the sending basis and measuring basis match.
If an eavesdropper intercepts and measures a photon, the measurement perturbs the quantum state of the photon. The eavesdropper can only guess the original sending basis when it re-encodes and re-transmits the photon to the intended destination. At the time of measurement by the receiver, the eavesdropping is not detected. Instead, for subsets of the bit values for which sending basis and measuring basis are found to match, the transmitter and receiver compare parity values. The parity values should match exactly, if the system is appropriately tuned and free from imperfections in transmission and reception. Eavesdropping introduces noticeable discrepancies in the bit values, which allows the transmitter and receiver to detect the eavesdropping, correct the keys, and establish an upper limit on the eavesdropper's partial information.
An error-free bit string shared by the transmitter and receiver can then be privacy-amplified (e.g., by hashing with a hashing function) to reduce its length. (Or, bits can simply be dropped, but this lacks advantages of privacy amplification.) The final length of the shared bit string can depend on the number of errors detected. Shortening the shared bit string with privacy amplification reduces knowledge an eavesdropper might have to an arbitrarily low level—typically, much less than a single bit.
Unfortunately, practical QC systems such as those using optical systems that track remote receivers exhibit increased errors due to difficulties in establishing appropriate states of polarization (SOPs) at a receiver. Typically, a transmitted state of polarization from a fixed receiver varies or appears to vary at a receiver as the transmitter optical system is adjusted to track a moving receiver. For example, in earth to satellite communication, a ground based transmitter tracks satellite motion, thereby producing changes in SOP at the satellite receiver that are unrelated to the intended QC signal.

Polarization tracking system for free-space optical communication, including quantum communication


An improved method for making 3-(3,5-dialkyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionates of hydroxyalkyloxamides involved heating the hydroxyalkyloxamide with a lower alkyl ester of 3-(3,5-dialkyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid in the presence of an alkanestannoic acid at a temperature of 150.degree. to 230.degree. C., the lower boiling alcohol being removed by distillation.

Hydroxyalkyloxamide esters of 3-(3,5-dialkyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid are excellent stabilizers and antioxidants for a variety of organic materials. They are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,556 and in the inventor's copending applications, Ser. No. 043,790, entitled "N,N.sup.1 -Bis-2-3-(3,5-di-tert.-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionyloxy ethyl oxamide", Ser. No. 043,914, now abandoned, entitled "Phenolic Oxamide Antioxidants", and Ser. No. 043,761, entitled "Polyfunctional Phenolic Oxamide Antioxidants", assigned to Uniroyal, Inc., filed on even date herewith, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference: These esters can be made by the usual esterification or transesterification methods. The use of tin type transesterification catalysts is of particular value in making esters of 3-(3,5-di-alkyl-4-hydroxyplenyl)propionic acid. Strong acid catalysts tend to remove some of the tertiary alkyl groups from the phenolic ring during the transesterification. Strong bases tend to split the propionate into di-alkyl phenol and an acrylate. Tin catalysts are not known to promote either of these side reactions. They also have the advantage of being useful at very low concentrations (0.1-0.25%). A variety of tin transesterification catalysts are commercially available. The literature teaches that temperatures around 220.degree. C. are needed for a satisfactory rate. This presents a drawback in their use as many esters can decompose at that temperature.
It has surprisingly been found that in the case of transesterification with lower alkyl 3-(3,5-di-alkyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionates, using certain tin transesterification catalysts, the transesterification begins to take place at temperatures as low as 150.degree. C.

Process for making 3-(3,5-dialkyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate esters of hydroxyalkyloxamides


A monitor system for an air conditioning unit having a suction refrigerant line and a liquid refrigerant line. The monitor system has two low pressure sensors mounted on the suction refrigerant line; a high pressure sensor mounted on the liquid refrigerant line; a back-up battery; an AC transformer; an AC to DC converter board having three connection points; two double DPDT relays; a terminal board having terminals for connection to the converter board, the relays, a warning device and the pressure sensors. For commercial size air conditioning systems, the monitor system has two 12-volt back-up batteries; two AC transformers; two 16 AC to DC converter boards, and three double DPDT relays.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to air conditioners, and in particular, relates to a monitor and alarm system for air conditioners.
2. Description of the Related Art
Air conditioners are increasingly an essential part of office buildings and residences, particularly in southern climates. Central air conditioners typically include an outdoor condensing unit including a refrigerant compressor, an indoor evaporator unit, and a manually adjustable indoor thermostat responsive to the indoor temperature for selecting and controlling the operation of the air conditioner.
Air conditioning systems use a thermally conductive coolant such as freon in a conduit. Heat exchange systems transfer heat from inside the conduit to the outside of the conduit. In an expansion valve, the high pressure, low temperature coolant is reduced in pressure, which lowers the temperature of the coolant. The coolant then is transferred into a series of coiled tubes that act as a heat exchanger with warm air from the building, thus cooling the warm air which when cooled is circulated through the structure.
The efficient functioning of air conditioners require that there be sufficient coolant in the conduit, that the coolant be cooled, that power to the system is sufficient to operate the air conditioner, that the components of the air conditioner be present and operating. Diagnosing problems when air conditioners do not function properly, or at all, generally requires a service technician, since a typical building owner or tenant is not usually trained or knowledgeable in such matters.
Thus, there is a need for an air conditioner monitor that monitors the unit to determine if refrigerant pressure is too high or too low, to determine if the fan motor has gone out, to determine if there is a leak or if someone is attempting to steal components of the air conditioner such as the copper coils, and the like. The latter problem has become increasingly common as copper has become more valuable as a commodity. There is also a need to have a monitor that functions even if the power to the monitor has been cut, such as might occur in a theft.
There are previous systems that accomplish some of these goals. For example, some air conditioners already have a thermostat with monitors, and a computer to monitor sensors, but there is no alarm.
The patent of Anderson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,061) has a control system for protecting an air conditioner and a malfunction indicator. The control system keeps the air conditioner from being turned on in the event of low power, and has a current sensing control.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,313 of Bell et al. provides a monitor and superheat calculator system for air conditioners, which has a handheld monitoring device and a remote sensing unit for temperature and pressure which is placed within the return air flow of the A/C system. Additional sensors may be provided with communication between the sensors. Data from these sensors allow a technician to diagnose A/C problems.
The furnace and air conditioner failure alarm of Kennison (U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,436) provides a battery power supply to power circuits in case of A/C power failure. An environmental temperature sensor monitors the area being air conditioned and is connected to alarm circuitry which is activated when the temperature is at an unacceptable level.
It is therefore an object of this invention to monitor the low and high pressure on air conditioning units to warn the owner of problems that need repair by an air conditioning technician, thus preventing extensive damage, and to avert theft of the air conditioning unit or the coils. Thus the invention is designed to allow easier determination of whether there is a problem with an A/C unit and of what the possible problem and its cause might be, particularly if the problem is important to the function of the air conditioning system.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a monitor and alarm that includes one or more visual or audible alarms when the monitor registers problems.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.

Air conditioner monitor and alarm system


A method for calibrating an image processing device performs first processing to first image data, using a three-dimensional lookup table, and performing second processing to image data that has been processed by the first processing, using a one-dimensional lookup table on the output side of the three-dimensional lookup table. The method includes first setting step for setting first calibration information for each color component to have a target color temperature at the one-dimensional lookup table, second setting step for setting second calibration information for mapping the first image data to a target color space at the three-dimensional lookup table, and correction step for correcting the first calibration information based on an error from a target characteristic using image data that has been processed by the second processing.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to calibration methods for an image processing device, calibration devices for an image processing device, image processing devices, and display modules.
2. Related Art
There are some techniques that have been proposed to achieve color reproduction that the user desires, using a display panel, such as, a liquid crystal display (hereafter, LCD) panel, an organic electroluminescence (hereafter, EL) panel and the like.
For example, Japanese laid-open patent application HEI 11-261831 (Patent Document 1) describes a technique of performing color space conversion with a three-dimensional lookup table (hereafter, 3DLUT). According to this technique, a one-dimensional lookup table (hereafter, 1DLUT) is prepared for density conversion between output density and output data, and density values from which density fluctuation is eliminated are obtained, by which stationary density fluctuation that may be caused by an image output device and the like is eliminated, and thus the accuracy in forming 3DLUT is improved.
Also, Japanese laid-open patent application 2010-226369 (Patent Document 2) describes a technique for optimizing a color reproduction method in the state that includes gradation conversion when a color conversion matrix and a 1DLUT for correcting the contrast characteristic are combined. According to this technique, color conversion can be accurately and stably performed without depending on individual experience.
However, according to the techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, there is a problem in that the circuit scale would become enlarged when attempting to realize color reproduction with higher accuracy. In particular, in the case of 3DLUT, the circuit scale becomes substantially larger when the number of grids is increased, such that it is difficult to realize highly accurate color reproduction by a small circuit scale.

Calibration method for image processing device, calibration device, image processing device, and display module