An image forming method includes forming toner images on first and second image bearing members; transferring a first toner image on the first image bearing member and a second toner image on the second image bearing member, in mutually superposed manner, onto a recording material; heating the first and second toner image thereby fixing the same to the recording material; detecting alignment marks on the first and second image bearing members in the course of a continuous job for continuously forming images; controlling relative positions of the first toner image and the second toner image, based on a result of detection of the alignment marks; and increasing a frequency of execution of the relative position control in the continuous job, as the recording material to be subjected to image formation in the continuous job has a smaller width in a direction perpendicular to a transport direction of the recording material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming method of transferring plural toner images, formed on a plurality of image bearing members, in a superposed manner onto a recording material, and more particularly to an image forming method capable of correcting a relative positional relationship of such toner images on the image bearing members.
2. Related Background Art
In such an image forming apparatus, toner images are formed on first and second image bearing members. Subsequently, the first toner image on the first image bearing member and the second toner image on the second image bearing member are transferred in a superposed manner onto the recording material. Finally, the first and second toner images are heated and fixed on the recording material. In the course of a continuous printing job of executing image formations in a consecutive manner, the relative positional relationship of the first toner image and the second toner image is corrected to reduce an error in the mutually superposed toner images. Such correction of the mutual position is executed, based on a result of detections of alignment marks formed on the first image bearing member and the second image bearing member.
However, in case the image is formed, in a continuous printing job, on a recording sheet having a short width in a direction perpendicular to a transport direction (such direction being hereinafter called a thrust direction), such error cannot be reduced sufficiently. More specifically, in case of forming an image on a recording sheet having a short length in the width direction, a sheet non-passing area is formed on an end portion of the fixing member, and the heat in such a sheet non-passing area is released inside the apparatus, resulting in an elevated temperature in the apparatus and causing a deformation thereof, thus aggravating the error.


The apparatus comprises an input memory 102 for storing data necessary for geometrical operations, such as coordinate transformation, luminance calculation, and clipping operation of graphics; a global bus connected to the input memory; a plurality of floating process memories connected to the global bus, for receiving data necessary for geometrical operations; a sequencer for transmitting data necessary for geometrical operations, stored in the input memory, to the plurality of floating process memories; and a plurality of floating processing units each connected to a respective one of the plurality of floating process memories, for independently executing geometrical operations, using data transmitted from the floating process memories.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which performs a geometrical operation, such as coordinate transformation, luminance calculation, or a clipping operation, at a high speed in a three-dimensional computer graphic display system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
[Prior Art 1]
FIG. 24 illustrates a three-dimensional (3-D) image generation apparatus disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. Sho 63-86079. This apparatus employs a conventional parallel processor arrangement in which a large number of 3-D vector operations and matrix operations are performed for 3-D graphic image generation at a high speed through parallel execution. FIG. 24 shows the following components: an interface IF between the device and a system bus 10; data memories DBMs1-4 for storing data regarding object form and parameters to be used for image generation; floating processing units FPUs1-3; an arithmetic logic unit FALU; a high speed data bus 20 for connecting the DBMs1-4, the FPUs1-3, and the unit FALU; a data collector DC for collecting image data generated by the processing units, so as to write them into a display memory; a program memory WCS for storing an instruction for controlling respective processing units, memories, and logical circuits; a sequencer SEQ for reading out an instruction from the WCS; and an address generator ADG for generating a physical address for the DBM based on a memory address designation instruction among all the instructions read out by the SEQ from the WCS.
FIG. 25 is a detailed representation showing an example combining the FPUs1-3 and the FALU in FIG. 24. FIG. 25 includes the following components: floating point processors FPPs1-4; an arithmetic logic unit ALU; a multiplexer MPX for selecting one from a plurality of data; registers REGs1-4 for storing operation data; and a reference table LUT for storing parameters for computing various functions, such as roots, trigonometric functions etc., at a high speed. As shown in the drawing, the respective FPPs are connected to one another via MPXs such that an output of one FPP can become an input of the other FPPs. Such a connection of four individually operative FPPs1-4 will allow parallel execution of four separate operations.
FIG. 26 shows steps of a matrix calculation for coordinate transformation, using parallel processors shown in FIG. 25. The expression (1) (described later) comprises matrix components T11, T12, T13, T14, T21, T22, T23, T24, T31, T32, T33, T34, T41, T42, T43, and T44. When it is assumed that data on the first, second, third and fourth four components above are pre-stored in FPP1, FPP2, FPP3, and FPP4, respectively, solving the expression (1) requires sixteen multiplications and twelve additions to be conducted because three additions per line must be conducted for four lines. However, with the use of these parallel processors, the expression (1) can be solved through twelve steps by the FPPs1-4. Nevertheless, it is further desirable if the operation is achieved at a higher speed. ##EQU1##
In this system, although the four parallel processors can operate simultaneously in coordinate transformation, some processors are left idle in some steps, as shown in FIG. 26. For 3-D graphic processing in which a large amount of computation is conducted on a real time basis, it is necessary to enhance the parallel extent of the parallel operations of the processors so as to reduce operational time.
[Prior Art 2]
FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing another prior art, or a sequence control apparatus disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. Sho 64-64034. This prior art apparatus includes sequence circuit hardware which can judge whether or not input information has a particular pattern. FIG. 27 includes the following components: flip flops 2701-1 to 2701-N for holding N bit data, each bit indicating each of N input conditions; an input data generation circuit 2702 for generating N-bit parallel data, using the N outputs of the flip flops 2701-1 to 2701-N; an instruction register 2704-1 for storing an instruction code; a comparison circuit 2703 for comparing the N-bit data from the input data generation circuit 2702 and N-bit data held in the second field (2704-1a) of the instruction register 2704-1, so as to output a matching signal when these data match; a decoder 2704-2 for decoding a condition branch instruction held in the first field of the instruction register 2704-1, so as to output an execution signal; a logical AND circuit 2705 for outputting a logical AND of the matching signal from the comparison circuit 2703 and the execution signal from the decoder 2704-2; branch destination selection circuit 2706 for outputting a branch destination of the condition branch instruction, when receiving a signal from the logical AND circuit 2705; and a program counter 2704-3 for holding the branch destination address when receiving a signal from the branch destination selection circuit 2706.
The operation of this sequence circuit will now be described. When it is assumed that N is eight, the flip flops 2701-1 to 2701-8 hold 8-bit input information, so that the input data generation circuit 2702 generates 8 bit data, based on this information. Provided that the second field of the instruction register 2704-1 contains data "00000011," the comparison circuit 2703 outputs a matching signal when data held in the flip flops 2701-1 to 2701-8 is "00000011." Meanwhile, a decoder 2704-2 decodes an instruction code of a condition branch instruction held in the first field of the instruction registers 2704-01, and outputs decoded data as an execution signal. The logical AND circuit 2705 computes a logical AND of the matching and execution signals, and outputs the result as an output signal. Based on this output signal, the branch destination selection circuit 2706 outputs a branch destination address held in the third field of the instruction register 2704-1, as a branch destination signal, which corresponds to a start address of a certain operation. The program counter 2704-3 holds the address output by the branch destination selection circuit 2706, and the system starts execution of a program at the address held in the program counter 2704-3.
In the branch sequence of this prior art, the operational process is branched only when a bit pattern matches a predetermined single branch condition. Thus, in the case of a plurality of branch conditions and bit patterns, it is necessary to compare respective patterns with every branch condition, which impedes a high speed branch operation.
[Prior Art 3]
A third prior art is described referring to FIG. 28, which relates to a multicast transmission for use in a multi-processor arrangement disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. Hei 3-1264. This drawing includes a main processor 2801 and I/O processors 2802, each operable independently. In this arrangement, when one of the I/O processors 2802 issues address data into a bus, all the other I/O processors 2802 individually monitor the data to see whether the data is addressed thereto, and reads the necessary data. In this method, a multicast transmission is performed by sending data from one source, which addresses more than two destinations.
Generally speaking, in a conventional clipping operation, a clip code generation circuit generates clip codes for plates in the X, Y, and Z directions one by one, to execute a clip judgment of a polygon. As a result, clip judgement takes time to complete, which hinders high speed image drawing.
In this prior art, the respective parallel processors must detect whether data is addressed to themselves, which makes the hardware rather complicated. Further, when one processor transmits data to all the other processors in a conventional SIMD format parallel processor structure, destination processors must be designated one by one, which takes a long transmission time.

Geometrical operation apparatus for performing high speed calculations in a three-dimensional computer graphic display system


The present invention allows for a pre-licensing process for content that is subject to rights management in order to allow a principal access to the content when the principal does not have access to the rights management server. Rather than requiring the principal to submit a rights account certificate and request for a use license to the rights management server, the present invention allows the message server to obtain a use license on behalf of the principal. Accordingly, the principal can access the use license from the message server and decrypt protected content without having to request the use license from the rights management server.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the distribution of protected content in a rights management system. More particularly, the present invention provides for pre-licensing content subject to rights management in order to allow a principal access to the content when the principal does not have access to a rights management server.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Rights management services (RMS) provide software that protects ownership/copyright of electronic content by restricting what actions an authorized recipient may take in regard to that content. The term content refers to information and data stored in digital format including: pictures, movies, videos, music, programs, multimedia, games, documents, etc. A few of the primary functions of a RMS are to control licensing authorization so that content is unlocked only by authorized intermediate or end-users that have secured a license, and to control content usage according to the conditions of purchase or license or otherwise imposed by the author (e.g., permitted number of copies, number of plays, the time interval or term the license may be valid, or actions that may be performed on the content, such as further distribution, opening or accessing, printing, and the like). Another function of a RMS may be to identify the origin of unauthorized copies of content to further combat piracy.
Originally, the idea of rights management was used to protect against the on-line piracy of commercially marketed material such as digital periodicals, books, photographs, educational material, video, music, etc. The use of rights management, however, has become increasingly popular in the business setting to protect proprietary or confidential information within a business network. For example, a CEO of a large corporation may wish to distribute an email that includes trade-secrets. Because of the confidential nature of this information, however, the CEO may wish to limit the actions recipients may take in regard to this content. For example, the CEO may wish to allow upper-level management to read, copy, print and save the confidential information; however, she may wish to limit other employees to read-only access or to no access at all. Accordingly, through the use of RMS the CEO can specify who is authorized to view the protected content and what actions they may take in regards thereto.
The above illustrates just one of many examples of the importance of controlling content in a business network environment. Although rights management is becoming a popular tool in a business environment, there currently exist several drawbacks and deficiencies in the system. For example, typically the recipient of the protected content is required to obtain a use license from a RMS server in order to open and use the protected content. If, however, a user is on remote location or does not otherwise have access to a RMS server the user may not be able to obtain a license. Such an instance could arise when an employee downloads a protected email onto their laptop, and later opens the item when not connected to the network, e.g., when traveling. Alternatively, corporate policy may be established to protect the sensitive keys within the RMS server from those outside the network. Accordingly, the corporation may not allow access to the RMS server to employees on remote location. As such, a remote user that previously downloaded protected content before going on remote location or otherwise receives protected content through, e.g., a message server, may not be able to access the content because they cannot get authorization from the RMS server.
Another drawback of the current rights management services is the limited control over balancing the load on a RMS server. Accordingly, the RMS may fail because of an overload of requests for use licenses. For example, if a large corporation sent protected content to all of its employees and all of the employees attempt to obtain a use license at about the same time there is a potential that the RMS server may become overwhelmed and fail.
Accordingly, there exists a need for methods, systems and computer program products that provide for allowing a user access to protected content when the user does not have access to a RMS server. Furthermore, there exists a need for throttling the load on the RMS server to produce batch requests at a pace the RMS server can handle.

Pre-licensing of rights management protected content


A speech coder, formed with a digital speech encoder and a digital speech decoder, utilizes fast excitation coding to reduce the computation power needed for compressing digital samples of an input speech signal to produce a compressed digital speech datastream that is subsequently decompressed to synthesize digital output speech samples. Much of the fast excitation coding is furnished by an excitation search unit in the encoder. The search unit determines excitation information that defines a non-periodic group of excitation pulses The optimal location of each pulse in the non-periodic pulse group is chosen from a corresponding set of pulse positions stored in the encoder. The search unit ascertains the optimal pulse positions by maximizing the correlation between (a) a target group of filtered versions of digital input speech samples provided to the encoder for compression and (b) a corresponding group of synthesized digital speech samples. The synthesized sample group depends on the pulse positions available in the corresponding sets of stored pulse positions and on the signs of the pulses at those positions.

A digital speech coder is part of a speech communication system that typically contains an analog-to-digital converter ("ADC"), a digital speech encoder, a data storage or transmission mechanism, a digital speech decoder, and a digital-to-analog converter ("DAC"). The ADC samples an analog input speech waveform and converts the (analog) samples into a corresponding datastream of digital input speech samples. The encoder applies a coding to the digital input datastream in order to compress it into a smaller datastream that approximates the digital input speech samples. The compressed digital speech datastream is stored in the storage mechanism or transmitted by way of the transmission mechanism to a remote location.
The decoder, situated at the site of the storage mechanism or at the remote location, decompresses the compressed digital datastream to produce a datastream of digital output speech samples. The DAC then converts the decompressed digital output datastream into a corresponding analog output speech waveform that approximates the analog input speech waveform. The encoder and decoder form a speech coder commonly referred to as a coder/decoder or codec.
Speech is produced as a result of acoustical excitation of the human vocal tract. In the well-known linear predictive coding ("LPC") model, the vocal tract function is approximated by a time-varying recursive linear filter, commonly termed the formant synthesis filter, obtained from directly analyzing speech waveform samples using the LPC technique. Glottal excitation of the vocal track occurs when air passes the vocal cords. The glottal excitation signals, although not representable as easily as the vocal tract function, can generally be represented by a weighted sum of two types of excitation signals: a quasi-periodic excitation signal and a noise-like excitation signal. The quasi-periodic excitation signal is typically approximated by a concatenation of many short waveform segments where, within each segment, the waveform is periodic with a constant period termed the average pitch period. The noise-like signal is approximated by a series of non-periodic pulses or white noise.
The pitch period and the characteristics of the formant synthesis filter change continuously with time. To reduce the data rate required to transmit the compressed speech information, the pitch data and the format filter characteristics are periodically updated. This typically occurs at intervals of 10 to 30 milliseconds.
The Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union ("ITU") is in the process of standardizing a dual-rate digital speech coder for multi-media communications. "Dual Rate Speech Coder for Multimedia Communications Transmitting at 5.3 & 6.3 kbits/s," Draft G.723, Telecommunication Standardization Sector of ITU, 7 Jul. 1995, 37 pages (hereafter referred to as the "July 1995 G.723 specification"), presents a description of this standardized ITU speech coder (hereafter the "G.723 coder"). Using linear predictive coding in combination with an analysis-by-synthesis technique, the digital speech encoder in the G.723 coder generates a compressed digital speech datastream at a data rate of 5.3 or 6.3 kilobits/second ("kbps") starting from an uncompressed input digital speech datastream at a data rate of 128 kbps. The 5.3-kbps or 6.3 kbps compressed data rate is selectively set by the user.
After decompression of the compressed datastream, the digital speech signal produced by the G.723 coder is of excellent communication quality. However, a high computation capability is needed to implement the G.723 coder. In particulars the G.723 coder typically requires approximately twenty million instructions per second of processing power furnished by a dedicated digital signal processor. A large portion of the G.723 coder's processing capability is utilized in performing energy error minimization during the generation of codebook excitation information.
In software running on a general purpose computer such as a personal computer, it is difficult to attain the data processing capability needed for the G.723 coder. A digital speech coder that provides communication quality comparable to that of the G.723 coder but at a considerably reduced computation power is desirable.

Speech coder that utilizes correlation maximization to achieve fast excitation coding, and associated coding method


A triangle wave generating circuit comprising: a pulse generating circuit configured to generate a plurality of pulse signals with the same period and with phases different from one another; and a plurality of charge/discharge circuits configured to be supplied with the plurality of pulse signals, respectively, the plurality of charge/discharge circuits each including: a current supply circuit configured to supply to a capacitor a first current for charging at a predetermined current value or a second current for discharging at a predetermined current value; and a charge/discharge control circuit configured to switch between the first current and the second current when the pulse signals are supplied thereto and when a voltage across the capacitor reaches a predetermined reference voltage, the first current and the second current supplied from the current supply circuit to the capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a triangle wave generating circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A switching power supply that generates a desired direct-current voltage by a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control is generally known as a power supply for generating a direct-current voltage used in electronic equipment such as a personal computer. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-174853 discloses a DC-DC convertor that compares a smoothed output voltage and a triangle wave or a saw-tooth wave by a PWM comparator and controls on and off of a switching device according to an output of the PWM comparator.
As such, a PWM signal may be generated using the triangle wave or the saw-tooth wave as a signal for voltage comparison with the output voltage so that the desired direct-current voltage may be generated.
In such electronic equipment as to incorporate a number of electronic circuits, it is desirable from a view-point of reducing maximum power consumption of the electronic equipment as a whole that a plurality of switching power supplies, which are PWM-controlled with phases different from one another, are incorporated, to disperse loads connected to each of the switching power supplies. As illustrated in FIG. 13 or 14, for example, the PWM control may be performed with phases shifted by 180° from each other by outputting the triangle wave TW1 from a common triangle wave generating circuit 8a or 8b and outputting from an inverting amplifier circuit 9 the triangle wave TW2 obtained by inverting the triangle wave TW1.
As illustrated in B2 and C2 of FIG. 15, for example, however, when the triangle wave TW1 input to the inverting amplifier circuit 9 is not a symmetrical triangle wave, the triangle wave TW2 output from the inverting amplifier circuit 9 does not form a triangle wave with a phase shifted by 180° relative to the phase of the triangle wave TW1, and thus, the PWM control may not be performed with the phases shifted by 180° from each other. As illustrated in B and C of FIG. 16, for example, when the triangle wave TW1 has a high frequency (short period), the triangle wave TW2 has a rounded waveform due to the slew rate, etc., of an operational amplifier 90, and thus, accuracy of the PWM control will be reduced.
For this reason, in the case of using a plurality of switching power supplies that are PWM-controlled with the phases different from one another, asymmetrical triangle waves including the saw-tooth wave may not be used as the signal for the voltage comparison and the switching power supplies may not be increased in switching frequency.

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC


A seal configuration includes a housing and a rotatable member rotationally mounted relative to the housing. The rotatable member has at least one portion defining an outer perimetrical face that is configured to contact the housing during operational conditions that cause a radial dimension of the at least one portion to increase. The at least one portion has opposing axial surfaces with each of the opposing axial surfaces being dimensionally axially nearer to the other of the opposing axial surfaces immediately radially inwardly of the outer perimetrical face than a furthest part of the outer perimetrical face.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to configurations that seal a rotating member to a housing and more specifically to sealing an outermost radial portion of the rotating member to the housing. Sealing components that move relative to one another create challenges. These challenges are exacerbated when clearance between the moving components is altered based upon operational conditions of the machine as happens between a shroud of a bucket and a casing of a turbine engine, for example. Industries that rely on such seals are therefore receptive to new systems and methods that improve sealing between parts moving relative to one another.

Rotating seal configuration and method of sealing a rotating member to a housing


Methods, systems, and devices for controlling mesh network devices are described. The method includes receiving, by an automation device, a first message from a control device, adding, by the automation device, the identifier of the first user device to a priority list of the automation device based on receiving the first message, and controlling, by the automation device, access to operations of the automation device based on the identifier in the priority list after adding the identifier of the first user device. In some cases, the first message includes an identifier of a first user device and an add command.

The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to controlling access to certain devices (e.g., wireless mesh devices, etc.).
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wireless network, for example a wireless local area network (WLAN), such as a Wi-Fi (i.e., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11) network may include an access point (AP) that may communicate with one or more wireless or mobile devices. The AP may be coupled to a network, such as the Internet, and may enable a mobile device to communicate via the network (or communicate with other devices coupled to the access point). A wireless device may communicate with a network device bi-directionally. For example, in a WLAN, a device may communicate with an associated AP via downlink (e.g., the communication link from the AP to the device) and uplink (e.g., the communication link from the device to the AP). A wireless personal area network (PAN), which may include a Bluetooth connection, may provide for short range wireless connections between two or more paired wireless devices. For example, wireless devices such as cellular phones may utilize wireless PAN communications to exchange information such as audio signals with wireless headsets.
In some cases, a first wireless communications device may establish a connection with a second wireless communications device. In some examples, the second wireless communications device may initiate a function associated with the first wireless communications device. Improved techniques for wireless communications are desired.

Parental control for bluetooth mesh devices


A suspension frame for supporting trays includes support rails formed by legs which have cutouts and vertical sections having apertures in order to make it possible to wet the suspension frame with cleaning liquid as far as possible on all sides.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a suspension or rack frame for apparatus for the thermal treatment of substances, especially foodstuffs, having support rails with legs lying one above another for the edge regions of containers or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Suspension frames or rack frames of conventional type have support rails which are either fixed to two vertical profiles, the support rails being U-shaped in cross section, or appropriate horizontal legs are punched out from a sheet metal part and angled over so that they act in a way corresponding to the legs of U-shaped rails. This sheet metal part is turned over at the side edges in order to be able to be fixed to a side wall of the cooking appliance, just like the vertical profiles.
In these known embodiments, residues from the cooking operation in the form of organic materials are deposited on the support rails and, at the operating temperature of these apparatuses for the heat treatment of foodstuffs, referred to below as cooking appliances, tend to burn in and therefore adhere firmly to the surfaces. However, the surfaces in a cooking chamber must be satisfactorily clean in accordance with hygiene regulations. During the cleaning of the inner surfaces of cooking appliances, in particular in the interspaces between the containers carried by the support rails and the support rails of the suspension frames or rack frames, problems arise, since dirt and encrustations accumulate there and can be removed only by means of expensive manual labor. This problem is all the more important if account is taken of the fact that in large kitchen appliances, automatic washing devices for the cooking chamber are used. However, even such automatic washing devices cannot solve the problem, since the mechanical action of fast-flowing water jets and the chemical action of the cleaning agents used cannot remove the adhering residues in the aforementioned interspaces either, since the washing liquid does not get to all the points on these support rails, in particular not at those points which lie in what is known as the spray shadow of the water jets. The spraying apparatuses, which emit appropriate water jets, are often located in the upper region of the cooking appliances, so that the undersides of the support rails lie in the aforementioned spray shadow and are not reached by the water jets.

Suspension or rack frame for apparatus for the heat treatment of substances, especially foodstuffs


A gradient index lens has a base lens and a resin layer. The resin layer is formed on a surface of the base lens. The resin layer has an aspherical surface. The base lens has a gradient index.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gradient index aspherical lens, and more particularly, to a gradient index aspherical lens suitable for use in a zoom lens system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the art of lenses for use in cameras and the like, it has been attempted to effectively correct aberrations by using gradient index lenses to thereby reduce the number of lens elements (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H2-51116). Also, it has been attempted to correct aberrations by using aspherical lenses to thereby reduce the number of lens elements (U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,290).
The gradient index lens having only spherical surfaces is capable of correcting chromatic aberration and Petzval sum by itself. However, since the degree of freedom for aberration correction is insufficient, it is after all impossible to realize each lens unit of a zoom lens system by one lens element. This is because at least two radial gradient index lenses are necessary in order to correct all of the Seidel aberrations simultaneously in gradient index lenses having only spherical surfaces (see "Design of a Gradient-Index Photographic Objective", by L. G. Atkinson et al., Appl. Opt. Vol. 21, No. 6,993 [1982]).
On the other hand, since chromatic aberration and Petzval sum cannot be corrected only by using aspherical surfaces, each lens unit necessarily includes at least two lens elements. Therefore, in order to realize each lens unit of the zoom lens system by one lens element, it is indispensable to use an aspherical surface in the gradient index lens to secure a required degree of freedom.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H4-63312 discloses a gradient index single lens formed to be aspherical which is used as an objective for an optical disk. However, how the gradient index lens is formed to be aspherical is not described. While some methods have conventionally been known to form a gradient index lens to be aspherical, in order to manufacture an aspherical gradient index lens as disclosed by Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H4-63312, it is necessary to use a method such as an aspherical surface manufacturing method to form an aspherical configuration by grinding (by so-called generating) and an aspherical surface manufacturing method by glass molding.
However, the former method presents a problem that it is difficult to reduce the cost of the optical system because of the high cost of the lenses. On the other hand, the latter method presents a problem that it is very difficult to set the optical axis of the aspherical surface and the center of gradient (i.e. the symmetry axis of the gradient) so as to coincide with each other and a problem that it is difficult to obtain a desired gradient index since the gradient configuration is changed by molding. Therefore, it is difficult to manufacture a gradient index aspherical lens by a method to directly process a lens having a gradient index, and even if it can be manufactured, the lens will be rather expensive.


A plastic fastener for mounting a hand rail to a thin wall such as a tub or shower wall is provided for which comprises a rigid anchor bar having a substantially flat bearing surface to engage a back surface of the wall and which has an arcuate length for installation in narrow spaces. The plastic fastener is molded in a flat condition and comprises a fastening head integrally connected to the anchor bar by a flexible strap. The anchor bar has a transverse slot to define a rigid block and an interconnecting flexible hinge. The plastic fastener includes a bolt adapted to extend through an opening in the fastening head and to be threaded into an opening in the anchor bar as the plastic fastener is bent about the flexible hinge to form a fastener assembly. The fastener assembly is mounted to the wall so that the anchor bar is inserted through an opening in the wall to extend behind the wall as the fastening head is maintained within the opening. As the bolt is advanced, the fastening head is drawn toward the anchor bar as the flexible strap collapses. The anchor bar with the hinged block provides a bearing surface across the opening in the wall sufficient to resist forces applied to the hand rail. The fastening head includes an indicator to locate the center axis of the anchor after installation for positioning the anchor bar at a maximum load bearing position.

Wall bars and hand rails have heretofore been known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,193,586 and 4,415,141 disclose such typical supports. These devices are generally mounted to the wall by screws. However, screw mountings may not provide adequate strength in connecting the support bar to the wall due to the generally small bearing surfaces between the fastener and the thin wall when a large amount of force is applied to the support bar.
Fasteners have been known which maintain a bearing on an inside surface of a wall opposite that to which the work is held to provide greater support. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,386,202; 2,408,366 and 2,504,325 disclose such fasteners. These fasteners; however, are not adapted to mount objects to a thin wall, such as a tub or shower wall, where there is extremely limited space behind the thin wall.
The present invention overcomes the above mentioned problems by providing a greater bearing surface against the thin wall giving greater mounting strength to support greater loads, which can be installed in very limited spaces, is easy to manufacture and is simple to install.


A fencing system for deterring an animal from entering a facility includes a control box, a fencing base controlled by the control box, and a conduit cable connecting the control box and the fencing base. The control box includes a power supply, a generator board, a transformer and a grid load resistance detector. The generator board produces electrical wave form transformed by the transformer. The transformer connects to two connection braces of the fencing base. The control box operates in an active mode and a halted mode depending the grid load resistance and duration of the load resistance. The fencing base includes a set of fence tracks forming the grid and connected to the connection braces in an alternating style. The control box also supports more than one fencing base. The more than one fencing base can take different shapes and be extended in length to fit facility openings of different sizes.

Both commercial and residential facilities attract rodents, pests and other types of animals (collectively referred to herein as animals). For example, food storage facilities oftentimes attract various animals foraging for food. As an additional example, warehouses oftentimes attract animals seeking shelters. The animals get inside the facilities through openings, such as doors, windows, gates and other types of pathways.
Various solutions have been proposed to keep animals from facilities. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,131 proposes an electric cattle guard that produces periodic pulses at about one second intervals. Each pulse lasts about 150 microseconds. U.S. Pat. No. 9,192,153 discloses an electric deterrent device that generates an electric shock to prevent animals from entering a facility. U.S. Pat. No. 6,948,452 teaches an electric animal deterrent device that includes a high voltage pulse generator. The high voltage is approximately 1000 to 3000 Volts AC. U.S. Pat. No. 8,430,063 proposes a particular structure of an animal deterrent device with insulated fasteners. U.S. Pat. No. 8,733,014 teaches an electric deterrent device having knitted conductors in a specialized structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,216 suggests an apparatus for discouraging animals from a selected area. The apparatus includes a mat and a control generating a series of electrical pulses to a conductive surface of the mat. The pulses are spaced by about one second.
Each of the conventional animal deterrent devices has certain drawbacks. To protect establishments, warehouses, food banks and other types of facilities from animals, an extensible electric animal deterrent device is desired for fitting to different sizes of facilities. In addition, a long-lasting, easy to install and low maintenance animal deterrent device is desired. Furthermore, an animal deterrent device utilizing low voltage of electrical shock for protecting animals is more desired. Moreover, an animal deterrent device in a loop shape is desired for certain applications, such as an installation of the device around a window.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new type of animal fencing system incorporating an extensible base. The new fencing system operates in active and halted modes based on load resistance and duration of time.


Techniques are described for a social networking system to enable multiple users to collaboratively create, publish, receive attribution, and/or edit content. In some cases, the social networking system may be configured to distribute the collaborative content and feedback associated therewith based on metrics and relationships between collaborators of the collaborative content and users of the social networking system.

Social networking systems provide users with functionality to share content with other users. Most conventional social networking systems provide sharing in a one to many relationship via a user's account or page. However, having individual users share collaborative content via duplicate posts generates complexity for the users and increases resource consumption of the social networking system. Therefore, many users may be discouraged from creating, sharing, and consuming collaborative content in conventional social network applications.


An attention direction of a robot, indicated by a face, eyes or the like thereof, can be aligned with a directivity direction of a microphone array. Specifically, an acoustic signal from a sound source can be captured, and input signals for individual microphones can be generated. A direction of the sound source can be estimated from the input signals. A visual line of the robot, a posture thereof, or both, can be controlled such that the attention direction of the robot coincides with the direction of the sound source. Then, the directivity direction of the microphone array can be aligned with the attention direction. Thereafter, voice recognition can be performed with an input of a delay sum corresponding to the directivity direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a humanoid robot and a method of controlling the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technology applicable to, and effective in, realization of natural motion of the robot and enhancement of voice recognition accuracy therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Humanoid robots have been developed in recent years and they are causing a stir. A humanoid robot is quite different from application-specific or function-specific robots, such as assembly robots or welding robots, used mainly in production lines or the like. The humanoid robot has a head, a body, and limbs modeled after a human being. The humanoid robot also includes sensors corresponding to acoustic, optical, and tactile senses. An attempt also has been made to allow the humanoid robot to perform voice recognition using an acoustic sensor corresponding to the acoustic sense.
With regard to humanoid robots and performance of speech recognition, the robot is expected to be able to recognize voices given thereto from an arbitrary direction. To perform voice recognition, voice capture with microphones is required. Omnidirectional microphones are not preferable therein since the omnidirectional microphones capture noise and un-targeted sounds. Therefore, it is desirable that a direction of a sound source be estimated by use of a microphone array, for example, whereby means for discretionarily varying directivity through the use of beam forming can be adopted. Through beam forming, a gain of a sound from a targeted direction can be increased. For example, a S/N ratio can be enhanced.
In general, a time difference (a phase difference) in signals captured by a plurality of microphones can be utilized for the directional estimation of a sound source with the microphones array. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, an assumption is made that an acoustic wave is made incident at an angle θ with respect to normals of the microphone array composed of a microphone 1 (MIC 1) and a microphone 2 (MIC 2). Now, assuming that a distance from the sound source is sufficiently large with respect to a space "d" between the microphone 1 and the microphone 2, then an incident acoustic wave can be presumed to be a plane wave. Accordingly, when an acoustic signal captured with the microphone 1 is x1(t), an acoustic signal x2(t) to be captured with the microphone 2 is defined as:x2(t)=x1(t−τs)  (Formula 1)Here, τs is a time difference between x1(t) and x2(t). When the acoustic velocity is denoted as c, then it is obvious from the drawing that:τs=(d×sin θ)/c  (Formula 2)Therefore, the direction θ of the sound source can be found by measuring the time difference τs, as defined by the following formula of:θ=sin−1(c×τs/d)  (Formula 3)
The time difference τs can be found out from a cross-correlation function of a plurality of captured signals or a maximum value of power of a delay sum thereof. In the case of using the cross-correlation function, for example, a cross-correlation function φ12(τ) of x1(t) and x2(t) is defined as:
                                                                        ϕ                                                                                12                                                  (                  T                  )                                            =                                                          E                                                  [                                                            x1                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                              ·                                          x2                                                                    (                                                  t                          +                          T                                                )                                                                              ]                                                                                =                                                          E                                                  [                                                            x1                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                              ·                                          x1                                                                    (                                                  t                          +                          T                          -                                                      T                                                                                S                                                                          )                                                                              ]                                                                                =                                                          ϕ                                                                                11                                                  (                                      T                    -                                          T                                                                                S                                                        )                                                                                (                  Formula                                                              4                )            In other words, φ12(τ) is an autocorrelation function of x1(t), which is expressed as φ11(τ−τs). Note that E[·] herein denotes an expected value.
Since the autocorrelation function φ11(τ) takes the maximum value at τ=0, the above-mentioned formula takes the maximum at τ=τs. Accordingly, τs can be obtained by calculating φ12(τ) from x1(t) and x2(t) and finding τ that gives the maximum value of φ12(τ).
As described above, it is possible to estimate the direction of the sound source by use of the microphone array. Moreover, beam forming is feasible by calculating the delay sum of the signals corresponding to the direction of the sound source and by using the power of the delay sum as a signal.
The beam forming can be performed by calculation in a high speed digital signal processor (DSP); therefore, the directivity can be varied rapidly in comparison with motion of a robot. Moreover, a directional beam needs to have proper hysteresis so as not to sensitively respond to sporadic sounds. However, as a direction of the directional beam is invisible, a speaker cannot recognize a directivity direction (the direction of voices to be recognized by the robot) of the robot. As a result, there are situations in which the robot recognizes voices from unexpected directions, or where the robot does not sufficiently recognize voices from the direction that the speaker expects (generally the direction along a visual line of the robot). Such aspects may cause discomfort to the speaker, who is expecting natural motion of the robot.
Moreover, accuracy of the above-described directional estimation of the sound source is restricted by a frequency bandwidth of the signal. In short, in the above-described mode, the time difference τs is found by detecting a peak value of the cross-correlation function. However, a peak of φ12 becomes gentle if bandwidths of the signals x1 and x2 are narrow, and the peak of φ12 becomes sharp if the bandwidths are wide. Since the more detection accuracy is improved, the sharper the peak obtainable becomes, the accuracy of the directional estimation of the sound source may be resultantly differentiated by the signal bandwidths.
Although an increase in the number of the microphones or widening of the space "d" between the microphones may conceivably enhance the accuracy for the direction θ of the sound source, such a mode may incur an increase in a physical scale of the microphone array. Such increased size can be unsuitable for a small system.

Robot and controlling method of the same

International Business Machines Corporation


A plant protection device having a ventilation opening shield that may be protectedly positioned between a housing and a mounting socket. A temperature sensitive actuator may be provided in the socket and the shield may pivotally move about the socket between a position impeding airflow through the ventilation opening and a position facilitating airflow through the ventilation opening. Various embodiments and features are disclosed including a reinforced housing, multi-part housing construction, and a shield mounting structure provided through the shield, among other features.

Various devices for protecting plants against frost damage are known in the art. They include devices that cover plants to retain solar-thermal or geo-thermal energy and devices that generate heat, such as gas-fired heaters used in the citrus and other industries. Devices that collect or retain solar-thermal or geo-thermal energy include greenhouses, various framed structures with translucent covering, and smaller, portable translucent devices. The present invention relates primarily to the latter.
The prior art includes at least two portable plant protecting devices that are configured to provide frost protection, yet support ventilation as temperatures rise. One is U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,521, issued to Ours for a Ventilated Plant Protector. The other is U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,177 issued to Frounfelker (the inventor herein) for a Thermal Controlled Plant Protector. The '177 patent improved over the '521 patent, and the present invention improves over the '177 patent.
One disadvantageous aspect of the device of the '177 patent is that it may experience mechanical failure. The member that covers the ventilation openings is provided on the exterior of the housing. When handled roughly, this cover is readily dislodged or jammed or develops increased friction and no longer moves as desired. The exposed cover is also susceptible to fouling from environmental debris or other objects: leaves, twigs, dirt, insects, etc., that fall onto or otherwise become coupled to the cover. Furthermore, when stored in any position other than upright, the exposed cover may become dislodged or bent or otherwise impacted such that it fails to operate properly. The device of the '521 patent also has an exposed cover and suffers from the same or similar problems.
The device of the '177 patent (and that of the '521 patent) is also disadvantageous in that it is relatively difficult and expensive to manufacture. This is due primarily to the deep cavity design and the difficulty of forming such designs via injection molding techniques. In addition, the device of the '177 patent is disadvantageous in that the design may include stress points that are undesirably prone to failure, due either to insufficiently supported structures or angles or other structurally fragile aspects.
The device of the '177 patent (and that of the '521 patent) is further disadvantageous in that due to the externally disposed configuration of the airflow control shield there is a higher likelihood of damage and failure during stacking and storage.
A need exists for a thermal controlled plant protector that significantly reduces the incidence of mechanical failure, is durable when handled roughly, is resistant to failure from environmental debris/conditions and is readily stackable, at various angles, and with a high probability of functioning correctly after removal from the storage stack.

Thermal actuated plant protection device with internal air-flow control mechanism


A display panel and a driving device for the same are disclosed. The driving device includes a timing controller and a source driver IC. The timing controller includes a first interface, a first transmitter and a first receiver which are connected with the first interface, and a first data selector which is configured to control the first transmitter and the first receiver. The source driver IC includes a second interface which is connected with the first interface, a second transmitter and a second receiver which are connected with the second interface, and a second data selector which is configured to control the second transmitter and the second receiver. The first data selector and the second data selector are configured to control the first transmitter to communicate with the second receiver in a first period, and to control the second transmitter to communicate with the first receiver in a second period.

An active matrix organic light emitting display comprises OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) which can emit light by themselves. In each pixel, a driving current for each OLED can be controlled by a driving TFT (thin film transistor), and brightness of the OLED can thus be controlled. In practice, electrical characteristics of the driving TFTs in the pixels vary from one to another due to process conditions, driving environment, or the like. For these reasons, a data voltage generates different driving currents in the pixels. In this way, brightness deviation is caused among pixels. In an external compensation technique, characteristic parameters of driving TFTs in each pixel are sensed, and the input data is correctly rectified based on the sensed result to reduce the brightness difference among pixels.

Display panel and driving device for the same


An oxide porcelain composition includes at least one metal element selected from Al, Si, Ba, B and Cr. The oxide porcelain composition contains about 11.5 weight percent to 60.0 weight percent of Al, in the form of Al2O3; about 4.0 weight percent to 70.0 weight percent of Si, in the form of SiO2; about 4.0 weight percent to 40.0 weight percent of Ba, in the form of BaO; about 1.0 weight percent to 30.0 weight percent of B, in the form of B2O3; and about 0.3 weight percent to 3.0 weight percent of Cr, in the form of Cr2O3.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulative oxide porcelain composition used for, for example, ceramic multilayer substrates and ceramic electronic components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, an oxide porcelain composition composed of BaO—Al2O3—SiO2 is known as an insulative material used for ceramic multilayer substrates and ceramic electronic components. For instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-16551 discloses a porcelain composition containing oxides of Si, Ba, Al, B, Cr and Ca. This oxide porcelain composition can be fired at a low temperature and over a wide temperature range. Furthermore, this oxide porcelain composition has a high insulation resistance and a small relative dielectric constant.
Meanwhile, electrical circuit devices including those containing a ceramic multilayer substrate or a ceramic electronic component are being reduced in size. Accordingly, reducing the size and the layer thickness of ceramic multilayer substrates and ceramic electronic components is desired. Therefore, an oxide porcelain composition having a flexural strength that can meet size-reduction requirements is desired.
In general, the flexural strength of a ceramic significantly depends on its composition. A substrate composed of the porcelain composition disclosed in the above patent application has a flexural strength of less than 200 MPa. As a result, cracks may be generated when such a substrate is mounted on an electrical circuit device. Thus, the known porcelain composition cannot satisfactorily meet the market's requirements.

Oxide porcelain composition, ceramic multilayer substrate, and ceramic electronic component


A process of manufacturing a polyolefin drag reducing agent comprises: injecting a catalyst and a drag reducing agent forming component comprising (i) at least one olefin monomer, or (ii) at least one olefin oligomer, or a combination of (i) and (ii) into a temporary container comprising a container material, sealing the temporary container; allowing the drag reducing agent forming component to polymerize in the sealed temporary container to form the polyolefin drag reducing agent; and at least partially dissolving the container material. The container material includes an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, a polyvinylpyrrolidone, an ethylene vinylpyrrolidone copolymer, a vinylpyrrolidone vinyl acetate copolymer, a polyvinyl acetate, a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyethylene glycol, a polysaccharide or its derivative, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing, provided that when the container material comprises polyvinyl acetate or polyvinyl alcohol, the temporary container is coated or has two or more layers.

Drag reducing agents (DRA) are additives used to reduce the drag of a fluid flowing through a conduit. In the oil and gas industry, the use of drag reducing agents to reduce the drag of a hydrocarbon flowing through a pipeline, and hence to reduce the energy required for such hydrocarbon transportation, is well known. Effective drag reducing agents include non-crystalline, high molecular weight polyolefins. One process of manufacturing high molecular weight polyolefin drag reducing agents is to polymerize an olefin monomer in the presence of a catalyst in a sealed container formed of polyethylene. The formed polyolefin polymer and the container are then ground together to produce particulate drag reducing agents. However, the process can be cumbersome as the container material often needs to be physically removed before or after grinding. In addition, many catalysts are sensitive to oxygen and moisture, thus the sealed container needs to be placed in an inert environment to prevent oxygen and moisture from entering the container to prematurely terminate the polymerization reaction. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for alternative processes that are effective and efficient to manufacture polyolefin drag reducing agents.

Methods of manufacturing polyolefin drag reducing agents


A computer implemented method of generating an ordered list of geographical locations having similarities in preselected categories relative to a first geographical location.

The present invention relates to a system for analyzing and comparing demographic and other data related to identifiable geographic areas to evaluate their similarity or dissimilarity. More specifically, this invention relates to a new system for calculating numeric values that are related to identifiable characteristics for a specific area of the country based on that area's demographic and other information and comparing it to a similarly generated numbers for another area of the country to determine the relative similarity or differences. A forty-page inventor's disclosure is attached which illustrates the present invention.
Currently, a broad range of data regarding the character of particular areas of the country is available for public access. The data however is in raw form. Data describing the demographics, crime rates, educational quality, housing characteristics, employment opportunities, climates and geographic data is all available for review. The difficulty is that none of the data is presented in a manner that facilitates accurate and easy comparison between selected geographic areas that can incorporate multiple characteristics regarding each area. Although many services attempt to provide comparison information, the accuracy provided by these systems is questionable. For example, if a person wished to find several cities that had similar characteristics and qualities to the town in which they currently lived, they would have to first find the city in which they are interested and subsequently search all of the data to find cities having similar data sets.
The other difficulty is that the data that is available is primarily numeric making searching difficult. Before a user could search the data to arrive at a useful result, the user would have to have a thorough understanding of the rating system used in the database.

Location Inc. Group Corporation a Massachusetts corporation


An imaging-device cleaning apparatus is attached to a camera by engaging with a lens mount of the camera typically used for attaching a camera lens. The imaging-device cleaning apparatus includes a nozzle for removing dust and dirt in the vicinity of an imaging section of the camera, and a motor and a fan for supplying air to the nozzle to remove the dust and dirt from the vicinity of an image sensor of the camera.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging-device cleaning apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a large number of digital cameras that record still images with image sensors including a CCD have been available on the market. Such digital cameras do not require photo films. Instead, the digital cameras focus images on image sensors including a CCD and store the image data onto external storage devices, such as memory cards or hard disk drives. Unlike photo films, the external storage devices allow repeated writing and erasing of the images, thus conveniently reducing the operational cost for consumable supplies.
The structure of a single-lens reflex (SLR) digital camera with interchangeable lenses tends to accumulate dust and dirt in the vicinity of the image sensors when the lenses are changed. The dust and dirt stick to the surface of a filter mounted in the vicinity of the imaging surface, and shadows of the dust and dirt sensed by the image sensors degrade the quality of the images. Unlike photo film, the imaging surface of the image sensor is not replaced for each shot. Accordingly, once the dust and dirt stick to the image sensor, their shadows appear in every photo image unless they are removed. To solve these problems, the image sensor unit may be sealed as tightly as possible or the filter may be positioned far from the image sensor. Alternatively, a user can detach a lens from the camera and expose the image sensor to air in a special mode to remove the dust and dirt sticking to the surface of the image sensor with a blower.
One of the known arts, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-229110, discloses a camera technology that removes dust and dirt sticking to an imaging section by an airflow generator incorporated into a camera body.
Unfortunately, in the above-described technology to seal the image sensor unit, if the camera has a mechanical focal-plane shutter, the shutter unit itself must be sealed. This sealed structure is disadvantageously complicated and bulky. In addition, even if the shutter unit is sealed, sliding shutter blades, which are part of the mechanical shutter, cause the surfaces of the parts to wear and generate metal particles. The particles stick to the image sensor unit. According to the other solution in which the surface of the filter is positioned far from the image sensor, as described above, shadows of the dust and dirt can be out of focus on the imaging surface. However, the blurs of the shadows still appear on the image. Therefore, this is not an ideal solution.
A user can detach a lens from the camera and expose the image sensor to air in a special mode, and then can remove the dust and dirt sticking to the surface of the image sensor with a blower. In this case, the top of the blower may accidentally damage the image sensor or the shutter.
According to the above-described patent, the dust and dirt can be removed from the imaging surface. However, the built-in airflow generator requires a modification of the camera body structure which requires increased assembly parts, thus disadvantageously resulting in increased cost and complicated assembly.


A rigid window well structure having first and second planar side walls and a planar front wall; first and second connecting walls, where the first connecting wall joins the first side wall to the front wall, and the second connecting wall joins the second side wall to the front wall, such that each of the walls expose an interior surface and an exterior surface; and a step bridged between the interior surface of at least two non-parallel walls, at least one of the two non-parallel walls being planar.

The present invention relates to building component products. More specifically, the invention relates to structures configured for forming window wells and improvements therein, with a view to providing such components that are highly rigid, functional and aesthetically pleasing.
For many years sub-terrain window systems have been designed to allow light into basement areas in order to make the space more desirable, as well as meet building code requirements, as discussed below. These window systems generally comprise a standard size or other window located, at least in part, below grade. Provided at the window location is a window well structure surrounding the outside window surface which acts, at least in part, to retain the earth. An early effort to accomplish this is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 300,654 entitled xe2x80x9cArea Window Protectorxe2x80x9d first patented in 1884. Since then, many other areaway or window well designs and improvements have been patented directed to the improvement of window well structure capabilities such as admitting light and retaining earth.
Due to a desire to utilize basement windows for a possible escape route during emergencies, and later due to many building codes provisions regarding basement egress, window wells or areaways have been designed to facilitate such an escape in case of an emergency. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,334, issued in 1976, describes an areaway that is an extension of the basement space beyond the foundation wall. This patent disclosure recognizes that a basement window could be useful as a means of escape.
More recently, relatively deep window well structures having U-shaped cross-sections and a vertical wall on each of three sides have been developed. It has been recognized as desirable to provide a series of steps or a ladder therein so that an escapee may more easily scale the wall of the window well structure. This has traditionally been accomplished by the use of an separate external ladder that drops into the window well.
Alternatively, and as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,833, structure allowing for an escape system and also enabling utilization of the space created by the structure for aesthetic purposes is possible. One embodiment disclosed comprises a window well structure or areaway system where the walls are not vertical, but are configured like a stairway.
Other designs for window wells have previously been disclosed, such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,467; U.S. Pat. No. D248,071; U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,640; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,828.
The foregoing references and discussion illustrate that window well structures have functioned to: a) provide an escape route in an emergency, b) provide light to a basement area; and c) to retain the earth. Recognition of the importance of providing an aesthetically pleasing window well structure has also evolved. A decorative window well structure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,503. That reference discloses a window well structure, preferably comprised of a high-strength plastic material, having planter boxes on the interior vertical walls which double as escape steps. Additionally, the reference teaches that the plastic material may be fabricated to have an aesthetically pleasing appearance, such as by incorporating a brick or granite xe2x80x9clookxe2x80x9d in surface texture and configuration.
Structural integrity has also been an important part of window well structure design. For this reason, window well structures have typically been corrugated to provide rigidity. Additionally, prior to the present invention, window well structures having a U-shaped cross section have been the design of choice of most manufacturers. This is likely due to the fact that most window well structures are formed of metal. The U-shape cross section is a convenient and low-cost shape to manufacture in metal, and U-shaped window well structures are relatively strong due simply to inherent advantages of the geometry.
It has been recognized that a drawback of using metal in window well structures is that it is heavier and more difficult to shape in a specific one piece configuration than a high density polymeric resin material or a combination of high density/low density polymeric resins. For example, it would be much more difficult to provide a single-piece window well structure having xe2x80x9cbuilt inxe2x80x9d steps in a metal material than it would be with a polymeric resin material. Additionally, a plastic is a good material to use if the desire is to fabricate window well structures that are aesthetically pleasing, e.g., color and texture are easily modified. However, since plastic is often flexible, it is important to provide a design that is rigid, particularly when the window well is deep and is being used as an emergency escape.
As such, the present invention provides an improved window well structure over those previously disclosed. Whether the chosen material from which the structure is formed is a polymeric resin, filled or otherwise a composite material or not, or whether the window well structure is corrugated or not, window well structures in accordance with principles of the present invention are highly rigid, functional and aesthetically pleasing. Such a structure includes a rigid window well structure having a front wall, two side walls, two connecting walls, an interior surface, an exterior surface, and at least one integral step built-in or afterward attachable, adjacent to the interior surface and disposed between the front wall and one of the side walls, and configured to facilitate escape in the event of an emergency. In a more detailed aspect, the configuration can have increased rigidity due to the presence of one or more steps, either formed as a single continuous piece or as a modular assembly. Such an escape step formed in a window well structure can be very rigid due to both design and location within the window well.
In a further more detailed aspect, each step defines a cavity on the exterior surface of a window well panel structure such that the retained earth acts with the panel to form a composite structure configured to further support the step and rigidify the entire window well structure.
In a further more detailed aspect, a window well structure in accordance with principles of the invention is configured to provide a new window well design that is rigid and aesthetically pleasing, even without the presence of escape steps. More specifically, such a rigid window well structure in accordance with principles of the invention comprises a) a first planar side wall, b) a second planar side wall, c) a planar front wall, d) a first connecting wall, e) a second connecting wall, wherein the first connecting wall joins the first side wall to the front wall and the second connecting wall joins the second side wall to the front wall, such that each of the walls expose an interior surface and an exterior surface and f) a step bridged between the interior surfaces of at least two walls. In a more detailed aspect, the step can bridge the interior surface of the front wall and the interior surface of the first side wall.
In a further detailed aspect, a rigid window well structure in accordance with the invention can comprise a) a first planar side wall, b) a second planar side wall, c) a planar front wall, d) a first planar connecting wall and e) a second planar connecting wall, wherein the first connecting wall joins the first side wall to the front wall and the second connecting wall adjoins the second side wall to the front wall, and wherein the connecting walls are each configured to be disposed at an angle of about 120-150xc2x0 in relation to the interior surface of the front wall and about 60-120xc2x0 in relation to the opposing connecting wall.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the features of the invention.


A cup for receiving a beverage includes a container body having a side wall and a bottom wall joined at a first radius. A removable lid may be selectively affixed to the top of the side wall. An agitator is also received inside the container body to enhance mixing of the beverage. The agitator has a weighted, central hub and a plurality of elongated projections extending radially from the hub. The projections join the hub at a root and extend to a free end. The free ends are capped by domes having a second radius less than or equal to the first radius. All of the projections have substantially the same length. This affords a shape that allows the agitator to roll freely on the bottom wall or in the corners. Any one of the projections can reach into a corner of the cup and dislodge any solids that may have settled in a corner.

Field of the Disclosure
The present invention generally relates to cups for containing and dispensing contents such as beverages. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved agitator for mixing the contents of a cup and to a cup containing such an agitator. It will be understood that as used herein the term "cup" refers broadly to any size, shape or type of drinking vessel.
Description of Related Art
There are numerous portable cups which are commonly sold and used for the containment of beverages such as water, juice, soft drinks, shakes, nutritional supplements or infant formulas. Typically, such containers have a lid which selectively covers an opening through which the cup is filled. The lid often includes an aperture for dispensing the contents from the cup. A cover can be selectively positioned to open or close the aperture.
Problems arise with current cups when the beverage is a suspension having components such as powders, syrups or the like blended into a liquid carrier. Preferably, the initial blending or mixing occurs while both the components and the carrier are within the cup itself. Proper initial mixing of the components and carrier can be problematic if it requires a separate stirring element such as a spoon or the like. The separate stirring element typically requires the lid to be left off the container for stirring which increases the chances for spillage. Availability of a separate stirring element is not always assured and even where it is used it creates an additional item to be cleaned. Furthermore, in instances where an initially mixed beverage stands still, beverage components may tend to settle toward the bottom of the cup. Upon settling, the beverage is no longer homogeneous and will not have the proper taste, texture and efficacy. In that case the lid has to be re-opened and the separate stirring element has to be brought back into use, thereby recreating the original nuisance.
These issues can be addressed by use of an agitator placed in the cavity of the cup. The cup is shaken to mix the contents and the agitator bounces around inside the cup, mechanically breaking up agglomerations of solid particles and creating turbulence that enhances mixing of the solids and liquids. Agitators for mixing solids and liquids in a container are known. Some of these agitators are intended for use in aerosol cans, such as are commonly used for spray paint for example. Due to the need to retain elevated pressure inside the aerosol cans, such cans do not have removable lids. Accordingly, the agitators will not be extracted from the can and reused; they will be discarded with the can when it is empty. Thus, there is no concern in the design of the aerosol agitators for cleaning and handling the agitator. This is contrasted with beverage agitators used in cups containing foodstuffs. A user will open and refill a beverage cup numerous times, with cleaning of the cup and agitator commonly being done between uses. Thus, the needs for cleaning and long-term durability distinguish beverage agitators from aerosol agitators.
Examples of beverage agitators include the wire frame agitator shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,032. This agitator has the disadvantages of being difficult to clean and its metal wires can scratch the interior of a plastic cup, which creates places for bacteria to grow. The ball-shaped agitator cannot fit into corners of a cup which often leaves agglomerated beverage components, such as clumps of powder in the bottom edges of the container. Also, at roughly 14-16 grams its relatively light weight has trouble bursting through the powder of some nutritional supplements.
Sommovigo U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,960 has a faceted beverage agitator in the nature of a truncated sphere. With this shape it is incapable of extending into the bottom corners of a cup to scrape out beverage components that may have settled there.
Church U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,975 has a star-shaped aerosol agitator. Since this agitator is not intended for reuse or for use with drinkable fluids, it is not suitably shaped to be cleaned. Further, it is deliberately made non-symmetrical and unbalanced with the idea that an unbalanced agitator will trace nonpredictable random mixing patterns regardless of the user's shaking motion. Espey U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,262 is another aerosol agitator having a generally rounded main portion and at least one projection extending from the main portion.


Method and arrangement for facilitating hill-starting of a stationary motor vehicle. The method includes applying at least one braking device using a brake pedal and estimating the traveling resistance of the vehicle using a control unit (30). The control unit (30) determines a starting gear, a starting torque and a starting speed with regard to the estimated traveling resistance. The driver releases the brake pedal and the brakes are kept applied for a certain time. The driver operates an accelerator pedal to a position at least corresponding to the minimum transmitted torque and a clutch device (2) for a gearbox (3) is activated by the control unit (30) when the starting speed has been achieved. The control unit (30) releases the braking devices as a function of the increase in the transmitted driving torque of the clutch.

When a vehicle is stationary on an uphill slope and is to start driving again without rolling backward, it is usual for the driver to hold the vehicle stationary using the handbrake and the footbrake. When the driver is to start driving, he or she then moves the foot from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal. In order that the vehicle does not start rolling backward, the driver holds the vehicle stationary using the handbrake. The driver then releases the handbrake gently at the same time as applying the accelerator so that the vehicle does not roll backward. This is especially the case for manually shifted vehicles where the left foot operates the clutch.
Many different systems have been proposed for facilitating starting a vehicle which is on an uphill slope. These systems usually go by the name of "hill holder". They function by the driver, often using a switch, activating the hill start function when the vehicle is stationary. The system then holds the vehicle stationary using the service brake of the vehicle until a predetermined state occurs, for example the driver accelerates, the driver lets the clutch pedal up, the torque of the engine has a certain value, the vehicle rolls forward and the like. The system then releases the brake force.
Known hill start auxiliary systems for vehicles with manual gearboxes are described in such patents as U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,984, U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,946, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,354, EP 523 338-A2 and EP 507 466-A1. It is a common feature of all of these systems to require one or more extra sensors which detect states in the drive line of the vehicle. Several of the systems have an inclination sensor which senses whether the vehicle is on an uphill gradient. Also included are sensors for sensing the state of the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal, the torque of the engine, the total weight of the vehicle and the like. These systems often function well for the conditions for which they are designed. As the systems are complex, it is difficult or impossible for the driver to know precisely how a certain system functions in a given situation. This may to occasions in which the system functions in a way that is not expected by the driver and could result in near accidents. Moreover, the great complexity of the systems described means that the reliability is lower than for a system that does not require a large number of external components. As an example, a fault on one of the included components can result in the system becoming unserviceable. Another disadvantage of the described systems is that the extra sensors add unnecessary cost to the selling price of the vehicle.
Another problem with the proposed systems is that it is possible to use them as a parking brake. As the vehicle is held stationary by the service brake, this means that the driver can activate the system when parking the vehicle as well, for example when stopping the vehicle for only a relatively short time such as when loading or unloading, or for launch. It is often easier to activate the system than to use the parking brake control. This also means that the driver can as a matter of routine become accustomed to using the system as a parking brake. If something should happen when the vehicle is parked in this way, the vehicle may lose braking capacity altogether. The vehicle may, for example, start to roll in an uncontrolled manner with serious damage as a consequence. This may happen if, for example, the driver is delayed and/or the brake system loses pressure more quickly than expected, for example if a component is slightly leaky.
Another known system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,515 that is intended for an automatic gearbox. As in the systems mentioned above, this system also requires one or more sensors that detect the states in the drive line of the vehicle, and an inclination sensor which senses whether the vehicle is on an uphill gradient. Also included are sensors or calculation models for estimating the state of the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal, the torque of the engine, the total weight of the vehicle and the like. A disadvantage of this system is the relatively poor efficiency of the torque converter included in the transmission.
The problems mentioned above can be solved by using a stage-geared automated gearbox with an automatic disk clutch, provided with a control system which coordinates the functioning of the service brake, the engine and the disk clutch of the automated gearbox.
Solutions configured according to these teachings of the invention prevent the vehicle from rolling in the wrong direction during a starting sequence, which reduces the loading in the clutch and moreover minimizes the risk of accidents.
The solution according to the invention also prevents the hill start system from being used as a parking brake. In the invention, only sensors located in the gearbox are used, for which reason no unnecessary cost is added to the selling price of the vehicle. The solution is moreover robust in relation to faults in component sensors as the necessary signals can in such a case be calculated in other ways. The solution functions in an intuitive way for the driver, which means that the driver is not surprised by the performance of the system with the result that a near-accident occurs.


In one embodiment, a media handling system is provided to transfer media through an image forming device having a primary media path and a duplex media path. The media handling system includes a media feeder configured to input media into the duplex media path of the image forming device.

Some image forming devices are equipped with large capacity media storage units to house non-imaged print media to be used as input. The storage units were typically positioned on one side of the image forming device while the print media was discharged to an output device positioned generally on an opposite side of the image forming device. As such, these image forming devices have a large footprint and use a large area of floor space which may not be available in small rooms.

System and method for handling print media

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Methods and apparatus for coordinating audio data processing and network communication processing in a communication device by using time scaling for either inbound or outbound audio data processing, or both, in an communication device. In particular, time scaling of audio data is used to adapt timing for audio data processing to timing for modem processing, by dynamically adjusting a collection of audio samples to fit the container size required by the modem. Speech quality can be preserved while recovering and/or maintaining correct synchronizing between audio processing and communication processing circuits. In an example method, it is determined that a completion time for processing a first audio data frame falls outside a pre-determined timing window. Responsive to this determination, a subsequent audio data frame is time-scaled to control the completion time for processing the subsequent audio data frame.

When a speech call is performed over a cellular network, the speech data that is transferred is typically coded into audio frames according to a voice coding algorithm such as one of the coding modes of the Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) codec or the Wideband AMR (AMR-WB) codec, the GSM Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) algorithm, or the like. As a result, each of the resulting communication frames transmitted over the wireless link can be seen as a data packet containing a highly compressed representation of the audio for a given time interval.
FIG. 1 provides a simplified schematic diagram of those functional elements of a conventional cellular phone 100 that are generally involved in a speech call, including microphone 50, speaker 60, modem circuits 110, and audio circuits 150. Here, the audio that is captured by microphone 50 is digitized in analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 220 and supplied to audio pre-processing circuits 180 via a digital input interface 200. As will be explained in greater detail below, digital input interface 200 may include a buffer to temporarily hold audio data prior to processing by audio pre-processing circuit 180 and audio encoding circuit 160.
Digitized audio is pre-processed in audio pre-processing circuits 180 (which may include, for example, audio processing functions such as filtering, digital sampling, echo cancellation, noise reduction, or the like) and then encoded into a series of audio frames by audio encoder 160, which may implement for example, a standards-based encoding algorithm such as one of the AMR coding modes. The encoded audio frames are then passed to the transmitter (TX) baseband processing circuit 130, which typically performs various standards-based processing tasks (e.g., ciphering, channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, and the like) before transmitting the encoded audio data to a cellular base station via radio frequency (RF) front-end circuits 120.
For audio received from the cellular base station, modem circuits 110 receive the radio signal from the base station via the RF front-end circuits 120, and demodulate and decode the received signals with receiver (RX) baseband processing circuits 140. The resulting encoded audio frames produced by the modem circuits 110 are then processed by audio decoder 170 and audio post-processing circuits 190, and fed through digital output interface 210 to digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 230. The resulting analog audio signal is then passed to the loudspeaker 60.
Digital audio data is generally processed by audio encoding circuit 160 and audio decoding circuit 170 in audio frames, which typically correspond to a fixed time interval, such as 20 milliseconds. (Audio frames are transmitted and received every 20 milliseconds, on average, for all voice call scenarios defined in current versions of the WCDMA and GSM specifications). This means that audio circuits 150 produce one encoded audio frame (for transmission to the network) and consume another (received from the network) every 20 milliseconds, on average, assuming a bi-directional audio link. Typically, these encoded audio frames are transmitted to and received from the communication network at exactly the same rate, although not always. In some cases, for example, two encoded audio frames might be combined to form a single communication frame for transmission over the radio link. In addition, the timing references used to drive the modem circuitry and the audio circuitry may differ, in some situations, in which case a synchronization technique may be needed keep the average rates the same, thus avoiding overflow or underflow of buffers. Several such synchronization techniques are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publications 2009/0135976 A1 and 2006/0285557 A1, by Ramakrishnan et al. and Anderton at al., respectively. Furthermore, the exact timing relationship between transmission and reception of the communication frames generally not fixed, at least at the cellular phone end of the link.
Audio pre-processing circuit 180 and audio post-processing circuit 190 can be configured to operate on entire audio frames (e.g., 20-millisecond PCM audio frames), in some systems. In others, all or part of these circuits may be configured to operate on sub-divisions of an audio frame. Given a 20-millisecond audio frame, portions of the audio pre-processing and post-processing circuits may operate on 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, or 20 millisecond audio data blocks. If, for example, pre-processing circuit 180 operates on 10-millisecond blocks, it will execute twice for each speech encoding operation on a 20-millisecond audio data frame.
Digital input interface 200 and digital output interface 210 transfer digital audio (e.g., PCM audio data) over a bus between the audio processing performed in the digital domain (i.e., by preprocessing circuit 180, post-processing circuit 190, encoder 160, and decoder 170) and audio processing performed in the analog domain. (For the purposes of this discussion, A/D and D/A conversion are considered to be analog domain processes.) In many cases, the digital domain processing and analog domain processing are performed using separate integrated circuits. Examples of suitable buses are the well-known I2S bus (developed by Philips Semiconductors) and the SLIMbus (developed by the MIPI Alliance). Transfer across this bus is often implemented using Direct Memory Access (DMA), with transfers of blocks that are multiples of the audio frame size or multiples of the smallest data blocks used by the audio processing circuits.
The audio and radio processing pictured in FIG. 1 contribute delays in both directions of audio data transmission—i.e., from the microphone to the remote base station as well as from the remote base station to the speaker. Reducing these delays is an important objective of communications network and device designers.

Time scaling of audio frames to adapt audio processing to communications network timing


An input device includes a casing having a retention groove, a flexible membrane disposed on the casing and having a plurality of keys, a connecting portion an outer flange extending outwardly from an outer surface of the connecting portion, an upper recess formed on an inner surface of the connecting portion, and a lower recess formed on the inner surface below the upper recess, and a fixing ring for disposing below the flexible membrane so as to be received in one of the upper and lower recesses. Disposing the fixing ring below the flexible membrane in the lower recess after insertion of the outer flange of the flexible membrane into the retention groove results in fixing of the outer flange of the flexible membrane within the retention groove.

Due to prevalence and wide use of cellular phones, a cellular phone becomes one of the most purchased electronic items in the market. A compact ones rapidly replaces the bulky cellular phone sets, since the latter possesses some TV games in addition to the traditional communication ability. For those teenagers who are in a trend to follow the latest fashions and new tastes, the manufacturer of the cellular phones have invented a cellular phone having some parts (such as an input device or an outer casing) to be replaced with new designs by DIY means. It is noted that the input device presently used in the conventional cellular phone is replaceable. However, the replacing operation is somewhat difficult and includes several complicated steps. In case of an accidental fall from the user's hand, the input device disengages easily from the main body of the conventional cellular phone.
FIG. 1 shows an exploded and perspective view of a conventional input device 1 to include a casing 10, a flexible membrane 11, and a printed circuit plate 12.
The casing 10 has a coupling face 101 and a periphery confining the coupling face 101. The casing 10 further has a plurality of through holes 102 formed through the coupling face 101 and a plurality of retention recess 103 surrounding the holes 102. The flexible membrane 11 has a plurality of input keys 111, a periphery confining the input keys 111, and a plurality of inserts 112 extending outwardly from the periphery. Once the flexible membrane 11 is coupled to the coupling face 101 of the casing 10, the inserts 112 extend respectively into the retention recess 103 of the casing 10, thereby preventing disengagement of the flexible membrane 11 from the casing 10. The printed circuit plate 12 is disposed within the casing 10 below the coupling face 101 thereof, and has a plurality of actuators 121 extending respectively through the holes 102 on the coupling face 101 to make contact with the input keys 111 of the flexible membrane 11. Under this condition, pressing of one of the input keys 111 will result in depression of the respective actuator 121, which, in turn, results in a data input operation.
FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of another conventional input device 20 used in a cellular phone. As shown, the conventional input device 20 includes a flexible membrane 201 having a plurality of inserts 202 extending respectively into the retention recesses 206 of the casing, and a plurality of lower projections 203 in contact with the actuators 204 of the printed circuit board 205 disposed within the casing below the flexible membrane 201. Pressing of the flexible membrane 201 will result in depression of the lower projection 203 against the actuator 204, which, in turn, results in a data input operation.
Though the aforesaid input device allows users to replace different flexible membranes, the flexible membrane may easily disengage the casing in case of an accidental fall since the inserts 112, 202 are not retained within the retention recesses 103, 206 of the casing in a tight-fit manner. No other fastening device is employed in the conventional input device in order to prevent untimely removal of the flexible membrane from the casing.