One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that removes noise from an image. During operation, the system first identifies blobs in the image, wherein a blob is a set of contiguous pixels which possibly represents a character or a portion of a character in the image. Next, the system analyzes the blobs to dynamically determine a “noise threshold” for the blobs. The system then removes blobs from the image which are below the noise threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for facilitating the removal of noise from a digital image.
2. Related Art
As businesses and other organizations become more computerized, it is becoming increasingly common to store and maintain electronic versions of paper documents on computer systems. The process of storing a paper document on a computer system typically involves a "document-imaging" process, which converts a copy of the paper document into an electronic document. This document-imaging process typically begins with an imaging step, wherein document page-images are generated using a scanner, a copier, a camera, or any other imaging device. These page-images are typically analyzed and enhanced using an image-processing program before being assembled into a document container, such as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
Often, applications need to recognize text from the scanned page-images to facilitate subsequent document-processing operations. This is typically accomplished through an optical character recognition (OCR) process.
Unfortunately, it is very common for the performance of the OCR process to be significantly degraded by the presence of noise in scanned images. Many types of noise and noise-like artifacts arise from the printing and imaging processes. Examples of noise and noise-like artifacts may include quantization noise from the imaging light sensors, dirt on imaging device optics, ink spatters, and toner smudges.
Because of this problem, noise-removal operations are commonly applied to images prior to the OCR process. For example, a common noise-removal operation removes all blobs that are smaller than a threshold number of pixels. However, this may cause small characters such as a "period" to be removed, or may cause a particularly large noise artifact to be retained. Rarely is a fixed threshold value optimal for all character sizes. Consequently, either too much noise is left behind during the noise-removal process, or portions of a scanned image are improperly removed.
Hence, what is needed is a method and apparatus for removing noise from an image without the above-mentioned problems.

Method and apparatus for removing noise from a digital image


A display device having a bottom emission type, active matrix organic EL panel that efficiently secures a sufficient aperture ratio, has pixel arrangement in which the aperture ratio is not a trade off for higher resolution, and can operate with reduced power consumption and contribute to downsizing of the driving circuit and the device as a whole. The display device includes an active matrix organic EL panel having first and second electrodes provided on a substrate and an organic EL light emitting layer provided between the first and second electrodes. The organic EL light emitting layer includes a light emitting region, a plurality of the light emitting regions are arranged such that adjacent ones of the light emitting regions do not contact each other.

In recent years, organic EL displays that employ an organic EL system in which carriers are injected into an organic solid from an electrode to emit light from a flat surface have actively been developed as light-emitting type displays. The organic EL displays can be divided into passive matrix type and active matrix type, for example, depending on how the displays are driven. The former type display allows pixels arranged in a matrix to emit light by line-at-a-time driving method. The latter type has a switching element for each of pixels arranged in a matrix and the switching elements are controlled to drive the pixels so that they emit light individually.
According to the driving method by the active matrix type organic EL display, the switching circuits control light emission of the pixels on a pixel basis, and therefore the display has attracted attention particularly as an optimum display for moving picture. There are bottom emission type displays that extract emitted light toward the glass substrate and the top emission type displays that extract emitted light to the opposite side to the glass substrate.
A bottom emission type, active matrix organic EL panel is provided with a switching circuit on a pixel basis, and light is emitted toward the glass substrate. Therefore, the part of the switching circuits that occupies half the area of the pixel inevitably becomes a non-light emitting region. In addition, three light emitting regions for three colors R (red), G (green), and B (blue) that are necessary for full color display are produced by coloring the organic EL light emitting layer discretely corresponding to the colors. Therefore, a registration margin (dm) for discrete coloring between adjacent light emitting regions in different colors is necessary, and this dm portion constitutes a non-light emitting region.
In a conventional display, the three light emitting regions for R, G, and B and the switching circuit portions are arranged continuously based on the colors (see FIG. 4 for the arrangement in the horizontal (X-) direction). As the registration margin (dm) depends on the registration precision by the pixel film deposition device and the processing precision of the pattering mask, how much the registration margin (dm) can be reduced is limited, and the minimum value for the margin dm is generally 20 μm (corresponding to ±10 μm). In this case, the width of each light emitting region is smaller as the resolution increases. However, the minimum value for dm is fixed, and therefore the ratio of dm occupied in the pixel increases, which lowers the ratio of the light emitting regions (aperture ratio) if higher resolution is to be achieved. With a smaller aperture ratio, the luminance is lowered, and therefore the amount of current that contributes to the light emission should be increased to keep the luminance in a necessary level. This gives rise to increase in power consumption.
The present invention was devised in view of the above described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a display device having a bottom emission type, active matrix organic EL panel that efficiently secures a sufficient aperture ratio, has pixel arrangement in which the aperture ratio is hardly a trade off for higher resolution, and can operate with reduced power consumption for obtaining necessary luminance and contribute to downsizing of the driving circuit and the device as a whole, and a manufacturing method that allows the configuration of such a display device to be readily provided with reliability.


A smart tablet device holder incorporating two cup-shaped speakers. The housing of each speaker is shaped and sized as a cup and can be placed inside commonly seen cup holders. The two cup-shaped speakers are connected by a bridge member between them which is designed to hold a smart tablet device such as a tablet computer, an e-reader, etc. The bridge member is integrally connected with the two speakers or is a separate piece cooperating with the two speakers. The two cup-shaped speakers can be inserted into two cup holders of, for example, a parent tray of a baby stroller. The holder has electrical connectors for electrically connecting to the audio output of the smart tablet device. Two sound producing devices are disposed within each speaker housing and face upwards and downwards so that the sound can be heard by both the baby and the parent.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cup-shaped portable speaker and a smart tablet device holder integrated with or cooperating with two such speakers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various adaptors have been designed to fit into a standard cup holder to hold objects other than cups, such as music players and other electronic devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,611,114 describes a portable music player holder: "A holder for a digital audio player such as an Apple iPOD™ is designed to fit in a standard sized cup holder. The holder is configured to support the digital audio player at an easy to read angle and provides a slot for a cable such as a power cable to extend from the holder."
U.S. Pat. No. 7,570,918 describes: "A multimedia device comprises a host, which comprises a connection unit, a control unit for controlling connection of the connection unit to an external mobile electronic device to charge the connected mobile electronic device and to transmit multimedia music from the connected mobile electronic device to a FM channel of a car audio radio system for broadcasting, and a display unit controllable by the control unit to display the current operation status of the control unit, and a holder member coupled to the host and radially adjustable for securing the host to a cup holder for motor vehicle."
U.S. Pat. No. 7,269,002 describes "an apparatus that can secure an electronic device into a vehicle recess . . . . The apparatus provides a vehicle-specific integrated docking station for a digital media player, e.g. Apple's iPod. The docking station contains a connecting assembly to interface the digital media player to a digital media interface than in turn is connected to a vehicle audio system. The vehicle recess may be an ashtray recess, a change-tray recess, a cup-holder recess or other appropriate recess."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,482 describes "A system for installing an interactive driver information system into an existing vehicle . . . . An off-the-shelf driver-to-vehicle interface device such as a PDA is received in a corresponding docking station. A custom adapter device mechanically and electrically receives the PDA components and enables a mechanical and electrical connection from the PDA components to the vehicle. The custom adapter device is configured in a variety of embodiments to interfit with a pre-existing cavity in the vehicle such as a cup holder, ashtray cavity, coin holder, or seam in the dashboard. The custom adapter device further provides an electrical connection from the PDA components to the power system of the vehicle and to an electronic on board controller. The PDA docking station may be structurally integrated with a microphone, a speaker, and a control panel of manually operable elements to be manipulated by a driver." The PDA docking station, in which the speaker may be integrated, is not the custom adaptor that fits into pre-existing cavity in the vehicle such as a cup holder.
U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 20090222862 describes "a multimedia playing device for use in a vehicle. The multimedia playing device is mounted within the dashboard of a vehicle and is able to wirelessly transmit video to various display devices located in the vehicle. The multimedia playing device is able to accommodate any number of multimedia playing devices. The audio may be directly transmitted to the stereo system of the vehicle. In another aspect, the invention is a docking device for use in a vehicle. The docking device is adapted to be placed within the cup holder of a vehicle. An external media device is connected to the docking device in order to transmit the video and audio data. The docking device is able to wirelessly transmit video to display devices located in the vehicle. The audio may be directly transmitted to the stereo system of the vehicle and/or to the display device."
U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 20070042709 describes: "An audio device comprises a satellite receiver for receiving an audio signal via a receive antenna. A transmitter transmits the audio signal to an external receiver via a transmit antenna for remote rendering of the audio signal. A cup-shaped housing encloses the satellite receiver and the transmitter. The cup-shaped housing is configured for insertion into a cup holder to securely position the audio device inside a vehicle."
U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 20030032459 describes "a hands-free kit for mobile phones used while being mounted on a cup holder of an automobile. The hands-free kit includes a cup-shaped body, a speaker unit and a remote controller . . . . The speaker unit serves to amplify and output voice from the mobile phone, and is provided with a flexible boom for connecting the speaker unit to the body and allowing the speaker unit to be freely rotated."
U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 20020160345 describes a child cup holder that has a speaker integrated into the cup holder.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cup-shaped portable speakers and smart tablet device holder integrated with such speakers


In an apparatus of forming a thin film, the apparatus has a printing chamber that forms a thin film on a substrate. The apparatus has at least two drying chambers that receive the substrate on which the thin film is formed and dry the thin film on the substrate. The two drying chambers may be independently controlled. Accordingly, the apparatus may reduce process time for forming the thin film without contamination of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a thin film. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus capable of forming a thin film using an inkjet printing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) has an organic light emitting layer formed between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode. Electrons from the anode electrode are combined with holes from the cathode electrode in the organic light emitting layer, so that molecules of the organic light emitting layer are in the excited state. When the excited molecules are changed into the ground state, the light is generated in the organic light emitting layer.
The OLED has various layers, such as a light emitting layer, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron injection layer or an electron transport layer, etc. Usually, the layers for the OLED are formed using an organic material, and also formed by an inkjet printing method with an inkjet printing apparatus.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a conventional apparatus for forming a thin film.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional inkjet apparatus 50 has an inkjet printing chamber 10, a buffer chamber 20 and a drying chamber 30.
In the conventional inkjet printing apparatus 50, drying time for drying an organic material coated on a substrate is longer than printing time for coating the organic material on the substrate. Hence, a bottleneck phenomenon may occur while a thin film including the organic material is formed on the substrate.
Further, the drying chamber 30 has a plurality of substrate stages 40 so as to simultaneously dry a plurality of substrates on which the thin film is formed. However, the substrates loaded on the substrate stages 40 may not be dried simultaneously and completely. Thus, when the dried substrates are unloaded from the drying chamber 30 before all the substrates are completely dried, drying condition inside the drying chamber 30 may be rapidly changed, so that the substrates may be contaminated.
In order to prevent contamination of the substrates, when the substrates loaded into the drying chamber 30 are transferred to a next process chamber after the substrates are completely dried, throughput of the thin film forming process may be lowered.

Apparatus for forming a thin film using an inkjet printing method


The invention provides a metalworking oil composition which is used for a very small amount of oil-feeding type metalworking method, said composition comprising a base oil selected from the group consisting of natural fats and oils, derivatives thereof and synthetic ester oils; and an antirust agent comprising a sorbitan fatty acid ester and a phospholipid, and a metalworking method using the composition and metalwork obtained by the metalworking method. The oil composition shows excellent lubricity and antirust property and is suitably used for metalworking of metallic materials such as cast iron, steel, stainless steel, and nonferrous metal (such as Al alloy and Mg alloy) by a method in which a very small amount of oil is supplied.

In cutting and grinding processes, oils for cutting and grinding are generally used. Most important functions required for oils for cutting and grinding are lubricating and cooling actions, which can extend the life of the tool used for the processing, improve the finished surface precision of the worked products, raise production efficiency and increase productivity. In conventional cutting and grinding processes, a relatively larger amount of cutting and grinding oils are supplied to points to be processed. However, recently, as interest in environmental problems grow, there are pointed out problems such as waste, environmental sanitation, and energy conservation to oils for cutting and grinding which are effective for production efficiency. In recent years, studies are underway on dry processes for cutting process, grinding process and the like as environmentally friendly methods for metalworking processes. When cutting and grinding processes are conducted in a dry condition, the above environmental problems are reduced but it is not possible to obtain performance such as lubricity and cooling property which are required for oils for cutting and grinding.
It is therefore necessary to cool the processing point, for example, by spraying compressed cooling air or the like. However, since a completely dry process lacks lubricity between processing tool and a material to be processed, a very small amount of lubricating oil is supplied. Examples of working methods include a processing method for nonferrous metal (for example, see Patent Document 1). If conventionally known metalworking oil compositions (for example, see Patent Document 2) is used for processing ferrous material, such problems occur that dew condensation water is formed to generate rust. Therefore, it is not possible to apply these oil compositions to cooling air processing or mist cutting processing. There has been proposed a metalworking oil composition having high antirust property (for example, see Patent Document 3). There has also been proposed a metalworking oil composition comprising phosphatidyl choline compound (for example, see Patent Document 4). As for these metalworking oils, a new working oil which is capable of further improving workability, extending the life span of the instrument and reducing the amount of oil to be supplied is desired in view of increasing the productivity and/or saving energy.
Patent Document 1 JP-A-2001-239437
Patent Document 2 JP-A-2000-256688
Patent Document 3 JP-A-2004-300317
Patent Document 4 JP-A-09-57537

Metalworking oil composition, metalworking method and metalwork


A system and method for generating backups of a protected storage system from protected data in a recovery system including protecting data in the recovery system, the recovery system including a target disk configured to store a replica of the protected storage system from a predetermined time point and a journal including data and metadata of write operations to the protected storage system that occurred after the time point, periodically generating replicas of the protected storage system from the recovery system, and storing the replicas as backups.

Data protection systems and methods are known in the art. Generally, data protection systems copy data from a protected storage or system to a recovery storage or system. For example, systems that replicate the content of disks to a recovery system or site, e.g., in a different geographic location are known. Data in a recovery site typically includes information related to the protected disks or storage system, e.g., history as known in the art. Historical information enables recovering disk content at any point in time within a specified history.
Replacing a system with a replica generated by the recovery system is referred to in the art as fail-over. For example, a user can fail-over a system in an organization (including disks or other storage systems) by initiating a system at a recovery site and be provided with disks' content of the organization's system by the system at the recovery site.
A fail-over can be done for a specific point in time. For example, a system (e.g., a disk) at a recovery site can be configured to replace a protected system such that content in the system at a recovery site is same or similar to the content that was stored in the protected system at a specified date or time.
Typical scenarios that will result in failing-over of a protected system may, for example, occur when the protected system is inaccessible, or may include a planned migration of a protected system from a protected site to a recovery site or recovery system. For instance, suppose that the user protects a system that is, or serves as, a mail exchange server. If a hurricane hits the site that runs the protected system, the user can fail-over the protected system to a recovery site or recovery system with the latest available point in time and enable end users to use the failed-over (or recovery) system in the recovery site as their mail exchange server.
Object storage (also known as object-based storage) is known in the art. Object storage techniques or object-based storage systems or architectures are available, e.g., the online storage web service S3 offered by Amazon. Object Storage technique uses a digital data storage architecture or platform that stores and manages data as objects or containers (e.g., buckets in S3). Object Storage is simpler than other architectures (e.g., file system) and offers advantages such as scalability and low cost.
Backup is a method for creating a set of copies of the protected system, each corresponding to a different point in time, enabling the user to revert back to a previous state of his protected system when the need arises.
Current backup technology creates the backup entities from the protected system. The backup application either reads the disk or the write operations that are sent to the disk, and stores backups or incremental backups (i.e., storing only the changes from previous backup). One drawback of the current methodology is that it impacts the protected system, since it operates on the protected system.

System and method for generating backups of a protected system from a recovery system


A thermoplastic molding composition having a light transmission value of at least 40% is disclosed. The composition contains a thermoplastic polyurethane component, a styrene copolymer, and an alkyl(meth)acrylate component and is characterized by the compatibility of its components. The weight ratio between the styrene copolymer to the sum of the styrene copolymer and alkyl(meth)acrylate components was found to be critical to the light transmission of the inventive composition.

Blends of thermoplastic resins are known and commercially available. A thermoplastic resin is often selected to enhance or supplement the properties of the other blend components (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,317,890; 4,342,847 and 5,194,494). Commercial molding compositions containing TPU and ABS have long been available. The art is noted to include U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,642 which disclosed a blend of polyurethane with a block copolymer of styrene and certain conjugated diolefins and a graft copolymer of styrene, acrylonitrile and butadiene (ABS). Also relevant is U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,505 which disclosed a blend containing ABS and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) characterized in its improved tear strength. U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,589 disclosed a transparent composition containing methacrylate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (MABS), a specific TPU and a compatibilizer in the form of emulsion ABS. U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,062 disclosed a composition containing TPU, a grafted rubber (such as ABS or ASA) and a copolymer of alpha methyl styrene and (meth)acrylonitrile.
For many applications, it is desirable to have a transparent plastic composition. Transparency is particularly desirable for packaging materials, vessels, and containers to permit visual inspection of the contents. Transparency in the present context is understood as a property enabling light transmission (herein LT value) of at least 40% as measured according to ASTM D-1003. In order to achieve this level of transparency, one skilled in the art would select a transparent TPU and a transparent copolymer of styrene and acrylonitrile (SAN) that are (i) reasonably compatible to achieve a uniform dispersion and (ii) virtually identical in terms of their refractive indices. One skilled in the art would also know that identifying the SAN and TPU components meeting these criteria is not a trivial matter because TPU and SAN are generally incompatible. Moreover, the difference in their refractive indices render opaque blends of these components. This is to say that despite the transparency of the individual components, the resulting blend is typically opaque or the molded articles are opaque. To achieve and maintain the dispersion through processing to a final molded article, it is necessary to improve the interaction that results during the mixing process to limit phase separation. If the mixing is insufficient, the problem manifests itself in the form of opacity, non-uniform melt flow, and unreasonably large variations in physical properties.
Blends of thermoplastic polyurethanes with other thermoplastics suffer from various processing problems including non-uniformity of melt flow. To improve the processing of such blends, Carter (U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,479) disclosed adding a small amount of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The PMMA appears to have promoted the dispersion, surface gloss and processing of the compositions containing TPU and ABS. Although Carter exemplifies clear pellets of compositions containing TPU and ABS, PMMA is added in relatively small amounts.
The preparation of blends of TPU with SAN have been attempted previously; these had unpredictable physical and optical properties. Zerjal, et al. (Structure-Property Relationships in Polyurethane-Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) Blends), Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Volume 50, pp. 719-727, (1993) reported that the blending of TPU and SAN results in many property variations in the finished blend. Paul and Newman (Polymer Blends, Academic Press, New York, 1978, Volume 1) attributed this to the unmixing of TPU/SAN solutions over all composition ranges and concluded that these blends are immiscible. The challenge to create stable blends of SAN and TPU was to form a blend that remained mixed under a variety of processing/molding conditions and remains transparent. One skilled in the art could recognize that the miscibility of the SAN and TPU components is dependent on the composition of the individual components. Although individual compositions of SAN and TPU may be transparent under limited processing conditions, they rarely remain transparent without special processing. The present invention describes the use of an acrylate polymer, preferably PMMA, that acts as a compatibilizer for SAN and TPU to maintain transparency through the forming of the finished part.


A remote user will set up a telecommunication from some remote terminal to some remote access server through a telephone network. Such telephone network will provide calling line identity information of said remote terminal to said remote access server while this first telecommunications being identified by said remote access server as being performed by a remote worker. The remote access server will then acknowledge said telecommunications by rejecting it with some tag. The remote access server will also register the received calling line identity information to which it will associate said forwarded tag. After a complete disconnection of the telecommunications, the remote terminal will initiate an Internet protocol session to said remote access server using the received tag. The remote access server will then be able to identify said remote terminal while the identification procedure be based on the use of the registered calling line identity affected to said tag.

A recent societal trend calls for more employees to work from home or other sites that are remote from the corporate office. This is achieved via remote access to data networks.
The traditional way remote employees accessed the corporate network is via Long Distance dial to a remote access server in the corporate data center. Such remote access server or local call server is a device that answers incoming phone calls with racks of modems, authenticates users as authorized data users (not hackers) and hands data queries to the corporate network. Dozens or even hundreds of remote users or workers may almost simultaneously dial in to dozens or hundreds of modems, in one remote access server.
Internet Service Providers are now setting up Internet Protocol IP access in remote access server nodes all over the world. The IP network can give them a great way to provide access to remote users.
The traditional approach takes bursty data traffic and it carries it on Constant Bit Rate telephone calls circuits for such a long distance—usually all the way to corporate headquarters. This explains why they are quite expensive. And the bursty traffic inefficiently uses the circuit bandwidth, because there are often long periods of silence. In contrary, the Internet Service Provider ISP remote access service can be more efficient because ISP carries the data call on a circuit for only a short distance—the local phone call distance between the remote user and a remote access server in a local office. The remote access server will terminate the circuits of multiple users, multiplex the bursty data efficiently into one packet stream, and conserve long distance circuits. This last service for support of remote and mobile employees is often named Dial Internet Protocol, Virtual Private Dial Networking, or simply remote access.
An example of a software supporting such remote access is given by the product called Windows NT 4.0 Remote Access from Microsoft. With Windows NT remote access, remote access clients connect to remote access servers and are transparently connected to the remote access server, known as point-to-point remote access connectivity. Alternately, they are transparently connected to the network to which the remote access server is attached, known as point-to-LAN remote access connectivity. This transparent connection allows remote access clients to dial-in from remote locations and access resources as if they were physically attached to the network.
That software product provides two different types of remote access connectivity:
(i) Dial-up remote access, where a remote access client uses via the telecommunications infrastructure to create a temporary physical circuit or a virtual circuit to a port on a remote access server. Once the physical or virtual circuit is created, the rest of the connection parameters can be negotiated.
(ii) Virtual private network remote access where a client uses an IP network to create a virtual point-to-point connection with a remote access server acting as the virtual private network server. Once the virtual point-to-point connection is created, the rest of the connection parameters can be negotiated.
Nowadays, voice-over-IP (VOIP) starts to be of enough good quality that enterprise customers move to implement Voice-over-IP networks. It is directly related to the hope to decrease the costs associated with maintaining multiple networks and increase productivity as new applications are brought to market extending the application of voice communication. Voice-over-IP enables carrying voice traffic (for example, telephone calls and faxes) over an IP network. This support is implemented using voice packet technology. In voice-over-IP, the digital signal processor segments the voice signal into frames and stores them in voice packets. These voice packets are transported using IP in compliance with one or several signaling specifications. But when an enterprise network provides IP telephony service, it must be able to support so called Emergency Calling Service ECS also known in the US and Canada as E911. Indeed the enterprise network must have the capability of determining the user's location and call back number, routing the call to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point PSAP, and conveying the location and call back information to that PSAP.
For an enterprise IP network to properly support ECS, it must achieve the following:                Identify the location of ECS user and dispatch help to the correct location within a limited time;        Connect the ECS call to the appropriate PSAP jurisdiction. The correct PSAP is usually the one nearest the user;        Location information provide correct emergency location information number of the ECS user so that the PSAP can dispatch help to the correct location;        Call back information provide the correct number for calling back the ECS user in case the call is disconnected.
The key to supporting the first three requirements is enterprise network determination of the user's location, regardless of the terminal access scenario.


An RF tag 25 is incorporated in a mouse 20, and an RF tag reader 15 is mounted on the main body side of a computer 10. When using the mouse 20 to a specified computer 10, a user moves the mouse close to the reader 15 to read identification information (ID) of the mouse 20, which is included in the RF tag 25. On the main body side of the computer 10, the mouse 20 is designated in accordance with the read ID and communication with the mouse 20 is set.

With recent technological innovation, a computer system of a general-purpose type commonly called a workstation or a personal computer (PC) which is relatively small and low-priced with high added value and highly sophisticated, has been developed and marketed, making its way deep into colleges, research organizations, corporations and other offices as well as daily life in an ordinary home.
A computer system is typically driven by responding to a user's input command and provides an "interactive" processing environment by displaying a processing result on the display screen. Recently, a shift has been noted from the character-based user input environment, that is, "CUI (Character User Interface)" via conventional keyboard as represented by a DOS (Disk Operating System) shell screen to "GUI (Graphical User Interface)" realizing graphical base user input. Under the GUI environment, there is available a desktop on which the computer system is simulated as well as an infinite number of icons on the display screen.
On the desktop provided with GUI, all the resource objects including applications and files to be handled on the computer system are expressed as icons. Handling a mouse and the like and directly impressing displayed objects on the screen with respect to the icons symbolizing programs, data, folders, devices and other items (for example, clicking and drag and drop operation), the user is able to operate the computer intuitively and directly. Also, on the desktop are available buttons such as menu bar and tool box for instantaneously calling various functions, that is, computer processing, hence, the computer input format is becoming more and more intuitive and easy to understand.
Generally, a user input unit such as a mouse and a keyboard has hitherto been connected to a computer body via cable. When a cable is used to connect between one apparatus and another, a corresponding relationship between a main body and peripheral equipment to be united thereby is visually clear. Yet, this often stands in the way of operating by the user. Especially, when it comes to a device such as a mouse which is required of the user to move back and forth frequently on a work surface (for example, on the desk), there is inconvenience as in a case of a cable getting twisted around the user's arm or mouse.
Accordingly, there has recently been introduced peripheral equipment such as a wireless mouse, one after another, which is connected to the computer body without cable. For instance, a computer body is connected to peripheral equipment without cable by using infrared data communication such as IrDA (Infrared Data Association) and short-range wireless data techniques such as Bluetooth.
Although this type of wireless device is convenient with no cumbersome cable, the corresponding relationship between the computer main body and the peripheral equipment tends to be indistinct. For example, when a plurality of personal computers (PCs) are in use nearby, the computer body cannot tell which peripheral equipment it is connected to, so that there is a possibility of interference between the equipment. Further, there is a possibility of causing confusion such as which PC a mouse in the user's hand is connected to or which mouse to use when desiring to input a command on a specific PC.
For example, by means of hardware-like switches, the setting of software and the like, there are employed techniques such as changing over a communication channel between a computer main body and a mouse, assigning identification information (ID) to the peripheral equipment side such as a mouse so as to register in the computer body an ID of the equipment being connected thereto by which circumstances of generating interference between the computer main body and the peripheral equipment can be avoided. Nonetheless, a setting operation of that kind conducted according to the manual is cumbersome for the user, and a wireless connection to improve operability eventually leads to reducing usability in the end.
Although the applicable range of wireless communication is some few meters, in the general office environment, there can occur easily and frequently circumstances in which a plurality of computers are provided in a communication range of that extent or a plurality of mice exist within a communication range of one computer.
Further, when the user is alone operating a plurality of computers, if a single mouse can be used for a plurality of computers by simply switching over connections, much gain in convenience will be obtained. Moreover, the number of mice to be used can be saved, thus leading to cost curtailment and space savings.

Connection system between computer body and wireless peripheral equipment, computer, and wireless peripheral equipment

Abstract: There may be a case where a plurality of computers and peripheral equipment intermingle, but, by making joint use of the ID reader 15 in a short-range, a corresponding relationship between the main body of the computer 10 and the wireless equipment 20 is made clear.


A visual object tracking method includes the steps of: setting an object window having a target in a video image; defining a search window greater than the object window; analyzing an image pixel of the object window to generate a color histogram for defining a color filter which includes a dominant color characteristic of the target; using the color filter to generate an object template and a dominant color map in the object window and the search window respectively, the object template including a shape characteristic of the target, the dominant color map including at least one candidate block; comparing the similarity between the object template and the candidate block to obtain a probability distribution map, and using the probability distribution map to compute the mass center of the target. The method generates the probability map by the color and shape characteristics to compute the mass center.

Video tracking plays a very important role in computer vision and has extensive applications in the fields of video surveillance, man-machine interface, automobile navigation and intelligent transport system. However, the practical applications of the video tracking technology still have many technical difficulties including complicated background, non-rigid object, illumination change or masked object, and these technical issues make the visual object tracking very difficult, and both stability and accuracy of the tracked object will be affected by the aforementioned technical issues. Nonetheless, video tracking primarily analyzes and processes information of the characteristics such as the color, shape and lines of an object continuously to estimate the center position and size of a target to achieve the tracking effect.
At present, there are many different tracking algorithms available in the market, and the features of these algorithms are different, wherein Mean Shift algorithm is a highly efficient visual object tracking method, and CamShift algorithm switches the Mean Shift algorithm to be adaptive and automatically adjusts the size of an object window in order to fit the size of the object that changes with time, and the CamShift algorithm is a highly efficient and stable target tracking method and thus capturing extensive attention.
However, CamShift is an improved algorithm of Mean shift. Although CamShift is a high-speed algorithm, it mainly uses a color characteristic as the basis of tracking. Since the computation method is to convert the similarity of colors into probability and then calculate the mass center from the probability. If a target has a background with similar colors or a larger object with similar colors, the tracking of the original object will be interfered to cause a failure of tracking. In other words, this algorithm simply using the similarity of colors to calculate probability is often interfered by other larger objects or the background having similar colors of a target, and misjudgments or errors of the object tracking occur frequently.
In view of the problems above, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally invented a visual object tracking method in accordance with the present invention to overcome the foregoing problems.


An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for autonomic large file marking. A threshold module sets a file size threshold. An identification module identifies each file that exceeds the file size threshold and that is not marked with a limited backup status. A user interface module may query a user if each identified file is to be marked. In response to a user direction to mark the identified file, the marking module may mark with the limited backup status each identified file. In an embodiment, the marking module selects a limited backup status from an exclusion backup status and a single storage backup status.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to marking files and more particularly relates to autonomically marking large files.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data processing devices (DPD) such as computer workstations, servers, mainframe computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants, and the like often store very valuable data. As a result, individuals and organizations typically back up the data from DPDs. For example, an organization may back up the computer workstations of all employees over a network. Alternatively, an individual may back up a laptop computer to a backup tape device.
The data of a DPD may comprise one or more files organized in one or more directories. Some files may be of a significantly large size such that backing up the large files on a regular basis adds appreciably to the cost of data backup. For example, some backup operations regularly make backup copies every hour. Over time, many backup copies may be made. The significantly large size files in the backup copies may substantially increase the cost of this regular backup operation.
In an alternate example, a backup operation may maintain multiple copies of backup files for a DPD data instance. Copies may be maintained concurrently on magnetic tape, hard disk drives, and the like. The multiple copies of the significantly large size files also increase the cost of multiple copy backup operations.
As a result, some backup operations allow users to identify files with a limited backup status. For example, a user may mark a large file with a limited backup status so that the marked file is not backed up in the future.
Unfortunately, the user may not be aware of all the large files on a DPD that could have a limited backup status. In addition, the files may grow to a very large size over time without coming to the user's attention as requiring a limited backup status.

Apparatus, system, and method for autonomic large file marking


A positioning device is disclosed that positions and guides a nominally hand-held router or other machine tool for machining with respect to a workpiece that is used as a reference. A novel configuration is employed in which a main body holds a centrally located lead screw and attached micrometer dial. Two guide shafts are disposed flanking the lead screw. A transversely disposed yoke bar spans the lead screw and both guide shafts; these can each be locked in place by knurled thumscrews threaded into the yoke bar. A vernier adjustment knob rotating the lead screw drives the yoke bar and provides fine position adjustment that is both accurate and repeatable, and which can be locked by a knurled thumbscrew threaded into the yoke bar. The guide shafts accept the coarse adjustment by sliding through the yoke bar, where they can be locked in place by a pair of knurled thumbscrews threaded into the yoke bar to retain the coarse adjustment. The guide shafts return back upon and pass through the main body producing two novel features: firstly a novel folded or looped arrangement greatly simplifies and strengthens the mechanical configuration, and secondly the adjusting elements are entirely separated from the router or machine tool by the intervening main body.

In routers and other portable power machine tools it is common practice to guide the cutting operation from an existing edge or surface of the workpiece to provide a basic reference. The machine tool generally utilizes a rotational cutting tool at the lower end of a vertical shaft. The cutting tool is positioned with respect to the reference by engaging the reference with some kind of matching element, plane, or surface attached to an adjustable positioning device known as a fence. The fence displaces the cutting tool with respect to the reference through an adjustment mechanism so that the desired cutting operation employing the cutting tool can be properly located and guided.
Adjusting the position of the cutting tool relative to the workpiece is a continuing problem, particularly in custom woodworking where high precision calibrated readjustment is often required; furthermore the fence must be convenient to adjust and, once adjusted, it must provide a very rugged structure for uniformity of the routing operation.
It is common for routers to be provided with adjustment capability and indication with regard to vertical settings of the cutting tool to vary the depth of cut; however similar capability is generally lacking with regard to adjustments in the horizontal plane, i.e. setting and readjusting the fence displacement.


There is provided a superhigh-speed filling and packaging apparatus having a high performance capable of manufacturing more than 8,000 packs per hour without leaving fluid at sealed parts of the containers. The filling and packaging apparatus fills a packaging material web formed in a tubular shape with fluid to manufacture package containers. The apparatus includes a lateral sealing apparatus for laterally sealing the tubular web filled with the fluid at intervals, each corresponding to one container, and a cutting apparatus, disposed under and remote from the lateral sealing apparatus, for cutting sealed parts of the containers while the containers are suspended to separate the containers.

1. Field of the Invention PA0 2. Prior Art
The present invention relates to a high-speed filling and packaging apparatus for manufacturing parallelepiped package containers filled with fluid content such as juice and a cutting apparatus employed by this filling and packaging apparatus.
There is known a conventional filling and packaging apparatus comprising an unwinder for supporting a web serving as a packing material (hereinafter referred to simply as packaging material web) in an rolled state, a unwinding apparatus for unwinding the web in order from the unwinder, a tube-forming apparatus for forming the unwound web in a tubular shape after sterilizing it, a liquid supply pipe for filling fluid content in the packaging material web which was formed in the tubular shape, and a container-forming apparatus for laterally sealing the web and cutting sealed parts of the web to continuously form pillow-shaped containers each having a rectangular shape in cross section while downwardly supplying the tube filled with the fluid content by the length corresponding to one container, and a container shaping apparatus for bending each end part of the pillow-shaped containers which are separated into individual ones to shape each pillow-shaped container in a parallelepiped container to be finally obtained (as disclosed in JP-A 58-193206 and JP-A 61-93010).
In the conventional filling and packaging apparatus, two pairs of lateral seal bars are vertically alternately movable and are provided with a pressure application mechanism for laterally sealing and cutting a packaging material web formed in a tubular shape. As shown in FIG. 1, the pressure application mechanism comprises a heating mechanism called inductors 2 for melting a resin of the web 1, a cooling mechanism such as pipes 3 of cooling refrigerant for quickly cooling the melted resin, and a cutting mechanism having a cutter blade 4 for accurately cutting and separating sealed parts of the laterally sealed package containers into individual ones. When the containers are formed using the lateral seal bars, heating, cooling and cutting processes can be performed continuously and integrally, and timing between these processes can be adjusted and controlled very easily, thereby achieving an excellent method of manufacturing the containers.
A capacity of the filling and packaging apparatus of this type for manufacturing containers per hour depends on the speed involved in a pressure application process in the lateral seal bars provided with heating, cooling and cutting mechanisms, and it takes about 0.6 second for performing the pressure application process corresponding to the length of one container. That is, the maximum manufacturing capacity per hour which has been conventionally performed is obtained by dividing one hour (3600 seconds) by 0.6 second per piece, namely, the quotient of 6000 pieces of containers. The apparatus having such a manufacturing capacity has been known as a high-speed filling and packaging apparatus.
In the pressure application process, it takes about 0.28 second for heating, 0.15 to 0.17 second for cooling and 0.15 to 0.17 second for cutting (0.6 second in total). The times involved in heating, cooling and cutting is required respectively to the minimum. For example, if the heating time is less than 0.28 second, a resin serving as a laminating material of the packaging material web is not sufficiently melted to make the sealing complete. If the cooling time is less than 0.15 to 0.17 second, the melted resin is cut in a state where it is not solidified, which caused an inconvenience that the sealing becomes incomplete and the melted resin is stuck to the cutter blade 4 to obstruct the succeeding cutting process. Further, a mechanical cutting by the cutter blade 4 takes 0.15 to 0.17 second at the minimum, which cannot be further reduced.
Under these circumstances, it has been considered impossible to develop a superhigh-speed packaging apparatus having a capacity of manufacturing more than 6000 pieces of containers per hour, namely, 8000 pieces of containers per hour. In the conventional lateral seal bars, as shown in FIG. 1, an accommodation part 6 of the cutter blade 4 is disposed between sealing pressure receivers 5 made of rubber at one of the seal bars, and a cutter receiver 7 is disposed between the inductors 2 at the other of the seal bars. With such an arrangement, it is inevitable that a remaining part 8 (fluid remaining part) of the fluid content such as juice is produced in a groove defined between the accommodation part 6 and cutter receiver 7 while they are positioned in the heat seal part when subjected to heat sealing. Accordingly, fluid such as juice is stuck to the cutter when the web is cut, thereby permitting the cutter to be easily rusted when acid fluid such as juice is stuck to the cutter. As a result, nicks are produced on the cutter blade by the rust, which frequently causes the problem of insufficient cutting. Further, there occurs another problem that the machine is soiled owing to the flow of fluid from the cut part of the web and the production of rust at the mechanical parts caused by the acidity of the filled fluid. There occurs still another problem that a material employed by the mechanical parts is restricted.
In addition to the above problems, there frequently occurs a problem that the liquid in the fluid remaining part is stuck to the cut part of the web when the web is cut and mold is gathered from the cut part of the web, about which consumers make complaints. In case that the web is filled with a colored content, when the fluid permeates from the cut part into the web, there causes a problem of extreme damage of image of the product, and hence the cut part is printed by the same color as the filled content, making the cut part unobtrusive.
As mentioned in detail above, in the filling and packaging apparatus of this type, the fluid remaining part in the cutting part causes a serious problem to influence the quality of the packaged product. Accordingly, in the cutter which is disposed to freely advance and retreat and the lateral seal bars having grooves for accommodating the tip end of the cutter to prevent the sealed parts from producing the fluid remaining part at the center thereof, there are known a remaining product removing apparatus in which the cutter cuts the packaging material at the advancing position and it stays at a position where the tip end of the cutter presses the packaging material at the retreating position to prevent a remaining object or residue from being produced (as disclosed in JP-A 7-24938), and a sealing apparatus including a third heating mechanism provided at the upper and lower edges of the groove to accommodate the tip end of the cutter therein in addition to the upper and lower heating mechanisms in the lateral seal bars, wherein the residue produced at the time of sealing is sealed by the upper and lower heating mechanisms and the third heating mechanism (as disclosed in JP-A 7-164524). However, these apparatuses cannot completely prevent the production of a fluid remaining part because of the presence of the groove formed by the accommodation part and receiver part of the cutter.
The filling and packaging apparatus of this type is employed when manufacturing germ-free filling packs under a strict microorganic control. Since the filling and packaging apparatus must be sufficiently washed when the filling contents are changed or a daily working is finished, thereby limiting the operating time of the apparatus. Further, in view of the recent tendency of the shortage of working hours, the working efficiency and improvement of the working ratio, the development of the filling and packaging apparatus capable of being manufactured at higher speed has been desired.


A magnesium oil pan prevents noise and vibration by attaching reinforcement members to portions that are weak in strength and are vulnerable to vibration. The magnesium oil pan includes a flange formed on an upper surface of the oil pan so as to be coupled with the cylinder block, a lower oil pan coupler formed on a lower surface of the oil pan so as to protrude downwards, and a bracket formed on a lateral surface of the oil pan so as to be coupled with a chain cover of the engine. The lower oil pan coupler includes a main reinforcement rib on an inner side of the oil pan which continuously runs between opposite inner walls of the lower oil pan coupler and protrudes downwards. Thus, the magnesium oil pan is made lightweight, improves noise-proof performance, and is hardly damaged by external impacts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnesium oil pan and, more particularly, to a magnesium oil pan in which reinforcement members are attached to portions that are weak in strength and are vulnerable to vibration in order to maximize reduction in weight and improve noise-proof performance, thereby preventing noise and vibration.
2. Description of Related Art
An oil pan is a reservoir that encloses a crank case and stores engine oil. The oil pan is detachably mounted on the lower portion of an engine, and is typically made of metal such as aluminum. The oil stored in the oil pan circulates around components of the engine by means of an oil pump, and then returns to the oil pan. At this time, the engine oil absorbs heat from the individual components, thereby cooling the individual components. Further, the engine oil forms an oil film on these components, thereby increasing lubrication between the components and preventing oxidation of the components.
Meanwhile, attempts have recently been made to reduce weight of each part mounted on a motor vehicle in order to fulfill demands for weight reduction and performance enhancement of the motor vehicle. This tendency is applied to the oil pan. To this end, a material of which the oil pan is made is substituted by magnesium, which is a lightweight material, for aluminum, which is an existing material.
Magnesium has an advantage of being lighter than aluminum but a disadvantage of being 2/3 times the strength of aluminum since the elastic modulus of magnesium is 45 GPa while that of aluminum is 75 GPa. As such, if the oil pan is made of magnesium instead of aluminum without a change in design, the oil pan mounted on the lower portion of the engine is subjected to vibration due to direct transmission of vibration from the engine, and thus generating noise. Furthermore, the oil pan is mounted on the lower portion of the engine, and thus is frequently exposed to external impacts. Accordingly, in the case in which the oil pan has weak rigidity, the oil pan is damaged by such external impacts.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


A vehicle telemetric system comprises vehicle interface units (VIUs), wireless gateways, and a central host. The VIU in a vehicle collects data over the OBD-II bus and stores the data in the form of Data Point Records (DPRs) in an on-board flash memory. When the VIU is within wireless range of a gateway, it establishes a WiFi (802.11b) connection with the gateway, and submits stored DPRs to the gateway, to be stored in permanent storage at the gateway. The gateways communicate with the central host over a wide area network (WAN). When a gateway has gathered new DPRs from a VIU, it submits these to the central host. Databases in the gateways as well as in the central host are maintained and synchronized to track received DPRs by sequence number and originating VIU. In conjunction with specific protocols, all DPRs are thus collected reliably, even though communication with a vehicle may be intermittent. Efficient use of WiFi bandwidth is made by avoiding the unnecessary collection of duplicate DPRs.

Most motor vehicles have in recent years been equipped with on-board computers connected to sensors located in various systems in the motor vehicle, for example the engine, the exhaust system, and the like.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has set standards which include a standard connector plug and a set of diagnostic test signals that technicians use when adjusting or repairing the motor vehicle. The standard connector plug and set of test signals, today, is known collectively as OBD-II (On-Board-Diagnostic, version 2) which applies to all cars and light trucks built after Jan. 1, 1996.
The on-board computers may also be coupled through the OBD-II interface to an on-board equipment containing a wireless modem, and thence to a wireless communications network to enable interested parties to remotely obtain diagnostic and other information from the motor vehicle. The applications for accessing the vehicle on-board computers remotely include highway monitoring of emission levels, and surveillance of fleet vehicles from a central location for purposes of performance tracking and maintenance scheduling.
Depending on the application, various ways are possible in which the wireless connectivity between the vehicle and a computer host at a monitoring location (to be referred to as the central host) can be achieved. For example the wireless modem may be configured to operate in the manner of a cellular telephone, and use the cellular telephone network to connect to any central host equipped with access to the telephone network. Similarly, the wireless modem may be configured to access the central host over a Wide Area Network (WAN), for example the internet. A system for transmitting, collecting and displaying diagnostic and operational information from one or more motor vehicles to a central server connected to a wide area network, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,492, issued to Lang, et al.
A problem of access may arise, due to the reliance on a single wireless network between the vehicle and the central host. As a practical matter, and due to the nature of being a vehicle, the vehicle may travel between many locations. The use of a single, virtually ubiquitous, wireless network is possible in principle (viz. the cellular telephone network, or a satellite based network), but the use of such a network for frequent and regular access to a potentially very large number of vehicles is both expensive and wasteful of resources.
This problem may be circumvented by deploying a number of remote computers (such as reference 27 in FIG. 1 of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,492 cited above), connected to the central host by conventional means, e.g. the land-line based internet. Each remote computer serves as a wireless gateway (WAP or wireless access point) to a localized wireless network. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard 802.11b describes protocol for use in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). If the system is based on the IEEE 802.11b Standard, the on-board modem accesses the nearest compatible remote computer and through it achieves data communication with the central host.
Other patents describing similar remote vehicle diagnostic systems, or aspects of such systems, include; U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,033, issued to Banet, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,740, issued to Lowrey, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,636,790, issued to Lightner, et al.
It is generally understood that WLANs of the kind described above have a very limited geographic reach, on the order of a few 100 meters at most. There is not a continuous geographic coverage of WLANs, and a vehicle may frequently be outside the reach of any WAP. Nevertheless, WLANs for the purpose of providing wireless access for vehicles for remote performance monitoring, diagnostics, or exhaust emissions performance checks, may be established at vehicle repair facilities, in parking lots, at high way toll plazas, etc. Furthermore, not every WLAN is designed or intended to operate with all vehicles. In general, WLAN devices (i.e. the vehicle's on-board computer) must be authorized and be registered by the WLAN master (also referred to as WLAN gateway) before communication is possible.
The vehicle's on-board computer may store vehicle data in its memory during periods when the vehicle is not within reach of a designated WLAN. In a conventional application, for example when the vehicle is in a repair shop being serviced, there is no problem collecting all data. However in a general surveillance or remote monitoring application, where the vehicle is free to roam, the driver may not even be aware of the data collection taking place, or of the boundaries of a WLAN the modem in the vehicle is currently accessing. In this case, the time for wireless accessibility may be short, frequently interrupted, and occur at a number of different WAPs successively.
A method, directly applicable to vehicle telemetry is disclosed in Canadian Patent 2,414,126, issued to Nader, et al. In this system a specific protocol (Internet Protocol IP version 6) is used which can provide a virtual continuous data path (connection) between the vehicle and the central host regardless of which WLAN the vehicle is currently accessing. While providing an elegant way of "hiding" the problem, thus possibly simplifying software design at the host, this solution does not address the practical aspects of providing continuity of information using a generally available protocol (IP version 4) nor does it take into account the uncertain, often intermittent, presence of vehicles within reach of a WLAN.
There exists thus a problem to ensure continuity of the effective data communication between the vehicle and the central host.
This problem is partially solved, in a different context (hand-held personal computing devices, rather than vehicles) in a system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,070, issued to Want, et al. In this system, the main flow of information is from the central host to the mobile device. Stationary computers, attached to a WLAN gateway, are used to temporarily hold or buffer data from the central host and destined for the mobile device, while the mobile device is out of reach for brief periods of time.
In the case of the motor vehicle telemetric system however, the main flow of information is the reverse, from the vehicle to the central host. The method described in the above cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,070 for providing continuity of communication is thus not directly applicable to the problem of providing continuity of information in a motor vehicle telemetric system.
What needs to be developed is a method for providing continuity of information in a vehicle telemetric system over localized wireless networks (WLANs), to permit a central host to collect diagnostic and other data from a vehicle, even when wireless access is intermittent.


A ground working apparatus for dispensing an agricultural additive to the soil is provided. The apparatus is mounted to a tool bar that is operable to be towed across an agricultural field. The apparatus includes a coulter blade in combination with a knife element, and a conduit attached thereto operable to dispense the agricultural additive in the soil. The knife element and the coulter blade characterize a gap therebetween. The gap is defined by a forward edge of the knife element having a radius of curvature that is less than a radius of curvature of the coulter blade. The conduit in interchangeably attached by at least one conduit mount plate at the knife element.

A wide variety of agricultural implements have evolved that are configured to be self-driven or pulled by a tow vehicle across an agricultural field. These agricultural implements employ various ground working apparatuses with tools that have evolved for use in conditioning and improving utilization of seed beds for planting in various soil conditions.
Particularly in regard to row type planting, ground working apparatuses employ a variety of tools that have evolved to create spaced rows so as to achieve the best possible utilization of the soil area, as well as to allow field trash to pass between the ground working tools while the implement is pulled by a tow vehicle across the field. Towards this end, known ground working apparatuses of tools have been designed to dispense additives in the soil while the implement distributes seed across the field.
One such known ground working apparatus includes a coulter blade and a knife positioned close behind. The coulter blade is generally configured to slice through the soil, crop residue, sod, etc., while the knife following close behind carries a conduit or tube employed for dispensing additives (e.g., liquid or dry fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, etc.) in the soil.
However, known ground working apparatuses that are configured to dispense additives have several drawbacks. For example, these known ground working arrangements typically do not efficiently discharge trash that gets pulled between the coulter disc and the knife. An accumulation of this trash increases opportunities for undesired skidding that diminishes the effectiveness of the rotating coulter blade as it is pulled across the field. Also, a lower end of the knife is customarily integrated with or fixed by a weld to a knife tip that is subject to wear and tear as it is pulled through the soil. Likewise, the conduit or tube mounted on the knife is permanently fixed with a weld to the knife, and is subject to wear and tear in a similar manner as described above in regard to the knife tip. Consequently, the entire knife and conduit arrangement must be replaced periodically.
Therefore, there is a need or desire for a ground working apparatus configured to enhance conditioning and dispensing additives to the soil. The ground working apparatus should be configured to be utilized with a wide variety of agricultural implements. Moreover, the ground working apparatus should be designed so that tools and components that are subject to wear and tear can be readily interchanged.

Agricultural additive dispensing apparatus


A fluid application device stores seam paste in a reservoir tank 18 and feeds the seam paste to a pressure tank 20 through a feed pump 22. Inside of the pressure tank 20 is maintained under a given air pressure by a pneumatic unit 26, and the seam paste is supplied from the pressure tank 20 to an application nozzle 16 through a supply pipe 24. A level sensor 28 detects fluid level of stored seam paste in the pressure tank 20, and a detection signal is input to a controller 30. The controller 30 controls operation of the feed pump 22 based on the detection signal that is transmitted from the level sensor 28 and also controls a supply amount of the seam paste to the pressure tank 20 to maintain the fluid level in the pressure tank 20 at a fixed level.

An application device of this kind is used, for example, for continuously applying seam paste to one of side edge portions of wrapping paper when the wrapping paper travels through a rod-forming section of a cigarette manufacturing machine, the side edge portions forming a lap region of the wrapping paper. The wrapping paper as an object herein receives a shredded tobacco layer on an upper surface thereof and travels through the rod-forming section together with a garniture tape. Thereafter, the seam paste as fluid is applied to the wrapping paper as mentioned above, and then the wrapping paper is bent into a cylindrical form to wrap the shred tobacco layer. Thus, the side edge portions of the wrapping paper forming the lap region are adhered to each other, thereby continuously forming a tobacco rod for cigarette rods.
Methods for applying the seam paste to the wrapping paper in the cigarette manufacturing machine include, for example, a method in which the outer circumferential surface of a rotating disc (paste wheel) is brought into contact with the side edge portion of the wrapping paper to transfer the seam paste onto the wrapping paper through the outer circumferential surface of the rotating disc and a method in which the tip end of a nozzle is brought into contact with the side edge portion of the wrapping paper, and the seam paste is discharged from the tip end of the nozzle and applied to the wrapping paper.
In recent years, with the speedup of operation of a cigarette manufacturing machine, the traveling speed of wrapping paper in a tobacco rod-forming process has been increased, and therefore the flow rate of the seam paste to be applied to the wrapping paper has also been increased. In the former method, the flow rate of application of the seam paste is limited by the rotational speed of the disc. Therefore, the latter method using a nozzle is suitable for the cigarette manufacturing machine of high-speed type.
In the case of a conventional application device using the nozzle, the device includes a tank for storing seam paste therein, the seam paste in the tank is supplied to an application nozzle by means of a feeding device such as a gear pump. The feeding device can not only increase the supply rate of the seam paste but also adjust an application amount of the seam paste to a constant value.
Even if the above-mentioned feeding device such as a gear pump allows quantitative supply, however, there occurs minute pulsation in the discharge pressure of the seam paste for a structural factor of the gear pump. Therefore, the supply amount of the seam paste to the application nozzle slightly fluctuates due to the pulsation, resulting in minute fluctuation of the application amount of the seam paste from the application nozzle to the wrapping paper. On the other hand, since the lap region of the wrapping paper is extremely narrow, it is undesirable that the fluctuation, if only minute one, occur in the amount of the seam paste applied to the wrapping paper. This is because if more seam paste than a proper amount is applied, extra seam paste is forced out when the lap region is formed, and on the other hand, if the seam paste is less than the proper amount, there occurs the problem that the side edge portions of the wrapping paper poorly adhere to each other.
Moreover, in the case of the nozzle used in the application device, the flow velocity of seam paste in the nozzle is greatly heightened due to an increase in the flow rate of the seam paste, so that the nozzle receives a quite large fluid friction. For this reason, the fluid friction causes the base material of the nozzle to corrode at the discharge opening of the nozzle, and after the nozzle has been used over a period of long time, the size of the discharge opening is apt to be undesirably enlarged.
Such enlargement of the discharge opening makes the outflow of seam paste unstable, and thus the application amount of the seam paste is caused to change undesirably.
Consequently, one of the issues in the technical field of a fluid application device is to suppress the fluctuation or change of the application amount of fluid in addition to an improvement in application efficiency.


MRSA CC398 is a clone of S. aureus that has recently emerged in pigs and other domestic animals worldwide. As any other MRSA, the clone displays high levels of antibiotic resistance and poses a serious threat to human health because of the risk of antibiotic treatment failure in human patients. We developed a new diagnostic test for identification of MRSA CC398 using a single one-step PCR that is very easily performed within a few hours. The test is based on the principle that clonal differences within S. aureus are reflected in the sequence of a gene (sau1hsdS1) located on the chromosome of this bacterial species. Accordingly, such a gene represents an optimal target for S. aureus and MRSA identification at the clone level. The test includes detection of the gene conferring methicillin resistance (mecA), therefore allowing rapid discrimination between methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant variants of the clone. A preliminary validation of the test was performed on a collection of CC398 and non-CC398 strains, resulting in 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The test can be combined to real-time PCR technology to further reduce simplify the test performance as well as to allow quantification of the target MRSA clone in biological specimens. The invention has important applications related to surveillance and control of MRSA CC398 in humans, animals and food products.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most frequent causes of bacterial infections in the world. About 20% of the population is long-term carriers of S. aureus. S. aureus can cause a range of illnesses from minor skin infections, such as pimples, impetigo, boils, cellulitis folliculitis, furuncles, carbuncles, scalded skin syndrome and abscesses, to life-threatening diseases such as bacteraemia, pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS), and septicaemia. Its incidence is from skin, soft tissue, respiratory, bone, joint, endovascular to wound infections. It is still one of the four most common causes of nosocomial infections, often causing postsurgical wound infections.
S. aureus may occur as a commensal on human skin; it also occurs in the nose frequently (in about a third of the population) and throat less commonly. Although the occurrence of S. aureus or MRSA under these circumstances does not indicate infection, healthy carriage of these bacteria is a major risk factor for infection, which usually manifests when normal barriers such as skin or mucosal lining have been breached. S. aureus can spread between individuals through direct contact with infected wounds, skin-to-skin contact, aerosol as well as by contact with contaminated objects such as towels, sheets, clothing, or athletic equipment. It can also colonize domestic animals such as pigs, cattle, dogs, cats and horses, and can cause various animal diseases such as mastitis in dairy cows and bumblefoot in chickens.
MRSA strains harbour the mecA gene, which confers resistance to all beta-lactam antibiotics and is often resistant to alternative antimicrobials (Chambers 1997). MRSA significantly contribute to mortality due to high risk of treatment failure, and results in an economical burden to the society due to prolonged hospitalization and recourse to more expensive antimicrobials. MRSA was originally confined to hospital and health care environments but during the last decade the incidence of community-acquired infections has increased.
Recently, MRSA belonging to a specific genetic lineage called CC398 has emerged in pigs, calves and other animals worldwide. MRSA CC398 colonizes the skin and the mucosal surfaces of healthy animals without any clinical signs. However, the emergence of this MRSA clone in animals represents a major public health problem since animal carriers may contribute to the spread of MRSA among humans. Independent studies in North America (Hanselmann et al. 2006), Holland (Wulf et al. 2006) and Denmark (Moodley et al. 2008; Wulf et al. 2008) have indicated the frequency of MRSA colonization is higher in veterinary staff and pig farmers than in the community. Two case-control studies in the Netherlands (van Loo et al. 2007) and in Denmark (Lewis et al. 2008) have shown that pig farmers are categories at risk for MRSA CC398 infection. Differently from other MRSA lineages, MRSA CC398 is likely to have animal origin and therefore is presently regarded as a zoonosis. It has been reported that the prevalence of MRSA among pig farmers was >760 times higher than that among patients admitted to Dutch hospitals (Voss et al. 2005). Typing of these MRSA indicated that they belonged to CC398 and had been transmitted from pigs to farm workers.
Recently it was established that CC398 accounted for 20% of all MRSA detected in the Netherlands (van Loo et al. 2007), highlighting the need for a fast, simple, inexpensive and reliable typing of this particular MRSA lineage. More generally, molecular typing of MRSA, in particular in hospital-acquired infections, is an important prerequisite for an effective and targeted use of infection control measures aimed at preventing further dissemination within hospitals as well as from the community to hospitals. In doing so, it is necessary to identify genetic markers allowing rapid and reliable MRSA identification at the CC level and easy communication of results between laboratories.
MRSA CC398 and more broadly any MRSA clones are currently identified using a multi-step procedure which includes: i) identification of S. aureus at the species level (Bannerman 2003); ii) detection of methicillin resistance by phenotypic and/or genotypic methods; and iii) clone identification using standard methods for S. aureus typing, namely pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) (Murchan et al. 2003), multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) (Enright et al. 2000) and spa typing (Koreen et al. 2004). There have been attempts to merge the first two steps (Vannuffel et al. 1996). However, prior to the invention, no methods were available to cover all three steps. Recently, an restriction-modification (RM) system of S. aureus was described by Waldron et al. (2006). The RM system is composed by five genes: two hsdM (modification) genes, one hsdR (restriction) gene and two hsdS (specificity) genes. The two sau1hsdS genes (sau1hsdS1 and sau1hsdS2) were found to exhibit high sequence variation between isolates belonging to distinct CCs. This finding was subsequently used by Cockfield et al. (2008) to identify six distinct lineages (CC1, CC5, CC8, CC22, CC30 and CC45).
Due to the emerging importance of CC398 in the veterinary sector, the need for rapid methods for MRSA identification at the CC level is no longer limited to human medicine but is now extended to MRSA surveillance in living animals, farm environments and animal food products. In 2007 the EU Commission financed baseline surveys to assess the prevalence of MRSA in breeding pigs (EU Commission 2007). The EU initiative has been accompanied by a number of research and surveillance programs at the national level. This situation has determined a need for a specific method enabling rapid and accurate identification of CC398, including both MRSA and Methicillin-Sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) variants belonging to this S. aureus lineage. Therefore, the invention described herein below has important diagnostic and epidemiological applications in human medicine as well as in the veterinary sector. The invention represents a useful tool for surveillance and control of MRSA CC398 in humans, animals and food products, and more importantly, can be used for clone identification of any MRSA.

DNA-based methods for clone-specific identification of


A bus translator is provided to translate the internal bus structure of a self-contained processor system to a system bus which is easily compatible with a plurality of different external components. In particular, the bus translator translates the packetized multiplexed internal bus to a de-multiplexed bus. The translator further provides the ability to add wait states to the transactions in order to accommodate slower memories and devices coupled to the system bus. Furthermore, the translator accommodates bus burst logic by providing an auto-increment addressing capability. In addition, as the processor operates on 32-bit words and coupled devices may operate on a smaller word size, the bus translator of the present invention provides a byte enable register file for performing byte operations within the 32-bit word operations of the system. Finally, the bus translator also provides accurate parity generation and checking on a byte basis. An external boot feature for the self-contained processor system allows the reading of start-up configuration data from internal non-volatile memory or system memory. Furthermore, address mapping and chip enable control allow the user to access additional information from the non-volatile memory regardless of the boot mode chosen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for translating a multiplexed packetized bus into a de-multiplexed bus which is easily accessible by external components. Furthermore, the present invention relates a structure and method for providing an internal and external boot for a self-contained processor system.
2. Art Background
A self-contained processor system includes components and features such as a processor, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, cache memory, timers, serial ports, etc. This system may exist on a single PCB (printed circuit board) or MCM (multi-chip module). Typically, a user or external device has very limited access to the internal components of the system. For example, the processor's non-volatile memory where start-up code is usually stored may be completely inaccessible to the external user.
To reduce the design cycle time and increase integration, MCM and PCB processor systems have become very widely used. The time and knowledge required to design with these types of systems is minimal, as the interface to the processor's bus had been previously designed and the external interface to the system bus typically is straight forward.
However, as the processor system is designed to be self-contained, internal bus operations and protocols are not designed with ease-of-use and external access requirements in mind. Therefor, access externally by a device coupled to operate with the self-contained system, or a user accessing the system for operational or debugging purposes is quite difficult.
A processor typically on boot-up will look for its configuration data at some predefined address in non-volatile memory. This address is fixed and cannot be changed by the user. The configuration data is generally stored in non-volatile memory off of the processor's local bus. In a self-contained processor system, this non-volatile memory is inaccessible to the external user.

MX bus translation to new system bus protocol


Disclosed herein are a CDMA optical system and encoder and decoder included therein. Time domain encoding means creates a time domain code having a sequence according to inputted data bits or a complementary code which is complementary to the time domain code. An optical modulation means selectively outputs lights, in which the lights are incident upon the optical modulation means from the outside, to two output leads, respectively, according to chip bits of the time domain code or the complementary code. A wavelength domain encoding means encodes the light outputted from a first output lead of the optical modulation means to a wavelength domain sequence (two dimensional code), transmits the wavelength code to the base station, encodes the light outputted from a second output lead to a complementary sequence of the wavelength domain sequence, and transmits the complementary code of the two dimensional code to the base station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) system, and more particularly to a two-dimensional OCDMA system sequentially encoding data bits in time domain and in the wavelength domain using two independent pseudo random noise (PN) sequences, and decoding the encoded results in the wavelength and time domains based on wavelength difference detection (or equal detection of wavelength) such that multiple access interference (MAI) among concurrent users can be removed, and to a wavelength/time sequential encoder and decoder adopted in the OCDMA system. Also the present invention relates to a method of encoding/decoding data bits/decoded results using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, research into performance enhancement of an OCDMA system have been proceeded to increase the number of creation code and to reduce noise including MAI among concurrent users. To achieve the above objectives, a method for increasing created code dimension was proposed.
As a prior patent for an encoding/decoding technique of the prior art OCDMA system, U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,950, entitled FIBER BRAGG GRATING-BASED OCDMA ENCODER/DECODER, whose assignee is the National Science Council, discloses a wavelength domain OCDMA system using PN code in one-dimension. In the U.S. patent, the encoder includes a broadband light source, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) array, and an optical circulator. The FBG array reflects a specific wavelength according to previously allocated PN code and transmits it to a network through the optical circulator to perform wavelength domain encoding. The encoder performs an encoding operation if the data bit is '1' and does not transmit a signal thereto if the data bit is '0.' Also, the decoder includes a pair of FBG arrays, composed according to allocated codes and codes complementary to the allocated codes, and two optical detectors performing wavelength difference detection. Lights passing through the pair of FBG arrays are incident upon the respective optical diodes. If the lights correspond to the codes of the FBG arrays, they are incident upon one photodiode to output a signal '1.' However, if the lights correspond to codes of another users, they are divided to be incident upon two photodiodes. On the other hand, since the length of PN codes used in the prior U.S. patent is odd, MAI occurs. Also, since the encoding and decoding are performed in the one-dimensional wavelength domain, the code number is limited.
In order to overcome the problems in the prior U.S. patent, two dimensional encoding/decoding techniques have been proposed. Namely, a system adopting the prior art encoding/decoding techniques composes a new two-dimensional code created as prime code is combined with optical orthogonal code, and transmits signals based on the combination thereto as FBG arrays corresponding to two pair of Single Pulse Per Row type codes corresponding to '1' and '0' are switched by control signals, respectively. However, the proposed system has disadvantages in that the created code number is limited and, furthermore the subscriber number cannot be secured since two codes are distributed to a single subscriber.
Uri N. Griner and Shlomi Arnon disclosed two-dimensional encoding/decoding techniques [IEEE, Photonics Technology Lett., Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 332˜334, January 2003, titled "A novel bipolar wavelength-time coding scheme for optical CDMA systems"], using bipolar time spreading of a broadband light source and complementary spectral-amplitude-coding, in which two LEDs perform a coding operation in the time domain according to signals '1' and '−1.' After that, another coding operation is performed in the wavelength domain through a diffraction grating. In a receiving unit, wavelength difference detection is performed by two photodiodes to retrieve the signals. The above system employs a Hadamard code for performing a coding operation in the wavelength domain, and a barker code of length, 3, 7 and 11 for performing a coding operation in the time domain. However, the prior art system has disadvantage in that MAI cannot be completely removed therefrom due to inherent characteristics of the barker code adopted in the time domain.

Two-dimensional optical CDMA system, PN coded wavelength/time encoder and decoder therein, and method of encoding/decoding

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A glass holder for a jalousie window, including a body having two parallel side walls which define a slot, and two webs which extend substantially perpendicularly in opposite directions from a base of the slot walls. The body has a length and the webs each extend from a respective end of the body over a respective portion of the length of the body. Each web has an outer edge with a baffle that extends in a direction parallel the slot walls.

The present invention relates to jalousie windows, and more specifically to jalousie hardware.
Conventional jalousie window hardware consists of molded plastic glass holders, rotationally engaged to an aluminum channel extrusion. A pair of extrusions are attached to opposing sides of a window frame.
Each of the extrusion members is provided with a series of holes that are rotational mounting locations for each glass holder.
Jalousie window hardware was traditionally manufactured entirely from stamped metal components consisting mainly of aluminum and some steel parts. The principal of operation was similar to that used today, however the functioning push rods and all pivot pins were fully exposed thereby creating an unattractive appearance and thus resulting in premature failure due to weather exposure and physical damage.
In recent decades, the operating mechanism has been enclosed in an aluminum channel and the metal glass holders are produced by an injection molded plastic. The mechanism enclosure now protects the operating components and the glass holders are immune to corrosion which was previously a serious problem with metal glass holders.
Since the glass holders must be free to rotate, they require adequate clearance to do so. This clearance allows direct light, water and wind to pass between the glass holder and the aluminum extrusion.


A first setting item regarding a function determined so that it can be used on the basis of obtained configuration information, that is, a function determined so that it can be used on the basis of received settings is displayed in selectable manner; a second setting item regarding a function determined so that it can be used on the basis of the obtained configuration information, that is, a function determined so that it cannot be used on the basis of the received settings is displayed in selectable manner if the settings are changed; and a third setting item regarding a function determined so that it cannot be used on the basis of the obtained configuration information, that is, a function determined so that it cannot be used on the basis of the received settings is displayed in unselectable manner.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.
Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-243067 discloses such a printer driver that function and attribute capability information of each printer model is held as a database in the printer driver and functions and attributes which can be used are specified on the basis of identification information of a printer which is connected.
However, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-243067, whether or not a function which cannot be used is a function which cannot be inherently used in a connected printer or a function which can be used in dependence on a setting of the user cannot be displayed so that it can be discriminated.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer-readable medium for displaying device settings via a device setting screen