A graphics processing circuit includes an anti-aliasing and stippling circuit operative to provide a primitive texture coordinate set in response to vertex data, the anti-aliasing and stippling circuit performing anti-aliasing operations, in parallel, with at least one appearance attribute determination operation on the vertex data, a rasterizer, coupled to the anti-aliasing and stippling circuit, operative to generate a pixel texture coordinate set in response to the primitive texture coordinate set, and apply an appearance value to a pixel defined by the pixel texture coordinate set, and a texture circuit, coupled to the rasterizer, operative to retrieve the appearance value from a corresponding one of a plurality of textures in a multi-texture map in response to the pixel texture coordinate set, the multi-texture map including data representing point, line and polygon texture data.

Computer graphics processing systems, set top box systems or other graphics processing systems typically include a host processor, graphics/video processing circuitry, memory (e.g. frame buffer), and one or more display devices. The host processor may have a graphics application running thereon, which provides vertex data for a primitive (e.g. triangle) to be rendered on the one or more display devices. The display device, for example, a CRT display includes a plurality of scan lines comprised of a series of pixels. The graphics/video processing circuitry receives the vertex data and generates pixel data including appearance attributes (e.g. color, luminance, texture, stippling) which may be presented on the display devices according to a particular protocol. The pixel data is typically stored in the frame buffer in a manner that corresponds to the pixels location on the display device.
Display devices present an object or image to the viewer as an array of individual picture elements, or pixels. The pixels are each given a specific characteristic, for example, the color or texture of the object at the particular pixel's location. The pixels are closely spaced relative to one another and the corresponding display device filters the individual pixel color and texture values to form a composite image. If the pixel filtering is performed properly, the viewer perceives the displayed array of pixels as a virtually continuous image. However, despite the filtering, the viewer remains sensitive to aberrations (e.g. color or texture differences) in the rendered object, and graphics processing circuitry must be designed to minimize these aberrations. Visual aberrations may result, for example, when the image is insufficiently sampled.
Aliasing occurs in an image, for example, when the pixel sampling rate is significantly less than the highest frequency change in an image. If the pixel sampling frequency, for example, is less than twice the image's frequency of change, aliasing will occur and visual aberrations, such as improper or distorted coloring or texturing, will be introduced into the image. In addition to improper or distorted coloring or texturing, sampling artifacts (e.g. stair-step edges) may be introduced into the image. Conventional graphics processing circuitry typically contains several look-up tables or rely on full scene anti-aliasing to support anti-aliasing operations. The look-up tables can take up a significant amount of on chip real estate; thereby, preventing other graphics and/or video processing capabilities from being supported. In addition, accessing the several look-up tables to complete anti-aliasing operations takes up valuable processing time from other operations; thereby, decreasing graphics processing circuitry performance. Moreover, full scene anti-aliasing is costly from a performance standpoint and typically results in low quality images.
Stippling is the operation of masking out certain fragments produced by rasterization, thereby creating a stippling pattern. The stippling pattern is subsequently applied to rendered objects; thereby providing texture to the rendered object. Appearance attribute determination operations, such as stippling, typically are performed in the final rendering engine of the graphics/video processing circuitry, and are performed separate from and subsequent to the anti-aliasing on the object that the stippling pattern is to be applied. Such separate processing decreases graphics processing circuitry performance, for example, as the anti-aliasing operations are performed on the object before stippling and other appearance attribute operations are performed on the object. Thus, several processing passes per pixel are required before the object can be rendered.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a line segment 10 being rendered onto a two dimensional space 12. The two dimensional space 12 may correspond to the screen space of a suitable display device (not shown). The two-dimensional space 12 is represented by a plurality of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines that form pixels 11. A pixel is one of a series of points along a raster scan line that when viewed in the aggregate, provides an image that may be presented on a suitable display device and perceived by a user. The line segment 10 may be provided, for example, by a larger primitive (e.g. triangle) intersecting the pixels 11 that define the two dimensional space 12.
To make an object, including the line segment 10, look more realistic when rendered on the two dimensional space 12, the line segment 10 is provided with an appearance attribute, for example, color, texture or other suitable attribute. A stippling pattern is one type of appearance attribute that may be applied to the sample points 14 along the line segment 10. The stippling pattern (e.g. a checkerboard design) is typically retrieved from a dedicated memory that is separate from, and does not contain, other types of appearance attributes (e.g. color, brightness). In conventional graphics processing systems, dedicated hardware is used to determine whether a particular sample point 14 is within the stippling pattern, and additional dedicated hardware is used to draw the stippling pattern at the sample point 14, if such sample point is determined to be within the stippling pattern. In those situations when the sample point is not within the center of the corresponding pixel, the rendered object may lack clarity as the stippling pattern is aligned with display screen position and not pixel position. Additionally, the several pieces of dedicated hardware required to apply the stippling pattern take up a significant amount of on-chip real estate, and the multiple memory look up operations required to retrieve and apply the stippling pattern takes up valuable processing time.

Apparatus for generating anti-aliased and stippled 3d lines, points and surfaces using multi-dimensional procedural texture coordinates


A wagering game system includes at least one server configured to generate wagering event data for presentation to players that play against each other using the wagering event data, and generate a bonus award to be provided to at least one of the players, wherein the bonus award includes at least one of a progressive jackpot and a mystery jackpot. The wagering game system also includes at least one wagering device configured to present the wagering event data to a player and receive player input from the player, and an interface device configured to communicate with the wagering device to provide wagering event data to the wagering device, and send player input from the wagering device to the server, wherein the player utilizes the wagering device to play against other players based on the wagering event data.

In the past, gaming establishments have offered a variety of devices and games to present wagering opportunities for players of games. The variety of games and devices both maintain and increase interest for players. The variety of games and devices also provide diversified profit centers for gaming establishments. For example, some players prefer table games with an opportunity to both wager and socialize. Other players prefer machine games, where in the prior art little socialization occurs. In prior art machine based games, the players attempt to "beat" the machine.
It has been possible to offer games to players on a mass scale with the growth of networking and hand held game playing devices. However, governmental and gaming regulatory requirements have limited the possibilities for offering networked wagering games. One consideration in offering remote wagering includes assurance that players are legally eligible and creditworthy (for example, children are excluded). Another consideration is that the games that are offered meet regulatory authority rules in terms of payback, fairness and methods of play. Yet another consideration is that monetary transactions do not violate regulatory prohibitions (for example, money laundering).
Operators of gaming establishments are continually being challenged to provide novel approaches to gaming to improve cash flow and profits. Machine wagering provides for maximized returns on investment because of the use of less real property space per player. Table games take up more real property space, and require more people intensive oversight.

Method and apparatus for peer-to-peer wagering game


A method of making shaped, gelled bodies, comprising: (1) producing a mixture comprising a first liquid, a granular substance or precursor thereof, and a gelation compound which quickly gels at a gelation temperature, and (2) introducing portions of the mixture into a first fluid in which the first liquid is immiscible, said first fluid having a temperature of about the gelation temperature, thereby causing the portions to take on a shape and then gel to form shaped, gelled bodies.

Ceramic materials have gained the attention of industry by virtue of their low cost and superior performance qualities. These qualities, such as superior high temperature strength, high toughness, resistance to thermal shock, and resistance to oxidation provide the bases for their potential use in a variety of applications.
Although complex-shaped ceramics have been considered in many applications, spherical ceramics appear to be especially promising. For example, silicon nitride is presently widely used in ball bearings. These bearings can be used without lubrication and so provide an advantage over conventional metal bearings which require lubrication. Further, silicon nitride is also a candidate milling medium for ball-milling operations. Because ball-milling is a high-wear application, the toughness and hardness of silicon nitride make it highly desirable for this use.
The production of a ceramic ball bearing or milling ball requires the formation of an unsintered, moderately dense, spherical green body which can then be sintered into a hard, dense ceramic ball. However, conventional methods of forming green bodies appear to have limitations which render them unsuitable for forming the desired spherical bodies. For example, slip casting appears to be impractical for the large scale production of a simple shape. Uniaxial die pressing has been used to produce ceramic balls having very good dimensional control. However, this process requires the use of an expensive die press, and produces a ceramic ball having undesirable gradients within the green body and an undesirable mold flashing, or lip, upon the surface of the green body. This lip must be removed from the green body in order to meet tolerance requirements and is often machined off in a tumbler. Injection molding processes offer an alternative method of making the green sphere. However, it requires expensive molds and a long dewaxing process to remove the binder prior to sintering. Various granulation methods also produce spherical balls by the snow-balling approach, wherein a seed is rolled in a powder. However, substantial radial gradients are observed and dimensional control by this method is less than desirable.
Because the conventional methods of forming green bodies have proven unsatisfactory for producing spherical shapes, the art has focused on alternative methods of making such spheres. For example, European Patent Publication No. 434,164 (Contursi) teaches forming a mixture comprising a ceramic powder precursor, carbon and a carbohydrate, dropping the mixture into an alkaline solution thus converting it to a sol, and nitriding the spherical sols to form a powder. The process does not produce spherical green bodies and requires a time-consuming chemical reaction between its strongly alkaline solution (7M NH.sub.4 OH) and its mixture in order to form its sol.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,905 (Malmendler) describes a method of making spherical bodies comprising: a) releasing gel droplets containing crystals of synthetic mica into a liquid having a surface tension that tends to spheroidize the droplets, b) solidifying the bodies via cation exchange within an ion exchange medium; and, c) separating the bodies from the liquid medium. Although Malmender's method of gel solidification does produce spheroids, it also requires the use of crystals of synthetic mica and ion exchange, and so is a complicated process of narrow applicability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,829 (Hattori) describes a) suspending a silicic acid ester/water mixture in a medium comprising ethyl cellulose and an organic liquid which is immiscible in the mixture, b) hydrolyzing and polymerizing the mixture to produce a spheroid gel particle dispersion slurry, c) separating the gel particles from the dispersing medium, and d) drying the spheres. However, not only are undesirably long reaction times and high temperatures needed to polymerize the ester, the method appears to be restricted to production of relatively porous, silica green bodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,391 (Sumita) describes a method of making spherical bodies comprising (i) pouring a ceramic/water mixture into an organic liquid to form a water-in-oil slurry, (ii) pouring the water-in-oil slurry into water to form a water-in-oil-in-water ("w/o/w") slurry having a polymer-coated ceramic phase, (iii) heating the polymer to form a solid polymer shell and a ceramic core (iv) separating the shell and core from the aqueous solution, and (v) removing the shell by thermal decomposition. Clearly, this method is quite complicated, requiring a w/o/w slurry formation step and two heating steps to obtain a porous ceramic green body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,237 (Fanelli et al.) teaches a method of forming green bodies comprising the steps of: (i) mixing a ceramic powder and an agaroid gel-forming material into a solvent in which the agaroid is soluble, (ii) supplying the mixture into a mold, and (iii) forming a molded green body by lowering the temperature of the mixture to a point below the gel-forming temperature of the agaroid material. Although the Fanelli et al. process overcomes some of the shortcomings of the above-mentioned gel-forming art, it does not teach producing spheroid green bodies. Further, the green bodies it does produce have low densities which are extremely susceptible to deformation during handling and, when sintered, yield ceramic bodies having theoretical densities of only about 80%.
Matthews and Simpson, Ceramic Bulletin, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 223-227 (1979), disclose dropping ceramic precursor sols into a column of 2-ethyl hexanol to form a sphere. Water is slowly extracted from the sol by the 2-ethyl hexanol, and the sol transforms chemically into a gel. As the gelled sphere densifies, it drops out of the column. However, not only is this method limited to having sols as starting materials, but also the chemical transformation of the sol to a gel requires a long reaction time.
Thus, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved method of making green bodies from various metal and ceramic powders which overcomes shortcomings of the prior art.

Shaped bodies and the production thereof


Disclosed is a coating material for parts of an engine exhaust system and a method for manufacturing the same. The coating material includes a second junction layer made of CrN or Ti(C)N, a support layer made of TiAlN/CrN disposed on a surface of the second junction layer, and a functional layer made of TiAlN/CrSiN or TiAlN/CrSiCN disposed on a surface of the support layer. The coating material improves abrasion resistance and seizure resistance of the parts of the engine exhaust system.

(a) Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a coating material for parts of an engine exhaust system and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a multi-layered coating material for parts of an engine exhaust system, which includes a first junction layer made of Ti or Cr, a second junction layer made of CrN or Ti(C)N, a support layer made of TiAlN/CrN, and a functional layer made of TiAlN/CrSi(C)N, all of which are stacked in sequence. The multi-layered coating of the present invention provides improved physical properties, particularly for sliding parts of an engine exhaust system, such as seizure resistance, abrasion resistance and heat resistance.
(b) Background Art
In recent years, as the regulations on automobile exhaust gas have been reinforced with the rise of environmental issues such as global warming, automakers have made attempts to develop a variety of environmentally friendly vehicles so as to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions to 50 g/km by 2020, which corresponds to 35 to 50% of the current carbon dioxide emissions.
More particularly, to satisfy the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards of reducing the fuel efficiency to 54.5 mpg (23.2 km/l) by 2025, active research on technology associated with downsizing or fuel efficiency improvement has been conducted. In particular, an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system has been applied to achieve an increase in engine combustion efficiency and a decrease in generation of NOx.
The EGR system is generally composed of a flat valve, a shaft, a bushing, a washer, a housing, etc. An actuator is provided outside the housing for opening/closing the flat valve. In this case, the parts (e.g., the flat valve and the bush, or the washer and the bushing) of the engine exhaust system are slid at a high temperature, thereby causing seizure, friction and abrasion of the washer, the flat valve and the bushing. As a result, the flat valve is not easily opened/closed due to the seizure, friction and abrasion of the washer, the flat valve and the bushing. Further, abrasion of the flat valve may cause degraded qualities, such as generation of alarm sounds or noises in the engine.
Therefore, various attempts have been made to prevent shortening of the lifespan of the parts of the engine exhaust system and to maintain performance of the parts. More particularly, active research on surface treatment has been conducted to improve physical properties such as seizure resistance, abrasion resistance, a low friction property, heat resistance, etc.
For example, a CrN coating has been applied in an attempt to maintain performance of the parts of the engine exhaust system, which is susceptible to abrasion due to the lack of high-temperature hardness. However, even with the CrN coating, hardness of the parts is lowered at a temperature of 500° C. or higher due to the lack of heat resistance and abrasion of the parts is facilitated due to the low seizure resistance.
In attempts to solve the problems regarding the CrN coating, heat-resistant coating materials such as TiAlN, CrTiSiN or TiAlCrN—CrON have also been used. However, these heat-resistant coating materials have difficulties in simultaneously improving the multiple physical properties (heat resistance, abrasion resistance, seizure resistance, a low friction property, etc.) of the coating material that are required for sliding parts to operate under a high-temperature environment.
When conventional coating materials, such as a CrN coating material or a TiAlN coating material, are applied to parts of a conventional EGR system, a seized product may be easily formed on surfaces of the parts due to the presence of carbides. In this case, the seized product is mainly responsible for lowering hardness of the parts and shortening the lifespan of the parts, which results from leakage or damage.
The description provided above as a related art of the present invention is just for helping understanding the background of the present invention and should not be construed as being included in the related art known by those skilled in the art.

Coating material for parts of engine exhaust system and method for manufacturing the same


Disclosed is a method of preparing encapsulated bichromal balls. The method involves forming capsules of electrophoretic particles encapsulated within a dielectric fluid such as a hydrocarbon solvent or siloxane oil that includes a small amount of a gelating agent. Bichromal balls are then formed by heating the capsules and applying an electric field. The capsules are then cooled while the electric field is maintained. Upon sufficient gelling, the electrophoretic particles are fixed within the gelled medium, i.e. the capsule. The bichromal gel produced detaches from the inside wall of the capsule, and thereby constitute the resulting encapsulated bichromal balls.

Illustrated herein are methods of preparing encapsulated bichromal balls and the resulting balls produced thereby. The methods find particular application in conjunction with the use of such balls in display devices, such as photochromic displays, and substrates such as "electric paper", and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the embodiments are also amenable to other like applications.
Bichromal rotatable elements, such as bichromal balls, or beads as sometimes referred to in the art, are tiny spheres, such as micron-sized wax beads, which have an optical and an electrical anisotropy. These characteristics generally result from each hemisphere surface or side having a different color, such as black on one side and white on the other, and electrical charge, i.e., positive or negative. Depending on the electrical field produced, the orientation of these beads will change, showing a different color (such as black or white) and collectively create a visual image.
In this regard, the spherical particles are generally embedded in a solid substrate with a slight space between each ball and the substrate being filled with a liquid so that the balls are free to rotate in a changing electrical field, but can not migrate from one location to another. If one hemisphere is black and the other is white, each pixel can be turned on and off by the electrical field applied to that location. As a result, each pixel can be individually addressed, and a full page image can thus be generated.
For example, reusable signage or displays can be produced by incorporating the tiny bichromal beads in a substrate such as sandwiched between thin sheets of a flexible elastomer and suspended in an emulsion. The beads reside in their own cavities within the flexible sheets of material. Under the influence of a voltage applied to the surface, the beads will rotate to present one side or the other to the viewer to create an image. The image stays in place until a new voltage pattern is applied using software, which erases the previous image and generates a new one. This results in a reusable signage or display that is electronically writable and erasable.
Conventional display devices, components for display devices, and the manufacture of such display devices and their components are described generally in Sheridon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,027; Jacobson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,804; Jacobson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,026; Albert et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,185; Crowley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,098; Sheridon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,594; and, Stefik, U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,204, the contents of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference.
Gyricon or bichromal balls or beads utilized in these displays are typically produced by a spinning disc method and generally exhibit a wide size distribution, i.e., from about 50 to about 200 microns. The resolution of the Gyricon display is dependent on the bead size. The Gyricon beads used in current displays are from about 75 to about 110 microns (μm). However, for many applications, it is necessary to use bichromal beads of much smaller size in order to achieve higher resolution as well as lower switching voltage. It has been found extremely difficult to produce smaller beads while still maintaining acceptable characteristics such as bichromality, complementarity, sphericity, etc., and manufacturing yield.
Current Gyricon displays use a swollen elastomeric sheet in which Gyricon beads are dispersed. Recent investigation has shown that by encapsulating the Gyricon beads within an oil-filled capsule, the need to contain the swelling fluid as well as the need for the costly elastomer can be eliminated. However, the encapsulating process also produces some empty capsules, which must be completely removed in order to prevent degradation of the optical contrast of the display. This further adds to the cost and complexity of manufacture. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method for encapsulating bichromal balls, without the problems or degree of such problems, as currently known.
The use of gelation or gelling techniques in the formation of bichromal balls is not generally known. Although the art refers to gel substrates for retaining bichromal balls, i.e. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,604,027; Re 37,085; this approach merely employs a gelled substrate which houses a bichromal ball. That is, this description is not concerned with the actual formation of the bichromal ball itself. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,488,870 and 6,492,025 describe forming a shell about a bichromal ball, which in certain embodiments, may be formed by certain gelation techniques. However, these approaches are not relevant to a process of forming the actual bichromal ball or bead.

Method of preparing encapsulated bichromal balls


This invention is applicable to the field of communications technologies, and provides a device to device (D2D) discovery method and a first D2D user equipment (UE). The method includes: the first D2D UE acquires timing information of the first D2D UE from a Lont Term Evolution (LTE) cellular communications system; receives in a discovery subframe, a device discovery signal from a second D2D UE according to the timing information, wherein the device discovery signal comprises a pilot orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol and a device information OFDM symbol; acquires an arrival time of the device discovery signal by performing a time domain correlation of the pilot OFDM symbol of the device discovery signal and a local pilot sequence, acquires device information of the second D2D UE by parsing the device information OFDM symbol of the device discovery. This invention enables a D2D UE to effectively discover other D2D UEs, improves system efficiency, and saves power of the D2D UE.

In the last two decades, radio communications technologies have developed enormously and the radio communications technologies are emerging continuously. Radio communications networks increasingly occupy people's lives by virtue of its enormous flexibility, and become an indispensable part of people's lives.
However, radio spectrum resources are limited. With a sharp increase of persons who use the radio communications networks and with increasingly higher requirements on performance of the radio communications networks, a shortage of spectrum resources has become a key limitation on radio communication performance. Currently, a cellular network is a prevailing radio communications network. In this communication network, communication between two terminals needs to be forwarded by a base station, and a same packet, which is transmitted from a terminal to a base station and then from the base station to the terminal, occupies an air interface resource twice. If the two communications terminals are in a relatively long distance and incapable of reaching each other, this solution is relatively feasible. However, if two sides of communication are relatively close to each other within a communication scope of the other side, transmitting a packet between the terminals directly without the need to be forwarded by a base station can save half of resources.
Direct communication between a device and a device (D2D communication for short, Device to Device) enables direct communication between terminal devices without requiring any intermediate infrastructure. Therefore, the direct communication between terminal devices can use spectrum resources more efficiently, increase a capacity of a cellular network, and reduce overheads of control signaling of a base station, and is a technology that can bring enormous benefits to cellular network communications. Because the D2D communication is direct communication between terminals, a paging message needs to be directly sent from a paging terminal to a paged terminal without requiring assistance of the base station or a core network. Some conventional technologies can implement D2D communication, such as wifi, BT, and ad hoc. However, these systems all work in asynchronous mode. Therefore, in a D2D communications system in the prior art, system devices all work in asynchronous mode, and as a result a UE cannot effectively discover other UEs in a process of mutual discovery of D2D user equipments (User Equipment, UE), wasting system power.

D2D device discovery method and apparatus based on LTE cellular communications system


A spring unit including a zigzag spring 40A, 40B; a first sliding unit 20A including a first spring securing part 22 securing a first end of the spring, a first spring accommodating part 28A, 28B accommodating the spring; first slide guiding parts 25 on both sides of the first sliding unit; a second sliding unit 30A including a second spring securing part 32 securing a second end of the spring, a second spring accommodating part 36A, 36B accommodating the spring, second slide guiding parts 35 on both sides of the second sliding unit, wherein the first and second slide guiding parts 20A and 30A are engaged to mutually slide, and the spring 40A, 40B is held inside a space formed between the first and second spring accommodating parts 28A, 28B, 36A, and 36B while the first and second slide guiding parts 25 and 35 are engaged.

For example, an exemplary electronic apparatus includes a fixed casing having operations keys and a movable casing which has a liquid crystal display device or the like and is slidable relative to the fixed casing such as a portable phone and a game machine. A sliding mechanism may be installed in this electronic apparatus to enable a slide motion of the movable casing relative to the fixed casing. One type of the sliding mechanism is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1.
In this sliding mechanism applied to the electronic apparatus, a spring unit is assembled inside the electronic apparatus. When the movable casing is opened, the movable casing is biased so that the movable casing becomes in a closed state until the movable casing moves to a predetermined position. When the movable casing is opened beyond the predetermined position, the movable casing is biased so that the movable casing becomes in an opened state. Thus, it is possible to improve operability of the electronic apparatus.
Although various types of springs are used for the spring unit, a spring unit applied with a zigzag spring is disclosed in Patent Document 2. When the zigzag spring is used, it is possible to make thinner the spring unit.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-210649    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Registered Utility Model No. 3149892


Systems and methods for detecting a Line of Sight (LOS) in a cellular communications network are provided. In one embodiment, a network node in the cellular communications network determines whether a wireless device is within LOS of a base station. In order do so, the network node compares a Ricean factor of a wireless communications channel between the base station and the wireless device and a predetermined Ricean factor threshold for LOS detection. In addition, the network node compares a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) between a Rayleigh probability density function and samples of received signal strength for radio signals transmitted between the base station and the wireless device and a predetermined RMSE threshold for LOS detection. The network node then determines whether the wireless device is within LOS of the base station based on results of the comparisons.

Cellular communications networks enable wireless communication for various types of wireless devices. Positioning of wireless devices within a cellular communications network has many emerging applications ranging from security and emergency services to environmental monitoring to command and control. While technologies such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) have enabled accurate positioning of wireless devices in most environments, there are still many challenging environments in which positioning of wireless devices is difficult (e.g., inside buildings, inside tunnels, etc.). In these challenging environments, positioning of a wireless device can be determined by estimating different parameters of a radio signal received by the wireless device such as a Time of Arrival (TOA) of the radio signal, a Direction of Arrival (DOA) of the radio signal, and a Received Signal Strength (RSS) of the radio signal. The accuracy of TOA and DOA-based positioning techniques is greater than that of other techniques such as RSS-based positioning techniques.
One issue with TOA and DOA-based positioning techniques is multi-path propagation, or scattering, of the received radio signal. As a result of multi-path propagation, multiple versions of the radio signal arrive at the receiver via multiple different radio propagation paths. Each of these radio propagation paths has different characteristics (e.g., different time delays). Utilization of TOA and DOA-based positioning techniques in a multi-path environment requires a Line of Sight (LOS) path between the transmitter and the receiver.
Several mechanisms exist for detecting LOS in robotics and direct point-to-point wireless systems. In particular, a paper entitled "Incremental Multi-Robot Deployment for Line of Sight Chains Using Only Radio Signal Strength" by John O'Hollaren and Dylan Shell presented at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2010 Multi Robot Autonomy Workshop describes a technique for determining whether two robots that are equipped with wireless radios are within LOS of one another using signal statistics from the wireless radios. In particular, the paper teaches that a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between a Rayleigh Probability Density Function (PDF) and Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurements for the received radio signal at the wireless device of one of the robots is a good indicator of LOS or non-LOS. In particular, a low RMSE is a good indicator of LOS, whereas a large RMSE is a good indicator of non-LOS.
Further, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0225665, entitled CHARACTERIZATION OF A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS LINK, teaches making a LOS determination based on known locations of a transmitter and a receiver, a known transmit power of the transmitter, and a known received power at the receiver. Using this information, an observed path loss is calculated and compared to a modeled path loss. If a difference between the observed path loss and the modeled path loss is small, then a determination is made that there is a LOS path between the transmitter and the receiver. A bypass mode is also taught wherein, if a distance between the transmitter and the receiver is small, the path between the transmitter and the receiver is presumed to be a LOS path.
However, prior mechanisms for detecting LOS, such as the ones discussed above, are not reliable in all situations. For example, the technique taught in the O'Hollaren paper is not reliable under a low mobility scenario unless a large number of RSSI measurements are used. A large number of RSSI measurements leads to complex processing at the receiver, which is not desirable in many applications. The technique taught by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0225665 requires a known location for both the transmitter and the receiver and, as such, is not reliable in scenarios where the location of the transmitter and/or the location of the receiver are not known (e.g., an application where LOS detection is part of a positioning process to determine a position, or location, of the transmitter or the receiver). Further, as a result of the issues noted above, prior mechanisms cannot be used to reliably detect LOS in all scenarios that are often encountered in complex environments such as a modern cellular communications network, which have various mobility, distance, and propagation scenarios. As such, there is a need for systems and methods for reliably detecting LOS in a cellular communications network.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Line of sight (LOS) detection in a cellular communications network


A method is provided for filling an enclosure with an ignitable mixture of gases. The enclosure has an outer wall comprising an exterior surface, an interior surface, and a fill aperture extending therethrough. The method comprises delivering a predetermined amount of pressurized combustible gas into the enclosure through the fill aperture, delivering a first predetermined amount of pressurized inert gas into the enclosure through the fill aperture at a first pressurization rate, delivering a second predetermined amount of pressurized inert gas into the enclosure through the fill aperture at a second pressurization rate, welding a sealing member to the outer wall of the enclosure by a welding process to form a weld operable to seal the fill aperture and to permit the enclosure to store pressurized gas therein. The first pressurization rate allows the first predetermined amount of pressurized inert gas to mix with the predetermined amount of pressurized combustible gas to form an ignitable mixture. The second pressurization rate is lower than the first pressurization rate. The second pressurization rate allows stratification to form within the enclosure between a layer of the ignitable mixture and a layer of the second predetermined amount of pressurized inert gas. The layer of the second predetermined amount of pressurized inert gas is disposed between the layer of the ignitable mixture and the fill aperture.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to pressurized-gas containers, and, more specifically, exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to filling pressurized-gas containers with gas.
Air bag modules or inflatable cushions have become common in modern automobiles for protecting vehicle occupants during collisions. An air bag module typically comprises at least an inflatable cushion and an inflator housing a highly pressurized gas for inflating the cushion. When a vehicle undergoes a collision, a sensor detects the rapid change in motion and provides an electrical signal to activate or ignite an inflator. When ignited, the inflator releases the stored pressurized gas into the cushion, which expands from a folded position to deploy into the vehicle.
One particular type of inflator is a heated gas inflator, in which an ignitable mixture of gases is stored under pressure. The ignitable mixture of gases in such an inflator generally includes hydrogen and/or a hydrogen-hydrocarbon mixture (for example, a hydrogen-propane mixture), and an inert gas or premixed inert gas mixture. A heated gas inflator includes a gas storage chamber or an enclosure for holding the ignitable gas mixture under pressure. An inflator will generally also include an initiator or squib separated from an interior of the inflator by a membrane or a burst disk that the initiator or squib ruptures upon activation to be in fluid communication with the ignitable gas mixture. During operation, the ignitable gas is ignited by the initiator or squib to heat the inert gas or gas mixture, thereby providing an expanding gas and increasing the pressure within the enclosure. The increased pressure causes the burst disk to rupture, thereby enabling the pressurized gases to exit from the inflator output and ultimately inflate the inflatable cushion.
During manufacture of the inflator, the gases are provided to the enclosure under pressure through a small "fill aperture" in an end of the enclosure. After the gases have been placed within the enclosure, a welding process is used to permanently seal the fill aperture. Due to the ignitable nature of the gases used, however, the current fill process requires that the fill aperture first be temporarily sealed to prevent the ignitable gas mixture from escaping from the enclosure and inadvertently igniting as a result of heat generated by the welding process that is used to provide a more permanent closure of the fill aperture.
To provide for both the temporary seal and the more permanent closure weld to be performed, the fill aperture is constructed to have a multi-surface machined interface. In a typical instance, the fill aperture is be formed with multiple stepped aperture portions including a narrower first aperture portion defined by an inner side-wall surface for allowing the sealing member to be inserted and guided therein to form the temporary seal, a second aperture portion defined by an inner-side wall surface and a step surface for distancing the temporary seal from the closure weld, and a wider third aperture portion defined by an inner-side wall surface and a step surface for defining an edge to allow a clean welding location for the closure weld.
The multi-surface machined interface of the fill aperture, in turn, requires that the sealing member be formed as a multi-machined member with a sealing portion for forming the temporary seal and a head portion for forming the closure weld. It should be appreciated that the manufacture of corresponding multi-machined sealing members and fill apertures is complex and expensive, and the aforementioned process of sealing an inflator is also complex. In addition to this complexity, numerous other drawbacks exist in the current inflator manufacture process. For example, the sealing portion of a sealing member may shift out of position within the fill aperture or may not always properly align within the fill aperture, which can result in combustible gas leaking from the inflator and being inadvertently ignited.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide for the manufacture of pressurized inflators in a more easy, effective, and efficient manner.

Gas fill process and inflator weld design simplification


A support foot is mechanically fastened to an information handling system chassis with a coupling device partially embedded in the support foot through injection molding of the support foot over the coupling device. For instance the coupling device is a staple made of ductile metal having a body embedded in the support foot and two legs extending outward towards the chassis side of the support foot. The legs insert in openings at a chassis attachment point and bend to secure the support foot to the chassis. For instance, the staple legs are formed from a ductile metal, such as brass, aluminum or steel, that is bent by hand or by a machine to a closed staple shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system supports, and more particularly to a system and method for a mechanically fastened information handling system foot.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are often used in an office environment, typically on and around office furniture. Generally, information handling systems are equipped with rubber support feet that limit the risk of damage to furniture on which a system rests and also help to dampen vibration noises. With desktop and tower information handling systems, adequate chassis size usually exists to allow mechanical fastening of rubber support feet. Larger chassis volumes allow mechanical devices, such as bolts and screws, to protrude relatively far into the system without interfering with system operations. Desktop and tower information handling systems generally are setup at a fixed location and only rarely moved, subjecting their rubber support feet to only infrequent friction or other forces. Thus, end users do not typically have problems with failure of desktop and tower information handling system rubber support feet. Even if problems do arise, only a minimal impact is generally felt by the end user since these systems are typically not mobile.
In contrast to desktop and tower information handling systems, portable information handling systems, often referred to as notebooks, have small chassis sizes to aid end user mobility. The smaller chassis size of portable information handling systems typically prevents mechanical attachment of rubber support feet. Instead, rubber support feet are generally adhered to the lower outer surface of portable information handling systems with an adhesive. Unfortunately, rubber support feet are made from a compliant, flexible material, such as molded from plastic with silicone used as a material component. Adhesives typically do not bond well to silicone material, making the rubber support feet vulnerable to failure. Failure is sometimes induced under normal operating conditions for portable information handling systems when a portable system resting on its rubber support feet is slid across a surface, such as a desk. The sliding force tends to roll and peel away the rubber support foot from the surface of the chassis because the compliant rubber support foot material is sandwiched between the rigid notebook surface and the rigid work surface. If a rubber support foot falls off a portable information handling system, the system tends to become awkward to use and often results in a request for customer service from the manufacturer of the portable information handling system to reaffix the support foot.

System and method for mechanically fastened information handling system foot


A golf swing aid comprises a shaft with a grooved undersurface for engagement to a golf club and an extending tab to indicate to the golfer the proper cocking and uncocking of his wrists during a golf swing. The golf swing aid has at opposite end curved portions shaped to allow the golfer to pass his arms through and restrict his arms within for putting practice. Additionally, the extending tab has an associated arrow that is used with a ruler to aid the golfer in putting straight.

This invention pertains to a golf swing training aid. In the past many devices have been suggested to either improve a golf swing or a golfer's putting and chipping swing, but no single aid has heretofore target improvements for both swinging and putting.
Teaching aids available to correct a golfer's swing use techniques that alert the golfer to the improper cocking and uncocking of his wrists. If the wrists are cocked back on the backswing and then uncocked on the downswing and continue cocking back on the follow-through the club head of the golf club will have an added increment of speed over the base speed that the club would have had without the cocking action. When a player knows how to add velocity of the swing of his wrists to the velocity of his arm swing, an advantage is gained by being able to hit the golf ball farther.
Prior aids available to correct a golfer's putting stroke use means to stabilize the arms therefore allowing the golfer to learn the best stable position when using his putter.
A preliminary patentability search at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was directed to a field of search encompassing classes 273/186R, 183A-183E, 186R, A-186E, 187R, 187A, 187B, 191R, 191A, 191B, 192. The patents listed below were uncovered by the search.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. NAME OF INVENTOR DATE OF ISSUE ______________________________________ 5,009,426 R.W. Cox April 23, 1991 4,984,801 J.A. Deback January 15, 1991 4,145,054 P.D. Stewart March 20, 1979 4,023,812 W.R. Lorang May 17, 1977 3,918,712 J.B. Trask November 11, 1975 3,672,682 S. Yanagidaira June 27, 1972 ______________________________________
Brief descriptions of the patents uncovered by the search are given below.


As a shutter release button is pressed down, a front end portion of a sequence drive lever moves toward the rear side and, as a result, a mirror-up lever is caused to rotate to the right by the force applied from a mirror up spring. In this state, a mirror drive end presses a mirror drive pin upward to raise a main mirror. In addition, a shutter drive end comes in contact with a shutter drive boss at a switching lever to push the shutter drive boss upward, thereby pulling the shutter blades downward. During a reset operation, the front end portion moves to the front side causing the mirror-up lever to rotate to the left. The main mirror is thus lowered. Since the switching lever is caused to rotate to the right with the force applied from a switching lever reset spring, the shutter blades are pulled upward to shield an opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic camera that obtains image signals by forming a subject image at a solid image-capturing element.
2. Description of Related Art
There is an electronic camera known in the related art having a solid image-capturing element constituted with a CCD, which reads out electrical charges stored at the CCD and records the electrical charges thus read out into a recording medium as image information. In an electronic camera that includes a specific type of CCD such as a frame transfer type CCD or an interline 2-field read out type CCD, the electrical charge read needs to be executed by shielding the CCD from light. In an electronic camera having another type of CCD, too, the read needs to be executed with the CCD shielded from light in a similar manner in order to achieve a higher image quality by effectively preventing the so-called smear phenomenon, in which electrical charges overflowing from the CCD pixels enter the transfer unit and streaks of light are generated along the vertical direction in the image plane. The electronic camera disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. H11-122542, which includes a shutter mechanism for opening/closing a set of shutter blades, addresses this need by shielding the image-capturing element from light until an electrical charge storage starts, opening the photographic opening during the electrical charge storage and then shielding the image-capturing element from light again once the electrical charge storage is completed.
The electronic camera described above includes a plurality of levers and the like and a plurality of springs for driving the shutter blades to allow the use of a focal plane shutter device in the related art in conjunction with the electronic camera. These levers and the like are held at their initial positions against the forces applied by the springs prior to a photographing operation start. Once the photographing operation starts, the levers having been held are sequentially released, thereby opening the shutter. When the electrical charge storage is completed, the levers and the like are reset to the initial positions and thus the shutter is closed. Such an electronic camera in the related art needs to include parts such as drive cams for driving the levers and the springs in addition to the plurality of levers and springs, which means that the number of required parts is large to give rise to problems related to the cost and the parts mounting space.


A light beam condensing apparatus is provided to introduce a condensing spot of a laser beam onto an optical recording medium such as optical disks, and a method of driving the optical recording medium by applying the apparatus is disclosed.. There is provided modulation means 111 provided between a collimate lens 102 and an objective lens 105, for externally controlling and varying an amplitude or a phase of a collimate beam 104. The modulation means 111 is mechanically or electrically driven. Further, the modulation means 111 can be switched according to an operation mode of a drive unit or a kind of a recording medium 106 so as to provide a desired condensing spot shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light beam condensing apparatus to introduce a condensing spot of a laser beam onto an optical recording medium such as optical disks, and to a method of driving the optical recording medium by applying the apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been frequently studied a technique to improve recording density of an optical disk so as to provide a large capacity optical disk. Thus, it has been known that reduction of a condensing spot diameter of a laser light beam for recording and regeneration is very effective in the improvement of the recording density, and mean surface recording density substantially increases while being inversely proportional to the square of the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT. The condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT is proportional to a wavelength .lambda. of a laser to be used, and is inversely proportional to numerical aperture NA of an objective lens serving as a condenser, as shown in the following expression (1): EQU d.sub.SPOT =k.multidot.(.lambda./NA) (1)
where the proportional constant k is defined by a wave front distribution of light wave incident on the lens. According to the expression (1), there are available three ways to reduce the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT, i.e., the first way of reducing the wavelength of the laser to be used, the second way of increasing the numerical aperture of the objective lens serving as the condenser, and the third way of using super resolution in a condensing optical system.
A description will now be given of a method for providing a small condensing spot diameter by utilizing the super resolution in the condensing optical system. This method has been often disclosed in articles such as 1) Yamanaka et al., "High Density Recording in Optical Disk by Super Resolution" in Optics, Vol.18, No.12, (1989), or 2) H. Ando, "Phase-Shifting Apodizer of Three or More Portions" in Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol.31, (1992). In these methods disclosed in the articles, it is possible to reduce the condensing spot diameter on the basis of the same principle, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an optical system of a conventional super resolution optical head as an example. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 means a laser oscillator, 102 means a collimate lens, 103 is a beam forming prism, 105 is an objective lens, 106 is a recording medium, and 107 is a shading plate.
A description will now be given of the operation. Laser light from the laser oscillator 101 serving as a light source is collimated through the collimate lens 102 and the beam forming prism 103, resulting in parallel light. A laser beam 104 serving as the parallel light is focused and condensed by the objective lens 105 on a recording surface of the recording medium 106. Here, the shading plate 107 is disposed across the laser beam 104 so as to partially shade the laser beam 104. At the time, the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT of the laser beam 104 is varied according to a position and a shape of the shading plate 107, that is, a width and a length thereof.
A description will now be given of the principle in the reduction of the condensing spot diameter by the super resolution with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, in case the shading plate 107 is longer than a beam diameter D of the collimate beam 104, a condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT t in a cross direction of the shading plate is defined as a ratio of the beam diameter D to the width .DELTA.W of the shading plate 107 if the width of the shading plate 107 is defined as .DELTA.W. Further, a condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT r in a longitudinal direction of the shading plate 107 is substantially irrelevant to the width .DELTA.W. Here, as the width .DELTA.W becomes larger, sidelobes 108 in a condensing spot becomes higher while the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT t of a mainlobe 109 becomes smaller.
FIG. 3 shows a relation between .DELTA.W/D and the condensing spot d.sub.SPOT t. As understood from FIG. 3, as .DELTA.W/D is more increased, the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT t is more reduced, and concurrently intensity of the sidelobe is more increased. Since increase of the sidelobe causes an increase of crosstalk, it is impossible to allow the sidelobe to become so large. Here, .DELTA.W/D=0 if the shading plate 107 is not employed. At the time, if the condensing spot diameter is set to d.sub.SPOT o, it is possible to reduce the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT t to 10% degree as compared with d.sub.SPOT o when the sidelobe intensity can be in a range of 0.1 times the mainlobe or less. In such a way, it is possible to reduce the condensing spot diameter with the constant laser wavelength .lambda. and the constant numerical aperture NA of the lens by shading a vicinity of an intermediate portion of the collimate beam in a super-resolution optical head. When the shading plate 107 is coplanarly rotated by 90.degree., the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT t is left as it is d.sub.SPOT o, and the condensing spot diameter d.sub.SPOT r is reduced.
As set forth above, the principle of the super resolution utilizes the character of focusing light wave that it is possible to vary the intensity distribution at the condensing spot by modulating a wave front of the collimate beam 104 on an entrance surface of the objective lens 105. That is, the shading plate 107 shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to space modulation which is performed so as to set an amplitude distribution of the collimate beam 104 on the entrance surface of the objective lens 105 to zero in the vicinity of the intermediate portion of the collimate beam 104. Accordingly, laser power at a shaded portion is lost.
Further, on the basis of the principle of the super resolution, it is also possible to vary the intensity distribution of the condensing spot by modulating a phase distribution of the collimate beam 104 on the entrance surface of the objective lens 105. That is, it is possible to form a condensing spot shape by providing appropriate phase shift according to a position on the entrance surface of the objective lens 105. This method is employed in the article 2) as described before. In this case, the collimate beam 104 is not shaded so that there is no partial loss of the laser power due to the shading.
Alternatively, in another known technique, a distribution is caused in indexes of refraction in order to provide phase modulation to transmitted light. Assumed that there is difference .DELTA.n between the indexes of refraction sensed by the transmitted light at two portions of a modulation plate when light having the wavelength .lambda. passes through the modulation plate having a thickness of L. Consequently, in the light beam passing through both the portions, there is generated a phase difference .DELTA..PHI. expressed by the following expression (2): EQU .DELTA..phi.=2.pi.(L/.lambda.).multidot..DELTA.n (2)
A phase of the transmitted light is modulated by the phase difference. It must be noted that a method of the phase modulation of the transmitted light should not be limited to a method to provide a difference in an optical path length by the difference in the indexes of refraction. It is similarly possible to provide the difference in the optical path length by varying the thickness of the modulation plate so as to perform the phase modulation of the transmitted light.
The recording density of the optical disk can be expressed by the product of recording density in a direction parallel to a recording track (i.e., track recording density BPI) and recording density in a direction perpendicular to the recording track (i.e., track density TPI). Therefore, it is possible to improve surface recording density of the optical disk by improving the BPI and the TPI, respectively. The conventional embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is provided to improve the BPI. For example, if a concentrically circular shading plate to shade the intermediate portion exclusively is employed instead of the shading plate 107 shown in FIG. 2, the condensing spot has a concentrically circular shape so that the mainlobe 109 is surrounded by the sidelobe 108. In this case, the condensing spot diameter of the mainlobe 109 can be reduced. Thus, it is possible to concurrently improve the BPI and the TPI by using the condensing spot.
As set forth above, the reduction of the condensing spot diameter by the super resolution is an effective technique to improve the recording density. According to the prior art, it is possible to provide a constant condensing spot diameter by varying the amplitude or the phase of the transmitted light by a fixed optical component such as the shading plate, or the phase plate. However, in the prior art, it is impossible to vary a parameter of the super resolution, that is, the modulation amount applied to the wave front of the collimate beam on the entrance surface of the objective lens during the operation in one condensing apparatus so as to dynamically vary the condensing spot diameter or the condensing spot shape of an optical disk unit.
On the other hand, in the current market, there are employed the optical disks compatible to the optical disk standard which is standardized by the ISO standard or the like. Most of these disks have a track pitch of 1.6 (.mu.m) and the track recording density of 25 (kbit/inch). Further, the large capacity optical disk has been developed in recent years, and the track pitch is more reduce and the track recording density is more increased if it is possible to provide the practical large capacity optical disk having more improved recording density than that of the conventional optical disk. Accordingly, a condensing spot diameter smaller than that in the prior art is required for recording and regenerating information. The condensing spot diameter can be provided by applying a shorter wavelength laser, an objective lens having larger numerical aperture, or the super resolution as described before. In this case, it is to be understood that the condensing spot diameter is designed so as to be adaptable to the track pitch or the track recording density of a newly developed large capacity optical disk.
Here, compatibility of an optical disk drive becomes a major issue. That is, in case the optical disk drive is provided with a function to drive both the newly developed large capacity optical disk and the optical disks based upon the conventional standard, there are the following three problems. The first problem relates to a tracking servo. A servo sensor signal for tracking is detected depending upon diffraction phenomena of the spot on the disk surface because of a guide groove, i.e., a periodic structure of a groove and a land on the optical disk. Hence, if the condensing spot is designed so as to be adaptable to a narrow-width track pitch, there is a drawback in that it is not possible to sufficiently provide a servo error signal for tracking when the conventional optical disk having a wide-width track pitch is driven.
The second problem occurs at a time to read an emboss signal. While information of the emboss signal is recorded on the optical disk in a form of a phase bit, the signal regeneration is performed depending upon a principle that condensed light is diffracted by the phase bit, and an amount of reflected light to be received by the detector is varied according to the presence or absence of the bit. Therefore, it is impossible to provide a sufficient variation rate by the diffraction in case the condensing spot diameter is too small with respect to the phase bit. As a result, there is another drawback in that reading accuracy is reduced or incapability of reading occurs due to a reduced regenerative amplitude of the emboss signal.
The third problem occurs when the information on the medium is erased in a rewritable optical disk. In optical disks which is recorded and erased by thermal energy of the condensed light such as magneto-optical medium, or phase varying medium, when a signal recorded on a low density medium having the wide-width track is erased by the condensing spot having a small diameter, it is impossible to erase an entire width of the recorded mark since an erasable width is narrow, resulting in an unerased portion. As a result, there is still another drawback in that the unerased portion is left as the crosstalk, and increases occurrence of regeneration error when the erasing and recording is repeated.

Light beam condensing apparatus and method of driving optical recording medium by applying the apparatus


a foldable backrest, including a backrest plate, operatively configured to be leaned upon by a back of a user. A support plate pivotally connected to the backrest plate operatively configured to be placed on a surface on which a user desires to sit or lay down on. One or more movable rigid wedges configured to form a desired angle between the backrest plate and the support plate in respect to the pivot connection between the backrest plate and the support plate. One or more wedge-stopping means for fixing the movable rigid wedge in a position for forming the desired angle. The one or more movable rigid wedge(s) configured to transfer mechanical support to the backrest plate from a surface on which support plate is positioned when the rigid wedge is fixed in a desired position by the wedge-stopping means.

Comfortable staying on the ground in a full lying position may be either on the back or the belly. However, during full lying on the back or belly, it is impossible to comfortably perform activities like reading, writing, view viewing, eating and the like. Such activities are normally performed in a sitting position, which is not comfortable when performed on the ground, due to the lack of support to the nape and back. Furthermore, if one desires to lie in an angled position, namely partially lying backwards while the back does not touch the ground, in order to perform such activities, one has to lean on the ground with his or her hands or elbows for supporting the nape and back. Of course, at this position the hands are not free for performing desired activities. In addition, leaning on the hands and elbows for a prolonged period of time is not comfortable and occasionally accompanied with pain.
In order to facilitate lying, or sitting, or partially lying on the ground, various devices for this purpose are currently available, namely sitting devices and backrests. Generally, three types of devices for sitting, lying and partially lying on the ground, especially but not necessarily for being used outdoors, are known in the art: sitting devices, backrests and inflatable sitting or lying devices.
FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate a perspective view of various exemplary of a prior art sitting device. Such sitting devices allow either sitting, as illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C, or partially lying, as illustrated in FIG. 1D, or even full lying down (not shown). However, sitting on such sitting devices is on a higher level than that of the ground, while sitting or lying directly on the ground level is impossible. These sitting devices also require carrying them using user's hands and shoulders and thus it is not comfortable to carry such foldable sitting devices in particular when the user needs to carry more things with his hands. In addition, the sitting devices that are shown for example in FIGS. 1A-1D require a square frame around which harms comfort, limits the design freedom of the backrest and renders the use of such devices cumbersome.
FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate a perspective view of various exemplary embodiments of a prior art backrest. A prior art backrest comprises a frame, made for example of metal like aluminum, wood and the like; and a flexible material, like fabric, stretched over the frame. Thus, in a prior art backrest the frame is rigid and the main area of the backrest, on which a user mostly leans, is soft and flexible or unstable, devoid of a definite structure, because it is made of a flexible material, like fabric. Furthermore, the rigid frame of a prior art backrest does not allow comfortable leaning, especially leaning the head, on the backrest. In addition, their mechanism requires a tough frame that affects not only the comfort but the possibilities of shaping the frame shape of the backrest itself.
FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate a perspective view of various exemplary embodiments of a prior art inflatable sitting or lying device. A prior art inflatable sitting or lying device is made of a flexible material, for example fabric, rubber, plastic and the like, that is configured to be inflated with air and get a structure that allows sitting or lying on the device. The prior art inflatable sitting or lying device has several drawbacks, including: having a fixed structure, thus allowing sitting or lying only in one fixed position; the inflatable devices are prone to loss of air due to contact with sharp objects and due to constant wear and tear; there is a need to inflate the device prior usage, for example with the mouth or a pump, thus rendering the usage cumbersome; such devices cannot be carried as a backpacks and the material of which the device is made is normally impermeable, thus causing excess perspiration of the user, especially during the summer when such devices are widely used.
Backrests are also addressed for example in CN202086044, CN102525770, WO2011082465 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,979.
CN202086044 discloses a folding chair used on a bed and belongs to articles for daily use. The folding chair comprises a back and a seat cushion. The lower end of the back is connected with a base through a movable shaft. The seat cushion is arranged at the front end of the base, a clamping groove is arranged at the rear end of the base, one end of a support is connected with the back through a shaft, and the other end of the support is arranged inside the clamping groove. Different tooth-shaped clamping grooves can be designed on the base so that angles of inclination of human bodies can be adjusted according to comfortableness. Sponge cushions are arranged on the back, a back cushion and the seat cushion.
CN102525770 describes a bed backrest, which includes a backup plate and a base, where the two sides of the backup plate are movably connected with one end of the base, the bed backrest further includes an angle adjusting device used for adjusting angles between the backup plate and the base.
WO2011082465 describes a foldable padded beach mat with an adjustable backrest, the backrest can be adjusted by means of a stand formed by three aluminum parts. The four adjustment degrees for the backrest and the foam padding make the beach mat more comfortable, since it can be adjusted to each user. The beach mat further has a handle that makes it easier to transport in the folded state.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,979 describes a bag that is converted into a backrest. The fabric is folded to form a bag, and there is a zipper on one side. Three wooden structures are placed in the interior of the bag. These structures provide a back rest when the zipper is opened, and the bag is unfolded.
One object of the present invention is to provide a backrest that allows sitting, or lying, or partially lying in various angles.
Another object of the present subject invention is to provide a backrest that allows sitting on a surface, while keeping the hands free and accessible for performing any desired activity.


A blade carrier for an axial-flow compressor is provided with cooling passages, through which a cooling medium flows in a closed circuit. The cooling passages run at least approximately in the peripheral direction inside the blade carrier and are located in a closed water circuit which essentially comprises a circulating pump (31), a pressure-keeping vessel (32) and a heat exchanger (35).. The cooling passages are arranged in a ring shape, each cooling ring (27) being provided with a feed line (28) and a discharge line (29). At least every second successive cooling ring is attached to a separate cooling path in the longitudinal direction of the blade carrier.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a blade carrier for an axial-flow compressor, preferably a high-pressure compressor subjected to high thermal loading, the blade carrier being provided with cooling passages, through which a cooling medium flows in a closed circuit.
2. Discussion of Background
Cooled or heated blade carriers for turbomachines are sufficiently known. In order to solve the starting problems of a steam turbine, it is already known from BE-A 649 186 to arrange a system consisting of tubes, passages, lines and the like between the blade carrier and outer insulation and in a circular or spiral manner around the blade carrier in order to keep the latter at a desired temperature at all times by supplying external heat.
In axial compressors, in particular high-pressure compressors as well, as used, for example, in stationary gas turbines or turbine engines for compressing the combustion air, a radial clearance in the order of magnitude of 1 mm is provided between the outer ends of the moving blades and the inner wall of the compressor casing, which clearance is to be kept as small as possible so that the backflow of air and the reduction in the efficiency associated therewith can be kept slight. This correspondingly applies to the guide-blade tips, which provide a seal with respect to the rotor.
The reduction in the radial clearance is made more difficult by virtue of the fact that rotor blades and compressor casing expand or contract to a different degree in different operating states of the compressor. The radial clearance must therefore be selected in such a way that it is still adequate under the most unfavorable operating conditions, i.e., when rotor and moving blades have expanded and the compressor casing has contracted. It has to be taken into account here that the change in the radial clearance may have both mechanical and thermal causes. The mechanical cause may be in particular the radial deflection of the rotor and the moving blades caused by the centrifugal forces acting during high-speed rotation. Different thermal expansions in the rotor and stator on account of temperature differences or different coefficients of expansion of the materials used as well as the ovalization of the casing parts due to the joint in the parting plane may be regarded as thermal causes.
In the past, a multiplicity of proposals have been made which deal with the so-called active control of the radial clearance during operation. For this purpose, alternatively colder or warmer compressed air for example, which originates from different compression stages, can be directed into the interior of the rotor in order to control the radial clearance by controlling the temperature of the disks carrying the moving blades.
In addition to the abovementioned temperature control of the rotor, temperature control of the compressor casing has also already been proposed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,436), in which the temperature of the compressor casing is lowered in a controlled manner by a more or less intense cooling-air flow. In this case, the cooling air is bled at different compressor stages and passed along in cooling passages both behind the guide blades and behind the inner wall of the compressor casing opposite the moving blades.
The known methods for the active clearance control relate to the normal operation of the compressor. Therefore, for cooling or heating various compressor parts or sections, they may also resort to compressor air of varying temperature or--in the case of the compressor of a gas turbine--to hot gas from the engine part.
Here, the case of the so-called "hot start", during which the compressor starts again after a preceding shutdown but before it has completely cooled down, is not taken into account: in this case, the rotor and stator are at markedly different temperatures, since the outer stator cools down quicker and accordingly contracts, whereas the rotor remains hot for a longer period and accordingly retains its expansion. The radial clearance is thereby considerably reduced. So that renewed starting is possible in this state (hot start), this special case must be taken into account when dimensioning the radial clearance, a factor which leads to increased values of the radial clearance.


A haloalkylsulfonanilide derivative represented by general formula (I) or a salt thereof wherein R1 represents a halo(C1-C8)alkyl group, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9 and R10 represent hydrogen atoms, etc., n represents 1 or 2, A represents an oxygen atom, W represents an oxygen atom, X represents a halogen atom and m represents an integer of 0 to 4, are compounds useful as herbicides having both of remarkable herbicidal effect and characteristics such as excellent crop-weed selectivity. General formula (I):

It has been conventionally known that a compound having a skeleton in which a haloalkylsulfonanilide derivative and a heterocycle are linked via a spacer such as an alkylene group on a nitrogen atom in the heterocycle is useful as a herbicide (For example, refer to JP-A-2004-107322 or JP-A-2006-265240). However, haloalkylsulfonanilide derivatives linked to a 6- to 7-membered ring, which is the present invention, and the herbicidal activity thereof have not been known.

Haloalkylsulfonanilide derivatives or salt thereof, herbicide comprising the derivatives as active ingredient, and use of the herbicide


Cyhalofop esters are prepared by coupling 2-(4-hydroxyphenoxy)-propionic acid with 3,4-difluorobenzonitrile with base in a polar aprotic solvent (optionally including a phase-transfer catalyst), alkylating with alkyl halide, removing the polar aprotic solvent (optionally using cyhalofop ester as a flux), removing salt by aqueous extraction of molten cyhalofop ester without a solvent, and removing residual water by heating under reduced pressure.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,481 discloses a process for minimizing the amount of racemization which occurs during the preparation of R-(+)-2-(4-(4-cyano-2-fluorophenoxy)phenoxy)propionate esters which comprises contacting an alkali metal salt of R-(+)-2-(4-hydroxyphenoxy)propionic acid with 3,4-difluorobenzonitrile (3,4-DFBN) in a polar aprotic solvent, particularly dimethyl sulfoxide, in the presence of an alkali metal carbonate and subsequently esterifying the resulting R-(+)-2-(4-(4-cyano-2-fluorophenoxy)phenoxy)propionic acid salt with an alkyl halide.

Process for the manufacture of R-(+)-2-(4-(4-cyano-2-fluorophenoxy)phenoxy)propionic acid esters


An activator circuit responsive to power line disturbances. In condition of false alarm, the user will toggle a local light switch causing electrical disturbances on the power line. The activator circuit detects these disturbances and activates an output, which is further connected to the silence function on the detector, silencing the false alarm. The activator circuit comprising a power line interface circuit, a signal conditioning circuit, a threshold detector circuit, a pulse train comparison circuit and an output circuit.

Ambient condition detectors, such as smoke, and fire alarms etc., are widely known in the arts. Such detectors are now more commonly line powered with battery power as backup. Detectors often experience false alarms as a result of smoke from cooking, smoking and other non-threatening situations. For this purpose, many modern detectors include a silencing feature or hush mode. This is typically implemented as a push button on the detector unit. In the event of a false alarm, the user will depress this push button to silence the alarm for a period of time. These false alarms are minor inconveniences if the user was able to silence the alarm easily, however, in cases of line powered detectors, they are usually mounted high up on ceilings where it would be difficult for the user to silence the alarm making a minor inconvenience into a major nuisance.
Prior art shows a number of methods and apparatus to solve this issue. U.S. Pat. No. 6,762,688 B2 shows a system whereby it would be possible for a user to use an IR remote control unit to silence the alarm. This solves the physical problem in silencing the alarm, however, another problem is created since the user has to have a remote control unit at hand.
There continue to be a need for inexpensive and effective circuitry, which can be used to remotely silence a detector in the event of a false alarm. Preferably without the need for specialized remote controls.

Activator circuit responsive to power line disturbances


A rotary position sensing including a first and second magnet spaced from one another. A first and second triangular magnetic flux director are arranged in a generally diamond shaped configured with an air gap between the two magnetic flux directors. A magnetic field sensor system is positioned in the air gap between the magnetic flux directors. The magnets and the magnetic flux directors, with the magnetic field sensor system in the air gap, are rotatable relative to one another about an axis generally normal to a plane including the magnets and magnetic flux directors. The magnetic field sensor system provides an output in response to a rotational position of the magnets relative to the magnetic flux directors.

Rotary sensors may be utilized to monitor a variety of devices that move rotationally. Examples of monitored devices include, but are not limited to, shafts and valves. A variety of conventional rotary sensors are non-contact magnetic rotational sensors having a hall sensor and magnet. As the monitored device is rotated, relative movement occurs between the hall sensor and magnet to cause a change in the magnetic field sensed by the hall sensor. A conventional non-contact magnetic rotational sensor may track the rotation angle with a sine wave output which can not achieve a sufficiently low linearity deviance of output (e.g., less than 4% deviance) beyond 100 degrees of rotation of the monitored device. However, some new applications require a larger range of sufficiently low linearity deviance greater than 100 degrees.
Accordingly, there is a need for a non-contact rotary sensor that has sufficiently low linearity deviance of monitored magnetic filed output over a rotation range greater than 100 degrees.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the disclosed subject matter be viewed broadly.


Disclosed is a system to add photorealistic detail and motion to an image based on a first material property associated with a first set of data points of an incomplete first object, and a second material property associated with a second set of data points of an incomplete second object in the image. The system may generate first artificial data points amongst the first set of data points that completes a first arrangement defined for the first material property, and may generate second artificial data points amongst the second set of data points that completes a second arrangement defined for the second material property. The system may then output an enhanced image of the completed first object based on first set of data points and the first artificial data points, and of the completed second object based on the second set of data points and the second artificial data points.

A point cloud may represent a three-dimensional ("3D") object or environment with millions or billions of data points. Each data point may capture the positioning and coloring of a different surface, feature, or article from the 3D object or environment at a corresponding point in space.
Despite the volume of data (e.g., number of data points) contained in the point cloud, there may be certain regions or parts within the point cloud that have gaps or missing data points. For instance, a scanner may be unable to scan the corresponding regions or parts of the 3D object or environment due to the positioning of the scanner (e.g., too far away) and/or obstacles that prevent a clear and unobstructed scan of the corresponding regions or parts.
Current image processing techniques for artificially filling in gaps do not produce photorealistic results as they rely almost exclusively on the surrounding color information to fill in the gaps. These techniques simply ignore the many other properties that contribute to the visual characteristics and makeup of the 3D object or environment when filling in the gaps with artificially created data points.

Systems and methods for supplementing image capture with artificial data points that are generated based on material properties and associated rules


In order to address the problem of allowing a GGSN 16 of a UMTS core network to work towards multiple Policy Control Functions (PCFs) 17 co-located with P-CSCF nodes 18 using the COPS protocol, a policy control function coordinator (PCF-C) 15 is implemented between the GGSN 16 and the P-CSCF 18. A single COPS connection is established between the GGSN 16 and the PCF-C 15, whilst a COPS connection is established between the PCF-C 15 and each of the P-CSCF nodes 18. Decisions made at the PCFs 17 are routed to the GGSN 16 via the PCF-C 17, and responses generated at the GGSN 16 are routed to the appropriate PCFs 17 via the GGSN 17. This architecture avoids conflicts which might otherwise arise with the COPS protocol.

The European telecommunications institute known as 3GPP is currently in the process of introducing a new set of protocols for the mobile telecommunications system known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The architecture of a UMTS network is based upon a UMTS core network and a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). For the transfer of data, UMTS will implement a packet switched service such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or similar. In order to send and receive data, a mobile terminal or User Equipment (UE) establishes a "session" with a node in the network known as a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). The GGSN provides an interface for the UE to the outside world.
Within the core network, the GGSN enforces policies (i.e. control options) of the network operator. For example, an operator may define policies setting out which subscribers can access which data services (i.e. the blocking and unblocking of services), and allocating priorities to subscribers, e.g. at which times subscribers can connect.
To facilitate the provision of multimedia services, 3GPP has been developing a so-called IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS). The IMS communicates with the GPRS network and contains all elements that are used to provide IP based multimedia services. For a mobile to mobile call, the IMS will sit between two GPRS networks (assuming the mobiles belong to different networks). Certain nodes of the IMS may be owned by the operator of a first of the GPRS networks, with the remaining nodes being owned by the operator of the second network (some IMS nodes may be owned by a third party). The base protocol for multimedia services is the IETF Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). SIP makes it possible for a calling party to establish a session with called party (over which data may be exchanged) even though the calling party does not know the current IP address of the called party, prior to initiating the call. SIP provides other functionality including the negotiation of session parameters (e.g. Quality of Service and codecs).
The IMS comprises a Serving Call State Control Function (S-CSCF) which performs the session control services for the UE, and maintains a session state as needed by the network operator for support of services. The main function performed by the S-CSCF during a session is the routing of incoming and outgoing call set-up requests. The IMS may also comprises a Proxy CSCF (P-CSCF). The main function performed by the P-CSCF is to route SIP messages between the UE and the home network. The P-CSCF communicates with the GGSN.
FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a typical scenario where User Equipment (UE) 1 is a subscriber of a cellular telephone network 2. The subscriber using the UE 1 is identified in the network 2 by a unique subscriber identity, and the network is referred to as the subscriber's "home" network. In the scenario illustrated in FIG. 1, the UE 1 is registered with a "foreign" or visited network 3. The visited network comprises a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network 4 (as well as a circuit switched network which is not illustrated in FIG. 1). Within the network 4, two nodes relevant to the UE 1 can be identified. These are the Serving GPRS Support node (SGSN) 5 and the Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 6. The role of the SGSN 5 is to maintain subscription data (identities and addresses) and to track the location of the UE within the network. The role of the GGSN 6 is to maintain subscription information and allocated IP addresses and to track the SGSN to which the UE 1 is attached. The GGSN 6 is coupled to an IP network.
Typically, when the UE 1 is turned on it "attaches" itself to the GGSN and a Packet Data Protocol context is established between the UE 1 and the GGSN 6. This context provides a "pipe" for transporting data from the UE 1 to the GGSN 6. This process involves the allocation of an IP address to the UE 1. Typically, the routing prefix part of the address is a routing prefix allocated to the GGSN 6.
FIG. 1 illustrates a second UE 7 which is registered with a foreign network 8 and which has as its home network a network 9. Nodes and (sub)networks within the foreign network 8 are identified with like numerals to those used within network 3. The IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS) contains all of the elements required to provide IP based multimedia services including the setting up of sessions between the two UEs 1,7. The functionality provided by the IMS is set out in 3GPP TS 23.228. The IMS consists of a set of nodes which are coupled to an IP backbone network. Illustrated within the IMS of FIG. 1 are a Proxy Call State Control Function (P-CSCF) node 10 in each of the visited networks 3,8, and a Serving Call State Control Function (S-CSCF) node 11 in each of the home networks 2,9. In order to establish a session between the two UEs 1,7 of FIG. 1, appropriate SIP signaling is sent from the P-CSCF located in the visited network to which the initiating party is connected, to the S-CSCF located in the initiating UE's home network. This S-CSCF then contacts the S-CSCF in the home network of the called UE, which in turn contacts the P-CSCF in the visited network to which the called UE is connected. A data session can then be established between the two GGSNs 6 to which the UEs 1,7 are connected. When a UE is registered with its home network, the S-CSCF of the home network serves also as a P-CSCF for the UE.
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has specified a protocol known as Common Open Policy Service (COPS) which is a simple query and response protocol that can be used to exchange policy information (which may relate to any feature, service, etc over which it is desired to exercise control) between a policy server (Policy Decision Point or PDP) and its clients (Policy Enforcement Points or PEPs). COPS is a query/response protocol that supports two common models for policy control: Outsourcing and Configuration.
In the outsourcing scenario, the PEP delegates responsibility to an external policy server (PDP) to make decisions on its behalf For example, in COPS Usage for Resource reSerVation Protocol (COPS-RSVP), when a RSVP reservation message arrives, the PEP must decide whether to admit or reject the request. It can outsource this decision by sending a specific query to its PDP, waiting for its decision before admitting the outstanding reservation. This is illustrated in FIG. 2.
The COPS configuration model addresses the kind of events at the PEP that require an instantaneous policy decision. This variation is known as COPS for Provisioning (COPS-PR). COPS-PR is designed as a means to install policies from the decision node into the enforcement node where the policy is enacted. With this protocol, decisions are transmitted asynchronously from the decision node at anytime, and the enforcement node replies to indicate whether the policy was installed or not. This is shown in FIG. 3. The PDP may proactively configure the PEP to react in some specified manner to external events (such as user input), PEP events, and any combination thereof (N:M correlation). Configuring or provisioning may be performed in bulk (e.g., entire router QoS configuration) or in portions (e.g., updating a DiffServ marking filter).
COPS-PR is a general purpose protocol, and can be used to install policies for any functions. It uses the concept of a Policy Information Base (PIB). A PIB defines the policy data. There may be one or more PIBs for a given area of policy and different areas of policy may have different sets of PIBs. This allows support for a model that includes multiple PDPs controlling non-overlapping areas of policy on a single PEP.
A "client-type" (value) is used to identify the function that is being managed by the policy control. A single client-type for a given area of policy (e.g., DiffServ) will be used for all PIBs that exist in that area. The client will treat all of the COPS-PR client-types it supports as non-overlapping and independent name spaces where instances are shared. For each client type which the PEP supports, the PEP can only work towards a single PDP.
3GPP has developed a mechanism for allowing the P-CSCF to control a function within the GGSN. The architecture for QoS management defined by 3GPP (recommendation 23.207) is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown in this Figure, the GGSN (Gateway Node) communicates with a Policy Control Function (PCF) function which can be co-located with the P-CSCF. This interface between the GGSN and the PCF function within the P-CSCF is specified as the Go interface. The Go interface is based on the COPS protocol. It is noted that although the PCF element may be located external to the P-CSCF, the 3GPP standard allows for it to be co-located with the P-CSCF, and the protocols must therefore support operation in this configuration.

Policy co-ordination in a communications network


A relay race blocking system for alerting an outgoing runner when to start running to receive a baton from an incoming runner includes a waiting plate being positionable on a running track a predetermined distance from an exchange zone marked on the running track. A starting plate is positionable on the running track a distance from the waiting plate opposite the exchange zone. The starting plate indicates an area to alert the outgoing runner to begin to run toward the exchange zone when the incoming runner crosses into the area indicated by said starting plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to athletic field markers and more particularly pertains to a new athletic field marker for alerting an outgoing runner when to start running to receive a baton from an incoming runner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of athletic field markers is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,872 describes a device for being positioned in an athletic field to provide indicative markings that are not easily moved. Another type of athletic field marker is U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,921 for indication the location of yard marking to be marked on an athletic field. Another type of athletic field marker is U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,383 for facilitating the marking boundaries of a playing field.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a system that has certain improved features that allows an outgoing runner to temporarily indicate an area, specific to the outgoing runner, on a running track when the outgoing runner needs to start running for an exchange zone upon an incoming runner crossing that area to facilitate a proper exchange of a baton in the exchange zone.