A method for testing a printed circuit board to determining the dielectric loss associated with the circuit board material relative to a standard. Dielectric losses in the material generate heat when a high frequency electronic signal, such as a microwave frequency signal, is communicated through a microstrip that is embedded within the printed circuit board. The temperature or spectrum at the surface of printed circuit board is measured and compared against the temperature or spectrum of the standard to determine whether the material under test is acceptable. While various temperature measurement devices may be used, the temperature is preferably measured without contacting the surface, such as using an infrared radiation probe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of testing printed circuit board materials for applications involving high-speed communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printed circuit board (PCB) is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, or traces, etched from copper sheets that have been laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. Populating the board with electronic components forms a printed circuit assembly (PCA), also known as a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA). PCBs are rugged, inexpensive, and can be highly reliable. They require more initial layout effort than either wire-wrapped or point-to-point constructed circuits, but are much cheaper, faster, and consistent in high volume production. Many aspects of PCB design, assembly, and quality control are set by standards that are published by the IPC organization
Some PCBs have trace layers inside the PCB and are called multi-layer PCBs. These are formed by bonding together separately etched thin boards. Holes or vias may be formed partially or completely through the PCB by using a drill bit or a laser. Plating or filling a via forms an interconnect that can provide electronic communication between traces in different layers and on the surface.
A communications bus is a subsystem that transfers data or power between computer components inside a computer or between computers. Unlike a point-to-point connection, a bus may logically connect several components over the same set of wires. Most computers have both internal and external buses. An internal bus connects all the internal components of a computer to the motherboard (and thus, the central processing unit and internal memory). These types of buses are also referred to as a local bus, because they are intended to connect to local devices, not to those in other machines or external to the computer. An external bus connects external peripherals to the motherboard.
A modern communications bus transfers data at rates of several gigahertz. At such high speeds, the electronic communications through the bus are subject to dielectric dissipation factor, also known as dielectric loss. Dielectric loss is an intrinsic characteristic of the PCB material. Therefore, the primary approach to controlling the extent of dielectric loss is to carefully select appropriate dielectric materials that will be used in the PCB.
Present approaches taken to qualify materials for PCBs, such as short propagation pulse or corner-corner probing, require expensive equipment and a high level of skill to test properly. Therefore, there is a need for a simple and accurate method for testing a printed circuit board in order to determine whether the dielectric loss of the material is acceptable.

Method for validating printed circuit board materials for high speed applications

International Business Machines Corporation


A terminal is disclosed. The terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: an output unit for outputting a notification; a storage unit for storing a database; a control unit for controlling the outputting of the notification; and an artificial intelligence unit for acquiring information regarding a user's context, and outputting a notification when the user's context corresponds to information included in the database, wherein the database includes at least one of a user's personal database, a standard activity database, and an accident type database.

Artificial intelligence refers to one field of computer engineering and information technology of studying a method for making a computer think, learn, and do self-improvement, which is achieved based on human intelligence, and means that a computer emulates an intelligent behavior of the human.
AI is largely related directly and indirectly to other fields of a computer science rather than existing itself. In particular, AI elements have been modernly introduced in various fields of information technology, and there has been an active attempt to use AI to overcome problems of the fields.
Research has been actively conducted into context awareness technology of recognizing a situation of a user and providing information desired by the user in a desired form using conventional AI.
The aforementioned context awareness technology has been developed, and simultaneously, demands for mobile terminals for performing functions suitable for a situation of a user have increased.
Meanwhile, it is necessary for a user to know user's past behaviors or habits of repeating certain behaviors. However, the user may not remember them or may not even recognize their habits.
Therefore, there is an increasing need for reminding a user of user's behaviors or habits using a context awareness function of artificial intelligence.


Disclosed in the present invention are a pyrazolo [1,5-a]pyrimidine derivative having a structure of formula (I), a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound of formula (I), and use of the compound in the preparation of a medicament for preventing or treating diseases associated with tropomyosin receptor kinases, in particular for preventing or treating cancers associated with tropomyosin receptor kinases. Each substituent in formula (I) has the same definition as that in the description.

Tropomyosin receptor kinases (Trks) are a family of receptor tyrosine kinases that can regulate synaptic strength and plasticity in the mammalian nervous system. The activation of Trk receptors affects neuronal survival and differentiation through various signaling pathways, and also has significant effects on the function of neurons. The common ligands for Trk receptors are neurotrophins, which play a key role in the nervous system, and the respective binding between these molecules is highly specific (J. Mol. Biol. 1999, 90, 149). Each type of neurotrophin has a corresponding Trk receptor with different affinity. Binding leads to activation of the Trk receptor by dimerization and phosphorylation, causing activation of downstream signals including RAS/MAPK/ERK, PLCγ and PI3K/Akt pathways etc., and thus regulation of survival and other functions of cells (Cancers 2018, 10, 105).
Inhibitors in the Trk/neurotrophin pathways have been proven effective in many preclinical animal models of pain. For example, the antibody RN-624 that antagonizes nerve growth factors NGF and TrkA has been shown effective in animal models of inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain (Neuroscience 1994, 62, 327; Eur. J. Neurosci. 1999, 11, 837). In addition, some literature indicates that after inflammation, the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and TrkB signaling in the dorsal root ganglion increase (Brain Research 1997, 749, 358). Multiple studies have shown that inhibition of the BDNF/TrkB pathway and reduction of signal transduction by antibodies can slow down neuroticism and associated pain (Molecular Pain 2008, 4, 27). At present, a variety of small molecule inhibitors of Trk kinases have been shown to be useful in the treatment of pain (Expert Opin. Ther. Patents 2009, 19, 305).
In addition, the use of anti-NGF antibodies or small molecule inhibitors of TrkA, B, and C to block the neurotrophic factor/Trk pathway has been shown to be effective in preclinical models of inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory lung diseases, including asthma (Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2008, 117, 52), interstitial cystitis (The Journal of Urology 2005, 173, 1016), inflammatory bowel disease (including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (Gut2000, 46, 670)), inflammatory skin disease and the like (Archives of Dermatological Research 2006, 298, 31), eczema and psoriasis (J. Investigative Dermatology 2004, 122, 812), etc.
Literature reports also show that over-expression, activation, amplification or mutation of Trk kinases is closely associated with many cancers, including neuroblastoma, ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, lung adenocarcinoma, juvenile sarcoma, colorectal cancer, fibrosarcoma, Spitzoid melanoma, thyroid cancer, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, papillary thyroid cancer, pilocytic astrocytoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, acute myeloid leukemia, congenital mesoblastic nephroma, ductal adenocarcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, mammary analogue secretory carcinoma (Cancers 2018, 10, 105), etc. In preclinical models of cancer, small molecule inhibitors of TrkA, B, and C effectively inhibit tumor growth and prevent tumor metastasis (Cancer Letters 2001, 169, 107; Leukemia 2007, 1-10; Cancer Letters 2006, 232, 90; Cancer Res 0.2008, 68, 346).

Tropomyosin receptor kinase inhibitor, preparation method therefor and use thereof


A method and system for identifying locations associated with a web resource is provided. The location system identifies three different types of geographic locations: a provider location, a content location, and a serving location. A provider location identifies the geographic location of the entity that provides the web resource. A content location identifies the geographic location that is the subject of the web resource. A serving location identifies the geographic scope that the web page reaches. An application can select to use the type of location that is of particular interest.

Web resources such as web pages have geographic locations associated with them, which can be categorized as having a local or global geographic scope. For example, a web page that lists houses for sale within a certain region has a local geographic scope. In contrast, a web page with general information, such as an introduction to mathematics, is likely of interest to users from any location and thus has a global geographic scope.
Many location-based web applications have been developed to support mobile devices and local searching needs. Such location-based web applications include navigation systems, location-based search systems, local advertisement systems, geographic retrieval systems, and so on. These web applications typically need to detect a geographic location of a web resource and match it with the user's current location. For example, a cellular phone user may want to find a restaurant that is near the user's current location. A web application could match the user's current location as indicated by the cellular phone with the location of restaurants to identify which restaurants may be nearby.
Typically, web applications search web resources for location information (e.g., city names) and use that information when determining whether the web resource matches the user's location. A difficulty with such web applications is that location information of a web resource may have different purposes and thus different meanings. For example, a web page for a Chinese restaurant may contain the geographic locations "Peking" and "Redmond." The geographic location of Peking indicates that the subject of the web page is somehow related to China, but the geographic location of Redmond indicates that the restaurant is located in Redmond, Wash., USA. If a web application is trying to match the user's current location, which may be in Beijing, to the location of the web page, the web application might erroneously report to the user the web page for the Chinese restaurant because it contains "Peking," which is a geographic location related to Beijing.
It would be desirable to have a technique that would differentiate geographic locations associated with web resources so that web applications could use the geographic locations that are appropriate for their intended purpose.

Method and system for web resource location classification and detection


A solenoid valve comprises a valve chamber between a base body and a magnet head and in the valve chamber a magnet armature functioning as a valve member is located. The actuation of the magnet armature takes place by activation of an electromagnet means, which possesses a magnet core arrangement with a plurality of pole faces facing the magnet armature. In order to reduce the impact of the magnet armature a damping plate arrangement is located between the magnet armature and the pole faces, such plate arrangement being in the form of a material which is not ferromagnetic.

The invention relates to a solenoid valve comprising a base body having valve ducts extending through it and a magnet head having an electromagnet or solenoid means, which are arranged in sequence in the direction of a principal axis and between which a valve chamber communicating with a plurality of valve ducts is located, such chamber containing a magnet armature adapted to function as a valve member and able to be shifted in the direction of the principal axis, a stationary magnet core arrangement of the electromagnet means having a pole face arrangement facing the movable magnet armature, by which pole face arrangement the movable magnet armature is attracted for electrical activation of the electromagnet means and a damping plate arrangement arranged between the pole face arrangement and the movable magnet armature, such damping plate arrangement serving for reducing magnet armature impact.


According to some embodiments, an external memory unit stores rows of macroblocks representing an image. A set of macroblocks may be transferred from the external memory unit to a local buffer, the set of macroblocks including fewer macroblocks than a row. A macroblock may then be decoded based on information in the local buffer to generate an image signal.

A media player may output moving images to a display device. For example, a media player might retrieve locally stored image information or receive a stream of image information from a media server (e.g., a content provider might transmit a stream that includes high-definition image frames to a television, a set-top box, or a digital video recorder through a cable or satellite network). In some cases, the image information is encoded to reduce the amount of data used to represent the image. For example, an image might be divided into smaller image portions, such as macroblocks, so that information encoded with respect to one image portion does not need to be repeated with respect to another image portion (e.g., because neighboring image portions may frequently have similar color, brightness, and/or motion characteristics). As a result, information about neighboring image portions may be locally stored and accessed by a decoding engine in the media player when a particular image portion is decoded. Such an approach may require a significant amount of local storage space or be otherwise impractical.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A system and method provides a detailed edit schedule for a user's recording device, such as a digital video recorder. The detailed edit schedule can be provided over a network by the user's DVR service provider, or can be provided from a third party. The detailed edit schedule describes various segments that occur within the program. This information is used by a digital video recorder to identify program segments of interest to the user. When program segments are identified, the individual segments are recorded rather than recording the entire program. The program segments can also include commercials matching the user's interests. The DVR keeps track of scenes that the user records and sends the information, along with the user's demographic information, back to the DVR service provider for creating reports for sponsors showing which commercials and program segments were watched or recorded by different groups of people.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for providing detailed edit lists. In particular, the present invention relates to a system and method for using a digital video recorder to record program segments that match a user's preferences or interests.
2. Description of the Related Art
Video content providers, such as cable television operators and satellite operators, today provide a vast array of content to homes, businesses, and other establishments. These providers often provide hundreds of different channels to a consumer, such as a user watching his home television. While consumers today have a wide assortment of channels, because of the sheer number of selections it is often difficult for users to find a favorite program that is currently playing.
To address these challenges, tape-less digital video recorders (DVRs) have been developed to automatically store the user's favorite programs on a nonvolatile storage device, such as a hard disk drive or optical drive. DVRs are similar to a VCR, however DVRs record onto digital (i.e., random access) media. In addition, DVRs are more "content aware" in that they maintain a programming guide that is used to identify programs to record.
DVRs connect to the outlet, such as the cable television outlet, to receive content from the content provider. In addition, DVRs receive programming information from a DVR service provider. The programming information includes a basic television guide that indicates the channel and times of scheduled programs. The program guide is typically downloaded over a separate connection, such as a telephone modem phone connection, which connects the user's DVR to the DVR service provider. The program guide is updated, for example on a nightly basis, by connecting the DVR to the DVR service provider over the connection. In order to know which programming guide, called an edit schedule, to provide a given user, the DVR service typically requires the user to provide the name and location of the content provider. The DVR service can then retrieve the edit schedule corresponding to a particular content provider (i.e., "ACME CABLE SERVICE in Austin, Tex.") and provide the correct edit schedule to the user.
The user selects which programs he wishes the DVR to record similarly to a VCR. However, with a DVR, the unit can be programmed to record programs based on the user's preferences that have been provided by the user. For example, if the user has indicated a preference for a particular program the DVR can scan the downloaded schedule of programs and automatically record the program without the user needing to indicate the exact dates and times of the program. To view programs that the DVR has recorded, the user presses a "guide" key on the DVR remote. The DVR then lists the programs that have been recorded and stored on the DVR's nonvolatile storage device. The user can then select a program from the list for viewing.
A challenge facing DVR users and DVR service providers is that edit schedules provide details regarding an entire program without dividing the program into its composite segments, or parts. For example, a user may be interested in a particular actor or type of scene and not be interested in an entire program. With traditional edit schedules and technology, it is difficult to identify programs that meet the user's interests. Moreover, even if a program is identified, it is not possible to record the portions of the program in which the user is interested without recording the entire program. The user is then faced with the task of scanning through the recorded content to determine which portion(s) of the program match the user's interests. What is needed, therefore, is a system and method for using a detailed edit schedule that describes program segments and allows the user to record program segments in which the user is interested.

System and method for enhanced edit list for recording options


Low temperature discharge capability and high rate discharge capability are improved in an alkaline storage battery that uses as its negative electrode a hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrode employing hydrogen-absorbing alloy particles containing at least nickel and a rare-earth element. An alkaline storage battery uses as the negative electrode a hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrode employing hydrogen-absorbing alloy particles containing at least nickel and a rare-earth element. The hydrogen-absorbing alloy particles have a surface layer and an interior portion, the surface layer having a nickel content greater than that of the interior portion, and nickel particles having a particle size within a range of from 10 nm to 50 nm are present in the surface layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrodes for use as negative electrodes in alkaline storage batteries. The invention also relates to alkaline storage batteries and methods of manufacturing the alkaline storage batteries. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrode for use as a negative electrode in an alkaline storage battery for improving the low temperature discharge capability and high rate discharge capability of the alkaline storage battery.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, nickel-cadmium storage batteries have been commonly used as alkaline storage batteries. In recent years, nickel-metal hydride storage batteries employing a hydrogen-absorbing alloy as a material for their negative electrodes have drawn considerable attention in that they have higher capacity than nickel-cadmium storage batteries and that, being free of cadmium, they are more environmentally safe.
As alkaline storage batteries comprising the nickel-metal hydride storage batteries are used in various portable devices, demands for further higher performance in the alkaline storage batteries have been increasing.
In the alkaline storage batteries, hydrogen-absorbing alloys such as a rare earth-nickel hydrogen-absorbing alloy having a CaCu5 crystal structure as its main phase and a Laves phase hydrogen-absorbing alloy containing Ti, Zr, V and Ni have been commonly used as the negative electrodes.
However, these hydrogen-absorbing alloys do not necessarily have sufficient hydrogen-absorbing capability, and it has been difficult to further enhance the capacity of the alkaline storage batteries.
In recent years, in order to improve the hydrogen-absorbing capability of the rare earth-nickel hydrogen-absorbing alloys, it has been proposed to use a hydrogen-absorbing alloy having a Ce2Ni7 type or a CeNi3 type crystal structure, other than the CaCu5 type, by adding Mg or the like to the rare earth-nickel hydrogen-absorbing alloy. (See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-69554.)
Nevertheless, the alkaline storage battery that uses as the negative electrode a hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrode employing a hydrogen-absorbing alloy in which Mg or the like is added to the rare earth-nickel hydrogen absorbing alloy still has the problems of poorer high rate discharge capability and low temperature discharge capability than those of nickel-cadmium storage batteries.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent No. 3241047, for example, proposes a hydrogen storage alloy having a surface provided with enriched nickel regions of 7 nm or less in diameter so that the energy density and so forth can be improved.
Nevertheless, even with the use of the hydrogen-absorbing alloy having a surface provided with enriched nickel regions of 7 nm or less in diameter for an alkaline storage battery, electric charge does not transfer smoothly on the surface of the hydrogen-absorbing alloy, so it has been difficult to sufficiently improve high rate discharge capability and low temperature discharge capability.

Hydrogen-absorbing alloy electrode, alkaline storage battery, and method of manufacturing the alkaline storage battery


In a balanced head gimbal assembly for improved seeking performance, a slider having a magnetic head with a set of read elements to read data and a set of write elements to write data, an air-bearing surface, and a non-air-bearing surface is coupled to a suspension. The suspension includes a loadbeam, a flexure, and a balancing weight. The loadbeam is coupled to an actuator arm. The flexure, coupled to the loadbeam, has a window through which a dimple, coupled to the loadbeam, contacts a dimple contact point. The balancing weight, coupled to the flexure, has a configuration which permits alignment of a center of mass of the head gimbal assembly with the dimple contact point.

The present invention relates to a head gimbal assembly (HGA) for use in a magnetic information storage disk drive. In particular, the present invention relates to a HGA design having superior performance during track accessing.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional hard disk drive design. Hard disk drives are used as the major storage unit in a computer. Hard disk drives operate by storing and retrieving digitized information onto and from a rotating disk. The reading and writing of the information onto the disk is performed by a magnetic "head" embedded in a ceramic "slider" which is mounted on a piece of a metal spring, called a suspension. The suspension consists of many components, such as a load beam, a gimbal, traces, a hinge and a base plate. The suspension provides two functions: mechanical support and electrical connection between the "head" and the "pre-amplifier." The slider flies on the rotating disk with about a 10 nm gap, also known as the flying height, between the slider and the disk. In order to make the slider fly stably and reliably at such a small gap, various characteristics of the suspension design must be carefully designed, such as vertical stiffness (Kz), gimbal pitch and roll stiffness (Kp, Kr), and gimbal static attitude (pitch and roll static attitude (PSA and RSA respectively)).
The disk drive also typically includes a servo system that operates to move a slider or a head over a defined track on a disk surface. This operation is called a seeking operation. The performance or data transfer rate of the disk drive is a key performance characteristic. In order to achieve a higher performance/data transfer rate, seeking has become more aggressive, and is increasingly characterized by high speeds, high acceleration, and high deceleration. During the seek process, the slider flying height may change due to: (1) changes of airflow speed and direction; and (2) changes in suspension loads applied on the slider during acceleration and deceleration. The changes in suspension loads applied on the slider during acceleration and deceleration primarily occur due to the torque in the roll direction (for an in-line actuator). FIGS. 2a and 2b show examples of seeking acceleration and roll torque relative to seeking speed and as a function of time. For these examples, during the acceleration process, a negative roll torque is applied to the slider approximately at 0.5 ms. A positive roll torque change occurs during the deceleration process approximately at 6 ms. These roll torque changes may reduce the clearance between the slider and the disk, and may cause the slider to contact the disk, resulting in a drive failure. Therefore, the change in roll torque needs to be improved.
Changes in the roll torque may equal the acceleration or deceleration multiplied by the roll inertia moment. Conventionally, the roll torque may be reduced by reducing the acceleration or deceleration, but doing so may result in a negative effect on drive performance. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the roll inertia moment instead. Further, during certain seek operations, the servo may lose control of the actuator, resulting in a loss of control over the acceleration or deceleration of the slider. In these situations, the actuator may slam into crash stops at the inner or outer diameters of the disk. During this process, the acceleration or deceleration of the slider may reach as high as ten times the normal seek operation acceleration or deceleration. Moreover, as a result of the loss of actuator control, the slider may contact the disk, resulting in severe damage to the disk and the slider. One solution for preventing damage to the disk was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,017, issued to Misso et al., in which the crash stop was re-designed. Alternatively, another solution for preventing disk damage is to increase the breaking distance. This solution is not desirable as a larger braking distance directly reduces the disk area that can be used for data storage. Thus, it is even more preferable to reduce the roll inertia moment.
Thus, it would be desirable to have an improved head-gimbal assembly that reduces the roll inertia moment of a slider.

Method of reducing slider roll torque by balancing head gimbal assembly for improved seeking performance


A self-raising platform assembly (1) comprising at least one mast (3, 5, 113) along which a platform (13) may be moved up or down including the following: a) a base element (9) with a supporting plate (25) connected to a jack (27) and several stabilizer arms (33, 37) incorporating height adjustment. b) modular mast sections (7) made from rectangular sections with openings (63) cut out to form steps and bars (55) to allow adjacent sections to be bolted together. c) hydraulically operated ram lifting mechanism (73, 83, 84) with hooks (77, 79, 81) to engage steps on the mast to raise and lower the platform. d) a plastic lined sleeve (17, 19) on the platform which slides against the mast. e) a modular platform which can be lengthened or widened by adding additional modules (101, 103).

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to several improvements to the basic structure of a scaffolding hereinafter called "platform assembly", which is designed to be self-standing or to be erected close to a building wall in order to help workmen to construct, repair or otherwise work on this wall.
More specifically, the invention relates to improvements made to a self-raising platform assembly comprising at least one mast along which a platform may be moved up or down by means of a lifting mechanism including a hydraulically operated ram extendable and retractable along the mast. The so-made improvements lie in particular in:                the structure of the base of the mast(s);        the structure of the mast(s);        the structure and operation of the lifting mechanism;        the way the platform is guided along the tower(s); and        the structure of the platform itself.
b) Brief Description of the Prior Art
Platform assemblies made of modular elements that can be erected close to a building structure so those workmen can work on the same, are well known and commonly used in the construction area.
As non-restrictive examples of such assemblies, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,616 (BEST) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,993 (ST-GERMAIN A.) which disclose platform assemblies wherein the platform are moved by a cable hoist mechanism.
Reference can also be made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,814 (ST-GERMAIN J.) which discloses a platform assembly wherein the platform is moved by a set of hydraulically operated rams and hooks devised and positioned to engage steps made in the masts in order to lift up the platform.
Reference can further be made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,054 (PIERI) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,332 (READY) which disclose platform assemblies comprising two masts along which a working platform may be moved up and down by means of toothed wheels that are driven by an electric motor through a suitable transmission. The toothed wheels are meshed with corresponding gear racks mounted on bars forming part of the masts.
Reference can finally be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,865 (BUTLER et al) which also discloses a platform assembly of the above mentioned type, having a platform whose length and/or width may be adjusted by addition of modular platform segments.
If all these existing platform assemblies are quite efficient, they still need to be improved in numerous ways, especially in terms of structures and operation of its basic components which, to make the platform assembly interesting in use, must be strong, safe, reliable, easy to assemble and preferably modular.


Examples disclosed herein relate to acquisition of a device fingerprint from an instance of a client application. Examples include association of a target device fingerprint, based on device context information, with a target user account in a remote service, and acquisition of an application device fingerprint from an unpaired instance of a client application.

A remote service implemented by computing resources accessible via at least one computer network may associate data of users with respective user accounts. For example, a remote service such as a cloud data storage service may associate a user's data with the user's account in the service. In such examples, a user may log in to the service to access the data associated with the user's account.

Acquisition of a device fingerprint from an instance of a client application

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An operating system is provided wherein a plurality of objects are established and registered in response to requests from hardware or software associated with the computer system. The objects include at least one type, at least one attribute, and a handle. The plurality of objects are then manipulated to effect processing and exchange of information.

The present invention relates generally to the field of computer systems and, more particularly, to systems for scheduling process execution to provide optimal performance of the computer system.
The operation of modern computer systems is typically governed by an operating system (OS) software program which essentially acts as an interface between the system resources and hardware and the various applications which make requirements of these resources. Easily recognizable examples of such programs include Microsoft Windows™, UNIX, DOS, VxWorks, and Linux, although numerous additional operating systems have been developed for meeting the specific demands and requirements of various products and devices. In general, operating systems perform the basic tasks which enable software applications to utilize hardware or software resources, such as managing I/O devices, keeping track of files and directories in system memory, and managing the resources which must be shared between the various applications running on the system. Operating systems also generally attempt to ensure that different applications running at the same time do not interfere with each other and that the system is secure from unauthorized use.
Depending upon the requirements of the system in which they are installed, operating systems can take several forms. For example, a multi-user operating system allows two or more users to run programs at the same time. A multiprocessing operating systems supports running a single application across multiple hardware processors (CPUs). A multitasking operating system enables more than one application to run concurrently on the operating system without interference. A multithreading operating system enables different parts of a single application to run concurrently. Real time operating systems (RTOS) execute tasks in a predictable, deterministic period of time. Most modern operating systems attempt to fulfill several of these roles simultaneously, with varying degrees of success.
Unfortunately, the ability of known operating systems to efficiently handle resource allocation and application/hardware performance on embedded systems remains deficient to the requirements of modern systems, particularly embedded systems. Accordingly, there is a need in the art of computer systems for an operating system which enables such efficient and accurate handling of requirements in an embedded system. Further, there is a need for an operating system which can work together with conventional operating systems, thereby enabling conventional systems to work with hardware/software for which it was not specifically designed.

Systems and methods for managing shared resources in a computer system


A policy control method and system are disclosed. The method includes: a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network entity sending outer Internet Protocol (IP) packet header information to a Broadband Forum (BBF) access network entity; and the BBF access network entity scheduling a data packet matching the outer IP packet header information according to a Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) of the data packet. With the above technical scheme, service data flows without going through admission control will not occupy resources of other service data flows going through the admission control.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of component architecture of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Evolved Packet System (EPS), and in an EPS network architecture in a non-roaming scenario shown in FIG. 1, an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW, also called as PDN GW), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) entity and other support nodes are included.
Wherein, a PCRF is a core of Policy and Charging Control (PCC) and is responsible for making PCC rules. The PCRF provides network control rules based on service data flow, these network controls include detection of service data flow, gating control, Quality of Service (QoS) control and charging rules based on data flow and so on. The PCRF sends the PCC rules made by the PCRF to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) to execute, meanwhile, the PCRF is also required to guarantee that these rules are consistent with user subscription information. A basis for the PCRF making the PCC rules includes: acquiring information related to services from an Application Function (AF); acquiring user PCC subscription information from a Subscription Profile Repository (SPR); and acquiring network information related to bearer from the PCEF.
The EPS supports an interconnection between the EPS and a non-3GPP system, the interconnection between the EPS and the non-3GPP system is implemented through interfaces S2a/b/c, and the P-GW serves as an anchor between the 3GPP system and the non-3GPP system. As shown in FIG. 1, the non-3GPP system is divided into a trusted non-3GPP IP access and an untrusted non-3GPP IP access. The trusted non-3GPP IP access can be connected to the P-GW directly through an interface S2a; the untrusted non-3GPP IP is required to connect to the P-GW through an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG), an interface between the ePDG and the P-GW is an interface S2b, and an Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) is adopted to perform encipherment protection on signalings and data between a User Equipment (UE) and the ePDG. An interface S2c provides control and mobility support related to a user plane between the User Equipment (UE) and the P-GW, and a mobility management protocol supported by the interface S2c is a Mobile IPv6 support for dual stack Hosts and Routers (DSMIPv6).
Currently, many operators pay attention to the Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) and conduct research with respect to the 3GPP and Broadband Forum (BBF) interconnection. With regard to a scenario of a user accessing a mobile core network through a BBF, it is required to guarantee the QoS on the entire transmission path of the data (the data will be transmitted through a fixed network and a mobile network). Currently, an interaction is performed through the PCRF and a Broadband Policy Control Framework (BPCF) in the BBF access to guarantee the QoS. The BPCF is a policy control framework in the BBF access, and for resource request message of the PCRF, the BPCF performs resource admission control or schedules the resource request message to other network elements (e.g. a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG)) of a BBF access network according to network policies and subscription information and so on of the BBF access, and the other network elements execute the resource admission control (i.e. entrusting the other network elements to execute the resource admission control). For example, when the UE accesses a 3GPP core network through a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), in order to guarantee that a total bandwidth demand of all UE access services accessing through a WLAN access line does not exceed a bandwidth of the line (e.g. a subscription bandwidth or a maximum physical agent supported by the line), the PCRF is required to interact with the BPCF when performing QoS authorization, so that the BBF access network executes the resource admission control.
At present, the study of the 3GPP and BBF interconnection mainly includes two aspects: a scenario of the 3GPP UE accessing an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) through the WLAN of the BBF and a scenario of the 3GPP UE accessing the 3GPP core network through a home evolved Node-B (H(e)NB), wherein the H(e)NB takes the BBF access network as a routing path (Backhaul) to connect to the 3GPP core network.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the 3GPP UE accessing the 3GPP core network through the WLAN, and as shown in FIG. 2, the BBF access network is taken as an untrusted non-3GPP access. Based on the architecture shown in FIG. 2, there are 3 ways for initiating a policy interconnection session (i.e. S9*) establishment at present.
In way 1, after the UE accesses the BBF access network, a Broadband Remote Access Server (BRAS)/Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) will execute an access authentication based on the 3GPP, and meanwhile, the BPCF of the BBF initiates an S9* session actively to interact with the PCRF of the 3GPP. Therefore, the PCRF can interact with the BPCF when performing the QoS authorization, and the BPCF executes the resource admission control or entrusts other network elements to execute the resource admission control.
In way 2, when the UE accesses the BBF access network, the access authentication based on the 3GPP is not executed. After the UE interacts with the ePDG to establish an IPSec tunnel, the ePDG sends a local address of the UE (i.e. an address allocated by the BBF access network to the UE) to the P-GW, the P-GW then sends the local address of the UE to the PCRF, and after determining the BPCF according to the local address of the UE, the PCRF reversely initiates an S9* session establishment to perform an interaction with the BPCF. Therefore, the PCRF can interact with the BPCF when performing the QoS authorization, and the BPCF executes the resource admission control or entrusts other network elements to execute the resource admission control.
In way 3, when the UE accesses the BBF access network, the access authentication based on the 3GPP is not executed. After the UE interacts with the ePDG to establish an IPSec tunnel, the ePDG directly sends a local address of the UE (i.e. an address allocated by the BBF access network to the UE) to the PCRF, and after determining the BPCF according to the local address of the UE, the PCRF reversely initiates an S9* session establishment to perform an interaction with the BPCF. Therefore, the PCRF can interact with the BPCF when performing the QoS authorization, and the BPCF executes the resource admission control or entrusts other network elements to execute the resource admission control.
If the UE requires the network to allocate resources to the UE when the UE performs service access, the PCRF firstly sends QoS information of the made PCC rules to the BPCF, so that the BBF access network executes the admission control. Then, the PCRF sends a PCC rule accepted by the BBF access network to the PCEF. The PCEF performs Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) marking on a header of an IP packet of a corresponding data flow (called as an internal packet header) according to the PCC rule, when the IP packets of the service data flow reach the ePDG, the ePDG will perform IPSec encapsulation on the IP packet and perform marking on a header of an IP packet of IPSec (called as an outer packet header) according to a DSCP of the header of the IP packet (i.e. the internal packet header) during the encapsulation. Therefore, the BBF access network can perform data packet scheduling according to a DSCP of the header of the IP packet of the IPSec.
However, a premise of the above scheme is that the 3GPP network supports an interconnection between the 3GPP network and the BBF, when the PCRF does not support an interconnection between the PCRF and the BBF (including a scenario that PCC is not deployed in the 3GPP network), the PCRF will not interact with the BPCF to request the admission control. Thus it will cause that the PCC rules sent by the PCRF to the PCEF are results which are decided according to the PCRF itself. The PCEF performs DSCP marking on headers of IP packets of service data flows according to the PCC rules sent by the PCRF or policies locally configured by the PCEF (with respect to a scenario that PCC is not deployed in the 3GPP network). When these service data flows reach the ePDG, the ePDG replicates the DSCP of the outer packet header of the IPSec according to the DSCP marks of the internal packet header. If these data reach the BBF access network, the BBF access network will not distinguish whether these service data flows go through the admission control of the BBF access network, but only perform dispatching according to the DSCP. Thus, these service data flows without going through the admission control will occupy resources of other service data flows going through the admission control, which leads to a failure of the entire FMC policy control mechanism currently.
When the UE accesses the 3GPP through an untrusted non-BBF access network by using a DSMIPv6 protocol, there are 2 ways for initiating a policy interconnection session (i.e. S9*) establishment at present.
In way 1, after the UE accesses the BBF access network, the BRAS/BNG will execute an access authentication based on the 3GPP, and meanwhile, the BPCF of the BBF initiates an S9* session actively to interact with the PCRF of the 3GPP. Therefore, the PCRF can interact with the BPCF when performing QoS authorization, and the BPCF executes the resource admission control or entrusts other network elements to execute the resource admission control.
In way 2, when the UE accesses the BBF access network, the access authentication based on the 3GPP is not executed. After the UE interacts with the ePDG to establish an IPSec tunnel, the ePDG directly sends a local address of the UE (i.e. an address allocated by the BBF access network to the UE) to the PCRF, and after determining the BPCF according to the local address of the UE, the PCRF reversely initiates an S9* session establishment to perform an interaction with the BPCF. Therefore, the PCRF can interact with the BPCF when performing the QoS authorization, and the BPCF executes the resource admission control or entrusts other network elements to execute the resource admission control.
If the UE requires the network to allocate resources to the UE when the UE performs service access, the PCRF firstly sends QoS information of the made PCC rules to the BPCF, so that the BBF access network executes the admission control. Then, the PCRF sends a PCC rule accepted by the BBF access network to the PCEF. The PCEF performs DSCP marking on a header of an IP packet of a corresponding data flow (called as an internal packet header) according to the PCC rule, when the IP packets of the service data flow reach the ePDG, the ePDG will perform IPSec encapsulation on the IP packet and perform marking on a header of an IP packet of an IPSec (called as an outer packet header) according to a DSCP of the header of the IP packet (i.e. the internal packet header) during the encapsulation. Therefore, the BBF access network can perform data packet scheduling according to a DSCP of the header of the IP packet of the IPSec.
Similarly, a premise of the above scheme is that the 3GPP network supports an interconnection between the 3GPP network and the BBF, when the PCRF does not support an interconnection between the PCRF and the BBF (including a scenario that PCC is not deployed in the 3GPP network), the PCRF will not interact with the BPCF to request the admission control. The service data flows without going through the admission control will occupy resources of other service data flows going through the admission control, which leads to a failure of the entire FMC policy control mechanism currently.
When the UE accesses the 3GPP through a trusted non-BBF access network by using a DSMIPv6 protocol, there are also 2 ways for initiating a policy interconnection session (i.e. S9*) establishment in the related art.
In way 1, after the UE accesses the BBF access network, the BRAS/BNG will execute an access authentication based on the 3GPP, and meanwhile, the BPCF of the BBF initiates an S9* session actively to interact with the PCRF of the 3GPP. Therefore, the PCRF can interact with the BPCF when performing the QoS authorization, and the BPCF executes the resource admission control or entrusts other network elements to execute the resource admission control.
In way 2, when the UE accesses the BBF access network, the access authentication based on the 3GPP is not executed. After the UE interacts with the P-GW to establish an IPSec security association, the P-GW directly sends a local address of the UE (i.e. an address allocated by the BBF access network to the UE) to the PCRF, and after determining the BPCF according to the local address of the UE, the PCRF reversely initiates an S9* session establishment to perform an interaction with the BPCF. Therefore, the PCRF can interact with the BPCF when performing the QoS authorization, and the BPCF executes the resource admission control or entrusts other network elements to execute the resource admission control.
If the UE requires the network to allocate resources to the UE when the UE performs service access, the PCRF firstly sends QoS information of the made PCC rules to the BPCF, so that the BBF access network executes the admission control. Then, the PCRF sends a PCC rule accepted by the BBF access network to the PCEF. The PCEF performs DSCP marking on a header of an IP packet of a corresponding data flow according to the PCC rule. When the IP packets of the service data flow reach the BBF access network, the BBF access network can perform data packet scheduling according to the DSCP of the header of the IP packet.
Similarly, a premise of the above scheme is that the 3GPP network supports an interconnection between the 3GPP network and the BBF, when the PCRF does not support an interconnection between the PCRF and the BBF (including a scenario that PCC is not deployed in the 3GPP network), the PCRF will not interact with the BPCF to request the admission control. The service data flows without going through the admission control will occupy resources of other service data flows going through the admission control, which leads to a failure of the entire FMC policy control mechanism currently.
FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are schematic diagrams of architectures of the 3GPP UE accessing the 3GPP core network through an H(e)NB, wherein the H(e)NB takes the BBF access network as a Backhaul to be connected to the 3GPP core network. In the architecture of FIG. 3, the PCRF is directly interfaced with the BPCF, when the PCRF performs the QoS authorization, the PCRF firstly interacts with the BPCF, after the BBF access network performs the admission control successfully, the PCRF sends the PCC rules and QoS rules (if required) to the PCEF and a Bearing Binding and Event Report Function (BBERF) (if exists) respectively, the PCEF and the BBERF perform DSCP marking on downlink data of a service data flow according to the PCC rules and QoS rules, and when the service data flow reaches a Security Gateway (SeGW), the SeGW will perform IPSec encapsulation on an IP packet and perform marking on a header of an IP packet of the IPSec (called as an outer packet header) according to a DSCP of the IP packet (i.e. an internal packet header) during the encapsulation. Therefore, the BBF access network can perform data packet scheduling according to the DSCP of the header of the IP packet of the IPSec. With regard to uplink data, the H(e)NB performs IPSec encapsulation on the IP packet and performs marking on the header of the IP packet of the IPSec (called as the outer packet header) according to the DSCP of the IP packet (i.e. the internal packet header) during the encapsulation. In the architectures of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, a function entity of H(e)NB Policy Function (H(e)NB PF) is introduced, when an H(e)NB GW (FIG. 4) or an H(e)NB (FIG. 5) receives a bearer establishment request or a bearer modification request from the 3GPP core network (the establishment or modification of the bearer is initiated after the PCEF or BBERF performs bearing binding according to the PCC rules or QoS rules of the PCRF, or is initiated after the P-GW or S-GW performs bearing binding according to the local policies), the H(e)NB GW or the H(e)NB requests the BBF access network for the admission control through the H(e)NB PF. After an admission control response success of the BBF access network is received, the H(e)NB GW can continue to complete a bearer establishment flow or a bearer modification flow. Then, the PCEF and the BBERF perform DSCP marking according to the PCC rules and QoS rules, and when the downlink data of the service data flow reach the SeGW, the SeGW will perform IPSec encapsulation on the IP packet and perform marking on the header of the IP packet of the IPSec (called as the outer packet header) according to the DSCP of the IP packet (i.e. the internal packet header) during the encapsulation. With regard to the uplink data, the H(e)NB performs IPSec encapsulation on the IP packet and performs marking on the header of the IP packet of the IPSec (called as the outer packet header) according to the DSCP of the IP packet (i.e. the internal packet header) during the encapsulation. Therefore, the BBF access network can perform data packet scheduling according to the DSCP of the header of the IP packet of the IPSec.
However, the premise of the three architecture schemes is that the 3GPP network also supports an interconnection between the 3GPP network and the BBF (FIG. 3 is for an interconnection between the PCRF and the BPCF, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are for an interconnection between the H(e)NB PF and the BPCF), with regard to FIG. 3, when the PCRF does not support an interconnection between the PCRF and the BBF, the PCRF will not interact with the BPCF to request the admission control. Thus it will cause that the PCC rules sent by the PCRF to the PCEF are results which are decided according to the PCRF itself. The PCEF performs DSCP marking on headers of downlink IP packets of service data flows according to the PCC rules sent by the PCRF. When these service data flows reach the SeGW, the SeGW replicates the DSCP of the outer packet header of the IPSec according to the DSCP marks of the internal packet header. If these data reach the BBF access network, the BBF access network will not distinguish whether these service data flows go through the admission control of the BBF access network, but only perform dispatching according to the DSCP. With regard to uplink data flows, the H(e)NB similarly performs IPSec encapsulation on the IP packet of uplink data and performs marking on the header of the IP packet of the IPSec (called as the outer packet header) according to the DSCP of the IP packet (i.e. the internal packet header) during the encapsulation. Thus, these service data flows without going through the admission control will occupy resources of other service data flows going through the admission control, which leads to a failure of the entire FMC policy control mechanism currently.
If we consider a scenario that the 3GPP UE and the fixed network entity of BBF exist eternally, those service data flows of the fixed network entity without going through the admission control also may occupy resources of service data flows of the 3GPP UE going through the admission control.


The invention relates to a sheet-like radiation-sensitive recording material whose surface is a discontinuous dulling layer comprising monodisperse particles is present. The dulling layer can be produced by spraying on a dulling liquid. An apparatus comprising an oscillation generator, which can transmit oscillations to the liquid in the apparatus, and has an orifice plate which has at least one hole with a diameter of from 5 to 250 .mu.m and from which the liquid emerges in the form of at least one laminar free jet which disintegrates into monodisperse drops is suitable for this purpose. The oscillation generator is preferably a piezoelectric ceramic.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to sheet-like radiation-sensitive recording materials. More specifically, the present invention is directed to sheet-like radiation sensitive recording materials providing with an image in a contact printing process, and on whose surface a discontinuous dulling layer is present, and a process for applying the dulling layer.
2) Description of Related Art
Dulling layers are conventionally used, in particular, in contact printing processes. In these processes, the original is placed directly on the radiation-sensitive recording material, usually in a so-called vacuum contact printing frame. The direct contact between original and recording material is produced by sucking out the air present in between. In the case of very smooth surfaces, it generally takes a long time before a constant vacuum is reached. In addition, air occlusions may remain behind, leading to sidelighting. Many recording materials also contain compounds which undergo a chemical reaction on exposure to radiation and evolve gases, for example nitrogen. The removal of such gases also presents problems in the case of smooth surfaces.
These disadvantages can be substantially avoided if copying materials having a rough surface are used. Such a surface can be achieved, for example, by dusting the radiation-sensitive layer with a finely divided powder. However, as a rule this leads to a nonuniform roughness. Moreover, the powder may become detached from the surface and contaminate the vacuum pump.
A rough surface is also obtained if the recording material is embossed with a roller.
Inorganic or organic particles of a certain size which may be added to the solution or dispersion which serves for the production of the radiation-sensitive layer project from the finished layer after drying and likewise result in a rough surface. If these particles are present in the printing layer, the term "micro-pigmentation" is used; however, if they are on the copying layer, the term "dulling" is used.
Dulling layers can be divided into those which completely cover the surface (=continuous dulling layers) and those which only partly cover the surface (=discontinuous dulling layers). The discontinuous layers frequently comprise more or less hemispherical protuberances (="culottes").
DE-A 30 03 131 (=U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,521) discloses dusting with the aid of a cyclone and subsequent thermal or chemical fixing of solid dulling agents for producing discontinuous layers.
According to DE-A 26 06 793 (=U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,289), dulling is possible by applying a coating solution via an embossing roll to a coating roll which comprises resilient material having a fine, uneven pattern. From this coating roll, the coating solution is then transferred to a support.
DE-A 31 31 570 (=GB-A 2 081 919) discloses that an aqueous liquid which contains a resin in dissolved or dispersed form can be sprayed on. Spraying can be supported by applying an electrostatic voltage of at least 5 kV (EP-A 0 344 985, EP-A 0 649 063).
In all these processes, however, the height, diameter and number of dulling particles per unit area are subject to certain fluctuations, so that the behavior during contact imaging--i.e., placing a positive or negative master in a vacuum contact frame on the dulled radiation-sensitive layer, evacuating the frame and irradiating through the master--is not reliably reproducible.

Dulled radiation-sensitive recording material and process for its production


A speed adjustable USB keyboard is provided. The keyboard comprises a plurality of keys, wherein each of the keys generates a press signal when being pressed and a release signal when being released; and a control module, coupled between the keys and a computer, for simulating a part of the press signal as the release signal to respond to polling signals from the computer according to the setting of at least one of a repeat delay and a repeat rate of the keys.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to keyboards, wherein users can directly adjust the character output parameters therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
Keyboards are usually designed so that when a user continually presses a key, the keyboard firstly outputs the character of the key once, then pauses for a while, and then repeatedly outputs the same character for several times until the user releases the key. The pause period is the so-called "repeat delay", and the speed for repeatedly outputting the character is the so-called "repeat rate".
The values of the repeat delay and repeat rate vary from keyboard to keyboard. When using a keyboard for word processing, it is easy for users to output extra characters if the repeat delay is too short. In short, a short repeat delay causes trouble when typing. When using a keyboard for playing computer games, it is easy for users to lose games if the repeat delay is too long or if the repeat rate is too slow. In short, a long repeat delay or a slow repeat rate limits operational agility. Therefore, the repeat delay and the repeat rate should be adjustable for an idea keyboard.
In the prior art, users can only change the repeat delay and the repeat rate for a keyboard through the operating system (OS). For the Windows OS, the user must first open the "Control Panel" and click the option "Keyboard" before modifying the repeat delay and the repeat rate (the repeat delay is usually modified to be between 250 ms and 1 s; and the repeat rate is usually modified to be between 2 characters per second and 30 characters per second). This manner is applicable for PS/2 keyboards and USB keyboards.
However, it is much more convenient to change the setting directly via the keyboard rather than via the OS. Meanwhile, a USB keyboard is different from a PS/2 keyboard, and the repeat delay and repeat rate for both depend upon the polling rate of the processor of the computer and can only be adjusted through the OS. Settings can be changed directly via PS/2 keyboards, but not USB keyboards at this time. A USB keyboard allowing for settings to be changed therethrough is desired.


A device for sealing the gap or void between the outer circumference of a pipe and a hole in a wall the pipe passes through includes a sheet metal casing flexible enough to be bent around the pipe. The inside wall of the casing includes spaced apart inner directed radial projections for containing a swelling agent that is heat activated for filling the void between the housing and pipe in a manner overlapping the gap between the pipe and the wall.

1.0. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to pipe sealing devices, and more particularly to such devices including heat activated sealing mechanisms for sealing the gap between a pipe and its passage through a wall.
2.0 Discussion of Related Art
A pipe seal of the type in question is used to protect openings or channels in walls or ceilings where pipes pass through. The pipes are generally made of thermoplastics, more particularly polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and polypropylene, and are generally circular in cross-section, pipes with external diameters of 32 to 400 mm mainly being used in the construction industry.
A pipe seal with very good fire-proof properties is described in applicants' DE 39 30 722 A1. However, it is inconvenient for some applications and entails preassembly of its components in accordance with the particular pipe diameter.
EP 0 486 299 A1 describes a bendable sheet-metal sleeve or a sheet-metal casing provided on its inside with a layer of mouldable swelling compound. In addition, a strip of plastic swelling compound may be associated with this layer to ensure that the metal casing with the swelling compound fits tightly around the pipe.
In a known modification of this construction, the inside of the metal casing is coated solely with a viscous paste of swelling compound.
Finally, it is known that pipes or cables in wall channels can be wrapped in endless tapes of narrow strips of solid swelling compound based on waterglass which are welded between two films and which can be wrapped around the pipes or cables to be protected in one or more laps. The laps are held together by the brickwork surrounding them.

Pipe seal with a sheet-metal casing bendable around a pipe


A technique is provided which sufficiently inhibits deformation of printing paper resulting from drying of ink on the paper. When the amount of ink ejected during which the front end of the printing paper is moved, after entered into a counter area facing a print head, to a determination point exceeds the ink amount “enough to cause deformation” of the printing paper, the front end of the printing paper is moved from the determination point to a hold position located downstream thereof and left there for a predetermined time. Thus, the shape of the front portion of the printing paper is maintained, and the deformation of the printing paper due to the drying of ink is prevented.

i) Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a print system that can inhibit deformation of printing paper resulting from drying of ink on the paper, and a print method for the print system.
ii) Description of the Related Art
At the present day, a printer is widely known which ejects ink onto a surface of a printing paper while the paper is being transferred from a feed position to a discharge position for printing (so-called ink jet printer).
In this type of printer, the printing paper is often curled up gently if there is much ink; that is, much moisture, ejected onto the surface of the printing paper. In this case, the printing paper may not be inserted between a pair of discharge rollers properly, causing a paper jam inside the printer.
For this reason various techniques to prevent such curling of the printing paper have been proposed these days. For instance, the Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-62397 discloses a technique of slowing down the transfer speed of the printing paper when a paper jam is detected in a state that the amount of ink ejected by a print head has become more than a predetermined amount. This technique allows moisture on the printing paper to be reduced when there is too much ink ejected on the surface of the printing paper. By slowing down the transfer speed of the printing paper, more time is secured for drying the ink on the printing paper and thus the curling of the printing paper can be inhibited.
However, the aforementioned technique merely slows down the transfer speed of the printing paper. The shape of the printing paper cannot be maintained during the time the ink on the paper is being dried. Consequently, the printing paper is sometimes deformed partially while the ink is being dried.
If such deformation occurs immediately after the printing onto the printing paper is started, that is, on the front portion of the printing paper, there is a fear that a portion of the printing paper may come close to or come into contact with the print head and the printing quality may be deteriorated. Furthermore, if large deformation occurs in the printing paper with a high water absorption rate, the printing paper may be torn by the scan of the print head or may cause a paper jam for the reason that the printing paper is not inserted between the discharge rollers properly.

Print system capable of inhibiting deformation of printing paper due to drying of ink and print method thereof


A casing made of molded plastic material comprises a rigid body with an end part of non-circular cross-section, a closing cover coming into engagement against the end part, and a fixing ring screwed onto a male thread of the body to ensure that the cover is held against the end part. The ring is formed by a flexible part having a cylindrical initial shape, and comprising a plurality of serrations allowing elastic deformation for the female thread of the ring to fit the male thread of the rigid body.

The invention relates to a casing made of molded plastic material, comprising :
a rigid hollow body having a back panel and a side wall of revolution equipped with an end part located opposite the back panel, PA1 a closing cover coming into engagement against the end part, PA1 a male first thread arranged along the external surface of the side wall of the body, PA1 and a fixing ring having a female third thread designed to be screwed onto the male first thread to ensure that the cover is held stably against the end part.
Domestic lighting lamps generally have a cylindrical end part, and the transparent window is fixed onto the end part by means of a ring with internal threading. The transparent window or screen can be a separate part or be integrated into the ring, which is of cylindrical shape. This type of lighting lamp comprises a single electric bulb supported by a holder fixed to a parabolic reflector, located coaxially with respect to the casing.
Some lighting lamps for industry comprise a double focusing system using two electrical bulbs and two reflectors arranged side by side. Incorporating this system in a cylindrical casing means that large dimensions are required, which is incompatible for the use of headsets, which are worn on the user's head.
Reducing the dimensions of the casing requires a modification of the rigid body, for example by replacing the circular cross-section of the end part and associated cover by a non-circular shape. The use of a screw ring with a rigid structure is however impossible to provide closing of the casing.
A first object of the invention consists in achieving a casing of non-circular cross-section sealed by a tightening ring.
A second object of the invention consists in achieving a sealing system in a non-circular casing.


Apparatus and methods for fluidly communicating between conduit strings and wells through crossovers forming a subterranean manifold string, usable for pressure contained underground hydrocarbon operations, storage and solution mining. Concentric conduits enable fluid communication with one or more subterranean regions through an innermost passageway usable for communicating fluids and devices engagable with a receptacle of the manifold. A wall of the manifold string and/or a selectively placed fluid control device diverts fluid mixture flow streams from one passageway to another radially disposed inward or outward passageway to selectively control pressurized fluid communication, thereby forming a plurality of pressure bathers. The pressure bathers can be used to selectively communicate fluid mixtures to and from a reservoir for hydrocarbon operations, solution mining, and/or control of a storage cushion space during such operations.

Conventional methods for constructing and performing operations on multiple wells, within a region, require numerous bores and conduits coupled with associated valve trees, wellheads, and other equipment for injection and/or production from each well, located within the region. The costs of the equipment for the construction, control and operation of these multiple wells can be extremely expensive, which, historically, has prevented development of reserves in the oil and gas industry. In addition, obtaining optimal production from each of these multiple wells can be a problem because each underground formation, has its own unique reservoir characteristics, including pressure, temperature, viscosity, permeability, and other characteristics that generally require specific and differing choke pressures, flow rates, stimulation means, etc. for overall production of wells in the region.
An embodiment of the present invention can include providing a manifold string, with a plurality of conduits forming a plurality of pressure barriers with at least one intermediate passageway or annular space, that can be usable to control pressurized, subterranean, fluid-mixture, flow streams, which can be controlled by the manifold string within passageways through subterranean strata for one or more subterranean wells, that can extend from a single main bore. Important uses of this aspect include, for example, constructing and/or operation of one or more subterranean wells from a single surface location, providing the opportunity for simultaneous well activities and/or common batch activities to be performed on a plurality of wells, without the need to remove established barriers, reposition a rig, and/or to re-establish barriers necessary for well control.
An additional embodiment of the present invention includes one or more manifold crossover apparatus, usable with a manifold string to selectively control an innermost and at least one intermediate concentric or annular passageway. The innermost passageway can be usable for communicating flow-controlling devices for engagement in one or more receptacles of a manifold string to provide, for example, the ability to selectively change controlling mechanisms and/or flow paths of subterranean pressurized fluids.
Another embodiment of the present invention enables fluid separation within a plurality of radial passageways that can communicate through orifices within the innermost passageway, with the radial passageways' diverting walls located within annular or concentric passageways, to direct fluid flow to the innermost passageway. Placing fluid controlling devices through the innermost passageway, for engagement within the manifold string, provides further control of fluid-mixture flow streams between passageways of the manifold crossover and the radially inward or radially outward disposed passageways, including the passageway surrounding the manifold string to, for example, enable the crossover of flow between the innermost and concentric passageways. This crossover of flow enables selective control of the flow in the concentric passageway by use of valves, which can be engaged to the innermost passageway for providing selective pressure control of one or more annular or concentric passageways, while retaining the ability to access wells through the innermost passageway.
In another embodiment of the present invention, conventional flow controlling devices are conveyable through the innermost passageway, for engagement within a receptacle or conduits of a manifold string, to selectively control fluid communication by diverting at least a portion of the fluid-mixture flow streams. An example of this embodiment includes the placement of a fluid motor and fluid pump, usable with gas expansion from an underground storage cavern for driving an impellor to pump and inject water for solution mining, during combined operations. An additional example includes, placement of an orifice piston, which can be usable with coiled tubing for under-balanced drilling.
In a related embodiment, flow control devices engagable within a manifold string, a manifold string receptacle, or a plurality of innermost passageway subterranean valves can be usable with one or more manifold crossovers to selectively control pressurized fluid, which can be communicated through the innermost passageway and/or one or more concentric passageways. The flow control devices can be used, for example, to replace traditionally unreliable annulus safety valves with more reliable tubing retrievable valves or, for example, to repair a failed tubing retrievable safety valve for controlling a concentric passageway of an underground storage, within depleted reservoirs or salt caverns, with an insert safety valve placed through the innermost passageway.
Another embodiment of the present invention enables the ability to divert all or a portion of a fluid-mixture flow stream to a another passageway, that can be disposed radially inward or radially outward for the purposes of carrying out simultaneous well construction, well production and/or well injection operations. The simultaneous well construction and/or well operations enables, for example, one or more under-balanced coiled tubing fish-bone sidetracks of a well to be performed more readily, while producing the well to reduce skin damage in a low permeability reservoir, or can further enable underground storage and solution mining operations to be performed simultaneously, thus removing the conventional requirement for a plurality of rig operations and/or high risk snubbing operations to strip out a dewatering string from a gas storage cavern.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides selective control for placing well construction fluid mixtures of gases, liquids and/or solids within a region of the passageway through subterranean strata, while removing pressurized subterranean fluids from the subterranean strata by over-balancing or under-balancing hydrostatic pressures, for example, during proppant frac stimulations, gravel packs and simultaneous underground storage and solution mining operations.
In still another embodiment, the present invention provides an orifice piston apparatus that can be engagable to a manifold crossover and through which cables or conduits may pass during, for example, under-balanced perforating or drilling operations. Engagement, placement and/or removal of the piston can be assisted by differential pressure applied to the face of the piston during simultaneous well construction, injection operations and/or production operations, including for example, performing a mechanical integrity test using a cable, passed through the orifice piston, to measure a gas liquid interface below the final cemented casing shoe of an underground storage cavern.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes the ability to commingle fluid mixture flow streams and/or to separate selected fluid mixture flow streams with an adapted chamber junction. The fluid flow from exit bore conduits can be commingled through the chamber or directed to intermediate concentric passageways disposed radially inward or outward of the chamber. The bore selector can be usable to communicate fluid and/or fluid control devices through the innermost passageway and chamber junction for selectively controlling one or more wells below a single main bore.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides adapted chamber junctions, usable within a single well passageway with a plurality of flow streams, wherein the innermost passageway of a chamber junction exit bore can be axially aligned with the innermost passageway of the chamber and the conduits axially above. At least one more exit bore conduit can contain a radial passageway that can be usable with a bore selector, fluid diverter, straddle, or other flow control device to fluidly communicate between the innermost passageway and the surrounding passageway, or another concentric intermediate passageway.
Another embodiment of the present invention, includes a reduced length manifold crossover with a plurality of radial passageways for communicating from the innermost passageway to the passageway surrounding the manifold string, or a radially outward concentric passageway using radially disposed small conduits, such that flow through the one or more intermediate concentric passageways effectively travels around and past the rounded shapes of the small conduits. In this embodiment, reduced length conventional flow controlling apparatus can be usable to selectively control flow through orifice connections with the innermost passageway to, for example, provide gradual axial adjustments of solution mining fresh water placement during the salt dissolution and/or storage process.
Embodiments of the present invention include methods for selectively controlling pressures, volumes and temperatures of fluids that can be stored and retrieved from a storage space. Examples of such methods include controlled pressurization of a storage cavern, using water or brine, during gas extraction to reduce or minimize the temperature reduction caused by retrieving compressed stored gas through expansion, thus providing a longer withdrawal period before reaching a minimum operating temperature for associated well equipment.
Other embodiments of the present invention include methods for selectively controlling a substantially water interface during solution mining and/or during re-filling of a cavern, for stored fluid extraction. These selective control methods affect the shape of the cavern walls to, in use, control working storage volumes and solution mining rates for varying storage volume turnovers and natural salt creep rates, usable for simultaneous underground hydrocarbon storage and solution mining operations over a number of years, and/or seasonal storage volume turn-overs.
Embodiments of the present invention can include methods for providing a subterranean brine reservoir with a stored product cushion for selectively controlling working volume and displacement of liquids or compressed gases to and from salt caverns, fluidly associated with brine reservoirs holding subterranean heated brine or generating displacement brine that can be fluidly communicated in u-tube like conduit, pumping and/or compression arrangements between caverns.
In related embodiments, the present invention can provide methods for removing salt gas storage cavern sunk construction cost by displacing conventionally irretrievable cushion gas cavern structural support inventories for preventing salt creep with brine from brine reservoirs during high demand, followed by gas refilling and brine displacement during periods of higher gas availability to, for example, improve the economic viability of constructing large scale salt cavern gas storage facilities, as compared to conventional depleted permeable sandstone reservoir storage.
In other embodiments, the present invention can provide methods usable to selectively access and fluidly communicate between a plurality of specific gravity separated fluids, that can be disposed in caverns and subterranean brine reservoirs connected with u-tube like conduit, pumping and/or compression arrangements engaged with manifold crossovers disposed with the caverns.
Still other embodiments of the present invention can provide methods usable to space salt storage caverns and brine reservoirs for salt pillar support within ocean environments, with pipeline or shipping access and an abundance of water and brine absorption capacity usable, for example, to access stored specific gravity separated liquid products above brine with boats and/or pipelines, while performing u-tube fluid communication with gas storage caverns to, for example, perform storage operations during periods of contrary demand between liquids and gas.
Finally, other embodiments of the present invention provide methods for the use of a fluid buffer for transportation pipelines and/or the selective access to fluids of differing specific gravity for use or disposal, for example, pigging pipelines of water and other fluids into a storage cavern, wherein the fluids are selectively accessed by a manifold crossover with specific gravity cavern separation of stored hydrocarbons from water/brine for environmentally safe ocean discharge.
Periodic catastrophic well failures within the well construction and operations industry continue to demonstrate the need for a plurality of conventional, high-strength, metallic conduit, pressure barriers with intermediate concentric passageways, that can be usable for monitoring annuli pressures that are associated with such pressure barriers, particularly as ever deeper and adverse geological reservoirs are targeted and/or more gas storage is required to meet increasing global hydrocarbon demand.
The practical need for improved methods and apparatus usable to more effectively contain subterranean pressures during well construction and production activities is increased by such activities being performed in the ever deeper and higher pressure subterranean regions, which are targeted for their highly productive rates. In addition, the ever increasing demand for under-balanced operations to reduce reservoir skin damage, or the increased need for large underground gas storage facilities placed under or around urban or environmentally sensitive areas, increase the need for such improved methods and apparatus.
Therefore, a practical need exists for apparatus and methods usable for placing a plurality of tubing-conveyed subterranean valves, to contain well pressures, for an associated plurality of passageways to pressurized subterranean regions. In addition, methods and apparatus usable to replace traditionally unreliable annular safety valves are needed, while retaining access to the innermost passageways of associated strings for measuring, monitoring and maintaining the lower end of a subterranean well, including, for example, engaging replacement insert valves and/or other flow control devices usable to construct passageways and control fluid communication and/or pressures within a well.
With the imminent approach of peak liquid hydrocarbon production worldwide, a need exists for lowering the risks and associated costs of developing remaining hydrocarbons. In particular, improved methods and apparatus for underground hydrocarbon gas storage, usable to replace various areas of liquid hydrocarbon and/or coal consumption, and shorten the timeframe for increased rates of return by, for example, enabling simultaneous construction and operation of underground storage wells with a more cost effective single rig visit and, thus, shortening the timeframe for return on investment while lowering cost by removing the conventional need for subsequent well interventions by large hoisting capacity rigs and/or the conventional need for potentially hazardous and expensive snubbing operations to remove dewatering strings from explosive hydrocarbon gas filled storage caverns.
With the size and productivity of conventional hydrocarbon discoveries decreasing, a need exists for methods and apparatus usable to reduce skin damage in low permeability reservoirs, where conventional methods cause permanent productivity loss.
A need exists for systems and methods for reducing underground cavern construction costs and for retaining innermost bore access, usable for sonar measurements taken from inside and/or outside a leaching string to provide information for better adjusting simultaneous underground storage and solution mining operations. These cost-effective systems and methods must be operable during combined solution mining and storage, especially when encountering unexpected geologic salt deposit features because stored product may prevent large hoisting capacity rig interventions during solution mining conventionally necessary to remove a completion to take a sonar measurement and/or to adjust the depth of the outer leaching string, that controls the depth at which a substantially water interface is placed within a salt dissolution zone.
A need exists for systems and methods for providing improved, cost-effective construction and operation of underground gas storage, particularly within a depleted reservoir sealed by a subterranean cap rock within a dip closure or geologic trapping features, wherein the risk of skin damage to the reservoir's permeability during, or subsequent to, injecting and storing gas results in the need for improved, cost-effective, low skin damage construction and operation. A need exists for systems and methods for providing improved, cost-effective and higher-efficiency permeability retention under-balanced well construction and/or completion operations in, for example, depleted gas storage reservoirs or valved dual conduit completions in gas tight salt cavern reservoirs to, for example, increase working storage volume associated with decreases in required cushion gas volumes required to maintain cavern stability, including the ability to cost-effectively empty a gas storage cavern for seasonal demand requirements.
In analogous well operations, a need exists for valved concentric dual conduit apparatuses and methods usable from a single bore wellhead and valve tree for pressure containment while water flood stimulating of a hydrocarbon reservoir through a single main bore, while producing through the same single main bore for reduced construction cost economic extraction in, for example, instances of insufficient nature economic hydrocarbon flow rate pressures.
With the use of valved dual conduits, a further need exists for storing products in a cushion during simultaneous solution mining and storage operations of brine and storage reservoirs, usable to selectively control working volume and displacement of liquids or compressed gases to and from other salt cavern brine and storage reservoirs, where brine may be subterranean heated and stored or generated during displacement operations through u-tube conduit arrangements between two or more brine and storage reservoirs with fluid pumping and/or compression to, for example, remove the need for cavern stability cushion gas.
With peak hydrocarbon production and the associated changes in consumer demands, a need exists for contra-seasonal storage of gas and liquid hydrocarbons in the same brine and storage reservoir caverns, with selective access to the plurality of specific gravity separated fluids that can be disposed within the reservoirs.
A related economic need exists for reducing salt gas storage cavern sunk construction cost by displacing conventionally irretrievable cushion gas cavern structural support inventories, during high demand periods, with gas refilling and brine displacement during lower demand periods, improving economic viability of larger scale storage facilities.
A related operational need exists for large scale storage facility cavern brine and storage reservoir salt pillar support within an open ocean environment with more flexible fluid communication with pipelines, ships and an abundance of water and brine absorption capacity.
With exploration, transportation and storage of hydrocarbons entering ever more challenging environmentally sensitive and potentially hostile areas, such as the oceans or arctic climates, a need exists for methods and apparatus of smaller foot prints usable to provide a plurality of pressure containing barriers, wherein annuli and passageways between pressure barriers are selectively controllable during well construction and/or well operations, including for example, production during underbalanced perforating and drilling within low permeability reservoirs, production during underbalanced gravel packs within unconsolidated reservoirs, and/or simultaneous gas storage and solution mining for day trading, transportation pipeline buffer storage, and/or pigging in an offshore environment.
Embodiments of the present invention address these needs.

Pressure controlled well construction and operation systems and methods usable for hydrocarbon operations, storage and solution mining


A breathing circuit component includes an inlet, an outlet and an enclosing wall. The enclosing wall defines a gases passageway between the inlet and the outlet. At least a region of the enclosing wall is formed from a breathable material that allows the passage of water vapor without allowing the passage of liquid water or respiratory gases. The breathing circuit component may be the expiratory limb of a breathing circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to components for breathing circuits and in particular to components for use in the expiratory arm of a breathing circuit.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
In assisted breathing, particularly in medical applications, gases having high levels of relative humidity are supplied and returned through conduits of a relatively restricted size. Build up of condensation on the inside wall of the conduit is a frequent result of this high humidity. In the prior art, attempts have been made to reduce the adverse effect of this condensation by either reducing the level of condensation or providing collection points in the conduit for draining condensed liquid from the conduit. Reducing the condensation has generally been by maintaining or elevating the temperature of the gases flow and/or of the conduit wall to reduce the formation of condensation.


A device and a method for lateral alignment of a sheet (5, 6) in a sheet processing machine, in which the sheet (5, 6) is movable essentially across its direction of transport (7) into an alignment position (4); a side pull lay device is used for moving the sheet (5, 6) into the alignment position (4). The side pull lay device has at least two side pull lays (1, 2) which are activatable independently of one another for transporting a sheet (5, 6) toward the alignment position (4). The method includes that at least two side pull lays (1, 2) of the side pull lay device are activated independently of one another for transporting a sheet (5, 6) toward the alignment position (4).

The present invention relates to a device for lateral alignment of a sheet in a sheet processing machine, in which the sheet is movable essentially across its direction of transport into an alignment position and the sheet is movable into the aligned position by a side pulling device.
Before a sheet can be processed in a printing press or a folding machine, it must be aligned to the machine inlet. Side pulling devices which convey the sheet to be processed against a side stop, whereby each sheet at the inlet of the machine assumes the same lateral position, are known to achieve this object. Such a side pulling device has, for example, a suction box which is movable across the direction of transport of the sheet, draws the sheet to be aligned by suction and then conveys it toward the side stop. German Patent Application No. 199 10 688 A1 describes a side pulling device which has two side stops and two pull bars to align the sheet to one of the stops both on the right and on the left. Also in this case suction is applied to the two pull bars, so that they can exert a holding force on the sheet to be aligned. Furthermore, the pull bars are each located in the side edge zone of the sheet to be aligned, in a feed table opposite one another below the transport level of the sheet. If the sheet is to be aligned to the right-hand stop, the right-hand pull bar is activated, and the sheet is moved to the right-hand stop. If the sheet is to be aligned to the left-hand stop, the left-hand pull bar is activated, and the sheet is moved to the left-hand stop. Thus, the sheet is handled and aligned by one or the other pull bar depending on whether it is to be aligned to the right or to the left. However, only the pull bar whose side has been selected manually is always active, i.e., all sheets are transported either to the right or to the left. This device for laterally aligning sheets has the disadvantage that only one pull bar is activated at any given time. Although there are two pull bars, one pull bar must do the entire alignment job by itself. The sheet is held fast using a single pull bar; therefore additional pressure rollers must be used to prevent the sheet to be aligned from fluttering to the side where it is not guided.

Independently activatable side pull for lateral alignment of a sheet


An endoscope apparatus including: an endoscope unit having: a lens units; a photographing unit for photographing an optical image picked up through the lens unit; and a lens unit driving motor for driving the lens unit for realizing at least one of a zoom function and a focus function; and a control unit having: an image processing circuit for processing an image signal output from the photographing unit, and for outputting the processed image signal to a monitor, wherein: at least one of the endoscope unit and the control unit comprises: a motor driving circuit for controlling the lens unit driving motor; and a motor control circuit for outputting a control signal that controls the motor driving circuit by detecting a switch signal generated by operation of a zoom switch or a focus switch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional endoscope apparatus has a zoom control unit for controlling the enlargement and reduction in size of an optical image that is provided separately from a CCU (Camera Control Unit), as disclosed, for example, by Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-322566 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-336497.