An improvement in a coin operated device having coin return bucket and a bank box wherein the coin return bucket and the bank box are mounted within the device near a bottom wall of the device. The improvement relates to preventing tampering with and/or vandalization of the device by cutting or penetration of a bottom wall of the coin return bucket or the inner wall of the bank box. The improvement lies in the use of a bottom wall protection plate which prevents tampering and/or vandalization and which is inserted between the bottom wall of the device and the bottom of the coin return bucket and an inner side wall protection plate inserted between the inner wall of the coin return bucket and the inner wall of the bank box. The bottom wall protection plate is so configured as to generally follow the contour of the bottom of the coin return bucket and has a rear portion which extends downwardly to the bottom wall of the device and front portion of which lies along the bottom wall of the device and which stabilizes the bottom wall protection plate from movement within the device. The inner side wall protection plate is configured to be inserted between the inner wall of the coin return bucket and the controlling plate of the bank box and the bottom wall of the bank box and the exterior bottom wall of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a coin bucket and bank box protection device and, more particularly, to a device which can be attached to existing coin bucket and bank box of a coin-operated device to prevent tampering with the coin bucket and bank box and preventing vandalism thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The payphone coin return mechanisms in use today typically comprise a hollow body having front and back walls and top and bottom walls which are joined by opposing side walls. An intermediate wall is situated between the top and bottom walls and extends from a point below the back of the top wall downwardly toward the front wall to define with the top wall and the side walls a throat for the coin return chute. The bottom wall of the chute extends downwardly from the front wall and then rearwardly upwardly toward the back wall. It thus forms with the intermediate and side walls a trough portion for the chute, the trough extending below and forwardly and rearwardly of the throat.
The front wall of the chute is provided with an opening which is normally closed by a pivotally mounted door and through which a finger of a caller can be inserted to retrieve returned coins delivered to the trough. Another opening is provided at the rear of the top wall of the chute. This opening receives coins which are being returned to a caller from the payphone's coin return mechanism. After the returned coins pass through this opening they fall onto the intermediate wall of the throat and slide downward to the trough at the bottom wall for retrieval by the caller as already described.
Generally, next to the coin return bucket is a "bank box" for storing coins for completed transactions. The bank box has a bottom wall, opposing side walls and a top controlling plate which opens and closes to permit coins to fall into the bank box.
The bank box is constructed of steel and is enclosed by exterior walls and a steel outersheath on the three exposed outer surfaces of the coin operated device. Because of this "double wall" construction, the bank is difficult to penetrate and had not been targeted by thieves until recently.
Theft of coins from payphone coin return chutes as a result of "stuffing" the coin return chute has been a continuing problem in payphones having coin returns of the type described above. Stuffing has been a serious problem for many years. To "stuff" a payphone, the thief inserts a compressible obstruction through the coin return door, past the opening in the front wall and trough, into the throat of the chute. The obstructing material is typically cotton or polyester wadding, paper, fabric or plastic sheeting, and it is used to prevent the coins which would otherwise be return to the payphone user from falling through the coin returned chute. After sufficient time, a sizable number of coins accumulates behind the obstructing material. The blockage is removed by the thief using various means and the coins cascade into the return bucket, ready to be retrieved. The obstructing material can be cleared out either manually or by using implements such as a pick or hook. Some individuals ignite the foreign material so that it burns and turns to ash. This latter technique may also damage the payphone's internal mechanisms.
Early attempts at preventing this type of theft centered around designing the payphone coin return mechanism in such a way that it became disabled when the chute was stuffed. This type of solution is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,887,576; 1,901,944; 1,921,071; 1,921,072; and 2,004,615. Although disabling the coin return mechanism prevented the theft of coins, it also made it impossible to return coins to the caller in the event a call was not completed. Disabling the coin return mechanism was not an entirely satisfactory solution to the theft problem, since it was not feasible to return the coins to a caller immediately. The returning of money for uncompleted telephone calls would require an additional message to an operator and forwarding a check to the caller. This process is very costly and inefficient.
The payphone stuffing problem is an old one and various solutions have been found. This crime costs the phone companies enormous sums of money. Although the phone companies would not normally collect the money lost to the "stuffers," since in properly working payphones the coins are returned for uncompleted calls, the phone companies usually have to refund the money lost to their customers. Furthermore, each phone company must employ personnel to investigate reports of payphones failing to return change, employ maintenance workers to examine and repair "stuffed" phones, and have accounting and payment systems in place to refund lost money to payphone users. The overall administrative cost of repairing payphones and refunding lost money are quite high, and there is a substantial need for an inexpensive device which can be quickly and simply installed in an existing payphone and reliably prevents stuffing.
More recent attempts to prevent this type of theft involved designing a return chute which is more difficult to stuff. In particular, the back wall of the chute below the intermediate wall was brought forward, reducing the area of the trough available for a thief to work in when attempting to insert the stuffing material. The back wall was replaced by an opening closed by a pivoting door so that the obstructing material might pass out of the chute. These modifications, however, did not prove successful and there is still a need for a more effective way of preventing the stuffing of payphone coin return chutes.
U.S. Pat. No 4,761,809 describes another attempt to design an "unstuffable" coin return. A tubular member having pointed teeth at its front end is inserted into the coin return door. A blade having additional sharpened teeth is attached to the lower surface of the intermediate wall of the throat. These teeth are intended to slice up obstructing material so it cannot form blockages, but actual usage of this modification reveals rather that the teeth facilitate stuffing because they catch and hold the stuffing material.
The present inventors had provided solutions to the stuffing problem of payphones as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,095 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,325, the disclosures of which are being incorporated herein by reference thereto.
With the introduction of these various anti-stuffing devices and other protection devices, individuals seeking to steal coins from payphone coin return chutes have attempted to circumvent the anti-stuffing mechanisms and other protection devices associated with the coin return bucket door by cutting through or penetrating the bottom or the inner side wall of the coin return bucket either from the interior of the coin return bucket or from the exterior of the coin operated device. Recently, the thieves have also attempted to penetrate the bank box through its inner side wall. The thieves remove the coin return bucket by force from the exterior casing, then cut through or drill through the inner side wall into the bank box.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a means to reinforce the coin bucket bottom and the inner side wall to protect against penetration through the bottom of the coin return bucket and the inner side wall of the bank box.
Another object of the invention is to provide a coin return protection device which is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a coin return protection device that can be quickly and easily installed in existing payphones or coin-operated vending machines yet which is sturdy, durable and completely effective in preventing puncture and/or penetration of the coin return bucket from below and through the interior of the bucket or the inner side wall for the bank.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious based on the following description.
The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Coin bucket change return and bank box protection device


In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an information handling system may include a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a program of instructions executable by the processor. The program of instructions may be configured to, when read and executed by the processor, receive telemetry data associated with one or more information handling resources, receive failure statistics associated with the one or more information handling resources, and correlate the telemetry data and the failure statistics to create training data for a pattern recognition engine configured to predict a failure status of an information handling resource from operational data associated with the information handling resource.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Many information handling resources, in particular hard disk drives and batteries, may suffer from faults or failures that require replacement. However, replacement of such devices after failure or fault may be undesirable as it leads to system downtown. Accordingly, systems and methods for predicting component failure in order to enable pre-failure replacement of information handling systems is desired.

Systems and methods for predicting information handling resource failures using deep recurrent neural networks


A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes hardening resin at a temperature that is less than or equal to the boiling point of the resin and until the hardening reaction ratio of the resin has reached at least 80%, the resin being disposed between a wiring board which has an interconnecting pattern and a semiconductor chip which has a plurality of electrodes and which is mounted on the wiring board in such a manner that the electrodes are in contact with the interconnecting pattern. A eutectic alloy joint is then formed between the electrodes and the interconnecting pattern.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of fabrication the semiconductor device.
A technique that is known in the art involves bringing electrodes of a semiconductor chip and an interconnecting pattern of a wiring board into contact, then maintaining electrical connections between the electrodes and the interconnecting pattern by the force of contraction of a resin. During this process, a highly reliable semiconductor device can be fabricated, provided a firm connection can be ensured between the electrodes and the interconnecting pattern.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same


A method and system for managing and manipulating documents sent via e-mail wherein dedicated e-mail addresses associated with daemons, or other programming code, are used to direct the functions carried out on the documents, such as printing, storing, or posting to an Internet file, portions of an e-mail message or attachments.

Storage, distribution, and manipulation of data and information are common tasks associated with computer usage. Businesses frequently use computers to perform many tasks, including data storage, calculations, document creation, communications and the like. Similarly, more and more personal computer users rely extensively on computers to keep track of financial records, to manage personal documents, to surf the Internet and as communication tools.
Sending, receiving, and composing e-mail has become one of the primary uses for computers in our society. Over the past decade, use of e-mail for business, academic, and personal communications has skyrocketed. Many computer users have one or more e-mail addresses for receiving e-mail for business or personal reasons.
The use of e-mail for sending information generally involves the steps of addressing an e-mail to one or more intended recipients, composing the body of the e-mail, and possibly adding one or more attachments to the e-mail. An addressed e-mail may then be sent to the intended recipient. Upon receipt of an e-mail, a user may view the e-mail on a display device or print the e-mail to a connected printer for hardcopy reading. Other functions, such as forwarding, responding and the like may also be included as features found with a program for handling e-mail communications.
Typically, an e-mail address consists of two parts: a username and a hostname or domain name. The two parts of the e-mail address are separated by the symbol @. The username portion of an e-mail address designates the specific user's mailbox to which the e-mail should be directed. The host/domain name specifies the name of a host on the network providing an e-mail server for handling, sorting, and delivering e-mail messages. For example, the e-mail address "email@example.com" is routed to a network associated with the domain address "deviceone.com." Once the network is found, the existence of a person or device associated with the identifier "id001" is searched for. If the identified person or device exists, the e-mail is delivered to the inbox for the entity identified as "id001." The use of identifiers and domain name addresses for delivering e-mail messages is well known and further explanation thereof is omitted.
Use of the Internet is also continuing to expand. As the number of people surfing the Internet increases, the number of companies, organizations, and individuals creating web pages also increase. Some of the new web pages being created include personal web pages used by individuals to post personal information to the Internet. Others belong to small businesses wishing to attempt to get ahead and expand their sales base using the Internet. However, many people are unfamiliar with the programming skills necessary to program web pages in an efficient manner. Furthermore, many people will never post information to an Internet viewable location unless, and until, easy methods for accomplishing such posting are developed.
As the expansion of e-mail and Internet use continues, more and more individuals will begin to use these technologies. Already, the use of e-mail is becoming a preferred communication technique. The time consuming steps required for archiving e-mail messages, or converting information to Internet viewable format, are increasing as more people begin to use these technologies. Thus, a convenient and simple method and system for managing e-mail documents, including a method for posting information to the Internet, may be desirable.

E-mail addressing and document management

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A power supply adapted for use with a corona charger. The power supply includes a first DC power source providing an electrical potential above a predetermined reference potential, and a second DC power source providing an electrical potential below such predetermined reference potential. A main circuit having an output adapted to be connected to a corona charger, includes a switching circuit for selectively turning the first and second DC power sources on and off in a manner so as to provide a an electrical potential having an AC waveform output for the main circuit.

The present invention relates in general to power supplies for reproduction apparatus corona chargers, and more particularly to a bipolar-duty cycle controllable DC corona power supply wherein simulation of AC charging is accomplished by using two DC power supplies acting in tandem to produce the alternate portions of the AC cycle.
In typical commercial electrostatographic reproduction apparatus (copier/duplicators, printers, or the like), a latent image charge pattern is formed on a uniformly charged charge-retentive or photoconductive member having dielectric characteristics (hereinafter referred to as the dielectric member). Pigmented marking particles attracted to the latent image charge pattern to develop such image on the dielectric member. A receiver member is then brought into contact with the dielectric member, and an electric field applied to transfer the marking particle developed image to the receiver member from the dielectric member. After transfer, the receiver member bearing the transferred image is transported away from the dielectric member, and the image is fixed (fused) to the receiver member by heat and pressure to form a permanent reproduction thereon.
Such reproduction apparatus frequently utilize a corona charger with a grid to apply the initial uniform charge to the photoconductor. The power supply to the gridded corona charger may provide either an AC or DC waveform. Power supplies of the respective types providing either of these waveforms have certain advantages to recommend their use in reproduction apparatus. An AC waveform power supply provides longevity of the associated charger to maintain a uniform charge, and results in the charger exhibiting a high resistance to airborne contaminants. However a DC waveform power supply operates at relatively lower peak voltages, thus reducing arcing and high voltage breakdown. It eliminates the need for large AC transformer (which produces a substantial quantity of heat, is prone to high voltage breakdown, and is substantial in size), is lower in cost and has a higher overall reliability.

Bipolar-duty cycle controllable DC corona power supply


Provided is a method for operating a device for shaping plastic preforms to form plastic containers, wherein the device has a movable support on which a plurality of shaping stations for shaping plastic preforms to form plastic containers are arranged, and these shaping stations each have blow molds that are suitable for and intended for molding the plastic preforms and are arranged at least indirectly on blow mold supports. The blow molds are kept at least temporarily in a magazine device, wherein this magazine device is suitable for and intended for receiving several sets of blow molds.

It has been known for a long time from the known art that plastic parisons are heated in an oven and in this heated state are blow molded to produce a plastic bottle. For this purpose, the heated plastic parisons are introduced into blow molds and inside these blow molds are acted upon by compressed air. If different containers are to be blow molded, the blow molds must be changed. For this purpose, it is known from the known art that the parts of the blow mold, such as in particular the side parts and base parts thereof, are released from the supports and are replaced by other blow molds.
In addition, more recently, sterile blow molding machines have become known from the known art. Such blow molding machines can be used for example in order to produce plastic containers which are already sterilized and which are required in particular for filling with sensitive beverages. In this case it is necessary also to sterilise the respective machine at predetermined time intervals
In such a sterile or aseptic blow molding machine a change of blow mold is carried out in a specially isolated area by an operator in the current internal known art in the name of the applicant. A machine which actuates the mold support enables the operator to remove the blow molds from the mold support via a window to the sterile region of the blow molding wheel. In this case the blow molds are stored, separated into base mold and two side parts or mold shells, in a special blow mold magazine, which is accommodated in a special isolation region. After the manual change of the blow molds the sterile region of the blow molding wheel with the inserted molds is sterilized, for example by means of hydrogen peroxide or H2O2.
Therefore, in the known art sterilising of the blow molds takes place only if they are inserted into the mold support. Therefore, in the known art it is not possible to completely sterilise the spaces at the rear of the blow mold (both of the base mold and also the mold shells) and the corresponding counterpart faces in the mold support.
In addition, dirt and other particles can enter the otherwise hermetically separated sterile region through the operator and an interface to the mold change. Furthermore, a manual change of the blow molds, separated into base mold and two side molds, causes long setup times and thus high setup costs.

Method for sterilizing a blow molding machine, and blow molding machine


A substantially circular watercraft has a buoyant, generally toroidal hull supporting a rigid deck with an outer periphery in substantial conformance with the perimeter of the hull. The deck has an opening located above the central opening of the hull to permit placement of power means to drive and steer the watercraft. The hull is made of a substantially rigid material and in a preferred embodiment the hull and deck are formed from a molded plastic. The leading edge of the watercraft is equipped with a “Carolina flare” which provides greater ease of movement through the water.

Single person watercraft, such as those that can be used for fishing, which can be transported to the water's edge and launched without a boat trailer or a launch ramp are very popular in some circles since they enable the fisherman to get on the water without a major financial investment. They also allow access to many smaller or hard to reach bodies of water that would be totally inaccessible with a full-size boat and trailer. Moreover, personal and lightweight watercraft can be less obtrusive, making the boating and fishing experience more enjoyable.
However, one-man boats which are currently commercially available also have a number of shortcomings. For example, one type of such boat is known as a "floater" or "belly boat" in which the fisherman rides along in an inflated inner tube with his legs and feet dangling down below the tube. The fisherman frequently uses fins or other propelling devices secured to his feet or legs to propel the floater through the water when he wants to change from one fishing spot to the next. Obviously, the fisherman is seriously limited in the amount of equipment he can take along, and forcing him to partially submerge himself in order to make the floater work properly has a number of drawbacks. In addition, visibility is somewhat sacrificed, since eye level is so close to the water. Casting and retrieving may also be more difficult.
Another type of one-man craft is simply a very small boat in which the fisherman is completely up out of the water, riding inside the protected hull of the craft. Such boats are typically propelled either by small electric or gasoline motors, or by paddles and oars. However, while the fisherman remains high and dry out of the water in such a craft, its stability may be sacrificed because of the relatively elevated position of the operator. In many instances, the boat presents rather cramped quarters, particularly when tackle boxes, poles, and other items are carried on board.


A method and system determines discrete policy target groups for information objects stored in an enterprise IT system. The method and system provide cleansed information about information objects stored on the enterprise IT system. Criteria for sorting the information objects is determined. Initial sorting of the information objects is carried out, resulting in an initial set of clusters. The information objects are clustered into discrete policy target groups based on the information about the information objects and the initial set of clusters, and human-understandable names and definite descriptions for policy target groups are computed.

The invention relates to computing systems, and more particularly to mining of policy data source descriptions.
An information system of an enterprise may store large amounts of data carrying information about different aspects of different enterprise issues as for, e.g., products. In different phases of such enterprise's issue, specific data concerning a specific process step of the enterprise's or company's workflow might be necessary for decision making or in litigation. For example, data might be due to being disposed of in order to free memory, or all information related to a specific product has to be prepared in a deliverable manner in case of a litigation situation. For enabling, e.g., rigorous compliance, defensible disposal or ediscovery (also known as discovery of electronically stored information ESI), a policy has to be applied to the data of interest.
In order to achieve these goals, a list of policy data sources (PDS) is necessary. A policy data source is a collection of business information objects such that a company policy can be applied to such collection. A PDS can be a physical repository, such as a file share or a database, but it can also be an organizational collection, as, e.g., all presentations from the marketing department. Generally, the task of obtaining a comprehensive list of policy data sources of an organization is rather tedious for the following reasons: i) The extreme heterogeneity of PDS in terms of content, structure, application dependence, storage, media, ownership, access rights, and organizational relevance, among others. ii) The need for a PDS to be absolutely discrete, i.e., disjunctive in a mathematical sense, or pairwise discrete, since, if the same stretch of information is covered by two different PDS, this may cause a policy conflict which cannot be solved except through human intervention. iii) The order of magnitude involved, since the number of information objects that policies may need to be applied to can be estimated to be in an order of magnitude of 106 objects per employee.
An example for a policy data source could be "all pre-sales information on product XYZ" as defined within a company designing, manufacturing, marketing and selling product XYZ. Apparently, this particular policy data source, which we may designate as XYZ-PDS, will include material from several company divisions. The need for defining the data source XYZ-PDS arises immediately when, due to a design failure of product XYZ, legal control and eventually information change requests need to be executed over some parts of the XYZ-PDS.
At present, two solutions for solving the task of PDS list creation are known, which are currently being applied in companies having or working on an Information Technology (IT) system for the automatic application of policies:
Manual collection of policy data sources using office tools, meta-data obtained from crawling IT repositories, and interviews with employees responsible for collections. Sometimes, email-based tools for conducting these interviews are being used.
Data warehouse type of querying indexed meta-data collections obtained from crawling IT repositories, where the results of such queries are persisted with database means, e.g., as views or materialized query tables.
Both solutions are referred to in an "Information Governance Benchmark Report in Global 1000 Companies", issued by the CGOS's Council, to be found in the Internet under www.cgoc.com. The aforementioned solutions do not scale to a magnitude of billions of information objects and ten thousands of data sources, and cannot guarantee, with reasonable effort, the discreteness of a PDS. A further difficulty concerning the use of a policy data source is caused by the aforementioned heterogeneities, and consists in selecting the appropriate criteria for a grouping/sorting of said data.
An effective method of PDS list creation is necessary for a company to have the relevant data at hand at once, e.g., in the case of an ediscovery or in order to define appropriate policies with respect to, e.g., data retention, legal hold or defensible disposal.
A Policy Data Source and/or Policy Target—both being business objects—may be a target of information lifecycle governance. One challenge is how to define appropriate targets for policies on an enterprise scale.
Various prior art software systems provide tools to manage policies. They do not address, however, the question of how to obtain these policies in an effective way given an IT infrastructure and which IT objects belong to a given policy target group.
Other prior art software systems for information lifecycle governance tool are able to: collect meta-data about various IT objects stored on the enterprise IT system and build an index; offer datamarts ("infosets") on the information objects, which infosets are not Policy Targets as they are not discrete in all instances. This approach does not scale well enough to be applied in big enterprises. A further limitation of these software systems is that they expect the criteria for defining infosets to be known and/or given in advance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mining of policy data source description based on file, storage and application meta-data

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of emulating an original record format for a new rotating storage device, including the steps of;. (a) determining an original angular position (.alpha.) of a record according to a first recording format; PA0 (b) determining a desirable angular position (.beta.) for recording according to a second recording format having a higher recording density than that of the first recording format; PA0 (c) subtracting the desirable angular position from the original angular position to obtain a difference between the angles (.alpha.-.beta.); and PA0 (d) incrementing a gap length immediately before the data field of the record when the angular position exceeds a value corresponding to one unit of segment.

The present invention relates to an emulation technique for a rotating storage device, and more particularly, to a technique which can be effectively applied to an emulation of a magnetic disk unit handling a variable-length record.
There has been a remarkable improvement in the recording density of information recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk device, which is a kind of a rotating storage device. A higher-performance product is being developed to replace the existing ones in a relatively short period of time. On the other hand, an electronic computer system using the magnetic disk devices as external storage devices faces both economic and time difficulties in immediately introducing the specification of a newly-developed magnetic disk device (hereinafter to be referred to as a new device) into the system for operation because the total system is of a large scale at high cost, and it takes a relatively long time to develop an operating system, which is the basic software for operating the system. Accordingly, it becomes necessary to eliminate these difficulties encountered during the period of a change of the system, by employing an emulation technique which makes a newly-introduced magnetic disk device to carry out an artificial operation which is equivalent to the operation of an original magnetic disk device currently used in the system, and it is also necessary to effectively utilize the physical high-performance property (data transfer speed) of the new device. In the case of emulating a complex recording format such as the one of the count key data system on a new device having different specifications with an increased track capacity by an improvement of the recording density, there is a problem that a record of the improved recording density which is written following the rotating reference position does not match in its record writing angle with the angle of the original disk format in the circumferential direction, or the sector positions do not coincide with each other, so that it becomes difficult to carry out normal recording and reproducing operations.
In order to solve the above problem, a technique is known which makes sector positions to coincide by extending a gap between one record and the next record, such as the technique of recording and reproducing a record by changing over between the native specifications and the emulation specifications, as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,653 and JP-A-62-281167 corresponding thereto, for example.
The above-described prior-art technique is acceptable when there is sufficient room in the capacity of the track on a new device. However, it has the following problem when there is a limit to the track capacity.
When a record is written, the record writing position depends on the length of the track on which the preceding record has been written; in other words, the difference between an index of a reference point of the track and the end point of the preceding record position.
Therefore, the number of gaps increases when short records are written continuously by using an increased gap length of the native specifications in the new device.
Accordingly, there arises a problem that the number of records that can be written on one track in the original device cannot be accommodated within one track in the new device.
An example of the above-described problem of emulation in the original device and the new device having mutually different specifications will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B and FIGS. 2A to 2C. FIGS. 1A and 1B are conceptual diagrams to show a comparison in the two drawings between an example of the capacity of the track in the original device and an example of the capacity of the track in the new device. FIGS. 2A to 2C are conceptual diagrams showing one example each of setting a size of a record based on minimum segments for the record.
Track capacity will be explained first. The original device, for example, H-6586 of Hitachi, Ltd., has its one track divided into 222 sectors, each sector comprising seven segments.
One segment comprises 32 bytes. A gap G1 disposed between an index I and a home address field HA comprises 16 segments, a gap G2' between the home address field HA and a count field R0C of a header record R0 comprises eight segments, a gap G2 between a count field RnC and a data field RnD (n=0-93) of each record comprises seven segments, and a gap G3 between the header record R0 and a count field RlC of a next record Rl comprises eight segments including the corresponding count field RlC. A gap G4 disposed at the end of the track is provided to compensate for defects of the medium on the track, and three segments are allocated per one defect, the gap G4 comprising 21 segments to be able to compensate for a total of seven defects. As a result, one track has 1554 segments in total.
The new device, H-6587 of Hitachi, Ltd., for example, has its one track divided into 224 sectors, each sector comprising eight segments. One segment comprises 34 bytes. The gap G1 comprises 20 segments, the gap G2' comprises 10 segments, the gap G2 comprises 9 segments, the gap G3 comprises 10 segments including the count field RnC, and the gap G4 comprises 21 segments for a total of seven defects, three segments being allocated to one defect. One track has 1792 segments in total. The new device has a higher recording density than that of the original device.
Setting of a record size based on a segment will be explained below.
A minimum record having no key field K comprises a count field C of one segment and a data field D.
In the original device, 16 segments are necessary as minimum record segments (as shown in FIG. 2A) and 93 records can be accommodated in one track because record 0 is excluded from the user record.
On the other hand, 20 segments are necessary in the native (i.e., pre-emulation) mode of the new device (as shown in FIG. 2B) and 86 records can be accommodated in one track, thus generating a problem that seven records (93-86) cannot be accommodated.
In order to set the number of records per track in the new device to be equal to the number of records per track in the original device, it is considered appropriate to reduce the size of the gaps. However, gaps between records are provided to generate a command execution time of a host channel in a continuous record processing, and therefore, a mere reduction of the size of the gaps between the records generates another problem in that a command overrun may easily occur; that is, the execution of a command is not completed in time for the arrival of the next record, in a continuous record processing.
Each time a command overrun occurs, it becomes necessary to wait for a rotation, causing a substantial reduction in the data transfer quantity (throughput) per unit time between the magnetic disk device and the high-order channel.


This invention provides a method of treating a subject suffering from a GABA related disorder comprising periodically administering to the subject an effective amount of laquinimod or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof in an amount effective to treat the subject.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS). GABA is produced by the conversion of glutamic acid to GABA by glutamic acid decarboxylase and is released by GABAergic neurons in the CNS. (Wong et al., 2003). Upon release, GABA binds to neuronal transmembrane GABA receptors. The GABAA receptor is a chloride ion channel which is regulated by GABA binding and is the major site for the inhibitory activities of GABA. Specifically, the binding of GABA to the GABAA receptor opens the chloride ion channel. In mature neurons, the opening of the chloride channel results in a decrease of the transmembrane potential and thereby inhibits neuronal excitation. (Olsen, 2002). Through this mechanism, GABA is known to regulate the activity of central noradrenergic, serotonergic, dopaminergic and acetylcholinergic neurons. (Wenk et al., 1991). As described below, GABAergic dysfunction has been linked to several disorders.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a loss of contact with reality, hallucinations, delusions, abnormal thinking, flattened affect, diminished motivation, and disturbed work and social functioning. (Merck Manual, Seventh Ed.). It has been hypothesized that decreased GABAergic transmission causes rearrangement, and possibly enlargement of sensory, memory and 'cognitive' fields, which may lead to overinclusive and disorganized thought processes associated with schizophrenia. Post-mortem studies of schizophrenic subjects have shown that defects of GABAergic neurotransmission are implicated in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (Bernes & Berretta, 2001).
Due to the inhibitory function of GABA in the CNS, disruptions in GABAeric function has been implicated in epilepsy (seizures), spasticity, stiff-person syndrome (SPS), premenstrual dysphoric disorder, drug addiction, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia (Wong et al., 2003), and fertility disorders (Sullivan & Moenter, 2003).
Deficits in GABAA receptors have been linked to anxiety, epilepsy, and insomnia. (Möhler, 2006).
GABA levels were found to be lower in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with spinocerebellar degeneration, neuro-Behçet's syndrome and Parkinson's disease. (Kuroda et al., 1982).
A loss of CB1 receptor control of GABA-mediated synaptic currents has been shown in the mouse model of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Specifically, in the mouse model of ADHD obtained by triple point mutation in the dopamine transporter (DAT) gene, sensitivity of CB1 receptors controlling GABA-mediated synaptic currents in the striatum was completely lost. (Castelli et al., 2011).

Laquinimod for treatment of GABA mediated disorders


A sheet metal heating package for heat exchangers including a plurality of superimposed sheets having at least a partial profiling for instance embossments leaving free flow channels in between themselves, which sheets carry a coating serving as a surface protection, for instance a layer enamel, the sheet metal heating package having a profiling of the sheets, where at least the border edges of the respectively adjoining directly superposed sheets have a minimum spacing from each other at all points or are aligned so as not to contact each other, the border zones of the sheets and possibly the process technology-wise caused material accumulations arising at the border edges of the coating are in this way protected against chipping or spalling.

The invention deals with a sheet metal heating package for regenerative heat exchangers, comprising a plurality of superimposed metal sheets leaving flow channels free in between the sheets and provided at least partially with profiled, for example, embossed sheets which carry a coating, for instance an enamel layer, for surface protection.
The invention also deals with a method and an apparatus for the manufacture of such profiled areas provided with a surface coating for sheet metal heating packages.
Sheet metal heating packages of this type for regenerative heat exchangers are already known from DE-AS 26 16 816. It is however also already known to provide enamel surface protection for the metal sheets which leave flow channels free in between themselves and are provided at least in part with profiles, for instance embossed ones, for the building of such sheet metal heating packages.
Sheet metal heating packages, made of sheet metal with a coating, especially enamel, for surface protection, are always used in regenerative heat exchangers if these are intended to attain a sufficiently high useful life in spite of corrosion exposure and/or if some cleanliness of the heating surfaces is to be assured in order to avoid fire hazard.
It occurs frequently when packaging profiled metal sheets into sheet metal heating packages, that the edge regions or border edges of adjoining sheets come in contact with each other before the remaining area regions. This entails the disadvantage that the surface coating chips off or spalls in the edge region, so that the surface protection is lost there and thus an increased danger of corrosion is set up.

Sheet metal heating package for regenerative heat exchangers as well as a method and apparatus for manufacture of profiled metal sheets for such sheet metal heating packages

Apparatebau Rothemuhle Brandt & Kritler Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung


The invention relates to compositions and their use for conditioning keratin fibers, in particular the hair. The composition contains in a cosmetically acceptable medium, one or more volatile linear alkanes, and one or more nonionic associative polymers.

Many haircare products have been described in the prior art. The purpose of the corresponding compositions is to give the hair good cosmetic properties.
It is known practice to use volatile solvents in rinse-out or leave-in haircare products. These volatile solvents generally make it possible to modify the sensory feel of a hair product by giving it a light structure that is not tacky in the hand. They also give it slipperiness, which facilitates its spreading on the hair, and in particular on dry hair.
Furthermore, in compositions in aqueous emulsion form of oil-in-water type, which are in the form of more or less gelled creams, the addition of volatile solvents may also make it possible to dissolve silicone gums, which are otherwise difficult to introduce into compositions on account of their intrinsic viscosity.
However, such volatile solvents, in particular liquid fatty esters, hydrocarbon-based oils such as isododecane or isohexadecane, and silicone oils such as cyclomethicone, may especially give rise to problems in terms of a greasy feel, lack of sheen and stiff, hard hair.
Documents DE 10 2008 017 031 and WO 2007/068 371 moreover disclose antisun compositions comprising a mixture of volatile linear alkanes and a nonionic associative polymer of the vinylpyrrolidone copolymer type.
Thus, there is a need to provide cosmetic haircare compositions which can improve smoothing and sheen on wet hair, which transform the keratin fibre during the optional rinsing, which facilitate the passage of a brush during brushing, and which can improve the softness, smoothing, sheen, suppleness and lightness on dry hair.

Composition containing a volatile linear alkane and a nonionic associative polymer, useful for conditioning the hair


An external combustion engine includes: a main container sealed with a working fluid in a liquid state adapted to flow; a heater for heating a portion of the working fluid in the main container and generating the vapor of the working fluid; a cooler for cooling and liquefying the vapor; an output unit for outputting by converting the displacement of the liquid portion of the working fluid generated by the volume change of the working fluid due to the generation and liquefaction of the vapor into mechanical energy; and an auxiliary container communicating with the main container. The heater, the cooler and the output unit are arranged in order, in the direction of displacement of the working fluid. The working fluid is sealed in the auxiliary container which communicates with the portion of the main container nearer the output unit than the cooler. The engine further includes a communication area adjusting unit for establishing communication between the main container and the auxiliary container with a first communication area in normal operation mode and with a second communication area larger than the first communication area at the time of engine start. Thus, a predetermined output is produced quickly after engine start.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an external combustion engine for converting the displacement of a liquid portion of a working fluid caused by a volume change of the working fluid due to the generation and liquefaction of the vapor of the working fluid into mechanical energy and then outputting the mechanical energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
One type of external combustion engine is known to have the configuration in which a working fluid in a liquid state is sealed in a pipe-like container, the vapor of the working fluid is generated by heating part of the working fluid in the container by a heater, the vapor of the working fluid is cooled and liquefied by a cooler to thereby change the volume of the whole working fluid, and the displacement of the liquid portion of the working fluid generated by the volume change of the working fluid is converted into mechanical energy and then outputted (See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-330910).
In the above technique, the heater is arranged above the cooler, and when part of the working fluid is heated by the heater, the high-temperature high-pressure vapor of the working fluid is accumulated on the portion of the container where the heater is arranged, so that the liquid level of the working fluid is pushed down toward the cooler. As a result, the liquid portion of the working fluid is displaced downward in the container.
The vapor of the working fluid, advancing into the portion of the container where the cooler is arranged, is cooled and liquefied by the cooler. Therefore, the force to push down the liquid level of the working fluid is lost, and the liquid level of the working fluid rises into the heater, and the liquid portion of the working fluid is displaced upward. By repeating this operation, the liquid portion of the working fluid is moved and displaced periodically. In the process, the internal pressure of the container changes periodically.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-78802 (hereinafter referred to as the prior application) proposes an external combustion engine improved in output and efficiency. This prior application is intended to improve the output and efficiency of the external combustion engine by controlling the average value of the internal pressure of a container toward a target value.
More specifically, the working fluid in a liquid state is sealed in an auxiliary container separate from a main container sealed with the working fluid, the main container and the auxiliary container communicate with each other through a choke, and the working fluid in the auxiliary container is compressed or expanded by a piston mechanism thereby to control the internal pressure of the auxiliary container.
In this configuration, since the main container and the auxiliary container communicate with each other through the choke, the internal pressure of the auxiliary container does not change periodically with the internal pressure of the main container, and can be stabilized at a level substantially equal to the average value of the internal pressure of the main container. Thus, a target value of the internal pressure of the main container is calculated based on the temperature of a heater, etc., and the internal pressure of the auxiliary container is controlled toward the target value by a piston mechanism. As a result, the average value of the internal pressure of the main container near the target value can be obtained.
According to the prior application described above, in the case where the external combustion engine stops and the heater stops heating the working fluid, the temperature of the heater gradually drops to ambient temperature. As long as the vapor of the working fluid is accumulated in the main container when the external combustion engine stops; however, the saturated vapor pressure of the working fluid also drops with the heater temperature, resulting in condensation and liquefaction of the vapor of the working fluid. Thus, the internal pressure of the main container drops.
Once the internal pressure of the main container drops below the internal pressure of the auxiliary container, the working fluid in the auxiliary container gradually begins to flow into the main container through the choke, and the volume of the working fluid in the main container increases excessively. This phenomenon is more likely to occur in winter when the ambient temperature is low.
In the case where the external combustion engine is restarted and the working fluid is heated by the heater with an excessive volume of the working fluid in the main container as described above, part of the working fluid is gasified and the internal pressure of the main container rises. Once the internal pressure of the main container increases beyond the internal pressure of the auxiliary container, the excess working fluid in the main container is returned to the auxiliary container through the choke.
Since only a small amount of the working fluid can flow through the choke at a time, considerable time is required before all of the excess working fluid in the main container returns to the auxiliary container. As a result, a predetermined output cannot be produced, before all of the excess working fluid in the main container can return to the auxiliary container after the engine restarts, thereby posing the problem that the restarting time is lengthened before the predetermined output is obtained.
In order to avoid the above engine restart problem, the external combustion engine is required to be stopped at a when the vapor of the working fluid is not accumulated in the main container, thereby greatly complicating the operation to stop the external combustion engine.


A socket tool is formed primarily from non-metallic composite material. The socket tool body is compression molded of high-strength, glass-reinforced vinyl ester sheet molding compound. Metal inserts are respectively received in the driven and driving ends of the tool body, the inserts respectively defining openings for respectively mateably receiving associated driving and driven members, the inserts being disposed in the body so that no portion of the inserts projects outwardly beyond the exterior surface of the body. The inserts are preferably insert molded in the body, but may also be fixedly secured in pre-existing recesses in the ends of the body, as by press-fitting or bonding. In the latter case, the inserts are provided with anti-rotation outer surfaces which are non-circular in transverse cross-sectional shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to socket tools of the type used for socket wrenches and the like and, more particularly, to socket tools of the type which are designed for use in environments which are corrosive or present a spark or shock hazard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, socket tools, such as for socket wrenches and the like, have been made of a suitable metal, such as iron or steel, to afford the necessary strength and durability. Such metal socket tools are manufactured using machining and/or casting or forging techniques. An important disadvantage of metal socket tools is their cost, from both manufacturing and material standpoints. Moreover, metal tools are unsuitable for use in many applications, particularly when a shock or spark condition exists, or when the exterior of the tool is exposed to highly corrosive or magnetic environments. Furthermore, metallic socket tools can tend to mar associated structures with which they come in contact in use.
Insulated socket tools have been provided which afford an insulating covering on the outside of the metal socket tool, which covering may be formed of a suitable plastic or other electrically insulating material. This insulating coating or layer can be easily damaged or may be deteriorated to a point when the insulating and non-sparking properties of the tool are severely compromised and pose a threat to the safety of the user. Also, the insulated tools may still not be suitable for use in certain magnetic environments.
The present invention is an improvement of the socket tool disclosed in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 462,804, filed Jun. 5, 1995, and entitled "Composite Socket Tool" (now abandoned). That socket tool has a tool body which is formed of a glass fiber-reinforced composite plastic material which is non-metallic and, therefore, non-magnetic, non-conductive and non-sparking, and is also lighter in weight and cheaper than a comparably-sized metal socket tool, while being corrosion resistant and non-marring. In order to better bear the high contact stresses of the drive stud of an associated driver tool, the driven or input end of the socket tool is provided with a metal square drive insert which is insert-molded in the socket tool body. It has been found in use that, in certain applications, the output or driving end of the socket tool is also subjected to high contact stresses with associated fasteners and the like, which may unduly strain or deform the driving end of the socket tool.


A switch has a housing and an actuating element retained on a travel path in the housing. A restoring member (4) provides a restoring force urging the actuator to an off position at one end of the travel path. A resistance generator provides a resistance force which opposes the restoring force when the actuator is in a fully actuated position to reduce the holding force require to keep the actuating element in the fully actuated position.

Electrical devices that are equipped with switches of such kind are particularly manual devices that for safety reasons should only be operable by a person who is qualified to operate such manual devices. The restoring member limits the operating times to the period for which the actuating element is operated, the restoring member normally being recessed in a handle structure that a human hand is able to grasp. However, longer operating times have proven problematic, because the restoring force that has to be overcome with a triggering force on the actuating element to achieve this causes cramping of the hand muscles. Cramping of the hand muscles prevents the person who is operating the manual device from using it steadily and precisely. Certain locking mechanisms, by which the actuating element is locked in a switched position that assures operation of the electrical device, offer a degree of assistance. However, such locking mechanisms harbour risks of injury, which regularly result in operators hurting themselves on the tools of the manual devices.
Simply reducing the strength of the restoring force leads to unreliable turning off of the switch and greatly increases the risk of accidental operation of the switch due to bumps and vibrations.


A method and device for keyword extraction and a storage medium. The method includes receiving, at a terminal, an original document, acquiring, at the terminal, a candidate set by extracting at least one candidate phrase from the original document, acquiring, at the terminal, an association degree between the at least one candidate phrase in the candidate set and the original document, acquiring, at the terminal, a divergence degree of the at least one candidate phrase in the candidate set, and updating, at the terminal, a key phrase set of the original document by selecting the at least one candidate phrase from the candidate set as at least one key phrase based on the association degree and the divergence degree.

Along with the explosive growth of Internet text data, it is usually necessary to extract a keyword capable of summarizing a key idea of a text in a related service to realize functions of accurate recommendation, key point labeling and the like. When such a service is executed, a standard is highly subjective, and it is difficult to acquire an available labeled corpus. Consequently, a conventional method is not so accurate, and consumption in calculation time is very high.
In the related art, there are two keyword extraction methods. The first method is keyword extraction (for a word appearing in a text), and the second method is keyword generation (for a word not appearing in the text).
Keyword extraction in the first method may be implemented in multiple manners, specifically including a statistical-based manner, a graph-based manner and a sequence-labeling-based manner. The statistical-based manner highly depends on a statistical characteristic designed by a specialist, and the graph-based manner is usually high in time complexity (usually greater than O(n2)). The two manners have a common shortcoming, namely a screened keyword may not always be in a semantic association relationship with a text and a frequent term is preferred as a keyword. The sequence-labeling-based manner is a supervised method, depends on a labeled corpus and is only applied to tasks in the field of corpus training. Keyword generation in the second method may also be implemented in multiple manners, specifically including translation-alignment-based manner and a sequence-to-sequence (i.e., seq2seq) manner. Both of the two manners depend on a large number of labeled corpora and are high in calculation complexity and only applied to the field of corpus training.

Method and device for keyword extraction and storage medium

Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.


A porous carbon base material includes a sheet containing carbon short fibers dispersed randomly and a carbonized resin, in which the carbon short fibers are bound by the carbonized resin and the volume of pores having a pore diameter of 10 μm or less is 0.05 to 0.16 cc/g. A method for producing this porous carbon base material includes intermittently transporting a precursor fiber sheet including short carbon fibers dispersed randomly and a resin to a space between heated plates, subjecting the precursor to a heating and pressuring treatment by the heated plates while the transformation stops, carrying out the transportation of the sheet after the treatment, and then carrying out a heat treatment, to thereby carbonize the resin in the sheet.

Porous carbon substrates used to constitute a gas diffusion material of fuel cells, respectively obtained by binding carbon fibers by means of a carbonized resin, are described in JP 06-20710 A, JP 07-326362 A and JP 07-220735 A. However, these publicly known porous carbon substrates have such problems that they are inconvenient to handle and that it is difficult to provide them in long continuous forms.
Any of these publicly known porous carbon substrates is produced by a process comprising a paper making step of making carbon fiber paper, a resin impregnation step of impregnating the carbon fiber paper with a thermosetting resin, a compression step of compressing the resin-impregnated carbon fiber paper for forming it, and a carbonization step of burning the compressed resin-impregnated carbon fiber paper provided as a fiber sheet precursor.
The sheet processed in the paper making step and in the resin impregnation step has a continuous and long form. However, the sheet is cut at a predetermined length, before it is supplied to the compression step. The cut sheets, namely, unit sheets are fed to the compression step one by one and each of the unit sheets fed one by one is pressed by a batch type flat plate press. In the subsequent carbonization step, a batch type heating furnace is used for carbonizing the resin. The compression step and the carbonization step are batch processes, since the obtained porous carbon substrate is inconvenient to handle. That is, the reason is that it was difficult to produce a long continuous porous carbon substrate. Therefore, the reason is that a porous carbon fiber substrate wound as a roll could not be produced.
In general, a batch process is low in productivity compared with a continuous process. Also in the above-mentioned carbonization step, the heating rate that can be employed in a batch type heating furnace is up to several degrees centigrade per minute at the highest. Therefore, there are such problems that the productivity of the porous carbon substrate is low and that the production cost is high.
On the other hand, WO 01/56103 A1 discloses an electrode substrate capable of being wound as a roll and a production process thereof. This document proposes to use carbon fibers with a small fiber diameter for enhancing, for example, the bending strength of the sheet. However, if the fiber diameter of carbon fibers is made smaller, the bending modulus of elasticity of the obtained porous carbon substrate tends to be high. That is, there is a problem that a larger force is necessary for winding the substrate as a roll. Furthermore, the porous carbon substrate obtained by using carbon fibers having a small fiber diameter is small in the size of the pores formed in the substrate. Therefore, in the case where the substrate is used as a gas diffusion material, there arises such a problem that, for example, gas diffusibility and water draining capacity decline.
Moreover, the document proposes to use a continuous hot press with a pair of endless belts or a continuous roll press, for allowing continuous operation in the compression step. However, for compression forming of carbon fiber paper containing a thermosetting resin, the state of heating and pressing must be kept for a period of time enough to allow the curing reaction of the resin to progress to some extent, usually for several minutes to tens of minutes. Therefore, an apparatus for applying a pressure to a sheet as a linear pressure like the belt press or roll press has a problem that it is difficult to compress a fiber sheet precursor for forming it at a thickness accuracy equivalent to that of a batch type flat plate press.
Still furthermore, the document proposes to burn the sheet in a continuous burning furnace, for allowing continuous operation in the carbonization step. Certainly, continuous burning can remarkably enhance the productivity compared with that of batch type. However, if the productivity is enhanced, the thermosetting resin contained in the fiber sheet precursor is suddenly carbonized. Therefore, if a continuous burning furnace is merely used, there arise such problems that the separation at the interfaces where the carbonized resin and the carbon fibers are bound to each other occurs considerably and that the carbonized resin is remarkably cracked, respectively due to the sudden carbonization shrinkage of the resin.

Porous carbon base material, method for preparation thereof, gas-diffusing material film-electrode jointed article, and fuel cell


The dynamic range of an electrophotographic device may be shifted by calibrating a laser power of a laser source to operate within a first range of power levels during a laser power adjustment operation. At least one laser control parameter is modified after calibrating the laser power so that the laser source is operable within a second range of power levels different from the first range of power levels and a beam emitted by the laser source is controlled within the second range of power levels when the beam is directed towards an image area of a photoconductive surface.

The present invention relates in general to an electrophotographic imaging device, and more particularly to systems and methods for shifting the dynamic range of laser power of a laser beam, e.g., for discharging a photoconductive surface using a laser beam that is also used for writing image data during imaging operations.
In electrophotography, an imaging system forms a latent image by exposing select portions of an electrostatically charged photoconductive surface to laser light. Essentially, the density of the electrostatic charge on the photoconductive surface is altered in areas exposed to the laser beam relative to those areas unexposed to the laser beam. The latent electrostatic image thus created is developed into a visible image by exposing the photoconductive surface to toner, which contains pigment components and thermoplastic components. When so exposed, the toner is attracted to the photoconductive surface in a manner that corresponds to the electrostatic density altered by the laser beam. The toner pattern is subsequently transferred from the photoconductive surface to the surface of a print substrate, such as paper, which has been given an electrostatic charge opposite that of the toner.
A fuser assembly then applies heat and pressure to the toned substrate before the substrate is discharged from the apparatus. The applied heat causes constituents including the thermoplastic components of the toner to flow into the interstices between the fibers of the medium and the applied pressure promotes settling of the toner constituents in these voids. The toner solidifies as it cools adhering the image to the substrate.
During operation of the electrophotographic device, if a charge roll of the imaging system is turned off and the associated photoconductive surface carries an excessive electrostatic charge, there is the potential for print artifacts such as ghost images, color shifts and other residual image artifacts on the first page of the first print job after restarting the device. However, print artifacts that may occur as a result of transiently turning on and off the imaging system can be mitigated by discharging the photoconductive surface to a generally consistent, intermediate level by implementing a run out process as part of a power down sequence of operations.
In conventional printing systems, discharge operations are performed using an erase assembly. The erase assembly typically includes a light source, such as a fluorescent tube or Light Emitting Diode (LED) array, which is positioned at each transfer station so as to face the image area of a corresponding photoconductive surface. Alternatively, light emitted by the light source may penetrate a semi-transparent layer, e.g., by positioning the erase assembly on a side of an intermediate transfer belt (ITM belt) opposite from the photoconductive surface, e.g., a photoconductive drum (PC drum). In this configuration, light from the light source shines through the ITM belt and partially discharges the PC drum during the run out process. Regardless of which conventional architecture is used, the erase assembly requires a light source positioned about the photoconductive surface, which affects the size of the imaging system.

Systems and methods for adjusting the dynamic range of a scanning laser beam


A computer enclosure of an embodiment of the present invention includes a chassis (30) and a hood (20). The chassis includes two side walls (32) and a front wall (34). The side walls each define a number of receiving holes (38) to slidably receive pins (28) of the hood. The front wall defines a number of V-shaped notches (33). The hood forms a number of retaining posts (24) corresponding to the notches of the chassis. Each retaining post defines a slanted side face. When the hood is pushed horizontally, the retaining posts and the notches cooperate to drive the hood downwardly so that the hood tightly abuts against the chassis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer enclosures, and particularly to a computer enclosure having a hood readily and closely attached thereto by means of fastening structure.
2. Background of the Invention
A conventional personal computer enclosure generally includes a chassis, a hood and a bezel. The chassis is generally U-shaped, and the hood is also U-shaped. The hood is often secured to the chassis by means of screwing a plurality of screws one by one. This process is unduly cumbersome and time-consuming.
Another conventional hood is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,183 B1. The hood includes a fastener having a number of components such as a handle, a latch and a spring. These components have relative complicated structure and increase manufacturing cost.
In attaching a hood to a computer chassis, the hood is often tilted or hunched at end portions, so that the attachment may be difficult or loose. Sometimes, manual work must be applied to depress the hood, to ease the attachment. However, this will make the assembly process labor-consuming, and results in inefficiency in mass production facilities.
What is needed therefore is to provide a computer enclosure having a hood readily and closely attached thereto by means of fastening structure.

Computer enclosure incorporating hood fastening structure


A circuit and method for deriving an adder output bit from adder input bits. In one embodiment, the circuit includes: (1) first, second and third threshold logic gates that generate intermediate bits based on threshold comparisons of concatenations of ones of the adder input bits and (2) combinatorial boolean logic that generates the adder output bit from the intermediate bits.

The present invention is directed, in general, to adder and multiplier circuits and, more specifically, to adder and multiplier circuits employing logic gates having discrete, weighted inputs, combinations of the same, methods of performing combinatorial operations with such logic gates and combinations thereof.
Digital systems are used extensively in computation and data processing, controls, communications and measurement. Digital systems use digital signals that may only assume discrete values. Typically, digital systems use binary signals that employ only two values. Since such systems only use two distinct values, errors caused by component variations are minimized. As a result, a digital system may be designed such that, for a given input, an output thereof is exactly correct and repeatable. This gives rise to the extreme accuracy for which digital systems are well known.
Analog systems, on the other hand, use analog signals that vary continuously over a specified range. Analog systems are thus particularly vulnerable to error, depending on the accuracy of the components used therein. Since digital systems are generally capable of greater accuracy and reliability than analog systems, many tasks formerly performed by analog systems are now performed exclusively by digital systems.
A digital system, such as a computer, typically includes an input device, an output device, a processor or central processing unit (CPU) and a data storage device (e.g., random access memory or hard disk). A CPU typically contains an arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) that performs arithmetic functions (e.g., add, subtract, multiply and divide) and logic functions (e.g., AND, OR and NOT). Additionally, a CPU may also contain a floating point unit (FPU) that performs floating point operations (e.g., add, subtract, multiply and divide).
One basic building block of digital systems is a logic gate. Conventional logic gates have one output and one or more inputs. The number of inputs is called the xe2x80x9cfan-inxe2x80x9d of the gate. The state of the output is completely determined by the state(s) of the input(s).
Logical and arithmetic functions are typically performed by a number of logic gates coupled together to form a multi-layer network. The maximum number of gates cascaded in series between the input and the output of such a network is typically referred to as the number of layers of gates. Designers are concerned with the number of layers in a network for several reasons. In some applications, increasing the number of layers may reduce the required number of gates and gate inputs (i.e., fan-in), thus reducing the cost (which may be expressed in terms of integrated circuit area) of building the network. Of course, cascading a large number of gates together may result in unacceptable input-output delays and data dependency conditions. When the input of a gate is switched, a finite time elapses before the output of the gate changes. If a large number of gates are cascaded together to form a network, the time between an input change and a corresponding change in the network output may become excessive, thereby slowing down the operation of the network.
Arithmetic functions are particularly susceptible to the effects of cascaded gates. The serial solution for binary addition is given here as an example. Initially, a first augend bit and a first addend bit are added together, to produce a first sum bit and a first carry bit. The first carry bit is then added to the second augend and addend bits to produce the second sum and carry bits. Since the second sum bit is dependent on the value of the first carry bit, the second sum bit cannot be computed before the first carry bit is computed. While each input-output delay is small, the cumulative input-output delay perceived when adding large numbers, due to the propagation of the carry bit, is proportional to the number of bits added, and may be prohibitive. Techniques (e.g., carry look-ahead, conditional sum or prefix computation have been developed for reducing the delay to a logarithmic function of the number of input bits to be added. The number of Boolean gates (e.g., AND, OR or NOT) used by such techniques is in the range of from 8 n to 35 n or 2 n log(n) to 3 n log(n), where n is the number of bits to be added and the logarithms are base two.
Increasing processing power is a continuing goal in the development of microprocessors. Microprocessor designers are generally familiar with three ways to increase the processing power of a CPU. The CPU""s clock frequency may be increased so that the CPU can perform a greater number of operations in a given time period. Microprocessors are designed to operate at increasingly high clock frequencies. For instance, the 8080 (introduced in 1974 by the Intel Corporation) was designed to operate at about 2 to 3 MHZ. Today, Intel""s Pentium II line of processors are designed to operate with clock frequencies over 300 MHZ. While a higher clock frequency generally results in increased processing power, the higher clock frequency also increases power dissipation, resulting in higher device operating temperatures. Microprocessor designers, therefore, must address these additional problems to avoid catastrophic device failures.
Another way to increase processing power is to increase input and output data bus width, thereby allowing the CPU to process a greater amount of code and data. Early microprocessors were packaged using dual in-line packaging (DIP) technology. Increasing the width of the data buses was both expensive and unrealistic, often resulting in extremely large device packages. Today, with the use of pin grid array (PGA) packaging, increasing the size of the data buses no longer poses a packaging problem. Of course, a larger number of transistors is required to process the additional information conveyed by the wider data buses.
Yet another way to increase processing power is to change the internal architecture of the microprocessor to overlap the execution of instructions by, for example, superscaling. This method also requires the addition of a large number of transistors, since entire processing stages or execution units must be duplicated. Performing a large number of instructions in parallel may also result in data dependency problems.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is new architectures for addition circuitry, multiplication circuitry and combinations of the same that increase the processing power of conventional digital systems.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a circuit and method for deriving an adder output bit (such as a carry out bit, a carry-generate bit or a carry-propagate bit) from adder input bits (such as a carry in bit, (at least) first and second addend and augend bits, (at least) first and second carry-generate bits or (at least) first and second carry-propagate bits. The present invention further provides a multiplier circuit, a method of multiplying, a microprocessor and digital signal processor (DSP) employing the circuit or the method and a method of generating weights for logic gates.
In one embodiment, the circuit includes: (1) first, second and third logic gates that generate intermediate bits based on threshold comparisons of concatenations of ones of the adder input bits and (2) combinatorial logic that generates the adder output bit from the intermediate bits. Circuits may be coupled to one another in layers to yield a wider adder. In such configuration, addend and augend bits are transformed into carry-generate and carry-propagate bits, which are ultimately transformed into a carry out bit.
The present invention introduces novel digital addition and multiplication circuits that take advantage of multiple discrete logic levels to perform respective addition and multiplication operations significantly faster than prior art adders and multipliers. Of course, the principles of the present invention extend to cover logic gates that process more than two adder input bits concurrently.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the first logic gate generates a first intermediate bit based on a comparison between a concatenation of ones of the adder input bits and zero. In a related embodiment of the present invention, the second logic gate generates a second intermediate bit based on a comparison between a concatenation of ones of the adder input bits and two. In another related embodiment of the present invention, the third logic gate generates a third intermediate bit based on a comparison between a concatenation of ones of the adder input bits and four.
The first, second and third logic gates cooperate to provide the correct intermediate bits to the combinatorial circuitry based on the values of the various adder input bits.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the combinatorial logic comprises first, second and third AND gates and first and second OR gates coupled to outputs thereof. In an embodiment of the invention to be illustrated and described, the combinatorial logic generates the adder output bit by additionally employing the ones of the adder input bits.
In one embodiment of the present invention, each of the first, second and third logic gates includes: (1) a summer, having at least two binary inputs with corresponding discrete weights, that generates a weighted sum of input binary digits presented at the at least two binary inputs and (2) a quantizer, coupled to the summer, that generates an output binary digit at a binary output thereof that is a function of the weighted sum. In this embodiment, the logic gates employ an internal representation having more than two logic levels to perform combinatorial operations, but nonetheless have purely binary inputs and outputs. The binary inputs and outputs ensure that the logic gates can be employed in an otherwise conventional binary digital architecture without requiring the architecture to be modified apart from insertion of the logic gates or circuits that employ the logic gates in combination with more conventional gates, e.g., Boolean gates.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the discrete weights are integer multiples of a predetermined number. The predetermined number may be xe2x80x9c1,xe2x80x9d allowing the discrete weights to assume integer values. Of course, the predetermined number may be any suitable number.
In one embodiment of the present invention, each of the at least two binary inputs includes: (1) a current source capable of producing a substantially constant electrical current corresponding to a particular discrete weight and (2) a switch, coupled to the current source, that switches the electrical current as a function of a corresponding particular input binary digit. The current source may be derived from a voltage source by way of a resistance. The voltage source may be provided by a power supply that provides power to other logic circuitry (such as other microprocessor circuitry) that may surround, and interact with, the logic gate. For purposes of the present invention, xe2x80x9csubstantially constant electrical currentxe2x80x9d is defined to be sufficiently constant such that the accuracy of the logic gate is not adversely affected. The level of precision required of the current is or can be a function of the range of discrete integer weights employed in the logic gate.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the circuit further includes a threshold input that provides a threshold number to the quantizer, the output binary digit being a function of a relationship between the weighted sum and the threshold number. The threshold number provides a bias to the quantizer, allowing a threshold between the binary output states to assume a value other than zero. In an embodiment to be illustrated and described, the discrete weights are advantageously selected to minimize (ideally to zero) the threshold number. This has the advantage of minimizing the number or size of current sources or sinks and thus potentially reducing the area (and therefore the cost) of the logic gate.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the corresponding discrete weights are provided by a selected one of: (1) current sources and (2) current sinks. The current sources may be made to correspond to positive discrete weights and the current sinks may be made to correspond to negative discrete weights, such that currents are added and subtracted in the summer to obtain the desired weighted sum. In this way, the logic gates of the present invention can be adapted to operate with respect to discrete weights of either positive or negative sign or a combination thereof.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the minimum integer weights and thresholds determining the threshold gates of arbitrary fan-ins able to compute the group carry-generate bit from multiple carry-generate and carry-propagate bits are also presented together with the method of determining them for gates of arbitrary fan-ins (larger than two).
In one embodiment of the present invention, the circuit further includes a plurality of other of the circuits coupled together to form a multiplier circuit. Those skilled in the art will readily perceive other highly advantageous applications for the logic gates of the present invention. The present invention fully encompasses all applications.
The present invention further provides a multiplier circuit, including a summer having at least two inputs with corresponding weights, the inputs corresponding to bits of a multiplicand, the weights based on a multiplier, the summer generating a weighted sum of the multiplicand. The weighted sum represents the result of a multiplication of the multiplier and the multiplicand and is analog in nature. A digital equivalent of the weighted sum may be derived by either successive comparisons with known analog levels (thereby producing a succession of result bits) or by converting the analog weighted sum to a digital number in an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. The weights are preferably created by bit-shifting the multiplier. A bias may also be applied to the multiplier circuit to accommodate equations of the type: Axc3x97B+C; called inner product or multiply accumulate.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

Adder circuit employing logic gates having discrete weighted inputs and a method of operation therewith


A professional development registry system comprising a processor and a storage medium operably connected to the processor, wherein the storage medium is capable of receiving and storing data representative of a first career ladder, data representative of at least one participant, data representative of at least one scholarship request, and data representative of at least one training event, and wherein the processor is operable to process said data and generate at least one report comprising at least part of said data.

The disclosure of the present application relates to registries, and more particularly to a professional development registry system.
Keeping track of today's numerous professional development requirements has become quite complex. Depending on an individual's particular professional field, he or she may be required to meet certain personal or general criteria, to participate in a number of continuing education courses in a given time period, and to attend a number of training courses to train the individual in a new or changing facet of the specific profession. Types of personal or general criteria that may be applicable to a particular profession or position include factors such as age and the absence of or limited offenses in criminal or traffic matters, for example.
Professional development requirements exist in several professions. For example, licensed attorneys are required to take a specific number of continuing legal education (CLE) courses to meet their annual or then-current period requirements to maintain their legal registrations. The CLE courses may cover one or more substantive aspects of the law, or may cover more general aspects of the legal profession, i.e. legal ethics and client trust fund management, or be required based on the years of experience of attorneys. As another example, licensed child care providers may be required to receive a certain amount of certified training throughout their career.
Teaching professionals are also often required to attend specific professional development training seminars in a given time period. Such training events are generally required to assist the professionals with current developments in his or her field, and to refresh the professional regarding what he or she may have learned in the past but does not commonly apply in their daily teaching duties.
Traditional systems used to keep track of professional development requirements are paper-based and rely heavily on manual data entry. Organizations maintaining such records typically have one or more staff members dedicated to data entry, and oftentimes the systems used require re-entry of the same data previously recorded on another paper document. In addition, traditional systems typically only allow for limited administrative access to data. An administrator would need to sort through several separate paper documents in order to obtain data pertinent to a particular inquiry, such as whether an individual is current in meeting his/her professional development requirements.
Other professional development registries than the manual systems referenced above may currently be utilized. For example, it is possible that a generic professional development registry may exist that consists of a simple database including, but not limited to, general identifying information for the professional and the overall level of education for developmental purposes.
A registration system may provide access to curriculum information. An example may be an online environment accessible by college students to review available educational courses and eventually register for such courses once a registration window opens for the students. Individuals intending to meet their requirements may access such curriculum information, including, but not limited to, the subject matter of a particular training course and the time(s) and date(s) for which the training course is available. However, such systems for the identification of one or more professional development courses are not connected to or integrated with systems for identifying the requirements necessary for a professional to meet his or her future development requirements.
In addition to the foregoing, a separate system may be utilized to store information relating to upcoming training events and seminars, and notices may periodically be sent to participants of the system to remind them of events to occur in the near future. Yet another system may be utilized to maintain training event attendance records. Such information may be made available by sign-in sheets at a training event or attendance sheets completed by attendees of a training event. That attendance information may then be entered into a database by a staff member so that an administrator may be able to determine which training events were attended by a particular participant.
Management of such training events is typically handled either outside of the aforementioned systems or somehow tied to a system providing access to curriculum information. Administrators for such events are required to plan training seminars, identify available dates, times, and locations for such seminars, identify seminar instructors/facilitators, prepare course materials, and manage the seminars themselves. Some of these tasks may be automated, but typically the tasks outside of "posting" an available seminar on a system to be accessed by individuals seeking seminars are managed outside of such a system.
Individuals may also seek scholarship assistance to attend training seminars. A traditional scholarship request typically includes several paper-based steps. The first step is the completion of paper-based documentation by the requester to make such a request. That documentation is then submitted to a receiving office for scholarship requests, which is then reviewed and entered into some sort of larger paper or electronic database. The requester may also then obtain some form of receipt from the receiving office to let the requester know that the scholarship request was received. If any information was missing from the request, the requester may receive a letter from the receiving office notifying the requester of such missing information and requesting that the information be provided as soon as possible. The requester may then provide the missing information and wait a certain period (typically several weeks to several months) until the requester is informed regarding whether or not the scholarship request was approved. As can be understood, such a system is slow, inefficient, and time consuming to utilize.
Recent systems have utilized simple databases to manage individual aspects of professional development. The aforementioned systems that may relate to professional development requirements typically stand alone from one another, without any interrelationships between the identification and recordation of professional development data, personal and/or general criteria, the availability of training seminars, the recordation of seminar attendance, the processing of scholarship requests, and the overall management of training events by trainers. It is therefore desired to develop a comprehensive professional development registry system to manage each of these tasks.

Professional development registry system