A wireless station having a wireless network device capable of providing a link-layer interface to a wireless network, a method operating at the link layer (L2) in the wireless station, and a carrier medium carrying computer readable code segments that when executed on a processor in the wireless station implement the method. The method includes, prior to the station being associated with a wireless network, wirelessly receiving L2 frames transmitted from one or more wireless access point of one or more wireless networks that the station can hear. The method further includes gathering information about the received L2 frames, including L2 information and L3 information. The L3 information includes whether an AP is sending an IP packet from a mobility agent, such that the station may associate with a wireless network that is in communication with the mobility agent. The method further includes storing information about the wireless networks that the station can hear in a database. The information stored about each wireless network includes one or more of an identifier of the wireless network, the L3 information in the L2 frame received from the AP of the wireless network, a time stamp of when the L2 frame was received from the AP, and an indication of the signal strength of the L2 frame from the AP.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communication networks, and in particular to a wireless station of a wireless data network finding at L2 one or more access points that are in communication with a mobility agent, such that the wireless station can associate with such an access point to enable Mobile IP services.
2. Background
Wireless networks such as wireless local area networks (WLANs) are known. In a WLAN, stations are able to communicate wirelessly within a local network. In an infrastructure network, all communication is via an access point that acts as a base station. Any entity on the WLAN can also communicate with a node on any other wired or wireless network that is connected to the WLAN, e.g., via the access point.
Mobile IP is a well known extension of the Internet Protocol (IP) that enables a node on an IP-based network to change its physical attachment point in the network, e.g., the Internet, while retaining the same IP address by which it is identified on its home network. Agents providing Mobile IP services send IP packets that include advertisements of the services they provide. Thus, determining IP services is a process that occurs at L3 of the communication protocol.
While WLANs typically enable a wireless node to move from place to place within a small area, e.g., at a LAN level, without disrupting communications, mobile IP provides IP address mobility across a global network such as the Internet.
A station in a WLAN is not guaranteed to function seamlessly as Mobile IP node. In particular, a prior art wireless station associates with an access point at L2. Because the availability of IP services is determined at L3, prior art wireless stations do not function seamlessly with Mobile IP.
It is desired for a station on a WLAN also to be able to communicate using Mobile IP. In particular, it is desired for the wireless station to determine what IP services, if any, are available to access points prior to attaching to an access point.
The following discussion provides a brief overview of Mobile IP and wireless LANs, including definitions. A review of the need for the invention follows the discussion.
Mobile IP
The purpose of Mobile IP is to enable a mobile node to retain its home IP address even when it is away from its home subnetwork of an overall network such as the Internet. This is accomplished by the addition of a mobility agent, a router known in MIPv4 as a foreign agent, that provides the node with a "care-of" address for the mobile node. MIPv6 provides a slightly different mechanism. The care-of address is part of the IP packet itself, so that foreign agents are not required. The mobile node's home network similarly adds a mobility agent, in this case a router known as a home agent, which forwards IP packets addresses to the mobile node's IP address to the node's care-of address on the foreign network.
When a MIPv4 mobile node determines that it is not attached to its home network, it listens for router advertisements from a foreign agent. Such foreign agent advertisements contain one or more care-of addresses. After obtaining a care-of address, the mobile node then registers with the foreign agent, and subsequently, registers the care-of address with its home agent. Once these registrations are complete, the home agent intercepts IP packets containing the IP address of the mobile node and forwards them, via an IP tunnel, to the care-of address. When these IP packets reach the foreign network, the foreign agent redirects them to the mobile IP node at its care-of address. Thus the foreign agent removes them from the tunnel and the home agent together act as proxies for the mobile node's IP address, routing inbound and outbound traffic to and from the mobile node using its home IP address. When a mobile note again changes its attachment point to the Internet, it locates a new foreign agent, obtains a new care-of address, and re-registers with its home agent.
Note that the providing of Mobile IP services by foreign agents and home agents uses IP packets, and thus occurs at the network layer (layer-3).
According to RFC 3344, there is only one active care-of address for each foreign agent or access router, and therefore a single reverse tunnel to the Home Agent needs to be set up.
Wireless LANs
WLANs conform to one or more known protocols, such as the various versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. An infrastructure WLAN includes an access point (AP) to act as a base station in the WLAN so that any wireless communication between stations in the WLAN occurs via the AP. Typically, the AP is connected to a wired network such as a LAN which in turn may be connected to a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet. Any station in the WLAN can thus communicate with both the wired LAN or WAN via the AP.
According to the IEEE 802.11 standards, a station attempts to associate with an AP by scanning in "RF monitor mode" for signals, known as "beacon signals," that periodically originate from an AP. Beacon signals, in addition to other functions, serve to uniquely identify the AP within the WLAN. When a station detects a beacon, it switches into send-receive mode and executes an association protocol with the AP. At the successful end of the association protocol, the station is said to be associated with the AP.
Once a station associates with an AP, the AP is responsible for delivering network traffic to the station (and other associated stations). While an AP may associate with multiple stations, a station may associate with only one AP at a time, even though there may be more than one AP that the station can physically communicate with. When an associated station loses communication with its AP, the station must re-associate, either with a different AP, or the same AP.
The association between a station and an AP is initiated by a station, not an AP. After receiving one or more beacon signals, the station selects an AP it can communicate with, e.g., after receiving a beacon signal, and begins the association protocol. The criteria for a station selecting one AP over another is not specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard, but in practice, at minimum it is based on the quality of the wireless signal from the available APs. As previously noted, once associated, the station does not directly wirelessly communicate with any station not associated with its AP.
Note that the associating of a station with an AP occurs at the link layer (layer-2) of the protocol. In contrast, the providing of Mobile IP services by foreign agents and home agents uses IP packets, and thus occurs at the network layer (layer-3). Because the association procedure occurs at a lower protocol layer than Mobile IP services, the association between an AP and a station occurs at a protocol layer wherein there is ignorance of Mobile IP services, and thus occurs without regard to whether the AP is in communication with any mobility agents.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus that enables a station of a WLAN to discover, prior to association, whether one or more candidate APs for association that are in communication with Mobile IP agents, e.g. with home agents and/or foreign agents. There also is a need subsequently to select for association one of the APs in communication with a mobility agent so that the wireless station can benefit from and/or provide Mobile IP services.
Definitions
Some of the following definitions are applicable to a wireless local area network (WLAN) that conforms to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards. Other WLAN standards exist and future ones may be developed. The present invention is not restricted to working with IEEE 802.11 conforming networks.
Access Point (AP): In the IEEE 802.11 standards, an AP is a wireless base station through which communication is managed in an infrastructure network (see BSS). An AP may be in communication with other wired or wireless networks. When compared to functions in a wired network, it is analogous to an Ethernet hub with optional access control to other networks.
Access Router: A router that provides access between two or more networks, for example, between a WLAN and a LAN, or between a LAN and the Internet. See also Mobility Agent.
Ad Hoc Network: See IBBS.
Association: In the IEEE 802.11 standards, association is the procedure used to establish a binding between an access point and a station, to make the station part of the wireless network managed by the AP. Note that prior to association, a station may be in passive scanning mode, called RF monitor mode herein (see below), but while associated the station is in send-receive mode (see below), called "station" mode in the case of an IEEE 802.11 STA.
Associated station: In an IEEE 802.11 BSS (or ESS) WLAN, communications between stations and other networks is managed by an AP. A station becomes an associated station when it has been successfully accepted by the AP to be part of the wireless network managed by that AP.
Beacon: A periodic 802.11 frame transmitted by an AP that provides information required by stations for establishing and maintaining an association with the AP. The beacon contains the unique identifier called the Service Set Identifier (SSID) for the wireless network of the AP. See also SSID.
BSS: In the IEEE 802.11 standards, a Basic Service Set (BSS) is a single infrastructure wireless network in which all wireless communication occurs via a single access point. See also below under IBSS: an independent BSS.
ESS: An IEEE 802.11 Extended Service Set is a WLAN that includes two or more BSSs, the APs of which may provide service to overlapping physical areas. The APs behave as a single logical router for all nodes in the ESS.
Foreign Agent (FA): A type of Mobility Agent, specifically an IPv4 router on a mobile node's visited network that provides routing services to the mobile node while registered. The foreign agent detunnels and delivers IP packets that were tunneled by the mobile node's home agent to the mobile node. For IP packets sent by a mobile node, the foreign agent may serve as a default router for registered mobile nodes. Foreign agents do not exist in Mobile IPV6. The IP packets themselves include the care-of address and the services provided by a foreign agent in IPv4 is provided by an access router.
Foreign Agent Advertisement: A Mobility Agent advertisement sent by a foreign agent. See Mobility Agent advertisement.
Foreign Network: Any network other than the mobile node's Home Network.
Home Agent (HA): A type of mobility agent, specifically a Mobile IPv4 or Mobile IP version 6 router on a mobile node's home link that maintains current location information for the mobile node in the form of a current care-of address and, while the mobile node is away from home, intercepts packets on the home link destined to the mobile node's home address and tunnels packets for delivery to the mobile node's registered care-of address. A Home Agent is a mobility agent.
Home Address: In Mobile IP, an IP address that is assigned for an extended period of time to a mobile node. It remains unchanged, regardless of where the node is attached to the network.
Home Network: A network, possibly virtual, having a network prefix matching that of a mobile node's home address. Note that standard IP routing mechanisms will deliver IP packets destined to a mobile node's home address to the mobile node's home network.
IBSS: In the IEEE 802.11 standards, an Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) is a WLAN with two or more wireless nodes that communicate directly without associating with an AP. Also referred to as an ad hoc wireless network in contrast to an infrastructure wireless network.
Infrastructure Network: A wireless network in which all STAs communicate via an AP. See BSS and ESS.
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force, the standardization body for Internet related technology.
IP: the Internet Protocol, e.g., IP version 4 (IPv4) or IP version 6 (IPv6).
Interface: An interface is used herein in several contexts. In the context of the network layer, e.g., IP including mobile IP, an interface (also an L3 interface) is an L3 node's attachment to a link at L2. In this definition, a node is a device that implements IP, and an L2 link is a communication facility or medium over which nodes can communicate at the link layer (L2), such as a simple or bridged Ethernet. For example, a wireless network device provides a bi-directional interface to a WLAN after a station associates with the AP of the WLAN.
Interface Identifier: A number used to identify a node's interface on a link. In one embodiment, the interface identifier is the set of remaining low-order bits in the node's IP address after the subnet prefix.
Internet Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP): A protocol for routers on a network broadcast their presence to other nodes on the network. A router supporting this protocol periodically broadcasts an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) IP packet containing a "router advertisement." A node on the network may at any time invoke a router advertisement by broadcasting a "router solicitation." Mobile IP defines (RFC 3344) extensions to this protocol that identifies the router advertisement as a "home agent advertisement" and/or a "foreign agent advertisement." See Mobility Agent Advertisement below.
Mobility Agent (MA): In MIPv4, the Mobility Agents are foreign agents that receive data from home agents, and the home agents. In IPv6, the Mobility Agents are access routers and home agents. One aspect of the present invention is the discovery at L2 of mobility agents such as home agents, foreign agents and/or access routers. The term Mobility Agent is used herein as a general term encompassing foreign agents, home agents, and access routers.
Mobility Agent Advertisement: Mobility agent advertisements are transmitted by a mobility agent to advertise its services. Mobile nodes use these advertisements to determine their current point of attachment e.g., to the Internet. A mobility agent advertisement is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) IP packet that includes a Router Advertisement that has been extended to also carry a mobility agent advertisement Extension. The exact function of the advertisement—home agent, foreign agent, or access router—is identified by a FLAGS field in the extension header.
Mobile IP, IP Mobility: An IETF document (RFC 3344) that describes the infrastructure in which a mobile node may change its attachment point from one network or subnetwork to another without changing its home (IP) address.
Mobile IPv4: Mobile IP for IP version 4. Same as (RFC 3344).
Mobile IPv6: Mobile IP to work with IP version 6. See, for example, David B. Johnson, Charles E. Perkins, and Jari Arkko: "Mobility Support in IPv6" (document title "draft-ietf-mobileip-ipv6-18.txt", available on the Internet at http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-mobileip-ipv6-18.txt. In Mobile IP for IP version 6, the care-of-address is included in the IP packet itself. Therefore, in Mobile IPv6, foreign agents do not exist. The only Mobile IP requirement placed upon the foreign network is to provide an access router capable of routing packets to the Mobile IP node's home address.
Mobile Network: A network that moves together with a Mobile Router. See also Mobile Router.
Mobile Node: In Mobile IP, a node in a network, e.g., a host or router that changes its point of attachment from one network or subnetwork to another. A mobile node may change its location without changing its IP address; it may continue to communicate with other Internet nodes at any location using its (constant) IP address, assuming link-layer connectivity to a point of attachment is available. Mobile nodes may remain at a stationary location or be in motion. For purposes of the present invention, mobile stations and portable stations as defined in IEEE 802.11 can also be mobile nodes if they support Mobile IP.
Mobile Router: A mobile node that is a router. A mobile router provides for the mobility of one or more networks moving together, for example, on an airplane or a ship. The nodes connected to a network served by the Mobile Router may themselves be mobile nodes or routers. Using the present invention, a STA of an infrastructure wireless network that provides routing may be a mobile router.
Mobile Station: In the IEEE 802.11, a type of station that is able to use network communications while in motion. A mobile station is a type of mobile node when Mobile IP enabled. See also portable station.
Portable Station: In the IEEE 802.11 standards, a type of station that may be moved from location to location, but that is only able to use network communications while stationary at a fixed location (i.e., not in motion). A portable station is a type of mobile node when Mobile IP enabled. See also mobile station.
Re-association: In the IEEE 802.11 standards, The process whereby a station associated with an AP transfers association to another—possibly the same—AP. Also commonly referred to as a "hand-off."
RF Monitor Mode: As used herein, a mode for a station during which a wireless network device listens to all MAC frame types (control, management and data) regardless of the AP from where the frames originate or belong to. This means that, if the radio module is in an area covered by more than one AP, it will listen to the traffic broadcast in each AP or wireless network. The purpose of this mode is essentially to enable a wireless station to "scan" for broadcasts from APs, e.g., the broadcast of beacons in the IEEE 802.11 standard, in order to locate an AP with a good enough signal strength with which to associate. It is assumed that one or more of the wireless network device or devices used in embodiments of the invention have an RF monitor mode or equivalent. Note that the process of listening for-beacons is called "passive scanning" in the IEEE 802.11 standard. IEEE 802.11 beacons contain information about the access point, including the service set identifier (SSID) of the WLAN of the AP, supported data rates, and so forth. In a normal IEEE 802.11 scan, the wireless network device provides this information along with the signal strength to compare access points and decide upon which one to associate with. A wireless network device in RF monitor mode can receive from more than one AP, but not transmit information. Other modes include send-receive mode, also called station mode.
Router: A router is a device implementing IP that forwards IP packets not explicitly addressed to itself.
Router Advertisement: An IP packet, in particular an ICMP IP packet periodically broadcasts to all nodes on the network served by a router. In the Mobile IP support provided by IPv4, extensions to the advertisements, referred to as to Agent Advertisements, carry information identifying the router as a foreign agent and/or a home agent.
Send-Receive Mode: In the IEEE 802.11 standard, the communication state wherein a station is able to communicate bidirectionally with its associated AP. Also called station mode. See also RF Monitor mode.
SSID: In the IEEE 802.11 standards, a Service Set Identifier of a wireless local area network. In a simple infrastructure network (BSS), the SSID also identifies the AP. The SSID is sometimes called the wireless network identifier. Many wireless network devices for the IEEE 802.11 standard give a special meaning to a SSID with zero length, called the broadcast SSID. If requested to associate with the broadcast SSID, the station will go to RF monitor mode and scan for all the 802.11 broadcast beacons containing an SSID. In the prior art, the station may then associate with the first AP it finds independent of any L3 information such as whether or not the AP is in communication with a mobility agent.
Station (STA): A node of a wireless network conforming to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards, in particular, a device that contains an IEEE 802.11 conformant medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) interface to the wireless medium. In the context of the present invention, a station includes a wireless network device that, after associating with an access point of a wireless network, provides a bi-directional interface to that wireless network.
Visited Network: In Mobile IP, a network other than a mobile node's home network, to which the mobile node is currently attached. When attached to a foreign network, the node is said to be "visiting" that network.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP): An 802.11 security protocol for wireless networks. The WEP encryption method is designed to provide security.
Wireless Network device: A device that includes a wireless transceiver, i.e., a wireless receiver and a wireless transmitter, and capable of bi-directional wireless communication. For purposes of the invention, a wireless network device can operate in RF Monitor mode prior to the station containing the wireless network device associating with a wireless network. A wireless network device after associating with an access point of a wireless network, provides a bi-directional interface to that wireless network.
WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network, e.g. a wireless network conforming to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.
Note that Mobile IP and 802.11 use different terminology and nomenclature for similar network components. For example, Mobile IP refers to a Mobile IP-enabled network node as a "Mobile Node." IEEE 802.11 defines two types of stations: a "mobile" station, able to communicate while in motion, and a "portable" station able to communicate only while at a fixed location. The term Mobile Node when referring to a wireless station means a wireless station that is Mobile IP enabled and that is either an IEEE 802.11 "mobile station" or an IEEE 802.11 "portable station" in the case the station conforms to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

L2 method for a wireless station to locate and associate with a wireless network in communication with a Mobile IP agent


A cell phone charger holder includes a main body, a plug, and an electric cord. The plug has two blades. The main body has a front face provided with a receiving chamber for receiving the plug. The main body has a side provided with an annular groove for winding the electric cord. The main body has a lower portion provided with two positioning hooks for placing a cell phone. The main body has a back face provided with two upright slots corresponding to the blades of the plug. Thus, the plug and the electric cord are positioned and stored completely by the main body. In addition, when the main body is disposed at an inclined state, the cell phone supported by the main body is disposed at an inclined state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder and, more particularly, to a holder for a cell phone charger.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional charger for a cell phone comprises a charger body, a plug and an electric cord. However, when the charger is carried outdoors, the plug is not positioned and stored easily. In addition, the electric cord is easily tangled, thereby causing inconvenience to the user when using the charger. A conventional charger reel (or box) can be used to wind and store the electric cord. However, the conventional charger reel has a larger volume, thereby causing inconvenience in packaging, storage and transportation of the charger reel, so that the user cannot carry the charger reel easily and conveniently. In addition, the plug cannot be stored completely, thereby limiting the versatility of the charger reel.


The invention is directed to a method of treating, preventing, or inhibiting a Hepatitis C viral infection in a mammal comprising contacting the mammal with an effective amount of a compound of the formula:

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to use, preparation, and pharmaceutical compositions of carbazole and cyclopentaindole derivatives, used in the treatment and/or prevention of Hepatitis C viral infection.
2. Related Background Art
Hepatitis C is a common viral infection that can lead to chronic Hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Infection with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) leads to chronic Hepatitis in at least 85% of cases, is the leading reason for liver transplantation, and is responsible for at least 10,000 deaths annually in the United States (Hepatology, 1997, 26 (Suppl. 1), 2S-10S).
The Hepatitis C virus is a member of the Flaviviridae family, and the genome of HCV is a single-stranded linear RNA of positive sense (Hepatology, 1997, 26 (Suppl. 1), 11S-14S). HCV displays extensive genetic heterogeneity; at least 6 genotypes and more than 50 subtypes have been identified.
There is no effective vaccine to prevent HCV infection. The only therapy currently available is treatment with interferon-α (INF-α or combination therapy of INF-α with the nucleoside analog ribavirin (Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy, 1997, 8, 281-301). However, only about 40% of treated patients develop a sustained response, so there is a need for more effective anti-HCV therapeutic agents.
The HCV genome contains a number of non-structural proteins: NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B (J. General Virology, 2000, 81, 1631-1648). NS5B is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase which is essential for viral replication, and therefore, the inhibition of NS5B is a suitable target for the development of therapeutic agents.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,830,911; 5,776,967; 4,810,699 and 4,782,076 disclose the use of certain compounds of the general formula below (where R11=H, Y=CH2 and m=1 or an oxygen atom) as analgesics, anti-inflammatories and as inhibitors of COX-2.

These compounds are also used for treating lymphocytic leukemia in WO 2000002555. Certain compounds (where Y=CH2R, m=1 and R11=substituted benzyl) are disclosed as inhibitors of leukotriene synthesis and as prostaglandin antagonists in EP-239306, EP-300676, EP-310179, CA 1299577, EP-468785 and as a medicament for limiting cyclosporin-induced nephrotoxicity in EP307077.
Cyclopentaindole derivatives (where m=0, Y=a bond) are described as useful prostaglandin antagonists in WO200208186. Other compounds (where R11=H, m=1, Y=a bond and R2=H) are described as useful antidepressants in DE-2263682 and as useful anti-diabetics in DE-2226702.
None of these prior art references discloses or suggests the use of carbazole and cyclopentaindole derivatives for the treatment and/or prevention of HCV. As noted above, there is a continuing desire for anti-HCV therapeutic agents.

Carbazole and cyclopentaindole derivatives to treat infection with Hepatitis C virus

Abstract: wherein substitutions at R1-R13, m and Y are set forth in the specification.


An apparatus for driving a drillable drill bit of a drilling assembly and a method of manufacturing of the apparatus for driving the drillable drill bit is provided. The apparatus employs a drilling assembly that includes one of a casing string or a tubular string suspendable in a borehole and a drill pipe housed within one of the casing string or the tubular string. The drillable drill bit is fixed at the bottom of the drill pipe. The drilling assembly further includes a plurality of motors mounted circumferentially on the one of casing string or tubular string, wherein the plurality of motors is attached to wall of the one of casing string or tubular string and are partially outside the one of casing string or tubular string in the borehole, and the plurality of motors are configured to drive the drillable drill bit.

With advancements in the field of oil drilling, liner drilling technologies allow for strongly oriented wells which can achieve efficient results, given sufficient depth and with the proper tools. The liner drilling traditionally includes a large diameter pipe assembled and inserted into a recently drilled section of a borehole. The typical way of drilling includes creation of a well by drilling a hole of approximately 12 cm to 1 meter (5 in to 40 in) in diameter into the earth with a drilling rig that rotates a drill string with a bit attached. After the hole is drilled, sections of steel pipes (casing), slightly smaller in diameter than the borehole (downhole), are placed in the hole. Cement may be placed between the outside of the casing and the borehole known as the annulus.
Most liner drilling is achieved by rotating the casing drill from the rig floor top drive to drive a fixed drill bit at the downhole end of the drill pipe. This method may have numerous limitations as the torque limits of the casing connections are often reached before the desired depth is reached. Occasionally casing/liner drilling is achieved via complex drilling assemblies that deliver power to the drill bit downhole. However, these assemblies are recovered to surface once the well is drilled to the desired depth. This is time consuming and current products are both expensive and unreliable.
Therefore, to overcome above mentioned limitations, there is a need for a drilling assembly that is self-sustained and can achieve greater efficiency in a shorter time span.

Apparatus for drilling an oil well using a downhole powered rotating drill shoe mounted on casing or liner


A method of using a weight holding device includes the steps of positioning the strap behind a bar, wherein the handgrip is positioned opposite the strap-separating component, and the strap is suspended from the handgrip, raising the lowest portion of the strap, bringing the handgrip through the raised portion of the strap, and pulling the handgrip upwards so that the strap tightens around the bar.

Existing weights for an athlete or other person with physical fitness goals, such as dumbbells, weight plates, bars and kettle balls, or exercise apparatuses, such as overhead bars, require a direct grip of the weight by the athlete, thereby presenting a relatively stable force to the athlete. Presentation of a stable force only provides limited challenges, stimuli and recruitment to the athlete's muscles. In addition, an athlete's muscles become accustomed to traditional dumbbell and weight training and when that occurs the muscles are no longer stimulated sufficiently by such training. Furthermore, exercises that are possible with existing weights may become monotonous to an athlete.
It can also be uncomfortable for an athlete to grip existing weights, as the grip required can be stiff and rigid and create undesirable forces on the wrists and other joints of the body.
Therefore a need exists for a weight exercise device that presents an unstable force to a user, thereby integrating additional muscles, providing different challenges, stimuli and recruitment to the user's targeted muscles. There also exists a need for a weight exercise device that reduces the monotony of weight exercises and provides a more comfortable grip that reduces the undesirable forces on the wrists and other joints of the body.
A device constructed according to the principles of the present invention addresses these deficiencies.

Methods of using a weight holding device


An embodiment of the invention may include a method and structure for determining a failure in a guard ring of a chip. The method may include measuring a current frequency of oscillation of a crack check circuit located within a guard ring. The method may include comparing the frequency to a baseline frequency of oscillation of the crack check circuit. The current frequency and baseline frequency may be normalized using a set of bypass lines. The method may include determining there is a failure of the guard ring based on the difference between the normalized frequency of oscillation and the baseline normalized frequency of oscillation.

The present invention relates to microelectronic chip testing, and more specifically, to determining microelectronic chip failure.
Guard rings are used in various places in semiconductor chip design to provide electrical isolation of circuit functions. Guard rings are used to prevent undesirable interaction between devices, circuits, sub-functions, and power domains. The guard ring prevents both current injection and potential perturbations that can lead to parasitic devices, noise, ESD failure, and latchup. Guard rings are placed wherever concerns of parasitic interaction, noise, ESD, or latchup can occur.

International Business Machines Corporation


An industrial robot including a base part, an arm part, and a balancer device connected pivatably to the base part and the arm part to apply a repulsive force resisting a load acting on a pivot shaft due to gravity. The balancer device includes a balancer having a cylinder and a piston rod, end parts of the cylinder and the piston rod being pivatably connected with respect to the arm part and the base part, respectively, a coupling member attached to a support part of the base to support pivotably a balancer end part with respect to the support part, and a fastening part fastening a first end face formed at the coupling member and a second end face formed at the balancer end part to push the piston rod inside the cylinder by a fastening force.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an industrial robot which is provided with a balancer device which generates a force resisting a load due to gravity.
2. Description of the Related Art
In multiarticulated type industrial robots, there has been known an industrial robot, which is provided with a balancer which generates a force in an opposite direction to the direction of the load due to gravity so as to assist power of a servo motor for driving an arm. For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 10-138189A (JP10-138189A) describes a gas spring type of balancer which uses a compressible gas which is sealed inside of a cylinder so as to apply to a piston rod a repulsive force which corresponds to a change in posture of an arm.
In this regard, this type of balancer is attached in a state where the piston rod is pushed into the cylinder by a predetermined amount, so that even if the arm changes in posture, the piston rod will not reach the stroke end. However, when attaching the balancer, it is difficult to push in the piston rod by a predetermined amount against the gas force of the compressible gas.
On the other hand, there has been known a coil spring type of balancer, which interposes a coil spring inside the cylinder and applies a repulsive force generated by the spring force of the coil spring to a piston rod. For example, in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 3142791 (JP3142791B), a through hole is provided in the cylindrical face of a cylinder and a stopper member is protruded inside the cylinder through the through hole. This stopper member is used to hold the coil spring in the compressed state. The balancer is attached in the state with no repulsive force acting on the piston rod. In Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 3673390 (JP3673390B), an opening part is provided in the end wall of a cylinder, a nut is screwed through the opening part onto an end part of a piston rod which is passed through a retainer, and the coil spring is compressed. The balancer is attached in a state without completely screwing in the nut and in a state where no repulsive force acts on the piston rod.
However, since the balancer described in JP3142791B or JP3673390B provides the cylinder with a through hole or opening part, while it can be applied to a coil spring type of balancer, it cannot be applied to a gas spring type of balancer wherein a compressible gas has to be sealed in.

Industrial robot provided with balancer device


Reagents and methods useful for the synthesis of conjugates comprising guanidinylated cyclic acetals are provided. Also provided are methods for increasing the cellular uptake of various therapeutic compounds and treatment modalities using these conjugates.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to bioavailability and delivery of therapeutic molecules and, more specifically, to guandinylated cyclic acetals and conjugation of such modified acetals to therapeutic compounds to increase the cellular uptake of the therapeutic compounds.
2. Background Information
Charged molecules over 500 attomicron typically exhibit poor bioavailability. This limits the delivery of many therapeutically active molecules to their intended targets. Polycationic molecules provide important exceptions to this generalization. Modification of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) with ethylene diamine produces "cationionized BSA", a highly effective antigen carrier. Despite its size (over 66,000 attomicron), cationized BSA efficiently enters cells via an unknown path involving adsorptive uptake. More recently, a number of poly-arginine peptides, peptoids, and peptidomimetics, have been found to exhibit highly efficient uptake into a wide range of mammalian cell types. The conjugation of such poly-Arg peptides to large molecules can facilitate the transduction of peptide, protein, and nucleic acid, conjugates into cells. The mechanism responsible for poly-Arg mediated transport is still unclear, but may involve a receptor mediated, non-endocytotic route.
Thus, an opportunity exists for exploiting such a poly-arginine peptide-like transduction mechanism for efficient uptake of therapeutically active molecules by eukaryotic cells.

Guanidinium derivatives for improved cellular transport

The Regents of the University of California


A developing apparatus for use with a photoreceptor to form a toner image, including a housing to store toner therein; an agitator having a shaft whose length is smaller than the inside dimension of the housing; a gear mechanism to transmit a driving force to the shaft member; and a coupling to couple the gear and the shaft, wherein the coupling is positioned inside the housing.

The present invention relates to a drive transmission means which is attached to a developing unit of an image forming apparatus.
Generally, the developing unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is composed of: a developing unit main body which forms a housing; a first stirring member which stirs toner supplied into the developing unit; a second stirring member which is rotated in the opposite direction to the first stirring member; a supply roller which supplies to a developing sleeve a two component developer in which toner and carrier are fully stirred and mixed by the first and second stirring members; the developing sleeve; a developer thin layer forming means; and a drive transmission mechanism. An electrostatic latent image which is formed on the surface of a photoreceptor adjoining the developing sleeve with a predetermined gap, is given toner conveyed by the developing sleeve so that a toner image can be developed. Rotation of the stirring members, the supply roller and the developing sleeve is transmitted by the drive transmission mechanism section which is attached to a side surface of the developing unit main body.
Conventionally, for example, each stirring member and the supply roller are rotatably supported by bearing sections provided on both side portions in the longitudinal direction of the developing unit main body which forms a housing of the developing unit, and connected with the drive transmission means attached to one side portion of the developing unit main body so that rotation of a drive source can be transmitted.
As described above, when bearing sections of each stirring member and the supply roller are provided on both side portions of the developing unit main body, assembling the stirring members and the supply roller with respect to the developing unit main body is not simple, so that assembly is troublesome.
Further, conventionally, when the developing unit is assembled, the stirring members and the supply roller which are mounted in the developing unit, and the drive transmission member of the drive transmission mechanism are connected so that their mechanical phases match each other, for example.

Developing unit and drive transmission attachment


A binary comparator circuit and a binary data comparison method for reducing a layout area and power consumption and/or increasing comparison speed. The binary data comparison circuit and method receive all N bits of each of a first binary data An−1An−2 . . . A1A0 and a second binary data Bn−1Bn−2 . . . B1B0, and compare the first binary data and the second binary data to determine which of the first binary data and the second binary data is larger according to the following equation:F(A≦B)=A(n−1)′·B(n−1)+(A(n−1)′+B(n−1))·{A(n−2)′·B(n−2)+(A(n−2)′+B(n−2)) . . . {A1′·B1+(A1′+B1)·(A0′+B0)}}where subscripts denote a position of a bit of the N-bit binary data and a prime (′) indicates that a bit is inverted, and outputting a signal corresponding to the comparison result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a comparator circuit, and more particularly, to a comparator circuit implemented in a memory chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a binary comparator circuit is used for receiving two binary numbers or streams (also referred to as "data") and determining which is larger. The simplest form of a binary comparator circuit employs a method of receiving two binary numbers or streams to be compared, comparing the received two binary numbers or streams sequentially from MSB (Most Significant Bit) to LSB (Least Significant Bit), and determining whether one of the two binary numbers or streams is larger than the other based on the result of the comparison.
For example, if a single bit output of a conventional binary comparator circuit is 1, this means that one of two binary data is larger than the other. If a single output of the conventional binary comparator circuit is 0, this means that one of two binary data is not larger than the other. Such a conventional binary comparator circuit has a problem where the comparison speed of the binary comparator circuit decreases in proportion to the number of bits of input data.
A comparator circuit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,142 is directed to a method for receiving two data, calculating all cases simultaneously in which one of the received data may be determined to be larger than the other, and comparing the data to determine whether one of the cases is true. This conventional comparator circuit uses a gate as a fundamental unit and a critical path of the comparator circuit includes three gates. This comparator circuit requires numerous gates to compare two data. As a result, this conventional comparator circuit requires a large layout area and consumes large amount of power.


A hot air torch for the welding of plastic featuring an air flow around and about the inner portions of tubular members which entrains unwanted internally generated heat prior to the welding tip to provide a torch body which is safe to the touch while at the same time providing suitably heated air at the welding tip. Excess accumulated heat is vented overboard in the vicinity of the welding tip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is for a welding torch, and more particularly, pertains to a hot air welding torch for the welding of plastic members which features a handle and an outer tube or barrel which is cool and safe to the touch. An internal airflow carries off heat normally found in a hot air welding torch and vents the excess heat overboard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art hot air welding torches have generally devised ingenious schemes and expedient methods to efficiently deliver hot air to a welding tip suitable for the welding of plastic, but have not addressed the subject of operator safety, especially safety pertaining to accidental touching of the torch in the tubular or barrel area connecting the handle with the welding tip.
The present invention provides a hot air welding torch having an internal air flow which carries away undesirable heat in the tubular or barrel region of the hot air welding torch.

Hot air welding torch with concentric tubular members providing cooling air flow


A task chair is disclosed, including a base, a seat supported by the base, and a pair of uprights connected to the base and extending upwardly from the seat. A pair of armrests are attached respectively to the uprights, and are selectively positionable along the uprights in a manner in which the height of the armrests along the uprights is adjustable. A backrest is also selectively positionable along the uprights, and the height of the backrest with respect to the seat may be adjusted by moving the backrest upwardly or downwardly along the uprights. The armrests and backrest each include mount sleeves telescopingly slidable along the uprights, each of the mount sleeves including a user-operable adjustment mechanism which includes a lever having a portion thereof selectively engagable with one of a series of holes along the uprights. The adjustment mechanisms of the mount sleeves of the armrests and the backrest are easily operated by a user to independently adjust the armrests and the backrest vertically along the uprights.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chairs, such as task chairs of the type which are used in an office or other workplace setting. In particular, the present invention relates to a task chair having adjustable armrests and an adjustable backrest.
2. Description of the Related Art
Task chairs are used for seating users while working in an office or another workplace environment, and include a seat, a backrest, and optionally, a pair of armrests. A base assembly supports the seat, backrest, and armrests, and usually includes one or more adjustment features for adjusting the movement characteristics of the chair, such as seat height, seat depth, seat tilt, or resistance to reclining of the backrest, for example. The armrests may also include adjustment features for adjusting the movement characteristics of the armrests, such as the height of the armrests, and pivotal or lateral movement of the armrests, for example. The base assembly of the chair may include one or more rigid chair legs, such as in a side chair, or alternatively, may include a "spider"-type base assembly including radial arms with casters for rolling movement of the chair along a floor surface.
Problematically, the operation of the manual adjustment features of many known task chairs is often not intuitive to the user, and may require a type of learning process on the part of the user, in which the user first locates the various adjustment controls on the chair, and then figures out how to manipulate the controls to adjust the movement characteristics of the chair. Also, the adjustment controls in many known task chairs are mechanically complex and expensive to manufacture.
Additionally, the backrests of many task chairs are not vertically adjustable, but rather are located in a fixed vertical position relative to the seat. Thus, in many known task chairs, the backrest is not adjustable for users of different height.
What is needed is a task chair which is an improvement over the foregoing.

Chair with adjustable armrests and backrest


A recreational utility trailer having a subfloor and a fold-up top deck creating a storage space therebetween for storing a fabric shelter. The trailer also has movable suspension and hinged tongue for raising the trailer to a transit position and for lowering the trailer to a loading position. The suspension uses fluid cylinders to raise and lower the trailer. A hinged frame supports the fabric shelter when erected, and is storable between the subfloor and top deck. Attachment points may be provided to secure one or more accessories or a load to the trailer.

Ice fishing is a popular sport along with operation of ATV recreational vehicles and snowmobiles, hunting, camping, canoeing and the like. People are finding themselves doing more outdoor activities and many different types of activities throughout the year. Most of the different activities requiring a separate piece of equipment or trailer to transport the activity, especially because of the changing needs in different seasons.
Specialized trailers have been developed for individual activities such as snowmobile trailers, ATV trailers, personal watercraft trailers, and trailers for hauling canoes or small flat bottom boats used for hunting. In the past, portable ice fishing houses have been hauled in pickup trucks or on specially designed trailers that have been developed just for ice houses. Portable camping tents and trailers have been developed along with hunting blinds and finally, there are just plain utility trailers. As a consequence, there have been many different trailers developed for transporting equipment needed to perform these activities. It may also be noted that motorcycle riding has increased in popularity; however not all people desire to ride both directions (or even in one direction, for that matter) to a particular remote event. A trailer is thus needed to transport motorcycles in such a situation.
Space requirement for all of these trailers and equipment becomes a large burden and also cost. Especially space becomes a major factor in metropolitan areas.
A need existed for something to enable people to enjoy all these activities if they so desire without having to purchase or store all these different trailers. Heretofore nothing existed that could perform all these functions. Thus this invention allows people to enjoy more different types of activities without the expense or space needed to store all the different types of such trailers.
The present invention is a trailer that provides a portable structure useful for ice fishing, camping, and or hunting while at the same time providing for improved transportation of recreational vehicles and other equipment for such outdoor activities and the like.
A number of different types of activities can be performed with only one trailer which has options suitable for adapting the trailer to different outdoor activities. In addition the structure associated with the trailer is designed to collapse and store in a space provide in the trailer for storage.

Aurora Borealis Sales & Distributing, Inc.


A cooling apparatus includes a plurality of discrete modules and a plastic housing. Each module includes a semiconductor die encapsulated by a mold compound, a plurality of leads electrically connected to the semiconductor die and protruding out of the mold compound and a first cooling plate at least partly uncovered by the mold compound. The plastic housing surrounds the periphery of each module to form a multi-die module. The plastic housing includes a first singular plastic part which receives the modules and a second singular plastic part attached to a periphery of the first plastic part. The second plastic part has cutouts which expose the first cooling plates and a sealing structure containing a sealing material which forms a water-tight seal around the periphery of each module at a side of the modules with the first cooling plates.

Power modules with double-side cooling significantly improve the thermal performance of the package by reducing thermal resistance, and thereby increasing the power density of the entire system. However, power modules with double-sided cooling present a challenge with regard to integrating a heat-sink with the module. The design of the cooler often is a critical issue in achieving the highest possible performance. For example, the cooling fluid should be distributed in two different channels above and below the power modules included in the package to increase the thermal performance of the package. Also, the entire system must be watertight. The heat sink should be robust, low-cost and lightweight.
Conventional double-sided module cooling technologies require additional parts such as O-rings and bolts or screws to achieve a water-tight system. Conventional aluminum coolers also use thicker aluminum blocks. Still further components are typically needed to achieve a watertight heat-sink and bi-directional coolant distribution. These additional parts increase the system weight and cost and still present a real risk of fluid leakage. Furthermore, the need for many assembly steps increases production cost.

Plastic cooler for semiconductor modules


According to some implementations of the present disclosure, a method for controlling an autonomous vehicle is disclosed. The method includes traversing the transportation network in accordance with a route and receiving vehicle sensor data from one or more vehicle sensors of the autonomous vehicle. The method also includes determining that the autonomous vehicle has encountered an occlusion scenario based on the vehicle sensor data. In response to determining that the autonomous vehicle has encountered the occlusion scenario, the method includes transmitting a request for infrastructure data to an external resource via a communication network, receiving infrastructure data from the external resource, determining a control action for the autonomous vehicle to perform based on the infrastructure data and the vehicle sensor data, and controlling the autonomous vehicle based on the control action.

In the field of autonomous vehicle control, an autonomous vehicle relies on vehicle sensor data (or "vehicle data") collected by the vehicle to determine a control action. Typically, an autonomous vehicle identifies a control action using the vehicle data as input to a decision-making module (e.g., a machine-learned model or a rule-based engine). The vehicle data is typically reliable, as an autonomous vehicle may have many different types of sensors (e.g., video cameras, radar sensors, and/or LIDAR sensors) to determine whether there are any obstacles and/or moving objects in the immediate route of the autonomous vehicle. An issue that arises, however, is when there may be one or more objects that occlude the sensory reach or "field of view" of the autonomous vehicle, where the sensory reach or "field of view" of the autonomous vehicle refers to an area proximate to the autonomous vehicle that the autonomous vehicle can sense via one or more of its sensors.

Transportation network infrastructure for autonomous vehicle decision making


A metallization can be used for components working with acoustic waves. The metallization includes a base having a bottom layer comprising titanium, and an upper layer comprising copper. A top layer of the metallization disposed on the base comprises aluminum.

Metallizations for components operating with acoustic waves, from which, by way of example, busbars, electrode fingers connected to the busbars or reflector structures are formed on a piezoelectric substrate, should preferably be designed to have particularly high power durability.
Bulk acoustic waves (BAW) or surface acoustic waves (SAW) propagate within a solid or at the surface thereof; their frequencies are in the GHz range.
The current-carrying (electrode) structures, which convert electrical radiofrequency signals into acoustic waves or conversely acoustic waves into electrical radiofrequency signals, therefore have to withstand firstly the electric currents and secondly the mechanical deformation as a result of the acoustic waves, without incurring damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,605,524 B2 discloses electrode structures for components operating with surface acoustic waves (SAW). In one embodiment, an electrode structure is arranged on monocrystalline lithium tantalate or lithium niobate. The electrode structure comprises a first layer composed of titanium. A second layer deposited thereon comprises aluminum. The second layer comprises two <1 1 1> domains. Methods for producing the electrode layers concern the epitaxial growth of the layer comprising aluminum. A highly textured layer comprising aluminum has good, i.e., high, electrical conductivity values and a high power durability.
The growth of a layer deposited on a substrate is called epitaxial if the alignment of the atoms of the layer is oriented to the alignment of the atoms of the substrate. One general problem in the case of epitaxial growth consists in providing a suitable surface. This is because the constitution of the surface of the substrate—as interface between substrate and layer—crucially influences the order of the atoms of the deposited layer. Therefore, substrates are usually pretreated by heat treatment or by incipient etching. Between the pretreatment and the actual deposition process, the surface of the substrate must no longer be contaminated with impurities.
The use of the lift-off technique when depositing electrode structures onto substrates is problematic if a particularly "clean" substrate surface is of importance. This is because, in the first step, a resist layer is applied to the possibly pretreated substrate surface. In further method steps, said resist layer is then partly exposed and the exposed regions are removed in a further process step. At the formerly exposed locations, the substrate surface is now uncovered again. However, this surface in the meantime has had contact both with the resist layer and with the solvent that removed the exposed resist layer. The substrate surface is therefore contaminated.
Epitaxial growth of electrode layers by means of the lift-off technique appeared hitherto to be possible only with great difficulty.
Another method, the so-called etching method, is based on the electrode material being applied to the possibly pretreated substrate surface over a large area and the electrode structures being obtained by etching away the undesirable covering regions of the electrode material: superfluous electrode material is removed.

Metallization having high power compatibility and high electrical conductivity


A cable with a waterproof plug includes a cable including a wire and an insulating coating covering the outer circumferential surface of the wire, and a waterproof plug made of an elastic material. The waterproof plug is formed integrally with the cable so as to cover the outer circumferential surface of the insulating coating in an annular region along the length of the cable. The waterproof plug is united to the cable with an adhesive component. By connecting a terminal to the cable at a position nearer to one end of the cable than the portion where the waterproof plug is formed, a connector cable with a waterproof plug is obtained. The cable may be substantially circular in cross section or substantially rectangular in cross section, such as an FFC or FPC.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable with a waterproof plug, a connector cable with a waterproof plug, a manufacturing method of a cable with a waterproof plug, and a connection structure between a cable with a waterproof plug and a terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
Connectors used in cars, portable devices, etc., are required to be waterproof for preventing water or the like from entering to cause a short circuit.
Cables used for connectors are generally classified into cables substantially circular in cross section and cables substantially rectangular in cross section such as flexible flat cables (FFCs) and flexible printed circuits (FPCs). The former and the latter differ in manner of being attached to connector housings.
In case of cables substantially circular in cross section, in general, a terminal is connected to one end of a cable and the terminal is inserted into a terminal receiving chamber formed in a connector housing. To give waterproofness to such a cable, for example, JP-A-7-245149 discloses a technique in which a waterproof plug is interposed between the cable and a terminal. In this technique, the waterproof plug has a crimp connection portion at its one end and a seal portion at its other end. After the waterproof plug is fitted on one end portion of the cable, one end of the terminal is wound on the outer circumferential surface of the connection portion of the waterproof plug and then the one end of the terminal is crimped. The connection portion of the waterproof plug is thereby also crimped with the one end of the terminal, so that three of the cable, waterproof plug, and terminal are fixed to one another. In this state, the terminal is inserted from its other end into a terminal receiving chamber of a connector housing. The outer circumferential surface of the seal portion of the waterproof plug is brought into close contact with the inner surface of the wall of the terminal receiving chamber so that water or the like can be prevented from entering the terminal receiving chamber.
In the above-described technique, however, the connection portion of the waterproof plug must have a sufficiently large thickness in order not to be broken when being crimped. Further, the seal portion of the waterproof plug has its outer diameter larger than that of the connection portion. In case of a connector provided with cables each having such a waterproof plug, therefore, the cables must be arranged at relatively wide intervals. This makes it difficult to attempt a decrease in size of such a connector.
Further, in the above-described technique, the cable and the waterproof plug are not fixed to each other before being crimped. They are fixed to each other by crimping. Thus, the waterproof plug may shift from its predetermined position when being crimped. This causes a problem of bad positional accuracy of such a waterproof plug.
Furthermore, in the above-described technique, one end of the terminal is made into a form that can be wound on the outer circumferential surface of the waterproof plug. However, if the cable has no need of waterproofness, that is, if no waterproof plug is used, a terminal must be used whose one end is made into another form, for example, that can be wound on the outer circumferential surface of the cable. Thus, terminals having different shapes must be prepared for cases of requiring waterproofness and not requiring waterproofness. This causes a problem of an increase in cost.
On the other hand, in case of cables substantially rectangular in cross section such as FFCs and FPCs, in general, a cable itself is inserted into a connector housing with using no terminal. To give waterproofness to such a connector structure, a technique is known in which a gelatinous sealing agent is interposed between the cable and the inner surface of the connector housing. However, such a gelatinous sealing agent can not be reused after the cable is detached from the connector housing. Thus, a fresh sealing agent must be used every time when the cable is attached to the connector housing. This causes an increase in cost.

Cable with waterproof plug, connector cable with waterproof plug, manufacturing method of cable with waterproof plug, and connection structure between cable with waterproof plug and terminal


A control system for the ignition system of an internal combustion engine for providing faster idle speed when the engine is at a low temperature by advancing the spark timing. A first temperature sensor which senses actual temperature is mounted in the engine ignition control circuit which is, in turn, mounted in proximity to the engine so as to approximate its temperature. A on/off temperature switch is mounted directly in the engine so as to sense when engine temperature is above a predetermined value. The system is operative to provide ignition control by the actual engine temperature unless the second on/off switch is turned on to indicate that the engine temperature has not returned ambient temperature after a running period. If the engine temperature switch is on, normal ignition timing is employed.

This invention relates to an operational control system for an engine and more particularly to an improved temperature responsive arrangement for controlling an engine and particularly its ignition system.
There are many instances in the control of an engine wherein the engine operating temperature is one of the control parameters. For example, it has been proposed to control the idle speed of an engine in response to temperature so that the engine will be set to run faster at low engine temperatures than once the engine warms up. One way in which this speed increase is accomplished, is by advancing the timing of the spark firing when engine temperatures are low.
It has been the practice to position a temperature sensor in a portion of the engine so as to sense its temperature and provide an output signal indicative of actual temperature. Such temperature sensors may be mounted in either the cylinder block or cylinder head of the engine and generally project into the engine cooling jacket, if the engine is liquid cooled, so as to provide an accurate indication of temperature. Although this method of temperature sensing is quite accurate and representative of actual engine temperature, there are some disadvantages with this type of arrangement.
In many engine applications it is very difficult to provide the space required for the temperature sensor, particularly if the temperature sensor is to be mounted in a location where it will provide an accurate indication of temperature. In addition, if the temperature sensor provides a signal for controlling the ignition system, the length of the wires leading from the temperature sensor to the ignition system and the attendant electrical connections can give rise to problems in insuring that an adequate and correct signal is transmitted.
It has, therefore, been proposed to provide a temperature sensor that is mounted directly in the ignition circuit with the ignition circuit being mounted on the engine so as to provide temperature control and the existence of a temperature that is related to the engine temperature at the temperature sensor. This type of arrangement avoids the disadvantages as aforenoted, but itself has certain problems.
Although the mounting of the temperature sensor in the ignition circuit has the advantages aforenoted, the temperature sensor actually provides an accurate indication of engine temperature only when the engine and ignition circuit have both cooled to ambient temperature. If, however, the engine has been running for a period of time and then is shut off, the temperature sensor will cool more rapidly than the engine due to its greater mass and internal heat. Thus, if the engine is restarted after a short delay, the temperature sensor will sense a lower temperature than the actual engine temperature and the control will be inaccurate. When the temperature sensor is used to provide an increase in engine speed and/or spark advance for faster cold warm up, this will mean that the engine, which is at or close to its operating temperature, will be run at too high a rate of speed and at too much spark advance.
It is, therefore, a principal object to this invention to provide an improved arrangement for providing running control for an engine.
It is a further object to this invention to provide an improved temperature sensing device and control system for an internal combustion engine.
It is a yet further object to this invention to provide an improved and simplified arrangement for controlling an engine in response to temperature that will be accurate under all conditions.


A non-flammable refrigerant mixture is disclosed. The non-flammable refrigerant mixture may include from 20 weight percent to 25.5 weight percent HFO-1234yf, (b) from 20 weight percent to 24.5 weight percent HFC-32, (c) from 24.5 weight percent to 30 weight percent HFC-125, (d) from 25.5 weight percent to 30 weight percent HFC-134a, and optionally (e) from about 0.0001 weight percent to 10 weight percent trans-HFO-1234ze. These refrigerant mixtures are useful as components in compositions also containing non-refrigerant components (e.g., lubricants), in processes to produce cooling, in methods for replacing refrigerants R-404A, R-507, R-407A, R-407C, R-407F and/or R-22, and in refrigeration apparatuses.

The refrigeration industry has been working for the past few decades to find replacement refrigerants for existing refrigerants including ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). These existing refrigerants are being phased out as a result of the Montreal Protocol. The solution for most refrigerant producers has been the commercialization of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. Some new HFC refrigerants have zero ozone depletion potential and are therefore not currently subject to the Montreal Protocol phase-out.
Further environmental regulations, however, may ultimately cause global phase out of some of these HFC refrigerants due to their global warming potential (GWP). Currently, industry is facing regulations relating to GWPs for refrigerants used in mobile air-conditioning systems. If the regulations are more broadly applied in the future, for instance to stationary air conditioning and refrigeration systems, an even greater need will be felt for refrigerants that can be used in all areas of the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry. Uncertainty as to the ultimate regulatory requirements relative to GWP has forced the industry to consider multiple candidate compounds and mixtures.
Previously-proposed replacement refrigerants for HFC refrigerants and refrigerant blends include HFC-152a, pure hydrocarbons, such as butane or propane, or "natural" refrigerants, such as CO2. Each of these suggested replacements is associated with numerous problems, including toxicity, flammability, and low energy efficiency, and may further require major equipment design modifications. New replacements are also being proposed for the refrigerants R-22, R-134a, R-404A, R-507, R-407A, R-407C, R-407F, and R-410A, among others. The uncertainty regarding future GWP regulatory requirements has caused the industry to look for compounds and mixtures that balance the need for low GWP and non-flammability, as well as the need to match existing system performance parameters.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Refrigerant mixtures comprising tetrafluoropropene, difluoromethane, pentafluoroethane, and tetrafluoroethane, and uses thereof


The invention provides a perforation cutting rule for a rotary cutting machine and method of operating the same. The cutting rule has a length, height and thickness and includes a plurality of dovetail-shaped gaps formed along a longitudinal edge to define a plurality of dovetail-shaped cutting teeth. Each tooth includes an outer cutting end and an inner base end, the outer cutting end having a length greater than an inner base end. As the cutting end cuts through multiple sheets the angled sides of the dovetail-shaped teeth provide a relief area to prevent the sheets from bunching or pulling against the teeth during the cutting operation.

The invention relates generally to cutting rules that are used with rotary cutters for perforating web or sheet material. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved perforation cutting rule having a tapered or dovetail-shaped tooth design, and method of operating the same to cut perforations in a moving multiple layered web.

Perforation rule for rotary cutting system


Software for building a block diagram representation of a system includes instructions for defining a propagation block having an input port for receiving information indicative of an attribute set of an input signal and an output port for providing information indicative of an attribute set of an output signal on the basis of the attributes of the input signal. The software includes instructions for associating, with the propagation block, a rule-set for determining the output attribute set on the basis of the input attribute-set.

Before a computer can simulate the behavior of a system, a model of that system must be built. In many cases, a system can be described by one or more constituent elements connected together so that outputs of one element become inputs of other elements. Each such system element can be characterized by a transfer function. Such a system is often represented as a block diagram in which each system element corresponds to one of the blocks in the block diagram.
Software intended for computer simulation of systems often provides a user-interface for enabling users to define blocks representative of the constituent elements of the system. At a purely abstract level, the definition of a particular block is no more than the definition of the transfer function of the system element that that block represents. However, at the implementation level, there are many computational details to consider.
For example, to optimize performance, a system designer must consider what data types (fixed or floating point, arrays or scalars) are to be used in representing input and output signals of the block. Having done so, a designer must consider the number of bits to use for each input and output and the scaling to be applied to map a sequence of bits into a number that represents some value in a range of values. Each input or output signal of a block can thus be thought of as having two different parts: a value, and a set of attributes for representing that value. Two such attributes, already described above, are data-type and scaling attributes.
In most cases, a user can easily make the value of a block's output signals (hereafter referred to as "outputs") depend on the values of its input signals (hereafter referred to as "inputs"). This permits a change in an input's value to propagate automatically throughout the system. However, it is not so easy for a user to cause the attributes of a block's output to depend on the attributes of its inputs. As a result, in most cases, a change in an input attribute does not propagate automatically throughout the system.


Disclosed are methods and apparatuses for viewing hierarchical data. One disclosed approach provides a method and system for viewing and navigating through hierarchical data while maintaining a hierarchical context that allows for the user to traverse up and down the hierarchy.

In many data systems, data records are displayed to users using a grid or other type of flat data structure. A grid has the advantage of being able to display large numbers of records at once. Records in a grid may be sorted by column (e.g., name, ID number, amount) to allow for easier analysis of the data.
However, there are a number of disadvantages to displaying data in a grid that occur when the data is hierarchical in form. Hierarchal data may comprise any data with parent/child relationships, such as a list of accounts having a parent/child structure. When displaying large volumes of hierarchical data in a grid, it can be difficult for a user to analyze and make use of the displayed data. Traditionally this can be mitigated by allowing the data to be filtered, reducing the amount of data displayed and isolating levels in the hierarchy that the user wishes to view. Unfortunately, this also obscures any hierarchical relationship between the levels. This problem is further exacerbated by large record sets, as it becomes difficult to view portions of any given level in the hierarchy at one time or to isolate child records of particular parent records.
Therefore, there is a need for a system for displaying hierarchical data that allows users to traverse the levels of the hierarch while maintaining the relationships between levels.

Viewing hierarchical data using a grid format


In some embodiments, a method receives a packet for a flow from a first application in a first workload to a second application in a second workload. The packet includes an inner header that includes layer 4 information for the first application. The method determines if a setting indicates an outer source port in an outer header should be generated using layer 4 information from the inner header. The setting is based on an analysis of packet types in the flow to determine if fragmented packets are sent. When the setting indicates the outer source port in the outer header should be generated using layer 4 information from the inner header, the method generates the outer source port using the layer 4 information for the first application from the inner header. The packet is encapsulated using the outer header, wherein the outer header includes the outer source port.

Virtual networks may use an underlying physical network as a packet forwarding back plane. For example, a first workload running in a first host may send a packet to a second workload running in a second host. The packet may include an inner source IP address for the first workload and an inner destination IP address for the second workload. The first host may encapsulate the packet with an outer header that includes an outer source IP address associated with a source hypervisor in the first host and an outer destination IP address associated with a destination hypervisor in the second host. Typically, the source IP address and the destination IP address are associated with virtual tunnel endpoints (VTEPs), which may be a hypervisor-based logical functionality that may perform the encapsulation. The first host then sends the encapsulated packet to the underlay physical network, which delivers the packet to the destination hypervisor in the second host based on the outer source IP address. The destination hypervisor removes the outer header, and a local virtual switch instance delivers the packet to the second workload using an inner destination IP address.
Different processes, such as load balancing processes, typically use information in the outer header to differentiate flows to perform services, such as load balancing, equal cost multi-path routing (ECMP), and other services. In some embodiments, the processes use a 5-tuple of <inner source IP address, inner destination IP address, IP next protocol, inner source port, destination source port>. When using encapsulation, multiple flows that are encapsulated by the two VTEP endpoints include the same outer source IP address and outer destination IP address when the flows originate and end at the same workloads. The destination port in the outer header may be a well-known port that is used by tunneling technologies, such as "4789" for Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) or "6081" for Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation (Geneve). Accordingly, the source port in the outer header may be used to introduce differences in the packets being sent in two flows. For some layer 4 protocols, when inner packets are fragmented, the first inner packet of the resulting fragmented packets include layer 4 information, but the rest of the fragmented packets include only layer 3 information. When a protocol of this type is encountered, hosts typically only use layer 3 information from the inner packet to determine an outer source port header. User datagram protocol (UDP) is an example of a protocol that includes only layer 3 information in fragmented packets after the first fragmented packet. When a first flow is between a first application in the first host and another application in the second host and a second flow is between a second application in the first host and another application in the second host, the inner IP address of the packets of the two flows are the same (e.g., the first workload's IP address and the second workload's IP address are the same for both flows). When the first host uses only layer 3 information of the source IP address and the destination IP address of the inner header to generate the source port for the outer header, this results in the two flows having the same outer source port. That is, the IP address of the source workload and the destination workload are the same for both flows even though different applications are associated with the flows. Accordingly, the services may consider the packets for the flows the same because the outer headers are the same for both flows. As such, the services may apply the same treatment for the flows, such as assigning the flows to the same physical servers, queues, computer processors, etc.

Multi-path traffic selection for ports in overlay networks


A water displacement block for a beverage brewer, mounted on a pivot and connecting rods and suspended immediately over a hot water tank and which, at a specific time in the brewing cycle, is lowered into the tank, thus causing water to overflow so as to dispense the correct amount of hot water into the brewing machine. Next to the hot water dispensing tank a secondary water tank is mounted which is connected to a water pump driven by the same motor which drives the beverage brewer. During a single cycle, the pump will discharge the same amount of water into the hot water tank as was dispensed when the water displacement block was lowered into the tank. The cold water entering the system is pre-heated because it passes downwardly and under a partition in the tank adjacent the hot water is the discharge portion of the tank.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a hot water supply apparatus for a beverage brewing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Beverage brewing machines such as coffee machines require a supply of hot water so as to brew the beverage. A number of water supplying apparatuses are known in the prior art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,786,408, 4,922,809, 4,133,354, 4,713,253, 4,713,526, 4,632,023, 4,967,647, 4,791,859, 4,903,586 and 5,346,098.

Water dispensing system for a brewing machine


A cold water infusion apparatus and method for brewing iced tea and similar beverages includes a vessel, having a removable lid, for containing the water and a tabular guideway supported from the lid and extending into the water. A string having an infusion pouch at one end and a tag at the other end is selectively engaged in the guideway. A lower edge of the guideway retains the pouch in a submerged position within the water. A dispenser attached to the guideway, is fillable with a granulated sweetener, and is simultaneously submergable with the pouch for dissolving the sweetener in the water.

Almost two billion gallons of iced tea are consumed annually in the United States. Two brewing methods are commonly used (as described in The New York Times, Jun. 10, 1992).
The "traditional method" requires bringing cold water to rolling boil, and steeping with tea bags for 5-10 minutes. The hot tea is then poured over ice.
The "cool water method" requires placing teabags in a pitcher with cold water, refrigerating, and letting stand five hours.
One herbal tea manufacturer currently publicizes a teabag capable of producing tea in under 2 hours, using the cool water method.
Both methods present disadvantages. In the "traditional method", the entire operation is relatively quick, between 15 and 20 minutes. However, it is laborious, requiring transfer of liquid from faucet to teakettle to pitcher.
Furthermore, it is energy consumptive. Energy is expended to boil the water, and more energy is expended to cool the tea back from boiling, using ice cubes produced by refrigeration. Energy conservation is a significant concern in the United States today. Furthermore, from a strictly economic point of view, the user pays for the fuel and electricity required to successively heat and cool the beverage.
The "cool water method" overcomes these disadvantages, but the procedure takes five hours. This time duration is required primarily because tea bags tend to float to the surface of the water in which they are initially immersed, a configuration not conductive to diffusion.
The present invention, by permitting relatively rapid brewing in cool water, overcomes the disadvantages of each of the foregoing methods. It eliminates the need for successive heating and cooling, and the relatively rapid brewing process is more practical than the "cool water method."
Additionally, the present invention eliminates adulteration of the beverage from contact with the immersed paper tag or staple generally located at the terminus of the suspension string of commercially available tea bags.
Further, the present invention provides for simultaneous, gradual introduction of granulated sweetener, eliminating the stirring which would otherwise be necessary to prevent the undesirable accumulation of granulated sweetener on the bottom of the vessel.
Various devices have been disclosed for use in preparing an infusible beverage, particularly coffee and tea.
The use of a string suspended porous pouch for beverage infusion within a closed container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,976,091 (Pritchett) and 2,995,998 (Howland). U.S. Pat. No. 1,976,091 (Pritchett) discloses a string suspended porous pouch. U.S. Pat. No. 2,995,998 (Howland) is a straightforward use of the tea bag, in a disposable device suitable for hot water brewing, but not for cold water brewing.
The general concept of making cold water infusions was recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,437 (Nelson). This reference discloses an infusion apparatus having a water pervious, flexible inner bag filled with ground coffee which is centered within a water impervious outer bag by projections, which prevent the inner bag from floating upward.
Both U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,481 (Donarumma) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,252 (Liu, et al.) disclose methods for production of a single cup beverage using devices which provide increased mass transfer and extraction efficiency. Unlike these patents the present invention is suitable for production of several quarts of beverage, is not dependent upon agitation (rotation or dunking) by the user, nor is it dependent upon a custom fabricated porous pouch, but is intended for use with standard commercially available tea bags.
The present invention differs from the foregoing art in that it does not require a customized porous pouch, but rather features a system for positively positioning the commercially available string suspended tea bag. Further, unlike the foregoing art, the present invention permits the simultaneous introduction of granulated sweetener while infusion is proceeding.

Apparatus and method for cold water infusion of beverage and sweetener


A fermentation process includes contacting a carbohydrate source with a microorganism in an aqueous fermentation broth to form a fermentation product which is a salt or a product with a boiling point above the boiling point of water. The fermentation process is carried out at a pressure which is below atmospheric pressure and at least at the value where the reaction medium is at its boiling point at the fermentation temperature. Water is evaporated and removed from the reactor during the fermentation in an amount which is at least 20% of the volume of liquid present in the reactor at the start of the fermentation. A fermentation process at reduced pressure while removing a substantial amount of water removes a surplus of water in the system, ensures removal of reaction heat, and may lead to improved fermentation quality.

The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Fermentation processes are well known in the art. They are used to manufacture a number of different components such as acids, including lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and succinic acid, alcohols, such as ethanol, propanol, butanol, and erythritol, and numerous other components of biological origin such as vitamins.
In the art, there is a continuous need for improved fermentation processes.

Fermentation process at reduced pressure


The meta-data pattern for records in an orphan track is not readily compressible into a form suitable for maintaining in memory. A method is provided for periodically attempting to compress meta-data from orphan tracks as newly compressible meta-data patterns are made available. The method includes specifying a compressed representation for a first meta-data pattern and determining a second meta-data pattern formed by the meta-data associated with the orphan track. If the second meta-data pattern is consistent with the first meta-data pattern, a compressed representation of the second meta-data pattern is generated and maintained in memory. In an optional feature, meta-data that could not be compressed is collected and periodically transmitted to a data-analysis node for analysis.

This invention relates to data-storage systems, and in particular, to reducing the number of orphan tracks on a disk.
In a typical data-storage system, the process of retrieving data from a disk in response to a user""s request includes several distinct steps. First, the data-storage system identifies the location of the record containing the data sought by the user. Then, the data-storage system sets aside a portion of memory to receive the data. Only then does the data-storage system actually fetch the data itself.
In order to locate the data and set aside a portion of memory to receive it, the data-storage system must know the nature of the data sought by the user without actually having read the data itself. This is achieved by associating with each record a set of meta-data that describes certain characteristics of that record. This meta-data is typically stored on the disk, as part of the data record that it describes. Upon receiving a request from the user, the data-storage system reads this meta-data before reading the actual data.
Because the meta-data is stored on the disk, a request for data requires two separate disk accesses: a first disk access to read the meta-data, followed shortly by a second disk access to read the data itself. Because it requires movement of mechanical parts, each disk access operation introduces considerable delay. It is therefore undesirable to access the disk more often that necessary.
One method for reducing the delay is to eliminate the first read access by storing the meta-data in memory. In a modern data-storage systems, however, the number of records has become so large that it is no longer practical to maintain copies of all meta-data in memory. Doing so would leave little or no memory available for users.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,655, entitled Digital Data Storage Subsystem Including Directory for Efficiently Providing Formatting Information for Stored Records teaches a data-storage system in which records are organized into tracks on a disk. To the extent that the records in a track share a common record format, the meta-data for all the records in that track can be represented in a compressed form. This compressed meta-data can then be maintained in memory without severely diminishing the amount of memory available to users. Although the compressed meta-data must still be decompressed into meta-data before it is available for use, the decompression carried out entirely in memory is much faster than retrieval of meta-data directly from a disk.
The foregoing application defines a finite number of format families. Each format family represents a pattern of records on a track. If the records in a track are laid out in a pattern that corresponds to one of these format families, then the meta-data for all records on that track can be reconstructed by storing only the format family for that track and a few additional parameters which vary from one format family to the next.
In practice, most tracks on a disk have records that are laid out in a pattern corresponding to one of the several defined format families. Nevertheless, there exist tracks in which some or all of the records are laid out in a pattern that does not correspond to any known format family. Such tracks are referred to as xe2x80x9corphan tracks.xe2x80x9d
In an orphan track, the meta-data for at least some of the records on the track is not readily compressible. As a result, the meta-data for those records is consigned to remaining on the disk. Access to those records on the orphan track is thus hampered by the need to perform two separate disk accesses: one to retrieve the meta-data and then another to retrieve the actual data requested by the user. For this reason, it is desirable to reduce the number of orphan tracks and the extent to which those orphan tracks include records whose meta-data patterns cannot be represented in compressed form.
The invention provides for periodically attempting to compress meta-data for records on an orphan track as new format families are added. If the compression is successful, the compressed representation of the meta-data for that track is maintained in memory. As a result, the orphan track loses its orphancy status and all records on that track become as easily accessible as the records on any other track for which the compressed meta-data is fully available in memory.
The invention includes a method for reducing latency associated with accessing a desired record from an orphan track by specifying a compressed representation for a first meta-data pattern. This first meta-data pattern corresponds to a newly-added format family. A second meta-data pattern, which is associated with the orphan track, is then inspected to see if it is consistent with the first meta-data pattern. If it is, then the orphan track belongs to the newly-added format family. A compressed representation of the second meta-data pattern is then generated and maintained in memory.
When the orphan track is found not to belong to the newly-added format family as defined by the first meta-data pattern, the invention optionally includes saving the meta-data associated with the orphan track in an orphan table in memory. The meta-data saved in the orphan table is then periodically analyzed in an effort to identify new patterns of meta-data formats susceptible to compression.
Analysis of the meta-data collected in the orphan table can take place locally. However, such analysis is more likely to be fruitful when orphan tables from a plurality of data-storage systems is transmitted to a data-analysis node for analysis.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, suitable methods are described below. All patent applications and patents mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the examples described herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying figures, in which: