A compact position sensor with high operational reliability is provided. This sensor has a tubular detection coil, a magnetic core movable in the detection coil, a drive circuit for the detection coil, a signal processing circuit for converting a change in impedance of the detection coil into an electric signal, and a guide means for guiding a movement of the magnetic core in the detection coil. The guide means has a guide portion connected to the magnetic core and a support portion for slidably supporting the guide portion. The magnetic core can be smoothly displaced in the detection coil without contacting an inner surface of the detection coil by a sliding movement of the guide portion relative to the support portion.

A position sensor, which has the capability of outputting an electrical signal according to a change in impedance of a tubular detection coil caused by a physical displacement of a magnetic core in the detection coil, has been utilized for measurement and control in many technical fields such as internal combustion and electric power facility. In this kind of position sensor, it is not difficult to imagine that a change in impedance of the detection coil resulting from an external factor other than the displacement of the magnetic core becomes a cause of deteriorating the detection accuracy. For example, during the displacement of the magnetic core made of a magnetic metal material such as ferrite in the detection coil, when the magnetic core comes into contact with an inner peripheral surface of the detection coil, and receives an external force such as stress or strain, a change in magnetic permeability of the magnetic core occurs. This phenomenon is generally known as the Villari effect. Since such a change in magnetic permeability leads to variations in detection accuracy, a countermeasure for preventing that the magnetic core receives the stress or strain is important to ensure the operation reliability of the position sensor.
For example, in a differential transformer position sensor disclosed in Japanese Patent Early publication No. 2002-90106, it is proposed that a magnetic core is coaxially disposed in a metal cylinder formed by a stainless steel pipe, and a resin material is filled as a buffer member in a clearance between an outer peripheral surface of the magnetic core and the metal cylinder. In this case, the strength of the magnetic core as a whole can be increased by the presence of the metal cylinder between the magnetic core and the detection coil. However, as the distance between the inner peripheral surface of the detection coil and the magnetic core increases, a ratio of magnetic fluxes reaching the magnetic core relative to the magnetic fluxes generated from the detection coil decreases, so that a deterioration in sensitivity of the position senor may occur. In addition, since the diameter size of the magnetic core increases, it is needed to make a suitable design change to the magnetic coil. Furthermore, there is another problem of reducing a rising amount of output sensitivity relative to an insertion amount of the magnetic core into the detection coil.

Position sensor having tubular detection coil


The present invention relates to a method for preparing polymer composites. The method includes providing a mixture of concentrated emulsions and polymerizing the mixture of concentrated emulsions under conditions effective to form a polymer composite. The mixture of concentrated emulsions includes either a divinyl-terminated macromonomer and a first partially polymerized concentrated emulsion of a first monomer or a first partially copolymerized concentrated emulsion of a divinyl-terminated macromonomer and a first monomer. The mixture of concentrated emulsions further includes either a second partially polymerized concentrated emulsion of a second monomer or a second partially copolymerized concentrated emulsion of a divinyl-terminated macromonomer and a second monomer. Using the methods of the present invention, polymer blends and/or polymer networks containing compatibilizers can be produced. Since the polymers which are blended and the compatibilizers are generated simultaneously in situ, the methods of the present invention, compared to conventional melt-mixing techniques, are simpler and more flexible and produce compatibilized blends having improved mechanical and optical properties.

New polymeric materials can be developed by combining monomers, polymers, or both monomers and polymers with different chemical structures by copolymerization, grafting, or blending. For a random copolymer, the mechanical properties are usually near or below the weight average of the individual homopolymers. In contrast, for a polymer blend, each constituent may retain some of the features of its own structure, but, most importantly, a synergism in mechanical properties can be achieved (Utracki, Inter. Polym. Proc., 2:3 (1987) and Keskkula et al., "Toughening Agents for Engineering Polymers", in Collyer, ed., Rubber Toughened Engineering Plastics, New York:Chapman & Hall, p.136 (1994)). For instance, a stiff component can be toughened by blending it with flexible components (Xanthos et al., Polym. Eng. Sci., 31:929 (1991) and Xanthos, Polym. Eng. Sci., 28:1392 (1988)). However, in the preparation of a blend from incompatible polymers, the problem of incompatibility frequently arises, and, as a result, the mechanical properties of the blend often catastrophically fall below those of the homopolymers. A large number of attempts have been made to improve the compatibility of blends, either by generating specific interactions or chemical reactions between different components or by the addition of a compatibilizer (Barlow et al., Polym. Eng. Sci., 24:525 (1984); Xi et al., Polym. Eng. Sci., 27:391 (1987); and Fayt et al., Polym. Eng. Sci., 27:328(1987)). The preparation and compatibilization of polymer blends generally involve melt-mixing, usually in an extruder Tzoganakis Adv. Polym. Technol., 9:321 (1989)). However, if special functional groups are absent in the components, no specific interactions or chemical reactions can occur, and, consequently, compatabilization cannot be achieved. In addition, the preparation of compatibilizers, usually di-block copolymers, is, in general, sophisticated and expensive.
For these reasons, an alternative approach to the formation and compatibilization of blends of immiscible polymers is needed. The present invention is directed to meeting this need.

The Research Foundation of State University of New York


An auxiliary switching system for vehicles having power door lock systems. The system is for use primarily when drivers lock their keys in the vehicles. The system is electronically simple, and includes a magnetically actuated switch which is mounted in a secret, exteriorly accessible location on the vehicle. A switching module is slaved to the magnetically actuated switch and is integrated into the vehicles door lock system actuation circuit. A simple magnet trips the magnetically actuated switch which, in turn, actuates the switching module which, in turn, unlocks the vehicle's door locks. Between uses, the magnet is concealed at some place on the vehicle's exterior, such as on an inside surface of a bumper, or decorative, metallic vent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to switching means, and more particularly to switches for actuating automobile electric door locking and unlocking circuitry.
2. Background Information
Locking one's keys in his/her car has always been a problem. Few people carry spare keys in their pant pockets, etc.
At one time, locking the keys in the car was the result of an affirmative act on the driver's part--locking and closing the door. With today's advanced alarm and door control systems, far less must happen in order for a driver to find his/her keys locked in the car. For example, one might close a car door with the keys still in the car just long enough to check a mail box, pay a gas station attendant, etc. only to find that the car's alarm system automatically actuated the electric locks and armed the alarm.
Other less likely, but documented cases involving keys being locked inside cars involved actuation of the locking mechanism by pets or very young children, both of whom were unable to intentionally re-actuate the system to unlock the car. A young child trapped inside a locked car represents an emergency by any definition, particularly if the car is running, or in direct Summer sunlight at which time interior temperatures of a car can quickly reach lethal levels. Pets have also died while locked inside cars.
Whatever the cause, the effect of having one's keys locked inside his/her car can represent anything from an inconvenience to a life threatening event. It is an inconvenience if one merely is delayed in leaving home, and must call a locksmith. It is a life threatening event if one is at a dark parking lot, and is being approached by potential muggers.
As previously mentioned, few drivers carry spare keys in their wallets or pockets. Leaving a key "hidden" at some location on the exterior of the vehicle is an obvious security risk (thieves seem to have a "sixth sense" about where home, car or business owners "hide" keys). Since alarm/lock actuators are usually attached to drivers' key rings, alarm actuators are not likely of much help when keys are locked inside a vehicle.
What is needed is an auxiliary mechanism by which an automobile driver may actuate the electric door locking system of his/her car. To avoid increasing the likelihood of car theft, such a mechanism, while remaining accessible from the exterior of a locked car, must be largely useless to would-be car thieves.

Auxiliary electric door lock actuation system


The present invention relates to a flexible hinge device having a cooperative operating structure, comprising: a first plate and a second plate each having a top surface to which a flexible display screen having flexibility is attached; and a hinge unit configured to interconnects the first plate and the second plate and configured to be operated in a foldable manner so as to be bent or stretched, wherein the hinge unit comprises a plurality of segmental members connected to one another to allow the hinge unit to be bent or stretched, the first plate and the second plate are respectively coupled to the outermost segmental members positioned at both ends of the plurality of segmental members.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a flexible hinge device having a cooperative operating structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a flexible hinge device having a cooperative operating structure which can reduce a difference in length between the first and second plates and the flexible display screen using only a configuration of the hinge unit without an additional variable means, and can bend each of the segmental members constituting the hinge unit at the same angle.
Background Art
In general, along with the development of a communication technology and a semiconductor and an optical technology, recently, a portable terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet PC or the like which enables the Internet access by improving a cellular phone is highly in the spotlight. The use of the portable terminal changes all the living environments of the human beings, which brings about a revolution in the science and technology. In particular, the tablet PC has an advantage in that it has a wide display screen, but still entails a shortcoming in that it is large in volume and is inconvenient to carry.
In an effort to improve this problem, a flexible display having flexibility has been proposed. As a prior art relating to such a flexible display substrate which is capable of being folded and stretched, a flexible display substrate has been disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2010-0112383. The flexible display refers to a display which can be rolled in a roll shape or can be folded or bent like paper, and is free in the design of an outer appearance thereof. In addition, since the substrate has flexibility and thus is easily not broken, the flexible display is strong in strength. Further, the flexible display can be considered to be a display which employs a thin and lightweight substrate.
Meanwhile, the most basic type of the flexible display will be a type which can be carried in a state in which the flexible display is folded to half to cause the volume thereof to be reduced to half. Even in this case, the flexible display cannot be folded at right angle like a sheet of paper, and it is preferably to fold the flexible display in a shape having a gentle curvature.
As a device configured to fold the flexible display as described above, a foldable flexible display device with a load formation means has been disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1467857.
The flexible display device separately includes a variable means composed of a movable plate disposed on a large area of the rear surfaces of the first and second plates and connected to a hinge member, and a guide member that guides the forward and rearward movement of the movable plate in order to solve a problem of the occurrence of a difference in length between first and second plates and a flexible display screen attached to the top surfaces of the first and second plates when a hinge unit is bent.
However, the conventional flexible display device entails a problem in that the first and second plate is increased in thickness and the configuration thereof is also complicated.

Flexible hinge device having cooperative operating structure


Projection-optical systems are disclosed for projecting an image of a first object M onto a second object P. Each such projection-optical system comprises, in order from the first-object side: a positive first lens group; a negative second lens group comprising a pair of negative lens elements forming a pair of concave surfaces facing each other; a positive third lens group comprising a lens element, positioned nearest the second object within the third lens group, having a concave surface facing the second object; an aperture stop; a positive fourth lens group comprising a lens element, positioned nearest the first object within the fourth lens group, having a concave surface facing the first object; a negative fifth lens group comprising a pair of negative lens elements that form a pair of concave surfaces facing each other; and a positive sixth lens group. The projection-optical systems satisfy any of several quantitative conditions.

Ever-decreasing feature sizes of integrated circuit patterns have led to ever-increasing resolution requirements for projection-optical systems used to print the patterns onto a wafer or other substrate.
To improve the resolution of a projection-optical system, it has been proposed to shorten the wavelength .lambda. of exposure light or increase the numerical aperture (NA) of the projection-optical system. In general, a projection-exposure apparatus uses a light source emitting an exposure radiation in the range from g-line light (436 nm) to i-line light (365 nm).
To realize the benefits of increased resolution, distortion of the image must be reduced. Image distortion arises mainly from distortions caused by (1) the image-forming properties of the projection-optical system, (2) warping of the wafer or substrate (which is positioned on the image side of the projection-optical system and on which a circuit pattern is to be printed), and (3) warping of the reticle (which is positioned on the object side of the projection-optical system and on which the circuit pattern is drawn).
To reduce the adverse effect of warping of a wafer, a so-called image-side telecentric optical system has conventionally been used, in which the exit pupil is positioned at infinity on the image side of the projection-optical system.
To reduce the effect of warping of a reticle, it has been proposed to use a so-called object-side telecentric optical system in which the entrance pupil of the projection-optical system is positioned at infinity on the object side of the projection-optical system. Techniques for positioning the entrance pupil of the projection-optical system relatively far from the object plane are being developed.
For efficient exposure of highly integrated circuits, increased exposure area is needed in addition to improved resolution.
In a projection-exposure apparatus that uses exposure light having a short wavelength, the lens system must employ high-quality glass materials, having high transmissivity in the ultraviolet, and being capable of suppressing fluorescent radiation or solarization due to absorption of ultraviolet rays. The number of such materials is very limited. Moreover, such materials have a low refractive index, and therefore, it is difficult to correct aberrations in the lens system using such materials.
To overcome this problem, a conventional exposure apparatus uses a wavelength-selection filter through which radiation emitted from the light source passes. The wavelength-selection filter limits the exposure radiation to a substantially narrow spectral bandwidth, so that chromatic aberration is negligible. Limitations on lens design due to chromatic aberration are thus reduced to some extent, while other aberrations are corrected.
The narrower the spectral bandwidth of the exposure radiation, however, the greater the energy loss in the exposure apparatus, resulting in longer exposure times.

Projection-optical system for use in a projection-exposure apparatus


The present invention includes monofilament dental tapes for removing plaque and/or food debris from interdental spaces of a mammal, which dental tapes have a core body with an aspect ratio of greater than about 5:1 and a first cleaning surface and a second cleaning surface opposite the first cleaning surface, where at least one of the first and second cleaning surfaces includes a plurality of ribs disposed along the length thereof, and where the ratio of the width of the dental tape to the thickness of the dental tape is from about 4:1 to about 25:1.

Dental floss has been in use for more than 100 years for removing plaque and entrapped food particles from between teeth, as well as providing a clean feeling in the mouth. The original floss consisted of twisted silk placed in a jar. Since then, many improvements have been made to dental floss to make flossing more convenient and less problematic. Most improvements have been aimed at solving the negative aspects of flossing. These include reducing fraying and breakage, providing easier insertion between teeth and providing a softer, more gum and hand friendly floss. With the invention of nylon, a high tenacity fray-resistant yarn was used to replace the silk, providing more fray resistance. The addition of wax to twisted multifilament yarn helped anchor fibers together, while providing a lubricious coating for easier insertion. Similarly, the use of air-entangled fibers in combination with wax (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,039) provided a softer, more fray-resistant, and better cleaning multifilament floss. Low friction monofilament PTFE yarn coated with wax (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,012) provides good ease of insertion, depending upon the thickness and lack of twists or folds, as well as improved fray resistance. Unfortunately, PTFE monofilaments do not clean well, nor do they easily remove food particles from the space between teeth due to the low coefficient of friction of PTFE.
Improvement in the cleaning and particle removal characteristics was attempted by providing a pseudo monofilament product by encasing multifilaments in a soft polymer, (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,039,054 and 6,742,528). Such flosses slide easily between teeth, provide improved resistance to the PTFE products. Further improvements to flosses were attempted by providing monofilament tapes made of elastomeric materials which neck down when passing into the interdental space and then expand upon relieving tension. A low stretch variety is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,844. While this monofilament tape exhibits a higher elongation range than commercial floss, it is inferior in softness and mouth feel and fails to provide improved cleaning. A very soft "gel" floss is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,678, where the yarn is capable of being stretched to at least 200% of its original length, and as much as 2,000% of its original length. In tape form, this floss is at least 0.010 to 0.100-inch thick and more usually from 0.020 to 0.200-inch thick. This means that, while soft, the user will have to apply significant stretch to the product to make it pass between teeth. Once placed in the interdental cavity, this floss will expand and fill the interdental cavity. However, this floss has a smooth surface and is unlikely to remove much plaque or stuck food particles. With this degree of elongation, the consumer may find it difficult to maintain the necessary tension to move the floss up and down during the cleaning process.
Over the years, many improvements have been made to dental floss to make flossing more convenient and less problematic. However, each improvement is typically counterbalanced with a negative effect. Consumer-use tests and clinical studies have shown the monofilament flosses slide better with less fraying, while multifilament products clean better and remove more plaque, but are subject to fraying and breaking. The present invention provides a monofilament tape that not only cleans better than conventional monofilament flosses, but maintains the positive characteristics of monofilament flosses that make them desirable to consumers, such as mouth feel, easy slide between teeth and resistance to fraying or shredding.


A negative pressure type booster device possesses a valve mechanism constructed to compensate for insufficient depressing force applied to a brake pedal upon emergency braking. Upon depression of the brake pedal, first negative pressure valves contact first negative pressure valve seats to block a variable pressure chamber from communication with a constant pressure chamber, and an atmosphere valve seat is separated from an atmosphere valve to communicate the variable pressure chamber with atmosphere. A partition member thus moves forwards depending on the pressure difference between the chambers to output a propelling force from an output rod. When the brake pedal is stepped on quickly, a valve member is urged backwards by a spring member causing second negative pressure valve seats to contact second negative pressure valves and move the valve member backwards. The atmosphere valve separates from the atmosphere valve seat, and the variable pressure chamber quickly communicates with atmosphere.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a negative pressure type booster device for motor vehicles and particularly, to a negative pressure type booster device capable of compensating for the insufficient stepping force exerted on a brake pedal at the time of emergency braking.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Heretofore, the result of a certain analysis has taught that at the time of emergency braking wherein the driver quickly steps a brake pedal in the event of the sudden emergence of an obstacle or block on the course of the vehicle, it is often the case that the braking capability of the vehicle cannot be sufficiently performed because the stepping force the driver exerts on the brake pedal is considerably smaller than that needed to generate the fluid pressure which brings road wheels in lock states. On the basis of the result of such an analysis, there has been developed negative pressure type booster devices which are capable of judging whether the braking applied is an ordinary one or an emergency one from the stepped speed of the brake pedal or the speed in the increase of the fluid pressure of a master cylinder and at the time of the emergency braking, of automatically increasing the brake fluid pressure to the extent that the road wheels are brought into lock. In negative pressure type booster devices capable of assisting the stepping force on a brake pedal at such an emergency braking, for example, in one described in European patent application No. EP 1 227 020 A1, the interior of a booster shell is divided by a partition member into a variable pressure chamber and a constant pressure (i.e., vacuum) chamber, and an output piston of a bottomed, cylindrical shape is secured at its base portion to the partition member. The movement in the forward and backward direction of the partition member caused by the pressure difference between the both chambers is transmitted from the output piston to an output rod through a reaction mechanism. A plunger operated in connection with the reaction mechanism is connected to an input rod axially movable by a brake pedal. The output piston is provided with a small-diameter hole and a large-diameter hole respectively at a base end side and an open end side, and a negative pressure valve seat is annularly protruded along the internal surface at a stepped portion between the small and large-diameter holes. Passages communicating with the constant pressure chamber open at a shoulder surface of the stepped portion diametrically outside of the negative pressure valve seat, and an atmosphere valve seat is annularly formed at the rear end surface of the plunger at a position behind the negative pressure valve seat to encircle an air leading passage. A cylindrical valve member which is constituted by joining forward and rear walls with an outer circumferential wall thereby to take a U-shape in the half cross-section is received in the output piston movably in the forward and backward direction. The cylindrical valve member is provided at front end surfaces of the forward and rear walls with a negative pressure valve and an atmosphere valve, which are contactable respectively with the negative pressure valve seat and the atmosphere valve seat for bringing the variable pressure chamber selectively into communication with either of the constant pressure chamber and the atmosphere or isolation therefrom. The cylindrical valve member is urged forward by means of a compression spring.
Further, a cylindrical valve seat member encircling the plunger is air-tightly inserted into the small-diameter hole of the output piston to be slidable in the axial direction, and a second negative pressure valve seat is formed at the rear end of the valve seat member radially inside of the negative pressure valve seat. A second negative pressure valve contactable with the second negative pressure valve seat is provided on the forward end surface of the cylindrical valve member, and passages are provided on the lateral sides of the output piston and the valve seat member for making the inside of the valve seat member communicate with the variable pressure chamber. The valve seat member is urged backward by means of a spring member so that the second negative pressure valve seat comes closer to the cylindrical valve member than the negative pressure valve seat do. Latch means is provided on the base portion of the output piston for latching the valve seat member at an ordinary position against the resilient force of the spring member so that the second negative pressure valve seat is separated forward from the cylindrical valve member.
In the known device of the aforementioned construction, when the brake pedal is quickly stepped on to advance the plunger beyond a predetermined distance relative to the output piston, the latch means releases the valve seat member, whereby the second negative pressure valve seat is brought into contact with the second negative pressure valve formed on the front end wall of the cylindrical valve member thereby to move the same backward. This causes the atmosphere valve to be separated from the atmosphere valve seat, so that the variable pressure chamber is brought quickly and compulsorily into communication with the atmosphere. As a consequence, a larger propelling force than that in the ordinary state is output to the output member, so that it can be realized to generate a sufficiently high fluid pressure in the master cylinder. At the moment that the brake pedal is stepped on, the ratio of the output to the input becomes the infinity until the plunger comes into contact with the reaction member, and the resultant output characteristic indicates a jumping characteristic wherein the output increases on a step-by-step basis. At the time of emergency braking, the latch means releases the valve seat member and permits the second negative pressure valve seat to come into contact with the second negative pressure valve thereby to push the cylindrical valve member backward. This causes the jumping characteristic to become more notable than that at the time of the ordinary braking, whereby a larger propelling force than that at the time of the ordinary braking is output to the output member. That is, the latching and releasing of the valve seat member by the latch means makes it possible to selectively switch the two kinds of the input-output characteristics for the ordinary braking as well as for the emergency braking. When the brake pedal is released, the plunger is brought into the state that it does not advance more than the predetermined distance relative to the output piston. This causes the valve seat member to advance relative to the output piston, whereby the valve seat member is latched by the latch means to the ordinary position.
When the latch means releases the valve seat member at the time of the emergency braking, the valve seat member is moved backward by means of the spring member, and therefore, the cylindrical valve member has to be moved backward quickly through the contact of the second negative pressure valve seat with the second negative pressure valve. For this purpose, the cylindrical valve member is to be downsized and lightened, and the resistance against the movement of the cylindrical valve member is to be diminished. However, the known device of the aforementioned construction is advantageous in that the cylindrical valve member of a U-shape in the half cross-section is constructed to have a smaller resistance against the movement thereof by being provided with the negative pressure valve and the atmosphere valve respectively annually on the forward end surfaces of the front and rear walls thereof, but has drawbacks in that the cylindrical valve member becomes complicated and elongated in the axial direction to be enlarged as well as to be increased in mass.
Further, in order that the pressure difference between the constant and variable pressure chambers does not cause any propelling force to be exerted on the cylindrical valve member, the area through which the pressure difference acts on the cylindrical valve member has to be small. However, in the prior art device, because the negative pressure valve seat is provided annually to encircle the plunger, the circumferential length of the negative pressure valve seat and the area at which the pressure difference between the constant and variable pressure chambers acts on the cylindrical valve member cannot be set or designed independently of the diameter of the atmosphere valve seat, and it may be the case on occasion that the air discharge from the variable pressure chamber to the constant pressure chamber is not highly responsive and silent.
In addition, the prior art device of the aforementioned construction is complicated in the shapes of those components which constitute a mechanism for increasing the output at the time of the emergency braking, and therefore, is low in productivity.


A cigarette making apparatus includes a cooling-water passage which allows a coolant to circulate along a flavoring-material supply path which connects an application nozzle for applying a flavoring material to a wrapping-paper web and a pump for supplying the flavoring material to the application nozzle, to thereby cool the flavoring material. A cooling unit controls the temperature of the coolant supplied to the cooling-water passage. Specifically, the cooling unit controls the temperature of the flavoring material by selectively activating a first control system for detecting the temperature of the coolant supplied to the cooling-water passage and controlling the temperature of the coolant, and a second control system for detecting the temperature of the flavoring material supplied to the application nozzle and controlling the temperature of the coolant. Since the temperature of the flavoring material is controlled to fix the viscosity thereof, the amount per unit area of the flavoring material applied to the wrapping-paper web is fixed only by controlling the drive of the pump depending on the rate of supply of the wrapping-paper web.

A wrapping machine used in manufacture of cigarettes is presented in detail in published U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0118416 A1, for example. In this wrapping machine, a wrapping-paper web continuously supplied is supported and conveyed length ways by a garniture tape, and on the upper side of this wrapping-paper web, a controlled amount of shredded tobacco is disposed. Then, by continuously wrapping the shredded tobacco in the wrapping-paper web by bending both sides of the wrapping-paper web, a continuous tobacco rod is continuously formed. During this process, seam glue for sticking together the opposite side ends of the wrapping-paper web wrapped around the shredded tobacco is applied to one side end of the wrapping-paper web continuously supplied to the wrapping machine.
International Patent Publication No. 2004/064546 discloses application of a flavoring material for suppressing a particular smell of cigarettes without harming the taste thereof, to a wrapping-paper web. The flavoring material of this type is, for example, a liquid prepared by dissolving a flavoring substance in a CMC (carboxymethylcellulose) aqueous solution or a benzine alcohol suspension. The amount of the flavoring material applied to the wrapping-paper web is great, compared with the seam glue. Further, the amount of the flavoring material applied to the wrapping-paper web affects the quality of the cigarettes manufactured. Thus, it is necessary to control the amount of the flavoring material applied, accurately.
Meanwhile, the speed of supply of the wrapping-paper web to the wrapping machine is varied depending on the operating speed of the wrapping machine, namely the speed at which the wrapping machine forms a continuous tobacco rod. Thus, when the flavoring material is applied to the wrapping-paper web while the continuous tobacco rod is being formed, it is important to adjust the rate of supply of the flavoring material to an application nozzle depending on the traveling speed of the wrapping-paper web (speed of supply of the wrapping-paper web) so that the flavoring material will be applied to the wrapping-paper web in a fixed amount per unit area. There is, however, observed a problem that although the operation of a pump for supplying the flavoring material to the flavoring-material application nozzle is controlled depending on the speed of supply of the wrapping-paper web so that the flavoring material will be applied to the wrapping-paper web in a fixed amount per unit area, the amount per unit area of the flavoring material applied to the wrapping-paper web gradually increases.


Bodily fluid sample collection systems, devices, and method are provided. The device may comprise a first portion comprising at least a sample collection channel configured to draw the fluid sample into the sample collection channel via a first type of motive force. The sample collection device may include a second portion comprising a sample container for receiving the bodily fluid sample collected in the sample collection channel, the sample container operably engagable to be in fluid communication with the collection channel, whereupon when fluid communication is established, the container provides a second motive force different from the first motive force to move a majority of the bodily fluid sample from the channel into the container.

A blood sample for use in laboratory testing is often obtained by way of venipuncture, which typically involves inserting a hypodermic needle into a vein on the subject. Blood extracted by the hypodermic needle may be drawn directly into a syringe or into one or more sealed vials for subsequent processing. When a venipuncture may be difficult or impractical such as on a newborn infant, a non-venous puncture such as a heel stick or other alternate site puncture may be used to extract a blood sample for testing. After the blood sample is collected, the extracted sample is typically packaged and transferred to a processing center for analysis.
Unfortunately, conventional sample collection and testing techniques of bodily fluid samples has drawbacks. One of them is the lack of easily accessible sampling sites and patient service centers in locations that are more readily accessible to the patient.

Systems, devices, and methods for integrated patient service center


A computer readable medium causing a computer to planning of a trajectory for an object that is capable of controlled movement in one or more degrees of freedom. At least one ordered sequence of movement profiles is obtained. The at least one ordered sequence includes: (i) movement profiles that end with a phase of increasing acceleration and (ii) movement profiles that end with a phase of decreasing acceleration. The ordered sequence is evaluated to select a movement profile capable of achieving a desired state of movement. The trajectory of the object is planned based on the selected movement profile.

A fundamental problem in robotics is how to calculate the best trajectory for a robot to follow, to move a part, tool, end effector, or other object from a current or starting position to a target position. In many scenarios, it is desirable to plan a smooth trajectory, in order to minimise forces or torques acting on actuators or motors, and reduce wear on mechanical components. At the same time, it is typically necessary to respect certain motion constraints, for the planned trajectory to be physically realisable and acceptable. These constraints may include velocity limits and acceleration limits in each degree of freedom. They may be fixed constraints of the system, or they may be different at different times, for different tasks. (For example, the maximum acceptable velocity and/or acceleration when transporting a full cup of coffee might be lower than when transporting an empty cup.)
Further complications can arise if the starting/ending velocity and/or acceleration are nonzero at the starting position and time.
It is often desirable to synchronise the motion in the various degrees of freedom. At the same time, it is also often desirable to complete the motion in the minimum time possible. This implies that the motion trajectory for each degree of freedom should be synchronised with the minimum time trajectory for the slowest degree of freedom—that is, the degree of freedom that takes the longest minimum time to achieve its target position.
All of these considerations lead to a difficult optimisation problem, to plan the best trajectory that meets all of the requirements. To make matters even more challenging, it would be desirable to be able to plan trajectories in real time —that is, it would be desirable to be able to recalculate the trajectory "on-line", while the robot is following an existing trajectory, in response to input of a new target position (or some other event).

Method and apparatus for trajectory-planning


Methods and computer program products for protecting interpreted-language source code from unauthorized copying, alteration, distribution, or reverse engineering, without regard to the choice of programming language. A language identifier and the source code are input to an encoding program, which provides an encrypted file that includes the language identifier and source code. The encrypted file is input to a decoding program. The decoding program decrypts the language identifier and opens a suitable interpreter. The decoder then decrypts an encrypted source code instruction and inputs the result to the interpreter, looping through the instructions until reaching the end of the encrypted file, passing decrypted instructions to the interpreter at a rate suitable for execution by the interpreter substantially in real time. Thus a single decoding program may be used with a number of different interpreted languages, and with a number of existing interpreters.

An important distinction in the nature of computer software is the distinction between software that is written in a complied language and software that is written in an interpreted language. When software is written in a complied language, a software provider may license associated machine code to customers. When software is written in an interpreted language, however, only the source code itself is available for licensing.
Source code is run by an interpreter, which executes each source-code instruction individually. Unfortunately, exposing the source code to an interpreter opens the risk that an unauthorized party will copy, alter, distribute, or reverse engineer the software. Thus, a software provider must often choose between the security offered by a compiled language and the simplicity and efficiency offered by an interpreted language.
Often, this means that a software provider must develop software twice: a first time in an interpreted language for prototyping and internal use, and a second time in a complied language for secure distribution to licensees. For example, an application program for the world wide web might first be developed in PERL for internal use, and then redeveloped in Java for external licensing.
One way to resolve this dilemma is to use a PERL compiler, which converts PERL scripts into C language code, and from this provide machine code. Notwithstanding, such an approach has at least three disadvantages. First, the solution is specific to the PERL language; second, in practice the compiled C code does not always execute properly; and third, an unauthorized party may be readily able to decompile the resulting machine code.
Another way to resolve the dilemma is to encrypt the source code. Following this approach, a licensee is provided with an encrypted source code file and with integrated decoding software that both decrypts and interprets the encrypted source code file. Unfortunately, this approach also has significant disadvantages. Chief among these is the disadvantage that the integrated decoding software is necessarily language dependent. For example, integrated decoding software useful for encrypted PERL source code files is not useful in the realm of any other programming language. Hence a software provider or a software licensee who works with a multiplicity of interpreted languages bears the inconvenience and expense of a multiplicity of integrated decoding software programs.
Thus there is a need for a way of protecting software written in interpreted languages that is convenient and secure, and which applies generically without dependence upon the particular interpreted language of choice.

Methods and computer program products for protecting source code of an interpreted programming language

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods, computer program products and apparatus provide an improved spatial user interface for content providers. In one non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, a method includes: displaying a plurality of first user interface (UI) objects each corresponding to an individual category of a plurality of categories, wherein a distance between two displayed first UI objects is indicative of a degree of similarity between the corresponding categories; and in response to a user selection of one of the displayed first UI objects, displaying at least one second UI object identifying at least one content provider associated with the category of the selected first UI object. The exemplary method may be utilized, for example, to assist a user in locating radio stations similar to a preferred radio station.

A radio station is a broadcasting service wherein audio (sound) modulates, in some manner, a radio frequency (RF) carrier. Although traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna of a receiving device, radio stations can also broadcast via cable FM, local networks, satellite and the Internet.
Internet radio enables a user to listen to audio content broadcast from around the globe. It is a rapidly growing broadcast medium, with new internet radio channels (stations) being added every day. With the growth of broadband connections, setting up a radio station and broadcasting over the internet (e.g., from home) using commonly-available software and/or hardware has become a reality.

Method, computer program product and apparatus providing an improved spatial user interface for content providers


An accounting device according to an embodiment includes an input device that receives an instruction to start a job. A first display device includes a first screen facing a first direction towards a person who operates the input device. A change machine includes a depositing port for receiving money and a dispensing port for dispensing money. A second display device includes a second screen facing a second direction different from the first direction and towards a person who deposits money into the depositing port or receives money from the dispensing port. When the instruction received by the input device is to start a predetermined job that is different from the accounting transaction and that includes depositing money into the change machine or dispensing money from the change machine, the processor causes information supporting execution of the predetermined job to be displayed on the second screen.

An accounting device may be arranged so that a clerk and a customer face each other with a checkout counter therebetween. The clerk inputs data relating to accounting of commodities purchased by the customer. The customer deposits money into the change machine and takes out change from the change machine. In such an accounting device, a depositing port and a dispensing port of the change machine are provided at a customer side, which is opposite to a clerk work space side, with the checkout counter therebetween. For that reason, if the clerk intends to deposit currency into the change machine or dispense currency from the change machine, the clerk needs to go to the customer's side by moving around the checkout counter.
There is a replenishment job in which the clerk deposits money into the change machine. When the replenishment job is to be performed in the accounting device, for example, the amount of stored bills or the number of deficient bills according to denominations stored in the change machine may be displayed on a display device for the clerk. The clerk inserts necessary currency into a depositing port of the change machine based on displayed information and replenishes the change.
There is also a collection job in which the clerk dispenses money from the change machine. When the collection job is to be performed in the accounting device, for example, the number of stored bills or the number of surplus bills according to denominations stored in the change machine is displayed on the display device for the clerk. The clerk operates an input device based on displayed information and designates the number of collected bills according to denominations. Then, the bills according to the designated denominations are dispensed from the change machine. Then, the clerk collects the currency dispensed from the dispensing port.
In any one of the jobs, the clerk goes to the customer's side by moving around the checkout counter and inserts or collects the currency after confirming contents displayed on the display device at the work space. For that reason, for example, if it is necessary to confirm the displayed amount during the insertion job or collection job, the clerk must return to the clerk's work space and confirm the displayed amount and then move to the customer's side again. Accordingly, efficiency of performing the job is low.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A computer system receives input of a search term for a query. The search term is related to equipment. The computer system identifies a key that corresponds to the search term and dynamically obtains content that is associated with the key from data sources. The data sources include structured data that is associated with the equipment and unstructured data that is associated with the equipment. The computer system automatically populates a results page template that is associated with the key with the content from the data sources to create a results page that includes the equipment related results for the query.

A significant number of equipment, such as manufacturing equipment, military equipment, etc. may be operating at various sites (e.g., customer sites, mission sites, etc.). One or more equipment may experience an operational problem and an onsite customer/field engineer may work with the problematic equipment to address the issue. The engineer may wish to access data about the equipment, such as equipment manuals, data about processes that run on the equipment, maintenance procedures, spares information, repair information, data about products produced by the equipment, safety information, etc. for troubleshooting purposes. Accurate equipment information is often difficult to find and may lead to greater equipment downtime, incorrectly ordered equipment parts, and inefficient use of the engineer's time due to the lack of a standardized search mechanism and service vocabulary. Customer/field engineers typically spend 20% of their time looking for information because they are unaware of the data sources of the information, searching through multiple data sources, and/or continually manually refining a search to attempt a more focused effort. Often times, customer/field engineers encounter search results of hundreds of pages of documents, which may not be relevant to equipment problem.

Providing dynamic content in context of particular equipment


A communication device is a communication device connected to a mobility network which is a network mounted in a mobility and which is used by a plurality of electronic control devices for communication. The communication device includes: a holding unit which holds range information indicating a transferable path range determined for a message on the mobility network; a receiving unit which receives the message on the mobility network; and a determining unit which determines validity of the received message by using the range information.

Patent Literature (PTL) 1 discloses a device which determines an apparatus positioned within the same group based on the time taken for communication. PTL 2 discloses a device which restricts the range in which content is shared, by using the value of the time to live (TTL) field of an internet protocol (IP) frame.

Communication device, communication method, and communication system

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA


A subcutaneous injection set for administering a medication or a therapeutic fluid to a patient is disclosed. The injection set comprises a base element having a hub with a top and a bottom and an outer surface extending between said top and said bottom, a cavity within said hub and an entry lumen extending from said outer surface to said cavity. A top element is mounted on said base element to be rotatable about an axis through said hub and having a flange with an inner surface mating with said outer surface of said hub in the area around the entry lumen, said flange having an aperture extending between said inner surface and an outer surface, which aperture in one position of the top element in relation to the base element is aligned with said entry lumen of said hub and said flange in a further rotated position of the top element in relation to the base element covers said entry lumen in said hub. A cannula is mounted in and extending from said hub of said base element, said cannula having a lumen therethrough, said lumen communicating with the entry lumen of the central hub through said cavity. Connector means for administering a fluid to said opening in said flange of said top element are provided.

The present invention relates to injection devices for subcutaneous delivery of a medication or a therapeutic fluid by means of an external infusion system and more particularly to an injection device having releasably connected means for delivery of the medication or the therapeutic fluid from the external infusion system.
Injection devices are generally known in the art for delivering a medication or a therapeutic fluid to a subcutaneous site in a patient. Such devices commonly comprise a tubular cannula extending from a housing adapted to receive the desired medication via disconnectable means for suitable connection to further components of the infusion system. The possibility of disconnecting the injection set from the further parts of the infusion system is provided in order to improve the user comfort. The user is enabled to perform activities which do not allow the presence of a pump or the like, or which are hindered by the presence of a pump or the like. In the disconnected state only a part of the injection set is worn by the patients. This allows for increased mobility. In order to provide such disconnectable means and still maintain a fluid-tight sealing towards the interior of the housing and the tubular cannula that prevents contamination of the injection site, such devices are commonly provided with a self-sealing penetrable septum on either the housing or the disconnectable part and a hollow needle on the other part adapted to penetrate the septum. Upon withdrawal of the needle from tie septum this provides a fluid-tight sealing towards the interior of the housing. The septum and the needle further provides a fluid-tight sealing between the housing and the connector means when medication or therapeutic fluid is delivered to the patient from the external infusion system. Subcutaneous injection devices of this generally known type are known from e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,803 to Teissen-Simony and U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,143 to Fischell.
The manufacture of such device including a septum and a needle is rather cumbersome. Further The use of a septum and a needle may lead to some disadvantages during use of such device, viz. a so-called coring whereby, upon penetration of the septum, the hollow needle may become clogged by material from the septum, which may be harmful to the patient since the medication or the therapeutic fluid cannot be delivered as expected, and the potential danger of unintended needle sticks.
For these reasons there is a need for improvements in the injection devices of the type mentioned in the foregoing, and particularly with respect to providing an injection device which is far less cumbersome from a manufacturing point of view and which is not clogged by material from a septum and with respect to a device which does not need a septum and a needle to provide a fluid-tight sealing between housing and connector means in a mutually mounted position for these elements. The injection device according to the invention remedies the above mentioned disadvantages and provides further advantages which will become apparent from the following description.


A mechanism for handling packages having mechanism to move a package from a depositing station to a removing station. The packages comprise a preceding package and a subsequent package with the preceding package being deposited on the moving mechanism before the subsequent package and the subsequent package being deposited on said moving mechanism under said preceding package.

The present invention is directed to a mailer operation and more particularly to an improved stacking arrangement and method for such mailer operations.
Normally, in handling large numbers of papers, the papers are formed into a package and the package is delivered to a stacking table which then takes the packages and directs them to a predetermined destination such as a stacking tray. Stacking of such packages has normally been accomplished by stacking one package over the other and continuing to stack one package over the other as each package is completed and delivered to the stacking tray. In other words, after a package is formed and exits from the folder mechanism, it is placed on top of another package on a shingling exit conveyor. This sometimes creates space problems and also proper sealing problems where a letter, for example, may not be completely closed and the glue may dry before it fully seals the letter. In addition, when the packages are stored in trays it sometimes becomes necessary to invert the stacked packages in order to present the packages in the order in which they were processed.


A double feed detecting apparatus provided with an ultrasonic transmitter installed on one side of a transport path for a sheet material for transmitting an ultrasonic toward the sheet material, an ultrasonic receiver installed on the other side of the transport path for the sheet material for receiving the ultrasonic transmitted by the ultrasonic transmitter and outputting a received ultrasonic signal, a first determining device for determining whether double feed or not in accordance with the amplitude of the received ultrasonic signal output by the ultrasonic receiver, and a second determining device for detecting a phase change in the received ultrasonic signal, and determining whether double feed or not on the basis of the detected phase change.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a double feed detecting apparatus for detecting double feed which is a phenomenon of transporting two or more sheet materials as they are lying one upon another, particularly by the utilization of an ultrasonic sensor, in an apparatus carrying a plurality of sheet materials thereon and having the function of separating and transporting the sheet materials one by one.
2. Related Background Art
In a scanner, a printer, a copying machine, a printer, an automated teller machine (ATM) or the like, there is provided a mechanism for separating and transporting sheet materials one by one. However, there is conceived the possibility that when only one sheet material should be transported, double feed which is a phenomenon of two or more sheet materials being transported while they partly or entirely overlapping one another occurs. Therefore, in an apparatus for transporting sheet materials, the function of detecting the double feed of the sheet materials becomes necessary. As a mechanism for detecting the double feed of sheet materials, a double feed detecting apparatus utilizing an ultrasonic is popular in each field. With bank notes (paper money) as an example of the sheet materials, description will hereinafter be made of a double feed detecting apparatus for detecting the double feed of the bank notes.
FIG. 20 of the accompanying drawings shows the epitome of a conventional bank note double feed detecting apparatus. In FIG. 20, the reference numeral 101 designates sheet materials to be detected, which herein are shown as bank notes. The reference numeral 102 denotes an ultrasonic transmitter which transmits an ultrasonic for the bank notes 101. The reference numeral 103 designates an ultrasonic receiver which receives the ultrasonic transmitted by the ultrasonic transmitter 102. Also, as shown in FIG. 20, the ultrasonic receiver 103 is installed so as to be opposed to the ultrasonic transmitter 102 with the transport path of the bank notes 101 interposed therebetween so as to be capable of receiving the ultrasonic transmitted through the bank notes 101. The reference numeral 108 denotes a wave analyzer which analyzes the reception signal of the ultrasonic received by the ultrasonic receiver 103.
Description will now be made of the operation of the double feed detecting apparatus shown in FIG. 20.
First, the ultrasonic transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 102 impinges on the bank notes 101, and the transmitted wave thereof is received by the ultrasonic receiver 103. Thereby, the ultrasonic receiver 103 outputs an output voltage varied in accordance with the reception intensity of the received ultrasonic. The wave analyzer 108 analyzes a variation in the output voltage output by the ultrasonic receiver 103 as an ultrasonic reception signal.
The double feed detecting technique of FIG. 20 is what is called a level determining process of detecting double feed by the wave analyzer 108 analyzing any change in the amplitude of the received ultrasonic. A double feed detecting method using this level determining process is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-40030.
The level determining process will be further described hereinafter. First, a double feed determining threshold value is set in advance, whereafter the bank notes 101 are transported and the ultrasonic receiver 103 obtains the amplitude of the ultrasonic transmitted through the bank notes 101. As compared with the amplitude of the transmitted ultrasonic when the bank notes 101 are properly transported one by one, the amplitude of the transmitted ultrasonic when the bank notes 101 are double-fed assumes a small value because the amount of attenuation of the ultrasonic becomes great. Accordingly, the amplitude of the ultrasonic obtained by the ultrasonic receiver 103 is compared with the aforementioned double feed determining threshold value in the wave analyzer 108, whereby it is possible to detect the double feed of the bank notes 101 from the result of the comparison.
In the level determining process according to the prior art, however, when the sheet materials transported are very thin, the amount of attenuation of the ultrasonic is small even if the sheet materials are double-fed, and as compared with a case where the sheet materials are properly transported, a great difference does not appear in the reception intensity of the ultrasonic and therefore, the determination of double feed detection becomes difficult.
Also, as another double feed detecting technique, there is a technique called a phase determining process of detecting the double feed of sheet materials by a phase variation in the waveform of a received ultrasonic. A double feed detecting method using this phase determining process is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-211769.
To effect the detection of the double feed of sheet materials by this phase determining process, it is necessary to construct a complicated analog signal comparison circuit, and sampling data corresponding to a wavelength of a received signal waveform is obtained and at the same time, it is held in a storage device and the received signal is analyzed and therefore, a great burden is applied to a control circuit, and this leads to the problem that an integrated circuit (IC) for exclusive use and a control circuit having a high function become necessary.
Further, the above-described phase determining process suffers from the problem that the received ultrasonic signal is affected by changes in external factors such as the distance between sensors, the thickness of the sheet material, ambient temperature and humidity and the atmospheric pressure, and the accuracy of double feed detection is reduced. The phase determining process also suffers from the problem that when the sheet materials of which the double feed is to be detected are thick, the amplitude of the ultrasonic signal is greatly attenuated in case of double feed and the ultrasonic signal is hardly distinguishable from the noise signal of the ultrasonic receiver itself or an external device and thus, a waveform sufficient to enable the phase thereof to be determined may not be output.
FIG. 21 of the accompanying drawings shows another example of the conventional double feed detecting apparatus. In FIG. 21, the reference numeral 101 designates sheet materials to be detected, which herein are shown as bank notes. The reference numeral 102 denotes an ultrasonic transmitter which transmits an ultrasonic to the bank notes 101. The reference numeral 103 designates an ultrasonic receiver which receives the ultrasonic transmitted by the ultrasonic transmitter 102. Also, as shown in FIG. 21, the ultrasonic receiver 103 is installed so as to be opposed to the ultrasonic transmitter 102 with the transport path of the bank notes 101 interposed therebetween so as to be capable of receiving the ultrasonic transmitted through the bank notes 101.
The reference numeral 104 denotes a control circuit which supplies a pulse signal of 200 kHz as a transmitted ultrasonic signal to a drive circuit 105. The drive circuit 105 amplifies the pulse signal supplied from the control circuit 104 and outputs an ultrasonic pulse signal. Thereby, the ultrasonic transmitter 102 transmits an ultrasonic of 200 kHz on the basis of the amplified ultrasonic pulse signal. The transmitted ultrasonic signal supplied by the control circuit 104 is, for example, a signal which transmits a pulse signal of 200 kHz over a constant time for several periods. This is what is generally called a burst-wave, and the burst-wave is periodically transmitted once in several milliseconds (ms).
The reference numeral 106 designates an amplifier circuit which amplifies the received ultrasonic signal output by the ultrasonic receiver 103. This is because when the bank notes 101 which are to be transported come into between the ultrasonic transmitter 102 and the ultrasonic receiver 103, the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 102 is attenuated, and becomes a very feeble signal before it reaches the ultrasonic receiver 103 and therefore, the received ultrasonic signal output by the ultrasonic receiver 103 becomes feeble in amplitude, and this signal must be amplified by the amplifier circuit 106 and be raised to a signal amplitude capable of effecting double feed detection judgment. The reference numeral 110 denotes a signal gain adjusting circuit 110 which adjusts the signal gain of the amplifier circuit 106. Here, the signal gain adjusting circuit 110 is e.g., a volume. Also, the adjustment of this signal gain is effected for individual products, for example, before the shipment of the products, or is effected by the user of the products.
The reference numeral 107 designates an A-D converter which converts the received ultrasonic signal (analog signal) amplified by the amplifier circuit 106 into a digital signal and outputs it to a signal analyzing circuit 108. The signal analyzing circuit 108 analyzes the received ultrasonic signal digitized in the A-D converter 107, and outputs the result of the analysis to the control circuit 104. The reference numeral 109 denotes a storage device which holds therein each set value of the double feed detecting apparatus shown in FIG. 21. Thereby, the double feed detecting apparatus shown in FIG. 21 performs a double feed detecting operation by the use of the set values held in the storage device 109.
Description will now be made of the operation of the double feed detecting apparatus shown in FIG. 21.
First, the ultrasonic transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 102 impinges on the bank note 101, and the transmitted wave thereof is received by the ultrasonic receiver 103. Thereby, the ultrasonic receiver 103 outputs a received ultrasonic signal varied in accordance with the reception intensity of the received ultrasonic. Next, the amplifier circuit 106 amplifies the received ultrasonic signal output by the ultrasonic receiver 103 at an amplification factor conforming to the adjustment by the signal gain adjusting circuit 110. Next, the A-D converter 107 converts the received ultrasonic signal amplified by the amplifier circuit 106 into a digital signal, and outputs the digitized received ultrasonic signal to the signal analyzing circuit 108. Next, the signal analyzing circuit 108 analyzes the digitized received ultrasonic signal output by the A-D converter 107. Next, the control circuit 104, when it judges double feed on the basis of the result of the analysis by the signal analyzing circuit 108, performs the process of informing the apparatus or the utilizer of the apparatus to the effect that double feed has occurred.
The double feed detecting method of FIG. 21 is the aforedescribed level determining process of analyzing a variation in the amplitude of the received ultrasonic signal by the signal analyzing circuit 108 to thereby detect double feed. This level determining process will be further described below. First, a double feed determining threshold value is set in advance, whereafter, the bank note 101 is transported and the ultrasonic receiver 102 obtains the amplitude of an ultrasonic transmitted through the bank note 101. As compared with the amplitude of the transmitted ultrasonic when the bank notes 101 are properly transported one by one, the amplitude of the transmitted ultrasonic when the bank notes 101 are double-fed assumes a small value because the amount of attenuation of the ultrasonic becomes great. Accordingly, the amplitude of the received ultrasonic signal obtained by the ultrasonic receiver 102 and amplified by the amplifier circuit 106 is compared with the aforementioned double feed determining threshold value in the wave analyzing circuit 108, whereby it is possible to detect the double feed of the bank notes 101.
As a problem in the conventional double feed detecting apparatus, there is the problem that differences in signal amplification factor and resonance frequency occur to each product due to the unevenness of the characteristics of the ultrasonic transmitter 102 and the ultrasonic receiver 103 and the unevenness of the constituent parts of the amplifier circuit 106 and therefore, it is necessary to adjust the signal amplification factors of individual products before the shipment of the products, and this leads to an increase in cost.
Also, there is the problem that even if as described above, the signal amplification factors of the individual products are adjusted before the shipment of the products, the signal intensity of the received ultrasonic signal is varied by changes in external factors such as the distance between the ultrasonic transmitter 102 and the ultrasonic receiver 103, the ambient temperature and humidity and the atmospheric pressure, and the accuracy of double feed detection is reduced.
Further, there is the problem that the burst transmission interval of an ultrasonic generating signal is always effected at a constant period and therefore, when an interceptor is inserted between the ultrasonic transmitter 102 and the ultrasonic receiver 103, whereby the reverberation of the ultrasonic is quickly attenuated, the transmission of the next burst-wave is waited for for an excess time, and this leads to the bad efficiency of burst transmission.


A gas injection stone is manufactured by embedding in a refractory compound a plurality of adjacent and abutting nets. Thereby, when the refractory compound is solidified and when the nets subsequently are removed by burning or melting, the result will be the formation within the stone of plural interconnected layers of interlinked gas channels.

The present invention relates to a gas flushing or injection stone and a process for the manufacture thereof, particularly wherein a net is embedded in a refractory material or compound employed to form the stone, and such net subsequently is removed by burning or melting, with the result that a plurality of gas channels are formed in the stone.
Gas injection stones of this general type are disclosed in German DE 32 46 937 A1 and in German DE 35 03 221 C2. The flushing action or degree of gas injection is limited by the threads or webs of the net used to form the gas channels. If it is desired to increase the degree of gas injection, i.e. the gas permeability of the stone, the cross sections of the threads or webs of the net may be increased, such that the cross sections of the resultant gas channels are increased. This however results in a disadvantage in that the gas bubbles that flow into a molten material at an outlet end of the stone are undesirably large. Such large gas bubbles counteract the achieving of a gentle gas injection or flushing operation. Furthermore, a large cross section of the gas channels may lead to the penetration of the molten material into the outlet ends of the gas channels, and this is a highly undesirable result.
German DE-PS 38 02 657 discloses a gas flushing stone having a gas permeable spacing member that exhibits varying geometric shapes in the direction of wear of the stone. Thus, depending upon the state of wear of the stone at a particular time, a particular geometric pattern will become visible on the inner surface of the stone.

Gas injection stone and process of manufacture thereof


A hat holder device for securing a billed hat to a surface. The hat holder device includes an upper wall attached to a lower wall, forming a bill pocket therebetween configured to slidably and removably secure a bill of the billed hat therein. The upper wall is attached to the lower wall by two attachment blocks, or enclosed stitching, and the upper wall is attachable to the surface by any suitable means, including clips, straps, and the like. The hat holder device is useful for securing the billed hat to a visor of a vehicle, a headrest of the vehicle, a backpack, an interior wall of a building, an exterior wall of the building, or any other surface.

The present invention relates to a hat holder device for securing a billed hat to a surface.
Individuals often wear billed hats. Protection of a billed hat, to prevent a collapse of a crown of the billed hat, may require an individual to place the billed hat in a location that would reduce a likelihood of the billed hat being stepped on, sat on, or otherwise compressed. This often involves placing the billed hat in a location that is not frequented by the individual, and may result in misplacing or losing the billed hat between uses.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a hat holder device for securing a billed hat to a surface, and which reduces a likelihood of compression or damage to the hat. The present invention addresses this unmet need.
Devices have been disclosed in the art that relate to hat holder devices. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices are often unable to both effectively hold a billed hat and protect the billed hat from damage. In view of the devices disclosed in the art, it is submitted that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing hat holder devices. In view of the present disclosure, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in structural and functional elements from devices in the art, and substantially fulfills an unmet need in the art.


Scheduling of the operations of an integrated circuit device such as a hardware accelerator, including scheduling of movement of data into and out of the accelerator, can be performed by a compiler that produces program code for the accelerator. The compiler can produce a graph that represents operations to be performed by the accelerator. Using the graph, the compiler can determine estimated execution times for the operations represented by each node in the graph. The compiler can schedule operations by determining an estimated execution time for set of dependent operations that depend from an operation. The compiler can then select an operation that has a shortest estimated execution time from among a set of operations and which has a set of dependent operations that has a longest estimated execution time as compared to other sets of dependent operations.

In various examples, hardware accelerators, or acceleration engines, are purpose-built integrated circuit devices for performing a particular set of operations. A computing system can include hardware accelerators for accelerating neural network computations, graphics rendering, or floating point math, among other examples. While the operations performed on a hardware accelerator can be performed by a general purpose processor, using a general purpose processor may be significantly slower. Thus, when a computing system frequently performs computationally intensive operations such as neural network inferences or image processing, the computing system can include dedicated hardware for performing these operations.
Hardware accelerators may be designed to be relatively simple and inexpensive, so that adding an accelerator to a computing device provides a less expensive approach (in terms of dollars and time) than using the general purpose processor. Hardware accelerators may thus lack features commonly found on a general purpose processor, such as features that are difficult to implement, and thus extend the development time of the device, which can increase the overall cost of the device. For example, an accelerator may lack hardware for performing control flow, sophisticated management of local memory (such as caches), or other hardware that may optimize the performance of the accelerator. In these examples, software may perform these functions for the accelerator.


The invention is directed to a system and method for extending the life of a bluish, greenish, or reddish colored gel, comprising a filter coating situated between a light source and a colored gel, which filter coating has a reflectance band falling in the same wavelength region of the visible light spectrum as the absorption band for the colored gel such that burning or bleaching of the color is prevented or delayed.

In the stage and studio industry, various colored gels may be used in front of spot and flood lights to illuminate a stage with different colors. Exemplary stage lighting apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,446,637 and 4,890,208. The gels used in such apparatus are typically made of plastic wrap-type or polyester sheets that have dyes in them to make them transmit different colors. Especially with respect to use in spot lights, colored gels that are saturated colors with a bluish or greenish hue have a limited life span before they bleach or burn and need to be replaced. Greenish gels especially are known to have a short life span compared to other colors.
Replacing each gel after it has become bleached or burned requires relatively expensive labor, since most stage lights are typically placed in precarious areas of the theater and there are usually many of them. The replacement of a gel by a stage hand between scenes may, for example, require a ladder and scaffolding. Even though a new gel may cost only a few pennies to purchase, the cost of replacing them during a show may cost several dollars. Furthermore, the more light out of a spot light or other such lighting fixtures, the shorter the life span of the gel. Nevertheless, manufacturers of spot lights are always looking for ways to get more light and high energy density out of their devices. It would be desirable, therefore, to be able to significantly extend the useful life of a colored gel and to enhance its performance without significantly reducing the amount of light available for use. The present invention fulfills that need by means of inserting a substrate having a thin film coating with certain reflectance properties between the colored gel and the light source of the lighting apparatus in which the gel is used.
Thin film technology has been used for a number of years to control the transmittance and/or reflectance of coated surfaces. By controlling the thickness and index of refraction of each film in a stack or array of thin films constituting a coating, one can tailor the reflective and transmissive characteristics of the coating. The design of such films and the principles used to achieve such results are well known to those skilled in the art as is the general knowledge of how to deposit the various thin films on various substrates. See, for example, MacLeod, H. A., Thin-Film Optical Filters (McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., N.Y. 1989); Thelen, Alfred, Design of Optical Interference Coatings (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y. 1989); and Heavens, O. S., Optical Properties of Thin Solid Films (Dover, N.Y. 1965)
Various classes of coatings exist based not only upon the materials used to form said coatings, but based upon spectral reflectance characteristics as well. For instance, reflective coatings have long been available which transmit in the infrared region and reflect all or most of the visible portion of the spectrum. Such coatings are known generically as "cold mirrors." Alternately, coatings are also known which transmit the infrared portion of the spectrum and reflect only a fraction of the visible spectrum. These coatings are generically known as "color correcting cold mirror" coatings. Still other coatings, which reflect the infrared and transmit visible light, are known as "hot mirrors." They are used, for example, in overhead projectors. Coatings such as Optivex.RTM. are commercially available for use in filters to reflect UV but transmit visible light. They are sometimes used for track lighting and in museums to prevent fading of the dyes or pigments used in paintings or other exhibits.
For many commercial applications such coatings are provided on glass substrates in the form of reflector blanks or filter blanks. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,794. Such coatings have many applications. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,229, discloses an optical coating deposited upon a plastic support article in order to shield the substrate from harmful UV (ultraviolet) radiation.
None of the cited references teach or suggest that a thin-film coating could effectively and efficiently extend the life of colored gels used in an optical assembly or a light fixture adapted to image a high-intensity beam of colored light at a distant location.

System for extending the useful life of colored gels


A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to schedule the uplink grant in a manner that efficiently utilizes uplink resources. In the context of a method from the perspective of the user equipment, an indication regarding data to be transmitted is received and a scheduling request is caused to be provided via a control channel. The scheduling request is configured to indicate a size of the data to be transmitted. In response to a grant, data may be caused to be transmitted via allocated uplink resource blocks. In the context of a method from the perspective of a base station, a scheduling request including an indication of the requested size of the uplink grant is received via a control channel. The method may cause the grant to be provided to a user equipment and, in response, may receive data from the user equipment via allocated uplink resource blocks.

User equipment, such as mobile terminals, frequently transmit data via an uplink to a network via a base station, such as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB) or other access point. For example, machine-type communications (MTC) that are supported by user equipment may transmit data to a network via the uplink to a base station. The data to be transmitted via an uplink may vary depending upon the MTC application that is providing the data. For example, MTC applications may provide data to be transmitted via the uplink on a periodic basis or on a non-periodic basis. In this regard, MTC applications for metering, fleet management and civilian surveillance may periodically transmit data via an uplink. Conversely, MTC applications for earthquake and tsunami warning systems may transmit data via an uplink on a non-periodic basis. In addition, MTC applications may provide large packets of data or small packets of data to be transmitted via an uplink. In this regard, the majority of MTC applications may transmit relatively small data packets. However, some MTC applications, such as those for surveillance systems, may transmit larger data packets, particularly in instances in which the surveillance systems utilize high definition video.
MTC applications are not the only applications that provide data via an uplink to a base station. In this regard, user equipment may also receive data from background applications to be transmitted to a network via an uplink. In this regard, background applications are applications that provide data to be transmitted via the uplink without any user activity. The data provided by background applications may be intermittent, and the packets may be relatively small with a maximum size, for example, of about 200 bytes.
In a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, the user equipment and a base station, such an eNB, communicate regarding data to be provided via the uplink utilizing a one-bit scheduling request (SR) and buffer status reports (BSR). In this regard, the SR may be transmitted via a control channel, such as the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or the random access channel (RACH), while the BSR is transmitted on a data channel, such as the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), generally together with the data itself. The SR may be configured to have a period and one subframe offset. In this regard, the period of the SR may be 1 ms, 2 ms, 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms or 80 ms. As such, the user equipment, upon receipt of data to be transmitted via the uplink, such as from an MTC application or from a background application, would issue an SR to request the uplink resource for data transmission.
As a result of the variations in the timing with which data is received by the user equipment for transmission via the uplink and the variations in the size of the data to be transmitted via the uplink, the utilization of the uplink may not always be efficient. In this regard, the uplink may have a size that may sometimes be mismatched, such as by being bigger or smaller, than the size of the data to be transmitted via the uplink.

Method and apparatus for scheduling an uplink data transmission


A liquid crystal projector having a high contrast ratio has an optical system including, for each color, a liquid crystal display device, a drive device for driving the liquid crystal display device and a polarization device, and a light source. The liquid crystal display device has active devices connected to reflective electrodes. Driving voltages applied to pixels have different polarities in every row. The liquid crystal layer is aligned at an angle from 75.degree. to 105.degree. to the direction of an electric field between electrodes. An optical rotator is provided between the liquid crystal display device and the polarization device.

A liquid crystal projector (ECB (Electrically Controlled Birefringence) projector) for producing a display by using an electrically controlled birefringence effect can perform active matrix addressing with a low driving voltage and, therefore, has a characteristic such that the number of pixels can be easily increased and the size of the substrate can be easily reduced.
A liquid crystal display device, a polarization beam splitter, and a dichromic prism forming the ECB liquid crystal projector are arranged so that four sides of the components are disposed in parallel in order to reduce the size and weight of the liquid crystal projector.
In the ECB liquid crystal projector, light is polarized and passes through the liquid crystal display device and an optical system. The polarization beam splitter transmits one of two linearly polarized light beams whose electric vector is parallel to the four sides and reflects the other light beam. If the alignment direction of the liquid crystal is set at 45.degree. from the four sides in the polarization beam splitter, the light entering the polarization beam splitter can be modulated between the two linearly polarized light beams, so that a high contrast ratio can be obtained. In this case, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal is inclined at 45.degree. from the alignment direction of pixels of the liquid crystal display device.
Since the size of the liquid crystal display device used for the ECB liquid crystal projector is as small as about (1.4.times.1.4) inches, the interval between electrodes is extremely narrow, such as 2 .mu.m or narrower. Consequently, in the case where a scanning line rate polarity inversion drive is used for applying driving pulses of different polarities to every pixel row, a strong electric field is generated between electrodes.
A liquid crystal molecule receives a torque from the electric field so that the axis of the molecule is pointed toward the interelectrode electric field and a part (interelectrode domain) in which the liquid crystal alignment is disturbed occurs between and around the electrodes.
Light is leaked from the interelectrode domain and the brightness in dark representation increases, so that the contrast ratio decreases.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-334770, pixels are inclined at 45.degree. from the four sides of a liquid crystal display device. However, in this case as well, the interelectrode domain is not completely eliminated and an interelectrode domain occurs on one side of each pixel.


A method for presenting alert notifications includes identifying an alert condition for one of a master device, a slave device, and a production device. Operational states of the slave device and the master device are determined. For each of the slave device and the master device, upon a determination that the given device is in an idle state, that device is caused to display a notification corresponding to the identified alert condition.

Systems of devices such as kiosks are deployed in public environments such as department stores. The kiosks are used by customers to order products. Photographic prints are just one such product example. In many instances the kiosks are managed by employees of the environment in which they are deployed. From time to time, conditions related to the operation of the kiosks can arise that call for an employee's attention. Example conditions include a kiosk's credit card reader malfunctioning or its receipt printer being low on paper. Using the photographic prints example, other conditions may include a photo printer being offline or low on paper. Employees, who are often busy completing other tasks, are often unaware when such conditions arise. When aware, the employees are not able to discern if the condition calls for their immediate attention or if it can be addressed later.

System and method for presenting alert notifications for master and slave devices if in idle operational states

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.