A linear braking mechanism for fluid actuators defined by a cylinder enclosing a cavity having a piston/piston rod assembly reciprocally mounted therein. The braking mechanism includes a spring biased body which is disposed for engaging and retarding the movement of the piston as it nears the end of its travel. A pressure equalizing metering port is provided in the body of the braking mechanism to equalize pressure on opposite sides of the spring biased body.

Typically fluid actuators include a piston rod/piston assembly which is mounted in a cylinder (housing) for reciprocal movement therein. The cylinder may be provided with a single end cap to completely close off one end of the cylinder, or the cylinder may be completely enclosed by an end cap at one end and a cylinder head at its other end, if desired. The fluid pressure normally exerts high pressures on the piston, and when the piston reaches the end of its travel, stops suddenly, and reverses the direction of movement, undesirable vibrations tend to occur. Furthermore, such vibrations and sudden stops tend to have adverse effects on the seals on the piston, per se, and on the seals which seal the end cap and cylinder head to the cylinder body. However, when the pistons are subjected to a "buffering" effect at the end of its travel, these adverse effects are eliminated.
One typical solution to the problem has been to provide a tapered, projecting surface on the piston which mates with a tapered recess on the end sealing members of the cylinder so that as the piston nears the end of its travel, the tapered surface on the piston face enters the tapered recess of the end sealing members, and the fluid in the tapered recess tends to retard the entry of the projecting piston surface therein, thus somewhat retarding the piston movement.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a linear braking system for fluid actuators which serves as a means to gradually retard the rate of movement of a reciprocally movable piston/piston rod assembly in a cylinder housing as the piston/piston rod assembly changes its direction of movement.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a linear brake system which serves as a buffer between end members of the cylinder housing and the piston of the piston/piston rod assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a braking system with resilient shock-absorbing means to absorb the shock of the suddenly stopping piston as the piston reverses directions in its reciprocal movement.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such a braking system with fluid pressure equalization means to equalize the fluid pressure on one side of the brake body with pressure on the second side of the brake body responsive to the piston reaching the end of its travel.


Embodiments relate to sensor device configurations. In one embodiment, a sensor device comprises a bias magnet, a field sensor die, a first set of one or more magnetic field sensor elements, a second set of one or more magnetic field sensor elements, a memory, and circuitry. The sensor device is configured to combine the sensed magnitudes from each of the magnetic field sensor elements of the first set to obtain a first set output, trim the sensed magnitudes from each of the one or more magnetic field sensor elements of the second set with one of the set of trim values to obtain a second set output, and combine the second set output with the first set output to provide an output signal.

Various conventional sensors measure the magnitude of a magnetic field. Some such sensors measure magnetic field perpendicular to the body of the sensor (e.g., Hall effect sensors) while others measure magnetic field in-plane (e.g., magnetoresistive sensors). Magnetoresistive sensors (xMR sensors) include Anisotropic Magnetoresistive (AMR) sensors, Giant MagnetoResistive (GMR) sensors, Colossal MagnetoResistive (CMR) sensors, and Tunneling MagnetoResistive (TMR) sensors, among others. Often, xMR sensors are multilayer devices which include a sensing layer that is susceptible to magnetization by an external magnetic field, but does not retain such magnetization when the external magnetic field is removed. A resistance of the xMR sensor changes as the magnetization of the sensing layer is oriented by the magnetic field.
Linear position sensors often use a bias magnet and a sensor device arranged near a target. The bias magnet creates a magnetic field through the sensor device and the target. The soft magnetic target has a large relative magnetic permeability (often larger than 300, preferably larger than 1500 or 4000) so that it is efficiently magnetized by the magnetic field of the bias magnet, and generates a responding magnetic field with field strength proportional to its proximity to the bias magnet. The sensor device can include xMR sensors such as those described above. Often, the target has a geared or toothed outer edge, such that the magnetic field generated by the target fluctuates as teeth and gaps on the surface of the target pass beneath the bias magnet. Where the tooth spacing of the target is known, the speed of the target can be determined by measuring the frequency of the fluctuations in magnetic field measured by the sensor package.
Conventional position sensors must distinguish between a magnetic field caused by the bias field source and the field that is related to the position of the target. Often, the bias field is much larger than the target field, and fluctuations in the magnetic field from surrounding devices can complicate accurate measurement of target position.

Maximization of target signal and elimination of backbias component for a differential upright position sensor


Preventing the observation of the side effects of mispredicted speculative execution flows using restricted speculation. In an embodiment a microprocessor comprises a register file including a plurality of entries, each entry comprising a value and a flag. The microprocessor (i) sets the flag corresponding to any entry whose value results from a memory load operation that has not yet been retired or cancelled, or results from a calculation that was derived from a register file entry whose corresponding flag was set, and (ii) clears the flag corresponding to any entry when the operation that generated the entry's value is retired. The microprocessor also comprises a memory unit that is configured to hold any memory load operation that uses an address whose value is calculated based on a register file entry whose flag is set, unless all previous instructions have been retired or cancelled.

In computing, "side channel attacks" are a class of techniques used to leak information about a sensitive computation through externally visible side effects of performance of that computation. Through targeted analysis, these externally visible side effects may encode information about a sensitive value. In the context of cryptography, for example, memory access patterns made by privileged software performing a cryptographic operation may vary based on a secret cryptographic key's value. Thus, the latency of subsequent memory operations—which are observable to unprivileged software—may encode information about secret key values used by the privileged software as index into lookup tables or substitution boxes that are common to many cryptographic algorithms. Since side channel attacks have been considered a serious issue for cryptographic software, mitigations have been crafted, such as careful tailoring of cryptographic operations to be constant time with respect to any sensitive key material.
Side channel attacks are also possible within other domains. For example, a "speculative" side channel attack may leak arbitrary sensitive data by utilizing observable side effects resulting from the speculative out-of-order instruction execution designs used by modern high-performance processors. In particular, speculative side channel attacks may leverage timing artifacts of a processor's speculative execution hardware in order to leak secret memory content used by privileged software designed to protect such secret memory content (e.g., an operating system, a hypervisor, etc.).
One example of a speculative side channel includes an instruction execution sequence that speculatively, during an out-of-order instruction execution flow, issues a load from a privileged memory location containing a secret, and then accesses additional unprivileged-accessible cache lines using the contents from the first load as an index. While the computations performed during this speculative execution flow would eventually be rolled back by the out-of-order machine if it is later determined that they were mispredicted, the side effects of these computations (e.g., the cache lines accessed using sensitive memory contents as an index) are still externally visible to unprivileged software by measuring such things as memory latency after any mispredicted instructions have been cancelled.
Various techniques exist for unprivileged software to cause a mispredicted speculative execution flow by privileged software. For example, during execution of privileged software, unprivileged software may cause an out-of-order machine to execute a mispredicted speculative execution flow in the privileged software (e.g., by making calls into the privileged software in such a way that causes the out-of-order machine to mispredict a branch), and then observe side-effects of that mispredicted speculative execution flow. Techniques also exist for unprivileged software to extend the length of time for the misprediction to be resolved, thereby increasing the chance that useful data can be leaked from the predicted out-of-order instruction flow is canceled by the out-of-order machine.

Speculative side-channel attack mitigations


A deflection or snap fit type latch system can resist separation in at least three axes. The snap fit type latch system can include a first member and a second member that when engaged are configured to form a snap fit connection, at least one of the members comprising a deflecting arm. A tee feature on the first member can include a stem and a head. A slot on the second member can slidingly receive the stem of the tee feature as the first and second members engage such that the second member is sandwiched between the first member and the head of the tee feature. The snap fit connection can resist separation in a first axis and the combined tee feature and slot resist separation in two additional axes. The snap fit type latch system can be part of an enclosure, such as a storage device.

Various types of devices use deflection latch systems to hold two parts together. They are common in the electronics industry and are often used in place of fasteners such as screws. Use of deflection latch systems can speed the assembly process, decrease production cost and reduce the number of parts. A deflection latch system may also be known as a snap latch, hook type deflection latch, or snap fit, among other names.


To electronically present and pay bills, bill information representing a plurality of bills of a plurality of billers for a plurality of payors is transmitted to the plurality of payors. The transmitted bill information includes first information representing a first of the plurality of bills of a first of the plurality of billers for a first of the plurality of payors. A payment instruction from the first payor to pay the first bill, based on the transmitted first information, is received. A risk associated with payment of the first bill is determined and a debit type is selected based upon the determined risk. A payment of the first bill to the first biller is initiated based on the received payment instruction and to the selected debit type.

Historically the billing process has been a three party process. More particularly, the typical billing process consists of billers, such as merchants, utility companies, service providers and bankcard companies, preparing hardcopy paper bills either directly or through an independent bill preparation service provider. The bills normally consist of detailed billing information relating to the goods or services purchased or ordered, including a detailed itemization of the billed charges. The billing information also includes the total charge, due date for payment and, in many cases, the minimum amount which must be paid by the due date.
The hardcopy billing information relating to each individual biller is then placed in a separate envelope and mailed through the postal service to the applicable payor. The envelope may also be stuffed with other materials such as other product offerings, e.g., special discounts or new goods or services. Hence, each payor has historically received billing information from each biller as an individual hardcopy piece of correspondence received by mail.
Most, although not all, billers bill on a periodic basis, such as each calendar month or every thirty days. However, although billers may issue bills covering similar periods of time, e.g., thirty day periods, individual billers may have billing cycles and bill issue dates which vary. For example, some monthly billers may have a billing period which extends from the fifteenth of one month to the fifteenth of the next month, while other billers may have a monthly billing period which extends from the last day of one month to the last day of the following month. Further, even if different billers bill charges incurred over identical periods, the issue dates of the bills can vary widely. Accordingly, payors typically receive bills at various times throughout, for example, any given calendar month.
Payors continue to receive large numbers of hardcopy paper bills from individual billers. Hence, bill presentment has remained a tedious and expensive task both in terms of the preparation and the distribution of billing information.
To complete the billing process individual payors have historically made payments directly to each individual biller by hardcopy paper check drawn against a financial institution and mailed via the postal service to the biller's remittance center. A returnable portion of the billing information received from the biller is typically returned with the check. The biller must then present the check for payment through the payor's financial institution before the payment funds can be actually received by the biller and applied against the payors account.
For example, it has been common for many years for consumers to pay monthly bills byway of a personal check written by the consumer and sent by mail to the entity from which the bill or invoice was received. Consumers have used other ways to pay bills, including personally visiting the billing entity to make a cash payment. In today's economy, it is not unusual for a consumer to have several regular monthly invoices to pay. Writing individual checks to pay each invoice can be time-consuming and costly due to postage and other related expenses.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method whereby a consumer can contact a single source and inform the source to pay various bills of the consumer, to have the source adjust the consumer's account with the consumer's financial institution (ie., bank, credit union, savings and loan association, etc.) to reflect a bill payment, and to actually pay the billing entity a specified amount by a particular time. The system should be efficient and not unreasonably expensive and relatively simple for a consumer to interact with.
Some banks have attempted to provide a service for making payment to a few billing entities to which the banks have established relations. The banks that do provide that type of service are limited in that they provide the service only for their own customers since the banks have not developed a system for accurately acquiring and processing account numbers and balances of customers of all other banking institutions and coordinating that information with bill payment. Furthermore, banks have not developed a system for managing the risks involved in providing such a service and the inherent complexities of providing the service to consumers other than the bank's own customers.
Therefore, a need exists for a single source system that would be available to any consumer, regardless of where the consumer banks and regardless of what bills are to be paid.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for electronically presenting billing information in a manner which facilitates the timely payment of bills by payors.

Integrated electronic bill presentment and risk based payment


A method and apparatus for providing loop coherency between a multiplicity of nodes. The disclosed technique and apparatus utilize a primary loop for nominal data communications and a normally unutilized secondary loop. A loop coherency circuit detects a loop incoherency condition which results in a interruption of the primary loop. The loop coherency circuit reroutes the flow of data to a secondary loop segment and back to a primary loop segment to provide a continuous coherent arbitrated loop.

Fibre Channel is a 1 gigabit per second data transfer interface technology that maps several common transport protocols including IP and SCSI, allowing it to merge to high-speed I/O and networking functionality in a single connectivity technology. Fibre Channel is an open standard as defined by ANSI and OSI standards and operates over copper and fiber optic cabling at distances of up to 10 kilometers. ANSI ASC (Accredited Standards Committee) X3T11 is the primary committee responsible for Fibre Channel. It is unique in its support of multiple inter-operable topologies including point-to-point, arbitrated loop and switching and it offers several classes of service for network optimization. With its large packet sizes, Fibre Channel is ideal for storage, video, graphic and mass data transfer applications.
Fibre Channel Arbitrated loop was developed with peripheral connectivity in mind. It natively maps SCSI (as SCSI FCP), making it an ideal technology for high speed I/O connectivity. Native Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) disk drives allows storage applications to take full advantage of Fibre Channel's gigabit bandwidth, passing SCSI data directly onto the channel with access to multiple servers or nodes. FC-AL supports 127 node addressability and 10 km cabling ranges between nodes. Gigabit bandwidth and functionality also make Fibre Channel technology an attractive solution for server clustering.
Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) offers the highest overall performance and distance of any serial interface. Fibre Channel can transfer at 200 Mbytes/sec in full duplex mode over distances of 10 kilometers. Fibre Channel supports dual loop capability to provide a high resiliency environment. If a single loop is unavailable, the second loop continues operation. Fibre Channel hubs represent an additional level of control and resiliency. Hubs provide expansion flexibility where additional hosts and storage subsystems can be added with no disruption in the loop.
Arbitrated loop is implemented as a topology that takes the logic of switched topology and distributes it to all devices on the loop. This enables each device to use the loop as a point-to-point connection. Arbitrated loop works in a fashion where each device arbitrates for loop access, and once granted, has a dedicated connection between sender and receiver. The available bandwidth of the loop is shared between all devices. Since no switch is required to connect multiple devices, the cost per connection is significantly less.
When interconnecting Fibre-Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) enclosures together containing multiple FC devices, disruption of the loop may arise. For example, a cable may become detached from an enclosure or power may be inadvertently shut off or lost for a particular enclosure, an enclosure may need to be removed from the loop for servicing, etc. Under any of the above conditions, the loop is opened and the system becomes inoperable since each FC device in an FC-AL system acts as a repeater passing data around a loop unidirectionally. In Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop environments, because each Fibre Channel node acts as a repeater for all other nodes that it is connected to, one failed node will bring the entire loop down.
Typically, an active hub or concentrator may be utilized into which each enclosure is connected. However, utilization of an active hub has several disadvantages. The central hub is a single point of failure which will bring down the entire loop if failure of the hub occurs. Additionally, the use of an active hub adds cost to the FC-AL, system.
An enhancement to this method of providing loop coherency in Fibre Channel systems is achieved by creating PORT A and PORT B loops. The PORT A loop is utilized exclusively until a failure condition at which time the traffic is switched to the PORT B loop. These loops are created by cabling two fully independent, physical loops between enclosures. Redundant cabling and hardware provide full data path redundancy.
Although a hub or concentrator will automatically bypass a problem port and avoid most faults, it represents a single point of failure. Redundancies can be built into concentrators or fully redundant cabling and concentrators can be used to work around this. A concentrator configuration may detrimentally add to the cost of the loop system.
None of the known techniques to provide loop integrity in a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop environment provide a loop system having scaleable architecture and no central point of failure at a low cost. Thus, there lies a need to provide an economical and scaleable method and apparatus for maintaining loop coherency without a central point of loop failure in Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop environments.

Method and apparatus for providing loop coherency


A housing unit for a turbocharger (1) comprises a rotor shaft (18) to mount a rotor on both its ends. Furthermore, there is a bearing housing part (4) for supporting the rotor shaft (18), and a turbine housing (2), an opening or recess of which facing an end portion (5) of the bearing housing (4). In this way, the end portion of the bearing housing (4) may be inserted into the opening or recess and may be fastened to the wall of the turbine housing (2) which delimit and surround the opening or recess. Within the region between the end portion of the bearing housing (4) and the turbine housing (2), at least one heat resistant sealing (17, 31) is provided which may be formed of a mineral material or of metal.

Turbochargers having such a housing unit are known in the art, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,780,054 or 5,146,752.
The requirements as to emission reduction are growing, as is known. One of the causes of increasing ecological damage, that is to be avoided, is the so-called "blow-by" effect wherein exhaust gas from the turbine housing flow to the suction side of the compressor. Numerous suggestions have been made to prevent such flow. On the other hand, more and more fun mobiles come onto the market which are not thought to run on normal streets, but driven in the middle of cross-country, for example through watercourses and ponds. Certainly, the exhaust gas pressure prevents, in general, penetrating of water, but under normal conditions the vehicle should not be left in water when the motor is switched off.

Turbocharger and method for its manufacture


A method includes receiving at least one of a widget or a reference to a widget, where the widget can be at least one of a static data object, a media object, or a software object. At least a portion of a widget container, which is a procedural software framework containing a service module associated with the widget and the widget, is generated. The service module can be a pre-defined function associated with the widget container before the widget container is generated. The widget container can be configured to be executed at a widget-container processing device in response to a reference to the widget container being accessed from a processor-readable vehicle.

The disclosed invention relates generally to distribution of content over a network, and in particular, to containerization of static, media, and/or software objects in a procedural software framework.
The world wide web is a platform that has been used to exchange various forms of content including videos, text, music, etc. Often this content is distributed to users and/or computers in an ad-hoc fashion, for example, using e-mail or as files embedded in a web page. Recently, primitive forms of "viral" distribution or replication of content have been developed that allow users to more easily spread content to other users than previously known ad-hoc methods. Although these primitive methods are more convenient than distributing content in an ad-hoc fashion, they have many shortcomings. For example, they do not provide for the ability to easily add services related to the content and services, if any exist, cannot be dynamically modified. The spreading of content using ad-hoc methods and/or primitive forms of viral spreading cannot be tracked as a service in a useful way. Content also cannot be readily shared with users of different platforms (e.g., personal digital assistant to personal computer). Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method for combining content with services.

Method and apparatus for widget-container hosting and generation


A lithium-sulfur battery having a positive electrode including a positive active material including an active sulfur, where the positive electrode comprises an electron-conductive path and an ion-conductive path, and includes active pores of the average size of up to 20 μm having both electron-conductive and ion-conductive properties, and are filled with the active sulfur during an electrochemical reaction of the battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lithium-sulfur batteries, and more specifically, to lithium-sulfur batteries with good cycle life characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
The remarkable development of portable electronic devices has led to an increase in the demand for secondary batteries. Particularly, the secondary batteries are required to have a high energy density in relation with trends for more compact and lighter portable electronic equipment. In addition, the secondary batteries are required to be cheaper, safer, and more environmentally friendly.
The active material used in lithium-sulfur batteries is a cheap and environmentally friendly material. Further, with respect to energy density, since the energy density of a lithium-sulfur battery is anticipated to be high (i.e., that of the lithium of the negative electrode is 3,830 mAh/g and that of the sulfur of the positive electrode is 1,675 mAh/g), lithium-sulfur batteries are an attractive candidate to satisfy the above-mentioned requirements.
A conventional lithium-sulfur secondary battery uses a sulfur-based compound with a sulfur-sulfur bond as a positive active material, and a lithium metal or a carbon-based compound as a negative active material. Upon discharge (electrochemical reduction), a sulfur-sulfur bond is broken, resulting in a decrease in the oxidation number of S. Upon recharging (electrochemical oxidation), a sulfur-sulfur bond is formed, leading to an increase in the oxidation number of S. Therefore, the electrochemical energy can be stored and generated using the reduction-oxidation reactions. The above-mentioned sulfur-based compound is often referred to as an "active sulfur."
The active sulfur has a reductive state that is not simple, and it coexists with various chemical species, successively (see E. Levillain et al., J. Electroanal. Chem. 420 (1997) 167; and E. Levillain et al., J. Electroanal. Chem. 440 (1997) 243). Overall, the reaction occurring in batteries of active sulfur is described in the following Formula 1:xLi+S⇄LixS  (Formula 1)
That is, active sulfur in lithium-sulfur batteries reacts with the lithium metal, resulting in a reduction to lithium sulfide or lithium polysulfide. The compound of the theoretical final oxidation state is S8, while the compound of the final reductive state is Li2S. When S8 is completely reduced to Li2S (100% utilization), it has a theoretical capacity of 1,675 mAh/g. Thus, capacity is higher than for any other chemical species.
Contemplated battery designs include those in which (a) all of the active sulfur dissolves in the electrolyte (one-phase positive electrode), and (b) the active sulfur is present both in a solid phase (sometimes precipitated) and in a liquid phase in the electrolyte, an example of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,720. However, regardless of which design is adopted, with cycles of charging-discharging, the active sulfur of the lithium-sulfur battery may exist in either an all-liquid phase or a solid-liquid mixed phase as shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, only the liquid phase exists in the decreasing curve of the discharge, while both liquid and solid phases coexist in the first and second plateau parts.
The lithium-sulfur battery is different from other types of batteries in that the solid and the liquid phases may simultaneously coexist as the positive active materials. Accordingly, in the lithium-sulfur battery, the active material may be attached to the positive electrode and dissolved in the electrolyte.
As described above, during a charging-discharging cycle, the active material is not maintained as an all-solid phase, but coexists with a liquid phase. Therefore, the active material can be electrochemically inactive (i.e., the active material may not stay within the positive electrode), but it can be detached from the positive electrode and become unavailable for further electrochemical redox reaction. Accordingly, although lithium-sulfur batteries have a high theoretical capacity, the performance thereof is not satisfactory. In addition, on the condition of the continued reduction of the lithium polysulfide, the sulfur is irreversibly precipitated on the surface of the conductive network and it is hard to oxidize again, with the difficulty greatly depending upon the composition of the electrolyte.
In order to avoid the problems and provide lithium-sulfur batteries with excellent performance, positive active materials have been proposed as follows: an organosulfur compound such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,833,048 and 4,917,974 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,175; DMcT-Pan (2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazol and polyaniline) as disclosed in Oyama et al., Nature, 373, 598-600, 1995; and a carbon-sulfur compound as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,441,831, 5,460,905, 5,601,947, and 5,609,720. However, the organosulfur has a low theoretical capacity and a slow reaction rate at room temperature. Further, the carbon-sulfur compound also has problems in that the theoretical capacity is low and it is not easy to reproduce the material with an identical molecular structure.
Accordingly, attempts have been made to utilize elemental sulfur (S8) as a positive active material. Since elemental sulfur has the highest theoretical capacity and is in the form of powder, an electrode can be prepared to have a high active material density per unit volume and a high capacity density, resulting in providing a positive electrode with a high capacity. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,179, an elemental sulfur rechargeable at room temperature is utilized in the battery system. As disclosed in this patent, the theoretical final oxidation state of active sulfur is defined as inorganic sulfur (S8).
Even when using elemental sulfur, the problems of the coexistence of solid and liquid phases of the sulfur occur. In order to overcome the problems, it has been suggested that sulfur-absorbing additives be added to a positive active material slurry to delay the detachment of the sulfur. As the sulfur-absorbing additives for this purpose, JP Laid-Open Publication No. 09-147868 discloses an active carbon fiber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,587 discloses techniques whereby a positive active material is embedded among transient metal chalcogenides having a highly porous, fibrous and ultra fine sponge-like structure, or that the positive active material is encapsulated therewith. Further, PCT Publication No. WO 99/33131 discloses that particulates such as carbon, silica, and aluminum oxide having a potent absorbency toward polysulfide are added. PCT Publication No. WO 99/33125 discloses that the positive electrode is encapsulated within a separator made of a microporous pseudo-boehmite layer, so as to inhibit the diffusion of soluble polysulfide. PCT Publication No. WO 99/33127 discloses that polysulfide anions are kept around a cationic polymer with a quaternary ammonium and an anionic polymer including a salt group. However, as a result of incorporating the additives to enhance the positive electrode active mass, the energy density is reduced.


A device for indicating the aim, at least in bearing, of the optical axis of the reflector of a motor vehicle headlight relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, wherein the device comprises apparatus for establishing a reference direction and suitable for being mounted on a fixed portion of the vehicle to define a reference direction that is well determined relative to the longitudinal axis apparatus. Apparatus is also included for establishing the direction of the optical axis of the reflector and is fixed relative to the reflector and distinct from a surface of the reflector for generating its beam. Finally, an indicator is provided for establishing the position of the optical axis direction relative to the reference direction. Indications thus given by the device enable the reflector to be adjusted after is has been mounted on the vehicle.

A certain number of indicator apparatuses already exist for adjusting the bearing and/or elevation of reflectors. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,914 describes an apparatus suitable for mounting on the fixed glass of a headlight and of occupying a reference position, and then "reading" the beam generated by the headlight to verify that it is suitably oriented relative to the reference. The headlight is fitted with adjustment means that may be conventional or otherwise and these are used to vary the aim of the reflector and of its lamp until satisfactory beam is generated.
A characteristic common to all prior systems lies in the fact that they use light-sensitive means which are placed in the field of the light beam generated by the lamp/reflector pair that is to be adjusted, with the light-sensitive means occupying an accurate reference position. As a function of the light they receive, these light-sensitive means serve to indicate whether or not the beam is properly positioned.
All of such prior art systems are therefore disadvantageous in that they are generally complex and expensive.
The present invention seeks to mitigate these drawbacks of the prior art and to provide an aim-indicating device which is simple and cheap in design and easy to implement.

Device for indicating the aim of the optical axis of a reflector on a motor vehicle relative to a reference direction


Provided is a rail inspection system capable of accurately detecting a defect of a railroad rail. The system includes: a sensor part group that has a plurality of sensor parts having receiver coils, and first oscillator coils and second oscillator coils corresponding to the receiver coils being arranged in a line parallel in a width direction of a railroad rail to be inspected; an oscillation part that supplies an oscillation signal to each of the first oscillator coils and the second oscillator coils; and a detection part group that has a plurality of detection parts to detect, with respect to an output signal from each of the receiver coils when the sensor part group moves in a laying direction of the railroad rail, a first inspection signal corresponding to a first phase of the output signal and a second inspection signal corresponding to a second phase of the output signal.

As a background art in this technical field, there is disclosed in Patent Document 1. A defect such as a crack may occur in a rail used for a railroad or the like. When such a kind of defect is left, a problem such as a breakage of the rail occurs. Thus, preferably, a nondestructive inspection is performed regularly on the rail. For example, the abstract of the following PTL 1 describes that "according to one embodiment, the present technique provides a testing apparatus for testing material integrity in an object. The testing apparatus includes an electrical conductor and a sensing device. In the exemplary testing device, the electrical conductor extends in a generally linear direction and is configured to route current in a direction generally transverse to a longitudinal axis of the object being tested. Routing of current through the electrical conductor creates remote field eddy current effect, which, in turn, affects a magnetic field around the test object. The testing apparatus also includes a sensing device located at a distance from the electrical conductor and configured to detect magnetic fields generated in response to current routed through the electrical conductor."

Hitachi High-Tech Fine Systems Corporation


Whether a communication is possible among nodes which transmit data in a wireless manner is discriminated and the nodes which can mutually communicate thereamong are set to the same group. In each node, if a node which can communicate with two or more groups exists, the node which can communicate among the groups is set to a bridge connecting the different groups. In case of communicating with the nodes among the different groups, a communication is performed via the node that has been set as a bridge.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a radio communicating method of performing a data communication among a plurality of nodes in a wireless manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a digitization of audio equipment and video equipment such as CD (Compact Disc) player, MD (Mini Disc) recorder/player, digital VTR, digital camera, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) player, and the like has been progressing. By the spread of a personal computer, a system such that those digital audio equipment or digital video equipment is connected to the personal computer and various controls can be performed by the personal computer has appeared. As mentioned above, as an interface to construct a system such that each digital audio equipment and each digital video equipment are connected or a system such that those equipment and the personal computer are connected, attention is paid to IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394.
In IEEE1394, an isochronous transfer mode and an asynchronous transfer mode are supported. The isochronous transfer mode is preferable to transfer a time-sequential data stream such as video data or audio data at a high speed. The asynchronous transfer mode is preferable to, for example, transfer various commands or files. As mentioned above, in IEEE1394, since the isochronous transfer mode and the asynchronous transfer mode are supported, if IEEE1394 is used as an interface, the video data or audio data can be easily transferred between the digital audio equipment and the digital video equipment or those equipment and the personal computer are connected and various controls and an edition can be easily performed by the personal computer.
However, IEEE1394 is a wired interface. To construct the system as mentioned above by the wired interface, a wiring is necessary and a cable is likely to be complicated. In the wired interface, it is difficult to connect a plurality of equipment existing in a remote room in a home.
The applicant of the present invention, therefore, has proposed a wireless LAN which can connect digital audio equipment and digital video equipment or those equipment and a personal computer in a wireless manner and can be used in a manner similar to IEEE1394.
As mentioned above, if the wireless LAN is used, a wiring is unnecessary and data can be easily transmitted among the equipment. However, since there is a limitation in an arrival distance of a radio wave, a data communication cannot be performed among the nodes existing at remote positions. Even if the nodes exist at close positions, a data communication cannot be performed between the nodes between which an object such as a wall or the like which obstructs a radio wave exists. As mentioned above, in the wireless LAN, there is a case where the nodes which cannot mutually perform a data communication exist although they are located on the same transmission path. There is a problem such that a data transmission cannot be performed between such nodes.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a radio communicating method which can perform a data communication even-to nodes which cannot mutually directly perform a data communication.
According to the invention, there is provided a radio communicating method of mutually performing a radio communication among three or more nodes, comprising the steps of: discriminating whether a communication is possible among the nodes or not; grouping the nodes which can communicate thereamong as a same group; and setting a node which can communicate with two or more groups to a bridge for relaying a data transfer between the two groups.
Whether a communication is possible among the nodes to which data is transmitted in a wireless manner or not is discriminated and the nodes which can communicate thereamong are grouped to the same group. In each node, if a node which can communicate with two or more groups exists, this node is used as a bridge. In case of communicating with the nodes between the different groups, a communication is performed through the node decided as a bridge. As mentioned above, if one node existing among a plurality of groups is used as a bridge, a data communication can be performed even among the nodes of the different groups. Even if the nodes exist at remote positions or an obstacle of a radio wave exists between the nodes, a communication can be performed.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings.


This device is used to clean and dry lens of eyewear. The entire device is contained in one unit and will provide the appropriate motion or movement to accomplish the cleaning of the eyewear using brushes and drying pads.

A. Field of the Invention
This relates to the cleaning of eyewear and in particular eyeglasses. It is not unusual for dirt, dust, or other particles to accumulate on eyeglasses, therefore requiring the eyeglasses to be cleaned in order to maintain clarity of vision.
B. Prior Art
There are many other prior art references related to the cleaing of eyewear or eyewear maintenance devices. Some examples include Snodgrass, U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,268, Jensen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,008,161 and Yahav, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,910. Some eyeglass cleaners are also motorized; an example of this type is Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,632.
None of the above referenced patents, however, incorporate all the design features that have been included in the current device.


Circuits, methods, and apparatus that may provide power supply voltages in a safe and reliable manner that meets safety and regulatory concerns and does not exceed physical limitations of cables and other circuits and components used to provide the power supply voltages. One example may provide a cable having a sufficient number of conductors to provide power without exceeding a maximum current density for the conductors. Another example may provide a cable having more than the sufficient number of conductors in order to provide an amount of redundancy. Current sense circuits may be included for one or more conductors. When an excess current is sensed, a power source in the power supply may be shut down, the power source may be disconnected from one or more conductors, or both events may occur.

Electronic devices need power for their operation. This power may be delivered internally, for example from a battery, or externally, for example from a power supply. An external power supply may be a unit designed with the primary purpose of providing power, or the external power supply may be part of another electronic device. For example, a laptop computer may include a power supply that provides power to a portable media device. Power provided by an external supply may be provided over a cable or other electrical conductor. These cables may have connectors on each end that may mate with connectors on the power supply and the electronic device that is receiving the power. These cables may provide only power, or they may provide power and data. Data may be provided over wire conductors, fiber optic conductors, or other types of conductors in the cables.
These power supplies and electronic devices may be located near each other in a relatively benign environment. For example, the above laptop and portable media player may be located near each other on an office desk. But in other situations, the devices may be more remote from each other. In these or other situations, there may be a less benign environment between external power supply and the electronic device. In these situations, a cable providing power from a power supply to an electronic device may be routed over a long distance, it may be routed through a harsh environment, it may be routed through a path where damage is likely, or it may be routed through another potentially hazardous path.
This routing may lead to concerns about the physical limitations of the cable being used. For example, a cable may have a maximum current above which localized heating may damage the cable. The potential for this or other damage that may be caused by these hazardous pathways may lead to safety concerns for the power supply, the electronic device being powered, and third parties. These safety concerns may implicate regulatory aspects as well.
Thus, what is needed are circuits, methods, and apparatus that may provide power supply voltages in a safe and reliable manner that meets these safety and regulatory concerns and does not exceed physical limitations of cables and other circuits and components used to provide the power supply voltages.

Power supply with current limit on individual conductors


A position locking mechanism for a windrow inverter having a wing draper attachment mounted on the frame of the windrow inverter on the opposing side of the transverse cross conveyor from the discharge chute and being manually movable between a horizontal operative position and a vertical transport position is disclosed wherein the wing extension is latched automatically when raised to the transport position. A rod connected to the pivotally movable wing extension is telescopically received within a bracket mounted to the frame of the windrow inverter and is appropriate notched and biased into engagement for fixing the wing extension when placed in both the operative and transport positions. A concentric compression spring mounted on the rod reduces the effort required to lift the wing extension into a raised transport position. A set of elastomeric bumpers requires the wing extension to be forced into the operative position to be latched.

This invention relates generally to crop harvesting machines and, more particularly, to a windrow inverter operable to work windrows of crop material lying on the ground.
Windrow inverters, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,125, issued on Dec. 27, 1988, to Philip J. Ehrhart and Bryant F. Webb, have been utilized to engage a windrow of crop material lying on the ground, elevate the windrow of crop material, convey the windrow of crop material transversely of its original position on the ground, and invert the windrow of crop material by passing the windrow through a discharge chute positioned transversely of the cross conveyor. Such a windrow inverter is operable only to transversely shift and invert a windrow of crop material, although the windrow inverter embodiment described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,092, issuing on Apr. 19, 1988, to Richard E. Jennings, provides for a windrow inverter that can be operable to merely shift the windrow of crop material to dryer ground laterally to one side of its original position on the ground.
It has been found desirable that, particularly in light crop conditions, to position two windrows of crop material adjacent to one another, thereby increasing hay volume for future operations, such as baling or other harvesting procedures. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a windrow inverter that would be operable in a selected manner to laterally shift windrows to either side of the machine to permit a doubling of windrows of crop material beside one another.
For a windrow inverter having a wing extension manually pivotally movable from a generally horizontal operating position to a generally vertical transport position to provide the capability of optionally doubling windrows for subsequent harvesting operations, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism to hold the wing extension in the selected operative or transport positions. It would be preferable if such a position locking mechanism would be operable to lock the wing extension in the vertical transport position without letting go of the wing extension to effect a pinning of the structure.


A system and a method are disclosed for replacing a listing of a canceled booking for a guest user. In an embodiment, an accommodation management system receives an indication that a booking by the guest user has been canceled. The system retrieves, from an attribute database, attributes of the canceled listing and maps each attribute to a set of similar attributes in an equivalence table. The system retrieves, from a listing database, a set of comparable listings, each of which includes one or more of the mapped similar attributes and available during the same time period as the canceled booking. The system books one of the comparable listings for the guest user during the time period by populating a booking data structure with a connection between the comparable listing and the guest user.

Homestay accommodations are unique because, unlike hotels, the homestay accommodations are custom-built and/or custom-furnished. Further, each homestay accommodations may include a unique set of features, amenities, and other attributes. Thus, when bookings for homestay accommodations are canceled, existing accommodation management systems are incapable of identifying equivalent accommodations for booking due to the unique nature of each homestay accommodation since a true match of all attributes of the homestay accommodation would not be found in a database search. Accordingly, existing accommodation management systems leave guests who face cancelations of their bookings without adequate alternatives for lodging, particularly in the case of a last-minute cancelation that may leave a guest without time to find a replacement accommodation.

Database systems for similar accommodation determination


Control levers have utilized various switch assemblies mounted within the grasping portion thereof to control multiple machine functions. The mounting of the switch assembly within the control lever typically provides an opening in the control lever that is somewhat larger that the switch assembly to accommodate relative movement therebetween. In many instances problems have been encountered because foreign matter is allowed to enter the interior of the control handle through a space that exists between the switch and the control lever. The present invention provides a seal plate between the a switch member and a cover member defined by the control lever. The seal plate is positioned about the switch member to cover the opening between the switch member and the cover member. The seal plate is continually biased into engagement within a relieved portion defined on an interior surface of the cover member by an abutment portion defined by the switch member during the full range of movement of the switch member.

In the operation of machines of all kinds, but in particularly construction machines, it has been common to include one or more switch assemblies into the grasping portion of the levers used to control the machine and its many implements. In doing so, accommodation must be made to accept various types of switches as well as the relative motion that may exist between the grasping portion of the lever and the actuator of the switch. In many situations, the opening in the grasping portion through which the switch actuator must extend must be larger than the body of the actuator to accommodate for this motion. Many times this opening or a cavity is large enough to allow a substantial amount of debris and foreign matter to gain access to an interior portion of the control lever. In many situations, the switch is intended to actuate an electronic mechanism. The foreign matter that has been allowed access to the interior of the control lever has been known to accumulate on the electronic switch components and interfere with performance of the control mechanism.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.


A quick-release snag resistant fishing net retainer designed to securely hold a fishing net to a boat. The net retainer includes a compressive retainer and a mounting means. The retainer is formed with a resilient arm that is configured to create a neck between the resilient arm and either the retainer or a mounting means through which a rim of the fishing net may be forced. Once the rim has been forced through the neck, the resilient arm returns to its initial position thereby securing the fishing net. The mounting means releasably attaches the retainer to the boat and may include retainer bands or screws to attach the retainer to a post on the boat, or a flat surface mounting implement to attach the retainer to any flat surface of the boat. An implement guard may be incorporated to improve the snag resistance of the retainer and minimize tripping hazards.

Recreational boaters, especially fishermen, have long sought ways to effectively store cargo. This is particularly true with modem recreational fishing boats known as bass boats that have low profile hulls and relatively flat fishing decks. Such boats have optimized storage as much as possible by incorporating under-deck rod and tackle holders. However, convenient storage of a fishing net has not yet been obtained.
One problem associated with storing a fishing net is caused by the odd shape of the fishing net. A majority of recreational fishing nets are 48″–60″ in length, composed of an oblong shaped 18″–30″ net opening at one end and a tubular handle at the other end. The simple geometry of such a fishing net makes it impractical to store below the deck because it would create a great deal of wasted space. Therefore, fishing nets are generally stored on the deck of recreational fishing boats.
Storing lightweight, large surface area, fishing nets unsecured on the deck of a fishing boat during transport is especially dangerous. This is true both during the transport of the boat to and from the lake, as well as when the boat is cruising across a body of water. Fishermen have developed a number of ways to secure a fishing net to a boat so as to prevent the net from becoming a projectile. A majority of the commonly used tie-down techniques incorporate bungee cords or rope to secure the net in the boat. While such methods are generally adequate, they are not convenient, especially for fishermen that traverse a lake many times during a fishing day to visit their favorite fishing spots. The cords, or ropes, generally get tangled in the netting of the fishing net and are not easy to remove as a fisherman is reeling in a catch, and they can be dangerous in that they create a tripping danger to the boat's occupants. Another method of securing a fishing net often observed as boats travel between fishing spots is that of wedging the handle portion of a fishing net between the driver's, or passenger's, seat and a portion of the boat. While this method permits a fisherman to quickly grab the fishing net while fighting a fish, the fishing net is not in the most convenient location nor does it provide the level of security that is necessary to ensure that the net does not become a projectile as the boat rapidly crosses rough water.
What has been needed in the recreational boating industry is a convenient, inexpensive, fishing net retainer that is easy to install, reliably secures the fishing net, marine environment resistant, snag resistant, facilitates quick-release of the fishing net with a single arm, and is not a tripping hazard. While some prior art methods achieve some of these qualities, none do so in the manner and efficiency of the present invention.

Quick-release snag resistant fishing net retainer


A photomask that includes an assistant pattern is provided. The photomask comprises a target pattern transcribed over a wafer by an exposing process, and an assistant pattern formed symmetrically with a main pattern of the target pattern based on the outer pattern of the target pattern, thereby minimizing the loss of the outer pattern and maximizing the process margin in the defocus environment.

The present invention relates to a photomask used in an exposing process for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more specifically, to a photomask that includes an assistant pattern formed in an open region around the main pattern.
In photolithography for manufacturing a semiconductor device, a photomask is used to form a pattern on a semiconductor substrate. The photomask has a mask pattern for forming various components of the semiconductor device. As the semiconductor device becomes more integrated, the feature size of the mask pattern becomes smaller.
When the feature size of the mask pattern reaches a resolution limit of an exposer, it becomes difficult to transfer a desired pattern on a substrate due to the optical proximity effect.
That is, when the mask pattern is transferred on a substrate by illumination of exposure sources (e.g., KrF excimer laser or ArF excimer laser), the pattern formed on the photomask is not transferred to the substrate uniformly. The pattern is distorted depending on the its location of the pattern. When the light transmitted by a light source passes through the photomask, various optical phenomena occur depending on the location and the shape of the mask pattern so that the light intensity varies depending on the location on the photomask.
In order to solve the above problem, an optical proximity correction (OPC) technology has been used.
The OPC is to calculate statistically or experimentally a relation between an intended pattern and an actual pattern formed in photoresist. The size and shape of the mask pattern can then be adjusted depending on the calculation.
However, when a conventional OPC is used, it is difficult to improve the margin of the depth of focus and the uniformity of a critical dimension (CD) in all of the patterns of the chip. A pattern formed at an outer edge of a cell array is particularly vulnerable to defocus.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a SEM photograph of contact holes formed in a cell array region when optical proximity correction is performed without an assistant pattern.
Referring to FIG. 1, a contact hole pattern disposed in the outer edge is distorted due to the defocus phenomenon. FIG. 1 shows how the defocus phenomenon changes in the outer edge pattern as the depth of focus changes from −0.2 μm to −0.04 μm.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an aerial image of the contact hole pattern of FIG. 1 with the best focus.
As shown in an aerial image 12 disposed between contact holes 11 of FIG. 2, when defocus occurs, likelihood of generating bridges between the adjacent contact holes 11 increases significantly.
In order to prevent the generation of bridges, a method of enlarging a hole diameter of the outer edge pattern has been used. However, when the diameter of the contact hole is enlarged, a contact region encroaches into a gate region and may cause a short between the two regions. As a result, the method of enlarging a hole diameter of the outer edge pattern has a limit.
Alternatively to the solution above, a method of inserting an assistant pattern into a photomask may be used. However, it is difficult to obtain a desired outer pattern and a desired process margin by this method.
As a result, a new assistant pattern is required to obtain a desired process margin for forming the outer pattern, which is most vulnerable to the defocus phenomenon.


In the case of the method of the invention, the cables of a cable harness are preassembled on a metallic rivet bushing by the cable harness manufacturer in that the cable shoes of the cables are pushed onto the rivet bushing and are prevented from loosening by a subsequently formed upset ridge. The rivet bushing with the attached cables is then delivered to the vehicle manufacturer, who pushes the rivet bushing onto a stud bolt provided on the body part. The rivet bushing with the cables held by it is then immobilized on the stud bolt by a nut. An apparatus for performing the procedure as well as a rivet bushing therefore are also described.

For the attachment of a cable harness to a body part of a vehicle, a stud bolt is normally attached to the body part, onto which the cable shoes of the cables are pushed and then immobilized in a so-called plastic crown, which is arranged around the stud bolt. After all cable shoes are fitted on the stud bolts, they are immobilized in their position on the stud bolt by the screwing on of a nut.
This procedure, which is performed by the vehicle manufacturer, is comparatively complex and thus time- and cost-intensive. Moreover, it is relatively prone to problems since the certainty that all cables were installed depends on the reliability of the assembler.
The object of the present invention is to specify a method and an apparatus for connecting several cables of a cable harness with a component, in particular a body part of a vehicle, which are as easy and secure as possible. Furthermore, a rivet bushing should also be provided that is used in the procedure.

Method and apparatus for connecting several cables with a component and a rivet bushing therefore


In an in-vehicle handsfree telephone system, an in-vehicle handsfree device is capable of transferring a voice signal to a portable terminal in a passenger compartment of a vehicle. An operating state detection unit detects an operating state of the vehicle. The handsfree device is responsive to a user operation and selectively operable in one of a handsfree mode in which talking on the portable terminal through the handsfree device is allowed by the transfer of the voice signal and a portable terminal stand-alone mode in which talking on the portable terminal in isolation is allowed. The handsfree device is configured to have a switching restriction function in which the handsfree device restricts switching between the handsfree mode and the portable terminal stand-alone mode in accordance with a detected operating state of the vehicle.

Conventionally, there is known the technology in which a moving speed detection unit is provided in a radio system, such as a mobile phone, and a moving state of the radio system (or a moving state of the person who uses the radio system) is determined based on a detection result from the moving speed detection unit, and, in response to the detected moving state, automatic switching of the radio system to the handsfree talk mode, regulation of the call origination of the radio system concerned, or notification of a warning message or the like to the person concerned is carried out. For example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-190557.
Also known is the technology in which, in order to regulate communication of a portable terminal in the passenger compartment, a sensor unit for detecting the open/close state of a vehicle door is provided, and electromagnetic waves which regulate communication of the portable terminal are transmitted when the door open/close state is detected. For example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-174674.
In recent years, in order to secure safe use of a portable terminal, such as a mobile phone, in the passenger compartment, the use of a handsfree device in the passenger compartment is proposed.
With the use of the handsfree device, connection between the handsfree device and the portable terminal is established at the time of use (typically, in the talking mode) of the portable terminal, and the transmission of a voice signal between the handsfree device and the portable terminal is possible. This eliminates the necessity that the user holds the portable terminal by hand.
However, once the connection is established between the handsfree device and the portable terminal, there has been no mechanism which restricts in any way the mode switching between the handsfree mode in which the handsfree device is used and the portable terminal stand-alone mode in which the portable terminal is used in isolation. For this reason, there is a problem in which the security becomes inadequate in making compatible the convenience of the portable terminal and the safety of the vehicle running.


The present invention relates to a method for printing a three-dimensional light guiding structure (1) by curing droplets (7) of a printing material by light irradiation, wherein in a first step the droplets (7) of printing material are deposited by a nozzle (30) or a print head of an inkjet printer such that the droplets (7) of printing material form a layer (10) and in a second step light is directed from a light source to an array (5), wherein the array (5) comprises a plurality of mirror elements (6), wherein at least one mirror element (6) of the array (5) can be orientated such that the at least one mirror element (6) of the array (5) reflects in directly or directly light either onto a screen (3) or onto the layer (10) formed by the droplets (7) of printing material.

The present invention relates to a method for printing a three-dimensional structure by depositing a plurality of droplets of printing material onto a substrate. A suchlike method is already known from the international patent application WO 2010/091888 A1 and can successfully be used for printing light-directing structures, for instance.
Printing light-directing structures needs a high level of accuracy with respect to depositing and curing the droplets, wherein UV-light is a powerful tool for curing the droplets. However, using UV-light entails some drawbacks. Firstly you are restricted to components for light guiding suitable for UV-light. For example it is necessary to use lenses made from quartz in order to avoid damages in lenses guiding UV-light. Secondly it is desirable that the UV-light changes its intensity or beam profile during the printing process, for example. As result the components for light guiding has to be adapted for each curing process, in particular during the curing process. It is also considerable that components have to be replaced in a time consuming way in order to realize the desired intensity profile.

Method for printing a three-dimensional light guiding structure by curing droplets of a printing material by light irradiation


A sound generating mechanism of a dual bearing reel generates sound by the rotation of a spool, and includes a serrated member, an operation member, a sounding member, a first urging member, and a second urging member. The serrated member includes projections and rotates with the spool. The operation member can come into contact and be separated from the serrated member. The sounding member is pivotably movable in accordance with movement of the operation member between a sound generation position and a release position. The first urging member urges the sounding member toward the rotational center of the serrated member when the sounding member is in the sound generation position. While the sounding member is in the sound generation position, the second urging member applies a greater urging force to the sounding member when the spool rotates in the line-releasing direction than when the spool rotates in the line-winding direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound generating device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sound generating device for a dual bearing reel that generates sound by the rotation of a spool to wind line, the spool being rotatively mounted on a reel unit of the dual bearing reel.
2. Background Information
Known examples of a sound generating device for a dual bearing reel include a sound generating device that is linked to the rotation of the spool, generates sound, and applies resistance to the rotation of the spool. A conventional sound generating device includes a serrated member, an operation member, a sounding member, and an urging member. The serrated member is non-rotatively mounted on a spool shaft. The operation member is mounted to a reel unit and can be moved to contact and to separate from the serrated member. The sounding member that oscillates via the rotation of the serrated member. The urging member urges the sounding member. The serrated member includes a plurality of projections that are aligned spaced apart on the outer periphery thereof in the circumferential direction. The operation member is mounted on the reel unit, and can move in the radial direction of the spool shaft. The sounding member is pivotably mounted on the operation member, and is movable in accordance with movement of the operation member between a sound generation position in which the tip of the sounding member is disposed between the projections of the serrated member and a release position in which the tip of the sounding member is separated from the projections. The urging member urges the sounding member so that the tip of the sounding member will be substantially pointed toward the rotational center of the serrated member when the sounding member is in the sound generation position.
With a conventional sound generating device that is configured as described above, when the operation member is disposed in a position near the sounding member, the sounding member will be disposed in the sound generation position, and the tip thereof can be disposed between the projections. When the spool rotates in this state, the sounding member will oscillate and repeatedly strike the serrated member. Thus, the sound generating device will thereby generate sound. When this operation occurs, the sound generating device will provide a resistance with respect to the rotation of the spool, because the sounding member will repeatedly strike the serrated member. In addition, when the operation member is moved to the separated position, the sounding member will be disposed in a release position in which the tip thereof is separated from between the projections, and thus sound generation will not be possible. As a result, the sound generating device will no longer provide resistance with respect to the rotation of the spool. Thus, if the sound generation and the rotational resistance of the sound generating device can be turned on and off during line winding, the sound generating device can be quieted by placing it in the release state and line winding resistance can be reduced. In addition, during line release, a person fishing can be notified that a fish has been hooked, and line trouble caused by a sudden release of the fishing line can be prevented. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-279074 provides a sound-producing mechanism that can be switched between a sound generating state and a release state.
With the aforementioned conventional sound generating device, the sound generating device will generate approximately the same sound regardless of the rotational direction of the spool and will apply approximately the same rotational resistance to the spool, because the sounding member is urged by the urging member so that the sounding member will point toward the axial center of the spool shaft when the tip of the sounding member is disposed between the projections. However, a dual bearing reel, it is preferable that the rotational resistance be low during line winding and high in the line release direction. Further, it is preferable that a sound that is produced during line winding be louder than that produced during line release in order to notify one that a fish has been hooked. However, with the aforementioned conventional sound generating device, it is difficult for the sound and resistance to be changed in accordance with the direction of rotation because, as noted above, the sounding member is urged by the same urging member toward the axial center of the spool shaft when the tip of the sounding member is disposed between the projections.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved sound generating device for a dual bearing reel. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Sound generating device for a dual bearing reel


A rotary force controlling apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the same are provided. The rotary force controlling apparatus includes a clutch device having a shaft, and a rotary body mounted at one end of the shaft. A housing receives and rotates together with the shaft. A power transferring member is rotatably mounted in the housing and selectively rotates the housing by a clutch inserted between the housing and the power transferring member. A positioning unit protrudes from the periphery of the housing and positions a stop location of the rotary body. A solenoid unit is spaced apart from the clutch device and is selectively turned on and off. The positioning unit includes a first positioning unit that positions an initial location of the rotary body when the solenoid unit is turned on; and a plurality of second positioning units that are separated from the first positioning unit and stop the rotary body at a predetermined location when the solenoid unit is turned off. Since the solenoid unit is turned off when the rotary body is stopped, the solenoid unit is prevented from being overheated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rotary force controlling apparatus of an image forming apparatus that controls a rotary force transferred to a rotary body mounted on a shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer, an LED printer, a digital copier, or a facsimile machine, transfers an image signal according to a digital signal input from a computer or a scanner onto a recording medium in a visible image form. This image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, and a feed device for feeding the sheet to the image forming unit. The feed device and other devices used in the image forming apparatus use a rotary force controlling apparatus for controlling a rotary force transferred to a rotary body that is mounted on a rotary shaft. A conventional rotary force controlling apparatus used in a feed device of an image forming apparatus is described as an example.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a feed device of an image forming apparatus using a conventional rotary force controlling apparatus. FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the conventional rotary force controlling apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the conventional rotary force controlling apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional feed device 1 includes a driving shaft 3 that is rotated by a driving source (not shown), such as a motor. A roller device 20 includes a driving roller 2 connected to and rotated by the driving shaft 3 and a driven roller 5 tightly attached to and rotated by the driving roller 2. The driven roller 5 is pivoted on levers 10b around a hinge shaft 7 to press against the driving roller 2 under the force of a pressing spring 8. The levers 10b are coupled to and rotate on the hinge shaft 7. One of the levers 10b has a mechanical interrupter 10a that follows a rotary cam 12. The feed device 1 includes the rotary cam 12 to actuate the interrupter 10a and to retract the driven roller 5 from the driving roller 2. When necessary, the rotary cam 12 acts as a clutch 14 for rotating the rotary cam 12.
When the driving roller 2 of the feed device 1 rotates, the driven roller 5 rotates and a sheet passes between the driving roller 2 and the driven roller 5 to an image forming unit (not shown) to form an image on the sheet. The roller device 20 has a pressure for conveying the sheet. Accordingly, when the rear end of the sheet leaves the roller device 20, a sudden impact is applied to the sheet that may distort the image. To prevent such distortion, when the rear end of the sheet leaves the roller device 20, the rotary cam 12 rotates to press the interrupter 10a and to separate the driven roller 5 from the driving roller 2.
The conventional feed device 1 includes a rotary force controlling apparatus 30 having the rotary cam 12 and the clutch 14 to separate the driving roller 2 and the driven roller 5.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the conventional rotary force controlling apparatus 30 includes a rotary shaft 10, a clutch unit 20 mounted on the rotary shaft 10, and a power transferring member 22 that receives a driving force from a driving source (not shown) to rotate the rotary shaft 10.
A rotary body 12, such as a cam, is mounted on one end of the rotary shaft 10. The clutch unit 20 is mounted around the periphery of the rotary shaft 10 and controls the rotary force transferred from the driving source (not shown) to control the rotation of the rotary shaft 10. The clutch unit 20 includes a clutch 32 mounted around the periphery of the rotary shaft 10 and a rotation controlling unit 50 for controlling the rotation of the rotary shaft 10.
The clutch 32 includes a first positioning unit 33 and a second positioning unit 34 for stopping the rotary body 12 at a predetermined location. The first and second positioning units 33 and 34 protrude from the circumference of the rotary body 12 and are spaced apart from each other.
The rotation controlling unit 50 interferes with the first and second positioning units 33 and 34 to control the rotation of the rotary shaft 10, and includes a bracket 60, an interfering unit 65, and an elastic member 90.
A solenoid unit 70, which is turned on and off by an electrical signal, is mounted on the bracket 60. When the solenoid unit 70 is turned on by the electrical signal, a magnetic force is generated and the interfering unit 65 is attracted to a predetermined location.
One side of interfering unit 65 is mounted on the bracket 60, and the interfering unit 65 interferes with or is released from the first and second positioning units 33 and 34 when the solenoid unit 70 is turned on or off. That is, the interfering unit 65 interferes with the first and second positioning units 33 and 34 mounted on the clutch 32 to control the rotation of the clutch 32. An armature 80 having an engaging unit 82 for interfering with the first and second positioning units 33 and 34 is mounted on one end of the interfering unit 65.
One end of the elastic member 90 is mounted on the bracket 65, and the other end is mounted on the interfering unit 65. The elastic member 90 provides an elastic force to the interfering unit 65 such that the armature 80 is coupled to and released from the first and second positioning units 33 and 34.
By the action of the solenoid unit 70, the armature 80 moves and interferes with the first and second positioning units 33 and 34 to stop the rotation of the rotary body 12 that is mounted on the rotary shaft 10. When the solenoid unit 70 is turned on, the interfering unit 65 moves so that the armature 80 interferes with the first positioning unit 33. When the solenoid unit 70 is turned off, the interfering unit 65 is returned to its original location by the elastic force of the elastic member 90, and is released from the first positioning unit 33 and interferes with the second positioning unit 34. That is, the action of the solenoid unit 70 and the elastic force of the elastic member 90 moves the interfering unit 65 back and forth between the first and second positioning units 33 and 34.
The power transferring member 22 is mounted around the clutch unit 20, and receives the rotary force from the driving source (not shown) to rotate the rotary shaft 10. The power transferring member 22 is preferably a gear. The rotary force transferred by the power transferring member 22 is selectively transferred to the rotary shaft 10 by the clutch unit 20.
The conventional rotary force controlling apparatus 30 includes two positioning units 33 and 34. The locations of the two positioning units 33 and 34 are spaced apart from each other so that the two positioning units 33 and 34 are controlled when the solenoid unit 70 is turned on and off to control the location of the rotary body 12. Accordingly, when the rotary body 12 is continuously held at any one location, the solenoid unit 70 must stay in the ON state or the OFF state.
When the solenoid unit 70 is continuously OFF, there is no problem. However, when the solenoid unit 70 is continuously ON, it continuously draws power and can become overheated. This can weaken its magnetic force and attracting force. Accordingly, the force for attracting the armature 80 is weakened, and thus the armature 80 may not accurately interfere with the two positioning units 33 and 34.
Also, heat generated in the solenoid unit 70 can shorten its life span or damage other components.
Furthermore, when the solenoid unit 70 is in the ON state for a long time, the armature 80 can be magnetized. Thus, when the solenoid unit 70 is turned off, the armature 80 does not immediately separate from the solenoid unit 70. That is, a time delay occurs and the operation of the rotary body 12 cannot accurately be controlled.
Also, since only two positioning units are used, the rotary body 12 cannot stop at three or more locations. Moreover, when the solenoid unit 70 is turned off and then on, the engaging unit 82 of the armature 80 is engaged with the first positioning unit 33 by the time delay. Thus, the rotary body 12 cannot rotate.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved rotary force controlling apparatus for an image forming apparatus that controls a rotary force transferred to a rotary body mounted on a shaft.

Rotary force controlling apparatus and image forming apparatus including the same


An exemplary embodiment of the invention is an interconnection system including a primary connector having a first detection contact coupled to a first voltage, a second detection contact coupled to said first voltage and a reference contact coupled to a second voltage. The interconnection system includes a secondary connector having a first contact, a second contact and a secondary reference contact. The second contact and secondary reference contact are electrically connected. The first contact makes electrical connection with the first detection contact, the second contact makes electrical connection with the second detection contact and the secondary reference contact makes electrical connection with the reference contact. When the second detection contact makes electrical connection with the second contact, the second detection contact is connected to the second voltage.

In existing computing systems, the ability to upgrade or to have flexibility in system configurations is critical. By design, these systems have modular components which allow many variations in combinations and numbers of subsystems. In order for the system to function as a complete unit, the system controller or processor should be able to recognize and distinguish between the individual subsystems. One way to accomplish this recognition is to inform the controller manually. In this case, the user would have to inform the system of what subsystems were present and give each subsystem an identification. This is tedious for the user and is prone to mistakes. Also, it has to be repeated every time the system configuration changes.
A second method is to give the system a way to identify each subsystem automatically. This usually involves some sort of presence detection using one or more electrical connections which distinguish between subsystems. A common example is 72 pin DRAM SIMMs. These parts typically have four presence detect signals which inform the system of the type and speed of memory which is installed. This sort of presence detect scheme works well when each subsystem has its own, dedicated set of detect circuits. The system can check each of these individual circuits for the presence of a subsystem. This method does not work, however, when these circuits are bussed together. In this case, a more sophisticated method is required.
When several subsystems are bussed together, each subsystem typically needs unique identifiers or addresses which the controller can use to distinguish between subsystems. To make the subsystems unique, the user may have to set jumpers or switches on the subsystems to configure them for proper operation. A problem arises, however, if the design requires no user intervention and that the subsystems be identical, i.e., the subsystem has no inherent unique identifier.
The above-discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome or alleviated by the interconnection system of the present invention. An exemplary embodiment of the invention is an interconnection system including a primary connector having a first detection contact coupled to a first voltage, a second detection contact coupled to said first voltage and a reference contact coupled to a second voltage. The interconnection system includes a secondary connector having a first contact, a second contact and a secondary reference contact. The second contact and secondary reference contact are electrically connected. The first contact makes electrical connection with the first detection contact, the second contact makes electrical connection with the second detection contact and the secondary reference contact makes electrical connection with the reference contact. When the second detection contact makes electrical connection with the second contact, the second detection contact is connected to the second voltage.

International Business Machines Corporation


A surface light source device includes light source driving means for driving light sources on a light emission block basis, a light exit area being sectioned into two or more light emission blocks, light quantity detecting means for detecting light quantities on the basis of output light beams that are led out from the two or more light emission blocks, and drive control means for adjusting emission light quantities of the light sources corresponding to the respective light emission blocks on the basis of light quantities that are detected during lighting periods when only one of the light emission blocks is lit up that are subjected to light quantity detection by the light quantity detecting means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface light source device and a liquid crystal display device and, more specifically, to improvement of a surface light source device as a backlight for illuminating, from the back side, a liquid crystal panel which writes data to pixels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal display devices which perform screen display by illuminating a liquid crystal panel with a backlight from the back side has a problem a phenomenon that when a moving picture is displayed images are recognized visually so as to have tails (what is called "moving picture blurring"). To suppress such moving picture blurring, a conventional technique of turning on the backlight in synchronism with data writing to the pixels of the liquid crystal panel was proposed (e.g., JP-A-2001-210122 and JP-A-2003-57622).
In a backlight disclosed in JP-A-2001-210122, a single light guide plate is sectioned into plural blocks and light sources are turned on on a block-by-block basis in accordance with the data writing position of a liquid crystal panel.
A backlight disclosed in JP-A-2003-57622 is equipped with plural light guide plates that are stacked. The light exit area is caused to light divisionally by turning on light sources on a light guide plate basis. This backlight can improve the moving picture characteristics and thereby suppress moving picture blurring because when a moving picture is displayed the light exit area lights divisionally on a block-by-block basis in synchronism with a data writing operation.
JP-T-2003-532273 (The term "JP-T" as used herein means a published Japanese translation of a PCT patent application.) discloses a backlight-related technique for improving the characteristics of light that is output from the light exit area of a light guide plate by detecting light emission quantities of light sources.
As described above, in conventional backlights, to suppress moving picture blurring the light exit area is caused to light divisionally. This results in a problem that the luminance of exit light is prone to be non-uniform among the blocks. This leads to a problem that the manufacturing cost increases if it is attempted to make light that is output from the light exit area uniform among the blocks. In general, in light-emitting elements such as LEDs (light-emitting diodes), the output power is prone to vary with a temperature variation. Therefore, the light emission quantity may vary with an environmental variation. The light emission quantity may also vary with age. Where such light-emitting elements are used for the respective blocks, to make light that is output from the light exit area always uniform among the blocks, it is necessary to detect light emission quantities of light-emitting elements for the respective blocks. To this end, sensors for detecting light emission quantities need to be provided for the respective blocks, which is a factor of increasing the cost of manufacture of a backlight.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the invention is therefore to provide a surface light source device and a liquid crystal display device capable of making light that is output from a light exit area uniform among blocks without increasing the manufacturing cost. In particular, it is an object of the invention is to provide a surface light source device capable of suppressing moving picture blurring in screen display as well as making the luminance of exit light uniform among blocks without the need for providing, block by block, sensors for detecting light emission quantities of light sources on a block-by-block basis.
Another object of the invention is to prevent luminance unevenness and color unevenness in the arrangement direction of point light sources from occurring in a region of a light exit area that is close to the point light sources. In particular, it is an object of the invention is to provide a surface light source device capable of preventing light that is input from each light source to a light guide plate through its end surface from being output directly from a region close to the light source without being diffused sufficiently.

Surface light source device and liquid crystal display device


A method for forming ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component includes forming a fiber preform, positioning the fiber preform into a chemical vapor infiltration reactor chamber, and densifying the fiber preform. Densification includes infiltrating the fiber preform with a first gas comprising precursors of silicon carbide and infiltrating the fiber preform with a second gas comprising a first rare earth element, wherein the steps of infiltrating the fiber preform with the first gas and infiltrating the fiber preform with the second gas are conducted simultaneously to produce a first rare earth-doped silicon carbide matrix in a first region of the component.

The present disclosure relates generally to ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) and more particularly to a method of manufacturing ceramic matrix composite components for use in gas turbine engines.
Lightweight CMC is a highly desirable material for gas turbine engine applications. CMCs exhibit excellent physical, chemical, and mechanical properties at high temperatures and are particularly suited for producing hot section components for gas turbine engines. CMCs, however, are susceptible to oxidation, which can increase recession rate and component service life.
Improved matrix materials and methods of manufacture are needed to limit the impact of oxidation of CMC components in operation.

Doped silicon carbide ceramic matrix composite


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for stabilizing a ladder for minimizing accidents. For example, a main bracket may be connected to a lower arm, a foot bracket may be connected to the lower arm, an upper arm may be connected to the foot bracket and a slide arm may be telescopically slidable inserted inside the upper arm. Pins may be inserted into holes within the main bracket, upper arm, lower arm, and slide arm to secure the ladder stabilizer. The main bracket may be attached to most ladders regardless of side rail thickness. The ladder stabilizer may accommodate varying surfaces, flat and uneven, with the ability to fold up against the vertical sides of the ladder in a small compact unit when not in use.

The present invention relates generally to a safety device for a ladder and, more particularly, to an attachment adapted to be conveniently secured to either or both sides of a ladder for supporting the ladder against slipping and falling.
Conventional ladder braces have stabilizing legs fastened to the ladder. The ladder braces are often large, unwieldy, difficult to install, complex to operate, and difficult to fold and retract when storing the ladder. The ladder braces are not effective for securing ladders from slipping or falling on uneven surfaces.
One attempt to provide a solution to the above problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,809 to Levi, et al. ("Levi"). A locking mechanism for longitudinally fixing a first and a second tubular pole appears to comprise a plurality of spaced, parallel teeth projecting radially outward from the first tubular pole for engagement with an adjacent notch on a locking ring mounted on the second tubular pole. By rotating the locking ring, teeth on the locking ring mesh with teeth on the first tubular pole to prevent longitudinal displacement between the two tubular poles. However, the meshed teeth can wear from frequent use, entailing unsafe conditions where the stabilizer no longer can lock because the teeth no longer mesh securely to prevent longitudinal movement of the tubular poles. The Levi patent does not seem to disclose a compact device to be set up for securing the ladder from lateral movement and to be stowed away when the ladder is not in use. The Levi patent also does not offer a simple mechanism for operating and adjusting the support to accommodate uneven surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,876 to Severson ("Severson") discloses a foot-actuated ladder brace intended for stabilizing ladders. A foot-actuated extending, locking and folding means is provided for extending a foot link from its folded position to its extended position along the ladder base for interlocking the links together, for releasing the interlocked links, and for nesting and folding the links upwardly along a side rail of the ladder. The Severson patent does not seem to disclose a structure that would prevent twisting deflection of the side rails, which could lead to a person at the top of the ladder falling because the ladder, even with the brace, would not provide sufficient support. Additionally, the foot actuation does not seem to provide secure, easily recognizable locking of the ladder brace to prevent inadvertent collapse of the folding ladder brace while a person is at the top of the ladder. For example, a passerby could accidentally kick the foot-actuated ladder brace so that the brace folds up, leading to a hazardous situation for someone on the ladder.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved apparatus and methods for stabilizing a ladder by securely locking the ladder stabilizer in place to prevent movement in lateral, torsional, and other directions to provide safety to persons using the ladder. There also is a need for an improved apparatus and methods for securing the ladder from inadvertent movement during use and for convenient stowage when the ladder is not in use. A simple mechanism for operating and adjusting the support to accommodate uneven surfaces is also needed.