An aspect of the invention provides an FPGA interconnect and logic block structure preferably included in an array of identical tiles. By allowing the complement of a carry multiplexer input signal to be another carry multiplexer input signal, an optional inverter can be formed and a carry chain running from one tile to the next can be used for generating wide XOR functions as well as other combinational functions and arithmetic functions.

Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) include logic blocks connectable through a programmable interconnect structure. The interconnect structure typically provides for connecting each logic block to each other logic block.
Several U.S. Patents show such structures for interconnecting logic blocks in FPGAs. Freeman in U.S. Reissue Patent Re 34,363, Carter in U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,487, Greene et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,729, Kean in U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,003, Pierce et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,199 and pages 4-32 through 4-37 of the Xilinx 1996 Data Book entitled "The Programmable Logic Data Book", available from Xilinx, Inc., 2100 Logic Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95124, incorporated herein by reference all describe interconnect structures. Tavana et al in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/618,445 also describes a routing interconnect structure.
In addition to the routing structures discussed above, FPGAs have also included structures for performing special functions, in particular fast carry lines for connecting the carry output of one bit generated in one logic block to the carry input of the next bit generated in the next logic block, and cascade lines for allowing wide functions to be generated by combining several adjacent logic blocks. Carry structures are discussed by Hsieh et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,187 M-1230-1F! and by New in U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,250 M-2565!. Cascade structures are discussed by Goetting et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,125 docket M-1743-1! and by Chiang et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,153 docket M-2183!. These patents are also incorporated herein by reference. Some of the fast carry architectures also include dedicated XOR gates for generating the sum when arithmetic functions are being implemented. The cascade architectures allow wide AND, NAND, OR, and NOR functions to be generated but do not allow wide XOR and XNOR functions to be generated. Since wide XOR and XNOR functions are desirable for such applications as parity checking and generation used widely in PCI and many other applications, it would be advantageous to be able to generate these functions as well.

FPGA having logic element carry chains capable of generating wide XOR functions


A game machine input device for inputting signals to a game machine using a computer includes a sticklike controller, a first bevel gear disposed on the side of one end of the controller, a pair of second bevel gears placed opposed to each other with teeth thereof meshed with teeth of the first bevel gear, and a pair of driving sources respectively connected to the second bevel gears to independently turn the second bevel gears.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input device for a game machine using a computer, which allows a player to enjoy a realistic game in real time on a screen of the game machine by operating a controller such as a control lever.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, game machines using computers (hereinafter referred to simply as xe2x80x9cgame machinesxe2x80x9d) have rapidly become widespread. With these game machines, a game player can enjoy a game on a display by operating various controllers, such as control keys, control buttons, and control levers, according to a game program previously stored in a computer device or input at the time of game play.
When general-purpose computers are used as game machines according to a game program previously stored or input at the time of game play, keyboards, mice, and the like are used as input devices. In most cases, game machines exclusively for games are used, and game players use input devices exclusively for games that are separate from the game machines.
A so-called stick device is an example of such input devices.
In the stick device, various types of keys, such as a control key and a selection key, and a control lever are provided on a casing substantially shaped like a rectangular parallelepiped (or a variety thereof). By being turned around the turning fulcrum, the control lever is moved in an arbitrary direction, forward, backward, rightward, and leftward, so as to continuously change the actions of persons, operation states of vehicles, and the like according to the game contents on the display.
The game player can enjoy a game projected on the display by appropriately operating various keys with fingers in accordance with the progress of the game.
The above-described stick device is provided with a mechanism for returning the control lever to the neutral point serving as the starting point when the control lever is released, whereas the load to be imposed on the control lever cannot be changed. This interferes with realism, and causes the player to have a complaint and to demand a greater level of realism.
For example, regarding a competition type game, a game using the flow of a river, and the like, there is a demand to change the load to be imposed on the control lever in order to make the games more realistic.
Furthermore, the neutral point is always fixed at a preset position in the above-described stick device, and cannot be changed to other positions.
As a result, when the control lever is moved to a position offset from the neutral point, even if the position after movement is desired to be regarded as a new neutral point and a starting point of subsequent operation, since the control lever returns, in principle, to the initially set neutral point, it is impossible to perform a more realistic operation relative to the new neutral point after lever movement.
For example, in a case in which an actual car climbs a mountain path or the like in a car rally, the load to be imposed on the car, which runs against gravity, is substantially heavier than that when running on level ground. However, since the conventional game machine is designed with no regard to this point, the game player cannot realize the difference between climbing and level running, and climbing in a game is quite different from actual climbing, which lacks realism. Accordingly, there is an increasing demand by users for more realistic games.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a controller position control method in which a game player can operate a controller, such as a control lever, in analog form according to game contents by changing the load imposed on the controller and changing the home position of the controller, so that the game player can enjoy a realistic game in real time on a display of a game machine using a computer.
In order to overcome the above problems, there is provided a game machine input device for inputting signals to a game machine using a computer, the game machine input device including a sticklike controller; a first bevel gear disposed on the side of one end of the controller; a pair of second bevel gears placed opposed to each other with teeth thereof meshed with teeth of the first bevel gear; and a pair of driving sources connected to the second bevel gears to independently turn the second bevel gears.
Preferably, the number of the teeth in the first bevel gear differs from the number of the teeth in the second bevel gears.
Preferably, the shaft of the first bevel gear is slidably supported at both ends by a pair of opposing concave faces.
Preferably, detection means are respectively provided for the pair of second bevel gears to detect the turning directions and angles of the second bevel gears.
Preferably, one or more speed reduction means are interposed between the second bevel gears and the driving sources.
Preferably, a control means is provided to control the turning directions and angles of the pair of second bevel gears based on signals output from the game machine.
In the game machine input device of the present invention, the pair of second bevel gears are independently turned by separately driving the pair of driving sources. In this case, it is possible to incline the controller centered on one end thereof in an arbitrary direction by a combination of the first bevel gear and the second bevel gears, and to change the load according to the inclination.
Since the first bevel gear and the second bevel gears are meshed, the strength of the mechanism is increased. This further strengthens the structure of the entire input device, and permits size reduction.
The controller can be inclined in the X-axis direction by driving the pair of driving sources in the same direction, and in the Y-axis direction by driving the driving sources in opposite directions. Since such driving is troublesome in an actual control, it is convenient for the driving sources to be respectively provided for inclinations in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.
However, when the driving sources are separately driven, the path of the controller is not linear because of the operation mechanism, and deviates from a straight line in accordance with the amount of inclination.
Since the number of teeth in the first bevel gear and the number of teeth in the second bevel gears are different, the path of the controller can be corrected by deviating the teeth number ratio between the first and second bevel gears from one. Therefore, it is possible to improve nonlinearity of the path of the controller when the teeth number of the first bevel gear and the teeth number of the second bevel gears are the same.
Since the shaft of the first bevel gear is slidably supported at both ends by a pair of opposing concave faces, the turning fulcrum of the controller coincides with the center points of the pair of concave faces when the first bevel gear and the pair of second bevel gears are turned, and the turning fulcrum of the controller is prevented from being displaced.
Since detection means are respectively provided for the pair of second bevel gears to detect the turning directions and angles of the second bevel gears, it is possible to independently detect the turning directions and angles of the second bevel gears.
Since one or more speed reduction means are interposed between the second bevel gears and the driving sources, it is possible to increase the driving force applied from the driving sources, and to thereby produce a desired operating force by a small driving source.
Since the control means is provided to control the turning directions and angles of the pair of second bevel gears based on signals output from the game machine, it is possible to change the load to be imposed on the controller according to the game contents displayed on the display of the game machine. Therefore, the sensations of operating the controller becomes closer to actual sensations, and the player can enjoy a realistic game.
According to the above, it is possible to provide a game machine input device in which the load to be imposed on the controller, such as a control lever, can be changed, and which allows the player to enjoy a more realistic game.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a controller position control method of controlling the position of a controller in an input device for inputting signals to a game machine using a computer, including the steps of: detecting the present position of a sticklike controller having the turning fulcrum at one end; determining whether the present position of the controller coincides with a designated position; regarding the present position of the controller as an operation starting point when the present position coincides with the designated position; and turning the controller around the turning fulcrum so that the present position thereof coincides with the designated position when the present position differs from the designated position and regarding the designated position as an operating starting point of the controller.
Preferably, when the present position of the controller is different from the designated position, the detection of the present position of the controller, the determination of whether the present position of the controller coincides with the designated position, and the turning of the controller around the turning fulcrum are repeatedly performed so that the present position of the controller coincides with the designated position.
In the controller position control method of the present invention, the present position of the sticklike controller having the turning fulcrum at one end is detected, and it is determined whether the present position of the controller coincides with a designated position. When the present position coincides with the designated position, it is regarded as an operation starting point. When the present position of the controller is different from the designated position, the controller is turned on the turning fulcrum so that the present position thereof coincides with the designated position, and the designated position is regarded as an operating starting point.
Therefore, the operation starting point of the controller can be easily changed to an arbitrary position (designated position) offset from the neutral point.
Accordingly, it is possible to control the controller in analog form according to the game contents, and to enjoy in real time a realistic game on the display of the game machine using a computer.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

Input device for game machine, and method of controlling position of controller thereof


An image forming apparatus includes a sheet mounting part for mounting plural sheets thereon, a sheet feeding part having a sheet feeding roller for feeding one of the plural sheets mounted on the sheet mounting part to a sheet conveying path by rotating the sheet feeding roller, a sheet detecting part for detecting the sheet fed by the sheet feeding part on the sheet conveying path, and a control part for controlling the rotation of the sheet feeding roller. The sheet feeding roller repeats an operation of rotating and stopping in a predetermined interval in accordance with the control of the control part during a period which begins when starting the feeding of the sheet and ends when detecting the sheet on the sheet conveying path.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional image forming apparatus, a sheet feeding operation is performed by a sheet feeding part that uses, for example, a stepping motor, in which the sheet feeding part feeds a sheet(s) of paper placed on a sheet stacking part. In a case where the sheet is not detected by a sheet detecting part situated on a sheet conveying path within a predetermined period of time, the sheet feeding operation is retried (hereinafter referred to as "sheet-feed retry operation") for a plural number of times. When retrying the sheet feeding operation, the number of rotations of the stepping motor is gradually increased, in which the stepping motor is driven below a predetermined number of rotations (rotational speed) until a front end of the sheet is detected. After the front end of the sheet is detected, the number of rotations is gradually increased to that of a normal driving state (See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-010972).
However, with the conventional image forming apparatus, the sheet-feed retry operation is executed after having the sheet detecting part wait for a predetermined period of time to elapse. Therefore, it takes a long time for a single sheet-feed retry operation to be executed. As a result, in a case, for example, where a sheet feeding roller is worn out, a further amount of time would be required since the sheet-feed retry operation is executed repetitively until the front end of the sheet can be detected.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method, and program


A protector cover that protects multiple collected wire terminal group splices while reducing the space occupied by the wire harness by locating the protector cover on the wire harness. The protector cover encloses solder joined terminal group splices formed at the ends of branch wires that separate from trunk wires of a wire harness. Multiple caps, each into which a terminal group splice is inserted, are formed at intervals on one or both sides of a planar support member, and a taping flange is formed as an extension at the open end of the caps. A terminal group splice is inserted into each cap and secured therein by a tape wrapping that encompasses the taping flange and the branch wires. The planar support member is then attached to the circumference of the trunk wires through a tape wrapping.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective cover placed over a wire splice, and more particularly to a protective insulated cover provided over collected solder joined ends of multiple electrical wires.
2. Description of the Background Information
As shown in FIGS. 10A–10D, the prior art includes a splice case 1, which is described by Japanese Kokai (Laid Open) Patent H8-148201. Splice case 1 serves as an insulated protective housing covering the solder joined terminal ends of multiple wires of an automotive wire harness. Splice case 1 includes multiple compartments 2, each housing a terminal splice 6 including the solder joined ends of wires 5 which separate from trunk wires 4. After each terminal splice 6 is inserted into a respective compartment 2, stopper pin 3 is inserted between wires 5 to lock each terminal splice 6 in splice case 1.
Splice case 1, however, is unable to flex due to its construction of hard synthetic resin, thus creating a problem in that a large amount of space is required to accommodate splice case 1, with wire terminals 6 installed therein, in the vicinity of trunk wires 4. There is also the possibility that splice case 1, which is constructed of a hard synthetic resin, may interfere with and cause damage to trunk wires 4.


Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) equalization using a Deep Neural Network (DNN) may be provided. First, a signal in a packet structure may be received at an OFDM receiver from an OFDM transmitter. The signal may have distortion. Training constellation points, pilot constellation points, and data constellation points may be extracted from the signal based on the packet structure. Each data constellation point may correspond to a data subcarrier within a data symbol of the signal. Next, the training constellation points and the pilot constellation may be provided as input for the data symbol to a DNN. A coefficient for each data subcarrier within the data symbol that reverses the distortion may be received as output from the DNN. Then, the coefficient for each data subcarrier may be applied to the corresponding data constellation point to determine a per subcarrier constellation point prediction.

OFDM is a widely used modulation technique for wired and wireless communication systems, and is a building block to enable Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). A signal may become distorted as it is transmitted over a communication channel from an OFDM transmitter to an OFDM receiver due to channel impairments, as well as nonlinearities of the OFDM transmitter and receiver. OFDM receiver performance may be limited by the receiver's ability to compensate for the signal distortion induced by the end-to-end communication channel. Challenging channel conditions, such as crowded spaces, moving clients, low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), vehicular speeds, or interference can further increase signal distortion and degrade OFDM receiver performance. OFDM equalization may be performed to compensate for and overcome the various forms of distortion.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing equalization using deep neural network


The invention relates to a gripping device (2) for placing boxes (1), in particular egg boxes, in an outer packaging, wherein the gripping device comprises a amobile frame (3); grippers (4) placed on both sides of the frame in such a way that in use the grippers are situated on both sides of the box, whereby the grippers can be moved between a box supporting position and an unloading position, wherein each gripper is formed by a mainly pen-shaped body with a hook-shaped end (6), whereby at least the hook-shaped end (6) can be rotated around the longitudinal axis of the gripper, and wherein the grippers on the one side of the box are attached staggeringly in relation to the grippers on the other side of the box.

Such a gripping device, packaging machine and method are known from NL-A-9201292. This known gripping device comprises two grippers formed by plates, the width of an egg box, clasping between them three or more egg boxes at the same time. The plates can swing outwards in order to unload the egg boxes. The egg boxes are unloaded by the plates on a lifting platform, which subsequently is lowered and around which an outer packaging is placed.
In addition, a device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,371, with which a stack of egg trays can be lifted and can be lowered into an outer packaging. This device comprises a frame and pens mounted into the frame with hook-shaped ends that can be rotated. Rotating the pens and lifting the egg trays with the aid of the device is effected by hand. Eggs are sorted as to weight and packed into egg boxes. The eggs are packed in the egg box in such a way that they do not touch or hardly touch each other. The eggs can be packed in various quantities, for instance six, ten or twelve eggs, per box. Therefore, the egg boxes can vary in outer dimensions, but also as to design or the material from which the box is made. Sorting and packing eggs into egg boxes is a fully automated process. Subsequently packing the egg boxes in outer packages is often still effected by hand, because there is no universal gripping device for placing varying egg boxes in an outer packaging.
When placing the egg boxes in an outer packaging, they are placed in a special pattern layer by layer. An outer packaging can be a cardboard box or a crate. The pattern depends on the outer dimensions of the egg box and can differ per layer. Ultimately, the egg boxes are packed in the outer packaging side by side with hardly any play.

Gripping device, packaging machine and method for placing boxes in an outer packaging


Disclosed herein are a number of different embodiments of reflective multi-turn optical encoders with different light sensing systems. Three different basic configurations of reflective multi-turn optical encoder light sensing systems are disclosed herein: (a) optical encoders employing multiple arrays of light detectors; (b) optical encoders employing multiple arrays of stacked die light sensors, and (c) optical encoders employing variable tone density light sensing systems.

Multi-turn optical encoders are employed in many different applications. The mechanical construction of multi-turn optical encoders is usually based on gear train design, where gears with openings or holes must be provided for light to pass through the gears for subsequent collimation, reflection or detection. The openings or holes often prevent the gears in optical encoders from being packed very close to one another, and also limit the precision that may be obtained for injection-molded gears. In addition, substrates such as printed circuit boards, flexible cables and the like are typically required on both sides of the gear train to impart the required mechanical integrity to such optical encoders. Finally, multi-turn optical encoders are typically incapable of sensing partial revolutions of the constituent disks or gears disposed therein.
Magnetic multi-turn encoders are also known in the art, but are easily affected by external magnetic fields and cannot operate at very high temperatures without being demagnetized. Such characteristics obviously limit the type and number of applications in which magnetic multi-turn encoders may be used.
What is needed is a multi-turn encoder that may be made more compact, manufactured at lower cost and with higher precision, and permit partial revolutions of constituent disks to be sensed and measured.

Reflective multi-turn encoders with different light sensing systems


A method of passing data between objects located distributed among a plurality of virtual address space domains established by processes executing on a data processing system comprises several steps. First, a session initiation message from a source object in a domain is broadcast to other objects in the domain. Responsive to receipt of the session initiation message by a domain agent (a type of object) for the domain, forwarding the session initiation message from the domain agent to each of a plurality of domain agents in other virtual address space domains. Responsive to receipt of the session initiation message by the domain agent for a second domain, transmitting the session initiation message from the domain agent for the second domain to an agent object in the second domain for the source object. Finally, responsive to receipt of the session initiation message by the agent object for the source object, establishing a session between the agent object for the source object and a target object for passage of data.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to passing data between named objects on a data processing system and more particularly to passing data between objects located in different virtual address space domains on the data processing system. Still more particularly, the invention relates to the transparent association of facilities to transfer data between such objects without other modification of a source object or a target object.
2. Description of the Related Art
A virtual machine is a functional simulation of a computer and its associated devices. A plurality of virtual machines may be executed concurrently on a computer system under the control of a suitable operating system. For example, microcomputer systems based upon either the Intel 80386 microprocessor or the 80486 microprocessor and utilizing an OS/2.RTM. version 2.0 operating system available from International Business Machines Corporation have considerable capacity for executing multiple concurrent processes. Such systems can support emulation of a plurality of concurrent virtual machines, particularly virtual disk operating system machines ("VDMs"). Disk operating systems ("DOS") exist in several versions, such as PC-DOS used on early IBM personal computers and MS-DOS (numerous versions) used on personal computers designed for compatibility with the Industry Standard Architecture. (MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc.).
To the user, one desktop personal computer can appear to simultaneously function as two or more Intel 8086 microprocessor based machines utilizing distinct DOS versions, e.g. MS-DOS versions 2.0 or 3.2. This allows the user to run DOS version specific application programs, such as games, word processing programs, or other applications by running the appropriate DOS version on a VDM.
Each virtual machine is an example of a process, or collection of processes, which may be displayed to the user on the system display device in its own window or represented as a icon. A process is current when allocated some physical location in computer memory. The term "computer memory" is used here in reference to program addressable storage from which instructions and other data can be loaded directly into registers of the central processing unit for subsequent execution or other utilization.
Where a plurality of processes are concurrent on a computer, or where insufficient space exists in a computer memory to satisfy the addressing capability of the computers operating system, virtual storage is employed to satisfy the demands for memory of the various current processes. In virtual storage the concepts of address space and actual physical computer memory locations are separated. In a classical virtual storage system, there exist a fixed number of actual, physical words of memory. The address space of the computer, or VDM, is mapped onto physical computer memory by translating addresses in the virtual address space into physical memory locations. Where available computer memory is too small to provide an actual location for each address, a portion of the address space resides outside of computer memory in an auxiliary memory device.
Conventional virtual storage systems determine when a portion of a virtual storage address space (e.g. a page of memory) addressed by a virtual machine is not physically present in computer memory. The storage system then determines the location of the desired data in auxiliary memory, loads the data into computer memory and modifies the memory map to reflect that the virtual storage addresses accessed now relate to locations in computer memory.
Virtual storage may be regarded as addressable main storage by the user of a computer in which virtual addresses are mapped into real addresses of the computer memory or into auxiliary memory. The size of virtual storage is limited only by the addressing scheme of the computer and its operating system and by the amount of auxiliary memory available, such a disk drives or tapes. Thus virtual storage is not limited by the actual number of physical locations in computer memory. The practical implication of this arrangement is that some of the instructions and the data for a process will not physically be in computer memory, even though they may be addressed as though they were.
Each current VDM on a computer has its own virtual storage address space or domain. A useful feature to provide with a plurality of concurrent processes is the ability to transfer data from one domain to another domain. Traditional message passing systems provide for establishment of a "session" between source (sending) and target (receiving) objects. A session is the association of facilities necessary for establishing, maintaining and releasing connections for communications between objects.
During the phase of establishing communications, objects locate one another within a domain (often with the assistance of system services provided by the operating system). Typically a form of broadcast message is sent by a source object to all possible target objects within the domain. Some possible target objects will respond to the broadcast message with an acknowledge message, which may be positive or negative. Some objects will not respond. A list of objects acknowledging the broadcast message positively will be generated and the source object will be joined with one or more acknowledging objects in sessions as appropriate.
The next phase of message passing is a transaction phase. One or more transactions, each marking a message may occur in both directions of a session between the source and a target object. No direct addressing of objects occurs in this phase, nor are broadcast messages used.
Finally, termination of a session must be provided for. By closing a session, the facilities required for establishing and maintaining the session, such as computer memory, are released. Any new session of course requires repeating the procedure from the beginning with a broadcast message from a new source object.
To establish a session between objects they must lie in one domain. If the objects cannot "locate" one another no session can be established. The limits the ability of objects in different domains to communicate with one another.
Objects generated by numerous prior art application programs include the ability to establish intradomain sessions. There also exist methods for bridging domains to allow transfer of data between domains. However, many prior art application programs, suitable for execution on VDMs, generate objects not capable of recognizing the tools provided by the underlying operating system for establishing such bridges.

Method of transparently interconnecting message passing systems


A new and distinct ×Heucherella plant substantially as shown and described, characterized by red to yellow green to rust colored leaves with a dark pattern along veins and a white veil, deeply lobed leaves with wide sinus, a low, dense, vigorously trailing habit with good branching, and excellent vigor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of ×Heucherella and given the cultivar name of 'Autumn Cascade'. ×Heucherella is in the family Saxifragaceae. ×Heucherella 'Autumn Cascade' originated from a controlled cross between Heuchera 'K521-1-1' (a proprietary, unpatented, unreleased Heuchera), as the seed parent, and Tiarella '42-2' (a proprietary, unpatented, unreleased Tiarella), as the pollen parent.
Compared to the seed parent Heuchera 'K521-1-1', the new cultivar is trailing with rust colored, deeply lobed leaves with red to brown centers rather than clumping with pink to khaki colored, shallowly lobed leaves.
Compared to the pollen parent Tiarella '42-2', the new cultivar has rust colored leaves rather than green.
Compared to its sibling, ×Heucherella 'Gold Cascade', the new cultivar has rust colored foliage that is deeply lobed rather than chartreuse and shallowly lobed.
Compared to its sibling, ×Heucherella 'Copper Cascade', the new cultivar has rust colored foliage that is deeply lobed rather than red to rust and shallowly lobed.
Compared to ×Heucherella 'Redstone Falls', U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,394, the new cultivar has a lower, denser habit and leaves with more prominent lobing due to wider sinus on between the lobes and deeper secondary lobes.
This new ×Heucherella is uniquely characterized by:                1. red to yellow green to rust colored leaves with a dark pattern along veins and a white veil,        2. deeply lobed leaves with wide sinus,        3. a low, dense, vigorously trailing habit with good branching, and        4. excellent vigor.
This new cultivar has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (cuttings and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by division and tissue culture using standard micropropagation techniques with terminal and lateral shoots, as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.


A method for catalyzing a Fenton reaction, including adding hydrogen peroxide to a Fenton reaction catalyst, the Fenton reaction catalyst including a reaction product, wherein the reaction product is obtained by using roasted and ground coffee beans and/or tea leaves as a feedstock for supplying a component having a reduction effect, and mixing the feedstock for supplying the component having a reduction effect with an iron-supplying source containing divalent or trivalent iron in the presence of water.

The Fenton reaction is a reaction for generating hydroxy radicals by a reaction of divalent iron with hydrogen peroxide to provide strong oxidation effect. Based on the strong oxidation effect, the reaction is expected to be applied in various fields such as sterilization and degradation of harmful substances and persistent pollutants (for example, a technology for soil cleanup by injecting a Fenton reaction catalyst into soil polluted with harmful substances).
A technology for improving solubility of ferrous sulfate using citric acid or the like has been developed to catalyze the Fenton reaction (see Non Patent Literature 1). In addition, there has been reported a technology for sterilizing a mold based on the strong oxidation effect of the Fenton reaction (see Patent Literature 1). However, in the cases of such conventional Fenton catalysts, divalent iron used as a catalyst is very unstable and is inevitably oxidized into trivalent iron, resulting in losing the catalytic ability in a short time.
Therefore, there is a desire to the development of a stable Fenton reaction catalyst which can maintain the state of divalent iron, which is in nature unstable, for a long period of time.
Further, in the cases of conventional Fenton reaction catalysts, trivalent iron that is present in a large amount and can be inexpensively supplied cannot be used as an iron raw material.

INCORPORATED ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY, NATIONAL AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH ORGANIZATION


In-store media rating systems and methods are provided. A disclosed method includes receiving data from a plurality of individual stores, each having an individual store floor plan including shopper accessible areas and shopper non-accessible areas, and providing a standard floor plan including a plurality of predefined sectors. The method further includes standardizing each respective individual store floor plan to produce a corresponding standardized individual store floor plan based on the standard floor plan, wherein relative location and shopper accessible area of each of the sectors in the each standardized individual store floor plan correspond to the location and shopper accessible area of a corresponding predefined sector of the standard floor plan. The method further includes producing an output including the standardized individual store floor plan.

Shopper exposure to media such as advertisements and products at various placements and orientations within a store may be measured using numeric expressions. For example, shopper exposure to such media may be measured by the number of shoppers in a predefined period. Shopper media exposure may be used to calculate a media rating. Media ratings in various shopping environments, such as stores, can be cataloged and ranked to provide valuable information for the advertisement industry and product manufacturers to perform strategic planning. However, since the media ratings are usually measured for specific sections in a store, it is difficult to compare the media ratings for stores with different layouts or store floor plans.


A nonvolatile memory device comprises a cell array connected to a plurality of bit lines in an all bit line structure, a page buffer circuit connected to the plurality of bit lines, and control logic configured to control the page buffer circuit. The control logic controls the page buffer circuit to sense memory cells corresponding to both even-numbered and odd-numbered columns of a selected page in a first read mode and to sense memory cells corresponding to one of the even-numbered and odd-numbered columns of the selected page in a second read mode. A sensing operation is performed at least twice in the first read mode and once in the second read mode.

Embodiments of the inventive concept relate generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concept relate to semiconductor memory devices and methods of performing read operations in the semiconductor memory devices.
Semiconductor memory devices can be roughly divided into two categories according to whether they retain stored data when disconnected from power. These categories include volatile semiconductor memory devices, which lose stored data when disconnected from power, and nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, which retain stored data when disconnected from power. Examples of volatile semiconductor memory devices include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM). Examples of nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices include masked read-only memory (MROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), and electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM).
Flash memory is a type of EEPROM that has achieved increasing popularity in recent years due to attractive features such as relatively high storage capacity, low power consumption, and an ability to withstand physical shock. Flash memory is currently used in a wide variety of technologies, such as computers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, camcorders, voice recorders, multimedia players, handheld personal computers, gaming consoles, fax machines, scanners, and printers, to name but a few.
In an effort to increase the storage capacity of flash memory and other forms of nonvolatile memory, researchers have developed so-called multi-bit memory devices. A multi-bit memory device is a device capable of storing more than one bit of data per memory cell. For example, a two-bit flash memory device may store two bits per memory cell. Although storing more than one bit of data in each memory cell may provide increased storage capacity, it can also lead to various complications in device operation, such as decreased read margins and increased error rates.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Non-volatile memory device and related method of operation


An apparatus including an antenna element; a metal part; a ground; and a filter connected between the metal part and the ground that has a frequency dependent impedance.

A radio communications apparatus comprises an antenna element for transmitting and/or receiving radio signals. It may also comprise a metal part, separate to the antenna element, that is provided for a function unconnected with the operation of the antenna element. The metal part may be, for example, an electromagnetic shield for shielding of electronic components, a structural support element such as a chassis or frame, part of an integrated component such as battery cell etc.
The presence of the metal part may affect the operational characteristics of the antenna element because of electro-magnetic coupling.
One approach to this problem is to electrically isolate the metal part to suppress electric currents flowing within the part. A disadvantage of this approach is that the metal part may become electro-statically charged.
Another approach to this problem is to ground the metal part.

Apparatus comprising an antenna element and a metal part


A speaker apparatus having a video screen function is disclosed, in which a cone paper of a conventional speaker is substituted with a flexible OLED for thereby displaying various images and video sources in sync with an audio source. A flexible OLED is provided for displaying a video source and an externally upgraded video source in a speaker apparatus which comprises a sound output apparatus having a sound coil, a magnet, and a damper, and an electric circuit apparatus of the sound output apparatus.

A conventional speaker is basically provided with a function for outputting sound or high and low sound levels depending on a user's preference. In a Karaoke room equipped with an accompaniment machine, a user sings a song along with the accompaniment outputted through a speaker, while watching a monitor screen, which displays a background image along with lyrics.
However, in the conventional art, since a monitor and a speaker are separately installed in a limited and narrow space, the user may feel inconvenience owing to the limited and narrow space. In addition, since a background image displayed on a monitor may not be synchronized with the sound outputted from the speaker, the user may feel bored. The speaker installed at a huge event concert is expensive and installed at multiple places, so that the monitors or screens showing images may be overlapped with the speakers. It is not easy to properly install multiple speakers and monitors in the limited spaces, so that it is impossible to maximize the event effects.

Speaker apparatus providing with visual screen


A piezoelectric film that includes crystalline AlN; at least one first element partially replacing Al in the crystalline AlN; and a second element doping the crystalline AlN and which has an ionic radius smaller than that of the first element and larger than that of Al.

Piezoelectric vibrators that use micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that an aluminum nitride (AlN) thin film doped with scandium (Sc) (a scandium-doped aluminum nitride thin film (ScAlN thin film)) is used as a piezoelectric thin film to form a piezoelectric vibrator with improved piezoelectric properties.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-010926
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-219743
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-270506
Non-Patent Document 1: Mark-Alexandre Dubois et al., "Stress and piezoelectric properties of aluminum nitride thin films deposited onto metal electrodes by pulsed direct current reactive sputtering," JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Volume 89, No. 11, Jun. 1, 2001, pp. 6389-6395

Piezoelectric thin film and piezoelectric vibrator


A method and apparatus for continuously producing an alkyl aryl ether and a diaryl carbonate by reacting a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic alcohol in presence of a transesterification catalyst.

This disclosure relates to an energy efficient method and apparatus for production of an alkyl aryl ether and a diaryl carbonate.
Diaryl carbonates, such as diphenyl carbonate are an important reactant in the production of polycarbonate resins. As the use of polycarbonate resins has increased, the efficient production of diaryl carbonate has become of greater importance because polycarbonates can be manufactured by reacting bisphenols (e.g., Bisphenol A) with diaryl carbonates. Diaryl carbonate production involves two reaction steps. First, a dialkyl carbonate reacts with an aromatic alcohol to produce an alkyl aryl carbonate and an alkyl alcohol in presence of a transesterification catalyst. Next, two molecules of the alkyl aryl carbonate undergo a disproportionation reaction to produce one molecule of diaryl carbonate and one molecule of dialkyl carbonate. Alkyl aryl ether, such as anisole, is a side product in this process and is produced by the reaction of dialkyl carbonate and aromatic alcohol. Alkyl aryl ether is also produced by decarboxylation reaction of alkyl aryl carbonate.
The side product alkyl aryl ether from diaryl carbonate production is purged from the process along with aromatic alcohol and dialkyl carbonate. This purged stream comprising alkyl aryl ether may not be suitable for use in any other synthesis as it may contain dialkyl carbonate and aromatic alcohol. So while there is a process to purge alkyl aryl ether from diaryl carbonate manufacturing process, currently there is no process for co-production of alkyl aryl ether along with diaryl carbonate in an energy efficient process.

Method and apparatus for production of alkyl aryl ether and diaryl carbonate


A file management method of a ring buffer includes translating actual positions of an actual file stored in the ring buffer into virtual positions of a virtual file according to a specific mapping manner, searching the actual positions in the actual file according to the virtual positions, and accessing data at the actual positions of the actual file stored in the ring buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a file management method of a ring buffer and related file management apparatus, and more particularly, to a file management method of a ring buffer and related file management apparatus for translating actual positions of an actual file stored in the ring buffer into virtual positions of a virtual file according to a specific mapping manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For live-media applications, such as digital TV broadcasting, saving live content into local storage and allowing users to view it later can bring great benefit compared with traditional TV viewing experiences. This is sometimes referred to as a time-shift or live-pause feature. Generally, vendors compress audio-video sources with high bit rate, especially for HD (high definition) contents. As a result, the size of the local storage required for storing such media streams must be large and the recorded file size is unpredictable and may be huge.
Furthermore, all common playback applications deal with constant files, i.e., the contents of the files should not be changed as time changes, especially for linear playback, which is not suitable for the time-shift application since the contents of the files is always changed.

File management method of a ring buffer and related file management apparatus


A lighting device equipped at all times in a vehicle, which can be used for camping and leisure and has a function of a safety warning light of the vehicle, according to the present invention, comprises: a rectangular-shaped fixing plate having a pair of first magnet members which are disposed horizontally; a “C”-shaped front insertion groove which is formed on the front surface of the fixing plate and is formed to be adjacent to the edges of the fixing plate excluding the upper or lower edge of the fixing plate; a “C”-shaped first support member which is selectively fixed to the front insertion groove and is installed rotatably toward the front surface with respect to the fixing plate by the medium of a hinge; a pair of side surface insertion grooves which are longitudinally formed on the respective sides of the fixing plate; a pair of second support members which are respectively coupled to the inside of the side surface insertion grooves by the medium of a hinge, and are unfolded in a direction opposite to the first support member; a light unit which has, on the rear surface thereof, a second magnet member coupled to the first magnet members, has a battery embedded therein, and has a lighting device on the front surface thereof; and a cover which is rotatably coupled to the light unit by the medium of a hinge so as to selectively cover the lighting device, wherein the lighting device may flicker when the lighting device is covered by the cover.

The majority of drivers would have an experience of unavoidably stopping/parking on a shoulder of a road due to excessive fatigue, drowsiness, or a breakdown while driving a vehicle on a highway.
Currently, a rear-end collision accident of a vehicle stopped/parked on the shoulder of the road, which is ranked as the first in fatal accidents of the highway, leads to a serious consequence.
Probably, the drivers are too accustomed to tail lights and hazard flasher lamps of the vehicle in their field of vision, resulting in less awareness inadvertently.
In addition, since there is a growing trend in leisure such as camping currently due to improvement in standard of living and utilization of a leisure time, it is an undeniable fact that the camping is a general way of easily getting in touch with nature with a family, relatives, or acquaintances as a deviation from a busy city life.
With prosperity of a leisure industry, countless convenience apparatuses are produced and sold.
In general, the camping or leisure activities are performed in touch with nature, so that it is necessary to prepare various convenience apparatuses.
Among the convenience apparatuses, since a user has to stay a dark night inevitably, the first priority may be a lighting device, followed by cooking utensils such as a burner, a table, a tent and the like.
Commercially available lighting devices, which are essential items, are immeasurably flooded. In addition, the lighting devices which may be carried in several numbers by anyone with camping equipment cannot be installed and seated at will. Most lighting devices on the market are not easy to be installed and seated at will, for example, have an ambiguous installation structure, so that the lighting devices are hung in a swinging state.
In addition, lighting devices used in a tent are mainly lighting devices hung on a frame inside the tent, in which the frame of the tent is produced to have a predetermined curvature for all parts except for a ceiling side.
Accordingly, there is a restriction that the lighting device has to be installed at the frame on the ceiling side in the tent, so that it is difficult for the user to adjust light to a desired position.
As the related art associated with the above configuration, there is disclosed Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1580245 (entitled "camping LED lantern for freely adjusting light angle", and registered on Dec. 18, 2015).

Lighting device which can be used for camping and leisure and has vehicle safety warning light and fire detection functions


Insulating element from mineral fibers for shipbuilding with an insulating element in form of a plate or roll felt for shipbuilding the composition of the mineral fibers of the insulating element points an alkali/alkaline-earth mass ratio of the fiber structure of the insulating element is determined by an average geometrical fiber diameter of ≦4 μm and a surface weight of 0.8 through 4.3 kg/m2 and a binding agent portion above 0.5 until 4 weight %.

In shipbuilding, fire protection plays a substantial role with the lining of walls and covers with insulating elements, mainly in publicly accessible ways and areas, whilst this does not apply with the thermal protection. Since for thermal protection in shipbuilding, usually no regulations exist, the ship-owner can meet those thermal protection measures, which he considers adequate. Due to the small gross weight, for the thermal protection primarily fiber glass is used as heat insulating-material, for example with gross densities scarcely over 20 kg/m3 and an λ-arithmetic procedure of 35 mW/mK according to the heat guidance group WLG 035, pursuant to DIN 18165 in the above ground construction.
In particular for passenger liners, however, world-wide standards are prescribed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), concerning fire protection. These extend all the way from Fire Resistance Category A15 for cab partitions up to Fire Resistance Category A60 for escape routes, engine room, kitchen and such and similar areas, and the Fire Resistance Category A30 may be planned for other zones of the passenger liner. As also determined in other areas of utilization, the Fire Resistance Category of a fire-protection structure is being determined by the fact that a closed room, exposed to the fire test, is exposed to an accordingly high temperature and the length of time up to reaching a prescribed limit temperature is being measured in a neighboring room, separated from the fire-protection structure. The Fire Resistance Category indicates this period of time as a minimum time in minutes.
It is appropriate to refer as relevant parameter for the determination of the suitable damming materials in shipbuilding, where the insulating material thickness are very different, to refer to the weight per unit area, since this parameter embodies the two substantial measured influence variables, i.e. gross density and thickness.
For such fire-protection structures with the Fire Resistance Category A30 or above, so far mainly rock wool was being used as insulation material, due to its temperature resistance index. Such rock wool is usually produced with nozzle blow molding or with external centrifugation, for example the cascade centrifugation process. Relatively rough fibers are formed in the process, with an average geometric diameter above 4 to 12 μm with relatively short length. Based on the production, also a considerable portion of unfiberized material in the form of coarser fiber components results, being present in the product in the foam of so-called "beads", with the portion comprising approximately 10% to 30% by weight of the material, but not having an insulation effect and, therefore, principally a fire protecting effect.
Compared to felts, mats or fiber glass plates, the advantage of a fire-protection structure with rock wool is represented by the better fire protection behavior, and therefore this latter construction is being exclusively utilized in cases of higher Fire Resistance Categories. The stone wool material comes either as quilted wire net mat with an bonding agent content of approximately 0.7 weight % (dry related to the fiber mass) with a gross density of approximately 90 kg/m3 or as firm plate with an bonding agent content of approximately 0.5 to 2 weight % and a gross density from 80 to 150 kg/m3. In the case of plates the high bonding agent content, in case of a high gross density, leads to a high absolute admission of bonding agent. Since as bonding agent an organic material is usually used, such as phenol formaldehyde resin, a not insignificant increase of fire load results, which in the fire test can lead to a flame projection on the "cold" side of the fire-protection structure, results, which is a failure criterion. Quilted wire net mats again are not everywhere applicable.
Especially, the use of conventional rock wool is not in consonance with substantial other shipbuilding requirements:
One requirement in shipbuilding is the weight minimization, since each additional weight leads to an increase of the traction resistance and, thus, the fuel consumption. The high gross density of usual rock wool products in each case over 80 kg/m3 leads to an unwanted weight increase, due to the high volume of insulation material for the lining of walls and covers, particularly in passenger liners.
A second requirement is economy of space. Inside the ship hull with predetermined external dimensions, the usable surface decreases with each enlargement of the wall thickness. Due to its relative short and thick fibers, however, conventional rock wool features a comparatively small heat-insulating property vis-à-vis conventional fiber glass, so that a larger wall thickness results, in order to attain an identical heat insulation effect. This heat insulation efficiency is, however, one of the conditions for the fire resistance capacity.
In addition, extremely cramped space conditions prevail in a shipyard for the craftsmen. For this reason each trade may bring only such material aboard the vessel which will effectively used by a team of craftsmen and at the end of the end of the operations of said team, material not used must again be removed from vessel. It should thus be insured that eventually insulation material of the damming technician does not eventually affect excessively the work of electricians. Since it must be avoided, in any case, that close to the end of the team work, there is a lack of material, it is always necessary to work with excess material, which initially has to be transported over closes bars and stairs until the place of operation in the vessel, with material having to be returned at the end of the work of the respective team. In this case, high weight and large volume of materials are extremely negative. In this case, it is especially disadvantageous that a compression of the rock wool material is nearly impossible, since it only features a reduced resilience rate. If the rock wool material would be compressed at a stronger rate in view of economy of space, then the danger would arise that the required thickness for assembly would no longer be attained with the subsequent opening of the package.
An additional problem lies in the multiplicity of the used fire protection and heat insulating materials for the different fire resistance categories, respectively for the heat insulations to be integrated. Thus, for each type of material, the corresponding logistic measure has to be taken, and in the event a given type of material should be lacking, normally it is not possible to continue the work with another type of insulating material. This results in considerable logistic problems, especially when the work is taking place in conditions of reduced time frames.
Another problem with vessels is the over head assembly in areas featuring reduced space. This is especially difficult with heavy materials and in the event of using quilted wire net mats, it is affected due to the fact that said material does not feature rigidity and may be in a pending position from retained points. In addition, "beads" falling down from the material during its assembly, in the form of material not fiberized, could negatively affect the work. Also, as a result of the rock wool surface with relatively short and brittle fibers, the haptic index is unsatisfactory, since during assembly, the material does not always feature a pleasant touch.
An important problem during the operation of a vessel are also vibrations. These are present while the engine is operating. Since vibrations of the most different frequencies are also being transferred to the rock wool material, where they cause oscillations of the relatively thick and heavy fibers, as well as the "beads", provided in an intermediate position, there is also a trend that the connections, caused by the binding agent, may become lose at the crossing sections of the fibers. Especially in the case of vertical fire protection constructions, this may result in depositions of material, with the consequence that the fire protection effect in the upper portion of the construction may be unduly reduced. In the case of horizontal cover constructions, ruptured fiber material may accumulate jointly with "beads" in the lower area of the insulation, and may, in a certain way, be "discharged", thus affecting subsequent disassembly in view of the large powder rate, which may require additional protective measures for the work.


The present invention describes a process for enhancing optical recognition of text in scanned documents. Prior to performing optical recognition for identification of text in scanned documents, a preprocessing algorithm identifies locations of noncontiguity in character strokes. The gaps created by noncontiguous character strokes are selectively filled with non-white or black pixels for enhanced character recognition. The process may assess noncontiguity on a bit-by-bit basis or, to reduce the number of operations, on a byte-by-byte basis.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the optical recognition of text, and more particularly, includes a method for enhancing the accuracy of character recognition in optical recognition systems.
2. Description of Related Technology
Optical text recognition algorithms perform character segmentation and subsequent recognition of the segmented characters, using neural networks, pattern recognition, and/or fuzzy logic. The algorithms convert the segmented portions of a bitmap image created from text to elements of a known character set, such as ASCII. Optical character recognition (OCR) algorithms, one form of optical text recognition algorithm, typically convert bitmap images of machine printed text, while intelligent character recognition (ICR) algorithms, another form of optical text recognition algorithm, typically convert bitmap images of hand printed text. One of the major factors affecting the accuracy of text recognition is the quality of the bitmap image. Common bitmap image enhancement methods perform such functions as smoothing, sharpening, edge detection and noise removal. All of these functions are designed to improve visual perception of the image by the human eye. Other special classes of image enhancement algorithms, referred to as OCR preprocessing algorithms, also improve the quality of the digitized text for subsequent recognition. These algorithms perform such functions as line removal, deskewing, color processing, and rotation for better segmentation of text, noise removal, thinning, thickening, and stroke restoration so as to modify the individual text characters into a more visually identifiable form. Recognition is typically increased in establishing characters that are more visually identifiable. Under certain conditions, however, either the triggers for invoking the preprocessing algorithms or image enhancement methods are not initiated or the goal is not conducive to good recognition. This can occur when a faulty printer head is used to print a document. The printer head may not put down ink over a portion of a character. If the document is subsequently digitized, it will show breaks in the character stroke of the bitmap image. This can also occur when a scanning device head is damaged or interfered with. When this situation occurs, an individual character may be seen as two or more separate characters or a single character stroke may be seen as two or more strokes.

Enhanced optical recognition of digitized images through selective bit insertion


A method for controlling oxygen in valve metal materials. The method includes deoxidizing a valve metal material, typically tantalum, niobium, or alloys thereof, and leaching the material in an acid leach solution at a temperature lower than room temperature. In one embodiment of the present invention, the acid leach solution is prepared and cooled to a temperature lower than room temperature prior to leaching the deoxidized valve metal material. The method of the present invention has been found to lower both the oxygen and fluoride concentrations in valve metal materials, as the use of reduced acid leach temperatures provide lower oxygen for a given quantity of a leach acid, such as hydrofluoric acid.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling the oxygen content in valve metal materials and, more particularly, to a method of controlling the oxygen content in powders of tantalum, niobium, and alloys thereof, useful in the production of capacitors, and in sintered anode bodies made from tantalum, niobium, and alloys thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Valve metals may be used to form wrought products, such as bars, plates, sheets, wires, tubes and rods, and preforms for subsequent thermo-mechanical processing. In addition, capacitors can be manufactured by compressing agglomerated tantalum powders to form a pellet, sintering the pellet in a furnace to form a porous body (electrode), which is sometimes followed by deoxidation of the electrode by reaction with a reactive metal, such as magnesium, and then subjecting the body to anodization in a suitable electrolyte to form a continuous dielectric oxide film on the sintered body.
As is known to those skilled in the art, valve metals generally include tantalum, niobium, and alloys thereof, and also may include metals of Groups IVB, VB, and VIB and alloys thereof. Valve metals are described, for example, by Diggle, in "Oxides and Oxide Films", Vol. 1, pages 94-95, 1972, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York.
Tantalum and niobium are generally extracted from their ores in the form of powders. Tantalum powders, for example, that are suitable for use in high performance capacitors, can be produced by chemical reduction, such as sodium reduction, of potassium fluorotantalate. In this process, the potassium fluorotantalate is recovered from processed ore in the form of a dry crystalline powder. The potassium fluorotantalate is melted and reduced to tantalum metal powder by sodium reduction. The tantalum powder formed is then water washed and acid leached. Dried tantalum powder is then recovered, thermally agglomerated at temperatures up to about 1500.degree. C., and crushed to a granular consistency. Typically, the granular powder is then deoxidized in the presence of a getter material having a higher affinity for oxygen than the valve metal at elevated temperatures up to about 1000.degree. C., and is then acid leached to remove residual metal contaminants and their oxides. The powder is then dried, compressed to form a pellet, sintered to form a porous body, and subjected to anodization in a suitable electrolyte to form a continuous dielectric oxide film on the sintered body. In an alternative method, the powder is produced by hydriding a melted tantalum ingot, milling the hydrided chips, and dehydriding. In all cases it is possible, and sometimes desirable, to deoxidize the sintered anode pellet in a process similar to that described above for the powder.
Valve metal powders, particularly powders of tantalum, niobium, and their alloys, that are suitable for making capacitors should provide an adequate electrode surface area when compressed and sintered. The ufV/g of the capacitor is proportional to the surface area of the sintered porous body. The greater the specific surface area after the sintering operation, the greater the ufV/g. The purity of the powder is also an important consideration in its use in capacitor production. Metallic and non-metallic contamination can degrade the dielectric oxide film on the capacitors. While high sintering temperatures can be used to remove some volatile contaminants, the high temperatures may also shrink the porous body and its net specific surface area and, therefore, the capacitance of the resulting capacitor. Therefore, it is important to minimize the loss of specific surface area under sintering conditions.
In the production of tantalum capacitors, for example, tantalum powder is typically heated under vacuum to cause agglomeration of the powder while avoiding oxidation of the tantalum. Following this treatment, however, the tantalum powder often picks up a considerable amount of additional oxygen because the initial surface layer of oxide goes into solution in the metal during the heating and a new surface layer forms upon subsequent exposure to air, thereby adding to the total oxygen content of the powder. During the later processing of these powders into anodes for capacitors, the dissolved oxygen may recrystallize as a surface oxide and contribute to voltage breakdown or high current leakage of the capacitor by shorting through the dielectric layer of amorphous oxide.
As the technology of capacitors is continually demanding higher surface area valve metal powders, the requirement for oxygen management exceeds the effectiveness of the available methods of oxygen control. Accordingly, the electrical properties of capacitors could be improved if the oxygen content could be controlled, i.e., decreased or maintained about constant, during the powder processing.
One method to deoxidize valve metal powders, such as tantalum powder, is to mix alkaline earth metals, aluminum, yttrium, carbon, and tantalum carbide with the tantalum powder. However, the alkaline earth metals, aluminum, and yttrium form refractory oxides that must be removed, such as by acid leaching, before the material can be used to produce capacitors. Typically, the post-deoxidation acid leaching is performed using a strong mineral acid solution including, for example, hydrofluoric acid, at elevated temperatures of up to 100.degree. C. to dissolve the refractory oxide contaminants. The carbon content must be controlled because it may also be deleterious to capacitors even at levels as low as 50 ppm. Other methods have been proposed, including using a thiocyanate treatment, or a reducing atmosphere throughout the tantalum powder processing, to prevent oxidation and provide low oxygen content.
Other processes for controlling the oxygen content of valve metal materials, such as tantalum, niobium, and their alloys, include the use of getter materials. For example, Hard, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,756, describes heating the materials in an atmosphere containing hydrogen gas in the presence of a metal, such as zirconium or titanium, that is more oxygen active than tantalum or niobium. Another process for controlling the oxygen content of valve metal materials is disclosed by Fife, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,906. This process involves heating a tantalum material in a hydrogen-containing atmosphere in the presence of a tantalum getter metal having an oxygen concentration lower than the tantalum material. While these processes provide some control of the oxygen content of valve metal materials, there is a desire to improve the electrical properties of valve metal capacitors, particularly those formed from tantalum, niobium, and alloys thereof, by controlling, i.e., decreasing or maintaining about constant, the oxygen content of the valve metal powders. Accordingly, a demand exists for process improvements to reduce the oxygen content of these materials, particularly after they have been subjected to a deoxidation process.
In addition to the problems with powders and capacitor applications, high oxygen contents in fabricated wrought products of valve metals can decrease the ductility of the products.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling the oxygen content in valve metal materials. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling the oxygen content in valve metal powders, such as tantalum, niobium, and alloys thereof, useful in the production of capacitors, particularly after the powders have been subjected to a deoxidation process.

Method for controlling the oxygen content in valve metal materials


A display device compresses light-emitting display of modifiable display luminance; a light sensor for detecting the surrounding brightness; and a control for adjusting the display brightness of the light-emitting display in response to a brightness value based on detected results of the brightness sensor. If absolute value of the difference between current and previously determined brightness values is less than a prescribed threshold value, the control determines that there is no change in brightness otherwise the central determines that there has been a change in brightness. Upon a determination of a predetermined number of times that a brightness change has occurred, the display luminance is adjusted in response to the current brightness value.

There has been known a display device that automatically adjusts brightness of a light-emitting display such as a fluorescent display tube in accordance with ambient luminance. For example, as a head-up display installed in a vehicle, there is such a device that detects a luminance in front of a vehicle that becomes a background of a display image projected on a windshield of a vehicle, with a light sensor, controls the brightness of a display image projected on a windshield in accordance with the detected luminance in front of a vehicle, increases the display brightness when the luminance increases (brighten) and decreases the display brightness when the luminance is lowered (darken), and adjusts the display brightness to be optimized for the ambient luminance (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
In such an automatic adjustment of a light-emitting display, a temporary and sudden change may occur in a luminance value detected by a light sensor, in cases where external light comes in some places while a vehicle is traveling or a wiper is working. This causes a problem that a change in the display brightness is repeated in a short period of time and a display flicker occurs, in the case of adjusting the display brightness in accordance with a noise component of such a detected luminance value. In contrast to this, the Patent Literature 2 discloses a display device that performs determination of a luminance change, twice or more based on a detected luminance value, and adjusts a display brightness based on the latest luminance detection value, when it is determined that there is a luminance change in a predetermined successive number of times.

Display device and control method for same


A connector for forming a sterile connection between two tubes, comprising first and second parts which comprise connectable conduits and which can mate, first and second covers which can be removed from the so-mated parts to expose connectable ends of the first and second conduits, so that the conduits can then be connected.

A connection device for sterile connection of tubes is often required in situations where, for example, pharmaceutical substances such as vaccines etc. are manipulated and transferred via such conduits from one container or another type of enclosure to another. Such a connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,902 but in practice the connector disclosed therein can only connect small diameter tubing.

Connector device for the sterile connection of tubes


A sprayer generally includes a tool housing have a wet housing portion that disconnects from a dry housing portion. A solenoid motor is contained in the dry housing portion. An arm member is connected to the dry housing portion. The solenoid motor is operable to move the arm member relative to the dry housing portion. A spray nozzle is connected to a chamber member in the wet housing portion. A piston member extends from the wet housing portion and terminates with a tip portion operable to engage the arm member. A catch member is movably connected to the dry housing portion having an extended condition and a retracted condition. The catch member in the retracted condition is operable to release the wet housing portion from the dry housing portion and disconnect the piston member from the solenoid motor. The catch member in the extended condition is operable to lock the wet housing portion to the dry housing portion and keep the piston member engaged with the arm member.

Typically, when changing paint in a paint sprayer, a reservoir of paint is emptied and cleaned before different paint is introduced. Cleaning the reservoir can expose the sprayer body and pump to the cleaning process. In certain examples where portions of the housing detach with the reservoir, the process to separate the housings can be relatively complex and require two hands to perform.

Quick release mechanism for paint sprayer


Tire for a heavy goods vehicle comprising a tread of total thickness E and total volume V, having a tread surface intended to come into contact with a roadway, at least one cavity or groove that is continuous in a main direction, and delimited by side walls connected by a bottom, a cross section, the points furthest towards the inside of the bottom of each cavity defining a bottom line, wherein each cavity or groove comprises a plurality of open sections open onto the tread surface in the new state and a plurality of closed sections, connected to the open sections being arranged in alternation, each closed section being spaced away from the tread surface by a bridge of rubber, wherein the points on the bottom line of said cavity or groove lie at distances between a minimum distance Dm and a maximum distance DM with respect to the tread surface, the bottom line of each cavity or groove following a wavy geometry of positive amplitude equal to the difference (DM−Dm).

1. Field
The present invention relates to treads for tires fitted to heavy goods vehicles and more particularly relates to the tread patterns of these treads.
2. Description of Related Art
Driving in the rain requires the water in the region of contact between each tire and the roadway to be removed as swiftly as possible in order to ensure contact between the material of which the tread is made and this roadway. To achieve this, grooves are formed on the tread, which grooves, on account of their dimensions (depth and width) remain open in the contact patch for contact with the roadway and thus allow water which is not pushed forward and around the sides of the tire to flow away.
The grooves may have any shape when viewed in cross section and in terms of the lines that they follow along the tread surface and may be oriented in any direction. What is meant by the line followed by a groove along the tread surface is the mean geometric line followed by the corner edges that the said groove forms on the said surface.
In the case of the tires intended for the steered or load-bearing axles of a heavy goods vehicle, it is common practice for the tread of these tires to be provided with longitudinal grooves the depth of which is equal to or substantially equal to the total thickness of the tread (not including any thickness of tread which may have been provided with a view to allowing the grooves to be partially renewed through a regrooving operation). As a general rule, this depth is between 13 and 18 mm on these axles. For the tires intended for the driven axles, the groove depth is greater and may be as much as 24 mm. The "total thickness of a tread" here means the total thickness of material that can be worn away before a tire has to be changed or reconditioned by retreading.
In the case of such tires of the prior art, the total void ratio is, as a general rule, between 15 and 25% of the volume of tread intended to be worn away during driving. It is found that these tires have an available void volume in the contact patch which is relatively high in the new state; this void volume opening onto the tread surface in the contact patch is, on average, of the order of 100 cm3 for example for a tire of size 315/70 R 22.5. For the tire in question, this value is obtained for its nominal inflation pressure and static loading conditions as set down in particular in the ETRTO standard.
Moreover, in order to improve the grip between the tire and the roadway it is known practice to form edge corners of rubber on the tread surface. To form such edge corners, sipes are made, these being thin incisions of an average width that is such that, under normal loading conditions, the walls of material delimiting each sipe can, at least partially, come into contact with one another as they pass through the contact patch in which the tire makes contact with the road surface so as to limit the loss of rigidity associated with the presence of the sipes. These sipes may be of a depth equal to the thickness of the tread to be worn away or less than this thickness.
While grooves, or more generally, cavities, are essential to draining water away, the resulting reduction in surface area of material may have an appreciable effect on the wear rate performance of a tread and therefore reduce the service life of the tire as the result of an increase in the wear rate. Other tire performance aspects may also be affected, notably its behavior, road noise and rolling resistance. It is also found that these grooves which are formed to have a working depth equal to the height of tread to be worn away may be the cause of endurance problems. Under certain driving conditions, foreign objects such as stones may become lodged in these grooves and attack the bottoms of these grooves and cause breakages to appear in the rubber. It has also been observed that manoeuvres involving mounting and descending from various obstacles can cause breakages at the bottoms of certain grooves, notably those situated near the lateral edges of the tread.
It is known that the presence of grooves in a tread generates a reduction in the compression and shear stiffness of this tread because these grooves delimit portions of material which deform more readily by comparison with the portions delimited by sipes the walls of which can come into contact with one another. This reduction in stiffness, in the case of the presence of grooves, leads to an increase in deformation and generates a reduction in the wear performance of the tread: greater wear for a set distance covered is observed (which corresponds to an increase in the tread wear rate). Moreover, an increase in the rolling resistance and therefore in the fuel consumption of vehicles equipped with such tires is noted, this being the result of an increase in hysteresis losses which are associated with the deformation cycles of the material of which the tread is made.
Bearing in mind the thickness that their tread needs to have, the usual tires used on heavy goods vehicles have, in the region of the edges of the tread, operating temperatures which govern the choice of rubber materials used in the tread and notably require the use of compositions the hysteresis of which is limited.
Document WO 03/097384 A1 discloses a tire for a heavy goods vehicle having a tread comprising grooves that are open to the tread surface and underlying cavities beneath the tread surface in the new state, each of these cavities having a top generatrix that follows a wavy profile.

Tread including at least one wavy groove, and method for producing same

COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN


A tamper resistant lock has the combination of compressed o-rings impeding rotation of a plurality of tumblers, false and real notches all having the same length, and hexagon heads on the tumblers to provide a durable and tamper resistant lock.

A continuing security problem in the world today relates to shipping containers and transportation trailers. Highly valuable contents are secured by locks that are easily picked or cut off by professional burglars. The existing solution is an expensive, non-reusable lock that is nevertheless vulnerable to experienced thieves.
The lock of the present invention combines a unique structure that prevents cut-offs with friction masking and false notches to make a cut-off-proof, pick-proof lock that is simple, rugged, and effective.
Friction-masking is provided by eight (8) o-rings, one in front and back of each of four tumblers. The o-rings are trapped in counterbored rabbets in the lock body. When the lock is assembled, the tumbler from the front is press-fit with a retention pin coming into the lock body from the back, thus compressing both o-rings from both sides. The amount of compression on the o-rings is regulated by the depth of the rabbets in the lock body.
In most mechanical devices, o-rings are provided for fluid sealing. That is not the case here, as the sole purpose for compressing the o-rings on both ends of the tumblers is instead to dampen or remove the frictional feel of metal to metal that is created when the tumblers interact with the locking pin. Without the friction-masking provided by the compressed o-rings, there is a straight metal-to-metal feel when turning the tumblers, which greatly enhances a burglar's chance of gaining entry to the lock.
Viton.TM. o-rings must be used because they are resistant to all acids, solvents, petroleum products, heat, and cold, plus being extremely durable.
When the o-rings are compressed, all metal-to-metal feel is removed. The only way anything is felt is by pulling the locking pin out with great pressure. When this is done, the notches on some of the tumblers can be felt. To remedy this problem, we have cut the "unlock" notch of the tumbler with an end mill which has the same diameter of the locking pin, for example 3/8 inch, and we have also cut five additional false notches in the tumbler with a much smaller diameter end mill, for example 1/8 inch. The key, however, is to have all six notches the same length, which makes it impossible to tell the difference by feel. If the notches were not cut in the tumbler the same length distance, then there would not be the same feel on each and every one of them.
With the combination of the compressed o-rings and the false notches having the same length as the real notches, we have created a lock that we feel is absolutely impossible to open without the correct combination of numbers. In addition, when the o-rings under the tumblers are compressed, the tumblers are hard to turn. By doing this the lock gains additional advantages. The o-rings require that the tumblers on this lock be machined from hexagon stock, leaving the hexagon head as the only external part of the tumbler. This design serves two very useful purposes. The first being that, because of the o-rings, a wrench is required to turn the tumblers. The great advantage in this is in sub-freezing weather or extremely dirty conditions or if the lock has been damaged from physical attack. By using the wrench, the lock will still operate. The second great advantage is that these heads, as opposed to a dials or knobs on all other combination locks, cannot be easily damaged from physical attack or adverse weather conditions. It would be almost impossible to damage one of these heads to the point it would not operate.
The combination of the compressed o-rings, false and real notches all having the same length, and the hexagon heads on the tumblers makes this the most unique, most durable and best lock on the market today.
When combined with a cut-off-proof structure, the lock meets every need and is unremovable except with the right combination or a welding torch. The cut-off-proof structure will now be described.
The only single pin lock in use anywhere in the world to our knowledge, is not a lock, but rather a casehardened bolt that is put through the hasp of trailers and containers and then there is a head press fined on the end with a special tool. This is the lock used by almost all shipping companies worldwide today. There are two large draw-backs to using this type of lock, one is, it can only be used once, because when the shipment gets to its destination it has to be cut off with a large set of bolt cutters. This causes a big inconvenience for the shipper and receiver. The other drawback is the bolt is so hard and brittle that a burglar can put a large wrench or cheater pipe on it and bend it just a little and it will break. Our lock, on the other hand, has a stainless steel locking pin that will bend but not break. Stainless steel has one of the highest tensile strengths of any metal but yet is not brittle. Another great advantage of using a single locking pin such as ours is the fact that the neck can be made any length to custom fit any existing hasp yet leave no room for thieves to cut it off with bolt cutters, etc. No other lock in use today, to our knowledge, possesses this advantage.


A method and apparatus for operating a fluid actuated actuator between one and another alternate positions provides different forces for locking and unlocking the actuator. The actuator may use the same fluid pressure to operate a primary piston within a cylinder and to operate the locking mechanism. Actuator fluid is communicated to unlock the lock member and to move the piston back to its open or unactuated position. A sequencing valve determines the proper sequence of actuating the primary piston before the locking mechanism is driven in place, and clearing the locking mechanism prior to reciprocating the piston back to its unactuated position. Different forces for locking and unlocking the locking mechanism is provided by a free-floating piston mounted on a guide rod. The invention may also be applied to a BOP or the like where different opening and closing forces are desired.

An actuator of the type to which the present invention relates is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,033 to Van Winkle. This patent is incorporated herein by reference. The actuator of the '033 patent includes an arrangement for reciprocating a piston in a cylinder between alternate positions. It uses the same hydraulic fluid to power a blowout preventer (BOP) ram actuator piston to move the rams of the BOP to the open or closed position, and to power the pistons of a wedge locking mechanism to the locked or unlocked position.
The actuator shown and described in the '033 patent has been commercially successful and is still sold today. A modified version of the actuator of the '033 patent is depicted in FIGS. 5a and 5b of this disclosure. The structure and function of this actuator will be described below in greater detail, but suffice it to say here that the actuator includes a rubber diaphragm which separates ambient seawater from hydraulic fluid within the actuator.
Recently introduced hydraulic fluid has a specific gravity that is greater than that of seawater so that, if the actuator develops a leak, then hydraulic fluid will leak out of the actuator and no seawater will leak in. The disadvantage of having hydraulic fluid that is heavier than seawater is that the hydrostatic head of the hydraulic fluid tends to release the wedge which is locking the BOP ram actuator piston in the closed position.
Thus, there remains a need for an actuator of proven reliability that functions properly at extreme depths so that the locking mechanism remains in a locked position if no hydraulic pressure is applied to the hydraulic fluid of the actuator. Such an actuator should operate properly in all phases of operation, despite the fact that the specific gravity (and thus the hydrostatic head) of the column of hydraulic fluid is heavier than the ambient seawater. Such an actuator should also operate properly regardless of the relative specific gravitates of the hydraulic fluid and ambient environment.
Aside from locking actuators, the design of blowout preventer (BOP) hydraulic operators is frequently a compromise between the strength of the ram attachment for retracting the ram from a closed position, and the force required to close the ram. Closing forces against the ram are transmitted mainly by way of the larger flat end area of the piston rod. Opening forces must be transmitted by way of the weaker, smaller area provided by means of grooves or threads. There are two times when this deficiency is particularly critical: (1) when high forces are required for shearing pipe; and (2) when the operator attempts to open the rams under pressure without first equalizing well pressures.
Shearing pipe requires a great force and consequently a large diameter cylinder which encloses the ram piston. When a large diameter cylinder is used, retracting forces may be excessive, and cause failure of the ram, and/or the piston rod.
Opening rams without first equalizing well pressure is critical since well pressure tends to keep the rams closed, and all hydraulic opening forces pull on the weaker connection between the ram and the piston rod.
While it is desirable to have the greater force closing the ram, the mechanical design criteria dictate that the opening force is always greater, when at operating well pressure.
Thus, there remains a need for a hydraulic actuator for a BOP that can provide the high force necessary for proper ram action, such as shearing a pipe, while providing an opening force that will not damage the BOP.

Actuator with free-floating piston for a blowout preventer and the like