A system for electrostatic powder coating irregular shaped, three-dimensional articles with 10 μm average diameter powder particles. A supply of powder particles are triboelectrically charged and transported onto one or more donor rolls without the need from fluidization of the powder particles. The charged powder particles on the one or more donor rolls are metered to provide a uniform layer thereon. A combination of AC electric fields and/or air jet detach the powder particles from the one or more donor rolls and produce a powder cloud that is directed to the grounded article to be coated. A layer of powder particles coats the outer surface of the article, and the layer is subsequently cured to form a permanent and durable film on the article.

An exemplary embodiment of this application relates to an electrostatic powder coating process and apparatus for coating an article with charged powder particles by forming a powder cloud with one or more air jets, so that the cloud of charged particles surrounds and coats the article. More particularly, the exemplary embodiment relates to an electrostatic powder coating process and apparatus for coating a grounded article with triboelectrically charged powder particles contained in a chamber, advancing the charged powder particles onto at least one rotatable donor roll, rotating the donor roll past an air jet whereat a combination of electric fields and/or air jets detach the charged powder particles from the donor roll to form a powder cloud that is directed to the grounded article.
The process of coating metal or conductive surfaces with dry powder coatings is well known. The process has been used since the mid 1950's. The initial applications of electrostatic powder coating involved the coating of pipe and electric motors. By utilizing the natural principle of opposite charges attract, this coating technology offered manufacturers an alternative to solvent-based paints. With the growing need to reduce air pollution from solvent-based paints, the demand for electrostatic powder coating has increased over the years. Although the cost of powder and liquid coatings is comparable, dry powder coating is advantaged because spray booths are easily cleaned, no solvents are used eliminating the need for air pollution control equipment, over spray can be collected for reuse, thicker film coatings can be obtained in a single application, and powder has no surface tension, so it will penetrate into small gaps precluded by liquid coatings.
Powder particles for powder coating apparatus are typically delivered to spray guns that electrically charge the expelled powder particles by means of ion corona discharge or triboelectric charging. The powder feed system for the spray guns generally requires fluidization of the powder particles. The powder generally does not contain surface flow additives to improve fluidization because the quality of powder coating film would be compromised during the oven-curing step. With this materials constraint, the powder coating industry generally uses powder particles having an average diameter of 30 to 40 μm, since particles of this size are easily fluidized. The fluidized powder particles are pneumatically transported to a triboelectric or ion charging spray gun for charging the powder and directing the cloud of powder particles to the article to be coated. For triboelectric spray guns, the powder collides with triboelectric-active materials placed in a tortuous path within the gun. For ion spray guns, a voltage of approximately 100 kV applied to a needle electrode generates a corona and the ions are captured on the powder particles in the powder cloud. However, to achieve higher coating quality with thinner layers, there is a need for an improved process and apparatus for powder coating articles with powder particles having an average diameter of approximately 10 μm. This requirement is particularly desired for top gloss coat in automobile coating.
There are many existing powder coating systems wherein a powder is air fluidized in a reservoir and pneumatically fed to a spray gun where the powder is charged. A combination of electrostatic and pneumatic forces transports the charged powder to the article to be coated. Electrostatic forces attract the charged powder to the article. The coated article is typically baked in an oven for approximately 10 minutes at about 400° F. The powder coating melts and flows into a durable film. Such typical powder coating systems are provided by, for example, Wagner International AG, Ransburg Corporation, Nordson Corporation, and Gema Volstatic AG.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,342,273 discloses an improvement over the typical powder coating processes and apparatus. In this reference, electrophotographic development system technology is described to triboelectric or induction charge powder paint particles for electric field transfer directly to flat substrates for subsequently curing, such as, a continuous or discontinuous band, sheet or web substrates. One substrate example was an unwound flat coil. According to a preferred embodiment, the powder paint particles are mixed with magnetic or non-magnetic carrier particles to obtain friction charging. Then the mixture is transported adjacent the substrate to be coated by a transport means, and the charged powder particles are extracted from the mixture and applied to the substrate by means of an electric field between the substrate and the means of transport. The advantage of such a process is that it is possible to apply powder particles having particle sizes between 5–30 μm. Unfortunately, such a process is limited to coating directly onto closely adjacent and confronting flat substrates in a manner similar to developing an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor in the field of electrophotography. Thus, the process of this patent cannot adequately coat three-dimensional articles, such as those articles needed in the industry for appliances, automobiles, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,546 discloses process and apparatus for applying electrostatically charged powder resin particles to a substrate to be coated by utilizing a fluidized bed for inductively charging the powder resin particles through a high voltage means disposed at one portion of the fluidized bed and a grounded electrode disposed in another portion of the fluidized bed, so that an electric field is created therebetween. Fluidizing air is applied to the powder resin particles to establish an electrostatically charged powder cloud within the fluidized bed, and then pneumatically conveying the charged powder particles from the fluidizing bed to a dispensing nozzle or gun for directing the charged powder particles onto the substrate. The coating on the substrate is subsequently fused or cured to form a permanent film thereon. The powder resin particles are mixed with at least one modifying agent that promotes charging of the mixed particles, but does not alter the melt or durability characteristics of the powder resin particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,084 discloses using a powder material for coating large objects, such as, vehicle bodies. An electrical charge is applied to sprayed powder which is directed toward grounded vehicle bodies to be coated by spray guns. The application of powder material onto the automotive or truck bodies is performed in a spray booth, so that over spray powder that is not deposited on the vehicle body can be collected. An exhaust system that creates a negative pressure in the spray booth aids in containment of the over spray powder and causes the over spray powder to be drawn into a powder collection and recovery system. The recovered powder is saved for reuse by the powder spray guns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,958 discloses apparatus to collect and reuse over spray powder that contains a proportionately greater percentage of smaller particles or "fines" than virgin powder, since a greater percentage of larger particles have adhered to the object to be coated. The system for applying powder coating material onto large objects, such as, vehicle bodies, includes a powder spray booth, a powder kitchen containing a mixing hopper, and a number of feed hoppers, which receive the powder material from the powder kitchen and supply it to powder spray guns. The mixing hopper in the kitchen maintains the selected ratio of recovered over spray powder and virgin powder material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,069 discloses an electrostatic powder painting apparatus including a powder charging apparatus therein. The powder painting apparatus has a pair of plasma electrodes disposed in an insulative tubular passage for transporting powder carried by gas. A DC voltage is intermittently applied between the plasma electrodes to form one space where mainly desired polarity ions exist that are drawn from the plasma electrodes and another space where mainly opposite polarity ions exist, thereby assuring stable and strong charging without adhesion and accumulation of powder to and on either one of the pair of plasma electrodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,567 discloses an electrostatic fluidizing bed coating apparatus for work pieces, especially those of continuous length, such as metal wires. The coating apparatus includes a housing with a planar horizontal porous support member therein defining a fluidization chamber in the housing above the porous support member and a plenum below it. Gas is introduced into the plenum for passage upwardly through the porous member to effect fluidization of particulate coating material in the chamber. A means is provided for ionizing the gas in the plenum to effect electrostatic charging of the fluidized coating material. An electrically conductive grid is mounted in the plenum between the porous support member and ionizing means and has means to control its electrical potential. The work piece is passed through the housing between the porous support member and the cloud control grid, so that the grid may be used to affect the deposition of powder upon the work piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,779 discloses an electrostatic powder sprayer for depositing powder material on an article to be coated. A metering roller at the bottom of a powder reservoir is rotated to dispense powder. A first circuit is connected to the metering roller and a conductor located between the article and the metering roller establishes a primary AC electric field to accelerate the powder from the metering roller. At least one electrode is spaced a greater distance from the metering roller than the conductor. A second circuit is connected between the metering roller and the electrode to establish an auxiliary electric field therebetween. The second circuit is provided to further control the movement of powder from the area of the primary electric field to the article, so that a more uniform powder is laid on the article and the amount of powder "fly around" is reduced.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0127332 discloses apparatus and method for applying powder to the interior surface of a hollow object. A powder discharge device having a powder discharge outlet is positioned within the hollow object and a stream of electrostatically charged powder is directed through the discharge outlet. The object is rotated, so that the stream of charged powder contacts the interior surface of the rotating object.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0160123 discloses a method for electrostatic powder coating or painting of non-conductive polymer surfaces by applying a conductive layer, such as a metal foil on the side opposite the non-conductive polymer surface to be painted, so as to provide sufficient conductivity to enable electrostatic powder painting thereof. With the conductive layer in place, the non-conductive article can be painted electrostatically. After painting, the conductive layer can be optionally removed without affecting the painted surface.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0003813 discloses metallic studs of a dynamoelectric machine that are coated with a powder resin to form an electrical insulator between the rotor and the studs. The powder coating is applied by several disclosed methods. In the preferred method, an electrostatic fluidized bed is provided and air is passed through the powder disposed in the bed to obtain a rolling boil of the powder. An applied high potential is provided in the air to produce free electrons that are passed through the powder. The stud is located in the powder cloud in the fluidized bed and as the powder is charged, the electrostatic potential enables the powder to be attracted to the studs. The powder coating on the stud is then cured. Instead of disposing the stud in a powder cloud, a spray gun may be utilized.

Process for electrostatic powder coating an article using triboelectrically charged powder with air jet assist


A coating system for Si-containing materials, particularly Si-based composites used to produce articles exposed to high temperatures. The coating system is a compositionally-graded thermal/environmental barrier coating (T/EBC) system that includes an intermediate layer containing yttria-stabilized hafnia (YSHf) and mullite, alumina and/or an aluminosilicate, which is used in combination with an inner layer between a Si-containing substrate and the intermediate layer and a thermal-insulating top coat overlying the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer provides environmental protection to the silicon-containing substrate, and has a coefficient of thermal expansion between that of the top coat and that of the inner layer so as to serve as a transition layer therebetween. The intermediate layer is particular well suited for use in combination with an inner layer of an alkaline earth metal aluminosilicate (such as BSAS) and a top coat formed of YSZ or YSHf.

This invention relates to coating systems suitable for protecting components exposed to high-temperature environments, such as the hot gas flow path through a gas turbine engine. More particularly, this invention is directed to a coating system that exhibits improved high temperature stability when used to protect a silicon-containing substrate.
Higher operating temperatures for gas turbine engines are continuously sought in order to increase their efficiency. While nickel, cobalt and iron-base superalloys have found wide use for components throughout gas turbine engines, alternative materials have been proposed. In particular, silicon-based non-oxide ceramics, most notably with silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) as a matrix and/or reinforcing material, are candidates for high temperature applications, such as combustor liners, vanes, shrouds, airfoils, and other hot section components of gas turbine engines. However, when exposed to water-containing high temperatures such as that of a gas turbine engine, components formed of Si-based ceramics lose mass and recede because of the formation of volatile silicon hydroxide (Si(OH)4). The recession rate due to volatilization or corrosion is sufficiently high in a gas turbine engine environment to require an environmentally protective coating, commonly referred to as an environmental barrier coating (EBC).
Critical requirements for an EBC intended to protect gas turbine engine components formed of a Si-based material include stability, low thermal conductivity, a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) compatible with the Si-based ceramic material, low permeability to oxidants, and chemical compatibility with the Si-based material and a silica scale that forms from oxidation. Silicates, and particularly barium-strontium-aluminosilicates (BSAS; (Ba1-xSrx)O—Al2O3—SiO2) and other alkaline earth metal aluminosilicates, have been proposed as EBC's in view of their environmental protection properties and low thermal conductivity. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,254,935, 6,352,790, 6,365,288, 6,387,456, and 6,410,148 to Eaton et al. disclose the use of BSAS and alkaline earth metal aluminosilicates as outer protective coatings for Si-based substrates, with stoichiometric BSAS (molar ratio: 0.75BaO.0.25SrO.Al2O3.2SiO2; molar percent: 18.75BaO.6.25SrO.25Al2O3.50 SiO2) generally being the preferred alkaline earth metal aluminosilicate composition. The use of rare earth silicates in EBC's has also been proposed, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,151 to Lee. Layers of silicon, mullite (3Al2O3.2SiO2), and mixtures of mullite and BSAS have been proposed as bond coats to promote adhesion and limit reactions between an EBC and an underlying Si-based substrate. If the particular component will be subjected to surface temperatures in excess of about 2500° F. (about 1370° C.), an EBC can be cooled with backside cooling of the substrate and thermally protected with an overlying thermal barrier coating (TBC) in accordance with commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,470 to Spitsberg et al. In combination, these layers form what has been referred to as a thermal/environmental barrier coating (T/EBC) system.
The most commonly used TBC material for gas turbine applications is yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). While exhibiting a desirable combination of properties, including low thermal conductivity, stability, good mechanical properties, and wear resistance, YSZ has a CTE mismatch with BSAS (a CTE of about 8.9-10.6 ppm/° C. for YSZ, compared to about 5.3 ppm/° C. for stoichiometric BSAS). YSZ also reacts with BSAS at temperatures greater than about 2500° F. (about 1370° C.), leading to sintering of the YSZ and a consequent loss in thermal and mechanical properties, resulting in through-thickness and horizontal cracking. To abate these problems, transition layers have been proposed containing mixtures of YSZ and alumina, mullite, and/or alkaline earth metal aluminosilicate, as taught in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,335 to Wang et al.
While T/EBC systems as described above have significantly advanced the capability of using Si-based ceramic materials for high temperature components, further improvements in chemical stability, thermal expansion match, and sintering resistance would be desirable.

Thermal/environmental barrier coating system for silicon-containing materials


A variable sensitivity imaging device comprises: a substrate; a photosensitive layer which is stacked above the substrate, and which is interposed between a pixel electrode layer and an opposing electrode layer; a signal reading section, formed on the substrate, that reads a signal corresponding to photo-charges which are generated by incidence of light into the photosensitive layer; and a pulse voltage applying section that applies a variable pulse-width pulse voltage between the pixel electrode layer and the opposing electrode layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device and an imaging apparatus, and more particularly to a variable sensitivity imaging device in which the sensitivity is variable, and an imaging apparatus including it.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, several attempts to optimize the sensitivity of an imaging device have been made. In the related-art technique disclosed in JP-A-5-111037, color filters which are disposed on a light receiving portion of a solid-state imaging device are driven by an actuator to enable the color filters to be selected. However, the reference does not concern itself with the sensitivity of the imaging device.
In the related-art technique disclosed in JP-A-5-244609, a material in which the spectral transmittance is changed by an applied voltage is used as a color filter, and the sensitivity can be variably set for each pixel. The sensitivity difference among colors due to the color difference of the color filter can be reduced. However, the technique does not optimize the sensitivity of an imaging device.
In the related-art technique disclosed in JP-A-9-148549, an on-chip lens is formed by a color filter, and, depending on the sensitivity of a pixel for each color, the height of the on-chip lens for the pixel is varied, thereby correcting the sensitivity difference among colors. In the related-art technique disclosed in JP-A-9-163383, a similar effect is attained by adjusting the output gain of an imaging device.
In these imaging devices, strictly speaking, the sensitivity of an imaging device itself is not changed, but the sensitivity is adjusted by the color filter or the on-chip microlens disposed on the front face of the light receiving portion of the imaging device, or an output amplifier. In order to change the sensitivity, therefore, an additional process is required, and there arises a problem on that the production cost is increased.
Furthermore, the technique in which the sensitivity is made variable by the microlens has a problem in that there is no real time property.
The imaging devices of the above-described related-art techniques have a configuration in which a photodiode is formed in a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate, and photo-charges that are accumulated in the photodiode by incidence of light are read out to the outside of the imaging device by a signal reading section (a charge transfer path in the case of the CCD type, or a MOS transistor circuit in the case of the CMOS type).
As disclosed in JP-A-58-103165, JP-A-1-300575 and JP-A-2003-332551, however, there are imaging devices having a configuration in which photoelectric converting layers such as organic layers are stacked above a semiconductor substrate, and photo-charges are generated in accordance with the amount of incident light, and then read out to the outside of the imaging device. Also in such organic imaging devices, however, there is no device in which the sensitivity of the imaging device itself is changed.

Variable sensitivity imaging device including a pulse voltage applying section, and imaging apparatus including the same


An electromagnetic flow meter is disclosed which can be used to measure flow in low conductivity fluids, for example alcohol, turpentine, oil or other organic solvents. In one embodiment, the electromagnetic flow meter includes an elongate flow conduit having a direction of elongation corresponding to a direction of fluid flow, magnetic field generating means for generating a magnetic field across the flow conduit and potential sensing electrodes for sensing a potential generated by the magnetic field in a fluid flowing through the conduit. Both the field generating means and the potential sensing electrodes of the flow meter are elongate in the direction of flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electromagnetic flow meters.
2. Description of Related Art
Electromagnetic flow meters have been used for many years for measuring the flow of a conductive fluid. Electromagnetic flow meters have a number of advantages over mechanical meters as they can be made relatively compact and without moving parts to wear or become damaged by inclusions within the fluid. Electromagnetic flow meters work on the principle that a magnetic field (which may be static or time-varying) induces an EMF across a moving fluid. As a practical matter however, the EMF is typically small and measuring it with practical instruments without undue sensitivity to noise is a concern.
It conveniently so happens that water-based fluids, which constitute a usefully large proportion of process fluids to be monitored, tend to have a conductivity that can be measured using an electromagnetic flowmeter of convenient dimensions. In fact, pure (demineralised) water has a relatively low conductivity and this may be problematic to measure as the impedance of a practically sized meter would be very high. However, measurement of pure water is rarely called for as practical fluids have much higher conductivities, tap water having a conductivity approximately 100 times greater than pure water and seawater having a conductivity approximately 10,000 times greater. Typical water-based process fluids have conductivities falling between the latter two. Thus, for (impure) aqueous fluids, electromagnetic flow meters can conveniently be manufactured with practical dimensions.
Non-polar, "insulating", fluids such as oil-based fluids are not conventionally considered suitable for use with electromagnetic flow meters and there are a wide variety of other metering techniques adapted for such fluids.
The reason for this can best be understood by considering typical conductivity values. Fluids such as turpentine have conductivities of the order of 2,500 times lower than that of tap water and 200,000 times lower than seawater. Alcohols typically have similar conductivities (or slightly higher) and fluids such as kerosene and oils have still lower conductivities.
Accordingly, whilst electromagnetic flowmeters have become widely used for measuring the flow of impure aqueous fluids, other techniques are indicated for "non-conductive" fluids, e.g. organic solvents, turpentine, alcohol or oil-based fluids.

Electromagnetic flow meter for low conductivity fluids


Assembly for perforating rod-shaped elements, particularly cigarettes, which comprises a driving shaft along which a number of rotary perforating cutters are arranged and the cutters are separated by distance rings, wherein each rotary cutter is positioned between two pushing elements and it protrudes from between those pushing elements.

In the process of cigarette manufacture, many cigarettes become damaged or the quality of either cigarette paper wrapper or tipping paper does not pass minimum standards to qualify for consumer use. In such cases tobacco in the above-mentioned cigarettes, which is a valuable raw material, needs to be recovered.
Description DE 4119873 presents a construction of an apparatus for tearing the cigarette paper wrapper of the sub-standard filter cigarettes. The above-mentioned device consists of a belt conveyor to transport parallel spaced cigarettes, and of at least one drum used to "open" paper wrappers by means of rotary cutters having tiny teeth located around their perimeter, and those teeth do not damage the cigarette filter tipping paper. Power transmission of the drum is synchronized with the power transmission of the belt conveyor.
Description DE 4446323 discloses an apparatus for recovering tobacco from damaged cigarettes, wherein, behind the conveyor of cigarettes onto which cigarettes are sequentially placed, a cutting device and a sieve for sifting recovered tobacco from the fragments of cut cigarette paper wrapper are used.
Device in accordance with GB 1262664, which is used to "open" rejected cigarettes, has a conveyor and a roller with V-shaped circumferential grooves, the roller being coupled with the conveyor. The grooves have appropriate dimensions so that cigarettes fed lengthwise are clamped between opposite surfaces of the roller's grooves and the conveyor. In this manner the cigarette paper wrapper is ripped and "open" cigarettes are moved to the beating engine, where paper wrapper, tobacco and filter tips are separated.
In one of the constructions of an apparatus for recovery of tobacco from substandard cigarettes which is known from the prior art, the conveyor belt feeds the cigarettes onto the linear vibratory conveyor which moves them towards multiple groove drum conveyor, which transports the cigarettes to the subsequent stations of the apparatus. Cigarettes on the linear vibratory conveyor are moved axially along the direction of movement and are pushed onto the groove drum conveyor, tangentially to its circumference. A rotary cutter with numerous short blades arranged circumferentially is placed over each groove of the drum conveyor. Rotary cutters and drum conveyor rotate, which causes the paper wrapper of the cigarettes in the grooves of the drum conveyor to perforate, whereas, due to precise adjustment of the distance between the cutter blade and the groove surface of the groove conveyor, the cigarette tipping paper is not perforated. The cigarettes processed so move along the drum conveyor and fall on to the vibratory conveyor from where they are moved on to the next station of the process where tobacco is separated from the paper wrapper.
In the known construction of a cigarette perforating assembly, the rotary cutters prick the cigarette, thus perforating its paper wrapper. Some cigarettes get caught against the blades of the rotary cutters, though, and are lifted from the surface of the drum conveyor or linear conveyor and pulled under the clearing shaft, where they tend to fray. Occasionally, some cigarettes lifted from the surface of the conveyor travel over the cutter and once more enter the space between the blades and the groove surface of the drum conveyor. In this situation cigarettes can be perforated again, e.g. when a cigarette is positioned a different way during each cycle of perforation, or when two cigarettes are simultaneously pulled under one cutter.
As a result of issues described above known from the prior art, the mass of tobacco recovered from cigarettes becomes contaminated with small fragments of cigarette paper wrapper, which is a serious shortcoming of the apparatus for recovering tobacco from cigarettes.

International Tobacco Machinery SP. ZO.O.


Controlling fuel injectors to create varying injection rates and injection rate shapes typically involves using multiple control valves to control fuel pressure and check valve opening pressure independently. The fuel injector of this application uses a single control valve positioned between a fuel supply passage and a tip supply passage. The control valve has at least three positions. In a second position allowing a first maximum fuel injection rate and allowing a second maximum fuel injection rate in a third position.

Improved fuel injection systems allow internal combustion engines to increase fuel economy, reduce noxious emissions such as NOx and particulate matter, and increase power. Some of these gains come through increasing pressures of the fuel prior to injection into a combustion chamber. Increased pressures allow for more complete atomization of the fuel to increase the surface area of the fuel. The increased surface area promotes fuller combustion. Increasing the pressure of the fuel at the combustion chamber is accomplished in a number of manners including hydraulic intensification as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,358 issued to Lukich on 23 Oct. 2001. An alternative system uses an improved fuel pump to deliver high pressure fuel to a common fuel rail as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,750 issued to Mueller et al on 12 Mar. 1996. In both systems, timing of a fuel injection event may determined by electronic control of a valve such as movement of a solenoid.
However, providing a directly operated check valve or DOC valve provides an additional benefit of more controllability of the fuel injection system.
With a DOC valve, the fuel pressure as well as timing may be varied to create a fuel injection rate shape. By controlling the delivery of hydraulic fluid to a cavity over a check valve, a valve opening pressure needed to open the check valve may be varied. This increased controllability allows the fuel injection system to further lower engine noise and reduce emissions. Fuel from the common rail may also be used in a similar manner.
Control of DOC valve generally requires precise machining including numerous passages machined or cast into an injector body. Improved controllability typically involves using multiple control valves. The additional machining and control valves increase costs of the fuel injection system. Further, multiple control valves may increase actual size of a fuel injector reducing space on a cylinder head of an engine for other needed hardware.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.

Method and apparatus for controlling a fuel injector


A data processing system graphical user interface that is customizable to any user-selected color bitmap image is provided. According to the present invention, a user-selected color bitmap image containing a plurality of major objects is imported into the data processing system and set as a scene for the data processing system's graphical user interface. Major objects in the scene are then automatically identified, wherein a major object is one having a plurality of pixels of a selected characteristic. An identified major object is then selected and associated with a set of data, such that when the major object is subsequently selected, a particular data processing system operation is automatically performed utilizing the associated data set.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a graphical user interface in a data processing system, and in particular to a graphical user interface in a data processing system that allows user selection of the interface image. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a graphical user interface in a data processing system that is customizable to any arbitrary user selected color bit map image.
2. Description of the Related Art
The user interface for a personal computer defines how the user communicates with the computer. This communication link defines how applications are used, how tasks are switched, and how choices are made. Years ago, computers were used, almost exclusively, by highly skilled professionals for very specific engineering, scientific, or business tasks. The user interface was not intuitive, and frequently required special training. The extra training was acceptable since the applications were so crucial to these professions. Today, computer applications are used by all segments of the population. Thus, easier and more intuitive user interfaces have been necessary to reduce the specialized training required to operate computers.
Most first time users of computers are not as familiar with keyboards as they are familiar looking at pictures, pointing to objects, grabbing and moving household items. Thus, to really capture the creative powers of users, and to enable even children to use the computer, graphical user interfaces (GUI) were developed. By using a mouse to point to objects on a display, represented by small images (icons), a user could control the computer without knowing any complex commands. The mouse controlled graphical interface allowed the user to point to icons representing programs and group those icons into window frames.
Teaching new computer users how to use the computer to accomplish tasks that used to be performed at a desk with paper and pen is made easier with the use of a "Desktop" metaphor for a GUI. The metaphor helps bridge users from the past methods to the computer. The Desktop display works quite well for the business and personal uses of a computer which assisted tasks that were traditionally performed on the desktop.
The current trend in GUIs is to use a "home" metaphor, with pictures of desks, paper, books, files, rooms and thereby allowing home users to be more comfortable and productive with the computer. One of the first entries into this market was "The Playroom," and has a user interface aimed at children. The Playroom hides all the complex operating system commands from the users, however, it is not configurable, and is used only with the applications that are integrated with it. However, many of these home GUI's use cartoon scenes that look artificial and nothing like the objects they are intended to represent. Moreover, these home GUI's are not customizable to an individual user's needs.
The graphical user interface, incorporating graphic images, or icons, that represent applications and data are quickly becoming the most popular computer user interface because of the simplicity and intuitive nature of these graphical user interfaces. However, heretofore, the graphical images of the graphical user interface allowed for very little user customization.
The user needs to have an interface that is easily defined with familiar scenes and objects. User experience and needs vary, creating a wide range of possible interfaces. Current graphical interfaces require the user to associate fixed icons with tasks, which is acceptable to seasoned computer users, but foreign to new users. A user definable interface, proposed by Dan-Dimura et al., "Forum/Formula, A Visual Programming Paradigm For User-Definable User Interfaces," IEEE Computer, 27-35, March, 1995, allows customization but it requires learning a visual language. This would be unacceptable for unsophisticated computer users such as children.
What is needed is a graphical user interface which can make use of any supplied scene (bitmap image) to be used as a graphical user interface. By allowing a user to select an arbitrary image for the graphical user interface, the user can learn the computer interface quickly and easily because objects in the scene would be familiar. Also, by allowing the user to select the graphical user interface scene, the function or data associated with objects in the scene are inherently more intuitive to the user because he has been able to personally customize the user interface. A wide range of users can be satisfied by having a configurable interface based on a picture (bitmap) that is relevant to the particular user. However, the significant problem of identifying major objects in an arbitrary scene must be solved to allow this user customization of the graphical user interface.

Customizable graphical user interface that automatically identifies major objects in a user-selected digitized color image and permits data to be associated with the major objects

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for finding a match between a pattern of data of relatively small size in a base of related data or relatively large size in the presence of occlusions which are gaps or noise that obscure portions, either of the pattern or of the base. The method involves masking out occluded points in both the base data and the pattern so that correlation can be computed only at those points that are not occluded.

In a paper entitled "Image matching by means of intensity and texture matching in the Fourier domain" by H. S. Stone and C. S. Li that has been presented at the Conference in Image and Video Databases in San Jose, Calif. has been accepted in publication in the Proc. SPIE in January 1996, there is described a process for searching image data bases for images that match a specified pattern. The process has two thresholds that allow the user to adjust independently the closeness of the match. One threshold controls the closeness of the intensity match and the other controls the closeness of the texture match. The thresholds are correlations that can be computed efficiently in the Fourier transform domain of an image, and are especially efficient when the Fourier coefficients are mostly zero. This is especially important when used in conjunction with image-compression schemes that compress by setting small Fourier coefficients to zero.
However, the usefulness of this process is limited because in many practical cases of matching at least one of the images being matched is characterized by occlusions, defined as one or more sub-regions of the images at hand that are irrelevant to the computation of the correlation. Occlusions can arise from external noise (such as sensor noise) malfunction, or drop-outs in the data stream corresponding to the images, or transitory foreign objects in the visual or auditory scene under analysis. Occlusions cause (at times severe) distortion in correlation computations. This distortion arises from the evaluation of the correlation operation over all points in the data set, including the occlusions points. There is a need for a method that effectively removes the distortions caused by occlusions in the computation of the correlation by masking out the occluded points in both data sets being compared so that the correlation computation can be computed only at those points that are not occluded.
The present invention represents an improvement in the process described by essentially eliminating the effect of occlusions in the correlation operation.

Method for computing correlation operations on partially occluded data


Disclosed herein are methods of designing and fabricating prosthetic implants having a sagittal wall in which at least a portion thereof traverses a non-linear path. A method of fabricating such a prosthetic implant may include generating a virtual bone model based on image information obtained from at least one bone, determining a proposed height of the prosthetic implant at a first location on the virtual bone model, determining a proposed resection depth into the at least one bone at the first location based at least in part on the proposed height of the prosthetic implant, and determining a curved resection path across a portion of the virtual bone model. The curved resection path may intersect the first location and the prosthetic implant may have a curved sagittal wall corresponding to the curved resection path.

Current knee arthroplasty tibial implants that retain the tibial eminence contain a straight sagittal wall portion which banks against the eminence. Typically, the sagittal wall resection of the eminence corresponding to the straight sagittal wall of an implant is made with a reciprocating saw normal to the transverse tibial resection plane. When placing an eminence-preserving implant, preferences to component placement on a cut plane include avoiding ligaments, optimizing bony coverage, avoiding deep cuts into the eminence, and permitting possible kinematic trialing feedback, for example.
However, a straight walled implant may not be the most optimal design to retain constant resection depth on both sides of the eminence and to avoid ligaments because the native eminence wall itself is not a perfectly straight line. A straight walled implant also may not provide sufficient anterior-posterior stability.

Morphologically curved sagittal wall of a tibial implant


In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a leadframe having a plurality of leads and a die paddle and a semiconductor module attached to the die paddle of the leadframe. The semiconductor module includes a first semiconductor chip disposed in a first encapsulant. The semiconductor module has a plurality of contact pads coupled to the first semiconductor chip. The semiconductor device further includes a plurality of interconnects coupling the plurality of contact pads with the plurality of leads, and a second encapsulant disposed at the semiconductor module and the leadframe.

Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic and other applications. Semiconductor devices comprise, among other things, integrated circuits or discrete devices that are formed on semiconductor wafers by depositing one or more types of thin films of material over the semiconductor wafers, and patterning the thin films of material to form the integrated circuits.
The semiconductor devices are typically packaged within a ceramic or a plastic body to protect the semiconductor devices from physical damage or corrosion. The packaging also supports the electrical contacts required to connect a semiconductor device, also referred to as a die or a chip, to other devices external to the packaging. Many different types of packaging are available depending on the type of semiconductor device and the intended use of the semiconductor device being packaged. Typical packaging features, such as dimensions of the package, pin count, etc., may comply, among others, with open standards from Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC). Packaging may also be referred as semiconductor device assembly or simply assembly.
Consequently, although the size of the semiconductor chips scales continuously due to semiconductor technology scaling, the size of the packages does not because of the need to comply with standard packaging dimensions. Further, increasingly for many applications, a single package may include multiple semiconductor dies or chips. However, conventional packages cannot support multiple semiconductor chips or tiny semiconductor chips.

Package-in-packages and methods of formation thereof


The compound of Formula (I) and pharmaceutically acceptable salts and prodrugs thereof are useful in the treatment and prevention of various disorders mediated by kinases.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to kinase inhibitors, pharmaceutical compositions containing the inhibitors, and methods for preparing these inhibitors. The kinase inhibitors of this invention are useful for the treatment of inflammation, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and other cytokine-mediated diseases.
2. Description of the State of the Art
A number of chronic and acute inflammatory conditions have been associated with the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Such cytokines include but are not limited to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease where TNF-α and IL-1β are implicated in the onset of the diseases and in the progression of the bone and joint destruction seen with this debilitating condition. Recently approved therapeutic treatments for RA have included soluble TNF-α receptor (ENBREL™) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (ANAKINRA™). These treatments work by blocking the ability of their respective cytokines to bind to their natural receptors. Alternative methods for treating cytokine-mediated diseases are currently under investigation. One such method involves inhibition of the signaling pathway that regulates the synthesis and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as p38.
P38 (also known as CSBP or RK) is a serine/threonine mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) that has been shown to regulate pro-inflammatory cytokines. P38 MAPK was first identified as a kinase that becomes tyrosine phosphorylated in mouse monocytes following treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A link between p38 MAPK and the response of cells to cytokines was first established by Saklatvala et al., (Cell, 1994, 78:1039-1049), who showed that IL-1 activates a protein kinase cascade that results in the phosphorylation of the small heat shock protein, Hsp27, probably by mitogen-activated protein activated protein kinase 2 (MAPKAP kinase-2). Analysis of peptide sequences derived from the purified kinase indicated that it was related to the p38 MAPK activated by LPS in mouse monocytes (Han, J., et al., Science, 1994, 265:808-811). At the same time it was shown that p38 MAPK was itself activated by an upstream kinase in response to a variety of cellular stresses, including exposure to UV radiation and osmotic shock, and the identity of the kinase that directly phosphorylates Hsp27 was confirmed as MAPKAP kinase-2 (Rouse, J., et al., Cell, 1994, 78:1027-1037). Subsequently, it was shown that p38 MAPK was the molecular target of a series of pyridinylimidazole compounds that inhibited the production of TNF from LPS-challenged human monocytes (Lee, J. et al., Nature, 372:739-746). This was a key discovery and has led to the development of a number of selective inhibitors of p38 MAPK and the elucidation of its role in cytokine signaling.
It is now known that multiple forms of p38 MAPK (α, β, γ, δ), each encoded by a separate gene, form part of a kinase cascade involved in the response of cells to a variety of stimuli, including osmotic stress, UV light, and cytokine mediated events. These four isoforms of p38 are thought to regulate different aspects of intracellular signaling. Activation of p38 is part of a cascade of signaling events that lead to the synthesis and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. P38 functions by phosphorylating downstream substrates that include other kinases and transcription factors. Agents that inhibit p38 MAPK have been shown to block the production of cytokines including but not limited to TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-1β in vitro and in vivo models (Adams, J. L., et al., Progress in Medicinal Chemistry, 2001, 38:1-60).
Abl (also known as Ableson) is a tyrosine kinase that is expressed in hematopoietic cells and is implicated in the progression of various liquid tumors including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Transformation is a result of a chromosomal translocation, known as the Philadelphia chromosome. This leads to a constitutively activated chimera between Ableson and the breakpoint cluster region (BCR)—the Abl-BCR protein. GLEEVEC®, also known as Imatinib (Novartis) is a potent inhibitor of Abl and is currently used to treat CML patients (N. Engl. J. Med., 2001, 344:1031-1037). This drug has become the standard of care for this deadly disease and is also being looked at in a variety of other cancer settings including gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).
There is evidence that fibroblasts respond to the growth factor protein TGF-β by stimulating the Abl pathway and lead to morphological changes indicative of fibrosis; therefore Abl could play a role in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Leof et al. (J. Clin. Invest., 2004, 114(9) 1308-1316) have demonstrated pre-clinical efficacy of GLEEVEC® in a bleomycin-mediated model of lung fibrosis in mice. GLEEVEC® is being evaluated in patients with pulmonary fibrosis.
TEK (also known as Tie-2) is another receptor tyrosine kinase expressed only on endothelial cells which has been shown to play a role in angiogenesis. The binding of the factor angiopoietin-1 results in autophosphorylation of the kinase domain of TEK and results in a signal transduction process which appears to mediate the interaction of endothelial cells with peri-endothelial support cells, thereby facilitating the maturation of newly formed blood vessels. The factor angiopoietin-2, on the other hand, appears to antagonize the action of angiopoietin-1 on TEK and disrupts angiogenesis (Maisonpierre et al., Science, 1997, 277:55-60). Tie2 is up-regulated in tumor angiogenic vessels (Trogan, E. Br. J. Cancer, 1998, 77:51-56) and there is evidence that it may play a supportive role in hematopoietic cancers (L. Naldini et al., Cancer Cell, 2005, 8:211-226; Suda, T. et al., Cell, 2004, 118:149-161). In addition to its possible role in cancer, angiogenesis may also have implications in diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis and the progression of inflammation driven pathologies. The formation of pannus, the destructive legion responsible for arthritic progression is in part driven by new blood vessel formation and a recent paper by Lin, C. et al. (Arthritis and Rheumatism, 2005, 52(5):1585-1594) demonstrates the pathological role of Tie2 in a mouse collagen-induced arthritis models of RA. Therefore, inhibition of Tie2 could provide a beneficial effect against proliferative and inflammatory diseases.
Several other kinases have been implicated in the progression of proliferative diseases such as cancer. Among these, numerous Src family member proteins have been shown to play a similar role as Src and may provide parallel signaling pathways during uncontrolled cellular proliferation. Primary examples include the tyrosine kinases Lyn, Fyn, Lck and Hck. Lyn and Hck have been implicated in the progression of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), a hematopoietic cancer of B cells (Li, S. et al. Nat Genet., 2004 36(5):453-461).
The Eph (erythropoietin-producing hepatoma amplified sequence) family of tyrosine kinase receptors binds ephrins which leads to numerous cellular processes. Ephs appear to play a role modulating tumour cell adhesion and motility and invasiveness, and some evidence demonstrates an active role of Ephs and ephrins in neo-vascularisation during pathological processes. The Eph A receptors are over-expressed in lung, kidney and gastric tumour vasculature, and dominant-negative, soluble EphA2 or A3 proteins have been shown to modulate tumour angiogenesis and progression in vivo (Lackmann M. et al., IUBMB Life, 2005, 57(6):421-31).
Vascular endothelial growth factors and their cognate receptors, for example KDR (VEGFR2) and FLT1 (VEGFRR1) are key regulators of angiogenesis. The protein therapeutic drug AVASTIN® has shown promise in colon cancer and works through the VEGFR pathway. SUTENT/SU11248 (sunitinib malate) (Pfizer) is a potent KDR inhibitor and has shown promising results against GIST and renal cell carcinomas.
Peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) have been shown to express and secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines when stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vitro. P38 inhibitors efficiently block this effect when PBMCs are pretreated with such compounds prior to stimulation with LPS (Lee, J. C., et al., Int. J. Immunopharmacol., 1988, 10:835-843). The efficacy of p38 inhibitors in animal models of inflammatory disease has prompted an investigation of the underlying mechanism(s) which could account for the effect of these inhibitors. The role of p38 in the response of cells to IL-1 and TNF has been investigated in a number of cells systems relevant to the inflammatory response using a pyridinyl imidazole inhibitor: endothelial cells and IL-8 (Hashimoto, S., et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 2001, 293:370-375), fibroblasts and IL-6/GM-CSF/PGE2 (Beyaert, R., et al., EMBO J., 1996, 15:1914-1923), neutrophils and IL-8 (Albanyan, E. A., et al., Infect. Immun., 2000, 68:2053-2060) macrophages and IL-1 (Caivano, M. and Cohen, P., J. Immunol., 2000, 164:3018-3025), and smooth muscle cells and RANTES (aruoka, S., et al., Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., 1999, 161:659-668). The destructive effects of many disease states are caused by the over production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The ability of p38 inhibitors to regulate this overproduction makes them excellent candidates for disease modifying agents. Known inhibitors of p38 MAPK are active in a variety of widely recognized disease models. Inhibitors of p38 MAPK show positive effects in a number of standard animal models of inflammation including rat collagen-induced arthritis (Jackson, J. R., et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 1998, 284:687-692); rat adjuvant-induced arthritis (Badger, A. M., et al., Arthritis Rheum., 2000, 43:175-183; Badger, A. M., et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., (1996) 279:1453-1461); and carrageenan-induced paw edema in the mouse Nishikori, T., et al., Eur. J. Pharm., 2002, 451:327-333). Molecules that block the function of p38 have been shown to be effective in inhibiting bone resorption, inflammation, and other immune and inflammation-based pathologies in these animal models.
Thus, a safe and effective kinase inhibitor would provide a means to treat debilitating diseases that can be regulated by modulation of one or more kinases.
International patent application publication number WO 2004/078116 discloses certain compounds as kinase inhibitors. Amongst these compounds are certain N1-substituted indazole derivatives having a substituent at the 5-position that contains a pyrazol-5-ylurea group. Examples of such compounds include the compounds of Examples 94 and 138 in which the N1 substituent is respectively a methyl group and a 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl group.
It has now been found that compounds having particularly desirable properties may be obtained by selecting the primary alcohol group, —CH2CH2OH, as the N1 substituent, and a particular substituent at the 5-position containing a 3-tert-butyl-1-p-tolyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl group.

Kinase inhibitors and methods of use thereof


An inspection area setting method for setting inspection area-defining information defining an inspection area to an image inspecting device, the image inspecting device being configured to extract a portion constituting the inspection area as an inspection area image from an original image obtained by taking an image of an inspection object, and to inspect the inspection object by analyzing the inspection area image, includes an acquisition step of acquiring a sample image obtained by taking an image of a sample of the inspection object, an inspection area searching step, and a setting step.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image inspecting device that performs an appearance inspection using an image.
2. Related Art
An image inspecting device that performs an appearance inspection using an image is widely used for the purpose of automation and labor-saving of an inspection in a production line. There are various kinds and techniques of the appearance inspection. In a basic configuration of the appearance inspection, an image of an inspection object is taken with an image sensor (camera), a portion constituting an inspection area is extracted from the obtained image, and a feature of the image of the inspection area portion is analyzed and evaluated to perform an intended inspection (such as non-defective or defective determination, sorting, and information acquisition).
In this kind of image inspecting device, it is necessary to perform preparation work such as setting of the inspection area prior to inspection processing. A tool dedicated to the setting of the inspection area is prepared in a general device, and a user can properly set the inspection area according to an inspection object or an inspection purpose using the tool. However, the conventional tool has only a function of defining the inspection area using simple graphics such as a circle and a rectangle and a combination thereof. Accordingly, in the case that the inspection object has a complicated or special shape, sometimes the inspection area cannot correctly be matched with a contour of the inspection object. Even in the case that the contour of the inspection object can be expressed by the combination of the simple graphics, it takes a lot of time and workload to set the inspection area as the number of combined graphics increases. Nowadays there is a strong need to shorten arrangement time as much as possible for improvement of efficiency in multikind and small-quantity production. Therefore, it is undesirable to take a lot of trouble to set the inspection area. At the same time, in order to meet a complicated product shape and sophisticated and diversified inspection content, or in order to improve accuracy and reliability of the inspection, there is also a strong need to correctly set the inspection area only to a portion to be inspected.
Conventionally, an inspection area extracting technique in which binarization or color gamut extraction is used is well known as a technique of automatically setting the inspection area. In the inspection area extracting technique, a pixel group corresponding to a previously-set brightness range or color gamut is extracted from the image, and the pixel group is set to the inspection area. The inspection area extracting technique is effectively used in the case of a high brightness or color contrast between a portion (foreground) to be extracted as the inspection area and other portions (background). For example, the inspection area extracting technique is used in processing of extracting only an article portion from an image of an article conveyed on a belt conveyer.
A correct foreground portion is difficult to be solely extracted by the binarization or the color gamut extraction, when shade and shadow exist in the foreground portion to be extracted as the inspection area due to an influence of lighting, when the foreground portion is constructed with various kinds of brightness or colors, or when a color close to the foreground portion exists in the background. Nowadays, with the progress of the sophistication and diversification of the inspection content, frequently there is few color difference between the background and the foreground. The inspection directed only to one of cutting surfaces of a component having subjected to a forming-process and the inspection directed only to one of components mounted on a printed board can be cited as an example of few color difference between the background and the foreground. Because the binarization or the color gamut extraction is performed in each pixel of the image, the binarization or the color gamut extraction is easily influenced by a noise or a variation in lighting, and some pixel may be missing in the extracted inspection area or may be unnecessarily selected from the background like an enclave, which results in inspection accuracy being degraded.
Patent Document 1 discloses the inspection area setting methods such as a method for setting a position or a size of the inspection area from CAD data of an inspection object component and a method for recognizing an area to be inspected by taking a difference between two images taken before and after component mounting. Although the use of these inspection area setting methods can automatically set the inspection area, the inspection area setting methods lack versatility because application targets of the inspection area setting methods are restricted.
Patent Document
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-58284
Non-Patent Document
Non-Patent Document 1: Y. Boykov and M.-P. Jolly: "Interactive Graph Cuts for Optimal Boundary & Region Segmentation of Objects in N-D images", ICCV2001, 01, p. 105 (2001)

Inspection area setting method for image inspecting device


An electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding gasket. The gasket is formed as having a resilient core member of an indefinite length which is sheathed in an electrically conductive fiber mesh member. A thermoplastic member is incorporated within the fiber mesh member for consolidating at least a portion of the fiber mesh member. The consolidation is effective to maintain the integrity of the fiber mesh member at an end of the gasket when the gasket is terminated to a determinable length.

The present invention relates broadly to an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding gasket or seal having a resilient core and a conductive fiber mesh sheathing which is consolidated to mitigate its unraveling or splaying when the gasket is terminated to a determinable length.
The operation of electronic devices such as computers, business machines, communications equipment, and the like is attended by the generation of electromagnetic radiation within the electronic circuitry of the equipment. As is detailed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,202,536; 5,142,101; 5,105,056; 5,028,739; 4,952,448; and 4,857,668, such radiation often develops as a field or as transients within the radio frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum, i.e., from between about 10 KHz and 10 GHz, and is termed "electromagnetic interference" or "EMI" as being known to interfere with the operation of other proximate electronic devices.
To attenuate EMI effects, shielding having the capability of absorbing and/or reflecting EMI energy may be employed both to confine the EMI energy within a source device, and to insulate that device or other "target" devices from other source devices. Such shielding is provided as a barrier which is inserted between the source and the other devices, and typically is configured as an electrically conductive and grounded housing which encloses the device. As the circuitry of the device generally must remain accessible for servicing or the like, most housings are provided with openable or removable accesses such as doors, hatches, panels, or covers. Between even the flattest of these accesses and its corresponding mating or faying surface, however, there may be present gaps which reduce the efficiency of the shielding by presenting openings through which radiant energy may leak or otherwise pass into or out of the device. Moreover, such gaps represent discontinuities in the surface and ground conductivity of the housing or other shielding, and may even generate a secondary source of EMI radiation by functioning as a form of slot antenna. In this regard, bulk or surface currents induced within the housing develop voltage gradients across any interface gaps in the shielding, which gaps thereby function as antennas which radiate EMI noise. In general, the amplitude of the noise is proportional to the gap length, with the width of the gap having less appreciable effect.
For filling gaps within mating surfaces of housings and other EMI shielding structures, gaskets and other seals have been proposed both for maintaining electrical continuity across the structure, and for excluding from the interior of the device such contaminates as moisture and dust. Such seals are bonded or mechanically attached to, or press-fit into, one of the mating surfaces, and function to close any interface gaps to establish a continuous conductive path thereacross by conforming under an applied pressure to irregularities between the surfaces. Accordingly, seals intended for EMI shielding applications are specified to be of a construction which not only provides electrical surface conductivity even while under compression, but which also has a resiliency allowing the seals to conform to the size of the gap. The seals additionally must be wear resistant, economical to manufacture, and capability of withstanding repeated compression and relaxation cycles. For further information on specifications for EMI shielding gaskets, reference may be had to Severinsen, J., "Gaskets That Block EMI," Machine Design, Vol. 47, No. 19, pp. 74-77 (Aug. 7, 1975).
Conventionally, the EMI shielding gaskets heretofore known in the art have involved a resilient core element having gap-filling capabilities, around which is provided a conductive, tubular sleeve or other sheathing. The resilient core element typically is formed of an elastomeric foam which may be a foamed elastomeric thermoplastic such as a polyethylene, polypropylene, polypropylene-EPDM blend, butadiene, styrene-butadiene, nitrile, or chlorosulfonate, or a foamed neoprene, urethane, or silicone. Alternatively, an unfoamed silicone, urethane, neoprene, or thermoplastic may be utilized in either a solid or tubular form. Resilient, thermoplastic elastomeric foams and methods for making the same are detailed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,393,796; 5,070,111; and 4,898,760.
The sheathing may be provided as a woven or non-woven fabric, or as a knitted mesh. Knitted meshes may be preferred from a manufacturing standpoint as eliminating such fabrication steps as slitting, wrapping, and adhering which are necessitated with the use of fabric sheathing. The fabric or mesh may be formed of a metal wire such as copper, nickel, silver, aluminum, tin or an alloy such as Monel, or of other conductive fibers such as carbon, graphite, or a conductive polymer. Alternatively, nonconductive natural or synthetic fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, cellulose, polyester, polyamide, nylon, polyamide, or the like may be plated or otherwise coated with a conductive material such as metal, carbon, or the like. Depending upon the needs of the specific application for the seal, a combination of conductive and nonconductive fibers may be used. Preferred sheathing materials include nylon or polyester yarn plated with silver, copper, nickel, or tin.
A representative EMI shielding gasket which includes a resilient foam core within a conductive sheath is disclosed in Buonanno, U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,668. The sheath is bonded to the foam core as an integral part of a continuous molding process in which the foam is blown or expanded within the sheath. As the foam cures, a sealed outer boundary layer forms on the surface thereof which faces the inner surface of the sheath. The outer boundary layer is stated to have an adhesive character which effects a strong bond between the foam core and the sheath.
Buonanno, U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,536, discloses an EMI seal having an elongated, resilient core which is covered with a partial conductive sheath. A conductive portion of the sheath, preferably a metallized fabric or the like in a resin binder, is provided to extend partially around the core to define ends which are non-overlapping. A second, nonconductive sheath portion is attached to the core element to extend between the ends of the conductive sheath portion. The seal may be produced in accordance with the continuous molding process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,668. Alternatively, the core may be pre-molded with the conductive and nonconductive sheath portions being attached thereto with an adhesive or the like.
Keyser et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,739 discloses another EMI shielding gasket which includes a resilient, elastomeric core enveloped within a fine, open format knit or braided wire mesh. An adhesive strip is disposed lengthwise along a surface of the gasket which allows the gasket to be removably fastened directly to an enclosure.
Matsuzaki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,101, discloses yet another EMI shielding gasket having a resilient core to which a metal mesh is adhered with a rubber macromolecule adhesive or the like. The core includes a body portion for contact with a first surface of a joint of a conductive housing, and an installing portion which may be inserted into a second surface of the joint. A segregating portion is formed between the body and installation portions which separates the metal mesh from the surface of the core such that the mesh is not broken as the core is elasticly deformed during its insertion into the joint.
Although gaskets of the type herein involved have represented important advancements in the art of EMI shielding, a problem has continued to plague the industry. Namely, it has been observed that when gaskets of such type are sectioned or otherwise terminated to length for mounting within the boundaries of an interface to be sealed, the sheathing at the terminal end or ends of the gasket may have a tendency to splay or unravel. Apart from deleteriously affecting the conductivity of the sheathing, the unraveling of the conductive fibers of the sheathing may cause shorting within the electrical circuitry which is enclosed within the housing being sealed. Gaskets having a sheathing of a relatively open, interlocked knit or braided structure are particularly prone to unraveling at the terminal ends thereof, with gaskets having a sheathing of a tighter, woven fabric being more stable.
Indeed, it is known to attach a fabric and other sheathing to a foam core with a pressure sensitive adhesive or the like. However, with respect to sheathings such as knitted fiber meshes having a relatively more open structure, such adhesives are not acceptable as having a tendency to migrate or bleed through the loops of the knit while under an applied pressure. The performance of the gasket thereby may be affected as the extraneous adhesive may interfere with the removability of a mating surface therefrom. Another shielding gasket manufactured by Instrument Specialties, Inc., of Delaware Water Gap, Pa., includes a bead of an unfilled, organic polymer between a first and second layer of sheathing fibers to effect a bond therebetween. Such technique, however, necessitates a complex sheathing weave which cannot be attained with conventional circular knitting machines commonly used to form knit sheathings.
The EMI shielding industry has otherwise responded to the problem associated with the sectioning of shielding gaskets by providing an outer "tie-coat" on the shielding. For example, a gasket marketed under the name Soft Shield II.TM. by Chomerics, Inc., of Woburn, Mass., incorporates an outer coating of a silicone or the like for maintaining the integrity of the terminal ends of the gaskets. Such coating, however, must be applied in a separate processing step which increases the costs of manufacturing the gasket.
Thus, the sectioning to length or other termination of the EMI gaskets and seals heretofore known in the art has generally lead to unacceptable conditions, or has necessitated the involvement of a separate manufacturing step. It therefore will be appreciated that improvements in EMI shielding gaskets and seals, and in the methods for terminating the same, would be well-received by electronics manufacturers and other industries.

EMI shielding gasket having a conductive sheating consolidated with a thermoplastic member


An efficient high-temperature water vapor generator includes a combustion chamber and a surrounding structure, wherein a cavity is located therebetween. Water is pumped into the cavity at a location near a first end of the combustion chamber. Water is removed from the cavity at a location near a second end of the combustion chamber, opposite the first end. The water removed from the cavity is injected into the combustion chamber at a location near the first end. Fuel and air are also introduced into the combustion chamber at the first end. The fuel and air are ignited near the first end of the combustion chamber, thereby creating high-temperature water vapor, and pre-heating the water in the cavity surrounding the combustion chamber.

Soil pollution is becoming a significant problem in this country. In numerous locations around the country, hazardous wastes, such as MTBE's, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), poisons and other chemicals have been inadvertently released, thereby contaminating the surrounding soil. Such soil contamination can be caused, for example, by leaking underground storage tank sites (LUST sites). The hazardous waste may leak through the soil, eventually contaminating water supplies.
Cleaning up contaminated soil is both difficult and costly. Typically, the owner of a site containing contaminated soil is responsible for this soil. However, because there is no cost effective manner of cleaning the soil, the owners of contaminated soil typically pay to have the soil removed and stored at a remote location. One such location is the Kettleman Hazardous Waste Landfill, located near Fresno, Calif. The cost for removing and storing contaminated soil is typically about $65/cubic yard.
It would therefore be desirable to have a cost efficient method and apparatus for cleaning contaminated soil. It would further be desirable if this method and apparatus were portable, such that contaminated soil could be de-contaminated on-site, without requiring that the contaminated soil be transported a significant distance.
In addition, it would be desirable to have a vapor generator capable of efficiently generating high-temperature water vapor for a multitude of uses including, but not limited to: de-contamination, in-situ heating of oil reserves to facilitate pumping, food preparation, cleaning and disinfecting, snow and ice removal, desalinization of sea water, generation of electricity, drying and curing, space heating and humidification, and the conversion of organic waste to other products.

Vapor generator with preheater and method of operating same


An EPL maker (10) is composed mainly of editing terminals (15), (16) and (17) each reading and decoding each of highly compressed sub materials to produce a material data and make an EPL while displaying, on a monitor, a video based on the material data. The EPL includes identification information for identification of a material used in editing and a format declare state for defining a format of at least a certain material. The EPLs made by the editing terminals (15), (16) and (17) are stored into an EPL storage unit (18). The EPLs stored in the EPL storage unit (18) are read by an edit controller (20). The edit controller (20) makes an edit control signal based on the EPLs, and supplies the signal to a content maker (30). Thus, an editing can be executed with having not to pool the materials once on hand and with labors and costs.

The history of the moving-picture editing began with splicing cuts of a movie film to each other by the use of an adhesive. In the early video editing, editing points were marked on a video tape having a record of video data, the tape was cut at the editing points using scissors and necessary cuts thus obtained were connected to each other using an adhesive (this is called "splicing"). This splicing editing was followed by the modern electronic editing by dubbing. The dubbing editing has been lasting long.
The so-called nonlinear editing has become prevailing for these ten years. The nonlinear editing technique can be said to be a dubbing editing technique. That is, the nonlinear editing is such that while viewing images acquired from a medium, the editing person or user splices the images mainly by dubbing them, subjects them to an image processing as necessary and records an edit result into a medium, or repeats this series of editing processes. The nonlinear editing technique has been lasting for scores of years.
However, the above traditional technique is not advantageous as follows:
Firstly, the repetition of dubbing in the electronic editing causes image deterioration. This problem is unavoidable with the analog signal technology, but has been almost solved with the baseband digital technology in which a non-compressed baseband digital signal is dubbed. With the recent prevalence of the technique of image compression, however, the image deterioration has become a problem again because irreversible data compression and decompression (expansion) are repeatedly done in the image compression technique.
To solve the above problem, it is one way to use a lower ratio of compression or a shorter unit of compression. However, this solution cannot be any complete one to avoid the image deterioration because there remain many problems such as larger medium costs, longer time of communications, etc.
Even when no data compression is made, repetition of the so-called special effects such as image zooming, pixel shift, synthesis, etc. causes the problems such as image deterioration etc.
Next, the image formats such as NTSC were created and standardized with major consideration to the TV receiver, carrier frequency assignment, etc. In these days, however, it is rather common to use multiple image formats together on the windows of the HDVS and PC. Namely, it has become a large problem in collection of materials and making of a complete package to be able to support only one format.
Further, since the user can make a window of his own specification with his computer, the method of selecting a desired one of available formats cannot support the user sufficiently.
In editing, time codes are used to identify an intended picture but they can only identify positions of the picture in a roll of tape and cannot basically identify the medium itself. Identification of a medium by a reel number is also available but it is used in a local range of application. Therefore, materials have to be pooled once on hand for later use, for which large labors and costs are required.
Similarly, the special effects and title superimposing depend upon the type of the user's apparatus. Since the user's apparatus cannot process materials by any method not supported thereby, an edit result has to be recorded to a user's medium.
There will be explained herebelow an example of editing using a video tape recorder (VTR), in which an edit decision list (EDL) is offline-made for example for a low quality working tape prepared from a material tape, and online editing is effected based on the EDL with the use of the material tape. The EDL used herein is a program having stated therein cut-in (IN) and cut-out (OUT) points on the tapes used in a playing VTR and recorder VTR but convenient since the electronic editing is automatically completed according to the EDL.
However, since the EDL has included therein incompatible items such as special effects etc., it can only be used in limited types of systems. Also, with the EDL, much labor is required for replacement of the tape and the like. The EDL is not convenient because of many steps for correction of a complete package (video material subjected to all steps of editing and which can be broadcast as it is); for example, just insertion of one frame before a first frame needs re-editing or dubbing of the entire complete package.
As above, the current editing system has many points to solve such as efficiency, convenience, etc. and also an aspect which makes it difficult to enjoy the merit of the network. If the above disadvantage is left unconquered, the current editing system will possibly fall behind the times. Since various problems are complicatedly tied with each other, any partial countermeasure, if any, will cause a new program, the complicatedness will be further increased and the current editing system will possibly be difficult to use if any effective approach to a solution of the problems in the conventional editing system.

Device for creating content from multiple video and/or audio materials and method therefor


There is provided a rocker carrier for use with a cylinder head in an internal combustion engine comprising a body portion having a continuous peripheral wall including a front and rear wall connected between a first and second end wall, a plurality of rocker arm pedestals comprised of a dual or end rocker arm pedestals integrally formed on the body portion and disposed between the rear and front walls, a top surface, and a bottom surface. The rocker carrier further comprises a plurality of support fins, a high pressure oil line passage, a plurality of high pressure oil reservoir bosses, a plurality of exterior head bolt passages, a plurality of carrier bolt bosses, a plurality of glow plug passages, a plurality of electrical connector passages, and an oil drain passage, and a plurality of valve cover bolt bosses formed adjacent to the rear wall.

This invention relates generally to cylinder heads in internal combustion engines. More particularly, this invention relates to cylinder heads having carriers for a rocker arm assembly in a diesel engine.
Internal combustion engines have intake and exhaust valves for air to enter and exhaust to leave each cylinder. The valves connect to rocker arms, which rotate on a pivot ball to open and close the valves. Typically, there is a separate rocker arm for each valve. Push rods operate the rocker arms and extend through the engine cylinder head to connect to a camshaft, via tappets. As the camshaft rotates, the push rods actuate the rocker arms to open and close the valves. The camshaft is designed to open and close the valves in conjunction with the cycling of the piston in the cylinder.
In the prior art, a pedestal is required as an upper support for the pivot ball on the rocker arm. The pedestal is bolted to the cylinder head to complete the assembly. This design requires significant bosses in the head and a substantial pedestal to support the valve train loads. The bosses and pedestals add weight to the engine. In addition, the rocker arms and related components are assembled along with the rest of the engine. This increases the assembly time of the engine.
Accordingly, there is a need for a rocker carrier with sufficient structural support to reduce engine weight and a modular design to reduce assembly time of the engine.
The present invention provides a rocker carrier with a modular design that adapted for use with a cylinder head in an internal combustion engine. The rocker carrier comprises a body portion having a continuous peripheral wall including a front and rear wall connected between a first and second end wall, a plurality of rocker arm pedestals integrally formed on the body portion and disposed between the rear and front walls, a top surface able to cooperatively engage a valve cover, and a bottom surface able to cooperatively engage a cylinder head. The rocker arm pedestals of the rocker carrier are further made up of dual rocker arm pedestals and/or an end rocker pedestals.
The rocker carrier of the present invention can also comprise a plurality of support fins, a high pressure oil line passage integrally formed adjacent to the rear wall, a plurality of high pressure oil reservoir bosses integrally formed on the body portion and disposed between the rocker arm pedestals and the front wall, a plurality of exterior head bolt passages, a plurality of carrier bolt bosses, a plurality of glow plug passages, a plurality of electrical connector passages, and an oil drain passage, and a plurality of valve cover bolt bosses formed adjacent to the rear wall.
The rocker carrier is preferably connected to the cylinder head. A valve cover secures to the top of the rocker carrier thus enclosing the cylinder head. One of the functions of the rocker carrier is to mount the rocker arm assemblies containing the rocker arms and related parts. The rocker arm carrier also mounts a high pressure oil rail that provides high pressure oil to thereby actuate fuel injectors. In addition, it provides a place to pass electrical wires from the engine harness to the fuel injector and glow plug under the valve cover.
The rocker carrier of the present invention reduces the bosses, pedestals, and other structural support components used for a rocker arm assembly which results in weight savings. In addition to the weight savings, the modular design permits pre-assembly of the rocker carrier thereby reducing the assembly time of the engine in the assembly plant. The rocker carrier also has funnel shaped guides in a bottom or underside surface of the rocker carrier for aligning the push rods. The rocker carrier will also allow for increased bolt stretch to produce an acceptable cylinder head to crank shaft joint.
The following drawings and description set forth additional advantages and benefits of the invention. More advantages and benefits are obvious from the description and may be learned by practice of the invention.

International Engine Intellectual Property Company, L.L.C.


A fifth-wheel hitch system is described including: (a) a framework having an upright support; wherein the framework is adapted to be secured to a towing vehicle; (b) a support plate member secured to the top of the support member; wherein the plate member preferably includes a raised central portion and lower side portions; (c) a yoke member attached to the support plate member with fasteners which allow the yoke to be tilted away from the raised central portion of the plate member and then biased back to a central position; and (d) a receiver member attached to the yoke member for receiving and releasably connecting to the king pin of a trailer to be towed.

Conventional fifth-wheel hitch systems involve use of a king pin secured to the underside portion of the forward end of a trailer to be towed, e.g. a camper trailer. The truck used for towing the trailer has a receiver portion mounted to it which is adapted to receive and releasably connect to the king pin. Normally the receiver portion is secured to a framework in the bed of the truck with a plurality of bolts which extend downwardly through the bed and are fastened to the truck frame. The receiver portion (a receiver plate) may be attached to the hitch framework by means of a yoke member which allows the receiver plate to tilt or rotate about a horizontal plane which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the truck. This feature allows the receiver plate to tilt forwardly or rearwardly, for example, relative to the hitch framework when the towing truck goes over inclines or sloping terrain where the rear wheels of the truck become raised (or lowered) relative to the front of the truck.
However, in certain towing situations the trailer is subjected to various twisting forces, e.g. when the towing vehicle is tipped to one side or the other relative to the trailer, such as when the towing vehicle turns onto or off from a roadway which is lower or higher than its current path. In those situations one side of the towing vehicle becomes higher that the other side while the trailer is still in the original plane. This twisting action also can occur when only one side of the towing vehicle travels over a bump (or through a hole). These twisting forces are very undesirable. They place further burdens on the hitch system itself, and the trailer frame can be twisted or otherwise damaged.
A prior art method for alleviating the problem of twisting forces in the fifth-wheel hitch involves the use of a universal joint in which there are two axis of rotation at 90° to each other. This necessarily requires maintenance of two joints and also adds to the overall weight and cost of the hitch system.
There has not heretofore been provided a fifth-wheel hitch system having the advantages and features of the present invention.


An optical technique (apparatus and method based on the use of power spectral density analysis of spectroscopic multiple angle reflection and transmission data is disclosed. The apparatus and methods measure optical constants (n, k) and thicknesses of single and multilayer films. The apparatus and method provide for index determination with high accuracy (0.00001).

The present invention relates generally to optical techniques for measuring the thickness of optical films, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods using nondestructive optical techniques for simultaneously measuring optical constants and thicknesses of single and multilayer films.
Currently, there are several methods to determine the optical constants of thin films. These methods are described in the following references. The "Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids", edited by E. D. Palik (academic Press, N.Y., 1985) describes measurement of normal-incidence reflectance and transmittance over a wide spectral range.
The "Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids II", edited by E. D. Palik (academic Press, N.Y., 1991) describes measurement of R and T for normal and oblique angles of incidence (45.degree.; 60.degree.) for the polarizations TE and Tm, over a wide spectral range. In "Physics of Thin Films", Vol. 2, by O. S. Heavens, edited by G. Hass and R. E. Thum (Academic Press, N.Y., 1964), using ellipsometry to measurement the polarization states of collimated monochromatic light before and after reflection from a surface to obtain the ratio r=R.sub.p /R.sub.s,=tan.psi. exp(i .DELTA.) of the complex p and s reflection coefficients is discussed. These methods of determining the optical constants (n and k), however, are complicated and at times yield inaccurate results.
The major disadvantage of the first two methods is that the optical constants are determined from the magnitude of the reflection spectrum which cannot be measured accurately (.DELTA.R.about..+-.0.3%). The measurement errors in the reflection magnitude introduce significant errors in the optical constants (.DELTA.n.about..+-.1%).
In general, the three above-cited methods are not appropriate for determining simultaneously and accurately the optical constants and thickness of relatively thick layers (greater than 20.lambda.; greater than 10 .mu.m, where .lambda. is the wavelength).
It would therefore be desirable to have an optical film thickness measuring apparatus and method that overcomes the limitations of conventional approaches. Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for nondestructive optical techniques, including apparatus and methods, for simultaneously measuring optical constants and thicknesses of single and multilayer films.

Nondestructive optical techniques for simultaneously measuring optical constants and thicknesses of single and multilayer films


A body exercising apparatus (10) is provided which allows for individual and combinational exercising of an upper body portion (12) and a lower body portion (14) of a user (16). The body exercising apparatus (10) includes a frame (18) having opposing and longitudinally displaced front and rear sections (22 and 24). There is provided an upper body exercising mechanism (46) which allows the user to grip a pair of hand grip members (54) and rotatively actuate a pair of hand actuated rotating shafts (50) through a crank arm joint mechanism (60) in a variety of orientations with respect to frame (18). Additionally, there is provided a lower body or foot positioning mechanism (90) which allows for adjustable force rotation by a pair of pedal members (96). Through use of independently operated upper body and lower body frictional adjustment mechanisms (80 and 114), the user has at his or her disposal an overall exercising apparatus (10) where a variety of muscles in both the upper and lower body (12 and 14) may be exercised.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a body exercising apparatus which independently and combinatorily exercises the upper and lower body portions of a user. Particularly, this invention is directed to an exercising apparatus which includes an upper body mechanism actuated by rotational displacement of a pair of rotary shafts extending from the housing of an overall frame member. Still further, this invention directs itself to an exercising apparatus where the upper body exercising is provided by an adjustable crank arm mechanism which may be positionally oriented in numerous planes with respect to the exercising apparatus housing. Still further, this invention relates to an exercising apparatus where an adjustable crank mechanism may be actuated by the arms of the user in a rotative displacement responsive to an adjustable frictional force setting applied by the user. Still further, this invention relates to an exercising apparatus which includes a stationary frame having a seat member where the user may position his or her feet in a frontal section of the frame. More in particular, this invention directs itself to a body exercising apparatus whereby there is provided a lower body exercising mechanism actuated by rotary displacement of pedal members which are coupled to a lower body friction mechanism. Still further, this invention relates to a body exercising apparatus where a lower body exercising mechanism is provided with an adjustable frictional force adjustment to allow the user to apply varying and determinative forces to his or her lower body independently or in combination with an upper body exercising mechanism.
2. Prior Art
Exercise systems using rotary crank assemblies are well-known in the art. The best prior art known to Applicant includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,582,318; 4,402,502; 3,966,201; 3,759,512; 3,570,477; 3,216,722; 3,213,852; 3,057,201; 3,017,180; 1,909,002; 1,820,372; 797,814; 3,017,180; 4,932,650; and, 5,016,870.
In some prior art systems, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,318, only singular body portions may be exercised. Other prior art systems in the form of stationary bicycles generally exercise the lower body portions of a user. However, in other prior art systems, such as that disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent, there are provided systems which are provided to exercising just the upper body of the user. In use of such prior art systems, a user when he or she wishes to exercise both upper and lower body portions, must do so separately and on separate exercising apparatus. However, in the subject Patent Application, there is disclosed a resistance assembly wherein rotatable members associated with both the upper body portions of the user may be exercised either singularly or in combination.
In other prior art systems such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,820,372; 1,909,002; 3,017,180; 3,213,852; 3,216,722; 3,570,477; and, 4,402,502, there are disclosed systems which incorporate both upper and lower body exercising crank assemblies. In such systems, some of which are motor assisted, both upper and lower body crank assemblies are mechanically coupled together for simultaneous operation. These systems generally incorporate a single resistive force assembly against which both the upper and lower body portions of the user must exercise and none of these prior art systems provide for the unique adjustability as to orientation and positioning of force loads, as is provided in the subject invention concept.


According to one embodiment, a wearable device includes a first user interface and a display. An electronic device includes a second user interface and causes the display to display a home screen. The home screen displayed in the display is divided into variable-sized first, second, and third areas. One of the first area, the second area, and the third area is selectable by an operation from the first user interface or the second user interface. The selected area is larger than non-selected areas among the first area, the second area, and the third area. A central icon in the selected area is larger than other icons in the selected area. A display format of the central icon in the selected area is different from a display format of the other icons in the selected area.

Recently, an IoT (Internet of Things) age in which many things are connected through the Internet has come. A technique called "edge computing" is required as a tool for network communication and information sharing in offices, factories, and in other various situations. In order to realize the edge computing, development of a practical mobile edge computing device having high degrees of versatility and high processing capacity, and able to be used by a worker (user) on site, is needed separately from a data center (or cloud). Thereby, it is expected that promotion of the operational efficiency and productivity improvement at a workplace and the like, or load dispersion of data and improvement of a network environment will be achieved.
When the mobile edge computing device is provided with a display or a hardware keyboard, the worker has difficulty being dedicated to work. In order to solve this, every effort has been made to develop a mobile edge computing device provided with no display or hardware keyboard. If eyeglass-type wearable device is connected to such a mobile edge computing device, a display unit of the eyeglass-type wearable device may be used as a display of the mobile edge computing device, and the worker may check the display while performing the work.
An example of a possible application of such device is a remote support system. This system is expected to include a mobile PC operated by a workplace worker and an operator terminal operated by a supporter at the office or the like. The mobile PC and the operator terminal are connected together by the Internet or the like. Preferably, a video (also called moving image) and a photograph (also called a still image) of workplace may be transmitted from the mobile PC to the operator terminal, and a moving image and a still image (generically called image), documents and the like for work support may be transmitted from the operator terminal to the mobile PC. Preferably, the worker and the supporter may talk on the phone with each other.
Currently, no system suitable for such remote support as described above is present which includes a wearable device providing high visibility for the worker and an electronic device.

System including wearable device and electronic device