An extra-large vibrating screen with duplex statically indeterminate mesh beam excitation body and plate type combined bearing beam comprises plate type flat and rigid statically indeterminate combined bearing beam (12) arranged in a screen box (1), a plurality of Y-shaped statically indeterminate combined reinforcing beams (5) arranged on the side plates (3) of the screen box alternately, duplex statically indeterminate supporting plates (22) linking a plurality of mesh beams (21) to the statically indeterminate connecting plate (4) and the side plate (3) so as to form a container made of a beam system, the vibration exciters (10) in the statically indeterminate mesh beam unit comprising eight sets of vibration exciters, which are aligned in pair horizontally and linked together through universal couplings (9), and connected to the duplex statically indeterminate mesh beam excitation body (11) to form a highly rigid integral vibrating assembly. The vibrating screen is simple and reliable in structure, can vibrate smoothly, and therefore can be widely used in coal, metallurgical, chemical, and environmental protection industries.

Vibrating screen is a main equipment in coal preparation plants. The vibrating screens have a large scale of quantities, variety of specifications and frequent incidents. Especially, large-scale vibrating screen is the key equipment in technical renovation in new and old large-scale coal preparation plants in China. The efficacy and reliability of the screening, dehydration, and medium draining processes of the vibrating screen have direct influence on the economic benefit of the coal preparation plants. However, due to technical defects, homemade large-scale vibrating screen cannot meet the actual demands in production in coal mines and coal preparation plants yet. In design, conventional vibrating screens usually employ I-beams or rectangular steel beams as the support for the vibration exciters. The I-beam or rectangular steel beams are only of bearing function. Therefore, the vibration exciters are large in size and heavy in weight, and thus the vibration mass of the screen frame is heavy. Once the width of cross section of the screen frame is over 3 m, the structural dimensions and weight of the main beam will be increased severely, causing difficulties in machining and assembling of the main beam and tube beams. For any vibrating screen with cross section wider than 3 m, a simple grease-lubricated vibration exciter cannot deliver the exciting force required by the vibrating components for the heavy vibration mass; consequently, a low-speed thin oil lubricated vibration exciter with big bearings has to be used. Especially, a linear screen has to be implemented with a synchronizer and synchronizing gears. Due to the limitation of the material and technical level of machining, fracture of the tube beams and cracking of the side plates often occur during the operation of vibrating screen, which not only degrade the production efficiency but also shorten the service life of the screening machine. That trouble is a key factor that has hindered the designers to increase the width of cross section of the screen frame and improve the structural parameters for years. In Patent Application No. ZL02112809.x, a large-scale vibrating screen of statically indeterminate mesh beam excitation was disclosed, which solved the problem in the structural steel of the screen body and exciting force matching for the large-scale vibrating screen with cross section wider than 3 m. However, in that technical scheme, if the width of the cross section of the screen frame is over 3.6 m, the problems in overall structural rigidity of the screen frame, structure of bearing beam, and reliability of the vibrating screen become severe, and directly influence the reliability, service life, and operating efficacy of the vibrating screen. Such problems have limited the development of extra-large vibrating screens. Since the vibrating screen size cannot be increased, more vibrating screens have to be used to meet the demand of production; consequently, the construction cost and production management cost are increased. At present, most large-scale and extra-large vibrating screens in China are imported products. Over these years, it has been an urgent demand to develop large-scale vibrating screens and implement technical localization in the development of technical level of coal preparation and mass production.

Extra-large vibrating screen with duplex statically indeterminate mesh beam

China University of Mining and Technology


A method for estimating future cash flows of an investment instrument (or portfolio of investment instruments) is performed by simulating past performance (i.e., cash flows) similar instruments based on actual data of past performance, using the simulated past performance to generate a distribution of possible future performance outcomes of the investment instrument, and using the distribution of possible future performance outcomes to make estimates of the expected cash flow from the investment instrument. In one embodiment, cash flow time series of private equity funds (J-curves) are simulated for fully-liquidated vintage years by scaling an aggregate net cash flow time series from a plurality of fully liquidated funds for that vintage year. The time series is scaled by scalar coefficients calculated based on statistics of the four parameters, internal rate of return, money multiple, depth of curve, and speed to depth, of the aggregated vintage fund J-curves.

The present invention is described in the context of its application to analysis of private equity investment instruments, such as private equity funds. It will be appreciated by persons of ordinary skill in the art, however, that the methodology embodied in the present invention may be applicable to estimating expected cash flows from other investment instruments.
Private equity is the term used to describe a wide variety of investment strategies in companies that are not publicly traded. In most cases, private equity invests in companies that require capital to grow in excess of what their internally generated cash flow could achieve, but whose stage of development would not allow the companies to access the public debt or equity markets efficiently. Private equity investing also occurs when a disparity exists between the value ascribed by the market to a public company and the value that a private equity investor believes can be unlocked from the company if it were privately owned and managed. In this case, the investor attempts to buy the public shares of the company through a tender offer and de-list them, hoping to re-float the company at some future date at a greater value.
A private equity investment can take the form of debt, preferred equity, common equity, or any combination thereof, in a majority or a minority position, and represent an active or passive role in the management and direction of the company. As an asset class, private equity seeks to obtain high rates of return on invested capital as compared to the historical returns of the public markets. Private equity investors can invest in venture capital (VC) or private equity (PE) funds directly, or through a fund of funds structure. As the investments are identified at the underlying fund level the capital is called and the investments made.
The four stages of private equity investing are:                Own Capital and Friends & Family        Angel Investors        Venture Capital        Buyouts
The stages are represented graphically in FIG. 1, and a brief description of each of the stages of private equity as an asset class is given below. It is worth mentioning, however, that the categories of private equity are dynamic in nature and the differences between them are often blurred. This is caused by the opportunistic nature of private equity investing.
Own Capital and Friends & Family
An entrepreneur starting a company usually taps his own sources of capital to help it grow. Once these sources dry up, approaching friends and family for additional capital usually follows.
Angel Investors
Angel Investors are wealthy individuals who seek to invest in new companies that have limited resources or financial or operational history. Angel Investors provide capital, Knowlege, experience and contacts to help the company grow. In return, they get an equity stake in the company and aim for financial returns in excess of 50% per year upon an event of liquidity. An event of liquidity is commonly referred to as an event that allows the investor to sell shares. This typically occurs when the company lists its shares in a public stock exchange or is sold to a third party.
Venture Capital
Venture Capital (VC) seeks to invest in companies having significant growth potential or require expansion capital. Many VC firms are specialized by industry and employ trained professionals to identify attractive business opportunities. VC firms invest their capital and provide industry knowledge and expertise in exchange for equity in the company. Typically, VC firms precondition their capital investment to having certain managerial and operational controls. These include hiring and firing key members of the management team, approving annual budgets and financial statements. Additionally, VCs have significant board representation. The VC industry is well organized and established; it is comprised of hundreds of finds. VC investors typically seek returns in excess of 25% per year at liquidity.
Buyouts
Buyouts (BO) seek to invest in companies that are typically more mature than those a VC would be interested in. These companies usually have significant financial or operational history, are most times cash flow positive and have assets that can be leveraged. As a result, BO firms can sometimes borrow to make their acquisitions more financially attractive. Similar to VC, BO firms can be specialized by industry and also employ trained professionals to identify attractive business opportunities. BO firms also invest capital and provide industry knowledge and expertise in exchange for equity, and often acquire controlling positions to actively manage their investments and maximize returns. BO can be further categorized by investing types, including leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and mezzanine. Like VC, BO is well organized and established, and is comprised of hundreds of funds. BO investors typically seek returns in excess of 25% per year at liquidity.
The participants in Private Equity include investors, general partners (GP's), and entrepreneurs/companies.
Investors
Investors in private equity are called Limited Partners (LPs) and include institutional investors and several wealthy individuals looking for diversification of their portfolios with an asset class that seeks high rates of return. Some of the largest investors in Private Equity (buyout) include pension funds, (CalPERS, CalSTRS), insurance companies (AIG, Prudential, etc.), and banks (CSFB, Deutsche Bank, etc.).
General Partners
General Partners (GP's) are the managers of the fund's assets. Their job is to seek, identify, and screen private equity investments. Additionally, they are expected to execute the investments on terms that are sufficiently attractive to ensure the fund's interests are protected and that a profitable exit through a successful liquidity event can be achieved.
Some of the best-known general partners in the VC segment include Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, and Sequoia Capital. In the Private Equity (buyout) segment, some well-known names include Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts, and Hicks, Muse Tate & Furst.
Entrepreneurs/Companies
Private equity identifies and provides capital to entrepreneurs and companies that show promise. As a result, it plays an important role in the development of a country's economy. Those countries with well-developed private equity industries, such as the US and the UK, are much more innovative and generally more dynamic than their counterparts.
Private equity also increases liquidity in the marketplace. As a result, risk can be transferred to those parties who are more willing to bear it without undue cost, making the economy more fluid and efficient.
Cashflow Patterns—J-Curves
Investments in private equity funds take the form of interests in the limited partnerships. Typically, that is represented in a commitment to invest a predetermined amount of cash over a certain time period.
Over time, GPs call (or draws down) the committed capital from the LPs pro-rata to their respective commitment amount to pay for management fees and, more importantly, to make investments or acquisitions in companies. GPs distribute capital (both return on capital and return of capital) back to the LPs when the companies in which they invested are sold. In the interim period between the investment and the distribution of cash, the GPs report the value of the investments on a quarterly basis. Unfortunately, the reported value for the underlying investments is not an accurate indicator of the actual value the investment would have if it were to be traded in the open market. As a result, the reported net asset value is largely ignored in analytics of expected private equity performance.
A typical private equity fund has a five-year draw down period and a five to seven year distribution period, both of which can be extended with consent from the LPs. In most funds, investments cannot be made after the drawdown period and the fund's life expires after the end of the distribution period. As a result, most funds are considered mature or fully liquidated after their 10-year anniversary.
The pattern followed by the cumulative drawdowns and distributions of cash into a fund over time is known as the fund's J-curve. An illustration of a typical J-curve is presented in FIG. 3, which is a plot of the data tabulated in FIG. 2. The year of inception of the private equity fund—and the corresponding J-curve—is referred to as the fund's vintage.
FIG. 2 shows a table for a hypothetical ten-year private equity fund. For each year of the fund's existence the incremental and cumulative drawdowns ("INC DD" and "CUMM DD") are listed, as are the incremental and cumulative distributions ("INC DIS" and "CUMM DIS"). The difference between the cumulative distribution and the cumulative drawdown is the net cash flow ("NCF"). The values are listed as a percentage of the committed capital. That is, for a hypothetical investor, who, for example, has committed $10,000 to the private equity funds, the numbers listed in Table 2 are a percentage of that $10,000 commitment.
At year 0 (i.e., at the inception of the fund) there are, as yet, no drawdowns or distributions, and the net cash flow is zero. In year 1 of the hypothetical fund, the LP is asked to make an incremental payment (i.e., drawdown) of 20% of the committed capital. From a cash flow perspective, a drawdown is considered negative cash flow, and thus the drawdown is represented as −20%. In the hypothetical private equity fund illustrated in FIG. 2, the incremental distribution for year 1 is 1% (represented as positive cash flow). Thus, for year 1 the cumulative drawdown is −20%, the cumulative distribution is 1%, and the difference, or net cash flow, is −19%.
In year 2, the LP is requested to make a further payment, or drawdown, of an additional, or incremental, 25%. Thus, the cumulative drawdown after two years for that LP is 45%, represented as −45% cash flow. No incremental distribution is made in year 2 and thus the cumulative incremental distribution remains at 1% leading to a net cash flow of −44%.
In year 3, the incremental drawdown is 15% leading to a cumulative drawdown of −60% cash flow. The incremental distribution is 3 leading to a cumulative distribution of 4% cash flow, and the net cash flow is −56% (i.e., 4%-60%). In year 4, the incremental drawdown is 20% leading to a cumulative drawdown of −80% cash flow. The incremental distribution is 15% leading to a cumulative distribution of 19%, and the net cash flow is −61%.
In year 5, the incremental drawdown is 20% leading to a cumulative drawdown of −100% cash flow. The incremental distribution is 35% leading to a cumulative distribution of 54% and a net cash flow of −46%.
For years 6-10, there are no further drawdowns as the limited partner has now paid out 100% of the committed capital. Thus, for years 6-10 the cumulative drawdown remains at −100%. In year 6, the incremental distribution is 25% leading to a cumulative distribution of 79% and a net cash flow of −21%. In year 7, the incremental distribution is 35% leading to a cumulative distribution of 114% and a net cash flow of 14%. In years 8, 9, and 10, the incremental distributions are 32%, 22%, and 0, respectively, leading to cumulative distribution of 145%, 168%, and 168%, respectively, and net cash flows of 46%, 68%, and 68%.
FIG. 3 is a plot, i.e., the J-curve, of the net cash flow time series over the life of the private equity fund. The data points shown in FIG. 3 are those tabulated in FIG. 2.
Four important parameters of a J-curve include:
Money Multiple—is equal to total distributions divided by total contributions of capital. It is a measure of how profitably the capital has been invested from an absolute return perspective, without regard to the timing of the drawdowns or distributions. In the hypothetical private equity fund illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the money multiple (MM) is 168/100=1.68
Internal Rate of Return—is the discount rate at which the present value of the draw downs equals the present value of the distribution. It is a measure of how profitably the capital has been invested from a temporal perspective without regard to the absolute returns achieved. Stated another way, in the context of the fund illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, what interest rate (i.e., internal rate of return) commencing at inception of the fund would pay 168% return on investment at the end of 10 years?
Speed of Draw—equals the number of periods for the J-curve to achieve its lowest point. It measures the relative speed at which the capital was drawn. In the fund illustrated in FIG. 3, the speed of draw is 4 periods.
Depth of Curve—equals the lowest point in the J-curve relative to the total amount of capital committed. It measures the relative amount of capital drawn before LPs began to receive distributions from their investments on a net basis (i.e. the investor may have received distributions in prior periods and may continue to be committed to make capital investments, but the investor will begin receiving a cumulative net amount of money greater than the capital that they need to invest from that point forward). In the fund illustrated in FIG. 3, the depth of fund is −61%.
When many funds are aggregated in an investment vehicle in what is known as a fund-of-funds structure, significant diversification can be achieved. Some of the most important parameters that can be diversified with a fund of funds structure include:
Operational diversificationJ-curve diversificationType of fundMoney multipleGeographyInternal rate of returnIndustrySpeed of drawFund's vintageDepth of curveManager
This diversification can be represented in J-curves as shown in FIG. 4.
As the example above illustrates, the depth of the J-curve is more favorable in the J-curve created from the cumulative net cash flows of each of the funds than in any of the individual J-curves.
Historical J-Curves and Cash Flow Modeling
The expected cash from a pool of private equity funds can be estimated by sampling individual J-curves of fully-liquidated vintages that have the same characteristics—such as, type of fund (e.g., buy-out or venture capital) and geographical focus (e.g., United States or Europe)—as each of the individual funds in the pool. The platform for making such estimations is known as a "private equity calculator." The private equity calculator can be used in a variety of ways, including: securitizations (either a static or managed leveraged positions in a portfolio of hedge funds), regulatory risk capital assessments (optimization of the level of risk capital reserves required to maintain an investment in a pool of private equity funds); balance sheet risk management (identifying the volatility of the asset performance, and the timing and size of the contributions and distributions of cash); and investment management purposes (expected cash-on-cash performance or capital allocation optimization).
In the past, such estimations could be performed using complete J-curve data for available past vintages. For example, the net cash flow over the life of a private equity buy-out fund initiated in 2005 can be predicted by analyzing a number of the historical net cash flows (i.e., J-curves) for similar buy-out funds of fully liquidated vintages (e.g., 1980-1995). Such data had historically been provided by companies that provide reports and analysis regarding fund performance in the private equity industry, such as Venture Economics, a company owned by Thompson Financial. Recently however, for reasons relating to confidentiality of the various funds' data, complete J-curve data is no longer made available to the public. While the complete J-curve data is no longer available, statistics for the J-curves of different vintages are still made available. These statistics include: mean, median, and standard deviation statistics for of each of the four parameters that compose a J-curve (money multiple, internal rate of return, speed of draw, and depth of curve). Also, aggregate J-curve data for all similar funds (e.g., buy-out or venture capital) is available for each fully liquidated vintage year.
But, having only aggregate J-curve data and statistics for past vintage years is not sufficient for making predictions of future net cash flows for other funds. Accordingly, a need exists to provide equity fund cash flow estimates by simulating the J-curve data that is no longer publicly available.

Method for estimating expected cash flow of an investment instrument

Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC


There is disclosed an simplified apparatus that enables optical scanners to achieve minimum field curvature and at the same time provide uniformly distributed light on an image sensor. A single element lens, preferably an aspherical lens made of a plastic material is combined with an aperture stop. The combination is capable of reducing lens aberrations and minimizing image field curvature for an object plane that contains indicia to be scanned or read. A suitably demagnified image of the indicia is focused onto an image sensor such as a CCD array. The spatial light distribution function in the image plane can be equalized by an attenuator, such as a neutral density filter or a slit, suitably configured to compensate for the reduced optical efficiency at large field angles. An aspherical lens containing a dye or a cold mirror can be used for limiting light transmission to a range of wavelengths.

This invention relates to an optical assembly that employs a single element lens to view an indicia target with an image sensor. More particularly it relates to an optical assembly in a scanning instrument that minimizes field curvature of indicia being read with a single element lens, and projects an image of the indicia onto an image sensor.
Most modern optical scanners and bar code readers employ optical systems to direct reflected light from the indicia being read to an image sensor. Today multi-element CCD arrays are commonly used as the image sensor, and, with such array, a bar code symbol can be read while maintaining the reader in a stationary position, or by moving the reader with respect to the indicia.
In such scanners it is desirable that the operational depth of field be maximized while giving appropriate attention to the optical efficiency of the lens imaging system. In an optical system attention should be given to many of the following issues; optical efficiency; well known lens faults such as spherical and chromatic aberration; minimization of image field curvature, such that a relatively wide symbol can be adequately viewed; and the well known cosine to the fourth power illumination falloff phenomenon. Dealing with these issues under the constraints of adequate depth of field and maintaining economy in materials and manufacturing imposes severe burdens on those striving to advance the bar code reading art.
In the prior art, correction of lens aberrations has been achieved by multi element lens systems. Representative of this approach is U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,300 to Chadima, Jr. et al, in which a bar code reader optical assembly employs five lenses constructed of polystyrene and acrylic lens material. This system further employs mirrors to establish a long, filed optical path in order to achieve suitable depth of field and image resolution for a bar code application.
In such systems, the optics are mechanically complex and expensive to fabricate and cling.

Optical assembly and apparatus employing same using an aspherical lens and an aperture stop


A chat system for a digital television network comprises a digital operator head end system for broadcasting to subscriber decoders. The head end system comprises a chat room creation device which communicates with a chat server to create, cancel and/or join an event related chat room, a trigger device which may be programmed to activate itself at the occurrence of an event and automatically sends a request for creation of a chat room to the chat room creation device, a broadcast device used for preparing a transmission of information to the subscriber decoders, and a notification server to generate a notification message to be transmitted by the broadcast device, the notification message being related to the creation of an event related chat room.

The electronic real time exchange of messages, commonly known as "Chat", is a widespread multi-user system, which allows users to remotely join into public or private discussions (Chat rooms). A chat room may in effect be displayed on a visual display device. Users may choose to participate, create and/or animate a chat room.
The users of the Chat system generally connect to a network comprising Chat servers. A user interface is commonly provided by a Chat client running on a personal computer. The user is offered a choice of chat rooms which may be identified by their discussion topics. The user may then either be invited to one of the available chat rooms, or request the server to let him join a determined chat room.
Known Chat services are commonly accessible through the internet network, and are accessed by means of chat clients that are specific to the available operating systems or may be executed by means of an internet browsing application under those operating systems.
Another way to access chat systems is currently available through digital television networks. A digital television network allows a digital television provider to broadcast information from a head end to subscribers. Each subscriber receives and decodes the information using a decoder in order to obtain and visualize corresponding services on his television set. The transmission of information may be done by way of terrestrial, satellite or cable network transmission.
The broadcast information generally comprises a plurality of services such as television programmes. A television programme typically gathers a video and/or an audio stream which may be understood as service components. Further service components may be data associated to the service.
The digital television network may provide a return link to return information from a subscriber to the digital television provider. The return link may be implemented in some cases through the network itself or else using a separate link such as for example a telephone connection established between the decoder and the provider by means of a telephone modem.
In order to implement a chat system in a digital television network, the subscriber is required to execute a chat client application on his decoder which processes the information received from the chat server and generates an appropriate display. The subscriber interacts with the chat client application and may select to join a chat room or any other option offered by the chat system. The subscriber's action is transmitted to the chat server through the return link. Hence the functionality offered by this digital television chat system is very similar to the functionalities known from the chat systems accessible over the Internet. In some instances, a chat server may be connected to a television network and Internet at the same time, and allow television subscribers to meet Internet clients in chat rooms.
The described chat systems use chat clients in which it is generally assumed that the user has a way to transmit information to the chat server either through the network or any other return link.
One particularity in television networks is that while the subscriber may permanently be able to receive information from the head end by way of broadcast, the return link may not necessarily be permanent. This is for example generally the case if the return link is established through a telephone connection.
Another particularity in television networks is that there may be specific services and programmes broadcast that may be subject to chat rooms.

Creation of a chat room for television network


An example of identifying tasks and commitments can include receiving a communication message. A task and a parameter can be identified in the communication message. Information related to the task can be extracted from the communication message using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML). A commitment related to the task can be identified using NLP extracted information. A state of the commitment can be identified using NLP and ML based on the extracted information.

An employee can form a team with other employees to perform tasks. An employee may be responsible to input these tasks into an application and update the progress of the task manually. A task may be a business activity that can be either pre-defined (e.g., part of a best practice process) or created spontaneously by people (e.g., through electronic mail, chat, phone, memoranda, etc.). Updating such a system may be cumbersome and time-consuming and may be overlooked.

Identifying tasks and commitments using natural language processing and machine learning

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A system is provided for managing an amount of stored energy in a powered system. The powered system is configured to complete a mission from an initial stage to a final stage. The system includes a controller including a memory configured to store a plurality of handling stages. The controller is configured to determine the stored energy at the initial stage based upon the initial stage and a handling stage positioned between the initial stage and the final stage, and selected from among the plurality of handling stages stored in memory. The stored energy is necessary to propagate the powered system from the initial stage to the handling stage upon the occurrence of an anomaly in the powered system. Additionally, a method and computer readable media are provided for managing an amount of stored energy in a powered system.

Some powered systems such as, but not limited to, off-highway vehicles, marine vessels and propulsion plants, stationary powered systems, transport vehicles such as transport buses, agricultural vehicles, and rail vehicle systems or trains, are typically powered by one or more power generating units. With respect to rail vehicle systems, a power generation unit is usually a part of at least one locomotive that is powered, for example, by at least one diesel internal combustion engine, and the train further includes a plurality of rail cars, such as freight cars. Usually more than one locomotive is provided for moving the rail cars. Locomotives are complex systems with numerous subsystems, with each subsystem being interdependent on other subsystems.
An operator is usually aboard a locomotive to ensure the proper operation of the locomotive, and when there is a locomotive consist, the operator is usually aboard a lead locomotive. A locomotive consist is a group of locomotives that operate together in operating a train. In addition to ensuring proper operations of the locomotive, or locomotive consist, the operator also is responsible for determining operating speeds of the train and forces within the train that the locomotives are part of. To perform this function, the operator generally must have extensive experience with operating the locomotive and various trains over the specified terrain. This knowledge is needed to comply with prescribeable operating parameters, such as speeds, emissions and the like that may vary with the train location along the track. Moreover, the operator is also responsible for assuring in-train forces remain within acceptable limits.
In marine applications, an operator is usually aboard a marine vessel to ensure the proper operation of the vessel, and when there is a vessel consist, the lead operator/pilot is usually aboard a lead vessel. As with the locomotive example cited above, a vessel consist is a group of vessels that operate together in carrying out a combined mission. In addition to ensuring proper operations of the vessel, or vessel consist, the lead operator also is responsible for determining operating speeds of the consist and forces within the consist that the vessels are part of. To perform this function, the operator generally must have extensive experience with operating the vessel and various consists over the specified waterway or mission. This knowledge is needed to comply with prescribeable operating speeds and other mission parameters that may vary with the vessel location along the mission. Moreover, the operator is also responsible for ensuring that intra-vessel and inter-vessel forces and mission location remain within acceptable limits.
Some powered systems are powered by a power delivery system, such as a diesel engine in a diesel powered locomotive, for example, and a secondary energy source, such as an electrical storage device, for example. Should the power delivery system be degraded, conventional powered systems routinely run the risk of becoming inoperable due to a lack of power/energy capacity. Additionally, once the power delivery system of a locomotive becomes inoperable, conventional powered systems are unable to "limp home" or travel to an upcoming location, such as a siding, for example, in order to prevent blockage of the route, or the track in the case of a train, for example. Additionally, similar degradations may occur to power delivery systems in marine applications, off-highway vehicle (OHV) applications, and stationary generator applications. For example, a propulsion system anomaly or degradation may occur in a marine application. As another example, a brake system anomaly may occur during an OHV operation. As a further example, a thermal anomaly may occur during operation of a stationary generator.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a system which manages an amount of energy within a secondary energy source of a powered system upon a detected or predicted degradation of a power delivery system, such that the powered system has adequate energy to travel to an upcoming location or to otherwise configure itself in a back-up or secondary mode of operation. For stationary applications, if a degradation occurs in a power delivery system, a sufficient amount of power needs to be supplied so that the loads may be controllably shed, or an amount of power may need to be transferred to a generator so an additional source may be started, for example.

System and method for managing an amount of stored energy in a powered system


An inverter apparatus that can lengthen a lift span provides only a noise absorption film capacitor in a DC intermediate circuit between rectifying and inverter circuits, instead of a conventional electrolytic capacitor. In a voltage command generating unit, when a frequency set by a frequency setting unit is within a predetermined range including the frequency of an AC input power supply, PLL control is performed to make the frequency set by an output voltage command signal equal to the frequency of the AC input power supply voltage, and to substantially synchronize the peak value of the inverter circuit output voltage with the peak value of a voltage formed between both ends of the film capacitor. Accordingly, output voltage amplitude is generated when the frequency set by the output voltage command signal equals the frequency of the voltage of the AC input power supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inverter apparatus that rectifies a three-phase AC voltage of an AC input power supply using a rectifying circuit, converts the rectified voltage into a three-phase AC voltage having predetermined frequency and amplitude, on the basis of an output voltage command signal, using an inverter circuit that is subjected to pulse width modulation control, and supplies the three-phase AC voltage to a load.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram illustrating an inverter apparatus according to the related art that converts a three-phase AC voltage from an AC input power supply 1, which is a commercial power supply, into a three-phase AC voltage having a predetermined frequency and supplies the converted three-phase AC voltage to an AC motor 2, which is a load.
In an inverter apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 9, reference numeral 11 indicates a rectifying circuit composed of a three-phase bridge rectifier circuit including diodes for rectifying the three-phase AC voltage of the AC input power supply 1. Reference numeral 12 indicates an electrolytic capacitor for smoothing the voltage rectified by the rectifying circuit 11. Reference numeral 13 indicates an inverter circuit that is formed by connecting anti-parallel circuits, each composed of a diode and a transistor, in a three-phase bridge manner and performs pulse width modulation (PWM) control, which will be described later, on a voltage formed between both ends of the electrolytic capacitor 12 to generate a three-phase AC voltage having predetermined frequency and amplitude. Reference numeral 14 indicates a frequency setting unit that sets the frequency of the three-phase AC voltage output from the inverter circuit 13. Reference numeral 15 indicates a voltage command generating unit that generates a three-phase sine wave output voltage command signal vi having a frequency corresponding to a frequency command value fi set by the frequency setting unit 14 and an amplitude corresponding to the generated frequency. Reference numeral 16 indicates a PWM controller that compares the output voltage command signal vi from the voltage command generating unit 15 with, for example, a chopping wave carrier signal and generates an inverter control signal whose pulse width is modulated to control the on or off states of the transistors of the inverter circuit 13.
As shown in FIG. 10, the voltage command generating unit 15 includes a three-phase sine wave oscillator 51, multipliers 52 to 54, and a voltage pattern generator 63. The three phase sine wave oscillator 51 of the voltage command generating unit 15 generates a three-phase sine wave voltage having a constant amplitude and a frequency corresponding to the frequency command value fi set by the frequency setting unit 14. In addition, for example, when the AC motor 2 is controlled such that a primary voltage (V) thereof is proportional to a primary frequency (f) (V/f constant control), when a torque boost compensation function at a low speed is additionally provided to the AC motor 2 in the V/f constant control, or when the AC motor 2 for driving a load having a square diminishing torque load characteristic is controlled, the voltage pattern generator 55 outputs a voltage amplitude command value va corresponding to the frequency command value fi input from the frequency setting unit 14, according to a voltage pattern indicating the relationship between an output voltage Vo and a predetermined output frequency fo of the inverter circuit.
The voltage command generating unit 15 multiplies the voltage amplitude command value va output from the voltage pattern generator 63 by a voltage vf corresponding a three-phase sine wave frequency output from the three-phase sine wave oscillator 51 by using the multipliers 52 to 54 to generate a three-phase sine wave voltage command signal vi having a frequency and an amplitude respectively corresponding to the frequency command value fi set by the frequency setting unit 14 and the voltage amplitude command value va generated by the voltage pattern generator 63. Then, the voltage command generating unit 15 outputs the three-phase sine wave voltage command signal vi to the PWM controller 16.
In the inverter apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 9 according to the related art, the smoothing capacitor 12 needs to have sufficiently large capacitance to smooth the voltage rectified by the rectifying circuit 11 into a DC voltage. Therefore, an electrolytic capacitor is used as the smoothing capacitor 12.
However, as known in the art, since the electrolytic capacitor is a part that is consumed with time, it has a shorter life span than other components. When the electrolytic capacitor is used in the inverter apparatus 10 for a long time, it is necessary to replace the smoothing capacitor 12 composed of the electrolytic capacitor with a new one in order to maintain the performance of the inverter apparatus, which results in an increase in maintenance costs.
In order to solve this problem, an inverter apparatus disclosed in JP-A-3-277180 includes a capacitor for absorbing a noise current caused by the switching operation of an inverter circuit, in addition to the electrolytic capacitor, in order to prevent the noise current from flowing through the electrolytic capacitor. According to the inverter apparatus disclosed in JP-A-3-277180, since the current flowing through the electrolytic capacitor is reduced, a load applied to the electrolytic capacitor is reduced, as compared to the conventional inverter apparatus shown in FIG. 9, which makes it possible to lengthen a life span. However, in this case, the overall size of the inverter apparatus increases due to the added capacitor for absorbing the noise current.
Further, JP-A-5-103494 discloses an inverter apparatus including only a smoothing capacitor having small capacitance in a rectifying circuit, without using the electrolytic capacitor.
In the inverter apparatus disclosed in JP-A-5-103494, since the smoothing capacitor has small capacitance, a high ripple voltage is included in a DC voltage rectified by a DC intermediate circuit. When the DC voltage varies due to the ripple voltage, a beat phenomenon occurs in an output current from the inverter apparatus due to the variation in the DC voltage.
In order to prevent the beat phenomenon of the output current caused by the variation in the DC voltage output from the DC intermediate circuit, the inverter apparatus disclosed in JP-A-5-103494 detects a voltage between both ends of the smoothing capacitor, and corrects a voltage amplitude command signal or a frequency command signal input to the inverter circuit, on the basis of the detected voltage.
However, the inverter apparatus disclosed in JP-A-5-103494 has a problem in that the maximum output voltage of the inverter apparatus is restricted by the ripple voltage included in the DC voltage from the DC intermediate circuit and an insufficient voltage is output from the inverter apparatus in a section in which the output voltage is high.

Voltage-source inverter apparatus utilizing ripple voltage


A circuit card assembly and a method for manufacturing the circuit card assembly are disclosed. The circuit card assembly includes a printed wiring board with electronic components bonded thereto. The printed wiring board and electronic components are placed in an outer shell made of lightweight stiff material. The spaces or voids between the outer shell and the printed wiring board and the electronic components are filled with lightweight filling material and thermal filler material. The outer shell and the filling material provide increased rigidity to the electronic components and the thermal filler material increases heat transfer from a given electronic component to outside the circuit card assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to circuit card assemblies and more particularly, to a structure of a circuit card assembly that can be used in harsh dynamic and thermal environments.
2. Background of the Invention
In an effort to modularize the assembly of electronic devices, electronic components are frequently assembled together on a single circuit card assembly. A circuit card assembly often contains one or more complete circuits for performing selected functions. Circuit card assemblies are typically handled as a single part of a larger circuit or device at assembly time, thereby increasing production speed and simplifying the overall assembly process of the larger circuit or device.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a prior art circuit card assembly, in which FIG. 1A is a top view of an exemplary circuit card assembly 10 and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view thereof. As shown in these Figures, electronic components 11 can be bonded either on an upper surface or both of the upper surface and a lower surface of a printed wiring board (PWB) substrate 12. In the case that electronic components 11 are bonded to both surfaces of PWB substrate 12, vias 14 that penetrate through substrate 12 may be further provided for providing an electrical connection between the upper and lower surfaces of substrate 12. Circuit card assembly 10 further comprises a connector 13 that includes a plurality of pins (not shown) for electrically connecting circuit card assembly 10 with other electrical circuits (not shown) during an assembly process.
As more electronic components are included on a circuit card assembly, its failure rate increases when it is subjected to harsh environments, such as harsh dynamic or thermal environments. One reason for the higher failure rate is that electronic components 11 are exposed without protection, resulting in damage caused by heat or moisture in the environment. Another reason is that electronic components 11 are not properly supported so that components 11 can be shaken loose from the circuit card assembly.
To alleviate this failure rate problem, circuit card assemblies have been "bulked up" with heavy stiffening materials to increase their rigidity. Stiffening can be accomplished by attaching either stiffening ribs or plate structures to the surface of PWB 12 or by providing additional layers of substrate material. In addition, circuit card assemblies are often mounted in aluminum housings that surround the assemblies to control electromagnetic interference (EMI). As a by-product, these housings provide rigidity to the circuit card assembly. These stiffening methods (intentional or otherwise), however, significantly increase the size and weight of the circuit card assembly, thereby making such assemblies difficult to work with especially in compact-size electronic devices.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a new circuit card assembly structure that can effectively protect the electronic components mounted thereon without largely increasing the weight and volume of the overall circuit card assembly.

Environmentally tuned circuit card assembly and method for manufacturing the same


A method of distributing data to a transducer array of an ultrasonic device, the transducer array including transduction elements arranged in module units, includes generating a data packet using an optical transceiver controlled by a controller, the data packet including activation instructions encoded in a first wavelength, transmitting the data packet from the controller to a target device via a signal in an optical fiber, the target device having a beam divider device, splitting the data signal, using the beam divider device, into a plurality of data streams, where each of the data streams carries the data packet in an identical phase, transmitting the data streams to the module units, and activating the transduction elements based on the received data streams.

In typical imaging and therapy devices there are multiple individual transducers, sub arrays, or elements. Individual transducers can be turned on or off at different times. When many transducers are operated at the same time (as is typical with HIFU or imaging) the amount of data that has to be transported to and from the transducers is significant and high speed transportation methods need to be used to distribute the data. Typically, data distribution methods rely on utilizing copper or other conductors to transmit data.
In addition to the large amount of data that has to be delivered, strict timing requirements must be met, particularly when the frequency of operation is in the MHz region and there are 10's or more of phase steps. In such situations most conventional methods of data delivery are problematic. Multiple individual conductors can be used to deliver the data and synchronization pulses, however this can lead to an unwieldy cable bundle making use and operation of the device challenging.

High speed distribution of data for control of ultrasound devices


A scannable coupon, such as a bar code, is generated on a configurable display of a portable electronic device, such as a personal digital assistant, handheld computer, or mobile telephone. The display has sufficient resolution and contrast to be scanned at a point-of-sale computer for redemption of the coupon. In a further embodiment, generic coupon information is sent to the portable electronic device, which can generate a scannable coupon in any one of several formats. In another embodiment, coupon information is sent in one format and the portable electronic device converts it to another format. In yet a further embodiment, a number of coupons are stored in a data structure according to a redemption characteristic, and may be serially displayed according to user input, such as pushing a step key.

The present invention is related generally to redeemable coupons for use by a consumer at a point-of-sale ("POS"), and more particularly to methods and apparatus for generating a computer-readable coupon on a display of a portable electronic device.
Coupons for use by a consumer are used in a variety of fashions. Coupons might provide a fixed amount off of a sale price, a percentage discount, or free merchandise, for example. Merchandisers use coupons for a variety of purposes. A manufacturer of a product might provide a coupon with a product package for a discount on the next purchase of the same or a different product, or a retailer might provide a coupon in a newspaper or other printed medium to encourage a consumer to shop at his store, for example. A retailer might also print a coupon out at the time of sale for a purchaser, according to what the purchaser bought, to encourage that purchaser to return to the store, buy a related good, and/or to buy more of the same goods.
With the introduction of scanning devices at check-out counters, coupons typically now have a computer-readable field on them so that the coupon information, such as product type, manufacturer identification and discount, can be automatically entered. This field is often a "bar code", and is read by a laser scanner. The scanner can also read bar codes on the labels of the products being purchased, such as UPC (Universal Product Code), thus the process of applying the coupon discounts to the appropriate merchandise is less cumbersome than when the check-out clerk had to enter each coupon amount into the cash register through a keyboard.
However, paper coupons can be both inconvenient and ineffective. A consumer might not save the coupon, might forget to bring it with him to the store, or not be able to find it. The inability to receive a discount the consumer knows is available with the missing coupon might actually deter a purchase. Many consumers find coupons bothersome in that the coupons can create, clutter. Furthermore, it can be inconvenient while waiting at the check-out counter to sort through a stack of coupons to find the one applicable to the purchase, and other consumers standing in line waiting to be served might become impatient waiting for the purchaser to find his coupons. Finally, while product bar codes and scanning protocol are generally consistent within a geographic region, some coded coupons might not work out of the area in which they were produced for. In addition, retail merchants face additional burdens and challenges related to monitoring and tracking coupons to reduce fraud and ensure proper discounting and redemption policies.
Thus, there is a need for a coupon and redemption techniques that overcome the above difficulties.

Configurable electronic redeemable coupon


Data input through a key switch is displayed on a liquid crystal display and is stored in an EEPROM. The data stored in the EEPROM is immediately read out to check whether the read data coincide with the input data. If the data stored in the EEPROM and read out therefrom does not coincide with the input data, the input data is stored again. If the input data cannot be stored in the EEPROM after storage operation is performed a predetermined number of times, a CPU determines, on the basis of a signal from a battery voltage detecting circuit, whether a voltage applied from a power supply circuit to the EEPROM exceeds a predetermined voltage. On the basis of this determination result, the CPU causes the liquid crystal display to display a cause for the disabled storage operation with respect to the EEPROM.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data storage apparatus for storing various data in a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM by using a battery as a power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional data storage apparatuses such as an electronic notebook and an electronic wristwatch, various types of data, e.g., name/telephone-number data and schedule data, are stored in a RAM. Power is supplied from a battery to the RAM to preserve the stored contents. When the voltage of the battery is decreased, the exhaustion of the battery is informed to a user. In order to prevent the stored contents from being lost upon replacement of the exhausted battery, for example, a large-capacitance capacitor is connected in parallel with the RAM. With this arrangement, the data stored in the RAM is preserved for a predetermined period of time until the discharge voltage of the capacitor is decreased, thus allowing the user to replace the battery with a new one within the predetermined period of time.
In a conventional data storage apparatus, however, if replacement of a battery is not performed when it is necessary, the data stored in the RAM is lost. For this reason, the use of a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read only memory) capable of preserving the stored contents when the power supply is turned off has been proposed.
An EEPROM is designed to perform a write operation at a high voltage. If, therefore, the battery voltage is not sufficiently high, data cannot be properly written. In addition, the EEPROM has a data write count limit. If a write operation is repeatedly performed a number of times exceeding a predetermined number, normally, no more data can e written in the corresponding storage area.
In general, when various data such as name/telephone-number data and schedule data are to be stored in an EEPROM, since data editing is frequently repeated, the data write count is increased. Therefore, when a data write operation with respect to the EEPROM is disabled, the user cannot judge whether the write operation is disabled by the exhaustion of the battery or an excessive data write count.


This engine includes an engine block rotatably mounted on a support and including a central chamber communicating with outwardly protruding radial piston chambers closed by cylinder heads. A crank shaft is rotatably mounted in the engine block parallel to the rotation axis of the latter and radially offset therefrom. A drive train couples the engine block with the crank shaft for causing rotation of the two in the same direction and at equal rotational speed. A piston is reciprocable in each piston chamber and all the pistons are linked by connecting rods to the crank shaft at connecting points which are angularly advanced in the direction of rotation of the engine block relative to the longitudinal axes of the piston chambers. It follows that the combustion stroke is effected while the connecting rods exert a maximal torque on the crank shaft.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,073 dated Dec. 20, 1983 and titled INTERNAL COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE by ARREGUI et al, the present applicant being one of the four co-inventors, describes an engine block which is rotatably mounted within a stationary casing which closes the open outer ends of the piston chambers. It has been found in practice that it is very difficult to seal the piston chambers at their interface with the casing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,428 by the same four co-inventors and dated Feb. 24, 1987 for RADIAL PISTON PUMP, describes a device which is not suitable for use as an internal combustion engine even if the basic operating principle is similar to that of the engine in accordance with the present invention.


A circuit to detect a movement of an object provides a threshold selection module that uses one or more threshold signals identified during a first cycle of a proximity signal prior to a second different cycle of the magnetic field signal in order to establish a threshold signal used to compare with the second cycle of the magnetic field signal. A method associated with the circuit is also described.

Magnetic field sensors (e.g., rotation detectors) for detecting ferromagnetic articles and/or magnetic articles are known. The magnetic field associated with the ferromagnetic article or magnetic article is detected by a magnetic field sensing element, such as a Hall element or a magnetoresistance element, which provides a signal (i.e., a magnetic field signal) proportional to a detected magnetic field. In some arrangements, the magnetic field signal is an electrical signal.
The magnetic field sensor processes the magnetic field signal to generate an output signal that changes state each time the magnetic field signal crosses thresholds, either near to peaks (positive and/or negative peaks) or near to some other level, for example, zero crossings of the magnetic field signal. Therefore, the output signal has an edge rate or period indicative of a speed of rotation of the ferromagnetic or magnetic object, for example, a gear or a ring magnet.
One application for a magnetic field sensor is to detect the approach and retreat of each tooth of a rotating ferromagnetic gear, either a hard magnetic gear or a soft ferromagnetic gear, in some particular arrangements, a ring magnet having magnetic regions (permanent or hard magnetic material) with alternating polarity is coupled to the ferromagnetic gear or is used by itself and the magnetic field sensor is responsive to approach and retreat of the magnetic regions of the ring magnet. In other arrangements, a gear is disposed proximate to a stationary magnet and the magnetic field sensor is responsive to perturbations of a magnetic field as the gear rotates.
In one type of magnetic field sensor, sometimes referred to as a peak-to-peak percentage detector (or threshold detector), one or more threshold levels are equal to respective percentages of the peak-to-peak magnetic field signal. One such peak-to-peak percentage detector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,320 entitled "Detection of Passing Magnetic Articles While Periodically Adapting Detection Threshold" and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Another type of magnetic field sensor, sometimes referred to as a slope-activated detector (or peak-referenced detector, or peak detector for short), is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,239 entitled "Detection Of Passing Magnetic Articles With a Peak Referenced Threshold Detector," also assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In the peak referenced magnetic field sensor, the threshold signal differs from the positive and negative peaks (i.e., the peaks and valleys) of the magnetic field signal by a predetermined amount. Thus, in this type of magnetic field sensor, the output signal changes state when the magnetic field signal comes away from a peak or valley of the magnetic field signal by the predetermined amount.
It should be understood that, because the above-described threshold detector and the above-described peak detector both have circuitry that can identify the positive and negative peaks of a magnetic field signal, the threshold detector and the peak detector both include a circuit portion referred to as a "peak identifier" herein, which is configured to detect positive peaks and/or negative peaks of the magnetic field signal. The threshold detector and the peak detector, however, each use the detected peaks in different ways to provide a so-called "threshold generator," which is configured to use the identified peaks to generate one or more thresholds against which the magnetic field signal can be compared. This comparison can result in a so-called "PosComp" signal that has an edge rate representative of a speed of movement, e.g., rotation, of the moving object.
In order to accurately detect the positive and negative peaks of a magnetic field signal, in some embodiments, the rotation detector can be capable of tracking at least part of the magnetic field signal. To this end, typically, one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs) can be used to generate a tracking signal, which tracks the magnetic field signal. For example, in the above-referenced U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,917,320 and 6,091,239, two DACs are used, one (PDAC) to detect the positive peaks of the magnetic field signal and the other (NDAC) to detect the negative peaks of the magnetic field signal.
Some types of rotation detectors perform one or more types of initialization or calibration, for example, at a time near to start up or power up of the rotation detector, or otherwise, from time to time as desired. During one type of calibration, the above-described threshold level is determined.
Some moving objects, for example, rotating moving objects, which are sensed by the above-described magnetic field sensors, exhibit irregular motions or have irregular features. For example, a gear may have wobble as it rotates, it may have run out (asymmetry about its axis of rotation), or it may have irregularities in its mechanical dimensions, for example, some gear teeth may be wider than others. These irregularities tend to result in generation of thresholds that are not ideal. The non-ideal threshold tends to result in a PosComp signal that has edges that are not accurately placed relative to cycles of the magnetic field signal associated with the moving object.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a magnetic field sensor that can accurately identify a threshold level associated with a magnetic field signal, accurate even in the presence of irregularities in the motion of or in the mechanical characteristics of, the moving object being sensed.

Circuits and methods using a first cycle of a signal to generate a threshold signal used for comparing to a second later cycle of the signal


A laundry cart is arranged to include segmented components arranged for ease of securement relative to one another to permit ease of erection and disassembly of the organization as a unitary framework employing mirror image components in assemblage.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to cart structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved laundry cart apparatus wherein the same is arranged for the support and transport of various categories of laundry within various basket members.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cart apparatus of various types have been utilized in the prior art and exemplified by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,442 to Barrett; 3,945,660 to Zawlewski; 3,743,122 to Fortiede; and 3,498,689 to Hansen. The prior art has heretofore, however, failed to set forth an organization permitting ease of assemblage of linkage components employing a majority of mirror image members arranged for ease of assemblage of the organization and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A two-dimensional text editing mode is used when editing three-dimensional text. Once the three-dimensional text is selected for editing a two-dimensional text editing mode is automatically entered such that the user may easily edit the text. The two dimensional properties that are associated with the text are displayed within an outline of the shape such that the text may be edited in place. The 2-D properties, such as font, text color, shape color, and the like, are maintained during the editing. After the two-dimensional text editing has been completed, the text is redisplayed according to its 3-D properties.

Many applications allow users to create three-dimensional objects that have text associated with them. The text may also have effects applied to it. For example, these effects may be: bevels; extrusions; lighting; three-dimensional rotations and the like. Creating and editing text that is associated with these three-dimensional objects in these applications, however, is usually a very difficult task. For example, the application may treat the text as a three-dimensional shape or may require the user to perform many actions to change or edit the text once the effects are applied to the shape and/or the text. Some applications may not even allow a user to edit the text after effects are applied.

Editing text within a three-dimensional graphic


A connector is disclosed having a flat cable connecting portion connected to a flat cable and a flat mating portion mated with another connector. The connector comprises a plurality of terminals arranged on the mating portion for establishing contact with terminals on the other connector, a conductive connecting portion exposed on the cable connecting portion and connected to conductive trace connecting portions on the flat cable, and a plurality of wiring lines extending from the mating portion to the cable connecting portion, each one electrically connecting a terminal to the corresponding conductive trace connecting portion. The conductive connecting portion has a protrusion formed on the wiring lines. The upper surface of the protrusion is substantially the same height as one outer surface of the cable connecting portion.

The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to a connector.
Electronic devices typically use connectors to connect components mounted on a printed circuit board to a flat cable such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC). An example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 1994-302961, the content of which is fully incorporated in its entirety herein.
FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a typical conventional connector. In this drawing, 901 is a flexible circuit board including a plurality of conductors 961 formed by patterning copper foil formed on one surface of a resin sheet 915. The upper surfaces of the conductors 961 are covered with resin film 916. A plurality of through-holes 917 are also formed in the end portion of the flexible circuit board 901. Each through-hole 917 is formed between adjacent conductors 961. The resin film 916 is removed near the end portion to expose the conductors 961.
Further, 811 is the housing of the connector used to connect the flexible circuit board 901 to a printed circuit board (not shown), and 851 denotes the terminals in the connector. One end of each terminal is soldered to a connector exposed on the surface of the printed circuit board. An opening 812 extending in the direction of the row of terminals 851 is formed in the housing 811 to expose the terminals 851 inside the opening 812. A recessed portion 813 for accommodating an end of the flexible circuit board 901 is formed on the upper surface of the housing 811. The three sides of the recessed portion 813 are formed by a front wall portion 815 and a pair of side wall portions 814.
Also, 821 is a cover member with comb tooth guides 822 protruding on one side. Each comb tooth guide 822 is inserted into a space 852 between the terminals 851 exposed inside the opening 812.
When the flexible circuit board 901 is connected to the connector, the end portion of the flexible circuit board 901 is inserted into the recessed portion 813 with the exposed conductors 961 facing the upper surface of the housing 811. At this time, each of the exposed conductors 961 faces an exposed terminal 851 inside the opening 812, and each through-hole 917 faces a space 852 between the terminals 851. The cover member 821 is oriented so that the comb tooth guides 822 face the upper surface of the housing 811, and is attached to the housing 811 above the flexible circuit board 901. At this time, each comb tooth guide 822 passes through a through-hole 917 and is inserted into and engages with a space 852 between terminals 851. In this way, the flexible circuit board 901 is pressed against the housing 811, the conductors 961 make contact with the terminals 851, and the flexible circuit board 901 is connected to the connector.


A color reproduction correcting system and method, and a video display device and method can reproduce original color by considering signal source and display device. Each signal source information and each display device information can be stored. The signal source and the display device, which are currently used (e.g., corrected), can be determined, for example, by a user selection. In one embodiment, the signal provided from a transmission side can be inverse gamma-corrected based on a corresponding signal source, and a colorimetric error of the inverse gamma-corrected signal is preferably corrected using corresponding signal source information and display device information. The corrected colorimetric error signal can be gamma-corrected based on a corresponding display device and then can be displayed on the corresponding display device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color reproduction method and system, and a video display device using the same.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, a color television system includes a broadcasting station for transmitting broadcast signals that are produced using cameras, and a color television set for processing and reproducing the broadcast signals transmitted from the broadcasting station to allow the audience to see and hear sounds and pictures.
In the development of the color television system, the goal is to obtain the reproduced video proportional to luminance of an original object and to reproduce color equal to a chromaticity coordinate of the original object. For example, in case of a National Television System Committee (NTSC) color television system that employs NTSC standard, a broadcasting camera for capturing videos obtains an ideal imaging characteristic based on an NTSC standard monitor, and a color television set reproduces the same chromaticity coordinate as an original object irradiated by an illuminant C.
However, in most color television sets, reference white and phosphor have been changed differently from the NTSC standard. The reason is that a screen was dark because of a low luminous efficiency of phosphor at that time when the NTSC standard was established, and thus a phosphor with high luminous efficiency was used. At the same time, there were attempts to realize much brighter screen by increasing a chromaticity temperature. For these reasons, American and Japanese television set manufacturers set 9300K as a chromaticity temperature of the reference white since the late 1950's when it began to use P22-series phosphors, and have manufactured the television sets that could achieve a color reproduction according to the chromaticity temperature of the reference white. Thereafter, in Korea or Japan where about 6000K daylight fluorescent lamps are mainly used as indoor illuminators, the television sets tend to be manufactured under conditions that the reference white is set randomly between 11000K to 13000K, which is higher than 9300K.
While a reference white, which is set to the broadcasting station and in particular to the broadcasting camera, is fixed, a reference white of the television set, particularly the display device, is not fixed but increased gradually. Therefore, the videos reproduced on the display device are distorted because of a difference between both reference whites.
Meanwhile, like aerial-wave broadcasting signals and component signals, signal sources of the television sets also have different standards from each other and various sources are actually used. Here, the aerial-wave broadcasting signals are generated from NTSC broadcasting or HDTV broadcasting, and component signals are generated from DVD or digital still camera.
Further, when transmission side of the television set performs the color reproduction without considering gamma corrected characteristic, distortions can occur in the color reproduction, and thus reproduction fidelity with respect to original colors is degraded. In addition, one important problem may be a colorimetric error, which is caused by discord between phosphor coordinates of a standard monitor of the broadcasting camera and those of the television set.
In addition to general aerial-wave broadcasting signals, the current television sets can compatibly process variously formatted signal sources (in other words, a TV signal source, a PC signal source, a component signal source, etc), such as HDTV broadcasting signals, cable broadcasting signals, PC signals, DVD signals, VCR signals, etc. Further, in addition to various conventional CRT-based display devices (Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), Cathode Display Tube (CDT), Cathode Picture Tube (CPT), etc.), flat-panel display devices (Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Plasma Display Panel (PDP), Field Emission Display (FED), etc.) tend to be selectively applied to the display devices of the television sets. As described above, since all various signal sources and display devices are not considered, improved or optimal color reproduction cannot be achieved because of the video distortion.
Related art methods for processing video signals according to signal sources and disadvantages thereof will now be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a related art video display device for processing TV signal.
Referring to FIG. 1, the related art video display device (e.g., TV set) includes a TV signal processor 10 for dividing TV signal into an audio signal and a video signal through tuning/detecting/demodulating operations of the TV signal, and an A/V switch 11 for switching the audio and video signals divided at the TV signal processor 10. A 3D comb filter 12 is for separating luminance and color signals Y/C from the video signal outputted from the A/V switch 11. A decoder 13 is for converting the luminance and color signals Y/C into a luminance and color difference signals Y, U and V, and a video/synchronization processor 14 is for performing a matrix conversion for a color space conversion with respect to the luminance and color difference signals converted at the decoder 13. An ADC 15 is for converting the luminance and color difference signals into digital video signals, a video processor 16 is for converting the digital video signals into color signals R′, G′ and B′, and a video output unit 17 is for outputting the color signals R′, G′ and B′ converted (e.g. from Y, U, V) at the video processor 16 to a display device (not shown). However, in case the luminance and color difference signals are the NTSC TV signal and A/V signals, the video/synchronization processor 14 bypasses them.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the NTSC TV signal is displayed on the display device, a color reproduction area of the signal source (i.e., the broadcasting camera) is much different from that of the display device. Thus, the original signal provided in the signal production is difficult to reproduce equally on the display device for at least reasons described below.
According to NTSC standard, an illuminant C is defined as a reference white of a camera (i.e., the signal source of TV signal). Here, the illuminant C has a color temperature of 6774K and a chromaticity coordinate given by (xws, yws, zws)=(0.3101, 0.3162, 0.337). At this time, according the definition of standard phosphor coordinates of the NTSC standard camera, standard phosphor coordinates of red, green and blue colors (R, G, B) are given by (xrs, yrs, zrs)=(0.67, 0.33, 0.00), (xgs, ygs, zgs)=(0.21, 0.71, 0.08), and (xbs, ybs, zbs)=(0.14, 0.08, 0.78), respectively.
On the contrary, the television sets have different reference white and phosphor according to the kind of display devices. For example, in case of 60″ a LCD PJT television set, its reference white has a color temperature of 9300K and a chromaticity coordinate given by (xwd, ywd)=(0.283, 0.297) and phosphor coordinates of red, green and blue colors R, G and B are given by (xrd, yrd, zrd)=(0.645, 0.35, 0.005), (xgd, ygd, ygd)=(0.279, 0.714, 0.007), and (xbd, ybd, zbd)=(0.136, 0.066, 0.798), respectively. Accordingly, the phosphor coordinates (G) of the display device are very different from the NTSC standard phosphor coordinates or digital television (TV) standard phosphor coordinates.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a color reproduction area and a position of the reference white according to a general signal source and a general display device. The NTSC signal source and the SMPTE signal source used as signal sources, and LCD is used as a display device.
As shown in FIG. 4, since the color reproduction area of the signal source is different from that of the display device, the original signal provided in the signal production is very difficult to reproduce equally on the display device. Additionally, since a standard gamma of the NTSC TV signal source, as shown in FIG. 14, is 2.2, the NTSC TV signal source is processed to have a characteristic of FIG. 13A and then transmitted. However, unlike a CRT, the LCD PJT television set has a S-shape gamma characteristic curve.
As described above, in case of NTSC TV signal, since reference white, phosphor coordinate and camera gamma processing of the signal sources are different from those of the display device, it is very difficult to achieve desired color reproduction. Thus, the colorimetric error occurs so that the video is displayed unnaturally in color.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a related art video display device for processing component signal. The component signal source can include DVD signal and DTV signal.
Referring to FIG. 2, the related art video display device includes a component signal processor 20 for processing component signals Y, PB and Pr, a video/synchronization processor 21 for performing a matrix conversion for a color space conversion with respect to the component signals Y, Pb and Pr outputted from the component signal processor 20, and an ADC 22 for converting a luminance signal Y and color signals Cb and Cr, which are outputted from the video/synchronization processor 21, into digital video signals. A video processor 23 is for processing the digital video signals into color signals R′, G′ and B′, and a video output unit 24 is for outputting the color signals R′, G′ and B′ to a display device.
According to ITU-R BT.709 standard (refer to FIG. 14), an illuminant D65 is defined as a reference white of the component signal source. The illuminant D65 has a color temperature of 6504K and a chromaticity coordinate given by (xws, yws, zws)=(0.3127, 0.3290, 0.3583). At this time, standard phosphor coordinates of red, green and blue colors R, G and B are given by (xrs, yrs, zrs)=(0.64, 0.33, 0.03), (xgs, ygs, zgs)=(0.30, 0.60, 0.10), and (xbs, ybs, zbs)=(0.15, 0.06, 0.79), respectively. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 14, DTV signal is processed with standard gamma of 2.222 and then transmitted.
At this time, the display device uses 9300K as the reference white and the phosphor coordinates are equal to the above. Accordingly, in case the component signals are processed at the related art television set and displayed thereon, the same problems can occur as described in the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a related art video display device for processing PC signal. Referring to FIG. 3, the related art video display device includes a PC signal processor 30 for processing PC signals, a video/synchronization processor 31 for performing a matrix conversion for a color space conversion with respect to the PC signal outputted from the PC signal processor 30 and an ADC 32 for converting a received luminance signal Y and color signals Cb and Cr into digital video signals. The PC signals R, G and B is outputted to the video/synchronization processor 31, and the video/synchronization processor 31 performs a matrix conversion with respect to the PC signals R, G and B to output the luminance signal Y and the color signals Cb and Cr. A video processor 33 is for processing the digital video signals into color signals R′, G′ and B′, and a video output unit 34 for formatting and outputting the color signals R′, G′ and B′ to a display device.
According to sRGB standard (refer to FIG. 14), an illuminant D65 is defined as a reference white of the PC signal source. Here, the illuminant D65 has a color temperature of 6504K and a chromaticity coordinate given by (xws, yws, zws)=(0.3127, 0.3290, 0.3583). At this time, standard phosphor coordinates of red, green and blue colors R, G and B are given by (xrs, yrs, zrs)=(0.64, 0.33, 0.03), (xgs, ygs, zgs)=(0.30, 0.60, 0.10), and (xbs, ybs, zbs)=(0.15, 0.06, 0.79), respectively. As shown in FIG. 14, DTV signal is obtained through the standard gamma processing of 2.222.
Meanwhile, the display device uses 9300K as the reference white and the phosphor coordinates are equal to the above. Of course, the reference white and the phosphor coordinates of the display devices are changed according to the kind of the display devices as described above.
In case of PC signal, as described above, the colorimetric error occurs because of differences of the reference white and the phosphor coordinates between the signal source and the display device. Accordingly, the colorimetric error causes the video to be displayed incorrectly or unnaturally in color.
In the above-described signal processing methods of the related art video display devices, when signals that are generated under conditions of different reference white and phosphor coordinates at respective signal formats are displayed, the colorimetric errors occur because the reference white and phosphor coordinates of the display device were not considered. Additionally, when the gamma processed signals of the signal source are displayed without considering the gamma characteristic of the display device, the colorimetric error occurs.
In addition, the colorimetric error can occur because the standard phosphor coordinates of signal source such as TV signal, component signal and PC signals are different from those of the display devices such as CRT, CPT, LCD and PDP. In other words, the colorimetric error may be caused by discord of phosphor coordinates between the signal source and the display device. Further, the colorimetric error can occur because of a difference of gamma characteristics between the signal source and the display device.
As described above, related art video display devices have various disadvantages. Related art video display devices can receive the signal sources that have different standard phosphors and different reference white and are differently gamma-processed, and display them on the display devices that have different standard phosphors and different reference white and are differently gamma-processed. As a result, there is a long felt demand for an apparatus that can reduce the reproduction error by considering various formats of signal sources and various display devices.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

Color reproduction method and system, and video display method and device using the same


An assembly for maintaining a vehicle at a stationary position during inclement weather conditions includes a support surface and a plurality of housings disposed about the vehicle. The housings include an open top end and a lid. A plurality of flexible straps having opposed end portions are engageable with the vehicle along a traversing plane. The assembly further includes a mechanism for securing the plurality of flexible straps to the plurality of housings.and a mechanism for adjusting a length of the plurality of flexible straps for obtaining a desired tension between the opposed end portions thereof.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a vehicle protection assembly and, more particularly, to a vehicle storm protection assembly for use during inclement weather.
2. Prior Art
The use of vehicle protection assemblies is known in the art. Such assemblies typically include a cover to protect an automobile from water damage. None of these covers, however, includes anchoring means for preventing an enclosed vehicle from being elevated off of the ground in the event of a tornado or hurricane.
Protective vehicle covers come in all shapes and sizes. Of course, the most permanent type of vehicle cover is the "attached" or "detached" garage, which is either connected to a residence or situated adjacent thereto, but still within the property line. The least permanent type of covering for a large object such as a motor vehicle is usually in the form of a weather-resistant, one-piece cover, or custom-designed fitted cover.
For vehicle owners residing in apartment buildings without attached or detached garages, for example, this is usually the only available option. Obviously, the most expensive and effective type of covering is the garage. However, one-piece fitted covers and the like can also become expensive if they are stolen, which is often a problem in today's society, or if the owner changes cars, thereby necessitating the purchase of a new "fitted" cover. Furthermore, these covers, even in the case of a garage, do not provide adequate vehicle stabilizing protection to a car during the event of a hurricane or tornado.
Accordingly, a need remains for a vehicle protection assembly that would overcome the above-noted short comings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a protection assembly that would be effective, yet small in size, easy to deploy and simple in design.


Connectors and devices for flexible negative pressure systems are described.

Wounds may be treated by providing negative pressure to the space above the wound to promote healing in a process often referred to as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). During NPWT, effluent such as exudates are removed from the wound and collected. In some therapies, the effluent is stored in a canister positioned between the source of negative pressure and a transfer dressing providing the space above the wound. In other therapies, the effluent is stored within an absorbing dressing provided in the space above the wound.


In a method for operating a camshaft adjusting device, using an actuating drive, the actual setting of a camshaft with respect to the rotation of the crankshaft is followed corresponding to a setpoint setting ascertained in a control unit. In response to the occurrence of a lasting system deviation between the actual setting and the setpoint setting, an error signal is generated. The error signal is designed in multiple stages as a function of the system deviation, different weightings being imputed to the individual stages of the fault indication. By this measure, the fault indications of different weightings may be processed. Faults that are not serious, but nevertheless require attention, may be treated separately from serious faults.

Camshaft adjusting devices are generally known in which, using an actuating drive, the actual setting of a camshaft with respect to the rotation of the crankshaft is followed corresponding to a setpoint setting ascertained in a control unit.
In this context, in principle, two types of camshaft adjusting devices are known. In one type, the generating of camshaft adjustment takes place independently of other assemblies. For this, for example, electrical camshaft actuators may be used. The other type of camshaft adjusting devices are those in which the energy required for generating the camshaft adjustment is fed directly by an ancillary component of the internal combustion engine, such as, for instance, the oil-pressure pump of the engine oil circulation.
Independent of whether a camshaft adjusting device has its own drive or one that is coupled to other devices, the problem arises that, when inaccurate regulation occurs, first, the exhaust emission behavior of the vehicle changes, and, secondly, also the vehicle behavior with respect to engine power and the response behavior change. In this context, it is known that, when too great an impairment of the exhaust emission behavior of the internal combustion engine occurs, a fault indication detectable by the driver is generated that prompts him immediately to look for a repair shop to eliminate the problem.

Method for operating a camshaft adjusting device


A ball assembly (118) for a tripot-style joint includes an annular outer ball (124) having a central axis (L) extending therethrough and a depression (182) formed therein. A plurality of needle rollers (122) is positioned along an interior of the outer ball (124). A needle roller retainer (140) is provided for retaining the needle rollers (122) within the outer ball (124) during operation of the ball assembly (118). The retainer (140) has a base portion (142) axially opposed to an end portion (121) of the needle roller (122), and a flange portion (144) extending from the base portion (142) into the depression (182), the flange portion (144) of the retainer (140) being resiliently pivotable within the depression (182) in response to application of an axial load to the retainer (140). In a particular embodiment, an inner ball (120) is positioned in the interior of the outer ball (124f), and a series of resilient tabs (148f) extends from the base portion (142f) of the retainer (140f). The tabs (148f) are axially opposed to a portion of the inner ball (120) and are resiliently deflectable in response to application of an axial load thereto by the inner ball (120), thereby permitting at least a portion of the inner ball (120) to move out of the interior of the outer ball (124).

This invention relates to tripot style joints and, more particularly, to a tripot joint having a retainer for needle rollers.
A tripot style joint is usable as one type of constant velocity ("CV") joint on a drive axle of a vehicle. A CV joint is used to transfer a uniform torque and a constant speed, while operating through a wide range of angles. The CV joint is preferably quite compact so as to allow the drive axle to rotate at a constant velocity, regardless of the operating angle.
Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a tripot style joint 10 includes a tripot housing 12 formed with a ball guide, the interior grooves of the housing 12. That is, the housing 12 has an offset radius profile for the ball bore and an outer ball guide to help track the outer ball relative to die housing axis. A tripot spider 14 includes a somewhat spherical trunnion 16, a ball assembly 18 having an inner ball 20, a complement of needle rollers 22, and an outer ball 24. The inner ball 20 has a spherical radius profile on the inner diameter that mates to the spherical profile of die spider trunnion 16 and a cylindrical outer diameter that mates with the needle rollers 22. The complement of needle rollers 22 mates to the outer diameter of the inner ball 20 and the inner diameter of the outer ball 24. The outer ball 24 has a cylindrical inner diameter and a radius profile outer diameter to match the ball bore of the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the inner diameter of the outer ball 24 is designed with two shoulders 26 that form a cup. The cup area contains the complement of needle rollers 22.
The primary function of such a tripot joint 10 is to reduce axial forces generated during the operation of the joint 10 within a vehicle. The generated axial forces create a ride disturbance in the vehicle called "shudder". The reduction to the generated axial forces is accomplished by tracking either the outer ball 24 or the ball assembly 18 relative to the axis of the housing 12.
The ball assembly 18 also requires some means of retaining the needle rollers 22 within the interior of the outer ball 24. The design shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 utilizes an integral flange 26 to retain the needle rollers 22 within the outer ball 24. However, the inner diameter profile of the outer ball 24 that forms flange 26 is expensive to manufacture. In most cases, the flange 26 is through-hardened due to its cross-sectional shape and the types of materials used in fabricating the outer ball. To achieve sufficient strength in the through-hardened flange 26 for retaining the needle rollers 22 within the interior of the outer ball 24, it is often necessary to increase the cross-sectional thickness of the flange, resulting in an increase in the overall package size of the joint. In addition, flange 26 may have sufficient strength to retain the needle rollers during assembly of the joint, yet fail to retain the needle rollers during actual operation of the joint.


A power semiconductor module includes an element pair formed by connecting, in anti-parallel to each other, an IGBT and an FWD group in which an FWD, a voltage drop characteristic of which during conduction has a negative temperature coefficient, and an FED, a voltage drop characteristic of which during conduction has a positive temperature coefficient, are connected in series and an element pair formed by connecting, in anti-parallel to each other, an IGBT and an FWD group in which a FWD, a voltage drop characteristic of which during conduction has a negative temperature coefficient, and an FWD, a voltage drop characteristic of which during conduction has a positive temperature coefficient, are connected in series. The element pairs are connected in parallel.

Although not limited to the use in the railway car, for example, Patent Literature 1 described below discloses a power semiconductor module including two element pairs formed by connecting transistor chips and fly wheel diode (FWD) chips in anti-parallel to each other (see FIGS. 1 and 6 of the literature).
In the power semiconductor module of this type, if collector terminals, emitter terminals, and base terminals in the respective element pairs are electrically connected to one another, the element pairs are connected in parallel. The power semiconductor module can be used as a power semiconductor module having an increased current capacity (sometimes referred to as "parallel application").

Power semiconductor module, power converting apparatus, and railway car


A process and apparatus for fabricating monocrystalline castings are disced in which molten metal is poured into a mold having vertically arranged, individual mold cavities, the solidification front is controlled to progress vertically upwardly from the bottom, and a single crystal grain is selected by a selection device placed in the lower part of the mold. The invention consists in directly superposing a multiplicity of individual mold cavities one above the other in a string, several such strings capable of being placed in parallel between a common metal sprue cup and a chilled plate to increase production capacities.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process and apparatus for the fabrication of monocrystalline castings in a mold made up of individual mold cavities, of a type in which molten metal is poured into a mold, the solidification front is controlled so that it progresses vertically upwardly from the bottom, and a single crystal grain is selected by a selection device placed in the lower part of the mold.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The simultaneous production of several monocrystalline solidification articles is known, in particular by U.S. Ser. No. 420,348 to Allesandri et al, and by French patents Nos. 1 602 773; 1 602 778; 2 273 611; 2 363 388; and 2 218 939.
As all these documents show that those skilled in the art had thought that simultaneous production such as this could only be accomplished by distributing the castings in parallel.

Process for the fabrication of monocrystalline castings

Societe Nationale D'Etude et de Construction de Moteurs D'Aviation