A number of ink-jet ink sets utilize water-soluble dyes, which are highly soluble in water, in order to achieve the right color gamut. Examples of patents that are directed to ink-jet ink sets for achieving the desired color gamut include U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,504, issued Apr. 28, 1992, to Loren E. Johnson et al and entitled "High Chroma Color Dye-Set for Use in Ink-Jet Inks Employing Polysaccharide-Containing Vehicles"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,547, issued Sep. 1, 1992, to William D. Kappele and entitled "Specific Dye Set for Thermal Ink-Jet Printing on Plain and Coated Papers"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,519, issued Sep. 8, 1992, to William D. Kappele and entitled "Specific Dye Set for Thermal Ink-Jet Printing"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,034, issued Feb. 9, 1993 and entitled "Ink-Jet Inks with Improved Colors and Plain Paper Capacity"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,051, issued Jul. 9, 1996, to Hiang P. Lauw and entitled "Specific Dye Set for Thermal Ink-Jet Printing"; all of the foregoing cited patents are assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
However, many dye-based inks, after being printed, exhibit poor water-fastness. There is an increased demand by consumers on the permanence or durability of ink-jet print, including water-fastness, light-fastness, smear-fastness, smudge-fastness, etc. The purpose of the present invention is to improve the durability of water-soluble dye-based inks, especially the water-fastness, smear-fastness, smudge-fastness, and light-fastness, lumped together under the term "color permanence", of such inks.


Slidably mounted building products, such as sliding windows, single hung and double hung windows and sliding doors, are well known in the new construction and remodeling industry. These products are typically operated by a user exerting a sliding-type force on the movable sash in order to open or close the same. As will be appreciated, the amount of force that needs to be exerted can at times be substantial, and thus physically handicapped persons or those persons with inadequate strength may not be able to operate them.
Furthermore, with the advent of so-called "smart homes" it is desired to be able to control electronically or by computer the opening and closing of windows and doors, without the need for a person to be present to open and close the same. Currently existing windows and doors with sliding sashes would be extremely difficult to convert to automatic operation.
In the first half of the 20th century, several patents were issued which disclosed crank type window operating apparatus for slidably mounted windows. For example, Lovell U.S. Pat. No. 1,152,425 shows a double hung window which can be moved up and down by use of a hand crank. The hand crank turns a bevel gear connected to a left-hand rod and a right-hand rod, the rods turning another bevel gear which in turn rotates a longitudinally disposed screw mounted in each of the vertical window frame members. A movable nut is threadably mounted on each screw and is also secured to the window sash. Rotation of the screws causes vertical movement of the movable nuts, which in turn lowers or lifts the window sash in the window frame. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,571,819; 1,966,815; 2,545,449; 2,913,920; and 3,022,065.
Although this prior art has been known for many years, there are today virtually no commercially available slidably mounted doors and windows which are operated by hand crank or motor driven mechanisms. There is, therefore, a need for a modern operating mechanism for slidably mounted building products that is inexpensive as well as easy to use. The mechanism must be useful for windows and doors having wood, metal or polymeric frames and must be reliable and easy to install in both new and existing homes.


With development of display technology, a display device with large size, high quality and low cost is the trend. Quality of a color filter which is a major component of a display device (for example, a TFT-LCD display device) determines the display effect of the display device.
At present, a proximity exposure machine optical system is mostly used to perform exposure when fabricating a color filter. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the above mentioned optical system includes an exposure lamp 101, a first planar mirror 102, a fly eye lens 103, a concave mirror 104 and a second planar mirror 105, and further includes a mask plate 106, a substrate 107, an exposure region 108 and a photoresist (not shown in FIG. 1). In this optical system, the exposure lamp 101 is mainly used to emit a light beam to the first planar mirror 102, the first planar mirror 102 is mainly used to reflect an incident light beam onto the fly eye lens 103, the fly eye lens 103 is mainly used to split the received light beam into narrow light beams and then refract the narrow light beams onto the concave mirror 104, the concave mirror 104 is mainly used to reflect the received light beam onto the second planar mirror 105, and the second planar mirror 105 is mainly used to reflect the received light beam onto the mask plate 106. Generally, the concave mirror 104 and the second planar mirror 105 are designed based on a principle that reflectivities of light at respective positions on the mirror are equal so as to guarantee the uniformity of light at different positions in the optical system.
Here, the fly eye lens 103 may include a first lens assembly and a second lens assembly. The first lens assembly includes a plurality of lenses forming a first lens face, and the second lens assembly includes a plurality of lenses forming a second lens face. The first lens face is used to split a broad light beam reflected from the first planar mirror 102 into narrow light beams and then refract the narrow light beams onto the second lens face, and the second lens face is used to dispersively refract the received narrow light beams onto the concave mirror 104. In general, there is positional correspondence existing between the fly eye lens 103 and the concave mirror 104, that is, a lens closer to the center on the second lens face contributes more illuminance to a point closer to the center on a surface of the concave mirror 104 but contributes less illuminance to a point farther from the center on a surface of the concave mirror 104; on the contrary, a lens farther from the center on the second lens face contributes more illuminance to a point farther from the center on the surface of the concave mirror 104 but contributes less illuminance to a point closer to the center on the surface of the concave mirror 104.
When performing the proximity exposure, generally, the illuminance of incident light on the mask plate is evenly distributed, that is, illuminance at any region on the mask plate is identical. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, when fabricating a color filter using a substrate 201 (for example, a glass substrate), a mask plate 202 and a photoresist 203, a distance between the mask plate 202 before being bent and the substrate 201 ranges from one hundred micrometers to several hundred micrometers. As such, as to the mask plate, it is bent when performing the exposure, which causes the exposure distance in a vertical direction between the substrate 201 and the central region of the mask plate 202 to differ from that between the substrate 201 and an edge region of the mask plate 202. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the exposure distance G2 between the substrate 201 and the central region of the mask plate 202 is smaller than the exposure distance G1 between the substrate 201 and the edge region of the mask plate 202. During a usual fabricating process, since the proximity exposure machine optical system is influenced by factors such as diffraction angle and light parallelism when performing the exposure, the critical dimension (CD) of the pattern exposed on the substrate 201 is increased as the exposure distance of each region is increased (as shown in FIG. 2). Thus, in a case where the illuminance is fixed, since the exposure distance in the central region is shorter than that in an edge region, the critical dimension of the pattern exposed on the central region is smaller than that of the pattern exposed on an edge region, that is, the critical dimensions of the exposed patterns are not uniform (for example, CD2>CD1, as shown in FIG. 1). In other words, the critical dimensions of the patterns exposed by the above-mentioned optical system have a poor uniformity.
It can be seen from the above fabricating manner that when the proximity exposure machine optical system performs the exposure, the bending of the mask plate causes exposure distances in respective regions to vary so that the critical dimensions of the patterns exposed on the substrate have a poor uniformity and the quality of the color filter is further affected.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a charging apparatus for an electric storage device, a vehicle equipped with the charging apparatus, and a method of controlling the charging apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, vehicles that run with driving force using electric power stored in an electric storage device installed on the vehicle have been attracting attention, as environment-conscious vehicles. Examples of the electric storage device include a second battery and a capacitor. The vehicles of the above type include, for example, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, fuel-cell vehicles, etc. It has been proposed to charge the electric storage device installed on the above type of vehicle, using a commercial power supply. Generally, the commercial power supply has high power generation efficiency.
As one type of the hybrid vehicles, a vehicle that permits an on-board electric storage device to be charged using electric power from a power supply located outside the vehicle (which may also be simply called “external power supply”), like an electric vehicle, is known. The charging of the on-board electric storage device with electric power from the external power supply may also be simply called “external charging”. Typically, the vehicle as described above is known as so-called “plug-in hybrid vehicle”. For example, a charge port or socket provided on the plug-in hybrid vehicle is connected to an outlet of a power supply provided in a house, or the like, via a charging cable. With this arrangement, the on-board electric storage device can be charged with electric power from a standard home power supply. By using the external power supply, it is expected to enhance the fuel consumption efficiency of the hybrid vehicle.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-178215 (JP 2007-178215 A) discloses a power supply system capable of charging a secondary battery. The power supply system restricts charging current in view of the temperature dependence of the internal resistance of the secondary battery. With the charging current thus restricted, the charging status (which may also be called “state of charge” or “SOC”) of the secondary battery is estimated with improved accuracy, as described in JP 2007-178215 A.
A vehicle capable of external charging assures a long running distance if the electric storage device is in a sufficiently charged state when driving of the vehicle is started next time. In the meantime, if the electric storage device is kept in a high SOC condition for a long period of time, degradation of the electric storage device may be accelerated. Therefore, a vehicle having a timer charging function has been proposed. The user of the vehicle sets a scheduled time at which charging is to be completed (or a scheduled time at which driving of the vehicle is to be started). The charging of the electric storage device is controlled so as to maximize the SOC immediately before the scheduled time set by the user.
In the vehicle having the timer charging function as described above, if the estimated charging time of the electric storage device is not accurate, a shortage of charge may occur at the scheduled charging completion time, or charging may be completed earlier than scheduled. In the latter ease, the electric storage device may be kept in a high SOC condition for a long period of time, which may result in degradation of the electric storage device.
In the meantime, charging power that can be received by the electric storage device may be restricted by the temperature and SOC of the electric storage device. Therefore, it is important to take account of charging characteristics of the electric storage device, for accurate estimation of the charging time.


Modern electronic design is typically performed with computer aided design (CAD) tools or electronic design automation (EDA) systems. To design a circuit, such as an integrated circuit (IC), a designer first creates high level behavior descriptions of the IC device using a high-level hardware design language (HDL). Common examples of HDLs include Verilog and VHDL. An EDA system typically receives the high level behavioral descriptions of the IC device and translates this high-level design language into netlists of various levels of abstraction. Essentially, the process to implement an electronic device begins with functional design and verification (e.g., using RTL), and then proceeds to physical design of a layout and verification.
Circuit designers and verification engineers use different methods to verify circuit designs. One common method of verification is the use of simulation. Simulation dynamically verifies a design by monitoring behaviors of the design with respect to test stimuli. For many types of designs, simulation can and should be performed during the design process to ensure that the ultimate goals are achievable and will be realized by the finished product.
For example, SPICE and FASTSPICE are common types of simulators that perform simulation to verify the operation of an electronic design. With these types of tools, the electronic design is converted into a system of equation(s), which is then solved for a given set of inputs to check the state of specific portions of the circuit at given points in time.
A significant portion of the data pertaining to the simulation activities may be waveform data. In many cases, the waveform is the output data that results from performing simulation on analog or analog/mixed signal designs. For example, a given circuit design may receive a set of stimulus data, where simulation of a model of that circuit design is performed using the stimulus to identify the resulting waveform pattern from expected operation of that design. In other cases, the waveform data is the input data that is fed into a circuit design for simulation.
The EDA tool may employ either a waveform viewing tool or a waveform editing tool to visually display waveform data onto the user interface of a user display apparatus. In many cases, these tools are operated in an interactive manner, where a user dynamically manipulates the tool to display the waveform data in real-time with a desired visual representation. For example, the user may manipulate the waveform tool to zoom into a specific portion of the waveform or to scroll across different portions of the waveform. This interactive manipulation permits the user to analyze the waveforms and to seek out anomalies that may indicate possible errors in the circuit design, by scanning through the data and zooming in at specific portions of the waveforms.
Under the covers, numerous computational operations may be performed to comply with the user's manipulation of the waveform tool. Such operations may involve loading the waveform data into memory, retrieving the specific data to be operated upon, performing graphical operations upon that data to generate display data as required by the user commands, and generation of the interface for display. With interactive tools, it is desirable for these operations to be performed fast enough such that the user does not experience undue delays while rendering the waveform for display on the display screen.
The problem is that modern EDA tools are now generating massive quantities of waveform data, e.g., involving tens of millions of datapoints on thousands of waveforms. In many cases, many or all of the waveforms need to be displayed simultaneously onto a computer display screen. Given this large volume of waveform data, it is becoming very difficult to maintain interactive performance from conventional waveform viewing tools. These performance problems occur because even simple calculations become very difficult to process when there is both a large amount of data and a need to quickly process that data for display on an interactive tool.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved approach to handle waveform data that that can adequately address these problems with the conventional tools.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shock-absorbing structures of bicycles and more particularly, to a shock-absorbing seat stay for a bicycle.
2. Description of the Related Art
When riding a bicycle on a bumpy road, a bicyclist may feel uncomfortable due to vibration. To ease discomfort of the bicyclist, many bicycles may be equipped at the bicycle frame thereof with a suspension for buffering the vibration. However, the conventional suspension for being installed with the frame of a bicycle usually comprises metal springs, pneumatic device or hydraulic device for achieving the purpose of absorbing vibration, resulting in that the aforesaid conventional suspension is complicated in structure and heavy in weight, and even a part of stepping energy from the bicyclist may be absorbed by the conventional suspension to undesiredly deteriorate the transmission efficiency of energy. Therefore, for a road bicycle built for traveling at high speed with a light-weight specification, the aforesaid conventional suspension composed of metal spring, pneumatic device or hydraulic device is not an appropriate choice. On the other hand, when a bicyclist rides a road bicycle without suspension, the bicyclist may easily and quickly feel tired. Under this circumstance, the bicyclist may have to face a dilemma that he/she can only choose one from a bicycle having high energy transmission efficiency with light weight and a bicycle having suspension that can provide riding comfort.


Data processing systems may use virtual addresses to indicate storage locations while the processing system uses physical addresses that represent actual locations on the silicon to store the data in. Virtual addresses may be used to reduce the number of bits required to identify an address location or to allow several processes to access a restricted memory space.
A complete set of current mappings for the virtual to physical addresses are stored in memory, however in order to decrease access time to these mappings, recently used mappings are stored in caches that can be accessed more quickly by the processor. There may be an L1 cache that is fast to access and acts as a micro TLB and stores a small subset of recently used mappings, and a slower L2 cache that is the macro TLB and stores a set of currently used mappings while a full set of page tables of mappings are stored in memory.
The mapping of virtual to physical address space is done in blocks and these may vary in size, thus, these are for example blocks of 1 Gbyte, 2 Mbyte or 4 Kbyte. The number of bits that need to be mapped for a translation depends on the size of the block that an address is located in. If, for example, an address is in a 2 Mbyte block, then only the higher n to 21 bits need to be found from the translation tables, while if it is in the 4 Kbyte block then the n to 12 bits need to be found.
The mappings and the final page sizes are therefore stored in tables in the memory, with the first n to 31 bits that represent 1 Gbyte blocks, being stored in a first table, the next 30 to 21 bits being stored in a next table and so on. A page table walk in memory that is used to retrieve the mappings is performed in steps or walks and where the address is in a larger block only the first step(s) needs to be performed.
When a mapping has been found following a page table walk it is stored in the L2 macro TLB and in the L1 micro TLB.
As can be appreciated retrieving these mappings from memory is expensive in both time and power.
In order to increase efficiency in some data processing systems, the RAM used as the level 2 cache for the macro TLB is also used as a walk cache and as a prefetch buffer, such that in addition to retrieving the requested mapping, a mapping for the subsequent virtual address is retrieved during the same page table walk. This can then be written into the prefetch buffer, after the originally requested mapping has been written into the macro TLB.
The walk cache will store intermediate translations following some of the page table walks, the stored values being an input to a final page table walk required to finish the translation.
In some systems there may be double virtualisation. This occurs where there are several guest OSs and each references a large amount of memory. The memory of the data processing system is not sufficiently large from them to all to reference different distinct portions of memory. Instead they share some memory area but this is not visible to them and is managed by the hypervisor with each guest OS using intermediate physical addresses IPA, that the hypervisor then maps to real physical addresses. In this way the hypervisor controls the memory use and allows each guest OS to believe it has sight of a large dedicated memory space. In this case each guest OS manages the page tables for the VA to IPA translations and the hypervisor manages tables of translations from IPA to PA. In these cases an IPA2PA cache may be provided in the level 2 RAM storing intermediate steps in the IPA to PA translations.


The present invention relates to protection of nuclear fuel assemblies and, more particularly, to a method of and an arrangement for protecting a fuel assembly such as to avoid damaging and scratching of the fuel rod surfaces during assembly and transportation of the fuel assembly.
Different types of fuel assemblies are used in different types of nuclear reactors such as boiling water reactors (referred to as "BWR", hereinunder), pressurized water reactors (PWR) and so forth. Generally, however, a fuel assembly is an elongated member in which a plurality of elongated fuel rods are arranged and held in parallel with one another by spacer assemblies.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show, by way of example, a fuel assembly for use in a BWR having a square cross-section with fuel rods arranged in a square pattern. Known also is a fuel assembly having a circular cross-section in which fuel rods are arranged along concentric circles. This type of fuel assembly is suited for use in heavy-water moderated reactors and gas-cooled reactors.
The spacer assembly for holding the fuel rods in parallel can have various forms such as rectangular grids and circular grids. The fuel rods are held in the cells of the spacer assembly by means of holders such as a spring-clip type holder and lantern-ring type holder.
The fuel assembly shown in FIG. 1 will be explained in detail. This fuel assembly has a channel box 1 accomodating a plurality of fuel rods 4 and water rods 5 which are supported at their upper and lower ends by an upper tie plate 2 and a lower tie plate 3. A plurality of spacer assemblies 6 are disposed in the channel box 1 in the axial direction of the latter, such as to hold the fuel rods 4 in parallel and to suppress any lateral vibration of the same, while preserving passages of the coolant.
As will be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the spacer 6 has a square frame 7 in which are disposed bars 8, 9 and dividers 10, 11 in a grid-like form thus defining a plurality of cells 12. A lantern spring 13 is provided at each point of intersection of the bars 8 and 9. Each lantern spring 13 has leaf springs which project outwardly from all sides thereof. The leaf springs 13a resiliently press the fuel rod 4 in each cell 12 against S bends 10a, 11a formed on the dividers 10, 11 and dimples 14 projecting inwardly from the walls of the frame 7.
For the assembly of the fuel assembly, the lower tie plate 3 and the spacer assemblies 6 are fixed at suitable positions and the fuel rods 4 and the water rods 5 are inserted into the cells 12 of the spacer assemblies 6, such that the lower ends of the rods 4, 6 are fixed in the lower tie plate 3. Then, the upper tie plate 2 is mounted on the upper end of the frame 7 thus fixing the fuel rods 4 and the water rods 5.
During the assembly of the fuel assembly, the surfaces of the fuel rods tend to be damaged because they slide on the surfaces of the leaf springs 13a of the lantern spring 13 and the S-bends 10a and 11a. The same problem is encountered not only by the spacer assembly shown in FIG. 2 but also by various other types of spacer assemblies.
Hitherto, various methods have been proposed to protect the surfaces of the fuel rods. For instance, it has been proposed to tie the leaf springs 13a and S-bends 10a, 11a by cords against their resiliency thus preserving a large area in each cell 12 for receiving the fuel rod. It has been also proposed to keep the fuel rod below the ice point such as to form a coating layer of ice or frost on the fuel rod surface. According to still another method, the fuel rods are beforehand painted with a lacquer and, after the assembly, the lacquer is washed away.
The protection method relying upon the ice or frost coating layer necessitates pre-cooling of the fuel rod down below the ice point. In addition, this method is not adoptable for the fuel rod protection during withdrawal which often becomes necessary when, for example, the defective fuel rod is renewed, because the formation of the ice or frost coating layer on the fuel rod situated in the fuel assembly is almost impossible. The protection method using the cords is quite troublesome and takes a long time. The use of a lubricant may impair the performance of the fuel assembly due to deposition of impurities on the fuel rod. In order to completely remove the lubricant, it is necessary to wash it away at a cost of time and labour.
Thus, the conventional fuel rod protection methods are generally laborious and hinders the assembling.
The damaging of the fuel rods in the spacer assembly takes place not only during the assembly but also during transportation. Namely, during transportation of the completed fuel assembly, the fuel rods which are held in pressure contact with the S-bends 10a and 11a by means of the resilient pressure members such as the leaf springs are liable to be fretted due to vibration of the fuel assembly. To avoid this problem, it has been proposed to use flexible plastic liner 21 of a length almost equal to that of the fuel rod. Namely, as shown in FIG. 4, a liner 21 is placed at each side of the fuel rod in each cell, so as to suppress the vibration of the fuel rod and to prevent fretting of the fuel rod surface by the spacer assembly. However, the fuel assemblies 4a adjacent the walls of the frame 7 are likely to be damaged due to vibration, because these rods are pressed onto the dimples 14 by the leaf springs 13.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4609/1976 discloses a rod-like jig having a plurality of tabs designed for pressing the springs 13. On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 36282/1977 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 16089/1979 disclose jigs which are designed to be inserted into cells 12 such as to press the springs 13.
These known jigs are intended to retract the springs 13 in advance to the insertion of the fuel rods, thereby smoothing the movement of the fuel rods during insertion. However, these jigs cannot prevent the damaging of the fuel rods perfectly because, although the springs are retracted beforehand to become inactive, the fuel rods slide on the S-bends 10a, 11a and the dimple 14 when they pass through the cells 12. In some cases, the spring 13 is adversely affected by an excessive depressing by the jigs.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 11244/1978 discloses a fuel rod protection method in which a stainless steel protecting tube of about 0.1 mm thick is fitted around the fuel rod, and the fuel rod is inserted into the cell 12 together with this protecting tube. However, insertion and withdrawal of the fuel rod into and out of such a thin protecting pipe are troublesome. In addition, the fabrication and handling of such thin-walled long tube are quite difficult.


A standard wheelchair seat consists of a flexible sling material. The material has adequate strength to support the weight of the user. However, the basic sling shape creates dangerous high pressure areas to the user's skin. The prolonged high pressure can cause pressure sores leading to potentially fatal Pressure Ulcers. The typical method to improve the pressure distribution and support of a person in a wheelchair is to add an additional seat cushion system on top of the wheelchair seat sling. There are many different types of cushioning and support systems. They may use air bladders, fluid filled bags, different density foams, contoured foams or a combination of several technologies. Examples of these methods are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,436; 5,282,286; 4,726,624; and 5,839,140.
Another method is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,755,477 and 6,264,279 in which multiple layers of flexible non-uniform material such as Lycra or Polartec are specified. The non-uniform materials are used in combination with flexible and/or stiffened materials between the layers to give the seat contours to improve the pressure distribution. Another method is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,857,749 and 5,984,418 in which the flexible material is replaced with a rigid base on which a cushion is attached. All the known methods come at the price of added cost, weight and complexity to the seating system.


1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to controlling travel of a vehicle in which a driving mode of the vehicle is determined based on the speed of the vehicle and a user-selected driving mode, and more particularly to controlling travel of the vehicle when a failure occurs in a power supply that supplies the vehicle with power according to the determined driving mode, the power supply is replaced with another power supply for stable driving.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-032807 discloses that a vehicle is switched by a hybrid vehicle control device between an electric vehicle (EV) mode in which the vehicle travels by using a battery alone, an engine mode in which the vehicle travels by using an engine alone, and a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) mode in which the vehicle travels by using the battery and the engine together according to stored road data.
Such related art technology merely enables a switch between the three driving modes based on road data, and does not reflect the output or battery/engine state of a vehicle. In addition, a means and method for storing data about a driving region are necessary for the related art. In other words, the related art will reach to the limit of storage capacity and involve additional cost for the storage means.


1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a portable electronic device, and more particularly to a portable electronic device capable of hiding a flexible printed circuit thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional portable electronic device such as a slider computer, the screen is slidably disposed on the keyboard. As the slider computer in use, the screen is slide to one side of the keyboard exposing a keyboard thereof and upwardly being lifted on the keyboard. However, in sliding the screen of the slider computer to stand on the keyboard, an electric connecting strip (e.g., a flexible printed circuit) for connecting the screen and the keyboard or host would be exposed outside the slider computer, so that the electric connecting strip may have higher possibility of being damaged.
In this regard, how to develop a portable electronic device for solving the mentioned disadvantages is an urgent issue in the art.


Internal combustion engines may include water injection systems that inject water from a storage tank into a plurality of locations, including an intake manifold, upstream of engine cylinders, or directly into engine cylinders. Injecting water into the engine intake air may increase fuel economy and engine performance, as well as decrease engine emissions. When water is injected into the engine intake or cylinders, heat is transferred from the intake air and/or engine components to the water. This heat transfer leads to evaporation, which results in cooling. Injecting water into the intake air (e.g., in the intake manifold, ports, etc.) lowers both the intake air temperature and a temperature of combustion at the engine cylinders. By cooling the intake air charge, a knock tendency may be decreased without enriching the combustion air-fuel ratio. This may also allow for a higher compression ratio, advanced ignition timing, and decreased exhaust temperature. As a result, fuel efficiency is increased. Additionally, greater volumetric efficiency may lead to increased torque. Furthermore, lowered combustion temperature with water injection may reduce NOx, while a more efficient fuel mixture may reduce carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions.
As explained above, water may be injected into different locations, including the intake manifold, intake ports of engine cylinders, or directly into engine cylinders. The inventors have recognized that water injection at different locations may provide different benefits depending on engine operating conditions. For example, manifold injection, direct injection, and port injection toward the manifold may provide increased cooling of the charge air, thereby reducing knock tendency. Additionally, port injection onto the intake valves may increase a dilution effect of the injected water over manifold injection, thereby reducing engine pumping losses. However, an actual amount of water injected at an engine may be different than a commanded amount. For example, water injection errors may arise due to water injector fouling or wear, due to incomplete vaporization of the injected water, which may result from impurities in the water being injected, variation of the injected water pH level from an expected level, a CAC outlet temperature being different than expected, etc. As a result, a desired water injection benefit may not be provided to the engine.
In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a method for an engine comprising, responsive to water injection into an intake manifold via a port water injector, adjusting engine operation based on a change in exhaust dilution; and responsive to water injection into the intake manifold via a manifold water injector, adjusting engine operation based on a change in intake dilution. In this way, water injection errors may be diagnosed differently based on the location of the water injection as well as based on the intended benefit of the water injection.
As an example, an engine may be configured with multiple water injectors such as a manifold water injector, a port water injector, and a direct water injector. An engine controller may determine a total amount of water to inject and a location to inject the water based on engine operating conditions. For example, at low-mid engine loads, engine combustion stability may be improved by increasing the charge dilution via injection of water into the intake manifold. Additionally, a portion of the total water to be injected may be port injected onto a hot surface of a closed intake valve to meet the dilution demand. Since charge dilution via water injection affects the amount of water in the engine, the actual amount of water injected may be detected via an oxygen sensor. Specifically, a change in the output of an intake oxygen sensor may be used to infer the actual amount of water injected into the intake manifold, while a change in the output of an exhaust oxygen sensor may be used to infer the actual amount of water injected into the intake port. By comparing the actual water injection amount to the commanded amount, the controller may learn a water injection error and compensate accordingly. For example, during a subsequent water injection, a duty cycle of the manifold and/or port injector may be adjusted to compensate for the error. As another example, EGR flow to the engine may be adjusted to compensate for any dilution deficit. In comparison, during mid to high engine load conditions, knock control may be provided by using manifold water injection to provide charge cooling. During such conditions, the water injection error may be learned as a function of a change in the manifold temperature (via a manifold temperature sensor), and compensated for via adjustments to the duty cycle of the manifold injector, via direct injection of water into a cylinder, and/or spark timing adjustments.
In this way, by selecting a water injection sensing mode based on the engine load and the selected water injector(s), water injection errors may be more accurately measured and compensated for. The technical effect of using a different set of sensors to measure water injection used for charge dilution (at low-mid engine loads) versus water injection used for charge cooling (at mid-high engine loads), water injection may be better controlled. By providing a desired dilution to the engine, pumping losses may be decreased and combustion stability may be improved. By providing a desired charge cooling to the engine, knock related issues may be reduced. Overall, water injection benefits may be extended over a wider range of engine operation, improving engine performance.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for generating voice messages from pre-recorded audio segments. Individual pre-recorded audio segments are dynamically cross-faded during playback of audio messages synthesized from a plurality of such audio segments. Dynamically cross fading the sound segments speeds up the playback time of the voice messages and provides more natural sounding voice messages.
2. Related Art
In many automated systems in which a human user must interact with a computer through an audio interface, the automated system communicates with the user via audible voice prompts. Such voice prompts are typically created by chaining together multiple pre-recorded audio segments. For example, an automated telephone information service communicates telephone numbers to a requester by sequentially playing audio files representing each digit of a telephone number. Similarly, most voice recognition systems require feedback to the user. Typically such feedback is in the form of audio voice prompts requesting certain actions or information from the user. The content of such voice prompts is often context specific, so the system must select the appropriate pre-recorded sound segments to join together “on the fly” from among multiple pre-recorded sound segments in order to create a message that delivers the desired information, or asks for the appropriate response from the user.
Typically, such voice messages are created by simply concatenating a plurality of individual audio files and sequentially playing them back over a loudspeaker. Often the individual sound files will have short silent lead-in and exit times on each side of the actual sound portion of the audio file. When multiple files are played back, these short silent portions result in a message that sounds choppy and unnatural and takes much longer to play back than would otherwise be the case if the message were spoken by a live person. Such a delay and unnatural delivery can be a source of frustration for users of systems that employ synthesized voice prompts. Often a user must wait for the entire message prompt to be played back before being allowed to proceed with the next step in an automated transaction. The undue delay from excessively long voice prompts can be tedious and annoying.
FIG. 1 shows three typical pre-recorded sound files 10, 12, 14 representing the spoken words “six”, “seven” and “eight” respectively. Each of the sound files 10, 12, 14 includes a lead in time 16, and an exit time 18 where no actual sound is produced. FIG. 2 shows the same files concatenated together to form the sequence “six-seven-eight”. As can be seen, there are relatively long periods of silence 22 between the combined sound files. No information is provided to the user during these intervals. These delays unduly lengthen the playback time and detract from the sound quality of the resulting voice message.
FIG. 3 depicts a method of clipping audio files so that only those portions of the audio file in which sounds are actually voiced are included in synthesized voice messages. Unclipped sound segment 24 has silent lead in and exit portions 16, 18. In the clipped sound segment 26 the silent portions have been removed. As can be seen, the duration of the original unclipped file 24 is significantly longer than the clipped file 26. FIG. 4 again shows the numbers sequence “six-seven-eight” 28 but this time composed of sound segments that have been clipped in the manner shown in FIG. 3. Clipping the sound segments in this manner shortens the playback time of the three digit sequence from 2.12 seconds to 1.93 seconds. Although this represents a significant improvement over the unclipped sequence, the result is still longer and sounds choppier than when the sequence is spoken by a natural person. Thus, there remains a need for improved systems and methods for synthesizing voice messages and prompts from individual sound files. Such improved systems and methods must produce shorter more natural sounding voice messages and prompts.


Parametric stereo and multichannel coding methods are known to be scalable and efficient in terms of listening quality, which makes them particularly attractive in low bitrate applications. In cases where the bitrate limitations are of a transitory nature (e.g., network jitter, load variations), however, the full benefit of the available network resources may be obtained through the use of an adaptive distribution format, wherein a relatively higher bitrate is used during normal conditions and a lower bitrate when the network functions poorly. Existing adaptive distribution formats and the associated (de)coding techniques may be improved from the point of view of their bandwidth efficiency, computational efficiency, error resilience, algorithmic delay and further, in audiovisual media distribution, as to how noticeable a bitrate switching event is to a person enjoying the decoded media.
All the figures are schematic and generally only show parts which are necessary in order to elucidate the invention, whereas other parts may be omitted or merely suggested. Unless otherwise indicated, like reference numerals refer to like parts in different figures.


Using devices, such as active and passive air fresheners, including electrical plug-in air fresheners, candles, aerosol diffusers, sprays, membrane air fresheners and the like, to deliver nice and refreshing fragrances to air within a room is well known. There are numerous devices of this kind available on the market place, with a number of fragrances available as well. The targeted consumer benefits include, for example, pleasantness of the neighbor odor, hedonics, malodor counteracting, and insect repellency.
Forest bathing, which is a popular exercise in Asian countries, is a means of body sculpting, which includes taking walks and doing aerobic exercises in a forest. It is believed that forest bathing trips have a positive impact on human beings, such as stress and anxiety relief, calming and reinvigorating actions. It is recognized that these benefits are related to the presence of phytoncides or wood oil essence components in the atmosphere of forests. In particular, a correlation between the presence of phytoncides and the activity of the human natural killer cells has been documented. See for example Q. Li at al. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology 22 (2009) pages 951 to 959 and references cited therein. The enhancement of the natural defense of the organism induced by the exposure of individuals to the atmosphere of natural forests, especially those populated by resinous trees or Eucalyptol trees is also well known. These phytoncides are volatile molecules of the terpene and sesquiterpene families, which are produced by the wood itself, whereas such a production is especially important in resinous trees, such as pine trees and cypress trees.
However, people are busy with work and often do not have the time to travel to a forest to enjoy the air environment in a forest, especially, the inhabitants in the cities. Accordingly, there remains a need to provide an air freshener device, which generates and delivers the health and therapeutic benefits of forest air to the inside environment.


In U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,184 which was issued to me on Nov. 04, 1980, I show a cable adapter, commonly referred to in the trade as a boot, for use with a cable closure at each of its ends in aerial telephone plant. The cable closure protects a cable splice. Likewise, some aerial cable terminals may use a boot at each end. The terminal provides a location for terminating a loop.
The boot which I have described in the aforesaid patent has a plurality of tapered nozzles for adapting to the size of the cable. Initially, the boot was made of soft material. But rodents could eat through the soft material, exposing the cable to elements and resulting in potential maintenance problems. An improved boot was made from a hard substance. This, however, made it difficult for a craftperson to work with the apparatus.


Alkyl lead compounds, which have been conventionally used as anti-knock additives to motor fuels, exhibit undesirable properties such as the toxicity of the lead and their poisoning effect on catalytic converters. As a result, a need has arisen worldwide for other high octane compounds to be blended into the pool of fuel components available from refineries and synfuel plants.
Because of certain limits to the extent to which oil refineries and synfuel plants can increase the octane number of available fuel pool components, the demand for isoalkenes, especially in the C.sub.4 to C.sub.5 range, has risen considerably in recent years. One of the products which can be synthesized from isobutene is methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), which is a valuable octane boosting fuel additive. As a consequence, there is an increased demand for isobutene and for isomerization processes for the conversion of linear butenes to isobutene. Similarly, linear pentenes can be converted to isopentenes which could then be used to produce tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME).
lsomerization processes can be directed towards either skeletal isomerization or double bond isomerization. Skeletal isomerization is concerned with the reorientation of the molecular structure of a hydrocarbon, so as to increase the number of side chains. Double bond isomerization is concerned with the relocation of a double bond between carbon atoms forming part of a chain, and is not of great interest in the context of increasing octane values.
A large number of isomerization processes has been described in the literature, which has been summarized by Butler and Nicolaides in Catalysis Today, Vol. 18, 1993, 443 -471. Some of these processes rely on the use of metal oxides or crystalline aluminosilicates, some of them halogenated and others not, some of them containing metals and others not, some of them requiring a diluent in the isomerization reaction and others not. Most of the zeolite and halogenated alumina catalysts for the isomerization of linear butenes have a short life due to the formation of coke during the isomerization reaction, resulting from the occurrence of parasitic reactions such as cracking, polymerization and oligomerization, and a lack of stability frequently resulting in a rapid decrease of the conversion rate.
RSA Patent Application No 92/1318 and European Patent Application No 92200516.0 disclose a process for the conversion of a feedstock comprising linear olefins into a product enriched in branched olefins, which process comprises contacting the feedstock with a tectometallosilicate having a ferrierite crystal structure at a temperature between 150.degree. C. and 450.degree. C., and olefin partial pressure of more than 0.5 bar and a total pressure of between 0.5 and 25 bar. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a tectometallosilicate which has a ferrierite crystal structure, is a fully or at least substantially crystalline material.
The use of the ferrierite zeolite, as a catalyst for the skeletal isomerization reaction of linear buteries, at an olefin partial pressure of Jess than or equal to 0.5 bar is described in European Patent Application 9320 1677.7. As expected, the lower partial pressures result in higher yields of the branched isomer.
European Patent Application No 92305090.0 discloses a process for structurally isomerizing a linear olefin of at least 4 carbon atoms to its corresponding methyl branched iso-olefin, which process comprises contacting a hydrocarbon feedstream containing at least one said linear olefin with an isomerizing catalyst at a temperature of from 340.degree. C. to 650.degree. C., said isomerizing catalyst comprising at least one zeolite with one or more one-dimensional pore structure having a pore size small enough to retard by-product and coke formation within the pore structure and large enough to permit entry of the linear olefin and allow formation and diffusion of the methyl branched iso-olefin. Likewise, it will be appreciated that a zeolite is considered by those skilled in the art, as a fully crystalline or at least substantially crystalline material. Examples of zeolites which can be used according to the aforementioned publication, include ferricrite, FU-9, NU-23, NU-10, ZSM-12, ZSM-22 etc, and molecular sieves such as SAPO-11, SAPO-31, SAPO-41, etc.


The present invention relates generally to apparatuses and methods for metering and conveying dry powder or granular materials to a blender, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for accurately metering and conveying dry powder or granular materials to a blender in a substantially closed system.
In conventional oil field operations, dry powder and granular materials are transported in sacks to the well location. The sacks are then manually moved to a metering feeder mounted on a fluid blending device. The metering feeder has a hopper to collect the dry powder or granular material and to serve as a reservoir. The hopper is kept full by opening sacks of the dry powder or granular material and dumping them into the hopper. The amount of dry powder or granular material must be kept at a constant level in the hopper so as to maximize the accuracy and repeatability of the metering feeder. The accuracy and repeatability of the metering feeder is dependent on having a constant material bulk density at the screw auger.
Fluctuating levels of powder or granular material in the hopper can alter the bulk density of the material, and thus negatively affect the desired quality of the oil field service fluid. However, it is difficult to maintain a constant feed of material to the hopper when the hopper is being filled manually. Thus, the drawback of such systems is that there is a likelihood the hopper will be either overfilled in which case dry powder or granular material is spilled, or underfilled in which case the bulk density will be altered, which in turn will reduce the quality of the oil field service fluid. In the case where the dry powder or granular material is spilled, material is lost and clean up is necessary, which translates into lost revenue. This method also generates a lot of dust since the hopper is open to the outside air.
Alternate methods have been proposed, which also have drawbacks of their own. One such method is to transport the dry powder or granular material to the well location in a large bulk tank and to convey the material pneumatically or mechanically to the metering feeder on the fluid blending device. This method, however, requires the conveying device to be controlled either automatically with level sensors and control loops, or manually in order to keep the dry powder or granular material at a constant level in the metering hopper for maximum accuracy and repeatability. Vehicle roading and equipment vibrations tend to compact the powder or granular material and cause significant variations in the bulk density of the material which affects the accuracy and repeatability of the metering feeder. This process is also labor intensive, susceptible to sensor failures and likely to generate dust.


The present invention relates to a ceramic microwave filter having improved edge steepness, which has at least two resonators in a one-piece ceramic body and coupling structures associated with the resonators, for capacitively coupling the ceramic filter to an external radio-frequency circuit.
DE 197 41 147 A1 describes a ceramic microwave filter comprising a ceramic body in which two mutually parallel inner conductor bores with a round cross section are constructed as resonators. The ceramic body itself comprises two sintered green compacts pressed together, and is therefore seen to that extent as being one piece although the two green compacts form different dielectrics. The ceramic body also has coupling structures which are formed by electrical isolation of the metallic coating which is otherwise applied over the whole surface to the ceramic body. This isolation can be undertaken mechanically or by an etching technique or photo-resist technique.
Furthermore, DE 197 41 177 A1 describes a ceramic microwave filter which is formed from a standard ceramic body having coupling structures constructed on its surface and two inner conductor bores with a circular cross section as resonators, these two inner conductor bores having steps which serve to steepen the flanks of the forward characteristic of the ceramic microwave filter. The ceramic body of this ceramic microwave filter is also metallized on all sides with the inclusion of the inner surfaces of the inner conductor bores, the coupling structures being electrically isolated from this metal coating. Such ceramic microwave filters are preferably used as mobile radio filters in mobile radio telephones (mobiles).
Mobile radio sets and, specifically, mobile radio telephones are intended to have as high an output power as possible in order to be able to ensure a maximum output power in mobile radio sets, transmitting filters should be distinguished by insertion losses that are as low as possible, on the one hand, and transmission noise in a receiving band should be minimized by transmitting filters with a high selectivity, on the other hand. Thus, overall there is a need for a transmitting filter which has a high selectivity in conjunction with low insertion losses.
In the case of ceramic microwave filters, there is a fundamental relationship between insertion loss or the quality of the filter and the volume of the ceramic body of the filter. The larger the ceramic body made from a highly dielectric ceramic, the lower the insertion loss, since the quality of the line resonators coupled in the ceramic body is proportional to the volume of the ceramic body. This means that a reduction in the insertion loss can be achieved only via an increase in the volume of the ceramic body. However, this is opposed by the requirement that the ceramic microwave filters should be fashioned as small as possible for the purposes of mobile radio, in order likewise to be able to fashion the size of a mobile radio telephone to be as small as possible. It is to be noted that the selectivity can be H achieved only by increasing the pole number or by a complicated coupling of the resonators of the ceramic microwave filters with coils and capacitors to form a band-stop filter.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a ceramic microwave filter having improved edge steepness which is distinguished by a lower insertion loss at the band edge, and thus by a correspondingly high edge steepness.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a ceramic microwave filter having a characteristic curve with an improved edge steepness. The ceramic microwave filter includes a one-piece ceramic body with at least two resonators and with coupling structures associated with the resonators for capacitively coupling the ceramic filter to an external RF circuit. At least one counter-oscillator is configured in the ceramic body approximately in parallel with the resonators.
If appropriate, it is also possible to provide two or more counter-oscillators, it being preferred for each resonator to be assigned a counter-oscillator. The resonators themselves can be rectangular in cross section, since given such a cross section, the unloaded quality, and thus the insertion loss of the ceramic microwave filter, can be further improved.
The ceramic body is completely metallized except for its raised end face, the coupling structures being isolated in the usual way from this metallic coating.
The two resonators which, as explained, preferably have a rectangular cross section, are excited capacitively via the coupling structures. The counter-oscillators are weakly excited, in order to render the insertion loss of the frequency at which the xe2x80x9ccounter-notchxe2x80x9d forms in the characteristic curve as highly selective as possible. Specifically, at the same time the insertion loss at the band edge is then low, with the result that the edge steepness is correspondingly high.
The edge steepness and selectivity can be further increased by use of a second counter-oscillator when the xe2x80x9ccounter-notchxe2x80x9d is selected to be approximately the same for both resonators, Another possibility consists in providing the counter-oscillator such that both filter edges of the ceramic microwave filter are steepened.
It is also possible, in principle, to use more than two resonators, although the insertion loss then rises slightly. However, a further improvement in the edge steepness can also be achieved here by using appropriate counter-oscillators.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a ceramic microwave filter having improved edge steepness, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to articulating fencing systems and, more particularly, to a radially articulating fencing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Farmers and ranchers use fences, walls, hedgerows and other boundary markers to demarcate territory, and to control ingress and egress of persons and animals from and to the boundaries territory. With the advent of large cattle and sheep ranches, particularly in the Western United States, fences are used primarily to restrain domestic livestock from leaving a fenced in area. These western style fences are typically built from four or five horizontally spaced strands of barbed wire, mounted on wooden fence posts that are driven into the ground. A single fence, often stretching for miles, is used to delineate a xe2x80x9crangexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpasturexe2x80x9d where herds of cattle, or other grazing animals, are confined.
Multi-purpose land use methods have brought crop cultivation and the raising of livestock together on the same land. These multi-use methods involve dividing a tract of land into several parcels and rotating the function of the parcels between crop cultivation and livestock feeding. These methods typically involve concentrating dense populations of livestock, such as feeder cattle and dairy cattle, on one parcel while crops, such as grains and seeds, are being cultivated on the others. Since cattle fed in this manner are in high density, barbed wire fences, and fences that have electrified strands of wire, are needed to confine the cattle in the parcel. Multi-purpose land use methods have gained widespread acceptance in the agriculture business because they generate increased yields of table meat from cattle by providing abundant food supplies for fattening cattle prior to slaughter.
With the requirement for increased agriculture production, especially in arid climes, sophisticated irrigation systems and methods have become a necessity to increase acreage yields. Today, these systems are usually automated, using computers, and can cover extended acreage without being manned. Water pressure and electricity are commonly used to provide the energy to move these systems. The irrigation systems which have mechanized means of movement such as drive wheels mounted under spray irrigation carriages. A pivotal irrigation system, for example, is anchored at a center point and rotates about that point on large cleated wheels, mounted under a spray irrigation carriage, to sweep out an irrigation circle which can be a mile or more in diameter.
The close proximity of cattle pastures and domestic crops created by modern, multi-purpose land use methods have put an unforseen burden on irrigation systems. The fences, necessary for separating cattle pastures from growing crops, greatly hinder the mobility of irrigation systems over a tract of multi purpose farmland. Large irrigation systems designed to efficiently irrigate large tracts of land, such as a pivotal irrigation systems, become impractical if they are obstructed by fences.
One approach to allow a fenced area to be irrigated, has been to place gaps in the fence which are wide enough for the cleated wheels of the irrigation system to pass. Unfortunately, the cleated wheels are so wide that the gaps in the fence are large enough to let livestock, including cattle, pass as well.
Another approach is to have crews move the fence in the path of the irrigation system and then replace it. This is labor intensive and expensive. It would therefore be advantageous to have fencing system that could articulate under the force of the moving irrigation system wheels, yet be resilient enough to retain livestock. Unfortunately, there are a number of problems associated with such a system. First, the fence must be able to yield to the force of the cleated wheels and articulate from its upright position, perpendicular to the ground, to a substantially flattened position that is parallel with the ground. Second, the fence system must maintain the strand integrity to keep from snapping wire strands as the fence articulates.
Articulating fence systems have been suggested for varying uses, such as flood-fences built along river banks that are prone to regular flooding. U.S. Pat. No. 567,333 issued to Chandler, for example, discloses fence posts and fences that can pivot on a hinge from an upright position normal to the ground, to a flattened position parallel with the ground. Unfortunately, a number of problems arise when attempts are made to adapt these fence systems to use with mobile irrigation systems on farmland.
Many hinged fence systems disclosed in the prior art are designed to remain parallel with the ground after being knocked down, and must be re-erected by hand to their upright positions. Such systems defeat the benefit of having a computer-controlled, self-propelled irrigation system, since they must be monitored and re-erected. Moreover, fences which are down for even a short time create a possibility that livestock will migrate from their designated pastures. In addition, they are labor intensive and thus expensive.
There are additional problems with fence systems disclosed in the prior art. Those that have some kind of resilient means, such as a spring mechanism, which allow the fence to spring back to an upright position after being knocked down by the irrigation system, are hinged at their base so as only to pivot in a single plane. If an irrigation system does not approach the fence in a direction that is perfectly aligned with the articulation direction of the fence system, then the irrigation system imparts side loads on the fence and can cause permanent damage to both systems. This problem is particularly acute for the widely used irrigation systems that rotate around a fixed center point. These systems commonly exert side load forces on the fence, causing either the posts or the wire strand to break or to be damaged.
Presently, there is a need for an articulating fencing system that can allow passage of the irrigation system and accommodate the side loads exerted on the fence by the irrigation system. This need is especially great for fence systems which have delicate strands of electrified fencing wire which are easily snapped under the strain of an impinging irrigation system that moves along an arc that is not perpendicular to the fence line.
It has now been discovered that the problems encountered with prior art fencing systems can be overcome by the present invention. In the broad aspect of the present invention, a fencing system is provided that comprises at least two fence posts, wherein at least one of the fence posts is a resilient, isotropically articulating member, and the posts have strung there between at least one strand of flexible fencing material, such as a wire or cord. In accordance with the present invention, the system resiliently yields to forces exerted in substantially all directions, including directions other than those perpendicular to the fence line.
In accordance with the broad aspect of the present invention, the fencing system contains at least one isotropic fence post that resiliently yields to an object (e.g., a mobile irrigation system) approaching the fencing system from any direction, even a direction substantially parallel to the fence line. The fencing system yields to objects resistively. For example, the system will resiliently yield to a mobile irrigation system, but not to the force of a cow moving against the fence. In a preferred aspect, the resistance to a force pressing against the fence system is variably set, causing the fence posts to substantially yield only when a preset amount of force is applied. For example, the resistance can be set such that the force of a strong wind or a herd of cows will not cause the fence posts to articulate, but the force of an impinging irrigation system will.
Preferably, the fence system of the present invention has at least three posts, including at least one resiliently articulating center post that is aligned between a pair of end posts, wherein a flexible fencing material is strung between adjoining posts. The at least one center post of the present invention is a resilient, isotropically articulating member that preferably includes a shaft adapted for affixing flexible fencing material; a resilient, isotropically flexible member having a top end for rigid communication with the shaft and a bottom end for rigid communication with a base element; and an anchor element, connected to the base element, for anchoring the base. The flexible fencing material preferably comprises strands of wire, either single strand or braided, including strands of electrically conducting metal for electric fences, and strands of barbed wire.
The end post elements of the system of the instant invention can be resiliently articulating, or they can be rigid, non-articulating supports. In a preferred aspect, the end posts are non-articulating. It will be realized that in accordance with the invention the end post elements may also form the apex of a corner that is formed from two linear segments of fence which are joined together at an angle (i.e., the end post is a corner post). At least one segment so joined is radially articulating.
In accordance with a preferred aspect of the present invention, the resilient, isotropically articulating posts have an isotropically flexible member for allowing a shaft to resiliently articulate between a position substantially perpendicular to the ground, and a position substantially parallel to the ground. In a preferred embodiment, the isotropically articulating member is a spring, and preferably a coil spring, that is able of radial, resilient articulation. In another embodiment, the isotropically flexible member is a segment of flexible hose, preferably made from plastic or rubber.
Preferably, a fence material tensioning means, such as a coil spring, is used to attach a strand of fencing material to at least one post element of the fencing system. The tensioning means provides flexibility to assure the integrity of the fence material when the fence is under stress. This is to further assure that strands of fencing material in the fencing system will not break when the fence posts are articulated.
In one preferred embodiment, the tensioning means includes at least one spring element connected at one end to a strand of fencing material and on the other to a variable set tensioning means, such as a turnbuckle, which adjusts the amount of tension on the strand. In another embodiment, the tensioning means comprises two spring segments having a variable set tensioning means there between. In another embodiment, the tensioning means comprises a spring loaded pulley assembly rotatably attached to the end post assembly. A strand of fencing material is spooled on the pulley and held in tensioned engagement therewith.


Agents acting at central cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors may induce satiety (Schick, Yaksh and Go, Regulatory Peptides 14:277-291, 1986). They are also expected to act as analgesics (Hill, Hughes and Pittaway, Neuropharmacology 26:289-300, 1987), and as anticonvulsants (MacVicar, Kerrin and Davison, Brain Research 406:130-135, 1987).
Reduced levels of CCK-peptides have been found in the brains of schizophrenic patients compared with controls (Roberts, Ferrier, Lee, Crow, Johnstone, Owens, Bacarese-Hamilton, McGregor, O'Shaughnessey, Polak and Bloom. Brain Research 288:199-211, 1983). It has been proposed that changes in the activity of CCK neurones projecting to the nucleus accumbens may play a role in schizophrenic processes by influencing dopaminergic function (Totterdell and Smith, Neuroscience 19:181-192, 1986). This is consistent with numerous reports that CCK peptides modulate dopaminergic function in the basal ganglia and particularly the nucleus accumbens (Weiss, Tanzer, and Ettenberg, Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour 30:309-317, 1988; Schneider, Allpert and Iversen, Peptides 4:749-753, 1983). It may therefore be expected that agents modifying CCK receptor activity may have therapeutic value in conditions associated with disturbed function of central dopaminergic function such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease.
CCK and gastrin peptides share a common carboxy terminal pentapeptide sequence and CCK peptides can bind to the gastrin receptor of the stomach mucosa and elicit acid secretion in many species including human (Konturek, Gastrointestinal Hormones, Ch. 23, pp 529-564, 1980, ed. G. B. J. Glass, Raven Press, NY). Antagonists of the CCK-B receptor would also be expected to be antagonists at the stomach gastrin receptor and this would also be of value for conditions involving excessive acid secretion.
CCK and gastrin peptides have trophic effects on the pancreas and various tissues of the gastrointestinal tract (Johnson, ibid., pp 507-527), actions which are associated with increased DNA and RNA synthesis. Moreover, gastrin secreting cells are the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (Stadil, ibid., pp 729-739), and some colorectal tumors may also be gastrin/CCK dependent (Singh, Walker, Townsend and Thompson, Cancer Research 46:1612, 1986; and Smith, J. P., Gastroenterology 95:1541, 1988). Antagonists of CCK/gastrin receptors could therefore be of therapeutic value as antitumor agents.
The CCK peptides are widely distributed in various organs of the body including the gastrointestinal tract, endocrine glands, and the nerves of the peripheral and central nervous systems. Various biologically active forms have been identified including a 33-amino acid hormone and various carboxyl-terminus fragments of this peptide (e.g., the octapeptide CCK26-33 and the tetrapeptide CCK30-33). (G. J. Dockray, Br. Med. Bull. 38(3):253-258, 1982).
The various CCK peptides are thought to be involved in the control of smooth muscle contractility, exocrine and endocrine gland secretion, sensory nerve transmission, and numerous brain functions. Administration of the native peptides cause gall bladder contraction, amylase secretion, excitation of central neurons, inhibition of feeding, anticonvulsive actions and other behavioral effects. ("Cholecystokinin: Isolation, Structure and Functions," G. B. J. Glass, Ed., Raven Press, New York, 1980, pp 169-221; J. E. Morley, Life Sciences 27:355-368, 1980; "Cholecystokinin in the Nervous System," J. de Belleroche and G. J. Dockray, Ed., Ellis Horwood, Chichester, England, 1984, pp 110-127.)
The high concentrations of CCK peptides in many brain areas also indicate major brain functions for these peptides (G. J. Dockray, Br. Med. Bull. 38(3):253-258, 1982). The most abundant form of brain CCK found is CCK26 33, although small quantities of CCK30-33 exist (Rehfeld and Gotterman, J. Neurochem. 32:1339-1341, 1979). The role of central nervous system CCK is not known with certainty, but it has been implicated in the control of feeding (Della-Fera and Baile, Science 206:471-473, 1979).
Currently available appetite suppressant drugs either act peripherally, by increasing energy expenditure (such as thyroxine), or in some other manner (such as the biguanides), or act by exerting a central effect on appetite or satiety.
Centrally acting appetite suppressants either potentiate central catecholamine pathways and tend to be stimulants (for example, amphetamine), or influence serotonergic pathways (for example, fenfluramine). Other forms of drug therapy include bulking agents which act by filling the stomach, thereby inducing a "feeling" of satiety.
CCK is known to be present in some cortical interneurones which also contain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (H. Demeulemeester et al, J Neuroscience 8, 988-1000, 1988). Agents that modify GABA action may have utility as anxiolytic or hypnotic agents (S. C. Harvey, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (7th ed.) 1985, pp 339-371, MacMillan). Thus, agents which modify CCK action may have parallel anxiolytic or hypnotic activities. The role of CCK in anxiety is disclosed in TIPS 11:271-273, 1990.


A quantum key distribution system is configured with a transmitter, a receiver, and an optical fiber link that connects the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter transmits photons to the receiver via the optical fiber link (a quantum communication channel). After that, the transmitter and the receiver exchange control information with each other, and share cryptographic keys. This technology is implemented using the technology generally referred to as quantum key distribution (QKD).
In order to share cryptographic keys between a transmitter and a receiver using quantum key distribution, it is necessary to perform a key distillation operation in the transmitter as well as in the receiver. The key distillation operation includes a sifting operation, an error correction operation, and a privacy amplification operation. As a result of performing the key distillation operation, the transmitter and the receiver share cryptographic keys. The amount of generation per unit time of the shared cryptographic keys is called a secure key rate. Being able to use a number of cryptographic keys enables performing high-speed and safer cryptographic data communication. Hence, it can be said that, higher the secure key rate, the more enhanced is the performance of a quantum key distribution system.
In such quantum key distribution systems, there is a system in which an optical processing device, a high-speed signal processing unit, and a central processing unit (CPU) are arranged in series for the purpose of quantum key distribution and, depending on the details of communication to be done with another communication device, switching is done between whether the key distillation operation is to be assigned to the high-speed signal processing unit or to the CPU. In this way, the processing load and the communication load required in the key distillation operation is distributed to achieve a high speed during the operations.
However, in such a quantum key distribution system, the optical processing device, the high-speed signal processing unit, and the CPU are connected in series; and the operations include sequential transfer of data. Hence, in case some of the operation modules (for example, the high-speed signal processing unit) stop operating, then the operations at the prior stage and the subsequent stage also get terminated. Moreover, the key distillation operation includes a plurality of different algorithms intended for the sifting operation, the error correction operation, and the privacy amplification operation. Hence, if the configuration includes only a single high-speed signal processing module, then it is not possible to have a high-speed signal processing unit with the most suitable configuration for each operation constituting the key distillation operation.


Milling tools are known for use in removing a section or window of existing casing from a well bore. In a known implementation, a whipstock-mill combination tool is run into the wellbore. This combination tool typically comprises a milling bit which is secured to a top of the whipstock. The milling bit is in some instances a starting mill. At a desired wellbore depth, typically set with a packer, the whipstock (which is hanging from the milling bit) is set at a correct orientation and secured in place. The milling bit is then freed from the whipstock and rotated with applied pressure. The concave face and taper of the whipstock forces the milling bit against the inside of the casing to cut an initial casing window (this initial milling operation may also remove the mechanism which attached the top of the whipstock to the milling bit). The starting mill is then removed from the wellbore and a window mill bit, attached to a more flexible drill string, is lowered into the wellbore. This window mill bit is then rotated to mill down from the initial casing window as the window mill bit rides further down the concave face and taper of the whipstock. This forms a casing window opening. The window mill bit is then removed. Additional mill bits may be run in the wellbore to define the size and shape of the opening in the casing. To the extent additional formation drilling is desired after opening the casing window, for example in connection with directional drilling operations, a drill bit would then be run into the wellbore and out through the formed casing window to engage the formation.
It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the operation for milling a casing window is quite time consuming and expensive since it requires several different tools and multiple trips down the wellbore. If further formation drilling is required after opening the casing window, yet another trip is needed to run the formation drilling equipment back into the wellbore. There would be an advantage if more efficient milling and drilling methods and tools were available for use in connection with the milling of a casing window and the drilling of formations through that casing window.
In connection with known one trip mill-drill systems, which utilize a whipstock hung under the mill or mill drill for whipstock run in, orientation, and placement, the typical method for attaching the whipstock to the mill or mill drill utilizes one or more threaded sockets or a threaded nozzle port in the lower portion of the bit. An intervening component is then bolted to the threaded socket(s) and to the upper portion of the whipstock assembly. Operation of the system involves shearing off the bolted connection with the application of weight and rotational force. This weight and rotational force, through the concave face and taper of the whipstock, further urges the mill drill into the casing wall so as to commence window milling.
For efficiency and trip savings reasons, tool designers try to design the mill drill to be capable of both milling out the casing window and effectively drilling ahead into and through the rock formations beyond the casing. This design goal has not generally been satisfactorily achieved. One reason for this is that the diamond layers of PDC drill bit cutters which tool designers prefer for use in effectively removing formation material are not as effective for use in milling steel casing material. It is known that other materials, such as tungsten carbide, or cubic boron nitride (CBN), are better at cutting ferrous materials, like well casings, but are not as effective at cutting rock that is encountered for instance after the casing has been penetrated. To address this issue, it is known in the art to provide PDC drill bits with tungsten carbide, or cubic boron nitride (CBN), cutting features to assist in milling operations, while the PDC cutters of the bit function in connection with subsequent formation drilling. The performance of these combination mill/drill bits has not been entirely satisfactory.
An issue also arises with respect to connecting the whipstock to a PDC drill bit. Most PDC drill bits used in oilfield applications today are manufactured with bodies cast from a tungsten carbide matrix. It is extremely difficult and time consuming to attempt to retrofit a matrix PDC bit design with a threaded socket for whipstock attachment because the matrix material is too hard for standard machining. Alternatively, the threaded socket can be included in the original casting design. However, the design and integrity of the bit can be compromised by the inclusion of the threaded socket (either machined in, or cast in). These problems exist as well for bits whose bit bodies are made from material other than tungsten carbide. The incorporation of threaded sockets for whipstock attachment in steel bit bodies, for example, may also compromise optimum design or bit body integrity.
There accordingly exists a need in the art for an attachment mechanism for hanging a whipstock from a drag-type PDC drill bit. Preferably, a non-invasive way of attaching a whipstock to a standard drag-type PDC drill bit would be provided. This solution could also be applied to application specific mills or mill drills so as to eliminate the necessity for an invasive threaded socket to attach the whipstock.
Reference is made to prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,178,609, 5,887,655, 3,652,138 and 5,069,297, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Reference is also made to the Knight Fishing Services, X-1 Single Trip Whipstock; the Smith Services Trackmaster Plus Wellbore Departure System, the Weatherford Quickcut Casing Exit System, and the Western Well Tool Non-Rotating Protectors, prior art devices (incorporated by reference).


Building panels provided with a mechanical locking system comprising a displaceable and resilient tongue cooperating with a tongue groove for vertical locking is known and disclosed in, e.g., WO2006/043893. The tongue is a separate part and is made of e.g. plastic and inserted in a displacement groove at an edge of a panel. The tongue is pushed into the displacement groove during a vertical assembling of the panels and springs back into the tongue groove of an adjacent panel when the panels have reached a locked position.
Also known is a locking system for panels comprising a tongue, which is displaceable along the edge of a panel, see, e.g., WO2009/116926, and cooperates with a tongue groove for vertical locking. The tongue is a separate part and is provided with several protrusions, which initially match recesses of the tongue groove. The panels may be assembled by a vertical movement and the tongue is displaced to a position in which the protrusions no longer match the recesses in order to obtain the vertical locking.
Although the description relates to floor panel, the description of techniques and problems thereof is applicable also for other applications, such as panels for other purposes, for example wall panels, ceiling panels, furniture etc.
A drawback with the known system is that a separate tongue must be produced and special inserting machines are required to position the tongue in the displacement groove with high precision.
The above description of various known aspects is the applicant's characterization of such, and is not an admission that any of the above description is considered as prior art.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to quick release devices for constrained animals. In particular, the invention relates to a quick release mechanism incorporated in an animal constraining line such as a horse cross-tie or a dog leash wherein one end of the line is attached to the animal and the other end is constrained.
2. Related Art
It is known to incorporate various quick release mechanisms into devices used to constrain or handle animals. Quick release mechanisms currently in use include biased latch-type mechanisms which can easily become corroded or contaminated by moisture, dirt, and debris, thereby making their operation unreliable.
One type of release which does not include a biasing member, pivoting member, or camming-action member is a xe2x80x9cthree-ringxe2x80x9d type release which is of a type used in the parachute art. However, to the best of Applicant""s knowledge, an animal constraint or handling device effectively able to incorporate such a release has yet to be developed.
Specific restraints or handling devices which could benefit from a more reliable quick release mechanism include cross-ties and dog leashes.
As regards dog leashes, the handlers of guard dogs, attack dogs and the like (e.g., security personnel) generally constrain the dogs by holding onto a leash attached to a dog""s harness, collar, etc. There may come a time when it is necessary to release the dog as rapidly as possible. In such an event, the need for the handler to manipulate a buckle or clip holding the leash to the collar or harness is time consuming, especially if the dog is straining at the leash and moving about. Also, it may be necessary for the handler to put down objects that he/she is carrying, such as a weapon or flashlight, or take his/her eyes from a subject, thereby placing the handler at a disadvantage. Moreover, when it later becomes necessary to reattach the dog to the leash, the handler may again be placed at a disadvantage if the reattachment process is difficult.
Quick release dog leashes that can be remotely operated are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,365 and 4,149,492. However, these mechanisms tend to be of complicated construction, e.g., they may require springs, pivots, and/or cams, and are thereby expensive and prone to contamination and corrosion.
As regards cross-ties, such devices are used to restrain horses wherein one end of a cross-tie is attached to a harness or the like, and another end is held, e.g., by being attached to a fixed object. It may occur that it is desirable to release the horse as rapidly as possible if the horse has lost its balance or otherwise put itself in a precarious position.
U.S. Pat. No. 962,890 to Byrd et al. discloses a harness for controlling animals. A release mechanism is provided for the xe2x80x9coperable ropesxe2x80x9d of the restraint. The release is located along the lower side area of the animal, which is relatively difficult to access when the animal is standing. The release is activated by pressing a thumb piece, which requires the handler to position himself close to the animal in order to activate the release mechanism, thereby increasing the danger the handler will be kicked or otherwise harmed by the animal. Also, the release utilizes spring-biased mechanical parts which are susceptible to contamination, corrosion, and subsequent failure as noted above.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,410 to Wilson et al. discloses a releasable tether having a hook-shaped end and a spring-biased bolt closing member. The release mechanism includes a cable housed in a plastic tube. One end of the cable is connected to the bolt, the other end is connected to a trigger member. This release mechanism is rather complex, and includes moveable spring-biased parts which are prone to contamination, corrosion, and subsequent failure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,771 to Lee discloses a remotely controlled quick release device. The release can be actuated by electromechanical means or manually by purely mechanical means. The release disclosed in Lee is overly complicated, and includes spring-biased relatively moveable parts that are subject to corrosion and contamination as noted above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved quick release animal constraints and handling devices that are simple, reliable, and inexpensive.
It is another object to provide a quick release dog leash which provides a way of quickly re-attaching the leash to a previously released dog.
These and other objects are attained by providing an animal constraint or handling device with a quick release mechanism that is essentially free of any biasing member, pivoting member, or camming-action member.
A cross-tie constructed according to the present invention includes first and second end cross-tie portions connected by a quick release mechanism that is essentially free of any biasing member, pivoting member, or camming-action member.
A plurality of cross-ties constructed according to the present invention each include a quick release mechanism and an associated trigger mechanism which is slidably connected to a respective cross-tie. The plurality of trigger mechanism are connected to each other and form a singular grasping portion, thereby permitting activation of the plurality of quick release mechanisms of the plurality of cross-ties via the singular grasping portion.
The present invention relates to a lead for constraining an animal, the lead comprising a line having a first end portion adapted to be connected to an animal, and a second end portion adapted to be constrained. The lead further includes a coupler connectable to the animal, and a quick release mechanism for connecting the coupler to the first end portion of the line. The quick release mechanism is essentially free of any biasing member, pivoting member, or camming-action member. The line further includes a trigger member operably slidable relative to, and extending away from, the quick release mechanism. The trigger member is manually graspable at a location spaced from the quick release mechanism, thereby enabling remote actuation of the quick release mechanism.
Preferably, the lead constitutes a dog leash, and the coupler constitutes a first coupler. The lead further comprises a second coupler attached to the line for re-leashing a previously released dog.
That second coupler is preferably held against relative movement to the line by the quick release mechanism.


The invention relates to a regional navigation satellite supplementary system.
A navigation system must not only allow positioning of the user with the required precision, continuity, and availability, but also provide the other information necessary for navigation. This other information is typically provided on paper via a map, on a storage media, via traffic radio messages, which are also distributed in digital form.
The street grid maps used in the navigation systems are usually fixed and typically require user interaction to obtain regular updates. Using known techniques, information about current or future traffic obstructions is available only on the local or regional level (if at all), and interregional information (which is also significant for planning longer trips) is typically not easily available. Accordingly, conventional systems do not necessarily provide selective detour recommendation that account for new traffic obstructions that could arise due to bypass recommendations.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide devices and methods which allow traffic obstructions to be bypassed. This allows the street infrastructure to be used significantly more effectively because traffic obstructions may be bypassed. Moreover, the present invention significantly reduces the effort that a user must expend to have current planning documents for his trips.
In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the navigation satellites of the navigation satellite supplementary system which are located over an area in which a service is to be provided are located close to the zenith and transmit a relatively strong navigation signal into the service area. For example, these satellites may fly on suitable geosynchronous orbits, on geosynchronous orbits in or near the equatorial level, or also on so-called Molniya orbits.
These satellites are then implemented as controllable using a (vertically) oriented antenna, to achieve the highest possible signal strength in the service area with the least possible power consumption, the signal strength being dimensioned in such a way that the signals of other satellite navigation systems may still be received. This is achieved, inter alia, by a suitable selection of the coding of the signals.
The signals transmit navigation-relevant information at a data rate which is significantly above the data rate of the commercial service of Galileo. This information contains, inter alia, current and expected traffic obstructions in the service area, recommendations for how specific user groups having various travel directions and travel destinations (which may be regionally combined) are to drive around these traffic obstructions, changes of the street grid in the service area, and also comprise expected traffic obstructions due to environmental influences, chronologically recent changes being repeated relatively frequently and chronologically earlier changes being repeated relatively rarely (which may be no repetition at all). The invention also discloses arbitrary combinations of the above-mentioned navigation-relevant information.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention include a method for transmitting a navigation signal that involves generating navigation signals, wherein the signal strength of the navigation signals is dimensioned in such a way that it is still possible to receive signals of other satellite navigation systems, and wherein the signals transmit navigation-relevant information at a data rate which is significantly above the data rate of the Galileo satellite system; and transmitting the generated navigation signals.
The features specified in connection with the embodiments of the device of the invention are also disclosed for the method.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.