Author: claimsbot

1. A double-deck elevator, comprising:
an upper cage and a lower cage for accommodating passengers, the upper cage and the lower cage each comprising at least one moveable door and being vertically movable together in a hoistway in a building, the hoistway having a plurality of inner walls;
covers for covering a space between the upper cage and the lower cage at a doorside, two lateral sides and a backside of the space;
a door driving unit provided in the space for opening and closing the at least one door of the lower cage; and
at least one movable door link for connecting the door of the lower cage to the door-driving unit, the door link extending in a vertical direction;
wherein at least one of the covers which covers the space at the doorside of the space covers the door driving unit and a top portion of the door link and has a first portion extending downwardly from the upper cage and positioned closer to a doorside inner wall of the hoistway than the door driving unit, and a second portion extending in a horizontal direction from the lowest portion of the first portion away from the doorside inner wall to the door driving unit, the at least one cover including at least one slit through which the door link is inserted, the slit being oriented so as to allow a displacement of said door link in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the at least one door.
2. A double-deck elevator according to claim 1, further comprising a closing member for closing a clearance between a periphery of the slit and the door link.
3. A double-deck elevator according to claim 2, wherein the closing member is made of an elastic material and allows a displacement of said door link by an elastic deformation thereof of the bellows.
4. A double-deck elevator according to claim 2, wherein the closing member is formed as bellows and allows a displacement of said door link by an elastic expansion and contraction of the bellows.
5. A double-deck elevator according to claim 2, wherein the closing member comprises at least one brush having a plurality of bristles, the closing member permitting a displacement of the door link by an elastic deflection of the bristles.
6. A double-deck elevator according to claim 2, wherein said closing member comprises an elastic film having a slit extending in a moving direction of the door link so as to allow a displacement of said door link by an elastic deformation of the film.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method of performing an HVAC system set up, the method comprising:
coupling a supervisory controller to a plurality of equipment controllers, the equipment controllers communicating with the supervisory controller over a bus;
the supervisory controller polling addresses associated with the bus to detect the presence of equipment controllers on the bus;
associating an HVAC device with each controller in response to an HVAC device designated through a user interface and assigning an address to the HVAC device; and
the supervisory controller retrieving control data from a database and loading the control data into the equipment controllers;
the supervisory controller loading operating parameters into the equipment controllers.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the operating parameters are default operating parameters retrieved from the database.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the operating parameters are user-defined operating parameters obtained through the user interface.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the user interface is a graphical interface presenting graphical representations of HVAC devices.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the graphical interface includes an air path screen for accepting input from the user for defining an air path.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the graphical interface includes a heatingcooling screen for accepting input from the user for defining a heatingcooling device.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the supervisory controller communicates with external sources via a communications network.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the communications network is a TCPIP network.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the communications network is accessed though a dial-up modem in the supervisory controller.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the supervisory controller verifies that an equipment controller is associated with a user-specified address.
11. A system for performing an HVAC system set up, the system comprising:
a supervisory controller;
a plurality of equipment controllers communicating with the supervisory controller over a bus;
a database storing predefined control data for a plurality of HVAC devices;
the supervisory controller polling addresses associated with the bus to detect the presence of equipment controllers on the bus;
the supervisory controller associating an HVAC device with each controller in response to an HVAC device designated through a user interface and assigning an address to the HVAC device; and
the supervisory controller retrieving control data from a database and loading the control data into the equipment controllers;
the supervisory controller loading operating parameters into the equipment controllers.
12. A computer program product for performing an HVAC system set up, the computer program product comprising:
a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for facilitating a method comprising:
polling addresses associated with a bus to detect the presence of equipment controllers on the bus;
associating an HVAC device with each controller in response to an HVAC device designated through a user interface and assigning an address to the HVAC device; and
retrieving control data from a database and loading the control data into the equipment controllers;
loading operating parameters into the equipment controllers.

1. A method for motivating students to improve their grade point average using a network system, comprising the steps of:
inputting into the network system a student’s current class schedule;
generating wagering odds for the student to achieve first grades for current class schedule, further comprising:
inputting into the network system the student’s school transcript showing past classes and grades for the respective past classes of the student;
retrieving, by the network system, first objective rating data of a difficulty of the classes in the school transcript;
retrieving, by the network system, second objective rating data of the difficulty of the current class schedule;
inputting, by the student, a wager;
determining, by the network system, a percentage of the wager to be retained by the network system; and
determining, by the network system, a probability of grades to be achieved for the current class schedule based upon the first and second objective rating data obtained, the student’s wager, and the wager percentage retained;

communicating possible wagering odds between the network system and the student resulting in finalized wagering odds;
accepting the finalized wagering odds;
achieving, by the student, second grades for the current class schedule at the end of a current term; and
if the second grades are at least equal to the first grades, rewarding the student in accordance with the accepted wagering odds.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of rewarding the student comprises:
verifying, by the network system, the second grades;
returning, to the student, a percentage of the wager based upon the wagering odds; and
retention by the network system of a percentage of the wager based upon the wagering odds.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wagering odds vary for each class in the current class schedule.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the student may input a wager for each individual class in the current class schedule.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of rewarding further comprises rewarding the student for each class in which a wager was input and the wagering odds was accepted, and the student achieved a second grade at least equal to the first grade.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of accepting further comprises inputting, by the student, a prediction of grades that are at least equal to the first grades.
7. The method of claim 1, where first objective data comprises grade distribution for the student’s past classes, and second objective data comprises grade distribution for the student’s current class schedule.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating wagering odds is performed by the network system.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating wagering odds is performed by the student.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating wagering odds is negotiated between the network system and the student.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein accepting the wagering odds is performed by the student.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein accepting the wagering odds is performed by the network system.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of communicating includes negotiations of wagering odds between the student and the network system.
14. A method for motivating students to improve their grade point average using a network system, comprising the steps of:
inputting into the network system a plurality of student’s current class schedules;
generating wagering odds for each of the plurality of students to achieve first grades for current class schedule, further comprising:
inputting into the network system each of the student’s school transcripts showing past classes and grades for the respective past classes of the student;
retrieving, by the network system, first objective rating data of a difficulty of the classes in the school transcript;
retrieving, by the network system, second objective rating data of the difficulty of the current class schedule;
inputting, by the students, a wager;
determining, by the network system, a percentage of the wager to be retained by the network system; and
determining, by the network system, a probability of grades to be achieved for the current class schedule for each of the students based upon the first and second objective rating data obtained, the students’ wager, and the wager percentage retained;

communicating possible wagering odds between the plurality of students resulting in finalized wagering odds for each student;
accepting the finalized wagering odds by at least one of the plurality of students;
verifying second grades achieved by the at least one of the plurality of students for the current class schedule at the end of a current term; and
rewarding the at least one of the plurality of students in accordance with the accepted wagering odds.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of communicating includes negotiations of wagering odds between the plurality of students and the network system.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein if less than the entire plurality of students accepts the wagering odds, the network system generates second wagering odds and based upon the students who accepted the wagering odds.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of rewarding further comprises:
verifying, by the network system, second grades achieved by the at least one of the plurality of students;
returning, to the at least one of the plurality of students, a percentage of the wager based upon the wagering odds; and
retention, by the network system of a percentage of the wager based upon the wagering odds.
18. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of generating wagering odds is performed by the plurality of students.
19. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of generating wagering odds is performed by the network system.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of verifying is performed by the at least one of the plurality of students.
21. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of verifying is performed by the network system.
22. The method of claim 14, wherein the network system retains a percentage of all accepted wagering odds.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for merging different load forecasts for power grid centers, comprising:
accepting area load forecasts from load forecast engines;
saving load forecast data in a relational data base; and
integrating individual load forecasts into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive, synchronized and harmonized load forecast.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising,
using a programmatic interface that accepts the area load forecasts from load forecast engines.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising,
providing a user interface that allows an operator to review input load forecasts and to modify load forecasts with an override capability.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
merging multiple load forecasts that cover a same time range to form a composite load forecast.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing a programmatic interface that allows consuming applications to query for load forecasts covering at least one of a range of areas, intervals, and time ranges.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing a persistence store to hold load forecast data.
7. A method for merging different load forecasts for power grid centers, comprising:
accepting area load forecasts from load forecast engines within a common service framework;
saving load forecast engine data in a relational database; and
integrating individual load forecasts into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive, synchronized and harmonized load forecast.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
integrating an operator interface to support flexible manual override.
9. A method for merging different load forecasts for power grid centers, comprising:
accepting area load forecasts from load forecast engines; and
serving load forecast requests from different clients with consistent load forecast data; and
integrating individual load forecasts into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive, synchronized and harmonized load forecast.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein improved load forecasts are provided over different time horizons
11. The method of claim 9, wherein operator interface to load forecast is streamlined with reduction of repetitive manual entries.
12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
providing an operator user interface to support manual override capability
13. A method for merging different load forecasts for power grid centers, comprising:
accepting area load forecasts from load forecast engines;
saving load forecast engine data in a relational database;
integrating individual load forecasts into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive, synchronized and harmonized load forecast; and
performing at least one of scaling, adding, setting and linear transformation.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
synthesizing a composite load profile for any given scheduling study period.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
using a weighting factor model to synthesize the composite load profile.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
using a set of front end programmings for inputting and retrieving load forecasts along with boundary processing.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein boundary processing includes at least one of priority and averaging.
18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
providing a middle-tier architecture.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the middle-tier architecture includes an service layer for web services, and exposes services to client applications.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the middle-tier architecture includes an internal service layer.