Author: claimsbot

1. A system configured to determine if a power outage occurs and to generate electricity from a municipal water source to run a furnace, the system comprising:
an inlet configured to draw water from a water supply line;
a first conduit configured to transport water from the inlet into a generator, wherein the generator is capable of generating electricity;
a second conduit configured to transport water from the generator to an outlet, wherein the outlet is configured to return water to the water supply line; and
a battery configured to store electricity created by the generator for supplying electricity to a furnace; and
a solenoid valve positioned between the inlet and the first conduit, wherein the solenoid valve is configured to open in response to when the system determines that a power outage has occurred;
wherein the water supply line is configured to flow water therethrough from the inlet to the outlet when the solenoid valve is closed.
2. The system of claim 1,
wherein the solenoid valve remains closed when an electric grid is operating to supply power to the furnace thereby blocking flow of water into the generator.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the generator is operable with an impeller to generate electricity.
4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a voltage regulator configured to receive electricity from the generator and provide a uniform voltage; and
a rectifier configured to receive power from the voltage regulator and create a desired current prior to entry into the battery.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the battery is a rechargeable lithium ion battery.
6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a logic controller configured to determine when to draw electricity from the battery to power the furnace.
7. A method of supplying electricity to a furnace in the event of a power outage during below freezing temperatures through a system, the method comprising the steps of:
allowing water to flow normally through a water supply line during normal receipt of power from an electric grid;
determining whether a power outage has occurred;
opening a solenoid valve in response to when the power outage has occurred, wherein the solenoid valve is positioned between an inlet and a first conduit;
engaging water within a generator which is in communication with the first conduit to generate electricity;
directing water into a second conduit from the generator; and
returning water to the water supply line through an outlet in communication with the second conduit;
wherein the water supply line is configured to flow water therethrough from the inlet to the outlet when the valve is closed.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:
regulating electricity with a voltage regulator to create a uniform voltage of power created by the generator;
transforming power created by the generator into usable AC or DC current; and
storing power in a battery for later use.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:
retrieving electricity from the battery through a logic network when required by the furnace.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the generator is operable with an impeller to generate electricity.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the battery is a rechargeable lithium ion battery.
12. A system configured to determine if a power outage occurs, the system comprising:
an inlet which draws water from a water supply line;
a solenoid valve positioned proximate the inlet configured to open in response to when the system determines that a power outage has occurred;
a generator having an impeller which receives water from the inlet when the solenoid valve is open and generates electricity;
an outlet to return water used by the generator to the water supply line;
a battery which stores power created by the generator for later supply to a furnace;
wherein the water supply line is configured to flow water therethrough from the inlet to the outlet when the solenoid valve is closed.
13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:
a voltage regulator which receives electricity from a DC generator and provides a uniform voltage; and
a rectifier which receives power from the voltage regulator and creates current prior to entry into the battery.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the battery is a rechargeable lithium ion battery.
15. The system of claim 12, further comprising:
a logic controller configured to determine when to draw electricity from the battery to power the furnace.

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 operating a cleaning appliance having a dispensing system configured to operate in at least one of a single use dispensing mode and a bulk dispensing mode, which is operably coupled to a controller having a user interface through which a user may select a cycle of operation to be implemented by the controller, the method comprising:
automatically determining, by the controller, which one of the single use dispensing system and the bulk dispensing system will dispense treating chemistry during the cycle of operation; and
providing an indication of the determination on the user interface.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an indication comprises providing at least one of a visual indicator and an audible indicator on the user interface.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein providing an indication comprises providing both a visual indicator and an audible indicator.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the visual indicator comprises displaying on the user interface at least one of an icon, an alpha-numeric character, and a light.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining comprises receiving an input from the user through the user interface.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the receiving an input comprises the user selecting an input on the user interface.
7. The method of claim 5 further comprising displaying on the user interface the single use dispensing mode and the bulk dispensing mode.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein the receiving an input comprises receiving an override to the determination.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the determination comprises determining a presence of treating chemistry in the single use dispensing system.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the determination is the single use dispensing mode when treating chemistry is present in the single use dispensing system.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the determination is the single use dispensing mode when treating chemistry is present in both the single use dispensing system and the bulk dispensing system.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein the determination is the bulk dispensing mode when treating chemistry is not present in the single use dispensing system.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the determination comprises automatically determining a presence of treating chemistry in the bulk dispensing system.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the determination is the bulk dispensing mode when treating chemistry is present in the bulk dispensing system.
15. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an indication on the user interface of an amount of treating chemistry in the bulk dispensing system.
16. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an indication on the user interface of a dose amount of the treating chemistry from the automatically determined one of the single use dispensing system and the bulk dispensing system.
17. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an indication on the user interface when the treating chemistry is dosed.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising providing an indication on the user interface of a type of treating chemistry being dosed.
19. A cleaning apparatus configured to dose a treating chemistry, comprising:
a single use dispensing system configured to operate in a single dose dispensing mode;
a bulk dispensing system configured to operate in a bulk dispensing mode;
a user interface configured to provide an indication to the user; and
a controller coupled with the user interface, the single use dispensing system, and the bulk dispensing system and configured to automatically determine which of the single use dispensing system and bulk dispensing system will dispense for an operating cycle and to control the user interface such that the user interface provides an indication of which of the bulk dispensing system and the single use dispensing system will be used to dispense the treating chemistry.
20. The cleaning apparatus of claim 19 wherein the single use dispensing system and the bulk dispensing system are separate systems.
21. The cleaning apparatus of claim 19 wherein the single use dispensing system and the bulk dispensing system comprise at least one common component.
22. The cleaning apparatus of claim 19 further comprising a sensor operably coupled to the controller and configured to sense a presence of treating chemistry in at least one of the single use dispensing system and the bulk dispensing system and provide a signal to the control indicative of the presence of treating chemistry and the controller uses the signal to determine which of the single use dispensing system or bulk dispensing system will be used to dispense the treating chemistry.
23. The cleaning apparatus of claim 19 wherein the user interface comprises at least one of a visual indicator and audible indicator to provide the indication.

1. A timing control method of a hardware-simulating program, a plurality of simulating elements being defined in the hardware-simulating program, and the timing control method comprising steps of:
a) executing the simulating elements in a first stage;
b) suspending execution of any of the simulating elements that has been executed to a certain degree in the first stage;
c) resuming execution of all the simulating elements suspended in the first stage to start a second stage when a first specified time point based on an external time coordinate is due;
d) suspending execution of any of the simulating elements that has been executed to a further degree in the second stage; and
e) resuming execution of all the simulating elements suspended in the second stage to start a third stage when a second specified time point based on the external time coordinate is due;
wherein the first specified time point is adjustable to change a simulating speed of the hardware-simulating program in the first stage, and the second specified time point is adjustable to change a simulating speed of the hardware-simulating program in the second stage, independently from the first stage, so that the hardware-simulating program is executable by different simulating speeds at different stages.
2. The timing control method according to claim 1 wherein the external time coordinate is a system clock.
3. The timing control method according to claim 1 wherein the simulating speed of the hardware-simulating program is decreased by putting off the first specified time point in the external time coordinate, and increased by advancing the first specified time point in the external time coordinate.
4. The timing control method according to claim 1 wherein in the step b), it is determined that the simulating element has executed to the certain degree when an accumulated number of executed machine cycles of the simulating element reaches or exceeds a first threshold.
5. The timing control method according to claim 1 wherein the steps b) and c) are enabled by one of the simulating elements.
6. The timing control method according to claim 1 wherein in the step a), the simulating elements are executed in mixed program sections according to a predetermined sequence.
7. The timing control method according to claim 6 wherein the step a) further comprises sub-steps of:
attaching time tags to simulation data associated with a specified simulating element;
storing the simulation data into a queue; and
reading out the simulation data from the queue according to the time tags when it is the turn of the specified simulating element to operate.
8. The timing control method according to claim 6 wherein the simulating elements are executed by the same microcontroller.
9. The timing control method according to claim 1 wherein the simulating elements are executed by respective microcontrollers.
10. A timing control method of a hardware-simulating program, a plurality of simulating elements being defined in the hardware-simulating program, and the timing control method comprising steps of:
a) executing the simulating elements in a first stage;
b) suspending execution of any of the simulating elements that has been executed to a certain degree in the first stage; and
c) resuming execution of all the simulating elements suspended in the first stage to start a second stage when a first specified time point based on an external time coordinate is due;
wherein the first specified time point is adjustable to change a simulating speed of the hardware-simulating program in the first stage, and the simulating speed of the hardware-simulating program is decreased by putting off the first specified time point in the external time coordinate, and increased by advancing the first specified time point in the external time coordinate.

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 adjusting an output level of audio data to be reproduced, comprising:
searching a recording medium for an audio file requested to be played, said recording medium storing a plurality of audio files;
temporarily storing audio data to be reproduced of the searched audio file and detecting an output level of the temporarily stored audio data; and
adjusting a gain of an audio output amplifier on the basis of the detected output level to output said adjusted audio data to be reproduced, wherein the temporarily stored audio data includes scale factors of sub-bands of audio frames of the audio file, the scale factors used to obtain the output level of the temporarily stored audio data as an indication of an average volume of the audio file, the gain of the audio amplifier adjusted to cause the average volume to correspond to a volume level set by a user.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording medium is adapted to store audio files of various types.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the audio data to be reproduced is data into which the searched audio file is converted by an audio codec corresponding thereto, and wherein the recording medium is adapted to store at least one of an MP3 audio file, MPEG2 audio file and AC3 audio file.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the detected output level is a peak level or average level of the temporarily stored audio data.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein said detected output level is determined by sampling a reduced subset of the temporarily stored audio data.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the temporarily storing comprises:
reading the searched audio file from the recording medium and converting it into the audio data to be reproduced;
temporarily storing audio data of an amount corresponding to a predetermined period of time or a predetermined capacity, among the converted audio data, under the condition that the converted audio data is not amplified and outputted; and
detecting the output level of the temporarily stored audio data.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting comprises:
comparing the detected output level with a predetermined reference level;
increasing the gain of the audio output amplifier when the detected output level is determined to be lower than the reference level as a result of the comparison and reducing the gain when the detected output level is determined to be higher than the reference level; and
amplifying the audio data to be reproduced, at the adjusted gain, to output the adjusted audio data at the reference level, wherein the predetermined reference level corresponds to the volume level set by the user.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises:
comparing the detected output level with a predetermined reference level;
increasing the gain of said audio output amplifier when the detected output level is determined to be lower than the reference level as a result of the comparison and reducing the gain when the detected output level is determined to be higher than the reference level; and
amplifying the audio data to be reproduced, at the adjusted gain, to output the adjusted audio data at the reference level, wherein the predetermined reference level corresponds to the volume level set by the user.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting and adjusting are performed on an audio file basis.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the output level is detected based on a peak level or average level obtained for said temporarily stored audio data, the peak level or average level obtained by accumulatively adding only sampled ones of the scale factors corresponding to respective ones of the sub-bands.
11. A machine-readable storage medium containing instructions for adjusting an output level of audio data to be reproduced, said instructions, when executed in a digital audio system, causing the system to:
search a recording medium for an audio file requested to be played, the recording medium storing audio files of various types;
temporarily store audio data to be reproduced of the searched audio file and detect an output level of the temporarily stored audio data; and
adjust a gain of an audio output amplifier on the basis of the detected output level to output the audio data to be reproduced at a prescribed level, wherein the temporarily stored audio data includes scale factors of sub-bands of audio frames of the audio file, the scale factors used to obtain the output level of the temporarily stored audio data as an indication of an average volume of the audio file, the gain of the audio amplifier adjusted to cause the average volume to correspond to a volume level set by a user.
12. The article of claim 11, wherein the recording medium is adapted to store at least one of an MP3 audio file, MPEG2 audio file and AC3 audio file, and wherein the audio data to be reproduced is data into which the searched audio file is converted by an audio codec corresponding thereto.
13. The article of claim 11, wherein the detected output level is a peak level or average level of the temporarily stored audio data.
14. The article of claim 13, wherein the peak level or the average level is determined by sampling a reduced subset of the temporarily stored audio data.
15. The article of claim 11, wherein the storage medium contains instructions for causing the system to:
read the searched audio file from the recording medium and convert it into the audio data to be reproduced;
temporarily store audio data of an amount corresponding to a predetermined period of time or a predetermined capacity, among the converted audio data, under the condition that the converted audio data is not amplified and outputted; and
detect the output level of the temporarily stored audio data.
16. The article of claim 11, wherein the storage medium contains instructions for causing the system to:
compare the detected output level with a predetermined reference level;
increase the gain of the audio output amplifier when the detected output level is determined to be lower than the reference level as a result of the comparison and reduce the gain when the detected output level is determined to be higher than the reference level;
first amplify the audio data to be reproduced, at the adjusted gain, to output it at the reference level; and
second amplify the first amplified audio data to be reproduced according to a user selected output level of the audio file to be played, wherein the predetermined reference level corresponds to the volume level set by the user.
17. The article of claim 11, wherein the output level is detected based on a peak level or average level obtained for said temporarily stored audio data, the peak level or average level obtained by accumulatively adding only sampled ones of the scale factors corresponding to respective ones of the sub-bands.
18. A digital audio system, comprising:
a reading device configured to read an audio file requested to be played from a recording medium, the recording medium storing audio files of various types;
a converter configured to convert the read audio file into audio data to be reproduced;
a storage device configured to temporarily store the audio data to be reproduced;
a detector configured to detect an output level of the temporarily stored audio data;
an audio amplifier configured to amplify and output the audio data to be reproduced; and
a controller configured to control the reading device to search the recording medium for the audio file requested to be played and read the searched audio file from said recording medium, coupled to said storage device and detector, and for adjusting a gain of the audio amplifier on the basis of the detected output level,
wherein the temporarily stored audio data includes scale factors of sub-bands of audio frames of the audio file, the scale factors used to obtain the output level, and
wherein the detector is adapted to detect a peak level or average level of said temporarily stored audio data, wherein the peak level or average level of the sub-bands, which are used to determine the peak level or the average level of the audio file, is obtained by accumulatively adding only sampled ones of the scale factors.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the digital audio system is one of a portable terminal, a portable computer, and a personal computer having a playback function for the audio files, wherein the recording medium is adapted to store at least one of an MP3 audio file, MPEG2 audio file and AC3 audio file.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the storage device is adapted to temporarily store audio data of an amount corresponding to a predetermined period of time or a predetermined capacity, among the converted audio data, under the condition that the converted audio data is not amplified and outputted by the audio amplifier.
21. The system of claim 18, wherein the detector is adapted to detect the output level of the temporarily stored audio data by sampling a reduced subset of the temporarily stored audio data.
22. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller is adapted to increase the gain of the audio amplifier means when the detected output level is lower than a predetermined reference level and reduce the gain when the detected output level is higher than the reference level to output the audio data to be reproduced, at the reference level.
23. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller is adapted to, on an audio file basis, control the storage device to temporarily store the audio data to be reproduced, control the detector to detect the output level of the temporarily stored audio data, and adjust the gain of the audio amplifier responsive to detected output level and a selected output level of the audio file requested to be played.