All The Claims

1. A device comprising:
a knob rotatable in a rotary degree of freedom about an axis extending through said knob, said knob also moveable in a lateral plane approximately perpendicular to said axis;
a lateral guide coupled to said knob, said lateral guide comprising a gate and a plunger, said plunger engaging one side of said gate, wherein one of said gate and said plunger is grounded, and the other of said gate and said plunger is coupled to said knob;
a rotational sensor operable to detect a position of said knob in said rotary degree of freedom; and
a lateral sensor operable to detect a position of said knob in said lateral plane.
2. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said gate comprises a plurality of grooves, each of said grooves corresponding with one of a plurality of predetermined lateral directions in said lateral plane, wherein said plunger is operable to engage each of said grooves.
3. A device as recited in claim 2 wherein said gate and said plunger are a first gate and a first plunger and are positioned offset from said axis extending through said knob, and wherein said lateral guide further comprises a second gate and a second plunger positioned on a different side of said axis than said first gate and said first plunger.
4. A device as recited in claim 3 wherein said second gate comprises an approximately conical, non-grooved surface to engage said second plunger.
5. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said gate is coupled to said knob, and wherein said plunger is grounded.
6. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said rotational sensor comprises an optic encoder, comprising an encoder wheel coupled to said knob by a belt.
7. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said knob is operable to move linearly without pivoting.
8. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said knob is operable to move linearly along said axis of rotation.
9. A device as recited in claim 8 further comprising a sensor for detecting linear motion of said knob along said axis of rotation.
10. A device as recited in claim 9 wherein said sensor comprises a contact switch operable to detect a linear motion of said knob of at least a predetermined distance.
11. A device as recited in claim 10 wherein said contact switch is operable to bias said knob to an origin position along said axis of rotation.
12. A device as recited in claim 1 further comprising an actuator coupled to said knob and operable to output a force in said rotary degree of freedom about said axis.
13. A device as recited in claim 12 wherein said actuator comprises a shaft operable to move approximately parallel to said axis of rotation.
14. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said plunger is coupled to said knob, and wherein said gate is coupled to an alignment clutch.
15. A device as recited in claim 14 further comprising an actuator coupled to said knob and operable to output a force in said rotary degree of freedom about said axis.
16. A device as recited in claim 15, wherein said actuator is coupled to said knob by a belt drive transmission.
17. A device as recited in claim 1 further comprising a microprocessor coupled to said rotational sensor and to said lateral sensor, said microprocessor operable to receive a sensor signal from at least one of said sensors.
18. A device as recited in claim 17, wherein said microprocessor is operable to control a function of a device.
19. A device as recited in claim 17, wherein said microprocessor is operable to output a force feedback signal.
20. A device as recited in claim 1 further comprising a display, wherein said display is operable to change in response to manipulation of said knob.
21. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said lateral guide further comprises two slider members engaged to slide transversely with respect to each other.

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 updating a set of filling parameters for a wet clutch system, the method comprising the steps of:
providing the wet clutch system, the wet clutch system comprising:
a piston being movably disposed in a housing, the piston being movable into an extended position by a preloaded spring and into a retracted position by applying an engagement pressure on the piston by a hydraulic fluid, wherein in the retracted position torque is transmittable through a clutch,
a proportional valve disposed for regulating a pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the housing,
a controller controlling the proportional valve,
a sensor for measuring a response of the wet clutch system;

providing the set of filling parameters for the wet clutch system;
actuating the wet clutch system based on at least one of the set of filling parameters;
sensing a response of the wet clutch system during actuation of the wet clutch system;
comparing an observed filling parameter to at least one of the set of filling parameters;
calculating a fill error between the observed filling parameter and the at least one of the set of filling parameters; and
adjusting a plurality of the set of filling parameters based on the fill error.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the set of filling parameters for the wet clutch system comprises a multidimensional matrix.
3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of calculating a correction factor based on the fill error.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of adjusting a plurality of the set of filling parameters is based on the correction factor.
5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the correction factor is one of an additive correction factor and a multiplicative correction factor.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of adjusting a plurality of the set of filling parameters based on the fill error is distributed using one of a Gaussian plane method, a surface gradient method, and a matrix revision method.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of adjusting a plurality of the set of filling parameters based on the fill error is distributed according to a variance using the Gaussian plane method.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the variance is one of adjusted in response to a given application and adjusted as a function of a confidence level of the fill error.
9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of adjusting a plurality of the set of filling parameters based on the fill error is distributed in an asymmetric manner using the Gaussian plane method.
10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of adjusting a plurality of the set of filling parameters based on the fill error is distributed by fitting a surface through an interpolation point based on the fill error and a plurality of points defined by the filling parameters using the surface gradient method.
11. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of adjusting a plurality of the set of filling parameters based on the fill error is distributed by adding an interpolation point based on the fill error to a plurality of points defined by the filling parameters using the matrix revision method.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein by adding an interpolation point based on the fill error to a plurality of points defined by the filling parameters using the matrix revision method, a multidimensional matrix defined by the set of filling parameters becomes denser.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein when the multidimensional matrix defined by the set of filling parameters becomes denser, irrelevant information may be removed from the multidimensional matrix.
14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the matrix revision method is used to add an extrapolation point based on the fill error to a plurality of points defined by the filling parameters, the extrapolation point outside of boundaries of the plurality of points defined by the filling parameters.
15. A method for updating a multidimensional matrix of filling parameters for a wet clutch system, the method comprising the steps of:
providing the wet clutch system, the wet clutch system comprising:
a piston being movably disposed in a housing, the piston being movable into an extended position by a preloaded spring and into a retracted position by applying an engagement pressure on the piston by the hydraulic fluid, wherein in the retracted position torque is transmittable through a clutch,
a proportional valve for regulating a pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the housing,
a controller controlling the proportional valve,
a sensor for measuring a response of the wet clutch system;

providing the multidimensional matrix of filling parameters for the wet clutch system;
actuating the wet clutch system based on at least one of the multidimensional matrix of filling parameters;
sensing a response of the wet clutch system during actuation of the wet clutch system;
comparing an observed filling parameter to at least one of the multidimensional matrix of filling parameters;
calculating a fill error between the observed filling parameter and the at least one of the multidimensional matrix of filling parameters;
calculating a correction factor based on the fill error; and
adjusting a plurality of the multidimensional matrix of filling parameters based on the correction factor.
16. A system for updating a set of filling parameters for a wet clutch system, the system comprising:
the wet clutch system, the wet clutch system comprising:
a piston being movably disposed in a housing, the piston being movable into an extended position by a preloaded spring and into a retracted position by applying an engagement pressure on the piston by a hydraulic fluid, wherein in the retracted position torque is transmittable through a clutch,
a proportional valve for regulating a pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the housing;

a controller controlling the proportional valve; and
a sensor for measuring a response of the wet clutch system, wherein actuating the wet clutch system is based on at least one of the set of filling parameters, a response of the wet clutch system is sensed during actuation of the wet clutch system, an observed filling parameter is compared to at least one of the set of filling parameters, a fill error between the observed filling parameter and the at least one of the set of filling parameters is calculated, and a plurality of the set of filling parameters based on the fill error is adjusted.
17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the set of filling parameters for the wet clutch system comprises a multidimensional matrix.
18. The system according to claim 16, wherein a correction factor based on the fill error is calculated.
19. The system according to claim 18, wherein a plurality of the set of filling parameters is adjusted based on the correction factor.
20. The system according to claim 18, wherein the correction factor is one of an additive correction factor and a multiplicative correction factor.

1. A car wash brush designed to be rotated into engagement with an exterior surface of a vehicle in the washing operation comprising:
an elongate support defining an axis of rotation;
a plurality of angularly spaced sheets of low water-absorptivity, closed cell foam plastic material;
said sheets being attached to said support in circumferentially spaced relation to one another and extending parallel to said axis of rotation;
each sheet being at least partially subdivided into substantially parallel radial fingers;
each of said fingers being of non-coplanar, radially pleated configuration;
whereby said fingers tend to be self-supporting irrespective of the orientation of said brush.
2. A car wash brush as defined in claim 1 wherein the material of the fingers is embossed with a pattern having raised and depressed portions.
3. A car wash brush as defined in claim 2 wherein the pattern comprises raised circles.
4. A car wash brush as defined in claim 1 wherein the material is closed cell foam between about \u215b inch and \xbd inch in thickness.

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 an online gift-giving service comprising:
obtaining a set of social relationships between a giver and a set of receivers;
determining a relationship category for each relationship in the set of social relationships;
generating a profile for each receiver in the set of receivers:
determining a set of gift giving dates for each receiver in the set of receivers based on at least one attribute of each receiver; and
determining a set of gift giving ideas for each gif giving date.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
communicating the set of gift giving dates for each receiver and the set of gift giving ideas for each gift giving date to the giver.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the set of gift giving dates for each receiver and the set of gift giving ideas for each gift giving date are communicated to a giver’s mobile device.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the relationship category comprises a familial relationship, a professional relationship, social relationship or a religious relationship.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the relationship category comprises an implicit social relationship derived from a giver’s online social networking profile and a receiver’s online social networking profile.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the gift giving dates comprises a gifting-giving holiday.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the attributes of each receiver are derived from each receiver’s online social networking profile.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
detecting, with a merchant’s proximity device system, a proximity of the giver’s mobile device.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:
communicating a potential gift ideas to a giver’s mobile device based on a giver’s location, a time of day or an implied giver activity.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the merchant’s proximity device system comprises an iBeacon system.
11. A computerized system of an online gift-giving service comprising:
a processor configured to execute instructions;
a memory containing instructions when executed on the processor, causes the processor to perform operations that:
obtain a set of social relationships between a giver and a set of receivers;
determine a relationship category for each relationship in the set of social relationships;
generate a profile for each receiver in the set of receivers;
determine a set of gift giving dates for each receiver in the set of receivers based on an attribute of each receiver; and
determine a set of gift giving ideas for each gift giving date
12. The computerized system of claim 11, wherein memory containing instructions when executed on the processor, further causes the processor to perform operations that:
communicating the set of gift giving dates for each receiver and the set of gift giving ideas for each gift giving date to the giver, wherein the set of gift giving dates for each receiver and the set of gift giving ideas for each gift giving date are communicated to a giver’s mobile device.
13. The computerized system of claim 12, wherein memory containing instructions when executed on the processor, further causes the processor to perform operations that:
detecting, with a merchant’s proximity device system, a proximity of the giver’s mobile device.
14. The computerized system of claim 13, wherein memory containing instructions when executed on the processor, further causes the processor to perform operations that:
communicating a potential gift ideas to a giver’s mobile device based on a giver’s location, a time of day or an implied giver activity.
15. The computerized system of claim 14, wherein the merchant’s proximity device system comprises an iBeacon system.
16. The computerized system of claim 15, wherein the set of gift giving, dates for each receiver and the set of gift giving ideas for each gift giving date are communicated to a giver’s mobile device.
17. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the relationship category comprises a familial relationship, a professional relationship, social relationship or a religious relationship.
18. The computerized system of claim 17, wherein the relationship category comprises an implicit social relationship derived from a giver’s online social networking profile and a receiver’s online social networking profile.
19. A computerized method comprising:
receiving a set of social relationships between a giver and a receiver;
determining a relationship category for the set of social relationships;
generating a gift profile for the receiver, wherein the gift profile comprises a set of gift giving dates for the giver to provide a gift to the receiver based on at least one attribute of the receiver;
determining a set of gift giving ideas for each gift giving date;
determining that a gift giving date is upcoming;
determining that the receiver is within a specified location, wherein the specified location of the receiver is determined when a merchant’s proximity device system detects a proximity of a giver’s mobile device;
determining that a gift in the set of gift giving ideas is sold by the merchant; and
communicating a gift alert to the giver’s mobile device that the gift for the receiver is is sold by the merchant.
20. The computerized method of claim 19, wherein the gift alert comprises a text messaging and comprises information about the receiver, the receiver’s attribute, the gift profile, the gift giving idea and the gift giving date.