It is a composite-type mixed oxygen ion and electronic conductor, in which an oxygen ion conductive phase consists of gadolinium-doped cerium oxide (GDC), an electronic conductive phase consists of spinel-type ferrite (CFO), the particle diameters of both phases are 1 μm or less, respectively, both phases are uniformly mixed mutually, and both phases form respective conductive networks. Both phases have low solid solubility mutually, chemical reactions are not easily caused between both phases, and even if chemical reactions are caused between both phases, different phase to disturb mixed conductivity is not formed. And it has high oxygen permeability, and does not easily cause aged deterioration.

A composite-type mixed oxygen ion and electronic conductor having mixed electrical conductivity arising from oxygen ions and electrons has simultaneously high oxygen ion conductivity and electronic conductivity. In order to apply this substance to the above-mentioned fields, such properties are required as that high mixed electrical conductivity must be maintained in the range from high partial oxygen pressure such as air to extremely low partial oxygen pressure such as hydrogen gas or methane gas, and also chemically and mechanically stable in temperature range of 500-1000° C. where it is generally used.
The mixed conductor having mixed electrical conductivity arising from oxygen ions and electrons (the mixed conductor) has two types as shown below in wide classification.
(1) Single-Phase Mixed Conductor
This is the type that the substance itself has mixed conductivity, and as examples, Perovskite-type oxides in La—Sr—Co—Fe, and La—Sr—Ga—Fe systems are well known (See Ref.: Chem. Lett., 1985, 1743, Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 74, 1995, 71, Catal. Today, 36, 1997, 265, Solid State Ionics, 129, 2000, 285, Solid State Ionics, 135, 2000, 631.).
(2) Composite-Type Mixed Conductor
This is the type in which mixed conductivity is realized by making a composite from two substances one of which shows, as a single component, oxygen ion conductivity, and the other of which shows, as a single component, electronic conductivity, and for examples, the composite of an ionic conductor such as yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and an electronic conductor such as metal Pd, or the composite of gadolinium-doped cerium oxide and Perovskite-type oxides in La—Sr—Mn system are known.
In case of a single-phase mixed conductor, the substances are extremely limited to obtain high mixed conductivity, while for a composite-type mixed conductor wide varieties of substances are applicable. Also in case of composite-type mixed conductors, since several other species of substances are able to be included, it is possible to impart secondary functions, such as catalytic function.
However, composite-type mixed conductors have their own problems. For example, in YSZ-Pd composite, since one component is a ceramics while the other is a metal, it is difficult to obtain densified sintered product, and even if it is obtained, in case of the thermal expansion coefficients widely different in the two phases, cracking may be caused by thermal cycles or other like phenomena.
Further, it is necessary to form conductive networks of oxygen ion conductive phase and electronic conductive phase, respectively, in order to realize mixed conductivity, so that it is required to take into consideration the problem of percolation based on the volume ratio of the phases. Here, percolation is such a phenomenon that, for example, when metal powders are mixed into insulation matrix to obtain electrical conductivity, if the volume ratio of metal powders to insulation matrix exceeds a certain value (critical volume ratio), the network of metal powder is formed in the insulator, and the conductivity increases suddenly.
It is also pointed out for the composite of gadolinium-doped cerium oxide and Perovskite-type oxides in La—Sr—Mn system that, even when high mixed conductivity is attained, the two phases cause chemical reaction upon using at high temperature, and a different phase is formed to disturb mixed conductivity at interface (See Ref.: Solid State Ionics 146, 2002, 163, and J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 21, 2001, 1763.).
In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is the first object of the present invention to provide a composite-type mixed oxygen ion and electronic conductor, in which oxygen ion conductive phase and electronic conductive phase are uniformly mixed, thereby cracking due to the difference of thermal expansion coefficient does not occur, oxygen ion conductive phase and electronic conductive phase respectively form conductive networks, and a different phase to disturb mixed conductivity is not formed by the reaction of both phases, consequently oxygen permeability is high, and aged deterioration does not easily occur. In addition, it is the second object to provide the method to manufacture said composite-type mixed oxygen ion and electronic conductor.

Complex mixed conductor containing Pr-doped cerium oxide and spinel-type ferrite and its preparation method


A power-generating device located in or on the surface of the ocean for generating power utilizing the energy in ocean wave motion. The device is moored to the bow and stern at ˜45° to incoming ocean waves, and with a yawing capability to adjust to change in wave direction. The device delivers power to a shore grid via a submarine cable from a generator. A rotational driving torque to the generator is produced by two long counter-rotating drive tubes, which are held by bearings in the bow hull and the stern hull of the device. As an alternative, hydraulics may be employed for energy capture and power smoothing and used to provide the rotational torque through a hydraulic motor to drive a generator. The main body is partially submerged and has multiple pod floats connected to the structure by rocker arms with bearings through which the drive tubes pass or double-acting hydraulic rams between the arms and the main body, which capture energy through pod displacement and store it in accumulators. Rotary torque of the drive tubes is produced when the pods move up and down according to motion of the waves and is transmitted to the generator to generate power. In the hydraulic case, energy is stored in accumulators as pressure due to the double-acting hydraulic pistons pumping when the pods move up and down according to the motion of the waves. Hydraulic pressure drives a pump, which provides torque to the generator.

The present invention relates to a device, which captures energy resident in the motion of ocean waves to rotate a generator and thereby generate electrical power.
A wave energy converter (WEC) captures energy from ocean surface waves, usually for electricity generation. Of the solar energy forms, the energy of the waves provides the highest energy density. However, prior attempts at wave power generation have not been widely accepted for various reasons.
Wave power is available in low-speed, high forces, and the motion of forces is not in a single direction. Most commercial electric generators operate at higher speeds, and require a steady flow of source energy. Furthermore any apparatus deployed on the ocean must be able to survive severe storms, raising the cost of manufacture and maintenance.
The key to commercial viability of wave technology is a competitive levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Wave power is competitive when the total cost of power generation is low. The total cost includes the capital costs, maintenance costs and electric power delivery costs, and this in relation to the electric power generated, determines the "life-cycle" cost of energy. It is therefore desirable to provide a method and apparatus of obtaining optimum energy extraction from ocean waves at the least cost for the generating system.
The system must have minimal impact on the marine environment, such as fishing grounds and beach shoreline and must not interfere with ocean navigation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,704 to Rubi, titled "Wave action electricity generation system and method" discloses a wave action electricity generation system that includes a floating platform that supports the system components on the water. Wave motion energy is converted into mechanical energy and an electricity generator converts the mechanical power transfer strokes into electrical energy.
The converter includes a cylinder containing a lubricant, in opposed cylinder chamber portions, a first heavily weighted piston that is slidably and freely disposed within the body of the cylinder. The heavily weighted piston is slidably responsive to the wave motion energy of the body of water and is used to compress the fluid to produce respective compression power strokes in each of the cylinder chamber portions. The energy in the compression stroke is received by a second and third pistons located in the cylinder chamber portions that further produce power transfer strokes through the ends of the cylinder. The power transfer strokes associated with the first and second pistons are further converted by a geared transmission to rotary motion that turns a flywheel coupled to an electricity generator. The electrical energy produced is then distributed to a remote power station via a power transmission line.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,336 to Tateishi "Power generating installation" discloses a power generating installation located in a shallow water area of the sea for generating power utilizing a shallow water wave. The system comprises a mooring located either in the sea or at the sea bottom, a chain having one end connected with the mooring and the other end to which a dead-weight is attached. A float is provided with a generator and a rotary member for rotating engaged with the chain. Rotary force of the rotary member produced when the float moves up and down according to an up-and-down motion of the wave is transmitted to the generator, thereby to generating power.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,453,165 to Hench "Method and apparatus for converting ocean wave energy into electricity" discloses a method for harnessing power associated with ocean waves and converting that power into electricity. The apparatus is a buoy that houses a vertically oriented central shaft, a pendulum, and a generator. As the buoy tilts from the vertical under the influence of wave motion, the pendulum is accelerated and rotates about the central shaft. A centrally placed generator is mechanically is driven by the rotating pendulum so that the pendulum's kinetic energy is converted into electricity.
The prior art systems are not capable of producing cost-effective, utility-scale power output to meet modern energy needs.
What is needed is a power-generating device for capturing power from ocean wave motion that provides a stable platform and allows the mechanically linked floats (or buoys) to have maximum exposure to wave action and thereby energy capture.
It is further desirable to provide a method of capturing energy from ocean waves that is efficient, cost effective to manufacture and maintain and is capable of withstanding severe weather events.
It is desirable to have a method and apparatus that is scalable to gain economies in deployment and servicing of the wave energy converter.
It is desirable to provide a method and apparatus of placing a wave energy converter in such a configuration that it is capable of being transported to and from port without interference with ocean navigation.
It is also desirable for the wave energy converter to have an active yaw system to enable optimum/maximum exposure to oncoming waves to maximize energy capture.
The invention relates to an apparatus for generating power utilizing ocean waves. According to one aspect of the invention a plurality of force-transmitting floating pods (buoys) engage a rotary shaft. The rotary shaft drives a generator. The rotary shaft produces a rotary force when the pods move up and down according to an up-and-down motion of an ocean wave. The rotary force is transmitted to the generator to thereby cause the generator to generate power.
In accordance with another of the invention, a hydraulic system provides for energy capture in both upward and downward pod motion.
According to the invention floating pods are used which are moving in an up-and-down motion as the waves pass. The pods are coupled or connected to a lever assembly, for example an arm made of a rigid material. The pods are arranged along an elongated base, which may be an open lattice structure allowing waves to pass through it to activate the pods on the opposite side. The length of the base and the number and size of the pods depend on the expected frequency, wavelength, and amplitude of the waves in the target area. The base may be long enough to straddle a multiple of waves, e.g. 2 to 3 long waves thereby minimizing "pitching" of the base, allowing maximum energy capture by the pods. Along the base (e.g. a V-shaped or Box Shape structure), a number of the power generating components are placed. In the case of a mechanical coupling between the arm/lever of the pods and the power generating system the torque transmitting shafts extend along the elongated base. There may be multiple bases rigidly coupled together in order to build a structure extending over several long waves. In the case of a coupling of the arms/levers of the pods to a hydraulic system the base comprises or houses hydraulic cylinders, which are actuated by the force exerted by the moving pods and transmitted by the arms/levers. The base therefore provides a point of application of the leverage force since it does not follow the up-and-down motion of the waves in the same way as the pods. Since the base extends over at least a considerable part of the wavelength of the waves (or even over more than one wavelength) the forces acting on the base are always different from those acting on a single pod (which is extends only over a small fraction of the wavelength). Therefore the pods are moving up and down relative to the base. Since the arms/levers of the pods are coupled to the base so that they are pivotable, they can exert a leverage force on the force transmitting elements.
It is therefore one key feature of the invention to couple a multiple of pods to a common open lattice structure. Since the structure extends over a full wavelength or more than one wavelength, different pods do experience different wave heights or amplitudes. This means the structure as such does not follow the wave motion as the pods do. This gives rise to a relative movement of the pods and the rest of the structure, which in turn is converted into a leverage force and further in rotational torque or into hydraulic pressure.
The structure will actively yaw to be at an angle (˜45°) to the oncoming waves in order to optimize exposure to the wavefront and period between waves for minimum pitching and maximum energy capture. As wave direction changes, the system will yaw accordingly.
The base may comprise passive floating elements itself in order to provide for buoyancy. However, the base may also be supported solely by means of the pods coupled to the base.
The pods may be made of any appropriate material, which can stand seawater and mechanical stress. The shape of the pods is optimized for wave lift and travel. The pods may be rotated relative to their attached arms (or levers) to facilitate towing from port to the deployment site, or to minimize wave loading under extreme sea states. The pods may have a chamber that can be flooded to allow the entire wave converter system to submerge below potentially damaging wave orbitals.
Along the base the pods may be arranged on two opposite sides of the base thereby keeping the base in balance and providing for a counterforce against the pods on the other side of the base. The open lattice base to which the pods are attached allows waves to pass through the base structure to freely activate pods on the opposite side.
The design and operational approach according to the invention avoids structural concepts requiring extensive use of structural materials to resist bending, hogging, and torsion loads to sustain extreme wave loads from the 50-year return wave. The invention does this by providing a compliantly moored backbone structure, with the pods riding on the waves. While some of the loads get transferred to the backbone, the power conversion system controls these loads by providing the pods less and less resistance as the wave height increases (resulting in a constant power output). Another method to withstand extreme wave loads is to partially flood the pods and allow the wave converter system to submerge to a depth out of the range of the extreme surface wave forces. As the extreme sea state normalizes, the flooded pods are charged with air pressure to evacuate the seawater, and the system resurfaces.
Due to the length of the structure the pitching in minimized which in turn leads to greater energy capture of the apparatus.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention a hydraulic system controls the movement of the pods by using the energy of a wave to activate the hydraulic system and a hydraulic turbine such as an impulse turbine or hydraulic motor connected to an electric generator.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention the hydraulic system includes an impulse turbine and a impulse turbine nozzle in circuit with a pod hydraulic system, which automatically adjusts the force required to move the pods by the waves with changing wave heights.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the pods and shaft are assembled in lengths that result in a stable center structure enabling maximum usable pod displacement and hence energy capture from ocean waves.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the pods impart pumping force in both the upward and downward wave motion using a double-acting piston pump to pressurize hydraulics allow for energy capture.
The invention has the advantage that the modular units allow for cost-effective manufacturing and deployment and tailoring of total power per device, given the needs and resources at the site.
The invention has the advantage that the units assembled to lengths that result in a stable center structure enabling maximum usable pod displacement and hence energy captured from the waves.
The invention has the advantage that the system uses soft-stop hydraulics for piston throw.
The invention has the advantage that a cable-stayed structure version of the design in the center, or base structure, results in cost and weight savings.
The invention has the advantage that the pod hydrodynamic and hydrostatic shape is optimized for low cost of energy (maximizing lifting and dropping forces while minimizing undesired loads, lift force from wave orbitals) and may be rotated at the attachment to the arm to minimize drag during towing to the deployment site, to minimize exposure to waves during extreme wave events.
The invention has the advantage that the tubular base structures double as a hydraulic accumulator to level output. The tubular structure may also serve as ballast, and or pressurized air tanks to clear flooded pods of seawater to resurface the submerged system once extreme wave conditions subside.
The invention has the advantage that the pod variable lift and drop forces maximize energy capture.
The invention has the advantage that system enables multi-directional and frequency energy capture.
The invention has the advantage that the yaw system provides for an individual unit and collective units in an array to manage changes in direction of wind and/or wave travel to maximize energy capture.
The invention has the advantage that mooring systems employed share mooring points, reducing costs


A system for rotating an element inside a pressure containing housing. In some embodiments, the mechanism includes a pressure containing housing having an opening through a wall of the housing into an internal chamber in which, in use, the element to be rotated is located, a bushing located within the opening, and a worm gear rotatably mounted in the bushing. The worm gear is offset from the axial center of the bushing such that rotation of the bushing moves the worm gear between an extended position, wherein the thread of the worm gear engages an element in the chamber, and a retracted position, wherein the thread is disengaged from the element in the chamber.

This invention relates to a rotation mechanism and, in particular, to a rotation mechanism for use in rotating an element which is located within a pressure containing housing.
The specific application of the present invention is to a type of wellhead system known as "Tie back" which is used on wells with pre-drilled casing strings which are suspended at the seabed or mud line. Whilst specifically applicable to this type of wellhead system, the invention may be used in other applications in which rotation of an element in a pressure containing housing is required.
In order to connect pre-drilled casing strings to a wellhead at the surface, which is typically located on a production platform, a means has to be provided in the surface wellhead to place the mudline to surface (tie back) casing strings in tension.
This requires that the casing suspension mechanism (hanger) within the wellhead provides a means of adjustment which conventionally comprises a threaded hanger landing ring. This ring is mounted on the casing hanger and is rotated, such that it is moved axially down the body of the casing hanger whilst the hanger is held at the required tension by tubular members that pass back to the surface. The landing ring is rotated by means of an engaging tool, which is in turn rotated by tubular members passing back to the surface, these tubular members being external to and concentric with the internal tubular member which are holding the casing hanger in tension. The landing ring is rotated down the body of the casing hanger until it abuts a landing shoulder such that the applied tension on the hanger cannot be released.
However, such an arrangement introduces problems in handling, given the concentric tubular members, and increases the number of manipulations down the well (i.e. trips with a tool) which adds significant cost to the drilling operation.
Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide a system which eliminates the requirement for an external tubular member to provide the means of rotating the threaded hanger landing ring, but which still maintains the pressure integrity of the housing.


The present invention relates to cell medium developed to support long term multiplication and permanent establishment of a cell line of human liver epithelial cells. The medium may contain an effective cell growth promoting amount of calcium ions; an effective cell growth promoting amount of glucose; an effective amount of insulin to aid cells in glucose uptake; an effective cell growth promoting amount of hydrocortisone; an effective amount of epidermal growth factor to bind epidermal growth factor receptors on cells; an effective amount of transferrin to increase DNA synthesis in cells; an effective amount of cholera toxin to increase DNA synthesis in cells; an effective amount of triiodothyronine to increase DNA synthesis in cells; and an effective growth promoting amount of mammalian hormones and mitogenic factors, including lipoprotein, cholesterol, phospholipids and fatty acids.

The culture of hepatocytes represents a valuable approach for studying specific mechanisms of xenobiotic metabolism, chemical carcinogenesis, as well as pathology related to inherent or induced metabolic or biochemical abnormalities. Cultures of human hepatocytes can provide a more relevant view of human liver metabolism and disease processes than data obtained from hepatocyte cultures derived from other animal species.
Several problems have hindered in vitro studies of human hepatocytes. One problem is the availability of viable, normal adult human liver. In the past several years we have been involved with the development of an immediate autopsy program which has allowed us to obtain adult human liver tissue within 1 hr following death from patients free of liver disease.
Another problem associated with culture of human hepatocytes, as with most differentiated cells, is that these cells rarely divide in culture. By modifying a serum-free culture medium that was shown to support longterm multiplication of liver epithelial cells from Rhesus monkeys, we have developed replicative cultures of adult human liver cells. However, as with all normal cells, these liver epithelial cells eventually undergo senescence in culture.
The present invention is related to serum-less culture medium (denatured serum) for growth of continuous and non-continuous cell lines. More particularly the present invention is related to culture medium for liver epithelial cells with extended life spans.
The human liver is one of the few organs in adult man capable of regeneration. However, cultures of adult hepatocytes have never been adequately established. Those that have been established are only viable for a limited period of time and are produced in insufficient quantities for research in pharmacology, chemotherapy or oncogenesis.
There are several examples of animal liver cell cultures derived from experimental laboratory animals such as rats (Tsao et. al., Exp. Cell Res. 154: 38-52 (1984); Enat et al., "Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA" 87: 1411-1415 (1984)) but these are not suitable for long term studies due to the limited life span of the culture.
Rat liver cells have been transformed by transfection with SV40 DNA (Woodworth et al, Cancer Res. 46: 4018-4026 (1987); Ledley et al., "Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA" 84: 5335-5339 (1987)) but they are not suitable for human drug metabolism or carcinogenesis studies because of xenobiotic metabolism differences between rat and human liver cells. Further Woodworth reports that immortalized cell lines did not arise spontaneously. Woodworth points out that exposure to hormones and mitogenic factors, in particular EGF, insulin and glucogan, serum factors and virus infection stimulate hepatocyte DNA synthesis.
Clonally-derived cultures of human hepatocytes have been reported (Kaighn and Prince, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 68, 2396-2400 (1971)), but no new data has been generated to support or refute these observations. In addition the medium used contained 17% serum. Several studies have shown that serum (Hashi and Cart J. Cell Physiol., 125, 82-90 (1985)), and more specifically transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-.beta.) present in serum (Nakaruma et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commu., 133 1042-50 (1985); Lin et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commu., 143, 26-30 (1987); and Strain et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commu., 145, 436-442 (1987)) cause a marked decrease in DNA synthesis of rat hepatocytes in culture.
Rat liver epithelial cells from adult rat liver tissue have been established using serum free medium (Chessebeuf and Padieu In Vitro, 20, 780-795 (1984); Enat et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 81, 1411-1415, (1984)).
Human hepatoma cell lines have been cultured and are available (e.g. Knowles et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,133, Jul. 12, 1983, Human Hepatoma Derived Cell Line) but, are not usable in carcinogenesis studies because they are tumorigenic. They were also cultured in medium containing serum.
As is known in the art, the field of tissue culture medium is empirical in nature, and there is little or no predictability as to whether conditions developed for one species will be operable in another.

Cell culture medium for human liver epithelial cell line

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Dept. of Health and Human Services


A method, apparatus and computer program for controlling connection of a driveline within a vehicle (1), the method comprising: detecting a deceleration and/or brake demand while the vehicle is operating in a coasting mode and the vehicle speed is above a threshold speed, determining whether the driveline can be reconnected within a threshold time and controlling the driveline so that the driveline is not reconnected if it is determined that the driveline cannot be reconnected within the threshold time. The method alternatively comprising detecting a deceleration and/or brake demand while the vehicle is operating in a coasting mode and the vehicle speed is above a threshold speed, determining the vehicle's deceleration, determining a threshold deceleration, determining whether the vehicle's deceleration is greater or less than the threshold deceleration and controlling the driveline so that the driveline is not reconnected if the vehicle's deceleration is greater than the threshold deceleration.

In order to increase fuel efficiency of a vehicle the vehicle may be arranged into a sailing mode in which the vehicle's prime mover is disconnected from the driveline. This may increase the fuel efficiency of the vehicle because in such modes the prime mover does not act as a brake on the vehicle.
Different sailing modes, such as coasting and stop on the move (SOTM), may be available for different conditions of the vehicle. In some vehicles a coasting mode may be used when the vehicle is above a threshold speed. In the coasting mode neither the accelerator nor brake pedal are pressed by the driver. A SOTM mode may be used if the vehicle is travelling below a threshold speed and the brake pedal is pressed by the driver.
If the actuation of the brake pedal is detected when the vehicle is in a coasting mode the driveline may be reconnected. The driveline may then need to be disconnected when the vehicle speed has reduced and the vehicle enters the SOTM move mode. The reconnection and disconnection of the driveline may increase fuel consumption of the vehicle and cause drivability issues for the driver.
It is an aim of the present invention to improve the transition from a coasting mode to an SOTM mode.

Apparatus, method and computer program for controlling a vehicle


Apparatus, systems, processes, and computer-readable mediums for organizing, facilitating, monitoring, and obtaining feedback for social fitness events are provided. For at least one embodiment, a system includes an events module, configured to interface with a remote events database including one or more event records; a person module configured to interface with a local first database including two or more first records, wherein each of the two or more first records identify each of two or more persons; a devices module configured to interface with a local second database including at least one second record, wherein each of the at least one second records identifies a device communicatively coupled to the processor using an IoT tag; a services module configured to interface with a remote third database including at least one third record; and a facilities module configured to interface with a remote fourth database including at least one fourth record.

Today, humans have as great of a need as ever for in-person (i.e., "live"—as distinguished from remote or virtual) social interactions with others. Yet, many of today's technological advances, such as the Internet, social media, virtual reality and otherwise often present a simpler, yet often non-ideal, form of social interaction for many. That is, instead of meeting with someone live (in-person) for coffee, such interactions may occur over the Internet, for example, using social media. Further, many persons today lead increasingly hectic, chaotic, and often stressed lives. Such stresses arise from work, family and other commitments and often inhibit such persons from having the opportunity to meet up live with others in a social or other environment. Further, determining the who, what, where, how, and when of a social or other interaction can occur often is very time consuming. For example, determining when two or more persons are available for lunch, at a restaurant acceptable to each such person, and at a time and location so acceptable can often involve numerous exchanges of text messages, phone calls, emails, or otherwise. That is, the simple planning of a lunch "date" can often involve a significant time commitment before the "data" even occurs. Further, who pays for such a "date" can also often present stresses upon the attendees. For example, is it a first person's turn, and if so, what is an acceptable price range? Likewise, what attire is desired for the "date"? These are just a few of the many issues and questions that may arise today that discourage and/or inhibit the live social interaction of two or more persons.
Likewise, it is often desirable for multiple persons, i.e., more than two, to get together for social events. Whether such an event be a celebration (e.g., of a birthday, graduation, marriage or otherwise), a party, or simply a family meal, when multiple persons are to come together live, the stresses of planning, organizing, and facilitating such event often increase substantially. Such stresses may include, for example, scheduling, financial, location, logistics, and others.
Yet, a need exists to address such stresses today. Further, a need exists for systems, devices and methods which utilize the vast information databases and interconnectivity of devices, locations, people, and others to organize, facilitate, monitor and obtain feedback for live social fitness events. These and other needs are addressed by the present disclosure. The various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to using available technologies, such as calendaring, IoT, and social media, and others to make it easier to engage in "live" social interactions.


A new a primocane raspberry cultivar named ‘Titania’ which produces berries which are of a very large size with a good colour and flavour is disclosed. The new cultivar has the advantages of producing two crops per year, where the fruits mainly ripen on current season's cane in autumn.

A new and distinct cultivar of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) hereinafter referred to by the cultivar denomination 'Titania' is disclosed. The new variety 'Titania' was obtained from the controlled cross between the varieties 'Vajolet Plus' (mother plant) (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,573) and the pollen of a wild mountain raspberry plant (father plant) (not patented).
The crossing for the new cultivar occurred in year 2009 in Altopiano della Vigolana (Trento-Italy) and it was subjected to selection in 2010, and successively tested until 2017. The characteristics of the new cultivar have been found stable and have been transmitted without change through succeeding (more than 7 years) asexual propagations by root cutting.
Plant breeder's rights were applied for with the European Union on Jan. 18, 2018. 'Titania' has not been made publicly available.

SANT'ORSOLA SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA AGRICOLA


A positive electrode includes first active material particles, second active material particles, and third active material particles, and the second active material particles include an aggregation of second primary particles. The average particle size D1 of the first active material particles, the average particle size D2 of the second active material particles, and the average particle size D3 of the third active material particles satisfy a relationship of D1>D2>D3. A first particle disintegration rate α1 of the first active material particle and a third particle disintegration rate α2 of the third active material particle are not more than 20%, and a second particle disintegration rate β of the second active material particle is not less than 70%.

The present technology generally relates to a positive electrode active material, a positive electrode, a battery, a battery pack, an electronic device, an electric vehicle, a power storage device, and a power system.
Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries such as lithium ion secondary batteries have a higher energy density than a lead battery and a nickel cadmium battery, which are conventional aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, and are therefore significantly expected, and the market is growing remarkably.
Particularly in recent years, studies for improving the characteristics of nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries have been actively conducted, because the characteristics of nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, such as lightweight and high energy density, are suitable for use in electric cars and hybrid electric cars.
For example, it has been studied to use a mixture of plural kinds of electrode active materials as an electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries.

Positive electrode active material, positive electrode, battery, battery pack, electronic device, electric vehicle, power storage device, and power system


An optical engine for providing a point-to-point optical communications link between a first computing device and a second computing device. The optical engine includes a modulated hybrid micro-ring laser formed on a substrate and configured to generate an optical signal traveling parallel to the plane of the substrate. The optical engine further includes a waveguide, also formed in a plane parallel to the plane of the substrate, that is configured to guide the optical signal from the modulated ring laser to a defined region, a waveguide coupler at the defined region configured for coupling the optical signal into a multi-core optical fiber, and a multi-core optical fiber at the defined region that is configured to receive and transport the optical signal to the second computing device.

Computer performance is increasingly restricted by the ability of computer processors to quickly and efficiently access off-chip memory or communicate with other peripheral devices. The restriction is due, in part, to inherent physical limitations in the number of electrical pins that can fit into a connector of a defined size and surface area, which in turn determines the maximum electrical bandwidth. Saturation in the density of electrical pins results in "pin-out bottleneck" for a processor or chip, which describes the situation when the electrical bandwidth of a chip package becomes a performance limiting factor.

Optical engine for point-to-point communications

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A refrigerated commodities transport system comprising: freight-collecting device for collecting from a client commodities to be refrigerated or already refrigerated commodities; storing device for storing the collected commodities in a low temperature area so as to keep them refrigerated; the storing device including a refrigerating box; transport device for transporting the commodities while being stored in the low temperature area; delivering device for delivering the commodities which are kept refrigerated to a recipient; in which the refrigerating box comprises a cooling device which has a freezing room, a cold-heat accumulating agent stored in the freezing room, air blowers and an evaporator; a storing room; an air-blowing device; a selecting section and a temperature control device, which permits transportation, in only one refrigerating box, of refrigerated commodities or commodities to be refrigerated in different temperature zones.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerated commodities transport system in which commodities from a client are loaded onto a truck at a freight-collecting place and then transported to a recipient while being kept refrigerated.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are two methods of transporting commodities. In one method, commodities refrigerated in a warehouse at a starting place are loaded onto a truck (hereinafter referred to as a refrigerator car) having one freezer or one refrigerator, and then transported to a destination, where the commodities are unloaded from the refrigerator car in order to store them in a warehouse at the destination. In the other method, commodities are stored in a heat insulating container at a station (starting place) where a cooling device is provided, and the container can be loaded on and unload from the refrigerator car. A first cooling device for refrigerating the inside of the container at the station, and a second cooling device for refrigerating the inside of the container on the refrigerator car are also provided (Refer to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 63-169464).
As regards the above first method, because all the refrigerated commodities stored in the refrigerator car are controlled in a uniform temperature zone, a plurality of refrigerator cars are required when the commodities are transported while being kept refrigerated in different temperature zones. This results in a problem in that one refrigerator car only is not capable of transporting the commodities while being kept refrigerated in different temperature zones.
As regards the above second method, although the heat insulating container may be loaded on and unloaded from the refrigerator car, it is necessary for the station to have the first cooling device which refrigerates the inside of the container. The container must be linked to the first cooling device in order to refrigerate the inside of the container. This leads to a problem in that the preparation for such linkage between the container and the first container takes much time.
The present invention provides a refrigerated commodities transport system which transports commodities refrigerated in different temperature zones in only one refrigerator car and which facilitates cooling work at a station.

Refrigerator commodities transport system


Systems, methods, and software to provide document management system user interfaces to clients. Some embodiments include an intermediary server to provide document management system indexing data to a client in a form that is displayable within an existing client file browsing user interface, such as Windows Explorer.

Document management systems are becoming increasingly more common across organizations of all sizes. Organizations are utilizing document management systems as a tool to store documents of many types. Commonly, a single employee can generate several documents a day. Further, some documents, such as invoices or periodic account statements, are generated by automated process in large numbers and stored in the organizational document management system. Thus, the number of stored documents increases over time.
Documents are generally stored by document management systems in a linear fashion as documents are generated. File names typically are concise and are not descriptive of a document to an extent to allow easy searches. Thus, although some document management systems may use a folder/directory structure that might provide partial insight about a document, the full details, are not apparent at the individual document level.
Document management solutions generally involves end-user training in the new user interface, terminology and functionality available in a document management system; it might also require a software to be installed (a "thick-client") on each of the users' boxes.
To organize documents, document management systems commonly include a database structure that stores metadata describing stored documents. To retrieve a document, a user generally utilizes a software component that must be loaded on the user's desktop. The user then utilizes that software component by entering data into a searching user interface regarding a needed document. This searching user interface of a document management system includes different fields in which to enter data descriptive of a document sought. After entering the information, a list of documents is retrieved and presented to the user in yet another user interface. However, the user may not have access to all of the documents displayed. Thus, document management systems, despite providing certain benefits, create additional support and training issues for organizations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Document management system user interfaces

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


Embodiments include apparatuses, methods, and systems that may include a leadframe of a circuit package to conduct heat generated by an integrated circuit (IC) included in the circuit package, while being a part of an interconnect of the circuit package. In various embodiments, a circuit package may include a package substrate, and an IC attached to the package substrate. A leadframe may be disposed on the IC to conduct heat generated by the IC. In addition, the leadframe may be a part of an interconnect of the circuit package, and the leadframe may be electrically coupled to a component of the IC. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

An integrated circuit (IC), often called a silicon chip, a computer chip, an IC chip, or a chip, may be a piece of silicon or another semiconductor into which an electronic circuit is etched using photographic techniques or other techniques. ICs may be produced in batches on a wafer. A wafer may be cut ("diced") into pieces along dicing streets. Each of these pieces may be called a die. An IC, e.g., a die or a wafer, may be assembled into a circuit package. A circuit package may be an interface between an IC and a printed circuit board (PCB). A circuit package may be attached either to a PCB or to another substrate, to be coupled with other circuits to form an electronic system. An electronic system may become smaller with higher density, driving by the desire of size reduction for the end products, and the technology improvement in continual reductions in minimum feature size. ICs in a smaller and higher density electronic system may have increased thermal output. Thick die attach film (DAF) may be used as an insulation layer to increase thermal resistance between a hot IC that generates heat and adjacent ICs. DAF insulation layers may help preventing or delaying the direct thermal conduction from a hot IC to adjacent ICs. Unfortunately, DAF insulation layers may also prevent the heat generated by the hot IC dissipating to a substrate.

Leadframe in packages of integrated circuits


A handling apparatus has an arm having a joint; a holding portion attached to the arm and configured to hold an object; a sensor configured to detect a plurality of the objects; and a control apparatus configured to control the arm and the holding portion, wherein the control apparatus is configured to calculate an ease of holding the object by the holding portion as a score based on information acquired by the sensor with respect to each object and each holding method, select the object to hold and the holding method according to the score, and calculate a position for holding the selected object and an orientation of the arm.

Conventionally, a handling apparatus having an end effector configured to hold an object is known. To realize the automation of the transfer operation in a logistics site, it is required that the objects having various shapes, sizes, and weights can be held. When the objects are held by using the handling apparatus, much arithmetic processing are necessary to determine a holding strategy including a holding position, a holding method, an orientation of the robot arm, and the like. When the loading state of the objects is complicated, the time for the necessary arithmetic processing to determine the holding strategy increases.

Handling apparatus, control apparatus, and recording medium


A recharging device suitable for use in a Czochralski-type monocrystal ingot pulling apparatus, includes a shaft (3) which is suspended from a pulling element (1), a ring slider (8) capable of sliding along the shaft, a stopper (20) for stopping the downward movement of the ring slider, a pair of hooks (9, 11, 13) pivotably connected to the shaft below the ring slider and capable of assuming hooking and unhooking positions, and a pair of rods (16) each having one end connected to the hooks such that when the ring slider slides upward relative to the shaft the pair of the rods cause the hooks to assume their unhooking position, and when the ring slider slides downward relative to the shaft the rods cause the hooks to assume their hooking position.

In a conventional method of manufacturing a semiconductor monocrystal, such as silicon monocrystal, based on the known Czochralski technique, a series of monocrystal ingot pulling operations mainly comprise the following steps: (i) a batch of semiconductor substance (e.g., silicon) is charged in the crucible, (ii) the crucible is heated by means of resistance heating, or high-frequency heating, whereby the semiconductor substance is melted, (iii) a seed crystal fixedly held by a pulling means is dipped in the surface of the melt, (iv) the pulling means is slowly turned and lifted up at a raising rate of several millimeters per minute whereby the grown monocrystal is pulled up above the surface of the melt, (v) the steps (iii) and (iv) are repeated until the melt in the crucible is nearly depleted, (vi) the crucible is cooled down so that the crucible can be charged with a new batch of semiconductor substance.
However, in the above manufacturing operation based on a batch charging system, since the furnace as well as the crucible must be cooled down to allow replenishment of the crucible each time the crucible is nearly empty, the number of monocrystal ingots raised in a series of the operation is small and therefore rate at which the ingots are produced is so small that it is difficult to improve the productive efficiency, furthermore, the risk of breakage of the expensive crucible is relatively high due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the crucible and the semiconductor substance therein. Therefore, it is desirable that the semiconductor substance is fed in the melt held in the crucible between pulling operations so as to relieve the crucible from the necessity of being frequently cooled down.
In the above operation of the conventional manufacturing apparatus for raising grown semiconductor monocrystal ingot, one series of monocrystal raising steps is terminated when a limited number of monocrystal rods have been raised; during the downtime the crucible is replenished with the high-purity semiconductor polycrystal substance, the weight of which is equal to the weight of the grown and raised monocrystal substance; and thereafter the next series of the monocrystal raising steps is initiated. This operation of replenishing is conventionally called as "recharging", for the crucible is charged with the semiconductor polycrystal substance anew.
As already stated, in this procedure of recharging, it is necessary to let the whole furnace cool down before recharging the crucible with fresh semiconductor substance, so that this procedure is time-consuming and acts as a bottleneck impeding productive efficiency. Also, the increased frequency of heating and cooling of the expensive crucible renders the crucible more liable to breakage. However, if the furnace were kept uncooled during the recharging in the open air and thus if the remnant semiconductor substance in the crucible were kept molten, the molten semiconductor substances (e.g., molten silicon) and the intra-furnace carbon-made structural members as well as insulator kept at high temperatures could burn in the air. Therefore, while the furnace is being heated, it is absolutely impossible to replenish the hot crucible in ambient air in the same manner as the initial batch of the semiconductor substance is charged in the crucible before heating the furnace.
Various proposals have been made of recharging devices which enable additional of semiconductor substances to a crucible without the necessity of having a furnace cooled down. For example, the devices disclosed by Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 57-95892 (1982), Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 58-95548 (1983), and Japanese Provisional Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 58-170533 (1983) are basically related to the same system comprising a hollow metallic cylinder internally lined with quartz and having a movable door means in the bottom which is opened by means of an operation of a wire system. Lumps of semiconductor substance are dropped from the door. However, it is necessary to solidify the surface of the melt before dropping the semiconductor substance from this system, and a complicated operation is required so as to prevent several lumps of semiconductor substance from falling at once, and, what is more, a quartz-lined pipe must be provided, which makes the construction of the monocrystal ingot pulling apparatus extremely complicated. Also, in these proposed devices, since lumps of semiconductor substance are used as the additional supply, it is necessary to sort them by size, and this creates an opportunity for contamination of the high-purity semiconductor substance.
Another method is also proposed wherein a fresh semiconductor substance is supplied in the form of a rod. In this method, a rod of the semiconductor substance is suspended from a pulling means via a wire one end of which is tied at the top portion of the rod, and the rod is lowered at a constant rate to thereby cause the bottom portion of the rod to be submerged and gradually melted in the melt contained in the crucible. However, in this system the top portion of the rod at which the wire is tied cannot be dipped in the melt for if the wire melts in it the purity of the semiconductor melt is lowered. As a result, the top portion of the rod is always left unused and this creates a difficulty of obtaining a precise controlling of the weight of recharging of the semiconductor substance.
The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide a recharging device which is simple in construction as well as in operational procedure, and with which it is possible to improve the productive efficiency.

Recharging device for czochralski method


To-be-commented video data is received by a terminal device, and a video sequence number of the to-be-commented video data is determined, which steps further include comprising, by the video data, a first correlation 2-tuple of a global base sequence number and the video sequence number, in which a sequence number of a live voice in the video data is the global base sequence number, and the video sequence number of the video data is determined according to the global base sequence number; and determining a video sequence number of the to-be-commented video data according to the first correlation 2-tuple. The to-be-commented video data is played, a commentary voice is acquired, and a correspondence between a voice sequence number of the commentary voice and the video sequence number is determined. The correspondence between the voice sequence number and the video sequence number is sent to a video playback end.

In fields such as sports and entertainment, there are scenarios in which a commentator gives a commentary. For example, during a football match, there is a live transmission commentary as well as a recording commentary.
A commentator is a person specializing in explaining, introducing, and analyzing a sport/an event, and is mostly employed in TV/broadcast multimedia. At present, with the development of e-sports games, a person who is engaged in giving a commentary on e-sports is also referred to as a commentator.
The sports commentator not only leads us from an unknown world to a palace of a commented object, but also leads us to being enthusiastic about the commented object. The commentary widely exists in our life.
A video having a commentary includes the following work parts: 1. acquiring a live video; 2. acquiring a commentary voice; 3. synthesizing the video and the voice.
An implementation solution of a current video commentary is as follows: Commentators are gathered together to give a commentary on a video when they are watching the video, and this case generally occurs in a recording commentary; or a commentator watches and gives a commentary on a video at a scene of acquiring the video, and acquiring of the video and acquiring of a commentary voice are performed simultaneously, and this case generally occurs in a live commentary, for example, live transmission of a football match.
According to the above solutions, it is required to gather commentators, resulting in that a remote commentary on a same video by multiple commentators cannot be implemented.

Video remote-commentary synchronization method and system, and terminal device

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited


A method of managing certificates in a communication system having a certifying authority and a directory. Preferably, the method begins by having the certifying authority generate certificates by digitally signing a given piece of data. At a later point time, the certifying authority may produce a string that proves whether a particular certificate is currently valid without also proving the validity of at least some other certificates. The technique obviates use of certification revocation lists communicated between the certifying authority and the directory.

The present invention relates generally to secure communications and more particularly to schemes for certificate management.
In many settings, it is necessary to certify certain data, as well as to revoke already issued certificates. For instance, in a Public-Key Infrastructure, (PKI) it is necessary to certify users"" public keys.
In a digital signature scheme, each user U chooses a signing key SKU and a matching verification key, PKU. User U uses SKU to compute easily his digital signature of a message m, SIGU(m), while anyone knowing that PKU is U""s public key can verify that SIGU(m) is U""s signature of m. Finding SIGU(m) without knowing SKU is practically impossible. On the other hand, knowledge of PKU does not give any practical advantage in computing SKU. For this reason, it is in U""s interest to keep SKU secret (so that only he can digitally sign for U) and to make PKU as public as possible (so that everyone dealing with U can verify U""s digital signatures). At the same time, in a world with millions of users, it is essential in the smooth flow of business and communications to be certain that PKU really is the legitimate key of user U. To this end, users"" public keys are xe2x80x9ccertified.xe2x80x9d At the same time it is also necessary to revoke some of the already-issued certificates.
Typically, certificates for users"" public keys are produced and revoked by certifying authorities called CA""s.1 A CA can be considered to be a trusted agent having an already certified (or universally known) public key. To certify that PKU is U""s public key, a CA typically digitally signs PKU together with (e.g., concatenating it with) U""s name, a certificate serial number, the current date (i.e., the certification or issue date), and an expiration date.2 The CA""s signature of PKU is then inserted in a Directory and/or given to U himself.
1 A complete public-key infrastructure may involved other authorities (e.g., PCAs) who may also provide similiar services (e.g., they may certify the public keys to their CA""s). The present inventions can be easily applied to such other authorities.
2 Before certifying U""s public key, it is neccesary to preform additional steps, such as properly identifying user U. The present invention, however, does not depend on these additional steps.
Upon receiving the (alleged) digital signature of user U of a message M, SIGU(M), a recipient R needs to obtain a certificate for PKU. (indeed, SIGU(M) may be a correct digital signature of M with respect to some public key PKU, but R has no guarantee that PKU is indeed U""s public key). Recipient R may obtain this certificate from the Directory, or from his own memory (if he has previously cached it), or from U himself. Having done this, R verifies (1) the correctness of the CA""s certificate for PKU with respect to the CA""s public key, and (2) the correctness of SIGU(M) with respect to PKU. (If the CA""s public key is not universally known, or cached with R, then a certificate for this key too must be obtained.)
Certificate retrieval is thus possible, although not necessarily cheap. Unfortunately, however, this is not the only retrieval that R needs to do. Indeed, it is crucially important that R makes sure that the certificate for PKU has not been revoked. This check, of course, may not be needed after the certificate""s expiration date, but is needed during the certificate""s alleged lifetime. A user""s certificate can be revoked for a variety of reasons, including key compromise and the fact that the user is no longer associated with a particular CA.
To enable a recipient to establish whether a given certificate has been revoked, it is known that each CA periodically issues and gives the Directory a Certificate Revocation List (CRL for short), in general containing an indication of all the (not yet expired) certificates originally issued by it. A CRL typically consists of the issuer""s digital signature of (1) a header comprising the issuer""s name (as well as the type of his signature algorithm), the current date, the date of the last update, and the date of the next update, together with (2) a complete list of revoked certificates (whose date has not yet expired), each with its serial number and revocation date. Since it is expected that a CA revokes many of her certificates, a CRL is expected to be quite long.
After performing some checks on the CA""s CRL (e.g., checking the CA""s digital signature, checking that the CRL has arrived at the expected time, that a certificate declared revoked in the previous CRL of that CAxe2x80x94and not yet expiredxe2x80x94still is revoked in the current CRL, etc.), the Directory stores it under its CA name.
When a user queries the Directory about the revocation of a certificate issued by a given CA, the Directory responds by sending to the user the latest CRL of that CA. The user can then check the CRL signature, the CRL dates (so as to receive a reasonable assurance that he is dealing with the latest one), and whether or not the certificate of interest to him belongs to it.
While CRLs are quite effective in helping users establishing which certificates are no longer deemed valid, they are also extremely expensive, because they tend to be very long and need to be transmitted very often.
The National Institute of Standard and Technology has tasked the MITRE Corporation to study the organization and cost of a PKI for the Federal Government. This study estimates that CRLs constitute by far the largest entry in the Federal PKI""s cost list. According to MITRE""s estimates/assumptions, in the Federal PKI there are about three million users, each CA serves 30,000 users, 10% of the certificates are revoked,3 CRLs are sent out bi-weekly, and, finally, the recipient of a digital signature requests certificate information 20% of the time.4 The study envisages that each revoked certificate is specified in a CRL by means of about 9 bytes: 20 bits of serial number and 48 bits of revocation date. Thus, in the Federal PKI, each CRL is expected to comprise thousands of certificate serial numbers and their revocation dates; the header, however, has a fixed length, consisting of just 51 bytes.
3 5% because of key compromise and 5% because of change in affiliation with an organization connected to a given CA.
4 The remaining 80% of the time he will be dealing with public keys in his cache.
At 2 cents per kilobyte, the impact of CRL transmission on the estimated yearly costs of running the Federal PKI is stunning: if each federal employee verifies 100 digital signatures per day on average, then the total PKI yearly costs are $10,848 Millions, of which 10,237 Millions are due to CRL transmission. If each employee is assumed to verify just 5 digital signatures a day on average, then the total PKI yearly costs are $732 Millions, of which 563 Millions are due to CRL transmission.
The MITRE study thus suggests that any effort should be made to find alternative and cheaper CRL designs. This is indeed the goal of the present invention.
It is thus a primary object of the present invention to facilitate management of public key certificate revocation without providing users with lists of revoked certificates.
It is another primary object of the invention to provide certificate revocation information to users of a public key communications system wherein a user can receive an individual piece of information about any public key certificate instead of a large list of revoked certificates.
It is still another object of the invention to reduce dramatically the cost of managing public key certificates in part by reducing the size and number of transmissions by and among participants in the management scheme.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide novel certificate revocation schemes wherein a certifying authority can provide a positive and explicit statement about the validity status of each not-yet-expired certificate.
It is another object of the invention to allow certifying authorities to provide certificate validity information without requiring a trusted Directory.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a certificate management scheme wherein it is possible to prove that a given certificate was never issued or even existed.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description of the preferred embodiment.


A fixture applicable for breaking a circuit board includes: a bottom board, comprising a front side and a back side opposite to the front side; a breaking mechanism, disposed on the front side of the bottom board, and comprising a fixing board and a flap board adjacent to the fixing board, an axis line defined between the fixing board and the flap board, the flap board being flapped along the axis line, and the circuit board being placed on the fixing board and the flap board; a first platen, including a first moving device disposed on a side of the fixing board for fixing the circuit board onto the fixing board by the first moving device; and a second platen, including a second moving device disposed on a side of the flap board for fixing the circuit board onto the flap board by the second moving device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixture for breaking a board, and more particularly to a fixture applicable for breaking a circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the printed circuit board (PCB) industry blooms, and there are different methods for breaking printed circuit boards which are manufactured with integrated circuits.
The conventional circuit board breaking device has to be operated manually. In general, corresponding V-shape slots (or V-cuts) are formed on both front and back sides of the PCB respectively in advance. Thus, after printed circuits and electronic components are assembled and soldered onto the PCB, the PCB can be bent to break by hands. This method of breaking boards is simple and easy, but also has several drawbacks. When the circuit board is broken by hands, the forces applied by fingers are usually non-uniform so that the breaking line is usually uneven. A rough edge may be produced after the circuit board is broken, and the rough edge may result in injuries of the personnel in the production line and a poor quality of the product. In addition, it takes more effort to break the board manually when the circuit board has a small area or a narrow folding edge.
Moreover, to protect the printed circuits or solder joints on the circuit board and to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, some manufacturers introduce expensive vacuum board breaking equipments that fix the circuit board by vacuum suction to prevent the circuit board from being bent or deformed. However, the vacuum board breaking equipment incurs a high cost and has a heavy weight which is unfavorable for repair and maintenance.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a fixture for breaking a circuit board to overcome the aforementioned problems.

INVENTEC APPLIANCES (PUDONG) CORPORATION

INVENTEC APPLIANCES (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD.


An anthropomorphic robot arm includes a hand section, wrist section and arm section. The hand section comprises a base plate, a plurality of flexible fingers which have a plurality of joints and are rotatably supported by the base plate, and one thumb which has a plurality of joints and is supported by the base plate such that it is able to rotate in a direction so that it is opposable to the flexible fingers. A group of actuators contained within the arm section independently drive each joint of the fingers, giving them the same movements as a human arm.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an anthropomorphic robot arm used to carry out various types of work normally carried out manually by humans, and particularly to an anthropomorphic robot arm which can be used as the end factor for robots, prosthetic arms or other types of manipulators.
2. Prior Art Statement
The degrees of freedom of the human arm are centered in the wrist and hand, enabling it to execute complex and agile movements. But with a robot arm intended to simulate the human arm, placing actuators in these same locations to achieve the same degrees of freedom and similarly move corresponding joints typically results in these parts becoming extremely heavy, making the robot arm extremely large and unwieldy, unable to withstand the rigors of realistic use.
Nevertheless, when contemplating a robot arm to be used as a substitute for a human arm, it is preferable that it have degrees of freedom similar to those of the human hand and wrist which are able to carry out a great diversity of tasks. It should also appear as similar to the real thing as possible and be easily to control.
Specifically, by providing slave units which comprise the robot arm at positions corresponding to the human hand and wrist, arranging the slave units in the form of a human hand and arm, and enclosing the structural elements inside these slave units to give an external appearance similar to the human hand and arm, a one-to-one correspondence can be achieved with a master device mounted on a human arm to send command signals to operate the fingers and the like, resulting in control becoming extremely simple.
However, although grasping mechanisms of various structures have been proposed in the past, any robot arm which has on its hand five fingers which function similarly to human fingers, and is similar to the human arm even in the shape of the upper arm has been, as described above, of such complex structure and extremely large size as to be unwieldy impractical, so we are as yet not aware of a practical proposal.
The object of this invention is to provide a robot arm of a structure which is functionally as similar as possible to the human hand and arm, and particularly has on its hand five fingers which function similarly to human fingers, and is similar to the human arm even in the shape of the upper arm.

Agency of Industrial Science & Technology

Ministry of International Trade & Industry


A mechanism suitable for a control lever such as a joy stick has two mutually perpendicular axes of rotation which provide movement in two planes. At least two close wound coil springs form a set and a set of springs is provided for each plane. The springs deflect when a force is applied on the control lever but return to a center position when the force is released. The mechanism avoids the use of shafts.

Mechanisms which provide spring centering forces along two or more axes of motion are known. The applications for such mechanisms include joy stick control devices, scanning mechanisms, plotting devices, servo control mechanisms and other applications where delineation of centering forces applied to specific axes is desirable. Other applications include multiplanar mounting platforms for dish antennas and the like. Such platforms have linear drive motors that change the position of the platform upon demand. The self centering feature permits the platform to center itself when the linear drive motors are not activated.
Existing types of joy stick control devices include gimbal mountings wherein two mutually perpendicular and intersecting axes of rotation are provided and control levers are generally provided on the axes of rotation. In some mechanisms springs are combined with rotational shafts to provide a centering mechanism. However, whenever shafts are used, bearings are needed to ensure ease of rotation of the shafts and this can be a cause of frictional wear and added complexity in manufacturing.


A driving assistance control apparatus includes an own-vehicle position acquiring unit that acquires the position of an own vehicle; a curve information acquiring unit that acquires curve information on a driving course; a continuous curves detecting unit that detects a first curve ahead of the own vehicle and a second curve that exists at a far side of the own vehicle with respect to the first curve and that is continuous to the first curve, based on the acquired position of the own vehicle and the acquired curve information; and a curve alert control unit that controls a curve alerting unit that alerts the presence of the second curve before an entrance of the second curve. The curve alert control unit sets the alert timing of the second curve in accordance with the curve information about the first curve.

In a technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-367098, an allowable speed of each curve is calculated (Step S4) if multiple continuous curves exist (YES in Step S3 in FIG. 3) and a minimum allowable speed, among the allowable speeds calculated for the respective curves, is set as a target speed Vs while an own vehicle is traveling along the curves (Steps S4 to S6). If the current vehicle speed is higher than the target speed Vs (YES in Step S10 in FIG. 3), when a distance L required for retarding the vehicle to the target speed Vs which is calculated from the target speed Vs is longer than or equal to a retardation allowance distance LCA to the entrance of the curve (YES in Step S11) the target speed Vs is alerted to a driver in order to prompt the driver to perform a retardation operation before the own vehicle enters the nearest curve (S12).
As described above, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-367098, the minimum allowable speed, among the allowable speeds calculated for the respective continuous curves, is set as the target speed Vs while the own vehicle is traveling along the curves (Steps S4 to S6). In other words, even if the multiple continuous curves exist, the target speed is alerted only before the first curve and the target speed is the minimum allowable speed in the multiple curves in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-367098.
Accordingly, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-367098, it is necessary for the driver to predict information about the continuous curves in response to the one alert and it is difficult for the driver to estimate the timing when the operation for each curve is performed.


A bus arbitration algorithm using round robin and variable packet counts. In addition, each node is assigned a maximum packet size which can be adjusted by the operating system. The round robin determines which node will be granted the bus based on priority on a serial wrap-around list. The packet count is one factor in determining how long the node granted the bus may use it. The maximum packet size is a second factor in determining the permitted duration on the bus.

The present invention is directed to a method for arbitrating the use of a system bus and the apparatus for implementing same.
When a system bus is shared by numerous modules, it is necessary to arbitrate the use of the shared resource. The needs of a system must be considered when selecting and implementing an arbitration algorithm. On the one hand, an arbitration algorithm must provide quick access to the bus for the highest priority uses. On the other hand, it is undesirable to have a system in which the lowest priority users are unable to gain access to the bus.
One example of a commonly used arbitration algorithm is the use of a round robin. In using a round robin, the modules on the system bus are sequenced and access to the bus is provided to each module in the predetermined sequence. The round robin system guarantees that the lowest priority users will have an opportunity to access the system bus.
Another arbitration system is disclosed in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 798,595, filed Nov. 15, 1985 and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. In this system, when a system bus line is freed, any requestor wishing to use the bus asserts a request line. All requestors that have asserted their request line in the clock cycle in which the busy line was free will be provided with access to the bus in order of a predetermined priority ranking the requesting modules. When the last of these requestors has been granted the bus, the busy line is freed for a new set of requestors.
It is an object of the present invention to combine two methods of arbitration in order to provide a desirable balance between granting the bus to high priority requestors and allowing low priority requestors an opportunity to use the bus.


An electronic apparatus includes a wiring board, a main member to which the wiring board is fixed, a first component mounted rigidly on the wiring board and positioned with respect to the main member, and a second component mounted movably on the wiring board and positioned with respect to the main member, and a positioning portion provided on the wiring board to determine a position of the wiring board with respect to the main member, wherein a distance from the positioning portion to the first component is shorter than a distance from the positioning portion to the second component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus configured to position a wiring board with a component mounted on the wiring board.
2. Description of the Related Art
As discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-116736, in an electronic apparatus such as a digital camera or a mobile telephone, a board on which an external connection terminal is mounted is positioned and fixed in an internal section of the electronic apparatus.
The number of boards that can be mounted in the internal section of the electronic apparatus has decreased as a result of recent progress in downsizing of such electronic apparatuses. Thus a large number of components must be mounted on a single board.
For example, a digital camera needs to include a battery contact connector for electrically connecting a battery, an opening/closing detection switch for a cover of the battery or the memory guide storage unit, and external connection terminals such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) terminal or High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) terminal on a single board. These components are required to be positioned with a high positional accuracy with respect to the chassis or external member, and therefore the components are positioned and fixed by themselves separately.
However when mounting components on the board, the components may be mounted at a position that deviates from the designed position due to a deviation during the mounting procedure or the effect of tolerances.
When fixing a board on which components are mounted in this manner to an external member (cover) or chassis, since positioning with respect to the external member (cover) or chassis are executed respectively using components mounted on the board, an excessive load (stress) is applied to the board or components corresponding to the degree of deviation. This state causes problems such as destruction of the mounted components, peeling or cracking of the soldering connection sections as a result of the distortion or residual stress applied to the mounted components.


A digital image having associated tonal data, including tonal data in an extended range above a normalized value of 1.0, can be accessed. An extended range curve tool corresponding to the digital image can be instantiated, the extended range curve tool including a curve defining a relationship between input tonal values and output tonal values, wherein at least a portion of the input tonal values and output tonal values are associated with the extended range. An extended range histogram also can be generated based on the tonal data associated with the digital image, the extended range histogram including data corresponding to the extended range. Further, the extended range histogram can be presented in conjunction with the extended range curve tool. Additionally, user input specifying an adjustment to at least a portion of the curve can be received and a modified curve can be presented in response to the specified adjustment.

The color balance of a digital image can be manually adjusted through a user interface element, such as an exposure control, or by specifying one or more reference values, such as a black point, a white point, or a gray point. These adjustments modify one or more tone values for an entire image, instead of altering pixels at a specific location within an image. Thus, visual aspects of a digital image, such as contrast and brightness, can be adjusted through a small number of inputs.
A curve is an image adjustment tool that can be used to graphically represent an image characteristic, such as tonality. The curve can be represented in a two-dimensional format, such as a chart with an x-axis (abscissa) and a y-axis (ordinate). For instance, the x-axis can represent the input values (or levels) associated with an image and the y-axis can represent the corresponding output values.
The graph in which the curve is represented further can be arranged such that the zero point on an axis represents pure black, or the black point. Also, a value of one on an axis can represent pure white, or the white point. With reference to an eight-bit color scheme, a value of zero can correspond to pure black and a value of 255 can correspond to pure white. In a normalized graph, the curve can be a diagonal line that extends from the origin (0, 0) to the intersection of the maximum value at (1, 1). Thus, for each point along the curve, the input value equals the output value and there is no change to the tonal values of the image.
Either or both of the black point and the white point can be adjusted toward the center of an axis. For instance, moving the white point toward the center of the x-axis causes all of the input values to the right of the adjusted white point to be pure white output values, thereby increasing the contrast in the image. Conversely, moving the white point toward the center of the y-axis causes all output values to be less than pure white, including pure white input values. As a result, contrast in the image is reduced. Adjusting the black point with respect to an axis also affects the level of contrast in an image. Moving the black point toward the center of the x-axis causes more output values to be pure black, which decreases brightness. Further, moving the black point toward the center of the y-axis means that no output values will be pure black, which increases brightness. In one technique, contrast can be increased by setting the black point just below the darkest tones included in the image and by setting the white point just above the lightest tones in the image.
Further, the curve itself can be modified at one or more points. For instance, an anchor (or knot) can be defined on the curve and can be used to pull the curve up, causing at least a portion of the input values to have higher corresponding output values. As a result, brightness can be increased for at least a portion of the image. An anchor on the curve also can be used to pull the curve down, causing at least a portion of the input values to have lower corresponding output values. As a result, brightness can be reduced for at least a portion of the image.

Image adjustment using extended range curves


A fuel cell bipolar separator plate of variable length is formed from a sheet having a fixed width. The sheet is passed through a tool a predetermined distance and a pattern of ribs is formed on a central portion of the sheet with the tool to define a segment along the length of the sheet. The ribs define a fuel flow path on a first side of the sheet and an oxidant flow path on an opposed second side of the sheet. The sheet is passed through a tool a predetermined distance and the steps of forming the pattern on the sheet and passing the sheet through the tool are repeated until the sheet possesses a desired length, at which point the sheet is cut to a desired length.

A fuel cell stack consists of multiple planar cells stacked upon one another, to provide an electrical series relationship. Each cell is comprised of an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and an electrolyte member. A device known in the art as a bipolar separator plate, an interconnect, a separator, or a flow field plate, separate the adjacent cells of a stack of cells in a fuel cell stack. The bipolar separator plate may serve several additional purposes, such as mechanical support to withstand the compressive forces applied to hold the fuel cell stack together, providing fluid communication of reactants and coolants to respective flow chambers, and to provide a path for current flow generated by the fuel cell. The plate also may provide a means to remove excess heat generated by the exothermic fuel cell reactions occurring in the fuel cells.
Each individual cell produces about 0.5-1.0 volts DC. Electrical current output capacity is based upon the area of the fuel cell electrodes times the current density capacity of the cell. Maximum achievable current density, measured in amps/cm2, varies from fuel cell type to fuel cell type. Therefore, the quantity of cells (voltage), the area of the cells (current), and the current density of the cells determine the kW output capacity of a fuel cell stack. In order to achieve output capacities suitable for distributed generation, the fuel cell stack must output a minimum of about 2-10 kW for residential applications, to about 50-100 kW for light commercial/industrial applications. In these scenarios, the fuel cell stack may consist of from about fifty to in excess of one-hundred-and-fifty cells having an area of about 200 cm2 to about 3000 cm2.
Another important measure of a fuel cell stack, in addition to current density, is its volumetric power density. High volumetric power density is desirable for both stationary and transportation applications of fuel cells. Volumetric power density is measured as the watt density per cm2 of an individual cell times the quantity of cells per linear centimeter of stack height. Therefore, it is desirable to design thin cells to achieve high volumetric power density.
While current density is more a function of the individual fuel cell type, volumetric power density is mostly a function of the physical design of the fuel cell components and the design of the bipolar separator plate.
The design of bipolar separator plates in the prior art has been driven by many wide ranging factors, such as cell chemistry, reactant flow configurations, material selection, system pressurization, operating temperature, system cooling requirements, and intellectual property considerations.
However, there are several common characteristics of bipolar separator plate design. Prior art bipolar separator plates have typically been produced in a discontinuous mode utilizing highly complex tooling that produces a plate with a finite cell area. Alternatively, prior art plates having a finite area may be produced from a collection of a mixture of discontinuously and continuously manufactured sheet-like components that are assembled to produce a single plate possessing a finite cell area. U. S. Pat. No. 6,040,076 to Reeder teaches an example of a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) bipolar separator plate produced in this fashion, where plates are die formed with a specific finite area of up to eight square feet. U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,363 to Wilkinson et. al. teaches an example of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) "embossed fluid flow field plate," also die formed with a discrete finite area. U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,897 to Gibson et. al. teaches an example of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) interconnect, also produced having a finite area. Bipolar separator plates produced with a discontinuous finite area do not enjoy the advantages of continuous production methods such as are commonly used to produce the electrodes and electrolyte members of the fuel cell. Continuous production methods provide cost and speed advantages and minimize part handling. Continuous production using what is known as progressive tooling allows the use of small tools that are able to produce large plates from sheet material. The plate described in Reeder is able to be produced in a semi-continuous fashion, but requires tooling possessing an area equivalent to that of the finished bipolar plate area. The plate described in Reeder requires separately produced current collectors for both the anode and cathode. These current collectors may be produced in a continuous fashion. However, the resultant assembly is material intensive, comprised of three sheets of material. The area of the plate created by the design is fixed and unalterable unless retooled.
Production methods that utilize molds to produce plates from non-sheet material, such as injection molding with polymers, are wholly unable to stream the production process in a continuous mode. As a result, discontinuous production methods require complex tooling and are speed limited. Complex tooling further inhibits design evolution due to the costs associated with replacing or modifying the tools.
Another commonality among the bipolar separator plate designs of the various fuel cell types is the material of construction. Although carbon graphite, polymers, and ceramics are common examples of the materials of choice for the bipolar separator plate of the various fuel cell types, sheet metal can also be found as an example of the material of choice for each of the fuel cell types in the prior art literature. For example, Reeder teaches a metallic MCFC bipolar separator plate. U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,624 to Neutzler teaches a metallic PEMFC bipolar separator plate. Gibson teaches a metallic SOFC bipolar separator plate. U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,502 to Nolscher et. al. teaches a metallic bipolar separator for fuel cells and denotes fuel cells as including Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) and Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC). Sheet metal, or metal foil, permits the application of high-speed manufacturing methods such as continuous progressive tooling. Metallic bipolar separator plates for fuel cells further provide for high strength and compact design.
A third commonality of bipolar separator design can be found in the various methods to provide a means to cool the fuel cell. Although some fuel cell stack designs elect to disperse this critical function via dedicated cooling plates at intervals of several cells, or within a wholly separate cooling section, examples of a bipolar separator plate from each fuel cell type can be found to include an integral coolant chamber. These chambers may be designed for gaseous coolant, liquid coolant, or endothermic fuel reforming. Providing a coolant chamber to each individual bipolar separator plate presents engineering and design challenges. Specifically, plate thickness and reactant/coolant manifolding are impacted by the addition of a coolant chamber. The impact on plate thickness can be minimized by using a liquid coolant that possesses a greater heat carrying capacity than do gaseous coolants such as air. Neutzler teaches a "coolant flow passage" centrally located between two outer metallic sheets. Nolscher teaches a "cooling medium distribution duct" also located between two metallic sheets. In both cases, the design utilizes two opposing sheets of material die-formed with a plurality of grooves, or ribs. The cooling chamber is formed when the maximum elevation of one sheet rests on the maximum depression of the subsequent sheet. Both sheets are structural members of the bipolar plate and therefore must be of sufficient strength and robustness to withstand the compressive sealing force applied to the assembled fuel cell stack U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,665 to Allen teaches a "reforming compartment" within an MCFC bipolar separator plate formed when the maximum elevation of a dimpled single-piece bipolar separator rests on the maximum depression of a dimpled subassembly of active components and current collector with a flat sheet barrier disposed between the two components. The resulting chamber is equipped with a reforming catalyst for endothermic stream reforming of fuel.
A fourth commonality of bipolar separator design can be found in the various reactant flow and reactant manifold configurations. The existing alternatives for flow configuration are co-flow, counter-flow, and cross-flow, as well as variations utilizing serpentine flows. The existing designs for reactant and coolant manifolds are internal, external, or a combination of internal and external. Manifolding the fuel, oxidant and coolant to provide uniform flow to the surfaces of the bipolar separator plate contributes to the overall design complexity. Neutzler teaches parallel flow of reactants and cross-flow of the coolant via manifold openings surrounding the periphery of the plate assembled from three components. Nolscher teaches parallel flow of reactants and coolant manifolded via "distribution ducts" that extend almost entirely along opposing edge areas of the bipolar separator plate assembled from two components. The distribution ducts of Nolscher are said to provide more uniform flow of flow streams than that which is provided from "point-like" inlets. However, this design would be limited in practical applications employing cell areas with a large dimension perpendicular to the direction of the flow streams in the active area. This design is not discussed in Nolscher as being produced in continuous form or consisting of repeated sections.
A fifth commonality of bipolar separator design can be found in the various methods used to achieve efficient packaging of the plate to yield a thin structure promoting high volumetric power density. Often, however, volumetric power density is difficult to achieve when attempting to utilize the optimum configurations for the latter commonalties of material of construction, cell cooling, and reactant/coolant flow and manifold configuration.
A need exists for a bipolar separator plate produced in continuous mode from sheet material with a reactant/coolant flow and manifold configuration having a thin structure with low material content, a coolant flow path, uniformity of reactant/coolant flow streams, that can be produced in high volume at high speed, and that is applicable to several types of fuel cells.
The need is further exemplified when contemplating a staged-array of fuel cells bottomed by fuel cells. Clearly, in this scenario, an MCFC stack staged with an SOFC stack would greatly benefit from uniformity in design of the bipolar separator with respect to manifolding interconnections and general system packaging and design.

Fuel cell bipolar separator plate and current collector assembly and method of manufacture


Scanner, method or computer program product, arranged to sense media color information, store predetermined color values of preselected non-printed media and storing corresponding color profiles adapted for the respective preselected media, and process sensed color values, compare a sensed color value with the predetermined color values, and select one of said color profiles based on the comparison.

Scanners are used to obtain a copy of an original image. The digital image file can be stored, processed and/or printed. To obtain an accurate copy of the original, scanners need to be able to scan so that the colors of the scanned file should be close or identical to the original.
A known type of scanner is a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) scanner, wherein the image sensor scans the original at a close distance from the original to obtain an accurate image. CIS scanners are usually provided with a linear array of red, green and blue LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) for shining light onto the original and an image sensor for recording the image, as reflected by the original.
Particular scanners use a CCD (Charged Couple Device) or CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) type image sensor. These sensor types are sometimes used in older and/or more expensive scanners. CCD and CMOS type scanners are known to obtain higher color accuracy and/or a higher resolution than CIS scanners. However, these types of scanners are expensive and space inefficient as compared to the CIS type scanners.
At the end of the manufacturing stage, and during the lifetime of the scanner, color charts can be used to calibrate the scanner. By regularly calibrating the scanner, a high color accuracy of the scanner may be maintained or obtained. To enhance color accuracy, scanners and scanner software oftentimes allow for pre-selection of the type of original image, such as photo or text. Also, color tuning may be applied after scanning to improve the color accuracy of the obtained image file.