Internal combustion engines tolerant to tar-containing producer gas are disclosed. Two concepts are described. The engines are tolerant to producer gas from a biomass gasifier with minimal pretreatment. When biomass is gasified to be burned for power generation or to be used to synthesize chemicals such as biofuels, a large fraction of the installation cost is spent on equipment to clean up the heavy organic components (also referred to as ‘tars’) from the gas stream, hereafter referred to as ‘producer gas’. The invention described herein may be used to enable power generation from gasified biomass with minimal treatment. It may also be used to treat biomass at a very low cost for other uses such as synthesizing chemicals. The producer gas is not necessarily limited to biomass derived. Producer gas derived from coal or other sources has similar issues and the invention described herein would be equally applicable.

There is a clear and unmet need for transformative technologies to improve biomass to power systems by reducing their cost and complexity to make them competitive with fossil fuels. The development of a biomass to power system that is competitive with fossil fuels would reduce our dependence of oil and improve energy security. Furthermore, it would also provide an engine for financial growth in rural areas both domestically and abroad.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, biomass resources totaling just under 680 million dry tons could be made available, in a sustainable manner, each year within the United States by 2030. This is enough biomass to produce 732 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity (19 percent of total U.S. power consumption in 2010). These biomass resources are distributed widely across the United States, ensuring that communities across America can benefit both financially and environmentally from increased biomass production. If allowed to biodegrade on its own, this biomass will generate substantial amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) methane emissions. Approximately 6.5 liters of CH4 are generated per kilogram of decaying biomass.
Globally, biomass represents a huge hope for rural electrification in a sustainable, low cost manner that can trigger economic development based on largely local resources. According to the World Bank, rural electrification can have a profound impact on reducing poverty and improving welfare in the developing world. The developing world already relies on biomass for its energy needs, in particular, for cooking. Furthermore, developing decentralized power generation in the developing world may in many cases make more sense compared to having to invest in a large centralized grid.
Because of the cost of transporting the biomass, biomass needs to be consumed locally, using small gasifiers. The main limitation of small scale gasification systems today is the cost of gas cleanup. A typical small scale gasification system can be seen in FIG. 1, which is adapted from Jan-Willem Konemann, Dahlman, Robin Zwart, ECN "OLGA Tar removal.4 MWt commercial demonstration biomass gasification in France", Gasification Technology Conference, San Francisco 2007. The producer gas from the biomass gasifier is first cooled down using a heat exchanger, then passed through a cyclone to filter solids and then through a series of scrubbers, reactors and/or absorbers to remove or chemically break down the heavy organic compounds that the producer gas contains before the gas can be burned for power in an internal combustion engine to power a generator or a mechanical load such as an irrigation pump. The cost of the clean-up system often exceeds that of the gasifier and the engine/generator combined. Removing tars is the single most important challenge facing biomass to power systems today.
The development of an affordable small scale biomass-to-power system will be instrumental in enabling biomass to power projects by reducing their cost.

Engine concepts for handling producer gas from biomass


Silicon carbide substrate wafers are prepared by transferring a monocrystalline silicon layer from a donor wafer onto a handle wafer, the silicon layer being implanted with carbon and annealed to form a monocrystalline SiC layer prior to or after transfer of the silicon layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayered semiconductor wafer comprising a handle wafer and a silicon carbide donor layer and to a process for manufacturing it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gallium nitride (GaN) is often used as an active layer in semiconductor devices due to its high direct bandgap, high electron saturation velocity and high voltage blocking capability. The direct bandgap is well suited for the manufacture of green and blue LEDs and laser diodes. Crystals of gallium aluminum nitride (GaAlN) and gallium indium nitride (GaInN) may also be used for these applications, GaAlN has a larger bandgap and GaInN has a smaller bandgap. Nitride based devices are also used in microwave devices, high power devices and HEMTs.
GaN crystals are, however, difficult to grow and as yet no commercial crystal growth process is available for production of pure crystal ingots. GaN wafers are normally produced by growth of GaN on suitable substrates with subsequent removal of the substrate. These 'quasi-bulk' GaN wafers exhibit a high defect density and are relatively expensive to grow. In many device applications a thin layer of GaN is grown on a suitable substrate.
Silicon carbide (SiC) substrates are often used as substrates for the growth of GaN films and wafers. While these substrates offer acceptable lattice constant matching and good electrical and thermal properties for GaN growth and device features they are limited to small diameters of less than 100 mm. Monocrystalline SiC wafers are much more expensive than silicon wafers. Furthermore, bulk SiC wafers have defects such as micropipes and different polytype inclusions, the defects being generated during crystal growth.
An alternative approach is to use bulk silicon wafers for the epitaxial growth of GaN layers, either directly or via an intermediate epitaxial SiC layer. While large diameter silicon wafers are readily available, the growth of GaN films on buffer layers results in a high dislocation density which limits the use of such materials. Furthermore, cracking of the GaN film can result due to the extreme tensile stress induced by the silicon wafer on the GaN layer. The stress is a result of the different thermal expansion co-efficient of the silicon wafer and the GaN layer. If the stress is too large the wafer may even break during the epitaxial process. In addition, epitaxial growth of SiC has the disadvantage of generating many defects, particularly twins and hillocks.
It is also known to use silicon wafers as substrates for ion-beam synthesis of SiC (WO03/034484A2). In this approach, silicon wafers are implanted with carbon ions and annealed at high temperatures to produce a buried layer of SixCy below the silicon surface. The buried ion-beam synthesized SiC (IBS-SiC) layer has varying degrees of stoichiometry (x, y) and varying degrees of crystallinity without clearly defined borders to the top silicon layer and the bottom portion of the silicon substrate. The buried layer has no free surface and contains many SiC nano inclusions of different orientations, lattice defects, monocrystalline SiC regions, amorphous inclusions and end-of-range implantation damage. Under suitable implantation and annealing conditions a monocrystalline SiC region forms at a depth approximately corresponding to the mean depth of the implanted carbon ions. If the top silicon layer is removed GaN can be grown on the IBS-SiC layer. However, there is still the problem of cracking during GaN deposition due to the different thermal expansion coefficients of silicon and GaN.
The problem of cracking or wafer breakage during the epitaxial growth of the GaN layer can be solved by transferring a thin monocrystalline SiC layer to a base or handle wafer having a matching coefficient of thermal expansion, e.g. consisting of polycrystalline SiC. U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,796 discloses a method wherein a superficial 3c-SiC layer is produced by carbonizing the surface of a silicon donor wafer, bonding the SiC layer of the silicon donor wafer to a base wafer consisting of polycrystalline SiC and removing the rest of the silicon donor wafer in order to expose the SiC layer.
Carbonization of silicon substrates generates a large number of dislocations, stacking faults, voids and planar defects such as anti-phase boundaries (APBs). (Mendez et al., Materials Science Forum, Vols. 483-485 (2005), pp. 189-192) The large defect generation associated with carbonization is partially due to the large lattice mismatch between silicon and SiC (20%) and due to the coalescence of SiC islands which nucleate independently of each other with different phase and stacking orders, resulting in a high density of planar defects. (Zetterling et al., Process technology for SiC devices, EMIS Processing Series 2, ISBN 0852969988, Chapter 2, pp. 39-40) Furthermore, the C:Si ratio in the precursor gas needs to be tightly controlled during the carbonization process and the following SiC epitaxial growth in order to avoid additional defects. Epitaxial growth of SiC on the carbonized layer can reduce some of the crystal failures in the early growth phase due to self annihilation of some anti-phase boundaries, however, SiC growth is relatively slow (approximately 0.5-8 μm/hr) and the defect reduction is not very effective. Epitaxial growth will also roughen the surface due to step-like growth and nucleated defects which do not self-annihilate will continue to grow in the epitaxial process, and indeed some epitaxial related defects will in addition be nucleated and grow, for example stacking faults and growth hillocks. Furthermore, protrusions and macro-steps are an issue. (Takashi et al., Materials Science Forum, Vols. 389-393, (2002) pp. 323-326) The defect problems associated with a carbonization and a subsequent epitaxy step can be somewhat reduced with off-orientated crystals but the fundamental problems associated with SiC island coalescence and resulting twins and hillock growth remain. A further drawback of carbonization based epitaxial SiC growth on silicon is the generation of voids at the carbonized SiC/Si interface.
Finally, it has been discovered that if a GaN layer is deposited on the SiC layer and LEDs are fabricated on the GaN layer the efficiency of the LEDs is relatively low.

Multilayered semiconductor wafer and process for manufacturing the same


An advanced composite blade construction for a helicopter rotor blade using for the most part fiber reinforced plastic materials in which the major assembly of blade elements is a single step co-cure operation and in which an integral spar/skin carries centrifugal, flapwise and chordwise loads and also incorporates redundant means to carry torsional loads and a honeycomb core carries shear and aerodynamic pressures loads.

Alex Pat. No. 2,484,141 shows a composite rotor blade having a cellular core section for helicopter use. Zincone Pat. No. 3,754,840 shows an advanced composite helicopter rotor blade having a particular construction for carrying centrifugal and torsional loads, and Zincone Pat. No. 3,999,888 shows a tip weight attachment construction for an advanced composite helicopter rotor blade.


The present invention provides a battery carrier sliding device for the electric wheelchair, wherein a battery box for the electric wheelchair can be disconnected or reconnected through a manual lockable unit. The present invention provides an improved design for a battery carrier sliding device for the electric wheelchair that utilizes lockable units to manually detach or reattach the battery box by pulling or triggering the lockable unit. The lockable unit is comprised of a connecting belt and two flexible inserting units, wherein holes are formed on the supporting units respectively to correspond the flexible inserting units so that the battery box can be located securely onto the electric wheelchair. The battery box is comprised of a carrying function in such that the structures or the types of batteries do not need to be altered. Various types of batteries can be utilized with the present invention. The present invention provides an improved battery box that can fulfill the needs of the market.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a battery carrier sliding device of an electric wheelchair. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved battery carrier sliding device that can be dislocated or reassembled manually to the electric wheelchair with a single hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
The main purpose of the wheelchair is to provide a movable facility for disabled people. For those using a manual wheelchair, hands are used to push the wheel. The physical demand on disabled people is great. It is not only inconvenient, but it also restricts the traveling distance and the traveling speed. The electric wheelchair, on the other hand, provides an easy-to-use and convenient wheelchair for disabled people. The movement of the wheelchair and its traveling directions can be controlled easily through an electrical control system that does not require great physical demand to operate. However, most of the electric wheelchairs in the current market are comprised of a heavy battery box that creates inconvenience and is restrictive to those disabled people who are paralyzed in a majority of their muscular functions.
Taiwanese Patent, 308866, teaches a battery box for an electric wheelchair utilizing sliding devices that are located on both sides of the battery box. The sliding poles are formed on both sides of the seat of the electric wheelchair so that the battery box is located below the seat. An anti-sliding block is formed on each end of the sliding pole so that the battery box is prevented from sliding out from the sliding poles. However, the battery box design taught in the Patent 308866 has certain disadvantages. The design of the battery box of the electric wheelchair is restrictive in that only particular types of batteries can fit into the battery box. Moreover, in order to remove the battery box, the anti-sliding blocks and the sliding poles are required to be disassembled first before the battery box can be removed.
Taiwanese Patent 364356 shows a battery box for an electric wheelchair that utilizes the space below the seat of the electric wheelchair. The patent teaches a battery box in which both sides of the seat of the electric wheelchair are designed with space to locate batteries. A hole is formed respectively on both sides of the top portions of the space to locate the flexible inserting shaft. A circular supporting pole is formed respectively on the front part and the back part of the space to support the battery. A semi-circular shaped battery carrier is utilized to locate a battery positioned below the seat of the electric wheelchair. It is clear that in order to utilize such kind of batter box design, the battery must be able to fit into this kind of design, the semi-circular battery carrier. Further, the process of removing the battery involves the steps of removing the components of those devices below the seat, such as the flexible inserting shafts, so that the battery boxes can be removed from both sides of the electric wheelchair. To reconnect the battery box is to reverse the procedure. Therefore, it is obvious that this kind of battery box design is inconvenient when changing the batteries.
Another Taiwanese Patent, 469824, illustrates a battery box of an electric wheelchair that is comprised of a square-shaped supporting frame that is located horizontally beneath the seat of the electric wheelchair. A battery is located in a battery box in a square-shaped supporting frame. To alter or change the battery, the battery box must be manually pushed up, that is, perpendicular to the seat so that the battery box can be removed. The relocation of the battery box is to reverse the above-mentioned procedure. From the teaching of Patent 469824, removing the battery box or replacing the battery box requires certain components, such as the screws of the sliding poles, to be removed first. Moreover, a stop planet is utilized in Patent 469824 to prevent the battery box from sliding out of its position on the electric wheelchair. However, the stop planet is required to be removed first before the battery box can be disconnected or reconnected to the electric wheelchair.
Thus, it is obvious the above-mentioned battery box designs in prior arts require an extensive removal process of the components from the electric wheelchair in order to disconnect or reconnect the batter box. To change a battery in the battery box of these conventional designs, a considerable amount of time and energy would be necessary. Therefore, it is one of the main purposes of the present invention to provide an improved battery box design for the electric wheelchair that is easy to disconnect and reconnect manually. More particularly, the main objective of the present invention is to provide an improved battery box design that can be detached or reattached with a single hand.

Battery carrier sliding device of an electrical wheel chair


A vehicle washing mitt having a tubular sleeve of non-abrasive material for wiping a vehicle with cleaning materials. The user's hand fits into the inner end of the sleeve and a mild abrasive material cannot accidentally scrape the vehicle surface. When the washing mitt is deliberately manipulated, the mild abrasive material engages the more difficult soiled spots on the vehicle.

Wash cloths and wet towels are used with soap and water to rub dirt and grime from the surface of vehicles. A wet soapy sponge is helpful in cleaning a difficult area. Appropriate solvents are used in removing stains, grease, chemicals and other unwanted contaminents. Rubbing a stubborn area with a slight abrasive cloth is helpful in many instances.
The problem with using so many of the above cleaning items is that they require interchangability, often resulting in the use of the wrong remedy.
Washing mitts have been developed with several types or grades of abrasive surfaces so that the user need only rotate the mitt around his hand and select the proper surface to use on the vehicle. Because of the use of several selected surfaces on the mitt, it has no thumb engagement which would control its rotational position and thus the abrasive surface to be used. Thus, it is easy to accidentally rotate the mitt to the wrong abrasive surface on the mitt. If you are washing, cleaning or polishing a vehicle fine surface with a course washing mitt surface, scratches on the vehicle surface may result. It is this accidental happening that the present invention will prevent.


An operating circuit for a discharge lamp (LP) having preheatable electrodes includes a device (C14, T11, T12, T13, G) for preheating the electrodes. The device includes a resonant circuit (C14, T11) which oscillates during preheating. During operation, the operating circuit produces an AC voltage having a frequency that is moved through a frequency range, records the response of the resonant circuit (C14, T11) by measuring an electrical variable (UC14), and identifies the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit (C14, T11) from the electrical variable (UC14), and preheats the electrodes by setting the frequency of the AC voltage to the resonant frequency.

The invention relates to an operating circuit for a discharge lamp having electrodes which can be preheated.
It is known for the resonance of a resonant circuit to be used for the preheating mode of the operating circuit in discharge lamps in which electrodes are intended to be preheated. For example, the electrodes to be preheated may on the one hand be connected to a frequency generator in the operating circuit and may on the other hand be connected via a capacitor and optional further components to a preheating device. The preheating device thus contains a resonant circuit whose oscillations cause current to flow through the electrodes. When the operating device produces an oscillation in the resonant circuit, the electrodes are in consequence preheated. The preheating mode may be ended, for example, by the heating of a PTC thermistor.
In a prior German Patent Application with the file reference 101 02 837.7 (xe2x80x9cOperating device for discharge lamps with the filament heating being switched offxe2x80x9d), the applicant has already proposed an operating device in which a preheating transformer is used for the preheating process, which is carried out at a resonant frequency of a resonant circuit, to which the primary winding of the transformer is connected.
The present invention is based on the technical problem of specifying an operating circuit for discharge lamps having electrodes which can be preheated, which operating circuit has an improved preheating device.
The invention provides that the operating circuit is designed to produce an AC voltage at the start of operation, in the process to move through a frequency range which includes the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit and, in the process, to record the response of the resonant circuit by measuring an electrical variable such that the resonant frequency can be identified and the lamp can be preheated at this resonant frequency.
Advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims.
The invention is based on the fundamental idea, which has already been included in the cited unpublished patent application, of using a resonant circuit and its resonance for preheating. The invention is also based on an operating circuit, in which the operating frequency of the operating circuit can be varied and adjusted. The invention proposes that, at the start of operation, a search is made through a frequency range for the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit, which frequency range is chosen such that it can be reliably assumed that the resonant frequency can be found in this frequency range. The resonant frequency may, for example, be identified by determining the amplitude of a voltage value or of a current value. In this case, there is also no need to move through the entire frequency range and, in fact, the process of moving through this frequency range can be stopped once the resonant frequency has been found. For example, it would be possible to use rising voltage or current values and a decrease in these values once again to deduce that the process has passed through the maximum, and to define this maximum as the resonance peak.
The resonant frequency of the resonant circuit can thus be identified, and can be used for the subsequent preheating process. This makes it possible to ensure particularly efficient preheating, on the other hand excluding influences resulting from component tolerances or temperature fluctuations which, for example, may vary inductances.
A further advantageous option is to use the level of the detected amplitude at the resonance peak to deduce the type of discharge lamp being used. This is because, if the operating circuit is designed such that not only the operating frequency but also other operating parameters are adjustable, it can then be used for different lamp types. This procedure is particularly convenient if the operating circuit adjusts itself automatically to the lamp type being used. The lamp type can, of course, be detected by additional coding of the lamp. However, it is simpler and/or more convenient to use the technical characteristics of the lamp, which exist in any case, for identification. In particular, the resistances of the lamp electrodes in different lamp types differ. This results in different attenuations of the resonance, which can be detected and can be used to deduce the lamp type. The operating circuit can then set the appropriate operating parameters.
Identification of the lamp type may, in principle, be worthwhile even if only one lamp type is in principle envisaged. It is then possible to prevent a lamp type which fits mechanically but is electrically unsuitable for being inserted and operated. In this situation, the operating circuit could refuse to switch on if an incorrect lamp type were identified.
The use of a preheating transformer in the preheating device as has already been described in the cited unpublished prior application is preferred. The disclosure content relating to this, in particular with regard to the various connection options and embodiment variants for the resonant circuit, is hereby expressly referred to. In any case, two secondary winding of the preheating transformer should in each case be connected to one of the electrodes of the discharge lamp, in order to allow the discharge lamp to be preheated. Furthermore, the preheating transformer must be connected to the resonant circuit, with the resonant circuit preferably being located on the primary side, that is to say with the primary winding being connected to the resonant circuit. This allows the appropriate oscillations in the resonant circuit to be initiated by a frequency generator in the operating circuit without having to be transformed to the voltage level on the secondary side.
One advantageous option for detecting the response of the resonant circuit in order to identify the resonant frequency and, if necessary, also to determine the strength of the resonance for lamp type identification purposes is to measure the maximum amplitude of the voltage on the primary winding of the preheating transformer. To do this, this voltage is preferably rectified, as illustrated in the exemplary embodiment.
The frequency generator for the operating circuit is preferably in the form of a digital controller, which produces frequencies digitally. In this case, the frequency range can be moved through, according to the invention, in steps. To this extent, the appropriate frequency step which is closest to the resonant frequency is detected, rather than the actual resonant frequency itself. In principle, it is irrelevant to the technical function of the invention whether the resonant frequency is detected precisely. The aim is to use only the resonant peak for preheating purposes. Owing to the attenuation of the resonance as a result of the resistances of the electrodes, the resonance is in general not very narrow in any case, so that the aim is only to approach the resonant frequency approximately.
An advantageous order of magnitude for the resonant frequency is twice the operating frequency of the operating circuit in continuous operation of the discharge lamp. Typical orders of magnitude may, for example, be about 80-100 kHz for the resonant frequency and approximately 40-50 kHz for the continuous operating frequency.

Operating device for discharge lamps having a preheating device

Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft fxc3xcr elektrische Glxc3xchlampen mbH


A first aspect of the invention provides for a method including: forming an interfacial layer in a first opening in a pFET region and a second opening in an nFET region, each opening being in a dielectric layer in the pFET region and the nFET region; forming a high-k layer over the interfacial layer in each of the first and second openings; forming a wetting layer over the high-k layer in each of the first and second openings; forming a first metal layer in each of the first and second openings, the first metal layer including tungsten; and forming a first gate electrode layer over the first metal layer to substantially fill each of the first and second openings, thereby forming a first replacement gate stack over the pFET region and a second replacement gate stack over the nFET region.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to gate stacks, and more particularly, to replacement gate stacks for p-type field-effect transistors and n-type field effect transistors and methods of forming the same.
Related Art
During integrated circuit fabrication, transistors can be formed in a semiconductor substrate. Each transistor includes a gate through which a current can be passed between source and drain terminals of the transistor. One approach to forming gates includes replacement metal gate (RMG) processing. RMG processing includes generating a number of sacrificial or dummy gates over a structure, such as a fin for a fin field effect transistor (FINFET), so that other processing steps, such as adjacent contact creation, can be carried out without damaging the gate. Once the other processing is carried out, the dummy gates are replaced with a metal to create the final metal gate structure. One challenge associated with RMG processing is reducing gate resistance in a p-type field-effect transistor without affecting the gate resistance in an n-type field-effect transistor or work function metals used to form the gates.
Generally speaking, a gate stack may include a wetting layer over a layer having a high dielectric constant (high-k layer) and an interfacial layer. Additionally, a gate electrode may be formed over the wetting layer. Titanium chloride (TiCl4) is used a precursor for low resistivity titanium nitride (TiN) wetting layers and tungsten (W) may be deposited thereover using a precursor of tungsten fluoride (WF6). Chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F) each have been used to improve negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) by passivating defects in the bandgap of the high-k dielectric layer caused by dangling bonds, or unsatisfied valences. NBTI is a reliability issue which results in an increase in the threshold voltage and a decrease in both the drain current and transconductance of the integrated circuit when the NBTI is poor. However, chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F) are not compatible to simultaneously improve the NBTI. The deposition of fluorine (F) from the tungsten fluoride (WF6) may penetrate through the titanium nitride (TiN) wetting layer to react with the high-k layer and the interfacial layer. However, this increases the thickness of the inversion layer, or the area under the gate, which in turn reduces capacitance. Therefore, a critical titanium nitride (TiN) wetting layer thickness is needed to prevent the increased thickness of the inversion layer. Conventionally, tungsten (W) deposition with tungsten fluoride (WF6) as a precursor, a nucleation layer and/or a cool fill tungsten (W) deposition is needed before chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of tungsten (W). Such nucleation layer and cool fill may offer higher resistivity than chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of tungsten (W) because of impurities that may be introduced due to the additional precursor needed for the nucleation layer and small tungsten (W) grain size due to the low temperature needed for cool fill tungsten (W).

Integrated circuit with replacement gate stacks and method of forming same

International Business Machines Corporation


An oscillating device for continuous casting molds (1) for casting molten metal particularly, molten steel material includes a plurality of springs (5) or spring assemblies (5a) extending between a stationary mold frame (2) and connection or fixing points (4) for supporting a continuous casting mold (1) and are set in control oscillations such as, e.g., resonance oscillations by drive pairs, wherein by using of springs (5), spring assemblies (5a) or spring bundles (5b) formed of fiber composites (6), damaging corrosion by chemicals during continuous casting is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an oscillating device for continuous casting molds for casting molten metal particularly, molten steel material and including a plurality of springs or spring assemblies extending between a stationary mold frame and connection or fixing points for supporting a continuous casting mold and set in control oscillations such as, e.g., resonance oscillations by drive pairs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Oscillating devices, which are secured to stationary frames with steel plate springs, are known.
The plate springs are designed with a lasting fatigue strength. As a rule, such plate spring suspensions operate for an extended operational time without maintenance. The continuous casting molds are guided in stationary frame with two plate springs per side. The continuous casting molds are supported by the spring force of the plate springs. This construction forms a backlash-free suspension and does not require any maintenance-intensive supports. The guidance of a continuous casting mold along a predetermined path and to a predetermined position is effected without any difficulty. The plate springs, however, greatly influence the oscillation modes because the spring constants should be very large in order to support the weight of the continuous casting mold. In the simplest case, a sinusoidal oscillation mode with the frequency of the natural resonance of a spring-mass system is carried out. Advantageously, a definite guidance of a continuous casting mold is insured with a very stiff plate spring. Oscillation frequency variations or an extended use can lead to reaction forces that cannot be controlled under existing circumstances and which overload the system. In addition, such steel plate spring systems are subjected to an increased corrosion which contributes substantially to failure of the system. Up to the present, springs made of steel and with different corrosion protection layers were used. However, coating is sensitive to mechanical influences when used as a base material. The use of alloyed steels did not eliminate these drawbacks. A satisfactory solution for eliminating these drawbacks could not be found up to the present, let alone effective measures for preventing failure.
The object of the invention is to provide, while eliminating the described drawbacks, a long-lasting, stable, plate spring oscillating device better suitable for casting of molten steel at corresponding oscillation modes.

Oscillating device for continuous casting molds for casting molten metal


A healthcare device intended for use by persons with either temporary or permanent limited mobility as a paraplegic or near paraplegic, who possess full use of the upper body and upper extremities. An intermediary device between the bedside commode where use of lower extremities permits walking, and the bedpan where a person is immobile or requires the help of an attendant or caregiver. This toilet or commode does not require the user to stand or sit independently, and there is no need to turn around for use. It is comprised of a wedged shaped, smooth surface, ventrally cantilevered bench with a toilet opening above a suspended waste collection bucket at the enlarged far end. Enclosed on three sides by a girdling fence rail, it is approached directly by a wheelchair user who, with chair brakes set, can slide forward onto the co-planer bench using the parallel side rails to aid in forward and backward movement. The user can adjust clothing as necessary in a forward sitting attitude at the end of the bench, using the end and side rails for positioning and stabilizing. The user need not stand and turn to use this toilet and commode, so the risk of falling is minimized.

Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
This invention belongs to the class of hospital, sick room, or independent living equipment intended to allow people with limited or no ability to walk safely and independently to conduct an essential function of life-use a toilet without the risk of falling. This invention is drawn to the problem of falling while using toilets or commodes. This invention is a great improvement over the prior art.
This invention addresses three (3) of the chief problems encountered by designs of bedside commodes or the standard flush toilet used in ADA compliant lavatory water closets. First, the need to turn either 90xc2x0 when getting out of bed prior to using a bedside commode. Second, the need for those using a walker or wheelchair to turn through up to 180xc2x0 to use a bedside commode or standard flush toilet. This invention requires no turning to enable a person to use it. And third, the need to rise or sit independently which has required people to employ an attendant or helper.
This invention is uniquely different from the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,123 to Henderson et al (1989) is a cantilevered bed transfer and toilet device which enables a caregiver or attendant to roll or lift an immobile patient onto an over bed co-planer surface that folds into a chair position for use as a commode or over toilet transport when pulled away from the bed. This device utilizes a traditional bedside to gurney transfer approach and is admirably suited for bedridden, immobile patients, but can not, because of its side mounting approach, be used for wheelchairs because of their large rear wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,567,997 to Harper (2003) is a mobility assisting device and commode for hemiplegics, that is for those who have full use of limbs on one side of the body. This device takes a standard configuration of a bedside commode and utilizes three (3) vertical pull-poles and a rotatable disk to utilized a therapeutic and rehabilitative stand and pivot maneuver to swing through a 90xc2x0 turn to mount and dismount the commode seat. Although admirably suited for hemiplegics who can stand with the assistance of vertical pull-poles to make a pivoting turn, this device can not be used by paraplegics who can not stand and must support their full weight with upper body movements.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,154 to Pitts (2001) requires individuals with limited mobility to rise and turn 180xc2x0 with the use of handrails, and lower her/himself onto a toilet seat. This design was not intended for persons who can not stand, let alone turn safely through 180xc2x0, and lack the ability to stand to lower themselves onto a toilet seat. This device is of limited use to those persons incapable of standing or walking.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,570 to Hargest, Blackwell, and Moss (2000) addresses the impact of lack of mobility on the use for either bedside commodes or standard water closets by incorporating a special commode into either a wheelchair or a bed. Although such a device is a boon to people who can not, or do not wish to or need to move around, it is overly complex and does not meet the needs of persons wishing or needing to move about.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,537 to Conrad (1996) addresses the specific lavatory needs of male orthopaedic patients with leg and/or hip trauma associated with surgical procedures. This device is also of general use for female medical patients with restricted leg/torso movement. However, more conventional bedside commodes are better suited to address the needs of people with average mobility. Although this device works well next to a bed for post-operative orthopaedic patients, it can not be used easily with wheelchairs or walkers.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,569 to Porter (1995) is merely a portable toilet for children which is, in design and use, subject to the same limitations as the various designs for bedside commodes. Firstly, the need to be able to stand and walk. Secondly, the need for a person to be able to turn through 90xc2x0 or 180xc2x0 to use the device. And thirdly, the need for a person to rise or sit independently or with assistance when using the device.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,920 to Havens (1995) addresses the issue of a bedridden patient having to turn 90xc2x0 to use a bedside commode by incorporating a tapered board as part of a side rail of the commode. This tapered board rests on the patient""s bed and allows the patient to slide sideways off the bed and onto the bedside commode. Besides being more appropriate for those individuals who have moderate use of the lower extremities, this device is unsuitable for wheelchair use because there is a wheel blocking any side to side movement. It is of no value for walkers.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,517 to Bly (1994) is a much improved portable commode which can be used at bedside or in various other circumstances. Again, this is a device which, whether used as a bedside commode or elsewhere, requires a fair degree of mobility and stability in the person using it. Again, when used at bedside, a person using it must turn through 90xc2x0 and someone in a wheelchair or walker must be able to turn from 90xc2x0 up to 180xc2x0 depending on the angle of approach.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,596 to Rose and Hodge (1994) only varies in method of construction and material from other portable commodes: it is made with unitary molded plastic. Again, in order to use it a person must be able to stand and turn at least 90xc2x0.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,754 to Jeanes (1993) addresses the inherent difficulties of mobility and the angle of approach by employing what amounts to an electrically controlled compact bedpan on the end of a swinging arm. Although novel in approach, this device can not be adapted as part of a traditionally plumbed ADA compliant water closet, and can not be cheaply produced for the numbers cited in the specification.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,126 to Vincent (1992) is essentially a bedpan on a bracket intended primarily for the frail elderly. Although it allows a user to approach and use it without turning, this device has several drawbacks. First, it requires a fair degree of mobility. Second, it is not adapted for wheelchair use. Third, it can not be adapted as part of a traditionally plumbed ADA compliant water closet. And last, it suffers from the same lightweight construction that makes traditional bedside commodes unstable and subject to being tipped over.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,412 to Spiegel (1989) is a traditional commode chair with an improved supporting structure or undercarriage. Despite its improved bracing and support, this device continues the practice of requiring users to be somewhat mobile, able to sit and rise unassisted, and be capable of turning through at least 90xc2x0.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,868 to Allen (1989) is the usual portable commode with one exception: a sidewall that opens to allow an attendant to clean the patient. Again, in addition to requiring an attendant, this commode is limited by the same questions of mobility, turning, sitting and standing.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,631 to Grady (1985) is a device to seamlessly move a patient from the bedside to the commode, but lacks the versatility to be used for both bedside use and other applications. This device has a restricted area of use and can not be used with wheelchairs, walkers, or adapted as part of a traditionally plumbed ADA compliant water closet.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,330 to Marshall (1982) employs a moveable side ramp to enable a patient to move laterally from a bed to the commode. This device lacks the versatility to be used for both bedside use and other applications. This device has a restricted area of use and can not be used with wheelchairs, walkers, or adapted as part of a traditionally plumbed ADA compliant water closet.
Further U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,472 to DiMatteo (1978) employs a bedpan embedded in a mattress to avoid the issue of mobility. This device is of no use to anyone using a wheelchair or walker, and is limited to a sick room.
The object of this invention is to eliminate one of the greatest dangers for people with limited or impaired ability to walk: the risk of falling in the home or in public lavatories. Additionally, there is the secondary need to restore and maintain a sense of self-sufficiency to people who, because of mobility and balance problems, must otherwise rely upon an attendant or helper to safely utilize a toilet or commode.
This invention is essentially a toilet or commode which does not require the user to stand or sit independently, and there is no need to turn around in order to use it. By eliminating the need to be able to stand to turn this invention minimizes the risk of falling. Additionally, this toilet and commode is not limited solely to bedside use, wheelchairs, walkers, or modification as a traditionally plumbed rear spud ADA compliant toilet.
With parallel, laddered hand rails on either side of a wheelchair height bench, any person with moderate upper body strength can approach this device directly from a wheelchair. The user need only straddle the bench with one leg on either side and slide forward on the bench using the flanking rails to steady or propel the user forward. The bench tapers wider from the narrow approach end towards the far end where it is the size of a standard toilet seat. With a round shaped toilet seat and oval opening at the far end with either a bucket or modification as a traditionally plumbed rear spud ADA compliant toilet, the user can remove his/her necessary garments with ample room to adjust the position of the legs as required for use.
This invention is much more stable than conventional bedside commodes because the weight of the user is on a bench which is bolted to a wide stance plywood base, thus preventing it from tipping over. The high density plastic skids under the front end of the base act as low velocity casters, thus enabling its movement on a wood or composition floor. Furthermore, it is a more versatile device than many bedside commodes as it can be used anywhere in a sickroom, bedroom, hospital room, or in ADA compliant public applications. As it can be manufactured with readily available materials without special knowledge and with average skills, this device is uniquely useful for a broad range of suitable applications.

Cantilevered limited mobility bench toilet and commode


A DC power switch (10) for a capacitive load (11) has a main transistor (Q1) in series with the load between positive and negative DC bus terminals (B.sup.+, B.sup.-). A secondary transistor (Q2) and a resistor (R.sub.1) are connected in series and this series connection is connected in parallel to the main transistor (Q1). A control circuit (20; 50) is connected to the main and secondary transistors (Q1, Q2) and controls them. In response to an enable signal (26), the secondary transistor (Q2) is initially turned on such that it and the resistor provide the initial charging current for the capacitor load (11) and subsequently the secondary transistor is turned off and the main transistor is turned on such that it provides the subsequent current required by the load. This configuration minimizes the power dissipation ratings required for the transistors while balancing this requirement with the relative rapid providing of charging current for the capacitive load. Fault detection circuitry (30-33) makes sure both the main and secondary transistors are off and interrupts the supply of DC power to the load (11) in the event of a detected fault.

Often it is desirable to provide a circuit breaker switch in series with a capacitive load so as to selectively interrupt the supplying of DC power to the load. If substantial DC voltages and currents are contemplated, the circuit breaker may have to be capable of substantial power dissipation, particularly during the initial charging up of the capacitance of the load. In prior circuits, an electromechanical relay has been used when power dissipation was a concern. However, such relays have inherent long term reliability problems, are relatively expensive and may be relatively costly and bulky in size if they are required to have a substantial power dissipation/current conduction rating.
A single semiconductor switching device could be utilized in place of the above noted mechanical relay. However, the cost of such a single semiconductor component, which would be able withstand the power dissipation encountered during the initial charging time and conduct sufficient maximum current, would make the use of such a single semiconductor switch undesirable. A semiconductor switch having a lower power rating could be utilized if the semiconductor switch were only gradually or slowly turned on or if the initial charging current through the semiconductor switch was limited by feedback so that only a certain maximum power dissipation would occur in the semiconductor device during the initial charging time. However, these solutions would inherently slow down the charging up the of the capacitive load because the effective switch current multiplied by the voltage across the semiconductor switch would be limited to a maximum power dissipation rating which preferably is selected to be just enough to allow the switch to supply anticipated steady state load current. Also, any feedback current limit solution would be difficult to implement. The implementing difficulties occur because very small currents during the initial charging time could result in a very large power dissipation for the semiconductor switch due to the large voltage differential across the switch, whereas during the later stages of the charging time there is less voltage across the semiconductor switch and therefore a larger current could exist for the same power dissipation rating. Thus any type of feedback system which would limit the power dissipation of the series semiconductor switch to some preset level would have to operate over a very wide range of charging currents, and accurately implementing such switch control would be difficult.
Some prior art circuits have provided a constant resistive charging path in parallel with a semiconductor device in a power supply that provides power to a capacitive load. However, this semiconductor device, and its associated circuitry, have been inserted just to provide a small series voltage drop under some conditions while the resistor limits the DC power supply current under other conditions. Thus these circuits do not implement a circuit breaker function, responsive to fault conditions, which is connected in series between DC power and a capacitive load. This is because the resistor always provides a current bypass to the semiconductor switch. Therefore, this technique does not suggest how to prevent overpower dissipation from occurring in a series circuit breaker type switch while still achieving a relatively rapid charging up of a capacitive type load and/or implementing this without any requirement for costly high power components or extremely complex and close tolerance power dissipation feedback control circuitry.


In a method for connecting lead wires to a touch panel, the method includes the steps of: providing through holes 9a to 9d the number of which corresponds to the number of electrode ends by perforation in a lower electrode plate 3; using a metal-pin 11 having a pin-shaft 11b and a disk shaped pin-head 11a with a diameter larger than an outer diameter of the pin-shaft; inserting the pin-shaft 11b into a metal-pin fixing hole formed corresponding to the through hole 9a at a circuit 10c in a connector tail of a lead wire 10, whereby the pin-shaft 11b is erectly provided on the connector tail of the lead wire 10; and inserting the pin-shafts 11b to 14b into the through holes 9a to 9d, and in addition, electrically connecting the pin-shaft inserted into a lower electrode plate 3 through a conductive adhesive 15 to electrode ends 6c, 7c, 6d, 7d.

Conventionally, a touch panel display formed by arranging a touch panel on a liquid crystal display in a lamination manner has been widely used for small equipment such as a mobile phone and a PDA, because a screen and a coordinate input means are collectively provided for saving of a space.
As the above-mentioned touch panel, a resistive film type that is simple in structure, thin in thickness and excellent in mass production has generally used. A configuration thereof is as follows: an upper electrode plate having a flexibility as an operation side and a lower electrode plate as a fixed side are oppositely arranged with a predetermined gap by a spacer, and electric circuits are wired in an X direction and a Y direction on an inner surface of each of the electrode plates.
When a surface of the upper electrode plate is pressed with a stylus pen or the like, the upper electrode plate comes into contact with the lower electrode plate to cause an electric potential gradient to be formed between the electrodes, and by taking out the voltage to the outside to calculate an X-axis position and a Y-axis position with a controller, an input point thus pressed is specified.
FIG. 8 shows an assembly method for the above-mentioned touch panel. An upper electrode plate 50 and a lower electrode plate 51 are oppositely arranged. The upper electrode plate 50 is provided with strip-shaped electrodes 50a, 50b in an X direction, while the lower electrode 51 is provided with strip-shaped electrodes 51a, 51b in a Y direction.
The electrodes 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b are extendedly provided to a connecting part 52 provided on an edge of the touch panel so as to be collectively arranged into one point. The connecting part 52 is connected with conductors 53a of lead wires 53 formed of an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit Board).
In detail, the conductors 53a are designed to be connected to respective electrodes by a conductive paste, and then fixed and held between the upper electrode plate 50 and the lower electrode plate 51 (for example, refer to FIG. 8 of JP-A 09-50731). Further, in the figure, 50c and 51c denote resistive films formed on inner surfaces of the upper electrode plate 50 and the lower electrode plate 51, respectively.
In such a method for connecting lead wires, lead wires are pulled out directly of a side face of the touch panel. In addition, the upper electrode plate 50 is made of a resin sheet and each electrode is made of a silver paste, so that it cannot be said that the electrode itself is rigid. Furthermore, the conductors 53a of the lead wires 53 are connected to the electrodes with a conductive paste of weak fixing force. Therefore, if a little stronger force acts on the lead wire, the wire can be disconnected at the connecting part 52, so that an extreme care has been required to handle the wire.
On the other hand, there has also been proposed the following method by which a damage to a lead wire connecting part is eliminated and the handling of a wire is easily performed.
For example, in a touch panel shown in FIG. 9, four through holes 51d to 51g are provided by perforation to form connecting parts on an edge of the lower electrode plate 51. Concave-type (female-type) connecting metal fixtures 55 are disposed to be buried in the through holes after a conductive paste 54 has been poured thereinto so as to be electrically connected with the electrodes 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b (for example, refer to FIG. 1 of JP-A 09-50731).
In such a touch panel, a signal from the electrodes 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b can be taken out to the outside while maintaining an electrically good connection without pulling the lead wires out directly of the side face of the touch panel.
However, in such a method for taking out a signal by the use of the connecting metal fixtures 55, there is an inconvenience, in that when a touch panel is mounted on a device such as an interface board or a liquid crystal display, four connecting pins for inserting the connecting metal fixtures 55 into positions corresponding to the through holes 51d to 51g must be erectly provided in the device, thereby requiring a change in lead wire connecting structure for both the touch panel and the above-mentioned device.
The present invention has been made in view of the inconvenience in the conventional method for connecting lead wires to the touch panel, and provides a method for connecting lead wires to a touch panel, enabling a connecting strength of lead wires to be increased without requiring a significant design change.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Lead wire connection method for touch panel


An apparatus for reducing electromagnetic interference on signals being communicated through one or more communications conductors is disclosed. The apparatus of the present invention is preferably situated in a communications circuit having a first area for receiving one or more communications conductors and an intermediate ground, and a second area having a reference ground. The apparatus includes one or more first capacitors, where each first capacitor is coupled between a communications conductor and the intermediate ground, and a second capacitor coupled between the intermediate ground and the reference ground. In preferred embodiments, the first area is a telephone network voltage (TNV) area, the second area is a secondary extra low voltage (SELV) area, the first capacitors are regular high voltage capacitors, and the second capacitor is a Y capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to circuits for reducing electromagnetic interference (EMI) in telecommunications equipment, and, in preferred embodiments, to apparatus, systems, and processes for efficiently reducing EMI that is conducted along telecommunications lines using Y capacitors.
2. Description of Related Art
xe2x80x9cNoise,xe2x80x9d defined herein as any type of undesirable signal that interferes with communication, is a problem increasingly important to telephony and other communication systems. In telephone lines, for example, the increased use of modems and facsimile machines to transmit data makes the reduction of noise an important aspect of telecommunication design.
One source of noise is electromagnetic interference (EMI). EMI is the undesired coupling of electromagnetic energy from an electromagnetic energy source to an affected circuit, system, or structure. EMI may be coupled from the source to the affected circuit, system, or structure through conduction along wires, by far field radiation from a transmitting antenna, through capacitive (electric field) coupling, and through inductive (magnetic field) coupling.
Telephones and other personal communications devices are often used in an environment that includes one or more nearby amplitude modulation (AM) broadcast radio stations or other types of wireless broadcasting systems having high power radio frequency transmitters and associated antenna systems, and are therefore subject to exposure to electromagnetic energy sufficient to interfere with or completely disable the operation of such a device. Interference to communications devices caused by such broadcasting systems results mainly from radiated radio frequency (RF) signals that are coupled into transmission lines and are then conducted as RF currents into communications devices connected to the affected transmission lines.
Because most present day communications devices employ active circuits (amplifiers, automatic gain control circuits, and the like) which provide certain advantages over older xe2x80x9cpassivexe2x80x9d designs such as standalone telephones, they are more susceptible to interference caused by unwanted RF currents. This is due to the nature of the active circuitry, which has the undesired capability of readily demodulating audio from amplitude modulated RF carriers.
For example, AM interference with the desired operation of a telephone instrument occurs when the telephone""s electronic circuits demodulate the audio signal component of amplitude modulated RF currents, amplify this unwanted audio signal component, and couple it to the telephone""s receiver, thereby making it extremely difficult or effectively impossible to understand intended received speech. If the RF signal strength is high enough, the internal circuitry of the telephone instrument will be disabled, making it impossible to place a call.
This EMI problem is illustrated in FIG. 1, which shows a circuit equivalent of high powered, commercial, radio broadcast antenna transmitting RF signals into a two wire, metallic, telephone transmission line located in the vicinity of the antenna transmitter site. The unwanted AM broadcast signal is schematically represented by a noise source 10 having an associated noise source impedance 12. The AM signal is injected through a pair of resistors 14 and 16 representing a balanced two-wire transmission line 18 consisting of tip and ring lines 20 and 22 in a telephone set 24. The hardware of telephone set 24 typically includes a printed circuit board 26, housed within an insulating (plastic) housing or case 28. Mounted on printed circuit board 26 are one or more active electronic circuits, which are capacitively coupled to earth ground 30 by a naturally occurring mutual capacitance 32. The undesired RF currents are conducted over the two wire (tip and ring) transmission line 20 in common mode fashion. The strength of the RF noise signal, which follows the dotted line path 34 (from the source 10, through tip and ring transmission line 20, the amplifier circuitry of printed circuit board 26, and through mutual capacitance 34 to earth ground 30) is often high enough to cause interference to telephone instruments located around the perimeter of an AM radio broadcast facility.
Regulatory safety administrations require compliance with telephone equipment specifications by requiring galvanic insulation between the tip and ring telephone lines and the board or system. This insulation can be realized by transformers, capacitors, optocouplers, or the like. Although various shielding/grounding schemes, such as those described in the U.S. Patents to Pesola et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,056 and Bogese, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,638, address the EMI problem in general, neither patent describes the above-referenced problem of unwanted demodulation by the telephone""s electronic circuitry of AM broadcast signals as undesired common mode RF currents on the two wire (tip and ring) conductors. The Pesola et al. patent describes the use of a ground foil with a raised edge of frame plate for components of a radio telephone. The Bogese patent describes the replacement of one of the conductors of a telephone type modular jack with a ground strap having a wide surface for conducting high frequency EMI signals to ground, or a metallic connector cover provided for the purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,416 to Hill et al. discloses an electromagnetic interference bypass filtering mechanism that suppresses RF noise currents conducted over the tip and ring leads of a telephone line-powered telephone instrument that may be produced by AM radio broadcast signals emanating in the vicinity of the telephone instrument. The filtering mechanism comprises a conductive material coated on the interior surface of the housing of the telephone instrument, so as to surround the printed circuit board containing the telephone circuitry of the instrument, coupled to earth ground. First and second capacitors are coupled between the tip and ring leads and the conductive material, and first and second inductors are coupled in series with the tip and ring conductors and connections of the tip and ring conductors to the printed circuit board containing the telephone circuitry. Each of the first and second capacitors has a value that is larger than the value of mutual capacitance between conductive traces on printed circuit board and the conductive coating on the interior of the telephone""s case. The effective impedance to earth ground seen by common mode RF noise current signals on the tip and ring leads is therefore lower than that encountered in a path through the circuitry on the printed circuit board. Although this effectively increases the common mode current injected into the telephone, the lower impedance of the by-pass path through the first and second capacitors steers the common mode RF current around the printed circuit board, rather than through its active circuitry.
However, when selecting filtering components such as the capacitors in the Hill et al. patent, safety requirements must be satisfied. In Nordic countries, for example, if capacitors are used, the capacitors must be certified to the IEC 384-14-1 standard. These certified capacitors must also be designed to meet certain safety and insulation requirements as defined by safety standard IEC 60950. For example, certified capacitors are designed such that in case of failure or fault they will blow open rather than into a shorted state. Example certification bodies that certify capacitors include TUV, SEMKO, NEMKO, DEMKO or FEMKO. The IEC standard uses different Y designations, such as Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4, each representing a different voltage rating. Capacitors certified to the IEC standard are called xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d capacitors.
Because these Y capacitors are certified, they must pass through more quality control steps, and thus they are generally more expensive. Another drawback to Y capacitors is that they are larger in size than regular high voltage capacitors. The larger size of the Y capacitors is due to a higher voltage rating than other capacitors, and a size requirement imposed by the certification standards. Thus, the two capacitor design of the Hill et al. patent, if implemented in a product governed by the IEC 384-14-1 standard, will be expensive and larger in size due to the requirement that the capacitors be Y capacitors.
Furthermore, in certain telephone applications, circuitry on printed circuit boards 26 such as PCI modem boards is divided into at least two separate areas, a Telephone Network Voltage (TNV) portion 36 and a Secondary or Safety Extra-Low Voltage (SELV) portion 38, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The TNV portion 36 of the circuit board 26 operates at standard telephone line voltages, and includes the tip and ring leads 20 and 22. The remainder of the circuit board 26 is generally the SELV portion 38, and includes PCI connectors and other circuitry carrying a maximum voltage level of 42 V peak to peak.
The SELV portion 38 of the PCI modem board 26 may contain low power standby circuitry for implementing a soft-start capability, which enables automatic activation and deactivation of a PC connected to the modem board based on the activation of a modem, alarm, or the like. A PC incorporating soft-start capability includes a power supply connected to an AC source and available for providing power. Control circuitry keeps the power supply, and thus the PC, turned off until an activation signal of some sort is received or asserted by detection circuitry in the SELV portion 38 of the PCI modem board 26, indicating a desire to activate the system. Upon receipt of the activation signal, the control circuitry turns on the power supply and the PC.
The detection circuitry in the SELV portion 38 of the PCI modem board 26 requires a constant power source to enable it to detect remote events. Conventionally, a low power SELV source provides xe2x80x9cflea powerxe2x80x9d to the detection circuitry located on the secondary side of the power supply relative to the main power transformer. The SELV power source derives power directly from the AC source or from the relatively high DC input voltage from the primary side. The SELV power source also includes isolation circuitry, such as a transformer or the like, to transfer the power to the secondary side, and a regulation circuit for converting the power to a regulated low power signal, referred to as +5 VFP, which provides power to the detection circuit.
The TNV portion 36 of the circuit board 26 is separated from the SELV portion 38 by a safety barrier 40, which is comprised of a portion of the printed wiring board devoid of components, and which may include multiple ground planes and vias to act as a barrier against electromagnetic interference.
Safety standard IEC 60950 describes these TNV and SELV portions 36 and 38, and requires that these two portions be spanned using Y capacitors. Specifically, IEC 60950 requires galvanic insulation between line interfaces located in the TNV portion 36 of the circuit board, such as the tip and ring lines 20 and 22, and chassis ground 30 on the SELV portion 38 of the board or system, for filtering out EMI. This insulation can be realized by transformers, Y capacitors, or optocouplers. If Y capacitors are selected as the insulating devices, a minimum of two Y capacitors 42 and 44 are requiredxe2x80x94one from the tip line 20 to chassis ground 30 on the SELV portion 38 of the board 26, and one from the ring line 22 to chassis ground 30 on the SELV portion 38 of the board 26. As noted above, the use of two Y capacitors 42 and 44 is both expensive and space-consuming.
Furthermore, if improved line interface circuitry, impedance matching components, current regulation, and circuits which perform other functions such as caller ID are added to the TNV portion of the circuit board, some of which require a DC voltage and ground, an intermediate or analog ground 46 is needed in the TNV portion 36 of the circuit board 26. IEC 60950 requires that insulation be coupled between the intermediate ground 46 on the TNV portion 36 and chassis ground 30 on the SELV portion 38. If a Y capacitor 48 is used to provide this insulation, it adds further to the expense and consumption of space.
Therefore, it is an advantage of embodiments of the present invention to provide an apparatus, system, and method for efficient reduction of electromagnetic interference in telecommunications equipment.
It is a further advantage of embodiments of the present invention to provide a an apparatus, system, and method for efficient reduction of electromagnetic interference in telecommunications equipment by reducing the number of Y capacitors needed for coupling between TNV and SELV portions of a circuit board.
These and other advantages are accomplished according to an apparatus for reducing electromagnetic interference on signals being communicated through the one or more communications conductors. The apparatus of the present invention is preferably situated in a communications circuit having a first area for receiving one or more communications conductors and an intermediate ground, and a second area having a reference ground. The apparatus includes one or more first capacitors, where each first capacitor is coupled between a communications conductor and the intermediate ground, and a second capacitor coupled between the intermediate ground and the reference ground. In preferred embodiments, the first area is a telephone network voltage (TNV) area, the second area is a secondary extra low voltage (SELV) area, the first capacitors are regular high voltage capacitors, and the second capacitor is a Y capacitor.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, when read with the drawings and appended claims.

Apparatus, system, and method for efficient reduction of electromagnetic interference in telecommunications equipment


This present disclosure is directed to a method of treating a subject with cancer with a combination of a protein kinase C (PKC) activator and a second therapeutic agent.

Cancer is a disease of abnormal and uncontrolled cell growth. Cancer cells are also genetically unstable and subject to frequent mutations, resulting in a heterogeneous mixture of cancer cells, some of which are resistant to chemotherapeutic treatments. While rounds of chemotherapy may eliminate most of the cancer cells in a patient, the chemotherapy also becomes a selection mechanism for chemo-resistant cancer cells. Relapses in cancer patients are thought to occur because a small number of cancer cells survive by accumulating mutations that make them resistant to the chemotherapeutic agent being used.
Combination chemotherapy combines two or more chemotherapeutic agents to attack cancer cells by targeting different physiological targets (e.g., mechanisms of action) and/or life cycles of the cancer cell, with minimal cross resistance between the agents in order to decrease the likelihood that the cancer cells can survive the combination therapy. One primary rationale for combination chemotherapy in cancer treatment is that the probability of developing all of the mutations that confer resistance in a single cancer cell to all of the chemotherapeutic agents of the combination is much lower than the probability of accumulating mutations conferring resistance to a single chemotherapeutic agent. Combination therapy can also allow use of lower doses of a chemotherapeutic agent because two or more agents attack the cancer cell in concert, and may also enhance patient compliance if the chemotherapeutic agents are provided in a single composition.
Despite the advantages of combination therapies, the development of specific chemotherapy combinations that are effective against cancers is difficult because of the unpredictable effects of targeting different biological targets and the lack of information on the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of drug interaction at the cellular level. It is difficult to determine whether a specific drug combination will be synergistic (i.e., superior), simply additive (i.e., equal), or even antagonistic (i.e., inferior). Some chemotherapy combinations having a synergistic response at one ratio can be antagonistic when used in a different ratio.


A belt retractor (10) is provided with a retractor shaft (12) and a device (26) for determining the rotational speed and/or the angle of rotation of the retractor shaft (12), with a rotating magnetic element (18), a stationary magnetic field sensor (24) and a stationary element guiding the magnetic flux (20) arranged between the rotating magnetic element (18) and the magnetic field sensor (24).

The invention relates to a belt retractor comprising a retractor shaft and a device for determining the rotational speed and/or the angle of rotation.
In the case of belt retractors, especially of retracting tensioners, it is necessary for particular functions to know the angle of rotation of the retractor shaft. This is necessary, for example, for detecting the out-of-position situation, for the rotational speed monitoring and the rotational speed control of the motor for driving the tensioner or a pre-tensioner or for controlling the tensioning operation itself.
Usually the angle of rotation is determined by means of an artificially generated alternating magnetic field. A magnetic wheel or any other magnetic component is connected to the retractor shaft in a rotationally fixed manner so that a periodically alternating magnetic field is generated during rotation of the turning shaft. Said field is detected by means of a suitable magnetic field sensor usually a Hall sensor, and the rotational speed and/or the angle of rotation of the retractor shaft is concluded from the information obtained therefrom. The Hall sensors are fastened directly on an ECU board so that for detecting the magnetic field the entire board has to be placed as closely as possible to the retractor shaft, which entails considerable constructional problems.

Seat-belt retractor with determination of angle of rotation


Apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto a roadway surface at predeterminedly spaced locations thereof comprises a horizontally disposed magazine, and a vertically oriented chute section. A plurality of traffic cones can be loaded into the magazine section, and a leading one of the traffic cones can be moved into the vertically oriented chute section for discharge and deposition onto the roadway surface. An automatic control system can also be used to control the discharge of the traffic cones into the vertically oriented chute section in accordance with predeterminedly timed sequences such that the traffic cones can be placed upon the roadway surface at locations which are spaced apart by predeterminedly defined distances.

The present invention relates generally to the deposition of traffic cones onto roadway surfaces, and more particularly to new and improved traffic cone setting devices, mechanisms, or apparatus for both semi-automatically and automatically depositing traffic cones at predeterminedly spaced locations of roadway surfaces in accordance with predeterminedly timed sequences.
Traffic cones are a ubiquitous sight upon the nation""s roadways whether they are being used, for example, to visually indicate to motorists either the presence of a construction site, to delineate and separate moving lanes of traffic from roadside work zones, to close particular street regions to oncoming traffic, or the like. As is well known, a supply of traffic cones is usually carried upon a roadwork truck or vehicle operated either by means of a local government agency or a subcontractor organization hired by the local government, and as is often the case, the traffic cones are manually deposited or placed upon the particular roadway by means of operators or workmen personnel who take individual traffic cones from a supply of such cones carried upon the roadwork truck or vehicle and place the individual traffic cones upon the roadway surface at predeterminedly spaced intervals along the particular route being travelled by the roadwork truck or vehicle. In accordance with one mode of operation, the operators or workmen personnel may be positioned upon one side of the roadwork truck or vehicle, and while effectively hanging onto, for example, a rail member, or similar support, of the roadwork truck or vehicle by means of one arm, the operator or workman places a traffic cone onto the roadway with his or her other arm. Alternatively, an individual operator or workman will often sit upon a rear bed, deck, or platform portion of the roadwork vehicle or truck so as to be capable of periodically depositing the traffic cones along the roadway as the roadwork vehicle or truck moves along the particular route along which the traffic cones are to be deposited.
As can readily be appreciated, the aforenoted well-known modes of operation present significant safety problems for the operators or workmen personnel in that the operators or workmen personnel are disposed in precarious positions or orientations upon the roadwork truck or vehicle. Incidents have in fact occurred, for example, during such traffic cone placement or deposition operations, wherein workmen or operator personnel have accidentally fallen from the trucks or vehicles and have either suffered serious injuries, or even worse, have suffered injuries which have proven to be fatal. These situations are not of course entirely unanticipated in view of the fact that sometimes unexpected events occur during movement of the roadwork truck or vehicle alongside ongoing traffic. These events may cause, for example, the particular roadwork truck or vehicle to undergo somewhat sudden movements comprising a change in direction, necessary braking or acceleration, or the like. In addition, it is sometimes difficult for the workmen personnel or operators to simultaneously pick up and then properly control the disposition and placement of the traffic cones onto the roadway surface in view of the fact that each traffic cone weighs at least ten pounds depending upon the particular cone and its size. All of such movements, and the weight force inherent to each traffic cone, can cause destabilizing forces to effectively be impressed upon or transmitted to the operators or workmen personnel which can of course lead to the aforenoted unfortunate injury or death situations to occur as a result of an operator or workman either losing his or her balance, or losing his or her hand-held grip upon the truck or vehicle support structure. Still further, the constant lifting and manipulation of the traffic cones is not ergonomically desirable from a health point of view for the operators or workmen personnel.
In order to overcome such operational drawbacks characteristic of manual procedures for depositing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces, several automated systems have been proposed such as those systems disclosed, for example, within U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,334 which issued to Akita et al. on Sep. 14, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,464 which issued to Nicholson et al. on May 25, 1993, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,648 which issued-to Luoma on Oct. 8, 1991. While all of such disclosed systems comprise systems for depositing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces, none of the systems disclose a magazine structure for enabling an operator to load a plurality of traffic cones into the system or means for automatically dispensing the traffic cones so as to place the cones at predeterminedly spaced locations upon the roadway surfaces.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved system or apparatus for depositing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces wherein as a result of the provision of such a system or apparatus, the operators or workmen personnel are not exposed to the dangers of oncoming traffic, and wherein further, the traffic cones can be readily, easily, and efficiently deposited without adversely affecting the workmen or operator personnel from an ergonomically healthful and non-fatiguing point of view.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces.
Another object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces wherein the operationally unsafe conditions characteristic of conventional manual traffic cone deposition or placement techniques or procedures can be effectively overcome.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces which comprise manual and semi-automatic devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus.
A further object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces which comprise manual and semi-automatic devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus which enable operators or workmen personnel to be positioned at a location or work station which is substantially safe in that the location or work station is positioned relatively remote from the sides or rear end section of the roadwork truck or vehicle such that operators or workmen personnel will not or cannot readily fall off the roadwork truck or vehicle and onto the roadway even if the roadwork truck or vehicle undergoes or experiences relatively sudden movements.
A last object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces which comprise manual and semi-automatic devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus which enable operators or workmen personnel to be positioned at a location or work station which is substantially safe in that the location or work station is positioned relatively remote from the sides or rear end section of the roadwork truck or vehicle such that operators or workmen personnel will not or cannot readily fall off the roadwork truck or vehicle and onto the roadway even if the roadwork truck or vehicle undergoes or experiences relatively sudden movements, and yet the individual operators or workmen can obviously control the deposition or placement of the traffic cones onto the roadway surfaces at predetermined locations and in accordance with desired timed sequence parameters or techniques.
The foregoing and other objectives are achieved in accordance with the teachings and principles of the present invention through the provision of a first embodiment of a new and improved device, mechanism, system, or apparatus, for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces at predeterminedly spaced locations thereof and in accordance with predeterminedly timed sequence techniques or parameters, which comprises a vertically oriented chute structure which is adjustably supported upon one side of the roadwork truck or vehicle. The vertically oriented chute structure has an arcuate configuration which subtends a 90xc2x0 angular extent such that an upstream portion thereof is oriented so as to extend vertically while a downstream portion thereof is oriented so as to extend horizontally. The chute structure is also integrally connected to a horizontally oriented magazine structure which is fixedly secured to a rear wall member or support of the roadwork truck or vehicle and which is adapted to house a plurality of traffic cones which can be manually placed or loaded therein by means of operator or workmen personnel. The traffic cones are disposed horizontally within the magazine structure, that is, the axes of the traffic cones, around which the three-dimensional structure of each traffic cone is defined, are oriented or extend horizontally, and accordingly, when a leading one of the traffic cones is manually moved from the horizontally oriented magazine structure into the vertically oriented chute structure, the traffic cone is initially disposed in a horizontal disposition or orientation at the upstream end portion of the chute structure. However, in view of the aforenoted arcuate configuration of the chute structure subtending its 90xc2x0 arcuate extent, as the traffic cone slides downwardly within the chute structure under the influence of gravity, its disposition, as defined by its axis, will effectively be converted from a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation whereupon automatic release or discharge from the downstream end portion of the chute structure, the traffic cone will be automatically deposited onto the roadway in its desired stand-up vertical orientation with its base portion supporting the same upon the roadway.
In accordance with a second embodiment of a new and improved device, mechanism, system, or apparatus, for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces at predeterminedly spaced locations thereof and in accordance with predeterminedly desired timed sequence techniques or parameters, there is likewise provided the aforenoted horizontally oriented traffic cone magazine structure and vertically oriented chute structure, however, in lieu of the device, mechanism, system, or apparatus of the second embodiment of the present invention being manually operated and controlled as has been noted hereinabove in accordance with the brief summary of the first embodiment of the present invention, the second embodiment of the present invention has incorporated therein a pair of alternatively or oppositely actuated pneumatic control means for automatically retaining and releasing the traffic cones at and from first upper READY and second lower DISCHARGE positions which are effectively located at the junction of the magazine section and the upper end portion of the vertically oriented chute. When the first upper pneumatic control means is extended so as to be capable of retaining a traffic cone at the upper READY position when a traffic cone is subsequently manually moved into the upper READY position, the second lower pneumatic control means is retracted so as to release a traffic cone, previously disposed at the lower DISCHARGE position, into the vertically oriented delivery chute. When the first upper pneumatic control means is subsequently retracted, while the second lower pneumatic control means is extended, a traffic cone, previously disposed at the upper READY position, is now released and moved to the lower DISCHARGE position, and is retained at such position by means of the extended second lower pneumatic control means. The operational cycle is then repeated so as to serially dispense or discharge a plurality of traffic cones into the vertically oriented delivery chute for deposition upon the roadway surface.

Traffic cone setting devices for depositing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces


Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and a communications apparatus for switching an RRC state. The method includes: sending, by a communications apparatus, indication information to a network device, where the indication information is used to indicate that the communications apparatus requests to enter an RRC inactive state; after completing a registration process of an RRC connected state, receiving, by the communications apparatus, an RRC connection release message that is sent by the network device based on the indication information, where the RRC connection release message is used to indicate the communications apparatus to enter the RRC inactive state; and entering, by the communications apparatus, the RRC inactive state from the RRC connected state based on the received RRC connection release message. In this way, energy consumption of the terminal-side communications apparatus can be effectively reduced, and network resource consumption can also be reduced.

Compared with a standard protocol of a long term evolution (LTE) system, a standard protocol of a 5th generation (5G) mobile communications system defines a new RRC state, to be specific, an RRC inactive state. In the RRC inactive state, a non-access stratum (NAS) layer is still in a connected state, and behavior of an RRC layer is similar to behavior of an RRC idle state. When a terminal needs to enter an RRC connected state, the terminal does not need to re-perform an RRC connection establishment process, but directly sends an RRC connection resumption request to a network. In other words, in 5G, there are three RRC states: an RRC connected state, an RRC inactive state, and an RRC idle state.
When user equipment (UE) is in the RRC connected state, the network sends, to the UE, an RRC connection release message used to indicate the UE to enter the RRC idle state. After receiving the RRC release message, the UE switches to the RRC idle state. If the UE needs to subsequently initiate a service, the UE may send an RRC connection establishment message, to re-establish an RRC link and enter the RRC connected state. When the UE is in the RRC connected state, the network may alternatively configure the UE to enter the RRC inactive state. If the UE needs to subsequently initiate a service, the UE may send an RRC connection resumption message, to quickly resume an RRC connection and enter the RRC connected state. If an exception occurs when the UE switches from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state, the UE enters the RRC idle state. Alternatively, when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, the UE may directly enter the RRC idle state by using an RRC inactive state release message. When the UE is in the RRC inactive state or the RRC idle state, energy consumption of the UE can be reduced. However, the UE in the RRC inactive state can more quickly switch back to the RRC connected state than the UE in the RRC idle state.
In a conventional protocol, a procedure in which the network configures the UE in the RRC connected state to enter the RRC inactive state is as follows: A network device determines, based on load of the UE and detection on service transmission that is performed by the UE for a period of time, whether to configure the UE to enter the RRC inactive state. If the network device determines to configure the UE to enter the RRC inactive state, the network device configures, by using an RRC release message, the UE to enter the RRC inactive state.
In a conventional manner of configuring the UE to enter the RRC inactive state, power consumption of the UE and network resource consumption cannot be reduced to a maximized extent.

Method and apparatus for switching radio resource control RRC state


Laser-assisted apparatus and methods for performing nanoscale material processing, including nanodeposition of materials, can be controlled very precisely to yield both simple and complex structures with sizes less than 100 nm. Optical or thermal energy in the near field of a photon (laser) pulse is used to fabricate submicron and nanometer structures on a substrate. A wide variety of laser material processing techniques can be adapted for use including, subtractive (e.g., ablation, machining or chemical etching), additive (e.g., chemical vapor deposition, selective self-assembly), and modification (e.g., phase transformation, doping) processes. Additionally, the apparatus can be integrated into imaging instruments, such as SEM and TEM, to allow for real-time imaging of the material processing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods of laser-assisted nanomanufacturing such as nanoscale machining, phase transformation, chemical reaction mediated processes (chemical vapor deposition or chemical etching) on the nanoscale using small probes and laser radiation. In particular, in some aspects the invention relates to laser-assisted nanomanufacturing and in situ monitoring methods and systems based on coupled optical near-fields to investigate nanoscale light-nanomaterials interactions.
2. Related Art
Traditional methods of material processing at the sub-micron scale involve indirect, multi-step processes that result in high manufacturing cost. The only direct-write technologies currently available are electron and ion beam writing. However, the minimum feature size for these methods is limited by the interaction volume of the incident electron or ion beams with the sample. Even though an electron beam can be focused to a spot of less than 1 nm for beam writing, the resulting scattering of the irradiated electrons and emission of secondary electrons from the sample leads to additional distribution of processed material on the order of 100 nm. Thus the minimum feature size achievable in direct-write methods is about 100 nm, too large for semiconductor industry needs. Currently, in order to achieve truly nanometer-scale device features, the semiconductor industry can use electron lithography. The minimum achievable line width of electron lithography has been shown to be about 10 nm. However, as with all lithographic processes, electron lithography has the disadvantage that it is an indirect process, and it is not possible to address individual structures easily. Furthermore, electron-beam, ion-beam, and imprinting technologies lack the flexibility to form three-dimensional nanostructures. Nanofabrication of complex two- or three-dimensional structures cannot be readily accomplished
Traditional electron microscopy techniques such as SEM and TEM have been adapted for nanoscale inspection (see, e.g., David C. Joy, Alton D. Romig, Joseph Goldstein, Principles of Analytical Electron Microscopy by Springer, 1986). In situ monitoring capabilities have also been demonstrated based on substrate heating, electric bias and/or a controlled gas environment. To date, nanoscale localization of events has been achieved by using a sharp tip inside the electron microscope. For example, as reported by Goldberg et al., In situ electrical probing and bias-mediated manipulation of dielectric nanotubes in a high-resolution transmission electron microscope, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 88, 123101, 2006, an electrically biased tip has been used to localize and control carbon nanotube growth.
Near-field optics is that branch of optics that considers configurations that depend on the passage of light to, from, through, or near an element with subwavelength features and the coupling of that light to a second element located a subwavelength distance from the first. The barrier of spatial resolution imposed by the very nature of light itself in conventional optical microscopy contributed significantly to the development of near-field optical devices, most notably the near-field scanning optical microscope, or NSOM. The limit of optical resolution in a conventional microscope, the so-called diffraction limit, is on the order of half the wavelength of the light used to image. Thus, when imaging at visible wavelengths the smallest resolvable objects are several hundred nanometers in size. Using near-field optical techniques, researchers currently resolve features on the order of tens of nanometers in size. While other imaging techniques (e.g. atomic force microscopy and electron microscopy) can resolve features of much smaller size, the many advantages of optical microscopy make near-field optics a field of considerable interest.

Laser-assisted nanomaterial deposition, nanomanufacturing, in situ monitoring and associated apparatus

The Regents of the University of California


A shower column assembly includes a shower column, and first and second shower column mounts. A showerhead is fluidically connected at a first end of the shower column, and a hand shower is fluidically connected to the shower column via a hose connection at a second end of the shower column opposite the first end. A diverter is positioned within the shower column at the supply location, and a flow selection valve is positioned offset from the diverter along a fluid path defined, at least in part, by the shower column.

Shower assemblies come in a variety of forms. Typical shower assemblies will include an overhead or wall-mounted water outlet leading to an overhead showerhead. In some instances, shower assemblies will include a handheld shower sprayer as well, which is fed by the same water outlet. Control over water output through the showerhead or handheld sprayer is often provided by a series of valves that allow selection between the showerhead, handheld shower, or both.
Existing shower assemblies that include both an overhead showerhead and handheld sprayer can be complex due to various water diverting and routing solutions. For example, multiple valves may exist on the showerhead and/or handheld sprayer to control water flow. Additionally, due to the various points a valve may be located, it is not uncommon to have a plurality of water flow directions within the shower column, or tubes positioned within the column to support bidirectional water flows within at least a portion of the shower column or exterior tubing. For example, in a shower column assembly, a user control valve for selecting between water flow to the showerhead or hand shower is typically placed at a convenient location to the user, e.g., on a lower portion of the shower column or on a hand shower itself. This leads to complex, multidirectional fluid flow within the shower column itself, since water would need to flow to the valve and then be selectably rerouted to either the showerhead or hand shower. Such arrangements increase cost, probability of failure, and complexity.
Still further, because shower column assemblies are mounted in such a manner that they are exposed within a shower, they are often constructed using complex alignment features to ensure that the shower column can be mounted vertically within a shower and to ensure that the shower column is configurable to the particular desired positioning of a home user. However, the various adjustable features of shower column assemblies add complexity to the installation process, which may be confusing to the home user during installation.
Accordingly, improvements in shower assemblies, and in particular shower column assemblies, are desirable.