A computer-implemented method of activating a secondary game on a mobile computing device associated with a primary game on one of a plurality of networked electronic gaming machines in which an optical code is affixed to each gaming machine. Each optical code is stored in electronic form in a database and is associated with at least one bonus award that may be collected by a player of the gaming machine to which the stored optical code is affixed. An electronic optical code associated with one of the gaming machines is received responsive to scanning with a camera on the mobile computing device. The player may apply at least one of the bonus awards to the one electronic gaming machine in response to an input received at the mobile computing device. In one aspect, the mobile computing device displays real and virtual worlds.

The embodiments of the invention presented here provide a system and method for permitting players of casino wagering games to access bonuses on electronic gaming machines (EGMs) using their smartphones. Awards may be mapped to different ones of EGMs in accordance with management goals. These include increasing overall revenue, decreasing costs, achieving marketing goals, attracting players from competitors, and attracting players at times when there typically fewer players on a casino floor.

Automatic application of a bonus to an electronic gaming device responsive to player interaction with a mobile computing device


Methods and systems are provided related to synchronized networks. A synchronized network can include a node and additional nodes. The node can receive a packet including information. The node can determine whether the packet is from the synchronized network. After determining that the packet is from the synchronized network, the node can: send the packet to at least one of the additional nodes, determine whether a synchronized network interface (SNI) is on the node and is associated with the packet, where the SNI includes software executable on the node. After determining that the SNI is on the node and is associated with the packet, the node can generate a view of data in the synchronized network by: determining a user interface (UI) layout associated with the SNI, generating the view based on the UI layout and on the information using the SNI, and provide the view.

A node, or computer, can be connected to other nodes, or computers, using a computer network. A node may need to make decisions based on data stored locally, or at the node, and stored remotely, or on one or more of the other nodes.
Some applications require timing information about data. Other applications require that some or all of the nodes of the computer network have the same data at (virtually) all times. As such, the computer network may be synchronized to ensure timing and/or other information is kept in lockstep.

Synchronized distributed networks with frictionless application installation


A method includes transmitting, by a processor to an I/O controller, a write-distribute command. The command includes a single copy of data and instructions to write instances of the data to multiple storage locations within a group of storage mediums. For each individual location of the multiple storage locations, the I/O controller transmits a write complete message to the processor after writing an instance of the data to the individual location is complete. If writing the instance of the data to a particular location has an error, the write complete message for the particular individual location is a write error message.

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, or sometimes alternatively Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) is a technology that employs the simultaneous use of two or more storage mediums (e.g., hard disk drives, flash or solid state memories, etc.) to achieve greater levels of performance, reliability, and/or larger data volume sizes. Frequently, the term "RAID" is often used as an umbrella term for data storage schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple storage mediums, regardless of price or the storage medium's independent nature.
Generally, a RAID array distributes data across several storage mediums, but the array is seen by the computer user and operating system levels as one single disk. Often a RAID array includes some form of data redundancy, such that, the failure of one (and sometimes more) disks or storage mediums in the array will not result in loss of data. In such an embodiment, a failed disk may be replaced by a new one, and the data on the failed disk can be reconstructed from the remaining disks.
There are various combinations of RAID approaches which strike different balances between the competing goals of performance, reliability, and/or larger data volume sizes. RAID levels 0, 1, and 5 are the most commonly found, and cover most requirements.
RAID 0 (a.k.a., striped disks) is generally used to increase data volume size and distributes data across several disks in a way that gives improved speed and allows a user access to the full capacity of the disks, but provides no redundancy. In fact, if any one of the disks fails, the data storage on the entire array is often lost. RAID 1 (a.k.a., mirrored disks) is generally used to optimize redundancy at the cost of capacity and often uses two or more disks that each store the same data so that data is not lost as long as one disk survives. Total capacity of the array is just the capacity of a single disk. RAID 5 (a.k.a., striped disks with parity) generally strikes a balance between capacity and redundancy at the price of speed, and combines three or more disks in a way that protects data against loss of any one disk; the storage capacity of the array is reduced by one disk. Other RAID approaches (e.g., RAID 6, RAID 1+0, etc.) may be used in various embodiments.

Error-handling for write-distribute command in raid mirroring


In some aspects, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access base station generates a capability enquiry message for requesting radio access capabilities of a user equipment. At times, the evolved universal terrestrial radio access base station configures a capability enquiry information element included in the capability enquiry message to request eutra-nr-only radio access capabilities of the user equipment. The evolved universal terrestrial radio access base station then transmits the capability enquiry message to the user equipment. Afterwards, the evolved universal terrestrial radio access base station receives, from the user equipment, a capability information message that includes at least some radio access capabilities for new radio that are supported by the user equipment.

The evolution of wireless communication to fifth generation (5G) standards and technologies provides higher data rates and greater capacity, with improved reliability and lower latency that enhances mobile broadband services. 5G technologies also provide new classes of services for vehicular networking, fixed wireless broadband, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
To support the transition to 5G networks, multiple radio access technology connectivity enables a user equipment (UE) to simultaneously connect to Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and 5G NR base stations. As part of enabling this dual connectivity, an E-UTRA base station determines the dual-connectivity capabilities of a UE. Without such an understanding, the E-UTRA base station may fail to support dual connectivity, thereby causing the UE to forgo the many benefits of 5G communications.

Transmitting user equipment capabilities


A transparent display panel and a transparent display device are disclosed. The transparent display panel comprises a color filter substrate, an electrode layer, a blue phase liquid crystal layer configured to modulate an incident collimated natural light, and a light guide plate. The color filter substrate comprises a black matrix and pixel regions which are surrounded by the black matrix and arranged in a matrix, and each of the pixel regions on the color filter substrate is provided with a light shielding part at a central position, and an opening region surrounded by the light shielding part and the black matrix. The light guide plate is provided with a light exit region on a side close to the blue phase liquid crystal layer, the light exit region is arranged to correspond to the light shielding part in position, and in case the electrode layer does not apply a driving voltage to the blue phase liquid crystal layer, the collimated natural light which passes through the light exit region is incident on the light shielding part and is blocked by the light shielding part. The electrode layer is configured to apply the driving voltage to the blue phase liquid crystal layer to form a liquid crystal grating, and the blue phase liquid crystal receives different driving voltages at different positions in one of grating periods of the liquid crystal grating, so that the collimated natural light is diffracted by the liquid crystal grating and exits through the opening region.

In the field of display technologies, a transparent liquid crystal display panel usually comprises an upper polarizer sheet and a lower polarizer sheet. To improve the uniformity of the output light, the transparent liquid crystal display panel usually further comprises, for example, a prismatic film, a diffusion film, and a reflection sheet. These components affect the overall transmittance of the transparent liquid crystal display panel, which causes a relatively low overall light efficiency of a display device.

Transparent display panel and transparent display device


A method for making a ULSI MOSFET chip includes forming a sacrificial gate on a substrate along with activated source and drain regions, but without initially establishing a doped channel region. The polysilicon portion of the sacrificial gate is then removed and a neutral ion species such as Silicon or Germanium is implanted between the source and drain regions in the region that is to become the doped channel region. A dopant substance is next implanted into the channel region, which is then exposed to ultra-rapid thermal annealing to cause the dopant to form a box-like, super-steep retrograded channel profile. The gate is then re-formed over the now activated doped channel region.

Semiconductor chips or wafers are used in many applications, including as processor chips for computers, and as integrated circuits and as flash memory for hand held computing devices, wireless telephones, and digital cameras. Regardless of the application, it is desirable that a semiconductor chip hold as many circuits or memory cells as possible per unit area. In this way, the size, weight, and energy consumption of devices that use semiconductor chips advantageously is minimized, while nevertheless improving the memory capacity and computing power of the devices.
A common circuit component of semiconductor chips is the transistor. In ULSI semiconductor chips, a transistor is established by forming a polysilicon gate on a silicon substrate, and then forming a source region and a drain region in the substrate beneath the gate by implanting appropriate dopant materials into the areas of the substrate that are to become the source and drain regions. The gate is insulated from the substrate by a thin gate oxide layer, with small portions of the source and drain regions, referred to as "extensions", extending toward and virtually under the gate.
Between the source and drain regions and under the gate oxide layer is a channel region, a portion of which is doped. The doped portion of the channel region typically is doped early in the fabrication process, with the channel dopant usually being implanted during the steps of forming the gate and source and drain regions. This generally-described structure cooperates to function as a transistor.
To suppress deleterious "short channel" effects such as threshold voltage roll-off (i.e., transistor operation at below intended voltages), it is important that the dopant profile of the channel be steep. Stated differently, it is important that virtually all of the dopant in the channel region be concentrated within a relatively small area that is to function as the doped portion of the channel, with little or no dopant being located outside this relatively small doped region between the small doped region and the source and drain regions. With this in mind, it is desirable that the dopant profile of the channel region be a so-called "super-steep retrograded channel" (SSRC) profile.
As recognized by the present invention, semiconductor fabrication entails considerable heating during processing. Accordingly, structures such as doped channel regions that are established relatively early in the process are exposed to more heat than are structures formed relatively late in the process. As further recognized herein, however, exposing a channel region that has been doped relatively early in the manufacturing process to subsequent heating steps can cause the dopant in the channel to thermally diffuse and, hence, can cause the dopant profile of the channel undesirably to spread. Fortunately, the present invention addresses this problem.

Method for forming super-steep retrograded channel (SSRC) for CMOS transistor using rapid laser annealing to reduce thermal budget


A pattern forming material contains a block copolymer or graft copolymer and forms a structure having micro polymer phases, in which, with respect to at least two polymer chains among polymer chains constituting the block copolymer or graft copolymer, the ratio between N/(Nc−No) values of monomer units constituting respective polymer chains is 1.4 or more, where N represents total number of atoms in the monomer unit, Nc represents the number of carbon atoms in the monomer unit, No represents the number of oxygen atoms in the monomer unit.

The present invention relates to a material that is capable of forming a pattern of the order of nanometers in a self-organized manner on a substrate, the pattern being utilized as a mask for forming a nanopattern excellent in regularity. The present invention also relates to a material that is capable of forming a bulk structure of the order of nanometers in a self-organized manner, the structure being utilized as it is as a nanostructure of high regularity, or utilized as a template for forming another nanostructure of high regularity. The material of the present invention is applied for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium for hard disks having a recording density of 10 Gbit/inch2 or more, an electrochemical cell, a solar cell, a photovoltaic device, a light emitting device, a display, a light modulating device, an organic FET device, a capacitor, a high-precision filter, etc.
Needs for a fine pattern or structure are increasingly desired, as improvement in performance of electronic parts. In the electronic parts such as LSI and liquid crystal display, for example, micro-fabrication techniques are required. Many devices such as an electric cell and a capacitor are required small volume and large surface area. In future, a high-density three-dimensional packaging will be needed. Lithography is employed in these processes, and thus the manufacturing cost becomes higher as more micro-fabrications are needed.
On the other hand, there is a technical field where precision as high as in the case of the lithography is not needed, although a patterning of the order of nanometers is required. However, a simple patterning method has not known hitherto, there is no other choice to form a fine pattern by lithography using an electronic beam or deep ultraviolet ray in such a technical field. As mentioned above, in the lithography technique, operations are complicated and enormous investment is required as the processing dimension becomes smaller.
Under these circumstances, as a simple pattern forming method alternative to the lithography technique, a method utilizing a structure having micro polymer phases formed in a self-developed manner from a block copolymer.
For example, P. Mansky et al. have reported, in Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 68, No. 18, p. 2586-2588, a method in that a sea-island type microphase-separated film made of a block copolymer of polystyrene and polyisoprene is formed on a substrate, the polyisoprene is decomposed by ozonation and removed to form a porous film, and the substrate is etched using the porous film as a mask, thereby forming a pattern, to which the structure having micro polymer phases is transferred, on the substrate. In addition, M. Park et al. have reported, in Science, Vol. 276, 1401-1406, a method in that a sea-island type microphase-separated film made of a block copolymer of polystyrene and polyisoprene is formed on a substrate, the polyisoprene phase is doped with osmium oxide by a vapor phase reaction to improve etch resistance, and a pattern is formed using the polyisoprene phase selectively doped with osmium oxide as a mask.
Such a method using the microphase separation of the block copolymer is simple and inexpensive as compared with the lithography technique. However, the ozonation is complicated as well as needs relatively long reaction time, so that it is difficult to improve throughput. Also, since the osmium oxide has high level of toxicity, it is scarcely used in general purpose from the viewpoint of safety.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for manufacturing porous structure and method for forming pattern


Computer-readable media, computer systems, and computing methods are provided for implicitly discovering applications using a query or search results, where the query does not explicitly target a particular application. A search engine is used to receive a user-initiated query and to employ a keyword of the query to generate an initial set of search results. Characteristics of the search results are identified and applications that are relevant to the characteristics are determined. The determination of relevant applications include: accessing an application manifest that manages a mapping between applications and predefined characteristics; comparing the characteristics of the search results against the predefined characteristics of the application manifest to determine a match; and, when a match exists between the search-result characteristics and the predefined characteristics, identifying applications mapped to the matched characteristics as being relevant to the search results. These identified applications are presented in response to the query.

Recent trends have shown that there are more and more applications, or apps, created to fulfill users' tasks. Many of these apps are available at online locations, such as retail websites, in order to offer users an effortless app-shopping experience that may be customized for devices and/or scenarios. For example, various platforms (e.g., Apple®, Android®, and Microsoft®) have had exponential growth in their respective app stores and currently offer over 500,000 aggregate apps for their respective mobile devices. One such exemplary web-centric application is the Yelp® app—the counterpart application to the www.yelp.com website—that is customized to be installed on a variety of mobile devices.
Yet, along with this ever-expanding multitude of apps, there exists a discoverability problem. That is, popular or relevant applications are often hard to discover via online searches. This discoverability problem stems from the standard search protocol of conventional search engines, which surface mainly websites, cards, and answers. This is true for both desktop and mobile devices.
Some search-engine technology provides rudimentary mechanism(s) that allow a user to find applications if an application-index web page (e.g., app store) is being specifically queried by a user via a search engine. Or, there may exist mechanisms can return applications if a user-request is explicitly seeking an app (e.g., "download Yelp® app"). However, when a user-initiated query or request does not explicitly point to applications, the conventional search engines simply return links to websites without consideration of relevant apps. For example, when a user queries "Italian restaurants Bellevue reservation," conventional search engines typically return a number of websites of businesses local to Bellevue, Wash., that serve or cater Italian food. While these search results are generally acceptable, the conventional search engines fall short of entirely satisfying a user's searching intent by failing to discover and present those applications that might help the user more efficiently complete their task(s) underlying the searching intent.

Integrating applications within search results


Present disclosure relates to a solvent-free method of encapsulating a hydrophobic active in personal care, hydrophobic active in crop protection or a hydrophobic active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in polymeric nanoparticles. The method includes mixing the hydrophobic active in a polymer melt, wherein the polymer melt comprises a melt of a block co-polymer, wherein the polymer melt acts as a solvent for the hydrophobic active. The method further includes maintaining the polymer melt in water for sufficient time to allow self-assembly of the block co-polymer to encapsulate the hydrophobic active therein.

Self-assembly of block co-polymers as micelles, nanoparticles or vesicles constitutes one of the most actively researched methods in encapsulation technology. Majority of the actives in medicine and consumer care are hydrophobic in nature and majority of the methods use water miscible organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran (THF) or dimethylformamide (DMF) to produce encapsulated nanoparticles. Such anti-solvent approaches using an organic solvent leads to huge problems in scalability of preparation and post-processing approaches that require the removal of solvents and leads to complications of particle aggregation and loss of integrity of the encapsulate structure. Alternatively, there are solvent-free approaches involving the use of double emulsion droplets for the formation of core-shell structures in a micro capillary device. This approach produces only micron-sized particles and obtaining sub-micron particles could be very challenging. An organic solvent-free approach will be an ultimate technological solution leading to reduction in toxic contamination and enhancement in scalability. Solvent-free processes for encapsulation will have a disruptive impact in medical and consumer care technology since both the industries produces very large number of encapsulates. The current practices are mostly solvent-based approach and the industry is spending lot of time and money in processes for solvent removal and analysis.
Therefore, there remains a need to provide for a solvent-free method that overcomes, or at least alleviates, the above drawbacks.

Solvent-free method of encapsulating a hydrophobic active

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


A semiconductor package includes a frame having first and second surfaces opposite to each other, having first and second through holes, and including a wiring structure connecting the first and second surfaces, a connection structure disposed on the first surface of the frame and having a redistribution layer connected to the wiring structure, a first semiconductor chip having a first surface having a first pad connected to the redistribution layer and a second surface opposite to the first surface and having a second pad, a second semiconductor chip having an active surface having a connection pad connected to the redistribution layer and an inactive surface opposite to the active surface, an encapsulant encapsulating the first and second semiconductor chips, and a wiring layer connected to the second pad of the first semiconductor chip and the wiring structure.

One important matter to be considered in designing power modules is reducing a size thereof, while integrating various devices (e.g., integrated circuit chips). Power modules in the related art have a structure in which various devices are mounted on a copper (Cu) lead frame, as a base, for solving a heat problem due to power IC switching, and terminals between such devices are connected by wire bonding. However, there is a restriction in arranging devices on the lead frame and the use of the wire bonding technology causes a limitation in a reduction of a package thickness.


Without battery cell balancing, voltages of multiple series-connected battery cells may quickly become out of balance, which causes some cells of the battery to deteriorate faster than others, and reduces the life cycle of the battery. Embodiments of the present invention address this problem by providing a system for balanced charging of multiple series-connected battery cells. The system includes resistors that are selectably and electrically coupled in parallel with respective battery cells via activation and deactivation of respective switches. The system also includes a control unit that is configured to determine a battery cell having a lowest voltage among the battery cells, and to activate and deactivate the switches as a function of differences in voltages between the voltage of the lowest battery cell and voltages of each of the other battery cells, thus, providing balanced charging of the multiple series-connected battery cells.

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS), also known as a continuous power supply (CPS) or battery backup, is a device that maintains a continuous supply of electric power to connected equipment, such as, for example, computers or telecommunications equipment, by supplying power from a separate source when a normal power source (e.g., AC wall outlet) is interrupted or not available. A UPS differs from an auxiliary power supply or standby generator, which does not provide instant protection from a momentary power interruption.
A UPS can be used to provide uninterrupted power to equipment for a certain duration, for example, thirty minutes, until a generator can be turned on or until the normal power source is restored. Integrated systems that have UPS and standby generator components are often referred to as emergency power systems. A UPS system may remain idle until a power failure occurs and then quickly switch from utility power to its own power source, or may continuously power the protected equipment from its energy reserves stored in a battery while simultaneously replenishing its reserves from another power source. When the battery's energy reserves are depleted, or partially drained, the battery will need to be recharged. With batteries that contain a number of serially-connected battery cells, draining and recharging of the battery often results in a voltage imbalance among the cells.

System and method for battery cell balancing


Electronic equipment, including a GPS dongle and a PC, compares an acquired current location position of the electronic equipment with an acquired planned installation position of a machine tool to determine whether or not the current location position is within a predetermined range from the planned installation position. Further, the electronic equipment determines, if it is determined that the current location position is within the predetermined range from the planned installation position, whether or not a predetermined condition has been satisfied. The electronic equipment also performs, if it is determined that the predetermined condition has been satisfied, information input processing on the machine tool to remove activation restriction on the machine tool. In this manner, the electronic equipment can prevent illegal removal of activation restriction on the machine tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment, and a restriction removal method using electronic equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to electronic equipment for removing restriction on activation of a machine tool, and a restriction removal method for removing restriction on activation of a machine tool.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, systems for restricting activation of machine tools upon relocation of the machine tools in order to prohibit illegal use thereof (hereinafter referred to as "relocation sensing systems") are known.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-129706 discloses an activation restriction system for a machine tool as the relocation sensing system. This activation restriction system detects an installation position of a machine tool by using a GPS, and restricts activation or function of the machine tool if the detected installation position is beyond a previously registered allowable area.
On the other hand, if relocation sensed by the relocation sensing system is based on legal use, restriction on activation of a machine tool needs to be removed. In order to remove the restriction on activation imposed by the relocation sensing system, a unique removal code needs to be input to each machine tool. The removal code may be leaked during removal of the restriction on activation, however.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2009-251694 discloses a technique of using a removal code which is unique to each one of numerical control devices mounted on a machine tool and is only enabled for a predetermined number of times, for the numerical control devices. As a result, security during removal of restriction on activation is improved in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2009-251694.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-3210 discloses a system for recovering a function of a numerical control device having the function of preventing relocation of a machine. Installation position information and an allowable movement distance are input to and stored in an FROM (Flash Read Only Memory) in the numerical control device via an input device. In this system, position information is input to the numerical control device from a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit via a GPS interface, and the position information is stored in a SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) in the numerical control device. A processor in the numerical control device reads a program stored in the FROM, and calculates a movement distance based on the position information and the installation position information. The processor determines whether or not the calculated movement distance is within a range of allowable movement distance, and if the movement distance is within the range of allowable movement distance, performs function recovery processing on the numerical control device.
With mere determination of whether or not the movement distance is within the allowable movement distance in the above configuration of the system in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-3210, however, illegal position information on the GPS unit may be input. In order to prevent such illegal input, this system sets an allowable time based on time elapsed since detection of the position information with the GPS unit, and determines whether or not to transmit the position information from the GPS unit to the numerical control device.

Electronic equipment, and restriction removal method


A method for preventing or treating a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a subject who is at risk of suffering from the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or suffers from the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, by administering to the subject a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of Antrodins.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent chronic liver disease in the world. NAFLD is featured with steatosis due to the accumulation of triglycerides in the liver when the rate of hepatic fatty acid uptake and hepatic fatty acid synthesis is greater than the rate of fatty acid oxidation and fatty acid export in the liver. NAFLD is highly associated with metabolic syndromes such as obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension and dyslipidemia. About 30% of NAFLD patients are accompanied with chronic inflammation and may progress to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Continuous chronic inflammation results in advanced liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Prevalent NAFLD cases are forecasted to increase by 21%, from 83.1 million (2015) to 100.9 million cases (2030), while prevalent NASH cases will increase by 63%, from 16.52 million to 27.00 million cases. The fastest-growing population of NASH patient suggests that NASH will soon supplant chronic hepatitis C or alcoholic liver disease (ALD) as the leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma among patients waiting for a liver transplant. Reduction of hepatic fat accumulation is one of the therapeutic goals for treating NAFLD/NASH, while other approaches for treating NAFLD/NASH include reduction of oxidative stress, anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, anti-fibrosis/cirrhosis and microbiome modulation.
Antrodia cinnamomea CHANG TT & WN CHOU (Chinese name, niu-chang-chih or niu-chang-ku; synonym Antrodia camphorata) is a new species of the genus Antrodia (family Polyporaceae, Aphyllophorales) that is parasitic on the inner cavity of the endemic species Cinnamomum kanehirai Hay. This endangered species has been used in Taiwan to treat food, alcohol, and drug intoxication, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hypertension, skin itching and liver cancer as a Chinese folk medicine. The hot water extract of A. cinnamomea has hepatoprotective effect. The report showed the hepatoprotective activity of the extract of A. cinnamomea in mice in which hepatotoxicity is induced by Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes)-lipopolysaccharide (LPS).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,109,232 discloses Compounds 1-5 from Antrodia cinnamomea mycelia and their uses such as hepatoprotection, anti-inflammation or anti-tumor activity. The above Compounds 1-5 are renamed as Antrodins A-E in another article (Phuong do T et al., 2009, inhibitory effects of Antrodins A-E from Antrodia cinnamomea and their metabolites on hepatitis C virus protease. Phytother Res. April; 23(4):582-4). According to these two prior arts, the Compounds 1-5 from Antrodia cinnamomea mycelia not only have similar structures but also have similar activities.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,732,482 discloses a method of treating fibrosis in a mammal by compounds from mycelium of Antrodia cinnamomea, wherein the fibrosis is mediated by TGF-β, and the TGF-β is associated with progression of chronic liver diseases through inflammation. However, there is no report for using Antrodins to treat NAFLD/NASH by reducing the accumulation of fat droplets or triglyceride level in liver, which is the route leading to NAFLD.

Method for preventing or treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by antrodins


A process for the sterilization of pumps for liquid or pasty pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foodstuffs or similar products, preferably for pumps in which the piston can be driven to slide longitudinally in a cylinder and, at the same time, to rotate about its own axis. The piston contains a recess that reaches as far as the circular cylinder wall and the working face of the piston and communicates with a suction connection in the cylinder wall during a suction stroke and with a pressure connection in the cylinder wall during a pressure stroke and where, further, a closable drainage aperture is preferably provided in the bottom end of the cylinder. A sterilization medium is fed to a pump connection while the pump is being driven. Consequently, the pump does not have to be dismantled for sterilization purposes.

The present invention relates to a process for the sterilization of pumps for liquid or pasty pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foodstuffs or similar, preferably for pumps in which the piston is driven to slide longitudinally and in general vertically within a cylinder and to rotate around its own axis, where the piston contains a recess that reaches as far as the circular cylinder wall and the working face of the piston and communicates with a suction connection in the cylinder wall during a suction stroke and with a pressure connection in the cylinder wall during a pressure stroke and where, further, a closable drainage aperture is preferably provided in the bottom end of the cylinder.
Pumps of this kind, which are mainly used in installations for decanting pasty or liquid pharmaceutical or cosmetical products, have hitherto been sterilized in a dismantled state and under heat and pressure in an autoclave. It is also known for the pump cylinder to be left incorporated in the pump device, but laying the piston bare by withdrawing it through the upper end of the cylinder, and then treating both the piston and the cylinder with a sterilization medium. In the latter case the cylinder must be extended upwards with an enlarged bore and over a distance sufficiently long for it to surround the piston after it has been laid bare. Manufacturing costs are thus increased. In both cases, however, sterilization is associated with additional and costly work. In particular, there is the danger that the sterilized pump will become desterilized during its subsequent assembly.

Pump sterilization process and pumping system suitable for applying the process


A semiconductor device in which an increase in the degree of wiring congestion due to an increase in the number of output terminals of a driver IC can be reduced is provided. In a shift register of the driver IC, pulse signals are sequentially output in different directions. For example, pulse signal output circuits are provided so as to sequentially output pulse signals in ascending order from right to left and then sequentially output pulse signals in ascending order from left to right. With such a structure, output signals of the driver IC can be output not only from a side opposite to a side along which an input terminal is provided, but also from a side along which the input terminal is provided; thus, the number of output terminals can be increased without an increase in the degree of wiring congestion.

1. Field of the Invention
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a display module, and an electronic device.
Note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above technical field. The technical field of the invention disclosed in this specification and the like relates to an object, a method, or a manufacturing method. In addition, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a process, a machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. Specifically, examples of the technical field of one embodiment of the present invention disclosed in this specification include a semiconductor device, a display device, a light-emitting device, a power storage device, a memory device, a method for driving any of them, and a method for manufacturing any of them.
In this specification and the like, a semiconductor device refers to an element, a circuit, a device, or the like that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics. An example of the semiconductor device is a semiconductor element such as a transistor or a diode. Another example of the semiconductor device is a circuit including a semiconductor element. Another example of the semiconductor device is a device provided with a circuit including a semiconductor element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Commoditization of display devices has progressed. As a result, display devices displaying ultra-high-definition images with a digital video format of 4K or 8K that can be regarded as an added value have been actively developed.
In a display device displaying a high-definition image, wirings such as gate lines and source lines are arranged at short intervals. A driver circuit of the display device sequentially outputs video signals or scan signals to the wirings in response to pulse signals. In particular, a source driver for driving the source lines needs to output the pulse signals for an extremely short time. For this reason, an integrated circuit (IC, hereinafter also referred to as driver IC) is used as a source driver (see Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example).

Semiconductor device, display module, and electronic device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to an improved nanofiltration process for separating and recovering components, such as sugars and sugar alcohols from multicomponent mixtures. The process of the invention is characterized by collecting the nanofiltration retentate/permeate in several fractions with different purity, optional recycling of at least one of the collected nanofiltration retentate/permeate fractions to the nanofiltration and recovering the desired component from the nanofiltration permeate/retentate fractions by different methods. In one embodiment of the invention, the process comprises a combination of nanofiltration and chromatography.

Nanofiltration has been used for separating sugars, such as monosaccharides and disaccharides from each other and from other substances, such as higher saccharides. For example monosaccharides like glucose, fructose and xylose and disaccharides like sucrose have been separated and recovered by various nanofiltration processes. The starting mixtures including monosaccharides, disaccharides and higher saccharides may be of different origin, such as plant-based biomass hydrolysates or starch hydrolysates, for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,297, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (published Feb. 9, 1999) discloses a nanofiltration process for making dextrose. This process comprises nanofiltering a dextrose composition including as impurities higher saccharides, such as disaccharides and trisaccharides. A dextrose composition having a solids content of at least 99% dextrose is obtained. Crosslinked aromatic polyamide membranes have been used as nanofiltration membranes. Furthermore, it is proposed that a portion of the nanofiltration retentate may be recycled to the nanofiltration feed tank.
WO 99/28490, Novo Nordisk AS (published Jun. 10, 1999) (=U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,182) discloses a method for enzymatic reaction of saccharides and for nanofiltration of the enzymatically treated saccharide solution including monosaccharides, disaccharides, trisaccharides and higher saccharides. Monosaccharides are obtained in the nanofiltration permeate, while an oligosaccharide syrup containing disaccharides and higher saccharides is obtained in the retentate. The retentate including the disaccharides and higher saccharides is recovered. A thin film composite polysulfone membrane having a cut-off size less than 100 g/mol has been used as the nanofiltration membrane, for example. It is recited that the permeate resulting from the nanofiltration may be recycled to the enzymatic reaction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,654, UOP Inc. (published Apr. 16, 1985) relates to a process for the production of a high glucose or maltose syrup by treating a glucose/maltose-containing feedstock with an enzyme selected from amyloglucosidase and β-amylase to form a partially hydrolyzed reaction mixture, passing the resultant partially hydrolyzed reaction mixture through an ultrafiltration membrane to form a retentate and a permeate, recycling the retentate to the enzyme treatment stage, and recovering the permeate including the high glucose or maltose syrup.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,754, Roquette Freres (published Oct. 3, 2000) relates to a process for the manufacture of a starch hydrolysate with a high dextrose content. In this process, a starch milk is subjected to enzymatic treatment to obtain a raw saccharified hydrolysate. The hydrolysate thus obtained is then subjected to nanofiltering to collect as the nanofiltration permeate the desired starch hydrolysate with a high dextrose content. Furthermore, it is proposed that at least part of the nanofiltration retentante may be subjected to saccharification to obtain a saccharified nanofiltration retentate. The saccharified nanofiltration retentate may be subjected to molecular sieving, for example by chromatographic separation or nanofiltration, to collect a fraction with a higher dextrose content and a fraction with a lower dextrose content. The dextrose-enriched fraction may then be mixed with the starch hydrolyzate having a high dextrose content obtained previously in the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,546 B1, Tate & Lyle Industries (published Jun. 18, 2002) discloses a process of obtaining sucrose from a sucrose-containing syrup by nanofiltering the syrup through a nanofiltration membrane and recovering the nanofiltration retentate enriched in sucrose. It is recited that invert sugars are passed through the nanofiltration membrane into the nanofiltration permeate. FIG. 3 of the publication discloses a three-stage nanofiltration process for obtaining a sucrose-containing nanofiltration retentate and nanofiltration permeate. The nanofiltration retentate including the desired product from the three-stage nanofiltration is collected in one fraction, i.e. the retentate from the preceding nanofiltration stage is introduced into the next nanofiltration stage, and the retentate from the last nanofiltration stage is collected. Also the nanofiltration permeate is collected in one fraction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,547 B1, Tate & Lyle Industries (published Jun. 18, 2002) discloses a process for producing sugar (sucrose) from beets by a multistep process, which comprises two successive ultrafiltration steps and a nanofiltration step. The nanofiltration retentate thus obtained and having a high concentration of sucrose can be used in evaporation and crystallization operations to produce crystals of white sugar. The process can optionally include ion exchange and/or electrodialysis purification steps, prior to or after the nanofiltration step. It is also recited that recycle syryps, for example mother liquors from the crystallization can be treated with an enzyme or chromatographic separation to remove raffinose.
US 2003/0092136A1, D. Delobeau (published May 15, 2003) discloses a process for the manufacture of a starch hydrolysate having a high content of dextrose by a two-stage nanofiltration process. A nanofiltration permeate enriched in dextrose (glucose) is recovered. The nanofiltration retentates from both nanofiltration stages may be completely or partially recycled to the nanofiltration feed. The permeate containing the desired product from the two-stage nanofiltration is collected in one fraction, i.e. the permeate from the first nanofiltration stage is introduced into the second nanofiltration stage, and the permeate from the second nanofiltration stage is collected.
US 2002/0079268 A1, J-J Caboche (published Jun. 27, 2002) discloses a process for preparing a fermentation medium for producing high-purity metabolites (such as organic acids, for example optically pure L-lactic acid) from a renewable material (such as wheat solubles or corn steep liquor) by nanofiltration and/or electrodialysis. The purpose of the nanofiltration/electrodialysis is to eliminate low molecular weight impurities from the raw material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,028, Reilly Industries (published Oct. 12, 1999) discloses a process for the separation of citric acid from less desirable components having a molecular weight similar to that of citric acid (such as glucose and/or fructose) by nanofiltration. A nanofiltration permeate enriched in citric acid is recovered. Citric acid is then crystallized from the nanofiltration permeate. A portion of the mother liquid from the crystallization may be recycled to upstream and/or downstream of the nanofiltration step, after a recovery step to recover citric acid. The feed used for the nanofiltration is typically a clarified citric acid fermentation broth.
M. Saska et al. discuss the decolorization of white cane sugar by nanofiltration in "Direct Production of White Cane Sugar with Clarification and Decolorization Membranes", Sugar Journal, November 1995, pp. 19 to 21 and December 1995, pp. 29 to 31. Decolorization of ultrafiltered clarified juice was carried out with G-10 thin-film nanofiltration membranes (Desalination Systems Inc., Escondido, Calif.) having a molecular weight cut-off of 2500 daltons.
N. Aydogan et al. (Department of Chemical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey) discuss the separation and recovery of sugars by nanofiltration in "Effect of operating parameters on the separation of sugars by nanofiltration", Separation Science and Technology (1998), 33(12), pp. 1767-1785. For example, it was found that with an increase of the feed flow rate, permeate flux increased. It was also found that there is a linear relationship between the pressure and the permeate flux up to 30 bars. To investigate the effect of the concentration, 1 to 10 weight-% solutions of sucrose and glucose were utilized, whereby it was found that with an increase in the concentration, permeate flux decreased.
M. L. Bruening et al. (Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. USA) have investigated the behaviour of multilayer polyelectrolyte membranes in "Nanofiltration with multilayer polyelectrolyte membranes", PMSE Preprints (2003), 89, 169. It is recited that minimum thickness of the polyelectrolyte films as nanofiltration membranes affords high flux in the nanofiltration. Furthermore, it was found that the charge was the primary factor in the nanofiltration of small neutral molecules (such as methanol and glycerol). It is also recited that a selectivity of more than 100 between larger neutral molecules (i.e. between glucose and sucrose) was achieved.
Chemistry and Industry of Forest Products, vol. 22, No. 1, 2002, pp. 77-81 discloses a review discussing the application of membrane separation in desalinization, concentration and purification of xylan extracts, separation of xylo-oligosaccharides from xylan hydrolysates, and the classification and purification of oligosaccharides. Examples of processing renewable plant resources using membrane separation are given. These include, for example, continuous ethanol fermentation coupled with membrane separation and the concentration of plant xylose solution by nanofiltration.
G. Yang et al. (Membrane Science and Technology Research Center, Nanjing University of Chemical Technology, Nanjing, China) discuss the nanofiltration of xylose in "Concentration of xylose solution through nanofiltration", Mo Kexue Yu Jishu (2000), 20(5), 21-26 (Journal written in Chinese). In this study, two types of spirally wound nanofiltration modules differing in the cut-off size were used to study the nanofiltration process of crude industrial xylose. It is recited that the xylose solution was concentrated from 4% to 20% in the nanofiltration retentate by a nanofiltration equipment comprising a 4-stage serial connection configuration.
G. S. Murthy et al. (Membrane Separations Group, Chemical Engineering Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India) discuss the concentration of xylose by nanofiltration in "Concentration of xylose reaction liquor by nanofiltration for the production of xylitol sugar alcohol", Separation and Purification Technology 44 (2005) 221-228. Pilot scale nanofiltration experiments were carried out using a polyamide (PA) spiral membrane module having 300 molecular weight cut-off and 1 m2 effective area. The concentrate (reject) flow rate was fixed and continuously recirculated to the feed tank through a heat exchanger. It is recited that at a feed pressure of 20 bar, xylose was concentrated from 2 to 10% at a reasonably high average flux of 241/l(m2h) and rejection of >99% which indicated negligible losses of the sugar in the permeate. The feed for the nanofiltration was an acid hydrolysate of rice husk. In accordance with this reference, xylose is concentrated in the nanofiltration retentate. The purity of concentrated xylose product in relation to the other components of the rice husk hydrolysate is not discussed.
WO 02/053783, Danisco Sweeteners Oy (published 11 Jul. 2002) discloses a process of producing a xylose solution from a biomass hydrolysate by subjecting the biomass hydrolysate to nanofiltration and recovering as the nanofiltration permeate a solution enriched in xylose. The aim in the process is to concentrate xylose in the nanofiltration permeate and to collect the total permeate in one permeate fraction. The feed used for the nanofiltration may be for example a spent sulphite pulping liquor containing a mixture of other closely-related monosaccharides, such as glucose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose and mannose, in addition to the desired xylose. It was found that the nanofiltration effectively concentrated pentose sugars, such as xylose in the nanofiltration permeate, while hexose sugars remained in the nanofiltration retentate. However, the permeate obtained from the nanofiltration had a relatively low dry substance content (1 to 2%) and consequently a low xylose content. Furthermore, the xylose yields were low (less than 20%). Hereby the performance of the process was not sufficient for efficient industrial operation.
WO 02/053781, Danisco Sweeteners Oy (published 11 Jul. 2002) discloses a nanofiltration process of separating small molecular compounds from each other by nanofiltration, whereby the difference of the molar masses of the compounds to be separated is less than 1.9-fold, such as pentose sugars (xylose and arabinose) from hexose sugars (glucose, galactose, rhamnose, mannose), xylitol from sorbitol, betaine from erythritol as well as betaine from glucose and inositol. The aim in the nanofiltration is to concentrate the product in the nanofiltration permeate/retentate and to collect the total permeate/retentate in one permeate/retentate fraction.
WO 02/053783 and WO 02/053781 (Danisco Sweeteners) discussed above also disclose for example the chromatographic fractionation as a pretreatment step for the nanofiltration process as well as a test arrangement of recycling the permeate and/or retentate back to the feed vessel without product recovery (total recycling mode filtration).
US 2002/0158021 A (U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,577), Danisco Sweeterners Oy (published Oct. 31, 2002) discloses a process for purifying a maltose-containing liquor from undesired impurities, such as maltotriose. The process comprises nanofiltering the maltose-containing liquor and recovering a purified maltose solution as the nanofiltration permeate.
WO 2004/002938 A1, Finnfeeds Finland Oy (published 8 Jan. 2004), discloses a process for recovering betaine and sucrose by a combination of nanofiltration and chromatography from a sugar beet-derived solution, such as molasses solution. The nanofiltration and chromatographic fractionation steps may be carried out successively in any desired sequence. The reference also teaches that the nanofiltration permeate as it is obtained from the nanofiltration may be returned to the chromatographic fractionation to be used therein as the eluent.
WO 2004/003236 A1, Danisco Sweeteners Oy (published 8 Jan. 2004) discloses a nanofiltration process of removing crystallization inhibitors from sugars. In a typical embodiment of the process, the sugars are selected from monosaccharide sugars, such as xylose and fructose, and the crystallization inhibitors are selected from disaccharides and higher saccharides.
Nanofiltration of multicomponent mixtures as a rule aims at operating with as high yield as possible, which in general leads to a low performance, a lower flux, slower passing of the nanofiltration solution through the nanofiltration membrane, high membrane surface area demand and low purity of the desired product. All these phenomena accelerate towards the end of the nanofiltration process and together lead to decreased capacity of the nanofiltration process.
One way to solve the problems above is the selection of different membranes. In the present invention, however, the problems above have been solved by collecting the nanofiltration permeate/retentate in several fractions with different purity and recovering the desired component from the collected fractions with favourable processes to improve the performance of the process.


A propagation delay-propagation loss table is stored in advance in a radio base station, a first area and a second area being set in advance in the propagation delay-propagation loss table, the first area being predicted to contain the relation between the propagation delay and propagation loss when a mobile station is not within the service area of a repeater, while in the second area the effect of the control delay and power gain caused by the repeater upon this first area is taken into consideration. In the radio base station, it is then determined that a mobile station is within the service area of the radio base station when the relation between the propagation loss value that has been reported from the mobile station and the propagation delay that has been calculated is contained within the first area, and it is determined that the mobile station is within the service area of the repeater when the relation is contained within the second area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a determination method in a CDMA mobile communication system that uses radio repeaters for determining whether a mobile station is within the service area of a repeater or within the service area of a radio base station.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a mobile communication system that uses the CDMA method, a plurality of methods that use the difference in propagation delay between a radio base station and a mobile station have been adopted as methods for detecting the position information of a mobile station (for example, RTD: Relative Time Difference, OTDOA: Observed Time Difference of Arrival). One method among these methods is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-189351. In this method, the propagation delay differences between a mobile station and a plurality of (three or more) radio base stations are measured and the spatial position of the mobile station then calculated based on this information.
When calculating the transmission power of a physical channel that is used in radio communication between a mobile station and a radio base station, the propagation loss value of the radio propagation path between the radio base station and the mobile station is used. More specifically, the determination of the value of initial transmission power of the Dedicated Physical CHannels (DPCH) and the determination of the value of the transmission power of the Forward Access CHannel (FACH) in a CDMA mobile communication system are carried out by the following procedures:
(1) The radio base station reports the transmission power value of the Primary Common Pilot CHannel (PCPICH) by means of report information.
(2) The mobile station measures the reception power value of the pilot channel (PCPICH) in its own area.
(3) The mobile station reports the reception power value of the PCPICH to the radio base station by means of a Random Access CHannel (RACH).
(4) The radio base station estimates the propagation loss between the radio base station and the mobile station from the difference between the value of the PCPICH transmission power ((1) above) and the value of the reception power that was reported from the mobile station ((2) above).
(5) The radio base station calculates the initial transmission power value from the calculated propagation loss.
This accurate measurement of the propagation loss and the propagation delay on the propagation path between the radio base station and mobile station is necessary for the various types of control of the mobile communication system such as the detection of position information of the mobile station or the control of transmission power.
However, when this type of method is applied to a CDMA mobile communication system that uses radio repeaters, the problem arises that propagation delay and propagation loss cannot be accurately measured. Such a mobile communication system that uses repeaters is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-274745, in which repeaters are arranged between a radio base station and a mobile station whereby new service areas are provided that are different from the service area of the radio base station. In a mobile communication system in which repeaters are arranged within the service area that is provided by a radio base station, signals are transmitted and received by way of a radio base station, a repeater and then a mobile station when a mobile station is within the service area of a repeater.
The control delay of the radio signals in the repeater that consequently occurs in the propagation path that passes by way of the repeater therefore causes the problem of preventing the accurate estimation of the propagation delay between the radio base station and the mobile station. In the above-described service of detecting the position information of the mobile station, the inability to accurately estimate the propagation delay in turn prevents the accurate estimation of the position information of the mobile station.
In addition, the method of calculating the initial transmission power of the above-described prior art is based on the assumption that the propagation loss in the downlink direction (the direction from the radio base station to the mobile station) and the propagation loss in the uplink direction (the direction from the mobile station to the radio base station) are equivalent. However, in a radio link in which a repeater is interposed, the gain in the repeater cannot be assumed to be equal in the downlink direction and the uplink direction, and this imbalance may in turn prevent the adequate determination of the transmission power value.
A CDMA mobile communication system of the prior art in which repeaters are arranged between radio base stations and mobile stations therefore has the following problems:
(1) When attempting to detect position information of a mobile station by measuring the propagation delay between a radio base station and the mobile station, the control delay of radio signals that occurs in a repeater prevents the accurate estimation of the propagation delay between the radio base station and the mobile station in a propagation path that passes by way of a repeater and thus prevents the proper detection of position information.
(2) When attempting to measure the propagation loss between a radio base station and a mobile station, the possibility for inequality of the gain in a repeater in the downlink and uplink directions in a propagation path that passes by way of a repeater prevents the accurate measurement of the propagation loss, and prevents the realization of adequate transmission power control.
However, the control delay, which is the amount of delay in a repeater, is a value that is known in advance; and reporting the radio gain, which is the gain by which radio signals are amplified in a repeater, from the repeater to the radio base station allows a radio base station to ascertain the degree of amplification in the repeater for uplink and downlink lines. Thus, if it can be determined whether a mobile station is currently within the service area of a radio base station or within the service area of a repeater, a radio base station should be able to more accurately estimate the propagation loss and propagation delay between the radio base station and the mobile station. However, a method has yet to be proposed for determining in a radio base station whether a mobile station is currently within the service area of a radio base station or within the service area of a repeater.

Service area determination method for determining whether a mobile terminal is in the service area of a repeater or in the service area of a radio base station


An automatic fabric guide mechanism in a sewing machine includes at least one edge displacement detecting device including a common light source and a pair of light sensors juxtaposed to each other so as to receive rays of light from the common light source. The light source and the light sensors cooperate with each other to define a generally U-shaped channel for accommodating a free lateral edge of a fabric during the feed of the fabric past the stitching position. This detecting device is so designed and so operated as to detect the occurrence of a lateral swing of the fabric being sewed depending on whether both of the light sensors fail to receive the rays of light from the common light source or whether both of the light sensors receive the rays of the light from the common light source. The fabric guide mechanism also includes at least one control roller operable to compensate for the displacement of the fabric so that the stitching can be formed substantially exactly in alignment with an intended stitching line spaced a predetermined distance inwardly from the free lateral edge of the fabric.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an industrial sewing machine and, more particularly, to an automatic fabric guide mechanism in a sewing machine for positioning and guiding a fabric to be sewed relative to the stitching needle so that the resultant stitching can extend substantially parallel to, and is hence kept spaced a predetermined distance from, one edge of the fabric regardless of whether such edge of the fabric extends straight or curved.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The automatic fabric guide mechanism of the type referred to above is well known in the art and is utilized to avoid any possible arbitrary swing of the fabric being stitched relative to the intended stitching line set up on the fabric. In the automated garment making industry, needle-workers attendant to the sewing machines seldom lay their hands on the fabric to let the latter to be fed under the stitching needle. This is particularly true where the intended stitching line extends substantially straight or substantially parallel to one edge of the fabric where such edge of the fabric is intended to be hemmed or felled, as the fabric guide mechanism referred to above works in cooperation with the feed dog against which the fabric is pressed by means of the presser foot.
Japanese patent publication No. 39-7688, published May 16, 1964, discloses a fabric guide mechanism in a sewing machine, which mechanism comprises a photoelectric detector system in combination with a unique presser foot device. The photoelectic detector system comprises a common light source and first and second light sensors. The first light sensor is positioned laterally of and spaced a predetermined distance from the feed dog for detecting the presence or absence of one lateral edge of the fabric, and the second light sensor is positioned frontwardly of the needle hole with respect to the direction of feed of the fabric and generally in alignment with the direction of such feed for detecting the presence or absence of the fabric to be placed on the needle plate.
The presser foot device disclosed therein comprises a generally L-shaped bar having short and long bar sections contiguous to each other, a free end of said long bar section opposite to the short bar section being coupled to a machine framework for pivotal movement in a vertical plane parallel to the direction of movement of the stitching needle and also in a horizontal plane perpendicular to the vertical plane. The presser foot device also comprises a main presser foot secured to a generally intermediate portion of the long bar section and an auxiliary presser piece secured to a free end of the short bar section, said auxiliary presser piece being engaged with a motor-driven roller through the fabric.
According to the above-mentioned publication, assuming that the second sensor detects the presence of the fabric to be stitched, a reversible drive motor drivingly coupled with the roller is held a position ready to be operated. The first sensor, which presumably comprises a plurality of phototransistors or Cds sensor elements as the publication describes the first sensor having a `center line` extending parallel to the direction of feed of the fabric, generates one of positive-going and negative-going signals when one lateral edge of the fabric being stitched deviates in a corresponding one of opposite directions laterally of the center line of the first sensor. The signal, either positive-going or negative-going, from the first sensor is utilized to drive the reversible drive motor so that the roller can be rotated in one of the opposite directions, depending on the state of the signal from the first sensor, to displace the fabric in cooperation with the auxiliary presser piece in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of feed of the fabric thereby to keep the lateral edge of the fabric in alignment with the center line of the first sensor.
Japanese patent publication No. 58-48199, which was first laid open to public inspection on Sept. 3, 1977, under publication No. 52-105048, discloses an improvement over the fabric guide mechanism of the first mentioned Japanese publication. According to this second mentioned Japanese publication, the fabric guide mechanism is mounted on a flat bed of the sewing machine at a position laterally rightwards of the stitching needle and comprises a generally U-shaped stopper laid horizontally so as to open towards the stitching needle for restricting any possible rightward displacement of the lateral edge of the fabric, a motor-driven geared or friction wheel carried through a bevel gear system by a drive transmitting shaft rotatably housed within a tubular arm and terminating in driving connection with a drive motor at the opposite end of the tubular arm, a positioning system including a pneumatic cylinder for selectively lowering and raising the motor-driven wheel relative to a portion of the fabric adjacent the lateral edge thereof, and a detector system for detecting the displacement of the lateral edge of the fabric in a leftward direction towards the stitching needle and away from the stopper.
The system of the second mentioned publication is such that, only when the lateral edge of the fabric being stitched is displaced in such a direction that it may escape from the stopper, that is, the leftward direction, is the geared or friction wheel then lowered by the pneumatic cylinder to engage that lateral edge portion of the fabric and draw the fabric rightwards to move the intended stitching line into alignment with the stitching needle.
The prior art fabric guide mechanism according to any one of the previously mentioned Japanese publications has been found to have a problem in that, where the fabric to be stitched is very flexible and pliable, the fabric tends to be sewed in such a stretched fashion that the resultant stitching may bring about a series of gathers in cloth not called for. Accordingly, as disclosed in Japanese patent application No. 63-248490, filed in Japan on Sept. 30, 1988, (which has not yet been published as of the priority date of the instant application), the inventors of the present invention have previously devised an automatic fabric guide mechanism in the sewing machine which comprises, in addition to a detecting system for detecting any possible swing of the lateral edge of the fabric being sewed, at least one friction roller engageable with the needle plate through the fabric and drivingly coupled with a stepper motor mounted on a machine bench with a drive shaft extending parallel to the needle plate in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the stitching needle. The friction roller is rotatable in a direction corresponding to the direction of feed of the fabric past a stitching position, the peripheral velocity of which is controlled by an output signal from the detecting system depending on the direction in which the lateral edge of the fabric swings during the feed thereof past the stitching position.
It has, however, been found that, in order for the stitching to be formed on the fabric substantially exactly in alignment with the intended stitching line spaced a predetermined distance inwardly from the lateral edge of the fabric, the fabric guide mechanism according to the above-mentioned prior invention requires the use of a complicated and expensive electric or electronic control system effective to control the peripheral velocity of the friction roller in dependence on the speed of feed of the fabric past the stitching position. In addition, the use of the stepper motor for driving the friction roller tends to render the sewing machine as a whole to be expensive to manufacture.

Automatic fabric guide in sewing machine


A method of recovery from a time-synchronization loss in a communication unit between a first processor supporting physical layer communications and a second processor supporting layer-2 communications is described. The method comprises: detecting, by the first processor, that a loss of sync has occurred between the first and second processors; in response to said detecting, stopping sending subsequent physical layer messages from the first processor to the second processor, for example to allow the second processor to consume any old pending messages; re-starting a messaging process by the first processor by sending at least one new message to the second processor with updated System Frame Number, SFN, and Sub-Frame, SF, counter value; and receiving at the first processor at least one subsequent response message from the second processor acknowledging receipt of at least one new message with an indication of the received and updated SFN and SF counter value of that message thereby confirming synchronization being restored.

Wireless communication devices, such as mobile devices and base stations, include transmitter and receiver circuits (i.e., transceivers) and processors to process a wide variety of information in a wide variety of formats. In order to handle such a wide variety of information in such complex communication devices, a conceptual 'communications' model has been developed. The communications model characterizes and standardizes the communication functions of a telecommunication or computing system without regard of their underlying internal structure and technology. It is known as the Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI Model) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), maintained by the identification ISO/IEC 7498-1, and describes interoperability of diverse communication systems with standard protocols. The model partitions a communication system into abstraction layers.
A layer serves the layer above it and is served by the layer below it. For example, a layer that provides error-free communications across a network provides the path needed by applications above it, while it calls the next lower layer to send and receive packets that comprise the contents of that path. The lowest layer, (Layer 1 (L1)) is known as the Physical Layer and defines the electrical and physical specifications of the data connection. It defines the protocol to establish and terminate a connection between two directly connected nodes over a communications medium and may define the protocol for data flow control.
The layer above, i.e. Layer 2 (L2), is known as the Data Link Layer, which provides node-to-node data transfer between two directly connected nodes, by detecting and possibly correcting errors that may occur in the physical layer. The data link layer is divided into two sublayers: Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, which is responsible for controlling how devices in a network gain access to data and permission to transmit it; and Logical Link Control (LLC) layer, which controls error checking and packet synchronization.
Thus, a complex wireless communication device such as a base station, for example a long term evolution LTE™ base station (sometimes referred to as an eNodeB) includes two major functional components supporting L1 and L2 functions. The L1 functions are connected to the radio interface and follow strict real time demands. The L2 functions are less time critical. However, L2 messages are a dependency for L1.
FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a known L1-L2 message sequence chart 100 of a base station showing a loss of time-synchronization and its consequence. The L1 and L2 functions must be time-synchronized in an LTE communication device, for example time-synchronized within an LTE sub-frame (1 msec resolution). As illustrated, L1 frames 108 are synchronized to L2 frames 106. Every LTE Sub-Frame L1 sends a message 110 and the L2 responds in a message 112. Each message contains a System Frame Number (SFN) 102 and Sub-Frame (SF) counter value 104 identifying the Sub-Frame (0-9) being routed between the L1 and L2. A L1 processor compares the SFN and SF counter value of L2 response messages 112 with expected values.
As illustrated, when the L1 message is received at L2, no response is sent at 114 due to an internal L2 delay. The next SF counter value is sent in one or more skipped Sub-Frame(s) at 116, depending on the L2 delay. As there is no match, the L1 processor concludes that L1-L2 time-synchronization is lost, resulting in an out-of-sync error 118 that is generated and sent to the L2 processor in 120, which happens when L2 processing is delayed. Subsequent messages 117 from L1 and responses 122 from L2 continue to be out of time-synchronization with each other. Currently, in response to a loss of time-synchronization, a full system restart is performed in order for the communication device to recover from synchronization loss. A full system restart terminates base station (e.g. LTE™ eNodeB) services for a number of minutes, which is deemed unacceptable to service providers.

Method for determining and recovering from loss of synchronization, communication units and integrated circuits therefor


Disclosed is a plastic composite bumper beam for a vehicle, which can achieve a reduction in weight and cost and has improved mechanical properties, structural strength, and crash performance, load introduction, load distribution to the fixation points, thus reducing the thickness of the bumper, compared to conventional plastic composite bumper beams. Therefore, it is possible to improve the degree of freedom in design and the marketability due to the reduction in thickness of the bumper. More specifically, the plastic composite bumper beam for a vehicle includes a bumper beam body having the shape of a bumper beam and formed of a fiber-reinforced plastic composite material; and an insert reinforcing member inserted into the bumper beam body, the insert reinforcing member having a loop shape and disposed in the longitudinal direction of the bumper beam body.

(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a bumper beam for a vehicle. More particularly, it relates to a plastic composite bumper beam for a vehicle, which can achieve a reduction in weight and cost reduction while at the same time having excellent mechanical properties and crash performance.
(b) Background Art
In general, a bumper assembly for a vehicle is mounted on the front and rear ends of a vehicle body, respectively, to absorb impact in the event of a collision, thus protecting a driver and passengers during an accident and preventing deformation of the vehicle body. A basic configuration of the vehicle bumper assembly is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure, the vehicle bumper assembly generally includes a bumper cover 10 for covering or enclosing an entire bottom area of the front or rear end of the vehicle body, an energy absorber 20 for absorbing vibrations and impact energy translated of the bumper cover 10, a bumper beam (or a back beam) 30 located at the rear of the energy absorber 20 to protect the vehicle body from damage upon impact, and a stay 40 for fixing and supporting the bumper beam 30 to the vehicle body.
In a compact vehicle, the bumper assembly may be composed of only the bumper cover, the bumper beam, and the stay, without the energy absorber to reduce the weight. In this configuration, the bumper beam is configured to efficiently absorb the impact energy. The bumper beam may be formed from various materials such as steel, aluminum, plastic composite, etc., according to the vehicle model or required performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,079 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,879 each disclose a fiber-reinforced plastic composite bumper beam, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,638 discloses a bumper beam formed of a glass mat-reinforced thermoplastic (GMT), having a C-shaped section, and including a reinforcing sheet. European Patent No. 0945253 discloses a bumper beam formed of a filled GMT composite material containing polyolefin and glass fibers, and Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0111812 discloses a bumper beam having an external beam member formed of a GMT material and an internal beam member formed of a steel material.
Moreover, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0104457 discloses a bumper beam using a GMT or long fiber-reinforced composite, and Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0006672 discloses a bumper beam including a unidirectional reinforcing fiber sheet introduced by an LFT-D process or integrally formed.
These conventional plastic composite bumper beams, as can be seen by the descriptions above, are mainly formed of GMT composites including unidirectional continuous fibers by press molding (i.e., compression molding) the materials into the shape of the bumper beam.
Typically, the GMP bumper beam is formed to have a thickness of about 4 to 15 mm to ensure the strength and crash performance. However, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the bumper to enhance the degree of freedom in the design of the bumper and, at the same time, improve the absorption efficiency of impact energy to reduce the repair cost which are associated with an accident.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Plastic composite bumper beam for vehicle


A method of making a sintered article in which a solid object is embedded includes forming a green body of compressed particles with the solid body is partially embedded. The green body includes an opening across which the solid body extends. The green body is sintered to form a sintered body and the opening permits deformation of the solid body in response to stress applied during the sintering process. A sintered article in which a solid body is at least partially embedded includes an opening. The solid body extends across the opening so that the solid body can deform within the opening. The opening in the solid body prevents distortion of the sintered body from a planar configuration during sintering, even when the green body is relatively thin.

The present invention concerns a sintered article, and a method of producing the sintered article. The method and article are particularly useful in making, and as, a low equivalent series resistance (ESR) capacitor anode precursor of an oxidized valve metal.
Sintering is a well-known method for making articles from particles of a material. The particles may be coarse or very finely divided, even in the foam of a powder. Typically, the material to be sintered is formed into a particular shape, for example, by compression, within a mold, using a press, or by another known method. The shaped object, prepared from the particles of the material, is referred to here as a green body. The green body is heated to a temperature below the melting point of the material, with the result that the particles of the green body adhere to each other in what is here called a sintered body. This heating step is referred to here as the sintering process.
The materials that may be employed in a sintering process include metals, ceramics, and many other materials. The green body may be subjected to compression during the sintering process, or may simply be heated, without the application of any external pressure, in the sintering process. The ambient in which the sintering occurs may be air, a controlled gas or mixture of gases, or a vacuum, depending upon the reactivity of the material and the desired structure of the sintered body. For example, in some circumstances the exposed surfaces of the particles in the sintered body should be free of oxides or other compounds that might be formed in sintering the green body in a particular ambient. A binder may be used to keep the particles of the green body together before sintering. The binder may be driven off or reacted in the sintering process or removed with a solvent or by a different process after completion of the sintering process.
In the sintering process at least one of the dimensions and shape of a green body usually changes. In most instances, the density of sintered body is higher than the density of the green body. Although the material being sintered is not fused, the material of the particles being sintered may move into the voids within the green body in the sintering process. Even assuming that none of the material of the green body is lost during the sintering process, the overall volume of the green body usually decreases, i.e., the porosity decreases, increasing the density of the sintered body, as compared to the density of the green body. Material transport phenomena, such as recrystallization, diffusion, and evaporation and condensation, may occur in the sintering process. In any event, the green body and its external dimensions usually shrink in the sintering process. The shrinkage must be taken into account when forming a green body that is expected to produce a sintered body of specific external dimensions and shape.
Still other phenomena are observed in sintering when a green body contains all or part of a solid body. As used here, the term "solid body" means a body made of a material having its nominal density as an element, a compound, a mixture, an alloy, and the like. A solid body does not appreciably shrink during sintering of particles of a material in which at least part of the solid body is embedded. If the solid body is a material having some porosity and shrinks to some degree in the sintering process, then the shrinkage of the "solid body" is negligible with respect to the shrinkage of the green body in the sintering process.
In a green body including a solid body, the particles of the green body are compressed or formed to encapsulate at least part of the solid body. The solid body may be, in some applications, a wire or a rod that projects from inside the green body to outside the green body. The wire or rod may provide a handle for handling the green body and the sintered body without the necessity of touching either body. The wire or rod may also provide an external electrical connection to the sintered body without the necessity of attaching, after sintering, a wire or rod to the sintered body. In some electrical applications, for example, in a conventional anode of a capacitor, an electrical lead may be attached to a sintered body of a valve metal, for example of tantalum, by welding. That additional step and its complications may be avoided if the wire can be embedded in the valve metal particles before their sintering. In the sintering process, the wire bonds to the sintered particles.
When a solid body is present within a green body, the solid body affects the sintering process and the configuration of the sintered body as compared to the result of sintering of a similar green body free of any solid body. The presence of the solid body changes, through at least part of the green body, the composition and porosity of the green body. The density and porosity become non-uniform in the green body and discontinuous in cross-sections of the green body that intersect the solid body. Therefore, the processes of material transport during sintering that result in changes in density, porosity, dimensions, and shape during sintering become locally variable within the green body. The exterior dimensions of the green body may change in a different way from the changes experienced when the green body is homogeneous.
The non-uniformities within a green body in which a solid body is embedded mean that the sintering particles exert a stress on the solid body in the sintering process. In general, the applied stress is a compressive stress as the green body shrinks while the solid body does not appreciably change in dimensions, density, or porosity. If the material of the particles being sintered is different from the density of the material of the solid body that is at least partially within the green body, additional stresses can be exerted due to differences in coefficients of thermal expansion of the particles and of the solid body. Of course, even when the particles of the green body and the solid body are made from the same material, the coefficients of thermal expansion of the particles and the solid body may be effectively different because of the different densities of the green body, considering the interstices that are present in the green body, but which are effectively absent from the solid body.
The changes in dimensions of a sintered body produced in sintering a green body containing a solid body, as compared to a green body that is relatively homogeneous, are particularly apparent when the sintered body is relatively thin. In this description, the thinness of a body is described with respect to an aspect ratio. Assuming a relatively thin sintered body is generally planar, the area of the sintered body can be obtained by projecting the sintered body onto a plane, in a direction along the thickness direction of the sintered body. The body can be described as having an aspect ratio, based on that area and the thickness of the sintered body. The aspect ratio is the result of dividing a dimension of the area of the sintered body, derived from the area projected, by the thickness of the sintered body. For example, the dimension may be a side of a body that has a generally rectangular area, the length of a diagonal dimension of a body with a generally rectangular area, or the diameter of a generally circular body. The thickness dimension is measured along a direction transverse to that dimension related to the area, for example, perpendicular to the plane upon which a generally, but not perfectly, planar thin sintered body is projected.
A larger aspect ratio green body indicates a thinner green body and a thinner sintered body. Thus, a higher aspect ratio sintered body made from a green body that is not mechanically restrained in the sintering process is more likely to deviate from perfect planarity, as a sintered body, than is a sintered body with a lower aspect ratio. This result follows because stresses induced in sintering more easily distort a thin body. When a solid body is present in a thin planar green body, the probability that a thin sintered body produced from the thin green body will not be planar is increased. The additional sintering stress induced by the solid body are likely not symmetrical with respect to the area of the sintered body, causing curling or bending of the thin green body during the sintering process.
An example of a relatively thin green body, incorporating a solid body, is illustrated in a plan view in FIG. 1A. The sintered body that results from sintering the green body of FIG. 1A is shown in plan view in FIG. 1B. In this example, the sintered body is a valve metal anode precursor intended for use as an anode, after subsequent processing, in a capacitor. Examples of such capacitors are electrolytic wet-slug capacitors and hybrid capacitors described in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,547, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. While the preferred anode is constructed by sintering particles of tantalum, similar anodes can be made by sintering other valve metals, including niobium, titanium, zirconium, and aluminum.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the green body 1, compressed from metallic tantalum particles, has a generally square shape with four sides 2. The green body 1 also includes a wire 3 projecting from the green body and arranged generally diagonally with respect to the "square" green body. The wire 3 projects from the green body at the intersection of two adjacent sides 2. The wire functions, as explained below, as an electrical connection in completing the anode and in an assembled capacitor. The wire also functions as a handle for post-sintering processing of the anode precursor.
FIG. 1B illustrates the changed shape of a sintered body 4 after the sintering of the green body 1. As indicated by the arrows, there is shrinkage of all sides 2 of the green body in the sintering process to the sides 5 of the sintered body 4. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the wire 3 is placed along only about one-third to one-fourth of the diagonal of the green body 1. This limited penetration of the wire is maintained to limit distortion and deformation of the green body during sintering due to the presence of that solid body, i.e., the wire 3 in this instance. If the wire were inserted farther into the green body or entirely across the diagonal of the green body, the deformation of the sintered body from a plane could become dramatic. The resulting sintered body can deviate substantially from a planar configuration, sometimes curling enough to resemble the shape of a potato chip or the surface of a saddle. It is important in assembling a capacitor with a sintered anode that the anode be planar to ensure compactness of the capacitor and proper functioning of the anode in cooperation with other components of the capacitor, for example, a cathode and ion-permeable separator.
The inability to produce a planar sintered anode precursor reliably, if the wire 3 extends further into the green and sintered bodies, has an adverse effect upon the performance of the capacitors that are produced using sintered anodes. In the precursor of FIG. 1B, contact between the wire 3 and the sintered body occurs only along the surface of the wire that is within the green and sintered bodies. The resistance of the connection, which is a significant component of the ESR of a capacitor employing an anode prepared from the sintered body 4, directly depends upon the mutually contacting surface areas of the wire and the sintered body. A higher ESR indicates shorter useful capacitor lifetime and lower useful frequency response of the capacitor.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are, respectively, schematic exploded and cross-sectional views of the structure of a capacitor employing two sintered valve metal anodes, made from green bodies, like the anode precursors shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
The capacitor 30 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 can have essentially any shape, in a plan view, transverse to the view of FIG. 3, for example a circular or polygonal shape. An example of the latter shape is shown in FIG. 2. The capacitor 30 includes a case 32, preferably a conductive metal. The case 32 is sealed by and to a header 34. The header 34 is preferably welded to the case.
In the capacitor of FIGS. 2 and 3, three cathodes 36 are alternately laminated with two anodes 38. Each cathode is preferably a metal foil. The anodes 38 are sintered bodies of a valve metal, preferably tantalum, that forms a native oxide on the surfaces of the particles. The oxide thickness may be anodically increased to increase the voltage rating of the capacitor. Respective ion-conductive separators 40 are interposed between the opposing faces of paired cathodes and anodes. The lowermost cathode 36 within the case 32 is in contact with a separator 40. Each of the cathodes includes a projecting electrically conductive tab 42, with an insulator part 44. The insulating part 44 is folded against the inside surface of the case 32 and the tab 42 is electrically connected to the case so that the case forms one electrical terminal, namely the negative terminal, of the capacitor. Likewise, each of the anodes includes a projecting lead 46 that is bent toward the header 34, but electrically insulated from the case 32. The projecting leads 46 pass through a diagonal slot 48 in an electrically insulating polymeric spacer 50. The insulating spacer is further separated from the uppermost electrodes in the case 32 by a separator 40 and an insulating sheet 54 that insulates the anode leads from the adjacent cathode. Additional electrically insulating sheets 56 and 57 are interposed between the spacer 50 and the header 34. The sheets 56 and 57 include a central hole for passage of a pin 58 that functions as the second terminal, namely the positive terminal, of the capacitor. The pin 58 is held in an opening of the header 34 by a glass-to-metal seal 60. The leads 46 from anodes 38 are wound about and bonded to the lower end of the pin 58, inside the case 32. An annular gasket or spacer 6, located between the header 34 and the insulating sheet 57, cushions the assembly while the header 34 is welded to the case 32. Similarly, an insulating band 64, which may be endless or have overlapped ends, is placed in the case 32. The band 64 insulates the anodes from the case 32 and from the cathodes 36 and the cathode leads 44.
A post 68, see FIG. 3, which provides a negative terminal of the capacitor, is optionally welded to the header 34. The header 34 also includes a further opening 70, which is sealed in the completed capacitor. The opening is employed for vacuum infusion of a liquid or gel electrolyte into the case 32 of the capacitor, so that the electrolyte is in contact with the cathodes 36, the anodes 38, and the separators 40.
A structure of the capacitor 30 shown in FIG. 3 that is important in the context of the invention described below relates to the projecting leads 46 that extend from each of the anodes 38. As shown in FIG. 3, and explained above, each of those projecting leads extends from the respective anode along a length necessary to reach and be connected to the positive terminal 58 of the illustrated capacitor. These leads are relatively long and their lengths add to the ESR of the capacitor.

Sintering method, particularly for forming low ESR capacitor anodes