An apparatus for scribing the coating on a coated panel; comprising a base, at least one linear guide affixed to the base, a moveable table, a pivotable bracket mounted on the base, a cutter element mounted on the bracket; a loading mechanism positioned on top of the bracket, such that when the cutter element in the cutter assembly is brought into contact with a panel positioned on the moveable table, the loading mechanism applies a uniform force to the panel position on the table. The cutter element in contact with the panel scribes the panel through the coating thereby forming a scribe of at least one line on the panel.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus that uniformly scribes a coated panel for adhesion testing purposes.
(2) Description of Related Art
A wide variety of substrates are coated with single and often multiple layers of clear and/or pigmented coating compositions. The adhesion of the coating composition to the substrate is of concern and adhesion measurements by various methods have been developed and are in current commercial use. In one particularly useful adhesion test, an area of the coating on a panel is scribed through to the substrate and tape is applied over the scribed area. The tape is removed and the amount of the coating that has been removed is determined and the adhesion of the coating to the substrate can be rated. This makes it possible to compare the adhesion of various coatings. ASTM D3359 describes this adhesion test that is conventionally used.
The problem with this test and related tests is the scribing of the coating through to the substrate. There are a variety of hand held cutting devices available to scribe a coating, in particular, to scribe a pattern in the coating, for example, a crosshatch pattern on the coated substrate which usually is a test panel. With such hand held devices, operator variability, operator error and/or dull cutting edges on the device result in non-uniform and non-replicable scribing of the coating. For example, the scribed pattern applied by different operators depends on the pressure applied by the operator thereby varying the depth of the scribe. Also, on how steady the scribing tool is held by an operator can affect the width of the scribe and the sharpness or dullness of the cutting tool also will affect the scribe. Operator fatigue and long term muscular damage that can be caused by repeated scribing by an operator day after day has also been a problem.
There is a need for an apparatus that can rapidly scribe substrates in comparison to hand scribing, can easily be operated by a person with minimal effort without causing fatigue or physical injury to a person and the apparatus has to be safe, for example, from pinch points, must be ergonomically acceptable and must produce uniform and repeatable scribes or scribe patterns on a coated substrate. Every scribe or scribe pattern formed must penetrate the coating through to the substrate and must be uniform and repeatable. The novel apparatus of this invention accomplishes the above.


A process to produce a polyethylene composition that has less than 2 weight percent fines, based on the weight of said polyethylene composition, and a fluff bulk density greater than 25 pounds per cubic foot, said process comprising polymerizing ethylene in the presence of a trialkylaluminum compound, and a diluent that is essentially saturated with ethylene under slurry polymerization conditions that comprise a polymerization temperature from 104.degree. C. to 116.degree. C., with an activated catalyst system comprising (a) a catalyst support that comprises a silica compound, wherein said catalyst support has a pore volume less than 2 cubic centimeters per gram, (b) a catalyst that comprises a chromium compound, wherein the amount of chromium in said catalyst system is from about 0.1 to about 20 weight percent, wherein said weight percent is based on the total weight of said catalyst and catalyst support, and (c) a fluorine compound, wherein the amount of fluorine used is from about 0.1 to about 20 weight percent, wherein said weight percent is based on the total weight of said catalyst support.

This invention is related to the field of ethylene polymerization.
Approximately 20 billion pounds of polyethylene is produced each year in the United States. A portion of this polyethylene is produced in the form of "fines". Polyethylene fines are generally particles that are so small they can pass through a 100 mesh screen. This means that the polyethylene fines are smaller than about 150 micrometers or about 0.006 inches. These polyethylene fines can be up to about 15 weight percent of the polymerized product. Usually, these fines are subjected to a compounding step wherein the fines are compounded into larger particles. This compounding step, however, is an additional expense that could decrease the polyethylene producer's ability to compete in the global polyethylene market. Therefore, if the amount of fines generated could be lowered, a significant cost savings could be realized because the resin could be sold as fluff or powder.
As with any process to produce a product, it is desirable from an economic viewpoint to perform as few manipulative steps on the product as possible. In the case of polyethylene, it would be preferable to sell the polyethylene resin as fluff or powder from the reactor. This would eliminate such operations as extruding and pelletizing. However, if the fluff is not compact enough, that is, if the fluff has a low fluff bulk density, it can be uneconomical to transport the fluff to the customer. Therefore, if the fluff bulk density of a polyethylene composition could be raised to a higher level, a significant cost savings could be realized.


The present invention relates to a compact heat exchange device, applicable to either EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) systems for reducing nitrogen oxide emission, or to WHRS systems (Waste Heat Recovery Systems), both in internal combustion engines.

One of the fields of the art that has been subjected to intensive development is the field of heat exchangers for EGR systems where recirculated gas must be cooled before being introduced back into the internal combustion engine's power supply system.
This device receives the exhaust gas and reduces its temperature to one close to the temperature of the liquid coolant when it is necessary to recirculate gases. Otherwise the temperature of the entire device will be the temperature of the liquid coolant. These temperature differences are observed primarily between the tube bundle of the heat exchanger and the shell, generating significant differential expansions in the longitudinal direction defined by the tube bundle.
To avoid damage due to thermal fatigue, solutions like the one described in patent application WO2013/139113 are known in the state of the art. This patent application discloses a heat exchanger formed by a shell housing a tube bundle located between two baffles. The liquid coolant circulates through the inside of the shell, covering the tube bundle such that the heat from the recirculated gas is transferred to the liquid coolant through the surface of the tube bundle. To prevent the stressing generated by the differential expansion between the tube bundle and the shell, one of the baffles is fixed to the shell at one of the ends and the other baffle is a floating baffle. Floating baffle is understood to mean a baffle that is not prevented from moving given the forces generated by the thermal expansion of the tube bundle. The particular way of configuring the floating baffle in this application consists of not fixing it directly to the shell but rather prolonging it according to the longitudinal direction to the hot gas inlet through a bellows-type tubular body.
With this configuration, the expansion of the tube bundle gives rise to compression of the bellows which acts like an elastically deformable element compensating for the expansion in the longitudinal direction with respect to the shell, which remains at the temperature of the liquid coolant and therefore has a much lower degree of thermal expansion.
Although this solution allows compensating for the expansion of the tube bundle in the longitudinal (axial) direction, it has several drawbacks. The first drawback is the increase in the length of the heat exchanger since the prolongation segment from the floating baffle to the hot gas inlet, which allows the inclusion of a bellows, increases the length of the heat exchanger according to the longitudinal direction. This additional segment is not intended for heat exchange and requires more space in the engine compartment, a space that is already quite scarce.
Another drawback of this type of heat exchanger is the difficulty in cooling the floating baffle. One of the faces of the floating baffle is directly exposed to the hot gas entering the heat exchanger. The other face of the baffle is in contact with the liquid coolant; nevertheless, its position is prone to the presence of stagnation regions which give rise to boiling, and therefore thermal fatigue, effects.
The reason these stagnation regions exist is because the liquid coolant inlet or outlet at the end of the heat exchanger where the floating baffle is located is established close to the bellows for suitable cooling. The liquid coolant flows from the annular space surrounding the bellows to the other end of the heat exchanger surrounding the perimeter of the floating baffle and therefore forming a stagnation region close to the central region of said floating baffle. It is precisely this central region that is directly exposed to the entry of the hot gas.
These same problems are observed in heat exchangers intended for heat recovery. In this case, the main purpose is to increase the temperature of the liquid coolant, for example for later heat energy recovery, preventing the energy from the hot gas from being wasted in the atmosphere.
The present invention solves both problems by means of incorporating an additional part that will be referred to as manifold element which acts like an elastically deformable element, and it furthermore establishes a liquid coolant distribution chamber making it easier for the liquid coolant to enter or exit, such that the baffle of the tube bundle does not have stagnation regions.
A technical problem additionally solved with this additional part is the ease with which the heat exchanger thus built is assembled.

Abstract: The design of the heat exchanger is characterized by a configuration that incorporates technical solutions intended for compensating for the differential expansions between the tube bundle and the shell, as well as other variables relating to thermal fatigue, where said solutions result in a compact device.


Disclosed are methods, circuits, devices and associated executable code for facilitating transmission, reception and presentation (e.g. rendering) of video information/signals on a video display unit such as a flat-screen display, a touchscreen and/or a tablet computing platform. There may be provided a video display unit adapted to receive video signals through two or more video signal paths, wherein one of the signal paths (i.e. a first signal path) may be a wired signal path. Another signal path (i.e. a second signal path) may be a wireless signal path. The display unit may be matched or paired to a matched computing platform. The paired matched computing platform may send video signals to the display unit along the wired signal path, e.g. when the display unit is docked with the matched computing platform. The paired matched computing platform may send video signals to the display unit along the wireless signal path, e.g. when the display unit is disconnected from the matched computing platform.

Wireless communication has rapidly evolved over the past decades. Even today, when high performance and high bandwidth wireless communication equipment is made available, there is demand for even higher performance at higher data rates, which may be required by more demanding applications.
Video signals may be generated or received by various mobile computing or communications devices, for example, a laptop computer, a netbook, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a game console, an e-book reader, or any other suitable mobile computing or communications device. In many devices, for example, video signals are generated by the device to view on an integral viewing screen, store or transmit to a functionally associated device. Video signals may be received from a functionally associated device, an internal or external memory, a data server, a streaming application, a removable media storage device or any other suitable media storage.
In many cases, the integral viewing screen may be too small and/or may be of poor quality for certain applications (e.g. high definition movie viewing). Thus, wireless transmission of the video signals to a larger screen is preferred.
WHDI—Wireless Home Digital Interface is a standard for wireless high-definition video connectivity between a video source and video sink (e.g. display). It provides a high-quality, uncompressed wireless link which can support delivery of equivalent video data rates of up to 3 Gbit/s (including uncompressed 1080p and stereoscopic 3-D) in a 40 MHz channel within the 5 GHz unlicensed band. Equivalent video data rates of up to 1.5 Gbit/s (including uncompressed 1080i and 720p) can be delivered on a single 20 MHz channel in the 5 GHz unlicensed band, conforming to worldwide 5 GHz spectrum regulations. Range is beyond 100 feet (30 m), through walls, and latency is less than one millisecond.
There have been considerable advancements in the field of computing which recently produced computing products such as the tablet, tablet PC and the like. A tablet PC provides for a very rich and interactive interface experience with relatively large displays and touch-screen inputs. Nevertheless, due to their relatively small size and associated cost constraints, tablet PCs are inherently limited in processing capacity and energy storage capacity.
Both desktop computers and even mobile phones have continuously growing processing power.
There have been considerable advancements in the field of wireless communication which have resulted in communication circuits suitable for transmission of high definition video with substantially no latency.
There is a need in the field of wireless communication for providing a display/interface device having usability characteristics of a tablet PC with augmented processing power, video sharing with other devices and real-time switching between video streams.

Methods circuits devices and systems for transmission and display of video


Provided are a warmer equipment which is excellent in quick warming property at a rising time and which can satisfy temperature stability later thereby to improve the comfortableness, and a warmer device for a vehicle seat. The warmer equipment includes a warming member having a heater element, a temperature controlling thermostat, a temperature detecting element for detecting the temperature of the warming member, and a temperature control circuit for controlling the temperature of the warming member with an output coming from the temperature detecting element. The temperature controlling thermostat and the temperature control circuit are connected in parallel.

Conventionally, as a warmer device for a vehicle seat, a temperature control system has generally been used so as to maintain a warming member formed of a cord-like heater and the like at a constant temperature by a thermostat. However, in this kind of temperature control system operated by a thermostat, the temperature of the warming member is determined by an operating temperature of the thermostat which is being used. Therefore, in order to satisfy a demand for freely setting the temperature of the warmer device for the vehicle seat and improving the comfortability, the number of parts has to be increased or a complicated circuit configuration has to be used by employing a method using a plurality of thermostats with different operating temperatures, or a method switching a heating value of an auxiliary heater which operates the thermostat, so that the realization was difficult in practice.
In order to satisfy the above-mentioned demands, for example, the warmer device for the vehicle seat as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 are known. In FIGS. 7, 8, a temperature control circuit 101 is connected in series to a warming member 104 wherein a cord-like heater 103 is meanderingly provided in a base material 102. The temperature control circuit 101 is connected to the warming member 104 outside the base material 102, and near the cord-like heater 103, a temperature detecting element 105 such as a thermistor and the like is arranged. By controlling a current control device such as a power MOS FET and the like embedded in the temperature control circuit 101 by a temperature signal from the temperature detecting element 105, the temperature of the warming member 104 is controlled. This kind of structure is disclosed in, for example, the conventional technology of Japanese Patent Publication 1.
Also, as a publication wherein the technology which conducts the temperature control using the temperature detecting element such as the thermistor and the like is disclosed, many publications are known in addition to the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication 1. For example, Japanese Patent Publication 2 and the like are disclosed.    Japanese Patent Publication 1: Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-217796    Japanese Patent Publication 2: Japanese Patent Publication (Tokuhyo) No. 2004-504082

Warmer equipment and warmer device for vehicle seat


This invention provides novel strains of microorganisms (e.g., Pseudomonas putida Biotype A) which are capable of converting substrates such as toluene or catechol to muconic acid quantitatively by the ortho (catechol 1,2-oxygenase) pathway.. Muconate lactonizing enzyme is not induced in the microorganism, thereby permitting the muconic acid to be produced and accumulated in a quantity greater than one gram of muconic acid per liter of bioconversion medium.

Adipic acid is an important commodity in the chemical industry, particularly or consumption as a commoner in the synthesis of polymers. Adipic acid can be obtained by oxidation of cyclohexane or cyclohexanol. Another prospective method is by the hydrogenation of muconic acid, which is a diolefinically unsaturated adipic acid derivative: ##STR1##
A potentially convenient source of muconic acid is by the microbiological oxidation of various hydrocarbon substrates. Microbiological oxidation of hydrocarbons is reviewed in Applied Microbiology, 9(5), 383(1961) and in "Advances in Enzymology", 27, 469-546(1965) by Interscience Publishers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,289 describes a process for producing a methyl-substituted muconic acid and/or 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid which involves subjecting a C.sub.7 -C.sub.10 methylbenzene having 1-4 methyl groups and at least two consecutive unsubstituted ring carbon atoms in the presence of a nutrient medium and under fermentation conditions to the action of an orthodihydroxylating and nondecarboxylating strain of Nocardia.
The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 241(16), 3776 (1966) reports the conversion of catechol and protocatechuate to .beta.-ketoadipate by Pseudomonas putida. The conversion of catechol proceeds by the ortho pathway via a muconic acid intermediate: ##STR2## The chemical structures illustrated in the reaction scheme are catechol, muconic acid, muconolactone, .beta.-ketoadipate enollactone and .beta.-ketoadipate, respectively.
In the Journal Of Bacteriology, 134, 756(1978) there is reported a study of the ubiquity of plasmids in coding for toluene and xylene metabolism in soil bacteria. One of the mutant strains of Pseudomonas putida isolated had the ability to metabolize toluene via benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid and catechol by the ortho pathway through .beta.-ketoadipate to biomass and carbon dioxide.
The enzymes functioning in the toluene metabolism by the ortho pathway included toluene mono-oxygenase, benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase, benzaldehyde dehydrogenase, benzoate oxygenase, dihydrodihydroxybenzoate dehydrogenase, catechol 1,2-oxygenase and muconate lactonizing enzyme. The subsequently formed .beta.-ketoadipate was further assimilated to biomass and carbon dioxide. The mutant strains that metabolized toluene via the ortho pathway did not accumulate muconic acid, since the said muconic acid metabolite was further transformed in the presence of muconate lactonizing enzyme.
No known naturally occurring microorganisms (e.g., Pseudomonas putida) are known that metabolize an aromatic substrate such as toluene by the ortho pathway via muconic acid and .beta.-ketoadipate. Wild strains metabolize aromatic hydrocarbon substrates by the meta pathway via 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde instead of a muconic acid intermediate. Catechol 2,3-oxygenase is functional rather than catechol 1,2-oxygenase.
Thus, the potential of microbiological oxidation of an aromatic substrate such as toluene as a convenient source of muconic acid requires the construction of mutant strains of microorganisms which (1) metabolize an aromatic substrate via catechol by means of the ortho pathway, (2) allow the accumulation of muconic acid without its further assimilation, and (3) contain catechol 1,2-oxygenase which is not inhibited by accumulated muconic acid in a bioconversion medium.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a process for construction of novel strains of microorganisms which metabolize catechol or a catechol-precursor by the ortho pathway to accumulated muconic acid.
It is another object of this invention to provide novel strains of pseudomonads which metabolize toluene or other benzoic acid-precursor to muconic acid quantitatively, with an accumulation of greater than one gram of muconic acid per liter of bioconversion medium.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and examples.

Microbial culture having catechol 1,2-oxygenase activity


A universal turret system is provided and includes the capability of accommodating a wide range of multi-class tooling including manual tools, manual quick-change tools, semi or fully automatic tooling, and live or driven tooling. The universal turret system includes a plurality of tool adapters with each adapter being mountable at any station on the turret disk and with each tool adapter being designed to receive or drive a specific tool from the multi-tool class.

In the past, turret disk systems have been designed to generally accommodate limited types or classes of tooling. For example, it is common to find turret systems that will accommodate conventional or manual tooling such as a shank-type tool holder but incapable of accommodating semi or fully automatic tools or a live or driven tools. The result of this is that tool builders and end users find themselves locked into a position where they have no flexibility in implementing a standardized flexible quick-change tooling system. This point is illustrated by the fact that an end user can purchase a turret system that has the limited capability of accommodating only one or two classes of quick-change tooling and which is unable to accommodate more advanced and sophisticated quick-change tooling such as those classes of tools typically referred to as semi or fully automatic quick-change tooling and live or driven tooling. In time, the same end user will often find himself in a position where it is desirable to utilize these more advanced and sophisticated quick-change tools but because of the design and limited flexibility of the turret system, the end user is placed in a position where he has but one alternative, that alternative being to purchase a new turret system designed specifically to accommodate the desired class of tooling.
Moreover, conventional turret systems have not been adapted to enhance machine and operator efficiency, reduce cost or improve productivity. For example, in conventional turret disk systems, it is not unusual to find efficiency as low as twenty percent with the operator spending as much as sixty percent of his time setting up the turret system and with the remaining twenty percent being divided between idle and stop time.
Thus, there is a need for a turret disk system which facilitates tools standardization and tool management by enhancing machine flexibility. In this same regard, there is a need for a turret disk system that will accommodate a wide range of tool classes including manual tools, manual quick-change tools, semi or fully automatic quick-change tools, and live or driven tools.

Universal turret system for quick-change lathe tooling


A cycloid pinwheel reducer includes a housing, two cycloid pinwheels, a plurality of rollers, an output flange, and a first transmission assembly. The housing forms an inner teeth ring in an inner wall of the housing. The two cycloid pinwheels are received in the housing. Each cycloid pinwheel forms a meshing portion. The rollers roll in position between the housing and the meshing portions. The output flange is non-rotatably connected with the cycloid pinwheels. The first transmission assembly includes a first transmission gear, a second transmission gear meshed with the first transmission gear. The second transmission gear includes a base body, a second teeth portion positioned on the base body, a first eccentric portion, and a second eccentric portion. The second teeth portion is meshed with the first transmission gear. The two cycloid pinwheels is sleeved on the first and second eccentric portions respectively.

In a common cycloid pinwheel reducer, an input shaft is mounted in a support with bearings, an eccentric shaft is positioned on the input shaft and assembled with two cycloid pinwheels, and the two cycloid pinwheels are connected to an output shaft. In use, the input shaft rotates the cycloid pinwheels via the eccentric shaft, and the output shaft rotates together with the eccentric shaft. However, the cycloid pinwheel reducer is difficult to engage with other transmission structures to reduce speed in a multiple speed reducing process. In addition, a structure engagement of the transmission structures and the input shaft is not compact enough, thus causing the cycloid pinwheel reducer to require to occupy larger amount of space.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (ShenZhen) CO., LTD.


A communication system includes a primary unit transmitting a first signal at a first instance, receiving a second signal at a second instance and energized by a power source having a voltage level, a secondary unit transmitting a third signal at a first instance, receiving a fourth signal at a second instance, and having a first communication mode and a second communication-shut mode, and a mode-changing device enabling the primary unit to generate a mode-changing signal to be received by the secondary unit for changing the secondary unit from the first communication mode into the second communication-shut mode when the voltage level falls below a specific value. A mode-changing method for such communication system is also provided.

The radio (or wireless) telephone having separable base and handset is extensively used since the user is free from being unnecessarily unduly confined to a reletively limited space. In use, the handset, however, will be noised when:
1) The handset is out of range; PA0 2) The base has a power failure or an interrupted power; or PA0 3) There exists a noise source.
As shown in FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional radio telephone in which the base includes a power-stabilizing circuit 11, a digital controller or central processing unit (CPU) 12, a radio frequency transmitting module 13 including a transmitting driver 131 and a transmitting amplifier 132, a transmission signal processor 24, a transmission data processor 25, a receiving data processor 26, a receiving signal processor 27 and a receiver 28. Likewise, the handset includes a receiver 14, a receiving signal processor 15, an amplifier 16, a speaker 17, an antenna 18, a receiving data processor 19, a transmitting amplifier 20, a transmitting driver 21, a transmission signal processor 22, a transmission data processor 23, a digital controller or CPU 191, a display 192 and a keypad 193.
Upon power failure or interruption of the base, there is no signal transmitted from radio frequency transmitting module 13. Nevertheless, the handset is still powered on which means that receiver 14, receiving signal processor 15 and audio amplifier 16 are still in a working mode through which any signal including a noise can transmit to speaker 17 which will sound to the user only the unpleasant amplified noise since the carrier wave has disappeared through the power failure or interruption of the base. As described above, there are three noise sources. The user will be bothered to inevitably try to redial the telephone in vain if he or she is not able to quickly get alert to the fact the base is suffering from a power failure or interruption.
It is therefore tried by the applicant to deal with the above situation, i.e. the base has a power failure or an interrupted power, encountered by the prior art.

Communication system and mode-changing method for same


Methods and systems for displaying three-dimensional (3D) images using motion parallax are described. Images are projected onto a reflector with a rippled or faceted surface. The reflected images are viewed at a plurality of viewing locations and a different image is perceived according to the viewing location.

Motion parallax is typically a term for a perceived 3D effect which comes from having a different perspective of a scene dependent on viewing position. For example, when moving the head from side to side, the scene should be perceived differently due to the different relationships between objects. Also incorporated in this concept are other 3D cues such as lighting, shadows, binocular vision and perspective. The human visual system uses a combination of 3D cues to fully construct and perceive a 3D image.
Motion parallax provides a different image to the viewer depending on the perspective of the viewer. This is more complex than stereo vision because it is up to the viewer to determine his or her perspective, by moving around. In particular, when an observer moves, the apparent relative motion of several stationery objects against a background gives hints about a relative distance. If information about the direction and velocity of movement is known, motion parallax can provide absolute depth information. See, for example, Ferris, S. H. (1972): Motion Parallax and Absolute Distance, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 95(2), 258-263. Some methods to implement motion parallax have tracked the position of the viewer to determine the correct view for the viewer's perspective. However, these methods do not work well or at all for multiple viewers, and can exhibit latency even for a single viewer due to delays in motion tracking.
A second technique is to simultaneously show different images which appear only at the appropriate perspective—termed multi-view. Phillips® and other manufacturers have manufactured LCD displays to achieve this effect, using lenticular arrays over an LCD to direct light from certain pixels into the desired orientation. This is achieved by sacrificing image resolution—i.e., for 10 views in the horizontal direction, 10 vertical pixels for each image pixel are needed, thus degrading the horizontal resolution of the image by a factor of 10.

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


According to one embodiment, an apparatus for evaluating the condition of a NOx adsorber catalyst (NAC) of an internal combustion engine system includes a rich condition timing module, NAC outlet lambda module, and NAC condition module. The rich condition timing module is configured to accumulate the total time during which exhaust gas exiting the NAC has a lambda value less than 1.0. The NAC outlet lambda module is configured to store NAC outlet lambda values of the exhaust gas while the exhaust gas exiting the NAC has a lambda value less than 1.0. The NAC condition module is configured to evaluate the condition of the NAC based on the total time during which exhaust gas exiting the NAC has a lambda value less than 1.0 and an accumulation of the stored NAC outlet lambda values.

Exhaust emissions regulations for internal combustion engines have become more stringent over recent years. For example, the regulated emissions of NOx (also written as NOx) and particulates from diesel-powered internal combustion engines are low enough that, in many cases, the emissions levels cannot be met with improved combustion technologies. Therefore, the use of exhaust aftertreatment systems on engines to reduce harmful exhaust emissions is increasing. Typical exhaust aftertreatment systems include any of various components configured to reduce the level of harmful exhaust emissions present in the exhaust gas. For example, some exhaust aftertreatment systems for diesel-powered internal combustion engines include various components, such as a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), a particulate matter filter or diesel particulate filter (DPF), and a NOx adsorber catalyst (NAC) or NOx trap. In some exhaust aftertreatment systems, exhaust gas first passes through the DOC, then passes through the DPF, and subsequently passes through the NAC.
Each of the DOC, DPF, and NAC components is configured to perform a particular exhaust emissions treatment operation on the exhaust gas passing through or over the components. The DOC, DPF, and NAC each includes a catalyst bed or substrate that facilitates the corresponding exhaust emissions treatment operation. Generally, the catalyst bed of the DOC reduces the amount of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons present in the exhaust gas via oxidation techniques. The substrate of the DPF filters harmful diesel particulate matter and soot present in the exhaust gas. Finally, the catalyst bed of the NAC reduces the amount of NOx present in the exhaust gas.
Generally, the catalyst bed of the NAC is configured to intermittently trap or adsorb NOx and oxygen, and then release or desorb the trapped NOx and oxygen while reducing the released NOx to N2 and other compounds to meet emissions standards. NOx and oxygen is adsorbed on the catalyst bed while the engine runs lean (resulting in excess oxygen in the exhaust gas passing through the NAC). The release and reduction of NOx trapped on the NAC, otherwise called a regeneration of the NAC, occurs while the engine runs rich (resulting in excess hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas passing through the NAC). As the unused hydrocarbons pass over the trapped NOx, the NOx will join with the hydrocarbons to produce less harmful emissions, such as H2O and N2.
As a NAC ages over time, or when a NAC is defective, the catalytic sites on the catalyst bed for adsorbing NOx and oxygen become deactivated, which results in the NAC being less effective at trapping NOx and oxygen. Further, excess NOx emissions may occur if a NAC is inadvertently missing from the vehicle. Accordingly, current on-board diagnostic regulations require detection and communication to a user of ill-performing, degraded, or missing NAC to limit the emission of excess NOx into the atmosphere.
Conventional systems determine the performance and degradation of a NAC in a variety of ways. According to one system, the performance and degradation of the NAC is determined by attempting to estimate a lean-to-rich exhaust transition area subsequent rich-to-lean exhaust transition area. The estimated transition areas are based on a calculated difference between an NAC upstream air-fuel ratio value and a NAC downstream air-fuel ratio value, as well as an indication whether a regeneration event is occurring. In other systems, only those NAC input and output air-fuel ratio values obtained over a short period of time at the beginning of NAC regeneration events are used to determine the performance and degradation of the NAC.
According to conventional gasoline-powered engines using three-way catalysts (TWC), the performance of the TWC is determined by estimating the oxygen storage capacity of the TWC. More specifically, the performance of the TWC is determined by detecting changes in the oxygen storage capacity as the TWC ages.


A process is provided for recovering hydrocarbons, such as heavy oils, from a subterranean reservoir. The process includes providing a subcritical or a supercritical aqueous fluid at a high temperature and high pressure to the underground hydrocarbon reservoir, injecting the aqueous fluid into the reservoir to heat the hydrocarbons in the reservoir, and recovering the heated hydrocarbons from the reservoir. In some cases, the supercritical fluid is also used to upgrade the hydrocarbons and/or facilitate the transportation of the hydrocarbons from the production field to another location, such as a refinery. Advantageously, isentropic expansion may be employed anywhere in the system for a more efficient and effective processes and systems.

Oil recovered, or produced, and transported from a significant number of oil reserves around the world is simply too heavy to flow under reservoir and ambient conditions. This makes it challenging to bring remote, heavy oil resources closer to the markets where refining facilities are accessible.
In order to render such heavy oils flowable in the reservoir and production well(s), one conventional method known in the art is to use two phase saturated steam generation and distribution. That method typically presents a challenge in achieving sufficiently uniform distribution of latent heat in the reservoir. Latent heat profile control devices are known and used in the industry to distribute vapor and liquid phases more evenly at the perforations; however, installation and retrieval this equipment can be increase the complexity and cost of a hydrocarbon production operation, and the difficulty of installing and retrieving the equipment can be further increased in horizontal wells by the bend radius at the heel of the well and the sand that can settle to the bottom of the casing.
Once heavy oil is produced from a well, it is conventional practice in the industry to facilitate the transport of the heavy oil by heating it to a high temperature and maintaining high pressure in insulated shipping pipelines.
Also, in order to render such heavy oils flowable, one common method known in the art is to reduce the viscosity and density of the heavy oil by mixing the heavy oil with a sufficient diluent. The diluent may be naphtha, syncrude, or any other fluid stream that has a sufficiently higher API gravity (i.e., much lower density) than the heavy oil. Typically, this heavy oil must be taken to an upgrader either in the field or at some remote central location before shipment to a refinery.
In one conventional heavy oil production operation, diluted crude oil is sent from the production wellhead via a pipeline to an upgrading facility. Two key operations occur at the upgrading facility: (1) the diluent stream is recovered and recycled back to the production wellhead in a separate pipeline, and (2) the heavy oil is upgraded with suitable technology known in the art (coking, hydrocracking, hydrotreating, or the like) to produce higher-value products for market. Some typical characteristics of these higher-value products include: lower sulfur content, lower metals content, lower total acid number (TAN), lower residuum content, higher API gravity, and lower viscosity. Most of these desirable characteristics are achieved by reacting the heavy oil with hydrogen gas at high temperatures and pressures in the presence of a catalyst. Depending on the location of the upgrading facility and other market factors, the upgraded crude might be sent to the end-users via tankers and/or additional pipelines.
These diluent addition/removal processes and hydrogen-addition or other upgrading processes can be undesirable in some cases. For example, the infrastructure required for the handling, recovery, and recycling of diluent can be expensive, especially over long distances, and diluent may not be readily availability at a reasonable price. The hydrogen-addition processes such as hydrotreating or hydrocracking typically require significant investments in capital and infrastructure which add to the total cost of producing the heavy oil. The hydrogen-addition processes also typically have high operating costs, since hydrogen production costs are highly sensitive to natural gas prices. Some remote heavy oil reserves may not even have access to sufficient quantities of low-cost natural gas to support a hydrogen plant. These hydrogen-addition processes also generally require expensive catalysts and resource intensive catalyst handling techniques, including catalyst regeneration. In some cases, the refineries and/or upgrading facilities that are located closest to the production site may have neither the capacity nor the facilities to accept the heavy oil. Additionally, coking is often used at refineries or upgrading facilities. Sulfur is removed prior to the coking process, and significant amounts of by-product solid coke are produced during the coking process, leading to lower liquid hydrocarbon yield. In addition, the liquid products from a coking plant often need further hydrotreating. Further, the volume of the product from the coking process is significantly less than the volume of the feed crude oil.
For these and other reasons, there exists a continued need for improved systems and processes for recovering hydrocarbon fluids, particularly heavy oils.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and process for recovering hydrocarbons using a supercritical fluid


Provided is a method and device for remotely controlling a household appliance. The method includes: sending, by a social application client, a control command for a target household appliance, wherein the control command includes an account of the target household appliance, and the account of the target household appliance is a unique social account registered in a social application server when the target household appliance leaves a factory; and controlling, by the social application client, the target household appliance corresponding to the account of the target household appliance according to the control command. A user can directly control the household appliance through the social application client, thus improving the efficiency of controlling the household appliance and reducing the cost.

With increase of social network users, popularization of home internet and further fusion of communication, computer and consumed household appliance industries, more and more intelligent household appliances (such as air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions and the like) may be remotely controlled through specific client programs. However, in this case, a user needs to separately download a client for controlling the household appliances and needs to open the client each time it will be used, so the process is complex, and the user experience is relatively poor.

Method and device for remotely controlling household appliance, and computer readable storage medium


An integrated method and an integrated device for heavy oil contact lightening and coke gasification are provided. The integrated method uses a coupled reactor including a cracking section and a gasification section, and the integrated method includes: feeding a heavy oil material into the cracking section to implement a cracking reaction, to obtain a light oil gas and a carbon-deposited contact agent; passing the carbon-deposited contact agent into the gasification section, so as to implement a gasification reaction, to obtain a regenerated contact agent and a syngas; and discharging the light oil gas and the ascended and incorporated syngas from the cracking section, to perform a gas-solid separation, so that the carbon-deposited contact agent carried is separated and returned to the cracking section, and a purified oil gas is obtained at the same time.

The heavy oil is a residue left after the crude oil is subjected to fractionation to extract gasoline, kerosene, and diesel; furthermore, there are also abundant heavy oil resources in strata. The heavy oil has the characteristics of, for example, heavy components and low hydrogen-carbon ratio, and usually has a relatively high content of sulfur, nitrogen, heavy metals and carbon residue value, etc. With the continuous development of crude oil, the problems of heavy and inferior quality of crude oil have become more and more serious, and environmental protection regulations are becoming stricter, so how to lighten the heavy oil, and convert the heavy oil into gasoline, diesel, liquefied gas and other qualified clean oil products are main challenges faced by petroleum processing enterprises at present.
At present, the processing route for lightening the heavy oil can be roughly divided into two types, hydrogenation and decarbonization. Among them, the hydrogenation is to increase the hydrogen-carbon ratio by the reaction of the heavy oil with hydrogen. The hydrogenation occupies an important position in the processing of the heavy oil, but due to high content of carbon residue value, heavy metal and heteroatom in the heavy oil, direct use of hydrocracking method often requires a large amount of hydrogen, and usually needs to be carried out under the conditions of high pressure and high efficient catalyst, the difficulty of implementing the process is relatively high. Additionally, since the heavy oil has a relatively low hydrogen-carbon ratio, the problem of lack of hydrogen in the process of obtaining clean oil products by lightening of the heavy oil is often more prominent.
Since the addition of external hydrogen resources is not involved, the decarbonization processing is generally a redistribution of carbon and hydrogen resources of raw materials in products. Currently, the commonly used decarbonization technologies at home and abroad mainly include a catalytic cracking process and a delayed coking process. Among them, the catalytic cracking process usually causes rapid carbon deposition on or toxic deactivation of the catalyst, and the amount of coke formation in the heavy oil catalytic cracking process is relatively large, and if a traditional coking method is used for catalyst regeneration, a large amount of external heat will be required, and at the same time, it will also be a great waste of carbon resources to a certain extent. During the delayed coking process, since no catalyst is involved, the delayed coking process has greater adaptability to raw materials. However, the delayed coking process produces a large amount of solid coke as a by-product, and the latest environmental protection requirements have taken measures to restrict the high-sulfur coke with a sulfur content of >3% from leaving from factory, thus the application of the delayed coking process is limited.
In view of the above advantages and disadvantages of the hydrogenation and the decarbonization, firstly cracking the heavy oil into light oils and then hydrotreating the light oils to obtain acceptable products has become a choice of many petroleum processing enterprises.
CN1504404A discloses a process method for combining oil refining and gasification. First, a petroleum hydrocarbon and a coke transfer agent contact and react with each other in a reactor, and the resulting oil gas enters a subsequent product separation system, the coke transfer agent deposited with carbon is transferred into a gasifier, and reacts with, for example, water vapor and oxygen-containing gas so as to produce a syngas, and achieve the regeneration of the coke transfer agent deposited with carbon. The regenerated coke transfer agent is returned into a cracking section for recycling. The present disclosure achieves a combination of two processes of oil refining and gasification, the process flow is similar to the catalytic cracking process, and the coke gasification process is used to replace the traditional coking regeneration process.
CN102234534A discloses a method for processing an inferior heavy oil, where the method firstly uses a contact agent with low activity to perform a cracking reaction of the heavy oil, the reacted contact agent deposited with carbon is transported to different reaction zones of the gasification section to perform combustion or gasification regeneration, to obtain a semi-regenerant and a secondary regenerant with different coke content, respectively; the multi-section regenerating reaction in the reactor increases the operation difficulty of the process to a certain extent.
CN102115675A discloses a processing method of heavy oil lightening and a device thereof. Firstly, the raw oil reacts with a solid heat carrier in a thermal cracking reactor to obtain a light oil gas product. The heavy coke is attached to a surface of the solid heat carrier and enters a combustion (gasification) reactor through a material returning valve to remove the coke on the surface, and the regenerated high-temperature solid heat carrier is partially returned to the thermal cracking reactor through a distribution valve, serving as a reaction bed material.
CN102965138A discloses a coupling process of pyrolysis and gasification for a heavy oil in a double-reaction-tube semi-coke circulating bed, which proposes the use of a descending reaction tube for cracking of the heavy oil to obtain a light oil gas product. The coked semi-coke enters the riser gasification reactor to perform a gasification reaction with an oxidant and water vapor, to produce a syngas; after the reaction, the high-temperature semi-coke flows into the material returning device and continues to circulate, so as to provide the heat required for the heavy oil reaction.
In the above methods, different types of reactors, such as a fluidized bed, a riser and a downer, are used for the cracking reaction of the heavy oil. However, generated heavy cokes need to be transported to another reactor for performing regeneration reaction such as gasification and combustion, so that materials have to be recycled and returned in multiple reactors, not only making the equipment occupy a larger area in practical production, but also having high energy consumption.

Integrated method and integrated device for heavy oil contact lightening and coke gasification


A position-sensing unit for determining a relative position in one or more dimensions of two units. One or more position-sensing units can be used in a multidimensional pointer, such as a control lever, for controlling a position in up to six dimensions of, e.g., and object on a display. A position-sensing unit comprises a radiation source, a detector and a screen element arranged in the beam path for partial screening off of radiation. The radiation source and the detector comprise individual or separate fields for emitting or detecting radiation, in which case it is possible to distinguish radiation associated with one field from radiation associated with other fields. The determination of a position is carried out based on a comparison between the intensities of non-screened-off radiation associated with the different fields. A radiation-spreading medium can be used in the fields to create "virtual" radiation surfaces and detector surfaces, respectively, in combination with separate radiation units and detector units, respectively.

In computer engineering, different kinds of pointers and positioning means are used as input units, such as a joystick, a control ball, a mouse etc, which in manual operation generate electric control signals for multidimensional controlling, position control in CAD work or in computer and TV games often requires controllability within several degrees of freedom or dimensions. A user should be able to perform with his hand a number of different controlling movements in a logic or intuitive manner. In some modern applications, especially computer games, controllability is required in up to six dimensions, for example a linear movement in three directions and a rotating movement in three directions.
In the present application, the term "pointer" is to be interpreted in a wide sense and comprise all types of input units with one or more movable operating means for generating position control signals for multidimensional controlling of on object, by operating said operating means in different directions of operation.
SE-5,022,186 discloses an input unit in the form of a pointer for three-dimensional position control of e.g. a cursor on a display. An object, which especially can be the user's finger, is illuminated by two point sources of light. As a result, the object casts two shadows on a detector surface, which is made up of a plurality of separate detector elements for determining the absolute positions of the shadows. The position of the object in three dimensions is calculated on the basis of the absolute and relative positions of the two shadows.
This prior-art pointer has a relatively high total cost of components and may be difficult to manufacture with small dimensions, which prevents the pointer from being used as a partial component in more complex controlling devices. The reliability is limited. The size of the operating area is limited by the components.
For conversion of movements of a pointer into control signals, it is also known to use components of the PSD type (Position-Sensing Detector) or CCD type (Charge Coupled Device). However, these components are complicated and consequently expensive.
The International Patent Application under Publication No. WO 97/05567, which was filed before the priority date of the present application but was published after the priority date of the present application, discloses a pointer in the form of a control lever for controlling in several dimensions. In one embodiment, the operating handle supports a light source at its lower end. A stationary detector has four detector surfaces in the form of photodiodes, each forming a quadrant. Radiation from the movable source of light passes through an opening in a stationary screen and falls as a light spot on the detector surfaces. When the control lover is moved, the amount of light on the various detector surfaces varies. The current angular position of the operating handle in calculated on the basis of a comparison of light intensity on the various detector surfaces.

Position-sensing unit and multidimensional pointer comprising one or more such units


A predetermined frequency and adjustable level excitation circuit for a capacitive load (B) having a first terminal connected to a reference voltage (G). The circuit includes two switches (S1, S2) connected in series between a supply voltage (Vcc) and the reference voltage (G). The junction (S) of the two switches is coupled to the second terminal (A) of the load. The two switches are not simultaneously closed. A circuit (10) periodically controls the closing of the switch connected to the supply voltage. A regulation circuit (R2, R3, 12) acts on the control circuit to trigger opening of one of the switches when the voltage across the load reaches a predetermined value.

Generally, the sound level of a telephone bell is variable. In high-end models, the bell is a loud-speaker fed by a square wave signal of a predetermined frequency (about 1 Khz). The loud-speaker is controlled by an amplifier, the gain of which is programmable by the user by actuating the keys of the telephone set.
In low-end telephone sets, the bell is a piezoelectric buzzer fed by the same square wave signal. Generally, the sound level of the buzzer is fixed by a potentiometer connected in series with the buzzer. In such a low-end set, the installation of a potentiometer is expensive and its use is not convenient. It would be a priori less expensive to adjust the sound level by means of the telephone keys.
However, problems are encountered in achieving a programmable gain amplifier for a piezoelectric buzzer. Indeed, a piezoelectric buzzer is a highly capacitive load liable to cause an instability of the amplifier. The amplifier should be carefully designed and compensated with relatively high value capacitors. Hence, such an amplifier would be much more expensive than the amplifier used for loud-speakers.
It is also not possible to use a pulse width modulation (PWM) amplifier. A piezoelectric buzzer exhibits several resonance peaks at various frequencies. Generally, the buzzer is fed by a rectangular signal having a 50% duty cycle and a frequency close to one of the resonance frequencies. The 50% duty cycle rectangular signal has harmonics of rapidly decreasing amplitude only slightly exciting other resonance peaks. When the duty cycle of the excitation signal is decreased, the amplitudes and the number of harmonics increase and can excite other resonance peaks, which may cause an insufficient variation of the sound level.

Variable level periodic excitation circuit for a capacitive load


A cleaning method and cleaning recipes are disclosed. The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a semiconductor substrate and cleaning recipes. The present invention utilizes a first cleaning solution including diluted hydrofluoric acid and a second cleaning solution including hydrogen chloride and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to clean a semiconductor substrate without using an alkaline solution including ammonium hydroxide. Accordingly, a clean surface of a semiconductor substrate is provided in selective epitaxial growth (SEG) process to grow an epitaxial layer with smooth surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of cleaning a substrate and cleaning recipes, and more particularly to a method of pre-cleaning a wafer and cleaning recipes used for selective epitaxial growth in a raised source/drain process to provide an epitaxial layer with a smooth surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Semiconductor devices are constantly being miniaturized. As the overall dimensions of semiconductor devices are made smaller and smaller, the accompanied problems such as short channel effect and junction resistance increasing are also generated. The raised source and drain has then been proposed as an alternative technique for forming a shallow junction in semiconductor devices to eliminate the aforementioned problems. Selective epitaxial growth (SEG) is the mostly used method to form the different types of eitaxy layer on semiconductor substrate, also the important process in raised source and drain technique. Because the surface of the semiconductor substrate is bombarded by ions in the previous implantation procedure, it induces the non-uniformity between two different types of epitaxial surface in the following SEG process, also affects the quality of further fabrication. How to provide a method to eliminate the quality difference in the SEG process to increase the yield of semiconductor devices that is one of the purposes of the present invention.
The cleanliness of a wafer is an important reason for the yield, properties and reliability of devices of VLSI process. More particularly, developing cleaning techniques to provide a substrate with ultra-cleanliness is quite important when the deeply sub-micron field of VLSI process is achieved. Highly pure chemical agents and DI water are used for cleaning process. Cleaning recipes of highly pure Wet Chemical Cleaning, which is developed by RCA Company in America, are used for many years. A little adjustments of the ratio of chemical recipes and cleaning sequences are developed. Reducing cleaning steps and raising cleanliness are improved, and wherein the micro-particles, oxides, mineral elements, organic and metals are the major objects to remove away.
Referring to FIG. 1, a flow chart of pre-clean steps of SEG process according to traditional cleaning steps is shown. The pre-clean steps include the following steps. In step 11, deionized (DI) water is used for fast cleaning. In step 12, a diluted hydrofluoric acid is utilized to remove the remained oxide. In step 13, deionized water is used for fast cleaning.
Referring to FIG. 2A, a MOS transistor with selective epitaxial layers formed by conventional SEG techniques is shown. The MOS transistor formed on a silicon substrate 21 comprises a polysilicon gate electrode 22, a gate oxide layer 23, an epitaxial layer 25 and a spacer 24. Before forming the epitaxial layer 25, a conventional pre-clean steps of SEG such as the one shown in FIG. 1 is utilized. In a raised source/drain process, the qualities of epitaxial layers on the P+ region and the N+ region are different. Particularly, the surface condition of the epitaxial layer on the N+ region is poor and rough. FIG. 2B shows a SEM picture of an epitaxial layer and a rough surface of the epitaxial layer on the N+ region. The roughness of the surface of the epitaxial layer would degrade the quality of following forming films thereby deteriorate the performance of devices and production yield thereof.
In view of the drawbacks mentioned with the prior art process, there is a continued need to develop new and improved processes that overcome the disadvantages associated with prior art processes. The requirements of this invention are that it solves the problems mentioned above.

Method of cleaning a semiconductor substrate


An antenna comprises a monopole and a dipole. The dipole provides a first antenna element and a second antenna element, which provide a common longitudinal axis with the longitudinal axis of a monopole. The first antenna element of the dipole is connected to the second antenna element of the dipole and to the monopole. The monopole bears the dipole. The antenna further contains a decoupling element, which is disposed between the monopole and the dipole.

Moreover, DE 102 35 222 A1 discloses a broadband antenna with a monopole and a dipole, which are used for different frequency ranges. However, this broadband antenna provides suboptimal directional properties and a suboptimal frequency response. Furthermore, the optical cross-section of this antenna covers a very large area, which excludes it from a large number of applications.


A litter box system and method include a sifter/scraper scoop configured to remove animal waste from litter material, without removing or transferring the litter material out of the main litter box. The main litter box is divided into two compartments by the scoop, which is releasably attached thereto. The scoop has approximately the same width and the same contour as the inside of the litter box. A pet-accessible compartment allows a pet to use the litter during elimination. The litter box system can be tipped up onto an angled end as part of a cleaning method allowing unclumped litter to pass through the scoop into a litter reservoir. The scoop can then be used to remove the waste. Then, litter can be directed back into the pet-accessible compartment by tipping the box the other way and replacing the scoop before placing the box levelly onto its bottom.

The present invention is in the field of litter boxes for pets. More particularly, the present invention relates to a litter box having a sifter/scraper scoop insert which is used to remove solid and clumped animal waste from the litter box without removing or transferring remaining litter material from the litter box.
Different animal species, including many commonly kept as pets may be trained to use a litter box. The convenience afforded to pets and their human companions by litter box availability can be offset somewhat by the challenges often associated with keeping the litter box clean. The task of removing animal waste and soiled litter has been addressed in a variety of ways over the last several decades. Some advances include the development of "clumping" litter that captures and eases removal of liquid waste while retaining generally unsoiled litter and reducing the volume of litter consumed while providing for a relatively clean and low-odor litter box. Various manual and automated scooping devices are known and used. However, a need remains for a device and method that will provide for ease of use and cleaning a litter box, particularly without necessitating removal from the box of litter that is being retained for continued use, but without leaving waste (on its own and/or with clumped litter) adhered to the interior surfaces of the litter box. The presently described embodiments address this need.

Litter box with sifter/scraper scoop insert and method


The present combination ladder rack and loader device is designed for use with pickup trucks. This device can function as a typical ladder rack, but also has the ability to lift large and heavy objects both into and out of the truck's bed. In one embodiment, the combination ladder rack and loader device can connect to the pick-up truck primarily through a receiver hitch allowing it to be easily disconnected from the truck when desired. This device can also comprise either a mechanical or an electrical winch to assist in the loading and unloading of large or heavy objects.

Pickup trucks comprising both cabs for transporting people and open beds for transporting goods have existed for many decades. Often, racks are used in the beds of such pickup trucks to facilitate the transport of longer objects, such as pipes, lumber and ladders. These racks are often referred to as "ladder racks." One of the benefits of such racks is the ability to use the area above the truck's cab for storage, eliminating the need for longer objects to protrude from the truck's bed, which can create a safety hazard. Additionally, such racks can hold objects above the floor of the truck's bed leaving it free to store other items. Ladder racks are typically semi-permanent fixtures that are bolted to the truck and are not easily removed.
Pickup truck's are commonly used to carry large and heavy objects in their beds, which would not fit easily into other vehicles because a truck's bed is not constrained by a roof. However, the floor of a typical truck bed is located at a height above the rear axle of the truck, which is significantly above ground level. This makes loading large or heavy items into to the truck bed difficult, if not impossible without significant assistance.
Attempts have been made to provide devices to be installed in trucks that provide loading and unloading assistance. These devices can use swivel arms to swing the object over the side or back of the bed that are hydraulically driven by pistons attached to the vehicle chassis, or mechanically driven by a winch. See for example Rinderknecht U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,837. These arms comprising such inventions can rotate about the attachment point on the chassis and provide the lifting power necessary to lift objects into or out of the truck. Other devices are attached to the back of a truck's bed and work like small, hydraulically-driven elevators. See for example Zrostlik U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,809. However, neither of these existing lifting devices have the capacity to provide additional storage on the truck when not in use as loading device. In fact, most of the existing devices reduce the amount of storage space available in the truck bed. Furthermore, neither of these devices can be easily removed from the truck.
One existing device, Gunderson U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,702, does have the capacity to work as both a ladder rack and a loading device. However, this device relies upon a sliding rail system, whereas the present device uses an entirely different mechanism. The present device can be more stable than the Gunderson design and can accommodate tool boxes and other objects commonly found on trucks that may be interfered with by the Gunderson device.
What is needed is a lifting device having the capacity to both load and unload large and heavy objects into and out of a pickup truck's bed that is also capable of providing a ladder rack for additional storage space when not being used as a lifting device. Additionally, the device should be easy to either connect or disconnect from the truck as desired.

Combination ladder rack and loading device for use with a pickup truck and a method for its use


Methods of loading a molecule of interest into a sample well are provided. In some aspects, methods of loading a molecule of interest into a sample well involve loading a molecule of interest into a sample well in the presence of a crowding agent and/or a condensing agent. In some aspects, methods of loading a sequencing template into a sample well are provided.

Advancements in next-generation sequencing technologies have made it possible to conduct massively parallel analysis of single molecules. These techniques have fundamentally altered the landscape of life science research, particularly with respect to genomics and medical diagnosis. The inherent complexity of biological samples generally necessitates laborious and time consuming sample preparation protocols using conventional single molecule technologies. Moreover, the exceptionally small size of the sample wells in which these reactions are performed can be restrictive of the size of molecules capable of being analyzed.

Loading molecules into sample wells for analysis


A method for recycling lead from spent lead-acid battery paste, relating to the technical field of hydrometallurgy. In the method, firstly a reducing agent, and a lead paste are added into a zinc chloride solution for leaching in a stirring mill to cause lead in the lead paste to enter the solution, a lead cementation is performed by using zinc in the leached solution, after the lead cementation, the electrolytic zinc is produced by controlling an electrodeposition on the zinc chloride solution for a short time, the reducing agent is zinc, lead or hydrogen peroxide, a part of the electrolytic zinc is returned as the reducing agent for leaching, the step of returning the electrolytic zinc as the reducing agent can be omitted when the lead or the hydrogen peroxide is used as the reducing agent.

In the consumption structure of lead, the lead consumption in lead-acid batteries accounts for about 85% of the total lead consumption. China produces about one third of the world's lead batteries. More than 1.5 million tons of batteries are discarded every year, and the discarded batteries have become a huge renewable lead resource.
The spent lead-acid batteries are usually crushed and sorted to obtain lead grids, organic waste plastics and lead paste. The recycling of the lead grids and the organic waste plastics is relatively simple, while the composition of the lead paste is complex, therefore the recycling is hard.
At present, the desulfurizer is commonly used to first convert PbSO4 in the lead paste into Pb2CO3 in the pyrometallurgical process for treating the lead paste, the converted Pb2CO3 can be smelted at a relatively low temperature. Due to an incomplete conversion, about 5% of PbSO4 may remain in the converted lead paste, and SO2 is produced during smelting. The pyrometallurgical process of treating lead paste not only consumes high energy and a large amount of desulfurizer, but also produces atmospheric pollutants such as SO2, volatile lead dust, and leads to high costs of treating smelting flue gas.

Hydrometallurgical method for recycling lead from spent lead-acid battery paste

UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BEIJING


A method for embedding at least one solar structure, including one or more anchoring legs, includes making one or more holes in which the at least one solar structure is to be installed; forming one or more concrete slabs in the hole(s) at one installation rib; after setting of the concrete slab(s), locating the position(s) of the anchoring leg(s) of the at least one solar structure on the concrete slab(s); installing the at least one solar structure in the hole(s), with the anchoring leg(s) bearing on the concrete slab(s) at the position(s) of the anchoring leg(s) that were located beforehand; and embedding the at least one solar structure.

Commonly, a solar panel support structure according to the state of the art, for example illustrated in FIG. 2, comprises a support structure 2 that makes it possible to support an element (not shown) supporting a solar panel for processing sunlight. The solar panel is generally made up of a plurality of photovoltaic cells. The solar panel can be mounted to be stationary. Alternatively, the solar panel may comprise a system for actuating the solar panel for controlling the general inclination of the solar panel around an axis X relative to the ground.
That is why it is important for the support structure 2 to be firmly embedded in the right position so that the control of the general inclination of the solar panel is not distorted by poor positioning of the support structure 2.
Known in the state-of-the-art is a method for embedding support structures that comprises the following steps:
making holes in the ground so as to embed one or more support structures therein,
pouring a layer of concrete so as to produce a concrete slab, embedding fastening and adjusting means for a support structure therein in a predetermined position,
after a suitable time (for the concrete to set), placing the support structure on the fastening and adjustment means or on the concrete slab,
adjusting the spatial positioning of the solar structure using the fastening and adjustment means.
However, criticisms have been leveled regarding such a method for embedding a support structure. In fact, concrete having a significant dimensional weight and a rheology making it not very fluid, the pouring step can create destabilization problems of the fastening and adjustment means of the support structure, which can therefore be moved from the predetermined position. As a result, after the concrete layer has set, the support structure embedded in the ground and poorly positioned can create inclination errors in the control of the solar panel, which creates deterioration in the output of the solar panel, in particular when the support structure bearing the solar panel is poorly aligned heightwise.

Method for mounting a solar panel support structure by embedding its legs


When the remaining toner amount within a developer is relatively large, a control target value of a toner amount is set to Ttgt1, and a lower limit value of a toner amount which can regarded proper is set to TL1. When the density of a patch image formed under a predetermined condition is smaller than a minimum guaranteed density Dma, it is determined abnormality has occurred in the apparatus. Since the characteristic of toner within the developer changes as the remaining toner amount decreases, the control target value is changed to Ttgt2 and the lower limit value is set to TL2 in light of this. In this fashion, regardless of whether the toner characteristic has changed, abnormality in the apparatus is detected without fail.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which forms an image using toner. The present invention relates in particular to a technique for accurately grasping the states of use of the main section of the apparatus and consumables and for properly managing the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier machine and a facsimile machine which uses toner to form an image, as the apparatus is used more, the quality of an image becomes poorer owing to changes of the state of the apparatus such as a deterioration within the apparatus and a reduction of the remaining toner amount for example. There are various different ideas as for how to grasp such changes of the state of the apparatus and how to deal with these changes.
An example is an apparatus which calculates the amount of remaining toner inside the apparatus based on a count registered in a toner counter which counts the amount of toner which is consumed as an image is formed, and which then determines, from thus calculated remaining toner amount, the timing of exchanging a toner cartridge in which the toner is stored. In other words, when the calculated amount of remaining toner inside the toner cartridge drops beyond a certain level, a display of the image forming apparatus shows a message such as "Please exchange the toner cartridge." to thereby encourage a user to exchange the toner cartridge.
In an effort to make an effective use of resources, users wish to accurately grasp the remaining toner amount and exchange a toner cartridge at a proper time, that is, when toner has been just entirely used. However, conventional toner counting techniques realize only insufficient accurate counting and have thus failed to meet this demand.
Further, among this type of apparatuses are those which form a small test image (patch image) having a predetermined image pattern and adjust their operation conditions based on the result of density detection on the patch image. It is desirable that the result of the density detection on the patch image is utilized to grasp changes of the state of the apparatus. Meanwhile, for an effective use of resources mentioned above, there is a users' demand to form images even at the expense of a deteriorated image quality to an extent tolerable. When an image is to be formed in such a situation, the result of the density detection on the patch image must be specially handled. The conventional control techniques for image forming apparatuses nonetheless have not considered such a need very much.

Image forming apparatus, control method and toner consumption calculating apparatus and method


An order scheduling system providing a method for distributing product orders to multiple fulfillers is described. This method, which solves the common business problem of scheduling order shipments, is optimal because it minimizes the number of orders across fulfillers, thus minimizing shipping costs. It is also fair because orders are distributed equally across fulfillers if that fulfiller has the product available. To schedule orders, a data structure is defined whose rows are represented by a hash table of Fulfillers (HF), where each column is a hash table of Products (HP) and where each index of HP is itself a bit vector (VPi). This gives a three-dimensional data structure. The method operates by performing bitwise ANDing (&) operations of the bit vectors, to generate an Order bit vector representing the optimized fulfillment (per system configuration/constraints) for a particular received order.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of order fulfillment and, more particularly, to system and methodology for efficiently managing order fulfillment.
2. Description of the Background Art
Despite advances afforded by e-commerce, a fundamental problem still exists today in terms of how to efficiently fulfill an order that has been placed by a customer. This problem typically faces those who take customer orders, that is, the "middlemen" (which is used herein to broadly refer to retailers, distributors, or the like). Often, a middleman will have to send a customer order to a "fulfiller," that is, an organization that will fulfill the order by actually shipping ordered goods back to the customer. The considerations involved in choosing a particular fulfiller are numerous, but typically a middleman chooses a fulfiller with the primary goal of minimizing costs, thus maximizing profits. Different cost-related constraints may come into play, when striving to maximize profit. For example, in addition to the cost incurred as a result of the price charged by a given fulfiller, other cost considerations include what shipping charges are incurred when shipping from a given fulfiller. One fulfiller may have a better price, but that price advantage may be negated by unfavorable shipping charges. Further, cost is not the only factor to consider. Instead, at least some consideration must be given to the ability of a particular fulfiller to timely fulfill an order. There is no point in choosing a fulfiller who offers the best price, if that fulfiller lacks sufficient inventory to successfully fulfill the order in a reasonable period of time.
Often an order cannot be completely fulfilled, or supplied, by a single fulfiller; therefore, the fulfillment of such an order is spread across multiple fulfillers. The determination of the distribution of sub-orders, or product orders within an order, to multiple fulfillers is the scheduling of order shipments for that order. Order shipment scheduling attempts to optimize the fulfiller distribution to minimize the shipping costs to either the customer or to the middleman processing the order. Minimizing the shipping costs almost invariably indicates minimizing the number of fulfillers satisfying an order. Optimized scheduling also minimizes delivery time, and satisfies any arbitrary business logic, such as favoring specified fulfillers (when more than one fulfiller can deliver the same order item in an order). The middleman needs to efficiently optimize the order shipment(s) scheduling according to whatever constraints he or she uses as criteria for assigning order items to fulfillers.
Previous attempts to automate (by computer programming) the optimization of order shipment scheduling have not been satisfactory. Current methods involve considerable time for programming development/updating, and require costly compute time. The prevailing approach uses the simplex method for solving the linear programs comprising multiple simultaneous linear equations; see, e.g., Anderson, David Ray, An Introduction to Management Science: Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making, Seventh Edition, Chapter 5 (particularly at pp. 190-192), West Publishing Company, 1994, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. This approach develops a linear programming model comprising a set of linear equations: each linear equation describes a constraint (e.g., proximity of shipper-to-shipping recipient) to be applied to all potential fulfillers.
A linear equation solves for a single variable, and takes the form: ax+b=0, where x is the unknown variable, and both a and b are constant numerical values. In linear equations, the variable, x, always has its exponential value set to 1; exponential or logarithmic variable types are not employed as operands in linear equations. Each linear equation can be graphed as a straight line in a two-dimensional XY-coordinate plane. The coefficient for the variable (the constant numerical value of a, in the generic form) determines the slope of the straight line for that equation. This equation is processed for every fulfiller considered. If the scheduling method implements multiple constraints, then a separate linear equation is processed against each constraint simultaneously. Multiple linear equations can be mapped onto a two-dimensional graph. The set of possible solutions (that minimizes for these constraints) is bound by the area beneath the intersections of the straight line on the graph.
FIG. 1 is an XY two-dimensional coordinate graph showing the slopes for three separate linear equations representing three constraints in a problem for scheduling types of personal computers (e.g., DeskPro™): warehouse capacity, display units, and assembly time. FIG. 1 includes the slope 100 for the equation constraining warehouse capacity, the slope 110 for the equation constraining display units, the slope 120 for the equation constraining assembly time, the area-bounding intersection 130 of the X and Y axes at value (0,0), the area-bounding intersection 140 of the warehouse capacity slope 100 and the X-axis, the area-bounding intersection 150 of the assembly time slope 120 and the warehouse capacity slope 100, the area-bounding intersection 160 of the display units slope 110 and the assembly time slope 120, and the area-bounding intersection 170 of the Y-axis and the display units slope 110. The area bound by the intersections in FIG. 1, 130, 140, 150, 160, and 170, contains the set of feasible solutions for this problem. A discrete solution for any variable (constraint) can be determined by holding all the other variables' values at a constant (within the feasible set).
Current systems using linear programming with multiple simultaneous equations leave much to be desired. A well-known problem with linear solutions is that the simplex method requires intensive iteration. Computerized solutions for multiple simultaneous equations are therefore time-consuming. Another deficiency with linear programming is the programmatic difficulty in setting-up the equations. Because the constraints can be described in linear equations with inequalities, it is challenging to program a general solution that applies to every scenario. Full appreciation of all the factors defining the constraints cannot be completely known a priori. For example, if the program implements a policy towards minimizing shipping costs, the program would need to know all of the distances between the location of the middleman or the customer and the location of every fulfiller: that information would have to be put into a database, and extracted-out and placed into a coefficient for each iteration of each equation. The approach has a degree of fuzziness that stems from the implicit effects of other incidental variables, such as slack time (which is the consequence of having determined the best solution, there is always a remainder left over).
The simplex method of solving linear equations is not the only method; however, the other methods are even more difficult to implement. Because of the ever-increasing demands of the marketplace (and e-commerce marketplace) for timely, cost-effective fulfillment of customer orders, much interest exists in finding a solution to these problems.


The present invention provides a salt of the formula (I)

Semiconductor microfabrication employs a lithography process using a resist composition containing (meth)acrylic resin component having alicyclic hydrocarbon skeletal structure such as adamantyl group (for example, JPH04-39665-A, JPH05-346668-A, JPH07-234511-A, JPH10-319595-A, etc.).
In lithography, theoretically, the shorter the expose wavelength becomes, the higher the resolution can be made, as expressed by Rayleigh's diffraction limit formula. The wavelength of an exposure light source for lithography used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices has been shortened year by year as g line having a wavelength of 436 nm, i line having a wavelength of 365 nm, KrF excimer laser having a wavelength of 248 nm and ArF excimer laser having a wavelength of 193 nm. F2 excimer laser having a wavelength of 157 nm seems to be the next-generation exposure light source. Further, as the exposure light source of the subsequent generation, soft X ray (EUV) having a wavelength of 13 nm or shorter has been proposed as the exposure light source following the 157 nm-wavelength F2 excimer laser.
When light sources used for KrF excimer laser or those having shorter wave length are used, it is necessary to enhance the sensitivity of resists. Therefore, chemically amplified resists utilizing the catalytic action of an acid generated by exposure and containing a resin having a group being dissociated by the acid.
In lithography process utilizing such a shorter wavelength, improvement of pattern profiles has become important subject as line-widths become narrower (e.g. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 5038 (2003), 689-698).
Recently, it has been reported that resist composition with high transparency, good sensitivity and high resolution can be obtained when triphenylsulfonium 1-adamantylmethoxycarbonyldifluoromethansulfonate, p-tolyldiphenylsulfonium perfluorooctanesulfonate, and the like are used as an acid generator (e.g. JP2004-4561-A).

Salt suitable for an acid generator and a chemically amplified resist composition containing the same

Abstract: wherein X represents —OH or —Y—OH, n shows an integer of 1 to 9, A+ represents an organic counter ion, Y represents a divalent saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms.

Abstract: The present invention also provides a chemically amplified resist composition comprising the salt of the formula (I).


A method of controlling a temperature of water delivered by a water heating system, includes providing communication device which is adapted to receive a communication from at least one mobile device, the communication device being located so as to determine when the at least one mobile device is within a predefined zone in which is located a pre-selected water access point. In response to a determination that the at least one mobile device is within the predefined zone, enabling a user selecting a temperature setting of the where the water heating system. The selection is wirelessly communicated to a receiver which is in communication with the water heating system.

A typical control topology for a hot water heater includes multiple controllers each located in a different room, such as the bathroom or the kitchen. These controllers are usually hard wired to the water heater, and communicate via a wired command protocol to provide pre-set water temperatures or request other special functions, such as bath filling. Because each controller is affixed to its respective room in the dwelling or building, the controllers can be uniquely identified, and different temperature limits can be set based on the location of the controller. For example, the controller in the kitchen will enable a higher maximum water temperature, say 60 degrees Celsius (° C.) for rinsing dishes, whereas the controller in the bathroom will only enable a lower maximum water temperature (say 50° C.) to avoid or reduce the likelihood of scalding.
Adoption of wireless mobile devices, such as a remote unit, a smart phone or a tablet, in place of the traditional wired controllers can create unsafe conditions. For example, it is possible for a user to authorise a higher temperature setting in a bathroom, from the same device that also is used to authorise the higher temperature setting (say 60° C.) for rinsing dishes in the kitchen.
Any reference herein to known prior art does not, unless the contrary indication appears, constitute an admission that such prior art is commonly known by those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, at the priority date of this application.

Location based temperature limit control for a water heater


An image forming after-treatment apparatus for stapling sheets of recording paper discharged from an image forming device comprises a discharging tray device arranged in an upper portion of a machine frame of the apparatus; a staple section arranged in a lower portion of the machine frame; an inlet for the sheets of recording paper discharged from the image forming device; a first passage formed from the inlet to the discharging tray device; a second passage formed from the inlet to the staple section; a third passage formed from the staple section to the discharging tray device; and a stapling device arranged in the staple section and stapling the sheets of recording paper on a recording paper receiving portion. The after-treatment apparatus may comprise a reference side fence for the recording paper disposed in the recording paper receiving portion; a drawing device disposed in the recording paper receiving portion and drawing the recording paper toward the reference side fence; and a device for enabling the stapling device and the reference side fence to be integrally movable in accordance with the size of the recording paper. The after-treatment apparatus may comprise a discharging device disposed in the staple section and discharging the stapled sheets of recording paper and directly connected to the discharging tray without any passage.

The present invention relates to an image forming after-treatment apparatus for performing an after-treatment such as a stapling processing with respect to some sheets of recording paper discharged from an image forming device such as a copying machine, a printer, etc.
A conventional image forming after-treatment apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Nos. 62-20046, 62-191375, 62-176246, 62-290669, 59-82263 and 63-101268, etc., for example. In accordance with the construction of such an image forming after-treatment apparatus, as is generally well known, some sheets of recording paper sent out of the image forming device are stored onto a staple tray and are stapled and the stapled sheets of recording paper drop onto a tray arranged downwards and are then discharged.
In such a conventional image forming after-treatment apparatus, the staple tray located upwards obstructs an operation for taking the after-treated sheets of recording paper out of the apparatus. Further, an operator cannot take the sheets of recording paper out of the apparatus unless the operator bends his waist, which is painful for the operator.
Further, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, when the after-treatment is performed, it is necessary to align the sheets of recording paper with each other in one place. When the recording paper is stored onto the tray with an end face thereof as a reference, a fence is disposed in a position separated by a predetermined distance from the reference position, and the stapling operation is then performed by a fixed stapling device after the paper is moved and aligned. On the other hand, when the recording paper is stored onto the tray with a center thereof as a reference, jogger fences are reciprocated to align the paper from both sides of this center. Thus, the recording paper is supported by both jogger fences therebetween and is moved to the stapling device fixed in position to perform the stapling operation. In such a conventional apparatus, after the alignment of the sheets of recording paper, it is necessary to move the sheets of recording paper, thereby wasting the time for performing the stapling operation. Further, in another conventional apparatus, the jogger fences are reciprocated to align the recording paper in this center from both sides thereof, and the stapling device is moved to the aligning position to perform the stapling operation. However, in such an apparatus, it takes time to move the stapling device. Further, in another conventional apparatus, a reference fence and the stapling device are fixed in positions separated by a predetermined distance from a maximum size of the paper so that the recording paper hits against the reference fence and is aligned and stapled irrespective of the size of the paper. However, in such a conventional apparatus, when the size of the paper is small, the moving amount of the recording paper is large so that it is difficult to sufficiently move and draw the recording paper to the reference fence.


A system, method and device for detecting power grid equipment degradation is provided. In one embodiment, a method of using a device comprises measuring a first voltage of a first energized conductor of a power line connected to the output of a distribution transformer supplying power to one or more customer premises, processing data of the measured voltage to detect a trigger condition wherein the trigger condition comprises, at least in part, a change in the first voltage that extends for at least a first duration, and transmitting a notification of a detection of a trigger condition to a remote computer. The method may further include measuring a second voltage of a second energized conductor and wherein the trigger condition comprises detecting concurrently for at least the first duration a difference between the first voltage and the second voltage that exceeds a first threshold, and a sum of the first voltage and the second voltage that is within a predetermined voltage range. In addition, processing data of the measured voltage to detect a trigger condition may include comprise processing the data to determine whether the first voltage changes beyond a first threshold within a first predetermined maximum time period and remains beyond the first threshold for at least a second duration.

The power system infrastructure includes power lines, transformers and other devices for power generation, power transmission, and power delivery. A power source generates power, which is transmitted along high voltage (HV) power lines for long distances. Typical voltages found on HV transmission lines range from 69 kilovolts (kV) to in excess of 800 kV. The power signals are stepped down to medium voltage (MV) power signals at regional substation transformers. MV power lines carry power signals through neighborhoods and populated areas. Typical voltages found on MV power lines power range from about 1000 V to about 100 kV. The power signals are stepped down further to low voltage (LV) levels at distribution transformers. LV power lines typically carry power signals having voltages ranging from about 100 V to about 600 V to customer premises.
The reliability of the power system depends on the reliability of the various power lines, transformers, switching devices and other power system elements. Degradation may occur at any of the various components of the power system. For example, over time the insulation on a power line or transformer winding may degrade. Additionally, a faulty neutral connection may cause the load to be unbalanced. Such degradation may result in power being consumed within the system (e.g., losses), rather than by the end consumer. As a result, potential revenues are lost. Accordingly, there is a need to identify components which are degraded so that the power system operates at a higher efficiency.
When a component fails, one or more power customers may be without power. This is inconvenient to the consumer, as perishable items being refrigerated may spoil (and generally resulting in a large economic loss), heating or air conditioning needs may go unmet, and daily activities requiring electricity inconvenienced. Power failures also adversely affect the utility company. Potential revenues are lost during the down time. Additional costs may be incurred to locate and fix the cause of the power failure. Accordingly, there is a need to identify power equipment degradation before such power outages occur. Predicting failures before they occur benefits the customer and the power utility. In particular the utility company may take corrective action before such a failure occurs. These and other needs are addressed by one or more embodiment of present invention.

System, device and method for determining power line equipment degradation