A laminating adhesive composition comprising a) an aqueous dispersion of thermoplastic polymer particles imbibed with an epoxy compound wherein the concentration of the epoxy compound is from 1 weight percent to 40 weight percent, based on the total weight of the solid content of the aqueous dispersion; and b) at least one water emulsifiable or water dispersible epoxy curing agent selected from polyamines, polyamides, amidoamines, carboxylic functional polyesters, anhydrides, mercaptans, polymer captans, cyclic amidines, and combinations thereof, is disclosed.

Laminating adhesives are widely used in manufacturing flexible laminates (with two or more layers) for food packaging applications. Based on the adhesive compositions, laminating adhesives can be classified into three categories: solventborne (SB), solventless (SL) and waterborne (WB). Waterborne dry laminating adhesives (WBDL) are known to be safer—no VOC issues or solvent retention, and easier to clean. One current technology for WBDL adhesive applications is a 2K system based on acrylic/polyurethane. It consists of acrylic latex modified by a small amount of a low molecular weight polyol, which is combined with a water-emulsifiable isocyanate prior to the application. These laminating adhesives perform relatively well for general and medium performance applications. However, for medium-high performance applications that are more demanding, these WBDL adhesives often fail due to poor temperature, moisture, and chemical resistance. In addition, these adhesives do not exhibit adequate adhesion to certain substrates, such as foil or metalized films. Therefore, a WBDL adhesive with better performance properties is desired.

Acrylic/epoxy hybrid materials for laminating adhesive applications


A refrigerator includes a cabinet, a door opening/closing the cabinet and having an opening that is penetrated in a front/rear direction, a transparent panel assembly mounted to cover the opening and through which the inside of the refrigerant is seen, and a lighting member provided in the door or the cabinet to brighten a rear side of the transparent panel assembly. The transparent panel assembly includes a front panel defining an outer appearance of a front surface, a rear panel defining an outer appearance of a rear surface, a spacer made of a metal material and disposed between the front panel and the rear panel to define a periphery of the transparent panel assembly. A heater mounting part on which a heater is mounted is disposed on the spacer, and when the heater generates heat, one side of the front panel, which comes into contact with the spacer, is heated.

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator.
In general, a refrigerator refers to a home appliance in which food may be stored in an internal storage space, which is shielded by a door, at a low temperature. To achieve this, the refrigerator is configured to accommodate the stored food in an optimum state by cooling the internal storage space using cold air generated through heat exchange with a refrigerant circulating in a refrigeration cycle.
In recent years, refrigerators have become increasingly multi-functional with changes of dietary lives and gentrification of products, and refrigerators having various structures and convenience devices for convenience of users and for efficient use of internal spaces have been released.
The storage space of the refrigerator may be opened/closed by the door. Further, the refrigerator may be classified into various types according to arrangement of the storage space and a structure of the door configured to open/close the storage space.
In general, the refrigerator has a problem in that when the door is not opened, internal food cannot be identified. That is, the door should be opened to identify whether desired food is received in a space in the refrigerator or in a separate storage space provided in the door. Further, when a user does not exactly know where the food is stored, an opening time of the door may increase or the number of times the door is opened may increase. At this time, unnecessary outflow of cold air may occur.
In recent years, to solve the above-described problem, a refrigerator in which a portion of a door is transparent or an interior of the refrigerator may be viewed, has been developed.


The present invention is a method and system to permit joining a shirt together with a skirt portion or fabric in a retail location to form a dress. The shirt may be brought to the retail location by a customer, or may be purchased within the retail location. The retail location employees assist in the selection of a skirt portion or fabric from which a skirt portion may be constructed, perform physical measurement or otherwise gather measurement data of the customer, and create the dress to the specifications of the customer. The customer is presented with a dress that was created with customer input.

Typically an item of clothing serves a single purpose. In the fashion industry clothing and accessories are created largely with a single, direct use in mind. Modifying existing clothing articles to suit another purpose is generally done in a home and in an ad hoc manner. Retail locations that offer the re-purpose or modification of existing articles of clothing are largely restricted to seamstress or tailor shops and tend to be costly. The modification of existing articles of clothing is generally not done by most individuals because of the lack of sewing knowledge and skill or due to issues of cost, even for articles of clothing that are casual and are not expected to be used in other than casual situations.

System and method for modification of shirt into a dress


A method for preparing an insulating varnish. The method includes: providing equivalence of an epoxy resin solution having a concentration exceeding 99 wt. % and acetone solution having a concentration of 40 wt. %, adding silane coupling agent-modified hexagonal boron nitride (BN) having a particle size of between 200 and 250 nm to the acetone solution and stirring; mixing the epoxy resin solution and the acetone solution and stirring, and dispersing the resulting mixture; adding to the mixture, low molecular weight polyamide resins as a curing agent, and stirring to uniformly disperse the curing agent; adding n-butane as a lubricant to the mixture and stirring, cooling the mixture to room temperature, adding di-n-butyl phthalate as a diluent to the mixture and stirring; and allowing the mixture to stand in a vacuum drier to remove bubbles to yield the insulating varnish, which is free of bubbles.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for preparing nano-composite materials, and more particularly to a method for preparing an insulating varnish.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical methods for preparing thermal conductive and insulating polymer material include blending methods and nano-compositing methods.
The blending methods include: powder blending, solution blending, double roll blending, and melt blending.
1) Powder blending is mixing the polymer powder, such as HDPE and PS, with thermal conductive filler powder in a certain mass ratio and shaping by die-forming or melt-casting.
2) Solution blending is dissolving the polymer in a solvent to form a solution, evenly dispersing a conductive filler in the solution, evaporating the solvent, and shaping by melt-casting or die-forming.
3) Double roll blending is mixing the polymer and the filler at a certain temperature in a roll mill and shaping by a hot pressing machine.
4) Melt blending is mixing the conductive filler powder and melted polymer by using an injection equipment and shaping.
The nano-compositing methods include direct blending-nano-compositing method and intercalation compositing method.
1) The direct blending-nano-compositing method is mixing the conductive nano powder with the polymer by using a machine for nano-compositing.
2) Intercalation compositing method is providing laminated and highly productive inorganic filler, such as graphite and boron nitride, blending polymer in a melted state or solution state with the laminated filler, dispersing the laminated filler of a nano size in the polymer under the force of the mechanical chemistry and thermodynamics to realize a nano-compositing, maintain a local ordered arrangement of the inorganic filler, and improve the conductive property.
Conventional insulating varnish is prepared by using an organic polymer as a base material, and adding proper amount of color agent, lubricate, diluent, and flatting agent for compositing. Highly thermal conductive and insulating materials, such as highly thermal conductive and insulating plastic and silicon rubber, added with thermal conductive inorganic particles have been wide applied, but insulating varnish has not yet applied in practical use. The above methods for preparing composite insulating materials added with highly conductive inorganic particles have disadvantages as follows: powder blending is not suitable for polymer not in solid particles; composite materials prepared by the double roll blending method and the melt blending method have low thermal conductivity; because nano-particles have large surface area and high surface activity, they easily agglomerates and are difficult to be evenly dispersed in the melted polymer by using the nano-composite method; the intercalation composite method is particularly suitable for the laminated and highly conductive inorganic filler rather than particles of other shapes, thereby restricting the application of the method; the solution blending method and the direct blending-nano-compositing method employ a high speed mixing device or ultrasonic dispersion device to evenly dispersing the conductive nano-filler, composite effects thereof are restricted by the particle size and surface activity of the nano-particles, physical interactions between particles, intermolecular force between nano-particles and polymer, particle size of polymer, and composite technology. The insulating material is required to have excellent heat resistance, but the conventional insulating varnish has poor thermal conductivity.
Therefore, it is important to provide a method for preparing highly thermal conductive and insulating varnish that is simple and economic, and has significant practical effect.

Tianjin Jing Wei Electric Wire Co., Ltd.


The present invention is a periodic permanent magnet (PPM) assembly used to produce a focussing field within an electron tube, and the corresponding method of manufacturing the same. The present invention PPM includes producing two opposing semi-cylindrical stacks by alternately stacking semi-annular shaped magnets and pole pieces. Once the two semi-cylindrical stacks are formed, they are joined around the electron tube, such that the various pole pieces and magnets of the two semi-cylindrical stacks align. As a result of the joining of the two semi-cylindrical stacks, a cylindrical periodic permanent magnet assembly is formed around the electron tube in a cost effective and labor efficient manner.

In electron tubes, such as traveling-wave tubes (TWTs), it is necessary to provide a focusing field for the electron stream as it travels along the tube, from the cathode to the collector. The focusing field, be it magnetic or electrostatic, must be of a strength appropriate to overcome the space-charge forces within the electron tube that would otherwise cause the electron beam to spread. In the past a longitudinal magnetic field was supplied along the length of the electron tube utilizing a electromagnetic solenoid. However, the continuing demands for improved efficiency and reliability, and for weight and size reduction, have resulted in the development of periodic permanent magnet (PPM) structures. As will be recognized by a person skilled in the art, PPM structures focus the electron beam by periodically positioning magnets of opposite polarity along the length of the electron tube, thereby creating a periodically reversing magnetic field which acts to confine the passing electron beam.
Typically, in prior art PPM assemblies, a series of angularly formed pole pieces, non-magnetic spacers and individual ring magnets are stacked on top of one another to form an elongated cylinder in which a linear or semi-linear electron beam device can be placed. In such prior art PPM assemblies, the pole pieces and non-magnetic spacers are fabricated as cylindrical sections, which are joined to create the overall cylindrical shape of the PPM assembly. Typically, the ring magnets are formed as semi-circles and are affixed to either side of the various pole pieces by being either clamped, taped or glued into place. The process joining the pole pieces to the non-magnetic spacers and affixing the ring magnets to the pole pieces, results in an assembly procedure that is inefficient, requiring excessive handling of the PPM assembly and long assembly time.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to set forth a PPM assembly and corresponding method that is both less expensive and less labor intensive to assemble, thereby reducing the cost of manufacturing the PPM assembly and reducing damage to the PPM assemblies caused by excessive handling.

Interlocking periodic permanent magnet assembly for electron tubes and method of making same


A fastening tool includes a motor, a fastening mechanism, a tool body and a main handle. The motor includes a motor body and a motor shaft. The fastening mechanism is configured to fasten workpieces via a fastener by pulling a pin of the fastener rearward relative to a tubular part of the fastener along a driving axis defining a front-rear direction of the fastening tool. The tool body houses the motor and the fastening mechanism. The main handle extends in a direction crossing the driving axis and connected to the tool body such that the main handle and the tool body together form an annular part. A rotational axis of the motor shaft extends parallel to the driving axis. A portion of the main handle is located in a rear space extending behind the motor body.

An electric fastening tool is known that is configured to fasten workpieces via a fastener that includes a rod-like pin and a tubular part into which the pin is inserted. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2018-118294 discloses a fastening tool that includes a ball-screw mechanism that is driven by power of a motor. The ball-screw mechanism is configured to pull the pin in its axial direction relative to the tubular part to thereby deform the fastener and fasten workpieces via the deformed fastener.


Suspended single crystal silicon (SCS) beams coated with metal form transmission lines that are used in MEMs type microactuated phase shifters and switches. The characteristic impedance of any section of the transmission lines is a function of the beam spacing in that section. Microactuators, such as comb-drive actuators, are connected to the beams to vary this spacing in a controllable manner. A continuos phase shifter is formed that consists of two tunable capacitance sections connected by a matching section that reduces reflections and improves compliance of the beams to reduce the energy required to move the beams.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to transmission line structures that are formed from parallel suspended beams and are configured for lateral movement with respect to one another to effect implementation of a tunable phase shifter or a switch.
2. Description of the Background Art
The application of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology to realize microwave devices has rapidly matured over the last several years. The technology has found some of its most promising applications in the fabrication of switches. MEMS offers advantages for these devices because it can combine excellent RF performance with circuit integrate ability and low power consumption. Recently MEMS technology has been applied successfully in the fabrication of another important RF device, the millimeter wave phase shifter. Researchers at the University of Michigan have fabricated a true-time delay phase shifter using surface micromachining on a quartz substrate with excellent insertion loss and phase-shift characteristics.
The present invention comprises a new type of transmission line structure that can be employed in MEMS-based phase shifters and switches, for example. The invention employs suspended transmission lines which are formed from spaced parallel electrically conductive beams that are laterally movable relative to one another using one or more microactuators. In the preferred embodiment, the beams are each formed from a single crystal silicon (SCS) core that is coated with metal, and the microactuators are comb-drive type actuators. Lateral movement of the beams by the microactuators to vary the spacing between the beams in a controllable manner enables the structure to act as a continuously variable phase shifter because the characteristic impedance of any section of the transmission line is a function of the beam spacing in that section. The same arrangement can be employed to move the beams of the transmission line into contact with one another, thereby acting as a switch.
Preferably, the transmission line includes first and second tunable capacitance sections that are separated by a third, matching section. The matching section is positioned at an angle, preferably a right angle, to the first and second tunable capacitance sections. The microactuators are connected to the beams at the corners formed between the first tunable capacitance section and the matching section and between the matching section and second tunable capacitance section so that the lateral spacing between the beams near the corners can be changed, and thereby the effective capacitance of the tunable capacitance section can also be changed. Because, for this (and other) transmission line topologies, the spacing between the lines is extremely small, the structure shows very little reflection from the discontinuities up to high frequencies. Thus, the variable capacitance sections at the corners induce variable phase shifts while the matching section functions to cancel the reflections from the first and the second elements. The unique aspects of this design for this application are that the geometry allows the matching section to maintain a constant spacing (characteristic impedance) throughout the actuation process, which simplifies both design and analysis. This results from the matching section running parallel to the actuation direction. The design also allows the beams to be bent much more easily, compared to standard fixedxe2x80x94fixed beams, because of the additional compliance of the bent beams that constitute the transmission lines. This means that at low voltages, the microactuators can provide a large tuning range and therefore a large phase shift. These unique qualities of the design result in a high-performance continuous microwave phase shifter on silicon, and has a number of advantages over other ways of making phase shifters: it is inherently low-cost, has low power-consumption requirements and the use of silicon as the substrate offers excellent thermal conductivity for heat sinking and enables the device to be integrated with other VLSI technology on chip.
In the switch application of the invention, the microactuators are employed to close selectively the two corner sections together completely. The matching section is then preferably chosen to reinforce the reflection from the two sections in the closed position around a certain design frequency. Moreover, the design enables full actuation of the device at relatively low voltages. This is again due to the fact that the bend in the middle of the transmission line beams makes them much more compliant.
In the fabrication of the preferred embodiment of the invention, bulk micromachining on high resistivity (p=2-3.5 kxcexa9-cm) silicon wafers is preferably employed. These structures are fabricated with the known SCREAM (Single Crystal Reactive Etching and Metallization) process, a low temperature bulk micromachining technology, which enables the fabrication of tall silicon beams suspended from the substrate. The large beam height, combined with a thick metallization ( greater than 1 xcexcm) yields transmission lines with very small ohmic losses. Since air is the only dielectric between the beams, dielectric losses and dispersion are minimized.

Transmission line structures for use as phase shifters and switches


Crosslinking systems suitable for use in a polymer melt composition wherein the polymer melt composition comprises a hydroxyl polymer; polymeric structures made from such polymer melt compositions; and processes/methods related thereto are provided.

The crosslinking of hydroxyl polymers is well known, especially in the area of coatings on substrates and/or particles.
However, the crosslinking of hydroxyl polymers wherein a crosslinking system via a crosslinking agent crosslinks hydroxyl polymers together to produce a polymeric structure, such as a fiber, a film and/or a foam is not well known.
The relatively few prior art attempts at producing polymeric structures of hydroxyl polymers crosslinked together, such as fibers and/or films, have been unsuccessful due, in large part, to the crosslinking systems utilized in such processes. If a crosslinking system is too reactive, then the hydroxyl polymer may be substantially crosslinked prior to melt processing of the hydroxyl polymer and/or the viscosity of the hydroxyl polymer melt composition may increase significantly thus negatively impacting, if not completely inhibiting, processing of the polymer melt composition into a polymeric structure.
Accordingly, there is a need for a crosslinking system, especially a crosslinking agent, for hydroxyl polymers, especially melt processed hydroxyl polymers, and processes for crosslinking such hydroxyl polymers to form polymeric structures, wherein the processes overcome the problems described above.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Crosslinking systems for hydroxyl polymers


An example test system includes: a test rack including test slots; first and second shuttles that are configured to move contemporaneously to transport devices towards and away from trays, with at least some of the devices having been tested and at least some of the devices to be tested; first and second robots that are configured to move contemporaneously to move the devices that have been tested from test sockets in test carriers to the first and second shuttles, and to move the devices to be tested from the first and second shuttles to the test sockets in test carriers; and first and second test arms that are configured to move contemporaneously to move the test carriers between the first and second robots and the test rack.

System-level testing (SLT) involves testing an entire device, rather than individual components of the device. If the device passes a battery of system-level tests, it is assumed that the individual components of the device are operating properly. SLT has become more prevalent as the complexity of, and number of components in, devices have increased. For example, a chip-implemented system, such as an application-level integrated circuit (ASIC), may be tested on a system level in order to determine that components that comprise the system are functioning correctly.
SLT systems have traditionally required large footprints in order to provide sufficient testing speed and throughput. For example, some SLT systems can occupy spaces measured in dozens of square meters.

Automated test system having multiple stages


In a method for the production of cylindrically symmetric bodies with given radial gradient of the material properties, for example of the refractive index, at least two rod-shaped molded bodies consisting of materials with different properties are joined in parallel and, following lowering of the viscosity of both materials, the bodies are twisted many times in a spiral around a longitudinal axis, such that a desired radial gradient of the material properties arises, where metallic, semiconducting, or insulating materials may be used, and the viscosity is varied through changing the temperature or adding or removing a solvent.

The previous manufacturing methods and the use of materials with a radial gradient of a physical material parameter can be illustrated using the example of the manufacture of gradient-index-lenses. In the case of these lenses, glasses are used that have a radial gradient of the index of refraction. The index of refraction n (r) as a function of the radius r from the midpoint of the discoid lens preferably has a quadratic curve ##EQU1## where n.sub.0 and n.sub.1 are, respectively, the indices of refraction in the center at r=0 and at the edge at r=R.
Such gradient-index-lenses can be manufactured from glass by means of ion exchange. In this process, a cylindrical glass rod is placed in a salt bath, for example, which contains ions that are exchanged for other ions in the glass by means of in- or out-diffusion at high temperatures. Since with the ion exchange the composition of the glass changes in the diffusion zones, the index of refraction also changes with the concentration of ions exchanged at any given time. If the rods are cut into discs and these discs are polished, gradient-index-lenses are obtained. This method has several disadvantages that have prevented a wider use up to now:
(a) The desired n(r) curves can be adjusted to a sufficient precision only with difficulty. PA1 (b) The diffusion processes run very slowly over great distances, at higher temperatures as well, with the result that long diffusion times are required and gradient-index-lenses are manufactured with only a relatively small diameter. PA1 (c) The variation .DELTA.n of the index of refraction due to the ion exchange is small (at a maximum, .DELTA.n.apprxeq.0.15), since only ions with comparatively slight concentration and a small contribution to the electronic polarizability of the glasses can be exchanged. PA1 (d) Only in the case of a small number of glasses can a sufficient ion exchange be carried out, with the result that only a limited selection of possible dispersion curves n (r, .lambda.) can be produced. Because of this, the correction possibilities are restricted.
Furthermore, rods having a radial gradient of the index of refraction can be produced by depositing material having variable composition in layers. For this purpose, CVD-methods (chemical vapor deposition), evaporation and similar methods are employed. In order to attain the necessary homogeneity, only a thin layer of material can be deposited at a time in this method, and the composition must change from layer to layer. For this reason, long manufacturing times are required, with the result that these methods are not economically viable in many cases.

Method for the production of cylindrically symmetric bodies with a radial gradient


A distributed managed system including targets, clients, and a management processor. Each client is adapted to originate commands with at least some commands having a desired destination of one or more targets. The management processor is adapted to receive commands originated by the clients and generate a context value for each received command having a desired destination. The context value indicates a particular client that originated the command. The management processor adds the context value to each corresponding command to create commands with context and dispatches commands with context to the desired destination. At least one target is adapted to receive the commands with context, interpret the context value to identify the particular client that originated the command, and process the commands with context.

Dispatching commands from clients to targets may be accomplished through a centralized management processor (MP). Each target includes certain multi-user and multi-tasking capabilities. These capabilities can be configured and re-configured from time-to-time either manually, automatically, or semi-automatically. Currently, the intelligence for applying multi-user and multi-tasking policies for targets for processing of commands by targets is centralized in the MP. This requires a high degree of complexity because the centralized intelligence has to understand multi-user and multi-tasking policies for many different targets. This also severely limits flexibility because many targets may be forced to use common or hybrid multi-user or multi-tasking policies that are not optimized for individual targets. Also, any time a new target, a new multi-user policy, or a new multi-tasking policy is introduced, the intelligence in the centralized MP may need to be updated. These existing solutions result in high cost MPs that are also costly to maintain as existing targets are updated and new targets are introduced.

Distributed managed system, system components, and methods of communicating commands

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Spread spectrum clock generators. A phase lock loop generates an output clock according to a first input clock and a second input clock, a delay line is coupled between the first input clock and the phase lock loop. A modulation unit provides a modulation signal to control the delay line thereby modulating phase of the first input clock, such that frequency of the output clock generated by the phase lock loop varies periodically.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a spread spectrum clock generator and a method for generating a spread spectrum clock signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional EMI (Electronic Magnetic Interference) prevention measures include EMI filters, ferrite beads, chokes, adding power layer and ground plane to board, metal shielding, special coatings, and RF gaskets. However, a principle source of EMI is system clocks, including frequency timing generators, crystal oscillators, voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) and phase lock loops (PLLs). An efficient and economical method of reducing EMI for an entire system is to use low-EMI spread spectrum clock (SSC) oscillators. The advantages of using low EMI oscillators are compliance with regulatory testing, short time-to-market, and cost reduction.


A system is provided that receives a first message from a patient device containing patient information comprising at least one of demographic, health insurance, medication, and medical history and requesting an appointment with a first health care provider. If the first message does not designate a provider for the requested appointment, the system lists providers for review and selection. The system determines that the first provider one of designated and selected is a subscriber to automated check-in services provided by the system. The system verifies patient health insurance coverage and determines patient deductible balance and insurer copayment requirement, contacts the first provider, provides the patient information, and requests available appointment dates and times and patient account information. The system sends a second message to the device providing available appointment dates and times and requesting payment for an amount owed and receives appointment selection and payment instructions for the amount owed.

Personal health records for individuals contain confidential personal identifying information, health and illness history, medication records, and other information. With the proliferation of electronic means of communication, the sharing of information among a plurality of parties may take place rapidly and may be difficult to control. Despite this challenge, confidentiality of health information must be maintained. Distribution of such information is subject to regulation by governmental bodies. Providers of health care need access to health information of patients but must also remain in compliance with various regulations. Patients benefit when health care providers have current and complete health information about them but have a basic right to privacy regarding their health history and related information.

System and methods of automated patient check-in, scheduling and prepayment


A bar and lock arrangement includes a bar having spaced ends, a pair of swing arms respectively extending from each end of the bar for pivotally mounting the bar on a frame, a latch at each end of the bar for releasably latching each end of the bar to the frame on which said swing arms are mounted, a cable extending between the latches for releasing the latches so that said bar can pivot around the swing arms with respect to the frame, and a handle mounted on the bar and coupled to the cable for simultaneously releasing the latches. An abutment preferably is disposed on the bar and positioned adjacent to the handle such that initial force on the handle moves the handle on said bar, releases the latches and brings the handle into engagement with the abutment, further force on the handle operating through the abutment and the bar to pivot the bar around the swing arms.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,378,093, 5,582,495 and 6,786,687, assigned to the assignee of the present application, disclose dunnage frame and bar assemblies in which a dunnage bar subassembly is pivotally mounted on a shipping frame for movement between an open position in which the dunnage may be added to or withdrawn from the frame, and a closed position in which the bar locks the dunnage in position on the frame. The dunnage bar assembly includes a dunnage bar, a latch at each end of the bar for releasably coupling each end of the bar to the frame in at least the closed position, and a pair of swing arms extending radially from respective ends of the bar and pivotally connected to the frame. A cable extends along the bar between the latches so that an operator can simultaneously release the latches to enable the swing arm to be pivoted toward the open position. A general objective of the present disclosure is to provide a handle engaged with the cable to facilitate release of the latches.


Exemplary systems and methods for linking access credentials with payment accounts and facilitating access to events based on associations between the payment accounts and the events are disclosed. One exemplary method includes receiving, at a computing device, an authorization request for purchasing access to an event where the authorization request includes event content, ticket content, and payment content, and where the authorization request is associated with a merchant. The method also includes determining, at the computing device, whether the merchant and/or the event are registered, and when the merchant and the event are registered, storing, in memory of the computing device, a link between a payment account identified in the payment content and the event, whereby the link is able to be retrieved, by the merchant, via a subsequent authorization request, to indicate access to the event.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Often, payment accounts are used by consumers to purchase tickets for events such as, for example, sporting events, concerts, transit/travel events, etc. Typically, once the tickets are purchased, they are delivered to the consumers, in person, by mail, or electronically. The tickets may be hard tickets (e.g., paper tickets, etc.) encoded with holograms and/or other security mechanisms, and which are physically delivered to the consumers from the event organizers. Other tickets may be electronic tickets that are delivered to the consumers via e-mail or otherwise from the event organizers. In either case, the tickets are then physically presented by the consumers, at the site of the events, in order for the consumers to gain access to the events.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Systems and methods for facilitating event access through payment accounts


A centrifugal ventilator fan, which has improved fan performance and lower noise. A first outlet angle, on an upstream end of the fan, is less than a second outlet angle. Additionally, the first outlet angle is equal to zero degrees or greater and five degrees or less, while the second outlet angle is equal to thirty degrees or greater and forty five degrees or less. Furthermore, a first inlet angle, on an upstream end, is greater than a second inlet angle, on the opposite end. The first inlet angle is equal to sixty-five degrees or greater and ninety degrees or less, and the second inlet angle is equal to fifty-five degrees or more and seventy-five degrees or less.

This application relates to and incorporates by reference Japanese patent application number 2001-281930, which was filed on Sep. 17, 2001.
The present invention relates to a centrifugal ventilator fan (see JIS B 0132 No.1004) which has blades radially spaced about the axis of rotation and which operates such that air enters axially through an inlet and is discharged radially.
In a centrifugal ventilator fan disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. Hei 6-307390, the blades are smoothly twisted with respect to a plane passing through the center of the hub to improve performance. However, it is not always possible to provide improved fan performance and reduced noise levels merely by twisting the blades.
The present invention was developed in view of the aforementioned points. It is therefore an object of the invention to positively provide improved fan performance and reduced noise levels.
To achieve the aforementioned object, according to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a centrifugal ventilator fan which has multiple blades spaced about an axis of rotation and which operates with air entering axially through an inlet at an end thereof and being discharged radially outwardly. The centrifugal ventilator fan is designed such that a first fan outlet angle of the blades at one end in a direction of the axis of rotation is less than a second fan outlet angle of the blades at the other end in the direction of the axis of rotation. Additionally, the first fan outlet angle is equal to zero degrees or greater and five degrees or less, while the second fan outlet angle is equal to thirty degrees or greater and forty-five degrees or less.
As will be seen clearly from FIGS. 5 and 6 described later, this makes it possible to provide improved fan performance and reduced noise levels.
According to a second aspect of the present invention a centrifugal ventilator fan has multiple blades spaced about an axis of rotation and which operates with air entering axially through an inlet at an end thereof and being discharged radially outwardly. The centrifugal ventilator fan is designed such that a first fan inlet angle of the blades at one end in a direction of the axis of rotation is larger than a second fan inlet angle of the blades at the other end in the direction of the axis of rotation. Additionally, the first fan inlet angle is equal to sixty-five degrees or greater and ninety degrees or less, while the second fan inlet angle is equal to fifty-five degrees or greater and seventy-five degrees or less.
As will be seen clearly from FIGS. 7 and 8 described later, this makes it possible to provide improved fan performance and reduced noise levels.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a centrifugal ventilator fan has multiple blades spaced about an axis of rotation and which operates with air entering axially through an inlet at an end thereof and being discharged radially outwardly. The centrifugal ventilator fan is designed such that a first fan outlet angle of the blades at one end in a direction of the axis of rotation is less than a second fan outlet angle of the blades at the other end in the direction of the axis of rotation. Additionally, the first fan outlet angle is equal to zero degrees or greater and 5 degrees or less, while the second fan outlet angle is equal to 30 degrees or greater and forty-five degrees or less. The centrifugal ventilator fan is further designed such that a first fan inlet angle of the blades at the one end in the direction of the axis of rotation is larger than a second fan inlet angle of the blades at the other end in the direction of the axis of rotation. Additionally, the first fan inlet angle is equal to sixty-five degrees or greater and ninety degrees or less, while the second fan inlet angle is equal to fifty-five degrees or greater and seventy-five degrees or less.
As will be seen clearly from FIGS. 5 to 8 described later, this makes it possible to provide improved fan performance and reduced noise levels.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a vane surface of the blade is generally parallel to the axis of rotation.
This allows a fan mold die to easily release the fan in the direction parallel to the axis of rotation, thereby making it possible to improve the productivity of the centrifugal ventilator fan.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a ratio of a fan outer diameter at the other end of the axis of rotation to a fan outer diameter at the one end of the axis of rotation is equal to 0.9 or greater and 1.0 or less.
As will be seen clearly from FIG. 9 described later, this makes it possible to provide improved fan performance and reduced noise levels.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, a ratio of a fan inner diameter at the other end of the axis of rotation to a fan inner diameter at the one end of the axis of rotation is equal to 0.9 or greater and 1.0 or less.
As will be seen clearly from FIG. 9, which is described later, this makes it possible to provide improved fan performance and reduced noise levels.
Incidentally, the parenthesized numerals accompanying the foregoing individual means show an example of correspondence with concrete means seen in the embodiments to be described later.


A method of processing a printing operation in an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of printing jobs are processed in a single printing job includes generating connection information to unify a plurality of printing jobs, changing the plurality of printing jobs to a single printing job using the connection information, and printing data corresponding to the single printing job.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus and a method of processing a printing operation thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus to process a printing operation by changing a plurality of printing jobs into a single printing job using connection information regarding the plurality of printing jobs and a method of processing a printing operation thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses print onto printing media data which are generated by the image forming apparatuses or received from external apparatuses. Image forming apparatuses include copy machines, printers, fax machines, or multi-functional peripherals (MFPs) combining these features.
If a user desires to print out a file containing text or graphics which the user produces on a personal computer (PC) using application programs, the user must transmit the file directly to the PC or to a printer connected via a network in order to output the file on printing media.
When printing jobs received through various interfaces and protocols are processed, printing operations are performed separately. In this situation, if a plurality of printing jobs are related to each other, a host device collects the printing jobs related to each other, changes the printing jobs to a single printing job, and transmits the single printing job to an image forming apparatus. Accordingly, the image forming apparatus must set properties of the printing jobs to perform the printing operation, causing inconvenience to a user.
Also, if a user desires to select and print a specific file, the user must search for the specific file. In this situation, if each file is transmitted over a different interface and uses a different protocol, a command for performing a printing operation must be executed for each file, causing inconvenience to the user.

Image forming apparatus and method of processing printing operation thereof


The invention is directed to a compact rear converter lens that has a high zoom ratio of the order of 1.7 to 2.0, is corrected in terms of various aberrations in a well-balanced manner, is little affected by production errors, and is made so compact that it can be built in a compact camera. This rear converter lens that has a negative focal length comprises three lenses or a first lens of negative power, a second lens of positive power and a third lens of negative power, conforms to EQU 0.3<f.sub.1 /f.sub.3 <1 (1) EQU 0.23<d.sub.4 /.SIGMA.d<0.6 (2). where f.sub.1 and f.sub.3 are the focal lengths of the first and third lens, d.sub.4 is the axial air space between the second and third lens, and .SIGMA.d is the axial space from the first to sixth surface of the rear converter lens, and is attached on the image side of a master lens system ML.

The present invention relates generally to a rear converter lens of the type that is attached on the image side of a master lens system to increase its focal length, and more particularly to a compact rear converter lens that has a large zoom ratio of about 1.7 to about 2.0 and is well suitable for use on a lens shutter camera.
So far, a typical rear converter lens that is designed to be attached on the image side of a master lens system to increase its focal length has been known from, for instance, JP-A-58-195817, 3-58489, 60-88916, 61-17114, 62-160415 or 63-305316.
Each of the rear converter lenses set forth in these specifications comprises three lenses or, in order from the object side, a first negative lens, a second positive lens and a third negative lens, as is the case with the rear converter lens of the invention. However, the rear converter lenses that are disclosed in JP-A-58-195817, 63-305316, 61-17114 and 60-88916 have a relatively small zoom ratio ranging from about 1.25 to about 1.63. The rear converter lens set forth in JP-A-62-160415 has a high zoom ratio, but involves difficulty in making up for various off-axial aberrations in ordinary photographic modes, because of being designed for use on the master lens system of a camera having a trimming mode. In the rear converter lens described in JP-A-3-58489, the third- and fifth-order coefficients of various aberrations (especially, spherical aberration and coma) that the fourth and fifth surfaces produce are so large that it can be greatly affected by production errors.


An insulating compartment is combined with a type grocery cart characterized by an open basket having forwardly-tapering sidewalls and bottom wall which terminate in a common front wall, as well as having a top-hung rear flap-panel that swings up when the nose of a like grocery cart's basket pushes inside from the rear to enter and dock inside the basket space of the first grocery cart. The insulating compartment is limited in extent to generally the front portions only of the grocery cart's basket. Preferably, the insulating compartment comprises a front wall that matches flush against substantial portions of the basket's front wall. It also comprises abbreviated sidewalls and bottom wall arranged to match flush against front portions of the basket's sidewalls and bottom wall. Thus, the insulating compartment provides insulation service to cold or frozen food and beverage merchandise during grocery shopping trips.

The invention relates to grocery shopping carts and, more particularly, to an insulating compartment that lines an inside portion of a grocery cart's basket in order to provide insulation service for cold or frozen food and beverage merchandise during the duration a customer shops, checks out and leaves a grocery store.
A number of additional features and objects will be apparent in connection with the following discussion of preferred embodiments and examples.


Techniques are described for automatically generating a consistent configuration state version 2 for a network device with no or minimal help from a user and/or from a provider of the network device when updating from a configuration state version 1 to the configuration state version 2. The techniques and architecture also provide for migration from configuration state version 1 to configuration state version 2 when at least some of a configuration state are located in text files that are applied to the network device at start-up of the network device.

Configuration states of network devices, e.g., routers, switches, wireless controllers, etc., are generally described in complex languages and they evolve over time. As a feature evolves or new features are introduced, new configuration needs arise and the data model for the configurations of the network devices needs to adapt. This may pose challenges when users upgrade from configuration version 1 to configuration version 2. The configuration set-up that in version 1 is consistent and valid may not be consistent and valid anymore when moving to configuration version 2 of the software. For this reason, there are some adaptations to the configuration state that need to be made. Sometimes users perform such adaptations for the configuration state manually. Other times, a provider of the network device may introduce some logic that provides the "migration" ability for the network device from configuration state version 1 to configuration state version 2. Unfortunately, sometimes the migration from configuration state version 1 to configuration state version 2 may be time consuming and may disrupt service for the user. Additionally, settings within the configuration state for the network device may not translate adequately. This can also lead to inconvenience and disruption of service for the user.
Sometimes users save configuration states and/or information of network devices in text files that are applied at start-up of the network devices. It is often the case that start-up configuration is only partially validated: the mere fact of applying a start-up configuration means that a network device is within a process that is "building" the configuration state and some pieces of the configuration state might be missing during the start-up process. Such limited capability might mean fabricated configuration states may be accepted and expose the network device to attacks or bugs (crashes, loss of service, etc.).

Automatic resolution of configuration inconsistencies


A first retardation plate arranged on a front side causes light received through the a first polarizing plate from the front side to become close to circularly polarized light rotating in a first direction. Second and third retardation plates arranged on a back side cause light received through a second polarizing plate from the back side to become close to circularly polarized light rotating in a second direction opposite to the first direction while passing through both of the second and third retardation plates and the liquid crystal layer in black display period. With this structure, good image quality can be obtained even when used in outdoor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal panel of in-plane switching (IPS) mode which received light from a backlight unit, and more particularly, to a technology for reducing the outside light influence on image quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been used a liquid crystal panel of in-plane switching (IPS) mode in which a pixel electrode and a common electrode are both formed on at least one substrate of two transparent substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-017834). The image quality of the liquid crystal panel of this mode is less dependent on the viewing direction of the liquid crystal panel, and hence, in recent years, demands for the liquid crystal panel of this mode have expanded.

Liquid crystal panel and liquid crystal display device

Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd.


A refrigerator appliance includes a freezer compartment and at least one position-adjustable partition located in the freezer compartment. The at least one position-adjustable partition is configured to be selectively deployed in a first position such that a space is defined in the freezer compartment that causes a reduction in an amount of inlet airflow that contacts one or more portions of the freezer compartment that are outside the defined space.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to refrigerator appliances, and more particularly to increasing energy efficiency in such refrigerator appliances.
It is known that new government regulations, as well as consumer demand, have been significant catalysts behind the development of low energy use appliances. It is generally realized that low energy use appliances can be developed by improving upon existing appliances that suffer from specific forms of energy inefficiencies.
Take, for example, a typical refrigerator appliance wherein a fan circulates air from the enclosed compartment being cooled (e.g., freezer compartment) across coils or tubes of an evaporator. The evaporator carries a cold refrigerant liquid and vapor mixture. The warm air from the enclosed compartment passing over the coils/tubes evaporates the liquid part of the cold refrigerant mixture. At the same time, the circulating air is cooled and thus lowers the temperature of the enclosed compartment to a desired temperature.
However, it is realized that when the cooled air contacts the side walls and door gaskets of the enclosed compartment, this increases heat leakage and energy usage. Such increased heat leakage and energy usage lowers the overall energy efficiency of the refrigerator appliance.

Refrigerator appliance with freezer compartment position-adjustable partitions


A communication system that includes a terminal apparatus and a base station apparatus. The terminal apparatus obtains, from the base station apparatus, information regarding addition of a component carrier, whereby the information regarding addition of the component carrier comprises information related to carrier frequency of the component carrier and information related to system bandwidth of the component carrier. The base station apparatus provides, to the terminal apparatus, information regarding addition of a component carrier, whereby the information regarding addition of the component carrier comprises information related to carrier frequency of the component carrier and information related to system bandwidth of the component carrier.

"3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project)" is a project that studies and creates a specification of a portable telephone system that is based on a network formed by developing W-CDMA (Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications).
In 3GPP, a W-CDMA scheme is standardized as a third generation cellular mobile communication system and its services are being sequentially started. HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) whose communication speed is further increased is also standardized and its services are also being started.
In 3GPP, consideration is advancing on a mobile communication system (hereinafter, referred to as "LTE-A (Long Term Evolution-Advanced)" or "Advanced-EUTRA") that realizes transmission and reception of data at a further higher speed by utilizing the evolution of the third generation wireless access technology (referred to as "LTE (Long Term Evolution) or EUTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access)) and a system bandwidth that is further wider.
An OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) system has been proposed that executes multiplexes users using subcarriers that are orthogonal to each other, as a downlink communication system in EUTRA.
The OFDMA system employs techniques such as an adaptive modulation/demodulation and error correction scheme (AMCS: Adaptive Modulation and Coding Scheme) that is based on adaptive radio link control (Link Adaptation) such as channel coding.
"AMCS" is a scheme that switches between wireless transmission parameters (also referred to as "AMC mode") such as an error-correcting system, the coding rate of the error correction, and the data modulation multiple-value number due to the channel quality of each mobile station apparatus in order to efficiently execute a high speed packet data transmission.
The channel quality of each mobile station apparatus is fed back to a base station apparatus using CQI (Channel Quality Indicator).
FIG. 12 is a diagram of the channel configuration that is used in a conventional wireless communication system. The channel configuration is used in a wireless communication system such as EUTRA (see Non-Patent Literature 1). The wireless communication system depicted in FIG. 12 includes a base station apparatus 100 and mobile station apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c. "R01" denotes the coverage area of the base station apparatus 100 and the base station apparatus 100 communicates with the mobile station apparatuses that are present in the coverage R01.
In EUTRA, in a downlink to transmit a signal from the base station apparatus 100 to the mobile station apparatuses 200a to 200c, a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical multicast channel (PMCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), and a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH) are used.
In EUTRA, in an uplink to transmit a signal from the mobile station apparatuses 200a to 200c to the base station apparatus 100, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and a physical random access channel (PRACH) are used.
LTE-A is based on the basic system of EUTRA. The frequency band used in a common system is continuous. In contrast, it has been proposed in LTE-A to operate a system by using a plurality of continuous or non-continuous frequency bands (hereinafter, "carrier component" or "component carrier (CC)") multi-functionally as one wide frequency band (a system band having a wide band) that is called, spectrum aggregation or carrier aggregation. One system band is configured by a plurality of component carriers each of which has a part of a band width of the system band that is an available frequency band. A mobile station apparatus of LTE or LTE-A can operate in each of the component carriers. It has been proposed that a frequency band used in downlink communication and a frequency band used in uplink communication have a different frequency bandwidth, respectively to more flexibly use the frequency band that is allocated to the mobile communication system.

Apparatuses for carrier aggregation of component carriers


A reel type cold light warning triangle includes a base, two support members, a cold light reel assembly, an elastic return assembly, two support units, a pulling member, a power system and a control assembly. The cold light warning piece can be pulled out or rolled up automatically simply by pulling or pushing the pulling member without using any assembling or disassembling tools, which is very convenient. Furthermore, the base provides stable support for the reel type cold light warning triangle. On top of that, the warning triangle is provided with the power system which can generate enough power to satisfy the power consumption of the cold light warning triangle, and the vehicle-electric-appliance plug can supply power from vehicle to the cold light warning triangle if the power system cannot generate enough power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a warning device used on a vehicle, and more particularly to a reel type cold light warning triangle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional warning triangle 10, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a triangle piece 11 coated with a reflective sticker and a foldable leg 12 coupled to the triangle piece 11. The conventional warning triangle 10 itself cannot produce warning light and is only able to reflect light projecting onto the warning triangle 10, which means that the warning triangle 10 can be seen in darkness and serves as a warning only when there is a light projecting onto the warning triangle.
Besides, the structure of the triangle piece 11 and the leg 12 are too thin and not strong enough to make the warning triangle 10 stand firmly on the road, especially when there is strong wind or vehicle passing by at high speed. Under this circumstance, the warning triangle 10 is very likely to fall down, and it will be very dangerous when the vehicles coming from behind cannot see the warning triangle 10.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.


An integrated passive device and power management integrated circuit are directly connected, active surface to active surface, resulting in a pyramid die stack. The die stack is flip-chip attached to a laminate substrate having a cavity drilled therein wherein the smaller die fits into the cavity. The die to die attach is not limited to IPD and PMIC and can be used for other die types as required.

Passive device integration is typically done by:                1) Back side on active side die stacking with wire bond interconnection,        2) Surface Mount of the passive to the top layer of a laminate substrate, or        3) Embedding large passive components into a printed circuit board.
The limitations of these methods prevent direct electrical connection between mother and daughter die, followed by the flip chip attach of the resulting inverted die stack onto a Ball Grid Array (BGA) or Land Grid Array (LGA) laminate substrate. Direct connection would allow for better electrical performance and printed circuit board (PCB) real estate reduction by integrating passives off the PCB and into the package.
In the past, substrate technologies were limited with respect to the ability to laser or mechanically drill a cavity into a laminate substrate having a Bismaleimide Triazine (BT) core while maintaining mechanical and reliability integrity. With the advancements in substrate manufacturing technology, it is now possible to manufacture substrates with mechanically drilled or lasered cavities.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,915,084 (Hong), 8,222,717 (Shim et al), and 7,835,157 (Tilmans) discuss integrated passive devices, but these are completely different die stacking and die to substrate interconnection and package types from those in the present disclosure.

Chip on chip attach (passive IPD and PMIC) flip chip BGA using new cavity BGA substrate


Apparatus for proportioned feeding of an analysis fluid (7) onto a target (5), ejects fluid onto the target in small quantities pulse-wise out of a nozzle (2) through a nozzle outlet opening (3). The apparatus allows the precise proportioning of analysis fluid quanta which are substantially larger than in the case of the "drop on demand" methods commonly used to date for analysis fluids, but are smaller than the minimum doses achievable to date with diluters and dispensers. The apparatus includes a pressure chamber (1) in which the analysis fluid is held under pressure, and a valve unit (11) with a valve opening. A closing element is moved by a positioning element. The valve unit (11) is constructed so that the ejection of the fluid is supported by the movement of the closing element (13) during the closure of the valve opening (23).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for the proportioned feeding of an analysis fluid onto a target, in which the fluid is ejected onto the target in small quanta pulse-wise out of a nozzle through a nozzle outlet opening.
In clinical chemistry it is often necessary to apply an analysis fluid onto a target in exact quantity. The fluid may be for example a reagent fluid, a calibration fluid or a sample fluid, in particular blood or serum.
The target to which the fluid is to be fed may be a reaction vessel, for example in an automatic analysis unit. Other examples are the microtitre plates frequently used in microbiology and the solid phase analysis elements in very common use today, which are also described as "test carriers" and, in the Anglo-Saxon literature, as "solid state analysis elements". For the purpose of the present invention the term "analysis elements" denotes in addition to discrete test carriers (such as e.g. test strips and analysis slides) also tapes, strips or other forms of continuous analysis elements which are directed past a proportioning station at which the analysis fluid is applied.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Use is traditionally made for the feeding of analysis fluids of various forms of piston-cylinder apparatuses, such as e.g. pipettes, dispensers and diluters. The reagents have usually been applied to analysis elements by impregnation of the reagents-carrier matrix (for example paper) or a reagent film has been produced in a layer-forming process from a fluid containing film-forming polymers. Printing techniques have also been proposed.
In EP-A-119 573 and in EP-A-268 237 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,745) apparatuses of the kind mentioned in the preamble are described. Their technique is based on the ink jet technology developed originally for computer printers (ink jet printers). Both documents contain more detailed explanations of the known state of the art, to which reference is made here.
These known apparatuses for the microproportioning of analysis fluids have in each case a nozzle compartment whose volume is compressed for a short time in order to eject a quantum of analysis fluid. In the case of EP-A-119 573 the nozzle compartment is formed by a section of an elastic tube, against whose lateral surface an electromagnetically moved cylindrical rod is directed, which is moved against the tube whenever a drop is to be ejected. In the case of EP-A-268 237 the nozzle compartment consists of a tubular piece which is surrounded by a coaxial piezoelectric actuating element likewise formed in a tubular shape.
The "drop on demand" printing techniques make it possible to apply extremely small volumes of analysis fluids contact-free, accurately and quickly onto a target. The extraordinarily small volume of the individual quanta, which is usually some 0.2 nl and does not exceed about 1 nl, is however disadvantageous for many applications. If larger volumes are required, hundreds or thousands of jet quanta have to be ejected one after the other. The time required is considerable despite the high injection rate. In the case of easily volatile reagent fluids there is the risk that a substantial proportion of the small droplets will evaporate. In addition the ejection of the quanta is interrupted if a gas bubble of minute size forms in the nozzle compartment in the vicinity of the nozzle outlet opening. In the case of printers the formation of such gas bubbles can be avoided by the use of special inks. In the case of analysis fluids, however, this solution is not an option.

Apparatus for the proportioned feeding of an analysis fluid


Devices and methods are described for filling or refilling a needle-less injector. A coupling device is attached to a vessel, and mated to the dispensing end of a needle-less injector. A volume of fluid may be transferred via the coupling device, from the vessel to the injector. Air may be removed from the injector prior to the injector, vessel, and coupling device being separated from one another. In alternate embodiments, the vessel may include filling equipment capable of filling or refilling multiple needle-less injectors simultaneously, in series, or both. In other embodiments, a coupling device may be used to withdraw a fluid from a storage vial into a vessel for filling a needle-less injector. A storage vial may alternately contain a product, and a fluid may be introduced therein via a coupling device to create a mixture, which may be subsequently withdrawn into a vessel for filling a needle-less injector.

This invention relates to the filling of needle-less injectors, and, in particular embodiments, to devices and methods for filling or refilling modular gas-pressured needle-less injectors.
Traditionally, fluids such as medications are injected into patients, either subdermally or intradermally, using hypodermic syringe needles. The body of the syringe is filled with the injectable fluid and, once the needle has pierced the patient""s skin, the syringe plunger is depressed so as to expel the injectable fluid out of an opening in the needle. The person performing the injection is often a trained medical services provider, who manually inserts the hypodermic needle between the layers of a patient""s skin for an intradermal injection, or beneath the skin layers for a subcutaneous injection. However, injections are also routinely performed by laypersons, as in the case of diabetics self-administering insulin injections.
Needle injectors suffer from increased danger of contamination exposure to health care workers administering injections, and to the general public when such injectors are not properly disposed of In fact, safety considerations surrounding needle injectors are of such paramount concern that they are prohibited from some locations. This may severely hamper the ability of those in need of regular injections to receive convenient and timely medical attention. One heavily burdened population is diabetic children who require insulin injections, since children are not permitted to bring needle injectors to some school campuses. Various hospitals are similarly working to minimize the use of needles; some going so far as to design and mandate a completely needle-free environment.
Jet injectors are generally configured to avoid some or all of these problems inherent in needle-containing injectors. Typically, needle-less medication injectors use either an expansion spring or a compressed inert gas to propel the fluid medication (via a push rod plunger) through a small orifice (an injector nozzle) which rests perpendicular to and against the injection site. The fluid medication is generally accelerated at a high rate to a speed of between about 800 feet per second (fps) and 1,200 fps (approximately 244 and 366 meters per second, respectively). This causes the fluid to pierce through the skin surface without the use of a needle, resulting in the medication being deposited in a flower pattern under the skin surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,475, U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,130, U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,053, U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,198, U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,723, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/834,476, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,010, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, describe needle-less injectors incorporating a gas power source, thus obviating some of the limitations inherent in compression spring injectors and addressing many of the concerns of conventional jet injectors. The injectors described therein have a pre-filled and self-contained compressed gas for providing pressure to inject medication into the skin surface of a patient without the use of a needle.
Some injectors may be furnished to a hospital or consumer in a pre-filled state (i.e., the needle-less injector already contains a volume of the fluid sought to be injected). Filling such a device a substantial amount of time prior to use presents a variety of concerns, not the least of which is the risk of bacterial contamination on the exterior of such a device owing to fluid remaining on the exterior thereof after the filling operation is completed.
Additionally, as some ailments require periodic injection of varying amounts of a medication, it may be impractical for a user to employ a pre-filled needle-less injector. By design, a pre-filled injector already contains a particular amount of a medication, and in the case of an injection whose requisite volume cannot be determined in advance, one can not assume that the volume of a pre-filled injector will be suitable. Also, if multiple injections are to be administered throughout the day, one may not wish to carry several pre-filled injectors, as this may be cumbersome and inconvenient.
Finally, various medications or other products suited for use in conjunction with a needle-less injector are provided in either a solid or binary form. Solid medications may be lyophilized, for example, wherein a component of the final injectate is in a freeze-dried or similar form. The lyophilized component may be mixed with a liquid shortly before injecting the resulting solution by needle-less injection. Binary medications may include, for example, two liquids that are mixed together shortly before injection of the resulting mixture. U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,786, U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,160, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/034,561 describe various methods and devices for performing this type of mixing and also filling needle-less injectors with such a mixture, and each is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
It is therefore an object of an embodiment of the instant invention to provide an apparatus and method that obviates, for practical purposes, the above-mentioned limitations.
In one embodiment of the instant invention, a coupling device is provided. The coupling device may connect the dispensing end of a needle-less injector to a vessel containing a fluid. In various embodiments, the vessel may be a Luer syringe, filling equipment configured to fill a needle-less injector, or another appropriate apparatus. The coupling device may be contoured such that, when it is mated to a needle-less injector and fluid is transferred therethrough, the fluid does not contact the exterior surface of the dispensing end of the needle-less injector. The coupling device may also include a fitting for removably affixing the device to a needle-less injector at one end, and may further include an attachment mechanism for removably affixing the device to an appropriate vessel at the opposing end. In preferred embodiments, graduations on either the vessel, the injector, or both provide a user with visual cues regarding filling, so that the user can determine when a desirable volume of fluid has been filled into the injector.
In another embodiment of the instant invention, a filling device is provided. The filling device may mate to the dispensing end of a needle-less injector, and may include a coupling device and a vessel. In various embodiments, the vessel may be a Luer syringe or other apparatus configured to fill a needle-less injector. The coupling device may be contoured such that, when the filling device is mated to a needle-less injector and fluid is transferred therefrom, the fluid does not contact the exterior surface of the dispensing end of the needle-less injector. The filling device may also include a fitting for removably affixing the device to a needle-less injector at one end, and may further include an attachment mechanism for affixing the coupling device to the vessel. In preferred embodiments, graduations on either the vessel, the injector, or both provide a user with visual cues regarding filling, so that the user can determine when a desirable volume of fluid has been filled into the injector.
In still another embodiment of the instant invention, a method is provided for filling a needle-less injector. The method may include providing a coupling device configured to be simultaneously mated to a needle-less injector and attached to a vessel, and to provide fluid communication therebetween. An appropriate vessel and needle-less injector may be mated to the coupling device, and fluid may then be expelled from the vessel, through the coupling device, and into the needle-less injector. Graduations may be included on the vessel, the injector, or both; graduations allowing a user to ascertain the volume of fluid that has been transferred. Filling may be terminated upon reaching a predetermined volume, as indicated by observing the graduations (i.e., in those embodiments wherein graduations are included). The direction of flow may be reversed after expelling a desired volume of fluid from the vessel to remove gas bubbles from the injector. Finally, the vessel, the coupling device, and the injector may be disconnected from one another.
In yet another embodiment of the instant invention, a storage vial adapted for use with a coupling device is provided. The storage vial may be contoured, such that, when it is mated to a coupling device, a fluid transferred between the storage vial and the coupling device does not contact the exterior surface of the storage vial. The storage vial may contain a product that is in solid or liquid form. A product in liquid form, such as a fluid, may be drawn from the storage vial through the coupling device and into a vessel configured on the opposite end of the coupling device. Alternatively, a fluid may be introduced into the storage vial, wherein it may mix with a liquid or solid (e.g., lyophilized) product already contained therein. The resulting mixture may then be drawn from the storage vial through the coupling device and into a vessel configured on the opposite end of the coupling device. The vessel may then be used in accordance with the methods described above with respect to alternative embodiments of the present invention to fill a needle-less injector.

Method and apparatus for filling or refilling a needle-less injector


A high performance capability assessment model helps an automotive industry business meet the challenges of the global marketplace. As a result, the automotive industry business can achieve the clarity, consistency, and well-defined execution of core processes that reduce inefficiencies and waste that result from unnecessary process complexity and exceptions. In addition, the high performance capability assessment model helps the automotive industry business to identify specific areas in which improvements may be made and understand how to make the improvements, and establishes levels of capability along the way to reaching an ultimate capability goal.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure concerns a system and method to identify the performance capability of an organization on a scale of representative capabilities. In particular, this disclosure relates to an efficient and cost effective way to assess the performance capability level of key assessment areas within the processes of an organization.
2. Background Information
The automotive industry must adapt to an increasingly competitive environment and execute in a clear, consistent, and efficient manner. Furthermore, the global nature of the automotive industry greatly increases the complexity and difficulty of surviving on a day-to-day basis, let alone growing and prospering.
Despite the need for a business in the automotive industry to meet the challenges of the global marketplace, often the business lacks clarity, consistency, and well-defined execution of the core processes of the business. These shortcomings severely constrain the business, and lead directly to inefficiencies and waste due to unnecessary complexity, process exceptions, and customer dissatisfaction. At the same time, identifying specific processes to which improvements may be made can be very difficult, either because the business itself does not have the expertise to identify the processes or because the complexities of the business frustrate attempts to clearly delineate the processes to be improved.
Even if the automotive industry business can identify one of the many processes that need to improve, the business may not know how to improve the process or be able to identify a concrete and measurable improvement goal. Another difficulty exists in determining whether intermediate goals exist that should be reached along the way. As a result, automotive industry businesses struggle to meet the demands of the modern global marketplace and fail to identify opportunities for margin improvement, category expansion, portfolio optimization, multi-channel execution, selling performance, and to reach other important goals.
Therefore, a need exists for an efficient and effective system and method to assess the performance capability level of key assessment areas within the processes of an organization.

Automotive industry high performance capability assessment


An exhaust diffuser that is mounted at an outlet of a gas turbine to eject exhaust gas to the outside and includes hollow cylindrical internal diffuser guide and external diffuser guide. Further, the exhaust diffuser includes struts disposed between the internal diffuser guide and the external diffuser guide to space the internal diffuser guide and the external diffuser guide at a predetermined distance from each other, ejection areas formed on an outer side of the internal diffuser guide and having ejection holes for ejecting exhaust gas in a flow direction of exhaust gas, and suction areas formed on the outer side of the internal diffuser guide, disposed close to the ejection areas, and having suction holes for suctioning exhaust gas in the opposite direction to a flow direction of the ejected exhaust gas.

The present disclosure relates to an exhaust diffuser and a gas turbine having the same and, more particularly, to an exhaust diffuser having an ejection hole and a suction hole, and a gas turbine having the exhaust diffuser.
In general, as shown in FIG. 1, a gas turbine 10 is composed of a compressor 15, a combustor 25, and a turbine 40. Air flowing inside through an air inlet 20 is compressed into high-temperature and high-pressure compressed air by the compressor 15. High-temperature and high-pressure combustion gas 35 (working fluid) is produced by combusting the compressed air by supplying fuel 30 to the compressed air in the combustor 25. The turbine 40 is operated by the combustion gas 35, and a power generator 50 connected to the compressor 15 is operated.
One important aerodynamic problem encountered during normal operation of a gas turbine engine 10 is to efficiently discharge combustion gas flowing out with high momentum through the last stage 60 of a turbine 40. It may be aerodynamically advantageous to configure a horizontal exhaust line, but axial exhaust may be substantially impossible due to influence on the entire footprint. For this reason, it is standard in the field to use vertical and side exhaust stacks that change the flow of combustion gas from an axial direction into the radial direction.
In detail, a radial diffuser may be used to guide combustion gas into the radial direction. As shown in FIG. 2, a radial diffuser 100′ generally includes a plurality of struts 140′ mounted on an internal diffuser guide 150′ and surrounded by an external diffuser guide 130′. The radial diffuser 100′ changes the kinetic energy of the combustion gas flowing out through the last stage of the turbine into potential energy of increased static pressure. Increasing the entire restoration of static pressure increases the performance and efficiency of the entire gas turbine engine. Accordingly, there has been an effort to develop an improved diffuser and an improved exhaust system to be used for gas turbine engines.
Several technologies for preventing flow separation by controlling the boundary layer of the flow at the inlet of a diffuser have been developed in correspondence to the above efforts. However, according to the technologies, it is very difficult to prevent flow separation between an internal diffuser guide and struts. Such flow separation causes a loss of pressure and consequently reduces the performance of the entire combustor. Therefore, there has been an effort to develop an exhaust diffuser that can solve the problems in the related art.

Exhaust diffuser having ejection hole and suction hole, and gas turbine having the same

Doosan Heavy Industries Construction Co., Ltd


A method and apparatus for driving lasers. An example laser driving system includes a laser current controller for providing a modulation signal and a bias signal. The modulation signal and bias signal is used by a plurality of high-speed current drivers that accept the modulation signal and the bias signal and produce a plurality of laser drive signals. The example system also has a disable input that disconnects power from a high-speed current driver when the high-speed current driver is not in use. The exemplary system develops the modulation and bias signals by feeding back a signal developed from detection of laser light from one of the lasers driven by the system. The laser may be a data laser or a control laser that is modulated by a signal having a lower frequency than the data lasers. If a control laser is used then the photodetector circuit used for feedback can have a lower frequency response because of the lower frequency of the control laser signal. The photodetector system may also employ a peak detector capacitor discharge circuit where a large capacitance is simulated by having the capacitor discharge through the base of a transistor have a current source in the emitter circuit.

In the field of telecommunications, lasers such as vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and other opto-electronic devices are commonly used for the transmission of information along optical fibers and the like. VCSELs, in particular are especially desirable in today's optical communication systems because they are efficient, small in size, readily assembled into arrays, and easy to manufacture.
Within optical communication systems utilizing VCSELs or other lasers, it is often desirable to control the parameters of the optical data signal being transmitted. For example, it is often desirable to control average power and amplitude of the signal. If the average power Pave is maintained properly, the laser may be modulated about the average power bias point at a modulation level necessary to achieve desired high and low light output power levels, Phigh and Plow.
An optical modulation amplitude (OMA) and an extinction ratio (ER) of the laser, defined as Phigh-Plow and Phigh/Plow, respectively, is commonly maintained within predetermined limiting values to maintain desired optical signal integrity. The limit values commonly are per specification such as the Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET) or Gigabit Ethernet specification, or any other specification that the system is designed to meet.
Therefore, in order to obtain reliable and repeatable results in many fiber optic transmission applications, it is desirable to maintain both the average signal power and the OMA (or ER) within predetermined limit values. Unfortunately, laser characteristics change during the operation of the laser. In particular, as a laser such as a VCSEL is used to transmit optical data, the temperature of the operating laser and the environment which contains it, typically tends to increase, which may degrade laser performance. The OMA also changes as the temperature of the operating environment changes, and the change of the OMA with temperature is typically dependent on the particular laser used and the age of the particular laser. For example slope efficiency, a measure of optical output per current used to drive the laser, of the lasers may change due to temperature and age of the lasers. Automatic power control may be used to ameliorate these problems. Automatic power control is also used to account for laser threshold changes.
Similar to many other electronic systems, it is desirable to limit the power used by the laser drivers to drive the lasers. The limiting of the power used by the laser drivers to drive lasers result in reduction to power requirements and also reduces heat dissipation. Due to the reduced heat dissipation, the reduction in power requirements may also result in improvement of the laser performance due to reduced increase in temperature.


An apparatus has external and/or internal capacitive thermal material for enhanced thermal package management. The apparatus includes an integrated circuit (IC) package having a heat generating device. The apparatus also includes a heat spreader having a first side that is attached to the IC package. The apparatus also includes capacitive thermal material reservoirs contacting the first side of the heat spreader. The capacitive thermal material reservoirs may be disposed laterally relative to the heat generating device.

A 3D package may contain two or more chips (integrated circuits (ICs)) stacked vertically so that they occupy less floor space and/or have greater connectivity. In some new 3D packages, through-silicon vias replace edge wiring by creating vertical connections through the body of the chips. The resulting package has no added length or width. Because no interposer is used, a TSV 3D package can also be flatter than an edge-wired 3D package. This TSV technique is sometimes also referred to as TSS (Through-Silicon Stacking).
Heat dissipation is increasingly problematic for high end chips that use die stacking. In particular, stacking two or more chips may lead to localized thermal hot spots. As the localized thermal hot spots are embedded in the stack-up, this may reduce the ability to cool the hot spots and achieve low junction temperatures. Conventional cooling solutions for achieving low junction temperatures include heat sinks, heat spreaders, and/or improved printed circuit boards. Conventional techniques of simply increasing the size of the heat spreader and/or the heat sink are impractical in small form factor devices (e.g., Smartphones).

Enhanced package thermal management using external and internal capacitive thermal material


Performing a high-speed recording operation using a slender liquid discharge head substrate causes an uneven temperature distribution for each energy generating element because the center portion of the liquid discharge head substrate is more liable to accumulate heat than the end portion thereof, which may affect the quality of a recorded image. For this reason, the surface of the energy generating element which contacts liquid is separated into a first region and a second region in which a protection film is thicker than the one in the first region, and the area in the first region for the element positioned at the end portion of the array of the elements is made greater than that in the first region at the center portion thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge head substrate for recording by discharging liquid and a liquid discharge head equipped with the liquid discharge head substrate and specifically to a liquid discharge head substrate and liquid discharge head for discharging ink (hereinafter also referred to as recording head).
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet recording apparatus performs a recording operation such that ink is film-boiled by the use of thermal energy generated by heating elements arranged on a liquid discharge head substrate of a recording head and ink is discharged onto a recording medium by the use of the foaming pressure generated by the film boiling. In such a liquid discharge head substrate, a protecting layer is provided over the heating elements to prevent the heating elements from not only being corroded by ink, but also being destroyed by cavitation generated at the time of defoaming. However, the protecting layer provided over the heating elements prevents the heat of the heating elements from efficiently reaching the ink, which consumes extra electric power to bubble the ink.
In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,221 discusses a method for improving thermal efficiency by partially thinning the protecting layer over the heating elements to achieve power saving. In a recording head discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,221, a thin protecting layer is provided in an area which becomes high in temperature at the time of operating heating elements and a thick protecting layer is provided in an area which becomes low in temperature at the time of operating heating elements to efficiently transmit heat to ink, thereby saving power.
In recent years, there has been a demand for discharging ink at a high frequency to perform a recording operation at a high speed and increasing the number of heating elements to increase a width of recording per scanning, which has increased a length in the direction of column of heating elements on a liquid discharge head substrate. On the other hand, there has been a demand to acquire a large number of substrates for a liquid discharge head from a single wafer by reducing the area of a liquid discharge head substrate to lower a manufacturing cost for a liquid discharge head substrate. As a result, it is necessary to reduce the width in the direction orthogonal to the column direction in which heating elements are arranged. Discharging ink at a high frequency by using such a liquid discharge head substrate may cause an uneven temperature distribution on the liquid discharge head substrate because the center portion of the liquid discharge head substrate is more liable to accumulate heat than the end portion thereof.
Therefore, even if the recording head discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,221 is used, the size of a bubble is varied depending on the temperature of the substrate to cause the dispersion of discharge of ink, which may affect the quality of a recorded image.

Liquid discharge head substrate and liquid discharge head


There is provided a display system for gaming cabinets comprising a backlit display and a mounting plate. The backlit display comprises a lighting source, an arcuate translucent face sheet, and a support frame for supporting said lighting source and said face sheet, said support frame comprising a hinged top cover, a base member, and an opposing pair of side clamp frame assemblies. The side clamp frame assemblies each retain a side edge of the arcuate face sheet. The mounting plate comprises a back panel for fixing to the back side of said backlit display and a base plate including a plurality of anchor holes for securing the display system to a cabinet.

Backlit displays have been widely taught in the art for use in commercial settings and are routinely used for promotional purposes in retail settings. The typical backlit display device projects light from an enclosed light source out through a graphic display media towards the viewer, thereby enhancing the visual effect (especially in low light situations) during evening hours.
Backlit displays are widely used in promotion and sale of products. Backlit displays provide a particularly effective marketing tool. The backlit display apparatus typically includes a housing with a flat front display panel. Suitable illuminating devices such as fluorescent lamps or other like elements are secured to project light through the front display panel and thereby drawing attention to the subject matter carried by the display panel. One such apparatus includes a relatively shallow back support structure to which lamps or the like are secured. Sidewalls project forwardly with a transparent panel closing the front of the sign. A display sheet is interposed or secured to the front side of the panel and is constructed to permit illumination of the display member as a result of the light.
However, flat faced displays are not desirable for wide open areas where people can see the display from many different angles or in situations where people may not be able to look directly at the display. For instance, a backlit display can be used at the end of a bank of gaming or vending machines. To compensate, backlit displays have been designed with curved or arcuate face sheets.
There is a need for arcuate display assemblies or apparatus, which can be easily associated with or removed from association with the end of a bank of machines such as gaming or vending machines or the like without the need of complicated or time consuming and expensive procedures. There is a need to be able to quickly and easily change or replace the display material such as graphics in the backlit display, for example when new advertising material is being changed or updated. Moreover, it is necessary to be able to quickly access and service the internal components of the backlit display.