This terminal block comprises;

The present invention relates to the technical field of terminal or interconnection blocks, which may or may not be modular, used to supply and control electrical plants.
In the above field, the invention more particularly relates to terminal blocks intended to accommodate one or more plug-in connectors.
Such terminal blocks generally comprise an insulating casing in which at least one housing for accommodating a plug-in connector is provided.
In order to prevent the inadvertent detachment of the terminal block from the connector due to the effect, for example, of vibration or else of forces exerted on the conductors connected to the connector, it has been proposed to implement means of locking the connector to the terminal block.
Thus, it has been proposed to provide, at the end of the connector intended to be engaged into the accommodating housing, a stop intended to cooperate with a complementary recess of the housing. The stop and its complementary recess effectively mike it possible to lock the connector onto the casing but, however, have the drawback of making it particularly difficult to remove the connector once the latter is connected to the terminal block. This is because, either the stop and its complementary recess are designed so that they do not offer very much resistance to the removal of the connector, in which case the locking function is not appropriately provided, or, on the other hand, the stop and its complementary recess are designed to offer considerable resistance to the removal of the connector, in which case the locking function is completely provided but it is virtually impossible to remove the connector without damaging the terminal block or the connector itself.
In order to overcome this drawback, it has been proposed to use a catching lug connected to the connector and intended to engage in a complementary stop of the terminal block, as a means of locking the connector to the terminal block. A lug of this sort is satisfactory in its function of locking the connector to the terminal block and, moreover, it allows easy unlocking when it is necessary to detach the connector from the terminal block.
However, the use of such a connected catching lug has the drawback of increasing the overall size of the connector. Furthermore, the connected lug catches on a stop provided in a side wall of the terminal block such that it is not possible to use such a catching lug for locking a connector plugged into a central region of the terminal block.
Moreover, since the catching lug is connected to the connector, it is necessary, when using the connector, to make provision for this catching lug which will increase the number of components needed to produce a junction and connection assembly. Furthermore, the catching lug has an overall size which makes it difficult to use in a cramped environment.
There therefore appears to be a need novel locking means which guard against the drawbacks above and which, especially, are simple to use and have a small overall size, while providing effective locking of the connector to the terminal block and with which there is no risk of loss.
In order to achieve these objectives, the invention relates to a terminal block which comprises
an insulating casing in which at least one housing for accommodating a connector, which can be plugged into the housing in a direction (D), is provided, and
means for locking the connector to the casing.
According to the invention, the terminal block is one in which the locking means comprise:
at least one locking arm which:
is secured to the casing,
swings around an axis of rotation (xcex94), between a withdrawal position and a locking position,
is equipped with a catching element intended to cooperate in the locking position with a complementary catching element of the connector, and
means for immobilizing the arm in the locking position.
Thus, since the locking arm is secured to the terminal block, it is not possible to lose it. Furthermore, this permanent presence prevents any risk of oversight during mounting and assembly of a junction and connection assembly using one or more terminal blocks according to the invention.
According to one feature of the invention, in order to reduce as much as possible the overall size of the terminal block and the space dedicated, on the latter, to the locking means, the axis of rotation xcex94 of the arm is substantially perpendicular to the plug-in direction D of the connector.
The locking arm may be produced in any suitable manner and, according to a preferred feature of the invention, the locking arm has an elongate shape with an axis d and bears, at one end, the catching element, and at the opposite end, means for articulating to the casing.
The articulation means may then be produced in any suitable manner, such as for example in the form of a bearing intended to cooperate with a spindle borne by the casing of the terminal block. Similarly, the interconnection means may also be produced in the form of a spindle secured to the locking arm and intended to engage in a bearing provided on the insulating casing of the terminal block.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the means of immobilizing the locking arm comprise a stop provided on the casing in order to support the arm in the locking position and to obstruct the passage of the arm into the withdrawal position from this locking position.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the locking arm then has, at its articulation end and away from the catching element, a heel intended to bear on the stop of the caning when the arm is in the locking position.
In order to offer high resistance to unlocking, especially under the effect of forces applied to the catching element by the locked connector, the heel is located opposite the housing accommodating the connector with respect to the axis xcex94 of rotation of the arm.
According to another feature of the invention, the immobilizing means comprise a rack provided on the casing and at least one tooth borne by the locking arm and intended to cooperate with the rack to impede the movement of the locking arm between its withdrawal position and its locking position, and vice versa. In a preferred, but not strictly necessary, manner, the rack is used in combination with the immobilizing stop provided on the casing.
According to the invention, the catching element of the locking arm can be provided in any suitable way, such as for example, in the form of a male or female catching element intended to cooperate with an element of complementary shape provided on the connector. According to a preferred embodiment, the catching element consists of a finger intended to cooperate with a stop offered by the connector to obstruct the removal of the connector from the accommodating housing. In a preferred, but not strictly necessary, manner, the stop of the connector consists of the edge of a cavity for accommodating the catching finger provided in the outer wall of the connector.
Moreover, according to a preferred, but not strictly necessary, embodiment, the arm has a cavity for accommodating an external maneuvering member, in order to facilitate the manipulation of the arm between the locking position and the withdrawal position and vice versa. In a preferred manner, this maneuvering cavity is provided at the end of the arm opposite the articulation end on the casing and has a shape suitable for accommodating the end of a screwdriver blade. Thus, when it is necessary to unlock the arm, it is possible to have available, by inserting the blade of a screwdriver into the maneuvering cavity, an arm with a considerable lever effect.
According to another feature of the invention, the locking arm has linking means intended to link the locking arm with another locking arm of an adjacent linking block.
The linking means may be provided in any suitable way, and, according to a preferred, but not strictly necessary, embodiment of the invention, the linking means comprise a peg provided on one side face of the arm, and a recess with a shape complementary to that of the peg, provided on the opposite side face of the locking arm.
The invention also relates to an assembly of at least two juxtaposed terminal blocks according to the invention. This assembly is one in which the locking arms of at least two adjacent terminal blocks are linked to each other.
This link may then result from using linking means as mentioned above and can therefore be dismantled. The link of the locking arm for adjacent blocks may also result from manufacturing the locking arms of two adjacent blocks as a single part. The production of the locking arms of more than two blocks, as a single part, may also be provided. Of course, this embodiment does not exclude the possibility of involving linking means which can be dismantled, provided in the side faces of the part constituting the juxtaposed linking arms.

Terminal block with a locking arm for a plug-in connector

Abstract: This terminal block comprises;

Abstract: The locking means comprise:

Abstract: at least one locking arm which:

Abstract: is secured to the casing,


Systems and methods for clock synchronization are disclosed in which a primary node generates special physical layer clock sync symbols from the output of a reference clock and inserts the clock sync symbols within a symbol stream to one or more secondary nodes. Upon receiving a symbol stream, a secondary node can extract the clock sync symbols from the stream to synchronize its local clock with the reference clock of the primary node. In particular, the clock sync symbols can be inserted into the symbol stream at any arbitrary symbol location, e.g., even between consecutive symbols of a symbol encoded data frame. The clock sync symbols can also replace some control symbols in the symbol stream, such as idle or comma symbols. Accordingly, the clock sync symbols can be inserted into a symbol stream at fixed intervals, irregular intervals, or at any arbitrary time for high resolution clock synchronization.

Clocks are used in nearly all electronic devices for various time keeping purposes. For example, servers, databases, personal computers, mobile devices, transceivers and other communication devices, interconnect devices such as routers and switches, among others, include some form of a clock for regulating their timing and speed. Clocks can also be used for controlling the application-specific operations, including without limitation time logging, task execution, work flow sequencing, and many others.
For some applications, precise timekeeping can be very important. For example, since the inception of direct electronic trading of financial instruments in the 1970s, the speed of financial market transactions has increased at an exponential rate. Presently, trading decisions are made and trades executed in microseconds, and in some cases faster, e.g., in nanoseconds. Financial markets now operate as high-performance distributed computing systems where the timestamp of any particular trade can have an influence on the financial fortunes of investors. Recording each transaction with an accurate time stamp is an important part of operating a fair and equitable financial market. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States and EWA in the European Union promulgate precise timekeeping requirements. To meet these precise timekeeping requirements, computing nodes involved in the operations of an electronic trading system must continually evolve.
Electronic trading systems and other distributed computing systems frequently rely on high resolution clocks, such as GPS type atomic clocks, to keep accurate time. However, GPS clocks are expensive, often including recurring subscription costs. Thus, it can be cost prohibitive to provide a GPS clock in every computing node of a distributed computing system to ensure accurate time.
Conventional clock synchronization protocols, such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP), typically transmit data packets that encapsulate time information from a time server. These conventional clock sync data packets are typically processed according to one or more upper layer communication protocols (e.g., UDP/IP). Accordingly, existing clock synchronization protocols typically incur the significant processing overhead and bandwidth utilization that may limit their usefulness for certain types of applications, including but not limited to electronic trading systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for high resolution clock synchronization across computing nodes in distributed computing systems.

Systems and methods for clock synchronization using special physical layer clock sync symbols


A data processing system has an execution pipeline with programmable execution stages which execute instructions to perform data processing operations provided by a host processor and in which execution threads are grouped together into groups in which the threads are executed in lockstep. The system also includes a compiler that compiles programs to generate instructions for the execution stages. The compiler is configured to, for an operation that comprises a memory transaction: issue to the execution stage instructions for executing the operation for the thread group to: perform the operation for the thread group as a whole; and provide the result of the operation to all the active threads of the group. At least one execution stage is configured to, in response to the instructions: perform the operation for the thread group as a whole; and provide the result of the operation to all the active threads of the group.

The technology described herein relates to data processing systems, and in particular to the operation of graphics processing systems that include one or more programmable processing stages ("shaders").
Graphics processing is typically carried out in a pipelined fashion, with one or more pipeline stages operating on the data to generate the final render output, e.g. frame that is displayed. Many graphics processing pipelines now include one or more programmable processing stages, commonly referred to as "shaders". For example, a graphics processing pipeline may include one or more of, and typically all of, a geometry shader, a vertex shader and a fragment (pixel) shader. These shaders are programmable processing stages that execute shader programs on input data values to generate a desired set of output data (e.g. appropriately transformed and lit vertex data in the case of a vertex shader) for processing by the rest of the graphics pipeline and/or for output. The shaders of the graphics processing pipeline may share programmable processing circuitry, or they may each be distinct programmable processing units.
A graphics processing unit (GPU) shader core is thus a processing unit that performs graphics processing by running small programs for each graphics item in a graphics output to be generated such as a render target, e.g. frame (an "item" in this regard is usually a vertex or a fragment (pixel)). This generally enables a high degree of parallelism, in that a typical render output, e.g. frame, features a rather large number of vertices and fragments, each of which can be processed independently.
A shader program to be executed by a given "shader" of a graphics processing pipeline will be provided by the application that requires the graphics processing using a high level shader programming language, such as GLSL, HLSL, OpenCL C, etc. This shader program will consist of "expressions" indicating desired programming steps defined in the relevant language standards (specifications). The high level shader program is then translated by a shader language compiler to binary code for the target graphics processing pipeline. This binary code will consist of "instructions" which are specified in the instruction set specification for the given target graphics processing pipeline. The compilation process for converting the shader language expressions to binary code instructions may take place via a number of intermediate representations of the program within the compiler. Thus the program written in the high level shader language may be translated into a compiler specific intermediate representation (and there may be several successive intermediate representations within the compiler), with the final intermediate representation being translated into the binary code instructions for the target graphics processing pipeline.
A known way to improve shader execution efficiency is to group execution threads (where each thread corresponds, e.g., to one vertex or one fragment (pixel)) into "groups" or "bundles" of threads, where the threads of one group are run in lockstep, one instruction at a time, i.e. each thread in the group executes the same single instruction before moving onto the next instruction. This way, it is possible to share instruction fetch and scheduling resources between all the threads in the group. (Other terms used for such thread groups include "sub-groups", "warps" and "wavefronts". For convenience the term thread group will be used herein, but this is intended to encompass all equivalent terms and arrangements, unless otherwise indicated.)
In such thread groups, the shared instructions are executed for each thread and when memory access (e.g. for loads, stores and atomics) is required by a particular thread, a "lock" is obtained by the thread to ensure exclusive access to the data in memory being accessed by the thread, i.e. excluding the other threads from accessing the memory location, with each thread obtaining independent locks. However, because the threads cannot guarantee independent forward progress in all circumstances (because some steps executed by one thread may depend on other steps executed by other threads), a lock obtained by one thread may cause a deadlock for the whole thread group. This then causes one or more of the threads to spin indefinitely waiting for the lock to become available.
For example, the simple code sequence
 while( !mtx_lock = mtx.trylock( ) ){ // critical section}can deadlock non-intuitively.
This is because the sequence requires that the flow of code is divergent and so threads from the divergent path (i.e. with a different program counter) must be masked out from execution. In a system having a "lowest program counter first" scheduling policy, threads which did not obtain the lock would therefore be favoured, but these would then spin indefinitely waiting for the lock.
One solution to this problem is to re-order the code to suit the scheduling behaviour of the specific system being used, e.g. using the following code sequence:
 if( __my_warp_lane == 0 ){ while( !mtx.try_lock( ) );}// execute locked workif( __my_warp_lane == 0 ){ mtx.unlock( );}
However, this requires that the compiler does not optimise the instruction sequences, or has support for ordering semantics on the instructions.
The Applicants believe therefore that there remains scope for improvements to the handling of thread groups, for example in graphics processing pipelines that include one or more shader stages.


There are provided a crack determining device capable of determining, in real time and with precision, the fact that a crack has occurred in a solder layer, and a semiconductor device comprising same. A crack determining device of the present invention is a crack determining device that determines whether or not a crack has occurred in a solder layer with respect to a semiconductor device in which at least a semiconductor element is connected to a connectee member via the solder layer, the crack determining device comprising a generation part that generates a magnetic field and that is fixed to a member forming the semiconductor device, and a detection part that detects a magnitude of a magnetic field and that is disposed within the solder layer, wherein the magnetic field generated at the generation part is detected at the detection part, and it is determined that a crack has occurred in the solder layer if this magnitude of the magnetic field varies from a magnitude of the magnetic field detected before the crack occurred.

With respect to semiconductor devices (power modules) in which a semiconductor element such as an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor), etc., is mounted, adjustments are made whereby the heat generated at this semiconductor element is efficiently dissipated so as to keep it at or below a reference temperature even while heat is generated.
A conventional semiconductor device packaging structure will now be described based on FIG. 13. As shown in the diagram, a circuit board c is fixed on one side of an insulating substrate d comprising an aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate, or a pure aluminum substrate, etc. A semiconductor element a, which is electrically connected with a lead frame f that communicates with an external electrode, and the circuit board c are fixed by means of a solder layer b. A heat sink e for dissipating the heat from the semiconductor element a via the circuit board c (Q direction) is disposed on the other side of the insulating substrate d. A semiconductor device H is thus configured. It is noted that there are a wide variety of configurations for the semiconductor device in addition to that of the illustrated example, examples of which may include a configuration in which a cooler and the like are brazed below the heat sink, a configuration in which the illustrated device is potted with an encapsulating resin body, a configuration in which the semiconductor element is brazed onto the heat sink or the lead frame, etc.
In all of the configurations above, the fact remains that a semiconductor element is connected via a solder layer of a substrate, etc., and that the semiconductor device is of a multi-layered laminate structure of various constituent members. For example, in the illustrated example, the linear expansion rate (or the linear expansion coefficient) of the semiconductor element is approximately 3 ppm/K, the linear expansion rates of the circuit board and the insulating substrate are approximately 4 to 5 ppm/K, the linear expansion rate of the aluminum heat sink is approximately 25 ppm/K. Thus, the linear expansion rates vary significantly from constituent member to constituent member.
If the above-mentioned semiconductor device is to be mounted on hybrid vehicles or electric vehicles, it would have to be made sure that the semiconductor device would withstand, over extended periods, extreme temperature cycles. However, since the linear expansion rates vary significantly from constituent member to constituent member as mentioned above, if the members were to be joined with one another directly, thermal stress would be caused within the constituent members or at the joint interfaces among the constituent members due to differences in linear expansion caused by the change in temperature. Thus, the interior of the solder layer, which is weakest structurally and in strength among the constituent members, would be particularly prone to cracks, and this may become a significant factor in causing the durability of the semiconductor device to drop.
In particular, modem semiconductor devices have seen their miniaturization advance, and the heat generated by semiconductor elements has further increased with this miniaturization of semiconductor devices. Thus, in view of the fact that the amount of heat per unit area has increased, occurrences of cracks in the solder layer mentioned above have become even more pronounced.
Turning now to published prior art, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of detecting the occurrence of a crack based on a temperature difference by detecting the temperatures of respective sites by means of temperature detecting elements disposed at a center part of a semiconductor element and a peripheral end part thereof.
This detection method focuses on the fact that a site where a crack has occurred increases in thermal resistance, thereby impeding heat dissipation, and that the temperature rises as a result thereof. It is thus a method that determines that a crack has occurred at a given site when this site rises in temperature relative to other sites.
However, methods that determine the presence/absence of crack occurrences by measuring the temperature of a given site have the following problems.
Specifically, since heat diffuses readily, it may sometimes be determined that there is no temperature difference between a site where a crack has occurred and a site where no crack has occurred. Thus, so-called false detections occur readily, where a crack has actually occurred even though the measured temperature is low, or where there may actually be no crack even though the measured temperature is high.
Further, since it takes time for heat to be conducted, it is difficult to determine cracks in real time.

Crack determining device and semiconductor device


The present disclosure discloses a driving assembly. The driving assembly is configured to be arranged on one end of a developing cartridge, the driving assembly comprises a connector configured to engage with a driving head of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The connector comprises a sleeve, a guide rod, and at least one engaging claw. The sleeve has a protrusion portion at its distal end relative to the developing cartridge, the protrusion portion axially projects outwards and has a limiting groove with an outwards opening; the engaging claw is hinged at the second end of the guide rod; when the driving assembly rotates upon receiving driving forces, a side surface of the limiting groove contacts a side surface of the engaging claw. A developing cartridge comprising the driving assembly is also provided.

The imaging principle of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus (also referred to as an electronic imaging device) is as follows: firstly, uniformly charge the photosensitive material coated surface of the photosensitive drum or the photosensitive tape; then expose the surface of the photosensitive drum or the photosensitive tape with laser beams, then the electric charges on the exposed region disappear, and the electric charges on the other regions unexposed form an electrostatic latent image; then the developing agent like carbon powder is supplied to the electrostatic latent image by a developing roller or other components, so as to develop the latent image; then the image is transferred to a print medium, and fixed by heating, thereby forming a stable image on the print medium.
In general, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is provided with a detachable developing cartridge. Based on different design concepts, the manufacturers of electrophotographic image forming apparatus will integrate more or less processing components in the developing cartridge. For example, some manufacturers integrate a photosensitive drum, a developing device, a charging device and a cleaning device together to form an integral box, and some manufacturers integrate the photosensitive drum and the charging device together, or integrate the photosensitive drum and the developing device together to form various kinds of split boxes. Regardless of the integration modes, as long as the box is provided with any one of processing members which are required to rotate in the process of image forming, the box needs to be supplied with driving forces, so as to drive the processing components to rotate.
One of the existing driving members is designed to be a universal joint type. One end of the driving member is arranged in a cylindrical member disposed on an end part of the developing cartridge, and the other end of the driving member projects outward from the developing cartridge, so as to engage with the driving shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. When the driving member is mounted onto or detached from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the driving member deflects to one side relative to the axis of the cylindrical member, in order to avoid forming interference with the driving shaft. The cylindrical member may be arranged at an end of the photosensitive drum or at an end of the developing roller, and after receiving driving forces, the universal joint directly drives the photosensitive drum or the developing roller to rotate. The cylindrical member may alternatively be arranged at other positions parallel to the axis of the photosensitive drum or the developing roller, and the driving forces are transmitted to the processing components like the photosensitive drum or the developing roller through a gear assembly. This type of universal joint driving member is apt to drop out of the cylindrical member, and driving forces cannot be transmitted stably.
In order to solve the problem that this type of universal joint driving member is apt to fall off, the driving member of the exiting developing cartridge typically adopts an axially moveable connector arranged in the cylindrical member. When the connector is mounted or detached, as the driving shaft, namely the driving head, in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus abuts against the connector, the connector moves inwards to avoid interference with the driving shaft. When the developing cartridge is mounted into its position, under the action of a spring or gas pressure, the connector moves outwards and engages with the driving shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, thereby driving the driving force receiving components to rotate, such as the photosensitive drum, the developing roller, and so on. But sometimes, the axial movement of the connector is limited by other members in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, therefore the developing cartridge cannot be detached easily. If the developing cartridge is forcibly mounted or detached, there will be a risk that the driving member cannot engage with the driving shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus stably, and driving forces cannot be transmitted stably.
Chinese utility model patent No. 201120045210.4 disclosed a driving assembly, wherein, the contact head of the driving assembly is connected at a gap of the bracket body through a pivot and a rebound-reset element. When the driving assembly rotates upon receiving driving forces from the driving head of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the acting forces are transmitted to the bracket body through the contact head and the pivot, as a result the driving forces cannot be transmitted stably. Additionally, due to the space limitation of the gap, the pivot is usually quite thin, consequently, when the driving assembly rotates upon receiving driving forces from the driving head of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, due to the torque generated by the rotation, the pivot is apt to be damaged. Moreover, it is not easy to install the contact head and the rebound-reset element due to the space limitation of the gap.

Driving assembly and developing cartridge

Zhuhai Un-Tern Imaging Products Co., Ltd.


Intraocular lenses for reducing the risk of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) are described herein. PCO can be reduced with an IOL design that increases the pressure at the posterior capsular bend, for example, by including a sharper edge design, an enlarged optical zone, and/or an increased vault height. An example ophthalmic lens can include an optic (200) including an anterior surface (202) defining an anterior side of the optic, a posterior surface (204) defining a posterior side of the optic, and an edge (210) arranged between the anterior and posterior surfaces. The edge and the posterior surface can form an angle, where the angle is less than about 90 degrees. Additionally, the ophthalmic lens can have an increased vault height. At least one of the angle or the increased vault height be configured to increase pressure on a capsular bend in a subject's eye.

Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) results from lens fibers formed in the equatorial zone that migrate over the posterior side of an IOL, which can result in reduced visual quality and potentially requires a secondary intervention with an NdYAG laser. While results vary, and improved IOL designs have substantially reduced the rate of PCO the last few decades, it is still a significant issue negatively affecting the results of cataract surgery. The current state of the art for PCO prevention is a PCO edge covering the full IOL (360 degrees) with an angle of around 90-110 degrees, including on the haptics.
Negative dysphotopsia (ND) is characterized by subjective reports and complaints from patients having an intraocular lens (IOL) implanted, where the complaints describe the presence of a dark shadow in the far periphery. A number of patient factors, including small photopic pupil, high angle kappa and hyperopia, have been identified as increasing the risk of ND. The presence of ND is likely caused by absence of light in the retinal interval between light passing through and refracted by the IOL (e.g., at lower angles of incidence) and rays missing the IOL (e.g., at higher angles of incidence). While the light passing the IOL at the lower angles of incidence is refracted, changing its direction to a lower angle, the light at the higher angles miss the IOL and continue straight without deviation, thereby creating an angular interval on the retina that is not illuminated. The problem is partially alleviated at larger pupil sizes, since optical errors create larger deviations of rays at the pupil edge which partially hits the obscured part of the peripheral retina. On the other hand, for smaller pupils the pinhole effect exacerbates the ND effect. For the natural crystalline lens, ND is not a problem, since no light will miss the lens as it is larger and closer to the pupil. Currently, there are no IOLs on the market designed to prevent ND.


An ISG system may include a shift stage sensing unit that senses a shift stage of a transmission, a parking sensing unit that senses a driver's intension of parking by recognizing at least one of whether a vehicle enters a parking lot and whether a parking assistant system may be operated, and an ISG controller that stops an idle-stop of an engine when the shift stage of the shift stage sensing unit may be at a reverse stage or the parking sensing unit senses the driver's intension of parking.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ISG vehicle equipped with an ISG (Idle Stop and Go) system, and particularly, to an ISG system that prevents idle-stop of an engine when a driver intends to park a vehicle, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, technologies for improving fuel efficiency to reduce CO2 have been developed in various ways, and the ISG system is a system that stops the engine when a vehicle stops and automatically starts the engine when the vehicle starts.
The ISG system allows normal traveling by automatically idle-stopping the engine under predetermined conditions while receiving information, such as the speed of the vehicle, the revolution speed of the engine, and the temperature of the cooling water, and then automatically restarting (Go) the engine when restart is required by the driver's intention and the conditions of the vehicle itself.
The condition for entering the idle-stop in the ISG system is a state with the engine sufficiently warmed up, that is, a stop state where the vehicle speed is not detected with the cooling water maintained at a predetermined temperature or more, and when a predetermined time passes after the brake pedal is operated, the engine is stopped to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emission.
Further, when the driver's intention of starting the vehicle, for example, operating the acceleration pedal, releasing the brake pedal, or operating the clutch pedal, with the engine idle-stopped, the engine is started for normal traveling. It is possible to achieve an effect of an increase in fuel efficiency of about 5 to 15% in the vehicle equipped with the ISG system.
In an ISG vehicle equipped with the ISG system, as shown in FIG. 1, when a vehicle repeatedly moves forward/backward at a low speed for parking, the ISG system is operated and repeats idle-stopping and restarting. In this case, the engine is repeatedly idle-stopped and restarted for a short time, such that the fuel efficiency is reduced, and the driver has difficulty in parking, and instability is caused by the stopping/restarting of the engine, such that safety is reduced.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


A sound reproduction program is provided which, in performing reading and sound reproduction of a musical score, precision of musical score recognition is improved. The sound reproduction program is stored in a terminal including the image pickup unit and a display unit and makes a computer execute a function of reading a musical score image at every predetermined time as a sampling image by a camera device, a function of detecting a staff in a simple manner from the sampling image, a function of displaying the sampling image and the simply detected staff in an associated manner on the display unit, a function of instructing detection of musical symbol information from the sampling image, a function of detecting the musical symbol information from the sampling image when the musical symbol information detection is instructed, and a function of emitting a sound based on the detected musical symbol information.

A musical score recognition device that reads a printed musical score as a musical score image by an image scanner has been proposed since priorly. For example, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the musical score recognition device reads the musical score image and detects staffs, notes, symbols related to pitches of notes, etc., from the read musical score image to recognize musical information necessary for playing.
With a printed musical score, it is difficult for a general person without any special musical training to imagine melodies and pitches by looking at the musical score.
Meanwhile, with the recent popularity of camera-equipped mobile terminals, presence of a tool that enables a musical score to be imaged easily and enables the musical score to be played or melodies and musical intervals to be checked immediately on the spot has been desired.


A process and device for combined oxidation of polluted water, e.g. industrial waste water or effluents, to make it suitable for drinking, involves injection of hydrogen peroxide (pure aqueous solution or diluted) and ozone (gaseous, or ozonized oxygen or air) simultaneously and in a flow direction co-current with the circulation of the water to be treated, at the inlet of the oxidation reactor. For example, a reactor is endowed with mechanisms to inject ozone and hydrogen peroxide at its base, at very closely-spaced points and simultaneously, in a flow direction the same as the water to be treated, with an automatic control system to regulate the levels of the oxidizing agents.

Ozone has been long used to disinfect water and to oxidize residual organic matter and reduce mineral elements in water to be purified. The action of peroxides is also known, especially H.sub.2 O.sub.2, for eliminating odoriferous compounds, oxidizing the residual phenols in the water, or eliminating toxic products such as cyanide, chrome, etc.
Because some organic or mineral compounds are difficult to oxidize with either O.sub.3 or H.sub.2 O.sub.2 alone, for the past decade many authors have proposed combining the action of O.sub.3 with H.sub.2 O.sub.2 to achieve a substantial increase in the oxidation power of each of the two oxidizing agents considered individually. Indeed, it was found and proven that highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (OH) formed when the two oxidizing agents combine caused chain reactions causing the deterioration of the organic micropollutants to be greatly accelerated.
In the different technologies which have been described to date for this combined oxidation, it has been recommended that reactors be used, operating either statically and discontinuously (Glaze et al., Proceedings of the Second Intern. Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, Apr. 28-29 1987, pp. 233, 243; Namba & Nakayama, Bull Chem. Soc. Japan 55, pp. 3339-3340), or dynamically, i.e. with the water to be treated circulating continuously, but using a process in which the water circulates in a flow direction opposite to that of the oxidizing agents (Nakayama et al., Ozone, Science and Engineering, Vol. I, pp. 119, 131, 1979: D. W. Ferguson et al., Research and Technology, AWWA Journal, April 1990, pp. 181-191). It was proposed more recently to stagger in time and space hydrogen peroxide injections into an ozonization reactor in which the water to be treated is circulating, i.e. at different levels of the reactor Certificate of Addinir No. 88.17134 publ. 2640957 to French Patent No. 83,07764).

Process for the oxidation of organic micropollutants in water using the O.sub.3 /H.sub.2 O.sub.2 combination

OTV (Omnium de Traitements et de Valorisation)


Improvements in the design and construction of solar collector modules. Aspects of the invention include improvements in the layout of a frame for a solar collector module, and in the joining of structural members of the frame at nodes. In one example, a module of a solar collector includes a reflector and a three-dimensional structural frame that supports the reflector. The frame is made up of substantially rigid elongate frame members interconnected at nodes. Improved node connection components include hubs or frame members having tabs for receiving frame member connections. A tab may have a width that is substantial in relation to its height. The frame may incorporate asymmetry in its layout, in the size or presence of frame members, or in the positioning of the nodes.

The trough solar collector is a well-known collector technology used for Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants. As shown in FIG. 1, such a plant typically employs a large array of sun-tracking, focusing reflectors that concentrate incoming solar radiation onto a tubular conduit that contains a working fluid. The focused radiation heats the working fluid, for example an oil or other fluid. The heated working fluid is piped to a central location where its accumulated thermal energy may be utilized in a conventional heat engine, for example to generate steam that drives turbines to produce electric power. In other applications, the heated working fluid may be used directly, for example where the working fluid is heated water for domestic or commercial use. After its thermal energy has been utilized, the working fluid may be recirculated through the collector array to be heated again.
The collector arrays may be quite large, covering several square kilometers and including thousands of collector modules, such as the module 101 shown in the simplified diagram of FIG. 1. Several modules are shown in FIG. 1, each of which has a similar construction. The field or array of collectors may be divided into parallel circuits, so that the working fluid need not be circulated through the entire collector field before it is piped to the central location, but instead may be passed through a single row of a few dozen modules during each heating cycle, for example. Many arrangements of circuits are possible. Each module typically includes a parabolic reflector 102 backed by a frame or truss system 103 on the back side of the reflector (away from the sun). The frame adds rigidity to the module. The modules are typically supported on pylons 104 that are located between the modules.
The collector modules are typically grouped into rotatable solar collector assemblies (SCAs) of several adjacent modules each, connected in a row. That is, an SCA typically includes several collector modules supported by pylons in a linear arrangement, such that the collector modules in each SCA can rotate about a longitudinal axis. For optimum collection efficiency, all the modules in an SCA preferably rotate in unison to track the sun during the day. Each SCA may be moved by a drive mechanism (not shown) near the center of the SCA, at an end of the SCA, or at another location within the SCA. The collector modules in an SCA may be coupled to each other using a conventional torque transfer assembly that includes a central torsion element (shaft) to couple adjacent modules. Alternatively, adjacent modules may be coupled near their edges or rims, so that torque is transmitted between the modules primarily by a force couple acting at the rim and axis of rotation, rather than by torsion of a central shaft. Preferably, the coupling between modules accommodates thermal expansion and contraction of the SCA. More description of systems and methods for "edge drive" torque transfer may be found in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/416,536 filed Apr. 1, 2009 and titled "Torque Transfer Between Trough Collector Modules", the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Torque from at least two different sources is transferred between modules. First, a drive mechanism located near the center of the SCA applies torque directly to those modules adjacent to the drive mechanism. For the rest of the modules in the SCA, torque is coupled from one module to the next so that the entire group of modules in the SCA rotates in unison. Second, the module arrays are also subject to wind loading, which may exert very large forces and torques on the array. Wind loading on each module is transmitted to the adjacent module. The resulting torque may be smallest at the end modules of an SCA, but may accumulate through the modules in the SCA row until the drive mechanism must resist the accumulated torsional wind loading of many modules. These torques may be as large as hundreds of thousands of Newton-meters. In order to maintain proper aiming of the array toward the sun, the drive mechanism must be able to resist and overcome the torque resulting from wind loading, and the SCA must be stiff enough that no modules deflect enough from optimum aiming that their energy collection performance is degraded significantly. While the torques are greatest near the drive mechanism, and the modules adjacent the drive mechanism must resist the largest torques, the deflection may accumulate outward from the drive mechanism, and may be greatest at the end of the SCA furthest from the drive mechanism.
In order to achieve enough stiffness, the frame or truss system 103 should be designed to withstand the expected torques with acceptably small deflection. Also, the coupling of two or more optically-precise devices, such as the modules of an SCA, requires that the assembly be fabricated with a relatively high degree of precision for proper energy collection. In addition, it is desirable that each module be light in weight, easy to assemble, and low in cost. In large part, these competing design goals—stiffness, accuracy, light weight, ease of assembly, and low cost—are dependent on the design of the frame or truss portion of the collector modules. There is accordingly a need for improved frame designs for use in solar collector modules.


In embodiments, data transmitters and data receivers use, in a first mode, a first hopping pattern and a second hopping pattern for a repeated transfer of data, and, in a second mode, a third hopping pattern for the single transfer of data, wherein the hopping patterns of the first mode and the second mode are different so that a collision probability in the repeated transmission of data by a further data transmitter in a respectively different mode may be decreased and the transmission reliability may therefore be increased.

Embodiments refer to a data transmitter and a method for operating the same. Further embodiments refer to a data receiver and a method for operating the same. Further embodiments refer to generating specific hopping patterns for a repeated transmission of data. Further embodiments refer to repeatedly transmitting and receiving data using specific hopping patterns. Some embodiments refer to an optimization process for generating hopping patterns to be used in interleaved repetitions.
The telegram splitting method is known from DE 10 2011 082 098 B4, according to which a telegram (or data packet) is divided onto a plurality of sub-data packets that are transferred distributed in time and optionally in frequency using a hopping pattern.
WO 2015/128385 A1 describes a data transmission array comprising an energy-harvesting element as an energy source. In this case, the data transmission array is configured to transmit data using the telegram splitting method, wherein a partial packet to be transmitted is either transmitted, buffered and transmitted at a later time, or discarded in dependence on an amount of electrical energy provided by the energy supply unit.
The publication [G. Kilian, H. Petkov, R. Psiuk, H. Lieske, F. Beer, J. Robert, and A. Heuberger, "Improved coverage for low-power telemetry systems using telegram splitting," in Proceedings of 2013 European Conference on Smart Objects, Systems and Technologies (SmartSysTech), 2013] describes an improved range for low-energy telemetric systems which use the telegram splitting method.
The publication [G. Kilian, M. Breiling, H. H. Petkov, H. Lieske, F. Beer, J. Robert, and A. Heuberger, "Increasing Transmission Reliability for Telemetry Systems Using Telegram Splitting," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 949-961, March 2015] describes an improved transfer reliability of low-energy telemetric systems which use the telegram splitting method.
The telegram splitting method uses specific time hopping patterns/frequency hopping patterns in order to transfer data via the radio channel. In order to be able to successfully decode a data packet, the hopping pattern used for the transmission has to be known at the receiver. In order to ensure this, global time hopping patterns and frequency hopping patterns known to all participants are defined for telegram splitting networks.
The communication of several participants by means of telegram splitting in the same band results in a deteriorated interference immunity of the transfer if the same time hopping pattern and/or frequency hopping pattern is used for the data transfer of several nodes. If two nodes start a transfer with the same hopping pattern within a short time window (e.g. the duration of a sub-data packet), all sub-data packets of the telegram overlap and, in the worst case, cancel each other out.

Specific hopping patterns for repeated transmission and reception of data and methods for generating the same

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


Petroleum resid, bitumen and/or heavy oil is upgraded by the separation of asphaltenes and/or resins from such resids, bitumen and/or heavy oils by contacting them with an ionic liquid with which the asphaltenes and/or resins interact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the upgrading of petroleum residium (petroleum resid), bitumen and/or heavy oils by the removal therefrom of heavy, high molecular weight multi-ring aromatics and metals present in such petroleum resid, bitumen, shale oil and/or heavy oils in the form of asphaltenes and/or heavy resins and/or polycyclic hetero (N) aromatics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heavy, high molecular weight multi-ring aromatics, polycyclic hetero (N,S,O) aromatics and metals-containing molecules, e.g., porphyrins, are present in petroleum resid, bitumen and/or heavy oils largely in the form of a solubility class called asphaltenes or, depending on the feed, as individually identifiable molecular types, e.g., the asphaltene can comprise a mixture of such materials, or materials such as polycyclic hetero atom(N,S,O)-containing aromatics can be present per se, in such feeds.
The asphaltene fraction present in such feeds contains the most polar molecules. Traditionally, to force such asphaltene materials out of the petroleum resid, bitumen and/or heavy oils, a process known as solvent deasphalting is practiced. In that process, an excess of non-polar solvent is added to the petroleum resid, bitumen and/or heavy oils (hereinafter collectively referred to as heavy hydrocarbon feed stream) to force the polar asphaltene material out of the heavy hydrocarbon feed stream. Current commercial deasphalting processes use liquid propane or liquid butane as the non-polar precipitation inducing solvent. Such processes are energy intensive requiring the refrigeration and compression/pressurization of the propane or butane to condense them into a liquid. Following the removal of the precipitated asphaltene from the now deasphalted heavy hydrocarbon feed stream containing the liquid propane or butane, the propane or butane is recovered by evaporation from the heavy hydrocarbon feed stream, necessitating the re-refrigeration and re-pressurization of the now gaseous propane or butane for re-condensation into liquid form for re-use. Another drawback of solvent deasphalting, in addition to the high energy costs involved, is the lack of selectivity in the solvent deasphalting process. The lack of selectivity of the solvents is evidenced by the co-precipitation of non-asphaltenic molecules along with the asphaltenes and the presence of residual asphaltene molecules in the deasphalted oil (DAO) fraction.
Alternatively, petroleum resid can be visbroken, coked or used as residual sulfur fuel oil (RSFO) or as asphalt without removal of the asphaltene fraction. Such processes are also either energy intensive, expensive or wasteful of high value hydrocarbons present in the petroleum resid feed stream.
More desirable, however, are processes such as the solvent deasphalting previously described, which, following removal of the asphaltene fraction, produce a deasphalted oil (DAO) which has a higher value and is of higher quality residual sulfur fuel oil (RSFO) or as feedstock for fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) to force higher value liquids which could not be otherwise secured from the petroleum resid per se. The recovered asphaltene fraction is currently processed via high temperature thermal chemistry (coking and/or visbreaking) to form slightly higher value liquids and coke, or it is used as feedstock for asphalt production.
It would be highly desirable to develop a process for the removal of the heavy, high molecular weight multi-ring aromatics and/or resins and/or polycyclic hetero atom(N,S,O)-containing aromatics (hereinafter collectively referred to a asphaltenes unless otherwise indicated) from petroleum resid, bitumen and/or heavy oils, which is less energy intensive, e.g., uses little or no solvent, and is more selective.

Upgrading of petroleum resid, bitumen or heavy oils by the separation of asphaltenes and/or resins therefrom using ionic liquids

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


It is presented a power supply for providing power to control a power switch for a high voltage application. The power supply comprises: a high voltage divider arranged to be connected to a first current terminal of the power switch; a step down DC/DC converter connected to an output of the high voltage divider, wherein the step down DC/DC converter is arrange to provide an output voltage for control of the at least one power switch to an output of the power supply; and a bypass control unit arranged to control the high voltage divider to short circuit an main input and a main output of the high voltage divider when the voltage across the power switch is lower than a threshold voltage.

Power switches such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) can be used for many high voltage applications. The gates of the IGBTs can be driven by means of a respective gate unit. When the IGBTs are used e.g. as part of an inverter, by using pulse width modulation (PWM) the IGBTs are continually switched on and off to achieve a sinusoidal waveform. When the IGBTs are off (blocking), the voltage across the IGBT can be used to power the gate unit. Power can be stored between switches e.g. in capacitors to ensure the gate unit is continuously powered.
However, when the IGBTs are used in an application where the IGBTs are conducting during a majority of the time, such as for a DC breaker, there is no reliable reoccurring time when the IGBTs are blocking, to charge up energy to power the gate unit. Nevertheless, it is useful if the power supply can be powered by the main circuit through the IGBTs, to reduce the need for any external power source.
Consequently, there is a need to provide a power supply for providing power to control a power switch which does not require the power switch to be blocking to function.

Power supply for controlling a power switch


A filter retaining device for a furnace having a casing and requiring a filter includes a filter retaining wire for securing the filter over an opening provided in the casing. The retaining device also includes a latch clip and a retainer clip which are each insertable through a corresponding hole in the furnace casing. One end of the filter wire is moveably secured by the retainer clip. The other end of the filter wire has a U-shape formed therein so that it can be easily snapped into and out of the latch clip. Each clip has a pair of flexible barbed detentes so that it may be securely snapped into its corresponding hole.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to gas furnaces and, in particular, to a latchable filter retaining mechanism for a furnace filter. More specifically, but without restriction to the particular embodiment hereinafter described in accordance with the best mode of practice, this invention relates to paired retaining clips, each securely insertable through a corresponding hole in the furnace casing and enabled to receive an end of a filter wire to retain the filter within the furnace.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Gas furnaces typically include a primary heat exchanger positioned adjacent a burner box containing burners. During operation of the furnace, a blower moves circulating air over the heat exchanger to produce heated air that is directed to a desired location. Circulating air is supplied from an air duct, though an opening in the furnace casing, into an area proximate the furnace blower. A filter is typically situated over the opening between the air duct and the blower to filter the incoming circulating air.
Gas is supplied to the burner box by a gas manifold having orifices that direct the gas into the burners. The gas exiting the burners is ignited by an ignitor provided in the burner box. The burners allow combustion of the gas as well as direct heated flue gas into the heat exchanger. The typical heat exchanger includes cells with a channel or pass formed in each cell to direct the flow of flue gas produced by combustion. These cells are positioned side by side in a parallel manner and are provided with a predetermined spacing to allow the circulating blower air to flow around the cells. The blower air is thus heated by convection as it circulates over the cells.
A sheet metal panel or cell panel having burner target plates is typically provided to position the burner box relative to the inlet side of the cells contained in the heat exchanger. An inducer having a motor and fan is typically mounted on the discharge side of the heat exchanger. The inducer is activated to induce a flow of flue gas through the heat exchanger and into vent piping so that the flue gas may be vented to a location exterior to the furnace.
The residential heating industry has advanced with the advent of condensing gas furnaces. These furnaces typically included a primary heat exchanger as well as a condensing heat exchanger. A blower in these condensing furnaces similarly provides circulating air flow over both heat exchangers to produce heated air that may be directed to a desired location by a system of duct-work and registers. These condensing gas furnaces also require a filter filtering any airborne particulate matter carried by the incoming circulating air.
In such condensing furnaces, both the primary heat exchanger and the condensing heat exchanger include cells with a channel or pass formed therein to direct the flow of flue gas produced by combustion. These cells in both the primary and secondary heat exchangers are positioned side by side in a parallel manner and are provided with a predetermined spacing to allow circulating blower air to flow around both groups of heat exchanger cells. Gas is similarly provided to the condensing furnace by a gas manifold having orifices that direct the gas into burners contained in a burner box. The burner box is secured to the inlet side of the primary heat exchanger to align the discharge end of the burners with the inlet ports of the primary heat exchanger cells. The gas is ignited by an ignitor as it exits the burners contained in the burner box. The heated flue gas produced by combustion is then directed into the primary heat exchanger cells.
The condensing heat exchanger of the furnace is configured in a similar manner to its primary heat exchanger. A series of side by side condensing cells is provided. Each of these condensing cells has an inlet port for receiving flue gas discharged from the primary heat exchanger. The inlet ports of the condensing heat exchanger cells are aligned and secured in a sheet metal panel forming the inlet side of the condensing heat exchanger. The inlet side of the condensing heat exchanger is fluidly connected to the discharge side of the primary heat exchanger by a coupling box. The condensing cells function to exchange heat with the clean filtered circulating air and to condense water vapor out of the products of combustion contained in the flue gas. This condensate drains from the condensing cells into a collector box provided on the discharge side of the condensing heat exchanger. The collector box extends through the cell panel below the burner box and includes tubing to further drain the condensate from the box into drain piping. The collector box is provided with an opening to which the intake side of an inducer in fluidly secured. The inducer in the condensing furnace induces the flow of heated flue gas through the cells in both the primary and condensing heat exchangers.
With recent advancements in the art, a commercially feasible condensing gas furnace having four possible installation orientations has been proposed by the assignee of the present invention. Such gas-fired furnaces are known in the art as multi-poise condensing furnaces and are disclosed, for example, in the copending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/089,697, entitled "Multi-Poised Condensing Furnace". These multi-poise furnaces are installable with either an upflow, downflow, horizontal-right flow, or horizontal-left flow orientation. They include design features which allow the furnace to function properly and just as efficiently in any one of these four possible installation orientations. One such feature results in proper drainage of condensate from the condensing heat exchanger cells into the collector box irrespective of the selected installation orientation. To accommodate the multi-poise furnace, the inducer employed therein features two optional discharge ports. Depending on the installation orientation, one of the two inducer discharge ports is selected to be connected to the vent piping while the other unused port is capped with an air-tight seal.
All of the above discussed furnaces require a filter for filtering undesired airborne particles from the incoming circulating air before the air is introduced to the furnace blower. Prior hereto, however, there has not been proposed a simple yet effective retaining mechanism capable of accommodating the various possible filter locations and orientations of a filter in a multi-poise furnace while also being capable of accommodating the filter of any one of a number of other different furnaces.

Paired retaining clips for gas furnace filter wire


A method and apparatus are provided for facilitating single-leg cycling training. The apparatus comprises a pair of legs connected to form a self-supporting structure that can be variably positioned relative to the rotational path of the pedals of a cycling device. One of the legs comprises a foot support configured to cooperate with a binding of a cycling shoe to support the foot while the other foot of the user is engaged with a pedal to perform single-leg training. The foot support comprises a pair of spaced apart rows of sockets configured to support the ends of a support rod. During use, the user places a foot on the support rod.

The use of stationary bicycles for cycling training is well known in the art. A typical design incorporates a bicycle mounted on a training device that supports the rear wheel of the bicycle. Often, the rear wheel support provides some type of resistance when the rider pedals the bicycle. Typically, the rider pedals the bicycle with two legs, however, to improve to target and develop leg-lifting muscles, users may desire to incorporate single-leg training into their routine. For single-leg training, the rider removes a foot from one of the pedals and pedals the bicycle with one leg. However, supporting the stationary leg during single-leg training can be awkward and/or cumbersome. Accordingly, there exists a need for an efficient device for facilitating single-leg cycling training.

Method and apparatus for cycling training


A gear motor assembly includes a gearbox, a motor mounted to the gearbox, a first damper and a second damper. The gearbox includes a gearing casing and a worm gear installed in the gear casing. The motor includes a stator and a rotor. The stator includes a housing. The rotor includes a motor shaft and a worm integrally rotating with the shaft. The shaft extends into the gear housing and the worm is meshed with the worm gear. The first damper is sandwiched between the gear casing and a first end of the shaft, eliminating end play between the shaft and the gear casing. The second damper is sandwiched between the motor housing and a second end of the shaft, eliminating end play between the shaft and the motor housing.

A gear motor assembly, such as a window lift drive used in a vehicle to raise or lower a window, typically includes a bidirectional motor and a gearbox. The gearbox includes a casing and a gear train in the form of a worm and worm gear disposed in the casing. The motor includes a stator and a rotor. The stator includes a housing and permanent magnets attached to an inner surface of the housing. The rotor is rotatably disposed in the stator. The rotor includes a motor shaft, a core and a commutator fixed to the shaft. The shaft extends into the gearbox casing and has a worm which is meshed with the worm gear to rotate the worm gear, and thus a load attached to the worm gear. Two axial ends of the motor shaft are respectively spaced from either of the motor housing or the gear casing. When the motor changes the direction of rotation, axial vibrations of the motor shaft are created, which may damage the worm gear.
Therefore, there is a desire for an improved gear motor assembly in which end play is eliminated or closely controlled to avoid damage to the worm gear due to axial vibrations of the motor shaft.


A medication inhaler for concurrently delivering multiple doses of medications including an inhaler body having a medication container chamber for receiving a plurality of medication containers and at least one air passage connecting the medication container chamber with external air, a mouthpiece axially engageable with the inhaler body and having a mouthpiece chamber for communication with a patient's respiratory system, and a hollow medication delivery needle communicating with the mouthpiece chamber. A medication delivery needle penetrates the medication containers when the inhaler is actuated and has at least one opening for passing exterior air and medication from interior spaces of the medication containers and through the needle to mouthpiece.

There are many medications that are formulated to be inhaled, including medications for respiratory diseases and problems and medications that are more easily and rapidly absorbed through the respiratory tissues. Such medications are often formulated as "mists", that is, aerosols of droplets suspended in air, but may also be in the form of fine, dry powders.
There are various forms of inhalers designed for the administration of such medications, but each offers a number of problems. For example, both wet and dry inhalers must incorporate features that provide safe, long term storage for the medications before they are used, typically by encapsulation of the medications in cartridges or capsules that are loaded into the devices when the medications are to be used. The encapsulated medications must then be "opened" safely and in a manner compatible with the dispensing of the medications, which requires that the medications continue to be retained within the capsule or container, but in such a way as to allow the medication to be dispensed to the patient.
The opening of a medication cartridge or capsule and the extraction of the medication may present particular problems, depending upon the type of medication and the type of cartridge or capsule. For example, cartridges or capsules containing wet medications commonly contain a pressurized propellant. The capsule seal must therefore safely and reliably retain the pressurized contents during storage, which in itself will typically make the seal more difficult to open, and further requires that the capsule seal and the opening mechanism be designed so as to retain the pressurized contents when the seal is breached during the opening process, which present additional difficulties.
Dry medications, however, present a different set of equally difficult requirements and dry powder inhalers of the prior art have employed a number of different types of medication containers, such as blister packs and reservoir storage mechanisms, all of which have been unsatisfactory in one aspect or another. More recent dry powder inhalers of the prior art have employed gelatin capsules, which share certain problems of the other prior art medication containers, such as a tendency for the medications to "clump" and thus be difficult to release from the container, and which present problems particular to gelatin capsules and similar medication containers. For example, one of the major problems of gelatin capsules has been the flaking or shearing of capsule particulate, that is, the production of particles or dust of the capsule material during puncture or destruction of the capsule to gain access to the medication therein. While the capsule material particulate is typically too large to be inhaled into the patient's lungs, the particulate often enters the patient's throat and causes at least some degree of discomfort. This problem is in some respects somewhat analogous to the problem of "coring" in hypodermic needles wherein a hypodermic needle may "core" out a cylinder or plug of tissue when inserted into the body of a patient, rather than opening a passage into the tissue, and wherein as a consequence the freed cored tissue may block the passage through the needle.
For these reasons, among others, inhalers tend to be relatively complex devices that are correspondingly often difficult to use and are generally relatively expensive to manufacture. These characteristics in turn largely limit the common use of medication inhalers to regions or countries of relatively high economic and educational levels where they will be administered and used by relatively highly qualified and trained medical personnel and by relatively highly educated patients able to afford and effectively use such devices. There is a significant need, however, for relatively inexpensive, easy to use medication inhalers in economically limited regions of the world and by people, including medical personnel, of relatively low educational levels, and preferably of a single use, throw away form having significantly reduced storage and use requirements.
The present invention addresses these and other problems of the prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Medication inhaler for dispensing multiple capsules


A universal data input device includes a processor coupled to memory and a two-dimensional or area imager. One or more additional data input modules input wireless (e.g., RF), audio (e.g., voice), card or other data. Software performed by the processor receives the input data, and in one embodiment, receives voice commands. A task manager instructs an application layer to execute appropriate applications based on the voice command, and routes data to the appropriate applications.

Data is often input to computers or processors using optical input systems. One rapid method of inputting data into a processor employs bar code symbologies, where data is encoded in varying widths, bars, and spaces. An optical input system such as an LED pen or laser scanner provides information to the processor of a bar code reader, where the information represents the widths of the bars and spaces.
The processor in turn decodes these widths into appropriate data characters. To improve information density, linear bar code symbologies are being replaced by two-dimensional bar code symbologies. Two-dimensional symbologies, as opposed to traditional bar code symbologies, encode data in two directions. While two-dimensional symbologies, such as PDF417, can be read and decoded using a laser scanner, most two-dimensional symbologies require a two-dimensional image to be captured, digitized and analyzed. For example, a two-dimensional charge-coupled device (CCD) produces a series of electrical signals that represent an image, much like a digital photograph. A processor then stores and analyzes the digital image to locate and decode a two-dimensional symbol located within the image.
Laser scanners in point-of-sale terminals are specifically designed to rapidly decode linear bar code symbols (particularly UPC symbols) on products. Such laser scanner point-of-sale terminals can read only bar code symbols, and typically only bar code symbols selected from a preprogrammed symbology. Readers for two-dimensional symbologies are more complex, because they must identify at least one type of two-dimensional symbology within a field of background noise (e.g. text). While two-dimensional readers can decode a larger number of machine-readable symbologies, such two-dimensional readers are restricted to inputting and decoding machine-readable symbologies.
An operator of a reader or a cashier at a point-of-sale terminal must manually input any additional information into a reader or cash register by either receiving verbal information from a customer or reading data from a document (e.g., coupon), and then manually inputting the data. Other input devices are necessary to input additional data, such as card readers for reading magnetic stripes on credit cards.

Universal data input and processing device, such as universal point-of-sale device for inputting and processing bar code symbols, document images, and other data


A centrifugal pump includes a radial impeller surrounded by a housing. The housing has a channel associated with a front side space between a cover of the impeller and the casing. Flow is led through the channel from a pressure region of the pump to a radial gap at a suction region of the pump. The flow in the channel reduces angular momentum and results in an increase in pressure in the front side space which acts of in the cover side of the impeller to offset axial force from a rear side of the impeller.

The invention relates to a centrifugal pump having a radial impeller which is surrounded by a casing.
Owing to their design, in radial centrifugal pumps, a resultant axial force on the rotor occurs, which has to be compensated. Here, main components of said axial force are the pressure forces acting on the cover shroud and the rear shroud, which pressure forces are directed oppositely to one another. Generally, the force acting on the rear shroud is significantly greater than the component acting on the cover shroud, with the result that an axial thrust directed on the suction side occurs, which has to be compensated accordingly. In a very general sense, the axial thrust is to be understood as meaning the resultant of all axial forces acting on the rotor.
In WO 00/66894 A1, a method and an apparatus for reducing or eliminating the axial force of a centrifugal pump are described. In one variant, a flow subdivision is achieved in that a set of braking vanes is arranged along the periphery of a cavity. In this way, the rotational speed of the fluid is reduced. Furthermore, a stationary plate is provided along the inner wall of the casing in order to direct a radial flow of the fluid in the direction of the center of the pump.
DE 31 04 4747 A1 describes a centrifugal pump having a regulating collar which is arranged at the impeller on the pressure side or suction side. In one variant of the invention, plates are arranged on the pressure-side impeller side or on the suction-side impeller side of the impeller. The plates are mounted on the shaft of the centrifugal pump or on the impeller neck, in each case so as to be rotatable and axially displaceable.
DE 33 30 364 C2 describes a centrifugal pump having a device for reducing the friction loss of the impeller. The device comprises rotatably mounted plates which are arranged on both sides of the impeller.
Such conventional plate constructions for reducing the axial thrust are susceptible to faults and are often complex in terms of their construction.
It is an object of the invention to specify a centrifugal pump in which the axial thrust on the rotor is reduced in a simple and reliable way. The intention is that the centrifugal pump is distinguished by a high service life and operation which is as fault-free as possible. It is furthermore the intention that the centrifugal pump is relatively inexpensive to produce and has the highest possible efficiency.
According to the invention, the casing of the centrifugal pump has a channel for guiding a flow from an impeller side space of the pump to a radial gap of the pump. Here, said flow is preferably a swirling leakage flow from the impeller.
By way of said construction, the angular momentum flow entering the front impeller side space from the impeller is diverted and fed directly to a radial gap via an additional channel running through the casing.
The flow is preferably guided past the front impeller side space from the impeller and then enters the channel.
A radial sealing gap which is formed between a cover shroud of the impeller and a casing part is preferably involved here. The channel arranged in the casing has only stationary walls. These act as "swirl brakes" and reduce the circumferential speed component at which the volume flow guided through the channel enters the gap. Here, it has proven to be expedient that, as a consequence, the damping in the radial sealing gap is moreover increased.
The sealing gaps in centrifugal pumps additionally act as radial bearings, and the forces in the gap seals have a large influence on the vibration behavior of the rotor. The damping of this vibratory system is determined by the ratio of axial speed to circumferential speed of the flow at the entry to the sealing gap. Lower circumferential speeds mean increased damping.
Owing to the diversion of the angular momentum flow, the rotation of the fluid in the actual impeller side space is greatly reduced, whereby the axial force acting on the rotor in this region of the impeller side space is increased.
The impeller preferably has both a rear shroud and a cover shroud. Consequently, it is a closed impeller.
In one particularly expedient variant of the invention, the channel is arranged in the casing such that the flow enters the channel from a front impeller side space. Here, "front impeller side space" is to be understood as meaning the space between the rotating cover shroud and the stationary casing. Generally, the force acting on the rear shroud in centrifugal pumps is significantly greater than the component acting on the cover shroud. By way of the construction according to the invention of an arrangement of a channel in the casing, which channel has a connection to the front impeller side space, the axial thrust directed on the suction side is effectively compensated.
The channel leads from the impeller side space to a radial gap and preferably has a ring-shaped cross section. The entry opening into the channel is likewise preferably formed so as to be ring-shaped along the circumference in the impeller side space.
The volume flow flowing through the ring-shaped channel is preferably fed to a radial sealing gap which is formed between the cover shroud of the impeller and a casing part. Preferably, the centrifugal pump has a split ring seal arrangement with a fixed split ring and with a rotating running ring which is arranged on the cover shroud of the impeller. In one variant of the invention, the channel guides the flow on the impeller side next to the split ring seal arrangement. Preferably, the flow is introduced downstream, so that the flow still flows through the sealing gap. Said sealing gap is thus situated directly after the channel in the context of the throughflow sequence. The flow enters the split ring seal arrangement from the channel.
Consequently, in this variant, as seen from the suction side, firstly the split ring seal arrangement with a split ring and with a running ring between the cover shroud and the casing part is provided, and subsequently the volume flow discharged through the channel enters the radial sealing gap, which is formed between the cover shroud and a casing part. This is very advantageous in terms of rotor dynamics since, in this way, the damping in the sealing gap is increased.
The diversion of the angular momentum flow results in the rotation of the fluid in the front impeller side space being greatly reduced, whereby the axial force acting on the cover shroud is increased. Since the axial force acting on the rear shroud is generally significantly greater, the increase in the force component acting on the cover shroud results in the resultant residual force being greatly reduced or, ideally, compensated. In particular in multi-stage pumps, such as for example boiler feed pumps, the axial thrust compensation plays a very important role. The construction according to the invention leads to reliable operating behavior and to an increase in the efficiency.
In one variant of the invention, the channel has a section which extends in an axial direction. Consequently, the fluid from the impeller side space firstly enters the channel in an axial direction and is preferably then diverted in a radial direction, wherein the channel has a section which extends in a radial direction. Furthermore, the channel may have a section which runs largely parallel to the cover shroud.
The channel is preferably delimited by a casing part having an L-shaped cross-sectional profile. The casing part may be of pot-like or bell-like design and is arranged spaced apart from a further casing part such that a channel with a ring-shaped cross section is formed.
Due to the construction according to the invention, the angular momentum flow entering at the outer edge does not enter the actual impeller side space but the outer channel. The pump effect of the rotating cover shroud generates an additional blocking effect. Since all the walls are stationary in the channel, the circumferential speed is greatly reduced, with the result that a swirl brake is formed. As a result of the diversion of the angular momentum flow, the rotational speed of the fluid in the actual impeller side space is reduced, which results in an increase in the pressure and, correspondingly, the axial pressure force on the cover shroud. In this way, better compensation of the pressure force, acting oppositely, on the rear shroud is achieved. A flow region in which the radial speed decreases according to an S-shaped curve is preferably formed in the impeller side space between the impeller and the casing. Furthermore, it proves to be advantageous if a flow region in which the tangential speed remains largely constant outside the boundary layers on the rotating and stationary parts is formed between the impeller and the casing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Centrifugal pump having a radial impeller


An oral care implement that includes a handle and a head. The head, which has an exposed front surface and an exposed rear surface, may include a support structure having a perimetric wall that defines a central opening and a monolithic cleaning unit including a pad located within the central opening and molded bristles extending from the pad. The support structure and the pad may collectively define the exposed front surface and the exposed rear surface of the head. Furthermore, the support structure may have a maximum thickness of 3 mm or less measured from a front surface of the perimetric wall to a rear surface of the perimetric wall.

Conventional toothbrushes include a head with tooth cleaning elements thereon. In typical toothbrushes, the tooth cleaning elements are bristles formed of nylon or a similar filament material. In order to effectively secure such bristles to the toothbrush, the head of the toothbrush is required to have a certain thickness. In conventional toothbrushes, this thickness makes the head inflexible and burly such that user's find it difficult to adequately clean teeth located in the back of the oral cavity. Recently, toothbrushes have been manufactured with the bristles formed out of an elastomeric material via injection molding. Due to the bristles being formed out of an elastomeric material, it is possible to increase the flexibility of the head so that it can reach deeper into the oral cavity to clean the molars and other surfaces in the back of the oral cavity. There is a need to enhance oral care implements of this type to further increase their ability to reach deep into the mouth with good flexibility.


A twist controlling device for ribbon material wound in a coil about a central axis. The device controls twists in the ribbon material as it is fed from the coil to a processing machine. The device includes a gate adapted to be positioned along a ribbon feed path from the coil to the processing machine and having an opening therethrough for receiving the ribbon material. The gate is adapted to engage the ribbon and is rotatable about a gate axis generally coincident with a center of the opening for controlling twisting of the ribbon.

The present invention relates generally to continuously supplying flexible raw material generally in the form of a web to a processing machine, and more particularly to a stock of ribbon material and methods for controlling twisting of the ribbon material fed to the processing machine.
Conventional processing machines, such as those used to convert narrow ribbons of raw material into finished product, run most efficiently when a continuous feed of raw material is provided. If continuous feed of raw material is not maintained, the machine must be shut down to re-thread the ribbon material. Shutting down the machine negatively impacts the efficiency of the machine, especially machines used in high volume processes such as the production of feminine care products.
Raw absorbent material used to produce feminine care products is initially manufactured as a web of absorbent material measuring one meter or more in width. The processing machine cannot process such a wide web, so the material is trimmed to form many ribbons of a more usable narrow width. The wide web is suitably scored or sheared to form the ribbons. Typically, the ribbons are then wound onto cores to form coils or xe2x80x9cpancake slitsxe2x80x9d, so-called due to the fact they resemble pancakes when laid flat. Each coil has a thickness substantially equal to a width of the ribbon material, and each successive revolution or turn of ribbon substantially overlies the preceding revolution so that the coil is no thicker than the ribbon material is wide.
The coils are shipped to a factory where the processing machine is located, and one coil at a time is mounted on a horizontal axis spindle for continuous feed of raw material into the processing machine. The machine pulls the ribbon in a direction tangential to the coil, i.e., parallel to a plane of the coil and perpendicular to an axis of the coil, so that there is no twisting of the ribbon during feeding. The spindle is a variable-speed motorized spindle with sufficient capacity for mounting only one coil of absorbent material. The spindle is variable-speed to keep tension in the ribbon as it is fed into the machine. It will be understood that at a constant linear feed rate, the coil will rotate faster as its supply of ribbon is consumed by the machine. Due to the high cost of each spindle, no more than two spindles are typically provided at the machine. Thus, as a first coil is consumed, a second coil is mounted on the second spindle, and the trailing end of the first coil is spliced to a leading end of the second coil.
An obvious disadvantage of this arrangement is that an operator must be standing by to load coils as they are consumed by the machine. The time period between changing coils (referred to as runout time) will vary with the length of the material on the coil and the speed of use by the processing machine. In the case of a relatively high throughput feminine pad machine, a typical one thousand lineal meter coil of absorbent material will be consumed in three to nine minutes. Due to this relatively short runout time, the processing machine requires constant manpower to maintain continuous feed. Moreover, the short runout time and the difficulty of loading the bulky coil on the spindle increases the likelihood that the splice will fail (e.g., due to operator error or mechanical problems in splicing) and the likelihood that the machine will have to be shutdown for re-threading.
There are other methods of providing continuous feed material to a processing machine. For example a processing machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,178,566 (Wright) wherein the ribbon material is formed into a stack of coils, and an end of the upper coil is pulled parallel to the axis of the coil into the machine. This arrangement causes the ribbon material to twist as it is unwound. The patent shows a device for removing the twists including a rotatable guide which rotates in response to twists in the ribbon and a powered turntable which intermittently rotates the coils (i.e., rotation starts and stops repeatedly) in response to rotation of the guide.
Briefly, apparatus of this invention is a twist controlling device for ribbon material wound in a coil about a central axis. The device controls twists in the ribbon material as it is fed from the coil to a processing machine. The device includes a gate adapted to be positioned along a ribbon feed path from the coil to the processing machine and having an opening therethrough for receiving the ribbon material. The gate is adapted to engage the ribbon and is rotatable about a gate axis generally coincident with a center of the opening for controlling twisting of the ribbon.
In another aspect of the invention, a device for receiving and selectively orienting material includes a bearing assembly including an outer ring and an inner ring rotatably mounted inside the outer ring for rotation about a central gate axis. First and second rollers are rotatably mounted inside the inner ring for rotation about roller axes transverse to the gate axis. The rollers are mounted in parallel spaced relation for receiving the material therebetween. The rollers are adapted to engage the material to control the material orientation by rotation of the inner ring.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides an axial feed system of a processing machine for continuously feeding a coil of ribbon material thereto. The coil has a central axis perpendicular to a plane of the coil. The system includes an intake feed mechanism for pulling the ribbon material into the processing machine. The intake feed mechanism is adapted to pull the ribbon material from the coil in a twist-promoting direction. The intake feed mechanism includes a plurality of gates adapted for controlling twists in unwound ribbon material. Each gate includes an opening therethrough for receiving the ribbon material therethrough and is rotatable about a gate axis generally coincident with a center of the opening for controlling the twists.
Other features of the present invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

Twist controlling device, rotatable nip and axial feed system


A process is used to fabricate diodes having an emitter contacted p-n junction. A stack of n.sup.+ -type polysilicon layers are formed one upon the other upon a p-type silicon substrate. In an accordingly fabricated diode, native oxide layers that forms between the n.sup.+ -type polysilicon layer and the p-type substrate would be liable to be broken up, and thicker epitaxial layer would be formed between the same. The p-n junction is with a thickness of 0.05-0.2 .mu.m. As the diode is reverse-biased, for example at -5V, leakage current could be less than 1 n.ANG./cm.sup.2. The reverse-bias breakdown voltage could be larger than -100 V. When forward-biased, the ideality factor of the diode is close to unity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a stacked-layer structure polysilicon emitter contacted diode fabrication processes, and more specifically, to a polysilicon emitter diode formed by a stacked-amorphous-silicon film (SAS) or a stacked-polycrystalline-silicon film (SPS).
2. Background of the Invention
A conventional diode having a shallow polysilicon emitter contacted p-n junction is shown in FIG. 1. The conventional diode will be hereinafter referred to as an as-deposited poly-Si (ADP) diode, which includes a p-type substrate of silicon 10, a single layer of heavily doped n.sup.+ -type polysilicon 30, and an aluminum layer 40 used as the electrode. Between the n.sup.+ -type polysilicon layer 30 and the p-type silicon substrate 10 is there formed a n.sup.+ -p junction 11, which has a shallow depth of about 0.2 .mu.m. Since the n.sup.+ -p junction 11 is buried into the p-type substrate 10, it is customarily termed as "an polysilicon emitter contacted p-n junction".
The process for fabricating the conventional ADP diode of FIG. 1 includes in general a first step of depositing a layer of pure polysilicon upon the p-type substrate 10 and a second step of implanting donor impurities such as arsenic ions or phosphorus ions onto the pure polysilicon layer to form the n.sup.+ -type polysilicon layer 30 and a final step of forming the aluminum layer 40. At the second step, the ion implantation process is controlled in such a manner that donor ions penetrate the p-type substrate 10 and whereby a shallow n.sup.+ -p junction is formed. The implantation is controlled in such a manner that the donor ions diffuse to a predetermined extent, i.e. the depth of the n.sup.+ -p junction, into the p-type substrate.
The drawback of the conventional ADP diode of FIG. 1 is that undesired thin layer of native oxide formed between the n.sup.+ -type polysilicon layer 30 and the p-type substrate 10 is difficult to break up completely. As a consequence, there is caused a nonuniform junction and an unstable electrical characteristics of the polysilicon emitter contacted device.

Stacked-layer structure polysilicon emitter contacted p-n junction diode