To find the intersection curves of the two given surfaces, is required in many operation such as NC machining and solid geometric modeling surface creation. Normally, the intersection of two surfaces is not unique. In order to generate a proper tool path or to create a correct boundary surface, all the intersection curves must be found.. A new method of finding all the intersection curves of two surfaces has been developed. This new method is based on the use of a plane vector field VF induced by the two given surfaces. The system constructs the 2D vector field VF and uses the integral curves of VF to locate the first intersection curve SC. After the first intersection curve has been found, the system locates all the initial points on SC. Then, it follows the connecting curves of the initial points to locate the other intersection curves. Furthermore, the initial points on the newly found curves will lead the system to other intersection curves. By following all the connecting curves, the system will find them all. Once all the intersection curves are found, the system is able to select the desired tool path or construct the correct surface.. Additionally, the absolute distance d between two surfaces can be calculated by using the same method. The value d is used for checking the clearance of moving a cutter along a tool path.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to solid geometric modeling system that are used for computer aided geometric design and computer aided manufacturing, and more particularly to methods of using a computer for calculating the intersection curves of two surfaces to facilitate the creation of correct NC data and the creation of new boundary faces.
B. The Prior Art
With the adventure of computers, computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) became a subject of widespread interest. Since the 1960's, a lot of research and development have been conducted in this area. Recently, most of the research are directed toward the development of a solid geometric modeling system with boundary representation.
A solid geometric modeling system is a computer graphic system which is used to create solid objects. After an object is created, there are different ways to represent this object in a computer. If the system constructs and stores all the geometric information of the boundary surfaces of the object, then it is called a solid modeling system with boundary representation. The stored boundary information is called the boundary file of the solid. FIG. 7b represents a typical boundary file of a solid geometric modeling system.
There are also different ways to create a solid object. The most commonly used method is to combine simple primitives together to form a more complicated object. The set (Boolean) operations such as union intersection and difference are used for the combination. FIG. 8b illustrates the union operation performed by a solid geometric modeling system. In order to combine two objects A and B and calculate its boundary, the intersections of the boundary surfaces of A and B must be calculated. FIG. 9a shows the object before the boundary file is constructed and FIG. 9b shows the constructed boundary file. Hence, finding the intersection curves of two boundary surfaces, becomes a fundamental tool in constructing the boundary file of an object. Furthermore, once an object (or a part) is constructed (modeled), the boundary file stored in the database can be used to compute the cutter paths of a numerical controlled (NC) machine. And the computed data is used to drive the machine and produce the part automatically. In general, a cutter path of a NC machine is a curve C which lies on a boundary surface S of the part. And C can be defined as the intersection of two surfaces. One of the surface is S and the other is an offset surface of the boundary.
In the case of two complex surfaces, it is important to find all the intersection curves. Otherwise, the new boundary surface constructed by the set operation will not be correct and the target NC tool path may be missed in the automatic generation process. In generating a tool path, it is also important to check the position of the cutter such that at each step the cutter will not run into the surface and destroy the part. The distance (clearance) between the cutter surfaces and the boundary surfaces must be calculated at each step to insure the cutter is keeping a distance from the part.
FIG. 1 gives the overall structure of a solid geometric system with boundary file representation. The center bold block contains surface/surface intersection processor and distance finder. It performs multiple functions, including (1) to support the Boolean operation to construct the boundary file, (2) to generate the NC cutter path, (3) to check the clearance of the cutter motion and others.
The most difficult part in using a computer to calculate the surface/surface intersections is to find all the intersections without missing any curves and also without loosing the performance of the system. However, a closed form solution does not exist for the general surface/surface intersection problem. Also, the power series expansion (or the algebraic approximation) of a general surface at a local point cannot describe the entire surface. The global structure of the two surfaces must be known in order to locate all the intersection curves.
There are many different ways to solve this problem. For example, see "Surface/Surface Intersection Problems", M. J. Pratt & A. D. Geisow, 1987. A reasonable approach is to use polygons to approximate the two surfaces and use computer to calculate the rough intersection curves. In FIG. 10, the cylinder is approximated by a set of planes. Then the intersection curve of the two surfaces is approximated by the intersections of the planes. This approach will work for many cases, but unfortunately it may fail to obtain the tangent curves or touching points or small intersection curves. This is due to the fact that by using the polygon approximations, the computer cannot obtain local detail information of the two given surfaces within finite steps and decompositions Other widely accepted methods such as using subdivision method or using uv-curves of the first surface to intersect the second surface, have the same deficiency.

Method of finding the surface intersections and the shortest distance between two aribtrary surfaces


The invention relates to a method for processing of a three-dimensional image data set, wherein the three-dimensional image data set is converted to a data set suitable for a two-dimensional image reproduction. The invention further relates to apparatuses for performing the required calculations and/or for reproduction of the data representations. The invention is particularly appropriate for medical applications of endoscopy, in particular, coloscopy.

In medical science, the endoscopy of a colon by means of an endoscope is referred to as coloscopy and the respective specifically designed endoscopes are known as coloscopes. A coloscope comprises an optical system usually connected with a display device to allow for diagnosis by a physician. Insertion of a coloscope in the colon is sensed as being intrusive or even painful by many patients and always, in particular, in the case of enteritis/colitis, includes a risk of penetrating the intestinal wall.
As an alternative virtual coloscopy has been developed during which no physical coloscope has to be inserted in the patient's body any longer. Instead of coloscopes methods and apparatuses used in computer tomography/magnetic resonance imaging are used to detect data and to visualize the data. Progress of virtual coloscopy has significantly been advanced by the fact that due to the increased computational power of present day computers expensive image processing can readily be carried out.
With virtual coloscopy, a large number of spatially resolved parallel slices is recorded by a tomographic means. Each of these slices corresponds to a set of two-dimensional image data. These data sets are numerically converted to a three-dimensional image data set. From this three-dimensional image, data set two-dimensional image data can be calculated again that are independent of the direction of the original slice (cut), e.g., oblique to this direction. Usually the two- and three-dimensional image data are reproduced by means of a two-dimensional display device (monitor, photo, etc.), namely they are visualized as sectional views (i.e. all of the displayed pixels belong to one intersection plane) or as pseudo-three-dimensional images that create a three-dimensional impression in a way similar to conventional photography (the pixels do not originate from a plane surface).
It should be noted that it could not be decided a priori which one of the views is most suitable for the most accurate diagnosis. Whereas the (pseudo)-three-dimensional data representations are rather demonstrative due to the spatial impression given and thus, are helpful for the spatial orientation, it is particularly for these views that possible anomalies as lesions are hidden by tissue (e.g. by a colon fold) and therefore are invisible. Contrarily, in sectional views such a concealing does not occur. However, the sectional views are not very helpful for a medical treatment that usually requires a three-dimensional coordination.


The present disclosure relates to nutritional compositions containing a fiber blend that includes soluble fibers that are fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS), acacia gum and inulin and also includes insoluble fibers that are outer pea fibers. In an embodiment, the fiber blend includes about 50% soluble fibers and about 50% insoluble fibers, and the soluble fibers are FOS in an amount of about 41% by weight of the soluble fibers, acacia gum in an amount of about 41% by weight of the soluble fibers, and inulin in an amount of about 18% by weight of the soluble fibers. In such an embodiment, the insoluble fibers are outer pea fibers. The present disclosure also relates to methods that include administering a therapeutically effective amount of a fiber blend that includes FOS, acacia gum, inulin and outer pea fibers to a patient after antibiotic treatment.

The present disclosure is related to nutritional compositions comprising dietary fibers for reducing intestinal pathogens and also is related to methods of reducing intestinal pathogens.
Enteral feeding with standard compositions has been shown to cause adverse alterations in gut microbiota and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production and is also associated with increased risk of Clostridium difficile colonization. These outcomes are also observed with overuse of antibiotics. For example, antibiotics are often administered to treat Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and pouchitis but can also adversely affect gut microbiota as an unintended consequence.
C. difficile is the leading cause of nosocomial diarrhea and is increasing in virulence and resistance to antimicrobials. Antibiotics are the primary form of treatment for C. difficile, and some antibiotics are effective against C. difficile. However, mortality from C. difficile infection is increasing. In addition, antibiotic treatment causes further alterations in gut microbiota and interruptions in SCFA production. For example, antibiotics inhibit bacterial growth or kill not only harmful bacteria but also populations of intestinal bacteria that are not harmful and that aid digestion of food and provide other additional health benefits.
Probiotic bacteria have been used for prevention of C. difficile infection, but most studies are underpowered to determine efficacy. According to the 2010 Clinical Practice Guidelines published by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), administration of probiotic bacteria is not recommended to prevent or treat C. difficile infection due to limited data and potential for bloodstream infection.
The present disclosure advantageously restores microbiota balance, unlike antibiotic treatment which further disrupts the microbiota. In addition, fiber blends as disclosed herein do not increase the risk of bloodstream infection, which is a concern with probiotics.

Nutritional compositions for reducing intestinal pathogens


A toner image height measurement apparatus capable of accurately measuring heights of toner images of respective colors with a relatively simple construction and without being affected by toner colors. With motion of an image carrier, there occurs a change in reflection light amount detected by a photodiode of the height measurement apparatus in timing when laser light having been irradiated onto the image carrier starts to be irradiated onto or intercepted by a toner image and in timing when the laser light having been irradiated onto the toner image starts to be irradiated onto the image carrier. Based on a principle that these timings vary according to a toner image height, the height measurement apparatus detects the timing when the reflection light amount changes by a predetermined amount, thereby detecting the toner image height.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner image height measurement apparatus for measuring the height of a toner image carried on an image carrier, and relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a laser printer, or a facsimile machine, mounted with the toner image height measurement apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are mainly the following two types of electrophotographic full-color image forming apparatuses. The first one is called a four-cycle type in which an imaging apparatus having one photosensitive member is provided and toner images of plural colors are sequentially formed on the photosensitive member by an electrophotographic process according to image information and then transferred onto a transfer member so as to be superimposed one upon another, while rotating the transfer member which is in contact with the photosensitive member. Another one is called a tandem type in which imaging apparatuses each having one photosensitive member are provided and toner images of plural colors are formed on respective ones of the photosensitive members of the imaging apparatuses by an electrophotographic process according to image information and then sequentially transferred onto a transfer member so as to be superimposed one upon another, while rotating the transfer member which is in sequential contact with the photosensitive members. In most of these types of image forming apparatuses, an intermediate transfer member has recently been used in the transfer of toner images onto the transfer member.
With the above image forming apparatus, even if an image is formed under the same setting condition, the density of the formed image varies due to variations in image forming parameters such as toner charge amount, sensitivity of photosensitive member, and transfer efficiency and due to variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity.
Conventionally, therefore, the density or the height of a toner image developed on the photosensitive member or on the intermediate transfer member is detected, and based on a detection result, toner replenishment and/or image forming parameters such as charge potential, image exposure light amount, and developing bias are controlled.
A technique for detecting the toner image density or the toner image height is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 4-156479, 8-327331, and 2007-199591. In the following, this technique will be described in brief with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.
FIG. 14 schematically illustrates the toner thickness detection method.
First, a toner patch (toner image) 105 is formed on an image carrier 106 such as a photosensitive member or an intermediate transfer member. Then, light from a light source 101 such as a laser diode is collected on a surface of the toner patch 105 by alight collecting lens 102. Light reflected from the toner patch 105 is received by a light receiving lens 103 and formed into an image on a line sensor 104 that picks up a spatial intensity distribution (light intensity distribution) of the formed image.
Although not illustrated in FIG. 14, the image picked up by the line sensor 104 (i.e., a reflection waveform obtained from the toner patch 105) is converted into a digital signal, to thereby obtain reflection waveform data which is then stored in a memory and from which an amount of toner adhesion is determined by a signal processing unit. In the following, a method for determining the amount of toner adhesion is described.
FIG. 15 illustrates reflection waveforms obtained by the line sensor 104.
As shown in FIG. 15, reflection waveforms each having a peak near the center position on the line sensor 104 can be obtained by the line sensor 104. Since a light path length from the light source 101 to an upper surface of the toner patch 105 differs from a light path length from the light source 101 to an upper surface of the image carrier 106, a position on the line sensor 104 where an image of reflection light from the surface of the toner patch 105 is formed differs from a position where an image of reflection light from the surface of the image carrier 106 is formed. In other words, a difference between the positions of the peaks of the reflection waveforms (toner reflection waveform 201 and image carrier reflection waveform 202 in FIG. 15) varies according to the thickness of the toner patch 105, and therefore, the thickness of the toner (i.e., the amount of toner adhesion) can be measured from the difference (shown at Pd in FIG. 15) between the peak positions of the reflection waveforms.
The above method can be used effectively for color toner images (yellow, magenta, cyan, etc.) from which reflection light having a sufficient intensity can be obtained. On the other hand, for a black toner image, especially, for a high-density black toner image, a problem is posed that the toner image height cannot be measured with accuracy for the reason that a sufficient amount of reflection light cannot be obtained, as will be described below with reference to FIG. 16.
FIG. 16 is a graph showing a distribution of light amount (reflection waveform 201) obtained by the line sensor 104 in a case where the height of a black toner image is detected by the above described method.
Since most of light irradiated from the light source 101 is absorbed by the black toner, the intensity of a signal obtained by the line sensor 104 becomes extremely small as shown by the reflection waveform 201 in FIG. 16. It is therefore difficult to accurately identify the position of the peak of the reflection waveform 201, and the toner image height cannot be detected with high accuracy.

Toner image height measurement apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same


A motorcycle saddlebag mounting device having a restricting means for staggering timings of yawing occurring in a motorcycle body and resonance caused by lateral swing of a saddlebag is provided. The restricting means is provided between a support bracket mounted to a seat rail and a saddlebag mounting frame rotatably mounted to the support bracket. Rotation of the frame with respect to the support bracket is restricted, so that resonance caused by yawing of the motorcycle body and lateral swing of the saddlebag is cancelled out.

As this kind of saddlebag mounting device, a motorcycle saddlebag mounting device disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-3-3117 is known. This conventional saddlebag mounting device will be described with reference to FIG. 11.
Referring to FIG. 11, a saddlebag mounting device 100 has a step holder 102 and a side grip 103 mounted to a body frame 101. A support stay 104 is mounted between the step holder 102 and the side grip 103. A support shaft 105 inclined with respect to a vertical direction of the body is rotatably provided between the step holder 102 and the support stay 104, mounted swingably about a pin 105a with respect to the support stay 104. A frame 106 to which a saddlebag 108 is mounted is fixed at both its ends to the shaft 105. An elastic member 107 is interposed between the support stay 104 and the frame 106. The elastic member 107 damps rotation of the frame 106 accompanying rotation of the support shaft 105.
Mounting the saddlebag 108 to the body and putting a heavy load in the saddlebag 108 increases oscillations of the motorcycle body in high-speed driving. One of the motorcycle body oscillations is a yawing resonance frequency.
Further, since the support stay 104 is supported between the step holder 102 and the side grip 103 in the above-described structure, variations in mounting dimensions of the support stay 104 are likely to occur.
It is thus desired to be able to mount the support stay 104 or the like to the motorcycle body with high precision and to reduce the occurrence of yawing.


An artificial intelligence self-learning-based automatic electrocardiography analysis method and apparatus, the method comprising data preprocessing, heartbeat feature detection, interference signal detection and heartbeat classification based on deep learning, signal quality evaluation and lead combination, heartbeat verification, analysis and calculation of electrocardiography events and parameters, and finally automatic output of reporting data, realizing an automated analysis method having a complete and rapid flow. The automatic electrocardiography analysis method may also record modification information of an automatic analysis result, collect modified data, and feed same back to the depth learning model to continue training, thereby continuously making improvements and improving the accuracy of the automatic analysis method.

In 1908, Einthoven began to use electrocardiogram (ECG) to monitor electrophysiological activities of a heart. At present, noninvasive ECG examination has become one of important methods for diagnosis and screening of heart diseases in clinical cardiovascular field. ECG examination may be divided into several categories such as resting ECG, ambulatory ECG and exercise ECG according to clinical application. The resting ECG adopts 12-lead system (standard lead system) invented by Einthoven-Wilson-Goldberger to analyze 8-30 seconds of recorded ECG signals, which has a positive value for diagnosis and analysis of various arrhythmias and conduction block, and is the earliest, most commonly used and most basic diagnosis method in the diagnosis of coronary heart disease. The ambulatory ECG may continuously record a whole process of ECG activities for 24 hours to many days, including ECG information under different conditions such as rest, activities, meals, work, study and sleep, and it may find non-sustained arrhythmias that are not easily found by routine ECG examination, and determine whether symptoms such as palpitation, dizziness, fainting of patients are related to arrhythmias, such as extreme bradycardia, cardiac arrest, conduction block, ventricular tachycardia and the like, to improve a detection rate of transient arrhythmia and transient myocardial ischemic attack, which is an important objective basis for clinical analysis of diseases, establishment of diagnosis and judgment of curative effect. After Holter introduced ambulatory ECG to the clinic in 1957, a simplified and improved standard lead system (Mason-Likar system) was generally used. The amount of measuring leads may be 12, 6 or 3, or even single-lead cardiac patches, greatly improving the practicability of the ambulatory ECG. The exercise ECG, an exercise load test of the ECG, records and analyzes changes of the ECG caused by increasing heart load through a certain amount of exercise, which is a common auxiliary method for clinical evaluation of coronary heart disease.
Although most ECG analysis software in the market may analyze data automatically, due to the complexity and variability of ECG signals themselves, it is easy to be subjected to various interference noises in the process of wearing a machine. At present, the accuracy of automatic analysis software is far from enough to help doctors correctly analyze ECG data and give correct analysis reports in a relatively short time.
Using mature methods in artificial intelligence deep learning to improve the accuracy of traditional ECG analysis algorithms, especially applying Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) image identification technology to automatic extraction and classification of ECG features, is currently an important research direction in artificial intelligence (AI) medical field. In July 2017, a team from Stanford University led by Professor Andrew NG, a famous AI expert, published a latest research result in this field on arXiv. They used a 34-layer CNN model to detect arrhythmias on single-lead Holter data. Specifically, training data came from 64,121 samples of 29,163 patients. Each sample was single-lead data with a length of 30 seconds and a sample rate of 200 Hz. Each second of data corresponds to the Rhythm Type labeled and reviewed by qualified ECG experts, with a total of 14 labeled types, including 12 common arrhythmia events, a normal sinus rhythm and a noise type. The trained model labeled data by using a single-lead gold standard with a same sample rate to perform 14 types of events identification on each second of input data. At the same time, compared with labeled results of 6 ECG experts, the conclusion was that the artificial intelligence method exceeded an average level of the results of 6 ECG experts in both sensitivity and precision. However, this method has some problems that need to be further solved: (a) the types of heart rhythm events identified are not perfect, and there is no special treatment for low voltage, heart arrest and other situations; (b) the model is trained for single-lead Holter, however, in actual use, there are a large number of multi-lead ECG examinations, especially standard 12-lead devices and 3-lead devices commonly used in the ambulatory ECG, and multi-lead analysis may more comprehensively and correctly analyze arrhythmia, conduction block and locate ST segment and T wave changes, these functions may not be reflected in single-lead model analysis; (c) although noise is considered in this method, the noise is only treated as a special heart rhythm event, which is not in conformity with medical laws, and the nature of the noise is not analyzed and identified, to remove influence of the noise on subsequent analysis; (d) the method does not have the capability of automatically generating reports, especially after analyzing all digital signals, automatically intercepting the most typical segments with the best signal quality to generate image reports; (e) in addition, the method does not explain how to be applied into the whole process of 8-30 seconds resting ECG analysis and 24 hours ambulatory ECG analysis, combining with the prior art, for improving the overall work quality and efficiency of clinical analysts, which are the most common and urgent requirements in ECG analysis at present.
Therefore, how to help hospitals, especially a vast number of basic hospitals at all levels, effectively improve an automatic analysis level of the ECG by using the most advanced scientific and technological method, artificial intelligence technology, under a difficult condition that there are not enough professional doctors to interpret the ECG, is a difficult problem and challenge to be solved by the present disclosure.

Artificial intelligence self-learning-based automatic electrocardiography analysis method and apparatus


A lateral test flow arrangement for a test molecule is disclosed, comprising: a test strip for transporting an analyte away from a sampling region and towards an absorbing region, the test strip having therein and remote from the sampling region, a test region for functionalization with a molecule which binds to the test molecule or to a conjugate of the test molecule; a sensing test capacitor having electrodes extending across the test strip at least partially aligned with the test region and being physically isolated therefrom; a reference test capacitor having electrodes extending across the test strip and being physically isolated therefrom; and an electronic circuit configured to measure a time-dependant capacitance difference between the sensing test capacitor and the reference test capacitor. A method for carrying out that lateral flow tests is also disclosed, as are test systems and in particular pregnancy test systems.

A conventional lateral flow test apparatus comprises an elongate membrane along which a sample analyte flows. The sample analyte may or may not contain a test molecule at a concentration level of interest. Typically, at a specific test region, the membrane is impregnated with molecules which are chosen because they interact either with the test molecule, or with a marker molecule which may be conjugated with the test molecule. The impregnated molecules are typically bioreceptors. The presence of the test molecule in the sample analyte, at or above the concentration level of interest, results in an accumulation of the markup at the test line. Provided the marker is optically active, once a sufficiently high concentration of markers has accumulated at the test line, this may be observed by the user of the test apparatus. The test region is typically defined as a test line which extends across the membrane, but does not extend significantly along it, so may have dimensions of: the membrane width (across the membrane)×0.5-1.5 mm and typically 1 mm (along the membrane).
In order to avoid false-negative results (or in some instances false positive, as will be discussed below in relation to competitive assays results), lateral flow tests generally include a control line at which marker molecules may also accumulate. The presence of a visual change at the control line provides confirmation of adequate flow along the lateral flow test apparatus.
In order to reduce the inherent subjectivity of a visual inspection by the user, it has been proposed to replace the visual inspection by an integrated optical system. Such an optical lateral flow test system which uses LEDs as a light source and photodiodes as an optical measuring device is disclosed in international patent application Publication WO2009/144507-A1.
International patent application Publication WO02/10754 discloses an assay apparatus comprising a means of providing quantitative measurement of an analyte in which a meter determines, with polymer coated electrodes, the increase in capacitance of a region of a test strip, wherein the change in capacitance is directly related to the quantity of bound labelled target analyte, and thus to the quantity of target analyte in a patient sample.

Electronic lateral flow test arrangement and method


Power assist of steering wheel by an electric motor is carried out by the sum of an assist motor current generated based on the output of a torsion torque sensor and a compensating current generated in dependency on the variation rate of the output of the torsion torque sensor. An assist torque current correction circuit controls the compensating current such that the amount of the compensating current is reduced in accordance with an increase in steering angle of the steering system.

The present invention relates to a control device of an electric power steering system for a motor vehicle.
There is known an electric power steering system for a motor vehicle wherein a steering force is assisted by the output of an electric motor for reducing the steering force. However, in the steering system of this kind, a response delay of an electric signal transmitted through an electric circuit produces a time delay between the detection of the steering force by a torque sensor and the generation of the assisting force in the electric motor. The time delay causes resistance force against outer disturbance to reduce and thus self-oscillations may occur when the steering wheel is turned while the motor vehicle stops. Furthermore, under the effect of inertia of the electric motor and friction of the speed-reduction mechanism, the response characteristics of the power steering system is reduced, and then the driver feels uncomfortable.
In order to overcome the above described difficulty, a device wherein a signal proportional to the differential of the torque signal is added to the torque signal of the steering shaft has been proposed by the applicant of the present invention, and is now published as Japanese Pat. Laid-Open No. 115771/1986. However, if the control of the steering wheel is too sensitive and the assist force of the electric motor is large even at a small steering angle, the steering force would be reduced and light, and the response characteristic of the steering operation would be much improved, while the motor vehicle is running on a straight road. To the contrary, if the steering wheel is turned greatly and quickly, the steering operation becomes too sensitive, and adverse effect of over-steering tends to occur.

Control device of electric power steering system for motor vehicle


A centering stand (2) for positioning a work piece for rotary skiving and roller burnishing operations resulting in a hollow cylinder (4). The centering stand includes a vice (8) having a pair of grips (26, 26') for retaining the cylinder in proper position for rotary operations. A base plate (10) is movable together with the vice between a raised position supporting the cylinder and a lower position removed therefrom. The centering stand includes a plurality of guide members (14) having a track (20) formed on in inner surface (15) of each of the guide members for movement of the base plate in the track. The track includes a recess (21) formed on the inner surface of each guide member and a track plate (19) mounted to an outer surface of the guide members. Thus, the base vertically slides within the recesses and is retained in the track by the track plate. Positive positioning means (12) automatically locates the base plate to ensure alignment and centering of the cylinder in proper position for rotary operation, thereby minimizing bowing of the cylinder. The positive positioning means includes a dovetail (24) formed on an upper surface (9) of the base plate and a lip (22) cooperating with the dovetail disposed at an upper end (13) of the guide members. A lift (16) is provided for moving the base plate within the track.

The present invention relates to a centering stand for positioning a work piece for rotary skiving and roller burnishing operations in a hollow cylinder.
Rotary skiving tools are used to accurately cut small quantities of material from the wall of a cylindrical hole. After the skiving tool has made a pass through the work piece, it is usually drawn back through the newly worked hole. Skiving tools are often used in combination with a roller burnishing tool so that the skiving tool first cuts or shaves off a small amount of material from the hole and then the roller burnishing tool, mounted coaxially on the same drive shaft with the skiving tool, burnishes the hole to a smooth finish.
If the diameter of the interior of a cylinder is very close to its nominal diameter, the roller burnishing operation will typically proceed quite smoothly. However, if the diameter of the cut cylinder is slightly oversized, the interior surface of the cylinder may not be sufficiently burnished. If the diameter is somewhat smaller than nominal, caused by cutting tool wear or other variables, the effective fixed diameter of the rollers will cause excessive working of the interior surface of the cylinder, requiring large forces to drive the tool through the cylinder, and often resulting in jamming of the tool inside the cylinder. Additionally, an out-of-tolerance hole or an out-of-alignment cylinder may cause jamming as well. If jamming does occur, the tool often cannot be retrieved intact, resulting in destruction of an extremely expensive working tool.
A roller burnishing tool is typically inserted into the cylinder through a draw tube to align it with the interior of the cylinder. The draw tube has the same or nearly the same diameter as the cylinder, and the roller burnishing tool as described above will roller burnish the draw tube on each cycle. Eventually, the draw tube becomes oversized, and the draw tube will not accurately align the tool with the cylinder, again resulting in jamming.
Hollow cylinders are employed in various applications, including use as hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders. These cylinders vary in length from 31 inches to 24 feet. Diameters range from 2-7 inches. Both thin-walled and heavy wall cylinders are used, depending upon the specific application. Thin-walled cylinders are often advantageous because of weight and cost considerations while heavy walled cylinders may be necessary for applications requiring additional strength. However, both thin-walled and heavy walled cylinders exhibit characteristics causing jamming of the tool. Thin-walled cylinders tend to bow, causing the cylinder to become out of alignment with the tool. Heavy walled cylinders tend to rotate during rotary operations, also resulting in the tool becoming out of alignment. In either case, the tool must be properly aligned and secured to avoid jamming, and resultant destruction of the expensive tool and workpiece.
Various improvements have been made adaptable for use with rotary skiving and roller burnishing apparatus. One such feature is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,693 entitled "Retractable Knife For Skiving Tool" issued on Jan. 17, 1984, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.


The invention relates to a technique for managing a right of access to a network for a communicating device (20). The communicating device detects a connection to a charging unit (10) and transmits a charging request to a processing device (30). This charging request comprises an estimate of a requested amount of energy and a battery identifier. On receiving charging agreement, the communicating device supplies the battery identified by the charging unit with power according to the agreed amount of energy. The right of access of the communicating device to the network is extended in the network according to the agreed amount of energy.

The technique for managing a right of access to a network lies within the field of communicating devices having a rechargable battery-based power supply.
The term "communicating device" or "connected device" is understood to mean a device able to exchange information with other devices. Among these devices, a distinction is drawn for those that exchange information via a communication network administered by a network operator, with, where applicable, another device, a communication terminal or computer equipment of the communication network. The communication network may be based on cellular mobile network technologies, known as 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G, and on low-consumption and long-range LPWA (for "low power wide area") network technologies, such as the LoRa network.
From the point of view of the user, communicating by means of what are known as long-range networks is distinguished from communicating by means of what are known as short-range networks (such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave, etc.) through the following advantages:                independence from intermediary equipment for accessing a wide area communication network;        security: the majority of long-range technologies intrinsically incorporate security features, such as authentication and encryption, which offer a native security guarantee for applications implemented on this network;        ease of configuration and of use: there is no need to configure a security key or to perform pairing, which operations may prove to be extremely complex for the user when the device does not incorporate a screen or has limited input/output peripherals, or for users not used to using this type of technology.
To connect a communicating device to a long-range communication network, it is generally necessary to subscribe to an offer from the operator of the communication network. The communicating device may then connect autonomously and transparently for its user to access points of the communication network that are compatible with the communication means of the communicating device.
However, it is often not easy for the user of the communicating device to manage the right of access to the network allowing them to access the network of the operator. A right of access to the network in the form of a subscription to the operator entails recurring charges. A right of access to the network in the form of prepaid credit requires this credit to be topped up once it has run out.

Technique for managing a right of access to a network for a communicating device


The present invention relates to a method of separating rare earth elements from rare earth polishing powder waste by a hydrometallurgical process, the method comprising the steps of: synthesizing sodium rare-earth double sulfates by adding sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide to the rare earth polishing powder waste; converting the sodium rare-earth double sulfates into rare earth hydroxides; and separating cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), and neodymium (Nd) from the rare earth hydroxides by adding hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid. The present invention makes it possible to recover 99% or more of rare earth elements, including cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), and neodymium (Nd) from rare earth polishing powder waste, and enables the recovered rare earth elements to be recycled, thereby achieving great industrial economic benefits.

Many industries have become highly dependent on products that cannot be made without using rare earth metals (REEs) (Yu Y et al., A review. J. Rare Earths, 2015, 33: 453; Chen L et al., J. Rare Earths, 2015, 33: 107). Although the importance of REEs is increasing, the price of REEs is not stable due to a large change in supply (Baldi L. et al., Energy Policy, 2014, 66:53). For example, if China, which monopolizes the supply of rare earth metals, supplies a limited amount of rare earth metals, such supply cannot meet the demand of other countries (Wubbeke J. et al., Res. Policy, 2013, 38: 384). For this reason, many trading corporations and manufacturers in the world have recognized REEs as industrially and economically important resources, and thus have been planning their strategies to secure a stable supply.
As such, it is believed that waste containing REEs as part of ensuring a stable supply can play an important role in supplying resources, and many researchers have actively conducted studies on the recovery of REEs from various types of REEs-containing wastes. Indeed, a large amount of wastes containing REEs have been produced in various industry links, including rare metal radioactive residues, hydrometallurgy residues, polishing powders, rare metal catalysts, magnetic materials, disused hydrogen storage batteries, etc. (Tao X. et al., J. Rare Earths, 2009, 27: 1096).
In the polishing powder industry, REEs are regarded as ideal polishing material, and showed increased efficiency when actually used in industrial polishing processes (Beaudry B. J. et al., Handbook on the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths, 1978, 1: 173). For example, rare earth-based oxides have been widely used as polishing powder for glass, semiconductors and ceramics. This is because these oxides have crystalline structures with high polishing ability, mechanical strength and abrasion resistance. In particular, the fact that cerium oxide (CeO2) is a representative rare earth-based oxide showing such characteristics has been proved by numerous studies (Ong N. S. et al., Mater. Proc. Technol., 1998, 83: 261), and in recent years, the dependency of cerium oxide in rare earth-based oxides has started to increase. For this reason, rare earth polishing powder wastes (REPPWs) that currently occurs after polishing processes contain cerium oxide (CeO2) as a main component and also contain small amounts of rare earth oxides such as La2O3, Pr2O3 and Nd2O3. However, polishing powder wastes contain not only rare earth oxides, but also polishing target residues consisting mostly of Al, Ca and Si components, which interfere with recycling of the polishing powder wastes. As mentioned above, research on the recovery of rare earths from rare earth polishing powder wastes (REPPWs), which are not easy to recycle, is urgently needed to ensure a smooth supply of REEs.
Among hydrometallurgical processes, an acid leaching process employing a sulfuric acid solution is the most general method that can recover REEs from REPPWs (Um N. et al., Mater. Trans., 2013, 54: 713). However, the acid leaching process has some drawbacks in terms of separation and recovery. Because acid leaching can dissolve not only the materials to be recovered, but also other materials, another method is needed to separate these ions after acid leaching. Namely, if REEs are dissolved in an acid solution, it is inevitably difficult to purify these REEs from non-rare earth ions (Al, Ca, etc.). Since non-rare earth ions that are present together with rare earth oxides may have similar chemical and physical properties, it is considerably difficult to separate individual elements.
Accordingly, the present inventors have made extensive efforts to solve the above-described problems occurring in the prior art, and as a result, have found that rare earth elements contained in polishing powder waste can be separated from impurities such as aluminum, silicon, calcium, magnesium and the like by an effective wet process and thus recycled, thereby completing the present invention.

Method of separating rare earth elements from rare earth polishing powder wastes

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH


A tracer system comprising a tracer compound for a fluid system, the tracer compound comprising one or more polyether alcohol compounds. The one or more polyether alcohol compounds is arranged for being placed in contact with a first part of said fluid system. The one or more polyether alcohol compounds is truly monodisperse. The polyether alcohol compounds comprises one or more functional groups. The one or more truly monodisperse polyether alcohol compounds is arranged for being detected in a second part of the fluid system in fluid communication with said first part of said fluid system. The tracer compound is detectable in very low concentrations.

There have been many attempts at using tracers to characterize hydrocarbon wells, the most relevant being discussed in brief below.
Present methods for detecting water intrusion include the use of fluorescent materials, radioactive materials, peptides and amino acids amongst others. However these compounds are not always easily detectable in low concentrations.
WO0181914 concerns a method for monitoring the hydrocarbon and water production from different production zones in a hydrocarbon reservoir or injection wells and detection of different phenomena such as e.g. local variations in pH, salinity, hydrocarbon composition, temperature, pressure, micro organisms, and the difference/ratio between production of formation and/or injection water from various zones in a hydrocarbon reservoir. The method comprises dividing regions around wells in the reservoir into a number of sections, and injecting or placing specific tracers with unique characteristics for each section into the formation in these regions. The tracers are chemically immobilized/integrated in the formation or in constructions/filters around the wells, the tracers (tracer carriers) being chemically intelligent and released as a function of specific events. Detecting the tracers after the entry point, provides information about the various zones. There is solely mention of PEG-materials being part of the carrier material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,489 describes a method for determining flow patterns within a subterranean formation penetrated by a spaced apart injection system and production system that comprises injecting into the formation at a predetermined depth from the injection system a solution containing a small amount of one or more water-soluble tracer compounds, recovering said tracer in the production system, determining the depth of recovery, and identifying said tracer compounds by gas chromatography and flame ionization detector; said tracer compounds being water-soluble organic compounds having phosphorus, nitrogen, or sulphur in the molecule.
WO2007132137 describes a method for the characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs using biological tags.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,471 describes a method wherein formation fluid flows in earth formations opposite a perforated well bore zone are measured and monitored by injecting radioactive tracers into the perforations, blocking the perforations to retain the tracers in the formation, monitoring the apparent decay rates of the injected tracers, and then determining the rate at which the tracers are being carried away by fluid movements in the formation. From this the flow rate of the fluids in the earth formations adjacent the borehole interval is inferred.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,670,605 describes a method wherein a formation fluid analysis module utilizes a down-hole mass spectrometer to determine the molecular constituents of formation fluids, as distinguished from drilling contaminants, and to provide information about the physical and chemical properties of the sample.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,663 describes a method for quantitatively measuring the characteristic physical parameters of a porous medium, such as an aquifer that is initially recharged at a recharge rate and subsequently discharged at a discharge rate by a pumped fluid utilizing a single well into which a tracer is injected during recharge, and at which the tracer is subsequently detected during discharge. A measurement of the elapsed time, together with a formula based on a convective physical model relating the characteristic parameters to the time measurements is provided.
The use of PEG tracers has to some degree been discussed in various journals. Analytica Chimica Acta Volume 611, Issue 2, "A solid-phase extraction and size-exclusion liquid chromatographic method for polyethylene glycol 25 p-aminobenzoic acid determination in urine: Validation for urinary excretion studies of users of sunscreens" for instance describes the detection of a PEG derivate in sunscreen such that the detection of sunscreen levels in human urine is allowed. However PEG compound is not used as a tracer, it is a naturally occurring compound in the sunscreen.
Commercially available polymer products are usually prepared in a way that gives a broad range of molecular weight. Molecular weight can be measured as an average by weight or number and the ratio between these, Mw/Mn, s called the breath of the distribution. Most polymers made by free-radical or coordination polymerization of vinyl monomers have ratios from 2 to about 10, while very highly branched polymers like polyethylene made by free-radical, high pressure processes, will have ratios of 20 and more.
Poly ethylene glycol (PEG) is the most commercially important type of polyether. Polypropylene glycol (PPG) is another polyether with many properties in common with PEG. PEG has the following structure, HO—(CH2—CH2—O)n—H . Most PEGs include molecules with a distribution of molecular weights, i.e. they are polydisperse. The abbreviation (PEG) is usually termed in combination with a numeric suffix, such as "PEG 300" which indicates the average molecular weights. For an illustration of such a polydisperse PEG, please see FIG. 1 attached, which is a full scan mass spectrum of "PEG 300" simplified from J. Zhang, Int. J. of Pharm. 282, pp. 183-187. FIG. 1 shows the composition and distribution of PEG 300, having an average molecular weight of 300, which mostly includes oligomers represented by n=5 to 9. Products are commercially available as PEG 200, 300, 400 etc up to more than 20000.
US 2006/0154297 from Gauchel, "Marker substance and the use of the same in diagnostic methods", teaches a method for using PEG markers as non-metabolisable marker substances together with a metabolisable substance in a diagnostic method related to e.g. drug-addicted patients. The two different types of markers present in a drinkable solution, is administrated to the patient followed by analysis of the urine taken after 60 minutes. The method further describes analysis of the urine sample by use of a HPLC chromatographic separation in combination with RI detection of the PEG fraction followed by UV detection of the metabolisable marker. Throughout the application Gauchel refers to the "PEG-marker" in plural form implicating use of polydisperse PEG's/PEG fractions. This is clearly seen by use of terms as "added to non-metabolisable marker substances", together with PEG markers" and "containing 1-3 g PEG marker mixture". A chromathogram of PEG 300 shown in FIG. 2 of Gauchel clearly indicates that this PEG substance constitutes of more than 9 different PEG oligomers of different molecular weights. Gauchel also refers to use of "monodisperse PEG fractions". Thus Gauchel uses the term "monodisperse" somewhat differently from what is used in polymer chemistry.
US patent application US 2006/0008850 A1 describes a method for generating a library of monodisperse PEG derivatives. This method of using "combinatorial chemistry or combinatorial synthesis" is a well known technique and is a general approach for generating a large number of different molecules, e.g. for making peptide libraries. The same approach for generating functionalized PEG's with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic end groups is also mentioned. The libraries so formed are used for screening the effect of PEG length, functional end groups and type of drug attached to the PEG moiety in order to isolate potent substances for use as therapeutics.
Thus, none of the abovementioned applications describe the novel tracer material comprising generally monodisperse polyether alcohols for marking and low concentration detection as will be described below. In order to distinguish the compounds of the present invention from the actually non-monodisperse or polydisperse polyether alcohol compounds of the background art, we have chosen to use the term truly monodisperse when describing the polyether alcohol compounds.


A display device includes a display part, a base part including a neck part projecting from a surface thereof to support the display part, a connecting bracket having a first end formed to be insertable into the neck part, and a guide bracket disposed in the display part to guide a second end of the connecting bracket to be connectable with the display part. Accordingly, the display device can have a slim external appearance and a base part with a simple structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a display device having an improved structure of a base part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a display device comprises a display part forming a picture thereon and a base part seated on an installation surface such as a table or a wall and supporting the display part. Herein, the display device refers to various types of devices forming a picture thereon, such as TV, a monitor for a computer, etc. The display device mainly employs a flat display panel, such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) or a PDP (plasma display panel).
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional display device 101. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional display device 101 comprises a display part 110 forming a picture thereon, and a base part 120 supporting the display part 110 and detachably provided with respect to the display part 110.
The display part 110 comprises a panel part (not shown) forming the picture thereon, a PCB assembly 112 transmitting and receiving electrical signals with the panel part and other devices, and front and rear casings 113 and 114 provided in front of and behind the panel part, respectively, and forming an external appearance of the display part.
At a rear surface of the PCB assembly 112 are formed a pair of guide brackets 140 guiding a pair of supporting bars 123 of the base part 120, which will be described later, and combination bosses 112a accommodating combination pieces 124a of the base print 120. Therefore the base part 120 is detachable with respect to the display part 110.
At a rear surface of the front casing 113, a pair of combination piece accommodating parts 112b are disposed to accommodate combination pieces 124b of the base part 120, which will be described later.
At each of the guide brackets 140, a coupling boss 141 is projectedly formed toward the rear casing 114.
The rear casing 114 is provided with first combination holes 115 and 117 corresponding to the combination bosses 112a and the combination piece accommodating parts 112b for coupling with respective first screws 115a and 115b. The rear casing 114 is also provided with second combination holes 116 corresponding to the coupling bosses 141 for coupling with respective second screws 116a.
The base part 120 comprises a seating part 121 seated on an installation surface and a supporter 122, of which a width is almost corresponding to that of the display part 110, disposed on an upper part of the seating part 121.
On an upper surface of the supporter 122, the pair of supporting bars 123 are mounted to be inserted into the pair of guide brackets 140, and also the combination pieces 124a and 124b, through which the combination bosses 112a and the combination piece accommodating parts 112b can be coupled with the respective first screws 115a and 115b, are extendedly formed.
Each of the supporting bars 123 is provided with a coupling hole 123a, with which one of the second screws 116a is coupled, corresponding to the coupling boss 141 of one of the guide brackets 140.
With this configuration, the combination bosses 112a and the combination piece accommodating parts 112b are coupled with the respective first screws 115a and 115b, which pass through the first combination holes 115 and 117, and the second screws 116a pass through the second combination holes 116 and the coupling bosses 141 of the guide bracket 140 and then are coupled with the coupling holes 123a. Therefore the base part 120 can be coupled with the display part 110.
However, in the conventional display device, the supporter 122 of the display part 110 is formed to almost correspond to the width of the display part 110, so that the external appearance of the base part 120 is large in size.
Further, the structure of the base part 120 is complicated, so that a manufacturing process of the base part 120 is inefficient.


Provided is a system and method for duplicating a master key for a vehicle. The system includes determining that a first device is communicating with a t/r device, the t/r device including an antenna for communicating with the master key. A cloning application associated with said t/r device may be operating on the first device. The t/r device may retrieve security information from said master key. The cloning application may communicate the security information for said master key to said central network system. The central network system may generate duplicate security information. The central network system may communicate the duplicate security information to the cloning application. The cloning application may transmit the duplicate security information to the t/r device to program a duplicate master key with the duplicate security information.

Most vehicles include an engine control module (ECM) that controls access and operation of the vehicle. A regular component of an ECM is an immobilizer system. The immobilizer system prevents the vehicle from opening, starting and operating unless and until an authorized key is placed within or near the vehicle or otherwise communicates with the vehicle.
These systems involve wireless communication of codes, typically using close field connection like transformer inductance or radio frequency. Vehicle access devices and immobilizer systems often involve a transponder component or other feature that operates through such electromagnetic radiation. These systems include an electronic security device fitted to an automobile that prevents the engine from running unless a valid transponder key is present. This reduces the risk of a vehicle from being "hot wired" after entry has been achieved and thus reduces motor vehicle theft. When the transponder key with the proper code is inserted in the vehicle ignition switch, for example, or comes within close proximity of the vehicle, it communicates codes with the electronic control module and the immobilizer system to unlock and activate the vehicle. These codes may be simple fixed codes or may be an encrypted authentication sequence.
Most vehicle manufacturers have developed their own system for this combination of immobilizer electronics and corresponding key, remote, or similar device. From time to time, a vehicle owner will lose or break these devices or need an additional one to operate the vehicle and need to purchase a new one. This can be complicated and expensive endeavor.
For example, vehicles may use original equipment manufacturer (OEM) programming tools to communicate or plug into the On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) port tools in order to program the new key to the immobilizer to allow access and/or to start the vehicle. Locksmiths typically utilize aftermarket programming tools that often utilize hacking techniques on certain vehicle models to bypass the OEM security protocol of that vehicle (e.g. PIN codes and/or time delays). This enables access to the vehicle's ECM to reprogram to accept a new access device. These processes require expensive equipment and significant training and expertise in order to successfully program a variety of vehicle types.
Aftermarket key manufacturers, however, have developed methods to clone many of the vehicles keys. Using cloning tools, you can read an existing working transponder key and create an electronic duplicate so that the new key will behave exactly like the original. As such, the vehicle immobilizer will allow the new key to start the vehicle. Such cloning systems have been used for years in retail store environments. The equipment is typically less expensive and much easier to use than the OEM/locksmith-like OBD programming tools. However, a consumer must physically go to such a retail store in order to have a key cloned.
This disclosure provides a distributed cloning system for duplicating access devices such as transponder keys for a vehicle. Such a system may be cost effective and allow consumers to duplicate a transponder key (for example) without having physically go to a location that has a transponder cloning tool such as a hardware store, auto parts store, or locksmith. There is a need to reduce the cost of effectively duplicating particular transponder keys and a need to offer such services using on-line selling and fulfillment.

Distributed cloning tool assembly, system, and method for replication of vehicle access devices


A transfer roller cleaning apparatus of a liquid electrophotographic printer for removing toner particles and foreign matter remaining on a transfer roller for transferring a toner image formed on a photoreceptor belt. The transfer roller includes a cleaning roller for cleaning the surface of the transfer roller while rotating in contact with a transfer surface of the transfer roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid electrophotographic printer, and more particularly, to a transfer roller cleaning apparatus for cleaning the surface of a transfer roller which transfers a developed image formed on a photoreceptor medium to a printing sheet of paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electrophotographic printer, a latent electrostatic image formed on a photoreceptor medium such as a photoreceptor drum or a photoreceptor belt is developed by using a developing solution having a toner mixed with a volatile liquid carrier, and the developed image is transferred onto a printing sheet of paper, thereby printing a desired image.
Referring to FIG. 1 schematically showing a conventional liquid electrophotographic color printer, a photoreceptor belt 110 is supported by a plurality of rollers 121, 122 and 123 and circulates along an endless track. The surface of the photoreceptor belt 110 is charged by a charging station 150 to a constant electric potential. Then, a latent electrostatic image is formed on the photoreceptor belt 110 by a laser scanning unit 130 for emitting laser beams according to image signals. The formed latent electrostatic image is developed by a development station 140 for supplying a developing solution. As shown in FIG. 1, in the case of a color printer, a plurality of laser scanning units 130 and development stations 140 corresponding to various colors are provided.
The liquid carrier contained in the developing solution sticking to the latent electrostatic image of the photoreceptor belt 110 is evaporated while passing an image drying station 160 and then only the dried toner remains.
Subsequently, while the photoreceptor belt 110 passes through between the roller 121 and a transfer roller 124, an image formed by the toner sticking to the photoreceptor belt 110 is transferred to a sheet 126 fed between the transfer roller 124 and a fixing roller 125 via the transfer roller 124, to then be printed. Thereafter, an electrostatic charge remaining in the photoreceptor belt 110 is removed by an erasure station 170.
Here, the toner image sticking to the transfer roller 124 is not completely transferred to the sheet 126 during the transfer procedure, and some toner sludge may remain in the transfer roller 124. The residual toner sludge or foreign matter sticking to the transfer roller 124 may contaminate the surface of the transfer roller 124 in repetitive printing procedures, thereby adversely affecting the printing quality of an image.

Transfer roller cleaning apparatus of liquid electrophotographic printer


A mounting structure of a current sensor includes: the current sensor including a detection portion; and a connection member for electrically connecting between a battery post of a battery and a harness. The current sensor is mounted on the connection member. The connection member includes a predetermined portion, a current density of which is higher than that of other portions of the connection member. The detection portion of the current sensor is disposed on the predetermined portion of the connection member when the current sensor is mounted on the connection member. The mounting structure may include a pair of holes, one for connection at the battery post, the other one for connection to the harness.

A mounting structure of a current sensor between a battery and a harness is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-141054, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,147. The current sensor is mounted on a junction member made of a conductive metallic plate having a rectangle shape. The junction member is disposed between a battery side terminal and a harness side terminal. The battery side terminal is connected to a battery post of a battery. The harness side terminal is connected to a top of a harness. In this structure for mounting the current sensor, the battery side terminal and the harness side terminal can be provided by conventional terminals.
Here, the current sensor is formed in such a manner that a ring shaped detection element is embedded in a resin mold by an insert-molding method. The detection element includes a Hall element and a magnetic field concentration core. A slit is formed in a center of the magnetic field concentration core. By using the slit in the core, the junction member can penetrate through the slit.
However, when the mounting structure includes the magnetic field concentration core, the shape of the current sensor is limited. Accordingly, it is difficult to minimize the dimensions of the mounting structure. Further, the mounting position, i.e., the arrangement of the current sensor is limited. Here, if the mounting structure includes no magnetic field concentration core, the sensitivity of the current sensor is reduced.


Embodiments of the invention provide a coolant drainage system including a module housing and a drain pan coupled to the module housing. The module housing at least partially defines a machine cavity and includes an inner wall and at least one end cap at least partially enclosing an electric machine within the machine cavity. The coolant drainage system also includes a plurality of drain holes through the module housing and adjacent to the drain pan. The plurality of drain holes provide fluid pathways from the machine cavity to the drain pan.

Conventional methods for cooling an electric machine include passing a coolant around an outer perimeter of the electric machine inside of a cooling jacket. The coolant extracts heat from a stator of the electric machine. In some machine designs, the level of heat removal is increased by spraying coolant from the cooling jacket directly onto end turns of the stator. The sprayed coolant drains toward the bottom of the electric machine's housing due to gravity and a drain hole is often located near the bottom of the housing to exhaust the coolant, as shown in FIG. 1A. However, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, if the electric machine is tipped backward, excessive amounts of coolant can pool within the housing around the electric machine. During tipping, the height of the pooled coolant can increase enough to flood an air gap between the electric machine stator and the electric machine rotor, causing adverse effects such as relatively large spin losses and/or thermal failure of the electric machine.

Coolant drainage system and method for electric machines


A method of operating a sand screw comprises: sensing speed of a sand screw delivering sand; determining a corrected delivery rate of sand, including converting the sensed speed of the sand screw into the corrected delivery rate of sand in response to predetermined sand screw delivery rate conversion data; and controlling the speed of the sand screw in response to the corrected delivery rate of sand. The sand screw delivery rate conversion data is based on first and second order polynomials defining the relationship between conventionally determined indicated sand screw delivery rates (i.e., using sand screw speed and a selected calibration factor) and actual delivery rates based on measured sand output.

This invention relates generally to a method of operating a sand screw. The method of the present invention compensates for calibration errors which typically arise when only a selected calibration factor is used in controlling the operation of a sand screw.
A sand screw is a machine for conveying sand from an inlet where sand free falls out of a hopper onto an auger-like implement (i.e., the "screw") that moves the sand to an outlet of the sand screw. At least in the oil and gas industry, the outlet is typically above a tub so that the sand drops into the tub for mixing with a liquid pumped into the tub from another source. This is, broadly, a typical way in which a fracturing fluid is made prior to being pumped into a well for fracturing a formation to increase production of oil or gas out of the fractured formation. Once pumped downhole in the fracturing fluid, the sand becomes a propping agent which holds the formation open after it has been fractured by the hydraulic pressure of the fluid.
The mixture of the fracturing fluid is typically controlled using a computer for, in effect, calculating sand concentration of the mixture, comparing the calculated concentration with a desired concentration and generating a control signal to adjust the speed of the sand screw depending on any difference between the calculated concentration and the desired concentration. This control is based on the sensed flow of liquid into the tub and on the quantity or rate of sand moved by the sand screw as determined by the sensed speed of the sand screw and a selected calibration factor.
A transducer provides a signal indicating the sand screw speed, and the computer uses the calibration factor to convert the speed into a sand quantity or delivery rate. For example, if a transducer provides a series of pulses, the calibration factor typically specifies how many pulses per pound of sand; therefore, dividing the counted pulses by the calibration factor gives the number of pounds of sand delivered by the sand screw. Taking this over a selected time period gives the delivery rate. Alternatively, if the transducer signal were used to represent revolutions per minute of the screw, the calibration factor would specify how many pounds of sand are moved per revolution; therefore, multiplying the revolutions per minute by the calibration factor gives the delivery rate. Multiplying also by time would give the number of pounds of sand.
In the existing system I am aware of for operating a sand screw to control its speed so that a desired concentration can be obtained, one calibration factor is used for a given job. That is, a single number is used as the divisor or multiplier to obtain a quantity of sand or delivery rate of sand value regardless of the speed at which the sand screw is operating. This produces errors because a sand screw does not deliver sand at a constant rate throughout the range of speeds at which the sand screw can operate. This will be more fully explained below, but at present it is sufficient to note that such errors exist, and such errors can be detrimental because they can cause a mixture having an undesired actual concentration to be produced. In the example of the mixture being a fracturing fluid, such incorrect concentration can adversely affect the fracturing job and the resultant productivity of the well. Thus, there is the need for an improved method of operating a sand screw which compensates for such errors.


An adjustable fish-supporting photographic rack assembly particularly well-suited for temporarily supporting a catch of fish in a highly organized manner during the taking of a photograph or digital image thereof includes a main panel body having a front surface, a rear surface, and a periphery defined by contiguous upper, lower, left and right peripheral edges. A pair of main panel supports includes respective integral depressions sized and shaped to conform to opposite lower corners of the main panel body for snugly receiving and retaining the lower corner portions therein, effectively supporting the main panel in an upright vertical orientation. At least one structural feature integrated into the front surface of the main panel body is configured to correspondingly receive at least one hook-receiving structure for selectively coupling a fish-supporting hook member thereto.

Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing, is fishing for pleasure or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit, or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival. The most common form of recreational fishing is done with a rod, reel, line, hooks and one or more of a wide range of baits and lures. Recreational fisherman typically fish from either a boat of their own or, alternatively, from a charter boat. In the case of charter boat fishing, anglers elect to pay a charter boat operator—often the owner of the charter boat—to take them fishing. Charter boat fishing is often advantageous, since a charter boat operator (and accompanying crew members) will generally be more highly skilled at fishing than the anglers chartering the boat. Furthermore, in light of their experience, charter boat operators are often more successful finding fish to catch.
In the case of charter boat fishing, at the end of a fishing charter it is commonplace for the charter boat operator to arrange a catch of fish caught by anglers in order to enable the anglers (with or without the fishing charter operator and crew) to take pictures with their catch. Oftentimes, the fish are simply laid out on a dock and/or held by the anglers in preparation of a picture. In other instances, the catch of a fish may be temporarily hung from a length of cord, a series of nails hammered into a piece of wood, a series of large hooks hanging from a horizontal rod or similar structure, and the like. In the case of cord, one end may be tied around the fish's tail (or through the fish's mouth and gill) and the opposite end secured to a raised horizontally-oriented supported beam, such as a length of wood (e.g. a 2×4), typically in a less-than-orderly manner. In the case of nails and hooks, such hardware is typically attached to a similar raised horizontally-oriented supported length of wood or, alternatively, hooks are sometimes providing hanging from a raised, horizontally-oriented supported length of metal pipe or other conduit. In all instances, the resulting structures are generally fashioned in a very crude and non-aesthetically pleasing manner. In the case of anglers fishing from their own boats, there is an abysmal choice of portable structures to enable such "weekend warriors" to hang their own catch in a neat and orderly manner conducive to picture taking. Developments in this area have been limited to very crude portable fish-supporting products. Generally, such portable fish-supporting products have been limited to not much more than a length of wood having fish hanging mechanisms (e.g. nail and hooks) attached in a spaced-apart manner along the length of wood. Furthermore, such products require at least two individuals to support opposite ends of the length of wood a distance above the ground surface, and a third individual to take a picture. Generally speaking, there has been a complete lack of development in the area of such fish-supporting structures that are portable, easy to install and use, and that are constructed with the intent to provide an aesthetically pleasing backdrop for the aforementioned picture taking function.
Accordingly, there is a long felt, as of yet unmet, need for an improved fish-supporting apparatus particularly well-suited for facilitating the taking of pictures of anglers with their catch of fish, wherein the catch of fish are arranged in an organized manner and wherein the organized arrangement of fish in combination with an aesthetically pleasing stanchion-type structure, provide a means for anglers to take high quality pictures with their catch of fish. It would be further desirable to provide such a fish-supporting stanchion incorporating fish-supporting components (e.g. hooks) that are assembled in a manner enabling adjustability of position and orientation thereof into a preferred arrangement, depending upon factors such as the quantity of fish being supported and the relative sizes of the respective fish. In particular, it would be beneficial to be able to adjust the quantity of hooks, the spacing, or gap, between adjacent hooks, as well as to selectively rotate and/or retract individual hooks (e.g. rotating/retracting unused hooks so that they are not facing outward in an unsafe manner). It would be further desirable to provide such an adjustable fish-supporting photographic rack assembly having a sturdy, easily assembled and disassembled structure having a construction conducive to exposure to a saltwater environment without suffering from structural aesthetic degradation from such exposure. It would be highly beneficial to have such an adjustable fish-supporting photograph rack assembly incorporating an optional selectively-attachable advertising banner structure for enabling additional advertising (e.g. for advertising contact information pertaining to the charter boat operator). It would be preferable for the rack assembly to include at least one permanent surface area sized, shaped and located, upon a highly visible front surface of the photographic rack assembly to provide permanent marketing and/or advertising graphics pertaining, for example, to the source of the photographic rack assembly (including, for example, a corresponding product brand/trademark, product manufacturer contact information to order the product and related accessories, etc.).
Moreover, it is preferred that the fish-supporting photographic rack assembly itself has a size, shape and construction that is conducive to enabling one or more anglers to stand behind the rack in a visible manner while a picture is being taken, with the fish and any such advertising or other information prominently displayed in a highly aesthetically-pleasing fashion.

Adjustable fish-supporting photographic rack assembly


A method and apparatus for transmitting digital data in a cellular environment. Adjacent cells of the cellular system are prevented from simultaneously transmitting data. Because the noise from transmissions of adjacent cells is a primary source of interference, the transmission rate of power limited base stations can be dramatically increased when the noise from adjacent cells is eliminated. The transmissions to each subscriber station are made at a fixed transmission power level. However, the data rate of transmitted signals differs from one subscriber station to another depending the path loss differences. In a first exemplary embodiment, the data rate of transmissions to a subscriber station is determined by selecting an encoding rate for the transmitted signal while holding the symbol rate constant. In a second exemplary embodiment, the data rate of transmissions to a subscriber station is determined by selection a modulation format for the transmitted signal which directly changes the symbol rate of transmission to a subscriber station.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for providing high speed data in a wireless cellular communication environment.
II. Description of the Related Art
As wireless communication technology has advanced, an increase in the demand for high speed data services in a wireless environment has grown dramatically. The use of code division multiple access (CDMA) modulation is one of several techniques for providing digital wireless transmission that is well suited for the transmission of digital data. Other methods of digital wireless transmission include time division multiple access (TDMA) and frequency division multiple access (FDMA).
However, the spread spectrum modulation technique of CDMA has significant advantages over other digital modulation techniques. The use of CDMA techniques in a multiple access communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307, entitled "SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SATELLITE OR TERRESTRIAL REPEATERS", assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. The use of CDMA techniques in a multiple access communication system is further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,459, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING SIGNAL WAVEFORMS IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM", assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein. The method for providing digital wireless communications using CDMA modulation was standardized by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in TIA/EIA/IS-95-A Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System (hereafter IS-95).
The current wireless communication systems can only accommodate relatively low transmission rates. In addition, most current wireless communication systems have not been optimized for the transmission of digital data, but rather have been optimized for the transmission of speech information. Therefore, there is a need in the industry for a method of providing high speed digital data in a wireless environment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for providing high speed data communications in a cellular environment


Devices and techniques are described in which stochastic computation is performed on analog periodic pulse signals instead of random, stochastic digital bit streams. Exploiting pulse width modulation (PWM), time-encoded signals corresponding to specific values are generated by adjusting the frequency (period) and duty cycles of PWM signals. With this approach, the latency, area, and energy consumption are all greatly reduced, as compared to prior stochastic approaches. Circuits synthesized with the proposed approach can work as fast and energy efficiently as a conventional binary design while retaining the fault-tolerance and low-cost advantages of conventional stochastic designs.

Stochastic computing (SC) has gained traction in recent years again. SC has been applied to a wide variety of applications such as image processing, error correction, and neural networks. In SC, circuits operate on randomized bit streams. The signal value is encoded by the probability of obtaining a one versus a zero in the stream. In the "unipolar" representation, a real-valued number x (0≤x≤1) is represented by a stream in which each bit has probability x of being one and probability (1−x) of being zero. In the "bipolar" representation, a real-valued number y (−1≤y≤1) is represented by a stream in which each bit has probability
      y    +    1    2of being one and probability
  1  -            y      +      1        2  of being zero.
A stochastic representation may be less compact than conventional binary radix. However, complex operations can be performed with remarkably simple logic. For example, a single AND performs multiplication with the unipolar representation; a single XNOR gate performs multiplication with the bipolar representation. A multiplexer implements scaled addition and subtraction. Complex functions, such as exponentials and trigonometric functions, can be computed through polynomial approximations.
In addition to producing simple and compact logic, a stochastic representation offers the advantage of error tolerance. The environment can be noisy: bit flips occur and these afflict all the bits with equal probability. With a conventional binary radix representation, the high-order bits represent a large magnitude; accordingly, faults can produce large errors. In contrast, with a stochastic representation, all the bits are equally weighted. Hence, a single flip results in a small error. This error tolerance scales to high error rates: multiple bit flips produce only small and uniform deviations from the nominal value.
A premise for SC is the availability of stochastic bit streams with the requisite probabilities. In prior work, these stochastic bit streams were generated from physical random sources or with pseudo-random constructs such as linear-feedback shift registers (LFSRs). These stochastic number generator (SNG) modules may contribute heavily to the hardware cost. Indeed, in some cases, they accounted for 80% or more of the overall hardware cost. Consequently, SNGs may consume a significant amount of power. Noting that energy equals power multiplied by time, the long run-time of stochastic circuits, together with the high power consumption of the SNGs, could lead to higher energy use than their conventional binary counterparts.

Stochastic computation using pulse-width modulated signals


Embodiments relate to marine streamer cleaning. An embodiment provides a streamer cleaning apparatus comprising: a housing comprising an inlet configured to receive a streamer and an outlet configured to dispatch the streamer; and scraper lamellas coupled to the housing, wherein the scraper lamellas are arranged to form an opening to receive the streamer. Methods of cleaning a streamer and streamer cleaning systems are also provided.

Techniques for marine geophysical surveying include seismic surveying and electromagnetic surveying, in which geophysical data may be collected from below the Earth's surface. Geophysical surveying has applications in mineral and energy exploration and production to help identify locations of hydrocarbon-bearing formations. Certain types of marine geophysical surveying, such as seismic or electromagnetic surveying, may include towing an energy source at a selected depth—typically above the seafloor—in a body of water. One or more streamers also may be towed in the water at selected depths—typically above the seafloor—by the same or a different vessel. The streamers are typically cables that include a plurality of sensors disposed thereon at spaced apart locations along the length of the cable. Some geophysical surveys locate sensors on ocean bottom cables or nodes in addition to, or instead of, streamers. The energy sources may be configured to generate a signal that is related to a parameter being measured by the sensor. At selected times, the energy source may be actuated to generate, for example, seismic or electromagnetic energy that travels downwardly into the subsurface rock. Energy that interacts with interfaces, generally at the boundaries between layers of rock formations, may be returned toward the surface and detected by the sensors on the streamers. The detected energy may be used to infer certain properties of the subsurface rock, such as structure, mineral composition and fluid content, thereby providing information useful in the recovery of hydrocarbons.
Unfortunately, marine organisms may adhere to and then grow on nearly everything that is placed in water for extended periods of time, including marine geophysical sensor cables, such as towed streamers or ocean-bottom cables. For convenience, any such marine geophysical sensor cable will be referred to herein as a "streamer." A streamer may include a marine streamer that comprises seismic sensors, electromagnetic sensors, or any combination thereof.
Marine growth (also known as biofouling) often refers to barnacle growth but is intended to also include the growth of mussels, oysters, algae, bacteria, tubeworms, slime, and other marine organisms. This marine growth is particularly problematic with streamers as the marine growth can increase drag resistance of the streamer, leading to increased fuel costs and/or reduced production speed. An additional problem with marine growth includes reduced data quality due to increased noise.

Streamer cleaning apparatus and associated systems and methods


There are provided a chip electronic component and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, a chip electronic component having an internal coil structure capable of preventing the occurrence of short-circuits between coil portions and having a high aspect ratio (AR) by increasing a thickness of a coil as compared to a width of the coil, and a manufacturing method thereof.

The present disclosure relates to a chip electronic component and a manufacturing method thereof.
An inductor, one of chip electronic components, is a typical passive element forming an electronic circuit together with a resistor and a capacitor to remove noise. Such an inductor may be combined with the capacitor using electromagnetic characteristics to configure a resonance circuit amplifying a signal in a specific frequency band, a filter circuit, or the like.
Recently, as the trend for the miniaturization and thinning of Information Technology (IT) devices such as various communications devices, display devices, and the like, has grown, research into technologies for miniaturizing and thinning various elements such as inductors, capacitors, transistors, and the like, used in the IT devices, has been continuously undertaken. The inductor has also been rapidly replaced by a chip having a small size and high density and capable of being automatically surface-mounted, and the development of a thin type inductor formed by mixing a magnetic powder with a resin and applying the mixture to coil patterns formed on upper and lower surfaces of a thin film insulating substrate through plating has been conducted.
A direct current (DC) resistance Rdc, main properties of the inductor, may be decreased in accordance with an increase in a cross-sectional area of a coil. Therefore, in order to decrease the direct current resistance Rdc and improve inductance, a cross-sectional area of an internal coil of the inductor needs to be increased.
Methods of increasing the cross-sectional area of the coil may include, two methods, that is, a method of increasing a width of the coil and a method of increasing a thickness of the coil.
In the case of increasing the width of the coil, a possibility in which short-circuits may occur between coil portions may be increased and the number of turns capable of being implemented in an inductor chip may be restricted to cause a decrease in an area occupied by a magnetic material, such that a decrease in efficiency may be caused, and the implementation of a high inductance product may be limited.
Therefore, in the internal coil of the thin type inductor, a structure having a high aspect ratio (AR) by increasing the thickness of the coil has been required. The aspect ratio (AR) of the internal coil means a value obtained by dividing the thickness of the coil by the width of the coil. Therefore, the aspect ratio (AR) may increase as an increasing amount of the thickness of the coil is greater than an increasing amount of the width of the coil.
In order to implement the high aspect ratio (AR) of the internal coil, growth of the coil in a width direction needs to be suppressed, and growth of the coil in a thickness direction needs to be accelerated.
According to the related art, at the time of performing a pattern plating method using a plating resist, the plating resist needs to have a large thickness in order to form a coil having a large thickness. However, in this case, since the plating resist needs to have a predetermined width or more in order to maintain its form, an interval between coil portions may be increased.
In addition, at the time of performing an electroplating method according to the related art, short-circuits occur between coil portions and a limitation in implementing a high aspect ratio (AR) may be present, due to an isotropic growth phenomenon in which a coil is grown in a width direction thereof as well as in a thickness direction thereof.

Chip electronic component and manufacturing method thereof


An image encoding method includes: determining N P-frames from a sequence of images, N being a positive integer; for each P-frame, determining a source refreshing region in the P-frames, the source refreshing region being a portion less than a whole region of the P-frame; obtaining reconstructed images corresponding to the source refreshing regions by performing a first encoding on the source refreshing regions; obtaining updated P-frames by updating the source refreshing regions with the reconstructed images; and performing a second encoding on the updated P-frames.

In the field of video decoding, I-frames are used to refresh invalid videos or images during low-delay transmission of videos or images. The refreshing can often cause periodic fluctuation in image quality, a phenomenon called "breathing effect". In order to reduce the breathing effect, an I-frame block can be dispersed into a plurality of P-frames in form of slices, and then each sub-I-frame in those P-frames can be successively refreshed from top to bottom or from left to right until the I-frame is completely refreshed. Each one of the image frames can be made smooth in size and suitable for real-time transmission by successively refreshing multiple image frames. However, a "rolling strip" phenomenon may appear. The rolling strip phenomenon can be suppressed with the following two approaches.
In the first approach, refreshing blocks can be dispersed in the image frame, such that the rolling strip phenomenon can be less obvious to some extent. However, it is difficult to protect a "refreshed region" with this approach. For instance, a region being previously refreshed can later refer to a "dirty region" (e.g., a region not being refreshed), such that the refreshed region may become dirty again after a few frames. As a result, the image can only be cleaned with repeated refreshing, leading to low refreshing efficiency.
In the second approach, an image can be divided into several refreshing regions, and the order of refreshing can be adjusted according to a global my. With this approach, a rapid spreading of errors from a "dirty region" to the refreshing regions can be prevented to some extent, and thus a refresh efficiency can theoretically be better than that of the first approach. However, flicker can still be apparent since this approach fails to solve the problem of low efficiency of I-blocks.
The two approaches as discussed hereinabove are unable to solve the problem of low compression efficiency of I-frames or I-blocks. The "breathing effect" of images can be apparent even if the images are refreshed by inserting an I-frame or dispersing an I-block into P-frames, leading to poor user experience.