A three piece full port ball valve for use with a form for producing a cast concrete article is provided wherein the housing of the valve has been modified by creating openings through the valve housing to access the flow opening in the ball member for clearing concrete slurry therefrom after the form has been filled. Additional openings in the housing at other locations can be created for cleaning around the ball member and the inside of the housing.

The present invention relates to valves, and more particularly to a valve for use with a form and method for producing cast concrete articles.
Steel forms have been used for many years to cast concrete articles for making catch basins and manholes. Manholes are typically created from multiple cast concrete sections which are configured to be stacked on top of each other. Such cast concrete articles are generally required to meet certain minimum government standards relating to the strength and permeability of the concrete. Conventionally, the cast concrete articles are produced by filling a steel form, which is similar to a mold, with a wetted mixture of, for example, cement, sand, gravel and water, which is then allowed to dry and harden. The exact mixture may vary, as is well-known in the art, and may include other components such as chemical hardening agents. These steel forms typically are used to produce cast concrete articles which weigh thousands of pounds. The steel form typically has an expandable outer jacket which surrounds an inner core. The shape of the jacket generally defines the shape of the article to be cast, which typically is hollow. The space between the core and the jacket defines the cavity of the form into which the wetted concrete mixture is disposed and cured. The cavity is filled with the wet concrete through the open top of the steel form. Additionally, a top piece, called a xe2x80x9cheader,xe2x80x9d is normally employed, after the cavity is filled, to create a xe2x80x9ctonguexe2x80x9d on the top of the cast article which can mate with a groove in the bottom of an adjoining concrete article so that such articles may be stacked on top of each other to provide for the desired depth at which the catch basin or manhole will be installed. The groove in the bottom of the article is formed by a raised wall portion on a bottom ring member over which the steel form is positioned when it is being filled with concrete. This ring member actually forms the bottom surface of the cavity which defines the shape of the concrete article.
The conventional manner of filling the steel forms with concrete is typically both labor intensive and time consuming. In general, the mixed, still wet, concrete is transported from a mixing bin to the location of the steel form, The concrete is then typically shoveled by hand from the container in which it is transported into the steel form. Because the cavity into which the wet concrete is placed may typically be only several inches wide, the filling of the mold, in customary practice, is normally done by hand since the wet concrete must be carefully filled into the relatively narrow opening at the top of the form.
Additionally, care must be taken when filling the form to ensure that air pockets do not form in the concrete. While the form is being filled with the wet concrete, steps must be taken to ensure that the concrete settles properly and any air pockets are eliminated. The conventional manner of eliminating the air pockets is to use a vibrating device, for example a xe2x80x9cstick vibrator.xe2x80x9d This device is inserted into the still wet concrete at various points around the cavity to vibrate the concrete to enhance settling and remove air pockets. Once this procedure has been performed, however, the cast concrete article is still not completed. Because the cast articles are typically stacked one on top of another to form the manhole, the top of the article is provided with a tongue portion which fits into a groove that is cast into the bottom of an adjoining article. The tongue is created using a header which is placed on top of the filled form. A header is an annular member, in the case of round forms, which has a smaller diameter wall portion offset from the outer edge of the header. The outside of the header is generally aligned with and rests on the top of the steel form. The wall portion creates a small, upstanding annular cavity around the inner core, which may only be a few inches wide, and which now must be filled with more wetted concrete to create the tongue. Once both the larger, main cavity and the smaller cavity are filled and vibrated, the surface of the concrete article must be finished by hand. Finally, the article is cured. Typically, the steel form containing the wetted concrete remains in place on the shop floor for sufficient time to cure, usually overnight. Once the concrete is cured, the outer portion of the steel form, which is typically an expandable outer jacket, is loosened from around the concrete article, by expanding the jacket, and then lifted off of the cast concrete article. Next, the concrete article is lifted off of the core and transported elsewhere for storage or shipping. The process described above is then repeated to produce additional cast concrete articles. However, due to the time needed to hand fill and then cure the articles, the process is typically performed during only one shift each work day.
As can be understood, the procedure just described, which is still the standard procedure carried out in the cast concrete manufacturing industry today, can be both time consuming and labor intensive. Most present day manufacturers of such cast concrete articles typically can have a number of steel forms which are simply set up in rows on the shop floor. To create the concrete articles, wetted concrete is delivered to each individual steel form which is then filled in the manner described above. Because of the procedure of bringing the wet concrete to the steel form, other disadvantages are encountered in the workplace. For example, the wet concrete is typically transported overhead by hydraulic devices mounted to the ceiling of the shop. The weight of the concrete and the overhead transport systems can therefore pose safety hazards to workers on the shop floor below. Additionally, spilled concrete both from the overhead transport system and from hand filling the steel forms creates tripping hazards and also requires time and effort to clean up the spilled concrete.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved form and method for producing cast concrete articles which is faster, less labor intensive and also results in a safer and cleaner work environment.
A steel form according to the invention is provided which is generally completely sealed except for air vents and a fill port for pumping liquefied concrete into the form, thereby filling the form to produce cast concrete articles. The form can include a conventional, removable inner core surrounded by a modified jacket, which can also be expandable, and a bottom member, which can be attached to a pallet on which the steel form can be transported, for example, from the liquefied concrete pump to the kiln for drying. The fill port is preferably provided through the outer jacket. The normally open top of the steel form is sealed with a modified header, which can be internally configured to create a tongue for mating with a grooved adjoining cast concrete article. The bottom member can have a raised wall portion for forming the groove in the bottom of the concrete article which can mate with the tongue portion of an adjoining concrete article. The modified header can also include the aforementioned air vents for evacuating air as the liquefied concrete is pumped into the form. The air vents can also provide visual confirmation of the form being completely filled with concrete. Braces can be provided to support the top of the modified header against pressure as the concrete is pumped into the form. Additionally, locator bolts can be provided through the modified header, to which can be attached inserts which become embedded in the cast concrete article and can be used to facilitate the securement of manhole top sections to the cast concrete article. Furthermore, the fill port can be connected to a sliding gate arrangement wherein the fill port is movable between an open position, where the fill port aligns with an opening in the outer jacket for pumping concrete thereinto, and a closed position wherein the slide gate covers the opening in the outer jacket. After the form has been filled with liquefied concrete, the slide gate can be moved to close off the opening.
Another feature of the invention can include a modified three piece full port ball valve, which can be provided in place of the sliding gate arrangement to control access to the fill port through the opening in the outer jacket.
Other details, objects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing figures of certain embodiments thereof.

Valve for use in producing cast concrete articles


A shift device includes: a shift switching member that includes a plurality of valley portions corresponding to a shift position; and an actuator that drives the shift switching member. The actuator includes a motor, a driving force transmission mechanism that transmits a driving force of the motor to an output shaft, a control board that includes a rotation angle sensor detecting a rotation angle of the motor and controls the motor based on a detection result obtained by the rotation angle sensor, a housing and an outer lid that form a housing space housing the motor and the control board, the outer lid covering an opening of the housing, and an inner lid that is housed in the housing space and to which the motor is attached, and the housing includes a first positioning portion that positions both the inner lid and the control board with respect to the housing.

In the related art, a shift device including a shift switching member including a plurality of valley portions corresponding to a shift position is known (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 5932095).
Japanese Patent No. 5932095 discloses a range switching mechanism (shift device) including a detent plate (shift switching member) including a plurality of valley portions corresponding to a shift position. The range switching mechanism includes a range switching device that revolves the detent plate. The range switching mechanism includes a motor and a control board that controls the motor. A motor position detection sensor for detecting a rotation position of the motor is attached to the control board.
The range switching mechanism of Japanese Patent No. 5932095 includes a bearing fixing portion that rotatably supports the motor, a rear body to which the control board is fixed, and a front body that forms a housing together with the rear body. The rear body includes a cylindrical protrusion that positions the control board. The motor is positioned by being fixed to the bearing fixing portion.
However, in the range switching mechanism of Japanese Patent No. 5932095, the motor and the control board on which the motor position detection sensor is mounted are positioned by the bearing fixing portion and the rear body, respectively. Accordingly, in the range switching mechanism of Japanese Patent No. 5932095, since a position which is a positioning reference is different, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult to improve accuracy of a relative positional relationship between the motor and the motor position detection sensor on the control board. Therefore, in the range switching mechanism of Japanese Patent No. 5932095, since it is difficult to improve accuracy of a rotation angle position of the motor, which is detected by the motor position detection sensor (rotation angle sensor), there is a problem that it is difficult to improve accuracy with which the rotation angle position of the motor is controlled by the control board.
A need thus exists for a shift device which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.


A novelty straw assembly has a first straw section and a second straw section. Both sections interconnect to a manifold. A diaphragm is coupled to the manifold, wherein the diaphragm expands and contracts with changes in pressure within the manifold. Linkage assemblies are moved by the diaphragm as the diaphragm expands and contracts. A toy with moving parts is mounted between the two straw sections. The moving parts are coupled to the linkage assemblies and are moved by the linkage assemblies as a person drinks through the novelty straw assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to novelty drinking straws. More particularly, the present invention relates to novelty straws with mechanical elements that are caused to move when liquid is drawn through the straw.
2. Prior Art Description
Drinking straws have been utilized by people throughout recorded history. In this long period of time there have been many inventions that relate to drinking straws. The prior art history is, therefore, replete with references that address different straw designs and styles.
Generally speaking, a drinking straw is a tube having one end that can be placed in a beverage. A person brings the straw to their mouth and draws the beverage into their mouth through the structure of the straw. Since a straw allows a person to drink without having to lift a full cup, drinking straws are often provided to children who have difficulty handling a cup or beverage can without spilling its contents. Since drinking straws are particularly popular with children, straws have often been formed into unusual shapes in order to increase the novelty of the straw and its appeal to a child. For example, drinking straws have commonly been made translucent with multiple turns and loops. A child can then watch the progress of a fluid flowing through the turns of the straw while drinking through the straw.
In a few prior art drinking straw designs, the flow of fluid through the drinking straw is used to cause movement of decorative elements contained within the straw. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,273 to Karterman, entitled Amusement Drinking Straw, a drinking straw is shown having an internal rotor. The rotor rotates within the drinking straw as liquid flows past the rotor. A similar configuration is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,100,838 to Epstein, entitled Novelty Straw And Associated Method Of Operation.
Drinking Straws also exist that move novelty items that are external to the straw. In such prior art drinking straws, the flow of liquid through the straw is converted into mechanical energy that is used to move an object that is external to the straw. Such prior art straws are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,622 to Lombard, entitled Drinking Straw, U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,808 to Briese, entitled Drinking Tube, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,292 to Leung, entitled Novelty Drinking Straw. With such prior art, the liquid passing through the straw is used directly to create the mechanical motion. As such, the mechanisms within the straws are hydraulic in nature. A problem shared by all such prior art straws is that since the mechanisms are hydraulic, the mechanisms become contaminated by the flowing fluid. Often the flowing fluid is a high-sugar soft drink or chocolate milk. Such fluids leave sugar/cocoa deposits within the straw mechanism that can quickly bind the moving parts.
It will be understood that when a person draws a liquid through a straw, there are other forces available for use besides the hydraulic force of the flowing liquid. To draw a liquid through a drinking straw, a person must first suck on the straw. This reduces the air pressure within the straw. This change in air pressure can be utilized to produce pneumatic work. Mechanisms within a straw that operate using pneumatic forces need not become contaminated with the fluid passing through the straw.
A need therefore exists for a novelty straw design that has moving elements that are caused to move using pneumatic forces, rather than hydraulic forces. This need is met by the present invention as it is described and claimed below.

Toy mechanical straw with actuator diaphragm


A method for preparing 1,3-propanediol is disclosed which comprises the hydration of acrolein in the presence of an acidic cation exchanger resin and the hydrogenation of the 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde obtained in the first stage. The volume-time yield was able to be increased in the hydration stage by using a cation exchanger resin with phosphonic acid groups, preferably a cation exchanger with chelating aminophosphonic acid groups. The hydrogenation catalyst can be repeatedly reused without appreciable loss of activity.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing 1,3-propanediol by means of the hydration of acrolein in the presence of an acidic cation exchanger followed by the subsequent catalytic hydrogenation of the 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde.
1,3-propanediol has many potential applications as a monomeric component for the production of polyesters and polyurethanes as well as an initial starting material for the synthesis of cyclic compounds. Many methods have already been suggested for the preparation of 1,3-propanediol, including those which involve a molecular synthesis from a C.sub.2 component and a C.sub.1 component and those which start from a C.sub.3 component such as acrolein in particular.
As is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,434,110, acrolein can be hydrated in the presence of an acidic catalyst to form 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde. The reaction preferably takes place at an elevated temperature using a 5 to 30% by weight solution of acrolein in water and an acid such as for example sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid or acidic salts of these acids as the catalyst. The reaction mixture obtained during the hydration is hydrogenated, optionally after removal of nonreacted acrolein, in the presence of customary hydrogenation catalysts. Catalysts containing one or more metals active in hydrogenation reactions such as for example Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag, Mo, W, V, Cr, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt are suitable as catalysts for the hydrogenation of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde to 1,3-propanediol.
A disadvantage in the method of U.S. Pat. No. 2,434,110 are the low yields of 1,3-propanediol, which are attributable especially to acrolein--consuming condensation reactions during the hydration stage. In addition, the selectivity of the mineral acid catalyzed hydration reaction is dependent to a very large extent on the conversion of acrolein. In order to achieve an acceptable selectivity, the hydration reaction is terminated at a low acrolein conversion, which, however, results in a poor volume-time yield.
There has been no shortage of attempts to obviate the disadvantages of the above described method, for example by means of the addition of lower carboxylic acids onto the double bond of the acrolein. However, this makes a saponification step necessary after the hydrogenation. In addition, the recycling of the carboxylic acid poses problems (U.S. Pat. No. 2,638,279). The hydration of acrolein using carbon dioxide as the catalyst is also known however, this method requires long reaction times--cf. DE-OS 19 05 823.
It has been determined that although the hydration of acrolein can be carried out using for example phosphoric acid or dihydrogen phosphates catalyst but problems occur in the subsequent hydrogenation of the reaction mixture freed from non-reacted acrolein.
When very active nickel hydrogenation catalysts are used, both the hydrogenation conversion and also the reaction speed drop rapidly upon repeated use of the catalyst. This leads to an elevated consumption of catalyst.
In addition, the presence of the hydration catalyst during working up by distillation results in product losses due to decomposition or, in the case of first carrying out a neutralization, results in cloggings and encrustations in the system. The problems indicated above can be partly obviated if the hydration catalyst is removed from the reaction mixture before hydrogenation by means of ion exchange resins or by separating 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde from the reaction mixture and then subjecting it to hydrogenation. However, both alternative measures for reducing the consumption of expensive hydrogenation catalyst necessitate additional equipment, lead to a higher consumption of energy and, additionally, in wastewater problems, thus increasing the production costs for 1,3-propanediol.
According to the method of U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,763, the hydration step is carried out in the presence of weakly acidic cation exchanger resins the functional groups of which are carboxyl groups at 40.degree. to 120.degree. C. Preferably, 0.1 to 5% of the functional groups should be present in the form of an alkali carboxylate, alkaline earth carboxylate or earth metal carboxylate. The yields of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde are indicated to be approximately 80%, and are said to be substantially independent of the acrolein conversion in the range of 25 to 65%. This process also comprises the known hydrogenation of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde to 1,3-propanediol.
Although the catalytic activity of the ion exchanger resins with carboxyl groups was confirmed when the method of U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,763 was followed, the level of effectiveness suggested that these ion exchangers would not be suitable for use in industrial systems. It turned out that these catalysts require rather high temperatures and rather long reaction times, which runs counter to the desired high volume-time yield.


An apparatus having a buffer and a circuit is disclosed. The buffer may be configured to store a plurality of fetch sets. Each fetch set generally includes a prefix word and a plurality of instruction words. Each prefix word may include a plurality of symbols. Each symbol generally corresponds to a respective one of the instruction words. The circuit may be configured to (i) identify each of the symbols in each of the fetch sets having a predetermined value and (ii) parse the fetch sets into a plurality of execution sets in response to the symbols having the predetermined value.

Some modern digital signal processor (i.e., DSP) cores use very long instruction word (i.e., VLIW) architectures. Such architectures assume that instruction scheduling is done in software either by an assembly programmer or by a compiler. In the VLIW approaches, parallelism is statically encoded using variable length execution sets (i.e., VLES). In modern DSPs, each VLES can encode as many as 12 instructions. Furthermore, each VLES may include several prefix words added by the assembler. Each VLES also provides a high code density by using 16 or 32 bits for instructions.
Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram illustrating conventional order for fetching and dispatching several variable length execution sets is shown. Shading in the blocks identify instructions belonging to different sets. A new fetch set is read on each cycle (i.e., cycles 1-4) and subsequently dispatched (e.g., cycles 2-7).
A problem commonly exists in the VLES dispatch decoding time. During a single cycle, a dispatcher determines which instructions belong to a specific VLES being dispatched. In conventional implementations, the dispatcher works on each instruction in each fetch set in parallel to complete the dispatch decoding in a single cycle. Therefore, a large number of parallel decoders are normally implemented. In particular, eight decoders are provided for an 8-word fetch set case and 16 decoders are provided for a 16-word fetch set case. Implementing multiple parallel decoders utilizes a significant amount of logic, which increases chip area and power consumption.
The VLES dispatching is also a limiting issue of a DSP core frequency. The DSP core frequency is governed by the time used in the dispatch procedure to complete work on each VLES. Limiting the core frequency such that a current VLES is completed in a single cycle allows a next VLES pipeline to start in a next cycle.
It would be desirable to implement an efficient extraction of execution sets from fetch sets.

Efficient extraction of execution sets from fetch sets

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A data carrier (1) which can be operated in a contact-bound mode and in a contactless mode and a circuit (1A) for such a data carrier (1) has a.c. detection means (69) for detecting the presence of a useful HF signal (HF) received via a transmission coil (31) and clock signal detection means (73) for detecting a clock signal (CLK1) received via a transmission contact (16), and has logic means (82) which cooperate with the a.c. detection means (69) and the clock signal detection means (73) and which enable the activation of the contact-bound mode (CONTACT) and the activation of the contactless mode (CONTACTLESS) to be initiated.

The invention relates to a data carrier which can be operated in a contact-bound mode and in a contactless mode and which includes the means specified hereinafter, namely transmission contacts which are mechanically accessible from outside the data carrier and of which a first transmission contact serves to receive a clock signal in the contact-bound mode of the data carrier, and at least one transmission coil which is inductively accessible from outside the data carrier and which serves to receive a useful HF signal in the contactless mode of the data carrier, and a circuit which includes a.c. detection means constructed to detect the presence of a received useful HF signal, by which a.c. detection means the supply of contactless activation information can be initiated upon the detection of the presence of such a useful HF signal in a detection process, which information enables the contactless mode to be activated.
The invention further relates to a circuit for a data carrier which can be operated in a contact-bound mode and in a contactless mode and which includes the means specified hereinafter, namely contact terminals which are adapted to be connected to transmission contacts which are mechanically accessible from outside a data carrier and of which a first contact terminal serves to receive a clock signal in the contact-bound mode of the circuit, and two coil terminals which serve for connection to a transmission coil which is inductively accessible from outside a data carrier and for receiving a useful HF signal in the contactless mode of the circuit, and a.c. detection means constructed to detect the presence of a received useful HF signal, by which a.c. detection means the supply of contactless activation information can be initiated upon the detection of the presence of such a useful HF signal a detection process, which information enables the contactless mode to be activated.
Such a data carrier of the type defined in the first paragraph and such a circuit of the type defined in the second paragraph are known, for example from the document WO 96/38814 A1.
The known data carrier includes only the a.c. detection means, which in this case are realized by an a.c. detection circuit which is connected directly to a transmission coil and which activates the contactless mode and thus a contactless interface when a useful HF signal appears across the transmission coil. A problem encountered with the known data carrier is that in an operating condition in which the data carrier is in the contact-bound mode and powerful spurious signals are received via the transmission coil the received spurious signals fake a received useful HF signal, which is detected as the appearance of a useful HF signal by the a.c. detection circuit, as a result of which in response to the received spurious signal the contactless mode is activated erroneously, although the data carrier has been set to and should remain in the contact-bound mode. Thus, in the case of the known data carrier the operation in the contact-bound mode is interrupted, in response to a spurious signal received by means of the transmission coil, which in the case that a data transmission process is in progress in the contact-bound mode results in this process being disrupted. Such an interruption or disruption of an activated mode of operation as a result of an undesired activation of the other mode of operation is obviously undesirable and inadmissible.

Dual-mode data carrier and circuit for such a data carrier with improved mode change-over


A spatial multiplexing detection device using a MIMO technology comprises a MIMO detector for detecting receive symbols which correspond to symbols transmitted through transmit antennas from receive signals when the transmit data transmitted by the terminal group are received through receive antennas; a terminal identifier for identifying the receive symbols detected by the MIMO detector into symbols which correspond to respective terminals in the terminal group; a symbol demapper for demapping the receive symbols identified by the terminal identifier to binary data which correspond to a modulation method used by the terminal group; and a reverse data processor for performing deinterleaving, decoding of error correction codes, and descrambling on the binary data demapped by the symbol demapper, and detecting receive data of the respective terminals.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spatial multiplexing detection system and method by use of a MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output) technology.
(b) Description of the Related Art
The MIMO technology aims at increasing frequency efficiency, and it represents a method for using multiple antennas at a transmitter and a receiver. The MIMO technology concurrently transmits different data through respective antennas of the transmitter, and hence, it increases the frequency efficiency by as much as the number of antennas at the transmitter.
In detection in the MIMO system, multiple data streams are concurrently received and separated. Therefore, the receiver of the MIMO system processes the case in which a single terminal receives multiple data streams and the case in which the data streams are respectively other users' signals in the same way.
The MIMO system uses multiple transmit and receive antennas to improve data rates in a given band, as opposed to the existing SISO system, and an increase of the frequency efficiency depends on the degree of independency among various transmit and receive channels.
Since the independency of MIMO channels follows an interval between antennas, the number of antennas is limited in a terminal, and an increase in the data rates in an uplink is restricted. A base station which is a receiver, however, is not limited to the number of antennas or increase of data rates.
A method for maximizing a channel application in this condition is to allow a number of users that can be detected by the base station to access the channels.
When many users use the channels as described above, if the users are assigned without any rule, the channel capacity may be worsened by channel characteristics such as a correlation between the channels.
To overcome the problems, it is needed for a base station to use the channels of the respective users to assign the users so that the channel capacity may be maximized, and a sub-optimal algorithm with substantially less performance deterioration is required for simple realization.

Spatial multiplexing detection system and method for MIMO

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A semiconductor package includes a semiconductor die comprising a control transistor and a sync transistor, an integrated output inductor comprising a winding around a core, and coupled to the semiconductor die. The winding comprises a plurality of conductive clips situated above a printed circuit board (PCB) and connected to a plurality of conductive segments in the PCB. The control transistor and the sync transistor are configured as a half-bridge. The integrated output inductor is coupled to a switched node of the half-bridge. At least one of the plurality of conductive clips includes a partially etched portion and a non-etched portion. The semiconductor die is attached to the integrated output inductor by a die attach material. The semiconductor die and the integrated output inductor are encapsulated in a molding compound.

Power converters, such as voltage regulators, are used in a variety of electronic circuits and systems. For instance, integrated circuit (IC) applications may require conversion of a direct current (DC) input to a lower, or higher, DC output. As an example, a buck converter may be implemented as a voltage regulator to convert a higher voltage DC input to a lower voltage DC output for use in low voltage applications. Semiconductor packaging solutions for power converters may be configured to accommodate power transistors and an output inductor.
In conventional semiconductor packages, the output inductor utilized in the power converter is placed side by side with the power transistors, and mounted over a top surface of a printed circuit board or a substrate. The lateral placement of the output inductor with the other components increases the overall size of the semiconductor package. Also, in the conventional semiconductor packages, the output inductor is a pre-formed inductor with a relatively large form factor and poor thermal performance. Integrating the pre-formed inductor with the power transistors can further increase the overall form factor of the semiconductor package and degrade the thermal performance.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a semiconductor package having an integrated output inductor on a printed circuit board, with reduced form factor and enhanced thermal dissipation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Semiconductor package with integrated output inductor on a printed circuit board


An optical window is disclosed through which light can be shone to generate a waveform. Windows are hourglass-shaped, to better conform the shape of the windows to the distribution of light intensity. The optical window can be incorporated into a variety of optical devices.

The present disclosure is related to the field of optical devices, and more specifically to a wheel for use in generating a waveform.
Devices, such as computer mice, use opto-mechanical schemes to generate electrical waveforms which correspond to the movement of some element of the system. Other devices utilizing optics to generate a waveform are known in the automotive and manufacturing fields. Applications in these fields correlate wheel rotation to movement, e.g., rotation of an engine shaft.
In a mouse, for example, light emitted from a light source is detected by a detector. A stroboscopic wheel is interposed therebetween, such that the light passes through windows in the wheel.
The wheel is driven by mechanical contact with the mouse ball, and the pulses of light received by the receptor can be correlated with the speed of the ball, a reflection of the speed of the mouse itself. These pulses can then be integrated with respect to time to establish displacement of the mouse.
Ideally, a waveform corresponding to mouse displacement would be a perfect square wave. In such a perfect wave, voltage would rise instantaneously, dwell at maximum voltage for a finite period of time, then fall instantaneously to a minimum voltage where it would remain for a finite time before starting the process anew. In actual devices, waveforms are imperfect and are, at best, approximately sinusoidal. Considerable electronic circuitry is expended in filtering out noise and "squaring up" the signal so that it contains a sharp, readily discernable rising and falling edge.
The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art. The invention will become more readily apparent from the following Detailed Description, which proceeds with reference to the drawings.

Optical window for generating a waveforms


A device for chopping fiber strand includes a form, and a strand feeding mechanism that delivers the strand to the form and conveys the strand along the form. First and second grinding wheels may be included to cut the strand into individual segments of desired length as the strand is conveyed along the form. A method of chopping a fiber strand includes the steps of delivering a continuous strand onto a base end of a form, conveying the continuous strand along the form from the base end toward a discharge end and cutting the continuous strand into individual segments of desired length, for example using first and second grinding wheels.

The process of cutting continuous reinforcement fibers into fiber segments of discrete length is useful in the manufacture of different types of reinforcement structures. For example, the discrete length segments of reinforcement fibers can be used in reinforcement mats such as mats made with commingled fibers (e.g., glass fibers commingled with thermoplastic fibers), or laminated mats made from layers of fibers.
The discrete length segments of reinforcement fibers can also be used in reinforcement preforms. Structural composites and other reinforced molded articles are commonly made by resin transfer molding and structural resin injection molding. These molding processes have been made more efficient by preforming the reinforcement fibers into a reinforcement preform which is the approximate shape and size of the molded article, and then inserting the reinforcement preform into the mold.
To be acceptable for production at an industrial level, a fast preforming process is required. In the manufacture of preforms, a common practice is to supply a continuous length of reinforcement strand or fiber to a reinforcement dispenser or "chopper", which cuts the continuous fiber into many fiber segments of discrete length, and deposits the fiber segments onto a collection surface. This process can be used to make preforms in an automated manner by mounting the reinforcement dispenser for movement over the collection surface, and programming the movement of the dispenser to apply the fiber segments in a predetermined, desired pattern.
The reinforcement dispenser can be robotized or automated, and such reinforcement dispensers are known art for such uses as making preforms for large structural parts, as in the auto industry, for example. (Dispensers of reinforcement fibers for the manufacture of mats of commingled fibers or laminated mats can also be adapted to be moveable and programmable.) Typically, the deposited fibers are dusted with a powdered binder, and compressed with a second perforated mold. Hot air and pressure sets the binder, producing a preform of reinforcement fibers which can be stored and shipped to the ultimate molding customer which applies resin to the preform and molds the resinated preform to make a reinforced product, typically using a resin injection process.
As the technical requirements for reinforcement structures increase, new methods for dispensing and laying down reinforcement fibers are required. One requirement is that the reinforcement fibers be delivered at faster speeds than used previously. Another requirement is that the reinforcement fibers be laid down in a predetermined orientation. The advancement in the reinforcement technology enabling a moveable and programmable reinforcement dispenser has led to requirements for very sophisticated fiber patterns and orientations. Reinforcement structures can be designed with specific amounts and orientations of reinforcement fibers to improve the strength of the structure precisely at the weakest or most stressed location of the article to be reinforced. Because of this new sophistication, there often is a requirement that the fibers be laid onto the collecting surface in a closely spaced, parallel arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,949 discloses a state of the art chopping device and method that generally provides the best performance to date. The device forms a strand into a loop that is fed along a form and generally flattened before being cut with rotating knives into individual fiber segments of desired length. While the apparatus and method disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,949 patent generally provide good performance, they suffer from a number of shortcomings and, accordingly, a need exists for an improved chopping device and method. More specifically, when processing a fiber material of a type comprising comingled unidirectional thermoplastic and glass fibers the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,949 crutches the glass fibers and cuts the thermoplastic fiber. The hard and abrasive glass fiber rapidly wears the rotating knives which dull and then cannot cut the thermoplastic fibers. As a consequence, the knives must often be replaced thereby reducing productivity. In addition, it should be appreciated that the rotating knives have a fairly large diameter and must be placed at least one radius of the knife from the end of the chopping device.
Thus, the chopped fiber segments must be conveyed a significant distance along the device before they can be dispensed. Chopped fibers are difficult to handle and on occasion one or more fiber segments are dislocated, potentially resulting in the fiber being dispensed in an undesired orientation or position.
The present invention relates to an improved chopping device and method that utilizes grinding wheels to cut the fiber. Such grinding wheels have a longer service life than the rotating blades used in the prior art chopper and, accordingly, the present invention reduces maintenance down time and increases productivity. Further, the grinding wheels are positioned adjacent the discharge end of the chopping device so that the individual chopped fiber segments are only handled/conveyed for a very short distance before being dispensed. This substantially reduces the potential for dislocation of the fiber segments and thereby ensures proper, ordered handling of the chopped fiber segments and dispensing in the desired position and orientation.


A frame receive queue may perform disassembly and validation operations on frames received by a node in a Fiber Channel network. The frame receive queue may store information used for later processing of the frames, e.g., header data and the first eight payload words, in an on-chip memory for fast processor access. The payload data for the frames may be stored in a larger, external memory.

Electronic data systems are frequently interconnected using network communication systems. Networks and channels are two approaches that have been developed for computer network architectures. Traditional networks (e.g., LANs and WANs) offer flexibility and relatively large distance capabilities. Channels, such as the Enterprise System Connection (ESCON) and the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), have been developed for high performance and reliability. Channels typically use dedicated short-distance connections between computers or between computers and peripherals.
Features of both channels and networks have been incorporated into a network standard known as xe2x80x9cFibre Channel,xe2x80x9d which is defined by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) specifications, such as X3.230 (1994). Fibre Channel systems attempt to combine the speed and reliability of channels with the flexibility and connectivity of networks.
Data in a Fibre Channel network is transported in packets, which may be two kilobytes or smaller. These packets,of data are referred to as xe2x80x9cframes.xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cSequencesxe2x80x9d include one or more frames. Frames in a sequence must be assembled at the receiving device in a predetermined order before the sequence can be considered complete.
A processor in the receiving device may validate each received frame. Validation may include checking the frames for errors and determining whether the frames are being received in the correct sequence. The processor may not be able to perform this validation as quickly as the frames are received, e.g., at xe2x80x9cwire speed.xe2x80x9d Validation may require a significant amount of post processing and consume processor resources.
A device in a Fibre Channel network may include a frame receive queue coupled to a node port. The frame receive queue may receive frames from the node port and extract the Start-of-Frame(SOF) and End-of-Frame (EOF) delimiters for the frame and the header and first eight words in the payload (PLW 0-7). The frame receive queue may alternate the storing of this information between two memory banks. Frame validation circuitry may use the information in the memory banks to perform consistency checks on received frames and produce a result for each frame.
Each received frame may be associated with a buffer number, which may serve as a partial address for the frame. An address generator may use the buffer number to generate an address for a random access memory (RAM) in which the SOF, EOF, header, and PLW 0-7 for the frame are stored. The address generator may also use the buffer number to generate an address for a local memory in which the payload for the frame is stored.
The frame receive queue may generate an entry including the SOF, EOF, buffer number, and validation results for the frame. The entry may be stored in a completion RAM in the frame receive queue.


A dishwasher has multiple wash zones which are each supplied by a wash liquid supply. An interior tub configured to provide an interior wash chamber for washing dishes is divisible into three wash zones supplied by first, second, and third wash liquid supplies. The third wash zone is supplied by a wash liquid supply that is controllable independently of the other two wash liquid supplies. The third wash liquid supply can be controlled to supply wash liquid to a detergent dispenser or a wall-mounted spray manifold, or shut off separately from the first and second wash liquid supplies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dishwashers, and more particularly to a dishwasher having multiple wash liquid supplies independently controlled through a valve.
2. Background
Modem dishwashers include a tub and an upper and lower rack or basket for supporting soiled dishes within the tub. A pump is provided for re-circulating wash liquid throughout the tub to remove soils from the dishes. Typically, larger dishes such as casserole dishes which have a propensity to be heavily soiled are carried on the lower rack and lighter soiled dishes such as cups and glasses are provided on an upper rack. The racks are generally configured to be moveable in or out of the tub for loading and unloading.
One of problems associated with the typical modern dishwasher is that the dishes receive somewhat uniform wash treatment no matter their positioning within a rack in the dishwasher. For example, in a typical dishwasher, a lower wash arm rotates about a vertical axis and is provided beneath the lower rack for cleaning the dishes on the lower rack and an upper wash arm is provided beneath the upper rack for cleaning the dishes on the upper rack. Dishes in the upper rack receive somewhat uniform wash treatment and dishes in the lower rack receive somewhat uniform wash treatment. Accordingly, lightly soiled dishes in either dish rack are subject to the same wash performance as the highly soiled dishes in the same wash rack, which can lead to poor wash performance of the highly soiled dishes. As a result, it would be advantageous to provide a dishwasher with a second or concentrated wash zone for washing larger dishes such as the casserole dishes, which are more likely to be heavily soiled.
Another problem associated with the modern dishwasher is that to achieve optimal wash performance of heavily soiled, larger dishes, the dishes may need to be loaded with the surface that needs to be washed face down. The face down approach allows the lower spray arm to reach the heavily soiled surface. Accordingly, it would be advantageous if the dishwasher could be provided with a second wash zone that allowed the heavily soiled dishes to be loaded in an upright position, thereby optimizing the number of dishes that can be loaded in the dishwasher on any given cycle. Finally, it would also be advantageous if the dishwasher allowed for a customized wash cycle option which optimized the use of the second wash zone.
Additionally, with variations in the size of the load, the type of dish being washed (e.g. dinner plates vs. cooking pans), and the placement of the dishes, modern dishwashers using a two or three-arm spray assembly may deliver wash liquid to empty dishwasher zones, may deliver inadequate wash liquid to loaded zones, and do not provide adequate control over delivery of wash liquid to specific zones or components for optimizing the cleaning of dishes. If the dishwasher is provided with an increased number of spray wash configurations, it is desirable to have multiple wash liquid valves that can be independently controlled to selectively deliver wash liquid to preselected zones or components.

Dishwasher having valved third-level sprayer


The present invention is directed to the use of hydrophilic terpolymers in hard surface cleaners which provide easier cleaning for surface soils such as hard water stains, soap scum, limescale, mud, food, toilet stains, oil, grease, particulates and the like as well as anti-fog effects on hard surfaces such as glass, mirrors, ceramic and plastic by causing water droplets to coalesce into a film.

Aqueous formulations incorporating hydrophilic polymers and their use in hard surface cleaners are well known in the art. Hydrophilic polymers are known to provide anti-soiling and re-cleaning benefits on common household hard surfaces by imparting soil release properties thereto which facilitate subsequent cleaning.
For example, European Application No. 0467472 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,008,030, 6,926,745 describe hydrophilic polymers and their use in hard surface cleaners. The polymers described therein are cationic and are formed from trialkylammonium ethyl methacrylates.
Additionally, amphoteric polymers are also known to impart various benefits to hard surface cleaning compositions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,218 teaches amphoteric copolymers of diallyl dimethyl ammonium in combination with zwitterionic surfactants.
European Application No. 0522756 teaches the use of amphoteric polymers in hand dishwashing compositions.
Japanese Application No. 09-169995 teaches the use of acrylic acid/diallydimethylammonium copolymers for cleaning toilets.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,593,288, 6,767,410, 6,924,260 and PCT Application No. 2007/017098 teach amphoteric copolymers of diallyldimethyl ammonium and allege the importance of amphoterics which are characterized by an excess anionic charge.
U.S. Publication Application No. 2007/0105737 teaches the use of amphoterics exhibiting an excess anionic charge in combination with an acid to remove soap scum and limescale.
Fogging of surfaces arises when relatively cool non-porous surfaces are exposed to a warm moist atmosphere, since the cool surface will become fogged. In particular, glass fogging occurs by the condensation of steam or water vapor when the surface temperature of the non-porous surface is below the dewpoint. The opaque fog is therefore caused by the condensation of moisture droplets onto the non-porous surface. Naturally, this is undesirable for windows, mirrors, face masks, spectacles and the like.
One of the methods of avoiding fogging includes treating the non-porous surface with hydrophilic chemicals that tend to decrease the incidence of droplet formation. In general, hydrophilic chemicals are surface active agents which reduce the surface tension of the glass and encourage the individual water droplets to coalesce into a sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,410 recognizes the ability of amphoteric copolymers with excess anionic charge to provide an anti-misting capability on surfaces such as glass. However, the described copolymers are not compatible in acidic systems.
Although multiple hydrophilic polymers, including amphoteric polymers have been described in the literature, there still exists a need for hydrophilic polymers which show compatibility in both basic and acidic hard surface cleaning formulations. Furthermore, it would be a great advantage if the said amphoteric polymers provided not only easier cleaning for surface soils such as hard water stains, soap scum, mud, food, toilet stains, oil, grease, particulates and the like but also simultaneously provided a long lasting anti-fog effect for said hard surfaces.
The present inventors have discovered particular hydrophilic terpolymers which are compatible in basic and acidic formulations which provide excellent hard surface cleaning capabilities such as soap scum removal and anti-fog effects is described in detail below.
The cleaning formulations incorporating the terpolymer form a film on the hard surface during the cleaning step which provides both a soil release and a soil resistant effect. Cleaning products containing these polymers will provide significant consumer benefit over existing products without soil release technology.
As mentioned above a particular advantage of these materials is their compatibility with a wide range of cleaning formulations, both acidic and basic, containing cationic, anionic or nonionic surfactants. Other commercially available polymers for surface cleaning formulations are often limited to specific cleaning formulation types and are not universally compatible.
The new materials provide a unique balance of cationic, anionic and hydrophilic properties to provide optimal cleaning performance. The materials are compatible in most types of cleaning formulations as a result of their low overall charge level. The slight excess of cationic charge allows them to bind to the surfaces being treated so that the materials create a semi-durable film that is stable to rinsing, yet will not cause long term build-up of residue. The hydrophilic nature of the materials provides excellent soil repellency and removal effects, as well as beneficial anti-fogging properties for windows, mirrors and other hard surfaces. The structure of the polymer also allows the properties of the polymer to be readily tuned to be appropriate for any type of cleaning formulation required.

Amphoteric polymer for treating hard surfaces


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for managing security of a vehicle are provided. One of the methods includes: monitoring a plurality of activities of one or more electronic devices associated with the vehicle; generating a plurality of event logs based on the monitored activities; sending the generated event logs to a server; and receiving, from the server, one or more alerts created based on the generated event logs.

An autonomous vehicle may be capable of sensing its environment and automatically moving with little or no human input. Various operations of the autonomous vehicle may be performed by hardware or software systems fixed in or otherwise coupled to the autonomous vehicle. The hardware or software systems may include, for example, autonomous driving systems, gateways for communicating with external networks, operating systems running on the hardware systems, and software applications installed in the operating systems. The hardware and software systems may be configured to control various functionalities of the autonomous vehicle, such as autonomous driving, account management, record keeping, payment processing, or network communications.
An autonomous vehicle may not be physically attended by a human driver while operating, but may be made accessible to one or more users, passengers or third parties. The users, passengers, or third parties may have access to the hardware or software systems associated with the autonomous vehicle. Furthermore, the hardware or software systems may connect to one or more external systems via one or more network interfaces. The unattended nature of the autonomous vehicle may open up opportunities for attackers to attack the hardware or software systems. For example, an attacker may maliciously modify software running on an autonomous driving system, unlawfully access, transfer or modify private or proprietary data stored in the hardware systems, or even manipulate credentials maintained by the autonomous vehicle to take over control of the vehicle. For management of a fleet of autonomous vehicles, it is difficult to manually or individually check and ensure the security of each vehicle. Therefore, there is need for a solution that detect security threats for an autonomous vehicle and provide measures to prevent or mitigate the security threats. The solution needs to provide early detection of a security threat, to accurately identify the nature of the security threat and the asset potentially compromised by the security threat, and to substantially avoid false alarms. The solution also needs to allow intervention by remote personnel or a central controlling system without requiring presence of personnel at the location of the vehicle.

Security management of an autonomous vehicle


The present application relates to a crystalline sulfamide compound, and in particular relates to a crystalline (S)—N—((S)-1-(2-chlorphenyl)-2-((3,3-difluorocyclobutyl)amido)-2oxoethyl)-2-(4-cyanopyridin-2-base)-N-(3-fluorophenyl)-isothiazolidine-3-formamide 1,1-dioxide, and a preparation method therefor, a crystalline composition, a pharmaceutical composition and uses thereof. An X-ray powder diffraction spectrum of a crystalline hydrate of formula II of the present application has diffraction peaks at positions of about 14.40°, 20.28°, 20.94°, 22.02°, and 24.46°, represented by 2θ. The crystalline hydrate of formula II of the present application has good IDH1 inhibitory activity and performs high stability, and therefore has advantages in physical property, safety and metabolic stability, and has high medicine value.

As the most important key enzyme in intracellular tricarboxylic acid cycle, IDH (full name: isocitrate dehydrogenase) can catalyze oxidative decarboxylation of isocitric acid to produce 2-oxoglutarate (i.e., α-ketoglutaric acid). There are two different subtypes of IDH, one using NAD(+) as an electron acceptor and the other using NADP(+) as the electron acceptor. Five types of IDH have been reported, three of which are NAD(+)-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenases, locating in the mitochondrial matrix; and the other two of which are NADP(+)-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenases, wherein one locates in the mitochondria and the other locates in the cytoplasm.
Researchers have shown that many tumors (such as neuroglioma, sarcoma, acute myelocytic leukemia, etc.) have an IDH mutation at arginine residue in a catalytic center (IDH1/R132H, IDH2/R140Q, and IDH2/R172K). In 2009, Bleeker et al. have detected IDH1 mutations in 672 tumor samples obtained from different sources and 84 cell lines from different tumor cell lineages, and found that these mutations specifically and centrally occurred in gliomas (Bleeker et al., 2009. IDH1 mutations at residue p.R132 (IDH1(R132)) occur frequently in high-grade gliomas but not in other solid tumors. Hum Mutat. 30: 7-11). However, the later literature reports have shown that IDH1 mutations also exist in acute myeloid leukemia, prostate cancer, and paraganglioma and the like (Green et al., 2010, Somatic mutations of IDH1 and IDH2 in the leukemic transformation of myeloproliferative neoplasms. N Engl J Med. 362: 369-370). Bleeker et al. found that in IDH1 mutation cases, R132H accounts for 86.9%, and other types such as R132C, R132G, R132L, R132V, and R132S account for a small proportion (Bleeker et al., 2009).

CHIA TAI TIANQING PHARMACEUTICAL GROUP CO., LTD.

LIANYUNGANG RUNZHONG PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.


A drug coating for a medical device comprises one or more drug composite layers. The drug composite layer comprises one or more therapeutic agents dispersed within one or more modified bioactive binders. The modified bioactive binders are hydrophobic compounds bonded to bioactive binders, and the modified bioactive binders are not inert polymers.

The implantation or insertion of a medical device into a patient's body can cause the body to exhibit adverse physiological reactions. The reactions may range from infections to the formation of emboli or clots in blood vessels. One particularly adverse physiological reaction is the result of epithelial damage to the cardiovasculature. That is, the vasculature can be damaged during procedures such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PCTA). As a result of damage to the epithelium of the vasculature, a cascade of physiological events may result in the re-narrowing (restenosis) of the vessel. While not completely understood, restenosis may be the result of smooth muscle cell proliferation in the intimal layers of the vessel.
Restenosis of an artherosclerotic coronary artery after PTCA occurs in 10-50% of patients undergoing this procedure and subsequently requires either further angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft. In order to maintain the patency of the vessel, intravascular stents have been developed as a mechanical means of preventing the collapse or abrupt closure of the dilated segment of the artery.
Compared to PTCA, coronary stenting has a reduced restenosis rate. The angiographic restenosis rate for coronary stenting is about 10 to 20% in short lesions and large vessels. In-stent restenosis, however, occurs in over 30% to 60% of patients with diabetes, diffuse lesions, or lesions that occur in small vessels or are located at a bifurcation (Mehran R, et al. Circulation 1999; 100:1872-8). It is known that stenting prevents restenosis by eliminating negative remodeling and elastic recoil. However, stents fail to prevent neointimal proliferative response due to vessel injury. Studies have shown that stent-induced neointimal formation is more extensive and protracted than that provoked by PTCA (Schwartz R S. J Invas Cardiol 1996; 8:386-7; Rogers C, et al. Circulation 1993; 88:1215-21). In particular, intimal hyperplasia is the major component of late lumen loss after stent implantation.
Despite a high rate of procedural success with stent implantation, an unacceptably high (approximately 25%) rate of stent thrombosis is also experienced (Serruys P W et al. N Engl J Med 1991; 324: 13-7; Schatz R A et al. Circulation 1991; 83:148-61). With the use of aggressive and precise anti-platelet and anti-coagulation therapy along with the implementation of high pressure balloon expansion, recent studies have shown thrombosis rates of less than 2% when stents are implanted electively and thrombosis rates of less than 5% in the treatment of abrupt closure (Lablanche J M, et al. Eur Heart J 1996; 17:1373-80; Goods C M, et al. Circulation 1996; 93:1803-8). Although thrombosis rates are lower as compared to the results from the early studies, stent thrombosis is a disastrous complication that carries a high risk of ischemic sequelae. For example, data from several trials show rates of myocardial infarction and death of 61% and 12%, respectively (Mak K H et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 1996; 2 7:494-503). Additionally, systemic anti-platelet and anti-coagulation therapy increases the incidence of bleeding complications. Accordingly, there still remains a need for solution to stent thrombosis.
One approach to improve the biocompatibility of stents is to incorporate bioactive or pharmacological agents onto the stents. Various techniques have been utilized to immobilize bioactive agents onto relatively inert surfaces of stents. One such technique involves coupling bioactive agents onto stent surfaces via covalent bonding. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,665 issued to Larm describes the coupling of heparin with reactive aldehyde groups to an aminated surface. Also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,112,457 and 5,455,040 issued to Marchant disclose the use of a similar approach to end-bind heparin on modified substrates. The substrate modification consists of depositing a film of plasma polymerized N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and attaching a spacer (such as PEG) on the film. The end group of the spacer is a primary amine, which can be bonded to aldehyde-ended heparin through reductive amination.
While useful, the covalent bonding approach has various shortcomings. For instance, this approach generally involves a series of chemical reactions performed directly on the surfaces of the device which only allows a single layer of bioactive agents to be attached to the surfaces. As a result, limited amounts of bioactive agents may be applied to the surface of the stent. Moreover, if excessive reagents or reactants are used in the covalent bonding process, stent functionality can be compromised by minimizing the stent's ability to be fully expanded. Also, release of such active agents from the stent surface may not be possible or very limited because the active agents are chemically bonded to the stent surface.
An alternative method to covalent bonding approach involves physically blending or dispersing bioactive agent(s) with inert polymers. These "inert" polymers do not possess any known pharmacological activity and only serve as a carrier or binder for the bioactive agent(s). For instance, bioactive compounds such as heparin have been applied to stent surfaces utilizing inert polymers such as thermoplastic polyurethane, silicone, polycaprolactone, polylactic acid, polyethylene-vinyl acetate and cellulose-based polymers.
The use of inert polymers in drug coatings permits larger doses of drugs to be applied to the medical device surface and concomitantly larger amounts of the drugs may be released. However, there remains the difficulty of combining multiple drugs having different physical properties. For example, a hydrophobic drug and a hydrophilic drug could not be concomitantly applied because they are not miscible. In order to incorporate such a drug combination, multiple chemical reaction steps, or multiple physical deposition steps including micronizing the drug for dispersion are necessary. These multiple reaction/deposition steps generally are cumbersome and costly. Furthermore, the uniformity of the drug coating and drug release rates are often difficult to control. Thus, there still remains a need for uniform drug coatings that are capable of controllably delivering multiple drugs to a site of injury.

Drug eluting coatings for medical implants and methods of use


A door and locking system for a rear opening of a long bed trailer, the rear opening having a top edge, a bottom edge and first and second side edges, the door and locking system has a canvas door configured for mounting adjacent to the rear opening of the long bed trailer. The canvas door can move between a closed position in which the canvas door moves to close the rear opening and an open position in which the canvas door moves to open the rear opening. A locking system secured to the edges of the rear opening can move between a locked position, in which the locking system is in locking engagement with the canvas door in the closed position to secure the canvas door against the edges of the rear opening to close the opening for retaining fluidizable product in the long bed trailer and an unlocked position, in which the locking system is free from locking engagement with the canvas door to allow the canvas door to move into the open position.

Rectangular long bed trailers are commonly used to transport all kinds of materials in the transportation industry. The unique challenges associated with transporting and unloading particulate materials such as sawdust, wood chips, grains, corn, mulch and other such particulate materials having a fluidizable or liquid characteristic has resulting in the development and use of unique long bed trailers better suited to the transport of such particulate materials. Often called live floor trailers, these trailers have a retractable top to allow a front loader to dump the particulate material into the trailer and live floors to unload the particulate material through a rear opening. Typically, the rear opening is closed with hinged metal doors secured to the sides of the trailer.
As the particulate material is loaded into the live floor trailer, the material spreads out over the length of the bed and is supported by the rear doors. Because the particulate material is supported by the rear doors, when the rear doors are opened to unload the material, a portion of the particulate material typically falls out of the trailer. This can be very problematic for truck drivers. Often the particulate material is unloaded into barns or other structures with very tight spaces that barely fit the size of the trailer. Such tight spaces often prevent the rear doors from swinging into a fully opened position to allow the particulate material to be unloaded. Thus, the truck drivers are left with a choice when unloading the particulate material. The truck drivers can fully open the doors before backing into the delivery space where the material is to be unloaded. This can result in a portion of the particulate material falling from the trailer outside the delivery space. Such material must then be transported into the delivery space or go to waste. The second option is to back the trailer into the delivery space, open the rear doors as much as possible to allow the particular material that is supported by the rear doors, to fall into the delivery space. The truck driver will then have to pull forward and open the doors the rest of the way, which typically involves rotating and securing the doors to be alongside the exterior of the trailer sidewalls. Once the rear doors are secured in the open position, the truck driver can then back the trailer back into the delivery space and unload the particulate material using the live floor.


Disclosed is a home appliance including a claw pole type motor, the claw pole type motor include a first core including a first core main body disposed on a rotary shaft, a first elongation portion disposed in the center portion of the first core main body and extending in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft, and a plurality of first claw poles disposed in the edge portion of the first core main body and extending in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft and a second core including a second core main body disposed on the rotary shaft, and a plurality of second claw poles disposed in the edge portion of the second core main body and extending in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft and a third core including a third core main body disposed on the rotary shaft, a second elongation portion disposed in the center portion of the third core main body and extending in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft, and a plurality of third claw poles disposed in the edge portion of the third core main body and extending in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft, wherein the second core further comprises a surrounding member disposed in the center portion of the second core main body and surrounding the first elongation portion and the second elongation portion.

A claw pole type motor is a motor including a stator in which a plurality of claw poles extending in the axial line direction of a rotary shaft are arranged along the circumference, and a rotor in which a plurality of permanent magnets are arranged along the circumference, wherein the motor rotates the rotor using an attractive force and a repulsive force generated between the claw poles and the permanent magnets by changing the polarities of the claw poles. A representative claw pole type motor is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
The stator includes a U-phase core including a U-phase core main body in which a plurality of U-phase claw poles(ok?) are arranged at equidistant intervals along the circumference, a V-phase core including a V-phase core main body in which a plurality of V-phase claw poles are arranged at equidistant intervals along the circumference, a W-phase core including a W-phase core main body in which a plurality of W-phase claw poles are arranged at equidistant intervals along the circumference, a U-phase coil to magnetize the U-phase claw poles, a V-phase coil to magnetize the V-phase claw poles, and a W-phase coil to magnetize the W-phase claw poles.
The U-phase core main body includes a first elongation portion extending toward the W-phase core, the V-phase core main body includes a second elongation portion extending toward the U-phase core and the W-phase core, and the W-phase core main body includes a third elongation portion extending toward the U-phase core. The V-phase core is positioned between the U-phase core and the W-phase core, and the V-phase core, the U-phase core, and the W-phase core are arranged in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft.
In the motor configured as described above, a UV gap may be made between the fore-end surface of the first elongation portion and the fore-end surface of the second elongation portion extending toward the U-phase core, due to fabrication errors. Also, a VW gap may be made between the fore-end surface of the second elongation portion extending toward the W-phase core and the fore-end surface of the third elongation portion, due to fabrication errors. It is preferable that the first elongation portion contacts the second elongation portion, and the second elongation portion contacts the third elongation portion, however, in many cases, gaps are made between the first elongation portion and the second elongation portion and between the second elongation portion and the third elongation portion, due to fabrication errors and assembly tolerances.
If a magnetic flux is generated by current flowing through the U-phase coil, the V-phase coil, or the W-phase coil, the magnetic flux passes through the U-phase core main body, the V-phase core main body, and the W-phase core main body to magnetize the U-phase claw poles, the V-phase claw poles, and the W-phase claw poles. At this time, the magnetic flux passing between the U-phase core main body and the V-phase core main body, and the magnetic flux passing between the V-phase core main body and the W-phase core rain body pass between the first elongation portion and the second elongation portion or between the second elongation portion and the third elongation portion. Accordingly, the magnetic flux passes through any one of the UV gap and the VW gap.
The magnetic flux passing between the U-phase core main body and the W-phase core main body passes between the first elongation portion and the second elongation portion and between the second elongation portion and the third elongation portion, since the V-phase core is positioned between the U-phase core main body and the W-phase core main body. Accordingly, the magnetic flux passes through both the UV gap and the VW gap.
However, since air gaps are formed in the UV gap and the VW gap, and the permeability of air is greatly different from the permeability of iron forming the cores, the UV gap and the VW gap act as magnetic resistance.
Accordingly, the magnetic resistance of the magnetic flux passing through both the UV gap and the VW gap becomes greater than that of the magnetic flux passing through any one of the UV gap and the VW gap, and accordingly, a total amount of magnetic flux decreases so that distortion occurs in the amount of magnetic flux for magnetizing the claw poles. As such, if distortion occurs in the amount of magnetic flux, the rotation of the motor is interfered, resulting in vibration or noise of the motor.
If the motor is configured with the U-phase core, the V-phase core, and the W-phase core, first space is formed between the U-phase core main body and the V-phase core main body, and second space is formed between the V-phase core main body and the W-phase core main body. The U-phase coil, the V-phase coil, and the W-phase coil are disposed in the space formed in the insides of the cores, and the V-phase coil is divided into two V-phase coil elements connected in series to each other.
In this state, the U-phase coil and one of the V-phase coil elements are disposed in the first space, and the other one of the V-phase coil elements and the W-phase coil are disposed in the second space. In this case, since the coils can be disposed in the insides of the cores, the motor can be miniaturized.
In the motor configured as described above, a supply voltage is applied to the individual coils to make current flow through the coils and generate magnetic fluxes around the coils, so that the magnetic fluxes pass through the individual core main bodies to magnetize the claw poles. If the winding directions of the coils are different, the magnetic fluxes are generated in different directions, so that the polarities of the claw poles change. Accordingly, by differentiating the winding directions of the U-phase coil, the V-phase coil, and the W-phase coil, and sequentially change the coil to which the supply voltage is applied, the polarities of the claw poles can change appropriately.
Amounts of magnetic flux to magnetize the claw poles of the U-phase core and the W-phase core may be the same as amounts of magnetic flux generated in the U-phase coil and the W-phase coil, respectively.
Meanwhile, an amount of magnetic flux to magnetize the claw poles of the V-phase core may be a sum of amounts of magnetic flux generated in the V-phase coil elements, however, a magnetic flux generated in each V-phase coil element is divided into a magnetic flux toward the claw poles of the V-phase core and a magnetic flux toward the claw poles of the U-phase core or the W-phase core. Accordingly, an amount of magnetic flux toward the claw poles of the V-phase core from each V-phase coil element may be half the generated amount of magnetic flux.
Accordingly, in order to equalize the amounts of magnetic flux to magnetize the claw poles of the U-phase core, the V-phase core, and the W-phase core, an amount of magnetic flux that is generated in each V-phase core element may need to be adjusted to an amount of magnetic flux that is generated in the U-phase coil or the W-phase coil. Accordingly, the U-phase coil, each V-phase coil element, and the W-phase coil may need to have the same number of windings.
However, if the U-phase coil, the W-phase coil, and each V-phase coil element have the same number of windings, the U-phase coil, the W-phase coil, and the V-phase coil element may have the same resistance value. Since the resistance value of the V-phase coil is a sum of the resistance values of the two V-phase coil elements, the resistance value of the V-phase coil may become greater than the resistance value of the U-phase coil or the W-phase coil. As such, if the resistance values of the U-phase coil the V-phase coil and the W-phase coil are different from each other, current flowing through the individual cores may be unbalanced so that the rotation of the motor becomes unstable, resulting in the generation of vibration or noise.
In another claw pole type motor disclosed in Patent Document 2, the number S of the U-phase claw poles, V-phase claw poles, and W-phase claw poles is 12, and the number P of the N poles and S poles of the rotor is 8. Accordingly, the relation of S:P is 3:2, and in the proportional relation, the N poles and S poles of the rotor correspond to the U-phase claw poles, V-phase claw poles, and W-phase claw poles of the stator.
The relation will be understood with reference to FIG. 13. Referring to FIG. 13, when an electrical angle is represented by a circumferential angle, the circumferential angle of each of the N pole and the S pole becomes 180 degrees, and a circumferential angle obtained by summing the circumferential angles of the U-phase claw pole, the V-phase claw pole, and the W-phase claw pole corresponds to the circumferential angle of 360 degrees obtained by summing the circumferential angles of the N pole and the S pole. Accordingly, the maximum circumferential angle of each claw pole becomes 120 degrees.
However, the motor disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a problem that it cannot reduce cogging torque and the distortion of magnetic flux interlinkage. In order to resolve the problem, the circumferential angle of each claw pole needs to be within a range of 130 degrees to 160 degrees, however, in the motor disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the maximum circumferential angle of each claw pole is 120 degrees, the motor cannot reduce the distortion of magnetic flux interlinkage.
In addition, the U-phase core, the V-phase core, and the W-phase core are molded by pressing a magnetic material in a powder state in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft, errors are generated in accuracy of dimension in the axial line direction of the rotary shaft, so that air gaps may be formed between the U-phase core main body and the V-phase core main body and between the V-phase core main body and the W-phase core main body.
In this case, since the permeability of air is greatly different from that of the magnetic material configuring the cores, air acts as magnetic resistance, and the magnetic resistance generates deviation in the amount of magnetic flux passing through each core. Accordingly, the deviation in the amount of magnetic flux may influence the performance of the motor.
Also, Patent Document 3 discloses a motor manufactured by dividing a stator into a plurality of parts, fabricating each part through press processing, and then assembling the parts.
If a motor is manufactured by dividing a stator into a plurality of parts, the mass density of each part increases, which leads to an increase in mass density of the entire stator. Also, it is difficult to align the center axes of the plurality of parts divided in the diameter direction upon assembly. If the center axes of the plurality of parts are dislocated, the roundness of the claw poles deteriorates so that the rotation of the motor may be distorted, resulting in vibration or noise of the motor.
The above descriptions, Patent Document 1 is Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No 2007-116847, Patent Document 2 is Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-180285, and Patent Document 3 is Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2008-079384.

Claw pole type motor and home appliance including same


A fully-floating inlet flow guide for a double-flow steam turbine includes a pair of partially overlapping, generally cylindrical sealing rings circumscribing a turbine rotor adjacent a steam inlet with each of the bands being coupled to a respective one of a pair of first stage nozzle rings positioned on opposite sides of the inlet for directing steam into an axial flow path. The rings are provided with an annular seal at their overlapping portions such that axial expansion and contraction is accommodated without steam leakage through the seal. Radial expansion and contraction of the sealing rings is accommodated by attachment of each ring to a respective nozzle using a circumferential groove in a radially inner surface of each nozzle ring diaphragm and a tongue on each of the rings which fits into a respective groove. Each tongue has a plurality of circumferentially spaced slots and a block slidingly positioned in each of the slots. A pin extends through the blade diaphragm at each slot and extends through the corresponding block so that the blocks are fixed with respect to the diaphragm. The blocks prevent rotation of the bands about the turbine rotor while permitting radial displacement of the bands since the blocks are only slidingly held in the slots.

In typical double-flow steam turbines, a flow of motive steam is provided through an opening in an outer casing to an inlet chamber in an inner casing whereupon the steam is directed onto a first pair of annular rows of stationary blades positioned on either side of the middle of the turbine A number of such rows of stationary blades are fixed to the inner casing through attachment, by any one of several known methods, to an outer blade ring, of which there are several types. The radially inner end of the stationary blades is often terminated in a circumferential inner support ring which may be attached to the blades or may be formed integrally therewith. A bearing mounted rotor, having a number of annular rows of blades disposed about the periphery of the rotor is positioned within the inner casing so that the rotor blades are cooperatively associated with the rows of stationary blades. As the motive steam flows and expands from the turbine middle outward, stationary blades serve to direct the motive steam in a desired flow path onto the rotor blades to motivate the rotor in a well known manner.
In the above described double-flow steam turbines, the steam entering the turbine is directed transverse to the rotor axis, i.e., radially inward. As the steam reaches the area of the rotor blades, it must be turned through 90.degree. and then redirected by means of a first stationary circumferential row of blades onto a first stage of rotating blades. The operation of this first stationary blade row is important to the efficiency of the turbine since its purpose is to direct the steam entering the inlet into a preferred flow path onto the first row of rotating blades. Because there is a stationary blade connected to the static structure of the turbine and which is positioned adjacent the rotating rotor, there is necessarily formed a gap between a radially inward end of the first stationary blade row and the adjacent rotor. In many such turbines, steam entering the inlet may bypass the blades on the first blade row and flow around the ends of these blades through the gap between the inner support ring and the adjacent rotor. Because this steam is not directed into the desired steam flow path, it does not enter the first rotating blade row at the preferred angle and thus does not efficiently transfer its energy to the rotating blade row.
At least one form of apparatus utilized to avoid the loss of efficiency by steam flowing around the first stationary blade row is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,395 issued May 2, 1989 to Groenendaal, Jr. and assigned to Westinghouse Electric Corporation. This patent describes a system for use with double-flow steam turbines of the type in which the first stationary blade row comprises individually mounted blades and does not have a radially inner ring supporting the blades although the blade ends are fixed to a shroud. The apparatus as described therein comprises a pair of annular bands which circumscribe the rotor about its centerline with one of the bands being connected to the first row of stationary blades on one side of the inlet and the other band being connected to the first row of stationary blades on an opposite side of the inlet. The connection to the blades is a fixed or hard connection which does not provide for any relative movement between the connected band and the associated blades. At the junction between the two bands, there is an overlapping arrangement with a resilient seal positioned in one of the bands in a location so as to provide a frictional engagement with the other of the bands. This double band seal arrangement prevents steam from leaking between the bands and prevents steam from bypassing the first blade rows by passing around the ends of the blade row diaphragms. While this arrangement is suitable for some of the double-flow low pressure steam turbines, it does not provide for differential radial expansion but only for axial expansion between the opposed blade rows and it further does not provide for a method of connecting the circumscribing seal bands to a blade row of the type diaphragm having a inner ring.
Consequently, there is a need for a double-flow steam turbine which includes structure for preventing the flow of steam from circumventing the desired flow path in a turbine of the type having blade row diaphragms with inner diaphragm rings.

Fully floating inlet flow guide for double-flow low pressure steam turbines


An open wrench includes a body having a mounting hole defined therethrough. Two first faces and two second faces are respective defined in the inside of the mounting hole. The two first faces and the two second faces are located along four consecutive sides of an imaginary hexagonal body. Each first face has at least two teeth defined therein. Five curved faces are defined in the inside of the mounting hole and located corresponding to five corners of the imaginary hexagonal body. Each of the first and second faces has a contact face and each contact face is connected between two adjacent curved faces. The length of each contact face is 0.5-0.65 of the length of each side of the imaginary hexagonal body.

A conventional open wrench is shown in FIG. 7 and generally includes a body 40 having two faces 41 and a curved face 42 which is connected between the two faces 41. When the two faces 41 clamp an object 30 and the body 40 is rotated, there are gaps between the object 30 and the two faces 41, such that the corners of the object 30 are worn out by the two faces 41 and become rounded corners.
Taiwan Utility Model No. 088220749 invented by the present inventor, which discloses an open wrench with four faces for clamping a hexagonal object. Two of the four faces are parallel to each other, and an angle of degrees is defined between the other two faces. Each of the two parallel faces has at least one tooth and at least curved face, and three curved faces are formed at the connection portions between the four faces so that the object can be securely clamped and driven. When the open wrench is rotated to drive the object, the corners of the object are protected from being worn out by being positioned in the two curved faces and the three curved faces. There are two parallel sides, two faces, teeth two curved recesses and three curved recesses. In other words, there are five factors (two parallel sides, two faces, teeth two curved recesses and three curved recesses) to form the open wrench. There are over forty different specifications for the objects, including the objects of Metric and English systems. If each open wrench needs to set the five factors, the manufacturers have to spend significant time and cost to manufacture the open wrenches for all of the objects of different sizes and systems.
The present invention intends to provide an open wrench which needs only four factors to be set so as to reduce the time and cost required.


In a process for regulating the fuel/air ratio in internal combustion engines having an exhaust gas measuring probe and a catalyst, the fuel/air mixture fed to the internal combustion engine via a proportioning device being regulated to a virtually stoichiometric value in a control unit with variable characteristics as a function of the exhaust gas composition detected by the measuring probe, the characteristics of the control unit are variable in dependence on the operating time of the catalyst.

The present invention generally relates to a process for regulating the fuel/air ratio of internal combustion engines, and more particularly to a process for fuel/air regulation in which changes in catalyst conditions, for example, as the result of ageing, are compensated
German Published, Unexamined Patent Application 3,537,530 describes an arrangement for regulating the fuel/air ratio of an internal combustion engine. The fuel/air ratio supplied to the internal combustion engine is detected in a known way by an oxygen sensor arranged in an exhaust gas path. An output signal from the oxygen sensor is subsequently compared, in a comparator, with a value representing the ideal stoichiometric value of the fuel/air mixture, and the result is fed to a proportional-plus-integral (PI) control unit. From the input signal having two variables, this control unit generates a step/ramp function as an output signal. This signal is compared with a triangular pulse train, thereby generating square-wave pulses which activate an electromagnetic valve in order to make the fuel/air mixture richer or leaner.
The characteristics of the PI control unit can be varied in order to rapidly match the regulation to changed operating conditions, for example the acceleration of the internal combustion engine. However, the control system, although responding very quickly to changed operating conditions, nevertheless does not respond to changed catalyst conditions. These changes can occur, for example, as a result of the ageing of the catalyst. The lower conversion rate of the catalyst necessarily associated with ageing consequently cannot be compensated.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel/air regulation arrangement of the relevant generic type in such a way that changes in the catalyst, for example as a result of ageing, are compensated.
According to preferred embodiments of the invention, this and other objects are achieved by changing one or both of the characteristics of the PI control unit, that is to say changing the proportional sensitivity or the reset time, in dependence on the running distance of the catalyst, the regulation being matched as closely as possible to the state of ageing of the catalyst.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Process for regulating the fuel/air ratio in internal combustion engines


A donor element for thermal transfer is provided. The donor element comprises a backing having an organopolysiloxane-polyurea anti-stick surface on one side and a heat-activated, image forming material on the other side.

Thermal transfer recording involves the formation of an image on a receptor by the transfer of a heat-activated, image-forming material from a donor element. Thermal transfer recording includes both mass transfer and diffusion transfer systems. In a mass transfer system the image is formed by the transfer of a colorant to a receptor without the occurrence of a chemical reaction. In a diffusion transfer system, the image is formed on the receptor as a result of the transfer of a chemical reactant from the donor with subsequent reaction with a coreactant on the receptor.
In each system, transfer is achieved by image-wise heating a donor sheet bearing an image-forming material. A thermal print head, which consists of an array of small, electrically heated, elements each of which is preferably computer activated in a timed sequence, is used to produce the desired image. The donor sheet typically comprises a paper or polymer film backing layer having a heat-activated, image-forming layer on its front or top surface.
In the thermal transfer process, the image-forming layer of the donor sheet is usually placed into intimate contact with a receptor surface. The back or opposite side of the donor is contacted to the thermal printhead and the printhead activated to selectively heat the image forming material and transfer it to the receptor. In this process, the donor may be exposed to temperatures of 300.degree. C. or higher for short periods of time in order to cause transfer.
Regardless of the system used to bring about transfer, it is generally the case that such material must be carried on a backing. Contact of the backing to the thermal printhead however, has been found to cause a number of problems. For example, contact can abrade the thermal printhead. Moreover, many of the commonly used backing materials are thermoplastic and have a tendency to soften and stick to the printhead during the imaging step. Each of these factors can reduce the efficiency and accuracy of the elements and cause poor print quality.
A wide variety of solutions to these problems have been suggested. They include, for example, the use of heat resistant materials as the backing material and the use of non-adhesive or anti-stick layers on the side of the backing contacting the printhead. For example, backings having softening temperatures higher than those encountered by the donor in the printing process are disclosed in unexamined Japanese patent application J6 1248-093-A, wherein copolymers containing acrylonitrile are proposed. Alternatively, materials that remain non-adhesive even though they may be softened by the heat of the printer are disclosed as anti-stick layers in unexamined Japanese patent application J8 0210-494-A, wherein polyethylene is proposed as a backing material. Both of these solutions suffer from high cost and limited availability of materials. Furthermore, while high softening and melting temperatures of polymers containing acrylonitrile give them improved heat resistance, this heat resistance hinders attempts to form them into film in an economically feasible manner. Even though polyethylene is more easily processed, due to its relatively low melting point of 137.degree. C., it requires special treatment to give it the mechanical properties necessary for use as a backing for a donor.
Because none of these approaches has been totally satisfactory, a need remains to provide an efficient and effective means for preventing fouling of the printhead.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company