Techniques are described herein for sharing a dictionary across multiple in-memory compression units (IMCUs). After a dictionary is used to encode a first column vector in a first IMCU, the same dictionary is used to encode a second column vector in a second IMCU. The entries in the dictionary are in sort order to facilitate binary searching when performing value-to-code look-ups. If, during the encoding of the second column vector, values are encountered for which the dictionary does not already have codes, then a “sort-order-boundary” is established after the last entry in the dictionary, and entries for the newly encountered values are added to the dictionary, after the sort-order-boundary. To facilitate value-to-code look-ups, the new entries are also sorted relative to each other, creating a second “sort order set”. A new version of the dictionary may be created when the number of sort order sets in the first version of the dictionary reaches a configurable threshold.

Database systems typically store database objects (e.g. tables, indexes, etc.) on disk, and load data items from those database objects into volatile memory on an as-needed basis. Once loaded into volatile memory, the data items may remain cached in volatile memory so that subsequent accesses to the same data items will not incur the overhead of accessing a disk. Those data items may be replaced in cache, for example, to make room in volatile memory to store other data items that have been requested.
Rather than load individual data items on a per-item basis, entire database objects, or portions thereof, may be pre-loaded into volatile memory. Various approaches for loading entire database objects, or selected portions thereof, into volatile memory to speed up database operation processing are described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,292,564, entitled "Mirroring, In Memory, Data From Disk To Improve Database operation Performance", the application for which was filed Jul. 21, 2014, referred to herein as the "Mirroring" application, the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
According to the approaches described in the Mirroring application, database objects, or portions thereof, are stored in volatile memory in a different format than the format that those same objects have on disk. For example, the in-memory copies of the objects may be stored in a column-major format, while the on-disk copies are stored in a row-major format. The format used by the on-disk copies is referred to as the "persistent format", while the format used by the in-memory copies is referred to as the "mirror format". An in-memory version or copy of an object (or selected portions thereof), is referred to herein as an In-Memory Columnar Unit (IMCU).
To reduce the amount of volatile memory consumed by IMCUs, the mirror format is often compressed. One way to compress an IMCU is through the use of dictionary encoding. For example, assume that an IMCU stores a contiguous array of values from a column c1 of a table T1. Such an array is referred to herein as a "column vector". To reduce the volatile memory required to store such a column vector, the actual values from the table may, within the column vector, be replaced with values that take less space ("codes"). For example, a character string of 30 characters may be replaced by a four-byte code. The column vector produced by making such replacements is significantly smaller than a column vector that contains the original values.
While dictionary encoding significantly reduces the size of column vectors, it is necessary, when processing database commands based on information from the column vectors, to be able to reproduce the actual values of the column. Therefore, a dictionary is maintained in conjunction with a column vector. The dictionary associated with a column vector contains a replacement-value-to-actual-value mapping for each unique value in the original set of values. For example, assume that column c1 stores the names of states, and that table T1 has one million rows. The dictionary for the compressed column vector for c1 would have one entry for each unique state name that is present in c1. Since there are only 50 states, the dictionary for the compressed column vector for c1 would have at most 50 entries.
The process of encoding a column vector typically involves (a) reading the actual values from the target column, (b) eliminating duplicates to create a list of unique values, (c) and (d) assigning a code to each unique value. Once a code has been assigned to each unique value, the values within a column vector are replaced with the corresponding codes. Because the codes are smaller than the values the codes replace, the column vectors that contain the codes are effectively "compressed".
Decompressing a compressed column is referred to as "materializing" the column. Decompressing a column vector that was compressed using dictionary encoding involves performing code-to-value look-ups using the dictionary by which the column vector was encoded. To speed up code-to-value look-up operations, the position of the unique value's entry in the dictionary may be treated as the code for that unique value. For example, the value associated with the first dictionary entry may be assigned a code of "1", the value associated with the second dictionary entry may be assigned a code of "2", etc. To illustrate how assigning codes that correspond to the entry positions within the dictionary reduces the time required for code-to-value look-up operations, assume that the database server needs to determine the value that corresponds to the code "7". To determine the value, the database server can simply use "7" as an index into the dictionary to locate the seventh dictionary entry. The 7th dictionary entry contains the actual value, from c1, that corresponds to the code "7".
To speed up value-to-code look-up operations, the values are stored in the dictionary in sorted order. By storing the values in the dictionary in sorted order, the code for a target value may be ascertained by performing a binary search on the dictionary. Upon finding the target value within an entry in the dictionary, the database server simply uses the position, within the dictionary, of the entry that has the target value, as the code for the target value. Thus, if the binary search finds target value in the 7th entry of the dictionary, then the code for the target value is "7".
Unfortunately, it is often impractical to have a single column vector for a column. For example, if column c1 has several million rows, even the compressed column vector for the column may be too large to be efficiently stored in a single IMCU. Therefore, it is common for one column of a table to be divided up into multiple column vectors, each of which covers a range of rows from the actual table. For example, assume that column c1 has 3000 rows. Column c1 may be mirrored in volatile memory using three column vectors CV1, CV2 and CV3, where CV1 covers the values of c1 from row 1 to row 1000, CV2 covers values of c1 from row 1001 to row 2000, and CV3 covers values of c1 from row 2001 to row 3000. Each of these column vectors may be stored, within the volatile memory of the same node, in separate IMCUs. For the purpose of explanation, it shall be assumed that the IMCUs to which column vectors CV1, CV2 and CV3 belong are IMCU1, IMCU2, and IMCU3, respectively.
In the scenario described above, because each of column vectors CV1, CV2 and CV3 is in a separate IMCU, each of column vectors would be encoded using a different dictionary. For the purpose of explanation, the dictionary used to encode column vectors CV1, CV2 and CV3 shall be referred to as DCT1, DCT2 and DCT3, respectively. DCT1, DCT2, and DCT3 are IMCU-specific. Specifically, the dictionaries are not interchangeable because, for example, column c1 of rows 1-1000 (CV1) may have some values that column c1 of rows 1001-2000 (CV2) does not have, and visa-versa. Thus, DCT1 would have entries for values for which DCT2 would not have entries, and visa-versa. Further, even for the values that are common to both CV1 and CV2, the codes to which those common values are mapped may be different. For example, DCT1 may map "California" to code "2", while DCT2 maps "California" to code "4".
Often, database commands require processing all rows of a table based on values in a specified column, not simply those rows that belong to a single column vector. For example, a query may have the predicate "where c1='California' or 'Maine'". When processing such commands, the database server creates various temporary data structures based on the mappings in DCT1 to apply the predicate "where c1='California' or 'Maine'" to the values in CV1. Then, those temporary data structures are discarded, and new temporary data structures are created based on the mappings in DCT2 to apply the predicate "where c1='California' or 'Maine'" to values in CV2. Finally, those temporary data structures are discarded, and new temporary data structures are created based on the mappings in DCT3 to apply the predicate "where c1='California' or 'Maine'" to values in CV3.
Not only is the rebuilding of those temporary data structures time consuming, but the dictionaries themselves may be highly redundant. For example, DCT1, DCT2 and DCT3 may each have entries for all or nearly all of the 50 states. The redundant storage of the same values (which can be quite large) in multiple dictionaries can consume a significant amount of volatile memory. For example, a significant amount of memory would be consumed by five IMCU-specific dictionaries, where each of the five IMCU-specific dictionaries established a different mapping for nearly the same set of one million large unique values.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

In-memory column-level multi-versioned global dictionary for in-memory databases


A negative resist composition comprising an onium salt of arenesulfonic acid having a bridged ring-containing group and a base polymer is provided, the onium salt being capable of generating a bulky acid having an appropriate strength and controlled diffusion. When the resist composition is processed by lithography, a dot pattern of rectangular profile having high resolution and reduced LER is formed.

To meet the recent demand for higher integration in integrated circuits, formation of circuit patterns having a finer size is required. Acid-catalyzed chemically amplified resist compositions are most often used in forming resist patterns with a feature size of 0.2 μm or less. High-energy radiation such as UV, deep-UV or electron beam (EB) is used as the energy source for exposure of these resist compositions. In particular, while EB lithography is utilized as the ultra-fine microfabrication technique, it is also indispensable in processing a photomask blank to form a photomask for use in semiconductor device fabrication.
Polymers comprising a major proportion of aromatic structure having an acidic side chain, for example, polyhydroxystyrene are useful in resist materials for the KrF lithography. These polymers are not used in resist materials for the ArF lithography since they exhibit strong absorption at a wavelength of around 200 nm. These polymers, however, are expected to form useful resist materials for the EB and EUV lithography for forming patterns of finer size than the processing limit of ArF lithography because they offer high etching resistance.
Resist compositions for use in photolithography include positive ones in which exposed areas are dissolved away and negative ones in which exposed areas are left as a pattern. A viable composition is selected among them depending on the desired resist pattern. In general, the chemically amplified negative resist composition comprises a polymer which is normally soluble in an aqueous alkaline developer, an acid generator which is decomposed to generate an acid upon exposure to light, and a crosslinker which causes the polymer to crosslink in the presence of the acid serving as a catalyst, thus rendering the polymer insoluble in the developer (sometimes, the crosslinker is incorporated in the polymer). Typically a quencher is added for controlling the diffusion of the acid generated upon light exposure.
Typical of the alkali-soluble units to constitute polymers which dissolve in aqueous alkaline developer are units derived from phenols. A number of negative resist compositions of such type were developed, especially as adapted for exposure to KrF excimer laser light. These compositions have not been used in the ArF excimer laser lithography because the phenolic units are not transmissive to exposure light having a wavelength of 150 to 220 nm. Recently, these compositions are recognized attractive again as the negative resist composition for the short wavelength (e.g., EB or EUV) lithography capable of forming finer size patterns. Exemplary compositions are described in Patent Documents 1 to 3.
In the processing of photomasks, it is required that the profile of a resist pattern do not change depending on the time until PEB. The major factor causing such a change with time is the diffusion of acid generated upon exposure. Great efforts are made to address the problem of acid diffusion because the acid diffusion has a noticeable impact not only on the photomask processing, but also on the sensitivity and resolution of ordinary resist compositions.
Patent Documents 4 and 5 describe acid generators capable of generating bulky acids for controlling acid diffusion and reducing roughness. Since these acid generators are still insufficient to control acid diffusion, it is desired to have an acid generator capable of generating an acid with more controlled diffusion.
Patent Document 6 discloses a resist composition comprising a base resin to which a sulfonic acid to be generated upon light exposure is bound so that the acid diffusion is controlled. This approach of controlling acid diffusion by binding recurring units capable of generating acid upon exposure to a base polymer is effective in forming a pattern with minimal LER. However, a problem arises with respect to the solubility in organic solvent of the base polymer having bound therein recurring units capable of generating acid upon exposure, depending on the structure and proportion of such recurring units.
Patent Document 7 describes a sulfonium salt capable of generating an acid having a high pKa such as fluoroalkanesulfonic acid. Regrettably, the pattern obtained therefrom has substantial LER because unwanted crosslinking reaction takes place in the unexposed region. Even if acid diffusion is controlled, crosslinking reaction takes place in the unexposed region with a minor amount of acid diffused thereto.

Chemically amplified negative resist composition and resist pattern forming process


A video signal generation apparatus for decoding a bit stream to generate a video signal, includes: a writing unit configured to write a flag value indicating whether a decoding target block has been coded by intra-coding or inter-coding in a specified bit position on one bit plane having a size the same as that of the decoding target block, to write information indicating a coding division form of the decoding target block in a specified common area on the one bit plane, and to write the coding information in a specified switch interpretation area on the one bit plane according to a data format conforming to the intra-coding if the decoding target block has been coded by intra-coding, and to write the coding information in the specified switch interpretation area according to a data format conforming to the inter-coding if the decoding target block has been coded by inter-coding; and a generation unit configured to generate a video signal by superimposing the one bit plane on a decoded image of the decoding target block.

There is a need for recoding a decoded video signal. In this case, it is known that, if an encoder of a latter stage performs coding by using a coding parameter that has been used by an encoder of a former stage, little or no image quality deterioration occur.
Then, when there is the need for recoding the decoded video signal, coding information (information of the coding parameter) that has been used by the encoder of the former stage is superimposed on the decoded video signal.
For realizing this processing, in the Mole format of the conventional MPEG-2 (SMPTE standard), processing is performed such that, for each macro block, coding information of the macro block is embedded into 1 bit of LSB of the color-difference component of the video signal at a corresponding timing (refer to non-patent document 1, for example).
The existing video transmission interface such as HD-SDI and SD-SDI performs 10-bit transmission. So, 2 bits can be used when transmitting an 8-bit video signal. Thus, in the Mole format of the conventional MPEG-2 (SMPTE standard), a plane of 1 bit (1 bit of LSB) of the 2 bits is used, so that the coding information of the macroblock is embedded into 16×16=256 bits of the plane.
According to this configuration, the coding information of MPEG-2 can be transmitted together with the video signal at a rate no more than 256 bits/macroblock.    [Non-patent document 1] SMPTE 319M "Transporting MPEG-2 Recoding Information through 4:2:2 Component Digital Interfaces" SMPTE Journal, February 2000.

Video signal generation apparatus, video signal generation method, video signal generation program, and computer readable recording medium recording the program

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A chat interface allowing a user to exchange haptic chat messages with other users in a chat session over a computer network. A chat interface can be displayed by a local computer and receives input data from a user of the local computer, such as text characters or speech input. The input data provides an outgoing chat message that can include sent force information. The outgoing chat message is sent to a remote computer that is connected to the local host computer via a computer network. The remote computer can display a chat interface and output a haptic sensation to a user of the remote computer based at least in part on the force information in the outgoing chat message. An incoming message from the remote computer can also be received at the chat interface, which may also include received force information. The incoming chat message is displayed on a display device to the user of the local computer. A haptic sensation can be output to the user of the local computer using a haptic device coupled to the local computer, where the haptic sensation is based at least in part on the received force information received from the remote computer.

The present invention relates generally to interface devices for allowing humans to interface with computer systems, and more particularly to computer interface devices that provide input from the user to computer systems and implement force feedback to the user.
Using an interface device, a user can interact with an environment displayed by a computer system to perform functions and tasks on the computer, such as playing a game, experiencing a simulation or virtual reality environment, using a computer aided design system, operating a graphical user interface (GUI), or otherwise influencing events or images depicted on the screen. Common human-computer interface devices used for such interaction include a joystick, mouse, trackball, stylus, tablet, pressure-sensitive ball, or the like, that is connected to the computer system controlling the displayed environment. Typically, the computer updates the environment in response to the user's manipulation of a user-manipulatable physical object such as a joystick handle or mouse, and provides visual and audio feedback to the user utilizing the display screen and audio speakers. The computer senses the user's manipulation of the user object through sensors provided on the interface device that send locative signals to the computer.
In some interface devices, haptic feedback is also provided to the user, also known as "force feedback." These types of interface devices can provide physical sensations which are felt by the user manipulating a user manipulable object of the interface device. For example, the Wingman Force joystick or the Wingman Force Feedback Mouse from Logitech Inc. may be connected to a computer and provides forces to a user of the controller. One or more motors or other actuators are used in the device and are connected to the controlling computer system. The computer system controls forces on the joystick in conjunction and coordinated with displayed events and interactions by sending control signals or commands to the actuators. The computer system can thus convey physical force sensations to the user in conjunction with other supplied feedback as the user is grasping or contacting the joystick or other object of the interface device. For example, when the user moves the manipulatable object and causes a displayed cursor to interact with a different displayed graphical object, the computer can issue a command that causes the actuator to output a force on the user object, conveying a feel sensation to the user.
Force feedback can be used to communicate ideas and messages as well as effects. Forces can in many instances provide additional information to a recipient of the message that may not be apparent in a text or voice message. For example, a text message sent to another user over the Internet may not include information indicating how strong the user feels about the topic expressed or other message subtext. Users can try to express this subtext using well-known icons or symbols known as "emoticons," which are iconic representations of emotions or messages, such as the "smiley" to indicate a humorous message, expressed as a colon and right parenthesis mark, :), which resembles a face smiling when viewed from the side. Variations of the smiley emoticon can express a variety of other emotions. However, such emoticons and symbols are limited in the complexity of the messages they convey and the range of different messages possible. Haptic feedback, in contrast, can offer much more complex and direct ways to express such subtext to other users in a more compelling fashion.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Chat interface with haptic feedback functionality


A current mode controlled DC/DC converter that includes an adaptive clamp voltage circuit at an error amplifier output to significantly reduce overshoot in the output of the converter if the target voltage changes rapidly. If a current limiter is active, the clamp level of the adaptive clamp voltage circuit is decreased at an appropriate rate. Similarly, if the current limiter is not activated, the adaptive clamp voltage circuit is restored to an initial clamp level. The operation of the adaptive clamp circuit at the output of the error amplifier enables a relatively faster reduction in both overshoot and the amount of time before the converter's output voltage and output current settle back down to a relatively constant state.

A Direct Current to Direct Current (DC/DC) converter is often used to improve efficiency, reduces power consumption and heat dissipation in both mobile (battery powered) and non-mobile electronic devices. A typical current mode controlled DC/DC converter includes several circuits such as an error amplifier circuit, a pulse width modulated (PWM) comparator circuit, and a current limiting circuit.
For a typical current mode controlled DC/DC converter, the error amplifier circuit monitors the converter's output voltage and reference target voltage signal and outputs the reference current signal voltage. This reference current signal voltage is converted to a current by a voltage-to-current (V/I) converter, and the PWM comparator compares this reference current to the output current. The switch control circuit turns on and off the output transistor in accordance with the output of the PWM comparator.
Additionally, the current limiting circuit is usually arranged to limit the peak value of an inductor current at the typical DC/DC converter's output, which works independently of the PWM comparator. If the inductor current is higher than a limiting value, a current limit comparator becomes high and the switch control circuit stops (turns off) the high side output transistor. In this way, Direct Current (DC) magnetic saturation can be reduced or substantially eliminated at an output inductor, which in turn protects the integrity of the converter's output transistors. However, a typical current mode controlled DC/DC converter arranged in this manner often generates relatively large output overshoot if the reference target voltage changes quickly.
In operation, the conventional DC/DC converter increases or decreases the inductor current based on at least the level of the current reference signal detected by the error amplifier. For example, if the output voltage is higher than the target voltage, the error amplifier decreases the current reference signal, then the converter would subsequently decrease the inductor current by turning off the high side output transistor earlier than the previous cycle. Alternatively, if the output voltage is determined to be lower than the target voltage, then the error amplifier would increase the current reference signal, and in response, the converter would increase the inductor current by turning off the high side output transistor later than a previous cycle.
The current limiter works independently of the PWM comparator and if the inductor current is higher than the predetermined value, the current limiter also commands the switch control circuit to turn off the high side transistor.
However there is a case, where the converter causes significant overshoot if the converter is employed above the current limit function. If the target voltage significantly changes low to high, the error amplifier increases the current reference signal and PWM comparator and switch controller increase the inductor current. When the inductor current reaches the current limit level, current limiter controls the inductor current and inductor current does not increased anymore. If the output voltage still does not reaches the target voltage, the error amplifier continues to increase it's output voltage until it hits the fixed clamp voltage. The fixed clamp voltage is usually set significantly higher voltage, and the current reference signal becomes significantly higher than inductor current, which is limited below current limit by current limit circuit. Then the output voltage reaches to the target voltage, error amplifier decreases it's output and current reference signal. However, the current reference signal is significantly higher than current limit level, it takes some time to take back the inductor current control from current limiter. During this period, the inductor current still stay around current limit value even the output is higher than target voltage. Excess inductor current lead to a significant amount of overshoot in the output voltage that can be unacceptable in many applications.

Adaptive error amplifier clamp circuit to improve transient response of DC/DC converter with current mode control


A method for coherently tracking a radio signal including at least one digitally modulated reference carrier is provided, wherein the method comprises the steps of demodulating the reference carrier to produce complex coherent reference gains, detecting a transient that affects the complex coherent reference gains, and adjusting the complex coherent reference gains in the vicinity of the transient to produce adjusted complex coherent reference gains. The transient can be caused by switching among the antenna elements or impulsive noise. Receivers that process signals in accordance with the method, and a method of estimating noise variance of symbols in a radio signal are also provided.

HD Radio is a medium for providing digital-quality audio, superior to existing analog broadcasting formats. The advantages of digital transmission for audio include better signal quality with less noise and wider dynamic range than with existing FM and AM radio. The goal of FM HD Radio is to provide virtual-CD quality stereo audio along with a capacity for a data channel. The development of new high-quality stereo codec algorithms indicates that virtual-CD stereo quality is practical at rates below 96 kbps. In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) HD Radio systems require no new spectral allocations because each digital signal is simultaneously transmitted within the spectral mask of an existing analog signal allocation. IBOC HD Radio is designed, through power level and spectral occupancy, to be transparent to the analog radio listener. IBOC HD Radio promotes economy of spectrum while enabling broadcasters to supply digital quality audio to their present base of listeners.
IBOC HD Radio is transmitted using a composite signal that includes a plurality of OFDM subcarriers and reference subcarriers with the broadcast channel. Coherent demodulation is used for the digital portion of an FM IBOC (In-Band On-Channel) signal in IBOC HD Radio receivers. The multiple roles of the Reference Subcarriers for acquisition, tracking, estimation of channel state information (CSI) and coherent operation have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,544, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,544 was designed for operation in the FM broadcast band (88-108 MHz) with fading bandwidth to accommodate receivers used in vehicles at highway speeds. The various coherent tracking parameters are estimated using filters with bandwidths that approximate the maximum expected Doppler bandwidth (roughly 13 Hz). With a fixed antenna, the pertinent tracking statistics of the input signal to the tracking algorithms are assumed to vary at a rate no greater than the Doppler bandwidth.
IBOC HD Radio receivers can be used in combination with a switch diversity antenna system. The switch diversity antenna system includes multiple antenna elements (e.g., 2 to 4) usually placed within the glass of the front or back windows of a vehicle. These elements are connected to a diversity switch module which dynamically selects one or a combination of elements to provide an RF antenna signal to the receiver. The diversity switch module also monitors a signal from the receiver to determine when to switch. A typical module's "blind switching" algorithm establishes a switching threshold based on the average intermediate frequency (IF) signal level from the receiver. When the IF signal falls below the threshold, the switch blindly selects an alternative element with the expectation of yielding a better signal. If the new signal is above a threshold, then the switch maintains the new element selection. Otherwise, the diversity switch module selects an alternative element after a minimum amount of dwell time. This process continues with the switch module continually updating its threshold(s). An example of such an antenna switch diversity system is presented in H. Lindenmeier et al., "Diversity System for Receiving Digital Terrestrial and/or Satellite Radio Signals for Motor Vehicles", U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,258 B2, Oct. 14, 2003.
The theory behind the operation of the diversity switch algorithm is based on the different instantaneous fading conditions of the various antenna elements. Multipath fading results in the addition of multiple rays (multipaths) of the signal arriving at the receiving antenna element at different times. For example a wavelength at 100 MHz is approximately 10 feet. If two signal paths arrive at a time differential of 1 wavelength or 10 nanoseconds (10 feet propagation difference), then the signals will add in-phase. Similarly if the two rays arrive at the antenna element with a time differential of a half wavelength, then the added out-of-phase signals will cancel. This addition or cancellation is dynamic in a moving vehicle where the Doppler bandwidth is approximated by BW=fc*s/c (fc is the carrier frequency, s is the speed of the vehicle, and c is the speed of light). The Doppler bandwidth is roughly 10 Hz at typical highway speeds. Therefore the signal vector (complex version of magnitude/phase) of one antenna element can vary at a rate of approximately 10 Hz in this example. Then coherent tracking of the reference signal and channel state must accommodate a 10 Hz bandwidth to maintain coherent signal tracking.
Typical antenna elements in a vehicle can experience somewhat independent instantaneous fading conditions (depending on spacing of the elements and the directions of the multiple paths). For example one element can be in a fading null while another element is at a maximum. In a vehicle with several elements, it is likely that an antenna element will receive a sufficiently higher signal while the present element is experiencing a fade (signal cancellation). Typical elements in a multi-element FM diversity antenna system will have instantaneous fading conditions that may be somewhat correlated, but sufficiently uncorrelated to achieve the desired diversity gain to improve performance.
The coherent digital modem in an example IBOC HD Radio receiver is designed to track signal fading at vehicle speeds where Doppler bandwidth is <13 Hz. The use of switch diversity antennas in vehicle windows introduces abrupt transients in the coherent tracking of the digital signal, which degrades digital performance. The transients caused by dynamic antenna switching cannot be tracked in the previous receiver modem resulting in degraded digital coverage.
This invention provides a coherent tracking method which accommodates the switching transients in a switch diversity antenna system.

Coherent tracking for FM in-band on-channel receivers


A touch-based control device is operable to detect touch input over an entirety of the control device's exterior, including at regions of an exterior panel that (i) overlay portions of a circuit board where no touch sensors exist, and/or (ii) extend beyond a perimeter of a touch region or circuit board on which touch sensors are provided.

Home control systems, such as lighting control systems used for lighting fixtures, include binary analog switches and analog dimmer switches that enable users to control one or more lights wired to an electrical box upon which such switches are connected. Furthermore, when a person wishes to activate or interact with home systems, the person typically must interact with an actual device of the system or a dedicated or universal remote control and manually create an environment comprising activated or dimmed lights, audio system output, visual system output (e.g., a television or digital picture frame output), temperature, and the like.
Touch sensitive sensing technology has emerged as a popular human interface for many types of devices. Many types of devices, such as portable computers, media players, and IOT devices, provide capacitive touch-sensing technology as a mechanism for enabling user input. Typically, touch-sensing functionality is implemented through use of a circuit board that distributes capacitive elements over an area of the circuit board.
FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a prior art electronic device 500 that includes a circuit board 508 on which a touch-sensing layer 510 is implemented to detect touch-input on an external surface 502. The circuit board 508 may also include a grounding layer, or reference plane 506, as an intermediate or bottom layer. The touch-sensing layer 510 can include capacitive elements distributed over an exterior-facing surface of the circuit board 508. The capacitive touch-sensing elements are reactive to changes in an electrical field that is generated over the respective element. Typically, each sensing element of the sensing layer 510 is reactive to electric field variations that occur directly over the sensing element. The circuit board 508 can further be provided with sensing logic (e.g., microprocessor) which can sample an output of each capacitive element of the sensing layer 510 to detect instances when the electric field of the sensing element are affected by capacitance inherent in human skin. Under such conventional approaches, the sensing logic can compare an input of the individual sensing elements with baseline values to detect the presence of human skin on or near the external surface 502.
Typically, the sensing layer 510 has substantially the same dimensions as the underlying reference plane 506. Additionally, the electric field that each sensing element is reactive to directly overlays the respective sensing element. Further, the sensing logic is tuned to interpret fluctuations in electric field that directly overlays individual sensing element as touch-input on the external surface 502. As a result, blind spots 512 can exist over portions of the external surface 502 that overlay (i) regions of the circuit board where no capacitive touch-sensing elements exist, and (ii) underlying regions where the circuit board itself is absent (e.g., regions beyond the perimeter of the circuit board). If a user touches the external surface 502 where there is a blind spot 512, the touch-input is not detected or registered as an input. As a result, under such conventional approaches, areas which are located beyond a perimeter of a touch region are not responsive to touch-input. Likewise, areas of the exterior surface 502 which overlay a region of a circuit board where no touch sensors are provided (e.g., region of circuit board where an antenna structure is provided) may also be non-responsive under conventional approaches.

Touch-based control device to detect touch input without blind spots


A concrete durability protection method is provided, including following steps: Step one: rinsing the concrete surface; Step two: spraying agent A material or alternately spraying agent B material and agent A material at the wet surface of the concrete; Step three: repeating step two. The beneficial effects of the present invention include: nanoscale active silicate penetrates into the concrete surface layer within a certain depth and reacts with free calcium ions within the concrete to form C—S—H crystalline, thereby improving the compactness of the concrete surface layer within a certain depth, repairing defects in the concrete surface layer within a certain depth, such as the capillary interstices, pores, microcracks, etc., so as to effectively improve the durability of concrete. The unreacted nanoscale active silicate material has permanent activity. It could recover its activity when the concrete absorbs moisture, and continue to react with free calcium ions in the concrete to quickly form C—S—H crystals, realizing the permanent concrete durability protection.

The past 30 years have seen a rapid economic development in China, as well as rapid development of infrastructure construction and key projects in various fields, such as municipal construction projects, transportation bridges and tunnels, hydropower dam projects, port projects, etc. As the country's urbanization is largely completed, the peak period of major construction in China has passed and it is at the late stage of massive construction, however concrete is still the main construction material. According to statistics, there are about 72.41 billion m2 (779.4 billion square foot) existing concrete buildings in China, and about 29.58 billion m2 (318.4 billion square foot) has been used for more than 30 years, accounting for 40% of existing concrete buildings. The number of existing highway bridges has exceeded 800,000, and more than 250,000 bridges has been used for over 30 years. There are more than 86,000 hydropower reservoir dams, and about 70% of them have been constructed for more than or close to 30 years.
Due to a variety of reasons, the life of concrete contractions has begun to be seriously threatened because of the durability of concrete materials, and prominent problems have begun to appear. China gradually attaches importance to the durability protection of concrete construction in various fields and plans to establish research projects to explore high-performance concrete durability protection materials and techniques through professional research institutes and universities or introduce world-class advanced new concrete durability protection materials. Therefore, the new high-performance concrete durability protection and repair material is one of the important technological development directions with massive market demand and strong government support in the next ten years, which has considerable direct economic value and indirect social value.
Currently, there are two main aspects to improve the concrete durability in Chinese market: on one hand, the problem can be solved by improving the concrete material itself, mainly involving the optimization of concrete raw materials, the optimization of concrete mix ratio, the technology of adding powder to concrete, the development of concrete admixture technology, and the improvement of concrete pouring construction technology; on the other hand, the problem can be solved by concrete surface protection technology, mainly involving the application of epoxy resin coating materials, polyurea resin coatings, polyurethane coatings, acrylic emulsion coatings, cement-based capillary crystalline waterproof materials, etc. As far as the second aspect concerned, in the field of concrete durability protection material technology, current approaches have serious technical problems of aging and nondurability in both the protective material per se and the combination of the protective material and the concrete. Therefore, there is no better technology for concrete protection so far.
However, the concrete protection and repair technology using inorganic water-based nano-modified silicate capillary crystallized with permanent activity is a new type of environmental protective method that has been rapidly developed in Europe, America and Japan in the past decade. It is integrated with the concrete body and improves durability of concrete. It is fundamentally different from the traditional protective material that only "wearing one coat" on the concrete surface.

Nano modified silicate capillary crystalline material and use method thereof


Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods, and computer storage media for determining an increased matching for large graphs in which an increased matching is generated for the graph by leveraging an initial matching for a small fraction of edges of the large graph. An initial matching for a random subset of edges of an input graph is leveraged to generate alternating paths based on the initially matched edges and the remaining edges, not included in the random subset. An increased matching for the entire graph includes the alternating paths without the initial matched edges, thus increasing the number of matched edges in the increased matching by at least one for every initially matched edge. Graph-based tasks may then be triggered based on the increased matching.

In the context of graph theory, graphs and networks are made of nodes that are connected by edges. Graph theory has become an increasingly popular way to model real-world applications in fields such as computer science, linguistics, physics and chemistry, social sciences, biology, and mathematics, to name a few. Algorithms can be applied to such models to perform graph-based tasks such as nodes matching. Generally, matching in graph theory refers to selecting a set of disjointed edges in a graph. Graph theory matching can be used in many applications, including recommendation systems, summarization applications, Internet of Things applications, online advertising, social networks, etc. For example, a freelancing platform can be modeled as a graph with freelancer nodes and job nodes. Freelancer qualifications and job requirements can be modeled as edges between nodes for freelances and jobs the freelancers qualify for, and matching can be used to recommend available freelancers with available jobs.
However, real-world graphs involve billions of nodes and edges. As a result, storing these graphs often requires substantial storage space, and operating on them requires substantial computational time and resources. This is especially true for streaming applications where data is continually being produced and streamed.

Single-pass matching in large data streams


The embodiments of the invention relate to a system and method for making a biomolecule microarray comprising a spacer attachment module adapted to attach a linker to a substrate surface of the biomolecule microarray, a coupling module adapted to couple a molecule to the linker, the molecule being capable of forming a peptide bond and containing a protecting group that prevents the formation of the peptide bond, and a deprotection module adapted to create deprotection of the protecting group with a radiation exposure of about 1-50 mJ/cm2.

An increasing amount of biological assays, such as immunoassays and gene sequencing, are being carried out on micro arrays, such as DNA micro arrays or protein micro arrays. Micro arrays are also emerging as popular analytical tools for genomics and proteomics research. A microarray is a collection of microscopic spots containing probes, typically biological molecules such as DNA or protein spots attached to a solid planar surface, such as glass, plastic or silicon chip in a specific pattern and is used for analyzing biological interactions. Multiple probes can be assembled on a single substrate by techniques well know to one skilled in the art. A probe could bind to an analyte or group or analytes by hybridization or affinity binding. Examples of uses of such an array include, but are not limited to, investigations to determine which genes are active in cancer, investigations to determine which gene differences make a patient have a bad reaction to a drug treatment, investigations for infectious disease, investigations to determine presence of genetic mutation in a patient.
The in situ synthesis of micro arrays using solid-state chemistry and photolithography by a method called light-directed spatially addressable parallel chemical synthesis allows many micron-sized spots, each containing a unique protein/peptide sequence, to be simultaneously synthesized on a glass surface. This method uses a photolabile protection group to mask the N-terminus of an amino acid, and the glass surface during the peptide synthesis. Each deprotection and coupling cycle of the peptide synthesis is controlled by a set of photo masks with defined configurations that allow for the selection deprotection of the N-terminal amino group of the growing peptide chain, followed by selective coupling of different amino acids onto different peptides.
While DNA arrays have been quicker to develop and have emerged as a very powerful tool in genomics, there still exist bottlenecks in terms of the throughput of array synthesis as serial processes that involve manual intervention are used even when they are synthesized using photolithographic techniques. Proteins/peptides are fundamentally different from nucleic acids and the synthesis of protein/peptide arrays is much more complex than DNA arrays. The major impediment of using photolithography to generate high-density peptide arrays arises from the relatively high technical complexity need for peptide array construction with 20 amino acid building blocks, 20 photolabile protecting group containing amino acid derivatives and 20 different masks needed for each monomer elongation cycle. Therefore, the development of protein/peptide arrays has been slower and is still in its infancy. Whereas in the case of DNA arrays, only 4 masks are needed for each coupling cycle. Furthermore, peptide synthesis in general is much less efficient than the oligonucleotide synthesis, making it extremely difficult to generate high-quality peptide/protein arrays.
In generally, depending on the method by which the microarray is created, it can be (a) in situ photolithographic array, (b) in situ SPOT synthesized array, and (c) contact printing (also called spotting) array.
The chemistry of the in situ photolithographic array uses light directed parallel chemical synthesis and solid-state chemistry. This approach is limited largely due to the inefficient photochemical reaction needed throughout the whole synthesis. As a result, only short peptides (or peptide analogs, e.g., peptoids) can be sufficiently synthesized by the in situ photolithographic synthesis approach.
The SPOT-synthesis approach is also by in situ synthesis, but it does not use photochemical reactions for deprotection of the N-terminal amino group of the growing peptide chain. The SPOT-synthesis comprises the dispensing of a small volume of solutions containing Fmoc-amino acids and other coupling reagents to a designated stop on a membrane. Subsequently, deprotection and coupling steps synthesize the biomolecule on the substrate to form protein/peptide array.
The contact printing array method makes use of an automatic spotter to spot nanoliter droplets of pre-synthesized peptide/protein solutions onto a suitably derivatized solid surface, e.g., glass surface. By this approach, each peptide/protein is synthesized only once in a bulk quantity, and multiple spots containing the peptide/protein are created by printing using a spotter.
The more preferred methods for making protein/peptide arrays are contact printing and SPOT-synthesis. The SPOT-synthesis and contact printing methods permit rapid and highly parallel synthesis of huge numbers of proteins/peptides and proteins/peptide mixtures (pools) including a large variety of unnatural building blocks, as well as a growing range of other organic compounds. Yet, the major drawbacks of these methods for synthesizing biomolecule micro arrays are their low throughput, low degree of automation, low density of target molecules, low yield and batch to batch and process variability. Also, these method are not as miniaturized as the in situ photolithography technique for microarray synthesis.
In short, the current methods of manufacturing micro array rely on serial processing/synthesis of micro arrays using highly customized tool sets such as peptide/DNA synthesizers, spotters, ink jet printers. They involve manual processing operations not amenable to low cost, automated, high throughput, high volume manufacturing.

Method for high throughput, high volume manufacturing of biomolecule micro arrays


An interfacial layer is provided that binds a hydrophilic interlayer dielectric to a hydrophobic gap-filling dielectric. The hydrophobic gap-filling dielectric extends over and fill gaps between devices in an array of devices disposed between two metal interconnect layers over a semiconductor substrate and is the product of a flowable CVD process. The interfacial layer provides a hydrophilic upper surface to which the interlayer dielectric adheres. Optionally, the interfacial layer is also the product of a flowable CVD process. Alternatively, the interfacial layer may be silicon nitride or another dielectric that is hydrophilic. The interfacial layer may have a wafer contact angle (WCA) intermediate between a WCA of the hydrophobic dielectric and a WCA of the interlayer dielectric.

The integrated circuit device manufacturing industry has experienced exponential growth over the last few decades. As integrated circuit devices have evolved, functional density (e.g., the number of integrated circuit devices per chip area) has increased while feature sizes have decreased. As feature sizes decrease, it becomes more and more difficult to fill gaps between features during manufacturing. For example, if a chip includes "tall" structures that are closely spaced (i.e., separated from one another in the lateral direction by only a small "gap"), the "gap" can be said to have a high aspect ratio. Such high aspect ratio gaps are difficult to fill. Conventional dielectric growth processes, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), tend to "pinch off" near the tops of the gaps, thereby leaving voids in the lower areas of the gaps. These voids may be undesirable, potentially leading to structural integrity issues, for example. Flowable CVD processes have been developed to address these issues. Flowable CVD processes form a liquid on the chip surface that flows to fill high aspect ratio gaps. A cure process solidifies the liquid to produce a gap-filling dielectric that is substantially free of voids.

Techniques to inhibit delamination from flowable gap-fill dielectric

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A doll's seamless garment which is adapted to be dressed, fitted and be removed in a life-like manner from a doll having a height in the range of above 8 cm to about 32 cm, wherein the doll is bendable at least in part. The garment is molded from an elastomeric material or rubber having an average modulus of elasticity of less than 1 MN/m2. The garment wall thickness is preferably in the range of about 1 mm to about 3 mm. Further disclosed is a skin. The skin is adapted to be dressed, fitted and removed from a doll to transform the doll into a different character or object, and wherein the skin is molded in at least one part from an elastomeric material. The skin may have a wall thickness from 1 to 3 mm, the material having an average modulus of elasticity of less than 1 MN/m2. The garments are easily manipulated by children and provide opportunities for creative play. Still further disclosed is a play set comprising, in cooperative combination, a doll donned and fitted with a garment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a doll's garment, a method for the manufacture thereof and to a play set comprising a doll and at least one garment therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, doll's clothes are stitched from fabric. This is impracticable for making clothes for dolls smaller than about 4 cm in height, due to the difficulty experienced in forming the stitches. Even for larger dolls, stitching may be difficult for small garment features. Additionally, fabric clothing may not be as elastic as alternative materials, causing difficulties in donning garments on dolls, and therefore, limiting the degree to which a garment may be shaped to the doll form. Furthermore, fabric clothing is less durable than alternative materials.
Flexible or elastic articles not designed for doll clothing, generally have limitations which render them unsuitable for doll clothing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,238 discloses a method of manufacturing sanitary elastic sheaths by a dipping process. The sheaths are comprised of bags having elastic bands attached at one end and may be used for items such as finger cots, thumb guards, rubber gloves and breast nipple sheaths. The item itself is not molded to fit to the shape of the form which it covers and requires the elastic band to secure the sheath in place. The bag-like nature of the articles does not allow for openings for arms and legs as is necessary in doll's clothing.
A molded latex article is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,533 for use as a girdle. The article is formed with a mesh-like network of multiple small holes to permit free breathing of the skin on which it is placed. An item such as this would not be suitable for doll's clothing primarily because of its perforated nature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,153 discloses a method for making doll clothing and doll house accessories by molding a plastic film and thereafter attaching decorative elements. The elements are attached by moistening the film to which the element is to be attached. Providing detail in this manner may be difficult and time consuming, especially for small features. It also introduces a weakness in the article diminishing durability. Additionally, the method may limit the sizes and types of detail which may be added to the articles.
Various proposals have therefore been advanced for making articles simulating doll's clothing from alternative materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,774 describes fabricating such articles from plastic materials. Due to their degree of rigidty, the articles lack realism and appear bulky. In addition, once the doll is clothed, its limbs cannot be moved so that the articles are unsuitable for dolls with articulated limbs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,940 discloses a finger mounted document handling aid. The aid is tubular and comprises a plurality of generally parallel longitudinal cuts to permit enhanced flexibility. Such an article would be difficult to adapt to realistic-looking doll's clothing because of the longitudinal cuts required for adequate flexibility. Furthermore, without the cuts the article may not be flexible enough to bend at joints of an articulated doll.
Therefore, there is a need for doll's clothing that can be realistically dressed on, adapted and fitted to the doll. Additionally, there is a need for garments that have sufficient flexibility to bend where the doll bends. Furthermore, there is a need for doll's garments made of a material suitable as to appearance for doll's clothing, and that may easily be manipulated by children. Furthermore, it is desirable to manufacture doll's clothing with these characteristics in a size appealing to and fun for a wide age range of children.


Disclosed herein is a cooling system for two-dimensional array power converters. The cooling system includes: a plurality of power converters arranged in two-dimension; a compressor configured to generate compressed air; vortex tubes each installed in the respective power converters, the vortex tubes configured to generate low-temperature air based on compressed air from the compressor; valves installed between the compressor and the vortex tubes; temperature sensors each installed in the respective power converters to measure temperature inside the power converters; and a controller configured to determine whether to supply the low-temperature air into the power converters by using the vortex tubes, based on the temperature measured by the temperature sensors, and to control the valves depending on a result of the determination.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a cooling system, and more specifically to a cooling system for two-dimensional array power converters that can stably cool down the power converters arranged in two-dimension by employing vortex tubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a power converter used in the industrial field, an apparatus such as an inverter for motor drive, a solar inverter, an energy storage system (ESS) or the like generates heat when it is driven.
Since the heat generated when the power converter is driven causes performance deterioration, reduced life, interruption and the like of the apparatus, there is a consistent need for development of a system for cooling the apparatus efficiently.
Accordingly, a variety of cooling apparatuses for cooling the power converter has been proposed. Cooling apparatuses may be classified into an air blowing type and a water cooling type.
The air blowing type is a method of using a fan to forcedly dissipate heat generated from a power converter, which is also referred to as a forced air cooling technique. The air blowing type is a technique for driving a fan to circulate air between cooling fins so as to maintain the power converter at a proper temperature
For a typical power converter, e.g., an inverter, a plurality of cooling fins is disposed at the lower portion therein, and a plurality of fans is disposed on the upper portion of the case.
Heat generated during the operation of the power converter moves toward the upper portion by the fans and exit.
Since power converters are cooled down by the fans using the air blowing technique in the related art, the power converters can be arranged only horizontally in one-dimension, but not vertically in two-dimension. As a result, it is not possible to efficiently utilize the space for installing power converters.

Cooling system for two-dimensional array power converters


This Auxiliary Tailgate and its related Retractable Stop relate to a new and useful tailgate design for trucks and the like. The Auxiliary Tailgate and Retractable Stop may be used to effectively extend the length of a truck bed, and to act as an auxiliary tailgate or the like, for trucks utilizing this invention. There are several embodiments of the Auxiliary Tailgate and Retractable Stop, including solid frame, open frame, and enclosed clam shell embodiments.

Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention, entitled xe2x80x9cAuxiliary Tailgatexe2x80x9d, was devised and invented by Mark Willard Vejnar, and relates to a new and useful type of tailgate that may be used to effectively extend the payload area or truck bed for a pickup truck, mini-truck, or the like.
This xe2x80x9cAuxiliary Tailgatexe2x80x9d invention will be referred to throughout this specification and its appended claims, as a proper noun with the first letter of each word capitalized. The back panel (4) component of the Auxiliary Tailgate is the primary component, and the terms are therefore nearly synonymous. The xe2x80x9cRetractable Stopxe2x80x9d invention will also be referred to as a proper noun throughout this specification and its appended claims, and may be used in conjunction with the Auxiliary Tailgate, or without an Auxiliary Tailgate. The Retractable Stop is similar to a back panel (4) or an Auxiliary Tailgate, but is generally much shorter in height and is comprised of a simpler design with fewer components.
The term xe2x80x9ctruckxe2x80x9d as used throughout this specification and its appended claims is intended to also refer to a pickup truck, mini-truck, or a small or medium-sized truck with either an open payload or a covered payload bed. The term xe2x80x9ctruckxe2x80x9d is also intended to be broadly construed to include sport utility vehicles, multipurpose vehicles, minivans, station wagons, and trailers, where the tailgate may be opened to a position that is generally parallel to the ground, as shown in the Drawing Figures.
The field of this invention relates to a new and useful tailgate design for trucks and the like, and most particularly for pickup trucks. The Auxiliary Tailgate and the Retractable Stop disclosed herein, may be effectively used as a tailgate in a variety of trucks and closely related vehicles that may be used for hauling objects or loads that may shift or move during transport in a truck bed (1) or the like.
Heretofore, the safe transport of an object was limited to the size of the payload area or truck bed (1) or the like, and many mini-truck designs, particularly in recent years, have a short truck bed (1) or payload area. It is not uncommon for an object or load, such as a standard piece of four foot by eight foot plywood, drywall, lumber material, ladders, refrigerators, sofas, and other large objects, to be a matter of inches to several feet too long to fit safely into a truck bed (1). One solution to this problem may be to drop the primary tailgate (3) down and allow the long object to extend out of the truck bed (1) for a short distance. This means of transporting a large object, however, many cause safety problems and may be a violation of the law in some jurisdictions. It is not uncommon for large objects and loads to fall out of a truck bed (1), particularly when the tailgate is in the down position, and for these large objects and loads to fall onto a freeway or highway, thereby damaging the objects and causing hazard to the truck driver and to other drivers.
The inventor, Mark Willard Vejnar, has devised and invented a new and useful type of Auxiliary Tailgate and a Related Retractable Stop, for a truck or the like, that may easily be used to effectively extend the length of the truck bed (1), and additionally would effectively secure a payload within the truck bed (1). The means for securing a payload within the truck bed (1) with an Auxiliary Tailgate being opened to the vertical up position, as shown in FIG. 1, or alternatively, with the Retractable Stop in the up position, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 12.
In trying to solve the above-described truck and automobile industry problems and disadvantages, and within the scope of this invention, the inventor, Mark Willard Vejnar, conceived, devised, invented, and engineered the new and useful means of effectively extending the effective truck bed (1) of at truck or the like, through the use of an Auxiliary Tailgate and a Retractable Stop. During the inventorship process in developing the Retractable Stop and the Auxiliary Tailgate, the inventor, Mark Willard Vejner, did also conceive, devise, invent, and engineer a set of hinges that may be used with the present Retractable Stop and Auxiliary Tailgate inventions, and which are intended to rest, set, hold, lock, or fix the hinge at a desired angle, such as a 90-degree angle, through the use of a hinge rib (50)/hinge rib restraint (51) means, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, or through the use of an additional hinge dimple (65)/hinge dimple port (68) means, as shown in FIGS. 57 and 58.
The objectives and advantages of the present Auxiliary Tailgate and Retractable Stop invention include their hideaway feature which allows the user to optionally use the Auxiliary Tailgate and Retractable Stop by pulling the Auxiliary Tailgate or the Retractable Stop, or both, out of their hideaway position. The Auxiliary Tailgate may be tucked away into the front section of the primary tailgate (3) of a truck or the like, until the user elects to use the Auxiliary Tailgate. The Retractable Stop may be tucked away into the top portion of the front section of the primary tailgate (3) or back panel (4), until the user elects to use the Retractable Stop. For some applications, the user may elect to utilize the Auxiliary Tailgate by placing it in the horizontal open position, and also utilize and open a Retractable Stop located at the terminal end of said horizontal open Auxiliary Tailgate, as shown in FIG. 3.
Another objective and advantage of the Auxiliary Tailgate and the Retractable Stop invention is that they may be composed of a polymeric or composite material, rather than the metal or alloy generally comprising the primary tailgate. The use of a polymeric or composite composition for the Auxiliary Tailgate and the Retractable Stop reduces the cost of materials and allows one to mold the parts, thereby further reducing the costs. Other advantages of utilizing polymeric or composite materials, rather than a metal or alloy, includes a lighter weight and lower hardness. The lower hardness may afford the user greater protection for the painted surface of the truck, when the Auxiliary Tailgate or the Retractable Stop is resting on the painted surface of the truck.
The Auxiliary Tailgate and the Retractable Stop invention is a valuable means of effectively and safely extending the payload area or truck bed (1) for some mini-trucks or short-bed trucks that would otherwise have limited utility in transporting furniture, such as sofas, refrigerators and bookshelves, and transporting construction materials, such as plywood, drywall, and lumber, from site-to-site, or from lumber yard to construction site.


A check valve of one embodiment includes a spout member which has a flow path inside, an urging member supported by an inner end portion of the spout member, a valve body connected to the urging member, and a cylindrical member having a flow path inside, and is provided with a valve seat portion on an inner circumferential face, the spout member is fixedly attached to the cylindrical member so that the valve body and the urging member are inserted into the cylindrical member and the valve body is urged to the valve seat portion by the urging member, and the flow path and the flow path communicate with each other to configure an outflow path through which the content in the vessel flows out.

Conventionally, vessels having pourers have been used for various use purposes. As a kind of vessel like them, there is known a spout pouch with a pourer (spout) attached to a packaging bag (pouch). In recent years, as a result of widespread proliferation of the spout pouches, various contents have come to be filled in spout pouches.
When the contents to be filled are soy sauce, edible oil, and alcoholic drinks, the contents are preferably prevented from contacting oxygen in the air as much as possible in order to prevent deterioration by oxidation. Consequently, in order not to suck external air directly after pouring a content, a vessel equipped with a check valve in which the check valve is incorporated in the pourer is demanded.
Patent Literature 1 describes the check valve having a mechanism that closes the valve by using a restoring force of an urging member (a coil spring or the like), as the check valve applicable to a vessel equipped with the check valve. In the check valve, a spool (a shaft portion) that is connected to a valve body engages with the urging member. The valve body is urged toward a seat face of a valve seat portion by the urging member, via the spool.
In the check valve of this kind, at the time of pouring a content, the vessel main body such as a packaging bag is pressed by hand. Thereby, the valve body is separated from the valve seat portion against the urging force of the urging member with the internal pressure of the vessel, and the valve is opened. At the time of stopping pouring of the content, compression to the vessel main body is stopped. Thereby, the valve body is seated on the valve seat portion by the restoring force of the urging member, and the valve is closed.

Check valve, check valve assembly and vessel equipped with check valve


A brushless d.c. drive including a synchronous motor, including a multiphase armature winding, a switching device controlled by an electronic controller and connected upstream from the armature winding for commutation of the armature winding, and a device for generating a fail-silent response with simple circuitry measures and without any external components, and which includes a separating apparatus, arrangement or structure in the armature winding to respond in the event of a fault and separate the connections between the winding phases, including at the neutral point.

The present invention is directed to a brushless d.c. drive.
Brushless permanent-field d.c. drives may be used in motor vehicles for a variety of purposes, including electric power-assisted steering. These d.c. drives have a synchronous motor, which may have a star-connected stator winding or armature winding and a permanent-field rotor. The armature winding is connected to the direct voltage network by a converter in a bridge circuit having six semiconductor power breakers. The power inverter which causes commutation of the armature winding is controlled by an electronic controller. An example of a synchronous motor operated on a direct voltage network is discussed in German Published Patent Application No. 37 09 168.
If faults occur in the armature winding and/or in the power breakers, the d.c. drive may generate a permanent electromagnetic braking torque without a direct voltage being applied, if the synchronous motor operates as a generator against a low-resistance load impedance. In at least some applications, such a braking torque may have a negative effect on the functioning of the unit or system in which the d.c. drive is used. For example, in the case of electric power-assisted steering systems, the braking torque which occurs in the event of a fault may necessitate a considerable steering force being applied by the driver, which may be unacceptable. Accordingly, devices can be provided on such a d.c. drive to lead to a fail-silent response of the d.c. drive in the event of a fault, i.e., the d.c. drive does not have any interfering or negative effect on the unit or system, so the latter functions as if the drive were not present.
In an electric power-assisted steering system, a mechanical clutch, by way of which the output shaft of the synchronous motor acts on the steering gears, may be used to produce the desired fail-silent response. In the event of a fault, the clutch is opened to uncouple the motor from the steering system.
The exemplary brushless d.c. drive according to the present invention may have the advantage that the desired fail-silent response of the d.c. drive is achieved without any expensive external components, such as mechanical clutches, with simple circuitry measures in the drive itself. Thus, the d.c. drive becomes more compact and requires less space, so that it can be used in a more versatile manner. The additional cost incurred for the desired response of the d.c. drive in the event of a fault may be greatly reduced.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the separating apparatus, arrangement or structure for separating the connections between the winding phases of the armature winding may be activated by a control unit which detects a fault case.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the control unit has, for this purpose, measurement shunts in each connecting line between the armature winding and the switching device designed as a bridge circuit having semiconductor switches. In simultaneous blocking phases of all semiconductor switches, the electric currents flowing through the measurement shunts are measured, and in the event of a current value which differs significantly from zero in one of the measurement shunts, the control device delivers an activation signal to the separating apparatus, arrangement or structure. Such a design of the control unit with which faults occurring in the switching device are detected may have the advantage that the measurement shunts already present in the d.c. drive for measuring the current for other reasons can also be used to detect the fault case, thus further reducing the complexity of the circuitry. Faults in the armature winding itself can be detected, for example, by measuring the braking torque delivered to the output shaft of the synchronous motor. This may be an advantage in the case of electric power-assisted steering systems, since sensors for measuring torques on the input and output shafts are already provided in the final control elements of the electric steering devices.
According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the control unit in a star connection of the armature winding includes measurement shunts, each connecting a winding phase of the armature winding to the neutral point. The control unit continuously measures the amount and phase of currents flowing through the measurement shunts and adds the shunt currents as vectors. In the event of a significant deviation in the result of this addition from zero, the control unit delivers an activation signal to the separating means. With such a control unit, faults in the semiconductor switching device as well as faults in the armature winding may be detected, and the separating apparatus, arrangement or structure is activated accordingly.
According to other exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the separating apparatus, arrangement or structure may cause a reversible or irreversible separation of the connections between the winding phases of the armature winding. An irreversible separation can be brought about by way of pyrotechnic blasting charges or by fusible cutouts. For reversible separation, electric contacts controllable by an electronic or mechanical apparatus, arrangement or structure are used. In the case of armature windings in a star connection, the neutral point is separated, but in the case of armature windings in a delta connection, each winding phase must be separated from the winding terminations.


An energy absorbing assembly includes an attachment component configured to be coupled to a mounting structure. The energy absorbing assembly also includes an anchor that has a tip portion, a shaft, and a head. The anchor is configured to extend through the attachment component such that the head is disposed on a first side of the attachment component and the tip portion is disposed on a second side of the attachment component and is configured to be coupled to the mounting structure. The energy absorbing assembly also includes a deformable member configured to be positioned concentrically around the shaft of the anchor. The deformable member is configured to be retained between the first side of the attachment component and the head of the anchor.

Various fixtures in an aircraft cabin, such as seats for pilots, attendants, and passengers, are generally mounted to the airframe. For example, attendant seats may be installed on tracks that allow the attendant seats to be moved or otherwise repositioned. However, load forces applied to the attendant seat, due to repositioning the seats, in-flight turbulence, take-off, landing, or other occurrences, are often transferred to the mounting structure (e.g., tracks). Such a transferred load may damage or deform the mounting structure and/or the airframe.

Energy absorbing assembly for aircraft seat


A reinforcing strip for a goalkeeper""s glove and including a plurality of compression-proof link members supported on a carrier band in a string-like manner, with each two adjacent link members forming a pivot connection with each other and having stop surfaces facing each other, extending transverse to the carrier band, and abutting each other in a stretched position of the reinforcing strip, with each of the link members having a cavity provided in a middle region of the link member and open at the upper surface of the link member, and a flat closed bottom surface glued to the carrier band and with two side regions located on opposite sides of the middle region and having a height gradually diminishing toward a respective outer edge of a respective link member, and with each of the side regions having a cavity open at the upper surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reinforcing strip for a goalkeeper""s glove and including a flexible, substantially high-tensile carrier band, and a plurality of compression-proof link members supported on the carrier band in a string-like manner, with each two adjacent link members forming a pivot connection with each other and having stop surfaces facing each other, extending transverse to the carrier band, and abutting each other in a stretched position of the reinforcing strip, with each of the link members having an upper surface remote from the carrier band, a cavity provided in a middle region of the link member, and a bottom glued to the carrier band with formation of glue layer therebetween, and with each link member having two side regions located on opposite sides of the middle region, with a height diminishing toward a respective outer edge of a respective link member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A glove, which covers a hand and wrist joint, should not inhibit the hand and joint movements to a most possible extent. Be-verally, the wrist join permits a pivotal movement of the hand forward but limits the backward pivotal movement. If the limitation of the backward movement is overcome by force, the hand and wrist joint can be broken. With a completely pulled-on glove, there exists a danger that a large force would be applied to the hand, which is covered with the glove. This force would overcome the natural limitation of the backward movement of the hand. Such a danger particularly exists when the hand is covered by a goalkeeper""s glove or a workman""s glove. To prevent this danger, a reinforcing strip is provided on the upper side of a glove which extends up to the region associated with the wrist joint. The reinforcing strip permits the forward movement of the hand but is rigid enough to prevent a significant hand backward movement, preventing the breaking of the wrist joint or any other part of a hand upon application of a significant force to the hand.
German Patent DE 199 10 799C1 discloses a glove-reinforcing strip of the type described above, in which the cavity in each of the link members opens toward the bottom, so that the bottom surface is not completely closed. As a result, only a portion of the bottom surface is glued to the carrier band. With a predetermined width of the reinforcing strip, the forces acting between the carrier band and the link members should be absorbed by the glued portion of the bottom surface. This is associated with additional expenses necessary to provide a more stronger gluing.
The provision of a cavity in the link member is necessary for reducing the weight of the link member. Each link member forms, transverse to the reinforcing strip, a middle rectangular elevation in which only one cavity is formed, with two foot members adjoining the elevation of its opposite sides and having a height which is smaller than that of the elevation. In this way, a step is formed between the elevation and each of the foot members. Such shape reduces the weight of the link member but is associated with sharp edges and corners which, upon the use of the glove, can result in an injury of the glove wearer (the goalkeeper) and adversely affect the function of the reinforcing strip.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a reinforcing strip of the type described above but having a sufficiently large gluing area between the carrier band and the link members, and link members with a rounded upper surface shape, together with a noticeably reduced weight due to the provision of cavities in the link members.
This and other objects of the present invention, which will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by provided in a reinforcing strip in which each of the link members has a cavity provided in the middle region of the link member and opened at the upper surface, and a flat closed bottom surface glued to carrier member with formation of a glue layer there between, and in which each link member ahs two side regions located on opposite sides of the middle region, with a height of each of the side region gradually diminishing toward a respective outer edge of a respective link member, with each of the side regions having a cavity opened at the upper surface.
Due to the cavity being open at the upper surface and the height of the side region being gradually reduced, the weight of the reinforcing strip according to the present invention is noticeably reduced in comparison with the prior art reinforcing strip. However, this weight reduction does not lead to a reduced glued area at the predetermined width of the strip, nor does it lead to sharp edges and corners of the upper surface profile. Rather, the link member is glued to the carrier band over its entire bottom surface, and the link member has a streamlined upper profile.
As a rule, the width of a link member, which is associated with the width of a respective section of the reinforcing strip, is larger than the length of the link member associated with the length of the respective section of the reinforcing strip. It is particularly preferable and advantageous when there is provided in the cavity a longitudinally extending web that divides the cavity into two sections. This web supports the opposite stop surfaces of the link member or wall regions of the link member that form the stop surfaces and limit the respective cavity portion. The link member can have two or three of such longitudinally extending webs.
The middle region of the link member, e.g., can have a plannar upper surface extending parallel to the carrier band, with the side regions likewise having plannar but inclined outer surfaces. In another embodiment of a reinforcing strip according to the present invention, the middle region and the two side region form a continuous arcuate upper surface extending from one outer edge to another outer edge. As a rule, a link member has a width equal to that of the carrier band. However, a link member can have a width greater than that of the carrier band, so that the link member has marginal strips on opposite sides of the carrier band.
As a rule, the link member is formed of a plastic material. In this case, under xe2x80x9cgluingxe2x80x9d of the carrier band with a link member, a fusion of the bottom surface of the link member with the carrier member is understood.
The present invention also relates to a glove, e.g., a goalkeeper""s gloves into which the reinforcing strip according to the present invention is embedded. As a rule the reinforcing strip is embedded in a back section or an outer section of the glove, extending between inner and outer points of the outer hand section of the glove.
A cavity is formed as a recess which is limited by the bottom and by walls extending along the bottom and limiting the recess at least along three sides. It is particularly preferable and advantageous when the cavity in the side region is not limited by a wall in a direction toward the outer edge, i.e., the cavity is open toward the outer edge. Generally, the cavity in the side region is adapted to the gradual height reduction of this region.
It is particularly preferable and advantageous when there is provided more than 5.2 of the link members on each 5 cm of the reinforcing strip. With more of the link members per unit of length of the reinforcing strip, they can be made more slender and can be arranged more easily on the carrier band.
It is particularly preferable and advantageous, when the reinforcing strip is provided with two end members having each a width and a height tapering toward respective free ends of the end members, with the tapering of the height and/or the tapering of the width taking place along the entire length of the end members, and/or with the length of the end member exceeding the length of an adjacent link member at least by two times. The shape of an end member is selected so that an adequate gluing surface is obtained. The end member has a streamlined outer profile, and its weight is reduced. As a rule, the end member is provided with a cavity open at its outer surface, and has a continuous bottom surface for gluing the end member to the carrier band.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a reinforcing strip which in its free, release position, has a curved profile, with a ratio of an arcuate length of the reinforcing strip to a secant length of the reinforcing strip being greater than 1.1, and with adjacent link members having their stop surfaces pressed against each other under a preload in areas of the stop surfaces adjacent to the carrier band.
The free curved position of the reinforcing strip is better adapted to the curvature of the fingers in the loose position of the hand. This free position of the strip insures that in the non-free position of the strip, the link members abut each other with a miniscule clearance between the abutting each other stop surfaces of the respective link members. Rather, the link members are pressed against each other with a preload, while being firmly attached to the carrier band. With the curved shape of the reinforcing strip in its free position, the carrier band is also prestressed.
It is further preferable and advantageous when the reinforcing strip has channel extending through each of the link member between its bottom surface and the cavity, and a high-tensile core located in the channel and having its opposite ends secured to respective end members.
The core connects the link and the end members and insures a pivot connection between adjacent link members and between the end members and the respective adjacent link members. The core also insures that the link members retain their position in the bent position of the strip. Also, the core facilitates obtaining of the prestressed or preloaded bent position of the reinforcing strip.
The novel features of the present invention, which are considered as characteristic for the invention, are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional advantages and objects thereof, will be best understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, when read with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Reinforcing strip for a goalkeeper""s glove


A device for the transfer of a toner image from an image forming medium via an intermediate element to a receiving material while thoroughly cleaning the intermediate element by a combination of a first cleaning member and a second cleaning member. The first cleaning member has a surface to which toner adheres better than to the intermediate and serves for removal of high-melting impurities. The second cleaning member is cooled in such a manner that low-melting impurities, which have not been removed by the first cleaning member, are picked up by the second cleaning member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image transfer device, and more specifically to a device for the transfer of a toner image from an image forming medium to a receiving material, while thoroughly cleaning an intermediate image support.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,947 describes a contact fixing device in which a toner image is transferred from an image forming medium to a heated intermediate. Subsequently, in a fixing zone in which the intermediate is in contact with a pressure member, the toner image is transferred to and simultaneously fixed on a receiving material being transported through the fixing zone. After the transfer of the toner image to the receiving material, the intermediate is cleaned by a cleaning member having a cleaning surface to which toner adheres better than to the intermediate. This type of cleaning member functions well in removing high-melting impurities, such as residues of toner material and also paper dust. However, low-melting impurities, such as plastic filling agents occurring in receiving paper and also dust particles of plastic receiving materials, are not at all or only partly picked up by the known cleaning member. When such impurities are not completely removed from the intermediate, they will reach the first transfer zone between the image forming medium and the intermediate, where they may be transferred to the image forming medium. This causes a disturbance of the image forming and, in the end, faulty images in the copy on the receiving material.

Cleaning system for an image transfer device


A taint processing applied to a tainted value of an application is identified and an output context of the application associated with output of the tainted value is determined. It is determined whether the taint processing is effective in mitigating a security vulnerability caused by the tainted value for the output context.

Taint analysis is a computer security methodology used to mitigate or prevent input to an application from corrupting data values within and output from the application. As an example, tainted values received by an application from an untrusted source are labeled or tagged. Similarly, when tainted values are used to modify other data values within the application, those data values become tainted (or tainted values) and are similarly labeled or tagged. Thus, the tainted values and their effects can be tracked within the application. When tainted values are output from the application (e.g., stored or provided to a user or client of the application), the use of a tainted value can be recorded to identify a potential security vulnerability in the application.
Additionally, some taint analysis systems remove the label or tag from a tainted value if a taint processing is applied to that tainted value. Accordingly, the use of tainted values to which a taint processing is applied is not recorded. A taint processing is a routine or method that is applied to a tainted value to prevent that tainted value from posing a security vulnerability in the application. For example, taint processing can be validation. That is, a tainted value can be provided to a validation routine to ensure that the tainted value does not include data that opens a security vulnerability in the application. If the tainted value does not include such data, the taint is removed and the application continues execution. If the tainted value does include such data, the application generates a security exception
As another example, taint processing can be sanitization. In other words, a tainted value can be provided to a sanitization routine to sanitize the tainted value of any data that opens a security vulnerability in the application. The label or tag is removed from tainted values provided to the sanitization routine.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A screen, e.g. fire-guard is provided for heating a room by convection using the heat from a radiation heat source, e.g. an open hearth fire, a gas-fire or an electric radiant heater, and when the heat source is an open hearth fire for use as a fire-guard preventing sparks or other small particles of combustion from entering the room in which the fire is located. The screen includes a row of at least with their upper portions spaced apart vertical pipes having each at or near their lower end an inlet opening and at or near their upper end an outlet opening for air sucked from the room by the chimney-action of the warm pipes. The pipes of at least one pair of adjacent pipes of the screen are hingedly interconnected for the rotation of one of these pipes about the longitudinal axis of the other pipe thereof by coupling and clamping means.

It is a known fact that for heating a room, convection heat, due to its more even distribution of the heat over the space of the room to be heated, is much more efficient and agreeable than radiant heat. That is why in front of a radiant heater, such as an open hearth fire, a radiating gas fire, an electric radiant heater or other source of radiant heat, screens have already been placed which are well adapted for such a radiant to convection heat conversion. Generally, such screens consist of a row of interconnected (at least with their upper portions), spaced apart vertical pipes having at or near their lower end an inlet opening and at or near their upper end an outlet opening. When such pipes are heated by the radiant heat received on their outer surfaces the air inside them is heated and flows as a result of the chimney-action of the pipes upwards, so that continuously cool air is sucked from the room through the low inlet openings into the pipes and hot air is discharged through the high outlet openings of the pipes back into the room where it is distributed by circulation.
However, screens of this kind have to satisfy several requirements. They must be easily manageable and quickly heatable. This means that the pipes and the coupling means for their interconnection must be constructed as light as possible, and in any case the pipes which contribute to the major part of the weight of the screen must have a very thin wall (some tenths of a millimeter). But such pipes are easily damaged so that great care must be taken with the manner in which the pipes are interconnected. Furthermore, these screens can be an obstacle in the room, so that they must be adapted to be put easily away and stored. This requirement can be satisfied by making the screen foldable, which requires the provision of a hinge joint between the pipes of at least one pair but preferably of several or all pairs of adjacent pipes of the screen. When the pipes have a very thin wall much care must be taken with the manner in which the hinge joint is constructed and is attached to the pipes.
Now, a screen, e.g. a fire-guard used also as a screen to prevent sparks or other small particles of combustion from entering the room in which it is placed in front of an open hearth fire, of the above-mentioned construction and satisfying the noted requirements has been disclosed in European patent specification EP-A-0 123 342. This known screen comprises a row of interconnected) at least for a part of their length), horizontally spaced apart, round pipes which extend vertically, are placed side by side and have each at or near their lower end an opening to admit air from and at or near their upper end an opening to discharge air into the room to be heated by the source of heat. The two pipes of at least one pair of adjacent pipes of this known screen are so interconnected by a hinge joint as to ensure that one pipe of the pair is adapted to swing with its longitudinal axis in a circular cylinder surface about the longitudinal axis of the other pipe of the pair. This hinge joint consists of a splitted ring and connecting parts interconnecting the ring parts and also of means for so clamping the connecting parts towards one another, as to guarantee that in the active end condition of the clamping means one ring part of the coupling member is firmly clamped on one pipe, but the other ring part embraces the other pipe in a manner as to allow still a relative rotation of the ring part and the other pipe.
In addition to the fact that a screen of this type satisfies the above-mentioned requirements, it has the advantage that it is continually cooled by the current of air in the pipes, so that one will not burn oneself when touching it.

Screen adapted to be placed in front of a hearth fire or other source of radiant heat