The passenger boarding bridge includes a first tunnel including a first fixed passage on which a passenger walks; and a second tunnel including a second fixed passage on which the passenger walks, the first tunnel being inserted into the second tunnel from one end side of the second tunnel, the second tunnel having another end side connected to a cab, the second fixed passage being fixed to the another end side. The second tunnel includes a movable passage including multiple plate floor members in a chain manner, the movable passage having one end fixed to the second fixed passage of the second tunnel in a pivotable manner. Accordingly, a passenger boarding bridge in which a passage level difference is eliminated at a joint part between an inner tunnel and an outer tunnel can be realized.

In a passenger aircraft (hereinafter referred to as "aircraft"), passengers board or disembark from (hereinafter referred to as "board and the like") the aircraft through a doorway provided to an airframe. Between the doorway and a gate provided in the airport building, a PBB is installed. Normally, the PBB is stored in a contracted state when no passengers and the like are boarding. At the time of boarding and the like of the passengers on the aircraft, the PBB extends toward the doorway of the aircraft to connect to the doorway of the aircraft. The PBB is fixed after being substantially matched with the doorway of the aircraft, to thereby enable the passengers and the like to board and the like through the doorway.
The PBB generally includes an inner tunnel (first tunnel) and an outer tunnel (second tunnel). The inner tunnel and the outer tunnel are each a hollow member through which the passengers are walkable, and are configured so that the outer tunnel has an outer shape larger than the cross section of the inner tunnel, and the inner tunnel is telescopically inserted into the outer tunnel from one end side thereof. The outer tunnel is supported by a drive column, and the drive column includes a wheel for moving on the ground. Through running of the drive column, the outer tunnel is moved to relatively approach the inner tunnel and overlap with the inner tunnel, thereby contracting the PBB. On the other hand, when the outer tunnel is moved to relatively separate from the inner tunnel, the PBB extends. The inner tunnel is connected to the airport building through intermediation of a rotunda. On the other hand, a cab is arranged on an end portion of the outer tunnel on a side opposite to one end at which the inner tunnel is inserted, that is, the other end side (aircraft side) of the outer tunnel. An end portion of the cab, which is situated on the side opposite to the side on which the outer tunnel is connected, is connected to the doorway of the aircraft.
The PBB has a structure in which the inner tunnel is inserted into the outer tunnel having a larger outer shape in cross section. Therefore, there has been a problem in that, at a joint part between the outer tunnel and the inner tunnel, a level difference is generated in the passage floor surface on which the passengers and the like walk. Such a level difference in the floor surface is dangerous because the passengers may fall during walking. Further, the level difference causes great inconvenience in running by a wheelchair or conveyance of a wheeled baggage. As a PBB that eliminates such a passage level difference inside the PBB, for example, Patent Literatures 1 to 3 below disclose a PBB including a continuous floor that is mountable and fixable to the inner tunnel. In particular, in Patent Literature 1 as a representative example thereof, for example, a sprocket is arranged on the lower side of the inner tunnel. The mechanism is as follows. When the inner tunnel and the outer tunnel move relatively to each other to contract the PBB, a floor surface of the passage of the outer tunnel approaches the inner tunnel. Therefore, a floor surface fixed to the inner tunnel is guided by the sprocket toward the opposite direction to be wound by a rope retractor to be shortened.

Aircraft passenger boarding bridge having a stepless passage


A coffee maker (10) has at least one removable portafilter (11) that can be inserted into a holder (12) on the coffee machine to carry out brewing. The coffee maker has a hot water maker (28) for producing and dispensing hot water under pressure and at least one coffee mill (19). A filter element (33) is provided for repeated pressure-tight closing and opening of the portafilter (11) inserted into the holder (12) and a chute (23) is provided for introducing coffee powder (16) from the coffee mill (19) into the open portafilter (11) that has been inserted into the holder (12).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of coffee makers and to a method for operating such a coffee maker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Substantially two types of coffee makers can be found on the market. The first includes so-called "semi-automatic machines" or "portafilter machines", in the case of which the coffee powder is metered from a mill located next to the coffee maker into a portafilter (brewing pan comprising brewing filter and outlet opening), which is then clamped to the coffee maker (see, e.g., publication EP 2 314 188 A1). The brewing chamber is thereby sealed to the top in a pressure-tight manner by means of a distribution filter, which is fixedly installed in the coffee maker. The coffee maker subsequently meters hot water under pressure through this portafilter, which then dispenses the brewed coffee directly into the cup. The coffee quality is controlled substantially by the operator, namely by setting the grinding degree at the provided mill and by means of the force exerted in response to the so-called "tampering" (the compacting of the material to be ground in the portafilter). Under ideal conditions, the brewing result—aroma and crema—is of unbeatable quality. Many consumers associate ideal coffee quality with this design of a coffee maker. However, this design requires trained personnel, who are proficient in setting the grinding degree and the tampering—highly fluctuating coffee qualities are to be expected otherwise. The portafilter machines can be produced in a somewhat cost-efficient manner, because they are of low technical complexity.
The second type of coffee maker includes "fully-automatic machines" that are equipped with plunger brewers and built-in mills (see, e.g., EP 1955 624 A1 or EP 0 605 750 A1 or WO 03/043470). The built-in mill meters the coffee powder into a plunger-cylinder arrangement, which, on principle, consists of a cylinder, an upper and a lower plunger (the plungers, however, in each case encompass filter surfaces, which serve as (lower) brewing or (upper) distribution filter, respectively). The cylinder is subsequently closed by means of the plungers and hot water flows across the filters through the coffee, through a discharge tube across an outlet into the cup. The coffee quality of such machines is not as good as in the case of a semi-automatic machine, even with ideal design and with ideal setting conditions. The main cause for this is that the automatic plunger-cylinder arrangement is sensitive with regard to the very fine grinding degree settings, because, due to the friction ratio, the contact pressure of the plunger cannot be controlled as finely as it is possible manually in the case of the semi-automatic machine. On principle, a line and outlet system, which partially destroys the produced crema again and which cools-down the coffee, follows downstream from the brewing device. However, the coffee quality, which is attained, is very stable due to the fully-automatic production and the control of the process parameters and hardly differs from cup to cup, the quality is not dependent on the operator. Devices of this type are significantly more expensive as compared to semi-automatic machines, because the brewing device is a relatively complex structure.
However, coffee makers that are equipped with portafilters and that encompass a built-in mill, are also available on the market (see, e.g., publication WO 2010/085850 A1). For filling purposes, the portafilter is held therein underneath a separate mill discharge and is inserted into the brewing position as described in the case of the semi-automatic machine.
A generic coffee machine is known from CN 201578093 U.
It is thus an object of the invention to create a coffee maker, which combines the advantages of both designs, namely the simplicity and the high possible coffee quality of the semi-automatic machine and the stability of the result of a fully-automatic machine. If possible, the amount of work for the operator is to also be reduced as compared to that of the semi-automatic machine.
It is furthermore an object of the invention to specify a method for operating such a coffee maker.

Coffee maker and method for operating same

WMF Wuerttembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG


A method for the project engineering of an automation system is provided. An existing project is opened or a new project is created in a project engineering software tool. In this project, a station having a plurality of slots is opened or generated. A hardware catalog is opened, the hardware catalog including a plurality of hardware modules. At least one hardware module is inserted from the hardware catalog into the station. The station is saved together with the inserted modules. In the process one or more hardware modules can be combined to form a hardware packet. In order to insert the hardware modules which are combined in a hardware packet, the hardware packet is selected and, as soon as the hardware packet is integrated into the station, all the hardware modules contained therein are automatically allocated to free slots of the station.

Automation systems comprise one or more interconnected stations. Each of these stations is, in its turn, of modular design and can be assembled from different hardware (HW) modules. Said HW modules generally form the smallest unit of the [automation system—lacuna] and to facilitate the configuration process for the customer are compiled in a HW module catalog. In this catalog an order number is assigned to each HW module. This enables a customer to order an automation system, that is to say a machine, by specifying the corresponding order numbers in an order submitted to the manufacturer. Ideally the customer orders the desired functions of the machine, wherefrom the order is then generated automatically together with the order numbers. The machine then still has to be project engineered, that is to say configured and parameterized. This can be accomplished by means of project engineering software such as, for example, STEP7 from Siemens. This means that a corresponding user interface opens after the project engineering software has been invoked. A project is then created for the machine or for each station individually. In said project, the HW modules are then configured, that is to say, a slot in the station is assigned to each of the ordered and supplied hardware modules and parameterized accordingly. On completion, this configuration is then saved and loaded into the automation system. This project engineering process is generally very complicated and time-consuming, since it is done at the level of the smallest units, i.e. the HW modules; in other words a plurality of individual steps must be completed during the project engineering phase in order to configure all the HW modules.

Method for the project engineering of an automation system


A method for testing a software-defined radio (SDR) device is provided. The method includes configuring the SDR device for a first standard. A first test is performed on the SDR device under the first standard. Test data for the first test is received from the SDR device. A switching time for configuring the SDR device for the first standard is determined based on the test data for the first test.

Designing data processors for use in mobile stations is inherently difficult due to the tradeoffs that must be made between competing considerations, including energy efficiency, computation power, and flexibility. Most current multi-standard wireless devices comprise blocks of independent ASIC devices, each of which is related to a different wireless standard. However, this approach results in increased die size, increased power consumption, and lack of flexibility. As an alternative, SDR devices may be used.
SDR devices use reconfigurable hardware that may be programmed over the air to operate under different wireless protocols. For example, an SDR transceiver in a wireless laptop computer may be configured by a first software load to operate in a CDMA2000 wireless network and may be reconfigured by a second software load to operate in an HSDPA wireless network. SDR systems minimize cost and power consumption, while maximizing flexibility, thereby providing an optimized combination of scalability and modularity.
In order to test an SDR receiver operating under different standards, currently-available testing methods use a different set of test equipment for each standard to be tested. However, each set of test equipment is expensive. In addition, using these methods, an SDR receiver's ability to switch quickly between standards may not be tested easily. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved method of testing an SDR receiver operating under different standards.

Method and system for testing a software-defined radio device


Enhanced structures, devices, and techniques allow fluids and liquid products, such as cosmetics, to be applied in a cleaner and more effective manner. Various embodiments of fluid dispensing apparatuses are provided which employ fluid communication materials for promoting effective and repeatable fluid dispensing during use and resisting unwanted migration of fluids during non-use.

In the world of high quality consumer products, it is important to have product designs and packages that function effectively for their intended purposes. With respect to the cosmetics industry, for example, it is especially important to provide fluid containers that can meet consumer needs by providing efficient and clean application of fluids such as creams, oils, make-up, and other types of cosmetics.
However, many current package and container designs for fluid containers suffer from deficiencies in how they deliver and apply an appropriate dosage of fluid. An insufficient dosage of fluid does not provide enough product to meet the needs of the consumer. On the other hand, an excess dosage generates extra product that cannot be readily used by the consumer or which can interfere with the operative components of a fluid dispensing apparatus. This extra product creates a clean-up problem for the consumer who must decide how to dispose of the extra fluid that has been dispensed. Also, such extra product can cause undesirable clogging or mess for the handheld parts of a fluid container, for example.
In the case of oil based products used in the cosmetic industry, standard package options have traditionally involved using an expensive dropper in a bottle. However, such packages do not eliminate the migration of oil-based fluids, for example, to and around the outskirts of the package.
In view of the issues afflicting existing product designs and packages, including within the cosmetics industry, enhanced product dispensing and application technology is needed. Fluid dispensing structures, devices, and techniques are needed that can apply fluids in a predictable manner, without causing significant dripping or substantial clogging of the operative components of a fluid container.

Enhanced application of oil-based products from fluid containers


Techniques for measuring and reducing signal misalignment in a dual connectivity environment are discussed herein. When using Non-Standalone Architecture (NSA), a device initially communicates with a network using a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) connection. After the LTE connection is established, an LTE base station may instruct the device to measure signal strength of a neighboring New Radio (NR) cell during a specified LTE measurement gap. When the NR cell is implemented by an indoor NR base station, the NR signal may not be sufficiently synchronized with the LTE signal and the device may be unable to measure the NR signal during the measurement gap. In these cases, the device can determine the frame timing difference between the LTE and NR signals, obtain an adjusted measurement gap that reduces any measurement gap misalignment, and attempt to measure the signal strength of the NR cell using the adjusted measurement gap.

Cellular communication devices use various network radio access technologies to communicate wirelessly with geographically distributed base stations. Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is an example of a widely implemented radio access technology, which is used within 4th-Generation (4G) communication systems. New Radio (NR) is a newer radio access technology that is used in 5th-Generation (5G) communication systems. Standards for LTE and NR radio access technologies have been developed by the 3rd-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for use within cellular communication networks by wireless communication carriers. Note that the terms 4G and LTE are often used interchangeably when referencing certain 4G systems and components. Also, NR radio access technology may at times be referred to as 5G radio access technology.
A configuration defined by the 3GPP in the 5G NR specification, referred to as Non-Standalone Architecture (NSA), allows the simultaneous use of 4G and 5G systems for cellular communications. Specifically, NSA uses dual connectivity (DC), in which a communication device uses both LTE and NR radio access technologies for communicating with respective LTE and NR base stations.
Existing 4G networks use relatively low radio frequencies, such as frequencies in bands below 6 GHz. 5G networks are able to use an extended range of frequency bands compared to 4G networks, such as higher frequency bands in in the range of 6-100 GHz. Radio communications using the higher frequency 5G bands can support higher data speeds, but also have disadvantages compared to the lower frequency bands. Specifically, radio signals in the higher frequencies have shorter range and are more easily blocked by physical objects. Accordingly, some cellular network designs include the use of what are referred to as small cells, in which 5G base stations are installed at a higher geographic density than would otherwise be the case. For example, 5G base stations, also referred to as gNodeB's (gNB's), may be placed at multiple locations within a building and used in conjunction with a nearby eNodeB (eNB) for NSA dual connectivity.

Non-standalone architecture frame alignment


Provided is a chopper amplifier circuit capable of reducing an offset voltage of a sensor bridge and temperature characteristics of the offset voltage. An offset adjusting voltage generation circuit for generating a voltage equal to an offset voltage of a sensor bridge and an offset temperature characteristics adjusting voltage generation circuit for generating a voltage having temperature characteristics equal to those of the offset voltage are provided. These output voltages are chopper-modulated and subtracted from a chopper-modulated output signal of the sensor bridge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chopper amplifier circuit and a semiconductor device having the chopper amplifier circuit.
2. Description of the Related Arts
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional chopper amplifier circuit. In the conventional chopper amplifier circuit 20, multipliers 11 and 12 are provided in front and back stages of an amplifier circuit 1, respectively. The multipliers 11 and 12 are controlled with a modulation signal CLK in a square wave with a frequency fc. The output of the chopper amplifier circuit 20 is connected to a low-pass filter 22 (see P. Allen and D. R. Holberg, CMOS Analog Circuit Design, P490-494, Saunders College Publishing, 1987).
FIGS. 3A to 3F show frequency characteristics of an input signal in each portion of the conventional chopper amplifier circuit. It is assumed that an input signal has frequency characteristics as shown in FIG. 3A at input terminals 5 of the chopper amplifier circuit 20. Further, it is assumed that the amplifier circuit 1 has an input conversion noise and an offset voltage Vn of the frequency characteristics as shown in FIG. 3C. After the input signal passes through the multiplier 11, the input signal is modulated to a frequency that is an odd multiple of the frequency fc of the modulation signal CLK. FIG. 3B shows frequency characteristics of the input signal at this time. The modulated input signal is amplified and output after being supplied with the input conversion noise and the offset voltage Vn of the amplifier circuit 1. FIG. 3D shows frequency characteristics of the input signal at the output of the amplifier circuit 1. The input signal output from the amplifier circuit 1 is modulated to an original frequency band (i.e., a low-frequency region including a DC) through the multiplier 12. On the other hand, the noise component and the offset voltage Vn at the input of the amplifier circuit 1 are modulated to a frequency of an odd multiple of the frequency fc of the modulation signal CLK. FIG. 3E shows frequency characteristics of an input signal at the output of the multiplier 12. Further, the input signal output from the multiplier 12 passes through the low-pass filter 22, whereby a high frequency component of the modulation signal CLK is removed. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3F, only an input signal component can be amplified without amplifying the noise and offset voltage of the amplifier circuit 1.
Further, in another conventional chopper amplifier circuit, an input signal is subjected to double chopper modulation using modulation signals with two different frequencies, whereby the noise and the offset voltage of an amplifier circuit used in a chopper amplifier circuit are further reduced (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,626, Bakker, et al., Jul. 17, 2001).
However, the conventional chopper amplifier circuit has the following problems. When the conventional chopper amplifier circuit is used, for example, for amplifying the output voltage of a sensor bridge using a piezoresistor, the offset voltage of the sensor bridge cannot be cancelled due to incomplete matching of the piezoresistor. Therefore, the offset voltage of the sensor bridge is amplified to be output.
Further, the offset voltage of the sensor bridge using the piezoresistor has temperature characteristics, and the temperature characteristics of the offset voltage appear in the output voltage of the chopper amplifier circuit.

Chopper amplifier circuit and semiconductor device


A dustproof structure for an electronic equipment includes internal switches disposed in a housing forming an external frame of the electronic equipment and an opening for use in operating the internal switches. The dustproof structure further includes a shutter plate for opening or closing the opening; and a cover plate for supporting the shutter plate, the shutter plate being freely slidable between the cover plate and the housing. A slide recess serving as a sliding area of the shutter plate is formed in the housing or the cover plate.

Some electronic equipments have internal switches installed inside the equipments. Thus, a housing of such an electronic equipment is provided with an opening for use in manipulating the internal switches from the outside of the housing. Further, such an electronic equipment is conventionally equipped with a dustproof structure for preventing dust particles or the like from entering the housing thereof, and the opening is configured such that it can be opened only when operating the internal switches.
Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. H5-78295 discloses an example of such a dustproof structure for use in a conventional electronic equipment, e.g., a receiver of a radio controller.
FIGS. 6 to 8 illustrate the receiver of the radio controller disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. H5-78295 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a radio control receiver). Specifically, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the radio control receiver; FIG. 7 is a side view thereof; and FIG. 8 sets forth a plan view of the receiver from which a cover is opened.
As shown in the figures, the radio control receiver 10 includes an approximately box-shaped housing 20. Provided in a lateral surface of the housing 20 are terminals 30 connected to a servo mechanism for driving a power supply battery or a driving unit of an object to be controlled. Also, a linear antenna 40 is drawn out to be extended from the inside of the housing 20 through a lateral surface thereof.
Moreover, a circuit board (not shown) forming a receiver circuit is disposed in the housing 20, and a pair of rotary type dual inline package switches (hereinafter referred to as "DIP switches") 50 for switching a receive frequency of the radio control receiver 10 are mounted on the circuit board as internal switches. Further, an opening 20a is provided at the housing 20 at a position corresponding to the DIP switches 50 to expose the DIP switches 50 to the outside.
A translucent cover 60 formed of, e.g., a resin material is installed in the housing 20 to be freely slidable over the opening 20a. The cover 60 is of a substantially rectangular shape of a size large enough to cover the opening 20a completely. A cross section of the cover 60 along a direction parallel to a shorter side thereof is of a substantially trapezoid shape, and the cover 60 is installed in the housing 20 to be protruded therefrom. Further, guide grooves 60a are formed at both shorter lateral surfaces of the cover 60.
In addition, protruded portions 20b are formed in the housing 20 along both shorter sides of the opening 20a. By locking the guide grooves 60a of the cover 60 with the protruded portions 20b, the cover 60 can be configured to be slidable with respect to the housing 20.
In this configuration, when operating the DIP switches 50, the cover 60 is slid off the openings 20a to thereby expose the DIP switches 50 for a user to operate them. When the DIP switches 50 need not be operated, the cover 60 is closed to prevent intrusion of dust or the like from outside.
As for such a conventional dustproof structure for the electronic equipment, however, since the cover is installed in the housing of the electronic equipment such that it is protruded to be entirely exposed to the outside, a user's finger or an object can happen to make an unintended contact with the cover to exert an excessive force. At this time, if an excessive load is exerted on the cover such that the cover can be separated from the housing or be damaged.
Moreover, with the recent technological advances, various electronic components included in an electronic equipment are greatly reduced in their sizes and thus the size of the electronic equipment itself is getting smaller as well, while providing same functions.
However, in the conventional dustproof structure for use in the electronic equipment, since the entire cover is attached on the housing as mentioned above, the cover portion may protrude higher than the other surface portion on the same plane. Therefore, the presence of the cover would be an obstacle to the size reduction of the electronic equipment.

Dustproof structure for an electronic equipment


A method of controlling the power with which a first station transmits signals to a second station, comprising the steps of transmitting from the second station to the first station a power control command having a given value; receiving said power control command at said first station; determining from said received power control command a parameter representative of the quality with which the power control command is received at the first station; and controlling the power which the first station transmits signals based on the determination step.

The use of code division multiple access (CDMA) is being proposed for the next generation of cellular telecommunication networks. Additionally, code division multiple access is also being used in the IS-95 Standard in the USA. CDMA is a direct sequence spread spectrum technique. In a wireless cellular network using CDMA, the mobile terminals in one cell associated with a first base station will use the same frequency as mobile stations in an adjacent cell associated with a second base station. The different mobile stations can be distinguished by the respective base stations as each mobile station will be using a different spreading code.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,501 a CDMA system is described which uses "soft" handoff. With soft handoff, a mobile station is capable of communicating with more than one base station at the same time. This will typically occur when the mobile station is close to the boundary defined between two cells. The signals sent by the mobile stations will be received and processed by both of the base stations. Likewise, the mobile station will receive the same signal from the two base stations. The signals from the two base stations may be combined.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,119 discloses a method of controlling the power of a mobile station which is in communication with two or more base stations at the same time. Each base station which is in communication with the mobile station sends power control commands to the mobile station. These power control commands will instruct the mobile station to increase or reduce the power with which it transmits signals to the base station. If a mobile station is in communication with more than one base station at the same time, the mobile station may receive conflicting power control commands from different base stations. Accordingly, the mobile station will only increase its transmission power if all the base stations which are in communication with the mobile station instruct the mobile station to increase its transmission power. The mobile station will decrease its transmission power if any one or more of the base stations which are in communication with the mobile station instruct the mobile station to reduce its transmission power.
However this approach has some problems. In particular, in order to be able to use this technique, the transmitter power control commands must be sent to the mobile station from the base station without any unnecessary delays. This is because the power control commands provided by the base station are determined based on the strength of signals received from the mobile station at the base station. In an environment which is changing quickly, the power control commands front the base station must be received by the mobile station before the environment has changed significantly if the power control commands are to be effective. In other words for effective power control the environment should change little during the time taken for a signal transmitted by the mobile station to be received by the base station, the power control command to be generated by the base station from the strength of the received signal and for the power control command to be transmitted to and received by the mobile station.
To avoid unnecessary delays, the power control commands are not error protected or only relatively weakly error protected. This means that there is a significant probability that there is an error in the power control command received at the mobile station. An error in the power control command may result in the mobile station increasing or decreasing its transmission power in error. Over time, the errors caused by the power control command being incorrectly received by the mobile station will result in the energy per bit to noise (Eb/No) ratio unnecessarily varying. In an interference sensitive system such as CDMA, this may adversely affect the quality of communications and/or the capacity of the system.
It has been proposed that the reliability of the power control commands be estimated and that the mobile station only respond to reliable commands. The method which has been proposed to estimate the reliability of the power control commands uses signal to interference ratio (SIR) information. In particular the signal to interference ratio of other signals received by the mobile station from the base station in question is determined. If the ratio exceeds a given threshold, then the power control command from the base station in question is determined to be reliable. If the ratio falls below the threshold, then the power control command from the base station in question is determined to be unreliable and is ignored by the mobile station.
This method has the problem that this method relies on the set threshold for the signal to noise ratio to determine if the power control command is or is not reliable. This may result in accurately received power control commands being ignored.

Method for controlling transmission power


The thermal oxidative stability of polyketones is improved by the addition of a dihydrocarbyldithiocarbamate salt of a metal selected from Group IIIB through Group VA or a mixture thereof.

Polymers of carbon monoxide and olefinically unsaturated organic compounds, or polyketones, have been known and available in limited quantities for many years. For example, polymers of ethylene or ethylene-propylene which contain small quantities of carbon monoxide are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,286, prepared using free radical catalysts. British Pat. No. 1,081,304 discloses polymers containing higher concentrations of carbon monoxide prepared using alkylphosphine complexes of palladium salts as catalysts. A special class of linear polyketones is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,412, wherein the monomer units of carbon monoxide and olefinically unsaturated hydrocarbons occur in alternating order.
Polyketones are of considerable interest because they exhibit good physical properties. In particular, the high molecular weight linear alternating polymers have potential use as engineering thermoplastics due to their high strength, rigidity and impact resistance. These polymers can be represented by the general formula ##STR1## wherein A is the moiety obtained by polymerization of the olefinically unsaturated organic compound through the olefinic unsaturation. A general process for preparing such linear alternating polymers is disclosed, for example, in published European Patent Applications 121,965 and 181,014. The process comprises contacting the monomers in the presence of a catalyst obtained by reacting a compound of palladium, cobalt or nickel, the anion of a non-hydrohalogenic acid having a pKa less than about 2, and a bidentate ligand of phosphorus, arsenic or antimony. The resulting linear alternating polymers are generally high molecular weight thermoplastic polymers having utility in the production of articles for food and drink containers and for automobile parts. Although the properties of the polyketones are suitable for many applications, polyketones have the disadvantage of poor resistance to thermal oxidative degradation which limits their use in high temperature applications. For example, discoloration and decomposition take place when the polymers are exposed to elevated temperatures in the presence of air. The polymers crosslink, undergo chain scission, form undesirable degradation products, and rapidly lose attractive physical properties.
It is desirable to find compositions of polyketones that can withstand the thermal oxidative conditions encountered in higher temperature applications.

Polyketone stabilization with dihydrocarbyldithiocarbamate salts


System for monitoring vehicle operating conditions and parameters and issuing warnings to the operator when a predetermined vehicle status is present. The predetermined vehicle status includes a variety of unsafe driving conditions and is responsive to a changing center of gravity. The warnings include visual, audible and tactile feedback. By way of the tactile feedback, the system can affect the operator""s operation of the vehicle to prevent vehicle instability, rollover, loss of vehicle control or other unsafe driving conditions from occurring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for monitoring vehicle operating conditions and parameters and providing feedback to the vehicle""s operator indicating potential vehicle instability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many vehicles, including construction equipment, firefighting vehicles, large trucks and so-called sport-utility vehicles, have high centers of gravity (C.O.G.""s) This results in decreased stability, an increased risk of vehicle rollover and/or loss of vehicle control, as well as other safety-related concerns.
Further, when loaded with cargo or passengers, the C.O.G, of a vehicle will change. The inability of the operator to anticipate a vehicle""s handling characteristics based upon the changing C.O.G. of a vehicle may be largely responsible for many accidents.
As a result, devices have been devised that measure forces acting on a vehicle and warn the operator when these forces exceed safe levels. In response, the operator can slow the vehicle or widen the turning radius.
One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,608. This device measures lateral g-forces or acceleration and sounds an audible alarm when the g-forces exceed a set threshold. The threshold can be adjusted by the operator.
As the C.O.G. of the vehicle changes, its ability to remain stable with the presence of changing levels of lateral forces also changes. Thus, to be effective, the threshold must be adjusted on such occasions as when an unloaded vehicle is loaded with cargo or a vehicle""s boom is extended or bed raised. Further, fuel consumption and the resulting emptying of a vehicle""s fuel tank will change a vehicle""s handling characteristics.
However, known devices rely upon the operator to set the appropriate level. In many cases, the operator will be unable to properly estimate an appropriate threshold, adjust it too high to avoid the nuisance of the alarm, or neglect to adjust the threshold when the vehicle""s load changes.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a vehicle condition operator feedback system is provided. The system comprises a vehicle operating condition determining means for determining a plurality of operating conditions, at least one of the plurality of operating conditions being affected by a present center of gravity of the vehicle. The system further comprises a control means for deducing the presence of a predetermined vehicle status based upon an operating condition signal received from the determining means. The system further comprises an operator feedback means for indicating the presence of the predetermined vehicle status to the operator of the vehicle based upon a control signal received from the control means.

Vehicle stability operator feedback system


Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is used to modulate permeability of the blood brain barrier in a transient, safe and non-invasive manner. A conventional or deep TMS coil may be placed on a head in a vicinity of a tumor, for example. A series of magnetic pulses is provided to the brain with a tailored stimulation protocol. In one of many possible clinical applications, a pharmaceutical substance may be introduced during a time frame before, during or after providing the magnetic pulses to treat a tumor in the brain.

The present invention is directed to a method of modulating permeability of the blood brain barrier using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a separation of circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid in the central nervous system (CNS). It occurs along all capillaries and consists of tight junctions around the capillaries that do not exist in normal circulation. The BBB prevents the entry of substances that are hydrophilic or possess a high molecular weight. Its purpose is mainly to protect the brain from the entry of toxins and bacteria. However, it also acts as an impermeable barrier to the entry of more than 95% of the most clinically useful neurotherapeutic agents.
A number of experimental approaches have been proposed to open the BBB. These include high-intensity focused ultrasound, magnetic nanoparticles, peptide carriers, photodynamic therapy and electrochemotherapy. However, many of these techniques are highly speculative and are still in the experimental stages of development. Similarly, a number of techniques exist for the local administration of drugs to brain tumors. These include inter-cerebral implantation (for example, gliadel wafers), intra-arterial drug administration and hyper-osmotic disruption. However, the efficiency of these techniques is doubtful, and the implementation is often non-localized and invasive.
There are a number of important circumstances in which a means of safe and controlled blood brain barrier disruption (BBBD) would be of great clinical significance. These include the treatment of tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) in which a transient opening of the BBB could permit the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to the brain during the window of BBB disruption with a potentially huge impact on the treatment of cancerous tumors of the CNS. Similarly, a number of diseases such as epilepsy and auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis are characterized by unwanted breaches in BBB patency which would benefit from a means to reduce the permeability of the BBB. A goal of controlled BBB disruption therefore includes both a means to increase and decrease the permeability of the BBB.
Thus, it would be highly advantageous to have a method for blood brain barrier permeability control, which is safe, non-invasive, focused and reversible.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to modulate permeability of the blood-brain barrier


The electronic equipment disclosed in the present application realizes a battery attachment/detachment mechanism with the reduced number of components, by biasing a slide lever 11 to a protrusion position by a biasing force of a switch lever 13a of a switch 13. More specifically, in the electronic equipment disclosed in the present application, it is unnecessary to provide biasing means for biasing the slide lever 11 to the protrusion position in addition to the switch 13, the number of components is reduced as compared with the configuration provided with biasing means in addition to the switch. By reducing the number of components, the cost is reduced and the assembly time in assembling notebook computers is reduced, thereby improving workability in the assembly.

1. Field
The present application relates to electronic equipment to/from which a battery is attachable/detachable.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, portable electronic equipment such as a notebook computer often has a configuration to/from which a battery is attachable/detachable.
JP 2003-122449 A discloses a battery cover of portable electronic equipment into which a battery card is mounted, wherein a connector protrudes on a reverse side of the cover, a moveable switch for detecting attachment of the cover is provided on an end portion of the equipment body, and a stopper for restricting a movement of the switch is provided via a spring. Further, JP 2003-122449 A discloses a configuration in which when the cover is not attached, the stopper blocks the movement of the switch in an ON direction; and when the cover is attached, the movement of the switch in the ON direction is allowed by moving the stopper by the connector.
JP 2004-119174 A discloses a configuration in which, on an inner face of a battery cartridge, fulcrums that are capable of contacting with a peripheral face of a first battery are installed, and in insertion and pulling out of the battery cartridge, by consecutively applying pressure to a position from a site distant from a fulcrum of the peripheral face of the first battery over the fulcrums, and from the fulcrums over the distant site, the first battery is made to rock around the fulcrums and an elastic body which scrubs one pole (+) of the first battery with the other pole (−) of the second battery is installed on an inner face of a battery cartridge housing part.
However, in the configuration disclosed by JP 2003-122449 A, the spring is required for biasing the stopper. Therefore, the number of components is increased, which increases the cost and the assembly time.
Further, in the configuration disclosed by JP 2004-119174 A, the elastic bodies for avoiding the dropping of the battery cartridge should be provided for each battery cartridge. Therefore, the number of components is increased, which increases the cost and the assembly time.

Battery attachable/detachable electronic equipment

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management, Co., Ltd.


A sputtering apparatus includes a substrate holder which holds a substrate to be rotatable in the plane direction of the processing surface of the substrate, a substrate-side magnet which is arranged around the substrate and forms a magnetic field on the processing surface of the substrate, a cathode which is arranged diagonally above the substrate and receives discharge power, a position detection unit which detects the rotational position of the substrate, and a controller which controls the discharge power in accordance with the rotational position detected by the position detection unit.

There has conventionally been known a sputtering apparatus which deposits a film on a substrate. More specifically, a cathode which supports a target is arranged offset diagonally above the substrate. While rotating the substrate along its processing surface, the target material is sputtered by oblique incidence sputtering.
As a technique pertaining to this, a sputtering method and apparatus have been proposed in which a substrate is rotated at an appropriate speed and the angle θ of the central axis of a target with respect to the normal of the substrate is maintained at 15°≦θ≦45° (see PLT1). This sputtering apparatus can generate a film with a uniform thickness and quality even if the target diameter is less than or equal to the substrate diameter.

Sputtering apparatus, sputtering method, and electronic device manufacturing method


A wavelength conversion device includes a light source configured to output an excitation light beam, a modulator configured to phase-modulate the excitation light beam, a polarization adjustor configured to adjust a polarization angle of the excitation light beam to 45 degrees or 135 degrees with respect to a polarization angle of a signal light beam, and a nonlinear medium configured to generate four-wave mixing of the excitation light beam whose polarization angle is adjusted and the signal light beam to generate an idler light beam having a frequency corresponding to a difference between frequencies of the signal light beam and the excitation light beam from the signal light beam.

A technique of converting the optical frequency by making use of cross phase modulation (XPM) that is one of nonlinear optical effects has been known (For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-194576). Another technique of simultaneously converting a wavelength-multiplexed light beam in a wavelength band into a wavelength-multiplexed light beam in another wavelength band by making use of four-wave mixing (FWM) that is one of nonlinear optical effects has also studied and developed.
For example, a related art is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-194576.
In the above-mentioned wide-band wavelength conversion using four-wave mixing, to match the rate of each signal light beam before and after conversion with the rate of excitation light beam, it is required for satisfying phase matching conditions. For example, in the case of wavelength conversion by nondegenerative four-wave mixing using two excitation light beams having different wavelengths, it is required to satisfy the condition that the zero dispersion wavelength is located at the center of each wavelength band before and after conversion and the condition that a dispersion slope is zero in each wavelength band before and after conversion.
However, for example, in consideration of discrepancies in individual pieces, it is difficult to manufacture a dispersion-shifted optical fiber generating four-wave mixing so as to satisfy the above-mentioned two conditions. When the phase matching conditions are not satisfied, a difference occurs between the rate of each signal light beam before and after conversion and the rate of the excitation light beam, disadvantageously lowering the wavelength conversion efficiency.
In light of the above situation, it is desirable to provide a wavelength conversion device, a transmission device, and a transmission system that readily achieve highly-efficient wavelength conversion.

Wavelength conversion device, transmission device, and transmission system


Device, system, method of coating an expandable member is provided. The method comprises providing an expandable member with a plurality of folds defined therein, the expandable member having a folded configuration and a fully expanded configuration at a rated nominal pressure. The expandable member is inflated to an initial pressure of from 10% to about 300% of nominal pressure. A therapeutic agent is disposed on at least a portion of the expandable member. The expandable member is partially deflated to an intermediate pressure by withdrawing an amount of inflation medium from the expandable member, and by applying an external force to the expandable member.

1. Field of the Disclosed Subject Matter
The presently disclosed subject matter is related to coating interventional medical devices, and particularly coating of therapeutic agents on an expandable member of a medical device. More particularly, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to a system and method for retaining a therapeutic agent on a balloon during folding and assembly of the medical device.
2. Description of Related Subject Matter
Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting arterial blood vessels. It is a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, which is in large part due to the accumulation of lipid, macrophages, foam cells and the formation of plaque in the arterial wall. Atherosclerosis is commonly referred to as hardening of the arteries, although the pathophysiology of the disease manifests itself with several different types of lesions ranging from fibrotic to lipid laden to calcific. Angioplasty is a vascular interventional technique involving mechanically widening an obstructed blood vessel, typically caused by atherosclerosis.
During angioplasty, a catheter having a folded balloon is inserted into the vasculature of the patient and is passed to the narrowed location of the blood vessel, at which point the balloon is inflated to a fixed size as a result of fluid pressure inside the balloon. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), commonly known as coronary angioplasty, is a therapeutic procedure to treat the stenotic coronary arteries of the heart, often found in coronary heart disease. In contrast, peripheral angioplasty, commonly known as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), generally refers to mechanical widening of blood vessels other than the coronary arteries. PTA is most commonly used to treat narrowing of the leg arteries, especially, the iliac, external iliac, superficial femoral and popliteal arteries. PTA can also treat narrowing of veins, and other blood vessels.
Although the blood vessel is often successfully widened by angioplasty, sometimes the treated wall of the blood vessel undergoes vasospasm, or abrupt closure after balloon inflation or dilatation, causing the blood vessel to collapse after the balloon is deflated or shortly thereafter. One solution to this abrupt closure is stenting the blood vessel to prevent collapse. A stent is a device, typically a metal tube or scaffold that is inserted into the blood vessel after, or concurrently with angioplasty, to hold the blood vessel open.
While the advent of stents eliminated many of the complications of abrupt vessel closure after angioplasty procedures, within about six months of stenting, a re-narrowing of the blood vessel can form. This is a condition known as restenosis. Restenosis was discovered to be a response to the injury of the angioplasty procedure and is characterized by a growth of smooth muscle cells—analogous to a scar forming over an injury. To address this condition, drug eluting stents were developed to reduce the reoccurrence of the narrowing of blood vessels after stent implantation. A drug eluting stent is a metal stent that has been coated with a drug that is known to interfere with the process of re-narrowing of the blood vessel (restenosis). Examples of various known drug eluting stents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,649,977; 5,464,650; 5,591,227, 7,378,105; 7,445,792; 7,335,227, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, a drawback of drug eluting stents is a condition known as late stent thrombosis, which is an event in which blood clots on the stent.
Drug eluting balloons are believed to be a viable alternative to drug eluting stents in the treatment of atherosclerosis. In a study which evaluated restenosis, and the rate of major adverse cardiac events such as heart attack, bypass, repeat stenosis, or death in patients treated with drug eluting balloons and drug eluting stents, the patients treated with drug eluting balloons experienced only 3.7% restenosis and 4.8% MACE (major adverse cardiac events) as compared to patients treated with drug eluting stents, in which restenosis was 20.8% and 22.0% MACE rate. See PEPCAD II study, Rotenburg, Germany.
However, drug eluting balloons present certain unique challenges. For example, the drug carried by the balloon needs to remain on the balloon during delivery to the lesion site, and released from the balloon surface to the blood vessel wall when the balloon is expanded at the lesion site. For coronary procedures, the balloon is typically inflated for less than one minute, typically about thirty seconds. The balloon can be expanded for a longer period of time for peripheral procedures although this time rarely exceeds 5 minutes. Due to the short duration of contact of the drug coated balloon surface with the blood vessel wall, the balloon coating must exhibit efficient therapeutic agent transfer and/or efficient drug release during inflation. Thus, there are challenges specific to drug delivery via a drug coated or drug eluting balloon that are not presented by a drug eluting stent.
Conventional methods of loading interventional devices with therapeutic agents often require coating the entire surface of the balloon with the therapeutic agent. Coating of the entire surface can be performed in the inflated condition. For purpose of storage and shipping, as well as delivery through vasculature, the balloon is folded when deflated. However, once coated with a therapeutic agent, the balloon can become difficult to fold and sheath for assembly of the catheter. Further, conventional equipment and processes used to achieve such folding and assembly often cause damage, loss, or contamination of the therapeutic agent, and/or can result in contamination of the equipment.
Alternatively, balloons can be coated with a therapeutic agent while in a folded condition, thereby avoiding the drawbacks listed above. However, applying a coating of a solution to a folded balloon results in only a partially coated balloon surface area which may not be desirable depending upon the needs and application. Furthermore, the entire surface area of a coating applied to the folded balloon is exposed to the blood stream during the tracking and delivery procedure, thus increasing the likelihood of losing a significant amount, if not all, of the drug coating before positioning the balloon and therapeutic agent at the desired location to commence treatment.
Thus there remains a need, and an aim of the disclosed subject matter is directed towards, a method with corresponding apparatus for assembly of an expandable member having one or more therapeutic agents coated thereon in such a manner that does not result in damage or loss of therapeutic agent, nor significant contamination of the equipment employed. Additionally, the disclosed subject matter provides a processing method for expandable member memory retention.


A method of configuring operating parameters with a vehicle is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a signal identifying one or more vehicle operating parameters and associating the signal with a mobile device. The method comprises identifying a profile package based on the identification of the one or more vehicle operating parameters, wherein the profile package comprises at least the one or more vehicle operating parameters. The method comprises receiving a signal associating the mobile device with a head unit and transmitting the profile package to one or more controllers, wherein the profile package configures one or more controllers to one or more vehicle operating parameters, wherein the controllers govern the behavior of one or more vehicle components. The method further comprises activating the specific set of one or more vehicle operating parameters of the profile package in response to detecting that the mobile device is disposed at a predetermined position.

Vehicle owners may desire to drive their vehicle with particular engine and operating configurations. Vehicle owners may take their vehicle to special mechanics or provide particular specifications to a vehicle manufacture to configure their vehicle to their liking. Vehicle owners may also operate the vehicles in many different environments. Vehicle owners may want to tune their vehicle based on which environment the vehicle is operated in. Additionally, vehicle owners may want to prohibit others from operating their vehicles recklessly or irresponsibly.

System and method of utilizing driving profiles via a mobile device


Embodiments of the invention provide for a location aware trust based currency exchange. A method for location aware trust based currency exchange includes receiving in a mobile device on behalf of an end user a request to conduct a peer-to-peer currency exchange transaction. A database is then queried for a listing of partners geographically proximate to a location indicated by the request, the listing including both a trust value for each of the partners indicative of a trustworthiness for a corresponding one of the partners and also an exchange rate offered for each of the partners. The listing is then displayed in the mobile device. Finally, in response to the end user selecting one of the partners in the listing, a message is transmitted to the selected one of the partners indicating a desire by the end user to conduct the peer-to-peer currency exchange transaction.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to location based services management and more particularly to location based currency exchange services management.
Description of the Related Art
Currency is a generally accepted form of money, including coins and paper notes, which is issued by a government and circulated within an economy. Used as a medium of exchange for goods and services, currency is the basis for trade. In finance, a currency exchange rate between two currencies, also known as a foreign exchange rate, is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. The currency exchange rate is also regarded as the value the currency of one country in terms of the value of currency of another country.
A currency exchange is a business enterprise in which the exchange of currency is facilitated on behalf of a buyer of the currency and the seller of the currency. Oftentimes a service offered by a bank or financial institution, currency exchange also may form the basis of a stand-alone business enterprise. In a currency exchange service, the currency exchange profits from its services either through adjusting of the exchange rate or the taking of a commission. Thus, the conduct of a currency exchange is highly dependent upon the knowledge by all participants to a currency exchange transaction of the current market to buy and sell a currency of one country in respect to the currency of another country.
With the advent of the Internet, the information requisite to an efficient currency exchange transaction has become widely available in real time giving rise to several currency exchange tools. The ubiquity of mobile computing has only enhanced the ability of the different parties to a currency exchange transaction to accurately engage in currency exchange. Popular mobile applications permit both offline and online computation of currency exchange rates. As well some mobile applications permit online currency trading through globally established foreign exchange marketplaces. In all circumstances, the administrative cost of conducting a currency exchange transaction can be high. Consequently, many prefer to conduct small currency exchange transactions outside of established currency exchanges and globally established foreign exchange marketplaces.
In this regard, in many locales, smallish currency exchange transactions with minimal administrative fees occur daily, such as through hotel reception desks, local retail merchants, restaurants and even amongst individuals in the street. Armed with access to the Internet, then, two peer participants to a currency exchange transaction can simply determine an appropriate exchange rate manually and perform the transaction utilizing the determined rate and without very high transaction fees. Obviously, some risk exists with respect to the trustworthiness of a local currency exchange partner in a foreign jurisdiction. To help address some of the safety concerns in respect to small peer-to-peer currency transactions, at least one mobile application combines an online travel advice forum with peer matching in a specified location in order to provide a peer-to-peer currency exchange platform with minimal to no transaction fees.

Location aware trust-based peer-to-peer currency exchange

International Business Machines Corporation


A sheet feeder, which is included in an image forming apparatus, includes a sheet bypass member openably closable to one side surface of a body of the image forming apparatus, a pickup roller to feed and convey a sheet loaded on the sheet bypass member, and an arm to hold the pickup roller and to open and close with the pickup roller. The arm includes a contact portion extending in a shape of projection toward an upstream side from the pickup roller in a sheet conveying direction of the sheet bypass member. As the sheet bypass member is rotated upward to be closed and stored to the side surface of the body, the contact portion of the arm contacts the sheet bypass member to rotate the arm upward to cause the sheet bypass member to approach to the side surface of the body.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a sheet feeder that includes a storable bypass member and a pickup roller to feed a sheet for receiving an image thereon, and an image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet feeder.
2. Related Art
Known image forming apparatuses include a sheet feeder that includes an openably storable manual bypass and a pickup roller, so that a recording medium such as a sheet is fed by the manual bypass and the pickup roller to a sheet feeding portion.
However, if a sheet conveying direction and a roller protruding direction of the pickup roller are same as a direction of a machine width of an image forming apparatus, the manual bypass is arranged to be stored out of space for storing the pickup roller in the direction of the machine width. Therefore, a sheet conveying path, the pickup roller, a feed roller and the like are disposed out of a body of the image forming apparatus, which increases the size of the image forming apparatus.
Japanese Patent No. JP-3328486-B (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-H08-259050-A) discloses that a sheet standby position is varied by linking movement of open/close of the manual bypass, such that the pickup roller is used for both the manual bypass and a lower sheet container. However, the manual bypass is still stored outside the space for the pickup roller in the machine width. Therefore, the width of the image forming apparatus remains wide by the place to store the manual bypass.

Sheet feeder and image forming apparatus incorporating same


A method for producing an electronic component includes: providing at least one carrier element having a microcomponent receptacle configured for contacting at least one microcomponent, injection molding a housing around the carrier element, the microcomponent receptacle being situated in a cavity of the housing that is open on at least one side, introducing the microcomponent into the microcomponent receptacle in the cavity to contact the microcomponent to the carrier element, and injecting the cavity using a filler material to fix the microcomponent in the housing and in the microcomponent receptacle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a carrier element for producing an electronic component, particularly a sensor for use in a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
The known concepts in the packaging of sensors use design approaches that are becoming ever smaller and are fully integrated for implementing the function. Housing concepts for "packaging" sensor chips, e.g. "land grid arrays" integrate all the components of a circuit into a tiny encasing (mold compound), which includes only a few cubic millimeters. Such miniaturized circuits represent an enormous challenge for "second-level packaging", that is, the further processing to form a sensor having opportunities for fastening and plug connectors.
Since such miniaturized circuits, as for instance LGA's, no longer require any printed circuit board or other circuit substrates, these are typically mounted directly in surrounding sensor housings. As an approach in this instance, one may use the 2-component injection molding method, in which the LGA housing, that is connected using a metallic carrier strip, is first extrusion-coated with a relatively soft material, such as silicone, in a first step, and, in an additional step, this construct is, in turn, extrusion-coated with a housing plastic in an injection molding method. This sequence is necessary because the pressures, required in the plastic injection molding of several 100 bar, would damage the LGA housing in such a way that at least the durable function of the circuit is not assured. However, even the previous extrusion-coating, using a damping material such as silicone, represents some danger: As, for instance, the displacement of the silicone material when the plastic mass comes down on one side or, for example, the penetration of the silicone, because of the high pressure that is present during the plastic injecting, into the electrical contact location between the LGA housing and the metallic carrier element. Consequently, the use of a purely mechanical terminal connection for the electronic contact is questionable, and one has to get around it by going to materially integral connections such as soldering connections. Because of current RoHS Regulations (EG-Regulation 2002/95/EG on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical units and electronic units) the latter must not contain any lead and, because of the content of required flux in the solder, they represent a not inconsiderable risk of the contamination and carrying over of flux into the silicone mass during the first injection molding process. In addition, at soldering locations without lead, there is created the problem of whisker formation.

Method for producing an electronic component


The present disclosure relates to the field of fabricating microelectronic packages, wherein microelectronic components of the microelectronic packages may have sintered conductive vias comprising sintered metal and magnetic particles.

A typical microelectronic package includes at least one microelectronic die that is mounted on a substrate such that bond pads on the microelectronic die are attached to corresponding bond lands on the substrate. Both the microelectronic die and the substrate may have numerous conductive routes, which may be formed on and between dielectric layers therein.


A face milling cutter method for manufacturing various hypocycloidal bevel gears that is characterized in that the following steps are performed to manufacture a first bevel gear: equipping a universal face milling cutter in a first configuration with a first number of cutter groups that corresponds to a first number of passes. A first bevel gear is then produced in the continuous partial method using the universal face milling cutter in the first configuration. The following steps are performed to manufacture a second bevel gear: equipping the same universal face milling cutter in a second configuration with a second number of cutter groups that corresponds to a second number of passes. The second bevel gear is then produced in the continuous partial method using the universal face milling cutter in the second configuration.

There are various types of bevel gears, these types being differentiated, inter alia, on the basis of the profile of the longitudinal flank lines. The following bevel gears are differentiated according to the profile of the longitudinal flank lines:                straight-toothed bevel gears        helical-toothed bevel gears        spiral-toothed bevel gears.
Bevel gear pair teeth can be uniquely established by the associated virtual plane gear teeth (if the pitch cone angles are known). The corresponding plane gear can also be imagined as a wafer-thin profile disc. The plane gear results from the bevel gear teeth in that the pitch cone angle is set to δp=90°. In general, every perpendicular section through a plane gear tooth has linear flanks. Bevel gears of a bevel gear pair have the same plane gear tooth count.
The term "spiral-toothed bevel gears" is presumed to have been taken from the American world, where these bevel gears are generally referred to as "spiral bevel gears." It would be better to use the term "arc-toothed bevel gears" instead of "spiral-toothed bevel gears" here, since the spiral already represents a special form of a curve (e.g., the Archimedean). However, the title "spiral-toothed bevel gears" is still used hereafter, as has established itself in practice.
In the case of spiral-toothed bevel gears, a further subdivision is possible with respect to the shape of the longitudinal flank line:                circular arcs        epicycloids, in particular extended epicycloids        evolvents        hypocycloids, in particular extended hypocycloids.
Circular-arc-toothed bevel gears have a circular arc as a longitudinal flank line. Circular-arc-toothed bevel gears are manufactured in the single indexing method (also referred to as intermittent indexing process, single indexing process, or face milling). The single indexing method is schematically shown in FIG. 1A. The cutter 21 of a cutter head 20 completes a circular movement while the bevel gear 11 to be produced rests in a fixed position. To manufacture further tooth gaps, the cutter head 20 is retracted and the workpiece 11 is rotated by an indexing angle. The step-by-step further rotation (counterclockwise here) is indicated in FIG. 1A by the arrows A, B, and C. Therefore, one tooth gap 22 is always manufactured at a time.
Epicycloidal, in particular expanded-epicycloidal (also referred to as extended-epicycloidal) toothed gearwheels are manufactured by a continuous indexing method (also referred to as continuous hobbing, continuous indexing process, or face hobbing). In the production of the epicycloids in the continuous indexing method, the ratio of plane gear tooth count zp of the bevel gear to number of passes Gx of the bar cutter head (number of the cutter groups) corresponds to the ratio of the radius RG of the base circle GK and the radius RR of the pitch circle RK. One refers to an extended epicycloid when the cutter head nominal radius rc, on which the blades of the cutter 23 are seated, is greater than the radius RR of the pitch circle RK (see FIG. 1B). In this continuous indexing method, both the cutter head and also the workpiece 11 rotate in a movement sequence that is chronologically adapted to one another. The indexing is thus performed continuously and gaps 12 and the corresponding teeth 13 are generated quasi-simultaneously. A corresponding example is shown in FIG. 1B. The cutter head rotates counterclockwise here, while the workpiece 11 rotates clockwise (this rotational movement is also referred to as plane gear rotation). An epicycloid (e.g., an extended epicycloid) is produced here. The movements thus occur here in opposite directions. If both rotate in the same direction, a hypocycloid is produced (as shown in FIG. 1C). FIG. 1B shows that the cutters 23 of a corresponding cutter head are typically situated in pairs (also referred to as in groups in the case of two, three, or more cutters per cutter group). FIG. 1B shows that the pitch circle RK of the cutter head rolls along the base circle GK of the workpiece 11. M refers to the center point of the cutter head here. This center point M is coincident with the center point of the pitch circle RK. The coupling of the two rotational movements is performed so that only one cutter pair, or one cutter group, moves through a tooth gap 12 in each case.
A bevel gear having a "linear" hypocycloid as a longitudinal flank line can be produced according to the principle shown in FIG. 2. The mathematical principle shown is known from various textbooks, but also from European Patent Application EP 1348509 A2. Fundamentally, this approach is also known from "Stanki dja obrabotki konitscheskich zubtschatych kolos," Izdanie 2-e, V. N. Kedrinskij, K. M. Pismanik, Izdatelstvo "Maschinostroenie" Moskva 1967, pages 506-508.
In order to obtain a hypocycloid, the pitch circle RK having the radius RR rolls in the interior of the fixed base circle GK having radius RG. The pitch circle RK rotates around its axis (center point M), as indicated by the arrow P1. As indicated by the arrow P2, the pitch circle RK rolls counterclockwise in the interior of the base circle GK (the rotational direction could also be reversed). The pointer Z1 is oriented radially outward fixed in place in the pitch circle RK and is associated with a generating point U on the circumference of the pitch circle RK. This point U is fixed in place in the coordinate system of the pitch circle RK, i.e., this point U is fixedly connected to the pitch circle RK. Through the rolling movement of the point U, i.e., through its own rotation around the point M coupled to the satellite movement around the center point of the base circle GK, the point U generates a hypocycloid HY in the x-y coordinate system of the base circle GK, or a straight line in the special case shown. The point U thus defines or describes a linear hypocycloid (HY), when the pitch circle RK rolls in the base circle GK. The cutter head radius rc is rc=RR here. The two circles RK and GK are shown in a Cartesian x-y coordinate system here.
The parameter representation in this x-y coordinate system reads as follows:
                    x        =                                            (                              RG                -                RR                            )                                    cos                                                                          λ                    -                      RR                                                                          cos                                                                                RG                -                RR                            RR                                    λ                                              (        1        )                                y        =                                            (                              RG                -                RR                            )                                    sin                                                                          λ                    -                      RR                                                                          sin                                                                                RG                -                RR                            RR                                    λ                                              (        2        )
In equations (1) and (2), λ represents the rotational angle of the center point M of the pitch circle RK in relation to the center point MG of the base circle GK. A snapshot is shown in FIG. 2 where the following applies: λ=0, x=RG, y=0. The coordinates of U are [RG, 0].
FIGS. 3A-3H show, on the basis of a sequence, that there is a special case in which the hypocycloid HY becomes a straight line. In these figures, the references and reference numerals were intentionally omitted, so as not to impair the clarity of the illustration. However, all features of FIG. 3A-3H that match the features of FIG. 2 are in accordance therewith. A straight line results when the condition RR=RG/2, or RG/RR=2, is met. It may be seen on the basis of FIGS. 3A-3H that the generating point U is displaced starting from the illustration in FIG. 3A (λ=0°) along the x-axis from the coordinate position [RG, 0] to the left to the coordinate position [−RG, 0]. In FIG. 3E (λ=180°), the coordinate position [−RG, 0] is reached. The pitch circle RK now rolls through the two lower quadrants of the x-y coordinate system and the point U moves from the coordinate position [−RG, 0] back to the coordinate position [RG, 0]. The straight line HY is a distance which extends in the figures along the x-axis from [RG, 0] to [−RG, 0].
Special shapes of hypocycloids can also be explained on the basis of the figure shown. The special shapes are generated as follows. If the generating point U is inside or outside the pitch circle RK, one refers to either an abbreviated hypocycloid or correspondingly to an extended hypocycloid. The distance between the center M (see FIG. 2) of the pitch circle RK and the position of the generating point U is described by the parameter c. Therefore, c<RR generates an abbreviated hypocycloid and c>RR generates an extended hypocycloid. An extended hypocycloid having c=1.5 RR is shown in FIG. 4A. The pointer Z2 thus has the length c=1.5 RR (the variable c corresponds to the cutter head nominal radius rc in FIG. 1B). The cutter head nominal radius rc is thus rc=1.5 RR here. An abbreviated hypocycloid having c=0.5 RR is shown in FIG. 4B. The pointer Z3 thus has the length c=0.5 RR. The cutter head nominal radius rc is thus rc=0.5 RR here. In each case an ellipse is generated as the hypocycloid HY, whose parameter representation as a function of the angle λ in the x-y coordinate system reads as follows:
                    x        =                              (                                          RG                2                            +              c                        )                                          cos                                      (                              λ                2                            )                                                          (        3        )                                y        =                              (                                          RG                2                            -              c                        )                                          sin                                      (                              λ                2                            )                                                          (        4        )            If c=RR and RR=RG/2, the linear hypocycloid is obtained as a special case, as already described.
In the face cutter heads, which are used to produce bevel gears, one differentiates between so-called bar cutter heads and profile cutter heads. A bar cutter head is equipped with a large number of bar cutters (e.g., forty), each bar cutter having a shaft and a head area. The head area can be given a desired shape and position by grinding the bar cutter. Bar cutter heads are more productive than profile cutter heads, which contain fewer cutters, and the bar cutters can be re-profiled. In contrast, a profile cutter head is equipped with relief-ground cutters. These die cutters (also referred to as profile cutters) maintain their profile shape on the machining surface upon re-grinding. It is an advantage of bevel gear milling using profile cutters that no special grinding machine is required for the re-grinding of these die cutters. The known Zyklo-Palloid® method, for example, uses such profile cutters to produce spiral bevel gears.
The present invention is concerned with the milling of bevel gears having hypocycloidal teeth and in particular the milling of straight-toothed bevel gears.
The methods currently used for milling straight-toothed bevel gears are hobbing (names of known hobbing methods include: Coniflex®, Konvoid, and Sferoid™) and broaching (also known as the Revacycle® method). Two disc-shaped cutter heads of equal size are used in the case of hobbing, in which the cutters on the outer circumference point radially outward. The axes of the two cutter heads are inclined to one another, so that at the narrowest point the cutters of one cutter head may engage between the cutters of the other. One cutter head is thus used for the left flanks and one cutter head is used for the right flanks. This hobbing of straight-toothed bevel gears is a single indexing method, in which crown gear and bevel gear pinions are hobbed. The broaching method is also a single indexing method in which, the tooth flanks of the crown gear and bevel gear pinions are not generated by envelope cuts as in hobbing. Rather, the cutter profiles in broaching exactly correspond to the shape of the final gap profile of the bevel gear. The broaching method is more productive than hobbing in the single indexing method, but has the disadvantage that a special disc-shaped broaching cutter head having a plurality of various die cutters on the circumference is required for almost every bevel gear (transmission ratio).
These examples prove that the tool expenditure can be too large and costly for many users to be able to produce various bevel gears having hypocycloidal teeth and in particular various straight-toothed bevel gears.

Method for producing bevel gears having hypocycloidai teeth in the continuous indexing method using a corresponding face cutter head


An industrial process temperature transmitter for measuring a temperature of a process medium includes a temperature sensing unit, a compensation circuit, an output circuit and a housing. The temperature sensing unit includes a process temperature sensor and a secondary temperature sensor. A temperature signal that is indicative of the temperature of the process medium is produced based on a process temperature signal output from the process temperature sensor and a secondary temperature signal output from the secondary temperature sensor. The compensation circuit compensates the temperature signal for a response time of the temperature measurement to a change in the temperature of the process medium, and outputs a compensated temperature signal. The output circuit produces a temperature output as a function of the compensated temperature signal. The housing is attached to an exterior of the process vessel and contains the secondary temperature sensor.

Industrial processes are used in the manufacturing and transport of many types of materials. In such systems, it is often required to measure different parameters within the process. One such parameter is a temperature of the process medium.
Industrial process temperature transmitters typically measure the temperature of the process medium using a temperature sensor and communicate the measured temperature to a desired location, such as a control room. Such temperature transmitters typically isolate the temperature sensor from the process medium to protect the temperature sensor and associated electronics from process conditions that may damage the sensor, and/or adversely affect the temperature measurement.
Some temperature transmitters house the temperature sensor within a thermowell. The temperature sensor is installed in the thermowell through an open end. A sealed end of the thermowell is inserted into the process medium. This allows the temperature sensor to measure the temperature of the process medium through the thermowell without being directly exposed to the process medium. Thus, the temperature sensor may be inserted into the process medium while providing protection from harsh conditions that could damage the sensor.
Other temperature transmitters measure the temperature of the process medium while avoiding any intrusion on the process. Such non-intrusive temperature transmitters typically position a temperature sensor in contact with the exterior surface of a process vessel wall containing the process medium, such as the exterior surface of a pipe containing the process medium. The temperature sensor measures the temperature of the process medium through the process vessel wall.
Temperature transmitters experience a delay in the detection of a change in the temperature of the process medium that is caused, at least in part, to the need to communicate the temperature through the wall of the thermowell or the wall of the process vessel. For some applications, such as those where temperature measurement timing is critical for process management, such a delay in the temperature measurement may be unacceptable.

Process transmitter isolation compensation


An updated group alias, based on one or more of a location, function, and purpose of a group, is transmitted to a subscriber unit (SU) and displayed at the SU, in place of a previously provisioned group ID or group alias associated with the group, during communications with, or when the SU is tuned to, the group. An incident ID, associated with one or more groups and identifying an incident, is received and stored at a SU. The SU embeds the stored incident ID in all future communications with the one or more groups and, upon request, scans a set of groups and/or channels for communications having the incident ID embedded therein. An incident ID alias described one or more of a name, location, function, or purpose of the incident, may also be received and associated with the incident ID.

Wireless communication systems provide for radio communication links to be arranged within the system between a plurality of user terminals. Such user terminals may be mobile and may be known as 'mobile stations' or 'subscriber units.' At least one other terminal, e.g. used in conjunction with subscriber units, may be a fixed terminal, e.g. a control terminal, base station, repeater, and/or access point. Such a system typically includes a system infrastructure which generally includes a network of various fixed terminals, which are in direct radio communication with the subscriber units. Each of the base stations operating in the system may have one or more transceivers which may, for example, serve subscriber units in a given local region or area, known as a 'cell' or 'site', by radio frequency (RF) communication. The subscriber units that are in direct communication with a particular fixed terminal are said to be served by the fixed terminal. In one example, all radio communications to and from each subscriber unit within the system are made via respective serving fixed terminals. Sites of neighboring fixed terminals in a wireless communication system may be offset from one another or may be non-overlapping or partially or fully overlapping. In another example in which subscriber units can operate in a direct mode (e.g., without having to pass through a repeater or base station), a fixed terminal such as a control terminal may provide for a mechanism to update the direct mode subscriber units with new program settings, channels, groups, etc.
Wireless communication systems may operate according to an industry standard protocol such as, for example, the Project 25 (P25) standard defined by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), or other radio protocols, the TETRA standard defined by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), the Digital Private Mobile Radio (dPMR) standard also defined by the ETSI, or the Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) standard also defined by the ETSI. Communications in accordance with any one or more of these standards, or other standards, may take place over physical channels in accordance with one or more of a TDMA (time division multiple access), FDMA (frequency divisional multiple access), or CDMA (code division multiple access) protocol. Subscriber units in wireless communication systems such as those set forth above send user communicated speech and data, herein referred to collectively as 'traffic information', in accordance with the designated protocol.
Many so-called "public safety" wireless communication systems provide for group-based radio communications amongst a plurality of subscriber units such that one member of a designated group can transmit once and have that transmission received by all other members of the group substantially simultaneously. Groups are conventionally assigned based on function. For example, all members of a particular local police force may be assigned to a same group so that all members of the particular local police force can stay in contact with one another, while avoiding the random transmissions of radio users outside of the local police force.
However, situations may arise where a particular radio user may wish to subscribe or participate in more than one group. In the past, this possibility has been provided through features such as scan lists that allow a radio user to configure their radio with a set of groups in which they are interested or subscribed, and the radio then scans each of the groups for communications and, when found, tunes to and receives communications associated with one of the particular groups. Situations may arise, however, that do not allow time for a user to configure his or her radio to scan particular groups. Additionally, pre-provisioned group IDs (e.g., identifiers that may be used to differentiate groups and as destination addresses for communications directed to group members) and group aliases (e.g., alphanumeric identifiers that may be associated with respective group IDs) associated with the groups may not be generally descriptive of a particular incident being responded to or function being performed by the group of radio users, and thus a new radio user on a scene may not know what group and/or channel to tune its radio to without transmitting on each channel and/or group to discover its use, wasting channel bandwidth and preventing effective use of the channel and/or group for emergency purposes. Furthermore, changes to the radio made by the radio user are permanently stored at the radio, and do not generally allow for temporary and/or continuous changes or updates to the radio's group membership or descriptive group names by a remote entity such as a system console. Finally, in those instances where group transmissions are being recorded or stored to preserve the contents of conversations during an incident, it may become difficult to discern which radio group's have responded to a particular incident, and difficult to locate particular desired transmissions when multiple different groups are responding to a same particular incident.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.

Method and apparatus for updating and using updated group aliases and incident IDs


A leaf blower having a back pack frame. The frame can support a leaf blower unit on an operator's back with the use of shoulder straps. The frame generally has an L-shape with an intake restrictor ring that can cooperate with an air intake section of a blower mounted to the back pack frame to substantially prevent intrusion of foreign objects into the blower unit and to reduce noise emanating from the blower air intake section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for carrying a machine and, more particularly, a back pack type frame for carrying a leaf blower.
2. Prior Art
Various different back pack type frames are known in the prior art for carrying various machines. U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,778 to Gamoh et al. disclosed an L-shaped frame for carrying a blower unit that is comprised of synthetic resin and conduits air through a hollow portion of the frame to reduce noise from the blower unit. U.S. Pat. No. 2,519,936 to Sayre discloses a portable power tool with a supporting structure which is hollow for passing air therethrough to thermally insulate the back of an operator.
Several problems have been encountered with back pack frames used in the prior art. Generally, with machines such as leaf blowers that intake a relatively large amount of air, air intakes are located proximate vertical sections of back pack frames for various reasons. However, this can reduce the quantity of air flowing into the intake and does not optimize noise reduction and prevention of intrusion of foreign objects into the intake.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an improved back pack type frame for use with machines having air intakes that can intake a relatively large amount of air, reduce the level of noise from an air intake and enhance the prevention of intrusion of foreign objects into the intake.