Trays for food are disclosed. A tray includes a plurality of receptacles, or compartments, for different courses of a meal (e.g., the entrée, a vegetable, a fruit, a starch, a dessert, a drink, etc.). Compartments for relatively unhealthful items may be configured to make the portion sizes of those items appear to be larger than they are, while compartments for healthful items may be configured to make the portion sizes of those items appear to be smaller than they are. The tray may also be configured to ensure that healthful items are positioned closest to an individual who is eating from the tray. Methods for presenting food to an individual are also disclosed.

Over 30 million children eat a government-subsidized lunch every day in the United States alone. Some children complain about portion sizes, but still waste food. Other children complain about the task and/or quality of the food and skip lunch altogether. Roughly half of these lunches are served off or reusable trays and half are served off of disposable Styrofoam trays or paper trays.
The food that school cafeterias serve to school children often is heavily skewed towards too many starchy and sweet dishes, and not enough vegetables or fruits. Moreover, soft drinks, which substantially add calories to a child's diet while providing little nutrition, are often consumed in favor of healthier beverages, like milk.
Childhood obesity has doubled since the early 1980's, and some have attributed this problem, in part, to the content of school lunches. About 75% of school aged children eat lunch provided by the cafeteria at their school. A typical school lunch accounts for a third of a student's daily caloric intake. Lunches provided by school cafeterias are estimated to add substantially more calories to a student's diet than lunches brought to school from home (e.g., bagged lunches, etc.). Over time, the accumulation of unhealthful eating choices, including those offered by typical school cafeteria lunches, could easily contribute to weight gain and obesity in children.
Although school lunch programs have substantial control over many aspects of their operations, including lunch content, choice mechanism, portion size, eating environment, price, payment, and extent of parental control, school lunch programs have primarily focused concerns on the content of lunches, rather than focusing on factors that may help children develop healthier eating habits.
Although the focus of the foregoing description is on school children, similar problems arise in any cafeteria setting for consumers of any age, including adults.


A tripping device comprises a coil frame, a coil, a plunger, a spring, and an anti-shock device. The coil is fixedly coupled to the coil frame and has a cylindrical channel extending therethrough. The plunger is reciprocatingly received within the cylindrical channel and the spring is structured to bias the plunger within the cylindrical channel. The anti-shock device includes at least one of a number of anti-shock devices structured to eliminate movement of the coil relative to the coil frame and a number of anti-shock devices structured to eliminate movement of the plunger relative to the cylindrical channel. An under-voltage release mechanism comprises a mounting bracket, a tripping device, and an angled support. The mounting bracket includes a first portion and a second portion. The angled support is fixedly coupled to the mounting bracket between the first and second portions and is structured to prevent flexing of the mounting bracket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to under-voltage release mechanisms and, more particularly, to a shock-resistant under-voltage release mechanism having a shock-resistant tripping device.
2. Background Information
Numerous types of circuit breakers are known and understood in the relevant art. A circuit breaker is typically configured to interrupt a circuit in response to a trip event (e.g., without limitation, an over-current condition; an under-voltage condition). Generally, circuit breakers include a moveable contact that is placed into electrical contact with a stationary contact to complete an electrical circuit. When desired, a tripping mechanism moves the moveable contact away from the stationary contact to interrupt the electrical circuit. Numerous types of tripping mechanisms are known.
In one type of tripping mechanism, for example, one or more trip buttons are provided which, when activated, cause a trip bar to rotate. Rotation of the trip bar causes an interruption mechanism to operate, thereby moving the moveable contact away from the stationary contact. The trip button(s) may be depressed manually, or by a plunger of a trip mechanism, or may be operated by other electrical apparatus as needed for the specific application. One such type of trip mechanism, for example, is an under-voltage release mechanism. An example of an under-voltage release mechanism may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,924 to Turner et al. which is incorporated herein by reference.
The under-voltage release mechanism employs a tripping device that includes a coil, a magnetically permeable core, and a magnetically permeable and movable plunger, as is generally known and understood in the relevant art. When the circuit breaker is in operation and the movable contact is engaged with the stationary contact, the coil of the tripping device is energized. A magnetic field is generated by the coil which causes the plunger to be biased against a spring. When the circuit voltage is greater than a given preset level, the magnetic field generated by the coil magnetically interacts with the plunger and overcomes the force of the spring such that the plunger is retained in a retracted position (i.e., the plunger is kept away from the trip button). When the circuit voltage drops below the given preset level, however, the magnetic field generated by the coil is insufficient to overcome the force of the spring. Accordingly, the spring biases the plunger into an extended position where the plunger engages the trip button, which, in turn, initiates rotation of the trip bar in order to interrupt the electrical circuit.
While generally effective, such under-voltage release mechanisms are unsuitable for some applications. For instance, circuit breakers employing such under-voltage release mechanisms may be subject to relatively high levels of shock-loading which cause such under-voltage release mechanisms to inadvertently and inappropriately trip the circuit breaker.
Thus, a need exists for an improved shock-resistant under-voltage release mechanism having a shock-resistant tripping device.


A control system includes an electric motor, an electric storage device, an accelerator grip, a brake lever, a controller, and an adjustment lever. The controller supplies electric power from the electric storage device to the electric motor in response to an acceleration command input by the accelerator grip and causes the electric motor to drive the rear wheel. The controller adjusts the electric power generated by rotational power applied by the rear wheel in response to an acceleration/deceleration command from the adjustment lever. The acceleration/deceleration adjustment lever is provided separately from the brake lever and the accelerator grip. The brake lever is able to activate a brake mechanism for mechanically braking the rear wheel to decelerate a vehicle.

There is known a regeneration system in an electric vehicle for driving a drive wheel by an electric motor, in which the electric motor generates electric power by rotational power of the drive wheel, and supplies this electric power to an electric storage device, etc., to recover an energy. In this regeneration system, a regenerative braking force is applied to the drive wheel by the power generation. Thus, a braking force different from a mechanical braking force generated by a brake mechanism can be applied to the drive wheel. One example of such a regeneration system is a driving control system disclosed in Patent Literature 1.

Regeneration control system in electric vehicle


A base game in a gaming machine that plays only one game symbol in a display in response to a wager. The wagered-on game symbol is transformed to reveal a random game play result picked by a processor from a number of symbol types. One type is a player action type symbol that can statistically extend base game play through player input in further rounds of base game play. As further rounds of extended base game play occur, the expected player payoff grows in value. Base game play ends whenever an award symbol type (value or null) is displayed.

Prior gaming machines such as multi-reel and multi-line slot machines have a number of displayed game symbols. U.S. Pat. No. 8,147,322 (Walker Digital, LLC) states that "the term 'symbol' may refer to any graphic or other indicia that appear on the reels of a gaming device, or in any game area of a gaming device, or on the display of another device that may represent an outcome or a portion thereof." By way of historical example, a slot machine had three mechanical reels of game symbols that, when a wager was inserted and played, would mechanically rotate and randomly align game symbols on a pay line to award the player when a winning combination of game symbols occurs. Today, a large number of electronic gaming machines, under control of a processor, exist that often provide a base game having more than three reels and a large number of pay lines such as five reels with numerous game symbols with 25 or more pay lines. Such multi-reel, multi-pay line electronic gaming machines, however, are often difficult for players to understand the many different game symbols and winning game symbol combinations on such numerous pay lines. Rather than trying to understand, some players simply wager and wait for the casino base game to visually and/or audibly highlight any winning combinations on each of the numerous pay lines. This is often confusing to players and such confusion is not present in the older style three reels, one pay line slot machines. A need exists to provide more electronic gaming machines having game play simplicity so players can fully understand base game play and know how and why a win occurs.
Such multi-reel, multi-pay line electronic gaming machines often provide a complicated wagering pattern such as wagering one (or multiple) bet(s) on one (or multiple) pay line(s). More importantly, when a player wagers one bet on one line and receives a winning combination of symbols on another line, the player may be disappointed. When the player wagers a "max bet" by wagering the maximum bet allowed per line on each pay line, the player may be surprised and upset as the max bet wager may be a large amount. Games in gaming machines are also implemented in remote locations such as over the Internet in player computers or other appliances. In these remote environments, the player has the audio visual look and feel of playing the gaming machine. Many such implementations use play money (or the like) for wagering. Whether real or play money is wagered, game play is the same. A need exists to provide simplistic game play and wagering patterns without using numerous reels and pay lines to players to avoid such disappointments and surprises. Such simplicity game play and wagering may also attract players such as elderly players who otherwise may become confused as to how much is wagered and/or what winning outcomes are. Likewise, such simplistic games may appeal to the elderly in who do not have access to casinos, but enjoy wagering play money.
Casino operators generally seek gaming machines that quickly complete play of the base game so as to increase overall profits for the footprint the gaming machine occupies. A further need exists to provide a base game offering fast play.
Casino operators generally seek gaming machines that keep players seated for continued play of the base game with an exciting game theme and/or with bonus games played when a bonusing event or trigger occurs in base game play. Conventional games may also use interactive features where the player touches displayed objects on a touch screen to reveal hidden awards. Such conventional games may also use extended base game play to encourage the player to continually re-wager. A need also exists to provide a casino base game that encourages players to continue play at the gaming machine based on placing only the initial wager.
Some prior gaming machine designs incorporate graphic scene or story lines in bonus game play such as providing a bonus game having a predetermined number of successive free spins. The player receives credits for any win during each free spin while viewing a video scene. In another design, a player selects a character from a list and then places a wager in the base game. When a bonus game is triggered during base game play; the player may make modifications to the selected character's attributes and may optionally surrender or challenge an opponent (another player or the computer) such as in a fight scene in the bonus screen. Bonus games that are statistically triggered after a number of base games are played.
Several prior gaming machine designs also incorporate graphic stories or story lines in base game play such as presenting to a player a matrix of game symbols. The player wagers and then successively selects, one by one, a predetermined number of a larger number of the displayed game symbols in the matrix. In play of the base game, a fight scene in stages in a game display and the player controls the action of one fighter in each stage with the selection of each game symbol. The base game continues until all of the predetermined number of game symbols is selected by the player and the final payoff is then made. Each game symbol selection results in a stage of the fight displayed in the screen and the player collects a payoff (either a null value or a value) in each stage until the game ends at the last selection. Another design sets forth a base game wherein a player clicks on one object from many objects displayed on a screen and places a wager. The selected object reveals a random payoff, a transition to a new scene, etc. The process of clicking and placing a new wager continues to further play each scene of the base game. In another design, the player interacts with a story line to make decisions on how the story continues in scenes from beginning to end of play. In each scene of the story, the player may accumulate awards. A further need exists to design a base game that statistically provides extended play through a number of rounds based only on the initial wager, but ends base game play whenever an award (a value award or a null award) is made in a round. A final need exists to statistically increase the expected player payoff as more rounds of the base game are played.

Gaming machine for one wagered-on game symbol having extended play and method


A scanning method of a touch panel is provided. The touch panel has a horizontal channel group including a plurality of horizontal channels and a vertical channel group including a plurality of vertical channels. According to the scanning method, N channels may be scanned simultaneously, wherein the N channels are selected from the horizontal channel group or the vertical channel group, the N channels are not adjacent to each other, N is a positive integer, and N is less than a channel amount of the selected channel group. Thereby, the scanning speed and the sensing accuracy of the touch panel using the scanning method are enhanced.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to a scanning method of a touch panel, and more particularly, to a scanning method has both rapid scanning speed and high sensing accuracy.
2. Description of Related Art
With the technological development of touch panels, the touch panels are commonly applied in the screen of electric devices such as a mobile phone, a note book, or a table PC. A user performs an input action or an operation through the touch panel so that the user interface is more friendly and much convenient to the user. At present, multi-touch touch panels have become the mainstream in the market, wherein famous companies such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Inc. have produced related products. Owing to the support of the famous companies, the application of the touch panels is broadened in various aspects such as portable communicating device, automation office equipment, medical and healthy treatment, finance/business, industry, or video games.
Presently, the common touch panels are mainly divided into resistive touch panels and capacitive touch panels. The resistive touch panels are applied in single-touch touch panels, which have low cost, and the capacitive touch panels are applied in multi-touch touch panels, which have the multi-touch function.
The sensing chip used in a multi-touch touch panel usually uses a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to convert the signals into digital signals for reading and adjusting by a back-end circuit. With the enlargement of the size of the touch panels, the channel amount and the length of each channel are increased to cause the difficulty of the circuit layout and have influence on the sensing accuracy.


A fully dense ceramic and/or other inorganic fiber containing elongated crystal grains in and around the fiber center and oriented along the fiber axis, with a smooth transition to more equiaxed grains towards the radial periphery of the fiber, and method for producing such.

High Performance Fibers (HPFs) are being proposed for expanding uses in many specialized applications, such as military and aerospace (turbo machinery, rockets, advanced structures), automobile, biomedical, energy, and other applications that require advanced materials with exceptional strength, stiffness, heat resistance, and/or chemical resistance. HPFs are sought when a combination of extreme material properties is required which cannot be met by existing metal filaments or by carbon, glass, vegetal or mineral fibers, or by synthetic polymer fibers. HPF composite systems generally include a plurality of coated fibers, distributed within a "matrix." When the fibers are ceramic and the matrix is a ceramic, the resultant composite structure is usually referred to as a Ceramic Matrix Composite or CMC. When the matrix is a metal, the resultant composite structure is called a Metal Matrix Composite or MMC. When the matrix is polymer-derived the composite is a Polymer Matrix Composite or PMC.
Composites derive their gross mechanical properties from the properties of the fiber and matrix constituents. In particular, the fiber properties most highly valued by designers of MMCs and CMCs are: stiffness as measured by Young's Modulus; tensile strength as measured by loading fibers to tensile failure; and creep resistance or resistance to "stretching" during high temperature loading.
Existing commercial inorganic fibers are produced via a process that forces a liquid polymeric precursor containing atoms of interest (along with other elements that together create the liquid) through a spinneret, which is a structure reminiscent of a shower head with a plurality of holes through which the precursor liquid is extruded. The volatile chemical species are flashed off in this process, thereby producing "green" fiber which is then transported to a furnace or kiln to attempt to drive off the remaining unwanted elements. These elements can only asymptotically be driven off, which means that unwanted elements remain in the fiber, thereby affecting fiber properties, in particular survivability at high temperatures, but also fiber microstructure which affects other properties such as stiffness, tensile strength and creep resistance.
Fibers produced via the spinneret process typically exhibit islands of generally equiaxed crystalline material surrounded by amorphous material which includes unwanted elements. The crystals are generally equiaxed in that crystal grains show no particular elongation or aspect ratio, and are randomly oriented and distributed throughout the fiber. This combination of crystal and amorphous material gives rise to a set of stiffness, tensile strength and creep resistance properties associated with the process, post-processes and the fiber material system of interest (eg silicon carbide, boron carbide, tungsten carbide, etc.), all of which can be improved upon by the present invention.

Radially graded fully dense inorganic filaments for enhanced strength and creep resistance


A method for identifying a change associated with a state of health of a user. In one embodiment, the method includes at least one computer processors receiving monitoring data associated with monitoring a user, where the monitoring data is generated by one or more sensors. The method further includes determining a state of health of the monitored user by analyzing the monitoring data utilizing one or more models. The method further includes determining a level of urgency based, at least in part, upon the determine state of health of the monitored user. The method further includes transmitting one or more respective notifications to one or more devices based, at least in part, on the determined state of health of the user and the corresponding level of level of urgency, and where a notification includes a determined state of health and the corresponding determined state of urgency associated with the monitored user.

The present invention relates generally to the field of medical data acquisition and analysis, and more particularly to monitoring and analyzing physiological information related to a user to identify potential medical issues.
There are a variety of methods, known in the art, for monitoring the mechanics of eating and swallowing (i.e., deglutition) of an individual with a medical condition. A set of sounds produced during eating and swallowing can be processed and analyzed to aid in diagnosing a state of health for some aspect of an individual. Similarly, there are mechanisms and models that can describe or analyze the bio-mechanics of the consumption of food and/or beverages based on various quantitative measures, such as temperature, consistency, quantity, etc. In addition, models associated with the consumption of food and/or beverages are further affected by non-quantitative parameters, such as taste, presentation (e.g., an appetizing appearance, and user likes/dislikes.
Individuals with known medical conditions may be advised by medical professionals to identify various actions associated with eating and/or drinking that can signal a negative health effect for the individual. Alternatively, medical professionals can request the individual to keep a personal journal and upon review of the personal journal the medical professionals may advise the individual of apparent changes that signal a worsening of the medical condition. In some instances, monitoring the eating and swallowing behaviors of an individual within a controlled setting, such as a hospital, an office of a doctor, a skilled nursing facility, or within a residence by a trained home healthcare worker provides one set of diagnostic information. In other instances, such controlled settings are less conducive to frequent monitoring of an individual, affects the quality of life of the individual, and may less accurately reflect the eating and swallowing behaviors of the individual.

Monitoring and determining the state of health of a user

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed are methods and devices for imparting distance information to a human subject, for example a visually-impaired subject.

The invention, in some embodiments, relates to methods and devices for imparting distance information to a human subject, especially a visually-impaired human subject.
The invention, in some embodiments, relates to the field of assistance for the visually-impaired, and more particularly, in some embodiments, to methods and devices for imparting distance information to a visually-impaired human subject.
Visual perception enables humans to be aware of surrounding objects, to navigate and to interact with the world.
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors. Total blindness involves complete loss of perception of form and visual light. In North America and most of Europe legal blindness is defined as visual acuity of 20/200 (6/60) or less in the better eye with best correction possible. Approximately ten percent of those deemed legally blind are totally blind, the rest having anything from minimal light perception to relatively good acuity.
Visually-impaired, including totally blind, people require methods and tools that allow completion of daily activities using the remaining senses. Such tools include the white cane which is used to extend the range of a user's touch to about 100 to 150 cm to allow independent locomotion.
For use, the white cane is usually swung in a low sweeping motion across an intended path of travel to detect physical features that may constitute an obstacle including upwardly projecting features such as stairs and poles and downwardly projecting features such as curbs and holes.
The white cane is invasive: to detect an object, the white cane must contact the object which may not be convenient when the object is fragile, moving or is a living being. The white cane requires that the user walk close to a curb or a wall which may be inconvenient or undesirable. The white cane allows detection of the presence of an object within the reach of the cane but gives no other information about the surroundings. Suspended obstacles are not easily detectable. The white cane provides little information regarding the appearance (e.g., size and shape) of an object.
A "virtual" white cane has been disclosed by Yuan D and Manduchi R (Dept. Comp. Eng., U. California, Santa Cruz, USA, described in Proceedings of the 2004 and the Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition). The Yuan and Manduchi virtual white cane collects range information by a short-baseline triangulation system formed by a point laser (2 mrad nominal divergence) and a miniature camera (1024×768 CCD pixels). Specifically, a user scans the environment by swinging the device around a horizontal axis (up and down) at a constant rate and acquires instantaneous range information at the camera frame rate (15 Hz). At least two succeeding frames are used to determine a range which is then used to identify discontinuous environmental features critical for mobility such as curbs, steps and drop-offs. Specifically, the time profile of determined ranges is analysed by an on-board processor implementing an extended Kalman filter to identify a discontinuous feature. Information about detected environmental features is imparted to the user with special haptic primitives such as small jolts, that are likely to be unpleasant, especially when repeated, such as when scanning a flight of stairs.
The device, though purportedly hand-held, is ungainly, comprising a round handle with a diameter of about 4 cm to which distal end is secured a component housing about 10 cm deep, 15 cm high and 30 cm wide. In the above-referenced documents is reported that the distance between the camera and laser aperture is 8 cm, although from a photograph (2005 document) it is seen that the distance is far greater. The device does not provide instantaneous distance information, but only information about the presence of large discontinuities, on the order of 27 cm. The device is difficult to use, working only when scanned at an impractically slow and preferably constant rate of 7°/sec.
In addition to the two articles authored by Yuan and Manduchi referenced above, devices and methods known in the art that provide a background for understanding the teachings herein are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,669.

Device for imparting distance information

Ariel-University Research and Development Co., Ltd.


The certainty of supplying air to a scavenging channel through a piston groove is improved. In a cylinder wall 2, a gas venting port 10 is formed below and adjacent to a scavenging port 6a. The gas venting port 10 is independent from the scavenging port 6a, and is opened/closed by a piston as each of an air port 4a and the scavenging port 6a is. Upon a piston groove 8 being brought into communication with the gas venting port 10 as a result of the piston moving up (FIG. 1(II)), blown-back gas in a piston groove 8 can move to a crankcase through the gas venting port 10. Along with this, air can enter the piston groove 8 from the air port 4a.

The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-206749, filed Oct. 7, 2014, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-206750, filed Oct. 7, 2014, which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention generally relates to a two-stroke internal-combustion engine and more specifically relates to an air leading-type engine that first induces air to flow into a combustion chamber in a scavenging stroke.
Two-stroke internal-combustion engines are often used in portable work machines such as brush cutters and chain saws. This type of two-stroke internal-combustion engine includes a scavenging channel that brings a crankcase and a combustion chamber into communication with each other. Air-fuel mixture pre-compressed in the crankcase is induced to flow into the combustion chamber through the scavenging channel, and scavenging is performed by the air-fuel mixture.
As well-known, two-stroke engines of the type in which scavenging is performed using air-fuel mixture have the problem of "air-fuel mixture (new gas) blow-by". In response to this problem, air leading-type stratified scavenging two-stroke internal-combustion engines have been proposed and already put into practical use. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,402, for example. Prior to scavenging, the air leading-type stratified scavenging engine charges air to a scavenging channel. In a scavenging stroke, first, the air in the scavenging channel is discharged to the combustion chamber, and then the air-fuel mixture in the crankcase is induced to flow into the combustion chamber through the scavenging channel.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a conventional air leading-type stratified scavenging engine. In FIG. 14, in order to avoid confusion of drawn lines, illustration of a piston is omitted. In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a cylinder wall. In the cylinder wall 100, an air channel 102 and an air-fuel mixture channel (not shown) open. An air port is indicated by reference numeral 102a. Also, in the cylinder wall 100, a scavenging port 104a of a scavenging channel 104 opens. The scavenging channel 104 communicates with a crankcase. Each of the air port 102a and the scavenging port 104a is opened/closed by the piston. The piston has a groove 106 in a peripheral surface thereof. The piston groove 106 extends in a circumferential direction.
(I) to (III) of FIG. 14 indicate states in the course of a piston moving up: (II) of FIG. 14 indicates a state in which the piston moves up relative to the position in (I) of FIG. 14. (III) of FIG. 14 indicates a state in which the piston moves up relative to the position in (II) of FIG. 14.
Referring to (I) of FIG. 14, in the piston groove 106, a gas blown back in previous scavenging process is mixed. The blown-back gas contains air-fuel mixture components. The blown-back gas remaining in the piston groove 106 is indicated by dots. Along with upward movement of the piston from the bottom dead center, a pressure in the crankcase becomes negative. (II) of FIG. 14 illustrates a state in which the piston groove 106 communicates with the air port 102a. In the state in (II) of FIG. 14, the piston groove 106 is not in communication with the scavenging port 104a. Therefore, even though the piston groove 106 communicates with the air port 102a, no air flows from the air port 102a into the piston groove 106. In other words, the blown-back gas in the piston groove 106 does not flow.
(III) in FIG. 14 indicates a state in which the piston groove 106 communicates the air port 102a and also communicates with the scavenging port 104a. As a result of the piston groove 106 coming into communication with the scavenging port 104a, air can be supplied from the air port 102a to the scavenging channel 104 via the piston groove 106.
With reference to (III) in FIG. 14, in theory, in a conventional air leading-type stratified scavenging two-stroke internal-combustion engine, a flow of gas in the piston groove 106 occurs only when the piston groove 106 communicates with the scavenging port 104a. Then, the gas in the piston groove 106 first enters the scavenging channel 104, and then air enters from the air port 102a to the scavenging channel 104 through the piston groove 106. Therefore, a timing of the air entering the scavenging channel 104 from the piston groove 106 is later than a timing of the piston groove 106 starting communicating with the scavenging channel 104.
As well-known, for air leading-type two-stroke internal-combustion engines for work machines, piston valve-type ones are employed. In other words, an air port 102a, a scavenging port 104a, and an exhaust port and the like are opened/closed by a piston. In a piston valve-type engine, a gas flow is controlled by a pressure balance between two spaces or channels that communicate with each other or are isolated from each other via a piston.
A two-stroke engine for a work machine is run at a high rotation rate of, for example, 10,000 rpm. Therefore, the aforementioned timing delay largely affects the efficiency of air charge into a scavenging channel 104. In other words, conventional stratified scavenging two-stroke engines have the essential problem of difficulty in ensuring the certainty of charging air into the scavenging channel 104 in each cycle.
In a scavenging stroke, an air leading-type stratified scavenging engine first discharges burned gas by means of air and then charges air-fuel mixture into a combustion chamber. In theory, employment of the air leading-type stratified scavenging method should enable substantial improvement in emission characteristics. However, in reality, the emission characteristics improvement effect is limited by the aforementioned essential problem.
In order to respond to the aforementioned timing delay, substantially advancing a timing for the piston groove 106 to communicate with the scavenging port 104a has been proposed. However, employment of this configuration results in the air-fuel mixture components remaining in the scavenging channel 104 easily flowing to the air channel 102 side, which causes decrease in emission characteristic improvement effect.
An object of the present invention is to provide an air leading-type stratified scavenging two-stroke internal-combustion engine that can improve the certainty of supplying air to a scavenging channel through a piston groove.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air leading-type stratified scavenging two-stroke internal-combustion engine that can improve the certainty of an amount of air to be supplied to a scavenging channel through a piston groove.
A still another object of the present invention is to provide an air leading-type stratified scavenging two-stroke internal-combustion engine that can improve the certainty of an air supply timing for supplying air to a scavenging channel through a piston groove.

Air leading-type stratified scavenging two-stroke internal-combustion engine


A modified facet is disclosed to prevent blown gate oxide and increase etch chamber life. The modified facet etch is a two-stage process. The first stage is a plasma sputter etch to form a facet profile. The first stage etch is terminated prior to reaching the target depth for the etching process. The second stage etch is a reactive ion etch which directionally follows the facet profile to reach the target depth.

This invention relates to semiconductor manufacture, and more particularly to facet etching useful for improving subsequent dielectric layer step coverage.
A major goal of any dielectric deposition system is good step coverage. Step coverage refers to the ability of subsequent layers to evenly cover layers (xe2x80x9cstepsxe2x80x9d) already present on the substrate. Facet etches are frequently used to provide superior step coverage. The standard facet etch uses a high energy argon ion which physically bombards the material being etched and thereby etches the oxide at an angle to allow subsequent material to have the best step coverage possible. However, if the argon ions etch through the oxide and reach metal or another conductor, they disperse their energy into the metal line or other conductor. This energy finds its way to a ground through a weak spot in the gate oxide thereby resulting in a blown gate.
In sputter etching, ions which impinge on horizontal surfaces have a minimal effect on etch rate and profile. However, the sputter yield of the etch at the comers is approximately four times that of the etch rate of a horizontal surface, thereby creating an extreme etch profile. The effect is the wearing away of the corners of a feature at approximately 45 degree angles. The material removed by the sputter etch is redeposited along the sides of the feature and along the surface of the substrate.
An issue associated with sputter etching is that some of the sputtered material redeposits frequently on the inside surfaces of the etching chamber. This redeposited material must be removed at intervals, thereby taking the etching chamber off-line.
The process of the present invention employs a two-step etching sequence wherein an insulating layer deposited on top of a plurality of conductive structures is first etched by a high energy inert gas ion to physically sputter the oxide material and form a faceted etch. The first step etch is terminated prior to reaching a predetermined target depth. The second step etch is conducted with a reactant gas to further remove the insulating material down to the target depth.
In a preferred embodiment, the method of the invention comprises forming a first layer comprising an insulating material superjacent a substrate comprising a plurality of conductive structures, at least some of the conductive structures being placed apart to form spaces between the conductive structures, such that the first layer forms in at least some of the spaces between the conductive structures and the first layer is formed to a thickness at least equal to the target depth. Next, the first layer is etched by directing a plasma of an inert gas at the first layer formed in at least some of the spaces between the conductive structures. The plasma is of sufficient energy to sputter material from the first layer thereby forming a facet etch in the first layer formed in the spaces between the conductive structures. The first etch is terminated when the first layer has been etched to a predetermined depth which is less than the target depth. Next, the first layer is etched, in a second etch, by contacting the first layer with a reactive chemical gas/plasma. The second etch is terminated when the first layer has been etched to the target depth.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description and the drawings.

Modified facet etch to prevent blown gate oxide and increase etch chamber life


An ink refill system is provided for an ink jet printer having a print carriage that traverses across a print medium and is adapted to receive one or more ink jet cartridges. The ink refill system includes a disposable ink jet cartridge removably mountable in the print carriage and constructed as a self-contained unit that includes a print head and an ink supply container that stores a first quantity of liquid ink at a given subatmospheric pressure hydrodynamic condition. An ink reservoir external to the print carriage stores a second quantity of ink for replenishing the first quantity of ink in the ink supply container. Flexible supply tubing couples the ink reservoir to the ink supply container to supply ink from the second quantity of ink to the first quantity of ink during operation of the ink jet printer as the print carriage traverses across the print medium. A mechanism for refilling the ink supply container of the ink jet cartridge from the external ink reservoir during operation of the ink jet printer as the print carriage traverses across the print medium operates such that the refilling of the ink supply container is accomplished in a manner that preserves the negative pressure hydrodynamic condition of the ink jet cartridge.

Ink jet printers and plotters are well known. The print quality of these printers is dependent on the consistent, successful functioning of the ink jet print heads which are susceptible to clogging and failure over time. To overcome the problems with deterioration of ink jet print heads over time, it is necessary to periodically replace the print heads. Early solutions to this problem replaced only the print head, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,284. More recently, disposable ink jet cartridges have been developed to solve this problem, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,500,895, 4,931,811, 4,931,812 and 5,182,579.
Disposable ink jet cartridges of this type are designed to operate for a useful life such that the head elements will function a very high percentage of the time (e.g., 99% of the time) during the life of the disposable cartridge. To ensure that this demanding performance figure is maintained, conventional disposable ink jet cartridges have a predetermined amount of ink contained within the cartridge that is available to be dispensed through the print head. The maximum amount of ink that is contained in the disposable cartridge is a function of how much printing the print head elements can do before failing to function at the very high performance percentage. Once the predetermined amount of ink in the cartridge is used, the entire ink jet cartridge is discarded.
While the use of disposable cartridges has effectively guaranteed the print quality of ink jet printers at the failure rate dictated by the particular disposable cartridge, there are many print applications which could tolerate a higher potential failure rate in exchange for an extended period of operation of the ink jet print head. Unfortunately, when existing disposable ink jet cartridges run out of ink, the print head is still functioning adequately in the vast majority of cases. Discarding ink jet cartridges that still have adequately functioning print heads wastes resources. In addition, frequent replacement of ink jet cartridges is time and labor intensive for large print applications. Consequently, many users have resorted to refilling ink jet cartridges in order to prolong the useful life of the print heads.
Manually refilling ink jet cartridges can be a messy and potentially hazardous operation that requires significant mechanical skill. To manually refill an ink jet cartridge, a user must access the original ink supply container in the ink jet cartridge and pump, pour, or otherwise force ink into that supply container. Accessing any of the ink couplings exposes the user to the ink and the ink to contamination. In addition, the user may inadvertently introduce air bubbles into the system which affects the flow of the ink and its ability to provide crisp, even print.
Automatic ink supply and refill systems for ink jet printers that do not use disposable ink jet cartridges typically are known. Automatic ink supply and refill systems can be classified either as passive refill systems which rely on gravitational or pressure differentials to cause the ink to flow through the system or active systems which uses some type of pump or mechanical assist to move the ink through the system.
Active ink refill systems have been used with either a continuous ink supply system, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,399,446, 4,462,037 and 4,680,696, or an on-demand ink supply system, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,074,284 and 4,432,005. The primary reason why these types of active ink refill systems are not useful for refilling a disposable ink jet cartridge is that these systems have print heads that rely on atmospheric or positive pressure hydrodynamic conditions to supply ink to the print nozzles. As such, it is typical that the ink refill system will have a feedback or outlet port on the print head to prevent the hydrodynamic condition of the print head from falling below atmospheric pressure.
Passive ink refill systems have used gravity to feed ink as controlled by a three way valve to feed ink from an ink reservoir to an ink supply container as part of a single replaceable unit that is carried by the print carriage, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,667. Early versions of this type of single replaceable unit ink delivery system are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,714,937 and 4,885,595. This method may be useful when the print heads are printing vertically and the ink reservoir can be positioned behind the print heads and above the ink supply container. When the print heads are printing on a large horizontal surface, however, the print head performance would be greatly diminished if the weight and volume of a large reservoir of ink would need to be supported by the print carriage as it traversed across the print medium.
For all of these reasons, almost all existing ink refill systems for use with disposable ink jet cartridges involve some type of service station which refills the ink jet cartridge only when the print carriage is at one or the other end of the print axis so that the ink jet cartridges can be docked with the service station. Once docked, the ink reservoir in the ink jet cartridge is quickly refilled and the print carriage is allowed to return to its printing operation. Various examples of service station-type ink refill systems for disposable ink jet cartridges are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,967,286, 4,967,207, 4,968,998, and 5,136,305.
There are two basic problems with service station-type ink refill systems. First, the print speed of the ink jet printer is decreased by the time required to perform the docking and refill operation. Second, and more importantly, in order to minimize the time of the docking and refill operation, the ink is quickly transferred to the ink jet cartridge at a pressure that typically exceeds the nominal hydrodynamic properties of the ink jet cartridge. As a result, there can be leaking or weeping of the print heads during the refill operation. The problems of leaking or weeping of ink are discussed, for example, in Ertuk, E., et al., "Ink Retention in a Color Thermal Inkjet Printer", Hewlett-Packard Journal, Aug. 1988, pp. 41-44.
While the use of disposable ink jet cartridges has significantly increased the print quality of ink jet printers, this increase in print quality has come at the expense of a significant waste of resources in the form of empty ink jet cartridges that still have long periods of usable life remaining for the print heads. Existing techniques to refill disposable ink jet cartridges suffer from numerous drawbacks. Consequently, an automatic ink refill system for disposable ink jet cartridges that improved on the existing techniques for refilling disposable ink jet cartridges would be greatly appreciated.

Automatic ink refill system for disposable ink jet cartridges


A method of signaling on a downlink, information regarding scheduling resources allocated in uplink, is provided, wherein the information is contained in an uplink scheduling information message, which is formatted to contain a subset of content of any subsequent uplink scheduling information message in an ordered set of message formats. Each uplink scheduling information message selected from the set is punctured into a symbol of a downlink user data allocation.

This invention relates to a method of signaling on a downlink, information regarding scheduling resources allocated in uplink. Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) uplink for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) evolution is resource limited in the uplink from a terminal to a base station, unlike the 3<rd> generation partnership project (3GPP) wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) standard. Thus, to accommodate a large number of users in SC-FDMA, or any other communication system similarly resource limited in the uplink, there must be a capability of scheduling resources in time and frequency between users. The scheduling may be sensitive to the uplink channel conditions for each user and to achieve long term evolution (LTE) performance requirements, it is preferable for the scheduling to be based at the Node B with a fast update rate. Uplink resource allocations need to be signaled to the terminal in a downlink from the base station to the terminal, in addition to uplink (UL) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information. Different terminals can have different bandwidths and be located in different parts of the spectrum, and the location of a downlink spectrum for each terminal is not necessarily related to an uplink spectrum that is scheduled for each terminal Thus, it is not necessarily possible to locate all of the scheduling information in the same place in time and frequency. Furthermore, different numbers of terminals might be scheduled at different times according to their bandwidth requirements.


An embodiment of the invention provides a chip package which includes a substrate having a first surface and a second surface; a conducting pad structure located on the first surface; a dielectric layer located on the first surface of the substrate and the conducting pad structure, wherein the dielectric layer has an opening exposing a portion of the conducting pad structure; and a cap layer located on the dielectric layer and filled into the opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip package, and in particular relates to a chip package having a through substrate conducting structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
The chip packaging process is an important process when fabrication an electronic product. Chip packages not only provide chips with protection from environmental contaminants, but also provide an interface for electrical connections between electronic elements in the chips and electronic elements outside of the chip packages.
Before the chip package process, a probing process should be performed to ensure quality of the chips. However, the probing process may hinder the subsequent package process, and may leave or lead to defects in the chip packages.
Improving reliability and structural stability of a chip package has become an important issue.

Chip package and method for forming the same


Flat, thin AlN membranes and methods of their manufacture are made available. An AlN thin film (2) contains between 0.001 wt. % and 10 wt. % additive atomic element of one or more type selected from Group-III atoms, Group-IV atoms and Group-V atoms. Onto a base material (1), the AlN thin film (2) is formable utilizing a plasma generated by setting inside a vacuum chamber a sintered AlN ceramic containing between 0.001 wt. % and 10 wt. % additive atomic element of one or more type selected from Group-III atoms, Group-IV atoms and Group-V atoms, and with the base material having been set within the vacuum chamber, irradiating the sintered AlN ceramic with a laser.

AlN is a physically and chemically stable material, and since it also has outstanding characteristics such as insulating and piezoelectric properties, the material is used in a variety of applications. One illustration of how AlN is used would be the instance in which AlN thin films are employed as insulating barrier layers in tunneling magnetoresistive devices, which is set forth, for example, in Asahi et al., Applied Physics Letters 89, 232511 (2006). In the just-cited reference, the TMR effect is confirmed in GaCrN/AlN/GaCrN ferromagnetic semiconductor tunnel junctions, albeit at low temperature (77K).    Non-Patent Document 1: Asahi et al., Applied Physics Letters 89, 232511 (2006)

Thin film of aluminum nitride and process for producing the thin film of aluminum nitride


The invention relates to ammunition for firearms, as smooth and a rifled barrel. The projectile with rigid attached to the housing stabilizing fletching block, plates of fletching block have a continuation on the housing, centering the projectile in the barrel. In the offered variant, on the friction and heat of the bullet and the barrel takes about 1% of the shot energy, besides low vibration. The rest of energy escapes to destination, and that's good. Erasing minimal of the barrel. Application of the projectile in the shotgun and rifle barrels increases the service life of barrels. Use of such projectiles increases the initial speed, and with the sleeve-nozzle and a second charge, allows to increase the speed and specialization of the projectile. At the expense of the aerodynamic and gyroscopic effects, increases the lethal effect over long distances, due to the greater energy saved, improve the close grouping of shots and flat trajectory.

The invention relates to ammunition for firearms, for both smoothbore barrels and a rifled barrels.
The following conventional projectile designs are known: a fletched-subcaliber bullet for smooth-bore barrels. D. I. Shiryaev, V. V. Shipilov, N. V. Terehov, SU Patent No. 3246468 A1, published 1 Jan. 1972. This reference is taken as a prototype. In the prototype, a bullet casing with lead core, plastic fletching fixed of the straight tail. Another well-known shell-bullet "Sauvestre", published in "Kalashnikov, weapons, ammunition, equipment" Journal of February 2000, describes a bullet weighing 24 g. The round is subcaliber, with a container. This is a decent round, but the fletching is in the aerodynamic shadow. Another known projectile is shown in application No. RU 2012139499, published on Mar. 20, 2014.

Caliber shell with rigid mounting to housing of stabilizing fins


A pair of toggle operated pliers includes a first handle with an adjusting screw attached thereto, a second handle, a toggle link pivotally connected between the first handle and the second handle, and a release lever having an end pivotally connected to the second handle by a first pin. The first pin includes two first exposed enlarged ends. The toggle link includes an end pivotally connected to the second handle by a second pin. The second pin includes two second exposed enlarged ends. A first anti-slide cover is detachably attached to the first handle and includes a first compartment for fittingly embracing a portion of the first handle. The first anti-slide cover is prevented from disengaging from the first handle by a head of the adjusting screw. A second anti-slide cover is detachably attached to the second handle and includes a second compartment for fittingly embracing a portion of the second handle. The second anti-slide cover includes two side walls each having a first depression for releasably engaging with an associated first exposed enlarged end and a second depression for releasably engaging with an associated second exposed enlarged end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to anti-slide covers for toggle operated pliers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pliers are often provided with plastic covers on the handles thereof to avoid slippage when clamping an object between the jaws of the pliers. The plastic covers are generally formed by means of immersing the handles of the pliers in a liquid bath. The liquid hardens and thus forms an anti-slip layer on each metal handle. Nevertheless, such a process cannot be used on toggle lever operated pliers (e.g., toggle lever operated pliers disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,478,696 to Isele issued on Aug. 9, 1949 and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,592,803 to Heim issued on Apr. 15, 1952), as the plastic cover will cause malfunction of the toggle link and other movable elements. Thus, the user has to firmly hold the pliers to prevent the pliers from slipping through the hands. This causes operational inconvenience.
The present invention is intended to provide anti-slide covers that mitigate and/or obviate the above problems.

Anti-slide covers for toggle operated pliers


Exemplary security applications and systems are described herein. Such embodiments may be configured to provide backup functionality and ransomware protection for cloud storage systems. The described embodiments may monitor cloud storage systems to detect and classify various events. And the embodiments may perform any number of actions based on classified events, such as transmitting notifications to users, preventing a user or application from accessing the cloud storage system, and/or restoring infected files.

This specification relates generally to systems and methods for providing antivirus protection. More specifically, this specification relates to systems and methods for providing ransomware protection for cloud storage systems.
Ransomware is considered a dominating threat in the security world. Ransomware attacks increased by nearly 250% from 2016 to 2017, and global damages from such attacks exceeded five billion dollars in 2017. Currently, a new company is hit with a ransomware attack about every 40 seconds.
Surprisingly, it appears that hackers behind ransomware attacks have no preference in the size of their victims. While many large private and government organizations experienced ransomware attacks in 2017—especially the so-called "WannaCry" virus—75% of infected organizations had less than 1,000 employees. Every year, such attacks affect hundreds of small- and medium-sized corporations, nonprofits and educational organizations throughout the world.
FIG. 1 shows a typical ransomware attack process. At step 101, a ransomware application is installed on a user's computer. While a user may intentionally install ransomware, this is not usually the case. Rather, a user, such as employee of a company or a student of an educational organization, may unintentionally open a phishing link or attachment (e.g., a word processing file with noxious macros) contained in an email or displayed on a website. In other instances, a user may connect a remote drive (e.g., a USB drive) that is infected with a ransomware program. Such ransomware programs may be automatically transferred to the user's computer and a ransomware application may be automatically installed and executed. In both cases, if user's computer is connected to an intranet network, the ransomware application may spread throughout the whole system via exploits. Such applications may target other computers connected to the network, even if users of such computers have not opened ransomware programs.
At step 102, some or all of the user's locally stored files may be encrypted by the ransomware application. For example, files of all major extensions (including text files, audio files, image files, and video files) that are stored on all local disks may be encrypted.
Unfortunately, any number of locally stored files may be associated with a cloud storage system, such as GOOGLE DRIVE, DROPBOX, MICROSOFT ONEDRIVE, etc. For example, the user's computer may store files that are set to automatically sync with GOOGLE DRIVE via an installed syncing application such GOOGLE BACKUP & SYNC or GOOGLE FILE STREAM. As another example, the MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 application may automatically sync locally stored files to MICROSOFT OFFICE. Accordingly, at step 103, the encrypted local files are synced to the cloud storage system. In this way, the ransomware affects a user's local files, the user's cloud storage system files and/or any files that are shared with the user via the cloud storage system (e.g., files owned by other users of the cloud storage system).
It will be appreciated that encrypted files may be treated the same by cloud syncing applications as files that have been intentionally modified by a user. A syncing application works in the background and uploads new and modified files to the cloud storage system, automatically and quickly. So the syncing application syncs locally stored, encrypted files ("infected files") to the cloud storage system in the same way as when a user edits a document. Within a few seconds or minutes, all files stored in the cloud storage system may be replaced with corresponding infected files. Unfortunately, this often results in the user not being able to access, view or restore previous versions of infected files.
After malicious ransomware activities a new stage directed to diminish the consequences of the attack may begin. Typically an admin user or cloud storage system provider has two, unfavorable choices—recover the infected files from a third-party backup provider (requiring a tremendous amount of time), or pay a ransom and hope the ransomware application owner provides a decryption key.
Unfortunately, conventional antivirus software is not effective at preventing ransomware attacks. With every new type of ransomware application, the underlying encryption method is changed, so an antivirus software that is effective against one type of ransomware will not protect against another type of ransomware until it is updated. Moreover, existing antivirus and antimalware solutions protect only local devices against ransomware by providing manual solutions to identify and recover from ransomware attacks. Currently no solution exists that protects data stored in a cloud storage system against ransomware attacks.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods that are adapted to detect ransomware applications, block such applications from accessing a cloud storage system, and restore files infected by ransomware applications quickly and with minimal or no loss of information. It would be beneficial if such systems and methods automatically created protected backups of files at regular, predetermined time intervals to facilitate the restoration of infected files to a recent, non-infected state. It would be further beneficial if such systems and methods could monitor various cloud applications connected to a cloud storage system and provide notifications to users relating to cloud storage system events.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ransomware protection for cloud storage systems


Negative-working imageable elements have a hydrophilic substrate and a single thermally-sensitive imageable layer. This layer can include an infrared radiation absorbing compound and polymeric particles that coalesce upon thermal imaging. These coalesceable polymeric particles comprise a thermoplastic polymer and a colorant to provide improved visible contrast between exposed and non-exposed regions in the imaged element, such as lithographic printing plates.

In conventional or "wet" lithographic printing, ink receptive regions, known as image areas, are generated on a hydrophilic surface. When the surface is moistened with water and ink is applied, the hydrophilic regions retain the water and repel the ink, and the ink receptive regions accept the ink and repel the water. The ink is transferred to the surface of a material upon which the image is to be reproduced. For example, the ink can be first transferred to an intermediate blanket that in turn is used to transfer the ink to the surface of the material upon which the image is to be reproduced.
Imageable elements useful to prepare lithographic printing plates typically comprise one or more imageable layers applied over the hydrophilic surface of a substrate. The imageable layers include one or more radiation-sensitive components that can be dispersed in a suitable binder. Alternatively, the radiation-sensitive component can also be the binder material. Following imaging, either the imaged regions or the non-imaged regions of the imageable layer are removed by a suitable developer, revealing the underlying hydrophilic surface of the substrate. If the imaged regions are removed, the element is considered as positive-working. Conversely, if the non-imaged regions are removed, the element is considered as negative-working. In each instance, the regions of the imageable layer (that is, the image areas) that remain are ink-receptive, and the regions of the hydrophilic surface revealed by the developing process accept water and aqueous solutions, typically a fountain solution, and repel ink.
Direct digital imaging has become increasingly important in the printing industry. Imageable elements for the preparation of lithographic printing plates have been developed for use with infrared lasers that image in response to signals from a digital copy of the image in a computer a platesetter. This "computer-to-plate" technology has generally replaced the former technology where masking films were used to image the elements.
Thermal imaging has especially become important with digital imaging systems because of their stability to ambient light. The elements are designed to be sensitive to heat or infrared radiation and can be exposed using thermal heads or more usually, infrared laser diodes. Heat that is generated from this exposure can be used in a number of ways, for example, ablation to physical remove imaged areas, polymerization of photosensitive compositions, insolubilization by crosslinking polymers, rendering polymers alkaline solution soluble, decomposition, or coagulation of thermoplastic particles. Most of these imaging techniques require the use of alkaline developers to remove exposed (positive-working) or non-exposed (negative-working) regions of the imaged layer(s).
Thermally meltable or fusable particles having surface functional groups have been used in imageable elements as described for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,218,073 (Shimizu et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,509,133 (Watanabe et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,380 (Saito et al.). Other meltable polymeric particles are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,890 (Huang et al.).
Coalesceable thermoplastic polymeric particles dispersed within hydrophilic binders in imageable elements are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,750 (Vermeersch et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,644 (Vermeersch et al.).
Core-shell particles are used in imageable layers according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,980 (Matthews et al.) and coalesce upon thermal imaging. The shell of the particles is soluble or swellable in aqueous media.
EP 514,145A1 (Matthews et al.) describes thermally-sensitive imageable elements containing heat-softenable core-shell particles in the imaging layer. Such particles coalesce upon heating and the non-coalesced particles are removed using an alkaline developer. The shells of these particles are specifically non-water soluble at neutral pH 7.
A similar composition is described in EP 1,642,714A1 (Wilkinson et al.). Non-exposed particles are removed using a gum solution instead of an alkaline developer.
Copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 12/017,366 (filed Jan. 22, 2008 by Jarek) describes the use of coalesceable core-shell polymeric particles in imageable elements.
Typically, a water-soluble IR dye or contrast dye is added to such particles in the coating formulation. The IR dye is responsible for heat conversion under IR radiation so that the particles coalesce and form an image. The contrast dye improves the color intensity that allows better quality control of exposed printing plates. The dyes build something like a matrix around the particles in the coating or they may fill the cavities among the particles.
There are several drawbacks of such dye additions:
a) For ideal coalescence, a complete melting up of the particle is required in order to form a smooth film. Under IR irradiation, the IR dye converts the heat at the particle surface from which it has to be transferred into the inner particle zones. This heat transfer takes time or consumes a lot of exposure energy.
b) The dyes are usually not chemically bonded or fixed in any other way with the particles and therefore can be readily extracted from the exposed and coalesced image particles during the development step or by press room chemicals (for example, blanket washes) during printing that can lead to a significant loss of color contrast.
c) Most contrast dyes, especially cyanine dyes, are relatively sensitive to oxidation that reduces the shelf life of printing plates. This can be seen from a color shift of the printing plates with increasing storage time from a greenish blue color to a brownish color tone.
d) As long as the contrast dyes are within the matrix of the particles, they can be regarded as an additive. Generally, any additives (in this case the dyes) in the coating except within the particles themselves diminish the coalescence of the particles. The higher the amount of these dyes, the lower the contact of the particles with each other or in other words the average distance between particles grows. Particles with reduced contact with each other show weaker coalescence which results in lower run length of the resulting printing plate. Further, if the additives are water-soluble, as it is the case for most contrast dyes, the coalesced polymer particles can be mechanically destabilized by extraction of the dyes, which again leads to shorter press run length.

Negative-working thermal imageable elements


A lighting or signalling device for a motor vehicle, having an optical axis and comprising at least one light source and at least one guide for the light rays between the source and an exit face, the guide having an entry edge associated with the source. The guide for the light rays is formed by a sheet and the sheet comprises a curved rear edge convex towards the rear, able to provide reflection of the light rays towards the exit face. A curved shape of the rear edge being associated with the profile of the exit face so that the emerging light rays have a direction contained in a substantially horizontal plane containing the optical axis of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lighting or signaling device for motor vehicles, comprising at least one light source and at least one guide for light rays between the source and an exit face.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lighting or signaling devices of this type are known, in particular from the patent application WO 2006/096467, which is related to U.S. Provisional Application 60/658,459. This document discloses a lighting device that comprises a ray guide in the form of solid pieces that are tricky and expensive to produce. Performance in terms of range is reduced because of only moderately satisfactory collimation. In addition, the dimensions of the whole are relatively large.

Lighting or signaling device for a motor vehicle


A heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system for an electrically-powered vehicle (EV) having an electric motor powered by at least one battery is described. The HVAC system may comprise a blower, a conduit configured to carry air from the blower to vents leading to a passenger cabin of the EV, and an electric heater positioned in the conduit and configured to heat the air. The HVAC system may further comprise a thermal reservoir heater positioned in the conduit and including a thermal storage component configured to heat the air without using power from the battery.

Electrically-powered vehicles (EVs), such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), have many advantages over vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICEs). For example, EVs may be more energy efficient and more environmentally friendly as they produce fewer emissions. An EV may include an electric motor for driving the gearbox and wheels, and the electric motor may be powered by batteries that may be recharged by plugging the vehicle into an electrical power source external to the vehicle, such as an electric outlet. EVs are associated with a driving range which is the distance that the EV may travel before the batteries are depleted and recharging is required. For example, driving ranges for current EVs may be on the order of about 80-300 miles. A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a type of EV that includes a small ICE and a fuel tank in addition to the electric motor and batteries. For example, the internal combustion engine may combust fuel to drive the vehicle at high speeds, such as on freeways or open roads, while the electric motor may drive the vehicle on city streets.
However, unlike ICE-powered vehicles in which heat from the ICE may be tapped to heat the passenger cabin, EVs may not have an ICE to use as a heat source and so require auxiliary heating sources. For example, some heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in EVs use electrically-powered heaters that rely on battery power. The power load on the batteries to support the energy needs of the HVAC system may significantly reduce the driving range of the EV. In particular, substantially more battery power is needed to heat the passenger cabin up from a cold temperature to a warm temperature than is needed to maintain the passenger cabin at the warm temperature. To reduce battery power losses associated with initial heating, many EVs allow the driver to program the vehicle to pre-condition the passenger cabin to a comfortable temperature while the vehicle is parked and recharging at the electrical outlet. As a result, the energy requirement to heat the passenger cabin up from a cold temperature is supplied by the electric outlet, thereby reducing the power load on the batteries.
In another effort to reduce the power load on EV batteries for cabin heating, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2014/0208789 discloses the use of a phase change material (PCM) positioned about the vehicle battery to store heat from the battery during charging. In addition, a coolant circuit takes heat from PCM to heat the passenger cabin while driving. While effective, further heating system improvements for EVs are still wanting.
Clearly, there is a need for improved HVAC designs for EVs that reduce power loads on the batteries.

HVAC systems for electrically-powered vehicles


A method for determining a critical angle of total reflection based upon images captured at different angles of incidence of a light beam includes illuminating a sample with an excitation light beam, capturing images of at least part of the sample at a plurality of different angles of incidence of the excitation light beam, and determining a critical angle of total reflection at an interface of the sample based upon analysis of the images. An apparatus for determining a critical angle of total reflection at an interface of a sample includes a light source arrangement to illuminate a sample with an angle of incidence, an image capturing arrangement to capture an image of the sample, and a processing arrangement to determine the critical angle of total reflection at an interface of the sample on the basis of an analysis of images captured at a plurality of different angles of incidence.

Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy is a particular measurement method in light microscopy in which an excitation light beam is typically totally reflected at an interface between a cover glass or slide and a sample. This generates a so-called evanescent (decaying) field in the sample which may excite the sample to fluorescence. The penetration depth of the evanescent fields depends on the exact angle of incidence of the excitation light beam.
As the critical angle for total reflection, i.e. the threshold angle at which a transmitted light beam vanishes, depends on the indices of refraction of the materials involved, this angle depending on the type of samples used, may not be known from the start. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to determine the critical angle.
United States Patent Publication No. 2011/0057093 A1 discloses a method evaluating the intensity of an optical response of a sample depending on an angle of incidence of irradiation light. To increase robustness of the method, an analysis is performed in a pupil plane which sometimes requires additional optical elements.
Therefore, a need exists for methods and devices for determining such a critical angle which should be easy to implement, preferably without using additional optical elements, and which are robust.
Thus, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art systems, designs, and processes as discussed above.

Method and device for determining a critical angle of an excitation light beam


A metallic glass fastening screw that is not susceptible to loosening, and is capable of implementing fastening with high strength and reliability. In processing a screw thread and a screw groove of a screw, amorphous bulk metallic glass is form-rolled at glass transition temperature or less of the bulk metallic glass serving as a member to be processed. The bulk metallic glass has a plastic strain property introduced by plastic working such as form rolling, to improve ductility. A relationship of d>0.022×D is set so that a depth from a bottom of the screw groove in the region where the plastic strain is introduced is d and an outside diameter of the screw is D, to relax stress concentration of tensile stress generated in a region at the bottom of the screw groove due to tension (axial force) applied to the screw in fastening.

Bulk metallic glass is an amorphous alloy that generally has high strength (high yield stress) and elastic limit strain (yield strain) about ten times greater than that of common metal. Its strength and modulus of elasticity (Young's modulus) can be changed by combination of constituent elements, and it can be molded into a columnar shape by casting to have a diameter equal to or smaller than a critical diameter determined by chemical components included (refer to, for example, Patent document 1). In order to apply the amorphous bulk metallic glass to small machine parts and the like, various tools, devices, methods and the like have been proposed in the casting utilizing its characteristic of small solidification shrinkage, so as to improve repletion using rotary centrifugal force and the like (refer to, for example, Patent document 2). A method is proposed in which the surface of columnar material having the bulk metallic glass on its surface is heated to glass transition temperature (Tg) or more, at which a viscous flow of the bulk metallic glass is generated, and thereafter molded by using viscous fluidity and pressing it against dies having projections and depressions (refer to, for example, Patent documents 3, 4). Also, a proposal is made in which metallic glass is flame-sprayed onto the surface of a product, so as to add the characteristic of the bulk metallic glass on the surface while keeping the characteristic of the conventional raw material inside (refer to, for example, Patent documents 5, 6).


In a method of measuring a quantity of heat, the distance between the position of an end of an exposed fiber portion before heating and the position of the end after heating is measured, and the quantity of heat applied to the end of the exposed fiber portion is calculated based on the distance. When heat is applied to an end of an exposed fiber portion, the end is fused and is rounded due to surface tension. For this reason, the position of the end of the exposed fiber portion retracts from the position it occupied before heating by the volume required for rounding the end. This retraction amount corresponds to a quantity of heat applied to the end of the exposed fiber portion. Therefore, by meauring the retraction amount, the quantity of heat applied to the ends of the exposed fiber portion can be quantitatively measured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of measuring a quantity of heat applied to the end of an exposed fiber portion of an optical fiber, in particular, to a method of measuring a quantity of heat applied to the ends of exposed fiber portions of a ribbon optical fiber.
2. Description of the Related Art
In fusion-splicing of a pair of ribbon optical fibers, the exposed fiber portions of the ribbon optical fibers are simultaneously fusion-spliced. Therefore, it is important to know the quantity of heat applied to the end of each exposed fiber portion of the ribbon optical fibers.
According to a technique for measuring a quantity of heat, a discharge arc for fusion-splicing is picked up by a TV camera, and a quantity of heat is calculated on the basis of luminance distribution of the arc. That is, in this technique, a quantity of heat applied to the end of each exposed fiber portion is measured not directly but indirectly, or in other words, not quantitatively, but qualitatively. Therefore, the quantity of heat applied to the end of the exposed fiber portion cannot be measured accurately.
Furthermore, since measurement of the luminance distribution is provided by analyzing an arc image picked up by a TV camera, a frame memory and a large-capacity image processor for processing one-frame data are required, resulting in a bulky system and time-consuming processing.

Method of measuring quantity of heat applied to optical fiber


A deodorizing catalyst showing high activity at room temperature, having great adsorption capacity, and possessing activity persistence capable of withstanding continued use; a deodorizing method using the catalyst; and a method for regenerating the catalyst are provided.

As methods for removing malodor components or harmful components in air, technologies different in action have hitherto been known, such as physical adsorption by activated carbon or zeolite, reactive absorption by reactive compounds, combustion by precious metal-based catalysts, chemical adsorption and decomposition by manganese oxide-based catalysts, degradation by photocatalysts, and oxidatively decomposing catalysts utilizing ozone. Of them, manganese oxide-based catalysts do not use expensive precious metals, do not require accessory equipment such as heating means or ozone generation means, and are economical. Thus, they are adopted in many fields.
Numerous catalysts containing manganese oxide as an active ingredient have been introduced. It has been introduced that as complex oxides composed of manganese and metals, Mn—Fe complex oxides, for example, exhibit a deodorizing action on acetaldehyde in a low temperature region of 50 to 200° C. (see Patent Document 1).
A deodorizing catalyst containing a manganese-iron complex oxide (MnFe2O4) as an active ingredient has been introduced. As a concrete example, a deodorizing catalyst containing a mixture of a Mn—Fe complex oxide (Mn/Fe element ratio is 33:67) and Fe2O3 (notes: the Mn/Fe element ratio of the mixture is explicitly described as 17:83) as an active ingredient is disclosed. It is described that the Mn—Fe complex oxide may be mixed with a manganese oxide to constitute the deodorizing catalyst, but there is no relevant Example, and there is no detailed description of such a catalyst (see Patent Document 2). A prototype of the catalyst composed of the mixture of a Mn—Fe complex oxide and Fe2O3 was built, and its deodorization performance was evaluated. The outcome turned out to be that the deodorization performance was not fully satisfactory.
As a deodorizing catalyst containing manganese oxide and zeolite, a deodorizing catalyst having manganese dioxide and a copper oxide carried on hydrophobic zeolite having a silica/alumina ratio of 100 or more has been shown to exhibit high deodorizing properties even for a high-humidity gas (see Patent Document 3).
A deodorizing catalyst containing active manganese dioxide and high silica zeolite as an active ingredient has been shown to adsorb a malodorous gas derived from sulfur and oxidatively decompose it (see Patent Document 4).
Furthermore, a deodorizing catalyst comprising a powdery manganese oxide and powdery hydrophobic zeolite in mixture has been shown to decompose odor components oxidatively at low temperatures (see Patent Document 5).
A deodorizing catalyst containing a manganese oxide, graphite, and zeolite is disclosed. In this catalyst, the proportion of the zeolite contained is 1 to 1.5 times that of the manganese oxide, and a composition having a Mn—Fe complex oxide mixed with MnO is not described (see Patent Document 6).
A deodorant containing a complex oxide of Mn and a transition metal, which contains potassium (K), concretely, a complex oxide obtained from K2CO3 (5%), CuO (20%) and MnO2 (75%), has been introduced as accelerating the conversion of an aldehyde into a carboxylic acid (see Patent Document 7).

Deodorizing catalyst, deodorizing method using the same, and method for regenerating the catalyst

Abstract: The deodorizing catalyst is characterized by containing manganese oxide and a Mn—Fe complex oxide at a weight ratio in the range of 98:2 to 60:40. A honeycomb catalyst having the catalyst carried thereon is also disclosed. The deodorizing method is characterized by treating a gas containing odor components with the catalyst. The method for regenerating the catalyst involves heating the catalyst to 140 to 250° C.


An image forming apparatus includes a heat roller heated to a preset temperature; a pressure roller for having conductivity and forming a nip by pressure-contacting with the heat roller; a power supply unit to apply a bias voltage to the pressure roller; and a controller to, when a printing paper enters the nip, control the power supply unit to apply the bias voltage to the pressure roller. When a time interval is longer than a preset time, the controller can control the power supply unit not to apply the bias voltage when the printing paper is not placed in the nip, and when the time interval is shorter than the preset time, the controller can control the power supply unit to apply the bias voltage when the printing paper is not placed in the nip.

1. Field
Embodiments relate generally to an image forming apparatus and a fuser controlling method thereof. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus for minimizing offset by controlling a fuser in a different controlling method according to a time interval of a printing paper entering the fuser, and a fuser controlling method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus is a device which prints printing data generated at a printing control terminal such as computer, onto a printing paper. Examples of the image forming apparatus include a copier, a printer, a fax machine, and a Multi Function Peripheral (MFP) integrating functions of the copier, the printer, and the fax machine in a single apparatus.
The image forming apparatus can form the image in various manners. One of the various methods is an electrophotographic method. The electrophotographic method forms the image by charging a photoconductor surface, forming a latent image through exposure, developing the latent image with toner, transferring the developed toner onto a printing paper, and fusing the image.
As such, the image forming apparatus can employ the unit for ultimately fusing the image onto the printing paper, which is referred to as a fuser.
In general, the fuser fixes the image on the printing paper by applying heat and pressure. In recent, by applying the (+) voltage to a pressure roller, the force of attaching the charged toner of the (−) polarity to the printing paper is increased.
Meanwhile, when the printing papers are input in succession, a conventional image forming apparatus continuously applies a bias voltage in the printing section. When the bias voltage is applied continuously, the bias voltage applied time extends and the (+) voltage overapplied is accumulated at a heat roller. When the (+) voltage overapplied is accumulated at the heat roller, the (−) charged toner is attracted to the heat roller and the toner on the heat roller can stain the next printing paper, which causes an offset.
To address the offset, a conventional method does not apply the bias voltage to the pressure roller when the printing paper does not pass through the fuser.
When the bias voltage is shut down when the printing paper does not pass through the fuser, it is difficult to apply the voltage to the heat roller or the pressure roller at the same time as the paper passes through in case where the interval of the printing papers is shortened to implement a rapid machine, the paper feeding is unstable.

Image forming apparatus and method for controlling fuser thereof


A vehicle anti-theft control which prevents the vehicle from being started by providing a code input authorization system working in combination with an enclosed controller relay system of a solonoid which prevents the starter motor from engaging the engine until after a correct code authorization is received. The controller is housed in an intermediate chamber of a solonoid housing and cannot be circumvented by exterior hot wiring so as to prevent electricity from passing to either the pulling or holding coils of the solonoid.

The stealing of automobiles is becoming an increasingly serious problem. The thieves themselves are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are increasingly able to circumvent the efforts of automobile designers.
The prior art is aware of many mechanical and electronic devices to prevent theft. Some, such as my co-pending application, have included code input devices that will prevent the starter engine gear from being driven into mesh with the engine input gear unless the proper code is entered into a bank of relays.
The solenoid that drives the starter motor gear into engagement with the engine input gear is of a two coil variety. This invention interrupts the current in both of these coils unless the proper input code is entered.
This invention relates to a device for use with an internal combustion engine to prevent an unauthorized person from starting the engine. Particularly, this invention utilizes novel practical apparatus and methods of operation including a user-input code to prevent unauthorized starting of an internal combustion engine; and, which does not substantially interfere with authorized use.

Anti-theft control to prevent unauthorized starting of an engine


The invention relates to a salt solution electrodialysis cell for production of the relevant acids and bases by means of a process with reduced or nil consumption of electrical energy. The cell comprises an anodic chamber fed with hydrogen and a cathodic chamber fed with oxygen or air, provided with the relevant gas-diffusion electrodes; the driving power of the electrodialysis process is given by the oxidation and reduction chemical potentials of hydrogen and oxygen fed to the two chambers.

The electrodialysis of salt solutions aimed at obtaining the relevant acid and base can be carried out in three compartment electrochemical cells, with a central compartment separated form the anodic compartment and the cathodic compartment by means of two ion-exchange membranes, respectively an anion-exchange membrane and a cation-exchange membrane. The ionic species coming from the dissociation of the salt fed to the central compartment migrate across the respective membrane under the effect of the electric field, bringing about the generation of the relevant acid at the anodic compartment and of the respective base at the cathodic compartment. The anodic compartment is also provided with an anode, on whose surface the evolution of oxygen takes place, while the cathodic compartment is provided with a cathode on which the evolution of hydrogen takes place. One of the possible applications of this technology is for instance the electrodialysis of sodium sulphate solutions with production of sulphuric acid and caustic soda, as an alternative of the most common production of caustic soda by sodium chloride brine electrolysis. This process can be applied for example at caustic-consuming sites having no use for chlorine—which in this case would constitute a by-product difficult to handle and store—or whenever a mutually independent production of chlorine and caustic soda is desirable. The electrical consumption associated with the process is nevertheless very high, due to the voltage associated with the overall net reaction—corresponding to water electrolysis with production of hydrogen and oxygen—and to the high ohmic drop in the various components, with particular reference to the anion-exchange membrane. The problem of the excessive electrical consumption was mitigated in the past by replacing the oxygen-evolving anode with a hydrogen-fed, anodically polarised gas-diffusion electrode: in this way, the overall net reaction has a much lower reversible voltage, corresponding to the potential difference between hydrogen cathodic evolution in alkaline environment and hydrogen anodic consumption in a substantially acidic environment. Also this kind of technology failed to meet however the expected success, on one hand because the various overvoltage components adding up in the process lead in any case to a conspicuous energy consumption, on the other hand because of the difficulty in controlling the process, which is characterised by operative voltage fluctuations even at reduced current density (below 2 kA/m2) associated with the difficulty in humidifying the hydrogen flow fed to the anodic compartment in a regular fashion. An irregular hydrogen humidification may lead to a drying out of the relevant membrane—with consequent rise, sometimes steep, of the operative voltage on account of an ohmic effect—or to a partial flooding of the gas-diffusion electrode, with consequent rise of the operative voltage due to inadequate mass transport of supplied hydrogen. In the most serious cases of flooding, the electric voltage applied at the cell poles may lead to the impossibility of supporting the hydrogen consumption anodic reaction and to the sudden onset of oxygen evolution, with destructive effects for the gas-diffusion electrode which is not specifically designed to resist the oxidising action of nascent oxygen. This situation can moreover lead to the formation of explosive mixtures in the anodic compartment, as it will be evident to a person skilled in the art.
Thus there is a need of providing a new device for the electrodialysis of salt solutions of higher energy efficiency and at the same time easier and safer to operate.

Cell for depolarised electrodialysis of salt solutions


A system and method capable of detecting damage in a belt before catastrophic failure of the belt occurs. The system includes a belt having at least a first conductive component and/or at least a first dielectric component, and one or more pulleys to which the belt is mounted. At least a first of the pulleys has at least one conductive component that, in combination with the first conductive component or the first dielectric component of the belt, defines an electrical element. At least a portion of the electrical element is located within the belt so as to be physically responsive to transitory and permanent distortions of the belt resulting from extrinsic and/or intrinsic sources. Electrical potential is applied through the electrical element so as to generate an electrical signal from the electrical element corresponding to a physical response of the belt to a transitory and/or permanent distortion.

The present invention generally relates to belts of types used to convey or transmit motion, power and/or objects. The invention particularly relates belt and pulley systems and methods for detecting wear or damage to a belt prior to failure thereof.
Belt and pulley systems are used in many applications to convey or transmit motion, power and/or objects. As used herein, a belt and pulley system will be understood to comprise one or more belts interconnected by two or more pulleys, with the term "belt" understood to encompass a wide variety of flexible belts and the term "pulley" understood to encompass a wide variety of pulleys, sheaves, wheels, etc. The failure of a belt may have a much greater impact than simply downtime to stop machinery to replace the belt. Many applications that require the use of belts are in industries that can suffer serious setbacks in the event of a catastrophic belt failure, and would therefore benefit from the use of a technology to detect damage to a belt before catastrophic failure occurs.
Current technologies for belt monitoring typically examine conditions that are known to cause damage to a belt. For example, systems exist for monitoring the alignment of a belt during its operation. There are other systems adapted to monitor the tension of a belt or monitor slippage between a belt and the pulley system on which the belt operates. Still other technologies exist that are capable of collecting and analyzing visual data to determine if a belt has suffered damage. There are also belt monitoring products that monitor conditions within a belt. One such product utilizes lateral rip sensors that are built into a belt and are monitored as the sensors pass over a sensor. Systems also exist that are capable of monitoring steel cords within a belt as the cords pass over a sensor.
Despite the existence of the above-noted technologies, there is an ongoing desire for systems and methods capable of detecting damage, abnormalities, etc., in a belt, preferably before catastrophic failure of the belt occurs.

Belt and pulley systems and methods of detecting belt damage