A liquid droplet discharge head having a first pressure chamber filled with a fluid; an actuator is displaced on at least one portion of a surface defining a first pressure chamber; a nozzle for discharging droplets of a discharge liquid; a second pressure chamber connected to the nozzle and is filled with the discharge liquid to be discharged from the nozzle; a liquid supply path which supplies the discharge liquid to the second pressure chamber; and a pressure transmitting section which transmits pressure generated in the first pressure chamber to the second pressure chamber by driving the actuator, so as to satisfy the relationship, S1>S2, wherein S1 is the application force applied to the first pressure chamber by the actuator, and S2 is the application force applied to the second pressure chamber by the pressure transmitting section; and the droplet of the discharge liquid is discharged from the nozzle by means of a discharge force being applied to the discharge liquid inside the second pressure chamber through the pressure transmitting section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid droplet discharge head and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a structure of a liquid droplet discharge head which discharges liquid droplets from nozzles by applying pressure to liquid by driving actuators, and an inkjet recording apparatus or other image forming apparatus using a liquid droplet discharge head of this kind.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 60-115457 discloses an inkjet head having a structure in which the minute vibrational displacement of a piezoelectric diaphragm is transmitted to a passive diaphragm of small surface area by means of a horn-shaped displacement amplifying chamber, thereby causing ink inside an ink chamber which is positioned in front of the passive diaphragm to be discharged from an orifice (liquid droplet discharge port).
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-43267 discloses an inkjet head comprising two pressure generating chambers for each nozzle, in order to increase the speed of ink refilling to the pressure generating chambers after ink discharge. This head is provided with a first pressure generating chamber and a second pressure generating chamber connected to a common ink chamber (reservoir), these two pressure generating chambers being connected mutually as well as being connected to the same nozzle, by means of a nozzle connection hole. A second ink supply port which connects the second pressure generating chamber with the reservoir is positioned nearer to the nozzle opening than the first ink supply port which connects the first pressure generating chamber with the reservoir. In this way, a structure is achieved in which, after an ink droplet has been discharged due to deformation of the piezoelectric element, ink flows into the first pressure generating chamber from a flow path of low flow resistance which passes through the second ink supply port of the second pressure chamber generating chamber.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-260347 proposes a composition in which pressure chambers corresponding to nozzles are layered in a tiered structure inside a head, in order to achieve high nozzle density for realizing high-resolution printing.
However, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 60-115457 has a structure based on a horn shape which causes the traveling ultrasonic wave to converge gradually, and therefore, the displacement amplifying chambers must be of uniform size in all three dimensional directions. This makes it difficult to achieve a high level of integration (high density).
The technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-43267 provides a complementary flow path (second pressure generating chamber) in the vicinity of each nozzle, in order to increase refilling speed. However, since the individual flow paths from the reservoir to each nozzle cannot actually be shortened, the effect of this structure is limited to improving performance in terms of faster refilling speed.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-260347 makes it possible to achieve high nozzle density, but since the distance (flow path length) to the respective nozzle openings from the first and second pressure chambers disposed in a tiered fashion differs between the upper and lower tiers, a problem arises in that the discharge characteristics are different for each tier. In order to achieve uniform discharge characteristics in the upper and lower pressure chambers, it is necessary to design the flow channels individually, or to modify the drive control method accordingly. However, taking into account factors such as assembly precision, temperature characteristics, air bubble accumulation characteristics, and the like, it is extremely difficult to achieve uniform characteristics in the respective pressure chambers.

Liquid droplet discharge head and image forming apparatus


Apparatus for controlling pivotal movement of a pivotal member on a water closet includes a casing mounted on the water closet, a rotor rotatably mounted in the casing and viscous material interposed between the rotor and the casing providing relative rotational resistance between the rotor and the casing. A joint member coaxial with the rotor is provided and a spring clutch is operably disposed between the rotor and the joint member and operable to drive the rotor in one direction when the joint member is rotated in one direction while permitting the joint member to rotate in an opposite direction without driving the rotor member in such opposite direction. A shaft is connected to the pivotal member, the shaft being coaxial with the joint member. An interplay is interposed between the shaft and the joint member operable to permit the shaft to rotate a first angular amount in such one direction without driving the joint member and operable such that when the shaft continues to rotate further beyond such angular amount in such one direction, the shaft drives the joint member, whereby the pivot member attached to the shaft is freely rotatable in such one direction such first angular amount and thence further rotatable in such one direction to a closed position while being restrained by the viscous material, the pivot member being rotatable in such opposite direction from such closed position to an open position without being restrained by the viscous material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an opening and closing mechanism for the seat and cover which are provided on a stool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For a flush toilet, a seat only or a seat with a closable cover is generally mounted, and that with the base end portion coupled to a stool body by a hinge mechanism is employed as the simplest structure.
The hinge mechanism consists of base end portions of the seat and cover connected to the stool body by a shaft such as pins or the like, and the seat and cover are coupled integrally or rotatably with the pins, thus rotating freely to a hinge part of the stool body.
However, in such a seat and cover working on a free rotation system, the seat and cover naturally fall shut when unhanded and thus cause a loud sound when striking the stool body; therefore care should particularly be taken when using it at night. Further, frequent shocks resulting on the stool body by the seat and cover may cause the hinge part to work loose, thus shortening the life of the product.
To solve such problems, there is provided a structure operating slowly by loading a rotation of the seat and cover on the hinge mechanism with a resistance.
For example, a structure wherein a coil spring is provided around a shaft of the hinge mechanism is disclosed in the specification and drawings of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 188910/1985, and thus if unhanded halfway before closing the seat and cover, the sudden fall is damped by the resilience of the coil spring, thus relieving the shock to the stool body. And, also, an opening and closing mechanism using a viscous damper or the like as the resisting means to the rotation of the hinge shaft has also been proposed.
However, the moment of rotational force about the hinge is slight immediately after the seat and cover start the inclination from the erected state, but increases with the angle toward the stool body, the torque working on the hinge changes, and the torque is maximized immediately before completely closing.
In the aforementioned structure wherein a rotation of the hinge mechanism is loaded with a resistance, the resistance works almost with a constant force to the operation of the seat and cover from the erected state to closing.
Thus, if a resistance value by rotation resisting means provided on the hinge mechanism is smaller than the maximum torque generated by the seat and cover, the damping capacity to the shock substantially becomes zero. Further, for the damping capacity to function, if the resistance value is given so as to be equal to the maximum torque or greater than that, the rotation resistance form erected state to closing increases excessively and the time is prolonged, which is not practical.
If a viscous damper is employed as a rotation resisting means for the hinge, it also works as a resistance at the time when the seat and cover are erected, thus requiring a large force compared with a conventional free rotation type.
To solve the aforementioned problem, it is effective to provide an opening and closing mechanism having a variable torque function capable of coping with a torque change about the hinge. However, a variable torque device employed as an opening and closing mechanism for the seat and cover in the prior art is complicated in structure and large in addition. Consequently, such a particular type as is enclosed in a casing such as a sanitary washing device or the like which is ancillary to the stool body is not acceptable particularly for installation.
Further, the defect is such that hinge mechanism for rotation of the seat and cover in the prior art requires excessive space, and where it is applied to the stool provided with a sanitary device for washing the private parts which is used extensively of late, another auxiliary mechanism or, for example, a mechanism for retaining an erected posture of the seat and cover can no more be provided.

Mechanism for opening and closing toilet seat and cover


A board game representing the lighter, non academic aspects of college or university life is disclosed. The game incorporates various activities commonly perceived to be engaged in by college or university students, including physical interaction between players of opposite sexes and social drinking, although such drinking is not necessarily limited to alcoholic beverages during the play of the game. The game is played on a generally peripheral path on the game board, the path containing various instructions relating to social drinking and/or physical interaction between players or teams of opposite sexes, or the drawing of cards containing such instructions. The completion of a lap of the playing path represents the completion of some academic period such as a school year, the winner determined as the first player or team to complete a predetermined number of laps of the playing path. Alternatively, the player or team farthest ahead at the end of a given elapsed time may be declared the winner.

The present invention relates to two fundamental interests of the typical person: First, the need or desire for recreation and entertainment, and second, the desire or interest the average person has in higher education. As is well known, a substantial percentage of persons living in the United States have experienced at least some college education, and a person with at least some college background is generally looked upon more favorably by society than persons without such an educational background. This phenomenon has led to widespread interest in the higher educational environment.
This widespread interest in higher education of course extends far beyond the relatively narrow academic field itself to encompass virtually all of college life in general, especially various extracurricular social activities. Many popular articles, books and movies have been produced which describe either factual or frictional on and off campus social activities which might be enjoyed by a college student, an example being the well known movie "Animal House."
While some games, including board games, have been produced which simulate the academic world, they are primarily intended to be educational in nature and fail to accommodate the interest of the general public in the social activities which surround the college academic community. Other games have been produced which provide for pure entertainment, emphasizing some aspect of our culture or society, such as social drinking. However, the inventor is aware of no such game which combines these two phenomena of U.S. society, i.e. a game primarily relating to the lighter, non academic side of higher education, particularly one which also places emphasis on social drinking and/or other physical activities during the course of play.
The need arises for a board game which emphasizes the humorous social side of college or university life rather than the academic side. Rather than a relatively serious emphasis on facts and academic knowledge, the game should be a relatively light and humorous approach to the extracurricular, non-academic side of college and/or university life. The game should be simple and easy to play, not requiring any particular knowledge or skill on the part of the players, and provide a relatively non competitive entertaining experience for all involved. Emphasis should be placed on various physical activities, such as social drinking (not necessarily limited to alcoholic beverages), to further lighten the play of the game.

Method of playing a board game of college social life


A boring bar has a longitudinal axis, with a steel head section having a cutting insert displaced from the longitudinal axis. In one embodiment, a cemented carbide section is joined directly thereto. In another embodiment, a intermediate section includes a devibrator body. The respective sections are joined by a centrally positioned drawbar threadedly inserted into the head section for maintaining a compressive force at the specifically configured connection between the axially aligned sections.

Cantilever tools are characterized by the cutting instrument being spaced from the longitudinal axis so that forces generated during cutting tend to cantilever the boring bar in a direction perpendicular to axis. During either rotation of the tool or workpiece, the bending moment along the axis tends to displace the cutting tool in the radial direction, hence, making it difficult to perform accurate cutting.
In an article entitled "An Extra-Long Cantilever Boring Bar With Enhanced Chatter Resistance" by Rivin and Wu, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, prior art techniques for enhancing the chatter-resistance of cantilever tools are discussed. As set forth in line 15 of the introduction the article, "Both resonance frequencies and chatter resistance are correlated with the length (L) to diameter (D) ratio of the cantilever holders. All practitioners know that it is difficult to achieve stable cutting at overhang ratios exceeding L/D=4-5 [4-5:1]. While this ratio is not high, one has to remember that to machine (or inspect) a hole, the diameter D of the tool should be smaller than the hole diameter to accommodate cutting (or measuring) head, but the length L of the tool should be longer than the hole depth to eliminate danger of interference between the spindle holding the tool and the part being machined. In automated tool handling systems (machining centers, flexible manufacturing cells, etc.) the useful length of tools is further reduced by the need for special design features such as gripping surfaces for tool changers, surfaces for identification codes, etc.
As set forth, more stable chatter-resistant tools make possible deeper cuts, and thus fewer cuts, resulting in higher productivity. Chatter-resistant tools also combine better surface finish with more intensive machining regimes. They demonstrate slower wear of cutters due to reduced high-frequency vibration amplitudes, which may result in better cylindricity of machined surfaces.
The article describes the boring bar fabricated for the experiments carried out. The boring bar includes an aluminum end segment having an inside cavity for receiving dynamic vibration absorbers. A connecting lug threaded into the aluminum section joins a cemented carbide stiffener. The tool head is mounted on the aluminum segment and includes a cutting insert displaced from the axis of rotation.
In an attempt to place a highly elastic material near the cutting insert, the boring bar of Rivin utilizes an aluminum section. For long life, it has been found that aluminum does not have the requisite structural integrity and can be easily damaged during multiple cutting operations. Such damage to the aluminum section can result in a wearing away of the aluminum thus creating an imbalanced tool. Aluminum does not have the requisite properties to hold the head on the bar with threading or to hold the insert in the pocket. Thus, frequent replacement of the aluminum head is necessitated.
In another article entitled "A Chatter-Resistant Cantilever Boring Bar" by Rivin, the stability of various boring bars was examined. The results of tests show that the tungsten alloy and aluminum bar incorporating dynamic vibration absorbers performed better than a solid steel bar, a solid steel bar with dampening vibration absorbers, a solid bar of machinable tungsten alloy, or composite bar without the dampening vibration absorbers. The article concludes that the use of composite cantilevered structure having a root portion of high-modulus materials with an overhand portion of low-density materials improves dynamic characteristics, especially if dynamic vibration absorbers are employed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,422 to Rivin relates to a composite cantilevered tool mandrel having two portions with the portion adjacent the tool having a modulus of elasticity of at least 1.5 times higher than that of the other portion. Further, the head portion has a material density of at least 1.5 times lower than the rear portion. As set forth, the combination of materials for the portions include steel plus aluminum or titanium alloy, tool hardened alloy plus steel, or molybdenum plus aluminum. As set forth, the natural elastic properties of the materials are utilized with the bar portion near the cutting tool being highly elastic and less dense than the driving portion of the bar which is rigid. As set forth in the patent, the connection between the two sections is made by a thread type or interference connection. The vibration shock absorber utilized in the head portion is a solid cylindrical slug.
Thus, Riven concentrates on a boring bar where a low density and highly elastic head portion is confined with a high density and extremely rigid portion. U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,414 to Hopkins relates to a vibration dampening support for a boring bar utilizing multiple parallel bores and a plurality of inertia mass members positioned in the respective bores with a slight circumferential clearance. The mass members are free to move transversely to the shank axis within the circumferential clearance provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,626 to Hopkins relates to a vibration dampening construction for a cutter head having a rigidly anchored cantilever internal bar extending rearwardly within a cylindrical cavity. A optional number of heavy reactors are assembled on the cantilevered bar to give a reactive oscillator dampening effect.
The present invention concerns the production of an optimized boring bar constructed of materials which contribute to prolong tool life and are structurally combined in such a manner so as to give enhanced performance.


There is provided a hydraulic controller for a working machine in which a pilot hydraulic pressure source is connected in common to a plurality of pilot-operated hydraulic devices each having a pilot pressure input unit, and a common pilot pressure input switching valve is adapted to control the switching between a pilot pressure input from the pilot hydraulic pressure source to each pilot pressure input unit and a relief of the input. The switching control of a pilot pressure input by the pilot pressure input switching valve is performed based on the operating state of the working machine and pilot pressure input conditions of the respective pilot-operated hydraulic devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the operation of a plurality of pilot-operated hydraulic devices provided in a working machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
As means for remotely controlling pilot-operated hydraulic devices provided in a working machine, there has been known an arrangement in which a pilot pressure input switching valve composed of an electromagnetic switching valve, etc. is provided between a pilot pressure input unit of the hydraulic devices and a pilot hydraulic pressure source, and the supply of the input signal of the pilot pressure to the pilot pressure input unit is switched by opening and closing the switching valve.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-5106 discloses a hydraulic circuit in which a solenoid valve (electromagnetic switching valve) is provided between a pilot pressure input unit (swash plate) of a capacity variable hydraulic motor and a pilot hydraulic pump.
Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-250302 discloses a circuit in which an electromagnetic switching valve is provided between a pilot-operated relief valve having a set pressure that increases with a pilot pressure input and a pilot hydraulic pressure source.
In the above-described hydraulic circuits, if there are a plurality of pilot-operated hydraulic devices, pilot pressure input switching valves are provided correspondingly for pilot pressure input units of the respective hydraulic devices. Therefore, the more the number of hydraulic devices, the more the number of pilot pressure input switching valves accompanying the devices, which increases the complexity and cost of the apparatus inevitably. Particularly, in the case of less frequently used hydraulic devices, the use of a pilot pressure input switching valve, if provided specially for the hydraulic devices, becomes far less frequent, being economically undesirable.

Hydraulic controller for working machine

Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.


In a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless system supporting Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) transmission and having a first base station, a second base station, and a user equipment, a communications method implemented in the first base station is disclosed. In an aspect, the communications method includes exchanging, with the second base station through local information exchange, first information about a first channel between the first base station and the user equipment and second information about a second channel between the second base station and the user equipment, and computing at least one of a precoding matrix, a receiver filter, and a projection matrix, wherein the user equipment estimates the first information and the second information, and shares the first information and the second information with the first base station. Other apparatuses and some methods for wireless communications also are disclosed.

The present invention relates to Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) transmission in wireless communications and more particularly to interference suppression for CoMP transmission.
CoMP transmission is an emerging technology that can suppress interference and improve the capacity of multi-cell wireless networks. However, existing CoMP techniques either require sharing of data and channel-state information (CSI) for all links in the network, or have limited capability of interference suppression.
By allowing information sharing and cooperation between transmitters, CoMP transmission can drastically reduce inter-cell interference, thereby improving the capacity of an entire network. Its advantages have been validated both theoretically and experimentally.
CoMP transmission requires the transmitters to share CSI. However, CSI-sharing only has a limited advantage in suppressing interference. By augmenting data sharing, more interference between neighboring links can be removed.
For example, when using zero-forcing (ZF) precoding, multiple links are combined into one multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission via CSI/data sharing of transmitters, and each link can transmit as if there is no mutual interference. However, such a scheme may need to group links into clusters Links near the cluster edge still suffer from interference with neighboring clusters. To reduce such an edge effect and enable concurrent transmission of many links, links of the entire network may need to be grouped and cooperate with each other. This situation may be unrealistic for large networks, due to limited capacity of the backhaul network used for information sharing among the links.
The following references are related to interference suppression in CoMP transmission:                [1] Sawahashi, M. and Kishiyama, Y. and Morimoto, A. and Nishikawa, D. and Tanno, M., "Coordinated Multipoint Transmission/Reception Techniques for LTE-Advanced [Coordinated and Distributed MIMO]," IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 17, no. 3, 2010.        [2] V. Jungnickel, A. Forck, S. Jaeckel, F. Bauermeister, S. Schiffermueller, S. Schubert, S. Wahls, L. Thiele, T. Haustein, W. Kreher, J. Mueller, H. Droste, and G. Kadel, "Field Trials Using Coordinated Multi-Point Transmission in the Downlink," in IEEE PIMRC Workshops, 2010.        [3] S. Gollakota, S. D. Perli, and D. Katabi, "Interference Alignment and Cancellation," in Proc. of ACM SIGCOMM, 2009.        [4] V. Cadambe and S. Jafar, "Interference Alignment and Degrees of Freedom of the K-User Interference Channel," IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 54, no. 8, 2008.        [5] K. S. Gomadam, V. R. Cadambe, and S. A. Jafar, "Approaching the Capacity of Wireless Networks through Distributed Interference Alignment," CoRR, vol. abs/0803.3816, 2008.        [6] S. Gollakota, S. D. Perli, and D. Katabi, "Interference Alignment and Cancellation," in Proc. of ACM SIGCOMM, 2009.        [7] K. Balachandran, J. Kang, K. Karakayali, and K. Rege, "NICE: A Network Interference Cancellation Engine for Opportunistic Uplink Cooperation in Wireless Networks," IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 10, no. 2, 2011.        [8] M. Sadek, A. Tarighat, and A. Sayed, "A leakage-based precoding scheme for downlink multi-user mimo channels," Wireless Communications, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 6, no. 5, 2007.        [9] A. Khattab, J. Camp, C. Hunter, P. Murphy, A. Sabharwal, and E. W. Knightly, "WARP: a Flexible Platform for Clean-Slate Wireless Medium Access Protocol Design," SIGMOBILE Mob. Comput. Commun. Rev., vol. 12, 2008.        [10] D. Gesbert, S. Hanly, H. Huang, S. Shamai Shitz, O. Simeone, and W. Yu, "Multi-Cell MIMO Cooperative Networks: A New Look at Interference," IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC), vol. 28, no. 9, 2010.        [11] M. Guillaud and D. Gesbert, "Interference Alignment In The Partially Connected K-User MIMO Interference Channel," in Proc. of European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), 2011.        [12] K. Jamieson, "The SoftPHY Abstraction: from Packets to Symbols in Wireless Network Design," Ph.D. Thesis, MIT, 2008.
CoMP transmission may take many forms, depending on the scale of cooperation (e.g., intra-cell or inter-cell), the information to be shared (e.g., CSI sharing or both CSI and data sharing), etc. [1]. As mentioned above, the existing CoMP schemes may need to cluster links, and links near the cluster edge may severely interfere with other links. To increase the degrees of freedom in the network (e.g., the number of concurrent transmissions), such schemes may need to increase the cluster size accordingly, which is impractical due to the formidable overhead in delivering all the shared data and CSI.
MIMO stream control [3] is an alternative way of improving the degrees of freedom. Given the channel matrix between interferers/transmitters and the receiver, stream control is able to suppress (N−1) interferers and receive 1 useful stream of data, assuming there are N antennas. However, stream control is not scalable because its achievable degrees of freedom strongly depend on the number of antennas, which is limited in practice.
In [8], a distributed algorithm that suppresses the leakage interference to neighboring links by maximizing the signal-to-leakage-and-noise ratio (SLNR) is proposed. We will show that the distributed algorithm (hereafter referred to as max SLNR) may be a special case of distributed interference alignment, and explain the factors behind its low performance compared with other schemes.
Balachandran et al. [7] proposed a network cancellation algorithm for the uplink of CoMP systems. The basic idea is to allow links that can decode their frames to send the decoded packets to other links, which then cancel such known interference using successive interference cancellation (SIC). In distributed interference alignment and cancellation (DIAC), the localized uplink cancellation works in a similar way, but is integrated with interference alignment that substantially improves the interference suppression capability. In addition, we design a distributed, DPC (dirty-paper-coding)-based algorithm that is applicable to the downlink of multi-cell networks.
Interference alignment [4] may be a promising mechanism for improving the network degree of freedom. In theory, it can achieve MK/2 total degrees of freedom when there are K links in the network each with M×M MIMO (assuming half-duplex radios), i.e., half of the links can transmit concurrently. However, this ideal bound is achievable when the channel is highly dynamic, e.g., when the channel state changes over each symbol, which conversely renders channel estimation infeasible. In practice, interference alignment can be realized by designing the precoding matrix at the transmitter and the projection matrix at the receiver. The matrix design is equivalent to an over-constrained system of equations, and typically a subset of the constraints can be satisfied. Equivalently, a limited number of interferers can be suppressed. In DIAC, we adopt a similar approach of matrix design, but integrate it with interference cancellation, thus further improving the total degrees of freedom in the network.
In [6], Gollakota et al. implemented a preliminary version of interference alignment, and integrated interference alignment with SIC on the uplink to improve the number of concurrent transmissions. However, [6] is applicable for a single collision domain (e.g., where all links interfere with each other), and is not scalable in large wireless networks. In fact, the scheme in [6] can tolerate at most 2M concurrent uplink transmissions when each node has M antennas (and even fewer for the downlink), i.e., the degrees of freedom is eventually limited by the number of antennas on each node. In DIAC, by leveraging the locality of interference, it is possible to allow all links in a network to transmit concurrently even with a limited number of antennas.
We propose distributed interference alignment and cancellation (DIAC) to overcome these limitations. DIAC builds on a key intuition of interference locality—since each link interferes with a limited number of neighboring links, it is sufficient to coordinate with those strong interferences and ignore others, in order to limit the overhead in CoMP. DIAC realizes the localized coordination by integrating interference cancellation and distributed interference alignment, and can be applied to both the uplink and downlink of multi-cell wireless networks. To validate DIAC, we use both model-driven simulation and trace-based simulation where the traces are collected by implementing a MIMO-OFDM channel estimator on a software radio platform. Our experiments show that DIAC can substantially improve the degrees of freedom in multi-cell wireless networks.


In a hydrodynamic bearing device in which a radial bearing face having a dynamic pressure generating groove on a shaft or an inner periphery of a sleeve is provided and a clearance between the shaft and the sleeve is filled with lubricant, an annular depression is provided on one end face of the sleeve adjacent to a rotor hub and a cover plate for covering the depression is attached to the sleeve so as to define a reservoir for the lubricant or air for the purpose of preventing such a risk that absence of an oil film occurs in clearances of a bearing of the hydrodynamic bearing device due to outflow of oil upon forcing of the oil by air received into the bearing. A step portion is provided on the other end face of the sleeve such that the step portion and the reservoir are communicated with each other by a communication hole. During operation of the hydrodynamic bearing device, air in the hydrodynamic bearing device reaches the reservoir via the communication hole so as to be discharged from the reservoir.

In recent rotational recording apparatuses employing a magnetic disk, etc., data-transfer velocity is rising upon increase of their storage capacity. Hence, since a disk rotating apparatus employed in such recording apparatuses requires high-speed and high precision rotations, a hydrodynamic bearing device is used in a rotary main shaft portion of the disk rotating apparatus.
Hereinafter, a conventional hydrodynamic bearing device is described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. In FIG. 18, a shaft 31 is rotatably inserted into a bearing bore 32A of a sleeve 32 mounted on a base 35. In FIG. 18, the shaft 31 has a flange 33 formed integrally at its lower end portion. The flange is received in a step portion 32K of the sleeve 32 so as to rotatably confront a thrust plate 34. A rotor hub 36 to which a rotor magnet 38 is secured to is attached to the shaft 31. A plurality of disk 39 held by a spacer 40 and a damper 41 are mounted on the rotor hub 36. A motor stator 37 confronting the rotor magnet 38 is mounted on the base 35. Dynamic pressure generating grooves 32B and 32C are provided on an inner peripheral surface of the bearing bore 32A of the sleeve 32. Dynamic pressure generating grooves 33A are provided on one face of the flange 33, which confronts the step portion 32K of the sleeve 32, while dynamic pressure generating grooves 33B are provided on the other face of the flange 33, which confronts the thrust plate 34. Clearances between the shaft 31 and the flange 33 on one hand and the sleeve 32 on the other hand, which include the dynamic pressure generating grooves 32B, 32C, 33A and 33B, are filled with oil 42. One or more vent holes 32E are provided on the sleeve 32 substantially in parallel with an axis of the sleeve 32. A lower end of the vent holes 32E communicates with a space which is disposed at a lower end portion of the sleeve 32 so as to contain the flange 33. An upper end of the vent holes 32E opens to an upper end face of the sleeve 32.
Operation of the conventional hydrodynamic bearing device of the above described arrangement is described by referring to FIGS. 18 and 19. In FIG. 18, if the motor stator 37 is energized, a rotary magnetic field is generated and thus, the rotor magnet 38, the rotor hub 36, the shaft 31 and the flange 33 start rotations. At this time, a pumping pressure is generated in the oil 42 by the dynamic pressure generating grooves 32B, 32C, 33A and 33B. Thus, the shaft 31 is raised and is rotated without coming into contact with the thrust plate 34 and the inner peripheral surface of the bearing bore 32A while being lubricated by the oil 42. A magnetic head (not shown) is brought into contact with the disks 39 so as to perform recording and reproduction of electrical signals.
The above conventional hydrodynamic bearing device has the following problems. FIG. 19 is a fragmentary sectional view including the shaft 31 and the sleeve 32 of FIG. 18. As shown in FIG. 19, the shaft 31 is rotated in the bearing bore 32A of the sleeve 32 while being lubricated by the oil 42. When the hydrodynamic bearing device has been assembled or while the hydrodynamic bearing device is being transported, air lumps or air bubbles (hereinafter, referred to as "air 43A or 43B") may penetrate into the oil 42 in the bearing bore 32A. For example, in case ambient pressure has changed during transport in an aircraft, penetration of air bubbles may happen. If volume of the air 43A penetrating into the vicinity of the dynamic pressure generating grooves 32B and 32c is expanded by rise of temperature or drop of atmospheric pressure, a portion of the dynamic pressure generating grooves 32b is covered by air, thereby resulting in absence of the oil film. Meanwhile, a portion of the oil may leak out of the hydrodynamic bearing device as indicated by oil 42B. Meanwhile, if the air 43B penetrating into the vicinity of the flange 33 is expanded, the hatched oil 42A in the vent hole 32E may be pushed upwardly by expanded air 43C so as to leak out of the hydrodynamic bearing device as shown by oil 42D. If the oil 42 leaks outwardly, shortage of quantity of the oil in the bearing occurs. As a result, there is a risk of extreme aggravation of reliability due to contact of the shaft 31 with the sleeve 32 during rotation.
Meanwhile, also in case a drop impact load (acceleration) is applied to the conventional hydrodynamic bearing device in the direction of the arrow G1 as shown in FIG. 19, there is a risk that the oil 42 leaks outwardly as shown by the oil 42B.

Hydrodynamic bearing device and disk rotating apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A software application corrects for luminance and/or color in a captured image on a device having two cameras. The first camera receives a reference image, and the second camera receives a target image. The device compares the reference image and a reference file retrieved from memory to identify one or more luminance or color differences, and it automatically actuates an optical adjustment element of the second imaging device in response to the differences. The second imaging device captures a target image, and the target image is stored in a computer-readable memory.

With the advent of modern digital photography, the simplicity of taking a high quality color photograph has never been easier. Even the most inexperienced of users are able to take excellent pictures without the need to manually adjust settings to ensure a proper picture. This is largely due in part to the ability of electronic devices to automatically adjust settings. Examples of such automatic adjustments include an automatic white balance setting and the automatic exposure setting.
White balance is the process of removing unnatural color casts, so that objects which are perceived as white by a person are rendered as white in an image captured by an imaging device such as a camera. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Human eyes are capable of automatically judging what is white under different light sources, but digital cameras often have great difficulty doing the same with auto white balance and can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a device that is capable of using a reference object in any lighting situation to properly and automatically adjust the white balance prior to taking the photograph.


The invention is a thin, occlusive adhesive tape comprised of hydrocolloid powders dispersed in an elastomeric matrix and suitable for attachment to human skin.

The present invention relates to a hydrocolloid adhesive tape useful in ostomy, wound and skin care applications.
As a result of a variety of medical conditions it may be in the best interests of the health of an individual to undergo ostomy surgery. In this procedure portion of the intestine or urinary tract is drawn through an opening made in the abdomen (stoma) and then sutured to the skin. Typically an odor-proof pouch is attached to the body to collect effluent from the stoma. Often this attachment is accomplished using an ostomy wafer that has been taken from a planar slab of adhesive and cut to fit the wearer. Attachment of a pouch to the wafer completes the device for collection of fecal or urinary output. Hydrocolloid adhesives of the type described by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,339,546 or 4,551,490 have been demonstrated to be especially suited to this purpose since their unique ability to absorb moisture enables them to remain securely adhered to the skin for wearing times of up to a week or more.
Security of the device is a critical need of the ostomate because if the adhesive should fail even partially then effluent from the stoma will have an opportunity to attack the peristomal skin causing it to break down rapidly. It is known by those skilled in the art that the security of an ostomy adhesive depends strongly on its thickness. Thicker adhesives adhere more strongly. It is also desirable to have a thick adhesive next to the stoma to protect the peristomal skin. Thicker adhesives resist the corrosiveness of stoma output better than thin adhesives. Additionally, the overall wearing time of the adhesive will be longer for thicker adhesive. Hydrocolloid adhesives rely on absorbency to manage perspiration and remain attached to the skin of the wearer. The absorbing capacity of the device depends on the amount of hydrocolloid powders available. Thicker devices have more hydrocolloids per area of attachment and so remain viable on the skin for longer periods of time.
It is also known by those skilled in the art of hydrocolloid adhesives that several practical considerations limit how thick the adhesive can be. For example, the comfort of the wearer will be greatly improved if the adhesive can be made thin. Thin adhesives are more flexible. They feel lighter when worn. They also conform better to the abdomen as it twists and stretches in the normal course of everyday activities. Because thinner adhesives are less obvious they fulfill another important need of the wearer, discretion. Thinner adhesives also avoid the tendency of thick adhesives to lift at the edges. While a thick adhesive will strongly resist lifting at its center the same rigidity that helps it remain well attached at that point may also cause it to lift slightly along its perimeter. One final reason why thick adhesives are not always optimal is their tendency to leave more residue on the skin than thinner adhesives do.
For secure attachment to the skin it can be seen that thicker adhesives have several advantages. However, they also have drawbacks that can be addressed by reducing their thickness. A balance is required that considers the specific needs of the intended application. For an ostomy device, security is paramount. With the invention of hydrocolloid adhesives came the design of new ostomy products to take advantage of their superiority adhesive technology for this challenging application. Ostomy wafers for these products were designed to be thick to ensure that they would remain well adhered and achieve a long and consistent wear time. For this reason most ostomy wafers in the marketplace typically range in thickness from about 0.040 to 0.100 inch.
As development of ostomy devices progressed it was recognized that a composite wafer could be designed to be thick around the stoma and thin at the edges. U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,374 discloses such a device. In that patent a number of examples are described wherein a relatively thick disc of hydrocolloid adhesive is surrounded by a thinner tape-like adhesive attached at its perimeter. The advantage of this design is that the thicker adhesive provides the area around the stoma with secure adhesion, peristomal skin protection, and adequate absorption capacity for long wear times. The thinner adhesive at its edges prevents edge lifting, helps to minimize residue on the skin, and provides an overall lightness and flexibility that is dramatically more comfortable to wear.
The value of combining thick and thin adhesive profiles in the same ostomy device as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,374 has been confirmed by a number of other patents that have disclosed alternative methods to make adhesive wafers with variable adhesive thickness. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,852 discloses a composite wafer with a relatively thin extruded layer of occlusive hydrocolloid surrounding a thicker hydrocolloid disc. U.S. Pat. No 5,133,821 describes a process using a contouring roller to yield a hydrocolloid wound dressing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,475 describes a process for compression molding adhesive to yield a non-uniform thickness skin barrier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,116 describes embossing an adhesive, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,009 describes a contoured adhesive wafer with a thin peripheral section and a thick body section. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,363 describes essentially a calendering process for producing shaped wafers.
It is believed these disclosures and others in the prior art all rely on thermoplastic methods of processing where the adhesive is heated and shaped to its final configuration before it is cooled. It has been found that the physical dimensions of the hydrocolloid powders establish a lower limit for the thickness of useful adhesives that can be produced by these processes. As the thickness of the adhesive decreases below about 0.010 inch thick it becomes more and more difficult to attain a uniform, continuous and useful layer of adhesive. The hydrocolloid powders interfere with flow of the adhesive and cause discontinuities in the product. They can stick out as lumps and interfere with the skin contacted needed for good adhesion. They can tear openings in the in-process adhesive. Below about 0.010 inch thick the adhesive has limited fluidity and strength and will not recover from these defects. It is believed that this reason explains why hydrocolloid adhesives produced by thermoplastic processes are not commercially available below a thickness of about 0.010 inch.
As previously mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,374 discloses an ostomy wafer wherein a relatively thick disc of hydrocolloid adhesive is surrounded by a thinner tape-like adhesive attached at its perimeter. According to the patent the tape-like adhesive disclosed can be of the acrylic type as in U.S. Pat No. 3,12,021, but is preferably made from the same hydrocolloid adhesive as the central disk component of the ostomy wafer. The microporosity of the thin adhesive further distinguishes it from the thicker adhesive, which is occlusive. The difference in permeability is explained to arise from a difference in processing methods. For both the acrylic and the hydrocolloid based formulations of the adhesive tape disclosed in ""374 the need for microporosity results from the requirement that adhesive must manage perspiration to remain securely attached to the skin for extended wearing times. Neither the acrylic nor the hydrocolloid formulation will absorb an appreciable amount of moisture. Both rely of transmission of perspiration through the thickness of the device for their bond strength.
One limitation of the microporous nature of these adhesives is that they do not resist moisture from external sources well. For example, during bathing or showering water easily permeates through the adhesive backing and the adhesive itself. As a result, the tape collar can be overwhelmed with moisture at its interface with the skin, and the bond will fail. Very thin, microporous, hydrocolloid adhesives are especially vulnerable to this failure mode as they are water-loving structures that will quickly become saturated.
The process for imparting porosity to the hydrocolloid adhesive tape was a solvent coating process. The final desired formulation is blended into a suitable solvent to form a slurry. The slurry is then coated onto a carrier web using a knife over roll process. In that process thickness is controlled by adjusting the proximity of the knife to the roll, and by controlling the speed of the roll and the viscosity of the slurly. The carrier web then takes the coating through a series of ovens where nearly all of the solvent is driven off by heat. The solvent forms bubbles that burst leaving the solvent to flash out of the adhesive slurry. The process can be operated to affect the evaporation rate and viscosity of remaining adhesive so that the size and number of pores in the adhesive can be adjusted and controlled. Additionally, the carrier web, typically the adhesive""s release liner, can also have volatile components that may flash from that substrate during the curing process. Accordingly the process must take into account the substrates potential effect on the porosity of the resulting adhesive.


A new method of metallization of an integrated circuit is described. This method can be used for a first metallization to contact the semiconductor substrate regions or for a subsequent metallizations for interconnection within the integrated circuit. An insulating layer is provided over the surface of a semiconductor substrate or over a metallization layer. At least one contact opening is made through the insulating layer to the semiconductor substrate or to the metallization layer. A barrier metal layer is deposited over the surface of the substrate and within the contact opening wherein most of the barrier metal is deposited on the bottom of the contact opening rather than on the sides of the opening. A metal layer is cold sputtered over the barrier metal layer, then the metal is hot sputtered over the cold-sputtered metal layer wherein the cold and hot sputtering are continuous operations to complete the metallization of the integrated circuit.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of metallization of an integrated circuit device, and more particularly, to a metallization method with good step coverage in the manufacture of an integrated circuit device.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In the fabrication of integrated circuit devices, metal layers make contact to lower conductive layers of the integrated circuit through vias in an insulating layer. Aluminum is often used as the interconnection metal. However, the sputtering process used to apply the aluminum often results in incomplete filling of the via openings. Large aluminum grains tend to form on the surface of the insulating layer within the via openings, causing voids.
Differing temperatures and deposition rates have been used to try to overcome the problem of voids. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,994,162 to Armstrong et al and 5,108,951 to Chen et al describe such methods.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An attachment to a hand-held blender for chopping solids comprising a generally cylindrical receptacle having a closed lower end then an open upper end. The receptacle is generally symmetrical about a central axis and includes an elongated pin extending along such axis into the receptacle from the closed lower end. An elongated shaft having blade means at one end and attachment means at the other end is positionable on the pin for rotation thereabout. The shaft is freely rotatable on the pin with blades being positioned adjacent the closed lower end and the attachment member being positioned adjacent the open upper end. A coupling element having a first coupler for attachment to a rotatable member on the blender and a second coupler for attachment to the attachment member on the shaft is provided to transmit rotation of the rotatable member on the blender to the chopping member.

In recent years, hand-held blending appliances, typically referred to as "stick-blenders," have become extremely popular for commercial and domestic use in the preparation of a wide variety of foods. Such appliances include an operative end which is immersible in fluid and has a rotatable blade which extends therefrom. Such appliances are generally used to blend or mix fluids such as gravies, broth or the like. To add to the versatility of such appliances, attachments are provided which enable the blender to whip liquids or to chop solids. The present invention relates to the latter-type attachment. The present invention provides an attachment to a hand-held blender for chopping solids which is easily attached to a stick blender and which includes a removable, rotatable chopping blade and means for preventing removal of the chopping blade during operation of the blender.

Chopping attachment for hand held blender


A method of controlling the oil flow in an engine is provided. In preferred embodiments, the method comprises: flowing oil to a first oil pump upstream or downstream of a fuel oil heat exchanger and flowing oil to a second oil pump upstream or downstream of an air oil heat exchanger. One of two control functions to control the oil mass flow rate through the first oil pump is selected wherein the first control function minimizes specific fuel consumption (“SFC”) by the engine and the second control function minimizes average oil temperature. Preferably, the oil pumps are electric and the total combined oil mass flow rate of the first and second oil pumps is maintained constant.

To improve engine specific fuel consumption, engine manufacturers increase bypass ratio by making larger fan blade diameters. However, this leads to larger nacelle weight and cowl drag which is undesirable. This can be alleviated by moving some components that are installed in the nacelle to the core of the engine—thus making the nacelle slimmer and aerodynamically efficient. However, with such an arrangement, there is less space overall for heat dissipating equipment.
For the next generation of Ultra High Bypass Ratio (UHBR) turbofans, engine manufacturers are introducing a power gearbox between the fan and low-pressure turbine. The power gearbox transmits a large amount of power from the LP turbine to the fan, and even with high mechanical efficiencies it generates a large amount of waste heat that needs to be managed to satisfy safe and reliable operation of the engine.
The heat generated from the power gearbox and other engine oil system components such as bearings and the accessory gearbox is managed by the Thermal Management System (TMS). The primary function of the TMS is to cool the oil to enable engine components that generate excess heat which are cooled by the oil to operate safely and reliably. The secondary function of the TMS is to manage excess heat in the most efficient manner, to minimize the impact of the TMS on fuel consumption. The TMS uses engine oil, whose primary function is to lubricate and cool engine components, with a secondary function of transporting heat from the heat source to the heat sink.
As the result of thermal cycling and high temperatures, the oil degrades because of oxidative and thermal breakdown. This manifests itself as increased viscosity and higher total acidity which leads to lower oil performance. Unacceptably high oil temperature reduces oil viscosity and increases the oxidation rate or breakdown of the oil. It also impacts component life because of the higher component temperatures coupled with reduced oil lubricating film thickness on contacting gear teeth and bearing surfaces that increases wear. High oil temperature can also reduce the life of the shaft contact oil seals. Therefore, to achieve engine component design life, the operating oil temperature should be maintained within the working temperature range of the oil; and to improve design life the oil temperature should be reduced.
Typically, the primary heat sink on the engine is the fuel, and the secondary heat sink is the bypass-air. It is preferable to transfer heat primarily into fuel prior to combustion as by doing so, the energy is maintained within the engine, which improves thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption. Low emissions combustion systems also have a reduced limit on the maximum allowable temperature of the fuel prior to combustion, which then limits the maximum amount of heat that the TMS can transfer into the fuel. The remaining heat is transferred into the bypass air, which is only partially recovered by the thermodynamic cycle, thus reducing engine thermal efficiency.
On future engines in which significant heat load will be generated through the use of a power gearbox, a much higher amount of heat will have to be managed using these available heat sinks.
On conventional TMSs, the oil mass flow is provided by a mechanical positive displacement type pump. The oil pump is driven via a bevel gear by an engine shaft and the amount of oil flow to the engine is proportional to rotational speed because of the pump characteristic. Thus, it is the engine rotational speeds that dictate the amount of oil provided for lubrication, and hence the peak oil temperatures during engine operation.
It would be advantageous to have a TMS that firstly sustains engine component life by limiting peak oil temperatures while providing satisfactory oil mass flow rates, and secondly provides the best engine thermal efficiency by transferring heat primarily to the fuel heat sink.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,261,527 titled "GASTURBINE ENGINE WITH GEARED TURBOEAN AND OIL THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH UNIQUE HEAT EXCHANGER STRUCTURE" to Stearns et al. (hereinafter '527 Patent) teaches a system and methods for controlling oil temperatures in a gas turbine engine. The '527 Patent, a valve 76 is used to route oil between the Fuel Oil Cooler 144 and the Air Oil Cooler 68 to achieve the desired temperature of the fuel. See '527 Patent, lines 25-27. The TMS disclosed in the '527 Patent always prioritizes maximizing heat transfer to fuel across all engine ratings, thus achieving the best engine specific fuel consumption ("SFC") at all flight points. While SFC is important, there may be times when it is desirable to optimize parameters other than SFC.

Engine thermal management methods and control systems


A linear system solving method, system, and computer program product, include calculating a matrix factorization for a matrix in a pair of matrices, in a form of a lower, a diagonal, an upper (LDU) decomposition, solving a first expression for a first value using a substitution module to create a first result, dividing the first result by values stored in the diagonal of the matrix to obtain a second result, and solving a second expression for a second value where a processing of the diagonal is skipped by using the second result.

The present invention relates generally to a linear system solving method, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system, method, and computer program product for solving dense/sparse linear systems.
Conventionally, solving a linear system is the basis of many algorithms. A majority of the processing time in modern servers are devoted to solving linear systems. Currently, software packages are widely used to calculate the solution. For example, Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS) library has routines specifically designed for this purpose. Alternatively, a Math Kernel Library (MKL) is widely used on some systems to achieve the performance by utilizing the capabilities of the systems.
However, the conventional techniques use main processors and no accelerator is involved. Some have considered techniques to accelerate linear system solvers using graphics processing units (GPUs) and although some speedups for dense system problems are reported, there has been no practical speedup for sparse systems. Since most practical problems are defined by sparse matrices, this limits the application of such implementations. Moreover, GPUs operate at high power, and offloading the calculations to GPUs for their potential speedup does not lead to energy savings and might even increase it.
Thus, there is a need in the art for accelerating linear system solving operations or offloading a part of the process to other processing elements such as a custom accelerator which could potentially improve the performance of the system or lead to energy savings and amelioration of the heat dissipation challenge in server farms.

System, method and computer program product for dense/sparse linear system solver accelerator

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method is provided for controlling a Diesel Emission Fluid (DEF) injected quantity in a NOx reduction system employing a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalyst, and a DEF injector for injecting the DEF to reach said SCR catalyst. The method includes determining a required quantity of DEF for the SCR catalyst at a given time. If the required quantity of DEF is at least equal to a threshold quantity, then a DEF injection is activated, otherwise the required quantity of DEF is stored in memory of an Electronic Control Unit (ECU). After a period, a further required quantity of DEF to be added to the required quantity is determined to determine a new required quantity of DEF. The new required quantity of DEF is continuously updated until the new required quantity of DEF is at least equal to said threshold quantity, at which point the DEF injection of the new required quantity of DEF is activated.

It is known that SCR systems in Diesel engines are able to achieve a reduction of NOx emissions by injecting in the exhaust pipe a Diesel Emission Fluid (DEF). An example of such fluid commercially available and used in automotive application is a solution made up from 32.5% Urea mixed with de-ionized water that is maintained at a suitable pressure setpoint by a pressure regulation circuit. The DEF is injected in the exhaust gas by a dedicated injector mounted on the exhaust pipe, in such a way that it can be mixed into the exhaust gas taking advantage of the exhaust gas flow. The SCR catalyst is mounted downstream of the injector with respect to the exhaust gas flow, so that the DEF added to a stream of gas is absorbed inside the catalyst, where due to the temperature of the system the nitrogen oxides are converted according to the following chemical equation (stoichiometric reaction):4NO+2(NH2)2CO+O2→4N2+4H2O+2CO2.
A typical schematic illustration of the exhaust architecture for a known SCR system is shown in FIG. 1. The scheme includes a DEF tank provided with a DEF pressure regulator, used to maintain DEF pressure at a certain setpoint to maximize injection spray efficiency. The SCR system includes also a DEF injector to inject DEF into the exhaust pipe of the engine in order to reach the SCR catalyst. Because of the working principle of the SCR system, it is not required that the injector ensures a continuous DEF flow, but the goal of the system is to maintain a certain level of DEF absorbed in the catalyst.
SCR systems have been used in automotive applications for heavy truck applications, but these systems are now requested also for passenger car applications to fulfill Euro 5 and Euro 6 NOx emission legislations. For this reason, since DEF injectors used in SCR systems have been developed in the past for heavy truck applications, they have static flow and dynamic flow rates higher than what is now requested for passenger car applications. This means that in these latter applications, a typical DEF injector works only in the small quantity injection area of its characteristic, an area that is typically non linear, that has bad precision and robustness and that is also severely subject to aging drift.
By contrast, to develop a DEF injector with lower static flow and dynamic flow rates is very challenging also from the hydraulic perspective, due to the hole diameter and to the spray geometry, this latter factor being dependent upon the number of holes.
In addition, recent legislation requires that a deviation of more than 50% between the average reagent consumption and the average demanded reagent consumption by the engine system over a period of 30 minutes of vehicle operation shall result in the activation of the driver warning system. Tighter standards may be imposed in the future.
In SCR systems, a known NOx reduction strategy, using as input a NOx sensor, request a certain injection mass for the injection strategy, with a certain refresh period. The injection strategy transforms the input, namely the mass request, in an output for the injector that typically is the opening time for the injector. The assumption is that the injector can be driven with a minimum injection period between one injection and the next one, and that two injections can be distant N times this minimum injection period.
In a hypothetical linear behavior of the injector, the requested DEF injection quantity is transformed in an opening time for the injector (directly from the characteristic of the DEF injector) and eventually corrected via a calibration map. But, in some engine operating points, depending also on the calibration of the NOx reduction strategy and on its model behavior, the requested DEF injection mass can be so little that the opening time of the injector is below a minimum mechanical threshold and the injected quantity can be completely different from the request. Injected quantity may even be zero in the case that the injector remains hydraulically closed. In general, it may be said that in these conditions for little quantities of requested DEF the injector behavior is not linear. Also, the DEF injector behavior gets worse with injector aging. This problem causes errors in the estimation of the DEF injected mass, and has a negative influence on emissions and also jeopardizes the fulfillment of emission legislation.
In view of the foregoing, at least a first object is to provide a method for controlling DEF injected quantity in a NOx reduction system employing a SCR catalyst that allows for the injection of correct quantities of fluid in all situations of use of the vehicle. At least another object is to provide a method for controlling a DEF injected quantity that allows an optimal control of such fluid in passenger cars. At least another object is to provide a method for controlling the DEF injected quantity without using complex devices and by taking advantage of the computational capabilities of the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the vehicle, and at least another object of the present invention is to meet these goals by means of a simple, rational and inexpensive solution. In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

Method for controlling fluid injected quantity in a NO


A mounting system for a conventional tailgate of a pick-up truck is capable of situating the tailgate so as to minimize drag and at the same time provide effective use of the tailgate. Two mounting brackets are each structured to include a base for being mounted upon the top end of a respective sidewall of a pick-up truck cargo bed. Each of the mounting brackets is further structured with a particular fitting for interfacing with reciprocably shaped fittings on the tailgate to removably secure, in a selectively lockable manner, the tailgate to the fittings, in the same manner that the tailgate conventionally attaches to the conventional fittings located at the inside wall of the sidewalls of the pick-up truck.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to mounting devices for securing a tailgate to a pick-up truck, and more particularly to a mounting system for a tailgate which permits that tailgate to be advantageously stored and utilized upon the top ends of sidewalls of the pick-up truck.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Pick-up trucks utilize a tailgate at the rear of the cargo bed which is pivotably mountably to the sidewalls of the cargo bed. When in the up position, the tailgate serves as rear sidewall of the cargo bed. When in the down position, the tailgate is out of the way for loading and unloading of the cargo bed.
While the tailgate is clearly an important part of a typical pick-up truck, its use is not entirely with out compromise. One major compromise is that of fuel economy. When a pick-up truck is operating at highway speed with the tailgate in its up position, considerable wind-drag is generated which is definitely noticeable to the driver. Operation of the pick-up truck with the tailgate in the down position is not safe, and the removal of the tailgate, while facilitated by quick connection fittings presently in use, is of dubious value as the tailgate must be stored somewhere and may not be available when it is needed.
In the prior art there have been variously successful attempts at solving the tailgate wind-drag problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,601 to Smith, dated Feb. 8, 1983, discloses a tailgate which is pivotable not only outwardly away from the cargo bed, but is mounted so as to also be pivotable into the cargo bed. Retainers hold the tailgate downwardly against the cargo bed floor, thus minimizing wind-drag when the tailgate is not needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,759 to Wine, dated Oct. 9, 1984, discloses a tailgate which is mounted with respect to the sidewalls so that it may be pivoted not at the bottom edge, but rather nearer a mid-point position. By positioning the tailgate to have a selected angle with respect to the cargo bed floor, air flow can be controlled and wind-drag thereby reduced.
It has also become increasingly popular for pick-up truck driver's to abandon their conventional tailgates in favor of a plastic tailgate substitute, wherein the tailgate substitute is constructed in the form of a large spaced netting of vertical and horizontal strips. The spaces between plastic vertical and horizontal strips serve to allow air to pass through so as to reduce wind-drag.
While each of the foregoing device are aimed at reducing wind-drag associated with tailgates, none provides a solution that works with a conventional tailgate.
Further, the tailgate in the up position blocks a substantial area of view of the driver when backing-up the pick-up truck. Driving with the tailgate down is not proper, so drivers are left to simply deal cautiously with this danger.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a mounting system for a conventional tailgate that is capable of situating the tailgate so as to minimize drag, improve drive rearward visibility, and at the same time provide effective use of the tailgate.


According to an embodiment, a method of forming a MEMS transducer includes forming a transducer frame in a layer of monocrystalline silicon, where forming the transducer frame includes forming a support portion adjacent a cavity and forming a first set of comb-fingers extending from the support portion. The method of forming a MEMS transducer further includes forming a spring support from an anchor to the support portion and forming a second set of comb-fingers in the layer of monocrystalline silicon. The second set of comb-fingers is interdigitated with the first set of comb-fingers.

Transducers convert signals from one domain to another and are often used in sensors. One common transducer operating as a sensor that is seen in everyday life is a microphone, which converts, i.e., transduces, sound waves into electrical signals. Another example of a common sensor is a thermometer. Various transducers exist that serve as thermometers by transducing temperature signals into electrical signals.
Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based transducers include a family of sensors and actuators produced using micromachining techniques. MEMS sensors, such as a MEMS microphone, gather information from the environment by measuring the change of physical state in the transducer and transferring a transduced signal to processing electronics that are connected to the MEMS sensor. MEMS devices may be manufactured using micromachining fabrication techniques similar to those used for integrated circuits.
MEMS devices may be designed to function as, for example, oscillators, resonators, accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, microphones, and micro-mirrors. Many MEMS devices use capacitive sensing techniques for transducing the physical phenomenon into electrical signals. In such applications, the capacitance change in the sensor is converted to a voltage signal using interface circuits.
One such capacitive sensing device is a MEMS microphone. A MEMS microphone generally has a deflectable membrane separated by a small distance from a rigid backplate. In response to a sound pressure wave incident on the membrane, it deflects towards or away from the backplate, thereby changing the separation distance between the membrane and backplate. Generally, the membrane and backplate are made out of conductive materials and form "plates" of a capacitor. Thus, as the distance separating the membrane and backplate changes in response to the incident sound wave, the capacitance changes between the "plates" and an electrical signal is generated.
MEMS microphones with this type of parallel plate capacitive structure formed from the deflectable membrane and rigid backplate may include various performance characteristics as a consequence of the parallel plate structure. For example, the rigid backplate is often perforated in order to allow air to pass through the backplate so that the rigid backplate is acoustically transparent. However, in practice, the rigid backplate often is not fully acoustically transparent and generates some amount of acoustic noise. This often leads to a tradeoff between mechanical robustness, such as by including fewer and smaller perforations in the rigid backplate, and acoustic noise reduction, such as by including more and larger perforations in the rigid backplate.
Another characteristic of such parallel plate structures is the phenomenon known as "pull-in." In order to operate as an acoustic transducer, a bias voltage is applied between the deflectable membrane and the rigid backplate. Because of the voltage applied between the plates, changes in capacitance between the plates, resulting from motion of the deflectable membrane, produce a measurable voltage signal that corresponds to an incident acoustic signal. However, due to the applied bias voltage, as the separation distance between the deflectable membrane and the rigid backplate decreases, an attractive electrostatic force also increases. The attractive electrostatic force is usually balanced by a restoring mechanical spring force in the deflectable membrane, the attractive electrostatic force increases non-linearly as the distance becomes small while the restoring mechanical spring force increases only linearly. The difference in relation to separation distance results in the attractive electrostatic force overcoming the restoring mechanical spring force when the separation distance reaches a certain limit, which causes pull-in or collapse as the deflectable membrane moves all the way to contact the rigid backplate and may result in stiction. The phenomenon of pull-in presents another tradeoff between resistance to pull-in, from increased rigidity of the deflectable membrane or lower bias voltage, and higher sensitivity, from reduced rigidity of the deflectable membrane or increased bias voltage.
Thus, there exists opportunity for inventive MEMS devices with improved performance characteristics.

System and method for a comb-drive MEMS device


A hand-held digital tire pressure gauge is designed such that it will provide valid tire pressure readings even for tires that have an elevated temperature due to the vehicle having been recently driven. The measurement from an ambient (outside) air temperature sensor is subtracted from the measurement of a sensor that employs a unique device for sampling inner tire air temperature and the result is then multiplied by a known factor representing the normal unit of air pressure variance experienced per unit of temperature variance. This value is then subtracted from the measurement of a tire air pressure gauge sensor to derive and display a xe2x80x9ccorrectedxe2x80x9d air pressure that the tire would have had if its inner air temperature were equal to the surrounding air temperature. The objective of the gauge is to help the user to realize increased fuel mileage, reduced tire wear, and improved handling and safety of the vehicle.

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The state of the art of current hand-held tire air pressure gauges does not provide a useful measure of the proper tire inflation pressure if the vehicle has been recently driven. Driving causes flexing/friction within the tire and that results in elevated tire internal temperatures and related higher tire pressures. Such increases can be significant: Tire pressures can increase by 2-3 psi in only a couple of miles of local driving and, after prolonged highway driving at high speeds, can result in increases of six psi or more. In fact, typical vehicle and tire manufactures"" instructions indicate that tire pressures should only be measured after the vehicle has been standing for at least three hours. The problem, however, is that tire inflation facilities are generally located remotely from the vehicle owner and the tire temperatures and pressures have become inflated from driving the vehicle to the gas station or on a trip. If the tire pressures have increased by five pounds due to highway driving, for example, a current tire gauge would indicate that the tires are over-inflated and may lead the user to release air from the tires and cause them to be under-inflated by five pounds.
Improperly inflated tires on a vehicle can cause increased tire wear, decreased fuel mileage, poor handling, unsafe driving conditions, and even the possibility of a tire blow-out. These concerns led to this hand-held digital tire pressure gauge that is designed to correct for any elevated tire temperatures/pressures that are due to driving the vehicle.
A hand-held digital tire air pressure gauge has a spring-loaded piston that is compressed by air pressure from the tire to allow a calibrated volume of inner air from the tire to enter the gauge where sensors measure the tire gauge pressure and the temperature of the sampled air from the tire. A separate sensor mounted externally on the gauge body measures the ambient (outside of the tire) air temperature and the difference between the measurements of the two temperature sensors is determined. This temperature difference, along with the tire air gauge pressure and an adjustment factor derived from the known behavioral relationship between air pressure and air temperature, are analyzed by a series of digital electronic calculations in an equation to calculate a xe2x80x9ccorrectedxe2x80x9d tire air pressure which is indicated on a digital display. (See the specifics of this equation in the detailed description for FIG. 1E and also in FIG. 2) This corrected pressure is the air pressure that the tire would have if it had the same internal temperature as the temperature of the air outside of the tire.
The equation described in this application assumes that there is a linear relationship between air pressure change and air temperature change, and this assumption is probably sufficiently accurate in the temperature ranges expected for this application. However, nonlinear relationships could also be accommodated.
As previously pointed out in the background section, driving a vehicle will result in an increase of the air temperatures within the tires. This gauge, however, by correcting for this type of elevated tire temperatures, will allow the vehicle owner to drive to a service station or to check the tire pressures while on a trip and to still obtain valid tire air pressure readings. For example, if the vehicle manufacturer recommended thirty pounds of pressure when the tire is xe2x80x9ccoldxe2x80x9d, and this gauge indicated a xe2x80x9ccorrectedxe2x80x9d tire pressure of twenty-five pounds when the tire is hot due to highway driving, the user could confidently add five pounds of air to the tire and know that the tire will be properly inflated. If he adds the five recommended pounds and later checks the tire when the vehicle has not been recently driven, the gauge will indicate the correct tire pressure of thirty pounds.
The design of the piston/spring/displacement chamber mechanism within the gauge ensures that a sufficient volume of tire air enters the displacement chamber for an accurate tire air temperature measurement without allowing a significant loss of tire air pressure (estimated loss of less than one-eighth of a psi for the specifications used here). No special action is required by the user other than pressing the gauge against the tire stem as he would with any hand held digital tire air pressure gauge. Further, since the piston movement is driven first by tire air pressure and then by a return spring, there is no battery power required and thus no drain on the gauge battery during its operation. The external temperature sensor is located at the opposite end of the gauge from the tire temperature sensor to ensure that there is no temperature influence from the tire. The external temperature sensor is also protected by a plastic grid that is designed such that it discourages nearby hand placement that could unduly influence the sensor reading.

Tire pressure gauge with temperature correction


A heat transfer device includes a base and a heat sink coupled to the base. The heat sink includes a fin with a surface for receiving a cooling medium to travel across, thereby defining an upstream end and a downstream end for the fin. An airflow projection is coupled to the surface of the fin, in which the airflow projection includes an upstream end and a downstream end with the downstream end of the airflow projection cantilevered above the surface of the fin.

Electronic components, such as central processing units (CPUs), generate heat during normal operation. Unless removed, the heat will adversely affect the operational stability of the electronic component. Measures must therefore be taken to efficiently remove the heat. For example, a heat sink (e.g., a cold plate) may be mounted on the electronic component to remove heat therefrom.
A heat sink generally includes a base for contacting the electronic component and absorbing the heat from the electronic component, and a plurality of fins coupled to the base to dissipate the absorbed heat from the base. Passages are defined between the fins, and airflow may be provided (such as from a fan) through the passages to increase the heat dissipation from the heat sink. The electronic components, and particularly CPUs, are only becoming more powerful and smaller, therefore requiring improved heat sinks to dissipate the increased heat generated over a smaller area. Further, the air passing through the heat sink may deposit dust on the heat sink, thereby decreasing the effectiveness of the heat sink over time.

Airflow projection for heat transfer device

International Business Machines Corporation


Technology for re-coloring a region of a color image including determining an original base color in a region of a color image; establishing at least one shading parameter in the region of the color image; and combining a new base color with the at least one shading parameter in the region of the color image thereby producing a re-colored region of the color image.

Color images such as digital photographs are currently editable in a variety of ways. For example, it is often desirable to change the color of an object in a digital photograph; however, it can be difficult to achieve realistic results, especially when the new color has a substantially different luminance or lightness than that of the original color. Also difficult is appropriately separating the base color from the shading characteristics or retaining the shading characteristics of the original. Existing solutions based on general color editing tools require considerable experience, skill and experimentation. Many coloring algorithms have filters that can be useful for these tasks, such as those known as Colorize, Hue/Saturation/Lightness and Hue Map. However, these have not been well suited to the re-coloring of an object in an image because they rely on the skill, experience and tenacity of the user. The best choice in any particular situation may depend upon the re-coloring task at hand. Even when the best filter is chosen, it can be difficult to adjust the controls to give the desired appearance. Moreover, it is often the case that desired results cannot be obtained.
A practical example of this problem may be that of an online clothing merchandiser offering a particular style of a particular garment, but in several base fabric colors. It could prove beneficial to such an enterprise to have the ability to easily create digital images which could alternatively show any of a range of available colors, but without the need to take multiple photographs. A practical benefit would be obtained if they were able to easily, realistically and accurately change the color, after-the-fact, from a single photograph of a model.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for replaying a video that includes positions of a video recording device. The method includes obtaining a target position of the video recording device corresponding to a target scene. The method further includes based on the target position, searching an index table associated with the video to determine a target index position of the video recording device, wherein the index table indexes a plurality of positions of the video recording device. The method further includes determining an offset address in the index table corresponding to the target index position. The method further includes obtaining a video clip including the target scene based on the offset address. The method still further includes replaying the target scene in the video clip.

With the development and wide application of the intelligent home techniques, video surveillance is not limited to outdoor and indoor security, but increasingly applied to the home life field, for example, family care for family members. Video surveillance may record and remotely display home life of family members in real time. The family members may be elder at home, left-behind children, or the like, who need to be taken care of. The video surveillance may help users to keep track of conditions of the family members and provide better care for the family members in time. Accidents may be avoided and appropriate measures may be taken in time with the help of the video surveillance.
A pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera is a video capture device that is widely applied to security surveillance. It is characterized by its ability to remotely control the lateral rotation, longitudinal tilt and optical zooming of the camera. Therefore, it is also referred to as a PTZ camera. Comparing with a traditional camera, the PTZ camera may change view angles of the camera by rotating in a horizontal direction and/or a vertical direction, and change a surveillance region according to an actual requirement. The PTZ camera may chance an image magnification by changing a focal length of the camera and/or obtaining a high definition image at a long distance. Therefore, the PTZ camera is more flexible and applied more widely than a tradition surveillance camera in the security surveillance.
However, since the PTZ camera is rotatable and the recorded content may include moving scenes, it usually takes a long time for a user to search for a specific scene in a video recording.


A method for transferring a micro device, includes: a compression step in which a carrier film having a micro-device attached to an adhesive layer thereof is brought into contact with a substrate comprising a solder deposited on metal electrodes formed on the substrate and is compressed on the substrate; a first adhesive strength generation step in which the solder disposed between the micro-device and the metal electrodes is compressed in the compression step to generate first adhesive strength between the micro-device and the solder; a second adhesive generation step in which the micro-device is bonded to the adhesive layer through press-fitting in the compression step to generate second adhesive strength between the micro-device and the adhesive layer; and a release step in which the carrier film is separated from the substrate, with the micro-device adhered to the solder.

In general, a display using micro-light emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) is spotlighted as an advanced next generation display capable of replacing existing displays in the art. For manufacture of such a micro-LED display, a technique for transferring each LED to a modularized circuit board is needed.
In a typical method for transferring micro-LEDs to solders on a circuit board, the micro-LEDs are transferred one by one by a vacuum chuck. However, this method requires a very long time in manufacture of a display having a very large number of pixels, such as HD, UHD, SUHD, and the like. In addition, as the size of the devices decreases, this method has a problem of difficulty in handling devices such as micro-LEDs using the vacuum chuck used in an existing process.
Therefore, although there is a need for a technique for transferring a large number of micro-LEDs at the same time, such a technique has not been developed in the art and there is difficulty in the manufacturing process.
In order to solve such a problem, a roll transfer process can be used. However, this process has a problem in that roll transfer of micro-devices is very difficult to achieve due to very low adhesive strength of solder pastes when the micro-devices are transferred to a substrate using typical solder pastes.

Micro device transferring method, and micro device substrate manufactured by micro device transferring method


A method and devices are provided for adapting the transmission power level of a mobile terminal during a handover phase at which the mobile terminal switches from one base station to another. The method provided comprises applying values of operating parameters that characterize both base stations and adapting the transmission power level to an acceptable level at which communications transmitted from the terminal to the second station would be properly received without applying further increase in the transmission power while ensuring that the communications transmitted by the mobile terminal to the second base station, will not cause severe interference to communications exchanged between the second base station and the other terminals communicating therewith.

In modern multiple access systems, alternate and TX noise floor interferences generated by adjacent Terminal Stations (TS's) is one of the most significant factors in utilizing the system capacity and in affecting session quality. One common way to overcome this problem is to reduce the transmit power for each user so that the interference is eliminated or at least limited. However, it is obvious that the transmit power cannot be simply reduced without taking into considerations other factors such as that the reduced power should still be enough in order to maintain the required performances for a satisfactory traffic quality.
Two approaches are known in the art for carrying out adaptation of the Terminal Station (TS) transmission power when it is about to start transmitting to a Target Base Station (TBS). The first approach is by carrying out a process of pre-association with the target BS before starting the actual transmission process (while maintaining or temporary suspending the communication to SBS). By this approach, the TS would receive information about the link characteristics and/or power setup requirements by connecting to the TBS, and consequently will be able to modify its own power level accordingly. Following the pre-association period, the information is used by the TS to adjust its Tx power level when connecting to the TBS. The main disadvantage of such a method is the increase in the time required for the TS scanning process, causing significant adverse impact (interruption) on the TS active data traffic session with a Serving Base Station during scanning interval. The second approach is by using close loop power control during the preliminary stage of the communication with the TBS. By this approach, the TS sets its initial TX power for transmitting to the TBS according to predefined knowledge of the TBS requirements and/or measurements of transmission(s) received from the TBS. The main disadvantage of this approach is significant delay increase during a handover (HO), a process when a connection has to be transferred from one sector to another while the user moves between cells, during active data traffic session.
US 20030203742 describes wireless devices incorporated in an ad-hoc wireless network which adaptively set their transmission power levels based on locally available information. Initially, each such wireless device sets its transmission power level to a relatively low level, and gradually increases its power level up to a predetermined maximum transmission power level. As the transmission power increases, the wireless device is able to incrementally connect with additional wireless devices located at increasing distances from the wireless device. As the wireless device connects with these additional wireless devices, it checks a connectivity constraint. When the connectivity constraint is satisfied, the wireless device stops increasing its power and operates at its current power level.
US 20050147074 describes a method for autonomously optimizing the transmission power of an endpoint in a wireless network. The method includes monitoring the signal quality associated with data transfers between an access point in the wireless network and the endpoint at a certain transmission power and a certain transmission speed, checking whether the signal quality is acceptable and then adjusting the transmission power or the transmission speed based on whether the signal quality is acceptable.
US 20010012766 discloses a wireless communication apparatus that includes a variable power amplifier and a power amplifier. A variable power amplifier control unit controls the gain of the variable power amplifier for controlling the transmission power. Simultaneously therewith, a detection unit detects changes in conditions of the station and based upon the detected condition changes, a transmission power control bit controlling unit and a transmission power control period controlling unit change the control period of the transmission power control bit and the transmission power control range respectively, and the transmission power control bit is inserted into the transmission signal in be received by the other end of the link receiver.
In addition, one of the processes characterizing a mobile wireless network is a handover (HO) process in which a connection, currently existing between a device and a second device, needs to be transferred to another device during an active communication session. Such as in the case where a user moves from one cell to another cell while surfing the web, or in the midst of a phone call.
The problem with such a handover process is that it should be carried while the TS moves to an area serviced by a second BS and should communicate at the correct transmission power level, i.e. not too low and not too high. Otherwise, if it's transmission power is too low, it will not be received immediately at its first attempt and the handover process might take too long time, while on the other hand, if its transmission power is too high it might cause severe interference to other TSs that are already communicating with the second (target) BS. US 20050159176 describes a radio communication system where an associated-dedicated physical channel used for carrying out a soft hand-over and a high speed-dedicated physical control channel used for carrying out a hard hand-over, are combined.
Still, none of the prior art methods described provide an adequate solution to the problem of carrying out a reliable hand-over process which will be completed within a short enough time interval and will not consume too much resources of the wireless network.

Power control in wireless communications networks during hand-over