A variable displacement oil pump is described. The oil pump has a pump body connected to an intake channel and to a delivery channel, a rotor capable of rotating inside the pump body about a rotation axis and provided with a plurality of vanes. The oil pump has an oscillating stator arranged in an eccentric position around the rotor and pivoted inside the pump body at a rotation pin. The oil pump has adjustment means for adjusting the displacement of the oil pump which acts on the oscillating stator to displace it with respect to the rotor and position it in at least one predetermined operative position. The adjustment means has first thrusting means configured to exert a first thrusting action on a first outer surface portion of the oscillating stator arranged on a substantially opposite side with respect to the rotation pin taking as a reference the rotor.

The oil pump of the invention has a preferred application in engines for automobiles.
As known, engines for automobiles typically comprise an oil pump configured to pump pressurised oil to lubricate the engine.
FIG. 1 shows a variable displacement oil pump of the prior art, which is wholly indicated with 10. The oil pump 10 comprises a pump body 12 connected to an intake channel 12a and to a delivery channel 12b, a rotor 14 capable of rotating inside the pump body 12 about a rotation axis                and an oscillating stator 22 arranged in an eccentric position around the rotor 14 and capable of moving inside the pump body 12 about a rotation pin 23. The rotor 14 is provided with radial cavities 16 inside which vanes 18 slide, the radially outer ends 20 of vanes 18 contacting the inner surface 21 of the oscillating stator 22 (for the sake of clarity of illustration reference numerals 16, 18 and 22 are associated with only one of the radial cavities and with only one of the vanes shown). The vanes 18, the oscillating stator 22 and the rotor 14 define inside the pump body 12 a plurality of chambers 24 (for the sake of clarity of illustration reference numeral 24 is associated with only one of the chambers shown). Oil is fed into the chambers 24 from the intake channel 12a. Such oil is pressurised due to the decrease of the volume of the chambers 24 upon rotation of the rotor 14. The pressurised oil is then fed through the delivery channel 12b to the parts of the engine that need to be lubricated.
The displacement of the oil pump 10 is determined by the eccentricity between oscillating stator 22 and rotor 14. Therefore, a variation of the aforementioned eccentricity leads to a variation in the displacement of the oil pump.
The eccentricity between rotor and oscillating stator is determined by the balance between the thrusting action exerted on the oscillating stator 22 by a pressurised fluid (typically oil) fed inside a thrusting chamber 28 defined between the pump body 12 and the oscillating stator 22 and the thrusting action exerted on the oscillating stator 22 by a helical spring 30.
The thrusting chamber 28 is delimited on one side by the rotation pin 23 and, on the opposite side, by a gasket 32.
The Applicant has found that in oil pumps of the type described above there can be, at the rotation pin, leakages of the pressurised oil present inside the thrusting chamber. This is due to the fact that, in order to be able to obtain frictionless movement of the oscillating stator with respect to the rotor, the rotation pin is mounted with clearance in the respective housing seats provided in the oscillating stator and in the pump body. A possible oil leakage at the rotation pin causes the oil pump to malfunction or in any case to operate differently from what is provided for at the design stage. In particular, the oil pump is not able to ensure the flow rate for which it was designed.
The technical problem at the basis of the present invention is to avoid possible oil leakages at the rotation pin of the oscillating stator.
The present invention therefore relates to a variable displacement oil pump in accordance with claim 1.
In particular, the oil pump of the invention comprises a pump body connected to an intake channel and to a delivery channel, a rotor able to rotate inside the pump body about a rotation axis and provided with a plurality of vanes, an oscillating stator arranged in an eccentric position around the rotor and pivoted inside the pump body at a rotation pin, and adjustment means for adjusting the displacement of the oil pump acting on the oscillating stator to displace it with respect to the rotor and position it in at least one predetermined operative position, wherein said adjustment means comprise first thrusting means configured to exert a first thrusting action on a first outer surface portion of the oscillating stator arranged on a substantially opposite side with respect to the rotation pin, and a thrusting chamber defined between the pump body and a second outer surface portion of the oscillating stator arranged between the rotation pin and said first outer surface portion, said thrusting chamber being configured to be filled with a predetermined amount of a pressurised fluid to exert on the oscillating stator a second thrusting action opposite to said first thrusting action and suitable for displacing the oscillating stator to take it into said at least one predetermined operative position, characterised in that the thrusting chamber is defined between two opposite sealing gaskets so as to be fluid-dynamically insulated from the rotation pin and in that it comprises an insulation chamber arranged between said at least one thrusting chamber and the rotation pin and connected to an intake conduit.
Throughout the present description and in the subsequent claims, the expression "fluid-dynamically insulated" is used, with reference to the thrusting chamber, to indicate a condition in which passage of fluid from inside the thrusting chamber towards the outside of the thrusting chamber is substantially prevented.
Throughout the present description and in the subsequent claims, the expression "intake conduit" is used to indicate an area having a pressure lower than that of the insulation chamber, that is suitable for allowing a flow of fluid from the insulation chamber towards such an area.
Advantageously, in the oil pump of the invention the aforementioned sealing gaskets and the suction action which the insulation chamber is subjected to keep the rotation pin insulated from the pressurised fluid fed outside of the oscillating stator, thus avoiding possible leakages of the aforementioned pressurised fluid at the rotation pin.
Advantageously, pressurised fluid is not fed into the insulation chamber. Such an insulation chamber acts both as a structural separation chamber between thrusting chamber and rotation pin and as collection chamber of possible fluid that leakages from the thrusting chamber towards the insulation chamber (due, for example, to damage to a sealing gasket of the thrusting chamber). Such a possible fluid is, however, evacuated from the insulation chamber by suction, preventing it from being able to directly reach the rotation pin.
Preferred features of the variable displacement oil pump according to the invention are recited in the dependent claims. The features of each dependent claim can be used individually or in combination with those recited in the other dependent claims.
Preferably, the intake conduit is connected to the intake channel of the pump.
Alternatively, the intake conduit is connected to a distinct suction pump, or to an area located outside of the pump body and having a pressure lower than that of the insulation chamber.
Preferably, the insulation chamber is defined between the rotation pin and a first gasket of said at least two opposite sealing gaskets and said at least one thrusting chamber is defined between the first gasket and at least one second gasket of said at least two opposite sealing gaskets. The possibility that the pressurised fluid which is in the thrusting chamber leaks into the insulation chamber is thus very remote due to the fact that such chambers are fluid-dynamically insulated from one another by a sealing gasket.
Preferably, the first gasket is angularly spaced from the rotation pin by an angle lower than 90° with reference to said rotation axis.
Preferably, the second gasket is angularly spaced from the first gasket by an angle greater than 90° with reference to said rotation axis.
In further embodiments of the oil pump of the present invention, said at least one thrusting chamber comprises a first thrusting chamber arranged between the first gasket and a further sealing gasket arranged between the first gasket and the second gasket, and at least one second thrusting chamber arranged between said further gasket and the second gasket, wherein said first and second thrusting chambers are each configured to be filled, simultaneously or alternatively, with a respective predetermined amount of pressurised fluid.
Preferably, said at least two opposite sealing gaskets are housed in respective seats formed in the oscillating stator.
In an alternative embodiment of the oil pump of the invention, one of said two opposite sealing gaskets is arranged at the rotation pin. In such an embodiment therefore, it is not provided any insulation chamber or any structural separation between rotation pin and thrusting chamber. In this case, leakage of the pressurised fluid at the rotation pin is prevented by the fact that a sealing gasket is arranged in the housing seat of the rotation pin.
Preferably, in all of the aforementioned embodiments, the aforementioned first thrusting means comprises an elastic element, more preferably a helical compression spring. Alternatively, the aforementioned first thrusting means can comprise a thrusting chamber filled by a pressurised fluid.


Methods and systems are provided for controlling attitude of a vehicle using a reaction wheel onboard the vehicle. One exemplary method involves receiving a torque command for adjusting the attitude of the vehicle using the reaction wheel, determining a phase error of the reaction wheel based at least in part on the torque command, and determining a motor torque command for the reaction wheel based on the phase error. The motor torque command is provided to an electric motor of the reaction wheel to apply a corresponding torque to the rotor of the reaction wheel. The relationship between the magnitude of the motor torque command and the magnitude of the phase error is nonlinear. In exemplary embodiments, the magnitude of the motor torque command exceeds the stiction torque, at least instantaneously, when the reaction wheel has fallen behind an expected position by more than a threshold amount.

Reaction wheels are commonly used to control the attitude (or orientation) of a spacecraft, satellite, or the like. A reaction wheel typically consists of a rotor (or wheel) and an electric motor, wherein the electric motor is operated to apply torque to increase or decrease the angular velocity of the rotor, and thereby alter the angular momentum of the rotor. This change in angular momentum produces a reactionary torque which causes the spacecraft to rotate to the desired attitude or orientation. Attitude control systems (ACSs) and other spacecraft orienting applications often utilize a momentum control system (MCS) that includes at least three reaction wheels to provide rotation about three-different axes.
The bearings of reaction wheels exhibit friction, which impair operation of reaction wheels at low speeds or when a reaction wheel changes its direction of rotation. For example, when the rotor changes its direction of rotation, forces caused by static friction increase the amount of torque required to cause the rotor to resume rotating in the desired direction. Closed-loop control systems have been developed to mitigate the friction in reaction wheel bearings. However, due to nonlinearities of the frictional forces in the bearings, existing control systems fail to adequately compensate for frictional forces within a desired amount of time, resulting in attitude errors.

Methods and systems for adjusting attitude using reaction wheels


A disclosed file access system is capable of receiving each of code data from a server apparatus and updating a local file without increasing the processing time upon receiving the code data as the number of received code data is increased. The file access system includes a header data receiving unit receiving header data; a header data writing unit writing the header data into the local file; a code data receiving unit receiving designated code data from among the code data; a storage area allocating unit allocating a storage area with respect to the local file so that the code data received by the code data receiving unit can be written from the same starting position of the local file as that of the original file; and a code data writing unit writing the code data from the position of the local file.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a file access system, and more specifically to a file access system capable of receiving code data of an original file including plural code data from a server apparatus and updating a local file in the file access system based on the received code data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a file access system (see for example Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-179760) in which, before fragmented code data in a prescribed format from a server apparatus are received, the header data of image data are received from the server apparatus. Based on the received header data, a number of tiles of the image data and the necessary number of the code data to constitute all of the tiles are calculated. The same number of one-byte-length dummy code data as those of the code data are created with respect to each of the calculated tiles. Then, among the dummy code data, dummy code data corresponding to the data actually received from the server apparatus are replaced by the data received from the server apparatus.
In such a conventional file access system, however, it may be required to update a starting position and the size of each code data included in header data and to shift the replacement code data when the code data are received. This may cause a problem in that the processing time when code data is received may be disadvantageously increased as the number of code data is increased.


In the present disclosure, analytics are applied to work items while the work items are waiting in a work queue in order to optimize the routing and allocation of work items to agents in the most efficient manner possible, while optimizing agents being assigned to work items they are most qualified to handle. By performing a look ahead at more than the initial work item, the system assesses the agent skills required by imminent work items in the work queue. This is then compared to a skillset of each available and/or soon to be available agent in order to achieve the optimal allocation of the work items to maximize the work item being assigned the best qualified agent. The work items are then routed to the agents accordingly.

In a modern high-volume customer engagement center(s) (CEC) work allocation is typically subject to routing and queueing rules. This allocation method can often lead to a mix of different work being routed to one department, and queued in that department on a simplistic chronological manner based on arrival time and any relevant service level agreements (SLAs).
This simplistic method of work allocation within a department can lead to inefficiencies because a next available agent method of work allocation blindly allocates the next available agent. Oftentimes, the next available agent may not have an appropriate skillset to handle the next work item appropriately. In other instances, the next available agent may be overqualified to handle the work item assigned whereas the agent after that may then not be assigned a work item because they are underqualified for the remaining work items. The aforementioned inefficiencies typically result in the agent taking a larger amount of time to complete the work item, the work item requiring reallocation to another agent with the appropriate skillset, or a qualified agent being unavailable for an advanced work item because they have been assigned a work item requiring lesser skills.
Modern electronic scheduling programs are unable to provide such capabilities. As a result, customers may face inefficient handling of their communications, excessive wait times to speak with a customer service representative (CSR), and excessive transfers of their calls, leading to increased customer dissatisfaction, and CSRs will be handling calls not suited for their skill set, thus wasting an organization's money. Further, some work items may be assigned to agents lacking the skills to handle the work item, while others remain unassigned because the agents that are qualified to handle a complex work item get assigned to a work item they are overqualified to handle.
There is an unmet need in the art for a system and method capable of looking ahead into the work queue in order to optimize assignment of work items to agents such that agents are matched to the work item they are most qualified to handle.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for queue look ahead to optimize work assignment to available agents


A motor vehicle is provided having a vehicle structure and a vehicle part that can be displaced relative to the vehicle structure with the aid of at least one drive cable that is provided with a plastics injection molded section for joining the drive cable to the vehicle part. A load reduction device may have at least one coupling member which allows a relative movement between the displaceable vehicle part and the drive cable in the case of an acceleration of the vehicle part relative to the vehicle structure and which interacts with a catch device during the relative movement, the catch means absorbing at least part of the kinetic energy resulting from the acceleration.

Such a motor vehicle is known from practice and comprises, as the displaceable vehicle part, a lid member that forms part of a roof opening system and is manufactured from glass. The lid member is guided, via sliders, in guide rails on either side of the vertical longitudinal centre plane of the vehicle and can thus be shifted between a closed position in which a roof cutout has been closed with the aid of the lid member and a cleared position in which the roof opening has been cleared at least partially. For driving the lid member, the sliders on either side are connected to a drive cable that is realised as a so-called gradient cable and is driven with the aid of a common drive engine. For joining the drive cables to the sliders, each of the drive cables is provided with a plastics injection moulded section.
Development of roof opening systems is tending towards roof openings and, thus, the corresponding lid members ever increasing and hence also becoming ever heavier. This is in particular true for so-called spoiler roofs or for sliding roofs running on the outside, where the lid member, starting from the closed position, is initially deployed at its rear edge and is then advanced above a rear fixed-roof portion. For reasons of safety, it is required that the lid member does not even get detached from the vehicle structure in a crash situation, which would present an additional uncontrollable threat for persons. This could occur when the plastics injection moulded sections, via which the drive cables are linked to the drive slides of the lid member, crack or break away, as a result of which the lid member could burst lifting cams.

Motor vehicle having a vehicle part that can be displaced relative to the vehicle structure


A ball diverting playfield feature for pinball games employs a pair of abutting surfaces disposed on or above the playfield, which can be separated to create an alternate ball path. A solenoid mechanism controls the positions of the surfaces.

The present invention relates generally to pinball games, and more particularly to a playfield feature for pinball games.
Pinball games, as commonly known, consist of an inclined playfield and a plurality of play features arranged on the playfield. A player uses flippers or similar means to direct a ball at playfield features such as targets or ramps in order to score points.
Players are, however, selective as to the particular pinball machines they choose to play. Selection is based on a diversity of criteria, including the variety and originality of playfield features Thus, the success of a particular pinball game, or series of games, is dependent upon the inclusion of new and original playfield features in such games.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel playfield feature by which the path of the ball is altered as a result of a change in the configuration of the playfield feature.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a playfield feature in the form of a pair of separating parts, whereby a channel to guide ball movement is created as a result of the separation of the parts.
Still another object of the invention is to provide separating playfield surfaces, wherein said surfaces may optionally feature playfield features such as targets, bumpers and the like.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description of the invention provided below.

Ball diverter playfield feature for pinball machines


A print liquid supply sub-assembly, the print liquid supply sub-assembly to connect to a printer to provide a print liquid to the printer may include a print liquid output to connect to a print liquid input of the printer; a first fluidic channel upstream of the print liquid output comprising a first fluidic valve to prevent the print liquid from entering a supply container upstream of the first fluidic valve; and a second fluidic channel upstream of the print liquid output fluidically coupled to the first fluidic channel comprising a second fluidic valve to selectively prevent the fluid from passing out of the supply container downstream from the second fluidic valve.

Printing devices operate to dispense a liquid onto a surface of a substrate. In some examples, these printing devices may include two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) printing devices. In the context of a 2D printing device, a liquid such as an ink may be deposited onto the surface of the substrate. In the context of a 3D printing device, an additive manufacturing liquid may be dispensed onto the surface of the substrate in order to build up a 3D object during an additive manufacturing process. In these examples, the print liquid is supplied to such printing devices from a reservoir or other supply. The print liquid reservoir holds a volume of print liquid that is passed to a liquid deposition device and ultimately deposited on a surface.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method of reducing bandwidth utilization in a cellular network. The method includes receiving packet streams at a suppression unit of a cellular network, identifying a plurality of packet streams carrying the same data content, by the suppression unit; forwarding for packet streams identified as carrying the same data content, fewer packet streams than received, during a period in which the streams are identified to have the same content; regenerating the non-forwarded packet streams of the plurality of packet streams carrying the same data content, by a regeneration unit of the cellular network; and transmitting the plurality of packet streams including the regenerated streams to mobile stations.

Packet based networks comprise a plurality of routers interconnected through communication links. Data transmitted in packet based networks are encapsulated in packets which each contain an address of a destination of the packet. Each router forwards packets it receives toward the respective destinations of the packets. Packet based networks are used to provide many services, including multimedia streaming, data broadcasting and both telephone and fax transmission.
Cellular telephone networks provide communication channels to mobile stations, which are not confined to a specific location. The mobile stations are serviced by base stations which wirelessly transmit signals to the mobile stations located in their vicinity, referred to as a cell. The network connecting the base stations to other communication networks is referred to as a terrestrial network. The cellular telephone networks provide data services using packet based protocols, such as the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) protocol. According to the GPRS protocol, a mobile station (MS), which requires a data session, registers with a serving GPRS support node (SGSN). Thereafter, the MS generates a context request which initiates a context assignment procedure in which the MS is associated with a packet based address of an external packet based network.
In some cases, mobile stations subscribe to streaming content, such as video content, provided in packets by a streaming server. Where multiple mobile stations within the same cell subscribe for the same stream, the stream is delivered to each of the mobile stations separately, in a manner wasteful in bandwidth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,252 to Noneman, the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference, describes using multicast transmission over CDMA cellular networks.
U.S. patent publication 2004/0266440 to Fuchs et al., titled "Multicast Transmission in Packet Based Cellular Networks", the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference, describes a cellular network in which requests for streaming channels are intercepted and the streaming content to all the mobile stations in a single cell are provided on a channel of a virtual subscriber, to which all the mobile stations are instructed to listen.
Due to their complexity, multicast procedures have not been widely implemented.
PCT publication 2007/131296 to Williams et al., titled: "Redundant Media Packet Streams", the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference, describes use of redundant streams for backup purposes and for switching between the streams when there is a problem with one of the streams.
US patent publication 2006/0262851 to Bafkan et al., titled: "Method and system for Efficient Transmission of Communication Traffic" and U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,019 to Shalem et al., titled: "Increasing Channel Capacity in Fixed Cellular Networks", the disclosures of both of which are entirely incorporated herein by reference, describe methods of reducing bandwidth utilization in cellular networks.

Optimizing video transmission over mobile infrastructure


A plastic packaging material which, when formed as a package having seams, will provide a predictable line of failure along a seam when the package is opened to prevent the package from tearing down the side. The predictable failure path is provided through a lamination process involving specific resins or blends of resins laminated in three (or more) layers in which an extruded inner layer forms a weak inner bond wholly within that inner layer to create the predictable line of failure and in which the process of forming the material does not inhibit processing speed, efficiency, and economics of materials used to provide this reliable openability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to product packaging and in particular to a plastic material for forming a good product package having a predictable line of failure when the package is opened to prevent tearing of the bag down the body of the bag. This predictable failure path is provided through a coextruded lamination manufacturing process involving specific resins or blends or resins coextruded in three or more layers that do not inhibit processing speed, efficiency, and economy of materials used to provide this reliable openability.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Laminated films produced for making food packages are based on multiple layers of plastic film each with a specific purpose. An outer web is designed to move across a packaging machine, another web provides heat stability to prevent distortion when the package is sealed, still another provides the ability to obtain a uniform print surface, and yet another provides the ability for the laminated film to be adhered to an adhesive used to bond the laminated film to an adjacent film. When more than two film webs are used to form a laminated film, these core film webs provide additional specific properties such as moisture vapor transfer rate, gas barrier, and appearance. This part of the lamination has nothing to do with the openability of the lamination in package form. The inner web of a lamination can contribute barrier qualities, optics, and sealability, and yet provide openability that varies from "impossible" to "easy open".
Thus, a prior art bag so constructed is illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the bag 10 is shown filled with product and sealed. It has a longitudinal seal 12 and end seals 14 and 16. The bag is generally made as indicated in FIG. 2 by forming essentially a cylindrical tube 18 with a longitudinal seal 12 and with a horizontal seal at the lower end thereof along seal 16 as shown in FIG. 3. The package can then be filled with product when constructed as shown in FIG. 3 and sealed as illustrated in FIG. 4 to form a bag filled with product having upper and lower sealed ends 14 and 16, respectively, and a longitudinal side seal 12.
The problem with these bags is illustrated in FIG. 5. When the bag is to be opened and forces are applied in the direction of arrows 24 and 26 to the upper seal 14, and bag may start to open at 26 and then tear downwardly into the side of the bag as illustrated at 28. This is not a serious problem for small bags of food products because the contents of the small bag can be eaten entirely. However, with large bags containing large amounts of food products, the tear 28 prevents the bag from being reclosed to protect the contents therein; thus the contents must be transferred to another container that can be sealed to protect the freshness of the product. The reason that such bags tear as shown in FIG. 5 is because of their construction and the interlaminar strength at each interface of the lamination. A history and description of such bag construction is helpful.

Product package having reliable openability


A control apparatus for controlling a vehicle includes an actuator ECU. The actuator ECU acquires a crankshaft angle (stopped crankshaft angle) at a time that an engine stops operating. The actuator ECU identifies a crankshaft angle depending on an edge of a first TDC pulse of a TDC pulse signal immediately after the engine has been started or restarted. Then, using the identified crankshaft angle as a reference, the actuator ECU corrects the stopped crankshaft angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus for correcting crankshaft position information, which is representative of the rotational position of a crankshaft disposed in a vehicle engine, and controlling the engine based on the corrected crankshaft position information.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-320945 (hereinafter referred to as "JP2005-320945A"), a crankshaft signal, which is representative of the rotational position of a crankshaft, is monitored during a time that the engine is stopped, and after the engine is started, the engine cylinders are determined based on the crankshaft signal in the stopped state and a cam signal, the aspect of which differs as each cylinder undergoing combustion, is switched.


Provided are a non-woven fabric current collector and a method and system of fabricating a battery using the same. The non-woven fabric current collector comprises a upper conductive non-woven fabric sheet and a lower conductive non-woven fabric sheet including a network of a conductive fibers; and a tension reinforcing layer that has a greater tensile strength than the conductive non-woven fabric sheets, arranged between the upper conductive non-woven fabric sheet and the lower conductive non-woven fabric sheet, mediates adhesion between the upper conductive non-woven fabric sheet and the lower conductive non-woven fabric sheet, and has pores via which the upper conductive non-woven fabric sheet and the lower conductive non-woven fabric sheet communicate with each other.

Along with the dramatic developments in semiconductor fabrication technologies and communication technologies during the last 20 years, researches and commercialization have been widely performed on lithium-ion batteries as power supplies for portable electronic devices, such as mobile communication terminals and laptop computers. Recently, to handle environmental problems including energy exhaustion and the greenhouse effect, demands for energy saving technologies are rapidly increasing. As a result, researches are actively performed on medium and large size batteries applicable not only to industries related to portable electronic devices, but also to electronic vehicles, hybrid vehicles, or power grids. As batteries for the purpose, nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries and lithium secondary batteries are mainly researched. Here, since a lithium secondary battery utilizes lithium, which is the lightest metal with the lowest standard reduction potential from among known metals in nature, a battery with high energy density, high voltage, and high power output may be fabricated.
To embody such performance of a battery, it is important to develop a suitable current collector. It is necessary for a current collector to secure improved internal resistance and irreversibility to improve performance of a battery. At the same time, it is necessary to secure high yield for economic feasibility of fabricating the same.

Non-woven fabric current collector, method of fabricating battery using the same, and system for fabricating the same


According to one example, a method is described for accessing a composite document in which a trigger is received. A handling instruction for a content-part, from a composite document, and a status for the content-part, from a second computer, are retrieved. An action for the content-part is determined based on the handling instruction and the status, and the content-part action is executed. In the event that the content-part action is to revoke the content-part, the content-part is revoked. In the event that the content-part action is to synchronize the content-part, the content-part is synchronized.

The creation, distribution, and exchange of digital documents has become a commonly accepted alternative to printing documents, both for purposes of efficiency and for environmental purposes, Examples of digital documents that may be created, distributed, or otherwise exchanged include, for instance, electronic word processing documents, electronic spreadsheets, electronic presentations, electronic drawings, portable document format (PDF) files, and web pages, e.g., HTML, CSS, or other web format files. Digital documents may be confidential or highly confidential, and in some cases users may wish to control the distribution of such documents.
Many digital documents have become a mixture, or a composite, of separate parts created in differing file formats. Different parts may be combined together through various serialization mechanisms such as a ZIP archive or TAR archive. One example of a composite document is a business proposal document including product images as JPEG files, a marketing video clip as a MOV file, a PowerPoint presentation as a PPT file, and a financial details spreadsheet as an XLS file. Composite documents may be presented to a user through specialized software as a single editable, browsable, searchable, approvable, or usable document.


An Electro Diagnostic Functional Assessment Unit (EFA-3) that is designed to wirelessly monitor muscle group activity and to provide treatment for humans and animals. The muscle groups include the body, fascial, cervical, thoracic, upper and lower extremities, lumbosacral, bladder, cardiac, and rectal. In large animals the muscle groups include torso, legs, neck and face. The EFA-3 simultaneously correlates the muscle activity EMG with cardiac activity, nerve activity, heart rate, blood flow and brain activity with range-of-motion, grip and pinch assessment and a functional assessment in humans. The EFA-3 is operated by proprietary software (78) which provides testing protocols by utilizing a set of wireless sensor(s) (14-40) that are interchangeable and rechargeable. The treatment includes ultrasound, heat, cold, massage and electrical stimulation.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that soft tissue injuries are a leading cause of lost work, time and productivity. Soft tissue injuries cost over $200 billion annually in lost man-hours and medical costs. In fact, soft tissue injuries are responsible for 80 percent of all Workers Compensation claims. Soft tissue injuries are often non-specific, difficult to diagnose and treat, and current subjective diagnostics can be a "process of elimination". In addition, it is often difficult to determine when a soft tissue injury has occurred.
In the medical community, it is well known that muscle compensation patterns can be used to differentiate chronic versus acute injuries. Acute injuries are typically exemplified by muscle spasm and hyperactivity. Chronic injuries are typically associated with compensation, bilateral changes, and absence of a reflection relaxation response. It is also a fact that many physicians deal with complaints and injuries that involve soft tissue injury, particularly cervical, thoracic, lumbosacral and extremities. All muscle groups of the body, from the cervical including the mid, thoracic, lumbosacral and upper and lower extremities, can be monitored using the EFA-3 for both humans and animals. This is extremely beneficial because a typical soft tissue injury may be chronic or acute, with no physical indicators. Direct palpitation of a soft tissue injury can, in some cases, reveal the nature or type of injury, but this manner of diagnosis relies on static testing and on individual tests that are performed separately, which are less reliable than combining and integrating the evaluations of Electromyography (EMG), range of motion (ROM) and functional assessment. To enhance and correlate the above tests, physiological parameters, cardiac response, temperature, nerve testing, brain wave activity and blood flow can also be monitored.
The combination of these tests, unlike any other test, does not rely on the coefficients of variance but measures muscle activity while simultaneously monitoring range of motion, functional assessment, grip strength, pinch strength, cardiac response, temperature and nerve and brain wave activity either alone or in combination. This dynamic integration provides an analysis of Type I versus Type II motor units, which coordinate with an effort produced by the individual who is being tested. Furthermore, when disc pathology is present there is a chemical released in the individual's blood supply, which causes ischemic changes in the surrounding musculature. The benefit of quantifying these conditions in a non-invasive and portable manner is that the amount of ischemia/vasoconstriction in the surrounding blood tissue correlates with the degree of disc pathology, thereby allowing treatment recommendations to be made, i.e. surgery versus physical therapy. The benefit of the EFA-3 is its ability to monitor and site-specifically treat muscles, nerves and other bodily functions.
In the past, various technological tests such as EMG, range of motion, cardiac information or functional assessments were singularly relied upon to determine the cause of muscle activity. However, when the tests are performed alone they are less objective. By integrating all of the functions of the EFA-3 it is possible to acquire a more objective assessment of any specific treatment.
The costs of treating the above-described problems are expected to increase, especially with OSHA considering new ergonomic standards. With the implementation of the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) workers compensation claims have increased, especially claims of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) which are expected to exceed 40 billion dollars per year within the next five years. CTS problems are also often misdiagnosed, for example, referred pain from the scalene muscle can mimic the symptoms of lunar neuropathy, carpal tunnel syndrome or even thoracic outlet syndrome. The misdiagnosed above problems are in reality a muscle problem in the front of the neck.
A recent study demonstrates that 45 percent of individuals who have undergone CTS surgery receive no relief and show no improvement at a two year follow up. The lack of improvement can be attributed to the inability to identify the soft tissue component. Furthermore, 65 percent of individuals who have undergone back surgery resulted in failed back syndrome or have no relief of symptomology. This can also be attributed to an inability to properly diagnose and age a soft tissue injury. In the past, prior art has not been capable of performing a proper diagnosis.
Until the advent of the EFA-3 it was not possible to incorporate all of functions required to perform a comprehensive diagnostic test in a reliable, cost effective and user-friendly manner. The uniqueness of the EFA-3 is the utilization of remote and wireless sensor(s) which provide portability and increased ease of use. The wireless sensor(s) can have a disposable component, and any proprietary sensor(s) that are not disposable have their own battery-recharging unit. This allows for no down-time during monitoring and, since the sensor(s) can be interchangeable, if one sensor(s) is not functioning, a replacement is immediately available. Therefore, an unlimited combination of testing possibilities is available depending on the protocols required. The EFA-3 is operated remotely, by utilizing GiFi, WiFi, ZIGBEE™, BLUETOOTH™, or any other standard or proprietary wireless system.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of this instant invention, however the following patents and publications are considered related:
Pat. No.INVENTORISSUE DATE6,678,549Cusimano, et al13 Jan. 20045,513,651Cusimano, et al7 May 19965,462,065Cusimano, et al31 Oct. 19955,042,505Mayer, et al27 Aug. 19914,688,581Moss25 Aug. 19874,667,513Konno26 May 198720060058699Vitiello et al19 Apr. 2005
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,549, which is owned by the applicants of the instant application, discloses a system that combines Electromyography (EMG), Range of Motion (ROM), and Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV). It differs from the instant application in that it is not an integrated unit and is only used to test humans. The system also does not allow for remote monitoring, blood flow monitoring or the use of various Range of Motion (ROM) implements, and uses an interface that does not allow for the rapid exchange of data.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,513,651 and 5,462,065, which are owned by the applicants of the instant application, disclose an integrated movement analyzing system (IMA) that utilizes surface EMG in combination with range of motion and functional capacity testing to monitor muscle groups in the human body. The system consists of an integrated movement analyzer (IMA) that receives inputs from surface EMG electrodes, a range of motion analyzer (ROMA), and a functional capacity sensor(s). When performing upper and lower back testing, the ROMA is connected between the subject's upper back and the lower back by a shoulder harness and a waist belt.
For cervical testing, the ROMA is connected between the subject's head and the upper back by a cervical cap and the shoulder harness. The output of the IMA is provided via an analog to digital converter to a computer. The computer, in combination with a software program, produces an output consisting of comparative analytical data. This data is taken via a parallel port and multiple a/d cards while the subject is not isolated. This system can not be used remotely, has hardwired cables and does not have the capability to monitor physiological properties except for EMG, range of motion, FCE, pinch and grip.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,505 discloses an electronic device for measuring relative angular positional displacement and angular range of motion for body segments and articulating joints of the human skeleton. The device has a hand-held interface unit, which is placed against the body segment or joint to be tested. Mounted within the housing of the interface unit is a shaft with a pendulum at one end and an optical encoder at the other. As the body segment rotates or the joint articulates, the pendulum swings in the direction of gravity, causing the shaft to rotate. The optical encoder generates an electrical signal representative of the amount of rotation of the shaft. The generated signal is fed to a microscope which processes the signal and produces on a display the change in angular position relative to the initial angular position or the angular range of motion of the body segment or articulating joint.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,581 discloses an apparatus and a method for non-invasive in-vivo determination of muscle fiber composition. The method includes the steps of electrically stimulating a chosen muscle, determining the stimulation current, measuring the electrical stimulating a chosen muscle, determining the stimulation current, measuring the electrical potential of the muscle, the contraction time and the force produced by the contraction. By intercorrelating the data by multiple regression, the type, percentage and size of the muscle fibers within the muscle stimulated can be determined. The apparatus determines muscle composition and includes a muscle stimulator of controlled voltage, electromygram equipment and a force transducer, that in combination provide a tension curve as well as force measurements.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,513 discloses an apparatus and a method for estimating the degree of the fatigue and pain of muscles. The apparatus tests subjects of different weights on the same basis by deriving the variation in the muscular strength such as dorsal muscular strength, shoulder muscular strength, grasping strength and the like. An analogous electric signal integrates the muscular output and provides an integrated value of the electromyogrammatic amplitude by processing the voltage induced from the muscle to be tested through an electromygram amplitude and waveform processor. The ratio between these integrated values after correlating the ratio with the weight/muscular strength coefficient is digitally displayed.
The 20060058699 publication discloses a non-integrated system that is used to test humans by combining EMG and ROM. The system does not allow remote monitoring, blood flow monitoring or different ROM, utilizes an interface that does not allow for the rapid exchange of data and uses multiple data acquisition cards. The system also uses an electromagnetic field for range of motion that can be ineffective and even harmful to individuals who have post surgical hardware or pacemakers.
For background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention relates, reference may be made to the following remaining patents and publications found in the search:
Pat. No.INVENTORISSUE DATE5,056,530Butler, et al15 Oct. 19915,050,618Larsen24 Sep. 19915,042,505Meyer, et al27 Aug. 19915,038,795Roush, et al13 Aug. 19915,012,820Meyer7 May 19914,938,476Bryunnell, et al3 Jul. 19904,928,709Allison, et al29 May 19904,886,073Dillion, et al12 Dec. 19894,845,987Kenneth11 Jul. 19894,834,057McLeod, Jr30 May 19894,805,636Barry, et al21 Feb. 19894,800,897Nilsson31 Jan. 19894,742,832Kauffmann, et al10 May 19884,667,513Konno26 May 19874,586,515Berger6 May 198620070230270Calhoun; Robert B.4 Oct. 2007

Electro diagnostic functional assessment unit (EFA-3)


A vibration analyzer for use in determining a rotational speed. The vibration analyzer includes an input for sensing vibration data, a memory for storing the vibrational data, and a processor. The processor produces a spectral plot of the vibrational data, locates peaks in the spectral plot, receives an input rotational speed, and scans the spectral plot in predetermined rotational speed increments to provide a candidate rotational speeds. For each candidate rotational speed, a number of associated harmonics is identified, closest peaks in the spectral plot to the candidate rotational speed and its harmonics are located, gaps between the closest peaks and the candidate rotational speed and its harmonics are measured and summed, and a sum of the gaps is recorded. The candidate rotational speed that is associated with a minimum sum is selected as the nominal rotational speed.

Rotating equipment, such as fans, motors, turbines, and the like, tend to lose their balance or alignment with time due to conditions such as wear, varying load, damage, misuse, and foreign matter accumulation. As balance and alignment are lost, the equipment produces excessive vibration, which if left uncorrected, causes accelerated wear and other damage to the equipment.
Vibration analyzers detect the vibration emitted from rotating equipment. Such analyzers determine the source of the vibration, whether it be unbalance, misalignment, worn bearings, missing or broken parts, or some other problem. To make a proper diagnosis of the vibration problem, the rotational speed of the shaft must be known. However, the rotational speed is not often known at the time of data collection. Therefore, the rotational speed must be calculated from the vibration spectrum.
Correlation of the rotational speed of the shaft in the vibration spectrum is required for problem diagnosis because there are often many different potential sources of vibration, each of which creates a different vibration signature. One of the first determinations to be made is whether the vibration detected is synchronous or asynchronous with the rotation of the equipment. If asynchronous, an analysis is made to determine if the vibration can be correlated in some other way to the rotational speed of the equipment. In this manner, specific problems are isolated and corrected.
For example, in a piece of rotary equipment such as a turbine, vibration that is synchronous with the first harmonic of the rotation speed indicates rotor unbalance, for which there are well defined methods of correction. Knowing the rotational speed of the turbine allows for a speedy diagnosis of this problem, and reduces time wasted on investigation of unrelated potential vibration sources.
As another example, a defective anti-friction bearing produces vibration that has a fixed, but non-integer relationship to the speed of the shaft. Thus the vibration is not a harmonic of the rotational speed of shaft. However, with a knowledge of the bearing parameters, such as the inner and outer raced fault frequencies, the vibration produced by the defective bearing is correlated with the speed of the shaft, and the problem is diagnosed and corrected. Again, without knowledge of the speed of the shaft, the defective bearing is more difficult to diagnose.
Further, in a piece of rotary equipment such as a gear box, which may have several gears of different sizes, a problem such as a cracked tooth on one of the gears creates vibration that is synchronous with the rotational speed of a shaft. Correlating the speed of rotation, the known number of teeth on each gear, and the vibration spectrum allows the damaged gear to be diagnosed.
In each case, the diagnosis of the source of vibration is made easier if the rotational speed of the equipment is known. The actual correlation of the rotational speed to the vibration spectrum, and the analysis of the correlated information, is performed either by the technician, or automatically by the vibration detection instrument, if it has such capability.
The problem is that without use of a tachometer to measure the rotational speed it is difficult to determine the rotational speed accurately. In many cases, the rotational speed is either assumed to be the default assigned when the machine was configured or is manually entered when data is collected using a portable analyzer. In such situations, the rotational speed is at best an approximation. As the load on the machine varies, the actual rotational speed may also vary. Thus the assumed rotational speed may be completely incorrect due to manual data entry errors. What is needed, therefore, is an apparatus that can be used to determine the rotational speed of a machine when a tachometer and actual rotational speed data are unavailable.

Determination of rpm from vibration spectral plots based on percentage RPM


Discussed is an input system that includes a sensor panel including plural first and second channels intersecting each other, a stylus pen including a first core and a second core divided from each other, a primary coil and a secondary coil wound on the first and second cores, an elastic member interposed between the first core and the second core, a resonant capacitor and a switch connected to the secondary coil in series, and a conductive tip connected to the primary coil, a ground unit connected to the stylus pen, an antenna loop formed at the edge area of the sensor panel, and a touch controller connected to the first and second channels and the antenna loop.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input system, and more particularly, to an input system which may implement a stylus pen without a battery, detect both touch by fingers and touch by the stylus pen, and increase sensitivity to writing pressure.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As the information age has arrived, the field of displays visually expressing electrical information signals has rapidly developed, and in order to satisfy such a trend, various flat display devices having excellent performance, such as thin thickness, light weight and low power consumption, have been researched and rapidly replaced conventional cathode ray tubes (CRTs).
Flat display devices include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays (FEDs), electro luminescence displays (ELDs), etc. These display devices essentially include a flat display panel displaying a picture in common, and the flat display panel is configured such that a pair of transparent insulating substrates is bonded under the condition that a light emitting material layer or an optically anisotropic material layer is interposed between the substrates.
In such a display device, requirements to add a touch panel recognizing a touched region through a human hand or a separate input unit and transmitting corresponding separate information are increased. Recently, such a touch panel is attached to the external surface of the display device.
Touch panels are divided into a resistive type, a capacitive type, an infrared sensing type, etc., according to touch sensing methods, and the capacitive type is in the spotlight in consideration of ease in the manufacturing method and sensing force.
Recently, a human interface device (HID), such as a smart phone or a smart book, as a mobile device increasingly uses a stylus pen which implements writing and drawing as well as touch input through fingers, as an input unit. Input through the stylus pen executes more precise input as compared to input through fingers, and supports functions, such as precise picture drawing and character writing.
Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a general capacitive-type touchscreen will be described.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a general capacitive-type touch detection circuit, and FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating voltage output according to time divided by whether or not fingers touch the circuit using the circuit diagram of FIG. 1.
As exemplarily shown in FIG. 1, the general capacitive-type touch detection circuit includes first electrodes Tx and second electrodes Rx which intersect each other, an amplifier 5 provided with a negative (−) input terminal receiving output of the second electrode Rx and a positive (+) input terminal receiving reference voltage Vref, and a capacitor Cs formed between an output terminal and the negative (−) input terminal of the amplifier 5.
Here, input voltage Vin is applied through a pad provided at one end of the first electrode Tx, and output voltage Vout output through the amplifier 5 is sensed through a pad provided at one end of the second electrode Rx.
In general, a touch drive signal of square waves of about 2˜3 μs is applied to the first electrode Tx as the input voltage Vin. Here, a voltage value in proportion to mutual capacitance Cm between the first and second electrodes Tx and Rx is sensed as the output voltage Vout.
As exemplarily shown in FIG. 2, when the square waves are applied as the input voltage Vin, the output voltage Vout increases (if the circuit is not touched by fingers) as time goes by, and, if the circuit is touched by fingers, the fingers contact the electrodes, the mutual capacitance Cm decreases and thus the increment of the output voltage Vout decreases. Then, such decrement is detected at the respective intersections of Tx channels and Rx channels, and coordinates of a region of the circuit touched by the fingers are extracted from these data.
However, when the touch detection circuit is touched by a stylus pen rather than fingers, a contact area of the tip of the stylus pen with the surface of a sensor panel is relatively small, mutual capacitance variation ΔCm between the electrodes is small, and thus sensing of the mutual capacitance variation ΔCm when the touch detection circuit is touched by the stylus pen may be difficult. Thereby, accuracy in extraction of coordinates may be lowered.
Further, if the tip of the stylus pen is smaller than the electrodes provided on the sensor panel for sensing, distortion of coordinates may occur according to presence or absence of the electrodes, and this may directly influence sensitivity.
Further, in case of finger touch and stylus pen touch, when the same touch detection circuit is used, touch by a palm contacting the electrodes and touch by the stylus pen during input by the stylus pen may not be discriminated from one another. That is, it may be difficult for the detection circuit of FIG. 1 to perform a palm rejection function when the detection circuit is touched by the stylus pen.
Further, a method of detecting stylus pen touch in a driving type differing from the driving type of finger touch, for example, an electromagnetic driving type, is proposed. However, in this case, a panel which may execute detection through electromagnetic driving needs to be separately provided in addition to capacitive-type electrodes, and thus the number of components is increased and the number of processes is increased.
The above-described general capacitive-type touchscreen has problems, as follows.
First, since a contact area of the tip of the stylus pen with the sensor panel surface is relatively small, mutual capacitance variation ΔCm between the electrodes is small, and thus sensing of the mutual capacitance variation ΔCm when the touch detection circuit is touched by the stylus pen may be difficult. Thereby, accuracy in extraction of coordinates may be lowered.
Second, if the tip of the stylus pen is smaller than the electrodes provided on the sensor panel for sensing, distortion of coordinates may occur according to presence or absence of the electrodes, and this may directly influence sensitivity.
Third, in case of finger touch and stylus pen touch, when the same touch detection circuit is used, touch by a palm contacting the electrodes and touch by the stylus pen during input by the stylus pen may not be discriminated from one another. That is, it may be difficult for the capacitive-type touchscreen to perform a palm rejection function when the touchscreen is touched by the stylus pen.
Fourth, a method of detecting stylus pen touch in a driving type differing from the driving type of finger touch, for example, an electromagnetic driving type, is proposed. However, in this case, a panel which may execute detection through electromagnetic driving, in addition to capacitive-type electrodes, needs to be separately provided and thus the number of components is increased and the number of processes is increased.

Input system with stylus pen having two coils and elastic member


A superconducting article has a matrix core containing a superconductor, a copper stabilizer layer disposed about the core, and an insulating layer surrounding the copper stabilizer layer. The insulating layer is a metallurgically bonded layer of a refractory metal selected from Nb, Ta, V, and Mo.

In the operation of a.c. superconducting magnets formed from cabled superconducting wires, energy losses due to coupling can be a major problem. Coupling is essentially a short-circuit between adjacent strands in a cable, caused by insufficient resistance at the interfaces of the strands. Induced currents flow across the interfaces of coupled strands, dissipating energy.
For Nb.sub.3 Sn cables, which must be reacted after magnet winding due to the brittleness of the Nb.sub.3 Sn intermetallic, coupling can be a particularly acute problem. Nb.sub.3 Sn strands usually have a copper surface. Since the reaction temperature is in the 700.degree. C. range, the Nb.sub.3 Sn strands tend to sinter together, coupling in a literal sense. This is especially true then, as is often the case, the conductor is cable-in-conduit (CIC). In this configuration, the cable is sealed within a jacket, usually a stainless steel jacket. This jacket presses in on the cable, forcing the strands together. Between the temperature and the pressure, some sintering of the strands in inevitable.
The sintering and coupling problem has been recognized for some time, and several approaches have been taken to remedy it. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,347, Hirayama et al disclose a method by which to create an insulating layer on the copper surface of a conductor (see also "Cuprous Sulfide as a Film Insulation for Superconductors", G. R. Wagner, P. D. Vecchio, and J. H. Uphoff, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering (materials), Vol. 28, 1981). The conductor strand is baked in H.sub.2 S gas to create a thin (1.5-20 .mu.m) cuprous sulfide coating. An important feature of the invention is that no reduction in the conductivity of the copper occurs as a result of the sulfiding process (other than in the coating itself). The coating prevents sintering for 700.degree. C. temperatures held for as long as 30 hours. Inter-strand coupling is prevented by the coating up to a certain breakdown voltage. When this voltage is exceeded, the semiconducting coating freely passes current. Unlike the invention that forms the subject of this application, the cuprous sulfide insulator involves conversion of the copper conductor surface rather than the development of a distinctly separate metal coating.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,491, Wagner et al. disclose a method by which to produce an insulating nickel oxide coating on a conductor strand surface. Nickel is plated onto the conductor and the conductor is then heated in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The resulting coating has properties similar to cuprous sulfide but provides a much higher voltage stand-off and so is a more effective insulator. The patent states that no conductivity degradation occurs in the copper cladding of the strand as a result of nickel contamination for heat treatments of 700.degree. C. for more than 30 hours. Still, this is clearly a potential problem, as anyone knowledgeable in the art will understand. No metals other than nickel are disclosed as possible coating materials.
Another method by which to prevent inter-strand sintering for Nb.sub.3 Sn conductors is to plate chromium onto the strand surface. This is the method most commonly utilized in today's industry for large-scale projects like the proposed International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Chromium plating does effectively prevent sintering and largely eliminates coupling (see, for example, "A.C. Losses in Multifilamentary Composite Superconducting Strands and Cables", T. M. Mower and Y. Iwasa, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering (Materials), Vol. 32, Edited by R. P. Reed and A. F. Clark, pp. 771-778, Plenum Press, New York, 1986), but the process has several drawbacks, including the following:
1. It is an expensive process. PA1 2. It is difficult to plate the chromium consistently over long lengths of strand. PA1 3. The bond of the plated chromium to the surface of the strand is often weak, resulting in flaking of the chromium during cabling operations. PA1 4. The hard chromium is poorly suited to the sharp bending involved in cabling. PA1 5. The copper and chromium can inter-diffuse during heat treatment, causing degradation of the copper conductivity and thereby undermining the electrical stability of the conductor.
A method for producing an insulating coating that is not subject to such problems and does not require special sulfiding or oxidizing steps would be of great use to industry. Such a method forms the subject of the present invention.
All of the above coating techniques, and the present invention as well, apply most particularly to Nb.sub.3 Sn conductors. The prior art contains numerous descriptions of fabrication methods for Nb.sub.3 Sn conductors. Examples include McDonald, U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,412, and Ozeryansky et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,365. These patents disclose Nb.sub.3 Sn conductor fabrication by the bronze route and by the internal tin process, respectively.
Although the invention is most effective for cabled Nb.sub.3 Sn conductors, it may be applied to other conductors with equal ease. Cables utilizing NbTi conductor strands, for example, can also suffer coupling losses during a.c. operation, even though sintering is not a problem. The invention could be applied to increase the inter-strand resistance in such cable and thereby reduce the losses. That Nb.sub.3 Sn conductors are presented as the exemplar in the following discussion should therefore not be interpreted as a restriction upon the type of conductors to which the invention is applicable.


A turbojet engine nacelle includes at least one nacelle element having a wall delimiting a main flow channel. The flow channel has a variable flow passage section. The cross-sectional area of at least one first area of the channel is greater than that of at least one second area of the channel. The turbojet engine nacelle further includes at least one secondary flow conduit establishing a fluidic connection between the first area and the second area of the channel and is arranged parallel to the channel. The wall of the nacelle element is at least partly covered by an acoustic damping panel extending in said areas of the channel. The conduit passes through the acoustic damping panel in order to establish the secondary flow via the acoustic damping panel. The present invention can be used in the avionics field.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
More particularly, it relates to a nacelle including at least one nacelle element having a wall delimiting a main flow channel, said channel having a variable flow passage section with at least one first area of the channel, the passage section of which is larger than that of at least one second area of the channel.
An airplane is driven by several turbojet engines each housed in a nacelle also harboring a set of ancillary actuation devices relating to its operation and ensuring various functions when the turbojet engine is operating or at a standstill. These ancillary actuation devices notably comprise a mechanical system for actuating thrust reversers.
With reference to FIG. 1, a nacelle N generally has a tubular structure comprising an air intake section SE1 upstream from the turbojet engine (not illustrated), a middle section SE2 intended to surround a fan S of the turbojet engine, a downstream section SE3 generally harboring thrust reversal means and intended to surround the combustion chamber of the turbojet engine, and is generally completed by an outlet section SES4, the outlet of which is located downstream from the turbojet engine.
The air intake section SE1 appears as an inlet structure element 1 of the nacelle N, located upstream from the turbojet engine and from the fan S of the turbojet engine, and this inlet structure element 11 has an internal tubular wall 10 delimiting a channel 11 for inflow of air into the nacelle N.
The middle section SE2 appears as a middle structure element 2, located upstream from the turbojet engine and surrounding the fan S, and this middle structure element 2 has an internal tubular wall 20 delimiting, with the fan S, a ring shaped air circulation channel 21.
The downstream section SE3 includes two concentric downstream structure elements 30, 31 located downstream from the fan S and surrounding the turbojet engine, i.e., a downstream external structure element 30, a so called Outer Fixed Structure (OFS), and a downstream internal structure element 31, a so called Inner Fixed Structure (IFS).
This downstream external structure element 30 has an internal tubular wall 32 and this downstream internal structure element 31 has an external ring shaped wall 33, wherein these tubular walls 32 and 33 delimit between them a ring shaped flow channel 34, also called a vein, intended for channelling the cold air flow circulating on the outside of the turbojet engine.
When operating, the turbojet engine of the dual flow type generates via the rotating blades of the fan S, a hot air flow (also called primary flow) from the combustion chamber of the turbojet engine, and a cold air flow (secondary flow) which circulates on the outside of the turbojet engine in the ring shaped flow channel 34.
The outlet section SE4 includes at least one gas ejection nozzle element 4, located downstream from the turbojet engine, wherein this nozzle element 4 includes at least one ring shaped wall 40 delimiting an air outflow channel 41 out of a nacelle N. In this way, the primary and secondary flows are ejected from the engine from the rear of the nacelle N, via said or these outlet channels 41.
In a nacelle said to be with separate flows, the primary and secondary flows are not mixed, i.e. they are separated at the outlet and circulate in primary and secondary nozzle elements respectively. In a so called nacelle with mixed flows, the primary and secondary flows are mixed downstream from the engine within a common nozzle element.
In order to limit sound pollution of airplanes and as illustrated in FIG. 1, it is conventional to at least partly cover the walls of the different nacelle elements with acoustic damping panels 5.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary acoustic damping panel 5, of the sandwich composite panel type, including:                a structuring skin 50, of the so called "solid" air-proof skin type, attached against the wall of the relevant nacelle element;        a perforated skin 51, of the so called "acoustic" air-proof skin type at least partly delimiting the flow channel in this nacelle element;        a core 52 inserted between the structuring skin 50 and the perforated skin 51, said core 52 being made in an acoustic absorption material of the type having numerous internal cavities.
Such panels form acoustic resonators capable of "trapping" the noise and therefore attenuating sound emissions towards the outside of the nacelle.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the core 52 is made in a cellular structure material of the honeycomb type. This material includes a plurality of honeycomb cells delimited by side walls, each honeycomb cell communicating with its neighbors. Such panels with a honeycomb structure are already known, notably from international applications WO 2008/113904 and WO 2009/066036, and will not be described in further details.
In an embodiment not shown, notably described in French patent applications FR 2 938 014 and FR 2 934 641, the core is made in a porous material; by "porous material" is meant an open material (i.e. having many communicating cavities) appearing as a foam or in an expanded form, or as a felt, or as an aggregate of small-size elements such as beads.
According to the architecture of the nacelle, certain of the aforementioned channels have a variable flow passage section with at least one first area of the channel, the passage section of which is greater than that of at least one second area of the channel. Given that the distribution of the pressure in a channel depends on the flow passage section, these channels have high pressure areas (associated with large passage sections) and low pressure areas (associated with small passage sections).
FIG. 3 illustrates the change in the flow passage section A (in m2) in the inlet channel 11 versus the longitudinal position X (in cm) along the middle axis AA′ of the nacelle N. At least two distinct areas Z1, Z2 are distinguished, i.e.:
a first small section area Z1 close to the air intake neck C, corresponding to an operating low pressure and high speed area on the airplane; and
a second large section area Z2, close to the fan, corresponding to an operating high pressure and low speed area on the airplane.
FIG. 4 illustrates on the curves C1 to C3, several examples of the change in the section A, based on the section Acol taken at the neck C, for letting through the flow into a ring shaped channel versus the longitudinal position X (in m) along the middle axis AA′ of the nacelle N. The curves Rint and Rext illustrate the change in the internal and external radii of the relevant ring shaped channel versus the longitudinal position X. At least two distinct areas Z1, Z2 are distinguished, i.e.:
a first small section area Z1, corresponding to an operating low pressure and high speed area on the airplane; and
a second large section area Z2 corresponding to an operating high pressure and low speed area on the airplane.
This ring shaped channel may be located in the downstream section SE3 or the outlet section SE4 of a nacelle N. For example, this ring shaped channel may correspond to the ring shaped channel 34, or vein, located between the downstream external structure element 30 (Outer Fixed Structure) and the downstream internal structure element 31 (Inner Fixed Structure). This ring shaped channel may also be located in a nozzle element, such as for example in a primary or secondary nozzle element for a nacelle with separate flows, or in a common nozzle element for a nacelle with mixed flows.
However, on the walls delimiting the different channels of the nacelle, the turbulent limiting layers of the flow generate pressure losses by friction. The impact of these pressure losses on the performance of the turbojet engine and therefore on the fuel consumption is significant. The applicants also noticed a loss of about 1.5% of the fuel consumption because of these frictional processes in the secondary nozzle element of a nacelle with separate flows.
The state of the art may also be illustrated by the teachings of patent applications US 2009/140104 A1, EP 1 517 022 A2 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,960 A.
The patent application US 2009/140104 A1 discloses a nacelle including blowing means intended to inject a tangential airflow into the internal volume of the nacelle, wherein these blowing means include at least one air inflow conduit capable of sampling the tangential air flow at the compressors of the turbojet engine, so as to guide the air flow in the nacelle, so as to be maintained parallel to the longitudinal axis of the nacelle and to suppress possible separations of air streams in the nacelle.
Patent application EP 1 517 022 A2 discloses a method for attenuating the turbojet engine noise consisting of increasing the flow velocity locally, reducing the limiting layer and the associated turbulences and optimizing refraction and absorption of sounds with an acoustic cover, wherein the increase in this velocity may be provided by means of a bypass conduit which sucks up and blows air into the nacelle by a difference in pressure.
Patent application U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,960 A discloses the placement of one or several conduits inside a fan cowl, between outlet rectifying fins and inlet directing fins positioned in the main flow channel, in order to at least substantially remove the wakes at the trailing edges of the inlet directing fins, and therefore reduce the noise.


According to one embodiment, a hard disk drive includes a head, a voice coil motor, a driving circuit, an identification unit, a storage unit, and an estimation unit. The head is configured to perform write/read of information to a storage medium. The voice coil motor is configured to move the head. The driving circuit is configured to drive the voice coil motor, based on a command signal. The identification unit is configured to identify at least one parameter of a discrete-time model. The discrete-time model represents a transfer function from the command signal to a voltage drop quantity by an inductance of a coil of the voice coil motor. The storage unit is configured to store the parameter. The estimation unit is configured to estimate a back electromotive force of the coil, based on the discrete-time model including the parameter.

As to positioning control and velocity control of a head of a hard disk drive, a head-position error signal is used. The head-position error signal is acquired by regenerating servo information included in a servo sector on a disk. However, at a timing of unload operation, after the head is positioned into a ramp mechanism, the head-position error signal cannot be acquired.
Accordingly, at the timing of unload operation, in order to perform the velocity control of the head in the ramp mechanism, a velocity of the head is estimated from a back electromotive force occurred at a voice coil motor. By using this velocity, the velocity control of the head is performed.
However, in an equation to calculate the back electromotive force, an inductance-term of a coil is included. It is difficult to estimate the back electromotive force by considering influence of the inductance term. In exemplary technique, the inductance term is cancelled by lengthening a sampling period of a control input, and the back electromotive force is estimated.
Accordingly, as to above-mentioned estimation technique, in case of shortening the sampling period of the control input, the back electromotive force cannot be estimated with high accuracy.

Hard disk drive, method for estimating back electromotive force, and method for controlling velocity of head


A spinal alignment system is disclosed that includes a rod and a plurality of uniplanar screw assemblies that include a screw, a cap, and a housing. The screw and cap are configured such that the relative angular displacement between the screw and the cap is limited to a first limit angle in a first plane and to a second limit angle in a second plane that is perpendicular to the first plane, the second limit angle being larger than the first limit angle. The housing is coupled to the cap and configured to maintain the cap in proximity with the head of the screw. The housing has two elongated elements forming a U-shaped saddle. The alignment system also includes a plurality of locking cap assemblies that capture the rod within the U-shaped saddle and are tightened to fixedly couple the rod to the respective uniplanar screw assemblies.

1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for correcting spinal deformities.
2. Description of the Related Art
The treatment of spinal deformity requires a three dimensional approach and therefore is organized into three primary planes of correction relative to the human body. These three planes include the frontal or coronal plane, the sagittal or lateral plane, and the transverse or axial plane as shown in FIG. 1. Correction and proper alignment of these three planes is often the goal of the surgeon in the treatment of spinal deformity. Spinal deformities of varying etiologies are well known.
Over the past several decades, spinal fusion has been chosen as the standard of practice in the treatment of spinal deformity. Spinal fusion is the implantation of a rigid construct that may include rods, bone screws, hooks, and wires.
Early treatment of spinal deformity, more specifically scoliosis, involved a Harrington Rod developed by Dr. Paul Harrington. During this particular procedure, the Harrington rod is implanted along the spinal column to treat, among other conditions, a lateral or coronal plane curvature of the spine. With this procedure, no special attention was made to treat the sagittal or axial planes of alignment and as a result "Flatback Syndrome" developed whereby the spine progressively grew into an unnatural, straightened position with limited lordosis.
Years later, Dr. Yves Cotrel and Professor Jean Dubousset attempted to address all three aspects of planar management (i.e. Coronal, Sagittal and Axial) in the treatment of spinal deformity with the Cotrel-Dubousset (C-D) technique which was later modified by the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (TSRH) in 1985. Both the C-D and the TSRH techniques required a curved rod and hooks as a spinal fusion construct. Furthermore, the C-D and TSRH technique required that a curved rod be rotated 90 degrees onto its side, utilizing the kyphosis and lordosis of the contoured rod to match the convexity and concavity of the spinal deformity. Once secured, the rod is then rotated to correct the coronal and sagittal balances of the spinal deformity. Subsequently, the C-D or TSRH technique failed to correct the axially unbalanced vertebra. As a result of the unaddressed axial balance, the patient is left with uneven shoulders or hips, also known as "Rotational Trunk Shift."

System and methods for correcting spinal deformities


A nasal delivery device is provided for delivering substances such as liquid drugs, vaccines and the like to a nasal passage. The nasal delivery device preferably comprises a drug container such as syringe and a separable spray nozzle. The spray nozzle includes a rigid plastic cap having a spray aperture at a distal end of the nozzle for delivering the liquid substance to the nasal passage. Attachment means is provided for attaching the spray nozzle to the syringe at the time of the delivery of the liquid substance to the nasal passage. The nozzle defines a conduit that allows fluid communication from the syringe to the spray aperture. The nozzle includes an internal valve between the spray aperture and the syringe for allowing only pressurized liquid substance to flow through the conduit and the aperture so that a mist or spray is delivered through the spray aperture.

Many injectable drugs are packaged and distributed in hypodermic syringes that will eventually be used to administer the drug to the patient. The syringe is the low cost, efficient, sterile instrument of choice for delivering liquid drug through a hypodermic needle. The hypodermic syringe also can be an excellent storage device for drug placed in it by a pharmaceutical manufacturer or hospital pharmacy.
Syringes may also prove useful for distributing and administering drugs even where a hypodermic injection is not desired. Delivering a therapeutic liquid as a spray through the nasal passageway is preferred to deliver certain therapeutic liquids under certain conditions. There have been several proposed devices to make syringes useful as nasal sprayers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,077 to Imbert discloses a nasal syringe sprayer for discharging the liquid contents of the syringe in a spray through the nasal passages. However, the use of that device is limited to pre-stored, liquid stable drugs. That is, the sprayer of the patent cannot be used with drugs that need to be maintained in powder or lyophilized form and reconstituted just prior to intake. Additionally, the sprayer tip of that patent does not allow an individual to load the syringe with a liquid mediation from a standard vial since the nasal spray nozzle cannot be inserted into such vials to extract the contents of the vial for loading the syringe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,416 to Wolf et al. discloses a flexible, removable spray nozzle for a syringe. The spray nozzle may be attached directly to a luer fitting of a syringe or may be adapted to fit over and attached to a hypodermic needle secured to the luer fitting. In either case, the spray nozzle fits onto the syringe in order to prevent back flow and leakage of the liquid at the attachment of the spray nozzle to the syringe. One shortcoming of the device is that the nozzle does not prevent unpressurized liquid from flowing through the opening at the tip of the spray nozzle.
In view of the shortcomings and drawbacks of currently available or proposed systems, it is desirable to provide a removable spray nozzle for use with hypodermic syringes that provides a leak-free seal and prevents unpressurized liquid from flowing out the opening at the spray nozzle.

Nasal delivery device including spray nozzle


A prosthesis and a method of plugging or covering a trocar tract with the prosthesis is disclosed. The prosthesis includes a tubular body having a proximal end and a distal end, a respective opening at each end, and a channel extending between the proximal end of the tubular body and the distal end of the tubular body. The prosthesis is removably mounted along a trocar. The trocar is removable from the prosthesis such that the prosthesis is left at the trocar tract when the trocar is removed from the tract. The prosthesis includes a delivery configuration and a deployed configuration. In the deployed configuration, the opening at the distal end of the tubular body is smaller than the opening at the proximal end of the tubular body.

During minimally invasive surgeries, such as laparoscopies, a surgeon makes one or more incisions and inserts a trocar into a body cavity via one of the incisions. Specialized instruments may then be inserted through the trocar and into the body cavity to conduct specific procedures. At the conclusion of the MIS, the trocar tract is closed to prevent complications, such as hernias, infections, and fluid loss. Typically, such tracts are closed by suturing or stapling the incision. Biomedical adhesives also have been used to prevent fluid leakage from the tract.


A combination lock includes a lock body, having a hollow spindle laterally protruding outwardly, a locking bolt having a plurality of projections formed on the bolt insertably into the hollow spindle adapted for locking the lock, a plurality of dials normally coupled with sleeves rotatably mounted in the lock body having a plurality of annular corrugated teeth formed on an inner ring of each sleeve retarding the withdrawal of the projections of the bolt to prevent a trial opening by touch feeling by an intruder when rotating the dials in order to find out an opening slot formed in the sleeves for withdrawing the locking bolt, a plurality of positioner plates slidably held on the spindle for rotatably clickingly engageable with the sleeves for helping sensing a subsequent dialing operation from numeral to numeral; and a combination-changing plate pre-inserted in the locking bolt for pushing the sleeves inwardly to disengage their coupling with the dials for free rotation of dials for re-setting a new combination.

Saitoh disclosed a combination lock in his U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,348 which is capable of being set in any desired combination of numbers or changed from the once set specific combination to any other combination without using any tool. However, when changing the combination to a new one, the outermost dial ring should be first dismounted from the corresponding inner ring and the other dial rings should then be disengaged. After re-setting a new combination, the dial rings should be fitted on the inner rings one by one, causing a very inconvenient operation for changing a new combination.
Mayer et al disclosed a permutation lock in their U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,365. For changing a new combination, the closing bolt 18 should be retracted outwardly to retard an inwardly radial movement of the shank 31 of locking pin 28 so that the inner rings 36 are secured against rotation for re-setting a new combination. However, the retraction of the bolt 18 should be done very carefully. Otherwise, if the recess 32 between every two lands 76 of the bolt 18 is meeting the shank 31, the pin 28 will not be retarded radially outwardly, allowing a coupled rotation of the two rings 36, 38 thereby influencing the operation for changing the combination.
Meanwhile, Mayer's pin head 30 of each locking pin 28 resiliently urges two neighbouring rings commonly for safety purpose. If only one ring (rather than two rings) partially depresses the pin head 30 to lower the pin 28 to be engageable with the recess 32 for locking the bolt 18, the locking pin 28 may be inclinedly biased downwardly deviating from a vertical axis of the pin 28, thereby influencing a smooth downward sliding movement of the pin or increasing a difficult locking operation therefor.
The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the conventional combination locks and invented the present combination lock.

Combination lock having sensing means for dialing aid and anti-sensing means for security purpose


A method, system, and computer program product is provided, for example, for identifying a type of road sign. The method may include receiving a plurality of observations for the road sign. The method may also include clustering the plurality of observations based on at least a location and a heading of the road sign. Further, the method may include filtering the plurality of observations in the cluster based on a speed value and a lateral offset of each of the plurality of observations. Also, the method may include identifying the type of the road sign based on the filtering.

Currently the automotive industry is gravitating towards advanced driving automation solutions. The purpose of driving automation is to provide safe, comfortable and efficient mobility solutions for users and drivers alike. The real efficiency of an automated driving solution lies in how much of driving burden can it reduce, while providing efficient, accurate and risk-free driving decisions. Many automated driving solutions are based on usage of map databases for providing environmental, regulatory, and navigation related information in near real-time for performing driving actions in fully or semi-automated vehicles. Such map databases are updated with data related to road signs, speed limits, traffic conditions and the like, either using real-time crowd sourced data or by receiving regular updates to data.
Alongside the map data, vehicles also rely on complementary information received from vehicles' on-board sensors and driver cognition to enhance the accuracy of driving assistance decisions implemented in the vehicle. The map data tries to target 100% accuracy in real-time along with ingestion of vehicle smart sensor data and analysis, to provide efficient driving assistance. One such piece of map data may be related to speed values displayed on road signs.

Method and system for unsupervised learning of road signs using vehicle sensor data and map data


A method, system and server for processing messages sent from a client in a network are provided. The method comprises: for a message for a conversation to be transmitted from a client associated with a first user account associated with the network to a set of user accounts, upon activation of a command to send the message, sending to the set of accounts a request message requesting acceptance of the conversation; receiving replies from the set of accounts to the request message; and sending the message for the conversation to a first subset of accounts associated with the set of accounts that generated an acceptance message for the request message and updating a message log associated with the conversation to indicate that the first subset of accounts has accepted the conversation as participants in the conversation. A method, system and server for message archiving are also provided.

Business enterprises use real-time messaging communication systems to collaborate with partners and connect with clients. Enterprises often use various different consumer services, such as MSN, Yahoo, AIM/ICQ and Skype (all trade-marks), as part of their network messaging tools. While use of consumer-oriented technologies in an enterprise can lead to substantial productivity gains and certain cost savings, such technologies do not provide adequate controls that comply with regulatory requirements.
Larger enterprises typically deploy integrated solutions using commercial messaging platforms, such as Microsoft Lync/OCS/LCS, IBM/Lotus Sametime and Cisco Quad (all trade-marks), and hosted services, such as Salesforce Chatter (trade-mark). These communications platforms are costly and highly complex to integrate with existing systems and processes. With such solutions, user communications are typically confined to be within the enterprise.
Regulatory requirements for electronic messaging involve record keeping, messaging supervision, and support for audits and eDiscovery. In the United States, the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) has several rules governing books and records that are to be maintained by advisors, brokers and others, including Rule 204-2, Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4, Rule 3110 and Rule 206(4)-7. The Financial Industry Regulatory Association (FINRA) has rules as well, including Regulatory Notice 07-59, covering messaging supervision for broker-dealers. Current message systems have inherent deficiencies in meeting regulatory compliance requirements.

System and method for processing messages in a messaging service