A reactive dye represented by the formula (I), ##STR1## wherein R represents --NH.sub.2 or --NHC.sub.2 H.sub.4 SO.sub.3 M, and M's independently represent Li.sup..sym., Na.sup..sym., K.sup..sym. or .sup..sym. NH(C.sub.2 H.sub.4 OH).sub.3, provided that at least one of M's represents Li.sup..sym. or .sup..sym. NH(C.sub.2 H.sub.4 OH).sub.3. This reactive dye easily gives a stable liquid composition and is useful to dye cellulosic or polyamide fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reactive dye.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, reactive dyes are frequently used in a concentrated aqueous liquid form because such the liquid form, like other species of dyes, is not dusty and easy to handle in weighing, transportation, dissolution, etc. In order to further improve the storage stability of such the liquid form, various treatments such as desalting, addition of auxiliaries (e.g. .epsilon.-caprolactam, polyvinylpyrrolidone), etc. are applied. However, in the case of the liquid composition of a reactive dye which is represented by the formula (Ia) as a free acid, ##STR2## wherein R represents --NH.sub.2, or --NHC.sub.2 H.sub.4 SO.sub.3 H, and commercially used as a dye in the form of a sodium or potassium salt, desired improvements in quality, for example prevention of the liquid composition from crystallization during prolonged storage at a low to room temperature, prevention of the liquid composition from freezing, etc. cannot be attained by mere desalting and addition of auxiliaries. Particularly, when the dye concentration is high, the difficulty becomes large.
Consequently, as to the reactive dye represented by the foregoing formula (Ia), it is desired to develop such a new dye form as to provide a concentrated aqueous liquid composition which will not freeze, nor produce dye crystals even by prolonged storage at a low to room temperature (about -10.degree. C. to 30.degree. C).

Aqueous liquid composition of naphthalene sulfonate reactive dye with at least one lithium or tri-ethanol ammonium cation


A freestanding fence supported on x-shaped posts or x-posts that sit on top of the ground. Two tubes are welded together at approximately a 55 degree angle to form each x-post. The legs of the x-posts are provided with adjustable length feet and with receivers for holding electrical or non-electrical fence wires. Universal joints secure horizontal members between adjacent x-posts. The universal joints secure to a pair of ears proved on each leg of the x-posts. An adjustable height footed vertical support member can be installed on each horizontal member approximately midway between the adjacent x-posts. The fence is constructed of easily transported and assembled pieces that can be disassembled, moved, and then reassembled as often as needed. Once assembled, the fence is strong and stable and can be used to mount various types of equipment such as lighting, security, camera, motion detection, solar panels, radio frequency identification devices, etc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a freestanding fence that is supported on footed x-shaped posts. A horizontal member extends between adjacent x-shaped posts and a footed vertical support member can be installed on each horizontal member approximately midway between the adjacent x-shaped posts to provide additional support. Several fence wires extend horizontally and connect adjacent x-shaped posts along the length of the fence. The horizontal members attach to the x-shaped posts with universal joints in the form of couplings that allow for both vertical and horizontal adjustment that allow the horizontal member to attach to the x-shaped posts at virtually any angle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is often desirable to construct a freestanding fence that can later be moved and reused in a different location and used in a different configuration. Also, it would be desirable if the materials used to construct the fence where pieces that were easily transported using a pickup truck and could be assembled and disassembled using a few simple tools.
The present invention addresses these needs by providing a freestanding fence that does not require the digging of post holes and installing posts in the ground. Further the present invention is constructed of readily available square tubing and a few connectors that attach together to construct a fence that can be made in almost any configuration and installed on almost any terrain. Because the present invention is constructed in pieces, it can be disassembled, moved, reconfigured and reassembled multiple times without damage to the pieces.
Further, the present fence is not as likely to serve as a ground for lightening strikes as would a fence that had posts buried in the ground. This is particularly true when the feet of the present invention are pretreated with a non-conductive plastic or rubber coating.
Still further, with only slight modification, the horizontal members of the present fence can be used as a conduit for water so that the fence can additionally be used as a lawn sprinkler. And the horizontal members can be used as a conduit for security system wiring, lighting, communications, fiber optics, electrical wiring, cameras, monitoring devices, solar panels, radio frequency identification devices, etc.
Also, the present fence is structurally strong so that it can be used to mount additional equipment on the fence, such as for example monitoring devices, lighting, alarm systems, communication or transmission devices, cameras, motion detection equipment, radio frequency identification equipment, solar panels, etc.
Because of the unique features of this fence and the easy and speed with which it can be constructed and deconstructed, the uses for the present fence are numerous. These uses may include agricultural applications; electrical, chemical and industrial facilities protection; and government installations, including military facilities, border perimeter fencing, etc.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and apparatus for reworking a component on a vehicle. An inconsistency on the component is identified. The component is reworked to remove the inconsistency. Component rework information is stored on an automated identification technology tag attached to the vehicle. The component rework information comprises information describing the reworking of the component to remove the inconsistency.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the maintenance of components on aircraft and other vehicles. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for using automated identification technology tags to manage the rework of components on aircraft.
2. Background
Aircraft may be maintained on a regular basis to ensure safe and efficient operation. Aircraft maintenance may be performed by following various maintenance procedures.
Procedures for maintaining an aircraft may include inspecting various components of the aircraft. For example, aircraft components may be inspected as part of a routine maintenance procedure to confirm that the components are present and are in working order. Aircraft components also may be inspected in response to an occurrence that might result in an inconsistency in the component. For example, aircraft components may be inspected in response to an emergency landing of the aircraft or in response to the aircraft striking an object or an object striking the aircraft.
An inspection of a component on an aircraft may indicate an inconsistency in the component. In some cases, the component may be reworked to remove the inconsistency. Currently, a technician reworking a component to remove an inconsistency may not be aware that the component was previously reworked or the extent to which the component was previously reworked. As a result, time and effort may be wasted in reworking the component.
Automated identification technology may be used to automatically identify objects, collect data about the objects, and enter that data directly into a computer system with little or no human involvement. Automated identification technology tags may be attached to various objects. Examples of automated identification technology tags may include radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and contact memory buttons. Information identifying the object and various characteristics of the object may be stored in the tags. This information may be read from the tags and automatically entered into a computer system for processing using an appropriate reader device. Such automated identification technology has not been fully utilized for the inspection and maintenance of aircraft.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.


A medication delivery apparatus (5) includes a reservoir for holding a liquid medication and a metering device (25) coupled to the reservoir for supplying a dose of the liquid medication to the reservoir. The metering device includes an upper chamber, a lower chamber coupled to the upper chamber, a piston selectively moveable within the upper chamber and the lower chamber and a valve providing selective fluid communication between the lower chamber and the reservoir in response to movement of the piston.

1. Field of the Invention
A number of devices are available for delivering a drug into the lungs of a patient. Once such device is a nebulizer, which is a device that is used for converting a liquid, such as a liquid medication, into an aerosol which is then inhaled by the patient, typically through a mouthpiece. A number of different types of nebulizers exist, such as, without limitation, jet nebulizers (sometimes referred to as pneumatic nebulizers) and ultrasonic nebulizers. A typical jet nebulizer uses compressed air to generate the aerosol from the liquid. One type of ultrasonic nebulizer employs acoustic waves having an ultrasonic frequency that are directed to a point on the surface of the liquid that is to be converted into an aerosol. At the point on the surface of the liquid where these ultrasonic waves converge, they will produce capillary waves that oscillate at the frequency of the ultrasonic waves. If the amplitude of the waves is large enough, the peaks of the capillary waves will break away from the liquid and be ejected from the surface of the liquid in the form of droplets, thereby forming the aerosol. A device that is often used for generating ultrasonic waves in an ultrasonic nebulizer is a piezoelectric transducer (such as a piezoelectric crystal), which vibrates and generates ultrasonic waves in response to an applied electric field. In another type of ultrasonic nebulizer, the liquid that is to be converted into an aerosol is forced through a mesh (thereby creating liquid droplets) by the vibration of a piezoelectric crystal acting upon a horn. In this type of ultrasonic nebulizer, typically referred to as a mesh nebulizer, the gauge of the mesh determines the size of the droplets which are created to form the aerosol.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional nebulizer systems provide a continuous aerosol/drug output, and thus the amount of drug inhaled is dependent upon the patient's breathing pattern. The duty cycle of the patient's breathing pattern is typically 40:60. This means that the patient spends 40 percent of a single respiratory cycle in inspiration and 60 percent of the time in expiration. Thus, 60 percent of the drug delivered from the nebulizer will be wasted to the environment during expiration. In addition, the breathing pattern of a single patient over the course of a treatment will vary.
In order to address these issues, more sophisticated nebulizer systems, referred to as adaptive nebulizer systems based on what is known as Adaptive Aerosol Delivery (AAD) technology, have been developed which adapt the delivery of aerosol to the patient's breathing pattern, delivering medication only when the patient is inhaling through the mouthpiece. Because adaptive nebulizer systems are able to deliver the medication very efficiently (nearly all of the medication supplied to the nebulizer is actually delivered to the patient), it is important that the amount of medication supplied to the nebulizer be as precise as possible so that the patient will receive the correct dose.
In one known method of controlling the volume of medication, a syringe is used to draw a precise amount of medication from a vial, and the drawn medication is then transferred to a chamber in the nebulizer. This method has a number of disadvantages. For example, patients with poor dexterity, such as the elderly, may find it difficult to use a syringe in this manner Also, the use of syringes presents the danger of needle-stick injuries, and sharps containers are required for disposal. Syringes also present an additional part that the patient must keep track of and carry with them when they leave their home.

Medication delivery apparatus including a medication metering system


An apparatus includes a charge pump array including multiple charge pump cells. The charge pump array is configurable into a first arrangement of the charge pump cells coupled in series or a second arrangement of the charge pump cells coupled in parallel. The apparatus can include reconfiguration circuitry configured to select the first arrangement of the charge pump cells or the second arrangement of the charge pump cells. The charge pump array is configured to alter a voltage level of a signal based, at least in part, on the selected arrangement of the charge pump cells.

Many systems can receive an input supply voltage from a power supply, for example, to power electronic circuits or devices in the systems. Since some of these systems can include electronic circuits or devices, such as touch screen displays, which perform operations in response to signals with a voltage level that differs from that of the input supply voltage, the systems can include charge pumps or other voltage altering device to boost or lower the voltage level of the input supply voltage.
Charge pumps typically alter an input supply voltage by an integer multiple of the voltage level of the input supply voltage. The charge pumps can operate efficiently when configured to receive a specific input supply voltage and output a specific output signal. Any change in the input supply voltage provided to the charge pumps or in a desired output signal can cause the charge pumps to perform inefficiently with a high output impedance, which can alter the voltage and current levels of the output signal. Thus, developers of electronic devices that include charge pumps either tailor a design of the charge pumps to a specific customer system or provide a charge pump with a universal design that may operate inefficiently in the customer system.


A wiring board has a substrate designating one of the upper and lower surfaces as a first surface and the other as a second surface, a first laminated section laminated on the second-surface side of the substrate, a first external connection terminal and second external connection terminals formed on the first laminated section, and an electronic component arranged inside the substrate and having first pads on the second-surface side. The first pads and first terminal as well as the first pads and second terminals are electrically connected, and the first terminal and second terminals are formed to avoid being directly over the first pads. When the first pads, first terminal and second terminals are projected onto the second surface, the first terminal is positioned to be surrounded by the first pads, and the first pads and first terminal are positioned to be surrounded by the second terminals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a wiring board with a built-in electronic component such as a resistor or capacitor and its manufacturing method.
2. Discussion of the Background
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2002-009448, a wiring board with a built-in electronic component is described. In such a wiring board, multiple external connection terminals are formed on the outer layer, and the pads of an electronic component (semiconductor element) are electrically connected to the external connection terminals. Included among such external connection terminals are those which are formed directly over the pads of the electronic component.
Also, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2003-046028, a wiring board with a built-in electronic component having multiple external connection terminals on the outer layer is described. In such a wiring board, external connection terminals are formed to avoid being directly over the entire electronic component. The contents of this publication are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Wiring board and method for manufacturing the same


An image display apparatus and an image optimization method are provided. The image display apparatus includes an image content analyzer, a luminance compensator, and an image optimization processor The image content analyzer receives image data and ambient luminance and generates a backlight luminance adjustment value according to the image data and the ambient luminance. The luminance compensator generates an image data luminance adjustment value according to the backlight luminance adjustment value and generates first image data by adjusting the luminance of the image data according to the image data luminance adjustment value. The image optimization processor generates a saturation adjustment weight according to the image data luminance adjustment value. According to the saturation adjustment weight, the image optimization processor generates output image data by adjusting the luminance of the first image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image display apparatus, and more particularly to an image display apparatus capable of optimizing an image.
2. Description of Related Art
Due to the popularity of electronic products, designers tend to configure quality display devices on the electronic apparatuses. To meet the requirement for mobility, users need the electronic apparatuses that may achieve satisfactory display effects under any circumstances.
A conventional display apparatus is able to adjust luminance of a backlight module according to the ambient luminance. In bright outdoor environment, however, the luminance of the backlight module is often adjusted to the maximum level in order to prevent the reflection resulting from the strong light, thus leading to significant power consumption. To reduce the power consumption, the luminance of the display image of the conventional display apparatus may be increased, such that the luminance of the backlight module may be correspondingly reduced.
However, the pure increase in the luminance of the display image may deteriorate the quality of the display image and induce undesirable side effects of increasing noise and color distortion, which diminishes the visual effects of the display apparatus. Hence, how to ensure the display quality without consuming excessive power has drawn the attention of designers in this field.

Image display apparatus and image optimization method thereof


A display apparatus includes: a saving part; a user inputting part; a receiving part which receives broadcasting signal including at least one data information; a signal processing part which performs signal processing by extracting the data information from the received broadcasting signal; and a controlling part which enables a user to determine whether to save the data information through the user inputting part if the data information is received, and controls the signal processing part to save the data information determined to be saved in the saving part.

1. Field of Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a display apparatus and information saving method thereof, and more particularly to a display apparatus which can receive and save data information and information saving method of the display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A display apparatus receives broadcasting signals transmitted from a broadcasting station and displays images to be watched. As digital broadcasting has lately started, data information comprised in broadcasting signals can be received and images can be displayed by a digital TV. The data information received by the digital TV includes not only the data information related to a program but also the independent data information of the program such as traffic information and weather information.
However, as all data information which is received along with image signals is saved by a conventional digital TV, unnecessary data information which is not demanded by a user is also saved. Therefore, a storage space is wasted and processing speed of the data information is decreased. Especially, as the data information which is independent of the image signals is usually provided in real time, there is a need to save only the data information which the user needs.

Display apparatus and information saving method thereof


A drill bit may include a bit body and at least two cones assemblies including at least two drive cylinders having at least two cones. The at least two cone assemblies are mounted on the bit body. The drill bit may also include an indexing mechanism coupled to the bit body and configured to rotate and lock at least one drive cylinder. A method of operating the drill bit may include providing fluid to the drill bit, rotating the drill string to drill formation, moving the indexing mechanism an axial distance within a central chamber of the drill bit, rotating the at least two indexable structures as the indexing mechanism moves, and locking the at least two indexable structures.

Drill bits used to drill wellbores through geological formations generally fall within one of two broad categories of bit structures: "roller cone" bits and "fixed cutter" or "drag" drill bits. Roller cone bits include one or more roller cones rotationally mounted to the bit body. During operation, the roller cones will rotate with respect to the drillstring to drill a wellbore in a geological formation. A drag drill bit has a body formed from steel or another high strength material, and cutting elements (sometimes referred to as cutter elements, cutters, or inserts) attached at selected positions to the bit body. The cutting elements are located on a plurality of blades. Unlike the cones of the roller cone bit, the blades of the drag bit are stationary with respect to the drill string. The drag drill bit relies on rotation of the drillstring to cut through a geological formation.
As the blades of the drag bit are stationary with respect to the drill string, the same cutting elements are exposed to the geological formation during drilling. The cutting elements may include diamond impregnated in the blade or bit (on the bits known as diamond impregnated bits) or may be formed having a cylindrical substrate or support stud made of carbide, for example, tungsten carbide, and an ultra-hard cutting surface layer made of polycrystalline diamond material or a polycrystalline boron nitride material deposited or otherwise bonded to the substrate (on bits referred to as PDC bits).


A thermal ink ribbon has a base sheet, a thermal recording layer arranged on one side of the base sheet, and a back layer arranged on an opposite side of the base sheet. The back layer according to the present invention comprises a polyurethane resin which is obtained by reacting a low molecular weight polymer having at least one active-hydrogen-containing group at one end of the molecule, a compound having at least one active-hydrogen group and at least one hydrophilic group except a hydroxide group, with a polyisocyanate. The back layer is excellent in the adhesiveness to a base sheet, the heat resistance relative to a thermal head and slipperiness to a thermal head; and the ink ribbon with such a back layer has no problems in printed characters and figures on printing, in the migration of impurities from the back layer into an ink layer, in smeariness of a thermal head and in its maintenance. Such a back layer is capable of being formed on a surface of a base sheet by only applying the coating, which comprises the above polyurethane resin, for forming a back layer; and drying the coated layer.

A conventionally-known ink ribbon used in a thermal printer or the like has a structure having a base sheet such as a polyester film; a heat-melting-type thermal recording layer or a sublimation-type thermal recording layer on one side of the base sheet; and a back layer on the opposite side (a layer contacting with a thermal head). As materials for forming a back layer, for example, a crosslinked and hardened resin has been proposed, which resin comprises a silicone-modified polyurethane resin and polyisocyanate (see JP S61-227087 and JP S64-11888) or with an acryl-silicone graft copolymer (see JP S62-30082, JP H01-214475, and JP H02-274596). The back layer is requisite for properties that, upon the contact of a thermal head on a back layer, cause non-dropping any powder from the back layer by the contact friction; and causes non-sticking to the thermal head on the back layer in addition to appropriate slipperiness, heat resistance, and adhesiveness to the base sheet,
However, the above proposed techniques are not enough ones for satisfying all the back layer's needs; and ink ribbons with a back layer of higher performance have been desirable.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to solve the above-described problems, and provide an excellent ink ribbon having a back layer that has excellent adhesiveness to the base sheet; excellent heat resistance relative to a thermal head; good printing; no migration of impurities from a back layer into the ink layer; and no sticking to a thermal head.
The inventors of the present invention have proceeded with an extensive investigation to develop an ink ribbon overcoming the above problems; paid an attention to a phenomenon described in "The Relationship Between Phase Structure and Interface Structure Of Segmented Polyurethane Resin Introduced with Functional Groups" (Katsuhiko Nakamae, Seiji Asaoka and Sudaryanto, Journal of the Adhesion Society of Japan, Vol. 31 (No. 3), Pages 70 to 75 (1995)): For example, the phenomenon that a polyurethane resin containing sulfonic groups as side groups therein causes molecular phase separation upon the formation of a dried coating film on a substrate by using the polyurethane resin, and the sulfonic groups are internally oriented towards a surface of the substrate, but not towards externally; the inventors reached to an idea that this phenomenon is applicable to the development of an excellent ink ribbon; the use of a polyurethane resin containing sulfonic acid groups as side groups in its molecule as a material for the back layer of the ink ribbon causes increased adhesiveness of the back layer to a base sheet, because such a polyurethane resin causes molecular phase separation upon the formation of the back layer on the base sheet. As a result, the sulfonic acid groups is oriented forwards the base sheet; and the orientation results in excellent adhesiveness of the back layer to the base sheet. This idea leads to the completion of the present invention.

Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.


A tipover prevention and seismic securement system for securing furniture and appliances from tipping over. The system employs a pair of identical mounts which are engaged to surfaces of the device to be secured and the securing position. A planar belt having apertures therein provides a tether between the two mounts through an engagement with projections on the mounts and apertures in the belt. Translating members secure the belt in its engagement to the mounts. The translating members once engaged must be unlocked to allow removal thereof and subsequent removal of the belt.

1. Field of the Invention
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/361,298, filed on Jul. 2, 2010, and is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
The present invention relates to the stabilization of objects such as furniture, electronics and appliances. More particularly it relates to a securement system for preventing the toppling and/or migrating of objects such as file cabinets, furniture, electronic equipment and the like, should they become top heavy or unbalanced during use, climbed upon by children, or should they be subjected to the forces of a seismic event such as an earthquake.
2. Background of the Invention
Securing objects from toppling and from position-migration has, in recent years, become the subject of much attention and recommendation by government and industry officials with regard to emergency prevention and management. Studies have shown that people, especially children, can be severely injured by common household objects should they topple over. While residents of earthquake prone areas are aware of this and generally take steps to prevent toppling of large objects such as file cabinets, big screen televisions, dressers, and the like, this is not the case in areas of the country not prone to seismic events. However, such large and top heavy objects are just as easily toppled by mis-loading or mis-use as by an earthquake. A large bookcase or top heavy dresser falling on a child can cause significant injury or death. This easily occurs when upper drawers are opened on a dresser or file cabinet and then leaned upon or when children climb upon furniture during play.
In the case of earthquakes, the threat of toppling of furniture and expensive electronics is increased due to movement of floors in homes and offices. Should the furniture or appliance or other large object be top heavy from loading or from its basic design, seismic movements generated by an earthquake increase the risk of the object tipping over resulting in possible injury to occupants of the building. Further, even if large or expensive items and equipment do not topple during an earthquake, they are still prone to position-migration due to the floor surface movement during a seismic event. Such movement can cause other damage or cause items supported by a migrating piece of furniture to topple.
It is the realization that injury and death can result from tip-overs during use, and toppling and object migration during earthquakes, which have caused concerned people and businesses to undergo retrofits of property to secure objects and expensive items inside a building to enhance household and business seismic safety. Such securement may include the engagement of furniture, refrigerators, water heaters and breakables to the walls to prevent movement.
Numerous devices and methods have been introduced to the market in recent decades to address the dilemma of movement of objects and furniture. All such systems can be hard to install and are easily installed backwards where they may not function correctly. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,175,149 (Gallien) teaches the use of a flexible cable engaged to mounts using removable pins. However, this patent is subject to the correct sizing of the length of the cable by the user and resulting problems should it be cut too long. Further, it is not particularly aesthetic and therefor is less likely to be employed by some home or business users.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,562 (Konkle) teaches a securement system which employs wall mounts and object mounts secured by a zip-tie or quick-tie device. However, Konkle by employing such a zip-tie, limits the engagement there to a single use whereafter another tie must be employed. Further, the mounts have edges that could be prone to cut the plastic tie during a sharp movement of the object and the plastic in the tie itself can be affected by sunlight over time.
Another teaching is that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,000 (Bennett) which secures objects to walls and the like using a flexible strap engageable with mounts. Bennett, however, employs a plastic strap which can be severely weakened by UV sunlight. Further, the mount engagements to the strap can be engaged backwards if the user is not paying attention.
As such, there is a continuing unmet need for an improved object securement device and system which will more effectively provide a means to secure large ungainly objects to maintain their position during seismic events as well as when they become top heavy. Such a device should be easily engaged to both the object and the support and be aesthetically pleasing to encourage use. Such a device should be easily understood and employed during installation by professional and household users alike, such that it cannot be installed backwards or improperly. Finally, such a device should employ both mounts and a securement between them, which will maintain its strength after exposure to sunlight, and is easily adjusted to a proper length to secure the object in question without expensive tools.

Anti-tipover and seismic securement system


A first transport system moves a web comprising a subgasketed CCM layer and an application system applies a crosslinkable resin to at least a subgasketed portion of the subgasketed CCM layer. The crosslinkable resin preferably comprises a photocurable cationic crosslinkable resin. A first curing apparatus subjects an exposed surface of the crosslinkable resin to a photo curing process to initiate curing of the crosslinkable resin. A second transport system moves a GDL into adhering contact with a partially cured exposed surface of the crosslinkable resin of the CCM layer so as to form an MEA layer. A second curing apparatus subjects the GDL, partially cured crosslinkable resin, and CCM layer structure to a thermal curing process to substantially complete curing of the crosslinkable resin. A converting system is configured to receive the MEA layer and produce a plurality of discrete MEAs from the MEA layer.

A typical fuel cell system includes a power section in which one or more fuel cells generate electrical power. A fuel cell is an energy conversion device that converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, producing electricity and heat in the process. Each fuel cell unit may include a proton exchange member (PEM) with gas diffusion layers on either side of the proton exchange member. Anode and cathode catalyst layers are respectively positioned between the gas diffusion layers and the PEM. This unit is referred to as a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Separator plates (also referred to herein and flow field plates or bipolar plates) are respectively positioned on the outside of the gas diffusion layers of the membrane electrode assembly. This type of fuel cell is often referred to as a PEM fuel cell.
The reaction in a single MEA typically produces less than one volt. Therefore, to obtain operating voltages useful in most applications, a plurality of the MEAs may be stacked and electrically connected in series to achieve a desired voltage. Electrical current is collected from the fuel cell stack and used to drive a load. Fuel cells may be used to supply power for a variety of applications, ranging from automobiles to laptop computers.
The efficiency of the fuel cell power system depends on the flow of reactant gases across the surfaces of the MEA as well as the integrity of the various contacting and sealing interfaces within individual fuel cells of the fuel cell stack. Such contacting and sealing interfaces include those associated with the transport of fuels, coolants, and effluents within and between fuel cells of the stack. Proper sealing of fuel cell components and assemblies within a fuel cell stack is critical to ensure efficient operation of the fuel cell system.

Manufacturing of fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies incorporating photocurable cationic crosslinkable resin gasket


The disclosure relates to a method for producing one-piece, three-dimensional shaped bodies, shaped bodies produced according to the method, and a device for carrying out the method. The aim is to simplify the production of one-piece, three-dimensional shaped bodies which can be easily produced. To these ends, the disclosure provides that a plate which is resistant to bending at room temperature is heated only in heating regions along deformation lines, especially bending lines, and is subsequently deformed freely in space, i.e. without the use of a stop edge, indentation, template or die, whereby the attained three-dimensional shape is permanently preserved after cooling during which the material blank is kept.

The invention relates to a method for producing one-piece, three-dimensional shaped bodies, shaped bodies produced according to the method, a device for carrying out said method, as well as display furniture.
Industrially or manually prefabricated one-piece shaped bodies of the most varied materials have always been used in almost all technological fields. Such shaped bodies may either be functional individual objects ready for use, or constructional or component parts for more or less complexly structured devices or equipment. Especially in recent times, engineers have again directed their efforts increasingly towards developing modular systems for which complex devices or equipment are assembled from individual shaped bodies which should be as universally usable as possible, and for which the number of shaped bodies or modules of different design should be kept as small as possible. Primarily, this is intended to reduce both the number of specific, labor-intensive and thus costly shaping processes as well as the work and expenses required for storing and parts supply.
Finished shaped bodies may be the result of various original shaping processes in whichxe2x80x94by definitionxe2x80x94a solid body is formed from a shapeless material by creating a coherence. Another way of attaining a certain shaped body is to use various methods for re-forming or deforming semi-finished parts created by way of deformation. These latter methods include, amongst others, the deformation, by bending, of flat, plate-shaped work-pieces. Depending on the type and cross-section of the starting material used, and as a function of the bending radius to be achieved, cold or hot forming processes will be used. Shaped parts of a thermoplastic material formed by bending, for example, are generally produced by way of hot forming in a die, owing to their bending resistance once cooled down.
Finished shaped bodies in demand on the market are in particular display furniture items for the sales-promoting presentation of goods, covers or covering caps for covering display surfaces of a display furniture item as well as legs for supporting a post of a display furniture item.
From practice, various designs or shapes of display furniture items are known, the production of which, however, generally comprises various separating, deforming and joining steps. This makes the production of the prior art display furniture material- and time-intensive.
It is further disclosed in GB 1 603 489 to make a collapsible boat or other three-dimensional objects from a thermoplastic material blank by heating region by region of said material and bending it along edges predetermined by templates. This method is identically disclosed in DE 28 22 218 A1. It is furthermore known from the teaching of EP 0 022 884 A1 to create a three-dimensional body by deforming a metal sheet. However, it is neither disclosed in EP 0 022 884 A1 nor in GB 1 603 489 how to form or produce a display furniture item for the sales-promoting presentation of goods. What is set out in the following concerning the prior art is intended to relate to shaped bodies made of thermoplastic plastics as well as to methods for producing such shaped bodies. However, the problems and shortcomings to be set out hereinafter are in principle also encountered with any shaped parts formed by bending and made of materials which can be deformed under the influence of heat as well as the respective deformation methods used for this purpose.
Owing to their material properties, shaped bodies made of thermoplastic plastics are extremely versatile as regards their applications. With the traditional materials such as wood or metal being increasingly replaced with other materials, shaped bodies of both simple and complex designs are now commonly produced from thermoplastic plastics. Just like their application range, the variety of shapes of these bodies has increased to a vast extent. Nevertheless, the one-piece shaped bodies made of thermoplastic plastics hardly ever include any objects of excessive dimensions or objects of hollow or vessel-like shapes, except for, perhaps, long and hollow extruded sections such as pipeline parts. As will be illustrated in the following, a major reason for this is that the prior art methods are not suitable for the small-scale series production of shaped bodies of a certain geometrical design.
Depending on the three-dimensional shape to be attained and the semi-finished part or starting material that can be used for this purpose, different methods are employed for producing thermoplastic shaped bodies. Besides the original shaping methods of the prior art, which include the production of endless extruded sections, the widely used injection molding technique or also the further developed injection-blow molding technique, numerous forming methods are known. These latter methods may be differentiated according to the type of starting materials to be formed or deformed. However, what is set out hereinafter with respect to the prior art shall be restricted to the hot-forming methods of the prior art for processing thermoplastic plates.
A relatively simple method for producing likewise simple shaped parts of thermoplastic plastics formed by bending is the essentially manual hot forming method by means of a glow wire device or a so-called folding or bending device. In this case, a plate of thermoplastic plastic is rapidly and uniformly heated to the temperature of optimum thermoplastic behavior along a linearly extending heating region of a bending, buckling or folding line, and subsequentlyxe2x80x94under the influence of mechanical forcesxe2x80x94bent, buckled or folded along the heated bending, buckling or folding line until a desired angle has been attained. A cooling step will ensure that the new shape is fixed automatically. The devices used for performing the method usually comprise a support device for the work-piece to be deformed, said device reflecting the bending line, as well as a linearly extending heating wire or heating rail mounted underneath said device. An elbow part produced from a thermoplastic plate may for example be subjected to further processing steps on said folding or bending device machine for obtaining a finite U-shaped or stepped beam. While this method does require a folding or bending device, its advantage is that it can do without shaping tools reflecting the exact shape and that the work-piece to be deformed need merely be subjected to a linear partial heating step.
It is self-evident that the range of possible shapes of shaped bodies produced in this manner is limited. It is not possible, for example, to produce simple containers without gluing or welding together, in a subsequent working step and, if necessary, including intermediate machining steps, the semi-finished products produced by means of a glow-wire device. A device involving a glow wire and a method adapted thereto are disclosed in DE 1 038 749 A1. The disadvantages of this approach are last but not least that it produces seams with material properties that may be undesired or difficult to foresee. If shaped bodies of transparent plastic are joined e.g. by gluing or welding them together, this will furthermore have a detrimental effect on the esthetic appearance of the body obtained in this manner since light will be refracted irregularly and sometimes strongly in the area of said seams.
So far, it has only been possible to avoid such disadvantages if any complex three-dimensional shapes (e.g. containers or the like) are produced by means of by far more laborious methods. Such methods include the blowing or suction methods involving high or low pressure which allow the deformation of thermoplastic plates heated over their entire surface into bowl-like or dome-shaped parts in a mold. Since forming tools are costly in production, producing shaped bodies in this manner will only be worthwhile if large series are produced.
One disadvantage inherent to all methods used for deforming plates heated over their entire surface areas is that the entire surface area to be deformed must be heated to the processing temperature, no matter whether or not a shape or surface already present in the semi-finished product may also be partially used for the resulting shaped body. This mainly applies to the case where prefabricated plates made of thermoplastic plastics are used as starting material and deformed by means of the vacuum molding process. Moreover, large area heating and deformation will almost always result in the walls of the produced shaped body being reduced in thickness at numerous sites. This fact will have to be taken into account specifically for each new shape.
GB 1 603 489 discloses a process in which a collapsible boat or other three-dimensional objects are produced from a thermoplastic blank by merely heating regions thereof and bending the material along edges predetermined by means of templates. This method is identically disclosed in DE 28 22 218 A1. It is furthermore known from the teaching of EP 0 022 884 A1 to create a three-dimensional body by deforming a metal sheet by means of a template.
It is the object of the invention to simplify the production of one-piece, three-dimensional shaped bodies as well as to provide three-dimensional shaped bodies, in particular display furniture, which can be easily produced.
This object is accomplished according to the invention by the features of claims 1, 14, 16, 18, 29, 32, and/or 34.
The invention provides that a plate which is resistant to bending at room temperature is heated only in heating regions along deformation lines, especially bending lines, and is subsequently deformed freely in space, i.e. without the use of a stop edge, template or die. Since free deformation processes, in particular bending, will not require the use of a die or template, this makes them suitable also for small-scale series production. One advantage of free deformation processes is that the material will be treated gently since tools will only be used in those areas where the material has the properties that make it resistant to deformation at room temperature, and consequently, the finished product will not show any tool marks. This free deformation in space during which the material will assume a geometric structure of the least interior tension, will also allow shapes with plural bending lines to be produced in one deformation step.
In the method of the invention, which reminds one of origami-style folding, certain deformation regions of the material blank are merely softened by heating, followed by a folding step under the influence of a force acting on individual portions of said material blank. The three-dimensional shape resulting from the folding step will be kept until the heated areas of the material blank have cooled down again and have become dimensionally stable. It should be mentioned here that force need not be applied to all partial surfaces since the coherent strength of the material will also allow changing the spatial relationship, relative to other partial surfaces, of any such partial surfaces that have no force acting on them.
Free bending in space along plural bending lines in one working step constitutes one preferred embodiment of the invention. In this case, the bending lines on the material blank may contact, intersect, or extend totally independently of, each other, with curved bending lines also being possible for generating a certain three-dimensional shape.
If the bending lines extend in the form of curves, this will result in shaped bodies with curved surfaces having a high dimensional stability. The more frequently secants of the bending lines intersect within a defined work surface, and the further scattered these intersecting points are on said work surface, or the larger the section of the work surface that is covered with intersecting points is, the more dimensionally stable and the more capable of bearing diverse loads will the resulting shaped body be in general. This fact may be ideally exploited for designing shaped bodies capable of bearing extreme loads which are light-weight and ipso facto simultaneously easy to produce. Owing to the extraordinary variety of shapes possible with the shaped bodies according to the invention, a corresponding multitude of specific advantages will also become apparent when one examines individual examples of such shapes. Further comprehensive advantages of the shaped bodies of the invention as well as of the method for their production are that wherever conventional shaped parts formed by bending or semi-finished products had to be screwed, glued or welded together in time-intensive manual work processes in the past, such work will in many cases no longer be required in the future since it will be possible to produce and use complex designs as finished one-piece shaped bodies according to the invention without major production work and expenses. Containers produced in accordance with the method of the invention moreover exhibit the advantage of being inherently liquid-tight, i.e. not requiring an additional welding step. The geometry of the finished shaped body essentially depends on the material properties of the thermoplastic plate, the course and arrangement of the deformation curves, the bending radius in each point of the deformation curve as well as on the width of the heating region, the heating temperature and the duration of the heating step.
As was already indicated above, the advantages of the invention are not exclusively restricted to the technical and esthetic value of the shaped parts formed by bending according to the invention. Crucial advantages are also inherent to the method for their production. As was likewise already set out above, deformation processes involving bending steps have hitherto played a relatively minor role in the manual processing of thermoplastic semi-finished products. However, in many cases, the shaped parts formed by bending according to the invention are suitable for replacing shaped bodies of thermoplastic material which are the result of shaping processes that do not involve bending and that are far more labor-and time-intensive from a technical point of view. The production of shaped bodies of the invention is therefore considerably less expensive and a small-scale series production of these bodies is thus also more economical than that of comparable shaped bodies produced by means of the aforementioned original shaping methods, since no specific forming tools are required for producing the shaped bodies of the invention as opposed to the abovementioned prior art forming methods, and it is also unnecessary to heat the entire semi-finished plate to the bending temperature. The cost and time advantage is particularly significant in the case of large-surface plates.
As a rule, suitable starting materials for the shaped bodies of the invention and the method for their production are all those materials which may be shaped as plates or flat bodies and exhibit thermoplastic properties so as to ensure that the semi-finished products can be deformed under the influence of heat. Consequently, the shaped bodies or the plates to be deformed in accordance with the method of the invention may either be made of a homogeneous material or also of a composite material. An exemplary list of such materials includes in particular thermoplastic plastics, sheet metals, flat glass, wax, wood as well as diverse composite materials which are capable of being deformed under the influence of heat. The preferred starting material is thermoplastic plastic of any kind, expressly including the composites on the basis of thermoplastic plastics. What comes to mind in this context are e.g. metal- or glass-fiber reinforced plates of thermoplastic plastic, or plastics having an integrated organic fiber content.
While for the hot-forming bending of plates of thermoplastic material, the bending edges have always been laid out along straight extending, i.e. linear deformation curves, it has now turned out that plates of thermoplastic material may also be bent if the deformation curves do not extend linearly but rather in the shape of e.g. a curve or in zigzag. Bending steps may even be performed if plural deformation curves intersect or contact each other within the plate to be deformed. The shaped bodies resulting from a corresponding bending of plates with intersecting or contacting deformation curves have bending edges which form corners and define angles between each other.
Depending on the course and array of the deformation curves on which a specific shaped body is based, a distinction can be made between shaped bodies in which the surfaces which are not exposed to heating during deformation and which are tension-free will still be planar and tension-free following deformation, and shaped bodies in which said surfaces will exhibit a material tension after deformation which will generally manifest itself in the form of a clear curvature of the surface in question. Material tensions and/or curvatures in the partial surfaces of the shaped body of the invention which were not subjected to thermal deformation will occur whenever such a partial surface, which is at least partially delimited by one or plural bending edges, is forcedxe2x80x94by these very bending edgesxe2x80x94into a smaller plane than would correspond to the actual extent of said partial surface, were it spread out flatly. If the individual partial surfaces of the shaped body of the invention are to totally lack any said material tensions, this can only be accomplished if the individual deformation curves intersecting each other in at least one instance each extend linearly.
However, as soon as a portion of a deformation curve which is not intersected by any other deformation curve extends as a finitely or infinitely finely subdivided open polygon, once the bending has been completed, the thermoplastic plate will exhibit a more or less pronounced curvature on either side of the respective resulting bending edge each. If said open polygon defines a simple arc, the resulting shaped body will exhibit both a convexly delimited concave partial surface and a concavely delimited convex partial surface.
If an infinitely finely subdivided open polygon is composed of two arcs extending in opposite directions, then the two partial surfaces delimited by the resulting curved bending edge which may extend in the form of a tangential or cotangential curve, will each exhibit fluidly merging concave and convex sections.
Owing to the different elastic properties of the starting material used in each case, the surface lines of the concave or convex surfaces will extend to a more or less curved extent, with the curvature radius changing constantly. This means that in the immediate vicinity of the bending edge, the curvature of a respective partial surface will still reflect the curvature radius of such bending edge, but will subsequently decrease steadily with increasing distance from said bending edge. The smaller the elasticity defined by the thickness of the material and of the plate, the faster the curved surface will become planar again.
If shaped bodies exhibiting such curvatures are desired for esthetic or technical reasons, then these curved shaped parts formed by bending will have the advantage of higher stability over conventional curved shaped parts of identical wall thickness, since the curved region of the shaped body of the invention will be permanently pre-stressed. Such inherently stable curved shaped bodies may be advantageously used in many applications. As an example, applications in car body construction or also in building or roofing should be mentioned here.
The aforementioned tension forces which in many cases result from the course and the array of the deformation curves will not only lead to a cold elastic deformation of the partial surfaces not heated during the bending deformation step, but will, moreover, also have a direct influence on the hot deformation along the deformation lines. Thus the tension forces acting on the part may exert a certain influence on the bending edges which will in turn depend on the material used, the selected temperature as well as the width of the heating region extending along a deformation curve. Of practical importance in this respect is above all the chosen width of the heating region, since narrowing or widening this region alone will already have a notable effect on the geometrical shape of the bending edges. For example, if at a bending edge the width of the heating region varies within one and the same deformation curve, it may be advantageous if the plate material is additionally cooled in the regions adjacent the actual heating region. As a rule, the corners and edges of a shaped body will automatically become more rounded, the wider the heating region is. The effects of the tension forces caused by the elastically cold-formed partial surfaces range from upsetting deformations, extensions to shearing in the area of the bending edges, and may be deliberately avoided or also specifically caused, depending on the demands made on the finished shaped body. Cleverly positioned upsetting deformations may e.g. turn into desired reinforcement ribs or serve to optically highlight certain parts or portions. Especially strong extensions may on the other hand produce folds which will ultimately appear as U- or omega folds. It is self-evident that such deformations may also be created at the bending edges by triggering off the required tension forces through pulling or pressure forces made to act on the external edges of the semi-finished products during the bending deformation step. Characteristic embodiments of the bending edges may serve particularly advantageously as integrated functional elements of shaped bodies. For example, deliberately caused material upsetting deformations or extensions may function as cable channels, as drains, as negative profiles for snap or plug connections and as introduction or feed profiles for pipings or sealing profiles.
For deliberately forming specific bending edge profiles, the method of the invention may advantageously be combined with a pressure deformation process using one or plural rams. In this way, certain cavity shapes may be formed in the shaped part by additionally deforming the desired area of the heated bending region by means of said rams.
The thermoplastic plates used as the starting material for the shaped bodies of the invention will not necessarily have to have a smooth surface for the method to be performed successfully. Semi-finished products having a certain surface profile on one or either side may also be used without difficulty for this purpose. If necessary, the varying plate cross-section may be taken into account by correspondingly adjusting the heating temperature.
Another advantage of the production method of the invention is that plates which already include recesses may also be readily deformed by bending. By contrast, perforated plates which exhibit a grid or pattern of punched or pierced apertures may not be deformed by means of methods in which the semi-finished products are pressed onto the forming tools in a vacuum- or compressed-air pressure chamber or also by means of a liquid. Providing recesses in finished and geometrically irregular shaped bodies at a later time, by sawing out, cutting out, punching out or melting out, will not only be laborious and time-consuming but will usually also result in energy and material losses since the cut-out portions will either have to be recycled or rejected. Even simple bores for the assembly of component packages or the like may be substantially more easily provided in planar surfaces, since a three-axle boring mill can be used for this purpose instead of a five-axle boring mill otherwise required. Moreover, compared to the conventional shaped bodies which were provided with the recesses only after the deformation process, the shaped body produced in accordance with the invention and provided with recesses or a grid has the advantage that the edges of the recesses can be rounded off or formed in any other specific way much more easily, depending on the design and dimensions of the basic plate.
Also for printing, engraving or milling purposes, the method of the invention can be considered superior to the prior art deformation processes since in this case, too, the entire processing of the plate may be carried out before the deformation process, i.e. in the planar state of the plate.
The possibility of processing the plates before the actual deformation step is advantageous especially where the shaped body is to function as a device support since the assembly of component packages can be done much more easily in the planar state of the plate, and it may even be possible, if necessary, to produce shaped bodies from which a component package mounted thereon cannot be removed again later.
For concretely performing the method of the invention, different devices may be used, depending on the desired degree of automation, with at least one heating means being required which can be used for heating thermoplastic plates along one or plural deformation curves.
In the simplest case, the heating means will include firmly installed heating rods or heating pipes which extend along the deformation curves. In an advantageous embodiment, the heating rods or heating pipes are in the form of individual heating elements which may be installed on one and the same heating means in an array which may essentially be freely chosen. In this manner, a number of heating elements of identical or also different types may be used to produce a plurality of different shaped bodies by means of a single device. It is furthermore considered advantageous to provide support means which can be used to fix the plate to be heated on the heating means. If the support means is e.g. suspended from a traveling trolley or a carriage, then the plates to be deformed may be taken into the material stock, subsequently be moved to the heating means and be brought into position there.
If a material blank has plural bending lines subdividing said material blank into plural regions, it will not be necessary during the deformation step to have a force acting on each such region of said material blank. This is due to the fact that the cohesive strength of the material will allow the spatial position of a region of a material blank to be changed without a force having to act on said region.
For generating linearly extending bending edges, the material blank will have to be heated only along a narrow heating region. However, if extensions or embossing zones are to be generated, a wide heating region of the material will preferably have to be heated in order to achieve an as small as possible fluctuation of the material thickness. In the method of the invention, the width of the heating region can moreover be used for specifically setting the bending radii and roundings of corners.
The method of the invention allows the processing of thermoplastic plastic material of a thickness of between 3 mm and 10 mm. Consequently, shaped bodies may be produced which exhibit a high inherent strength. As a result, shaped bodies and display bags of the invention are characterized by a wall thickness of between 3 mm to 10 mm, especially 6.5 mm and 4 mm, respectively. In this context, another advantage of the method is that only a relatively small amount of energy is required for producing said shaped bodies.
Another aspect of the invention provides that in a display furniture item including at least one display surface and at least one support surface adjoining said display surface for positioning said display surface, these surfaces are provided as one piece and spatially staggered from each other by bending a material blank which was heated only along at least one bending line.
Preferably, said display furniture item is produced by free bending in space, i.e. without the use of templates or dies. In such case, the display furniture item will not show any traces of a force acting on it since the force was only introduced in areas which had not been heated and thus were able to resist the force, andxe2x80x94depending on the course of the heat acting on the materialxe2x80x94the edges will be finely rounded with a large or small radius, free of any tool marks.
A deformation along plural bending lines in one working step, as it is possible with the display furniture item of the invention, will reduce the required number of handling steps and thus diminish production time and manufacturing costs.
Preferably, the display surface and the support surface are formed in a bottom element of a shelf which is provided between two spaced posts. In this case, said shelf bottom preferably consists of an essentially rectangular material blank which has been bent in a desklike shape along a first bending line extending in parallel to one of the material edges and along further bending lines so as to subdivide said first bending line into three sections, the first and third of which extend essentially in parallel, including an essentially right angle each with respect to said second section.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, said display furniture item takes the form of a display stand or rack with a foot formed as one piece with the display surface and the support surface, with said display surface, said support surface and said foot having been formed by bending a material blank which had been heated only along bending lines.
Yet another aspect of the invention proposes a covering cap for covering a display surface of a display furniture item, including at least one cover surface and at least one support surface adjoining said cover surface, said cover surface and said support surface being formed as one piece and being spatially staggered from each other by bending a material blank which had been heated only along bending lines. From an esthetic point of view, it is considered especially advantageous if the cover surface has two support surfaces formed symmetrically to the central plane of said cover surface, with the bending line formed between said cover surface and one support surface each extending in a curved manner, resulting in a cover surface of a concave or convex curvature.
Said display furniture item, said covering cap and said foot preferably consist of a material blank of a transparent material, in particular polymethylmethacrylate which deliberately only has its internal or bottom side imprinted on or coated. The fact that only one side is imprinted on or coated will facilitate production since the force required during deformation can thus be made to act on the side which has deliberately been left untreated. This will avoid any processing marks or traces which would otherwise result during production. Moreover, imprinting on or coating only one side of a material blank will prove advantageous in use since scratch marks and the like can only appear on the un-imprinted side of the transparent material and will thus be essentially invisible. Any contamination of the coating or the printed section will also be prevented.

Method for producing one-piece, three-dimensional shaped bodies, shaped bodies produced according to the method, device for carrying out the method, and display furniture


A technique is described herein for monitoring the operational state of a fuel cell stack by the detection of nonlinearity in such a manner that an external test signal for frequency response is generated and applied to the fuel cell stack during operation, the resulting signal output from the fuel cell stack is measured, and the harmonic content of the measured signal is analyzed, the method including: applying a multiple frequency test signal comprising at least two sinusoidal waves as the test signal for frequency response to the fuel cell stack; and analyzing the resulting current or voltage signal output from the fuel cell stack.

(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to monitoring the operational state of a fuel cell stack. More particularly, it relates to monitoring the operational state of unit cells of the fuel cell stack and the occurrence of deterioration in performance in real time and detecting nonlinearity of the current or voltage signal of the fuel cell stack.
(b) Background Art
A fuel cell is an electricity generation system that does not convert chemical energy of fuel into heat by combustion, but instead electrochemically converts the chemical energy directly into electrical energy in a fuel cell stack. The fuel cell can be applied to the electric power supply of small-sized electrical and electronic devices, for example portable devices, as well as industrial and household appliances and vehicles.
One of the most attractive fuel cells for a vehicle is a proton exchange membrane fuel cell or a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), which has the highest power density among other fuel cells. The PEMFC has a fast start-up time and a fast reaction time for power conversion due to its low operation temperature.
The fuel cell stack included in the PEMFC comprises a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), a gas diffusion layer (GDL), a gasket, a sealing member, and a bipolar plate. The MEA includes a solid polymer electrolyte membrane through which hydrogen ions are transported. An electrode/catalyst layer, in which an electrochemical reaction takes place, is disposed on each of both sides of the polymer electrolyte membrane. The GDL functions to uniformly diffuse reactant gases and transmit generated electricity. The gasket functions to provide an appropriate airtightness to reactant gases and coolant. The sealing member functions to provide an appropriate bonding pressure. The bipolar plate functions to support the MEA and GDL, collect and transmit generated electricity, transmit reactant gases, transmit and remove reaction products, and transmit coolant to remove reaction heat, etc.
When the fuel cell stack is assembled with the unit cells, a combination of the MEA and the GDL is positioned in the center of each unit cell of the fuel cell stack. The MEA comprises an electrode/catalyst layer such as an air electrode (cathode) and a fuel electrode (anode), in which an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen takes place, disposed on each of both sides of the polymer electrolyte membrane. Moreover, the GDL and the gasket are sequentially stacked on both sides of the MEA, where the cathode and the anode are located.
The bipolar plate including flow fields for supplying reactant gases (hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen or air as an oxidant) and transmitting coolant is located on the outside of the GDL. After a plurality of unit cells are stacked together, a current collector, an insulating plate, and an end plate for supporting the stacked unit cells are connected to the outermost ends of the fuel cell stack. The plurality of unit cells are repeatedly stacked and connected in series between the end plates, thereby completing the manufacturing the fuel cell stack.
Typically, the unit cells in a required amount are stacked together to obtain a potential required for an actual vehicle. For example, since an electrical potential generated by one unit cell is about 1.3 V, a plurality of unit cells are generally stacked in series to generate enough power required for driving a vehicle.
Meanwhile, in a fuel cell vehicle, the cell voltage is used to determine the performance, the operational state of the fuel cell stack, and the occurrence of a failure. Moreover, the cell voltage is used to control various operations such as the flow rate of reactant gas. Typically, the bipolar plate is connected to a cell voltage monitoring system through a connector or lead wire to monitor the cell voltage.
A conventional cell voltage monitoring (CVM) system directly monitors the voltage of all cells or two cells, in which the monitored information is processed by a master controller (i.e., superior controller) collecting the voltage of all cells. The CVM system monitors a voltage drop due to a failure, not the cause of the failure.
The CVM system is also used to monitor the operational state of a battery. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional CVM system, in which a total of 32 cells are connected in series.
The conventional CVM system can determine the position of a faulty cell as it directly monitors the cell voltage. However, as can be seen from FIG. 1, the conventional CVM system has a very complicated circuit configuration, and thus it is difficult to configure and maintain the system. Moreover, the system is very expensive, and it is unable to determine the cause of the failure.
Moreover, an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) may also be used conventionally, and it is mainly used in the field of electrochemistry to determine the characteristics of electrode reactions or complexes. The EIS can obtain comprehensive information related to the properties, structures, and reactions of complexes by the analysis of the system response and is used as a useful tool in the fields of applied chemistry, medical engineering, and bioengineering.
However, the EIS is used off-line (that is, not during real-time operation of a fuel cell stack) and thus requires a long test time. Moreover, it is not suitable for real-time detection, requires a high cost, and is used only to analyze a unit cell.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,531,253 discloses a method for monitoring the operational state of a fuel cell stack in which a low-frequency current [Itest(t)] or voltage signal is applied to the fuel cell stack and the resulting current or voltage [V(t)] signal is measured to infer the operational state of individual cells of the fuel cell stack from a change in the harmonic content and the amplitude of the measured current or voltage signal.
According to this method, a drop in cell voltage is detected by a change of a linear region of the V/I (voltage/current) characteristic curve into a nonlinear state, and the possible failure of the system can be monitored by measuring all signals of the fuel cell stack.
The basic concept of this method is to monitor the operational state of the fuel cell stack on the basis of measuring only the voltage of the fuel cell stack. That is, the operational state of individual cells of the fuel cell stack is inferred from a change in the voltage of the fuel cell stack due to a change in current by frequency analysis.
As shown in FIG. 2, the voltage/current characteristics of the fuel cell stack are linear during normal operation and nonlinear under abnormal operation conditions. That is, if nonlinearity occurs in the cell voltages of the fuel cell stack, it can be determined that the operational state of the fuel cell stack is abnormal.
During operation of the fuel cell stack to which a load is connected, a sinusoidal test current [(B sin(ωt)] for frequency response is additionally applied to the fuel cell stack and, at this time, the current of the fuel cell stack is the sum of the basic operating current and the sinusoidal current [the current of the fuel cell stack=A+B sin(ωt)].
However, the above-described method uses a small sinusoidal current change as an input, and thus it has a low analytical capacity. Therefore, a method for improving the analytical capacity is required.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Monitoring the operational state of a fuel cell stack

Kangnam University Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation


A display rack and an integrally formed hanger fixture for supporting the display rack is disclosed, and wherein the hanger fixture is formed as a L-shaped bracket having substantially horizontal and substantially vertical walls. A retainer wall is connected to a lower portion of the vertical wall and extends upwardly therefrom in substantially parallel spaced relation to the vertical wall to define a gap between the vertical wall and the retainer wall for slidably receiving a rear wall portion of a display rack. A pressure sensitive adhesive is positioned on the underside of the horizontal wall of the hanger fixture for adhesively securing the hanger fixture to a supporting surface.

It is common in merchandising to use hanger fixtures or shelf extenders for presenting product literature, containers or other display racks to the purchaser. Customarily, such extenders or hanger fixtures are attached to fixed shelves, price channels, or other supports and receive the literature, containers or display racks thereon. Some of the extenders are small, plastic extruded clips having members which slidably fit into horizontally extending price channels secured onto display shelves or other supports. Price items, advertisements or lightweight displays which would not force the clip away from the price channel are then fitted by plastic connectors, hooks or other means onto the clip for display thereon.
Other shelf extenders and hanger fixtures are supported by a shelf or other supporting surface to give added stability and provide a stronger support for larger, heavier objects and display racks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,078 to Fortunato discloses a combination shelf extender and display container having a clamp for securing the extender to the shelf. The extender's frontal plate includes outwardly turned receiving members which cooperate with formed grooves in the back wall of a display container for securing the container wall to the extender. Such clamp extenders will retain larger and heavier objects as compared to the smaller clips prevalent in merchandising. However, the use of clamps is burdensome.
Other similar large extenders and hanger fixtures do not incorporate a clamp. However, many of these extenders and hanger fixtures not having clamps have poor retainability to a shelf or have a structure mandating complex wall designs to ensure proper stability of a supported display rack or container. In addition, complex hanger fixtures are difficult to readily interconnect containers or display racks thereto. Also, many extenders and hanger fixtures extend substantially beyond the shelf upon which they are affixed. Large vertically oriented containers or display racks which are retained thereon often will suspend and swing freely relative to the extender or hanger fixture without adequate support from the shelves or other vertical wall faces adjacent the display rack backside.
It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a display rack and a hanger fixture for supporting the display rack, and where the hanger fixture is structurally simple and which can be readily secured to a supporting surface.
It is another object of this invention to provide a hanger fixture which can be readily affixed to a paperboard display rack.
It is another object of this invention to provide a hanger fixture for supporting a display rack and which is readily received within a slot formed on the upright rear wall of the display rack.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a hanger fixture for supporting a display rack where movement of the display rack relative to the hanger fixture is minimized.


A method includes capturing multiple ambient images of a scene using at least one camera of an electronic device and without using a flash of the electronic device. The method also includes capturing multiple flash images of the scene using the at least one camera of the electronic device and during firing of a pilot flash sequence using the flash. The method further includes analyzing multiple pairs of images to estimate exposure differences obtained using the flash, where each pair of images includes one of the ambient images and one of the flash images that are both captured using a common camera exposure and where different pairs of images are captured using different camera exposures. In addition, the method includes determining a flash strength for the scene based on the estimate of the exposure differences and firing the flash based on the determined flash strength.

Many mobile electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, include cameras that can be used to capture still and video images. While convenient, cameras on mobile electronic devices typically suffer from a number of shortcomings, including poor performance in low-light situations. For example, some mobile electronic devices simply use a flash when capturing low-light images. However, the flashes used in mobile electronic devices typically act as point sources of bright light (not diffuse sources of light), so the use of a flash typically causes over-exposure or "blow out" for nearby people or objects and under-exposure of the background. In other words, the use of a flash creates non-uniform radiance in the images, resulting in low aesthetic quality. The captured images also tend to have a bluish cast, which is not constant across the images and therefore not easily removable. Other mobile electronic devices attempt to combine multiple images together to produce more aesthetically-pleasing images. However, these approaches often suffer from unnatural saturation artifacts, ghosting artifacts, color twisting, bluish color casts, or noise.

Apparatus and method for capturing and blending multiple images for high-quality flash photography using mobile electronic device


A method for using a medical device comprising an optical sensor to measure calibrated oxygen saturation in a body tissue uses a standard spectral response of blood established for multiple of oxygen saturations and a standard spectral response of a reference material. The standard responses are established using a spectrometer. The spectral power output of the optical sensor is measured using a spectrometer. The optical sensor output signal response to the reference material is obtained. A processor computes a device-specific calibration curve for the medical device using the measured spectral power output and the standard spectral response of blood and computes an optical gain using the standard spectral response of the reference material and the measured spectral power output of the optical sensor. The device-specific calibration curve and optical gain of the optical sensor are stored in a memory of the medical device.

Optical sensors have been proposed or implemented in medical devices for monitoring changes in blood or tissue oxygen concentration. When short-term, relative changes in oxygen concentration are monitored, calibration of the optical sensor is not necessarily required. For example, two-wavelength optical sensors can be used to detect relative changes in blood oxygen saturation over short intervals of time, e.g. less than one minute, without requiring calibration using oxygenated blood. However, determining absolute StO2 is desirable in many monitoring applications because absolute measurements allow changes in oxygen that occur over longer time intervals to be measured and compared and provides a better indication of the actual patient's oxygenation status at a given time.
Four wavelength optical sensors have been implemented in external monitoring devices, which allow absolute StO2 to be measured. Tightly controlled manufacturing specifications with narrow tolerances enable calibration of the external optical sensors to be performed by calibrating one device and applying the calibration results to all devices. The calibration procedure typically requires calibration using blood flowing in a loop and oxygenated at different saturation levels to obtain a calibration curve.
Maintaining stringent manufacturing specifications to enable a single calibration to be applicable to all devices, however, can add to the cost of manufacturing and the frequency of device rejection. Widening the tolerances of manufacturing specifications can reduce manufacturing costs with the trade-off that a single calibration curve may no longer be applicable to all sensing devices. Calibration of each individual device using a blood flow loop, however, would also add undue manufacturing cost and time burden. A need exists, therefore, for an optical sensing device and associated methods for monitoring absolute StO2 that does not require calibration of all individual sensing devices using a blood loop but still enables manufacturing without highly restrictive tolerances or complex components.

Method and apparatus for calibrating an absolute oxygen saturation sensor


A memory system includes a selection element for selecting a selectable access rate from a plurality of access rates and a memory element for providing or for accepting data at the selectable access rate.

In the design of digital circuits, particularly in the design of digital circuits with so-called systems on a chip (SOC), a number of components must be connected to one another. These components can be divided into master and slave units. Masters are generators of transactions which cause a data transfer, and slaves are consumers of transactions. The data flow itself can take place in two directions: from a master to a slave (write transaction) and from a slave to a master (read transaction). The components which are to be connected to one another can also be, at the same time both master and slaves, by introducing more than one interface type.
A communication system arranged between a master and a slave should enable a number of masters to communicate simultaneously in a non-blocking way with multiple slaves. The different interface types within the same components and/or within different components can be operated at the same clock rate, at clock rates dependent on one another or at completely independent asynchronous clock rates. The last case mentioned is the most difficult one to handle with a total of M master interfaces which communicate with a number S of slave interfaces.
The simplest solution to the communication problem mentioned above consists of providing an independent communication path from each master to each slave with which the master is to communicate and to arrange memories with grey-coded read and write pointers on each communication path. The memories (buffers) synchronous the transaction codes, the write data and the read data between the clock domains of a master and of a slave. The solution meets the following criteria: a short latency period of an individual buffer between a master and a slave, high throughput because independent communication channels provide for non-blocking parallel communication; independent clock relations between each master and each slave so that changes in a clock rate of an individual module do not have any effects on the interconnection. One disadvantageous of this concept consists in that the silicon area increases greatly for larger systems because M×S buffers are needed. If, for example, the buffers need to accommodate 32-bit wide data words and burst sizes of 8 words, this concept leads to a significant consumption of area.
Another solution of the above-mentioned problem improves the utilization of silicon area by using a two-stage clock domain cross-over: firstly, each master uses one or more buffers for a translation to a crossbar network. At the end of the network, another storage element is used for changing into the clock domain of the slave. This requires M+S instead of M×S buffers which means a significant reduction for greater numbers of masters and slaves. However, the latency is higher since two buffers must be passed through on each path from each master to a slave. The throughput is the same because the crossbar provides for non-blocking communication from each master to each slave. Furthermore, a flexibility of clock rates for master and slaves is given due to private buffers for each master and slave which enables each clock domain to be bridged without adversely affecting other components.
For a routing application, where the data flow from the masters to the slaves is unidirectional, even smaller interconnect schemes are known. The transaction code is extracted from a header of a data packet which is sent in frames. The transaction code comprises at least the destination address and the number of data units to be transmitted. The data units follow the payload of the packet. For each master, one buffer is provided for accepting the input packet. The destination address is used for determining the output port to a slave. Since a plurality of masters may wish to communicate with the same slave simultaneously, an arbitration mechanism provided for each slave decides which of the masters is really connected at a given time. The connections themselves can be provided by a crossbar structure. The buffers can enable the different clock domains between a master and a slave to be bridged. The interconnect structure reduces the number of buffers to M. The latency is also reduced to the latency of a single buffer between a master and a slave. The throughput is the same as in the other known concepts due to the non-blocking crossbar.
A further problem which occurs when designing digital circuits with the systems-on-a-chip as mentioned above is that interfaces or internal accelerators need a data transfer between one another and, for example, to and from a memory at high data rates. It is not practical to transmit data at high data rates by using a CPU which copies the data because a CPU must first write the data into an internal register before it can forward the data to another destination. For this reason, components with high data rates are usually connected to a DMA (Direct Memory Access). At the least, this enables components with high data rates to access a memory for a relatively long time independent of a CPU, the source and destination addresses having to be reconfigured from time to time by the CPU. This feature is called peripheral-to-memory copy and memory-to-peripheral copy because the memory access can occur in both directions. This also enables direct copying between two components without intermediate storage in a memory (peripheral-to-peripheral copy). It is also makes it possible to implement a memory-to-memory copy.
There are two possibilities for a DMA implementation: decentralized DMA and centralized DMA. The decentralized DMA requires that each component has an inbuilt bus-master capability so that it (or other components) can independently access a memory. The centralized DMA can form an interface to components with simple slave interfaces by working as a master for the memory interfaces for carrying out data transmissions to these components, and by operating as a master for the memory interfaces. A DMA controller of a central DMA can be coupled to all components by using a single interface or by using a number of interfaces. The more interfaces that are used, the higher data rates are achieved and the more independence can be theoretically provided in the clock domains since a single interface requires all components to be operated in the same clock domain. The design of a central DMA architecture for different SOC designs is complicated for the following three reasons:                1. The components which are to be connected to a central DMA unit usually have interfaces of different origin: some are older in-house modules, some are procured from different IP equippers at different times. In the worst case, each of the components to be connected can have different types of a slave interface. A central DMA unit should therefore be capable of handling master tasks for a plurality of interfaces.        2. Each component connected to the central DMA unit should be capable of operating at the clock speed associated with it, with regard to which the clock speeds of other connected components, the DMA itself and the memory, are independent and asynchronous.        3. The number of components to be connected to a DMA unit, the number of interfaces supported, the clock speeds and the data rates are highly system specific. For this reason, each SOC should ideally have a tailor made DMA, but this causes high implementation and verification expenditure.

Selectable access rates in a memory and memory communication system