A resistance heater heats air forced by a fan into a woodstove secondary combustion chamber having an ignitor. The fan, heater and ignitor are controlled by a temperature sensor for gas flowing from a primary combustion chamber to a secondary combustion chamber. Two ignitors, extending through the stove back wall into the secondary combustion chamber, are controlled by the temperature sensor.

Use of wood as a fuel for residential heating has increased dramatically, resulting in a concomitant increase in air pollution. Airtight wood stoves, the type generally employed for residential heating, regulate heat output by throttling air supplied to a primary combustion chamber, to produce fuel-rich conditions that commonly cause unburned combustibles to be exhausted from the stove when the stove is operated at low heat rates. Most woodstoves used in the United States are generally operated at low burn rates because the stoves are located in a room being heated. If the stoves were operated at high burn rates, persons located in the room would become excessively warm. Most United States residential users of woodstoves prefer large stoves, which they operate at low burn rates, because such stoves need not be constantly filled with wood fuel. Burning the fuel at low burn rates, however, has the disadvantage of relatively low efficiency and high pollution because significant unburnt combustibles are exhausted from the stove.
Many design alternatives have been evaluated to provide more complete woodstove combustion. One of the most promising woodstove designs involves two chambers in the stove. A primary combustion chamber contains burning wood and includes an inlet, i.e. damper, for limited air entry. Usually, the damper is not fully open to provide a medium or low burn rate to sustain a smoldering fire that volatizes wood fuel. The resulting combustion gases pass into a secondary chamber, where combustion is theoretically completed with the aid of additional air introduced into the secondary combustion chamber from outside the stove. Theoretically, the advantage of this arrangement is that the fuel volatilization rate is decoupled from the combustion process so that complete combustion is achieved in the secondary chamber when low burn rates occur in the primary chamber.
It has been found that sustaining combustion in the woodstove secondary combustion chamber is difficult, at best, for low or medium burn rates in the primary chamber. The combustibles from the primary chamber and the air introduced into the secondary chamber must be well mixed. The composition of the mixture must be within flammability limits and the temperature of the mixture in the secondary chamber must exceed ignition temperature of the mixture therein. In a woodstove, the volatilization rate and the chemical composition of the combustibles change throughout a burn cycle. The flow rate of air introduced into the secondary chamber, which is usually naturally aspirated, changes with the flow rate of gases from the primary chamber into the secondary chamber, as does turbulence which causes mixing. The secondary chamber temperature also changes during a burn cycle.
The recommended procedure for operating certain woodstoves having secondary combustion chambers is to establish, for about one-half hour, a high burn rate in the primary combustion chamber with a damper to the secondary chamber closed. The temperature on the stove exterior may reach 800.degree.-900.degree. F. under these conditions. This operation causes combustion to occur in the secondary chamber when the damper to the secondary chamber is opened, and helps to remove tar and creosote from the walls of the chimney. However, a great deal of fuel is required to achieve this high burn rate and the room where the stove is located usually attains an excessively high temperature. Hence, this high burn rate operation is inefficient, although it is conducive to combustion in the secondary chamber immediately after the interchamber damper is opened. However, because of the high room temperature attained during the high burn rate operation, air flowing into the primary chamber is often severely throttled by closing a damper into the primary chamber when the interchamber damper is opened. This leads to a low or, at most, medium burn rate in the primary chamber, frequently, causing combustion to be quenched in the secondary chamber, so that desiderata of the secondary chamber are not achieved for a prolonged period.
Prior art woodstove design modifications to control the widely varying conditions in the primary and secondary chambers have attempted to promote sustained secondary chamber combustion. In attempts to sustain high temperature and combustion in the secondary chamber, the prior art has suggested: (1) preheating the supply of air fed into the secondary chamber, (2) regulating the composition of gases supplied to the secondary chamber, and (3) an external ignitor in the secondary chamber; see Allen et al. "Control of Emissions from Residential Woodburning by Combustion Modification" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Report EPA-600/7-81-091 (1981). The effectiveness in reducing emissions of the first of these three concepts has been tested in the laboratory; see the aforementioned Allen et al. article, as well as Allen et al. "Control of Woodstove Emissions Using Improved Secondary Combustion" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Report EPA-600/7-84-061 (1984); and Knight et al. "Efficiency and Emission Performance of Residential Wood Heaters with Advanced Designs," Proceedings of the APCA 76th Annual Meeting Atlanta, Georgia, 1983. In general, with these prior art techniques, emissions were reduced when the stove was operated at high burn rates. However, little or no emission reduction was observed at the low burn rates commonly used during "steady state" operation in United States residences.
Other techniques for sustaining combustion in the secondary combustion chamber have involved the use of a natural gas powered flame and electrical ignitors; see Spolek et al., "Secondary Combustion in a Dual-Chamber Woodstove," ASHRAE Transactions Vol. 91, Part 1, pages 1138-1146, 1988. Laboratory measurements of woodstove emissions using natural gas powered flames have demonstrated a substantial decrease during limited testing. However, experimentation with natural gas powered flames was suspended because of practical problems associated with supplying an external natural gas source to a woodstove. In experiments we conducted with electrical ignitors, wherein the ignitors were located on the secondary combustion chamber outside wall, it was found that the electrical ignitor did not result in complete combustion of products in the secondary chamber.
An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved dual chamber woodstove having secondary chamber combustion control and method of operating same.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved dual chamber woodstove having a secondary combustion chamber wherein the stove is efficiently operated and emissions, including particulates, are substantially reduced, even though fuel is being burned in a primary combustion chamber of the stove at a medium or low burn rate.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved dual chamber woodstove having automatic control of combustion in a secondary combustion chamber of the stove.

Woodstove for heated air forced into a secondary combustion chamber and method of operating same

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


The invention provides an organic EL device comprising a hole injecting electrode, a negative electrode, at least one organic layer between the electrodes, the organic layer including a light emitting layer having a light emitting function, and a hole injecting and transporting layer containing a hole transporting organic material and an inorganic insulative hole injecting and transporting layer formed of an inorganic material between the hole injecting electrode and the light emitting layer. The inorganic insulative hole injecting and transporting layer contains silicon oxide and/or germanium oxide as a main component, the main component having an average composition represented by the formula: (Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x)O.sub.y wherein 0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.1 and 1<y.ltoreq.2. This construction enables an organic EL device having better performance than prior art devices having hole injecting and transporting layers using organic materials, a long life, weather resistance, high stability, high efficiency, and low cost.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to an organic electroluminescent (EL) device and more particularly, to an inorganic/organic junction structure suitable for use in a device of the type wherein an electric field is applied to a thin film of an organic compound to emit light.
2. Background Art
In general, organic EL devices have a basic configuration including a glass substrate, a transparent electrode of ITO etc., a hole transporting layer of an organic amine compound, an organic light emitting layer of a material exhibiting electronic conductivity and intense light emission such as Alq3, and an electrode of a low work function metal such as MgAg, wherein the layers are stacked on the substrate in the described order.
The device configurations which have been reported thus far have one or more organic compound layers interposed between a hole injecting electrode and an electron injecting electrode. The organic compound layers are typically of two- or three-layer structure.
Included in the two-layer structure are a structure having a hole transporting layer and a light emitting layer formed between the hole injecting electrode and the electron injecting electrode and another structure having a light emitting layer and an electron transporting electrode formed between the hole injecting electrode and the electron injecting electrode. Included in the three-layer structure is a structure having a hole transporting layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transporting layer formed between the hole injecting electrode and the electron injecting electrode. Also known is a one-layer structure wherein a single layer playing all the roles is formed from a polymer or a mixed system.
FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate typical configurations of organic EL devices.
In FIG. 3, a hole transporting layer 14 and a light emitting layer 15 of organic compounds are formed between a hole injecting electrode 12 and an electron injecting electrode 13 on a substrate 11. In this configuration, the light emitting layer 15 also serves as an electron transporting layer.
In FIG. 4, a hole transporting layer 14, a light emitting layer 15, and an electron transporting layer 16 of organic compounds are formed between a hole injecting electrode 12 and an electron injecting electrode 13 on a substrate 11.
Attempts have been made to improve the luminous efficiency of these organic EL devices. With the prior art device configuration, however, for reasons of poor electron blocking of the hole injecting and transporting layer, it was difficult to achieve efficient recombination of electrons with holes in the light emitting layer and hence, to provide a device with a fully satisfactory efficiency.

Organic electroluminescent device with silicone oxide and/or germanium oxide insulative layer


A light bulb shaped lamp includes: a hollow globe having an opening; an LED module having a base platform and an LED chip mounted on the base platform, the LED module being housed in the globe; a stem extending from the opening of the globe to the vicinity of the LED module; and a regulating component which regulates movement of the LED module with respect to the stem.

Light emitting diodes (LED) which are semiconductor light-emitting elements are smaller, have higher efficiency and longer product life than the conventional illumination light sources. Recent market needs for saving energy and resource boost the demand for light bulb shaped lamps using LEDs (hereafter simply referred to as "LED light bulb") and lighting apparatuses including the LED light bulbs, replacing conventional incandescent light bulbs using filament coils.
Known properties of LEDs include reduced light output as temperature increases, which lead to shorter product life. In response to this problem, a metal case is provided between semispherical globe and a base in a conventional LED light bulb so as to suppress the increase in the temperature of LED (for example, see Patent Literature 1). The metal case functions as a heat sink for radiating heat generated in LED to outside, making it possible to suppress the increase in the temperature of LED and to prevent the reduction in light output.

Light bulb shaped lamp and lighting apparatus


An apron for a vehicle front end comprises a unitary plastic component having a front structure and a rear structure joined by an offset portion. The front and rear structures extend at rearward downward angles and in generally parallel directions, and the offset portion extends at a rearward upward angle. The apron has a relatively constant vertical dimension, such that the angled structures define a wave-shaped envelope. Preferably, a horizontal plane extending from the tip of the front structure stays within the wave-shaped envelope, so that impact forces stay within the boundary in a manner providing improved impact strength and greater energy absorption during an impact. At the same time, the front structure provides a homogeneous structure that distributes local impact stresses uniformly and more widely into the rear structure, thus providing a more uniform impact resistance less sensitive to impact location.

The present invention relates bumper systems designed for pedestrian safety, and more particularly to a bumper system with lower apron designed with specific features to reduce "apron caused" pedestrian leg injury during an impact, and also that is particularly designed to work in conjunction with an adjacent primary bumper system for optimal "coordinated" impact resistance (i.e. where the primary bumper system and apron combine to form a coordinated "complete" bumper system designed for reduced pedestrian leg injury).
Traditionally, bumper systems are designed to protect a vehicle and its occupants. Recently, vehicle manufacturers of passenger vehicles are designing vehicles for improved pedestrian safety. As vehicle designers began to consider pedestrian safety, the bumper systems were often designed to provide a "softer" initial impact (such as to produce a lower force of resistance during a first few centimeters of impact stroke) and/or were designed to cause the pedestrian to roll onto the vehicle's hood during an impact. However, improvements are desired to further reduce pedestrian injury.
Lower aprons below a primary bumper beam have been used in an attempt to reduce pedestrian leg injury. However, conflicting requirements make design of any such lower apron difficult. For example, the lower apron should preferably be sufficiently stiff to help prevent a pedestrian from being drawn under the vehicle during an impact. At the same time (using traditional thinking), the apron potentially should not be so strong as to unnecessarily injure the pedestrian upon impact from the apron itself. The apron must be strong enough and durable enough to avoid being unacceptably damaged and/or destroyed by contact with curbs and other low obstacles often encountered by a vehicle. Yet, the apron must not be so rigid and heavy/structural that it becomes damaged (or causes vehicle damage) upon impacting a road-level object, and also it must not add an unacceptable amount of weight to the vehicle, particularly in view of vehicle weight and mpg requirements and goals, keeping in mind that any mass located ahead of the front vehicle wheels can adversely affect vehicle stability and can have an amplified negative effect on vehicle stability and mpg.

Bumper system with pedestrian-friendly lower apron


Techniques for decisioning behavioral pairing in a task assignment system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for decisioning behavioral pairing in a task assignment system comprising: determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the task assignment system, a plurality of possible task-agent pairings among at least one task waiting for assignment and at least one agent available for assignment; and selecting, by the least one computer processor for assignment in the task assignment system, a first task-agent pairing of the plurality of possible task-agent pairings based at least in part on a first offer set to be offered by the agent or a first compensation to be received by the agent.

A typical task assignment system algorithmically assigns tasks arriving at a task assignment center to agents available to handle those tasks. At times, the task assignment center may be in an "L1 state" and have agents available and waiting for assignment to tasks. At other times, the task assignment center may be in an "L2 state" and have tasks waiting in one or more queues for an agent to become available for assignment.
In some typical task assignment centers, tasks are assigned to agents ordered based on time of arrival, and agents receive tasks ordered based on the time when those agents became available. This strategy may be referred to as a "first-in, first-out," "FIFO," or "round-robin" strategy. For example, in an L2 environment, when an agent becomes available, the task at the head of the queue would be selected for assignment to the agent.
In other typical task assignment centers, a performance-based routing (PBR) strategy for prioritizing higher-performing agents for task assignment may be implemented. Under PBR, for example, the highest-performing agent among available agents receives the next available task. Other PBR and PBR-like strategies may make assignments using specific information about the agents.
"Behavioral Pairing" or "BP" strategies, for assigning tasks to agents, improve upon traditional assignment methods. BP targets balanced utilization of agents while simultaneously improving overall task assignment center performance potentially beyond what FIFO or PBR methods will achieve in practice.
In some task assignment systems, it may be advantageous to consider the next-best action for a task given its assignment to a particular agent. Thus, it may be understood that there may be a need for a decisioning BP strategy that takes into consideration the next-best action for a task-agent pairing in order to optimize the overall performance of the task assignment system.


An information recording/reproducing apparatus includes a reproduction unit, an operation unit, a storage unit, and a control unit. The reproduction unit reads information recorded in a recording medium. The operation unit instructs the reproduction unit to eject the recording medium. The storage unit stores the information read by there production unit therein. When the recording medium is loaded into the reproduction unit, the control unit controls the reproduction unit to read the information and controls the storage unit to store the information read by there production unit therein automatically. When the operation unit instructs the reproduction unit to eject the recording medium during the storage unit being storing the information read, the control unit informs a user that the storage unit is storing the information read.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording/reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to an audio apparatus for automatically reproducing or playing back music and automatically recording the music reproduced in a storage device when an information recording medium storing music information recorded is loaded into a reproducing device for reproducing it.
2. Description of the Related Art
An audio apparatus such as an in-vehicle audio apparatus has a storage-medium reproducing device such as a CD player, so that a user can enjoy the music reproduced or played back by the reproducing device. The audio apparatus also has a hard disk (hereinafter referred to as HD) with a large capacity of e.g. several tens G (giga) bytes and a hard disk drive (HDD) for driving HD, so that the user can enjoy any selected music program reproduced by a music reproducing system from the HD in which a large number of recording media such as CDs are copied (see JP-A-2000-207845).
According to such an audio apparatus, if contents of a large number of recording media, e.g. CD have been previously recorded in a built-in HD, a preferred piece of music read from among programmed pieces of music contained in a large number of CDs can be enjoyed with no loading/unloading thereof. Particularly, from the viewpoint of safety driving, this is preferred in an in-vehicle audio apparatus, which is mostly operated during driving because copying in HD makes it unnecessary to load/unload a recording medium such as CD.
In this way, in the in-vehicle apparatus, contents of a large number of CDs are often used in a form recorded in a storage device such as HD. Some audio apparatus, therefore, have been also proposed in which the reproducing/recording of CD is automatically started when CD is loaded into a reproducing device.

Information recording/reproducing apparatus that automatically stores information data before ejecting a recording medium


The display device substrate according to the present invention is arranged so that: a source line is provided on an area on which a pixel electrode is not provided, and a gap is provided between the source line and the pixel electrode, and a black matrix (light shielding film) which covers a surface of the source line overlaps with the pixel electrode. Thus, it is possible to prevent parasitic capacitance (Csd) between the pixel electrode and the source line from becoming uneven in a display area, so that it is possible to reduce display unevenness of a liquid crystal display device using the present display device substrate.

A liquid crystal display device nowadays has characteristics such as small size, thinness, low power consumption, and light weight, and is widely used in various kinds of electronic devices. Particularly, an active matrix type liquid crystal display device (liquid crystal panel) having a switching element as an active element can realize the same display property as in a CRT, so that this is widely applied to an OA device such as a personal computer, an AV device such as a television, a cellular phone, and the like. Further, recently, the liquid crystal display device has been being made larger and finer, and its quality (such as an effective pixel area ratio (aperture ratio)) has improved rapidly.
In a technique wherein a pixel electrode and a source line (signal line) are formed in the same surface of an active matrix substrate, a distance between the pixel and a source bus line (hereinafter, referred to simply as a source line) is shortened and the source line is made finer so as to increase the effective pixel area, thereby making the device finer and improving the aperture ratio.
However, when the distance between the pixel and the source line is shortened, a short circuit tends to occur. Further, when the source line is made finer, connection failure tends to occur. In such a technique wherein a pixel electrode and a source line are formed in the same surface of an active matrix substrate, the tendency to short circuiting and connection failure decrease production yield.
To prevent short circuiting and the connection failure, and resultant production yield, methods (a) to (c) of manufacturing the active matrix substrate have been proposed.
(a) After forming the active element and the source line, a transparent interlayer insulating film is provided.
(b) The active element and a transparent pixel electrode are made to contact each other via a contact hole.
(c) A pixel electrode is formed on the transparent interlayer insulating film so that the source line and the pixel electrode are separately positioned on different planes.
Further, a color filter substrate is combined with the active matrix substrate manufactured in the foregoing manner so that the color filter substrate faces the active matrix substrate, and liquid crystal is injected into a gap between both the substrates, thereby obtaining the liquid crystal display device. An example color filter substrate includes a color substrate having areas of R (red), G (green), and B (blue), so that these areas correspond to pixel areas on the side of the active matrix substrate wherein a black matrix (light shielding film) is provided on an area other than the pixel areas.
In the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device using the foregoing color filter, accuracy in forming the black matrix (hereinafter, referred to as "BM" as required) has influence on the aperture ratio. The accuracy in forming the BM is calculated by adding (i) accuracy in combining the active matrix substrate with the color filter substrate to (ii) accuracy in forming a desired width of the BM. In order to solve the problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 170957/1998 (Tokukaihei 10-170905) (publication date: Jun. 26, 1998) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 33816/2001 (Tokukai 2001-33816) (Publication date: Feb. 9, 2001) recite such technique that the BM is formed on the side of the active matrix substrate in a self-aligning manner so as to improve the aperture ratio.
The following description will explain a specific example of the active matrix substrate, on which the BM is formed in a self-aligning manner, with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13.
FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a pixel of a conventional active matrix substrate (thin film transistor array) and a part of a pixel adjacent to that pixel. As shown in FIG. 12, a gate bus line (scanning line: hereinafter, referred to merely as a gate line) 101 and a source bus line (signal line: hereinafter, referred to merely as a source line) 102 are disposed so as to cross each other in the pixel of the conventional active matrix substrate. In the intersection area, a pixel electrode 103 is disposed.
On the gate line 101, a gate electrode 104 is provided. On the source line 102, a source electrode 105 is provided. Further, the pixel electrode 103 is connected to the drain electrode 106. Further, a pixel electrode 103′ having the same function as the pixel electrode 103 is provided on a pixel adjacent to the pixel having the pixel electrode 103. The source line 102 is provided between the pixel electrode 103 and the pixel electrode 103′.
A drain electrode 106 is connected to the pixel electrode 103 via a contact hole 109. Likewise, an auxiliary capacitor bus line (hereinafter, referred to merely as an auxiliary capacitor line) 107 is connected to the pixel electrode 103 via a contact hole 109′.
The following description will briefly explain a method of manufacturing the active matrix substrate, particularly a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor array, with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. Note that, FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view taken along A-A′ line of the thin film transistor array shown in FIG. 12.
First, the gate line 101, the gate electrode 104, and the auxiliary capacitor line 107 are formed on a substrate 110, constituted of a transparent insulating substrate made of glass and the like, in accordance with the same process. Next, a gate insulating film 111 is formed thereon.
Thereafter, an active element 114 such as a thin film transistor (TFT) is formed. In FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, first, an active semiconductor layer 112 is formed. Next, an amorphous silicon (for example, an n-type amorphous silicon) layer 113 is formed. Further, the source line 102, the source electrode 105, and the drain electrode 106 are formed (the source line 102 and the source electrode 105 are formed in accordance with the same process).
Next, the BM 108 constituted of an insulating layer pattern is formed so as to cover the active element 114 (except for the contact hole 109 and its peripheral portion), the source line 102, and the gate line 101, and the auxiliary capacitor line 107 (except for the contact hole 109′ and its peripheral portion).
The black matrix 108 is provided on areas of the components other than the pixel electrode in a self-aligning manner. The BM 108 is formed in a self-aligning manner so as to correspond to the gate line 101, the source line 102, the active element 114, and the auxiliary capacitor line 107, by exposing a back side of the substrate 110.
Thereafter, the interlayer insulating film 115 is formed so as to cover whole the surface. Next, the contact hole 109 and the contact hole 109′ are formed. Next, the pixel electrodes 103 and 103′ are formed so as to coat the contact holes 109 and 109′. Note that, the contact hole 109 enables the drain electrode 106 and the pixel electrode 103 of the active element to be connected to each other. Further, the contact hole 109′ enables the auxiliary capacitor line 107 for generating auxiliary capacitance and the pixel electrode 103 to be connected to each other.
According to the manufacturing method, in the active matrix substrate, it is possible to separate the source line 102 from the pixel electrode 103 with the interlayer insulating film 115 therebetween.
By separating the source line from the pixel electrode, it is possible to make the pixel electrode (103/103′) and the source line 102 overlap with each other as shown in FIG. 13. In a conventional technique, the aperture ratio of the liquid crystal display device is improved by (i) making the pixel electrode and the source line overlap with each other and (ii) forming the minimum BM pattern in a self-aligning manner.
How the pixel electrode and the source line overlap with each other is described as follows with reference to FIG. 13. Each of (z) and (z′) that are shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 represents a distance of a portion in which the source line 102 overlaps with the pixel electrode 103 or 103′. Further, in FIG. 13, z is a distance between z1 and z2. Likewise, z′ is a distance between z1′ and z2′.
The z1 represents where an end of the source line 102 is positioned, and is a line which extends from the end of the source line 102 in perpendicular to a surface of the source line 102. Likewise, the z1′ represents where an end of the source line 102 is positioned, and is a line which extends from the end of the source line 102 in perpendicular to a surface of the source line 102. Z1 is an end close to a pixel electrode (103′) adjacent to a target pixel. The z1′ is an end close to a pixel electrode (103) of the target pixel.
z2 represents where an end of the pixel electrode 103′ is positioned, and is a line which extends from the end of the pixel electrode 103′ in perpendicular to a surface of the pixel electrode 103′. Likewise, z2′ represents where an end of the pixel electrode 103 is positioned, and is a line which extends from the end of the pixel electrode 103 in perpendicular to a surface of the pixel electrode 103.
However, according to the manufacturing method of the substrate, parasitic capacitance (Csd) between the pixel electrode and the source line varies in a display area. The variation brings about an in-plane difference in electric charge retained in a liquid crystal capacitor of each pixel. The in-plane difference causes display unevenness of the liquid crystal display device.
Such problem results from such condition that: unevenness in the exposure accuracy is brought about in a photolithograph process, and the unevenness causes a positional relationship between the source line pattern and the pixel electrode pattern to vary in the display area. In manufacturing the active matrix, alignment accuracy between a light-emitted portion and a light-non-emitted portion in the lithography process is generally about ±0.3 μm.

Display device substrate and liquid crystal display device having the same


A two-for-one twisting machine, comprising twisting spindles each having a threading device arranged in the region of the spindle axis, through which a yarn is sucked in by the action of an injector and ejected by means of a compressed-air jet in upward direction through the space between the feed package pot and balloon limiter. A yarn catching ring placed on the upper annular gap of the space between the feed package pot and balloon limiter serves to catch and position the yarn, which ring has in its interior a closed annular channel with a cross section open toward the annular gap, and is connected, via a radially outward extending connecting end, with a source of underpressure. The underpressure permits the yarn to enter into the annular channel and advance to the connecting end, where it is finally positioned.

ln a two-for-one twisting machine of the aforesaid type it is necessary to catch the yarn, which shoots upward between the feed package pot and the inner jacket of the balloon limiter as it is threaded, and to advance same to the other portions of the device, the yarn being generally guided through a yarn guide eyelet and over an overfeed roll to a traversing yarn guide, whence it advances to a takeup package, which is normally driven by a package drive roll.
With manually operated spindles, it is in general not difficult to catch the yarn at the upper end of the space between the feed package pot and balloon limiter with the hand, after having visually recognized its location on the circumference, and to continue the threading.
However, a partially or fully automated procedure in the operation of twisting spindles requires a positioned yarn. This positioning relates at least to a partial range of the entire circumference of the annular gap. Shortly above the balloon limiter, the threaded yarn is, for example, taken over by correpondingly formed suction nozzles. In order to make the mechanized threading procedure fully operable, it it necessary to separate the rotor of the twisting spindle from the drive, so that the channel outlet on the yarn storage disk corresponds with the suction nozzle arranged above the balloon limiter.
A two-for-one twisting machine of the initially described type is disclosed, for example, in German Patent DE-C-26 48 621. In this known machine, a yarn guide tube with a longitudinal slot is arranged above the annular gap between the upper edge of the protective pot and balloon limiter, into which tube the yarn is inserted by means of a suction current. Associated to this yarn guide tube are further means for advancing and transferring the yarn.
Other two-for-one twisting machines of this type are described, for example, in German Patent DE-C-20 65 140.
Further known are two-for-one twisting machines, in which the yarn exits from the spindle at a predetermined point of the spindle circumference above the balloon limiter without having to position the spindle rotor. Such a device is disclosed, for example, in German Patents DE-C-27 18 351 and DE-C-24 08 563. In these known devices, an annular molded body is arranged on the underside of the rotating plate of the twisting spindle, which defines, together with the rotating plate and the yarn storage disk, an annular chamber, which is provided with an outlet opening terminating in the gap between the feed package pot and balloon limiter. The surfaces of baffles arranged inside the molded body see to it that either the rotating plate is rotated thereby providing an additional positioning effect, or, however, that the yarn is guided directly to a predetermined position on the twisting spindle.
The hitherto known devices have turned out to be expensive and not adequately reliable in operation. It is necessary either to provide the required individual devices on each twisting spindle or to associate same with a handling device. However, also the latter has turned out to be constructionally expensive, inasmuch as it is necessary to combine in one device both the spindle positioning and the means for a positioned upward movement of the yarns to be threaded.


The present invention provides a method of binding a protein to a carrier in such a way that the protein is not impaired in its function but can be allowed to act more efficiently than when it is bound directly.

Heretofore known common methods for causing proteins to bind to carriers such as microplates, microbeads or sensor chips include hydrophobic bonding, covalent bonding, and the like. Hydrophobic bonding depends on the interaction between a hydrophobic surface of the carrier and a hydrophobic portion of the protein and it is convenient in that it requires no special reagent; on the other hand, it generally presents a weak binding force and if it is used in ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) or the like, washing and other operations that are performed after the binding often cause the protein to come off the carrier. It is also known that when proteins and carriers are bound together by hydrophobic bonding, most of the proteins lose their functions either completely or partially. In contrast, covalent bonding presents a strong binding force because it depends on the interaction between functional groups (e.g. amino groups) in the protein and functional groups (e.g. carboxyl groups) provided on the carrier's surface. However, when proteins and carriers are bound together by covalent bonding, most of the proteins have their functions lost either completely or partially as in the case of hydrophobic bonding.
In addition to hydrophobic bonding and covalent bonding, a method is known in which a plurality of histidines are fused to a terminal end of protein and the fused protein having such histidine tags is bound to a substrate such as a protein chip that has nickel provided on its surface. However, the interaction between the histidine tag and the nickel ion is not very strong and, what is more, the nickel ion which is known to bind nonspecifically to various biomolecules is not necessarily an all-purpose tool.
Avidin is a glycoprotein derived from egg white and it binds to biotin (vitamin H) extremely strongly. The interaction between avidin and biotin is one of the strongest modes of non-covalent bonding (Green (1975) Adv Protein Chem 29: 85-133). Streptavidin is an avidin-like protein derived from actinomycetes and it also strongly binds to biotin. So far, the (strept)avidin-biotin interaction, because of its strong force, has been extensively used in the fields of molecular biology and biochemistry for such purposes as the detection of antigens and antibodies (Green (1990) Methods Enzymol 184: 51-67).
Methods have been devised that bind proteins to carriers by making use of the above-described biotin binding ability of avidin or streptavidin. One example is a method in which (strept)avidin is fixed to a substrate such as a microplate by covalent or hydrophobic bonding and a biotinylated protein is then immobilized by binding to the (strept)avidin. In this method, however, the activity of avidin per se is lost partially and, what is more, the specific activity of the protein bound via biotin decreases, resulting in an action efficiency that is by no means satisfactory.
In contrast, a technique has been reported in which an avidin protein is first bound to a biotin-bound substrate by forming avidin-biotin bonds, to which a desired biotinylated protein is bound to ensure that avidin is bound to additional biotin pockets, whereby biotin, avidin, biotin, and the desired protein are fixed in that order to the substrate (JP 4-236353 A1). However, this method involves the step of biotinylating the desired protein, which results in the need for extra labor; another problem is the need to take the efficiency of biotin labeling into consideration.
Heretofore, with a view to using them as a protein labelling, a diagnosis marker, or a cell-specific targeting factor, fused proteins using avidin or streptavidin have been prepared (Airenne et al. (1999) Biomol Eng 16:87-92). In particular, the fused proteins prepared by fusing avidin or streptavidin to antibodies such as scFV or Fab fragments and IgG have been studied for their potential application in the specific targeting of drugs to cancer cells and the like. In addition, the idea has been described of a column that uses a streptavidin-scFv fused protein to fix scFv via avidin-biotin bonds (Kiprivanov et al. (1995) Hum Antib Hybrid 6: 93-101 and Dubel et al. (1995) J Immunol Methods 178: 201-209). However, avidin and streptavidin are difficult to express in E. coli as a soluble form in high yield; what is more, there has been no report in which an avidin-fused protein or a streptavidin-fused protein is immobilized by being bound to a biotinylated carrier so as to improve the activity of the proteins in comparison with the conventional binding methods. On the contrary, it has been reported that when a fusion protein of streptavidin and β-galactosidase was bound to biotinylated beads, the specific activity of β-galactosidase decreased to about 50% (Huang et al. (1996) Enzyme and Microbial technology.)
Patent Document 1: JP 4-236353 A1
Patent Document 2: WO02/072817
Patent Document 3: PCT/JP2006/326260
Patent Document 4: PCT/JP2006/304993
Non-patent Document 1: Green (1975) Adv Protein Chem 29: 85-133
Non-patent Document 2: Green (1990) Methods Enzymol 184: 51-67
Non-patent Document 3: Airenne et al. (1999) Biomol Eng 16: 87-92
Non-patent Document 4: Kiprivanov et al. (1995) Hum Antib Hybrid 6: 93-101
Non-patent Document 5: Dubel et al. (1995) J Immunol Methods 178: 201-209
Non-patent Document 6: Huang et al. (1996) Enzyme and Microbial technology
Non-patent Document 7: Hofmann et al. (1980) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77: 4666-4668
Non-patent Document 8: Iba et al. (1997) Gene 194: 35-46
Non-patent Document 9: Ideno et al. (2004) Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 64: 99-105
Non-patent Document 10: Kada et al. (1999) Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 1427: 33-43

Method of binding proteins to carriers by making use of tamavidins

Abstract: The method of the present invention for binding a protein to a carrier comprises:                preparing a biotin-bound carrier;        preparing a fusion protein having the protein bound to a tamavidin; and        binding the protein to the carrier via tamavidin-biotin bonds.


A barrel unit includes a barrel having an image sensing device and a photographing optical system built therein, a supporting member for pivotally supporting the barrel, a steel ball functioning as a pivot bearing portion provided between the barrel and the supporting member, and first and second actuators for giving driving forces to the barrel for shake correction. A gravity point of the barrel is located within an area enclosed by supporting points by first and second acting portions, to which the driving forces from the first and second actuators are given, and the steel ball. The barrel unit can be made more compact and more stably and precisely driven for shake correction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a barrel unit built in an electronic camera, a camera-fitted mobile phone or the like and capable of a shake correction against a camera shake, an image pickup apparatus installed with such a barrel unit and a method for correcting a shake of a barrel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electronic cameras and the like, various shake correcting mechanisms have been adopted to suppress the disturbance of a photographed image due to the hand shake of a user. A so-called gimbal mechanism for rotatably supporting the entire barrel has been conventionally known as a shake correcting mechanism (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H07-274056). Further, there has been also known a mechanism for shifting a shake correcting lens disposed inside a barrel in such a direction as to cancel out the shake acting on a camera within a plane orthogonal to an optical axis (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H05-107620).
In recent years, the miniaturization of electronic cameras has further advanced and, therefore, a shake correcting mechanism for a photographing optical system incorporated into an originally small digital equipment such as a small-size electronic camera and a camera-fitted mobile phone has been required to have a maximally compact construction. However, it is difficult to make a gimbal mechanism as disclosed in the first publication more compact. Further, the shake correcting lens needs to be miniaturized in the shake correcting mechanism disclosed in the second publication in the case of being installed into a small-size electronic camera or the like. It is difficult to precisely drive such a minute shake correcting lens, which leads to a problem of being difficult to perform a proper shake correction.
On the other hand, the applicant of the present application proposed a shake correcting method according to which an optical system for bending an optical axis of an incident light substantially at 90 degrees is used and supported by means of one steel ball (pivot bearing portion) and two actuators, and a shake correction is performed by rotatably driving the entire barrel about two axes orthogonal to each other. Unlike the above gimbal mechanism, this shake correcting mechanism can be made more compact. However, the shake correcting mechanism is required to be even more compact in order to deal with recent smaller electronic cameras, camera-fitted mobiles and the like.

Barrel unit, image pickup apparatus installed with the same, and method for correcting shake of barrel


Techniques for hydraulically fracturing a geologic formation include circulating a proppant-free hydraulic fracturing liquid into a wellbore that is formed from a terranean surface into a geologic formation within a subterranean zone that is adjacent the wellbore; fluidly contacting the geologic formation with the proppant-free hydraulic fracturing liquid for a specified duration of time; and subsequent to the specified duration of time, circulating a hydraulic fracturing liquid that includes proppant into the wellbore to fracture the geologic formation.

Hydraulic fracturing of a rock formation includes the circulation of high pressure liquids into a wellbore, and into fluid contact with a subterranean zone, in order to fracture the rock in the zone. In some cases, increased or enhanced production of hydrocarbons from the subterranean zone can occur due to the fracture of the rock, which creates fluid pathways for the hydrocarbons to flow into the wellbore. A pressure at which a hydraulic fracturing liquid must be circulated to fracture the rock depends, for example, on the mechanical properties of the rock in the subterranean zone.


The scrap that is to be charged into an electric arc furnace is preheated by a gas in a closed circuit and this gas is heated in a heat exchanger by the exhaust fumes from the furnace. A minor part of the circulating gas is continuously led off to a burner in which it is burnt with a gas as fuel at such a high temperature that rest products such as dioxines are destroyed. The exhaust fumes from the burner is supplied to the exhaust fumes of the furnace upstream of the heat exchanger. In another burner, another minor part of the circulating gas is continuously burnt with a gas fuel at a substantially lower temperature so that hydrocarbons in the circulating gas burn. The exhaust fumes from the burner are returned to the closed circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of preheating scrap that is to be charged into, preferably, an electrical smelting furnace by a circulating gas that is heated by a heat exchanger which receives heat from the exhaust fumes of the furnace.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is desirable to preheat the scrap for various reasons. One important reason is, often, that the scrap should be dry when being charged into the furnace since water on the scrap will result in the development of an explosive gas.
It is, of course, advantageous to utilize a part of the energy in the exhaust fumes for the preheating in order to reduce the energy consumption. The preheating of the scrap has, also, a positive influence on the electrode consumption and on the yield and productivity.
There are several different prior art methods of preheating scrap. No prior method, however, combines, as the method according to the invention, negligible exhaust of undesired substances with comparatively low capital costs and low energy consumption.


According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor wafer protective film including a substrate layer (A) and an adhesive layer (C) formed on the substrate layer (A), in which the substrate layer (A) includes polymer, and a solubility parameter of the polymer determined by a Van Krevelen method is equal to or greater than 9.

In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using a semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer is bound with a support through an adhesive layer on a semiconductor circuit surface, and is ground from the other surface in a state in which the semiconductor circuit surface is protected. Thereafter, a dicing tape is attached to the ground surface of the semiconductor wafer, the support is removed, and dicing is performed.
As a method of protecting a semiconductor circuit surface during grinding, there is a case where a protective tape is used instead of the support, and in particular, in the case of a semiconductor wafer including a step of forming an electrical connecting portion in the vertical direction of the semiconductor wafer, called a through-hole electrode, the semiconductor wafer has a thin thickness and a heating step is included in the steps, and thus, a support which has more favorable heat resistance and supporting properties of the semiconductor wafer is generally used together with an adhesive layer having heat resistance.
Examples of the method of removing such a support include a method of sliding a semiconductor wafer and a support in the direction opposite to the horizontal direction while heating the semiconductor wafer and the support, a method of fixing any one of the semiconductor wafer or the support and of peeling off the other with an angle, and a method of dissolving the adhesive layer with a solvent (refer to Patent Document 1).
Examples of a technique using a method of dissolving the adhesive layer with a solvent are described in Patent Document 2.
Patent Document 2 describes that after being thinned by bonding a support plate in which through holes and grooves are formed in advance to the semiconductor wafer through the adhesive layer, a dicing tape is attached. Through the through holes and grooves of the support plate, a solvent is supplied to dissolve the adhesive layer, and due to this, the semiconductor wafer is peeled from the support plate.

Semiconductor wafer protective film and method of manufacturing semiconductor device


A supporting framework for a control cabinet is configured of side frames and cross-beams. The side frames are made of whereby profile elements having a rectangular cross-sectional. The cross-beams possess a square cross-sectional shape that is beveled on one side, and includes two sections at right angles to each other and dimensioned to be of a length corresponding to the longer rectangular side of the cross-sectional shape of the side frame element. The supporting framework is both stable and inexpensive. The cabinets can be attached to one another.

The present invention relates to a supporting framework for a control cabinet including several geometrically distinct structural elements. In particular, the framework comprises side frame elements that are hollow and open to the interior of the cabinet, and cross-beam elements for connecting the side frame elements to each other. Tracks of punched holes are provided on each type of element for mounting cover panels, doors and built-in components.
The prior art discloses several supporting frameworks of various types. In German Pat. No. DE-C 26 27 260, the supporting framework is composed of individual sections of a single type. This common element is used both for the side frames and the cross-beams connecting the side frames. Separate corner pieces are used to provide fixed screw connections between the elements. Another prior art patent (German Pat. No. DE-A-16 65 984) discloses the use of tracks of holes and structural members. However, the elements used in this device are large and heavy. The combination of side frame parts cross-beams is known in the prior art (DE-C-22 14 538). Other types of prior art devices have been proposed as well (DE-B-11 91 454).
The load bearing capacity of the prior art frameworks is limited. In particular, when one builds such cabinets beyond certain ratios of height to width and height to depth, structural deformations and vibrations tend to occur. To counteract such harmful effects, the structural elements employed must be scaled up in size, particularly, in cross-sectional size. While using thicker elements does enhance the load bearing capacity of such structures, it also greatly increases the structure's weight, thereby making them uneconomical to mass produce. Furthermore, the basic suitability of a supporting framework can also be adversely effected when using structural elements that are very thick, have a large cross section, or require many reinforcements.
Hence, there remains a need for a supporting framework for a control cabinet that is light, requires few materials, is stable, and is suited for mounting a wide range of built in components. Such a device should offer ease of connection to other identical control cabinets, as well as easily accessible mounting and connection points.

Supporting framework for a control cabinet


Methods and systems of providing domestic water service to a commercial/residential building via a water booster pump assembly are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the water booster pump assembly includes first and second water pipe branch circuits. In some embodiments, each water pipe branch circuit is configured with a backflow preventer and the water pipe branch circuits are fluidly coupled to one another in parallel. In some embodiments, the water pipe branch circuits are further coupled to one another via a crossover branch pipe configured to allow continuous flow through the two backflow preventers. Each water pipe branch circuit may include a pump. The crossover branch allows water to flow through both backflow preventers, even when one pump is inoperative.

To provide domestic water to a building, the building's mechanical room may be equipped with a booster pump assembly. However, if the booster pump system experiences a pressure loss, for example due to a break of a water source pipe, water may flow through the system in reverse, contaminating the water supply. To mitigate such contamination, most water suppliers require a building to be equipped with a backflow preventer. The mechanical room of a building may be configured with multiple backflow preventers for redundancy. However, the flow of water in such systems may be unpredictable, and thus, water flow may stagnate in one or more of the backflow preventers. When water flow stagnates within one or more backflow preventers pathogen harbors may accumulate within the backflow preventer.


A cordless blind contains a lift mechanism, such as one or more spring motors, one or more cord collectors and a lock mechanism. An operator device such as a cord or wand is connected to the lift mechanism and is movable relative to the bottomrail. When the bottomrail is a selected distance from the headrail a portion of the cord or wand will move away from the bottomrail. The selected distance corresponds to the height of the bottomrail at which it is difficult for an operator to reach the bottomrail. The released cord or wand will enable the user to operate a lock mechanism in the bottomrail or move the bottomrail.

Venetian type blinds have a series of slats hung on ladders that extend from a headrail to a bottomrail. In most venetian blinds a pair of lift cords is provided each having one end attached to the bottomrail and then passing through elongated holes in the slats up to and through the headrail. When the lift cords are pulled downward the blind is raised and when the lift cords are released the blind is lowered. A cord lock is usually provided in the headrail through which the lift cords pass. The cord lock allows the user to maintain the blind in any desired position from fully raised to fully lowered. Pleated shades and roman shades are also raised and lowered by lift cords running from the bottom of the shade into a headrail. The cord lock system and other cord lift systems used in venetian blinds can also be used in pleated shades and roman shades.
Another type of lift system for window blinds utilizes a take-up tube for each lift cord. These tubes are contained on a common shaft within the headrail. Each lift cord is attached to one end of a tube. The tubes are rotated to wind or unwind the lift cord around tubes. This system is generally known as a tube lift system. Some tube lift systems are operated by a continuous loop cord that passes over one end of the axle and extends from the headrail.
In recent years the art has been concerned that cords, particularly looped cords, pose a strangulation threat to children who may become entangled in the cords. Consequently, there has been much interest in cordless blinds. These blinds rely on electric motors or spring motors to raise and lower the lift cord. One common cordless blind simply contains a motor connected to a tube collection system within the headrail. Another cordless blind relies upon a constant force spring motor attached to a spool or spools on which the lift cords are collected. This type of cordless blind is disclosed by Coslett in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,867 and by Kuhar in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,482,100; 5,531,257 and 6,079,471 and by Wang et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,012,506, 6,024,154 and 6,029,734.
Coslett discloses a sun shade having a series of blades connected together to form a serrated shape like a pleated shade. The upper blade is mounted within a hollow housing and the lower blade is secured to a plate member. A constant force spring plate is wound around a spring spool member and further engaged to an output spool, both of which are within a hollow handle secured to the hollow housing. A cord is connected to the output spool and passed from the handle through the housing and the blades and is connected to the plate member. Such a cording arrangement is similar to that of a lift cord in a pleated shade or venetian blind. The spring retains the blades in a folded closed position. When the shade is extended the spring exerts tension on the cord. Consequently, Coslett teaches the user to fix the plate member along one side of the window and to provide a hook to retain the hollow housing at the opposite side of the window when the shade is covering the window. Thus, Coslett's shade can be in only one of two positions, fully extended to cover the window or fully retracted. Furthermore, Coslett's blind is not suitable for installation in an orientation in which one rail is fixed at the top of the window frame as is done for most building windows. That is so because when the blind is fully retracted most people could not reach the handle to extend or close the blind without standing on a stool or ladder.
Kuhar discloses a cordless, balanced blind that contains at least one constant variable force spring motor in the headrail. The springs in these motors vary in thickness or in width along their length as they are wound around storage drums. A cord spool is coupled to one or more spring drums. The lift cords of the blind are wound about the spool. Thus, the spring winds or unwinds as the blind is raised or lowered. The difference in width or thickness of the spring compensates for the increasing weight of the blind on the cords as the window covering is raised and the decreasing weight as the blind is lowered. Kuhar teaches that much effort must be made to select and couple the spring motor to the cords so that the bottomrail is balanced at any and every position. Kuhar further teaches that several spring motors may be coupled together.
If the system is not in balance when the operator positions the bottomrail at a desired location, the bottomrail moves upward or downward to a location at which the system is balanced. Consequently, it is not possible to keep the bottomrail at the desired location without adjusting or replacing the spring motors. Several people in the industry have recognized that a solution to the problem is to provide a cord lock or brake that acts on the lift cords or spring motors. Wang et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,734 disclose a cordless blind with a locating unit provided in the bottomrail which prevents the lift cords from moving until the operator presses a button on the bottomrail. Another lock mechanism which engages the coil springs in a cordless blind is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,154. Both the springs and the lock mechanism are located in the bottomrail. This lock mechanism is also biased to a locked position. The bottomrail can be raised and lowered only while the lock button is being pressed to disengage the lock. Palmer in Published United States Patent Application 2002/0088562 discloses a one way brake which prohibits the bottomrail from moving toward the headrail, but permits the bottomrail to be moved away from the headrail by an operator. The brake must be released by pushing a button or lever in the bottomrail to raise the bottomrail. All of these cordless blinds require the operator to hold the lock button or lever to move or raise the bottomrail. If such a blind is installed in a tall window many people would be unable to reach a fully raised blind without climbing on a ladder or chair. Even if the blind were in a standard window, short people would not be able to fully raise the blind without using a ladder. Operators would also have difficulty fully raising such a blind if a couch or other furniture were in front of the window.


Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to provide an image modality maintenance smart find are disclosed. The example method includes identifying an imaging device based on an image of the imaging device. The method further includes determining at least one of a make, a model, or a modality of the imaging device based on the identification. The method further includes identifying a fleet of imaging devices corresponding to the imaging device. The method further includes storing error information corresponding to an issue of the imaging device in correspondence with the fleet of imaging devices and update a model corresponding to the fleet based on the error information. The method further includes deploying the model to a device of a technician.

Manufactures of large machines (e.g., imaging machines in health care, turbines in energy, and engines in transportation) deploys such large machines to users/customers for use in the field. Due to the complications of such machines, some manufactures provide repair and/or upkeep services with teams of technicians to service the machines during scheduled maintenance and/or when the machine is malfunctioning and/or down. When a user has a problem with a deployed machine, the user contacts the manufacturer (e.g., via call, email, etc.) describing the problem (e.g., providing symptoms) and a technician is sent to fix the machine. Additionally, the manufacture and/or customer can schedule maintenance calls at set durations of time to verify that the machine is working properly.

Imaging modality smart find maintenance systems and methods


The invention regards a method for noise reduction in an audio device whereby an electrical and/or digital signal which represents sound is routed simultaneously through:—a signal analysis path, and—a signal processing path wherein the signal amplification is individually controllable in specific frequency bands by attenuation values derived from the signal analysis path, whereby the signal in the signal analysis path is routed simultaneously through:—a first detector which identifies the presence of speech indicators in the overall signal, and—a second detector which in a predefined number of frequency bands detects the modulation amplitude, and—where attenuation values in each of the predefined frequency bands are calculated based on the combined results of the first detector and the modulation amplitude in the specific frequency band detected by the second detector,—where the attenuation values in the predefined number of frequency bands are routed to the signal processing path in order to attenuate the signal level in corresponding frequency bands.

Numerous attempts have been made to establish a noise reduction scheme, which provides good listening comfort and good speech intelligibility at the same time.
In prior art document EP 1326479 a method of reducing noise in a signal is described whereby an input signal is supplied to an amplification unit where the input signal is subject to an auxiliary noise reduction algorithm, to generate an auxiliary signal. The auxiliary signal is used to determine a control input for the amplification unit; and the amplification unit is then controlled with the control signal, to generate an output signal with reduced noise. According to this prior art the method comprises the further steps of: detecting the presence and absence of speech utterances; and in the absence of speech, determining a noise magnitude spectral estimate; and in the presence of speech comparing the magnitude spectrum of the audio signal to the noise magnitude spectral estimate; calculating an attenuation function from the magnitude spectrum of the audio signal and the noise magnitude spectral estimate; and modifying the input signal by the attenuation function, to generate an output signal with reduced noise. This prior art technique has the problem, that it requires a speech pause in which to determine the noise magnitude spectrum. In a typical party noise situation such a pause may not be detectable and the system then has little or no clue as to how to calculate the right attenuation function.

Method for noise reduction in an audio device and hearing aid with means for reducing noise


A die plate is shown suitable for extruding a viscous material into a convenient form for the preparation of small pellets or particles. The die plate includes solid support portions and perforated portions. Each perforated portion of the die plate includes a major portion of holes through the die plate spaced from each other by a first distance and a transition portion separating the major portion from the solid support portions, with the transition portions having holes spaced from each other by a distance that is greater than the first distances.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a die plate for use in extruding a viscous material. More particularly, a die plate is shown that permits rapid extrusion of material and that has an extended service life.
2. Background of the Invention
Existing die plates used in the extrusion of viscous materials are formed from flat metal plates with a multiplicity of holes drilled through the plates. The holes through the plates are of substantially equal diameter and of substantially uniform diameter throughout their lengths. The holes through existing extrusion die plates are also spaced parallel to each other and substantially equal distance from each other.
A common problem with existing extrusion die plates is that the area around the perimeter of a group of holes through the plate tends to rip or tear away from the solid portion of the plate under the pressure of the extruder. The extruder generally forces a viscous or pasty material through the holes in the extruder die plate to form a plurality of cylinders of the viscous material that may be broken up into small particles for the preparation of solid granules.
The thickness of the extruding die plate controls the length of the holes through the die plate, which constitutes one of the factors affecting the power consumed by the extruder. The thickness of the die plate also affects the strength of the die plate, and hence resistance to failure by tearing along the boundary between the perforated section of the die plate and the solid support portion of the die plate. A change in the thickness of the die plate, and therefore in the length of the holes through the die plate, presents problems because it affects not only the pressure required to extrude the viscous materials through the die plate but also the rheology or flow characteristics of the material extruding through the die plate. The feed rate at which the viscous material is extruded through the die plate can also be changed in order to affect the pressure exerted on the die plate. A problem with reducing the feed rate in order to lower the back pressure on the die is a resultant lower production rate and reduced economy. The characteristics of the material being extruded, such as viscosity, can also be changed in an attempt to reduce the stress on the die plate during extrusion. Changes to the material characteristics of the extrusion materials is generally either impossible or undesirable as a result of the required characteristics of the end product.


A sensor arrangement for a braking system of a vehicle is disclosed comprising a connection interface, a control unit, and a sensor. The sensor has an external interface with electrical contacts via which the sensor is connected to the control unit. The control unit is connected to and supplied with power via the connection interface and exchanges data with a higher-level unit via the connection interface. The sensor is provided power via the electrical contact points and provides electrical output signals via the electrical contact points. A first contact point provides a first electrical output signal and is connected to the connection interface via a first switching element such that the first contact point is connected to the connection interface when the first switching element is in the deenergized state and is disconnected from the connection interface when the first switching element is in the energized state.

From the prior art, braking systems for vehicles are known in which at least one sensor is used for determining pressure, for example during an individual brake pressure modulation in individual wheel brakes of the vehicle braking system. During such an individual brake pressure modulation, various control functions may be carried out for longitudinal and transverse stabilization of the vehicle, such as for example locking protection control ABS, drive slip control ASR, driving dynamics control ESP (ESP: Electronic Stability Program) etc. Vehicles with such driving dynamics control include a specially adapted braking system for carrying out automatic wheel-specific radial braking interventions on the individual wheels. Such braking systems usually include a hydraulic unit with multiple solenoid valves, a hydraulic unit, a control unit and at least one sensor that detects at least one physical variable in the hydraulic unit. The solenoid valves of the hydraulic unit are controlled by the control unit in order to switch between a manual braking mode (foot brake mode) and an automatic braking mode and to modulate the brake pressure on the individual wheel brakes.
The detected physical variables of the at least one sensor, such as for example pressure, temperature, etc., or the detected sensor data may be requested by the control unit and provided to a higher-level unit for further processing in the vehicle. Especially in the case of vehicles with (partially) autonomous driving functions, the requested sensor data can be used to detect a brake pedal actuation or an automatic braking process, etc. to warn a vehicle behind. In order to output the sensor data, the control unit or the braking system must be active and operating without faults. If the braking system is inactive, the braking system must be started, and the sensor data can only be requested after the starting routine of the braking system has completed. Since the entire braking system has to be started up first, a relatively large amount of power is required. Thus, with the known braking systems it is not possible to request the sensor data if the braking system is switched off or if the braking system fails.
From DE 10 2014 221 368 A1 a connection device for a sensor and an associated sensor are known. The sensor includes a protective sleeve in which are arranged at least one measuring element, which is implemented for example as a pressure measuring cell, a circuit carrier and a connection device with a circuit board arranged perpendicular to the circuit carrier and a supporting unit. The circuit board carries an electronic circuit with at least one electronic and/or electrical component. The circuit carrier has an internal interface, which picks up at least one electrical output signal of the measuring element and applies it to the electronic circuit. The supporting unit forms an external interface with at least one electrical contact point, via which at least one output signal of the electronic circuit is accessible. As a result, the sensor or the electronic circuit of the sensor may be connected to an external circuit or a control unit.

Sensor arrangement for a braking system of a vehicle and corresponding braking system


A system for digital content that includes a content management system, an ontology manager and a chat bot, all executing and in communications coupling on a digital data processing system. The content manager stores a plurality of tagged digital assets. The ontology manager stores a list of (or otherwise maintains) plural facets, each corresponding to one or more tags of the content management system. One or more dialog segments and sequence identifiers are maintained in the ontology manager, as well, each associated with one or more other facets. The chat bot drives a conversation with an end-user based on facets identified as associated with assets in the content management system and using dialog segments associated with those facets, while excluding those facets not so identified. The digital data processing system generates and transmits to the user digital assets identified through that conversation.

The invention pertains to digital data processing and, more particularly, to information retrieval. It has application, by way of example, in assisting users in the retrieval of Information from enterprise portals.
We are an information society and, perhaps more importantly, an information economy. We generate it. We store it. And, we are willing to pay to consume it. The big question, though, is how do we find it? Perhaps the biggest single ready source of Information, the Internet, has led the drive in answering that question.
One of the early popular information retrieval systems was Yahoo! Directory, a hierarchical category-based tool—or "web directory"—for finding web sites. A user interested in finding information about health care insurance, for example, might click through a hierarchy of categories on the Yahoo! Directory portal, beginning with "business and economy" and proceeding through "business to business," "financial services," "insurance," and ending with "health" to find a listing of health insurers' websites of potential interest.
Exponential growth of the Internet, both in terms of the number of websites and number of users, rendered browsing on Yahoo! Directory, and like sites, obsolete. Not only did it prove impossible for human editors to categorize the myriad of sites coming online daily, increasingly large numbers of users lacked the expertise and fortitude to navigate the ever-growing hierarchical category directories.
As a consequence, web "searching" (as opposed to "browsing") has become the norm, through portals like Google, Bing, Baidu, and the like, Instead of requiring that users select among hierarchies of categories, the search engines locate individual web pages in response to user keyword and natural language requests. Some refer to this as the Ask-Tell model. Continuing the above example, the user interested in health care insurance can type that very term into a search portal and, with luck, will receive a listing of sites and pages of interest.
For those wishing information from a specific web site, say, of a health insurance provider, information retrieval has, to date, largely been through hierarchical category directories or, alternatively, through Ask-Tell searching hosted by the site owner and focused on content within that site, Again, continuing the example, this makes it possible for a user interested in offerings from a specific health insurer to browse its web site by product category or to search via Ask-Tell to find information of interest.
Just as with the Internet writ large, category searching of individual web sites has proven equally unworkable, except, for all but those with a few, simple offerings. Likewise, if the user's request depends on multiple variables, then the existing Ask-Tell model also tends to collapse. State of the art search engines usually cannot handle such requests. Instead, users (if they were savvy enough) would to search for information available in bits and pieces and then try to filter and assemble relevant parts together applying the appropriate context. This is tedious, at best, if workable at all.
As a consequence, chat bots (or "bots") have emerged as the next-generation search engine of choice for enterprises at least site-specific searches. For enterprises, the chat bot is viewed as one of the more effective marketing channels to conveniently and efficiently carryout two-way conversations with customers, potential customers, and other end users. In simple terms, chat bots are automated software conversational "intelligent assistants," typically, powered by machine learning which at its core is a simple way of achieving Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Ideally, chat bots powered by AI would learn and improve from real conversations with real end users. Reality has proven otherwise, Today's bots fail to understand the open-ended questions asked by the users and often do not know what to do next no matter how much content the bots have been fed or random training they have been given.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide improved methods and systems for digital data processing.
Another object is to provide such methods and systems as are suited for information retrieval.
Still another object is to provide such methods and systems as can be used to assist users in the retrieval of information from enterprise portals and other information sources.

Digital data processing systems and methods for digital content retrieval and generation


An object (30) is plasma processed by placing an electrically conducting grid (34) over all or a portion of the surface (32) of the object (30) so that the grid (34) generally follows the contours of the surface (32) but is displaced outwardly from the surface (32). Ions or electrons from a plasma surrounding the object (30) are accelerated into the surface (32) of the object (30) using as a processing driving force an electrical potential applied to the electrically conducting grid (34). The use of a contoured conducting grid (34) allows plasma processing of large, electrically nonconducting objects and objects having sharp surface features or recesses.

This invention relates to plasma processing of objects, and, more particularly, to plasma processing of electrically conducting or nonconducting objects.
The useful life of some types of objects is determined by the wear of the surface of the object. For example, the tooling used in metal forming operations such as stamping or forming must retain its close dimensional tolerances in order to be useful. When even a few thousandths of an inch of the surface is worn away, the tooling becomes ineffective and must be discarded or refurbished.
The cost of short runs of parts or pieces made with tooling is often high, due to the fixed cost of preparing acceptable tooling. One approach to reducing the tooling cost is to form the tool from a polymeric material such as an epoxy that is more readily made with the required shape and dimensions than is a comparable metal tool. The epoxy is much softer than metal, and can therefore be easily machined to the required shade and dimensional tolerances.
The surface softness that permits easy machining results in a short useful life of the tool. For production applications, an epoxy tool cannot be used without a treatment to make the surface more wear resistant. It has been found that several types of ion and electron treatments of the surfaces of polymers such as epoxies and the surfaces of metals can significantly increase their useful lives. Such treatments include, for example ion implantation, ion deposition and ion mixing, and electron bombardment.
Ion implantation is a process wherein ions are accelerated by an electrostatic potential to impact a surface. The energy of the ions causes them to be imbedded beneath the surface. A sufficient concentration of implanted ions can significantly increase the hardness of the surface layer. In ion mixing, a thin (about 300-600 Angstrom) material layer is first deposited onto a surface to be treated, and then the composite surface is ion implanted to mix the deposited material atoms into the surface. Ion deposition is similar to ion mixing except that the accelerating energies of the ions are lower, with the result that the ions are deposited simultaneously with the deposited material layer upon the surface being treated rather than imbedded beneath its surface. In electron bombardment of polymeric surfaces, energetic electrons (100-20,000 volts or more) are accelerated by an electrostatic potential to cause them to impact into the surface to be treated.
Such treatments are traditionally accomplished by accelerating a beam of electrical charge carriers (ions or electrons) using electrostatic acceleration electrodes. This approach, while effective, has the drawback that it is difficult to uniformly treat a large, three-dimensional, irregular object such as a typical automotive tool that may measure 3 feet by 5 feet by 1 foot in size. The beam of charge carriers must be moved slowly over the entire surface, including those areas that may be rather inaccessible such as deep holes or recesses, or for protrusions that stick out from the surface. In that case, the object must be manipulated to uniformly treat the area with a beam. For large tools or for large numbers of smaller objects having such surface features, surface treatment using ion or electron beams becomes prohibitively slow and expensive.
An alternative approach that has promise for ion implanting, ion depositing, or ion mixing of the surfaces of large objects is plasma ion implantation (PII), described in US Pat. No. 4,764,394. A plasma of ions is created adjacent to the surface of the object to be implanted, and the object is electrostatically charged to a potential opposite to that of the ions. For example, if positively charged nitrogen ions are to be implanted, the object is negatively charged using repetitive voltage pulses of typically about 100,000 volts or more. The nitrogen ions are attracted to the surface of the object by this accelerating potential and driven into the surface and sub-surface regions of the substrate. Plasma ion implantation has the advantage that the plasma of ions provides a source that is distributed around the entire surface area of the object, and uniform implantation over the entire surface area is simultaneously achieved. Plasma ion mixing may be performed in a similar manner, except that first a thin layer of material is deposited into the surface prior to implantation. Plasma ion deposition is also performed in a similar manner, except that the accelerating potential is typically lower so that the ions and material layer deposit upon the surface instead of being driven into the sub-surface layers. It is possible to achieve electron bombardment of a surface using the same plasma techniques used in ion implantation.
Plasma ion implantation, deposition and mixing, and electron bombardment work well for metallic objects with smooth, flat faces. However, where the object is electrically nonconducting, such as an epoxy, or is electrically conducting or nonconducting with sharp surface contours or deep recesses, the electric field distribution at the surface of the substrate is distorted and therefore nonuniform. The result is spatially nonuniform and uneven surface treatment, or a discontinuance of the surface treatment due to a space charge buildup with ensuing arcing. As an example, experiments by the inventors leading to the present invention have determined that in a plasma ion implantation system having a vacuum chamber diameter of 4 feet, some implantation can be achieved with relatively small polymeric epoxy objects, but that virtually no implantation can be achieved with epoxy objects that are four inches or more in thickness. Thus, conventional plasma ion implantation is ineffective for hardening the surface of large tooling pieces made of epoxy or other nonconducting materials. It is also ineffective for uniformly surface hardening either nonconducting or conducting objects that have sharp surface features or deep recesses.
There is a need for improved ion implantation, deposition and mixing, and electron bombardment techniques for use with electrically conducting or nonconducting objects, particularly such objects that are either relatively large in size or small in size but large in number, and such objects having sharp surface features or deep recesses. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.

Surface potential control in plasma processing of materials


A method including: positioning sensors on a robotic device; positioning a camera on the robotic device; capturing an image of the environment; measuring color depth of each pixel in the image; classifying each pixel into a color depth range; determining for at least one set of two points captured in the image, if the color depth of pixels measured in a region between the two points is within a predetermined range of color; generating at least one line between the two points when the color depth of pixels measured in the region between the two points is within the predetermined range of color; identifying on a map of the environment a wall surface on which the line is generated as a flat wall surface; and adjusting a heading of the robotic device relative to an angle of the wall surface.

Creating a two dimensional map of a work environment is a common problem for mobile robotic devices that is being solved in various ways. SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) is one solution for creating a map of a work environment. However, SLAM requires expensive technology and a lot of processing power and time. A need exists for simpler methods for constructing environment maps. In some cases, a mobile robotic device's performance can be greatly increased with only a few important pieces of information, such as the location or existence of walls or other flat surfaces. A need exists for a method to detect flat surfaces.

Method for estimating distance using point measurement and color depth


An X-ray diffraction apparatus for high resolution measurement combines the use of an X-ray source with a target having an atomic number Z less 50 with an energy resolving X-ray detector having an array of pixels and a beta radiation multilayer mirror for selecting the K-beta radiation from the X-ray source and for reflecting the K-beta radiation onto the sample where it is diffracted onto the energy resolving X-ray detector. The sample may in particular be in transmission. The sample may be a powder sample in a capillary.

The analysis of samples, especially powder samples, by X-ray diffraction is a very useful technique for determining the composition of the sample.
X-ray diffraction typically uses radiation emitted from an X-ray source which uses a target of a single predetermined element. Targets include cobalt, chromium, copper, molybdenum and silver.
The X-rays emitted by such targets are not fully monochromatic, as each target can emit radiation in a number of lines in addition to a continuous Bremsstrahlung spectrum. In particular, targets can emit radiation from a K line which may be subdivided into a K-alpha and a K-beta line.
Typically, more energy is emitted in the K-alpha line than the K-beta line so X-rays are often passed through a monochromator or beta-radiation filter to select the K-alpha line which is then used for X-ray diffraction measurements.
At sufficient energy resolutions, the K-alpha line is in fact a doublet, and resolves into two lines, a K-alpha-1 and a K-alpha-2 line with an intensity ratio of around 2:1. Accordingly, for high resolution X-ray diffraction measurements it is necessary to use a monochromator which is sufficient to select one of these lines to ensure that the X-rays used are sufficiently monochromatic. Bragg reflections may be used.
In view of the very high alignment accuracy required for X-ray diffraction measurements, the number of components that need to be aligned causes considerable difficulty in setting up and maintaining X-ray diffraction apparatus. Moreover, the intensity of X-rays may be reduced in such arrangements in order to achieve sufficient monochromaticity, since in conventional arrangements high resolution monochromators select only a very narrow solid angle range of X-rays emitted from the X-ray source.
An apparatus which addresses such considerations is disclosed in US2011/0268252, which describes apparatus suitable for X-ray diffraction measurements of powder samples with a complex arrangement for creating a virtual source with a very narrow energy bandwidth, i.e. with a monochromator that is sufficiently precise that it can separate out the K-alpha-1 and K-alpha-2 lines so that measurement is only made using one of these lines.
There is a desire for methods and apparatus for X-ray diffraction which are capable of achieving similar accuracy and resolution without the need for such accurate monochromators capable of selecting the K-alpha-1 from the K-alpha-2 line.

High resolution X-ray diffraction method and apparatus


An inner surface measuring apparatus includes: a low coherent light source that outputs low coherent light; a low coherent light dividing section that divides one portion of the low coherent light; a light path length adjusting section that adjusts a light path length of one of the low coherent lights divided by the low coherent light dividing section; a straight rod shaped probe that irradiates the other of the low coherent lights divided from a front end section onto a measurement object; a low coherent light multiplexing section that multiplexes a low coherent light that returns having been reflected on the measurement object with the one low coherent light whose light path length has been adjusted by the light path length adjusting section; a light detector that detects the multiplexed low coherent light; and a rotation mechanism that relatively rotates the probe and the measurement object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inner surface measuring apparatus.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-218654, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a surface state meter having a contacting probe is known as an apparatus for measuring surface information of a measurement object, such as surface roughness and contour shape, (for example, Mitutoyo Corporation, Product Information, Searched on 31 May 2005, Internet <URL: http://www.mitutoyo.co.jp/products/keijyou_hyomen/hyomen—01.html>).
This surface state meter measures a contour shape and so forth of a measurement object by making a contacting probe contact with the surface of the measurement object and relatively moving the contacting probe. Specifically, this surface state meter measures the contour shape and so forth of the measurement object by detecting an amount of movement of the contacting probe along the surface shape of the measurement object.
However, there are limits in measuring surface shape using the contacting probe. For example, in the case of measuring the inner surface shape of a hole where a sectional area of the hole is comparatively large and an inside diameter of the hole is unlikely to change in the depth direction of the hole, it is possible to measure by making a small probe contact with the inner surface. However, in the case where the sectional area of the hole is comparatively small and the inside diameter is small at the entry of the hole and becomes greater further away from the entry in the depth direction, there is a disadvantage in that a small probe that can pass through the entry cannot make contact with the inner surface at the deeper end of the hole, making measuring difficult.


A filter for filtering a fluid, such as lubricating oil for an engine, has a first element for trapping small particles and a second filter element for trapping sludge, the second filter element being stacked on the first filter element. A flow-deflecting element is disposed between the first filter element and second filter element to provide a spinning motion to oil flowing from the second filter element as that oil joins oil which is passed through the first filter element. The spinning motion of the oil from the bypass filter element encourages mixing of the oil from the second filter element with the oil filtered by the first element. A centrifugal separator is disposed in an annular space between the filter elements and filter housing for imparting a rotary motion to the fluid prior to the fluid passing through the filter elements. This removes large particles from the fluid by centrifugal force so that large particles do not add to the contaminant load in the filter elements. During operation of the engine, this arrangement tends to provide cleaner lubricating oil, and therefore reduces engine wear while increasing the time interval between scheduled maintenance procedures.

The present invention relates to dual filters having a full flow filter element and a bypass filter element. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dual filter having a full flow filter element and a bypass filter element arranged in tandem with auxiliary structure which enhance filtering function.
Filter cartridges used for filtering fluids such as lubricating oil can be arranged with a full flow filter element and a bypass filter element, the bypass filter element being stacked on the full flow filter element with the fluid flowing radially through the filter elements into hollow cores thereof and then axially out of the canister.
This arrangement is widely employed to filter lubricating oil used in internal combustion engines. Engine wear, specifically piston ring wear, is directly related to the amount of actual filtration of lubricating oil by both full flow and bypass filters which is mixed after filtration. It has been found that by combining filtration provided by a full flow filter element with that of a bypass filter element substantially reduces engine wear as compared to using only full flow filtration. Moreover, by using a combination of full flow and bypass flow lubricating oil, service intervals can be increased so that maintenance expense is reduced. Maintenance expense is a major consideration in the total expense of operating a vehicle. This is, of course, a major concern for fleets of vehicles, such as the fleets operated by trucking companies. In addition, by keeping lubricating oil clean, it can remain in engines longer and does not have to be recycled at shorter intervals. Consequently, environmental concerns due to vast amounts of used lubricating oil are reduced because less used oil must be recycled. It is therefore beneficial to enhance the performance of lubricating oil cartridges which utilize both full flow filter elements and bypass filter elements.
In view of the aforementioned considerations, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a filter for removing particles from a fluid wherein the filter comprises a canister having a first end with radially disposed inlet openings and a central outlet opening and having a second end which is closed. A first filter element having a small particle annular filter media defining a first substantially cylindrical hollow core is disposed adjacent the first end of the canister. A second filter element having a sludge removing annular filter media defining a second substantially cylindrical hollow core is stacked axially with respect to the first filter element. A flow mixing element connects the second hollow core to the first hollow core and includes a flow deflector which imparts a rotational component to the fluid as the fluid flows axially from the first hollow core to the second hollow core. Consequently, fluid flowing radially through the small particle filter media mixes with the rotating fluid which has been filtered by the second filter media before passing through the central outlet opening of the filter canister. The capacity of the filter is increased by providing an array of angled fins which impart rotation to the fluid around the filter elements after the fluid enters the canister and flows toward the second end of the canister.
In another aspect of the invention, the flow mixing element comprises an annular channel formed about a core, the annular channel having a flow deflector therein, which in a more specific aspect of the invention comprises at least one axially-extending angularly displaced rib.
In a further aspect of the invention, the afore-described rib extends across the annular channel and supports the core of the mixing element therein. In a more specific aspect, the core has at least one end which is closed to the passage of fluid so that the fluid flows from the second hollow core to the first hollow core only through the annular channel.
In still further aspects of the invention, the filter is arranged with the first filter element disposed above the second filter element and with a chamber within the canister below the second filter element for accumulating particles separated from the fluid by centrifugal force to keep those particles out of the filter elements.
In a specific embodiment, the aforedescribed filter is used to filter lubricating oil for internal combustion engines.

Dual filter with flow mixer and centrifugal separator