A delivery system for an implantable member includes an elongated dilator splittable at both the proximal and distal ends. The dilator has a tapered distal end and a pair of tabs at the proximal end. An introducer for the implantable member is received in a passageway of the dilator and extends along a length of the dilator to the tapered distal end. The introducer is arranged relative to the dilator such that upon a relative proximal movement of the dilator, the tapered distal tip of the dilator splits whereby the distal end of the introducer extends therethrough. A handle has a gripping mechanism for engagement with each tab for initiating proximal movement of the dilator relative to the introducer upon rotation of the gripping mechanism. The handle is structured for splitting the dilator proximal portion upon the relative proximal movement of the dilator.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a delivery system for an implantable medical member. More particularly, the invention relates to a delivery system including a tapered dilator having a splittable portion at each of the proximal and distal ends of the dilator.
2. Background Information
Delivery devices, such as guide catheters and introducer sheaths, are widely used in the medical field as conduits for percutaneously transporting an implantable medical device through the vasculature of a patient to a target site for deployment.
Often the delivery device having the medical device positioned therein must traverse tortuous passageways in the patient's vasculature to reach the desired deployment site. A variety of introducer or delivery sheaths have been developed in an attempt to optimize this process. For example, some sheaths are formed to have different hardness levels, or durometers, along the length of the sheath. Such sheaths may have a high durometer at the proximal end, one or more intermediate sections of increasingly lower durometer, and a distal section having the lowest durometer. This arrangement enables the distal portion of the sheath to more easily bend while traversing increasingly narrow and tortuous passageways, while maintaining a higher degree of strength and rigidity at the proximal end.
Sheaths may be formed with a layered structure, which structure may include the presence of a reinforcing layer. One type of reinforcement is a helical coil that is disposed between inner and outer polymeric layers of the sheath. The presence of the coil enables the sheath to bend as it encounters a bending stress, and then return to its original orientation upon release of the stress. This type of reinforcement is also generally effective for resisting bulging of the sheath adjacent to the self-expanding stent enclosed therein. Another type of reinforcement is a woven braid. A braided reinforcement enhances the torqueability of the sheath as it traverses the passageway. Sheaths may be formed to combine one or more features of the aforementioned designs, as well as other features that may be added for a particular purpose.
Regardless of the particular construction of the introducer device, the introducer is typically housed within a passageway of a tapered dilator for introduction into a body passageway. The tapered dilator facilitates passage through tortuous passageways within the body. Once this delivery system comprising the dilator and the introducer sheath reaches the target site, it is desirable to remove the dilator from the introducer sheath prior to deployment of the medical device. Removal of the dilator from the introducer can be problematic, and many prior art attempts have been made to facilitate such removal. One such attempt comprises providing a dilator having a frangible distal tip. With this design, the dilator can be peeled away from the introducer sheath upon splitting of the tapered distal tip of the dilator. Although this apparatus works well in some instances, it performs less so in other instances. One such instance involves removal of the dilator from an implantable device having a large proximal end (e.g., a pacemaker lead). The presence of the large proximal end impedes peeling away of a sheath that has been split only at the distal end.
It is desired to provide a delivery system for use in delivering an implantable medical device to a target site within the body of a patient, and wherein the dilator is more easily removed from around the introducer when compared to existing systems.


An approach for determining link transmission quality identifiers is provided. For this purpose, a two-step approach is applied. In a first step, quality indicators are obtained from a black-box device and related signal are obtained and recorded. Based on the recorded data, a model can be established or a neural network can be trained. The generated model or the trained network may be used for determining further quality indicators at any arbitrary point in time.

Also applicable in principle to any communication link, the present invention and its underlying problem will be hereinafter described in combination with testing a wireless communication link between two communication devices.
In modern communication systems the communication between the communication devices has to fulfill predetermined requirements. For this purpose the quality of a communication link is monitored. In particular, during the process of developing new communication devices or establishing communication links, the properties of a communication link are measured and evaluated.
When measuring the quality of a transmission link, a measuring device may output a specific value, which corresponds to the properties of the transmission link. However, such measuring devices usually do not provide any further information, such as how the quality value is determined. Usually, no additional information of the measured signal is provided. Further, the value for indicating the quality of the transmission link may be provided in a low temporal resolution.
Against this background, a problem addressed by the present invention is to improve the determination of a link transmission quality indicator. In particular, the present invention aims to provide an enhanced and versatile determination of an additional link transmission quality indicator.

Method and system for analyzing a determination of a link transmission quality indicator and method and apparatus for determining a link transmission quality indicator


A condensate pump includes a condensate reservoir, a liquid level float sensor operable to sense a liquid level within the condensate reservoir, and a pressure/vent valve including a pressure source, a pressure vent, and a primary piston slidably supported in a primary cylinder and sliding in the primary cylinder responsive to the liquid level sensor. A secondary piston is slidably supported in a secondary cylinder and moves responsive to a movement of the primary piston between a first secondary-piston position wherein the pressure source is in communication with a gas space of the condensate reservoir and the pressure vent is isolated from the gas space, and a second secondary-piston position wherein the pressure source is isolated from the gas space and the pressure vent is in communication with the gas space.

Many industrial applications produce steam, employ the steam in a process or apparatus, and condense the steam back to water. The condensate water is typically recycled back to the steam production in a closed cycle, rather than being discharged. The recycling of the condensate is undertaken because the water may be treated with expensive chemicals that would be lost if the water were discharged, because the discharge of the water could have adverse environmental consequences, and because the heat of the hot water would be lost if it were discarded.
To recycle the condensate, it is accumulated in a condensate reservoir and pumped back to the boiler under pressure. Condensate water enters the reservoir until the reservoir is nearly full, and then the condensate is pumped out of the reservoir by a compressed gas such as steam or compressed air. At the completion of the pump-out when the liquid level is low, the reservoir is vented, and the accumulation process repeats.
A number of different approaches have been utilized for the pump used in conjunction with the condensate reservoir. Historically and in the majority of current applications, a centrifugal pump is used. More recently, the steam-pumping trap has been introduced. The steam-pumping trap typically employs a spring-loaded overcenter or other type of mechanism to open and close the pressure and vent valves in coordination with a float that senses the liquid level in the reservoir. The valves use a plug-and-seat configuration. While operable, such designs have associated high fabrication and maintenance costs. Additionally, the sizes of the pressure and vent ports are limited. Because of the large forces required to operate the mechanism, the float must be relatively large in size.
There is a need for an improved approach to the construction of the condensate pump that overcomes these limitations. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.

Cyclic condensate pump having a three-way valve


In one embodiment, a system and method to transfer money may include a mobile device associated with a player, a location server designed to: track a device position of the mobile device and track a vessel position, and a mobile gaming management server designed to: receive a fund transfer request from a gaming server for the mobile device, the fund transfer request including a fund amount; determine if the fund amount can be transferred to the mobile device based on the device position and the vessel position; and transfer the fund amount to the mobile device if it is determined that the fund amount can be transferred to the mobile device.

In a gaming environment, funds used to play a game of chance may be obtained from an operator by giving the operator a check. The amount may be credited to the player's account for use to play the games of chance. The player's domicile is sometimes checked and playing the games of chance may sometimes be denied.
The player can cash out from the device and receive either cash or a printed ticket to be presented to the operator. However, when playing games of chance on a mobile device, it is inefficient or not possible for the player to cash out by receiving cash or a printed ticket to be presented to the operator. Thus, electronic transfer of funds may be more efficient for users playing games of chance on a mobile device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic fund transfer for mobile gaming


An apparatus (102) with moveable platen ribs (110,112), is described. The apparatus comprises a platen (108) for supporting print media (106). The platen extends in a plane in which the print media is conveyed to be printed. The apparatus further includes a first set of platen ribs (110) and a second set of platen ribs (112) each mounted on the platen. The second set of platen ribs are moveable approximately perpendicular to the plane.

Generally, printing operations in inkjet based print devices and apparatus involve moving a print media with respect to the print head. The print head ejects a predetermined volume of ink from its nozzle onto the print media to form characters, which form the printed content on the print media. During a printing operation, the print media is supported by a platen. Protrusions on the platen, referred to as platen ribs, maintain a separation distance between the print head and the print media. The separation distance is maintained to avoid placement errors of the ink droplets or to avoid smearing of the print media with the nozzles of the print head.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method of scheduling data transmission in a wireless network is disclosed. The wireless network includes an access router and a plurality of access terminals connectable to the base station. The method includes determining a number of the access terminals that are connected to the base station, and comparing the number with a threshold. The method further includes determining, based on the comparison between the number of connected access terminals and the threshold, whether to send a dedicated control signal or a shared control signal from the base station, in order indicate which ones of the plurality of access terminals are scheduled to transmit data during a slot.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and more specifically to methods and systems for signaling in wireless communication systems.
2. Background
Wireless telecommunication systems are widely deployed to provide various services, including but not limited to telephony, data, video, audio, messaging, and broadcasts. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include, but are not limited to, CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) systems, TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) systems, FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) systems, and OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) systems.
One type of wireless communication system is a P2P (peer-to-peer) networks, in which each node or workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities. This differs from client/server architectures, in which some computers are dedicated to serving the others. Instead clients or servers, P2P networks have equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both "clients" and "servers" to the other nodes on the network. In the context of a wireless communication system, this may be viewed as a system where a base station (defined below) or an access point (defined below) is not required for two devices to communicate with each other. They can communicate either directly with each other or through other devices. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a common air interface design that can be used both in the "infrastructure" mode and the "peer-to-peer" mode is used as the context. As further explained below, an infrastructure mode includes an access router and access terminal architecture. As also further explained below, a peer-to-peer mode is also referred to as an adhoc mode.
In wireless communication systems, a base station or access router may transmit data to one or more terminals on the forward link and/or receive data from one or more terminals on the reverse link, at any given moment. The base station or access router may send signaling to indicate which terminals are scheduled for data transmission and to convey information pertinent to the reception of the data transmission.
There is a need for techniques to efficiently and reliably send and schedule messages in a wireless communication systems, including but not limited to P2P networks.

Methods and systems for user selection in wireless communication networks


A method for allowing a financial transaction to be performed using a electronic system, the method comprising interrogating an electronic transaction terminal with an electronic security device to obtain an integrity metric for the electronic financial transaction terminal; determining if the transaction terminal is a trusted terminal based upon the integrity metric; allowing financial transaction data to be input into the transaction terminal if the transaction terminal is identified as a trusted terminal.

Point-of-sale payment terminals are physical checkout devices currently used for credit, debit and smart card transactions, typically used in shops and small businesses and mainly owned by merchants and banks. These devices capture payment information at the point of sale and quickly transfer it from the merchant counter to the payment network for approval. An example provider is VeriFone™. Current products enable support for multiple applications or services—such as loyalty programs, payment, smart card processing—at the point-of-sale. Furthermore, multiple applications, created by different developers, can reside on one terminal and yet remain separate. Various handheld and countertop peripheral products support multiple options for secure PINpad and smart card applications at the point of sale. These products allow merchants to accept both debit and smart card forms of payment.
However, various types of software attack are possible on these systems, additionally there is a danger that the merchant may cheat the customer out of money by putting through too much money or putting through a transaction twice.
It is desirable to improve this situation.


A magnetostatic field generator for a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a pair of permanent magnets each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape arranged perpendicular to a direction of a uniform magnetic field to surround a space where a uniform magnetic field is generated, a plurality of first permanent magnets each having a trigonal prism shape arranged on both sides of an area between the permanent magnets each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a plurality of second permanent magnets each having a trigonal prism shape which are arranged between the permanent magnets each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and the first permanent magnets and satisfy magnetic field boundary conditions between the permanent magnets each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and the first permanent magnets, and a yoke for holding the pair of permanent magnets each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the plurality of first permanent magnets, and the plurality of second permanent magnets and for forming a magnetic path.

The present invention relates to a magnetostatic field generator for a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (abbreviated as an MRI apparatus hereinafter), and more particularly to a magnetostatic field generator for an MRI apparatus which is capable of generating an intense and uniform magnetostatic field over a wide range and is economical.
An MRI apparatus displays images of nuclear spin density distribution, relaxation time distribution and the like in an analyte as tomographical images by applying arithmetic processing to a signal measured by utilizing a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) phenomenon.
A magnetostatic field having an intensity and a direction which are uniform space-wise and time-wise is required for generating the NMR phenomenon. To be concrete, a magnetostatic field having an intensity of 0.04 to 2 tesla (T) and uniformity of about several ten ppm or less is required in a vacant space having a diameter of approximately 300 to 500 mm. Magnetostatic field generators for generating a magnetostatic field may be classified broadly into three types, i.e., that which uses permanent magnets, or those that use superconductive magnets and normal conductive magnets.
The present invention relates to a magnetostatic field generator using permanent magnets among these three types.
A perspective view of a magnetostatic field generator according to prior art is shown in FIG. 1. The details of the prior art is set forth in JP-A-62-177903. A reference numeral 51 in FIG. 1 represents a tubular core made of a soft magnetic material, and 60a, 60b, 61a, 61b, 62a and 62b represent permanent magnets. The permanent magnets 60a and 60b have a trapezoidal shape, respectively, and are fixedly attached to internal wall surfaces 65a and 65b perpendicular to a direction 100 of the uniform magnetic field of the core 51. Further, the direction of magnetization 70a and 70b is in the same direction as a direction 100 of uniform magnetic field. Furthermore, the permanent magnets 61a, 61b, 62a and 62b have a trigonal prism shape, respectively, and are fixedly attached to internal wall surfaces 66 and 67 parallel to the direction 100 of the uniform magnetic field of the core 51. Further, magnetization 71a, 71b, 72a and 72b of respective permanent magnets 61a, 61b, 62a and 62b point to direction perpendicular to boundary surfaces 81a, 81b, 82a and 82b facing to a vacant space 200.
With such a structure as described above, a uniform magnetic field is generated in the vacant space 200 surrounded by the permanent magnets 60a, 60b, 61a, 61b, 62a and 62b.
Here, a front view of a portion of only one quarter on the right upper side of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2 for further detailed examination. As described above, a uniform magnetic field is generated by means of the permanent magnets 60a and 61a. In the vicinity 90 of a part where both magnets are in contact with each other, however, the permanent magnets are used only for passing a magnetic flux, and do not contribute to generation of the magnetic field in the vacant space 200. Namely, the rate of the intensity of a uniform magnetic field generated in the vacant space 200, i.e., a magnetic field generation efficiency, is lowered with respect to the weight of a permanent magnet material.
Since a permanent magnet material having a large value of a maximum energy product presently obtainable is very expensive, the ratio that the material cost thereof bears to the cost of the magnetic field generator is quite large. Accordingly, it becomes an important subject in development of a magnetic circuit to reduce the weight of the permanent magnets by improving the magnetic field generation efficiency.

Magnetostatic field generator for magnetic resonance imaging apparatus


An apparatus for detecting imbalance abnormality in an air-fuel ratio between cylinders in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine according to the present invention increases a fuel injection quantity to a predetermined target cylinder to detect imbalance abnormality in an air-fuel ratio between cylinders at least based upon a rotation variation of the target cylinder after increasing the fuel injection quantity. The increase in the fuel injection quantity is carried out in the middle of performing the post-fuel-cut rich control. Since timing of the post-fuel cut rich control is used to increase the fuel injection quantity, the exhaust emission deterioration due to abnormality detection execution can be prevented as much as possible.

In an internal combustion engine equipped with an exhaust purifying system using a catalyst, harmful substances in an exhaust gas are generally purified by the catalyst in a highly efficient manner. Therefore, it is fundamental to control a mixing ratio of air and fuel in a mixture to be burned in the internal combustion engine, that is, an air-fuel ratio. For controlling such an air-fuel ratio, an air-fuel ratio sensor is provided in an exhaust passage in the internal combustion engine, and feedback control is performed in such a manner as to make the air-fuel ratio detected by the air-fuel ratio sensor be equal to a predetermined target air-fuel ratio.
On the other hand, there are some cases where, since air-fuel ratio control is usually performed applying the same control amount to each of all the cylinders in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, an actual air-fuel ratio varies between cylinders even if the air-fuel ratio control is performed. When a degree of the imbalance is small at this time, since the imbalance can be absorbed by air-fuel ratio feedback control and the harmful substances in the exhaust gas can be purified also in the catalyst, the imbalance has no adverse influence on exhaust emissions and raises no particular problem.
However, when the air-fuel ratio varies largely between the cylinders due to a failure of a fuel injection system in a part of the cylinders or the like, the exhaust emission is deteriorated, thus raising the problem. It is desirable to detect the imbalance in the air-fuel ratio as large as to thus deteriorate the exhaust emission, as abnormality. Particularly in a case of an internal combustion engine for an automobile, for beforehand preventing a travel of a vehicle in which the exhaust emission has deteriorated, it is requested to detect the imbalance abnormality in the air-fuel ratio between the cylinders on board (so-called OBD; On-Board Diagnostics), and there is recently the movement of legalizing such detection of the imbalance abnormality on board.
For example, in an apparatus described in PTL 1, when it is determined that abnormality in an air-fuel ratio occurs in any of cylinders, injection time of fuel injected to each cylinder is shortened for each predetermined time until the cylinder in which the abnormality in the air-fuel ratio has occurred misfires, thus specifying an abnormal cylinder.
Incidentally in a case where the abnormality in the air-fuel ratio occurs in any of the cylinders, when a fuel injection quantity is forcibly increased or decreased in the corresponding cylinder, a rotation variation in the corresponding cylinder becomes remarkably large. Therefore, by detecting an increase in such a rotation variation, it is possible to detect the imbalance abnormality in the air-fuel ratio.
However, the increase or decrease in the fuel injection quantity results in deterioration of an exhaust emission more than a little. Therefore, it is desirable to perform the increase or decrease in the fuel injection quantity at timing for not deteriorating the exhaust emission as much as possible.
Therefore, the present invention is made in view of the foregoing problem and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for detecting imbalance abnormality in an air-fuel ratio between cylinders in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine which can prevent exhaust emission deterioration due to execution of abnormality detection as much as possible.

Apparatus for detecting imbalance abnormality in air-fuel ratio between cylinders in multi-cylinder internal combustion engine


The present disclosure describes example systems and methods for dynamically adjusting a tension of at least a portion of a frame of wearable computing device. The systems and methods may be directed to receiving an input signal from a component of the wearable computing device that is indicative of a movement of the wearable computing device. An adjustment of the tension of at least the portion of the frame may be based on the movement. An output signal that is indicative of the adjustment may be provided to the wearable computing device.

Applying an electric or magnetic field to some materials may cause the materials to flex or contract. In one example, a structure containing a piezoelectric material may flex in a presence of an electric field. The amount in which the structure flexes may depend on a magnitude of the electric field applied to the piezoelectric material. When the electric field is removed, the structure may become flexible or return to the structure's original shape.
In another example, a structure containing one of a magnetorheological fluid and a shape memory alloy may contract in a presence of a magnetic field. The amount in which the structure contracts may depend on a magnitude of the magnetic field applied to the one of the magnetorheological fluid and the shape memory alloy. When the magnetic field is removed, the structure may become flexible or return to the structure's original shape.


To make possible using three-dimensional data of electric cable housing components to automatically generate and output a drawing that is simple and useful as two-dimensional data for clearly representing the relationship between upper and lower components. Determination controller 121 of two-dimensional data generation unit 120 converts three-dimensional data of electric cable housing components, which is read by the data reading part 122, into a line segment for each component by diagram generation part 123, and converts a contact part between components or a part where components partially overlap with each other, into an intersection point, to generate a diagram composed of the line segment and intersection point. Determination controller 121, by coplanarization part 125, shifts line segments of a plurality of components that overlap vertically on the diagram onto a single plane, and slides the line segments at a predetermined interval to represent the vertical overlap on the plane. Determination controller 121 outputs the generated two-dimensional data of the electric cable housing components from interface unit 110 in the form of file by file output part 127, and stores the data in the form of file in storage unit 130.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drawing generation device, method and program for electric cable housing components for converting three-dimensional data of electric cable housing components generated by a three-dimensional arrangement adjustment CAD into two-dimensional data by using a computer, and outputting the converted data in the form of drawing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drawings of electric cable housing components of a thermal/nuclear/hydraulic plant are generated after arrangement planning is performed at the time of plant layout. Recently, this arrangement planning is recently performed by a three-dimensional arrangement adjustment CAD, for the reason of convenience of data input, expansion of the data to the downstream after the data input, and management of the data.
When performing the arrangement planning on electric cable housing components, a designer arranges the electric cable housing components on a three-dimensional space to generate a route of the electric cable housing components by using a three-dimensional arrangement adjustment CAD, thereby generating arrangement data of the electric cable housing components.
On the other hand, because two-dimensional drawing data is required as a drawing to be submitted to a client or a drawing for a construction site material, the three-dimensional data needs to be converted.
However, the electric cable housing components are characterized in being arranged and installed in multi-stages in a vertically stacked manner. Therefore, it was difficult to for a drawing of the electric cable housing components to function as an automatic drawing output.
It was also difficult to represent an intersection point of the mainstream and a branch of the electric cable housing components and an intersection point of the components disposed continuously in series.
In addition, even when attaching route information of the electric cable housing components and information on the vertical direction height or the like to a drawing, it was difficult to determine what section to pull out a lead line from to represent these intersection points on a redundantly represented plan view.
On the other hand, as a conventional method for converting three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data, there is, for example, a method for looking down three-dimensional data in a top direction and outputting the three-dimensional data as a plan view. However, when this method is applied to three-dimensional data of the electric cable housing components, because the electric cable housing components are disposed in multi-stages in a vertically stacked manner, upper and lower electric cable housing components overlap with each other and, as a result, the lower electric cable housing component is hidden on the plan view.
As a method different from the method of using a plan view, in recent tools, there is a tool for automatically outputting an isometric drawing from piping data of a three-dimensional arrangement adjustment CAD. Although the isometric drawing of this case possesses only simple and minimum information required for installation, the isometric drawing is generated with a value guaranteeing that at least there is not problem in the installation as long as the information is output.
Another thing considered is to represent the electric cable housing components using an isometric drawing as a long component such as a pipe. However, even with the isometric drawing, it is difficult to draw a drawing that clearly represents the relationship between the upper and lower electric cable housing components disposed in multi-stages in a vertically stacked manner.
Therefore, in the conventional technology, because it was difficult to use the three-dimensional data of the electric cable housing components to automatically output a drawing useful as the two-dimensional data while having the three-dimensional data, the drawing of the two-dimensional data had to be generated manually. However, since generating a drawing of the two-dimensional data manually is laborious and thus a heavy burden on the designer, it was necessary to improve the designer's work by utilizing the three-dimensional data.
As a conventional technology related to the arrangement planning for electric cable housing components, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-257136, for example, describes a technology for calculating a cable route by using a cable layout plan as input data. Also, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-195544 describes a technology for selecting cable sizes and cable routes in consideration of a voltage drop. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-330887, as a conventional technology related to an arrangement planning for plant equipment, describes a technology for generating an equipment layout design drawing by means of a three-dimensional CAD.
However, the technologies described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-257136, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-195544 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-330887 are not designed to use three-dimensional data to automatically output a drawing useful as the two-dimensional data.
As described above, in the conventional technologies, a drawing of two-dimensional data had to be generated manually while having the three-dimensional data, and such a manual work is laborious and thus a heavy burden on the designer. For this reason, it was necessary to improve the designer's work by utilizing the three-dimensional data.

Drawing generation device, method and program for electric cable housing components


An air intake heater system includes an air heater adapted to be positioned in communication with an intake passageway of an engine and a controller. The controller is operable to repeatedly supply current and discontinue the supply of current to provide a desired energy output of the air heater.

The present invention generally relates to a heater system for an air intake of an automotive vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stand alone heater control system which incorporates pulse width modulation to produce a desired intake air heating cycle.
Electrically powered air intake heaters are useful for heating air as it enters the intake of an internal combustion engine. Depending on the thermal conditions of the engine and the ambient air, it may be desirable to heat the intake air prior to attempting to start the engine. Typically, the air is heated for a predefined time based on the ambient air temperature.
Many air intake heaters are coupled to an electrical circuit including a battery, a battery cable, a common connector, another wire, a fuse, yet another wire, a relay and a final wire to the air heater. The relay is typically controlled by the engine electronic control module. Based on signals received from the electronic control module, the relay supplies current to the heater or does not. In addition to the plurality of wires noted in the above circuit, metal supports and hardware are required to attach the components to the vehicle.
Additionally, the heater is typically sized to provide a desired wattage based on engine size and duty cycle. Typically, air heaters are sized such that the full battery voltage and current may be supplied to the heater for a defined period of time. This control scheme often requires the heater to be energized for approximately thirty seconds when ambient temperatures are low such as minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit. While heaters controlled and sized in this manner have been effective, improvements may exist.
An air intake heater system of the present invention includes a controller coupled to the air heater. The controller and air heater are designed so that they can preferably be coupled to the battery using a single wire. The controller may function as a stand alone unit or may accept data from the vehicle electronic control module. The controller of the present invention utilizes a pulse width modulation control scheme where the total energy per unit time output from the air heater is controlled. Therefore, a larger air heater may be implemented than previously used. By implementing a larger air heater, the time required to preheat the air is drastically reduced. In addition, production efficiencies can be achieved since the same heater construction can be used for different engines.
Preferably, the air heater system of the present invention collects engine rpm data after the engine has been started. The system utilizes the data to determine the duration and quantity of energy output from the heater after engine starting to ensure smooth idle. In this manner, the total energy output by the air heater is minimized. In addition, the emissions and running characteristics during initial start up are improved.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.


A separation unit includes a separation pad configured to separate sheets one by one by making the sheets contact with a nip portion of the separation pad, a holder configured to hold the separation pad, and a supporting member configured to keep a base end of the separation pad to the holder. The separation pad includes a supported portion receded in the base end of the separation pad. The supporting member includes an attaching portion configured to attach the supporting member to the holder and a holding portion configured to fit in the supported portion to hold the supported portion in cooperation with the holder.

A known image scanner or printer includes a sheet feeding device configured to feed sheets. For example, an image scanner includes a tray on which sheets are stacked. The sheet feeding device may feed sheets stacked on the tray one by one.
A sheet feeding device may include a roller and a separation pad configured to contact a peripheral surface of the roller. The separation pad is held by a holder. A sheet is fed from a tray in accordance with the rotation of the roller. The sheet is fed toward a nip portion between the peripheral surface of the roller and the separation pad so that ideally just one sheet contacting the peripheral surface of the roller passes between the peripheral surface of the roller and the separation pad.
Further, the holder includes a protrusion that protrudes toward the roller. In correspondence with the protrusion, the separation pad includes a hole that fits over the protrusion. The protrusion of the holder is inserted into the hole of the separation pad. Base ends of the holder and the separation pad are held by a clip having a U-shape in cross section. Thus, the separation pad is supported by the holder.
If the hole is exposed on a surface of the separation pad that contacts with the roller, a leading end of the sheet being fed toward the nip portion between the peripheral surface of the roller and the separation pad, may be caught in the hole. This may cause breakage or damage to the sheet.
As a countermeasure, film may be disposed between the separation pad and the clip to cover the hole. However, when the film is implemented, the sheets may slip under the film, causing feeding of plural sheets at one time. Especially, with a structure in which the distance between the base end of the separation pad and the peripheral surface of the roller is relatively large, feeding of plural sheets at one time may be likely to occur, because the number of the sheets entering between the base end of the separation pad and the peripheral surface of the roller may be relatively large.

Sheet feeding device and separation unit


There is provided an information processing system comprising a device and a terminal. The device comprises a recording unit to record telephone communication; a voice obtaining unit to obtain voice in response to detection of disconnection from a phone line; a transmission unit to transmit recorded data; a transmission unit to transmit voice data; a reception unit to receive a keyword candidate; a display control unit to display the keyword candidate; a selection unit to select a keyword candidate; and a transmission unit to transmit the selected keyword candidate. The terminal comprises a reception unit to receive the recorded data; a keyword generation unit to generate the keyword candidate based on the voice data; a transmission unit to transmit the keyword candidate; a registration unit to register the keyword candidate as a search keyword while associating the keyword candidate with the recorded data.

1. Technical Field
Aspects of the present invention relate to an information processing system for managing recorded data generating by recording a telephone communication while using a search keyword.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a voice recording device configured to automatically record a telephone communication (i.e., phone conversation) has been widely used. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI 9-46428A (hereafter, referred to as JP HEI 9-46428A) discloses an example of such a voice recording device. The voice recording device disclosed in JP HEI 9-46428A stores the recorded data in a mail box.

Device, system, method and computer readable medium for information processing


The present invention generally relates to the field of intravascular medical devices, and more specifically to the field of balloon catheters and other similar diagnostic or therapeutic catheters within the body for treatment and diagnosis of diseases. In particular, the present invention relates to reinforced balloon catheters and drug-eluting balloon catheters and corresponding methods for producing same.

Balloon catheters are being increasingly used to reach remote locations in the body of a patient. When the target is a soft tissue site, the vascular system in the region often consists of vessels of very small diameter. The vessels are also often convoluted, making many sharp twist and bends. To navigate these small tortuous vessels requires a catheter having a correspondingly small outside diameter. The predominant method for achieving small diameters is to use catheters having very thin walls. However, as the walls of a catheter get thinner, they tend to lose their torsional and longitudinal rigidity. Sufficient torsional rigidity must be maintained to permit steering of the catheter through the vessel and sufficient longitudinal rigidity must remain to allow the catheter to be advanced (i.e., pushed) through the vessel. Furthermore, thin wall tubes have a tendency to crimp or kink when bent in a small radius. This can result in the binding of guide wires within the catheter in the vessel which normally depends on prior advancement of a guide wire.
The problem of achieving a small tube diameter while still having sufficient torsional control and longitudinal control and kink resistance is compounded in cases where a catheter having more than one channel or tube is required, such as in the treatment of atherosclerotic lesions in the arteries of the brain, in which a balloon catheter is used that is similar to, but much smaller than, that employed for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Such a catheter is typically composed of two tubes, an outer tube that, at or near its distal end, is in fluid communication with a balloon-like structure and an inner tube through which a guide wire or other instrumentation may be passed. The annular space between the two tubes provides a channel through which liquids can be introduced and removed to inflate and deflate the balloon.
The general approach to accommodating the need for small outside diameter catheters is to reduce the size of guide wires and the wall thickness of both tubes making up a balloon catheter. However, there are limits to the extent to which these dimensional reductions can be taken. If the diameter of the guide wire is reduced too much, the guide wire will lose its ability to effectively transmit torsional and axial (i.e., longitudinal) forces necessary to steer and advance the guide wire through tortuous vascular systems. Thus, if the diameter of the wire is to be maintained at a functional dimension, then the first impulse is to reduce overall catheter size by reducing the wall thickness of the tubular portions of the catheters.
Unfortunately, this can result in loss of cross-sectional circularity of either or both the inside and outside tubes, resulting in crimping or kinking. If the inner tube kinks, then the guide wire will become bound within the tube's lumen and can no longer be advanced through the vascular system. If the outer tube kinks, it may cause the inner tube to close down and bind the guide wire or it may constrict, even close down, the annular space between the tubes making it difficult or impossible to expand and deflate the balloon structure.
Thus, there is a need for a balloon catheter structure combining a thin overall cross-section with controlled flexibility, kink resistance and the structural strength to withstand the high pressures created during the inflation of the balloon portion of the catheter.

Reinforced and drug-eluting balloon catheters and methods for making same


An integrated circuit (IC) device includes a fin-type active region formed in a substrate, a step insulation layer on at least one sidewall of the fin-type active region, and a first high-level isolation layer on the at least one sidewall of the fin-type active region. The fin-type active region protrudes from the substrate and extending in a first direction parallel to a main surface of the substrate, includes a channel region having a first conductivity type, and includes the stepped portion. The step insulation layer contacts the stepped portion of the fin-type active region. The step insulation layer is between the first high-level isolation layer and the at least one sidewall of the fin-type active region. The first high-level isolation layer extends in a second direction that is different from the first direction.

The present disclosure relates to an integrated circuit (IC) device and/or a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an IC device including a fin field effect transistor (FinFET) and/or a method of manufacturing the IC device.
Semiconductor devices included in electronic devices have been downscaled to form high-speed electronic devices. As a technique of downscaling the semiconductor devices, a FinFET including a gate formed on a fin protruding from a substrate has been proposed. In the FinFET fin is used as a three-dimensional (3D) channel.

Integrated circuit device and method of manufacturing the same


A modular brake pad is provided. The pad is made up of a brake backing plate and at least one pre-molded friction element. The friction element is releasably attached to the backing plate using an arrangement of guide rails. The friction element may also be locked to the plate by means of a releasable locking pin that extends through the plate into the friction element. An optional intermediary shim portion can also be provided on the friction element.

The number of motor vehicles has increased greatly in recent years. There is an interest in methods of reducing the cost of manufacturing brakes and replacement parts on the part of both motor vehicle manufacturers and suppliers of parts for brakes. This increased use has also led to a significant increase in the after-market for brake replacement and repair. Brakes are also in increasing demand for motor vehicles such as airplanes, trains, bicycles, all terrain vehicles and motorcycles.
Brake pads, as currently manufactured, combine two main parts, namely a plate (often called a backing plate) and a friction pad. The brake pad is mounted in a brake assembly. The backing plate may be formed with a variety of bosses, holes, or other features for receiving and retaining the friction pad. The need to use high speed low cost manufacturing methods often results in irregularities in the plate which may lead to difficulties in attaching and/or retaining the friction pad on the plate during braking, when the friction pad is in contact with the rapidly turning brake rotor, or even during the pre-installation handling of the brake pad assembly.
There are a variety of known ways of attaching a friction pad to a plate. One such way is to attach the friction pad to the backing plate using rivets. One disadvantage of the riveting process is that it creates a rigid bond between the plate and the friction pad, which can, as a result of a sudden impact, lead to breaking of the friction pad. Furthermore, this process often requires one or more additional manufacturing steps with a consequent increase in cost. In addition, when the friction pad is worn down over time, the rivets become exposed and rub against the brake rotor, causing scoring on the rotor which is costly to repair.
Another, more recently developed method of mounting the friction pad on the plate is to use a pressurised molding process to mold the friction pad directly onto the plate. In this process, the friction pad may be prepared by blending the components of the friction pad into a pre-form or cake. A conventional pressurized molding system is used to mold the friction pad pre-form onto the plate. A layer of cement or glue is often applied to the contact surface of the plate to improve the adhesion between the plate and the friction pad.
As pressure is applied to the mold assembly, the pre-form becomes heated and begins to flow, filling the mold and covering the appropriate surface of the plate. In this process, the pre-form material is intended to flow into and around the various features to improve the bond between the plate and the friction pad.
The plate is subjected to a number of forces, such as the jarring of the moving vehicle, as well as vibration caused by the rotor and noise. The problem with the prior art processes and plates is that features, such as holes and bosses, stamped into the plate often provided insufficient shear and/or tensile strength in the bond between the friction pad and plate. When additional features are stamped into the plate to increase bond strength, additional manufacturing steps are required, adding to the cost.
The most common prior art features stamped into plates are circular holes. These holes often provide unsatisfactory results because, during the molding process, the pre-form cake does not completely fill all of the holes, which in turn, leads to deficient bonding between the plate and the pre-form. The incomplete hole fills can are clearly visible, and often raise quality concerns when inspected by buyers. The incomplete hole fills also have an aesthetically displeasing appearance, which can also make them less attractive to customers. Accordingly, it has become common practice in prior art plates to fill the incomplete hole fills with putty and to paint over them, to both hide the unsatisfactory molding results and to improve appearance. These additional manufacturing steps have the added disadvantage of increasing the cost of manufacturing the disc brake.
Another concern that has become more pressing in the brake pad industry is the need for conservation, particularly of steel supplies, which have become more valuable. Brake backing plates, typically made of steel, are relatively durable and long-lasting, although the friction material attached to them is consumable. In the past, steel has been readily and cheaply available, and brake pads have been treated as a replaceable commodity (the entire unit being scrapped when the friction material is worn down). It would be desirable to preserve the backing plate portion for re-use (or re-cycling). It would be desirable to provide a modular brake pad that allows for installation and removal of replaceable friction elements, while ensuring a secure attachment with the backing plate.


A safety switching arrangement that outputs a switching signal a switch or safety-oriented interruption of a circuit to control disconnection of a power supply for a load. The safety switching arrangement includes at least one evaluation circuit which emits an unsafe drive signal for the switch at an output. The safety switching arrangement also includes a programmable logic unit supplied with the drive signal(s) at an input and connected to the switch to drive the switch with a safe drive signal. The programmable logic unit can test and monitor the correct function of the switch during operation. A safe non-floating first terminal of the switch is connected to a respective feedback input of the programmable logic unit to monitor the potential state of said terminal. The relevant potential state during error-free operation corresponds to the safe drive signal for the at least one switch.

A safety switching arrangement is used in switchgear in order to provide increased safety. The safety switching arrangement monitors an external electrical device and switches the power supply to a load according to the monitoring result. The monitored electrical device and the load can be the same item of equipment. The safety switching arrangement does not usually switch the load directly, but indirectly via special switching devices. In particular, the safety switching arrangement controls a load-specific switching device, e.g. a motor contactor or an auxiliary relay for such a motor contactor.
The safety requirements for a safety switching arrangement are set out in IEC 13849. This standard defines different categories, with Category 4 corresponding to the highest safety level. In order to achieve Category 4, it is necessary for all the safety-relevant components of the safety switching arrangement to be of redundant design.
In a safety-oriented safety switching arrangement, a safe control signal must be applied to the switch or switches. This means that the designers of a safety switching arrangement of this kind must have detailed knowledge of the operation of safety-oriented outputs of the safety switching arrangement. Depending on the intended purpose of the safety switching arrangement, a different design of those components of the safety switching arrangement which provide the safe control signal at the output may be necessary. In particular, for the control and evaluation of so-called "dark tests", adaptation of the firmware implemented in the evaluation circuits is necessary. This procedure requires, on the one hand, valuable process time and, on the other, evaluation circuit resources.

Safety switching arrangement for outputting a switching signal


Apparatuses, systems, and techniques to identify a shape or camera pose of a three-dimensional object from a two-dimensional image of the object. In at least one embodiment, objects are identified in an image using one or more neural networks that have been trained on objects of a similar category and a three-dimensional mesh template.

Determining a three-dimensional (3D) shape, a texture, and a camera pose from a two-dimensional (2D) image of an object of interest in a known object category and knowing an object mask that indicates which part of the two-dimensional image constitutes the object of interest can be difficult, in part due to ambiguity in the 2D image. With much additional information, such as multiple views or a representation of a 3D shape of the object of interest, the ambiguity can be reduced and generating the shape and camera pose might be simplified, but in instances where such additional information is not available, neural networks might be improved to recover 3D shapes, textures, and camera pose from a 2D image of an object knowing its object category and an object mask.

Self-supervised single-view 3D reconstruction via semantic consistency


A multi-band RF multiplexer for routing transmit and receive signals in a radio RF front end. According to one aspect, the disclosure provides a multiplexer for routing transmit signals to an antenna and routing receive signals to a receiver. The multiplexer provides a first hybrid coupler having a first frequency response and a second hybrid coupler having a second frequency response. The second hybrid coupler is coupled to the first hybrid coupler by a plurality of splitters. The second frequency response complements the first frequency response to increase cancellation of two signals arriving at an output port of the second hybrid coupler from two different paths through the first and second hybrid couplers.

Antennas for radio base stations are physically large compared to other radio components, but typically have relatively wider bandwidth. Therefore, it is preferable to have multiple transmit (TX) bands and receive (RX) bands share an antenna so that the number of antennas can be minimized.
In order to share an antenna a multiplexer is typically used. FIG. 1 shows a conventional 4-band multiplexer 10 that couples two transmit signals and two receive signals to an antenna 12. Each of the transmit signals and the receive signals pass through a respective filter 14, 16. For high-power base stations, air cavity filters having low passive intermodulation (PIM) may be employed to implement the multiplexer 10. However, for low-power base stations transmitting and receiving in small cells, these air cavity filters are too large and miniature filters are preferred. Such miniature filters are typically acoustic filters such as surface acoustic wave (SAW), bulk acoustic wave (BAW) and thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) filters, or are ceramic filters. However, these types of filters have limited PIM performance, even at low power. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, the transmitter filters 14 undesirably end up feeding PIM to receive circuits via the receive filters 16, thereby reducing receiver sensitivity.
FIG. 2 shows a type of 4-band multiplexer that exhibits low PIM. In FIG. 2, two transmit signals, TX1 and TX2, are combined by a combiner 18 and input to port 7 of the lower 3 dB 90 degree hybrid coupler 20. The combined signal travels via two different paths through the lower hybrid coupler 20. A first path is from port 7 to port 5 (the direct port), and a second path is from port 7 to port 6 (the coupled port). The signal from port 5 passes through a dual band TX band pass filter 22 and is input to port 4 of the upper 3 dB 90 degree hybrid coupler 24. The signal from port 6 passes through a dual band TX band pass filter 26 and is input to port 3 of the upper hybrid coupler 24. The signal arriving at port 4 from the TX band pass filter 22 travels via two different paths through the upper hybrid coupler 24. The first path is from port 4 to port 1 to an antenna 28. The second path is from port 4 to port 2. Similarly, the signal arriving at port 3 of the upper hybrid coupler 24 travels via two paths. The first path is from port 3 to port 1 and to the antenna 28. The second path is from port 3 to port 2. The signals from port 2 are passed through a dual band RX band reject filter (BRF) 30 and split into receive signals RX1 and RX2 by a 2-band splitter 32.
Ideally, the two TX BPFs are identical. Also, the signal travelling from port 7 to port 5, i.e., the direct port, has a 90 degree phase difference with the signal travelling from port 7 to port 6, i.e., the coupled port. Similarly, in the upper hybrid coupler 24, for the input at port 4, the output at the direct port 2 has a 90 degree phase difference with the signal at the coupled port 1. Thus, the signal from port 7 to 5 to the TX BPF 22 to port 4 to 2 will ideally be 180 degrees out of phase with the signal from port 7 to 6 to the TX BPF 26 to port 3 to 2. Thus, the signals of these two paths will cancel each other. Conversely, the two signals that reach port 1 will add constructively since they are in phase.
A signal received by the antenna 28 at port 1 will be split in two signals, one traversing from port 1 to 4 (the coupled port) and one traversing from port 1 to port 3 (the direct port). The signal arriving at port 4 will be reflected due to the receive band rejection of the TX BPF 22. The reflected signal will be reflected back to port 1 and will also be reflected to port 2. Similarly, the signal arriving at port 3 will be reflected due to the receive band rejection of the TX BPF 26. This reflected signal will be reflected back to port 1 and will also be reflected to port 2. The signal that traverses from port 1 to port 4 to port 2 will add constructively at port 2 with the signal that traverses from port 1 to port 3 to port 2. Conversely, the two signals reflected back to port 1 will destructively interfere and cancel.
The above discussion assumes that the hybrid couplers provide a 90 degree phase shift and equal splitting of the signal power over the entire relevant frequency band. Further, the above discussion assumes a flat amplitude frequency response that is the same for the path to direct port and a path to a coupled port. In reality, the hybrid couplers may have a frequency response as shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3 the frequency response 34 of the coupler direct port is concave down, whereas the frequency response 36 of the coupler coupled port is concave up. At the lower frequency of the lower transmit band TX1, the difference between the coupling between the direct port and the coupled port is about 0.35 dB. Thus, if the lower and upper hybrid couplers 20 and 24 have the response shown in FIG. 3, the signal that traverses from port 7 to 6 to 3 to 2 at frequency F1 would have power about 0.7 dB higher than the power of the signal that traverses from port 7 to 5 to 4 to 2. This results in leakage of the TX1 band signal near frequency F1 of about 10 dB into the receive path. At the same time, this also results in an insertion loss of the path from port 7 to port 1 of about 0.1 to 0.3 dB. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the output power difference between the coupled port and the direct port gets bigger as the frequency decreases. This means that PIM generated by the dual band TX BPFs 22, 26 will be exacerbated when the receive band is on the lower side of the transmit band, which is often the case. Further, since a dual band BPF has a higher insertion loss than a single band BPF, the multiplexer configuration of FIG. 2 has a high insertion loss.
For low power radio base stations, resonator-type ceramic filters, such as coaxial ceramic filters, monoblock filters, and ceramic waveguide filters, etc., are sometimes used for RF filtering of the received signal. However, for some applications, ceramic filters are too bulky and too expensive. Miniature SAW, BAW or FBAR filters have therefore been proposed for use. FIG. 4 shows an example of such proposal. FIG. 4 shows an antenna 38, a first acoustic filter 40, a low noise amplifier 42, and a second acoustic filter 44. These filters 40 and 44 together in series show a large amplitude variation in the pass band of their frequency response, as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows a typical pass band frequency response of the circuit of FIG. 4. The pass band variation is greater than 2 dB. Further, insertion loss is highest at the pass band edges and lowest at around the center of the pass band. Further, the configuration of FIG. 4 does not provide sufficient out of band rejections.
As shown in FIG. 6, the total receive front end out-of-band filtering performance 46 of the configuration of FIG. 4 does not meet the rejection filter rejection envelope requirements 48 set out in known wireless communication standards. This deficiency is common to all acoustic wave filters. The problem of poor out-of-band rejection cannot be resolved by changing the acoustic filter design. In general, a single acoustic filter can only provide 10 to 20 dB of rejection at above-band frequencies. Two such filters can be expected to achieve only 20 to 40 dB of rejection at above-band frequencies.

Radio frequency multiplexer and receiver filter


A method of controlling a current path range using an electric field is disclosed, and the method of controlling a current path range includes applying an electric field to an active layer including a spontaneous polarization material through an application electrode disposed adjacent to the active layer to form a polarization region of the active layer, and forming a variable low resistance region corresponding to a boundary of the polarization region, wherein the variable low resistance region is a region of the active layer having a lower electrical resistance than another region of the active layer adjacent to the variable low resistance region and allows an electrical path to be formed.

As technology has developed and the interest of people in the convenience of life is increased, the development of various electronic products has been actively attempted.
In addition, the electronic products are becoming smaller in size and highly integrated and are increasingly being used in a wide range of places.
Such electronic products include various electric elements, and, for example, include a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, and other various electric elements. The electric elements may include various types of electric circuits.
Electric elements are used, for example, not only in computers and smartphones but also in products in various fields, such as home sensor devices for Internet of Things (IoT) and bioelectronic devices for ergonomics.
Meanwhile, in recent years, as the speed of technology development has increased and the living standards of users have rapidly improved, the use and application fields of the electric elements are rapidly expanded, and the demand for the electric elements is also increasing accordingly.
Due to this trend, there is a limitation in implementing and controlling electric circuits that are easily and rapidly applicable to various commonly used electric elements.

Method for controlling current path range by using electric field, and electronic circuit


A strip of molding which is installed on the side edge of windshield glass, being insertingly mounted on one end of a strip of channel having a U-shaped cross section, and being able to be installed together with a strip of drip seal, permitting to reduce installation time and create a neat appearance. A connective portion which comes in contact with the drip seal can be provided in the cross section of the windshield molding so that any abnormal sounds will be eliminated.

This invention relates to an installation arrangement of a strip of windshield molding which is mounted on the side edge of windshield glass.
In the prior art, the seal mechanism between the front door 51 and the windshield glass W as sectioned on line B--B of FIG. 3, for example, is as shown in FIG. 4.
To effect a good seal between the front door 51 and the car body and to prevent the intrusion of water therein, a strip of drip seal 54 is mounted on the front pillar 52 by an L-shaped fixture 53 which is attached to the front pillar 52 by clips 57. In addition, a strip of windshield molding 56, the inside of which is reinforced by stainless steel 55, is mounted on the side edge of the windshield glass W.
Since the windshield molding 56 and drip seal 54 are separately installed, it is therefore a problem with the prior art that the man-hours necessary for the installation thereof is inevitably increased. The prior art also has problems such as increased manufacturing cost due to the injection molding manufacturing method and an abnormal sound caused by contact between the front door 51 and the windshield molding 56.

Windshield molding installation arrangement


A gripper means for use in a stretcher leveler apparatus in which the surface for engagement with the metal to be stretched comprises a smooth polymeric material most desirably of a thermoset polyurethane.

The two primary methods of providing straight or flattened steel strip or sheet are roller leveling and stretcher leveling. Roller leveling is typically performed in a rolling machine consisting of two sets of rolls. A top and bottom set of several small diameter horizontal rows each are mounted in a housing so that the associated top and bottom rolls are offset from each other. A steel sheet or strip passing through the leveler is flexed up and down alternately between the offset rolls such that the amount of flexing decreases as the sheet travels toward the exit end of the roller leveler. The rolls nearest the exit end are designed to perform the basic straightening operation. The advantage of roller leveling is that long lengths of sheet or strip may be leveled or flattened with minimum surface disfigurement. However, roller leveling does not impart the same degree of flatness to the sheet or a pair of opposing jaws actuated by hydraulic or pneumatic means. Typically, sheet or strip is elongated between one and three per cent so that the elastic limit of the steel is exceeded to produce permanent elongation. There are numerous types of stretcher leveler devices including those which can handle large coils of rolled strip. However, in all stretcher levelers the jaws of the device include gripping means to securely grip the opposing ends of the sheet which is to be stretched. These gripper means typically comprise a flat elongated engagement member shaving a length slightly greater than the width of the sheet or strip to be stretched. The surface of the engagement member which is adapted to engage or grip the surface of the sheet or strip to hold it against movement during elongation is very rough, normally grooved, knurled or serrated. Consequently, in virtually all such stretcher leveler devices the gripper means bite into the metal and disfigure the surface of the sheet. Traditionally, the disfigured portion of the sheet or strip is marked and subsequently cut off as scrap. For example, in a coil 2,125 feet in length, approximately 162" are lost in scrap.
The disfigurement of the metal results in substantial economic loss because that metal is normally discarded as waste. Moreover, when coils of rolled strips are stretched in sequential stretching, the gripper disfigurement marks must be indicated and cut from the coil. Thus, the maximum length of strip or sheet which could be leveled is the distance between the grippers.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a gripper means for use on stretcher leveler devices which affords adequate gripping capabilities, but which eliminates surface disfigurement on the sheet or strip stretched. A further object of the present invention is to provide gripper means which will enable stretching cf any length of strip by successive stretching operations such that an entire coil of rolled strip, in effect, can be stretcher leveled without the need to remove the portions of metal engaged by the gripper.

Gripper means for stretcher leveler apparatus


A method for calibrating a CNC machine including providing instructions for machining a surface of a distortion-free object, selecting a true axis of movement of a toolhead of the machine using the instructions, instructing the toolhead to travel on an object to be machined along the true axis of movement, but where the toolhead actually travels along an actual axis that is deviated from the true axis as a result of the surface distortions on the object to be machined, selecting multiple points along the actual axis traveled by the toolhead on the object to be machined, comparing the distance of the multiple points along the actual axis from the true axis to determine offset amounts from the true axis corresponding to a lack of straightness of the object to be machined, and modifying the instructions to compensate for the offset amounts before uploading the instructions to a CNC controller.

The present invention relates generally to the field of calibrating a multi-axis machining system, and more particularly, to a system and method for virtually calibrating automated equipment running on an xyz-coordinate system.
Multi-axis machining systems such as Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) machining systems can be used to precisely machine and fabricate a workpiece from a set of instructions. Such systems typically include a table for supporting the workpiece, and a toolhead positioned vertically above the table and moveable relative thereto along one or more of x, y and z linear axes, as well as rotational axes. Movement of the toolhead along the axes can be controlled by instructions implemented, for example, by Computer Aided Design (CAD) software.
One well known format of CNC instruction codes is known as "g-codes". G-codes are translation instructions in which GO represents a linear movement, and G02 and G03 represent circular or arcuate movements for the toolhead. The process for creating a g-code file involves defining a series of g-codes that represent various contours of the finished product, such as from a model, and defining the requirements of the CNC machine. CNC machine requirements include identifying and labeling features of the model, selecting cutting tools for the toolhead, determining machining speeds, defining an orientation of the workpiece, etc.
After the instruction codes defining the finished model are formulated, the instruction codes are passed to the CNC controller of the CNC machine. The CNC controller uses the instruction codes comprising the g-codes to precisely control the toolhead and cutting tool to machine the workpiece into the finished product.
Before machining, it has been necessary to calibrate the machine to ensure that the mechanical components are in alignment to achieve satisfactory performance from the machine. Machine components can move out of alignment over time as a result of physical contact, machine transport, component wear and normal use. Conventional methods for calibrating a CNC machine to bring components back into alignment include mechanically adjusting the toolhead path along the y-axis, adjusting perpendicularity between the adjusted y-axis and x-axis (i.e., squaring), adjusting the z-axis relative to the y-axis, x-axis and x-y plane, as well as adjustments of rotational axes perpendicular to the x-y plane, among other adjustments.
Such mechanical calibration methods are disadvantageous because they are time consuming and result in significant downtime for the machine. Accordingly, what is needed is a method of virtually calibrating a CNC machine that ensures that the machine performs satisfactorily without the need for mechanical calibration methods.

System and method for virtually calibrating a computer numeric controlled machine to compensate for surface distortions


A system for separating components of a slurry is disclosed, the system including a housing; a basket for holding at least one shaker screen, the basket movably mounted in the housing; at least one vibrator coupled to the basket; a sump disposed below the basket to collect at least a portion of the slurry passing through the at least one shaker screen; a pressure differential device fluidly connected to the sump for developing a pressure differential across the at least one shaker screen; and a toggling device for toggling the pressure differential across the screen. A system including a degassing chamber fluidly connected to a sump and a pressure differential device, wherein the degassing chamber is disposed between the sump and the pressure differential device, and a fluid conduit fluidly connected to the degassing chamber for recovering a degassed fluid is also disclosed.

1. Field
Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to shale shakers and screens for shale shakers. Specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a shale shaker having pulse-vacuum assisted screening. Additionally, embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and apparatus for removing entrained gases from a slurry.
2. Background Art
Oilfield drilling fluid, often called "mud," serves multiple purposes in the industry. Among its many functions, the drilling mud acts as a lubricant to cool rotary drill bits and facilitate faster cutting rates. The mud is mixed at the surface and pumped downhole through a bore of the drillstring to the drill bit where it exits through various nozzles and ports, lubricating and cooling the drill bit. After exiting through the nozzles, the "spent" fluid returns to the surface through an annulus formed between the drillstring and the drilled wellbore.
Furthermore, drilling mud provides a column of hydrostatic pressure, or head, to prevent "blow out" of the well being drilled. This hydrostatic pressure offsets formation pressures thereby preventing fluids from blowing out if pressurized deposits in the formation are breeched. Two factors contributing to the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud column are the height (or depth) of the column (i.e., the vertical distance from the surface to the bottom of the wellbore) and the density (or its inverse, specific gravity) of the fluid used. Various weighting and lubrication agents are mixed into the drilling mud to obtain the right mixture for the type and construction of the formation to be drilled. Increasing the amount of weighting agent solute dissolved in the mud base will generally create a heavier drilling mud. Drilling mud that is too light may not protect the formation from blow outs, and drilling mud that is too heavy may over invade the formation. Therefore, much time and consideration is spent to ensure the mud mixture is optimal. Because the mud evaluation and mixture process is time consuming and expensive, drillers and service companies prefer to reclaim the returned drilling mud and recycle it for continued use.
Another significant purpose of the drilling mud is to carry the cuttings away from the drill bit to the surface. As a drill bit pulverizes or scrapes the rock formation at the bottom of the borehole, small pieces of solid material are left behind. The drilling fluid exiting the nozzles at the bit stir up and carry the solid particles of rock and formation to the surface within the annulus between the drillstring and the borehole. Therefore, the fluid exiting the borehole from the annulus is a slurry of formation cuttings in drilling mud, and the cutting particulates must be removed before the mud can be recycled.
One type of apparatus used to remove cuttings and other solid particulates from drilling mud is commonly referred to in the industry as a "shale shaker." A shale shaker, also known as a vibratory separator, is a vibrating sieve-like table upon which returning used drilling mud is deposited and through which substantially cleaner drilling mud emerges. Typically, the shale shaker is an angled table with a generally perforated filter screen bottom. Returning drilling mud is deposited at the top of the shale shaker. As the drilling mud travels down the incline toward the lower end, the fluid falls through the perforations to a reservoir below thereby leaving the solid particulate material behind. The combination of the angle of inclination with the vibrating action of the shale shaker table enables the solid particles left behind to flow until they fall off the lower end of the shaker table. The above described apparatus is illustrative of one type of shale shaker known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In alternate shale shakers, the top edge of the shaker may be relatively closer to the ground than the lower end. In such shale shakers, the angle of inclination may require the movement of particulates in a generally upward direction. In still other shale shakers, the table may not be angled, thus the vibrating action of the shaker alone may enable particle/fluid separation. Regardless, table inclination and/or design variations of existing shale shakers should not be considered a limitation of the present disclosure.
Preferably, the amount of vibration and the angle of inclination of the shale shaker table are adjustable to accommodate various drilling mud flow rates and particulate percentages in the drilling mud. After the fluid passes through the perforated bottom of the shale shaker, it may either return to service in the borehole immediately, be stored for measurement and evaluation, or pass through an additional piece of equipment (e.g., a drying shaker, a centrifuge, or a smaller sized shale shaker) to remove smaller cuttings and/or particulate matter.
Screens used with shale shakers are typically emplaced in a generally horizontal fashion on a generally horizontal bed or support within a basket in the shaker. The screens themselves may be flat or nearly flat, corrugated, depressed, or contain raised surfaces. The basket in which the screens are mounted may be inclined towards a discharge end of the shale shaker. The shale shaker imparts a rapidly reciprocating motion to the basket and hence the screens. Material from which particles are to be separated is poured onto a back end of the vibrating screen, flowing toward the discharge end of the basket. Large particles that are unable to move through the screen remain on top of the screen and move toward the discharge end of the basket where they are collected. The smaller particles and fluid flow through the screen and collect in a bed, receptacle, sump, or pan beneath the screen.
In some shale shakers a fine screen cloth is used with the vibrating screen. The screen may have two or more overlaying layers of screen cloth or mesh. Layers of cloth or mesh may be bonded together and placed over a support, supports, or a perforated or apertured plate. The frame of the vibrating screen is resiliently suspended or mounted upon a support and is caused to vibrate by a vibrating mechanism (e.g., an unbalanced weight on a rotating shaft connected to the frame). Each screen may be vibrated by vibratory equipment to create a flow of trapped solids on top surfaces of the screen for removal and disposal of solids. The fineness or coarseness of the mesh of a screen may vary depending upon mud flow rate and the size of the solids to be removed.
While there are numerous styles and sizes of filter screens, they generally follow similar design. Typically, filter screens include a perforated plate base upon which a wire mesh, or other perforated filter overlay, is positioned. The perforated plate base generally provides structural support and allows the passage of fluids therethrough, while the wire mesh overlay defines the largest solid particle capable of passing therethrough. While many perforated plate bases are generally flat or slightly curved in shape, it should be understood that perforated plate bases having a plurality of corrugated or pyramid-shaped channels extending thereacross may be used instead. In theory, the pyramid-shaped channels provide additional surface area for the fluid-solid separation process to take place, and act to guide solids along their length toward the end of the shale shaker from where they are disposed.
The separation of drilling fluid and other solids from drill cuttings using a screen shaker is often incomplete, resulting in wet drill cuttings. As described above, the drilling mud is introduced to the top of the screen and allowed to flow downward through the screen by gravity alone. Often, additional equipment, such as additional screen separators, hydrocyclones, dryers, drying shakers, centrifuges, hydrocyclone shakers, thermal desorption systems, and other equipment, are used to further dry the cuttings and recover drilling fluid. For example, cuttings from a shale shaker may fall onto a rotary vacuum dryer, where the cuttings travel on a circumferentially rotating screen. Air may be used to strip drilling fluid off the cuttings and into the screen, such as by pulling a vacuum from the interior of the rotating screen (for example, the ROTAVAC™ Rotary Vacuum Dryer fluid recovery and cuttings drying system, available from Halliburton).
It is desired to improve the rate and efficiency at which shakers remove liquid from cuttings or other solids. To enhance the gravity-driven separation as described above, it is known that increasing the head on the shaker can increase the throughput of fluids through the screen. Increasing the pressure differential through the screen will likewise increase the fluid capacity of the shaker.
One example of a shaker with increased pressure differential is disclosed by Hensley et al. in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050183994A1. Hensley et al. disclose an integrated, transportable cutting treatment system, where a pressure differential is developed across the screens to increase the flow rate of drilling mud through the screens. Hensley et al. use an air pump to develop a vacuum beneath the screens to draw mud through the screens. However, applying a continuous vacuum beneath a screen to draw fluid through the screen may result in solids sticking to the screen, hindering the conveyance of solids off the end of the shaker as needed, thereby preventing fluids from being filtered through the screen.
There exists a continuing desire for shakers having increased fluid capacity, increased fluid flow-through rates across the screens, and/or improved fluid removal efficiencies. Accordingly, there exists a need for a shaker with increased pressure differential. Preferably, the means used to increase the pressure differential do not substantially hinder the flow of solids across the screen deck. Additionally, there exists a need for a shaker for removing entrained gases from the recovered drilling fluid.


There is provided a solution for performing radio access parameter tuning. The solution includes obtaining first predetermined characteristics related to users who experienced a radio link failure, obtaining second predetermined characteristics related to the users who are according to a predetermined rule prone to a radio link failure, and determining, based on the obtained second predetermined characteristics in addition to the obtained first predetermined characteristics, whether radio access parameter tuning is to be performed or not.

In radio communication networks, such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) or the LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), network planning comprises the use of base stations (Node B, evolved NB). The eNB typically provides radio coverage for a certain geographical area and performs radio access related activities such as handover management for user equipments (UE).
In order for the UE to communicate with eNB, there needs to be a radio link between the UE and the eNB. However, it may occur that the radio connection is lost or failed such that the UE looses connection to the eNB. Avoiding or at least mitigating the connection failures may require radio access parameter tuning. Thus, it is important to provide a solution for an efficient radio access parameter tuning.


A method and a non-transitory computer readable medium for generating polygons within a geographic region that satisfy a query are disclosed. For example, the method extracts a plurality of nodes, a plurality of service providers and information associated with the plurality of nodes and the plurality of service providers of the geographic region from a geographic data source, creates a node table based on the information that was extracted, receives the query for one or more nodes having a predefined number of service providers within a travel budget, determines the one or more nodes from the node table that satisfy the query, and generates one or more generate polygons around the one or more nodes that satisfy the query within the geographic region.

Each state in the United States has its own policy regarding geographic access to healthcare services. For example, the standards may define a measure of access to healthcare services that is required. Different region (e.g., urban counties, rural counties, frontier counties, health districts, and the like) may also have different geographic accessibility requirements.
Current methods to visually display the geographic areas that meet these accessibility requirements can be computationally intensive. In addition, the service coverage maps may not be generated, displayed, or update in real-time and contain outdated information.

Method and system for generating polygons within a geographic region that satisfy a query


Designing operation efficiency is improved by automatically transmitting and receiving circuit-related information and layout-related information required for designing each printed board between printed boards, for designing a plurality of printed boards at the same time. In an electric information processing method in a CAD system, the printed boards are designed at the same time by transmitting and receiving the circuit design information relating to the printed boards and the layout design information relating to the printed boards between the circuits and layouts relating to the printed boards.

Conventionally, design of printed circuit boards has been performed by using a printed circuit board designing equipment being a CAD system that is a designing equipment supported by a computer.
Meanwhile, in designing a printed circuit board, it is necessary to take a function realized by the printed circuit board, circuit parts that need to be mounted on a board in order to realize the function, and the size of an enclosure arranging the printed circuit board thereon in consideration, consider the layout of the printed circuit board such that circuit parts can be installed in the enclosure having an actually decided size, and perform circuit design and layout design.
According to conventional printed circuit board designing equipments, it was possible to simultaneously perform circuit design and layout design regarding a single printed circuit board. More specifically, in the conventional printed circuit board designing equipment, design environment where circuit design and layout design are simultaneously performed only in a single printed circuit board was provided, circuit design and layout design could not be simultaneously performed for a plurality of printed circuit boards.
For this reason, in the case of simultaneously performing the design of a plurality of printed circuit boards, as information necessary in design processing of each printed circuit board, design information being theoretical information that constitutes circuits relating to a plurality of printed circuit boards (circuit design information to be described later, for example) and design information being physical information that constitutes layouts relating to the above-described plurality of printed circuit boards (layout design information to be described later, for example) need to be appropriately sent and received between each printed circuit board, such sending and receiving of design information has to be performed by designers themselves taking many procedures, and there was a problem that work efficiency of design work deteriorated drastically.
For example, in the case of parallelly designing three printed circuit boards of a board A, a board B and a board C, design of each printed circuit board is performed while appropriately referring to circuit design information A for designing connection of circuit parts installed on the board A, circuit design information B for designing connection of circuit parts installed on the board B and circuit design information C for designing connection of circuit parts installed on the board C, layout design information A for designing the arrangement of circuit parts on the board A, layout design information B for designing the arrangement of circuit parts on the board B and layout design information C for designing the arrangement of circuit parts on the board C.
Herein, FIGS. 1(a)(b)(c)(d) show conceptual explanatory views of the board A, the board B and the board C on a design stage. In the initial state shown in FIG. 1(a), three circuit parts (a1, a2, a3) reflecting the circuit design information A exist on the board A, and these circuit parts (a1, a2, a3) severally have four terminals on both sides, that is, eight in total. Further, one terminal of the circuit part a1 is connected with one terminal of the circuit part a2 and one terminal of the circuit part a2 is connected with one terminal of the circuit part a3 reflecting the circuit design information A. Then, the circuit parts (a1, a2, a3) are severally arranged on the board A reflecting the layout design information A.
Similarly, three circuit parts (b1, b2, b3) each having eight terminals reflecting the circuit design information B exist on the board B. Further, one terminal of the circuit part b1 is connected with one terminal of the circuit part b2 and one terminal of the circuit part b2 is connected with one terminal of the circuit part b3 reflecting the circuit design information B. Then, the circuit parts (b1, b2, b3) are severally arranged on the board B reflecting the layout design information B.
Furthermore, three circuit parts (c1, c2, c3) each having eight terminals reflecting the circuit design information C exist on the board C. Further, one terminal of the circuit part c1 is connected with one terminal of the circuit part c2 and one terminal of the circuit part c2 is connected with one terminal of the circuit part c3 reflecting the circuit design information C. Then, the circuit parts (c1, c2, c3) are severally arranged on the board C reflecting the layout design information C.
Herein, description will be made for sending and receiving of the circuit design information and the layout design information between each printed circuit board, which are generated in the case of moving the circuit part a1 being one of the circuit parts of the board A from the board A to the board C, and connecting the terminals of the circuit part a1 with the terminals of the circuit part c3 from the initial state shown in FIG. 1(a).
More specifically, from the initial state shown in FIG. 1(a) showing the state where the circuit design information and the layout design information before moving the circuit part is moved are reflected, a designer performs processing of deleting the information of the circuit part a1 from the layout design information A on the board A to change the layout of the board A from a printed circuit board equipped with three circuit parts to a printed circuit board equipped with two circuit parts (refer to FIG. 1(b)).
With this change, in the layout design information A, only the circuit part a2 and the circuit part a3 exist on the board A. On the other hand, three circuit parts being the circuit parts (a1, a2 and a3) exist in the circuit part information A at this point.
Then, a back annotation processing for reflecting the change of the layout design information A on the circuit design information A is performed, and the information of the circuit part a1 is deleted from the circuit design information A (refer to FIG. 1(c)).
FIG. 1(d) shows the state where the information of the circuit part a1 was deleted from the layout design information A on the board A, and the information of the circuit part a1 was deleted from the circuit design information A by the back annotation processing.
Next, referring to FIGS. 2(a)(b)(c), description will be made for the procedure of adding the information of the circuit part a1, which was deleted from the board A, to the board C to the circuit part information and the layout design information that are in the state shown in FIG. 1(d).
Firstly, the designer performs a processing in which the information of the circuit part a1 is taken out from the circuit part information A and the information of the circuit part a1 taken out from the circuit part information A is added to the circuit design information C of the board C (refer to FIG. 2(a)).
Next, the designer performs a processing of adding the information of the circuit design information C so as to connect a terminal of the circuit part c3 of the board C with the a terminal of the circuit part a1, as shown in FIG. 2(b).
By the processing above, the information of the circuit part a1 is newly added to the circuit design information C of the board C and information that the circuit part c3 is connected with the circuit part a1 is added, and the circuit design information C is updated.
Then, a forward annotation processing in which the updated circuit design information C of the board C is reflected on the layout design information C is performed, and the arrangement of the circuit part a1 is added to the layout design information C (refer to FIG. 2(c)).
As described above, in Prior Art, the layout design information and the circuit design information of each printed circuit board independently exist and are not coordinated to each other, so that each information cannot be automatically exchanged with another printed circuit board beyond each printed circuit board, so the designer needed to perform the sending and receiving processing of information between each printed circuit board by taking many procedures, and work efficiency of design work was deteriorated.
Further, in many cases, in designing a plurality of printed circuit boards, designers are different in each printed circuit board and the designers are separated in each printed circuit board, so that there was a problem that a lot of time was spent in information communication between each designer just to move one circuit part from a printed circuit board to another printed circuit board.
It is to be noted that prior art that the present applicant knows at the point of filing a patent is as described above and not an invention according to document publicly known invention, so there is no prior art information to be described.

Processing method of electric information in CAD system, processing device of electric information in CAD system, program and computer-readable storage medium