A method of processing components of an image for coding of an image portion of the image, the image being composed of a first component and a different second component. Samples of the second component are predictable from samples of the first component using a prediction model having a model parameter value. The method comprises:                determining a plurality of subsets of samples usable for computing the model parameter value, wherein each subset of samples comprises samples of neighboring borders of the first component and the corresponding second component of the image portion, according to at least one predetermined sampling pattern and corresponding predetermined shifting offset,        selecting, based on predetermined criteria, a subset of samples from among the plurality of subsets of samples; and        predicting samples of the image portion using the prediction model and the model parameter value determined from the selected subset of samples.

The present invention concerns a method and device for processing components in an image. The invention further relates to a method and a device for encoding an image, and to a method and device for decoding an image.
At least one embodiment of the invention is applicable in the field of intra coding of chroma samples of video data.
Video data is typically composed of a series of still images or frames which are shown rapidly in succession as a video sequence to give the visual impression of a moving image. Video applications are continuously moving towards improved image resolution (greater number of pixels per frame, higher frame rate, higher bit-depth . . . ). A large quantity of video content is distributed in digital form via broadcast channels, digital networks and packaged media, with a continuous evolution towards improved quality and resolution (e.g. higher number of pixels per frame, higher frame rate, higher bit-depth or extended colour gamut). This evolution in technology puts increased pressure on distribution networks that already face difficulties in providing HDTV (high definition television) resolution and data rates economically to the end user. Consequently, further increases in data rate will put additional pressure on such distribution networks. To address this challenge, ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union, telecommunications Standardization Sector) and ISO/MPEG decided to launch a new video coding standard project in January 2010, known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). It will be appreciated that in what follows the term "HEVC" is used to represent the current implementation of HEVC, which is in course of standardization and will be subject to evolution.
HEVC codec design is similar to that of most previous so-called block-based hybrid transform codecs such as H.263, H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, SVC. Video compression algorithms, such as those standardized by the standardization bodies ITU, ISO and SMPTE, use spatial and temporal redundancies of images in order to generate data bit streams of reduced size. Spatial redundancy represents the mutual correlation between adjacent image pixels, while temporal redundancy represents the correlation between images of sequential images. Such compression processes make the transmission and/or storage of video sequences more effective.
According to HEVC an original video sequence comprises a succession of digital images which may be represented by one or more matrices the coefficients of which represent pixels. The images can be divided into slices where a slice can form part of the image or the entire image. In HEVC the slices are divided into non-overlapping Largest Coding Units (LCUs) which are generally blocks of size 64 pixels×64 pixels. Each LCU may in its turn be iteratively divided into smaller variable size Coding Units using a quadtree decomposition.
During video compression in HEVC, each block of an image being processed is predicted spatially by an "Intra" predictor (so-called "Intra" coding mode), or temporally by an "Inter" predictor (so-called "Inter" coding mode). Each predictor is a block of pixels obtained from the same image or another image, from which a difference block (or "residual") is derived. In the Intra coding mode the predictor (Intra predictor) used for the current block (prediction block) is a block of pixels constructed from the information already encoded of the current image.
In HEVC, the coding order of the blocks of an image follows a kind of zigzag pattern, as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B: a Largest Coding Unit (or LCU) is a block of 64×64 pixels recursively split into smaller blocks (16×16), (8×8) down to 4×4 sized blocks. FIG. 2A illustrates the non-uniformity of the splitting (which is signaled in the bitstream). As a result of this coding order, the 4×4 blocks of an image are indexed according to the numbering illustrated in FIG. 2B. Note that in FIG. 2B, numbers above and on the left of the figure represent respectively the index of lines and columns of pixels.
More illustratively, the scanning seen on FIG. 2B can be read as:                1. Process 16×16 sized blocks of indexes 0, 16, 32 and 48 in that order; Note here that the index number of a 16×16 block is the index number of the 8×8 block located in the upper left corner of the 16×16 block;        2. Process 8×8 sized blocks of indexes 64, 80, 96 and 112 (again in that order);        3. Process 16×16 sized blocks of indexes 128, 144, 160 and 176;        4. Finally, process the remaining 32×32 sized block of index 192
For any N×N block spatial prediction methods can access 2N pixels (samples) on the top and left borders. Thus, for instance, the 16×16 block of index 0 would have access to pixels in columns 0 to 31 on its top border and in lines 0 to 31 on its left border (which may or may not exist if the block lies on the top and/or left outer borders of the image), and the 8×8 block of index 116 (whose first pixel coordinates is (56,16)) would access to line of pixels from pixel (56,15) to pixel (71,15) above and row from pixel (55,16) to pixel (55,31) on the left, effectively outreaching pixels not yet coded or even not existing.
To harmonize the prediction behavior, a coding method instead of directly accessing the image buffer can access a "prediction buffer", where missing pixels are replaced by previous existing ones. For example, in the case of the 8×8 block of index 116 in FIG. 2B, the values of missing above pixels from pixel (64,15) to pixel (71,15) are replaced by the value of above existing pixel (16,63), while values of missing left from pixel (55, 24) to pixel (55,31) are set to the value of left pixel (23,56).
It may also be noted that blocks that are last in the Z shape ordering always have their outer border entirely filled by the padding process (i.e. no actual border pixel data exists there). Those are:                For 4×4 blocks: indexes 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23 . . . (i.e. index modulo 3 equals 3);        For 8×8 blocks: 12, 28, 44, 60 (i.e. index/4 modulo 3 equals 3);        For 16×16 blocks: 48, 112, 176, 244 (i.e. index/16 modulo 3 equals 3).
An image of the video data to be transmitted may be provided as a set of two-dimensional arrays (also known as colour channels) of sample values, each entry of which represents the intensity of a colour component such as a measure of luma brightness and chroma colour deviations from neutral grayscale colour toward blue or red (YUV) or as a measure of red, green, or blue light component intensity (RGB).
A YUV model generally defines a colour space in terms of one luma (Y) and two chrominance (UV) components. Generally Y stands for the luma component (the brightness) and U and V are the chrominance (colour) or chroma components.
Among the various technologies in use in HEVC codec is the luma-based chroma prediction. Luma-based chroma prediction uses a linear model in a block to link luma components to chroma components. The parameters of the model may be determined on the fly, using samples located on the outer neighbouring borders of the block to be encoded and a least-mean square method.
The following model is given as example for generating an estimation of, i.e. predicting, the variable Y:
                              Y          ^                =                              ∑                          i              =              1                        N                                                        a              i                                                  X              i                                                          (        1        )            where:                the Xi values are input to the prediction model, for instance from other signals or previous values of the Y signal;        the ai factors, ranging from 1 to N, are parameters ("weights") for each input;        in the case for example where X0=1, a0 is a constant term
In order to determine the model parameters, the quadratic error of the model for the Y signal over the pixels, indexed with n is expressed as:
                              e          C                =                              ∑            n                                                        (                                                Y                  n                                -                                                      ∑                                          i                      =                      1                                        N                                                                                a                      i                                                                                X                      i                                                                                )                        2                                              (        2        )
The least mean square method tries to determine the ai parameters minimizing this error value. The possible minimum where all derivatives with respect to said parameters are null may be considered as:
                              ∀          ⅈ                ,                                            ∂                              e                C                                                    ∂                              a                i                                              =                                    0              ⇒                                                ∑                  n                                                                                X                    i                                                                          (                                                                  Y                        n                                            -                                                                        ∑                                                      i                            =                            1                                                    N                                                                                a                            i                                                                                X                            i                                                                                )                                                                        =            0                                              (        3        )
This can be rewritten as follows, showing that a classical system of N linear equations with N unknowns, to solve, is obtained:
                              ∀          ⅈ                ,                                            ∑              n                                                                  a                i                                                                            ∑                                      k                    =                    1                                    N                                                                                X                                          k                      ,                      n                                                                                X                                          i                      ,                      n                                                                                =                                    ∑              n                                                                  X                                  i                  ,                  n                                                                          Y                n                                                                        (        4        )
That can be expressed as a matrix system which is symmetrical, and on which known matrix solving algorithms such as the Gauss pivot can be used. The ai parameters may therefore be determined.
When coding a chroma block as intra (i.e. the chroma block depends on previously coded/decoded data from the current image), particular prediction modes can be applied, e.g. a directional bilinear prediction or a prediction by an average value. In all cases, samples the outer borders of the chroma block which may be referred to as a Coding Unit (hereafter CU), located inside of previously decoded CUs, are used. Those borders therefore contain decoded pixel data (samples), to which particular filtering might have been applied.
The prediction mode for predicting a chroma block in this example relies on an affine model:Cpred[x,y]=α·L′[x,y]+β  (5)
Here, the values of the prediction block made up of the pixels C[x,y] are linearly derived from the virtual luma values L′[x,y] which are in turn derived from the collocated decoded luma values.
The model parameters α and β are found using samples of the outer borders of the chroma block and the outer borders of the co-located luma block and a Least Mean Square method as presented above.
With reference to FIG. 1, the model parameters α and β are determined using encoded/decoded chroma samples on the top border 102 and left border 101 of the chroma block and co-located encoded/decoded luma samples from the top border 105 and left border 104 lying on the outside of the co-located luma block 106. The signals used as inputs are:                For the computation of the model parameters α and β:                    L′ values on left border 104 (x=−20) are obtained through filtering the decoded RecL value located on the column immediately on the left with the vertical convolution filter 107, resulting in the output: where Rec refers to reconstructedRecL′[x,y]=(RecL[2x,2y]+RecL[2x,2y+1])>>1  (6)            Note that (>>x) represents an integer division by 2x.            L′ values on top border 105 (y=−20) are filtered using the horizontal convolution filter 108, resulting in the output:RecL′[x,y]=(RecL[2x−1,2y]+2RecL[2x,2y]+RecL[2x+1,2y]+2)>>2  (7)                        For the values 106 used in the prediction, the filter 107 described for the left border is reused but on a different column:RecL′[x,y]=(RecL[2x,2y]+RecL[2x,2y+1])>>1  (8)
Note that in a classical YUV4:2:0 colour space, the nominal position of the chroma sample inside a 2×2 luma block is in the middle of the left luma column, corresponding to the 2x horizontal position in the above formulas.
For such a simple model, the solution can be easily expressed analytically as:
                    α        =                                                            N                                                                      ∑                                          i                      =                      1                                        N                                                                                C                      i                                                                                L                      i                      ′                                                                                -                                                ∑                                      i                    =                    1                                    N                                                                                C                    i                                                                                ∑                                              i                        =                        1                                            N                                                                                L                      i                      ′                                                                                N                                                                      ∑                                          i                      =                      1                                        N                                                                          L                    i                                          ′                                                                                2                                                                                -                                                (                                                            ∑                                              i                        =                        1                                            N                                                                                L                      i                      ′                                                                                )                                2                                              =                                                                      N                  ·                  XY                                -                                  X                  ·                  Y                                                                              N                  ·                  XX                                -                                  X                  ·                  X                                                      =                                          A                1                                            A                2                                                                        (        9        )            with N being the number of input samples in the borders and the sums simplified as XY, X, Y and XX X corresponding to
  N              ∑              i        =        1            N                  L      i      ′      and Y corresponding to
  N              ∑              i        =        1            N                  C      i      XY corresponding to
            ∑              i        =        1            N                          C        i                          L        i        ′              ,XX corresponding to
            ∑              i        =        1            N                  L      i              ′                                                  2              ,(notations that are used in what follows). Identically, we have for the constant parameter:
                    β        =                                                                              ∑                                      i                    =                    1                                    N                                                                  C                  i                                            -                              α                                                                      ∑                                          i                      =                      1                                        N                                                                          L                    i                    ′                                                                        N                    =                                    Y              -                              α                ·                X                                      N                                              (        10        )
However, determining the model parameters is a complex task and adds complexity particularly in the case the decoder.
Although the use of multiple LM modes has been studied to improve coding efficiency, its use in some cases leads to increased complexity, since using N modes would multiply the most complex part of the encoder by N.
The present invention has been devised to address one or more of the foregoing concerns.

Method and device for processing components of an image for encoding or decoding


Spectacle frames are provided for use with either prescription lenses, safety lenses, or the like, the frames having a lens-holding substructure with two lens-holding rims joined at the center section by a bridge piece, and two head-engaging members pivotably attached at or near the bridge piece to a top surface thereof, and extending upwardly and around to the side of a wearer's head, the head-engaging members terminating at ear-engaging portions. The pivotable attachment of the head-engaging members to the lens-holding substructure is effected by snap-fitting a cylindrical pin having a ball element at its end, which extends from a forward end of each head-engaging member, into one of a pair of cylindrical bores, each terminating at a spherical socket, which are disposed at and extend into the lens-holding substructure at or near the bridge piece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spectacle frames used to support prescription lenses, safety glasses or the like, on a wearer's head.
2. Background Information
Heretofore, several types of frames or supports for eyeglass lenses have been propounded as improvements or alternatives to standard eyeglass frames which employ elements commonly referred to as "temples" extending from a side of each lens to hook over the ears of the wearer. A variation shown in several previously issued U.S. patent employs a headband circling the skull from which a frame holding the two lenses is suspended. Included in at least one example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,051, is the capability to pivot the lenses to fixed position and out of the line of sight of wearer about a horizontal axis. While the use of a headband may be considered by some to be more comfortable and convenient than conventional frames, others are likely to be bothered by the restrictive feeling imparted around the head by the elasticity of the band.
With the many uses of eye apparel for safety as well as vision correction, it should suffice to say that those working in fields where eyeglasses, safety glasses or goggles are commonly used or encountered continue to endeavor to design frames and supports for improving the comfort and/or safety of wearing such eye apparel.
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a frame for holding lenses in position on a wearer's head which provides improved protection, stability and comfort to the wearer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a frame for holding lenses in position which improves the safety of wearing vision correcting or safety glasses.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a frame for holding lenses in position which provides improved protection of the eye area of the face.
It is a further object to provide a pair of eyeglasses, safety glasses, or sunglasses employing the improved frame of the present invention.
It is yet a further object to provide a spectacle frame for holding lenses in position which comprises a lens holding substructure having two lens holding rims, a bridge piece connecting the lens holding rims in a spaced-apart relationship to one another, and two head-engaging members pivotably attached to the substructure at or near the bridge of the frame and extending vertically upwardly to approximately a mid-forehead position, the head-engaging members then diverging in a horizontal manner and being curved to approximate the curvature of the forehead and temple areas of a wearer's head, the head-engaging members further having vertically downward extending portions terminating at ear-engaging curved portions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a frame wherein the means for pivotably attaching the head-engaging members at or near the bridge comprises two cylindrical bores extending vertically into the frame and terminating at a spherically shaped socket, and a corresponding cylindrical pin extending from each of the head-engaging members, each pin having a spherical ball element at its end, and wherein the head-engaging members are connected to the substructure in a snap-fit type connection.


A fingerboard is provided for a stringed musical instrument of the type having a nut, a bridge and a plurality of strings supported by the nut and the bridge. The fingerboard has a top surface underlying the strings and has a longitudinal axis generally parallel to the strings. A plurality of raised playing areas are located upon the fingerboard to correspond to chromatic fingering points on the fingerboard. Each raised playing area has a width generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fingerboard. The width of each raised playing area is sufficient that a fingertip of a musician playing the instrument may finger one of the strings on the raised playing area with the fingertip selectively defining an end point of vibration of one of the strings at any selected position across the width of the raised playing area.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to instruments of the violin family which are played with a bow.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Many stringed instruments of the violin family have a smooth, non-fretted fingerboard. Such instruments include the violin, cello, viola, the upright or double bass, and some electric basses. These instruments are usually played with a bow although occasionally they are played by plucking.
One of the inherent difficulties in learning to play a stringed musical instrument having a smooth fretless fingerboard is that it requires great experience to be able to accurately finger the strings to precisely generate the desired notes, since there are no frets on the fingerboard against which to position the fingers.
The prior art of course also includes many fretted stringed instruments such as guitars wherein the strings are held down against the edge of a fret so that the end point of vibration of the string is precisely determined by the position of the edge of the fret across which the string is held. To use a traditional fret on a violin, however, would interfere with the normal manner of playing the violin in that it would not be possible to play vibrato (accomplished by a rapid rolling of the fingertip against the fingerboard as the bow is drawn across the string). Nor would subtle changes in pitch be possible.
The prior art has included a number of proposals for providing finger positioning aids on a violin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,460 to Kuhnke discloses an intonation aid for a violin wherein a molded plastic member fits over the fingerboard and provides conventional raised frets against which the string can be fretted. A similar structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 524,428 to Waring. Other references suggesting conventional frets include U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,115 to Schlink; U.S. Pat. No. 1,795,825 to Bonner; U.S. Pat. No. 798,869 to Brandt; U.S. Pat. No. 1,237,872 to Crow; and U.S. Pat. No. D-26,423 to Livermore.
Another group of prior references suggests the use of raised finger positioning aids which are located adjacent but not below the strings, so the strings are not actually fretted against the raised surfaces. These include U.S. Pat. No. 967,507 to Finney; U.S. Pat. No. 1,348,894 to Rahne; and U.S. Pat. No. 939,486 to Fish.
Another group of references provides a visual and/or tactile finger position indicator through the use of strips which are either flush with the top surface of the fingerboard or are recessed from the top surface of the fingerboard. These include U.S. Pat. No. 1,126,957 to Consoli; U.S. Pat. No. 973,719 to Consoli; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,095,900 to Manby.
Another proposal found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,472,943 to Shaeffer includes a plurality of transverse grooves defined in the fingerboard within which grooves the fingers are pressed so as to hold the string against the fret defined between adjacent grooves.
Thus it is seen that there is a need for a finger positioning aid for a fretless stringed musical instrument such as a violin which will allow ready visual and tactile finger positioning without interfering with the traditional playing mode of the violin. Also, there is a need for such a system which can be readily attached to either existing or newly constructed instruments in an aesthetically pleasing fashion without structurally damaging the existing fingerboard.

Articulated fingerboard for a stringed musical instrument


A support system for assembling and shipping a steam turbine is provided that includes an annular support fixture configured to be coupled to a longitudinal end of a casing of the steam turbine. The annular support fixture includes a first protrusion that extends in an axial direction relative to a longitudinal axis of a rotor of the steam turbine between the rotor and the casing and that is configured to support the rotor in the radial direction. The annular support fixture includes a second protrusion, which extends in the radial direction toward a lateral surface of the rotor and which includes a surface configured to face the rotor in the axial direction. The support system includes a block configured to be disposed between the surface of the second protrusion and the rotor, such that the block blocks movement of the rotor in the axial direction during shipping of the steam turbine.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to steam turbines and, more particularly, to a support fixture for both shipping and building of a steam turbine.
Steam turbines include a rotor, which may be a shaft or drum, to which blades are attached. The assembly and shipping of steam turbines (e.g., turbine section including the rotor) may be both costly and time consuming. Further, during assembly and shipping, additional components (e.g., rigid shipping blocks, temporary bearings, etc.) may be utilized that later have to be removed upon final build at the end destination. In certain situations, the installation of rotor retention assemblies may occur via a blind assembly. In addition, the assembly and shipping configuration utilized may include clearances and gaps that lead to high impact loads (e.g., due to inertial forces) on the rotor during shipping, which result in wear. The removal of these additional components may involve breaching and subsequently resealing the steam turbine's pressure containment boundary.

System and method for assembling and shipping steam turbine


A triangle wave generator (10) which is programmable, and which provides variable amplitude, frequency independent, triangle waves over a wide frequency bandwidth while employing a low voltage power source. The triangle wave generator (10) comprises a square wave input signal source (12) and a reference voltage signal source (14). A first amplifier (16) amplifies the square wave input signals and couples them by way of a transformer (34) to an integrator (36,40) which generates triangle wave output signals in response thereto. A second amplifier (18) connected to the triangle wave signal and to the transformer coupled square wave current source for the purpose of providing a bootstrap. A third amplifier (20) samples and compares the triangle wave output signals to the reference voltage signals and generates output error signals in response thereto. A driver circuit (22) responds to the output error signals and provides bias voltage signals to the first amplifier (16) that controls the amplitude of the square wave output signals in proportion to the amplitude of the reference voltage signals. The triangle waves are controlled in a manner to cause their amplitude to be proportional to the amplitude of the reference voltage signals and independent of the frequency of the square wave input signals. The triangle wave generator (10) produces a 20 volt peak-to-peak amplitude triangle wave at frequencies greater than 300 KHz utilizing a conventional.+-.15 volt power supply source. A nonprogrammable, fixed frequency embodiment and a method of producing triangle wave signals are also disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to triangle wave generators and more particularly to a programmable triangle wave generator which provides variable amplitude, frequency independent, triangle waves over a wide frequency bandwidth while utilizing a low voltage power source.
Triangle wave generators are commonly used in switched mode servo amplifiers, and the like, as part of their pulse width modulation section. For example, such switched mode servo amplifiers are typically used in powering torquer motors which are used to control the position of gimbals, optical elements, and other such elements which require stabilization or position control.
The current state of the art in switched mode servo amplifiers is pushing the operational requirements of triangular wave generators to higher and higher frequencies. Although there is the requirement for higher frequency operation, the systems employing these devices utilize relatively low housekeeping power supply voltages. Such voltages are in the rage of .+-.15 volts, which are the typical voltages made available for use by operational amplifiers, and the like. Conventional triangle wave generators have been unable to provide relatively high amplitude triangle waves at high frequency due primarily to this power supply limitation.


A water jet propulsion module is generated about a central axis and has an inlet opening and a discharge opening concentric with said axis. The module includes a stator having an inner wall and an outer wall with curved stator vanes connected between said inner and outer walls. An impeller shroud is adjustably connected to the outer stator wall. A motor secured to the stator drives a planetary gear drive attached to an impeller by a parabolic impeller cone. The impeller draws water into the inlet opening and drives the water past the stator vanes out of the discharge opening along a substantially linear path at high speed and pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water jet propulsion modules and more particularly relates to a short inline annular module that is concentric with the axis of an impeller which directs water between parallel inlet and outlet openings through an annular duct which gradually reduces in size to discharge the water at the velocity that provides the maximum propulsive efficiency by maximizing the product of "Ideal Efficiency" and "Pumping Efficiency".
2. Description of the Prior Art
Assignee's Samuel U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,204 discloses a water jet reactive propulsion system which is designed to propel tracked amphibious military vehicles through water.
Rodler, Jr. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,809,005 and 4,073,257 discloses two versions of jet propulsion systems of novel design wherein the water intake duct and the water discharge duct are connected by passageways which require approximately two 180.degree. reversals of direction of the propulsion water and provide a propulsion efficiency of about 20% higher than conventional water jets.
Conventional water jets are illustrated in Kenefich 3,174,454 and Trapp 3,306,046 wherein the water enters the water jet through a substantially horizontal opening and is discharged through a substantially vertical opening. The major disadvantage of the conventional water jets is their relatively low propulsive efficiencies. The power input to water jets is distributed to the following areas:
1. Inlet drag PA1 2. Internal flow losses PA1 3. Kinetic energy lost in the jet discharge PA1 4. Useful power output
The inlet drag is related to the square of the hull speed of a watercraft and is relatively negligible at speeds below 20 miles per hour but is a major factor in performance at high speeds.
Internal flow losses, such as inlet duct losses, impeller losses, stator losses, nozzle losses and steering losses in general relate to the square of the flow. Flow is primarily a function of power input and nozzle size. For a given application, increasing flow and decreasing pressure by use of a large nozzle will increase losses in this area. Said internal flow losses decrease the critical Pumping Efficiency. "Pumping Efficiency" is found by: ##EQU1##
Kinetic energy losses occur because the water starts in a static condition, but it is discharged from the water jet nozzle at a high velocity. The water jet thrust results from the reaction forces when this water is accelerated. The substantial kinetic energy in this high velocity water is an irrecoverable loss. "Ideal Efficiency" is used to qualify losses in this area. It is found as follows: EQU Ideal Efficiency=2.times.Hull Speed/(Hull speed+Jet speed.)
At any hull speed this equation shows that Ideal Efficiency can be improved only by decreasing Jet Speed. Decreasing jet speed requires greater flow to maintain a specific amount of thrust. Since the internal flow losses increase with increased flow, a careful trade off is required to optimize "Propulsive Efficiency" by maximizing the product of "Pumping Efficiency" and "Ideal Efficiency" while minimizing inlet drag by improved hydraulic design and minimized inlet area.


A method of separating a mixture of discrete structures dispersed in a fluid material includes identifying a target structure and a non-target structure; providing a custom-shaped particle having at least a portion of a surface that is substantially shape-complementary to a portion of a surface of the target structure; introducing the custom-shaped particle into the fluid material; exciting reconfigurations of the custom-shaped particle with respect to the target structure and the non-target structure; binding the custom-shaped particle to the target structure through an attractive interaction to form an aggregate; and isolating the aggregate containing the target structure and the custom-shaped particle from the non-target structure. The custom-shaped particle preferentially binds with the target structure without binding with the non-target structure.

1. Field of Invention
This application relates to processes and systems for sorting structures dispersed in a fluid and more particularly processes and systems for sorting sub-millimeter structures dispersed in a fluid using custom-shaped particles.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The contents of all references, including articles, published patent applications and patents referred to anywhere in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference.
A variety of different approaches using lithography (Madou, M. J. Fundamentals of microfabrication: The science of miniaturization. 2nd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, 2002) now exist for designing and making custom-shaped sub-millimeter particles dispersed in a fluid (Hernandez, C. J.; Mason, T. G. Colloidal alphabet soup: Monodisperse dispersions of shape-designed LithoParticles. J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 4477-4480; Hernandez, C. J.; Zhao, K.; Mason, T. G. Pillar-deposition particle templating: A high-throughput synthetic route for producing LithoParticles. Soft Materials 2007, 5, 1-11; Hernandez, C. J.; Zhao, K.; Mason, T. G. Well-deposition particle templating: Rapid mass-production of LithoParticles without mechanical imprinting. Soft Materials 2007, 5, 13-31; Higurashi, E.; Ukita, H.; Tanaka, H.; Ohguchi, O. Optically induced rotation of anisotropic micro-objects fabricated by surface micromachining. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1994, 64, 2209-2210; Rolland, J. P.; Maynor, B. W.; Euliss, L. E.; Exner, A. E.; Denison, G. M.; DeSimone, J. M. Direct fabrication of monodisperse shape-specific nanobiomaterials through imprinting. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 10096-10100; Brown, A. B. D.; Smith, C. G.; Rennie, A. R. Fabricating colloidal particles with photolithography and their interactions at an air-water interface. Phys. Rev. E 2000, 62, 951-960; Sullivan, M.; Zhao, K.; Harrison, C.; Austin, R. H.; Megens, M.; Hollingsworth, A.; Russel, W. B.; Cheng, Z.; Mason, T. G.; Chaikin, P. M. Control of colloids with gravity, temperature gradients, and electric fields. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 2003, 15, S11-S18). Shape-designed particles, regardless of the methods of production, will also be referred to as LithoParticles in this specification. Because the shapes of the particles can be specified and designed, these processes for making custom-shaped particles can often be adapted to make desired particle shapes that may have enhanced functionality owing to prespecified geometrical features inherent in their shapes.
The certain attractive interactions, including those created by depletion attractions, between dispersed particles in a liquid can be anisotropic and can depend on the relative orientations of the particles (Mason, T. G. Osmotically driven shape dependent colloidal separations. Phys. Rev. E 2002, 66, 060402/1-4). The discotic particles discussed by Mason in this particular article in Phys. Rev. E are not custom-shaped particles produced by any lithographic method; the method of making the particles did not involve an element of prescriptive design of their shapes. By contrast, controlled surface roughness on colloidal particles can be used to further control the strength of attractive interactions between custom-shaped particles that have been produced lithographically (Zhao, K.; and Mason, T. G. Roughness-controlled depletion attractions for directing colloidal self-assembly. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 99, 268301/1-4; Zhao, K.; and Mason, T. G. Suppressing and enhancing depletion attractions between surfaces roughened by asperities. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008, 101, 148301/1-4). Although dimer assemblies of certain particle types have been created by design, there is no element of isolation, separation, and sorting in this approach. Thus, the potential exists to design and make custom-shaped particles for interacting with and specifically binding in a form of primitive recognition with a variety of target structures dispersed in a fluid. These target structures could include biological objects, such as cells, organelles, and proteins, as well as non-biological objects, such as synthetic particles. Once bound, the aggregate of a custom shaped particle with a target structure could potentially be isolated, separated, and sorted, typically through the action of an external field or flow. This possibility would be highly useful because the formation of aggregates would occur in a highly parallel process everywhere in a dispersion that would contain both custom-shaped particles and target structures.
It would be therefore highly advantageous to take advantage of shape-specific binding by designing custom-shaped particles that can be induced to bind with one or more specific structures but not to other structures for the purposes of shape-selective recognition, identification, isolation, separation, and sorting. Past approaches in the general area have lacked the combination of custom-designing the lithographic particles for the specific desired shape and to exclude binding with other shapes along with the methods for efficiently extracting the bound objects from the other structures. It is precisely this combination that would provide a highly useful process for isolating, separating, and sorting dispersed sub-millimeter structures.
New methods for making custom-shaped colloidal particles offer unique opportunities for capturing and separating specific molecular, particulate, and cellular species in soft colloidal materials that contain a complex variety of components. An excellent example of a soft colloidal material is normal adult human blood, which can contain a wide variety of proteins, complexes, and cells in an aqueous solution at a well-regulated pH. Among the current challenges in the fields of biomedicine and nanomedicine, it is important to develop methods of efficiently separating different components and cell types in human blood with a high degree of shape and size specificity. Diagnostic methods that rely on detecting very small numbers of abnormal cells in blood are also highly desirable. Beyond detection, shape-selective separation of small numbers of abnormal cells in a viable state that would permit further study would be a major breakthrough.
Normal human peripheral blood can contain a wide variety of cell types, including band neutrophils, segmented neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, erythrocytes (red blood cells), lymphocytes (white blood cells), monocytes, and platelets. Of these main categories of cell types, numerous sub-categories and refinements of these cell types also exist. Additional diversity in cells types and shapes can be present for human blood in diseased states, including for various disease types such as anemias and cancers. Normal human red blood cells are disk-like, readily deformable, and have biconcave dimples, and they are quite uniform in shape and size, having a low polydispersity. The size and shape of the red blood cells can even change to some degree depending upon the age of the cell and its biological history. By contrast, other cell types in human blood, such as lymphocytes, have shapes and sizes that are not disk-like. In addition to shape and size, the compositions and effective roughness of the surfaces of different cell types can likewise be potentially used to distinguish one cell type from another. (See also, U.S. application Ser. No. 12/377,773 filed Feb. 17, 2009 as a national stage application of PCT/US07/18365, titled "Customized Lithographic Particles"; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/563,907 titled "Mechanical Process for Creating Particles in a Fluid" filed Sep. 21, 2009 as a CIP of PCT/US08/03679; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/575,920 titled "Process for Creating Shape-Designed Particles in a fluid" filed Oct. 8, 2009; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/524,946 filed Jul. 29, 2009 as a national stage application of PCT/US08/01443, titled "Massively Parallel Assembly of Composite Structures using Depletion Attraction"; and PCT/US08/12832 titled "Process for Directing Assemblies of Particulate Dispersions Using Surface Roughness," all by the same assignee as the current application and the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.) There thus remains a need for improved methods and systems for sorting sub-millimeter particles dispersed in a fluid.

Process for sorting dispersed colloidal structures

The Regents of the University of California


A gas distribution ring assembly for a plasma spray system includes a gas distribution ring including a plurality of openings allowing a gas to pass to an inner diameter thereof. The assembly also includes a separate positioning ring axially aligned with the gas distribution ring between the gas distribution ring and an electrically charged outlet of the plasma spray system.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to plasma spray systems, and more particularly, to a two part gas distribution ring assembly for a plasma spray system.
2. Background Art
Plasma spray systems are used in a number of industrial settings such as direct current (DC) plasma torches. In these plasma spray systems, a ceramic gas distribution ring is used to direct the plasma gas into the cathode/anode region through a series of small holes drilled onto the body of the gas ring. The gas distribution ring also electrically separates the cathode and anode.

Gas distribution ring assembly for plasma spray system


A shooting coat for absorbing shock of shooting comprises an outer cloth, a gun receiver pad attached to a rear surface of the outer cloth, a plurality of projections dispersed uniformly on an outer surface of the gun receiver pad, and a lining cloth attached over the projections for covering the gun receiver pad.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a shooting coat for use in shooting and hunting, particularly for absorbing a shock of shooting by a gun.
2. Description of prior Art
In the case of shooting training and hunting, a shooting coat having a gun receiver pad stitched thereon at the portion where a gunstock touches the body is generally used. A shock generated by shooting is absorbed by the gun receiver pad for thereby preventing a shooter, a shooting trainee, or a hunter (hereinafter referred to as shooter) from being injured such as falling down, suffering a fracture, getting a bruise, etc.
In a prior art shooting coat, a hide, a synthetic hide, a thick cloth, a rubber sheet, etc are used as the gun receiver pad which are stitched on the shooting coat at the portion from a right shoulder to a breast. The gun has a gunstock plate at the end surface thereof for absorbing the shock of shooting and preventing the gunstock from being broken.
However, the gun receiver pad of the prior art shooting coat has a low elasticity so that there is a fear that the shooter may injure himself due to the shock caused by the shooting.
Furthermore, the hide, the synthetic hide, the thick cloth, etc. among the gun receiver pads serve to increase the thickness of the shooting coat for absorbing the shock. However, the gun receiver pad per se is weak in absorbing the shock of shooting to thereby endanger the shooter. The rubber sheet can absorb the shock by its elasticity but the repellent force of the rubber sheet after absorbing the shock is so large that the gun jumps forward by the repulsion against the shooting causing the gunbarrel to be jerked out of its original position. Since the gun thus jumped forward is difficult to return right away to its original position, it is hardly expected to succeed in a running hit.
Still furthermore, since the material of the prior art gun receiver pad has a low softness, when the gunstock is held by the shoulder, it is not well adapted to the shoulder or rather foreign to the shoulder. Hence, the gunstock must be pulled by hand forcibly against the shoulder to prevent the gun from slipping from the shoulder whereby the hitting rate is decreased because of exertion with might and main.
Inasmuch as the end plate of the base end of the gunstock per se is made of rubber or plastic, the shock absorbing characteristic thereof is not large and liable to cause an accident.

Shooting coat for absorbing shock of shooting


A system having a concealed communications element like a telecommunication antenna is described. More specifically, The system has a communications element that is concealed by a highly reflective multilayer polymer optical film 200. The first element of the multilayer polymer optical film is a core layer 202 that is made up of a multilayer optical stack. The multilayer optical stack of core layer 202 includes two alternating polymeric layers. The multilayer polymer optical film may optionally also include a protective layer 204 (for example, a hardcoat or an over laminate) that is positioned between the viewer and the core layer. The protective layer 204 may include one or more UV absorbers to aid in durability of the multilayer polymer optical film against UV-degradation. Multilayer polymer optical film 200 may optionally also include an adhesive layer 208 that is positioned between the core layer 202 and a surface onto which the multilayer polymer optical film is to be adhered.

As the number of wireless subscribers continues to increase at a very high rate, wireless data traffic has also increased. The proliferation of new smart devices further fuels the wireless traffic growth. Media-rich applications such as video streaming in high density areas are increasing. Cellular sites must increase in capacity and number to keep up with the new demand. In order to deal with bandwidth requirements by geographical location, carriers are looking to add additional macro cell sites and to utilize small cell technology to increase capacity. Small cells may be deployed indoors or outdoors.
One of the challenges for macro cell sites and small cell deployments is the aesthetics associated with such equipment. For example, network planners must be sensitive to the appearance of macro sites deployed on building roof tops and of the additional small cell infrastructure being installed. A need exists therefore, to aid in improving aesthetics associated with macro cell sites and small cells and other communications elements being deployed currently.

System having a telecommunications element being concealed by a reflective structure comprising a polymer optical multilayer film


A plastic covered nonconducting substrate with an electrical circuit means is secured to the extent to withstand the presence of liquids in contact with the substrate. The covered substrate can have the substrate with one or more fluid preconditionable electrical components, a housing secured to the substrate to maintain contact of the preconditioning fluid with the electrical component like a sensor, and moisture impervious seals to cover openings in the housing for the disposition of the preconditioning fluid in the housing for contact with the electrical component on the substrate. The housing can have one or more parts and have one or more channels for containing the preconditioning fluid.. The electrical component can be an improved electronic wiring board having a thermistor and at least one blood gas sensor supported, in close relation, one to the other, on one side of the board and a heater supported on the other side of the board to provide heat in response to temperature sensed by the thermistor, to at least the region where the thermistor and the blood gas sensor are positioned on the board to control the temperature of the region of the board within a narrow distribution of temperatures.

Numerous methods and apparatus exist in the art for measuring chemical components of fluids. For instance, when the fluid is a liquid or liquid with a dissolved gas with or without the presence of solids, it may be necessary with current technology to transport a sample to a location for testing. With centralized testing, the bulky, stationary, elaborate and sophisticated equipment performs the analysis on a practically endless number of samples. An example of this is the qualitative and/or quantitative measurement of constituents or analytes of blood. For instance, the measurement of blood gases, usually a measure of the partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide, along with the pH from a sample of arterial blood gives the state of the acid base balance or the effectiveness of both the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of the human or vertebrate body. For measuring constituents of blood, the blood sample is drawn from the patient and usually, as in the case of blood gases, transported to a central location for testing.
This technique of transporting the sample to stationary measuring equipment can lead to problems. Ingenious technology has broached solutions to maintain the original composition of the fluid during transportation. Elaborate designs for syringes used in taking the blood samples overcame some problems that resulted in inaccurate readings of the particular chemical constituent being measured. For instance, for determining blood gas composition, the problem of air contamination in the collected sample was solved by the use of liquid heparin as an anticoagulant. Unfortunately, this introduced a sample dilution problem. Subsequent development resulted in the use of heparin in the dry state as opposed to the liquid state to avoid this dilution. Also, elaborate designs are provided for proper mixing of the sample after transportation but before testing. Even with these improvements, there are many reports in the literature that suggest that the values obtained in the measurement of blood gases depend on the type of measuring equipment and the technique for sample collection.
The art also has attempted to develop more portable measuring equipment rather than the fairly expensive nonportable equipment that engender the elaborate and cumbersome transportation techniques. Devices that are very portable could shorten or overcome transporting the sample altogether so that a patient's blood gases could be measured at the bedside in a manner similar to measuring a patient's temperature. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,000,805 and 3,497,442 show two such devices. The former has electrodes located on a syringe plunger and the latter has electrodes placed on the syringe well to conduct the measurements. The electrodes are the sensing devices for the blood gases. In the allowed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/343,234, Applicants' assignee describes and claims a portable blood gas sensor which includes electrodes fabricated from a conventional silk screening process where the electrodes are screened on to a ceramic substance. Typically, these electrodes are used along with an electrolyte and analyte permeable membrane that covers the sensor. Some of these membranes may be hydratable membranes that can be stored in a dry state and hydrated just prior to use.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sensor assembly apparatus that utilizes at least one hydratable membrane that can be useful in portable measuring devices or can be placed in catheter lines or actually utilized with stationary equipment where the apparatus allows for the hydrated state of the membrane. This gives the advantages of: ready-to-use sensors, establishment of a stable electronic operation with stable potential for potentiometric type sensors and maintenance of electrolytic contact between electrodes in amperometric sensors, electrolyte present for reference electrodes, and/or reduced voltage drift like that experienced during a hydration step for dry sensors with hydratable membranes.
Placement of the all of the components, including the heater, on the wiring board can result in the maximum utility and capability of these components and minimize power consumption.

Integrated circuit hydrated sensor apparatus


A device for fastening a marker device to a bone, comprising a fixing element including a mounting for the marker device, comprising a spring designed to contact an abutment for exerting a force between the abutment and the fixing element in the direction of the bone.

In image-guided operations, it is necessary to provide objects such as bones or medical instruments with marker devices. A marker device consists for example of one or more reflective spheres which can be detected by sensors. The position of the marker device and therefore the position of the object can be determined from the position of the spheres with respect to each other.
One commercially available device for fastening a marker device to a bone consists of a screw, a clamping device, an adjusting screw and a sleeve which comprises a mounting for the marker device. When attaching the device, the screw is initially screwed into the bone, and the sleeve together with the adjusting screw and the clamping device is then fitted onto the screw. The clamping device is then fixed relative to the screw, and the sleeve is pressed against the bone in the desired alignment by means of the adjusting screw and thus fixed.
One of the disadvantages of this fastening device is that attaching it to the bone requires a large number of steps working on the patient and thus increases the length of time which the patient has to spend in the operating theatre.

Device for fastening a marker device to a bone


An integrated structure of an air heater includes at least an air blowing unit, at least an air passage housing, a heating arrangement, and a overheat protection unit, which are fastened with each other to form the integrated structure, wherein the air blowing unit and the overheat protection unit are respectively fastened with the air passage housing, and the air passage housing is connected to the heating arrangement with screws. A simple and compact integrated structure for air heater is provided wherein its assembling method is easy and its manufacturing cost is low.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a household air heater, and more particularly to an integrated structure of a air heater which is easy for manufacture, assemble, and inspection.
2. Description of Related Arts
In our daily lives, air conditioning devices, such as air conditioners, electric fans, air heaters, cooling fans, and humidifiers, are widely used for controlling the temperature and moisture. In which, an air conditioner achieves the temperature adjusting effect by adsorbing heat of the air in a condensing process via media like coolant and refrigerant. An air heater heats the air inlet into the air heater by means of an electric heating unit, and then the heated air is exhaled to increase the room temperature. Currently, the air heater has been widely used for indoor warming due to its compact size, portable ability, good heating effect, and etc. A conventional air heater generally comprises a heating unit, a supporting frame, an air blowing unit, and a temperature control unit, and that the air heater further has an air passage, an air inlet, and an air outlet. When the power of the air heater is switched on to operate, the heating unit heats the inletting air from the air inlet, and then the heated air is guided to exit through the air outlet. The various components of the conventional air heater must be independently manufactured and assembled, and thus the overall structure is relatively complex, the assembling efficiency is low, inspection procedure is inconvenient, and the manufacturing cost is relatively high.

Shenzhen Sunzone Electrical Appliances Ltd.


A transportable waste collection system for collecting waste found in a body of flowing water, including non-navigable waters, the system having a flotation platform adapted to floating in the body of water; a waste collection conveyor mounted on the platform having collection and discharge ends; a device for separating the waste from the body of flowing water and conveying the waste along the conveyor to the discharge end; a storage receptacle for storing the conveyed waste; and a water wheel interconnected with and providing power to the waste separation device.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is generally related to waste collection devices, system, and methods. In particular, the present invention is related to a primary waste collection unit operation that mechanically filters or screens natural surface water systems, including rivers, lakes, and oceans, to collect, for further handling and treatment, solid waste materials contained in those water systems using the movement of the water as an energy source.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is not uncommon to find solid waste accumulating in streams, rivers, lakes, harbors, bays, beaches and oceans due to anthropogenic activities. That solid waste is not only unsightly and potentially odiferous, but it potentially causes adverse environmental and human health impacts if it is not removed from the environment and disposed of in a proper manner.
One technique for remediating solid waste in relatively calm and navigable surface waters, such as harbors, lakes, and rivers, was developed in the 1980's by New York City's Department of Sanitation (DSNY), and involves a floating, self-contained, self-propelled, conveyorized trash skimmer, commercially available today under the name TRASHCAT™, which is available from United Marine Technologies. Also called a "skimmer boat," a TRASHCAT™ is a catamaran-like, twin-hull vessel on which are mounted hydraulically powered and controlled open mesh conveyor systems to collect solid waste from surface waters. One end of the inclined continuous conveyor is adapted to being lowered into the water and, when operated, skims floating debris off the surface of the water to depths of up to 2½ feet below the surface. The vessel is optionally equipped with conveyorized skimming "wings" mounted on each side of the main conveyor that extend outward away from the vessel at angles to form a funnel that allows the vessel to maneuver and skim a 16-foot wide area. A diesel engine is used to power a hydraulic pump and other mechanical devices on the vessel, as well as to operate one or more propulsion propellers. According to the literature associated with the TRASHCAT™ skimmer vessel, solid waste transported up the main pickup conveyor is dumped into a storage area on the vessel, which, with its sidewalls, is adapted to hold up to 12,000 pounds or 700 cubic feet of solid waste skimmed from the water on which the vessel operates.
Solid waste collection "skimmer boats," like the TRASHCAT™, and related components are described in several patent references, including U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,081 (describing a floating skimmer boat without a conveyor); U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,048 (describing a basic skimmer boat conveyor system for collecting flotsam from water surfaces); U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,041 (describing a skimmer vessel that can be fixed in place relative to a moving plume of oil for skimming the oil); U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,294 (describing a skimmer boat with a height-adjustable conveyor component); U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,325 (describing a skimmer vessel with a conveyor with one-eight-inch spaced plastic-coated wires adapted to collecting cigarette butts, among other debris common in waterways); and U.S. Pat. No. 7,045,058 (describing a vessel whereby the conveyor operates in both directions for skimming and then discharging the collected solid waste).
Similar screening techniques, but used primarily for removing solid waste from municipal networked piped systems, such as those associated with municipal wastewater treatment facilities, have also been known for many years. One such technique uses a rotary conveyor or drum screen placed in the path of the wastewater to intercept course solids in the wastewater as described and depicted in Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., Wastewater Engineering: Treatment, Disposal and Reuse, 3d ed., McGraw-Hill (1991) at 452. A rotary conveyor or drum screen consists of an influent pipe that conveys wastewater, a rotary conveyor or drum screen partially submerged in the influent water, and a series of effluent pipes that convey the screened wastewater to downstream unit operations for further treatment. The key to the rotary screening unit operation is a rotary conveyor or drum that is fitted with a skin of slotted or perforated openings that allows water to pass through but which collects course solids entrained in the wastewater. As the conveyor or drum rotates, it lifts waste material out of the water and, as it rotates about a central shaft, causes the waste material or "screenings" to fall off of the screens and into collection devices. The rotary conveyor or drum is typically powered by an electrical motor attached to a pulley that loops around a gear on the rotary conveyor drum shaft, or it may be hydraulically operated.
Hence, heretofore, techniques for screening solid waste that have accumulated in surface waters have generally required using a motorized boat that is adapted to maneuvering through the contaminated water to retrieve the solid waste, whereas techniques for screening solid waste that are present in piped wastewater systems have involved in-line, electrically- or hydraulically-powered rotary conveyor or drum systems (among other mechanical techniques not described). Neither system, however, is adapted to operate in relatively turbulent and potentially non-navigable surface waters such as swift rivers that traverse large, populated watersheds, such as the Chesapeake Bay watershed located in the Mid-Atlantic region. Hence, the need for such a system exists.
One advantage of using screening techniques in upstream locations away from harbors and bays, where much of the solid waste eventually accumulates, is that the amount of solid waste making it to those locations is reduced. However, a disadvantage of operating screening devices at such remote locations is that power required to operate the equipment may not be available, or it may be intermittent. One solution to that problem is to use a paddle wheel as generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,174 (describing a series of paddle wheels placed in the direction of flowing water to generate electricity). Other electrical generating methods, including wind and solar power generators, have been described in other patent references.


A bone screw insertion device, comprises an outer sleeve extending from a proximal end to a distal end and including a channel extending therethrough and a driving member extending longitudinally through the channel of the outer sleeve from a proximal end to a distal end configured to engage a driving recess of a bone screw, the outer sleeve movable relative to the driving member between a first position in which the distal end of the outer sleeve extends over and covers a proximal portion of a bone screw engaged with the driving member, to a second position in which the distal end of the outer sleeve is longitudinally aligned with a proximal end of a bone screw engaged with the driving member.

Some fractures of long bones may be treated by placing the bone into corrective alignment and inserting an intramedullary nail into a medullary canal of the aligned bone. The intramedullary nail may be fixed relative to the bone via fixation screws that are inserted into fixation holes that extend laterally through the intramedullary nail. Fixation screws may include, for example, headless screws (e.g., screws having a threading along an entire length thereof) which may be inserted such that the screws are flush to the bone. In some cases, however, the headless screws may be inserted too far into the bone, which may interfere with the intramedullary nail, lose purchase in a near cortex of the bone and/or protrude too far from a far cortex of the bone.


A ring metal (10) has binder rings (12-16) each comprised of two ring segments one end of each of which is attached to a hinge plate (18, 20). A movable bar (34) extends from one end of the metal to the other and contacts the hinge plates to move them when the binder is opened. A manually operated trigger (32) connects to one end of the bar to move the bar. The trigger includes a slot (40) in which is fitted a pin (44) connected to the bar. The pin moves in the slot as the trigger is moved. Drawing the trigger away from a binder closed position toward a binder open position moves the pin through the slot. This causes the bar to move relative to the hinges, forcing the hinges to pivot the respective segments of each binder ring away from each other and open the binder. When the binder is closed, a nib (62) formed on the top of the bar is received in an opening in a shield (22) of the metal to prevent the trigger from being inadvertently moved and opening the binder. A cushion member (66) slideably engages the trigger to partially cover the trigger.

This invention relates to ring binders for holding paper and the like, and more particularly, a ring binder which is easier to open than conventional ring binders.
Conventional ring binders employ a pair of thumb or finger operated trigger mechanisms, one located at each end of a "metal". The metal includes two or more binder rings connected to a lever movable by the trigger mechanism to open and close the binder. Heretofore, the force required to operate the trigger has been relatively substantial. One reason for this is that the metal is designed to not inadvertently open if a binder is, for example, dropped. Accordingly, conventional metals have been designed to withstand a reasonable amount of force and remain closed. While these metals have functioned well for their intended purpose, it has recently been recognized that it would be advantageous to employ a metal which, while it stays closed when dropped or otherwise mishandled, requires substantially less force by a user to open it when the user desires to open the binder.
Various approaches to easy open type ring metals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,357, and published U.S. patent applications 2005/0013654, 2003/0103798, and 2003/0103797. However, the structures shown and described therein are more complex and costly than the invention described herein.


In one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for analyzing a plurality of events of an internal combustion engine is provided. A crankshaft sensor monitors the rotational position of the crankshaft and responsively produces a crankshaft pulsetrain. A cylinder pressure sensor senses the pressure produced in the engine cylinder and responsively produces a cylinder pressure signal. A memory device stores previously calculated values representing engine cylinder volumes at predetermined crankshaft positions. A microprocessor determines the start of combustion for an occurring engine cycle in response to a cylinder pressure signal magnitude, P.sub.2, at a current crankshaft position being equal or greater than the relationship: EQU P.sub.1 (V.sub.1 /V.sub.2).sup.n. where, P.sub.1 equals the cylinder pressure corresponding to a previous crankshaft position, V.sub.1 equals cylinder volume corresponding to the previous crankshaft position, V.sub.2 equals the cylinder volume corresponding to the current crankshaft position, and n equals a predetermined polytropic value. Advantageously, the start of combustion is determined prior to the next occurring engine cycle.

Typically engine events are monitored using analog storage devices, i.e. oscilloscopes. The test engineer analyzes the cylinder and fuel injector pressure using an oscilloscope to determine engine performance. Unfortunately interpretation of the signals as viewed on the oscilloscope varies from one engineer to the next. Thus accurate analysis is dependent on the skill of the engineer to accurately use the oscilloscope and also on the accuracy of the oscilloscope. Due to human error, poor measurement repeatability results in poor accuracy.
One method to improve the above test procedure is using signal processing techniques that differentiate the cylinder pressure signal to determine the start of combustion. For example, under normal engine operating conditions, the cylinder pressure increases at the highest rate in response to combustion occurring in the cylinder. This method differentiates the cylinder pressure signal with respect to the crankshaft angle to determine the highest rate of cylinder pressure increase. It is supposed that the highest rate of cylinder pressure increase is associated with the start of combustion in the cylinder. However this does not always hold true. For example when the engine is under a heavy load, the cylinder pressure greatly increases during the compression stroke. Thus the greatest pressure increase may not be due to the start of combustion. Furthermore when the engine is retarded, combustion occurs after top dead center. Once again the highest pressure increase may not be associated with the start of combustion. Albeit such differentiation techniques are useful, they are; however, prone to produce inaccurate results.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.

Apparatus and method for analyzing events for an internal combustion engine


A demodulator arrangement, suitable to demodulate data symbols modulated in accordance with a predefined constellation diagram and sent as part of information bursts (A1, B1, C1, D1, A2, B2, C2, D2) over a transmission medium with substantially stable attenuation characteristics, detects the amplitude of the data symbols in a coherent way and detects the phase of the data symbols in a differential way.

The present invention relates to a demodulator arrangement, a method for demodulation of data symbols performed by such a demodulator arrangement, and a telecommunication system comprising such a demodulator.
Such a demodulator arrangement and method to demodulate are already known in the art, e.g. from the article xe2x80x98Demodulator With FEC Decoder Has On-Chip Timing Recoveryxe2x80x99 from the author Paul McGoldrick. This article was published on pages 55-64 of the magazine xe2x80x98Electronic Designxe2x80x99 of Sep. 3, 1996. In this article, a family of demodulators is described suitable for reception and demodulation of television signals transferred over a cable, for instance an optical fibre or coax cable. Data symbols are modulated in the known system in accordance with a constellation diagram that is shown in FIG. 2 on page 58, and that is described via the tables on page 56 of the cited article. The drawn constellation diagram contains 64 constellation points and has a rectangular shape. The same constellation diagram evidently is used in the demodulator of the known system to demodulate received data symbols. The known demodulator, shown in FIG. 1 of the above mentioned article, contains a fully coherent detector which determines the amplitude and phase of the data symbols independently of one another. To be able to accurately determine the amplitude of the received data symbols, the demodulator includes an automatic gain control loop which compensates for changes in the amplitude attenuation of the cable whereover the information is transferred. In addition, to be able to accurately determine the phase of received data symbols, the known demodulator includes a timing recovery loop which is described in detail in the paragraph xe2x80x98Jittering Towards Zeroxe2x80x99 on the lower half of page 58 of the cited article. The timing recovery loop has the task to establish a phase reference for the incoming information bursts. As will be appreciated by any skilled person and as can be understood from the paragraphs xe2x80x98System Overviewxe2x80x99 on pages 55-56 and xe2x80x98Jittering Towards Zeroxe2x80x99 on page 58 of the cited article, the automatic gain control loop and the timing recovery loop have a significant share in the hardware complexity of the known television signal demodulator. Moreover, such a coherent detector typically requires a fairly long acquisition time when working in blind acquisition mode. Using a training sequence at the start of everey information burst may reduce the acquisition time of coherent detectors to a few symbols but the current commercially available QAM-receivers are not suited for this application.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a demodulator arrangement suitable to receive and demodulate data symbols transmitted as part of information bursts over a transmission medium with stable attenuation characteristics, but whose hardware complexity is significantly reduced in comparison with that of the known demodulator arrangement and whose acquisition time is reduced significantly. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a related demodulation method and telecommunication system.
According to the invention, this object is realised by the demodulator arrangement defined in claim 1, the method to demodulate data symbols defined in claim 7, and the telecommunication system defined in claim 8.
Indeed, in case bursty information is transferred over a transmission channel with in time slowly varying attenuation characteristics, coherent amplitude detection will be successful without the need for an automatic gain control loop. If the information is transferred over a channel, for instance a copper twisted pair cable, a coax cable or an optical fibre, whose gain remains stable in time, no automatic gain control is required to enable coherent amplitude detection. It is sufficient that the attenuation of the channel is measured once at initialisation of the system. On the other hand, by using a differential phase detector which detects the phase of a data symbol by measuring the phase difference with the phase of the previously received data symbol, no timing and/or carrier recovery loops are required in the demodulator according to the present invention, although the traffic has a bursty character. Differential phase detection is a known technique used in fully differential demodulator arrangements which are used to detect data symbols sent over transmission channels with fast varying amplitude and phase characteristics such as radio links. Such a fully differential detector for instance is known from pages 324-327 of the book xe2x80x98Modern Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, Principles and Applications for Fixed and Wireless Communicationsxe2x80x99, written by William Webb and Lajos Hanzo, and published by Pentech Press, London. Summarising, according to the present invention differential phase detection is combined with coherent amplitude detection in a detector used to receive bursty information transferred over a gain stable link. Thereby, control loops for amplitude and phase are avoided so that the demodulator""s hardware complexity is reduced significantly.
It is to be noticed that the term xe2x80x98comprisingxe2x80x99, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to the means listed thereafter. Thus, the scope of the expression xe2x80x98a device comprising means A and Bxe2x80x99 should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B.
Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term xe2x80x98coupledxe2x80x99, also used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to direct connections only. Thus, the scope of the expression xe2x80x98a device A coupled to a device Bxe2x80x99 should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means.
In a particular embodiment of the present invention, a large constellation scheme is used as defined in claim 2.
An additional feature of the present invention is defined in claim 3.
In this way, by using a circular constellation diagram wherein phases are distributed equidistantly and wherein amplitude levels are equidistant, robustness for noise of the coherent amplitude, differential phase detector according to the present invention is minimised.
A further feature of the demodulator arrangement according to the present invention is defined in claim 4.
In this way, by using a so called staggered constellation diagram instead of a linear constellation diagram, the distance between constellation points is increased which even more improves robustness for noise.
Furthermore, an embodiment of the present invention is adapted for upstream transmission in a time multiplexed way over a hybrid fibre coax network as defined in claim 5.
Indeed, the hybrid optical fibre/coaxial cable transmission medium of a hybrid fibre coax network has a stable gain in time. Moreover, because the medium is shared in a time division multiplexed way, upstream transmission occurs in bursts which makes applicability of the present invention to hybrid fibre coax systems very suitable.
Alternatively, an embodiment of the present invention is adapted for downstream transmission in an hybrid fibre coax system, as defined by claim 6.

Demodulator arrangement, method to demodulate, and telecommunication system comprising such a demodulator arrangement


Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a stacked multilayer structure, including the steps of forming a first circuit layer with bumps on a substrate, punching an aluminum plate to form recesses corresponding to the bumps, forming openings in a plastic film including a glass fiber layer corresponding to the bumps, pressing the aluminum plate, the plastic film and the substrate, removing the aluminum plate, polishing to level the resulting surface, forming a second circuit layer connected to the first circuit layer, and finally removing the substrate to form the stacked multilayer structure. Because the glass fiber layer in the plastic film is not exposed after polishing, the thickness of the dielectric layer is uniform and the reliability of the circuit layer is improved so as to increase the yield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of manufacturing a stacked multilayer structure, and more specifically to using an aluminum plate with recesses and a plastic film with openings to perform pressing and form the stacked multilayer structure without exposing the glass fiber layer embedded in the plastic film so as to increase the reliability of a second circuit layer.
2. The Prior Art
Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2A to 2G. As shown in FIG. 1, the method S100 of manufacturing the stacked multilayer structure in the prior art comprises the steps S110 to S160. FIGS. 2A to 2G are used to illustrate the method in more detail
As shown in FIG. 2A, a substrate 10 is stacked with a first circuit layer 20 through the process of image transfer in the step S110. The first circuit layer 20 has a plurality of bumps 21. The step S120 is performed to press the plastic film 30 having a glass fiber layer 35 therein against the substrate 10 having the first circuit layer 20 thereon, as shown in Figs.2B and 2C. After being pressed, the glass fiber layer 35 is obviously deformed because the first circuit layer 20 is not smooth.
In the step S130, the pressed plastic film 30 is polished until the bumps 21 are exposed such that part of the glass fiber layer 35 above the bumps 21 is removed and the remaining part of the glass fiber layer 35 is thus exposed, as shown in FIG. 2D. Next, in the step S140 as shown in FIG. 2E, a second metal layer 23 is formed on the resulting surface by evaporation or sputtering. The step S150 is performed to form a second circuit layer 25 from the second metal layer 23 by the process of image transfer such that the second circuit layer 25 is connected to the first circuit layer 20, as shown in FIG. 2F. Finally, the substrate 10 is removed in the step S160 to form the stacked multilayer structure, as shown in FIG. 2G.
One shortcomings in the prior art is that the second metal layer 23 or the second circuit layer 25 is likely to peel off because the glass fiber layer is partly exposed and the adhesion between the glass fiber layer and the metal is considerably poor even if the second metal layer 23 is formed by evaporation or sputtering. As a result, the yield and reliability greatly deteriorate. Therefore, it is needed to provide a new method of manufacturing a stacked multilayer structure to overcome the above problems in the prior art.

Method of manufacturing a stacked multilayer structure


An active power filter includes a feedback resistor and a shunt capacitor, an operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit, and a voltage drop source. The shunt capacitor connects the positive terminals of the low noise power supply and the noisy load to the positive terminal of the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit. The feedback resistor connects the negative terminal of the noisy load and the output of the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit to the negative terminal of the shunt capacitor. The voltage drop source connects the negative terminal of the low noise power supply to the negative terminal of the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit. The operational equivalent subcircuit includes an operational amplifier, three resistors, three capacitors, and a transistor. The first resistor connects the positive terminal of the voltage drop source to the negative input terminal of the operational amplifier. The second resistor connects the output of the operational amplifier to the gate of the transistor. The drain of the transistor is coupled to the negative terminal of the noisy load. The source of the transistor is coupled to the negative terminal of the voltage drop source and to the negative terminal of the low noise direct current power supply. The first capacitor connects the output of the operational amplifier to the negative input terminal of the operational amplifier. The second capacitor connects the output of the operational amplifier to the gate of the transistor. The third capacitor and a third resistor are connected in series between the gate of the transistor and the negative terminal of the low noise direct current power supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of supplying direct current (DC) power; and specifically, to filtering noise between the power supply and the load driven by the power supply.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional filter for isolating an electrically noisy load from a low noise main power supply source. The conventional circuit illustrated in FIG. 1 is used primarily to filter an electrically noisy load 101 such as a switching DC to DC converter, brushless DC motor, switching logic circuit, or another noisy direct current powered circuit from a low noise main power source, VIN. Inductor L1 acts as a passive low pass filter for isolating a low noise main power source, VIN, from noise generated by the noisy load.
The inductance value of inductor L1 is chosen to optimize the noise filtering requirements. In designing the TLE conventional circuit such as illustrated in FIG. 1, care must be exercised in the choice and physical placement of inductor L1 as it may emit magnetic noise interference, and it may be physically large. Magnetic noise interference may undesirably affect the performance of the load device, the power supply, and other unrelated electronic/magnetic devices in the physically nearby area of the system illustrated in FIG. 1.
An object of the present invention is to create an active power filter which behaves like a filter circuit having a large inductor, but without producing magnetic interference or physically large components as would be produced by a conventional large inductor. The power filter according to the present invention is suitable for use with switching DC to DC converters, brushless DC fans, switching logic circuits, and other noisy loads.
According to the present invention, an active power filter includes a feedback resistor and a shunt capacitor, an operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit, and a voltage drop source. The shunt capacitor connects the positive terminals of the low noise power supply and the noisy load to the positive terminal of the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit. The feed back resistor connects the negative terminal of the noisy load and the output of the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit to the negative terminal of the shunt capacitor. The voltage drop source connects the negative terminal of the low noise power supply to the negative terminal of the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit.
According to the present invention, the impedance of the active power filter at a minimum noise frequency is carefully designed so as to be large in comparison to an impedance of the noisy load, for example, the impedance of the active power filter is 1000 times the impedance of the noisy load at the minimum noise frequency. The active power filter according to the present invention is equally capable of protecting a low noise load device to a noisy direct current power supply.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the operational equivalent subcircuit includes an operational amplifier, first and second resistors, and a transistor. The first resistor connects the positive terminal of the voltage drop source to the negative input terminal of the operational amplifier. The second resistor connects the output of the operational amplifier to the gate of the transistor. The drain of the transistor is coupled to the negative terminal of the noisy load. The source of the transistor is coupled to the negative terminal of the voltage drop source and to the negative terminal of the low noise direct current power supply. The positive input terminal of the operational amplifier forms the positive input terminal of the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit.
In an exemplary embodiment of the active power filter according to the present invention, the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit further includes, first and second capacitors. The first capacitor connects the output of the operational amplifier to the negative input terminal of the operational amplifier. The second capacitor connects the output of the operational amplifier to the gate of the transistor. In addition, the operational amplifier equivalent subcircuit may contain a third capacitor and a third resistor which are connected in series between the gate of the transistor and the negative terminal of the low noise direct current power supply. In an exemplary embodiment, the transistor comprises an N-channel enhancement mode MOS field effect transistor.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention are more fully described in the Detailed Description of the Invention with reference to the Figures.

Active power filter for isolating electrically noisy load from low noise power supply


A housing system for safety-relevant control devices in vehicles comprises a receptacle (14) for attachment to a car body and a housing part (12) that can be inserted into the receptacle (14). The receptacle (14) and the housing part (12) have complementary form-fitting elements (28, 30) that represent a coding and that engage each other when the housing part (12) is mounted in the receptacle (14), permitting complete assembly of the housing part (12) into the receptacle (14) only when the form-fitting elements (28, 30), of the receptacle (14) and the housing part (12) satisfy a predefined complementarily condition.

The present invention relates to a housing system for safety-relevant control devices in vehicles, comprising a receptacle attached to the car body and a housing part that can be inserted into the receptacle.
In order to ensure the safe and reliable function of occupant restraint systems such as seatbelt tensioners and airbags in a particular vehicle model, it is necessary that the control device intended for that particular vehicle model is, in fact, installed. Inadvertent exchange of the control device can have the consequence that, due to the different vehicle-specific data and/or due to a different directionality of the sensors, the occupant restraint system is deployed or locked too soon, too late or not at all. In order to prevent such confusion, until now, coding has been provided in the form of a vehicle-specific plug and a complementary socket and/or in the form of a vehicle-specific coding pin that is located on the baseplate of the control device. These solutions have in common that, due to their relatively complicated handling, they are quite time-consuming during the assembly.
The invention provides a housing system for safety-relevant control devices that simply and reliably ensures that only the assembly of a control device intended for that particular vehicle model is possible. This is achieved with a housing system for safety-relevant control devices in vehicles by means of a receptacle attached to the car body and a housing part that can be inserted into the receptacle in that the receptacle and the housing part have complementary form-fitting elements that represent a coding and that engage each other when the housing part is mounted in the receptacle. The assembly is permitted to be completed only when the form-fitting elements of the receptacle and the housing part have fulfilled a predefined complementarity condition. Via the coding of the receptacles and the housing parts, a reliable as well as a simple and thus quickly implemented solution is provided which prevents a control device intended for another vehicle model from being installed.
Quick assembly is achieved with a preferred embodiment in that the housing part can be slid into the receptacle. Here, it is especially advantageous if the housing part can be latched into place in the receptacle so that the housing part can be attached in the receptacle in a simple manner.
According to another advantageous embodiment, it is provided that the housing part is made of plastics and the receptacle is made of metal. This provides a housing system whose metal component ensures a reliable protection for the control against damage of any kind and whose plastic housing component entails production-related advantages as well as cost advantages.
Another advantageous embodiment provides that the housing part and the receptacle have complementary plug connector elements. Here, it is especially advantageous if the plug connector elements are uniformly provided with contact assignments independent of the coding. With this embodiment, the electrical connection is made when the housing part is inserted into the receptacle. Since the coding function is fulfilled by the housing part and the receptacle, the contact assignment can be uniform and thus independent of the vehicle model.
According to another preferred embodiment, at least one secondary receptacle attached to the car body and one secondary housing part that can be inserted into the secondary receptacle are provided, a direction-dependent sensor being arranged in the secondary housing part. The secondary receptacle and the secondary housing part have complementary form-fitting elements that represent a coding and that engage each other during the assembly of the secondary housing part in the secondary receptacle. Here, too, assembly is permitted to be completed only when the form-fitting elements of the receptacle and the housing part have fulfilled a predefined complementarity condition. The assembly also determines the relative position of the housing part and thus of the direction-dependent sensor, to the housing part. Thus, for example, in the case of airbag systems with several airbags, it is ensured that the direction-dependent sensors are installed in the right place and with the right orientation in the vehicle. Consequently, different housing concepts for different direction-dependent sensors, which was necessary with the prior art airbag systems, have become superfluous.

Housing for safety-relevant control devices in vehicles

TRW Automotive Electronics and Components GmbH and Co. KG