A bathroom waste collection and disposal unit for mounting on a floor of an enclosure includes a tank of unitary construction having a horizontal portion defining a refuse reservoir and a vertical portion open to the horizontal portion for refuse gases and to accommodate a pump. A toilet is mounted on the top surface of the horizontal portion in fluid communication with the reservoir of the horizontal portion of the tank. The horizontal portion includes a plurality of columns within the reservoir extending between the floor and top wall of the horizontal portion. The tank also includes a baffle housing for enclosing the float of the refuse pump to meter the rate of flow of water flowing away from the pump float as the pump is actuated to discharge refuse from the reservoir.

The present invention relates to self-contained bathroom waste collection and disposal units, and refuse tanks for such units.
Self-contained bathroom waste collection and disposal units are known, per se, and have particular utility for constructing bathrooms in locations not originally outfitted for such bathrooms. For example, such bathroom waste collection and disposal units are often used in the construction of bathrooms in a basement or on a concrete slab.
Examples of previously known self-contained bathroom waste collection and disposal units are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,582,995 issued on Jun. 8, 1971 to Enenstein; U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,875 issued in March, 1983 to Brubakken; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,747 issued on Nov. 10, 1987 to Brubakken.
Typically, the known self-contained bathroom waste collection and disposal units include a refuse tank fabricated of fiberglass which is non-corrosive. However, such fiberglass tanks are relatively time consuming and labor intensive to make and, therefore, relatively expensive.
Problems which must be addressed in such refuse tanks is that they must be made of a non-corrosive material, they must be gas tight and water tight, and they must be rigid enough to support the weight of a toilet and a person using it. Further, such tanks should also be relative light weight so that they can be easily moved by the people installing the bathroom unit to the location whereat it is to be installed.
The present invention recognizes these problems and provides a straightforward solution thereto.

Bathroom waste collection and disposal unit


A method for fabricating an organic light-emitting diode employing a mixed host is disclosed, which comprises the following steps: (A) providing a substrate with a first electrode formed thereon; (B) coating a mold with a light-emitting layer material, wherein the light-emitting layer material comprises: a mixed host, and dye molecule(s) (or dye-function-group-composing materials) etc.; (C) pressing the mold coated with the light-emitting layer material onto the substrate to transfer the light-emitting layer material to the first electrode of the substrate, to form a light-emitting layer; and (D) forming a second electrode over the light-emitting layer. The mixed host consists of host-function molecule(s) and auxiliary additives. In addition, the present invention also provides a light-emitting diode, which is prepared by the aforementioned method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light-emitting diode employing a mixed host and a method for fabricating the same and, more particularly, to an organic light-emitting diode employing a mixed host formed through an imprinting process and method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have great potential for next generation lighting and displaying devices due to their superb characteristics, such as being ultra-thin in thickness (1 mm or less), high brightness, wide viewing angle (more than 170°), no backlight requirement, low power consumption, rapid response, high resolution, low heat generation, and flexible in appearance. Hence, the OLEDs attract many attentions in both academics and industry.
As shown in FIG. 1, the structure of the conventional OLED comprises: a substrate 101, an anode 102, a hole injection/transport layer 103, a light-emitting layer 104, an electron injection/transport layer 105, and a cathode 106. The light-emitting layer 104 is located between the hole injection/transport layer 103 and the electron injection/transport layer 105, and the function of the light-emitting layer 104 is to generate or control the combination of holes and electrons which result in emissions.
OLEDs can be roughly divided into polymer-type OLEDs and molecule-type OLEDs, according to the employing host materials. The polymer-type OLEDs is generally prepared through a wet spin-coating process. Although the polymer-type OLEDs with good efficiency can be prepared through the spin-coating process, this method can be hardly used to prepare patterned polymer-type OLEDs. Hence, some researchers have developed new techniques to patterned polymer-type OLEDs i.e. contact printing process or roll-to-roll printing process etc. However, the obtained devices mostly show low efficiency and low brightness. For fabricating molecule-type OLEDs, it is generally using a vacuum evaporation process to prepare a pixel-composing one. Although the obtained molecule-type OLED could be efficient and bright, its processing instrument investment is expensive. Also, it is not easy to fabricate large-area-scale molecule-type OLEDs in this manner. In contrast, an imprinting method can be used to prepare the molecule-type OLEDs with large-area-scale in an easy and low cost way, which the film uniformity and quality are sacrificed in stead.
Therefore, it is demanding to provide an OLED and a method for fabricating the same, which should be focused on solving not only the low efficiency and the low brightness of OLEDs prepared by an imprinting process with polymer hosts, but also the poor film-forming problems of OLEDs prepared by an imprinting process with small-molecule hosts.

Organic light-emitting diode employing mixed host and method for fabricating the same


An illustrative method for operating a valve, where the valve includes a valve seat, a valve plunger and a stepper motor for moving the valve plunger from a first position into a second position in which the valve plunger is pressed against a valve seat and for compressing a flexible element assigned to the valve plunger in said second position. The stepper motor may be driven a defined number of steps (NTOTAL) in order to move the valve plunger into the second position and to compress the flexible element. The method may include: driving the stepper motor a first number of steps (N1) at a first current level (I1); driving the stepper motor a second number of steps (N2) at a second current level (I2); and driving the stepper motor a third number of steps (N3) at a third current (I3) level.

Valves comprise at least one valve seat, a valve plunger and an actuator for moving the valve plunger relative to the, or each valve seat from, a first position of the valve plunger into a second position of the valve plunger.
In case of a 2-way-valve, the valve comprises usually one valve seat and the actuator moves the valve plunger for a closing operation of the valve from a first position, in which the valve plunger is lifted off from the valve seat, into a second position, in which the valve plunger is pressed against the valve seat. In said second position of the valve plunger of the 2-way-valve, a flexible element assigned to the valve plunger often needs to be compressed in order to provide tightness between the valve plunger and the valve seat.
In case of a 3-way-valve, the valve comprises usually two valve seats and the actuator moves the valve plunger of the valve for a combined closing/opening operation of the valve from a first position, in which the valve plunger is pressed against a first valve seat and lifted off from a second valve seat, into a second position, in which the valve plunger is lifted off from said first valve seat and pressed against said second valve seat. In both of said positions of the valve plunger of the 3-way-valve, a respective flexible element assigned to the valve plunger often needs to be compressed in order to provide tightness between the valve plunger and the respective valve seat.
In known valves having a stepper motor as an actuator, a driver is assigned to the stepper motor which drives the stepper motor in such a way that the stepper motor provides a defined number of steps in order to move the valve plunger from the first position into the second position and in order to compress the respective flexible element assigned to the valve plunger in said second position thereby providing tightness between the valve plunger and the valve seat. It is hereby necessary that the stepper motor is driven in such a way that even in view of tolerances of the valve, the tightness between the valve plunger and the valve seat can be provided. Such tolerances include the mechanical tolerance of the nominal valve distance between the first position and the second position of the valve plunger as well as tolerances in the behaviour of the respective flexible element being assigned to the valve plunger which is influenced by external factors like temperature and pressure.
To absorb such tolerances the stepper motor of known valves is typically driven in such a way that the defined number of steps provided by the stepper motor includes always a defined number of oversteps, whereby the driver operates the stepper motor for all steps of the defined number of steps including the oversteps at the same electrical current level. Such oversteps can create a bumping noise and vibrations in the valve. Further on, not needed oversteps consume electrical energy and reduce the life-time of the valve.

Method for operating a valve having a stepper motor as actuator


A management system for managing a session for transmitting content data between a first terminal and a second terminal via a first relay apparatus and a second relay apparatus is provided. The management system includes a determination unit configured to determine a transmission quality of the content data transmitted in the session based on a transmission quality of the content data available for the first terminal and a transmission quality available for the second terminal, a first selection unit configured to select a first relay apparatus to which the first terminal is to be connected based on the determined transmission quality, and a second selection unit configured to select a second relay apparatus to which the second terminal is to be connected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to management systems, control apparatuses, methods for managing session.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, communication systems such as a TV conference system for achieving conferences and communications via a communication network including the internet and dedicated lines have become common due to requirements of saving time and money taken to move to conference room, and the like. In such a communication system, upon a communication starting between communication terminals, content data such as image data and sound data is transmitted, thereby achieving communications between participants of the conference.
Also, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-076623, a technology is disclosed, in which a communication terminal selects a server to communicate with the server so as to achieve an optimal communication condition.

Management system, control apparatus, and method for managing session


A method for testing computer programs includes the steps of identifying at least one code subsection of a computer program to be tested, ascertaining one or more other code subsections required for executing the identified subsection, determining one or more input arguments required for executing the identified subsection and the other subsections, prompting a developer to provide at least one of the input arguments, and executing the identified subsection using the provided input arguments.

In general, computer programming environments require developers to rigorously test and debug new computer programs prior to entering any type of formal testing phase. Although tools are currently available for assisting developers in testing new programs, such tools typically require a substantial amount of a developer's time to configure the tools for testing even the smallest portion of a new program. The additional time expended to configure a testing tool not only can increase the cost of developing a computer program, but can also reduce the amount of time developers are able to spend modifying and improving the computer program prior to its release.

System and method for testing computer programs

International Business Machines Corporation


Beam-induced etching uses a work piece maintained at a temperature near the boiling point of a precursor material, but the temperature is sufficiently high to desorb reaction byproducts. In one embodiment, NF3 is used as a precursor gas for electron-beam induced etching of silicon at a temperature below room temperature.

"Beam chemistry" referred to chemical reactions initiated by a beam, such as a charged particle beam or a laser beam. "Electron beam chemistry" includes electron beam-induced deposition (EBID) and electron beam-induced etching (EBIE) and is typically performed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). In both these electron beam processes, molecules of a precursor gas are adsorbed onto a work piece surface. An electron beam is directed at the work piece, and the electrons dissociate the adsorbates, generating reaction products. In EBID, non-volatile reaction products remain on the substrate surface as a deposit, while volatile reaction products desorb. In EBIE, one or more of the precursor molecule decomposition products react with the work piece surface, generating volatile reaction products that desorb from the work piece, removing surface material. Similar processes occur in ion beam-induced deposition (IBID) and ion beam-induced etching (IBIE), although the much greater mass of the ions also causes material to be removed from the substrate by sputtering, that is, by momentum transfer from the energetic ions, without any chemical reaction. The mechanism by which the ion beam interacts with the adsorbate is thought to be different from the mechanism by which the electron beam reacts with the adsorbate.
To be useful as a precursor gas the molecules need to have very specific properties: they need to stick to the surface for a sufficient time to be dissociated, but must not form a thick layer that shields the surface from the beam, and they should not react spontaneously with the work piece surface material in the absence of the beam. In the case of etching, the precursor dissociation products should form a volatile compound with the substrate material and in the case of deposition, the precursor should decompose in the presence of the beam to deposit the desired material. Other reaction products should be volatile so that they do not remain on the surface and can be removed from the system by a vacuum pump.
Beam chemistry driven by a charged particle beam is typically performed in a vacuum chamber using a gas injection system having a capillary needle that directs gas toward the impact point of the beam. The gas expands rapidly and while the local gas pressure at the surface is sufficient to support beam-induced reactions, the pressure in the rest of the sample chamber is sufficiently low that secondary electrons can be detected using a conventional detector, such as the scintillator-photomultiplier combination commonly referred to as an Everhart-Thornley detector.
Electron beam chemistry can also be performed with a work piece in an environment flooded with the precursor gas, with most of the beam path separated from the gaseous environment by a pressure-limiting aperture. Because the gas pressure does not permit conventional secondary electron detection for imaging, imaging can be performed using gas cascade amplification in which secondary electrons from the sample are accelerated and ionize gas molecules. Electrons from the ionized gas molecules are accelerated and ionize other gas molecules, in a cascade that greatly amplifies the original secondary electron signal. A system in which the sample is maintained in a gaseous environment is typically called an environmental scanning electron microscope or a high-pressure scanning electron microscope (HPSEM). Gases that are not readily ionized are not useful for forming an image using gas cascade amplification. Gases that are susceptible to dielectric breakdown are also not useful for forming an image using gas cascade amplification.
XeF2 has, to date, been the most commonly used precursor gas for beam-induced etching. However, XeF2 has some undesirable effects. XeF2 spontaneously etches many materials, including silicon and TaN. XeF2 is not an optimal HPSEM imaging medium in that it provides poor charge stabilization and poor image quality during EBIE processing. XeF2 is highly corrosive and toxic. XeF2 cannot be mixed with many common gases used for residual carbon removal and surface species control. Moreover, large quantities of XeF2 cause instability in some differentially pumped electron beam systems because of poor ion getter pumping of xenon.
An electron beam can also be used in electron beam lithography. The electron beam exposes photoresist as the beam scans in a pattern. Either exposed areas or unexposed areas, depending on the properties of the resist, are then removed, leaving a patterned photoresist layer. Ice can be used as a patterning material, with the electron beam causing the ice to sublimate in exposed areas, as described, for example, in King et al., "Nanometer Patterning with Ice," NANO Letters, Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 1157-60. (2005). Areas from which the ice has been removed can be subject to further processing, such as diffusion or metallization, while other surface areas are protected by the ice layer.
In Gardener et al., "Ice-Assisted Electron Beam Lithography of Graphene," Nanotechnology 23 (2012) 185302, a thin layer of ice condensed on the surface acts as an EBIE precursor for etching a graphene layer underlying the ice. The electron beam is thought to induce a reaction between the carbon in the graphene and the hydrogen and oxygen in the ice to form volatile carbon compounds that leave the surface, removing the graphene.
In EBID, the dissociation product remains on the material, so the process can be carried out at low temperatures, at which the precursor gases adsorb more readily. In EBIE, however, the volatile reaction byproducts must desorb from the surface, and low temperatures reduce the thermal desorption rate of the reaction products and are therefore considered undesirable.
Bozso et al., "Electronic Excitation-Induced Surface Chemistry and Electron-Beam-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition," Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., Vol. 158, pp. 201-209 (1990) describes a method of depositing silicon, silicon nitride, silicon oxide, and silicon oxinitride films onto a silicon substrate using low energy EBID at a temperature of approximately 100 K (−173.degree. C.). The deposition method of Bozso is used to separate dissociation reactions caused by electrons from those caused by heat for more precise control over spatial growth and material composition.
U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2012/0003394 of Mulders et al. for "Beam-Induced Deposition at Cryogenic Temperatures," which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, teaches choosing a precursor gas from a group of compounds having a melting point that is lower than the cryogenic temperature of the substrate and a sticking coefficient that is between 0 and 1 at the desired cryogenic temperature. This is thought to result in the precursor gas reaching equilibrium between precursor molecules adsorbed onto the substrate surface and precursor gas molecules desorbing from the substrate surface at the desired cryogenic temperature before more than a small number of monolayers of the gas are formed. Suitable precursor gases include alkanes, alkenes, or alkynes, or the branch derivatives of those compounds.
It would be useful to find a method for EBIE that is not associated with the problems described above.


A distance-measuring device has (1) a distance-measuring part that detects the distance to an object through distance measurements at multiple distance-measuring points in a picture and (2) an operating part that excludes distance-measuring points of a group composed of distance-measuring points adjacent to each other with distance-measured values in a predetermined range from focusing target or lowers a focusing precedence when a distance-measuring point adjacent to a boundary of the picture is included in the above group.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-321000, filed Oct. 18, 2001. The entire contents of that application are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distance-measuring technique for a camera, and particularly to a distance-measuring device performing a distance measurement in plural regions in a picture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional auto-focus techniques for a camera are known. Many of the auto-focus techniques focus on an object at the center of a picture (i.e., a bounded image). Therefore, when an object is not in the center area of a picture, the camera is moved so that the object is brought temporarily to the center of the picture and focused upon. Then, after the focusing position is locked, the camera is moved back so that the original composition of the picture is recovered. However, this technique may be too slow for certain situations and require too much skill for a casual user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,705 discloses a technique in which correct, or at least improved, focusing is accomplished regardless of the position of an object in a scene, even where there is no object at the center of the picture. More specifically, this technique uses multiple distance-measuring points in the picture (multi AF).
In many photographs, however, a principal object exists at the center of a picture. Therefore, as more points in an image are measured for purposes of auto-focus, the probability of taking a picture with the wrong focus position increases. Concerning this point, the prior patent ignores results that deviate from a predetermined distance range.
However, in the prior patent, the focus position is judged solely by distance-measuring results. Therefore it is difficult to determine whether the focus should be adjusted on the center of the picture, or on an area at the periphery of the picture. If the center of the picture is focused on, and the principal object (e.g., a person) is in an area at the periphery of the picture, the principal object will not be in focus. On the other hand, if the periphery of a picture is focused on and the principal object (e.g., a person) is in the center of the picture, the principal object will not be in focus.
In view of the foregoing limitations of the prior autofocusing technique, a distance-measuring device for a camera having a high possibility of enabling a correct focusing, regardless of an object""s position in a picture, is needed.
In the present invention, a distance-measuring device of a camera judges, in the selection of a principal object, whether an object is fully included in a picture. If it is not fully included, it is determined not to be the principal object. If an object is judged not to be the principal object, the object is excluded from focusing targets or a focusing precedence of the object is reduced.
In more detail, the distance-measuring device of a camera usually contains the following: a distance-measuring part that detects the distance to an object or objects at multiple distance-measuring points in a picture; and an operation part that excludes a distance-measuring point as a focusing target or lowers a focusing precedence of the object when the distance-measuring point is a member of a group composed of distance-measuring points adjacent to each other within a predetermined distance range, and one of members of the group is adjacent to the boundary of the picture.
The above group preferably contains a distance-measuring point with the shortest object distance.
The above group preferably contains multiple distance-measuring points joined in a direction from a distance-measuring point at the periphery of picture to a boundary of picture.
The above group preferably does not contain a distance-measuring point in the central part of picture.
The determination of the above group preferably includes the following process: (1) selecting a distance-measuring point with the shortest object distance. (2) selecting adjacent distance-measuring points in a direction from the selected distance-measuring point to the boundary of the picture when the above selected distance-measuring point is at the periphery of the picture.
The above distance-measuring part preferably has a common distance-measuring region, and an expanded distance-measuring region on a side or sides of the boundary of the picture with respect to the above common distance-measuring region. The above group is formed when the distance-measuring point with the shortest object distance in the common distance-measuring region is located at the periphery of the common distance-measuring region. The above group contains the distance-measuring point with the shortest distance in the common distance-measuring region and multiple distance-measuring points in the expanded distance-measuring region joined to the distance-measuring point with the shortest distance.
For example, in the distance-measuring device of the present invention, the distance to an object or objects may be measured in multiple regions (points) on a picture, and the region with the shortest distance to the object is detected and taken as a principal object candidate. In this case, if the principal object candidate is at the periphery of the picture, the object may likely protrude from (i.e., extend beyond the bounds of) the picture. Accordingly, the distance-measuring device examines whether a region having a similar object distance to the above principal object candidate (a region having continuity) continues from the principal object candidate to the boundary of the picture and, if it continues, judges that the principal object candidate protrudes from the picture (the principal object candidate is not fully included in the picture).
The above distance measurement can be obtained, e.g., by trigonometry. Alternatively, or in addition, distance measurement may be performed by receiving a light given by emitting a stroboscopic light towards an object, and then measuring the quantity of reflected light.

Distance-measuring device of camera and focusing method of camera


A fixing device includes a fixing roller that fixes a non-fixed toner image onto a sheet, a separation roller arranged downstream of the fixing roller to separate the sheet, and an endless fixing belt wound around the fixing roller and the separation roller. A pressing roller presses against the fixing roller via the fixing belt and cooperatively fixes the non-fixed toner image with the fixing roller. A guiding member is secured to the fixing device and has a guiding hole. The guiding member guides the separation roller when the separation roller approaches or withdraws from the fixing roller along the guiding hole. A belt tensioner creates a prescribed tension on the fixing belt by applying tension use biasing force to the separation roller in an opposite direction to the fixing roller. A driving force transmitting device directly transmits rotational driving force to the separation roller via an engaging section of the separation roller. The guiding hole has an arc shape coaxially formed with the driving force transmitting device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing device for fixing an image onto a printing medium by applying heat and pressure thereto, and an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile, a multi-functional machine, etc., having the fixing device.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
An image forming apparatus usually employs a fixing device that fixes a toner image on a printing medium by applying heat and pressure thereto. The fixing device generally includes a fixing roller heated by a heat source and a pressing roller pressing against the fixing roller. Specifically, the toner image is fixed onto the printing medium when the printing medium with the toner image is conveyed through a fixing nip created between the fixing roller and the pressing roller.
However, due to melting and adherence of the toner to the fixing roller during such a fixing process, especially when a print rate is high, it can happen that the printing medium winds around the fixing roller and offset of a toner image appears, for example.
Then, many fixing devices have been proposed to improve a separation performance of separating the printing medium from the fixing roller. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, a conventional fixing device includes a fixing roller 100, a pressing roller 200, a separation roller 300, and an endless fixing belt 400 wound around the separation and fixing rollers. The pressing roller 200 presses against the fixing belt 400 while opposing the fixing roller 100 and creating a fixing nip N there. Further, the fixing roller 100 receives a driving force from a driving source, not shown, and rotates in an arrow A showing direction. Thus, as the fixing roller 100 rotates, the fixing belt 400 travels in an arrow B showing direction, and the separation roller 300 and the pressing roller 200 are driven and rotated in arrow C and D showing directions, respectively.
When a sheet P with a transferred toner image T enters the fixing nip N, the toner image T is heated, pressed, and fixed thereonto. Then, the sheet P is conveyed by the fixing belt 400 and is separated by the separation roller 300. Thus, the fixing device cools down the toner on the sheet P during conveyance on the fixing belt to facilitate separation of the sheet P therefrom.
The fixing belt sometimes expands when heated. Thus, not to slack even causing the thermal expansion, the fixing belt 400 needs a prescribed tension. In such a situation, a tension roller can be employed beside the fixing roller 100 and the separation roller 300 to create the prescribed tension on the fixing belt 400. However, number of parts increases and the apparatus becomes bulky. To avoid such a problem, the separation roller 300 can be made to function as the tension roller.
Specifically, the separation roller 300 may be moved to either approach or withdraw from the fixing roller 100 in the arrow E showing direction by biasing the separation roller 300 toward the fixing roller 100 using a spring, not shown, and applying tension to the fixing belt 400.
However, since the fixing roller 100 rotates while the separation roller 300 is driven and rotated, the fixing belt 400 tends to slacken at a position F in which the sheet P is conveyed from the fixing nip N to the separation roller 300. When the fixing belt 400 slackens, the sheet after the fixing process cannot tightly contact the same, and accordingly, an offset image or unevenness of gloss appears.
Another conventional fixing device provides a separation roller 300 with a driving force to rotate the fixing roller 100. Thus, the fixing belt 400 is stretched as it travels suppressing slack in the path F, so that image offset or gloss unevenness can be suppressed.
As mentioned above, to effectively obtain a fine image without slack in the fixing belt, the separation roller preferably serves both as a tension roller and a driving roller.
Further, a fixing device having a separation roller 300 sometimes serves both as the tension and driving rollers as illustrated in FIG. 17. Specifically, a driving gear 600 is integrally attached to the separation roller 300, and is meshed with a power transmission gear. Thus, a driving force from a motor, not shown, is transmitted to the driving gear 600 via the power transmission gear 500 to rotate the separation roller 300. Further, the separation roller 300 is arranged to either approach or withdraw from the fixing roller 100 in the arrow E showing direction. The separation roller 300 is biased by a spring, not shown, and withdraw from the fixing roller 300 so that the fixing belt 400 has a prescribed tension.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 18, when the separation roller 300 moves along a straight line from the position shown by a solid line to that shown by a broken line, a relative distance between the rotational center O20 of the separation roller 300 and that of O10 of the power transmission gear 500 changes from M1 to M2. Consequently, a condition of meshing of the driving gear 600 with the power transmission gear 500 becomes uneven, rotational force is not stably transmitted to the separation roller 300, and unevenness of rotation occurs. As a result, image quality deteriorates and the life of the gear is shortened.

Belt-type fixing device and image forming apparatus capable of maintaining prescribed tension of belt


A touch component and a touch display device are provided. At least one of a first electrode or a second electrode is provided with a hollow portion, thereby reducing a parasitic capacitance formed between at least one of the first electrode or the second electrode and a cathode of an organic light emitting diode array layer.

Capacitive touch screens are widely used in various electronic interactive scene devices due to their high durability, long life, and support for multi-touch functions. The capacitive touch screens detect specific positions of finger touches by detecting changes of capacitances at positions of the finger touches.
At present, for flexible active matrix organic light emitting diode touch external displays, touch electrode patterns usually need to be directly formed on an upper surface of a thin film encapsulation (TFE) layer. However, due to the thin encapsulation layer (usually thickness<10 um), a distance between a touch electrode of an external structure and a cathode of the active matrix organic light emitting diode is short, resulting in a larger parasitic capacitance between a driving electrode TX/sensing electrode RX and the cathode of the touch electrode. An RC delay of the driving electrode TX/sensing electrode RX channel at a far end of a large-size touch screen is greater, resulting in a significant decrease in a sensing frequency of a driving signal waveform of the driving electrode TX/sensing electrode RX. This leads to a decrease in key performance such as a touch report rate.
Therefore, it is necessary to propose a technical solution to solve the problem that a large parasitic capacitance between the driving electrode TX/sensing electrode RX of the touch electrode and the cathode causes low touch report rate.

Touch component and touch display device

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., LTD.


The present invention relates to a flame resistant polyamide resin compositions for moulded articles and articles formed therefrom, comprising aromatic polyamide with phosphinate and/or diphosphinate flame retardant and, optionally, glass fibers. Further provided are articles for use in a variety of applications including electrical and electronic parts requiring electrical insulation.

Polyamide resins possess excellent mechanical properties, moldability, and chemical resistance and have therefore been used in automotive parts, electric/electronic components, mechanical components, and many other applications. Articles made from polyamide resins possess extremely desirable physical properties. However, in certain applications, it is desirable that polyamide resin compositions be flame retardant and meet the UL-94 standard for a high degree of flame retardance. This requirement has promoted research into a variety of methods for imparting flame retardance to polyamide resins. A common method of imparting flame retardance to thermoplastic resin compositions involves incorporating a halogenated organic compound such as brominated polystyrene as a flame retardant along with an antimony compound that acts as a synergist for the flame retardant. However, the use of halogenated flame retardants has certain drawbacks in that these materials tend to decompose or degrade at the temperatures used to mold polyamide compositions. The degradation products can corrode the barrels of compounding extruders, the surfaces of molding machines, and other equipment halogenated flame retardants come in contact with at elevated temperatures. The degradation products of halogenated flame retardants can also result in molded articles that have poor surface appearance.
The use of non-halogenated flame retardants such as phosphate or phosphinate compounds with triazine derivatives has been proposed in WO 96/09344 but these flame retardants are unstable at high temperatures and can decompose or degrade during molding, leading to detrimental effects on the electrical properties of a compounded polyamide resin composition containing these flame retardants, especially under conditions of high humidity.
Thus, effective non-halogenated flame retardants that have good heat stability and that do not have a detrimental effect upon a resin's properties, in particular electrical properties, are desirable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,556 discloses compositions comprising polyamide and phosphinate or diphosphinate. U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,371, however, discloses compositions comprising polymers such as polyamide or polyester, with a flame retardant comprising phosphinate or diphosphinate and melamine derivatives such as condensation products of melamine and/or reaction products of melamine with phosphoric acid and/or reaction products of condensation products of melamine with phosphoric acid and/or a mixture of these. Phosphinates or diphosphinates without melamine derivatives are shown to be ineffective for flame retarding glass-reinforced aliphatic polyamides.
Based on the foregoing discussion, an object of the present invention is to provide a flame resistant polyamide resin composition capable of yielding articles that possess excellent flame retardance and good physical properties and good electrical insulation properties even under conditions of high humidity. A further object of the present invention is to provide shaped structures and parts that meet UL-94 standards for flame retardancy for use in electrical and electronic parts that require good electrical insulation properties. A feature of the present flame resistant polyamide resin compositions is their good heat stability in molding and attendant excellent moldability. An advantage of the present compositions is their notable mechanical properties. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood upon having reference to the following description of the invention.

Flame resistant aromatic polyamide resin composition and articles therefrom


Provided is a waterproof connector, including an inner insulating housing, a plurality of electrical contacts, an inner metal shell, a sealing plate, an outer insulating housing, an outer metal shell and a waterproof rubber ring. The inner metal shell is pressed to form a plurality of holding blocks and two holes. The sealing plate includes a connecting plate and two closing plates for covering the corresponding hole. The outer insulating housing is integrally formed with the inner insulating housing, the electrical contacts, the inner metal shell and the sealing plate by insert molding. The waterproof rubber ring encompasses a front end of the inner metal shell. The outer insulating housing can seal off the gaps between the sealing plate and the inner metal shell, and between the inner insulating housing and the inner metal shell. The present waterproof connector can satisfy the waterproof demand by the waterproof rubber ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a waterproof connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIGS. 7 and 8, a prior connector 8 comprises an insulating housing 81, a plurality of electrical contacts 82 fixed on the insulating housing 81, and a metal shell 83 covering the insulating housing 81. The insulating housing 81 has a front wall 811, a back wall 812, a top wall 813, a bottom wall 814 and two sidewalls 815. The insulating housing 81 disposes a plate-type retaining portion 816 protruding forward from the front wall 811, and a plurality of contact-receiving grooves (not shown in all FIGS) formed on the retaining portion 816 and extending backward from a front end of the retaining portion 816 to pass through the insulating housing 81. The electrical contacts 82 are separately retained in the corresponding contact-receiving grooves. The metal shell 83 covers the insulating housing 81 for shielding electromagnetic interference.
However, the above prior electrical connector 8 has a bad waterproof property because of the gap existed between the insulating housing 81 and the metal shell 83. The moisture easily enters into the inner of the electrical connector 8 so that causing short circuit and affecting the signal-transmitting quality.


The invention relates to a method of importing information, in particular application information, onto a chip card which has a memory with a directory. The information being transferred onto the chip card comprises data and code, and it is often necessary to distribute these data and the code to different files in the directory. The method of the invention establishes whether the data and the code have been placed properly in the various files. The invention makes it possible to verify whether the information has been placed in the proper location allocated to it in the memory of the chip card. When an application is to be placed onto a chip card, the information is loaded into the chip card memory but is no allowed to be used until its location on the card is verified. Verification is accomplished by calculating an electronic fingerprint of the information and it's location. The fingerprint is compared with at least one other electronic fingerprint, and the stored information is activated only if on comparison a match is established between the electronic fingerprint and at least one other electronic fingerprint.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the importing of information, especially application information, onto a chip card, which has a memory with a directory.
2. Description of Related Art
Since the mid-1980s, chip cards have been used in an increasing number of spheres of daily life. The success of chip cards is based essentially on their high manipulation security and reliability. Furthermore, great flexibility for a large number of chip card applications is guaranteed by the programmability of the chips on the chip card. Chip cards are discussed generally in Smart Cards by Jerome Svigals (MacMillan Pub. Co., 1985), which is specifically incorporated by reference herein.
The manufacture of a chip card up to the point at which it can be issued to a user is described in RankliEffing: Handbuch der Chipkarten, Karl Hanser Verlag, 1996, which is specifically incorporated by reference herein. After a module with the semiconductor chip has been embedded into the chip card, global data and personal data of the future card user is then imported onto the chip card. In this regard the issuer of the chip card is increasingly importing several applications simultaneously onto the chip card.
The internal structure of the chip card basically conforms to the ISO 7816/4 standard, which is specifically incorporated by reference herein. The data and/or the code belonging to an application are normally deposited in files. The files are located in a directory in the chip card memory. The files and the directory are imported by the card issuer onto the chip card. If a new application is to be placed by an application supplier on a chip card which has already been issued, particular attention should be paid to the chip card security system. This is especially true if applications which are not under the control of the card issuer are involved. If an application supplier places data and/or code independently on the chip card, the danger exists that the data and/or code deposited will undermine the security of the chip card. This may be the intention if it is insinuated that the application supplier has an interest in spying out applications of the card issuer or other application suppliers. However, unintentional impairment of the security system of the chip card may also be caused in particular by the erroneous placing of new applications.
A method is known from DE 38 07 997 of placing data on a chip card. The chip card has a memory, which is divided into several sub-areas. One of these sub-areas is formed as a protected sub-area, in which address information and error-checking codes for other sub-areas are stored. The protected sub-area is protected by programming the microprocessor of the chip card in such a way that it prevents access of a terminal to the protected sub-area. Information which is disposed in the protected sub-area can hereby be protected against the access of an unauthorized application supplier.
The German patent application with the file reference 196 26 339 discloses a method of loading applications and data securely onto chip cards. In this method, an identification character is allocated. The identification character is ascertained before execution of a command, by means of which the data are to be imported into a sub-area of the chip card. In ascertaining the identification character, it is established whether execution of the command in the sub-area is permitted. Execution of the command is prevented if it is established when ascertaining the identification character that execution of the command is not permitted in the sub-area. The execution of certain commands, in particular commands for importing applications onto the chip card, can hereby be limited to certain sub-areas.
In the case of a further known method for importing application information onto a chip card, the information is provided with an electronic signature. The electronic signature is calculated in this process by means of a cryptographic key from an electronic fingerprint of the information. The information and the electronic signature are transferred to the chip card. On the chip card, another electronic signature of the information transferred to the chip card is calculated with the aid of a further cryptographic key. It can then be verified hereby whether the electronic signature transferred to the chip card and the electronic signature calculated on the chip card match. If this is the case, the information has been transferred without error to the chip card. Manipulation is prevented in this known method by the fact that the further cryptographic key is certified by a trustworthy authority.
It is not possible with the aid of the known method described in the last section to verify whether the information has been placed in the location allocated to it in the memory of the chip card. If an application which is to be placed onto the chip card comprises data and code, it may be necessary to distribute these data and the code to different files in the directory. Using the known method, it can then be verified whether the data and the code have been transferred without manipulation of the same to the chip card. However, it is not possible to establish by means of the known method whether the data and the code have been placed properly in the various files.


Fabric structures having two connection segments and an expansion segment between the two connection segments are provided. The fabric structure includes ground yarns that form a sheath, binder yarns, elongation yarns surrounded by the sheath, and lateral yarns. In the expansion segment, at least some of the lateral yarns are interwoven with the elongation yarns to connect the elongation yarns laterally with the sheath. Heat treatment of the expansion segment shrinks the length of the elongation yarns during manufacture. The sheath does not substantially shrink from the heat treatment relative to the elongation yarns and gathers together in an accordion-like arrangement. A tensile load applied to the fabric structure stretches the elongation yarns and unfolds the gathered sheath. The high strength sheath supports the tensile load when completely unfolded, while the elongation yarns absorbs energy as the fabric structure stretches or elongates.

People who are at elevated positions above a floor or other relatively lower surface can be at risk of falling and injury. For example, workers and other personnel who have occupations that require them to be at elevated positions, such as on scaffolding, can be at risk of falling and injury. Safety harnesses can be worn to stop a person's fall and prevent or reduce injury. Safety harnesses, such as a seat belt, also can be worn to secure the occupant of a vehicle in the event of a sudden stop or collision to reduce the risk of injury.
Safety harnesses typically have a harness portion worn by the user and a tether or lanyard extending from the harness portion. The lanyard connects the harness portion to a secure structure. If a person falls from the elevated position, or is subjected to inertia due to a vehicle's sudden stop, the safety harness stops the person's fall, or prevents the person's forward movement, when the lanyard is straightened. With typical lanyards, however, the person's movement is stopped rather abruptly and the person is subjected to the shock force of the abrupt stop.
Lanyards that attempt to absorb the shock of a person's fall are known. Current lanyards have been made from two separate webbings assembled together. One webbing is a narrow, flat webbing woven of partially oriented yarn (POY webbing) and the other webbing is a relatively higher strength tubular-shaped webbing. After manufacture of the two webbings, the POY webbing is inserted into one end of the tubular-shaped webbing and pulled through the tubular-shaped webbing. A hook or other device inserted into the opposite end of the tubular-shaped webbing can be used to pull the POY webbing through the tubular-shaped webbing. The POY webbing is pulled through the tubular-shaped webbing so that the POY webbing extends inside of the tubular-shaped webbing from one end to the opposite end. The relative lengths of the POY webbing and the tubular-shaped webbing then must be adjusted. While holding the POY webbing in place, one end of the tubular-shaped webbing is moved closer to the opposite end to place the tubular-shaped webbing in an accordion-like position over the POY webbing. The relative length adjustment of the webbings is performed manually and is a significant disadvantage of existing lanyards. After the manual adjustment of the relative webbing lengths, the POY webbing is essentially in a straight, linear orientation inside of the accordion-shaped orientation of the tubular-shaped webbing. The two webbings are then attached to each other by sewing at the ends. Any excess POY webbing extending out of the ends of the tubular-shaped webbing is cut off and discarded.
Because conventional lanyards are made from two separate webbings that must be assembled together, manufacture of the lanyards requires costly and tedious assembly processes, such as inserting the POY webbing through the tubular-shaped webbing. Also, after the insertion process, an additional manual process is required that adjusts the relative webbing lengths by placing the tubular-shaped webbing in the accordion position while maintaining the POY webbing in a straight position. Then, another process is required to attach the two separate webbings together while maintaining the POY webbing in the straight position and the tubular-shaped webbing in the accordion-shaped position. The relative lengths of the POY webbing and the tubular-shaped webbing is critical for proper functioning of the lanyard. The manufacturing process is complicated by proper control and manual setting of the critical relative lengths of the two webbings.
Existing lanyards that purport to reduce shock can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,113,981; 6,085,802; 6,390,234; and 6,533,066 and WIPO Publication No. WO/01/026738.


A gesture judgment method used in an electronic device having frame capturing function is provided. A plurality of MHI (motion history image) angles/directions are obtained from a plurality of corresponding MHIs. Whether a current gesture control is valid is judged according to the MHI angles/directions. If the current gesture control is valid, then weight assignment is performed on the MHI angles/directions to obtain a judgment result of the current gesture control.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a gesture judgment method applicable to an electronic device, and more particularly to a method which judges a gesture according to motion history image (MHI).
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, several technologies for identifying human behavior are provided. The motion history image (MHI) belongs to one of the technologies for identifying human behavior. The basic concept of MHI is that a "moving object" may be identified according to the difference between continuous motion images. The basic principle of MHI is that the differences between two images can be found by performing XOR or subtraction of absolute values on the bitmaps of two subsequent images. If the video camera does not move, the differences that are found relate to the image of the moving object.
To further improve accuracy level, the image blocks not matched to the requirements are ignored from consideration. For example, if the subtraction of absolute values of the same pixel on two frames is too small, then corresponding pixel, which may be noises recorded by the video camera, will be ignored. If a pixel block area is too small, then corresponding pixel(s) of the pixel block area will be ignored because this small-area pixel block may represent an image at a far distance and thus has a smaller area. Consequently, the judgment of moving direction is not based on the above situation.
The two continuous frames are represented by different gray scales. For newer frame, the gray scale values of reserved pixels are increased (for instance, the gray scale value is increased by 1); or, for older frame, the gray scale values of reserved pixels are decreased (for instance, the gray scale value is decreased by 1). MHI will be obtained accordingly. In MHI, the earlier the motion is, the dimmer the motion on the MHI, and the latter the motion is, the brighter the motion on the MHI. FIG. 1A is an exemplary diagram of a MHI. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing moving directions of an object on the MHI of FIG. 1A. In FIG. 1B, a horizontal axis and a vertical axis represent a block, and one block includes 3*3 pixels in the MHI. How to obtain MHI is not a focus in the present invention, details thereof are omitted here.
Although the moving object can be found by using MHI, the gesture judgment based on one single MHI could lead to misjudgment if the direction of gesture motion cannot be affirmed. As a result, the output result about direction of gesture control is erroneous. Therefore, an embodiment of the disclosure provides a gesture judgment method which more accurately judges the moving direction of a gesture according to several MHIs and several auxiliary judgment criteria.

Gesture judgment method used in an electronic device


A processing liquid supply system includes: a processing liquid supply apparatus including a first carrier accommodation section that accommodates a carrier, a first bottle accommodation section that accommodates a processing liquid bottle taken out from the carrier, a liquid feeding section that feeds a processing liquid to a substrate processing apparatus from the processing liquid bottle, and a first transfer arm; and a control device configured to control the first transfer arm to take a processing liquid bottle out from the carrier and transfer the processing liquid bottle to the first bottle accommodation section, to transfer the processing liquid bottle from the first bottle accommodation section to the liquid feeding section, and to transfer the consumed processing liquid bottle from the liquid feeding arm and accommodate the consumed processing liquid bottle in the carrier.

Patent Document 1 discloses a processing liquid supply apparatus which supplies a processing liquid to a plurality of substrate processing systems from the outside. The processing liquid supply apparatus includes a carry-in/carry-out unit that performs a carrying-in of a new container storing a processing liquid and a carrying-out of a consumed container, a processing liquid supply that pumps and supplies a processing liquid in a container placed at a processing liquid supply position to the plurality of substrate processing systems, and a container replacement mechanism that replaces the consumed container at the processing liquid supply position with the new container of the carry-in/carry-out unit.

Processing liquid supply system, processing liquid supply apparatus, and carrier storage apparatus


A method for obtaining an angle-Doppler signature for a target using sparse arrays in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar, the MIMO radar including a transmit antenna array, the transmit antenna array being at least one-dimensional (e.g. 2-D, 3-D or 4-D) and having a plurality of antenna elements. The method includes generating transmit signals for transmission by the transmit antenna array, the transmit signals defining at least a first transmit trajectory (e.g. circular) of a phase center within the transmit antenna array, and transmitting the transmit signals using Amplitude Modulation on the transmit antenna array. The method further includes receiving receive signals from the target, the receive signals resulting from the incidence of the transmit signals upon the target, and determining the angle-Doppler signature from the receive signals. The first transmit trajectory is such that, in operation, the phase center undergoes non-linear motion within the transmit antenna array.

In modern vehicles, radar systems are increasingly used, i.e. for sensing neighboring objects/targets (including other vehicles), for lane changing, collision avoidance and other driver assist functions.
Unambiguous discrimination in radar systems with respect to angle, Doppler and range remains an area of investigation. Angular resolution is physically limited by the total antenna array size. The known virtual Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) concept provides better angular resolution with the same number of antenna elements with respect to their phased array counterpart. The utilization of sparse arrays and orthogonal signals leads to a virtually filled array in the processing unit. Achieving orthogonality with respect to the transmit signals has been extensively discussed in the prior art.
A simple approach of enabling the virtual MIMO scheme is the Time-Division-Multiplex (TDM) MIMO principle; see D. Zoeke and A. Ziroff, "Phase migration effect in moving target localization using switched MIMO arrays," Proceedings on the 12th European Radar Conference, 2015. In this concept, the independence of waveform has been achieved by switching the transmit Tx and the receive Rx channels, such that all combinations of Rx and Tx have taken place within the coherent processing interval (CPI). Analysis of this approach leads to the understanding that the TDM MIMO concept is effectively a linear phase center motion within the antenna structure. Due to the linear phase center motion (PCM), the target angle is coded into frequency. However, if there is an additional target motion which distorts the PCM, a strong angle-Doppler coupling appears and has to be addressed. In the Zoeke and Ziroff paper, this problem is addressed by using one moving and one stationary phase. The stationary phase center (PC) is used for Doppler compensation. A problem is that this approach works only as long as no other target appears at the same range bin with a different Doppler shift. The result of the latter is that ghost targets are present within the range-angle-Doppler map.
Moreover, in the approach disclosed in the Zoeke and Ziroff paper, within an antenna array of receivers and transmitters, just one transmitter and one receiver are switched on simultaneously and the phase center is taken to discrete positions within the array. The switching schemes used are called mixed, interleaved, stacked and stacked multiple, and all lead to a linear PCM. All of such schemes are coding the angle, and exploiting the orthogonality in angle, for the virtual MIMO approach, but all are suffering from phase variations which are caused by motion target of the target. The switching scheme itself can be interpreted as a kind of phase center motion for a single trajectory. Accordingly, with the disclosed technique, only a single trajectory is used; and the trajectories presented all suffer from target Doppler shifts and therefore are not orthogonal in angle and Doppler simultaneously as it is in the case of the present invention.
In Y.-B. G. Shiwen Yang and P. K. Tan, "Linear antenna arrays with bidirectional phase center motion", IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 1829-1835, May 2005, bidirectional linear phase center motion in a linear array is presented. The authors introduce Doppler shifts affected by phase center motion. Those Doppler shifts are used to shift the power of the radiation pattern side lobes into another spectrum. The Doppler shifting of side lobes is caused by the angle dependency of an effective phase center trajectory which is seen by a target in the far field.
In Y. B. G. Shiwen Yang and A. Qing, "Sideband suppression in time-modulated linear arrays by the differential evolution algorithm", IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 1, pp. 173-175, November 2002 and J. Guo, S. Yang, S.-W. Qu, J. Hu, and Z. Nie, "A study on linear frequency modulation signal transmission by 4-d antenna arrays", IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 63, no. 12, pp. 5409-5416, December 2015, further studies were done with respect to applying a radiation pattern design algorithm and other forms of switching of the antenna center other than the linear approach. However, the disclosed techniques all involve a single-trajectory approach and are not concerned with orthogonality in trajectory.
In D. R. Fuhrmann and G. S. Antonio, "Transmit beamforming for mimo radar systems using partial signal correlation", 2004, a model is provided that uses only correlation between antenna elements, i.e. only space correlation, with no time correlation.

Method and system for obtaining angle-doppler signatures in MIMO radars

IEE INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONICS & ENGINEERING S.A.


Systems for compensating for force fighting in multi-actuator systems are provided. A drive controller unit comprises a first feedforward controller in communication with a first actuator and configured to receive a drive command signal. A first feedback regulator is configured to output a first feedback input into the first feedforward controller, and to receive as input a first actuator position and a first actuator force. The drive controller unit further comprises a second feedforward controller in communication with a second actuator and configured to receive the drive command signal. A second feedback regulator is configured to output a second feedback input into the second feedforward controller, and to receive as input a second actuator position and a second actuator force. The drive controller unit utilizes both feedforward controllers and both feedback regulators to minimize force fighting while driving a common aileron.

During the operation of multiple actuators on a common control surface, manufacturing tolerances could cause a difference in the dynamic behavior of the actuators thus leading to a condition of force fighting. The force fighting is generated because the actuators do not share the load equally. This condition is possible even if the actuator is controlled by similar primary power source such as hydraulics. When multiple actuators are operating in a hybrid actuation system with two distinct primary power sources (hydraulic and electric), the potential for unequal load sharing (force fighting) is magnified.
Force fighting is basically due to differences in response between the two similar or dissimilar actuators operating on a common aircraft flight control surface. In the case of a hybrid actuation system (electric actuator and hydraulic actuator), the biggest problem in a hybrid actuation system is force fighting. Force fighting gone unaddressed can create severe structural damage and or component failure. Thus, there exists a need for systems and methods for eliminating or limiting force fighting to acceptable limits in order to improve the system energy efficiency, reliability, and satisfy fatigue requirements.

Adaptive feedback control of force fighting in hybrid actuation systems


Platform for care coordination and planning. Integration of care planning tool, frontend applications, and customer support platform to assist in trust administration for beneficiaries who may have disabilities. The platform may be used to provide planning, concierge, and fiduciary services.

Millions of individuals across the country suffer from various types of disabilities including developmental disorders (e.g., autism), mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia), and physical disabilities (e.g., blindness). These individuals, their parents or their caretakers, all need some form of help in creating a plan to protect their finances, health care benefits and essential services. They need a financial safety net around them, including estate planning, retirement planning, financial planning, life insurance planning, government benefits programming, and integrating these efforts with protocols established by a clinical care team. Unfortunately, these disciplines have, heretofore, acted autonomously, siloed from each other's opinions, and fragmented, leaving the disabled beneficiary at risk. The proverbial right hand does know what the left hand is doing.
In most cases, a special needs trust is essential to protect the beneficiary. The trustee may be empowered to distribute funds from the trust for the beneficiary's benefit. But what if the trustee does not really know the beneficiary? For example, Bank Trustees often never meet the beneficiary and know nothing of their medical history, nuances, or other resources. Too often the Trustee doesn't know how much money is in a beneficiary's account, and therefore is unaware that a distribution could violate key government benefits regulations such as Medicaid eligibility. The absence of such data prevents the Trustee from prudently exercising its discretion, creating risk for both the Trustee and Beneficiary each time a distribution is made.
The consequences of not knowing the beneficiary and not having the requisite data are high, both to the professionals, and more importantly, to the millions of disabled beneficiaries who may be relying on SSI benefits or Medicaid for crucial services or income. The Courts have recently had exposure to these exact problems, resulting in trustees being fined, censured or terminated. In some cases, the beneficiary's benefits were terminated, or they never received any funds from the Trustee, leaving an already vulnerable individual at greater risk. At its core, the problem is that the requisite data has not been stored, collected, or analyzed to provide the trustee with the very information it requires to prudently exercise its discretion.
The instant application solves these issues with a first of its kind technology platform that: 1. enables parents, caretakers or guardians to design a life care plan which incorporates the team of advisors and enables integration of skill sets; 2. quantifies the amount of funds required to fund the plan using the Meet Your Trust Objectives (MYTO) tool; 3. drafts a trust agreement tailored to the individual's needs, and; 4. empowers a trustee to prudently and efficiently discharge it's duties based on clearly established parameters.

Technology platform for care planning and coordination


A sequence-based signal processing method and apparatus are provided. A sequence meeting a requirement for sending a signal by using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is determined, where the sequence is a sequence {ƒn} consisting of N elements, ƒn is an element in the sequence {ƒn}, and the determined sequence {ƒn} is a sequence meeting a preset condition; then, the N elements in the sequence {ƒn} are respectively mapped to N subcarriers to generate a first signal; and the first signal is sent. By using the determined sequence, when a signal is sent by using a PUCCH, a low sequence correlation can be maintained, and a relatively small peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) value and cubic metric (CM) value can also be maintained, thereby meeting a requirement of a communication application environment in which a signal is sent by using a PUCCH.

In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) occupies, for sending uplink control information (UCI), 13 or 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols in one subframe. A PUCCH format 1a/1b is used to transmit response information of 1 or 2 bits, and the PUCCH format 1a/1b is sent in a sequence modulation manner. Generally, in the LTE system, to avoid interference between PUCCHs in two neighboring cells, sequences selected for the neighboring cells need to have a low correlation with each other. To expand coverage of a PUCCH, it is necessary to ensure that all sent signals have relatively small peak to average power ratio (PAPR) values and cubic metric (CM) values.
Currently, in the LTE system, there are 30 existing length-N root sequences xi, i=0, 1, . . . , N−1, where N=12, 18, 24, or 6. The root sequence is used for sending UCI or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) by using a PUCCH format 1a/1b in the LTE system. However, in preliminary design of the LTE system, optimization of the CM value and the sequence correlation is mainly considered for the 30 length-N root sequences. A relationship between the CM value and the PAPR value is: the PAPR may not be small if the CM value is small. Therefore, it cannot be ensured that PAPR values are small when it is ensured that all the 30 length-N root sequences have relatively small CM values and low correlations.
A length-24 CGS in LTE has a relatively large PAPR, and PAPR values are as follows:
3.4088, 3.7273, 3.5504, 3.5747, 3.6863, 3.5919, 3.9650, 3.8684, 4.2962, 3.2399, 4.1349, 2.9308, 3.3087, 4.0994, 3.7059, 3.7320, 4.0424, 4.0889, 3.0390, 3.4151, 3.9811, 4.2336, 4.1542, 3.5316, 2.8697, 2.6239, 3.2999, 3.8447, 3.8657, and 3.7505.
PAPRs of length-18 sequences in LTE are as follows: 3.3052, 3.0602, 3.2669, 3.7847, 3.5747, 3.6053, 3.3331, 3.1714, 3.1280, 3.7510, 2.9786, 3.4392, 3.0917, 3.6472, 3.4528, 3.4566, 3.8168, 3.1846, 3.0146, 3.4002, 3.1365, 3.7687, 3.1833, 3.9640, 3.9144, 3.4006, 3.4189, 3.6522, 2.8956, and 3.8309.
PAPRs of length-6 sequences in LTE are as follows: 3.5139, 3.5139, 4.1492, 3.0076, 4.0755, 4.2597, 4.1492, 4.1492, 2.9721, 3.1240, 4.2597, 4.2597, 4.0755, 3.0076, 4.0755, 2.8129, 2.9721, 4.1492, 3.0076, 3.0076, 4.1492, 2.8129, 3.0076, 3.5139, 3.5139, 4.0755, 4.1492, 4.1492, 4.0755, and 4.2597. It can be seen that not a few PAPR values are greater than 3 dB.

Sequence-based signal processing method and apparatus


A public display apparatus that provides a relatively large, high-quality visual image by using a sheet of flexible transparent material with high-quality images on it suspended between a driven roller and a tension roller inside a container body. The rollers are parallel with a distance between them creating a display area. A driving source is connected to the driven roller to rotate the driven roller and move a sheet with the images either forward or backward. A tension source is connected to a tension roller to maintain the tautness of the sheet with high-quality images and the visual images distortion free.

The use of relatively large visual displays at public events, such as sporting events, trade show and conventions, is well known. Signs that were changed by hand have been replaced by motor driven signs.
Scroll signs are one type of motor driven sign that has been use in applications, such as numbers for scoreboards. Existing scroll signs use a strip of web or film which is wrapped around two parallel rollers which can be oriented either vertically or horizontally. The display area is the area between the two rollers. As the rollers are rotated, the display is changed. Existing scroll signs have proven unsuitable for larger visual displays. Existing scroll signs have proven unable to maintain an undistorted visual image when the web or film containing the image has a larger size.
More recently, electronic signs have been used for visual displays at public events. The electronic signs have some advantages. They are typically computer contolled and can offer a sometimes dazzling variety of displays. Also, electronic signs have fewer moving mechanical parts, they may be less maintenance intensive than motor driven signs.
At the same time, there are several disadvantage with electronic signs. First, the visual quality of electronic signs is not particularly high. With electronic signs that use light bulbs for the visual display, the visual quality is crude. Even with the use of more advanced display elements such as LED's or large television-like displays, the quality of the image is not particularly high. Also, while electronic signs may have fewer mechanical parts, they frequently have a complex array of components, including computer controllers and software. Failure of a component can lead to the complete shut down of the display.
Another disadvantage of electronic signs, especially the larger types used at public events is that their complexity makes them extremely expensive to manufacture and purchase. Typically, they are installed only as permanent displays in large arenas, such as sports arenas or convention halls.
As illustrated by the above discussion there are a number of desirable features for a public display apparatus. It would be desirable for a public display apparatus to have a high quality visual image. It also would be desirable for a display apparatus to be reliable. In addition, it would be desirable for a public display apparatus to be economical to produce. Futher, it would desirable for a public display to be portable.
While the discussion herein relates to public display apparatuses and methods, it is not intended that the invention be limited to this situation. It will be obvious from the description that follows that the present invention will be useful in other applications with problems common to those described here.

Portable public display apparatus for illuminating a driven transparent material


A new Chrysanthemum plant named ‘CIFZ0021’ particularly distinguished by the small red-purple decorative inflorescences with medium green foliage, compact and mounded plant habit with a mid to late September natural flowering season.

The present invention comprises a new Chrysanthemum, botanically known as Chrysanthemum×morifolium, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'CIFZ0021'.
'CIFZ0021' is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar has small red-purple decorative inflorescences with medium green foliage, compact and mounded plant habit with a mid to late September natural flowering season.
'CIFZ0021' originates as a natural whole plant mutation of 'Yogigi Pink', U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,666. 'CIFZ0021' was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within a large population of the parent cultivar grown massed in pots outdoors in a controlled breeding program in Alva, Fla. in November 2008. The parent cultivar 'Yogigi Pink' has pink and white two-toned colored inflorescences, the inflorescence color more fades with maturity, and has a slower natural season flowering response than that of 'CIFZ0021'.
The first act of asexual reproduction of 'CIFZ0021' was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were propagated from the initial selection in January 2009 in Alva, Fla.


Allows a convenient, simple and compact folding, without requiring to remove any of the wheels, while occupying a minimal space in its maximum folded position. The folding bicycle (1) of the invention is characterized in that: the bar (11) has two articulation points (F1, F2), where each of said articulation points (F1, F2) has its own axis of rotation (A1, A2); the folding means comprise a pair of hinged attachments (110A, 110B), integrated in the bar (11) and connected to each of the articulation points (F1, F2); and where the pair of hinged attachments (110A, 110B) are separated from each other by a distance (D) in the longitudinal sense of the bar (11), at a position opposite to and facing each other.

Bicycles, and more specifically pedal-assist bicycles, with an electric motor that assists the movement of the bicycle only when the rider is pedaling are currently well known. The power used to drive said electric motor is supplied by an electric battery.
These bicycles generally also comprise a hinge system on the diagonal or main tube of the frame allowing to fold the rear part of the bicycle sideways onto the front part thereof.
There are several models of pedal-assist bicycles in the market where the battery is located on the diagonal tube of the bicycle frame, such as in Utility Model ES1072110U, held by the author of the present invention, such that it is difficult if not impossible to install an articulated joint or hinge in the diagonal tube due to the presence of the battery.
Thus, to provide a folding capability to pedal-assist bicycles in which the battery is placed on the diagonal tube of the frame, folding systems have been conceived such as that described in international patent application WO0302267A1, which allows folding sideways the rear part of the bicycle onto the front part using a hinge fitted in the union of the diagonal tube to the seat tube. However, the drawback of the folding system is that the hinge is located at a point where many loads or strains coincide when the bicycle is being used, affecting the sturdiness of the system and making it prone to breaks and/or malfunctions, mainly due to clearances, friction and excessive wear of the components, substantially reducing the lifetime thereof.
In addition, application EP2581298A1, also by the holder, describes a folding bicycle that allows combining the inclusion of an electric battery on the diagonal tube of the frame and a folding system that reduces the loads applied at the weak points of the bicycle, such as the union points between the seat tube and the diagonal tube; however, this has the drawback of requiring removing the front wheel from its fork, thereby increasing the time, complexity and effort required in the folding process.


There is provided a electric power steering device which can perform torque control through a simple arithmetic process using a synchronous reluctance motor having a nonlinear current/torque characteristic. A target torque is transmitted from an EPS control unit 41 to a motor control unit 51. The motor control unit 51 calculates a target-current effective value I and a target-current phase θ from the input target torque. Based on the calculated target-current effective value I and target-current phase θ, calculation is changed whether to perform calculation so that the maximum torque (the maximum torque obtainable at the minimum current effective value) can be obtained, or to perform calculation so that the maximum output (the maximum output obtainable at the minimum current effective value) can be obtained in accordance with a duty ratio of an output by a PWM converting unit 57 comprising a three-phase inverter. Next, a three-phase biaxial converting unit 53 calculates a target q-axis current Iq and a target d-axis current Id from the target-current effective value I and the target-current phase θ, and the PWM converting unit 57 performs duty control in order to control the torque of a motor 58.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a electric power steering device which controls a motor torque on the basis of a steering-torque signal and a speed signal in order to assist a steering, and more particularly, relates to the electric power steering device which assists a steering with a synchronous reluctance motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A electric power steering device is a steering-force supporting device to reduce a steering force generated by a steering operation by a driver by causing an electric motor (a motor) to generate an auxiliary torque in accordance with the largeness of a steering torque of a vehicle and to transmit the auxiliary torque to a steering system. An example of such a motor used in the electric power steering device is a synchronous reluctance motor. The synchronous reluctance motor makes a rotary operation by a reluctance torque generated at a steel-plate layer of a rotator having no magnet, and in general, has a structure in which a stator has a three-phase windings, and the rotator has grooves of air (air layers) that are referred to as flux barriers provided inside the steel-plate layer. Such a structure enables the synchronous reluctance motor to generate a rotating torque (hereinafter, simply referred to as a torque) without needing an expensive rare-earth magnet or the like, resulting in a cost reduction, and good recyclability.
Also, unlike a general brushless motor having a linear torque-current characteristic, the synchronous reluctance motor has a nonlinear torque-current characteristic and calculates a target current and a current advance angle (the advancing phase angle of an armature current relative to an induced voltage) using a target torque and a motor revolutionary speed. At this time, regarding the current advance angle, an advance-angle correction value is obtained with the absolute value of the target torque being divided into three points (i.e., a region (T<T1) where the absolute value of the target torque (T) is smaller than a target torque (T1) at the maximum revolutionary speed, a region (T1<T<T3) where the absolute value of the target torque (T) is present between the foregoing target torque and a target torque (T3) that is a midpoint between a nonlinear curve of the torque-current characteristic and a linear curve thereof, and a region (T3<T) where the absolute value of the target value (T) is larger than T3), and is calculated for each revolutionary speed. The calculated target current is output in a current form of a three-phase current or a d-axis current/q-axis current.
A technology that controls a torque of the synchronous reluctance motor through such a method is disclosed in, for example, patent literature 1 and patent literature 2. The technology disclosed in these patent literatures intends to perform torque control from a low-output torque to a high-output torque by detecting the position of the rotator and the speed thereof in order to obtain a torque instruction even though the torque-current characteristic of the synchronous reluctance motor is nonlinear. In patent literature 1, an advance-angle correction value (AX) is calculated with the absolute value of a difference between a maximum revolutionary speed (N3) and a present revolutionary speed (N) being as a part of an input. Also, in patent literature 2, the advance-angle correction value (AX) is calculated from an output of a function (ADC) having the present revolutionary speed (N) as an input. That is, AX=ADC×N.    Patent Literature 1: Japan Patent No. 3209853    Patent Literature 2: Japan Patent No. 3209854
However, in the case of prior arts, conditions for obtaining the target current and the current advance angle are complicated, so that an arithmetic process time for controlling the torque of the synchronous reluctance motor becomes long, a processing capability of a CPU necessary for the arithmetic process and a memory capacity become large. Also, in the synchronous reluctance motor, the largeness of a torque and the revolutionary speed of the torque which can be output varies depending on the state of a power-source voltage, however, the technologies disclosed in both patent literatures 1 and 2 leave the variation of a power-source voltage out of consideration. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the technologies disclosed in both patent literatures 1 and 2 to the electric power steering device that uses a battery voltage because those technologies.
The present invention is made in view of these problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a electric power steering device that can perform good torque control through a simple arithmetic process using a synchronous reluctance motor having a nonlinear torque-current characteristic.


A multi-bit standard cell embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes: a first logic cell with a first logic cell height measured from a first lower boundary to a first upper boundary of the first logic cell; and a second logic cell with a second logic cell height measured from a second lower boundary to a second upper boundary of the second logic cell, the second logic cell height different from the first logic cell height, and the second upper boundary attached to the first lower boundary. The first logic cell is arranged to perform a first logical function, the second logic cell is arranged to perform a second logical function, and the first logical function is the same as the second logical function.

The architecture of a standard cell may have different cell heights for each cell row. This mix row cell architecture has speed similar to the architecture with higher cell height but area similar to the architecture with lower cell height. Although the mix row cell architecture has speed similar to the architecture with higher cell height and total area similar to the architecture with lower cell height, it is very challenging for the design automation tools to understand the mix row constraint and achieve balanced density of mixed rows, which can lead to low utilization, poor power and performance. Therefore, a novel architecture of circuit cell for improving the balance of cell architecture and APR (Automatic Place and Route) utilization is highly desirable in the field of IC (Integrated circuit) design.

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