A negative-electrode active material layer having a line-and-space structure is formed by applying an application liquid containing a negative-electrode active material in stripes on a surface of a negative-electrode current collector using a nozzle-scan coating method and drying the application liquid (Steps S101, S102). Subsequently, by a spin coating method, an application liquid containing a solid electrolyte material is applied (Step S103) and heated at a temperature lower than a glass-transition temperature of the electrolyte material to be dried. Further, an application liquid containing a positive-electrode active material is applied (Step S105) and a positive-electrode current collector is laminated (Step S106) and, then, a laminated body is heated to or above the glass-transition temperature of the electrolyte material to cause the solid electrolyte to flow and adhere to the active material layers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for manufacturing a battery in which a solid electrolyte layer is interposed between active material layers, a battery manufactured by this method, and a vehicle and an electronic device including this battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a method for producing a chemical battery such as a lithium-ion secondary battery, a technology for laminating metal foils as current collectors having respectively positive-electrode or negative-electrode active materials attached thereto with a separator disposed therebetween and impregnating the separator with an electrolytic solution has been known. However, a battery including a highly volatile organic solvent as an electrolytic solution needs to be carefully handled. Further, for required further miniaturization and higher output, a technology for producing an all-solid-state battery by microfabrication using a solid electrolyte in place of an electrolytic solution has been and is being proposed in recent years.
For example, JP2005-116248A (hereinafter, referred to as "patent literature 1") discloses a technology for forming an active material layer having an uneven surface on a metal foil, which will become a current collector, by an ink-jet method and successively three-dimensionally laminating a solid electrolyte layer and another active material layer by the ink-jet method so as to flatten the unevenness. In this technology, the above space structure is obtained by laminating a multitude of layers mixedly including different functional layers such as the positive and negative active material layers and the solid electrolyte layer formed by one printing process by recoating. At this time, every time one layer is applied, a drying treatment is performed to volatilize a solvent contained in ink.
To obtain good electrochemical properties in a battery in which an electrolyte layer is interposed between positive and negative active material layers, it is important that the active material layers and the electrolyte layer closely contact with each other at interfaces between them. In the case of a liquid electrolyte, the electrolyte penetrates into recessed portions of fine unevenness on active material layer surfaces. However, particularly in the case of a solid electrolyte, the active material layers and the electrolyte layer need to closely contact with each other at the interfaces between them. However, no consideration is made on this in the above prior art and there has been room for improvement in obtaining a battery having good electrochemical properties.

Battery manufacturing method, battery manufactured by such method, vehicle and electronic device


A light-emitting device (2) including a light-emitting element (2a), a first phosphor (2b), and a second phosphor (2c). The light-emitting element (2a) emits light L1 having a wavelength range within the visible region. Upon receipt of the light L1, or light L3 originating from the second phosphor (2c), the first phosphor (2b) emits light L2 having a wavelength range, which differs from that of the first light L1 and the third light L3, but falls within the visible region. Upon receipt of a specific wavelength component (ultraviolet light, or the like) included in external light, the second phosphor (2c) generates the light L3 whose wavelength range is substantially the same as that of the light L1, thereby radiating the first phosphor (2b) with the light L3.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting device having a light-emitting element and a plurality of phosphors, as well as a vehicle lamp including the light-emitting device. The light-emitting device prevents a color of light during illumination from significantly differing from a color exhibited during non-illumination.
2. Description of Related Art
A vehicle lamp, which includes a light source that is a light-emitting device (such as a light-emitting diode (LED)) and a plurality of lamp units (each unit being formed of a lens, a reflection mirror, and the like), is known. A desired light distribution pattern can be obtained by combining a unit of a direct-projection type and a unit of a reflection type (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Publication 2004-95480).
However, when a white light-emitting diode is used as a light source of a lamp, it is difficult to obtain light having a wide wavelength range solely from an LED chip. Therefore, there are employed, e.g., an LED chip for emitting blue light, and a phosphor which is excited by some of blue light originating from the LED chip (hereinafter called a "blue-light-excited phosphor"). More specifically, blue light is generated from the LED chip, and a yellowish—which is a complementary color of the blue light—light is generated from the phosphor; and white light can be obtained by means of mixing the two types of light.
However, the above-described configuration involves a problem arising from a difference between a light color of the light-emitting device during illumination and a color which is exhibited externally during non-illumination.
For instance, in a state where the light-emitting element (the LED chip) is not lighting, the blue-light-excited phosphor exhibits a color tone (yellow) under external light (visible light). Therefore, in a case where the light-emitting element is used as a light source of a lamp, when reflection by way of an optical component, such as a lens or a reflection mirror, is excessive, there may arise problems, such as pseudo lighting or nonconformance with lamp specifications. For example, when a yellow component exhibited on a front face of the lamp is close to a functional color of a turn signal lamp, or the like, a problem such as false-recognition may arise depending on an extent of reflection by an optical component.
To this end, means, such as arrangement of the lamp's optical design or provision of a filter, are adopted for preventing development of a color tone during non-illumination of the lamp. However, in order to employ such means, certain problems must be solved, such as influences exerted during illumination on a light color or a light distribution pattern, or problems caused by employment of the means, such as an increase in the complexity of the configuration, or a cost increase.
The present invention aims at preventing a light color of a light-emitting device during illumination from differing from a color exhibited externally during non-illumination, thereby removing an obstacle to application of the light-emitting device as a vehicle lamp.

Vehicle lamp using emitting device for suppressing color tone difference according to illumination conditions


The vehicular lamp of the present disclosure includes a lamp control unit configured to control the lighting state of the lamp, the sound generating device configured to generate an alarm sound from the lamp when the device is driven, and a sound generating control unit configured to control the sound generating device. The lamp control unit is configured such that a normal operation of the lamp control unit itself becomes impossible so as not to turn ON the lamp unit normally when a remodeling is performed to the sound generating control unit cutting off, for example, a power source line VW, a control line CW, and a driving line MW which are connected to the sound generating unit.

A vehicle that utilizes a motor as a drive source for operating such as, for example, a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle, is hardly recognized by other vehicles or pedestrians because a motor sound of the vehicle is silent at a lower speed. Accordingly, there is a problem that the presence of the vehicle cannot be recognized to other vehicles or pedestrians. In this regard, a technique has been proposed in which a different sound from the motor sound such as, for example, an analogous engine sound, is generated and used as an alarm sound for other vehicles or pedestrians. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-186456 discloses a configuration in which a sound generating device is installed in a vehicle to generate a voice as an alarm sound when a driver manipulates a switch. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-283809 discloses a configuration in which an oscillator is provided in a component constituting a vehicle, and the component is vibrated by vibrating the oscillator at a controlled and desired timing to generate a sound according to the vibration of the component. An example of the component constituting a vehicle may include a head light cover which may be vibrated by the oscillator to function as a part of a speaker in the sound generating device.


A tire valve cap for a flush mounted tire valve seals the tire valve against external debris and internal leakage. Slits in the wall of the cap allow the cap to act like a spring after insertion and to permit any internal leakage to intensify the sealing properties of the cap to the valve.

The present invention relates to a cap for sealing off flush-mounted valve bodies in tubless automobile tires. Flush mounted tire valves have been available for some time and are described in the prior art of Simms (U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,879) and Sherwood (U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,639). The purpose of this kind of valve body in auto racing has been to replace the outwardly projecting valve stem which requires extra dynamic balancing to eliminate vibration and may come into destructive contact with the wheel of another car during a race. This can result in a rapid tire deflation if the stem is torn off and a deadly accident. Flush valve bodies have, in addition, become popular in sports car wheels where hub caps are not used and the projecting stem would detract from the decorative effects of the wheel.
One disadvantage of the flush mounted valve body is that the valve opening is left unprotected. Mud and debris can easily accumulate in the small opening and can impede air passage when the tire is being filled. In addition, outward leakage from the valve stem can occur.
It is the prime objective of the present invention to provide an easily applied and removed cap which will protect and seal the air passage of a flush-mounted valve.
It is a second objective of the present invention to provide a decorative cap which will not detract from the "low profile" appearance of the flush-mounted valve body to which it is applied.


Systems and methods are provided for integrating supplemental overlay content within streaming video content that is to be broadcast to viewer devices. The overlay content to include in the streaming video content may be dynamically determined during video streaming and incorporated within individual frames of the video data, such as by a computing device of a user who is broadcasting his play of a video game or other activity, prior to the user's computing device sending those video frames (with embedded overlay content therein) to a streaming platform to be broadcast to potentially many viewers' devices.

A live stream (and the associated act of live streaming) may refer to video and accompanying audio that is broadcast over the Internet to viewers' computing devices in real time or near-real time as it is recorded or initially captured. Live streaming of video games and computer games has become increasingly popular. In video game streaming, a person (sometimes referred to as a streamer) typically plays a video game while also speaking commentary to a microphone or camera, and the combined video production is uploaded in real time to a network-based streaming platform. Other individuals may access the streaming platform (such as by accessing a channel or webpage on the platform associated with the individual streamer) in order to view a live or slightly delayed (e.g., a delay of less than 30 seconds typically) presentation of the streaming gameplay and commentary. Live streaming is also popular outside of the gaming context, such as when a streamer may stream live video of himself talking to a camera, and/or stream live video of his surroundings or a real world event.
A streamer may interact with viewers during the live stream, such as by verbally responding to text comments that viewers submit through the streaming platform. A streamer may generate revenue from his or her live streams, typically from the streaming platform offering individual viewers the ability to provide monetary donations or sign up for paid subscriptions. For example, a streaming platform via which viewers view a given live stream may enable individual viewers of the stream to pay for special access or additional features. Additionally, some streaming platforms pay a streamer for allowing the streaming platform to display advertisements to viewers of a stream.

Overlaying content within live streaming video


A method and system for error correcting C1/PI words using error locations detected by EFM/EFM+ decoder are provided. The method for channel decoding and error correcting includes: (a) setting up a channel code; (b) producing demodulated data including information data symbols and erasure flags by modulating channel data symbols, using the channel code; and (c) performing an error-erasure correction on the information data symbols of the demodulated data, using error locations indicated by the erasure flags. The system for channel decoding and error correcting includes a channel decoder with a channel code for producing the demodulated data having the information data symbols and the erasure flags by demodulating the channel data symbols, a memory for storing the demodulated data, and a decoding unit for performing an error-erasure correction on the information data symbols, using the error locations indicated by the erasure flags having a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an error-erasure correction of data reproduced from an optical disc device, and more particularly, to a method and system for correcting errors and erasures in modulated channel data by indicating error locations at the time of demodulating the modulated channel data.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical disc, such as a compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), is used for storing a large quantity of audio, video and/or other data information. When such information is recorded on the optical disc and read therefrom, noises can be generated. To correct errors due to the noises, in a DVD system a Reed-Solomon (R-S) product code is used as an error correction code, and an inner code (PI) of (182,172,11) and an outer code (PO) of (208,192,17) are included in the R-S product code. Here, "182" of the inner code or "208" of the outer code represents a length of a code word, that is, the number of symbols which form a code word. "172" of the inner code or "192" of the outer code represents a length of message or information of a code word, that is, the number of symbols that form the information of a code word. "11" and "17" each represent a minimum distance, called a minimum Hamming distance, of a code word.
A CD system uses a cross-interleave Reed-Solomon code (CIRC) as an error correction code. CIRC includes a C1 code of (32,28,5) and a C2 code of (28,24,5). In the C1 code or the C2 code, the first factor ("32" of the C1 code or "28" of the C2 code) represents the length of a code word, the second factor ("28" of the C1 code or "24" of the C2 code) represents the length of information of a code word, and the last factor, "5", represents the minimum distance of a code word.
There is a limit to the correction of the inner code (PI) and the outer code (PO) of a R-S product code and the C1 and C2 codes of a CIRC code. The correction limit is determined by the minimum distance of a code word. For example, if the number of errors in a code word is defined as "e", the number of erasures in the same code word as "v", and the minimum distance of the code word as "d", an error correction using the R-S product code for a DVD system or the CIRC code for a CD system can correct errors of the code word only if Equation 1 is satisfied.2e+v<Minimum Distance  (1)
Here, 'error' means that neither an error value nor an error location is known, and 'erasure' means that an error value is not known but an error location is known. The error value is determined by the difference between an original symbol value and an erroneous symbol value corresponding to the original symbol. The 'error location' is the location of an erroneous symbol. The 'erroneous symbol' means that an original symbol is damaged by noises produced by data processing such as recording and reproducing.
Table 1 is a summary of characteristics of a R-S product code and a CIRC code used in CD and DVD systems, respectively.
TABLE 1CorrectableCorrectableMinimumErrorErasureCodeFormatDistanceNumberNumberCD C1 Code(32, 28, 5)524CD C2 Code(28, 24, 5)524DVD PI Code(182, 172, 11)11510DVD PO Code(208, 192, 17)17816
Both the C1 code and C2 code have the minimum distance of "5", so that with respect to the C1 and C2 codes, it is possible to correct up to two (2) errors or four (4) erasures per each code word. If there are errors and erasures together in a code word, it is possible to correct up to one (1) error and two (2) erasures.
The PI code has the minimum distance of "11", so that it is possible to correct up to five (5) errors or ten (10) erasures in a PI code word. The PO code has the minimum distance of "17", so that it is possible to correct up to eight (8) errors or sixteen (16) erasures in a PO code word.
The CD or DVD system uses a slicer to change an analog signal read from a CD or DVD into digital data. A conventional slicer changes an input sample signal into a binary number such as "1" (or logic high state) or "0" (or logic low state) using high and low threshold values between the two logic states. In other words, a conventional slicer uses a "soft decision method" in which if an input sample signal is smaller than the low threshold value, it outputs "0", if the input sample signal is bigger than the high threshold value, it outputs "1", and if the input sample signal is between the high and low threshold values, it outputs an "erasure." Since the slicer outputs 14 bits (in the case of the CD) or 16 bits (in the case of the DVD) data to form one symbol, use of the soft decision method in the slicer causes an increase in the number of the erasures. As a result, the actual efficiency of the error correction is lowered.
For these reasons, a C1 decoder or a PI decoder in a error correction system does not use the erasure correction in the error correction of a C1 word or a PI word. An erasure flag can be obtained from the result of the error correction of the C1 or PI word in the C1 or PI decoder. A C2 decoder or a PO decoder uses the erasure flag in the erasure correction of a C2 word or a PO word. This is because the entire error correction efficiency is higher when the C2 or PO word is used for the erasure correction than when the C2 or PO word is used for the error correction.
In a conventional error correction system, therefore, it is possible to error-correct up to 2 erroneous symbols per each code word for a C1 code, and it is possible to erasure-correct up to 4 erroneous symbols per each code word for a C2 code. Similarly, it is possible to error-correct up to 5 erroneous symbols per each code word for a PI code, and it is possible to erasure-correct up to 16 erroneous symbols per each code word for a PO code.
However, for high speed optical devices such as a high speed CD-ROM and a high speed DVD-ROM, high speed data processing is required when restoring data from such media. The incidence of errors in a high speed data processing is higher than the incidence of errors in a low speed data processing.
Therefore, a need exists for an error correction system which is more efficient and effective in the error correction than a conventional error correction system in a high speed as well as a low speed data processing.

Method and apparatus for correcting C1/PI word errors using error locations detected by EFM/EFM+ decoding


The present disclosure provides a manufacturing method for an array substrate and a liquid crystal display device. The manufacturing method for an array substrate may include: providing a substrate; forming a thin film transistor device comprising a source and a drain on the substrate; covering a passivation layer, a blocking layer, and a photoresist layer on the thin film transistor device, sequentially; processing the photoresist layer to divide the blocking layer and the passivation layer into a first region and a second region corresponding to positions of an active area, and a third region corresponding to a position of the thin film transistor device. By the above-mentioned manufacturing method, on one hand, a number of mask processes may be reduced, and the manufacturing efficiency may be improved. On the other hand, peeling efficiency of the photoresist may be improved.

A Liquid Crystal display (LCD) is a widely used flat panel display, which mainly uses a liquid crystal switch to control an intensity of a backlight light field to realize a screen display.
The liquid crystal switch is generally manufactured by a thin film transistor (TFT). A TFT manufacturing process generally uses a plurality of masks. An excessive number of masks increase process cost, and also increase production time, which reduces production efficiency.

Manufacturing method for array substrate and liquid crystal display device

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


According to the invention there is provided a liquid friction control composition with enhanced retentivity comprising an anti-oxidant. The liquid friction control composition may also comprise other components such as a retentivity agent, a rheological control agent, a friction modifier, a lubricant, a wetting agent, a consistency modifier, and a preservative.

The invention relates to friction control compositions for applying to surfaces which are in sliding or rolling-sliding contact. More specifically, the present invention relates to friction control compositions with enhanced retentivity.
The control of friction and wear of metal mechanical components that are in sliding or rolling-sliding is of great importance in the design and operation of many machines and mechanical systems. For example, many steel-rail and steel-wheel transportation systems including freight, passenger and mass transit systems suffer from the emission of high noise levels and extensive wear of mechanical components such as wheels, rails and other rail components such as ties. The origin of such noise emission, and the wear of mechanical components may be directly attributed to the frictional forces and behaviour that are generated between the wheel and the rail during operation of the system.
In a dynamic system wherein a wheel rolls on a rail, there is a constantly moving zone of contact. For purposes of discussion and analysis, it is convenient to treat the zone of contact as stationary while the rail and wheel move through the zone of contact. When the wheel moves through the zone of contact in exactly the same direction as the rail, the wheel is in an optimum state of rolling contact over the rail. In such a case, no appreciable friction exists between the wheel and the rail. However, because the wheel and the rail are profiled, often misaligned and subject to motions other than strict rolling, the respective velocities at which the wheel and the rail move through the zone of contact are not always the same. This is often observed when fixed-axle railcars negotiate curves wherein true rolling contact can only be maintained on both rails if the inner and the outer wheels rotate at different peripheral speeds. This is not possible on most fixed-axle railcars. Thus, under such conditions, the wheels undergo a combined rolling and sliding movement relative to the rails. Sliding movement may also arise when traction is lost on inclines thereby causing the driving wheels to slip.
The magnitude of the sliding movement is roughly dependent on the difference, expressed as a percentage, between the rail and wheel velocities at the point of contact. This percentage difference is termed creepage.
At creepage levels larger than about 1%, appreciable frictional forces are generated due to sliding, and these frictional forces result in noise and wear of components (H. Harrison, T. McCanney and J. Cotter (2000), Recent Developments in COF Measurements at the Rail/Wheel Interface, Proceedings The 5th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/Wheel Systems CM 2000 (SEIKEN Symposium No. 27), pp. 30-34, which is incorporated herein by reference). The noise emission is a result of a negative friction characteristic that is present between the wheel and the rail system. A negative friction characteristic is one wherein friction between the wheel and rail generally decreases as the creepage of the system increases in the region where the creep curve is saturated. Theoretically, noise and wear levels on wheel-rail systems may be reduced or eliminated by making the mechanical system very rigid, reducing the frictional forces between moving components to very low levels or by changing the friction characteristic from a negative to a positive one, that is by increasing friction between the rail and wheel in the region where the creep curve is saturated. Unfortunately, it is often impossible to impart greater rigidity to a mechanical system, such as in the case of a wheel and rail systems used by most trains. Alternatively, reducing the frictional forces between the wheel and the rail may greatly hamper adhesion and braking and is not always suitable for rail applications. In many situations, imparting a positive frictional characteristic between the wheel and rail is effective in reducing noise levels and wear of components.
It is also known that, wear of train wheels and rails may be accentuated by persistent to and fro movement resulting from the presence of clearances necessary to enable a train to move over a track. These effects may produce undulatory wave patterns on rail surfaces and termed corrugations. Corrugations increase noise levels beyond those for smooth rail-wheel interfaces and ultimately the problem can only be cured by grinding or machining the rail and wheel surfaces. This is both time consuming and expensive.
There are a number of lubricants known in the art and some of these are designed to reduce rail and wheel wear on rail roads and rapid transit systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,856 discloses a solid anti-wear, anti-friction lubricant. The product is a combination of anti-ware and anti-friction agents suspended in a solid polymeric carrier for application to the top of a rail. Friction of the carrier against the wheel activates the anti-wear and anti-friction agents. However, the product does not display a positive friction characteristic. Also, the product is a solid composition with poor retentivity.
There are several drawbacks associated with the use of compositions of the prior art, including solid stick compositions. First, outfitting railcars with friction modifier stick compositions and applying to large stretches of rail is wasteful if a noise problem exists at only a few specific locations on a track. Second, some railroads have a maintenance cycle that may last as long as 120 days. There is currently no stick technology that will allow solid lubricant or friction modifiers to last this period of time. Third, freight practice in North America is for freight cars to become separated all over the continent, therefore friction modifier sticks are required on many if not all rail cars which would be expensive and impractical. Similarly, top of rail friction management using solid sticks requires a closed system to achieve adequate buildup of the friction modifier product on the rail. A closed system is one where there is essentially a captive fleet without external trains entering or leaving the system. While city transit systems are typically closed, freight systems are typically open with widespread interchange of cars. In such a system, solid stick technology may be less practical.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,516, U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,204 and WO 90/15123 relate to solid friction modifier compositions having high and positive friction characteristics. These compositions display increased friction as a function of creepage, and comprise resins to impart the solid consistency of these formulations. The resins employed included amine and polyamide epoxy resins, polyurethane, polyester, polyethylene or polypropylene resins. However, these require continuous application in a closed loop system for optimal performance.
European Patent application 0 372 559 relates to solid coating compositions for lubrication which are capable of providing an optimum friction coefficient to places where it is applied, and at the same time are capable of lowering abrasion loss. However, the compositions do not have positive friction characteristics. Furthermore, there is no indication that these compositions are optimized for durability or retentivity on the surfaces to which they are applied.
Many lubricant compositions of the prior art are either formulated into solid sticks or are viscous liquids (pastes) and thus may not be applied to sliding and rolling-sliding systems as an atomized spray. The application of a liquid friction control composition in an atomized spray, in many instances reduced the amount of the composition to be applied to a rail system and provides for a more even distribution of the friction modifier composition at the required site. Furthermore, atomized sprays dry rapidly which may lead to minimizing the potential for undesired locomotive wheel slip.
Applying liquid-based compositions to the top of the rail has distinct advantages over using a solid stick delivery system applied to the wheels. Using a liquid system allows for site-specific application via a hirail, wayside or onboard system. Such specific application is not possible with the solid delivery system that continually applies product to the wheels. Furthermore the low transference rate of the solid stick application method will not yield any benefits until the track is fully conditioned. This is an unlikely situation for a Class 1 rail line due to the extensive amount of track that must be covered and the presence of rail cars not possessing the solid stick lubricant. Liquid systems avoid this problem as the product is applied to the top of the rail, allowing all axles of the train to come in contact with, and benefit immediately from the product. However, this is not always true as the ability of the applied film to remain adhered to the rail and provide friction control is limited. Under certain conditions liquid products have worn off before a single train pass.
WO 98/13445 describes several water-based compositions exhibiting a range of frictional compositions including positive frictional characteristics between two steel bodies in rolling-sliding contact. While exhibiting several desirous properties relating to frictional control, these composition exhibit low retentivity, and do not remain associated with the rail for long periods of time, requiring repeated application for optimized performance. These compositions are useful for specific applications, however, for optimized performance repeated re-application is required, and there is an associated increase in cost. Furthermore, due to several of the characteristics of these liquid compositions, these compositions have been found to be unsuitable for atomized spray applications.
While a number of friction modifiers in the prior art exhibit positive friction characteristics, a limitation of the friction modifiers is their inability to be retained on the steel surface and remain effective over prolonged periods. In fact, friction modifiers must be repeatedly applied to the rail head or flange interface to ensure proper friction control and such repeated application can result in substantial costs. Thus, there is a need for friction modifier compositions which exhibit improved retentivity, durability and function over prolonged periods. Such compositions may be effectively used in open in either closed or open rail systems. These compositions may include solid, paste or liquid formulations.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome drawbacks of the prior art and in particular to enhance the retentivity of the friction control compositions.
The above object is met by a combination of the features of the main claims. The sub claims disclose further advantageous embodiments of the invention.
The invention relates to liquid friction control compositions with enhanced retentivity. The present invention relates to friction control compositions for lubricating surfaces which are in sliding or rolling-sliding contact with increased retentivity. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of antioxidants in the friction control compositions to increased the retention of these compositions on the surfaces.
The present invention relates to a liquid friction control composition comprising an antioxidant.
The present invention provides for a friction control composition defined above comprising one or more of a retentivity agent, a rheological control agent, a friction modifier and water.
The friction control composition as defined above may further comprise a wetting agent, an antibacterial agent, a consistency modifier, a defoaming agent, or a combination thereof.
Furthermore, the present invention pertains to a friction control composition as defined above defined above wherein the retentivity agent is selected from the group consisting of acrylic, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, oxazoline, epoxy, alkyd, modified alkyd, acrylic latex, acrylic epoxy hybrids, polyurethane, styrene acrylate, and styrene butadiene based compounds.
This invention also embraces a friction control composition as defined above, wherein the rheological agent is selected from the group consisting of clay, bentonite, montmorillonite, caseine, carboxymethylcellulose, carboxyhydroxymethylcellulose, ethoxymethylcellulose, chitosan, and starch.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of controlling noise between two steel surfaces in sliding-rolling contact comprising applying liquid friction control composition as defined above to at least one of said two steel surfaces. This invention also includes a the above method wherein in the step of applying, the liquid control composition is sprayed onto said at least one of two steel surfaces.
The present invention provides a friction control composition comprising:
(a) from about 40 to about 95 weight percent water;
(b) from about 0.5 to about 50 weight percent theological agent;
(c) from about 0.5 to about 2 weight percent antioxidant; and
one or more of
(d) from about 0.5 to about 40 weight percent retentivity agent;
(e) from about 0 to about 40 weight percent lubricant; and
(f) from about 0 to about 25 weight percent friction modifier
wherein, if the lubricant is about 0 weight percent, then the composition comprises at least about 0.5 weight percent friction modifier, and wherein if the friction modifier is about 0 weight percent, then the composition comprises at least about 1 weight percent lubricant.
The present invention also provides the liquid friction control composition as just defined wherein the rheological agent is selected from the group consisting of clay, bentonite, montmorillonite, caseine, carboxymethylcellulose, carboxyhydroxymethylcellulose, ethoxymethylcellulose, chitosan, and starch. Furthermore, the antioxidant may be selected from the group consisting of a styrenated phenol type antioxidant; an amine type antioxidant, a hindered phenol type antioxidant; a thioester type antioxidant, and a combination thereof. The retentivity agent may be selected from the group consisting of acrylic, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, oxazoline, epoxy, alkyd, urethane acrylic, modified alkyd, acrylic latex, acrylic epoxy hybrids, polyurethane, styrene acrylate, and styrene butadiene, based compounds.
The present invention is directed to a friction control composition (HPF) comprising:
(a) from about 50 to about 80 weight percent water;
(b) from about 1 to about 10 weight percent rheological control agent;
(c) from about 1 to about 5 weight percent friction modifier;
(d) from about 1 to about 16 weight percent retentivity agent;
(e) from about 1 to about 13 weight percent lubricant; and
(f) from about 0.5 to about 2 weight percent antioxidant.
In the liquid friction control composition (HPF), the antioxidant may be selected from the group consisting of a styrenated phenol type antioxidant, a hindered phenol type antioxidant; and amine type antioxidant, a thioester type antioxidant and a combination thereof. The retentivity agent may be selected from the group consisting of acrylic, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, oxazoline, epoxy, alkyd, urethane acrylic, modified alkyd, acrylic latex, acrylic epoxy hybrids, polyurethane, styrene acrylate, and styrene butadiene, based compounds. It is preferred that the retentivity agent is a styrene butadiene compound and the antioxidant is a mixture of a thioester type antioxidant and a hindered phenol type antioxidant. More preferably, the retentivity agent is DOW LATEX 226(copyright) and the antioxidant is OCTOLITE(copyright) 424-50.
According to the present invention, there is provides a friction control composition (VHPF) comprising:
(a) from about 40 to about 80 weight percent water;
(b) from about 0.5 to about 30 weight percent rheological control agent;
(c) from about 2 to about 20 weight percent friction modifier;
(d) from about 0.5 to about 40 weight percent retentivity agent; and
(e) from about 0.5 to about 2 weight percent antioxidant.
In the liquid friction control composition just defined (VHPF), the antioxidant may be selected from the group consisting of a styrenated phenol type antioxidant, a hindered phenol type antioxidant; an amine type antioxidant, a thioester type antioxidant and a combination thereof. The retentivity agent may be selected from the group consisting of acrylic, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, oxazoline, epoxy, alkyd, urethane acrylic, modified alkyd, acrylic latex, acrylic epoxy hybrids, polyurethane, styrene acrylate, and styrene butadiene, based compounds. It is preferred that the retentivity agent is a styrene butadiene compound and the antioxidant is a mixture of a thioester type antioxidant and a hindered phenol type antioxidant. More preferably, the retentivity agent is DOW LATEX 226(copyright) and the antioxidant is OCTOLITE 424-50.
The present invention also pertains to a friction control composition (LCF) comprising:
(a) from about 40 to about 80 weight percent water;
(b) from about 0.5 to about 50 weight percent rheological control agent;
(c) from about 1 to about 40 weight percent lubricant;
(d) from about 0.5 to about 90 weight percent retentivity agent; and
(e) from about 0.5 to about 2 weight percent antioxidant,
In the liquid friction control composition just defined (LCF), the antioxidant may be selected from the group consisting of a styrenated phenol type antioxidant, a hindered phenol type antioxidant; an amine type antioxidant, a thioester type antioxidant and a combination thereof. The retentivity agent may be selected from the group consisting of acrylic, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, oxazoline, epoxy, alkyd, urethane acrylic, modified alkyd, acrylic latex, acrylic epoxy hybrids, polyurethane, styrene acrylate, and styrene butadiene, based compounds. It is preferred that the retentivity agent is a styrene butadiene compound and the antioxidant is a mixture of a thioester type antioxidant and a hindered phenol type antioxidant. More preferably, the retentivity agent is DOW LATEX 226(copyright) and the antioxidant is OCTOLITE(copyright) 424-50.
The present invention also pertains to the use of an antioxidant to enhance the retentivity of the friction control composition to a steel surface. This enhanced retentivity due to the antioxidant occurs whether or not a retentivity agent is present in the friction control composition. One advantage of increasing the retentivity of the friction control composition is that it increases the lifetime of operation or the durability of the friction control compositions.
The present invention also pertains to a method of reducing lateral forces between two steel surfaces in sliding-rolling contact comprising applying liquid friction control composition HPF and LCF defined above at least one of the two steel surfaces.
The present invention embraces a method of reducing drawbar pull between two or more train cars, the method comprising applying the liquid friction control composition HPF and LCF defined above to a surface of one or more wheels of the train cars, or the rail surface over which the train cars travel.
The present invention is directed to enhanced compositions that control the friction between two steel bodies in sliding-rolling contact. One advantage of the friction control compositions of the present invention pertains to an increased retentivity of the composition between the two surfaces, when compared with prior art compounds that readily rub or burn off the applied surfaces during use. Furthermore, the compositions of the present invention exhibit properties that are well adapted for a variety of application techniques that minimizes the amount of composition that needs to be applied. By using these application techniques administration of accurate amounts of composition may be obtained. For example, liquid compositions are suited for spraying onto a surface thereby ensuring a uniform coating of the surface and optimizing the amount of composition to be applied. Compositions may be applied from a wayside applicator ensuring a reduced amount of friction controlling composition to be applied to the surface. Furthermore, by combining application techniques, or locations of applicators, combinations of compositions may be applied to different surfaces that are in sliding-rolling contact to optimize wear, and reduce noise and other properties, for example later forces, and drawbar pull.
This summary does not necessarily describe all necessary features of the invention but that the invention may also reside in a sub-combination of the described features.

Friction control composition with enhanced retentivity


A control system for an oven including a plurality of heating elements positioned within the cooking cavity includes a temperature sensor configured to detect an air temperature within the cooking cavity, a user interface for receiving a desired temperature set point command, and a controller operatively coupled to the temperature sensor and user interface. The controller is configured to determine a power splitting ratio between the first and second heating elements based on user-specified cooking mode and/or type of food being cooked, determine a total power command signal based on a determined error value between the detected cavity air temperature and the desired temperature set point command, and adjust a power level of each of the first and second heating elements based on the total power command and the power splitting ratio.

The present disclosure generally relates to appliances, and more particularly to a control system for a cooking oven.
In an oven, such as an oven for residential use, the air and surfaces in the cooking chamber (often referred to as the oven cavity) are heated by one or more heat sources, typically two, one on at the top of the oven cavity and the other at the bottom. The food in the oven cavity is cooked by a combination of the heated air (natural convection) and infrared (IR) radiation from the heat sources and the cavity's interior surfaces. The evenness of cooking is a desirable feature for a cooking oven. Some ovens monitor the temperature of the air inside the oven cavity and cycle the heat source on and off to attempt to regulate the temperature of the air. When the heat source is turned on, a considerable amount of energy is used to heat the oven cavity in a relatively short time. This can cause imprecise oven temperature control in the form of temperature overshoot, for example. The temperature overshoot can easily result in temperature variations of approximately 20 degrees Fahrenheit, for example, which can lead to uneven cooking. Also, when the heat source is turned on, a considerable amount of direct infrared (IR) radiation radiates from the heat source and impinges on the surfaces of the food being cooked. For even cooking, without over-browning of the food surfaces, it is often more desirable to have a lower, steady amount of radiation rather than larger, pulsing (bursts of) radiation.
A typical oven will include one or more heating elements, such as a broil heating element at the top of oven and a bake heating element at the bottom of the oven. These heating elements are controlled to regulate the temperature of the oven cavity based on feedback from a temperature sensor located within the oven cavity. However, the combined power requirements of both heating elements, which can easily exceed approximately 30-amperes, can exceed the power delivery capacity of the residential power supply, which is typically around 20-amperes. To prevent the oven from drawing more power than can be supplied, in the typical relay-controlled oven, when cycling the heating elements at a very slow rate, such as in a "bang-bang" or hysteresis type control system or a PI/PID control system, the control system algorithm must prevent both heating elements from being operated at the same time. However, in certain cooking modes, it could be advantageous to provide heat from both the broil and bake heating elements at the same time. While certain oven control systems may control both of the heating elements, these systems typically rely on a varying power ratio between the elements in order to maintain the oven cavity temperature nearly constant. However, a varying power ratio can have an adverse effect on cooking performance.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a control system for an oven that addresses at least some of the problems identified above.


Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for selecting a modulation class, coding rate, and/or modulation and coding (MCS) scheme for transmission of a response message corresponding to a received message. Different rules may be applied for selecting the MCS scheme depending on whether or not the frame eliciting the response was transmitted as high throughput (HT) or very high throughput (VHT) transmission.

In order to address the issue of increasing bandwidth requirements demanded for wireless communications systems, different schemes are being developed to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point by sharing the channel resources while achieving high data throughputs. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology represents one such approach that has recently emerged as a popular technique for next generation communication systems. MIMO technology has been adopted in several emerging wireless communications standards such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. The IEEE 802.11 denotes a set of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) air interface standards developed by the IEEE 802.11 committee for short-range communications (e.g., tens of meters to a few hundred meters).
A MIMO system employs multiple (NT) transmit antennas and multiple (NR) receive antennas for data transmission. A MIMO channel formed by the NT transmit and NR receive antennas may be decomposed into NS independent channels, which are also referred to as spatial channels, where NS≦min{NT, NR}. Each of the NS independent channels corresponds to a dimension. The MIMO system can provide improved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or greater reliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.
Current IEEE 802.11ac specifications do not describe how a station should select a transmission rate and/or modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for control response frames. Accordingly, techniques are needed for selecting a MCS and rate in response to reception of a frame (e.g., a control frame or other type of frame) that elicits a response. The selected MCS may be used by a wireless device to transmit a response to the received frame.

Rate selection for frames in wireless devices


A light fixture apparatus includes a support frame mounted to the wall and an auxiliary or examination light source coupled to the support frame and movable from a first stored position to a second deployed position. A first switch in series with the auxiliary light source is opened when the auxiliary light is in the stored position and closed when the auxiliary light is in the deployed position. The light source has three degrees of adjustment. The light source is connected to one end of telescopic members which are pivotally connected at its second end to the support to pivot about an axis transverse the telescoping axis. A safety switch is provided adjacent the telescopic members to sense the pivoting.

The present invention relates generally to light fixture apparatus for mounting on a wall of a room and more particularly to an improved patient auxiliary light mounted to the wall of a hospital room.
Some conventional hospital rooms are provided with a track mounted on a wall of the hospital room. Lights, electrical outlets and various other ancillary equipment are mounted to this track. A typical example is the Integris Patient Light and Headwall System available from Hill-Rom of Batesville, Ind. and is described in U.S. patent application 08/705,214 filed Aug. 29, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference. The auxiliary light source disclosed in the aforementioned mentioned rotates about an axis parallel to the wall and may be used as an examination light. Such light has only one degree of freedom of adjustment.
The present invention provides an auxiliary or examination light for a hospital room which has more than one degree of freedom of adjustment.
The light fixture apparatus of the present invention is configured to be mounted onto the wall of the room, preferably a hospital room. It includes a support frame mounted to the wall and an auxiliary or examination light source coupled to the support frame and movable from a first stored position to a second deployed position. Also, depending upon the light fixture, it may include another light box coupled with a frame and including a light source. A first switch in series with the auxiliary light source is opened when the auxiliary light is in the stored position and closed when the auxiliary light is in the deployed position. An on/off switch is connected in series with the first switch and the auxiliary light source. While the on/off switch is preferably coupled to the support frame, the first is coupled to the support frame to detect the stored or deployed position of the auxiliary light source. A transformer for the light source is coupled to the support frame and connected electrically to the first switch and the auxiliary light source. Also, a fan may be coupled to the auxiliary light source and connected electrically to the first switch and the auxiliary light source.
A pair of telescopic members move relatively to each other along a first axis and couple the auxiliary light source to the support frame. Telescopic members allow the auxiliary light source to move from the stored position to the deployed position. The auxiliary light source is rotatably connected to a first end of the telescopic members. A bracket is pivotally connected to the first end of the telescopic members to pivot about a second axis transverse to the first axis. The auxiliary light source is connected to the bracket. This produces the pivotal motion of the auxiliary light source about the second axis. The auxiliary light source is pivotally connected to the bracket to pivot about a third axis transverse to the second axis. A stop is provided to limit the pivoting of the auxiliary source about the third axis. Thus the light source has three degrees of adjustment, namely one, along the first axis of the telescopic members, two, pivoting about the second axis and three, pivoting about the third axis. Alternatively, the pair of telescopic members may rotate relative to each other. Again, a stop is provided to limit the relative rotation of the telescopic members. In this embodiment, the light source is pivotally connected to the first end of the telescopic members to pivot about the second axis transverse to the first axis.
In both embodiments, the telescopic members are pivotally connected at its second end to the support to pivot about a fourth axis transverse the first axis. The frame includes a stop and a spring biasing the telescopic members about the fourth axis towards the stop. A switch is provided adjacent the telescopic members to sense the pivoting about this fourth axis. This switch is a safety switch connected to the electrical system of the bed such that if the telescopic members pivot up, the safety switch will open and disconnect the power source to the bed.
A cover is coupled to the support frame and has a first contour extending from the support frame. A housing for the auxiliary light source has, in the stored position, a second contour extending from the support which is similar to the first contour of the cover. The auxiliary light source housing has opposed end walls which in the stored position are transverse to the support frame. The lamp of he auxiliary light source is positioned in the housing such that the illumination from the lamp exits an aperture in one of the end walls.


The present invention generally relates to composite laminates and uses thereof in articles in need of protection from mechanical damage and water or oxygen based degradation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to composite laminates and uses thereof in articles in need of protection from mechanical damage and water or oxygen based degradation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chemical and allied industries have used composite laminates to protect articles sensitive to degradation from degradation-causing conditions. Examples of degradation-causing conditions are exposure to one or more of ultraviolet light; elevated temperatures; atmospheres containing water, oxygen, or both; and mechanical damage. Examples of the sensitive articles needing such protection are electronic devices, including light emitting diodes and photovoltaic cells and modules, which are especially vulnerable when exposed to weather elements such as, for example, hail, wind, rain, and snow. For example, mechanical damage to photovoltaic cells and modules can occur during their manufacture, transportation, installation, and use (e.g., resulting from hail impact, wind, and snow loads). Exposure of photovoltaic cells and modules to moisture and oxygen can corrode metal contacts and interconnects and, for thin-film photovoltaic cells and modules, degrade transparent conductive oxide layers thereof.
In their quest for new composite laminates, skilled artisans have tried many types of materials and constructions thereof from among the vast number and variety of materials and constructions already known to man for forming composite laminates therewith. The skilled artisan must conduct numerous tests on the would-be composite laminates in order to determine whether or not they have desirable properties (e.g., gas or vapor barrier properties and impact resistance) and, hopefully, other important functional properties. Skilled artisans have been overwhelmed by a vast number of choices and property requirements within the field of composite laminates, which makes creating improved composite laminates an unwieldy and unpredictable task.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,070 B1 mentions, among other things, a glass-plastic composite film. The glass-plastic composite film consists of a glass film that is between 10 micrometers (μm) and 500 μm thick and a polymer layer with a thickness of between 1 μl and 200 μm, which is applied directly to at least one of the side faces of said film and in that at least one side on the surface of the film has a waviness of less than 100 nanometers (nm) and a roughness RT<30 nm. U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,070 B1 mentions a bewildering number of choices and fails to teach or suggest a glass-plastic composite film having an improved combination of mechanical damage-resistance and water- or oxygen-barrier properties.
In another example, International Patent Application Publication Number WO 2005/110741 A1 mentions, among other things, a process for preparing a composite layered structure comprising a virgin contact-free glass film and a polymer film adhered to the virgin contact-free glass film, the process comprising melting and drawing an inorganic glass material to form a virgin contact-free solid glass film, and applying a polymer film on at least one side of the virgin contact-free glass film. WO 2005/110741 A1 also mentions, among other things, a composite layered material suitable for use in optical display systems comprising a monolithic glass film and a polymer film adhered to at least one side of the glass film, where the glass film has a thickness of less than 20 μm. WO 2005/110741 A1 also mentions, among other things, use of the composite layered material as a barrier layer in optical display systems. WO 2005/110741 A1 also mentions a bewildering number of choices and fails to teach or suggest a composite layered material having an improved combination of mechanical damage-resistance and water- or oxygen-barrier properties.
In still another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,608 mentions, among other things, a thermoplastic interlayer film. Examples 3 and 4 mention rigid glass-polymer film-glass laminates where the glass layers are 3 millimeters thick each and the polymer film can be prepared with a mixture of a polyolefin and vinyltrimethoxysilane or aminopropyltriethoxysilane coupling agent.
In still another example, WO 2008/036222 mentions, among other things, transparent compositions and laminates. Examples mention rigid glass-polymer film-glass laminates where the glass layers are 3 millimeters thick each and the polymer film can be prepared with certain silane-grafted polyolefins.


A lamp socket for holding lamp tube is disclosed. The socket comprises a base seat with a front face having a cavity slot with an open end and the lateral walls of the cavity slot being an arch-shaped portion and a top end disposed with a sliding slot in communication therewith. Two conductive pegs are provided to the bottom edge of the arch-shaped portion and two wire securing conductive plates are connected to the conductive pegs. A panel is sued to cover the front face of the base seat and the body of the panel is provided with a guiding slot to parallel guide the sliding of the pins of the lamp tube. A lamp pin engaging device including an urging element, and having two lateral sides is provided with conductive copper plates. The center region of the engaging device is disposed with an interlining shaft which can be extended up and down. The urging motion of the interlinkig shaft will shift the urging plate to be at high or low position.

1 Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lamp socket, and in particular, to a lamp socket having the function of pre-investigating of module status with respect to abnormality and the function of restoring to normal operation condition. The lamp socket allows precise mounting of the fluorescent tube to provide rapid lighting.
2 Description of the Prior Art
Conventional types of lamp socket for holding lamp tube are of two types, i.e., the elastic support socket and the rotatably mounting socket. In the elastic support socket, an elastic insertion socket is in combination with a base seat, and the elastic insertion socket is compressible and restorable. The insertion socket is provided with conductive insertion holes for the insertion of the fluorescent tube tip. Thus, it provides support to the fluorescent tube and to electrically conduction of the fluorescent tube. However, after a period of use, the disassembly or installation of the tube is laborious and inconvenient. One hand is needed to hold the fluorescent tube and the other hand is used to mount the fluorescent tube onto the elastic insertion socket, so as to cause the fluorescent tube pins to be precisely inserted or removed. The use of both hands to complete the installation or disassemble is not only troublesome, but also a danger for the reason that the hand may accidentally touch the current and electrocuted.
The other type of rotating socket has a base seat combined with a rotating seat. The fluorescent tube pins are corresponding to conductive plates on the rotating socket. The tube is rotated to 90 degree so as to engage or contact with the conductive copper plate and to provide support and electrically conduction of the fluorescent tube. The rotating socket allows rapid assembly and/or disassembly, but to rotate for 90 degree of the fluorescent tube is not convenient.
Taiwanese Patent Application No. 89209682 entitled xe2x80x9csocket structure for fluorescent tubexe2x80x9d discloses a rapid socket which allows rapid mounting by a pressing method.
The socket structure allows rapid disassembly. However, it is not possible to determine the position of the conductive copper plates or to adjust or to restore the height of the conductive copper plates.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lamp socket for holding a lamp tube.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a lamp structure for holding lamp tube comprising a base seat with a front face having a cavity slot with an open bottom end and the lateral walls of the cavity slot being an arch-shaped portion and a top end disposed with a sliding slot in communication therewith; and two conductive peg mounted at the bottom end of the arch-shaped portion of the cavity slot; two wire securing conductive plates having one end connected to the end terminal of the conductive peg and the other end being bent to allow the core of wire to be inserted to the elastic mounting section; a panel covered the front face of the base seat, the body of the panel provided with a guiding slot to parallel guide the sliding of the pins of the lamp tube, and a lamp pin engaging device including an urging element, and having two lateral sides provided with conductive copper plates to closely slide along the lateral walls of the cavity slot, and having a center region disposed with an inter-linking shaft which can be extended up and down, whereby the urging motion of the interlinking shaft shifting the urging plate to be at the high and low position within the cavity slot.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a lamp socket for holding lamp tube, wherein the interlinking shaft is provided with a color different from that of the base seat.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a lamp socket for holding lamp tube, wherein the bottom edge of the interlinking shaft is extended to form a smaller diameter section such that when the urging plate is at a high position, the smaller diameter section is exactly exposed from the bottom face of the base seat.
The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.


A hollow core coaxial catheter supporting a heatable probe or balloon transmits electrical power, such as RF energy, to the ohmically resistive probe or balloon. The hollow core may accommodate passage of a guide wire, fiber optics for imaging or laser, fluid flow for perfusion and/or a lumen for fluid inflation and pressurization of a balloon. Inner and outer electrical conductors are disposed on radially opposed sides of dielectric tubing with an outer covering of dielectric material mechanically shielding and electrically insulating the outer conductor. A similar inner covering of dielectric material may be disposed radially inwardly of the inner conductor to mechanically and electrically insulate the inner conductor. An ohmically resistive load, in the event RF energy is the power source, interconnects the inner and outer conductors to form the probe. An inflatable balloon of predetermined expanded configuration and inflatable via the lumen may be formed proximate or as a part of the probe to expand arterial plaque heated by the probe or to heat and expand the arterial plaque to a predetermined configuration. The RF energy, if used, will heat the probe or balloon and monitor and manage the temperature of the probe or the balloon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to revascularization of coronary and peripheral arteries through catheter apparatus for treating coronary stenosis and for reestablishing and maintaining coronary circulation and, more particularly, to a highly flexible hollow core coaxial cable for supporting and energizing an electrically or radiant energy heated probe or balloon or fluid inflated balloon, while simultaneously maintaining blood flow and fiber optics provisions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cardiovascular restriction or occlusion due to coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease may be addressed by any of a number of medical procedures. Pharmacological approaches for inducing dilation of the blood vessels are of a temporary nature and may have undesirable secondary results. Surgical techniques include coronary bypass surgery involving implantation of substitute blood vessels to bypass blood flow around the blockage; as with any major surgery, substantial risks are involved. Recent improvements in laser technology have resulted in development of the capability to medically insert a laser delivery fiber optic close to the blockage to permit lasing the blockage. Such lasing may vaporize, segment or otherwise disengage plaque from the artery. An inflatable balloon may be used to maintain the laser emitting fiber optic end close to the blockage and to widen the artery. Such coronary laser angioplasty procedures and equipment suffer from several significant drawbacks. The particulate matter disengaged will become suspended in the blood stream and may become relocated elsewhere. The extraordinarily high and uncontrolled heat from the laser beam or laser heated tip may permanently damage the artery wall or nearby tissue. The disposable and non disposable parts of the apparatus are very expensive. Danger also exists from laser perforation of the blood vessel wall.
Radio frequency (RF) energy has been discharged from the discharge end of a catheter to electro abrade arterial plaque. The lack of control of the amount of energy radiated poses a serious threat to cardiovascular integrity and to damage of even surrounding tissue. Alternatively, RF has been used to heat the tip of a catheter, which heated catheter is used to thermally mold and displace the plaque. To be effective, sufficient power must be applied to overcome the damping effects of blood flow rate, the distance between the source of RF radiation or hot tip and the plaque, the thickness of the plaque, the extent of fatty tissue, etc.; where these damping factors are minimal, cardiovascular damage is probable. Alternatively, a two electrode device for transmitting RF (discharging) energy therebetween has been used at a specific location adjacent one of the electrodes. The high uncontrolled concentration of heat poses a serious threat of cardiovascular damage.
Ultrasonic techniques have been used to emulsify or fragment arterial plaque. In conjunction therewith, an aspiration tube may be employed to remove the fragmented plaque.
Recent techniques suggest the use of heating liquids adjacent arterial plaque by a chemical exothermic reaction.

Engineering and Research Associates, Inc.


A method for quickly calculating mileage includes the steps: A, receiving report data from a vehicular terminal and updating data center according to the report data; B, receiving an inquiry request which includes a vehicle number, a first time point which is earlier than a second time point and the second time point which are requested to inquire; C, inquiring the data center to acquire a first total mileage value to which the time point that is proximate to the first time point corresponds and a second total mileage value to which the time point that is proximate to the second time point corresponds; D, obtaining a running mileage L from the first time point to the second time point by subtracting the first total mileage value from the second total mileage value. A system for quickly calculating mileage quickly is also proposed. The method and the system can calculate mileage quickly and accurately, reduce the processing burden of the data center, and facilitate the vehicle surveillance of the traffic department.

In the past, vehicle mileage data in a certain period of time can only be obtained by reading a vehicle odometer. However, many vehicle odometers are broken and thus cannot indicate the mileage data accurately. Moreover, the mileage data can be adjusted manually even for some high-end cars. As such, it is hard for management units of such vehicles to obtain accurate running mileage of these vehicles, thus making it possible for a vehicle user to abuse his/her vehicle.
Based on the reasons above, a method for acquiring total running mileage of vehicles is provided, which reports current GPS mileage value to a data center by usage of GPS and then accumulates the mileage data in the data center to get the total running mileage. Nevertheless, this method has the following drawbacks. On one hand, software of the data center may crash, in which case the reported mileage may not be stored into a hard disk in the data center, which results in that the accumulated total mileage data is a little smaller; on the other hand, there is too much or even mass of reported mileage, thereby causing difficulty in processing to software of the data center.
Accordingly, it is needed to find out a new kind of method for calculating mileage so as to solve the problems above.

Method and system for quickly calculating mileage


A system for designing an integrated circuit generates a schematic of the integrated circuit based on a set of system design rule constraints. The system also receives a proposed device array layout from a device array design module. The device array design module is configured to generate the proposed device array layout free from the set of system design rule constraints. The system further generates a revised schematic of the integrated circuit including the proposed device array layout. The system additionally determines if the revised schematic violates one or more of the system design rule constraints.

Integrated circuit design systems implement processes that often include generating a circuit schematic of an integrated circuit being designed, performing a pre-layout simulation on the circuit schematic to simulate a performance of the integrated circuit, generating a layout of the integrated circuit, and performing a design verification on the layout of the integrated circuit. Integrated circuit design systems sometimes perform a post-layout simulation on the layout of the integrated circuit taking various layout-dependent effects (LDEs) into account, to reflect actual circuit performance more accurately. The integrated circuit design system typically compares the simulated performance characteristics to the design specification to approve or disapprove of a design.

Integrated circuit design flow with device array layout generation

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.


Techniques for HTTP header compression are described herein. In an implementation, an electronic device may be configured to enable compression/decompression of HTTP messages, including compression/decompression of information in the headers of the messages. A HTTP message is generated that contains at least a header and a body. The HTTP message is reformatted to place at least some of the header information into the body. Then, the body of the reformatted message having the header information is compressed to form a compressed HTTP message. Decompression may be applied by a recipient of the compressed HTTP message to reconstruct the original HTTP message.

Portable electronic devices including navigation devices are becoming increasingly more popular. As the popularity of portable electronic devices has increased, manufacturers have responded by developing cross-functional devices to provide multiple functions. Thus, enhanced electronic devices may be configured to provide a wide range of functions and applications, only some of which are location-oriented. For instance, an electronic device may provide a combination of position-determining functionality, mobile phone service, Internet capability and so on. Further, an electronic device may be configured to utilize more than one position-determining technique to determine its geographic locations. When used for various activities, portable electronic devices may use hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to send and receive messages.
Due to the limited resources (bandwidth, processing power, battery life, etc) of some electronic devices, compression that reduces the size of the messages may be employed by the devices to manage and preserve the resources. Traditional compression techniques involve applying compression to the body of a message while leaving the header of the message intact. For messages containing a substantial amount of information in the header, though, traditional techniques that compress the body alone may not achieve a sufficient reduction in the size of the messages.


In one embodiment, a method for identifying areas in a document image is provided. The method comprises generating binarized and gradient images based on the document image; and performing a classification operation to classify areas in the document image into one of a noise area and a picture area based on attributes computed on the binarized and gradient images.

Document recognition typically involves a stage at which the structure of the document is analyzed. At this stage, various areas are identified in the document image, their sizes and positions are saved to memory, and their classes are detected based on their content, for e.g. text, picture, table, chart, or noise.
Thus, picture areas are detected in the document image by that part of the OCR software which is responsible for analysis and is therefore termed the analyzer.
Various solutions are available for distinguishing between text and non-text areas, but not for distinguishing between noise and picture areas. When dealing with magazine pages with complicated layouts, finding and identifying picture objects is of great practical importance. Magazine articles will often have text printed over photographs, which in turn, may have non-rectangular borders of various shapes.

Identifying picture areas based on gradient image analysis


Provided are an apparatus and method for treating a substrate. More particularly, an apparatus and method for treating a substrate through a supercritical process are provided. The apparatus includes: a housing having an entrance in a predetermined surface thereof and providing a space for performing a high pressure process; a support member disposed in the housing to support a substrate; a door for opening and closing the entrance; and a pressing member configured to apply a force to the door so as to close the housing during the high pressure process.

The present invention disclosed herein relates to an apparatus and method for treating a substrate, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for treating a substrate through a supercritical process.
Semiconductor devices are manufactured by forming circuit patterns on a substrate through various processes such as a photolithography process. During such processes, contaminants such as particles, organic contaminants, and metallic impurities are generated, which cause defects on a substrate and affect the yield of semiconductor device manufacturing processes. Therefore, cleaning processes are included in semiconductor device manufacturing processes to remove such contaminants.
Generally, a cleaning process is performed by removing contaminants from a substrate using a detergent, washing the substrate using deionized water (DI water), replacing the DI water with an organic solvent having low surface tension such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and evaporating the organic solvent. However, semiconductor devices having fine circuit patterns are not satisfactorily dried, and the fine circuit patterns may easily collapse even by low surface tension of an organic solvent during a drying process.
Thus, as a drying process, the use of a supercritical drying process increases, in which a supercritical fluid is used to dry semiconductor devices having a line width of about 30 nm or lower. Supercritical fluids mean any substance being at a temperature and pressure above its critical point and having both the gas and liquid properties. Supercritical fluids are outstanding in diffusion ability, permeation ability, and dissolving other substrates, and have little surface tension. Thus, supercritical fluids can be usefully used for dying substrates.
However, a process chamber for performing a supercritical process has a large foot print to maintain a high-pressure supercritical state, and thus the substrate throughput thereof is low.

Apparatus and method for treating substrate


A closure device for sealing an aperture of a storage container includes a trap frame, and a trap door connected to the trap frame for movement with respect to the trap frame. The trap door is movable between an open condition and a closed condition, and the trap door in the closed condition seals the aperture. The trap door includes a traversing frame having two side supports and multiple inner rollers extending between the side supports. A belt surrounds the traversing frame, and revolves around the traversing frame as the trap door moves between the open and closed condition. The belt is connected to the trap frame such that at least a portion of the belt remains stationary in relation to the trap frame while the traversing frame moves, and at least a portion of the belt moves in relation to the trap frame while the traversing frame moves.

The present invention relates to storage containers, and more particularly to closure devices for storage containers, such as a door, gate or chute.
Bulk commodity hoppers are storage containers commonly used to store a wide variety of products, such as grain, produce, fertilizer, and rock. Hoppers may be incorporated into trailers, vessels, railroad cars, and other vehicles to transport a bulk commodity, or may be part of a stationary storage structure. Hoppers generally use gravity to discharge the bulk commodity stored within the hopper, and include sloping panels that direct the bulk commodity to a common lower discharge outlet near the bottom of the hopper. In some prior art arrangements, a rigid sliding trap door is used to open, close, or seal the lower discharge outlet. Because the trap door is located under the bulk commodity, the gravitational force from the bulk commodity applies a relatively large downward force upon the trap door. The trap door is generally a horizontally moving door, and the downward force from the commodity on the door creates a friction force against the trap door while the door is being opened.
Prior art trap doors are typically rigid structures with flat upper surfaces, and slide along rails or guides while being opened or closed. As the trap door slides open, the friction from the bulk commodity resists the opening movement and hinders sliding the trap door out from underneath the bulk commodity. Due to the friction force caused by the bulk commodity, a relatively large force may be required to open the trap door. In some prior art trap door opening systems, a gear reduction mechanism provides a mechanical advantage and enables a person to overcome the frictional forces and open the trap door more easily. However, gear reduction mechanisms are often heavy, cumbersome, and can result in slower opening speeds and/or loss of control of the door.
Trap doors of bulk commodity hoppers are usually operated manually with a crank assembly, and the operator must overcome the friction force to open the door. Therefore, any reduction of the friction force also tends to reduce the effort a person must exert to open the door. One known method to reduce the friction force is to have a wedge-shaped door with a slightly inclined top surface so that one end of the door is slightly higher than the other end. An example of a trap door utilizing such an inclined top surface is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,948 issued to Putze. This slanted design slightly shifts the normal force on the door to provide a horizontally acting force component, but the rigid trap door still experiences friction from sliding across the bulk commodity. The force needed to open the slanted trap door may be reduced with this method, but the required force is still relatively large and may be difficult for an average person to operate.
The invention provides a closure device that greatly reduces the force required to open the closure device. The closure device utilizes a belt or flexible membrane for the trap door. The belt rolls or xe2x80x9cpeelsxe2x80x9d away from under the bulk commodity, instead of sliding across it. Since the belt does not slide against the bulk commodity, the friction force between the bulk commodity and the belt is substantially eliminated.
More particularly, the invention has a trap frame that surrounds and defines an aperture near the bottom of the hopper. The trap frame supports a trap door that moves with respect to the trap frame between an open condition and a closed condition. When the trap door is in the open condition, the aperture is open and the bulk commodity may pass through the aperture. When the trap door is in the closed condition, the aperture is closed and substantially sealed, and the bulk commodity may be retained within the hopper.
The trap door includes a traversing frame and a belt. The traversing frame has two side supports that are spaced apart, and have longitudinal axes that are substantially parallel to each other. The traversing frame has multiple inner rollers extending between the side supports. The multiple rollers may rotate with respect to the side supports. The traversing frame extends substantially horizontally and moves substantially horizontally from a position beneath the opening to a position away from the opening.
The belt is a flexible member, similar to a conveyor belt, that at least partially surrounds the traversing frame. The belt seals the aperture when the trap door is closed, so the belt must remain in tension to retain the bulk commodity. Both ends of the belt are preferably stationary and are joined to the trap frame to maintain tension in the belt. The belt moves around the traversing frame as the trap door moves between the open and closed conditions.
More accurately, perhaps, the traversing frame moves horizontally within the interior of the belt. As the traversing frame moves from the closed condition to the open condition, the upper run of the belt travels around the end roller of the traversing frame to the bottom of the traversing frame, at the same time xe2x80x9cpeelingxe2x80x9d away from the upper opening and the material in the hopper. During this movement, the lower run of the belt moves around the opposite end roller of the traversing frame, becoming the upper run in a position offset from the opening. This arrangement is similar to a conveyor belt with the frame moving inside the belt instead of being stationary.


The present invention relates to compounds shown in the general formula (I) or (III), the salts thereof or their mixtures, as well as their preparation method and application. In the general formula (I), X1 is H or CO2H; X2 is OH or phenyl group with 0-2 sulfonic acid substituents, and the sulfonic acid substituents are located at random positions of a benzene ring; when X2 is OH, X1 is H; when X2 is phenyl group with 0-2 sulfonic acid substituents, X1 is H or CO2H; n is an integer of 0-2; and in the general formula (III), n and m are respectively an integer of 0-2. The compounds and the mixtures not only have improved light resistance, ozone resistance and water resistance, but also have excellent water solubility and long-term stability in ink-jet ink.

Among color recording methods, ink-jet printing is one of the typical ones. So far, varieties of ink jetting methods have been developed to form fine ink drops which will be adsorbed on recording materials (e.g., paper, film, fabric, etc.) to achieve the purpose of recording. As the nozzles do not contact the recording materials, so ink jet printers are characterized by quietness as well as ease in realizing miniaturization, high-speed and colorization. Therefore, ink jet printing has been developed rapidly in recent years.
Traditional inks are prepared as follows: water-soluble dyes are dissolved in aqueous medium and water-soluble organic solvents capable of preventing inks from blocking nibs are added to prepare inks for fountain pens and brush pens. Different from traditional inks, inkjet inks requires to be capable of forming high-density images, not blocking nozzles, drying well, bleeding little and being stored stably. In addition, images formed by ink-jet inks must have water resistance, light resistance, moisture resistance, ozone resistance, solubility, and fastness of these properties.
When applications of ink-jet printers expand from small printers to industrial large printers, higher requirements are raised for fastness of water resistance, moisture resistance, light resistance and gas resistance. Water resistance: Usually the substrate surface may adsorb porous silicon oxide, cationic polymers, alumina sol or special ceramics, and thus if dyes are applied on paper surface together with such organic or inorganic particles as well as PVA resin, water resistance can be significantly improved. Light resistance: In the four primary colors, namely yellow, magenta, cyan and black, magenta has the weakest light resistance and can seriously affect image quality; therefore, it has become an important subject to improve light resistance of magenta dyes. Moisture resistance: if printed images are to be saved in a high-humidity environment, it is required that dyes, as part of recording materials, are of good anti-bleeding fastness. If bleeding of dyes occurs, image quality will be significantly reduced, especially on occasions that high requirements are imposed on color matching for photos. However, compared with water resistance, improvement of light resistance, moisture resistance, ozone resistance and solubility are more difficult to be realized.
In addition, with the wide popularity of digital cameras in recent years, the opportunity to print photos at home is increasing. When the printed products are stored, oxidizing gases in indoor air which causes discoloration of images has also become one of the problems. Oxidizing gases cause discoloration and fading of images by reaction with the dyes on or in the recording paper. Particularly, ozone gas is a principal substance of promoting oxidization and fading of inkjet printed images, so the improvement of ozone gas resistance has become a subject equally important as the improvement of light resistance.
Typical examples of magenta dyes for inkjet inks include: xanthene type rhodamine dyes and azo dyes derived from H-acid coupling. While rhodamine dyes are most prominent in tone and brightness, they are extremely poor in light resistance. H-acid derived azo dyes are of good luster and water resistance and meanwhile are of poor light resistance, ozone resistance and brightness; particularly compared with cyan dyes with copper phthalocyanine as the representative and yellow azo dyes, it is still of poor light resistance.
In recent years, magenta dyes of outstanding light resistance have been developed, including anthrapyridone dyes. They have no Carbonyl Propyl Sulfuryl on their molecular scaffolds, indicating advantages of brightness, light resistance, ozone resistance, etc.
Examples include patents of Fuji Photo Film: JP2007138124A, JP2007224119A, CN101370882A, WO2009044094A2, US2010080908A1, GB2464188A; patents of Canon: US2002041318A1, US2002036681A1, JP2002069349A, JP2006199922A, CN101298526A, US2007242100A1, US2005057607A1; patents of Epson: US2005115458A1, US2005115459A1, US2007263055A1, US2008257209A1; patents of Avecia: U.S. Pat. NO. 6183549B1, and GB2353533A; Patents of Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.: EP0927747A1, JP2000109464A, JP2000191660A, U.S. Pat. No. 6471760B1, JP2002332419, U.S. Pat. No.6648952B1, US2004134383A1, EP1626070A1, US2006219131A1, WO2009116243A1, CN101547976A, US2010015410A1 (2010.1.21); patents of ILFORD: US2010075047A1 and the like.
However, dyes revealed in these patents do not meet all requirements of tone, brightness, light resistance, water resistance, ozone resistance as well as solubility and solution stability. Although light resistance and ozone resistance of some dyes have been improved, the solubility of the dyes and the long-term stability of inkjet inks are still insufficient. Long-term stability of dyes in inks is associated with their solubility; especially the solubility of dyes in water is not ideal on many occasions.

Carbonyl propyl sulfuryl anthrapyridone sulfonic acid compounds and their preparation methods and applications


A simple class CMOS AB amplifier capable of operating from a single 3 volt supply while driving a 2000 picofarad load.

CMOS analog integrated circuits (such as operational amplifiers), and the use of class AB amplifiers as output stages thereof, are well known in the analog IC art. Heretofore, however, such amplifiers suffered by reason of their complexity (typically of the associated bias circuitry) and their requirements for relatively high operating voltages.
In accordance with the present invention, a CMOS operational amplifier is provided with improved input, predriver and output stages that overcome drawbacks of the prior art. The input stage features high gain and a very small offset voltage. The predriver and output stages cooperate to yield low distortion class AB operation with a minimum of circuit complexity. The resulting amplifier can be operated with a single 3 volt power supply and is ideal for driving large capacitive loads in systems requiring very low power consumption.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.


An image forming apparatus includes a main body; a process unit configured to be attached to and removed from the main body, the process unit being configured to integrally hold a plurality of image carriers arranged in a first direction; a plurality of developing cartridges provided in corresponding association with the image carriers, the developing cartridges configured to be attached to and removed from the process unit, each of the developing cartridges including a corresponding developer carrier, each of the developing cartridges being configured to supply developer to a corresponding image carrier; and a pressing mechanism provided in the main body, the pressing mechanism configured to press the developing cartridges, when attached to the process unit, in a direction that the developer carriers contact the image carriers.

A known tandem image forming apparatus is provided with photosensitive members, which are horizontally arranged in tandem with each other, in association with yellow, magenta, cyan and black toner. Such a tandem image forming apparatus can print in color at substantially the same speed as printing in monochrome, because a toner image of each color is formed substantially at the same time on the corresponding one of the photosensitive members and each of the different colored images is sequentially laid on top of each other on a sheet while the sheet passes through the photosensitive members.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,011 proposes a tandem-type color image forming apparatus including a photosensitive member cartridge in which photosensitive members for each color are supported by a frame. In this image forming apparatus, the photosensitive member cartridge is slidingly attached to and removed from an apparatus body and developing cartridges for developing an electrical latent image formed on each photosensitive member are attached to and removed from the frame.
In the proposed image forming apparatus, guide ridges are formed on two opposing side surfaces of each developing cartridge. At the inner upper sides of two opposing side plates of the frame, there are provided guide grooves for receiving the guide ridges at constant positions corresponding to the photosensitive members. The guide ridges are inserted from above in the associated guide grooves, so that the developing cartridges are mounted in the frame. The developing cartridges are withdrawn from the frame along the guide grooves. The frame is provided with fixing levers in association with the guide grooves. The developing cartridges are fixed with respect to the associated photosensitive members by the fixing levers.

Image forming apparatus having a cover and a pressing mechanism for pressing a developing cartridge when closing the cover


A double walled container is provided by an inner container that is fitted within an outer container. End flaps are provided on the outer container for engaging the inner container and closing the gap between the inner container and the outer container. The method involves lifting the inner container out of the outer container, removing the grease from the inner container, and inserting the outer container back into the inner container.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing grease.
Currently grease is stored at various establishments in a single-walled container. Periodically a truck comes to the container, lifts it by chains, and dumps the contents into a large container in the truck. On some occasions, particularly in winter, the container is first dipped in hot water to loosen the grease from the side walls of the container before dumping it into the larger container of the truck.
Single walled containers are susceptible to developing leaks at the site where the containers are stored. Therefore it is desirable to provide a double-walled container.
Double-walled containers have been provided, but such containers require the replacement of the single wall containers. It is desirable to provide an outer container which can be combined with an inner container so that the present single-walled containers can be used.
Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is the provision of a method and apparatus for storing grease.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a method and apparatus for storing grease which utilizes a double wall construction so as to minimize the spillage of grease at the site where the container is located.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a method and apparatus for storing grease which utilizes an outer container that can be combined with present single wall containers to provide a double wall container.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a method and apparatus for storing grease which is economical to manufacture, durable in use, and efficient in operation.


In an embodiment described herein, a method for a mechanism to turn a post processing feature in the Device Media Foundation Transform is described. The method comprises managing, at a device integration service executing on a computing device, a current setting of a feature and updating the current setting as stored in a registry in response to a changed setting of the feature and asserting a setting changed event. The method also includes applying the updated current setting to captured media samples via the Device Media Foundation Transform in response to the asserted setting changed event.

A media foundation transform (MFT) is a model that processes media data and is included in a media foundation architecture. An MFT may include one or more decoders, encoders, converters, scalers, multiplexers, demultiplexers, and the like for managing input media data. An MFT has one or more input streams of data and one or more output streams that produce data. Applications use predefined interfaces to access post-processing provided by the MFT.

Mechanism to turn on/off post-processing features in the device media foundation transform