A microprocessor with a fused reservation stations (RS) structure including a primary RS, a secondary RS, and a bypass system. The primary RS has an input for receiving issued instructions, has a push output for pushing the issued instructions to the secondary RS, and has at least one bypass output for dispatching issued instructions that are ready for dispatch. The secondary RS has an input coupled to the push output of the primary RS and has at least one dispatch output. The bypass system selects between the bypass output of the primary RS and at least one dispatch output of the secondary RS for dispatching selected issued instructions. The primary and secondary RS may each be selected from different RS structure types. A unify RS provides a suitable primary RS, and the secondary RS may include multiple queues. The bypass output enables direct dispatch from the primary RS.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the process of issuing and dispatching instructions in a microprocessor, and more particularly to a fused reservation stations module that dispatches instructions for execution by the microprocessor more efficiently and with improved performance.
Description of the Related Art
Many modern microprocessors are superscalar in which they include multiple execution units and are capable of dispatching multiple instructions to the execution units in a single clock cycle. Many modern microprocessors also perform out-of-order (O-O-O) execution. That is, the microprocessor may execute instructions out of the order specified by the instructions of the software program. Superscalar out-of-order execution microprocessors typically attempt to maintain a relatively large pool of outstanding instructions so that they can take advantage of a larger amount of instruction parallelism.
A microprocessor executes the instructions of a corresponding instruction set architecture, such as the x86 instruction set architecture or the like. In many such microprocessors, the instructions of the instruction set architecture, often referred to as macroinstructions, are first translated into microinstructions (or micro-operations or "μops") that are issued to a reservation stations module, which in turn dispatches the instructions to the execution units. The microinstructions are more generally referred to herein simply as the instructions. The instructions are also issued to a reorder buffer (ROB) which ensures in-order retirement of the instructions.
The reservation stations (RS) include one or more ordered queues. When there are multiple instructions that are ready for dispatch from an RS queue, meaning that the instructions have met the conditions for being dispatched to an execution unit, then one or more of the ready instructions are dispatched to corresponding execution units. An instruction is ready for dispatch when an execution unit is available and when any operands necessary for instruction execution are also available. The efficiency and performance of the RS both need to improve as microprocessor design becomes increasingly more complex. It is desired to improve the timing and throughput of the RS by making it smaller and more efficient. The RS should also provide greater entry efficiency and increased execution unit support. Conventional RS configurations do not meet all of these design improvement goals.

Microprocessor with a reservation stations structure including primary and secondary reservation stations and a bypass system


A method for operating a laser detection and ranging system. In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting a plurality of laser pulses, each at a respective one of a plurality of pulse transmission times; detecting a plurality of return pulses, each at a respective one of a plurality of return pulse times; forming a first time difference, the first time difference being the difference between a first return pulse time of the plurality of return pulse times and a first pulse transmission time of the plurality of pulse transmission times; and incrementing a first element of a first array, the first element of the first array having an index based on the first time difference.

Pulsed laser radar sensors, also known as lidars, laser detection and ranging systems, or ladars, are active sensing systems that determine the range to a target by measuring the time of flight of short laser pulses reflected off the target. A lidar system generally includes three primary subsystems: a laser transmitter, an optical receiver, and a processor. The transmitter is capable of generating laser pulses when commanded, and of directing these pulses in the direction of the target. A key characteristic of these pulses is that they are each 1-25 nanoseconds in duration, so that the resulting range measurement may be accurate to within a few meters.
The receiver includes an optical system capable of collecting light reflected from the target, and a photodetector that can record the arrival of reflected light. The photodetector is capable of timing the arrival of return pulses with an accuracy similar in scale to the laser pulse duration. The processor is configured to control the operation of the transmitter and receiver, and to extract information about the target from the detections made by the receiver. The processor is also capable of synchronizing the commands issued to the transmitter and the receiver. An essential aspect of the return processing is the ability to determine target characteristics accurately despite complex scattering of the transmitted light, imperfect detection of the returns, unwanted detections due to ambient light and electrical noise, and modulation of the return due to target motion, among other practical complications.
In common operational conditions, the target return from a single transmitted pulse is not sufficient for target detection, and multiple pulses must be used. As is well-known in the art, the pulse waveform, or sequence of times at which pulses are transmitted, need to be selected carefully to allow unambiguous interpretation of the returns. If pulses are widely spaced, it may be straightforward to associate specific returns with their corresponding transmit pulses, but the integration (or dwell) time required to transmit and receive a sufficient number of pulses may be excessive. If pulses are repeated at higher frequency, the integration time decreases, but the time of flight calculation may become ambiguous.
Some problems of range ambiguity can be solved with the use of waveforms that apply some type of encoding to each pulse. One such encoding generates pulse position modulated (PPM) waveforms. PPM encodes waveforms by modulating the position of each outgoing pulse with respect to some nominal underlying position. This underlying position is determined by the pulse number multiplied by the waveform's nominal Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF). PPM encoding works adequately in some cases, but current methods of constructing these waveforms are computationally intensive and limited in applicability.
The conventional technique for determining time of flight from an extended pulsed waveform is to compute the cross-correlation between the transmit waveform and a set of recorded photodetection times. For detectors that produce sparse photodetection sequences, an efficient known method for computing the cross-correlation is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 9,858,304, the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference. However, this method is limited to post-collection processing, which limits the speed at which range estimates may be determined. Furthermore, this method does not account for waveform compression or stretching due to target motion. Thus, enhanced signal processing techniques that can reduce cross-correlation latency and operate effectively in the presence of arbitrary motion are needed.

System and method for calculating a binary cross-correlation


Certain embodiments of the invention may include systems and methods for providing electrical fault restoration. According to an example embodiment of the invention, a method can include sectioning a de-energized region into two or more de-energized areas; simulating opening or closing of one or more circuit switches associated with the two or more de-energized areas; compiling a listing of simulated energized areas and simulated de-energized areas, based on the simulated opening or closing of the one or more circuit switches; evaluating the listing of simulated energized areas and simulated de-energized areas, based at least in part on one or more configurable strategy modules; and generating a restoration plan based at least in part on the evaluation.

When a fault occurs in an electrical transmission system, switches, circuit breakers, etc., may be utilized to isolate the faulted area. Isolating the fault may allow power to remain on in certain areas, but other areas of the network may remain without power. Restoration of the de-energized areas should be done quickly in order to minimize lost revenue and customer outage time. Power companies may prioritize restoration options based on different criteria, such as load restored, number of customers restored, number of switch operations performed, etc.
Certain restoration algorithms can be used to accomplish power restoration. For example, a fault detection, isolation and restoration (FDIR) algorithm may be utilized with a restoration engine to determine a solution based on the single FDIR algorithm. Such restoration is often viewed and treated as a single operation on a circuit, which may not allow for refinement and optimization of restoration implementations.

Systems and methods for electrical fault restoration


The invention relates to a method of forming a conducting nanowire between two contacts on a substrate surface wherein a plurality of nanoparticles is deposited on the substrate in the region between the contacts, and the single nanowire running substantially between the two contacts is formed by either by monitoring the conduction between the contacts and ceasing deposition at the onset of conduction, and/or modifying the substrate to achieve, or taking advantage of pre-existing topographical features which will cause the nanoparticles to form the nanowire. The resultant conducting nanowires are also claimed as well as devices incorporating such nanowires.

Nanotechnology has been identified as a key technology for the 21st century. This technology is centred on an ability to fabricate electronic, optical and opto-electronic devices on the scale of a few billionths of a metre. In the future, such devices will underpin new computing and communications technologies and will be incorporated in a vast array of consumer goods.
There are many advantages of fabricating nanoscale devices. In the simplest case, such devices are much smaller than the current commercial devices (such as the transistors used in integrated circuits) and so provide opportunities for increased packing densities, lower power consumption and higher speeds. In addition, such small devices can have fundamentally different properties to those fabricated on a larger scale, and this then provides an opportunity for completely new device applications.
One of the challenges in this field is to develop nanostructured devices that will take advantage of the laws of quantum physics. Electrical devices with dimensions of ˜100 nm that operate on quantum principles (such as single electron transistors and quantum wires) have generally been proven at only low temperatures (<−100° C.). The challenge now is to translate these same device concepts into structures with dimensions of only a few nanometres, since the full range of quantum effects and novel device functionalities could then be available at room temperature. Indeed, as discussed below, some prototype nanoscale devices have been fabricated that demonstrate such quantum effects at relatively high temperatures. However, as is also discussed below, there remain many challenges to overcome before such devices find commercial applications.
In general, there are two distinct approaches to fabricating nanoscale devices:                'top-down', and        'bottom up'.
In the 'top-down' approach, devices are created by a combination of lithography and etching. The resolution limits are determined by, for example, the wavelength of light used in the lithography process: lithography is a highly developed and reliable technology with high throughput but the current state of the art (using UV radiation) can achieve devices with dimensions ˜10 nm only at great expense. Other lithography techniques (e.g. electron beam lithography) provide (in principle) higher resolution but with a much slower throughput.
The 'bottom-up' approach proposes the assembly of devices from nanoscale building blocks, thus immediately achieving nanoscale resolution, but the approach usually suffers from a range of other problems, including the difficulty, expense, and long time periods that can be required to assemble the building blocks. A key question is whether or not the top-down and bottom-up approaches can be combined to fabricate devices which take the best features of both approaches while circumventing the problems inherent to each approach.
An example of a prior art development which attempts to use this combination of approaches is the highly successful fabrication of transistors from carbon nanotubes [1]. Contacts are fabricated using lithography, and a nanoscale building block (in the form of a nanometre thick carbon nanotube) is used to provide the conducting path between the contacts. These transistors have been shown [2,3] to exhibit quantum transport effects and to have transistor characteristics comparable to those of Si— MOSFETs used in integrated circuits, and are therefore in principle usable in commercial applications. However, the difficulty in isolating and manipulating single nanotubes to form reproducible devices may prevent widespread commercial usage. Hence the development of new techniques for the formation of nanoscale wire structures between electrically conducting contacts is an important technological problem.
One simple approach to the formation of nanoscale wires is to stretch a larger wire until it is close to the breaking point with a diameter of just a few atoms (See e.g. Ref [4] and refs therein; similar effects can be achieved using scanning tunnelling microscopes). At this point the break junction can exhibit quantised conductance. This technique, while interesting, is not well suited to device formation since generally the technique is difficult to control, only a single wire can be fabricated at any time, and since multi-terminal devices cannot be easily achieved.
Another approach is to use a combination of lithographic and electrochemical techniques to achieve narrow wires and/or contacts with nanometre scale spacing [5]. Electrochemical deposition of Cu allows the observation of quantised conduction and a chemical sensor has been developed from these nanowires [6]. While these devices are promising it remains to be demonstrated that they can be fabricated sufficiently controllably or reproducibly for commercial applications, or that multi-terminal or other electronic devices can be fabricated using this method.
The proposal [7] that structures on the scale of a few nanometres could be formed using atomic clusters, which are nanoscale particles formed by simple evaporation techniques (see for example [8,9]), has already caught the imagination of a few groups internationally [10]. It has been shown that clusters can diffuse across a substrate [11] and then line up at certain surface features, thus generating cluster chain structures [12,13,14], although in these cases the chains are usually incomplete (have gaps) and such chains have so far not been connected to electrical contacts on non-conducting substrates. This approach is promising because the width of the wire is controlled by the size of the clusters, but the problem of positioning the clusters to form real devices on useful substrates has yet to be solved.
Devices formed using atomic clusters have been reported in Refs [8,15,16]: a network of clusters is formed by an ion beam deposition method [15] between two contacts which are defined using electron beam lithography. In this work clusters were formed by deposition of atomic vapour and not by deposition of preformed nanoparticles onto the substrate. The devices exhibit the Coulomb Blockade effect at T=77K [8] but apparently quantum effects are not visible at room temperature. In this work only clusters of AuPd and Au have been employed and, importantly, in these devices conduction through the cluster network was by tunnelling. No method was described which lead to the controllable formation of a conducting path, and only two terminal devices were described, and hence a device similar to the nanotube transistors described above was not formed.
A number of devices (see for example [17,18,19]) have been fabricated which incorporate single (or a very limited number) of nanoscale particles. These devices are potentially very powerful but, equally, are most likely to be subject to difficulties associated with the expense and long time periods that can be required to assemble the building blocks. Device to device reproducibility, and difficulty of positioning of the nanoparticles may be additional problems. Furthermore the preferred embodiment of these devices requires that the nanoparticle be isolated from the contacts by tunnel barriers whose properties are critical to the device performance, since tunnelling currents depend exponentially on the barrier thickness. In some cases the use of a scanning tunnelling microscope leads to a slow and not scalable fabrication process. Recent progress in this area has resulted in the first single electron transistors fabricated with a single atom as the island onto which tunnelling occurs [19]. While this is a significant achievement, and an element of self assembly in the fabrication is attractive, such devices are still far from commercial production and the methods used may not be viable for large scale production.
Wet chemical methods (see for example [17]) have also been shown to be useful with respect to fabrication of nanoscale devices and offer some promise as a method of overcoming the difficulties in positioning nanoparticles. While these techniques may still be important in the future, the limitations include the limited range of types of nanoparticles that can be formed using these techniques, the difficulty in coding specific sites to attract nanoparticles, and there are so far unanswered questions regarding their suitability for scaling.
Finally we mention that several experiments (see for example [20,21,22,23,24,25]) have been performed on percolation in films of metal nanoparticles. Typically nanoparticles are deposited between electrical contacts and a clear onset of conduction can be observed at the percolation threshold. The experimental literature contains no reports of percolation in films of nanoparticles where the films have nanoscale overall dimensions (i.e. where the contact separation is small) and to our knowledge there are no proposals in the literature for the use of percolating films in nanoscale devices. The use of macroscopic contact separations ensures that even at the percolation threshold the properties of the film are strongly affected by the relatively homogeneous nature of the macroscopic cluster assembled film, even though somewhere in the structure a narrow channel may exist in which a single particle or several neighbouring particles create a narrow wire-like structure. There has been no previous proposal to use nanoscale cluster chains formed at the percolation threshold in nanoscale electronic devices.

Nanoscale electronic devices and fabrication methods


An apparatus and method suppress unwanted signal components in receiving signals during wireless communication. A first circuitry is arranged to process a first signal, a second circuitry is arranged to apply transferred impedance filtering on a second signal according to a filter clock frequency, a signal branching circuitry is arranged to branch an input signal into the first circuitry and the second circuitry, and a signal combining circuitry is arranged to combine the processed first signal and the filtered second signal such that signal components of the first signal processed in the first circuitry and the filtered second signal are in-phase for signal frequencies equal to the filter clock frequency.

Prior art which is related to this technical field can e.g. be found in specifications describing analog baseband filters.
The following meanings for the abbreviations used in this specification apply:
HSDPA: High Speed Downlink Packet Access
LTE: Long Term Evolution
LTE-A: LTE-Advanced
TI: Transferred Impedance
TIF: Transferred Impedance Filter
TIS: Transferred Impedance Structure
WCDMA: Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
The analog baseband filter in a receiver is required to suppress unwanted signal components before analog-to-digital conversion.
For example, in a transceiver, a transmit signal is generated at a sufficiently high power level for transmission. Thus, a part of the transmit signal can leak into a receive path due to an unwanted coupling mechanism, resulting, in an unwanted signal component known as "transmit leakage". The unwanted coupling mechanism may be caused by finite attenuation of a duplex filter or parasitic coupling between lines on a printed wiring board, for example. The transmit leakage is processed by the receive path, and appears at the input of an analog-to-digital converter at a frequency offset relative to the wanted signal component. Depending on the frequency offset and the analog-to-digital converter conversion rate, the transmit leakage may result in an alias component being created by the analog-to-digital converter.


A compound shutter system includes a first shutter assembly having at least one louver operable to selectively open and close the first shutter assembly. The compound shutter system also includes a second shutter assembly disposed remotely from the first shutter assembly. The second shutter assembly includes at least one louver operable to selectively open and close the second shutter assembly. The compound shutter system additionally includes a drive element. The drive element operatively connects the first shutter assembly and the second shutter assembly and automatically coordinates operation of the first and second shutter assemblies. A vehicle employing the compound shutter system is also disclosed.

A shutter is typically a solid and stable covering for an opening. A shutter frequently consists of a frame and louvers or slats mounted within the frame.
Louvers may be fixed, i.e., having a permanently set angle with respect to the frame. Louvers may also be operable, i.e., having an angle that is adjustable with respect to the frame for permitting a desired amount of light, air, and/or liquid to pass from one side of the shutter to the other. Depending on the application and the construction of the frame, shutters can be mounted to fit within, or to overlap the opening. In addition to various functional purposes, particularly in architecture, shutters may also be employed for largely ornamental reasons.


A form customization method and device, through establishment of a form information table, a form field information table and a form field option information table, the form information table and form field information table are associated by primary key and foreign key, the form field information table and form field option information table are associated by “foreign key-primary key”, so as to define the form template and complete the form design quickly and conveniently. The form is then rendered by the form template data and the corresponding CSS style. The form customization device mainly includes a form template creation unit, a form template generation and presentation unit and a form template modification unit.

With the development and needs of information system business, users usually need personalized electronic forms, and with the continuous development of the user's business, the previously used electronic forms sometimes need to be changed to suit the development of the business. The implementation and changes of these e-forms require coding and rewriting from a software development perspective. Each different e-form needs different coding implementations, which not only increases the workload of developers, but also makes the user bear more research and development costs and longer form implementation time. Therefore, flexible and efficient methods and devices for e-form customization have become the common requirement of both developers and business people.
Chinese Patent No. 201210209275.7 discloses a method and device for generating a customization form. The method comprises the following steps: creating a new form information template which includes a form information table, a field information table, a form field relation table, a field type information table, and a field type subitem information table; setting a form information table according to users' definition; and creating the field information table containing fields to obtain the form template information; and generating and presenting the custom form according to the form template information. The above-mentioned method can only draw and present a customization form that is relatively simple and regular, and complex and irregular forms cannot be presented, so there is still a distance from the actual application.


A system for adjusting the light uniformity of a monitor. The system comprises a camera for capturing a test pattern image on a display of the monitor and a controller configured to select the test pattern image and to cause the monitor to display the selected test pattern image. The controller receives the captured image from the camera and compares pixel values from the captured image to known pixel values associated with the selected test pattern image. The selected test pattern image has an ideal uniform light distribution and the captured image has a non-uniform light distribution. In response to the comparison, the controller calculates a compensation light distribution that may be combined with the non-uniform light distribution to generate a resulting image on the display of the monitor having a resulting light distribution that approximates the ideal uniform light distribution.

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are increasingly being used for the display device in televisions, personal computers, and much state-of-the-art equipment, such as automotive navigation systems and simulation devices. One particular area where LCDs are increasingly being utilized is flat panel televisions. With the general acceptance of flat panel TV technology, there has been a large marketing and technology war over which technology is best, such as plasma display technology versus LCD display technology. Flat panel televisions are judged on thickness, weight, price, product lifetime, and image quality. Certain display technologies may be better in one area, such as image quality, but worse in another area, such as weight or price.
Typically, the image quality of a particular display technology is one of the most important factors taken into consideration when a buyer purchases a flat panel television. There are many different criteria to judge image quality. However, one important criterion is the light uniformity of the panel display. The light distribution of an LCD panel display typically is not uniform. There can be as much as 15% light fall off between different pixel areas on the display screen. Thus, the brightness is not uniform.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for methods and apparatuses for improving the light uniformity of a panel display.

System and method for light compensation in a video panel display


A friction clutch wherein the clutch spring is held between two seats at one side of the clutch cover has an annular set of beams one end of each of which is integral with a discrete torsion bar of the cover and the other end of each of which carries one head of a rivet having a second head overlying that seat which is remote from the cover. The beams and/or the torsion bars are deformed during assembly of the clutch so that the rivets urge the remote seat toward the spring and the latter is urged against the other seat.

The invention relates to friction clutches, for example, to friction clutches for use in motor vehicles. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in friction clutches of the type wherein the means for connecting the clutch spring and its seat or seats to the clutch cover constitute or include integral parts of the cover.
Friction clutches of the above outlined character are known and enjoy widespread use in the automotive and other industries. Reference may be had, for example, to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,700 to Maucher et al. However, it has been found that presently known friction clutches wherein the spring is held at the inner side of the cover by integral parts of the cover (either alone or in combination with rivets or analogous fasteners) are not entirely satisfactory if the diameter of the clutch spring (such as a diaphragm spring) is rather large while the maximum diameter of the clutch is relatively small. The length of integral portions of the cover (these portions can be said to constitute lugs or beams) is then limited by the space which is available between the seat or seats for the clutch spring and the radially outermost portion of the cover. Therefore, the ratio of bias (force) to displacement of these relatively short beams is rather unsatisfactory. The characteristic curves of such beams are steep which results in pronounced hysteresis between the clutch engaging and disengaging forces of the clutch spring. This is also attributable to the fact that, in such types of friction clutches, that seat for the clutch spring which is remote from the inner side of the cover must be afforded a certain freedom of movement in a direction toward the cover in order to compensate for wear upon the parts in the region where the clutch spring is tilted during engagement or disengagement of the clutch.


Disclosed is an iontophoresis-based patch type skin care device for allowing a functional substance for skin care to be effectively absorbed into a user's skin by causing iontophoresis on the user's skin through a conductive patch. The iontophoresis-based patch type skin care device for allowing the functional substance for the skin care to be absorbed into the user's skin by the iontophoresis includes a skin care device body that generates power to cause the iontophoresis. The skin care device body includes a power circuit that is provided in an interior space of a body and that includes a power unit that generates the power for the iontophoresis and one or more electrodes to which the power is applied, and a bridge that is provided so as to be combinable with the body and that receives the power through the one or more electrodes. The bridge includes a bridge body provided so as to be combinable with the body and a plurality of bridge legs arranged along a circumferential direction of the bridge body and formed of a conductive material.

Embodiments of the inventive concept described herein relate to an iontophoresis-based patch type skin care device, and more particularly, relate to an iontophoresis-based patch type skin care device for allowing a functional substance for skin care to be effectively absorbed into a user's skin by causing iontophoresis on the user's skin through a conductive patch.
Recently, various methods for skin care, prevention of hair loss, or facilitation of hair growth have been proposed. Among the various methods, oral administration where a substance for skin care, prevention of hair loss, or facilitation of hair growth is taken through the mouth may be less effective and may cause several side effects because the substance does not directly act on the skin or scalp. As an alternative to the oral administration, a method for applying a functional substance to the skin or applying a substance for prevention of hair loss or facilitation of hair growth to the scalp has been proposed. However, this method has a limitation in that the substance is not effectively absorbed into the skin or scalp through hair follicles.
Iontophoresis has been introduced as a method for allowing a substance to be absorbed into the skin. The iontophoresis is a method for introducing various substances supplied to the skin into the stratum corneum by applying voltage. For example, when negative voltage is applied to a part to which a substance having negative charges is applied, the substance is moved into the stratum corneum by an electrostatic repulsive force.
However, the iontophoresis may cause an inconvenience to a user because the user has to consistently apply voltage to the skin using a voltage application device while introducing a functional substance for skin care into the stratum corneum. Furthermore, an introduction effect of the functional substance may be concentrated on an area of the skin to which voltage is applied by an electrode, and current may not be transferred to a peripheral portion of the skin that the electrode does not touch. Therefore, introduction performance of the functional substance may be degraded, and effects of the iontophoresis may not be maximized.

Iontophoresis-based patch type skin care device


A lock mechanism (10, 110) including a lock gear lever (12, 112) movable between unlocked, locked and superlocked positions, the lock lever being connected to further components of the lock mechanism to provide for corresponding unlocked, locked and superlocked conditions of the lock mechanism, the lock lever being operably movable between the unlocked, locked and superlocked positions by a stepper motor (22, 122) (FIG. 7).

This application claims priority to United Kingdom patent application number 0009793.1 filed on Apr. 25, 2000.
The present invention relates to lock mechanisms and in particular lockable latch mechanisms for use with motor vehicles.
Known vehicle door latch mechanisms include a locking feature, whereby the latch can be locked, thereby preventing opening of an associated door from the outside (but allowing opening of the door from the inside) or the latch can be unlocked, thereby allowing opening of the associated door from the both inside or the outside.
Known latch mechanisms also incorporate superlocking (also known as deadlocking) features whereby in the event that an unauthorized person gains access to the inside of a vehicle, that person is nevertheless prevented from opening the door from the inside.
Previously, motor driven central locking systems have been operated by providing a pulse of energy to a motor which rotates a locking gear between an unlocked and locked position. The locking gear is prevented from turning to the superlocked position by a solenoid actuated pin arrangement in a track or recess cut from the lock gear. In order to superlock the door, a superlock command is passed to the lock system and the solenoid withdraws the pin from the track. A pulse of energy is then applied to the motor to drive the locking gear. As the locking gear is not restricted in its travel by the pin, it can move to a superlock state. However, such an arrangement requires two actuators namely the drive motor and the solenoid and further requires and appropriate control arrangement to ensure synchronization between the motor and solenoid.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle lock mechanism.
Thus according to the present invention there is provided a lock mechanism including a lock lever movable between unlocked, locked and superlocked positions, the lock lever being connected to further components of the lock mechanism to provide for corresponding unlocked, locked and superlocked conditions of the lock mechanism, the lock lever being operably movable between the unlocked, locked and superlocked positions by a stepper motor.
In that way, one drive effects stepped motion between the three lock lever positions without the need for a solenoid actuation pin.

Lock assembly with superlocking mechanism

Meritor Light Vehicle Systems (UK) Limited


Tapping apparatus for tapping holes in workpieces is provided with a tap assembly that includes a tap fitted to a lower tip end of a vertical lead screw, there being means including a bushing for rotating the lead screw thereby to vertically advance and retract the tap relative to the a workpiece hole. Power operating means are provided to rapidly advance and retract the lead screw independently of rotating advance/retraction of the lead screw so as to more quickly locate the tap proximal the workpiece hole allowing that tapping commences with lessened need for lead screw rotation as a means of effecting lineal advance of the lead screw. This lessens the tapping cycle time and results in increased production rate with the apparatus as well as lengthening tap life. The power operating means also functions to rapidly retract the lead screw and tap upwardly from the workpiece on completion of the tapping which also increases production particularly where the workpiece includes heightened structure adjacent the hole location so that more rapid tool clearance is achieved permitting quicker workpiece indexing to present a next to be tapped hole at a tapping station.

The present invention relates to tapping apparatus and, more particularly, to tapping apparatus which includes a tap assembly that can be more rapidly advanced to and retracted from a tapping station thereby increasing apparatus production capacity.
A significant problem encountered in tapping workpieces in punch press apparatus is that presented by workpiece heightened structure presenting obstruction to tool clearance for indexing the workpiece to present a next hole for tapping.
This is also true in the case where material lift is involved. Material lift is the distance a workpiece strip must move vertically in the indexing thereof to present a new strip part at a tapping station.
The distance varies from part to part, due to different bends or draws required to produce a part. In the past when a workpiece required a high material lift in production, different expedients had to be employed in order to tap a hole in the workpiece. These included using stripper mounted and bottom up tapping practices. Even with these adaptations, some parts still could not be tapped in a punch press apparatus.
Accordingly, it is desirable that a rapid advance lead screw assembly be provided for tapping apparatus which will make high lift parts simpler to tap as well as to allow parts heretofore thought untappable in a punch press to be tapped.

Tapping apparatus with rapid tap advance/retraction


An improved process is provided for the production of nitriles from hydrocarbons by reaction with an oxygen-containing gas comprising oxygen, air or a gas enriched in oxygen relative to air and ammonia in the presence of a suitable catalyst. In the process, a selective separator provides recycle of a substantial portion of the unreacted hydrocarbon as well as for a controlled amount of a gaseous flame suppressor in the system. The gaseous flame suppressor comprises a substantially unreactive hydrocarbon containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms, carbon dioxide and nitrogen when present in the feed to the ammoxidation reactor. The use of air or oxygen-enriched air in the feed to the ammoxidation reactor is particularly advantageous from an economic view in combination with a pressure swing adsorption unit as the selective separator. The process is characterized by high selectivity to the formation of the product.

The production of nitriles by ammoxidation of an appropriate hydrocarbon in the presence of a suitable catalyst is well known. The production of acrylonitrile, for example, from a gaseous feed of propylene, ammonia and air is described by Bruce C. Gates et al. in Chemistry of Catalytic Processes, McGraw-Hill (1979), at 380-384.
The feed is sent to an ammoxidation reactor where, in the presence of a suitable catalyst, acrylonitrile is produced along with lesser amounts of other nitrogen-containing compounds. The effluent from the ammoxidation reaction is quenched with water and the desired products are obtained in the liquid phase. The gas phase by-products, typically oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and unreacted hydrocarbon, are combined with natural gas and sent to a boiler for combustion as disclosed, for example, in Yoshino et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,620 and Callahan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,056.
More recently, Khoobiar et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,502 disclosed a cyclic process for producing acrylonitrile using propane as a starting material which is initially dehydrogenated catalytically in the presence of steam to form propylene. This is in contrast to most conventional dehydrogenation processes which avoid steam primarily due to the costs involved. After ammoxidation, the effluent is quenched, the desired product removed, and the off-gases, including propylene and propane, are sent to an oxidation reactor to remove oxygen by selective reaction with hydrogen to form water vapor. The gas mixture exiting the selective oxidation reactor includes substantial amounts of methane, ethane and ethylene, which are by-products of dehydrogenation, and unreacted propylene in addition to carbon oxides. As an option, this gas mixture is split and a portion is sent to a separator which removes only carbon dioxide. A portion of the effluent from the separation is purged to remove light hydrocarbons. The nonpurged stream is mixed with the remainder of the oxidator effluent, fresh propane and steam, if necessary, and sent to the dehydrogenator where the propane is converted to propylene. Another option is to cool and liquify the C.sub.3 hydrocarbons therefrom and then vaporize them prior to recycle.
The aforementioned process suffers from several disadvantages. The amount of propane which is converted to propylene is only in the range of about 20 percent to 60 percent per pass, typically about 40 percent, and therefore, about 60 percent of the propane feed is recycled throughout the system. At conventional velocities, the presence of such large amounts of propane along with hydrogen and other gases can produce higher pressures in the ammoxidation reaction zone which can, in turn, result in decreased yields of acrylonitrile. This problem could be overcome by using a more efficient dehydrogenation catalyst, if such were commercially available. Also, there is no practical way in this scheme to selectively remove by-products of propane dehydrogenation, such as methane, ethane, ethylene and the like, thereby preventing their accumulation in the system. Providing a purge stream to remove these gases will also cause removal of some of the circulating propane and propylene. As the process is being carried on in a continuous manner, this loss of starting material causes a significant decrease in the yield of propylene. It is disclosed that propane and propylene are recovered from the purge stream prior to venting. Additional refrigeration is therefore necessary to liquify the propane and propylene. This apparatus, as well as that required to vaporize them prior to recycle, significantly adds to the capital cost of the process.
Another disadvantage of the Khoobiar et al. process stems from the use of the selective oxidation reactor to treat the gaseous effluent from the quencher. The gases exiting the quencher are at ambient temperature and must be heated prior to introduction into the oxidation reactor in order to promote oxygen removal. Because there is a significant amount of oxygen in the quencher effluent, the heat of reaction generated in the oxidation reactor can result in excessive temperatures in the system. There are three options to alleviate this problem. First, the amount of oxygen entering the oxidation reactor can be reduced by other means. Second, multiple reactors can be utilized with a cooling means between each pair of reactors. Third, a portion of the effluent from the reactor is passed through a cooling means and recycled to the feed to reduce the internal temperature of the reactor. None of these measures is attractive from the viewpoint of cost and efficiency.
The oxidation reactor in the Khoobiar et al. process is operated with oxidation catalysts such as noble metals (e.g., platinum). Olefins and carbon monoxide, which are generated in the dehydrogenation reactor, are known to poison these catalysts, as disclosed in Catalytic Processes and Proven Catalysts, Charles L. Thomas, Academic Press (1970), at 118-119. Accordingly, multiple oxidation reactors must be used to allow for frequent regeneration of the catalyst which represents yet another addition to production costs (U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,502, at column 4, lines 51-56).
It is therefore apparent that industry is still searching for a cost effective process of converting hydrocarbons into nitriles. Applicants have discovered a process which is cost effective and in which the disadvantages of the aforementioned systems are substantially reduced or eliminated. Moreover, in comparison to conventional processes, the thermal requirements of Applicants' process are markedly reduced.


The machine (1) in question comprises a dispensing module (6) and a unit (9) for applying lids (3).

Percolating machines for producing coffee drinks are widespread among individuals after a sales policy by the manufacturers of such machines, consisting of selling the machines at relatively low prices, but making their main profits on the sale of the capsules. Using such a machine on a daily basis may therefore prove expensive. Furthermore, the capsules are often made from aluminum or other materials that are not very environmentally friendly, since they are expensive to manufacture and expensive to recycle.

Machine for producing capsules containing a product to be mixed with a liquid, in particular by means of a percolator device

Abstract: According to the invention, the machine (I) comprises:                a rotary plate (5) having cavities (12);        a unit (7) for delivering shells (2) of capsules to a cavity (12), comprising a storage magazine (15) for storing the shells (2) stacked together, and a sub-assembly (20-24) for delivering shells (2) one by one to the plate (5), by gravity;        a unit (8) for filling a shell (2) with product, comprising a funnel (16) facing which an empty shell (2) placed in a cavity (12) of the plate (5) is positioned by rotating said plate (5).


A method and apparatus for minimizing harmonic content in a digital signal driver circuit are disclosed. A digital input signal applied to an input node generates a corresponding digital output in a circuit with two or more MOS devices in cascode connection with each other. The slew rate of one or more edge transitions associated with the output signal are controlled using one or more parasitic capacitances associated with the fabrication of two or more cascode connected MOS devices. The two or more cascode connected MOS devices may further each have gate electrodes connected to a fixed potential so as to minimize said harmonic content. A control signal may further be applied to each gate electrode to turn off a leakage current path between source and drain electrodes. Harmonics may further be controlled by limiting a conductance between gate electrodes and fixed potentials using an active or passive device.

The present invention relates to circuit design, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for reducing harmonic interference in highly integrated mixed-mode circuits.
Modern telecommunications equipment requires increasing levels of integration for cost-effective manufacturing and to accommodate the trend toward increasingly smaller packaging. In particular, digital and analog system components are increasingly often integrated on the same semiconductor die. For low-cost consumer wireless terminals, such as cellular phones, the trend towards integrating radio-frequency circuitry with digital signal processing elements gives rise to problems traditionally solved by segregating or otherwise isolating analog and digital sections.
Issues of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of digital and analog circuitry must be solved for highly-integrated systems to work reliably. In particular, harmonic components of the switching noise of digital circuits can exist with magnitudes comparable to the magnitude of the radio-frequency signals of interest to the analog circuit sections. Harmonic interference introduced by digital circuits can cause degraded receiver performance or spectrum mask violations of transmitted signals.
High levels of high-order harmonics may be caused by abrupt changes in switching currents. Using fundamental Fourier analysis it is apparent that the sharper the edge of signals such as those produced in digital switching circuits, the wider the frequency spectrum of harmonics produced thereby. The greater the magnitude of the switching current, the greater the energy of the associated harmonics, thus increasing the likelihood of in-band noise energy in adjacent RF circuits.
The most abrupt current change in a standard driver is when one device, e.g., the n-channel device, turns on as its gate-source voltage exceeds its threshold voltage. Simple transistor models assume that no current flows below threshold; in actual devices, a small current does flow. The difference between currents above and below threshold is nevertheless pronounced. Due to the speed at which such a device turns on, undesirable high order harmonics may be produced leading to noise coupling into RF sections and reduced EMC between analog and digital sections.
EMC between digital and analog circuitry has traditionally been addressed using a multitude of known methods. Standard methods for the design of low-power digital circuits attempt to reduce the average switching currents and thereby reduce the absolute levels of the harmonics produced thereby. Lowering supply voltages for digital circuits attempts to reduce edge rates, currents and charges of associated digital signals, further reducing the harmonic content of the switching noise produced thereby. Shielding or filtering methods attempt to reduce the level of substrate noise coupling from digital to analog circuit sections (see, for example, Makie-Fukuda et al. 95 K. Makie-Fukuda, S. Maeda, T. Tsukada and T. Matsuura, xe2x80x9cSubstrate noise reduction using active guard band filters in mixed-signal integrated circuits,xe2x80x9d Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Kyoto, 8-10 June, pp. 33-34, 1995.).
Noise may be further exacerbated by small reference voltage differences between circuit components. Although these voltages may be reduced by carefully controlling reference voltage levels, they may nevertheless enter unbalanced signal paths through common-impedance coupling and further, may enter balanced paths through common-mode conversion. The periodic charge and discharge of parasitic capacitances may also cause small but significant currents to flow within substrates.
Radio-frequency circuits can be made more noise resilient through techniques such as dual-rail, balanced signal paths. (See, for example, A. Graeme, J, Applications of Operational Amplifiersxe2x80x94Third Generation Techniques, McGraw-Hill, 1973, pgs 53 to 57.) Such methods are increasingly expensive in terms of area, delay, or power dissipation when applied with greater rigor, and do not always provide a satisfactory solution to problems associated with noise reduction.
Some approaches exist for reducing harmonic interferer which have provided varying results. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,992 to Tanaka, discloses a low-distortion cascode amplifier circuit. Distortion may be reduced in Tanaka by virtue of a higher transconductance of the cascode device in relation to the input device when a spectrally well-defined analog signal with few components is applied. However, Tanaka fails to address the spectral qualities of an output signal when a digital switching signal with a large number of ill-defined spectral components are applied to the circuitry.
A further approach to the reduction of undesirable harmonics is disclosed in Japanese Patent JP 63/074323 to Imamura. Imamura discloses a cascode current source with AC feedback wherein output conductance of the current source is frequency-dependent, e.g., some harmonic components of the output signal will be attenuated more than others providing stable current output. Imamura does not disclose, however, an approach for reducing harmonics on an output signal based on a digital switching input signal.
Yet another general approach to avoiding the deleterious effects of such abrupt switching currents is to continuously operate switching devices at a current level above a threshold, with the resulting logic styles resembling bipolar logic styles such as ECL, and the like. Such an approach, however, may be accompanied by negative side effects, including increased static power dissipation, as such devices are never fully turned off.
It would be appreciated in the art therefore for a method and apparatus for reducing the harmonic components associated with digital switching signals thus improving the EMC between analog and digital sections of mixed mode integrated circuitry without the negative side effects created by conventional solutions which attempt to address this problem.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus capable of reducing high order harmonics associated with a digital switching signal without significantly reducing switching speed.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that eliminates passive components from a switching circuit design and uses only MOS components.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that provides a signal driver that is node compatible with existing driver circuits and therefore does not require modification to existing circuit layout tools.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved in a method and apparatus for reducing harmonics in a switching voltage waveform using first and second MOS switches to drive a load. The first and second MOS switches in accordance with the present invention may be an N-channel and a P-channel switch coupled together. Each N-channel and P-channel switch may further include two devices in cascode connection such that the rate of change of current through the load is not as abrupt as with conventional methods for digital signal switching.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, first and second MOS switches may drive a load that has different timing requirements for the leading and trailing signal edge transitions. For example, for a load that requires a fast trailing edge from an applied switching signal, a driver in accordance with the present invention may use a cascode connection on the one of the first and second MOS switches responsible for generating the rising edge of the signal and vice versa. The cascode switch, in providing a slower edge transition, may produce fewer harmonics. Such a single sided driver would reduce power dissipation and silicon area.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, a control signal may be applied to one or both cascode switches disable the associated cascode switch during idle periods. Such a control signal would reduce standby currents.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, by controlling capacitive coupling between the output node, cascode nodes, and gate nodes and controlling conductance between the output node, cascode nodes, gate nodes and supply planes, performance may be improved.

Cascode signal driver with low harmonic content


An apparatus, method, and system are provided for combining and processing broadcast and narrowcast content on a common platform. The broadcast and narrowcast content may be processed, routed, encrypted, and transmitted. In some embodiments, a modulator may be used modulate the broadcast content and the output from that modulator may be coupled to an input of one or more interface cards. The inputs of the one or more interface cards may also be coupled to outputs from a plurality of modulators that may be configured to modulate the narrowcast content. In this manner, a reduction in resources may be obtained.

The transmission and distribution of content over networks has evolved over the years. Users expect a service provider to be able to deliver content in various formats and at various times. In order to meet user demand, service providers may distribute content over networks using a variety of transmission techniques or models, such as broadcast and narrowcast transmissions. Broadly speaking, a broadcast model is one in which the content may be transmitted without an intended receiver or recipient having been selected, where a particular receiver or recipient determines whether to receive the content. In a narrowcast model, content is targeted to specific receiver(s) or recipient(s). A narrowcast model may include multicast and/or unicast distribution models. In a multicast model, content is targeted to a plurality of specific receivers or recipients. In a unicast model, content is targeted to a specific receiver or recipient.
Trends indicate that user consumption of narrowcast content is increasing relative to user consumption of broadcast content. This is influenced at least in part by a time-shifted consumption of content, such as video on demand (VOD), where users view and consume content at a time and place of their choosing.
While distribution of narrowcast content can be implemented with a single device, such as at a central location (e.g., a headend), broadcast content (in both analog and digital formats) is typically implemented via dedicated components and combined into a line-up for each narrowcast service group. This process may result in the use of a considerable amount of equipment. For example, additional components or circuits may be required, for which additional space, power, and cooling capacity may be required.
Additionally, each time content provided in a lineup is changed, complex operational processes may be needed to support the modification. This may be especially true when the change involves a conversion from broadcast to narrowcast delivery (or vice versa), or when wiring changes are required. A significant impact may also be imposed on a service provider in terms of operations, such as management of a combiner (e.g., an optical or radio frequency (RF) combiner).
Given the above-noted issues, and in conjunction with other issues that will become apparent upon reviewing this disclosure, content and service providers continue to seek improved techniques for distributing and transmitting content to users.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An access point generates beacons at different power levels at different times to provide an acceptable tradeoff between coverage area associated with the beacons and outage experienced at nearby access terminals. For example, a femto access point may transmit beacons at a relatively low power for a relatively long period of time to reduce interference at nearby access terminals that are being served by a macro access point. The femto access point may then transmit beacons at a relatively high power for a relatively short period of time to enable nearby access terminals to receive the beacons. Also, a given transmit chain may be used to provide frequency hopping of high and low power beacons.

1. Field
This application relates generally to wireless communication and more specifically, but not exclusively, to generating communication beacons.
2. Introduction
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication to multiple users. For example, voice, data, multimedia services, etc., may be provided to users' access terminals (e.g., cell phones). As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data services rapidly grows, there lies a challenge to implement efficient and robust communication systems with enhanced performance.
To supplement conventional mobile phone network access points (e.g., macro base stations), small-coverage access points may be deployed to provide more robust indoor wireless coverage to access terminals. Such small-coverage access points are generally known as access point base stations, Home NodeBs, Home eNodeBs, femto access points, or femto cells. Typically, such small-coverage access points (e.g., installed in a user's home) are connected to the Internet and the mobile operator's network via a DSL router or a cable modem.
When an access terminal that is in idle mode (e.g., camping on a macro access point) approaches a small-coverage access point, it may be desirable to handover the access terminal to the small-coverage access point so that the access terminal may access the services provided there. To this end, the small-coverage access point may transmit beacons so that an access terminal may determine when it is in the vicinity of the small-coverage access point. In practice, however, these beacons signals may interfere with reception at other nearby access terminals that are not allowed to be handed-over to the small coverage access point. For example, when such an access terminal is in an active voice call with a macro access point, the access terminal may be affected by interference from the small coverage access point if the access terminal passes by the building where the small coverage access point is deployed. While reducing the transmit power for the beacons may reduce this interference, such a reduction in transmit power also will reduce the coverage area associated with the beacon. This, in turn, may prevent access terminals from discovering the presence of the small-coverage access point.

Generating access point beacons at different power levels


The objective of the present invention is to provide a safe muscle-enhancing agent by which a muscle mass and muscular strength can be effectively increased or maintained and by which a decrease of a muscle mass and muscular strength can be suppressed, a muscle-enhancing composition containing the muscle-enhancing agent, and a method for enhancing muscle by using the muscle-enhancing agent or muscle-enhancing composition. The muscle-enhancing agent according to the present invention is characterized in comprising an extract derived from lemon myrtle as an active ingredient.

In recent years, muscle atrophy has become a major problem in association with acceleration of aging and insufficient exercise due to progress in transportation. Muscle atrophy means that a muscle mass and muscular strength are decreased. In general, it is said that a muscle mass and muscular strength are decreased from about 40 years old and many elderly people are in the state of sarcopenia, specifically age-related sarcopenia. Sarcopenia mainly means a decrease in a muscle mass and muscular strength due to aging and is important element of locomotive syndrome and frailty, and it is pointed out that a care need becomes required due to sarcopenia. Locomotive syndrome is referred to as exerciser syndrome, and is an important factor of being in a state of high risk of getting nursing care or becoming a condition to require nursing care by deterioration of mobility function due to a disability of a locomotor apparatus such as muscle, bone, joint, cartilage and intervertebral disc. Frailty means a condition in which muscular strength, mental vitality and physical vitality are deteriorated. Thus, the decrease in a muscle mass and muscular strength lowers not only quality of life (QOL) but also activities of daily living, and closely relates to the occurrence of complications and a greater care burden. In the United States, the decrease in a muscle mass and muscular strength are in the top five health risks, and the related medical expenses are estimated to be about 2.5 trillion yen.
Both of adequate nutritional intake and exercise are required for muscle enhancement, namely increase and maintenance of a muscle mass and muscular strength, as well as suppression of the decrease of a muscle mass and muscle weakness. In case of elderly people, however, a food intake amount tends to be decreased due to loss of appetite and a ratio of an absorption amount to nutrient intake amount tends to be lowered due to a decline in swallowing function, saliva amount and digestive system function. In addition, an efficiency of body function to transform an absorbed peptide or amino acid into muscle protein is also decreased. Furthermore, not only elderly people have less access to exercise but also an increasing efficiency of a muscle mass by an exercise is lowered. As a result, for example, when physical activity of elderly people is decreased due to an injury or disease, a muscle mass and muscular strength are further decreased, and elderly people get trapped into a negative cycle of a decline in physical activity and a deterioration in muscle atrophy.
Muscle enhancement is required for improvement in exercise capacity in sports, prevention and relief of obesity and metabolic syndrome, and slimming. Also, muscle enhancement is required for a non-human animal for the purpose of growth promotion, meat increase and meat quality improvement.
In order to enhance muscle, it is necessary to enlarge or maintain the size of the muscle fiber constituting the muscle. A muscle fiber is a multinucleated cell, and the size of the cell is dependent on the number of the nucleus. Thus, it is necessary to increase the number of nucleus in order to enlarge or maintain a muscle fiber, but the nucleus of a muscle fiber does not increase, and a nucleus has to be supplied into a muscle fiber from the outside of the cell. A nucleus is supplied into a muscle fiber by a myosatellite cell, which exists between the basement membrane and the cell membrane of a muscle cell constituting the muscle. A myosatellite cell is also referred to as a satellite cell. A myosatellite cell is usually in a resting state and undifferentiated, but becomes activated to supply a nucleus into a muscle fiber through processes such as proliferation, differentiation and fusion with a muscle fiber due to exercise, muscle damage and growth. Thus, the activation of a myosatellite cell contributes to muscle enhancement.
Since a decline in a muscle mass and muscular strength progresses with aging as described above, such a decline in a muscle mass and muscular strength should be prevented before becoming obvious. In addition, since elderly people have to continue to take an everyday medicine to suppress chronic disease in some cases, a synthetic medicine has a problem of an unpredictable side effect due to the combination with the everyday medicine.
Accordingly, a safe component having a muscle enhancing action has been searched.
For example, Patent document 1 discloses a muscle senescence inhibitor which contains a catechin contained in a tea drink as an active ingredient. Patent document 2 discloses a muscle-enhancing agent which contains the genus Salacia of the family Celastraceae or an extract thereof. A plant of the genus Salacia grows wild in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asian countries. It is reported in Non-patent document 1 that leucine, which is a branched chain amino acid, has a muscle protein synthesizing action. Patent Document 3 discloses a satellite cell differentiation promoting agent containing Raphuma, which is a plant of the family Amyorae, or an extract thereof; however, Patent Document 3 merely discloses a differentiation inducing effect on a skeletal muscle-derived cell and does not disclose the activation of a myosatellite cell.
Lemon myrtle is an evergreen tree of Myrtaceae family originating in Australia, and the scientific name thereof is Backhousia citriodora. Lemon myrtle is a kind of herb, contains a lot of citral as an essential oil component, has a strong refreshing aroma, and is used for cooking. Lemon myrtle has been under study. For example, Patent documents 4 to 6 respectively discloses a whitening composition having a tyrosinase inhibitory action, a skin fibroblast cell growth-promoting agent to prevent or relieve a skin problem due to ultraviolet rays or the like, advanced glycation end products formation inhibitor for preventing or relieving diabetes or diabetes complication which contain lemon myrtle or an extract thereof. On the one hand, an effect of lemon myrtle on muscle has not been studied.


A beverage container made of synthetic resin and having a beverage-pouring inlet at a concave section of the container bottom and a sipping tube connected to the container body at the bottom. A middle portion of the sipping tube is provided with a flexional bellows. This beverage container can replace the conventional can because the sipping tube is fitted into a longitudinal groove formed on the container body and the container is totally covered with a thermal-shrinking bag which allows no projections over the container profile.

The present invention relates to a beverage container made of synthetic resin to contain refreshing beverages (including juices, cola, soda pops, water, etc.).
In recent years, many kinds of refreshing beverages are sold packed in a can, a bottle, or a container made of synthetic resin. The synthetic resin container has been changed in shape from simple one to that provided on its body with a sipping tube having flexional bellows at the middle portion because it is easy to mold and has some extent of flexibility.
In the case of beverage container relating to the conventional art, however, there has been a problem that it is difficult to fill almost thoroughly the container with a refreshing beverage due to the air remaining in the container after pouring the refreshing beverage into the container because, in such case, the inlet to pour the beverage serves for a straw-shaped sipping tube to drink the refreshing beverage.
There has been another problem in the case of above-said beverage container that the refreshing beverage in the container may overflow and soil the clothes when the tip of the sipping tube is opened, because the tip of the sipping tube is thermally sealed after filling the container with a refreshing beverage by pouring it through the sipping tube and, as a result, it is difficult to form the tip into a shape of projection type (spherical one for example) which is easy to open.
Further, in the case of beverage container provided with a sipping tube having bellows in the middle portion as described above-said sipping tube has been obstructive in the distribution and sales processes and, as a result, it has been bent and attached to the container body and fitted to the body with a packing sheet separately prepared. However, in the case of sale by a vending machine, etc., there has been a problem that a part of the bent sipping tube projects and makes the container be caught in the machine.


Systems and methods for a vehicle mounted articulator are described. A vehicle conveniently allows an articulator to be moved to various remote work sites. In one embodiment, the articulator can be mounted on a movable base, thereby increasing the flexibility of use and/or reach of the articulator. Such vehicle-mounted articulators can be subjected to various potentially damaging situations due to motion of the vehicle. Various features that allow safe operation of the vehicle and the articulator are disclosed.

1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to articulated arm coordinate measuring machines, and in particular, to systems and methods for mounting an articulated arm to a mobile platform.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical coordinate measuring machine (CMM) has an articulating arm that allows positioning of a probe and/or a detector at different points in space. For example, probe can be positioned at various points on a surface of an object, and spatial positions of the probe (and thus the surface of the object) can be determined via the articulating arm's configuration. In another example, a detector on the articulating arm can be used to characterize surface features of an object by projecting and detecting a signal such as light.
Because articulating arms and the end attachments are precision instruments, they are preferably mounted to a substantially stable platform and operated in controlled environment, such that measurements thus obtained are precise. In many situations, this means that objects being measured need to be brought to the articulator/platform assembly. In some situations, however, moving the objects to the articulator may not be practical or desirable.


Uniform dispersion of mixtures of gases of different densities in gas vessels is rapidly attained by introducing the gases into the vessels in the order of their increasing densities while the vessels are in the upright position. When the quantities of the denser gases are small relative to the quantity of the least dense gas the gases are preferably metered into the vessels by pressure measurements, with the final pressures of the more dense gases being determined by differential pressure gauge measurements.

This invention relates to gas cylinder filling methods, and more particularly to filling vessels with gas mixtures by pressure measurement techniques with gas mixtures comprising a major component and one or more minor components wherein the major component has a lesser density than at least one of the minor components.
Users of gas mixture products often have a need for uniform mixtures of gases at precise concentrations. However, because of certain conventional gas cylinder filling techniques, gas mixtures sold in containers such as gas cylinders are not always well mixed and do not always contain the desired concentration of each component. Generally, when two or more gases are charged into a gas cylinder, stratification of the gases in the cylinder will exist until the gas mixture reaches equilibrium. In the case of high pressure gas mixtures, this can take long periods of time, on the order of several days or more, unless special measures to mix the cylinder contents are undertaken.
The problem of stratification of components of a gas mixture in a newly filled cylinder can be pronounced when a gas mixture comprising a very small amount, for example about 1%, of one gas and about 99% of a second gas (by volume) is charged into a gas cylinder. When filling gas cylinders with mixtures of gases by pressure filling procedures it is customary to introduce the minor component into the cylinder first using a low pressure gauge to ensure a more precise transfer of the desired quantity of the minor component. Since precision pressure gauge readings are usually accurate to within about 0.1% of full scale, the error will be small when this procedure is used. If the minor component is lighter than the major component, relatively rapid mixing of the gases will occur. However, if the minor component has a greater density than the major component and the minor component is charged to the cylinder first, it will take considerably longer for the gas mixture to reach uniform concentration throughout the cylinder because gravitational forces impede upward movement of the more dense gas. Consequently, when the gas user requires a homogeneous gas mixture, the cylinder must be stored sufficiently long for substantially complete mixing to occur before the cylinder can be put into service, or measures taken to effect homogenization of the gas mixture.
Uniform mixing during filling of gas cylinders containing gas mixtures is also important because it minimizes temperature variation throughout the gas mixture, which in turn ensures more accurate measurement by pressure of the quantity of each component of the gas mixture introduced into the cylinder.
Various efforts have been undertaken to effect a more rapid mixing of gas mixtures in cylinders. One technique is to introduce the lighter gas component into the bottom part of the cylinder by means of a mixing tube. This will force the light gas to migrate upwardly through the heavy gas, thereby causing the gases to mix. Another technique is to roll the cylinders until the contents are uniformly mixed. Each of these procedures requires considerable handling of the cylinders, which increases the cost of filling the cylinders with gas mixtures.
Because of the importance of attaining immediate homogeneity of vessel-contained gas mixtures, methods of effecting more rapid mixing in vessels of gas mixtures comprising a minor component that has a greater density than the major component are continuously sought. The present invention provides such a method.


An endoscope apparatus includes an objective optical system mounted at a distal end portion of an endoscope, which is inserted into a tube cavity, and configured to form an image of an object in the tube cavity, the objective optical system including a focusing lens movable in an optical axis direction, a solid-state image pickup device for color image pickup configured to pick up the image formed by the objective optical system, a color separation filter being arranged for each pixel in the solid-state image pickup device, a focus adjusting mechanism configured to move the focusing lens and automatically adjust the objective optical system to a focus position in a focused state, a moving range switching section configured to perform switching of a moving range of the focusing lens, a moving range limiting section configured to limit the moving range in association with the switching by the moving range switching section, and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus having an autofocus function.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an endoscope including an image pickup unit employing a solid-state image pickup device has been widely used in a medical field.
There has also been proposed an endoscope including an optical system having an autofocus function to enable detailed observation of a diseased part and the like and an image pickup unit employing a solid-state image pickup device increased in the number of pixels.
For example, a conventional example of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-253489 discloses an endoscope apparatus that moves a part of lenses in an objective optical system to perform autofocus.
In the conventional example, when magnification controlling means is started up by operation of switching means, focus adjustment of the objective optical system is performed on a long focal length side in a variable focal length range of the objective optical system by focus controlling means started up in association with a control signal of the magnification controlling means.
In an examination or an observation by an endoscope, usually, a screening test is performed in a state in which the endoscope is focused on a far point side and, when a suspicious region is examined or observed in detail, operation for focusing the endoscope on a near point side is performed.


An elongated object for use in subsea having a heating pipe and an electrical cable fixed to the surface of the heating pipe. The electrical cable has a protective sleeving for surrounding the electrical cable, composed of a series of elongated synthetic plastics components arranged end-to-end. Each component is an extruded frame work type hollow profile suitable for slowing down the impact over a long deformation path. A hollow space is disposed between the electrical cable and the protective sleeving allowing the cable to move into the protective sleeving.

For the energy support of electrical devices on the seafloor, subsea cables are known in the state of the art which contain one or several conductors with an insulation and an outer sheath. The cable is generally armoured to be protected from damage which may be caused by outer impact forces, e.g. by fishing gears or falling objects.
A solution to this problem is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,457. This patent suggests an electrical subsea cable with a conductor, an insulation and a sheath wherein the sheath comprises two polymer layers, wherein the outer layer of the sheath has a mechanical hardness that is higher than a hardness of the insulation and wherein a hardness of an inner layer of the sheath is lower than a hardness of the insulation. The sheath has a slit parallel to a lengthwise direction of the cable. The bedding ensures that damages of the insulation are avoided even if the outer layer is deformed due to outer forces.
Another solution is presented in the published UK Patent Application 2365941. This publication presents a protective sleeving for surrounding an elongated object to be protected. This sleeving is composed of a series of cylindrical elongated synthetic plastics components arranged end-to-end. The components are joined to one another by the interengagement of complementary spigot portions and bores at the ends of adjacent components and by bands fitted in external grooves to surround the interengaged spigot portions and bores. Each sleeving component is composed of individual sections separable along a radial or diametric plane relative to the axis of the component and the sections are connected to one another by means of elongated projections snugly fitted in complementary openings. The protective sleeving is to surround elongated objects such as hoses, pipes and cables for many applications particularly in marine installations, where it is desirable to provide a means of protecting such objects from impact and damage.


In a display region, pixel electrodes are arranged with a predetermined pitch in a matrix. Dummy pixel electrodes provided in a dummy display region surrounding the display region are formed from the same layer as the pixel electrodes, and are arranged in an island shape so as to have the same size and pitch as the pixel electrodes. The dummy pixel electrodes are connected to each other via a wire positioned under the pixel electrodes.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device, and electronic equipment using the electro-optical device.
2. Related Art
An electro-optical device, for example, a liquid crystal panel has a configuration in which a pair of an element substrate and an opposite substrate is bonded together with a constant gap, and liquid crystal is sealed in the gap. Pixel electrodes are arranged in a matrix for respective pixels on a surface of the element substrate facing the opposite substrate. On the other hand, a common electrode is provided on a surface of the opposite substrate facing the element substrate, so as to face the overall pixel electrodes.
Among liquid crystal panels, in a liquid crystal panel having a display region of one inch or less diagonally, for example, applied to a light valve of a projector, a step difference occurring due to presence or absence of the pixel electrodes causes disarray in the liquid crystal alignment or optical scattering, thereby reducing a contrast ratio. In order to remove the step difference, a technique has been proposed in which a conductive pattern, which does not contribute to displaying, formed from the same layer as the pixel electrodes is provided in a region outside the display region where the pixel electrodes are arranged at almost the same density as the pixel electrodes, and thus the flatness of the inside and outside of the display region is little different (see JP-A-2006-267937 (refer to FIG. 4)).
However, the conductive pattern is a pattern formed by connecting to each other electrodes having the same size as the pixel electrodes, which are longitudinally and transversely adjacent to each other. For this reason, there is a problem in that since the area of the connection parts is increased, the conductive pattern provided in the region outside the display region does not have the same density as the pixel electrodes, and, as a result, a difference in the flatness occurs.

Electro-optical device and electronic equipment


A spatial optic modulating system with speckle reduction and a method thereof are disclosed. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a spatial optic modulating system includes a spatial optic modulator, which modulates and reflects an image transferred in accordance with an upward or downward movement of a ribbon that is operated according to a contraction or expansion of a piezoelectric element, an image lens unit, which transfers an image modulated from the spatial optic modulator as a diffraction image to a scanner, and a phase modulator, which modulates a phase of the diffraction image transferred from the image lens unit. With the present invention, an image, from which a speckle is removed, can be displayed by modulating a phase of an image projected by using a spatial optic modulator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speckle reduction system, more specifically to a spatial optic modulating system with speckle reduction and a method thereof.
2. Background Art
The conventional optic system is configured to allow mirrors and lenses to be assembled on a large and heavy optical bench by using corresponding implements. In order to improve the efficiency of the optic system, it is required to precisely place an optic axis, a reflecting angle and a reflecting side by using a precise stage.
To solve the problem, there has been an attempt to make the optical system smaller, and such technology used for this attempt is referred to as a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) or a micro electro mechanical device. Particularly, if the micromachining technology, which is one of the MEMS technologies, is used, not only optical devices having a smaller size than 1 mm but also micro optical systems can be realized.
The micro optical system is employed and applied in information communication apparatuses, information displays and recording apparatuses, due to its quick response, little loss, and integration and digital capabilities. For example, micro optical parts, such as micro-mirrors, micro-lenses and optical fiber holders, can be applied to a data storage device, a large display device, an optical communication device and adaptive optics.
Unlike the conventional large-sized projection systems, there has been a demand for compact-sized, inexpensive optical systems. As a result, devices that display a large-sized image by using a micro-mirror in order to improve the conventional projection system and to display a clearer image, have been manufactured and introduced in the market.
An optical modulator, in particular, including a micro-mirror refers to a circuit or an apparatus loading a signal in the light in a transmitter by using optical fibers or a free space of an optical frequency band as a transmission medium. The optical modulator is used for various fields such as optical memory, optical display, printer, optical interconnection and hologram. Currently, studies on display apparatuses using the optical modulator are actively in progress.
However, in the case of projecting an image to a screen by using the micro-mirror, a speckle, in which the brightness and the darkness are repeated, is generated due to the interference of the projected light. This speckle can cause an unclear image to form on the screen.
To reduce or remove the speckle, the conventional method generates N multiple speckles by regularly moving the screen, to which the image is projected, and offset the uncorrelation of the generated N multiple speckles with one another. Here, N is a natural number.
Beside that, the method of adding an optical device for reducing the speckle to the image system has been suggested. The speckle can be reduced or removed by allowing the optical device for deducing the speckle, which is located on a projecting path of the system, to change the phase of a modulated or projected image.
An apparatus for removing the speckle by mounting a wavefront modulator between a light modulator and a projection/scanning apparatus, which reflects an image to a screen, has also been suggested. However, there is the problem that these apparatuses are large and complex. This is because not only a first image system but also a second image system is required to project an image, which makes it impossible to be used in a compact-sized mobile communication terminal, such as a cellular phone, the portability of which is imperative.

Spatial optic modulating system with speckle reduction and method thereof


A magnetic levitation vibration system comprising a top plate, a base plate, at least one first magnet, at least one second magnet, at least one electromagnetic actuator comprising an upper half and a lower half, a controller, a sensor, and a control circuit. A method for the treatment or prevention of musculoskeletal indications comprising providing a top plate, providing a base plate, generating a first magnetic field to levitate the top plate, generating a second magnetic field to drive the top plate into vibration, adjusting frequency of vibration of the top plate; and adjusting magnitude of vibration of the top plate.

More and more people, especially the elderly, suffer from various musculoskeletal indications such as osteoporosis, fracture, bone loss, osteoarthritis, low back pain, neuromuscular ailment, circulation problem in lower limb and the like. The prevention and treatment for musculoskeletal indications is required.
Low magnitude and high frequency vibration has been proven to be beneficial to several musculoskeletal indications, which provides non-pharmacological treatment and prevention of osteoporosis and associated problems. Conventional low magnitude and high frequency vibration devices generally use mechanical parts (such as springs and levers) in contact with each other as a driving unit. The mechanical wear-out and metal fatigue may reduce the serviceable life and increase power consumption and the maintenance cost.
U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2006/0241528A1 discloses a system for a low profile vibrating plate, which uses magnetic fields to provide vertical vibration motion to a platform so as to allow the system to have a lower profile. This published system allows for a more compact form-factor for the vibrating plate, which allows for increased portability. Additionally, since mechanical parts are eliminated, the vibrating plate of the published system has increased reliability.
However, neither those conventional devices employing mechanic parts nor the published system of U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2006/0241528A1 addresses the issue of non-stable frequency and magnitude of vibration in view of the change of weights of users. In order to ensure the effectiveness of therapy for users having different weights, the body weight has to be measured and this parameter has to be manually input. This may introduce erratic response if there is any error in this parameter from the measurement (if not done correctly) or human input. Moreover, none of known devices provides a feasible solution to regulate the frequency and magnitude of vibration when the device is in use. Furthermore, the published system of US Patent Publication No. US 2006/0241528A1 has one set of magnets consisting of static magnets and dynamic magnets to handle the weight of the load and generation of vibration. To support user's weight (˜100 kg) using ordinary electromagnet (the most popular dynamic magnet), high electricity consumption is necessary to generate the force. Besides, since no magnetic shielding facility is used in the US Patent Publication No. US 2006/0241528A1, users may be surrounded by magnetic field due to possible leakage of magnetic field, which will produce undesirable influences to the human body, as specified by WHO (Environmental Health Criteria (2007), Extremely low frequency fields, Geneva: World Health Organization, Monograph, No.238) and ICNIRP (Guidelines on limits of exposure to static magnetic fields. Health Phys. 66(1), 100-106).

Magnetic levitation vibration systems and methods for treating or preventing musculoskeletal indications using the same


A temperature control apparatus is provided. The temperature control apparatus includes an analog to digital (AD) converter digital-converting a measurement value transmitted from a plurality of temperature sensors; a control means comparing the measurement value transmitted from the AD converter with a preset desired value to perform PID calculation; and an output unit transmitting, to outside, a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal transmitted form the control means, wherein an input-side isolator for isolation for each temperature sensor is provided between the AD converter and the temperature sensor, the input-side isolator is connected to each of the temperature sensors, and the control means sequentially operates the input-side isolators.

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a temperature, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for controlling a temperature that may isolate each channel of a temperature sensor.
A programmable logic controller (PLC) may include a temperature control device for temperature control and the temperature control device may use an input module and an output module.
The temperature control device may occupy a PLC base slot for each of the input module and the output module, in which case the temperature control device may occupy two PLC base slots and there is inconvenience in independently setting the operation of each module.
When in order to such a limitation, a module occupying one PLC base slot includes temperature input, PID calculation and transistor output functions, it is possible to decrease complexity and inefficiency. In this case, it is possible to solve limitations that PID control performance is affected by the scan time of a PLC CPU and temperature control stops when the PLC CPU has an error.
For such a temperature control device configured to occupy only one slot, it is desirable to secure isolating characteristics for each input channel at the industrial site, in which case the same hardware is configured for each channel in order to secure isolation for each input channel and much cost is required for module configuration.
In particular, analog products require an inter-channel working voltage for many industrial applications. Thus, a product using a multiplexer may overcome constraints of manufacturing cost and space but it is difficult to satisfy the inter-channel working voltage. In addition, a product configured to have isolation for each input channel may present the inter-channel working voltage but it has significant limitations in constraints of manufacturing cost and space.

Apparatus and method for controlling temperature


A removable disc drive cartridge providing an improved combination of shock protection and electrical alignment (registration) of a enclosed removable disc drive.

A removable disc drive cartridge is a type of removable media that is employed to store and to physically transport data between two different locations. Typically, a disc drive cartridge transports data between two different computers that are each located at different locations. Other types of removable media, such as a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), a tape cartridge or a flash memory key can also be used to physically transport data between two different computers.
Patents and patent publications that relate to the general subject matter of removable disc drive cartridges include U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,841 to Darden, U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,934 to Valavanis, U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,360 to Kaczeus, and U.S. 2005/0257949 to Lalouette. Differences between the subject invention and these patents and patent publications will be described in the following invention description.

Removable disc drive cartridge with improved registration