Processed smokable materials are provided by forming a slurry of combustible material (e.g., a carbonaceous material) in an aqueous liquid. The slurry then is contacted with a foaming agent which includes a mixture of a surfactant and a polymeric film-forming agent. The slurry is agitated to provide a slurry of decreased density. The slurry so provided then is formed into the desired shape and dried. The processed smokable material which results is useful as cut filler for cigarette manufacture.

The present invention relates to smokable materials for smoking articles such as cigarettes, and in particular, to processes for manufacturing smokable materials.
Popular smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge of smokable material, such as shreds or strands of tobacco material (i.e., in cut filler form), surrounded by a paper wrapper, thereby forming a smokable rod. It has become desirable to manufacture a cigarette having a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the smokable rod. Typically, a filter element includes cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by plug wrap, and is attached to the smokable rod using a circumscribing tipping material.
Various processed smokable materials are known. For example, numerous reconstituted tobacco materials are employed as components of a blend of tobacco materials within a cigarette. Smokable materials having the tradenames Cytrel and NSM were introduced in Europe during the 1970's. A substantial listing of smokable materials can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,742 to Rainer et al.
It would be highly desirable to provide a process for manufacturing processed smokable materials.


A tire comprising an innerliner, where the innerliner includes a rubber and boron nitride dispersed within the rubber.

The inner surface of a pneumatic tire may include an elastomeric composition designed to prevent or retard the permeation of air from the tire's inner air chamber. This elastomeric composition is often referred to as an innerliner. Rubbers, such as butyl and halobutyl rubber, which are relatively impermeable to air, are often used as the primary rubber component in innerliners.
The innerliner may comprise a relatively thin sheet of elastomer that is formulated with compounding additives and a curing system. The elastomer formulation may be laminated to the inner surface of a tire carcass layer of an uncured tire as the tire is formed on a tire building drum. Final cure of the composite structure produces a tire having a cured innerliner adhered to the carcass.
Properties that are desirable for innerliners include good resistance to air permeation, flex resistance, and adhesion to the tire carcass.

Tire innerliner with improved resistance to air permeability


In a digital-to-analog converter for converting a received digital signal having N bits and a sampling frequency fs to an analog signal; digital interpolation filter receives the digital signal and generates a modified digital signal having a number of bits less than N and a sampling frequency greater than fs, pulse width modulator receives the modified digital signal and generates a pulse signal having pulse widths which correspond to the modified digital signal, output buffer having a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter circuit including P channel and N channel transistors having respective resistance values receives the pulse signal and low-pass filter receives the output signal from the output buffer, wherein the digital interpolation filter, the pulse width modulator and the output buffer are formed in an integrated circuit, and when the transistors are conductive the resistance values of the P channel and N channel transistors are set equal to each other by adjusting a voltage applied to the integrated circuit substrate so as to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the produced analog signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a large scale integrated (LSI) circuit and, more particularly in directed to an LSI circuit for converting pulse code modulated (PCM) data to an analog signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a digital audio signal recorded on a record medium, such as a compact disc or the like, is converted to an analog audio signal, a digital-to-analog converter (hereinafter, referred to as a D/A converter) is used therefor. In the conventional D/A. converter, a digital audio signal of a predetermined bit number is converted to a staircase signal by code-to-voltage converting means and the thus converted staircase signal is supplied to a low-pass filter so as to produce an analog audio signal.
In the staircase signal converted by the code-to-voltage converting means a noise or a glitch occurs as a perturbation in the pulse waveform having a relatively short duration between respective staircases. Further, noise occurs due to the conversion accuracy of the converting means, so that, the sound quality of the resultant converted analog audio signal is deteriorated.
More specifically, in a weighting circuit used in the D/A converter, the following problems arise:
(1) An output voltage is determined by either a voltage-dividing ratio of a resistance/capacitance of an addition of currents. Thus, a fluctuation of the ratio between the resistance and the capacitance leads directly to a fluctuation of the output voltage. Typically, the fluctuation of the ratio between the resistance and the capacitance in an LSI circuit, that is, due to the manufacturing process, is within a range of approximately 0.1 to 1.0% which results in a maximum accuracy of the D/A converter of 10 to 14 bits. As a result, a trimming process is generally performed on the elements However, in order to perform the D/A conversion with an accuracy of 16 bits, a highly accurate trimming technique is required which cannot be easily performed; and
(2) The glitch occurs due to the opening and closing timings of the latch circuits and the switching circuits being shifted, and is generally removed by a so-called deglitcher circuit. However, the tone quality is deteriorated by the switching noise of the deglitcher circuit or by a droop, a distortion, an overshoot and the like.
In an attempt to eliminate the defects encountered with the conventional D/A converter, numerous combined systems involving a noise shaping method and a one-bit D/A converting method have been recently developed.
Examples of the above-described combined systems include a .DELTA.-to-.SIGMA. converting system developed by the Philips Corp., and a multi-stage noise shaping (MASH) system developed by the Nippon Telegram and Telephone Corporation. An overall arrangement of such a combined system is illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, a digital audio signal, for example, of 16 bits, having a sampling rate fs is applied through an input terminal 1 to a digital interpolation filter 2, in which the signal is converted to a noise-shaped digital signal having 1 to 4 bits and a sampling rate of 32 to 256 fs. The resultant digital signal is supplied to a D/A converter 3 in which an analog signal is produced and outputted having an accuracy of 1 to 4 bits. The outputted analog signal is further processed by an output buffer 4 and a low-pass filter 5; whereupon, an analog audio signal is delivered to an output terminal 6.
In the D/A conversion of the noise shaping system, a shaping operation is performed for distributing a noise component in the high frequency region so as to produce an analog output with an improved signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. Further, the D/A conversion of one bit is performed without the aforementioned defects, that is, the occurrence of glitches and the deterioration of the accuracy.
Systems have been proposed for the digital-to-analog conversion of pulse width modulation (PWM) signals in which a binary digital signal having 1 to 4 bits is processed so as to obtain a multi-level analog signal.
An overall arrangement of the D/A conversion in the noise-shaping system will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3A-3D.
As shown in FIG. 2, a noise-shaped digital signal, for example, of 3 bits, is supplied through an input terminal 7 to a read-only memory (ROM) 8 which outputs a pulse b which is pulse-width-modulated in the time direction. The waveform of the pulse b is represented in FIG. 3B. The output pulse b from ROM 8 is supplied to a D-type flip-flop circuit 9, in which the pulse is sampled by a clock signal, which is applied to an input terminal 10 from a crystal oscillation clock (not shown), so as to absorb jitter components.
The output signal from D-type flip-flop 9 is supplied through a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) converter 11 to a low-pass filter 12 from which an analog output signal is coupled to an output terminal 13.
An operation of the circuit arrangement of FIG. 2 will now be described for the case in which the digital signal applied to the input terminal 7 changes levels as at "1", "2", "3" in FIG. 3A.
The noise-shaped digital signal supplied through input terminal 7 to the ROM 8 causes the latter to output the pulse signal b having a pulse width proportional to the digital values as shown in FIG. 3B. The pulse b is sampled by the D-type flip-flop 9 and the output sampled signal is supplied to CMOS inverter 11 which derives a pulse c having a predetermined phase relative to the pulse b, as represented in FIG. 3C. The pulse c is smoothed by the low-pass filter 12, and is supplied to output terminal 13 as an output signal d have a gradually increasing voltage level as shown by the waveform diagram of FIG. 3D.
The output c, from CMOS inverter 11, is a voltage signal in binary form which represents the GND and +V.sub.DD value, so that, although the aforementioned D/A converter produces a multi-value analog output, this D/A converter is generally regarded as a one-bit D/A converter. Accordingly, the prior-art weighting circuit, as previously described, is not required, so that, D/A conversion can be performed which is free from the problems of accuracy deterioration and the occurrence of glitches.
In the D/A converter of the pulse width modulation system for generating the PWM wave, an output buffer circuit must be provided as the final stage circuit which is, for example, composed of two field effect transistors (FETs) 21 and 22 as shown in FIG. 4. The PWM wave, from the converting circuit, is supplied to a terminal 23 which is connected to the gate electrodes of the two field effect transistors 21 and 22. The source electrode of the P-channel field effect transistor 21 is connected to a voltage source terminal V.sub.DD, whereas the source electrode of the other or N-channel field effect transistor 22 is connected to a voltage source terminal V.sub.SS. The drain electrodes of the two field effect transistors 21 and 22 are connected together and coupled to a common output terminal 24. Thus, the PWM wave is supplied through the output buffer circuit to output terminal 24.
In the previously described output buffer circuit, the ON resistance values of P-channel and N-channel transistors 21 and 22, respectively, must be made equal to each other, so as not to deteriorate the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of the output signal. For example, when the ON resistance values of the P-channel and N-channel transistors 21 and 22, respectively, are equal to each other, the S/N ratio of the audio signal delivered from the D/A converter is higher than 120 dB, which results in a high quality audio signal. On the other hand, if the ON resistance values of the P-channel and N-channel transistors 21 and 22, respectively, are not equal to each other, the S/N ratio of the audio signal is only approximately 80-100 dB. In an attempt to avoid this defect, it has been proposed to insert a resistor between the source electrode, for example, between the P-channel transistor 21 and the voltage source terminal V.sub.DD, for adjusting the ON resistance values. However, the ON resistance values fluctuate due to changes in ambient temperature. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, if the ambient temperature is changed by 50.degree. C., this is, from 25.degree. C. to 75.degree. C., the ON resistance value is changed from 10.OMEGA. to 11.OMEGA., that is, by about 10%. Thus, since the ON resistance values fluctuate due to temperature change adjusting the ON resistance values at a particular ambient temperature by the means of resistor. Does not insure that the ON resistance values will remain equal at other ambient temperatures.
In the circuit arrangement shown in FIG. 2, the output PWM pulse from ROM 8 can be regarded as an analog-converted signal. Thus, the D-type flip-flop 9, the inverter 11 and the circuits succeeding the output of the ROM 8, can be regarded as an analog signal processing portion. On the other hand, the ROM 8 and the digital interpolation filter 2 (FIG. 1) constitute a digital signal processing portion and these digital elements can be readily formed on a single LSI chip.
When a plurality of signal processing portions are formed on the same chip, it is frequently observed that one signal processing portion exerts a negative influence on the other signal processing portion. More specifically, when, for example, the digital signal processing portion and the analog signal processing portion are formed on the same chip, a signal in the form of a pulse wave, which is processed by the digital signal processing portion, exerts a negative influence upon a signal within the analog signal processing portion, so as to superimpose a noise component upon an output signal of the analog signal processing portion.

Large scale integrated circuit for converting pulse code modulated data to an analog signal


A method operating a telematics device of a vehicle can include: requesting identity (ID) information of a driver from a driver terminal when the driver enters the vehicle; performing an authentication process using the ID information; preventing start-up of an engine of the vehicle when the driver is identified as a temporary user according to the authentication process; receiving navigation data including information relating to a destination from the driver terminal; acquiring information indicating an estimated insurance fee corresponding to each of one or more paths for navigating to the destination; transmitting the information indicating the estimated insurance fee to the driver terminal; and starting the engine when one of the one or more paths for navigating to the destination is selected by the driver terminal.

As the vehicle industry develops, telematics systems that use wireless communication technology to provide various mobile communication services in vehicles are being continuously developed to provide enhanced convenience to drivers. Telematics systems may provide various services relating to, for instance, news, stock investment, electronic commerce, financial transactions, hotel reservations, document transmission/reception, games, vehicle accident reports, theft reports, and the like.
In order to protect their vehicle, many drivers take out vehicle insurance. The vehicle insurance fee may be determined by factors such as a type of vehicle, driving experience, and the like. Pay-per-mile (PPI) insurance may use the distance traveled by the driver as a factor to determine the vehicle insurance fee.
When a user of a vehicle is not an owner or regular user of the vehicle (i.e., a "temporary user"), the temporary user may need to take out vehicle insurance. However, it can be difficult to estimate a reasonable insurance fee for the temporary user. In addition, it may be cumbersome for a user to take out insurance for temporary use. Thus, the temporary user may resort to traveling without insurance to avoid trouble.

Telematics device and method for taking out vehicle insurance and estimating insurance fees


A medical syringe with at least three ports, in conjunction with a urinary catheter, can be used for closed manual irrigation of a bladder. The three syringe ports are located on a port body. Each of the three syringe ports can be manually selected by rotating a barrel that has a closed end located inside the cup-shaped port body. Rotation of the barrel inside the port body occurs about an axis that is aligned with the central axis of the hollow cylindrical barrel. The system is configured to selectively fill the syringe with an input fluid, irrigate the bladder by passing fluid into and out of the urinary catheter, and drain bladder contents into a drainage vessel without ever needing to remove the syringe from the catheter.

The present invention relates to systems and methods for irrigation and/or drainage of an open or closed body cavity in human or veterinary medicine using a syringe having at least three selectable ports to allow at least three phases of an irrigation process to be performed in a closed system. Such multiphase syringe systems and methods could be used in conjunction with an indwelling urinary catheter that is passed through the urethra or the abdomen into the bladder. It could be used for gastrointestinal purposes for nasogastric tube irrigation, medical feeding and rectal tube applications. It could also be used in other medical applications that require irrigations, infusions, instillation, or drainage of various materials or medications.
In the medical field, irrigation of various body cavities is used to introduce medical therapy or remove/drain various matter such as blood products, mucous, gastrointestinal material, abscess fluid, ear wax, and genitourinary material. Urinary tract surgeries, such as prostate surgery or trans-urethral resection, typically require the insertion of an indwelling urinary catheter to irrigate and drain the bladder. One example of a device that can be used in such surgical procedures is a urinary catheter. A suprapubic catheter that is inserted through the abdomen into the bladder is another example. Cavities other than the bladder can be irrigated, drained, and/or instilled with other medical therapies in a similar fashion. One example would be nasogastric intubation into the stomach.
Catheters can have multiple lumens (i.e. channels) connecting a body cavity with the outside world. For example, when using a two-lumen urinary catheter for irrigation, one lumen is used for inflating an internal retention balloon and a second lumen can be used for irrigation and drainage. In this configuration, one end of this second lumen would be located in the body cavity and the other end would typically be detachably connected to a manually operated piston syringe for filling, instilling, irrigation, and drainage—a process known as manual (or hand) irrigation. The manual irrigation process typically involves the following steps:    (a) filling the syringe with an irrigating (clean or sterile) solution by placing the tip of the syringe into a container of the solution while manually retracting the piston;    (b) placing the tip of the syringe onto the end of the second lumen of the catheter;    (c) filling the bladder with the irrigating solution by emptying the contents of the syringe into the cavity;    (d) using the syringe to withdraw the material to be flushed (irrigating solution plus blood clots, debris, purulent material, and/or accumulated body tissue) from the bladder;    (e) removing the syringe from the second lumen of the catheter;    (f) emptying the bladder contents from the syringe into a waste container; and    (g) repeating the process as often as necessary, which means the system is opened repeatedly, exposing the catheter lumen and the clean or sterile input fluid to environmental contaminants.
A three-lumen urinary catheter has three channels that can connect to the body cavity. In one configuration, the first lumen is used for the internal retention balloon and the second lumen can be used for performing the same manual irrigation steps that were described for the two-lumen catheter. The third lumen in this configuration can be used for continuous gravity filling of the cavity with an irrigating solution. In another configuration of a three-lumen urinary catheter, the first lumen is for the internal retention balloon, the second is for continuous gravity filling of the cavity with an irrigating solution, and the third is for continuous gravity drainage of the cavity, a configuration called continuous bladder irrigation. The three-lumen urinary catheter system could be converted from the first configuration (manual irrigation) to the second configuration (continuous irrigation) by removing the syringe and replacing it with a line for providing continuous gravity drainage.
The most common systems and methods currently being used for irrigating a bladder require that the system must be opened, or broken repeatedly while irrigating, or when medicine or materials need to be instilled or infused, or when a three-lumen urinary catheter must be changed from manual irrigation to continuous irrigation. Opening an irrigation circuit creates a risk of infection or contamination of the body cavity being irrigated. It can contaminate the clean input fluid source. It can also cause spillage of the input fluid source or drained material, which poses a risk of infecting or contaminating the patient, the operator performing the irrigation, and/or the surrounding equipment and facility. It is desired to have a simple, cost effective, and easy to use closed system that reduces the risk of spillage and contamination. Such a system should also maintain sterility, especially when intermittent irrigation is needed or when manual irrigation is needed during continuous irrigation. Ideally, the system would reduce the risk of catheter or drain associated infections, reduce staffing time needed to clean the spillage from manual irrigation. The system should also reduce the risk of contamination of the cavity, the tubing system, the input fluid source, the patient, any staff member, other patients, and any surrounding equipment and the facility where the system is located. A well-designed system could be left in place for an entire duration/hospitalization for intermittent manual irrigation, whether continuous irrigation is needed or not. Such a system could be used for on-demand manual irrigation with either a two-lumen or a three-lumen urinary catheter. The system could have a manually operable plunger that could have a limiter and a locking mechanism that sets the plunger into a partially open position in the barrel. This locking mechanism could prevent inadvertent insertion or retraction of the plunger in the barrel. The partially open position allows for continuous drainage through the barrel. A simple, cost-effective, and easy-to-use system that doesn't need to be opened, could also be fastened to the patient or in the vicinity of the cavity to prevent tension or dislodging of the syringe from the circuit. The system could be latex free. The system could have universal application. The system could include other features such as the use of bacteriostatic or antibacterial coating on part or all of the system. The system could include a splashguard to minimize spillage if the system is accidentally opened. The system could include a catheter tip fastener that locks the catheter lumen to a catheter port or line on an irrigating device to prevent accidental dislodging of the catheter tip and urinary catheter connection.

Multiport syringe system for use with a urinary catheter


Provided are methods and systems for transmission of terrestrial data between aircraft and ground-based systems using broadband over power line (BPL) communication channels. These channels are established based on authentication of biometric data. Specifically, a biometric module, positioned on an aircraft or a gate, receives biometric data from a user and then authenticates this data based on available reference data. The authentication results are used by a BPL module to establish (or not establish) a BPL communication channel. The BPL communication channel is established through an electrical power cable connecting the aircraft to the gate. Furthermore, the BPL communication channel is established through at least a portion of the onboard electrical power distribution system of the aircraft. The terrestrial data, e.g., aircraft control data, in-flight entertainment data, and/or airplane information system data, is then transmitted through this BPL communication channel.

The amount of data needed for and produced during the operation of aircraft is growing at a rapid pace. This data is used for various cabin systems, avionics systems, and in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems, among other types of systems and applications. Airlines are typically responsible for supplying new data to aircraft and timely downloading of various data, e.g., collected during flights, from the aircraft. All these activities require fast and secure data transfers between aircraft and external networks, while the aircraft are on the ground (e.g., parked at gates). Currently, airports throughout the world use a wide range of communications systems, making it difficult and costly for aircraft travelling among these airports to upload and download data. Furthermore, access to communication channels is not always sufficiently restricted.
What is needed are methods and systems for transmission of terrestrial data between aircraft and ground-based systems that are standardized and secure.

Methods and systems for transmitting terrestrial aircraft data using biometrically authenticated broadband over power line communication channels


The present invention provides an alternator having a small size and a high reliability wherein, the alternator is equipped with a switching power module 1 having a resin case 13 housing switching elements 2 and a driving circuit section 5, a smoothing capacitor 7 for smoothing a direct current output supplied to the switching elements 2, a control circuit section 6 for outputting a control signal to the driving circuit section 5 and a cooling member 24; a ceramic capacitor is used as the smoothing capacitor; a smoothing capacitor board 25 for mounting the smoothing capacitor 7 is disposed between an insulating board mounting with the switching elements 2 and a driving circuit board 18 mounting with the driving circuit section 5; and the smoothing capacitor board 25 functions also as an electromagnetic shielding plate for protecting the driving circuit section 5 against the switching noise of the switching elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alternator such as an inverter and the like, and in particular, to the type, positioning, mounting, fixing, connecting method and the like of a smoothing capacitor used in the alternator.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the circuit construction of a conventional alternator which converts a DC power source into a three phase alternating current for driving an AC load such as a three-phase AC motor. Taking the case of an electric vehicle as an example, when the vehicle is first started off or accelerated, a switching power module 1 converts the discharge output of a DC power source 8 (battery) from direct current to a three phase current to drive an AC load 9 (three-phase motor). On the other hand, when the vehicle performs regenerative braking, regenerative power from the AC load 9 (three-phase motor) is converted from three phase current to direct current and returned to the DC power source 8 (battery).
Switching elements 2 such as transistors which convert power from direct current to three phase current, i.e, IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) and MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor), free-wheel diodes 3 which convert power from three phase current to direct current, snubber capacitors 4 for suppressing a surge voltage occurring in the switching elements 2 section during switching, and a drive circuit section 5 for driving the switching elements 2 are loaded in the switching power module 1.
Here, the main property demanded of the snubber capacitor 4 is good frequency characteristics. Thus, a film capacitor is generally used as the snubber capacitor 4. On the other hand, a smoothing capacitor 107 suppresses voltage fluctuation of the DC power source 8 during switching and smoothes a voltage jump and the like, and thus must have a sufficiently large capacitance. Therefore, an aluminum electrolytic capacitor which can easily provide a large capacitance is generally used as the smoothing capacitor 107.
Furthermore, a control circuit section 6 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit section 5 in the switching power module 1 to control the switching elements 2. Moreover, since the drive circuit section 5 and control circuit section 6 are generally circuits for driving and controlling the AC load 9, i.e., three phase motor and the like, detailed drawings thereof are omitted.
Moreover, FIG. 13 is a partially sectional side elevation view showing the internal construction of a common conventional alternator. In FIG. 13, a switching power module 1, smoothing capacitors 107, a snubber capacitor board 20 loaded with snubber capacitors 4 (not shown), and a control circuit board 19 loaded with control circuits 6 (not shown) are housed in a case 23.
Generally, a distributing board 21 such as a copper bus bar or a copper plate and the like is used for connecting the switching power module 1 and the smoothing capacitors 107 which are electrically connected when the distributing board 21 is connected with screws 22. Also, the snubber capacitor board 20 is generally arranged in the vicinity of a positive electrode (P), negative electrode (N) DC input wiring 10p, 10n and a U phase, V phase and W phase AC output wiring 11 of the switching power module 1, and is at the same time fixed and electrically connected with the screws 22.
The switching power module 1 package is constructed from: a resin switching power module case 13 insert molded with the positive electrode (P), negative electrode (N) DC input wiring 10p, 10n, the U phase, V phase and W phase AC output wiring 11 and driving circuit board connection wiring 12; and a switching power module base board 14. Also, an insulating board 15, such as a ceramic board and the like, loaded with switching elements 2 and free-wheel diodes 3, and a driving circuit board 18 (not shown) loaded with the driving circuit section 5 are housed in the switching power module 1 package.
The switching elements 2 and free-wheel diodes 3 are fixed with a bonding member, such as solder and the like, on the switching power module base board 14 via the insulating board 15 which has a conductor pattern. The switching elements 2 and free-wheel diodes 3 are connected with the positive electrode (P), negative electrode (N) DC input wiring 10p, 10n, the U phase, V phase and W phase AC output wiring 11 and the driving circuit board connection wiring 12 by means of a connecting conductor 16 such as wire bonding and the like. Moreover, the driving circuit board 18 and the driving circuit board connection wiring 12 are electrically connected with solder and the like.
A gel filler 17 is filled between the insulating board 15 and the driving circuit board 18, and there are also cases where a resin, such as an epoxy and the like, is further filled thereon. Moreover, this gel filler 17 protects the switching elements 2, free-wheel diodes 3 and connecting conductor 16 so as to prevent the switching elements from being damaged or malfunctioning due to dust and humidity.
The surface of the driving circuit board 18 on the insulating board 15 side is generally beta grounded to obtain an electromagnetic sealed effect so that the driving circuit section 5 does not malfunction due to switching noise generated from the switching elements 2 during power conversion.
Furthermore, a cooling member 24 for cooling the switching elements 2 by means of air-cooling, water-cooling, oil-cooling and the like is attached to the case 23, and Joule heat generated from the switching elements 2 is dissipated to cooling member 24 via the insulating board 15 and the switching power module base board 14. Thus, the switching elements are cooled. Moreover, detailed drawings of the mounting position and fixing method of a control circuit board have been omitted.
The smoothing capacitor 107 must have a sufficiently large electrostatic capacity because it smoothes the power of the DC power source to be supplied to the switching elements 2. Accordingly, it generally has a large size. When an aluminum electrolytic capacitor is used as the smoothing capacitor 107, since the internal resistance thereof is high, the internally generated heat of the smoothing capacitor 107 is increased by ripple voltage fluctuation of the direct current which occurs during switching.
In order to suppress this generated heat, the structure of the switching power module 1 must be complicated by cooling the smoothing capacitor 107 with the cooling member 24, or the electrostatic capacity must be increased further. Accordingly, conventional alternators have had a drawback in that the surface area and volume of the smoothing capacitor 107 are large, thus increasing the size of the entire apparatus.
Also, aluminum electrolytic capacitors have drawbacks in that they have a narrow operating temperature range, and a short service life due to electrolyte leakage which accompanies poor sealing.
Furthermore, since the surface area and volume of the smoothing capacitor 107 are large, there is a drawback in that electrical wiring for connecting the switching power module 1 and smoothing capacitor 107 must be long. Hence, the wiring inductance between the switching elements 2 and the smoothing capacitor 107 increases, and because there is a danger that the switching elements 2 will be damaged by a large surge voltage occurring during switching, snubber capacitors 4 must be provided in the vicinity of the positive electrode (P), negative electrode (N) DC input wiring 10p, 10n and a U phase, V phase and W phase AC output wiring 11 of the switching power module 1.
Moreover, in the conventional switching power module 1, the surface of the driving circuit board 18 on the switching elements 2 side is magnetically sealed by means of a beta grounding method and the like so as to prevent malfunctioning of the driving circuit section 5 due to radiant noise generated from the switching elements 2, hence there is a constraint in that components can only be mounted on one side of the driving circuit board 18.


An electrically resistive film of the type used for forming thick film resistors is formed predominantly of palladium and includes an addition of boron nitride to increase resistance, preferably in combination with tantalum oxide. A paste of palladium powder and boron nitride powder dispersed in a vaporizable vehicle is applied to a substrate and sintered to form the film. In a preferred embodiment, the substrate is a ceramic powder compact that is concurrently sintered in a co-firing process.

This invention relates to a thick film resistor of the type that is formed by applying a powder paste and sintering. More particularly, this invention relates to such resistor formed of a predominantly palladium film containing boron nitride to increase electrical resistance.
In the manufacture of electronic components, thick film resistors are formed by applying a powder paste to a substrate and heating to sinter the powder to form a film. In a typical example, the paste comprises a mixture of metallic and nonmetallic powders dispersed in a liquid vehicle that permits the paste to be conveniently applied, for example, by spraying or screen printing. The vehicle contains an expendable binder that holds the particles into a layer after the paste is applied and dried. Upon heating, the binder decomposes, and the powders are sintered to produce an integral film and to bond the film to the substrate, thereby forming the resistor.
It is also advantageous to concurrently form a thick film element and a substrate by a co-firing process. For this purpose, the paste is applied to a substrate that is a compact of ceramic powder typically bonded by an expendable organic binder. Thereafter, during heating, the ceramic is sintered into an integral substrate, while the particulate layer is concurrently sintered to form the element.
Common commercial paste for forming thick film resistors include a mixture of silver powder and one or more powders, of a glass or ceramic composition. Such silver powder pastes are limited to sintering temperatures less than about 1,000.degree. C. It is desired to utilize substrates formed of alkaline earth metal titanate compounds, such as strontium calcium titanate (SCT), that require relatively high sintering temperatures greater than about 1,250.degree. C. Thus, silver powder pastes are not suitable for co-sintering with metal titanates at the higher temperatures. Moreover, additives formed of glass or other ceramics that are suitable at silver sintering temperatures may not be useful for sintering at the higher temperatures, particularly if added in relatively high concentrations to modify film resistance. Therefore, there is a need for an electrically resistive film for forming thick film resistors and the like, which film is derived from a paste and is sintered at a high temperature such as is encountered in a co-firing process that forms a metal titanate substrate.

Palladium thick film resistor containing boron nitride


Systems and methods are provided herein for scheduling a season recording. A series is provided to a user device, the series having a plurality of sequential seasons, and each season having a plurality of episodes. A request for recording the series is received from the user. In response, a last episode of the series watched by the user is identified. A relevant season of the plurality of seasons is then determined, such that the relevant season precedes another season of the plurality of seasons and includes the last episode watched by the user. Then, episodes of the relevant season that follow the last episode watched by the user are scheduled for recording, such that episodes of a season that precedes the relevant season are not scheduled for recording.

Modern media systems (e.g., smart TVs) provide a menu that may include menu icons that allow the user to launch an application by interacting with (e.g., by clicking on a) respective menu icons. Menu icons can sometimes provide additional information to the user, e.g., a menu icon can be changed to indicate that some kind of a sale or a promotion is going on. However, such menu icons fail to inform the user about the account status of the application associated with the respective menu icon. That is, the user has no way of knowing their account status (e.g., whether the user has a premium subscription or a free subscription) before actually launching the application. This deficiency can lead to an undesirable user experience where the user launches an application and cannot get the desired content, or a user may miss out on the desired content because they did not know they had access.
Additionally, menus of the modern media systems are often mismatched with a remote controller device that is being utilized by the user. Currently, users will often use third-party devices or software-based remote controllers with varying number of inputs (e.g., buttons, scroll wheels, touchpads, microphones, etc.). Consequently, menu interfaces provided by the media systems will often have user interface elements that have no corresponding input on the user's remote controller. Alternatively, or additionally, menu interfaces may also fail to utilize the inputs that are present on the remote controller.
Furthermore, modern media systems may have a capability that allows a user to set up a "season pass recording" of a series (e.g., TV series). Generally, the user will have an option to record either all seasons of the series or first-run episodes only. However, such systems generally disregard how far along in the series the user currently is. In particular, such systems lack an ability to record just the season that is most relevant to the user based on the last episode of the series that was actually watched by the user.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for providing relevant season series recording functionality


A network advisory system that provides advisory information to a field service provider is disclosed. The network advisory system receives collected data from one or more destination facilities and analyzes the information to generate advisory information. The advisory information is used by the field service provider to provide a service at the destination facility. The field service provider may receive the advisory information while in transit to the destination facility or while located at a destination facility. The field service provider receives the advisory information through a network connection. The network connection may be either a wireless connection or a land-based connection.

Generally, field service providers (e.g., a field service technician) are persons employed to provide a service at a destination facility. The field service provider is typically employed by a service providing company, but may also be a contractor or an internal employee of the facility operator. On any given day, a field service provider may visit multiple destination facilities while providing various different services at each destination facility.
Regardless of the type of service to be provided and the destination facility to where a service is to be provided, it is generally helpful for the field service provider to receive information about the required or requested service prior to arrival at the destination facility. Currently, such advisory information is typically provided to the field service provider through interaction with another person, such as by telephone. Additionally, advisory information may be provided as the field service provider references a hard copy manual or printout.
Although these conventional methods have been used for many years, they are not without disadvantages. First, by interacting with another person, the advisory information provided to the field service provider is subject to human error. Furthermore, the cost of employing two employees—one a field service provider and the other providing advisory information to the field service provider—to provide a single service is a financial burden to the service providing company of which the persons are employed. Second, by referencing a hard copy manual or printout, the advisory information provided to the field service provider may not include the most recent information needed to satisfactorily provide the service.
More importantly, it is somewhat difficult and extremely dangerous for the field service provider to reference the hard copy manual or printout while in transit to a destination facility. Transit time is generally referred to as "windshield time" due to the fact that most field service providers spend that time traveling in a vehicle. Windshield time is typically time that cannot be charged to the customer by the service providing company. Likewise, time taken to reference a hard copy manual or printout is typically time that cannot be charged to the customer. If the field service provider attempts to reference the hard copy materials during windshield time, he/she is endangering not only his/her life, but also the life of others on the transportation routes. As such, to safely reference the hard copy during transit would require the field service provider to detour from the transportation route thereby resulting in even greater delays than the normal windshield time.

Method and system for providing advisory information to a field service provider


An apparatus for controlling tension in a pulling rope that is attached to a flying, unmanned aerial device or drone may utilize a cylinder around which the rope is wound, a shaft that longitudinally passes through the cylinder, a disc brake rotor that is mounted to the shaft, a brake caliper that is mounted circumferentially at a periphery of the disc brake rotor, and a brake lever that tensions a cable that is attached to, and movable to control movement of, the brake caliper, which may be hydraulic, against surfaces the disc brake rotor. The brake lever may be hand actuated and mounted to a handlebar. A frame may be part of the apparatus and support apparatus components and may have a protruding hitch portion that inserts into a vehicle's receiver hitch. An adjustable pulling rope guide support through which the rope is threaded, mounts to the frame.

Installing new or replacement de-energized power line conductors may be performed using a variety of known equipment and known methods depending upon the terrain over which, or through which, the power line is to be built or rebuilt. Generally, installing a conductor into its position on a power line tower or other structure involves pulling a rope or cable that is attached to a conductor to be pulled into position. In one example, in the case relatively flat, or open and generally unobstructed Earth terrain, simply pulling a conductor into place using traditional ground-based, or ground-positioned pulling equipment is possible because moving and installing pulling equipment along a generally flat right-of-way beside power line towers is physically possible. Stringing a conductor, that is, pulling a conductor from one tower to an adjacent tower in a series, is done in segments called a "pull" or "pulls," which may range from a relatively short pull between two adjacent towers, to a conductor pull through multiple towers that are arranged for many miles or kilometers. The pull may begin by using a rope attached to a rotating drum, which is attached to and powered by a pulling machine. As the drum rotates, the rope is pulled through a traveler, also known as a pulley, from one tower to a traveler at an adjacent tower. The rope at the trailing end is then attached to the actual conductor, which are in many instances steel and aluminum. When on relatively flat terrain, placement of the rope into one or more of the travelers on towers may be accomplished by a lineman in a bucket of a bucket truck. The rope can then be pulled through the travelers, which then pulls the conductor through the travelers.
In another example, a traditional manned helicopter may be employed to lift one end of a rope to traverse over and above any topographical feature that is not possible to traverse with land vehicles such as bucket trucks. Examples of a topographical surface feature that may be impossible to traverse with land vehicles include a heavily forested area, a mountainside, a swamp, steep ravine, or a rocky ravine. Examples of bodies of water may be lakes, rivers, streams, marshes or other swampy areas upon which driving a truck or other wheeled equipment is not possible. However, one problem associated with using manned helicopters to traverse such topographical features as part of installing a conductor is the relatively high hourly or daily rate for employing a manned helicopter compared to utilizing only ground-based equipment. What makes the use of manned helicopters expensive is not only the high cost of the helicopter equipment itself, but the cost of an operator, equipment insurance, liability insurance, and the cost of local use permits. Also, the time to acquire or have a permit approved for manned helicopter use in a designated area is another disadvantage to an essentially ground-based, conductor stringing or pulling operation. Still yet, manned helicopters with turbo-jet or other combustion driven engines are relatively noisy to operate and may stress humans or wildlife within hearing distance of the operational area of a helicopter.
Thus, while previous apparatus and methods for pulling a rope attached to a conductor have been satisfactory for their intended purposes, a need exists in the art for an apparatus and methods that improve over that which is known.

Apparatus and method for placing and tensioning an aerial, rope through a traveler of a power line


An illuminating device for archery aiming scopes uses a focused, concentrated light beam to illuminate both the aiming mark and level of the scope. The preferred light source is a high brightness, focused light emitting diode which is mounted so as to project a narrow beam of light down onto the aiming mark from a position above and outside the field of view of the scope. Illumination of the level is achieved by means of multiple reflections of the light beam between the lens and the level, with the result that the bubble of the level brightens when the bow is in the desired vertical orientation. The light source is powered by a battery pack which includes an on-off switch and brightness adjusting variable resistance.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to archery telescopic aiming sights, specifically to an improved method for illuminating such sights for use under poor lighting conditions.
2. Description of Prior Art
A telescopic aiming sight, referred to as a scope, is commonly used in archery to provide a means for more precise aiming by magnifying the target. The optical component of the scope consists of a single lens mounted within a cylindrical barrel. The purpose of the barrel is to serve as a support for the lens and to minimize reflections. The scope is mounted on a sight mechanism which is attached to the bow handle. The bow handle is referred to as the riser. The sight mechanism permits the scope to be raised and lowered with respect to the riser. Lowering the scope has the effect of causing the archer to aim higher, thereby increasing the elevation of the trajectory of the arrow. A higher arrow trajectory is required to hit targets which are located at longer distances. When the bow is drawn, the archer views the target through the scope while also looking through a small pin hole device. The pin hole device is called a peep and is mounted between strands of the bow string. When the bow is drawn, the peep in the bow string is located near the archer's eye, while the scope and sight mechanism mounted on the riser are at approximately arms length. In these positions, the peep and the scope form a simple telescope approximately one meter in length. When used in this manner, the scope provides magnification of the target while the combined scope and peep assembly permit the archer to precisely align the bow with the target. The typical scope also includes a level, liquid filled except for the indicating bubble, to aid in maintaining precise vertical positioning of the bow while aiming. If the bow is unknowingly inclined to one side, the arrow will impact to that side of the aiming point on the target.
The lens of the sight has an aiming mark, usually a circular dot, located at the center of the lens. The archer aims by placing the aiming mark on the bullseye of the magnified target while looking through the small hole in the peep. To obtain the greatest aiming precision, the hole in the peep is typically made very small. Holes as small as one millimeter in diameter are common. While this small diameter improves the archer's ability to aim with high precision, it also significantly reduces the amount of light reaching the archer's eye. Accordingly, under the poor lighting conditions which are often encountered in archery, the aiming mark and level become difficult to see. This inability to clearly see the aiming mark and level have an adverse impact on the archer's ability to aim. Specifically, the aiming process is mentally and physically very challenging, requiring total concentration by the archer. Any distractions tend to break the archer's concentration, reducing shooting accuracy. Difficulties in clearly seeing the aiming mark and level represent a significant distraction. To compensate for the loss of light caused by the small diameter of the peep hole, very bright illumination of the aiming mark and at least some illumination of the level are required.
To provide a brighter aiming mark, U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,983 issued to Schroeder (1980) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,565 issued to Podany and Glaseman (1987) both use an illumination method which places the light source itself directly at the center of the lens to serve as a lighted aiming dot. U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,068 issued to Meister (1992) uses a light source which shines on the aiming mark. To provide sufficient brightness, the light source is mounted on a support which protrudes into the viewing area in order to place the light source near enough to the aiming mark to achieve a useable brightness. Another technique in use is to illuminate one end of an optical glass fiber. The other end of the fiber is placed at the center of the lens with the fiber pointed at the archer. The light exiting from the fiber appears as a bright spot visible to the archer. All of these designs have either electrical wires, optical fibers, or other structures crossing the scope viewing area. These structures are objectionable in that they partially obstruct the archer's view of the target through the scope and distract the archer during the aiming process. A further disadvantage is that these structures are near the lens, making cleaning of the lens difficult. In addition, fine wiring and optical fibers on or near the lens surface are easily damaged when attempting to clean the lens.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,677 issued to Troescher (1990) disclosed a telescopic archery sight in which one or more light sources are used to introduce light into the edge of the lens. A portion of the light travels internally through the clear lens material and illuminates reticle markings on the lens surface. This approach avoids the problem of extraneous obstructions partially obscuring the scope viewing area. However, only a small amount of the light which is introduced into the edge of the lens actually reaches the aiming mark. The resulting aiming mark brightness is marginal when used with the typical peep having a small hole.


A method and apparatus facilitates an enterprise to lease virtual appliances from network services provider. The method operates by deploying a converged networking and computing device at a service location, downloading a virtual network function to the converged networking and computing device, activating the virtual network function by a service in the wide area network, and connecting the virtual network function to a provisioned network path over the wide area network. Different virtual network functions can be deployed to different locations. The same virtual network function scan be deployed to different locations. Moreover, more than one virtual network function may be deployed to more than one service location. The virtual network functions can be realized through virtual machines, software containers, etc.

Many companies provide public and private cloud services. Such companies include Rackspace®, Google®, Amazon®, Microsoft Azure®, and the like. Enterprises such as financial institutions, banks, law firms, manufacturers, and the like may wish to lease datacenter resources from cloud providers. The cloud infrastructure providers allow the enterprises to run their computing equipment within the cloud infrastructure provider facility. This is commonly called a hosted data center solution.
In many cases, the hosted or cloud data center consists of virtualized compute, storage, and network resources. In order to create desired functionality in a virtualized environment, it is often required that software functionality be transferred, installed, managed, and operated in the form of a virtual machine (VM). Virtual machines are files that contain operating system, software, and data, and are the virtual equivalent of a physical compute resource implementing an application or function. Companies are increasingly using the virtual machine format as a way to commercialize their technology, and products embodied as virtual machines are essential large (typically one gigabyte or more) data files (content) that are licensed for use by an end user. Unfortunately, since these virtual machines can be quite large, the distribution of these files from producers to consumers can be difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Inability to rapidly distribute virtual machines also impairs the ability to consume or use the virtual machine, especially for short time duration uses.
Thus, improved apparatuses and methods for provisioning computing resources are desired.

Method and apparatus for provisioning virtual network functions from a network service provider


A process for the production of butanediol from the hydrogenation of .gamma.-butyrolactone is provided. The process involves passing vaporized .gamma.-butyrolactone, water and hydrogen over a copper zinc catalyst. The incorporation of water with the .gamma.-butyrolactone and hydrogen results in increased productivity of butanediol.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes for the production of butanediol, and more particularly relates to the production of butanediol from .gamma.-butyrolactone and hydrogen.
2. Description of Related Art
Broecker et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,196, discloses a three step process for converting maleic anhydride or succinic anhydride to butanediol by (a) hydrogenating maleic anhydride or succinic anhydride in the presence of .gamma.-butyrolactone over a catalyst containing nickel, to give .gamma.-butyrolactone, (b) removing the water formed during the hydrogenation by separating .gamma.-butyrolactone and water from succinic anhydride by distillation, recycling succinic anhydride and separating .gamma.-butyrolactone and water by distillation, and (c) converting .gamma.-butyrolactone into butanediol and/or tetrahydrofuran over a catalyst containing copper and optionally zinc. Note that Broecker teaches the removal of the water from the .gamma.-butyrolactone prior to hydrogenation thereof to butanediol.

Process for the production of butanediol


A method for incrementally mold-forming sections of a fiber reinforced, thermoplastic material into a composite product which has a mold product configuration of non-uniform cross section and/or non-linear configuration. Large laminates are formed by utilizing small to medium sized molds to successively mold incremental sections of the total product. Each section of the laminate is first heated to a flowable condition and is then compressed within the mold cavity to form the desired incremental shape. This process is completed until all parts of the product have been formed utilizing variations in mold components to change geometries within the total part.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a system and method for manufacturing fiber reinforced thermoplastics into structures having relatively large dimensions. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for manufacturing high modulus and high strength fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites whose product configuration is characterized by a non-uniform cross section or non-linear elongate axis.
2. Prior Art
Although fiber reinforced thermoplastics (FRTP) have only been in commercial production for several years, such composites are receiving increased attention and popularity because of their versatility. For example, composites made of thermosetting resins are limited because of curing procedures which involve cross linking of polymers to a final, irreversible molecular structure. Thermoplastic resins, on the other hand, are stabilized and may be reversibly modified to change configuration. Despite the versatility of the FRTP material, however, fabrication procedures have been limited and somewhat inhibiting to applications of such composite materials for commercial products.
Generally, five methods are recognized as representative of fabrication techniques for FRTP composites. The first of these methods is referred to as matched die forming. In this process, the thermoplastic composite laminate is heated outside a mold and then transferred to the mold area and pressed between two non-heated, matched, rigid molds which are mounted on platens of a press. When this procedures involves replacement of one side of the mold with an elastomer, the process is referred to as hydroforming. Another category within this group is commonly referred to as compression molding, but is primarily used for thermosetting resins, where the material is placed between heated, matched dies. Curing occurs within forming cavities of the molds. Such matched die forming procedures require a press and an oven that is at least the size of the part to be produced. Where parts are large, such as a wing section for aircraft, the size of such a press and oven may stretch beyond economic feasibility.
Another classification of techniques for forming FRTP composites is identified as autoclaving. In this process, the laminate layers are laid in a mold which is sealed with a vacuum bagging assembly. The mold is then placed in the autoclave and slowly heated. Pressure is applied to reduce the void content in the material and increase its mechanical properties. After a time at the softening point temperature, the mold is slowly cooled, allowing for release of the molded product. The disadvantages of autoclaving are similar to those of matched die forming, in that the size of the part is restricted by the size of the autoclave. Forming large composite structures by these methods is often cost prohibitive.
A similar method of FRTP fabrication is referred to as continuous heating, roll forming. This method is similar to roll forming of metals in that a continuous length of thermoplastic composite is passed through a heating section and into a series of forming rollers. This process produces long parts with a constant or uniform cross sectional area. It is similar to pultrusion technology applied to thermosetting resin composites. Although this process can create large composite parts, such parts are limited to cross sections of uniform shapes such as hat sections, C-channels, rods, etc. Techniques for varying cross sectional configuration along the length of a formed or forming structure have been unknown and perceived as infeasible within a competitive manufacturing operation.
Filament and tape winding is a fourth method sometimes used with thermoplastic compositions, as well as with thermosetting resins. In this procedure, a tow or tape of fibers is impregnated with thermoplastic resins. This impregnated tow is heated and applied to a rotating mandrel configured in accordance with desired product shape. Consolidation of the material is provided by a pressure roller. Obviously, the very manner of formation limits such processes to surfaces of revolution and are not well suited for formation of laminate parts on mass production scale.
Finally, a fifth category of fabrication involves diaphragm forming. In this process, a thermoplastic layup packet is placed between two superplastic alloy sheets. The laminate and the cover sheets are placed in an oven. The materials are heated and then pressure formed into a mold. Here again, the fabricated parts are limited in size to the size of the heating and pressure vessel applied. Furthermore, the use of superplastic alloy sheets are costly and not well suited for mass production.
Of these five methods, the dominant fabrication techniques involve the four types which produce component parts by heating and compression of the total part within a single mold. Capital costs in preparing such mold structure are often prohibitively high. For example, larger molds may cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars just to have the mold cut to proper configuration. Other capital costs involved in operating machinery to make single components must be added on top of these high mold costs. Such cost increases tend to be geometric and can greatly increase the cost of production where no other options are available.
Such options are limited because continuous production line systems such as pultrusion and roll forming are only useful for parts having uniform cross sections and a linear axis. This is not to say that some pultruded FRTP composite structures may not be heated and bent into other shapes; however, fabrications of non-linear parts and parts having non-uniform cross sections have not been successfully introduced to the plastic industry on a large commercial scale. Furthermore, commercial applications of roll forming, pultrusion and extrusion have generally been limited to die cavities which are both linear and of uniform cross section such that the interception of two parallel planes through the formed composite or mold cavity are geometrically congruous.

Incremental forming of thermoplastic composites


Disclosed is a fiber amplifier including a gain fiber and a source of pump power having a wavelength .lambda..sub.p coupled to one end thereof. A signal of wavelength .lambda..sub.s is introduced into a first end of the gain fiber, and an amplified signal of wavelength .lambda..sub.s is coupled from the second end thereof. The signal can traverse an undesired secondary path as well as a preferred primary path to the amplifier output. To prevent light of wavelength .lambda..sub.s from traversing the secondary path and thus increasing the amplifier noise figure, the amplifier includes attenuating fiber means for attenuating that portion of the signal of wavelength .lambda..sub.s that propagates in the secondary path.

The present invention relates to a doped optical fiber amplifier having an improved amplifier noise figure.
Doped optical fiber amplifiers consist of an optical fiber the core of which contains a dopant such as rare earth ions. Such an amplifier receives an optical signal of wavelength .lambda..sub.s and pump power of wavelength .lambda..sub.p which are combined by means such as one or more pump/signal wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) couplers located at one or both ends of the amplifier.
One of the key characteristics of a fiber optic amplifier is its noise figure, which is the ratio of the signal-to-noise ratio at the amplifier input and the signal-to-noise ratio at the amplifier output when the input noise is shot noise only. The noise figure characterizes the amount of noise the fiber amplifier adds to the signal. A signal is input to the amplifier and follows a primary signal path to the amplifier output. Fundamental unavoidable noise is generated in this direct path by spontaneous emission produced by the gain fiber and gives rise to a minimum noise figure. Excess noise is generated in the amplifier when a portion of the signal follows a second path and arrives at the output at some time delay relative to the signal in the primary path, thereby generating multi-path interference. One potential second path is a path formed by signals that experience two reflections somewhere inside the amplifier. In most amplifiers the largest source of reflections is the facets and coupling lenses of the pump lasers. Signal light reaches the pump laser facets due to the less than infinite isolation of the pump/signal WDM coupler. If the signal can be prevented from reaching the laser facet, the principal source of reflection within the amplifier can be removed, and the noise figure can be significantly reduced.
Multi-path interference also occurs in two stage amplifiers wherein residual pump power from the output of the first stage is coupled to the second stage by a pump path that is distinct from the signal path but which, due to poor isolation, propagates a small amount of signal. The signal component reaching the second stage via the pump path is delayed and out of phase with the direct signal and therefore converts the laser phase noise to intensity noise.


A coupling device has a flexible member that is vertically connected to a rotating shaft and of which the length can be varied in an inward and outward direction with respect to the rotating shaft, an elastic member that is connected to the flexible member and causes the flexible member to receive an elastic force in the outward direction with respect to the rotating shaft, and a cam member that is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft and delivers a rotating force of the rotating shaft to a rotating member. The cam member has a through-hole having an initial-position portion in which the flexible member is positioned at the initial stage and a displaced-position portion which has a smaller diameter than the initial-position portion and of which the diameter is constant about the rotating shaft, and an another through-hole having an initial-position portion in which the flexible member is positioned and a return-position portion of which the radius decreases from the initial-position portion.

In general, a rotating device such as a joint of a robot manipulator includes a driving unit such as a driving motor, a rotating shaft which is connected to the driving unit so as to deliver a rotating force, and a rotating member which is connected to the rotating shaft so as to rotate.
The rotating member is rotated about the rotating shaft by the rotating device, and a variety of operations are performed by the rotation of the rotating member.
In general, a rotating device such as a joint of a robot manipulator has limit torque which is applied to the rotating member serving as an output unit. However, an unexpected external force may be applied to the robot manipulator which comes in contact with the outside during an operation. When the rotating shaft and the rotating member are rigidly connected to each other, the rotating shaft is rotated continuously even when an external force is applied to the rotating member. On the other hand, the rotating member cannot be rotated because of the interference of the external force. As a result, torque equal to or greater than limit torque may be applied between the rotating shaft and the rotating member, and the device may be damaged. Further, when a person or an object comes in contact with the rotating member which is being rotated, the person or object may be hurt or damaged.
Therefore, when an external force equal to or greater than limit torque is applied to the rotating device, the person or object coming in contact with the rotating device needs to be protected, while the rotating device is protected.
To secure the stability of the rotating device, a coupling device has been proposed, in which a rotational displacement occurs above predetermined torque. That is, a rotating shaft and a rotating member are not rigidly connected to each other, but are separated above predetermined torque such that an independent rotational displacement occurs.
However, the conventional rotating device in which a rotational displacement occurs in the rotating shaft and the rotating member has a complex structure, and the weight of the rotating device increases inevitably because of the structure. Further, the rotating device does not have a function of returning to the initial position, after an external force is eliminated. Therefore, a separate sensor or control unit, which returns the rotating shaft and the rotating member to the initial position after a rotational displacement has been formed in the rotating shaft and the rotating member by an external force, should be additionally installed.

Coupling device for coupling a rotating shaft and a rotating member, and rotating device using the same

Korea Institute of Science and Technology


A fastener assembly for installation within a work piece, the fastener assembly including a bolt, a retainer ring, and a housing that houses the retainer ring. The housing is positioned at and engages one side of the work piece, while the bolt is inserted into a hole of the work piece on an opposite side thereof. The retainer ring engages the bolt such that a plurality of pressure pads extending from a plurality of corresponding spring beam elements of the retainer ring reside in an annular groove of the bolt. The housing captivates the bolt onto the work piece, while providing a positive hold out of the bolt.

In certain applications, it is desirable to retain (i.e., captivate) a bolt, screw or the like onto a structure while providing the ability to hold the bolt in a position where a head of the bolt is held away from the structure (i.e., in a hold-out position). In addition, grommets have been used as hole liners to protect the structure from fastener usage and wear. What is needed is a fastener that facilitates captivation and bolt hold-out in conjunction with a grommet.


The present invention discloses a latency counter applied to a memory, for delaying a memory accessing control signal. The latency counter includes: a clock delay module for applying at least one delay amount to the input clock to generate a delayed input clock; a frequency detector for detecting a frequency of a specific signal of the memory to set the delay amount; and a delay control signal generating module for generating a first delayed control signal and a second delayed control signal corresponding to the delayed input clock and the memory accessing control signal respectively, wherein timing of the first delayed control signal is earlier than timing of the second delayed control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a latency counter, which is applied to a memory, and more particularly relates to a latency counter having a frequency detector, and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent times, random access memory (RAM) has become an increasingly important component in modern electronic devices. In order to increase the writing/reading data rate of the random access memory (RAM), the technique of double data rate (DDR) has become more and more important. A random access memory that utilizes the technique of double data rate is known as a double data rate random access memory (DDR RAM). Normally, when a microprocessor is ready to access a memory, the microprocessor transmits a reading signal to the control circuit of the memory, wherein the reading signal is synchronized with an external clock. In addition, according to prior art, a latency counter is coupled between the microprocessor and the control circuit, for providing a delay time (delay clock period number) to the reading signal in order to guarantee that there is enough time for the memory to access the specific address. Furthermore, because of the wide operating frequency range of the memory, the latency counter needs to have a different delay clock period number at a high operating frequency from that at a low operating frequency. In other words, when operating at the high operating frequency, the delay clock period number should be larger, but when operating at the low operating frequency, the delay clock period number should be smaller. However, the intrinsic delay of the circuit will affect the synchronization between the external clock and the reading signal. In other words, when operating at the high operating frequency, the intrinsic delay of the circuit may be higher than the clock period of the high operating frequency; thus the latency counter may output an error latency delay when the reading signal has slight non-synchronicity with the external clock, and the control circuit will read the error signal consequently. Furthermore, the latency counter designed for being utilized at a high memory operating frequency having a larger delay period number is not appropriate to be used at a low memory operating frequency having a smaller delay period number.

Latency counter having frequency detector and latency counting method thereof


An intake valve and a drain system are located in the lower portion of a stanchion or outer pipe which is preferably dimensioned so that these structures can be located below the frost line underground so as not to be subject to freezing. The intake valve structure includes a body which fits tightly within the stanchion and which has a central bore which receives, at its uppermost end, the lower end of the conduit. The lower end of the bore is fitted with threads or other convenient means for connecting a conduit representing a source of water which is under sufficient pressure to allow the water to rise in the stanchion conduit and fill the basin. The improvements to the prior art include a stand or stabilizing means to secure the city water vertical outlet port at least about four to six inches above the bottom of the outer pipe. This facilitates removal of the intake valve structure from the city water outlet port. Other improvements include a reinforced pivot axis on the flapper, training and raised flappers, and ribs inside the bowl to assist unscrewing the intake valve structure.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,558 improved the domestic animal trough by providing an elevated drinking fountain that a horse could learn to trigger. The '558 device was comprised of a PVC pipe standing about four feet high. The base was buried several feet below the frost line. Preferably a leech field was formed under the pipe using gravel. FIGS. 1 and 2 herein disclose the '558 invention. Advantages over the prior art trough included no algae since it uses (city) water released by the animal's nose into a bowl which drains after use, no electricity, ease of installation, no cement pad, and freeze prevention includes placing water line and release valve below frost line.
However, problems included drain water covering the release valve causing drainage blockage and freezing at the bowl, difficulty removing and re-installing the valve assembly conduit after maintenance onto the underground (two to seven feet feet) water line threads, and broken flappers.
The present invention solves these problems of the '558 patent.


A method of recovering information encoded by a modulated sinusoidal waveform having first, second, third and fourth data notches at respective phase angles, where a power of the modulated sinusoidal waveform is reduced relative to a power of an unmodulated sinusoidal waveform within selected ones of the first, second, third and fourth data notches so as to encode input digital data. The method includes receiving the modulated sinusoidal waveform and generating digital values representing the modulated sinusoidal waveform. A digital representation of the unmodulated sinusoidal waveform is subtracted from the digital values in order to generate a received digital data sequence, which includes digital data notch values representative of the amplitude of the modulated sinusoidal waveform within the first, second, third and fourth data notches. The input digital data is then estimated based upon the digital data notch values.

There are various transmission channels used for transmitting data or information. Telephone lines consisting of copper wires were used for well over a hundred years for transmitting both voice and data. Radio transmission of radio signals have been around for almost a hundred years. A radio station sends a radio signal out over the airwaves to be received by a radio set. As is known, a radio station has programming which may include music, news, or programs. Satellites are an example of another transmission channel in which a satellite dish positioned a first location is used to transmit a signal to a satellite to be beamed or sent from the satellite to a second satellite dish positioned at a location remote from the first location. More recently cellular communication systems have been used to communicate between cell phones. An enormous amount of data is being sent using cellular communication systems. At this point in time it is essential to be able to increase the data throughput over any transmission channel that is used. It is also important to address the problem of signal degradation during transmission of the signal. Some problems encountered when transmitting a signal over a transmission channel include transmission path delay, interference, and non-linearity.
Some transmission techniques or schemes that have been developed and used in an effort to increase data throughput over a transmission channel are Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation (FM), Phase Modulation, QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying), PSK (Phase Shift Keying), and APSK (Amplitude and Phase Shift Keying).
Amplitude Modulation is a modulation technique used for transmitting information by use of a radio carrier wave. A sinusoidal carrier wave has its amplitude modulated by an audio waveform before transmission. The audio waveform modifies the amplitude of the sinusoidal carrier wave. Some disadvantages associated with the use of an amplitude modulation signal are that an amplitude modulation signal is not efficient in terms of its power usage, it is not efficient in terms of its use of bandwidth, it requires a bandwidth equal to twice that of the highest audio frequency, and it is prone to high levels of noise.
Frequency Modulation is a modulation technique that encodes information in a carrier wave by varying the frequency of the wave. Although Frequency Modulation has some advantages over Amplitude Modulation some disadvantages include that it requires a more complicated demodulator and that is has a poorer spectral efficiency than some other modulation techniques.
QAM is a form of multilevel amplitude and phase modulation that modulates a source signal into an output waveform with varying amplitude and phase. A system that employs QAM modulates a source signal into an output waveform with varying amplitude and phase. A message to be transmitted is mapped to a two-dimensional four quadrant signal space or constellation having signal points or phasors each representing a possible transmission level. Each signal point in the constellation is referred to as a symbol. The QAM constellation has a coordinate system defined by an I or in-phase axis and a Q or quadrature axis or an IQ plane. A symbol may be represented by both I and Q components. One of the disadvantages of the use of QAM is that for the higher data rates the peak to average power ratio is high. For example, in a typical constellation diagram for 16QAM, it can be seen that there are four possible power levels. As the order of the modulation increases, so the number of power levels needed increases. All of this results in ever higher peak to average power ratios being experienced.
QPSK has a synchronous data stream modulated onto a carrier frequency before being over a channel. The carrier can have four states such as 45°, 135°, 225°, or 315°. QPSK also employs a quadrature modulation where the signal points can be described using two orthogonal coordinate axes, such as the IQ plane. With conventional QPSK, there is the problem that the transition between two diagonal transmission symbol points in the complex plane passes through the zero point. In the transition between these diagonal transmission symbols, a lowering of the amplitude may occur, the so-called envelope, to practically zero. On the receiver side, it complicates the necessary synchronization and favors nonlinearities in the transmission path, signal distortion, and unwanted intermodulation.
PSK is another digital modulation process which transmits a message by modulating the phase of a carrier wave. One disadvantage of using PSK is that when a high order PSK constellation is used the error-rate becomes too high.
As the name APSK indicates, this form of modulation uses amplitude and phase shift keying. In this modulation scheme a signal is conveyed by modulating both the amplitude and the phase of a carrier wave Amplitude and frequency shift keying is able to reduce the number of power levels required to transmit information for any given modulation order.

High spectral efficiency data communications system


The present invention relates to heavier halogen atom substituted squaraine based dyes of the formula 1 below

The present invention relates to heavier halogen atom substituted squaraine based dyes of the formula 1 below
wherein X is a heavier halogen atom and pharmaceutically acceptable derivatives thereof, which can be used in photodynamic therapeutical and industrial applications. The present invention also relates to a process for the preparation of heavier halogen atom substituted squaraine based dyes and use of such dyes as sensitizers for photodynamic, therapeutical and industrial applications.
The present invention also relates to squaraine dyes of formula 1 wherein X is bromine or ioidine or pharmaceutically acceptable derivatives thereof, which can be used as photosensitizers in photodynamic applications for diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases in human beings or animals.
The present invention also relates to squaraine dyes of formula 1 wherein X is a heavy halogen atom or derivatives thereof, which can be used as photosensitizers in photodynamic industrial applications for sterilization of water.
Photodynamic therapy is a latest modality for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and various diseases. The large body of the evidence suggests that photodynamic therapy represents a convenient and effective approach for a variety of cancers. Photodynamic therapy involves the inactivation of living cells by the combined action of light and a chemical (photosensitizer). After intravenous injection, the photosensitizer is selectively retained by the tumor cells. There is more sensitizer in the tumor tissue than in the normal tissues. When irradiated with a light of specific wavelength or laser, the sensitizer produces highly reactive species. These highly reactive species alter the biological tissue and cause the selective destruction of the cancer cells.
The only sensitizer that has been extensively studied is Photofrin (porfime sodium), a hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD), also known as first generation photosensitizer. Photofrin and its commercial variants Photosan, Photogen were the first ones to be approved in clinical use and for which first regulatory authorizations were obtained. However, Photofrin is at the disadvantage of being a mixture of products the composition of which is highly sensitive to the synthetic methodology adopted. It is known to cause cutaneous photosensitivity as an undesirable side effect because of its slow release from the body. Under these circumstances, a patient treated with Photofrin is required to stay in the dark for a long period until it is excreted from the body. Photofrin possess only weak absorption in the red region of spectrum (the molar absorption coefficient being as small as 3000 Mxe2x88x921cmxe2x88x921 at 630 nm), leading to difficulty in delivering light to some tumor sites and also incomplete light penetration of larger tumors. Therefore, photodynamic therapy using Photofrin is only indicated for cancers developing in the surface layers of less than 10 mm depth. References may be made to Dougherty, T. J. Photochem. Photobiol. 1987, 45, 879; Kessel, D.; Dougherty, T. J. Phorphyrin Photosensitization; Plenum Publishing Corp. New York, 1983; Brown, S. B.; Truscott, T. G. Chem. Ber, 1993, 29, 955; Andreoni, A., Cubeddu, R. Phorphyrins in Tumor Phototherapy; Plenum Publishing Corp.: New York, 1984; Brasseur, N.; Hasarat, A., Langlois, R., Wagner, J. R; Roussean, J.; van Lier J. E. Photochem. Photobiol. 1987, 45, 581; Spikes, J. D, Photochem. Photobiol. 1986, 43, 691; Firey, P. A.; Ford, W. E.; Sounik, J. R.; Kenney, M. E.; Rodgers, M. A. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1988, 110, 7626; Moan, J. Cancer Lett. 1986, 33, 45; Tralau, C J., Young, A. R.; Walker, N. P. J.; Vernon, D. I.; MacRobert, A. J., Brown, S. B.; Brown, S. G. Photochem. Photobiol. 1989, 49, 305.
To overcome the drawbacks of the first generation sensitizers, second generation photosensitizers that exhibit strong absorptions in the long wavelength region have been synthesized. Second generation sensitizers that are under evaluation at various clinical phases of photodynamic therapy include chlorins, porphycenes, benzoporphyrins, phthalocyanins, purpurins and aminolevulinic acid-mediated porphyrins. Purpurins possess favorable optical properties and biodistribution patterns but require solubilizing or emulsifying agents such as liposomes or lipoproteins for their photodynamic applications. Chlorins have strong absorption in the red and infrared regions of the spectrum and compete favorably with Photofrin, but skin photosensitivity is a major problem with them. Phthalocyanins and metallophthalocyanins have been found to have strong absorption in the 600-700 nm region, but details of the extent of sulfonation versus the photodynamic activity is not clear. References may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 603,267; 5,965,598; 5,889,181; 586,035; 5,789,586; Kostenich, G. A.; Zuravkin, I. N.; Zhavrid, E. A. J Photochem. Photobiol. B. Biol. 1994, 22, 211; Leach, M. W.; Higgins, R. J.; Autry, S. A.; Boggan, J. E.; Lee, S. -J. H.; Smith, K. M. Photochem. Photobiol., Bai, S.; Liu, C.; Guo, Z. Proc. SPIE 1993, 1616, 275; Vogel, E.; Kocher, M Schmickler, H.; Lex, J. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1986, 25, 197; Leunig, M,; Richert, C.; Gamarra, F.; Lumper, W.; Vogel, E.; Jochani D.; Goetz, A. E. Br. J. Cancer 1993, 68, 225; Boyle, R. W.; Legnoff, C. C.; Vanheir, J. E. Br. J. Cancer, 1993, 67, 1177; Wohrl, D.; Shopova, M.; Muller, S.; Muleiv, A. D.; Mantereva, V. N.; Krastev, K. K. J Photochem. Photobiol. B. Biol. 1993, 21, 155; Morgan, A. R.; Garbo, G. M.; Keck, R. W.; Ericksen, L. D.; Selman, S. H. Photochem. Photobiol. 1990, 51, 589.
Development of photosensitizers, which have strong absorptions in the long wavelength region, non-toxic to normal tissues, soluble in buffer at physiological pH, can be bleached during the photodynamic treatment and exhibit higher therapeutic efficacy are still desired.
Squaraines form a class of dyes possessing sharp and intense absorption bands in the red to near infra red region. The molar absorption coefficients of these dyes are normally in the range of 500,000 Mxe2x88x921cmxe2x88x921. Squaraines find industrial applications in xerographic photoreceptors, solar cells and optical recording devices. However, due to the very low intersystem crossing efficiency of these dyes, their potential as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapeutical applications have not yet been explored. References may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,001,523; 5,552,253; 5,444,463; Law, K.-Y. Chem. Rev. 1993, 93, 449; Piechowski, A P; Bird, G. R.; Morel, D L.; Stogryn, E. L. J. Phy. Chem. 1984, 88, 934.
Accordingly, the use of squaraine based dyes was studied to observe if the problems associated with the prior art could be overcome. It is an objective of this invention to provide a photosensitizer suitable for photodynamic therapeutical applications based on the squaraine moiety. Preliminary investigations by us indicated that halogenation of the squaraine moiety resulted in increased water solubility and intersystem crossing efficiency when compared to the parent unsubstituted squaraine dye. These halogenated dyes exhibited strong absorptions in the near infrared region ( greater than 600 nm) and significant bathochromic shifts in presence of microheterogeneous media. Triplet excited states were the main transients involved in these systems, which interact efficiently with molecular oxygen generating biologically highly reactive singlet oxygen in quantitative yields thereby making them potential candidates in phototherapeutical applications. Reference may be made to Ramaiah, D.; Joy, A.; Chandrasekhar, N; Eldho, N. V.; Das, S.; George, M. V. Photochem. Photobiol. 1997, 65, 783.
However, the yields of these halogenated squaraine dyes were of lower order under stipulated conditions and their efficiency of singlet oxygen (cytotoxic agent) generation in membrane modeling and drug carrier systems like polymers is not known. Moreover, there are no reports on biological properties or the photodynamic therapeutical applications of squaraine based dyes in the literature. The biological properties that are important to determine the use of sensitizers in photodynamic therapeutical applications include the sensitizer""s stability under physiological pH and irradiation conditions, cellular toxicity, pharmacological aspects, genotoxicity and efficiency of its in vivo photodynamic activity etc.
The present invention is an attempt to overcome the above mentioned limits. By modified process conditions in the present invention, we have obtained enhanced yields of squaraine based dyes modified with heavier halogen atoms. We have investigated for the first time the biological properties of representative squaraine based photosensitizers. These investigations include the stability of these sensitizers under physiological pH conditions, cytotoxicity and mutagenicity in the dark and under irradiation conditions. Further in vivo and in vitro efficiency and mechanism of photodynamic activity of these sensitizers was investigated.
The main object of the present invention is to provide efficient squaraine based dyes and or pharmaceutical acceptable derivatives thereof, which can be used as sensitizers in photodynamic therapeutical applications including the treatment of cancer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide squaraine based dyes and/or or pharmaceutical derivatives thereof that can be used as fluorescent sensors for the diagnosis of cancer due to their significant fluorescent quantum yields in microheterogeneous media.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide squaraine based dyes and/or their derivatives that can be used for photodynamic industrial applications such as sterilization of water etc.
Still another object of the present invention is that squaraine based dyes by linking them or introducing them in chemical devices, biological specificity to deliver or target such drug to defined kind of living cells can be achieved thereby efficient third generation photosensitizers can also be developed.

Heavier halogen atom substituted squaraine based dyes, process for the preparation thereof and use thereof as sensitizers for photodynamic, therapeutical and industrial applications

Abstract: where X is a heavier halogen atom and pharmaceutically acceptable derivatives thereof, which can be used in photodynamic therapeutical and industrial applications, and to a process for the preparation thereof.

Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Thiruvananthapuram

Institut fur Pharmazie, Universitat Mainz