EPR spectrometer comprising a ferroelectric single crystal resonator, a rectangular channel with holes in its narrow sides for inserting a sample and wires, a permanent magnet with planar poles, and a coil within the channel connected through the holes by the wires with a modulation source and a NMR spectrometer comprising a magnet, a probe with means for transmitting a radio frequency magnetic pulse and detecting NMR signal, and a ferroelectric single crystal resonator. A ferroelectric single crystal consisting essentially of potassium tantalate and the alkali metal substituting from about 1% to 3% of potassium or a group (V) metal substituting in part for tantalum, having cubic form of perovskite crystalline structure, and essentially free of impurities and defects is also disclosed.

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) is widely employed in various applications in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine and biology. Historically, EPR was used primarily to study samples doped with paramagnetic ions, rather than substantially pure samples. In order to study the samples whose physical properties are unaffected by dopant impurities, particularly samples of materials with low concentration of paramagnetic centers, however, the spectrometer sensitivity, i.e. its signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio had to be increased.
One of the conventionally used techniques of increasing signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of the EPR spectrometer entails placing the dielectric material inside a resonator. For example, disposing a quartz plate proximal to the sample in one instance increased the S/N ratio about 4.5 times. Further, increasing intensity of the EPR signal can be obtained by using a ferroelectric material as a microwave resonator. For instance, rutile (TiO2) rectangular resonator has been used to increase Fe3+ EPR spectrum. Dielectric resonators fabricated from TiO2 and SrTiO3 (these materials have anisotropic permittivity) were used only for increasing the EPR signal intensities of paramagnetic centers inside themselves.
Conventional EPR spectrometers generally include a high Q resonant metal cavity. The high Q cavity requires a high ratio of the cavity volume to the cavity wall surface, which, in turn, necessitates a relatively large volume of polarizing magnetic field, thereby requiring a large magnet, e.g. the magnet weighing 1000 kg or more. These spectrometers have been designed as highly sensitive and versatile instruments for a broad variety of applications. As a result, conventional spectrometers are relatively expensive and bulky, and are typically used as stationary equipment in research laboratories.
Other techniques rely on inserting a ferroelectric object, i.e. a resonator, into a standard cavity of the EPR spectrometer to alter intensities of a continuous wave ("CW") EPR signal and Pulse EPR echo (see, e.g., an article by I. N. Geifman, I. S. Golovina, V. I. Kofman, and E. R. Zusmanov, Ferroelectrics, Vol. 234 (1-4), pp. 81-88 (1999), incorporated herein by reference). Thusly configured resonating structures are suitable for analyzing a wide variety of materials. Ferroelectric KTa03 resonators described by Geifman and his co-authors are capable of increasing S/N ratio ten times at room temperature for a rectangular resonator in CW EPR experiments and reducing microwave power by a factor of 50 at 50 K in an electron spin echo (ESE) experiment. Among other advantages, these resonators have isotropic dielectric constant, and low dielectric losses. Although these ferroelectric resonators have increased sensitivity, as well as much smaller dimensions in comparison with the conventional dielectric resonators mentioned above and can be utilized with liquid and solid samples of a wide range of materials, they still operate as mere "amplifiers" within the conventional EPR cavity and, actually, is a feature of the sample rather than a part of the spectrometer.
Some conventional EPR spectrometers, e.g. the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,569, were designed from the point of view of arriving at a high sensitivity instrument for examining aqueous samples or other liquid samples of relatively high dielectric loss at room temperature. As is well known, the polarizing magnetic field for electron paramagnetic resonance is parallel to a cavity dimension that corresponds to the zero index, and the magnitude of this cavity dimension does not affect the resonant frequency of the cavity. In this case, the cavity dimension corresponding to the zero index is made small, of the order of an optimum capillary sample tube outer diameter, i.e., 2 mm if the diameter is 1 mm, for apparatus designed to operate at 10 GHz. It has been found that the sensitivity of the spectrometer is as high as that obtained from high Q cavities of conventional design where the dimension corresponding to the zero index is typically 15 mm at 10 GHz. The design is directed particularly to EPR spectrometers utilizing rectangular TE102 or cylindrical TM110 modes and provides low-cost apparatus for a very restricted range of applications. The low Q resonant cavity can be applied to analyze aqueous samples only.
Although Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) devices, due to frequency range lower relative to EPR, have a radio frequency (RF) coil instead of the cavity as the resonator, fundamental dependencies remain between the resonator size and the device capabilities, complexity, size, and cost. The dependencies equally affect NMR spectrometers, MASERs, probes and, generally, any device with the RF coil.
NMR spectrometers have now become very complex instruments capable of performing sophisticated experiments. However, conceptually, broken down to its simplest form, the spectrometer consists of an intense, homogeneous, and stable magnetic field; a "probe", which enables RF coils to be placed close to a sample; a RF transmitter capable of delivering short pulses; a receiver to amplify the NMR signals; a digitizer to convert the NMR signals into a form, which can be stored in computer memory; a "pulse programmer" to produce precisely timed pulses and delays; as well as means for controlling and processing data.
As described in more detail below, in its various embodiments, the present invention relates to the probe of the NMR spectrometer. As the static magnetic field generating magnet in the NMR spectrometer, a resistive magnet of 0.5 to 2.2 T or a superconducting magnet of 0.5 to 18.8 T, as well as, in some cases, a permanent magnet have been used. Modern NMR spectrometers use persistent superconducting magnets to generate the B0 field. Basically such a magnet consists of a coil of wire through which a current passes, thereby generating a magnetic field. The wire is of a special construction such that at low temperatures (less than 6 K, typically) the resistance goes to zero, so the wire is superconductor. Thus, once the current is set running in the coil it will persist for ever, thereby generating a magnetic field without the need for further electrical power. Superconducting magnets tend to be very stable and so are very useful for NMR. To maintain the wire in its superconducting state the coil is immersed in a bath of liquid helium. Surrounding this is a "heat shield" kept at 77 K by contact with a bath of liquid nitrogen; this reduces the amount of expensive liquid helium, which boils off due to heat flowing in from the surroundings. The whole assembly is constructed in a vacuum flask so as to further reduce the heat flow.
There is a sample region accessible to the outside environment. The region has to be engineered as part of the design of the magnet and, conventionally, it takes the form of a vertical tube passing through the magnet (called the bore tube of the magnet); the magnetic field is in the direction of this tube.
The lines in NMR spectra are very narrow. Line widths of 1 Hz or less are not uncommon so the magnetic field has to be extremely homogeneous for work at this resolution. For example, a proton spectrum recorded at 500 MHz requires variations, which, expressed as a fraction of the main magnetic field, are no more than 2×10−10. On its own, no superconducting magnet can produce such a homogeneous field. Thus the sample is surrounded with a set of shim coils, each of which produces a tiny magnetic field with a particular spatial profile. The current through each of these coils is adjusted until the magnetic field has the required homogeneity. Essentially, the magnetic fields produced by the shims are canceling out the small residual variations in the main magnetic field. Modern spectrometers might have up to 40 different shim coils, so adjusting them is a very complex task. Moreover, even after set on installation, it is usually necessary on a day-to-day basis to alter a few of the shims. The shims are labeled according to the magnetic field profiles they generate. The field profiles that the shims coils create are, in fact, the spherical harmonic functions, which are the angular parts of the atomic orbital.
The probe is a cylindrical metal tube, which is inserted into the bore tube of the magnet. Small RF coil used to both excite and detect the NMR signal is held in the top of this assembly in such a way that the sample can come down from the top of the magnet and drop into the coil. Various other pieces of electronics are contained in the probe, along with some arrangements for heating or cooling the sample. The key part of the probe is the small coil used to excite and detect the magnetization. To optimize the sensitivity this coil needs to be as close as possible to the sample. Extraordinary effort has been put into the optimization of the design of this coil.
The coil forms a part of a tuned circuit consisting of the coil and a capacitor. The inductance of the coil and the capacitance of the capacitor are set such that the circuit they form is resonant at the Larmor frequency. "Tuning the probe" means adjusting the capacitor until the tuned circuit is resonant. Usually, it is also needed to "match the probe", which involves further adjustments designed to maximize the power transfer between the probe and the transmitter and receiver. The two adjustments tend to interact rather, so tuning the probe is a tricky process. To aid it, the instrument manufacturers provide various indicators and displays so that the tuning and matching can be optimized. The tuning of the probe is particularly sensitive to changing solvent or to changing the concentration of ions in the solvent.
Ferroelectric crystals are materials, characterized by high dielectric constant (ε). Certain binary metal oxides, particularly oxides of combinations of alkali with group (V) metals and of alkaline earth with group (IV) metals are ferroelectrics. A potassium tantalate crystal is unique among ferroelectrics because it combines, in spite of the lowering temperature, the rising considerably isotropic dielectric constant, which reaches 4000 at approximately 4.2° K. with decreasing dielectric losses. These features provide for resonators of high quality (Q) even under super low temperature conditions. The potassium tantalate single crystal is the promising material for radio frequency and microwave resonators and, as a result, for EPR and NMR applications including spectroscopy and imaging (MRI).
It has been known that ferroelectrics in general and especially a potassium tantalate single crystal can improve an EPR spectrometer performance that provides for a possibility of decreasing size and cost of spectrometers. However, a single crystal of the nominally pure potassium tantalate most often shows EPR spectra of iron (Fe3+), which is present in the crystal as an uncontrolled impurity. Therefore, when used as a resonator, the crystal carries own background EPR signal that overlaps sample spectra. Furthermore, other possible impurities and structural defects further limit usefulness of the crystal.
An EPR resonator made of single crystal potassium tantalate doped with lithium (Li), which replaces 0.01-0.1% of potassium disclosed in UA Pat. No. 40178A. The crystal characterized by absence of the background signal, decreasing irregularities, and stronger crystal lattice. Nonetheless, the resonator is of limited use for EPR applications because, at low temperatures, the crystal walls surrounding a central hole for a sample are becoming too thin to sustain stresses of a microwave field. Alternatively, NMR applications, due to lower frequency range, require radically greater size of the resonator, its ε, or both.
Traditionally, variations of Czochralski method is used for growing sizable ferroelectric single crystals in general and potassium tantalate single crystals in particular. Different means are employed for achieving desired crystal parameters. Particularly, controlling melt component relative quantities, temperature, temperature gradient, flow direction and intensity; growing in the air, special atmosphere, or vacuum; manipulating seed lifting speed, rotational direction and velocity have been known in the art.
However, almost each chemical composition requires its own set of conditions for growing single crystals of satisfactory quality. Finding right conditions for growing a particular crystal remains as much an art as a science. Thus, there remains an unresolved need in the art for an improved method of producing ferroelectric potassium tantalate single crystal having cubic form of perovskite crystalline structure and is essentially free of impurities and defects.
Thus, there remains an unresolved need in the art for improved EPR and NMR frequency resonators as well as for improved devices that utilize EPR and NMR methods, in particular EPR and NMR spectrometers.


A water tank made of stainless steel and having a substantially cylindrical shape is provided. The water tank comprises curved stainless steel panels forming a cylindrical body of the water tank, fan-shaped stainless steel panels forming a cone-shaped top part and a cone-shaped bottom part of the water tank, packing members being inserted between connecting portions of the stainless steel panels, reinforcing members, each having an L-shaped cross-section, which are arranged on both side of the connecting portions, bolts and nuts for coupling the stainless steel panels and the reinforcing members together by being inserted into holes formed thereon, reinforcing bars, an air vent disposed on the center portion of the top part, and a drain pipe disposed on the center portion of the bottom part.

The present invention relates to a water tank for mass storage; and, more particularly, to a stainless water tank manufactured by assembling without welding.
Conventionally, a water tank storing more than 10 tons of water has been made of thick steel plates or plastic materials such as fiber reinforced plastic (FRP). However, the water tank made of steel plates has a demerit that the water stored therein is contaminated by rust and the water tank made of FRP has a demerit that it is weak against external shock. Therefore, water tanks for mass storage are recently made of stainless steel that has anti-rust characteristics.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional stainless water tank 1 that is of a rectangular parallelopiped shape and is made of stainless steel panels 2. The water tank comprises wall portions formed by welding a number of stainless steel panels 2 and a plurality of reinforcing members 3 which are welded in the water tank transversally and longitudinally in order to increase the structural strength of the stainless steel panel 2. The water tank has a manhole 4 on the upper side thereof and a drain hole 5 on the lower side thereof as shown in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the stainless steel panel 2 has folded portions 2a which protrude to an inside of the water tank and the folded portions 2a of adjacent stainless panels 2 are welded together, thereby forming the water tank.
However, since a number of stainless steel panels 2 are welded from the inside of the water tank 1 and a plurality of the reinforcing members 3 are welded in the water tank transversally and longitudinally for manufacturing such conventional water tank, lots of time is required and high-priced welding equipments and skilled persons are needed, thereby increasing manufacturing cost.
Further, although stainless steel has anti-rust characteristics, the mechanical properties thereof sharply deteriorate when it is welded and the brittleness of the welded portions increases. Therefore, cracks may develop at the welded portions of the water tank or rust can be formed at the welded portions, thereby contaminating water stored in the water tank.
As shown in FIG. 2, since a bottom surface of the water tank 1 is flat and the folded portions of the stainless steel panels 2a protrude therefrom, the water stored in the water tank is not completely drained and a small amount of water remains with sediments on the bottom surface of the water tank. Thus, the remaining water and sediments are removed by using a suction pipe connected to a suction pump. However, the reinforcing members 3 limit space available for working in the water tank, thereby making the removing operation cumbersome and increasing the occurrences of accidents.
Further, since the water tank has a flat top surface, chroline gas included in the tap water cannot be exhausted from the water tank and remains in an upper portion of the inside of the water tank, thereby corroding the upper surface of the water tank.
Furthermore, since the water tank is of a rectangular parellelopiped shape, the water tank can be broken by a localized pressure increase generated by uneven installation thereof.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a stainless water tank of a cylindrical shape which can be manufactured without welding and easily installed, thereby preventing rust development and facilitating draining and cleaning.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a water tank comprising a body, a top part and a bottom part, wherein each of the body, the top part and the bottom part includes
a plurality of stainless steel panels having connecting portions with a number of holes and extruding to an outside of the water tank;
a plurality of packing members disposed between folded portions of the stainless steel panels; and
coupling members inserted into the holes formed on the folded portions and coupling the stainless steel panels.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a water tank made of stainless steel that is of a substantially cylindrical shape, comprising:
a plurality of curved stainless steel panels, the curved stainless steel panels being coupled together to form a substantially cylindrical body of the water tank, each of the curved stainless steel panels including a number of holes and a first connecting portion extruded to an outside of the water tank;
a plurality of fan-shaped stainless steel panels being disposed at an upper portion and a lower portion to form a cone-shaped top part and a cone-shaped bottom part of the water tank, respectively, each of the fan-shaped stainless steel panels including a number of holes and a first connecting portion extruding to the outside of the water tank;
a plurality of packing members being inserted between the first and the second connecting portions;
a plurality of reinforcing members, each having an L-shaped cross-section and a number of holes on one side portion and being arranged on both side of the first and the second connecting portion;
a number of bolts and nuts for coupling the curved stainless steel panels, fan-shaped stainless steel panels and the reinforcing members together by being inserted into the holes formed on the first connecting portions, the second connecting portions and the reinforcing members;
a plurality of reinforcing bars, both end portions of each of the reinforcing bars being fixed to the fan-shaped stainless steel panel forming the top part and the fan-shaped stainless steel panel forming the bottom part, respectively;
an air vent disposed on a center portion of the top part which is of a cone-shape and includes the fan-shaped stainless steel panels; and
a drain pipe disposed on the center portion of the bottom part which is of a cone-shape and includes the fan-shaped stainless steel panels.


Media access control is provided for an ultra-wide band medium. The media access control may employ a peer-to-peer network topology. The media access control may employ a reduced addressing scheme. Concurrent ultra-wide band channels may be established through the use of a pulse division multiple access channelization scheme. Multiple media access control states may be defined whereby each state may be associated with one or more of different channel parameter state information, different duty cycles, and different synchronization status.

1. Field
This application relates generally to communications, and more specifically, to media access control for ultra-wide band communication.
2. Background
In a wireless communication system multiple wireless devices may communicate with one another via signals having frequencies within a given radio frequency band. Here, provisions may be made to prevent transmissions from one device from interfering with transmissions from another device. For example, some systems employ media access control that allows only one device to use a given medium (e.g., a radio frequency band) at a time. One way of accomplishing this is to enable each device to check the medium to determine whether another device is currently transmitting over the medium. If the medium is in use, the device will delay transmitting until a later time when the medium is not in use. Alternatively, some systems use a signaling technique such as spread spectrum that modifies transmitted signals to reduce the likelihood of transmissions from one device interfering with simultaneous transmissions of another device within the same frequency band.
Techniques such as these may be employed in a variety of wireless communication systems. An example of such a wireless communication system is an ultra-wide band system. Ultra-wide band technology may be used, for example, in personal area network ("PAN") or body area network ("BAN") applications.
At least one access scheme has been proposed for use in ultra-wide band systems. For example, IEEE 802.15.4a proposes a channel access scheme for achieving a low duty cycle in an ultra-wide band-based wireless PAN. This proposal specifies the use of a superframe structure that is defined by a central personal area network coordinator. The superframe structure begins with a beacon and contains a slotted contention access period ("CAP") and a slotted contention free period ("CFP"). For the CAP, it is assumed that a random channel access scheme such as Aloha or carrier sense multiple access ("CSMA") is employed. The PAN coordinator assigns the CFP slots. A data frame in every slot starts with a preamble sequence for the receiver to achieve channel acquisition. An additional inactive portion of superframe may further reduce the duty cycle.
An access scheme for some wireless PAN or BAN applications may need to support a variety of device with significantly different requirements. For example, for some devices it is important to consume as little power as possible. In addition, a given device in a network or different devices in a network may support a wide range of data rates. Consequently, the access scheme may need to provide relatively robust, yet flexible, functionality.

Media access control for ultra-wide band communication


A flight plan for a tactical flight of an aircraft is generated using first input data including initial weight and initial loading of the aircraft, meteorological data, points of transit of the flight plan and at least one optimization criterion. With the aid of the input data and by implementing a prediction function and an optimization function, a flight profile of the flight plan is determined. The profile includes for each point of transit of the flight plan, a plurality of predictive information items and, between two successive points of transit of the flight plan, optimized parameters. The flight plan is presented on a display screen. A second input allows an operator to enter, for each tactical event of the tactical flight, a variation of at least one parameter which is modified by this tactical event at a particular point of variation of the flight plan. The flight profile is determined using each parameter variation which is taken into account at the corresponding point of variation.

Modern aircraft are furnished with a flight management system which provides a flight plan consisting of points of transit, connected together. At each point of transit, up to the destination airport, the flight management system provides predictions: time of transit, speed, altitude, fuel remaining on board. Moreover, the flight management system proposes an optimization of the flight plan: optimal cruising altitude, optimal speed for each phase of flight.
It is known that a civil flight plan followed for example by a civil transport airplane comprises a departure airport and a destination airport, plus possibly a diversion airport. In civil aviation, the load carried on board the aircraft (passengers, freight) does not vary in the course of one and the same flight. Moreover, the variations in the weight of fuel are due to the consumption of the engines and are therefore forecastable throughout the flight.
On the other hand, a tactical flight plan, that is to say a flight plan intended for a tactical flight, must take account of tactical events liable to modify the predictions. More precisely, for an aircraft involved in a tactical flight, four types of tactical events may cause the load transported to vary, or cause the quantity of fuel on board to vary (other than by the normal consumption of fuel), in the course of the flight:                a decrease in the load transported, upon an aerial drop or an unloading during a tactical step which corresponds to a landing on an intermediate field for tactical purposes (standby, loading, unloading, etc.), followed by a takeoff toward the destination, or toward another tactical step;        an increase in the load transported, upon loading during a tactical step;        a decrease in the fuel on board (not due to the aircraft's own consumption), upon in-flight refueling in the guise of tanker aircraft; and        an increase in the fuel on board, upon in-flight refueling in the guise of refueled aircraft.
The standard flight management systems take no account of these tactical events in the predictions of the flight plan before these events have actually occurred. Likewise, there is no optimization of the flight plan beyond the point at which a tactical event will take place, before this event has actually taken place.
When a tactical event has actually taken place, or has taken place partially (partial drop or refueling), the predictions are updated with the new parameters of the aircraft. Specifically, when the change has occurred, the aircraft weight parameters are modified by the crew so that the predictions are recalculated as a function of the current situation.
The standard flight management systems are therefore unable to produce a tactical flight plan, that is to say to produce during flight preparation a flight plan taking account of tactical events that will arise in the course of the flight.

Method and device for generating a flight plan for a tactical flight of an aircraft


Full adder, a chip and a computing device are disclosed. A full adder includes: a plurality of primary logic cells and at least one secondary logic cell, wherein an output terminal of each primary logic cell is at least connected to an input terminal of a first secondary logic cell in the at least one secondary logic cell. The plurality of primary logic cells includes: a first primary logic cell, a second primary logic cell and a third primary logic cell respectively configured to generate a first intermediate signal, a second intermediate signal and a carry-related signal based on a first input signal, a second input signal and a carry input signal input to the full adder. Furthermore, the first secondary logic cell is configured to generate a sum output signal of the full adder based on the first intermediate signal, the second intermediate signal and the carry-related signal.

A full adder is a binary addition circuit capable of calculating a low-bit carry. Compared with a half adder, the full adder concerns not only whether the carry exists in the calculation result of the home bit, but also the carry of the previous bit to the home bit. Cascading multiple one-bit full adders can result in a multi-bit full adder. Hereinafter, a full adder refers to a one-bit full adder unless specifically noted.
FIG. 1A shows a schematic diagram of a full adder. In general, a full adder may be implemented with an electronic circuit having three inputs and two outputs. Where on the input side, A, B represent two addends and Cin represents the carry from the adjacent lower bit. Correspondingly, on the output side, SUM represents the sum of the home bit, and Cout represents the carry to the adjacent higher bit.
FIG. 1B shows a truth table of a full adder. As shown in FIG. 1B, when the number of items having a logic value "1" among A, B, Cin on the input side is an odd number, the value of SUM will be "1". Otherwise, the value of SUM will be "0". Further, when the number of items having a logic value "1" among A, B, Cin on the input side exceeds 1, the value of Cout will be "1", otherwise, the value of Cout will be "0".
Typical sum logic expression and carry logic expression in a full adder are as follows:SUM=A⊕B⊕Cin  (1-1);Cout=AB+(A+B)Cin  (2-1).
Wherein, a typical carry logic expression (2-1) can also be expressed as:Cout=AB+(A⊕B)Cin  (2-2).

SHENZHEN MICROBT ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A device for connecting a window pane to a motor vehicle window lifter, said device includes a follower having a basic follower body connected to guide and transport means of the window lifter and a coupling follower body which is to be connected to a pane socket connected to the window pane, a coupling portion of the pane socket being attached to a fastening means in a mounting direction for connecting the pane socket to the follower. The fastening means is pre-installed to the coupling follower body and by actuating the fastening means the coupling portion of the pane socket is braced to the coupling follower body.

From JP 6 135228 a device is known for connecting a motor vehicle window pane to a window lifter wherein the lower edge of the window pane is connected to two pane sockets which each have two spaced webs with a wedge shaped tip. Two clip-like followers connected to a window lifter device have an inclined lead-in area and an undercut hollow cavity for holding with keyed engagement the wedge-shaped tips of the pane sockets connected to the window pane. As a result of the only slight keyed engagement between the wedge-shaped tips and the undercut hollow cavity, in order to secure the connection between the pane sockets and the followers a bore is provided penetrating through the arms of each follower to house a screw connection with which the arms of the followers are tensioned so that the position of the wedge-shaped tips of the pane sockets in the followers is secured.
With this known device for connecting a motor vehicle window pane to the followers of a window lifter it is necessary to align the positive locking elements of the pane sockets and the followers precisely relative to each other and in addition to tension the followers with force-locking engagement to secure the connection between the pane sockets and followers, which in turn necessitates a visual contact with the connecting means and access to the followers during assembly. Connecting the window pane to the window lifter therefore requires an open door shaft and a longer assembly time which leads to considerable costs during assembly.
Another of the disadvantages of the known device for connecting a window pane to a motor vehicle window lifter is that for connecting the pane socket and the follower requires that a loose fastener is inserted through the vehicle door or module opening for attachment between the pane socket and the follower. This results in a potential for the fastener to be dropped into the door or mis-installed resulting in operating noise and customer dissatisfaction.

Device for connecting a window pane to a motor vehicle window lifter

Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG, Coburg


An apparatus for connecting first and second conduits having first and second bores, respectively, to provide communication between the first and second bores. The apparatus includes a base attached to the first conduit and a cap attached to the base. A follower is slidably disposed in the cap and is provided with a passageway, the second conduit extending through the passageway. A ferrule is received on the second conduit, the ferrule having a first end and a second end. The follower is biased against the first end of the ferrule. The first bore in the first conduit has a frustoconical surface which defines a receiving formation for the ferrule, the ferrule having a portion which is circular when viewed in transverse cross section. When the second end of the ferrule is urged in the receiving formation by the action of the biasing spring, the ferrule engages the frustoconical surface defining the receiving formation in substantially line contact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for effecting gas-tight communication between first and second members having bores for the passage of fluid. More particularly, the present invention relates to a high-temperatures, low-pressure connection for effecting fluid-tight communication between such members.
2. Description of the Background
There are numerous types of apparatus such as, for example, analytical instrumentation used in laboratories, chemical and refining plants and the like, which require connection of a first member through which is transported a fluid, such as a gas, to a second member, through which is transported the gas. In many cases, the connection is subject to extended, high temperatures, followed by periods of much cooler, even subfreezing temperature. The components of mechanical connections placed in this environment, because of the temperature swings, are subject to expansion and contraction with the result that eventually the connection is no longer gas-tight. For example, in the field of chemical analysis by pyrolysis or thermal degradation, extremely high temperatures are generally employed. Not only are such temperatures employed in the actual pyrolysis of the sample to be analyzed, but in the subsequent analysis of the thermally evolved products, it is generally necessary to maintain the temperature of the flow lines through which the evolved products flow at a high temperature in order to avoid their condensation prior to being sent to a suitable analyzer. Frequently in these systems, gas chromatographic analyzers are employed, and the flow lines and connectors are subject to these high temperatures and temperature swings.


The invention relates to methods and compositions for modifying naturally non-mycorrhizal plants to produce modified plants that can be colonized by a mycorrhizal fungus having increased nitrogen and phosphorus uptake, increased drought tolerance/resistance, increased resistance to fungal and/or bacterial pathogens, and/or increased growth rate, yield and/or biomass production of a naturally non-mycorrhizal plant. The invention further relates to plants, plant parts, and/or plant cells produced by the methods of the invention as well as harvested and processed products from the plants, plant parts, and/or plant cells.

Mycorrhizae are symbiotic interfaces between plant roots and soil fungi in which the fungus provides increased uptake of nitrogen, phosphorous, and water. This relationship is an integral part of the biology of most plants, being present in about 80-95% of all plant species. However, this symbiotic relationship is not found in many plants of economic importance, including plants in the Brassicaceae and the Amaranthaceae families.

Re-engineering of mycorrhizal symbiosis in plants


A device for moving a workpiece platform is provided, comprising a bottom frame (1) for supporting the workpiece platform, a pneumatic spring (2) disposed on a lower surface of the bottom frame (1), an air cushion unit (3) for generating flotation to support the workpiece platform when the workpiece platform is being moved, and a moving unit (200) disposed on the bottom frame (1). The moving unit (200) comprises: a roller unit (4), for driving the workpiece platform to move; a leaf spring (6), wherein one end of the leaf spring (6) is connected to a connecting block (5), and the other end thereof is connected to the roller unit (4); and a leaf spring deformation drive unit (8), connected to the leaf spring (6), to enable, by driving the leaf spring (6) to deform, the roller unit (4) to be in contact with the ground when the workpiece platform is being moved. The leaf spring deformation drive unit (8) is disposed such that the leaf spring (6) deforms, and the roller unit (4) is in contact with the ground when the workpiece platform is being moved in or out, driving the workpiece platform to move, preventing jamming in case of extremely high torque, and improving stability when the workpiece platform is being moved.

Workpiece stages in various photolithography machines need to be moved out from the photolithography machines for maintenance or repair after a certain period of running or upon malfunctioning and then moved into the photolithography machines after the maintenance or repair. In order to shorten the time required for maintenance or repair and ensure the safety of the equipment when it is moved in and out, automation of the move-in and move-out process is desirable.
Most existing move-in and move-out devices are slider-crank mechanisms with hinges that are not coplanar due to space constraints. This may lead to excessive torques at the hinges, which can make the mechanisms susceptible to jamming. Moreover, most of the conventional mechanisms are usually used alone, tending to exert an excessive pressure onto the ground. For this reason, it is possible for them to lean or even tip over. In such a situation, the workpiece stage loaded on the mechanism may drop off, leading to failure of the move-in and move-out process.

SHANGHAI MICRO ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT (GROUP) CO., LTD.


A wiring substrate used for a resin-sealing type semiconductor device is provided with an insulating substrate in which a through hole used for connecting an external terminal is formed, a wiring pattern formed on a semiconductor-chip packaging surface side of the insulating substrate, a land section that is formed at an end of the wiring pattern in a manner so as to cover the through hole from the semiconductor-chip packaging surface side, and that is used for connecting the external connecting terminal to the wiring pattern from the surface side opposite to the above-mentioned semiconductor-chip packaging surface side of the insulating substrate, and a through-hole opening section that allows the through hole to be partially open on the semiconductor-chip packaging surface side. This arrangement makes it possible to prevent problems of separation and swelling of resin caused by bubbles and moisture expanded by heat, which reside in the interface between the wiring substrate used for the resin-sealing type semiconductor device and the semiconductor chip packaged on the wiring substrate used for the resin-sealing type semiconductor device.

In recent years, along with the development of portable apparatuses, etc., miniaturization and light weight of these apparatuses have been achieved remarkably. In response to these trends, there have been ever-increasing demands for semiconductor devices which are assembled into a small package of a BGA (Ball Grid Array) type called CSP (Chip Size Package or Chip Scale Package).
This package of the BGA type has a structure in which ball-shaped external terminals that are arranged on the under surface of the package in the form of an area array are joined to a packaging substrate when a semiconductor is installed on the packaging substrate. With respect to the packaging method for the above-mentioned package, a batch reflow process, etc. is generally carried out together with other electronic parts.
With respect to the structure of a resin-sealing type semiconductor device of the BGA type called CSP, a structure of CSP, which has been currently mass-produced, is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 121002/1997 (Tokukaihei 9-121002) (Published on May 6, 1997). In this semiconductor device, a semiconductor chip is packaged on an insulating wiring substrate.
In this insulating wiring substrate, a wiring pattern is formed on the chip packaging surface, and on this wiring pattern on the chip packaging surface is provided an insulating material for ensuring insulation from the semiconductor chip with an inner joining area that allows electric connection to the semiconductor chip being maintained thereon.
Moreover, on the surface opposite to the chip packaging surface, a through hole used for connecting the external connecting terminal is provided so as to install the external terminal that is connected to the above-mentioned wiring pattern. With respect to the wiring pattern at this portion, a land section larger than the through hole is formed so as to cover the through hole.
The semiconductor chip is provided with an electrode on its surface, and the rear surface thereof is joined to the chip packaging surface. The semiconductor chip is connected to the wiring on the insulating wiring substrate by wire, and the semiconductor chip and the wire are sealed by resin on the insulating wiring substrate. Moreover, a terminal used for external connection is provided inside the through hole.
The resin-sealing type semiconductor device of the BGA type adopts a structure in which: the semiconductor chip is packaged on the insulating wiring substrate, and after an electrical conduction has been ensured between the wiring pattern and the semiconductor chip, these are sealed with resin. Then, the ball-shaped terminal, which is an external terminal, is attached thereto. In most cases, this ballshaped terminal is made of solder, and is subjected to a heating treatment in a reflow furnace or the like, so as to form the terminal.
Moreover, such a resin-sealing type semiconductor device is often packaged simultaneously with other packaging parts when the semiconductor chip is packaged on the insulating wiring substrate by the user; therefore, at this time, this is also subjected to a heating treatment by a reflow furnace or the like. For this reason, bubbles and moisture, located in the interface between the insulating wiring substrate and the semiconductor chip, expand due to heat, thereby causing separation, swelling, etc. of the resin.
As described above, defects tend to occur in the resin-sealing type semiconductor device of BGA type due to swelling caused by heat at the time of assembling and packaging.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No. 51449/1988 (Jitsukaishou 63-51449) (Published on Apr. 7, 1988) has proposed an arrangement, although this relates to a type different from the CSP structure of the BGA type. In this arrangement, as illustrated in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b), a through hole 102 is provided in a chip packaging section 101 of a packaging substrate 100 so that the generation of bubbles at the joining section between the chip and the packaging substrate 100 is prevented.
Therefore, as illustrated in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), when the arrangement of Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No. 51449/1988 is applied to the CSP structure of the BGA type, a through hole 25 for drawing air with a smaller diameter is provided on the insulating substrate 26 at a position without a wiring pattern 22.
However, in the above-mentioned method, since the through hole 25 for drawing air is provided in the insulating substrate 26, the through hole 25 tends to intersect the wiring pattern 22. Here, from the viewpoint of reliability of the semiconductor device, it is not desirable to have an intersection between the through hole 25 and the wiring pattern 22. In order to avoid the intersection between the through hole 25 and the wiring pattern 22, as illustrate in FIG. 8, a portion having no wiring pattern needs to be provided on the periphery of the through hole 25 of the insulating substrate 26. This portion also needs to be provided with a large area to a certain extent by taking into consideration the pattern positional precision and the machining precision of the position of the through hole 25 for drawing air. For this reason, the application of the above-mentioned arrangement further limits the degree of freedom in designing the wiring pattern 22.
Moreover, although it is desirable to form the through holes 25 for drawing air in a uniform manner over the packaging portion of the semiconductor chip, the abovementioned arrangement sometimes makes it impossible to make such a formation due to difficulties encountered in designing the wiring pattern 22. Moreover, it is necessary to provide a more difficult machining process so as to form the through holes 25 for drawing air with such a small diameter; this results in an increase in the manufacturing cost of the insulating substrate 26.

Wiring substrate used for a resin-sealing type semiconductor device and a resin-sealing type semiconductor device structure using such a wiring substrate


Methods and apparatus related to generating an original message ask model that can be utilized to determine, based on an original message sent to a user, whether a commit is likely to be present in a yet to be formulated new reply message that is responsive to the original message. In some of those implementations, an indication may be provided for presentation to the user via a computing device of the user in response to determining that a commit is likely to be present in the yet to be formulated new reply message that is responsive to the original message sent to the user.

Users are often inundated with electronic communications such as emails, chat communications, SMS communications, and social networking communications. Many electronic communications that are sent to a user contain asks (i.e., requests) that explicitly or implicitly solicit the user to reply with a commit (i.e., that the reply actually carry out a particular action and/or contain a pledge to carry out a particular action). For example, an email that contains an ask of "Can you get me the draft presentation by noon" may explicitly solicit a reply that includes an electronic version of "the draft presentation" and/or a reply that contains a pledge that an electronic version of "the draft presentation" will be provided. On the other hand, other electronic communications may not contain asks that solicit the user to reply with a commit. For example, a user may not be expected to reply with a commit to an email that is sent to the user by a sender and that informs the user of the sender's new mailing address.

Methods and apparatus for determining original electronic messages that contain asks


An elastic adjustable brake pad for use in a train, comprising a brake pad frame (1) provided with a fourth through hole (18), a brake block assembly, and a spiral compression spring (6); the brake block assembly comprises a brake block (16), a rivet (4), a Belleville spring (5), and a rivet sleeve (3), the brake block (16) comprising a friction block (10) and a static sheet steel back (7) fixedly mounted together, the rivet (4) passing through the brake block (16) and being sleeved in turn by the Belleville spring (5) and the rivet sleeve (3); the fourth through hole (18) is a stepped counterbore, and the rivet (4) in the brake block (16) penetrates the fourth through hole (18) and extends outward therefrom, the spiral compression spring (6) being sleeved over the outside of the rivet sleeve (3), and the outer side of one end of the rivet sleeve (3) being provided with a clamping groove clamped to an elastic retainer ring (2), one end of the spiral compression spring (6) abutting a step on which a secondary counterbore (20) is located, and the other end thereof abutting the lower end face of the elastic retainer ring (2); a plurality of anti-rotation pins are arranged between the static sheet steel back (7) and the brake pad frame (1). The present brake pad has the advantages of automatically adjusting the brake clearance, ensuring the friction area at all times, improving brake efficiency, extending service life, and low manufacturing costs.

In the prior art, a friction braking structure of a train converts kinetic energy into heat energy via friction and emits the heat energy to the air. At present, disc brake systems are adopted in high-speed trains. The disc brakes are divided into a wheel disc brake and an axle disc brake, where the wheel disc brake is implemented by directly using the exterior of a wheel as a brake disc, and the axle disc brake is implemented by a brake disc mounted on an axle. In both of these disc brake structures, brake pads are distributed on both sides of the brake disc. When the train runs, the brake disc, which is integrally connected with the wheel disc or axle disc of the train, rotates at a high speed along with the axle, and the brake pad is static relatively; and to brake the train, a hydraulic ram cylinder transfers pressure to the brake pad, thereby compressing the brake disc to produce a braking torque for braking.
At present, the brake pads for trains are mainly divided into integrated ones and split ones. The integrated brake pad is formed by connecting a friction material with a brake pad frame; and the split brake pad is formed by sintering a friction material with a steel back into a friction block and then connecting the friction block with a brake pad frame via a clamping spring, a pressure spring, a rivet and the like structure. The integrated brake pad has features of simple structure and manufacturing process, while the split brake pad has features of convenience in disassembly and assembly, use and maintenance and the like, meanwhile, the split brake pad can further have the function of gap adjusting by an appropriate design, so that the surface of the friction material of the brake pad is in better contact with the surface of the brake disc during braking to improve the braking efficiency.
A train brake pad structure with an adjustor is disclosed, where the components of the brake pad structure adopt an elastic contact and a floating connection, and the friction block is connected with the brake pad frame via a clamping spring, with an adjustor being mounted therebetween, and both the steel back for the friction block and the adjustor adopt a spherical structure, which is beneficial to adjusting the friction surface. After the friction block of the structure is worn, only the friction block is replaced, and the other parts can be reused, so that the structure has advantages that the brake pad is convenient to maintain and the friction block is convenient to replace. The structure has the disadvantages that the steel back for the friction block and the adjustor which have the spherical structures need to be casted, thus the external cooperative machining cost is increased and the friction material is inconvenient to sinter.
A brake pad for a train is further disclosed, its brake pad frame is also movably connected with the brake block, and the brake pad can adjust the contact area between the surface of the friction material of the friction block and the surface of the brake disc to improve the braking efficiency by a Belleville spring, but it is defective for requiring for high machining precision of its parts; although the contact area between the surface of each friction block and the surface of the brake disc can be adjusted individually, the friction areas of different brake blocks become different after a period of time in use, and the friction areas of all the brake blocks cannot be ensured to be consistent or coordinative even by respective adjustment, thus the service life of the whole brake pad is shortened and the braking efficiency is affected.

Elastic adjustable brake pad for use in train

BEIJING BEI MO GAO KE FRICTION MATERIAL CO. LTD


A system for treating an air stream exhausted from a firing kiln utilized to heat a ceramic substrates includes an outlet assembly and a thermal oxidizer. The outlet assembly may be in fluid communication with the firing kiln, and may be operational to receive an exhaust gas stream and a waste heat stream from the firing kiln. A temperature of the waste heat stream may be greater than the exhaust gas stream such that a temperature of an air stream comprising the waste heat stream and the exhaust gas stream within the outlet assembly is greater than the exhaust gas stream. The thermal oxidizer may be in fluid communication with the outlet assembly to receive the air stream and remove pollutants from the air stream.

1. Field
The present specification generally relates to systems and methods for treating air streams, such as those exhausted by firing kilns during the firing of ceramic honeycomb substrates.
2. Technical Background
Manufacturing processes for ceramic honeycomb filters such as those used to manufacture diesel particulate filters (e.g., firing processes) may produce undesirable waste pollutants as by-products. Such pollutants may include volatile organic compounds ("VOCs"), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen fluoride, for example. These pollutants may be emitted during the firing process in which the ceramic material is subjected to high temperatures. Because governments place limits on the amount of pollutants that may be released into the environment, the pollutants within the air stream created by the firing process need to be removed from the air stream prior to releasing the air stream to the atmosphere.
Thermal oxidizers, such as recuperative thermal oxidizers and catalytic thermal oxidizers, are treatment devices that may be integrated into firing kiln exhaust systems to destroy VOCs and CO in an air stream created during the firing process. Certain thermal oxidizers may require an operating temperature range of about 300° C. to about 650° C. to effectively destroy VOCs and CO that may be present in the air stream. Because of this high operating temperature, these treatment devices require one or more external heating sources, such as a burner, to raise the temperature of the air stream (with pollutants) entering the thermal oxidizer. However, the use of an auxiliary burner or burners to heat the exhaust air stream adds substantial energy costs to the manufacturing process.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative systems and methods of treating air streams exhausted by firing kilns during the firing process.

Systems and methods for treating air streams exhausted from firing kilns


A pressure-sensitive adhesive composition comprises a polyvinyl ether polymer. The polyvinyl ether polymer comprises 2-alkylalkoxyethylene monomeric units independently represented by the formula wherein R1 and R2 represent alkyl groups, and wherein taken together R1 and R2 have from 8 to 30 carbon atoms. An adhesive article comprises a layer of the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition on a substrate.

Pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes are virtually ubiquitous in the home and workplace. In its simplest configuration, a pressure-sensitive tape comprises a PSA and a backing. The PSA is tacky at the intended use temperature, and adheres to a variety of substrates using only moderate pressure to form the bond. In this fashion, PSA tapes constitute a complete, self-contained bonding system.
According to the Pressure-Sensitive Tape Council, PSAs are known to possess properties including the following: (1) aggressive and permanent tack, (2) adherence with no more than finger pressure, (3) sufficient ability to hold onto an adherend, and (4) sufficient cohesive strength to be removed cleanly from the adherend. Materials that have been found to function well as PSAs include polymers designed and formulated to exhibit the requisite viscoelastic properties resulting in a desired balance of tack, peel adhesion, and shear holding power. PSAs are characterized by being normally tacky at room temperature (e.g., 20° C.). PSAs do not embrace compositions merely because they are sticky or adhere to a surface.
These requirements are assessed generally by means of tests which are designed to individually measure tack, adhesion (peel strength), and cohesion (shear holding power). These measurements taken together constitute the balance of properties often used to characterize a PSA.
With broadened use of PSA tapes over the years, performance requirements have become more demanding. Shear holding capability, for example, which originally was intended for applications supporting modest loads at room temperature, has now increased substantially for many applications in terms of operating temperature and load. So-called high performance pressure-sensitive tapes are those capable of supporting loads at elevated temperatures for 10,000 minutes. Increased shear holding capability has generally been accomplished by crosslinking the PSA, although considerable care must be exercised so that high levels of tack and adhesion are retained in order to retain the aforementioned balance of properties.
There are a wide variety of PSA materials available today, including natural crude or synthetic rubbers, block copolymers, and acrylic ester polymeric compositions. Acrylic ester PSAs in particular have been the focus of a great deal of development over the last half century as the performance demands for PSAs have increased. Acrylic ester PSAs may be closely tailored to provide a number of desired attributes such as, e.g., elasticity, tackiness, transparency, resistance to oxidation and sunlight, as well as have the necessary degree of adhesion and cohesion for demanding tape applications.
Poly(isobutylene), polyvinyl ethers, and polybutadiene can also be made into PSAs, but due to various deficiencies they are less common in the market.

Pressure-sensitive adhesive compositions and adhesive articles including the same


Embodiments of the present invention provide an end-to-end lightweight method and apparatus for license plate recognition. The method comprises: obtaining an image to be recognized; obtaining a number of a license plate in the image to be recognized and position coordinates of the license plate in the image to be recognized on the basis of the image to be recognized and a pre-trained target license plate recognition model, wherein the target license plate recognition model comprises a target feature extraction network, a target region candidate localization network, a target super-resolution generation network and a target recurrent neural network. Because in this solution, once an image to be recognized is input into the target license plate recognition model, the target license plate recognition model can output the license plate number and position coordinates of the license plate in the image to be recognized, one realizes an end-to-end model. The model has relatively strong robustness, and it can detect and recognize pictures taken under different camera angles. Moreover, computation variables such as image features can be reused without repeated computations, the model takes up less RAM and the speed of license plate recognition is greatly improved.

License plate recognition technology is the basis for intelligent transportation. In recent years, with the development of the digital image processing, pattern recognition and artificial intelligence technology, the license plate recognition technology is also developing continuously.
Generally, a license plate recognition process comprises the following three steps: license plate localization, character segmentation, and character recognition. Those three steps are implemented by a plurality of deep learning models. For example, during the license plate localization, the feature extraction is performed on an image to be recognized by means of a feature extraction model to obtain a feature map, and the position of a candidate box is determined by means of a region candidate localization model. A character recognition deep learning model segments characters and recognizes characters based on the feature map and the candidate box.
In the license plate recognition process described above, because the plurality of deep learning models exist independently, many redundant computations take place when operations are performed by means of the deep learning models, resulting in a large amount of redundant computational variables. For example, in the license plate localization process, a convolution operation is required to extract image features. However, the same convolution operation is usually required to extract image features during character segmentation and character recognition as well. These features become redundant computational variables. Because the large amount of redundant computational variables take up a large amount of RAM, and meanwhile there are redundant computations, the speed of license plate recognition is low.

End-to-end lightweight method and apparatus for license plate recognition

BEIJING UNIVERSITY OF POSTS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS


Method for manufacturing a plurality of pyroelectric sensors by forming a thin pyroelectric film or layer on one face of a silicon wafer or substrate, wherein electric polarization of this film is provided between lower and upper electrodes defining pixels forming these sensors. In order to protect the wafer in the event of a short-circuit between two electrodes of a pixel, resistors are arranged in series with the lower or upper electrodes by connecting these electrodes to each other by subsets in order to carry out the electric polarization. Once this polarization has been carried out, the electric connections connecting the upper or lower electrodes are removed to allow each pixel to supply an elementary electric signal when the sensor is operating. In order to minimize the risk of short-circuits and in order to reduce the stray capacity of the electrodes, the upper and lower electrodes of the pixels are structured. In the case of intersections of the connecting paths in projection onto the general plane of the wafer, these intersections are preferably provided between the electrodes and the respective resistors.

The present invention concerns a method for manufacturing pyroelectric sensors by forming a thin pyroelectric film or layer on one face of the same wafer or substrate, particularly made of silicon. Each sensor is formed of several pixels each defined by a first electrode of its own located on one face of the pyroelectric film and a second electrode located on the other face of said film.
Such pyroelectric sensors have several uses, particularly for gas spectrometry and thermal imagining. They are relatively inexpensive. However, for the pyroelectric film to work properly, it is generally necessary for it to undergo electric polarisation, i.e. the application of an electric field between two electrodes which has the effect of orienting the dipoles of the pyroelectric film at least between the first and second electrodes of the pixels. By way of example, an electric field of approximately 30 V is applied across the first and second electrodes of the pixels with a temperature of the pyroelectric film of between 110 and 170xc2x0 C., for approximately 10 minutes. A plurality of sensors is batch manufactured with technology similar to that for the manufacture of integrated circuits. A silicon wafer of a diameter of 10 cm can contain several hundred sensors formed either of linear networks of pixels or two-dimensional networks in the form of pixel matrices.
A method for manufacturing such sensors has to allow at least pixel subsets to be polarised simultaneously; pixel-by-pixel polarisation having to be set aside for obvious reasons. Preferably, all the pixels of the same wafer are polarised simultaneously so as to reduce the manufacturing costs and the manufacturing time of the sensors. In order to polarise at least a pixel subset, on the one hand their upper electrodes and on the other hand their lower electrodes are electrically connected to each other. Generally, either the upper electrodes, or the lower electrodes are electrically connected to each other permanently so as to be set at a common potential during operation of the sensor. However, the other electrodes have to be electrically insulated from each other so as to provide elementary electric signals.
In general, those skilled in the art provide for the lower electrodes to be formed by a metallic film defining a common electrode for all the pixels. This allows manufacturing steps to be saved. Thus, the silicon wafer has a continuous metal film on which the thin pyroelectric film is deposited. The upper electrodes, which geometrically define the pixels, are deposited on this film.
In the aforementioned example, the upper electrodes of the sensor have to be insulated from each other prior to its use, as mentioned hereinbefore. However, in order to simultaneously polarise at least a pixel subset, temporary electric connections are formed between the upper electrodes. In other words, in order to carry out the polarisation the electrodes provided to supply the elementary electric pixel signals are also electrically connected. Thus, preferably, all these electrodes will be connected at least by subsets connected to at least one electric contact pad provided to carry out the polarisation.
However, such a method has a major drawback given that any accidental short-circuit between the electrodes of a pixel will cause a voltage drop for all the pixels of the subset concerned. Electric polarisation thus becomes impossible and a whole wafer may be wasted. Given the number of sensors manufactured on the same wafer, such an event causes considerable losses, which significantly increases the cost price of such sensors in industrial production.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawback while allowing simultaneous electric polarisation for at least pixel subsets of a sensor wafer being manufactured.
This object is achieved by the subject of the invention as defined in claim 1 which concerns a method for manufacturing a plurality of pyroelectric sensors wherein there is provided a step where electric connections are formed between at least a subset of first electrodes each forming an electrode belonging to a pixel and wherein electric resistors are formed, arranged such that each electrode of said subset is series connected with one of said resistors.
As a result of the arrangement of the aforementioned electric resistors, a short-circuit at one pixel no longer causes a critical drop in the polarisation voltage applied during a polarisation step following the aforementioned step. Thus, it is possible to polarise the sensors of a wafer properly even in the presence of one or several short-circuits at certain pixels. The short-circuited pixels are of course inoperative in the operation of the manufactured sensors, but this problem remains localised only at the pixel that has been accidentally short-circuited.
So as to further reduce the risk of short-circuits and deterioration of the sensors, within the scope of the invention and according to a preferred embodiment, it is provided to also structure the electrodes intended to be connected to each other to a reference potential. Thus, the pixels are defined by lower and upper electrodes belonging to the pixels. This allows stray capacities formed by the electrodes to be reduced. These second electrodes are connected at least partially to each other by second electric connections, i.e. they are electrically connected at least by subsets preferably corresponding to the previously mentioned subsets.
According to sensor manufacturing variant, the first and second electric connections respectively connecting upper and lower electrodes intersect in projection onto the general plane of the wafer. To prevent any short-circuit between these first and second electric connections at the intersections causing deterioration of part of the sensors or all of them by a polarisation voltage drop, the first and second connections are arranged such that the intersections are located between the resistors and the electrodes to which they are connected.
According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, well suited for the linear pixel networks or for matrices with two lines of pixels, the connections between the electrodes associated with the protective resistors are automatically broken when the sensors are diced.

Method for making pyroelectric sensors comprising a thin pyroelectric film requiring an electric polarization

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)


An exemplary LED module includes a base, an anisotropic conductive film on the base, multiple LED dies on the anisotropic conductive film, multiple first electrodes between the base and the anisotropic conductive film, and multiple second electrodes on the LED dies. The LED dies are arranged in multiple rows by multiple columns. The first electrodes each are elongated and parallel to each other. The second electrodes each are elongated and parallel to each other. The LED dies of each column are connected to one of the first electrodes electrically. Each second electrode is electrically coupled to the LED dies of one row.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to light emitting diode (LED) modules, and particularly to a method for manufacturing an LED module incorporating a plurality of LEDs.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, LED modules are preferred for use in non-emissive display devices than CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) due to their high brightness, long lifespan, and wide color range.
In manufacturing an LED module, most of the methods involve the following steps. Firstly, an LED wafer is provided and cut into a plurality of LED dies. Each of the LED dies is then individually connected to a circuit board through wire bonding, and encapsulated by transparent material to form an LED. Finally, the LEDs are assembled together to form the LED module. However, the LEDs are formed separately at a time, which is costly, time-consuming and may require substantial amounts of manual labor and/or specialized equipment.
What is needed, therefore, is a new method for manufacturing an LED module with a plurality of LEDs which can overcome the limitations described.

LED module and method of manufacturing the same


An apparatus determines a cylinder deactivation state of an internal combustion engine capable of deactivating one or more cylinders among a plurality of cylinders in accordance with an instruction from a program-controlled electronic control unit (ECU). The apparatus includes detection means to output a signal corresponding to an intake air amount into the internal combustion engine. The ECU includes Fourier transformation means to perform Fourier transformation on the signal from the detection means at plural fundamental frequencies, and determines the cylinder deactivation state with spectrums obtained from the Fourier transformation means based on predetermined relationship between the spectrums of Fourier transformation at the plural fundamental frequencies and the cylinder deactivation state of the internal combustion engine. The ECU distinguishes a deactivated cylinder with a phase obtained from the Fourier transformation means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus configured to determine a cylinder deactivation state for an internal combustion engine having a mechanism that is configured to perform cylinder deactivation control to deactivate a part of plural cylinders.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been an internal combustion engine including a cylinder deactivation mechanism that deactivates operation of a part of plural cylinders. In such an internal combustion engine, it is possible to switch between all cylinder operation for operating all of the plural cylinders and cylinder deactivation operation for deactivating a part of cylinders in accordance with operational conditions.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 6-146937 discloses a method for detecting failure of the switching between the all cylinder operation and the cylinder deactivation operation. According to this method, the switching failure is detected by comparing intake manifold pressure at the all cylinder operation estimated based on detected engine revolution speed and throttle valve opening with intake manifold pressure actually detected by a sensor arranged at an intake manifold.
Further, JP-A No. 2005-139962 discloses the following method. That is, a detected intake air amount and a set value based on revolution speed of an internal combustion engine are compared after an instruction to start cylinder deactivation control is outputted to the internal combustion engine during deceleration operation of a vehicle. Then, failure occurrence in the cylinder deactivation control is determined when the detected intake air amount is equal to or larger than a threshold value. This method utilizes generation of large difference between the intake air amounts at the all cylinder operation and at the cylinder deactivation operation during deceleration.
Furthermore, JP-A No. 2003-83148 discloses a method to determine apparatus failure by monitoring oil pressure with an oil pressure detection sensor which is provided at a downstream side of an oil passage switching device to switch between activation and deactivation of an intake valve and an exhaust valve of a cylinder in an engine which deactivates a part of cylinders during deceleration.
The failure determination method of a cylinder deactivation mechanism in the related art determines failure of the cylinder deactivation mechanism as a whole, so that identification of an activated cylinder and a deactivated cylinder is not done. In order to monitor whether or not the cylinder deactivation mechanism is appropriately operated in accordance with instructions from an electronic control unit, it is desired to determine which cylinder is activated or deactivated.
Therefore, a method for determining a cylinder deactivation state has been needed for an engine having a cylinder deactivation mechanism.

Apparatus to determine cylinder deactivation state


The invention concerns a method for extracting usaponifiable matters from a vegetable oil comprising at least a saponification step whereby the oil is transformed into a hydro alcoholic solution, a step for extracting the hydro alcoholic solution with a organic solvent such as chloro-1-butane, preferably the treated vegetable oil is avocado or soya oil.

The present invention relates to a process for extracting the unsaponifiable components of vegetable oils and to pharmaceutical or cosmetic compositions containing the unsaponifiable components thus obtained, and to the use of these compounds for the manufacture of a medicament, in a method of cosmetic treatment and as a food additive.
Unsaponifiable compounds constitute the fraction of a fatty substance which, after prolonged action of an alkaline base, remains insoluble in water and can be extracted with an organic solvent.
Five main groups of substances are present in most unsaponifiable components of vegetable oils: saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbons, aliphatic or terpenic alcohols, sterols, tocopherols and carotenoid and xanthophilic pigments.
Unsaponifiable compounds are sought after for their pharmacological, cosmetic and nutritional properties.
The usual processes for producing unsaponifiable components of vegetable oils comprise a step of saponification of the fats and extraction of the target products (the unsaponifiable component) with an organic solvent. Generally, the solvents most commonly used are solvents for oils, such as alkanes (hexane, heptane and the like) and chlorinated solvents (dichloroethane, trichloroethane, carbon tetrachloride and the like).
Among the latter, dichloroethane constitutes the best candidate by virtue of its effective extraction yield and its intrinsic selectivity. The unsaponifiable components are indeed composed of numerous substituents which need to be extracted completely and with a maximum yield.
However, from the industrial point of view, the toxicity of the solvent used as well as its chemical stability must be taken into account. In this regard, dichloroethane (DCE) has two major disadvantages: DCE is indeed classified among the most toxic solvents, and has, moreover, a detrimental impact on the environment. In addition, DCE is partially degraded in basic medium (case of soapy saponification solutions).
The problem posed by the present invention is to choose an extraction solvent which is less toxic and chemically more stable than dichloroethane and which makes it possible to extract the unsaponifiable components with a yield and a selectivity which are at least comparable to the yields and selectivities obtained using dichioroethane, it being possible for this solvent also to be used in a crystallization process.
The subject of the present invention is thus a process for extracting the unsaponifiable fraction contained in a vegetable oil or of a coproduct of the vegetable oil refining industry such as the unchanged materials from deodorization, comprising at least:
A) a step during which the said oil is converted to an aqueous-alcoholic solution which is preferably a step chosen from the group consisting of saponifications and esterifications,
B) a step of extraction of the aqueous-alcoholic solution during which the fatty fraction is separated from the unsaponifiable fraction chosen from the group consisting of liquid-liquid extractions and distillations,
C) optionally, a step of purification of the unsaponifiable component chosen from the group consisting of crystallizations and liquid-liquid extractions, such as at least one step among the liquid-liquid extractions of step B, the crystallizations of step C or the liquid-liquid extractions of step C is carried out using 1-chlorobutane.
The process according to the present invention makes it possible to extract an unsaponifiable fraction contained in a vegetable oil; it also makes it possible to extract a coproduct of the vegetable oil refining industry, such as for example the unchanged materials from deodorization, also called deodistillates, which are produced during the refining of vegetable oils.
The fatty acids and the partial glycerides present in the deodistillates may indeed be saponified or esterified with a light alcohol, with the aim of separating the fatty fraction from the unsaponifiable fraction, either by liquid-liquid extraction or vacuum distillation. Finally, the purification of the unsaponifiable component or of the active fractions separated, most often the tocopherols (vitamin E) and the sterols, involves in particular steps of crystallization from an organic solvent or of liquid-liquid extraction.
The subject of the present invention is also a process for extracting the unsaponifiable fraction contained in a vegetable oil, comprising at least:
A) a saponification step by which the said oil is converted to an aqueous-alcoholic solution,
B) a step of extraction of the aqueous-alcoholic solution with an organic solvent such that the organic solvent is 1-chlorobutane; preferably, the vegetable oil treated is an avocado oil or soybean oil.
More particularly, the process for extracting the unsaponifiable fraction of an avocado oil according to the present invention is such that a countercurrent extraction of the aqueous-alcoholic solution is carried out by means of 1-chlorobutane, the (volume/volume) v/v 1-chlorobutane/aqueous-alcoholic solution ratio being between 0.5 and 5, preferably between 0.9 and 1.2 and more preferably still about 1.
More particularly, the process for extracting the unsaponifiable fraction of a soybean oil according to the present invention is such that a countercurrent extraction of the aqueous-alcoholic solution is carried out by means of 1-chlorobutane, the (volume/volume) v/v 1-chlorobutane/aqueous-alcoholic solution ratio being between 0.5 and 5, preferably between 0.9 and 1.5 and more preferably still about 1.3.
The subject of the present invention is also a process for extracting the unsaponifiable fraction of a coproduct of the vegetable oil refining industry, such that this coproduct is a deodistillate of a vegetable oil, the said process comprising at least:
a saponification step by which the deodistillate is converted to an aqueous-alcoholic solution,
a step of countercurrent extraction of the aqueous-alcoholic solution by means of 1-chlorobutane,
a step of crystallization of the sterols and/or of the triterpenic alcohols,
a step of isolation of an active compound such as tocopherols, tocotrienols, squalene, carotenes, sesamin or sesamolin, which step is chosen from the group consisting of extractions, preferably by means of 1-chlorobutane, and distillations.
The subject of the present invention is also the unsaponifiable fraction obtained by the extraction process according to the present invention.
Comparison of the contents of unsaponifiable components of various vegetable oils: soybean, cotton, coconut, olive and avocado, shows that the avocado oil obtained by extraction according to various known processes comprises a particularly high level of unsaponifiable components. Typically, the contents obtained range from 2 to 7% of unsaponifiable components in avocado oil against 0.5% in coconut oil, 1% in soybean oil, 1% in olive oil. The unsaponifiable component of avocado may be prepared by extraction from avocado oil.
The process for extracting the unsaponifiable components of an avocado oil may be carried out in the following manner.
According to a method known to persons skilled in the art:
either the fresh pulp is pressed in the presence of a third fibrous substance absorbing water such as coffee parchment in a cage press, and then the emulsion of oil and water obtained is separated by decantation and/or centrifugation;
or the fresh pulp is ground and brought into contact with a suitable organic solvent (for example a methanol-chloroform mixture) and then the oil is recovered by evaporation of the solvent.
Several processes have been described in the prior art for extracting the unsaponifiable fraction of a vegetable oil.
There may be mentioned in particular the process for preparing the unsaponifiable component of avocado oil as described and claimed in patent FR-2,678,632 in the name of Pharmascience Laboratories. This process makes it possible to obtain an unsaponifiable component of avocado rich in fraction H by comparison with the conventional processes for preparing the unsaponifiable component of avocado.
Thus, the unsaponifiable component of avocado oil used according to the invention may be obtained from fresh fruit but, preferably, the unsaponifiable component of avocado is prepared from fruit which has been previously heat-treated before the extraction of the oil and the saponification, as described in patent FR-2,678,632. This heat treatment consists in a controlled drying of the fruit, preferably fresh fruit, for at least four hours, advantageously at least 10 hours, preferably between about 24 and about 48 hours, at a temperature preferably of at least about 80xc2x0 C. and preferably between 80 and about 120xc2x0 C.
There may also be mentioned the process for preparing the unsaponifiable component of soybean oil, obtained from an unsaponifiable concentrate of soybean oil. The said unsaponifiable concentrate is prepared by molecular distillation according to a process as described for lupin oil in patent application FR-2,762,512, but adapted for soybean oil. In this process, the soybean oil is distilled in a molecular distillation apparatus of the centrifugal or scraped-film type, at a temperature of between about 210 and 250xc2x0 C. and under a high vacuum of between 0.01 and 0.001 millimetres of mercury (that is 0.13 to 1.3 Pa). The distillate obtained has a content of unsaponifiable component of between 5 and 40% by weight and therefore constitutes an unsaponifiable concentrate of soybean oil.
The concentrate is then saponified with a base such as potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide in an alcoholic, preferably ethanolic, medium. It is then subjected to one or more extractions with 1-chlorobutane.
The extraction solution obtained is then preferably centrifuged, filtered and then washed with water in order to remove residual traces of alkalinity.
The extraction solvent is carefully evaporated in order to recover the unsaponifiable component. It is of course also possible to envisage additional operations known to persons skilled in the art, such as a deodorization step.
Finally, before its saponification, oil may be enriched beforehand in unsaponifiable component by separating a majority of the constituents from the unsaponifiable component which is recovered in a concentrate. Various methods can be used: cold crystallization, liquid-liquid extraction, molecular distillation.
The preliminary concentration of the oil in unsaponifiable component makes it possible to reduce the consumption of oil during the saponification. Molecular distillation is particularly preferred, being preferably carried out at a temperature of between about 180 and about 230xc2x0 C., while a pressure of between 10xe2x88x923 and 10xe2x88x922 mmHg, and preferably of the order of 10xe2x88x923 mmHg, is maintained. The concentration of unsaponifiable components of the distillate may be up to 60%.
The subject of the present invention is also a cosmetic composition comprising at least one unsaponifiable fraction contained in a vegetable oil and a cosmetically acceptable excipient, a pharmaceutical composition or a composition as a medicament comprising at least one unsaponifiable fraction contained in a vegetable oil and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient and a dietary composition comprising at least one unsaponifiable fraction contained in a vegetable oil.
The present invention also relates to a process of cosmetic treatment such that the cosmetic composition according to the invention is applied topically and also to the use of an unsaponifiable component of a vegetable oil obtained according to the present invention for the manufacture of a medicament.
By way of examples illustrating the present invention, two series of experiments were successively carried out.

Process for extracting unsaponifiable components of vegetable oils by means of 1-chlorobutane


A centrifugal blower includes a centrifugal fan having a fan wheel, the fan wheel has a rotational axis and blades extending radially outwardly from the fan wheel, a blower housing including a first panel and a second panel disposed on opposite sides of the centrifugal fan and extending transverse to the rotational axis of the fan wheel, and further including a wall extending about the rotational axis and between the first panel and the second panel, where the wall includes a flange having a cross-sectional camber geometry, an intake passage extending through the first panel and facilitating fluid flow into the fan wheel, and an outlet of the housing facilitating fluid flow out of the housing, the outlet formed by the first panel, the second panel, and the wall, where the flange extends outwardly from the outlet.

The present disclosure relates generally to a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, and more particularly, to a cutoff having a camber cross-sectional geometry for a blower housing of an HVAC system.
HVAC systems are utilized in residential, commercial, and industrial environments to control environmental properties, such as temperature and humidity, for occupants of the respective environments. The HVAC system may control the environmental properties through control of an airflow delivered to the environment. The HVAC system may include a blower assembly that is configured to direct air across a heat exchanger and condition the air or otherwise exchange thermal energy with a refrigerant flowing through tubes of the heat exchanger. Blower assemblies may include a rotor disposed within a housing to draw air from a surrounding environment and direct the air across the heat exchanger. In some cases, the flow of air within the housing of the blower assembly may include pockets of high velocity that generate turbulent flow. It is now recognized that a portion of the turbulent flow of the air in the housing may be directed back into the housing instead of through an outlet of the blower assembly, thus increasing an amount of energy consumed by the blower assembly to achieve a target flow rate of air and reducing efficiency.