An apparatus for reducing or eliminating rearward amplification of yaw in commercial multi-trailer highway combinations by maintaining constant tension on a cable-and-pulley system connecting a towed trailer with a towing trailer, and offering constant resistance to motion of the cable through the pulleys when the towed vehicle begins to yaw with respect to the towing vehicle. The cable is wrapped around a drum having a vertical axis of rotation. Cable tension is maintained by an air spring which slides the drum in a fore-and-aft direction. Resistance to movement of the cable connecting the vehicles is achieved by controlling rotation of the drum by means of a pneumatic brake.

1. Field of the Invention
The stabilization of multitrailer commercial vehicles has been the subject of many studies and inventions. The problem to overcome is the "yaw" of the second and third trailers in combination operation. The yaw is attributable to the distance between the location of the pintle hitch (articulating joint) and the point of rotation at the centerline of the axle of the lead trailer. This distance causes a rearward amplification of any movement of the trailer fifth wheel. The pintle hitch allows the A-dolly supporting the front of the towed trailer to "walk" or "wander" with any road surface variation, such as wear grooves, road seams and the edge of the pavement.
The following quotations which define the field of the invention, and the problems encountered therein which are resolved by this invention, are taken from a report entitled "Improving the Dynamic Performance of Multitrailer Vehicles: A Study of Innovative Dollies - Volume I Technical Report" (hereinafter UMTRI) performed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute under contract with the Federal Highway Administration. The report date is July 1986, and the report number is FHWA/RD-86/161. It is available through the National Technical INformation Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Va. 22161.
"The Surface Transportation Act of 1982 allows the use of double-trailer combination vehicles nationwide on the designated highway system. It also allows for the use of commercial vehicle widths from 96 in. (2.44 m) to 102 in. (2.59 m). This Act is generally expected to result in a major increase in the number of multitrailer commercial vehicles in use throughout the U.S.. At the same time, pressure for allowing the use of triples is increasing. In light of the fact that multitrailer vehicles are known to suffer from special dynamic characteristics that can limit their stability and emergency maneuverability characteristics vis-a-vis the tractor-semitrailer, these developments have led to concern over the potential for degradation of the safety quality of the U.S. commercial vehicle fleet . . . It is well established in the literature that maneuvering quality of the tractor-semitrailer portion of an A-train doubles combination vehicle is virtually unaffected by the presence of the full trailer, but that, in emergency maneuvers, the second trailer of the doubles suffers from a "crack-the-whip" phenomenon in which the second trailer substantially exaggerates, or amplifies, the motion of the tractor. The major safety consequence of this "rearward amplification" is the premature (sic) rollover of the second trailer. Rearward amplification and the resulting propensity toward rollover of the second trailer is generally recognized as the property of the double which distinguishes (and degrades) its dynamic performance capability from that of the tractor-semitrailer combination vehicle" UMTRI at page 1.
"The major motivation for the use of multiply articulated trains by commercial trucking interests is to obtain a vehicle with high cargo volume which retains the practical benefit of good, low-speed maneuverability. Within the constraints of vehicle height and width laws, more cargo volume is attained by lengthening the vehicle. Generally, as vehicle length increases, so do maneuvering problems, since the magnitude of low-speed offtracking is directly related to vehicle length. However, the offtracking of a vehicle of a given length is generally reduced by the introduction of additional yaw articulation joints. By virtue of these facts, the so-called A-train doubles combination has become a popular commercial vehicle.
"An A-train consists of a tractor-semitrailer pulling one or more conventional full trailers, where a conventional full trailer consists of a semitrailer whose forward end is supported by a dolly which (1) articulates in yaw relative to the semitrailer, (2) is connected to the towing unit by a single pintle hitch, and (3) has one or more axles whose wheels are nonsteering relative to the dolly frame. While the A-train meets the primary need of providing a large-volume vehicle which can be maneuvered relatively easily at low speed, it is also known to be less stable at highway speeds than is the conventional tractor-semitrailer.
"The dynamic stability of the A-train suffers from the phenomenon known as rearward amplification, wherein, in steering maneuvers of relatively high frequency content, trailing units in the trail will tend to experience higher lateral accelerations than their towing unit. Thus, lateral acceleration "amplifies" as one moves rearward along the train, and the rearmost trailer may experience accelerations much larger than those experienced by the driver in the tractor. The most serious safety consequence of the phenomenon is the resulting rollover of the rear trailer. Further, the addition of yaw articulation joints tends to reduce the yaw damping of the vehicle, and the reduction of low-speed offtracking tends to aggravate high-speed offtracking.
"In recent years, the safety-degrading influence of additional articulation joints has become broadly recognized. Nonetheless, the economic motivations for the use of multitrailer trains is so compelling that the use of such vehicles does and will continue to grow. Efforts to improve the safety quality of these vehicles have led, however, to a number of innovative dollies and hitching mechanisms being developed." UMTRI at pages 2 and 3.
The report identifies seven categories of modified A-dollies, and two categories of B-dollies.
"The so-called A-dolly is, of course, the conventional single-drawbar dolly, which connects to the first semitrailer trailer with a single pintle hitch and to the second trailer with a conventional fifth wheel (converter dolly) or with a turntable bearing (turntable dolly). Modified A-dollies . . . are dollies which retain the pintle hitch or any other form of coupling which permits yaw articulating between the dolly and the first trailer. B-dollies, on the other hand, are dollies which practically eliminate yaw motions between the first trailer and the dolly, usually by using rigid double drawbars and two pintle hitch connections." UMTRI at page 8.
The purpose of the B-dolly is to move the Instantaneous Center of Rotation (IC) forward of the pintle hitch connections. With a conventional A-dolly, the IC is the pintle hitch itself. With a B-dolly, the IC is the imaginary point defined by a forward projection of the effective centerlines of the drawbars. As the IC moves forward of the actual towing connection, the high-speed rearward amplification of lateral movement of the towed trailer is reduced substantially.
The use of B-dollies will improve rearward amplification performance and roll stability. However, "(o)fftracking performance is somewhat degraded relative to the A-train, and many practical considerations of cost, frame stressing, incompatibility of existing trailers, etc., serve to limit the applicability and acceptance of the B-train." UMTRI at page 25.
My involvement with the operation of multitrailer combinations began when I became a driver of multi-trailer vehicles, then became Operations Manager for a trucking company, and then was a sales representative for a B-dolly manufacturer. The B-dolly and B-train are considered the most stable way to tow double- and triple-trailer combinations. Most trucking companies are interested in stabilizing multitrailer operation, but object to the cost of retrofitting a fleet. All trailers in the fleet must be reinforced for mounting of two pintle hitches for towing the B-dolly. If the entire fleet is not modified, dispatching becomes almost impossible. One comment made many times was "Why not make a device to stabilize the present A-dolly ?".
The No-Slack Restricted-Drum Stabilizer of this invention is that device. It mounts directly on the tongue of the A-dolly, and provides the same over-the-road stabilization as the B-dolly. The lead trailer must be modified only by mounting two D-ring type fittings on the tail board. If the lead trailer happens not to be modified, there is no dispatching problem, because the modified A-dolly can be towed in the normal manner, by just securing the interconnecting cables of this invention to the dolly tongue.
2. Description of Related Art
My description and comments as to the prior art are given with recognition of certain characteristics that should be present when a device employing a tensioned cable and a restricted drum are used to control or eliminate trailer yaw. The principal force acting upon a trailer is the towing force, which is always there, and which, ideally, will move the trailer along the centerline of travel in a self-correcting manner. The towing force is ordinarily much greater than the yaw force. A sudden removal of the towing force, such as by applying the vehicle brakes allows the yaw force to predominate, sometimes with dire results. External factors cause trailer yaw, and the devices in the cited patents are intended to apply a corrective force to counter the externally-induced yaw. The last thing to do, therefore, when the trailer starts to jackknife, is to apply the brakes, and corrective devices which are activated by application of the brakes are asking for trouble.
Some of the devices in the cited patents rely on springs. The force exerted by a spring is more or less directly proportional to its displacement. When springs are relied on to bring the trailer back in line, they build up a large corrective force which may or may not be required while, at the same time, providing an initially weak countervailing force when the trailer returns rapidly to the centerline. This can possibly cause undesirably large corrections to take place. The corrective force, ideally, should be constant, and should always be available at any position of the trailer.
There is always relative up-and-down motion between the trailer dolly and the towing vehicle. This motion causes slack to occur in the cable of the correcting device. The device must include a means to keep the slack to a minimum or, ideally, to eliminate it altogether.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,382 to Landis. This device applies pressure by applying spring force to a captured plate with a backup spring. The spring is used as a return mechanism, so it has to be strong enough to overcome the friction of the pressure plate, resulting in the spring being the tension setter. This results in little force being applied at first movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,305,246 to Gonczy et al. This unit uses a block-and-tackle arrangement where the line tension is controlled by a spring.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,595 to Bogie. This unit uses a spring to provide cable tension, and a spring-loaded friction plate to restrict cable movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,727 to Malherbe. This device has a tension spring on each side which reduces the effective force applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,456 to Bogie. This device works by restricting fluid flow from one side of a cylinder to the other. Slack is taken up by a spring. The first movement is restricted only by the spring until fully compressed, or when pressure on the cylinder is overcome. This unit should work, depending on the size of the spring, but the spring will not give constant tension.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,874 to Rendessy. This device has a manual pressure plate for restricting cable movement, but a spring is used to maintain tension. The spring, therefore, provides the first restricting force to the cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,891 to Rendessy. This device uses a cable wrapped around frictionally-damped rollers, and does not use a spring. There appears to be no way to remove slack caused by up-and-down movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,764 to Watts et al.. This device works by a brake locking the motion of a disc to which an arm is attached, thus providing a rigid connection between the trailer and the towing vehicle. It appears to be intended for use with only a semitrailer operation. It operates when the vehicle brake is applied, and the driver can also exercise manual control of the braking member.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,676 to Rendessy. In this device, a cable is wrapped around several pulleys, one of which may have a restricted movement. Tension is set initially by a toggle. There is no means to compensate for slack cased by up-and-down motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,586 to Mascuch. This device is intended for use between a tractor and a semi-trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,686 to Rendessy. This is similar to ,676 of Rendessy, except none of the pulleys rotate. The same comments apply.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,269 to Rendessy. This is a pre-tensioned friction device designed for light--duty towing. There is no provision to take up slack caused by up-and-down motion. It is difficult to see how enough force can be applied to control any movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,856 to Smith. This is a pre-tensioned device using a cable wrapped around a freely rotating pulley. Shock absorbers attached to the pulley housing offer resistance to induced rotation of the pulley.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,309 to Fox. This device comprises a rotor, connected at either side to a fixed bar on the towing vehicle by equal lengths of chain. The rotor is fitted with an electric brake which can be actuated by the driver and by a pressure switch mounted on the side of the trailer at the rear. One would think that the timing of rotor brake actuation would have to be extremely precise to avoid locking the rotor in any but the proper towing position of the trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,347 to Gier. This device is used on a unit that has a fifth wheel as part of a tow vehicle. It needs a means of power for the hydraulic motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,164 to Lankenau. This patent discloses a dolly which is added to a single-rear-axle tractor to enable it to carry heavy loads.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,439 to Wolter. This mechanism provides normally rigid alignment of the trailer rear wheels, but has a device which unlocks the wheels and permits self-steer during an actual turn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,082 to Curry. The self-steering dolly of this invention is used under the front of the second trailer. This appears to be a variation of a self-steering B-dolly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,740 to Strick. This patent discloses an articulated double trailer combination with completely different characteristics from the standard highway vehicles in current use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,497 to Rumminger. This patent discloses a second trailer with a retractable towing means for drawing the second trailer flush to the first trailer for convenience in loading.
The patents to Gonczy, Bogie, Malherbe, Rendessy and Fox all appear to be directed toward light-duty devices for use on recreational trailers towed by automobiles and the like.
The patents to Watts and Mascuch appear to be directed toward the connection between a tractor and a semi-trailer, and not to the connection between two trailers, as in the instant invention.

No-slack restricted-drum stabilizer for commercial multitrailer combinations


A piston type internal combustion engine having a fixed position stub shaft mounted on a base. The piston, piston pin and piston rod rotate about this fixed position shaft. The piston assembly does not reciprocate. The cylinder block assembly is mounted to an output shaft whose center line does not coincide with the center line of the axis of the fixed position shaft such that it is offset from the fixed position shaft. The block assembly consists of cylinders, end cap, air intake shroud and exhaust collecting hood. The cycle of combustion is two, three or four cycle regulated by the fuel injection and/or spark plug firing sequence. Air is drawn through a filter into a turbo charge type air intake shroud. Air is accelerated through openings in the cylinders and pistons. Fuel is pumped through the output shaft and to the fuel injectors. Exhaust is dispatched to a rotating collector having a labyrinth type seal, then to a non-rotating hood attached to the base and through an exhaust port.

The background of the invention will be discussed in two parts.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to a novel piston type internal combustion engine having a fixed position stub shaft mounted on a base and wherein the piston assembly does not reciprocate.
2. Related Art
For more than 100 years the piston type internal combustion engine has mainly consisted of a stationary block, cylinders, crankshaft, cam shaft, exhaust and intake valves. The efficiency has been very low due to kinetic friction loss and reciprocal movement of valves, rocker arms, pistons, piston pins and rods. Most improvements in the design of the piston type internal combustion engine have done little to improve the dynamics of these engines. The present invention improves the efficiency of the internal combustion engine by eliminating all reciprocal moving parts and reducing the number of parts. The cylinder block assembly rotates with a significant mass acting as a flywheel, further saving energy by allowing a slow idle RPM when power is not required. The rotating block and rotating air intake shroud with vanes increasing air velocity into the combustion chamber add to energy savings. Further energy savings are achieved through the large area exhaust outlets, reducing the work required to pump exhaust gas out. An example of an internal combustion engine having a rotatable cylinder block is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,208 issued to van de Verve on 24 Apr. 2001. Van de Verve discloses an internal combustion diesel engine including cylinder block having at least one cylinder in which a piston with a connecting rod connected thereto are movably provided, the at least one cylinder arranged in a cylinder block which is rotatable about its axis. The end of the connecting rod remote from the piston is attached to a stationary shaft whose center is line does not coincide with the center line of the axis of the rotatable cylinder block.
Considering the shortcomings and deficiencies in the prior art, there exists a need for improvements of the design of piston type internal combustion engines to increase efficiency by improving the dynamics of these engines whereby there is decreased kinetic friction loss and reciprocal movement of valves, rocker arms, pistons, piston pins and piston rods.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved piston type internal combustion engine having a fixed position stub shaft mounted on a base and wherein the piston, piston pin and piston rod rotate about this fixed position shaft. It is another object of the invention to provide a piston assembly that does not reciprocate. Other objects, aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the specification taken in conjunction with the drawings.

Non-reciprocating internal combustion engine


A key ceremony application creates bundles for custodians encrypted with their passphrases. Each bundle includes master key share. The master key shares are combined to store an operational master key. The operational master key is used for private key encryption during a checkout process. The operational private key is used for private key decryption for transaction signing in a payment process. The bundles further include TLS keys for authenticated requests to create an API key for a web application to communicate with a service and to unfreeze the system after it has been frozen by an administrator.

1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer system and method for storing and transacting bitcoin.
2). Discussion of Related Art
The Bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer payment system having a plurality of nodes that are connected to one another. Bitcoin exchange computer systems allow for users to exchange local currency into or out of bitcoin. Users send payments by broadcasting digitally signed messages to the Bitcoin network. Users may, for example, send and receive payments using mobile applications on mobile devices, client software or a web browser.
Transactions do not explicitly identify the payor and payee by name or wallet. Instead, a bitcoin transaction transfers ownership to a new address, referred to as a "Bitcoin address". The Bitcoin address is derived from the public portion of one or more cryptographic key pairs. The private portion of a key pair is not disclosed to the public. To send bitcoin sent to an address, a user broadcasts a payment message that is digitally signed with the associated private key.
Participants known as "miners" at miner computer systems verify and timestamp transactions into a shared public database called a "block chain". The miners are rewarded with transaction fees and newly minted bitcoin for their effort. The miner computer systems are specialized computers that append blocks of transactions to the block chain. Solving a cryptographic puzzle required to append a block carries a reward plus fees included in transactions in the block.
Host computer systems reside at various nodes and may host accounts or "wallets" that allow users to make and accept payments using bitcoin. The wallet stores the public key of the Bitcoin address and its associated private key.
It may be a security concern for users that the private keys of their Bitcoin addresses may be stolen from their wallets. Existing systems do not provide a solution for maintaining security over private keys while still allowing the users to checkout on a merchant page and making payments using their wallets.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Private key decryption system and method of use


An optical device comprises a substrate having a first surface and a second surface being opposite the first surface; a light-emitting element having a first center, installed on the second surface; and a light-receiving element having a second center, installed on the first surface. At least a part of the light-emitting element is arranged at a position, overlapping the light-receiving element with respect to a plan view; the light-receiving element, installed after the light-emitting element, has a bonding pad, provided at a position displaced relative to the second center towards a first direction with respect to the plan view; and the first center is provided at a position displaced relative to the second center towards a second direction, being opposite the first direction DR1, with respect to the plan view.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical device, an optical device, a biological information detector, and the like.
2. Background Technology
A biological information measuring device measures human biological information such as, for example, pulse rate, blood oxygen saturation level, body temperature, or heart rate, and an example of a biological information measuring device is a pulse rate monitor for measuring the pulse rate. Also, a biological information measuring device such as a pulse rate monitor may be installed in a clock, a mobile phone, a pager, a PC, or another electrical device, or may be combined with the electrical device. The biological information measuring device has a biological information detector for detecting biological information, and the biological information detector includes a light-emitting element for emitting light towards a detection site of a test subject (i.e., a user), and a light-receiving element for receiving light having biological information from the detection site. Thus, a biological information detector or the biological information measuring device may have an optical device and be capable of detecting or measuring biological information. A common detector or a measuring device (or in a broader sense, an electronic device) other than a biological information detector or a biological.
In Patent Citation 1, there is disclosed a pulse rate monitor (or in a broader sense, a biological information measuring device). A light-receiving element (e.g., a light-receiving element 12 in FIG. 16 of Patent Citation 1) of the pulse rate monitor receives light reflected at a detection site (e.g., dotted line in FIG. 16 of Patent Citation 1) via a diffusion reflection plane (e.g., reflecting part 131 in FIG. 16 of Patent Citation 1). In an optical probe 1 in Patent Citation 1 (or in a broader sense, a biological information detector), a light-emitting element 11 and the light-receiving element 12 overlap in plan view, and the size of the optical probe is reduced.
JP-A 2004-337605 (Patent Citation 1) is an example of the related art.

Method for manufacturing optical device, optical device, and biological information detector


The invention provides electro-catalyst compositions for an anode electrode of an acid mediated proton exchange membrane-based water electrolysis system. The compositions include a noble metal component selected from the group consisting of iridium oxide, ruthenium oxide, rhenium oxide and mixtures thereof, and a non-noble metal component selected from the group consisting of tantalum oxide, tin oxide, niobium oxide, titanium oxide, tungsten oxide, molybdenum oxide, yttrium oxide, scandium oxide, cooper oxide, zirconium oxide, nickel oxide and mixtures thereof. Further, the non-noble metal component can include a dopant. The dopant can be at least one element selected from Groups III, V, VI and VII of the Periodic Table. The compositions can be prepared using any solution based methods involving a surfactant approach or a sol gel approach. Further, the compositions are prepared using noble metal and non-noble metal precursors. Furthermore, a thin film containing the compositions can be deposited onto a substrate to form the anode electrode.

Hydrogen is considered an attractive alternative to fossil fuels, particularly, over the past decade and as the most lightweight fuel, it has the potential to provide a supply of clean, reliable and affordable energy to meet growing demands. However, there have been problems associated with the commercialization of hydrogen fuel, such as, the inability to economically generate clean and pure hydrogen combined with cost-effective storage and distribution.
One approach to hydrogen production involves splitting water using electricity, i.e., water electrolysis. In this approach, electric current is passed through water which splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. In certain embodiments, electricity-induced splitting of water is conducted using alkaline, neutral or acidic pH mediated proton exchange membrane (PEM)-based water electrolysis.
Electricity-induced splitting of water using alkaline, neutral or acidic pH mediated proton exchange membrane (PEM)-based water electrolysis is potentially an advantageous approach for hydrogen production because it offers essentially no greenhouse gas emission or toxic byproducts, particularly if the electric current is generated using renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, or nuclear energy sources.
In principle, PEM-based water electrolyzers are built-up similar to PEM fuel cells, however, they work in a different manner. During PEM fuel cell operation, oxygen reduction takes place at the cathode and hydrogen oxidation occurs at the anode of the fuel cell. In summary, water and electrical current is produced. In a PEM-based water electrolyzer, the current flow and the electrodes are reversed and water decomposition takes place. Oxygen evolution occurs at the anode (abbreviated "OER", i.e., oxygen evolution reaction) and reduction of protons (H+) which travel through the membrane occurs at the cathode. As a result, water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by means of the electric current.
The capital costs for current electrolyzer technology is a significant barrier to hydrogen production. Thus, progress in the production of hydrogen fuel by water electrolysis has been slow due to prohibitive costs of current electrolyzer technology. The high capital costs of current electrolyzers is due to one or more of the following: deployment of expensive noble metal-based electro-catalysts (e.g., IrO2, RuO2, Pt), use of relatively small and comparatively low efficiency systems, customized power electronics and labor intensive fabrication.
Rutile-type noble metal oxides, such as IrO2 and RuO2, are well known for OER anode electrode catalysts in alkaline and PEM-based water electrolysis. However, the anodic over-potential and the cell resistance in electrolysis contribute to a majority of the losses observed in catalytic performance. In addition, IrO2 and RuO2 electro-catalysts undergo electrochemical or mechanical degradation under extreme and highly corrosive electrochemical environments prevalent in acid assisted water electrolysis which reduces the performance with time and diminishes the service life of the electrode during OER.
The use of non-precious metal catalysts for electrodes in PEM-based electrolysis cells would decrease the overall costs of hydrogen production. It is, however, unlikely that a non-noble metal catalyst would be effective to produce hydrogen in a PEM-based electrolysis system. Although, it is contemplated that a decrease in the noble metal loading (e.g., and the use of a purely non-noble metal in combination with the noble metal) may produce an electrode catalyst capable of demonstrating activity and stability comparable to a pure noble metal catalyst for a reduced cost.
There are a limited number of materials that are known to exhibit the desired electrical conductivity, as well as the electrochemical, structural, physical and chemical stability needed in the 1.8 to 2.0 V potential window and therefore, would be suitable for use in producing a non-noble metal-containing catalyst electrode for PEM-based water electrolysis. Thus, it is an object of this invention to develop highly efficient and stable electro-catalyst compositions which include a combination of non-noble metal and noble metal oxides to significantly reduce the amount expensive noble metal required for use as anode electrodes in PEM-based water electrolysis.

Non-noble metal based electro-catalyst compositions for proton exchange membrane based water electrolysis and methods of making

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH—OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION


Disclosed techniques include energy management with multiple pressurized storage elements. Energy is obtained from one or more energy sources. Energy requirements are modeled over a first time period and a second time period. A first subset of the energy that was obtained is allocated for storage in a first energy store based on the modeling. A second subset of the energy that was obtained is allocated for storage in a second energy store based on the modeling, where the second energy store comprises a pressurized storage element. Energy is routed to the first energy store from the second energy store based on the modeling. Recovering energy further includes using the energy routed to the first energy store or the second energy store, based on the modeling.

Energy producers, government agencies, and responsible consumers strive to initiate, enforce, and practice energy conservation measures, respectively. With respect to consumers, turning off lights when leaving a room, lowering the thermostat in winter or increasing the thermostat in summer, or purchasing energy-efficient appliances, are all popular approaches to energy conservation. However, despite concerted conservation efforts, the demand for energy of all types continues to increase beyond what conservation alone has been able to achieve. As towns, cities, states, and countries grow, the demand for energy of all kinds has increased, resulting in what many analysts identify as an energy crisis. The energy demand increases have many root causes. Overconsumption of energy has imposed strains on natural resources ranging from fossil fuels to renewables such as wood chips, resulting in fuel shortages and increased environmental pollution. Population growth and the desire to provide electricity to previously underserved or unserved regions put further strains on energy sources by increasing the numbers of energy consumers who can now perform daily tasks such as washing, cooking, entertaining, illuminating, and heating and cooling of their houses and apartments. In addition to domestic use, the energy increases also result from expanded economic activities such as manufacturing, transportation, and retail, to name but a few.
Energy distribution problems are frequently identified as a hindrance to solving the energy crisis. Insufficient energy distribution infrastructure and aging energy generation equipment are unable to keep pace with the increased energy demands. Renewable energy options remain largely unexplored or underdeveloped. There is strong and vociferous resistance by adjacent landowners and others to siting of windmills, solar farms, or wood burning plants. Even when plans can be made to construct such energy producing facilities, energy distribution is stymied by the poor distribution infrastructure. Commissioning of new energy generation facilities remains a seemingly unobtainable objective. Legal wrangling, construction delays, pollution mitigation requirements, overwhelming costs, or even war, have prevented, halted, or delayed new energy generation facilities coming online. Energy wastage is also a major concern. Aging appliances or manufacturing equipment, incandescent light bulbs, and poor building insulation and air sealing, all waste energy in comparison to their modern counterparts.
To meet the increases in energy demands, national, state, and local public officials, plus city and regional planners, have been faced with deciding among three broader choices: to increase energy production by building new power plants, to reduce energy demand through energy conservation, or to combine both of these strategies. More recently, another emerging option is to source energy production based on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, wave action, and so on. One major limitation of many renewable energy sources is that the sources do not produce consistent amounts of energy 24 hours per day. Solar energy, for one, only produces energy in the presence of light, and produces varying amounts of energy depending on the intensity of the light hitting photovoltaic panels. Energy sources and demands must be balanced so that clean, reliable, and consistent energy is available to all consumers throughout the country.

Energy management with multiple pressurized storage elements


Through silicon vias (TSVs) in a stacked multi-die integrated circuit package are controlled to assume different connection configurations as desired during field operation of the package in its normal mission mode. TSV connections may be reconfigured to connect an affected die in a manner different from, for example, a factory default connection of that die. TSV connections to the inputs and/or outputs of a die's native circuitry may be changed. A die may be disconnected altogether from an interface that interconnects dice in the stack, or a die that was originally disconnected from such an interface may be connected to the interface.

Conventional technology provides for stacked multi-die packages with adjacent dice interconnected by TSVs. A number of spare TSVs may be provided on each die for redundancy purposes, thereby permitting replacement of any faulty TSVs that may be identified during manufacturing. After the initial manufacturing process has been completed, the spare TSVs on the die are not used.
It is therefore desirable to provide for utilizing spare TSVs in stacked multi-die packages.

Reconfiguring through silicon vias in stacked multi-die packages


Methods for producing granular compositions comprise the steps of preparing a viscous liquid mixture, forming a plurality of ligaments from the viscous liquid mixture, cutting the ligaments with one or more liquid jet streams to form pieces, and drying the pieces to form the granular compositions. Apparatus for producing a granular compositions comprise a viscous liquid composition supply, a ligament forming device in fluid communication with a viscous liquid composition supply, one or more liquid jet nozzles adjacent an outlet of a ligament forming device, and a dryer.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for producing uniform granular compositions, and more particularly to methods and apparatus which may be used for producing of uniform granular detergent compositions.
One of the most widespread ways of manufacturing detergent granules is through a spray drying process. A detergent mixture is sprayed through an atomization nozzle and the resulting droplets are dried in a gas flow in a drying tower. Spraying is usually done through pressure or swirl nozzles. The detergent product obtained by these technologies typically contains particles which widely vary in size. For example, for a swirl atomizer with counterflow drying air, typical particle sizes range from about 100 microns to about 1100 microns, resulting in non-uniform particles or granules.
The difficulty in producing uniform droplets and resulting granules is a well-known problem for conventional atomization technology. Certain atomization methods are known for minimizing this problem. Among them are ultra-sonic, electrostatic, and acoustic atomization techniques. However, none of these techniques are applicable for making detergent granules having a large particle size (i.e. of at least 500 microns). Detergent slurry is typically a highly viscous, non-Newtonian, water-based mixture containing approximately 70% solids. In addition, detergent slurry is typically conductive and corrosive (pH greater than 12). Because of the detergent slurry""s typical high viscosity and high solids content, the slurry cannot be properly processed by conventional ultrasonic atomizers. In addition, the detergent slurry usually cannot be processed by electrostatic atomizers due to the conductivity and viscosity of the detergent slurry. Furthermore, acoustic atomization is typically not possible because the slurry efficiently attenuates the sound waves necessary for such processes.
To meet commercial manufacturing demands, it is typically desired that any atomization method applied to a detergent slurry have a throughput capacity of about 50-60 tons per hour. However, typically atomization technologies are viewed as low-throughput methods and none of the prior known atomization methods are able to process such amounts of slurry in one unit. Accordingly, multiple atomization units would be required to provide the desired throughput capacity. The use of multiple units however requires additional capital expenditures. As such, there remains a need for an efficient process for the preparation of uniform granular compositions, such as detergent compositions, with a relativity high throughput.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide novel methods and apparatus for the preparation of uniform granular compositions, which methods and apparatus overcome one or more disadvantages of the prior art. It is a more specific object of the invention to provide methods and apparatus for producing of uniform granular detergent compositions. Another object of the present invention is to provide methods and apparatus having high throughput for the production of uniform granular detergent compositions.
These and additional objects and advantages are provided by methods and apparatus for manufacturing granular compositions according to the invention.
One embodiment of the present invention relates to methods for producing granular compositions. The methods comprise the steps of preparing a viscous liquid mixture, forming a plurality of ligaments from the viscous liquid mixture, cutting the ligaments with one or more liquid jet streams to form pieces, and drying the pieces to form the granular composition.
Another embodiment of the present invention relates to apparatus for producing granular compositions. The apparatus comprise a viscous liquid composition supply, a ligament forming device in fluid communication with the viscous liquid composition supply, one or more liquid jet nozzles adjacent an outlet of the ligament forming device, and a dryer. The methods and apparatus of the present invention are advantageous in providing uniform granular compositions at a relatively high throughput if desired. These and additional objects and advantages will be further apparent in view of the following detailed description.

Methods and apparatus for producing granular compositions


A method, system, and computer program product for fault data correlation in a diagnostic system are provided. The method includes receiving the fault data including a plurality of faults collected over a period of time, and identifying a plurality of episodes within the fault data, where each episode includes a sequence of the faults. The method further includes calculating a frequency of the episodes within the fault data, calculating a correlation confidence of the faults relative to the episodes as a function of the frequency of the episodes, and outputting a report of the faults with the correlation confidence.

The present disclosure relates to root cause diagnostics. More particularly, it relates to performing root cause diagnostics of machine and/or system faults using temporal data mining for fault data correlation.
In a manufacturing or other machine-based environment, faults often occur during normal operation of the machines. In order to maximize productivity and lower costs, it is important to quickly and accurately remedy faults, and return to a normal operating state. As faults occur over a period of time, the sequence of events surrounding each fault can be monitored and recorded in data series, including preconditions that lead to a fault, and post conditions that follow the fault.
In many event sequences, individual time-ordered events in the data series are associated with time durations. In many instances, the time durations may carry useful information. For example, in line status logs of manufacturing plants, the durations of various events carry important information. Looking to immediate preconditions before a fault occurs can be helpful to diagnose the cause of the fault, but may not accurately determine the root cause of the fault, as some faults are the result of a series of events. It would be beneficial to develop a process to extract useful information from temporal data in a manufacturing or machine-based environment to assist in fault diagnostics and root cause analysis for a series of faults or events. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for root cause diagnostics of machine and system faults using temporal data mining for fault data correlation.

Root cause diagnostics using temporal data mining


A light detection device includes a lens, a photodetector, positioned tilted at a prescribed angle to an incident beam axis, for detecting the incident beam which is incident passing through the lens, and a mask for shading a light reflected by the photo-detector to prevent from returning the reflected light in the direction of the incident beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light detection device which is used for an optical disk system, a laser printer, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional optical disk system, a light beam irradiated from a semiconductor laser was led to a prism in a light transmission system. The light beam reflected by this prism was led to a photo-detector. The output of semiconductor laser was detected by the photo-detector, and the output light quantity of the semiconductor laser was controlled by this detected quantity. In this case, in order to increase the light reception efficiency of the photo-detector, a convergent lens was provided in front of the photo-detector.
However, when a convergent lens is provided in front of the photo-detector in this way, reflected light from the light receiving face of the photo-detector is led to the reproduction system of the optical disk system via the prism in the light transmission system. Thus, deterioration of the reproduction signal sometimes occurs.

Tilted light detection device for preventing undesirable retro-reflection


A plurality of sensors observe an object, and the raw sensor data is processed to produce evidence signals representative of characteristics which may be used to classify the object as to type. The sensor response characteristics from the plurality of sensors are fused to generate fused or combined sensor response characteristics. Thus, the fused or combined sensor response characteristics are equivalent to the sensor response characteristics of a virtual sensor. The evidence and fused sensor response characteristics are applied to a taxonomic classifier to determine the object type.

The use of sensors to determine the nature or classification of objects is old. Such sensors receive raw data from an observed direction or space in either a passive or active manner, and process the information according to the response characteristics of the sensors and some algorithm in order to make a determination of the nature of the object or condition. For example, a radar system operating as an active sensor may transmit radar signals in a desired direction, and then processes signals returned from a target to determine various characteristics of the received signal in order to characterize the target as, say, an F-15 fighter aircraft rather than a C-130 transport aircraft. A passive sensor might detect the emissions of an active sensor carried by a remote platform, determine the type of sensor detected, and identify platforms capable of carrying such an active sensor.
A great deal of work has been done in the field of fusion of the outputs of various sensors associated with a battle region, in order to rationalize the results of the many sensors observing the region from different vantage points under different operating conditions.
Improved or alternative fusion is desired.

Virtual sensor for data and sensor fusion


A method and system for modeling and analyzing wafer nanotopography data utilizes a nonlinear contact finite element model. Inputs to the model include lithography chuck parameters and site-based geometry data. Outputs from the model include in-plane distortions and out-of-plane distortions, from which defocus and overlay can be derived.

As integrated circuits become faster and denser, requirements for lithography become increasingly stringent. Errors in lithography can result from in-the-plane distortions (which can result in overlay errors) or from out of the plane distortions, which can result in defocus. The necessity for verifying that a given wafer is sufficiently planar and within specifications, i.e. in qualifying and selecting wafers even before processing begins or during processing, is becoming ever greater. A critical component in the characterization of wafers is the wafer topography, sometimes termed substrate geometry.
Wafer topography (i.e., substrate geometry) can be described according to traditional parameters such as shape, thickness/flatness, and nanotopography (NT). These parameters have different characteristics, as is illustrated in FIG. 1a. The data representing these parameters have a high spatial resolution of about 0.2 mm. Shape is defined as the median surface of the substrate (as in the deviation of the median surface from a reference plane), generally in a free state, and is a low frequency component of the wafer. Shape is characterized by global metric such as warp and bow. Flatness is defined as the thickness variation of a substrate with the back surface assumed to be completely flat, and is characterized by metrics, which may be localized or site-based. Characterization and quantification of higher order components of shape and more localized shape features are described in PCT publication No. WO 2010/025334, and U.S. Provisional application No. 61/092,720, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. The impacts of the wafer shape on lithography parameters are described in K. Turner et al, "Predicting Distortions and Overlay Errors Due to Wafer Deformation During Chucking on Lithography Scanners", J. Micro/Nanolith, MEMS MOEMS 8(4), 043015, (October-December 2009), and the impacts of flatness on lithography parameters are described in J. Valley et al, "Approaching New Metrics for Wafer Flatness: An Investigation of the Lithographic Consequences of Wafer Non-Flatness", Proceedings of SPIE, 5375, 1098 (2004) which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In particular, higher order components of wafer shape and NT, as illustrated in FIG. 1b, might influence both overlay, i.e. registration or alignment between lithography levels, and defocus. Nanotopography is the high frequency component of the front and back surface of the substrate, defined as being in a spatial wavelength regime of 0.2-20 mm, and with a feature height of a few nanometers. NT may occur as point defects (e.g., dimples, epi defects such as pins or crowns, bumps such as notches or lasermarks) or as line defects (e.g., saw marks from slicing, scratches, slip lines, dopant striation or other process signatures). The individual front/back surface nanotopography of a wafer substrate is typically obtained from the front/back topography by applying high pass filtering schemes such as Double Gaussian (DG) filtering to the topography data, which suppresses the low frequency components of the wafer topography. The substrate NT parameters are seen to affect the lithography process, for example by contributing to defocus and overlay errors.
Typically, in lithographic processing, corrections to distortions or other topographic features which may result in overlay or defocus errors are applied by the scanner on both a full wafer-level and a site-by-site basis. The most common linear scanner corrections (which includes both wafer level and site level) for overlay are: translation in x and y, rotation, and site-level magnification in xy and y. The corrections in x and y typically have the mathematical form:dx=Δx−Δθ·y+MX·x dy=Δy−Δθ·x+MY·y where Δx and Δy are the shifts in x and y, Δθ is the rotation correction, and MX and MY are the magnification corrections in x and y. The corrections are typically calculated by minimizing the errors at target locations within the lithography sites using a process such as least squares.
Scanner based linear corrections can generally correct for lower order linear components of the substrate geometry and other linear components which might result in overlay and defocus errors. However, typically the lithography scanner has limited capability to correct for features with spatial frequency less than 1/slit size of the lithography scanner. The NT which has spatial frequency less than 1/slit size may therefore result in Non-Correctable Errors (NCE).

Site based quantification of substrate topography and its relation to lithography defocus and overlay


A manually directed, electronic multi-channel pipettor uses servo controlled motors to drive a carriage and pipetting head in response to a user's manipulation of a control handle. The pipetting head include an array of tip fittings, e.g. 96. The system includes a check processor to avoid unintended motion in case of system faults or crashes. The system requires substantial force to attach the array of tips, and therefore includes controls that require both of the user's hands be occupied during the tip attachment process.

Multi well-plates, also known as microtiter plates or micro well-plates, are standard products in clinical and research laboratories. A multi-well plate is a flat plate with multiple wells used as individual test tubes. The most common multi-well plates include 96-wells or 384-wells arranged in a rectangular matrix. ANSI has set standardized dimensions and SBS footprints for well-plates. For example, a 96-well plate has 8 rows and 12 columns of wells centered 9 mm centerline-to-centerline. A typical 384-well plate includes 16 rows and 24 columns of wells with a centerline-to-centerline distance of 4.5 mm. Multi well-plates with 1536 wells and higher are also available. Some multi well-plates are designed to hold larger volumes than the standard multi well-plate, yet maintain the standard centerline-to-centerline dimensions. These well-plates are taller and are commonly called deep well-plates.
In a laboratory, multi well-plates are filled with various liquid samples, and it is routine to transfer liquid samples from one wellplate to another in order to implement assays or store duplicate samples. It is also routine to transfer liquid reagents or samples from a common reservoir to either a standard multi-well plate or a deep well-plate. Often, hand-held, multi-channel pipettors, with 8, 12 or 16 disposable pipette tips mounted thereto, are used to draw some or all of the liquid from a set of wells in one wellplate and transfer aliquots into another set of wells in the same wellplate or another wellplate. Pipettors and pipette tips come in various sizes in order to accommodate different volumes of liquid transfer. In order to produce a high volume of prepared multi well-plates, automated liquid handling machines have been developed to provide much higher throughput than a technician, even one using a multi-channel pipettor. In the art, there are several types of automated liquid handling machines to automatically fill multi well-plates. Such automated liquid handling machines typically use sophisticated Cartesian robots for positioning the disposable pipette tips, while shuttling well-plates from storage and into position for liquid transfer. It is common for these automated liquid handling machines to use removable and replaceable pipetting heads in order to accommodate various sized pipette tips.
Most of these automated liquid handling machines are rather expensive, and also quite large. Many include sophisticated computer control which requires extensive training, as well as set up and programming. Such automated, high-throughput systems are not practical for some applications. In order to address this need, the prior art includes, e.g., a simultaneous 96-well manual pipetting system. This fully manual system includes an array of pipette tip fittings matching the dimensions of a standard 96 well-plate, and aspirates and dispenses liquid from 96-disposable pipette tips simultaneously. The pipette tips are mounted to the 96-tip fittings using a levered mechanical mechanism. Because the system is fully manual, it lacks the ability to program precise protocols and liquid transfer amounts. On the other hand, electronic hand-held pipettors and automated liquid handling systems can be programmed to aspirate a precise volume of liquid reagent or sample and then dispense the aspirated volume, sometimes as a series of equal volume aliquots in successive dispensing operations. Programmable electronic hand-held pipettors and automated liquid handling systems can also be configured to do quite complex pipetting operations, such as mixing, repeat pipetting, diluting, etc.
While programmable, automated liquid handling systems have many desirable features over a fully manual 96-well liquid transfer system, they are generally too large and expensive for certain laboratory applications. To address this issue, the Assignee of the present application has developed a manually directed, electronic multi-channel pipetting system having a pipetting head with a plurality of pipetting channels arranged in a two-dimensional array of rows and columns, preferably 96-channels arranged in an array of 8 rows and 12 columns correlating to a standard 96 well-plate. The system is described in Assignee's co-pending patent application entitled "Manually-Directed, Electronic Multi-Channel Pipetting System", application Ser. No. 13/099,782,by Julian Warhurst, Gary Nelson and Richard Cote, filed on even date herewith, Publication No. U.S. 2011/0268627 Al, published Nov. 3, 2011, and incorporated herein by reference. In the Assignee's manually-directed, electronic 96-channel pipetting system, the pipetting head is mounted to a movable carriage that is attached to a tower containing a drive system for the pipetting head. A deck with at least one, but preferably two or more, wellplate nesting receptacles is located in front of the tower and is accessible by the pipetting head. The tower contains a drive system to raise and lower the pipetting head to aspirate and dispense reagents or samples in the well-plates or reservoirs placed in the nesting receptacles.
The Assignee's system also includes a control handle and a menu-driven software programming interface that is the same or quite similar to the control handle and programming interface on hand-held electronic pipettors sold by the Assignee, see e.g., the disclosures in U.S. Pat. No. 7,540,205 entitled "Electronic Pipettor", issuing on Jun. 6, 2009, based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/856,231 by Gary E. Nelson, George P. Kalmakis, Kenneth Steiner, Joel Novac, Jonathan Finger, and Rich Cote, filed on Sep. 17, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference; and "Pipettor Software Interface", application Ser. No. 11/856,232 by George P. Kalmakis, Gary Nelson, Gregory Mathus, Terrence Kelly, Joel Novak, Kenneth Steiner and Jonathan Finger, filed Sep. 17, 2007, assigned to the Assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,033,188 B2, issued Oct. 11, 2011. One of the benefits of the similarity is that users comfortable with the Assignee's hand-held pipettors are able to easily crossover to use the Assignee's manually assisted, electronic 96-channel pipetting system. In the Assignee's 96-channel system, however, the control handle is mounted to a load cell attached to the carriage for the pipetting head. The load cell detects force exerted on the control handle and outputs a corresponding signal to an electronic motor control system. In use, the user grabs the control handle in a manner similar as to when using a hand-held electronic pipettor, and exerts pressure on the control handle so that the electronic motor control system moves the pipetting head relative to the well-plates and reservoirs on the deck. In the preferred embodiment, the tower contains a motorized, z-axis drive mechanism for vertically raising and lowering the pipetting head with respect to the wellplate deck, and a motorized x-axis drive mechanism for moving the tower and pipetting head laterally, both being driven in response to sensed force exerted on the control handle. If the user presses on the control handle from left to right, the tower along with the pipetting head moves from left to right. If the user pulls the control handle upward, or pushes downward on the control handle, the z-axis drive mechanism raises or lowers the pipetting head accordingly.
While Assignee's manually directed, electronic 96-channel pipetting system preferably incorporates the user interface and menu-driven software similar to Assignee's single-channel and multi-channel, hand-held pipettors, other aspects of a 96-channel pipetting system must be handled quite differently.

Unintended motion control for manually directed multi-channel electronic pipettor


A handcart having a relatively horizontal load platform for carrying a load, relatively small wheels attached to the front of the load platform which extend slightly below the platform, handles extending from the rear of the load platform, a set of large wheels pivotally attached to the rear of the load platform, and a support post also pivotally attached to the rear of the load platform, where the large wheels and the support post can be pivoted rearward from a downward position, through and between the handles, to an upright vertical position.

The invention relates generally to the field of utility carts having a relatively horizontal load platform and foldable wheels. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of such carts where the wheels pivot above the load platform, such that the cart can be inserted into the bed of a vehicle with the load platform remaining horizontal.
Vehicles such as trucks, vans and station wagons are designed for transportation of large or bulky loads. Such loads are difficult to move or lift, so that loading them into or out of the vehicle is also difficult. Often the weight of the object or objects may require two individuals to load and remove. Carts have been manufactured which allow the user to place the cart, fully loaded with the goods to be transported, into the vehicle bed itself, even when the goods are very heavy. Once at the destination, the cart is removed from the vehicle, goods still loaded on it, and the goods taken to wherever desired. To accomplish this, the carts are structured so that the wheels are foldable, collapsible or pivotable. In practice, the end of the cart load platform is placed on vehicle bed, the wheels and any support members are folded, collapsed or pivoted out of the way and the main portion of the cart load platform is then shoved or rolled into the vehicle bed. Unloading the cart is accomplished by reversing the steps.
For example, Pratt in U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,016 teaches an auto cart having scissors type retractable wheels. The wheels are necessarily small in diameter, since the wheels fold toward the load platform of the cart and the frame actually rests on wheel axles for sliding the cart in and out of the vehicle. Hastings in U.S. Pat. No. 3,223,429 teaches a cart having small front wheels for use in the vehicle bed and large rear wheels for rolling the cart. The rear wheels pivot up to the cart load platform, but because of their size additional legs are required to maintain the load platform in horizontal position within the vehicle bed. Ferneau in U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,565 teaches a one-man cart having a set of scissors type wheels and a folding rear wheel support. A complicated adjustment mechanism allows the height of the cart to be altered. Eicher in U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,379 shows a trailer type hand cart having large wheels located on each side of the load platform. The wheels pivot to each side of the load platform for loading the cart into a vehicle. Bourgraf et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,985 teaches a cart having two sets of foldable wheels which collapse against the load bed when inserted into the vehicle platform.
The above devices suffer from various problems. Often the heavy load must be balanced and held up by the individual while the wheel structures are folded, collapsed or pivoted by pushing the frame against the vehicle. In most, the wheels remain below the surface of the load platform and support the load platform while in the vehicle bed, allowing the cart to roll and move within the vehicle. This can cause damage in the case of heavy loads. Some have small wheels, which are useless in circumstances with heavy loads on soft or non-level terrain. Most have complicated structures for folding the wheels and support members with excess pivots, latches, etc. which are subject to mechanical failure under heavy or repeated usage.
It is an object of the invention to provide a cart capable of supporting a heavy load and capable of movement over uneven or soft terrain which can be folded to allow the cart to be placed in the bed of a vehicle and removed while fully loaded with the cart load platform remaining horizontal.
It is a further object to provide such a cart where the mechanism for folding the wheels and support members is structurally simple, yet still capable of enduring heavy loads.
It is a further object to provide such a cart where the wheels and support members are pivoted above the level of the cart load platform so that the cart does not roll when placed within the vehicle bed.


The invention features a method of continuous crystalline growth. A granular source material is introduced into a hopper. A volume of the granular source material exiting the hopper is disposed on a translationally moving belt. The volume of the granular source material forms an angle of repose with the moving belt. The granular source material disposed on the moving belt is continuously fed into a crucible comprising a melt of the granular source material at a rate based on the angle of repose, the speed of the belt, and the size of the opening of the hopper. A crystalline ribbon is continuously grown by solidifying the melt.

In order to produce lower cost solar cells to facilitate large scale electrical applications of solar electricity, it is important to provide lower cost substrate materials for making the solar cells. A known method for achieving this objective is to grow crystalline silicon using a continuous ribbon growth process as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,661,200; 4,627,887; 4,689,109; and 4,594,229.
According to the continuous ribbon growth method, two high temperature material strings are introduced through holes in a crucible which contains a shallow layer of molten silicon. A crystalline silicon ribbon forms as the melt solidifies while being pulled vertically from the melt. The strings stabilize the edges of the growing ribbon. The molten silicon freezes into a solid ribbon just above the layer of molten silicon. To make this ribbon silicon process continuous, silicon is added to the melt as the crystalline silicon is formed to keep the amount of melt constant. Keeping the amount of the melt constant during the growth process is also important in order to achieve uniform and controllable growth of the crystalline silicon, and to keep the thermal environment of the cooling ribbon constant. Slight changes in the depth of the melt and consequent changes in the vertical position of the solid-liquid interface can significantly change this thermal environment. For example, it has been found that variations in the melt depth of more than about one millimeter can result in a markedly different thickness and introduce a residual stress state of the grown silicon ribbon. For all of these reasons, a constant melt level is an important element in insuring uniform, controlled growth of silicon ribbon. A method for continuously measuring the melt depth to provide feedback to a feed mechanism can be accomplished as described in the co-pending patent application titled, "Melt Depth Control for Semiconductor Materials Grown from a Melt," which is incorporated herein by reference. Once such a method is established, it then becomes important to be able to introduce a feed material at an accurate and predetermined rate. Since the solid silicon feed material must be melted, it is important that the introduction of solid silicon into the melt takes place with a minimum of thermal disruption in the immediate environment of the solid-liquid interface.
Controllable metering of feed material also has general application to crystal growth, where thermal upsets are not desirable, and a constant feed rate is needed. One example is in Czochralski growth of Si ingots, where it is desired to introduce additional feed material to the crucible during the growth. In this manner, a longer ingot of Si can be pulled from a single seeding.
Several methods of introducing a feed material into a crucible containing molten silicon are known U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,595 describes a method wherein a separately heated crucible is used. European Patent No. 0 170 856 B1 describes a feeder with a moving belt which can be used for adding the feed silicon to a rotating cylindrical crucible with concentric dams to collect and melt the feed silicon in Czochralski crystal growth. U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,667 teaches a method which uses a silicon wiper blade on a horizontal, silicon rotating disc to control the feed rate from a storage hopper above the disc. All of these methods, however, have disadvantages. The first method requires a separately heated crucible. The second method requires a complex crucible arrangement that is only suitable for a cylindrical geometry, and may be difficult to implement for a feed material with a low angle of repose. The third method has limitations in controlling the feed rate for small feed rates such as would be found in silicon ribbon growth.
In order to controllably and continuously transport a silicon feed material for continuous silicon ribbon growth, it is important that the material have a morphology which lends itself to being readily and controllably transported. Silicon itself, if crushed, exhibits angular fracture and breakage along cleavage planes. This renders crushed silicon to be highly irregular in shape and thus difficult to controllably transport using a known method such as a vibratory feeder. Spherical silicon, on the other hand, can be produced by the fluidized bed decomposition of silane (SiH.sub.4) or in a shot tower. The former is a widely used method and presently is the source material for most silicon ribbon growth. This method produces spherical silicon with a size distribution from almost fine dust to about 2 mm in diameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,229 describes a silicon melt replenishment system which uses a pressurized fluid to blow silicon spheres up into a melt. One major disadvantage of this system is that it requires spherical silicon. Another major disadvantage is that the silicon spheres need to be in a fairly narrow particle size range to be effective. Spherical particles either too small or too large cannot be effectively used with this system. The result is that it is necessary to sieve the fluidized bed material to eliminate too large and too fine silicon spheres. The additional labor and handling of the sieving operation add to cost and increase the risk of impurity contamination.
Silicon ribbon grown for solar cell purposes is usually doped with a small amount of a dopant, typically Boron. Very small silicon pellets can be doped with Boron. Alternatively, very small amounts of Boron pellets can be added to the feed material consisting of silicon pellets and physically mixed with the silicon pellets before being transported into the molten silicon prior to growth. The mixing is done to promote a uniform distribution of Boron. However, in some transport systems such as a vibratory feeder, inhomogeneous mixing of Boron pellets or Boron containing silicon pellets can result. This can produce variations in the final bulk resistivity of the grown ribbon and this in turn can result in a less tightly controlled manufacturing process for solar cells.
A melt replenishment method that allows for continuous growth, which utilizes all sizes and morphologies of silicon, which allows for a simplified, low cost crucible design for silicon ribbon growth, and which produces a more homogeneous mixing of Boron, is thus very much needed and would represent a significant step towards low cost photovoltaics.

Continuous melt replenishment for crystal growth


A communication system and method that receives data from a terminal using a cooperative reception scheme, is provided. Each terminal may generate multi-cell transmission data used for overcoming transmission delay and transmit, to each base station, a data frame including the multi-cell transmission data.

1. Field
The following description relates to a technique in which a plurality of base stations may cooperatively receive data from a terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
To receive data from a terminal, there has been suggested a cooperative reception scheme in which several cooperative base stations located around the terminal, as well as a serving base station connected with the terminal, may cooperatively receive data from the terminal. In this cooperative reception scheme, a plurality of base stations may simultaneously receive data with respect to a corresponding terminal using the same radio resources. When an error occurs in a part of the data received by each of the plurality of base stations, each of the plurality of base stations may determine that the data reception fails.
In the cooperative reception scheme, each of the plurality of base stations may receive data from a terminal of a corresponding base station, or from a terminal of a cooperative base station. However, when a base station receives data from a terminal of a cooperative base station, a transmission delay occurring in the data received from respective terminal may be relatively great, thus preventing the base station from accurately and completely receiving a data signal transmitted from the terminal.

System and method for transmitting data in a multi-cell network


Provided are azeotropic and azeotrope-like compositions of trans-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFO-1234ze(E)) and water. Such azeotropic and azeotrope-like compositions are useful in isolating trans-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene from impurities during production. Azeotropes of the instant invention are similarly useful in final compositions or for the manufacture of final compositions, such as blowing agent, propellants, refrigerants, diluents for gaseous sterilization and the like.

Traditionally, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) like trichlorofluoromethane and dichlorodifluoromethane have been used as refrigerants, blowing agents and diluents for gaseous sterilization. In recent years, there has been universal concern that completely halogenated chlorofluorocarbons might be detrimental to the Earth's ozone layer. Therefore, stratospherically safer alternatives to these materials are desirable.
There is presently a worldwide effort to use fluorine-substituted hydrocarbons which contain fewer or no chlorine substituents. The production of HFCs, i.e. compounds containing only carbon, hydrogen and fluorine, has been the subject of interest to provide environmentally desirable products that could provide a substitute to CFCs. Such compounds are known in the art to be produced by reacting hydrogen fluoride with various hydrochlorocarbon compounds. While HFCs are considered to be much more environmentally advantageous than hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) because they are not non-ozone depleting, recent data indicates that they may also contribute to greenhouse global warming. Accordingly, alternatives to HFCs, HCFCs, and CFCs are also being explored.
Hydrofluoroolefins ("HFOs") have been proposed as possible replacements. It is generally known that HFOs are best used as a single component fluid or azeotropic mixture, neither of which fractionate upon boiling and evaporation. The identification of such compositions is difficult due, at least in part, to the relative unpredictability of azeotrope formation. Therefore, industry is continually seeking new HFO-based mixtures that are acceptable and environmentally safer substitutes for CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs. This invention satisfies these needs among others.

Azeotrope-like compositions of tetrafluoropropene and water


A three-point or multipoint converter is described. The converter has a series circuit formed of at least four main switches per converter phase, which are connected electrically in parallel between a positive and a negative DC voltage rail. An individual snubber capacitance is disposed in parallel with each individual main switch. At least two converter levels are formed between the DC voltage rails, a junction point or junction points and voltage neutral points of the converter levels are accessible. An output of the converter phase is connected to the voltage neutral points of the converter levels, via a series circuit formed of at least one resonant inductance and independently controllable bidirectional auxiliary switches. Junction points of the snubber capacitances that do not at the same time form the output of the converter phase are connected via charge control switches to the junction point or the junction points of the converter levels.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an auxiliary resonant commutated pole (ARCP) three-point or multipoint converter and, in particular, to soft-switching multipoint converter topologies for high-power converters.
Hard-switching multipoint converters, as have been proposed, for example, by A. Nabae et al. in the publication "A New Neutral Point Clamped PWM Inverter", in "Transactions of the IEEE Industrial Applications Society", Vol. 1A-17, No. 5, 1981, are used in the high-power field for controlling three-phase drives and, in power transmission systems, for gateways and compensation. The multipoint converter concept has been proven, in particular at high voltage levels for which the maximum reverse voltage of an individual active semiconductor device that is now available is inadequate.
At present, GTO switches with inverse diodes are used in multipoint converters with a voltage intermediate circuit in the high power field. In this configuration, the maximum current gradients di/dt and the voltage gradients du/dt that occur have to be limited by passive limiter networks, in order to avoid destruction of the active semiconductor devices. Such networks often have high losses, and contribute significantly to converter complexity and converter costs.
The maximum achievable switching frequency in these high-power converters is limited by the switching losses that occur in the semiconductor and by the minimum switching and recovery times of the semiconductor components. Since the switching frequency has a direct influence on the quality of the electrical input and output variables, and thus on the overall system configuration, the achievable switching frequency is a major quality criterion for a converter.
Progress in power-semiconductor development is now allowing converters to be operated with a considerably greater di/dt and du/dt, and this has resulted in the limiter networks becoming considerably smaller, or even being dispensed with. The present achievable switching frequency is thus now governed essentially only by the maximum permissible semiconductor losses.
Various soft-switching converter topologies that allow the switching losses to be reduced have been proposed in order to increase the maximum switching frequency for converters in the low and medium power ranges. In particular, the "Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole" (ARCP) principle for two-point converters, proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,913 by R. De Doncker et. al, is highly suitable for reducing switching losses. In such an ARCP converter, a snubber capacitor is connected electrically in parallel with each main switch.
Furthermore, an auxiliary circuit is proposed, which contains an auxiliary switch that is electrically connected in series with a resonant inductance, and which connects the neutral point of a DC intermediate-circuit capacitor to one output connection of the converter phase.
In addition to the drastic reduction in switching losses, the ARCP principle also allows the maximum du/dt and di/dt to be controlled which, apart from the opportunity to use critical semiconductor switches, also results in a reduction in the load on the end turns in three-phase motors.
Possible ways to extend the ARCP principle to three-point converters with neutral point clamp (NPC) diodes have been proposed by Cho et al. at the IEEE PESC Conference 1996, German Patent DE 195 36 470 by Dr A. Mertens and M. Bruckmann and by D. G. Rouaud et. al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,688. In these solutions, the converter output is once again connected to at least one resonant inductance, which may be connected independently, via at least two bi-directional switches, to the two voltage neutral points of the two converter levels in the three-point converter. The difference in the topologies is the way in which the snubber capacitances for the four main switches are disposed. The number and configuration of the snubber capacitances have been varied considerably in an attempt to solve the problem of asymmetric charging movement between the upper and the lower converter level during commutation. However, it has not yet been possible to find the ideal situation, which guarantees maximum main switch load relief and a uniform capacitor load, that is to say a parallel circuit containing exactly equal snubber capacitances as close as possible to the respective main switch.

Auxiliary resonant commutated pole three-point or multipoint converter


An electronic device is provided in which a dedicated area of the device substrate is patterned to form a resistive track so that it can be contacted by a readout arrangement. The resistive track is used to encode information. The information is provided to a driver which can then derive information about the type of device being driven. The driver can thus be controlled accordingly.

It is known that it is desirable for an LED driver to able to recognise the type of LED to which it is connected, and that an LED device can be arranged to provide information about its characteristics to enable a driver to be controlled accordingly.
In this description and claims, the term "LED" will be used to denote both organic and inorganic LEDs, and the invention can be applied to both categories. The invention can also be applied to other types of electronic device, such as solar cells. The detailed examples below are based on OLEDs but all examples can use inorganic LEDs instead, and the same concepts can applied to other driven devices.
LEDs are current driven lighting units. They are driven using an LED driver which delivers a desired current to the LED.
The required current to be supplied varies for different lighting units, and for different configurations of lighting unit. The latest LED drivers are designed to have sufficient flexibility that they can be used for a wide range of different lighting units, and for a range of numbers or lighting units.
To enable this flexibility, it is known for the driver to operate within a so-called "operating window". An operating window defines a range of output voltages and output currents, or a relationship between the output voltage and output current that can be delivered by the driver. Providing the requirements of a particular lighting load fall within this operating window, the driver is able to be configured for use with that particular lighting load, giving the desired driver flexibility.
The driver has its output current set to the desired level within its operating window.
Different types of LEDs (with different shape, colour, size, organics or brightness) require different electrical driving parameters such as current and voltage. Several proposals have been made to encode the type of the OLED into its structure, which can be read out using dedicated detector terminals (either wired sockets or capacitively coupled pads). This enables the driver to be programmed to deliver a specific current.
A much simpler way is to use resistors (or other components) to code the type of the OLED or the requited driving current. In this way, a current setting resistor or other component, outside the driver, is read by the driver. The value of the current setting resistor or other component is measured by the driver, which can then configure its output accordingly, so that the output current is determined by the resistance value. The important point is that after the driver has been produced, the output current can be selected, so that a single driver design is suitable for a range of output currents.
Once the current has been set, the voltage delivered by the driver will vary depending on the load presented to it (since the LEDs are current driven), but the driver will maintain this voltage within the operating window.
There is a particular need for a flexible driver because OLED technology is quite new and developing fast. Times between innovation of new materials and OLED architectures to give improved performance data (lumen, brightness, efficiency, size, . . . ) are very short, for example compared to typical support periods for products using the OLEDs. This support period is typically in the range of multiple years. Driver electronics also develops quickly to keep up with the demands of the new devices, particularly as driver architectures from historical LED technology cannot be simply copied to support OLEDs as well.
Although lifetime and reliability of OLEDs is also continuously improving, failed products have to be replaced. The required performance of typical devices requires the implementation of multiple OLEDs per luminaire. There is a need to be able to exchange just one OLED within such a device, and to then use an updated OLED device design. For example, it is desired not to produce old device architectures longer than required, so that all production time can be allocated to state of the art devices.
One way to support older OLEDs with newer drivers or drive newer OLEDs in applications equipped also with older devices is to provide a flexible driver which knows how to drive the OLED appropriately (reduced current, dedicated dimming levels, and any other OLED characteristics and settings) and this is enabled by the current setting resistor (or capacitor) as mentioned above. These components can be provided on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) attached to the OLED.
A drawback of this approach is that everything added to the back of the OLED contributes to the overall thickness of the luminaire/module. It also requires additional pick and place steps as well as solder steps to apply the resistor (or any other component) to a PCB.
In addition to that, to able to encode a certain range of different currents, e.g. 100 mA . . . 2 A, a certain variety of resistors has to be on stock and chosen accordingly.

Electronic device, device driver, and driving method


A polyurethane composition is provided. The polyurethane composition includes a first part of a first polytetramethylene oxide, a second polytetramethylene oxide, and a castor oil based polyol. The second polytetramethylene oxide has a higher viscosity than the first polytetramethylene oxide. The polyurethane composition also includes a second part of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate. Also provided is a fiber optic cable assembly incorporating the polyurethane composition as an overmold. The overmold has a glass transition temperature of less than −40° C. measured according to differential scanning calorimetry. Further provided is a method of applying an overmold to a fiber optic cable assembly.

The disclosure relates generally to optical cables and more particularly to a material for overmold covers of an optical cable. A main optical cable line can include many branch lines that divert a portion of the main optical cable to end users. Some main optical cable lines are manufactured with branch lines located in predetermined locations in order to avoid having a technician splice on branch lines in the field, which is costly, time-consuming, and less accurate than can be accomplished in the manufacturing facility. In branching the optical fibers, vulnerabilities are created in the protective jacket of the main optical cable line. These vulnerabilities are potential sources of mechanical and environmental damage to the underlying optical fibers.

Material formulation for over mold cover fiber optic cable


Device and process for the manufacture of hollow plastic objects to screen out defective plastic preforms that are to be molded into their desired shape in a molding station before they reach the molding station, the conveyor track leading into the molding station comprising a screening area through which the preforms are conveyed in such a way that they are loosely supported on only one side, wherein screening apparatuses are provided in the screening area to screen out defective plastic preforms in response to signals from an inspection station.

A type of device and a type of process for manufacturing hollow plastic objects are known in practice. It is customary, especially in the manufacture of plastic bottles, particularly PET bottles, to convey so-called preforms made of plastic from a repository to a molding station. This molding station may include, for example, a heating device in which preforms are heated to the temperature needed for the subsequent stretch blowing process. The final shape of the bottle is then created during the subsequent stretch blowing process.
However, a defectively manufactured preform can cause operating problems if it reaches the heating device and/or the stretch blowing device. For example, damage to the mouth area of a preform may result in leakage during the stretch blowing process. Consequently the preforms are moved past an inspection station in the shape of a mandrel wheel. The individual mandrels of this wheel penetrate the mouth of a preform and scan it mechanically so as to be able to detect certain defects in the mouth area. If a defect is detected, the machine is stopped and an operator must remove the defective preform. Consequently, an operator must be present and the machinery may be subject to downtimes that reduce its output. In addition, there is a risk that the penetrating action of the mandrel wheel may damage the plastic preforms.

Method and device for producing plastic hollow bodies


The present invention provides a DC to AC converter including a device enabling separation of electric current into a positive portion of the circuit and a negative portion of the circuit, each portion of the circuit including an electronic switch, wherein one portion of the circuit is adapted to produce a wave form in a positive half cycle, the second portion of the circuit is adapted to produce a wave form in a negative half cycle, the voltage of the output current is fed to a polarity switch as feedback to change the polarity, and wherein the carrier duty cycle is adapted to change from 0 to 100 percent in each polarity.

Over the past few decades there has been a significant increase in the number of new systems for conversion of solar energy and/or wind energy into electricity. Many such systems first a) convert the solar/wind energy into DC electricity and thereafter b) convert the DC electricity into AC electricity for feeding into an AC power grid and for any other needs, such as UPS, CARS, etc.
A regular prior art P.W.M converter works in this way, for example: for zero output level, the duty cycle is 50%—half the time it is charging and half the time it is discharging, which causes a waste of energy.
A capacitor is charged and discharged all the time, at the frequency of the modulator switching carrier wave, to produce 50 or 60 Hertz sinusoidal output wave voltage, for example, to create a zero output frequency level in a regular PWM 50 percent high without, and 50 percent low load and the switching losses are relatively high in a regular P.W.M or PM modulation.
The second disadvantage of the prior art is the cross conductivity, when one switch is on and the other is not yet completely off. The prior art solution is a dead time and is also reducing the efficiency.
Some patent publications in the field include:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,057 describes a power supply for a load such as a computer, which is sensitive to power interruptions. A switching regulator is coupled to both the AC power line and a rechargeable battery, and makes automatic transitions between AC operation and battery operation, utilizing a transistor switch and an energy storage transformer coupled to both power sources and to the load. The transistor switch is driven by a variable duty cycle control signal provided by a programmed current feedback circuit responsive to both output voltage and instantaneous switch current. The feedback circuit cuts off the switch each time the peak current through the switch reaches a value corresponding to the desired output voltage, thus improving control-loop stability and maintaining a constant peak current through the switch to substantially eliminate ripple. The circuit enables one terminal of the battery to be connected to one terminal of the switching transistor, to minimize noise. A charging circuit recharges the battery whenever the AC power line is operating within normal limits.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,886 discloses an alternating current power source which controls its own alternating current output through a feedback circuit which monitors the alternating current output. The power source can be used as a backup to a primary power supply which provides power to a load. The invention described in this patent includes embodiments with dual independent source circuits which continuously monitor such primary power supply to detect power interruptions in the primary power supply. When an interruption is detected, monitoring logic circuitry of the alternating current power source disconnects the primary power supply from the load and energizes line driver circuitry of the present invention which provides the alternating current output. When the power interruption ceases, the monitoring logic circuitry reconnects the primary power supply to the load and disables the line driver circuitry so that alternating current is not provided by the present invention to the load. The alternating current power source includes an internal power supply which can be recharged through the line driver circuitry by the primary power supply when there is no power interruption in the primary power supply.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,808A describes an uninterruptible power supply system having input terminals connectable to an AC power source and leading to an AC to DC converter for producing a first DC voltage source and a second DC voltage source operationally connected to the first source. The system supplying at the output of the second source a voltage normally primarily is provided by the first DC source. A capacitive accumulator device connected in parallel with a voltage sensing and controlling circuit and with the output of the two DC sources. The sensing and controlling circuit controls the output of at least the second of the DC voltage sources so as to provide at the output terminals of the system a substantially constant output voltage also when the AC power source to which the system is connected is interrupted.
Some of the problems associated with these systems include:
a) These systems have energetic power losses due to working in both charging and discharging capacitor simultaneously and continuously;
b) These systems work with two inductor coils in series and between them there may be formed a cross-conductivity leading to further energetic power losses and loss of reliability.
There is thus still a need to provide systems and methods which overcome the aforementioned problems.

Device and method for DC to AC conversion