The invention relates to an adjusting device (10) for beds, mattresses, armchairs and the like, which comprises support elements (12) that extend at an angle to the adjusting direction (A), especially on both sides, and that form together a plane of support (12A), and at least one drive device (24) for modifying the inclination of the plane of support, said drive device comprising at least one pivotable raising lever (14). In order to provide an adjusting device that is simple in design, at least one pivotable raising lever (14) is combined with a plurality of bar members (16A-G) that can be pivoted relative one another so that the general raising movement is combined with the ergonomic detail movement.

The present disclosure pertains to an adjusting device for beds, mattresses, armchairs and the like, consisting of support elements or bar members extending at an angle to the adjusting direction and at least one drive device for modifying the inclination of the support plane, in which at least one pivotable raising lever is provided, or in which the bar members form a link chain. It additionally pertains to an adjustable support device for mattresses or cushions, beds, armchairs and the like consisting of pivotable bars with support elements extending between the bars, spanning a support plane.
Such adjusting devices are known, for instance, for holding mattresses of beds. A frame, or at least lateral bars, carries the support elements, which span the support plane of the mattress or the like. In addition to cloth supports, metal grids and the like, spring strips that form a so-called slat grating are especially often used. The adjusting device is intended to provide comfort and relaxation in the supine, seated or semi-supine position.
Using a motor-driven or manually pivotable raising lever is known, for instance, for modifying the inclination of hospital beds. As a rule, these levers are rigid. Most of these raising levers have the disadvantage that they are visible in the sitting or semi-supine position and are therefore visually disruptive. Safety risks also exist. Moreover, it is only possible with these levers to pivot two areas (head part and foot part), each straight within itself, about a center part. Whereas it is not possible to influence the shape of the lateral bars defining the support plane, i.e., to adapt them more to the back and posterior of a human being.
As an alternative solution, it has therefore been proposed to design the lateral bars as a link chain and pivot the links relative to one another. Such pivoting takes place by means of pressure or preferably by means of tension belts or pull rods. Such an adjusting device is extraordinarily complex, however, and consists of very many individual parts if one would like to achieve a semi-supine or sitting position starting from the extended supine position. This becomes particularly clear from WO 01/26509 A1. Such adjusting devices do indeed permit a very elegant external appearance of the finished product, because supporting, adjusting and drive elements are completely integrated into the bars or into a mattress or upholstery. However, in addition to the complex construction, it is disadvantageous in that the successive or simultaneous relative pivoting of various bar members can only be controlled relatively imprecisely. But it is desirable for the adjusting device to be able to assure an optimal support of the back, the posterior and, optionally, the legs in the various positions between the extended resting or supine position and the very upright sitting position, i.e., above all, to support the spinal column.
With this background, there is a need for an adjusting device of particularly simple construction. An additional objective is to design the mechanical structure of such an adjusting device robustly and nevertheless to permit an ergonomic multi-element adjustment. An additional need is to design the adjusting device robustly and yet elegantly, i.e., without externally projecting or protruding head part or back rests. Increased safety is also desirable. Finally, it would be desirable to specify exactly and decisively the mutual displacement of bar members in every general inclination between a supine and a sitting position of the user.
Since the forces weighing on the free foot end in case of a raised foot part are considerable, a foot part brace usually serves to intercept and direct these forces to a fixed substructure such as a bed frame. Such foot braces are generally simple connecting rods, pivotably seated at one end on the slat grating and on the support component, such as the bed frame, at the other. This arrangement for hospital beds, for example, makes the implementation of an elegant and inconspicuous design difficult and makes an exact match necessary between, for instance, the slat grating and a bed frame. It also hinders manually pivoting the foot part, which is unfavorable for practical use. Accordingly, there is a need for a simple and inconspicuous foot support for devices of this class that is uncomplicated to handle.

Adjusting device and adjustable support device for beds, mattresses, armchairs and the like


Provided are a method and apparatus of performing a HARQ in a multiple carrier system. A receiver determines the size of a soft buffer to be used in an effective HARQ process on the basis of the maximum number of effective HARQ processes over a plurality of component carriers and stores the received transport block in the soft buffer. The present invention enables the performance of a HARQ in an efficient manner by using multiple carriers in the event the size of the soft buffer is limited.

An error compensation scheme is used to secure communication reliability. Examples of the error compensation scheme include a forward error correction (FEC) scheme and an automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme. In the FEC scheme, errors in a receiving end are corrected by attaching an extra error correction code to information bits. The FEC scheme has an advantage in that time delay is small and no information is additionally exchanged between a transmitting end and the receiving end but also has a disadvantage in that system efficiency deteriorates in a good channel environment. The ARQ scheme has an advantage in that transmission reliability can be increased but also has a disadvantage in that time delay occurs and system efficiency deteriorates in a poor channel environment.
A hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) scheme is a combination of the FEC scheme and the ARQ scheme. In the HARQ scheme, it is determined whether an unrecoverable error is included in data received by a physical layer, and retransmission is requested upon detecting the error, thereby improving performance.
If the error is not detected from the received data, a receiver transmits a positive-acknowledgement (ACK) signal as a reception confirmation to report to a transmitter that reception is successful. If the error is detected from the received data, the receiver transmits a negative-acknowledgement (NACK) signal as the reception confirmation to report to the transmitter that the error is detected. The transmitter can retransmit the data upon receiving the NACK signal.
In a typical wireless communication system, only one carrier is considered even if a bandwidth between an uplink and a downlink is configured differently from each other. The carrier is defined with a center frequency and a bandwidth. A multiple carrier system uses a plurality of component carriers having a smaller bandwidth than a full bandwidth.
Long term evolution (LTE) based on 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specification (TS) release 8 is a most dominant next mobile communication standard.
The 3GPP LTE system supports only one bandwidth (i.e., one carrier) among {1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20} MHz. In order to support a full bandwidth of 40 MHz, the multiple carrier system uses two carriers having a bandwidth of 20 MHz or uses three carriers respectively having bandwidths of 20 MHz, 15 MHz, and 5 MHz.
The multiple carrier system can support backward compatibility with respect to legacy systems, and significantly increases a data rate by using multiple carriers.
The number of HARQ processors can be significantly increased in a multiple carrier system in comparison with a single carrier system. The increase in the number of HARQ processors may result in the increase in the number of HARQ processes that can be performed concurrently. However, a receive buffer size of a user equipment has to be taken into account to perform HARQ. Since the receive buffer size has an effect on manufacturing costs of the user equipment, capability of the user equipment is limited in general.
Due to the limited receive buffer size, even if the number of HARQ processes is increased, a size of a buffer for each HARQ process is decreased, which may result in the decrease in a coding gain.

Apparatus and method for performing a harq in a multicarrier system


Method and apparatus for processing color document images to determine the presence of particular image types in order to designate areas for optimal image processing thereof. A multi-separation image defined in terms of color density for each separation is converted to a luminance-chrominance definition, where one component of the image represents image intensity. An image segmentation process operates on the image intensity signal, the results of which are used to determine processing of the multi-separation image.

In the reproduction of copies of an original document from video image data created, for example, by electronic raster input scanning from an original document, one is faced with the limited resolution capabilities of the reproducing system and the fact that output devices are mostly binary. This is particularly evident when attempting to reproduce halftones, lines and continuous tone images. Of course, an image data processing system may be tailored so as to offset the limited resolution capabilities of the reproducing apparatus used, but this is difficult due to the divergent processing needs required by the different types of image which may be encountered. In this respect, it should be understood that the image content of the original document may consist entirely of high frequency halftones, low frequency halftones, continuous tones, or line copy, or a combination, in some unknown degree, of some or all of the above. In the face of these possibilities, optimizing the image processing system for one image type in an effort to offset the limitations in the resolution capability of the reproducing apparatus used, may not be possible, requiring a compromise choice which may not produce acceptable results. Thus, for example, where one optimizes the system for low frequency halftones, it is often at the expense of degraded reproduction of high frequency halftones, or of line copy, and vice versa.
Color original documents, where all or part of the image is represented in one or more colors presents an additional challenge for segmentation. Typically, these images are defined in terms of Red-Green-Blue (RGB) color density signals, which represent image signals derived in scanning the image with intensity sensitive devices with appropriate color filters interposed in the path of light reflected thereto from the color document, or created on a document creating computer workstation. Each separation of the RGB color density signals requires processing in the same manner as the black and white images, e.g., continuous tone images required halftoning, halftoned images requires descreening and rescreening, and text/line art requires thresholding. This processing may occur after the image has been converted to the cyan-magenta-yellow (CMY) color density signals, that will ultimately provide driving signals for a color printer. Each separation could be processed separately with image segmentation algorithms, however, such parallel circuitry or processing is expensive in terms of hardware, and will require a downstream "separation reconciliation" process for handling inconsistent results at each separation.
As one example of the problems encountered, reproduction of halftoned images with screening tends to introduce moire, caused by the interaction of the original screen frequency and applied screen frequency. Although the use of high frequency line screens, as believed used in the Canon CLC500 Color Copier, can reduce the problem, the artifact can still occur in some images. In a networked environment particularly, it is desirable that the scanner detect the halftone and low pass filter the document image into a continuous tone for subsequent halftone reproduction by printers in the network in accordance with their particular capabilities.
In U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 08/004479 by Shiau, the question of whether a color image was scanned by a black and white capable scanner was addressed, so that color document reproduction on a black and white printer could be optimized. Not addressed was the problem of optimally reproducing color images for color originals, such as by, for example, the Xerox 5775 Color Copier, which includes a scanner for scanning color documents, a color document printer and associated processing for preparing scanned documents for printing.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,221 to Stoffel, the problem of image segmentation was addressed by applying a discrimination function instructing the image processing system as to the type of image data present and particularly, an auto correlation function to the stream of pixel data, to determine the existence of halftone image data. Such a function is expressed as: ##EQU1## where n=the bit or pixel number;
p=the pixel voltage value; and PA1 t=the pixel position in the data stream. PA1 receiving from an image source a multi-separation document image and storing the multi-separation image in a data buffer; PA1 with a color space converter, converting the multi-separation document image received from the data buffer to a luminance-chrominance description of the document image, where one component thereof represents intensity of the document image; PA1 with an image segmentation circuit, receiving the intensity component of the document image and determining the image-type present in an area of the image therefrom; PA1 with a multi-image type image processor also receiving the multi-separation document image from the data buffer, processing a corresponding area of the multi-separation document image in accordance with the determined image type.
Stoffel describes a method of processing automatically a stream of image pixels representing unknown combinations of high and low frequency halftones, continuous tones, and/or lines to provide binary level output pixels representative of the image. The described function is applied to the stream of image pixels and, for the portions of the stream that contained high frequency halftone image data, notes a large number of closely spaced peaks in the resultant signal. The correlator circuits described in Stoffel's embodiment, however, are very expensive, as they must provide a digital multiplication function. Accordingly, as a practical matter, Stoffel requires as a first step, reduction of the amount of data handled, by initially thresholding image data against a single threshold value, to reduce the image to a high contrast black or white image. However, depending on the selection of the threshold as compared to the intensity of the image, significant amounts of information may be lost in the thresholding process. For example, if the threshold level is set to distinguish in the middle of the intensity range, but the image has significant variations through the darker gray levels, the thresholded result does not indicate the variations. This results in an undesirable loss of image information. While it may be possible to vary the threshold value adaptively from original to original and from image area to image area, such algorithms tend to be complicated and work well only for a restricted class of images such as line images. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,115 to Lin et al, the auto correlation function is calculated for the stream of halftone image data at selected time delays which are predicted to be indicative of the image frequency characteristics, without prior thresholding. The arithmetic function used in that auto correlation system is an approximation of the auto correlation function using logical functions and addition, rather than the multiplication function used in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,221 to Stoffel. Valleys in the resulting auto correlated function are detected to determine whether high frequency halftone image data is present.
U.S. Pat. No. 08/004479 by Shiau is directed to the particular problem noted in the use of the auto correlation function of the false characterization of a portion of the image as a halftone, when in fact it would be preferable for the image to be processed as a line image. Examples of this defect are noted particularly in the processing of Japanese Kanji characters and small Roman letters. In these examples, the auto correlation function may detect the image as halftones and process accordingly, instead of applying a common threshold through the character image. The described computations of auto correlation are one dimensional in nature, and this problem of false detection will occur whenever a fine pattern that is periodic in the scan line or fast scan direction is detected, In the same vein, shadow areas and highlight areas are often not detected as halftones, and are then processed with the application of a uniform threshold.
GB 2,153,619A provides a similar determination of the type of image data. However in that case, a threshold is applied to the image data at a certain level, and subsequent to thresholding the number of transitions from light to dark within a small area is counted. The system operates on the presumption that data with a low number of transitions after thresholding is probably a high frequency halftone or continuous tone image. The thresholding step in this method has the same undesirable effect as described for Stoffel.
Of background interest in this area are U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,918 to Yamazaki et al. showing an arrangement assuming a periodicity of an area of halftone dots which are thresholded against an average value derived from the area to produce a density related video signal; U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,837 to Janeway, Ill. which shows the use of a three decision mode selection for determining threshold selection based on gradient constants for each pixel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,714 to Sugiura et al. which shows random data added to the output signal to eliminate pseudo-outlines; U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,563 to Joiner, Jr. suggests an adaptive prediction for compressing data based on a predictor which worked best for a previous pixel block; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,896 to Young, Jr. teaches the usefulness of thresholding in producing an image from a binary digital transmission system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,195 to Nadler describes a method for binarization of a pattern wherein two concentric rings around a pixel are evaluated to determine contrast values, and the contrast values are used then to determine whether the pixel and the surrounding areas have a light or dark quality. U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,811 to Ochi et al. teaches a method of processing gray level values, depending on the density level of blocks of pixels, and their difference from a minimum or maximum value. The blocks are then processable by a halftone processing matrix depending on the difference value, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,221 to Roetling discloses a screening technique where values of gray over an image are evaluated to determine a minimum and maximum level, in order to determine constant levels of gray. U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,253 to Shida discloses a method of producing a halftone dot by selectively comparing image signals with highlight and shadow reference values, for determination of the binarization process.
The patents cited herein are incorporated by reference for their teachings.

Automatic image segmentation for color documents


A blade holder for cutting machines includes a blade head held on a raising and lowering device and an adjustment mechanism for a circular blade that is held on the blade head. The adjustment mechanism, for the movement of the circular blade between a cutting position and a ready position, is provided with an adjustment piston rod having an adjustment piston that is guided in a chamber of the blade head housing and can be moved by compressed air. The adjustment piston rod is biased by a compression spring into the ready position of the circular blade. The piston surface of the adjustment piston has a cross-sectional area that is configured such that as the path of the adjustment piston in the direction of adjustment increases, the piston surface that is acted upon by compressed air increases.

The invention relates to a blade holder for cutting machines, with a blade head held on a raising and lowering device, and with an adjustment mechanism for a circular blade that is held on the blade head, whereby for the movement of the circular blade between a cutting position and a ready position, the adjustment mechanism is provided with an adjustment piston rod having a compressed air activated adjustment piston that is guided in a chamber of the blade head housing, and the adjustment piston rod is biased via a compression spring into the ready position of the circular blade.
A blade holder having the aforementioned features is described in DE 4114 059 A1; the blade head that caries the circular blade is seated at the end of a lowering piston rod via which the circular blade can be lowered into its cutting plane and raised therefrom. The adjustment mechanism disposed in the blade head serves for an adjustment of the circular blade transverse to the axis of the lowering piston rod until it rests against a lower blade, or raises the circular blade from the lower blade beyond the cutting process.
To carry out these movement processes, the adjustment mechanism has an adjustment piston that is compressed air actuatable in a direction of the cutting position of the circular blade, while for the return movement of the circular blade out of the cutting position, there is provided a compression spring that acts upon the adjustment piston rod and biases it into the ready position of the circular blade. Thus, in addition to the pressing force in a direction of the cutting position of the circular blade, which pressing force overcomes the biasing compression spring and is applied by the compressed air supply to the adjustment piston, there is also provided the cutting force that exists between the circular blade and an associated lower blade.
Since over the adjustment path of the adjustment mechanism, depending upon the position of the blade holder on the cutting machine, different cutting positions with the circular blade resting upon the lower blade can result, the known construction of a blade holder has the drawback that at respectively the same air driving pressure, in different cutting positions different cutting forces are also established, because a respective spring force of the biasing compression spring, which spring force varies in magnitude as a function of the spring characteristics or of spring tolerances, counteracts the air driving pressure in the various cutting positions.
It is therefore an object of the invention, with a blade holder of the aforementioned type and with an unaltered air driving pressure over the adjustment path, to establish for the adjustment mechanism a cutting force that remains as constant as possible in different cutting positions of the circular blade.

Blade holder having displacement-dependent spring force compensation

Dienes Werke für Maschinenteile GmbH & Co. KG


A composite electronic device includes first and second magnetic substrates, and a functional layer sandwiched between these magnetic substrates, and the functional layer is configured by a common-mode filter layer and a ESD protection element layer. An electrostatic capacitance of the ESD protection elements is equal to or lower than 0.35 pF. The common-mode filter layer includes a first spiral conductor formed on an insulation layer, and a second spiral conductor formed on an insulation layer. DC resistance of a common mode filter is equal to or higher than 0.5Ω and equal to or lower than 5Ω, and an electrostatic capacitance of the ESD protection elements is equal to or lower than 0.35 pF. A width W and a length L of the first and second spiral conductors satisfy a relational equation expressed by √(L/W)<(7.6651−fc)/0.1385.

In recent years, standards of USB 2.0 and a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) have been widely distributed as high-speed signal transmission interfaces, and they are used in many digital devices such as personal computers and digital high-vision televisions. These interfaces employ a differential signal system that transmits a differential signal (a differential mode signal) by using a pair of signal lines, unlike a single-end transmission system that has been generally used for many years.
The differential transmission system has excellent characteristics in that the system is not easily affected by exogenous noise as well as that the system has a small radiation electromagnetic field generated from the signal lines, as compared with the single-end transmission system. Therefore, a signal can have small amplitude, and the system can perform a higher-speed signal transmission than the single-end transmission system, by shortening arise time and a fall time based on the small amplitude.
FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a general differential transmission circuit.
The differential transmission circuit shown in FIG. 11 includes a pair of signal lines 1 and 2, an output buffer 3 that supplies a differential mode signal to the signal lines 1 and 2, and an input buffer 4 that receives a differential mode signal from the signal lines 1 and 2. In this configuration, an input signal IN given to the output buffer 3 is transmitted to the input buffer 4 via the pair of signal lines 1 and 2, and is reproduced as an output signal OUT. This differential transmission circuit has a characteristic that a radiation electromagnetic field generated from the signal lines 1 and 2 is small, as described above. However, this circuit generates a relatively large radiation electromagnetic field when common noise (common mode noise) is superimposed on the signal lines 1 and 2. To decrease the radiation electromagnetic field generated by the common mode noise, it is effective to insert a common-mode choke coil 5 into the signal lines 1 and 2, as shown in FIG. 11.
The common-mode choke coil 5 has characteristics that impedance to a differential component (a differential mode signal) transmitted through the signal lines 1 and 2 is low and that impedance to an in-phase component (common mode noise) is high. Therefore, by inserting the common-mode choke coil 5 into the signal lines 1 and 2, common mode noise transmitted through the pair of signal lines 1 and 2 can be interrupted without substantially attenuating the differential mode signal.
In a latest high-speed digital interface such as an HDMI, an IC very sensitive to static electricity is used because the interface handles a fine signal of a high transmission rate. Accordingly, ESD (electrostatic discharge) becomes a large problem. To prevent destruction of the IC due to ESD, a varistor is used as an ESD countermeasure device between the signal lines and a base. However, when the varistor is used, a signal waveform becomes inert, and signal quality is degraded. Therefore, a lower-capacitance ESD countermeasure device is required. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-28214 proposes an ESD protection circuit having an electrostatic capacitance of an ESD protection device 9 set to 0.3 pF or lower, by connecting a coil 8 in series on signal lines 7 connected to an IC 6 and by connecting the ESD protection device 9 between each signal line 7 and the ground (see FIG. 8 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-28214).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-214166 discloses a structure having a voltage-dependency resistance material having an ESD protection function provided on an uppermost part of a composite electronic device accommodating a common-mode noise filter and the ESD protection function in one package. According to this structure, the voltage-dependency resistance material can be provided after sintering a laminated body containing many insulation layers. With this arrangement, it is possible to prevent reduction of the ESD protection function due to oxidation and cracking of the voltage-dependency resistance material at a sintering time. Consequently, the ESD protection function can be improved.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-261585 discloses a common mode filter including first and second coil conductors electromagnetically coupled to each other, and having a satisfactory high-frequency characteristic by arranging that a relation between a cutoff frequency fc of the common mode filter and a conductor width W and a total length L of the first coil conductor satisfy relational equation expressed by √(L/W)<(7.6651−fc)/0.1385.
In a conventional circuit configuration shown in FIG. 12, it is preferable that the protection voltage of the IC 6 is as high as possible. The protection voltage in this case means a voltage at which the IC 6 is broken. For example, it is known that a conventional circuit configured by combining a general varistor of 6 pF as a ESD protection element and a common mode filter can secure a protection voltage of 5 kV. However, as described above, because the varistor has a large electrostatic capacitance and its signal quality is degraded, a circuit capable of obtaining a protection voltage equal to or higher than that of a varistor while minimizing the electrostatic capacitance has been desired.
In the common mode filter described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-214166, the voltage-dependency resistance material constituting ESD protection elements contains a resin. Therefore, the ESD protection elements need to be provided on the uppermost part due to a constraint of a manufacturing step which becomes a large constraint on design. The voltage-dependency resistance material is filled into a very fine gap of about 10 μm. At the uppermost part, an uneven area is large in a plane surface due to a structure that many insulation layers formed with conductor patterns are laminated. Consequently, it is considerably difficult to stably form a very fine gap. Further, in forming the ESD protection elements on a top layer, the manufacturing step becomes complex, and manufacturing cost increases.

Composite electronic device and digital transmission circuit using thereof


A refrigeration cycle apparatus includes a refrigerant circuit of a refrigeration cycle through which a refrigerant that transits in a supercritical state is allowed to flow, and a flow dividing device that divides the flow of a high-pressure liquid refrigerant in a subcritical state into two or more parts. The flow dividing device is configured such that the device is oriented substantially in the horizontal direction or substantially upward in the vertical direction relative to the direction of flow of the refrigerant in a liquid state. With such a configuration, the flow of refrigerating machine oil is equally divided, thus offering high energy saving while keeping heat-medium conveyance power at a low level without reducing the heat exchanging performance.

In conventional air-conditioning apparatuses such as a multi-air-conditioning apparatus for a building, which is one of a refrigeration cycle apparatus, cooling operation or heating operation is carried out by circulating a refrigerant between an outdoor unit that is a heat source device disposed outdoors and indoor units disposed indoors. Specifically, a conditioned space is cooled with the air that has been cooled by the refrigerant removing heat from the air and is heated with the air that has been heated by the refrigerant transferring its heat. Conventionally, HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) based refrigerants have been commonly used as refrigerants for such air-conditioning apparatuses. These refrigerants have been made to work in a subcritical region that is a pressure lower than its critical pressure.
However, in recent years, ones using natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide (CO2) have been proposed. Since carbon dioxide has a low critical temperature, the refrigeration cycle is carried out in a supercritical state in which the refrigerant pressure in a gas cooler on the high-pressure side exceeds its critical pressure. In this case, there is a possibility of the refrigerating machine oil flowing with the refrigerant not separating uniformly in the flow branching portion as it should, and in such a case, there is a possibility of the heat exchanging performance of the refrigeration cycle being impaired.
Further, in an air-conditioning apparatus represented by a chiller system, cooling or heating is carried out such that cooling energy or heating energy is generated in a heat source device disposed outdoors; a heat medium such as water or brine is heated or cooled in a heat exchanger disposed in an outdoor unit; and the heat medium is conveyed to indoor units, such as a fan coil unit, a panel heater, or the like, disposed in the conditioning space (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
Moreover, there is a heat source side heat exchanger called a heat recovery chiller that connects a heat source unit to each indoor unit with four water pipings arranged therebetween, supplies cooled and heated water or the like simultaneously, and allows the cooling and heating in the indoor units to be selected freely (for example. see Patent Literature 2).
In addition, there is an air-conditioning apparatus that disposes a heat exchanger for a primary refrigerant and a secondary refrigerant near each indoor unit in which the secondary refrigerant is conveyed to the indoor unit (see Patent Literature 3, for example).
Furthermore, there is an air-conditioning apparatus that connects an outdoor unit to each branch unit including a heat exchanger with two pipings in which a secondary refrigerant is carried to the corresponding indoor unit (see Patent Literature 4, for example).


An electret ion chamber for monitoring radon comprises a housing having an electret holder and a cover. The cover is attached to a plunger which closes over the electret when the cover is in place and is removed from the electret when the cover is opened. The plunger effectively turns "on" and "off" the radon monitor with the opening and closing of the cap. In very short term and very long term radon monitors, this turn on and off feature is not needed.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for the detection of radon gas using an electret detector.
A known technique in the field of radon gas detection which has been found to be highly effective is the method and apparatus for detecting radon disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,536 to Dempsey et al. for "An Ionization Chamber for Monitoring Radioactive Gas", the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Briefly, the technique employs a small enclosed chamber with an electrostatically charged electret attached to the inner chamber wall. A filtered hole in the chamber permits radon or other radioactive gas to enter by diffusion. Positive or negative ions (depending upon the polarity of the electret charge) formed in the chamber air by decay of the radioactive gas move to and collect on the electret surface by virtue of its electrostatic attraction to ions of opposite polarity. These ions accumulate and cause a measurable reduction in the surface voltage of the electret and such a reduction is proportional to the time integrated concentration of the radioactive gas in the chamber. The electret surface voltage reduction value is used to calculate the average concentration of the radioactive gas during the exposure period. The electret thickness and chamber volume can both be increased to increase the sensitivity of the invention to radioactive gases such as radon, tritium or carbon-14 dioxide or other such radioactive gases.
Typically, this radon measuring technique is carried out by placing one or more chambers, each containing an electret detector, in locations to be monitored such as a dwelling and permitting the detectors to remain at the monitored site for a preselected period of time such as several days. After exposure, the chambers are opened and the electret surface voltage is measured to determine its reduction over the length of time monitored. The thus obtained voltage reduction is used to determine the average radon concentration at the monitored site.
While various types of electret ion chambers have been used for measuring ions in the air most tend to be bulky and difficult to use. The above-referenced radon monitor employed a chamber having a cup-like shape and further discloses a method of reducing the volume adjacent the electret when the radon monitor is not in use. With the need to measure radon concentration in dwellings and in the workplace environment, there arose a need for an easy-to-use device employing the electret detector method for radon monitoring. Such a device would be able to be turned on and off at the monitoring site from outside the device to permit accurate timed exposures without the necessity of immediately measuring the electret surface voltage before and after a test. Additionally the device would allow easy insertion and removal of the electret for surface voltage measurements.

Electret ion chamber for radon monitoring


An oven for cooking a food product that is exactly controlled for various cooking parameters, including cooking time, temperature, cooking elements used and cooking element duty cycle. Top and bottom cooking elements are provided in the oven. Temperature sensors are placed between each cooking element and the food product. The oven temperature is sensed when the food product is placed in the oven. The type of food product placed in the oven is indicated by the baker a control panel. Previously stored data indicates the cooking parameters to provide the best possible food product. The microprocessor controls the cooking elements to cook the food product according to the cooking parameters. As the correct cooking temperature is approached, the duty cycle of the cooking elements is lowered to ensure that the proper temperature is not exceeded. Once the correct cooking temperature is reached, the cooking elements operate at a predetermined duty cycle for the remaining cooking time. An indication is provided that the food product is done and the food product is removed from the oven. Openings are provided in the oven to permit heat to escape and to permit the food product to be removed from the front or back of the oven.

Serving a pizza that is most pleasing to the customers is a goal of many restaurants. In serving the best pizza, one that is pleasing to the most customers, the flavor, aroma, aesthetic appeal and other factors are important. To obtain a pizza with pleasing taste, aroma and aesthetic appeal, the oven in which the pizza is cooked and the way the pizza is cooked are important factors
The type of oven used to cook the pizza has a significant impact on the method of cooking and on the final flavor and aesthetic appeal Presently, a large oven that is capable of cooking many pizzas at the same time is used in many restaurants. These ovens have a large mass, metal cooking surface on which the pizzas are placed. The oven is heated with gas or electricity. The large mass, metal cooking surface is designed to provide even heat along its entire surface at all times. The oven is constructed to ensure that the entire oven is a uniform temperature throughout at all times.
One disadvantage of this type of oven is that properly cooking a pizza requires considerable skill. A large pizza requires more cooking time than a small pizza. A deep pan pizza cooks considerably different than regular pizza. A combination pizza, having many ingredients, such as green peppers, anchovies, pineapple, onions, sausage, etc., requires more cooking time than a cheese-only pizza. The baker cooking the pizzas must ensure that each pizza is cooked the proper amount of time such that the pizza is done but is not burned. This job is made more difficult when numerous pizzas of different styles and toppings are placed in the oven at different times so that the baker must monitor each pizza to ensure that it is properly cooked. Considerable skill is required to properly cook a pizza in this type of oven. Further, significant time and effort are required to adequately train a baker to properly cook all types of pizzas. This is a significant disadvantage for this type of oven.
A further disadvantage is the time and cost to operate the oven. The heating of the large oven to the proper temperature requires considerable energy, which is expensive. Heating the oven each day for cooking pizzas must often start several hours before the first pizza is to be placed in the oven. Maintaining the large oven at this temperature is also expensive. This is particularly uneconomical when only a few pizzas are cooked all day or during a slower part of the day, such as from 2:00 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.
A second type of oven used by restaurants to cook pizzas is an oven having a moving conveyor belt. This type of oven has a conveyor belt which continuously moves through the oven at a predetermined speed. The pizzas are placed on this moving belt at a specific location and are taken off the belt as they emerge from the oven. The pizzas are cooked during the time it takes to travel through the oven. The speed of the conveyor belt is set to cook the pizzas a desired amount of time.
A significant disadvantage of the conveyor belt oven is the quality of the cooked pizza. The time taken for a pizza to travel through the oven and the temperature at which it is cooked are the same for each pizza. However, the proper cooking time and temperature for optimum taste is different for each pizza type, whether a large, small, combination or cheese only pizza. While this type of oven requires less operator skill and training then a large mass cooking surface oven, there is a much greater likelihood that pizza baked will be of lower quality. A single oven having several conveyor belts, each moving at a different speed can be manufactured, but there is a practical limit to the number of belts possible and the size and expense becomes prohibitive. The conveyer belt oven also has significant heating time and is expensive to operate.


Space transformer including a substrate and a perforated plate disposed on the substrate. The substrate includes conductive traces and an array of conductive probe pins extend outwardly from anchor points on the substrate. The pins are electrically coupled to at least one of the conductive traces on the substrate as an interface between an E-testing apparatus and a DUT. The perforated plate may be affixed to a surface of the substrate and includes an array of perforations through which the conductive pins may pass. The perforated plate may provide one or more of lateral pin support and protection to the underlying substrate and/or traces. The perforated plate may include a metal sheet. A polymeric material may be disposed on at least a sidewall of the perforations to electrically isolate the metal sheet from the conductive probe pins.

In the integrated circuit (IC) industry, devices fabricated in parallel on a large substrate, such as a 300 mm or 450 mm wafer, are typically sorted based on an electrical test (E-test) at the back end of line (BEOL). The devices are singulated into chips following a backside wafer grind. Singulated die identified good at the BEOL E-test are then assembled into a package. A final functional test of the packaged die is then performed. As post-singulation die processing and package assembly practices become more complex, it becomes more important to perform one or more E-test on unpackaged die, for example to filter out die that passed BEOL E-test but have since become unsuitable for packaging.
E-testing of unpackaged die is a significant challenge because of the small dimensions, and vast number of testable points (e.g. top-level metallization) on modern ICs. For example, a microprocessor die may have thousands of testable points. E-testing of a packaged die is comparatively easy as the package assembly breaks out the top-level die metallization (e.g., having a pitch of 100 μm, or less) to packaged electrical connections of much larger dimensions. To perform a comprehensive E-test on an unpackaged die, a prober of an electrical testing apparatus (E-tester) may be coupled to a die through a space transforming prober interface.
During testing, the space transformer must withstand repetitive interfacing with consecutive unpackaged die under test (DUT). Top-level interconnect geometries (e.g., having a pitch of 100 μm, or less) must be accommodated as they are scaled, so electrical probe pin dimensions and alignment are critical to ensure accurate testing without damage to the DUT. Furthermore, many testing algorithms place the DUT under thermal stress, for example testing at temperatures of 200° C., or more. Therefore the space transformer must also be robust to such thermal cycling.
Space transformer architecture is therefore important for high E-tester up-time.

Space transformer with perforated metallic plate for electrical die test


A nipple assembly which monitors the body temperature of a baby through an IC board, a heat sensitive resistor and a heat conductive liquid to activate a battery operated buzzer when the temperature of the liquid reaches a warning level. A thermocouple winding operates a pointer for providing visual indication of the liquid temperature on a temperature scale plate.

This invention relates to a nipple assembly, specifically a nipple assembly with an alarm buzzer and a body temperature indicator. Within this assembly is provided a liquid of good heat conductivity, such as distilled clean water, for transferring the heat from a baby's mouth. Also provided within the assembly are a body temperature thermometer and a heat sensitive resistor protruding into the liquid so that when the body temperature of the baby exceeds a predetermined upper limit, the resistor causes the alarm buzzer to issue an alarming sound. Thereby, the body temperature of the baby sucking the nipple of the assembly in accordance with the invention can be monitored to protect the baby from being harmed by excessive body temperature which can induce other undesirable or life threatening symptoms.
Small families are the primary constituting units of the modern society in which babies are usually cared for by young busy inexperienced parents or even by the person working for a day nursery. In these circumstances, the babies' body temperatures are often neglected by their parents or the person who take care of them. Especially in a day nursery, it is hard for the person who take care of the babies to know which baby is getting an overhigh temperature because he cannot let every baby to put a thermometer in its mouth all the time. This commonly existing problem in the modern society constitutes a potential risk to the health and life of the baby.
Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide a nipple with a body temperature indicator for a baby's daily suction, in which nipple is sealingly filled with distilled clean water or any other appropriate liquid through which the heat from the baby's mouth can be transferred to a specific indicator so that the baby's parents or the person who cares for the baby can clearly observe the baby's fluctuation in body temperature.
Another object of the invention is to provide a nipple assembly with an alarm buzzer, in which assembly is provided a heat sensitive resistor in connection with the buzzer through an IC so that the buzzer will be energized and issue an alarming sound when the temperature of the liquid in the nipple assembly reaches a warning point.

Nipple assembly with alarm buzzer and body temperature indicator


A method and apparatus for conserving oxygen provided for oxygen therapy. The oxygen conserving delivery system includes a sensor for detecting inspiration efforts, and a microcontroller which is triggered by the sensor to open a valve to allow the flow of oxygen to the patient. The system includes a cross-field excitation/detection inspiration sensor using an adaptive full-wave signal detector/tracer. The system also includes a method for conserving energy by a unique combination of start and sustain drive lines coupled to the valve control. The system is able to compensate for variations in battery condition, inlet gas pressures, variations in valve tolerances, and the absence of gas pressure in a fault condition. Finally, a self-adaptive inspiration depth tracking ability ensures constant oxygen delivery volume even when there are variations in inspiration depths rather than changes in respiration rates. This ability enables the system to provide oxygen at a depth and a rate which is a best fit for a patient's oxygen needs when at rest or at work.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the administration of a supplemental, intermittent oxygen supply to a patient. More specifically, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for providing oxygen therapy to a patient, where a system includes the ability to conserve oxygen by only delivering an amount that is usable by the patient during an inspiration cycle.
2. The State of the Art
The state of the art in oxygen therapy is replete with systems that attempt to conserve oxygen being supplied to a patient. The need to conserve oxygen is a result of the understanding that continuous, long term oxygen therapy is expensive because of the large quantities of oxygen that needed to be provided to a patient.
Less sophisticated oxygen therapy systems provide oxygen at a continuous rate without interruption. The result is that all oxygen supplied to the patient during exhalation is wasted. This waste can be substantial considering that approximately two thirds of the respiratory cycle is spent in exhalation. Furthermore, these systems do not adjust for rates or depth of inspiration by the patient. These factors, combined with the fact that the oxygen therapy is generally being conducted using a mobile oxygen container, demonstrate the need for more prudent oxygen conservation. Clearly what is needed is a way to reduce oxygen consumption while maintaining adequate alveolar gas exchange of the patient.
To meet this need for oxygen conservation during oxygen therapy, systems have been developed which are designed to deliver oxygen only during patient inspiration. However, the methods and apparatus for accomplishing this goal are many, and are met with varying degrees of success.
One method for accomplishing conservation during oxygen therapy is to provide pulsed oxygen delivery to the patient according to some control logic based upon a physician prescribed gas flow rate and the breathing characteristics of the patient. For example, studies support the observation that the first portion of inspiration is the most effective time for oxygen delivery, with the last portion of the patient's inspiration not actually providing oxygen to the secondary respiratory system (i.e. the blood stream).
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,397 issued to Arp, the patent apparently teaches a method and apparatus for providing oxygen on demand, where the system is responsive to a patient's breathing.
Similar systems are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,837 issued to Russel Sr. et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,364 issued to Chua et al. All of these systems have numerous drawbacks which prevent them from serving all the functions of an acceptable oxygen conservation device. These drawbacks include, but are not limited to, a failure to adequately adapt to breathing depth (force) of the person using the system. They also fail to take into account changes that occur due to variations in altitude of the user. They also fail to compensate for changes in battery strength, and fail to adequately conserve battery power.
It would be advantageous over the state of the art in oxygen therapy to provide a conserving device which is responsive to the breathing rate of the patient. The system should adapt the volume of oxygen delivered depending upon depth of inspiration, and the rate of inspiration.
It would also be advantageous to provide a conserving device which did not require training of the patient, so that the system was responsive to the patient, and not the other way around.
The system should be capable of making some adjustments to patient inspiration, regardless of whether the patient's inspiration rate or depth changes rapidly.
It would also be an improvement over the state of the art to provide a system which does not require a plurality of oxygen delivery tubes between the conserving device and the patient.

Conserving device for use in oxygen delivery and therapy


A strip material from which portions may be severed and used together as a releasably engageable fastener. The strip material comprises a bonding layer in which are embedded a plurality of U-shaped monofilaments. Each U-shaped monofilament includes two headed stem portions adapted to engage the headed stem portions of another portion of the strip material. The U-shaped monofilaments are disposed in generally straight rows longitudinally of the strip material with a percentage of the center to center spacing dimensions between adjacent longitudinal rows being less than a maximum dimension equal to the diameter of the heads plus the diameter of the stems so that slippage of heads longitudinally of the strip material between these closely spaced rows will be restricted, and with the center to center spacing dimension between the rest of the adjacent rows being greater than the maximum dimension and being selected to help provide a desired level of engagement and disengagement forces between the portions. The U-shaped monofilmanets are also disposed in zig-zag rows transverse of the strip material and are spaced and shaped so that slippage of heads transversely of the strip material between the zig-zag rows will also be restricted and to help provide a desired level of engagement and disengagement forces between the portions. Thus, upon engagement the rows of headed stem portions of one portion of the strip material cannot readily slip between the rows of headed stem portions on another portion of the strip material.

This invention relates to strip materials that have headed projections which will releasably engage so that two severed portions of the strip materials will provide a releasable fastener between different objects.
U.S Pat. No. 4,290,174 describes such a strip material which comprises a flexible polymeric bonding layer; a multiplicity of flexible, resilient, generally U-shaped monofilaments of polymeric material, each including a central bight portion embedded in the bonding layer in a rectangular array, two stem portions extending from the bight portion and projecting generally normal to a surface of the bonding layer; and enlarged, generally circular heads at the distal ends of the stem portions. Each of the heads has an outer cam surface adapted for engagement with the cam surfaces of heads along a different portion of the strip material to produce deflection of the stem portions and movement of the heads on the stem portions past each other to releasably engage the portions, and has a latching surface opposite the cam surface, which latching surface is generally planar, extends at generally a right angle radially from its supporting stem portion, and is adapted to engage similar latching surfaces on the heads of the other portion when the portions are engaged.
While fasteners made from two portions cut from the strip material described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,174 have provided many advantages over other known fasteners for many applications, that strip material can not provide both a moderate level of engagement and disengagement forces between portions of the strip material while restricting unwanted relative movement between the engaged portions in response to the application of forces applied to the two fastener portions in a direction parallel to their backing layers and to the rows. If the stem portions and heads are so closely spaced that the rows of headed projections on one portion can not slide between the rows of headed projections on the other portion under these conditions, the force required to engage and disengage the portions is so high that a fastener made using the portions is not useful for many purposes. If the stem portions and heads are spaced sufficiently that the force required to engage and disengage the portions is at the moderate and often more useful level, the rows of headed projections on one portion can slide between the rows of headed projections on the other portion, thereby allowing the portions to become partially or totally disengaged. U.S Pat. No. 4,290,174 describes reducing this problem by (1) varying the spacings of the stems along the rows extending longitudinally of the strip so that at least when the rows of two articles with such varied spacing are engaged at right angles to each other, greater separating and shear strengths will be developed, or (2) disposing the rows of U-shaped filaments so that their stems are not aligned normal to or parallel with the edges of the strip so that when a user engages two portions of the strip with their edges parallel (as he would normally be expected to do), the rows on the articles will cross each other to develop the maximum strength in the fastener both in tension and shear, or (3) shifting successive rows of U-shaped filaments slightly in a direction transverse to the strip so that the stems of successive rows will not be aligned and thus will not permit shearing longitudinally or transversely of the strip.
While these techniques would help reduce the problem, they do not preclude slippage between the rows for all possible orientations of the rows. Additionally, the mechanism for accomplishing the second and particularly the third technique mentioned complicate the device on which the strip material is produced more than might otherwise be desired, particularly when wide widths (i.e., 6 inch or greater widths) of the strip material are made.
Thus, the solution to the problem described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,875 was developed, which involves utilizing two different strip materials with rectangular arrays of headed stems, each of which strip materials has stem portions that are about equally spaced in each direction to provide numbers of stem portions per unit length along the surface of its bonding layer in each direction that are different from and not a multiple of or evenly divisible by the number of stem portions per unit length on the other strip material in either direction (e.g., 20 stem portions per inch in each direction on one strip material, and 12 stem portions per inch in one direction and 14 stem portions per inch in the other direction on the other strip material). With this construction, a desired useful level of engagement and disengagement forces can be provided for portions of the strip materials and when portions of the different two strip materials are engaged with rows aligned, certain of the stem portions will always interfere with each other to restrict relative movement between the portions of the strip materials in a direction parallel to their bonding layers. While this solution is reasonably effective and has been used commercially, it requires manufacturing and stocking two different strip materials.

Strip material used for forming fasteners

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A system for a piston actuator comprising a configuration with lead styphnate charge material and Nichrome® bridgewire, wherein the device configuration provides very high reliability, including piston actuator applications; resistance of the bridgewire is carefully controlled to optimize power transfer from the firing circuit to the bridgewire and charge material.

Miniature Piston Actuators can be used as electro-explosive devices (EEDs). Such devices have been used as part of an Electronic Thermal Battery Initiator (ETBI) to provide a mechanical output to initiate a thermal battery.
Thermal batteries are designed for immediate and short duration activation under extreme operating conditions. In an inert state suitable for storage, a thermal battery is dormant, and can remain inactive for long periods of time. Upon initiation, a thermal battery instantly activates to serve as an accurate, low-impedance, voltage source that is stable for a predetermined time duration.
Additionally, explosive and pyrotechnic devices such as explosive bolts, bolt cutters, separation fairings, actuators, engine igniters, etc., are used in aeronautical and aerospace applications to perform various functions such as the separation of one structure from another, the release of a structure from a stowed position to a deployed position, etc. They are also used in the safety systems of land vehicles such as automobiles, for the deployment of air bags. Such devices are typically coupled to electrically operated initiators which, in response to suitable electrical signals, initiate the devices.
In aeronautical and aerospace devices such as missiles, satellites, launch vehicles, etc., and in land vehicle safety systems, the initiators in the ordnance firing systems that control the various explosive or pyrotechnic effectors typically comprise a hot bridgewire initiating element and an initiating charge of explosive or pyrotechnic material which is sensitive to the initiating element. In order to stimulate the hot bridgewire initiating element to release sufficient energy to ignite the ignition charge, a large amount of electrical energy (relative to what is generally required for most other functions on such devices) is required. For example, the firing of a hot bridgewire initiator typically requires a draw of several (typically 2-3 or more) amps from a 28-volt source for a period of about 0.05 second. Since there may be numerous effectors on a given device, the total energy requirement for initiation of the effectors may exceed the energy requirement for operation of the circuitry that controls the device. For this reason, ordnance firing systems typically include a dedicated high power energy source such as a thermal or chemical battery, for the purpose of providing sufficient energy to fire the hot bridgewires. The need in aerospace and aeronautical devices to provide such batteries, which are large and heavy, has been viewed as an unavoidable but significant burden. The batteries occupy space which could go to other, more useful, components of the device or to increased payload capacity and, for airborne devices. They also increase the fuel consumption of the device at all times during flight. In some applications, such as for initiation of a thermal battery of a munition after launch, this energy requirement is impractical. A miniature piston actuator (PA) with a very low firing energy requirement which can provide a mechanical output to initiate the thermal battery is thus needed.
The current generation of piston actuators (PAs) for applications utilizes potassium dinitro benzo furoxan (KDNBF) as the explosive charge material and platinum as the bridgewire. KDNBF charge material is used to maximize gas generation to provide the actuating force. These PAs have an appreciable failure rate (˜5%) especially at cold temperature (−40 C), even when they were provided a firing energy greater than the all-fire energy requirement.
Current piston actuators do not provide a sufficiently high reliability within the constraints of available volume and electrical firing energy. Such devices are limited in their operation in that they suffer from poor reliability, including under exposure to extreme acceleration, limited altitude operation range, and narrow temperature operation range—especially at low operating temperatures. Additionally, they should remain safe and not be susceptible to premature detonation.
In these environments, weight and volume are at a premium, and an increase in system weight and volume presents packaging and weight management problems which may require significant engineering time to solve.
What is needed, therefore, are more reliable actuators.

Enhanced reliability miniature piston actuator for an electronic thermal battery initiator

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


This disclosure relates to a method for deaerating a liquid layer such as a coating solution using electrostatic forces. A flow of charged particles is created above and moved towards a low conductivity liquid layer. The flow of charged particles causes localized thinning of the liquid layer which facilitates the removal of bubbles of entrained gas from the liquid by bringing those bubbles closer to the exposed surface of the liquid and rupturing them at that surface. This electrostatic deaeration technique is combined with other non-electrostatic liquid layer thinning techniques or degassing techniques to further facilitate removal of bubbles from the liquid in preparation of further processing of the liquid. The liquid layer may be stationary or flowing with respect to the application of charge particles.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for deaerating a low conductivity liquid. In a liquid coating process, the present invention employs electrostatic forces to deaerate the coating liquid prior to or after the coating step.
Deaerating, debubbling, defoaming, and degassing are commonly used to describe the same processes of removing a gas from a liquid. In this application, we define defoaming as removing surface bubbles, degassing as removing adsorbed gasses in fluids, creating bubbles, and growing existing bubbles to a larger size, and debubbling or deaerating as removing bubbles from a liquid, including from the surface. Vacuum and ultrasonic devices work by removing adsorbed gasses by forming tiny bubbles and growing existing bubbles to larger diameters. The bubbles are then brought to the surface using gravitational or centrifugal forces, with larger bubbles being removed more rapidly. In this application, we further define xe2x80x9cdeaeratingxe2x80x9d to mean facilitating the removal of bubbles of entrained gas from the liquid, by bringing those bubbles closer to the exposed surface of the liquid and rupturing them at that surface.
This invention has particular utility with respect to the deaeration of coating liquids, and especially for lower conductivity coating liquids, and even more especially for such coating liquids which have higher viscosities. Air entrapment and bubble formation is common in coating methods where the coating liquid is agitated or recirculated. Roll or gravure applicators which use open pans to supply liquid to the coating rolls are often hampered by air entrainment. Some coating liquids also have a tendency to contain or form a significant number of bubbles, especially those with high loadings of surfactants. In addition, the higher the viscosity of the coating liquid, the more difficult it is to remove any bubbles entrained therein. If a bubble gets caught at an interface during the coating process, such as between two coating rolls or in the gap between a die and a coating substrate, streaks and other defects in the coating can occur. In addition, if bubbles are present in the coating liquid dispensed from a curtain or slot coater, not only are defects in the coated products likely (such as bubbles or thin spots), but they may also cause the curtain or extrusion column to break. If air is trapped in the coating liquid as it enters into an oven, blisters and bubble defects will be seen in the dried product.
Known deaerating methods for coating liquids attempted to remove gas (e.g., air) from the coating solution prior to the coating step by holding the solution in a tank, by vacuum extraction, or by ultrasonic agitation. The use of large settling tanks inhibits quick changeover of the solution and increased waste thereof. Additionally, the higher the coating solution""s viscosity, the longer it""s necessary residence time (i.e., the longer it takes for the bubbles to rise to the surface). Vacuum methods of degassing and deaeration must maintain an effective seal against large vacuum levels, which is both costly and difficult to achieve. Ultrasonic methods are cost effective at degassing solutions by removing adsorbed air from the solution and growing larger bubbles in the solution that then more readily move to the solution""s surface due to gravitational forces, but are not as effective at breaking the bubbles at the surface of the coating solution.
In one embodiment, the present invention is a method of deaerating a gas contained in a low conductivity liquid. The method includes providing a support surface and establishing a layer of liquid having a first lower surface contacting a support surface and a second exposed surface. The layer of liquid has bubbles of gas entrained therein and has a thickness. The method further includes causing localized thinning of the layer of liquid by providing a flow of charged particles above the layer of liquid and towards the support surface, whereby the bubbles of gas entrained in the layer of liquid are moved closer to the second exposed surface and ruptured.

Electrostatic deaeration method and apparatus


An apparatus for displaying a double screen in a wide screen display device, the apparatus including a video interface to receive a first and a second video signal from a plurality of video signals according to a selection control signal, wherein each of the first and the second video signals have a general screen aspect ratio; a scaler to scale the first video signal to a resolution of a main screen and to scale the second video signal to a resolution of a subscreen with the general screen aspect ratio; and a control unit to output the selection control signal to display the double screen, control scaling of the first video signal and second video signal, and to simultaneously display the scaled first video signal on an area of a screen and the scaled second video signal on a portion of a remaining area of the screen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and method, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method of displaying a double screen in a display device capable of displaying the double screen, in which a main screen is displayed at a 4:3 aspect ratio on the right or left side of the entire screen and a subscreen is displayed at the 4:3 aspect ratio on the remaining area.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, home televisions are being developed in such a way that they not only provide users with image information but also allow users to enjoy television watching to the fullest, such that televisions can be connected to communication networks and users can search information. Also, with the advent of wide screen televisions, images are displayed on a wide screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio instead of a screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio of normal televisions. Thus, it has become possible to provide users with high-quality broadcasting services.
Presently, most televisions include a video interface capable of connecting to various video signal inputs. When a user desires to watch a video signal aside from a video signal presently input through a video interface, that is input through another video interface, the user must connect to the other video interface and navigate through an on screen display (OSD) menu using a keyboard or remote control of a television, thus manually converting input/output paths of the video signals.
In current televisions, a double screen can be displayed as a picture-in-picture (PIP) or picture-by-picture (PBP) screen.
FIG. 1A illustrates a conventional PIP screen. In FIG. 1A, the PIP screen includes a main screen and a subscreen displayed on a small portion of the main screen. If the double screen is displayed as the PIP screen, a first video signal of the main screen is scaled to a 16:9 aspect ratio and is then displayed on the entire screen. If the first video signal of the main screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio, it is horizontally enlarged to a 16:9 aspect ratio and is then displayed. Thus, distortion with respect to originally input screen information occurs. Also, in the PIP screen, a second video signal of the subscreen is scaled to a 16:9 aspect ratio and is then displayed on a portion of the entire screen at a specific size. If the second video signal of the subscreen has the 4:3 aspect ratio, it is horizontally enlarged to a 16:9 aspect ratio and is then displayed. Thus, distortion with respect to the originally input screen information occurs.
FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional PBP screen. In FIG. 1B, the entire PBP screen is divided into two parts, i.e., a subscreen 1 and a subscreen 2, wherein the two parts are respectively displayed. If the double screen is displayed as the PBP screen, the entire screen is divided into two parts. The video signals of the two parts are scaled to the same aspect ratio and are then displayed. If a first video signal of the subscreen 1 and an second video signal of the subscreen 2 have 4:3 aspect ratios, they are vertically enlarged to 16:9 aspect ratios and are then displayed. Thus, distortion with respect to original input screen information occurs.
FIG. 1C illustrates a screen with the 16:9 aspect ratio on which an original video signal with the 4:3 aspect ratio is displayed. In FIG. 1C, parts on which the 4:3 aspect ratio format video signal is not displayed are processed to be black.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,515,643 discloses such double screen display.
When the double screen is displayed as the PIP screen, some parts of a main screen are covered by a subscreen. As a result, all information of the main screen cannot be displayed. Thus, if a user wishes to receive two types of video signals and simultaneously process such video signals, the user has to scroll the main screen or close the subscreen to watch the covered portion of the main screen. Moreover, if input video signals have a 4:3 aspect ratio, they are enlarged horizontally (in a case of the PIP screen) or vertically (in a case of the PBP screen) with respect to originally input screen information and are then displayed. Consequently, the user must watch a distorted screen.

Method and apparatus displaying double screen


A system and method are provided for a parallel processing of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. A numerical method is provided to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi equation that can be used with various parallel architectures and an improved Godunov Hamiltonian computation.

The applications of solutions to the H-J equation are numerous. The equation arises in the fields of computer vision, image processing, geoscience, and medical imaging and analysis. For example in computer vision, the shape-from-shading problem, which infers 3D surface shape from the intensity values in 2D image, can be modeled and solved with the Eikonal equation, which is a special form of the H-J equation. Extracting the medial axis or skeleton of the shape can be done by analyzing solutions of the H-J equation with the boundaries specified at the shape contour.
Solutions to the H-J equation have been proposed for noise removal, feature detection and segmentation. In physics, the H-J equation arises in models of wavefront propagation. For instance, the calculation of the travel times of the optimal trajectories of seismic waves is a critical process for seismic tomography. Several methods based on the H-J equation have also recently been introduced as a means for describing connectivity in white matter in medical image analysis.
The Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equations (PDEs), are given by the following equation (1):H(∇u,x)=1, ∀xεΩ  (1)where Ω is a domain in Rn, u(x) is solution, which can be considered as a travel time or distance from the boundary conditions. Of particular interest is the special formH(∇u,x)=√{square root over ((∇u)M(∇u)T)}{square root over ((∇u)M(∇u)T)}  (2)where M is the speed tensor matrix defined on Ω. We use the Hamiltonian equation defined below for our model equation (3):
                                          H                                      (                              p                ,                q                ,                r                            )                                =                                                    ap                2                            +                              dq                2                            +                              fr                2                            +                              2                                                  (                                      bpq                    +                    cpr                    +                    eqr                                    )                                                                                M            =                          [                                                                    a                                                        b                                                        c                                                                                b                                                        d                                                        e                                                                                c                                                        e                                                        f                                                              ]                                ,                      p            =                                          ∂                H                                            ∂                x                                              ,                      q            =                                          ∂                H                                            ∂                y                                              ,                      r            =                                          ∂                H                                            ∂                z                                                                        (        3        )            where p, q, and r are partial derivatives of ui at x along x, y, and z axis, and a, b, c, d, e, and f are upper triangular elements of the matrix M. Equation 1 becomes the Eikonal equation when M is an identity matrix times a scalar function, f( ) which is often called the speed function.
A number of different numerical strategies have been proposed to efficiently solve the H-J equation. These methods can generally be classified into two groups. One group is a class of iterative methods based on a fixed-point update using Jacobi or Gauss-Seidel schemes. Other early work solves the Eikonal equation, a special case of H-J equation, by updating the solutions of the grid using a pre-defined updating order and Godunov upwind Hamiltonian until they converge. This method is simple to implement and produces viscosity solutions, but involves many iterations to converge, and for the worst case situation, complexity can approach the order of O(N2) where N is the number of data elements to be processed. A Fast Sweeping method has also been proposed, which uses a Gauss-Seidel updating order for fast convergence. The Fast Sweeping method has a computational complexity on the order of O(kN) where N is the number of elements to be processed and k depends on the complexity of the speed function. The Fast Sweeping method and a Godunov upwind discretization of the class of convex Hamiltonians can be employed to solve anisotropic H-J equations. Another interpretation of Hamiltonians has been introduced based on the Legendre transformation, which appears to be a Godunov Hamiltonian. This method employs the Lax-Friedrichs Hamiltonian for arbitrary static H-J equations. The proposed method is simple to implement and can be used widely on both convex and non-convex H-J equations, but it involves many more iterations than the Godunov Hamiltonian and the solution shows excessive diffusion due to the nature of the scheme. In general, the iterative methods are slow to converge and are not suitable for interactive applications.
The second group of H-J solvers is based on adaptive updating schemes and sorting data structures. A Dijkstra-type shortest path method has been used to solve convex H-J equations, which are generally referred to as the Fast Marching methods. The main idea behind this method is that solutions for a convex Hamiltonian depend only on the upwind neighbors along the characteristics, so the causality relationship can be determined uniquely and the correct solutions can be computed by only a single pass update. The complexity of the Fast Marching method is O(NlogN), which is the best possible (optimal) asymptotic limit for the worst-possible input data (i.e. worst-case optimal). In this algorithm the running time is slightly affected by the complexity of the speed function. However, for a class of general H-J equations, tracing the characteristics can cause expensive searching among a wider range of neighborhoods of nodes than solving equations using an iterative numerical method. In addition, the method uses a global sorting data structure, e.g., a heap, and therefore the parallelization is not straightforward.

Fast iterative method for processing hamilton-jacobi equations


A submarine shallow hydrate exploitation device, including an exploitation unit and a collection unit. The exploitation unit includes: a submarine ship working on a seabed; a drain chamber arranged on the submarine ship, wherein a pressure valve is arranged at a top of the drain chamber, one-way drain holes are formed in a bottom of the drain chamber, and water from massive hydrates is controlled to be discharged out of the drain chamber; a high-speed spiral bit configured to mine and convey sediments; a rotary ring arranged at an inlet end of the drain chamber and configured to connect the drain chamber with the high-speed spiral bit to provide rotation power for the high-speed spiral bit; a steering arm arranged on the submarine ship and configured to realize a rotation of the high-speed spiral bit; a crusher arranged on the submarine ship and configured to crush dried massive hydrates.

As a highly potential energy resource, natural gas hydrate is widely distributed in oceans and ever frozen soil around the world, and hydrates have already been discovered in the seabed of the Source China sea and in frozen soil of the Qilian Mountain.
Because of the unique physical and chemical properties and variable dynamic characteristics of the hydrates in different environments, geologies and landforms with different characteristics may be presented on the seabed in the formation, migration and decomposition process of the hydrates. Investigations reveal that submarine landforms such as submarine pits, submarine mud volcanoes, cold springs and hydrate hills are closely related to the hydrates and are advantageous geological evidences indicating the presence of hydrates. Submarine mud volcanoes, pits and hydrate hills have been successively discovered in various countries such as in Blake Plateau, American Hydrate Ridge, Gulf of Mexico, Yulong Basin of Korea, Nankai Trough in Japan, Barbados Island, Mediterranean Sea, Caspian Sea, Okhotsk Sea and other sea areas, and a large quantity of hydrates have been found in these special submarine landform development areas.
An efficient and authoritative exploitation device for massive hydrates reserved in mud volcanoes, pits and hydrate hills in shallow sea areas has not been invented yet at present. The invention provides an intelligent mining vehicle lifting and pressure releasing device for massive hydrates in shallow sea areas. According to the intelligent mining vehicle lifting and pressure releasing device for submarine shallow massive hydrates, a submarine mining vehicle is controlled by a ship on the sea surface to mine hydrates and sediments on the seabed and then to and crush the hydrates which are in turn lifted by a mooring rope of the ship to a shallow position to be heated, and the hydrates are promoted to be decomposed by means of changes to the phase equilibrium conditions of the hydrates. This intelligent mining vehicle lifting and pressure releasing device for submarine shallow massive hydrates has the advantages of being efficient, economical, and the like.
Chinese invention Patent Publication No. CN108222892 provides an exploitation device and method for continuous exploitation of marine natural gas hydrates. In this patent, a drilling approach is adopted and is implemented in such as manner that a drill pipe is stretched into a hydrate reservoir (a certain depth under the seabed) to crush hydrates along the reservoir by means of a high-pressure water flow, and exploitation device and method carry out exploitation on the basis of a solid fluidization method and are typically used to exploit hydrates within a certain depth of the sea.

Submarine shallow hydrate exploitation device and exploitation method thereof


An integrated fuse device (1) includes a varistor stack (11), a thermal fuse (12), and a current fuse (13) within an enclosure (2) having device terminals (3). The varistor stack (11) is connected to the thermal fuse (12) by a Cu terminal (20) and is connected to the device terminal (3) by steel terminal (10) of smaller cross-sectional area. Being of Cu material and having a greater cross-sectional area, the terminal (20) connected to the thermal fuse (12) has greater thermal conductivity than the steel terminal (10) to the end cap (3). The thermal fuse (12) comprises a plurality of links having a melting point to melt with sustained overvoltage, the links having a diameter in the range of about 2 mm to about 3 mm. The links pass through an elastomer plug (15), which exerts physical pressure on them to assist with opening during sustained overvoltage. Hot melt (18) around solder (17) of the thermal fuse limits heat conduction to back-fill sand.

The device and techniques disclosed herein relate generally to transient voltage surge suppression.
At present, in industrial type applications, such protection is often provided by a power distribution panel having a suppression module included inside. This suppression module typically consists of metal oxide varistors ("MOV"), which provide the surge suppression function. However under certain fault conditions the coating on the MOVs can burn and/or the MOV may rupture causing fragments to be expulsed. To safeguard against these events a typical suppression module will contain some form of thermal disconnect component and special fusing components to open prior to the MOV rupturing. Additional electronics are also included to indicate whether either the thermal disconnect or the fusing has operated.
At present it is known to assemble the discrete components either on a printed circuit board or by means of some mechanical joining method, (e.g. attached individually or to a busbar) and then to enclose the assembly with a suitable enclosure which would prevent expulsion of fragments of a component should a catastrophic failure occur under fault conditions. In addition, the enclosure must also contain a fire should a component combust under fault conditions. These requirements require relatively expensive enclosures which in some cases may be filled with a flame/arc damping material such as sand. It has been known for the enclosure to be a significant portion of the total cost of the total module. Since the main components such as the MOV, fuse and thermal disconnect are all individual components special attention needs to be taken to ensure that the combination of the components will operate as required.
The exemplary embodiments of present disclosure address at least the problems discussed above.

Transient voltage surge suppression device


A rotating electric machine for a vehicle includes a rectifier constituting a rectification circuit which rectifies the alternating current generated in the stator; a battery terminal protruding from the rectifier and configured to be connected with a battery cable; an insulating member having a through hole in which the battery terminal is inserted; and a waterproof cap attached to the insulating member so as to cover a connection part of the battery terminal with the battery cable in a waterproof state. One of an inner peripheral surface of the through hole of the insulating member and an outer peripheral surface of the battery terminal has a conical tapered face. The insulating member and the battery terminal are pressed against each other at the tapered face.

A conventional rotating electric machine for a vehicle is provided with a rectifier for converting alternating current generated in a stator into direct current, and a wire harness is connected to an output terminal attached to the rectifier. For example, in the configuration of JP 2006-340516 A, a molded member obtained by insert-molding a sleeve is fitted around the outer periphery of the output terminal. Then, the molded member and the output terminal are inserted into a hole provided in the housing for protecting the rectifier, so that the output terminal and the connection terminal on the wire harness side can be connected.


A flexible display panel and a flexible display apparatus are provided. The flexible display panel comprises a flexible substrate, an organic light-emitting layer disposed on a side of the flexible substrate and having a first side facing the flexible substrate and an opposing side, and a thin-film-encapsulation layer disposed on the opposing side of the organic light-emitting layer and including at least one organic encapsulation layer and at least one inorganic encapsulation layer. The flexible display panel includes at least one bending area. The at least one organic encapsulation layer has a first side facing the flexible substrate and an opposing side. In the at least one bending area, at least one groove is formed on the opposing side of the at least one organic encapsulation layer. A bottom width W of the at least one groove is configured to be

Emerging flexible display technology has gained a lot of attention. When bending an existing flexible display panel, due to the thickness of the flexible display panel, a substantially large bending stress is generated in the flexible display panel. The substantially large bending stress easily causes cracks or even breakage in the bending area of the display panel.
The disclosed flexible display panel, fabrication method for the flexible display panel, and flexible display apparatus are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.

Flexible display panel, fabrication method, and flexible display apparatus

Abstract: W  ≥            n              180                °                  π                                R      .


A method of producing an open, porous structure having an outer surface defining a shape having a bulk volume and having interconnecting openings extending throughout said volume and opening through said surface, and products resulting from the method. The method comprises preparing a viscous mixture comprising a sinterable powder dispersed in a sol of a polymer in a primary solvent, replacing the primary solvent with a secondary liquid in which the polymer is insoluble to produce a gel comprising an open polymeric network having the sinterable powder arranged therein, removing the secondary liquid from the gel; removing the polymer network, and sintering the sinterable powder to form the open, porous structure. Also disclosed are shaped, porous products resulting from methods of the invention.

Sintered, porous materials made of, for example, ceramics or metals, have many uses in a variety of fields, including the fields of industry and medicine. Certain porous sintered structures can serve as filters, for example, whereas others may serve as bone substitute materials. Sinterable particles of various types may be molded, with or without the presence of organic binders, into a desired shape and then fired to remove the binder and to cause the particles to flow into each other at their points of contact. Preformed polymeric structures such as sponges and the like may be infused with a ceramic slip, dried, and fired to remove the organic support and to sinter together the ceramic particles, all for the purpose of manufacturing materials having reasonably large size pores and which are suitable for use as bone substitute materials. Reticulated structures of this kind have the advantage over other porous structures in that there is a three dimensional open continuum without openings being blocked. Thus, full advantage is taken for any merit that porosity confers such as having a fully available internal surface area.
In conventional sintered materials such as ceramic bodies, structures free of pores are normally desired. In the early stages of sintering or consolidation, pores in the structure are largely open from one pore to the next, but the structure is weak. As sintering proceeds, the pores become increasingly smaller and eventually are closed as they are filled by various sintering mechanisms such as diffusion. When a sintered body is about 90% dense, nearly all the pores are closed and thus are isolated from one another.
In general terms, the strength of a sintered body increases as porosity decreases. Conventional methods of making porous bodies involve the use of foaming agents, or the use of particulate materials that can be burned out, but interconnections between the resulting pores are usually far from complete. Connections leading to a more open porosity increase with greater pore formation; hence, resulting in less solid materials with thinner walls and leading to weak structures. These processes have been applied to making closed pore media useful for thermal insulation. Where very fine pores are needed, strength is sacrificed as is the degree of porosity available.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An extendable straw includes a relatively smaller diameter tube, a relatively larger diameter tube, and a collar. The smaller diameter tube includes a radially enlarged section adjacent one end. The larger diameter tube receives the smaller diameter tube and is more flexible than the smaller diameter tube. The radially enlarged section contacts and seals against an inner surface of the larger diameter tube. The collar is connected at a non-drinking end of the larger diameter tube, the collar being more rigid than the larger diameter tube and receiving the smaller diameter tube. The smaller diameter tube is movable in an axial direction with respect to both the collar and the larger diameter tube. At least one of the collar and the larger diameter tube cooperates with the radially enlarged section to inhibit further axial movement of the smaller diameter tube with respect to the collar beyond an extended position.

Conventional telescoping straws typically include at least a first pipe and a second pipe received in the first pipe, where a structure of the first pipe directly engages a structure of the second pipe in a sliding relationship between a slid forward position and a slid back position. It is a current problem in conventional telescoping straws to reliably maintain a functional seal between the first pipe and the second pipe at a sliding point of contact between the first pipe and the second pipe.
Because the first pipe and the second pipe of conventional telescoping straws engage each other directly, the material forming each of the first pipe and the second pipe must be sufficiently rigid so as to maintain a structural integrity of the connection between the first pipe and the second pipe. However, employing such sufficiently rigid materials for the first pipe and the second pipe is not advantageous for maintaining an effective seal at the sliding point of contact between the first pipe and the second pipe. Consequently, conventional telescoping straws lack an adaptive structure between the first pipe and the second pipe that would enable incorporating relatively flexible materials in a telescoping straw design for improving the quality of a seal therebetween.


A method for interactive defining and managing of a controlled diet, prescribed to a patient by a doctor/dietician, includes the asynchronous execution of at least two different operational cycles. A first operational cycle is effected through an interactive terminal and includes a step, in which the foods to be consumed in a given meal are chosen from a first food data base, quantifying the chosen food and assessing the congruity of the choices with what is prescribed and transmitting the data to a central processing unit. A second operational cycle executed by the doctor/dietician on a central processing unit, includes acquiring the data related to the quantities and to the composition of the foods chosen by this patient and comparing this data with the dietary order, and if possible acquiring updated orders and transmitting the updated orders to the patient's interactive terminal.

The present invention relates to the technical field concerning telemedicine applied to the nutrition.
In particular, the invention relates to a method for defining and managing an interactive dietary diary, aimed at helping both a subject who must or is going to follow a specific diet, with the aim of optimizing the diet qualitative and quantitative composition, and the doctor/dietician who plans the diet and follows its effects on the subject. The invention relates also to a system, aimed at carrying out the aforesaid method.

Method and system for defining and interactively managing a watched diet