A lead frame is made of conductive material, and includes an interconnecting web portion and a plurality of unit lead frames. Each unit lead frame includes a die pad and a plurality of leads. The die pad has a die-attach section disposed below an upper surface of the interconnecting web portion, and a plurality of extension sections bent at an angle from a periphery of the die-attach section and projecting to the interconnecting web portion. The die pad is formed with a plurality of grooves formed at an underside of junctions of the die-attach section and the extension sections. The leads extend from the interconnecting web portion toward and are spaced apart from the die pad.

In the packaging industry, lead frames are commonly used in integrated circuit packaging including, for example, Quad Flat Package (QFP), Small Outline Package (SOP), Thin Small Outline Package (TSOP), etc. Referring to FIG. 1, an existing package component 100 generally includes a lead frame 11, a die 12, and a compound 13 which encapsulates the die 12 and the lead frame 11 after being cured. The lead frame 11 has a die-attach portion 111 for carrying the die 12, a plurality of peripheral extensions 112 extended from the die-attach portion 111, and a plurality of leads 113 exposed out of the compound 13 for external electrical connection of the die 12. The package component 100 is packaged by the compound 13 into an exposed pad type package (that is, the bottom surface of the die-attach portion 111 is exposed, as shown in FIG. 1), or a normal package (that is, the compound overlays the bottom surface of the die-attach portion 111, not shown).
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the manufacture of the aforementioned lead frame 11, a lead frame preform 11A, which has the top surface of the die-attach portion 111 and the leads 113 on the same plane, is placed into a stamping press. With the cooperation of a punch 42 and a lower die 41 of the stamping press, the die-attach portion 111 of the lead frame preform 11A is pressed downward by the punch 42, so that the junction of the die-attach portion 111 and the extensions 112 is bent, and that the die-attach portion 111 and the leads 113 are located at different heights. The lead frame 11 is then undergoing die bonding and wire bonding, and subsequently the die 12 and the lead frame 11 are packaged by compound 13 to obtain the package component 100 with exposed pad. However, a round corner is prone to form at the junction of the die-attach portion 111 and the extensions 112 after stamping and bending, which leads to a poor attachment of the die-attach portion 111 to an inner surface of a packaging mold (not shown) and with gaps being left therebetween. Therefore, the compound 13 may form mold flash on the bottom surface of the die-attach portion 111 during the packaging process, which could result in reduced exposed surface of the die-attach portion 111, and worsen the overall heat dissipation of the package component 100, as well as, disadvantage the surface characteristic of the package component 100 in subsequent connecting with other components.

Lead frame having a die pad with a plurality of grooves on an underside


This disclosure describes a double-sided transmission substrate formed with striplines and end-ports in juxtaposition on either side. The transmission substrate is sandwiched between two exterior dielectric substrates, each coated on one side with a metallic layer. The three substrates are laminated together. Through-holes are drilled into the lamination and its interior substrate, at known locations to intersect the said ports. The copper exteriors of each board are etched to identify two contact pad lands on each side. Plated-thru holes are created to connect to each of the ports.

A stripline coupler consists typically of a pair of shaped and juxtaposed planar transmission line conductors located between two ground planes. This structure shields the conductors from the electrical influences of adjacent components and helps to contain the electromagnetic fields to the area within the two ground planes. Since the circuit is fabricated with the transmission line conductors contained within and necessarily separated from the two ground planes, provision must be made to connect external components or circuit paths to the internal transmission lines.
Making this connection effectively between the stripline directional couplers and its mother-board in the prior art devices has been one of the factors contributing to a relatively high cost of the devices. Typically, stripline directional couplers have been fabricated by mechanically securing an assembly of multiple boards with stripline paths thereon. Lamination is not typically employed. Drilled hole openings in the outer layers provide a means for effectively allowing soldering to the inner transmission lines. The process is labor-intensive.
The method traditionally used for connecting to the inner striplines is not as reliable as needed and, further, is not cost-effective. However, unit cost reductions are difficult to achieve while at the same time retaining uniform coupling characteristics and a high degree of isolation between certain ones of the ports. Isolation in this context is the ratio of the power of the input to a given port to the power at the isolated port. Isolation is a measure of any unevenness in the substrate or variation in the spacing of the ground planes.
Mounting of these devices to mother-boards with highly reliable, easy-to-effect solder steps, while at the same time conserving on the limited mother-board mounting area, is also desirable, but hard to achieve because of the requirement to fit increasingly larger numbers of components onto mother-boards.
The prior art supplies many techniques for making stripline directional couplers and for effecting exterior connections to the interior striplines. U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,007, issued Apr. 11, 1989, teaches the plating of holes routed through an insulating circuit board and through the interior stripline transmission path. The plated holes then are bisected by cutting the board along a line that passes through each plated hole. The cut forms a semi-cylindrical plated indentation where the cut bisects each hole. These exposed plated surfaces are on the edge of the stripline and, accordingly, can be used as electrical contacts for bead-soldering to a mother-board. Further, since the plated indentation extends to both sides of the cut board, the resulting component can be soldered to the mother-board from either of its sides. While advantage is thus gained from the teaching of 4,821,007 to forming contact pads, the approach has the disadvantage of having to bisect each contact hole which, as noted, may stress the plated area and lead to unreliable connections as well as inefficient use of limited available mounting area.

Directional stripline structure and manufacture


A timer circuit is disclosed which includes a counter counting a clock signal, a register temporarily storing data, and a comparator comparing a count value of the counter with the data stored in the register and producing a signal when the count value of the counter reaches the value represented by the data stored in the register. Further provided in the timer circuit are detection circuit detecting the value of the data stored in the register and producing a detection signal when the register is written with data indicative of a value that is equal to an initial value of the counter and a circuit responding to the detection circuit to cause the register to change the value of the data stored therein to another value that is different from the initial value of the counter.

The present invention relates to a timer circuit and, more particularly, to a timer circuit provided as one of peripheral units of a microcomputer.
A microcomputer includes various types of peripheral units. A timer circuit is one of the peripheral units. The timer circuit counts a clock signal to issue cyclically an interrupt request to a central processing unit (CPU) of the microcomputer. The CPU suspends the program execution in response to the interrupt request and initiates an interrupt program. The cycle of the interrupt request can be set by the CPU.
More specifically, as a timer circuit according to prior art is shown in FIG. 6, the CPU (not shown}generates a read-enable signal WENS while supplying a register 60 with data indicative of the cycle period, count data DIN. In response to the signal WENS, the register 60 fetches and supplies the data DIN to a comparator 61. On the other hand, a counter 62 is counting a clock signal having a reference cycle and reset by the signal WENS through an OR gate 63. The counter 62 resumes the clock counting operation when the write-enable signal WENS disappears. The count value of the counter 62 is supplied to the comparator 61. Therefore, when the count value of the counter 62 reaches the data stored in the register 60, the comparator 61 produces an interrupt request signal INTQ. This signal INTQ resets the counter 62 through the OR gate 63. The counter thereafter resumes the clock counting operation. The cycle period of the interrupt request signal INTQ is thus controllable by the value of the count data DIN.
Although the write operation of the count data DIN into the register 60 is performed by the instruction execution by the CPU, the write-enable signal WENS happens to be produced undesirably due to the variation in a power voltage or an external noise. In this case, the counter 62 is reset to an initial value, and the register 60 fetches the count data DIN of this time. If the content of the count data DIN of this time is equal to the initial value of the counter 62, the comparator produces immediately the interrupt request signal INTQ. The CPU is shifted to execute the interrupt program. The interrupt request signal INTQ resets the counter 62 to the initial value, whereas the register 60 retains the data equal to the initial value of the counter 62. For this reason, the comparator 61 is brought into a condition of continuing to produce the interrupt request signal INTQ. The CPU is thus never released from the interrupt program routine. Such an abnormal condition may occur by a programming miss in which the content of count data to be written into the register 60 by the execution of a data write instruction is the same as the initial value of the counter 62.

Timer circuit having comparator comparing contents of counter and register


A household appliance (100) comprises a cabinet (105) accommodating a drum for loading items to be dried and a drying air circuit for circulating drying air through the drum for drying the items therein. The drying air circuit comprises air heating elements (415) for heating the drying air fed to the drum, and the cabinet is provided with a worktop (110) defining a surface (130) having a plurality of apertures (135) in fluid communication with an air conveying system (205,225,230) adapted to deliver a flow of air through said apertures. The air conveying system comprises an air duct (230) thermally coupled to the air heating elements in such a way as to cause heat generated by the air heating elements to heat the air to be delivered through the apertures in the drying surface.

The present invention relates in general to the field of household appliances, and more particularly to laundry drying appliances like laundry dryers and washer-dryers.
Garments made of delicate textile materials, such as cashmere, are not adapted to undergo regular drying treatments in a tumble dryer, owing to the mechanical stresses, mainly in the form of impacts, which the textile fibres would be subject to. More gentle drying treatments are thus recommendable for these delicate textiles, such as line drying or flat drying, which on the other hand are rather time-consuming processes.
The solutions disclosed in the European patent applications EP 1845185 and EP 1854916, both in the name of the present Applicant, are effective in eliminating the above cited drawbacks, by providing a household appliance that comprises a cabinet with a worktop defining a drying surface featuring a plurality of apertures, each one of which is fluidly connected to drying air conveying means adapted to deliver a flow of warm drying air towards and through said apertures, for gently but rapidly drying garments that are laid upon the worktop drying surface.
In the two cited applications, in order to warm up the flow of drying air to be conveyed through the apertures in the drying surface so as to dry the garments laid thereon, dedicated heating means are provided, for example electric heating elements arranged downstream air circulating means, i.e. a blower, that blow air into an air passage formed underneath the drying surface.

Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V.


The invention relates to a valve (1) comprising a main valve (2), a pilot valve (3), a housing (4), an inlet (5) and an outlet (8). Opening and closing of the main valve (2) is controlled by the pilot valve (3). A pilot valve seat (10) is arranged in a diaphragm (6). A pilot chamber (11) is arranged in the housing (4) separated from the inlet (5) and the outlet (8) by the diaphragm (6). Task of the invention is to provide a valve with a lower cost. According to the invention a support member (17) supports the diaphragm (6), wherein the support member (17) is guided in the housing, and wherein a radial gap (26) is arranged between the radially outer end of the diaphragm (6) and the housing (4) in a radial direction perpendicular to the opening direction of the pilot valve (3). Thereby, a cheaper, less resistant material for the diaphragm can be used.

Piloted valves are often used to control the flow of fluids, in particular under increased fluid pressure. The pilot valve is a directly controlled valve, e.g. a solenoid valve or the like. By operating the pilot valve the pressure differences between the pilot chamber and the inlet/outlet can be changed to indirectly open the main valve. Under high fluid pressures this solution is more reliable and energy saving then having to overcome the pressure forces with a directly operated valve.
A valve of the above mentioned kind is for example known from WO 2014/207683 A1. Therein the diaphragm is supported by a washer ring and two ring disk-shaped support members. The center of the diaphragm is sandwiched between the two ring disk-shaped support members. A radially outer end of the diaphragm is fixed to the housing by the washer ring. The pilot valve orifice is arranged in the center of both ring disk-shaped support members.
This solution works well to keep the diaphragm in place and the priority valve seat centered if the diaphragm is sufficiently rigid and does not expand or contract too much due to thermal influences or due to absorption of a refrigerant or other fluids. Consequently, the choice of materials for the diaphragm is rather limited. At the same time, the limited choice of materials also result in a limitation of the applications of the valve since the possible materials for the diaphragm are in some cases incompatible to certain fluids and/or pressure or temperature conditions.

Valve with a pilot valve seat arranged in a diaphragm


An engine control system for a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine includes a position determination module, a position correction module, and a valve control module. The position determination module determines an initial position of an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve based on a predetermined function of a desired EGR flow, intake manifold pressure, exhaust manifold pressure, and exhaust gas temperature. The position correction module determines a position correction for the EGR valve based on pressure in a cylinder of the HCCI engine. The valve control module commands the EGR valve to the initial position during a transition from spark ignition (SI) combustion to HCCI combustion, and commands the EGR valve to a final position within a predetermined period after the transition, wherein the final position includes a sum of the initial position and the position correction.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines combust an air/fuel (NF) mixture within cylinders to produce drive torque. For example, in an HCCI combustion mode the A/F mixture may be automatically ignited when compressed by pistons (i.e. compression ignition). Alternatively, for example, in a spark ignition (SI) combustion mode the A/F mixture may be ignited by spark plugs in the cylinders after the pistons compress the A/F mixture. Moreover, there are transitions states between the combustion modes (e.g., transitioning from SI to HCCI).
The HCCI combustion mode may increase engine efficiency and/or fuel economy compared to the SI combustion mode. However, the HCCI combustion mode may be limited to a predetermined HCCI operating zone in order to reduce combustion noise and protect the engine from damage due to excessive pressure increases associated with HCCI. Therefore, pressure sensors may be implemented in one or more of the cylinders and may be used to monitor cylinder pressure, particularly during the HCCI combustion mode.
However, the HCCI combustion mode may also require precise control of A/F ratio, fuel injection timing, and other engine operating parameters to prevent decreased fuel efficiency and/or increased emissions. More specifically, lower peak temperatures during combustion (compared to SI combustion mode) may lead to incomplete burning of fuel and thus decreased fuel efficiency. Furthermore, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions may be higher during the HCCI combustion mode than in the SI combustion mode due to leaner A/F mixtures used in the HCCI combustion mode.

Systems and methods for exhaust gas recirculation control in homogeneous charge compression ignition engine systems


A device for creating an angular biasing force for the roller tube of a security shade, which roller tube is mounted to a fixed structure of a vehicle. The device comprises an element attached to the fixed structure of the vehicle and a plurality of force units, each including a torsion spring exerting a biasing force between the structure and the roller tube, wherein the torsion springs each have a first inner end associated with the fixed structure and a second outer end associated with the roller tube so the torsion biasing force of each spring is in a direction from the fixed structure to the roller tube. The total angular force of the device is the sum of the biasing forces of all of the torsion spring force units when the units are connected in parallel. When connected in series, the magnitude of angular rotation is the sum of the angle of rotation of all units.

The normal shade retraction devices or mechanisms used in the automobile industry employ a single torsion spring at each end to exert the retraction biasing force on the roller tube supporting the security shade. Consequently, a different device with a different coefficient of rotational force is required for each of the various security shade installations. A different torsion spring is required to provide a different biasing force in the rotational direction. This situation necessitated engineering different torsional spring designs and modification of the volume or cavity used to mount the different sized torsion springs. Furthermore, the magnitude of angular rotation is also fixed at a given angle by the construction of the torsion spring at each end of the shade. Thus, each torsion spring was designed for a particular motor vehicle and the surrounding mechanism for mounting the security shade was custom designed for each installation. This presents substantial engineering costs and a need for a large inventory of different torsion spring designs and different housings for devices using the different sized torsion springs. The custom designed torsion spring requirement also impacts the aftermarket. For instance, if a security shade is to be mounted in a particular motor vehicle, the aftermarket must provide a full host of different spring designs. Such lack of uniformity complicated the aftermarket and also increased the OEM cost and the device inventory requirements. As can be appreciated, there is a need for solving the problems associated with the diverse needs of devices to create a rotational force and angular movement to retract a security shade of the type now becoming quite popular. The prior art units increased the size of the housing at each end of the shade.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Device for creating an angular biasing force


Methods and apparatus are provided for wireless communication in which a downlink control information (DCI) is transmitted in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a first bandwidth part (BWP). A UE is responsible for determining a starting resource block (RB) for a data transmission allocated by the DCI based on a value of a frequency domain resource allocation field in the DCI, a reference RB, and a reference size of a second BWP. The data transmission can then be transmitted, in the case of, for example, PUSCH, by a UE or received, in the case of, for example, PDSCH.

An air interface is the wireless communications link between two or more communicating devices, such as a radio access network device (e.g., a base station, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB, a transmit point) and an electronic device (ED) (e.g., a user equipment (UE), a mobile phone, a sensor, a camera). Typically, both communicating devices need to know specific parameters of the air interface in order to successfully transmit and receive a transmission.
Configuring the communicating devices with the same air interface parameters allows the communicating devices to reliably identify, organize and use physical resources, such as time, frequency, or time and frequency resources. Therefore, in current wireless communications systems, transmissions are typically communicated in accordance with one pre-defined configuration for the air interlace.
Modern wireless networks, however, are increasingly used to support communications of diverse traffic types, which may have different characteristics and quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as latency, throughput, and simultaneous connections. Consequently, the different traffic types of modern wireless networks are not well-suited for a one-size-fits-all air interface configuration.
In cellular communications such as New Radio (NR), downlink control information (DCI) is transmitted through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) from the radio access network device to the ED to provide the ED with information about specific physical layer parameters such as scheduling of downlink or uplink data, and other configuration parameters.
An ED is configured with one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) within the carrier bandwidth. Each BWP consists of a number of contiguous resource blocks (RBs) within the carrier. In certain scenarios, only one of the configured BWPs is active for the ED at a given time instant. In other scenarios, more than one of the configured BWPs are simultaneously active for the ED.
An ED is configured with a number of control resource sets (CORESETs) in each of the ED's configured BWPs, each CORESET being a set of physical time and frequency resources for possible transmission of PDCCH. A number of search spaces are configured and associated to each CORESET. Each search space associated with a CORESET corresponds to a number of subsets of resources in the CORESET, each subset corresponding to a PDCCH candidate.
The ED reads the information in the DCI via a process known as "blind decoding". The location of the PDCCH containing the DCI, in physical time and frequency transmission resources, is not previously known to the ED. Therefore, the ED must "blindly" search for the PDCCH in a designated area of physical time and frequency resources (the aforementioned resource subsets in a search space) by making repeated attempts to decode PDCCH candidates in the search space.
For each PDCCH candidate, the ED may need to try different decoding parameters to decode the DCI. For example, DCIs can be transmitted with different payload sizes. For a given PDCCH candidate, different DCI payload sizes may result in different encoding/decoding code rates. The ED can only decode the candidate DCI if the ED has used the correct payload size. In practice, the ED cannot realistically try an infinite number of different combinations of DCI payload sizes during blind decoding due to time and processing constraints. In cellular communications such as New Radio (NR), for example, the ED may be restricted to only attempting a few (e.g., four in total per slot) different DCI payload sizes during blind decoding.
In certain scenarios, the ED may be configured in an active BWP of the carrier bandwidth to try to decode a DCI whose payload size is based on another bandwidth part of the carrier bandwidth. In this case however, the contents of the DCI may be unclear to the ED, or subject to misinterpretation, because a DCI field, the size of which is based on a BWP (of size1), needs to be interpreted to schedule data in another BWP (of size2), where size2≠size1.

Method and apparatus for downlink control information communication and interpretation


In accordance with an embodiment, an optical scanning apparatus for exposing a photoconductor includes a light source, a deflecting device, an imaging optical system and a light-guiding optical system. The light source configured to emit a light beam. The deflecting device configured to deflect and scan the light beam from the light source. The imaging optical system configured to form an image by using the deflected and scanned light beam on the photoconductor. The light-guiding optical system configured to guide the light beam passing through the imaging optical system to a photodetector.

An optical scanning apparatus scans the light beam emitted from a light source in a horizontal scanning direction and then guides the light beam to a photoconductor. Here, the light beam from the light source is partially guided to a synchronous detection sensor, and the beginning positions of the images (electrostatic latent images) on the photoconductor are unified based on the output of the synchronous detection sensor.

Optical scanning apparatus and image forming apparatus


A string compact adjustment apparatus installed on a head of a stringed instrument includes a tuning peg, a pintle, a string holder, a holding ring, a clamp ring and a compact bushing. The pintle runs through the head. The holding ring and clamp ring run through the pintle and fixedly couple on the head. The string holder is fastened to one end of the pintle close to the holding ring, and the tuning peg is fastened to another end thereof. The compact bushing has a contact surface and the clamp ring has a mating latch surface. The compact bushing is pushed by the tuning peg to allow the contact surface to tightly press the latch surface so that the compact bushing is fixedly coupled on the tuning peg and the tuning peg is fixed without turning reversely, thus string tone can be maintained for a long duration.

Conventional stringed instruments include cellos, violas, violins, guitars, ukuleles and the like. They generate sound through resonance of strings and an acoustic box. The tension of the strings directly affects the intonation.
Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 for a conventional adjustment apparatus for tuning the tone of the stringed instruments. It is installed on a head 1 and includes a tuning peg 2, a pintle 3, a string holder 4, a holding ring 5, a clamp ring 6 and a plurality of anti-slip washers 7. The pintle 3 runs through the head 1. The holding ring 5 and clamp ring 6 run through the pintle 3 from two sides of the head 1 and fixedly couple on the head 1. The string holder 4 is fixedly mounted onto one end of the pintle 3 close to the holding ring 5, and the tuning peg 2 is fixedly coupled on another end thereof. The anti-slip washers 7 are run through by the pintle 3 and interposed between the tuning peg 2 and clamp ring 6. The tuning peg 2 presses the anti-slip washers 7 to compress the clamp ring 6 to fix together. The string holder 4 and holding ring 5 may also be interposed by the anti-slip washers 7 to increase anti-slip forces.
The string holder 4 allows a string 8 to fasten thereon. By turning the tuning peg 2, the pintle 3 is driven to drive the string holder 4 to turn, thereby the length of the string 8 can be changed to adjust the tension thereof to further alter the tone to meet performance requirements.
The string holder 4 is threaded through by a string 8. Turning the tuning peg 2, the pintle 3 is driven to turn the string holder 4, thereby the length of the string 8 can be changed to adjust the tension of the string 8, and thus the tone of the string 8 also can be changed to meet performance requirement.
In the conventional string compact adjustment apparatus, the tuning peg 2 and clamp ring 6 are held together merely via frictional force generated by contact between the anti-slip washers 7. When the string 8 is played to generate vibration, the conventional holding structure set forth above cannot prevent the tuning peg 2 from turning reversely and slowly. As a result, the tuning peg 2 gradually loosens and the timber changes during the performance. It cannot meet performance requirement.


An optical information recording medium has light interference layers including a recording layer on a substrate. The recording layer includes an organic dye and a photostabilizer which is, for example, the compound of formula 1

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a recordable optical information recording medium recordable by heat mode such as CD-R, DVD-R or DVD+R, which is capable of recording and reproduction by means of, for example, a laser light having a wavelength of 350 to 830 nm, which contains a certain organic dye together with a photostabilizer such as a specific aminium compound in the recording layer, and which is capable of particularly high speed recording and also has improved light resistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a means for recording and reproducing image data such as characters or graphics, or video or audio data, for example, optical disks known as CD-Rs, which have a recording layer containing pentamethine-based cyanine dye, are available as the recording media capable of recording and reproduction by means of a laser light having a wavelength of 770 to 830 nm. However, it is a recent trend to use DVD-Rs (Digital Video Disk-Recordable or Digital Versatile Disk-Recordable) which are capable of high density recording and reproduction by means of a red laser light having a shorter wavelength than the aforementioned laser light, for example, in the region of 620 to 690 nm, or the like as the next-generation media (optical information recording media) to replace CD-Rs. Moreover, media recordable at even higher density, which are capable of recording and reproduction by, means of so-called blue laser having a wavelength in the order of 400 nm, are also in practical use.
In regard to such CD-R, DVD-R or DVD+R, currently recording performance is being improved by employing in the recording layer an organic dye compound which is responsive to a semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 600 to 800 nm, particularly a wavelength of 640 to 680 nm, and which forms pits by thermal decomposition or the like in accordance with the signal of the information to be recorded, thereby allowing recording. Especially, cyanine dyes and azo dyes are being widely used, since they are advantageous in that a method of high productivity called spin coating can be applied to these dyes, their low heat conductivity enables local heating and therefore formation of pits having good dimensional stability with distinct edges, and in particular, they exhibit high absorption and reflection in the region of the wavelengths of semiconductor lasers.
However, such recordable optical information recording media such as CD-R, DVD-R or DVD+R have problems that when they contain cyanine dyes or general azo dyes in the recording layer, these dyes in general cannot be said to have sufficient light resistance and are susceptible to deterioration by sunlight. Also, they may not be adequate for long-term storage of the recorded material, they are susceptible to deterioration when repeatedly irradiated with laser light upon reproduction, and are likely to impair the quality of the reproducibility of image or sound resulting from reproduction.
As a countermeasure against these problems, it has been attempted to improve the recording layer of CD-R, DVD-R or DVD+R containing cyanine dye, by adding a photostabilizer (quencher) such as a stabilized radical to the main component of the cyanine dye which in general has characteristic absorption in the region of oscillation wavelength of semiconductors, and changing the singlet oxygen, for example, generated by sunlight, which causes discoloration of the dye, to a mild triplet oxygen by way of oxidation thereof. However, when it is desired to preserve recorded material such as the content of encyclopedia for a long time, it cannot be viewed that the improvement is sufficient. Moreover, addition of such photostabilizer causes so-called thermal interference which attenuates the feature of cyanine dye or azo dye that enables local heating, has adverse effect on the recording properties, and in particular, causes deterioration of the recording sensitivity or jitter.
In particular, for the CD-R, DVD-R or DVD+R to be used in the future, in order to perform recording efficiently, it is required from the organic dye compound currently used as the dye for the recording layer to enable speeding up of recording, and thus there is an increasing demand in the market on high speed recording such as 8 times speed as well as 16 times speed recording. In such high speed recording, it is needed to perform writing by irradiating the recording layer with laser light at high speed. For this, increasing the scanning speed of the laser light is needed, and consequently the amount of energy per unit time required for the writing is to be reduced. When it is desired that good pits be formed as the signal for the information to be recorded, it is necessary either to use an organic dye having good reactivity (the ability to degrade and volatilize) which would be able to form good pits even with low energy, to design a material constitution comprising an organic dye and a photostabilizer, or to perform recording with powering up of the irradiated laser light so as to compensate for the reduction in the amount of energy, that is, with so-called formation of pits with high power, or to carry out a few of the above means in combination. In this case, addition of the above-mentioned photostabilizer to cyanine dye faces problems such as that the aforementioned thermal interference is liable to occur and light resistance is not satisfactory, and thus device on the photostabilizer is in need.
As a measure for such photostabilizer, it is disclosed in the description of the publication of JP-A-3-164292 that when a diimmonium compound in which the anionic portion is a transition metal complex is added to the cyanine dye, light resistance is significantly enhanced, as compared with the case of adding a conventional diimmonium compound in which the anionic portion is an inorganic anion instead. Further, it is disclosed in the publications of JP-A-5-148193 and JP-A-5-178808 that addition of a special aminium salt compound and a diimmonium salt (all being substituted with at least one alkoxyalkyl group or alkynyl group) to organic dye results in excellent light resistance, as compared with the case of adding a conventional diimonium salt (having none of the substituent alkoxyalkyl group or alkynyl group) instead.
However, with the recording layer formed from the aforementioned addition of an aminium salt compound or a diimonium compound (diimmonium compound) to a cyanine dye or an azo dye as the photostabilizer, it is not possible to solve the above-mentioned problem, that is, the problem that such addition is still unsatisfactory in realizing, so to speak, the conflicting performance that in order to let the recording layer cope with high speed recording, on one hand, the response of the recording layer to laser light in writing should be enhanced, while on the other hand, the response of the recording layer to any external light such as sunlight should be suppressed to suppress light-induced discoloration.

Abstract: wherein at least one of R1 to R8 represents a substituted alkyl group having a terminal cyano group, with the others represent other substituents; Y represents a monovalent or divalent cation; and Xm− represents a monovalent or divalent anion.


Provided are techniques for providing animation in electronic communications. An image is generated by capturing multiple photographs from a camera or video camera. The first photograph is called the “key photo.” Using a graphics program, photos subsequent to the key photo are edited to cut an element common to the subsequent photos. The cut images are pasted into the key photo as layers. The modified key photo including the layers, is stored as a web-enabled graphics file, which is then transmitted in conjunction with electronic communication. When the electronic communication is received, the key photo is displayed and each of the layers is displayed and removed in the order that each was taken with a short delay between photos. In this manner, a movie is generated with much smaller files than is currently possible.

For the past couple of decades, the amount of electronic communication has grown exponentially every year. Information content associated with the Internet, or websites, now number in the millions and, as the Internet has become increasingly accessible to millions of people, the number of email messages exchanged has also increased. Websites and email are now a common medium for the communication of both personal and business information.
People who market products or services over electronic communication channels often desire to include graphics into their presentations. Although graphics are very effective at capturing the attention of the person receiving the communication, they also require large files that must be stored and transmitted. Over a slow connection, a large file typically takes a proportionally longer time to transmit than a small file. If the transmission time is too long the person receiving the transmission may choose to abort the message.
Currently, there are several techniques for avoiding long transmission times associated with the sending of graphic information. One technique is to send static pictures, i.e. pictures that do not change. However, multiple images composed into "movies" or "animations" are better at attracting a recipient's attention. Of course, multiple images take considerably longer to transmit than a single image.
Movies are typically transmitted as a series of frames, with each frame a picture of the entire shot at successive intervals of time. Of course, each picture in a succession of shots takes time to download. Another technique for generating, movies in electronic communication is the use of flash graphics, or flash. Flash images include an image file and programming code to animate the file. In other words, rather than sending multiple images to achieve a movie affect, flash transmits one image and computer instructions on how to manipulate the image. The computer that receives the flash content then displays the image and executes the instructions to display a dynamic image. Although, this technique saves transmission bandwidth, the programming of the instructions is difficult and the results are limited to that which can be expressed in the transmitted code. In addition, the receiving computer must include a specific program, or plug-in, for executing the flash code.
Increasingly, electronic communication is performed over wireless communication channels. On wireless communication channels, the amount of information able to be transmitted in a short period of time is even more limited than on wired connections.
What is needed is an efficient technique for transmitting dynamic images over wireless, and wired, connections using a minimum or bandwidth. In other words, a new technique should be able to transmit dynamic images in small files such as email messages so that download times are minimized. What is also needed is a technique for electronically transmitting dynamic images, which is simpler in construction, more universally usable and more versatile than current techniques.

Embedding animation in electronic mail, text messages and websites


A dielectric composition having a high temperature property, good specific permittivity and AC breakdown voltage, and low dielectric loss at normal temperature, even though lead is not substantially used. The dielectric composition includes barium titanate, strontium titanate, and bismuth calcium titanate constituting a main component and a subcomponent. The dielectric composition includes a first subcomponent constituted by at least one selected from a compound including manganese, a compound including iron, and a compound including chromium, and the first sub component is included in a ratio of 0.02 to 0.19 wt % in terms of total of MnCo3, Fe2O3, and Cr2O3 with respect to 100 wt % of the main component, and the dielectric composition includes a second subcomponent which is a compound including niobium, and the second subcomponent is included in a ratio of 0.1 to 3 wt % in terms of Nb2O5 with respect to 100 wt % of the main component.

The present invention relates to a dielectric composition and an electronic component.
In recent years, electronic devices have rapidly attained higher-performances, and along with that electronic circuits have rapidly become more compact and more complicated. Thus, electronic components are also demanded to become even more compact and to attain even higher performances. That is, the dielectric composition and the electronic component having high specific permittivity with low loss, high AC breakdown voltage in order to be used under high voltage, and a good temperature property are demanded.
In order to correspond to the above demands, Patent Document 1 discloses PbTiO3—SrTiO3—Bi2Ti3O9 based dielectric composition. However, the dielectric composition includes lead hence it was a problem from environmental point of view.
[Patent Document 1] JP Patent Laid Open No. 2003-163132

Dielectric composition and electronic component


A steam iron having a soleplate to be heated by a heater, an evaporation chamber disposed upon the soleplate, a tank located above the evaporation chamber, and a pump which delivers water from the tank to the evaporation chamber, wherein the pump is driven at specified intervals so as to generate extra steam, to attain an improvement of manipulation of the steam iron in ejecting extra steam and preventing blow-off of hot water.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a steam iron that performs the ironing of clothes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional steam irons, water stored in a tank is supplied to an evaporation chamber where it is evaporated and discharged through an ironing surface. Water is supplied by dripping it from a nozzle at a limited rate so that the water is evaporated instantaneously as it is supplied to the evaporation chamber. A steam jet is started and stopped by opening and closing the nozzle, respectively.
Various types of steam irons that generate a momentary surge of steam in order to increase a fabric ironing effect have been proposed, typical examples of which are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,357 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,763, in which a pumping means is disposed to supply water from a tank to an evaporation chamber. The pumping means is provided with a cylinder which sucks up water from the tank and discharges it into the evaporation chamber and a piston which moves reciprocally in the cylinder. By repeating the manual vertical operation of a control button which controls the operation of the piston, water is forcibly supplied to the evaporation chamber temporarily in a larger quantity than is usually dripped at a limited rate, thereby spouting extra steam.
However, in such a conventional construction as described above, it is difficult to operate in an extra steam mode while a switching operation between steam and dry operation modes is being performed during ironing.
Ironing operation requires, in addition to well-balanced manual operation of horizontal iron movement and pressing down the iron for the pressing of the clothes, pressing down the control button which projects out of the handle against the spring force, when using the extra steam mode. Thus in addition to the strong pressing force required for the ironing operation, the operator must repeat vertical operation of the control button with a large stroke. This means that a great load is imposed on the hand and fingers, so that manipulation of the iron becomes poor.
Moreover, since these operations are performed at the discretion of the operator during ironing and the intervals and the speed of the operation are not constant the amount of spouted steam varies. And a supply of water in a quantity that exceeds the capability of the evaporation chamber to instantaneously evaporate the water causes a dangerous spout of hot water that has not been evaporated.
Furthermore, since the amount of spouted steam required for the finish of ironing varies depending upon the kinds of fabric to be ironed, and the operator controls the quantity of steam spouted at the discretion thereof by adjusting the interval and speed of the operation of the control button, it is very difficult to feed a stable supply of steam to the fabric, so that a good finish cannot be expected.

Steam iron having a solenoid driven pump and heated evaporation chamber for providing steam and operable for further providing extra steam at specified intervals

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to purification and use of a novel emulsion stabilizing polysaccharide. In particular, a polyelectrolyte exopolysaccharide with high molecular weight comprising a high molecular weight polymer with a tri-saccharide repeating unit is disclosed. In one aspect of the invention, methods are directed to isolating and purifying a high molecular weight exopolysaccharide (EPS) from a cell supernatant. In another aspect, methods are disclosed for isolating a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and a high molecular weight Acinetobacter polyelectrolyte exopolysaccharide (APE) from Acinetobacter bacteria. Compositions are also directed to lipid nanoparticles comprising a therapeutic agent encapsulated by a high molecular weight polysaccharide and nanoparticles comprising a therapeutic agent bound to a cationic polysaccharide cross-linked with a polyanion.

Acinetobacter venetianus RAG-1 has been studied for its ability to metabolize a variety of carbon sources such as long chain hydrocarbons, alcohols, fatty acids, and triglycerides and to generate an exopolymer termed emulsan (Gorkovenko, A.; Zhang, J.; Gross, R. A.; Kaplan, D. L. Carbohydrate Polymers 1999, 1, 79-84). The bacterium has been reported to secrete this anionic lipoheteropolysaccharide known as emulsan to aid in the capture and transport of the carbon sources to the cell (Pines, O.; Bayer, E. A.; Gutnick, D. L. Journal of Bacteriology 1983, 2, 893-905). Emulsan has been described as a 1 MDa anionic lipopolysaccharide composed of the three amino sugars, D-galactosamine, D-galactosamineuronic acid, and diamino-6-deoxy-D-glucose, present in a ratio of 1:1:1 (Zuckerberg, A.; Diver, A.; Peeri, Z. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 1979, 3, 414-420). Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids ranging from C10-C18 were reported to be linked to the polysaccharide backbone by O- and N-acyl bonds and to constitute up to 23% w/w of the polymer (Belsky, I.; Gutnick, D. L.; Rosenberg, E. FEBS Letters 1979, 1, 175-178). According to the previous literature, the emulsan amino groups are either acylated or covalently linked by an amide bond to 3-hydroxybutyric acid (Panilaitis, B.; Johri, A.; Blank, W.; Kaplan, D.; Fuhrman, J. Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology 2002, 6, 1240-1247). The combination of hydrophilic anionic sugar main chain repeat units and the hydrophobic side groups were believed to impart an amphipathic behavior to emulsan and result in its ability to form stable oil-in-water emulsions (Rosenberg, E.; Zuckerberg, A.; Rubinovitz, C.; Gutnick, D. L. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 1979, 3, 402-408). Traditionally, studies with emulsan have focused on environmental applications, such as biodegradable surfactants, crude oil viscosity modifiers and the removal of heavy metals (Gutnick, D. L.; Bach, H. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 2000, 4, 451-460; Pines, O.; Gutnick, D. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 1986, 3, 661-663; Zosim, Z.; Gutnick, D.; Rosenberg, E. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 1983, 7, 1725-1735).
Recently, emulsan has been investigated for biological uses such as a vaccine adjuvant and as a drug delivery vehicle (Panilaitis, B.; Johri, A.; Blank, W.; Kaplan, D.; Fuhrman, J. Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology 2002, 6, 1240-1247; Castro, G. R.; Kamdar, R. R.; Panilaitis, B.; Kaplan, D. L. Journal of Controlled Release 2005, 1-3, 149-157; Castro, G. R.; Panilaitis, B.; Bora, E.; Kaplan, D. L. Molecular Pharmaceutics 2007, 1, 33-46). However, in order to utilize emulsan in these types of biomedical applications, an improved purification process was required to avoid potential contaminants with undesirable biological side effects. Contaminants such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), host cell protein (HCP), nucleic acids (DNA), and residual salts and solvents can potentially exhibit toxic effects on mammalian systems if present even in relatively low concentrations (Garnick, R. L.; Ross, M. J.; du Mee, Charles P. In Encyclopedia of Pharmaceutical Technology; Swarbick, J., Boyland, J. C., Eds.; Marcel Dekker: New York, N.Y., 1988; Vol. 1, pp 253-313). The purification of emulsan, first published in 1979, has traditionally been conducted using four steps; cell removal by centrifugation, ammonium sulfate precipitation of the polymer, hot phenol extraction to remove contaminating proteins, and dialysis against water to remove the phenol (Zuckerberg, A.; Diver, A.; Peeri, Z. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 1979, 3, 414-420). The scientific literature utilizing this purification approach has supported consistently that the emulsan from this purification scheme is an essentially pure product. However, the prior purification approaches do not result in a pure product, as demonstrated herein.

Polysaccharide composition and methods of isolation of the emulsion stabilizing cationic polyelectrolytic polysaccharide


An MPEG compressed bit stream representing video information is associated with supplemental information such as motion, audio, scene cut, and editorial information. The motion information is identified and processed to determine characteristics of the video information. Motion information is processed to determine magnitude, coherence, and correlation with known motion information templates. MPEG motion vectors are used to determine motion information. Audio, scene cut, and editorial information is similarly identified and processed. The motion information along with other types of information is provided to a client by using color bars or other techniques to allow a client to interact with the video information using supplemental information.

Nowadays, a consumer is presented with an incredible quantity of video information for his or her use. Not only are an enormous number of feature movies available, but also the quantity of channels on a television provide an almost limitless variety of video information to be viewed. Furthermore, the proliferation, miniaturization and low cost of video cameras, along with the ubiquitous Internet, means that even more and more video information can be captured for viewing for wide variety of reasons. Not only is the quantity of video information increasing, but the ease by which a consumer may access video information is also increasing. For example, a consumer at home has access to traditional broadcast television, cable television, satellite television, and perhaps even television over the Internet. Further, a wide variety of set-top boxes and other devices are being marketed that allow consumers the unprecedented ability to interact with video information, to store video information, or to replay video information on their own terms. This increase in video information is not only available to the consumer at home, but is also becoming more available to the office worker on his desktop or to any of a variety of professionals who record and use video information as part of their livelihood.
This tremendous increase in the amount of video information available to a consumer and the ease with which it may be accessed presents certain difficulties for a viewer. It can be difficult to search through or "navigate" such video information if the content is extremely long, or there are a variety of chose from.
For example, the usual way that most viewers navigate through a movie is to use fast forward or rewind such that the frames flash by in quick succession. Even if the movie has been stored on a hard drive connected to a monitor, fast forward or rewind is still used; there is no reliable technique for identifying particular portions of the movie based upon its contents. A similar problem exists with surveillance videos made by a consumer or by a professional in that the contents need to be analyzed to detect certain activities. Consider a home surveillance video left on over the weekend, a consumer would have to fast forward through the entire forty-eight hours or more in order to detect if any untoward activities had occurred and been captured by the video. Once solution used is to trigger a video camera with a motion detector so that the camera is only on when motion occurs. This technique cannot differentiate between types or motion and still may result in hours and hours of video information that needs to be viewed.
In another situation, consider a channel guide being presented to a viewer on a home television. The channel guide list channels, the names of movies, and a brief narrative for each. For the viewer, however, there is no easy and reliable technique to determine the content of the movie, the type of action it contains, the amount of violence, or where certain types of content might occur in the movie.
Similarly a viewer looking at a channel guide who would like to watch a movie that has a particular tone, certain types of action, or other desirable characteristics, is not able to simply and reliably initiate a search for that type of movie either on his own hard disk, or through the selection of movies presented by a context supplier (such as broadcast, cable or satellite).
Another problem with the proliferation of video information available in the home is the increase in the amount of undesirable sex and violence in certain shows and its effect on young children. Often, parents desire to restrict access to certain shows based upon their rating. Unfortunately, though, rating standards are not uniform between home television programs and movies in commercial theaters, and may differ slightly depending upon a geographic region or upon the network supplying the programming. Further, these rating standards always seem to be changing and it can be difficult for the average consumer to keep up with the different rating standards and their meanings. Often, an otherwise excellent movie that is suitable for children may be restricted from their viewing because one or two scenes contain offensive material. A technique would be desirable to assist viewers with the interpretation of ratings for video information and to allow movies to be watched more easily by a wider audience with safeguards in place.
A variety of prior art techniques have been suggested to deal with the navigation of video information but are not optimal. For example, it is known to produce a slider bar at the bottom of a movie being shown to allow a viewer to quickly select and move to any point within the movie. This bar, however, presents no information to viewer other than an indication of a chronological point in the movie where the view can go. Very small renditions or thumbnails of scenes as well as vertical lines representing scene breaks have also been used.
In one experiment, researchers from MIT made video "solids" where you could see the edge pixels of a video stream. Thus, one can view an actual three-dimensional solid that represented each image from the video being stacked next to one another. Although interesting from a research point of view, the video solid did not greatly assist a viewer in navigating through a video stream.
In another area somewhat related to the navigation of video information, consumers are also being bombarded with a great number of books for reading. Although a reader is generally apprised of the content of the book by reading the flyleaf, there is no simple technique for determining the tone of a book, its emotional content or the type of action it contains aside from actually flipping through the book and reading various pages.
Giving the above difficulties with the proliferation of video information and determination of its contents, systems and techniques are desirable that would allow a viewer to quickly and easily navigate video information.

Video stream representation and navigation using inherent data


A computer implemented method, apparatus and software for automatically transforming data between a self-describing markup language format and an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) format. For generating EDI documents, a standard data model with EDI related data is received. Data definitions for the self-describing markup language are generated. The generated data definitions are used to generate self-describing markup language data. An EDI document is automatically created based on the self-describing markup language data.

In current business practice, there is always a need for data transfer from one company to the next, whether the data transfer is for a sale, an exchange, or any of the other various types of data transfers related to business transactions. There is a need for a product that will allow an efficient transform of customer application data between their internal system format and an EDI format.
EDI was developed to support internal business-to-business communication for almost a quarter of a century. However, EDI is also relevant for all company-to-supplier retailer relationships, where the company can be an end-user, a manufacturer, a service organization such as a hospital or a hotel, a governmental organization or a virtual organization.
Companies sending and/or receiving EDI data are required to make sure that there were tailored software programs that map between the two types of data, one being EDI data and the other being data in the companies internal system formats. Such mapping is a complex process that requires extensive resources and is time consuming. Therefore, there is a need for more efficient automated tools to facilitate the mapping process.

Automated method, system, and software for transforming data between extensible markup language format and electronic data interchange format


An electrical contact includes a primary segment having a primary outer end, and a secondary segment having a secondary outer end. An intermediate segment joins the primary and secondary segments together. The intermediate segment includes a primary segment connector engaged with the primary segment such that the intermediate segment is electrically and mechanically connected to the primary segment. The intermediate segment includes a secondary segment connector engaged with the secondary segment such that the intermediate segment is electrically and mechanically connected to the secondary segment. The electrical contact has a length defined from the primary outer end to the secondary outer end. At least one of the primary segment is selectively positionable relative to the primary segment connector of the intermediate segment or the secondary segment is selectively positionable relative to the secondary segment connector of the intermediate segment such that the length of the electrical contact is adjustable.

The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical contacts.
Electrical connector assemblies are widely used for electrically connecting various electrical components together. For example, electrical connector assemblies are often used to electrically connect two cables together, to electrically connect a cable to a circuit board, and to electrically connect two circuit boards together. Electrical connector assemblies typically include complementary electrical connectors that mate together. Each electrical connector includes a housing that holds electrical contacts that mate with the electrical contacts of the complementary electrical connector to establish an electrical path between the electrical components. The electrical contacts of an electrical connector extend along paths within the housing from a mounting side of the housing that mounts to, or terminates, the corresponding electrical component to a mating side along which the electrical connector mates with the complementary electrical connector. The paths of the electrical contacts may be approximately straight, for example for electrical connector assemblies that electrically connect electrical components that extend approximately parallel to each other. Alternatively, the paths of the electrical contacts may include bends or angles, for example for electrical connector assemblies that electrically connect electrical components that extend at an approximately right angle to each other.
Depending on the specific applications as well as other factors, the size of the housings of different electrical connectors may be different. More specifically, the distance between the mounting and mating sides as measured along the paths of the electrical contacts may be different. For example, different electrical connectors used to connect parallel electrical components may have housings that have different heights to accommodate a different spacing between the corresponding parallel components. Because of the differently sized housings, the electrical contacts within an electrical connector may have different lengths (defined along the paths) than the electrical contacts within a different electrical connector. The electrical contacts of different electrical connectors may have different lengths even when the different electrical connectors are similar (e.g., connectors that interconnect the same type of components), for example because even relatively small variations in the housing size of different connectors may require electrical contacts having different lengths to ensure adequate electrical connection to the complementary connector. An electrical contact designed for use within a specific electrical connector therefore may not be suitable for use within a different electrical connector having a differently sized housing. Accordingly, a manufacturer, supplier, and/or the like of different electrical connectors must fabricate and/or stock multiple different contact lengths, which may increase cost, complexity, and/or difficulty of manufacturing, supplying, and/or the like of different electrical connectors.
In view of the above, there is a need for an electrical contact that can be used with different electrical connectors having differently sized housings.

Electrical contact with adjustable length


An ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer composition contains: (A) an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer; (B) an antioxidant; and (C) an iron compound; wherein the iron compound (C) is present in an amount of 0.01 to 20 ppm on a metal basis based on the weight of the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer composition. The ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer composition is excellent in degradation resistance.

EVOH resin is excellent in transparency, gas barrier properties such as oxygen barrier property, aroma-retaining property, solvent resistance, oil resistance, and mechanical strength, and is formed into films, sheets, bottles, and the like, which are widely used as various packaging materials such as food packaging materials, pharmaceutical product packaging materials, industrial chemical packaging materials, and agricultural chemical packaging materials. Further, EVOH resin is used as a layer forming material for forming a layer of a multilayer pipe for hot water circulation in order to prevent corrosion of a floor heating system of hot water circulation type.
However, EVOH resin contains relatively active hydroxyl groups in its molecule and, therefore, is liable to be thermally degraded. Accordingly, the EVOH resin is susceptible to coloration, gelation, and other problems to be thereby deteriorated in melt stability, when being melt-formed. A known method to solve these problems is to add various heat stabilizers to the EVOH resin (see, for example, PTL 1).
Where a product formed from the EVOH resin is used for a prolonged period, on the other hand, the formed product is liable to suffer from odor emanation and cracking due to degradation of the resin in some use environment. The multilayer pipe for the hot water circulation, for example, is liable to be degraded by oxygen present in air when being exposed to a higher temperature for a prolonged period. A known art for suppressing the degradation is to use a specific amount of an antioxidant and a conjugated polyene compound in combination (see, for example, PTL 2).
Agricultural materials (silage films, multi-purpose films, and the like) containing the EVOH resin are used outdoor for a prolonged period to be thereby exposed to sunlight, geothermal heat, wind, rain, and the like. Therefore, the agricultural materials are also liable to be degraded by oxygen present in air. For suppression of the degradation, it is known to blend a specific amount of a hindered amine compound with the EVOH resin, whereby a silage film excellent in weatherability can be provided (see, for example, PTL 3).

Ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer composition, pellets, multilayer structure, and multilayer pipe


A monitoring system for monitoring pressure in a tire of a trailer includes an active sensor, a receiver and an indicator. The active sensor is positioned at a first location and is operable to sense the pressure. The receiver is positioned at a second location remote from the first location and within proximity to the sensor. The receiver is operable to generate a signal indicative of the pressure and includes an inductor, and an amplifier having a feedback path. The inductor is positioned relative to the receiver to create an electromagnetically coupling between the inductors such that feedback from the coupling is one of either a substantially zero feedback and a negative feedback. The indicator outside of a vehicle is in communication with the receiver to provide a warning of a low pressure to the user.

The present invention relates generally to condition monitoring systems and, more particularly, to a system that monitors air pressure in the tires of a motor vehicle trailer, and that generates a visual signal viewable by a vehicle occupant indicative of the tire pressure in each of the tires to improve tire life, minimize tire wear, and increase vehicle performance and safety.
Correct tire pressure is a critical factor in the safe operation and performance of a motor vehicle. Over inflated tires often result in unnecessary tire wear and less than optimal vehicle performance. Under inflated tires typically result in increased tire wear, decreased vehicle performance, and compromise the ability of the tires to maintain a safe interface with the road.
Conventionally, tire air pressure has been checked with mechanical gauges designed to be inserted over tire inner tube valve stems. Such gauges provide a generally accurate air pressure reading. However, the gauges are incapable of providing continuous monitoring of the air pressure within the tires and are limited in accuracy, and also require a driver concerned about tire air pressure to physically stop and exit the vehicle to check the tire pressure. In addition, such mechanical gauges do not provide any warning indication when the tire pressure reaches a level considered to be dangerous or unsuitable (such as below 14 psi in a typical passenger motor vehicle) for normal driving conditions.
Other systems utilize an active inductor capacitor (LC) circuit affixed within the tire to monitor tire air pressure. However, active LC circuits require a power source for operation. Because it is mounted within the tire, the power source, as well as the additional circuit components, are subjected to rotational vibration and other extreme conditions caused by temperature fluctuation. The circuit components may also be difficult to install and replace if damaged or depleted due to their location within the tire. In addition, such systems typically provide no warning to the driver when the tire pressure falls below or rise above a certain minimum/maximum acceptable level. Moreover, these active inductor capacitor (LC) type systems generally also utilize battery power when the vehicle is both in operation and also in a parked non-use condition, thereby reducing the overall battery life of the active inductor capacitor (LC) circuit.
Other systems may utilize a sensor system that require the location of the sensor relative to a receiver pickup to be in very close proximity to one another. This provides a great disadvantage in enabling various options for mounting locations of the receiver relative to the sensor which may invariably lead to mounting the receiver in a very harsh environment location. Additionally, such systems may also require very large size inductors (L) which is also very difficult and, in some instances, not practical for mounting within vehicle tires. These types of systems may also increase the overall undamped weight of the overall tire by requiring such a large inductor (L). Other systems also require hard wiring of pickup receivers to indicator devices in the vehicle. This type of hard wiring must be, thereby routed throughout the vehicle wiring system either during production of the vehicle or for after-market use. This makes it very difficult to install such a system for aftermarket use since generally this wiring must be mounted throughout the vehicle. Other systems further do not provide diagnostics to identify whether or not the system is, in fact, working properly.
Most tire pressure sensing systems are also primarily directed to sensing vehicle tire pressure. However, monitoring tire pressure of trailers attached to a vehicle is also a desired feature. When monitoring the tire pressure of a tire mounted on a trailer, however, in most instances the vehicle will require an indicator module and additional wiring mounted and located within the vehicle itself. This makes it difficult to retrofit a vehicle when a trailer is used. Also, drivers may not want to have associated accessories mounted within their vehicle when they only utilize a trailer on a part time basis. There is, therefore, a need for a tire sensor monitoring system which can easily and efficiently monitor tire pressure in a tire that is mounted on a trailer without requiring any modifications to the tow vehicle itself.
What is needed then is a tire pressure sensing system which does not suffer from the above-mentioned disadvantages. This, in turn, will provide a sensing system which monitors tire air pressure using an active sensor, that conserves battery life, provides improved mounting of the sensor within the tire, provides a system which is less susceptible to interference, provides a sensor system which can accurately monitor the change in tire air pressure, provides improved sensors which operate to identify if the tire air pressure is outside a pre-determined range, provide a sensor system which enables more versatility in the placement of a pickup receiver, provide a sensor system which conserves sensor battery power when the vehicle is not in use, provide a sensor system which can easily be installed for aftermarket use without requiring hard wiring between a receiver pickup and an indicator device, and provide system diagnostics to confirm proper operation of the overall tire monitoring system. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide such a tire pressure sensing system.
The present invention provides a tire pressure monitoring system that utilizes an active LC circuit mounted within the tire of a trailer for monitoring tire air pressure. The active circuit conserves battery power by stabling the circuit when the vehicle is not in use. The tire pressure monitoring system of the present invention is configured to provide a visual indication to the driver when tire pressure in any of the tires on the trailer falls below a minimum acceptable level.
Use of the present invention provides a tire pressure monitoring system for monitoring air pressure within a tire on a trailer. The present invention further provides a system for monitoring a first parameter with a sensor located at a first location and a receiver located at a second location. As a result, the aforementioned disadvantages associated with the currently available methods and techniques for monitoring tire air pressure have been substantially reduced or eliminated.


A wireless LAN communication device includes an amplifying circuit, an interference detection circuit, a false alarm counting circuit, and a control circuit. The amplifying circuit is configured to operably provide a gain to wireless signals. The interference detection circuit is configured to operably detect adjacent channel interference signals to generate a detection result. The false alarm counting circuit is configured to operably calculate a number of false alarms incurred by the adjacent channel interference signals. The control circuit is configured to operably configure the gain of the amplifying circuit according to the detection result and the number of false alarms.

The disclosure generally relates to a wireless LAN communication device and, more particularly, to the wireless LAN communication device which may reduce the impacts of the adjacent channel interference signals.
Many countries have reserve some radio bands for developing industrial, scientific, and medical applications, i.e., the industrial, scientific and medical radio bands (the ISM band). The wireless local area network (LAN) communication devices utilize the ISM band to perform communications, and have been successfully adopted in many applications.
Many other communication devices (e.g., the Bluetooth devices and the cordless telephones) also perform communications in the same or neighboring frequency bands in ISM band, and results in the impacts on the communication performance of the wireless LAN communication devices.
Moreover, the wireless LAN communication devices in different basic service sets may become interference signals to one another. For example, when a wireless LAN communication device is associated with a first access point, it may still receive the wireless signals transmitted from a second access point in another basic service set. Even if the second access point uses a different channel from the first access point, the adjacent channel interference still influences the communication performance between the wireless LAN communication device and the first access point. If the signals from the first access point and the second access point are received at the same time or at a similar time, the wireless LAN communication device may start the demodulation operations on the signals transmitted from the second access point. After the demodulation circuit of the wireless LAN communication device finds out that the signals are not transmitted from the first access point, the signals transmitted from the first access point cannot be received and demodulated. Thus, the communication performance between the wireless LAN device and the associated first access point may be seriously impacted.
Furthermore, when the signal strengths of the adjacent channel interference signals are strong, some receiver circuits of the wireless LAN communication device may be also saturated, e.g., the low-noise amplifying circuit. The demodulation performance and the communication performance deteriorate accordingly. Along with the wider adoption of the wireless LAN communication devices, the adjacent channel interference will result in the impacts on the communication performance and the inconvenience of the users.

Wireless LAN communication device, relevant signal processing circuit, and method thereof


A voltage reference generation circuit having switch pairs coupled to systematically commutate a flying capacitor among adjacent pairs of voltage rail outputs. The circuit requires only a single flying capacitor, N+1 switch pairs, and N storage capacitors, to generate N intermediate voltage references between VDD and GND. A signal generator produces N+1 non-overlapping switch enable signals to systematically enable the switch pairs and commutate the single flying capacitor between the rail pairs. The flying capacitor remains charged to VDD/(N+1). The N storage capacitors hold their respective reference outputs at VDD*N/(N+1), VDD*(N−1)/(N+1), VDD*(N−2)/(N+1), and so forth.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to circuits for generating voltage rails, and more specifically to an improved charge pump for generating voltage rails.
2. Background Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a charge pump circuit 10 which is known in analog and power semiconductor design. The charge pump is built around a flying capacitor CF, four controllable switches S1 to S4, and capacitor CP. The capacitor CP can be referred to as a storage or bypass capacitor. A first switch SA and a third switch SC are coupled to a first terminal of the flying capacitor, and a second switch SB and a fourth switch SD are coupled to a second terminal of the flying capacitor. The first and second switches are operated together by a first phase control signal PHI1, and the third and fourth switches are operated together by a second phase control signal PHI2. The phase control signals are typically operated as binary clock signals 180° out of phase, and can be a clock signal and an inverted version of that clock signal with the addition of some dead time at each transition, when no switch is on. The dead time is important, to ensure that SB and SD do not produce a short between 50P and GND, and to ensure that SA and SC do not produce a short between VDD and 50P.
The first switch un/couples the first terminal of the flying capacitor from/to the VDD voltage reference supply. The fourth switch un/couples the second terminal of the flying capacitor from/to the ground (GND) voltage reference supply. The second switch un/couples the second terminal of the flying capacitor from/to an output terminal 50P at which the charge pump generates VDD/2. And the third switch un/couples the first terminal from/to the output terminal. The storage capacitor CP is coupled between the output terminal and the ground voltage reference supply in order to store the charge packets delivered by CF and to smooth the voltage at 50P.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show the two charge pump states (during assertion of PHI1, and assertion of PHI2, respectively) of the charge pump of FIG. 1. During PHI1, the flying capacitor is effectively coupled between VDD and the output node. During PHI2, the flying capacitor is effectively coupled between the output node and GND.
FIG. 4 illustrates a voltage rail generation circuit 20 according to the prior art. In addition to the voltage reference inputs VDD and GND, the voltage rail generation circuit uses three of the FIG. 1 charge pumps CP50, CP75, and CP25 to generate three intermediate voltage rails: VDD*0.50 at terminal 50P, VDD*0.75 at terminal 75P, and VDD*0.25 at terminal 25P, respectively. The primary charge pump CP50 is coupled to VDD and GND, and generates an output voltage equal to (VDD+GND)/2. The second charge pump CP75 is coupled to VDD and CP50, and generates an output voltage equal to (VDD+CP50)/2. The third charge pump CP25 is coupled to CP50 and GND, and generates an output voltage equal to (CP50+GND)/2.
Unfortunately, each of the charge pumps requires its own, dedicated flying capacitor (CF50, CF75, and CF25) and its own storage capacitor (C50P, C75P, and C25P). What is needed is an improved voltage rail generation circuit which does not require a dedicated flying capacitor for every voltage rail generated, while still maintaining the high efficiencies that charge pumps can obtain. It is desirable to minimize the flying capacitors, because they tend to have tighter ESR requirements than the storage capacitors and when integrated into an integrated circuit each flying capacitor requires two added pins which increases the cost of the integrated circuit.


A semiconductor module including a semiconductor chip having a light receiving device formed at a front thereof and a light permeable cover having a front, a back, and a side. The light permeable cover is disposed opposite to the front of the semiconductor chip such that the front of the semiconductor chip is covered by the back of the light permeable cover. The light permeable cover is provided at the outer circumferential region of the front thereof and at the side thereof with a light shielding layer. It is possible to prevent the incidence of unnecessary light from the side of the light permeable cover of a CSP and to easily adjust the distance between a lens and the front of the semiconductor chip within tolerance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor module, and, more particularly, to a wafer level type semiconductor module having a light permeable cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
A sensor device, which is represented by a CMOS image sensor, is used in a portable device, such as a mobile phone, to take an image. The sensor device for taking an image, constituted by a camera unit including a lens, an image processing chip, a semiconductor chip of a sensor main body, a substrate, and a housing, is assembled in the portable device.
According to high performance and slimness of the portable device, miniaturization of the camera unit is being strongly requested. For this reason, by camera unit manufacturers, downsizing of the sensor, integration of the lens with the semiconductor chip, and so on are performed.
The downsizing of the sensor is typically achieved by a chip size package (CSP). Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-129164 discloses a semiconductor module for optical apparatuses using a wafer level chip size package (W-CSP), which is a kind of CSP. In this semiconductor module, a solid state imaging device, which is a semiconductor chip, is covered by a light permeable cover, an electrode pad disposed at an outer circumferential region of the solid state imaging device is electrically connected to an external connection terminal provided at the back of the solid state imaging device (the side opposite to the light permeable cover) via a re-wire in a through hole. A lens unit having a lens is fixed on the light permeable cover. Light, incident upon the lens, passes through the light permeable cover and reaches an effective pixel region (a light receiving device portion) of the solid state imaging device, where an electric signal created by a photoelectric conversion device is extracted from the external connection terminal provided at the back of the solid state imaging device.
In the conventional CSP structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-129164, however, light is unnecessarily introduced from the side of the light permeable cover, and the introduced light reaches the light receiving device. Therefore, it is not possible to achieve predetermined performance of the sensor. Also, in a semiconductor module constructed such that the lens unit is fixed to the light permeable cover as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-129164, if a thickness error of the light permeable cover, or an adhesion thickness error between the lens unit and the light permeable cover, exists, the distance between the lens and the front of the semiconductor chip may not be appropriately adjusted, a focusing range may deviate from a desired level, or no focus is adjusted at all.


On a sprung bicycle (10), provision is made for a rear wheel (26) of the bicycle (10) to be mounted by way of a knee lever (34). A spring mechanism (42) is articulated to the knee lever (34) and exhibits an inhibiting device (50). The locking device (50) is actuated by way of a driving-force sensor (52), which permits automatic locking as increasing force is exerted on the pedals.

The invention refers to a sprung bicycle.
Such sprung bicycles, whose rear wheel is cushioned against the frame with a spiral compression spring, are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,582,343 and 4,679,811.
With a manually actuated locking device, the spring action can be deactivated if a more sporty response and less comfort are desired. It is furthermore known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,343 how to effectuate the deactivation of the spring action only in the direction of spring compression, and to use for this purpose an appropriate check valve in the hydraulic circuit of a shock absorber.
When riding on hills, particularly under competition conditions, the rider is as a rule completely absorbed in operating the shift levers to select the proper gear, as well as applying the maximum force, so that if only for that reason alone, requiring the execution of an additional operating function is awkward. Also, frequently an appropriate switchover cannot be performed fast enough or is entirely omitted in the face of a rapid succession of trackless segments in which the spring action is desirable, and straight segments in which the spring action is not desired.


Disclosed is a radiation detection element which can inexpensively be manufactured. The detection element including, as a main component, a base resin not containing any fluorescent substance at all is used for radiation measurement.

In general, radiation of charged particles such as alpha and beta rays, when passing through a substance, ionizes, excites, or dissociates atoms or molecules in the substance and loses energy. The energy transmitted to the substance is further emitted as thermal kinetic energy or electromagnetic waves. When the substance is, e.g., one that emits fluorescence, most of the energy is emitted as light in the visible area; and this phenomenon is referred to as scintillation and the emitted light as scintillation light.
Further, in the case of radiation carrying no electrical charge, such as gamma or neutron rays, since a similar phenomenon is also caused by secondary charged particles emitted when the radiation interacts with a substance, the radiation is detected using the scintillation phenomenon.
A photomultiplier tube is used for measuring scintillation light. The photomultiplier tube is a high sensitive photodetector added with a current amplification (=electron multiplication) function based on a phototube which converts light energy into electric energy utilizing a photoelectric effect.
Substances that causes scintillation phenomena are generally collectively called scintillators; and inorganic scintillators containing inorganic crystals typified by NaI (Tl) and organic scintillators including liquid scintillators in which fluorescent substances that emit fluorescence when radiation is incident, such as organic crystals like anthracene and terphenyl, are dissolved in organic solvents such as xylene, and plastic scintillators in which fluorescent substances are dissolved and dispersed in transparent resins such as polystyrene are used in the field of radiation measurement.
Especially, the plastic scintillators have often been used for half a century due to advantages such as their handleability and moldability into optional and large shapes.
Representative plastic scintillators are those in which first fluorescent substances such as 2,5-diphenyloxazole (DPO), 1,4-bis(5-phenyl-2-oxazole)benzene (POPOP), p-tetraphenyl (P-TP), p-quarterphenyl (P-QP) and 2-(4-biphenyl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (B-PBD) and second fluorescent substances such as bis(O-methylstyryl)benzene (bis-MSB), 9,10-diphenylanthracene, and 9,10-dimethylanthracene are added to a styrol-based base resin such as polystyrene (PS) or polyvinyltoluene (PVT).
As longstanding common sense in the art, it has been needed to add fluorescent substances to plastic scintillators. Its principal reasons include, since the wavelengths of electromagnetic waves emitted from a base resin excited by irradiation with radiation have been reported to be as short as 150-300 nm, 1) unadaptation to the wavelength range of 300-400 nm suitable for measurement with a photomultiplier tube used for measurement and 2) the insufficient amount of light arriving at a detecting portion due to self-absorption by the base resin. In this regard, it is said that the energy of the electromagnetic waves emitted from the base resin can be converted into light of ˜350 nm with a first fluorescent substance and of ˜420 nm with a second fluorescent substance by adding the fluorescent substances to obtain scintillation light with wavelengths, suitable for measurement, having a high transmittance, and difficult to be self-absorbed.
Accordingly, it is common general technical knowledge in the art that addition of fluorescent substances to scintillators is essential, so that studies on the combinations of various base resins and fluorescent substances have been conducted for improving measurement technologies.
However, any attempt to use only a base resin as a radiation detection element has not been reported until now because of the common general technical knowledge that the addition of fluorescent substances to scintillators is essential, as mentioned above.

National Institute of Radiological Sciences


A novel application of a cold-stage coupled to a laser ablation-ICP-MS system is disclosed herein. The novel system of the present invention offers significant advantages over other systems employed for cooling samples prior to LA-ICP-MS analysis. The system discloses herein has multiple applications, including detection of one or more metal contaminants in an oil sample.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with sample processing methods for laser ablation-ICP-MS analysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,541 issued to D'silva (1991) discloses a double pass tandem cooling aerosol condenser apparatus for receiving aerosol from a liquid solution for a specimen sample which has been prepared for injection into an inductively coupled plasma associated with an emission spectra or mass spectrometer comprises inner and outer compartments for circulating a coolant there through. The aerosol, comprising solvent and analyte particles, is passed through compartments of the condenser which are interposed between the inner and outer coolant compartment. The temperature of the aerosol compartment is adjusted and controlled such that the solvent particles, which would otherwise quench the inductively coupled plasma, are condensed and stripped from the aerosol leaving a relatively stable, dry aerosol containing the desolvated analyte particles for spectrometric analysis.

Petroleum oil analysis using liquid nitrogen cold stage—laser ablation—ICP mass spectrometry


A rearview mirror has a housing. The housing includes a front surface facing a driver""s seat, a rear surface at the opposite side of the front surface. The housing has a slot for receiving a recording medium that stores predetermined data. The slot has a width, which is larger than a width of an insert potion that of the recording medium. The recording medium is inserted into the slot at an arbitrary position in the width direction of the slot. An interface performs at least one of reading of data from the recording medium and writing of data to the recording medium. The interface includes a detector, a data input/output unit and a moving mechanism. The detector detects insertion of the recording medium into the slot. The data input/output unit swaps data with the recording medium. The moving mechanism moves one of the data input/output unit and the recording medium to a position where the data input/output unit faces the recording medium.

The present invention relates to a rearview mirror provided in the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
In recent years, with the development of intelligent transport systems (ITS), incorporation of an information network into vehicles is now under progress. Together with this trend, vehicles are equipped with a human machine interface (HMI) associated with a variety of information systems. The HMI is located at a location at which a driver can easily operate it, such as near the driver""s seat. For example, in an electronic toll collection system (ETC), a car-equipped ETC is provided near the driver""s seat as an HMI.
Generally, a variety of operation devices, a display, and the like are provided near the driver""s seat. It is therefore sometimes difficult to ensure a space for installing a car-equipped ETC. To address this problem, conventionally, there has been proposed to arrange the car-equipped ETC within a rearview mirror that is provided with multiple functions. In the following, a conventional rearview mirror 51 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9.
As shown in FIG. 7, the rearview mirror 51 is located between a driver""s seat 54 and a front passenger seat 55 in the passenger compartment 53 of a vehicle 52. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the rearview mirror 51 comprises a case 56 and a mirror portion 57. The mirror portion 57 is fixed to a roof (not shown) of the vehicle 52 to orient substantially rearward. A slot 58, through which an IC card 159 is inserted as a recording medium, is formed in the case 56 at a side facing the driver""s seat (on the right side as viewed in FIGS. 8 and 9).
As shown in FIG. 9, the case 56 contains an interface unit 59 and a data processing unit 60 which make up a car-equipped ETC. The interface unit 59 is provided with a card holder 59a, which is communicated with the slot 58. The card holder 59a is formed such that the IC card 159 can be inserted into or removed from the card holder 59a in a direction substantially parallel with the mirror surface of the mirror portion 57.
The width of the slot 58 is substantially equal to the width of a part of the IC card 159 that is inserted. Thus, the orientation and position of the IC card 159 relative to the slot 58 is limited. In other words, the IC card 159 cannot be inserted into the rearview mirror 51 unless the IC card 159 is precisely aligned with the slot 58.
Also, an optimal position for an operator to insert or remove the IC card 159 into or from the rearview mirror 51 largely varies depending on the physical constitution, the dominant hand, and habit of the operator. Therefore, some operators may not readily insert and remove the IC card 57 into and from the rearview mirror 51.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rearview mirror that permits the driver to readily insert and remove a thin recording medium.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a rearview mirror. The rearview mirror is located between a driver""s seat and a front passenger""s seat in a front section of the passenger compartment of a vehicle. The rearview mirror includes a housing, a reflector and an interface. The housing includes a front surface facing the driver""s seat, a rear surface at the opposite side of the front surface. The housing has a slot for receiving a recording medium that stores predetermined data. The recording medium has an inserted part. The slot has a width, which is larger than a width of the inserted part. The recording medium is inserted into the slot at an arbitrary position in the width direction of the slot. The reflector is attached to the front surface of the housing. The interface is located in the housing. The interface performs at least one of reading of data from the recording medium and writing of data to the recording medium. The interface includes a detector, a data input/output unit and a moving mechanism. The detector detects insertion of the recording medium into the slot. The data input/output unit swaps data with the recording medium. The moving mechanism moves one of the data input/output unit and the recording medium to a position where the data input/output unit faces the recording medium.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakucho