A rock crushing assembly is provided in the form of a pulverizing tumbler. The apparatus includes a faceted tumbler having a plurality of faceted end walls, a pair of parallel sidewalls, and an open interior. A power source and a drivetrain assembly attach to the sidewalls of the tumbler and rotate the same. Within the tumbler is adapted to be placed rocks and minerals to be pulverized, wherein pulverizing media is placed in the tumbler with the rocks to break down the rocks into fine, granular material. One of the end walls of the tumbler is removable to allow access to the tumbler interior. One or more gaps or apertures through one or more of the end walls allow the pulverized material to exit the tumbler during operation, thereby reducing build-up of loose material that can dampen impacts within the tumbler.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rock crushers and tumblers. More specifically, the present invention relates to a rock crushing apparatus and a method of pulverizing rocks into fine powder for subsequent sluicing.
Many rocks and ore contain fine particles of precious metals and other coveted minerals. However, these rocks generally need to be broken down or pulverized into smaller, more granular particles in order to separate the desired elements from the undesired earth or rock. This process was traditionally done by hand using a hammer or pickaxe, whereafter the rocks are broken down into the smaller sizes using impact tools as a means. Once the rock has been pulverized or broken down (either by hand or by alternate means), the process of sluicing is engaged to draw the desired minerals from the rock powder.
Rock crushing assemblies exist in the art and range in complexity and effectiveness. One drawback to most systems is that they require a user to remain present to supervise the crushing process, which is an unnecessarily frivolous task that takes time away from other, more productive activities. Furthermore rocks placed in some modern crushers must go through stages, or even run through a system multiple times before they produce particles of the desired size. The present invention is designed to address these drawbacks while maintaining a simple construction that can be easily maintained and refurbished after a period of use.
Specifically, the present invention provides a rock crushing assembly and method of pulverizing rocks that includes a powered tumbler and a pulverizing media therein. The tumbler is a rotary crushing assembly that rotates and includes faceted outer surfaces. A drivetrain rotates the tumbler at a given rotational velocity, which slings rocks toward the outer surfaces of the tumbler. Within the tumbler, the rocks are joined with a quantity of pulverizing media, which comprises a plurality of hardened spheres or pellets that have a higher hardness and stiffness than the rock being pulverized. The pulverizing media impacts the rocks as they rotate within the tumbler. Over a period of operation, the rocks are completely pulverized into a fine powder for subsequent extraction and further processing for precious minerals. To prevent the powder from softening impacts against the tumbler, the powder is allowed to escape the tumbler at a given point in its rotational sequence and into a collector. Overall, the system is user independent and requires no oversight once initiated.
Description of the Prior Art
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to rock crushing assemblies. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. The following is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.
One such device in the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,889 to Thrasher, which discloses a rocker crusher device that comprises a rotor surrounded by a container, wherein the rotor is mounted to a vertical shaft that is supported via bearings. The shaft is driven such that the rotor rotates within the container. Rocks are fed into the rotor and slung from ports in the rotor to an impact anvil. Steel balls are positioned within the device to crush the rocks as they are slung against the impact anvil. While sharing the use of steel pulverizing balls, the structure and operation of the Thrasher assembly diverges significantly from that of the present invention. The present invention utilizes a tumbler with faceted outer surfaces and an open interior, wherein the inner surfaces and a pulverizing media is used break down larger rocks into finer powder.
Another device is U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,279 to Stafford, which discloses a rock crusher assembly that utilizes a cone having hardened, tapering inserts therein to crush rocks by way of impact. Rocks are placed on the cone, which in turn travel down the side of the cone along a crushing surface and into a tapered area. The hardened inserts act as pick-axes to shatter the rock, wherein the cone is rotating and the inserts impact the rocks as they move down the crushing surface. This assembly is effective for crushing rocks; however its method of crushing and the construction of the assembly of Stafford diverges from that provided herein. The Stafford device uses a crushing surface with projections. The present invention relates to a tumbler apparatus and a crushing media placed within the tumbler to break down large rocks into fine powder over a period of operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,092 to Robson discloses a rotary impact rock crusher that is disposed at an angle and includes an adjustable table that can update the angle while in operation. The device comprises a chamber with a rotor that slings rocks within the housing. Within the chamber is an anvil for crushing the moving rocks upon impact therewith. The anvil has rectangular cavities to break up the rocks, and the angular position of the anvil can be adjusted while the device is spinning. The Robson device utilizes a stationary anvil within the chamber as an impact surface. The present invention contemplates a spinning housing that utilizes faceted surfaces and a pulverizing media comprising hardened balls or pellets as a means of pulverizing the rocks into a powder.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,174 to Persson discloses a means of measuring the volume of a grinding charge in a rotating drum of a drum mill. The drum mill includes inward bars with sensors that can detect the load placed thereon. The load on the bars is used to calculate the amount of grinding charge therein. While disclosing a drum with a grinding charge, the Persson device fails to contemplate the faceted surfaces of the present drum or the grinding media used therein. Furthermore, the present invention contemplates a means of dispensing small quantities of pulverized rock from the drum during operation, thereby eliminating any impact attenuation or damping that powder can provide within the tumbler during operation.
The present invention provides a rock crushing and a mineral pulverizing assembly that utilizes a faceted tumbler and a hardened pulverizing media within the tumbler to break down larger rocks into granular material. The tumbler rotates and the rocks impact the pulverizing media and the faceted interior surfaces of the tumbler. After a period of operation, the end result is a granular material that can be processed for retrieving precious mineral deposits therein. The granular material is allowed to escape the tumbler during operation, thereby preventing fine powder build-up therein and maintaining high energy impacts between the rocks, tumbler and the pulverizing media.
It is submitted that the present invention is substantially divergent in design elements from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing rock pulverizing assemblies. The present invention offers a simple, yet elegant solution that can easily be maintained and used on a continual basis to reduce rocks into a fine powder for further mineral extraction processes. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

Pulverizing apparatus and method of pulverizing rocks


A guide rail of a guidance system for a push element is provided. The guide rail is formed as a hollow profile enclosed by wall sections of the guide rail. The wall sections comprise a horizontal wall section and two side wall sections. The horizontal wall sections extend parallel and perpendicular to a lengthwise extension of the guide rail, and the side wall section extends parallel and perpendicular to the lengthwise extension of the guide rail. The side wall sections are oriented at an angle to the horizontal wall sections. The horizontal wall sections and the two side wall sections, in a cross section perpendicular to a lengthwise extension of the guide rail, form at least for a portion the three side lines of a triangle, wherein the horizontal wall section defines a distal wall of the hollow profile.

Guide rails and guidance systems for a push element, especially a push element of furniture or a household appliance such as e.g. a kitchen appliance, are known in various designs.
For example, so-called partial extensions with two guide rails or full extensions with three guide rails are in use for a pull-out component, where the rails can be moved telescopically in relation to each other.
Generally a push element such as a drawer, a shelf, a cooking product carrier or the like is movably received by precisely two separate but identical components of a partial extension or a full extension. The respective component of the extension guides is preferably secured to an inner side of a furniture body or a housing of a household or kitchen appliance.
Since a guidance system or a guide rail must stand up to high technical and economical demands, further optimizations in this regard are necessary.

Guide rail of a guidance system, guidance system, method for producing a guide rail and furniture


A system for converting digital data to sine waves of differing frequency for networking computers. The sine waves are synthesized using variable encoding. The data is shifted through registers at a multiple of the data rate with the state of the stages of the register monitored to locate the zero-crossing of the sine wave. The state of the register stages is supplied to a series of multiplexers and resistors to generate the segments used to synthesize the sine waves. The data is monitored to derive a signal supplied to the multiplexers to determine the encoding pattern for each bit cell of data.

This invention relates to a sine wave generator using digital circuitry to provide variable encoding in the simulation of sine waves of differing frequency.
The generation of simulated sine waves from digital data is a well-known technique for converting digital information to analog form. The circuit arrangements are relatively complex designs and typically include a network of resistors and switches to achieve a piece-wise approximation of a sine wave. The frequency of the generated signal and the number of segments used in the encoding of each cycle of the signal determine the rate at which the encoding switching takes place. The achieving of reliable switching operation at frequencies in the range of 100 MHz is difficult and often imposes a limitation on the encoding scheme used to generate the sine wave.
The generation of simulated sine waves of different frequencies in accordance with received digital data is important in the networking of computer equipment. The ability of multiple computers to be interconnected in a network enables the computers to communicate with shared equipment such as file servers as well as other computer stations. One method of successfully linking individual computers to a network converts the data into analog signals for transmission through cable extending therebetween.
The data in digital form is converted to analog form by encoding a sine waveform and varying the frequency in accordance with the transmitted data. A number of different encoding patterns have been utilized. However, the use of a single encoding system to simulate wave forms of different frequencies from digital data signals can introduce problems in the decoding of the signals. While the encoding of a high frequency signal can be accomplished with a reduced number of segments when compared with a low frequency signal having a longer period without making the signal unrecognizable, the use of the same number of segments to simulate the low frequency signals may end up producing an unacceptable waveform. Furthermore, the short period of the high frequency signal can only accommodate a limited number of switching operations in that interval and that limited number may not be sufficient to create a useful approximation to the longer period, low frequency signal. The effects of the less than satisfactory representation of the lower frequency signal are compounded by distortion and losses resulting from the switches, the transmission line and the subsequent circuitry. The problem is exacerbated by the high rates of data transmission used in networks. As a result, the potential for loss of transmitted data increases when a single encoding pattern is used for the different frequency analog signals.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to the provision of a sine wave generator using digital circuitry to generate analog signals of differing frequency in response to a data stream. In addition, the subject invention is intended for use with high rate data streams without requiring the operation of switching devices at multiples of the data rate. Further, the system employs variable encoding for the generation of wave forms at different frequencies thereby providing a readily recognizable representation of the desired sine wave form.

Sine wave generator utilizing variable encoding for different frequency signals


Ferromagnetic porphin compounds may be produced by heating a non-ferromagnetic porphin compound having a central transition metal atom in the non-ferromagnetic porphin molecule and at least some of the pyrrole rings of the non-ferromagnetic porphin molecule having benzene or phenyl groups substituted on or integral with said rings. The non-ferromagnetic porphin compound is heated in the substantial absence of oxygen to a temperature sufficient to pyrolyze at least a portion of the benzene or phenyl groups of the non-ferromagnetic porphin compound. A ferromagnetic porphin compound is formed, which is inherently magnetic and is capable of retaining magnetism when exposed to a magnetic field. The resulting ferromagnetic porphin compounds retain their ferromagnetic properties even up to about 473.degree. K. in air and to much higher temperatures in vacuum or an inert atmosphere.

As new or improved magnetic applications or devices are developed, there is an increasing need for insulating magnetic materials which are chemically stable up to critical or Curie temperatures (T.sub.c) in excess of 125.degree. C. Such magnetic materials may be substituted for ferrites and other insulating magnetic compounds in applications such as radio frequency transformers, bulk magnets, magnetic and magneto-optic recording materials, for example. Such magnetic materials may also be included in photomagnetic switches, integrated optical devices, colloidal dispersions ("ferrofluids" and magnetic inks), thin film and multilayer magnets, magnetostrictive sensors, microwave materials, magnetic bubbles and soft magnetic materials with low coercive fields for AC motors, generators and transformers, as well as for magnetic imaging and transducers for medical implants, if the magnetic material is biocompatible.
Several low temperature organic and inorganic ferromagnetic compounds have been disclosed in the prior art. The reported organic ferro- and ferri- magnets are generally poorly characterized and yields are limited and not reproducible. J. Manriquez et al. "A Room-Temperature Molecular/Organic-Based Magnet", 252 Science 1415 (1991) discloses a molecular organic ferromagnetic compound having an empirical composition of V(TCNE.sub.x).multidot.y(CH.sub.2 Cl.sub.2), where TCNE is tetracyanoethylene, x is about 2 and y is about 1/2. The compound undergoes thermal decomposition at 350.degree. K. (77.degree. C.).
Z. Min-Guang, "An Ambient Temperature-Stable Organometallic Ferromagnet", 3 J. Phys. Condens. Matter 6695-6702 (1991) discloses an organometallic ferromagnet having a nominal composition of Cd.sub.2 Fe.sub.2 C.sub.36 H.sub.38 N.sub.4 O.sub.4. A magnetic hysteresis loop for the compound was observed with finite residual magnetization and coercivity at room temperature. However, the Mossbauer probe .sup.57 Fe in the compound does not sense any magnetic field and so the authors attributed the observed ferromagnetism to the organic free radicals.
A. Harutyunyan et al., "Organic Ferromagnets on Base of Metal-Phthalocyanines Doped by Alcali Metals," XIV(4) Materials Science 121-26 (1988) discloses a ferromagnetic compound formed by doping metal-phthalocyanines with alkali metals. The Curie temperature (T.sub.c) for [2Na-FePc] was found to be 590.degree. K. from the plot of saturation magnetization versus temperature. The (T.sub.c) for the cobalt compound was much higher and was not determined. However, the disclosed compounds are only stable in air up to 350.degree. K. (77.degree. C.).
There is also disclosed in the art an unstable manganese tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP)/tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) salt polymer which burst into flames on contact with air.
None of the prior art magnetic materials discussed above is stable at temperatures on the order of about 473.degree. K. (200.degree. C.) in an atmospheric environment and to much higher temperatures in vacuum or an inert atmosphere. There is a long-felt and unfulfilled need in the art for an insulating organic ferromagnetic material capable of remaining stable at temperatures in excess of 125.degree. C.

Method for making ferromagnetic porphin compounds


An information processing methodology gives rise to an application program interface which includes an automated digitizing unit, such as a scanner, which inputs information from a diversity of hard copy documents and stores information from the hard copy documents into a memory as stored document information. Portions of the stored document information are selected in accordance with content instructions which designate portions of the stored document information required by a particular application program. The selected stored document information is then placed into the transmission format required by a particular application program in accordance with transmission format instructions. After the information has been transmission formatted, the information is transmitted to the application program. In one operational mode, the interface interactively prompts the user to identify, on a display, portions of the hard copy documents containing information used in application programs or for storage.

The invention is directed to a system for efficiently processing information originating from hard copy documents. More specifically, the invention is directed to a hard copy document to application program interface which minimizes the need to manually process hard copy documents.
In the past, information contained on hard copy documents was manually entered into a computer via the input controller of a particular computer. The original document was then filed away for future reference. Automatic input of data was limited to the input of Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) data and to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) data. This fixed-position data was forwarded directly to a dedicated computer application specifically designed to accommodate the input format. In more recent years, typewritten text has been mechanically inputted into a computer via a text file. Examples of this latter type of system are word processors and photo-typesetters
These conventional systems have limitations which decrease the efficiency of processing information from a hard copy document. For example, the systems discussed above are limited in their application to MICR, OCR, or typewritten data. Parsing and processing data is limited to the particular requirements of the particular computer application which requires the input data. In addition, in these conventional systems, the actual hard copy document must be retained for future reference at great expense.
In a sophisticated computer network, different users may require different portions of the information contained on a hard copy document. For example, if the hard copy document is an invoice returned with payment of a bill, the accounting department may need all of the monetary information contained on the bill while the mailroom may need only customer address information, to update a customer's address. Therefore, there is a need for a system in which specific information from a hard copy document can be selectively distributed to various users.
Another problem with conventional systems is that users, even within the same company, may require that the information extracted from a hard copy document be transmitted to a particular application program in a specific transmission format. For example, one department in a company may use a particular application program which must receive information using a particular character as a delimiter and other departments may require the information in a different format using different delimiters.
Another problem, particularly for small businesses, is that current systems can not efficiently accommodate the inputting of information from a diversity of hard copy documents. A large business which receives many forms in the same format can afford a system which inputs a high volume of information in that format into memory. For example, it is cost-effective for a bank which processes hundreds of thousands of checks a month to buy a dedicated machine which can read information off of checks having a rigidly defined, or fixed, format. However, as the diversity of forms received by a business increases relative to the number of forms that must be processed, it becomes less cost-effective to design a dedicated machine for processing each type of form format. This problem is particularly significant in small businesses which may, for example, receive fifty invoices a month, all in different, non-fixed, formats. It is frequently not cost-effective for a small business to design dedicated systems for inputting information in each of these various formats. This leaves a small business with no other practical alternative than to manually input the information off of each invoice each month.


A technique for preventing power interruptions and extending backup power life is provided. The technique automatically prevents power interruptions in a line between a power source and a load. The technique can also extend the operating life of the power source. In one embodiment, a circuit for preventing power interruptions is provided. The circuit may include at least one arrays of capacitors, with the capacitors being arranged in parallel within an array, at least one switching elements configured to couple the at least one array of capacitors to a load, and a controller operatively coupled to the at least one switching element. The controller is configured to selectively drive the at least one switching element based on predetermined criteria.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to power supply systems controls, and more specifically to circuits using switchable capacitor arrays to prevent errors due to power interruptions.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic devices, systems, and their applications are continually developing and increasing in number. As the number and applications of electronic devices continues to increase, the demand for efficient and uninterrupted power supplies to drive these devices is also increasing. Power supplies used for supplying power to electronic devices comprise disposable and rechargeable batteries, alternating current (AC) power supplies, direct current (DC) power supplies, and so forth. All of these power sources may suffer from power interruptions, voltage/energy drops, and the like. Commonly, capacitors, capacitor arrays, and supercapacitors are used as "power cache" devices to compensate for the shortcomings of power sources.
Typically, capacitors used as a power cache are installed in parallel to a power source so that they can provide current boost for high load demands. In one of the most common applications, capacitors/supercapacitors are placed in a supply line and provide power to supply an electronic device in the absence of power from the main power source. In another example, the power demand level of an electronic device may be suddenly increased, and the installed capacitors can supply power to satisfy the increased power demand. This arrangement functions because there is little resistance in the capacitor/supercapacitor as compared to the power source.
However, the use of capacitors and supercapacitors as a power supply in an increased power demand situation may be less than optimal due to the inflexible nature of capacitors and supercapacitors. For example, power consumption in an electronic device may not be uniform throughout the device when the power demand is suddenly increased. In such a situation, a capacitor may not supply enough power to address the sudden increase in the power consumption of the device. Furthermore, when the capacitors cannot adequately compensate for power load peaks, the battery lifetime may be significantly decreased.

Switchable capacitor arrays for preventing power interruptions and extending backup power life


A battery pack including a bare cell, a metal case covering the outer surface of the bare cell, and a protection circuit board electrically connected to the metal case.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments relate to a battery pack.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a battery pack may include, e.g., a lithium polymer battery, in which a pouch type bare cell may be connected to a protection circuit member, and a plastic case in which the lithium polymer battery may be received and to which the periphery of the, e.g., lithium polymer battery, may be fused. In the pouch type bare cell, an electrode assembly having a positive electrode plate, a separator, and a negative electrode plate, and a polymer electrolyte may be received in a pouch made of, e.g., cast polypropylene (CPP), aluminum, nylon or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
In a polymer battery pack, a pouch of a bare cell and a plastic case surrounding it may be weak. Accordingly, the polymer battery pack may be easily damaged by an external impact due to, e.g., bending, twisting, or falling, thereby deteriorating stability and reliability.


A high-pressure fuel system supplies gaseous fuel to an internal combustion engine. Gaseous fuel pressure within the system is at least 17 MPa during normal operation. The system comprises a number of components and conduits and at least one resilient member for sealing at an interface between two components. The resilient member consists essentially of thermoplastic polyurethane. A corresponding method provides sealing between components containing gaseous fluids at pressures that can be above 17 MPa, in which the gaseous fluids routinely undergo rapid reductions in pressure. The method comprises disposing a resilient member, which consists essentially of thermoplastic polyurethane, at an interface between the components. Gas pressure fluctuations can occur during operation of the components or when the high-pressure gas is vented from the components upon shut down of the high-pressure system. A particularly suitable application for the present method is high-pressure gaseous fuel supply systems for internal combustion engines.

Developments in internal combustion engine technology have shown that compression ignition engines, commonly referred to as diesel-cycle engines, can be fuelled by gaseous fuels instead of liquid diesel fuel without sacrifices in performance or efficiency. Examples of such gaseous fuels include natural gas, methane, propane, ethane, gaseous combustible hydrocarbon derivatives and hydrogen. Using such gaseous fuels instead of liquid diesel fuel generally results in cost, availability and emissions benefits.
By injecting a gaseous fuel directly into an engine's combustion chamber near the end of the compression stroke, it is possible to achieve substantially the same performance and efficiency as a diesel engine. However, a challenge of this approach is that the gaseous fuel must be delivered to the combustion chamber at a pressure that overcomes the high in-cylinder pressures that are present during this part of the engine cycle. To practice this method, gaseous fuel pressure is preferably between at least 17 and up to 70 MPa (between at least 2500 psi and up to 10,000 psi).
Conventional gaseous-fuelled engines which are based on the Otto cycle typically inject the gaseous fuel into the intake manifold where the gaseous fuel can be premixed with the intake charge. The pressure within the intake manifold is much lower than the pressures that can occur within the combustion chamber, so pressure within the gaseous fuel supply system are normally less than 0.7 MPa (about 100 psi). By associating the gaseous fuel injection valve with the intake manifold, the fuel supply system components and the seals between components are not exposed to the higher temperatures that can occur nearer to the combustion chamber. However, present day gaseous-fuelled engines have been unable to match the performance and efficiency of diesel-fuelled engines.
With present day gaseous fuelled engines there is no need to supply gaseous fuel at pressures above 17 MPa (about 2500 psi) and no one has addressed the problem of sealing connections between components to prevent the leakage of a gaseous fuel supplied at such pressures, especially for an application where the gas pressure can also quickly fluctuate between very high pressures and much lower pressures.
For example, during normal operation of an internal combustion engine, if the gaseous fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber, fuel pressure in a fuel supply system can vary within a range of pressures between 17 MPa and 70 MPa and changes in pressure can occur with a frequency of between 1 and 10 hertz. When such an engine is shut down, the fuel supply system can be vented, rapidly reducing the pressure from operating pressure to atmospheric pressure. Upon shut down, while it is desirable to slow the rate at which fuel pressure is reduced, fuel pressure can still fall from maximum pressure to about atmospheric pressure in less than 20 seconds, and more commonly between 1 and 8 seconds.
Conventional diesel engines inject liquid diesel at even higher pressures than engines fuelled with gaseous fuel because fuel pressure is employed to vaporize the liquid fuel. In a modem diesel-fuelled engine, the liquid fuel can be introduced into an engine's combustion chamber at an injection pressure that is between 70 and 207 MPa (between about 10,000 psi and 30,000 psi). New diesel engines are being introduced with even higher fuel injection pressures to improve atomization for reduced emissions.
Seals used in diesel fuel systems comprise o-ring seals that are commonly made from fluoroelastomers. An example of a suitable fluoroelastomer is the product sold by DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC under the tradename Viton®. Buna-N Nitrile Rubber can also be used.
Seals comprising fluoroelastomers and Buna-N Nitrile have been tested for sealing connections between components of a high-pressure gaseous fuel system that is operable with a maximum gaseous fuel pressure between 20 MPa (about 3000 psi) and 42 MPa (about 6000 psi). These seals were found to fail after a short time. It is believed that the pressure fluctuations between operating pressure and atmospheric pressure was the primary cause of failure. The failure mode was consistent with the characteristics of explosive decompression, which can occur when a material is subjected to rapid changes in gas pressure. Because the molecular size of fuel gas constituents is much smaller than the molecular size of liquid fuel constituents, a significant amount of gaseous fuel can be absorbed into a seal member when it is exposed to high-pressure gaseous fuel. When the fuel lines are vented, or gaseous fuel pressure is otherwise rapidly reduced, the gaseous fuel is released from the o-ring seal and the o-ring seal material can break to allow the absorbed gaseous fuel to escape. This understanding of the seal failures explains why such seal failures are not encountered when the same seal material is used for conventional liquid fuel applications when the seals can be exposed to even higher pressures.
The problem of explosive decompression and the resulting failure of resilient static or dynamic seals does not occur in all pressurized fluid systems. For example, in environments where rapid reductions in gas pressure can be avoided, explosive decompression is not a problem. The problem of explosive decompression can occur when the fluid is a gas, which is at relatively high pressures and when the system is subjected to rapid pressure fluctuations. Accordingly, explosive decompression is not a common problem. There are other variables that can influence the susceptibility of a material to failure because of explosive decompression, such as the porosity of the material, and the ability of the gas to be absorbed into the pore volume at system pressure. Manufacturers of seals do not normally rate a seal material's effectiveness against explosive decompression, making difficult the selection of an appropriate seal material.

High pressure gaseous fuel supply system for an internal combustion engine and a method of sealing connections between components to prevent leakage of a high pressure gaseous fuel


A liquid storage assembly includes a liquid storage tube having a liquid storage chamber, a sealing member, an adjusting member, and a lower cover. The sealing member is received in the liquid storage tube and defines a second liquid intake hole fluidly communicating with the liquid storage chamber. The adjusting member is received in the liquid storage tube and is rotatable relative to the sealing member, the adjusting defines a communicating portion corresponding to the second liquid intake hole.

Related electronic cigarette generally has a split type structure, the liquid storage assembly and the atomizing assembly is connected to each other by a pluggable structure or a simple threaded structure. When the liquid storage assembly is detached and separated from the atomizing assembly, the tobacco liquid inlet/outlet of the liquid storage assembly remains open, thus the tobacco liquid stored in the liquid storage assembly can be leaked out easily. When such kind of electronic cigarette is accessible for children, the liquid storage assembly and the atomizing assembly may be detached from each other merely by simple operation such as plugging or rotation, thus children may contact or swallow the tobacco liquid by an accident, it has a potential safety hazard for children's health.

Liquid storage assembly, atomizer and electronic cigarette having the same


A nonlinear distortion compensating device splits its operation into two processes. One is a compensation & amplification process for providing a receipt signal with a distortion compensating calculation and amplification before outputting the signal with phase and amplitude compensated. The other is an environmentally adapting process for modulating the signal demodulated from the input signal. Then in this process, a distortion estimating updater estimates a distortion amount using the modulated signal and a feed back signal of parts of the output supplied from the distortion compensating calculator, and updates a distortion compensating coefficient stored in the distortion compensating calculator.

The technique of digital radio communication has been developed, and sophisticated modulating methods are adopted in the radio communication. For instance, the digital TV broadcasting adopts the following system in order to expand a service area: as shown in FIG. 1, a signal transmitted from transmitter station 10 is received by receiver stations 12, 13 via relay station 11. Relay station 11 is formed of an amplifier and an antenna in order to receive an RF signal from transmitter station 10 and amplify it before redelivering the RF signal at the same or different frequency. Such relay station 11 is strongly required to be highly efficient between receiving and redelivering the signal in addition to maintaining of linearity and frequency characteristics. For improving the linearity, distortion compensation techniques are available, and a pre-distortion method among others draws attention due to its high performance.
However, a conventional pre-distortion technique tends to have a greater delay because it uses a base-band signal as a reference signal, so that this technique does not suit for relay devices. A signal in IF band can be used as a reference signal in order to reduce the delay; however, this case does not satisfy the performance required to the relay device discussed above.

Nonlinear distortion compensating device

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Circuitry for preventing a doming phenomenon in a color television receiver includes circuitry (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) for detecting the presence or absence of a high luminance portion not less than a predetermined area on the television receiver screen, and circuitry (11, 60, 2, 3) for slowly and gradually reducing at least one of luminance and contrast of the screen when the high luminance portion not less than a predetermined area exists on the screen. The area detecting circuitry includes a circuit (5, 6; 5', 6') for detecting the presence of the high luminance portion on the screen, a first charge/discharge circuit 9 for generating a signal, the level of which shifts slowly in a first direction when this high luminance portion larger than a predetermined width exists, and shifts rapidly in a second direction when it is absent, a circuit (10) for comparing an output of the charge/discharge circuit with a second reference voltage and for deciding whether the area of the high lumiannce portion is not less than a predetermined area, a circuit (11) for generating a control signal for gradually reducing the luminance/contrast to the presence of the high luminance portion not less than a predetermined area in response to an output of the decision circuit and for rapidly recovering the luminance/contrast to the original state in response to the absence thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to circuitry for preventing doming phenomenon in a television receiver and a preventing method thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a recent color television receiver, a cathode ray picture tube (CRT) is driven with a larger electron beam current than that in a conventional device in order to fulfill a demand for a reproduced picture of higher luminance. A phenomenon called "doming" occurs in driving with such a large beam current. This "doming" phenomenon will briefly be described.
FIG. 1A shows a schematic diagram of an entire cathode ray picture tube. Referring to FIG. 1A, the cathode ray picture tube includes an electron gun 500 for emitting electron beams of an intensity corresponding to a reproduced video signal, a deflection circuit 501 for generating a magnetic field for scanning the electron beams in the horizontal and vertical directions, a shadow mask 502 for selectively passing the electron beams, and phosphors 503 provided in an inner surface (a surface irradiated with the electron beams) of a faceplate (a phosphorescent surface) 504. The phosphors 503 each emitting a light of R (red), G (green) or B (blue) are provided in a predetermined sequence.
The shadow mask 502 comprises apertures for passing electron beams. Arrangement of the apertures of the shadow mask 502 is analogous to that of the phosphors 503 provided in the phosphorescent surface 504. Each of the apertures passes therethrough the respective electron beams corresponding to three kinds of colors, R, G and B to excite the associated phosphors of R, G and B for light emitting.
This shadow mask 502 absorbs approximately 80% of irradiating electron beams
Therefore, when a high luminance portion such as a white colored portion locally exists still for a long time (several tens seconds through several minutes), a portion of the shadow mask corresponding to that high luminance portion is irradiated with highly intense electron beams, so that the shadow mask 502 is partially, thermally distorted as shown in FIG. lB. The portions denoted with A in FIG. 1B schematically shows the form of the normal shadow mask, while the portions denoted with B schematically shows the form of the shadow mask when thermally distorted. As a result, mislanding of the electron beams occurs such that the electron beams not only irradiate their corresponding phosphors but also other phosphors through the apertures of the shadow mask 502, thereby causing miscoloring in a reproduced high luminance portion and thus a phenomenon that the high luminance portion such as a white portion is tinged with red or blue. This miscoloring in the high luminance portion such as a white portion due to the thermal distortion of the shadow mask is called a doming phenomenon.
The doming phenomenon tends to occur at the periphery, such as both sides of a display screen, but not in the center of the screen. This is because even if the thermal distortion of the shadow mask occurs at the center portion, the mislanding of the electron beams does not occur due to a small deflection angle of the electron beams therein; on the other hand, the periphery of the screen is largely affected by the thermal distortion of the shadow mask due to a large deflection angle of the electron beams thereto.
As described above, the doming phenomenon is caused by the high luminance portion such as the white portion locally standing still on the screen for a long time. Thus, the doming phenomenon occurs even if an average beam current (an average value of the electron beam current) through the cathode ray picture tube over the entire screen is at a predetermined value or less. Therefore, the doming phenomenon cannot be prevented by the conventional circuit for detecting an increase of the average beam current through the cathode ray picture tube over the screen and for immediately reducing luminance and/or contrast, i.e., an ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter) circuit or an ACL (Automatic Contrast Limiter) circuit.
Such a configuration is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,518 that the electron beam current is limited by reducing luminance and contrast. In this prior art, an average electron beam current level is detected, and chrominance signal amplitude limitation and luminance signal amplitude limitation are simultaneously performed depending on the detected level, thereby limiting excessive beam currents.
A circuit configuration for limiting the electron beam current flowing through the cathode ray tube is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,554. In this prior art, a black level of a video signal is detected, thereby to change the specific rate of a reduction rate of a luminance level to that of contrast depending on the detected black level.
Another configuration is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No, 4,196,446 that the electron beam current is varied monotonously depending on the scanning distance of the electron beam with respect to the center of the screen.
In this prior art, the electron beam current is reduced monotonously depending on the distance from the center of the screen, thereby achieving uniformity in size of beam spots.

Circuitry for preventing doming phenomenon in a television receiver and a preventing method thereof


The humidity of the atmosphere of a heat-treating furnace is controlled by the use of superheated steam, which is generated by the use of a furnace-heated humidifier to which water is fed through a capillary tube. A secondary gas flow passes through the humidifier and is humidified by the superheated steam. The humidified secondary gas flow then passes to a primary gas flow to be mixed therewith, before the primary gas flow passes to the furnace atmosphere.

Furnaces of various designs for heating steel parts and components employ atmospheres chiefly composed of nitrogen and carbon compounds, so that specific qualities, such as hardness and ductility, can be achieved.
Traditionally, heat-treating furnace atmospheres were obtained from endothermic generators, which employ natural gas and produce atmospheres of various humidity levels, dependent upon combustion and outdoor atmospheric conditions. Often, dryers are employed to control excess humidity.
More recently, endothermic generators have been replaced by systems utilizing gaseous flows of nitrogen and methanol from stored sources, the required flows being controlled by flow control panels.
Heat treating processes, such as annealing, require dry atmospheres (corresponding to a dew point of approximately -10.degree. to +10.degree. F.) for which nitrogen/methanol atmospheres are ideally suited. However, some processes, such as copper coating on steel, require higher humidity atmospheres (corresponding to a dew point in the range of about +40.degree. F.).
This requirement has led to a search for a system to introduce humidity while excluding oxygen, which is an undesired component in these processes. Various procedures are being utilized, for example, bubbling nitrogen through a packed wet column, so that nitrogen becomes humidified by picking up water. However, precise humidity levels are not easily maintained.
The present invention is directed towards the provision of an improved humidifying method and apparatus which enables furnace atmosphere humidity levels to be controlled and more precisely maintained. A search has been conducted in the facilities of the United States Patent and Trademark Office with respect to the invention and the following U.S. patents have been noted as the closest prior art:
______________________________________ U.S. 3,486,697 R. F. Fraser 3,721,431 Nishida 3,801,380 Ebner 3,830,478 Pietroni 4,547,228 Girrell et al 4,632,707 Shay et al ______________________________________
The cited prior art describes a variety of annealing processes as well as procedures for humidifying the atmosphere employed in such annealing processes. In general, humidification is provided by steam. One problem with steam is that small amounts of steam contain only small amounts of heat and hence, upon mixing with a nitrogen feed stream, there is a tendency for the steam to condense out of the gas stream, thereby significantly decreasing its effectiveness.

Controlling high humidity atmospheres in furnace main body


A method of canceling impulsive interference from a communications signal is provided. The method includes identifying an impulse interference contained in the communications signal, generating a model of impulse interference, matching the model in at least one of amplitude, phase and envelope time delay to the identified impulse interference, and cancelling the identified impulse interference by subtracting the matched model from the identified impulse interference.

The ability to provide long-distance wireless communication in dangerous and/or obstructed environments, for example in underground mines, is essential for both efficient operation and safety. In some applications, such as coal mining, communications systems are required by regulations for post-accident communications. In these mining operations, transmitting communication signals through earth, water and/or rock, for example, in addition to the large amounts of steel and concrete used in associated structures, severely impacts the effective range of the communications signal. This is especially true with systems transmitting radio frequency signals through, for example, conventional electric dipole antennas.
Magnetic communications systems (MCSs) that provide low-frequency magnetic signals offer an increased ability to transmit through these materials. For example, a MCS may be used to provide emergency communication between a site deep within an underground mine and a second distant site, either on the surface or also within the mine. These systems typically operate with relatively weak signals and severe interference as a result of above-described impedances and interferences, both natural and manmade. This interference limits the ability of the MCS receiver to detect and demodulate the underlying signal, limiting the system's effective range as a result.
In the field of signal processing, conventional methods to reduce impulsive interference include median filtering applied to recorded impulse-contaminated data. However, this filtering tends to distort the signal in impulse-free regions, in addition to not adequately removing the impulses. Median filters may be more advantageously applied when impulses contaminate a single isolated sample. However, impulses occupy multiple consecutive samples, as they represent the net response of the antenna, receive channel, and digital demodulator to very short interference pulses impinging on the antenna.
Other methods, such as impulse excision followed by extrapolation, also produce unsatisfactory results as the desired communications signal is typically dominated by other superimposed noise signals in addition to the impulses. Thus, extrapolation operates primarily on noise and ignores the underlying signal.
Improved systems and methods to eliminate or reduce these interferences are desired.

Method to cancel impulsive interference from a signal processing system


A drive circuit comprises a two port LC inductive network with a source switch operable to switch the network between an ST state and an active state; an inverter and a controller for controlling the On-Off state of the switches of the inverter and the On-OFF state of the source switch, wherein the controller in use operates the switches to provide: a non-drive portion of the PWM period in which the source switch is held open and the top and bottom switches of at least one phase are held closed so that the drive circuit is operating in an ST mode, a drive portion of the PWM period which immediately follows or immediately precedes the non-drive portion in which the source switch is closed and the top and bottom switches are arranged, and in which the controller is configured to employ a PWM pattern in which all of the bottom switches or all of the top switches are moved from the closed state to an open state simultaneously, and further in which the source switch is moved from the open state to the closed state substantially at the start of the drive portion and is moved from the closed state to the open state substantially at the end of the drive portion.

In order to control a brushless electric motor it is necessary to determine the position of the rotor of the motor and then control the current through the motor phase windings to produce the desired torque. The position can be measured using a dedicated position sensor or by estimating the position from other parameters using a position sensorless control scheme.
PWM control is typically implemented using a closed loop current controller of the kind shown in FIG. 1. Using pulse width modulation (PWM) control in response to a requested target current, a modulated voltage is applied to each phase winding of the motor and the resultant generated currents measured or estimated. The individual phase currents are then used by a controller, typically a PI controller, to generate the required pulse width modulated phase voltages to achieve the target current. The estimated position of the motor is used to ensure that the phase voltages can be applied to the correct phases at the correct times.
A typical prior art electric circuit 100 for a 3 phase motor is shown in FIG. 2. The driver comprises a 6 FET inverter 110 arranged to apply the desired voltages to the motor phase terminals of a motor 120 in a PWM pattern to achieve the desired phase currents. A filter 130 is provided across the battery source 140 to stabilize the input voltage. Using six switches, TA, TB, TC, BA, BB, BC each of which can be opened or closed, there are eight possible states for the switches of the inverter, two so called zero voltage states and six active states. The PWM pattern is constructed using Space Vector Modulation by combining, within each modulation period one or more active states with one or more of the zero states in a defined PWM pattern. Other non-SVM techniques are also taught in the literature.
A known problem with the electric circuit of FIG. 2 is that the obtainable motor phase voltages are lower than the source voltage. In an automotive application, where the source is a battery, this can lead to underperformance if the battery becomes drained. An alternative electric circuit 200 that overcomes these limitations is shown in FIG. 3. In this arrangement the filter 130 is replaced with a two port LC inductive network 210 of inductors and capacitors connected and a source switch 220 which can be opened or closed to control the transfer of power from the battery to the inductors of the LC network. This arrangement, combined with an inverter, is known in he literature as a bidirectional quasi Z-source converter or Power Quasi Z-source converter. For convenience the term Quasi Z-source converter will be used hereinafter to refer to this circuit where a source switch is provided.
The Z-source converter topology provides for an additional state for the bridge where a phase of the motor may be shorted through both the upper and lower switches of the phase and the source switch held open. This is known as a shoot through (ST) state as in this state current cannot flow through the FET diode into the motor phases. The other 8 conventional states where the source switch is closed are known as non-shoot through (NST) states. The Z-source converter therefore has two operating modes—an ST state or mode also referred to later in this specification as a non-drive mode and an NST state or mode also referred to hereinafter as a drive mode.
During the ST mode, the source switch is opened and inverter shorted so that power is transferred into the inductor. During the NST mode, the Z-FET is closed and the source and the two inductors may transfer energy to the load and charge the capacitors boosting the voltage available to be applied to the motor phases. The amount of voltage boost depends in part on the length of time spent in the ST mode during each PWM period—a longer time will provide a higher voltage but allow for a shorter NST time during which the motor can be driven using the higher voltage.
To protect the inverter switches, a further technique available when designing a motor drive circuit with a quasi Z-source converter that includes a source switch is to inject a short ST state around the time of the switching of the inverter switches by opening the switch just before and then closing at or just after the time the inverter switches are switched. This provides a form of negative deadtime.
According to a first aspect the invention provides a drive circuit for an electrical load such as a multi-phase motor, the drive circuit comprising:
a two port LC inductive network having a pair of input nodes and a pair of output nodes, the network comprising a source switch operable to switch the network between an ST state and an active state;
an inverter connected to the two output nodes of the LC inductive network having a plurality of top switches which selectively connect a respective phase of the load, to a first one of the two output nodes of the LC inductive network and a plurality of bottom switches which selectively connect a respective phase of the load to a second one of the two output nodes of the LC inductive network, and a controller for controlling the On-Off state of each of the switches of the inverter and the On-OFF state of the source switch, the controller in use operating the switches within each PWM period to provide:
a non-drive portion of the PWM period in which the source switch is held open and the top and bottom switches of at least one phase are held closed so that the drive circuit is operating in an ST mode,
a drive portion of the PWM period which immediately follows or immediately precedes the non-drive portion in which the source switch is closed and the top and bottom switches are arranged so that for each phase the top and bottom switches are not held open at the same time so that he motor is operating substantially in an NST mode, and
in which the controller is configured to employ a PWM pattern in which all of the bottom switches or all of the top switches are moved from the closed state to an open state simultaneously with the start of the drive portion and all of the bottom switches or all of the top switches are moved from the open state to the closed state simultaneously with the end of the drive portion,
and further in which the source switch is moved from the open state to the closed state substantially at the start of the drive portion and is moved from the closed state to the open state substantially at the end of the drive portion.
The drive portion may have a fixed duration within each cycle of the PWM pattern. The position of the start and end of the drive portion in each cycle may therefore be fixed.
The drive portion of the PWM period may immediately follow the non-drive portion within the PWM period, and the controller may provide a second non-drive portion that immediately follows the drive portion in which the source switch is held open and the inverter top and bottom switches are also held open so that the drive circuit is operating in the ST mode.
The duration of the two portions may fill the PWM period.
In the arrangement with three portions, the drive portion is sandwiched between non-portions of operation with a PWM period.
The duration of three portions may fill the PWM period.
Where a third portion is provided, the sum of the durations of the first portion, second portion, and third portion, may equal the duration of the PWM period.
The LC network may comprise a quasi-Z-source converter topology. It may comprise pair of inductances and a pair of capacitance. Each inductance or capacitance may comprise a series of inductors or a series of capacitors or a single capacitor or inductor.
The duty ratio of the top switch and bottom switch in each phase during the drive portion may be set according to the required output of the motor. This in effect creates a separate PWM modulation of the inverter bridge within the drive portion of the overall PWM cycle, each drive portion representing a cycle for that sub-modulation. For a minimum amount of switching each phase will have one On time and one OFF time within each drive portion.
The source switch may be moved from the open state to the closed state shortly after the time at which all of the bottom switches or all of the top switches are moved from the closed state to an open state simultaneously with the start of the drive portion. This provides protection to the phases as the source is effectively isolated from the phases as the inverter switches are switched preventing any shoot through fault current.
The source switch may be moved from the closed state to the open state shortly before the time at which all of the bottom switches or all of the top switches are moved from the open state to the closed state simultaneously with the end of the drive portion. This provides protection to the phases as the source is effectively isolated from the phases as the inverter switches are switched which again prevents any shoot through fault current in the motor phases.
By using an edge aligned PWM pattern in fixed PWM edges are edge aligned with the start and the end of the drive portion of a PWM period, the number of switching operations of the source switch within each PWM period can be reduced compared with prior art centre aligned PWM patterns used for Z-source converter topologies. This is because the source switch of the LC network must first be switched off before a change in the state of the top and bottom inverter switches, and aligning some of the edges of the PWM pattern with the start and end of the drive portion reduces the number of times that the source switch must be opened and closed.
Most preferably the fixed edges of the PWM waveforms for all of the top switches are aligned with the start of the drive portion and the fixed edges of the PWM waveforms for all of the bottom switches are aligned with the end of the drive portion.
During the or each non-drive portion of the PWM period the source switch may be held open (non-conducting) continuously to disconnect the phase switches from the source.
The controller may therefore be configured to cause the source switch to change from open to closed only once, and from closed to open only once, during each PWM cycle. These may be aligned with the ends of the drive portion.
It is within the scope of this invention to insert additional short duration periods of time during the drive portion of the PWM pattern where the source switch is held open prior to and during the changing of state of a switch of the inverter before being closed again, as an alternative to use of dead time periods where all the inverter switches are held in an open state. This may prevent damage to the switches of the inverter.
For a three phase motor the insertion of the extra, short duration, time where the source switch is opened will result in up to three additional open-close cycles of the source switch within each PWM period to give a total of four open-close cycles in each PWM period.
However, holding the source switch closed for the whole of the second portion leads to an optimum solution in which the source switch is only opened and closed once in each PWM period, to define the transitions at the start and end of the drive portion.
For a leading edge aligned PWM scheme in which the leading edges of the top switches are all aligned with the start of the drive portion and the timing of the trailing edges of the top switches is modulated, the source switch of the LC network will already be open at the start of the drive portion and can then be closed after the leading edges have occurred or in synchronization with the leading edges of the PWM. Later the source switch can be opened shortly prior to the end of the drive portion.
Where there is a non-drive portion that commences at the start of each PWM cycle and another non-drive portion at the end of each PWM cycle, during continuous use these non-drive portions will run together to define one continuous non-drive period of operation in an ST mode spread across adjacent PWM cycles, interleaved with the drive portions in which the load, such as a motor, is actively driven.
During the non-drive portion or portions, the controller may cause all of the top switches and the bottom switches of the inverter to be closed so that the motor load is shorted across every phase.
The controller may control the inverter switches and the source switch by outputting respective voltage signals that are fed to a drive stage. The drive stage may convert these signals into respective voltages that are applied to the gate of each switch.
The controller may process a count signal from a counter which counts upwards from zero at the start of a PWM period to a maximum count value at or close to the end of the PWM period. The controller may determine the duty cycle for the PWM modulation of the inverter switches in the second portion of time which sets the temporal location of the varying edge of the PWM signals for each phase by defining a count value for that edge. The switches of the inverter may be switched at the time that the count is reached.
One node of the input ports of the LC network may be connected to a positive terminal of a voltage source, such as a battery, and the other to a negative terminal of the voltage source or to a ground.
The controller may open and close each top and bottom switch of the inverter only once during each PWM cycle. This may be performed during the drive portion of the PWM cycle.
The switches of the inverter may each be held closed at all time during the ST mode of operation.
Where the circuit is used in an automotive application the voltage source may comprise a battery of the vehicle, or a power bus which is fed from one or more batteries of the vehicle.
According to a second aspect the invention provides a method of driving a drive circuit for an electrical load such as a multi-phase motor, the drive circuit comprising:
a two port LC inductive network having a pair of input nodes and a pair of output nodes, the network comprising a source switch operable to switch the network between an ST state and an active state;
an inverter connected to the two output nodes of the LC inductive network having a plurality of top switches which selectively connect a respective phase of the load, to a first one of the two output nodes of the LC inductive network and a plurality of bottom switches which selectively connect a respective phase of the load to a second one of the two output nodes of the LC inductive network,
and a controller for controlling the On-Off state of each of the switches of the inverter and the On-OFF state of the source switch, the method comprising the steps of causing the controller to operate the switches within each PWM period to provide:
a non-drive portion of the PWM period in which the source switch is held open and the top and bottom switches of at least one phase are held closed so that the drive circuit is operating in the ST mode,
a drive portion of the PWM period which immediately follows or immediately precedes the non-drive portion in which the source switch is closed and the top and bottom switches are arranged so that for each phase the top and bottom switches are not held open at the same time so that he motor is operating substantially in the NST mode, and
in which the controller is configured to employ a PWM pattern in which all of the bottom switches or all of the top switches are moved from the closed state to an open state simultaneously with the start of the drive portion and all of the bottom switches or all of the top switches are moved from the open state to the closed state simultaneously with the end of the drive portion,
and further in which the source switch is moved from the open state to the closed state substantially at the start of the drive portion and is moved from the closed state to the open state substantially at the end of the drive portion.

Drive circuit for an electric motor circuit


A system for mitigating damage to optical elements caused by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light exposure is disclosed. The system includes a light source configured to generate VUV and a chamber containing one or more gaseous fluorine-based compounds of a selected partial pressure. The system includes one or more optical elements. The one or more optical elements are located within the chamber and are exposed to the one or more gaseous fluorine-based compounds. The VUV light generated by the light source is of sufficient energy to dissociate the fluorine-based compound within the chamber into a primary product.

Damage to metal fluoride coatings from vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) exposure is poorly understood and most optical systems that incorporate these coatings typically utilize very low VUV intensities. One approach to mitigating this damage, in the case of CaF2 materials, involves managing the oxidation of CaF2 by removing water and oxygen via reactions with atomic fluorine. A related approach involves the cleaning of organic contaminants in deep ultraviolet (DUV) systems by injecting a small amount of oxygen into the purge gas and creating oxygen species using the existing DUV light, which oxidizes organic molecules. In the prior approaches, fluorine is utilized as an active element to remove water and oxygen only. These prior methods do not address the degradation of metal fluorides caused by fluorine depletion in general optical systems. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that cure the shortfalls of the previous approaches identified above.

System and method for protecting optics from vacuum ultraviolet light


The present invention provides a free field stress gauge that can operate in a medium with ambient normal stress fields up to 10 kilobars. The invention uses two machined parts, a top annulus cover disc portion and an active bottom disc portion such that the annulus top cover disc covers the active bottom disc portion but allows a solid central sensing column to be exposed to ambient conditions. The disc portions have a dual sealing means to protect the strain gauges therein from fluid ingress. The gauge is suitable for measuring stresses of soil and rock formations as well as concrete, asphalt or other materials in either a static or dynamic regime. The stress gauge is designed for high uni-axial stress measurements, improved frequency response, have low hysteretic induced effects in measurements and be a thinner gauge.

Free field stress gauges defined herein are gauges used to measure stresses in the medium in which they are used by physically embedding them in the sensed medium, e.g. a geological rock and/or soil formation, and in civil engineered structures such as roads or buildings. Specific applications of this sensor include use in passive smart structures to assess the state of a civil engineered structure in real time such as a skyscraper's pilings in an an earth quake prone area. Additional uses include placement in a road for traffic light control.
The current invention is an improvement over two known earlier free field stress gauges.
The gauge taught by Richard Kanda's U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,856 entitled "Kilobar Range Stress Gauge," which is hereby incorporated by reference, teaches of a concentric hollow ring central sensing column in a first embodiment and a central sensing column in a second embodiment. Another gauge by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterway Experiment Station Technical Instruction Report SL-86-1, dated September 1986, entitled "Procedure for Assembling WES Column-Based Soil Stress Gages" (referred to as COE 86 gauge) teaches of a soil stress gauge that is capable of both static and dynamic stress measurements up to 50 ksi in various types of soil.
Kanda's '856 gauge teaches of a stress gauge designed to match the density and Young's modulus of the surrounding medium and operate up to one kilobar stress ranges. The instant invention's gauge material approximately matches the density of the sensed medium, and is also intentionally designed to have an average elastic Young's modulus in the direction of its measuring axis that is higher than the surrounding sensed medium resulting in a higher ratio of support area to loaded area for a preferred axial orientation of the gauge. This in turn results in a gauge with much higher measuring ranges in comparison with the Kanda's '856 gauge. For example, the present invention can be fabricated from 4340 alloy steel, that is heat treated to a yield strength of 199,000 psi and operate in ranges of approximately 145,000 psi (10 kilobars).
Another limitations of the Kanda's '856 gauge is it's required matching of the Young's modulus of the sensed medium with that of the gauge which results in limited applicability to sensed medium that are linear elastic, i.e. sensed mediums where Young's modulus of elasticity is also constant. The instant invention's gauge differs in that it uses the fact that inclusions of relatively high Young's modulus in sensed mediums of relatively low Young's modulus over-register the free field stress by almost constant ratio. Thus, if the surrounding sensed medium's Young's modulus varies during loading or unloading, then the instant invention's gauge will provide continuous accurate monitoring of the free field stress via an "over-registration" or calibration factor, with only the constraint that the sensed medium's Young's modulus remain less than the present invention's gauge.
Yet another inherent limitation of Kanda's '856 gauge design is its structure having a Young's modulus equal to the sensed medium which in turn limits its useful applications. The instant invention's gauge design requires only a single gauge design for sensing stress in a great number of diverse media without regard for a uniformity of the gauges Young's modulus with that of the sensed medium.
Another limitations of the Kanda's '856 gauge includes the type of unspecified stress gauges used in the Wheatstone bridge electrical circuit which affects the gauge's longitudinal (axial) and circumferential strain sensitivity. Kanda does not discriminate as to the type of strain gauge that should be used. The present invention uses a combination of semi-conductor strain gauges for measuring longitudinal strains and foil type strain gauges for measuring circumferential strains on the sensing column for greater gauge sensitivity to normal stress, and reduced sensitivity to lateral stress. Additionally, the COE 86 gauge uses strictly semi-conductor gauges which is a disadvantage since the improved longitudinal (axial) sensitivity to circumferential sensitivity is not achieved.
Still another limitation of the Kanda's '856 and the COE 86 gauge are that the actual sensing column is entirely within the cover disc which requires these devices have very tight machining tolerances in order for the active disc and cover disc to cooperate properly for proper gauge operation. Additionally, the sealing means between these disc is not as effective as the present invention's when under intense dynamic loading where harmful fluids can ingress into the central gauge areas where electrical connections and strain gauges are located and cause failure. The present invention obviates these problems by having a portion of the sensing column protrude through the gauge cover and makes direct contact with the ambient sensed medium. Moreover, the invention herein includes a positive double watertight sealing means between the top cover disc and the bottom active disc whose sealing quality is enhanced when the gauge is loaded. Thus, the invention's design obviates the need for high machine tolerances in its manufacture and allows for greater gauge reliability compared to previous gauges.
Yet still another limitation of the Kanda's '856 gauge and the COE 86 gauge is their increased hysteretic effects due to the sensing column of both these gauges being entirely within the cover disc and loading on the column is indirectly effected by normal stresses of the surrounding medium acting on the cover disc where reseating of the gauge parts occurs after the gauge is loaded. In contrast, the present invention obviates this effect by having most of the top loaded area of the sensing column directly exposed to the sensed medium. The portions of the sensing column's top loading area which are not in direct contact with the sensed medium, are also connected to the sensed medium via relatively flexible members.
Yet another limitation of the Kanda's '856 gauge and the COE 86 gauge is caused by their respective gauge geometries which limits the elastic range of use. Kanda's '856 gauge is limited to fields of around one kilobar, i.e. 15,000 psi range for aluminum alloy 7075-T6. The present invention's gauge design allows for gauge elastic range to be quite high, of around 70 percent or more of the elastic range (in compression) Of the material used for gauge construction, which translates into operating capabilities of up to 10 kilobar range of measurements as discussed above.
Still another limitation of the Kanda's '856 gauge and the COE 86 gauge is the way signal wires are routed through and supported by their gauge's active disc structure. With acceleration induced flexure that occurs during explosive tests, gauge failure often occurs due to severed sensing wires or interconnection failures. The present invention resolves such problems by providing tight and well-supported sensing wires and filling voids inside the gauge body with a light-weight stabilizing strong material that further supports the internal signal wires, strain gauges, solder joints and tabs from inertial loading.
Yet still another limitation of the COE 86 gauge is its large size which affects time and the frequency response capabilities during transient operation. One aspect of the present invention has proportionally reduced diameter and thickness by approximately 20 percent compared to the COE 86 gauge while still having the desired diameter-to-thickness ratio of five or better as required for free field stress gauges, see the article by Peattie et al. entitled "The Fundamental Action of Earth Pressure Cells," in Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 1954, Vol. 2, pp. 141-55. The present invention reduces required gauge size which allows the gauge to be used in small areas, reduces the volume over which the stress field is perturbed by the presence of the gauge itself, and provides a gauge which has a higher frequency response.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A method includes, in a mobile communication terminal, receiving downlink signals from at least two antennas. A signal covariance matrix for the received signals is calculated. Each diagonal element of the signal covariance matrix is enlarged by a respective antenna-specific value that depends on a respective antenna associated with the diagonal element. Equalizer coefficients are computed based on the signal covariance matrix having the enlarged diagonal elements. The received downlink signals are equalized using the equalizer coefficients.

Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) equalization is a popular technique used in communication receivers, for example in order to mitigate multipath fading. MMSE equalizers are in common use, for example, in Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) receivers. The estimation of MMSE equalizer taps is often highly sensitive to estimation error of the received signal correlation.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.

High-performance diagonal loading for MMSE equalization


An apparatus and method for sterile insect technique comprising a plurality of x-ray sources surrounding a container containing insects targeted for reproductive sterilization, wherein the container is at an optimized distance from the x-ray sources, moves at a fixed rate along a direction perpendicular to a plane intersecting the x-ray sources, and rotates about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axes of said x-ray sources.

Irradiation is a common method used for sterilizing objects in the food, medical, and entomology fields. Food irradiation reduces bacterial load, preventing foodborne illness. Irradiation of insects for use in Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) for suppression of native populations or invasive species is widespread. Irradiation is also used for a number of medical procedures. Insects are sterilized through irradiation and released into the wild to sexually compete with the population at large, thus reducing the chance for reproduction. Traditionally, irradiation sources are comprised of radioisotopes such as Cobalt. However, the use of radioisotopes is unpopular with the general population and access has become increasingly limited due to security issues. Consequently, efforts have been made to develop x-ray technology to replace radioisotopes for this purpose. Due to the heavy radiation dose required, these x-ray units are often comprised of high energy (450 kV) x-ray sources mounted in large cabinets. Whether irradiation is done with isotopes or x-ray sources, non-uniformity of the delivered dose has been a consistent problem. This, combined with the high cost of traditional irradiation equipment (in either form) has hindered the widespread use of SIT. Reported here is an irradiation technique using x-ray technology that uses multiple x-ray sources in a configuration that delivers a more uniform dose while providing equal throughput to the high power units at a significantly lower cost.

X-ray irradiation system for sterilization of insects

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


A method, apparatus and article of manufacture, implementing the method, processes an error when a write fails in an application that has been ported from a first platform to a second platform. The second platform has a write-to-operator-with-reply call that is not available in the first operating system. The application issues a file write. The application receives an out-of-space error in response to the file write. The application issues a write-to-operator-with-reply call to send a message indicating the out-of-space error to a console.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a technique, specifically a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture that implements the method, to process an error when a write fails using write-to-operator-with-reply in a ported application.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a computer system, data is typically stored in files in a persistent storage medium such as a hard disk drive. Typically, a file is allocated a predetermined amount of file space for storing data on the hard disk drive. An operating system, and more particularly, a file system within the operating system, typically manages the file space for the files. When new data is to be written to a file, the operating system determines whether the file has sufficient allocated file space to store the new data in that file. If there is sufficient file space, the operating system writes the new data to the file. If the operating system determines that insufficient file space is available for storing the new data in the file, the operating system generates an out-of-space error.
An application program (also referred to as an application) executes on a computer system to perform certain tasks. Applications are typically programmed to execute on a particular operating system. To write data to a file, applications issue a file write which invokes the operating system.
For example, in one mainframe operating system environment, a z/OS® (Registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation) environment, when an out-of-space error occurs, one application, the IBM® DB2® (IBM and DB2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation) database management system, generates an error message and uses Checkpoint/Restart to control recovery processing. Checkpoint/Restart saves the state of an executing application in persistent storage, so that the database management system can be restarted from the point at which it was saved.
In another operating system environment, an AIX® (Registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation) environment, if the file write fails, the operating system generates an error. In another application that executes in the AIX environment, for example, another database management system, and more particularly, the IBM DB2 Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) Server, if the error is an out-of-space error, the application may terminate. Since the application is a database management system, the termination may leave the data in an inconsistent state. To restore the data to a consistent state prior to when the out-of-space error occurred, a system administrator allocates additional file space for the file associated with the out-of-space error. The system administrator then reloads the data to restore the database's file(s) to the point where the out-of-space error occurred. Restoring files can result in a long outage during which the database management system cannot be used. Outages are undesirable because a business may not be able to process transactions using data that is stored in the database management system.
The term "platform" refers to the operating system and/or the type of computer system on which an application executes. Examples of platforms include, and are not limited to, the WINDOWS® (Registered Trademark of Microsoft Corporation) operating system, the AIX operating system, the UNIX® (UNIX is a Registered Trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries) operating system, and the z/OS operating system. The term "port" refers to transferring a computer program, such as an application, from one platform to another.
An application may be ported to an operating system that executes on a mainframe computer to take advantage of the increased processing power. Because an application executing on a mainframe may be able to process even more transactions than the same application executing on the computer from which it was ported, application termination and the associated outage from an out-of-space error is even more undesirable.
One solution may be to add Checkpoint/Restart to the ported application to control recovery processing for out-of-space conditions. However, adding Checkpoint/Restart to the ported application may result in substantial architectural changes to the ported application, and implementation could be time-consuming and error-prone.
Therefore, there is a need for a method, apparatus and article of manufacture implementing the method, for a technique for improved error processing when a write fails in an application that has been ported. In addition, the technique should avoid substantial architectural changes to the ported application. In particular, the technique should improve error processing for an out-of-space error in the ported application.

Technique for processing an error using write-to-operator-with-reply in a ported application


A method and apparatus for mirroring currents in application specific integrated circuits provides higher current mirroring accuracy than previously obtainable with matched active devices by using small groups of resistors with local matching to create a summing node which represents the average voltage across the source resistors of the active output devices and by forming a reference resistor through the combination of resistors from the local resistor groups such that the reference resistor has properties which will largely cause cancellation of location gradients and initial value variation in the resistor groups. An error amplifier compares the voltage at the summing junction with the voltage across the reference resistor and adjusts its output voltage to drive the paralleled gates of each active mirror output device such that the summing junction and reference resistor voltages remain equal. The number of active devices forming an output array is typically an integer squared, and a local resistor group of three matched resistors is provided for each active mirror device. The error amplifier output voltage driving the gates of the active output devices causes the current flowing through each device to mirror the reference input current flowing through the reference resistor. The result is that the current flowing from the output array of active devices is closely equal to the integer squared times the reference input current flowing in the reference resistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to a current mirroring circuit. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a circuit and method for mirroring currents in application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) with an accuracy greater than previously obtainable using matched active devices.
2. Background
Various techniques are used to provide regulated current to a load circuit. One such technique involves a current mirroring circuit which is used to provide an output current equal to or proportional to a reference input current. Current mirroring is typically accomplished by putting current through an active reference device such as a bipolar or MOS device. The resulting gate to source voltage in a field-effect transistor (FET) for example, can then be applied to multiple other devices which closely match and are connected to the original reference device. Current which mirrors the reference current then flows through each of the other multiple devices to the extent these devices are identical. A total mirrored current which is larger than the reference current by the same number of times as there are multiple devices connected to the reference device is achieved by combining the device outputs.
An important aspect in the design of current mirroring circuits is achieving an optimum match between the input reference current and the output current of each mirroring device. Since this current mirroring accuracy assumes that the active mirroring devices are fabricated with similar traits, current mirroring circuits are commonly fabricated on monolithic substrates as part of an integrated circuit such as an ASIC. Additionally, nominally equal value resistors are sometimes added in series with the source of each active device to improve the mirroring accuracy. This technique is successful to the extent that the matching of the resistors is better that the matching of the active mirror devices.
Nevertheless, prior art methods of achieving current mirroring accuracy in ASICs or other monolithic integrated circuits continue to suffer from problems in matching active mirror devices, especially where mirroring ratios beyond two are desired. Where higher mirroring ratios are desired, the associated increase in the number of mirror devices precludes placing all the mirror devices directly adjacent to the reference device. Therefore, device mismatch is increased by the gradients of dimensional accuracy and doping as the mirror devices are spread across the chip. The result is a reduction in current mirroring accuracy when higher mirroring ratios are desired because of the necessary reliance on matching the active mirror devices.
Accordingly, there exists the need for a method of mirroring currents in application specific integrated circuits with an accuracy better than obtainable by mirroring with matched active devices.

Circuit and method for accurately mirroring currents in application specific integrated circuits


Systems and methods for panoptic image segmentation are disclosed herein. One embodiment performs semantic segmentation and object detection on an input image, wherein the object detection generates a plurality of bounding boxes associated with an object in the input image; selects a query bounding box from among the plurality of bounding boxes; maps at least one of the bounding boxes in the plurality of bounding boxes other than the query bounding box to the query bounding box based on similarity between the at least one of the bounding boxes and the query bounding box to generate a mask assignment for the object, the mask assignment defining a contour of the object; compares the mask assignment with results of the semantic segmentation to produce a refined mask assignment for the object; and outputs a panoptic segmentation of the input image that includes the refined mask assignment for the object.

Scene understanding is the basis of a variety of real-world applications such as autonomous driving, other robotics applications, and image editing. Panoptic segmentation, a scene-understanding task that arises in some applications, aims to provide a complete two-dimensional (2D) description of a scene. In panoptic segmentation, each pixel in an input image is assigned a semantic class (as in semantic segmentation), and each object instance is also identified and segmented (as in instance segmentation). The image pixels are sometimes categorized into two high-level classes: "stuff," representing amorphous and uncountable regions (e.g., sky and roadway), and "things," representing countable objects such as people and vehicles. Some conventional panoptic segmentation systems are hampered by prohibitively slow inference speeds, and efforts to increase the speed of inference can cause accuracy to suffer.