A business card case includes a storage case, a fixing part, a lifting part, a guiding part and a discharging button. The storage case comprises a discharging opening for discharging a card, which stores cards in its interior and comprises a lower case and an upper case vertically detachable from each other. The fixing part fixes the lower case and the upper case while both the cases overlap each other. The lifting part provided on the lower case lifts up cards stored in the lower case toward the upper case. The guiding part attached to one of sides of the storage case bends at least of the ones at the top of the cards stored in the lower case. The discharging button slidably provided toward the discharging opening on the upper case includes a locking portion for locking the cards at the top.

Conventionally, business card cases or name card cases have been known in the art, such as those disclosed in JP Registered Utility Model Publication No. 3108210 or JP Utility Model Publication No. S62-63020. In JP Registered Utility Model Publication No. 3108210, a discharging opening of business cards or a name cards (hereinafter called cards) is provided on a storage case for storing a plurality of cards, and the stored cards are lifted upward by lifting means provided on a bottom portion of the storage case using elastic means such as a leaf spring. The card lifted upwardly can be pushed out one by one by inserting a finger into a window portion provided on a cover and by sliding the card via frictional force generated between the finger and the card. In JP Utility Model Publication No. S62-63020, a card case comprises a lifting means as well, and a discharging button member thereof is slidably mounted on a cover; The card can be discharged through a discharging opening by locking an end of a card at the top of the stack using a locking portion provided on the discharging button.
However, the business card case (hereinafter called a card case) disclosed in the above-stated JP Registered Utility Model Publication No. 3108210 of the above-mentioned prior art has a problem that it may be difficult to take the card out through the discharging opening because the card is pressed downward when the card is strongly pressed in order to push out the card stored in the storage case by finger. Another problem is that the above mentioned problem is aggravated in that elastic force of the elastic means of the lifting means is reduced, in case of less number of cards stored in the storage case.
Moreover, in the card case disclosed in the above-mentioned JP Utility Model Publication No. S62-63020, a card is to be discharged by pushing on the discharging button member, wherein the end of the card is locked by the locking portion of the discharging button member. This card case also has a problem in that because the part to be locked by the locking portion of the discharging button member is as thick as a card to be locked, the card case often fails to lock the card, so that repeated trials will be necessary. Moreover, the card case disclosed in the above-stated JP Utility Model Publication No. S62-63020 has another problem in that the discharging button should be manually returned every time a card is to be used, thus the operation is complicated.
The present invention is made to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a card case wherein it is possible to securely discharge a card stored in a storage case to the last one, through a discharging opening.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a card case, wherein a card is semi-automatically discharged from a storage case.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is characterized in that a card case comprises a storage case having a discharging opening for discharging cards and composed of a lower case and an upper case detachable from each other, wherein the storage case can receive a plurality of stacked cards in its interior; fixing means fixing the lower case and the upper case while both the cases overlap each other; lifting means mounted on the lower case for lifting up the cards stored in the lower case toward the upper case; a guiding member mounted on one side of the storage case for bending at least the ones at the top of the stacked cards stored in the lower case; a discharging button slidably provided toward the discharging opening on the upper case, which comprises a locking portion for locking the ones at the top end of the plurality of cards; and an automatic returning means automatically returning the discharging button member from a predetermined sliding position to an initial position ;and wherein the guiding member comprises a substrate portion provided on one inside the upper case and an elastic guide body provided inside the substrate portion; and wherein an releasing recess is provided inside the substrate portion, on an upper side of the guide body.
In the inventions as described above, it is possible to allow to fix the lower case and the upper case are while both the cases overlap each other, by designing the fixing means so as to comprise fixing members openably/closably attached to both sides of the lower case, and by engaging locking protruding members provided on free end sides of the fixing members with the upper case.
Further in the present invention, the business card case according to the claim 8, wherein the lifting means are composed of elastic means being leaf springs provided on an inner bottom of the lower case.
Still Further in the present invention, the automatic returning means comprises a helical spring rotatably engaged with inner side of the top plate of the upper case at one end portion thereof, while its other end portion rotatably engaged with the guide plate provided on the discharging button member.
Further in the present invention, the guiding member mounted on an inside of one side of the storage case in contacted with business card, the guiding member having guiding portion provided on the upper inside end thereof, the guiding portion inclined or curved toward the inside, and thus those of the upper end of the business card that has been pushed up by push-up means is bent by the guide portion.
Further in the present invention, the guiding member can be so designed that a guiding portion is provided thereon, with its top side being inclined or curved toward the inner side of the storage case.
Still further in the present invention, the guiding member is characterized in that it comprises a substrate portion provided on the inner side of the upper case and an elastic guide body mounted inside the substrate portion, and that escaping releasing recess is provided inside the substrate portion on the upper portion side of the guide body.
In the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, the cooperation of a lifting means with a guiding member allows for an increase in bent angle of the cards stored at the upper end of a storage case as compared to those stored below. Thereby, these cards are easily engaged with a locking portion of a discharging button member, and this ensures that a card is discharged from the discharging opening one by one.
When a card case is structured as in claim 2, a discharging button member could be automatically returned to an initial position after discharging operation of card(s) using the discharging button member, in addition to the above-mentioned advantage of the invention according to claim 1, thus effects can be achieved in that operability is improved.


A lubricating oil composition for internal combustion engines which comprises a base oil comprising mineral oils and/or synthetic oils and polyisobutylene having a weight-average molecular weight of 500,000 or higher. Consumption of the engine oil can be decreased by using the above composition. In particular, consumption of the engine oil can be decreased even when the above composition is used as the engine oil of the energy saving type using a base oil having a low viscosity.

Improvement in the fuel consumption of automobiles is a very important subject for saving energy. This subject is important for human society from the standpoint of decreasing generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) as one of the means for preventing the global warming.
With respect to the lubricating oil for internal combustion engines (the engine oil), it is known that the decrease in the viscosity is effective as the means for decreasing the fuel consumption since friction loss (resistance of stirring) in the engine oil can be decreased. Therefore, it is necessary for improving the fuel consumption of an automobile that viscosity of the base oil constituting the major portion of the engine oil be decreased.
However, when the viscosity of the engine oil is decreased, problems arise in that wear resistance which is essential for the engine oil decreases and that the consumption of the oil increases due to the increase in vaporization of the oil and the increase in the amount of the oil discharged to the outside accompanied with the blow-by gas of the engine. It is the actual situation that decreasing the viscosity of the engine oil (the base oil) is difficult.
To overcome the problem of the decrease in the wear resistance due to the decrease in the viscosity of the base oil among the above problems, the addition of an agent for improving the load carrying property such as an oiliness agent, an antiwear agent and an extreme pressure agent can be considered. It is proposed that an organomolybdenum compound is added as the friction modifier (for example, refer to Patent References 1 and 2).
To overcome the problem of the increase in the consumption of the oil, the use of a synthetic oil having a low viscosity and a high viscosity index is attempted. However, the synthetic oil is expensive, and the sufficient effect is not always obtained by the use of the synthetic oil having a high viscosity index. When a mineral oil-based base oil having an insufficient viscosity index is used, no effective means for overcoming the problems have been found. Therefore, an engine oil of the mileage-saving-type which can achieve the sufficient decrease in the consumption of the oil even when a widely used base oil having a low viscosity is used, has been desired.
In general, the viscosity of the engine oil is decreased when the engine is working since the engine oil is heated at a high temperature. Therefore, there is the possibility that the lubricating property such as the wear resistance of the engine oil becomes insufficient during the driving when a base oil having a low viscosity is used.
To overcome the above problem, a so-called multi-grade engine oil which comprises a macromolecular compound as the viscosity index improver and suppresses the decrease in the viscosity at high temperatures is used.
However, the multi-grade engine oil described above has a problem in that the viscosity index improver, which is a macromolecular compound, is subjected to a shear stress since the engine oil is subjected to a shear stress in the engine, and suppressing the decrease in the viscosity at high temperatures becomes less effective during the use of the engine oil. Therefore, it is required for the engine oil, in particular, for the engine oil of the energy saving type, that the viscosity at low temperatures be low so that the friction loss at low temperatures is small, that the viscosity at high temperatures be high (which means the decrease in the viscosity be small), and that the shear stability be excellent. These properties are, in general, evaluated based on the CCS viscosity at a low temperature such as −35° C. (JIS K 2010), the kinematic viscosity at 100° C. (JIS K 2283) and the high temperature high shear viscosity (ASTM D 4741), respectively.    [Patent Reference 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 6(1994)-313183    [Patent Reference 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 5(1993)-163497

Lubricating oil composition for internal combustion engine


Particular embodiment of the invention relates to motors that produce reaction force cancellation and are thus well suited to applications where accelerations and reaction forces are relatively large. Such motors are particularly well suited to precision machinery that can benefit from fast accelerations with short settling times. In particular, the motors include movable and counter-movable motor members, where the counter-movable motor member has a reaction mass to counter the reaction force of the first movable motor member.

There are many applications where a need exists to rapidly accelerate a spindle while having low overhead due to settling times. The acceleration is typically provided by an electric motor. Examples of such applications exist in high-performance precision machinery and surveillance.
Precision machinery such as pick-and-place robots typically operate well with a device that is able to accelerate fast without inducing significant reaction forces. Improved speed, accuracy, and settling time is known to increase throughput and product dimensional quality.
Surveillance applications typically include devices where a sensor or optic needs to rapidly view a wide field-of-view at high resolution. For a given pixel count, the field-of-view decreases with finer resolution. The field of view can be enhanced to provide a wider field-of-view by stepping the sensor in between exposures. A step-stare sensor is therefore typically used to achieve fine resolution and wide field-of-view.
A typical electric motor employs a rotatable rotor element electromagnetically coupled to a stationary stator element. The rotor element is physically coupled to the spindle or other component being accelerated. Electrical drive signals are provided to control the rotation of the rotor relative to the stator element.

Fast acceleration reaction force cancelling motor


An inpainting device and method using the segmentation of a reference region are disclosed. An inpainting device using the segmentation of a reference region includes a region determination unit configured to determine an inpainting target region and a reference region within video image content, an inpainting group setting unit configured to set inpainting groups using pixel values within the reference region; an inpainting unit configured to perform segmentation inpainting adapted to perform inpainting on a segmented target region using the segmented reference region on an inpainting group basis and non-segmentation inpainting adapted to perform inpainting on the target region using the reference region, and an information provision unit configured to visually provide the result of the segmentation inpainting, the result of the non-segmentation inpainting, and information about the difference between the results of the segmentation inpainting and the non-segmentation inpainting to the user.

With the development of digital signal processing technology, virtual advertising that inserts a virtual image into a video has been popularized, and indirect advertising has established itself as an effective advertising means. Accordingly, interest has been rapidly increasing in virtual indirect advertising that combines a virtual advertisement with an indirect advertisement and naturally inserts an advertisement image into a previously generated video.
In connection with virtual indirect advertising, inpainting technology that naturally inserts a virtual image into a previously generated video or that eliminates part of an image of a previously generated video and performs natural restoration to achieve harmonization with a background is fundamental.
In inpainting technology, a reference region to be used for restoration is required to restore a target region. When a reference region is designated in a non-limiting manner, as in a case where the reference region is designated as an overall video frame, a problem arises in that computational load rapidly increases. When overall inpainting is performed regardless of the correction between a reference region and a region to be restored even when the reference region is limited, a problem arises in that an unintentional inpainting result occurs.
Accordingly, there is a growing need for new inpainting technology that performs inpainting without segmenting an inpainting region and after segmenting an inpainting region in multiple stages and that provides information about the difference between the results of respective types of inpainting to the user, thereby overcoming a problem in which an awkward inpainting result occurs when inpainting is performed in a single mode.
Related preceding technology includes Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0056407 published on May 30, 2013 (entitled "Inpainting System and Method for H.264 for Error Concealment Image").

Inpainting device and method using segmentation of reference region


A method for setting a pluggable optical transceiver, includes: amplifying, with an amplifier, an electrical signal being input to the pluggable optical transceiver from an external device to which the pluggable optical transceiver is mounted, and outputting the amplified electrical signal as a drive signal of an optical modulator; modulating light input from a light source with the optical modulator, based on the drive signal, and outputting the modulated light; monitoring amplitude of the drive signal; and executing a control sequence being set in advance for at least one of the amplifier and the optical modulator when detecting that amplitude of the drive signal exceeds a reference value being set in advance.

As an optical transceiver that transmits and receives an optical signal, there has been widely used a pluggable optical transceiver configured in such a way as to be insertable and removable with respect to an optical transmission device being a host. The pluggable optical transceiver outputs an optical modulation signal based on a high-speed analog signal being input from the optical transmission device to which the pluggable optical transceiver is mounted.
When the pluggable optical transceiver is connected to the optical transmission device, and performs optical communication, calibration for optimizing each parameter of the optical transceiver is required in order to secure signal quality. The calibration of the pluggable optical transceiver is started by, for example, transmitting a control signal indicating start of calibration from the optical transmission device to the pluggable optical transceiver and writing the control signal into a register of the pluggable optical transceiver. The pluggable optical transceiver executes a control sequence for controlling calibration for each component, and writes information indicating completion into the register at a time of the completion, and thus a state of allowing the optical transmission device to recognize completion of calibration is established.
As a technique for optimizing an operation parameter of a pluggable optical transceiver, for example, a technique as in PTL 1 is disclosed. An optical transmitter in PTL 1 controls a bias voltage applied to a modulator in response to an electrical signal input from an external optical transmission device. In order to secure linearity of an output from an amplifier to the modulator, the optical transmitter in PTL 1 controls an amplification factor of the amplifier, based on a monitor result of amplitude. Further, similarly in PTL 2, a setting technique for an operation parameter of a pluggable optical transceiver is described.

Optical transceiver and method for setting same


A method of lining an interior wall of a pipe is provided. Casting equipment such as a spin caster is used to centrifugally cast material onto the interior wall while the pipe is partially filled with liquid so as to form a coating on the wall above the liquid. In some embodiments the method further comprises diverting liquid from the pipe after the casting step, and then lining the wall of the pipe below the coating with material to form a continuous lining on the wall.

This application is based upon U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/020,517 filed Jul. 3, 2014, the complete disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by this reference.
Over time, culverts and sanitary sewer pipes deteriorate due to numerous factors. For example, corrugated metal pipes commonly used for culverts rust and buckle, and typically have a design life of 40-50 years. There are several options for replacement or repair of deteriorated pipes. One option is, pipe replacement, which requires digging, and in the case of under the road culverts, the road must be closed for excavation and laying of the new pipe. Another option is slip lining of the existing pipe, which often reduces the capacity by one-third or more. A third option is cured-in-place liners, which can be very costly in large diameters or non-round shapes.
A fourth option for repairing deteriorated culverts and sewer pipes is centrifugally cast concrete pipe (CCCP), which is economical and durable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,853 issued on Sep. 26, 1995 which is hereby expressly incorporated by this reference generally discloses the CCCP process. The centrifugally cast concrete pipe rehabilitation method applies thin layers of a coating such as structural grout, epoxy mortar, or polymer coating to produce a smooth, tightly bonded, water proofed finished product which does not significantly reduce the inner diameter of the pipe or culvert. Thus, after the repair the flow through the pipe or culvert is substantially the same as (or sometimes even better than) with the original pipe. This CCCP method is typically used on pipes having diameters between 30 inches to 120 inches, or larger.
The CCCP process begins with inspection of the pipe to be remediated to determine the thickness of the concrete to be applied inside the pipe, based on the depth, size, and shape of the pipe, depth of the local water table, water hydraulic pressure, and other factors. Then, flow through the pipe is stopped or diverted so that gravel, mud, roots and other debris can be removed from the pipe. The pipe interior is then scoured using a high pressure washer, and leaks and inverts are repaired, prior to concrete spin casting. The high speed concrete spin caster is then positioned in the pipe at the far end. The casting head moves through the pipe at a calculated speed to centrifugally cast a material evenly around the interior of the pipe to form a liner or coating. As used generally in the art, a "liner" is thicker than a "coating" and a "liner" is usually structural wherein a "coating" is protective but not structural. As used herein, however, the term "coating" includes both structural liners as well as non-structural protective coatings. The material used to form the coating may be a cementitious material, polymer, antibacterial agent, curing compound, or other suitable material or combination of materials. Regardless of the material used to form the coating, the resulting coating may be a thick structural layer or a thin protective layer. The spin caster can be stopped and started as needed, without joints or gaps. Depending on the desired thickness of the coating, multiple passes of the casting head may be required through the pipe to provide the desired strength. This coating can be applied to pipes made from any suitable material, including concrete, steel, plastic, corrugated metal pipe, and brick/mortar culverts. The coating cures or dries in place within a few hours, so that the culvert or sewer pipe can be quickly returned to service. The new coating water proofs, seals, and/or structurally reinforces the old pipe, and provides corrosion protection for sanitary and storm culverts or pipes, without trenching or digging, and at significant savings.
One downside to the CCCP process is the time that flow through the original pipe must be stopped or diverted during the application process. Since the casting equipment is moved through the pipe relatively slowly in the CCCP process, flow diversion is costly, particularly if multiple passes of the casting equipment through the pipe is required to achieve a desired thickness and/or strength of the coating.
Therefore, one objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved or modified centrifugally cast pipe liner process which minimizes flow diversion or stoppage time.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a CCCP process wherein the centrifugal casting is accomplished without diverting flow through the culvert or pipe.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a culvert and sewer pipe rehabilitation process which diverts water flow for a shorter time period than conventional CCCP processes.

Centrifugal casting concrete pipe method


An N-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) includes N input stages each of which generates the same amount of current and includes a pair of similarly sized transistor switches responsive to differential bits. The 2M−1 input stages associated with the M most significant bits of the DAC are connected in parallel and deliver their currents differentially to the DAC's current summing nodes. Each of the remaining (N−M) stages includes a resistive network that supplies a current defined by a binary weight of the stage's bit position within the DAC. The (N−M) stages deliver their currents to the current summing nodes differentially. The DAC further includes an impedance attenuator adapted to maintain the impedance of the current summing nodes and the voltage difference between the current summing nodes within a range defined by a gain of a differential amplifier disposed in the impedance attenuator.

The present disclosure relates to electronic circuits, and more particularly to a digital-to-analog converter.
A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is an electronic circuit that converts a digital signal to an analog signal. A number of parameters are used to determine the suitability of a DAC for any given application. Among these parameters are the speed at which the DAC performs the digital-to-analog conversion, the resolution of the DAC, as well as the noise generated by the DAC.
A wireless communication device, such as a cellular phone, often uses a high speed, high resolution DAC to convert a digital signal to an analog signal for further processing by the analog circuits disposed in the communication device. Glitches generated in such a DAC increase the noise floor, which in turn may interfere with the signals transmitted by the wireless communication device. One of the main sources of the glitch noise is the delay differences that exist between various stages of the DAC when a transition occurs at the digital input of the DAC.
Low noise, low power, wideband, high resolution DACs are increasingly important for advanced wireless standards, such as the long term evolution (LTE) standard. In radio frequency (RF) applications, the high frequency glitch noise generated by the transmitter DAC is an out-of-band noise that can fall into and desensitize the receiver channel. Controlling the glitch noise in a low-power, high resolution, wideband DAC remains a challenge.


Monoclonal antibodies and related binding proteins specific to influenza H5 subtype HA protein can be used in serological diagnosis of influenza H5 infection in mammalian and avian serum samples, including human serum samples. Each antibody reacts strongly with a wide variety of strains of H5 subtype and does not show cross-reactivity with non-H5 influenza subtypes.

Avian influenza virus (AIV) is a common disease in birds. The first infection of subtype H5N1 AIV among poultry was detected in 1996 in a farmed goose in Guangdong Province, China, and in humans a year later in Hong Kong [1]. Since then, H5N1 AIV has caused an outbreak of avian influenza that is spreading to many regions of the world. The affected areas to date include Europe, the Middle East and, particularly, Asia [2]. According to the latest reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been a total of 328 confirmed human H5N1 avian influenza cases, 200 of which resulted in the death of the patient. Of the 328 cases, a significant majority (106 cases, 85 deaths) have been reported from Indonesia [3,4]. According to WHO, the world now is in phase 3 (of 6) of a pandemic alert based upon the evolution of the virus into a strain that is capable of efficient human to human transmission [5].
In June, 2006, 27 of 33 provinces in Indonesia had reported outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry, resulting in more than 16 million poultry deaths from sickness and culling [6]. The poultry industry has lost millions of dollars to avian influenza. This loss has affected the incomes of millions of people whose livelihoods depend on poultry. These outbreaks of HPAI (H5N1) in poultry, and now the increasing number of cases in humans, are a cause for concern. The ability to accurately and timely detect the presence of the pathogen in the initial stages of an outbreak will go a long way in controlling the disease. In addition, it can reduce indiscriminate use of antibiotics and provide the option of using antiviral therapy in a timely manner.
Various methods available for the diagnosis of influenza include virus isolation, detection of viral antigens by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA), molecular detection by RT-PCR and serological tests. Standard virus-isolation procedures have the disadvantage of requiring several days to obtain results, thereby making them of limited use to a clinician. The disadvantages of RT-PCR include the high costs involved, the need for technically proficient staff, likelihood of contamination and the consequent risk of false positive results. In addition, PCR primers may require constant updating because of antigenic drift [7]. Virus neutralization, hemagglutination inhibition (HI), ELISA and immunoblot test are preferred methods for serological diagnosis. However, neutralization assay and HI assay are not considered highly sensitive and necessitate further sub-typing and also are quite labor-intensive and time-consuming [8,9] and so are not ideal for large-scale routine testing of sera. ELISA has been widely used as a pre-screening tool for investigating large numbers of samples, but indirect ELISA systems are commercially available only for chicken and turkey sera due to the unavailability of species-specific secondary antibodies of other species. A further limitation of indirect ELISA is the need for high antigen purity. The most significant disadvantage of the indirect ELISA, however, is that the HA antigen is known to cross-react with the other subtypes of viruses. As a consequence, the indirect ELISA is not a dependable method for detection.
Most of these methods not only are cumbersome and labor intensive but also are time-consuming and include a risk of obtaining false positive results. A further limitation of these techniques is that influenza viruses are segmented genome RNA viruses which are known to undergo continuous mutations and genetic re-assortments (antigenic drift), making it difficult to detect the virus [10].
In view of the shortcomings of these conventional assays, and because of the risk that AIV infection poses to wildlife, domesticated animals and humans, there is a high need for a new assay which is rapid, easy to use and specific for the detection of the H5 subtype of AIV. The present invention represents a breakthrough in the diagnosis and surveillance of H5 subtype of AIV.

Binding protein and epitope-blocking ELISA for the universal detection of H5-subtype influenza viruses

Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory Limited


A stepping motor wherein a following formula is satisfied: EQU W.sub.r2 =W.sub.s2 .+-.(x.sub.2 -ny.sub.2),. where W.sub.s2 is a tooth width of magnetic pole of a stator, x.sub.2 is an interval of adjacent magnetic poles of the stator, W.sub.r2 is a tooth width of pole tooth or a rotor, y.sub.2 is an interval of adjacent pole teeth of the rotor, and n is an integer not less than 2.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stepping motor and, more particularly, relates to an improvement of a stepping motor comprising a stator having magnetic poles, each of said magnetic poles having a winding wound thereon, and a rotor having pole teeth facing said stator magnetic poles through a gap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 4 (a) is an expanded view of a conventional stepping motor illustrating the relation positions of the stator and the rotor thereof.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a yoke of the stator. 1-1-1-4 are stator magnetic poles provided on the yoke 1 equidistantly apart from one another. 2-1-2-4 are stator windings, each wound around each of said stator poles. Numeral 3 is the rotor, 3-1-3-5 are pole teeth provided on an outer periphery of the rotor 3, and 4 is a gap between the stator magnetic poles and the rotor pole teeth.
In the conventional stepping motor shown in FIG. 4(a), a tooth width W.sub.s1 of each of the stator magnetic poles 1-1-1-4 is substantially the same as a tooth width W.sub.r1 of each of the rotor pole teeth 3-1-3-5 facing the stator magnetic poles, measuring in a peripheral direction thereof. The number of stator magnetic poles is 4, for example, and they are disposed with an interval x.sub.1 between them. The number of rotor pole teeth is 5, for example, and they are disposed with an interval y.sub.1 between them which is different from said interval x.sub.1. The intervals x, x.sub.1, or x.sub.2 are measured from the center of one stator magnetic pole, around which a coil is wound, to the center of the adjacent stator magnetic pole, around which a coil is wound, and the interval y.sub.2 is measured from the center of one rotor pole to the center of the adjacent rotor pole.
The stator windings 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4 are divided into four groups.
In the stepping motor shown in FIG. 4(a), the rotor is rotated stepwise by an angle when an electric current is passed successively through each of the four stator winding groups. The motion thereof will be explained in detail hereunder. FIG. 4(a) shows a state in which the pole tooth 3-1 of the rotor 3 is aligned with said stator magnetic pole 1-1 facing said pole tooth 3-1 through a gap by an electric current flowing through the stator winding 2-1 to generate an electromagnetic force on said stator magnetic pole 1-1. In this state, stator magnetic pole 1-2 and rotor pole tooth 3-2 partially overlap to each other by substantially a half of one tooth width, so that a portion of the pole tooth 3-2 of the rotor 3 projects leftwardly of the stator magnetic pole 1-2 .
Similarly, the stator magnetic pole 1-4 and the rotor pole tooth 3-5 partially overlap each other by substantially a half of one tooth width, so that a portion of the pole tooth 3-5 of the rotor 3 projects rightwardly of the stator magnetic pole 1-4 rightwards. The stator magnetic pole 1-3, however, does not overlap any pole tooth of the rotor 3. In order to move the rotor one step from the state shown in FIG. 4(a), it is sufficient that electric current flow through the stator winding 2-2 and not flow through the stator winding 2-1. By doing so, the stator magnetic pole 1-2 attracts the pole tooth 3-2 of the rotor 3, which opposes and overlaps stator magnetic pole 1-2 by one half of one tooth width, by moving the rotor rightwards by one half of one tooth width until the pole 1-2 and pole tooth 3-2 are fully overlapping.
In order to move the rotor an additional step rightwards, it is sufficient that electric current flow through the stator winding 2-3 and not flow through said stator winding 2-2. By doing so, the stepping motor shown in FIG. 4(a) can be rotated stepwise each time a successive stator winding is energized. Such a driving system is a so called one-phase exciting system, which is the basic driving system.
In such a one-phase exciting system, however, only one set of stator windings is energized at any one time while the remaining sets of stator windings are deenergized. Output, therefore, is relatively low. Accordingly, a two-phase exciting system wherein two adjacent magnetic poles are magnetized at the same time has been used. In the two-phase exciting system, electric currents are sent through the stator windings 2-1 and 2-2 simultaneously as shown in FIG. 4(b). In this state, the pole tooth 3-1 of the rotor 3 is attracted to the stator magnetic pole 1-1 and the pole tooth 3-2 is attracted to the stator magnetic pole 1-2 so that the rotor 3 stops at a position where attracting forces exerted on both of said pole teeth of the rotor 3 are balanced. The relationship between the angular position of the rotor 3 and a torque T of rotation thereof is shown in FIG. 4(c). As shown in FIG. 4(c), the torque of rotation T is generated as a resultant torque of a torque of rotation T.sub.1 generated by the stator magnetic pole 1-1 and a torque of rotation T.sub.2 generated by the stator magnetic pole 1-2, which is larger than that obtained in the case of the one-phase exciting system.
However, employing the conventional stepping motor in the two-phase exciting system as mentioned above, the torques of rotation T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 are in proportion to the electric current value flowing through each winding, and relate to the air gap between the stator magnetic poles and the rotor pole teeth opposing each other so that the rotor 3 stops at a position where the torques of rotation T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 are balanced. Accordingly, the stop position of the two-phase exciting system is generally not as precise as that of the one-phase exciting system. Specifically, if the torques of rotation T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 are different from each other, the resultant torque T can not be passed through the origin of the coordinate in FIG. 4(c), so that positioning errors occur.


An embodiment of the present invention provides a stepping actuator, comprising a suspended membrane comprising a plurality of movable electrodes connected by plurality of spring hinges to a payload platform; and anchors connecting said membrane to a substrate, said substrate comprising a plurality of fixed electrodes; wherein said movable electrodes of said suspended membrane and said fixed electrodes from said substrate form parallel-plate electrostatic sub-actuators.

Electrostatic forces have been used to move structures. Traditional electrostatic devices were constructed from laminated films cut from plastic or Mylar materials. A flexible electrode was attached to the film, and another electrode was affixed to a base structure. Electrically energizing the respective electrodes created an electrostatic force attracting the electrodes to each other or repelling them from each other. A representative example of these devices is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,399. These devices work well for typical motive applications, but these devices cannot be constructed in dimensions suitable for miniaturized integrated circuits, biomedical applications, or MEMS structures.
Micromachined MEMS devices have also utilized electrostatic forces to move microstructures. Some MEMS electrostatic devices use relatively rigid cantilever members, as found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,976. Other MEMS devices disclose curved electrostatic actuators. However, some of these devices incorporate complex geometries using relatively difficult micro-fabrication techniques. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,629,565 and 5,673,785 use dual micromechanical substrates to create their respective electrostatic devices. The devices described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,233,459 and 5,784,189 are formed by using numerous process steps. Complex operations are required to create corrugations in the flexible electrodes. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,925 also discloses a curved electrostatic electrode. However, the electrode is constructed from two portions, a thinner flexible portion followed by a flat cantilever portion.
Several of the electrostatic MEMS devices include an air gap between the substrate surface and the electrostatic actuator. The electrostatic actuators generally include flexible, curled electrodes. Typically, the gap starts at the beginning of the electrostatic actuator where it separates from the substrate surface and increases continuously along the length of the air gap. The size of the air gap increases as the actuator curls further away from the substrate surface along its length. The air gap separation between the substrate electrode and actuator electrode affects the operating voltage required to move the actuator. The larger the air gap, the higher the voltage required operating the actuator. Further, due to manufacturing process and material variations, size and shape of the air gap can vary substantially from device to device, making operation erratic.
MEMS actuators using electrostatic force as means of moving, shaping or actuating a payload are integral part of many, if not most Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). They have low power consumption and small size. These include parallel-plate actuator, cantilever actuator, torsional drive, comb drive, rotary motor, and scratch drive. Of these, only parallel-plate actuator generates strict vertical (out-of-plane) displacement. A schematic of the parallel-plate actuator is shown in FIG. 1. It comprises a movable electrode 10, a fixed electrode 20, spring 82 as hinges, a pair of pillars 30 on substrate 1. The movable electrode 10 is suspended by the spring hinges 82, which have a spring constant k, and is substantially parallel to the fixed electrode 20 with air gap go in between. A voltage Vin applied between the two electrodes gives rise to a force F and a displacement that can be calculated by the following equations:
                    F        =                                                            ɛ                ·                A                ·                                  V                  in                  2                                                            2                                                  g                  2                                                                                and                                                                          g                    =                                    g              o                        -                                          ɛ                ·                A                ·                                  V                  in                  2                                                            2                                                  k                  ·                                      g                    2                                                                                EQ        .                                          1            where g is the instantaneous air gap, ε is dielectric constant, A is area of the smaller electrode. Note that this is now a cubic equation for the gap. As we increase the voltage, the air gap decreases, with the amount of decrease growing as the air gap gets smaller. Thus there is positive feedback in this system, and at some critical voltage, the system goes unstable, and the air gap collapses to zero. This phenomenon is called pull-in. The air gap at which the pull-in occurs is given by gPI=⅔·go. That is, the movable electrode is pulled down by ⅓ of the original air gap. At this value of air gap, the pull-in voltage is
                              V          PI                =                                            8                                            k                ·                                  g                  o                  3                                                                    27                                            ɛ                ·                A                                                                        EQ        .                                          2
The parallel-plate electrostatic actuators normally operate in the analog regime, that is, the initial ⅓ of the air gap, prior to the pull-in. An analog voltage signal is applied between the two electrode plates to attain a displacement given by EQ. 1. It can be seen that the displacement is a non-linear function of the applied voltage. Such non-linear behaviors present a challenge to many MOEMS (Micro-Optical-Electro-Mechanical-System) applications requiring accurate positioning, including tunable Fabry-Perot filter and vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), used for wavelength band selection in optical communications. The accuracy requirement can only be met with closed-loop control schemes. In addition, the tuning range of the displacement is limited to a few micrometers, which restricts MOEMS devices to the visible or near IR (Vis-NIR) applications. For mid-wavelength IR (MWIR) or LWIR applications, where the tuning range is larger than 2 micrometers, very high voltage (100-200 volts) must be used, which restricts the application. The voltage is too high and needs to be decreased.
There is still a need to develop improved MEMS devices and techniques for leveraging electrostatic forces and causing motion within microengineered devices. Electrostatic forces due to the electric field between electrical charges can generate relatively large forces given the small electrode separations in MEMS devices. Electrostatic devices operable with lower and less erratic operating voltages are needed. Advantageous new devices and applications could be created by leveraging the electrostatic forces in new MEMS structures.

Stepping actuator and method of manufacture therefore


The present invention includes receiving a signal from an output of a dispersive communication channel established between a transmitter and a receiver, determining normalized Nyquist energy of the signal transmitted along the dispersive communication channel established between the transmitter and the receiver, and generating a mapping table configured to identify peaking value at or above a selected tolerance level at or near the Nyquist frequency for a signal received by the receiver based on the normalized Nyquist energy.

As demand for improved communication systems continues to increase so too will the demand for systems and components for reducing channel loss along a dispersive communications channel. Typical communications systems include a data source (i.e., transmitter), a communications channel, and a data destination (i.e., receiver). Factors such as inter-symbol interference (ISI) along a dispersive communications channel may lead to the degradation of signal quality at the receiver of the communications system. Dispersive channels with ISI are encountered in many signal processing and communication applications. For example, one such application may include a high speed serial link between a data source and a data destination. These links may be utilized to transfer voice, data and video via lossy communication channels. Lossy communication channels include, but are not limited to, coaxial cable, network back-planes, optical fibres and the like. Data transferred along a lossy may be transferred at ultra-high speeds (e.g., speeds as high as high as 40 Giga Bits Per Seconds (Gbps)).
In a high speed communication link between transmitting and receiving integrated circuit (IC) chips, SerDes (Serializer De-Serializer) cores serialize blocks of parallel data from the transmitting chip, transmit the serialized data over a communication channel and then de-serialize the received data into parallel data suitable for the receiving chip. Due to limited bandwidth of the communication channel, inter-symbol interference is present along the communication channel, which acts to degrade the quality of the signal received by the receiver. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method and system suitable for mitigating the impact of the channel loss that occurs along the communications channel.

System and method for determining channel loss in a dispersive communication channel at the Nyquist frequency


A method for fully-automatically aligning the quality of an image is provided. The method processes the video signals provided by the Video Graphic Array (VGA) display card in the computer system through the multi-sync display itself, and further interprets whether a computer host ID stored in the VGA display card or the computer host matches with a computer host ID stored in the multi-sync display, so as to avoid repetitious aligning to the same computer system, and achieve full automatic aligning to the quality of the image displayed on the multi-sync display. Therefore, even if the multi-sync display is situated under different computer hosts or VGA display cards and placed where an user cannot touch, the inconvenience of pressing a button on the multi-sync display to align the quality of the image displayed on the multi-sync display in conventional techniques can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an alignment technology for an image of a multi-sync display, and more particularly, to a method for fully-automatically aligning the quality of the image displayed on the multi-sync display.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally speaking, the requirement for the image quality displayed on a computer display (also could be called a "multi-sync display") is far higher than for a television. Moreover, there are various manufacturers manufacturing a Video Graphic Array (VGA) display card. Accordingly, when a same multi-sync display is used for display under different computer hosts and different VGA display cards, the images displayed on the multi-sync display could have problems such as the color shift and/or the deviations of size and position. In order to solve such problems, in conventional technologies a button is fabricated on the multi-sync display to call an on-screen display (OSD) menu for an user to make selections. Additionally, the images displayed on the multi-sync display would be aligned by changing an image signal and a horizontal and vertical synchronization signal provided by the VGA display card of the computer system. Therefore, the multi-sync display could display the optimal images for the user to watch.
In light of the foregoing, in order to mitigate the problems of the color shift and/or the deviations of size and position of the images displayed on the multi-sync display in conventional technologies, a manual pressing of the button of the multi-sync display is relied upon to coordinate with the alignment mechanism of the computer system. However, when a placement of the multi-sync display is unapproachable to the user, the conventional solution for solving the problems of the color shift and/or the deviations of size and position of the images displayed on the multi-sync display is inconvenient and insufficient.

Method for fully automatically aligning quality of image


A method and apparatus for generating and introducing an acoustic signal into a piping system, such as a natural gas distribution system. A first case is sealably secured to a second case to form a diaphragm case. A diaphragm is sealably positioned within the diaphragm case between the first case and the second case. The first case and the diaphragm define a first chamber and the second case and the diaphragm define a second chamber. The first chamber is preferably in communication with the ambient atmosphere and operates at atmospheric pressure. The diaphragm case is one component of a pressure regulator that has an inlet and an outlet for connecting the pressure regulator within a piping system. The pressure regulator regulates fluid pressure within the piping system, downstream from the pressure regulator. The pressure regulator has a valve plug and a valve stem connected to the valve plug. An opposite end of the valve stem is connected to the diaphragm. An acoustic signal is introduced into the first chamber in order to vibrate the diaphragm and produce an acoustic signal, preferably amplified, within the piping system, downstream from the pressure regulator.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating and introducing acoustic signals into a low pressure chamber of a pressure regulator or governor mounted within a piping system, without breaching the piping system or interrupting flow through the piping system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,209 discloses a method and apparatus for locating gas leaks in underground pipes. A speaker is positioned at one end of a branch pipe, which is in direct communication with a main pipe. A transducer is used to pick up sound waves emitted by the speaker and an amplifier and an indicator are used to detect the location of a pipe or a pipe leak by measuring the sound intensity from ground level. A disadvantage of the teachings of the '209 patent is the need for direct communication between the branch pipe and the main pipe, thus requiring shutdown of the main pipe to safely connect the speaker. Such method creates environmental, health and safety hazards.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,152 discloses an apparatus for detecting leaks in underground piping systems. A probe is inserted into an excavated hole to establish contact with a pipe. A transducer is positioned on one end of the probe and the probe is moved about various locations along the pipeline until a signal other than ambient noise is detected.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,864 discloses a process and apparatus for detecting gas leaks in underground pipes. A transmitting station is used to introduce sonic frequency signals into a main gas conduit, through a branch pipe which operates at the same pressure as the main line. The transmitted signals are detected at a portable transducer which is located at a receiving station that is coupled to the earth's surface, at different locations. The sonic pressure wave generated in the gas line results in the transmission of a mechanically excited sonic wave which escapes through a leak in the pipeline, into the earth. Such sonic wave can be detected by the transducer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,905 discloses an apparatus for receiving acoustic signals from an underground pipe. The acoustic signals are transformed into electrical voltages which are fed into a computer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,382 discloses a laser interferometer system for detecting leaks and corrosion in underground pipelines, pressure containers and other metallic structures.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,967,282 and 4,062,010 disclose processes and apparatuses for detecting underground pipelines with an electrical impulse source which transmits a radar-type signal through an antenna into the ground. The radar-type signal is then reflected by a target. U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,356 discloses a process and apparatus combined with an excavation device for alerting an operator of an underground obstruction, particularly an elongated conductive object, such as water pipes and electrical cables. U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,948 discloses an apparatus and process for installing a Wye device within a pressurized pipe. The device includes a system for inserting a probe into a pressurized pipe for detecting leaks within the pipe.

Method and apparatus for injecting acoustic signals into live gas mains


A method and apparatus for cooking includes an apparatus convertible from a grill to a bake oven. The apparatus has a fire box positioned below a grill and incorporates a closed chamber supported on the fire box and enclosing the grill. A pivotable plate is mounted immediately below the grill and is pivotable between a vertical position and a horizontal position. In the horizontal position, the plate is latchable below the grill so as to separate the grill from the fire box. In this horizontal position, the closed grill chamber functions as an oven. When the pivotable plate is dropped into the vertical position, the grill is in direct communication with the fire box and can be used in a normal grill fashion.

Outdoor cooking, often referred to as barbecue cooking, is generally accomplished using portable gas grills or portable grills fired from burning charcoal. Many of these grills have a fire box designed to accept charcoal or, in the case of gas grills, designed to accept a gas burner with an overlaying grid on which ceramic or lava briquettes are placed for spreading heat. A grill comprising an open grid structure seats adjacent the top of the fire box for supporting food products above the heat source (gas burner or charcoal) in the fire box. Some apparatus include means for raising and lowering either the grill or the heat source to thereby provide some control of heat applied to the food providers. Gas grills generally have gas regulators for controlling heat. In addition, many grills include covers which define a cooking chamber enclosing the grill and are particularly useful in "smoking" the food products to create a smoked flavor.
When the above described apparatus is used in outdoor cooking, a large amount of heat is generated and accompanied by significant volumes of smoke. The person using the apparatus is subjected to this heat and smoke whenever it is necessary to tend the apparatus, often resulting in singed eyebrows, watering eyes, and burned fingers. Thus, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for outdoor cooking which minimizes the heat and smoke problem.
The aforementioned apparatus is generally limited to cooking as either a grill, i.e., over direct heat, or as a smoker, i.e., with a closed cover. Often, however, it is desirable to cook some foods which are more properly baked, such as breads. Thus, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for using such portable grills in a baking mode.
Another disadvantage of the aforementioned cooking apparatus is that the spacing between the cooking surface, i.e., the grill, and the combustible material in the fire box is generally such that flare-ups caused by grease drippings extend around and above the food being cooked. While such flare-ups are commonly undesirable because of charring or blackening of the food, it has more recently been shown that various carcinogens may be concentrated in such grease drippings and transferred to the food by such flare-ups. Thus, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus which minimizes flare-ups which can reach the food being cooked.


The invention is directed toward a motion picture display apparatus constructed with a casing, an undulating lens mounted on the casing, a motor mounted in the casing, and a background picture disposed on rear of the display apparatus. The motion picture display apparatus is driven by a motor and drive assembly comprising a driving shaft connected to the motor, a driven shaft and a transparent film which is rotatably connected between the driving shaft and the driven shaft in an endless rotating manner. The dynamic picture comprises a plurality of designs having at least two design layers, and the contents and colors of the design layer are identically printed on the film and viewable from the obverse and reverse surfaces. A light source disposed on a rear portion of the background picture illuminates the background picture.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a motion picture display apparatus, and more particularly to a motion picture display apparatus suitable for displaying an effect of multilayer pictures.
2. Background of the Invention
Kinetic decorative objects simulating an aquarium are known in the prior art. Typically these devices include an endless loop of transparent or translucent material driven between two rollers. Depictions of marine life are printed on the endless loop and rotation of the loop over the rollers simulates motion. However, the simulation of a marine tableau in these devices is quite rudimentary. These arrangements are only able to simulate movement in one direction with the result that the marine life depictions on the endless loop appear to constantly "swim" in one direction, subsequently disappearing at one side of the device, then reappearing moments later from the opposing side.
In the prior art, a motion picture display apparatus uses a dynamic film endless loop and a fixed background picture interposed within the loop in order to show its effect of single layer pictures. The dynamic picture of these devices is generally a single layer picture, and the devices are unable to provide a variety of dynamic pictures.
What is needed is a more realistic simulation of an aquarium.


A rotary beverage filling machine for filling cans with a liquid beverage. The rotary beverage filling machine comprises rinsing cap structures for closing the dispensing openings of the filling elements to permit cleaning of the filling elements.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to a beverage filling machine for filling cans with a liquid beverage. This application further relates to a filling element with a rinsing cap which can be moved between a radially inner, non-engaged position and a radially outer, engaged position, whereby the rinsing cap is held and guided by radially inward guides, wherein the rinsing cap is additionally received and/or held in its engaged position by at least one receptacle. Advantageous developments of at least one possible embodiment are described herein below.
2. Background Information
Filling elements, in particular those for use on rotary-type filling machines, are known in an extremely wide variety of models. It is also known that these filling elements as well as the surfaces of the filling elements that come into contact with critical areas of the containers during the filling process can be cleaned and/or rinsed in a cleaning or rinsing phase with a liquid and/or vapor medium, for example. Critical areas of the container are, among others, the interior surfaces of the container and the surface areas in the vicinity of the mouth of the container.
For the cleaning and/or rinsing of the filling elements, the conventional practice is to apply cap-like closing elements to the filling elements in the vicinity of the dispensing openings, by means of which, during the filling process, the liquid being bottled is introduced into the containers, and specifically to form closed rinsing spaces. These cap-like closing elements are called "rinsing caps" below.
The cleaning and/or rinsing of the filling elements, in particular of their ducts and their surface areas that come in contact with critical areas of the containers during the filling process, whereby the surfaces in question can also be sealing surfaces, can then be performed by, among other things, the rinsing and/or cleaning medium that is made to flow through the individual closed rinsing space, and which flows into the rinsing space, for example, via the respective dispensing opening of the liquid channel, and is removed via at least one additional duct that emerges in the rinsing space, for example via the back-gas duct.
The placement and fixing in position of the rinsing caps in preparation for the rinsing or cleaning phase as well as the removal of these rinsing caps after the rinsing and cleaning phase is a complex, expensive and time-consuming process.
Because the handling of the rinsing caps is particularly time-consuming and expensive when the related activities must be performed manually, numerous suggestions have been made in the past to automate these activities.
In this context, it is worth nothing that bottles that are made of glass can be manufactured in almost any desired diameter ratios between the largest diameter of the bottle and the diameter of the mouth of the bottle. On the other hand, in the manufacture of cans, which are generally made of sheet metal, there are only small ratios between the largest and the smallest diameter of the can.
Consequently, the filling positions of can-filling machines can be at a smaller distance from one another than the filling positions of bottle-filling machines, because bottle-filling machines must also be capable of filling molded bottles that are not cylindrical but can have a bulge, for example.
For cost-reduction reasons, the filling positions of can filling machines are therefore located very close together, which causes problems in the arrangement of automatically movable rinsing caps.
A device for the automatic movement of rinsing caps is described in Japanese Patent No. 9-309593 A, for example. On this device, two rinsing caps each are held on a carrier element, whereby the carrier element is held on a sled that is oriented radially in relation to the rotating carousel of the filling machine. This sled can in turn be displaced radially from a first, inner position into a second, outer position, as a result of which the rinsing caps are brought into a functional connection with the associated filling valves. The guides and thus also the points of the application of force on the sled are located between the associated filling valves on a radially inner position.
This geometric configuration of two rinsing caps on a carrier element results in a significant disadvantage of the device described in Japanese Patent No. 9-309593A, but also in all additional corresponding devices in which the rinsing caps are moved from a radially inner position into a radially outer position.
The cans to be filled by can-filling machines have diameters between 53 and 82 mm, for example. The filling valves and thus also the associated rinsing caps have corresponding diameters. The cleaning or rinsing of the filling valves takes place at pressures of up to 3×105 Pa.
On the basis of these parameters, there is a force of up to 1500 N per rinsing cap, which in connection with the disadvantageous location of the points of the application of force can result in an elastic deformation of the rinsing cap fastening.
In practice, it is frequently observed that the seals of the rinsing caps sometimes lose some or all of their sealing function as a result of these plastic deformations, as a result of which the rinsing or cleaning fluid, which is under high pressure, escapes and contaminates the filling valve and/or the filling machine.
This escape of rinsing or cleaning fluid is generally considered a disadvantage.
The prior art also describes a device as claimed in German Patent No. 940 38 32. In this device, the vertically movable bell that creates the actual sealed connection between the can and the filling valve is located inside a surrounding tube. Attached to this tube which surrounds the sealing bell are elements that hold the rinsing cap, whereby these receptacle elements are located on the circular arc of the filling valves.
Of course, this device overcomes the disadvantage of the unfavorable location of the points of the application of force, although the location of the receptacle elements on the circular arc of the midpoints of the filling valves is particularly disadvantageous, because the individual filling elements must, under some conditions, be located at an increased distance from one another. A device of this type is also mechanically complex and expensive.

Rotary beverage filling machine for filling cans with a liquid beverage


Apparatus and methods for curing composite compositions that react with CO2. The apparatus in general includes an easily transportable and easily assembled curing structure, such as a plastic sheet housing supported by gas pressure and/or by mechanical supports. Apparatus for providing reagent CO2, for measuring water content and for removing water, and for controlling temperature, flow rates and flow directions through the curing structure. Examples of curing procedures and examples of cured materials in desired shapes are described.

It is known in the art to cure conventional cements and concretes using hydration. This has been practiced in various forms for centuries. One of the problems associated with conventional materials that are cured by hydration is that once the water needed to effect the cure is mixed into the composition to be cured, a finite time period starts during which all of the positioning, compacting and finishing steps that are intended to be performed must be completed. If there is a delay for any reason, there is a danger that the wet mix will either have to be discarded before it can be used as intended, or will set in locations that are disadvantageous, such as in mixing and transporting equipment. Such adverse outcomes can and do cause additional time effort and money to be expended needlessly.
There is a need for systems and methods that allow the curing of composite materials without the limitation of a set time for completing the curing process.


A bandgap reference circuit 30 includes a current generation circuit 32, a voltage generation circuit 34 connected to current generation circuit 32, and a compensation circuit connected to current generation circuit 32 and voltage generation circuit 34. Current generation circuit 32 sources a current to voltage generation circuit 34 which translates the current into a voltage. Compensation circuit 36 monitors current generation circuit 32 and provides a supplemental current to voltage generation circuit 34. Voltage generation circuit 34 receives the supplemental current and translates it into a supplemental voltage. The summation of the voltage produced by the current received by current generation circuit 32 and the supplemental voltage produced by the supplemental current received by compensation circuit 36 produces a stable reference voltage.

Voltage and current reference circuits find many applications in electronic circuit applications. The bandgap reference circuit is a common circuit solution for supplying a voltage or current reference. FIG. 1 is a prior art bandgap circuit 10 and operates as described in "New Developments in IC Voltage Regulators", Widlar, Robert J., IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, Vol. sc-6, No. 1, Feb. 1971. M1 and M2 act as a standard MOS current mirror providing current to Q1 and Q2 which are configured as a bipolar current mirror. Q1 and Q2 are sized differently; therefore, although they conduct the same current, they have different current densities. Therefore, there will be a difference in their V.sub.bc voltages and the difference will be reflected in the current through R1. V.sub.out is a voltage reference that is a function of the current through R2 and the base-emitter voltage V.sub.be of Q3. Since the current through R2 is mirrored from M2 it is seen that the current through M3 is a function of .DELTA.V.sub.be between Q1 and Q2 and R1. Therefore, V.sub.out is a function of the .DELTA.V.sub.bc between Q1 and Q2, the ratio in resistor values R1 and R2, and V.sub.be of Q3 as seen below: EQU V.sub.out =I(M3)*R2+V.sub.be (Q3)
and, EQU I(M3)=I(M2)=I.sub.c (Q2).apprxeq.I.sub.c (Q2)=.DELTA.V.sub.be /R1
where EQU .DELTA.V.sub.be =V.sub.be (Q2)-V.sub.be (Q1).
Substituting .DELTA.V.sub.be /R1 for I(M3) you get EQU V.sub.out =(R2R1)*.DELTA.V.sub.be +V.sub.be (Q3).
If the ratios of R1 and R2 are set appropriately V.sub.out will have zero temperature coefficient. This ratio is determined by taking the equation for V.sub.out that incorporates all temperature dependencies, differentiating with respect to temperature, and setting the equation equal to zero. This is well known by those skilled in the art of bandgap reference circuits. The above explanation of prior art circuit 10 assumes that the gain (or h.sub.FE) of Q1 and Q2 are sufficiently high such that I.sub.c (Q2) is approximately I.sub.c (Q2). However, in many cases, this is not a valid assumption. In integrated circuits, h.sub.FE mary vary by an order of magnitude for a given process. Additionally, h.sub.FE is a strong function of temperature and may increase by 4.times.from -55.degree. C. to 125.degree. C. Taking into account low h.sub.FE, the following equations represent circuit 10: EQU V.sub.out =I(M3)*R2+V.sub.be (Q3)
and, EQU I(M3)=I(M2)=I.sub.c (Q2)
and, EQU I.sub.c (Q2)=I.sub.c (Q2)-I.sub.b (Q2)
therefore, EQU I.sub.c (Q2)=.DELTA.V.sub.be /R1-I.sub.b (Q2)
and, EQU V.sub.out =(R2/R1)*.DELTA.V.sub.be +V.sub.be (Q3)-R2*I.sub.b (Q2).
Therefore, it can be seen that an error term exists and further, this error term is a function of temperature since I.sub.b (Q2) will vary as h.sub.FE varies over temperature. This error term deteriorates the performance of circuit 10 as a voltage reference.
FIG. 2 is a prior art bandgap circuit 20 that incorporates an NMOS transistor M4 as a "beta-helper" and is well known by those skilled in the art. M4 decreases the dependance upon beta (h.sub.FE) to achieve accurate "mirroring" of current between Q1 and Q2 by minimizing the current needed from the collector terminal of Q1 to supply base drive to Q1 and Q2. Although M4 is effective in that regard it does not eliminate the error term in V.sub.out associated with a low h.sub.Fe in Q2.
The same error phenomena is also present in bandgap current reference circuits. That is, when bipolar transistors exhibit low gain there is a significant current difference between their collector current and their emitter current. Since the emitter current is what is used to establish the current reference stabilization, a difference between the collector current and emitter current due to low gain causes significant error in establishing a stable current reference.
It is an object of this invention to provide a compensation method and circuit that reduces the negative effect of low gain bipolar transistors in bandgap voltage and current reference circuits. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having reference to the following specification together with the drawings herein.

Compensation for low gain bipolar transistors in voltage and current reference circuits


A portable sports practice net includes a frame with a base to which removable vertical poles having top side bar supports are joined holds a net to create an opening, such as a goal opening. The top side bar supports have a unique shape and extend horizontally from the top of the vertical poles in a manner that reduces the weight placed on the net fabric hung between the vertical poles. The top side bar supports also create a depth of the goal pocket without need for additional vertical posts. Each vertical post creates a pivot point at its bottom end, such that each vertical post is urged apart from the other post to create tension or leverage between the opposite top side bar supports, thus creating a net opening with a more realistic goal shape and reducing sag at the top edge.

Current portable soccer nets support the netting using only vertical or almost vertical flexible fiberglass poles attached to a generally U- or V-shaped base support. The fiberglass poles are flexible, and do not keep the front top edge of the net pulled tightly across the span of the goal mouth, especially for soccer goals that have a width of six feet or larger. Nets with larger goal pockets generally include additional rear posts to hold up the back portion of the netting material to create a pocket.
Within the current group of portable goals available on the market today several problems exist. The first problem is the sagging of the top cross bar which is made of fabric suspended between vertical posts over the top center of the goal. The second problem is the difficulty of set up. The third problem is that the portable goals do not replicate a real soccer goal as they do not form a proper "pocket" with a depth from the goal opening without adding extra vertical posts, which increase set up time and materials used to manufacture the goal. The fourth problem is lack of stability of prior portable goal nets, which tend to have more weight to the rear of the goal frame structure and thus are susceptible to movement and overturning when balls are kicked with greater force into the goal. Accordingly, improvements to portable soccer goals continue to be sought.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Portable sports practice net or sports goal


A radio frequency (RF) transmitter is provided. The RF transmitter includes first and second drivers that are configured to receive first and second sets of complementary RF signals. Restoration circuits are coupled to the first and second drivers, and a bridge circuit is coupled to the first and second restoration circuits. By having the restoration circuits and the bridge circuit, a common mode impedance and a differential impedance can be provided, where the common mode impedance is lower than the differential impedance.

Turning to FIGS. 1 and 2, an example of a conventional LINC transmitter 100 can be seen. In operation, a input signal S(t) (which has a varying envelope) is provided to the signal generator 102, which can be represented as:S(t)=A(t)eiθ(t),  (1)where A(t) is the signal envelope and θ(t) is the signal phase. The signal generator 102 is then able to generate signals S1(t) and S2(t) from signal S(t), which can be represented as:
                                                                        S                                                  (                  t                  )                                            =                                                                            1                  2                                                                  (                                                                                S                        1                                                                                (                        t                        )                                                              +                                                                  S                        2                                                                                (                        t                        )                                                                              )                                                                                =                                                                            c                  2                                                                  (                                                            ⅇ                                              ⅈ                                                                          (                                                                                θ                                                                                (                                t                                )                                                                                +                                                          φ                                                                                (                                t                                )                                                                                )                                                                                +                                          ⅇ                                              ⅈ                                                                          (                                                                                θ                                                                                (                                t                                )                                                                                -                                                          φ                                                                                (                                t                                )                                                                                )                                                                                )                                                                                =                                                          c                                                                                ⅇ                                          ⅈθ                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                                              (                                                                                ⅇ                                                  ⅈφ                                                                                (                            t                            )                                                                                +                                              ⅇ                                                  -                                                      ⅈφ                                                                                (                              t                              )                                                                                2                                    )                                                                                =                                                                  c                                                                                ⅇ                                          ⅈθ                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                                                cos                    (                                          φ                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                              )                                                              ,                                                          (        2        )            where c is radius shown in FIG. 2 and φ(t) is the out-phasing angle. When combining equations (1) and (2) and solving for the out-phasing angle φ(t), it becomes:
                              φ                                (            t            )                          =                              arccos                                      (                                                A                                                        (                    t                    )                                                  c                            )                                .                                    (        3        )            Since the arccosine function is limited to a domain between −1 and 1, then:c≧max(A(t)),  (4)which means that the signals S1(t) and S2(t) have a generally constant envelope. As a result, high-efficiency, nonlinear power amplifiers (PAs) can be used as PAs 104-1 and 104-2 to generate signals O1(t) and O2(t), which can then be combined with combiner 106 to produce signal O(t) that has a variable envelope.
One issue with LINC transmitter 100 is that there is an efficiency loss (due in part to combiner 106), so, as an alternative, an Asymmetric Mutlilevel Outphasing (AMO) transmitter 200 can be employed, as shown in FIG. 3. In operation, the AMO modulator 202 (which generally includes predistortion that is adjusted by the predistortion trainer 212) generates amplitude signals AMP-1 and AMP-2 and phase signals φ-1 and φ-2 from input amplitude signal AMP and input phase signal φ. The phase signals φ-1 and φ-2 are provided to the digital-to-radio-frequency phase converter (DRFPC) 204 that produces generally constant envelope signals for PAs 208-1 and 208-2 (similar to signals generator 102), and the amplitude signals AMP-1 and AMP-2 are used to control the power level applied to PAs 208-1 and 208-2 from supplies 206-1 and 206-2 to achieve higher efficiency. As shown in FIG. 4, the power is switched in regions where the probability distribution function (PDF) is the largest. This allows the AMO transmitter 200 to have greater overall efficiency than the conventional LINC transmitter 100 and a multilevel LINC (ML-LINC) transmitter but less overall efficiency than an power added efficiency (PAE). Because the efficiency of the AMO transmitter 200 is still relatively low, however, there is a need for an RF transmitter with improved efficiency.
Some examples of conventional circuits are: Chung et al. "Asymmetric Multilevel Outphasing Architecture for Multi-standard Transmitters," 2009 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrate Circuits Symposium, pp. 237-240; Godoy et al., "A Highly Efficient 1.95-GHz, 18-W Asymmetric Multilevel Outphasing Transmitter for Wideband Applications," Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT), 2011 IEEE MTT-S International, Jun. 5-10, 2011, pp. 1-4; U.S. Pat. No. 6,366,177; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,260,157.

LINC transmitter with improved efficiency


A system and method for providing transaction management for writing operations on a data storage space, such as a cache, persistently tracks a xe2x80x9ctransient zonexe2x80x9d that covers an active area in which write operations are being performed. The data storage space may be a linear space in which the operations of reclaiming space for writing new objects proceed as a wave. The xe2x80x9cheadxe2x80x9d of the transient zone is set to stay ahead of the front of the wave, while the xe2x80x9ctailxe2x80x9d of the transient zone is set to stay behind or up to the active block at the rear edge of the active area. As the wave of space reclaiming travels along the data storage space, the head of the transient zone is moved from time to time to maintain a lead. The tail of the transient zone is also moved from time to time as writing operations are completed. When there is a non-graceful shutdown, the data blocks within the transient zone are viewed as corrupted and are discarded, but the data outside the transient zone are stable (not corrupted) and thus still usable for recovery.

This invention relates generally to computer data storage and retrieval, and more particularly to a way to provide transaction management in connection with write operations on a data storage space, such as a cache, to enable data recovery in the case of a non-graceful shutdown.
A cache is an amount of data storage space that is used to hold recently accessed data for future access. The retrieval of data from the cache is typically significantly faster than accessing a data source from which the data in the cache are originally obtained. By storing recently accessed data in the cache, the data can be retrieved and made available quickly the next time they are requested. Data caching is one of the most fundamental concepts in computer science and has been widely applied in various applications where it is desirable to minimize the data access time.
For instance, in the context of accessing information available from the World Wide Web (xe2x80x9cWWWxe2x80x9d) on the Internet, it is common for a proxy server of a private network to use a cache unit to store data objects downloaded from various Websites in response to requests by computers on the private network. When the proxy server receives a request from a computer on the private network for a particular data object, it first checks the cache unit to see whether the requested object is already in the cache unit. If there is a cache hit (i.e., the requested data object is found in the cache unit), the requested object is retrieved from the cache and sent to the requesting computer. On the other hand, if the requested object is not in the cache, the proxy server forwards the request on to the Internet so the requested data object can be downloaded from a Website. Since the speed of downloading data objects from Websites can be very slow, a properly implemented cache unit can significantly reduce the average amount of time for a user to receive a requested data object, thereby providing a significantly improved user experience.
The performance requirements on the cache unit can be very high. For instance, a typical implementation of a cache unit may be expected to hold 50 million data objects. With such a large number of data objects, it can become very difficult to effectively manage the usage of the cache space to provide an adequate performance of the caching operation.
One of the different aspects of cache management that can become more complicated as the number of objects increases is transaction management. In the parlance of computer science, a database management system should pass the xe2x80x9cACID test.xe2x80x9d The acronym xe2x80x9cACIDxe2x80x9d stands for atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability, which form a set of requirements that should be satisfied by a well-designed database management. Transaction management for a data storage space, such as the cache unit for caching downloaded objects, facilitates the atomicity aspect by monitoring operations that write data objects into the storage space to keep track of whether the operations have been completed successfully. This information is necessary to ensure that the stored data can be reliably recovered in the case of a non-graceful shutdown during which the regular measures for ensuring the integrity of data and operational states cannot be taken. A non-graceful shutdown may be caused by a variety of reasons such as power failure, hardware break down, software problems such as operating system crashes, administration fault (which leads to the termination of the process that executes the cache unit), etc. Without transaction management, it is difficult to tell after the non-graceful shutdown which objects in the database had been written successfully before the shutdown and which objects may have undefined contents because their write operations were interrupted by the shutdown.
Traditional transaction management schemes often employ complex data structures for keeping track of the transactional status of write operations and require high overhead to maintain the data structures. In the case of managing a cache, when the number of objects to be cached becomes very large, transaction management based on conventional schemes can become highly complex and require unacceptably high overhead, causing the caching operation to slow down significantly.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a system and method for providing transaction management for write operations performed on a data storage space, such as a cache. The invention is based on the recognition that in the context of object caching and some other applications it is acceptable to lose some data (e.g., 5-10%). In accordance with this recognition, the invention provides a very simple transaction management model that is inherently xe2x80x9clossyxe2x80x9d but is very easy to implement and has extremely low operational overhead. In this transaction management model, the data storage space is viewed as having one (or more) generally localized active area that contains active data objects, i.e., objects on which the write operations are ongoing. A transient zone is set to cover the active area, and the boundary of the transient zone is adjusted from time to time to maintain a comfortable margin from the active area. The boundary of the transient zone is persistently tracked so that the boundary information will not be lost in the case of a non-graceful shutdown. When there is a non-graceful shutdown, the data within the transient zone are deemed corrupted and may be discarded, while the data outside the transient zone should still be stable (i.e., not corrupted) and may be used for data recovery.
The transaction management of the invention is drastically simpler and faster than traditional transaction management schemes. The computation time complexity of the transaction management scheme of the invention is of the order of O(1) per write operation of a data object. The sizes of memory and persistent storage spaces that are required to support the transaction management are also O(1). Moreover, the number of I/O write operations required by the transaction management scheme is O(1) for supporting reliable persistence of data as large the whole cache. That is, this system needs a small constant number of I/O write operations to manage and support reliable caching of fresh data as large as the whole cache space. These outstanding complexity estimations are affected by neither the number of ongoing write operations nor the size of the dataset or cache storage space.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying figures.

System and method for providing transaction management for a data storage space


Technologies relating to analog-to-analog quantizers with an intrinsic Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) function designed for in-memory computing are disclosed. An apparatus, in some implementations, includes: a DAC; a first crossbar connected to the DAC; a first analog quantizer connected to the first crossbar; a buffer connected to the first analog quantizer; a second crossbar connected to the buffer; and an ADC connected to the second crossbar.

Traditionally, a crossbar array circuit may include horizontal metal wire rows and vertical metal wire columns (or other electrodes) intersecting with each other, with crossbar devices formed at the intersecting points. A crossbar array may be used in non-volatile solid-state memory, signal processing, control systems, high-speed image processing systems, neural network systems, and so on.
An RRAM is a two-terminal passive device capable of changing resistance responsive to sufficient electrical stimulations, which have attracted significant attention due to its applications in high-performance non-volatile memories. The resistance of an RRAM may be electrically switched between two states: a High-Resistance State (HRS) and a Low-Resistance State (LRS). The switching event from an FIRS to an LRS is often referred to as a "Set" or "On" switch; the switching event from an LRS to an HRS is often referred to as a "Reset" or "Off" switching process.
A Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) is a device that converts digital signals into analog signals; an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) is a device that converts analog signals into digital signals. Generally, a crossbar array circuit received analog signals. Therefore, ADCs and DACs are used as the interfaces between crossbars and digital circuits ahead or afterward.
In addition to DAC and ADC, other analog-digital conversion devices, such as a pulse number modulation device and a pulse frequency modulation device, may also be used to connect digital devices with analog devices. These device often include one or more integrate-and-fire circuits for converting analog signals to and from the number or the frequency of pulses.
Analog signals, however, may not be directly transmitted between crossbar array circuits: errors or noises inherently exist in crossbar array circuits or introduced into the crossbar array circuits from external environment may accumulated and become amplified during circuit operations and thus affect the transmission of analog signals. Conventionally, therefore, one or more ADCs or DACs are needed for transmitting signals between different crossbar array circuits. These additional ADCs and DACs, however, increase both power consumption and circuit complexity.
Further, a generic activation function may be provided for different types of neural network applications implemented using crossbar array circuits; the cost of training an activation function is thus reduced.

Analog to analog quantizer in crossbar array circuits for in-memory computing