A wideband amplifier is configured to allow sophisticated low voltage signal processing in a low-cost, high frequency integrated circuit driver. The integrated circuit driver provides output currents to drive high voltage discrete power transistors in such a way as to achieve maximum frequency response from the low-cost discrete transistors. The discrete power transistors in turn provide an output voltage suitable for driving, for example, a CRT display. The transconductance amplifiers, video processing circuitry, current multipliers, and summers are formed in an integrated circuit device utilizing readily available processing and circuit design techniques, and a relatively small number of discrete low power components, including pull-up and pull-down transistors which are chosen to have a fairly high frequency of unity current gain (F.sub.t), yet which are readily available at a very low cost. In order to utilize such low cost pull-up and pull-down transistors, these transistors are driven either in cascode or in a unity gain current mirror configuration from separate pull-up and pull-down currents, in order to avoid the deleterious effects the input base capacitance of the transistor has on its frequency response.

This invention pertains to video driver circuits and more particularly to a wideband class AB driver circuit suitable for receiving a video input signal and, in response thereto, driving a video display.
Prior art class A wide bandwidth amplifiers have been used to amplify video signals, with three such circuits required for color systems, one for each of the three primary colors red, green, and blue. Such prior art class A wide-band amplifiers are described, for example, in "A New Wide-Band Amplifier Technique", Barrie Gilbert, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-3, pages 353-365, December 1968; "Design Techniques for Monolithic Operational Amplifiers", Robert J. Widlar, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-4, No. 4, page 184-191, August 1969; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,735 issued Nov. 19, 1974 to Haenen et al. and assigned to U.S. Philips Corporation.
Of importance, such prior art wide bandwidth amplifiers used to amplify video signals are probably operated as class A amplifiers, in order to achieve fast pull-down and pull-up of the output voltage in response to changes in the input voltage, without the added cost and circuitry required to drive the amplifier in other than class A and to stabilize the output signal. Unfortunately, as is well known, class A amplifiers require a relatively large amount of power. Prior art class A video driver circuits configured as integrated circuits typically consume at least 2 watts of power for a black and white video image, or 2 watts per each of the three primary colors in a color video system.
Offenlegungsschrift 26 53 624 describes a prior art class AB amplifier used to amplify video signals in which the NPN pull-down output transistor is driven by a voltage applied to its base, and the NPN pull-up output transistor is connected as a totem pole, as is also described on page 884 of "Amplifying Devices and Low-Pass Amplifier Design", John Wiley & Sons, 1968. The disadvantages of this well known prior art circuit are the difficulty in interfacing it to a low voltage integrated circuit driver and the inferior frequency response which results from driving the base of the output transistors.
Of importance, such prior art wide bandwidth amplifiers used to amplify video signals are probably operated as class A amplifiers, in order to achieve fast pull-down and pull-up of the output voltage in response to changes in the input voltage, without the added cost and circuitry required to drive the amplifier in other than class A and to stabilize the output signal. Unfortunately, as is well known, class A amplifiers require a relatively large amount of power. Prior art class A video driver circuits configured as integrated circuits typically consume at least 2 watts of power for a black and white video image, or 2 watts per each of the three primary colors in a color video system.
Class B amplifiers have also been used to amplify video signals in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,109 issued to Campioni describes such a class B amplifier circuit. Unfortunately, the '109 circuit is rather complex and requires the use of a significant number of relatively large value capacitors, thereby precluding its fabrication as an integrated circuit. Furthermore, the '109 circuit drives discrete PNP and NPN output transistors by providing appropriate signals to their bases. By driving the bases of the output transistors, very high frequency output transistors must be used since the base capacitance of a transistor which is driven by a signal applied to its base adversely affects the usable frequency response of that transistor.


Disclosed are tumor necrosis factor receptor 1B (TNFR-1B) signaling targets and TNFR-1B mutants and their uses for treatment of diseases and disorders.

Throughout this application various publications are referred to in brackets. Full citations for these references may be found at the end of the specification. The disclosures of these publications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the subject application to more fully describe the art to which the subject invention pertains.
The present invention addresses the need for improved compounds for treating diseases or disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, plaque psoriasis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, inflammation, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Tumor necrosis factor 1B (TNF-1B) mutants and methods of use thereof to screen for candidate therapeutic compounds


Technology for optimizing automated inventory management is described. In an example implementation, a method, implemented using one or more computing devices, may generate unit identifier sets based on affinities between items uniquely identified by the unit identifiers, determine first and second contribution values for each of the unit identifier sets, and calculate a difference between the first and the second contribution values for each of the unit identifier sets. The method may further calculate an incremental carton and expense prevention opportunity (ICEPO) value for the unit identifier sets, calculate an adjusted fulfillment center stocking score using the ICEPO value and the difference between the first and the second contribution values for each of the unit identifier sets, select a subset of the unit identifier sets based on the adjusted fulfillment center stocking score, and output the subset to an inventory replenishment system that manages stocking of items.

The present specification generally relates to the field of optimizing automated inventory management. For instance, the present specification relates to optimizing the stocked items in a fulfillment center.
Stocking decisions have a significant impact on supply chain performance. For example, stocking particular items at an appropriate location can reduce service time and increase customer satisfaction. However, due to capacity constraints of fulfillment centers, it is not possible to stock all items in each fulfillment center. Additionally, demand variations and regional competitors provide further incentive to localize and optimize the stocking of items to a particular fulfillment center.
One existing solution to the problem of not being able to stock all products in a single fulfillment center is inventory pooling. In inventory pooling, inventory of various items is stored in multiple fulfillment centers and, in order to satisfy customer demand, the items in an order may be shipped from one or more fulfillment centers, depending on items stocked in each of the fulfillment centers.
Selecting which items to stock in a particular fulfillment center and stocking those items is a non-trivial problem, particularly when there are hundreds of thousands or even millions of items available to stock, not to mention other fulfillment centers with different attributes than the particular fulfillment center. Accordingly, the present disclosure satisfies a long felt need for a computer algorithm that efficiently makes stocking decisions and, in some instances, stocks items based on those stocking decisions.

Decision support system for optimizing the unit identifier stocking decision


A method for estimating a value of a diffusion tensor includes obtaining, from a plurality of test subjects, DT-MRI data from which an initial estimate of the tensor can be derived. Values indicative of int-subject variation and inter-subject variation in the data are then determined. These values are used to determine a subject-specific additive offset for adjusting the DT-MRI data.

The brain includes gray matter connected by channels of white matter, sometimes referred to as fiber bundles, or fasciculi. A purpose of tractography is to identify the paths followed by the white matter, to use those paths to form a normative map of a fully functional brain and to detect differences between functional and dysfunctional brains.
A physiological characteristic of the white matter tracks is that hydrogen protons attached to water molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid will tend to diffuse along the direction of those tracks. Thus, by observing the directions in which water diffuses at different locations in the brain, one can identify the directions of major fiber bundles within the brain tissue. The preferred direction of diffusion, and the extent of that preference, can be described by a tensor field. Thus, if one could evaluate the diffusion tensor at each point in the brain tissue, one would be able to determine the directions of the fiber bundles in that tissue.
One technique of tractography is to use diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging ("DT-MRI") to observe the diffusion of water in brain tissue. Using those observations, one can infer the value of the diffusion tensor at different locations in that tissue.
To reduce the likelihood that anomalies in a single subject will skew the resulting measurements, imaging is carried out on a large number of subjects. Data obtained from the subjects is then averaged across all subjects. In principle, this technique will average out differences between subjects.
One difficulty with this approach is that it is almost impossible to ensure that the brains of two different subjects are perfectly aligned during the MRI data collection period. In fact, even if one were to take two measurements of the same subject, one might obtain two different results, simply because the location of the subject's head in the MRI machine may not be identical for both measurements.
Thus, variation between measurements can arise from several causes. First, variations may arise from the anatomical differences between patients. These are among the variations that are to be averaged out. However, variations may also arise from poor "registration" (i.e. alignment of images) between subjects. These variations have no anatomical significance and will therefore tend to corrupt any estimate of the diffusion tensor. Additional sources of variation having no anatomical significance include machine noise (for example, eddy currents, RF noise, or noise in the hardware) and physiological noise (for example, artifacts, cardiac pulsation, and magnetic susceptibility). These noise sources add to variation across subjects.


The present invention related to an image pickup apparatus which can produce a color and sensitivity mosaic image which can be converted into a color image signal having a wide dynamic range by performing a predetermined image process. Light receiving elements of a CCD image sensor are arranged in a lattice arrangements where attention is paid to the color Green irrespective of the sensitivities. Where attention is paid to the color Red irrespective of the sensitivities, the light receiving elements are arranged on every other line. Also where attention is paid to the color Blue irrespective of the sensitivities, the light receiving elements are arranged on every other line similarly. Consequently, where attention is paid only to the colors of the pixels, the pattern P2 has a Bayer arrangement. A mosaic arrangement of a color is realized by disposing an on-chip color filter on an upper face of the light receiving elements of the CCD image sensor. A mosaic arrangement of a sensitivity is realized by an optical method or an electronic method. The present invention can be applied, for example, to CCD image sensor built in a digital camera.

This invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus for use in situations wherein a color and sensitivity mosaic image which can be converted into, for example, a color image signal having a wide dynamic range is produced.
A solid-state image pickup device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) is utilized widely in image pickup apparatus such as a video cameras and a digital still cameras, part inspection apparatus in the field of FA (Factory Automation) and optical measuring instruments such as electronic endoscopes in the field of the ME (Medical Electronics).
Conventionally, a method is known wherein light intensity signals measured with different sensitivities among different pixels are synthesized in order to increase the dynamic range of image pickup apparatus and optical measuring instruments in which a solid-state image pickup device is used. In the following, first to fourth related-art methods of the type mentioned are described.
As the first related-art method, a method can be listed wherein incoming light beams branched to a plurality of optical axes having different optical transmission factors are measured by solid-state image pickup devices disposed on the individual optical axes. This method is disclosed in the official gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 8-223491 and so forth. However, the first method has a problem in that it is disadvantageous in terms of the reduction of the cost or the reduction of the space because it requires a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices and a complicated optical system for branching light.
As the second related-art method, a method can be listed wherein a single solid-state image pickup device is used such that the exposure time thereof is divided into a plurality of time periods to pick up a plurality of images and then the images are synthesized. This method is disclosed in the official gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 8-331461 and so forth. However, the second method has a problem in that an image of a dynamic scene in which the intensity of light varies every moment cannot be picked up properly because the information measured with the different sensitivities are picked up at different points of time and with different time widths.
As the third related-art method, a method can be listed wherein a single solid-state image pickup device is used such that a plurality of light receiving elements adjacent each other on an image pickup face thereof form a set which corresponds to one pixel of an output image and have sensitivities different from each other to pick up an image. This method is disclosed in the official gazette of U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,737. As a method for making the sensitivities of light receiving elements which form a solid-state image pickup device different from each other, a method is available wherein the light receiving elements are covered with filters having transmission factors different from each other. Further, a technique which adapts the third related-art method to a color image is disclosed in the official gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-69491.
The third related-art method is advantageous in terms of the reduction of the cost and the reduction of the space in terms of which the first related-art method is disadvantageous. Further, the third related-art method can solve the problem of the second related-art method that an image of a dynamic scene cannot be picked up properly. However, with the third related-art method, since a plurality of light receiving elements adjacent each other form a set and correspond to one pixel of an output image, in order to secure a resolution of output pixels, a number of image pickup devices including a number of light receiving elements equal to several times the number of pixels of the output image, resulting in a subject that a large unit cell size is required.
As the fourth related-art method, a method can be listed wherein an image pickup device having an ordinary dynamic range is used to pick up an image with a mechanism applied thereto which makes the exposure different for each light receiving element corresponding to one pixel of an output image and the resulting image signals are subject to predetermined image processing to produce an image signal of a wide dynamic range. The mechanism for making the exposure different among different light receiving elements is implemented by producing a spatial sensitivity pattern by changing the light transmission factor or the numerical aperture for each light receiving element. This method is disclosed in a document 'S. K. Nayar and T. Mitsunaga, "High Dynamic Range Imaging: Spatially Varying Pixel Exposures", Proc. of Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 2000, Vol. 1, pp. 472-479, June, 2000'.
In the fourth related-art method, each of the light receiving elements has only one kind of sensitivity. Consequently, each of pixels of an image picked up can acquire information of a dynamic range which the image pickup device originally has. However, by applying predetermined image processing to resulting image signals so that the sensitivities of all of the pixels may become equal to one another, an image having a wide dynamic range can be produced. Further, since all of the light receiving elements are exposed to light at the same time, an image of a subject having some movement can be picked up properly. Furthermore, since one light receiving element corresponds to one pixel of output image, the problem that a great unit size is required does not occur with the fourth related-art method.
As described above, the fourth related-art method can solve the problems of the first to third related-art methods. However, the fourth related-art method has a premise that a monochromatic image is produced, and has a subject that a technique for producing a color image has not been established. More particularly, the fourth related-art method has a subject that a technique of producing image signals of all color components for all pixels from an image having different colors and/or different sensitivities among different pixels and making the sensitivity uniform has not conventionally been established.


A technique to enable resource allocation optimization within a computer system. In one embodiment, a gradient partition algorithm (GPA) module is used to continually measure performance and adjust allocation to shared resources among a plurality of data classes in order to achieve optimal performance.

Allocating resources in a computer system or processor can be difficult. For example, in some computer systems, in which resources, such as cache space, memory, execution resources, etc., are allocated in a "static" fashion (ie., do not change in response to changing resource needs), the computer system or processor may under-service certain processes or threads or over-servicing other processes or threads. However, even in some prior art "dynamic" resource allocation schemes (ie., those that attempt to respond to the changing needs of the threads, processes, etc., which they service), the overhead associated with the dynamic allocation of resources may not be worth the performance benefit provided by the allocation. Therefore, improved resource allocation mechanisms could both improve processor or computing system performance without incurring the overhead, which may abrogate the benefit of the allocation scheme.

Technique for controlling computing resources


The present invention provides a linear vibration device in which a PCB is coupled to a bracket having an extension piece protruding at a peripheral portion thereof to transfer an external electrical signal to a coil and a yoke of a stator is installed on an upper surface of the PCB to be coupled to the coil, in order to maximally generate an electromagnetic force in one direction. In addition, an upper plate and a lower plate are configured to concentrate a magnetic field of a magnet configured to create a magnetic field corresponding to an electromagnetic force of the yoke formed by the coil to one direction. Accordingly, a vibrating body includes a vibrator which is operated upward and downward in response to an electromagnetic force concentrated by the yoke, increasing vibration feelings due to the upward and downward movement thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear vibration device, and more particularly to a linear vibration device adapted to generate vibrations in electronic devices such as a mobile phone when a vibrating body having a weight body is moved upward and downward according to an input electrical signal with a specific frequency, while varying vibrations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, mobile phones widely use bells or melodies to inform of the termination of calls, but the noise generated due to the bells or melodies may disturb other persons around the user of the mobile phone. In order to solve this problem, vibration motors are designed to inform the termination of calls not with a sound but with vibrations. In such a vibration motor, a vibrating body is generally mounted to a typical DC motor employing a brush. However, the brush limits a lift of the vibration motor, and fixes a limit in the use of various vibration modes. Moreover, a vibration motor having a quick response is required in a touch type mobile phone which is currently popular, making it difficult to satisfy the demands of consumers.
In order to solve this problem, Korean Patent No. 10-0735299 titled "Vertical Vibrator" and Korean Patent No. 10-0934584 titled "Linear Vibration Motor" have already suggested vibration devices which are operated upward and downward without using a brush. However, in such a linear vibration device having the structure, since a coil should move upward and downward between a magnet and a yoke, there is a need for sufficiently securing side gaps and the coil being continuously lifted and lowered with no limit in its movement due to a mutual force between the coil and the magnet. Accordingly, the coil may cause noise due to its mechanical contact with other components. Further, such a linear vibration device includes a damper and a magnetic fluid, which lower productivity and progress characteristics, making it difficult to find out a basic solution and secure productivity and reliability of a product.
The present invention relates to a linear vibration motor configured to solve the above problem, and maximizes productivity by improving contact noise and maintaining a gap on one side, wherein vibrations may be varied according to an electrical signal with a specific frequency, which is input from the outside, and a vibrating body may be stopped in a magnetic circuit fashion during an upward and downward movement thereof.


The present invention provides a system for handling handover of communication protocol data between two satellite transponder, wherein the satellite transponders are moving in orbit around the earth, enabling to transmit communication protocol data between at least one gateway and terminal. The system is comprised of: at least one transmitter associated with a gateway, at least one de-modulator associated with the terminal a for controlling the packet transmission during handover period, wherein the system is programmed to achieve a seamless hand over process between the two satellites transponders by controlling the transfer and reception of the communication protocol packets during the handover period, by synchronizing the last received packets from the setting satellite packets with first received packets from the rising satellite, wherein seamless handover include maintaining the correct packet order, avoiding packet loss and preventing packet duplication and wherein in case the rising satellite having shorter path, the receipt or transmission of the communication protocol packets from the rising satellite is delayed.

Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to the handling handover of communication protocol data between two satellite transponders and more particularly synchronizing and controlling the transferring and receipt of the communication protocol packets during the handover period between two satellites.
Discussion of Related Art
In the modern world of telecommunications, the concept of wireless data network global coverage is vital. Real time data global coverage can be achieved mainly by satellite systems. The development of satellite networks which enable real time wireless coverage requires considering the different orbiting cycles of the satellites. The need is to provide a solution for real time continuous wireless coverage of satellite networks without losing too many packets during switching periods between satellites.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,621 discloses a Satellite Communication System of a dynamic constellation (C) of satellites capable of offering continuous voice, data and video service to customers across the globe on the land, on the sea, or in the air. The invention comprises a low Earth orbit satellite system that includes 40 spacecraft (S) traveling in each of 21 orbital planes at an altitude of 700 km (435 miles). This relatively large number of satellites employed by the invention was selected to provide continuous coverage of the Earth's surface at a high minimum mask angle (1230a) of forty degrees. Each of the individual 840 spacecraft (S) functions as an independent sovereign switch of equal rank which knows the position of its neighbors, and independently handles traffic without ground control. The satellites (S) are capable of transporting calls to millions of customers using portable (P), mobile (M) and fixed (F) residential and business terminals, and gateways (G) to public phone networks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,073, discloses a method for fixing the propagation delay between a user terminal and another station in a non-synchronous LEO satellite communications system, to adjust plural signals to have substantially similar times-of-arrival, uses an elastic buffer to insert a variable delay in the received signal processing, so as to cause a fixed time for each data/vocoder bit, from the time that bit enters the transmit modulation process until the time that same data/vocoder bit is output to a user.

Method and system of handling over routing of communication protocol data between two satellite communication transponders


A liquid sprayer is provided. This liquid sprayer includes a bottle having an opening and a sprayer housing attached to the bottle. This sprayer housing includes an electrical motor, a voltage source for powering the electrical motor, a pump driven by the motor, a switch for completing an electrical circuit, a nozzle mechanism attached to the sprayer housing for spraying a liquid. The liquid sprayer also includes a deformable xe2x80x9cpinched tubexe2x80x9d mechanism which prevents liquid from flowing through the nozzle when the sprayer is not being used. The sprayer housing also includes a trigger movably connected to the sprayer housing for closing the switch, translating the piston and creating a leak-tight seal by squeezing the xe2x80x9cpinched tubexe2x80x9d.

This invention relates to the field of liquid sprayers, and, more particularly, to the field of liquid sprayers having an electrical motor driving a pump.
Sprayers have been generally used to spray liquids in order to atomize as fine droplets a liquid. The atomization of a liquid enables better coverage of a surface by the liquid. Usually, sprayers comprise a container which is used to store the liquid and which is connected to a sprayer head. The sprayer head usually includes a trigger which activates a pump that drives the liquid to the nozzle which, in turn, atomizes the liquid. These sprayers are manually activated and require the user to push the trigger several times as long as she wishes to spray the liquid. In addition to requiring the user to push the trigger several times, those manually activated sprayers can only maintain a uniform pattern of spray for a relatively short period of time. One of the improvements made to the sprayers was to incorporate an electrical motor connected to a switch and a portable voltage source to them. This type of electrical sprayer only requires the user to push the trigger once and maintain the trigger pushed as long as the user wants to spray liquid. It is common to have a sprayer with a nozzle having at least two positions and which operates as a check valve. A first position usually prevents a liquid to flow through the nozzle and a second position allows the liquid to flow through the nozzle, which in turn, allows the user to spray the liquid. Typically, the user simply rotates the nozzle to move the nozzle from the first to the second position and vice versa. Once the user has finished spaying the liquid, she can simply rotate the nozzle back to its first position. Other types of nozzles include a hinged gate member that the user can flip to allow or prevent a liquid to be sprayed. These nozzles prevent a liquid from flowing out of the sprayer in case the sprayer is accidentally tilted from its upright position. However, it has been found that very often when the user has finished spraying a liquid, she does not use these safety mechanisms. It can easily be contemplated that in the case of an electrical sprayer, the use of electrical components such as a switch, a motor and a voltage source makes those electrical sprayers sensitive to liquid which might be responsible of malfunction of the device in the event the liquid comes in contact with those components. As a result, another problem faced with those electrical sprayers is to provide a device which can limit the risk that the liquid to be sprayed might enter in contact with the electrical components without requiring any extra step to be accomplished by the user.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an electrical sprayer which limits the risk of malfunction due to contacts between a liquid to be sprayed and electrical components and also limits the risk of spills which can cause damages to the skin or to property.
A liquid sprayer is provided. In one non-limited embodiment, the liquid sprayer includes a bottle having an opening and a sprayer housing attached to the bottle. This sprayer housing includes an electrical motor, a voltage source for powering the electrical motor, a pump driven by the motor, a switch for completing an electrical circuit, a nozzle mechanism attached to the sprayer housing for spraying a liquid and a venting mechanism comprising a vent housing and a translating piston. The sprayer housing also includes a trigger movably connected to the sprayer housing for closing the switch, translating a piston and creating a leak-tight seal by squeezing a pump discharge tube. A pump supply tube extends from the opening of said bottle to an inlet of the pump and the pump discharge tube extends from the outlet of the pump to an opening of the nozzle mechanism. The pump discharge tube is flexible and deformable so that it can be optionally, but preferably, bent to form a loop around a pole member fixedly positioned between the outlet of the pump and the discharge outlet of the nozzle mechanism.


This disclosure relates generally to decentralized storage and more particularly to method and system for blockchain based decentralized storage with dynamic data operations. Conventional decentralized storage are limited in capacity thereof to enable dynamic data operations on the sectors stored at them. In an embodiment, the disclosed method and system enabled dynamic data operations such as modification, insertion, and deletion on the stored sectors by leveraging blockchain to achieve publicly verifiable fully stateless Provable Data Possession. Moreover, the disclosed system enables data integrity in decentralized storage with dynamic operations using scheme based on Merkle hash tree and blockchain to provide a transparent verification framework with high detection probability of malicious hosts.

Peer-to-peer storage, also known as decentralized storage has gained significance due to the disadvantages associated with the centralized cloud storage systems. However, since said peer-to-peer storage protocols are in the early stage of development, there is little or no development on a single source of control from central authority. Moreover, existing protocols do not support dynamic operations on stored files which is rather an important feature to enable renters to seamlessly store and modify files.

System and method for blockchain based decentralized storage with dynamic data operations


In a process for the manufacture of an exhaust silencer for motor vehicles, the advantages derived from employing mineral fiber mouldings are extensively retained while at the same time greatly reducing expenditure on shape-stabilization and transportation. To this end the silencer casing itself is divided in the meridian plane and the mineral wool is supplied and inserted directly into the original silencer casing in the form of precisely dimensioned prefabricated elements which have been impregnated with a suitable fluid, for example pretreated with synthetic resin, but not cured. This enables fast and reliable positioning of the impregnated and manually compressed prefabricated elements around the periphery of the exhaust pipe and the internal component containing the exhaust pipe inside the original silencer casing; once the silencer casing has been closed, the silencer is ready for installation. Curing, hardening or some other time consuming method of shape-stabilization is not necessary. Nevertheless, in comparison with packing the silencer casing with loose mineral wool, a more even fiber distribution is achieved, and the introduction of a specified quantity of fibers is assured through the employment of prefabricated elements, whereby the impregnation of the prefabricated elements renders them soft and pliable and thus easy to work with when placing them in position under compression.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a process for the manufacture of an exhaust silencer.
In order to reduce the noise emitted by the exhaust systems of motor vehicles, the exhaust pipe is provided along part of its length with perforations around its circumference through which the vibrational energy of the exhaust gases can escape into the surrounding space. This space is enclosed along the length of the perforated pipe section by a sealed silencer casing containing a packing of mineral wool, the sound damping effect of which nullifies the vibrational energy escaping from the exhaust pipe.
2. Description of the Related Art
An obvious process for introducing the mineral wool packing into the silencer casing consists of pushing loose mineral wool between the exhaust pipe and the silencer casing and then finally sealing the silencer casing. The disadvantage here, however, is that the introduction of the loose mineral wool on the part of the silencer manufacturer involves a not inconsiderable amount of work which has an adverse effect on production times; in the cast of mass products such as these manufactured for bulk buyers, namely the automobile industry, such labor-intensive and time-consuming manufacturing processes bring a substantial and adverse influence to bear. Moreover, introduction of the required amount of mineral wool and sufficiently uniform distribution of density cannot be reliably assured and are, rather, dependent upon the skill of the assembly personnel.
For these reasons, a change of practice has taken place whereby the mineral wool is prepared by the mineral wool manufacturer in the shape required for the packing operation, in which form it is then supplied to the silencer manufacturer who then inserts these shape-stabilized packings into the silencer casing.
There are various processes available for stabilizing the shape of such mineral wool packings, involving for example the wrapping of loose mineral wool in a thin sheeting and/or quilt-stitching. One method currently being applied consists of the manufacturer providing the mineral wool with a bonding agent and then curing this, thus stabilizing the shape of the mineral wool element.
The widely applied practice in this case involves the employment of a synthetic resin bonded board from which the required shape is milled. This produces shapes of very accurate dimensions, thus minimizing disruption to the production process of the silencer manufacturer. A further advantage of this process consists in the fact that the process for manufacture, including the hardening of the boards of mineral wool, can be implemented on a large scale in the usual way without any additional expenditure, by curing the bonding agent employed for stabilizing the shape of the boards in the tunnel drier of the production line belt, so that only the milling operation adds time to the usual felt web production process. However, this process has the disadvantage that the milling operation produces a not inconsiderable amount of waste material which, although it can be re-melted for re-use, has the effect of increasing the cost of the shape-stabilized element manufacturing process.
Moreover, a process is also known from German patent application DE-OS 32 05 186 whereby the mineral wool provided with bonding agent which has not yet been cured is moulded around a core, the shape of which corresponds to that of the exhaust pipe, and then subsequently enclosed by a moulding shell corresponding to the internal contour of the silencer casing, in which position the bonding agent curing process is allowed to take place. When the moulding shell has been opened and the core removed, a single-piece moulding is left in the shape of the required silencer packing, which can then be supplied to the silencer manufacturer and placed by him onto the actual exhaust pipe for insertion into the silencer. One disadvantage of this process lies in the fact that the introduction of the mineral wool into the mould, and mould removal involves a considerable amount of work, and substantial additional time is required for the curing process unless hardening in the tunnel drier is integrated within the production process in the same way as in the case of the manufacture of felts and boards for standard products. The curing process in the special mould thus requires further specific investment and additional energy input, and may also hinder the production process of the mineral wool manufacturer.
This process is, furthermore, only possible if the exhaust pipe, and thus the core corresponding in shape to the exhaust pipe, has the shape of a simple cylinder, so that the moulding, following curing, can be withdrawn and subsequently fitted without difficulty. In the case of bent, bifurcated or otherwise irregularly shaped exhaust pipes in the area of the silencer, this process cannot be employed. In this connection it is known from the German patent specification DE-PS 32 38 638, that the original internal component of the silencer comprising the exhaust pipe and corresponding ancillary elements such as partitions or similar, may be provided by the mineral wool manufacturer with pads or pre-resined but not yet cured mineral wool and, thus prepared, placed in a moulding shell for curing. The mineral wool may also be applied somewhat more thickly to the internal component as it yields prior to curing under the pressure of the subsequently fitted moulding shell. Following the curing process, the composite component formed from the internal component and the cured mineral wool, is removed from the moulding shell and supplied in this condition to the silencer manufacturer who then merely has to insert this composite component laterally into the silencer casing proper.
This process is even more expensive and comprises the following individual manufacturing steps:
1. supply of the finished internal components for the silencer by the silencer manufacturer to the mineral wool manufacturer.
2. manufacture of mineral wool webs with additional application of a synthetic resin bonding agent,
3. production of a large number of pads e.g. by tearing or cutting the required shapes from the mineral wool webs,
4. introduction of the pads and the original internal component into a moulding shell,
5. curing of the bonding agent in a heated facility,
6. de-moulding of the finished composite components,
7. delivery of the composite components comprising the internal components and the cured mineral wool by the mineral wool manufacturer back to the silencer manufacturer.
As is immediately apparent, the considerable expenditure already required for the manufacture of so-called wrap mouldings in accordance with DE-OS 32 05 186 is increased even further by the fact that the introduction of a large number of small individual pads is more labor-intensive than is the wrapping of a straight pipe with a relatively long mineral wool web. Moreover, particularly considerable additional transportation costs are incurred as each original internal component has to be first transported from the silencer manufacturer to the mineral wool manufacturer, and then, following formation of the composite component, from the latter back to the silencer manufacturer.

Process for the manufacture of an exhaust silencer


An overhead projector for projecting images contained on media. The projector includes a housing having first and second image media storage cassettes and a platen which moves between those cassettes. A lifter is mounted between the cassettes for lifting the media from the first or second cassette onto the platen for projection. The lifter includes a lifting drive and a media gripping device. An image projector is movably mounted to the housing and positionable over the first or second cassette to project an image from media positioned on the platen to a view area. The projector includes a movable arm containing an illumination source, mirror and lens. Image media contained in a cassette can be sequenced from that cassette to the other by lifting onto the platen, from the cassette, projected and deposited in the other cassette either manually, remotely, automatically, or semiautomatically.

Overhead projectors used for projecting images from paper, books or other types of projectable images onto a viewing screen are generally well known. These devices include light means for illuminating the image to be projected and a lens and mirror for projecting the image onto the screen. In almost all cases, the image to be projected must be manually positioned on a projection platen. This is normally done by laying the image media on the platen prior to projection and removing it thereafter for positioning of another image media.
For many types of presentations, the presenter is remotely located from the projector which requires another person to present the media to the projector platen. This is often undesirable or inconvenient. No convenient method exists for presenting remotely or automatically a series of images to the projection platen for projection. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for automatically or semiautomatically presenting media or the like images to a projection platen for projection. It is a further object of the invention to provide a means for reversing the media images projected. It is another object of the invention to provide an overhead projection means which can be remotely operated.

Overhead projector with automatic document positioner


In certain embodiments, apparatus for self-aligning elements of coupled platforms includes a radially repulsive magnetic bearing. The radially repulsive magnetic bearing includes a first axially polarized magnet and a second axially polarized magnet that is concentrically disposed around the first axially polarized magnet and radially repulsive to the first axially polarized magnet. The radially repulsive magnetic bearing is configured to align a first element of a first platform with a second element of a second platform when the first and second platforms are coupled together.

Certain systems may require maintaining alignment between two elements (e.g., optical elements, electromagnetic elements, fluidic path elements). Drift may be introduced in one or both elements by thermal, structural, or other variations in the elements or the housings of the elements, causing misalignment between the elements. Current systems for maintaining alignment between two elements, such as optical elements, may include active, servo-based control mechanisms that utilize position sensors and micro-actuators. Such systems, however, may require complex and expensive electronic components, tuning of servo channels, a continuous power supply, and/or calibration/maintenance. Such systems may thus have lower reliability due to the many components involved, and may see performance degradation caused by head dissipation by the constituent components. Current systems may also comprise passive mechanisms that force the elements into alignment by virtue of having precisely controlled shapes such as cylindrical ferrules, alignment sleeves, and V-grooves. These systems, however, may experience non-repeatable alignment forces between insertions (de-mating/mating operations) caused by variations in contact conditions between the multiple surfaces involved.

Radially repulsive magnetic bearing for self-aligning elements of coupled platforms


A transistor arrangement with temperature compensation is disclosed with a transistor having at least one adjustable geometric parameter. A temperature measuring means outputs a temperature-dependent signal, depending on which a control unit drives the geometric parameter of the transistor in such a way that the electrical characteristic quantities thereof are temperature-independent. The adjustable geometric parameter may be the channel width of the transistor.

Owing to the feature sizes of less than 0.3 μm that can be realized in modern metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) circuit technology, it has become possible to realize transceivers for signal frequencies in the GHz range. As wireless communication continues to advance into all areas of everyday life, the demand for ever higher data transmission rates is rising at the same time. Since the frequency bands in the lower GHz range that can be utilized for free wireless communication are restricted, in the future higher modulation methods will be used with the aim of transmitting higher data rates despite this restriction. The intention is not to have to increase the available channel bandwidths in this case. For some analog function groups in the transceivers, higher modulation methods such as 4QPSK or quadrature phase shift keying, require new circuitry solutions enabling linear or at least more linear signal processing. In this case, the intention is at least to maintain the hitherto achieved properties of such circuits and the advantages thereof. Moreover, compatibility with the currently existing mobile radio standards based for example on GFSK or Gaussian frequency shift keying is intended to be possible.
It is desirable, therefore, for fundamental electrical properties in MOS circuits, such as current consumption, dynamic range, gain or transition frequency, to be kept substantially constant over the technically relevant temperature range from approximately −40° to +140°. It is an aim here to keep constant not just respectively one of the characteristic quantities of integrated circuits, but rather all of said characteristic quantities concurrently over the temperature range.
In principle, MOS circuits for analog linear signal processing are known as such. By way of example, the document M. Gräfe, J. Oehm, K. Schumacher: "A Wide Range dB-Linear Variable Gain CMOS Amplifier", Proceedings ESSCIRC '97, September 1997, specifies a so-called square law circuit which can process analog voltage signals in linear fashion.
However, circuits of this type have the property that circuit characteristic quantities such as current consumption, dynamic range, gain and transition frequency cannot all be kept constant simultaneously over the technically relevant temperature range, rather temperature independence can be achieved in each case only for some of these characteristic quantities.
The constancy of the transconductance of a transistor amplifier, for example, can be improved by the current through the transistor being temperature-controlled. Over the relevant temperature range mentioned, however, it is necessary for the current to be approximately doubled in order still to be able to ensure constant conditions particularly at high temperatures. These high current consumptions are undesirable, however.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transistor arrangement with temperature compensation and method for temperature compensation


One embodiment of the invention provides a method for terminology ranking for use in natural language processing. The method comprises receiving a list of terms extracted from a corpus, where the list comprises a ranking of the terms based on frequencies of the terms across the corpus. The method further comprises accessing a domain ontology associated with the corpus, and re-ranking the list based on the domain ontology. The resulting re-ranked list comprises a different ranking of the terms based on relevance of the terms using knowledge from the domain ontology. The method further comprises generating clusters of terms via a trained model adapted to the corpus, and boosting a rank of at least one term of the re-ranked list based on the clusters to increase a relevance of the at least one term using knowledge from the trained model.

The field of embodiments of the invention generally relate to natural language processing (NLP).
NLP is a field of artificial intelligence concerned with interaction and understanding between computers and human languages, including programming of computers to process and analyze large amounts of natural language data, and derive meaning from human languages in a smart and useful way. Examples of NLP tasks include, but are not limited to, creation of domain knowledge graphs, taxonomies, search, translation, standardization, etc.
Conventional approaches to terminology ranking are primarily based on term-based metrics, such as term frequencies (i.e., terms are ranked in accordance with a number of times each term occurs in a corpus). Such approaches are effective if terminology is extracted from a corpus comprising a large volume of text to have a good distribution of terms across the corpus (i.e., relevant terms occur in the large corpus with high frequency). Using such approaches to rank terms in terminology extracted from a relatively small corpus of documents is ineffective as there may be very low frequencies for relevant terms. For example, a term describing a specific model of a video card may occur only in a configuration section of a small corpus of technical documents (e.g., technical troubleshooting documents). There is need for a method and system that addresses corpora where relevant terms appear with low frequencies.

Discovering ranked domain relevant terms using knowledge

International Business Machines Corporation


According to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus comprises a processor. The processor is configured to receive a first number of outputs from the first number of sensors mutually different in response to an odor, obtain a second number of indicators by using the first number of outputs from the first number of sensors, the second number being larger than the first number, obtain the second number of indicator values by using the first number of outputs and the second number of indicators, and discriminate the odor based on the second number of indicator values.

In recent years, global environmental issues due to air pollution have been apparent, and the need for environmental monitoring of hazardous materials, offensive odors, and the like has been increasing due to the tightening of regulations on exhaust gas from factories and vehicles as background. In addition, the tendency to incorporate individual preferences into the living environment has increased and various fragrances have been used in daily life goods, so that preference monitoring in the fragrance field also has been important. Moreover, it has been expected that the development of odor discrimination techniques for quality control in the food and beverage field, sensory evaluation in production control, sensory evaluation of musty odor in tap water, olfactory examination utilizing olfaction and diagnosis by causing an animal to sniff the breath or urine of cancer patients in the medical field, or the like.
Particularly for inspection of odor preference, quality or production control, and the like, instrumental analyzers such as a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS), a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (LC-MS), and the like are used. Quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis of odors are mainly performed by using these instruments, and thus expert operation may be essential for the analysis. In addition, the analysis takes time, so that performing the analysis of odor in real time relies on a sensory test utilizing the human olfaction under present circumstances.
Therefore, in the field of sensory evaluation relying on the human olfaction, there is a demand for a sensing system capable of performing sensory evaluation discrimination that substitutes for the human olfaction. If this system can be provided, system automation can be achieved in a field currently operated with a system including a process involving humans in odor discrimination.
Conventionally, odor discrimination or evaluation has been performed with the human olfaction, generally based on the experience and intuition of a specialist. Due to the utilization of the human olfaction, odors evaluation with an objective indicator is difficult and evaluation of the same sample is performed by plurality of experts, which may have a drawback of taking time and labor. Moreover, for example, there is a demand for using vague odors such as rose scent and sweet odor, as an indicator (numerical value).
In recent years, as a tendency of sensing systems for odor discrimination, there is used a method of calculating with a large number of mounted sensors mimicking the human olfaction. However, an attempt of mimicking the human olfactory mechanism may require many sensors, and the amount of acquired data and calculation processing is enormous.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium


Provided herein is a process for surface treatment of moldings of liquid-crystalline polyester resin which comprises roughening with an alkaline aqueous solution the surface of moldings of melt-processable polyester capable of forming an anisotropic molten phase. The roughened moldings are activated by contacting with an aqueous solution of an ampholytic surface active agent such as an aminocarboxylate. The process is intended to provide the moldings with surface characteristics suitable for surface decoration such as printing, painting, metallizing, and plating and also for bonding with an adhesive.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for surface treatment of moldings of melt-processable polyester resin capable of forming an anisotropic molten phase (abbreviated as "liquid-crystalline polyester" hereinafter). More particularly, it is concerned with an efficient process for surface treatment of moldings of liquid-crystalline polyester having superior heat resistance and moldability, said process being intended to provide the moldings with surface characteristics suitable for surface decoration such as printing, painting, metallizing, and plating and also for bonding with an adhesive.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
A liquid-crystalline polyester is composed of rigid, straight macromolecules unlike commonly known thermoplastic polyesters such as polybutylene terephthalate and polyethylene terephthalate. The macromolecules remain straight, with only a few entanglements, even in the molten state; therefore, they easily orient in one direction when subjected to even a small shear stress. Thus the liquid-crystalline polyester remains in the crystalline state even in the molten state or exhibits the properties of liquid crystal.
The above-mentioned liquid-crystalline polyester is chemically stabler than the common polyester resins (such as polybutylene terephthalate and polyethylene terephthalate) which do not exhibit the properties of liquid crystal. Therefore, it is not receptive to an etching solution used for the surface roughening of ordinary polyester. Even though the surface roughening is achieved in some way, the roughened surface does not have a sufficient activity for the catalyst solution for plating and hence does not undergo the subsequent electroless plating successfully. No satisfactory method has been developed yet.
The liquid-crystalline polyester may be processed by injection molding which is in general use. However, the injection-molded products have a surface layer which easily peels off and fluffs on account of strong orientation. Thus, they are not suitable as such for the secondary fabrication such as bonding, painting, and plating. A possible remedy for this is the surface roughening treatment with a chemical which is applied to ordinary resins. Unfortunately, the surface to be treated is so chemically inactive that it does not receive any solvent. Thus it is virtually impossible to remove the oriented surface layer and to make a roughened surface.
On the other hand, the liquid-crystalline polyester has unique thermal characteristics. That is, it has a low coefficient of linear expansion comparable to that of metals, and it remains normal even when dipped in a solder bath at 260.degree. C. for 10 seconds on account of its good heat resistance. Because of these outstanding characteristics, the liquid-crystalline polyester is expected to find use as parts to be bonded to a metal part with an adhesive or as printed-circuit boards to be plated. Such parts and PC boards need surface treatment to remedy the above-mentioned disadvantageous surface characteristics. Nevertheless, no satisfactory process has been established yet.

Process for surface treatment of moldings of liquid-crystalline polyester resin


A metallic base material is covered with a coating layer of intermetallic compound, or a plurality of metallic base materials are welded to each other with an intermetallic compound, with reduced energy consumption within a short period of time. First metallic substance 31 in powdery form is piled up on metallic base material 2. Second metallic substance 3 in molten form is delivered onto piling layer 80 of the first substance. Thus, under the control of reaction initiation temperature, coating layer (or building up coating layer) 84 of intermetallic compound having a thickness of hundreds of microns (xcexcm) to millimeters (mm) is formed on the base material 2 by the self-exothermic reaction between the first substance and the second substance. This method is also useful in the welding of a plurality of metallic base materials to each other with an intermetallic compound. The first substance can be constituted of, for example, Ni, Co or Fe. The second substance can be constituted of, for example, Al or Ti. Each base material may be constituted of a metal common with or homologous to the first substance or second substance. The first substance and the second substance can be used in powdery form or molten form, provided that at least one thereof is used in molten form. The first substance may contain a ceramic for imparting reinforcement.

The present invention relates to a coating method (or bonding method) which is useful in coating a base material with an intermetallic compound or bonding base materials to each other with an intermetallic compound and relates to a coating apparatus therefor. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a technology which can be applied to, for example, a corrosion resistant coating provided on a turbine blade of aircraft engine, a heat resistant, wear and abrasion resistant coating provided on an exhaust valve of automobile engine and a corrosion resistant, oxidation resistant coating provided on an exhaust system of garbage incinerator and further can be applied to a buildup welding for repairing parts thereof.
It is inevitable to develop a light material of high heat resistance as a structural material for use in heat engines accommodated in next-generation automobiles, marine vessels, aerospace equipment and other transport means and also accommodated in thermomotor of energy plants. Intermetallic compounds such as aluminides expected as providing a heat resistant material of high strength are materials which can meet the above requirements, and investigations for putting the intermetallic compounds to practical use, including those on the composition, texture optimization, performance enhancement and processing method for obtaining a desired structure, are being conducted in a number of countries.
It is common practice to coat the surface of a metal material with an intermetallic compound in order to impart a corrosion resistance and a wear and abrasion resistance thereto. However, the principle and method of simply obtaining a coating of intermetallic compound have not yet been established. As the method for obtaining an intermetallic compound, there can be mentioned the diffusion process, the flame spraying process and the combustion synthesis process.
The diffusion process is a process that after another type of metal which can react with the base metal to thereby form an intermetallic compound is applied to the surface of a base material metal by, for example, vapor deposition, the base material is heated and maintained in an elevated temperature, and whereby a reaction layer is formed on the base material surface. In the diffusion process, the diffusion, namely ultralow-velocity mass transfer phenomenon is utilized. Therefore, although there is such an advantage that controlling of the coating thickness of reaction layer is easy, there occurs such a disadvantage that the period of time required for coating formation is as extremely long as several hours to tens of hours. Accordingly, the attained coating thickness is restricted to a small one such as tens of microns or less. Further, the processing is performed at high temperature, so that the effect thereof on the base material cannot be disregarded.
The flame spraying process is a method that, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-96206, a layer of alloy containing a specified type of element is piled on a base material by vacuum plasma spraying and thereafter aluminum is thermal-sprayed over the deposited alloy layer so that a coating layer of intermetallic compound is formed by a metallurgical reaction accompanied by heat buildup of aluminum. It is advantageous in that extreme energy consumption is not required because an exothermic reaction can be induced at a relatively low temperature within a relatively short period of time, as compared with the process of directly melting an intermetallic compound at high temperature. However, this process necessitates a large heat source of, for example, plasma, electric arc or laser. The flame spraying process poses such an inherent problem that voids are likely occur in the coating because of the adherence between the coating layer and the base material and because of the entrainment of ambient gas at the flame spraying. Furthermore, the thickness of the coating layer formed by the above process only ranges from about tens of microns to hundreds of microns, even if the alloy layer and the aluminum layer are summed up, because of spraying workability and cost, etc. As a result, there is the danger of cracking or local exfoliation caused by the nonuniformity, brittleness, etc. of formed coating.
The self-propagating high temperature synthesis process, or combustion synthesis process is a process wherein a reaction of compound formation spontaneously proceeds with the generation of high heat of reaction within a short period of time. The process is characterized in that a high-melting-point ceramic or intermetallic compound can be easily synthesized. Since the principle of the combustion synthesis process was discovered by Meljarnov, et al. of the old Soviet Union in 1967, theoretical researches and application developments have been promoted (see Journal of the Metallurgical Society of Japan, vol. 32, No. 12, page 845). The combustion synthesis process is a process that a green compact of a mixture of different types of metals capable of forming an intermetallic compound is placed on a base material surface and the base material is heated under pressure so that a combustion synthesis reaction is induced to thereby accomplish not only formation of an intermetallic compound but also bonding of the intermetallic compound to the base material. The combustion synthesis process, because a self-exothermic reaction is utilized, has such an advantage that the synthesis of coating layer and the bonding thereof to the base material can be simultaneously performed within a short period of time. However, because of a balance between the exothermicity at the synthesis and the heat transfer to the base material, the thickness of the coating layer is limited to large one such as several millimeters or more.
Moreover, the intermetallic compound such as NiAl or TiAl can be utilized at high temperatures such as 800 to 1000xc2x0 C. and exhibits superior properties as a high-temperature material. Therefore, development researches for the application thereof to engine parts, aerospace mechanical parts, etc. are being promoted, but, despite the excellent properties, ductility required for molding and working cannot be obtained to thereby inhibit the practical use thereof. The intermetallic compound has a high formation energy of about 100 kJ per mol, and the combination of metals is accompanied by an exothermic reaction of high temperature such as 1500 to 2000xc2x0 C. to thereby enable spontaneous proceeding of a synthetic reaction. Therefore, the combustion synthesis process is one of energy saving not requiring any external heating at high temperature, but controlling of reaction propagation, temperature and texture is difficult. As a result, many problems remain unsolved on the application of intermetallic compound to parts requiring heat resistance. For example, in the conventional combustion synthesis process, different types of metals are mixed together and used in the form of a green compact, so that the different types of metals are simultaneously heated at the same temperature. Consequently, the melting point of one of the metals automatically becomes the reaction initiation temperature, so that the reaction initiation temperature, thus the exothermic temperature resulting from the reaction, and the melt depth of the base material cannot be controlled. In the event of a thin coating layer, it may occur that the bonding strength cannot be enhanced.
As apparent from the above, although the coating of base materials with the intermetallic compound can be effected by, for example, the diffusion process, the flame spraying process and the combustion synthesis process, numerous steps and much energy consumption are inevitable because of the property of the intermetallic compound that working thereof is extremely difficult. Thus, coated members (for example, buildup welded members) cannot be obtained with less energy consumption at low cost within a short period of time.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of not only simply and efficiently coating a base material with an intermetallic compound but also welding a plurality of base materials so as to bond them together and to provide a coating apparatus employed therefor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a coating layer of intermetallic compound having a thickness of hundreds of microns (xcexcm) to several millimeters (mm) with reduced energy consumption within a short period of time, and to provide a coating apparatus employed therefor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of easily controlling a reaction initiation temperature and, irrespective of the thickness of a coating layer, increasing the bonding strength of the coating layer to a base material, and to provide a coating apparatus employed therefor.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method of not only rendering preprocessing (for example, vapor deposition in the diffusion process, piling up of a precursor layer in the flame spraying process and fabrication of a green compact in the combustion synthesis process) unnecessary but also freely and automatically performing coating of a base material surface with an intermetallic compound with the use of a control system (for example, CAD/CAM system) enabling computerized fine control.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a coating layer of intermetallic compound in an energetically advantageous manner wherein a heat source of relatively low capacity (for example, high-frequency heater or resistance heater) can be employed.
The inventors have found that, when a first substance is piled up on a base material, and a second substance is delivered onto the first substance and reacted therewith, the thus formed intermetallic compound is fusion united with the base material to thereby enable formation of a coating layer of intermetallic compound on the base material. As a result, the present invention has been completed.
Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a coating layer of an intermetallic compound on a base material, comprising the steps of piling up a first substance on a base material, and delivering a second substance onto the first substance, the second substance reacted with the first substance to thereby form a coating layer of an intermetallic compound on the base material. The present invention is also useful for providing a method of welding a plurality of base materials to each other with an intermetallic compound. Therefore, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of welding a plurality of base materials to each other with an intermetallic compound, comprising the steps of piling up a first substance on base materials, and delivering a second substance onto the first substance, the second substance reacted with the first substance to thereby cause the plurality of base materials to be bonded to each other through a coating layer of an intermetallic compound. In these methods, the coating layer may be fusion bonded to each base material so that a building up coating layer is formed on the surface of the base material.
In the methods of the present invention, the first substance can be constituted of, for example, at least one metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt, iron, niobium, vanadium, molybdenum, tungsten, chromium and tantalum. The second substance can be constituted of, for example, at least one metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum and titanium. The substance constituting the base material or base materials may be any of various metals, for example, a metal or alloy of at least one member selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt, aluminum and niobium. Further, in order to increase the bonding strength of the coating layer to the base material, the substance constituting the base material may be at least one metal selected from the group consisting of metals of the first substance and the second substance, or a metal homologous thereto.
The methods of the present invention can be accomplished in various modes, for example, a mode wherein the first substance is piled up in powdery form or molten form on the base material or base materials, and the second substance is delivered in molten form or powdery form onto the piled first substance. In this mode, at least one of the first substance and the second substance is used in molten form.
The first substance may contain a ceramic. In particular, the first substance in powdery form or molten form may contain a powdery or fibrous ceramic constituted of an oxide, carbide, nitride or boride of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, yttrium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium and silicon. In the present invention, a coating layer constituted of an intermetallic compound, an intermetallic compound having a ceramic dispersed therein or an intermetallic compound containing a nitride can be formed by the reaction between the first substance and the second substance.
In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of preparing a three-dimensional molding (or three-dimensional model, or three-dimensional shaped item) with the use of a computerized control system, comprising the steps of piling up a portion of first substance on a base material, and delivering a portion of second substance onto the piled first substance to thereby form a layer of intermetallic compound; and piling up another portion of first substance on the intermetallic compound layer, and delivering another portion of second substance onto the piled first substance to thereby form another layer of intermetallic compound.
The coating apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for forming a coating layer of intermetallic compound on a base material by the use of a reaction between a first substance and a second substance, which coating apparatus comprises a unit for piling a first substance on a base material, a unit for delivering a second substance onto the first substance, and a unit for melting at least one of the first substance and the second substance.
In the present invention, because the exothermic reaction of materials per se is effectively utilized, not only the intermetallic compound optimized with respect to the composition and texture can be formed but also the coating layer of intermetallic compound (especially, high-melting-point dense welding coating layer or buildup welding coating layer) can be continuously formed under combustion synthesis in a thickness ranging from hundreds of microns (xcexcm) to several millimeters (mm). Thus, a dense buildup welding coating whose formation has been difficult with conventional technologies can be formed with reduced energy consumption within a short period of time in the present invention. That is, the present invention enables providing an apparatus for practically executing a building up coating of intermetallic compound, the intermetallic compound having high-temperature strength and corrosion resistance but necessitating difficult working, with the utilization of the high formation heat of intermetallic compound, for example, NiAl or TiAl, and providing a process for forming an intermetallic compound coating. From the material point of view, the present invention enables providing a highly functional member of intermetallic compound whose working is extremely difficult in an economic manner.
The method of the present invention is advantageous in that a coating of intermetallic compound can be formed with reduced energy consumption within a short period of time, and enables manufacturing high-performance parts of excellent high temperature heat resisting strength as final products at low cost by streamlining complex processes of the conventional working and metallurgical technologies.

Coating method by intermetallic compound


An electric part socket includes a socket having a plurality of contacts. An electric part having a plurality of terminals can be placed on the socket such that the terminals are brought into contact with the contacts respectively when a press-down force is applied to a body of the electric part. A contacting condition maintaining device for use in the electric part socket comprises a mechanism for pressing down the electric part body, including pressing levers provided at each of at least two opposite sides of the electric part body such that they are pivotable upwardly and downwardly along the opposite sides, latches corresponding to the pressing levers and each engageable with an edge portion of the electric part body when the pressing levers are pivoted downwardly so as to press down the electric part body, and lock members corresponding to the pressing levers and adapted to prohibit the pressing levers from being pivoted upwardly when the pressing levers are pivoted downwardly, so as to cause the latches to maintain condition in which they press down on the electric part body.

This invention relates to a socket for an electric part in which a press-down force is applied to an electric part body placed on a socket body, and more particularly to an electric part press-down device for maintaining a contacting condition between the electric part and the socket body.
Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. Sho 60-57135, for example, discloses a typical electric part socket in which a press-down force is applied to an electric part placed on a socket body. In this conventional electric part socket, a basal end of a pressing cover is pivotally attached to one end of the socket body, an electric part body (or terminals) is pressed down by closing the pressing cover onto an upper surface of the socket body and thereby flexing contacts of the socket body downwardly and obtaining a contacting pressure against the terminals due to the reaction force of the contacts. A lock lever pivotably attached to the other end of the socket body is brought into engagement with a free end of the pressing cover to maintain the closing condition and thus to maintain the contacting condition.
However, in the socket thus constructed, the socket body and the pressing cover are generally the same in size, and when the pressing cover is closed onto the upper surface of the socket body, the electric part is almost entirely covered with the pressing cover and held in a half closed condition between the pressing cover and the socket body. As a result, heat of the electric part cannot be effectively radiated, and therefore the electric part is damaged by accumulated heat.
When the electric part is placed on and removed from the socket body, it is necessary to pivot the pressing cover by more than 90 degrees in order to open the upper surface of the socket body and, therefore, it becomes difficult to use an automated machine to open and close the pressing cover.
Since an upwardly directed force acts on a central portion of the pressing cover due to the reaction force of the contacts, the pressing cover becomes warped in a short period of time due to heat.
Also, pivot end and the free end of the pressing cover do not press down against the electric part simultaneously (i.e. the electric part is pressed against first by the pivot end of the pressing cover), the electric part is caused to jump, thereby giving rise to poor contact between the terminals and the contacts.

Contacting condition maintaining device for use in an electric part socket


A plug including a shell and a mounting body disposed inside the shell. The mounting body is provided with a first movable contact spring and a second movable contact spring, a phase contact and a zero contact, and a button assembly. A transverse block disposed above the first movable contact spring and the second movable contact spring includes a phase terminal and a zero terminal. The button assembly includes an electric magnet disposed on the mounting body and a sliding part having a cavity. The cavity of the sliding part is provided with a reset spring. A hook is disposed in a lower part of the cavity. The transverse block is connected with a pull block. An upper part of the pull block is connected with the electric magnet. The center of the pull block includes a limiting hole for accommodating the hook.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, the protection for electric leakage of plugs is mainly dependent on electric components and rarely dependent on mechanical structures. However, electric components have high frequency of malfunction, which results in potential safety hazards, or even electric shock injuries. And for those plugs using mechanical structures, they have complicated structures and low stability.


A method for maintaining, in a controlled manner, a top canopy/coal-face distance expedient for rock mechanics, in longwall mining operations in underground coal mining, using a face conveyor, at least one extraction machine, and a hydraulic shield support frame. Inclination sensors are disposed on at least three of the four main components of the shield support frame, including floor skid, gob shield, support connection rods and gob-side area of the top canopy. An inclination of the top canopy and floor skid are ascertained via the sensors. From the ascertained inclination data, in a computer, the effects on a top canopy/coal face distance are determined when changes in an angle of inclination of the top canopy occur. An automatic adjustment of decisive cycle parameters of the shield support frame are carried out, wherein the work cycle comprises retraction, advancement and setting processes.

The instant application should be granted the priority date of Feb. 19, 2008, the filing date of the corresponding International patent application PCT/EP2008/001263.
The invention relates to a method for controlling longwall operations, having a face conveyor, at least one extraction machine, and a hydraulic shield support, in underground coal mining.
One problem in the automation of longwall controllers is, inter alia, the control of the top canopy-coal face distance, which is referred to hereafter in short as "CaCo". In general, efforts are made in underground operations of coal mining, after exposure of an overlying strata surface, to support this overlying strata surface as early as possible by appropriate supports, in order to reduce the danger, which exists for reasons of the rock mechanics, of an outbreak of the overlying strata in the area not supported by supports. Because of the operating sequence during the extraction, overlying strata areas without a support foundation necessarily occur in longwall operations. Thus, for example in the case of cutting extraction using a disc shearer loader, the shield support must initially maintain a distance from the coal face at the coal-face-side end of its top canopy so that it is possible for the disc shearer loader to travel past without colliding with the support. If the front disc of the disc shearer loader in the march direction, which typically leads, has cut into the upper stratum of the seam and exposed the overlying strata, it is only possible to advance the shield support at a certain distance behind the disc shearer loader traveling ahead, so that in this area the overlying strata is not supported by the shield support. The distance between the coal-face-side end of the top canopy of the shield support frame and the coal face (CaCo) which thus results depending on the operating state in the longwall operation, i.e., the freely protruding span width of the overlying strata between the coal face and its bearing on the shield support, decisively influences the danger of breakouts in the overlying strata. Any breakout can result in an impairment of the extraction operation, in particular in the case of the desired automation of extraction and support work.
The invention is therefore based on the object of disclosing a method of the type cited at the beginning, using which the top canopy-coal face distance (CaCo) is monitored during advance of the longwall front with respect to a minimization of the breakout danger and is settable.

Method for the controlled maintaining of a distance between the top canopy and the coal face in longwall mining operations


A hydraulic block for a hydraulic power vehicle brake system including a slip control. A bore, which communicates through a circumferential groove with a receptacle of a pedal travel simulator, is run through parallel to a motor side of the hydraulic block between the motor side and a master brake cylinder bore in the hydraulic block and is connected through a transverse bore with a further bore parallel to the motor side, which connects the master brake cylinder bore with a connection for a pressureless brake fluid reservoir, which is attachable to the hydraulic block. The bores form a return of the pedal travel simulator, which has a low resistance to flow and allows for a closed system.

International Patent Application NO. WO 2013/023 953 A1 describes a brake operating unit for a hydraulic power brake system of a vehicle having a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped housing, which includes a master brake cylinder bore, a power cylinder bore, a connection for a brake fluid reservoir and a receptacle for a pedal travel simulator.

Hydraulic block for a hydraulic power brake system of a vehicle


A method and a device are provided for deriving audio parameter values from an AES67-compatible audio information signal, which AES67-compatible audio information signal is generated from a serial data stream of successive IP packets (IP(i)), the IP packets containing an IP header (IP HDR), a UDP header (UDP HDR), an RTP header (RTP HDR) and a data field (DATA), and wherein audio parameter values such as sampling frequency and number of channels are derived from information stored in the headers.

The invention relates to a method and a device for deriving audio parameter values from an AES67-compatible audio information signal. Such an information signal, which is specified in the AES67 audio standard, is generated from successive IP packets and transmitted as a pure bitstream (audio over IP or audio over ethernet).
With the transmission of audio information over IP, as has been standardized in AES67, in live IP productions, there is also a changeover from circuit-switched to packet-switched networks. In order to guarantee an error-free function, it is particularly important that the streams are transmitted correctly in the network.

Method and device for deriving audio parameter values from an AES67-compatible audio information signal


A self-tapping screw includes a screw shaft extended downward from a screw head, plural flights of constant-height external thread respectively having the same flight height formed at a part of the screw shaft extended right below the screw head, and plural flights of low-height external thread having flight height decreased gradually toward an end face of a shaft tip portion formed continuously with the constant-height external thread at the shaft tip portion of the screw shaft. A slight arc face is formed continuously at respective connecting parts of upper and lower flanks with upper and lower root faces of the low-height external thread, and the slight arc face is formed so as to extend at least along a connecting part of a lower flank and a lower root face of a constant-height external thread end flight continuing to the low-height external thread.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a self-tapping screw to perform fastening while tapping an internal thread at a pilot hole formed at a counterpart.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in electronic devices, communication devices, office equipment and the like being widely spread in the market, a self-tapping screw capable of eliminating a process to previously tap an internal thread at a counterpart has been often used for attaching an attaching part such as a component to the counterpart made of synthetic resin or metal.
Such a self-tapping screw has been commonly desired to obtain large fastening force as tapping an internal thread in high accuracy while possibly minimized screwing torque when fastening an attaching part with a counterpart.
In a self-tapping screw disclosed in Japanese Utility-model 3140074, especially, in a self-tapping screw of claim 1 without limitation that clearance is formed between a screw shaft circumferential face (i.e., a root face) and a pilot hole inner circumferential face, an external thread is formed to be two-step-shaped constituted with a crest portion having an acute-angled rectangular shape in section and a thread enlarging body portion below the crest portion having bilateral guide leg portions (i.e., inclined planes) being divergent to be connected to the root face with an angle larger than the crest portion over the entire external thread from the tip of a screw shaft to a part right below a screw head.
However, with the self-tapping screw having the two-step-shaped external thread, there has been a problem that initial screwing torque during screwing into a pilot hole, that is, the torque when the first part of the two-step-shaped external thread taps a two-step-shaped internal thread at the inner circumferential face of the pilot hole, is increased.
In addition, with the self-tapping screw of the abovementioned configuration, material flow is not to smooth during rolling to respective flanks of the crest portion of the external thread and to respective guide leg portions of the thread enlarging body portion. Accordingly, there has been a problem that surface roughening and burrs occur at the root face, respective flanks of the crest portion of the external thread and respective guide leg portions of the thread enlarging body portion or that cracking occurs at the crest portion of the external thread.


The invention relates to compounds for inhibiting a cancer cell or a virus. Particularly, the invention provides compounds for inhibiting, treating and/or preventing cancer and Zika virus.

Cancer is a significant health problem throughout the world and is still among the leading causes of death. Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by dysregulation of cell differentiation and proliferation; in advanced stages, it spreads to other areas of the body including vital organs and bone. Although tremendous advances have been made in the availability of multiple therapeutic regimens to treat cancer, currently available chemotherapy still remains unsatisfactory, and the prognosis for the majority of patients diagnosed with cancer remains dismal. Furthermore, many patients do not respond to any treatments. Of those that do respond to standard therapies, the effect is usually short-lived as resistance develops to the initial therapeutic regimens.
Niclosamide, sold under the trade name Niclocide among others, is a medication used to treat tapeworm infestations. However, niclosamide has high toxicity and significant side effects, so the compound cannot be administered in higher dose or higher frequency. U.S. 20140294957 discloses that niclosamide and derivatives thereof effectively inhibit transcription of the S100A4 gene, resulting in inhibition and/or reduction of S100A4-induced cell motility, invasiveness, metastasis and proliferation of human cancer cells. U.S. 20150174086 relates to therapeutic uses of niclosamide for the treatment of cancer.
ZIKV, a mosquito-borne flavivirus, is a global health concern and rapid progress has been made to understand its pathogenesis and to develop human in vitro models and animal in vivo models. A reference provides in vitro data suggesting the use of niclosamide in the inhibition of Zika virus infection (Nature Medicine, published online 29 Aug. 2016; doi:10.1038/nm.4184). However, there is currently no drug approved to treat or prevent Zika virus infection.

Compounds for inhibiting cancer and virus


A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell for reacting a hydrogen rich gas; a fuel processor system for converting a hydrocarbon fuel-steam mixture into said hydrogen rich gas; and a system for preparing the hydrocarbon fuel-steam mixture which includes (a) structure for superheating a hydrocarbon fuel so as to provide a superheated fuel, and (b) structure for mixing water with the superheated fuel so as to provide the hydrocarbon fuel-steam mixture.

The present invention relates to fuel cell systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for preparing feed for a fuel processing system which produces the required fuel for the fuel cell system.
Fuel cells typically consist of an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte that separates the anode and cathode. The fuel cell uses a fuel reactant gas, which is typically a hydrogen rich stream, and which is introduced into the anode of the fuel cell, while an oxidant reactant gas, typically air, is introduced into the cathode of the fuel cell. A catalyst in the anode causes the hydrogen to oxidize resulting in creation of hydrogen ions, which pass through the electrolyte to the cathode, thereby creating an electric potential across the fuel cell.
There are different types of fuel cells, namely, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC), and alkaline fuel cells (AFC), among others.
Fuel processing units, typically various types of reformers, are used to produce the desired hydrogen rich gaseous stream from hydrocarbon fuel. Typically, such reformers require steam along with the fuel for carrying out the desired reaction. In some cases, the fuel processing unit also requires heated air, for example when the fuel processing unit is an autothermal reformer.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional scheme wherein fuel, in this case methane (CH4), is fed to a catalytic steam reformer along with a separate stream of steam which is formed by passing water through a boiler. The catalytic steam reformer reacts the hydrocarbon with water as desired so as to produce a hydrogen rich flow for introduction to a fuel cell.
FIG. 2 shows another known system wherein fuel and steam are prepared and fed to a reformer as discussed above, and also wherein a heated stream of air is provided by passing air through a heat exchanger. The fuel processing unit in this case is either an autothermal reformer (ATR) or catalytic partial oxidizer (CPOX).
Fuel cells are desirable for use in various environments, including transportation and/or vehicular applications, wherein the size of the plant is critical. The need for boilers as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 for heating water to provide steam results in increased space requirements for the power plant. Further, such a water circulation system requires a substantial amount of time to form steam from initial startup, and freezing of such a system is also a concern.
A further drawback of known systems is that the use of a boiler to generate steam renders control of the steam:hydrocarbon ratio difficult, and thereby leads to some instances where excess carbon is present in the reformer, which can result in coking or fouling of the unit.
It is clear that the need remains for improved systems and methods for preparing fuel and fuel constituents for the fuel cell, wherein preferably resulting power plant requires less space.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a system and method for preparation of fuel for a fuel cell wherein certain components of conventional systems can be removed so as to reduce space needed for the fuel cell and related components.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system and method wherein control of the ratio of steam to hydrocarbon is facilitated so as to reduce carbon deposition and catalyst deactivation.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method wherein startup time is reduced and potential problems for freezing water are avoided.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinbelow.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects and advantages have been readily attained.
According to the invention, a fuel cell system is provided, which comprises a fuel cell for reacting a hydrogen rich gas; a fuel processor system for converting a hydrocarbon fuel-steam mixture into said hydrogen rich gas; and means for preparing said hydrocarbon fuel-steam mixture comprising means for superheating a hydrocarbon fuel so as to provide a superheated fuel, and for mixing water with said superheated fuel so as to provide said hydrocarbon fuel-steam mixture.
In further accordance with the present invention, a method is provided for adding steam to a gas stream for a fuel processing system, which method comprises the steps of providing a gas stream; heating said gas stream so as to provide a heated stream having a temperature of at least about 260xc2x0 C.; adding liquid water to said heated stream so as to change said water to steam and provide a gas-steam mixture; and feeding said gas-steam mixture to a fuel processing system.
The system and method of the present invention can be used for providing the desired steam mixed with hydrocarbon fuel, and further for providing humidified air to the reformer in the case of an ATR or CPOX unit, such that the need for a boiler to form steam can be completely avoided, thereby reducing the space occupied by the fuel cell system as desired in accordance with the present invention. Typical fuels would include methane, natural gas, gasoline, Diesel fuel, naphtha or the like.

System and method for preparing fuel for fuel processing system