The invention relates to a treatment for the control of algae in aquatic environments. The treatment includes an algicide in combination with at least one of a pH stabilizer, a clarifier, and a sanitizer reducer/enhancer.

This invention relates in general to the creation of an all-natural mineral treatment for the control of algae in pools, spas and hot tubs. This invention may also be used for other forms of water treatment such as pond, cooling towers or any such aquatic environment that algae is not desired. This invention is more than just an algicide; in different embodiments it also controls pH, clarifies water and/or reduces the demand for sanitization. Water chemistry can be a mystery, however we have attempted to reduce some of that mystery with this invention.
Water-soluble elemental copper, such as copper sulfate, is known to possess algicidal qualities when used in circulating water systems. Unfortunately, copper ions easily precipitate in alkaline or near-alkaline water conditions as insoluble salts of oxides, hydroxides, and/or carbonates, removing the copper from the system and thus removing the ability of the copper ion to act as an algicide.
In order to improve the efficacy of copper as an algicide, sequestering agents, such as alkanolamines, aminocarboxylic acids or citric acid have been used to improve the stability of copper in these conditions. These organic compounds contain amine, hydroxyl, and carboxyl functionalities that exhibit sequestration capacity for polyvalent cations.
Another problem encountered in water treatment applications, such as swimming pools, is that copper precipitates to form unsightly stains on the pool""s surface. In particular, copper hydroxides, copper oxides and copper carbonates are known to cause unsightly stains that are difficult to remove.
A need therefore exists for a method of stabilizing soluble copper for longer periods of time during treatment and application, thereby increasing its effective life and preventing stains from occurring on swimming pool surfaces.
Another problem with existing copper products is the inability to control pH change, which will also cause copper to drop out of solution. Typically rain is very acidic in most parts of North America. When precipitation occurs, this acidic condition will cause the pH to xe2x80x9ccrashxe2x80x9d below the tolerable limits required to maintain copper in solution, which will then cause the copper to create staining issues on pool and spa liners and accessories.
Typically copper""s stability can also be affected by the interaction and contamination of foreign particles suspended in the water. If these particles are not eliminated, the sanitizer and algae control will be under greater demand.
The different embodiments of the present invention address all these needs.
The invention relates to a treatment for the control of algae in aquatic environments. The treatment includes an algicide such as copper-containing algicide. Preferably, the treatment also includes a mineral sequestering agent. In a typical use of the invention, the treatment can be used for the control of algae in the water of a swimming pool, spa or hot tub without staining the solid surfaces surrounding the water.
In one embodiment, the treatment includes an algicide and a pH stabilizer. Importantly, the treatment is able to control pH fluctuation that is typically caused by acidic rain. Acting very much like a shock absorber, the treatment will push the pH back to a neutral state automatically.
In another embodiment, the treatment includes an algicide and a clarifier. The treatment controls the amount of foreign material allowed to be suspended in the water. By using mineral based flocculants, the treatment is able to agglomerate these particles together, thereby allowing the filtration system to trap the particles. Reducing the number of foreign particles in the water will in turn reduce the demand loading on the sanitizer/algicide and provide the customer with clearer water.
In another embodiment, the treatment includes an algicide, a pH stabilizer, and a clarifier.
In another embodiment, the treatment includes an algicide and a sanitizer reducer/enhancer. This formulation contains properties that allow the sanitizer of choice to work in conjunction with this product. As the sanitizer works with this product they will be found to compliment each other therefore reducing the demand and consumption rates on the sanitizer of choice.
In another embodiment, the treatment includes an algicide, a clarifier, and a sanitizer reducer/enhancer.
In a further embodiment, the treatment includes an algicide, a pH stabilizer, and a sanitizer reducer/enhancer.
In a preferred embodiment, the treatment includes an algicide, a pH stabilizer, a clarifier, and a sanitizer reducer/enhancer. This embodiment will control algae, stabilize pH, clarify water, and compliment the sanitizer of choice.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to preferred embodiments and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the described device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
As previously indicated, the invention relates to an improved treatment for the control of algae in aquatic environments. Any suitable algicide(s) can be used in the treatment composition. For purposes of this invention, the algicide is defined by the following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency definition: the EPA states that a pesticide (algicide) is any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant and therefore will control algae in lakes, canals, swimming pools, water tanks, and other sites. The definition includes all pesticide products under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), including those used for antimicrobial purposes. Preferably, the algicide is elemental copper, which can be provided as copper sulfate or as soluble or insoluble copper salts such as copper acetate, copper chloride, copper formate and copper carbonate.
Preferably, the treatment includes a mineral sequestering agent to stabilize the copper even in alkaline environments and prevent its loss due to precipitation, thereby increasing the effective life of the algicide and preventing staining of swimming pool surfaces. Soluble elemental copper is easily removed from solution through filtration and by combining with carbonate and hydroxide ions that are commonly found in process water, such as swimming pools, to form insoluble copper carbonates and hydroxides. Sequestered copper does not readily form these insoluble salts or filter out of the system. Thus, sequestered copper has a higher residence time in the pool. This allows the copper to work for longer periods of time. In certain preferred embodiments organic acids such as, e.g., oxalic acid, succinic acid, and maleic acid, and the salts thereof, are used as the sequestering agent. Especially preferred are the hydroxy-carboxylic acids such as, e.g., citric acid, gluconic acid, tartronic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, or tetrahydroxy succinic acid, and the salts thereof, and the lactone forms of such acids. The organic acids and hydroxy-acids are preferred in certain embodiments because the other noted sequestering agents are sources of nitrogen and phosphorous, two critical nutrients for algae growth.
In one embodiment, the treatment also includes a pH stabilizer along with the algicide. The pH stabilizer is able to control pH fluctuation that is typically caused by acidic rain. Acting very much like a shock absorber, the treatment will push the pH back to a neutral state automatically. For purposes of this invention, the pH stabilizer is defined as one or more materials that reduces the effects from outside sources changing the pH level of the particular aquatic environment we are attempting to stabilize. Typically pH will be affected by acidic rain, introduction of water from a source outside of the controlled environment or airborne particles. PH adjustment and control can be done with sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, and calcium carbonate or other pH adjusters. The uniqueness of this our stabilization is the fact that we have created a shock absorber that will actually push the pH back to an acceptable range, preferably to a pH within the range of about 6.8 to about 7.6, more preferably about 7.2 to about 7.4.
In another embodiment, the treatment includes a clarifier in combination with the algicide. The clarifier improves water clarity by binding very small particles together which in turn when enough are bound together they create a larger piece of matter that is able to be trapped by the filtration system. The clarifier reduces the amount of free particulate suspended in the water. Any suitable clarifier or combinations thereof can be used. For example, mineral flocculants can be used as the clarifier, such as aluminum sulfate and/or aluminum potassium sulfate.
In a further embodiment, the treatment includes a sanitizer reducer/enhancer in combination with the algicide. The sanitizer reducer/enhancer has properties that will increase the performance and effectiveness of the sanitization method being used. Typically it is very difficult to retain a balanced level of sanitizer in water. This problem is magnified with the effects of ultraviolet rays from the sun. These rays can actually breakdown the sanitizer and deplete it from the water very quickly. Traditional sanitizers that are used can be chlorine, bromine, ionization, ozone generators, saltwater chlorinators and other methods for bacteria control. The sanitizer reducer/enhancer binds the free sanitizer, creating a stabilized environment for the sanitizer to be interconnected with the treatment composition. This can be accomplished with any suitable material or combination of materials, for example, anionic surfactants, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, aluminum sulphate, aluminum potassium sulphate and citric acid.
A surfactant can also be used in the treatment composition to break the surface tension of the water, which makes the composition dissolve better and avoids clumping of the product on the surface.
Most preferably, the treatment composition includes a combination of an algicide, a pH stabilizer, a clarifier, and a sanitizer reducer/enhancer. In a particular embodiment, the treatment composition includes the following ingredients: water-soluble anionic surfactants, copper sulphate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, aluminum sulphate, aluminum potassium sulphate and citric acid.
Some preferred ranges of these ingredients are as follows:
Copper Sulfate from 5.85% to 20.10%.
Sodium Chloride from 8.40% to 18.35%.
Anionic surfactant from 0.20% to 1.50%.
Citric Acid from 0.00% to 24.04%.
Aluminum Potassium Sulfate from 0.00% to 6.75%.
Aluminum Sulfate from 0.00% to 5.80%.
Calcium Carbonate from 6.20% to 14.50%.
Sodium Bicarbonate from 0.00% to 40.70%.
Sodium Carbonate from 0.00% to 10.80%.
Some typical ranges of these ingredients are as follows:
Copper Sulfate from 9.50% to 16.90%.
Sodium Chloride from 10.40% to 16.35%.
Anionic surfactant from 0.50% to 1.11%.
Citric Acid from 16.15% to 20.04%.
Aluminum Potassium Sulfate from 2.40% to 5.15%.
Aluminum Sulfate from 1.91% to 4.50%.
Calcium Carbonate from 7.35% to 12.17%.
Sodium Bicarbonate from 26.43% to 37.10%.
Sodium Carbonate from 5.50% to 7.88%.


The present disclosure provides a method, an apparatus, a device and a readable storage medium for planning a pass path. The method includes: acquiring current road environment information in front of a vehicle; setting pass candidate points according to the current road environment information and a driving strategy; and determining a current optimal passable path according to the pass candidate points. Since the pass candidate points are set according to the current road environment information and the driving strategy, and the current optimal passable path is determined according to the pass candidate points, thereby effectively decreasing the calculation amount of the impassable path calculation in prior art due to direct setting of pass candidate points in all areas in front of an unmanned vehicle.

With the development of computer technologies and the artificial intelligence, unmanned driving vehicles (for short: unmanned vehicle) have been widely applied in transportation, militaries, logistic storage, daily lives and so forth. The unmanned driving technologies mainly include perception of environmental information, intelligent decision-making of driving behaviors, planning of collision-free paths, motion control of vehicles and the like. The path planning forms a key part of the unmanned driving technologies, which is based on environment data of a recognition system, and a vehicle needs to plan a safe and reliable, shortest free-collision path from a starting position to a target position based on certain performance metrics in a complicated road environment.
The current method for planning a pass path is typically a planning method based on the Lattice algorithm, this method direct sets some pass candidate points homogeneously in all areas in front of an unmanned vehicle, in which these pass candidate points may be set on front obstacles, the method can then calculate respective pass paths, and select an optimal pass path in passable paths by excluding impassable paths that contact with obstacles.
The method for planning a pass path in current technologies increases unnecessary calculation of impassable paths, further increases a calculation amount of pass path planning, and decreases a planning speed of the pass path. Besides, since no driving strategy for the unmanned vehicle is considered when planning the pass path, thus leading to poor coupling between the planned path and the driving strategy.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method, apparatus, device and readable storage medium for planning pass path


A soda-lime glass containing vanadium which can be produced by the float process with high UV absorption for wavelengths below 350 nm. The glass comprises 70 to 74 weight % SiO.sub.2, 0 to 2 weight % Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, 0.1 weight % or less Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3, 0 to 0.15 weight % TiO.sub.2, 7.5 to 10 weight % CaO, 3.5 to 5.4 weight % MgO, 12 to 15 weight % Na.sub.2 O, 0 to 1 weight % K.sub.2 O, 0 to 0.02 weight % BaO, 0.1 to 0.3 weight % SO.sub.3, 3 to 7 weight ppm CoO and 0.1 to 0.3 weight % V.sub.2 O.sub.5.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a soda-lime glass containing vanadium, in particular a flat glass, produced by the float process with high UV absorption for wavelengths below 350 nm.
2. Background Information
Glasses with high UV absorption, high UV absorption being taken here to mean UV absorption up to about 90% of the UV radiation at wavelengths of below 400 nm, have until now been used only as flat glasses in isolated cases, preferably in the glass container industry for the manufacture of glass containers, such as bottles, in which UV-sensitive foodstuffs, such as, for example, milk, yogurt, juices containing vitamins or the like, are transported and stored.
For some time now, there has been considerable interest in flat glasses highly absorbent in the UV region, with high level of transmittance in the visible region, which are essentially neutral in color. By high level of transmittance is meant here the minimum transmittance values for nearly normal incidence for flat glass in building with planar parallel surfaces and different thickness are given by the following Table 1:
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Light transmittance and solar radiation transmittance for non-colored glasses with parallel flat surfaces thickness light transmittance radiation transmittance mm Value .tau. min. Value .tau..sub.e min. ______________________________________ 3 0.88 0.83 4 0.87 0.80 5 0.86 0.77 6 0.85 0.75 8 0.83 0.70 10 0.81 0.65 12 0.79 0.61 15 0.76 0.55 19 0.72 0.48 ______________________________________
This interest concerns both glasses for the construction and the automotive sector, for example, in order to protect shop window displays from fading or also to protect plastic automotive interior materials from decomposition, premature aging and in particular, as well from color changes. A particular application for the use of UV-absorbent flat glasses is found in the manufacture of laminated glass window panes, in particular those with cast resin or fire protection interlayers.
These interlayers or the adhesives used therewith must at present still be provided with costly UV-resistant constituents, or, if this is not the case, it is also customary particularly in the case of waterglass-based fire protection interlayers, to provide UV-absorbent layers in a glass sandwich or to use these fire-retardant laminated glass panes only in building interiors, where no UV rays occur. Particularly UV-sensitive, for example, is glycerine, which is used inter alia in fire protection waterglass layers.
UV-absorbent soda-lime glasses have been described, for example, in JP-A 52-47 811, in which 0.035 to 0.12 weight % V.sub.2 O.sub.5 have been used jointly with 0.006 to 0.08 weight % manganese oxide and less than 0.4 ppm Co.sub.2 O.sub.3. This soda-lime glass does possess UV-absorption capability, but for color correction required--apart from iron--the use of three color-changing substances. In addition, this is a glass mixture which contains MnO.sub.2. Brownstone (MnO.sub.2) cannot be used without problems under the process conditions of float glass manufacture, as for stabilization of Mn.sup.3+ in the molten glass, pronouncedly oxidizing melting conditions are necessary, which can be achieved only with difficulty in the melting end of a floating plant. At least partial reduction of the manganese to form practically colorless Mn.sup.2+ can thus hardly be avoided with the float process.
In addition, it is known that in the course of time glasses containing Mn.sup.2+ "solarize", i.e., redox reactions are triggered by UV light, during which, due, for example, to Fe.sup.3+ ions present in the glass--or also due to other oxidizing constituents--the color less Mn.sup.2+ is oxidized to form violet-tinting Mn.sup.3+. This means that the hue of glasses containing Mn.sup.2+ gradually changes under the influence of UV light.
As an alternative to MnO.sub.2, selenium oxide is used, but selenium oxide is to be avoided on account of its environmental pollution and toxicity. In addition, selenium has a tendency to sublimate, so that it is necessary to implement extensive emission control measures. In JP-A 59-50 045, a soda-lime glass with high UV and IR absorption has been proposed, which used 0.05 to 1.0 weight % V.sub.2 O.sub.5, 0.2 to 0.5 Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 and 0 to 5 weight % TiO.sub.2 in a glass compound as coloring component, whereby this glass possesses at least 50% transmittance for radiation in the visible region and up to 75% transmittance for solar radiation. This glass absorbs radiation below 370 nm almost completely, as a result of which fading and photoreactions of articles protected by this glass can be prevented. A disadvantage of this glass lies in the fact that its transmittance is adequate only for radiation in the visible region. The teaching given there for production of a UV-absorbent float glass with high transmittance in the visible region, which is essentially neutral in color, is insufficient however.
From GB-PS 708 031, a soda-lime glass (crown glass) with a refractive index of about 1,523 is known, this can be used as optical glass or glass with special refractive properties and has been designed for the production of spectacle glasses and the like. In the case of this application, UV absorption is desirable for protection of the eye. This glass possesses no UV transmittance at least 75%. To achieve these properties, 0.2 to 1.2 weight % vanadium oxide together with at least one additional color modifying metal oxide, selected from the group of iron, cobalt, copper, chromium, tin, arsenic, antimony, manganese, as well as other constituents, has been used.
This glass does in fact possess good UV-absorbent properties with simultaneously satisfactory transmittance in the visible region; the glass is not, however, suitable for manufacture of flat glasses, in particular by the floating process, as it does not possess the viscosity and floating properties necessary for the float glass process. The manganese oxide proposed for color matching cannot be employed in the float glass process for the reasons stated above.
In addition, UV-absorbent borosilicate glasses are known from EP-C 0 321 297, which possess a combination of color-changing additives, selected from the group consisting of cerium oxide, manganese oxide, iron oxide, cobalt oxide, copper oxide, vanadium oxide, molybdenum oxide. The glass proposed there, particularly for the manufacture of automotive windshields is costly to produce, as the boron materials to be used are expensive. These tend to volatilize and form environmentally pollutant emissions which, on account of the high cost involved in eliminating these emissions, should be avoided. EP-C 0321 297 does not provide a precise recommendation as to how vanadium oxide can be combined with other metal oxides to prevent UV transmittance; it is recommended that the costly oxides of the rare earths, for example, cerium or even lanthanum should be used to improve the absorption behavior, so that the use of vanadium oxides is stated solely as an optional additional possibility, but without any information as to the quantity it is used jointly with other pigments. Float glass compounds cannot be produced by this means.
DE-C 20 06 078 concerns sheet glasses to reduce transmittance in the visible and infrared spectral region, which incorporate a mixture of copper oxide, vanadium pentoxide, ferric oxide, nickel oxide and cobalt oxide, whereby the sum of these colorific components, whose proportion in relation to one another can be varied, is at least 2.9 weight % of the glass mixture. The special high-flatness glass which can be produced by this method is too cost intensive for the manufacture of float glass and is developed here for the special application of production of magnetic/optical storage plates. Naturally, little importance is attached to maximum neutrality of color.
A UV-absorbent display window pane is known from DE-C 916 217, whereby for absorption of short wave radiation below about 400 nm it is proposed that about 2 weight % cerium or titanium oxide be added to the normal display window glass composition.
From DE-C 14 96 072, a filter glass with a very high silicic acid content of 96 weight % is known, where pronounced UV absorption is achieved by means of V.sub.2 O.sub.5 as an additive together with cerium nitrate and titanium dioxide. The high silicate content glasses cannot be processed by the float glass method.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,860,059, a UV-absorbent glass is described which has a cerium oxide content of 0.05 to 0.5 weight % CeO.sub.2 and 0.2 to 0.6 weight % Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3. This glass is expensive to manufacture on account of the high cerium content. The high iron content leads to unfavorable transmittance values.
Accordingly, UV-absorbent glasses of widely differing types have heretofore been known, but as yet no UV-absorbent glasses with high transmittance in the visible region, which are suitable for the cost effective manufacture of float glass in large quantities.
In this connection, the following is a brief description of the preferred flat glass production process, which represents the state of the art.
With the float glass process, the molten glass is passed to a floating bath of molten tin, on which it floats. As protection against oxidation of the tin, the process is carried out in a reducing inert gas atmosphere.
On account of this reducing atmosphere, the use of various additives, which can be employed in conventional flat glass not produced by the float glass process, is not possible. Thus, it is not permissible to use lead, nickel or copper oxides or similar oxides as additives, as these will be reduced to the metal on the surface of the glass ribbon. The use of aluminum oxide to ensure the hydrolytic stability of the glass and also to control the viscosity of the molten glass and the use of sodium oxide for liquefaction of the molten glass is also important, so that only very precisely adjusted glasses can be used. The tin bath has a temperature gradient of 600.degree. to 1100.degree. C., whereby at the end of it at 600.degree. C., the floating glass ribbon is lifted off and slowly cooled.


An improved applicator for hair building cosmetic fibers, powders and particles uses a gentle stream of gas to suspend the fibers and waft them onto the user's scalp. A low pressure, low velocity gas stream directed downwards into a mass of fibers in a closed container suspends them. The suspended fibers exit through a small orifice connected with a passageway ending in a nozzle. The suspended fibers are propelled from the nozzle in a directed fashion to settle naturally in a controlled area. If a rubber bulb is used to supply air to suspend the fibers, a user can gently squeeze the bulb to allow controlled puffs of air and fibers to waft onto controlled regions of the scalp. A valve arrangement can be operated to provide an air stream to remove excess deposited fibers from regions of the scalp.

1. Area of the Art
The present invention concerns the field of cosmetic treatments for hair loss.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although most of the human body is relatively hairless, at least compared to most other mammals, the human head is endowed with a more or less luxuriant growth of hair. Over the ages this hair has been the source of endless trials and tribulations. How many teenagers of either sex have spent endless hours adjusting the exact look of their hair? Pity the poor individual whose coiffure is not up to current group standards. This fascination with hair extends beyond ones teenage years and is usually lifelong. But a luxuriant growth of hair is not guaranteed. Hair is damaged or lost as a result of accident, illness, age and even cosmetic treatments. As humans age the quality as well as the quantity of their head hair tends to change. The number of hairs usually decreases in both sexes but often much more rapidly in those of the male persuasion. Color and texture also undergo changes.
Loss of hair and changes in hair quality have spawned a multi-billions dollar industry that seeks to restore an individual's hair to its youthful status. This preoccupation may seem inevitable in today's youth oriented culture, but "cures" for age-related changes in hair seem to be as old as mankind. Ancient civilizations used wigs, hair coloring agents and hats—remedies that are still in widespread use today. Any study of herbal medicine or "magic" potions will uncover a plethora of mixtures that were guaranteed to grow hair on the baldest of pates.
An inspection of the database of issued patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office reveals hundreds of inventions aimed at overcoming or ameliorating hair loss. The majority of inventions are directed towards medical treatments employing an incredible range of drugs—all promising to grow hair. Another large group of inventions is directed towards improvements in wigs and toupees and related devices intended to minimize the appearance of hair loss. Yet drug-based treatments are often ineffective, slow or fraught with undesirable or even dangerous side effects. Wigs and toupees or "hair pieces" are often costly, cumbersome and "overkill" as a treatment for regions of thinning hair as opposed to overall complete hair loss.
Techniques involving "mini" wigs designed to cover small regions only or methods that weave or otherwise attach strands of hair into thinning areas have been developed to overcome the inherent problems of wigs. However, such techniques are often expensive and require services of a third party for their fabrication and application. Therefore, simpler "cosmetic" approaches have been developed that allow an individual to readily minimize the appearance of overall hair thinning and localized hair loss.
The simplest cosmetic approach involves treating the areas of thinning hair with a coloring composition that minimizes the appearance of a bald region by coloring the scalp to match the hair. Such a treatment will minimize the appearance of a thinning region, but it can be difficult to apply such a coloring agent along a thinning hair line with convincing results. Furthermore, this approach is less effective for white or gray hair as the coloration of the scalp does little to blend in the thinning spot. In addition, this cosmetic approach does little to increase the apparent thickness of the hair.
Perhaps the most satisfactory cosmetic approach to date is the application of short colored fibers and/or powder and particles, known as Hair Building Solids (HBS) to the scalp areas in need of treatment. As used herein HBS includes any type of fibers, powder and/or particles used to enhance the appearance of hair thickness and to disguise the appearance of hair thinness. Ideally, the HBS is colored to match the natural hair color of the user and exhibit properties such that static electricity or other similar interactions allow them to adhere to the hair strands as well as the scalp. HBS treatment can result in a very convincing appearance of thickened hair as well as a reduction in the obviousness of balding regions. In addition, it is possible to use hair sprays or other similar compositions to increase the adherence of the fibers to the hair strands and scalp.
The most apparent difficulty with the HBS approach is the process of applying the material to the scalp. The usual means of application is to sprinkle the material over the regions in need of treatment. However, it may be difficult for the user to evenly sprinkle the material in the proper areas. At least one inventor has attempted to solve this difficulty by developing a device to spray the material into position. U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,781 to Ukaji et al. shows a spraying device which uses a source of propellant (e.g., pressurized gas) to deliver a stream of HBS by directing the gas stream over the surface of a container filled with the material. The gas stream picks up fibers and propels them out a nozzle (see FIG. 1b of that patent). Some attempt is made to avoid the narrow stream effect by providing an expanded nozzle (see FIG. 2 of that patent). The invention also envisions the simultaneous application of hair spray or other adhesive with the colored fibers (see FIG. 3 of that patent).
This approach of the Ukaji et al. invention is hampered by the requirement for a more or less bulky can of propellant. Because the applicator is designed to suspend the fibers within the propellant stream by blowing the stream over the surface of a mass of fibers, a fairly intense propellant stream is needed to ensure adequate suspension of the fibers. This in turn results in a relatively high velocity stream that may impair the naturalistic settling of fibers into position on the hair and scalp. Further, the simultaneous application of adhesive and fibers may cause the fibers to clump together in an unaesthetic manner. Clearly, there is a continued need for an improved applicator to facilitate the use of HBS for the cosmetic treatment of hair loss


Embodiments of the present invention provide a computer system, comprising a personal file system module for determining a file system folder structure based upon a user profile and mapping user content stored on one or more storage devices to one or more folders of the file system.

Modern electronic devices, such as computers, portable electronic devices etc., have ever increasing storage capabilities. The storage capability can be provided by local storage devices and also by remote storage devices accessible over a wired or wireless network, such as a LAN or the Internet. The capacity of these local and remote storage devices is continually increasing, thereby allowing users to store increasing amounts of user content, such as increasing numbers of documents. Managing the storage of user content is increasingly difficult.
It is an object of embodiments of the invention to at least mitigate one or more of the problems of the prior art.

Mapping user content to folders in a file system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An assembly for a thermostatic mixing valve includes a valve body including a first fluid channel having a first inlet port for receiving a first fluid from a first fluid supply line, a second fluid channel having a second inlet port for receiving a second fluid from a second fluid supply line, and a cartridge chamber having a first layer, a second layer offset from the first layer, and an opening for receiving a thermostatic mixing cartridge. A first removable insert guides the first fluid to the first layer when inserted into the first fluid channel and guides the second fluid to the first layer when inserted into the second fluid channel. A second removable insert guides the first fluid to the second layer when inserted into the first fluid channel and guides the second fluid to the second layer when inserted into the second fluid channel.

The present disclosure relates generally to fluid mixing valves and more particularly to thermostatic mixing valves having an improved adaptability to an inverted fluid supply configuration.
Thermostatic mixing valves can provide a source of water having a desired temperature and can maintain the desired water temperature substantially constant once set. Such devices are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,279,604 and 7,240,850 describe various embodiments of a thermostatic mixing valve. Typically, the desired water temperature is obtained by controlling the relative proportions of hot and cold water admitted to a mixing chamber and adjusting the relative proportions to maintain the desired water temperature substantially constant.
To control the relative proportions of hot and cold water admitted to the mixing chamber, a temperature-sensitive element can be provided. The temperature-sensitive element may expand or contract based on the temperature of the water in the mixing chamber. The temperature-sensitive element may be connected to a piston configured to variably adjust an amount of the hot or cold water permitted to enter the mixing chamber based on the state of the temperature-sensitive element.
While these thermostatic mixing valves are known in the art, these devices suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, current thermostatic mixing valves may not operate properly unless the hot and cold water enter the valve through designated hot and cold fluid inlet ports. If the thermostatic valve is improperly connected, the temperature-sensitive element may cause the piston to open or close the wrong inlet port in response to a change in temperature.
Current solutions to this problem typically involve replumbing the hot and cold water supply lines or reinstalling the valve in an upside-down configuration such that the hot and cold water enter the valve through the proper inlet ports. However, such solutions are burdensome and may require the wall to be broken and reconstructed. There remains a need for a thermostatic mixing valve that can adapt to an inverted fluid supply line configuration.

Thermostatic fluid supply inverter valve


A precision positioning device 1 having degrees of freedom along multi-axial directions includes a single unitary structure 2 and a plurality of expansion/contraction actuators 4a, 4b, and 4c. Movements of an object-to-be-positioned in the axial directions are effected through such elastic deformations of the unitary structure 2 as to move the object-to-be-positioned only in the axial directions. Forces to generate the elastic deformations are based on expansion/contraction of the expansion/contraction actuators 4a, 4b, and 4c incorporated in the unitary structure 2. The expansion/contraction actuators 4a, 4b, and 4c can be formed of piezoelectric elements.

Conventionally, a precision positioning device converts a torque of a motor to force for moving an object-to-be-positioned via a gear reduction mechanism, a feed screw mechanism, or the like and moves the object-to-be-positioned to a set position by controlling rotation of the motor while feeding back to the motor the current position of the object-to-be-positioned by use of a position sensor or the like. In this case, a mechanism for converting an electric force to a mechanical force for moving the object-to-be-positioned and a feedback control system must have high precision. Such a device becomes very complicated in mechanism, and adjustment and control require considerable skills and time.
There have been proposed various devices which enable precision positioning without use of such a mechanism for converting an electric force to a mechanical force for moving an object-to-be-positioned; i.e., by use of expansion/contraction actuators, such as piezoelectric elements, for converting an electric force directly to a mechanical force for moving an object-to-be-positioned (Patent Documents 1 to 3).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2677625    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. H6-170762    Patent Document 3: US Patent Application Publication No. 20004/0140737
However, the positioning devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have only one degree of freedom; i.e., along a single axial direction. The positioning device disclosed in Patent Document 3 is designed to position an object-to-be-positioned in a multidimensional space. However, the device is not designed to carry out positioning through elastic deformation of only a single unitary structure, but is designed to carry out positioning through a combination of elastic deformations of a plurality of unitary structures. Thus, the overall structure of the device is very complex.


A method and apparatus for storing an n-bit (for n>=2) data block in an array of non-volatile memory cells utilizes a predetermined n+k-bit (for k>=1) encoding selected to reduce the number of programmed cells required to store the n-bit data block.

Non-volatile memory devices are in common use today. Such devices are used for storage of data and programming instructions. They are frequently used for the storage of "content" in consumer electronic devices such as music players, telephones, navigation devices and electronic cameras. Most NVMs are configured generally as shown in block diagram form in FIG. 1A. The NVM device 100 of FIG. 1A comprises an NVM memory array 102 as described in more detail below, a controller 104 configured to execute instructions and process write commands and read commands so as to write to and read from memory array 102, and some kind of external interface 106 which may be an electrical circuit supporting communication with a device external to the NVM device 100. The interface may, for example, be a common interface such as Universal Serial Bus, Secure Digital, Compact Flash and the like.
Two common forms of NVM exist. One form is "binary" memory in which data is represented as one single binary bit per memory cell, the bit normally representing a binary "1" or "0". Another form is multi-level cell (MLC) memory in which one cell is used to store more than one binary bit.
Binary memory cells store charge on a floating gate of a floating gate transistor where different charge distributions correspond to the two different stored bit configurations. FIG. 1B is a charge plot illustrating charge distributions for the two states of such a binary NVM cell. These two configurations or states are illustrated as a "1" (erased) and a "0" (programmed). Note that this is only a convention and a "1" could instead represent a programmed bit and a "0" could likewise represent an erased bit. Accordingly, the 1=erased, 0=programmed convention will be used throughout this disclosure.
MLC memory cells likewise store charge on a floating gate of a floating gate transistor where different charge distributions correspond to different stored bit configurations. For example, in a two-level MLC Flash memory two bits are stored in the cell and the two bits are referred to as an upper page bit (upage) and a lower page bit (lpage). Four charge distributions represent the four possible states of the upper and lower page bits. FIG. 1C is a charge plot illustrating charge distributions for the various states of a 2-bit MLC NVM cell. In FIG. 1C, the four charge distributions are illustrated as a "11", "10", "00" and "01". The "11" state is called the "erased" state. The remaining states are "programmed" states. (As discussed above with respect to binary memories, this is only a convention and while these states are referred to with "1"s and "0"s, it is not required that a "1" always represent a data 1 or that a "0" always represent a data 0. If desired, a "1" and a "0" may be interchanged).
Initially the cell is in the erased state. When the bits are programmed, the distribution is moved from the erased state on the left of FIGS. 1B and 1C to a programmed state on the right. Physically this corresponds to charge being stored on the floating gate. This is normally accomplished using an electron injection mechanism to force channel electrons across an insulator onto the floating gate. Cell erasure is normally achieved through a tunneling mechanism to remove electrons from the floating gate. The transition of a cell from the erased state to a programmed state and back to the erased state is called a "write/erase cycle". Each write/erase cycle causes "wear" on the cell and once a cell has accumulated enough wear, it may experience a failure mode. A cell already in the erased state experiences little or no wear when repeatedly erased.
It would be desirable to further improve the longevity and reliability of MLC memory cells.

Non-volatile memory cell endurance using data encoding


A hydraulic stabilizer system for a portable medical imaging system. The system includes at least two hydraulic cylinders each having a shaft extending through a first wall of the respective cylinder, wherein each shaft is moveable relative to the respective cylinder. First and second ends of each shaft include a spring support element and a foot for contacting associated uneven floor portions. A retraction spring is located between the spring support element and an inner surface of the first wall of each cylinder. The system also includes a hydraulic circuit for supplying hydraulic fluid to the cylinders, wherein the cylinders are in fluid communication with each other. Hydraulic fluid is pumped into the cylinders to cause downward movement of the shafts until the feet contact the associated uneven floor portions such that the pressure exerted by the feet against the associated uneven floor portions is equalized.

Portable medical imaging systems, such as portable computed tomography (CT) imaging systems, are being increasingly utilized by medical personnel. Portable imaging systems are frequently transported using carts or trolleys that include motorized wheels for facilitating movement of the imaging system from one location to another. It is desirable to provide a portable imaging system having relatively fast scan times while also providing improved spatial resolution in an image. However, a wobbling movement is frequently generated during operation of such portable imaging systems, resulting in substantial blurring of the spatial resolution in an image generated by the system. This is exacerbated by relatively high rotation and translation speeds of imaging equipment and uneven flooring upon which the imaging system is located. For example, many CT scanners generate a slice thickness (i.e. resolution) as thin as approximately 0.5 mm. A portable imaging system that wobbles at a magnitude of approximately 3 mm generates "wobbling forces" that substantially degrade this level of resolution. The wobbling forces increase by the square of velocity. Thus, an imaging system that operates at 60 rpm, for example, will have 4 times (2 squared) the forces than an imaging system operating at 30 rpm.
In order to minimize image degradation, many conventional portable imaging systems are designed such that they generate relatively small wobbling forces. A method of achieving small wobbling forces includes using lower rotational and/or translation speeds. However, this compromises scanner performance since the length of time needed to perform a scan is increased and image quality is more likely to be affected by patient and/or organ movement. Another method is to provide improved rotational balancing, both static, and more importantly dynamic, to reduce wobbling forces. However, this is difficult to achieve in compact portable imaging systems and the difficulty increases with increased operational speeds.

Deployable stabilization feet for a portable medical imaging system


A contact which makes it possible to make a connection unit compact in size. A pair of supporting portions opposed to each other in a predetermined direction are provided on opposite side edges of a plate-shaped base portion with which an associated one of electrodes of a photovoltaic unit is brought into contact, such that the supporting portions rise from the opposite side edges, respectively. The pair of supporting portions are each formed with a slit for supporting a terminal portion of a diode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a contact and a connection unit provided with the contact.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a photovoltaic module wiring terminal box (connection unit) including a terminal box and a plurality of terminal strips (contacts) (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-359389 (Paragraphs 0014 to 0016, and FIG. 6)).
The terminal box comprises a box body made of an ABS resin and a cover made of an ABS resin. The box body has a box shape that opens upward. The cover is fitted to the top of the box body via a gasket to cover the opening of the box body.
The terminal strips are provided such that each three terminal strips are integrally formed as one set, and each terminal strip has a base piece and a folded-back piece. A protruding piece is continuous with one end of the base piece. The protruding piece is substantially at right angles to the base piece. The base piece has a rising piece formed on a central portion thereof. The rising piece extends substantially at right angles to the base piece. A foremost end of the rising piece is folded back. The aforementioned folded-back piece has one end continuous with the other end of the base piece, and is inclined with respect to the base piece at an angle of approximately 45°. The folded-back piece is formed with a latching hole for receiving the foremost end of the rising piece. Further, the other end of the folded-back piece is formed with a protruding piece which is brought into abutment with the protruding piece formed on the one end of the base piece. The terminal strips are arranged within the box body.
To connect a terminal leg of a bypass diode (electronic component) or an electrode (contact portion) of a photovoltaic module (object to be connected) to one of the terminal strips, the terminal leg of the bypass diode or the electrode of the photovoltaic module is put in a cutout formed in the one end of the base piece, when the terminal strip is in a state where the foremost end of the rising piece is not inserted through the latching hole of the folded-back piece. Then, the other end of the folded-back piece is pressed toward the base piece, whereby the terminal leg or the electrode is sandwiched by the protruding piece of the folded-back piece and the protruding piece of the base piece. At this time, the foremost end of the rising piece is relatively inserted through the latching hole of the folded-back piece, whereby the foremost end of the rising piece is hooked on a rim of the latching hole of the folded-back piece, which fixes the folded-back piece. The bypass diode or the photovoltaic module is thus connected to the terminal strips.
In the above-mentioned photovoltaic module wiring terminal box, since three terminal strips are integrated into one set of terminal strips, to connect one terminal leg of the bypass diode, the one set of terminal strips is required. The one set of terminal strips has a width considerably larger than that of the terminal leg of the bypass diode. Therefore, to connect a plurality of bypass diodes, it is required to arrange a plurality of sets of terminal strips in a direction of the width thereof, which results in an increased width dimension of the photovoltaic module wiring terminal box.

Contact and connection unit provided with the contact

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited


One embodiment of the present invention relates to a transistor that is at least partially formed in a semiconductor substrate having a surface. In particular, the transistor includes a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region, a channel region connecting said first and second source/drain regions. Said channel region is disposed in said semiconductor substrate. A channel direction is defined by a line connecting said first and said second source/drain regions. A gate groove is formed in said semiconductor substrate. Said gate groove is formed adjacent to said channel region. Said gate groove includes an upper portion and a lower portion, said upper portion being adjacent to said lower portion, and a gate dielectric layer disposed between said channel region and said gate groove. The lower portion of said gate groove is filled with polysilicon whereas the upper portion of said gate groove is filled with a metal or a metal compound thereby forming a gate electrode disposed along said channel region. Said gate electrode controls an electrical current flowing between said first and second source/drain regions.

Memory cells of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) generally include a storage capacitor for storing an electrical charge that represents information to be stored, and an access transistor connected with the storage capacitor. The access transistor includes first and second source/drain regions, a channel connecting the first and second source/drain regions and a gate electrode controlling an electrical current flowing between the first and second source/drain regions. The gate electrode is electrically insulated from the channel by a gate dielectric. The transistor is usually partially formed in a semiconductor substrate, such as a silicon substrate. The portion, in which the transistor is formed, generally is denoted as the active area.
In conventional DRAM memory cell arrays, the gate electrode forms part of a word line. By addressing the access transistor via the corresponding word line, the information stored in the storage capacitor is read out.
In currently-used DRAM memory cells, the storage capacitor is implemented as a trench capacitor in which the two capacitor electrodes are disposed in a trench that extends into the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface. According to another implementation of DRAM memory cell, the electrical charge is stored in a stacked capacitor which is formed above the surface of the substrate.
The access transistor is, for example, implemented as a planar transistor, in which the channel extends horizontally along the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
A known DRAM cell has a grooved transistor in which the gate electrode is disposed in a groove that extends in the substrate. Thereby, a current flowing from the first to the second source/drain regions and vice versa has horizontal and vertical components perpendicular to the substrate surface. This is further described in "The Breakthrough in data retention time of DRAM using Recess-Channel-Array transistor (RCAT) for 88 nm feature size and beyond", J. Y. Kim et al., 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology Dig. of Tech. Papers. A further improvement of this transistor is also known.
In particular, US Pat. Appl. US 2005/0020086 A1 discloses a transistor comprising a gate electrode which is formed in a gate groove. In particular, inner sidewall spacers are provided which are formed on sidewalls of the recessed trench so that the center portion of the gate has a smaller width than an upper portion and a lower portion of the gate electrode. By including the sidewall spacers, the influence of the gate electrode on the first and second source/drain regions can be reduced, resulting in a reduced leakage current. However, due to the smaller width of the center portion of the gate electrode, the problem arises, that a contact resistance between the upper portion and the lower portion of the gate electrode and, in particular, the resistance between the corresponding word line and the lower portion of the gate electrode is increased, resulting in a degraded speed performance.
A method of forming special contact plugs is also known.
Memory devices usually comprise a memory cell array and a peripheral portion. The peripheral portion includes support circuitry for operating the memory cell array and, in particular, sense amplifiers and word line drivers.

Transistor, memory cell, memory cell array and method of forming a memory cell array


A loading and transportation roof rack for the roof of a vehicle. It pivots off of its mounting plate on the vehicle's roof to a position parallel and beside the vehicle so the kayak can be loaded on and lashed down to its C shaped cradle. Thereafter, the roof rack may be tilted vertically onto the vehicle's roof and locked into place. There is a brace that is used to lock the cradle assembly in either the vertical or horizontal positions.

Many people use self-powered watercraft as their form or exercise and recreation. Getting their watercraft to and from water is always a challenge for many reasons. The roof racks are generally high, and not continually affixed to the vehicle's roof or roof racks/rails. This means they have to be reattached for each use. The watercraft are hard to load onto a vehicle's roof with one person as they are long and awkward to balance with their shifting weight. If not loaded right they can strike the car causing dents or paint damage. Different size kayaks need different racks. Once on the roof positioning them for securement is an ordeal. There are usually no dedicated tie down locations.
Simply stated, the existing kayak roof racks do not consider the height or strength of the person loading the kayak, the size of the kayak, how to get the kayak from beside the vehicle to on its roof, how to tie the kayak down or how to store the kayak in an aesthetic, compact manner on the vehicle's roof.
Henceforth, a vehicular rooftop rack that allows anyone to easily load, securely lash the kayak to the vehicle and be stored on the vehicle's roof in an aesthetically pleasing manner would fulfill a long felt need in the industry. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this.


An object of the invention is to drastically reduce the area overhead in a semiconductor integrated circuit incorporating a test configuration that uses a partially rotational scan circuit. To achieve this, in the semiconductor integrated circuit incorporating the test configuration that comprises a combinational circuit (3) and a scan chain (2) constructed by connecting a plurality of scan flip-flops (5) in a chain, the scan chain (2) is divided into a plurality of sub scan-chains (20a to 20n) each of which has a partially rotational scan (PRS) function and a test response compaction (MISR) function. By performing a scan test in a plurality of steps while changing the combination of the sub scan-chains to be set as PRS and the sub scan-chains to be set as MISR, the test can be performed without having to provide a test response compactor separately from the scan chain, and thus the area overhead can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit designed for testability and to a test method for the same and, more particularly, to a semiconductor integrated circuit incorporating a test configuration having a scan chain constructed by connecting a plurality of scan flip-flops in a chain, and a test method for such a semiconductor integrated circuit.
2. Prior Art
With advances in deep submicron processes and multilayered wiring structures, semiconductor chips such as VLSI devices (very large-scale semiconductor integrated circuit devices) have been greatly improved both in performance and in functionality. On the other hand, the difficulty in testing such VLSI devices has become a major problem. Therefore, in VLSI devices with increased integration and increased operating speed, there has developed a need for detecting new kinds of faults (crosstalk, etc.) at lower cost.
FIG. 1 shows an LSI test method. A stuck-at fault shown in FIG. 1A is a typical VLSI fault model. This fault is a fault that causes the input or output of a device in a circuit to permanently take a logic value 0 or 1. In the example shown here, the output signal line of a NAND gate is in a stuck-at-0 fault condition. When inputs are applied that should cause the NAND gate to output a 1 on the signal line, the internal state of the circuit becomes different from normal. In the illustrated example, the influence of the fault propagates outside the circuit. That is, when a vector {1, 0, 1} is applied, if the output is a 1, this means that the signal line is in a stuck-at-0 fault condition; on the other hand, if the output is 0, this means that the signal line is not in a stuck-at-0 fault condition. Accordingly, the vector {1, 0, 1} is a test vector for detecting a stuck-at-0 fault on the signal line.
With increasing semiconductor integration and process miniaturization, there has been a growing need to detect faults that cannot be detected using single stuck-at fault models only. One technique that is expected to be effective in detecting the so-called "unmodeled faults" is the n-detection test shown in FIG. 1B. The n-detection test is a method that detects a single stuck-at fault by performing the detection a plurality of times using different test vectors. In the illustrated example, three vectors are the test vectors all of which are applied to detect the same fault. With the n-detection test, it becomes possible to detect a fault that could not be detected by a single detection test. The method is also expected to be effective in detecting the so-called "unmodeled faults" such as crosstalk and delay faults.
However, the n-detection test requires the use of many test vectors. In the example of FIG. 1B, three test vectors are applied in order to detect a stuck-at-0 fault. In this way, to perform the n-detection test, the amount of test data increases as the number of detections increases, and a technique for reducing the amount of the test data is essential in order to perform the test efficiently.
Further, the amount of test data and the test time required to test VLSI devices have been increasing year by year. There are cases where the test data generated by an ATPG (Automatic Test Pattern Generator) exceeds the memory capacity of a semiconductor tester. Furthermore, as the operating speeds of VLSI devices increase, there occur cases where tests cannot be done using existing testers. There is therefore a need to test high-speed VLSI devices using low-speed testers.
As one method for performing the n-detection test at low cost, there is proposed a method that uses a partially rotational scan (PRS) circuit (refer to document 1 listed below). The partially rotational scan circuit is a technique employed for design for testability, and makes at-speed testing possible by using a low-speed tester when performing the n-detection test; with this circuit, many shift vectors other than the ATPG vectors can be generated by partially rotating the scan chain. Using these shift vectors, the amount of test data can be reduced. Since the test data need not be scanned in during the rotation operation, at-speed testing can be performed using a low-speed tester.
To fabricate a VLSI device incorporating a test configuration that uses the partially rotational scan circuit, a test response compactor for extracting responses from the circuit-under-test (CUT) must be added to the circuit-under-test in addition to the partially rotational scan circuit that generates test patterns. A multiple-input signature register (MISR) is often used as the test response compactor.
FIG. 2 shows an LSI test configuration that uses the partially rotational scan (hereinafter abbreviated PRS) circuit. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a tester which generates test vectors, 2 is the PRS circuit, 3 is the circuit-under-test (hereinafter abbreviated CUT), and 4 is a MISR as the test response compactor. The PRS circuit 2, the CUT 3, and the MISR 4 are integrated as a single LSI device. The test vectors generated by the tester 1 are input to the PRS circuit 2 which then generates shift vectors and rotation vectors, thereby making it possible to reduce the amount of the test data. Accordingly, a low-speed tester can be used as the tester 1. Test results are compacted by the MISR 4, and output from the integrated circuit device.
(Document 1) "Application of Partially Rotational Scan Technique with Tester IP for Processor Circuits," IEICE Trans. Inf. & Syst., Vol. E87-D, No. 3, pp. 586-591 (Mar. 2004), Kenichi Ichino, Ko-ichi Watanabe, Masayuki Arai, Satoshi Fukumoto, and Kazuhiko Iwasaki.
In the integrated semiconductor circuit incorporating the test configuration that uses the PRS circuit shown in FIG. 2, as the PRS circuit 2 generates the rotation vectors by performing the rotation operation with the shift vectors input thereto, the results of the testing of the CUT 3 cannot be held therein, unlike the conventional scan circuit. Accordingly, the MISR circuit 4 is added to hold the test results. However, the addition of the MISR circuit 4 results in a corresponding increase in the VLSI circuit area. Furthermore, selectors, etc. added in the PRS circuit 2 also increase the circuit area, and as a result, this test configuration has the shortcoming that area overhead significantly increases compared with the conventional scan-type test configuration. Accordingly, in the test configuration that uses the PRS circuit, a major technical challenge is how the area overhead can be reduced in the fabrication of the semiconductor device.

Semiconductor integrated circuit incorporating test configuration and test method for the same

Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center


A center high-mount brake-light system for a motor vehicle, comprising a plurality of selectively-illuminatable lights arranged to define each of a center section comprising at least one of the plurality of lights, and at least two outer sections disposed on either side of the center section. A controller is operative to selectively illuminate the plurality of lights of the center and at least two outer sections in response to changes in the rate of travel of the vehicle and/or actuation of the vehicle's brakes, and whereby the plurality of lights are characterized by at least the following illumination states:                (a) an illumination state in which the lights of each of the center and at least two outer sections are illuminated in their entireties in response to actuation of the vehicle's brakes;        (b) an illumination state in which illumination of the lights of each of the at least two outer sections ceases or diminishes perceptibly relative to illumination of the center section after a predetermined period of time following actuation of the vehicle's brakes if there has been less than a predetermined amount of vehicle deceleration; and        (c) an illumination state in which increasing numbers of the plurality of lights of each of the at least two outer sections are progressively illuminated in response to corresponding and progressively increasing amounts of vehicle deceleration above a predetermined threshold.

Center high-mount ("CHM") brake lights originally were developed to provide increased indication to a trailing vehicle of deceleration by a leading vehicle, thus allowing more reaction time for the trailing vehicle to also decelerate. And while CHM brake lights successfully augment the warning provided to trailing vehicles, the warning is not always sufficient. For instance, in high traffic areas and congested highways during rush hours it is common for the brake lights of a leading vehicle to be on for extended periods of time due to the "bumper to bumper" traffic. In these "traffic jam" conditions, brake lights begin to have less effectiveness as drivers of trailing vehicles drive with their brake pedals depressed in anticipation of deceleration or stopping by vehicle in front of them. In these circumstances, the brake lights are fully and continuously illuminated. Thus, the drivers of trailing vehicles may not receive adequate warning that one or more leading vehicles are decelerating or stopping.
Several and varied solutions to the foregoing problem have been proposed. For instance, Elliott, U.S. Pat. No. 6,753,769, discloses a progressive slow-stop signaling system for energizing a plurality of linearly-arranged yellow and red lights mounted on the rear of a vehicle. The yellow lights are progressively energized from left to right as the vehicle's accelerator is progressively released, while the red lights are progressively energized from left to right as the vehicle's brake pedal is depressed. Salsman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,805, discloses a brake light system to indicate the intensity of slow down in a moving vehicle. In particular, the system comprises an array of lights which are sequentially activated by an inertia switch, with more lights being activated as the rate of deceleration increases. Finally, Mathis, US Published Application No. 2010/0085180, discloses a deceleration brake light system comprising a plurality of lights arranged in an array comprising a plurality of vertical columns and horizontal rows. When the brakes of the vehicle are depressed, these lights illuminate progressively from both outermost ends of the array towards the middle.
While the foregoing systems improve upon conventional three-light (i.e., left, right and CHM) brake-light systems, it is envisioned by the inventor hereof that even more informative brake-light systems would help reduce accidents between leading and trailing vehicles.


An improved pet cat toy, including main body, where main body is made of textile material and has hollow interior, wall of main body is provided with first opening and second opening on different sides, first opening is provided with first outer interlayer that includes open seal and can open and close first opening, second opening is provided with perspective second outer interlayer, inner interlayer including open seal is disposed between first opening and second opening, interior of main body is divided into first cavity and second cavity, and catnip capable of being replaced is filled in first cavity and second cavity separately. The present utility model is reasonably designed, has simple structure, can expose part of catnip, and enhances attraction to pet cat and master thereof. Besides, internal catnip can be replaced in time and conveniently, enduringly keep the toy attractive, and the toy can be recycled, lowering cost.

Technical Field
The present utility model relates to a toy for pets, and in particular, to a toy for pet cats that has more attraction, which specifically is an improved pet cat toy.
Related Art
In Europe, America, and China, raising of pet cats becomes increasingly popular. However, with development of the society, people start to live in crowd cities in groups, and a space for family life of people is further compressed; correspondingly, pet cats also gradually lose an activity space. Therefore, some pet toys that meet pet's favors and can draw pet's interest appear on the market. Currently, most of pet cat toys usually fill materials such as catnip inside the toys, facilitating scratching and biting of pet cats. However, because catnip is invisible and can hardly draw pet cat's and master's interest, improvement needs to be made.


A circuit for generating a clock or sampling signal, the circuit including: a semiconductor quantum dot laser element including a region of quantum dots, wherein the region of quantum dots is characterized by an emission distribution having a half-width of at least about 10 meV; and drive circuitry connected to the quantum dot laser element for operating the quantum dot laser element as a mode-locked laser that outputs a periodic, uniformly spaced sequence of pulses, wherein the clock or sampling signal is derived from the sequence of pulses.

Quantum dots are three-dimensional semiconductor structures that confine electrons and holes in 3-dimensions and thereby produce energy quantization. Quantum dots are so small that quantum mechanical effects come into play in controlling their behavior. The "dots," which up close actually appear to be more pyramidal in shape, have base dimensions on the order of about 200 Å and height dimensions of about 80 Å.
Some years ago, the scientific community realized that one could make a new type of semiconductor laser by using quantum dots in the active layer. Those new lasers, referred to as quantum dot lasers, held out the promise of great benefits. For example, it was expected that the quantum dot lasers would exhibit less-temperature dependent performance, reduced threshold currents, and more efficient operation than existing semiconductor lasers.
Quantum dot lasers work like other semiconductor lasers. Like the semiconductor laser, the goal of a quantum dot laser is to excite the material into a high energy state and then induce it back into its low energy state resulting in a net release of energy, which emerges as a photon.
One technique for fabricating quantum dot lasers involved forming a layer of quantum dots during Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) growth by a self-assembly method known as the Stranski-Krastanov process. Initial layers are grown lattice matched (or coherently strained) to a substrate material. Following the deposition of the active region, a quantum dot layer is then deposited and quantum dots (e.g. InAs) are formed. Completing the laser structure involves depositing further material layers that are lattice matched to the substrate. Other than the quantum dot layer, the preceding and subsequent material layers are really no different than existing semiconductor structures. However, it is the thin layer of quantum dots that holds out the promise of a new level of semiconductor laser performance.
For some people within the community of researchers of quantum dot lasers, it has been the view that being able to establish highly dense and highly uniform quantum dots was essential for achieving the benefits that were predicted for quantum dot lasers. So, part of the research community has put effort into improving the uniformity of the quantum dot layers.

Pulsed quantum dot laser system with low jitter


Embodiments of the present application relate to a method, device, and system for obtaining service, executing operations, and offline physical equipment-based information transmission. The method includes obtaining, by a terminal, identifying information associated with a provision device, communicating, by the terminal, the identifying information to an identifying information receiver, obtaining, by the terminal, provision information associated with the provision device, wherein the provision information is obtained as feedback by the identifying information receiver based on the identifying information, and wherein the provision information is indicative of at least one service or one product provided by the provision device, and providing, by the terminal, at least a subset of the provision information associated with the provision device to a user of the terminal.

According to related art, a user can purchase a product provided by offline equipment through a terminal (such as a smart phone). In order to obtain such services, the user is generally required to physically approach the offline equipment and, by operating the offline equipment and performing operations on the operating panel of the offline equipment, select the item (such as the product the user wishes to purchase) provided by the offline equipment. Moreover, after completing the selection operation and as prompted by the offline terminal, the user is generally required to use another terminal (e.g., a smart phone) to scan a payment Quick Response (QR) code displayed by the offline terminal. After scanning the payment QR code, the user is able to complete the payment operation and thus obtain the corresponding item. The item may, for example, be the following: after payment is completed, the offline physical equipment pushes the user-purchased product to a pick-up window.
The problem with the above-described method for obtaining service is that obtaining items from offline terminals involves many steps, is tedious, and relatively inefficient. Accordingly, consumers may be less likely to consume services from such offline terminals.

Methods, devices and systems for acquiring service, executing operation, and transmitting information

BANMA ZHIXING NETWORK (HONGKONG) CO., LIMITED


The present invention relates to a node (1) in a wireless communication network, where the node (1) is arranged to receive at least two signals (y1(n), y2(n)) which correspond to at least two transmitted uncorrelated signal streams (x1(n), X2(n)) which have been transmitted to the node via a channel. The channel (2) is signals represented by means of a channel matrix (H(q−1)). The node (1) comprises a controllable filter structure (3) that is arranged to diagonalize the channel matrix (H(q−1)) such that a channel matrix estimation (Ĥ(q−1)) may be obtained. The present invention also relates to a corresponding method.

In wireless communication systems, a transmitted signal is distorted due to dynamic properties of a radio channel through which it is transmitted. In order to compensate for the dynamic properties of the radio channel, different methods are available for combating interference. An ideal compensation would completely cancel the effects of the radio channel and the resulting equalized channel would be completely frequency flat. However, such a scheme would in most cases lead to unwanted noise amplification limiting the performance. Equalization schemes must therefore provide a trade-off between noise amplification and making the equalized channel frequency-flat.
For the transmitted data to be recovered at the receiver it is important that the interference is suppressed. Besides the power consumption aspect of the user equipment, there is also a desire to restrict the size and costs of the user equipment in order for it to be attractive. The desire to reduce size, cost and power consumption is valid also for receivers in the base station. The space for and costs of processing circuitry should therefore be kept at a minimum. The complexity of the methods used for combating the interference competes with a desire to cancel the interference to as large extent as possible.
Normally, the channel is estimated, where the estimation is based on so-called pilot sequences. A pilot sequence is a sequence that is known to both ends in a communication system. A consequence is that parts of the air interface resources (spectrum, time, codes) are occupied with pilots, and can then not be used for transmitting data. However, transmitting pilot sequences enables the system to optimize the bandwidth used for transmitting user data.
Each pilot sequence is only transmitted during certain time and frequency periods, and a consequence of this is that as time progresses, the estimate becomes less good due to a variation of the channel. Differently stated, it means that the error of the channel estimate increase as a function of time. One implication of an error increase is that the user data through-put decrease. Also, pre-coders suffer in terms of less reliable weights. That is, there is a larger uncertainty regarding where to place the antenna beam energy.
In case an underlying channel model is used to interpolate intermediate channel outcomes, it is crucial to change the model based on environment and user behaviour. This results in computationally complex algorithms in which various parameters such as Doppler shift, Doppler spread and delay spread are needed components. The quality of the estimation is, naturally, depending on how well the model can describe the underlying channel behaviour.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide an enhanced estimation of a channel by using pilot sequences, which is not as vulnerable to passing time as for presently employed channel estimation.

Controllable filter to diagonalize a transmission channel


The present invention relates to heat-curable coating compositions containing. A) a prepolymer having an average of 2-4 ketoxime-blocked NCO groups, having an average moleculer weight of 500-15,000 and prepared from aliphatic, cycloaliphatic and aromatic polyisocyanates and one or more polyhydroxy components which contain 0 to 30% by weight of ethylene oxide units and PA0 B) a crosslinking agent of the formula ##STR1## wherein R and R.sup.1 represent H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 -alkyl, the ratio of equivalents of blocked NCO groups in A) to NH.sub.2 groups in B) being 1.35:1 to 0.95:1, characterized in that at least one of the polyhydroxy compounds used for the preparation of the prepolymer contains, in stable dispersion, a polyurethane, a polyurethane-urea and/or a polyurea, which is substantially free from NCO groups, hydroxyl groups and amino groups and which are synthesized from aromatic, aliphatic and/or cycloaliphatic diisocyanates and from diamines, hydrazine and/or diols, provided that at least one of these components carries a radical having hydrophilic characteristics.. The present invention also relates to the use of these coating compositions in a process for the coating, particularly water vapor-permeable coating, of substrates, preferably textile sheet-like structures and leather.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coating compositions based on polyurethanes from which water vapor-permeable coatings can be produced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to prepare vapor-permeable coatings by physical means. In this method the polyurethane, dissolved in a solvent, is applied in the form of a layer to a substrate or to a release-substrate and introduced in the wet state into a bath that contains a non-solvent for the polymer which is miscible with the solvent. The non-solvent penetrates into the solution layer where it gradually precipitates and coagulates the polyurethane. During the drying of the resultant solidified film, the escaping solvent and also the non-solvent leave behind microchannels, which are then available in the coating for the transport of water vapor.
In a similar manner coatings can be produced by admixing salt powders with the polymer solution. After formation of the coatings the salt can be washed out with water leaving microcavities behind.
The perforation of compact foils using high-energy electron beams also leads to films which can be laminated and which possess high water vapor permeability. As a rule the volume of water vapor transported per unit of time and unit of area is more than 10 times as high with a water vapor-permeable coating as with a conventional compact film.
These methods have the disadvantage that they are chemically complicated, require complex apparatus or create considerable waste problems.
Recently a microporous coating has been prepared which does not require immersion bath technology. In this process, also known as evaporation coagulation, water is added to the solution of the polymer in a low-boiling solvent in an amount such that the resultant spreading-paste is just stable and capable of being applied to a suitable substrate. During evaporation the organic solvent escapes first. The continuously increasing proportion of water precipitates out the solid as in the immersion process and finally escapes on drying, leaving behind a microporous structure in the film.
All of these processes have the disadvantage that the microchannels or microcavities cause a weakening of the water vapor-permeable coating, i.e., the tensile strength and abrasion resistance clearly decrease in comparison with a compact film.
Therefore, there have been many attempts to produce water vapor-permeable coatings not only by physical methods, but also by chemical means. It has been proposed to produce such coatings using polyurethanes which partly contain water-soluble or hydrophilic structural components. DE-A-1,220,384 and 1,226,071 describe polyurethanes which contain glycols, diisocyanates and a difunctional hydrophilic structural component, which creates the water vapor permeability of the coating and is a macrodiol. In both cases polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight of about 1000 is used; the two applications differ only in the "vulcanization" mechanism, i.e., the subsequent crosslinking of the polyurethane elastomers.
Compact top coats of composite materials made from textile substrates and microporous coatings, such as those described in DE-OS 2,020,153, are also water vapor-permeable.
Polyethylene glycols can also be used as the diol component for the production of polyester polyols which are subsequently used to prepare polyurethane elastomers as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 61/009,423. The resulting coatings possess good water vapor permeability and negligible water swelling.
Segmented polyurethane elastomers prepared from polyethylene glycols are also disclosed in EP-A 52,915.
Other organic hydrophilic components may also be added to polyurethanes in order to prepare water vapor-permeable coatings and composite materials. In particular, poly-.gamma.-methylglutamate can be blended with polyurethanes, chemically incorporated as a structural component, or grafted onto polyurethanes. DE-A 1,922,329 and 1,949,060 and JP-A 58,057,420 and 59/036,781 disclose these alternatives.
Recently, polyurethanes prepared from the above-mentioned polyethylene glycols have been of particular industrial interest for the production of water vapor-permeable compact coatings. These raw materials are inexpensive and commercially available. The polyurethanes and polyurethane-ureas obtained from these raw materials are also well known in principle. In contrast to the widely used polyurethane-ureas, which contain polyesters, polycarbonates or polyethers as macrodiols, these materials are capable of absorbing water, water vapor-permeable, and occasionally even strongly swellable or soluble in water.
For this reason hydrophobic polyols are admixed with the polyethylene glycols having hydrophilic characteristics. From these mixtures polyurethanes or polyurethane-ureas can be prepared which combine good water vapor permeability with good resistance to the effects of liquid water.
Two-component coating compositions containing ketoxime-blocked prepolymers, binuclear, cycloaliphatic diamines as crosslinking agent/curing agent and at most 15% by weight of solvent in the formulation are described in DE-A 2,702,090 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,756. In these systems the polyhydroxy compounds used to prepare the blocked prepolymers may contain polypropylene oxides and, where appropriate, ethylene oxide (EOx) units.
Blocked prepolymers, as described in EP-A 100,005, formed from polyhydroxy compounds which contain 20-100% by weight, preferably 40-80% by weight of EOx units may be cured to provide good water-vapor permeable coatings on textile substrates. However, the swelling of these coatings in water leads to the occurrence of pimple-shaped swelling phenomena when discrete drops of water are placed on the coating. For a textile consumer article these are not only an aesthetic fault, but a considerable technical defect.
It is an object of the present invention to provide coating compositions which may be used to prepare coatings which do not suffer from this defect.


A projector can not only perform power on/off operation in synchronization with open/close action of a shutter but also provide a screen mute function achieved by the shutter. When the shutter is located in an OFF position and the period timed by a timer is longer than or equal to a predetermined period during the operation of the projector, the projector is powered off. In this process, after the timing operation performed by the timer and notification from a notification unit are terminated, a light source is turned off and the projector is caused to enter a standby state.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a projector and a method for controlling the projector.
2. Related Art
Some of image projection projectors are provided with a slidable lens shutter capable of blocking a projection lens opening of an enclosure in order to protect the projection lens or temporarily stop image projection by blocking projected light (temporarily stopping image projection is called image mute function). There is, however, a concern that a user forgets to close the lens shutter after use of the projector and carries the projector with the projection lens unprotected.
JP-A-2012-93605 discloses a projector in which the power source of the projector is turned off in synchronization with the closure of a lens shutter. A projector of this type prevents a user from carrying the projector with the lens shutter unintentionally unclosed because closing the lens shutter is immediately followed by turning off the power source.
In the projector described in JP-A-2012-93605, however, the image mute function, which temporarily stops image projection, and the unclosed lens shutter prevention function, which prevents the user from forgetting to close the lens shutter at the time of power off, are not achieved simultaneously. Further, when open/close operation of the lens shutter is configured to synchronize with on/off action of the power source of the projector, accidental open/close operation of the lens shutter is disadvantageously followed by on/off action of the power source of the projector.

Projector and method for controlling projector using a slidable lens shutter


Reflective image encoder. A reflective image encoder has an emitter such as one or more light emitting diodes, a diffuse reflective coder such as a code wheel or code strip reflecting a portion of the light from the emitter, an imaging lens forming an inverted image on to a detector. The reflective image encoder may include apertures on either or both sides of the imaging lens, and may include baffles to minimize stray light reaching the detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of optical encoders, and more particularly, to the art of reflective optical encoders.
2. Art Background
Optical encoders are used in a variety of applications such as shaft encoders where an object's position or motion is sensed. In a reflective encoder, light from an emitter, usually a light emitting diode is directed at a coder such as a code wheel in the case of sensing rotary motion, or a code strip in the case of sensing linear motion. Specular reflections from reflective areas of the coder selectively reflect light from the emitter to a detector.
The performance of such an encoder and its resolution are limited by, among other considerations, the low degree of collimation of the emitter beam, diffused and scattered light caused by coder imperfections, and distortions due to encapsulation surrounding the detector.

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


The invention provides a motorcycle having a frame, an engine coupled to the frame, and a crankshaft assembly. The crankshaft assembly includes a first flywheel half having an aperture, a crank pin including a first end portion, a second end portion opposite the first end portion, and a bearing surface between the first and second end portions. The first end portion is press-fit into the aperture of the first flywheel half. The first end portion, the second end portion, and the bearing surface are coated with a friction enhancer. A bearing is positioned at least partially onto the bearing surface, and a connecting rod has an aperture that at least partially receives the bearing.

The present invention relates to a crankshaft assembly with a coated crank pin, and more particularly, to a crankshaft assembly with a coated crank pin used with a roller element bearing.
It is known for a motorcycle engine, and specifically a V-twin style engine, to include a crankshaft assembly including first and second flywheel halves coupled together with a single crank pin. The crank pin is connected to the flywheel halves in a variety of ways. One option is to extend threaded ends of the crank pin through holes in the opposed flywheel halves and to thread nuts onto the ends of the crank pins to secure the assembly together. Another method is to press-fit non-threaded ends of the crank pin into the holes of the opposed flywheel halves.
Sometimes, the press-fit can be strengthened by using a press-soldering process which creates a thin layer (approximately 5 μm) of solder between the press-fit components. Other methods of strengthening the press-fit connection include pressing a solid plug into a bore of the crank pin after it is press-fit into the holes of the flywheel halves, case hardening one or both of the press-fit components, or keying the press-fit.
In some assemblies, friction enhancers (e.g., platings or coatings) on the crank pin are used to enhance a press-fit connection for a crank pin on a crankshaft assembly. However, these enhancers were believed to be incompatible with roller element bearings resulting in an adverse effect on the performance of the roller element bearings. To overcome this perceived deficiency, masking of the bearing contact surface of the crank pin was introduced. However, masking is labor intensive and inefficient, and if masking is not done properly, bearing performance could be adversely impacted.

Crankshaft assembly with coated crank pin

Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, Inc.


The scheduling functionality for a distributed system having multiple data servers is spread across the data servers rather than being centralized at a single machine. The distribution of the scheduling across multiple servers enhances the scalability of the system and enhances the fault tolerance of the system. Viewer state records are employed that contain scheduling information for viewers. Scheduling occurs by circulating the viewer state records amongst the data servers that are to provide the requisite data. The data servers output data blocks in a predetermined sequence based on how the data blocks are striped across the data servers. Each viewer state record is forwarded to a first successor and second successors in the scheduling sequence. The task of adding a viewer to a schedule is also distributed to the data servers.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,362 describes a video-on-demand system that has a number of data servers with storage devices at which are stored data sequences, such as data sequences for movies. The data servers are under control of the controller, and each data server may have one or more storage devices, such as disk storage devices, attached to it. The data servers are designated as "cubs" and the controller is designated as a "tiger." Each cub has one or more high bandwidth network connections to a switched network, such as an ATM network or a switched Ethernet.
Each movie or data file is striped across the storage devices that are connected to the cubs. Each file is divided into blocks of a certain duration and each block is written on a storage device associated with a successive cub in a predefined sequence. Thus, for example, a first block of the data file may be stored on a storage device of a first cub, a second sequential block may be stored on a storage device of a second cub and a third sequential block may be stored on a storage device of a third cub. As a result of this storage scheme, when a viewer wishes to see the data file, each successive cub must output the data block stored on its storage device in sequence at the proper time.
In order to prevent two viewers from needing access to a same storage device at exactly the same time, the tiger controller maintains a centralized schedule of viewers. The schedule is divided into slots, where each of the slots represents a unit of system capacity to send a block of the data file to a viewer during a given time interval. Scheduling occurs on a per slot basis. When a viewer requests to view a movie, the viewer has to wait until the storage device holding the first block of the movie encounters an empty slot in the schedule. The slot may then be assigned to the viewer. FIG. 1 depicts an example of the scheduling of slots for three disk storage devices. Each disk has a like sequence of slots time-shifted relative to its predecessor. At time 0, disk 0 outputs the first data block for slot 1 that is assigned to a viewer. One time unit later, disk 1 outputs the next successive block for that slot, and at time 2, disk 2 outputs a next successive block in slot 1. As can be seen in FIG. 1, each disk storage device has a column with time slots at which it sequentially outputs blocks of data.
One limitation of the above-described system is that scheduling may fail if the tiger controller fails. The tiger controller constitutes a single point of failure within the system. In addition, a great deal of network traffic must flow between the tiger controller and the cubs in order to properly perform scheduling.

Distributed scheduling in a multiple data server system