The invention relates to a system and a method of wireless communication for emergency in an elevator system. The wireless communication system comprises the user interface module providing a user interface for a passenger in the elevator car; a first wireless communication module configured to make a first wireless connection with a communication device through a first wireless communication network; a second wireless communication module configured to make a second wireless connection with the communication device through a second wireless communication network; and a control module configured to control the first and second wireless communication modules to set up the first wireless connection and/or the second wireless connection, upon receiving the passenger's input through the user interface module.

The invention relates to wireless communication in an elevator system, in particular to an apparatus and a method of wireless communication for emergency situations in the elevator system.
An elevator system comprises at least one elevator car traveling along a hoistway to carry passengers between a plurality of landings. In an emergency situation, e.g. in case of a power outage or a breakdown of the elevator system, the elevator car may not be able to run in a normal and expected way. A passenger experiencing such an emergency situation in the elevator car will need a communication tool to contact a responsible person outside and to report his or her situation. Conventionally, a single wired communication system has been normally used for such a purpose. Quality of service of such a communication system is critical to ensure that the communication system does work even in the event of an emergency situation.
It is therefore desirable to provide a reliable communication system between a passenger experiencing an emergency situation in the elevator car and a responsible person managing the elevator system.

Wireless communication in an elevator system


Access to information is controlled by maintaining, for a given device or other entity through which information may be accessed, a contact list that includes information identifying one or more other entities which have attempted to communicate with the given entity. In accordance with the invention, the contact list is utilized in conjunction with a revocation list stored in a memory associated with the given entity in order to determine which of the other entities are authorized to communicate with the given entity. The contact list includes a number of entries, each entry having at least an identifier of a particular one of the other entities and a corresponding revocation flag indicating whether the particular entity has been revoked. The contact list is updated after a modification of the revocation list, or if a new entity not already included in the contact list attempts to communicate with the given entity.

A number of different copy protection techniques have been developed for protecting digital recordings and other types of copyrighted content material from unauthorized use. In many such techniques, the content material is encrypted such that it can only be decrypted using a key accessible to a compliant device. For example, an access control system for copy-protected content material may effect a key exchange with the particular compliant device, using a Diffie-Hellman key exchange or other public key cryptography technique. The access control system then uses the exchanged key to encrypt a decryption key for decrypting the content material, and supplies the decryption key to the device.
In this manner, only the intended compliant device can decrypt the content material. Generally, the access control system does not undertake the key exchange until after the particular compliant device identifies itself, and, in most cases, authenticates this identification, typically via an encrypted signature that can be verified. Other copy protection techniques that rely in whole or in part upon an identification of a receiver or other device are common in the art.
An adversary of the above-described access control system can subvert the copy protection technique by imitating a compliant device. That is, techniques are common in the art for replicating a compliant device, such that, in operation, the replicated device is virtually indistinguishable from the original. A common unauthorized business practice is the sale of "black market" or "pirated" imitations of replicated compliant devices that are intended for use in gaining unauthorized access to copy-protected content material.
In order to counteract such an adversary, device manufacturers, content providers and other issuing authorities typically publish revocation lists, itemizing each identifier that has been determined to be no longer valid. In principle, the access control system receives an identifier from the intended receiving device, compares this identifier to the list of all invalidated identifications, then grants or denies access accordingly. Each issuing authority periodically publishes a list of the recently revoked identifiers, and this list is communicated to each access control system, using a variety of techniques.
For example, if the access control system is a set-top box that only provides broadcast content material to a compliant recorder or display device, the revocation list can be transmitted to the set-top box from the provider of the broadcast services. If the access control system is a consumer digital versatile disk (DVD) player that only plays back a DVD to a compliant display device, the latest revocation list can be embedded within commercial DVD recordings. When the user of the DVD player plays a recently purchased or rented DVD recording, the DVD player reads the embedded list. When the access control system receives a new revocation list, it updates a locally stored list of revocations accordingly. Because the local revocation list at the access control system is of finite size, each access control system is typically configured to delete the oldest revocations when space is required for newer revocations.
A significant drawback of conventional techniques for managing the above-described revocation lists is the amount of computation time and other access control system resources required to determine if a given entity has been revoked. For example, it is generally necessary when using the conventional list management techniques to implement a complete search of a revocation list in order to determine if a given entity initiating communication is authorized to do so. In addition, each time a local revocation list in an access control system is modified, separate determinations generally must be made for a number of other devices, even though the system may be regularly in contact with these devices.
A need therefore exists for improved techniques for managing revocations lists, such that the amount of system resources consumed in the list management process is reduced.

Method and apparatus for revocation list management


A home network system with a standby power saving function and a method for saving standby power thereof, wherein various home appliances exchange information with a home server from time to time. At least one home appliance for a home network is provided in the home network system to exchange information with the home server over a network line. The home appliance includes a controller for analyzing data received over the network line and generating and outputting a home appliance control signal in accordance with the analyzed result, a load for operating/stopping the home appliance in response to the home appliance control signal from the controller, a low voltage transformer (LVT) for receiving an external voltage and supplying a drive voltage to the controller to operate the load and controller, and an LVT relay and a power supply unit for cooperating to selectively supply the drive voltage and a standby voltage to the controller according to whether the home appliance is in operation. When the home appliance is in a standby mode, the supply of external power is interrupted and only the minimum power necessary for the controller is supplied, thereby making it possible to save the same amount of standby power as that of LVT leakage power.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a conventional home network system, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the construction of each home appliance provided in the conventional home network system.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional home network system comprises a plurality of home appliances 2 and 3 connected to a power line 1, which supplies operating power, and a home server 5 for exchanging information with the home appliances 2 and 3 over a network line 4 connected therewith and controlling each of the home appliances 2 and 3 in response to an associated external home appliance control signal.
Each of the home appliances 2 and 3, which are connected to a home network via the power line 1 and network line 4, includes a load 6 for operating the corresponding home appliance, such as a motor, a controller 7 for analyzing data inputted from the network line 4 and outputting a signal for control of the operation of the load 6 in accordance with the analyzed result a low voltage transformer (referred to hereinafter as "LVT") 8 for supplying a drive voltage to the controller 7, and a relay 9 for turning on/off the load 6 in response to the control signal from the controller 7.
A description will hereinafter be given of the operation of the conventional home network system with the above-mentioned construction.
The home server 5 is connected with an external communication network to control various home appliances in a home and exchange information therewith from time to time. The plurality of home appliances 2 and 3 are connected with the home server 5 via the network line 4 to exchange information therewith, and also to the power line 1 to receive the operating power therefrom.
In the case where a power plug (not shown) of each of the home appliances 2 and 3 is inserted into a receptacle (not shown), an alternating current (AC) voltage from the power plug is applied to the LVT 8 over the power line 1.
Upon receiving information or a control signal from the home server 5 over the network line 4, the controller 7 analyzes the received information or control signal and outputs a control signal in accordance with the analyzed result to control the load 6, such as the motor.
In response to the control signal from the controller 7, the relay 9 is turned on/off to turn on/off the load 6 so as to operate/stop the corresponding home appliance connected to the home network.
At this time, if the home appliance 2 or 3 is in operation, a considerable amount of power is continuously consumed therein. However, even when the home appliance 2 or 3 is in a standby mode where it is not in operation, the information exchange and monitoring must be performed between the home server 5 and the home appliance from time to time due to characteristics of the home network, thereby making it impossible to completely power off the home appliance.
In other words, the conventional home network system has a disadvantage in that a large amount of standby power, most of which is occupied by leakage current of the LVT 8, is consumed in the home appliance because the controller in the home appliance must always remain connected to the power line 1.
This problem has recently become a big issue in that many home appliances for the home network have been introduced to the market and the unplug campaign has become widespread due to a growing interest in power consumption reduction across all of society.

Home network power saving device and method for the same


A control architecture for a power controller has a power line input, a plurality of power channels that are operable to control power flow from the power line input to one or more loads, an isolated power supply, and a microcontroller module that controls each of the multiple power channels.

The present disclosure relates generally to power switching controllers and, more specifically, to a control architecture for a power switching controller.
In power distribution systems there are multiple power outputs that are powered from a single power source and protected from short circuit fault propagation using power controller circuits, such as solid-state power controllers (SSPC's). In such an arrangement, each of the multiple power outputs are individually switched, and the power switching controller circuit for a given power output is referred to as a power channel.
In conventional power distribution systems, each power channel includes a dedicated isolated power supply, microcontroller, and isolated data bus. When multiphase AC switching is implemented in conventional control architectures, a semiconductor output switch for each channel is referenced to the switched voltage of the channel. Consequently, each power control channel is referenced to the switched voltage of the power control channel. As each individual channel of a multiphase switch is referenced to different input phases, at any given point in time the power channels do not have the same ground potential. Due to the varying reference voltages, cross-communicating between the channels requires isolation of the channels. Inter channel cross-communication is required to synchronize tripping in the case that one channel detects a short circuit fault, and can be used to implement additional synchronization features.

Control architecture for power switching controller


A generally diverse set of audiovisual clips is sourced from one or more repositories for use in preparing a coordinated audiovisual work. In some cases, audiovisual clips are retrieved using tags such as user-assigned hashtags or metadata. Pre-existing associations of such tags can be used as hints that certain audiovisual clips are likely to share correspondence with an audio signal encoding of a particular song or other audio baseline. Clips are evaluated for computationally determined correspondence with an audio baseline track. In general, comparisons of audio power spectra, of rhythmic features, tempo, pitch sequences and other extracted audio features may be used to establish correspondence. For clips exhibiting a desired level of correspondence, computationally determined temporal alignments of individual clips with the baseline audio track are used to prepare a coordinated audiovisual work that mixes the selected audiovisual clips with the audio track.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computational techniques including digital signal processing for audiovisual content and, in particular, to techniques whereby a system or device may be programmed to produce a coordinated audiovisual work from individual clips.
2. Description of the Related Art
Social media has, over the past decade, become an animating force for internet users and businesses alike. During that time, advanced mobile devices and applications have placed audiovisual capture in the hands of literally billions of users worldwide. At least in part as a result, the volume of audiovisual content amassed by users and, in some cases, posted to social networking sites and video sharing platforms has exploded. Audiovisual content repositories associated with video sharing services such as YouTube, Instagram, Vine, Flickr, Pinterest, etc. now contain huge collections of audiovisual content.

Coordinated audiovisual montage from selected crowd-sourced content with alignment to audio baseline


A cooling device for cooling an LED of vehicle headlight without restricting a design of a housing is provided. The cooling device is comprised of an LED held in a housing sealed with a lens, a reflector that reflects a light emitted from the light source, a heat collector on which the LED is mounted, a heat sink disposed behind the reflector, and a pair of heat pipes thermally connecting the heat collector and the heat sink. The heat sink is arranged inside of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an art of a cooling device for vehicle headlights having a Light Emitting Diode (i.e., an LED).
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A cooling device for vehicle headlights having an LED illuminant is widely used in the conventional art. An electric consumption of the LED is advantageously low, but a calorific value of the LED is rather high and the LED is therefore easily to be heated. That is, since the LED is a semiconductor light source, an operating temperature limit of the LED is not sufficiently high and a usable temperature range thereof has to be limited. If the temperature of the LED exceeds the usable temperature range, durability and brightness thereof will be degraded. Therefore, in order to prevent an excessive temperature rise in the LED, a cooling device for the LED is used in the conventional vehicle headlights.
JP-A-2009-087620 describes a headlight for vehicle in which an exothermic LED is thermally connected to a heat sink as a heat dissipation member through a flexible heat-conductive member. In turn, JP-A-2006-164967 describes a vehicular lighting in which an LED is thermally connected to a heat sink through a loop heat pipe. According to the teachings of both JP-A-2009-087620 and JP-A-2006-164967, fins of the heat sink are exposed on the outside of a housing holding the LED.
Further, JP-A-2010-129543 describes a headlight for vehicle in which an LED is placed on an upper face of the heat sink fitted into a center hole formed in a housing. In addition, a cooling fan is disposed outside of the housing underneath the heat sink so that the heat sink can be cooled by the cooling fan through the center hole.
However, the fins of the heat sink thus exposed on the outside of the housing of the LED may enlarge the vehicle headlights taught by JP-A-2009-087620 and JP-A-2006-164967. In turn, the cooling fan thus integrated with the heat sink may also enlarge the vehicle headlights taught by JP-A-2010-129543.
In addition, according to any of the teachings of the foregoing prior art documents, the external shape of the housing may be restricted by the heat sink arranged on a part of a housing wall in the housing. Therefore, it is difficult to arrange an additional element in the housing of the headlight. That is, even if the headlight is required to be integrated with an additional cooling device, an external shape and a flexibility of arrangement of the additional cooling device may be restricted.
The present invention has been conceived nothing the foregoing technical problems, and it is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device for vehicle headlights that effectively cools an LED as a light source while ensuring a flexibility of shape of a housing holding the LED.


The present invention relates to nucleotide sequences of vertebrate Delta genes, and amino acid sequences of their encoded proteins, as well as derivatives (e.g., fragments) and analogs thereof. In a specific embodiment, the vertebrate Delta protein is a human protein. The invention further relates to fragments (and derivatives and analogs thereof) of Delta which comprise one or more domains of the Delta protein, including but not limited to the intracellular domain, extracellular domain, DSL domain, domain amino-terminal to the DSL domain, transmembrane region, or one or more EGF-like repeats of a Delta protein, or any combination of the foregoing. Antibodies to Delta, its derivatives and analogs, are additionally provided. Methods of production of the Delta proteins, derivatives and analogs, e.g., by recombinant means, are also provided. Therapeutic and diagnostic methods and pharmaceutical compositions are provided. In specific examples, isolated Delta genes, from Xenopus, chick, mouse, and human, are provided.

Genetic analyses in Drosophila have been extremely useful in dissecting the complexity of developmental pathways and identifying interacting loci. However, understanding the precise nature of the processes that underlie genetic interactions requires a knowledge of the protein products of the genes in question.
The vertebrate central nervous system is an intimate mixture of different cell types, almost all generated from the same source—the neurogenic epithelium that forms the neural plate and subsequently the neural tube. What are the mechanisms that control neurogenesis in this sheet of cells, directing some to become neurons while others remain non-neuronal? The answer is virtually unknown for vertebrates, but many of the cellular interactions and genes controlling cell fate decisions during neurogenesis have been well characterized in Drosophila (Campos-Ortega, 1993, J. Neurobiol. 24:1305–1327). Although the gross anatomical context of neurogenesis appears very different in insects and vertebrates, the possibility remains that, at a cellular level, similar events are occurring via conserved molecular mechanisms. Embryological, genetic and molecular evidence indicates that the early steps of ectodermal differentiation in Drosophila depend on cell interactions (Doe and Goodman, 1985, Dev. Biol. 111:206–219; Technau and Campos-Ortega, 1986, Dev. Biol. 195:445–454; Vässin et al., 1985, J. Neurogenet. 2:291–308; de la Concha et al., 1988, Genetics 118:499–508; Xu et al., 1990, Genes Dev. 4:464–475; Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1988, Trends Genet. 4:95–100). Mutational analyses reveal a small group of zygotically-acting genes, the so called neurogenic loci, which affect the choice of ectodermal cells between epidermal and neural pathways (Poulson, 1937, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 23:133–137; Lehmann et al., 1983, Wilhelm Roux's Arch. Dev. Biol. 192:62–74; Jürgens et al., 1984, Wilhelm Roux's Arch. Dev. Biol. 193:283–295; Wieschaus et al., 1984, Wilhelm Roux's Arch. Dev. Biol. 193:296–307; Nüsslein-Volhard et al., 1984, Wilhelm Roux's Arch. Dev. Biol. 193:267–282). Null mutations in any one of the zygotic neurogenic loci—Notch (N), Delta (Dl), mastermind (mam), Enhancer of Split (E(spl), neuralized (neu), and big brain (bib)—result in hypertrophy of the nervous system at the expense of ventral and lateral epidermal structures. This effect is due to the misrouting of epidermal precursor cells into a neuronal pathway, and implies that neurogenic gene function is necessary to divert cells within the neurogenic region from a neuronal fate to an epithelial fate.
Neural precursors arise in the Drosophila embryo from a neurogenic epithelium during successive waves of neurogenesis (Campos-Ortega & Hartenstein, 1985, The embryonic development of Drosophila melanogaster (Springer-Verlag, Berlin; N.Y.); Doe, 1992, Development 116:855–863). The pattern of production of these cells is largely determined by the activity of the proneural and eurogenic genes. Proneural genes predispose clusters of cells to a neural fate (reviewed in Skeath & Carroll, 1994, Faseb J. 8:714–21), but only a subset of cells in a cluster ecome neural precursors. This restriction is due to the action of the neurogenic genes, which mediate lateral inhibition—a type of inhibitory cell signaling by which a cell committed to a neural fate forces its neighbors either to remain uncommitted or to enter a non-neural pathway (Artavanis-Tsakonas & Simpson, 1991, Trends Genet. 7:403–408; Doe & Goodman, 1985, Dev. Biol. 111:206–219). Mutations leading to a failure of lateral inhibition cause an overproduction of neurons—the "neurogenic" phenotype (Lehmann et al., 1981, Roux's Arch. Dev. Biol. 190:226–229; Lehmann et al., Roux's Arch. Dev. Biol. 192:62–74). In Drosophila, the inhibitory signal is delivered by a transmembrane protein encoded by the Delta neurogenic gene, which is displayed by the nascent neural cells (Heitzler & Simpson, 1991, Cell 64:1083–1092). Neighboring cells express a transmembrane receptor protein, encoded by the neurogenic gene Notch (Fortini & Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1993, Cell 75:1245–1247). Delta has been identified as a genetic unit capable of interacting with the Notch locus (Xu et al., 1990, Genes Dev. 4:464–475).
Mutational analyses also reveal that the action of the neurogenic genes is pleiotropic and is not limited solely to embryogenesis. For example, ommatidial, bristle and wing formation, which are known also to depend upon cell interactions, are affected by neurogenic mutations (Morgan et al., 1925, Bibliogr. Genet. 2:1–226; Welshons, 1956, Dros. Inf. Serv. 30:157–158; Preiss et al., 1988, EMBO J. 7:3917–3927; Shellenbarger and Mohler, 1978, Dev. Biol. 62:432–446; Technau and Campos-Ortega, 1986, Wilhelm Roux's Dev. Biol. 195:445–454; Tomlison and Ready, 1987, Dev. Biol. 120:366–376; Cagan and Ready, 1989, Genes Dev. 3:1099–1112). Neurogenic genes are also required for normal development of the muscles, gut, excretory and reproductive systems of the fly (Muskavitch, 1994, Dev. Biol. 166:415–430).
Both Notch and Delta are transmembrane proteins that span the membrane a single time (Wharton et al., 1985, Cell 43:567–581; Kidd and Young, 1986, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:3094–3108; Vässin, et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6:3431–3440; Kopczynski, et al., 1988, Genes Dev. 2:1723–1735) and include multiple tandem EGF-like repeats in their extracellular domains (Muskavitch, 1994, Dev. Biol. 166:415–430). The Notch gene encodes a ˜300 kd protein (we use "Notch" to denote this protein) with a large N-terminal extracellular domain that includes 36 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like tandem repeats followed by three other cysteine-rich repeats, designated Notch/lin-12 repeats (Wharton, et al., 1985, Cell 43:567–581; Kidd and Young, 1986, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:3094–3108; Yochem, et al., 1988, Nature 335:547–550). Molecular studies have lead to the suggestion that Notch and Delta constitute biochemically interacting elements of a cell communication mechanism involved in early developmental decisions (Fehon et al., 1990, Cell 61:523–534). Homologs are found in Caenorhabditis elegans, where the Notch-related gene lin-12 and the Delta-related gene lag-2 are also responsible for lateral inhibition (Sternberg, 1993, Current Biol. 3:763–765; Henderson et al., 1994, Development 120:2913–2924; Greenwald, 1994, Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 4:556–562). In vertebrates, several Notch homologs have also been identified (Kopan & Weintraub, 1993, J. Cell Biol. 121:631–641; Lardelli et al., 1994, Mech. Dev. 46:123–136; Lardelli & Lendahl, 1993, Exp. Cell Res. 204:364–372; Weinmaster et al., 1991, Development 113:199–205; Weinmaster et al., 1992, Development 116:931–941; Coffman et al., 1990, Science 249:1438–1441; Bierkamp & Campos-Ortega, 1993, Mech. Dev. 43:87–100), and they are expressed in many tissues and at many stages of development. Loss of Notch-1 leads to somite defects and embryonic death in mice (Swiatek et al., 1994, Genes Dev. 8:707–719; Conlon et al., Rossant, J. Development (J. Dev. 121:1533–1545), while constitutively active mutant forms of Notch-1 appear to inhibit cell differentiation in Xenopus and in cultured mammalian cells (Coffman et al., 1993, Cell 73:659–671; Kopan et al., 1994, Development 120:2385–2396; Nye et al., 1994, Development 120:2421–2430).
The EGF-like motif has been found in a variety of proteins, including those involved in the blood clotting cascade (Furie and Furie, 1988, Cell 53: 505–518). In particular, this motif has been found in extracellular proteins such as the blood clotting factors IX and X (Rees et al., 1988, EMBO J. 7:2053–2061; Furie and Furie, 1988, Cell 53: 505–518), in other Drosophila genes (Knust et al., 1987 EMBO J. 761–766; Rothberg et al., 1988, Cell 55:1047–1059), and in some cell-surface receptor proteins, such as thrombomodulin (Suzuki et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6:1891–1897) and LDL receptor (Sudhof et al., 1985, Science 228:815–822). A protein binding site has been mapped to the EGF repeat domain in thrombomodulin and urokinase (Kurosawa et al., 1988, J. Biol. Chem 263:5993–5996; Appella et al., 1987, J. Biol. Chem. 262:4437–4440).
Citation of references hereinabove shall not be construed as an admission that such references are prior art to the present invention.

Antibodies to vertebrate delta proteins and fragments

Imperial Cancer Research Technology, Ltd.


A metal powder is produced by atomizing molten metal in an electric arc spray gun and rapidly quenching the resulting droplets in a liquid cryogen to form fine, highly spherical, oxide-free particles. The rapid quenching yields particles with a very fine, uniform microstructure which melt rapidly and uniformly when later heated. The powder is especially well-suited for making solder paste for device fabrication in the electronics industry.

Metal powders having fine, spherical particles are utilized in the metallurgical, chemical, and electronics industries in the manufacture of a wide variety of products. For applications of metal powders in the electronics industry, it is desirable to produce such powders at high yield and reasonable cost for the preparation of solder pastes for use in the fabrication of high-density electronic circuit boards. In addition, it is desirable that the powders be uniform and free-flowing. An extensive review of methods for making free-flowing metal powders is given by S. J. Savage and F. H. Froes in an article entitled "Production of Rapidly Solidified Metals and Alloys" in Journal of Metals, April 1984, pp. 20-32. One category of processes involves the mechanical dispersion of a stream of molten metal into fine droplets followed by quenching and cooling to form solidified particles. Dispersion of the molten metal into droplets is accomplished by (1) impinging one or more high-pressure gas or liquid streams onto the stream of molten metal, (2) dispersing the molten metal stream by various centrifugal means such as rotating discs, cups, or drums, or (3) forming droplets by passing the stream of molten metal between two counter-rotating rollers. Cooling of the molten droplets formed by these methods is accomplished by contact with cool gas, often by the droplets freely falling through a gas-filled cooling tower, or by contacting the droplets with a cooling liquid such as water, oil, or a cryogenic liquid. In two related methods, molten droplets are formed by a rotating consumable arc electrode which emits the droplets tangentially into a cooling gas for solidification, or by directing molten metal from a consumable electrode by electric arc or electron beam. Droplets are cooled by contacting with a high-velocity cooling gas such as helium. All of the methods reviewed in this article are characterized by (1) utilization of mechanical means to form molten metal droplets from previously melted metal and/or (2) the disintegration of a stream of previously melted metal using compressed fluids to form the droplets.
In a method related to those discussed above, a stream of molten metal is dispersed by the impingement of high-velocity streams of a cryogenic liquid followed by further cooling in a bath of the same liquid. Powder product is then recovered from the cryogenic liquid in one or more fractions. Such methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,646,177 and 4,897,111, and in an article by H. W. Bergmann et al entitled "Production of Metallic Powders by Atomization of Metallic Melts With Liquid Gases" in Fertigungs-Technologie, Volume 65, No. 6, 1988, pp. 513-531. The use of powders made by this method in solder pastes for the fabrication of electronic devices is discussed in a paper entitled "Solder Paste Requirements for Fine-Pitch Technology" by J. P. Langan in Circuits Assembly, October 1990, pp. 51-54. The importance of low oxide content and spherical particles in these powders is pointed out in this paper. An analysis of the gas atomization method discussed above is given by R. A. Ricks and T. W. Clyne in an article entitled "Bulk Production of Ultrafine Metallic Powder by High Pressure Gas Atomization" published in J. Mat. Sci. Letters 4, (1985), pp. 814-817. The authors studied the effects of nozzle design on particle size distribution in tin and tin-lead powders.
M. G. Chu et al describe an alternate method of making small, highly-undercooled lead-tin alloy particles in an article entitled "Solidification of Highly Undercooled Sn-Pb Alloy Droplets" in Metallurgical Transactions A, Vol. 15A, July 1984, pp. 1303-1310. The method is useful for studying the formation and morphology of such droplets and comprises making an emulsion of molten alloy droplets in a high-boiling organic liquid and injecting the emulsion into cold carbon tetrachloride to solidify the droplets. This method is not appropriate for use in commercial production.
An alternate approach to droplet and particle formation differing from the methods described above involves the use of plasma arc systems to form molten droplets which are directly quenched and solidified by various methods. U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,672 discloses a method of feeding a consumable rod or wire into the discharge of a plasma arc wherein the rod is melted and dispersed into fine droplets by the discharged plasma arc gas. The droplets and plasma gas are passed into a collector which cools the particles to form a powder product; the collector contains a cooling liquid such as water. Steel, tungsten, and sapphire particles can be made with average particle diameters between about 150 and 300 microns.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,592,781, 4,613,371, and 4,687,501, and European Patent Application EP 0 134 808 B1 disclose a method for making ultrafine metal powders which comprises feeding a powder through an arc or induction plasma torch to generate a stream of molten metal droplets, directing the droplets onto a repellent surface, and solidifying the particles rebounding from the surface. Powders can be made in which at least about 80% of the particles have diameters less than 10 microns; however, the repellant surface quenching mode results in predominantly non-spherical particle shapes.
A process for producing fine particles of metal or alloy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,740 wherein a molten metal or alloy is atomized by a stream of argon and/or helium heated in a high-temperature plasma, and the molten particles are cooled and recovered as a powder in a cold trap. Particles having diameters less than 5 microns can be made by this process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,369 describes an apparatus which operates in a similar manner using a plasma arc to atomize a molten metal or ceramic material, wherein the atomized material is removed by vacuum or suction into a cold trap for solidification and collection as a powder product. Solidification can be promoted by blowing a jet of cold gas on the stream of atomized material as it enters the cold trap.
An article by K. Ishizaki et al entitled "Direct Production of Ultrafine Nitrides and Carbides Powders by the Plasma Arc Method" in the Journal of Materials Science 24 (1989), pp. 3553-3559 discusses a method for producing ultrafine powders using an argon-nitrogen plasma gas in conjunction with ammonia-methane mixtures injected into a plasma reaction chamber. Tungsten and titanium carbide powders can be produced with particle diameters in the 5-10 nanometer range; aluminum powders can be made in the 20-50 nanometer range. Low powder yields and explosive/corrosive plasma gases make this method unsuitable for commercial powder production.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,754 discloses a method for making fine alloy powders by introducing the alloy as particles into a plasma torch and directing the torch discharge onto an inner surface of a rotating thermally conductive quench cylinder whereby the molten alloy particles are rapidly solidified to yield a powder product. The inner surface of the quench cylinder is typically cooled by applying a liquefied gas such as argon as the cylinder rotates. This method does not produce highly spherical powders. U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,144 describes an apparatus in which molten particles from a plasma torch are quenched, cooled, and solidified by passing the plasma torch discharge through a spray of cryogenic liquid to form a powder product which is captured in a cyclone collector.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2-290245 discloses a method for making uniform ceramic or metal powders of high fluidity by feeding a powder through a plasma torch to form molten droplets which are quenched and solidified in a water bath.
The plasma-based methods described above have certain drawbacks for the large-scale production of metal powders, especially when the droplets must be rapidly quenched. Because the plasma flame is at a very high temperature (typically above 3000.degree. C.), the quench rate of the droplets will necessarily be lower than for alternate methods discussed above due to the large volume of hot plasma gas which must be cooled along with the droplets. Because of a short residence time in the plasma flame, injected powders are frequently overheated at the surface and cooler in the core which can lead to metal evaporation and/or nonuniform particles. Further, when a cryogenic liquid is used for quenching, the consumption of the liquid will be high due to the large volume of hot plasma gas. In addition, most plasma methods require a powder feed which is easily contaminated and have generally low throughputs. The methods described above involving solidification of previously molten metal by mechanical or compressed fluid dispersion do not suffer from the drawbacks of plasma-based methods. However, the methods generally have other drawbacks for producing uniform, fine, oxide-free powders such as lack of flexibility for producing small batches of specialized powders, the presence of contaminants in the powder product, the need for complex and expensive equipment, the need to keep the metal in the molten state during dispersion of a stream thereof, and the handling of cryogenic liquids at extremely high pressures.
Given the present state of the art as reviewed above, there is no optimum method for making fine, spherical, free-flowing, oxide-free metal powders utilizing simple, flexible, and economical equipment. There is a need for an improved method to make such powders for use in a broad range of industries. In particular, there is a need in the electronics industry for improved solder pastes which will require powders containing smaller metal particles with higher sphericity and lower oxide content than are currently available. In addition, improved melting properties of the particles in these solder pastes are needed, and such properties can be obtained if higher quench rates can be achieved in the powder production step. The invention described in the disclosure and claims which follow provides a new and improved method for making metal powders having such properties.


An apparatus controlled by one touch operation for releasing and propping components is disclosed. The apparatus includes a base, a prop device with a resilient piece and an ejecting pin, a reciprocating device located between the base and the prop device, and a stabilizing device fixed on the base. The reciprocating device includes a reciprocating piece and a reciprocating base fixed on the reciprocating piece. The stabilizing device includes a stabilizing base and a movable latch connected to the prop device for limiting the ejecting pin of the prop device.

A design for optionally changing the components of an apparatus by the user's individual opinion can increase the use scopes and the varieties of the functions of the apparatus effectively. They are popular designs such as changing the geometrical structures of a mobile latch and achieving the effects of releasing and ejecting by a spring. The designs had been applied in different fields, such as the fabricated toys, fabricated models, and the peripherals of computers. Because some components of the apparatus may be heavy, it's a focal point to provide a design with enough support abilities and easy-separated structures.
Nowadays, in the design field about a notebook PC, for improving the portability ability and simplifying the structure of the notebook PC, the varieties and numbers of the connecting ports are not as great as a traditional desktop computer. Besides, the universal serial bus had gradually displaced the traditional parallel ports and serial ports in the connecting ports of a notebook PC. However, the connecting ports of the traditional peripherals of computers such as the monitors, printers, modems, scanners, and joysticks may be still parallel ports or serial ports. Therefore, a port replicator is used for connecting a notebook PC to the traditional peripherals. An ideal port replicator not only provides greater expanded abilities and expanded selectiveness for a notebook PC but also simplifies the procedures of rearrangements of the peripherals.
In general, a notebook PC usually possesses a "docking" for connecting to an external port replicator. The capabilities of a notebook PC will be as great as a desktop computer while connecting to a port replicator. A number of strength appears in the connection between the docking and the port replicator. Because of the self-weight of a notebook PC and the strength of the connection, a port replicator usually has particular designs for supporting and stabilizing while disassembling. However, designs simultaneously own the abilities of supporting, stabilizing, releasing, and ejecting are still deficient. In general, the mechanisms for releasing and ejecting are controlled by different operative devices, such as keys. Once the operative devices can't be worked simultaneously or are operated imbalanced, it would be difficult to disassemble the notebook PC from the port replicator even cannot be disassembled. In addition, the mechanisms for releasing and ejecting are always achieved by springs. The elasticity of a spring decays as time goes, so that it is possible that the notebook PC will not be released and rejected from the port replicator.
Because of the technical defects described above, the applicant keeps on carving unflaggingly to develop "ONE-TOUCH RELEASE APPARATUS" through wholehearted experience and research.


A transmitting apparatus generates moving image data including first image data and second image data, and generates first time code information corresponding to the first image data and second time code information corresponding to the second image data. The transmitting apparatus transmits, to an external apparatus, the first image data included in the moving image data and the first time code information corresponding to the first image data, and transmits, to the external apparatus, the second image data included in the moving image data and the second time code information corresponding to the second image data. The transmitting apparatus generates recording designation information to be added to one of the first image data and the second image data if the first image data and the second image data are the same.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image data transmitting apparatus (e.g., an image capture apparatus) that can transmit moving image data which includes image data corresponding to a plurality of frames via a plurality of transmission paths to an external apparatus (e.g., an external recording apparatus or an external display apparatus), and an image data receiving apparatus that can receive moving image data which includes image data corresponding to a plurality of frames.
Description of the Related Art
According to a conventional system discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-186959, an image capture apparatus is connected to a camera control unit via a single cable, and the image capture apparatus can transmit a video signal to an external apparatus.
According to a conventional system discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-244294, an image capture apparatus is connected to an external recording apparatus via a single cable, and the image capture apparatus can transmit moving image data to the external recording apparatus.
However, the following problem occurs in a system including an image data transmitting apparatus (e.g., an image capture apparatus) and an external apparatus (e.g., an external recording apparatus or an external display apparatus) that are connected via a single transmission path. For example, due to transmission path limitations, moving image data having an image size (e.g., the number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions) larger than 1920×1080 cannot be transmitted. Such a system cannot transmit 4096×2160, 4096×1080, or 2048×1080 moving image data too.
The above-mentioned problem may be solved if the system includes two or more transmission paths that connect the image data transmitting apparatus and the external apparatus. However, when two or more transmission paths are provided in the system, it is necessary to determine a method for transmitting moving image data which includes image data corresponding to a plurality of frames via respective transmission paths.
Further, when two or more transmission paths are provided in the system, it is necessary to determine a configuration and a method for correctly rearranging image data corresponding to a plurality of frames received via respective transmission paths.
Further, in a system that uses two or more transmission paths, image data transmitted via one transmission path may be identical to image data transmitted via another transmission path. In such a case, recording or display of the same image data may be repetitively performed by an external apparatus.

Image data transmitting apparatus and image data receiving apparatus


The invention relates to a process for the production of modified SiO.sub.2 aerogels in which. a) a silicatic lyogel is prepared, PA1 b) if desired, the lyogel prepared in step a) is subjected to a solvent exchange with another organic solvent, PA1 c) the gel obtained in step a) or b) is reacted with at least one chlorine-free silylating agent, and PA1 d) the gel obtained in step c) is dried subcritically,. wherein the chlorine-free silylating agent is a compound of the formula I ##STR1## wherein each R.sup.1 is identical or different and is selected from a group consisting of linear C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 -alkyl radicals, branched C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 -alkyl radicals, cyclohexyl radicals and phenyl radicals,. R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are identical or different and are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atoms, linear C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 -alkyl radicals, branched C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 -alkyl radicals, cyclohexyl radicals and phenyl radicals; PA3 and n=1, 2 or 3.

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of modified aerogels and to their use.
Aerogels, especially those with porosities above 60% and densities below 0.6 g/cm.sup.3, have an extremely low thermal conductivity and are therefore used as thermal insulation material, as described, for example, in EP-A-0 171 722.
Aerogels in the wider sense, i.e. in the sense of "gel with air as dispersion medium", are prepared by drying a suitable gel. The term "aerogel" in this sense includes aerogels in the narrower sense, xerogels and cryogels. A dried gel is described as an aerogel in the narrower sense if the gel liquid is removed at temperatures above the critical temperature and starting from pressures above the critical pressure. If, in contrast, the gel liquid is removed subcritically, for example with formation of a liquid-vapor boundary phase, then the resultant gel is described as a xerogel. It should be pointed out that the novel gels are aerogels in the sense of gels with air as dispersion medium. However, since these gels are prepared by subcritical drying, they could also be described as xerogels.
SiO.sub.2 aerogels may be prepared, for example, by acid hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate in ethanol. The hydrolysis gives a gel whose structure is determined, inter alia, by the temperature, the pH and the duration of the gelling process. However, the gel structure generally collapses when the wet gels are dried, since the capillary forces which arise during the drying are extremely large. The collapse of the gel can be inhibited by carrying out the drying above the critical temperature and the critical pressure of the solvent. Since the liquid/gaseous phase boundary disappears in this region, the capillary forces no longer apply and the gel does not undergo any change during the drying, i.e. there is also no shrinkage of the gel during the drying. Preparation processes based on this drying technique are known, for example, from EP-A-0 396 076 and WO 92/03378. However, this technique requires, for example if ethanol is used, a temperature of about 240.degree. C. and pressures of above 60 bar. If ethanol is exchanged for CO.sub.2 before the drying, the drying temperature is lowered to about 30.degree. C., but the required pressure is then above 70 bar.
An alternative to the abovementioned drying is given by a process for subcritical drying of SiO.sub.2 gels, if these are reacted with a chlorine-containing silylating agent before drying. The SiO.sub.2 gel here can be obtained, for example, by acid hydrolysis of tetraalkoxysilanes, preferably tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), using water in a suitable organic solvent, preferably ethanol. After exchanging the solvent for a suitable organic solvent, the gel obtained is reacted, in a further step, with a chlorine-containing silylating agent. Methylchlorosilanes (Me.sub.4-n SiCl.sub.n with n=from 1 to 3) are preferably used as silylating agent, because of their reactivity. The resultant SiO.sub.2 gel, which is modified on the surface with methylsilyl groups, can then be dried from an organic solvent in air. In this way, aerogels with densities below 0.4 g/cm.sup.3 and porosities above 60% can be attained. The preparation process based on this drying technique is described in detail in WO 94/25149.
To increase the strength of the gel structure, the above-described gels can also be mixed and aged with tetraalkoxysilanes in the alcoholic aqueous solution, before drying, as disclosed in WO 92/20623.
However, the tetraalkoxysilanes used as starting materials in the above-described processes are exceptionally costly. In addition, during the silylation with chlorine-containing silylating agents, large amounts of hydrogen chloride (HCl) and a wide variety of by-products associated with it are inevitably produced and these by-products may require a very complicated and costly purification of the silylated SiO.sub.2 gels by repeated washing with a suitable organic solvent. The especially corrosion-resistant production plants associated with this are likewise very expensive. The safety risk associated with the production of very large quantities of HCl gas, in addition, requires very complicated engineering and is therefore likewise very costly.
A first and not insignificant cost reduction can be achieved by using waterglass as starting material for the preparation of the SiO.sub.2 gels. For example, using an ion-exchange resin and starting with an aqueous waterglass solution, a silica can be prepared which polycondenses on addition of a base to give an SiO.sub.2 gel. After exchanging the aqueous medium for a suitable organic solvent, the gel obtained is then reacted, in a further step, with a chlorine-containing silylating agent. Methylchlorosilanes (Me.sub.4-n SiCl.sub.n with n=from 1 to 3) are likewise preferably used as silylating agent, because of their reactivity. The resultant SiO.sub.2 gel, which is modified on the surface with methylsilyl groups, can likewise then be dried from an organic solvent in air. The preparation process based on this technique is known from DE-A-43 42 548.
The problems, described earlier, of the exceptionally high process costs associated with the use of chlorine-containing silylating agents are, however, not solved by using waterglass as starting material.

Process for the preparation of modified aerogels, and their use


The invention relates to an accelerator agent of a novel blend of aldehyde-amine condensation product and aliphatic amines for diaminic, metal oxide, sulfur, and triazine crosslinkable elastomers.

The invention relates to an accelerator agent comprising a novel blend of aldehyde-amine condensation product and aliphatic amines, for use with diaminic, metal oxide, sulfur, and triazine crosslinkable elastomers, in particular, ethylene acrylate elastomers (AEM) and polyacrylate elastomers (ACM), polyisoprene (IR), styrene butadiene (SBR), acrylonitrile butadiene (NBR), ethylene-propylene diene terpolymers (EPDM), isobutylene-co-isoprene (IIR), chlorinated isobutylene-co-isoprene (CIIR), and brominated isobutylene-co-isoprene (BIIR).
Diaminically crosslinkable ethylene acrylate elastomers (AEM) and polyacrylate elastomers (ACM) are relatively inexpensive elastomeric materials which are of interest in the area of seals, particularly those used in various elements of vehicle engines. AEM elastomers are available, for example, from DuPont under the trade name Vamac®, while ACM elastomers are available from Zeon Chemicals, for example, under the trade names Nipol® and HyTemp®.
Those AEM and ACM elastomers which are accessible to diaminic crosslinking comprise so-called cure site monomer units whose content in the elastomer is normally approximately 1 to approximately 5 phr. Conventionally, diaminically crosslinkable AEM and ACM elastomers are crosslinked with crosslinking agents such as, for example, hexamethylene diamine carbamate, N,N-dicinnamylide diamine carbamate, 4,4-diaminodicyclohexylmethane, m-xylene diamine, 4,4-diaminodiphenylmethane, 4,4-diaminodiphenyl ether and 2,2-bis[4-(4-amino-phenoxy)phenyl]propane, which can be used individually or in mixtures. Other suitable diamine crosslinking agents belong to the group of hexamethylene diamines.
US 2009/0270549 teaches a crosslinking agent for diaminically crosslinkable ethylene acrylate (AEM) and polyacrylate (ACM) elastomers, comprising a diamine crosslinker, an accelerator selected from 1,8-diazabicyclo-5,4,0-undec-7-ene (DBU), derivatives and salts thereof, and a moderator of the pyrrolidone type. The reference notes that while DBU, a tertiary amine, was a known accelerator, it was not possible to use with these AEM and ACM elastomers as it resulted in inferior compression set at elevated temperatures. The reference teaches that the problem is overcome by combining DBU with a moderator.
Polychloroprene (CR) and natural rubber (NR) elastomers are relatively inexpensive elastomeric materials which are used in many broad range rubber applications. CR elastomers are available, for example, from DuPont under the name Neoprene, while NR elastomers are widely available under many technical specified descriptions of natural rubber.
General purpose CR is used in molded and extruded goods, hoses, belts, wire and cables, heels and soles of shoes, coated fabrics, and gaskets. Most natural rubber is used in tires and automotive products. Other major applications of NR are industrial and engineering goods, footwear and adhesives.
CR and NR use differing crosslinking systems for their different polymeric chemical makeup. CR uses metal oxides as a curative while NR uses sulfur as its curative. Both crosslinking systems are used together with an accelerator, of which can be from a wide variety of chemical groups.
Polyepichlorohydrin is a triazine crosslinkable elastomer group, of which epichlorohydrin polymer (CO), copolymer of epichlorohydrin (ECO), and terpolymer of epichlorohydrin (GECO) are examples. Polyepichlorohydrin elastomers have a balance of properties that make it useful in automotive seals and hoses, and are available from Zeon Chemicals, for example, under the trade name Hydrin®.
Triazine crosslinking systems can be used with a variety of accelerators and retarders to make the cure systems widely adjustable.
These crosslinking systems are used together with an accelerator, which is preferably taken from substances of the guanidine group, to which, in particular, the accelerators OTBG, DOTG, DPG and/or biguanidine belong. However, due to possible toxicological problems, it is likely that these systems, particularly DOTG, will be phased out under regulatory requirements.


A method for coupling components of a fluid sensor assembly for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of providing a body portion of a fluid sensor assembly with a joining section that has a mating surface, providing a head portion of a fluid sensor assembly with a joining section that has a mating surface, introducing the mating surface of the body portion joining section to the mating surface of the head portion joining section to define a overlapping configuration, providing a first magnetic field that opposes a second magnetic field to produce a force field, exposing the overlapped configuration to the force field that surpasses both joining sections' material yield strength without causing either joining section's material to flow and coupling together the mating surfaces of both joining sections of the overlapped configuration with the force field to form a fluid sensor assembly.

Joining is a critical step in the fabrication of components in the aerospace industry. There are numerous techniques such as brazing, welding, mechanically forming, swaging and epoxy bonding presently available to join aircraft components together, but each of the available techniques has an attendant disadvantage for use in external aircraft assembly joinery.
For example, furnace brazing and welding techniques create at least three major disadvantages when used in external aircraft assembly joinery. The first disadvantage associated with furnace brazing and welding is that both techniques are labor intensive. The techniques are labor intensive because they both require a high degree of skill to accomplish the joinery without introducing serious defects into the joint.
The second disadvantage associated with furnace brazing and welding is that the techniques cannot satisfactorily join two dissimilar materials because of the risk of corrosion created by the metallic interaction between the two metals being joined. This inability to join dissimilar materials is a major disadvantage because the use of dissimilar materials for an external aircraft assembly can allow an aircraft assembly's design to be maximized. For example, in fluid data instruments it is desirable to construct the internal housing out of aluminum to reduce the overall component assembly weight, and to use stainless steel for the external probe end thereby providing a higher degree of corrosion and erosion resistance than if an aluminum probe end was utilized.
And the third disadvantage associated with furnace brazing and welding is that the techniques do not allow for finished parts to be joined without damage to the finished parts. The reason for the damage is because furnace brazing and welding need to introduce large quantities of heat for the techniques to be successfully employed thus degrading or destroying the finish on the finished parts that are to be joined. A look at the other present aircraft assembly techniques will also reveal the same, as well as other, limitations.
For instance, the technique of dip brazing can reduce the labor-intensive demands of the brazing and welding techniques. However, dip brazing still suffers from the limitations that the joint be made with similar materials and that the joint cannot be made using finished parts due to the amount of heat necessary to employ the technique.
Mechanical forming and swaging are plagued, just as all the aforementioned techniques, by the inability to fruitfully join finished parts. Both mechanical forming and swaging techniques will leave tool marks due to the physical contact between the finished part and the tool thereby requiring added workload to correct the marring effects of the tools. In addition, the mechanical forming technique suffers from an inherent technique limitation called spring-back. Spring-back is a result of the material's structural memory snapping back to shape after the work piece is released from the mechanical form. The consequences of spring-back are that it is difficult to achieve a strong mechanical bond and/or a sealed assembly using the mechanical forming technique.
Like mechanical forming, the technique of epoxy bonding also fails to achieve high strength attachment. Epoxy bonding also possesses other disadvantages that make it an undesirable technique for joining external aircraft components. For example, epoxy bonding does not work well on sensors equipped with heaters due to the degradation of the bonding materials by the heat source. As a result, fabrications using epoxy-bonding techniques will limit the operating temperature of an aircraft assembly. Another major disadvantage of the use of an epoxy bonding technique for external aircraft assemblies is that the epoxy bond can create an electrical discontinuity, which is not allowed due to a regulatory lightning strike requirement for external aircraft parts.
There are also alternatives to joinery such as one-piece investment casting or the use of assemblies using bolted flanges. However, both of these alternatives typically lead to heavier and more costly designs. Accordingly, there is frequently no alternative to using some type of joining process to achieve the desired configuration.
Consequently, what is needed is a method to overcome the present limitations on the manufacturing of aircraft assemblies with external applications that meet all the varying design criteria that are required. Criteria such as increased ease of fabrication, dissimilar material bonding, electrical continuity, higher strength bonding, expanded temperature capabilities, minimized mechanical stresses on parts, extended assembly life cycle, weight reduction, minimized part count and finished parts joining.

System and method for non-contact forming of parts to a fluid sensor assembly


The present invention provides a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFTLCD) including a liquid crystal layer having a first region and a second region therein, a liquid crystal controlling device for controlling an anti-dazzling effect produced by the first region, and a photoelectric converting device having a conductive layout constituted on the second region for converting a portion of light energy passing through the liquid crystal layer into electric power to recycle the electric power.

The present invention relates to a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFTLCD). More specially, the present invention relates to a device for an in-plane switch (IPS) TFTLCD to convert the light energy into an electrical power so as to recycle the electrical power.
With the techniques of producing displays improved day-by-day, a TFTLCD is a widely applied display for a great deal of users to see pictures and information on a screen. The working principle of the TFTLCD is to alter the alignment of a great deal of liquid crystal molecules in a liquid crystal layer by applying an electric field to change the path of the light passing through the liquid crystal layer so as to express the anti-dazzling effects shown in a TFTLCD.
According the working principle described above, it is known that the light for display is provided by a backlight source, e.g. a transmission TFTLCD, or a nature light source, e.g. a reflection TFTLCD, instead of actively emitting light by liquid crystal particles themselves.
An electrical circuit of a conventional TFTLCD is shown in FIG. 1. A thin film transistor 11 can be switched in an on/off state controlled by a scanning-line voltage Vs. When a data-line voltage Vd is applied on the electrode 131 and the electrode 132, the alignment of the liquid crystal particles 12 will be altered for further controlling the penetrating degree of the light, and changing the light intensity emitted form the backlight source 14 to an observer.
FIG. 2(a) shows a top-view structure of a conventional TFTLCD composed of a top electrode and a bottom electrode and FIG. 2(b) shows a conventional in-plane switch (IPS) structure for improving the viewing angle shown by the TFTLCD. The respective controllable region 20 shown on FIG. 2(a) and FIG. 2(b) are used to produce the anti-dazzling effect controlled by an electric field. Except for the controlled region 20, the other region which is called an uncontrollable region cannot express the anti-dazzling effect. Hence, a lot of black matrixes are often used to cover the uncontrollable region so as to prevent the light from transmitted therethrough, and increase the contrast of pixels. Therefore, it is understood that the more controllable region 20 occupies in the TFTLCD, the greater of the liquid crystal molecules can be controlled by the electric field to express the anti-dazzling effect so as to reduce the manufacturing cost. However, the conventional TFT structure exists an uncontrollable region where the liquid crystal molecules are not controlled. In addition, the electrode structure and the working principle of the electric field in the IPS shown on FIG. 2(b) are different from those of the general TFTLCD consisting of the top electrode and the bottom electrode shown on FIG. 2(a).
Furthermore, The TFTLCD is usually applied to a portable computer, e.g. a notebook, which requires a battery as the power source. Consequently, saving electric power is important for designers to fabricate the TFTLCD. Moreover, the IPS TFTLCD consumes more electrical power than the conventional TFTLCD composed of the top and bottom electrodes, because the IPS TFTLCD needs a driving voltage at least greater than 12 V.
Therefore, it is attempted by the applicant to provide a TFTLCD for recycling electric power and being widely applied in different electrical products.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a TFTLCD for recycling the light energy by converting apportion of light energy through a liquid crystal layer thereby into the electrical power.
It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide an TFTLCD including a liquid crystal layer having a first region and a second region therein, a liquid crystal controlling device for controlling an anti-dazzling effect in by the first region of the liquid crystal layer, and a photoelectric converting device disposed on the second region of the liquid layer for converting a portion of light energy passing through the liquid crystal layer into electrical power thereby recycling the light energy.
Preferably, the liquid crystal layer includes a plurality of liquid crystal molecules to be filled with the crystal layer between a first insulation substrate and a second insulation substrate.
Preferably, each of the first insulation substrate and the second insulation substrate is formed of a transparent glass substrate. The first region is a controllable region for an electrical filed to control the anti-dazzling effect. The second region is an uncontrollable region for setting the photoelectric converting device thereon.
Preferably, the liquid crystal controlling device includes a pixel electrode electrically connected to a transistor for providing an electric field to control the anti-dazzling effect, a thin film transistor (TFT) being the transistor to be electrically connected with the pixel electrode for selectively being turned on and off, a common electrode electrically connected with a end of the TFT.
Preferably, the TFT further has a gate end electrically connected with a scanning-line electrode to form the electric filed. The scanning-electrode is electrically connected to the common electrode for further electrically connecting with the pixel electrode to form the electric field. Each of the pixel electrode and the common electrode is formed of a comb-shaped pixel electrode and a comb-shaped common electrode, and each of the pixel electrode and the common electrode has a respective teeth set by extending into the intervals formed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode.
Preferably, the pixel electrode has a layout in a shape corresponding to the common electrode. The pixel electrode and the common electrode are transparency electrodes. And the transparent electrodes are made of a material selected from one of indium tin oxide (ITO) and lead tin oxide.
Preferably, the liquid crystal controlling device further includes a signal electrode and a scanning-line electrode to be respectively connected to a drain end and a gate end of the TFT.
Preferably, the photoelectric converting device is for a photovoltaic battery usage, including a first electrode, a photovoltaic unit disposed on the first electrode, a doped semiconductor structure formed on the photovoltaic unit, and a second electrode formed on the doped semiconductor structure.
Preferably, the photovoltaic unit is made of an ultrathin transparency film selected from one of polysilicon and amorphous polysilicon material.
Preferably, the doped semiconductor structure is made of a heavily-doped material selected from one of a group consisting of polysilicon, P type amorphous polysilicon and N type amorphous polysilicon material.
Preferably, the first electrode and the second electrode are transparent electrodes. And the transparency electrodes are formed of a same material as that of the pixel electrode and the common electrode selected from one of indium tin oxide (ITO) and lead tin oxide.
Preferably, the first electrode and the second electrode have a layout in a shape corresponding to a combination region of the comb-shaped pixel electrode and the comb-shaped common electrode.
It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide an in-plane switch (IPS) TFTLCD including a first insulation substrate, a second insulation substrate, a liquid crystal layer filled between the first insulation substrate and the second insulation substrate therein, a plurality of scanning-line electrodes and a plurality of signal-line electrodes formed on a surface bounded between the first insulation substrate and the liquid crystal layer, a plurality of liquid crystal controlling devices respectively formed in the common border of the scanning-line electrodes and the signal-line electrodes for controlling an anti-dazzling effect of the liquid crystal layer. And each of the liquid crystal controlling units including a thin film transistor (TFT) electrically connected with the scanning-line electrodes and the signal-line electrodes, a comb-shaped pixel electrode and a corresponding comb-shaped common electrode having a respective teeth extending into the intervals formed between the comb-shaped pixel electrode and the corresponding comb-shaped common electrode, and a photoelectric converting device disposed between the first insulation substrate and the second insulation substrate and having a layout in a shape corresponding to a combination region of the comb-shaped pixel electrode and the comb-shaped common electrode.
Preferably, the first insulation substrate and the second insulation substrate are respectively made of a transparent glass substrate.
Preferably, each of the pixel electrode and the common electrode is formed of a transparent electrode.
Preferably, the TFT has a gate end electrically connected to an end of a corresponding one of the scanning-line electrodes and a drain end electrically connected to an end of a corresponding one of the signal electrodes.


Methods and devices are provided for anchoring suture to bone. In one exemplary embodiment, a suture anchor is provided that includes one or more bone-engaging surfaces features and an external sidewall. The external sidewall can allow a suture coupled to the suture anchor and located between the anchor and bone to be movable relative to the suture anchor, even when the suture anchor is partially or fully disposed within a bone hole. Suture threaders and suture anchor drivers are also provided that can be used with the various methods and devices disclosed herein, or with other methods and devices known in the art.

The complete or partial detachment of ligaments, tendons, and/or other soft tissues from their associated bones within the body are relatively commonplace injuries, particularly among athletes. Such injuries are generally the result of excessive stresses being placed on these tissues. By way of example, tissue detachment may occur as the result of an accident such as a fall, over-exertion during a work-related activity, during the course of an athletic event, or in any one of many other situations and/or activities.
In the case of a partial detachment, the injury will frequently heal itself, if given sufficient time and if care is taken not to expose the injury to further undue stress. In the case of complete detachment, however, surgery may be needed to re-attach the soft tissue to its associated bone or bones. Numerous devices are currently available to re-attach soft tissue to bone. Examples of such currently-available devices include screws, staples, suture anchors, and tacks. In soft tissue re-attachment procedures utilizing screws, the detached soft tissue is typically moved back into its original position over the bone. The screw is then screwed through the soft tissue and into the bone, with the shank and head of the screw holding the soft tissue to the bone. Similarly, in soft tissue re-attachment procedures utilizing staples, the detached soft tissue is typically moved back into its original position over the bone. The staple is then driven through the soft tissue and into the bone, with the legs and bridge of the staple holding the soft tissue to the bone.
In soft tissue re-attachment procedures utilizing suture anchors, an anchor-receiving hole is generally first drilled in the bone at the desired point of tissue re-attachment. A suture anchor is then deployed in the hole using an appropriate installation tool. This effectively locks the suture to the bone, with the free end(s) of the suture extending out of the bone. The free end(s) of the suture are passed through or around the soft tissue and are used to tie the soft tissue securely to the bone.
While current suture anchors are effective in anchoring soft tissue to bone, one drawback with current devices is that the suture and soft tissue attached thereto can slip or otherwise move while the suture anchor is being driven into the bone. Once the suture anchor has been driven into bone, the suture and the soft tissue cannot be adjusted to adjust the position of the soft tissue relative to the bone because the driven suture anchor holds the suture and soft tissue in place. The soft tissue may therefore not be in an optimal position to facilitate healing. Even if the suture and the soft tissue can be adjusted after the suture anchor has been driven into bone, tying the suture into a knot can cause the soft tissue to slip from an optimal position.
Another drawback with current devices is that the suture anchor must have a head with a length that is sufficient to withstand a torque applied thereto by a driver. As a result of the increased length, the suture anchor will typically extend at least partially into underlying soft cancellous bone in order to position the head beneath the outer surface of the bone. The bone-engaging portion of the suture anchor will thus be mostly disposed within and engaged with cancellous bone, rather than cortical bone. This is due to the fact that the cortical bone is only about 1 mm to 3 mm in length, and the driver head is often longer than 3 mm. Once implanted, tension applied to the anchor via the sutures can cause the anchor to migrate into the cortical bone and thus the head of the suture anchor can become proud, resulting in a weak fixation among other problems.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved methods and devices for attaching soft tissue to bone.


A fuel cell system that is compact and has stabilized performance is provided. The fuel cell system includes two fuel cell stacks or a first fuel cell stack (31) and a second fuel cell stack (32), a high-pressure hydrogen tank (11) as a hydrogen supplying device for supplying hydrogen to the first and second fuel cell stacks (31, 32), a compressor (12) as an air supplying device for supplying air to the fuel cell stack, and a humidifier (20) for humidifying air to be supplied to the first and second fuel cell stacks (31, 32). The humidifier (20) is disposed between the first and second fuel cell stacks (31, 32); a supply air exhaust port of the humidifier (20) and air supply ports (Q1) of the first and second fuel cell stacks (31, 32) are connected by air supply pipes (51) having the same length.

Recently, fuel cells, in particular polymer electrolyte fuel cells, have been receiving attention as clean and energy-efficient fuels for various applications, for example, in powering the electric cars. The fuel cell is, in essence, a generator which electrochemically produces electricity upon receipt of fuel gas (hydrogen) and oxidant gas (air). The polymer electrolyte fuel cell is provided in its inside with an electrolyte membrane composed of proton conductive solid polymers, which electrolyte membrane works well in humidified conditions. In a polymer electrolyte fuel cell system is thus provided a humidifier for humidifying a dry oxidant gas to be supplied to a fuel cell stack (for example, see Patent document 1).
The aforementioned fuel cell stack is a power-generating component with a plurality of single cells stacked on top of each other in layers, and each single cell is comprised of a solid polymer membrane sandwiched between separators; the number and size of the single cells may be determined according to the voltage or power required for an intended application such as a fuel cell automotive vehicle.
The aforementioned humidifier, for example, is constructed with a moisture vapor-exchangeable hollow fiber membrane provided therein, and an oxidant gas discharged from the fuel cell stack (hereinafter referred to as "exhaust gas") is passed outside the hollow fiber membrane and inside the humidifier while a newly supplied oxidant gas is passed inside the hollow fiber membrane so that moisture vapors contained in the exhaust gas are transferred into the newly supplied oxidant gas.
Patent Document 1: JP 2002-75418 A (Paragraph 0016, FIGS. 1 and 3)

Fuel cell system and fuel cell automotive vehicle


A method and system for characterizing features in a source multifeatured three-dimensional object, and for locating a best-matching three-dimensional object from a reference database of such objects by performing a viewpoint invariant search among the reference objects. The invention further includes the creation of a three-dimensional representation of the source object by deforming a reference object.

In many situations, it is useful to construct a three-dimensional (3D) model of an object when only a partial description of the object is available. In a typical situation, one or more two-dimensional (2D) images of the 3D object may be available, perhaps photographs taken from different viewpoints. A common method of creating a 3D model of a multi-featured object is to start with a base 3D model which describes a generic or typical example of the type of object being modeled, and then to add texture to the model using one or more 2D images of the object. For example, if the multi-featured object is a human face, a 3D "avatar" (i.e., an electronic 3D graphical or pictorial representation) would be generated by using a pre-existing, standard 3D model of a human face, and mapping onto the model a texture from one or more 2D images of the face. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,011 B1 to Francini et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,278 B1 to Hashimoto. The main problem with this approach is that the 3D geometry is not highly defined or tuned for the actual target object which is being generated.
A common variant of the above approach is to use a set of 3D base models and select the one that most resembles the target object before performing the texture mapping step. Alternatively, a single parameterized base model is used, and the parameters of the model are adjusted to best approximate to the target. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,556,196 B1 to Blanz et al. These methods serve to refine the geometry to make it fit the target, at least to some extent. However, for any target object with a reasonable range of intrinsic variability, the geometry of the model will still not be well tuned to the target. This lack of geometric fit will detract from the verisimilitude of the 3D model to the target object.
Conventional techniques typically also require that the 2D images being used for texturing the model be acquired from known viewpoints relative to the 3D object being modeled. This usually limits the use of such approaches to situations where the model is being generated in a controlled environment in which the target object can be photographed. Alternatively, resort may be had to human intervention to align 2D images to the 3D model to be generated. See U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0012454 to Liu et al. This manual step places a severe limit on the speed with which a 3D model can be generated from 2D imagery.
Accordingly, a need exists for an automated approach that systematically makes use of available 2D source data for a 3D object to synthesize an optimal 3D model of the object.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Viewpoint-invariant image matching and generation of three-dimensional models from two-dimensional imagery


A thermosettable adhesive composition that includes a monomeric or partially polymerized composition that includes at least one polymerizable acrylic or methacrylic acid ester of a non-tertiary alcohol, a thermosettable epoxy resin, an amine curative, a silane coupling agent, and a chelating agent.

The invention relates to maintaining adhesion under conditions of high humidity.
A variety of applications require the maintenance of a structural or semi-structural adhesive bond to glass or between two substrates, one of which is glass, under conditions of heat and high humidity. In the automotive industry, for example, structural adhesives are used to bond metal buttons to glass windshields to provide a base for mounting rear view mirrors. It is difficult, however, to form adhesive bonds that have the long term durability required for particular applications. Adhesive bonds to glass tend to fail over time or when subjected to more rigorous conditions such as heat and high humidity. The interface between the substrate and the adhesive is a particularly weak point in terms of stability in the presence of humidity. Consequently, the more common failure mode is adhesive rather than cohesive.
To improve adhesion, substrates are often treated either chemically, e.g., with a chemical primer, or mechanically, e.g., by abrading the surface. Chemical priming methods involve pre-treating the surface with organic solvents and reactive chemicals such as chromic sulfuric acid, which present environmental and toxicity issues. Mechanical treatments add additional process steps to a manufacturing operation.

Adhesive compositions with durability under conditions of high humidity

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


An enclosure for a transmitter, particularly a pressure transmitter, comprising an upper part containing connection terminals and an outer enclosure connected with the upper part. A printed circuit board is mounted in the chamber formed by the upper part and the outer enclosure. To increase the immunity of the pressure transmitter from electrical noise, an inner conducting cylinder is used, the cylinder being fixed by a pressure fitting with the outer enclosure. At the same time stampings in the inner cylinder fix the printed circuit board and create earth connection from the printed circuit board via the inner cylinder to the outer enclosure. Besides improving the noise immunity, the invention simplifies assembly of the transmitter and increases mechanical strength, including resistance towards turning and tilting torques.

The invention concerns the enclosure for a transmitter of the cylinder type, i.e. axial transmitters having mainly a cylindrical enclosure with measuring cell and electronics fitted inside the enclosure and electrical connection terminals or cable inlet in one end of the enclosure.
The invention concerns all transmitters of the cylinder type, however, in the following it will be described by way of a pressure transmitter.
Pressure transmitters usually send a 0 to 20 mA or a 0 to 10 V signal, and are often used in electrically noisy environments. To avoid an interference with the measuring signal, an electrical screening is vital, and today it is customary to make large frame or earth planes by designing the printed circuit board (PCB) with large earth areas and connecting this area electrically with the outer transmitter enclosure. The enclosure thus consists of a metal housing acting as a large screening area. The state of the art usually solves the problem of getting the PCB frame or earthing led out to the enclosure by providing an expensive, separate frame connection, often in the shape of a metallic tongue soldered to PCB and enclosure, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,662 describes a high pressure transducer of the cylinder type, and the problem solved is to isolate the electronics unit and a plastic part comprising electric terminals from the pressure sensor itself, to protect against high pressures. This is done by providing a metallic chamber inside the outer metallic enclosure, which metallic chamber contains the sensor element, while the outer enclosure is crimped around the plastic part with the electric cables. To provide screening against electric noise, the PCB earth plane is connected to both the inner chamber and the outer enclosure through a metallic tongue soldered on the PCB, touching the inner chamber and crimped together with the outer enclosure. The disadvantage of this construction is that a separate earth conductor must be led to the outer enclosure, which makes fitting difficult.
EP 0 372 773 describes a pressure transducer containing two substantially circular PCBs, which are connected by a flexible intermediary piece enabling the folding of the two PCB over each other. To reduce the influence from electric noise, an earth tongue projects from each of the two PCB. A capacitor is soldered onto each of these tongues and connected to the earth plane of the enclosure. In another embodiment (FIG. 6) the long earth tongue is crimped together with the outer enclosure during the final assembly of the transducer, by which the earth connection is established. The establishment of the earth connection thus requires either at least two solderings or a crimping, which, in the embodiment shown, may lead to leakage between the tongue and the outer enclosure.
For mounting reasons solder-free electrical connections are preferred, and snap and clip connections utilising the resilient properties of the contactors are widely used.
Thus, EP 0 691 533 describes an axial pressure transducer assembled without soldering. The pressure transducer comprises a cylindrical intermediary piece of a synthetic material, having a recess, in which a rectangular PCB is arranged. The cylindrical piece functions as connector for the electrical connection terminals coming from the supply, the signal and the sensor sides, and the characteristic feature of the construction is that the electrical connections are established without soldering, but only by male parts being led into female parts, by which the electrical connection is established by means of spring effect. On one edge of the PCB there are four printed circuit conductors connected with the electronics on the PCB, and when assembling the pressure-transducer, a lower part comprising the sensor element and four L-shaped metal terminals is led into the cylindrical intermediary piece, so that the L-shaped terminals slide against printed circuit conductors on the PCB edge and create electrical contact. EP 0 691 533 does not describe any measures to be taken to reduce the sensitivity to electrical noise.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,833 describes a method of assembling an electronic transducer comprising a PCB, in which the PCB is fixed on top of a sensor element by means of spring clips. In a special embodiment the PCB is retained by five U-shaped spring clips, jamming around the edge of the PCB. Further to the fixing effect, the clips are in touch with conductor lanes led out to the edge of the PCB, by which they create electrical connection to the underlying sensor, to which the clips are soldered.
Further, the transducer described in EP 0 691 533 suffers from a disadvantage shared by many transducers, viz. that a tilting torque exerted on the top part of e.g. a connection cable mounted in the cable plug will be able to tilt the top part out of the hold provided by the outer enclosure. If the top part tilts to one of the sides, a humidity passage leading to the PCB can be created between the outer enclosure and the top part.

Enclosure for a transmitter, particularly a pressure transmitter