A control circuit (comprising, for example, a part of a charging hub for a portable electronic communications device) that is not configured to support USB On-The-Go-compatible Host Negotiation Protocol is operably coupled to a USB-ID connector and is configured to transmit an identifier via that USB-ID connector to prompt a USB device in function mode to serve as a USB host. A locally-available power supply can then serve to provide power to that USB device notwithstanding the latter's role as the host.

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a popular industry standard that defines the cables, connectors, and communications protocols used in a bus for physically connecting electronic devices to one another to facilitate both communications and the provision of power. Generally speaking the USB approach presumes that one such device will serve as the so-called A-device host (and hence source power and direct the communication activity) while the other device serves in the so-called B-device function mode (and hence receives power and otherwise responds to the host).
USB On-The-Go, often abbreviated USB OTG, is a specification that allows USB devices such as digital audio players and mobile phones to act as a host and to allow other USB devices (such as a USB flash drive, mouse, or keyboard) to be attached thereto. Unlike with conventional USB systems, USB OTG devices can drop the hosting role and act in the function mode when attached to another host. This approach can therefore be used, for example, to allow a mobile phone to act as host for a flash drive and read its contents but then act as a flash drive when plugged into a host computer and allow the host to read off the new content. To serve in these regards the USB On-The-Go and Embedded Host Supplement to the USB 2.0 specification introduced three new protocols, the Attach Detection Protocol (ADP), the Session Request Protocol (SRP), and the Host Negotiation Protocol (HNP).
ADP allows an OTG device to determine attachment status in the absence of power on the USB bus. This enables both insertion-based behavior and the possibility for a device to display attachment status. ADP does this by providing for periodic measurement of capacitance on the USB port to determine whether there is another device or a dangling cable attached, or nothing attached. When a change in capacitance, large enough to indicate device attachment is detected then an A-device will provide power to the USB bus and look for device connection. A B-device will generate SRP and wait for the USB bus to become powered.
SRP allows both communicating devices to control when the link's power session is active (in standard USB, only the host is capable of doing so). SRP therefore allows finer control over power consumption. For example, the OTG or Embedded host can leave the USB link unpowered until the peripheral (which can be an OTG or standard USB device) asks for power thereby helping to preserve battery capacity.
For its part, HNP allows the two devices to exchange their host/function roles provided both are OTG dual-role devices. By using HNP for reversing host/peripheral roles, the USB OTG device is capable of acquiring control of data-transfer scheduling. Thus, any OTG device is capable of initiating data-transfer over USB OTG bus. The latest version of the supplement also introduced the idea of HNP polling whereby the device having the host role periodically polls the B-device, during an active session, to determine whether the latter wishes to become a host.
The A-device and B-device terminology mentioned above is actually a bit more nuanced than first suggested. This terminology defines which side supplies power to the link, and which is initially the host. The OTG A-device is a power supplier and the OTG B-device is a power consumer. The default link configuration is that the A-device acts as USB Host and the B-device is a USB peripheral that assumes the function role. The host and peripheral modes may be exchanged later by using HNP. Because every OTG controller supports both roles, they are often called "Dual-Role" controllers rather than "OTG controllers".
This expanded functionality, unfortunately, comes at a price—these new OTG protocols cannot pass through a standard USB hub since they are based on physical electrical-signaling. Compatibility, in turn, requires more complex (and expensive) connectors and controllers. As a result, implementation and usage of OTG-capable devices remains relatively weak.

Method and apparatus pertaining to universal serial bus-based charging


A piezoresistive pressure sensor test sample is first provided, and a zero offset of the piezoresistive pressure sensor test sample is measured. Subsequently, a stress deviation corresponding to the zero offset is calculated. Thereafter, at least a piezoresistive pressure sensor under the same process condition as the piezoresistive pressure sensor test sample is formed. When forming the piezoresistive pressure sensor, at least a stress-adjusting thin film is formed on at least a surface of the piezoresistive pressure sensor to calibrate the zero offset of the piezoresistive pressure sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of calibrating zero offset of a pressure sensor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of forming a stress adjusting thin film on at least a surface of a diaphragm of a pressure sensor to calibrate a zero offset of the pressure sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A pressure sensor is one of the familiar components of MEMS products, and a piezoresistive pressure sensor is the most common pressure sensor at present. Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a theoretical structure of a prior art piezoresistive pressure sensor 10. The prior art piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 has a Wheatstone bridge arrangement, and operates on the theory that the resistance of a piezoresistor changes with the pressure. As shown in FIG. 1, the Wheatstone bridge contains four variable resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4. The input voltage (Vin) is connected to two points, one point being between resistors R1 and R2 and the other point being between resistors R3 and R4. The output voltage (Vout) is connected to two points, one point being between resistors R1 and R3 and the other point being between resistors R2 and R4. The relationship between Vin and Vout is given by:Vout=Vin*ΔR/R
Where R is the initial resistance of resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4, and ΔR is the change of resistance of resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4. The variable resistors of the piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 are piezoresistors. The resistances of resistors R1 and R3 decrease with pressure as the resistances of resistors R2 and R4 increase. With a constant input voltage, a change of output voltage is proportional to a change of resistance. Thus, the piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 represents a change of pressure with the output voltage.
Please refer to FIG. 2, and also refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the prior art piezoresistive pressure sensor 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the prior art piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 includes a diaphragm 12, a pressure sensing component 14 disposed in the diaphragm 12, and a stand 16 positioned under the diaphragm 12 to support the diaphragm 12. The diaphragm 12 is generally made from a semiconductor material, such as silicon. The circuit of pressure sensing component 14 is shown in FIG. 1, wherein the process of forming the circuit includes forming the piezoresistors in the diaphragm 12 by doping and diffusing techniques, then forming conducting wires by depositing and etching techniques, etc. The material of the stand 16 may be semiconductor material or glass material. As above, the pressure on the surface of the piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 deforms the variable resistors R1, R2, R3, and R4, and the deformation changes the output voltage, so that a change of pressure can be measured.
Factors such as process accuracy, temperature, stress, and difference of thermal expansion coefficient of materials can affect the offset of a Wheatstone bridge, and therefore, a significant zero offset may exist. As soon as the zero offset increases excessively, the difficulty of circuit design increases, the performance of the piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 decreases, and the cost of calibration increases. Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the prior art piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 with a large zero offset. As shown in FIG. 3, the factors such as stress and difference of thermal expansion coefficient slightly deform the piezoresistive pressure sensor 10, changing the resistance of the variable resistors R1, R2, R3, and R4 in the initial condition. As a result, the zero offset of the piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 becomes too large in the initial condition. To solve this problem, the prior art changes the resistance of the variable resistors R1, R2, R3, and R4 by laser trimming to calibrate the zero offset after the piezoresistive pressure sensor 10 is made.
Although laser trimming can change the resistance of the variable resistors effectively, laser trimming can only be used for higher-end products because of its high cost. In addition, a limitation of laser trimming is that the piezoresistive pressure sensors must be calibrated one by one, not in a batch process. In consideration of this limitation, a method of calibrating a zero offset of piezoresistive pressure sensors by a stress-adjusting thin film is proposed. This method possesses the characteristics of low cost and conduciveness to batch production, which can solve the limitations of high cost and inefficiency of the prior art.

Method of calibrating zero offset of a pressure sensor


A detachable grip is provided with bracket system that can be removably attached to a desired location along the length of a fishing rod, and that has a removable grip which attaches to the bracket. More particularly, in one embodiment the bracket girdles the fishing rod using bolts to fasten a top half of the bracket to the bottom half of the bracket. In one or more embodiments, the grip attaches to the bracket and extends in a direction away from the bracket that is substantially in a direction perpendicular to the rod. In one embodiment, the grip is attached to the bracket by a bolt, and is adapted to allow the grip to be readily detached.

The present invention relates to fishing rod grips in general, and more particularly to fishing rod grips that project in a direction substantially perpendicular and away from the fishing rod.
Anglers must often continuously hold a fishing rod by hand over long periods of time while waiting for a fish to strike. Since the typical fishing rod is linear, and the tip of the rod must be pointed in the general direction of the water, the angler is forced to hold the rod with a rotated or bent wrist. Over time, this contortion of the wrist can cause discomfort, fatigue or injury. Furthermore, the potential for discomfort, fatigue or injury to the wrist is exacerbated when a fish strikes and the angler must maintain a strong grip on the rod, or when the angler must make a repeated motion involved in casting a lure. Altogether, fishing for long periods of time can place a substantial strain on the wrist, arm, neck, back and shoulders of the angler. Several rod configurations have been proposed to ameliorate these risks, but there remains a need for improvement.
A grip that extends in a perpendicular direction from a fishing rod is useful for the angler's handling of a fishing rod, and may reduce the potential for wrist discomfort, fatigue, or injury. However, such an extension becomes a hindrance to storage when a fishing rod is not in use and can interfere with an angler carrying multiple fishing rods at the same time. Moreover, the placement of a perpendicular extension may be useful for some types of fishing, but may be a hindrance for other types of fishing. Thus, there is a need for an improved vertical extension grip that can both reduce the potential for wrist injury, while also being easily removed when not in use and easily repositioned for alternative types of fishing.
Other generally rod-shaped objects must be held by hand and similarly pose the potential for bodily fatigue or injury. Thus, there is a need for an improved grip for holding generally rod shaped objects.


A fluid flow control valve and method for operating which maintains the rate of flow of fluid therethrough at a substantially constant rate regardless of variations in pressure of the fluid flowing therethrough.

The present application is directed to a pressure compensated flow control valve which is fully adjustable and which is provided with reverse flow check. It is designed to provide adjustable flow rate to hydraulic systems or to actuators and to maintain the flow rate as adjusted constant within a small range regardless of variations of the system pressure or the actuator load. The valve also provides free flow in the opposite direction and is one which may be readily installed in a fluid flow system without the necessity of disassembling components of the valve.
Prior art valves of this type have designs which require parts with extremely tight tolerances with respect to size and shape of the various parts. In many prior art valves, the tolerances are so tight as to require special machine tools for their manufacture. This results in very high costs for these types of valves.
The valve of the present invention is one which is designed to utilize a minimum number of parts and has a design which does not require that the parts be manufactured to the extremely tight tolerances required in the prior art.


A bulk material processor includes a tray assembly with a panel subassembly having an upper panel section and a lower panel section. The upper panel section is adapted to receive bulk material and pass it to the lower panel section for discharge. A heater panel is mounted over the tray assembly for radiantly heating the bulk material passing thereunder. A vibrator is coupled to the tray assembly for vibrating the bulk material whereby it advances along the tray assembly. A control system is provided for controlling the operation of the vibrator and for controlling the output of the heater panel. A method of bulk material processing includes cascading the bulk material from an upper panel section to a lower panel section by vibration and subjecting it to infrared radiation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bulk material processing and in particular to radiation processing of food and feed materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various materials for human food and animal feed are processed in preparation for consumption. Such material processing can include cleaning, cooking, grinding, mixing, etc. For example, many materials such as grains, vegetable beans, seeds and nuts are cooked to improve their taste, texture, digestability and spoilage resistance. Materials can be steamed, boiled, popped, cracked, etc. in preparation for consumption. In addition to these cooking methods, infrared radiation has also been employed for cooking and for controlling molds, fungi, yeast, spores and bacteria to retard spoilage. The Pierce U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,694,220; 3,701,670 and 4,153,733 disclose an infrared radiation cooking method, an infrared micronizing cooker and an infrared radiation cooked wafer respectively.
Both the aforementioned Pierce '220 and '670 patents disclose infrared cooking equipment with tilted plates connected to vibrators for advancing the material in a downhill direction beneath infrared radiators or heaters.
The Newton British Patent No. 1,379,116 discloses another type of infrared radiation cooking equipment wherein cereals and other seeds are conveyed beneath infrared heaters on an endless woven wire belt. The belt-type infrared radiation processor disclosed in the Newton '116 British patent can be utilized in a method for dehulling cacao beans disclosed in the Zuilichem et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,444.
Infrared radiation processing can benefit a number of food and feed materials. For example, the starches of cereal grains can be gelatinized thereby for improved digestability. Some grains and seeds can be swollen and fractured by infrared radiation for improved texture. Moreover, infrared cooking of some cereal grains and vegetable beans can enhance their flavors, appearances, digestability and nutritional values.
Infrared cooking can also be important for controlling spoilage in processed food and feed materials. For example, untreated oat groats include an enzyme which can cause rancidity or oxidization if not neutralized. Infrared cooking can neutralize these enzymes and thus extend the shelf life of infrared-cooked oat groats in sealed containers to several months. Similar results can be achieved by infrared radiating rice kernels, which are otherwise susceptible to rapid spoilage caused by lipase enzymes. Furthermore, various flours used to bake bread can be infrared cooked to control rope spores which can spoil the finished product.
Heretofore there has not been a bulk material processor or processing method with the advantages and features of the present invention.

Vibratory bulk material processor and method


The present invention discloses a fixing device of a wireless charger for an implanted medical device, wherein the fixing device comprising a supporting member wearable on a patient's body and an adjustment structure connected to the supporting member, a charger fixing seat is connected to one of the supporting member and the adjustment structure, the adjustment structure comprises an adjustment strap and a fixing buckle engaging with the adjustment strap, one end of the adjustment strap is connected to the supporting member, the other end of the adjustment strap operably brings the supporting member or the charger fixing seat to be adjusted to a position where the charger fixing seat corresponds to the implanted medical device, and a position where the adjustment strap engages with the fixing buckle can be adjusted and locked.

Implantable medical devices are diverse and applied in a wide scope, for example, cardiac pacemakers and spinal cord stimulators, and implantable neurostimulators. The implantable medical products available in the market are mostly powered by high-energy-density lithium primary batteries, and mostly have a shorter service life. In recent years, along with the development of wireless technologies and lithium rechargeable battery technologies, developing implantable rechargeable medical devices with a longer service life has become a mainstream future development tendency.
The implantable medical devices are implanted into a patient's body and isolated from an in vitro charging device by a tissue such as skin, and they need to be charged wirelessly and percutaneously. The charging manner is generally based on an electromagnetic coupling principle, and an electromagnetic field is used to penetrate the patient's skin to transfer energy to the implanted medical device. Upon charging, a charging coil needs to be accurately and stably align with the implanted stimulator. If there is not an assistant tool, the patient needs to be hold the coil close to the chest motionlessly for one hour or a longer period of time while charging, which is a painful thing and very difficult to complete by the patient. Furthermore, misalignment is likely to be caused without notice, which will cause a lower charging efficiency even failure to charge.
A fixing device of a portable wireless charger in the prior art is a shoulder strap form and includes a shoulder strap portion, a host sheath and a coil sheath. The shoulder strap is worn on the patient's body, and the charging coil and charger are placed in the coil sheath and host sheath respectively. Such a portable charging device has problems such as inconvenient wearing and detachment, and cannot be conveniently used by the patient.
In view of the above problems, it is necessary to make further improvements with respect to drawbacks in the prior art.

Fixing device of wireless charger and wireless charging device


A module for on-line vibration detection and adjustment and machining center using the same are provided in the present invention, wherein the module is disposed at the machining center having an interface of feedrate override and an interface of spindle override and the inverter. The module comprises at least one vibration sensor for detecting the vibrating status of the machining center, thereby generating corresponding at least one sensing signal and a processor for processing the at least one sensing signal so as to generate a spindle adjusting signal for the interface of spindle override and the inverter and a feedrate adjusting signal for the interface of the federate override. The computer numerical controller receives the spindle adjusting signal and the feedrate adjusting signal from the interface of the spindle override and federate override respectively and accordingly controls the feedrate and spindle rate of the machining center.

Most times being unintended and undesirable that can result in imprecise processing and deteriorated surface qualities, machining vibration during the machining of any machining center can be the most troubling problem that the machining center tool industry tries to avoid. Vibration can result from a number of conditions, acting alone or in combination, such as inproper configuration in cutting parameters, dynamic unbalance in cutting tool assembly, chattering correspond to the relative movement between the workpiece and the cutting tool that can result in waves on the machined surface, thickness variation in workpiece that is to be machined, and resonance, etc. Since the effect of machining vibration can severe that, for instance, it can accelerate rates of wear in cutting tools, can cause the surface quality of a workpiece to deteriorate, and even cause deterioration in spindle accuracy, it is important for a machining center to be capable of preventing any machining vibration in an automatic manner during machining without inducing any adverse affect upon its machining efficiency.
In a prior art disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,669, a vibration suppression technique is revealed, which teaches the use of an accelerometer to measure a vibration status resulting from a machining process so as to be used as base for controlling a gain in a control circuit and thus suppressing the vibration of the machining process. Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram showing a conventional machining center configuration. In FIG. 1, a computer numerical controller 10 mounted in a machining center 1 is coupled respectively to a feeding module 11, a spindle module 12, a spindle override interface 13 and a feedrate override interface 14, in which the spindle module 12 is further comprised of a spindle 120 and an inverter 121, while the feeding module 11 is further comprised of an X-axial motor 110, a Y-axial motor 111, a Z-axial motor 112 as well as their corresponding drivers 113, 114 and 115 that are connected to the computer numerical controller 10. It is noted that the computer numerical controller 10 is used for generating commands for controlling the spindle module 12 and the feeding module according to a numerical control (NC) code 15 received thereby; and the machining center 1 for enabling the same to perform a two-dimensional displacement whereas the carrier module is used for carrying a workpiece to be processed; and the Z-axial motor 112 is acting as a driving component for enabling the spindle module 12 to move in the Z-axial direction. Generally, the NC code 15 received by the computer numerical controller 10 includes process parameters, such as the material of the workpiece to be processed, the moving path of the carrier module and the spindle speed of the spindle in the spindle module, and so on. However, under the performing of a machining process, machining vibrations may occur due to the varying machining conditions or the status variations in the machine parts of the machining center, which can seriously affect the quality of the workpiece to be process as well as the precision of the machining process. Nevertheless, since the causes of such machining vibrations are hard to predict, it is difficult to control the machining vibrations simply by adjusting the NC code.
In view of that, there are a feedrate adjusting button 17 and a speed adjusting button 16 disposed in the machining center 1 of FIG. 1 while enabling the two adjusting buttons 17, 16 to be coupled respectively to the feedrate override interface 14 and the spindle override interface 13, by that an user is capable of adjusting the feedrate and the spindle speed in a real-time and on-line manner. However, although there is a manual adjustment mechanism established on the machining center 1 using the two adjusting buttons 16, 17, the manual adjustment tends to be performed differently with different users as there is no standard for the adjustment and thus different users are going to perform the manual adjustment according to their personal experiment. Therefore, it is in need of an external adjustment control architecture for the machining center without the need to change the structure of the machining center that is able to generate a control command automatically according to a detection result for controlling the adjustment of the machining center and thus effectively preventing any machining vibrations from happening in the operating machining center.

Module for on-line vibration detection and adjustment and machining center using the same

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A network interface driver embodied in a processor readable medium comprising executable program instructions that, when executed by a processor, independently process internetworking protocols for a host computer (or other network access device) with another computer on a remote network. The driver appears to the operating system as a regular network interface driver, but it can support enhanced kernel-level internetworking protocols by using a state machine to generate, drop, and change incoming and outgoing IP packets in a manner transparent to the operating system.

It is currently very difficult to add new (or improve legacy) kernel-level internetworking functions, such as IP mobility support, on computers using software-based solutions. This typically requires modifications to the IP stack that is built into an operating system, something that cannot be easily accomplished by independent software developers.
In the networking environment, data packets are dispatched across network connections by employing software drivers that control hardware modules. An operating system, such as, for example Microsoft Windows®, requires that drivers be programmed as passive, instantly responsive routines for the purpose of device I/O. A driver does not have active control; it always waits to be called by the operating system. Accordingly, in response to a call, the driver will rapidly complete the specified I/O operation and return control back to the operating system as quickly as possible. If the underlying physical device cannot finish the I/O operation within a specified period of time, the driver will typically start the physical device, instruct the physical device to generate a hardware interrupt to notify the operating system after the I/O operation has finished, and immediately return control back to the operating system with a pending status.
This invention proposes using a network interface driver to support new (or improve legacy) internetworking protocols, a task that was previously addressed at the IP layer or above. However, many internetworking protocols that are based on a client-server model require the client (and often the server) to have active, persistent control in order to manage signaling over a network connection. The signaling must account for transmission time over the network and unexpected breaks that can occur in the network connection. Hence, if a network interface driver is used to support internetworking protocols, the requirement for active, persistent control conflicts with the fundamental characteristics of a driver such as passiveness and instant response.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Internetworking driver with active control


Fabrication of samples having material conditions or damage representative of actual components inspected by nondestructive testing involves sensors placed near or mounted on the material surface, such as flexible eddy current sensors or sensor arrays, to monitor the material condition while the sample is being processed. These sample typically have real cracks in or around holes, on curved surfaces, in and under coatings, and on shot peened or otherwise preconditioned surfaces. Processing, such as mechanical or thermal loading to introduce fatigue damage, is stopped once the material condition reaches a predetermined level.

This application addresses nondestructive materials characterization and, particularly fabrication of reference samples for validating inspection methods and for establishing correlations between sensor responses and actual material condition. The nondestructive material characterization provides a quantitative, model-based characterization of surface, near-surface, and bulk material condition for flat and curved parts or components using magnetic field based or eddy-current sensors. Characterization of bulk material condition includes (1) measurement of changes in material state, i.e., degradation/damage caused by fatigue damage, creep damage, thermal exposure, or plastic deformation; (2) assessment of residual stresses and applied loads; and (3) assessment of processing-related conditions, for example from aggressive grinding, shot peening, roll burnishing, thermal-spray coating, welding or heat treatment. It also includes measurements characterizing material, such as alloy type, and material states, such as porosity and temperature. Characterization of surface and near-surface conditions includes measurements of surface roughness, displacement or changes in relative position, coating thickness, temperature and coating condition. Each of these includes detection of electromagnetic property changes associated with either microstructural and/or compositional changes, or electronic structure (e.g., Fermi surface) or magnetic structure (e.g., domain orientation) changes, or with single or multiple cracks, cracks or stress variations in magnitude, orientation or distribution.
Conventional eddy-current sensing involves the excitation of a conducting winding, the primary, with an electric current source of the prescribed frequency. This excitation produces a time-varying magnetic field, which in turn is detected with a sensing winding, the secondary. The spatial distribution of the magnetic field and the field measured by the secondary is influenced by the proximity and physical properties (electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability) of nearby materials. When the sensor is intentionally placed in close proximity to a test material, the physical properties of the test material can be deduced from measurements of the impedance between the primary and secondary windings. Scanning of eddy-current sensors across the material surface is then traditionally used to detect flaws, such as cracks.
For fatigue inspection applications where cracks need to be detected and/or sized, typical nondestructive evaluation (NDE) or inspection (NDI) methods use reference standards or samples based on EDM notches. Some standards have only the notches themselves while other standards have fatigue cracks grown from EDM notches with the original notch removed, such as the engine structural integrity program (ENSIP) standards. However, there can be differences in morphology, shape, and distribution compared to cracks grown under service conditions so that they may not be sufficient to demonstrate detection reliability for relatively small crack sizes in engine or structural components. This is especially true for shot peened or otherwise cold worked surfaces, where creating the EDM notch itself can significantly alter the material properties, such as the residual stress distribution in a cold worked surface.

Fabrication of samples having predetermined material conditions


An RFID tag distance measuring system includes a reader that outputs a predetermined carrier signal to a tag and receives a reflected signal of the carrier signal from the tag. The reader has signal output means for outputting signals at multiple frequencies, which are different from each other, as the carrier signal, a transmitting section that transmits a signal output by the signal output means to the tag, a receiving section that receives reflected signals of the signals at multiple frequencies, which are different from each other, from the tag and estimating means for estimating the distance between the tag and the reader based on the amount of change in phase between the reflected signals received by the receiving section and the carrier signals and the frequencies of the carrier signals. The transmitting section and the receiving section have two pairs of transmit and receive antennas that obtain multiple receive signals in which the strengths of the reflected signals vary differently when the receiving section receives the reflected signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an RFID tag distance measuring system and a reader by which a distance between a reader and a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag can be measured and, in particular, an RFID tag distance measuring system and a reader by which a distance between a reader and an RFID tag can be securely measured.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional reader by which a distance from an RFID tag can be measured is disclosed in EP1239634 (Patent Document 1), for example. Patent Document 1 includes using the fact that the phase of a reflected wave from an RFID tag in response to a carrier signal from a reader depends on the distance between the reader and the RFID tag, demultiplexing the reflected wave into an I-signal and a Q-signal having phases identical to and orthogonal to that of the carrier signal, calculating the magnitude and phase of the reflected wave from the RFID tag, and calculating the distance from the RFID tag based on the phase.
Patent Document 1: EP1239623 (seventh column and FIG. 3, for example)
The construction has been adopted in a conventional reader by which a distance from an RFID tag can be measured. When the reader only receives a reflected wave directly from an RFID tag, the distance between the reader and the RFID tag can be measured by using the method disclosed in Patent Document 1. However, in reality, reflected waves from the RFID tag may include not only direct waves but also waves through paths reflected by a wall, a ceiling and so on. In other words, the reflected waves from an RFID tag may follow many paths (the environment of which is called multipath environment). In such a multipath environment, most reflected waves may not be received from an RFID tag even by transmitting signals at multiple different frequencies to the RFID tag in order to calculate the distance to the RFID tag. However, the point has not been considered in the past.

RFID tag distance measuring system and reader


An instrument configured to process signal data is disclosed. The instrument is operable to control and or change the sampling rate of the signal data from a first sample rate to a second sample rate different than the first sample rate.

Signal processing and analysis, particularly radio frequency (RF) vector signal processing and analysis, is an essential aspect in today's highly technological world. Often times, signals are generated or recorded by one device and then processed and or analyzed by a separate test instrument. It may be desirable for the test instrument to be capable of signal processing and analysis in two different ways: 1) off-line with recorded signal data; and 2) real-time with an appropriate connection to the source of the signal data.
In some cases the sampling period T of the first device may be different than the sampling period T′ of the second device. In these instances it is desired to perform a resampling algorithm in order to convert from T to T′ without loss of information. In many instances, the conversion from the waveform's sample rate to the test instrument's sample rate is not easy to perform because the test instrument may have a predefined sample rate (e.g., 250 MHz), but the waveform's sample rate may not be an integer multiple of the test instrument's sample rate. The complexity of the resampling performed by the test instrument causes the process to be relatively slow, and or use too much memory and or processing resources to complete—all of which is undesirable.
Traditional rational resampling may not be appropriate. As shown in FIG. 1, a classical signal processing technique 10 for performing rational sample rate conversion includes two processing blocks 12, 16 and a digital lowpass filter 14 connected between the two blocks 12, 16. The rational sample rate conversion is performed by interpolating the signal data x[n] by an integer L in block 12 and decimating it by an integer M in block 16 to form the output y[m]. The digital lowpass filter 14 has a frequency cutoff that is driven by the function max[L,M].
In theory, the classical technique 10 for performing rational sample rate conversion provides conversion by any rational factor of L/M. This technique 10, however, has several shortcomings. While polyphase implementations may work to keep the computational effort low, a large L/M ratio can drive up coefficient storage and processing requirements, which is undesirable. Moreover, a programmable L/M ratio can complicate the hardware implementation of the technique 10. Additionally, sampling rates cannot be changed smoothly over time, and the implementation may not be convenient for managing variable group delay, among other things.
Accordingly, there is a need and desire for an improved signal resampling technique that may be used to convert a first sample rate to a second sample rate, while also allowing for sampling rates to be changed smoothly over time, without requiring large coefficient storage and processing requirements, and a complex hardware implementation.


A method and apparatus for heating a sheet-like material to a predetermined temperature profile along the length and across the width of the material. The sheet-like material is transported within a furnace relative to at least one burner holder above or below, or above and below, the material. Each burner holder includes a number of direct flame impingement burners located side-by-side in a row. The burners are directed toward the sheet-like material, and the individual burners in each burner holder are oriented and controlled so that heat output from the burners provides the predetermined temperature profile within the sheet-like material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for heating a sheet-like material to a predetermined temperature profile. Such a method is used, for example, in annealing processes prior to forming sheets and plates of metal materials, as well as in furnaces for continuous heat treatment of sheet metals.
2. Description of the Related Art
When heat treating sheets, plates, etc., of a metal material such as steel, it is often desired to be able to control the material characteristics across the heat treated material.
The characteristics can include, by way of example, material hardness, flatness, and residual stress.
An example of such a heat treatment process is when annealing sheets of metal in a furnace prior to forming. In that case, material characteristics that are uniform across the metal sheet are often desired, both in the longitudinal as well as in the transverse directions with respect to the direction of material flow in the heat treatment process, because that provides good formability behavior of the metal sheet in many applications. In order to obtain such uniform material characteristics, it is necessary for the heat transfer to the metal sheet to be uniform across the sheet, in order to obtain a uniform temperature distribution or temperature profile across the entire sheet.
In other applications, a non-uniform, predetermined temperature profile is desired. For example, different hardness characteristics can be wanted on the edges of a metal sheet than at its center, for further processing into a product such as a car roof or the like.
Today, the heat treatment of sheet-like metals usually takes place in a furnace. Commonly used furnaces include fuel-based furnaces that can have an open flame or a heating tube for transferring heat to the metal sheet.
When using such furnaces for the heat treatment of, for example, a metal sheet, it is often not possible to obtain the desired temperature profile across the sheet. Instead, a number of problems occur.
Firstly, prior art furnaces for heat treatment of sheet-like metal materials experience problems with overheated edges, as compared to the heating of the mid-sections of the sheets. The reason for that is that toward the edge of the sheet, the surface area/volume ratio of the sheet increases, which gives rise to faster heat transfer into the metal at the edges. That is common when heat treating sheet or plate products with thicknesses ranging from 1 mm to 100 mm, but is also an issue for materials with an even larger thickness (for example up to 300 mm), and across the whole range of metal materials, including carbon steel, stainless steel, mild steels, aluminum, copper, etc. The temperature difference between the edge and the center of the sheet can be as much as 20° C.
In the case when heat treating metal sheets one by one, the problem arises both at the side edges of the sheet, as well as at the starting and the ending edges. For continuous processing of a long metal sheet, the problem arises mainly at the side edges, but possibly also when starting or stopping the process, or when changing sheets.
The result of that problem is that the transverse and longitudinal temperature differences lead to deformations, uneven hardness, and/or other material characteristics that are non-uniformly distributed across the sheet. In some cases, sheets have to be straightened prior to the next processing step, further deteriorating the hardness and residual stress characteristics of the material. Of course, the problem occurs both in the longitudinal as well as in the transverse direction across the sheet.
Secondly, it is difficult to precisely control the temperature profile, in any direction, across sheet-like metals when using conventional furnaces. As described above, a specific, non-uniform temperature profile might be desired in order to render the heat treated metal suitable for further processing in various applications. Control over the temperature profile is often desired both in the longitudinal and in the transverse directions of the sheet.
Thirdly, in some applications it is desired that some sections of the sheet-like metal are heat treated at different times from other sections. For example, when annealing a metal sheet, the inventors have shown it to be advantageous to heat the mid-section of the sheet first, in order to introduce compressive stress in the mid-section. Thereafter, it is advantageous to transfer heat to the edge of the sheet. That way, the compressive stress introduced in the edges of the sheet will not cause the sheet to deform when the sheet is annealed. That will be described in greater detail below.
The present invention solves the above-described problems.

Method and apparatus for heating a sheet-like product


Disclosed are a triboelectric power generating device and a manufacturing method thereof, which does not require a physical space to generate friction motions unlike conventional pressured induced electric power generating devices, maximizes a surface area by the junction friction portion of a friction material composite that is inexpensive and easy to mass-produce, thereby improving the durability of a generating device, and effectively producing electricity. The triboelectric power generating device includes a triboelectric generation layer (300) including a friction portion having a junction structure which is located at a central portion and made of two or more different polymers, a first electrode (100) which is located to face one surface of the triboelectric generation layer (300), and a second electrode (200) which is located to face the other surface of the triboelectric generation layer (300).

In the case of general pressured induced electric power generating devices, organic piezoelectric materials such as PVDF having excellent flexibility have a difficulty in producing a competitive product due to environmental hazards and high material cost. In addition, inorganic piezoelectric materials having poor flexibility have a durability problem that the material is ruptured by a continuous external pressure. In the case of triboelectric device, not only a physical space is required to generate frictional motion between friction materials, but also a structure of the device is complicated and difficult to produce in large scale, and since the degree of abrasion due to friction of a material is large, a problem of low reliability in durability occurs. In addition, existing triboelectric materials have a disadvantage that it is difficult to produce in large scale due to the difficulty in joining an electrode and a friction material and the difference in the process method of applying the friction materials to the device. Therefore, it is required to develop a triboelectric generating device that is compensated for such disadvantages.
Here, when describing the history of the development of the conventional triboelectric devices that have been conducted so far, in 2012, it was confirmed that different types of triboelectric materials were bilayered, and then electrodes face the outside, thereby producing electricity through vertical and horizontal movement between the triboelectric materials. In 2013, it was possible to produce electricity even by intersecting different types of triboelectric materials, and individual triboelectric devices were formed in a multiple layer (parallel structure) to improve power generation efficiency. In 2014, a triboelectric device having a three-dimensional structure greatly improved an amount of generated current, and it was confirmed that triboelectric can be efficiently produced by rotating a disc electrode and triboelectric material having the shape of a bicycle wheel about a central axis, it showed that it is possible to efficiently produce electricity by grating a thin-film triboelectric material by micron unit and overlapping with the electrode, and then moving horizontally, and it was confirmed that a spring was attached to the grated triboelectric material and the electrode to make it possible to move horizontally between the material and the electrode and to convert high efficiency (up to 85%) physical energy into electric energy through energy conservation through the spring.
In 2015, it showed that a structure was improved so that the friction materials could move smoothly even with little energy applied by inserting a steel rod between the friction materials for the use of a bearing, and nevertheless, triboelectric power generation efficiency was not lowered significantly. In addition, it was found that a hybrid system can supply the amount of voltage or current more stably by connecting an electromagnetic generator (AC) and a triboelectric element (AC) in series or in parallel. In addition, it was confirmed that power can be produced simultaneously from light and kinetic energy by connecting a solar cell (DC) and the triboelectric device (AC). Thereafter, researches are being conducted to improve the power generation efficiency through micro- or nano-unit patterning between the triboelectric materials, and the efficiency has been further improved by changing the material or the shape (vertical, horizontal, rotational, bent, etc.) of receiving the kinetic energy. The latest notable research result showed the possibility of use as a wind generator by fixing one side of the triboelectric device to a substrate and leaving the other side shaken in the wind.

Triboelectric generating device and manufacturing method thereof


A percussive device and method having, inside a machine housing (3), a reciprocally moveable percussive piston (2), the movement of which is controlled by a control valve (5), which is arranged to alternatively connect a chamber to a pressure source and to low pressure in dependence on a signal corresponding to the axial position of the percussive piston, and a valve (16) arranged to allow adjustment of the axial position of the percussive piston at which the signal is transmitted, by opening and blocking of a connection between one or more control channels (10, 11, 12, 13) and the control valve.

EP-0 080 446 (Atlas Copco AB) discloses a rock drilling machine, wherein the feeding force is transmitted from the housing to the drill string or the drill string adapter over a damper. The damper yields from the reflected compressive shock waves and the yield is detected and used to control a control pin which adjust the stroke length for the percussive piston such that the reflective shock wave energy is minimized.
In particular, the control pin is an adjustment means which adjusts in what axial position of the percussive piston a pressure signal is transmitted to a to-and-fro moveable valve body, wherein means are arranged in order to control the control pin as a response to the pressure signal such that the operation of the percussion device is modified for reduction of reflected shock wave. In an alternative embodiment the control pin is controlled after analysis of a drilling parameter in connection to the drill string.
The known drilling machine functions well but is gives limited possibilities to easily control the axial turning-positions of the percussive piston.

Percussion device, drilling machine including such a percussion device and method for controlling such a percussion device