The present invention relates to a system and methodology facilitating network communications between an industrial control system and a client application that interacts with a plurality of data items on the control system. The client application initiates a request or query to the industrial control system for an identification of selected data items of interest. Based on information received in the request, an aggregation component can be constructed by the client, wherein names and buffer allocations relating to the data items of interest are provided. The aggregation component is then installed by the client and updated in the industrial control system, thus providing information access to the client application when fresh or updated information is desired. Information is accessed via a communications packet that is generated from the data items identified in the aggregation component. Information transmitted to the control system can also be optimized by identifying the information via handle identifiers that are employed in place of explicit reference or tag names.

Industrial control systems have enabled modern factories to become partially or completely automated in many circumstances. These systems generally include a plurality of Input and Output (I/O) modules that interface at a device level to switches, contactors, relays and solenoids along with analog control to provide more complex functions such as Proportional, Integral and Derivative (PID) control. Communications have also been integrated within the systems, whereby many industrial controllers can communicate via network technologies such as Ethernet, Control Net, Device Net or other network protocols and also communicate to higher level computing systems. Industrial controllers utilize the aforementioned technologies along with other technology to control multiple applications ranging from complex and highly distributed to more traditional and repetitious applications. As an example, steel and automobile production often require control and integration with complex welding and/or robotic systems whereas, a transfer or automated assembly line can produce hundreds of thousands of similar items in a more traditional industrial control situation.
At the core of the industrial control system, is a logic processor such as a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Programmable Logic Controllers are programmed by systems designers to operate manufacturing processes via user-designed logic programs or user programs. The user programs are stored in memory and generally executed by the PLC in a sequential manner although instruction jumping, looping and interrupt routines, for example, are also common. Associated with the user program are a plurality of memory elements or variables that provide dynamics to PLC operations and programs. These variables can be user-defined and can be defined as bits, bytes, words, integers, floating point numbers, timers, counters and/or other data types to name but a few examples.
As can be appreciated, various remote applications often attempt to acquire PLC information or data in order to service other automation requirements. One such application includes a Human and Machine Interface (HMI) that can reside on a remote client machine to enable PLC Engineers or Operators to manipulate and/or monitor PLC control programs and associated variables, for example. Human and Machine Interfaces along with other remote applications often employ network communications and associated drivers or servers to transfer information between the application and the PLC. For example, one common network transfer protocol is referred to as Control and Information Protocol (CIP) that is an application layer protocol that can be specified for Ethernet/IP (Ethernet Industrial Protocol), as well as for ControlNet, DeviceNet and/or other protocols.
Control and Information Protocol is a message-based protocol that implements a relative path to send a message from one or more "producing" devices to one or more "consuming" devices. The producing device can include path information that directs the messages to reach the consumers. Since the producing device holds the path information, other devices along the path can simply pass the information. In traditional PLC systems, controllers poll input modules to obtain their input status. In CIP systems, digital input modules or other producers are not polled by the controller, for example. Instead, these modules produce ("multicast") associated data either upon a change of state (COS) or periodically. The frequency of update depends upon options chosen during network configuration and where on the network the input module resides. The input module, therefore, is a producer of input data and the controller and/or communications module is a consumer of the data. The PLC can also produce data for other controllers or applications to consume and/or can produce data for other modules to consume such as an output module, for example.
Presently, if remote access of a data type is requested from the PLC via a CIP or other type request for example, the requested data is placed into a communications packet having an associated overhead. The overhead includes a header and ending field, for example, that supports the protocol and encapsulates the data before being transferred to the remote application for processing. If multiple and/or unrelated data types are requested from the PLC however, respective data types can be placed in separate communications packets, wherein the associated packet includes the overhead described above. Consequently, communications efficiency can be reduced since multiple data type transfer requests between PLC's and remote applications can cause increasing amounts of network and communications overhead as the number of data requests increase.

System and methodology providing optimized data exchange with industrial controller


A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for converting an M bit digital value to an analog signal includes a capacitive DAC and a resistive DAC. The capacitive DAC is configured to convert N most significant bits of the digital value to an analog signal. The resistive DAC is configured to covert M-N least significant bits (LSBs) of the digital value to an analog signal. The resistive DAC includes a coarse DAC and a fine DAC. The coarse DAC is configured to convert a most significant R bits of the M-N least significant bits to an analog signal. An output of the coarse DAC is switchably coupled to a first capacitor of the capacitive DAC. The fine DAC is configured to convert M-N-R least significant bits of the M-N least significant bits to an analog signal. An output of the fine DAC is switchably coupled to a second capacitor of the capacitive DAC.

An analog to digital converter (ADC) is an electronic device that converts a continuous signal (i.e., an analog signal) into a discrete time (digital) representation. Analog to digital converters may convert input analog voltages or currents into digital values. The digital values may be proportional to the magnitude of the voltage level of the input analog signal. The resolution of the converter indicates the number of discrete values it can produce over the range of analog values. When the values are stored electronically in a binary form, the resolution is expressed in bits.
A successive approximation type ADC samples an analog voltage input, and applies a binary search to converge on a digital value that best represents the analog voltage input. In a successive approximation ADC, control circuitry provides an approximation value to a digital to analog converter (DAC). The DAC generates an analog voltage from the approximation value, and a comparator compares the sampled and held analog voltage input with the voltage generated by the DAC. The control circuitry successively determines the value of each bit of a digital output value based on the compared voltages.

Area efficient digital to analog and analog to digital converters


A disposable electrode for direct transcutaneous derivation of patient biopotentials, such as the ECG of an unborn fetus, the active electrode element of which has a tuberous pin configuration with at least one tuberosity arranged along its length for enabling atraumatic attachment to and removal from the patient. The active electrode element may be of curved and multi-tuberous configuration for particularly facilitating application and firm attachment thereof substantially parallel to the skin surface. Several embodiments of disposable applicator are disclosed by which the sense of feel of the effort of and during application is retained. These include a flexible member elongated for easy grasping by the hand and having one end thereof designed to cooperatively engage the electrode for stability yet permit the physician's finger(s) to remain in contact with the electrode and a locking applicator arrangement which includes a displaceable locking piece enabling the electrode to firmly remain upon the applicator as the former is administered to the patient.

Transcutaneous electrodes are used for long term monitoring of electro-physiological phenomenon because they are easily retained for long periods, provide a good signal, and are amenable to attachment to difficult areas. One of the more common uses is for detecting the fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) and other heart beat signals during labor, where an electrode must be placed easily, remain firmly attached, and be atraumatic, especially on removal.
The prior art teaches the use of several types of electrodes for transcutaneous monitoring, including standard injection needles, practically all of which are administered to the patient substantially perpendicular to the skin, thus risking the danger of too deep a puncture, etc. To facilitate holding the transcutaneous electrode in place, especially in fetal monitoring, several adaptations have been proposed and/or used, including the surgical clip arrangement of Hon (Instrumentation of Fetal Heart Rate and Fetal Electrocardiography III. Fetal ECG Electrodes: Further Observations, Obstet. Gyn. 30:281,1967); the fish-hook type arrangement of La Croix (U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,242); the double and single spiral arrangements of Ruttgers and Hon (U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,650 and RE 28,990 respectively); and the barbed, straight needle arrangement of Junge (German Patent Application No. 74,19264).
The surgical clip and spiral electrodes are traumatic (the latter primarily from the torque created on application and must be inserted (and in the case of the surgical clip also removed) with a special tool, placing the surgeon's hand well away from the presenting part, and thus losing the "feel" of the situation, reducing physician confidence, and adding a possibility for error in placement. Since the physician is trained to palpate (i.e. feel) and use this modality to a great extent, this loss can be rather disconcerning.
The fish-hook electrode is also traumatic, especially on removal. The barbed needle electrode is significantly smaller than the others and offers a better opportunity for "feel", but its rough edges, i.e. the multiplicity of little barbs, also tend to cause trauma. Moreover, application thereof is difficult in the absence of an applicator tool, with the electrode often slipping away from the entry site when force is applied to effect skin penetration.

Transcutaneous electrode with finger operative attachment assembly


A method, system and program product comprises establishing a communication with a computing system using a first device for communicating with the computing system over a first communication channel. The computing system is in communication with a second device configured for communicating with the computing system over a second communication channel separate from the first communication channel. The first device is paired with the computer system in which the first device and the computer system are mutually authenticated. A code presented by the second device is captured using the first device. The code is communicated to the computing system over the first communication channel in which the computer system uses the code in authorizing the second device to perform a function. The computer system communicates an authorization to the second device using the second communication channel.

The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
Traditional passwords and PINs may be implemented for account access, and as a result of the rapid growth of the Internet over the past twenty years users may need to support a multiplicity of account access information. End-users may be asked to utilize unique and sufficiently complex passwords for the various associated web sites.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Method, system and program product for secure authentication


A method and apparatus for treating an aqueous-containing sludge in which the sludge is filtered on an elongate moving sheet of a water permeable unwoven fabric on paper. The moving sheet is folded and compressed between rollers whereby to express water therefrom. The folded moving sheet and contained sludge is dried, and the dried sheet and sludge is incinerated. Combustion heat from the incineration step is used in the drying step.

This invention pertains to a system for treating water containing substances or organic solvent containing substances that is small-scale, simple and very effective, using a gas permeable, water permeable sheet, that can dehydrate or remove solvent, dry and incinerate biological waste with a large organic solvent content or water content or sludge or sludge-form that is recovered from water containing substances, machine wash (run-off) liquid waste and storage tanks from chemical apparatus, waste water treatment apparatus, sewage and waste disposal processes, and substances such as sewers, rivers, lakes, marshes, harbors, stocked ponds or cisterns.
Previously, there were problems such as using things like a filter press, belt press or drum type suction dehydrator for filtering and dehydrating water containing substances such as sludge that were recovered from chemical apparatus, waste water treatment, drying, incinerating, sewage, and waste disposal processes and sewers, rivers, lakes, marshes, harbors, stocked ponds or cisterns, because of the expense of these, and the necessity of using a specific drying apparatus for drying the previously dehydrated sludge.
Disposal by reclaiming is a common practice for final disposal of industrial waste, but is unusually complex for dehydration of 85% or less that necessitates the use of dehydration apparatus. As in the prior art, for things like waste water treatment and industrial waste water treatment facilities due to requiring a water content of 85% or less by dehydration when incinerated by disposal standards by reclaiming in practice, and the requirement of a reclaiming disposal after incineration treatment by public or private disposal incineration facilities being left to the industry for dehydrated sludge was a problem. Currently, diffusion of combined treatment layers is advanced such as waste water treatment being possible at the source generating the waste water, but requiring another dehydration and incineration is a problem during conveyance to a waste disposal facility by vacuum curing by storage in a storage tank for sludge that is output from a sludge concentrating apparatus with sludge treatment being further complicated in practice.
These inventors applied for:
(1) Japanese Patent Application No. H10-193773, xe2x80x9cWaste Disposal System Using Waste-Holding Pouch to Waste-Holding Pouchxe2x80x9d;
(2) Japanese Patent Application No. H10-254512, xe2x80x9cWaste Water Treatment Method and Its Treatment Devicexe2x80x9d;
(3) Japanese Patent Application No. H10-268924, xe2x80x9cFloatation Elimination Recovery Treatment Method on Water Surface and Its Treatment Apparatusxe2x80x9d;
(4) Japanese Patent Application No. H10-340973, xe2x80x9cA Waste Water Combined Treatment Cleaning System and Its Combined Treatment Washing Apparatusxe2x80x9d; and
(5) Japanese Patent Application No. H11-76433 xe2x80x9cSludge Treatment System and Its Treatment Apparatusxe2x80x9d, for solving these problems with methods and apparatuses that draw out a long unwoven fabric that is wound in a roll and that filters, dehydrates and dries by carrying water containing substances like sludge on it.
The above methods and apparatuses and unusually effective for many combined treatment of sludge, cohesive treatment sludge, fluid oils that float on the water surface and plankton (red tide), but the drying period is long due to the wringing after filtering being inadequate for water containing sludge of the one part, and sludge that comes off the sheet in drying processes for water containing items, and the soot elimination in exhaust gas that is output from incineration processes of dried sheet sludge is a problem.
Unusually harmful substances such as dioxin are byproducts due to incineration methods for water containing waste such as sludge and slurries, and the possibility of preventing the byproducts by raising the incineration temperature is well known; however, the complexities for increasing the incineration temperature by a small-scale, simple incineration apparatus is a problem.
Objects of the invention are to provide a process and apparatus for treatment of water containing waste like sludge or biological waste or organic solvent containing waste, of any kind or substance, which can continuously be removed with a long unwoven fabric sheet, and simple filtering, dehydration and drying can be done with removed substances being carried on the fabric sheet, wherein the removed substances do not come off the fabric sheet during elimination. Another object of the invention is to provide a method and a small-scale inexpensive apparatus that can perform simple elimination of substances such as soot of exhaust gas or flue gas.
An apparatus and method are provided by this invention for solving the aforementioned problems.

Treatment method for things like sludge and treatment apparatus


An optical transmission element comprises optical waveguides embedded into a UV-curing protective layer. The optical waveguides and the UV-curing protective layer are surrounded by a sheath, on which spherical elements are arranged. A conductive layer is applied on the sheath and the spherical elements arranged thereon, said conductive layer having a resistivity. of an order of magnitude of 5·1010 ohms per meter measured at a temperature of between 18 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 45 percent. In the case of an optical transmission element of this type, electrostatic charging when the optical transmission element is blown into an empty conduit is avoided to the greatest possible extent, such that possible blowing-in lengths within a range of between 500 meters and 1000 meters are obtained.

FIG. 1 shows an optical transmission element 10 containing four optical waveguides 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d in its interior. The optical waveguides are embedded into a protective layer 2. The protective layer 2 contains a UV-curing acrylate, for example. The protective layer 2 is surrounded by an outer sheath 3.
In order to protect optical transmission elements against tensile and compressive loading and also in order to afford protection against contamination, optical transmission elements are guided in empty conduits. The optical transmission elements are blown into the empty conduits by compressed air. The empty conduits are formed as plastic conduits having an outer diameter of approximately 5 millimeters and an inner diameter of approximately 3.5 millimeters.
The length with which an optical transmission element can be blown into an empty conduit is a significant quality feature. Typical blow-in lengths are between 500 meters and 1000 meters, which have to be achieved under different climatic conditions. In order to reduce a frictional resistance when an optical transmission element is blown into an empty conduit, the empty conduit generally has an inner coating affording slidability.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,703 describes an embodiment of an optical transmission element which is used for blowing into an empty conduit. In order to improve the blow-in behavior and in particular in order to reduce a friction between the optical transmission element and the inner wall of the empty conduit, spherical elements are disposed on a surface of the outer sheath of the optical transmission element. In this case, the coefficient of friction of the spherical elements is preferably lower than the coefficient of friction of the material used for the inner wall of the empty conduit.
FIG. 2 shows the outer sheath 3 of an optical transmission element with spherical elements applied on said sheath.
Despite such measures, a friction process between the outer sheath of the optical transmission element and the inner wall of the empty conduit cannot be avoided when an optical transmission element is blown into an empty conduit. Possible blowing-in lengths within the range of between 500 meters and 1000 meters as specified above are achieved, however, only when electrostatic charging of the optical elements is avoided by suitable measures during a blow-in operation. When the optical transmission elements are blown in, charging of the optical transmission elements generally occurs as a result of the friction of the optical transmission elements at the inner coating of the empty conduit. The charges on the surface of the optical transmission elements lead to a high degree of adhesion on account of the electrostatic attraction between the optical transmission elements and the inner wall of the empty conduit.

Optical transmission element and method for producing an optical transmission element


A ceramic membrane device for a photomask is a ring-shaped base plate constituting a circumferential frame and having a flat front surface, an outer side surface and a rear surface, a front CVD coating supported on the front surface of the base plate and defining a flat surface on which a masking pattern is to be formed, and a rear CVD coating formed on the rear surface of the base plate. The front and rear CVD coatings are made of a silicon compound. The ceramic membrane device is made by providing a plate having a flat front surface, a side surface and a rear surface, forming a front CVD coating made of a silicon compound on the side surface and the front surface of the plate, forming a rear CVD coating made of a silicon compound on a partial area of the rear surface of the plate so that an uncoated area remains, removing the portion of the plate corresponding to the uncoated area by means of etching so that the remaining portion of the plate can function as a circumferential frame for the ceramic membrane formed by the front coating.

This invention relates to a ceramic membrane device which is suitable for a photomask and to a method for producing the ceramic membrane device.
When processing an integrated circuit, a photomask is used for the purpose of forming a pattern of electronic circuits or masking a pattern on a wafer. A conventional ceramic membrane device is composed of a ring-shaped base plate made of silicon and a circular ceramic coating supported on the base plate.
In the conventional ceramic membrane device, the ceramic coating is formed on only one face of the base plate. Thus, the base plate is apt to be disadvantageously curved or bent because there is a difference in magnitude of thermal expansion between the silicon base plate and the ceramic coating. If the base plate is curved, the ceramic coating is also curved so that its flatness deteriorates. In case of a curved ceramic membrane on which a masking pattern is formed, the pattern formed on a wafer by means of an X-ray will be faulty.

Ceramic membrane device and a method of producing the same


An ethylene polymerization process is disclosed. The polyethylene has a long-chain-branching index (LCBI) of 1 or greaster. The process uses a single-site catalyst that contains a boraaryl ligand. The catalyst is alkylated with triisobutyl aluminum.

The invention relates to ethylene polymerization using single-site catalysts. More particularly, the invention relates to a process that produces polyethylene having an increased long-chain-branch index.
Single-site catalysts for olefin polymerization are known. They can be divided into metallocenes and non-metallocenes. Metallocene single-site catalysts are transition metal compounds that contain cyclopentadienyl (Cp) or Cp derivative ligands. Non-metallocene single-site catalysts contain ligands other than Cp but have similar catalytic characteristics to the metallocenes. The non-metallocene single-site catalysts often contain heteroatomic ligands, e.g., boraaryl (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,027), pyrrolyl (U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,124), azaborolinyl (U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,611) and quinolinyl (U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,660). Single-site catalysts produce polyethylenes having many properties that are not available to those made with Ziegler catalysts, for example, narrow molecular weight distribution and low density.
Successful production of polyethylene with the newly developed single-site catalysts offers many challenges. First, the catalysts often need to be modified for desirable activity and stability. For example, copending Appl. Ser. No. 09/318,009 teaches in-situ alkylation of a transition metal complex that has at least one labile ligand with an alkyl aluminum compound in the polymerization system.
Polyethylene and other olefin polymers made with single-site catalysts are highly desirable if they can be produced in existing equipment. Successful commercial production often requires the polyethylene to have a relatively high bulk density (usually greater than about 0.30 g/cm3). Low bulk density gives a low production rate, causes difficulty in operation, and often results in inferior product quality. Copending Appl. Ser. No. 09/593,878 (Docket No. 88-1023A) teaches how to increase bulk density of polyethylene by premixing supported boraaryl single-site catalysts with an alkyl aluminum.
Moreover, single-site catalysts often produce olefin polymers of narrow molecular weight distributions. The uniformity of molecular weight distribution, although improving tensile strength and other physical properties of polymer products, makes the thermal processing more difficult. U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,484, for example, teaches a multiple-zone, multiple-catalyst process for making polyethylene. The polymer produced has a broad molecular weight distribution and improved processability.
It is also known that increasing long-chain branching can improve processability of polyethylene made with single-site catalysts (see WO 93/08221). The existence of long-chain branching in polyethylene is particularly important for blown film extrusion and blow molding processes. However, achieving long-chain branching often requires the use of specific catalysts. For example, WO 93/08221 teaches how to increase the concentration of long-chain branches in polyethylene by using constrained-geometry single-site catalysts.
New methods for increasing long-chain branching in polyethylene are needed. Ideally, the method would use a readily available single-site catalyst and would be easy to practice.
The invention is a process for producing polyethylene. The process uses a Group 4 metal single-site catalyst that contains at least one boraaryl ligand. The catalyst is alkylated with triisobutyl aluminum (TIBAL). The process gives a polyethylene having an increased long-chain-branch index (LCBI).
We have surprisingly found that when the catalyst is alkylated with TIBAL, the polyethylene produced has LCBI greater than about 1. When the catalyst is not alkylated or is alkylated with triethyl aluminum, the polyethylene has LCBI less than 1.
The invention is a process for making polyethylene having an increased long-chain-branch index (LCBI). LCBI is a rheological index used to characterize low levels of long-chain branching in essentially linear polyethylenes. LCBI is defined as:   LCBI  =                    η        0        0.179                    4.8        ·                  [          η          ]                      -    1
where xcex70 is the limiting, zero-shear viscosity (Poise) at 190xc2x0 C. and [xcex7] is the intrinsic viscosity in trichlorobenzene at 135xc2x0 C.(dL/g). LCBI is based on observations that low levels of long-chain branching, in an otherwise linear polymer, result in a large increase in melt viscosity, xcex70, with no change in intrinsic viscosity, [xcex7]. See R. N. Shroff and H. Mavridis, xe2x80x9cLong-Chain-Branching Index for Essentially Linear Polyethylenes,xe2x80x9d Macromolecules, Vol. 32 (25), pp. 8454-8464 (1999). Higher LCBI means a greater number of long-chain branches per polymer chain. When LCBI equals zero, there is no long-chain branching.
A Group 4 metal single-site catalyst is used. Preferably, the metal is zirconium. The catalyst contains at least one boraaryl ligand. Suitable boraaryl ligands include substituted or unsubstituted borabenzenes, boranaphthalenes, boraanthracenes, and boraphenanthrenes. Preferably, the boraaryl ligand is borabenzene or a substituted borabenzene, e.g., 1-methylborabenzene. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,554,775, 5,637,659, and 6,034,027, the teachings of which are herein incorporated by reference, teach how to prepare catalysts that contain a boraaryl ligand.
In addition to a boraaryl ligand, the catalyst contains other ligands. The total number of ligands satisfies the valence of the transition metal. The ligands can be bridged or non-bridged. Examples include substituted or unsubstituted cyclopentadienyls, indenyls, fluorenyls, halides, C1-C10 alkyls, C6-C15 aryls, C7-C20 aralkyls, dialkylamino, thioether, siloxy, alkoxy, and the like, and mixtures thereof. Halides, cyclopentadienyls, and indenyls are preferred.
Examples of boraaryl-based single-site catalysts are (borabenzene)(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, (1 -methylborabenzene)(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, (borabenzene)(indenyl)-zirconium dichloride, (1-methylborabenzene)(indenyl)zirconium dichloride, (boranaphthalene)(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, and (boraanthracenes)(cyclopentadienyl) zirconium dichloride.
Optionally, the catalyst is immobilized on a support. The support is preferably a porous material such as inorganic oxides and chlorides, and organic polymer resins. Preferred inorganic oxides include oxides of Group 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, or 14 elements. Preferred supports include silica, alumina, silica-aluminas, magnesias, titanias, zirconias, magnesium chloride, and crosslinked polystyrene. Silica is most preferred.
Preferably, the support has a surface area in the range of about 10 to about 700 m2/g, a pore volume in the range of about 0.1 to about 4.0 mL/g, an average particle size in the range of about 10 to about 500 xcexcm, and an average pore diameter in the range of about 10 to about 1000 xc3x85. They are preferably modified by heat treatment, chemical modification, or both. For heat treatment, the support is preferably heated at a temperature from about 50xc2x0 C. to about 800xc2x0 C. More preferably, the temperature is from about 50xc2x0 C. to about 300xc2x0 C.
Suitable chemical modifiers include organoaluminum, organosilicon, organomagnesium, and organoboron compounds. Organosilicon and organoboron compounds, such as hexamethyldisilazane and triethylborane, are preferred. Suitable techniques to support a single-site catalyst are taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,311, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The catalyst is used with an activator. Activators can be combined with the Group 4 metal catalyst and the optional support or they can be added separately to the polymerization reactor. Suitable activators include anionic compounds of boron and aluminum, trialkylborane and triarylborane compounds, and the like. Examples are lithium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, triphenylcarbenium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane, methyl alumoxane (MAO), the like and mixtures thereof. Activators are generally used in an amount within the range of about 0.01 to about 100,000, preferably from about 0.1 to about 1,000, and most preferably from about 0.5 to about 300, moles per mole of the single-site catalyst.
The catalyst is alkylated with triisobutyl aluminum (TIBAL). By xe2x80x9calkylated,xe2x80x9d we mean that the catalyst is allowed to react with TIBAL for a period of time sufficient to effectively increase the LCBI. The alkylation usually takes longer than 10 minutes. We have found that merely premixing the catalyst with TIBAL prior to the polymerization does not effectively increase the LCBI (see Comparative Example 7, LCBI is only 0.67). We have also found that when the catalyst is alkylated with triethyl aluminum, the polyethylene produced has a low LCBI (see Comparative Example 4, LCBI is only 0.35).
The alkylation reaction of the catalyst with TIBAL is preferably performed in solution by slowly adding TIBAL to the catalyst. Suitable organic solvents for the reaction include aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Examples are heptane, butane, cyclohexane, and toluene. The solvent can be removed after the alkylation. If it does not interfere with the polymerization, the solvent can be left in the catalyst. Elevated temperature is not needed for the reaction.
The molar ratio of TIBAL to the Group 4 metal catalyst is preferably within the range of about 0.5 to about 500, more preferably from about 1 to about 100, and most preferably from about 2 to about 20.
Polymerization is conducted in the presence of the alkylated catalyst. It can be conducted in bulk, solution, gas phase, or slurry phase. Gas phase and slurry phase processes are preferred. Methods and apparatus for gas phase polymerization of ethylene with Ziegler catalysts are well known, and they are suitable for use in the process of the invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,157, the teachings of which are herein incorporated by reference, teaches in detail gas phase polymerization of ethylene with a Ziegler catalyst. The slurry phase polymerization is performed in an organic solvent that can disperse the catalyst and polyethylene. Suitable solvents include C4 to C10 linear, branched, and cyclic aliphatic, and C6-C12 aromatic hydrocarbons. Examples of suitable solvents are butane, hexane, cyclohexane, octane, and isobutane.
The polymerization is preferably conducted under pressure. The pressure is preferably in the range of about 150 to about 15,000 psi, more preferably from about 200 to about 5,000 psi, and most preferably from about 200 to about 2,000 psi. Generally, the higher the pressure, the more productive the process. Laboratory operations are conducted under relatively low pressure for safety reasons.
A scavenger is preferably used in the polymerization. Scavengers reduce the effect of a trace amount of moisture and oxygen existing in the reactor on the polymerization and increase the activity and lifetime of the catalysts. Suitable scavengers include alkyl aluminum compounds. Scavengers are added into the reactor prior to the addition of the trialkyl aluminum-treated catalyst slurry. The amount of scavenger is about 1 to 500 times the amount of the trialkyl aluminum-treated catalyst slurry.
The invention also includes the ethylene polymers made by the process, including polyethylene and copolymers of ethylene with a C3-C10 xcex1-olefin. Suitable xcex1-olefins include propylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, and 1-octene, and the like, and mixtures thereof. The concentration of xcex1-olefin is preferably less than about 10 wt % of ethylene in the reaction phase. We have found that if the xcex1-olefin concentration is too high, the polyethylene has a low LCBI (see Comparative Example 6, LCBI is 0.23). The ethylene polymers of the invention have a LCBI greater than about 1. The polymers are widely used in the industry for making films, molded parts, and other products.
The following examples merely illustrate the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize many variations that are within the spirit of the invention and scope of the claims.


A battery pack for powering at least two different types of camcorders and being charged by at least two corresponding different types of chargers comprises a connector plate including a plurality of locking formations and electrical connection points. The connector plate further includes a movable tab, which in a first position enables the plate to connect with a first camcorder and charger and in a second position, connects with a different camcorder and charger. When the tab is in the first position, the plate cannot connect with the different camcorder or charger.

A battery pack for powering a camcorder has a connector plate for releasably securing the pack to a camcorder and/or a corresponding charger. The plate includes locking formations and connection points which are designed to engage with complementary formations and connection points on the camcorder and charger so that the battery pack can be secured onto either the camcorder or the charger and electrical connection be thereby established. While camcorders and chargers of the same brand usually have the same arrangement of locking formations and connection points, different makes of camcorders and chargers often have different arrangements of the locking formations and connection points and ways have therefore been devised to provide a single battery pack which is compatible with more than one make of camcorder and charger.
Two-way battery packs are known which are compatible with two different types of camcorders and chargers with type of camcorder and charger having a different arrangement of locking formations and connection points. The formations and connection points on the connector plate of the two-way battery pack are so designed that while the battery pack can be secured onto and thus be electrically connected with a first type of camcorder or charger, it can also be secured onto and electrically connected with a second type of camcorder or charger when it is rotated through 180.degree. about the axis perpendicular to the plane containing the connector plate.
There are known to be at least three different types of camcorder and charger, each having a different arrangement of locking formations and connecting points. An obvious shortcoming of the existing two-way battery packs is that they cannot be used with more than two types of camcorder and charger.


The invention concerns a transparent heating device comprising: a graphene film fixed to a transparent substrate; a first electrode (205) connected to a first edge of the graphene film; and a second electrode (206) connected to a second edge of the graphene film, wherein there is a resistance gradient across the graphene film from the first electrode (205) to the second electrode (206).

For certain applications, such as for windscreens or wing mirrors for motor vehicles, it would be desirable to provide a transparent heating device in the form of a transparent element that is capable of conducting an electrical current across its surface. Thus, by applying a voltage to electrodes at the edges of the transparent element, the transparent element may be heated. In the case of windscreens or wing mirrors, such a heating device can be used to remove and/or prevent the build-up of frost.
Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a material that, when applied in thin layers, provides a transparent conducting layer. However, ITO has a number of drawbacks. In particular, it is a relatively brittle material, making it unsuitable for surfaces that may flex during use. Furthermore, Indium is in short supply, making ITO relatively costly.
One alternative to ITO that has been proposed is graphene. Graphene is a material composed of carbon atoms forming a crystal lattice one atom in thickness. It is conductive, transparent, and flexible and can be produced at relatively low cost. For example, the publication by J. Kang et al. entitled "High-Performance Graphene-Based Transparent Flexible Heaters", Nano Letters, 3b2, version 9, pages 5154 to 5158, Nov. 14, 2011, describes a flexible transparent heater based on a large-scale graphene film synthesized by chemical vapor deposition on a Cu foil.
However, there is a technical problem in providing a transparent heating device comprising graphene that has a relatively uniform thermal emission across its surface.
Furthermore would also be desirable in some embodiments to be able to display information on the transparent heating device, however there are technical problems in doing so.

Transparent heating device with graphene film

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE


An exemplary volumetric frame capture controller (“controller”) transmits first and second commands to first and second three-dimensional (“3D”) capture devices disposed, respectively, at first and second positions with respect to a real-world scene. The first and second commands are to capture, respectively, first and second 3D sub-frames representative of the real-world scene from first and second vantage points associated with the first and second positions. Based on the first and second commands, the controller receives the first and second 3D sub-frames and, in response, determines that a first timestamp associated with a capture of the first 3D sub-frame is less than a predefined time threshold from a second timestamp associated with a capture of the second 3D sub-frame. In response to this determination, the controller provides the first and second 3D sub-frames for use in forming a volumetric frame of the real-world scene. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

Data representative of real-world scenes (i.e., scenes that include places and things existing in the real world, as opposed to scenes that are entirely virtual, imaginary, computer generated, or the like) may be captured for use in various applications. For example, video data and/or other types of data representative of a real-world scene may be captured to generate a recreation or model of the real-world scene for entertainment, manufacturing, educational, and/or other types of applications.
Virtual reality media content is one example of an application where data representative of real-world scenes may be captured. Virtual reality media content may be used to immerse viewers (or "users") into interactive virtual reality worlds that the users may experience by directing their attention to any of a variety of things being presented in the immersive virtual reality world at the same time. For example, at any time during the presentation of the virtual reality media content, a user experiencing the virtual reality media content may look around the immersive virtual reality world in any direction, giving the user a sense that he or she is actually present in and experiencing the immersive virtual reality world from a particular vantage point within the immersive virtual reality world. In some examples, virtual reality media content may be generated to represent immersive virtual reality worlds that are based on data (e.g., video data, audio data, etc.) of real-world scenes captured using one or more capture devices (e.g., video cameras, etc.).
Unfortunately, current methods of capturing data representative of real-world scenes may have various drawbacks and limitations, particularly when several distinct capture devices are used to simultaneously capture data representative of the same real-world scene. For example, when a plurality of capture devices provide captured video data representative of the real-world scene (e.g., video data representing different parts of the real-world scene, video data representing the real-world scene from different vantage points, etc.) to a central processing server concurrently, the server may have to expend significant processing resources organizing, sorting, ordering, synchronizing, and otherwise processing and preparing the incoming data prior to being able to combine or otherwise make use of the data captured by the different capture devices (e.g., to generate virtual reality media content or the like).
Additionally, even if powerful computing resources (e.g., very fast processors, etc.) are available to perform the organizing, sorting, ordering, synchronizing, and other processing described above, it may be difficult or impractical to scale such resources upward in the event that system requirements change and evolve. For example, conventional techniques used to capture data representative of a real-world scene in one implementation may not necessarily scale up to capture a larger real-world scene, to capture the real-world scene using a larger number of capture devices, to capture the real-world scene at a higher capture quality (e.g., video resolution, etc.), or the like.

Methods and systems for capturing a plurality of three-dimensional sub-frames for use in forming a volumetric frame of a real-world scene


A signal conditioning and signal power amplification system with digital signal attenuation and signal amplification with signal modification by clipping and filtering followed by pulse width modulation. The signal is then amplified and demodulated to generate similar signals in sequence which provide an amplified regenerated signal. A timer system is provided to sequence the phase of signal conditioning and amplification which adds an adjustable dead band to prevent destructive enforcement of the signal.

The present invention relates in general to signal modification systems and provides apparatus particularly useful for amplification of audio signals where an audio signal is generated at a location and it is desired to amplify the signal for use.
Signal amplification is well known in the art and various prior art devices have been developed for such purposes in audio arts as well as for other purposes.
In spite of the long term and widespread use of signal attenuation and amplification new demands are consistently made of such equipment in both fidelity and amplification capability.
With the advent of large arenas and public buildings such as airports where public address systems are utilized the need for relatively inexpensive but more importantly, small and efficient audio systems with great capabilities has developed.
The prior art has not developed a small means to efficiently provide high power amplification. Prior art systems where high gain amplification has been achieved have generally been relatively inefficient as compared with devices provided by the present invention as described hereinafter.


A two-cycle engine has a balancer shaft driven by a crankshaft of the engine through gears, and a gear cover forming a balancer gear chamber for the gears. The balancer gear chamber is communicated with the atmosphere through a breather passage formed in an upper portion thereof. A labyrinth passage is formed in the balancer gear chamber for breathing air, so as to separate oil from discharging air.

The present invention relates to a breather system for a two-cycle engine for adjusting the air pressure in a balancer gear chamber.
Some types of a two-cycle engine have a balancer chamber for housing gears and balancers. The balancer chamber is sealed with a sealing means and has an oil reservoir formed therein The oil in the oil reservoir is scooped up by balancer gears provided in the balancer chamber to lubricate the gears and bearings.
When the temperature of the engine rises after starting the engine or when the temperature drops after stopping the engine, the inner pressure in the balancer chamber varies. The pressure variation affects the sealing of the balancer chamber. To prevent the reduction of the sealing effect, a breather device is provided for adjusting the inner pressure.
Japanese Utility Model Publication 60-27765 discloses a breather system in which a breather chamber is formed on an upper portion of a balancer chamber The breather chamber is provided with a fine drill hole to communicate the breather chamber with the atmosphere through a tapped hole of a bolt provided for engaging a crankcase and a cylinder block. When the air in the balancer chamber expands and flows into the breather chamber, the oil included in the air is almost separated from the air in the breather chamber. Thereafter, the air passes through the drill hole where the oil is further separated from the air and the air discharges into the atmosphere through the tapped hole.
However, in the system, the air flowing into the breather chamber includes a large amount of oil. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a breather chamber having a large capacity to separate the oil from the air. Further, the manufacturing cost of the device increases because of forming a fine drill hole.

Breather system for a balancer gear chamber of a two-cycle engine


A two-wire temperature transmitter performs thermocouple diagnostics on a thermocouple attached to the transmitter to determine if, and the extent to which, the thermocouple has degraded. Various methods of obtaining thermocouple resistance are also provided.

The process industry employs process variable transmitters to monitor process variables associated with substances such as solids, slurries, liquids, vapors, and gasses in chemical, pulp, petroleum, pharmaceutical, food and other processing plants. Process variables include pressure, temperature, flow, level, turbidity, density, concentration, chemical composition and other properties. A process fluid temperature transmitter provides an output related to a sensed process substance temperature. The temperature transmitter output can be communicated over a process control loop to a control room, or the output can be communicated to another process device such that the process can be monitored and controlled. In order to monitor a process fluid temperature, the transmitter includes a temperature sensor, such as a thermocouple.
A thermocouple is fabricated by joining two dissimilar metals, such as bismuth and antimony. The junction of the two dissimilar metals produces a small voltage that is related to its temperature. This is known as the Seebeck effect. Process fluid temperature transmitters that employ thermocouple sensors, thus measure the small voltage of the thermocouple, and then calculate process fluid temperature based upon the thermocouple voltage. Although a thermocouple""s primary variable of interest is its voltage (indicative of temperature) it is generally known that the thermocouple""s resistance is indicative of its condition. As thermocouples age, or otherwise degrade, thermocouple resistance changes. Thus, thermocouple resistance measurement can be used to evaluate the condition of the thermocouple. In order to measure the resistance, a test current is generally passed through the thermocouple, and the resulting voltage is measured and used to calculate the resistance.
In two-wire process control installations, process measurement devices, such as temperature transmitters can receive all required electrical power through the same two wires that are used for data communication. Generally, the amount of power available on the loop is limited in order to facilitate compliance with intrinsic safety requirements. Typically, the loop current varies between 4 and 20 mA to indicate a process variable. Thus, a device powered by the loop must be operable on 4 mA or less. Such minimal electrical power generally limits the computational capacity of a given process device, as well as the amount of power that can be used for diagnostics. Thus, there is a tradeoff between the convenience of two-wire temperature transmitters, and the ability to provide suitable amounts of diagnostic current through a thermocouple to achieve accurate diagnostic information.
As process control becomes more accurate, there is an increasing need to provide process devices that not only provide process variables, but also indicate their own health. By providing enhanced process device diagnostics, process variable information can be relied upon to a greater or lesser extent, depending upon the state of the process device. Providing such devices will enhance process control and potentially increase the efficiency of predictive maintenance.
A two-wire temperature transmitter performs thermocouple diagnostics on a thermocouple attached to the transmitter to determine if, and the extent to which, the thermocouple has degraded. The transmitter passes a diagnostic current through a thermocouple to obtain the resistance of the thermocouple. The resistance is then used to calculate a diagnostic output that is related to thermocouple degradation. Various methods of obtaining thermocouple resistance are also provided.

Two-wire fluid temperature transmitter with thermocouple diagnostics


An assembly designed to increase the ease with which a printed circuit board carrier may be inserted or extracted from an enclosure. The assembly includes a movable lever mounted to the carrier and curved pin slot in the enclosure. A pin on the lever engages the curved pin slot. During insertion, the shape of the pin slot guides the carrier into its position, then the lever rotates to place the pin in a portion of the pin slot that is oriented in a substantially different direction from the direction of insertion, thus holding the carrier in place. During removal, the pin holds the carrier in place while the lever rotates away from the carrier and thus becomes accessible to permit removal of the carrier by pulling on the lever. Two assemblies, one on each side of the carrier, are typically used.

Many pieces of electrical and electronic equipment are made up of "rack mounted" enclosures printed circuit boards that slide into or out of position along fixed immobile racks. There is a strong trend towards operating such equipment continuously during the installation or removal of any circuit boards. During such "hot swapping," it must be possible to access the board of interest very quickly but without compromising safety, grounding, operation and electrical shielding of adjacent boards, and so forth. The increasingly smaller sizes and closer mountings of modular electronic equipment make this a difficult task, in part because both the number and the density of the connecting pins between boards are increasing as the electronics becomes more sophisticated. Thus, accurate alignment of the circuit board into the rack is important, but achieving such alignment can be time-consuming.
One approach to the problems presented by these conditions are board carriers, which are modular frames that fit closely within the rack and can carry a variety of boards of different functions. The carriers are carefully designed to hold the circuit boards in their proper position while the carrier is inserted into the rack along rails. The carriers may be inserted with relatively less accuracy than is required by the circuit board itself, because the design of the rail system provides the needed accurate alignment as the carrier is moved down the rail into the rack.

Printed circuit board carrier insertion/extraction assembly


The present invention provides a photomask blank used for producing a photomask to which an ArF excimer laser light is applied, wherein: a light-shielding film is provided on a light transmissive substrate; the light-shielding film has a laminated structure in which a lower layer, an interlayer and an upper layer are laminated in this order from the side close to the light transmissive substrate; the thickness of the entire light-shielding film is 60 nm or less; the lower layer is made of a film containing a metal and has a first etching rate; the upper layer is made of a film containing a metal and has a third etching rate; the interlayer is made of a film containing the same metal as that contained in the lower layer or the upper layer and has a second etching rate that is lower than the first etching rate and the third etching rate; and the thickness of the interlayer is 30% or less of the thickness of the entire light-shielding film.

In general, in the production processes of high-density semiconductor integrated circuits such as LSI, color filters for CCD (charge-coupled device) and LCD (liquid crystal display device), magnetic heads, etc., microfabrication utilizing the photolithographic technique using photomasks is performed.
In this microfabrication, a photomask, in which a light-shielding film consisting of a metal thin film such as a chromium film is generally formed on a light transmissive substrate made of quartz glass, aluminosilicate glass or the like by means of sputtering, vacuum deposition or the like to provide a photomask blank, wherein the light-shielding film is formed to have a predetermined pattern, is used.
A photomask is produced using such a photomask blank with the following processes: an exposure process in which a desired pattern exposure is applied to a resist film formed on the photomask blank; a development process in which, after the desired pattern exposure is applied to the resist film formed on the photomask blank, a developing solution is supplied thereto to dissolve portions of the resist film soluble in the developing solution, thereby forming a resist pattern; a etching process in which, using the obtained resist pattern as a mask, portions in which a light-shielding film is exposed with the resist pattern not formed are removed by etching, such as, wet etching using an etching solution consisting of a mixed aqueous solution of ceric ammonium nitrate and perchloric acid, and dry etching using chlorine gas, thereby forming a predetermined mask pattern on a light transmissive substrate; and a stripping/removing process in which the remaining resist pattern is stripped and removed.
During patterning of the light-shielding film in the etching process, the resist pattern formed on the light-shielding film must remain with a sufficient film thickness. However, when the resist film thickness is increased, the aspect ratio is increased, and this causes the problem of pattern collapsing, etc., particularly in the case where a fine pattern is to be formed. Therefore, in order to miniaturize a mask pattern formed on a photomask, it is required to decrease the thickness of a resist film formed on a photomask blank.
Regarding this point, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-33470 (Patent Document 1) discloses a photomask blank comprising a light-shielding film having a thickness of 100 nm or less, wherein the film has a structure in which the percentage of the film thickness of a chromium-based compound having a high etching rate is 70% or more to enable reduction in etching time, thereby realizing miniaturization of the resist. Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a photomask blank in which a semitransparent film, a CrON film, a Cr film and a CrON film are laminated on a light transmissive substrate, wherein the percentage of the thickness of the CrON film is 70% or more.
However, regarding the above-described CrON film, it is just that the optical density per unit film thickness at a wavelength of 450 nm is set, and regarding a wavelength of exposure light equal to or less than wave length of an ArF excimer laser light, no optimization has been made. In particular, in the case of hyper-NA lithography, the angle of light incidence relative to a photomask becomes shallower, and this causes the problem that a miniaturized mask pattern itself shades a transfer image (shadowing). When a light-shielding film is thick, reduction of the amount of light (deterioration of contrast) due to shadowing is highly influential. In addition, the cross-section shape is prone to vary, and this, together with shadowing, causes reduction of transfer accuracy of CD (Critical Dimension).
Further, in order to improve resolution performance by finer processing of a photomask, a phase shift mask blank, in which, for example, a phase shift film having the transmittance of several percent to several tens percent with the phase of transmitted light being shifted 180° (e.g., a phase shift film made of a metal silicide oxide film or a metal silicide oxide nitride film described in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 2837803 (Patent Document 2), a metal silicide nitride film described in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 2966369 (Patent Document 3) or the like) and a light-shielding film such as a chromium film having etching selectivity relative to the phase shift film are formed on the above-described light transmissive substrate by means of sputtering, vacuum deposition or the like, and a phase shift mask in which these light-shielding film and phase shift film are formed in a predetermined pattern are used.
Regarding the structure of the phase shift mask, a general example in the case where the transmittance of the phase shift film is 10% or more (e.g., 10% to 40%) is described in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 3445329 (Patent Document 4; Example 1 and FIG. 1), and this is a phase shift mask having a structure in which a light-shielding film pattern is formed on a phase shift film pattern formed within a pattern transfer region and a light-shielding film with a width of a predetermined value or more is formed in a non-pattern-transfer region. Further, a general example in the case where the transmittance of the phase shift film is less than 10% (e.g., 2 to less than 10%) is described in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 3411613 (Patent Document 5; Example 1 and FIG. 1), and this is a phase shift mask having a structure in which no light-shielding film pattern is formed on a phase shift film pattern formed within a pattern transfer region and a light-shielding film with a width of a predetermined value or more is formed in a non-pattern-transfer region.
As recited in claims 25 to 29 in International Publication WO 2004/090635 pamphlet (Patent Document 6), a phase shift mask blank may have a structure in which a film for etching mask made of an inorganic material having resistance to dry etching of a light-shielding film is laminated on the light-shielding film, which is formed on a phase shift film and comprises chromium.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-33470    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 2837803    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent No. 2966369    [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent No. 3445329    [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent No. 3411613    [Patent Document 6] International Publication WO 2004/090635 pamphlet

Phase shift mask blank and phase shift mask


A plug-in power supply for converting a mains voltage into an operating voltage is provided, comprising a housing having arranged therein an electronic circuit for voltage conversion, and at least two primary contact pins which are movable between an operating position, in which they are adapted to be inserted into the mains socket and in which they extend substantially at right angles to one of the lateral surfaces of the housing, and a position of rest on at least one of said lateral surfaces, the primary contact pins being arranged substantially parallel to said at least one lateral surface in said position of rest. In order to achieve the largest possible reduction of size and in order to guarantee that the plug-in power supply can be handled easily and safely, a geometric arrangement of the primary contact pins with respect to each other in their position of rest differs from a geometric arrangement of the primary contact pins in their operating position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to DC power supplies and in particular to a plug-in power supply for converting a main supply voltage into an operating voltage, comprising a housing having arranged therein an electronic circuit for voltage conversion, and at least two primary contact pins which are movable between an operating position, in which they are adapted to be inserted into the main supply socket and in which they extend substantially at right angles to one of the lateral surfaces of the housing, and a position of rest on at least one of said lateral surfaces, the primary contact pins being arranged substantially parallel to said at least one lateral surface in said position rest.
2. Description of the Related Art
As outlined in FIG. 1, conventional plug-in power supplies, which convert the main supply voltage (normally 110 or 230 volt) into an operating voltage (normally a so-called extra-low safety voltage), comprise a housing 102 having essentially the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped and including a cover surface 110, a base surface 111, as well as four lateral surfaces 116. The housing 102 has arranged therein an electronic circuit for voltage conversion. In addition, the plug-in power supply 100 is normally provided with an electric connecting line 104 which is adapted to be inserted via a plug 106 into a plug socket of a load, and a primary contact 108 arranged on the base surface 111 and adapted to be inserted into a main supply socket. The trend towards size optimization of mobile loads, such as mobile phones, palmtops or the like, makes it necessary that also the accessories required, such as a charging set, which can be realized in the form of a plug-in power supply according to FIG. 1, are miniaturized to the greatest degree possible. In particular on the Asian market, a volume optimization of technical devices is a feature which decisively influences the buyer""s decision. The reduction of size is limited by the electric components which have to be used and by the standards which have to be observed with regard to insulation distances and creeping distances. It follows that narrow limits are set to a more far-reaching miniaturization of the plug-in power supply, especially in the operating condition, as can be seen for instance from DE 198 35 161 C1 and DE 198 45 962 C1.
Such conventional plug-in power supplies are known for instance from DE 297 08 589 U1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,056.
For accommodating the primary contact pins 108 on the base surface 111, a recess is provided, which extends comparatively far into the interior of the housing. This has the effect that the volume in the housing interior that can be used for the electric components is reduced by mechanical components.
A further drawback of the arrangement outlined in FIG. 1 is the disadvantageous position of the plug-in power supply 100 in a main supply socket in which neighboring sockets may be covered.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a plug-in power supply for converting a main supply voltage into an operating voltage, said plug-in power supply being reduced still further in size and adapted to be handled easily and safely.
According to one embodiment, a geometric arrangement of the primary contact pins with respect to each other in their position of rest differs from a geometric arrangement of the primary contact pins in their operating position.
A substantial advantage of said plug-in power supply according to the present invention is that, by displacing the primary contact pin, said primary contact pin can be moved to an extremely space-saving position of rest. In addition, the plug-in power supply according to the present invention has a smooth surface, without any projecting plug pins which may get caught up with other components during transport, when the primary contact pin is at its position of rest. By arranging the primary contact pin at right angles to a lateral surface of the plug-in power supply in the operating position, it is additionally possible to prevent neighboring sockets from being rendered inaccessible.
In order to make the plug-in power supply compatible with existing main supply sockets, same is provided with two primary contact pins, which, when occupying the operating position, are arranged at a distance from one another that conforms to the standard.
Further developments of the present invention are the subject matters of a plurality of dependent claims.
According to a preferred embodiment, the primary contact pins are adapted to be swiveled, e.g., for the purpose of transport, from the operating position, in which they are adapted to be inserted into the main supply socket, to a position of rest on at least one of the lateral surfaces of the housing. This offers the advantage that space for the contact pin is not required in the interior of the housing. The structural design of the housing is particularly simple in the case of this embodiment.
According to another preferred embodiment, one of the primary contact pins is adapted to be axially displaced from the operating position to the position of rest on one of the lateral surfaces of the housing and the other primary contact pin is adapted to be swiveled from the operating position to the position of rest on one of the lateral surfaces of the housing. This embodiment offers the possibility of a particularly far-reaching miniaturization of the plug-in power supply, when the primary contact pins are at their position of rest and handling will be particularly easy.
In order to guarantee the highest possible safety of the plug-in power supply according to the present invention, the plug-in power supply can be so conceived that the electric connection between the primary contact pin and the electronic circuit in the interior of the housing will not be established until the final operating position has been reached.
Particularly safe contact with the main supply socket will be achieved when the primary contact pin is adapted to be locked in its operating position.
According to a preferred embodiment, the housing is provided with recesses which accommodate the primary contact pin in its position of rest. This will guarantee that the surface of the plug-in power supply according to the present invention is flat and that projecting pins which may get caught up with other components are avoided.
When the primary contact pin is so conceived that it is adapted to be locked in its position of rest, this will have the advantage that it is protected against inadvertent displacement from its position of rest.
According to a preferred embodiment, the housing of the plug-in power supply according to the present invention comprises two halves which are adapted to be connected to one another. This offers the advantage of a simplified, economy-priced assembly.
In order to guarantee an increased degree of safety, the plug-in power supply according to the present invention can be equipped with a mechanical coupling device which is provided between the two primary contact pins and which forces the two pins to move simultaneously.
A particularly simple and economy-priced possibility of realizing such a coupling device is the use of gears.
The housing can be provided with an electric connecting line which is adapted to be inserted via a plug into a plug socket of a load so that, when the plug-in power supply is in operation, a connected load can be arranged remote from the power socket (e.g. a mobile phone on a table).

Plug-in power supply with miniaturized primary contact means


A compressor includes a memory storing a de-compression pixel value de-compressed after a pixel value is compressed, a direct compression unit compressing a pixel value corresponding to a compression target pixel, and a first difference compression unit configured to compress a difference value between the pixel value corresponding to the compression target pixel and a decompression pixel value corresponding to at least one reference pixel, an error evaluation unit, and a decompression unit. The error evaluation unit compares a pixel value error of the direct compression unit before and after compression with a difference value error of the first difference compression unit before and after compression and outputs a compression value obtained through compression of the direct compression unit or a compression value obtained through compression of the first difference compression unit together with an identifier indicating a compression method, based on the comparison result, to the decompression unit.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a compressor of image data, a driving device including the same, and a display device including the driving device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A frame memory having a capacity determined according to the number of pixels of a display panel and the number of gray scale levels for display is used to drive a display panel. A display panel capable of being applied to a cellular phone, a smart phone, etc., uses high density, miniaturized pixels to improve the display quality of the display panel.

Compressor, driving device, and display device


Methods and apparatus for expanding a field of view of an image during a video communication session. In some embodiments, a method includes transmitting a first video image having a first field of view during the video telecommunication session. The methods and apparatus further capturing a first set of background images, at least some of which are combined to form a first composite background image having a second field of view that is greater than the first field of view. Further, superimposing at least a portion of the first video image over the first composite background image to form a second video image having a same field of view as the first composite background image and transmitting the second video image during the video telecommunication session.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments consistent with the present invention generally relate to methods, apparatus, and systems for expanding a field of view during video communication sessions.
2. Description of the Related Art
The proliferation of cellular phones and smart phones into society allow people to communicate instantly from almost anywhere. Increased bandwidth and efficiency in data compression algorithms have allowed mobile devices equipped with cameras to stream video based communication sessions.
However, current internal cameras in mobile phones are limited in the field of view that they can capture at one time. In such devices, recipients of a video stream (for example, during a video conference call) may receive only the limited field of view captured by the sending device even though the sender wishes to show a much wider view including more of the sender's background. In addition, while in a call, mobile phone cameras may be used with a different orientation and/or aspect ratio than the screens on which they are shown on the recipient. For example, when capturing a portrait image/video from a camera onto a landscape view on the recipient, the sent image/video will be cropped, and/or utilize a limited portion of the viewing window.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method, apparatus, and system for expanding a viewing area in a video communication session.

Methods and apparatus for expanding a field of view in a video communication session


An apparatus for automatically inserting insulating material into the slots of armatures of electric motors generally includes means for feeding a continuous web of insulating material beyond a cutting device, cutting the insulative material at a predetermined length, bending the insulative material to comport with the shape of an armature slot, inserting the insulative material into the slot, and indexing the armature for further insertion of insulative materials. The apparatus further comprises electronically programmable device for automatically determining and communicating the length of the insulative material to be cut based on the dimensions of the armature, automatically feeding, cutting, bending, and inserting the insulative material into the armature slot, and automatically indexing the armature for the insertion of additional insulative materials.

This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) of Italian Patent Application No. IT PI99A000033 filed on Jun. 15, 1999.
The present invention relates to a machine for inserting insulating paper in the slots of armatures of electric motors.
Furthermore the invention relates to a method for operating the cutting and inserting devices for the insulating paper as well as for the correct location of the armatures in an insulating or wedge inserting machine.
The insulating or wedge inserting machines for armatures have the function of inserting in the longitudinal slots of the armatures of electric motors portions of insulating cut paper by a continuous web.
The common main movements of insulating machines are:
feeding the continuous paper beyond a cutting zone,
cutting the paper, normally by means of a cutter,
bending the cut portion,
inserting the cut and bent portion in the slot of the armature, and
indexing or angular positioning the armature.
In wedge inserting machines there is the only difference that the step of bending is missing, since the paper is inserted in the slots of the armature in plane longitudinally embossed conditions.
In known machines of this type all said movements are carried out by a single mechanism with a single drive, comprising cams and gears. This way, it is possible a synchronisation of all the movements and the achievement of high production rates.
Armature production lines, however, are required to work with even much more flexibility and require, furthermore, higher quality of the final product.
The drawback of known machines, however, is that they have not high flexibility in case of change of the dimensions of the armature, since they require always, even if short, a stop time of the production to adjust the strokes of the many parts that carry out the above described movements, according to the dimensions of the armature, among which the stack height, the diameter, the length, etc.
In EP289759 an insulating machine is described for armatures of electric motors having means for measuring the height of the stack of sheets of the armature and a system to stop the insulating paper in order to adjust the length of the cut paper. However, this machine, even if it has a flexibility higher than the previous traditional machines, it does not provide a control of speed, whereby single operations can be repeated only at the same speed of the paper in order to achieve the synchronisation. A variation of speed requires a new adjustment of the machine.
Furthermore the system of inserting paper at variable length of EP289759 is subject to errors owing to variations of coefficient of friction of the paper, since the adjustment of the length is obtained by means of a sliding of the feeding roller on the paper same. As a consequence of this fact the paper shrivels, preventing from, in particular, using different types of insulating paper according to the types of armatures, without setting again the machine.
It is therefore object of the present invention to provide a machine for inserting insulating paper in the slots of armatures of electric motors wherein a high flexibility is possible of choice of the inserting parameters.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for operating the devices for feeding, cutting, inserting the insulating paper and for indexing the armatures in an insulating or wedge inserting machine, wherein the automatic change and adaptation of the strokes of such devices according to the dimensions of the armature and the production rate is met.
These and other objects are achieved by the armature insulating machine, of the type that has a plurality of longitudinal slots to line of insulating paper, comprising:
means for feeding a web of insulating continuous paper in a feeding direction;
means for transversally cutting the web into portions of predetermined length;
means for inserting the cut and bent portions into the slots, and
means for indexing the armatures.
Its characteristic is that it further comprises:
means for feeding the web beyond the means for cutting,
means for operating in turn the means for cutting, inserting and indexing,
sensors means suitable for giving a signal proportional to the achievement by the paper of a predetermined position beyond the means for cutting;
electronically programmable means for controlling the means for feeding and the means for operating responsive to said signal so that in turn portions of paper of predetermined length are cut.
Said means for inserting in the insulating machines, differently from the wedge inserting machines, also provides preliminary bending means of the paper according to the shape of the slot in which it has to be inserted.
The electronically programmable means can provide means for synchronising the means for feeding with the means for operating, comprising first encoding means of the means for feeding, second encoding means of the means for operating, a control unit suitable for driving the means for feeding and the means for operating according to a predetermined function responsive to signals coming from the first and second encoding means.
Preferably the means for feeding the web provide a first motor and the means for operating in synchronism the means for cutting, inserting and indexing, provide a second motor along with distribution means for timing in turn the respective movements.
Advantageously, means are provided for carrying out a measurement of the dimensions of the armatures, such as in particular the stack height, the electronically programmable means controlling the means for feeding responsive to this measurement so that portions of paper are cut in turn of corresponding length.
The second means for operating in synchronism the means for cutting, inserting and indexing, can comprise:
means for operating in turn the means for cutting and inserting;
means for operating the means for indexing,
angle sensor means suitable for giving a third signal proportional to the achievement by the armature of a predetermined angular position with respect to the means for inserting;
electronically programmable means for controlling the means for indexing according to the third signal so that a predetermined angular movement of index is given.
In this case, the first means for feeding the web can provide a first motor, whereas the second means for operating in synchronism the means for cutting, bending, inserting can provide a second motor and distribution means for timing in turn the respective movements and the third means for operating the means for indexing can provide a third motor.
The second electronically programmable means can comprise means for synchronising the means for indexing with the means for operating, the control unit driving the means for indexing and the means for operating according to a predetermined function responsive to signals coming from the second encoding means and from the signal of angular position.
Concerning another aspect of the invention, a method for operating the devices for feeding, cutting and inserting the insulating paper as well as for the correct angular positioning of the armatures in an insulating or wedge inserting machine for armatures having a plurality of longitudinal slots comprises the steps of:
feeding a web of insulating continuous paper in a feeding direction;
Transversally cutting the web into portions of predetermined length;
Bending the cut portions according to a bend similar to the cross section of the slots,
inserting the cut and bent portions into the slots, and
indexing the armatures for offering in turn the slots of the armatures among an inserting and the following.
The characteristic of the method is that the following steps are provided:
feeding the web beyond the means for cutting and detection of a first signal proportional to the achievement by the paper of a predetermined position before the cutting;
operating separately and in turn the means for cutting, inserting and indexing, and detection of a second signal on the progress of the operating step,
controlling the feeding and the operating step according to the first and second signal so that portions of paper of predetermined length are cut and inserted in turn.
In this case, the cutting, inserting and indexing steps comprise:
operating in turn the cutting and inserting steps;
operating independently the indexing step,
detecting a signal of angular position of the armature during the step of indexing,
controlling the indexing step responsive to said signal of angular position and stopping of indexing when a predetermined angular position is reached.

Machine and method for inserting insulating paper in the slots of armatures of electric motors


A collagen food wrapping comprising collagen extruded into a film. The collagen contains a smoke component which is encapsulated with an encapsulating material which will release the smoke component during curing or cooking and prior to consumption thereof. The invention further includes a collagen slurry containing an encapsulated liquid smoke component and a method for manufacturing a wrapped food product by extruding the slurry onto a surface of the food product to form such a film.

This invention relates to food casings, wrappings, and slurry made primarily from collagen protein.
Smoking of food products such as meats, e.g. sausages and cheeses,is often desirable in order to impart smoke flavor and color into the food product. Unfortunately, such smoking processes have certain disadvantages. In particular, smoke houses require a large amount of pollution control in order to avoid contaminating the environment.
Consequently, liquid smokes have been developed which contain absorbed smoke components which can be incorporated onto or into meat products. This still has disadvantages in that careful control of added liquid smoke is required. Liquid smokes tend to be corrosive and, if not applied properly, cause inconsistent flavor and color. Typically, liquid smoke is applied to the surface of food products either by showering, atomizing or spraying, all being relatively inefficient, i.e., more liquid smoke is lost than is applied. A less common, but not rare, method of utilizing liquid smoke is to blend a measured amount of liquid smoke directly into food products. This method, however, tends to cause artificially harsh smoke flavors and fails to impart a typical smoke color to the surface of the food product.
Collagen sausage casings and films are made by extruding a collagen paste or slurry either in the form of a tube or sheet. The tubes or sheets are subsequently used as a mold to form the sausage by filling the tube, in the case of sausage casings, or wrapping the food product in the collagen film prior to cooking, smoking or drying. A relatively new method of producing sausage products is to simultaneously extrude the sausage mixture and the collagen slurry with the slurry essentially forming the casing on the surface of the sausage mixture. This combination is subsequently treated to cross-link the collagen fibers within the collagen slurry causing the formed casing to have adequate integrity to act as a mold. Liquid smoke is sometimes used as a cross-linking agent. It is important that the collagen not be subjected to the cross-linking agent prior to the co-extrusion process and that the cross-linking agent be added in the proper strength and quantity. Subsequent to co-extrusion and initial cross-linking, these sausages are often drenched with liquid smoke to impart flavor, color and to further cross-link the collagen skin. This drenching process has many of the same disadvantages as those encountered in the traditional methods of sausage production.
Subsequently, the co-extruded sausages are cooked by heating to internal temperatures, generally in the range of 152 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the area of collagen food wrappings, such as edible collagen sausage casings and collagen slurry, it would, therefore, be desirable to incorporate smoke flavorants and/or colorants directly into the slurry in order to avoid later smoking of contained meat product in a smoke house or by wasteful spraying or drenching with liquid smoke. As previously discussed, this has generally not been possible due to degradation effects of smoke flavorants and colorants upon collagen. In particular, direct exposure of collagen slurry to liquid smoke causes the slurry to cross-link prematurely thus inhibiting formation of the food casing by extrusion into a tube which is to later be stuffed with food product or by direct extrusion onto the surface of a food product.

Collagen sausage casing containing encapsulated smoke and method of making


A process of preparing a lower vinyl chloride polymer which comprises suspension polymerization of a vinyl chloride monomer of a mixture of unsaturated monomers consisting essentially of vinyl chloride, in an aqueous solvent, in the presence of a straight chain alkyl vinyl compound having an epoxy end terminal group represented by the formula I: ##STR1## wherein n is an integer of 2-20.

The present invention relates to a process of preparing lower vinyl chloride polymer, and in particular to a process of preparing lower vinyl chloride polymers which are useful in producing hard polyvinyl chloride articles useful for applications requiring high moldability and good heat resistance, e.g., bottles, containers, films, and building materials, such as rainwater pipes, window frames, gutters, corrugated sheets or the like.
Vinyl chloride polymer is used in a wide range of applications, since, by adding different kinds of plasticizers to the polymerization mixture and controlling the polymerization conditions, it is possible to obtain vinyl chloride polymers having a wide range of hardness and mechanical properties, chemical resistances, weather resistances, and transparencies.
To produce such hard polyvinyl chloride articles, only lower vinyl chloride polymers having a polymerization degree of no more than 800 can be used to secure the required physical properties.
One industrial method for producing such lower vinyl chloride polymers has been to simply increase the polymerization temperature. If, for example, a polymerization degree of about 600 is desired the polymerization temperature should be 70.degree. C. or higher, assuming all other polymerization conditions are conventional. However, it has been found that at such high temperatures, the primary-stage reaction will be undesirably accelerated, with the result that the polymer produced will be heterogeneous. Furthermore, at such high temperatures, the vapor pressure of the vinyl chloride monomer will rise to as high as 13 kg/cm.sup.2, so that it is necessary to increase the pressure capacity of the polymerization reactor.
In order to produce lower polymers industrially at lower temperatures, methods have been attempted wherein the polymerization is carried out in the presence of so-called "chain transfer agents" such as an organic mercaptan or a halogenated hydrocarbon. However, at a low polymerization degree, especially 700 or lower, using a chain transfer agent often results in an unstable suspension polymerization mixture, and the resulting polymer particles are so coarse that the particle size distribution is abnormally distorted. In extreme cases, the polymer particles coagulate to form blocks. Attempts at increasing the amount of the suspension agent to compensate for this problem resulted in a too wide particle size distribution so that the gelation characteristic becomes nonuniform and the workability becomes poor. A further disadvantage of use of a chain transfer agent is that residual agent causes degradation of the thermal stability of the polymer.

Process of preparing lower vinyl chloride polymer by suspension polymerization