An electron discharge device including an evacuated envelope having therein an indirectly heated cathode comprised of a metallic cathode cup having a cylindrical wall provided with an outwardly extended pair of opposing axially sloped flanges which contactingly engage respective opposing bevelled surfaces of a dielectric support ring encircling the wall and having an inner periphery radially spaced therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electron discharge devices and is concerned more particularly with a cathode support structure for such devices.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
An electron discharge device generally comprises an evacuated envelope having therein an electron emitting cathode disposed to beam electrons toward a spaced anode collector electrode. The cathode may be of the indirectly heated type including a cathode cup having an electrically heated filament extended insulatingly into the open end thereof. The cathode cup usually is made of suitable metallic material, such as nickel, for example, and has a closed end provided with an exterior coating of low work function material which emits electrons copiously when heated. The cylindrical wall of the cup may be provided with a circumferential pair of axially spaced ripples which extend radially outward of the cup. Disposed between the ripples may be an inner peripheral portion of a closely encircling support ring which is made of suitable dielectric material, such as ceramic, for example.
When the ripples are formed in the cylindrical wall of the cup, they bear tightly against respective opposing flat surfaces of the encircling support ring, thereby fixing the cup in predetermined spaced relationship with respect to the anode collector electrode. However, when the cathode cup is heated to an unusually high temperature, such as during "hot-shot" treatment, for example, the metallic material of the cup expands thermally at a faster rate than the closely encircling support ring. As a result, the cylindrical wall of the cathode cup is pressed annularly against the inner periphery of the support ring and receives a resulting circumferential crimp which extends radially inward of the cup. Accordingly, when the cathode is cooled to room temperature, the circumferential crimp is permanently set in the cylindrical wall of the cathode cup; and the inner peripheral portion of the support ring is no longer locked tightly between the circumferential ripples in the cylindrical wall of the cup. Consequently, when the tube is operated under vibrational or shock conditions, the loosened cathode cup is permitted to move relative to the other elements of the tube. Thus, the intensity of electrons beamed to the collector electrode may vary erratically and may effect the accuracy of an informational signal being amplified or displayed by the tube.
Therefore, it is advantageous and desirable to provide an electron discharge device with a cathode support structure which will maintain the cathode in fixed positional relationship with other electrodes of the device.

Cathode cup having support flanges sloped symmetrically in opposing axial directions


A transaction card includes a card body that may comprise a card body comprising a ceramic material, the card body including a primary surface and a first mating surface. A card backer comprises a metallic material and includes a secondary surface and a second mating surface. A portion of the first mating surface and a portion of the second mating surface are coupled together.

The proliferation of transaction cards (which allow the cardholder to, for example, pay with credit rather than cash) started in the United States in the early 1950s. Initial transaction cards were typically restricted to select restaurants and hotels and were often limited to an exclusive class of individuals. Since the introduction of plastic credit cards, the use of transaction cards have rapidly proliferated from the United States, to Europe, and then to the rest of the world. Transaction cards are not only information carriers and facilitate access to information, but also typically allow a consumer to pay for goods and services, without the need to constantly possess cash. If a consumer needs cash, transaction cards allow access to funds through, for example, an automatic teller machine (ATM). Transaction cards also reduce the exposure to the risk of cash loss through theft and reduce the need for currency exchanges when traveling to various foreign countries. Due to the advantages of transaction cards, hundreds of millions of cards are now produced and issued annually, thereby resulting in a need for companies to differentiate their cards from competitor's cards.
Initially, the transaction cards often included the issuer's name, the cardholder's name, the card number, and the expiration date embossed onto the card. The cards also usually included a signature field on the back of the card for the cardholder to provide a signature to help protect against forgery and tampering. Thus, the cards served as devices to provide data to merchants and the card security included the comparison of the cardholder's signature on the card to the cardholder's signature on a receipt along with the embossed cardholder's name on the card.
Due to the popularity of transaction cards, numerous companies, banks, airlines, trade groups, sporting teams, clubs and other organizations have developed their own transaction cards. As such, many companies continually attempt to differentiate their transaction cards and increase market share, not only by offering more attractive financing rates and low initiation fees, but also by offering unique, aesthetically pleasing features on the transaction cards. As such, many transaction cards include not only demographic and account information, but the transaction cards also include graphic images, designs, photographs and security features.
Administrative and security issues (e.g., charges, credits, merchant settlement, fraud, reimbursements, etc.) have increased due to the increasing use of transaction cards. Thus, the transaction card industry started to develop more sophisticated transaction cards which allowed the electronic reading, transmission, and authorization of transaction card data for a variety of industries. For example, magnetic stripe cards, optical cards, smart cards, and calling cards have been developed to meet the market demand for expanded features, functionality, and security. In addition to the visual data, the incorporation of a magnetic stripe on the back of a transaction card allows digitized data to be stored in machine readable form. As such, magnetic stripe readers are used in conjunction with magnetic stripe cards to read the digitized data (e.g., account information and expiration date), then communicate the digitized data and the purchase data received on-line from a cash register device to a host computer.
Due to the susceptibility of the magnetic stripe to tampering, the lack of confidentiality of the information within the magnetic stripe and the problems associated with the transmission of data to a host computer, integrated circuits were developed which may be incorporated into transaction cards. These integrated circuit (IC) cards, known as smart cards, proved to be very reliable in a variety of industries due to their advanced security and flexibility for future applications. However, even integrated circuit cards are susceptible to counterfeiting.
As magnetic stripe cards and smart cards developed, the market demanded international standards for the cards. The card's physical dimensions, features and embossing area were standardized under the International Standards Organization ("ISO"), ISO 7810 and ISO 7811. The issuer's identification, the location of particular compounds, coding requirements, and recording techniques were standardized in ISO 7812 and ISO 7813, while chip card standards were established in ISO 7813. For example, ISO 7811 defines the standards for the magnetic stripe which is a 0.5 inch stripe located either in the front or rear surface of the card and which is divided into three longitudinally parallel tracks. The first and second tracks hold read-only information with room for 79 alphanumeric characters and 40 numeric characters, respectively. The third track is reserved for financial transactions and includes enciphered versions of the user's personal identification number, country code, currency units, amount authorized per cycle, subsidiary accounts, and restrictions.
More information regarding the features and specifications of transaction cards can be found in, for example, Smart Cards by Jose Luis Zoreda and Jose Manuel Oton, 1994; Smart Card Handbook by W. Rankl and W. Effing, 1997, and the various ISO standards for transaction cards available from ANSI (American National Standards Institute), 11 West 42nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10036.
The incorporation of machine-readable components onto transactions cards encouraged the proliferation of devices to simplify transactions by automatically reading from and/or writing onto transaction cards. Such devices include, for example, bar code scanners, magnetic stripe readers, point of sale terminals (POS), automated teller machines (ATM) and card-key devices.
Typical transaction cards are made from thermoplastic materials, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). However, these transaction cards are susceptible to being damaged or destroyed if exposed to damaging environments. For example, transaction cards may be damaged if left exposed to the elements for an extended period of time. Moisture and/or sunlight may break down the chemical bonds within the polymers of typical transaction cards, such that transaction cards left exposed to moisture and sunlight may become warped, cracked and/or unusable. In addition, thermoplastic transaction cards may be easily bent or may be broken or cut, thereby damaging the transaction card and rendering it unusable.
Therefore, a need exists for a transaction card that has both strength and durability. Moreover, a need exists for a transaction card that withstands exposure to the elements, such as moisture or sunlight.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for creating ceramic-containing transaction cards

AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVEL RELATED SERVICES COMPANY, INC.


A female fuse having a one piece fuse link and thermal mass injection molded around a multifinger fuse clips. The fuse link, thermal mass, and fuse clip are enclosed in an insulating housing. The resulting fuse is smaller in size and operates at a cooler temperature than other fuses.

This invention relates to fuses in general, and in particular to a female fuse with a fuse clip insert molded into a one piece fuse link and thermal block.
Prior art automotive fuses have a number of significant drawbacks associated with their design and operation. State of the art fuses are, for the most part, male, blade type fuses. There fuses plug into fuse blocks which have metal, spring clips. During operation and overload conditions, these spring clips can anneal, causing them to lose their flexibility. When this happens, not only must the fuse be replaced, but the fuse block must be disassembled to replace the clips. This is expensive and labor intensive.
Another problem with male type automotive fuses is that the fuse block contains a connecting piece, such as a double female clip, between the bus bar and the fuse blades. This extra component adds additional cost, increases the size of the product, and requires additional labor to assemble.
Prior art patents have met with limited success in seeking a solution to these problems. Yazaki, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,906, shows a male fuse and a mechanism for trapping the link in the body. The purpose is for preventing the housing from being deformed and discolored due to generation of heat. Jung et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,055,866, shows a moveable heat accumulator to vary the overload characteristics of the link. Matsunaga, U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,052, uses high melt temperatures to avoid the "M" effect. In the Jung et al. and Matsunaga et al. patents, the accumulators are separate pieces added to the link and raise the cost of manufacturing.

Female automotive fuse having fuse clips electrically connected to conductive thermal blocks


A resting mat for use particularly by children to effect compact portage and use as desired. The organization provides a character configured pillow, particularly in the shape of an animal to enhance a child's use of the device, wherein the pillow is secured to an external hook and loop fastener strip during portage with securement straps oriented about a covering to maintain interfolding of the organization during transport thereof and enable convenient and rapid extension of the organization with repositioning of the pillow to a further hook and loop fastener strip during use.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to resting and sleeping mattress organizations, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved child's resting mat organization wherein the same is arranged for convenient interfolded transport and subsequent extended orientation of the device for use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Individuals, and particularly children, are frequently reluctant to accept varying forms for sleep and accordingly, the prior art has provided various apparatus and organizations to enhance a child's acceptance of a strange and varied form for nocturnal resting. The instant invention provides a convenient and portable child's resting mat utilizing a psychologically soothing pillow organization in coordination with the organization to induce a child's use thereof. Examples of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 1,256,783 to Fuller setting forth a mat organization including strap members and an integrally associated pillow for enabling transport of the organization subsequent to its use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,930,942 to Pringle sets forth sleeping equipment utilizing an integral strap secured to the organization permitting an unpacking and expeditious repacking of the unit as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,788,533 to Bornstein provides for an interfoldable compartmentalized mattress provided with medially positioned handles on edge portions thereof for transport of the unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,944 to Yulish sets forth a beach mat provided with an enclosed pillow at a central portion of an end member stitched to the organization with securement straps at a remote end of the organization to enable securement of the device when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,947 to Wolf sets forth a towel member combined with a pillow wherein in a beach environment an individual may utilize the pillow in an inflated posture for reclining thereon.
As such, it may be appreciated that there is a continuing need for a new and improved child's resting mat organization wherein the same addresses both the problems of ease of use and acceptance by a child, and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A valve actuator control monitors engine valve trajectory, lift and seating velocity and varies the timing of internal feedback control channels to correct for engine valve positioning errors to achieve precise engine valve lift, closing timing and desired seating velocity.

Valve actuators for camless valve trains of internal combustion engines have been proposed in the art. Such valve trains are often controlled with algorithms which have limited bandwidth. However, due to changes in engine operating conditions, such as thermal expansion and speed transient, such algorithms offer low repeatability from cycle to cycle and cylinder to cylinder and sometimes do not provide full capability of variable lift.
It is desirable to provide a hydraulic engine valve actuator control that adapts to changes in engine operating conditions to provide precise valve lift and satisfactory seating velocity over a wide range of conditions. It is also desirable to provide a valve actuator control having increased flexibility and full capacity for variable lift. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a valve actuator control for an engine that meets these desires.

Engine valve actuation control and method


An apparatus for classifying particles into fine particles and coarse particles by a classification standard particle size which is determined by selecting a rotational frequency of a classifying rotor. The rotational frequency is derived from an equation stored in a computer and the rotor is automatically maintained at the rotational frequency thus derived.

The present invention relates to apparatus for classifying particles comprising a housing defining a classifying chamber, a feed duct for feeding particles to be treated and a feed duct for feeding classifying gas, both connected to the housing, a suction duct connected to the housing for transmitting gasborne fine particles resulting from a classifying operation, gas flow rate in the suction duct being maintained substantially constant, a discharge duct connected to the housing for discharging coarse particles resulting from the classifying operation, and a classifying rotor mounted in the housing and adapted to rotate at varied frequencies to select a classification standard particle size.
This type of classifying apparatus applies to the particles a floating force by the classifying gas and a centrifugal force by the classifying rotor at the same time, and discharges gasborne fine particles through the suction duct and coarse particles through the discharge duct. The classification standard particle size is changed or determined by changing the rotational frequency of the classifying rotor. Conventionally, this rotational frequency is changed manually, and therefore it is difficult to change, set and then maintain the rotational frequency, which makes it extremely difficult to carry out a desired classifying treatment.

Kabushiki Kaisha Hosokawa Funtai Kogaku Kenkyusho


An adhesive material is provided which is particularly suitable for potting a sensing element within a container. The adhesive material is characterized by mechanical and physical properties which enable the adhesive material to maintain its adhesive and structural integrity under intense thermal cycling conditions, so as to exclude foreign elements from the sensing element when potted within a container with the potting material. The adhesive material can be formulated so as to be sufficiently adherent for use with containers formed from materials such as polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, and E-coated steel, by including additions of a flexibilized polyol/polyepoxide epoxy novolac in an amount of up to about 15 parts by weight.

Supplementary inflatable restraints (air bags) in automobiles typically utilize an acceleration sensor element located in the engine compartment. If the sensor element is of the mechanical accelerometer type, it is mounted in an open container along with a printed circuit board and other components, all of which are surrounded by a potting material which protects the sensor element and other components from the hostile environment of the engine compartment. As such, the sensor assembly is subjected to extreme thermally-induced stresses resulting from thermal cycling and thermal shock. In addition, unless the sealing integrity of the potting material is continuously maintained, the sensor assembly is also subject to water, salt and other chemicals which could have a deleterious effect on the sensor's performance. Thus the reliability of the sensor element depends on the ability of the potting material to prevent the intrusion of harmful substances.
While the above considerations are generally true of any electrical assembly exposed to such a harsh environment, an additional requirement of the potting materials used to encapsulate an acceleration sensor element is that the material must faithfully and reliably transmit the acceleration of the vehicle-mounted container to the sensor element within the container. Conventionally, a potting material which is able to fully transmit the acceleration of its container to the sensor element is said to have a transfer function of one with respect to acceleration.
A known potting material for acceleration sensor elements is composed of methylene di-p-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) and castor oil based urethane, and is implemented using "pot-on-sand" (POS) processing techniques. Such techniques involve pouring a mixed urethane over hot sand contained in the sensor container, or by vibrating hot sand into the urethane in the sensor container. Once cured, the potting material provides environmental protection for the sensor element. However, such potting materials have a number of disadvantages. Notably, they are extremely difficult to process, and any processing error may result in an assembly having diminished reliability. Even if correctly processed, the sensor assemblies at times do not pass rigorous environmental testing for water intrusion into the sensing element following salt spray or thermal cycling tests. In addition, a conformal coating over the printed circuit board is typically required to protect the board from the sand in the potting material, resulting in added processing steps and costs. Finally, because vibration is required to evenly distribute the sand in the urethane, some fixturing, adhesive or otherwise, must be used to hold the sensor element in place, which adds additional costs to the manufacture of the acceleration sensor assembly.
As a solution, U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,498 to Sanftleben et al. teaches a potting compound which is formulated to meet or exceed the mechanical, physical and material requirements for use in a potted acceleration sensor assembly used in an automotive environment, yet avoids the processing shortcomings noted above for prior art potting materials. Specifically, Sanftleben et al. teach a potting compound composed of polybutadiene urethane having physical and mechanical properties which enable the potting compound to maintain its sealing integrity under intense thermal cycling conditions to exclude foreign elements from the sensor element. Though the polybutadiene urethane potting compound taught by Sanftleben et al. is a rubbery elastomeric material, it is unexpectedly capable of faithfully transmitting acceleration from its container to the sensor element, so as to have a transfer function of nearly one with respect to acceleration.
Furthermore, Sanftleben et al. teach that additions of a novolac epoxy resin to the potting compound of up to about 10 weight percent enhances the ability of the potting compound to adhere to the interior walls of the container, so as to further reduce the likelihood of water intrusion into the assembly. Sanftleben et al. disclose the use of a metal container in which the sensor assembly is potted. In general, a potting material can typically adhere to a metal or a metal coated with an electrically deposited epoxy-based paint (E-coated metal) more readily than to engineering resins, such as polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Consequently, it would be desirable if further improvements in the adhesion properties of the potting compound taught by Sanftleben et al. could be achieved in order to promote the reliability of the sensor element when housed within a container formed from such engineering resins. Furthermore, it would also be desirable if the adhesion characteristics of the potting compound were sufficient so as to enable the potting compound to be used as an adhesive, coating, or encapsulating material for a wide variety of applications.


A light weight packaging container, similar to a capsule and made by deep-drawing and/or stretching of a multi-layer foil composite, is composed of synthetic material and aluminum. An aluminum layer or foil having a thickness within the range of from one grain to a few grains is provided. At least one layer of synthetic material is fixed to the aluminum layer or foil. The total thickness of the synthetic layer or layers is substantially greater than that of the aluminum layer or foil. In one embodiment, only one layer of synthetic material is provided. In another embodiment, two layers of synthetic material are provided, one being fixed to one major surface of the aluminum layer or foil and the other being fixed to the other major surface of the aluminum layer or foil.

This invention relates to a light weight package container made of a multi-layer foil composite. The invention relates, more particularly, to a light weight package container similar to a capsule and manufactured by deep-drawing and/or stretching from a multi-layer foil composite constituted of synthetic material and aluminum.
Within the last ten years, semi-rigid light weight containers for packaging food stuffs have become commercially available. These known light weight containers are deep-drawn from thin aluminum strips having a thickness of from about 0.090 mm. to about 0.150 mm. These containers are closed with a cover which is punched from the same aluminum strip and is fastened on the container by hot sealing. In order to make possible this hot sealing, the insides of the containers and covers are coated with a lacquer capable of hot sealing or with a thermoplastic synthetic material, for example, polypropylene. The thickness of the hot sealing layer, which also prevents a mutual reaction between aluminum and contents, is from about 5 microns to about 10 microns for hot sealing lacquer and from about 30 microns to about 80 microns for coatings made of synthetic material foils.
The aluminum lends rigidity to these known package containers. These package containers are very well suited for the long term storage of perishable food stuffs and ready-to-eat meals, because of the impermeability of the thick aluminum layer. This type of container has been well accepted by the consumer because of its easy handling.
Containers made of thermoplastic synthetic material are also used, particularly for packaging liquid or pasty materials. In most cases, these containers are made from single or multi-layer foils of synthetic material by conventional thermo-forming techniques. Such containers are less expensive than light weight containers made of aluminum, because the raw material is substantially less costly than aluminum. The impermeability of synthetic containers with respect to gases, water vapor and odors, is limited even in multi-layer synthetic foils, because there is no synthetic material whose properties of impermeability are comparable to those of aluminum.

Light weight package container made from multi-layer material


Described herein is a system and universal access control device that may be installed in proximity to, or within, an access control system to enable a user to use a user device to gain access to a secure area or resource. In some embodiments, a user may submit a request for access to a remote server and may be provided with an access token. The user may relay the received access token to the universal access device via a wireless transmission means on his or her user device. The universal access device may verify the authenticity of the access token by relaying the access token information to the remote server. Once the access token has been authenticated, the universal access control device may retrieve a credential stored in memory and provide that credential to the access control system to enable the user to gain entry to a secure area.

The term access control refers to the practice of restricting entrance to a secure area or resource to authorized persons. There are a number of access control systems available to restrict access to secure areas and/or resources. Access to each of these secure areas and resources may be gained by presenting an access device appropriate to each access control system.
In some cases, one or more people may need to access a large number of secure areas within a given period of time. For example, delivery personnel may need to make deliveries to a number of secure areas during completion of their delivery route. In this example, a delivery person could leave the deliveries outside of the secure area, but then the recipients of the delivery run the risk of loss due to theft. Alternatively, the delivery person could maintain access devices for each of the secure areas that he or she delivers to. However, this can be bulky, inconvenient, and poses a number of security risks.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems, individually and collectively.


This invention relates to combination therapy of a subject suffering from acromegaly. The method of treatment comprises administration to the subject of a therapeutically effective amount of oral somatostatin receptor ligand (SRL) e.g. octreotide in combination with a therapeutically effective amount of a dopamine agonist and/or a growth hormone receptor antagonist and/or a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) and/or a 2nd somatostatin receptor ligand (SRL).

Combination treatment of injectable octreotide or lanreotide with other therapeutic agents is described in the literature. Examples are Giustina et al (2014) Nature Reviews Endocrinology, vol. 10 pages 243-248; Suda et al (2013) Endocrine Journal, 60 (4), 507-515; Higham et al (2009) Clin Endocrinol. 2009; 71 (1):86-91; and Duarte et al (May 2015) J. Clin Endroclinol Metab, 100(5) 1863-9.
There is a need for use of oral octreotide in combination treatment with other therapeutic agents.

Oral octreotide administered in combination with other therapeutic agents


Apparatuses and methods for transmitting and receiving signals in a mobile communication system are provided. A method for transmitting a signal by an evolved Node B (eNB) in a mobile communication system includes transmitting a same control channel signal to each of a plurality of Radio Units (RUs), and transmitting a different data channel signal to each of the plurality of RUs. A data channel signal transmitted to each of the plurality of RUs may be determined taking into account at least one of a location of a User Equipment (UE) that will receive the data channel signal, and load balancing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving signals in a mobile communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The rapid increase in the number of smart phone subscribers has resulted in a corresponding increase in traffic demand by those subscribers. Despite being in the process of commercialization, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based mobile communication system having a relatively high frequency efficiency, such as a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) mobile communication system, will likely not have sufficient capacity to meet the increasing traffic demand. Therefore, there is a trend toward adopting a micro cell system and a repeater system to increase overall system capacity.
A configuration of a micro cell system will be described below with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a configuration of a micro cell system according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the micro cell system includes a plurality of, for example, 4 micro cells 111-1, 113-1, 115-1, and 117-1. The micro cell 111-1 is a service coverage area where a micro evolved Node B (eNB) 111-2 provides services. The micro cell 113-1 is a service coverage area where a micro eNB 113-2 provides services. The micro cell 115-1 is a service coverage area where a micro eNB 115-2 provides services. The micro cell 117-1 is a service coverage area where a micro eNB 117-2 provides services. It will be assumed that the four micro cells 111-1, 113-1, 115-1, and 117-1 have the same coverage area as the service coverage area where one macro eNB (not shown) provides services.
As described above, in the micro cell system, eNBs are installed more densely to increase the system capacity, thereby causing a decrease in the spatial coverage or size of the split cells. The decrease in the size of the split cells may contribute to increasing the average capacity that users can experience, but in inter-cell boundaries, may decrease the data capacity due to interference between data channels and increase outage probability due to interference between control channels. In addition, the smaller the cell size becomes, the more frequently User Equipments (UEs) may perform handover caused by their movements, thereby increasing overhead and making the communication environment unstable.
A configuration of a repeater system will be described below with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a configuration of a repeater system according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 2, the repeater system includes a plurality of, for example, 4 Radio Units (RUs) 211, 213, 215, and 217 within one cell. The four RUs 211, 213, 215, and 217 transmit and receive the same signals. Therefore, in the boundaries among the RUs 211, 213, 215, and 217, signals undergo macro combining, contributing to an improvement in the capacity of UEs located in the boundary areas among the RUs 211, 213, 215, and 217, and a reduction in the outage probability. In addition, when moving between the RUs 211, 213, 215, and 217, UEs are not required to perform handover.
The repeater system is mainly used for service coverage area expansion and coverage hole filling, because it expands strong-electric field areas using multiple RUs, which are spatially separated. However, unlike the micro cell system, the repeater system may suffer from a reduction in the resource efficiency and system capacity because multiple RUs transmit and receive the same signals.
In summary, the micro cell system and repeater system may be adopted to increase overall system capacity may have the following shortcomings.
First, in the case of the micro cell system, capacities of UEs located in the inter-cell boundaries are limited, and its outage probability is relatively high. UEs may perform handover more frequently, increasing the overhead and making the communication environment unstable.
Second, the repeater system may improve capacities of UEs located in the inter-cell boundaries because multiple RUs transmit and receive the same signals, but may suffer from a reduction in the overall system capacity due to its low resource efficiency.

Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving signal in a mobile communication system


A fluid pressure pump motor includes a supply/discharge passage where both a hydraulic fluid pumped in to a fluid pressure pump and a hydraulic fluid discharged from the fluid pressure motor flow, and a variable valve provided in the supply/discharge passage to control the fluid path area of the supply/discharge passage. The variable valve reduces the fluid path area of the supply/discharge passage for simultaneously actuating the fluid pressure pump and the fluid pressure motor to be smaller than the fluid path area for actuating only one of the fluid pressure pump and the fluid pressure motor.

In the related art, there is known a hybrid type construction machine in the field of construction machinery such as a power shovel. In the hybrid type construction machine, electric power is generated by rotating an electric generator using extra output power of an engine or discharge energy of an actuator, the electric power generated by the electric generator is accumulated, and actuation of an actuator is assisted using accumulated electric power. In such a hybrid type construction machine, a fluid pressure pump motor is used. The fluid pressure pump motor includes an assist pump rotationally driven by an electric motor to pump out the hydraulic fluid to assist a main pump to actuate the actuator, and a regenerative motor rotated by the hydraulic fluid reflowing from the actuator to rotationally drive the electric motor.
In JP 2011-127569A, there is disclosed an assist regeneration device including a motor/generator rotationally actuated by electric energy and a regenerative motor that rotationally drives the motor/generator using energy of a hydraulic fluid, and an assist pump rotationally driven by the motor/generator to pump out the hydraulic fluid.


Provided is a motor-driven compressor capable of realizing reduction in manufacturing costs. A compression mechanism of the motor-driven compressor according to the present invention includes a rotor rotatable by a rotation shaft and provided with a plurality of vane grooves, a plurality of vanes disposed advanceably and retractably in the respective vane grooves, a cup member formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape and enclosing the rotor, and a side plate closing an opening of the cup member The contour of the compressor is formed by a first housing and a second housing, and a suction pressure region in the first housing is hermetically closed from outside at a position where the first housing and the second housing are joined together.

Conventional motor-driven compressors (hereinafter simply referred to as compressors) are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2006-9688 and 2010-38014.
The compressor disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-9688 comprises a rotation shaft, a motor mechanism capable of rotating the rotation shaft, a front housing member accommodating the motor mechanism, a rear housing member closing an opening of the front housing member, and a compression mechanism fixed to the front and rear housing members. The front housing member includes a suction pressure region, and the rear housing member includes a discharge pressure region.
The compression mechanism of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-9688 includes a rotor, five vanes, a cylinder formed into a cylindrical shape and enclosing the rotor, a front side block, and a rear side block. The rotor is rotatable by the rotation shaft and provided with five vane grooves. The vanes are disposed advanceably and retractably in the respective vane grooves. The front side block and the rear side block close opposite ends of the cylinder. The cylinder and the front and rear side blocks form a cylinder chamber.
The compressor disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-38014 comprises a rotation shaft, a motor mechanism capable of rotating the rotation shaft, a motor housing member accommodating the motor mechanism, a compressor housing member closing an opening of the motor housing member, a front housing member fixed to the compressor housing member, and a compression mechanism enclosed in the compressor housing member. The motor housing member includes a discharge pressure region, and the front housing member includes a suction pressure region.
The compression mechanism of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-38014 includes a rotor, plural vanes, a cylinder block formed into a cylindrical shape and enclosing the rotor, a rear side block formed integrally with the compressor housing member and closing one end of the cylinder block, and a front side block closing the other end of the cylinder block. The rotor is rotatable by the rotation shaft and provided with plural vane grooves. The vanes are disposed advanceably and retractably in the respective vane grooves. The cylinder block and the front and rear side blocks form a cylinder chamber.
According to the compressor of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-9688, however, because the suction pressure region in the front housing member is formed by fixing a partition wall member, which is a different member from the cylinder, to the front and rear housing members, assembly work is complicated. According to the compressor of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-38014, because the front and rear side blocks are interposed between the motor housing member and the front housing member, assembly work is complicated. Furthermore, in these compressors, due to a large number of components, high costs are required for machining, managing, and assembling individual components, and besides, it is necessary to increase the number of sealing positions or employ seals with high pressure tightness in order to secure sealing capability. Consequently, it is difficult to reduce manufacturing costs in these compressors.
The present invention has been made in view of the conventional circumstances described above, and it is an object of the invention to provide a motor-driven compressor capable of realizing reduction in manufacturing costs.


The invention relates to an energy supply system (2) having a first energy supply network (4) including a power network (36) for transporting electrical energy (46), and a second energy supply network (6) having a transport system (60) for fluid operating materials (56), said energy supply system comprising at least one energy-generating unit (8), and through electrical energy and carbon-containing material (50, 54, 58) the fluid operating materials are produced and fed into the second energy supply network, and further comprising at least one local energy management unit (10), by means of which fluid operating materials extracted from the second energy supply network can be converted into electrical energy (74, 76, 78) and can be fed into a local power network (90). The second energy supply network (6) has a transport system (62) for the return transport of carbon dioxide-containing residual gases (58), which are incurred during the energy recycling of the fluid operating materials (56) by one or more energy consumers (11) and/or energy management units (10).

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to energy supply systems, energy management units, and methods for supplying local and regional energy systems and energy consumers with power according to the preamble of the independent claims.
Discussion of Related Art
Known energy supply systems are based on the concept that centralized energy-generating units make energy available in a certain form, for example as electrical energy, as thermal energy in the form of hot water or hot steam (district heating), or as chemical energy in the form of natural gas, and deliver these via suitable power systems to a multitude of energy consumer units.
When supplying energy to a plurality of spatially distributed energy consumer units, for example households with electrical power, the sufficient dimensioning and structuring of the corresponding supply network is a fundamental factor for ensuring sufficient supply power and security of supply.
Supply networks often comprise various hierarchy levels. Several local or regional consumer units can be grouped together into a local network which, in turn, can be connected to a higher-level network. In the case of a power network, for example, a plurality of small consumer units, different households, for example are connected to a common, local low-voltage grid. Different low-voltage networks, in turn, are connected via transformers to a medium-voltage network that is used for regional energy transport. A high-voltage distribution network is used to transport the electrical energy from large power stations over long distances to the medium-voltage networks. Smaller power stations can also feed the energy into the medium-voltage network, and local energy producers, such as photovoltaic systems or wind power stations, for example, into the low-voltage network.
Another example of a supply network is a district heating system, in which heat energy is produced in the form of water vapor or hot water (for example, 120° C., 16 bar) and transported via a primary circuit to the various consumer units, where it is used to heat buildings and produce hot water. In common district heating systems, the heat energy is produced centrally in a combined heat and power plant, for example in a woodchip heating system or a waste-incineration plant. The energy consumers are connected via suitable heat exchangers directly, or indirectly via a local secondary circuit, to the primary circuit of the district heating system. Analogously to district heating networks, district cooling networks also exist, although it is basically heat energy that is transported in those as well.
In the case of energy supply via a spatially distributed supply network that is fed by one or more energy producers, the required capacity both of the supply network and of the energy producers results from the maximum required peak energy requirement of the energy consumers. This energy requirement is generally subject to substantial time fluctuations. In a district heating network, for example, consumption peaks occur in the early morning and in the late evening, whereas in an electrical grid, consumption peaks occur in the morning, at midday and in the evening.
As a result of the fluctuating energy demand, a spatially distributed supply network must be designed for a multiple of the average energy throughput. In district heating systems, for example, the lines must be designed such that they can handle the expected maximum daily consumption peak on the coldest day of winter. A supply network with an excessively weak design can lead to insufficient energy supply as a result of a capacity bottleneck.
In the case of a power network, overloading can even lead to a collapse of the grid. The fuses disposed at the nodes of the network having an upper limit of 1000 A, for example, are crucial in this regard. In a network designed for 50 kV, this results in a maximum output of 50 MW, and in a network designed for 25 kV, in a maximum output of 25 MW. Since the investment costs for supply networks rise disproportionately to their capacity due to more expensive technology, lower consumption peaks can result in substantial savings in the construction and operation of the network.
Analogously to the supply network, the energy producers must also be capable of covering the consumption peaks. In the case of electrical power stations, slow power stations for the base load production (nuclear power stations, coal-fired power plants, run-of-the-river hydro power stations, wind power stations, etc.) and quick-starting power stations for the peak load production (storage hydro power stations, gas-fired power plants, etc.) are combined for this purpose. The necessary excess capacities also result in higher investment costs.
Due to the growing number of small power stations connected to regional or local power networks, such as photovoltaic systems and wind power stations, for example, the fluctuations in production turn out to be difficult to forecast for the network operator. What is more, since the network operators are in part obligated for legal reasons to feed the locally produced energy into the network, production cannot even be controlled in some cases. These additional energy production peaks must also be taken into account during the designing of the networks and further reduce the average usable capacity.
Various approaches are known for achieving a more uniform loading of energy supply networks, and thus for achieving a lower required capacity of network and energy producers, as well as improved energy efficiency as a result of the associated lower losses.
For the power supply, so-called smart grids are used in the attempt to achieve a spatially and temporally maximally homogeneous loading of the network through coordination of different flexible and non-flexible energy production systems, energy storage systems (pumped storage power plants) and energy consumption systems. For this purpose, the various components of the smart grid communicate with one another. This has its limits, in that the local consumption and local production of electrical energy can be controlled from the outside only to a limited extent.
In district heating systems, through the use of appropriate heat energy stores in the form of hot-water tanks or latent heat accumulators (as shown in DE 2730406 C2, for instance), fluctuations in the energy demand over the course of the day can be evened out. It is known, for example from DE 2730406 C2, to balance out the energy requirement over a day through the use of suitable heat accumulators, for example hot-water tanks or latent heat accumulators. Through the appropriate coupling of hot water accumulators, heating systems and hot water preparation, the efficiency of the heat utilization can be improved, for example as described in DE 10311091 B4 and DE 3123875 C2.
In the article "Technology Planning for Electric Power Supply in Critical Events Considering a Bulk Grid, Backup Power Plants, and Micro Grids," IEEE Systems Journal 4(2), p. 167, Jun. 3, 2010, A. Kwasinski discusses the risk assessment of energy supply systems in natural disasters using the example of three technological options for supplying local networks with power, namely connection to an external network by means of a substation; a backup diesel power station at the interface between local network and external network; and a microgrid with its own energy production, for example power generators driven by gas turbines.
In their article "Cutting Campus Energy Costs with Hierarchical Control," IEEE Electrification Magazine September 2013, p. 40, Sep. 23, 2013, M. Shahidehpour et al. describe a microgrid at the Illinois Institute of Technology in which power generators are operated by means of gas turbines in order to balance out power outages on the external supply network. Accumulators are used to bridge over short-term power outages without the use of generators. Other aspects are controlling the system in view of the costs of the energy obtained, the construction of the internal power network with several separate supply circuits in order to reduce internal power outages to a minimum in buildings, and the integration of renewable energy sources (photovoltaics, wind energy) into the local network.
There is a general need for optimally efficient energy supply networks that also preferably involve minimal new investments.


Soluble polysaccharides such as pectin and carrageenan are extracted from vegetable matter by passing an extraction fluid through a fixed bed of the polysaccharide-containing vegetable material to simultaneously hydrolyze and extract the polysaccharide from the vegetable material and separate the polysaccharide-containing solution from the remaining solid vegetable material. No separate filtration step is required. A filler can optionally be added to the vegetable material to increase the rate of percolation of the extraction fluid through the bed.

Various methods have been used in the past to extract soluble polysaccharides such as agar-agar, alginates, carrageenan, hemicellulose, and pectin from solid vegetable material. U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,873 discloses the extraction of agar from red algae by subjecting the raw algae to the action of a screw-extruder and then extracting in an autoclave in the presence of sulfuric acid. U.S. Pat. No. 1,814,981 discloses the formation of calcium alginate fibers by crushing and digesting raw kelp in a warm Na.sub.2 Co.sub.3 solution, extracting with warm water, and treating with calcium chloride. U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,770 discloses a process for extracting carrageenan from seaweed by digesting a seaweed slurry in a long column at an elevated temperature with water and an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal hydroxide. U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,526 discloses a counter-current extraction process for making arabinogalactan in which larch wood chips are driven by a worm screw through a multistage tubular extractor.
Pectin is typically hydrolyzed and extracted from citrus peel or other sources of pectin such as apple pomace. Acidified water (pH 1.5-2.5) is typically used as the extraction medium at temperatures of 60.degree. to 95.degree. C. for a time period ranging from 30 minutes to several hours. The extraction step is typically carried out in an aqueous slurry in a batch reactor with minimal agitation, followed by a separation using various combinations of centrifugation and/or filtration. The final separation step is usually a polishing filtration with a filter aid such as diatomaceous earth to produce a clear pectin extract that will produce highly transparent gels. Pectins are isolated from the extract solution by precipitation with alcohol, usually after an evaporative concentration. The isolation is followed by washing with alcohol, pressing, drying, and milling.
Other methods for extracting pectin have also been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,548,895 describes a continuous countercurrent process for extraction of pectin from citrus peel. A slurry of citrus peel is moved through an elongated trough with a U-shaped cross-section using a screw, and the acidified water flows in the opposite direction. The extract is filtered with diatomaceous earth. U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,407 discloses a process for the extraction of pectic substances from vegetable matter by (1) passing a weak acid solution through a column of vegetable matter to replace calcium and magnesium ions linked to pectic substances, (2) washing the column of vegetable matter with water to remove the acid, and (3) extracting the acid pectate substances by passing an alkaline solution through the column.
There is still a need for an improved process for extracting pectin and other soluble polysaccharides from vegetable material.

Process for the extraction of soluble polysaccharides


A driver for a circuit with a capacitive load, is disclosed, including an input stage, a bi-directional power converter, and a controller to control the driver. The power converter includes an inductive device and two switches configured to receive a DC input voltage vin from the input stage and generate an analog output waveform having an amplitude greater than vin providing an output distortion below 5% without an output low-pass filter.

Active cooling systems, such as fans, face multiple challenges when implemented in ultrathin devices, such as tablet or laptop computers. General Electric (GE) has developed a cooling device using two piezoelectric membranes, called a Dual Piezoelectric Cooling Jet (DCJ). The piezoelectric membranes are electrically activated, causing them to expand and contract, forming a cavity that spills air at a high velocity, for example, like a bellows. However, the DCJ is an energy intensive device, and a DCJ driver may be large and expensive. Further, the DCJ membranes operate like a speaker/transducer, so that any oscillations within the human hearing band (approximately 200 Hz to 20 KHz), for example, due to noise or distortion in the driver signal, may be audibly detected.
FIG. 19 shows a prior art topology for a single-phase voltage source inverter for renewable energy sources. The circuit includes an input stage, a buck-boost stage, and an unfolding stage. It was implemented in discrete parts due to the high power to process. This circuit is based on a typical PI controller or Energy controller and very low fixed frequency switching. This typically leads to very high distortion level (>5%), low power efficiency at low power output and very limited boost voltage ratio ≈3.5 (Vout/Vin). Therefore, there is a need in the industry to address one or more of the abovementioned shortcomings.

Driver for a high voltage capacitive actuator

President and Fellows of Harvard College


Secondary aggregates are prepared from inert waste fines, from, for example, quarrying and combustion processes, using a combination of accelerated carbonation and tumbling, such that aggregate particles composed of successive layers of solid carbonate-based reaction products form a hard aggregate suitable for use in concrete. The process may carried out by loading the starting materials, and if necessary, water into a cylindrical drum that is rotatable about its horizontal axis, and the interior is charged with a carbon dioxide atmosphere, or mounted within a larger vessel that holds a carbon dioxide atmosphere. Aggregates are formed as coatings on core particles as tumbling proceeds, and the coatings are hardened by in situ formation of carbonates by reaction with the carbon dioxide.

Previous work by the inventors, which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,629, proposed treatment of waste by accelerated carbonation to form, by non-hydraulic hardening, non-leaching granulates in which harmful components of the waste are embedded. This treatment involves the use of mixing equipment, such as planetary mixers, to mechanically activate the reactive components of the medium to be carbonated through thorough mixing, and the removal of reaction products to expose fresh reactive surfaces.
Pressure on primary aggregate resources has lead to research into the production of secondary aggregates from inert and non-hazardous wastes, such as from sintered mixtures of clay and ash, which can be used in the production of concrete-based materials.
For example, the commercially available product Aardelite® is manufactured using the pozzolanic properties of residues such as fly-ash. By adding a binder to the residue, for example lime, and processing at a temperature of 90° C., the silica and alumina in the residue are transformed into cementitious minerals.


System and method of a manipulative handle for revealing detail information in an interactive mobile user interface are disclosed. In one embodiment, when an activity supported by a cloud-based (e.g., online cloud-based collaboration platform) is initiated, the status of the activity is tracked and displayed using an animated user interface element. On and/or near the animated user interface element are hidden grab points that can be engaged to expand the user interface element to reveal detail relating to the activity. If the user interface element is already in an expanded state, detecting activation of hidden grab points on and/or near the user interface element causes minimization of the user interface element, thereby concealing the detail revealed earlier.

A mobile device generally has a limited display area. An application running on the mobile device can display limited information at a time. Some applications minimize fonts, button sizes, etc., in order to fit more information on a display screen. Others cramp the display area by making more information visible at a time. Yet other applications allow users to access information in a way that requires users to leave the screen that they are currently on, or obstructs the information already on the screen. All of these options for displaying information in a mobile device application do not optimize the use of the limited display area available to mobile device applications to display information.

System and method of a manipulative handle in an interactive mobile user interface


Methods of automatically answering a phone call with a mobile terminal and associated mobile terminals are disclosed. A method includes: if there is an incoming phone call, obtaining every predetermined period of time a pressure value and coordinates of each contact point between an ear of a current user and a touch screen; obtaining an outer contour of the ear based on the pressure values and coordinates; selecting among the outer contour three parts of the ear to establish reference coordinate axes; obtaining relative coordinates of each contact point corresponding to each part in the outer contour with respect to the reference coordinate axes; comparing the relative coordinates with pre-stored sample coordinates that comprise coordinates of each part of an ear of an authorized user relative to reference coordinate axes; and if the relative coordinates match with the pre-stored sample coordinates, unlocking the mobile terminal and answering the phone call.

As mobile terminals continue to evolve, users are having increasingly higher requirements for the intelligence level of mobile terminals. Currently, to answer a phone call on a mobile terminal, the user may need to first unlock the phone and then tap on an answer key, which is inconvenient and cannot meet the user's requirements for the intelligence level of mobile terminals.

HUIZHOU TCL MOBILE COMMUNICATION CO., LTD.


The spark voltage waveform at the secondary of the ignition coil of an internal combustion (IC) engine is sensed over a plurality of successive engine cycles. The instantaneous sub-cyclic position of the engine crankshaft is measured at successive crankshaft angle increments within each engine cycle and each sensed spark voltage signal is identified by the instantaneous value of crankshaft position at which it appears, thereby providing identification of each spark voltage signal with an associated cylinder of the engine. The number of samples for each cylinder together with the peak KV voltage magnitude and time duration of each are measured and the maximum, minimum and mean values of peak KV and spark duration for the spark signals associated with each cylinder together with the number of samples obtained are compared with the values obtained for each other cylinder to provide an indication of the relative sub-cyclic ignition efficiency of the ignition secondary circuit and the individual cylinders.

Hot-testing of IC engines outside of a vehicle (extra-vehicular) is known generally, being used mainly in the testing of newly manufactured, production line engines and in the testing of overhauled or repaired engines. The term hot-test refers to testing the engine with ignition to determine basic dynamic engine performance. At present, the actual tests performed during the engine hot-test involve the most basic test criteria and rely almost entirely on the hot-test operation for diagnosing base-line engine performance. Although the tests may involve measurement of basic engine timing, in general the pass/fail acceptance standards are based on what the operator perceives of the engine running characteristics, such as the inability to start or to maintain engine speed, or the sound of the engine while running. These tests do provide suitable pass/fail criteria for gross engine malfunctions, however, it is impossible, except to the most experienced operator, to provide even simple diagnosis of the cause of the engine poor performance.
In the first instance, the inability to provide quantitative measurements of engine performance and acceptance, results in the acceptance of marginal engines in which the actual failure occurs sometime later as an infant mortality, perhaps after installation in the vehicle. Conversely, the rejection of an engine based on the present qualitative standards may be unwarranted in many instances, resulting in the unnecessary recycling of the engine through some type of repair facility, where with more extensive testing the apparent fault may be corrected with a minor engine adjustment. Therefore, it is desirable to establish an accurate quantitative analysis testing procedure which with measurement of selected engine parameters may provide for accurate pass/fail determination.
In general, the present state of the art of IC engine diagnostics includes the use of a number of different measurable engine parameters which in one way or other are useful in providing information as to engine performance. One such parameter is sparkplug voltage which provides an indication of the performance of the engine's secondary ignition circuit in addition to particular cylinder ignition faults. At present, however, measurements of sparkplug voltage signals are provided on a single cylinder one-at-a-time basis, such that each cylinder's spark waveform is measured individually and compared with acceptable tolerances for peak KV amplitude and spark duration. Identification of measured spark signal with the associated cylinder is provided either by direct measurement of the spark signal at the cylinder sparkplug, or if sensed at the secondary of the engine ingition coil, by synchronization of the spark sample with an engine timing event. In either case measurements are provided on an individual basis without benefit of comparison of a particular cylinder's spark waveform with the spark signals provided to the remaining cylinders within the same engine cycle. Since the existence of an ignition fault in one cylinder may affect, to one extent or another, the sparkplug voltage signal provided to one or more other cylinders it is preferred to compare each of the cylinder spark signals with the others occurring within the same engine cycle. This permits the measurement of the relative performance of each cylinder in comparison with the remaining cylinders under simultaneously equal test conditions.
Similarly, the present methods of measuring each cylinder's spark signal makes it difficult to detect intermittent firing of a given cylinder since the spark signal measurement is provided as an average of the cylinder's spark signal over recurring engine cycles. By providing for the detection of intermittent spark, or the indication of relative ignition efficiency of each cylinder within each of a number of engine cycles, both present and imminent ignition system faults may be detected.

Spark plug load testing for an internal combustion engine


A method to reduce the amount of Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), traffic in a LAN environment connected to the Internet via multiport gateway, 63. The gateway, 63, stores a list of terminals connected to its local LAN Paths 61, 62, and determines if the destination of the ARP request is one of the terminals, 611 . . . 622, connected to the local LAN paths. If the destination terminal is not connected to the local LAN paths, the gateway does not rebroadcast the ARP request to the local LAN paths.

The provision of mass market Internet services presents traffic management problems for both telecommunications carriers and Internet Service Providers.
At present most private users are connected to the Internet over modems which operate in the voice band. These services have low transmission rates and also tie up the exchange connection preventing simultaneous use of the phone on the same line and loading the exchange.
High speed access technologies have emerged which make the delivery of fast data and data-like services practical for the mass/broad market. Such technologies include transmission technologies such as ADS and Hybrid Fibre Coax and multiplexing/Switching technologies such as ATM
A number of IP based access services have been implemented and often use ATM. as an underlying transport technique. However in these implementations, the carriage of services must be based on the Internet Protocol by necessity and so the underlying ATM flows must be terminated at each location at which IP traffic is processed. Therefore in IP based access networks which use ATM as the underlying transport, the advantages of using end to end ATM are foregone.
For an ATM end to end based access service, it has been necessary to establish individual ATM connections carrying AAL5 encapsulated data across the entire network between each subscriber and their ISP(s) of choice. In a mass market deployment of ATM technology, for example high speed Internet access based on ATM to residential subscribers, the number of ATM flows can amount to 10s to 100s of thousands simultaneously.
A service provided, such as an Internet Service Provider, may need to terminate an individual information flow from each to its subscribers. This requirement could be imposed for service reasons, billing reasons, security reasons or routing reasons. Typical large ISPs must design their systems to cope with up to hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
In an ATM connected scenario, at least two issues arise for service providers:
ATM interface cards for switches and workstations terminate a finite maximum number of simultaneous ATM connections. Typically, this maximum number of connections is of the order of 1000 or fewer. This maximum number of ATM connections is significantly fewer than the number of subscribers to a large ISP. PA1 The cost of leased public ATM links is generally relatively expensive compared with the competitive price charged for a single residential internet service. In order to remain viable, ISPs offering high speed internet access over ATM would therefore require each leased ATM link into the public network to be shared by a relatively large number of residential subscribers. Certainly, the number of subscribers sharing a 155 Mbit/s link (for example) would need to be much greater than 1000.
Routing in the access network via traditional means is unsuitable in a multi service provider environment or in an environment where the service provider is different from the access network provider. This is because "routing" is a service which provides a value added connectivity and could potentially lead to traffic nominally service by a particular service provider to bypass or be routed around that service provider altogether.
Other issues arise in an ATM connected scenario which affect both access carriers and service providers:
The logistical and technical difficulty of managing individual end to end ATM connections for each subscriber is significant.

LAN internet connection having effective mechanism to classify LAN traffic and resolve address resolution protocol requests


The present invention provides a multi-function image processing apparatus including a generating device for generating serial-scanned image data which has an overlap portion and a predetermined width and a writing device for writing the image data generated by the generating device in a state where the overlap portion has been deleted in such a manner that the image data is stored in a memory. The apparatus many also include a reading device for reading image data in such a manner that at least a portion of the image data overlaps when the image data having a predetermined width is, by serial scanning, read from the storage device which stores the image data and a processing device for processing the image data which has been read out.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for writing/reading an image to and from a memory.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Hitherto, an image processing apparatus has been arranged in such a manner that it reads the R, G and B components of an image in the form of elongated regions by serial scanning operation by using a CCD or the like to binarize them by an error diffusion method or similar method so as to reproduce the image by printing in accordance with binary data thus-obtained. However, there arises a problem in that the quality of the reproduced image deteriorates because the binarization cannot be normally performed at the junction between the elongated regions and thereby undesirable lines or the like are formed. Accordingly, a conventional image reader is arranged to be capable of preventing the generation of the line or the like in such a manner that the above-described junction is read in an overlap manner and and data about the junction is binarized while making a reference to image data about the front portion and the rear portion of the junction.
However, there has been developed an image processing apparatus having a multiplicity of functions such as a function of modifying the original image and a function of synthesizing a plurality of original images as well as the ordinary function of simply copying the original image. In order to realize an image processing apparatus having the above-described multiple functions, the apparatus must comprise an image memory which is capable of temporarily storing the image. However, the image processing apparatus of the above-described type has suffered from a problem taken place in that the quality of the image overlap portion deteriorates when the image is obtained in the form of a print because the overlap image regions are necessarily stored if all of the images read in the overlap manner are written to the image memory. Another problem takes place in that the quality of image deteriorates by the undesirable line or the like because the process of image data read from the image memory prevents the normal completion of the binary operation or the spatial filter operation which is required to process the data about the above-described junction.

Image processing system in which overlapping image data is deleted from a frame memory


A head records a track (e.g. a servo track) in a memory member outside of a clean room without using reference indices. In each of a plurality of cyclical movements (e.g. revolutions), signals (e.g. servo signals) are recorded in the track in an individual number of frames. Thereafter th e distance of the unrecorded portion of the track is determined. In the next cyclical movement, the head records signals in an individual number of frames contiguous to the frames previously recorded, in a track distance dependent upon such individual number relative to the number of frames still unrecorded and upon the distance determined for the unrecorded track portion. In a last cyclical movement, the head records a single frame in a particular spatial relationship with the first and last frames. In a specific embodiment, 2.sup.N-K frames may be recorded in the K cyclical movement. Additional signals may thereafter be recorded by the head in tracks in a single cyclical movement. In another embodiment, each individual number of frames continue to be recorded in the first track in each cyclical movement until the frames occupy a distance, within particular limits, dependent upon the unrecorded length of the track and upon the individual number of frames relative to the number of frames still unrecorded. In a further embodiment, sectors and data sectors following the sectors are recorded with signals in progressive cyclical movements in a manner similar to the recording of the sectors in such revolutions in the first embodiment.

Prior Art
Prior Art Track Writers (STW) use a clock head which is captive to the STW and which is temporarily brought adjacent to one of the disc surfaces during track writing. This requirement compromises the mechanical integrity of the head disc assembly (HDA) since provision must be made in the HDA design to allow access for the STW Clock Head.
A clock track is written with the clock head using a trial and error process. The clock track is preferably "splice free". Usually a tolerance of some +/-30 nanoseconds discontinuity is allowed at the splice point. Since spindle motor speed variations are usually +/-0.05% and the nominal revolution period is 16.67 milliseconds, the period of one revolution varies by about +/-8 microseconds. An index available from the motor or from a "scratch" transition pair written with the head is used to drive a phase lock loop (PLL) which multiplies this approximately 60 Hz clock to a much higher frequency. A successful clock is written only when the correct number of the said high frequency clocks has elapsed between successive indices and the time discrepancy of the last clock time is less than 30 nanoseconds. This process takes up to a minute because of the large discrepancy between the splice error permitted and the spindle speed tolerance. The invention avoids the use of a clock head and also avoids the need for a clock track. The clock track is replaced by a "Master Track" which is written in about 20 revolutions or 0.33 seconds.
A description of a prior art clock writing procedure is available in U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,022 issued to James K. Berger. Another prior art system, U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,920, also issued to James K. Berger, discloses an improved method of clock writing. However, this still relies on trial and error for splice free tracks and, although clock writing is accomplished with a sealed HDA, it has the serious disadvantage that an expensive clock head must be included with each disc drive.

Apparatus for, and methods of, recording signals in tracks on a memory member without a reference index


A event recorder system carried on-board a locomotive may include a controller configured to receive data from one or more of a train management system, a cab signaling system, an energy management system, an exhaust aftertreatment monitoring system, a braking system, a communications management system, and an operator fatigue or distraction monitoring system. The data may include one or more of video data, audio data, sensor output data, GPS map data, scanned image data of an operator in a cab of the locomotive, and operational data associated with operation of the locomotive during a trip. The controller may be configured to synchronize the data based on a common attribute associated with all of the data received by the controller, receive from a user one or more customizable parameters predetermined to be indicative of one or more of a system-related characteristic or behavior associated with any one or more of the systems from which the controller receives data, and generate a system notification based on an indication of one or more of a system-related characteristic or behavior that one of falls outside of a predetermined range of system-determinable parameters, or indicates a trend in one or more system-determinable parameters that deviates from an expected trend in the one or more system-determinable parameters.

Event recorders provided on various mobile vehicles, such as planes and trains, are generally designed to record data associated with an event during operation of the vehicle. The event recorders are typically designed and built to store that recorded data in a crash-hardened memory unit. A crash-hardened memory unit is configured to withstand the severe conditions that may occur during an accident. The memory units for these event recorders are contained within enclosures that allow the stored data to remain intact after accidents or other abnormal events. An important purpose of the event recorder is to provide a source of data that can be retrieved from the event recorder after an event such as an accident, and provide a detailed and accurate accounting of exactly what happened leading up to and during the event.
On-scene investigations after events involving mobile vehicles are time consuming and are not always accurate. Often, investigators must rely on witness statements and approximations to assess the events and the relative timing of the events leading up to the accident and to determine who is at fault. It is therefore difficult to guarantee the correctness of these assessments. Insurance companies use these assessments to determine who must pay for the damage after an accident has occurred. Incorrect assessments lead to money being spent unnecessarily by the insurance companies whose clients were not at fault.
A system capable of recording, reproducing and analyzing information pertaining to an accident is very valuable. Investigations would be more accurate since the system will provide precise data prior to, during, and after the accident. Additionally, insurance companies will benefit due to improved investigation assessments. Existing event recorders record various data sets, but typically do not monitor the recorded data in order to provide alarms or other system notifications to other systems. Therefore, although event recorders have access to a large amount of pre-determined and generated locomotive signals, such as signals received from on-board train management systems, cab signaling systems, energy management systems, exhaust aftertreatment monitoring systems, braking systems, communication management systems, and operator fatigue or distraction monitoring systems, a great deal of potential real-time functionality that may be associated with access to this information remains under-utilized.
An integrated diagnostic, telemetry, and recording system for use with a locomotive is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,963 of Ballesty et al. that issued on Sep. 22, 2009 (the '963 patent). The '963 patent discloses a method of remotely detecting and controlling whether locomotive data indicative of at least one of integrated diagnostic data, telemetry data and recording systems data from a locomotive is valid locomotive data. The event recorder of the '963 patent records and transmits video, geographic data, and locomotive operating parameters, and allows for remote monitoring and diagnostics of track conditions, wayside equipment, and operator train management.
Although the system of the '963 patent may improve safety and aid in investigations regarding the operation of a locomotive, it may be less than optimal. In particular, the disclosed system of the '963 patent does not provide an event recorder that is able to synchronize data from a multitude of different sources. The system of the '963 patent also does not provide a customizable application programming interface (API) as part of the event recorder, allow a user to customize which particular events, operational characteristics, or any combination thereof will result in the generation of a system notification related to a desired system of the locomotive, and transmit such system notifications to one or more additional systems on-board the locomotive that may benefit from that system information.
The system and method of the present disclosure solves one or more problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art.

Event recorder with configurable alarm/event monitoring


A pipe fitting 20 adapted for joining pipe 28, 30 comprises a swage ring 22, 24, 52 with a locking mechanism area 42, 63 which can lockingly engage with either a coupling body 26 and/or a pipe 28, 30, 56 which has a locking mechanism 44, 64 in order to prevent relative motion between the swage ring 22, 24 and the coupling body 26 and/or the swage ring 52 and the pipe 56. Such an arrangement prevents the swage ring 22, 24 from backing off of the fitting 20 should the fitting 20 be subject to flexing due to bending forces.

Pipe fittings of all types are susceptible to and must withstand bending which occurs along the length of the pipes being joined. Ideally, the pipe fittings are of sufficient strength that any bending which occurs would occur in the pipe, away from the fitting so that the seal formed by the fitting would remain uncompromised.

Pipe fitting with swage ring locking mechanism


A method and system may use photo deformation techniques for vehicle repair analysis to determine a repair time for repairing a damaged vehicle part. A user's client device may generate a three-dimensional (3D) image or model of a damaged vehicle part by capturing several two-dimensional images of the damaged vehicle part. One or several characteristics of the damaged vehicle part may be extracted from the 3D model and the characteristics may be compared to characteristics for previously damaged vehicle part, where the actual repair times were measured. A repair time for the damaged vehicle part may be determined based on the comparison and displayed on the client device.

The amount of time estimated to repair a damaged vehicle part may vary substantially from estimate to estimate so that the estimated repair time from a repair service provider or appraiser is significantly different. The amount of time estimated to repair a damaged vehicle part may also vary substantially from the actual time it takes for a qualified technician to repair a damaged vehicle part. Moreover, the variation on estimated repair times may be much wider than the variation on actual repair times for a particular vehicle part. For example, the estimated repair times for a side door may range from 5 to 14 hours, whereas the actual repair times may only range from 0.5 to 3.5 hours for the side door. In this example, the spread of the estimated repair times is triple the spread for the actual repair times.
The difference in the amount of variation between the estimated and actual repair times highlights the challenges of manually estimating the amount of time it takes for repairing damaged vehicle parts. Such a wide variation creates an inefficient system where vehicle owners shop around at several vehicle repair facilities to find significantly lower estimates. Moreover, because insurance providers typically pay according to the estimate, the added variation may cause the insurance providers to overpay for vehicle repairs.

Photo deformation techniques for vehicle repair analysis

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


An apparatus and method to display an image are provided. The apparatus includes a reflective surface including an image disposed upon at least a portion of the reflective surface, an agitable and semi-transparent medium positioned over at least a portion of the reflective surface, a light source positioned to project light on the reflective surface through the medium, and a second surface positioned to capture light reflected from the reflective surface through the medium for displaying the image. The method of displaying the image includes disposing at least a portion of a reflective surface including an image beneath an agitable and semi-transparent medium, wherein the image is disposed upon at least a portion of the reflective surface, and providing light to the reflective surface such that a second surface captures light reflected from the reflective surface through the medium for displaying the image.

It is often desired to project a viewpoint, message, information or other data through an image to achieve a purpose. For example, it is often desired to project an image to increase sales of a specific product, brand a particular location or otherwise incorporate an idea, symbol or information in the mind of a viewer. However, modern displays of images are generally becoming ever more costly as costs of the raw materials to display those images increase. Images may be printed on large static material, but those images may be ignored by a public that has increasingly shunned static displays in favor of those that offer interactivity. Projectors that provide an image, or other projection systems that project movement or other actions, however, are typically expensive to set up and require high maintenance as well as additional outlays to ensure the protection and continuing operation of those projectors.
Consequently, there is a need for an apparatus to provide interactivity with an image in such a manner that provides for low cost interactivity and that otherwise produces an aesthetically pleasing effect.


A surgical operation device comprising an ultrasonic piezoelectric transducer for generating ultrasonic vibrations, an oscillation feedback type oscillator for supplying high-frequency power to the ultrasonic transducer, a vibration transmitter connected to the ultrasonic transducer for transmitting and amplifying mechanical vibrations at an ultrasonic frequency, a suction unit and an irrigator. The ultrasonic transducer includes a bolted Langevin type transducer. The feedback circuit of the oscillation feedback type oscillator includes an oscillation voltage detector, a phase comparator, a low pass filter, a differential amplifier, and a voltage controlled oscillator. Thus, the mechanical resonant frequency can be traced in a wide range of fluctuations of a load on the vibration transmitter during vibration and vibrations can start an appropriate mechanical resonate frequency irrespective of the load status of the vibration transmitter at the start-up.

The present invention relates to surgical operation devices for crushing, severing and/or cutting the organization of an organism using ultrasonic vibrations.
Known operation devices which use ultrasonic waves are devices for crushing and/or cutting the organization of an organism in the fields of orthopedic and general surgical operations, devices for operating cataract in the field of ophthalmology and ultrasonic operation devices for scaling the teeth in the field of dental surgery. Any of these devices includes an ultrasonic oscillator, an ultrasonic piezoelectric transducer, an ultrasonic wave transmitter which constitute a single resonant system which oscillates ultrasonically at a particular resonant frequency. Usually, the operation section of the ultrasonic vibration transmitter contacts an organism, so that a mechanical load acts on the operation section. The load on the oscillator fluctuates in accordance with contact state. Therefore, the oscillating frequency and mechanical resonant frequency of the oscillator differ from each other and it is difficult to maintain the amplitude and vibrating speed of the operation section at constant appropriate conditions.
In order to cope with such fluctuations of the load, an oscillation feedback oscillation is known in which if an ultrasonic vibration transmitter is connected and driven with a constant current or voltage, in order to cope with fluctuations of the load, the mechanical Q of the resonant system is high, so that the amplitude and vibrating speed of the operation section is maximum at the mechanical resonant frequency. This amplitude and vibrating speed are extracted by using an appropriate device or method proportional to the amplitude and fed back to the input terminal of an amplifier to maintain oscillation at all times even if the mechanical resonant frequency fluctuates. An oscillator is used in which a pickup device is attached to a piezoelectric transducer to obtain a voltage in proportion to vibration and to feed back the voltage to the input terminal of the amplifier. The attachment of the pickup device to the transducer renders structurally complicated and a large-sized handpiece including the transducer. This is against miniaturization and lightening of the handpiece as an operation device for medical treatment manipulated by the operator.
There is proposed a method in which a voltage in proportion to the vibration is extracted by an electrical circuit. In this case, an oscillator is used in which an oscillating voltage detector is used as a feedback circuit (see FIGS. 20, 21). A voltage in proportion to the vibration is extracted as an output voltage 105 to a transducer 104 from a matching circuit 102 by an oscillating voltage detecting motional bridge 107 of a feedback circuit 103 and fed back to the input terminal 106 of an amplifier 101, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. If a load is applied to the operation section before oscillation starts, the mechanical resonant frequency of the resonant system including the piezoelectric transducer and the ultrasonic vibration transmitter greatly tends to be a spurious frequency at the start-up. In addition, under such condition, the oscillation is fixed by the feedback circuit 103 in the spurious mode, so that it is difficult to restore the predetermined mechanical resonant frequency. If the difference between the mechanical resonant frequency and the oscillating frequency is out of the narrow resonant frequency of the matching circuit 102 of the oscillator or of filters of the amplifier 101 by fluctuations of the load on the vibrating operation section, feedback would not be effected and oscillation would stop undesirably.
An ultrasonic oscillator including a feedback circuit using a PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) (Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-61-10194) uses the feature of the PLL to cause a piezoelectric transducer to sweep frequencies in a predetermined range to lock the oscillating frequency to the mechanical resonant frequency. If the resonant system is driven which includes an ultrasonic vibration transmitter connected to the piezoelectric transducer and has a greatly changing load thereon, the direct supply of a feedback signal from the transducer to a phase comparator of the PLL makes it impossible to discriminate between the spurious frequency and the optimum resonant frequency generated when the amplitude and vibrating speed of the operation section are maximum and the vibration may be likely to be fixed in the spurious mode. Thus, especially, it is difficult to vibrate an ultrasonic vibration transmitter in large load fluctuation and especially used for severing and/or cutting a hard organization.
While a magnetostrictive transducer is often used as a power transducer, the efficiency of its electro-mechanical conversion is low, radiation loss from the transducer is high and the transducer would be deteriorated unless it is cooled by water, for example. Thus, a power electrostrictive bolted Langevin transducer higher in electro-mechanical conversion efficiency than the magnetostrictive transducer has been invented. The Langevin transducer is low in heat generation compared to the magnetostrictive transducer, so that a special-purpose cooling mechanism is not needed. FIG. 21 schematically illustrates a Langevin transducer in which one of metal blocks 108, 109 has a bolt portion and the other has a nut portion. The bolt portion has ring-like polarized electrostrictive transducers 112, 113 and electrodes 114, 115, 116 fitted alternately thereon and tightened by the other (nut) of the blocks 108 and 109. High-frequency power is applied across the electrode plates 114, 115 and 116 from the oscillator to cause ultrasonic vibrations. At this time, the metal block 108 contacting the ultrasonic vibration transmitter 117 which directly contacts the organization of an organism have to be used grounded. According to classification of dangerous degree of electrical shocks this system is a B-type medical device, so that it cannot be applied directly to human hearts.
One example of the structure of a conventional handpiece using an ultrasonic vibration transmitter to crush, suck and eliminate a soft organization will be described somewhat in detail with reference to FIG. 22. An ultrasonic vibration transmitter 119 is connected to an ultrasonic vibration source 118 as by screws. The transmitter 119 includes a constant cross-sectional area (for example, cylindrical) portion 126 of a 1/4 wavelength, a tapered portion and a minimum-diameter pipe-like operation section 122 for generation of ultrasonic vibrations. The transmitter 119 has a longitudinally extending internal path 120 through which celluar fragments crushed and emulsified by the operation section 122 and an irrigation solution supplied to a position where operation is effected are sucked and eliminated to the outside.
The distribution of stress on the transmitter 119 is expressed by a stress line 123 in FIG. 22(b). The internal stress produced when ultrasonic vibrations occur is zero at the end of the ultrasonic vibration source 118 and the operation section 122. The maximum point on the stress line 123 appears at the minimum cross section area 121 of the tapering portion. FIG. 22(c) illustrates the amplitude corresponding to the stress. The amplitude amplification rate is directly proportional to the ratio of cross section area S.sub.1 of the cylindrical portion 126 to cross section area S.sub.2 of the operation section 122, S.sub.1 /S.sub.2. Similarly, the internal stress is also proportional directly to the cross section area ratio between portion 126 and 121.
A large amplitude is required to crush the organization of an organism, especially, calcification so that it is necessary to increase the cross section area ratio in the ultrasonic vibration transmitter 119. As a result, a metal fatigue and hence breakage due to ultrasonic vibration may occur at the minimum tapering end 121 to which the maximum stress applies. Thus, if a high-amplitude handpiece is designed which prevents a breakage at the minimum cross section area 121, it would be greatly deformed and not suitable for practical use.
If a position where operation is effected is deep in a living body and the operating field is very narrow, very difficult operation is forced to thereby take a long time, which is an obstacle to an appropriate and accurate operation.
When a hard organization is conventionally severed and cut, Kerrison foceps, chisels, raspatories, surgical burs, etc., are used. Operation devices such as Kerrison foceps and line saws are low in operation efficiency, take much time, take much energy from the operator, and require fine operation and high techniques. An air-driven surgical bur rotates a drill to sever and cut the affected portion of a living body, so that small vibrations are transmitted to the hand of the operator from an area where the bur contacts the hard organization during operation, and hence a fine operation is difficult. In addition, the activeness of the organization of an organism would be lost by frictional heat due to rotation of the drill. Furthermore, the rotational movement of the drill would damage the organization of blood vessel and nerves in a hard organization only by touching the organization.

Sumitomo Bakelite Company Company Limited