The present invention relates to a thiol compound derivative represented by the following formula (1), a curable composition containing the derivative, and a molded product made of the composition. More particularly, the invention relates to a thiol compound derivative which is added to a polymer having reactivity to a thiol derivative substituent to provide a curable composition, a curable composition containing the derivative and a crosslinkable halogen-containing crosslinking polymer, and a crosslinked molded product of the composition.

Epichlorohydrin rubber, chlorine-containing acrylic rubber, etc. have been heretofore widely used for molded articles, such as hoses and sealing parts, because they are excellent in various properties, such as oil resistance, heat resistance, weathering resistance, ozone resistance and compression set.
In general, halogen-containing crosslinking polymers, such as the epichlorohydrin rubber and the chlorine-containing acrylic rubber, are often stored in the form of compositions obtained by adding crosslinking additives, such as crosslinking agent and crosslinking accelerator, to the polymers.
When diene type rubber compositions or chlorine type rubber compositions containing vulcanizing additives, such as vulcanizing agent and vulcanization accelerator, are stored, vulcanization generally proceeds slowly, and as a result, changes, e.g., increase of viscosity, reduction of scorch time and decrease of vulcanizing rate, are brought about to thereby lower processability of the compositions into molded articles or properties of the vulcanization products. From the viewpoint of retention of storage stability, these changes are desired to be small. If the vulcanization additives are not added, these changes are small. From the viewpoint of productivity, however, curable compositions in which the vulcanization additives are added in advance are generally employed, and therefore, it becomes important to improve storage stability of the compositions containing the vulcanization additives.
As the vulcanization additives for the diene type rubbers or the chlorine type rubbers, polythiol compounds, such as dithiol compounds and trithiol compounds, are conventionally known.
These polythiol compounds, however, have high reactivity, so that when the rubbers and the vulcanization additives are kneaded and processed, premature vulcanization sometimes takes place, or even if kneading can be carried out smoothly without premature vulcanization, gelation sometimes takes place during the subsequent storing stage. Thus, the compositions have a problem of lack of storage stability even if the properties of the resulting cured products are excellent.
As the crosslinking additives for the halogen-containing crosslinking polymers, triazinethiols are known.
The triazinethiols, however, have high reactivity and high crosslinking rate, so that when the rubbers and the crosslinking additives are kneaded and processed, premature crosslinking sometimes takes place, or even if kneading can be carried out smoothly without premature crosslinking, gelation sometimes takes place to increase viscosity in the subsequent storing stage, or partial crosslinking is promoted. That is to say, scorching is liable to occur, and hence, molding troubles are sometimes brought about.
On this account, an attempt to use a premature vulcanization inhibitor in combination to improve storage stability has been made. By the use of the premature vulcanization inhibitor in combination, however, problems of decrease of vulcanizing rate and deterioration of heat resistance are brought about.
For controlling the crosslinking rate, there has been also made an attempt to add metal oxide, metal hydroxide, carbonate, organic acid salt or the like and to select the type of metal, type of counter ion, etc. according to the reactivity of the halogen-containing crosslinking polymers and the reactivity of the triazinethiols. However, if satisfactory crosslinking rate is intended to be obtained, the scorch time is sometimes shortened.
Accordingly, there has been desired development of a novel thiol compound derivative capable of providing a rubber composition or a resin composition having excellent storage stability, processability and curability without using a premature vulcanization inhibitor that exerts evil influences on the properties of a cured product of a diene type rubber composition, a chlorine type rubber (halogen-containing crosslinking polymer) composition or the like. There has been also desired development of a curable composition having storage stability and moderate crosslinking rate and capable of providing a crosslinked product having excellent physical properties with a good balance.
The present inventors have earnestly studied to solve such problems as mentioned above, and as a result, they have found that by the use of, as a crosslinking agent, a thiol compound derivative wherein a thiol compound is protected by a protective group of vinyl ether or the like, a curable composition having excellent storage stability and crosslinking rate and capable of providing a crosslinked product of excellent physical properties can be obtained without using a premature vulcanization inhibitor that exerts evil influences on the properties of a cured product of a halogen-containing crosslinking polymer composition or a diene type rubber composition. Based on the finding, the present invention has been accomplished.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel thiol compound derivative capable of providing a rubber composition or a resin composition having excellent storage stability, processability and curability. It is another object of the invention to provide a curable composition comprising a halogen-containing crosslinking polymer and having a good balance of storage stability, crosslinking rate and physical properties of its crosslinked product. It is a further object of the invention to provide a molded product of the curable composition.

Thiol compound derivative, curable composition containing the derivative, and molded product thereof

Abstract: wherein X1, X2 and X3 are each a group represented by the following formula (2):


A circuit designing apparatus of an interactive type which enables a simplified and high-speed circuit design process while largely reducing a burden on a designer, having a speed analyzing unit for conducting a delay computation for each wiring path on a circuit to be designed and a display control unit for displaying a result of the delay computation by the speed analyzing unit on a display unit. When the speed analyzing unit conducts a delay computation, a delay value of each logic component forming the circuit that is an object of the design is set and altered according to a dullness of a signal waveform inputted to the logic component. The circuit designing apparatus of an interactive type may be applied to a system for conducting a circuit design of an integrated circuit such as an LSI or the like or a printed circuit board.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit designing apparatus of an interactive type which conducts a circuit design of an integrated circuit such as an LSI or a printed circuit board in an interactive form while displaying steps of the circuit design on a display unit such as a display or the like.
2) Description of the Related Art
In general, a logic design, a layout design (a mounting design) or a speed analysis are conducted when a circuit such as an LSI, a printed board, etc. is designed.
More specifically, a logic design for realizing functions demanded by a circuit that is an object of the design is first conducted. A layout design for determining a placement in mounting (physical) of cells (sometimes called elements or gates) such as flip-flops as logic components or wiring between the cells is then conducted on the basis of a result of the logic design.
After the layout design, a speed analysis on the basis of a delay computation is conducted for each path obtained as a result of the design to feed-back a magnitude of a delay obtained as a result of the analysis. The logic design and the layout design are again performed in order to improve a delay of each path. The above logic design, layout design and speed analysis are repeated by trial-and-error until each path has an optimum delay.
A system (a software) for conducting a logic design, a layout design and a speed analysis in each step has been existing as an interactive logic design system, an interactive layout design system and an interactive speed analysis system, which are not in a system structure suitable for conducting processes in linkage. For this, a circuit design is conducted in a series of processes accompanied by feed-back in the known technique.
In the general circuit designing technique set forth above, the logic design, the layout design and the speed analysis are not linked to each other since they are conducted separately by different systems (softwares). It is thus necessary to repeat each process sequentially, which causes a longer turnaround time and prevents a high-speed design and development of a circuit such as an LSI, a printed circuit board, etc.
There has been proposed a circuit designing apparatus of an interactive type in which a logic design system, a layout design system and a speed analysis system are connected so as to be able to link with each other on occasion.
However, even the circuit designing system of an interactive type in which each of the above systems exist separately or the circuit designing system of an interactive type in which the above systems are connected so as to be associated with each other results in the following various problems.
(1) Recently, integrated circuits such as LSI circuits, have become more microscopic. With this, a problem of a wiring capacitance becomes significant such that a waveform of a signal transferred in a wiring path on a circuit is apt to becomes rounded.
A binary signal transferred in a circuit rises or falls from one level to another within an extremely short time of about zero in theory. However, if a wiring capacitance increases as stated above, a slew rate of a rise or a fall from one level to another level increases. This slew rate is a measure of in a signal waveform. If rounding occurs, a time (Tsin) required to reach from one level to another level increases, thus a time required to reach a threshold value used to judge as to whether the binary signal is in either one of two levels, as a matter of fact. If a delay value in the event that a signal having such rounding passes through a logic component (referred as a gate, cell or element on occasion) is determined uniformly upon speed analysis as before, a difference between a calculated delay value and an actual delay value becomes extremely large, which prevents an accurate delay computation.
(2) A delay computation by speed analysis is conducted after placement of logic components or after wiring between placed components, in general. There has been no case where the delay computation is conducted in a stage after a logic design. As a circuit that is an object of a design becomes more microscopic and highly integrated, there is a demand to obtain a result of a delay computation in an early stage, that is, a final stage of a logic design so as to take it into account in the design.
(3) In a wiring design of an integrated circuit such as an LSI or the like, data transfer between flip-flops (FFs) that are logic components should meet various timing restrictions (overdelay, racing). It is impossible for the designer to pay attention to wiring paths of all combinations of flip-flops of the number extending, in general, to hundreds of thousands to make a check as to whether a result of the wiring design meets the timing restrictions in any of the above circuit designing apparatus of an interactive type.
(4) If a condition of wiring connections of a circuit that is an object of the design is displayed on a display unit such as a display in a wiring design of an integrated circuit such as an LSI or the like, each of characteristic points for the wiring (vias, pins of logic components, or the like) is displayed in a displaying position proportional to actual coordinate values of the characteristic point. In this case, if there is a large difference in density of existing characteristic points locally, it is difficult to discriminate a detailed part having a high density on the display unit if the whole of the circuit is displayed. If the detailed part is enlarged and displayed, it is difficult to grasp the whole image of the circuit that is the object of the design.
(5) If wiring between logic components is performed after each of the logic components has been placed in a layout design, a part in which a wiring is extremely congested or a part in which a tight restriction to a delay value (a high critical degree) set in advance is imposed on a wiring may occur depending on a condition of placement of the logic components. An actual wiring devoid of a consideration on such parts causes a lot of unroutable parts and degradation of wiring efficiency.
(6) Cell that is a logic component placed on an integrated circuit such as an LSI or the like has been in the same shape and the same size. Once a placing position for a cell is determined, there has occurred no placement error such as cell overlapping or the like. However, there is a case where cells having different sizes are placed on the same circuit with a change in the LSI technology, a placement error such that cells overlap to each other may occur. In the present condition, there is no way for the designer to immediately know such placement error. For this, there is a demand for a development of a technique helpful for the designer to clearly know a condition of occurrence of a placement error.
(7) If a part that has been already wired is rewired, the designer designates two points that should be re-wired on a wiring path that has been wired, and conducts a re-wiring in a designated wiring length, which imposes a great burden on the designer. In consequence, there is a demand for a simplified, automated re-wiring process.
(8) In the case of replacing a cell that has been placed, a re-wiring of the cell after the re-placement cannot be executed unless the designer gives an instruction to re-wire separately even if a net that should be linked to the cell has been wired, which imposes a great burden on the designer. There is therefore a demand for a simplified, automated re-placing process.
(9) While plural placement maps of a common circuit are displayed on the display unit, the designer refers to one of these maps and conducts a placing process or a wiring process on the map. However, a result of the process does not reflect on other maps. As a result, there occurs a case where a result of an alteration in design differs from a condition of the design displayed on the placement map, which may cause a confusion of the designer who works out a design in an interactive form by referring the display unit.
(10) With an increase of the number of elements mounted on an integrated circuit such as an LSI or the like, a technique for dividing an inside of the chip into plural hierarchical layout blocks (LSG: Layout Sub-Group) to conduct a mounting becomes the main current. At this time, a net connecting divided blocks exists, in general. Therefore, in a hierarchical layout design, an input/output terminal (a virtual block terminal; referred as a temporary terminal, hereinafter) is temporarily provided to each block, the temporary terminal is placed at the time of placement of the inside of each block, an element and the temporary terminal are connected inside the block, and the temporary terminals of respective blocks are wired and connected to connect the blocks.
Upon the hierarchical layout design as above, it is necessary that a temporary terminal is manually placed by the designer in a place that the designer thinks appropriate in consideration of a connection of the temporary terminal and an element in the block or a connection of the temporary terminal and another block. A recent layout design system employs a technique for automatically placing all blocks in consideration on a relation of placement of individual blocks in the entire circuit. However, a manual work including a shift of each temporary terminal is indispensable in order to conduct a placement respecting an intention of the designer. Since this process is conducted in consideration of only placement of blocks, no attention is paid regarding placement of elements inside the block or wiring between the elements.
(11) An input/output terminal of an integrated circuit such as an LSI or the like is placed in a peripheral area of the chip. There has been no freedom to alter its coordinates in a mounting design. To the contrary, by employing a technique for arranging spherical terminals called bumps on the chip surface, it is possible to determine a position of the input/output terminal on the chip, which increases a degree of freedom in placement. With this, it becomes possible to place an input/output circuit that should be connected to the input/output terminal within a region in which a general element is placed close to a position of the input/output terminal.
An increase of a degree of freedom to place the input/output terminal and the input/output circuit sometimes causes a limitation of in wiring length between the input/output terminal and the input/output circuit. In the case of the hierarchical layout design stated above, there is a possibility that the input/output terminal and the input/output circuit belong different layout hierarchical blocks. In such a case, there is no way to examine when an inside of each block is being designed as to whether the wiring length between the input/output terminal and the input/output circuit is below the limit value. Or, there is a possibility that a region in which the input/output circuit should be placed is not definite since a placing position of the input/output terminal is not definite.

Circuit designing apparatus of an interactive type


The present invention provides an organic electroluminescence device and a manufacturing method thereof. The organic electroluminescence device includes: an organic backing layer (22), which provides a flexible base and isolates external moisture; a light absorption layer (24), which is arranged on the organic backing layer (22); an active thin-film transistor pixel array, which is arranged on the light absorption layer (24), the active thin-film transistor pixel array comprising at least a crystalline semiconductor layer that is formed by means of laser annealing; and an organic electroluminescence layer (29), which is arranged on the active thin-film transistor pixel array. The light absorption layer (24) absorbs the laser that transmits through the active thin-film transistor pixel array and irradiates the light absorption layer (24) during the laser annealing in order to prevent the organic backing layer (22) from being affected by the laser and getting deteriorated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of flat panel displaying, and in particular to an organic electroluminescence device and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. The Related Arts
A flat display device has various advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and is thus of wide applications. The flat display devices that are currently available include liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and organic electroluminescence devices (OELDs), which are also referred to as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).
The known liquid crystal displays are generally backlighting liquid crystal displays, which include an enclosure, a liquid crystal display panel arranged in the enclosure, and a backlight module mounted inside the enclosure. The principle of operation of the liquid crystal display panel is that liquid crystal molecules are interposed between two parallel glass substrates and a driving voltage is applied to the glass substrates to control the rotation of the liquid crystal molecules so as to refract out the light from the backlight module to form an image.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional liquid crystal display panel generally comprises: a thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate 302, a color filter (CF) substrate 304 that is laminated on the thin-film transistor substrate 302, and a liquid crystal layer 306 arranged between the thin-film transistor substrate 302 and the color filter substrate 304. The thin-film transistor substrate 302 drives the liquid crystal molecules contained in the liquid crystal layer 306 to rotate in order to display a corresponding image.
The organic electroluminescence devices, which show the characteristics of self-illumination, high brightness, wide view angle, high contrast, flexibility, and low energy consumption, attract wide attention for serving as the next-generation display measures and gradually substitute the conventional liquid crystal displays for wide applications in various fields including mobile phone screens, computer monitors, and full-color television. The organic electroluminescence devices are different from the conventional liquid crystal displays in that they need no backlight and they use extremely thin coating layers of organic materials directly formed on the glass substrates so that when electrical currents flow therethrough, the organic material coating layers emit light.
The currently available organic electroluminescence devices are classified according to the driving methods used and include passive-matrix organic light emitting diodes (PMOLEDs) and active-matrix organic light emitting diodes (AMOLEDs). Referring to FIG. 2, the AMOLED generally comprises a substrate 502, a thin-film transistor 504 formed on the substrate 502, and an organic light-emitting diode 506 formed on the thin-film transistor 504. The thin-film transistor 504 drives the organic light-emitting diode 506 to give off light in order to display a corresponding image.
The conventional ways of activation are generally high temperature activation and laser activation. When the high temperature activation is employed, due to the presence of a PI (Polyimide) layer, the activation temperature is not allowed to exceed 400° C. However, if the temperature is lower than 400° C., insufficiency of activation may result, leading to deterioration of the OLED thin-film transistor substrate. When laser activation is employed, irradiation of the laser to the PI layer causes property change of the PI layer due to absorption of the laser, leading to lowering of the yield rate of the OLED thin-film transistor substrate and increasing of the manufacturing cost.

Organic electroluminescence device and manufacturing method thereof

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


A crystalline silicate catalyst having deposited coke thereon is regenerated by being contacted with an oxygen-containing gas having a moisture content of 0.2% by volume or less at a temperature of 400.degree.-600.degree. C.

this invention relates generally to a process for the regeneration of a spent catalyst and, more specifically, to a process for the regeneration of a coke-covered crystalline silicate catalyst.
Crystalline silicate catalysts are now used in a wide variety of applications such as for the catalytic conversion of paraffins and/or olefins with 2-7 carbon atoms into aromatic hydrocarbons, for the catalytic conversion of methanol or dimethyl ether into lower olefins and for the disproportionation of toluene. These reactions are generally performed at a temperature of 300.degree. C. or more. During use, such silicate catalysts are gradually inactivated because of deposition of coke on the catalyst surfaces. Regeneration of the spent catalysts has been hitherto performed by burning the coke. The conventional regeneration method, however, has a problem because the catalytic activities are considerably lowered upon repeated regeneration treatment.

Process for the regeneration of coke-deposited, crystalline silicate catalyst

Research Association for the Utilization of Light Oil


A conductive polymer coating comprising an arylamine charge transport compound, an oxidized arylamine charge transport compound salt, and a polymer binder, wherein the oxidized arylamine charge transport compound salt has a counter anion selected from the group consisting of hexafluoroantimonate and hexafluoroarsenate.

The present invention relates to polymeric coating compositions having controllable, reproducible and stable electrical conductivity of, for example, about 1.0 to about 10.sup.-12 S/cm or (ohm-cm).sup.-1. Certain coating compositions with electrical conductivity in the range of about 10.sup.-8 to about 10.sup.-10 S/cm are useful antistatic materials or charge relaxation materials that may be used in electrophotographic image development systems such as liquid image development systems or scavengeless and hybrid scavengeless development systems. The scavengeless development systems do not scavenge or interact with a previously toned image, so as to adversely affect image quality, and are important, for example, in trilevel and highlight color xerography as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,929. Two-phase conductive compositions contain dispersions of conductive particles, for example, carbon black or graphite, within insulating polymer matrices, for example, dielectric binders such as a phenolic resin or fluoropolyrner, which are close to the percolation threshold concentration. Such concentration levels allow conductive particle contact, resulting in a burst of conductivity, see for example, Brewington et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,573. The dielectric constant of these overcoatings can range from about 3 to about 5, and preferably is about 3. The desired conductivity is achieved by controlling the loading of the conductive particles. However, the low conductivity values required for electrophotographic image development systems and the large, intrinsic electrical conductivity of carbon black make it extremely difficult to achieve predictable and reproducible conductivity values. Very small changes in the loading of conductive particles near the percolation threshold can cause dramatic changes in the coating's conductivity. Furthermore, differences in particle size and shape can cause wide variations in conductivity at even a constant weight loading. Moreover, the percolation threshold approach requires relatively high concentrations of conductive particles. At these concentrations, the coatings tend to become brittle, wherein the mechanical properties becoming controlled by carbon black rather than the polymer matrix.
Another approach to conductive coatings is to molecularly dope a polymer matrix with mixtures of a neutral charge transport molecule and its radical cation or anion. "Molecular doping" refers to the relatively low amounts of dopant added, as compared to carbon black dispersions, to increase the conductivity of the polymer matrix, and suggests that the resulting mixture is essentially a solid solution. No chemical bonding occurs between the dopant and the charge transport molecule so as to produce a new material or alloy. That is, the polymer matrix is rendered mechanically stable with a controlled conductivity by molecular doping with dopants such as oxidizing agents. In the presence of an oxidizing dopant, the partially oxidized charge transport moieties in the charge-transporting polymer act as hole carrier sites, which transport positive charges or "holes through the unoxidized charge transport molecules. As an example, Mort et al., J. Electronic Materials, 9:41 (1980), disdose the possibility of chemically controlling dark conductivity by codoping a polycarbonate with neutral and oxidized species of the same molecule, tri-p-tolylamine, that is, TTA and TTA.sup.+ respectively, where TTA.sup.+ represents a cation radical salt of TTA.
Coating compositions of the present invention have electrical conductivities in the range of about 1.0 to about 10.sup.-10 S/cm and are also useful in various applications such as: thin film transistor devices, see Dodabalapur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,291, and Tsumura; A. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,537; in electroluminescent devices, EP 686662-A2, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,514,878, and 5,609,970, and A. J. Heeger, "Self-assembled Networks of Conducting polyaniline" in Trends in Polymer Science, 3, 39-47, 1995); in liquid crystal displays, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,619,357 and 5,498,762; in electrochromic devices, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,500,759, and 5,413,739; in photochromic devices, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,626; in rechargeable batteries, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,987,042 and 4,959,430; in secondary cells, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,462,566 and 5,460,905; in electrochemical capacitors, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,527,640, 4,910,645, 5,442,197 and 5,626,729; in photovoltaic cells, U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,570; in photodetectors, U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,555; in photosensitive imaging member, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,616,440 and 5,389,477; in photographic coatings, U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,944; in formation of conductive polymer patterns, U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,030; in electroplating, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,415,762, 5,575,898 and 5,403,467; in laser applications, Katulin, V. A. et al., Sov. J. Quantum Electron., 14, 74-77 (1984), Hide et al., Science 273, 1833, (1996); and Tessler, et al., Nature, 382, 695 (1996); in polymer grid triodes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,424; in anticorrosion coatings, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,532,025 and 5,441,772; in ferromagnetic or high magnetic spin coatings, Shiomi et al., Synthetic Metals, 85, 1721-1722 (1997), and references cited therein. The disclosures of the aforementioned references are totally incorporated herein by reference.

Conductive polymer coatings and processes thereof


Methods for blocking autoreactive T cell-initiated destruction of tissues in a mammal are provided. In one embodiment, the methods involve administering an HAS/CD24 polypeptide or fragment thereof. In some embodiments, the polypeptide or fragment is glycosylated.

The present invention relates to agents and methods for blocking deleterious T cell mediated immune reactions. Such reactions occur in autoimmune diseases, such as for example, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosis, psoriasis, diabetes, and allergies. Such reactions also occur during rejection of transplants.
In theory, autoimmune diseases can be prevented by blocking activation of T cells and formation of autoreactive T cells. Accordingly, there are a number of studies being conducted to identify methods or agents that can be used to block activation of T cells (J Clin Invest. 1995 June; 95(6):2783-9; J Med. Chem. 2002 January 17; 45(2):275-83). Unfortunately, since patients with autoimmune diseases have already developed autoreactive T cells, these methods have limited value for treatment of autoimmune diseases. Moreover, agents that prevent systemic T cell activation often cause serious side effects. For example, treatment with agents that block activation of T cells can also render the patient more susceptible to infections and cancer. Thus, it is desirable to have new methods for treating autoimmune diseases. A method which reduces the destruction of targeted tissues that is initiated by autoreactive T cells is especially desirable.

Method of treating multiple sclerosis and related t-cell initiated tissue destruction by administering HSA/CD24


An air flow conduit (98) and a related plenum (80) for distributing conditioned air from a refrigeration and heating unit (64) on an end (44) of a railroad freight car (20) into a cargo space (53) within the car (20). A deflector directs a flow of air upward into an inlet end of the plenum (80) and allows the flow to expand gradually within the plenum, smoothing the flow of air within the plenum so that it continues effectively at sufficient rates over the length of the car (20).

The present application relates to temperature controlled railroad freight cars, and particularly to railroad freight car body structures incorporating air duct arrangements for circulation of air from a refrigeration or heating unit to various locations within a body of such a car while maximizing available cargo space.
Temperature controlled railroad boxcars are well known, and have long used mechanical refrigeration and heating units mounted on an end wall, primarily to deliver chilled air to the interior of the car. For simplicity, the term refrigeration unit will be used herein to refer to refrigeration units, heating units, or units capable of both heating and cooling. Air from a refrigeration unit is typically forced into one end of an upper plenum extending longitudinally overhead, near the roof of the car, to deliver the conditioned air throughout the car to maintain a desired temperature throughout the cargo space in the car body. Such plenums in the past have intruded down into otherwise useable cargo space more than is desired, in order to assure sufficient air flow throughout the car body. This downward projection has also made the plenum vulnerable to damage from lift trucks moving cargo within such cars.
Typically, an air circulation pattern in such a temperature-controlled car includes flow of air down from the upper plenum onto and along the sides of the cargo and the end wall of the car that is remote from the refrigeration and heating unit. Air returns along the floor to a return air intake plenum leading back up along the near end wall to the refrigeration unit.
As railroad car sizes have increased it has become increasingly difficult to ensure even distribution of air throughout a railroad freight car, as needed in order to avoid uneven cooling that could damage parts of a sensitive cargo. A factor contributing to such difficulty is the desire to provide as much useable cargo space as possible within a boxcar whose size is limited by clearance along rights-of-way where the car is intended to be used.
Another factor in the design of such railcars is the need to avoid excessive car weight, which would limit the weight of cargo that could be carried and add to the cost of fuel used in hauling the car.
In view of these factors, it is desired to provide the necessary air circulation flow and distribution through an upper plenum that is no larger than necessary, so that it takes as little as possible of the potential cargo space within a refrigerated boxcar body, is out of the way of lift truck uprights and the like, and is not unnecessarily heavy.
Along with larger cars has come the desire to use larger lift trucks to quickly load and unload such cars. Lift trucks now in such use are rated at up to 60,000 lb (27240 kilograms) per axle. It is therefore also desired to provide for such a car a floor structure that provides sufficient strength and aids efficient air circulation and thermal conduction to or from the cargo, and yet does not contribute excessive weight to the car.

Air flow direction in a temperature controlled railroad freight car

The State of Oregon, on behalf of Oregon State University


A method of making porous shapes from unit structures such as beads involves coating the beads with two or more layers of material deposited such that it forms an energetic material. These bi-layer energetic materials are formed from a variety of materials including, but not limited to: Ti & B, Zr & B, Hf & B, Ti & C, Zr & C, Hf & C, Ti & Si, Zr & Si, Nb & Si, Ni & Al, Zr & Al, or Pd & Al, all of which can be deposited from vapor. Pressure is applied to prevent the components from moving and the solid-state reaction between the alternating layers produces exothermic heat. Heat from the reaction alone or in conjunction of an applied brazing compound joins the beads forming a porous shape that is desired. The reaction in the materials may be activated with a small pulse of local energy that can be applied using optical, electrical, or thermal sources. Common examples include an electrical pulse, spark, hot filament, a laser beam, etc. The method reduces energy consumption and the need for specialized equipment. The reactive materials and optional brazing material are preferably applied in a fluidized CVD furnace.

Porous shapes are used in a variety of downhole applications such as for sand control in screens. Such screens are called prepacked screens because they are provided with such porous shapes integrated into a screen assembly. In some cases the presence of the porous material is a substitute for gravel packing the screens downhole. The porous shapes generally involve unitary shapes such as beads to be joined together to form a desired shape.
The way these shapes were made on the past was to coat the beads with a brazing material and feel the beads into a container that represents the desired aggregate shape. That assembly was in turn put into a vacuum furnace and heated while under mechanical compression. This process required specialized equipment and high energy consumption. Accordingly a different process was sought to reduce the cost of manufacturing the porous shapes and that lead to the present invention.
The new method features doing away with the vacuum furnace and replacing that operation with a different way to join the beads or other units into a desired shape. The method focuses on applying nano-layers of material preferably in a fluidized bed CVD furnace. Optionally a brazing material can also be added and the beads or other shapes can be put into a desired final overall shape with sufficient heat added to start the nano-material reacting and creating an exothermic reaction that either alone is sufficient to bond the unit shapes together or, with the aid of the brazing material, accomplishes joining of the unit shapes into a cohesive whole of a desired shape. The process is considerably cheaper to execute from an energy, manpower and specialized equipment cost perspective.
Nano-engineered materials are known as for example NanoFoil® made by Reactive NanoTechnologies of Hunt Valley, Md.; www.rntfoil.com. Once such a material is applied to an object a heat source starts a reaction that is exothermic in the nano-engineered material and the heat generated can be employed to do other things as described in the above mentioned web site.
The following patents are relevant to the discovery and development of the nano-engineered material that is preferred for use in the present invention.
U.S. PAT.NO.Title17,361,412Nanostructured soldered or brazed joints made withreactive multilayer foils27,297,626Process for nickel silicide Ohmic contacts to n-SiC37,143,568Hermetically sealing a container with crushable materialand reactive multilayer material47,121,402Container hermetically sealed with crushable materialand reactive multilayer material56,991,856Methods of making and using freestanding reactivemultilayer foils66,991,855Reactive multilayer foil with conductive and non-conductive final products76,863,992Composite reactive multilayer foil86,736,942Freestanding reactive multilayer foils96,596,101High performance nanostructured materials and methodsof making the same106,534,194Method of making reactive multilayer foil and resultingproduct115,547,715Method for fabricating an ignitable heterogeneousstratified metal structure125,538,795Ignitable heterogeneous stratified structure for thepropagation of an internal exothermic chemical reactionalong an expanding wavefront and method ofmaking same
These and other aspects of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the associated drawings that appear below while recognizing that the full scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims.


A system and a corresponding method used with a sensor array selects candidate weak target signals from within one or more received signals and enhances those candidate weak target signals relative to a noise background.

In sensor array systems, such as forward-looking sonar systems, or similar type systems, the signals returned from candidate targets include both strong and weak return signals. Strong signals are typically processed by the sensor array without much problem. However, the weak target signals returned from the target have a low average signal amplitude and are typically very noisy, e.g., weak return sonar target signals from undersea mines are often very noisy due to the complicated undersea environment. In order to detect candidate targets from weak noisy return signals, pre-processing is often performed prior to detection to reduce the noise. Some conventional methods to reduce the noise of weak target signals use a technique known as signal subspace projection. Conventional signal subspace processing techniques are typically based on the assumption that the return target signals have greater energy than the noise of the return signals. However, for weak target signals, this assumption is typically not correct. The result is conventional signal subspace projection pre-processing techniques are often not effective at reducing noise which reduces the ability of the sensor array system to detect candidate targets.
Additionally, many conventional thresholding techniques which rely on the threshold amplitudes of signals to determine the location of candidate target assume the noise of the return signals is Gaussian distributed. However, in many applications, such as undersea mine detection, the noise is both Gaussian and non-Gaussian distributed. The result is conventional thresholding techniques do not always detect candidate targets and often generate a lot of false target signals. Moreover, non-Gaussian distribution of the noise is very difficult to estimate and requires extensive computational efforts. Thus, non-Gaussian distribution estimation is rarely, if ever, utilized by conventional thresholding techniques.
Current sensor array systems, such as forward-looking sonar systems, and the like, require the individual sensors of the array to be located in very close proximity to each other due to the physical limitation of the size of the array. Such a configuration often results in a target signal contacting several adjacent sensors simultaneously. This results in a correlation between the target signals received by various sensors of the array, referred to herein as cross-sensor correlations. The inventor hereof has discovered a new method for enhancing weak target signals which exploits such cross-sensor correlations.

System and method for enhancing weak target signals for a sensor array


This invention concerns a novel Viterbi decoding apparatus and method in which a survivor path unit (SPU) implements the traceback method with a RAM which stores path information in a manner which allows fast read access without requiring physical partitioning of the RAM. This results in an implementation that requires less chip area than conventional solutions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for decoding convolutionally encoded signals. Such signals are commonly used in communications and recording systems which employ error correction to combat signal corruption. The convolutional decoders discussed here are based on the Viterbi algorithm, in which weights are calculated for transitions which form survivor paths through a decoder trellis. The decoding then takes the form of tracing the most likely survivor path. More specifically, this invention concerns a novel method for storing survivor paths which when implemented leads to a significant reduction in circuit complexity and silicon area needed to implement the convolutional decoder apparatus hereof.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Error correction codes function by accepting input data symbols and processing them in such a way as to add some redundancy to the symbol sequence. One way this is commonly done is to increase the number of symbols in the sequence, so that for every k symbols that enter the encoder, n symbols are dispatched by the encoder. The input and output symbols are generally binary digits (bits), and the information throughput is represented as a code rate of k/n.
The most popular form of error correction codes are block codes. Block codes are characterized by the feature of state-independent decodability. A block encoder can be implemented as a lookup table in which the input data word is used as an address, and the code word corresponding to the input data word is given by the contents of the table at that address. In this way a one-to-one mapping from input data words to code words is achieved. A simple decoding algorithm is to compare the received code word to all possible code words, choose the "closest" code word, and use the chosen code word as an address in a second lookup table that contains the input data word which corresponds to the chosen code word. The state-independence is a result of the one-to-one mapping that ensures each code word has only one possible interpretation. One drawback of block coding is that for adequate performance, many systems require codes with very long block lengths, necessitating large memories or more complex encoding and decoding algorithms.
As an alternate approach, short block lengths can be used, but some restrictions are added to which code words can be used. With block coding, each of the code words could be used at any time as dictated by the current input data word. This is not the case with convolutional coding, where the code words which can be used are influenced by previous input data words as well as the current input data word. This increases the effective "length" of code words by extending the range of influence of an input data word beyond one code word. As a consequence, however, there is not a one-to-one mapping from the input data words to code words, and the encoding and decoding processes are more involved.
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a convolutional encoder. Encoder 110 includes a series of adders 116 interposed between a shift registers 114 and a time multiplexer 118. Encoder 110 accepts one bit at each time step and produces three bits. Shift register 114 shifts its contents to the right one bit per time interval, accepting a new bit from the input data stream 112 in the process. Shift register 114 exemplifies a four-bit wide register which contains the current input data bit and the three previous data bits. The three previous bits are considered to form the "encoder state". When the shift register shifts again to the right, the current input data bit will become the most significant bit of the encoder state, thereby causing a transition to the new state. As more input data enters the shift register and the register again shifts, another transition occurs. As these transitions continue to occur, a sequence forms. This sequence of transitions between encoder states is often referred to as a path.
Associated with each transition in the path is a three bit code word that is formed based on the current input bit and the current encoder state. The contents of the shift register 114 are added together in different ways by three adders 116. The topmost adder adds the values of the first, third and fourth bits in the shift register. The middle adder adds the values of the first, second and fourth bits, and the bottom adder adds the values of all four bits. In each case, the summation is done modulo two, so that the output of the adder is one if the result is odd, and zero if the result is even. The adder outputs are passed to the time multiplexer 118 to form the output code word. Time multiplexer 118 then switches three times to pass its contents to the output line 120 before the next input bit is accepted. The rate of this encoder is thus 1/3. The number of encoder states is 2.sup.3 =8 since three previous input bits are held in shift register 114.
In summary, convolutional encoder 110 accepts one input bit (I.sub.1) per time step and calculates a three bit code word based on the input bit and the encoder state, wherein the encoder state shown comprises the past three input bits (B.sub.1, B.sub.2 and B.sub.3). The sequence of code words passes through a transmission channel which is typically subject to interference (i.e. channel disturbances which may include random noise) that may corrupt the sequence of code words. To decode the code word sequence, a decoder will attempt to reverse the encode process and decide what the input bit is, based on the code word and state of the encoder. However, the decoder does not know for certain what the state of the encoder is, so the decoder often maintains a decision unit for each possible encoder state. The decoding decision will be based on the most likely sequence of encoder states as determined by the sequence of code words.
To decode the code word sequence, a time-expanded version of the encoder state transition diagram is formed. When all of the possible transitions from a state at time t to a state at time t+1 are shown, the resulting diagram is one stage (hereafter called a time step) of a trellis. FIG. 2 depicts an example of one time step of a decoder trellis. The eight states the encoder could be in at a given time t are listed on the left in FIG. 2, and the eight states the encoder could be in at time t+1 are listed on the right. The lines (hereafter referred to as edges) in FIG. 2 represent the possible state transitions. For example, if at time t the encoder is in state 000 and the current input bit is 1, at time t+1 the encoder will be in state 100. This follows from the adder configuration shown in the example encoder of FIG. 1. Namely, if B.sub.1, through B.sub.3 at time t are all 0 and input bit I.sub.1, is 1, then the code word C.sub.1 through C.sub.3 output from adders 116 is 111, respectively. That code word represents an ideal transition from state 000 at time t to 100 at time t+1, given an input bit I.sub.1, of 1. The only other possible transition from state 000 at time t occurs when the current input bit is 0, which results in a transition to state 000 at time t+1. For all states shown, the uppermost edge illustrates a state transition resulting from a current input bit of 0, and the lower edge illustrates a state transition resulting from a current input bit of 1. The trellis shown in FIG. 2 thereby duplicates the effects of shift register 114 which produces a state transition by shifting the current input bit into the most significant bit position of the encoder state.
Shown in FIG. 2 are the code words that correspond to each transition from state t to t+1. The code words are those produced by encoder 110 based on the current input bit and the encoder state. For an input bit of 0, the encoder state can transition from, e.g., 010 at time t to 001 at time t+1 having an output code word of 101. This correspondence was determined from FIG. 1 where it can be seen that when I.sub.1, B.sub.1, B.sub.2, and B.sub.3 are 0, 0, 1, and 0, respectively, adders 116 produce a 101 into bit locations C.sub.1, C.sub.2 and C.sub.3 of register 118. Similarly, the encoder state transition from 010 at time t to 001 at time t+1 having an output code word of 101.
FIG. 2b shows a time expansion, i.e., multiple time steps beyond simply t and t+1 of FIG. 2). The time steps indicate a decoder trellis beginning at time t=0 to time t=6. At each time step, the decision units of the decoder contain the weight of the most likely path to the state of interest. Thus, the decoder trellis contains multiple paths from an initial state to a given state several time steps later; however, only one path has the lowest weight and therefore is the most likely path. The most likely path to a particular state within a given time step is found by starting at that particular state at that given time step and tracing backward along the chosen transitions which are drawn with the thick lines. If no more code words are received, the decoding may be performed by choosing the state at time t=6 with the smallest weight as the most likely encoder state and following the most likely path to that state from left to right. An input bit of 0 is decoded if the path follows the top transition from a state, and a 1 is decoded if the path follows the bottom transition from a state. In FIG. 2b the decoded data as indicated by the trail of thickest lines found by tracing backward from state 000 at time t=6 is 010000. The trail of thickest lines is herein referred to as the path having the lowest weight, e.g., "4" at time t=6 in the example provided. Details on the calculation of the weights and selection of the transitions follow.
The decoder is initialized by setting the weight of the first state (e.g. state A) at time t=0 to zero and the rest of the weights of states at time t=0 to a large number (in the figure this number is represented by X). This is done because it has been decided ahead of time that the initial state of the encoder is 000. Thereafter as code words come in at each time step, a metric (defined here to be a measure of difference between two signals) is formed for each code word which effectively measures the distance from the signal received at that time step to the code word. Classically, the metric used is the squared Euclidean distance. As an example, assume that at time t=0 the received signal is 100. Then the metrics M for each of the eight possible code words are (c.sub.1 -1).sup.2 +(c.sub.2 -0).sup.2 +(c.sub.3 0).sup.2 which yields the following results: ##EQU1## where M.sup.t.sub.c equals the metric at time t for code word c.
Each state at time t>0 has associated with it a weight and a path. As will be explained in greater detail further below, the weight associated with each state is defined as the sum of the metrics formed by the most likely path to that state. In the example provided in FIG. 2b, the weights of each state at state t=1 starting at the top state and traversing downward are 1XXX2XXX. Likewise the weights of each state at state t=6 starting at the top state are 45765666. The path is the most likely sequence of transitions that would have been taken by the encoder if indeed it is in that state. As an example, the received code word upon the decoder is 100, followed by 010, followed by 111, etc. However, instead of 100 at time t=0, the decoder should have received 000 or 111. The distance (metric) between the received signal and code word 000 is 1. Thus, the transition from state A in state t=0 to state B at time t=1 has a metric of 1. The weight of a transition is found by adding the metric to the weight of the state from which it originates. The transition from state A to state B thus has a weight of 0+1. Conversely, the distance between 100 and 111 (i.e., code word for input bit of 1 and a transition from state 000 to state 100--shown in FIG. 2) is 2. Thus, the metric from state A to state C is 2. The weight of the transition from A to C is then 0+2. The weight of state B or state C is the minimum weight of the incoming transitions. Thus, since the weight of the transition from state A to state B is 1, and the weight of the other incoming transition is a large number, then the weight of state B is 1. Similarly, the weight of state C is 2. The transitions which are chosen as having the minimum weights become path extensions. If at state C, the transition from state A to state C is chosen as the incoming transition with minimum weight, the most likely path to state C becomes the most likely path to state A plus the transition from state A to state C.
At any given time the encoder has only one state, but the decoder maintains a decision unit for all possible encoder states. Hence, each node in the decoder trellis corresponds to a decision unit. The decision units each track the weight of one state, and their decisions are passed to a memory unit which tracks the corresponding paths.
The weight associated with each state is defined as the sum of the metrics formed by the most likely path to that state. In the decoder trellis shown in FIG. 2b, each of the paths to the states at time t will have two possible extensions formed by the two transitions from each possible encoder state. The weight of each state at time t+1 is found by choosing the minimum weight of the two incoming transitions, where the weight of a transition is defined as the sum of the weight of the state it originates from and the metric of the code word that corresponds to that transition. The new path for the state at time t+1 is then the path to the originating state (at time t) that was chosen plus the transition.
The aforesaid decoding method was conceived by A. J. Viterbi who realized that any paths which merged to a common encoder state would have the same possible extensions and hence would not possess any distinguishing characteristics beyond that point. Therefore, making a decision at the merge point does not cause any loss of optimality, but will significantly reduce the decoding complexity since only a constant number of paths needed to be kept in memory. Even so, the decoding algorithm outlined above still possesses significant complexity in that each edge of the decoder trellis requires the calculation of a weight value, and a comparison and selection process must be performed to determine the transition with the minimum weight.
As an exercise to illustrate the complexity of the decoder, consider the steps taken by the decoder to update the state weights after a code word is received. First, a metric is calculated for each of the possible code words. For this example that translates into three additions, three squarings, and two more additions for each of eight code words yields 40 additions and 24 multiplications. Second, a weight is calculated for each edge in the trellis diagram. For this simple example there are 16 edges, necessitating 16 additions. Third, for each state all the weights of the incoming transitions must be compared to determine the smallest. The two edges per state in this example need only 1 comparison, yielding a total of 8. In total, 56 additions, 24 multiplications, and 8 comparisons are needed per time step. One technique for reducing the number of operations which perform the metric calculation described in the first step will be outlined hereinafter. One of the major concerns which remains to developers is the number of operations needed for the second and third steps. The number of edges in convolutional codes is an exponential function.
In the example provided, each state has two incoming edges, so only one comparison and selection is necessary to determine the transition with the minimum weight. In the general case, the number of edges entering a state is 2.sup.r (r is an integer determined by the decoder trellis), which requires r rounds of comparison and selection. In each round of the compare and select process, the edges are grouped into pairs and compared. Of the two, the edge representing the transition with the smaller weight is "selected", which means only that the other edge is dropped from candidacy since it can no longer represent the minimum weight transition. Consequently in each round, half of the edges are dropped from candidacy, and after r rounds, only the edge representing the minimum weight transition remains. The minimum weight transition for a state is referred to as a "survivor", the weight associated with the survivor is referred to as the survivor weight, and the path associated with the survivor is referred to as the survivor path. In the example depicted in FIG. 2b, the survivor path is illustrated with a sequence of thicker lines extending from states ABDEFGH. The survivor weight is the weight of the survivor path culminating at state H as having a weight of 4. State H weight is the sum of all previous transition weights within the survivor path as determined by the summation of the immediate preceding state weights and the metric between the preceding state and the state of interest.
Comparison and selection process must be performed for all states and for every code word received. Computational overhead for a Viterbi decoder can therefore be substantial. As shown in FIG. 3, Viterbi decoder 130 may be divided into two sub-units: an add-compare-select array (ACS array) 134 and a survivor path unit (SPU) 136. The metric calculation, addition, weight comparison and survivor path selection all take place within the ACS array. Thus, ACS array 134 contains the weight values at each state, as a progression along survivor path. The weight values are necessary, when making a comparison to other weights in other paths, to determine a survivor path. The compilation and comparison functions which take place within the ACS array 134 allow determination of path extensions. Signals indicating the extensions to the survivor paths are passed from the ACS array to the SPU which then updates the survivor paths. The SPU also functions to provide decoded symbol decisions based on the survivor paths. Two popular methods exist for implementing the SPU: the register exchange method, and the traceback method. Only the traceback method is discussed herein.
To illustrate the traceback method, a random access memory (RAM) is used. The RAM is organized into rows and columns. The columns represent time steps, i.e., t=0, t=1, etc. in the decoder trellis, and the rows represent the states, i.e., B,C, etc. at each time step. Each location in the RAM is assumed to hold a pointer to a state in the previous column, the state from which the surviving path to the current state originates. Note that this pointer may take the form of the input bit I.sub.1, which would have caused the chosen transition to the current state. This approach requires the addition of some external logic gates which generate the address of the state in the previous column when given the address of the current state and the contents of the current state.
The traceback method operates in the following manner: At each time step, the chosen transitions are stored in a column. One state is chosen as a starting point, and a traceback begins. The traceback consists of repeated reads from the RAM, each read accessing a column which precedes the column last accessed. The row used in each read is specified by the contents of the location last read. In this manner, it is possible to "trace backward" through the RAM and, more specifically, through the decoder trellis as described in FIG. 2b. After tracing backward a fixed number of steps, the last transition is rendered as a decoded bit in similar fashion to the previous method.
Note that in the traceback method, many reads must be performed during each decoding cycle. This places very demanding requirements on the speed of the RAM. Several approaches have been taken in an attempt to address this problem. Utilizing the principle that speed of a RAM typically inversely proportional to its size, some of these approaches focus on substituting several smaller RAM arrays for one larger RAM. Whatever speed is gained in the RAM operation, design complexity is increased by requiring additional decode, read/write, and pointer logic, and the associated requirement for a larger silicon chip area.

Area-efficient surviving paths unit for Viterbi decoders


This application is related to a data recovery system. The data recovery system includes processing circuitry which receives a restore request. The restore request includes a restore target time. When backup data corresponding to the restore target time is determined to be available, the processing circuitry creates a temporary database service instance and determines information of the temporary database service instance. The processing circuitry further obtains the backup data corresponding to the restore target time and writes the backup data into the temporary database service instance according to the information of the temporary database service instance. The processing circuitry executes a formal restoration operation on the temporary database service instance, in which the backup data is written, according to a received processing request.

Retracement refers to restoring data in a database to a historical moment, for example, restoring to a moment before a data disorder. When a user of the database needs to perform data retracement for a certain reason (for example, game retracement for replaying a game and a code bug leading to the data disorder), the user initiates a retracement task to restore selected backup data to some data (further called example or instance) of the user based on the backup data generated during a database backup.

Data recovery method, apparatus, and system

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited


A resistance temperature detector device and system are provided for measuring the temperature adjacent to windings within a stator assembly. The resistance temperature detector comprises a resistive element enclosed within a plurality of insulative layers, including insulation panels and adhesive. These surrounding insulation layers are sufficient to prevent partial discharge within any air gaps or low dielectric materials adjacent to the resistive element when the resistance temperature detector is disposed within a motor. A method for detecting temperatures between windings of an electrical machine is also provided.

The present technique relates generally to the field of electric motors and to methods and apparatus for detecting temperatures within an electric motor. More particularly, the technique relates to a novel approach to detecting the temperature adjacent to a winding within an electric motor.
Electric motors, generators, and other similar devices, are produced in a variety of mechanical and electrical configurations. The configuration of these devices may depend upon the intended application, the operating environment, the available power source, or other similar factors. In general, these devices include a rotor surrounded at least partially by a stator. For instance, one common design of electrical motor is the induction motor, which is used in numerous and diverse applications. Induction motors typically employ a stator assembly including a slotted core in which groups of coil windings are installed. By providing alternating current power to certain windings at certain times, a dynamic magnetic field is produced that causes the rotor to rotate within the stator. The rotational speed of the rotor is a function of the frequency of the alternating current power input and of the motor design (i.e. the number of poles defined by the windings). This rotation may be used to transmit a mechanical force to a driven load via an output shaft coupled between the rotor and the driven load.
Inverter drives are commonly used with such motors to vary the frequency of the alternating current power driving the motor. This, accordingly, allows the rotational speed of the rotor to be varied as well. An inverter drive is configured to receive a direct current input and to output a variable frequency waveform that simulates alternating current power. A rectifying circuit may be used with the inverter drive if alternating current power is being provided to the inverter drive. In such a case, the rectifier converts the incoming alternating current power to direct current power for input into the inverter circuitry.
Electric motors and other similar devices are generally configured to operate in a given temperature range. Heat is generated within the motor from the passage of electrical current through the coil windings, or from a variety of other sources. Often, one or more resistance temperature detectors will be disposed within one or more slots of a stator core, adjacent to the coil windings. In this manner, the temperature of the coil windings can be measured to determine if the temperature is within desired operating parameters. However, these resistance temperature detectors must remain operable in order to provide this benefit.
In general, a resistance temperature detector includes a resistance coil encased in an insulative cover. Current is applied to leads of the coil that results in a measurable voltage drop through the coil as a function of the resistance of the coil. Because the resistance varies with the temperature of the coil, by measuring the voltage drop, compensating for certain errors, and correlating the voltage drop to the known characteristics of the coil, the temperature at the detector location can be calculated. In motor applications this temperature signal may then be used for various monitoring, control, preventative maintenance, and other functions.
The environments in which conventional resistance temperature detectors are placed are often severe, particularly in high power motors. The detectors are subjected to elevated temperature levels and, at times to significant voltage differentials, particularly in inverter driven applications. The corresponding voltage stress and electric field within these environments may lead to premature failure of resistance temperature detectors. Particularly, the electric field within the motor may electrically break down small air gaps or other materials or zones of reduced dielectric constant within a resistance temperature detector, causing partial discharge and localized heating within such zones. If any air voids or low dielectric materials are disposed adjacent to the resistive element of the detector, this localized heating may cause the detector to report inaccurate temperatures or may cause the resistive element to deteriorate, resulting in the failure of the detector. Moreover, winding insulation systems are being further reduced in thickness, leading to increasing voltage stresses, particularly across temperature detector insulating layers. Such elevated stresses can similarly lead to failure of the detectors.
There is, therefore, a need for a resistance temperature detector that can better withstand the harsh electrical environment present in many applications, and particularly within a slot of a stator core. Such a device would allow for the monitoring of temperatures of windings of electric motors or similar devices, and thereby prevent damage and downtime, and improve reliability of the entire motor system.

Temperature detection method and apparatus for inverter-driven machines


The present invention provides methods and apparatus for mixing samples in-line in a microfluidic system, comprising methods of and means for introducing a first fluid sample into a flow-tube at a first end at a first velocity via a first conduit; methods of and means for introducing a second fluid sample into the flow-tube at the first end at a second velocity, the second velocity different from the first velocity, via a second conduit, wherein the first fluid sample and the second fluid sample converge in the flow tube to form an interface; whereby the first fluid sample and the second fluid sample mix at the interface within the flow-tube, wherein fluid flow at the first end of the flow-tube is laminar and fluid flow at a second end of the flow-tube is laminar, and wherein the flow-tube has a constant diameter between the first end and the second end of the flow-tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mixing devices, and more particularly to a mixing device suited for a microfluidic environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mixing fluids efficiently when the mixing volume is both temporally and spatially small poses problems. If the nature of the fluid changes upon mixing, for example, in terms of viscosity, flow dynamics are altered and the mixing efficiency is further lowered. An increase in viscosity delays the transition to turbulence, leading to lower mixing efficiencies, as the only mixing may occur by diffusion at the boundaries between the fluids.
There are several instances when it is desirable to achieve maximal mixing in a very short duration. Sub-optimal interaction of the fluids to be mixed leads to no or incomplete reaction. Mixing optimization in a microfluidic environment poses more problems because the volumes of the fluids involved are too small to use large conventional mixers. In addition to the chemical field, which involves small reactant volumes, the rapidly growing fields of drug discovery and modern biotechnology in general often encounter situations wherein bioefficacy testing or the effect of micro-volumes of molecules on cells, particles or other bioactive reagents have to be accurately studied. The difficulty of isolation and the cost of synthesis preclude testing of large volumes of compounds. Thus it becomes necessary to ensure that very small amounts of compounds are able to interact optimally so as to render accurate results.
Micromixing will be valuable for any application in biotechnology where small fluid volumes need to be mixed. In a confluence of two or more fluids at low volume, for example less than 1 microliter, and in dimensions of 100 micrometers, mixing primarily takes place by diffusion at their common boundaries. Consequently, mixing is very poor if the duration of the interaction is short. Also, if the flow is laminar, efficiency of mixing becomes even poorer (Beard, D. A., Taylor dispersion of a solute in a microfluidic channel, J. Applied Physics, 89: 4667-4669, 2001; Brody et al., Biotechnology at low Reynolds numbers, Biophys. J., 71:3430-3441, 1996; Knight et al., Hydrodynamic focusing on a silicon chip: mixing nanoliters in microseconds, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80:3863-3866, 1998, the entire contents and disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein). It is well known that when viscosity of a fluid increases, diffusion decreases, contributing to poor mixing. Thus in situations where cells or particulate matter are added to a free-flowing fluid medium as in many bioanalytical systems, interactions of the constituents may be sub-optimal. In the micron size range, small Reynolds numbers govern the delivery of aqueous samples. As fluid transport systems get progressively smaller, viscous forces dominate over inertial forces, thus rendering turbulence nonexistent. This problem is acute in microfluidics (Ethers et al., Mixing in the offstream of a microchannel system, Chemical Engineering and Processing, 39:291-298, 2001). There are times when the reaction must take place in a sterile or aseptic environment without extraneous contaminants. At other times, the reaction may peak soon after the reactants come into contact and a read-out may not be possible or may become inaccurate, if delayed. Where the design limitations stipulate for sterility, a short mixing interval and a laminar-flow, in-flow mechanisms for bringing about effective mixing within the tube or channel become desirable and sometimes critical to effective means of measurement and analysis. Commonly used microfluidic mixers are diffusion-enhanced or highly complex and require a few seconds to achieve thorough mixing: They have not been able to address most of the above limitations effectively. Thus the need for in-flow mixing mechanisms for bringing about optimal mixing of a plurality of microfluids is still unmet.


A power system of a series hybrid vehicle, comprising a fuel source; a control system; at least two auxiliary power units, each of which auxiliary power units, under control of the control system, independently receives fuel from the fuel source, and converts chemical energy in the fuel into electrical energy and outputs the electrical energy to a common current bus; a power battery electrically connected to a common current bus to, under control of the control system, receive electrical energy from the common current bus to perform charging or perform discharging through the common current bus; and a traction motor electrically connected to the common current bus to, under control of the control system, receive electrical energy from the common current bus and convert the electrical energy into mechanical energy and transmit the mechanical energy to a power train of the vehicle so as to drive the vehicle to run.

Since the 1990's, the problems of energy crisis and environmental pollution have become increasingly serious worldwide. Petroleum accounts for over 40 percent of worldwide total energy consumption. According to the current proved reserves and consumption speed, it is estimated that the global petroleum resources might run out in the future dozens of years.
Motor vehicles are major consumers of petroleum and a major source of air pollution. Carbon dioxide in the exhaust gas of motor vehicles is one of the main factors for the global greenhouse effect, and other components of the exhaust gas are also chief urban air pollutants.
Practices during the past many years have proven that the use of novel fuel sources and novel power systems are important channels for solving vehicle energy bottleneck and exhaust gas pollution. With respect to novel fuel sources, it has been proven in practice that the use of alternative fuel is cleaner than gasoline and diesel and is a feasible solution for solving energy crisis and pollution caused by emission. With respect to novel power systems, all-electric vehicles employing a power storage battery such as a plumbic-acid storage battery, a Ni-MH storage battery or a lithium storage battery are advantageous in zero emission, low noise and high efficiency. However, due to the restriction of electrical energy storage technologies, all-electric vehicles also have drawbacks in high manufacture costs, short continuous travel mileage and long battery-charging time. Thus, all-electric vehicles cannot really meet people's needs in use and do not have enough market competitiveness at present and for quite some time to come. Hybrid vehicles are a transitional vehicle type between the conventional vehicles and the all-electric vehicles and have advantages of the two types above such as super-low emission, high efficiency and longer continuous travel mileage, and are only slightly more costly than vehicles utilizing a conventional power system.
The power system of a hybrid vehicle includes many types such as a series power system, a parallel power system and a serial-parallel power system, wherein a series hybrid power system exhibits a relatively simple designed structure and good stability and can effectively achieve allocation and synthesis of various energies and is one currently popular technology for researching and developing the power system of hybrid vehicles.
A series hybrid electric vehicle (SHEV) generally uses a power storage battery and a fuel generator set as two kinds of basic energy storage and conventional devices, wherein the fuel generator set (engine+generator) is also called an auxiliary power unit (APU). Generally only one auxiliary power unit is provided in the prior series hybrid vehicle, wherein the auxiliary power unit mainly comprises only one fuel engine (gasoline engine or diesel engine) as an engine and only one generator for converting kinetic energy outputted by the engine into electrical energy. Also, the fuel engine is not mechanically connected to a traction motor driving the vehicle to run. However, while prior series hybrid vehicles can reduce exhaust gas emission of the vehicle and achieve better fuel economy, these vehicles still use gasoline or diesel as fuel and do not address the problem of petroleum resource exhaustion. Current alternative fuels such as natural gas or methane generally have a lower energy density. However, the power system of the series hybrid vehicle generally includes three energy conversion procedures (chemical energy→mechanical energy→electrical energy→mechanical energy), and has a lower energy conversion efficiency than a parallel hybrid power system. Therefore, it is generally believed that alternative fuels with lower energy density are not adapted for use in the series hybrid vehicles.
Functions of the auxiliary power unit of the series hybrid vehicle comprise directly outputting electrical energy and driving the vehicle to run through the traction motor, outputting electrical energy to charge a high-voltage power battery, and charging a vehicle low-voltage storage battery through DC/DC. A basic working mechanism of the auxiliary power unit is such that under the action of a control system, the engine causes a generator rotor to rotate through a mechanical connection, thereby obtaining an appropriate magnetic field intensity in the generator by controlling current intensity in the coil on the generator rotor. In addition, the coil on a generator stator generates electrical energy under action of a generated alternating magnetic field. Before application to vehicle driving, such small and medium-sized fuel generator sets are used as a movable temporary power supply system which is characterized by a relatively stable working state, a smaller rotation speed fluctuation and infrequent start and stop. However, the auxiliary power unit used in the series hybrid vehicle is connected in parallel with the power battery in circuitry and drives the vehicle to run through the motor, which requires the fuel generator set to have characteristics such as large scope of coverage of operating conditions, quick response and smooth transition. The control level of the fuel generator set directly affects power performance, safety and service life of the whole power system. That is to say, the fuel generator set conventionally used as the movable temporary power supply system and the fuel generator set in the series hybrid vehicle have completely different performance requirements, and therefore are different in terms of structural design, system connection and control policy, so that technically they cannot be obviously substituted.
Taking into account both emission and fuel consumption, the auxiliary power unit of the series hybrid vehicle currently has the following two basic working modes: the first is a single-point constant-power working mode (also called a switching mode), and the second is a working mode along a minimum fuel consumption curve.
The auxiliary power unit employing the single-point constant-power working mode only has two states: stably working at a certain working condition point with very low fuel consumption and emission, and a dynamic load of the vehicle is completely balanced by the power battery. In this way, although the emission and fuel consumption of the auxiliary power unit are very low, the power battery may be seriously harmed.
The auxiliary power unit employing the working mode along a minimum fuel consumption curve can track the changes of an actual vehicle load, and effectively reduce requirements of the vehicle for power battery output capacity and power; the power battery may cyclically work with less power, which facilitates prolonging of the service life of the power battery and selection of a power battery with less power. However, the auxiliary power unit must respond quickly to vehicle power requirements, so it will affect efficiency of the engine and emission properties. Furthermore, it is relatively difficult to accurately predict the power needs in a future travel phase of the vehicle.
Additionally, due to limitations of factors such as the number of engine cylinders, cylinder bore and piston stroke, a single engine is limited with respect to power and torque and impossible to expand infinitely, and sometimes cannot meet higher requirements of some vehicles for power and torque. How to meet higher requirements of some vehicles for power and torque is one of the top issues in the vehicle industry.


A terminal display scanning method for optical fingerprint recognition is provided, the method includes: if a start operation on a terminal screen is detected, obtaining a first vector set, where the first vector set includes A data vectors that are mutually orthogonal or mutually quasi-orthogonal, each of the data vectors includes a plurality of data elements, and A is an integer greater than 1; sequentially using the data elements in each of the data vectors to control light emitting of minimum pixel units in a fingerprint recognition area until controlling light emitting of all the minimum pixel units in the fingerprint recognition area is completed, to obtain a second vector set corresponding to the fingerprint recognition area, where the second vector set carries fingerprint information; and demodulating the second vector set by using the first vector set to obtain all fingerprint information in the fingerprint recognition area.

Fingerprint recognition technologies relate to various technical research fields, and are widely applied to work and life. Currently, the fingerprint recognition technologies mainly include a capacitive fingerprint recognition technology, an ultrasonic fingerprint recognition technology, and an optical fingerprint recognition technology. Currently, the optical fingerprint recognition technology is used in most of terminal devices including a smartphone, a tablet computer, and a notebook computer.
In the optical fingerprint recognition technology, a photoelectric detector (photo detector, PD) or the like is integrated in a terminal display and is disposed inside the display, or is disposed under the display. Self-emitting light of a pixel on the terminal display is used as a light source to irradiate a finger, and the PD receives an optical signal reflected by a surface of the finger, converts the optical signal into an electrical signal, and further processes the electrical signal to obtain fingerprint information.
Light of pixels interferes with each other, which is referred to as afterglow interference. In addition, the PD also receives ambient light. Strong ambient light also causes interference to an optical fingerprint, which is referred to as ambient light interference. Therefore, an interference signal exists in the optical signal received by the PD. Accuracy of the obtained fingerprint information is relatively low, affecting fingerprint recognition performance.

Fingerprint information obtaining method and fingerprint recognition apparatus


Industrial vacuum systems are disclosed, as are filter chambers for industrial vacuum systems and other filtration applications. The filter chambers in these systems use two distinct types of filtering elements within a single chamber, arranging the filter elements such that air cannot pass through a secondary filter element until the air has first passed through and been filtered by a number of primary filter elements. The airflow within the filter chamber may be essentially vertical, and the secondary filter element may be positioned above the primary filter elements. The filter chamber may also include an agitation system for cleaning the filtering elements. The agitation system may be constructed such that it can operate while the system is in use.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of air handling and vacuum systems, and more particularly to vacuum loading and material handling systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Vacuum loaders are industrial vacuum systems that use suction to collect material in large hoppers. The hoppers can be removed from the systems to process or dispose of the collected material.
In a typical vacuum loader, a fan or blower creates suction to draw air with entrained material into an inlet. The inlet typically opens over the hopper, and the entrained material is allowed to fall into the hopper. The air stream is then directed into a filter chamber, where filters remove any remaining entrained material while allowing the air to pass. Typically, filtered air exits out of the top of the filter chamber and passes through a separate housing containing a safety filter, the purpose of which is to protect the downstream fan or blower from damage. After passing through the safety filter, the filtered air is drawn through the fan or blower and exhausted to atmosphere.
Conventional piping and tubing are used to construct the typical airflow pathway in a vacuum loader. That piping can increase the overall cost of the system, and can also create difficulties in routing and arranging the piping.
General-purpose industrial vacuum systems typically have much the same configuration as vacuum loader systems, and may be adapted to handle larger or smaller matter. Most systems of this type have a filter chamber and a separate enclosure that houses a secondary filter element intended to protect the fan or blower.

Filter chambers and self-cleaning apparatus for vacuum systems

Air Dynamics Industrial Systems Corporation


A sheet feeder includes first and second rollers, a power source, and first and second drive units. The first and second rollers can be independently rotated to apply a feeding force to a sheet. The sheet feeder can switch the first drive unit to a meshing state and the second drive unit to an escape state so as to input a rotational driving force from the power source to the first drive unit and can also switch the first drive unit to the escape state and the second drive unit to the meshing state so as to input the rotational driving force from the power source to the second drive unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sheet feeders for feeding sheets such as recording media and documents, image-forming apparatuses including the sheet feeders, and image-reading apparatuses including the sheet feeders.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image-forming apparatuses for recording an image on a recording medium and image-reading apparatuses for reading an image from a document include a sheet feeder for feeding a sheet such as a recording medium or a document to, for example, an image-forming unit or a reading unit. Examples of image-forming apparatuses (or recording apparatuses) include printers, copiers, printing machines, fax machines, and multifunction devices and systems having such functions. Examples of image-reading apparatuses include scanners and multifunction devices and systems having a scanner function. In the present application, the term "image" should be broadly interpreted, including characters, symbols, lines, and patterns.
Typical sheet feeders for use in, for example, image-forming apparatuses and image-reading apparatuses feed a sheet in a direction parallel to the surface thereof (in a direction tangent to the surface thereof if the sheet is curved). Some sheet feeders can rotate a sheet about an axis parallel to a direction normal to the surface of the sheet. A first example of such sheet feeders feeds and rotates a sheet before image formation with an image-forming unit, as proposed in Japanese Patent Nos. 3120896 and 3149139. A second example rotates a sheet after image formation, as proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2002-234636 and 9-40230.
The sheet feeders of the known art are advantageous to some degree in terms of the size reduction of the entire apparatus and the increase in processing speed. These sheet feeders, however, require an additional sheet-rotating mechanism and a drive unit therefor which considerably complicate the structures and control systems of the sheet feeders.

Sheet feeder, image-forming apparatus, and image-reading apparatus


The process for recovery of plant sterols and tocopherols from deodorization distillates formed during chemical or physical refining of vegetable oils consists of the following steps: free fatty acids are removed from the deodorization distillate by vacuum distillation or by continuation solvent saponification, after the removal of free fatty acids, the received material is reacted with an aromatic carboxylic acid anhydride at a temperature of 50-150° C., under reduced pressure, after the treatment with anhydride, tocopherols are removed from the mixture, and crystalline free sterols are recovered from the distillation residue containing sterol esters, di- and triglycerides by transesterification.

Occurring both in plants and animals, sterols are a group of natural compounds, the most important of which are summarised in the following table:
Main phytosterols RΔ5-RΔ7-BrassicasterolΔ7- StigmasterolΔ7- CampesterolΔ7- Sitosterol Avenasterol

Nutritional studies confirmed that plant sterols decrease the cholesterol level of the blood serum and positively influence the ratio of the LDL and HDL cholesterol level (Westrate J A, Meijer G W. Plant sterol-enriched margarines and reduction of plasma total- and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in normocholesterolaemic and mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1998 52: 334-43; Miettinen T A, Puska P, Gylling H, et al. Reduction of serum cholesterol with sitostanol-ester margarine in a mildly hypercholesterolaemic population. New Engl. Journal of Medicine 1995;333:1308-1312). Plant sterols are applied predominantly in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.
Tocopherols and tocotrienols (in general tocol compounds) possess vitamin E activity, the highest level is exhibited by α-tocopherol.
Tocopherols have important role in the human organism, due to their antioxidant properties they act as free radical scavengers and they also bind the molecular oxygen (A. Kamal-Eldin and L. A. Appleqvist: The Chemistry and Antioxidant properties of Tocopherols and Tocotrienols. Lipids 31. (1996) 671-701.).
The concentration of sterols and tocopherols in vegetable oils is too low to allow their industrial recovery in an economical way. At industrial scale natural sterols and tocopherols are obtained from the so-called deodorization distillate formed during refining of vegetable oils.
Vegetable oils are most widely refined by applying chemical or physical refining processes. In the last step of both processes, the oil is subjected to vacuum-steam distillation in order to remove the taste and odoriferous materials as well as the free fatty acids and also to improve the oxidative stability of the oil. Deodorization is generally performed at a temperature of 210-270° C., under reduced pressure (1-8 mbar), the deodorization distillate is obtained by condensation of the vapours formed during the operation. Besides the main components, according to their volatility various other substances appear in the deodorization distillate, the composition of which can be characterised as follows:
free fatty acids30-85% unsaponifiable materials7-35%tocopherols 1-8%free sterols2-15%sterol esters 0-5%glycerides5-30%others 0-5%* the % values relate to weight %
Numerous processes are described for recovery of sterols and tocopherols from deodorization distillates. In several patents distillation is preferably applied to remove fatty acids or fatty acid methyl esters (EP 0 333 472, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,424,457, 5,627,289, 4,454,329). A saponification process is suggested for free fatty acid removal in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,335,154, 4,550,183 and WO 99/42471.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,691 prior to the fatty acid distillation, the free sterols are esterified with the fatty acids present in the deodorization distillate. The advantage of this step is that the boiling point range of the formed sterol esters is much higher than that of the unreacted tocopherols, which makes the separation of the two groups of compounds simple using short-path distillation.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,817 crystalline free sterols can be recovered from the sterol esters concentrated in the residue of the distillation.
Esterification of the free sterols with the free fatty acids present in the deodorization distillate requires relatively high temperature (150-250° C.), long reaction time (1-12 hours) and reduced pressure (lower than 50 mbar), in some cases application of acidic type catalyst is necessary. As a consequence of the unfavourable conditions (high temperature, long reaction time), unwanted side-reactions take place, such as degradation of tocopherols, transformation of sterols into hydrocarbons by losing the functional —OH group and a H atom as water, and increased formation of tar.

Process for recovery of plant sterols from by-product of vegetable oil refining


A vehicle windshield wiper system is provided which includes a body or housing within which is mounted a driving motor, a solenoid, a brake lamp as well as a pull rope. The pull rope extends between the solenoid and the windshield wiper and is guided by a pair of guide wheels or pulleys. The solenoid is energized or actuated by the displacement of the lid of the trunk of the vehicle to displace the windshield wiper away from the rear window of the vehicle. The subject windshield wiper system allows a windshield wiper system to be easily and conveniently installed on four-door cars in a manner which allows the windshield wiper to obviate any interference between the windshield wiper and the trunk lid of a car when the trunk lid is displaced to an open position.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is directed to car windshield wipers. In particular, the subject windshield wiper system is adapted to be installed on vehicle trunk lids for interface with rear windows of four-door cars to remove dirt and other debris on rear windows in order to improve driving safety.
Windshield wipers are known to be a particular fixture which is indispensable to vehicles. Windshield wipers permit removal of debris on windows of vehicles to aid the driver in maintaining good visual acuity which raises the safety level of driving.
2. Prior Art
Among various models of the vehicles and cars produced by different manufacturers, with the exception of five-door cars having a hatch back with the windshield wiper mounted on the rear window, almost all four-door cars are unable to resolve the problem of interference incurred by the opening of the lid of the trunk resulting from the independent structure of the lid of the trunk and the rear window of the car which prevents installation of the windshield wiper on the rear window of the body of the car. Once dirt or rain stains accumulate on the rear window of the four-door car, such diminishes the rear view ability of the driver and may force parking of the car in order to wipe clean the rear window. During rainy days, or encountering heavy rain, such causes the rear window to lose its visual transparency function and affects the rear viewing ability of the driver. The driver is further hindered in that parking of the car to wipe off the rain may be difficult in certain circumstances.
The subject windshield wiper, to be used specifically on the rear window of conventional four-door cars eliminates the problem of the previously stated interference and allows it to be conveniently installed on the lid of the trunk which increases the level of driving safety. Prior art windshield wipers providing the above effect are not known to the inventor.
In order to improve the above disadvantages, the present invention provides an innovative design of a car windshield wiper allowing installation on the rear window of four-door cars to remove debris, dirt and filth for improving the safety of driving.

Displaceable rear windshield wiper incorporating trunk lid interaction and a rear brake light