Disclosed is a method for producing an open cell rigid polyurethane foam which comprises reacting the mixture of a polyol for producing rigid polyurethane foam, a volatile blowing agent which is free from environmental pollution and selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbons, hydrofluoroalkanes and perfluoroalkanes or a mixture of the volatile blowing agent with water, a monohydric fatty alcohol having a good solubility to hydrocarbon as a cell opening agent, a foam stabilizer forming a very small cell in the presence of a isocyanate trimer catalyst and an organic isocyanate. The resultant open cell rigid polyurethane foam has a cell size of about less than 95 um, and is suitable for use, for example, as a core material in a vacuum heat insulating material. The foam may be enclosed in a container under a vacuum of 0.1.about.0.01 torr and has a thermal conductivity of 0.0045.about.0.0050 kcal/mhr.degree.C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an open cell rigid polyurethane foam and a method for producing the same, which foam prevents environmental pollution when used as heat insulators in the production of home and industrial refrigerators, and in the assembly of low temperature warehouses and the like. The invention also relates to a method for making a vacuum insulation panel using open cell rigid polyurethane foam.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, refrigerator manufacturers confront two problems: 1) the restriction of use of CFC which causes environmental pollution, and 2) energy saving. To solve the former problem, refrigerator manufacturers in Europe usually use cyclopentane as a blowing agent. Although cyclopentane does not destroy the ozone layer, it has a low insulation efficiency and refrigerator manufacturers in the U.S.A. more than likely will begin using a hydrofluorocarbon as a substitute blowing agent around 2003. To solve the latter problem, refrigerator manufacturers in both Japan and Europe try to save energy by applying vacuum heat insulators to refrigerators.
Generally, vacuum heat insulators are classified into a silica filler type, an open cell rigid polyurethane foam type, and a glass fiber filler type according to a fulfilled core material. Use of the silica filler type is restricted because of the dust that results in its production process and its heavy weight. Use of the glass fiber filler type is restricted because of its high production cost. The weight of open cell rigid polyurethane foam type is about 1/3 of that of the silica filler type and its mass production is simple. Consequently, many refrigerator manufacturers are trying to use the open cell rigid polyurethane foam type as a vacuum heat insulator.
A vacuum heat insulator having reduced inner pressure for the purpose of improving heat insulation properties of a refrigerator insulator, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 64-4112, and comprises a core material enclosed by a vacuum vessel, which is made of metal-laminate film. Such a vacuum heat insulation panel uses a 100% open cell rigid polyurethane foam as a core material, covered by a metal-laminate film, for forming a high vacuum, and reduces pressure to 0.05 torr in the inner part. So, vacuum heat insulation panels whose thermal conductivity is extremely improved to 0.0065 kcal/mhr.degree.C. compared to the thermal conductivity of 0.015kcal/mhr.degree.C. of the conventional rigid polyurethane foam have been developed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,777 to Matsushita Refrigeration Company, a substitute blowing agent is used instead of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), in the production of conventional 100% open cell polyurethane foam. They proposed HCFCs, hydrocarbon and perchloroalkane as a blowing agent. Actually, a divalent metal salt of saturated monocarbonic acid which was used as a cell opening agent, performed its role well because of its high solubility to CFCs or HCFCs; but, hydrocarbons such as a pentane, cyclopentane and perchlorocarbon are insoluble in CFCs and HCFCs. Consequently, foaming essential for small-sized open cell rigid polyurethane foam production was not possible.

Open cell rigid polyurethane foam and method for producing the same and method for making vacuum insulation panel using same


The invention addresses a problem of obtaining a conjugated polymer having a higher molecular weight through coupling reaction of monomers using a transition metal catalyst. The invention relates to a method for producing a conjugated polymer, which comprises polymerizing one or more monomers through a coupling reaction, wherein the coupling reaction of the monomer is carried out by using one or more kinds of homogeneous transition metal complex catalysts and one or more kinds of heterogeneous transition metal complex catalysts in combination.

As semiconductor materials for devices such as organic EL devices, organic thin film transistors, organic light-emitting sensors and the like, conjugated polymers are used, and above all, attention is focused on application thereof to polymer organic solar cells.
As a method for producing a conjugated polymer, there is known a method of coupling monomers by the use of a transition metal complex catalyst.
For example, there has been disclosed a method of obtaining a copolymer having an imidothiophene skeleton and a dithienocyclopentadiene skeleton according to a Stille coupling process that uses a homogeneous transition metal complex catalyst of tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) or tetrakis(triorthotolylphosphine)palladium(0) (PTL 1, NPL 1, NPL 2, NPL 3).
There has also been disclosed a method of obtaining a copolymer having a fluorene skeleton and a benzidine skeleton according to a Suzuki coupling process that uses a homogeneous transition metal complex catalyst of tetrakis(triorthotolylphosphine)palladium(0) or bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)nickel(0) (PTL 2, PTL 3).
Further, there has been described a capability of employing a heterogeneous transition metal complex catalyst as a catalyst for use in a method of producing a conjugated polymer (PTL 2).

Method for producing conjugated polymer, conjugated polymer, photoelectric conversion element, solar cell, and solar cell module


In one embodiment, the invention is directed toward frequency tracking techniques using control symbols that include both pilot and non-pilot symbols. For example, both the pilot and non-pilot symbols can be used in estimating frequency error of a received signal. The contribution of non-pilot symbols to the estimation can be weighted according to a confidence level associated with each non-pilot symbol. In some cases, soft decisions are generated for the non-pilot symbols and then used with the pilot symbols for frequency tracking. In this manner, the frequency tracking loop can be improved.

A number of different wireless communication techniques have been developed, including frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA) and various spread spectrum techniques. One common spread spectrum technique used in wireless communication is code division multiple access (CDMA) signal modulation in which multiple communications are simultaneously transmitted over a spread spectrum radio-frequency (RF) signal. Some example wireless communication devices that have incorporated CDMA technology include cellular radiotelephones, PCMCIA cards incorporated within portable computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) equipped with wireless communication capabilities, and the like.
In CDMA technology and other wireless communication technologies, frequency tracking loops are often implemented to monitor the frequency of received signals and adjust the signals accordingly. In particular, frequency errors (or frequency variations) often exist in the carrier signals received over forward or reverse links of the system. A forward link (sometimes referred to as a "downlink) refers to a signal sent from the base station to a wireless communication device (WCD). A reverse link (sometimes referred to as an "uplink") refers to a signal sent from the WCD to the base station.
There are generally two main causes of the errors that can contribute to unwanted frequency variation of a carrier signal. The first relates to what is commonly known as the "Doppler effect" or "Doppler shift." The Doppler effect manifests as a change in the frequency of a received signal due to a relative velocity between the transmitter and receiver. Thus, if a WCD is moving away from the base station as it transmits a signal over the reverse link, the base station receiver will receive a signal that has a lower frequency, i.e., longer wavelength, than the originally sent signal. Because WCDs are often used within vehicles or high speed transit systems, correcting for Doppler shifts can be an extremely important factor in maintaining a robust and effective wireless communication system.
The second cause of error that can contribute to unwanted frequency variation relates to variations between local clocks of the various devices in the wireless communication system. Each device in the system typically produces carrier signals using a frequency synthesizer that utilizes the local clock of the device as its timing reference. Each local clock, however, typically has an unknown timing error. WCDs, in particular, often implement relatively low-cost local clocks, such as voltage-controlled, temperature-compensated crystal oscillators (VCTCXO). These local clocks can introduce significant frequency errors in the carrier signal.
To account for frequency errors and adjust the signals accordingly, frequency tracking loops are often implemented within WCDs and base stations in wireless communication systems. For example, a frequency discriminator can be used to compute an estimate of the frequency error. In particular, the frequency discriminator calculates residual frequency error estimates and sends them to an accumulator that continuously accumulates the residual frequency error estimates to estimate the actual frequency error. The accumulated estimate is used by a rotator to adjust the frequency of the received signal accordingly, thus reducing the residual frequency error. The residual frequency error eventually converges to approximately zero, such that the accumulated estimate is approximately equal to the actual frequency error. In this manner, a feedback loop can correct for frequency errors in a received carrier signal.
There are generally three frequency tracking loop variables that characterize the performance of the frequency tracking loop: the time constant of the loop, the standard deviation of the residual frequency error, and the pull-in range. The time constant is an estimate or measure of the time it takes for the frequency tracking loop to reduce the residual frequency error to approximately zero after the loop has been initialized. Initialization of the loop can occur, for example, when a finger of a RAKE receiver is initially assigned to a path. The pull-in range is a strict upper bound defining the maximum residual frequency error that can be handled by the frequency tracking loop. For example, upon initialization, if the residual frequency error is greater than the pull-in range, the frequency tracking loop will not converge.
In general, it is advantageous to minimize the time constant, minimize the standard deviation of the residual frequency error, and maximize the pull-in range. In particular, the time constant and the standard deviation directly affect system performance in the sense that they affect the error rate of the system. The pull-in range typically limits the relative velocity at which a wireless communication device will still be able to effectively communicate in the system. Often, these three variables represent trade-offs to designers of wireless communication systems.
Pilot symbols are often used to estimate the residual frequency errors. Pilot symbols can be extracted from a received signal by demodulation, e.g., despreading and Walsh/OVSF decovering. Pilot symbols generally refer to the control symbols that have been conventionally used to facilitate system synchronization. Pilot symbols are typically transmitted over a control channel. To compute an estimate of the residual frequency error, a first pilot symbol can be cross-multiplied with the complex conjugate of a second pilot symbol to calculate phase rotation between the successive symbols. In this manner, an estimate of the residual frequency error can be obtained and then accumulated.
For some wireless communication systems, other control symbols, i.e., non-pilot symbols, have been implemented within the control channel to improve system performance. For example, in W-CDMA, both pilot symbols and non-pilot symbols are transmitted over the control channel. This presents challenges to the effective implementation of frequency tracking loops. In particular, achieving the desired design goals in W-CDMA for the standard deviation of the residual frequency error and the time constant can result in a small pull-in range. To compensate for this small pull-in range, complex searcher elements are conventionally required to search over multiple frequency offsets to ensure that the residual frequency error falls within the pull-in range. Still, even with these complex searcher elements, the frequency tracking loop may not converge if a wireless communication device is traveling at very high velocities, such as velocities associated with high speed transit systems.

Frequency tracking using pilot and non-pilot symbols


An actuator for a hot runner has a piston and a valve pin holder threadably connected to the piston. The piston can be translated by fluid pressure and rotated by an electric motor. The valve pin holder is rotationally fixed, and therefore moves along the thread when the piston is rotated. A valve pin connected to the valve pin holder moves in response to fluid pressure and also in response to the electric motor rotating the piston.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an injection molding apparatus, and more particularly to an actuator for controlling flow of molding material in a hot runner.
2. Related Art
A typical injection molding apparatus includes a runner that delivers heated molding material (melt) from a plasticizing screw to one or more mold cavities. The runner is typically an enclosed channel defined by a manifold and one or more nozzles. When the runner is heated, so as to prevent melt from freezing within the runner, it is called a hot runner.
Actuators are used with hot runners to control the flow of heated molding material. Such actuators are commonly hydraulic, pneumatic, or electric, each of which having advantages and drawbacks. Regardless of the type of actuator, the operation principle is the same, namely, to convert pressure or electricity to movement of valve pins or other flow controlling devices.
Hydraulic actuators are common, and these tend to deliver high force for their size. They also require hydraulic fluid or oil to operate, and leaks can result in contamination of equipment or environment.
Pneumatic actuators are common as well, and are cleaner in operation than hydraulic actuators. However, the compressibility of air lends itself to problems in this kind of actuator.
Electric actuators are increasingly common in hot runner applications. They are clean and can be highly accurate. However, for the same force delivered, electric actuators tend to be bulky compared to hydraulic and pneumatic actuators.


In a battery cover, a sealed assembly structure of upper and lower covers of a battery case is configured in such a way that it forms a labyrinth structure that can allow an electrolyte to move upward and downward, thereby increasing an electrolyte leakage resistance of the battery case. Gas discharge holes and micro-holes are formed in the battery cover, and so the battery cover can easily discharge gas from the battery case. In the battery cover, electrolyte recovery ports are arrayed in such a way that the electrolyte can be prevented from leaking from the battery case even when the battery case is turned over or tilts to one side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to battery covers for prevention of electrolyte leakage and, more particularly, to a battery cover for prevention of electrolyte leakage, in which a sealed assembly structure of upper and lower covers of a battery case is configured in such a way that it forms a labyrinth structure that can allow an electrolyte to move upward and downward, thereby increasing an electrolyte leakage resistance of the battery case, and in which gas discharge holes and micro-holes are formed so as to easily discharge gas from the battery case, and in which electrolyte recovery ports are arrayed in such a way that the electrolyte can be prevented from leaking from the battery case even when the battery case is turned over or is tilted to one side.
2. Description of the Related Art
A battery is a device that can supply electricity by discharging charged electricity. A rechargeable battery that can be recycled by repeating electricity charge and discharge processes a predetermined number of times is so called as a secondary battery or as a storage battery (hereinbelow, referred to simply as a battery).
Batteries are classified into a variety of types according to materials of positive and negative plates and a material of an electrolyte, in which a battery using lead as the material of the positive and negative plates and using a sulfuric acid as the electrolyte is named a lead-acid battery.
The lead-acid battery includes polar plates used as positive and negative plates, terminals, a separator that physically and electrically separates the two polar plates from each other, an electrolyte and a battery case that receives the elements therein. Further, a gas discharge port is typically formed in the sealed battery case so as to discharge hydrogen gas generated from the charge and discharge processes and to discharge gas generated from evaporation of the electrolyte.
An example of the lead-acid batteries is a battery that is operated by repeating the discharge and charge processes through a reversible reaction represented by a chemical reaction formula: PbO2+H2SO4PbSO4+2H2O. The battery outputs electricity through discharging and stores input electricity therein through charging.
The lead-acid battery uses a chemical reaction in which the polar plates of lead dioxide (PbO2) and an electrolyte of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) are changed into lead sulfate (PbSO4) and water (H2O). When the lead dioxide and the sulfuric acid are changed into lead sulfate (PbSO4) and water (H2O) in the lead-acid battery, electricity is generated and discharged. On the contrary, when the lead-acid battery is charged, substitution is performed.
Every time the above-mentioned chemical reaction is performed, heat is generated in the battery and causes the electrolyte to partially vaporize and a small quantity of hydrogen gas to be generated, so it is required to discharge the gas from the battery into the atmosphere so as to prevent the battery from exploding.
Further, a vehicle battery is directly affected by the jolting vibration of a vehicle during a movement of the vehicle, so it is required that an electrolyte be prevented from leaking from the battery to the outside through the gas discharge port.
Examples of conventional techniques that were proposed to discharge gas from the interior of the battery to the outside may be referred to in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2000-0072402 (filed on Dec. 1, 2000) entitled "STRUCTURE FOR DISCHARGING EVAPORATING GAS FROM VEHICLE BATTERY" and to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0050115 (field on May 29, 2008) entitled "VENT PLUG FOR Ni-MH BATTERY".
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating the functional construction of the vent plug that is a prior art device proposed to prevent a leakage of a battery electrolyte and to discharge gas from the battery.
Hereinbelow, the above-mentioned device will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, FIG. 1. As shown in the drawing, gas generated in the battery is discharged to the outside through a battery cover 110 that is integrally formed in an upper end of a battery case 200.
Here, the battery cover 110 has a cylindrical structure having predetermined diameter and height. The battery case 200 forms cells and receives positive plates 210, negative plates 220, separators 230 and an electrolyte 240 therein.
The battery cover 110 is provided with electrolyte injection ports that communicate with respective chambers which are defined as divided spaces in the battery case 200 by a plurality of partition walls. A valve 130 is inserted into each electrolyte injection port, with a packing 150 placed around the upper end of the electrolyte injection port so as to seal a gap between the electrolyte injection port and the valve 130.
Further, the cylindrical battery cover 110 has threads in an inner circumferential surface thereof, and a plug that includes a vent cap 120 having threads around an outer circumferential surface thereof is tightened to the cylindrical battery cover 110, with a spring 140 placed in the vent cap, so that the plug can seal the electrolyte injection port.
A gas discharge hole is formed through the upper end of the vent cap 120 so that gas can be discharged to the outside through the gas discharge hole.
The above-mentioned conventional technique provides a structure that can discharge gas from the battery to the outside according to elasticity of the spring 140 and is advantageous in that, when gas is generated in the battery to an extent at which the gas pressure exceeds a predetermined level, the gas can be automatically discharged.
However, the conventional technique is problematic in that gas may not be efficiently discharged due to bad quality of the spring 140. Another disadvantage of the conventional technique resides in that it has a complex construction and many parts, which complicates the production process and increases the time required for production, thereby increasing the production cost.
Further, when a conventional battery is turned over or is tilted to one side, the electrolyte may directly leak from the battery. In the above state, the leaking electrolyte may be partially collected in a space between the valve and the vent cap of the plug in the electrolyte injection port and may corrode the spring.
When the spring of the plug that is placed in the electrolyte injection port of the battery is corroded, the elasticity of the spring is reduced, so that the valve may be undesirably opened even under a low gas pressure, and this may cause the electrolyte to freely leak without resistance. Accordingly, it is required to propose a technique which can efficiently discharge gas from the battery while preventing a leakage of electrolyte without increasing the number of parts, thereby maintaining the production cost at a desired level, and which can recover the leaking electrolyte by collecting the leaking electrolyte and feeding the collected electrolyte into the battery.
Further, the conventional techniques are designed so that most of the gas generated in the battery case can be discharged to the outside both through electrolyte recovery ports and through the electrolyte injection port. In the above state, the gas discharge pressure that functions to discharge the gas to the outside may act on the electrolyte stored in the battery case, thereby undesirably causing a large amount of electrolyte to leak through the recovery ports or through the electrolyte injection port at the same time of the discharge of the gas.

Battery cover for prevention of electrolyte leakage


An output gate according to the present invention includes a CMOS gate composed of a P-MOS transistor connected at a source to an external power supply and a first N-MOS transistor connected at a source to ground, and a second N-MOS transistor connected between ground and the first N-MOS transistor by a source-drain path. The second N-MOS transistor is connected at a gate to an external power supply.

Recently, a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) such as a dynamic RAM is provided with an internal power supply by which the IC is driven. In this situation, a semiconductor IC is required to supply an output signal which is adapted to another IC driven by only an external power supply. Accordingly, a conventional semiconductor IC has an output gate for converting an output signal of an internal power supply level to an output signal of an external power supply level.
A first conventional output gate which is of a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) logic gate is composed of a P-MOS transistor connected at a source to an external power supply and an N-MOS transistor connected at source to ground. The common P-and-N MOS transistor are supplied at an input node of a common gate with an output signal of an internal circuit driven by an internal power supply.
In the first conventional output gate, when a signal of low level is supplied to the input node of the common gate, the P-MOS transistor is turned on and the N-MOS transistor is turned off, so that an output signal of the external power supply level is supplied from the output gate. On the other hand, when a signal of high level is supplied to the input node of the common gate, the P-MOS transistor is turned off and the N-MOS transistor is turned on, so that an output signal of ground level is supplied from the output gate.
According to the first conventional output gate, there is a disadvantage in that the first P-MOS transistor is not turned off completely even though a high level signal is supplied thereto, in such a state that the internal power supply level V.sub.IN T on which the supplied high level signal is based, and the Vcc meet the relation of "Vcc>V.sub.IN T +V.sub.TP ", where V.sub.TP is a threshold voltage of the P-MOS transistor. As a result, a margin of the external power supply voltage is narrow.
A second conventional output gate by which the disadvantage of the first conventional output gate is removed includes a first P-MOS transistor and a first N-MOS transistor corresponding to the P-and-N MOS transistors of the first conventional output gate, a second N-MOS transistor connected at a gate to an internal power supply, at a source to a first node to which an input signal is supplied and at a drain to a second node which is connected to a gate of the first P-MOS transistor, and a second P-MOS transistor connected at a source to an external power supply, at a gate to an output of the CMOS gate and at a drain to the second node. The second P-MOS transistor supplies a feedback signal of an inverted level of the output signal to the gate of the first P-MOS transistor.
In the second conventional output gate, when the output signal of low level which is based on the high level input signal supplied through the second N-MOS transistor is supplied from the output gate to the second P-MOS transistor, it is turned on, so that a high level signal of the external voltage Vcc is supplied to the gate of the first P-MOS transistor through the second P-MOS transistor. Therefore, the first P-MOS transistor is completely turned off.
However, there is a disadvantage in that a transition time of the output signal "high" to "low" is long, because the first P-MOS transistor is not turned off completely before the external power supply voltage is supplied to the gate of the first P-MOS transistor. Therefore, a margin of the external power supply voltage of the semiconductor IC is narrow.


A method for measuring the 3D surface (15) of an object (14) in order to describe its form digitally. The object is pressed down on a membrane (6) so as to make an imprint to be transferred to a medium (4) below. Said medium can at the same time be exposed to a pressure for controlling the submerging therein. The imprint under the object (14) is scanned from below, through the medium (4), and particularly the transparency of the medium is registered in each scanning point to give a base for estimating the height up to the imprint and thereby the third dimension (z) of the surface (15). The pressure applied to a medium (4) can as an example be useful by the production of foot beds when said object (14) is a foot, together with a scanning result of an imprint where the imprint is made by an even pressure distribution at the downward-facing surface.

Earlier foot beds were made by using a foot mould or impression in a foam material. Pressing the foot on to a glass plate is also an easy way to study the foot print from below. Today scanning equipment (scanners) can also be used for 3D mapping of an object or a surface, but such equipment tends to be fairly expensive and additionally suffers by needing a surface pressure against the object, for example from below by the glass plate under the foot. The important possibility to load an object like a foot by applying a hydrostatic or gas pressure during a scanning sequence, does not seem to have been suggested until now.

Measurement of a 3d surface of an object during pressure exposure


A photosensitive material drying device having a plurality of far infrared radiation heaters disposed in facing relationship so as to meet at right angles to the direction in which an exposed film is conveyed. The density of the film is measured before the film is heated by the far infrared radiation heaters. Upon heating of the film by the far infrared radiation heaters, the surface temperature of each of the far infrared radiation heaters is changed by a variable resistor in accordance with the measured density to thereby vary the amount of heat applied to the film. It is therefore possible to satisfactorily dry the film in accordance with a variation in the density of the film.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a photosensitive material drying device for drying a photosensitive material with radiant heat, which is suitable for use in, for example, an automatic developing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art:
In an automatic developing machine, photosensitive material such as photographic film (hereinafter called "film"), photographic paper, etc. are subjected to developing, fixing and washing processes while being conveyed by rollers, followed by transfer to a drying unit, where a drying process is carried out.
As an example, an automatic film developing machine is discussed below. In general, the drying unit is provided with a drying device, which has a plurality of far infrared radiation heaters disposed therein along the direction orthogonal to a film conveying direction, i.e., along the transverse direction of the film, and a plurality of reflectors disposed behind the far infrared radiation heaters in confronting relationship with the film.
When the wavelength of far infrared radiation generated from each of the far infrared radiation heaters is about 4 to 5 .mu.m for each surface temperature of each of the far infrared radiation heaters as shown in FIG. 6, the amount of heat radiated from each of the far infrared radiation heaters increases. In addition, a difference develops between the transmissivity of far infrared radiation through a film at the time that the density D is about 0.6 (i.e., D.apprxeq.0.6)(halftone) and the transmissivity of far infrared radiation through the film at the time that the density D is about 0.1 to 0.2 (i.e., D.apprxeq.0.1 to 0.2)(non-exposed original image) as illustrated in FIG. 7.
Thus, even if the amount of heat applied to the film is kept constant, the amount of heat to be actually absorbed by film changes depending on the density of the film. Thus, as the density of the film becomes higher, the amount of heat absorbed by the film increases.
In a radiant-heat drying process using such far infrared radiation heaters, when the density of the film is high, the film is changed in a short time from a constant-drying-rate condition where the drying speed of the film is fast, water or moisture adhered to the surface of the film is used as latent heat vaporization and the surface temperature of the film is kept constant, to a falling-drying-rate condition where the surface temperature of the film is raised due to a reduction in the moisture on the surface of the film. When the radiant-heat drying process continues in the falling-drying-rate condition as it is, the surface temperature of the film increases excessively. As a result, the film tends to become very glossy and lacks uniformity. Further, the film is liable to curl and melt. While the amount of heat radiated from the far infrared radiation heaters can be adjusted in advance when the density of the film is high, the film drying process cannot be sufficiently carried out when the density of the film is low.
Therefore, a photosensitive material drying device of a type wherein hot-air suppliers are provided together with far infrared radiation heaters to determine, based on the percentage of moisture content and the like of a film, whether the film is in a constant-drying-rate condition or a falling-drying-rate condition has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-54560. With this device, when the film is changed from the constant-drying-rate condition to the falling-drying-rate condition, radiant-heat drying by the far infrared radiation heaters is changed over to hot-air drying performed by the hot-air suppliers to thereby dry the film by controlling an increase in the temperature of the film being dried by hot-air drying.
However, in the above-described conventional photosensitive material drying device, it is necessary to provide both the far infrared radiation heaters and the hot-air suppliers and to change over radiant-heat drying to hot-air drying. Thus, the mechanism of the photosensitive material drying device is complicated.


A system to facilitate organized scheduling of a plurality of tasks comprises a communication device, a processing device, and a storage device. The communication device may be configured for receiving at least one schedule request from at least one first user device. The processing device may be configured for analyzing the at least one schedule request to identify a schedule type. The processing device may be configured for retrieving at least one task preset associated with the plurality of categories of the schedule type. The communication device may be further configured for transmitting the at least one task preset and receiving at least one task preset selection associated with the at least one task preset. The processing device may be further configured for generating at least one schedule reminder based on the at least one task preset selection. A corresponding method is also provided.

Existing techniques for organized scheduling of a plurality of tasks are deficient with regard to several aspects. For instance, the current technologies do not include a plurality of task presets associated with a schedule type. Further, the current technologies do not allow a user to interchange schedule and separate groups of people associated with a task of the plurality of tasks. Furthermore, the current technologies do not measure the time availability and unavailability associated with the user at a more accurate measure. Further, the current technologies do not allow a user to organize time associated with the plurality of tasks.
Therefore, there is a need for improved methods and systems to facilitate the organized scheduling of a plurality of tasks using a software platform that may overcome one or more of the above-mentioned problems and/or limitations.

Methods and systems to facilitate organized scheduling of tasks


Digitized picture information representing different pictures is stored in respective picture files. Each picture file has both digital picture data and presentation control information including at least orientation information for that picture. Respective additional presentation control information for the different pictures is contained in a separate control file. An apparatus for reading the information, for display on a television set, allows selective use of the presentation control information recorded in the picture file or the corresponding control information in the separate control file.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to digitized picture data processing systems and is particularly directed to a mechanism for controlling the manner in which digitized pictures are to be accessed from a digital database for presentation by a picture playback device.
Digital imaging systems, such as those employed for converting still color photographic film (e.g., 35 mm) pictures into digital format for storage in a digital database and subsequent playback, as by way of a color television monitor, customarily encode the output of an opto-electronic film scanning device to some prescribed resolution and store the encoded picture in an associated database as a respective picture file. When it is desired to display a particular stored picture, the contents of the respective addresses of the database in which the digitized picture has been stored are read out and coupled to display driver circuitry for energizing corresponding pixels on the TV monitor.
Because each frame of a typical roll of 35 mm film has different horizontal and vertical frame dimensions, for example, a dimension of 36mm in the horizontal direction, parallel to the lengthwise direction of the film, and a dimension of 24 mm in the vertical direction, orthogonal to the lengthwise direction of the film (a horizontal:vertical aspect ratio of 3:2), a photographer often rotates the camera ninety degrees about the lens axis in order to capture a subject in what is conventionally referred to as a "vertical" condition. Since the digitizing mechanism that scans the film strip digitizes each frame as though it contains a "horizontally shot" picture, then, when a "vertically shot" picture is displayed, it will be rotated unless the recording and playback system has been designed to accommodate vertical pictures.
2. Description of the Related Art
One conventional approach to handle the problem, similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,198 to Ohta, is to rotate those film frames which contain vertical pictures by ninety degrees before scanning, and to fill in the left and right sides of the picture with a uniform "border" color (e.g., black) . Although this scanning method will provide the proper orientation of the displayed picture, it suffers from two drawbacks. First, the actual scanning mechanism must be modified to effect a rotated scan of the vertical pictures. This is conventionally accomplished by physically reorienting the film by ninety degrees and changing the lens magnification of the scanning device by an amount related to the frame aspect ratio. Secondly, since side borders, which contain no useful information in terms of the captured picture, are also recorded, some of the information storage capacity of the recording medium is wasted. A second solution to the problem is to rotate the display device, which is obviously impractical in many applications .
A third solution is to allow for different picture orientations to be stored, together with digital control data indicative of the orientations of the pictures, and to employ a picture playback device designed to read the orientation control data to properly orient the pictures on playback. Some conventional computer picture file formats, for example, the Tag Picture File Format (TIFF), Revision 5.0, developed jointly by Aldus Corporation, Seattle, Wash., and Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash., and described in "An Aldus/Microsoft Technical Memorandum", Aug. 8, 1988, include the provision for an optional "tag", which can be used to indicate the orientation of the picture. Page 25 of this document describes the TIFF "orientation tag", which can have eight different values, indicating whether the zeroth row and zeroth column of the pixel data matrix represents the top and left, top and right, bottom and right, bottom and left, left and top, right and top, right and bottom, or left and bottom of the visual picture, respectively. However, the Aldus document further states that such a field is recommended for private (noninterchange) use only. The default condition, where the zeroth row represents the visual top of the picture, and the zeroth column of the pixel data matrix represents the visual left hand side of the picture, is recommended for all non-private applications, including those involving importing and printing. Thus, the TIFF orientation tag is never used to re-orient for display, pictures which have been stored in different orientations in a picture database.
In addition to the problem of different picture orientations, captured pictures may have different aspect ratios. For example, dedicated-use panoramic cameras, such as the Kodak Stretch (TM) camera, have an aspect ratio of 3:1 which is considerably wider than the above-referenced 3:2 aspect ratio of conventional 35 mm cameras. Other camera types, such as those which employ 126-type film, also have aspect ratios other than 3:2.

Digitized picture display system with added control files


Various examples are provided for non-stop tying-in process for weaving of textiles. In one example, a method for non-stop tying-in of loom warps during operation of a loom includes providing free ends of a replacement warp sheet and a warp sheet tail to the tying-in machine during the operation of the loom, where the warp sheet tail is provided through a warp accumulator; accumulating the warp sheet tail in the warp accumulator during tying-in of the free ends; supplying at least a portion of the warp sheet tail accumulated by the warp accumulator to the loom after being released from a warp beam; removing the tied-in warp sheet tail and replacement warp sheet from the warp accumulator; and supplying the replacement warp sheet to the loom during its operation.

Over 50% of the world fiber production is converted to woven products including apparel, home, and technical textiles. The conversion of yarns to woven fabric requires several sequential processes. These are warping, sizing, drawing-in or tying-in, and weaving. The warping process converts wound packages to a warp beam on which a warp sheet of specified length and number of yarns is wound under uniform tension. One or more of the warp beams, with the total number of yarns required in the final woven fabric, are then moved to the sizing process, which is required if the yarn is single spun yarn or flat continuous filament yarn. In the sizing process, the warp yarn is prepared for the rigor of the weaving process where the yarns are subjected to complex field of stresses (tension, abrasion, bending and impact). Here the yarn is treated by a size solution that contains ingredients (e.g., water, size agent as film former, adhesive, and lubricant) to encapsulate the yarn with film former material (e.g., natural starch or synthetic material). This allows the hairiness to be integrated into the yarn body in case of spun yarn or integrate the filaments into one consolidated structure to prevent the vulnerable individual filament from breaking in flat yarn. Without sizing of such yarns, breaks and defects during weaving occur that lead to extremely low weaving efficiency and inferior fabric quality.
The next process is either tying-in or drawing-in. The tying-in is performed if the same fabric is being continued and the warp beam on the loom runs out. The tying-in process is conducted behind the weaving machine by using an automatic tying-in machine. During the tying-in process, each warp yarn from a full warp beam is knotted to its corresponding yarn from the run out warp beam. The process requires series of steps by a skilled operator to prepare the two sheets (one from the run out beam and the other from the full beam) before tying-in and set them in the tying-in machine for automatic knotting and ensure the knots will pass through different loom parts after the completion of knotting. A recent time study showed that the entire process takes about three hours for medium warp density during which the weaving process is stopped.
While modern weaving machines operate at faster speeds than before, the weaving process remains the slowest process in the entire production pipeline. Because the weaving process is the bottleneck in the production pipeline, high-speed machine manufacturers have developed better and more powerful motors, lighter/stronger machine parts, and separate drives of weaving motions. These weaving machines can run faster if the warp and weft yarns can handle the complex stresses (e.g., tension, bending, abrasion, and impact) that arise from the high speed combined with the nature of the process. This is due to the nature of the weaving process and the inherent properties of the warp and weft yarns. Research and development has led to better prepared yarns that can withstand the rigor of weaving process and minimize yarn breaks during weaving and hence increase weaving efficiency. However, with finite tensile strength and abrasion resistance, the yarns still break during weaving. As a result, the process will be automatically stopped to repair the broken yarns. The process will also be stopped for style change, which is conducted when warp beam runs out and new fabric with different specifications is required, and tying-in, which is performed when the warp beam run out and the same fabric to be continued. Such stoppages severely impact the process efficiency.


A device for recycling and cooling exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine is disclosed, comprising a first exhaust-gas heat exchanger and a second exhaust-gas heat exchanger, wherein the first and second exhaust gas heat exchangers are combined in a structural unit and form a module.

The invention relates to a device for recirculating and cooling exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine according to the preamble of claim 1 and also to an arrangement for recirculating and cooling exhaust gas according to the preamble of claim 10, which are each known through U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,256 B1.
Exhaust-gas recirculation (abbreviation: AGR), especially cooled exhaust-gas recirculation, is used in today's vehicles due to legal regulations, in order to reduce particulate and pollutant emissions, especially nitrous oxide emissions. Because requirements on exhaust-gas cleaning are becoming stricter, greater exhaust gas mass flows are necessary, which can be handled only conditionally with known AGR systems.
Known AGR systems are arranged on the high-pressure side of the internal combustion engine, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,256 B1 named above. The known AGR system has an exhaust-gas turbocharger for a diesel engine and an AGR line with an AGR valve, which is arranged between the engine and exhaust-gas turbine. The recirculated exhaust gas is cooled, preferably in two stages, i.e., in two exhaust-gas heat exchangers, which are each cooled by a separate coolant circuit and are constructed as high-temperature and low-temperature exhaust-gas coolers. The cooled, recirculated exhaust gas is combined with compressed and cooled charge air and fed to the intake tract of the engine.
Exhaust-gas heat exchangers, especially exhaust-gas coolers, are known in various embodiments: through DE 199 07 163 A1 of the applicant, a welded construction for an exhaust-gas heat exchanger became known, which is made from a bundle of exhaust-gas pipes, around which coolant flows on their outside. This coolant is removed from the cooling circuit of the internal combustion engine.
In many cases, exhaust-gas heat exchangers are also equipped with a bypass channel for the exhaust gas, i.e., for the case that cooling of the exhaust gas or, for heating purposes, heating of the coolant is not necessary or not advantageous. In DE 199 62 863 A1 of the applicant and in DE 102 03 003 A1, such exhaust-gas heat exchangers are disclosed with an integrated bypass, wherein in an inlet diffuser or in the outlet region of the exhaust-gas heat exchanger there is a bypass valve, preferably in the form of a bypass flap, which acts as a switch for the exhaust-gas flow and guides this flow either through the pipe bundle with coolant flowing around this bundle or through the bypass channel.
As is known by EP 1 030 050 A1, the bypass channel for the exhaust-gas heat exchanger can also be arranged separately, i.e., outside of the heat exchanger. In this known AGR system, the AGR valve is arranged, incidentally, in the return of the AGR line, i.e., behind the exhaust-gas cooler in the direction of the exhaust-gas flow.
Through DE 198 41 927 A1, a device for exhaust-gas recirculation became known with a valve device, in which a bypass channel with a bypass flap is integrated. The exhaust-gas heat exchanger has a bundle of U-shaped exhaust-gas pipes, which are cooled by a liquid coolant.
Through DE 197 50 588 A1, a device for exhaust-gas recirculation became known, in which an exhaust-gas heat exchanger with an exhaust-gas recirculation valve (AGR valve) is integrated to form a structural unit. Thus, a simplified and thus less expensive manufacture can be effected since individual parts can be eliminated.
A disadvantage in the known AGR systems is that these are made from a plurality of individual parts, which are produced separately and which are mounted individually, which increases costs. In addition, in the known AGR systems, it is disadvantageous that greater exhaust-gas flows cannot be recirculated since, due to the arrangement of the ASR system on the high-pressure side of the engine, the pressure difference between the exhaust gas side and the intake side of the engine are insufficient to discharge greater mass flows.

Device for recycling and cooling exhaust gas for an internal combustion engine


A memory access control apparatus includes a memory controller controlling a memory adopting a DDR format; a DDR-PHY adjusting the timing of an interface signal between the memory controller and the memory; a DDR-PHY controller controlling the DDR-PHY; and a clock controller controlling the frequency of a clock signal. A first request signal for controlling the operation of the memory in a self-refresh mode is supplied to the memory controller, a second request signal for resetting the DDR-PHY is supplied to the DDR-PHY controller, a third request signal for changing the clock frequency is supplied to the clock controller, a fourth request signal for setting a parameter for the DDR-PHY is supplied to the DDR-PHY controller, and a fifth request signal for canceling the operation of the memory in the self-refresh mode is supplied to the memory controller in order to change the clock frequency of the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory access control apparatus and an image pickup apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a memory access control apparatus and an image pickup apparatus that are capable of greatly reducing an effect involved in frequency change in a machine which performs high-speed data transfer and in which a memory is mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, Double Data Rate (DDR) methods are widely adopted, in which both rising edges and falling edges of a clock signal can be used in synchronization between the circuits in a computer to double the processing efficiency per unit time, compared with a case where the rising edges or the falling edges of the clock signal are used, for example, in order to increase the speed of data transfer between the central processing unit (CPU) and the main memory. In addition, DDR2 resulting from improvement of the performance of the DDR to achieve power saving is also proposed.
In a system having a DDR synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a DDR2 SDRAM, or a Low Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR) SDRAM provided therein, control is generally performed so as to change the clock frequency in accordance with, for example, a necessary amount of memory or the operation mode of the system in order to suppress the power consumption. This is because the operation of the system in response to a high-speed clock can increase the power consumption per unit time.
The internal circuits are operated in synchronization with a clock signal that is externally supplied in a system having a DDR SDRAM, a DDR2 SDRAM, or a LPDDR SDRAM provided therein. However, a skew can occur due to the wiring length of signal lines, which is dependent on the circuit layout on the chip, and the skew can appear as a difference in phase between a reference clock and a data strobe signal DQS. Accordingly, it is necessary to accurately perform phase adjustment when data is read out from the DDR SDRAM operating in response to high-speed clocks. For example, a circuit called a delay locked loop (DLL) may be provided in the system for the phase adjustment. The DLL controls the delay time of an external interface, which can be caused by the wiring load or the like, to adjust the synchronization between the external interface and an internal clock. Alternatively, a delay line (DL) may be used for the phase adjustment.
An apparatus that is used in a system having a DDR SDRAM, a DDR2 SDRAM, or an LPDDR SDRAM provided therein to change the clock frequency and that is capable of selectively using either of the DLL and the DL that are provided depending on, for example, the frequency used in a memory controller is proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-310549).
An apparatus capable of compression of moving images in real time is also proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-94294). In the apparatus, the clock frequency of a controller is used as a normal frequency and a wasteful power consumption in a monitoring state is eliminated to lengthen the life of the battery before an instruction to start capturing of a moving image is issued, and a clock change controller greatly increases the clock frequency and an Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) converter increases the speed of access to an SDRAM storing reference data and/or search data in encoding of moving image data after the instruction to start capturing of a moving image is issued in order to enable the compression of moving images in real time.

Memory access control apparatus and image pickup apparatus


Embodiments of this application disclose a scheduling method in a wireless local area network (WLAN), including: generating, by an access point (AP), scheduling information, where the scheduling information includes multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) scheduling information or beamforming (BF) scheduling information, the MIMO scheduling information is used to schedule a station (STA) to perform MIMO communication, and the BF scheduling information is used to schedule the STA to perform beamforming training; and sending, by the AP, the scheduling information to the STA. According to the scheduling method in a WLAN that is disclosed in the embodiments of this application, the AP can implement, by using the scheduling information, scheduling for the MIMO communication of the STA and BF in a MIMO scenario, and an operation is simple and convenient.

802.11ad is a wireless communications standard that defines an operating frequency band of 60 gigahertz (GHz). Because a path loss at the frequency band of 60 GHz is relatively large, beamforming (BF) of a directional antenna needs to be used to improve an antenna gain in communication at 60 GHz. Different from a conventional omnidirectional antenna, the directional antenna can centralize energy of a transmitted electromagnetic wave on a relatively narrow azimuth, and a receive antenna can also direct a receiving direction of the receive antenna to a relatively narrow azimuth. This can improve gains of a transmit antenna and the receive antenna, and effectively resist a path loss. A series of steps need to be performed to align a direction of a best transmit beam of a data transmitter with a direction of a best receive beam of a data receiver, to obtain a largest gain. This process is referred to as beamforming training (BFT). The BFT is implemented by sending bidirectional sector sweep (SSW) frames by the transmitter and the receiver. A BFT process is mainly divided into two subprocesses: sector level sweep (SLS) and the beam refinement protocol (BRP). At an SLS phase, beam information required for sending and receiving a signal is provided for a STA, in other words, a beam at this phase is relatively wide. After the SLS phase, the STA and an AP determine optimal transmit and receive beams of each other by using BRP frames. The 802.11ad standard supports only single-input single-output (SISO) communication between an AP and a STA on a 2.16 GHz channel through one antenna. 802.11ay is a next-generation standard of 802.11ad. A main difference from 802.11ad lies in that 802.11 ay supports single-user multiple-input multiple-output (single-user multiple-input multiple-output, SU-MIMO) and downlink multi-user MIMO (MIMO, DL MU-MIMO) communication between an AP and a STA on a plurality of 2.16 GHz channels.
Beamforming training of 802.11ad is performed in a single-user mode, and an AP sequentially performs beamforming training with STAs. However, 802.11ay requires support for multi-user beamforming training.
In 802.11ad, scheduling for data transmission/beamforming training is mainly performing indication in a directional multi-gigabit (DMG) extended schedule element (extended schedule element) in a beacon frame and an announcement frame. However, the DMG extended schedule element supports scheduling for an AP and a STA only on one 2.16 GHz channel, and does not support scheduling for MIMO or MIMO BF. How to perform BF resource indication and MIMO resource indication is a problem that needs to be resolved.

Scheduling method in wireless local area network, access point, and station


A tire for motorcycles includes a tread band in which a tread pattern is formed which includes a series of transverse grooves disposed at least laterally of the equatorial plane. The tread pattern on the whole defines a low sea/land ratio on the tread band. The series of transverse grooves includes a plurality of main recesses having an overall length at least equal to one fourth of a lateral extension of the tread band. The main recesses define with the equatorial plane, an angle less than or equal to 65°, substantially over the entire length thereof.

FIGS. 1a and 1b show the side extension of a tread portion of a known tyre from the Applicant, marketed under the trademark Diablo™, suitable for road or sports use on high-powered motorcycles. In particular, FIG. 1a shows the tread pattern of a Diablo™ tyre suitable for fitting on a rear wheel of a motorcycle, while FIG. 1b shows the tread pattern of a Diablo™ tyre suitable for fitting on a front wheel of a motorcycle.
With reference to FIGS. 1a and 1b, the tread has groups of transverse grooves 111 disposed laterally of the equatorial plane of the tyre, each group repeating itself consecutively one after the other along the circumferential tyre extension. In the pattern of the front tyre, shown in FIG. 1b, a longitudinal groove 112 extends with a zigzag course in the central region of the tread, astride the equatorial plane, and connects the groups of transverse grooves 111.
The pattern shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b is formed in the tread of a radial-carcass tyre on which a belt structure is superposed which comprises at least one layer of cords disposed substantially along a circumferential direction.
The Diablo™ tyre is greatly appreciated by motorcyclists due to its optimal features of easy drive, grip, handling and stability also at high speeds. In particular, the tyre tread pattern co-operates in obtaining a suitable contact surface in the different drive conditions (on a straight line and/or on a bend), as well as a suitable draining of the water when the tyre is run on the wet asphalt.


A method of making a microlens array and mold, and the articles made therefrom. The method involves forming a plurality of adjacent receptacles on a surface and partially filling the receptacles with a hardenable liquid, thereby forming a meniscus in each receptacle. A lens material can then be applied to the menisci, thereby forming an array of generally spherical microlenses. In one embodiment, the perimeters of the microlenses are modified rectangles in that each edge of the lens is a symmetrical elliptical arc, the ends of which terminate at the corners of the rectangle, and the middle of which curves toward the center of the rectangle.

A microlens array is a group of generally spherical lenses arranged two-dimensionally having a center to center spacing of less than about 2 mm. Microlens arrays have various uses as described in European Patent Application 0,426,441 A2, including: (1) to intensify luminance by focusing light in areas around picture elements in non-luminant display devices such as liquid crystal display devices; (2) as a light pick-up means such as a laser disc, compact disc, or optical magnetic disc; (3) as a focusing means for coupling a luminant device or a receptive device to an optical fiber; (4) as a focusing means or an image forming means for focusing incident light in a photoelectric converting zone so as to increase the sensitivity of a primary image sensor used in a solid state image device such as a charge couple device (CCD) or facsimile machine; (5) as an image forming means for forming an image on a sensitive medium to be printed on by a liquid crystal printer or an LED printer; and (6) as a filter for treating photo-information.
Microlens arrays can include hundreds, thousands, and even a million or more microlenses. For example, an array of microlenses having dimensions of 12.5 cm by 18.75 cm and consisting of microlenses having a center to center spacing of 0.25 mm would require the creation of 375,000 microlenses. The cost of fabricating so many microlenses according to known methods can be prohibitive. It would take literally hundreds of hours to machine the 375,000 concave cavities required to produce a mold capable of making the microlens array. Furthermore, any mistake made during the machining process might require a restart.
It would be desirable to have a method of making an array of microlenses which was faster and less expensive than currently known methods.

Method of making a microlens array and mold

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A thong underpant which may be combined with a full sanitary napkin, and a method of making the same; the pad may be formed integrally with the disposable thong underpant, or the back end of the sanitary napkin affixed, as by sewing, to the stretched thong, or the front panel of the thong may be continued into the crotch region to form a partial crotch panel, just big enough to receive the adhesive on the underside of a generally rectangular sanitary napkin.

Many forms of sanitary protection have been used over the years. Many years ago, women used fabric scraps to sew undergarments to wear during menstruation, sewing extra absorbent layers into the crotch portion of the undergarment. The first commercially available disposable sanitary pads were developed in about the 1920s. The sanitary pads were secured with elastic belts and/or pins. Later, sanitary pads were provided with adhesive on the underside thereof, to attach the pad to the inside surface of the crotch portion of the underwear. In recent years thong underwear has become popular. This style of underpant lacks a full crotch portion, and presents a challenge to adhering a full sanitary pad within the thong underwear.


This application discloses a container. The container comprises a base, two pairs of opposite side plates and a lid. The two pairs of opposite side plates are both connected to the base. The lid can be locked to the top of the side plate via a locking device. Each of the four top corners of the container is provided with one locking device. The four locking device are arranged opposite to each other tin pairs along the corresponding diagonal of the lid, and each of the locking device includes one locking tongue member provided on the lid and one locking groove provided on the corresponding side plate. The locking tongue member has a locking tongue and is arranged to be movable relative to the lid so that the locking tongue is insertable into the locking groove to lock the lid to the side plate and is detachable from the locking groove to unlock the lid. Each of the locking grooves extends outwardly from the side plate along the corresponding diagonal direction of the lid. The lid of the container of the present application can be unlocked from any direction.

In some industries, it is a conventional method to use large containers made of composite materials to package, transport and store goods. Most of these containers have plastic side plates and bottoms, and pipes made by metal are placed in the side plates and bottoms for reinforcement. When liquid goods need to be contained, a liner bag can be used to be laid out in a container body, and then the liquid goods can be filled into the liner bag. When the liquid goods are filled, a lid is generally placed on the container to protect the liquid goods in the container body and prevent rain, dust, etc. from contaminating the liquid goods. In addition, regardless of whether the container has a foldable or non-foldable structure, the lid connected to the container body can always provide a considerable support to the overall strength. When the container is filled with liquid goods, with the bumped, suddenly accelerating and decelerating situations during transportation, the liquid fluctuates violently in the container. At this time, the lid can effectively reduce the amplitude of liquid fluctuations, so that the liner bag will not be broken due to excessive load, and the safety of the liquid goods is guaranteed. Also, the effect of the lid on the large-sized container is that when two containers are stacked each other, the lid can limit the horizontal movement of the upper container in all directions, so that the upper container will not easily fall over. At present, most of container lids have 4-8 manually operated lid locks, which have horizontal latches to connect the lid to the container body. The lid with such structural solution meets the functional requirements of the container to a certain extent, but the lock is inconvenient to use and easy to damage.
CN 104590787A discloses a novel lid locking structure with elastic reset, which improves the inconvenience of lid locking in the above solution, and the operation is relatively simple, but the structure can still only be unlocked from a specific side.

SHANGHAI HONGYAN RETURNABLE TRANSIT PACKAGINGS CO., LTD.


A steering apparatus includes a history holding unit recording a zero point maximum value and a zero point minimum value of a steering angle of a steering wheel, a precursor determination unit, and a characteristic variation determination unit. The history holding unit cancels the recorded zero point maximum value and the recorded zero point minimum value respectively, when a predetermined period elapses following the update of the recorded value. When the precursor determination unit determines that the system is in a precursory condition to characteristic variation, the characteristic variation determination unit determines whether or not characteristic variation has occurred in the steering transmission system on the basis of at least one of an amount of increase in the zero point maximum value and an amount of decrease in the zero point minimum value following a point at which the system is determined to be in the precursory condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a steering apparatus that detects a zero point of a steering angle of a steering wheel, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
In a vehicle behavior control technique such as electronic stability control (available as vehicle stability control (VSC)), various types of control are executed using a detection value from a steering angle sensor attached to a steering wheel. When a type of steering angle sensor that outputs a relative angle is used, a zero point of the steering angle sensor is detected first, and then an absolute steering angle is calculated on the basis of the detected zero point. For this purpose, the steering angle zero point needs to be detected with a high degree of precision. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-276734 (JP 2004-276734 A), for example, describes a technique of detecting the steering angle zero point on the basis of a difference between an estimated yaw rate estimated from the detection value of the steering angle sensor and an actual yaw rate detected by a yaw rate sensor.
As a result, precision with which the steering angle zero point is detected may also decrease.

Steering apparatus and control method thereof


The present disclosure includes a discussion of an operating technique for a radiotelephone (101). The radiotelephone (101) has a memory (907), a display (127) and a keypad (117) which includes a first function key (107), a second function key (109), and a plurality of data keys (119). An actuation of the first function key (107) creates a first function key signal for recalling a telephone number. Once the telephone number has been selected, a subsequent actuation of the first function key (107) creates a second function key signal for connecting a call based on the telephone number. During the call, an actuation of the second function key (109) creates a third function key signal for disconnecting the call. A subsequent actuation of the second function key (109) creates a fourth function key signal for turning off the radiotelephone (213).

There is essentially one known technique of using a keypad for controlling a radiotelephone. The technique uses from four to twelve function keys in addition to the standard twelve key data pad and it includes a display for the data input.
The function keys generally include some or all of the following functions: send, end, power, recall, store, clear, function, name, volume and menu. The number and type of keys depends on the manufacturer and the features on the phone.
The function keys which are essential to the operation of the phone are the send, end, power and clear keys. The send key is used to initiate a phone call to the number entered with the data keys and located in the display. The end key is used to end a phone call. The power key is used to turn the radiotelephone on and off with successive key activations. The clear button is used when entering data to clear either one character of data or the entire display of data, depending on how the key is used.
There are three keys which can be used to store and recall names and phone numbers from the radiotelephone memory, namely, the store key, the recall key, and the name key. The store key is used to store data into a memory location. First, the data is entered into the radiotelephone with the data keys, then the store key is pressed, followed by a memory location entered with the data keys. This data can be either symbols, representing names or numbers representing phone numbers. The recall key followed by an appropriate memory location will recall the phone number or name contained within that memory location. The name key is used to activate a menu of names which have phone numbers corresponding to them. The user can scroll through the menu of names using the "#" and the "*" keys.
There are other keys which activate features of the phone which vary between manufacturers. The function key is used to activate other features of the phone denoted by the number input with the data keys which follow activation of the function key. Finally, the menu key is used to access a menu of advanced features which can be scrolled through using the "#" and the "*" keys.
With thorough knowledge of the operation of these keys, a complicated radiotelephone can be successfully operated. However, a high percentage of people do not access the advanced features of the phone because of lack of understanding of the complexities involved in such use. Therefore, there exists a need for an improved technique for operating a radiotelephone; one in which the operation of the radiotelephone is intuitive to the uneducated user.


The present invention is a self-contained hydraulic hammer which is mounted on a hydraulically mobile frame. The hydraulic hammer is capable of travelling in either forward or reverse directions and is provided with liftable weights to which a tool for digging or breaking up a surface is attached. The hydraulic hammer is equipped with time delay controls which: 1) momentarily stop the travel of the hydraulic hammer as the weights and the attached digging tool free fall from a raised position until the digging tool impacts the surface to be busted up, and 2) cause the hydraulic hammer to resume travel as the weights are again raised in preparation for another impact. The hydraulic hammer rapidly repeats these cycles of impact and travel to break up a surface. Adjustments are provided on the hydraulic hammer for regulating the force of the impact and the distance travelled between impacts in order to match the hydraulic hammer's impact and travel cycles to the break characteristics of the surface to be removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic hammer which has time delay controls which coordinate dropping of weights to break up a surface with forward or reverse travel of the hydraulic hammer. The hydraulic hammer is thus controlled so it momentarily stops its travel while the weights drop and then resumes its travel as the weights are again lifted for another drop.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, surfaces to be repaired, such as cement slabs and asphalt used in highway construction, must first be busted up by some type of breaking equipment, and then the busted up pieces must be removed by a back-hoe or other similar dirt moving equipment before repair or replacement of the surface can be accomplished. Breaking equipment currently available are large machines which are difficult to transport and cannot be maneuvered in tight locations. Also, none of the currently available breaking equipment automatically coordinate the forward or reverse travel of the machine with the breaking stroke or action of the equipment. The operator must perform this coordination when using existing equipment.
The present invention solves these problems by providing a small mobile hydraulic hammer which can be easily maneuvered at the work site and maneuvered onto a small trailer for transport to other work sites. The operation of the present invention coordinates its horizontal travel along the surface with its breaking action, i.e. dropping of weights, by means of time delay controls.


In a programmable logic device having I/O blocks and logic blocks, two lines leading from a region including a logic block and an I/O block alternately provide a logic block output signal and its complement or a logic block output signal and an I/O block input signal. A multiplexer selects between providing on a line leading from an I/O block to an interconnect structure a first signal which is provided by the I/O block when the I/O block is an input buffer and a second signal which is the inverse of a logic signal provided to the I/O block when the I/O block is not an input buffer. Thus in one case two lines which extend from the I/O block to the interconnect structure may carry. a) a logic block output signal and PA1 b) an I/O block output signal; PA1 a) a logic block output signal and PA1 b) the inverse of the logic block output signal.. and in the other case carry

FIG. 1 shows a circuit used in a prior art logic device such as manufactured by Xilinx, Inc, assignee of the present invention. I/O block 15 is a programmable input/output block which is connected through line 17 to an external pin of the integrated circuit chip, and which may be configured as an input buffer or an output buffer. Logic block 13 receives input signals on lines such as line 12, and generates an output signal on line 14. When I/O block 15 is configured as an output buffer, this output signal from line 14 is applied by I/O block 15 to an external pin. When I/O block 15 is configured as an input buffer, line 16 carries a signal from the pin to a universal interconnect matrix (UIM) 11. Alternatively, or in addition, the signal on line 14 may be fed back to UIM 11. Thus two lines, line 14 and line 16 are provided to connect the output of logic block 13 and the input and output of I/O block 15 to UIM 11. In a typical device, many pairs of logic block and I/O block will connect into the same UIM 11. For simplicity, only one additional pair of lines 33 and 37 is shown in FIG. 1.
At intersections of UIM 11 are programmable interconnectors such as interconnector 18. FIG. 2 shows the structure of interconnector 18. If EPROM transistor 19 has been programmed to form a connection, a high signal on line 14 may turn on EPROM transistor 19 so that voltage on line 12c is pulled low. A pullup resistor 20 connects line 12c to VCC so that if no lines such as lines 14 and 16 pull down line 12c, line 12c is pulled high. Thus line 12c provides the AND function of lines 14 and 16 and other lines which connect to line 12c. Each intersection in UIM 11 comprises a circuit such as circuit 18 shown in FIG. 2. In embodiments having many lines such as 14 and 16 entering UIM 11, very wide AND functions can be generated.
It is desirable to be able to generate additional functions such as NAND, NOR, and OR using UIM 11.
Further, with design rules becoming smaller and integrated circuit devices becoming more highly integrated, lines such as lines 14 and 16 can occupy considerable area in the chip. Thus it is desirable to minimize the number of lines needed to provide the necessary interconnections, and to maximize the usefulness of each line.

Complementary macrocell feedback circuit


A resistive force sensing circuit and a resistive force sensing apparatus. The circuit includes a plurality of sensor circuit inputs, a plurality of sensor circuit outputs; and a plurality of resistor units. Each of the resistor units includes a force-sensing resistor, a first side resistor, and a second side resistor. The first terminals of the force-sensing resistor, the first side resistor and the second side resistor are electrically connected to each other at one node, a second terminal of the force-sensing resistor is electrically connected to one of the sensor circuit inputs, and second terminals of the first side resistor and the second side resistor are electrically connected to two adjacent sensor circuit outputs, respectively. The first side resistor and the second side resistor are a pair of resistors with substantially equal resistance. The apparatus includes structures to realize the function of the resistive force sensing circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a resistive force sensing circuit for sensing physically-applied inputs and a resistive force sensing apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, touch sensing has been successfully applied in many fields, such as portable device input, medical monitor and electronic point of sale (POS) system. Touch control mechanisms include: resistive, capacitive, optical, etc. Resistive sensing has an advantage in its ability to combine touch and force sensing through force-sensing resistor (FSR). Although early resistive touch control technique can only detect one touch point, various solutions can offer multi-touch or force-sensing points recently.
However, in many cases, when an input device with a simple FSR matrix circuit contains multi-point force-sensing function, the output value can be affected by the number of input pressure points and force levels. That is, even the user applies the same force on one point of the device, the output value of the point can change depending on how the rest of the sensing surface is touched. This may cause "ghost point" phenomenon, when the system output a touch point at a location not touched. Furthermore, the input device with a simple FSR array or matrix circuit may have high leakage currents between each input point or part, which may interfere with the output values and consume more power.
Although there have been many solutions to overcome the problems described above, such solutions usually utilize extra components such as op-amps, or complex algorithms. Therefore, the costs of production and maintenance of such solutions inevitably become higher, in addition to increased chance of malfunction


A power conversion system includes a power conversion apparatus and a programming support apparatus connected to the power conversion apparatus. The power conversion apparatus includes power conversion circuitry, program storage that stores a control program configured to control the power conversion circuitry, and a control unit that controls the power conversion circuitry according to a control program. The programming support apparatus includes a display data generation unit that generates display data of a block diagram illustrating a content of the control program using a plurality of functional blocks, and a link indicating input and output of information between the functional blocks based on the control program stored in the program storage.

Japanese Patent No. 5018477 discloses an inverter that includes an execution code unit storing a table of execution code modules corresponding to specific terminal numbers in advance, a communication interface unit downloading a connection information table indicating an execution order of the execution code modules, and a CPU executing the execution code modules based on the table of the execution code modules and the connection information table.

Power conversion system with programming support


Read disturbs in phase change memories may be reduced by progressively reducing the read pulse falling edges. This may reduce the possibility of quenching and inadvertent amorphization of at least a portion of the bit. As a result, in some embodiments, read disturbs may be reduced.

This invention relates generally to semiconductor memories.
Phase change memory devices use phase change materials, i.e., materials that may be electrically switched between a generally amorphous and a generally crystalline state, as an electronic memory. One type of memory element utilizes a phase change material that may be, in one application, electrically switched between generally amorphous and generally crystalline local orders or between different detectable states of local order across the entire spectrum between completely amorphous and completely crystalline states.
Typical materials suitable for such an application include various chalcogenide elements. The state of the phase change materials is also non-volatile, absent application of excess temperatures, such as those in excess of 150° C. for extended times. When the memory is set in either a crystalline, semi-crystalline, amorphous, or semi-amorphous state representing a resistance value, that value is retained until reprogrammed, even if power is removed. This is because the programmed value represents a phase or physical state of the material (e.g., crystalline or amorphous).
Phase change memories, like other memory types, may be subject to so-called read disturbs. A read disturb occurs when there is a partial or even complete change of state after a bit is read successively. Thus, the read margin may be reduced, reducing the performance of the memory.
Therefore, there is a need for ways to reduce read disturbs in phase change memories.

Reading phase change memories to reduce read disturbs


A process is provided for making K.sub.2 SO.sub.4 3Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 4S0.sub.3 +xH.sub.2 O or Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 3Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 4SO.sub.3 +xH.sub.2 O where x is a number from 4 to 12, which is used as a pigment. Sulfuric acid, one of a sulfate salt or a hydroxide of either potassium or sodium and one of a sulfate of aluminum or a hydroxide of aluminum are inputted into a crystallizer and reacted to form either Al.sub.2 (SO.sub.4).sub.3 K.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +24H.sub.2 O or Al.sub.2 (SO.sub.4).sub.3 Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +24H.sub.2 O. A fluid flow containing either Al.sub.2 (SO.sub.4).sub.3 K.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +24H.sub.2 O or Al.sub.2 (SO.sub.4).sub.3 Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +24H.sub.2 O is drawn off from the crystallizer and transferred into a pigment reactor where it is subjected to a temperature of about 200.degree. C. and a pressure ranging from 120 to 350 pounds per square inch so as to result in the production of either basic potassium aluminum sulfate K.sub.2 SO.sub.4 3Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 4SO.sub.3 +xH.sub.2 O or basic sodium aluminum sulfate Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 3Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 4SO.sub.3 +xH.sub.2 O where x is a number from 4 to 12 which is further treated in a filtration step to obtain pigment solids and a mother liquor. A portion of the reaction mixture is bled off from the crystallizer in an amount that is inversely proportional to the purity of the materials inputted into the crystallizer and the mother liquor is recycled back to the crystallizer, so that this process is able to process and react starting materials that may be of relatively lower purity.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the production of ink and paper pigments and fillers and more specifically to the production of under four micron sized particles of potassium aluminum sulphate to substitute for relatively more expensive titanium dioxide.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Titanium dioxide is principally used as a pigment to provide brightness, whiteness and opacity for paints and coatings, plastics, paper, inks, fibers, food and cosmetics. Titanium dioxide is by far the most widely used white pigment in the world, only diamonds have a refractive index higher than titanium dioxide. A high refractive index translates to high opacity. Only magnesium oxide is whiter than titanium dioxide, but the refractive index of this material is much lower. So much more magnesium oxide would be needed in a paint for the same opacity. For practical purposes, titanium dioxide is preferred.
Nature does not provide titanium dioxide in a form that is directly usable, it is usually associated with iron, either as ilmenite or leuxocene ores. Titanium dioxide is also mined in one of its purest forms, as rutile beach sand. The most important deposits in the world include rutile (beach sand) and ilmenite soaps, and these ores are the principle raw materials used in the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment.
In 1995, titanium dioxide pigment, valued at about $2.6 billion, was produced by five companies at eleven plants in nine American states. In 1995, about forty-seven percent of titanium dioxide production was used in paint, varnishes, and lacquers; about twenty-four percent was used in paper; about eighteen percent in plastics; and eleven percent went to miscellaneous uses such as catalysts, ceramics, coated fabrics and textiles, floor coverings, printing ink, roofing granules, etc.
The production of titanium dioxide pigments is a two step process. The first step is to purify the ore, and is basically a refinement step. This may be achieved by either the sulfate process, which uses sulfuric acid as a liberating agent, or the chloride process, which uses chlorine as the liberating agent. Once refined, and developed to the appropriate particle size, the pigment may be surface treated with inorganic oxides or an organic material to give each grade its unique characteristics.
The sulfate process for producing titanium dioxide pigments is often referred to as the older process, relative to the more modern chloride process. The sulfate process is used to produce high quality titanium dioxide pigment grades for the ink, fibers and paper industries. Kronos, Inc. (Houston, Tex.), for example, was granted patents for the sulfate process and has been producing titanium dioxide pigment using this process continuously since 1916. Since the late 1970's, Kronos has also manufactured grades using the chloride process. The chloride process was developed by the Kronos research and development group in Leverkusen, Germany, and commissioned its first chloride plant in the late 1970's.
A high purity rutile titanium dioxide is used in electroceramics for its dielectric properties, in vitreous enamels for its ease of fusion, in glasses to modify the refractive index and to improve the thermal and mechanical properties, in containers to absorb ultraviolet light for food preservation, in ceramics to enhance sintering and improve the thermal and chemical resistance, and in arc welding to ensure excellent ionization and easy re-ignition of the electrode to prevent electrode sputtering and control slag fluidity.
The rutile titanium dioxide grade is typically produced via the sulfate process, with low abrasion and high gloss. High brightness and very good opacity allows for this to be an ideal pigment for ink formulations, particularly rotogravure and polyamide flexo inks where it combines excellent dispersion, high gloss and opacity with very low abrasion.
Titanium dioxide pigments can be designed for ease of dispersion in many aqueous applications with minimal requirement for dispersing agents. Such pigment can be added at the beater or hydropulper to improve the opacity and brightness of the finished sheet. It can be used in the dry state as received, or can be slurried in water at the mill site to take advantage of slurry additions. It is also used to enhance opacity and brightness of paper coatings. It disperses readily in water at high solids without additional dispersing agent over that normally used in the coating mixture. The pigment can be used for white sidewall rubber goods that provide self-cleanup through chalking and resistance to ozone cracking. Its low abrasion properties promote its application in rubber thread compounds, both extruded and cut rubber thread. Cost effectiveness may be obtained in white plastic film, sheeting and profiles. Titanium dioxide pigment is used in traffic marking paints where an anatase grade is permitted. Field tests of traffic stripes indicate that the weathering of pigmented traffic stripes result in improved night visibility with minimal film loss. Titanium dioxide pigment may be used in white exterior aqueous and non-aqueous paints to impart controlled chalking.
Titanium dioxide pigment can be used in melamine laminate compositions where its resistance to ultraviolet light discoloration is outstanding. Titanium dioxide pigment can provide high brightness and very high resistance to ultra-violet discoloration in pigmented decorative papers for melamine formaldehyde laminates. KRONOS 2081 pigment is suitable for use in printing inks which are used in melamine-formaldehyde laminate systems. KRONOS 2081 pigment is suitable for pigmentation of melamine formaldehyde resins.

Process for making basic alkali metal sulfate pigments


A Universal Serial Bus (USB) hub for allowing communication between a host device and one or more peripheral devices. The USB hub is configured to allow the host device to communicate with the peripheral devices in at least two communication modes and to automatically switch between communication modes in response to the type of connection between the host device and the USB hub. In a first communication mode, the host device is wirelessly coupled to the USB hub and in a second communication mode, the host device is physically coupled (wired-connection) to the USB hub.

A hubs as generally understood in computing, may allow a client to connect to multiple peripherals. For example, a client device, such as a notebook PC, may be connected to a hub that provides connectivity to other peripherals, such as, for example, a monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, etc. The hub may include ports to connect the client device and the peripherals thereto, thereby allowing communication between the client device and peripherals. For example, a USB hub may include multiple USB ports for providing connectivity between the client device (e.g. host device) via an upstream port and the peripherals via downstream ports. The client device and peripherals may be physically connected to the associated USB ports of the USB hub by way of USB cables. However, the physical connection of a USB cable from a client device to the USB hub may be inconvenient and may have drawbacks. For example, the client device may be a mobile device, such as a notebook PC, and, as such, a user may wish to disconnect the notebook PC from the USB hub from time to time, especially when traveling. The act of physically disconnecting and reconnecting the client device to the USB hub may become cumbersome and inconvenient.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

USB hub with automatic communication mode switching


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a stereo x-ray radiation device that is small and for which handling is simple. One cathode that functions as an emitter and two anodes that function as targets are disposed in a single straight-tube shaped vacuum vessel. The stereo x-ray generating device is characterized by the cathode being a cold cathode disposed in the center part of the vessel, the anodes being disposed each to one end of the vessel, and the spaces between the anodes disposed in the two ends of the vessel and the cathode being constituted such that the same can be moved closer or apart along the axial line of the vessel.

X-ray generating devices are incorporated in non-destructive inspection equipment.
Regarding the structure of the x-ray generating device, an electronic source (emitter), a target and a grid electrode (middle electrode) are arranged in one glass tube. To generate an electron, a voltage is applied between the electronic source and the grid electrode and the generated electron is made to hit the target by applying a voltage between the grid electrode and the target.
In addition to the X-ray generating device of a 3 electrode structure, an x-ray generating device to photograph a stereo image is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
To capture the three-dimensional image of the subject, the device disclosed in Patent Document 1 provides an x-ray tube for the left hand image and an x-ray tube for the right hand image.
The subject is irradiated from each x-ray tube alternatively, the observer views a transparent image provided by one x-ray tube with the right eye, and views a transparent image provided by the other x-ray tube with the left eye.
In Patent Document 1, to change the photography amplification of the transparent image, the distance of the pair of x-ray tubes can be varied. A rack and pinion mechanism and a ball-thread mechanism are exemplified as the variable mechanism.
Patent document 2 discloses a structure such that a plurality of cathode and a discal anode are provided in one vacuum tube. The purpose of Patent document 2 is not to gain a three-dimensional image.
The anode is comprised of a plurality of segments, x-rays with different strengths are given out from every segment by hitting the turning anodal segment with the electron beam emitted from the cathode.