The Present Disclosure relates to a poke-in connector configured so that a wire can be contacted at the same time it is locked to a terminal, solely by the action of pushing the wire into the terminal. More specifically, it relates to a poke-in connector that facilitates locking and unlocking of a wire. The poke-in connector of the Present Disclosure comprises a terminal where a wire is inserted and locked while making contact, and a housing that covers the terminal and is formed as one piece with a locking release lever that releases the wire from the locked state. The locking release lever comprises a flexible extension part that has elasticity and extends from the housing, and a pressing part that is formed on the terminus of the flexible extension part and enables the removal of the wire by spreading the locking part of the terminal to either side when pressed.

The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to a poke-in connector configured so that a wire can be contacted at the same time it is locked to a terminal, solely by the action of poking the wire into the terminal, and, more particularly, it relates to a poke-in connector that facilitates locking and unlocking of a wire.
Generally, conventional electrical devices contain connectors having a form such that the terminal that is connected to a wire is soldered to the surface of a printed circuit board (PCB), and is surrounded by an insulative housing. These connectors include "poke-in connectors," wherein the wire is locked to the terminal and contacted solely by the action of pushing the wire into the terminal. Examples of conventional poke-in connectors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,793, entitled "Low Profile Surface Mount Poke-in Connector," and U.S. Pat. No. 8,328,586, entitled "Actuating Device for an Electrical Connection Terminal." The content of each of these Applications are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties.
With the connector disclosed in the '793 Patent, it is straightforward to push the wire into the terminal, but separating the wire from the terminal is somewhat difficult. Specifically, in order to detach the wire, a sharp tool must first be placed in the hole formed on the top of the housing, and then the terminal holding the wire must be pressed to release the clamping force, which is inconvenient. In addition, it is structurally difficult to press the terminal with the tool.
The connector disclosed in the '586 Patent has the advantage that the process of pushing the wire into the terminal and separating it from the terminal is more straightforward than in the '793 Patent. Specifically, the wire can easily be separated from the terminal by simply pressing the pusher arm formed on the insulator housing using a fingertip, screwdriver, etc. Despite this advantage, because the pusher arm is bent upward after extending to the side, the connector disclosed in the '586 Patent has considerable risk that the bent portion will suffer increased fatigue during repeated use. In addition, when the pusher arm is pressed, the degree to which the terminus of the arm is moved down is not consistent. Accordingly, if the pushing force is great, the wire can readily be separated from the terminal, while if the pushing force is slight, it is difficult for the wire to be separated from the terminal.


An architecture and method for performing the known windowing and presumming operations associated with enhancing the performance of a fast Fourier transform (FFT) processor is disclosed. The method makes use of a reordering process in order to enable the multiplying and accumulating processes associated with the windowing and presumming operations to be performed on consecutive data points. In order to apply the appropriate coefficients to the multiplier, coefficients are loaded into a series of registers in a loop configuration in which the coefficient in one register is transferred to an adjacent register upon every clock cycle and the last coefficient register transfers its coefficient to the first register. An accumulator accumulates output from the multiplier and applies it to a delay register. The procedure of accumulating consecutive data points enables a delay register to be used in place of the prior art delay memories, thus enabling specialized chips to be effectively implemented without any random access memory (RAM). Consequently, efficient utilization of specialized integrated chips and memories is attainable.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a window/presum operation architecture for a digital signal processor, and more particularly, to a window/presum operation architecture for a digital signal processor incorporating an efficient use of ASIC and memory chips.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In certain processor applications, it is necessary to convert time domain data signals to frequency domain data signals. To perform such a transformation, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processors are most commonly used. Often, as is well known, the FFT processor performance can be enhanced by performing certain operations prior to the FFT itself. Two such operations, which are generally referred to as windowing and presumming, are very common. The windowing operation refers to a multiplication process which tailors a data block in an appropriate manner to be processed by the FFT. The presumming operation refers to an accumulation process which has the effect of reducing the size of the required FFT.
The prior art window and presum operation architectures have been implemented on high density application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and separate memory chips. An ASIC enables a plurality of specialized functions to be performed on a single chip, as is well known in the art. Despite their success, these conventional window/presum architectures suffer from a number of drawbacks making them inefficient. Specifically, the conventional window/presum architectures require the existence of many blocks of memory imbedded within or between adjacent processing elements: this makes the number of chips required higher than need be (explained below), thus decreasing the reliability and increasing the size, weight, power and cost of the processor. In the conventional architectures, many banks of memory have been either implemented internally on the individual ASICs or externally in separate memory chips. These blocks of memory are required in the window/presum operations in order to delay data or delay window coefficients.
A number of problems arise if memory banks are included on the individual ASICs. First, the required depth of each memory block in the conventional architecture is application dependent. Consequently, the on-chip implementation lacks flexibility in that once the ASIC is built, the memory size and configuration is fixed and thus requires a new ASIC to achieve different memory capabilities for different applications. Secondly, ASICs cannot implement random access memory (RAM) very efficiently. Therefore, the on-chip method squanders ASIC resources on functions that would be better handled on specialized memory chips.
It is therefore known to remove the memory banks from the individual ASICs, and incorporate the memory on specialized memory chips. Typically, however, RAM chip Input/Output (I/O) limitations will preclude the consolidation of several of the separate RAM banks into a single memory chip. As a result, in many applications only a fraction of the storage capacity of each RAM chip will be utilized. This is a great reduction in the efficiency of the system in that a high memory chip count is required even though very dense memory chips are available in today's technology. In addition to an inefficient RAM utilization, conventional off-chip architectures also result in inefficient ASIC utilization. Although, very high capacity ASICs are available in today's market, with the off-chip memory method, ASIC I/O requirements become the limiting factor in determining how much of the window/presum architecture can be implemented in a single ASIC because each of the external RAM chips requires its own I/O ports to and from the ASIC. Consequently, conventional window/presum architectures cannot capitalize on the very high density ASIC and RAM chips which are currently available.
What is needed then is a window/presum operation architecture incorporating a reduced number of memory chips and ASICs such that the size, weight, power and cost of the processor is reduced, and the integrity and reliability of the system is increased. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide such an architecture.


A ball bat typically used in playing the game of baseball or softball is constructed of an inner layer bounded by first and second outer layers. The inner layer typically contains four inner lamina bonded together, while the first and second outer layers typically contain a single outer lamina. The inner laminas from the medial portion of the barrel of the bat, as well as the handle portion. The outer laminas form lateral portions of the barrel of the bat, and are gently tapered toward the handle of the bat. The thickness and relative position of each lamina is related to the results of non-destructive testing of the wood forming that lamina.

Ball bats made out of glued laminations are known, such as that disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,669. Such bats provide a number of advantages, including particularly increased strength resulting in part from the 180 degree rotation of adjacent plies. Such rotation causes the wood grain in adjacent plies to be substantially mirror images. As a result, the wood throughout the bat is more uniform, thereby decreasing the likelihood of a weak spot, which tends to result in a stronger bat.
Additionally, as a result of the cuts made to separate the plies, the "inside" of the wood is revealed. This can result in the observation of weak spots, allowing replacement with stronger wood. However, known laminated bats have not addressed the issue of nondestructive testing of each of the lamina used to make the bat As a result, the use of substandard lamina is possible. As a result, it is the case that known laminated bats are constructed of individual lamina arranged in locations within the bat that have stress levels that are incompatible with that particular lamina's strength level.
As seen above, the use of glued lamina in bat construction generally results in a stronger bat. However, since known laminated bats have used lamina having a uniform thickness, the resulting increase in strength is uniform throughout the bat, rather than being particularly directed to those areas of the bat that are more likely to break. This is because the specific area of breakage in most bats is an area generally located between the ball player's grip and the impact location of the ball, i.e. in a region between the handle and barrel. This implies that to decrease the likelihood of a bat breaking, certain "weak-link" areas need to be stronger, while other areas of existing bats are already unlikely to break Known laminated bats have not fully addressed the issues of selectively strengthening the weaker areas of a bat.


A display medium including a layered structure that comprises two or more stacked display elements that each are provided, on or above a flexible substrate, with a pixel portion and lead line(s) for electrically connecting the pixel portion to outside of the pixel portion, and a hole portion or a cut-away portion included in the display element(s) that are above one or more of the lead line(s) of the display element(s) at a lower portion of the layered structure, so that the one or more of the lead line(s) of the lower portion display element(s) are exposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display medium, and more particularly to a display medium including two or more display elements that have been stacked together.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display mediums from two or more display elements that have been stacked together have been proposed. At the external terminal connection portions of such layered form display mediums, in order for the lead lines from the pixel portion (functional area) of the display elements to be each individually connected to the outside of the pixel portion, patterns are adopted in which, for example, the end portions of the stacked display elements project out from each of the substrates, the end portions of the stacked display elements are disposed in a step shape, or the like (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application (JP-A) Nos. 2001-42353, 2002-297050).
FIG. 16 is an example of a configuration of external terminal connection portions in a conventional layered form display medium and is a partial cross-section showing schematically a display medium of three stacked display elements (100a, 100b and 100c). In FIG. 16, lead lines 102a, 102b and 102c are, respectively, formed to lead from display regions (not shown) in substrates 101a, 101b and 101c in the display elements 100a, 100b and 100c, and external connection relay substrates 103a, 103b and 103c, for electrically connecting pixel portions to the outside, are connected to the respective lead lines 102a, 102b and 102c. 104a, 104b and 104c indicate protection films or cover glass. The 104a is disposed above the display element 100a and protects the surface of the display element 100a. The 104b and 104c are disposed above the display elements 100b and 100c, and protect the surfaces of each of the display elements and are also able to act as insulators.
However, in a conventional layered form display medium like the one described above, there is the problem that the strength of the external terminal connection portions thereof is low. That is to say, in a conventional layered form display medium, since there are end portions of plural display elements stacked in a step shape, or since there are stacked end portions protruding out from each of the substrates, the strength is low at the boundary portion at the end portion of the joining portion(s) where an upper portion display element meets a lower portion display element, and there is the problem that when bending stress is applied to the joining end portion, the lead wiring lines that are present at the boundary portion may break.
Furthermore, electrical connection, between such a display medium and a relay substrate for external connection, must be undertaken for each of the display elements configuring the display medium, and the same number of relay substrates for external connection is required as the number of stacked display elements, and the problem arises that the production process thereof becomes complicated.
Recently, demand for display media that are flexible has risen, because of the ease of transporting and the portability of devices containing such display media. Such flexible display media usually use a flexible substrate of the order of several tens of μm to several hundreds of μm in thickness as the substrate. There is particular demand with flexible display media using flexible substrates for an increase in the strength of the external terminal connection portions thereof, but the present situation is that there is nothing yet available that meets such demands.


Disclosed are compositions containing a formula of LixTiyV1Bz wherein x, y, and z are real numbers greater than zero. In certain embodiments, x is not greater than 7, and y is not greater than 6, or a combination thereof. The composition may be a microporous aerogel, a mesoporous aerogel, a crystalline structure, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the composition may be an aerogel, and a surface of the aerogel comprises microcrystals, nanocrystals or a combination thereof. The compositions have very low densities. Also disclosed are methods to produce the composition and use of the composition in energy storage devices.

Ultra-lightweight high energy density electrodes with multi-electron reactions have created tremendous interest among scientists and stakeholders. Due to increasing consumer demand for light portable electronic devices, it may be desirable to replace widely used lithium-ion batteries and other heavy conventional batteries in portable electronics with batteries having ultra-light weight materials. Such ultra-lightweight materials may greatly improve the portability of electronic devices, and may usefully have high battery efficiency, increased energy capacity, and device lifetime, reduced recharge time, and toxicity level and less impact to the environment.

Ultra-lightweight energy storage material


In an EUV focusing mirror in which there are several thin concave nested high precision mirrors in the form of an ellipsoid of revolution, a paraboloid of revolution, a Wolter type or the like, the sides which do not constitute the reflection surfaces are made in the shape of a knife edge at the radiation incident ends of the respective mirrors in order not to be shielded by the thickness of the radiation incidence sides of the respective mirrors. Likewise, the radiation exit ends of the respective mirrors are made in the form of a knife edge. This yields an advantageous far-field distribution use of the mirrors for an EUV radiation source device and the degree of reduction of the light intensity can be made smaller than in the conventional case.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an extreme UV radiation focusing mirror for focusing of extreme UV radiation which is emitted by a high density and high temperature plasma, and an extreme UV radiation source device using this extreme UV radiation focusing mirror. The invention relates especially to an extreme UV radiation focusing mirror which focuses extreme UV radiation of the above described plasma with high efficiency and which, moreover, can make the far-field distribution of the light beam at the focus point uniform, and an extreme UV radiation source device using this extreme UV radiation focusing mirror.
2. Description of the Prior Art
According to the miniaturization and increased integration of integrated semiconductor circuits, an increase in resolution is required in a projection exposure device for its manufacture. To meet this requirement, the wavelengths of the exposure radiation source are being increasingly shortened. As a semiconductor exposure radiation source of the next generation in succession to an excimer laser device, an extreme UV radiation source device (hereinafter also called an EUV radiation source device) is being developed which emits extreme UV radiation (extreme ultra violet radiation; hereinafter also called EUV radiation) with wavelengths from 13 nm to 14 nm, especially with a wavelength of 13.5 nm.

Extreme UV radiation focusing mirror and extreme UV radiation source device


Methods, systems, and devices disclosed herein may be collectively referred to as a “platform.” A platform consistent with embodiments herein may be used by individuals or companies to track an amount of liquid poured from at least one liquid container. The platform may comprise a tracking device and a computing hub in operative bi-directional communication. The device that may be configured to a liquid dispensing container such as, but not limited to, a bottle. The device may be configured to receive a liquid from the container and transfer the liquid through a chamber within the device. As the liquid is transferred through the device, a computing element and sensing component integrated within the device may be configured to track an amount of liquid dispensed through the device. A communications module may then communicate the data with the hub.

In the dispensing of liquids, particularly alcoholic beverages, it is customary to use pouring spouts mounted on the tops of bottles to facilitate the dispensing with minimum spillage. In general, these pouring spouts are free-flow pouring devices (i.e., the liquid continues to flow from the bottle so long as the bottle remains tilted. Customarily, the liquid is dispensed into a measuring vessel of fixed volume, as for example: ½ oz, ⅓ oz, 1 oz, 1½ oz, etc. and, when the desired volume is reached in the measuring vessel, the bottle is tilted to its upright non-pouring position. The contents of the measuring vessel, typically, is then emptied into a serving glass thereafter, or the like.
This procedure of pouring the liquid from the bottle to a measuring container and thence to the glass or other vessel (in which the beverage is to be served or mixed) is sometimes a tedious and time consuming process—especially in the case where many beverages are to be dispensed in a short period of time. Consequently, in the press of business, a bartender may resort to sight measuring the amount of beverage directly into the glass or mixing container, thereby eliminating the intermediate step of pouring the beverage first into a measuring container. Because of variations in the size and shape of glasses and mixing containers, the amount and size of ice cubes and the like which may be present in the container, and other factors, sight-measuring is at best a haphazard measuring procedure.
To preserve the speed of pouring by sight-measure, many pouring devices have been made which themselves combine the pouring function and the measuring function so that as the pouring operation proceeds, a fixed volume of liquid will be dispensed with each pouring operation.
However, in order to properly calculate the amount of alcohol served, compared to the amount of alcohol sales generated, an inventory must be performed, manually, and sometimes by eyesight estimation, of the approximate volume in the bottle.
Different bottles have different shapes and sizes. This drawback, along with the typically large number of bottles, presents a tedious and often inaccurate inventory that ultimately provides inexact figures for alcohol sales.

Methods, systems, and devices for beverage consumption and inventory control and tracking


The planar light source of this invention comprises: a light guide plate made of a platelike, light-transmitting material formed with a reflection surface on a bottom side thereof, the reflection surface being formed by combining a plurality of kinds of reflection means; and an illuminating light source arranged opposite a light receiving side surface of the light guide plate; wherein the light guide plate has formed smooth a boundary on the reflection surface between the plurality of kinds of reflection means so as not to form any step between the adjoining reflection means. This construction prevents the formation of a dark-bright fringe pattern between the plurality of reflections means when the light source is illuminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a planar light source for illuminating a liquid crystal panel and the like and a method of manufacture of the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Small liquid crystal displays have been used in recent years in cellular phones and other portable information terminals and, as a means for illuminating such liquid crystal displays, a planar light source is used. The planar light source is constructed of a plate-like light guide plate and light emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged to face a side surface of the light guide plate. Thanks to its ability to be reduced easily in size and thickness, the planar light source has found wide uses.
In the planar light source, light emitted from the LEDs enters into the light guide plate and propagates as it is repetitively reflected within the light guide plate. The light is reflected or refracted by grooves or a textured pattern formed in an underside of the light guide plate until it goes out of the plate. The light emitted from the top surface of the light guide plate travels toward and illuminates the liquid crystal display.
An example of such a conventional planar light source is shown in FIG. 4 (e.g., Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-093383, FIG. 7). FIG. 4 illustrates a construction of a planar light source 110, FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B representing a perspective view and a side view thereof respectively.
In FIG. 4, the planar light source 110 has LEDs 101 as a light source, a light guide plate 102, a prism sheet 103, a reflector plate 106 and a liquid crystal panel 107. The light guide plate 102 is rectangular and made of a light-transmitting glass or resin. Denoted 102a is a top surface of the light guide plate 102. Designated 102c is a light receiving side surface facing the LEDs 101. Designated 102b is a bottom surface of the light guide plate 102. The bottom surface 102b is formed with a plurality of asymmetric prisms 102b1 facing the top surface 102a. The asymmetric prisms 102b1 each comprise a down slope 102b11 whose distance to the top surface 102a sharply increases as it moves away from the light receiving side surface 102c and an up slope 102b12 whose distance to the top surface 102a moderately decreases. Arranged opposite the light receiving side surface 102c are three LEDs 101 supported on a retainer member 101b.
When a predetermined amount of electricity is supplied from a power supply not shown to the LEDs 101, the LEDs 101 illuminate in white or a predetermined color. The light emitted from the LEDs 101 is refracted by the light receiving side surface 102c as it enters the light guide plate 102. The light that has entered the light guide plate 102 is repetitively reflected between the top surface 102a and the bottom surface 102b of the light guide plate 102 before it is refracted by the top surface 102a and leaves the light guide plate 102. The light then enters the prism sheet 103, in which it is specular-reflected until its propagation direction is changed to a Z direction. The light traveling in the Z direction is now incident on the liquid crystal panel 107. Therefore, the light passes through the liquid crystal in an ideal direction, making a clear and vivid image display possible.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing a path of light emitted from the LEDs 101 that has entered the light guide plate 102. In the figure, a light ray emitted from the LEDs 101 at an output or emittance angle of θi enters the light receiving side surface 102c of the light guide plate 102 at an incidence angle of θi. At this time, the ray is refracted on this plane and a relationship between the incidence angle θi and a refracted angle θ is, according to Snell's law, n·sinθ=sinθi assuming that a refractive index of air is 1 and a refractive index of the light guide plate 102 (made of polycarbonate and the like) is n. From this we obtainθ=sin−1((1/n)sin θi)  (1)If, for example, the light guide plate 102 has a refractive index of n=1.58 and θi=90°, calculating the equation (1) results in θ=sin−1(1/1.58)=39.3° and thus the critical angle θc is θc=39.3°.
It should be noted, however, that since the incidence angle in reality is less than 90° at maximum, the refracted angle θ even at its maximum is less than the critical angle θc. The critical angle θc of the light guide plate 102 is generally around 40°, so the refracted angle θ even at its maximum does not exceed 40°. The light ray that has passed through the light receiving side surface 102c at the refracted angle θ is incident on the top surface 102a of the light guide plate 102 at an incidence angle θ1. At this time, as can be seen from FIG. 5, since a relation of (θ+θ1=90°) holds and the refracted angle θ is equal to or less than 40°, as described above, the incidence angle θ1 is equal to or more than 50°, which is larger than the critical angle θc of around 40°. Thus, the ray incident on the top surface 102a is totally reflected at a reflection angle θ1.
The reflected light then strikes, at an incidence angle of θ2=θ1−α, the up slope 102b12 of the bottom surface which has an inclination angle of α. Here the inclination angle α is about 1° to several degrees.
The ray that has struck the up slope 102b12 at an incidence angle θ2 is reflected by this surface at a reflection angle θ2 and then strikes the top surface 102a at an incidence angle of θ3=θ2−α=θ1−2α. The ray is then reflected by the top surface 102a at a reflection angle θ3to hit the up slope 102b12 at an incidence angle of θ4=θ3−α=θ1−3α. Each time the light ray, that was first reflected by the top surface 102a at a reflection angle θ1, strikes the up slope 102b12 or the top surface 102a, its incidence angle decreases by an amount equal to the inclination angle α. That is, when the ray, that was first reflected at a reflection angle of θ1, strikes the up slope 102b12 or top surface 102a for an Nth time after repetitive reflections, its incidence angle θN is given byθN=θ1−(N−1)α  (2)In this light guide plate, the light incidence or reflection on its boundary surface, shown at θ1, is counted as the first incidence/reflection (i.e., N=1).
When the decreasing incidence angle θN has the following relation with the critical angle θc:θN=θ1−(N−1)α<θc  (3)then, the ray passes through the top surface 102a or the up slope 102b12 of the bottom surface 102b and gets out of the light guide plate 102. For example, if θ1=52°, α=1° and θc=40°, the condition of equation (3) is met when N is more than 13. This means that the light ray must strike the top or bottom surface of the light guide plate 102 fourteen times or more. Therefore, near the light receiving side surface 102c the ray does not escape to the outside. For example, if the light guide plate 102 has a thickness of 1 mm, the ray does not normally exit the light guide plate 102 from within about 3 mm of the light receiving side surface 102c. As a result, of the area of the light guide plate 102 the region that can be used as a light generation region decreases, reducing a space efficiency, which is detrimental to a size reduction of the device.
Thus, the planar light source 110 of FIG. 4, rather than being used as is, is often improved as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6A is an overall side view and FIG. 6B is an enlarged view of a portion C of FIG. 6A. In FIG. 6, denoted 120 is an improved planar light source in which a reference number 102bh represents a textured reflection surface provided on the bottom surface 102b of the light guide plate 102 near the light receiving side surface 102c. The textured reflection surface 102bh has an irregular pattern of fine, recessed and raised portions. The planar light source 120 therefore has on the underside of the housing 102 a reflection means provided by the textured reflection surface 102bh in addition to a reflection means provided by the asymmetric prisms 102b1. Designated 102D is a step formed at a boundary between the reflection means of the asymmetric prisms 102b1 and the reflection means of the textured reflection surface 102bh. In other respects, the symbols and construction are similar to those of the planar light source 110 shown in FIG. 4. The step 102D either rises or falls, and its edge has an angle of nearly 90°.
As shown in FIG. 6, of the light rays that have entered from the LEDs 101 through the light receiving side surface 102c into the light guide plate 102, some rays strike, and are scattered by, the textured reflection surface 102bh before traveling directly toward the top surface 102a and some rays go out of the light guide plate 102 and are reflected by the reflector plate 106 to reenter the light guide plate 102 and travel toward the top surface 102a, as indicated by solid lines in FIG. 6A. So, there are light paths involving the textured reflection surface 102bh in addition to the light paths using the asymmetric prisms 102b1, as indicated by a dashed line. As a result, light can be emitted upward from even an area of the top surface 102a of the light guide plate 102 which is close to the light receiving side surface 102c, thus expanding the illumination area to near the light receiving side surface 2c.
However, even the improved light guide plate 102 often experiences the following problems. As shown in a plan view of FIG. 7, in an area S1 within 3–4 mm of the light receiving side surface 102c of the light guide plate 102 several bright lines 14 show up (in FIG. 7 the bright lines are shown hatched with thick lines). S2 represents an area where bright lines do not show. The conspicuous bright lines 14 are considered to be caused as follows. As shown in FIG. 6B, light rays from the LEDs 101 that entered the light receiving side surface 102c reach an edge portion of the step 102D in the bottom surface 102b of the light guide plate 102.
If the edge portion has a rough surface, rather than a mirror surface, the light rays from the LEDs 101 enter the edge portion not through normal refraction but through scattering. That is, from the edge portion, a plurality of rays travel through the light guide plate 102 in different directions, making the edge portion look as if it were illuminating. Thus, the edge portion can be regarded as a secondary light source. Since the edge portion is formed at right angles, its transferability in a molding process is bad, rendering its surface rough, which in turn results in a secondary light source being easily formed.
Next, as shown in FIG. 8 the secondary light source at the step 102D emits rays of light in various directions. Of these rays, those that are incident on the top surface 102a of the light guide plate 102 at incidence angles less than the critical angle θc pass through this surface by refraction and get out of the light guide plate 102, as indicated by rays s21, s22. This direct outward transmission of these rays occurs continuously in a wide range of area and therefore no bright lines are produced. When the incidence angles exceed the critical angle θc, the light rays are reflected by the top surface 102a and directed toward the bottom surface 102b, as indicated by rays S31, S32, S33. Then, after one to several reflections these rays pass through the top surface 102a and go out as illuminating light. The number of times that these rays are reflected before being emitted outside increases as the first incidence angle on the top surface 102a becomes larger, according to the principle already explained (see Equation (3)).
That is, the number of reflections increases, from 1 to 2 to 3, according to the light paths S31, S32, S33. Hence, the positions on the top surface 102a of the light guide plate 102 from which the light rays go out are separated from each other, resulting in discrete bright lines as shown in FIG. 7. As for a width of light flux, let us turn to FIG. 9 and compare light fluxes φ1 and φ3 which correspond to the light paths s31 and s33 of FIG. 8. Let a width of light flux φ1 as it exits the top surface 102a of the light guide plate 102 be b1 and a width of light flux φ3 be b3. It is seen that the light width b3 is significantly larger than the width b1. This is considered due to the fact that as the number of reflections for each light path increases, a length of the light path also increases and, almost in proportion to the path length, the width of the light flux increases. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the width of the bright lines progressively widens away from the light receiving side surface 102c of the light guide plate 102. As the number of reflections for each light path increases further and the width of each flux exiting the top surface 102a of the light guide plate 102 widens, a light quantity per unit area, i.e., brightness lowers, with the result that the bright lines become indistinguishable in an area more than a certain distance away from the light receiving side surface 102c, as shown in FIG. 7.
As described above, the marked bright lines are caused by the step 102D (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 8) in the bottom surface 102b of the light guide plate 102. This step 102D is formed by a plurality of inserts (in-cavity molding pieces having recessed and raised transfer surfaces) during the process of molding the light guide plate 102. FIG. 10 illustrates essential parts of a conventional mold used in molding the light guide plate 102. In FIG. 10, denoted 121 is a mold frame, 122 an insert for textured pattern, and 123 an insert for prism pattern. The insert 122 for the textured pattern has its surface formed with a pattern of undulations corresponding to the textured reflection surface 102bh of FIG. 6, and the insert 123 for the prism pattern has its surface formed with a pattern of recesses and projections corresponding to the asymmetric prisms 102b1 provided on the bottom surface 102b of the light guide plate 102. The light guide plate 102 is formed in the following process. First, as shown in FIG. 10A, the insert 122 for the textured pattern and the insert 123 for the prism pattern are placed inside the mold frame 121. Next, as shown in FIG. 10B, both of these inserts 122, 123 are set close together. Then, a melted resin is injected into the mold frame 121 to mold the light guide plate 102 and transfer the surface patterns of these inserts 122, 123 to the light guide plate 102.
In this process, as shown in a cross section of FIG. 10C, a step D is often formed between the textured pattern insert 122 and the prism pattern insert 123 and is transferred onto the light guide plate 102 as the step 102D of FIG. 6. The edge of the step D is almost at right angles. It is noted that the step D, which is formed by a difference in thickness between the textured pattern insert 122 and the prism pattern insert 123, is very difficult to eliminate by equalizing the thickness of these inserts because the thicknesses of the inserts 122, 123 change when forming their recessed/raised surface patterns.
As described above, the step D formed between the inserts 122 and 123 is transferred to the conventional light guide plate 102 as the step 102D in the reflection surface. So, when light is illuminated from the light guide plate 102 of the above construction, bright lines produced by this step show up. The bright lines in turn form bright and dark fringes, marring the appearance of the planar light source.

Planar light source and method of manufacture of the same


A method for recognizing an angular error between a fiber end, which is aligned with another fiber along a desired axial orientation, by scanning one of the optical fibers along a scanning path, shifting the fiber to a second position in a direction parallel to the desired axial orientation for the fiber and scanning the optical fiber in the second position along the same measuring path, evaluating the intensity of each of the scans to determine the skewed angle for the fiber from the desired axial orientation.

The present invention is directed to a method for recognizing a potential skew angle of at least one optical fiber compared to a desired predetermined alignment direction, wherein the optical fiber is scanned with a scanning means.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,259, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto and which claims priority from the same German Application as European 0 400 408, discloses a method which can determine a potential skew angle of at least one optical fiber relative to a desired alignment. For recognizing a potential angular error between the longitudinal axes of two light waveguide fiber ends to be aligned relative to one another, the respective fiber end is scanned with the assistance of an image sensor of a video camera while the fiber end is held stationary. The scanning is transverse relative to the longitudinal axis at two separate measuring positions or columns offset relative to one another in the direction of this axis. This known method for recognizing the fiber skew can supply imprecise measured values for the angular value in practice.

Method and apparatus for recognizing a skew angle of at least one optical fiber


Among other things, methods and apparatus regarding collection, dissemination and display of information concerning paintball loaders and markers are disclosed. A loader includes a heads-up display, electronic devices for gathering, storing and disseminating information, and an antenna for sending and receiving data. Wireless voice communications among paintball players is possible via associated headsets. There is also disclosed paintball equipment and methods for controlling both the firing and loading mechanism of paintball equipment. Current systems or mechanisms have individual and discrete electronic control systems for firing operations, e.g. located in the paintball gun itself, and loading operations, e.g. located inside the paintball loader. The present disclosure unifies the electronic control of said firing and loader operations into a single electronic circuit board located on either the paintball gun or paintball loader.

The sport of paintball generally involves individuals or teams armed with pneumatic launchers ("guns" or "markers") that shoot pellets filled with paint ("paintballs"). The objectives of different games may vary, but a common feature is that the teams or individuals shoot the pellets at each other or other targets, and measure a score based on hits made on the targets.
The sport has become quite competitive over the years, and accordingly a variety of improvements to a basic pneumatic gun have been made. In recent years, paintball markers have been equipped with electrical or electronic components so as to allow faster firing, to make actuating the trigger easier, and to provide information or control concerning the operation of the marker. For example, rather than a mechanical linkage between a trigger and a pressurized-gas source, markers are known that have hard-wired electronic contacts associated with the trigger, with a circuit connected through the gas source, so that pulling a trigger sends a signal to a valve that briefly opens to allow pressurized gas to propel a paint pellet. Similarly, counters or other sensors attached to various parts of the gun can be used to gather data about the use or performance of the gun.
There are also loader devices that are used with paintball markers and act as a reservoir for paintballs, feeding them into the marker for firing. Such devices have also been equipped with electric or electronic parts, particularly to maintain steady feeding of paintballs and to count or monitor the usage of the paintballs.
Existing paintball equipment maintains the most sophisticated and important circuitry in the marker. This is generally because the marker is considered the most important part of such a system, and because its firing and other operational characteristics are generally considered the vital features to monitor and change. Currently, however, a user trades or replaces his or her marker relatively frequently. High-end marker frames are also carefully manufactured by milling and other processes to ensure an excellent grip and balance. Repairs or changes to features of a marker are thus difficult, and can result in damage to an expensive marker. An existing device places a screen and buttons for changing the characteristics of a paintball marker in the marker's handle (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,682). While an advance over devices that came before it, that configuration is hard to use effectively because the user must move his or her hand from the handle in order to view the screen and press the buttons. A more user-friendly device and methods for monitoring and communicating parameters for paintball equipment and events is needed.
Most performance guns and loaders currently available contain an electronic circuit board in both the loader and the gun. The circuit board in the gun (the "gun board") operates largely independently from the circuit board in the loader (the "loader board"). For example, the gun board is powered by a battery in the paintball gun, while the loader board is powered by a separate battery in the loader. Similarly, the gun board monitors various switches and sensors (e.g. those in the gun) independently of those monitored by the loader board (e.g. those in the loader).
Some paintball systems attempt to bridge the informational gap between the gun board and loader board by installing wireless devices on each (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,673,627 to Higgins et al.). By using wireless communication between the gun board and loader board, these embodiments significantly reduce the time which the loader board sits idle before acknowledging that the gun board it is attached to has fired a paintball, and thus noting the need for the loader to load additional paintballs into the marker. Wireless communication between the gun and loader synchronizes the two electronic systems, resulting in faster paintball feeding, faster rates of fire, fewer malfunctions, and generally better performance.
While the wireless systems are an improvement from their predecessor, the introduction of wireless technologies into paintball equipment has created a number of technical and manufacturing obstacles. First, manufacturers must install wireless transceivers in or on both the gun boards and loader boards so the two circuit boards can communicate. Such transceivers are typically expensive, and sometimes requires that a number of additional components be included to support the wireless operations (an antenna, as one example). Second, technical difficulties can arise when a plurality of wireless-enabled guns and loaders enter the same space. Communication from or between one gun and loader combination may unintentionally interfere with the communications of another unit. Paintball manufacturers are known to utilize separate wireless channels or assign unique wireless keys to each gun and loader combination to prevent unintended interference, though this work-around introduces additional complexity and cost. Finally, intentional wireless emitters or radiators as described herein are required to comply with extensive, and often expensive, regulatory requirements. Moreover, every iteration of the design must be re-certified in every jurisdiction; essentially this requires certification of the same basic design every time the physical shape of the circuit board is modified to fit in a different loader or gun.
While the wireless paintball units perform better than their predecessors, the cost of implementing the improvements may deter adoption by some consumers. A cost-efficient solution is proposed.


A position assurance assembly includes an elongated fastener, a cover forming a cavity, a first position assurance part, a mounting surface, a second position assurance part and a fastener receptacle. The cover has a hole formed therethrough and is in communication with the cavity. The hole is sized to receive the fastener. The first position assurance part is connected to the cover and disposed inside of the cavity. The second position assurance part and the fastener receptacle are connected to and project from the mounting surface. Upon covering the second position assurance part and the fastener receptacle with the cover, the first position assurance part and the second position assurance part matably engage one another and, with the hole and the fastener receptacle in at least substantial registration with one another, the fastener extends through the hole and into the fastener receptacle for releasable engagement therewith.

Prior art electrical connectors abound. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,780 to Ono et al. describes a fusible link mounting method in which a fusible link is mounted onto a fusible link housing. A leg portion of the fusible link and a terminal of an electric wire are tightened and connected to each other by a bolt. The bolt is provisionally tightened with respect to the fusible link housing. The terminal having a bridge portion formed so as to be able to pass outside a head portion of the bolt slides in a direction at right angles to a bolt tightening direction to thereby position a connecting portion of the terminal between the head portion of the bolt and the leg portion of the fusible link. The bolt is tightened to thereby connect the leg portion of the fusible link and the connecting portion of the terminal to each other.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,995 to Fukushima et al., an electromagnetic interference shielded connector includes a plurality of electric wires, a connector housing and a metallic shielding shell. The plurality of electric wires has connecting parts at ends of the electric wires. The connector housing contains the electric wires and the connecting parts. The metallic shielding shell includes an electric-wire drawn-out portion through which the electric wires are drawn out and a terminal drawn-out portion from which the connecting parts are protruded and a shell ring which is attached to an outer circumferential surface of the electric-wire drawn-out portion to secure a braid to the shielding shell.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,586 to Ishizaki et al, a plurality of shielding terminals is made of an electrically-conductive material. Each shielding terminal includes a plate-shaped conducting plate portion and a shielding shell of a tubular shape which is formed in an upstanding manner on the conducting plate portion and is electrically connected to an electrically-conductive shielding member of a corresponding shielded wire. The conducting plate portions of the shielding terminals are held between a holder plate and an outer surface of a connector housing and are disposed on the outer surface of the connector housing. These conducting plate portions are fixed to the connector housing by bolts and the conducting plate portions are held in surface-to-surface contact with the outer surface of the connector housing.
However, the above examples of the prior art electrical connectors are not particularly suitable for high-current or high-voltage applications. Also, none of the above examples of the prior art electrical connectors has position assurance assemblies associated with them to assure accurate alignment of the male and female terminal upon matable engagement.

Position assurance assembly for an electrical connector


A hook for fixing a decorative band to a hat has needles in the form of a fishing needle. For safety, a hole 11 is formed at the center of an elastic iron plate 10 which is bent toward one side. A sharp needle 11 is formed at one inner side of the hole 11, and needles 13 and 14, each in the form of an arrowhead are formed symmetrically outside of the elastic iron plate. A cleave 11a may alternatively be formed at the center of a flat elastic iron plate 10a with a sharp needle 12a formed at the opposite side of the open side of the cleave 11a. A needle 14a, in the form of an arrowhead, is formed outside of the open side of the cleave 11a, with knobs 15 which are inclined downwardly formed symmetrically outside of the open side of the cleave 11a.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a hook for fixing a decorative band to a hat to remove a danger in using a hat, to improve a method of using a hat, and to enhance appearance of a hat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hats have been used widely from the past. And they have various types. It has been generalized to enclose the fame of the crown of a hat with various decorative bands. The above decorative bands play a role of enhancing nice look of hats. But they have been used practically as publicity media or memorial media. Therefore, it should be convenient to fix the above decorative bands to the crown of a hat and should be convenient to detach them again to store or re-use. A thus-developed decorative band is shown in FIG. 1 in which a needle in the form of a fishing needle is fixed to a front part and a rear part by an adhesive (as known as U.S. hook type). It is natural that the straight portion of the needle is inserted into the inner side of the folded portion of the front part and rear part and is attached by an adhesive. It is very convenient to wind it around the crown of a hat by using the needle. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, a decorative band is fixed to the crown if the needle fixed to the rear part is hooked and fixed to the side of the crown while holding and pulling lightly the front part on the opposite side with a hand and having the rear part and front part move inside so that the needle in the front part is hooked to a proper portion of the decorative band.
However, although this type has been advantageous in that it is possible to attach and detach the decorative band, and it is convenient to embroider at a proper portion of the decorative band, it has been disadvantageous in that frequently a finger, back of the hand, or any other body portion is pierced by the needle which is fixed to the front part and rear part and is hurt. These disadvantages have also occurred frequently when the production factory manufactures decorative bands and when a user encloses a decorative band around the crown. Further, as to a decorative band shown in FIG. 1, if a large number of bands are stored (for example, one doze of decorative bands are packed) and one of them is to be pulled and used later, not only it has been inconvenient to use it but also injury by the needle happens frequently since the needles are entangled or attached to any portion of the decorative band.
Because of danger in storing and inconvenience in using as described in the above, ring-type decorative bands as shown in FIG. 2 have entered into market. Based on FIG. 10, this type of needles have been advantageous in that they are safe in handling as no needle is used, but it has been inconvenient to insert the decorative band to the crown and it has not been nice looking.

Hook for fixing a decorative band to a hat

Han-La Apt. #1103, 798-3 DokChon 2 Dong, Buk-Ku


Disclosed is a sampling circuit for a receiver in a wireless communication device that eliminates the need for separate discrete filtering components that can be expensive and bulky. The system utilizes techniques for ensuring that system components do not become saturated by blocker signals as a result of the removal of the discrete filter. Further, active filters are used in place of the discrete filter only when a blocker signal is present to minimize power consumption. In addition, the dynamic range of a sampling circuit can be altered in the presence of a blocker signal to ensure that the baseband signal is adequately detected.

a. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally pertains to wireless communication technology and more specifically to A/D sampling of baseband signals with blocker signals present from adjacent channels.
b. Description of the Background
In wireless communications, such as wireless cell phone communications, different frequency channels are assigned for wirelessly communicating between base stations and transceivers such as cell stations and cell phones. Very often, signals from other cell phones on adjacent channels or other signals (i.e., collectively referred to as blocker or jammer signals) are detected by the transceivers. To avoid this problem, expensive surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters are typically inserted between the IF stage and the baseband stage of the cell phone receiver. SAW filters work very effectively as band-pass filters by only passing the particular frequency channel desired. However, SAW filters are expensive, are implemented as separate discrete components, and as such, occupy valuable room on the printed circuit board of the cell phone. Additionally, separate pin-outs have to be employed for the SAW filters to provide the filtering function between the IF stage and the baseband stage of the receiver. Hence, discrete components such as SAW filters do not provide for a high degree of integration which is an important feature in wireless transceivers. Replacement of the SAW filter with other types of filters, such as active filters, may not provide the channelization that the SAW filter provides and results in larger power consumption. The amount of power consumption in battery-operated transceivers is a critical factor in the design of these devices. Active filters that are constantly-on require power which must be conserved in battery-operated communication devices such as cell phones.
Hence, a technique is needed for providing a sampling circuit that can operate effectively in the presence of blocker or jammer signals in battery-operated mobile communication devices that conserves power and can be integrated into a sampling circuit chip, thereby eliminating the need for off-chip discrete components.

Over-sampling A/D converter with adjacent channel power detection


Hot fluids are cooled in a heat exchanger which comprises a housing providing a passage for the hot fluid, and heat exchange surfaces arranged within the housing which surfaces provide a passage for a coolant to and from the housing such that there is no direct contact between the hot fluid and the coolant, and which surfaces are movable within the housing. The heat exchanger is very suitable for cooling synthesis gas obtained in the gasification of coal.

The problem of deposit build-up in heat exchangers has been known for a long time and several solutions for this problem have been suggested.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,978,378 a method for cleaning heat exchanger surfaces is described in which steel shot is scattered and allowed to drop against the inner surfaces of the heat exchanger so that deposits thereon are knocked off. The steel shot is recovered and recycled to the top of the heat exchanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,147 discloses a method for decoking fired heater tubes by stopping the normal operation of the heater and introducing a gas laden with steel shot into the inlet of the tubes at a certain velocity. A main disadvantage of this method resides in the requirement that the normal operation of the apparatus in question needs to be stopped. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,633 a reactor for the thermal cracking of a heavy oil is described which reactor is provided with a rotatable injection tube containing several nozzles which allow for the spraying of fluid against the inner wall of the reactor to remove deposits, such as coke.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,302 a method for cleaning interior surfaces of a heat exchanger is known in which the normal operation of the heat exchanger can be continued during such cleaning. In this method a compound is added to the fluid to be cooled, which compound reacts with the deposits to render them volatile or friable. Evidently, such a method can only be used when deposits can react with such compounds and when the compound in question does not have any detrimental effect on any subsequent operation of the fluid, or, if the fluid is discharged, on the environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,651 describes a device for cleaning heat exchanger surfaces from deposits, which device employs sound energy vibration. The sound that is produced by the device procures vibrations to the particles in the deposits so that they fluidize. The device is to be constructed such that the distance between the surface to be cleaned and the device is between 10 and 15 feet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple solution for the problem of cleaning inner surfaces of a heat exchanger while the normal operation of the heat exchanger may be continued and without the necessity to add alien compounds to the hot fluid.

Heat exchanger and method for removing deposits from inner surfaces thereof


A demolder for and a method of separating and removing mold material formed around two rail ends of longitudinally adjacent railroad rails during the use of a thermite weld system to join the rails into a continuous rail. The demolder includes an open-ended steel box sized to be positioned about the mold material having substantially aligned slots provided on opposite sides of the box to freely receive the rail and a handle extending upwardly from the box for moving and handling the box.

Heretofore, it has been well known in the railroad industry to eliminate rail joints by using a thermite weld system or weld to weld together two rail ends to form a smooth, continuous, and uninterrupted railroad rail. The thermite weld system is generally made by mounting a mold structure around the joint area of the two rail ends with an entry or gate on top for receiving molten weld material. The use of the thermite weld system is quite old and widespread in the railroad industry, and the system is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and hazardous to workers.
More specifically, to join two rail ends using the thermite weld system, the rails are laid and carefully aligned, leaving a small space between the ends. After alignment and leveling of the rail ends, the thermite weld system, which may include a three-piece mold preformed from a suitable refractory, such as bentonite and sand, is attached to the rail ends. One mold piece underlies both rail ends and two pieces extend upwardly from the lower piece on opposite sides of the rail ends. These mold pieces are securely clamped together and to the rails and extend over the top of the rails, leaving a gate at the top for the molten metal weld material to enter the mold. The mold may be arranged with upwardly extending risers coming off the shoe of the rails to allow trapped air and gases to escape when the molten metal weld material flows into the mold. A suitable material may be used to eliminate any spaces or gaps between the mold pieces and the rail surfaces.
As part of the welding process, the rail ends and surrounding portions of the rails are preheated by use of a propane torch or other suitable means to a red-hot condition of approximately 1800.degree. F. prior to pouring the molten weld material into the mold.
A crucible filled with a suitable powdered metal mixture is placed over the mold. The powdered metal mixture is ignited to transform the mixture into molten metal at approximately 4000.degree. to 5000.degree. F. The molten metal is then poured through the gate into the mold to fill the space between the rail ends and make the weld joint between the rail sections.
After waiting approximately five minutes, the weld joint has cooled enough to remove the malleable mold material from around the joint. However, the mold material remains dangerously hot. The crucible is removed, and then the clamps holding the mold material are carefully removed, leaving the hot mold material on the rails.
Heretofore, removing this mold material required two people. The first person would hold a shovel on the rail at one side of the mold, while the second person would slowly break off parts of the mold material with a sledge hammer. As the material was broken by the person handling the sledge, the material was caught in the shovel by the person handling the shovel. The use of the sledge hammer is dangerous because it can cause sparks to shoot out from the mold material and may further cause pieces of hot mold material to fly off of the rails. The person with the shovel then would carry the mold material which was still dangerously hot to a location where the ground was dry. If the broken mold material was accidentally dropped or placed in water or even in a wet location, a dangerous reaction or explosion could occur, and which in the past has caused severe injury. This dangerous process would be repeated until sufficient amounts of the mold material on the top of the rail, as well as on both sides of the rail, were removed.
A hydraulic shear would then be placed on the top of the rails to shear off the sprue left during the molding process. A grinder would next be used to smooth the weld at the ball of the rail. Although it was not necessary to remove the lower part of the mold material, some railroads would do so for the purpose of making the rail look neater. Any mold material left on the rail would eventually disintegrate in the weather.


A method for producing excess enthalpy by impregnating metallic precursors on an oxide support that reduces sintering and particle growth; drying the impregnated support at a temperature where the particle growth is minimal; reducing the metallic precursors at a second temperature where the particle growth results in supported metallic particles 2 nm or less in size; and pressurizing the supported metallic particles in the presence of deuterium. The metal particles may comprise palladium, platinum, mixtures thereof, or mixtures of palladium and/or platinum with other elements. Also disclosed is a method for measuring excess enthalpy by placing a test material in a pressure vessel; heating the pressure vessel; evacuating the pressure vessel; introducing deuterium, hydrogen, or both into the pressure vessel; measuring the enthalpy generated during pressurization; again evacuating the pressure vessel; and measuring the enthalpy used during depressurization.

The study of dispersed metals has a long history because of their use as catalysts. It is well-known in the art that as the size of the metal particles decrease, the activity increases. Mainly papers concerning the ratio of hydrogen to palladium atoms and the heats of adsorption of hydrogen into palladium are referenced herein. The rate of organic chemical bond-forming and cracking reactions also vary with particle size, as is well-known in the art. However, that art does not concern the present application. Much of the art references hydrogen reactions, but for the purpose of the present application, hydrogen and deuterium are considered identical in chemical nature for the ratios of uptake with a metal catalyst. For example, others have shown that the uptake of hydrogen increases rapidly when the particle size of the dispersed palladium in an oxide matrix decreases to 1 nm or less. See, e.g., Shu-Chin Chou et al., "Isosteric Heat of Sorption of Dihydrogen on Alumina-supported Palladium," J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 91, 949-951 (1995); Sheng-Yang Huang et al., "Chemical Activity of Palladium Clusters: Sorption of Hydrogen," J. Phys. Chem. B, 110, 21783-21787 (2006), the entire contents of each are incorporated herein by reference. Although, they did not state the particle size specifically, data from Huang, et al., can be used to estimate the particle size and the approximate ratio of H:Pd as shown in Table 1. The heat of adsorption also increased with decreasing particle size. Others have studied a number of supports and preparation conditions and have also showed that the heat of adsorption and loading ratio increased with decreasing particle size. Pen Chou et al., "Calorimetric Heat of Adsorption Measurements on Palladium I. Influence of Crystallite Size and Support on Hydrogen Adsorption," J. of Catalysis, 104, 1-16 (1987), the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. The estimated particle size in Chou's work was greater than 1.6 nm. Aben showed that hydrogen absorption could be used to estimate particle size and that the H:Pd ratio also increased with decreasing particle size, reaching a maximum H:Pd ratio of 0.83 in his study using ion exchanged silica. P. C. Aben, "Palladium areas in supported catalysts: Determination of palladium surface areas in supported catalysts by means of hydrogen chemisorption," Journal of Catalysis, 10 224-229 (1968), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The smallest size that Aben measured was 2.5 nm. He also showed that high pretreatment temperatures increased particle growth, which would be detrimental to the present invention.
TABLE 1Estimated particle sizes and H/Pd ratios as calculated from Huang, et al.Note the sensitive dependence on the loading ratio with particle size.The more chemically accessible particles (>5 nm) show a loadingsimilar to bulk palladium of 0.6.Heat ofEstimatedHydrogenParticleAdsorptionRatio H:Pd @PreparationSize (nm)(kJ/mole)0.2 barPd Powder9940.551.86% Pd/SiO2 (IW)~4920.68  10% Pd/SiO2 (SG)1.11310.9  5% Pd/SiO2 (SG)11831.05
As the particle size must be small for high H:Pd ratios, one must disperse the particles on a support to keep them from sintering and growing too large. As noted by P. A. Sermon, even heating palladium black (a non-supported form of nano-sized palladium) to 98° C. would cause sintering of the particles. P. A. Sermon, "Characterization of palladium blacks: I. A novel hydrogen pretreatment and surface area determination of palladium," J. of Catalysis, 24, 460-466 (1972), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Arata (Arata et al., Formation of Condensed Metallic Deuterium Lattice and Nuclear Fusion. Proc. Jpn. Acad., Ser. B, 78 (Ser. B): p. 57 (2002), the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference) has claimed excess heat when pressurizing a specially-prepared Pd—ZrO2 or Pd—Ni—ZrO2 matrix (Shin-ichi Yamaura et al., "Hydrogen absorption of nanoscale Pd particles embedded in ZrO2 matrix prepared from Zr—Pd amorphous alloys," J. Mater. Res., 17, 1329-1334 (2002), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference). His particles (ca. 5 nm) are on the size level of commercial catalysts. See Yoshinori Arachi et al., "Alternation of the Pd Lattice in Nano-Sized-Pd/ZrO2 Composite during Hydrogen Absorption," X-ray Absorption Fine Structure—XAFS13, edited by B. Hedman and P. Pianetta, 2007 American Institute of Physics, pp. 740-742 (2007); Yoshinori et al., "Structural analysis of nano-sized-Pd/ZrO2 composite after H(D) absorption," Solid State Ionics 177, 1861-1864 (2006), the entire contents of each are incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, they sinter during use. Others have attempted to put palladium in zeolites and expose it to deuterium to generate excess enthalpy. See I. Parchamazad et al., "Investigations of Nanoparticle Palladium/Deuterium Systems in Zeolites," Abstract for 14th International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science", Hyatt Regency, Washington, D.C. Aug. 10-15, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The incorporation of the palladium was through an organic palladium precursor and the support was calcined before use—removing the organics and likely growing the particles. Parchamazad et al. made no mention of the particle size, cycling, nor amount of excess enthalpy was made.

Excess enthalpy upon pressurization of nanosized metals with deuterium

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A liquid composition comprising:                a liquid medium comprising at least one aprotic polar organic solvent and less than 25 wt % based on the total weight of the composition of an alcohol; and        at least 5 wt % based on the total weight of the composition of at least one fluorinated anion exchange polymer comprising a fluorocarbon backbone and side-chains covalently attached to the backbone having terminal groups of formula (I): —SO2NR1Q+X−, wherein Q+ is a group comprising at least one quaternary nitrogen atom, and R1 is H or a C1-C20 alkyl group, or forms a ring together with a group in Q+, wherein the ring contains 2 to 10 carbon atoms and, optionally, up to 4 heteroatoms; and X− is an anion selected among the group consisting of organic anions and lipophilic inorganic anions is disclosed. The liquid composition is suitable for the preparation of ion exchange membranes and as binders for electrocatalytic layers for use in electrochemical applications.

Anion exchange polymers comprising a perfluorinated backbone and pendant chains covalently bonded to the perfluorinated backbone comprising quaternary ammonium groups are known in the prior art.
EP 166015 A (TOYO SODA MANUFACTURING INC) Jan. 2, 1986 discloses ion exchange membranes comprising a fluorocarbon anion exchange polymer. The polymer is composed of a fluorocarbon polymer comprising a perfluorocarbon main chain and a pendant chain attached to the main chain, having a terminal group represented by the formula: —SO2N(R4)—(CH2)a—NR1R2R3Z, where R1 is a lower alkyl group, an aromatic group or an alkyl group containing quaternary ammonium group(s), R2 is a lower alkyl group, an aromatic group or a hydroxy-lower alkyl group, or R1 and R2 together form a tetramethylene or pentamethylene group, R3 is a lower alkyl group, R4 is a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group or an alkyl group containing quaternary ammonium group(s), a is an integer of 2 to 5, and Z is a counter ion for the quaternary ammonium ion. The membranes are obtained by reacting a fluorocarbon polymer comprising fluorosulfonyl terminal groups with an amine of formula HNR4—(CH2)a—NR1R2, where R1, R2, R4 and a are as defined above, followed by reaction with an alkylating agent to convert the tertiary amino group into a quaternary ammonium group.
EP 1612874 A (SOLVAY SA) Jan. 4, 2006 discloses anion exchange membranes comprising a support polymer and groups of formula —SO2NR1Q+ covalently bonded to the support polymer, wherein Q+ is a group comprising at least one quaternary nitrogen atom, and R1 is H or a C1-C20 alkyl group, or forms a ring together with a group in Q+, wherein the ring contains 2 to 10 carbon atoms and, optionally, up to 4 heteroatoms. The support polymer is in the form of a film. Examples of support polymers include fluorinated and perfluorinated polymers as well as non-fluorinated polymers. The membranes are obtained by reaction of a suitable amine with a support polymer comprising sulfonyl groups.
Liquid dispersions of fluorinated anion exchange polymers in organic solvents have been disclosed in JP 62-161866 A (TOYO SODA MANUFACTURING LTD) Jul. 17, 1987, which discloses liquid compositions comprising a mixed solvent comprising at least one solvent selected from dimethylformamide, dimethylsulfoxide, hexamethylphosphoric acid triamide and 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone and 20 to 90 wt % of isopropanol and a fluorinated anion exchange polymer comprising a quaternary ammonium salt including the following:
wherein Z is selected from halogen, BF4, SbCl6, RSO3, RCOO, R being a lower alkyl or fluoroalkyl or a non-substituted phenyl group. The composition disclosed in the examples however contains low amounts of the fluorinated anion exchange polymer (2.7 wt %).
JP 62-161867 A (TOYO SODA MANUFACTURING LTD) Jul. 17, 1987 similarly discloses liquid compositions comprising the fluorinated anion exchange polymer comprising a quaternary ammonium salt described in JP 62-161866 and a three-component mixed solvent comprising at least one solvent selected from methanol and ethanol, isopropanol and water. No information is given concerning the concentration of the fluorinated anion exchange polymer achievable in the three-component liquid composition.
JP 2001-081261 A (ASAHI GLASS LTD) Mar. 27, 2001 discloses the preparation of fluorinated anion exchange polymers having quaternary ammonium ion exchange groups by reaction of a fluorinated polymer having —SO2F or —SO2Cl end groups with a diamine followed by reaction with e.g. an alkyl halide. Compositions comprising the anion exchange polymers in fluorinated alcohols (for instance hexafluoro 2-propanol) are described as well as their use for preparing ion exchange membranes. Concentrations of the anion exchange polymers in the fluorinated alcohol of about 2 wt % are disclosed in the examples
From the foregoing it appears that the need still exists for liquid compositions of fluorinated anion exchange polymers having quaternary ammonium ion exchange groups containing higher amounts of the polymer. However, it has now been found that in order to obtain a liquid composition containing at least 5 wt % of a fluorinated polymer having quaternary ammonium ion exchange groups liquid media comprising less than 25 wt % of an alcohol should be used. Liquid compositions containing at least 5 wt % of the anion exchange fluorinated polymer are particularly suitable for preparing films or membranes by casting, as lower concentrations of the polymer generally lead to the formation of thin films which lack the desired mechanical resistance for most applications.
Thus, a need still exists for liquid compositions comprising a fluorinated anion exchange polymer having an appropriate concentration of the fluorinated anion exchange polymer to be suitably employed for the preparation of films, membranes and electrode layers by casting or coating techniques.

Liquid compositions of fluorinated anion exchange polymers


A mixing apparatus wherein raw material may be crushed to fine particles of desirous size to be mixed uniformally by multi-layered mixing blocks. The mixing apparatus includes a plurality of mixing units piled up in a housing, and arrays of projections formed at the facing side of the mixing units and located alternately in order to form concentric circles which are not interfered with each other. The mixing units are formed with first and second pairs of upper and lower disks. The arrays of the projections are formed on the outer surface of the pairs of disks, and the fluid passages are formed between the upper and lower disks. The inflow passages are opened to the fluid passages which are formed between the lower disks of each pair and the housing. The outflow passages are formed at the inner surface of the upper disks of each pair and the mixing units are attachable in multiple layers.

Conventionally, emulsion fuel is known as the fuel that water and oil which are crushed to fine particles and mixed each other. And, in order to increase fuel combustion efficiency, the emulsion fuel has been used for a large-sized boiler or a ship engine and the like. And, various kinds of mixing apparatuses have been invented for making the emulsion fuel. Further, the above mixing apparatuses are used in order to crush various kinds of fluids finely and to mix them uniformly. And, the fuel which are crushed and mixed like this are used in a factory and the like.
The above prior mixing apparatus includes a single rotation unit which is mounted in a case and is rotated by a motor, and a fixing unit which is mounted in the case parallel to the rotation unit. Here, at the facing side of the rotation unit and the fixing unit, a plurality of projections are formed along the circumferential direction at a predetermined interval so that they form concentric circles which are alternately engaged with each other.
Accordingly, if a fluid, that is, a raw material is supplied in the center of the rotation unit which is rotating at a high speed, the liquid is rotated along the projections of the rotation unit so that it passes the spaces between the respective projections owing to centrifugal force and is outwardly discharged through the discharge holes formed at the periphery of the case. Then, the liquid alternately passes the respective arrays of the projections of the rotation unit and the fixing unit so that it continuously collides with the respective projections. Accordingly, the fluid is crushed to fine particles and mixed together so that it is emulsified in fine particles.
However, the mixing apparatus has the problem that, if the fluid supplied in its center passes between the rotation unit and the fixing unit, because it is rapidly discharged through the discharge holes of the case or is discharged toward the outside through a centrifugal vane, the fluid may not be crushed to particles of desirous size. Accordingly, the mixing apparatus has the problem that much troubles may be caused and much time is wasted because the user stores the emulsified fluid in a tank and emulsifies the fluid once again in order to crush the fluid to desirous size. Further, the mixing apparatus has the problem that additional equipments are increased and the emulsified material may be separated each other and returned to the original state while it is stored in the tank.
Accordingly, in case of emulsifying the fluid by the prior mixing apparatus, an emulsifier like a surface active agent is usually mixed into the fluids in order that the supplied fluids may be mixed uniformly and the mixed fluids may not be easily separated each other. However, the emulsification method like the above has the problems that the cost is increased and the environment is polluted because an emulsifier like a surface active agent may be additionally required besides pure fuel or raw material, and the emulsion fuel may be separated into water and oil while preheating the fuel.
And, the fluid supplied into said mixing apparatus is rotated along the rotation unit in the spaces between the projections of the rotation unit so that it flows outwardly because of centrifugal force at the moment that the spaces between the projections of the rotation unit are opened to the spaces between the projections of the fixing unit. Here, while said fluid is going to flow toward the tangential direction of the rotation unit because of centrifugal force, the spaces between the projections of the fixing unit filled with said fluids may radially form the rectangular spaces which are different angle from the flowing direction of the fluids. Accordingly, the fluid flown in the rectangular space may be resisted in its acceleration movement, and the emulsification efficiency may be remarkably decreased.
Further, because the respective projections of the mixing apparatus are made by forming a plurality of concentric ring type protrusions on one surface of a disk and by slitting said protrusions toward the radial direction, the size of the projections grows larger toward the outer side of the radial direction. Accordingly, the mixing apparatus has the problem that the efficiency of crushing and mixing is decrease remarkably when the fuel passes the spaces between the projections so that the capacity may not be easily increased.


The invention described is a single lumen balloon catheter with a detachable adaptor, a rotatable guide wire and a short guide tube, in which the guide tube provides a path for the guide wire, the adaptor incorporates means for rotating the guide wire and whereby axial force can be transmitted to the guide tube.

Angioplasty balloon catheters are well known in the art. Basically they are comprised of a balloon portion and a catheter tube portion, the balloon portion being mounted on or attached to the catheter tube portion at or adjacent the distal end thereof. In use, the balloon portion is advanced through an artery, often over a guide wire which had previously been passed through the artery. The advancement is continued until the balloon is within a stenosis. It is then expanded by application of fluid pressure through the catheter tube.
Angioplasty catheters are normally of relatively small diameter and are preferably very flexible or "soft" to facilitate negotiating often very tortuous arterial paths. The balloon is advanced through the arterial tree by pushing on the catheter tube.
Sometimes, during the advancement of the balloon through the artery, it may encounter a lesion which impedes passage. In such a case, further force applied to the catheter, instead of producing further advancement of the balloon, merely causes the tube and/or the balloon, to crinkle, or collapse, or double up on itself within the artery. Most, often, the obstruction which leads to this is the very lesion causing the stenosis which the balloon is intended to expand.
Indwelling, or in situ guide wires have been used to try and overcome this difficulty. Because they are much thinner than the catheters and since they tend to be stiffer, they can often be guided through the small lumen of a stenotic region which a catheter alone might not be able to negotiate. With the guide wire having traversed the area of the lesion, a catheter passing over that wire can then find and negotiate that same path much more easily than if the guide wire were not there. Such guide wires also help the catheters passing over them to resist buckling as they pass through severely narrowed sections of the artery. Nevertheless, they have been only partially successful in ameliorating the tendency of the very flexible catheter tube to collapse, buckle or fold upon itself. That is because the axial force necessary to advance the balloon is still transmitted through the soft, flexible catheter tube. In addition, the need to pass over an indwelling guide wire imposes a minimum size limitation upon the diameter of the catheter tube and, as a result, on the collapsed profile of the balloon section. That minimum size can still be too large to enable the balloon to enter the lesion destined for treatment.
Moreover, the thrust recently has been toward making the in situ guide wire more, not less flexible in order to enable it more easily to negotiate the tortuous path to the lesion. However, as the guide wire becomes more flexible, its ability to inhibit the collapsing or folding of the catheter tube diminishes.
Numerous attempts have been made over the years to design angioplasty catheters which are soft and flexible and yet can transmit axial forces without buckling. Among the most recent is reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,653 (Samson) which discloses a combination angioplasty catheter with a built-in guide wire. The system of the U.S. Pat. No. '653 patent employs a dual lumen catheter, with the inner lumen beginning at the distal end of the balloon, passing through the balloon chamber and then the full length of the catheter tube, ending at its proximal end. In addition, the inner lumen of Samson has at least three segments, a small diameter segment that passes through the balloon chamber, a larger diameter segment that passes through the catheter tube and a transition segment between the other two.
While the device of the U.S. Pat. No. '653 patent may overcome some of the obstacles of the prior art devices, it is believed to have its own drawbacks. The use of coaxial tubes over the entire length of the device adds unnecessary rigidity and reduced flexibility in regions where it may not be needed or desired. Also, the use of a dual diameter inner tube, and the need to provide a transition zone with a taper that will not stretch when the guide wire taper is forced into it is believed to make the device of the U.S. Pat. No. '653 patent unnecessarily difficult and costly to fabricate.

Angioplasty balloon catheter and adaptor


A vehicle navigation system includes a map database and at least one inertial sensor. When the vehicle encounters a problem road condition, such as a pothole, the problem road condition induces acceleration in the inertial sensor. The navigation system identifies the occurrence of a problem road condition by monitoring the signals generated by the inertial sensor. The navigation system then stores the occurrence and location of the problem road condition. This data can be used later to identify, locate and repair problem road conditions.

The present invention relates generally to vehicle navigation systems and more particularly to a vehicle navigation system which also determines the condition of roads on which the vehicle navigation system travels.
Maintaining roads in a large metropolitan area can be difficult. In particular, with large road networks, assessing and locating problem areas can be time consuming. Even potholes which are large enough to require immediate attention must first be identified and located. Motorists who report problem road conditions are generally unable to give accurate descriptions of the location of the problem.
The present invention takes advantage of the fact that vehicle navigation systems already include the hardware necessary for mapping problem road conditions traveled by the vehicle navigation system. The vehicle navigation system of the present invention includes at least one inertial sensor, such as an accelerometer, which is used both for propagating the position of the vehicle relative to a map database and for determining the condition of the road.
Poor road conditions, such as a pothole, induce motion signals in the inertial sensors which are normally filtered out for purposes of propagating the position of the vehicle; however, by identifying these signals, the occurrence of a problem road condition can be identified. When a problem road condition is identified, the vehicle navigation system notes the current road, current position of the vehicle, vehicle speed, date/time and associates this data with the identified road condition. Subsequent problem road conditions are stored similarly.
Later, the stored database of problem road conditions can be downloaded and analyzed to determine the location of problem road conditions relative to the map database. Road repair personnel can travel straight to the problem road condition locations based upon the data stored by the vehicle navigation system.

Navigation system with road condition sampling


An auxiliary artificial heart embedded in the human body. The auxiliary artificial heart has an apex cordis area ring and a body. The apex cordis area ring is embedded in a cut-out apex cordis area of the human heart. The body includes an elongated pump section and a drive section. The pump section is inserted into one of the ventricles of the human heart, passing through the apex cordis area ring. A front end nozzle whose diameter is smaller than that of the pump section is formed at the front end of the pump section, and it is inserted into the aorta or pulmonary artery, passing through the center of the aorta or pulmonary valve. The pump section sucks blood in the ventricle through its base portion and feeds it into the aorta or pulmonary artery through the front end nozzle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auxiliary artificial heart of the embedded-in-body type embedded in the left or right ventricle of the heart of a human body.
More particularly, it relates to an auxiliary artificial heart intended to feed blood by a pump in addition to blood fed by the human heart, without damaging the function of the human heart.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional artificial hearts of the embedded-in-body type include those of the diaphragm, sack, centrifugal, pusher plate and other systems.
However, these artificial hearts are intended to feed blood, using the human heart as a bypass or instead of the human heart. They are therefore large in size and not suitable for embodiment in the human body. When the artificial heart is large in size, the patient who has the artificial heart embedded in his or her heart must bear a large burden. In addition, that area of the artificial heart which is contacted with blood becomes large, thereby causing a thrombus.
Further, it is required that the artificial heart is durable and reliable. Conventional artificial hearts are complicated in structure and they have a limitation in enhancing their durability and reliability.
In addition to these artificial hearts intended to feed blood, using the human heart as a bypass or instead of the human heart, there is another artificial heart of such a type as disclosed in an essay "In Vivo Evaluation Of A Peripheral Vascular Access Axial Flow Blood Pump" reported by Richard K. Wampler et al on pages 450-454 of "TRANS AM SOC ARTIF INTERN ORGANS" Vol. XXXIV (1988).
This artificial heart has a small-sized pump inserted into the artery and a tube is attached to a sucking opening of the pump. The tube is inserted into the ventricle of the human heart, passing through the artery valve. Blood in the ventricle is sucked through the tube and fed into the artery. This artificial heart does not substantially damage the function of the human heart and it can feed blood in addition to blood fed by the human heart.
The pump must be small in size to insert it into the artery. To meet this requirement, the pump in the above-mentioned artificial heart excludes a driving motor from it. The driving motor is arranged external of the human body, and the driving force is supplied from the motor through a wire to it. Due to such an arrangement, not only the movement of the patient is restricted while the artificial heart is operating, but also the patient cannot carry the artificial heat for a long time.

Auxiliary artificial heart of the embedded-in-body type

Sun Medical Technology Research Corporation