The present invention is a Miniature Vein Enhancer that includes a Miniature Projection Head. The Miniature Projection Head may be operated in one of three modes, AFM, DBM, and RTM. The Miniature Projection Head of the present invention projects an image of the veins of a patient, which aids the practitioner in pinpointing a vein for an intravenous drip, blood test, and the like. The Miniature projection head may have a cavity for a power source or it may have a power source located in a body portion of the Miniature Vein Enhancer. The Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to one of several improved needle protectors, or the Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to a body similar to a flashlight for hand held use. The Miniature Vein Enhancer of the present invention may also be attached to a magnifying glass, a flat panel display, and the like.

A visit to a doctor's office, a clinic or a hospital may necessitate vascular access that is, the insertion of a needle or catheter into a patient's vein or artery. These procedures may be required for many reasons including: to administer fluids, drugs or solutions, to obtain and monitor vital signs, to place long-term access devices, and to perform simple venipunctures. Vascular access ranks as the most commonly performed invasive medical procedure in the U.S—over 1.4 billion procedures annually—as well as the top patient complaint among clinical procedures. The overwhelming majority of vascular access procedures is performed without the aid of any visualization device and relies on what is observed through the patient's skin and by the clinician's ability to feel the vessel—basically educated guesswork.
Medical literature reports the following statistics: 28% first attempt IV failure rate in normal adults, 44% first attempt IV failure in pediatrics, 43% of pediatric IVs require three or more insertion attempts, 23% to 28% incidence of extravasations/infiltration, 12% outright failure rate in cancer patients, 25% of hospital in-patients beyond three days encounter difficult access. The miniature vein enhancer of the present invention may be used by a practitioner to locate a vein and is particularly useful when trying to locate a vein in the very old, very young or obese patients. More than fifty percent of attempts to find a vein in the elderly, who have a generally high percentage of loose, fatty tissue, and in children, who have a generally high percentage of small veins and "puppy fat", are unsuccessful. The present invention is aimed at reducing and/or preventing the discomfort and delay associated with botched attempts to pierce veins for injections and blood tests. In addition, the present invention can cut the time it takes to set up potentially life-saving intravenous drip. During venous penetration, whether for an injection or drip, it is essential to stick a vein in exactly the right location. If a practitioner is only slightly off center, the needle will more than likely just roll off and require a re-stick.
Other Approaches
It is known in the art to use an apparatus to enhance the visual appearance of the veins in a patient to facilitate insertion of needles into the veins. An example of such a system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,969,754 and 6,556,858 incorporated herein by reference as well as a publication entitled "The Clinical Evaluation of Vein Contrast Enhancement". Luminetx is currently marketing such a device under the name "Veinviewer Imaging System."
The Luminetx Vein Contrast Enhancer (hereinafter referred to as LVCE) utilizes an infrared light source (generated by an array of LEDs) for flooding the region to be enhanced with infrared light. A CCD imager is then used to capture an image of the infrared light reflected off the patient. The resulting captured image is then projected by a visible light projector onto the patient in a position closely aligned with the image capture system. Given that the CCD imager and the image projector are both two dimensional, and do not occupy the same point in space, it is relatively difficult to design and build a system that closely aligns the captured image and the projected image.
A further characteristic of the LVCE is that both the imaging CCD and the projector have fixed focal lengths. Accordingly, the patient must be at a relatively fixed distance relative to the LVCE. This necessitates that the LVCE be positioned at a fixed distance from the region of the patient to be enhanced.
The combination of the size of the LVCE and the fixed focal arrangement precludes using the LVCE as small portable units that are hand held.
Other patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,046, issued to Crane et al., implement a light source for illuminating or trans-illuminating the corresponding portion of the body with light of selected wavelengths and a low-level light detector such as an image intensifier tube (including night vision goggles), a photomultiplier tube, photodiode or charge coupled device, for generating an image of the illuminated body portion, and optical filter(s) of selected spectral transmittance which can be located at the light source(s), detector, or both.
All cited references are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Citation of any reference is not an admission regarding any determination as to its availability as prior art to the claimed invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scanned laser vein contrast enhancer using a single laser


A vertically adjustable shower head supported by a movable bracket to which rollers are laterally attached that move within guiding track rails behind a shower stall wall. The invention also has a cover plate flush against the shower stall wall, water resistant flaps through which the shower head is positioned and supported, and a gutter system behind the shower stall wall to redirect back into the enclosed shower stall area water which has moved behind the water resistant flaps.

This invention relates to adjustable shower head assemblies, specifically to a vertically adjustable shower head attached to a movable bracket onto which rollers are laterally attached that move within guiding track rails behind a shower stall wall. The invention also has a cover plate flush against the shower stall wall, a pair of water resistant flaps which support the shower head and provide a water seal around it, and a gutter system behind the shower stall wall to redirect into the enclosed shower stall area any water which moves between the water resistant flaps.


A method of making an electronic package is described, wherein a substrate is provided with a pattern of conductive pads and a portion of solder positioned on selected ones of the pattern of copper pads. The solder is then reflowed to form partial hemispherically shaped caps on the selected copper pads. The partial hemispherically shaped caps are then coated with a solder flux. A thin semiconductor chip with a pattern of conductive elements, corresponding to partial hemispherically shaped capped pads, is then positioned on the substrate so that the conductive elements of the thin semiconductor chip substantially line up with the partial hemispherically shaped capped pads of the substrate. The solder is then heated to reflow temperature and an electrical couple is formed between the thin semiconductor chip and the substrate. Since all the solder necessary to make the electrical couple is positioned on the substrate, it is possible to use a thin semiconductor chip in the electronic package avoiding the problem presented by the handling and processing steps associated with securing a bumped wafer substrate during the thinning process and in subsequent processes of making the thinned semiconductor chip from the bumped wafer, for example, the dicing step.

The microelectronics industry has consistently achieved ever shrinking device sizes and ever greater levels of device integration, resulting in higher interconnect densities. A steady succession of interconnect developments and strategies has evolved in the packaging industry to meet the demand of these high interconnect densities. Nearly all have been aimed at one goal, that is, reduced size. Reduced size almost always translates into lower cost. Thus in state of the art packaging, dual-in-line packages have been largely replaced by surface mount packages to meet the high density interconnect demand. These and similar developments are directed toward reducing the package area, i.e. the x-y dimension of the package. Furthermore, in many applications, especially those requiring larger semiconductor chips, there has been a need to utilize thin semiconductor chips. These issues have been addressed by techniques for thinning the wafers from which chips are singulated. The thinning operation is performed on fully processed wafers by mounting the wafer, active side down, on a temporary carrier such as an adhesive tape and then grinding or polishing the backside of the wafer. A variety of techniques have been proposed and used, ranging from simple mechanical abrasion using, e.g., an abrasive grinding wheel, to chemical etching and polishing techniques, and combinations of these, e.g. chemical-mechanical polishing.
In a typical wafer thinning process, a 200 millimeter (mm) diameter wafer of completed integrated circuits (ICs) may be reduced from an initial thickness of about 26 to about 30 thousandths of an inch (mils) to a final thickness of only about 10-12 mils before it is remounted and diced into IC chips or die. The individual IC chips or die are then packaged, which may involve assembly into an single chip module (SCM) or multi-chip module (MCM). The term module as used herein refers to a sub-assembly of at least two components, a substrate, and at least one active chip which is flip chip bonded to the substrate.
Solder bump or solder ball interconnections are typically formed on a wafer from which flip chips are formed before thinning and dicing is performed. Thinning a solder bumped wafer presents many handling issues associated with securing the bumped wafer during the thinning process. In the subsequent process of making thinned flip chips, many process and handling steps, for example the dicing step, are performed on the bumped thinned wafer. To withstand the thinning process itself and subsequent process and handling without damage or fracture, wafer thinning can be performed to a thickness of about 10 mils or greater. A final flip chip thickness of less than about 10 mils, which would otherwise be desirable for many applications, is prohibited by the bumped wafer thinning process itself and exposure to the subsequent process and handling steps. This limitation, about 10 mils or greater, is generally accepted in the industry as a norm. This constraint rules out the use of thin flip chips (flip chips having a thickness of less than about 10 mils) in several important applications.
A technique for assembling a flip chip to a substrate to make an electronic package without the solder bumps or solder balls interconnections being a part of the flip chip, would enable flip chips to be used that are thinned to less than about 10 mils thick, and would be a substantial advance in packaging technology.

International Business Machines Corporation


Tasks (T) such as repair jobs on a telecommunications system, that are to be performed by a plurality of resources such as field engineers (E), at different locations in a geographical area (2), are scheduled by means of a scheduler (10) at a work manager server (5). The scheduler provides schedule data (11) corresponding to schedules of the tasks that individual ones of the resources are to carry out, from task data (4) concerning the tasks to be carried out and resource data (6) concerning characteristics of resources available to carry out the tasks over a given period. Not all the tasks are scheduled, resulting in unscheduled task data (11a). The schedule data (11) is downloaded to a workstation (7) together with the unscheduled task data. The downloaded data is analysed at the workstation to determine a candidate resource (E) to perform the task (T) corresponding to the unscheduled task data.

1. Technical Field of Non-limiting Exemplary Embodiments of the Present Invention
This invention relates to scheduling tasks to be performed by a plurality of resources, for example tasks carried out by field engineers on a telecommunications system that extends over a wide area such as a country or state.
2. Description of Related Art
In our PCT/WO98/22897, a scheduling system is described which may be used for a telecommunications system in order to schedule repair tasks to be performed on the system by field engineers. Telecommunications systems conventionally are provided with automatic fault monitoring systems that report repair tasks to be carried out by field engineers and scheduling systems may be provided to communicate schedules of tasks to the field engineers. The engineers then travel from location to location carrying out the tasks, reporting when tasks are completed to the scheduler through a portable computer. The scheduler described in our aforesaid PCT application dynamically updates the schedules for the individual engineers depending on workload and engineer availability, which vary dynamically.

Handling unscheduled tasks in a scheduling process


A current-mode direct conversion RF receiver is presented. In one set of embodiments the RF receiver comprises a simple transconductor input stage to create a current-mode modulated signal from a voltage-mode modulated signal. A downconversion mixer may be coupled to the transconductor input stage via a low impedance current cascode stage, and may operate to create a set of current-mode quadrature baseband signals from the current-mode modulated signal. The downconversion mixer may be implemented with a transistor-switching network, which may be driven by a phase locked loop (PLL) with quadrature outputs. The set of current-mode quadrature baseband signals may be converted back to the voltage domain by a transimpedance filter, which may perform channel selection for the receiver. The transimpedance filter may additionally include a low frequency zero to remove DC offsets. The receiver may be implemented using CMOS design technologies and operated with minimal self-mixing effects, minimal DC offset in the baseband signal, and utilizing low voltages.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of wireless electronic equipment design and, more particularly, to radio frequency (RF) receiver design.
2. Description of the Related Art
A traditional narrow band radio system's receiver portion is generally used for translating a modulated radio frequency (RF) carrier to a low frequency, or baseband, signal, which may then be demodulated to extract an original modulating signal. A primary function of an RF receiver is best described as a "down conversion", or "mixing", of an RF modulated carrier to a baseband signal, and a filtering of the down converted signal to remove any artifacts that may have arisen as part of the mixing process. Due to the image effects that may occur during the mixing process, performing down conversion may be handled in multiple stages where two or more down conversion stages may be applied in series. A traditional super-heterodyne receiver often uses two down conversions stages separated by channel filtering to remove any effects from image frequencies. These channel filters have traditionally been implemented with external components due to the frequency and accuracy requirements of the receiver. Often some additional gain is also used before down converting the input RF signal as the mixing process typically adds noise to the baseband signal.
Down conversion mixers have traditionally been implemented with Gilbert mixers (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,283), which are voltage input, voltage output circuits that require large supply voltages. A large supply voltage limits the ability of RF receivers to operate from portable supply voltages, for example a battery, which limits their ease of use. Additionally, low noise amplifier (LNA) gain stages used at the input of RF receivers generally require large supply voltages in order to maintain proper isolation from their inputs.
One RF receiver topology that has generated significant interest and research activity is "direct conversion" receivers. Direct conversion receivers typically mix the modulated input RF signal directly to a baseband signal with a single mixing stage. The advantage of this topology is that the image-reject filters of the super-heterodyne receivers are no longer required, which generally translates into reduced cost. Disadvantages of direct conversion receivers include non-ideal effects like DC offsets in the baseband signal and self-mixing with the local oscillator to the RF input due to finite isolation. In the past, these problems were generally difficult to overcome, which is one main reason why a majority of RF receivers have been designed as a variation on the super-heterodyne architecture.
One example of a direct conversion receiver design is found in "A 2 GHz Wide-Band Direct Conversion Receiver for WCDMA Applications", IEEE JSSC vol. 34, no. 12 December 1999. The receiver described in the above cited publication uses a voltage mode LNA at the front end, a Gilbert cell down-conversion mixer, and a voltage mode Butterworth channel selection filter. Typically, most direct conversion receiver architectures use at least one stage of voltage mode circuitry. Generally, direct conversion receivers to this point have relied on tried and true LNA and mixer topologies that are inherently voltage mode circuits. These architectures typically require significantly higher supply voltages than alternative current mode architectures, especially in case of Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) circuits.


A packet switching system capable of ensuring the sequence and continuity of packets and further compensating for delays in transmission is disclosed. Each of two redundant switch sections has a high-priority queue and a low-priority queue for each of output ports. A high-priority output selector selects one of two high-priority queues corresponding to respective ones of the two switch sections to store an output of the selected one into a high-priority output queue. A low-priority output selector selects one of two low-priority queues corresponding to respective ones of the two switch sections to store an output of the selected one into a low-priority output queue. The high-priority and low-priority output selectors are controlled depending on a system switching signal and a packet storing status of each of the high-priority and low-priority queues.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packet switching techniques, and in particular to packet switching system and method ensuring traffic quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
LANs (local-area networks) and IP(Internet Protocol)-based private networks have been widely used in companies and universities and are undergoing further development to carrier-class public networks. As the demands for telephony traffic and online trading transactions are growing, real-time and reliable traffic transfer becomes more important. In such a background, there have been proposed packet switching techniques allowing Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees to be maintained.
An ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) cell switching system guaranteeing the sequence and continuity of cells has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 5-7213. More specifically, the conventional switching system is provided with working and reserved ATM cell switches, which are selectively connected to an outgoing line by a system selector. When the working ATM cell switch is switched to the reserved ATM cell switch, the system switching is performed after all the cells staying in the working ATM cell switch have been completely forwarded to the outgoing line. This cell switching technique can be also applied to IP packet switching systems.
In the case of traffic flows requiring real time with little delay, it is necessary to pass the packets through the switch inrelatively short time. On the other hand, some traffic flows that do not necessitate real time may be permitted to be transferred with relatively long delay.
According to the above-described prior art (Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 5-7213), however, the system switching from the working ATM cell switch to the reserved ATM cell switch is performed after all the cells abiding in the working ATM cell switch have been completely forwarded to the outgoing line. Therefore, traffic requiring real time is kept waiting in the reserved ATM cell switch until the working ATM cell switch have completely forwarded the abiding cells to the outgoing line. This may not ensure required QoS.
In general, in the case of real-time traffic, an end terminal is provided with a buffer for absorbing variations in arrival time of packets. However, it is necessary for packets to arrive within a predetermined delay time. For example, telephone conversation cannot be don smoothly without limiting a delay time to at most several hundred milliseconds. If a packet is delayed by a time interval longer than an absorbable time period, then the packet is assumed not to arrive and is interpolated, or equivalently loss of packet.


A low head hydroelectric system for maximizing electrical power generation is disclosed. The hydroelectric system includes a support structure having a rail member adapted to be positioned above a flowing body of water adjacent a low head dam wall. An actuator is mounted to a transfer carriage which is supported for movement along the rail member. When actuated, the actuator moves an arm linearly in a vertical direction. The arm rotatably supports a water wheel including a plurality of vanes for contacting the flowing water. A generator is supported by the arm and is operably connected to the water wheel such that electricity is generated as the water wheel is caused to rotate from impact by the flowing water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydroelectric system and, more particularly, to an adjustable hydroelectric power generating system for facilitating maximum electricity generation in response to changing water flow conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water power has long been known as a source of tremendous potential energy for generating electricity in an efficient and clean manner. Millions of gallons of water flow through the inland waterways of the United States on a daily basis and even a small creek or stream may be used to generate a significant quantity of electricity. However, most of the water power in this country remains untapped such that this vast source of potential energy is not exploited to anywhere near its full potential.
While hydroelectric power systems are well known in the art, most of these systems are located adjacent large scale permanent dams. This type of dam dramatically increases the head of the water by increasing the level of the water on the upstream side of the dam relative to the level of water on the downstream side of the dam. As the water flows from the upstream side to the downstream side, the kinetic energy of the water increases due to an increase in velocity of the water. This kinetic energy is converted to electricity by the water passing through power generating turbines.
Unfortunately, such large scale dams typically produce adverse environmental effects on the surrounding geographical area. This type of dam reshapes the surrounding landscape by flooding large tracts of low lying land upstream therefrom. Also, large amounts of concrete, steel and other costly materials must be used in construction of the dam. Additionally, land downstream from the dam may suffer due to the regulated water supply, especially during extremely dry periods. Further, maintenance of these large structures is often very costly. Therefore, in most cases these large dams are located in remote locations where natural run off is available and where a dam can be efficiently constructed and maintained.
In contrast to the above-described large scale dams, many small streams and waterways include low dams which are characterized by dam walls having heights of 15 feet or less thereby resulting in little adverse environmental impact. Such low dams produce a much smaller head, resulting in a reduced increase in the velocity of the water, and therefore less kinetic energy available for the production of electricity. Nevertheless, considerable kinetic energy is still available for conversion to electricity by water passing over a conventional low dam.
Prior art attempts to convert the kinetic energy of water flowing over a low dam into electrical power have met with limited success. The prior art systems for generating power from a low head water supply typically comprise a water wheel mounted to the low head dam. The wheel is rotatably mounted on a axle which is attached to the dam at a location which enables flowing water to rotate the wheel and thus generate electrical power. The wheel is typically fixed in a predetermined location to optimize electricity generation during average waterflow conditions.
The rivers and streams in which low head dams and related water wheels are located often experience significant fluctuations in water level and flow rate due to various factors linked to geographical surroundings and atmospheric conditions. For example, the smaller rivers and streams possessing low heads and running over these dams typically exhibit significant increases in water levels and flow rates during periods of heavy rain such that the water of maximum velocity passes above the fixed location water wheel, resulting in decreased electricity generation. Further, during drought conditions the water levels and flow rates are often significantly diminished to the extent that the water of greatest velocity passes below the prior art water wheels such that little or no electrical power is generated.
Conventional water wheels mounted to low head dams lack the ability of being adjusted to maximize the electricity generating efficiency of the water wheel in response to changing water levels and flow rates. Electrical power is not efficiently generated by such fluctuating water supplies through the use of the prior art rigidly designed structures.
Accordingly, there is a need for a low head hydroelectric generating system providing for the efficient production of electrical power. Additionally, there is a need for a hydroelectric power generating system having a water wheel which is adjustable in response to changing water conditions. Further, there is a need for a hydroelectric power generating system having a plurality of water wheels associated with a plurality of adjustable wall panels to channel water flow to maximize the production of electrical power.


Support bearing which comprises a first ring and a second ring disposed inside the first ring and substantially coaxial thereto. The first ring and the second ring define between them an annular hollow space in which a cage structure is disposed comprising two circular crowns disposed distanced from each other and between which a plurality of rolling elements are disposed, provided to allow the reciprocal rotation of the first ring and the second ring. The bearing is suitable to support a roll which is used particularly, but not exclusively, in coating processes of a metal product, such as for example strip, wire, bars, by means of metal coating methods such as those known such as galvanization, aluminizing or other similar coating processes.

Coating processes for metal surfaces are known, in particular for strip, wire or metal bars, using a coating metal such as for example zinc, aluminum, tin, lead or a combination thereof, or other metal materials.
In the following description reference will be made to the specific case of coating a metal strip even if this does not exclude that the present invention can also be applied to other types of metal products such as for example bars, wire or other.
The coating processes provide to immerse the strip in a molten bath of coating metal, obliging it to wind under a certain tension at least partly around a roll that is supported at its two ends by respective support bearings.
Both the roll and the bearings are completely immersed in the metal bath by a support arm. Upstream and/or downstream of the winding roll, also immersed in the bath, there may also be other pairs of traction and/or guide rolls.
Various solutions are known of bearings used in the state of the art. For example a solution is known in which each of the support bearings comprises a first external ring that is located in a housing seating associated with the support arm, a second ring disposed inside the first, which is mounted on an end pin of the roll, and a plurality of rolling elements, substantially cylindrical in shape, disposed parallel to each other in the interspace defined between the first and second ring.
A cage-type containing structure, also interposed between the first and second ring, supports the rolling elements during use, and keeps them with their respective axes parallel to the axis of rotation of the roll.
In the specific case of coating processes with metal, the different parts of the bearings are subjected to a high level of wear, which entails the need for frequent interventions to replace them, and consequently the plant must be stopped.
The geometry and wear of the bearing may cause the rolling elements to seize, and therefore also the bearing and the roll, which in turn, being prevented from rotating, damages the surface of the strip to be coated and generates in the strip unwanted vibrations that entail a non-uniform thickness of the metal coating that is applied.
The thinner the metal strip to be coated, the more serious this disadvantage is. In fact, a thin strip is kept under tension with a lower value than a strip with a greater thickness. In this case, in fact, a sufficient reciprocal friction force between roll and strip is not guaranteed, which is necessary to overcome the resistance torque exerted by the bearing, with consequent slipping that damages the surface.
As the thickness of the strip to be coated increases, the greater the tension to which the strip is subjected, the greater are the stresses to which the bearing is subjected, and therefore the more rapid the process of wear will be.
These problems of wear are even more accentuated by the presence of impurities in the metal bath, also known as dross, consisting for example of intermetallic compounds such as oxides of Fe, Zn and Al. These compounds act on the parts of the bearing like abrasive powders which, entering between the interstices of the bearing, cause it to seize and also cause a rapid wear thereof.
Another disadvantage is that, due to the high reactivity of the molten coating metal into which they are immersed, and the high working temperatures, the various parts of the bearing are subjected to a rapid process of corrosion, which generates other impurities in the bath.
Another disadvantage is that the movement members of the strip, due to the friction that increases in the bearing, are subjected to an increase in the drawing power required to feed the strip forward.
From the Japanese patent JP-A-8028575, a bearing is known for the planetary gear of a reducer mechanism in which a support made of resin contains a plurality of rolls that are engaged by protuberances made on the inner walls of the support and small pits made at the two ends of each roll.
From the German patent DE-A-102008005376 a bearing is known with a structure consisting of two circular crowns held at a distance by connection elements and between which the rolling elements are located. Each end of each rolling element has a cylindrical shape and is housed in a corresponding radial seating made in one of the two circular crowns. Shaped elements contribute to define each radial seating and function as attachment members. The inner crown is provided with two raised parts, between which the rolling elements are held in position. This bearing has the disadvantage that the radial seatings for the ends of the rolling elements are indeed made through, but are completely occupied by the ends themselves, which are cylindrical. Indeed, the play between the cylindrical ends of the rolling elements and the corresponding cylindrical radial seatings is such as to allow the rotational motion of the first with respect to the second, but not such as to allow the passage and reflux of the coating liquid.
From the Japanese patent JP-A-2006-177485 a bearing is known that comprises a structure in which rolling elements are disposed, equidistant and radial, the ends of which are housed in the corresponding forms of the structure, allowing a certain play and hence the presence of lubricant.
From the European patent EP-A-1 826 424 a support bearing for a roll is known, suitable to be immersed in liquid metal, comprising a rotating internal bushing mounted coaxial on an end pin of the roll and in rotation inside an external bushing attached to a support arm. Clamping elements are also provided to prevent the bearing from exiting axially from its seating and from rotating in the seating.
One purpose of the present invention is to obtain a support bearing for a roll that can be used in an environment under severe functioning conditions, in particular from the viewpoint of chemical aggression and the high working temperature, and therefore has a long working life compared with bearings known in the state of the art.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a bearing to support a roll which, during functioning, has a smaller resistant torque compared with known solutions.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a roll associated with support members that allows over time to reduce the energy consumption needed to move the strip.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.


In a motor vehicle starter, a pivoted control lever acts on a starter head, the free upper end of the control lever being attached to the free rear end of a draw bar for actuating the lever. The draw bar is part of the starter contractor. The front end of the draw bar has a thrust head engaged with a compression spring mounted in a movable core of the contractor. The attachment means coupling the draw bar to the control lever include a hook portion at the rear end of the draw bar, this hook portion being received in a complementary recess formed, in facing relationship with it, in the upper end of the control lever. The draw bar is generally in the form of a plate lying in a plane containing the direction in which the draw bar is displaceable.

In a known arrangement, the draw member is in the form of a rod of generally cylindrical cross section, the free front end of which includes a widened head having a profile of revolution, which is formed integrally with the rod or which is a separate component fixed to the rod. The main body portion of the draw member has a constant circular cross section, and extends through the compression spring and through a hole which is formed in the rear transverse end wall of the movable core. It therefore extends axially beyond the core towards the rear of the assembly, so that it can be attached to the control lever for the starter head. For this purpose, and again in a known arrangement, the rear free end of the rod which constitutes the draw member has a pin of small diameter which is fitted diametrically through it. The two ends of this pin project radially on either side of the body of the draw rod, so as to form a T-shaped end that constitutes a hook. This hook is received in a complementary housing or recess in the upper free end of the control lever.
The compression spring which is interposed between the movable core and the widened head of the draw rod ensures that the transverse pin, acting as a hook, is held in engagement in the base of the corresponding housing or recess in the upper free end of the control lever. The base of this recess has a rounded profile which is complementary to the cross section of the transverse pin of the draw member, so as to enable the rear free end of the draw member to pivot with respect to the upper free end of the control lever, about an axis which is substantially parallel to the axis of articulation of the control lever.
From the operational point of view, this arrangement is quite satisfactory. However, it does have the drawback that it calls for a relatively heavy draw member, which thus represents a significant additional weight, while at the same time making it necessary to carry out a separate operation of fitting the pin in the draw rod.

Vehicle engine starter having improved means for attaching the draw member of the contractor to the control fork for the starter head


A low-distortion, high-power, feed-forward amplifier is disclosed which is particularly well-suited for cellular radio applications. An illustrative embodiment comprises a main amplifier and a pair of correction amplifiers, which each are used to eliminate different distortion products introduced by the main amplifier into the amplified signal.

It is often advantageous in electric circuits to amplify a complex signal having multiple sinusoidal components (i.e., a multi-tone signal) without introducing distortion products into the amplified signal. The physical characteristics of contemporary amplifiers are such, however, that amplifiers do, in fact, inject distortion into the signal, especially when high-power amplification is performed. Distortion reduction in high power multi-tone amplifiers can be achieved with feed-back, predistortion, and feed-forward mechanisms. At high frequencies feed-forward produces the most significant reduction in distortion.


A supplemental visor assembly includes first and second main panel and first and second extension panels. The first main panel is mountable against an existing sun visor panel by a pair of clips attached to the first main panel and releasably attachable to the existing sun visor panel. The first extension panel is mounted against the first main panel by a first pair of spaced strap members to undergo laterally slideable movement relative to the first main panel. The second main panel is hingedly mounted to one end edge of the first main panel to undergo pivotal movement between a stored position against the first main panel and first extension panel and a deployed position away therefrom. The second extension panel is mounted against the second main panel by a second pair of spaced strap members to undergo laterally slideable movement relative to the second main panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to motor vehicle sun visor attachments and, more particularly, is concerned with a supplemental visor assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Effective sun-shading equipment is obviously of utmost importance for optimum driving conditions. To that end sun visors have long been part of standard motor vehicle equipment. Moreover, a variety of sun shading structures have been developed to provide additional protection from sun glare for both drivers and passengers. Some representative examples of these structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. to Karford (4,792,176), Jasso (4,913,483), Vu et al (4,982,992) and Vandagriff (4,950,021).
The Karford structure is a visor extension unit with a laterally slidable panel and a downwardly slidable panel contained therein. The unit is attached to an existing sun visor with the individual panels being smaller in size than the existing sun visor. When shading is needed at the side window of the driver or front-seat passenger, the existing sun visor must be pivoted along with the attached visor extension unit to the side window, leaving the front windshield area open to sun glare.
The Jasso structure is an auxiliary sun visor removably attached to an existing sun visor for the sole purpose of shading at a side window of the driver or front-seat passenger. The Vu et al structure is a glare shield, removably clippable to an existing sun visor. The glare shield is basically designed to intercept sun rays when the existing sun visor is not in use.
The Vandagriff structure is an adjustable sun visor unit attachable to an existing sun visor for use either at the front windshield or at a side window of the driver or front-seat passenger. This unit has a divisible, laterally movable, upper panel with an attached supplementary lower panel. The unit has no shading features for both the front windshield and side window simultaneously.
None of the above-described supplemental units provides features for simultaneously shading of the front windshield and a side window of the driver or a front-seat passenger. Additionally, the Karford, Jasso and Vandagriff units are fairly complex in design and construction and thus rather expensive to manufacture. The Vu et al unit is appropriate for use generally only when protection from mild sun glare is needed.
Consequently, a need exists for a supplementary sun shading unit which provides for simultaneous shading of both the front windshield and a side window for a driver or front-seat passenger. The unit should be simple in design and construction for inexpensive manufacture and for ease in use by a driver or passenger in a vehicle.


A multifunctional bottle cap is disclosed, which includes a cap body having a lower portion with internal threads for connecting to a neck of a bottle, and an upper portion having an upwardly protruding nozzle with an outlet opening at an edge portion of the nozzle; a straw having an upper end extending out of the protruding nozzle adjacent to the outlet opening, the straw being vertically movable to extend upward from the cap body; and a spray assembly having a press pumping mechanism, an aspiration tube, a pump button extending upwardly, and a spray nozzle in perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the cap body; the spray pump being positioned on an opposing side of the protruding nozzle. The multifunctional bottle cap provides a user the ability to drink, spray and pour liquid from an attached bottle.

It is known to provide bottles (for water, soda or other liquids) with a closing arrangement (or cap) that is formed with a protruding nozzle that enables the user to conveniently pour the liquid via the nozzle into the mouth while the lips enclose the nozzle. The nozzle has thus one of many openings at its edge portion that communicates with the inside of the closing arrangement and the bottle. The closing arrangement has means for blocking the openings of the nozzle.
It is also known to provide the closing arrangement with a straw that extends into the bottle, preferably to the bottom area.
If both such pouring nozzle and telescope straw are provided on the closing arrangement there is a risk that the straw makes the user more difficult to reach the nozzle and vice versa.
It is also desirable for the above-mentioned type of closing arrangement to integrate a manually operated spray pump including a spray nozzle to make it possible to direct the spray of the liquid in the bottle radially out from the body of the closing arrangement relative to the lengthwise direction of the bottle neck.
For practical reasons the spray pump has an activation button that is axially operable and is directed substantially parallel to the bottle neck. The button is exposed to the free upper end of the closing arrangement and may be affected by a finger (index finger) of the hand that is holding the bottle and/or the closing arrangement. However, a drawback is that the spray may inadvertently be directed towards the user's hand that holds the bottle/closing arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,873 (to Lan) discloses a dispensing system for simultaneously dispensing a liquid from a mouth controlled port and an ejection port. The mouth controlled port is a drinking straw extruding from the side of a body connected to a container. The ejection port is a triggering spray head connected to the top of the body. This system allows a user to either receive a spray of liquid for cooling or a stream of water for drinking through the straw. However, this system does not offer a pouring mechanism for the user to pour the liquid out from the container without taking out the closing arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,034 (to Walthers) discloses a dual-function sports bottle that has one liquid carrying container nested within another for carrying a drinking liquid in a relatively large outer chamber that can be accessed by using a straw that extends through an off-center opening, and for carrying a spraying liquid in a relatively small inner chamber that can accessed by using a manually operated spray assembly. Similar to Lan's dispensing system, this bottle does not offer a pouring mechanism for the user to pour the liquid out from the container without taking out the closing arrangement.
Therefore, it is desirable to have an improved multifunctional bottle cap which enables incorporation of a drinking straw, a spray mechanism, and a nozzle for pouring out liquid, but overcomes the problems associated with the integration of these different structural components into one single cap or closing arrangement.


A method and apparatus for selecting an antenna mapping in multiple-in/multiple-out (MIMO) enabled wireless communication networks. A candidate set of currently available antenna mappings is determined based upon measured long term channel conditions. An antenna mapping is selected from the candidate set, and the mapping is calibrated with a selected antenna mapping of a receiving wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). When the selected mappings are calibrated, packet data transmission begins. In an alternative embodiment, a calibration training frame (CTF) is used to calibrate multiple antenna mappings simultaneously or sequentially. Also disclosed are physical layer and medium access control layer frame formats for implementing antenna mapping selection according to the invention.

Wireless communication devices having multiple antennas arranged in a diversity configuration offer a variety of transmission and reception benefits compared to devices with just a single antenna. The basis of diversity is that, at any given time, the antenna with the best reception is selected for reception or transmission. Although a device utilizing antenna diversity may have multiple physical antennas, there is only a single set of electronic circuitry to process the signal, also called a radio frequency (RF) chain.
Multiple in-multiple out (MIMO) wireless technology improves upon antenna diversity by utilizing multiple RF chains. Each RF chain is capable of simultaneous reception or transmission. This allows a MIMO device to achieve higher throughput and to resolve negative effects of multipath interference. In a transmitting device, each RF chain is responsible for transmitting a spatial stream. A single frame can be disassembled and multiplexed across multiple spatial streams, which are then reassembled at a receiver.
MIMO is one of the most promising techniques in wireless communications. Unlike traditional smart antenna techniques that aim to mitigate detrimental multipath fading and enhance robustness of a single data stream, MIMO takes advantage of multipath fading to transmit and receive multiple data streams simultaneously. Theoretically, the capacity in a MIMO system increases linearly with the number of transmit and receive antennas. MIMO is being considered by numerous wireless data communication standards, such as IEEE 802.11n and 3GPP wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA).
In implementing MIMO, a WTRU may operate in either a spatial multiplexing mode or a spatial diversity mode. In the spatial multiplexing mode, a WTRU transmits multiple independent data streams to maximize data throughput. While in the spatial diversity mode, a WTRU may transmit a single data stream via multiple antennas. Depending on the operation mode, a WTRU is configured to select an appropriate quality metric or a combination of quality metrics to utilize in the selection of a desired beam combination. Typically, an m×N channel matrix H is obtained of the form:
      H    =          [                                                  h              Aa                                            …                                              h              Na                                                            …                                                                                …                                                              h              Am                                            …                                              h              Nm                                          ]        ,where the subscripts of the elements h represent contributions attributable to each antenna mapping between transmitting WTRU A's antennas a . . . m and a receiving WTRU N's antennas a . . . m.
A WTRU may obtain a calibration matrix (K) in a similar manner. Calibration in the context of wireless LANs involves calculating a set of complex-valued correction coefficients that, when multiplied at the transmitting WTRU's baseband streams on a per-antenna and per-sub-carrier basis, would equalize the response difference between transmit and receive processing paths (up to an unknown constant across antennas).
Referring to FIG. 1, a signal diagram 100 of prior art channel calibration is shown. A transmitting WTRU (Tx WTRU) 110 first needs to calibrate the existing channel between receiving WTRU (Rx WTRU) 120. Tx WTRU 110 transmits a calibration training frame (CTF) 131 to Rx WTRU 120. Rx WTRU 120 responds by transmitting a sounding physical packet data unit (PPDU) 132. Tx WTRU1 110 calculates a channel estimation H 133 for the channel, referred to as H(2→1). Tx WTRU 110 transmits a calibration response 134 which includes the channel estimation H(2→1). Rx WTRU 120 then performs channel estimation by transmitting a CTF 135 to Tx WTRU 110. In response, Tx WTRU 110 transmits a sounding PPDU 136. Rx WTRU 120 calculates a channel estimation H(1→2), and calculates a calibration matrices K(1→2) and K(2→1) for the channel 137. Rx WTRU 120 then transmits a calibration response 138 including calibration matrix K(1→2) to Tx WTRU 110. It should be noted that the calibration matrix K(1→2) is then applied at Tx WTRU1 110 as a baseband gain or phase correction factor for transmissions to Rx WTRU 120. The calibration matrix K(2→1) is applied at Rx WTRU 120, again as a baseband gain/phase correction factor, in Rx WTRU's 120 transmission of signals to Tx WTRU 110. The channel is now calibrated and ready for packet exchange.
To initiate data packet exchange, Tx TWRU 110 transmits a request 139 to the Rx WTRU 120, which responds by sending modulation and coding scheme (MCS) PPDU 140. Tx WTRU 110 uses the calibration matrix K(1→2) to calculate a steering matrix V, and packet data transfer 142 begins.
The prior art does not consider the utilization of smart antenna technology. Smart antennas, and beamforming in particular, is a signal processing technique used with arrays of transmitters or receivers that controls the directionality of, or sensitivity to, a radiation pattern. When receiving a signal, beamforming can increase the gain in the direction of wanted signals and decrease the gain in the direction of interference and noise. When transmitting a signal, beamforming can increase the gain in the direction the signal is to be sent. When beamforming capable antennas are combined with MIMO, the number of available antenna mappings dramatically increases.
When beamforming antennas are included in a WTRU, the number of available antenna mappings may become very large. In order to optimize the communication link between two WTRUs, it is necessary to select the appropriate antenna mapping at both the transmitter and the receiver.
Therefore, a method and apparatus for efficiently utilizing the variety of available antenna mappings in a MIMO capable wireless device having multiple beamforming antennas is desired.

Method and apparatus for antenna mapping selection in MIMO-OFDM wireless networks


An improved plasma vessel (i.e., plasma applicator) that provides effective cooling includes a plurality of generally linear tubes having a dielectric interior fluidly connected together by dielectric connectors. The tubes and connectors are joined together to form a leak-tight plasma vessel. A cooling system surrounding the improved plasma vessel includes a rigid cooling plate and a deformable thermal transfer material disposed between the plasma vessel and the cooling plate. After use or at an operator's discretion, the plasma vessel can be removed from the cooling system and a new vessel may be inserted in its place. Alternatively, the used vessel may be refurbished and re-inserted into the cooling system. The new or refurbished vessel may or may not be of the same size or configuration as the used vessel. Thermal contact between the cooling system and the new or refurbished vessel, however is maintained through the deformable thermal transfer material.

Plasma discharges can be used to dissociate gases to produce activated gases containing ions, free radicals, atoms and molecules. Activated gases are used for numerous industrial and scientific applications including processing materials such as semiconductor wafers, powders, an other gases. The parameters of the plasma and the conditions of the exposure of the plasma to the material being processed vary widely depending on the application.
For example, some applications require the use of ions with low kinetic energy (e.g., a few electron volts) because the material being processed is sensitive to damage, or because there is a requirement for selective etching one material relative to another. Other applications, such as anisotropic etching or planarized dielectric deposition, require the use of ions with high kinetic energy.
Some applications require direct exposure of the material being processed to a high density plasma. Such applications include ion-activated chemical reactions and etching of and depositing of material into high aspect-ratio structures. Other applications require shielding the material being processed from the plasma because the material is sensitive to damage caused by ions or because the process has high selectivity requirements.
Plasmas can be generated in various ways including direct current (DC) discharge, radio frequency (RF) discharge, and microwave discharge. DC discharges are achieved by applying a potential between two electrodes in a gas. RF discharges are achieved either by capacitively or inductively coupling energy from a power supply into a plasma. For example, parallel plates can be used to capacitively couple energy into a plasma and induction coils can be used to induce current in the plasma. Microwave discharges can be produced by coupling a microwave energy source to a discharge chamber containing a gas.
Plasma discharges may be generated in a manner such that both the charged species constituting the plasma and the neutral species, which may be activated by the plasma, are in intimate contact with the material being processed. Alternatively, the plasma discharge may be generated remotely from the material being processed, so that relatively few of the charged species comes into contact with the material being processed, while the neutral species may still contact it. Such a plasma discharge is commonly termed a remote or downstream plasma discharge. Depending on its construction, position relative to the material being processed, and operating conditions (gas species, pressure, flow rate, and power into the plasma), a plasma source can have characteristics of either or both of these two types.
Existing remote plasma sources generally utilize RF or microwave power to generate the plasma. Although present sources support many applications successfully, several limitations remain with respect to practical use of these plasma devices. One such limitation resides within the plasma applicator (i.e., the plasma vessel). For example, over time, the plasma applicator can become worn from use. Specifically, reactive species may deposit or etch the walls of the plasma applicator. Current designs do not allow for efficient refurbishment of the applicator due to complex mounting and cooling arrangements. In addition, current plasma applicators are made from processed materials (e.g., channels forming the flow path within the applicator are drilled or etched into a block of starting material). As a result, the channels typically contain a high number of surface defects, which can lead to higher particle/contaminant generation during plasma generation.
Moreover, some applications require the use of highly corrosive gasses and/or plasmas (e.g., F containing gasses and plasmas). These applications require the use of plasma applicators made from expensive materials to process, such as, for example sapphire, that can withstand exposure to the corrosive environment without becoming structurally compromised. Other applications, which do not involve corrosive materials, can be accomplished using an applicator made from a less expensive material, such as, for example, quartz. Current designs are limited to the use of either a corrosive resistant, expensive applicator or a less expensive, corrosive non-resistant applicator. As a result, a user needs to have at least one dedicated plasma source for corrosive applications.
A second difficulty with existing remote plasma sources is removal of the heat generated in the plasma and transferred to the walls of the plasma vessel. This is especially the case when the plasma vessel has a complex shape and when it is composed of a dielectric material for which direct cooling with large quantities of fluid in contact with the dielectric vessel is either undesirable or impractical. In addition, the cooling components used to cool the complex shapes of plasma applicators further limits refurbishment of worn applicators or interchangability of an applicator with a different material type applicator.

Applicators and cooling systems for a plasma device


According to embodiments, there is provided a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device includes forming a semiconductor thin film on a substrate; processing the thin film to a predetermined shape; executing an ion implantation process on the thin film processed to the predetermined shape; executing an anneal treatment on the thin film on which the ion implantation process has been executed to create a resistor element; and adjusting both or any one of a process condition of the ion implantation process and a treatment condition of the anneal treatment based on at least any one of a film forming condition and a film formation result of the forming and a film process result of the processing.

Conventionally, there is known a manufacturing method of semiconductor device for manufacturing the semiconductor device by repeating a step of forming a thin film of semiconductor on a substrate and a step of processing the formed thin film. In the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device, a film forming accuracy and a processing accuracy when a thin film was formed and processed next time were improved by measuring the shape and the characteristics of a thin film each time respective steps were finished and feedback controlling the process conditions in the respective steps based on the result of measurement.
However, when the process conditions in the respective steps are feedback controlled, since the effect resulting from the feedback control is reflected to thin films formed and processed next time and thereafter, a problem arises in that the yield of a product formed and processed this time is lowered.

Manufacturing method of semiconductor device and adjusting apparatus


An improved thermocontact welding method and apparatus for producing welded seams joining superposed thermoplastic sheets, and in particular for producing solid seams in polypropylene and other polyolefin sheets. The method includes moving a lower platen for engaging an upper die assembly for applying pressure to interposed thermoplastic sheets at areas thereof between the die surface and the platen while the die surface is at a temperature higher than the melting temperature of the sheets and while thermally isolating other areas of the sheets, and the welded sheets are coerced or ejected from the die surface during disengagement of the platen from the die assembly. A preferred product of the method is a polypropylene album leaf having pockets defined by solid weld seams for containing cards or photographs.

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for thermocontact welding of thermoplastic sheets and the product produced thereby, and more particularly to a thermocontact welding method and apparatus for producing welded seams joining polyolefin sheets (such as polypropylene or polyethylene) and the welded product produced thereby.
The invention finds particular application in the fabrication of such articles as album pages or leaves for storing and displaying cards depicting persons of common professional interest, such as sports figures, as well as album pages or leaves for storing and displaying photographs. Such articles are commonly fabricated of sheets of polyvinyl chloride, or vinyl, whereby linear seams are produced for welding such sheets in a configuration for producing pockets for inserting such cards or photographs, usually by radio-frequency welding techniques.
Polypropylene has certain advantages over vinyl as a sheet material for fabricating such articles Polypropylene is substantially chemically inert and will generally not react with dyes and other surface components of sports cards and photographs, and is physically resistant to extreme heat and cold. Polypropylene is highly suitable for archival applications, and polypropylene leaves having pockets for containing cards or photographs are particularly suitable for the long term storage of such contents.
However, unlike vinyl, attempts to weld polypropylene sheets (as well as other polyolefin sheets) by radio-frequency welding techniques have been in general unsatisfactory. Instead, thermocontact welding is generally employed, although attempts to produce a solid weld seam by thermocontact welding have previously caused the welded sheets to exhibit a tendency to curl or otherwise deform, thought to be a result of polypropylene's sensitivity to heat. In order to prevent curling or deformation, prior art thermocontact methods for welding polypropylene sheets have utilized discontinuous or intermittent die surfaces for producing discontinuous or intermittent welded seams--i e. the welded seam is comprised of a sequence or series of welded dots or short dashes with unwelded material between successive dots or dashes. As used herein, the term "solid" as applied to a welded seam is meant to describe a non-intermittent seam, and as applied to a die surface is meant to describe a non-intermittent die surface.
In prior art thermocontact welding, two superposed thermoplastic webs are suspended beneath a downwardly facing upper die which is configured with seam forming die surfaces. Both the upper die and the lower platen having upwardly facing die surfaces are heated, with the temperature of the lower platen and die surfaces being higher than the temperature of the upper die surfaces. When thermocontact welding is utilized for welding polypropylene sheets by means of intermittent welds, the lower platen and die surfaces are conventionally at a temperature higher than the melting point of polypropylene, while the upper die surfaces are conventionally at a temperature lower than the melting point of polypropylene.

Thermocontact welding method and welded product


An example method of clock and data recovery (CDR) includes adding a pre-defined offset to an output of a phase detector (PD) of a CDR circuit, and loading an accumulator of a frequency loop of the CDR circuit with a pre-defined load value. The method further includes detecting the phase of an incoming signal using a PD, and determining that the CDR has locked onto a real lock point. In some examples, the method further includes determining that the CDR has locked on a real lock point, and, in response to the determination, modifying the pre-defined offset to equal zero.

High-speed data communication systems frequently rely on circuits within the receiver rather than transmitting a reference clock with the data. For example, serial data communication may include the use of a serializer-deserializer (SerDes) at each end of a communication link. Within a SERDES, a CDR may extract a clock that is embedded in the incoming data stream. Once the dock is recovered, it may then be used to sample the incoming data stream to recover individual bits.
In baud-rate CDR ADC-based SerDes, it is possible to encounter false CDR lock scenarios. An example of false lock is, for example, when the system operates at 200 ppm but the CDR second-order loop converges stably (in a false lock) at 100 ppm instead of 200 ppm. For example, if a transmitter sends out data at 32 Gbps, and a receiver tuned to the data signal samples at 32.0064 Gbps due to different crystals used between the transmitter and the receiver, there is a 2.0×10−4, or 200 ppm difference between the transmitter and the receiver. Because of this frequency difference, a phase detector (PD) of the CDR will output a net positive value over time, and thereby move the clock edge to the right, to slow down the receiver's sampling clock. The second order loop of the CDR will accumulate, and eventually the PD output will go to 0. Usually, and ideally, the second order loop accumulates towards a 200 ppm equivalent, and the PD output becomes 0. However, due to channel/periodic jitter/high latency, the PD profile may have some gaps where when the second order loop accumulates to 100 ppm, the PD output averages to 0. When this occurs, the CDR gets stuck at 100 ppm, and, as a result, the receiver samples at the still too fast rate of 32.0032 Gbps and not the actual correct rate of 32 Gbps. Since there is a mismatch in the TX/RX frequency, eventually bit errors will occur. Moreover, it is not a trivial task to determine if there is a true or a false CDR lock, as in both cases the CDR converges in the same way.
One conventional solution to avoid false lock is to reduce data path latency. However, even when this technique is applied, there is a limit as to how much of a reduction can be achieved.
What is desired is an improved apparatus and method to detect and/or prevent false lock.

Phase detector offset to resolve CDR false lock


A method of forming a metal-thermoplastic polymer-metal laminate into a desired shape comprising the steps of: heating a metal-thermoplastic polymer-metal laminate to a temperature exceeding the melting temperature of the thermoplastic polymer; forming the heated laminate into a desired shape; and cooling the formed laminate. A method of making a cassette comprising the steps of: providing a front panel and a back panel with at least the front panel formed from a shaped metal-thermoplastic polymer-metal laminate; joining the panels so that a cavity exists between them; positioning at least one intensifying screen between the panels, the screen adapted to contact an x-ray film placed in the cassette, such that the shaped laminate panel presses the screen and film in intimate contact; wherein the metal-thermoplastic polymer-metal laminate panel is formed into a desired shape by the steps of: heating a metal-thermoplastic polymer-metal laminate to a temperature exceeding the melting temperature of the thermoplastic polymer; forming the heated laminate into a desired shape; and cooling the formed laminate.

The reduction in weight of component parts generally made of metals such as steel and aluminum has been an important goal of many industries. Reduction in the weight of automobiles, for example, has significant implications for energy use while reduction in the weight of many tools and consumer devices has potentially favorable ergonomic impacts. A key element in this effort to reduce weight is the need to maintain material stiffness in many applications. While much success has been achieved using filled polymers, and other composite materials, these are often expensive and difficult to form using traditional methods such as cold stamping. Recent developments in the field of metal-thermoplastic-metal laminate structures have been very encouraging. When appropriately processed, these materials can provide not only significant weight reduction, but also allow the needed material stiffness and formability. One such material is an aluminum-polypropylene-aluminum laminate manufactured by Hoogovens Hylite B.V. and named Hylite. This material is 60% lighter than steel and 30% lighter than aluminum while maintaining considerable stiffness, yield strength and tensile strength.
The ultimate usefulness of such lightweight laminates depends on the ability to form the material to useful shapes with reasonably efficient processes and with a precision and accuracy that reflects the needs of the design. It would be desirable to be able to use forming methods typical of those currently in use for metal panels such as die forming etc. Also critical to the use of the material is maintenance of the desired shape after processing. Common methods of forming aluminum and steel parts include stamping, dieing, and forging. A disadvantage of all of these methods is the high force required to overcome the yield strength of the metals. These high forces require very strong dies usually made out of thick and hardened steel. Such common, lower energy forming methods as thermoforming and vacuum forming which are commonly used with plastic materials are generally not considered for forming metals. In addition, when preparing panels and other surfaces where the radius of curvature is relatively large (greater than 3 inches) great difficulties can be found with "spring-back" of the metal such that design modifications to the forming tools are necessary to obtain the desired material shape. In these instances, small variations in material properties can also have profound influence on the dimensions of the final part.
Several methods for forming the metal-thermoplastic-metal laminates have been revealed in the art. While the conventional stamping and die forming methods used for metallic panel materials also work for the metal-thermoplastic-metal laminate, specialized forming processes have been developed to overcome some of the problems encountered with the laminate.
A method of hot-forming described in GB 1092715 consists of placing a thermoplastic sheet between two specially treated aluminum foils and heating the resulting sandwich in a die to coincidentally bond the laminate and form the shape in the same operation. After suitably heating, the die is cooled and the part removed. This method has several disadvantages. Where components for mass production are involved, the heating and cooling of the die creates unacceptably long cycle-times. In addition, the repeated heating and cooling of the forming tool over a broad temperature range (175.degree. C. to 95.degree. C.) for each part formed results in significant wasted energy. Finally, inventories of the specially treated aluminum panels and thermoplastic sheets must be specially managed and in the most desirable case where the aluminum sheets are very thin, great care taken during handling to avoid damage.
Solutions to several of the problems mentioned above are given in EP 547664 which describes preheating a pre-made laminate (e.g. Hylite) to a temperature just below the Vicat softening point of the thermoplastic. The preheated laminate is then formed by placing it in contact with a forming tool such as a matched metal die. While this method overcomes the problems with handling the thin metal foils and managing inventories of the laminate components, it still requires considerable pressure in the forming process and is susceptible to spring-back from the forming tool for large radius shapes. In addition, variations in the thermoplastic core of the laminate or in the mechanical properties of the metallic skins, continue to make the production of the desired shape difficult to accomplish with a high degree of precision.
A third technique, described in EP 598428 employs forming the laminate under ambient conditions followed by heating of the formed piece to relieve the stresses built up in the laminate during the forming process. This process provides the formed laminate with improved resistance to shape change on subsequent exposure to elevated temperature. The post heat treatment is done at near the softening point of the thermoplastic, but well below the melting temperature. While this method allows one to take advantage of existing equipment that might be on a conventional metal processing line, use of the initial ambient temperature forming step shares the same dimensional problems as mentioned above.
The processes of the art do not provide solutions to several key problems encountered in the forming of parts from the metal-thermoplastic-metal laminate. The need to design forming equipment to compensate for both spring-back and lot to lot material variations is the most serious of these. Not only do complex design parameters need to be considered to design the tools, but lot-to-lot variations in such properties as yield strength, make the production of parts which accurately reflect the designers intent very difficult. The processes of the art also continue to require significant mechanical energy in the forming step because of the stiffness of the panel materials, eliminating such efficient and energy efficient process such as thermo- and vacuum-forming from consideration.

Method of forming a metal-thermoplastic-metal laminate


An electronic transaction, in which a payment amount is deducted from a customer account and added to a provider account, is prepared in cooperation between an account computer and a browser-enabled customer computer. The account computer forwards invoice and credit information as well as calculation instructions in portions of a page to the customer computer. The customer computer interprets a first page portion with a browser to present different invoice items and credit items on a screen. A user selection of the invoice and credit items is received and then the payment amount is calculated by offsetting the amounts of the invoice and credit items with instructions in a second page portion. Thereafter, a response with the payment amount is returned to the account computer.

Service providers (e.g., private companies or governmental organizations) utilize computer systems to perform routine tasks, such as billing/payment processes. Self-service scenarios can be convenient and provide cost savings not only for the provider, but also for the customer. For example, a customer can review invoice or bank accounts that are presented by a browser interpreting a page.
The following documents are useful:                U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,823,        U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,098, and        U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,525.
For invoices with multiple items that either charge or deduct to/from the customer's bank account, there is a technical task to calculate balances and to communicate items to/from the customer with minimum load to the network.

Electronic financial transaction with balancing invoice and credit items via page


A process for preparing a preserved rice product is disclosed. Here rice is treated at a pH of 4.5 or below with a polymeric acid food acceptable acid and placed in a microorganism-impermeable container.

The present invention relates to acid-pasteurised, shelf-stable, rice products and to processes for their production.
By shelf-stable is meant that the product can be stored at room temperature for long periods of time without being subject to spoilage by microbial action, without its organoleptic properties deteriorating an without it acquiring any undesirable flavour. Typically, food products are considered to be shelf-stable if they meet these requirements after at least nine months and preferably after at least twelve or fourteen months of storage at room temperature. The major reason that many food products are not shelf-stable is that the growth of spoilage microorganisms is not inhibited. Therefore, an essential requirement of a shelf-stable food product is that it should not be susceptible to the growth, of spoilage microorganisms.

Shelf-stable rice products and processes for their production


A transmission having plural clutches includes a first clutch for connecting and disconnecting transmission of driving force to a first input shaft including a driving gear configured to be engaged with a driven gear provided at an output shaft of the transmission driven by a driving force generating device, a second clutch operating independently from the first clutch for connecting and disconnecting transmission of driving force to a second input shaft including a driving gear configured to be engaged with a driven gear provided at the output shaft, a driving force detection device for detecting driving force, a slip detection device for detecting physical quantity related to a slip of a driving wheel, and a device for controlling the second clutch for importing the physical quantity related to the slip and the driving force and for controlling engagement ratio of the second clutch where the first clutch is engaged.

A clutch is applied to vehicles in order to connect and disconnect driving force of an engine boarded on a vehicle in a process of transmitting the driving force to driving wheels. A known twin clutch transmission having two clutches is described in JP2003-120764. Generally, a twin clutch transmission includes a first clutch for connecting a first input shaft to an engine, and a second clutch for connecting a second input shaft to the engine. The first input shaft and the second input shaft include plural driving gears having different gear ratio, respectively, and one of the plural driving gears is configured to be engaged with a driven gear of an output shaft. In case a gear is shifted, for example, when gears are shifted from a traveling state where one of driving gears of the first input shaft is engaged and the first clutch is engaged to a state where the engaged gear is shifted to another driving gear of the second input shaft, temporarily, the driving force is shared to be transmitted by means of the both first and second clutches. In other words, a transmitting path of the driving force is shifted from the first clutch to the second clutch by gradually reducing engagement ratio of the first clutch, simultaneously, by gradually increasing engagement ratio of the second clutch from a state where the first clutch is completely engaged and the second clutch is disengaged, and, eventually the complete driving force is transmitted by the second clutch.
Thus, a twin clutch transmission is advantageous in terms of enabling to shift gears smoothly without interrupting transmission of driving force, and of enabling to construct a transmission to have more number of different gear ratios, that is, more number of speeds can be provided compared to a single clutch transmission.
Meanwhile, when a vehicle is suddenly started, a driving force transmission system is likely damaged and driving wheels likely slips because a clutch is suddenly engaged at a state where driving force is increased by increasing engine rpm by opening a throttle. Those disadvantages are common to a twin clutch transmission and a single clutch transmission, and as a counter measurement, driving force of the engine is limited by means of fuel cut and slow engagement operation of the clutch by manual operation. Further, in order to prevent a slip of driving wheels caused by the excessive driving force during the vehicle travels and at a start of the vehicle on rough road such as gravel road which is not paved and snowy or icy road, driving force is controlled by the fuel cut and an anti-lock braking system (ABS), or the like.
Notwithstanding, there is a restriction in terms of time response with the foregoing method, and start control for increasing speed in a short time by controlling the driving force immediately and appropriately has not been achieved. Further, start control and traveling control adapted to conditions such as specification differences among vehicles, personal habits of drivers, and road conditions have not been achieved.
A need thus exists for a transmission having plural clutches which can control driving force immediately and appropriately to prevent driving wheels from slipping when a vehicle starts on a rough road, starts suddenly and travels on rough road, and excels in economical efficiency.


A seat height adjusting device. A rail member is fixed to a floor. A lift link is rotatably connected to the rail member. A lower lift arm is connected to a seat cushion, the lift link, and the rail member through a link member. An upper arm is connected to a seat back and rotatably engaged with the lower lift arm. A lower arm is connected to the lower lift arm so as to sandwich the lift link and the upper arm with the lower lift arm. The lower arm is engageable with the lift link and the upper arm.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a seat height adjusting device and particularly relates to a seat height adjusting device with a seat reclining device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical vehicle seat has a seat cushion connected to a seat back. The height of the seat cushion and the incline angle of the seat back may be adjusted. If the seat is fixed to the floor or deck of the vehicle, the lateral position of the seat may also be adjusted.
A seat height adjusting device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No 6 (114)-127295. The seat height adjusting device includes a first link mechanism and a second link mechanism both disposed at a connecting portion of the seat cushion and the seat back. The first link mechanism includes an upper rail, a lower arm, a lower gear, and a first link member. The second link mechanism includes an upper rail, the lower arm, a second link member, and a cushion frame. The first link mechanism (which is connected to the seat back) is linked to the second mechanism (which is connected to the seat cushion) to adjust the height of the seat cushion while keeping an inclined angle of the seat back relative to the seat cushion.
The seat height adjusting device includes a lock mechanism for preventing the seat cushion from moving vertically. The lock mechanism includes a pawl and a ratchet. The outer teeth of the ratchet engaged the pawl. When an operator pulls an operating lever, the pawl disengages from the ratchet to allow the seat cushion to move vertically.
The known seat height adjusting device must be stiff to prevent the pawl from disengaging from the ratchet if the seat height adjusting device twists during a collision. Therefore, the seat height adjusting device must be enlarged which increases the cost.


A water production system with a thermal separation device that defines a cold region and a hot region, a fluid-air heat exchanger located remotely from the thermal separation device and exposed to air, and a fluid circulation loop that thermally connects the cold region of the thermal separation device to the fluid-air heat exchanger so as to cool the fluid-air heat exchanger and condense water from ambient air to produce water pure enough so that with further treatment it can be made potable. Also disclosed are filtration and dispensing features that are appropriate for a potable water supply.

Existing thermoelectric (TE) (Peltier Effect) devices designed to extract water from ambient humidity through condensation typically use finned metal heat exchangers which are constrained to be in direct contact with or in close proximity to the faces of the TE element(s). This constrains the location of the heat exchangers in two ways—each heat exchanger must be co-located with its assigned (hot or cold) side of the TE device, and the two sides must therefore be separated by the thickness of the TE device, which is a fraction of an inch. These constraints make for difficult design choices in both location of the heat exchangers and air handling. These difficulties have limited the application of TE devices in water production machines to date.
Water produced by condensation from ambient air contains various impurities including dust particles, microbes and viruses from the air, and dissolved gaseous compounds which affect its taste. Municipal and private sources of potable water contain dissolved solids and other compounds which affect taste and in some cases microbes and viruses.
In order to remove these taste- and safety-affecting materials various types of filtering systems have been used. An effective filtration and distribution system for potable water must remove dissolved taste and odor causing chemicals, dissolved solids, and either kill or prevent microbes, molds, and viruses from reproducing and remove the detritus left behind by so doing. If potable water is to be stored after filtration it must be re-filtered before dispensing. Good practice dictates that stored water be subjected to disinfection and recirculated through the filtration system on a regular basis to eliminate detritus and disinfection byproducts.

Water production, filtration and dispensing system