An improved multi-layer gasket for an internal combustion engine comprises an inner spacer layer sandwiched between top and bottom surface layers. The inner spacer layer provides cylinder openings designed to correspond with each cylinder bore in the engine block. Channels cut in the spacer layer extend outwardly from each cylinder opening. A combustion-sealing member formed with tabs extending outwardly from the circumference of the sealing member is received into each cylinder opening and orientated with each tab residing in a channel. Each tab is embossed at its distal end and eyeletted with an eyelet to the top and bottom layers. Tabs retain the sealing member in the cylinder opening, positively locate the sealing member over the cylinder bores on the engine block during installation and permit the sealing member to float in the cylinder bore during operation of the engine independently of the spacer layer.

The present invention relates to a cylinder head gasket for an internal combustion engine. More particularly, the invention relates to a multi-layer metal cylinder head gasket having a sealing member that floats in a cylinder opening, corresponding to a combustion chamber, of a spacer layer of the multi-layer gasket.
Gaskets are often used as a seal between mating mechanical components. One common application involves gasket placement between the engine block and cylinder head of an internal combustion engine. Cylinder head gaskets typically extend around cylinder bores to provide a combustion seal, maintaining the high temperature gases of combustion within the cylinder bores. Simultaneously, the gaskets also seal fluid flow openings such as coolant and oil openings to prevent undesirable mixing. A cylinder head gasket bears the load from a bolted connection of the mechanical components and relies upon that load to provide both the combustion and fluid flow seals.
In a metal laminate gasket for an internal combustion engine, the gasket is formed from a plurality of metal plates laminated together. The metal plates provide structural support within the joint between the cylinder head and engine block, and provide radial strength to resist gasket blow-out due to pressure from the combustion chamber.
Known gaskets use any of several types of combustion seals. One type, known as a flanged combustion seal ring, is essentially comprised of a wire, having a generally circular cross-sectional area. The wire may be inserted within an open end of a U-shaped flange with opposing legs of the flange engaging opposite faces of a main gasket body about the combustion opening. A clamping load is applied to the flanged portion of the gasket at the point of contact, deforming the ring""s circumference to seal out combustion gases. Using such a configuration, the clamping load required to seal against combustion gases is typically higher because the force is distributed between two rings and may tend to promote undesirable gasket and engine-block distortion.
Another type of combustion seal relies on a floating yieldable ring installed separately from the gasket. The floating ring is installed within a channel formed about the combustion chamber hole. A force applied to such a ring is concentrated at the point of contact, deforming the ring""s circumference to effectively seal out combustion gases. However, such a seal ring must be separately installed, and may migrate prior to being subject to a clamping load, resulting in an imperfect seal. Further, the channel receiving the ring must be separately machined in the engine block to accommodate the ring, complicating gasket manufacture.
The present invention is directed to a cylinder head gasket of an internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder bore opening. The gasket is clamped between a cylinder head and an engine block to sealingly engage a mating surface on the cylinder head and engine block.
The gasket is a multi-layer metal gasket adapted to cooperate between an engine block and an engine head comprising an inner spacer layer sandwiched between top and bottom surface layers. The inner spacer layer provides cylinder openings designed to correspond and sealingly engage with each cylinder bore in the engine block. At least one channel, cut in the spacer layer, extend outwardly from a periphery defined by the circumference of each cylinder opening.
A combustion sealing member formed with at least one tab extending outwardly from a periphery defined by the circumference of the sealing member is received into each cylinder opening. The sealing members orient in the cylinder opening with the tab residing in a channel. The tab is embossed at its distal end. Upon positioning in the cylinder opening, the tab is eyeletted with an eyelet to the top and bottom layers. The tabs retain the sealing member in the cylinder opening, positively locating the sealing member over the cylinder bores on the engine block during installation and permitting the sealing member to float in the cylinder opening during operation of the engine independently of the spacer layer.
The tabs projecting outwards from the sealing members and the channels cut outwards from the periphery of the cylinder openings of the inner spacer layer that receive the tabs over come known problems in gasket design. First, the channels by receiving the tabs connected to the upper and lower surface layers insure proper alignment of the sealing member over the cylinder bore during installation of the gasket. Additionally, once installed, the tabs permit the sealing member to float in the cylinder opening independent of the inner spacer layer to flexibly adapt to engine movements during operations. This flexibility of the floating sealing member increases the effectiveness of the seal of the gasket about the cylinder bores.

Mls gasket with floatable combustion seal


A problem to be addressed by the present invention is that, when a version update of an application has been carried out, it has not been possible to ascertain which metrics are affected. Provided is an application management system, comprising: a monitoring program 1600, which measures a plurality of metric types in a plurality of different environments; a deployment program 1500 which deploys a first version and a second version of an application; and an analysis program which, on the basis of measurement values of the plurality of metric types in environments in which the first version and the second version of the application respectively operate, determine a metric type in which a difference occurs between the first version and the second version.

With the spread of DevOps, deployment of applications as frequent as 10 times or more a day which was conventionally difficult has now been practical.
PTL 1 discloses a method called a canary test in which assuming a scale-out configuration where a plurality of applications of the same version is deployed, some of a plurality of deployed instances are replaced with a new version and some of requests are distributed to the new version of instances by load-balancing. In this literature, a new version of instances is referred to as canary instance, and means for calculating relative performance values between the baseline of the metrics acquired from instances on which an original application is operating and the metrics acquired from canary instance and displaying the calculated relative performance values in a graphical form to thereby evaluate the advantageous effects of the program of the new version.

Application management system, method, and computer program


In one embodiment, a pressure transmitter is provided which diagnoses the condition of a primary element and/or an impulse line which connects to a pressure sensor. A difference circuit coupled to the pressure sensor has a difference output which represents the sensed pressure minus a moving average. A calculate circuit receives the difference output and calculates a trained output of historical data obtained during an initial training time. The calculate circuit also calculates a monitor output of current data obtained during monitoring or normal operation of the transmitter. A diagnostic circuit receives the trained output and the monitor output and generates a diagnostic output indicating a current condition.

Pressure transmitters are used in industrial process control environments and couple to the process fluid through impulse lines. Pressure measurements can be used to measure flow, or level, for example. The impulse lines can become plugged over time, which also adversely affects calibration.
Disassembly and inspection of the impulse lines is one method used to detect and correct plugging of lines. Another known method for detecting plugging is to periodically add a "check pulse" to the measurement signal from a pressure transmitter. This check pulse causes a control system connected to the transmitter to disturb the flow. If the pressure transmitter fails to accurately sense the flow disturbance, an alarm signal is generated indicating line plugging. Another known method for detecting plugging is sensing of both static and differential pressures. If there is inadequate correlation between oscillations in the static and differential pressures, then an alarm signal is generated indicating line plugging. Still another known method for detecting line plugging is to sense static pressures and pass them through high pass and low pass filters. Noise signals obtained from the filters are compared to a threshold, and if variance in the noise is less than the threshold, then an alarm signal indicates that the line is blocked.
These known methods use techniques which can increase the complexity and reduce reliability of the devices. There is thus a need for a better diagnostic technology providing more predictive, less reactive maintenance for reducing cost or improving reliability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and apparatus for the voltage maintenance of an electrical AC voltage supply network comprising a partial converter system, which has a first branch pair and a second branch pair connected in parallel therewith and an electrical energy store connected in parallel with the branch pairs. Each branch pair is formed from two series-connected driveable power semiconductor switches, each with a diode reverse-connected in parallel, and the junction point of the power semiconductor switches of the first branch pair forming a first terminal and the junction point of the power semiconductor switches of the second branch pair forming a second terminal. The partial converter system has a third branch pair connected in parallel with the first and second branch pairs. The junction point of the power semiconductor switches of the third branch pair forms a third terminal.

Conventional apparatuses, in particular converter circuits, as are used nowadays to compensate for voltage dips in the voltage of an electrical single-phase or polyphase AC voltage supply network, as may occur on account of short circuits or load changes, are customarily connected in between the voltage source or the voltage sources of the electrical AC voltage supply network and an electrical load. Such an apparatus for the voltage maintenance of an electrical AC voltage supply network is specified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,410, for example, wherein a partial converter system is specified which has a first branch pair and a second branch pair connected in parallel therewith, each branch pair being formed from two series-connected driveable power semiconductor switches with in each case a diode reverse-connected in parallel with each power semiconductor switch. The junction point of the power semiconductor switches of the first branch pair furthermore forms a first terminal of the partial converter system, the electrical load usually being connected to the first terminal. Furthermore, the junction point of the power Semiconductor switches of the second branch pair forms a second terminal of the partial converter system, to which the voltage source of the electrical AC voltage supply network is customarily connected. Moreover, an electrical energy store formed from two series-connected capacitors is provided.
The apparatus according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,410 is embodied for a single-phase electrical AC voltage supply network and serves, on the one hand, for voltage boosting, in particular for voltage doubling for feeding the electrical load and, on the other hand, as an apparatus for the uninterruptible feeding of the load, the partial converter system being driven, in the event of a fall in voltage of the voltage source, in such a way that essentially the rated voltage of the voltage source is established at the load connected to the first terminal of the partial converter system.
What is problematic in the case of the apparatus in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,410 is that although, in the event of a fall in the voltage of the voltage source, uninterruptible feeding of the electrical load is made possible by voltage backup, this backup of the dropped voltage is possible only for a short time of a few milliseconds. Although this time can be lengthened by designing the electrical energy store to have a large capacitance or by means of an additional energy store in the form of a capacitor or a battery, such a design of the energy store or the provision of an additional energy store causes a considerable space requirement and an increased outlay on material, mounting and busbar arrangement.

Apparatus for the voltage maintenance of an electrical AC voltage supply network and method for operating such an apparatus


A solid-state imaging device includes a dielectric substrate, a solid-state imaging element disposed on the dielectric substrate, and including a photosensitive unit at a portion of a front surface thereof, an adhesive between the dielectric substrate and the solid-state imaging element, connection conductors, a sealant, and an upper package part. The solid-state imaging element includes a photosensitive unit at a portion of a front surface thereof, and is bonded to the dielectric substrate by the adhesive such that the adhesive is in contact with a portion of a rear surface of the solid-state imaging element so as to permit air flow along other portions of the rear surface of the solid-state image element. The connection conductors electrically connect the solid-state imaging element and the dielectric substrate. The upper package part is provided on the front surface of the solid-state imaging element so as to hermetically seal the photosensitive unit.

In general, a digital camera has a solid-state imaging device for receiving light, and transmitting a signal voltage according to the amount of light received. For example, in high-end digital cameras such as a digital single-lens reflex camera of a full size, an APS-C size, or the like. In particular, CMOS image sensor packages having large optical sizes have been used as solid-state imaging devices. Large CMOS image sensor packages generally have a solid-state imaging element and a package provided to cover the whole of the solid-state imaging element.
In these kinds of solid-state imaging devices, a small solid-state imaging device is configured by dividing a package into an upper part and a lower part, disposing a solid-state imaging element on a substrate which resides in the lower package part, and hermetically sealing only a photosensitive unit of the solid-state imaging element with the upper package part.
In such a solid-state imaging device according to the related art, the solid-state imaging element and the substrate which resides in the lower package part are electrically connected to each other by wires provided at the peripheral portion of the solid-state imaging element. With the configuration described above, the upper package part covers only the photosensitive unit of the solid-state imaging element. Therefore, the wires are provided on the outside of the upper package part. As a result, the wires need to be sealed with a resin or the like.
However, in the solid-state imaging device according to the related art, the resin for sealing the wires covers the entire periphery of the solid-state imaging element to facilitate manufacturing. Also, the upper side of the solid-state imaging element is hermetically sealed within the upper package part. Further, since the entire periphery of the solid-state imaging element is covered with the resin as described above, the solid-state imaging element is disposed on the surface of the substrate which resides in the lower package part, and is fixed thereto by an adhesive applied on the entire rear surface of the element.
In the solid-state imaging device according to the related art described above, all of the front surface, rear surface, and side surface of the solid-state imaging element are covered by the package, creating a problem of poor heat dissipation. Further, since the adhesive is applied onto the entire rear surface of the solid-state imaging element, stress on the solid-state imaging element increases due to a difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the solid-state imaging element and the adhesive, and thus deformation such as warpage of the solid-state imaging element occurs.


Vector-vector multiplication or matrix-matrix multiplication computation on computing systems can include computing a first portion of a vector-vector multiplication product based on a most-significant-bit set of a first vector and a most-significant-bit set of a second vector, and determining if the first portion of the vector-vector multiplication product is less than a threshold. If the first partial vector-vector multiplication product is not less than the threshold, a remaining portion of the vector-vector multiplication product can be computed, and a rectified linear vector-vector multiplication product can be determined for the sum of the first portion of the vector-vector multiplication product and the remaining portion of the vector-vector multiplication product. If the first portion of the vector-vector multiplication product is less than the threshold, computation of the remaining portion of the vector-vector multiplication product can be skipped and the rectified linear vector-vector multiplication product can be set to a zero scalar.

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep learning are utilized for various image processing tasks, computer vision tasks, and the like. Artificial intelligence as used herein refers to techniques that enable devices to mimic human intelligence, using logic, if-then rules, decision trees, and the like. Machine learning includes a subset of artificial intelligence that includes abstruse statistical techniques that enable machines to improve at tasks with experience. Deep learning includes a subset of machine learning that includes algorithms that permit software to train itself to perform tasks by exposing multilayered artificial neural networks, recurrent neural networks (RNN), convolution neural networks (CNN) or the like to vast amounts of data. For ease of explanation artificial intelligence, as used herein, also includes machine learning, deep learning and the like. Furthermore, as used herein the term images refers to pictures and video.
The computation of vector-vector multiplication, matrix-matrix multiplication, activation functions and the like are common functions performed in artificial intelligence tasks and the like. Referring to FIG. 1, the computation of a vector-vector multiplication product is illustrated. The vector-vector multiplication of a first vector W and a second vector A is a binary operation that produces a scalar that is the sum of the products of the corresponding vector elements. The rectified linear (ReLU) function is an activation function defined as the positive part of its argument, in accordance with Equation 1:ƒ(x)=x+=max(0,x)  (1)where x is the input. The plot of the rectified linear (ReLU) function is a ramp where negative input values produce zero output values, and positive input values produce the same positive output value, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Rectified linear vector-vector multiplication operations and rectified linear matrix-matrix multiplication operations are commonly performed on vast amounts of data in neural networks and other computations in artificial intelligence tasks. Therefore, there is a need for improved techniques for calculating rectified linear vector-vector multiplication operations and rectified linear matrix-matrix multiplication operations to reduce the computational workload in computing systems.

Vector-vector multiplication techniques for processing systems


A system and method for calibrating an acoustic monitoring system of an additive manufacturing machine includes installing a calibration system on the machine and performing a calibration process. Specifically, the calibration system includes a calibration platform removably mountable to a build platform of the additive manufacturing machine and having calibrated acoustic source mounted thereon for defining a measurement standard. The acoustic waves generated by the calibrated acoustic source are measured by the acoustic monitoring system and compared to the known measurement standard to determine whether system adjustments would improve process tolerances or uniformity.

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes generally involve the buildup of one or more materials to make a net or near net shape (NNS) object, in contrast to subtractive manufacturing methods. Though "additive manufacturing" is an industry standard term (ISO/ASTM52900), AM encompasses various manufacturing and prototyping techniques known under a variety of names, including freeform fabrication, 3D printing, rapid prototyping/tooling, etc. AM techniques are capable of fabricating complex components from a wide variety of materials. Generally, a freestanding object can be fabricated from a computer aided design (CAD) model.
A particular type of AM process uses an energy source such as an irradiation emission directing device that directs an energy beam, for example, an electron beam or a laser beam, to sinter or melt a powder material, creating a solid three-dimensional object in which particles of the powder material are bonded together. AM processes may use different material systems or additive powders, such as engineering plastics, thermoplastic elastomers, metals, and/or ceramics. Laser sintering or melting is a notable AM process for rapid fabrication of functional prototypes and tools. Applications include direct manufacturing of complex workpieces, patterns for investment casting, metal molds for injection molding and die casting, and molds and cores for sand casting. Fabrication of prototype objects to enhance communication and testing of concepts during the design cycle are other common usages of AM processes.
Selective laser sintering, direct laser sintering, selective laser melting, and direct laser melting are common industry terms used to refer to producing three-dimensional (3D) objects by using a laser beam to sinter or melt a fine powder. More accurately, sintering entails fusing (agglomerating) particles of a powder at a temperature below the melting point of the powder material, whereas melting entails fully melting particles of a powder to form a solid homogeneous mass. The physical processes associated with laser sintering or laser melting include heat transfer to a powder material and then either sintering or melting the powder material. Although the laser sintering and melting processes can be applied to a broad range of powder materials, the scientific and technical aspects of the production route, for example, sintering or melting rate and the effects of processing parameters on the microstructural evolution during the layer manufacturing process have not been well understood. This method of fabrication is accompanied by multiple modes of heat, mass, and momentum transfer, and chemical reactions that make the process very complex.
During direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) or direct metal laser melting (DMLM), an apparatus builds objects in a layer-by-layer manner by sintering or melting a powder material using an energy beam. The powder to be melted by the energy beam is spread evenly over a powder bed on a build platform, and the energy beam sinters or melts a cross sectional layer of the object being built under control of an irradiation emission directing device. The build platform is lowered and another layer of powder is spread over the powder bed and object being built, followed by successive melting/sintering of the powder. The process is repeated until the part is completely built up from the melted/sintered powder material.
After fabrication of the part is complete, various post-processing procedures may be applied to the part. Post processing procedures include removal of excess powder by, for example, blowing or vacuuming. Other post processing procedures include a stress relief process. Additionally, thermal, mechanical, and chemical post processing procedures can be used to finish the part.
In order to monitor the additive manufacturing process, certain conventional additive manufacturing machines include acoustic monitoring systems. These monitoring systems typically include one or more microphones or acoustic wave sensors for detecting acoustic waves or vibrations generated or otherwise emitted during the process. The measured acoustic waves or sensor values can be used to evaluate the quality of the build, during or after completion of the build process. The quality evaluation may be used to adjust the build process, stop the build process, troubleshoot build process anomalies, issue a warning to the machine operator, and/or identify suspect or poor quality parts resulting from the build. However, such acoustic monitoring systems are frequently not calibrated, making it impossible to determine if variations in measured acoustic signals are a product of variations in the additive build process or melt pool or are the product of variations in the acoustic monitoring system itself when comparing data from multiple machines. In practice, additive manufacturing has been primarily used for prototyping and small lot production with acoustic monitoring used as a research and development tool rather than part quality assessment. The recent emergence of mass production applications where build-to-build and machine-to-machine repeatability is far more critical has highlighted the value of acoustic monitoring as a quality tool.
Accordingly, an additive manufacturing machine with improved calibration features would be useful. More particularly, a system and method for calibrating an acoustic monitoring system of an additive manufacturing machine would be particularly beneficial.

System and method for calibrating an acoustic monitoring system of an additive manufacturing machine


The isolation and characterization of a group of odorless and non-volatile glycosides from extracted hops (hop solids which have been previously extracted with non-polar solvents) is disclosed. These glycosides are water soluble and consist of a group of aromatic compounds conjugated to mono-, di-, and trisaccharides. These glycosides are responsible for the formation of kettle hop flavor and taste through both chemical and biological transformations. When these glycosides are transformed, they yield an essence and flavorant which imparts a kettle hop flavor and taste when the essence and flavorant is added to an unhopped beer. These kettle hop flavor essences and flavorants provide economy, consistency, flexibility, quality, and convenience to the brewing process because only one unhopped wort is required to brew a stock of unhopped beer. The unhopped beer can then be dosed with the desired amount of kettle hop flavor essence and flavorant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to post-fermentation kettle hop essences and flavorants, and methods of making and using them. More particularly, it relates to glycosides which are capable of imparting kettle hop essence and flavor (e.g., aroma and taste) to malt beverages.
2. Background of the Art
Hops in brewing mainly add bitterness and impart a hop flavor (e.g., taste and smell) in the final product. Hops are composed of soft resins, hard resins, hop oils, waxes, lipids, and carbohydrates. The soft resins consist of .alpha.-acids and .beta.-acids. The soft resins and a hop oil fraction are extractable by organic solvents, or by liquid and supercritical CO.sub.2. In conventional brewing, the .alpha.-acids are converted into iso-.alpha.-acids which are responsible for the bitterness taste. However, as the character of hop flavor is concerned, its description in beer is subjected to a great deal of debate, but all agree that the hop flavor (or the kettle hop flavor) is an essential part in the total organoleptic impact of beer.
When hops, hop extracts, or a hop oil fraction undergo boiling in wort, the hop oils (terpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons) are lost mostly through volatilization. As a result, these hydrocarbons are not found in most beers in significant amounts and therefore are not responsible for kettle hop flavor (V. Peacock and M. Deinzer, ACS Symp. Series 170:119-127, 1981). The surviving hop oil components include some oxidized hop oil compounds in very small quantities. We and other investigators have found that these oxidized compounds have very little effect on the kettle hop flavor (J. Irwin, Proc. Conv. Inst. Brew 20:99-104, 1988; Y. Fukuoka and M. Kowaka, Rep. Res. Lab. Kirin Brew. Co. 26:31-36, 1983).
Hops or a hop oil fraction have often been added after fermentation to maintain such volatile hydrocarbon flavors. This practice is called "dry hopping" (J. G. Guzinski, The New Brewer pp. 19-21, July-August 1989; L. Narzi.beta., et al., Monatsschrift fur Brauwissenschaft 38(10):406-409, 1985). But these hop flavors are not considered to be a true and delicate "kettle hop flavor". In the past, attempts have been made to separate hop oil components into various fractions with the purpose of adding these fractions to unhopped beer in order to achieve kettle hop flavor in the products thus produced. These attempts have all met with failure. We believe that the true "kettle hop flavor" refers to the flavor derived from other hop components either intact or modified during fermentation and not to these volatile or oxygenated hydrocarbons.
Heretofore, the brewer produces a different hopped wort stream for each finished beer product having the desired kettle hop flavor characteristics. This entails using dedicated equipment for each such wort stream. Thus, the brewer is faced with many production, quality control, and financial considerations especially when many different products must be produced.
Understanding the chemistry of kettle hop flavor would have a striking impact on the brewing process for quality and for economy. Our previous work utilizing the hop solids (the residue left when hops are extracted by either liquid/supercritical CO.sub.2 or non-polar organic solvents), or water extracts of hop solids, to achieve a kettle hop flavor in beer convinced us to investigate their composition and transformation. Our approach is different from that of the prior art by not focusing on the components in the volatilized hop oils or a hop oil fraction, but concentrating on the water soluble substances in hops or those water soluble substances remaining in the hop solids.
Thus, a need exists for understanding the chemistry of kettle hop flavor components. Such an understanding would allow the brewer to construct a kettle hop flavor essence which could then be added to an unhopped beer stream to obtain a beer with the desired degree of kettle hop flavoring.

Methods of making and using purified kettle hop flavorants


Cerebral palsy impaired speech in children and adolescents are effectively treated by administration of a psychostimulant. Low doses of the psychostimulant significantly increases the percentage of correctly pronounced intelligible syllables or words and the ability to more intelligibly communicate. The improvement in speech persists after cessation of or prior to continued psychostimulant treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cerebral palsy impaired speech. This invention also relates to evaluating a subject for and the treatment of a speech impairment secondary to cerebral palsy. In one specific aspect, this invention relates to the treatment of cerebral palsy impaired speech in children and adolescents. This invention also relates to speech, language and communication disorders in children diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
2. Background and Discussion of the Art
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive disease or disorder involving irreparably damaged or injured areas of the brain, including connections between the cortex and other parts of the brain (the central nervous system) and the muscles (in the peripheral nervous system).
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines cerebral palsy as any of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but do not worsen over time, and then makes clear that cerebral palsy cannot be cured, but treatment will often improve a child's capabilities and that such treatment may include physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, drugs to control seizures, relax muscle spasms, and alleviate pain; surgery to correct anatomical abnormalities or release tight muscles; braces and other orthotic devices; wheelchairs and rolling walkers; and communication aids such as computers with attached voice synthesizers.
There are several causes of cerebral palsy, including maternal trauma or infection resulting in periventricular leukomalacia, genetic mutations resulting in cerebral dysgenesis; fetal stroke resulting intracranial hemorrhage, and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. The several causes of cerebral palsy include complications before birth. Such complications may include genetic mutations resulting in cerebral dysgenesis, maternal or fetal infections resulting in encephalomalacia and intra-utero vascular thrombosis (intrauterine strokes). Complications during delivery may result in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. After birth, CP can be the result of non-accidental trauma, encephalitis or meningitis due to any number of infectious or toxic agents.
There are generally three types of cerebral palsy, namely ataxic which includes lack of muscle coordination, spastic, which includes tighter muscles and exaggerated reflexes and movements, i.e. dyskinetic movements, which includes slow and uncontrollable withering. Spastic cerebral palsy is further defined as spastic diplegia and spastic quadriplegia.
Dysarthria is a neurogenic speech disorder that causes dysfunctional speech musculature, that is, tongue, lips, soft palate, facial muscles and larynx. There is low muscle tone or even paralysis of the speech muscles that coordinate with the speech functions. Children suffering from dysarthria are characterized by early sucking, chewing and swallowing problems. Many children "drool" for a long time and continue eating soft foods as they are easy to digest. These children also gag and choke frequently. Dysarthria can be classified as mild-to-moderate, wherein the patient slurs at least some words and, at best, can be understood with some difficulty; or severe, wherein the patent's speech is so slurred as to be unintelligible. Cerebral palsy is a cause of dysarthria. One speech impairment secondary to cerebral palsy is dysarthric speech. Non-bilabial speech is considered to be severe dysarthric speech. Dysarthria is one of the speech impairments treated by the present invention.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that conventional speech and language therapy for children with cerebral palsy might somewhat improve their communication skills. The NIH summarizes the status of speech muscular therapy attempts to treat cerebral palsy, impaired speech or attempts that can include ways of enhancing natural forms of communication, introducing aids such as symbol charts or devices with synthetic speech, and training communication partners. The NIH finds some weak evidence that speech and language therapy might help children with CP, but more research is needed.
Intensive speech and language therapy over the course of several weeks, such as disclosed in Intensive Speech and Language Therapy for Older Children with Cerebral Palsy; a Systems Approach, Pennington et al., Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology; 2010, 52: 337-344, reports at best a 14% to 16% improvement in the number of single or multiple word responses.
Various mechanical and electro-mechanical devices including electrodes are disclosed in the prior art for treating cerebral palsy impaired speech in children. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,553, issued May 25, 1993 to Light; and US2006/0161218, published Jul. 20, 2006 to Danilov, Such treatments have had limited improvement in cerebral palsy impaired speech.
The art related to treating a speech impairment secondary to cerebral palsy in children desires a treatment that readily and substantially diminishes the impairment. The art also desires a treatment as aforesaid wherein the improvement in speech persists without the need for continuous treatment. The present invention accordingly provides a solution.

Treatment of cerebral palsy impaired speech in children


A device implantable into a blood vessel having a filter to prevent particles from passing into a blood vessel, and having bows extending from a horizontal plain of the device, such bows to hold such device in place in a blood vessel.

Particles such as emboli may form, for example, as a result of the presence of particulate matter in the bloodstream. Particulate matter may originate from for example a blood clot occurring in the heart. The particulate may be a foreign body, but may also be derived from body tissues. For example, atherosclerosis, or hardening of the blood vessels from fatty and calcified deposits, may cause particulate emboli to form. Moreover, clots can form on the luminal surface of the atheroma, as platelets, fibrin, red blood cells and activated clotting factors may adhere to the surface of blood vessels to form a clot.
Blood clots or thrombi may also form in the veins of subjects who are immobilized, particularly in the legs of bedridden or other immobilized patients. These clots may then travel in the bloodstream, potentially to the arteries of the lungs, leading to a common, often-deadly disease called pulmonary embolus. Thrombus formation, and subsequent movement to form an embolus, may occur in the heart or other parts of the arterial system, causing acute reduction of blood supply and hence ischemia. The ischemic damage often leads to tissue necrosis of organs such as the kidneys, retina, bowel, heart, limbs, brain or other organs, or even death. Since emboli are typically particulate in nature, various types of filters have been proposed in an attempt to remove or divert such particles from the bloodstream before they can cause damage to bodily tissues.


The present invention has an object of providing a connection structure capable of easily connecting an LED component to a flat cable. An LED unit 1 includes an upper case 7, a pierce terminal 6, a lower case 9 and an intermediate terminal 5. An LED chip 3 is pressed to the pierce terminal 6 by a convexed spring 51 to electrically connect the LED chip 3 to the flat cable 100. Conductors 101 included in the flat cable 100 are formed of phosphor bronze formed of tin (Sn), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu) and unavoidable impurities and having a tensile strength of 480 to 550 MPa, whereas a pierce plate 63 of the pierce terminal 6 piercing through the conductor 101 is formed of a copper alloy, which is a high strength conductive member having a higher strength than that of the conductor 101 and having conductivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection structure for connecting an LED component usable for, for example, an illumination device or the like of a vehicle to a flat cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, an electronic component-mounted module including a plurality of electronic components mounted on a printed board is used for various types of control units, illumination devices, or the like of automobiles. For example, such an electronic component-mounted module includes the electronic components mounted on the board by solder connection, and the electronic component-mounted module is connected to an external electric circuit by a connector having a terminal connected to the board by soldering (see Patent Document 1).
The electronic components and the circuit conductor are connected to each other by soldering. This involves a problem that for connecting an LED component, which is more and more decreasing in size such as an LED chip having a planar size of, for example, 2 mm×2 mm, a great amount of facility investment and highly precise quality control are required.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-111435

Connection structure connecting an LED component


An atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry system has an atmospheric pressure ionization chamber for ionizing a sample, an evacuated intermediate evacuation chamber into which generated ions are introduced through a capillary tube, and a vacuum chamber further downstream therefrom into which ions are introduced for mass separation. A partition wall separating the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber from the intermediate evacuation chamber includes a small orifice having a diameter corresponding to an internal channel diameter of the capillary tube. The capillary tube is detachably installed on the partition wall so that an outlet end of the capillary tube abuts on the small orifice. The internal channel of the capillary tube is in communication with the small orifice. The capillary tube can be installed and removed from the system without breaching the vacuum.

The present invention relates to a mass spectrometer system that includes an atmospheric pressure ionization interface suited for use in combination with a liquid chromatograph, i.e., as a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer.
A mass spectrometer (hereinafter referred to as "MS") is occasionally used in combination with a liquid chromatograph, as a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (hereinafter referred to as LC/MS). In an LC/MS, the components of a sample separated by liquid chromatography are introduced into the MS for mass spectrometry. In order to perform mass spectrometry, an interface is required to ionize the separated components. In recent years, a method of performing ionization under atmospheric pressure, such as an electrospray interface or an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interface, has been generally employed as the interface for an LC/MS.
The mass spectrometer located downstream from such an interface is generally operated under a high vacuum condition. Accordingly, an LC/MS employing the atmospheric pressure ionization method usually comprises an atmospheric pressure ionization chamber for ionizing the liquid introduced from the liquid chromatograph unit under atmospheric pressure, and an intermediate evacuation chamber disposed between that and the mass spectrometry chamber with a built-in mass spectrometer. Evacuation systems are disposed in the intermediate evacuation chamber and the higher vacuum evacuation chamber downstream therefrom so that the degree of vacuum increases gradually from the upstream to the downstream chambers.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of one example of such a conventional LC/MS.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a liquid chromatograph unit, 20 denotes a mass spectrometry unit, and 10 denotes an interface unit that couples the two.
The liquid eluting from the liquid chromatograph unit 1 is atomized in the interface unit 10 and sprayed from a nozzle 14 into the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber 15 where the sample component molecules contained in the elution are ionized. The ions generated are led through a capillary tube 11 to a roughly evacuated intermediate evacuation chamber 21, where the ions are converged by a convergent lens 24, and sent to a higher vacuum second intermediate evacuation chamber 22, where they are converted into a beam by an ion lens 25.
The ions are then introduced into the mass spectrometry chamber 23, which is maintained under an even higher vacuum, and sent to a central space in a quadrupole filter 26 composed of four rod electrodes. A voltage, with an AC voltage superimposed on a DC voltage, is applied to the quadrupole filter 26. Only the ions having a specific mass number (more precisely, mass-to-charge ratio) that corresponds to the voltage pass through the quadrupole filter 26 and reach the ion detector 27. At the ion detector 27, the current in correspondence with the number of ions reached is taken out as an output signal.
The capillary tube 11 is disposed through the partition wall 16, which separates the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber 15 from the intermediate evacuation chamber 21, so that the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber 15 is in communication with the intermediate evacuation chamber 21 only through the capillary tube 11. Accordingly, a portion of the gas present in the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber 15 flows through the capillary tube 11 into the evacuated intermediate evacuation chamber 21.
The capillary tube 11 constitutes a desolvating unit 12 in conjunction with a heating block 12a fitted around the tube. The desolvating unit 12 functions as a means for removing solvent components contained in the charged particles generated in the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber 15. In other words, a portion of the charged particles sprayed from the nozzle 14 is caused to flow into the capillary tube 11 due to the pressure difference between the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber 15 and the intermediate evacuation chamber 21, and is heated by the heating block 12a, thereby promoting the desolvating process as the particles are introduced into the intermediate evacuation chamber 21.
Non-volatile components of the samples analyzed or inorganic salts from the liquid mobile phases used can accumulate inside the capillary tube 11. Thus, the capillary tube requires periodic maintenance that entails removal for cleaning or replacement. In order to reduce the down time for carrying out such maintenance, there has been made available a system, which includes an isolation gate 13 disposed on the partition wall 16, as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 3, to allow for the removal of the capillary tube 11 without lowering the degree of vacuum. An isolation gate is generally an opening that is formed for placing or removing an object through a partition wall of a vacuum chamber. In this instance, the capillary tube 11 is detachably inserted through the isolation gate 13, which is constructed so as to automatically close the opening when the capillary tube 11 is pulled out.
FIG. 4 illustrates one example of such a conventional self-closing isolation gate 13. In FIG. 4, the isolation gate 13 is constructed integrally with the heating block 12a, and the left side of the partition wall 16 is maintained at atmospheric pressure and the right side is maintained at an approximate vacuum. The capillary tube 11 is inserted through the heating block 12. In the state shown, the ball 33 is pushed up by the capillary tube 11. When the capillary tube 11 is pulled out to the left, the ball 33 is dropped by the force of the spring 34 so as to block the hole created after the capillary tube 11 is removed. See, for example, the disclosure of Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-198006.
Reference numeral 35 denotes a cover that prevents contamination from the particles being sprayed in the atmospheric pressure ionization chamber 15.
Such an isolation gate 13, as one example thereof is shown in FIG. 4, is a type of valve mechanism, and its complex construction can cause various problems. In addition, it has the shortcoming of reduced efficiency in transporting ions, since ions are dispersed in this complex valve portion. As shown in FIG. 3, moreover, the convergent lens 24 is often placed in the intermediate evacuation chamber 21 where the isolation gate 13 is located. Thus, the isolation gate 13 restricts the positioning of the convergent lens 24.
The present invention has been developed in view of the aforementioned problems. It is an object of this invention to provide an atmospheric pressure ionization MS with improved maintainability and utilization by omitting the isolation gate, and to improve the construction so as to enable the installation and removal of the capillary tube without breaching the vacuum.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention and the associated drawings.

Atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometer system


Disclosed herein are systems and methods for regulating network bandwidth by means of monitoring network traffic, predicting network loads, and scheduling traffic utilizing traffic reporting and bandwidth reservation mechanisms. These systems and methods may reduce network congestion and support more efficient processing by network applications. Traffic reporting may comprise broadcasting control messages to network nodes indicating appropriate times to send and receive messages. Network nodes may use traffic reports (e.g., control messages) to proactively regulate their use of the network. Bandwidth reservation may allow network nodes to do productive processing while waiting to send and receive data, and may decrease mean wait times. Reservations may be implemented in a synchronous or asynchronous manner. In an exemplary embodiment, the reservation mechanism may emulate a traditional stream socket API. Embodiments enabling enhanced TV applications to run more effectively over cable TV out-of-band networks are described.

With the continued proliferation of communications networks; from the Internet to cable TV, IPTV, mobile broadband, WiFi, and home networks; and an ever-growing demand for data to be sent over these networks; concerns about network congestion are becoming more pervasive. As fast as larger pipes can be provided, user demand threatens to fill them. Best-effort mechanisms for data delivery like those underpinning the Internet often prove insufficient.
Network congestion concerns may be particularly serious for narrow, asymmetrical channels such as the out-of-band (OOB) channel of a cable TV network. OOB cable channels are increasingly strained by requirements to handle traffic generated by enhanced TV applications such as those implemented using the Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) or Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) standards. Such traffic may include voting and polling data, user preference and statistics traffic, t-commerce information, and other data. Data delivery over DSL and mobile broadband networks faces similar challenges.
To address the problem of network congestion over band-limited networks, various approaches have been described. Some include: packet dropping (via "tail drop" or Active Queue Management), TCP congestion avoidance, Explicit Congestion Notification, window shaping, traffic shaping (i.e., packet delaying), Quality of Service (QoS) schemes, and related bandwidth reservation techniques.
What is needed are systems and methods for regulating network bandwidth to reduce congestion in a way that allow nodes to continue processing while waiting to send and receive data and without requiring long messages, excessive handshaking, or other QoS-type overhead.

Network bandwith regulation using traffic scheduling


A ferrule embodiment includes a ferrule having a number of optical fibers each having an end and an optoelectric power source to convert light traveling through at least one of the optical fibers into electricity to provide power to a component.

In optical fiber communications, optical fibers are often constructed from a number of sections each having an optical pathway formed therein. The sections are aligned end to end such that light passing through a first optical pathway section can continue traveling through the optical pathway of a second optical fiber section.
In theory, the ends are placed adjacent to each other and the light passes from one end to the next. However, in the field, the environment of the optical network can provide forces that move one optical fiber section with respect to another and, thereby, the transmission of light signals between the optical fiber sections can be attenuated or disrupted.
As such, typically, at least the ends of two adjacent optical fiber sections are attached to each other to help maintain the alignment of the optical pathway with respect to the two optical fiber sections. Connectors have been proposed that act to connect an end of one optical fiber section to an end of another optical fiber section. These connectors are generally referred to as ferrules.
Ferrules typically aid in strengthening and maintaining the alignment of the connection between the first and second optical fiber sections through use of a rigid or semi-rigid body structure. The added rigidity can be provided by shape or size of the body, or by the materials used to manufacture the ferrule. Further, ferrules are often designed to permanently or releasably attach to each other to stabilize the interface between the two optical path sections.
In some optical networks, components such as one or more lenses, mirrors, filters, and the like, may be used to change the light signal being transmitted through an optical pathway. Some components use electricity to accomplish their particular tasks. In order to utilize such components, electricity has to be provided to the location of the electrical component. This is accomplished through the routing of electrical wires from an electrical source to the electrical component.
The routing of these wires can be accomplished by running the wires from above ground directly to the location or by running the wires generally parallel to optical pathways, for example. In some networks, the electrical wires can be attached to the ferrule or incorporated into the ferrule structure such that each optical pathway section also includes an electrical connection section that connects one wire section to another to form an electrical connection. However, these designs include wires that add to the complexity of the network, may be broken during installation or in the field, and provide additional connections between network sections that have to be made.

Optoelectric power source for an optical network


A voice synthesis method is provided. The method includes: for each sound model of a plurality of sound models, performing a first matching operation on a user attribute and a sound model attribute of the sound model to obtain a first matching degree for the sound model attribute, and determining a sound model with a sound model attribute having the highest first matching degree as a recommended sound model; for each content of a plurality of contents, performing a second matching operation on a sound model attribute of the recommended sound model and a content attribute of the content to obtain a second matching degree for the content attribute, and determining a content with a content attribute having the highest second matching degree as a recommended content; and performing a voice synthesis on the recommended content by using the recommended sound model, to obtain a synthesized voice file.

Voice synthesis technology is one of important technologies and application directions in the field of artificial intelligent voice. By means of the voice synthesis technology, texts input by users or products can be converted into voice, and anthropomorphic voice can be output by imitating human "talking" through a machine. The voice synthesis technology can be applied in several scenarios, such as mobile applications, Internet applications, applet applications, and Internet of Things (IoT) intelligent hardware devices, and the like, and is one of main ways for people to interact with machines naturally.
Current voice synthesis systems can provide users with a variety of sound models, and various sound models can correspond to different tone features, accent features and the like. The users can select a suitable sound model and use the sound model to perform voice synthesis on the text to obtain a corresponding voice text by themselves. By this way, only a scenario in which a user performs selection actively is taken into account. However, no sound model is recommend based on user preferences or user attributes, and whether the recommended sound model is appropriate for the content is not taken into account as well. For example, a sound model for a deep and heavy tone may be not suitable for funny content, and a sound model for British English may be not suitable for an American drama, etc. Since it is difficult to ensure that a sound model is synthesized by applying a suitable match, a better user experience cannot be provided by means of existing voice synthesis systems.

Voice synthesis method, device and apparatus, as well as non-volatile storage medium

Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd


An object of the invention is to provide an information display device that displays information in a vehicle, can reduce the movement of the viewpoint of a viewer, and can obtain a large amount of image information. In order to achieve the object, there is provided an information display device that displays information in a vehicle and includes a first information display device that displays image information of a virtual image using reflection from a windshield of the vehicle, a second information display device that scans the windshield with laser light using a MEMS element to obtain a real image, and a third information display device using an instrument panel of the vehicle.

A so-called head-up-display (HUD) device that projects image light on a windshield of a car to form a virtual image and displays traffic information, such as route information or congestion information, and car information, such as the remaining fuel level and cooling water temperature, has already been known in, for example, the following Patent Document 1.
In this type of information display device, there is a demand for reducing the size of the device in order to provide an HUD device main body between the window glass and the steering wheel in front of the driver's seat.


A novel lubricant comprising a fluorinated graphene nanoribbon for a magnetic recording media structure is disclosed. The magnetic recording media structure includes a substrate, a magnetic recording layer for recording information disposed over the substrate, a protective overcoat layer for protecting the magnetic recording layer disposed over the magnetic recording layer, and a lubricant layer disposed over the protective overcoat layer and comprising a fluorinated graphene nanoribbon.

Conventional lubricants used for magnetic recording media applications, such as Tetraol, have problems associated with the presence of —OH end groups. These problems include clustering due to interactions between end groups, a thicker lube layer due to formation of inverted U-shaped structures, thermal decomposition at high temperature at the ether bond, and lube mogul formation due to high mobility and clustering.
Some of these problems associated with conventional lubricants are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates the end-group clustering problem due to interactions between —OH end groups and also the normal lubrication layer thickness on the disk. FIG. 2 illustrates formation of inverted U-shaped structures resulting from the attachment of the end groups on the COC surface. Additionally, for an HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording) system, in which the recording takes place at an elevated temperature, the surface adhesion may decrease, resulting in increases in lube mobility, lube mogul formation and lube decomposition. All of these problems contribute to a reduced reliability and performance for the hard disk drive (HDD).

Lubricants comprising fluorinated graphene nanoribbons for magnetic recording media structure


An audio amplifier configuration for a personal computer system optimizes performance in both the single-ended mode and the bridged mode. In a single-ended mode, as when the computer system user receives audio through headphones plugged into an external jack, a jack sense line is activated that switches into operation a power supply that is optimized for single-ended audio operation. In the bridged mode, as when the computer user receives audio from the system's internal speaker, operation is such that the audio amplifier is supplied by a power source optimized for operation in a bridged mode. In general, single-ended operation dictates that the audio amplifier power supply exhibit substantial noise immunity characteristics; whereas bridged-mode operation requires that the power supply be capable of supplying more demanding peak voltage and current excursions.

The disclosure relates to personal computer systems generally and, more particularly, to an audio amplifier arrangement that selectively switches between voltage supplies, the selection depending on the computer user's election to avail himself of a particular one of two or more available speaker systems that may include, for example, either the personal computer's internal speakers or externally connected headphones.
Computer systems in general, and personal computer (PC) systems in particular, have attained widespread use in providing computer power to many segments of modern society. A conventional PC system can usually be defined as a desktop, floor standing, or portable microcomputer that includes a system unit having a system processor and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, display monitor, a keyboard, one or more diskette drives, a fixed disk storage device and an optional printer. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these systems is the use of a system board to electrically interconnect these components. PC systems may be considered information handling systems that are designed primarily to provide independent computing power either to a single user or to a relatively small group of users, as in the case of personal computers that serve as computer server systems. Accordingly, such systems are intended to be inexpensively priced for purchase by individuals or small businesses. A PC system may also include one of a plurality of peripheral or I/O devices that are coupled to the system processor and that perform specialized functions. Examples of I/O devices include modems, sound and video devices or specialized communication devices. Mass storage devices, such as hard disks, CD-ROM drives and magneto-optical drives, are also considered to be peripheral devices. Computers producing multi-media effects, i.e., sound coupled with visual images, are in increased demand as computers become used for artistic endeavors, for entertainment, and for education. In addition, the use of sound makes game playing more realistic and helps reinforce knowledge and make educational programs more enjoyable to use. Digital effects and music can also be created on the computer and played through attached speakers without the need for additional musical instruments or components.
Of course, as the audio aspect of a personal computer's operation acquire increasing significance, the design and operation of the computer's audio system, which may be taken to include, at least, audio storage and playback components, audio amplifiers, and audio outputs (speakers), attracts concommitantly greater attention. As with other aspects of the computer design, design of the audio system is confronted with the often competing considerations of performance and expense. In addition, the PC audio amplifier must exhibit both quality and flexibility of performance.
Specifically, audio amplifiers, such as those used in a majority of portable computer platforms, are configured to drive both the high-power internal speakers in bridged-mode operation, as well as the low-power, noise-sensitive, headphone/line output paths in single-ended mode. In the bridged mode (also sometimes referred to as "balanced" mode), an audio speaker is typically coupled across two differential outputs of an audio amplifier. The bridged, or balanced, configuration has a number of advantages, salient ones of which are the maximization of available voltage swing across the speaker and the rejection of common-mode signals, such as noise or DC offsets. In the single-ended configuration, the audio amplifier provides a single output, and the speaker is (usually AC) coupled between the amplifier output and a reference potential, usually ground (GND). Because, as suggested above, PC systems accommodate both internal speakers and headphones, the audio system designer is required to elect to support both the modes equally, or to allocate a performance preference to either the bridged mode or the single-ended mode. Inasmuch as the audio amplifier operating requirements applicable to use of internal speakers are dissimilar to those applicable to the use of headphones, the design challenges are not trivial. For example whereas internal speakers may be expected to present to the amplifier an impedance of a few ohms, a headphone jack may present an impedance of several ohms up to thousands of ohms. Therefore the amplifier must be designed to supply greater current levels to internal speakers then to headphones. The current demanded from the audio amplifier power supply varies proportionally to the output power required from the amplifier. Simultaneous support of both modes, while maintaining noise immunity and optimal audio performance, necessarily is attended by increased system cost and complexity. Alternatively, if either mode is afforded preference over the other, then compromises must be encountered. A preference for the single-ended mode will result in excessive power losses in the bridged mode; conversely, a preference for the bridge mode will result in exacerbated power supply noise in the single-ended mode.
In the high-power bridged mode, the power supply is required to deliver large amounts of peak power to the audio amplifier. Therefore, to prevent unwanted power loss in this high peak current configuration, the supply path is optimized to eliminate, or at least minimize, series impedances. AC noise from the power supply is a less significant concern in the bridged mode because noise voltage appearing at the output of the power supply will be common to both the positive and inverting output stages and will, therefore, effectively cancel.
In the low-power single-ended mode, the ability to effectively handle large peak currents is no longer a concern, and focus is directed to power supply noise immunity. Unlike the bridged mode, in the single-ended mode, noise that propagates to the output stage via the power supply path will not be canceled and will appear as a differential voltage at the output. In addition, typical low-power, single-ended configurations, such as headphones and external speakers, represent situations in which output noise is more perceptible to the end user, and is therefore more objectionable.
System designers have exploited various methods of providing power supply noise immunity in high-current configurations. In one approach, the audio system power supply is optimized for peak current-handling capability. Only passive noise immunity, usually in the form of bulk or small bypass capacitance filtering of the rectified voltage derived from the AC power line, is provided. This approach is typified by the circuit configuration depicted in FIG. 1, which represents a single channel of a typical stereo implementation.
As may be seen in FIG. 1, the audio system of a PC may be generally represented as including an audio amplifier 10 coupled through an input capacitor C1 to an input signal. (The source of the input signal to audio amplifier 10 is not considered an aspect of the invention herein.) A typical implementation of a bridge-type audio amplifier 10 includes both an inverting amplifier 11 and a noninverting amplifier 12. The input signal, which may be provided by a preamplifier (not shown), is coupled both to input 121 of noninverting amplifier and to input 111 of the inverting amplifier. Output 122 of the noninverting amplifier is coupled to one end of speaker 20, and output 121 of inverting amplifier 11 is coupled to the opposite end of speaker 20. In this manner, speaker 20 is provided a balanced signal from amplifier 10, and the amplifier is said to operate in a balanced, or bridged, mode.
As shown in FIG. 1, amplifier output 112 may be coupled to speaker 20 through a switch SW1 that is driven by a jack-sense indicator 50. In general, jack-sense indicator 50 operates to detect the insertion of headphones, or an equivalent ancillary speaker system, into jack 40. Many implementations of jack-sense indicator 50 are available to those acquainted with the art. For example, jack-sense indicator 50 may simply operate to detect the impedance to GND present at jack 40. If headphones are not connected, then the detected impedance is high, and may be taken to approach infinity. If headphones are connected, then the impedance at jack 40 will be below some nominal predetermined threshold, say 100 Kohms. Jack-sense indicator 50 then responds by providing a logic-level signal at its output. In an exemplary embodiment, jack-sense indicator may provide a logic-level ONE when headphones are connected, and logic-level ZERO otherwise. Alternatively, jack-sense indicator 50 may be integrated into one device with audio jack 40. An example of such a device is commercially available from Foxconn International, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. In this approach, jack-sense indicator 50 is simply mechanical switch that is driven by headphones that are inserted into jack 40. The switch may be wired so that it connects to GND when no headphones are inserted, and connects through a pull-up resistor to a DC voltage (logic-level ONE) when headphones are connected.
The binary output of jack-sense indicator 50 is coupled to SW1 and determines the condition (open, closed) of SW1. The amplifier design arbitrarily assumes that headphones are not connected, so that amplifier output 112 is normally connected (that is, SW1 is normally closed) to speaker 20 through speaker connection 22. With SW1 closed, amplifier output 112 is connected to speaker 20. However, when headphones are connected to headphone/line out jack 40, jack-sense indicator causes SW1 to be driven open, and a signal path between amplifier 10 and speaker 20 is interrupted. Specifically, the connection between amplifier output 112 and speaker 20 is broken by SW1. Nevertheless, the connection from amplifier 10 to jack 40 is maintained from output 122 of noninverting amplifier 12 through a coupling capacitor C2. In this configuration, amplifier 10 is said to operate in the single-ended mode.
The operation of amplifier 10 is enabled by a voltage supply system 30. Voltage supply system 30 is shown to include a DC voltage source, VDD, that is derived from the AC power line (not shown). Voltage source VDD may, in fact, be generated simply by rectification of the AC power line, and by filtering the rectified voltage with a line filter capacitor. (It should be recognized, however, that the invention is not predicated on the manner in which VDD is generated.) Voltage source VDD is coupled to a voltage supply node 13 associated with amplifier 10 and is coupled from node 13 to both amplifier 11 and amplifier 12. In addition, voltage supply system 30 is shown also to include an undesired figurative noise source, VN, that operates additively with respect to VDD. For the pedagogical purposes of this Description, VN is intended to represent noise signals that may derive from any one or more of a number of ambient sources, or may represent the manifestation of a number of phenomena. For example, VN may represent unfiltered random noise that is present on the AC line. Additionally, VN may represent unfiltered ripple at 60 Hz, or some harmonic thereof, that results from rectification of the AC line. Further, VN may represent a contaminant signal of external origin, such as noise generated by the PC hard disk system. The point, however, is that VN represents a spurious, and undesired, signal that is ultimately coupled to voltage supply node 13.
It is readily appreciated, therefore, that the arrangement of FIG. 1 results in increased susceptibility to (especially low-frequency) power supply noise in the single-ended mode. Consequently, noise present at the amplifier voltage supply node 13, including but not limited to noise generated by the hard drive or power supply hum, will be coupled to, and therefore readily perceptible on, the headphone and line output paths.
An available response to the above-described problem may be had by the inclusion of a voltage regulator in series with the power amplifier supply path. Although this approach does provide some rejection of the random noise, VN, present on the VDD line, it is accompanied by a significant increase in system size and cost. In addition, the voltage regulator will necessarily limit output power in the bridged mode as a result of the attendant series voltage drop and likely current limitations.
Accordingly, what is desired is an audio configuration for a PC that tends to optimize performance in both the bridged mode as well as in the single-ended mode. In bridged mode, the power supply should satisfy high peak-power requirements. In the single-ended mode, the power supply should afford substantial noise immunity. The resulting design preferably provides the desired performance without serious penalties in area of system cost and complexity. In addition, the solution should be amenable to implementation through convential integrated circuit design techniques.

Power supply noise immunity for audio amplifier


A vertical load measurement device and a method for measuring a load at least partially supported by an axle of a railcar are disclosed. The measurement device includes a bearing adapter sized to be mounted between a load bearing member of the railcar and an axle bearing housing of the railcar. The beam member has a first end and a second end, at least one end being secured to the bearing adapter, and a midsection extending between the ends which supports the load applied by the load bearing member of the railcar. The midsection of the beam member is vertically spaced from the bearing adapter to allow deflection of the beam member in response to the load applied by the load bearing member. The vertical load measurement device also includes a sensor secured to the beam member which measures the deflection of the beam member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device and method for measuring vertical load that is at least partially supported by an axle of a vehicle such as a railroad car.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the railroad industry, it is frequently desirable to know the weight of a railroad car, and the load supported by each axle of the railroad car. For instance, in the railroad industry, the cost of a shipment may be based on the weight of the shipment. Thus, to ascertain accurate shipment charges, accurate weight of the shipment is required.
In addition, it is also advantageous to know the load of vehicles such as railroad cars because load limits of these vehicles are often exceeded. Overloading of a railcar can detract from the safety of the railcar since various components of the railcar, such as the axles, have limits to the load they can safely support. If the load supported by an axle is too great, the axle may become damaged or even catastrophically fail. Similar risks exist for other components in the load bearing system of a railroad car.
There are known devices for measuring the load of various vehicles such as tractor-trailers. One known method for measuring a load is to measure the strain on the load bearing components that is caused by the load. In particular, measured strain on the load bearing member varies depending on the load applied to the load bearing member. This measured strain can then be converted into a correlated load value to thereby provided a measured load that is supported by the load bearing member.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,083 to Boyovich et al. discloses a weight measurement apparatus for determining the weight of a load supported by the axles of a tractor-trailer. A load bearing member, such as a trunnion member, is coupled between a portion of the suspension of the tractor-trailer. The weight measurement apparatus disclosed includes a plurality of strain gauges that are positioned in the trunnion member such that they straddle the principle stress axis of the trunnion member. The measured strain is then converted into a correlated load measurement that is supported by the trunnion member.
However, Boyovich et al. does not disclose a load measurement device which measures the load on an axle of a railcar, or a load measurement device that can be modified for such application. The suspension components of a railcar is significantly different than the suspension components of a tractor-trailer so that the device of Boyovich et al. cannot be readily implemented in a railcar. In particular, the invention disclosed in Boyovich et al. requires a specially designed trunnion member which is integral to the suspension of the tractor-trailer, but generally not utilized in railcars. In addition, provision and fitting of such a trunnion member is expensive and thus, cannot be easily and cost effectively implemented in tractor-trailers already in service, much less in railcars having a substantially different suspension.
Therefore, there exists an unfulfilled need for an improved load measurement device that is adapted to measure the vertical load on an axle of a railroad car. In particular, there still exists an unfulfilled need for such a load measurement device that is economical to implement.

Axle vertical load measurement device and method


The injection molding apparatus includes a cavity mold formed with a cavity surface for defining a cavity in which a molten injection material is injected, a core mold formed with a core surface for defining the cavity upon engagement with the cavity mold and installed to be movable forward and backward to open or close the cavity by guidance of a guide pin, an injection unit for injecting a material into the cavity during an injection process, and an injection controller for controlling a hydraulic cylinder to move the core mold forward or backward and the injection unit to inject the material into the cavity.

The present disclosure relates to injection molding, and more particularly, to heating and cooling an injection molding apparatus.
The injection molding of a synthetic resin or metal is a manufacturing method of injecting a molten synthetic resin or metal between a stationary mold (a cavity mold) with a cavity and a movable mold (a core mold) with a core and then cooling the injected synthetic resin or metal to obtain a molded product in the form of a cavity.

Method and apparatus of injection molding using a heat-transfer enhancing layer


It is determined whether an i-th instruction is for a memory access. If the i-th instruction is the memory access, it is determined whether an address to access according to the i-th instruction coincides with an address that has been accessed by a first execution block. If the addresses coincide with each other, it is determined whether a cycle of a second execution block currently executing precedes that of the first execution block. If the cycle of the second execution block precedes that of the first executing block, a memory model is accessed. A necessary number of cycles for execution of a j-th instruction is added to the current number of cycles, and the address, a cycle, data, and a data size at the time of the current access (before re-writing) are written in a delay table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for cycle simulation for a large scale integration (LSI).
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as well as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU) in personal computers, an embedded type CPU has been shifting to multi-core type. To shorten developing time for a system LSI that is getting more and more complicated, it is important to conduct coordinated designing of hardware and software from an early stage of designing. Since simulation speed in the existing simulators is not sufficiently high, development of a high-speed software/hardware coordinated simulator has been demanded.
FIG. 1 is a schematic of an LSI model 1200 to be simulated. As shown in FIG. 1, the LSI model 1200 includes an execution block consisting of processor core models PE# (# represents a number), a peripheral block model PB. A cycle model is obtained by executing the LSI model shown in FIG. 1 by an instruction set simulator (ISS).
FIG. 2 is a schematic of a cycle model when the LSI model shown in FIG. 1 is executed by the ISS. PE# shown in FIG. 2 indicates an instruction execution time (the number of cycles) of the processor core model PE#. Similarly, PB indicates an instruction execution time (the number of cycles) of the peripheral block model PB.
C# shown in FIG. 2 represents the number of necessary cycles in a corresponding instruction execution time. For example, the number of cycles C0 represents the number of necessary cycles when a processor core model PE0 is executed. In the conventional cycle model shown in FIG. 2, the cycle is calculated by adding cycles, and by acquiring difference in a cycle term. Such conventional technologies are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H5-35534, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H4-352262, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-256267.
However, in the conventional cycle model shown in FIG. 2, instructions are executed serially. Therefore, the simulation time increases as the instruction execution increases. On the other hand, when each execution block is executed in parallel to reduce the simulation time, data are not correctly reflected to a memory model or a register model. Therefore, incorrect simulation is executed.
FIG. 3 is a schematic for illustrating parallel simulation. The simulation will be described using only the processor core models PE0 and PE1 to simplify the description. The processor core model PE0 is first executed as an execution block. The number of necessary cycles C0 in this case is assumed to be 100. At this point, data D1 is written at an address RegA of a memory model.
After the execution of the processor core model PE0 is completed, the processor core model PE1 is executed as shown in a diagram (B) in FIG. 3. The number of necessary cycles C1 in this case is assumed to be "150". The processor core model PE1 writes data D2 during the execution at the address RegA of the memory model that stores the data D1 in a 120th cycle.
After the execution of the processor core model PE0 is completed, the processor core model PE1 is again selected, and as shown in a diagram (C) in FIG. 3, the processor core model PE0 is executed. In this case, the number of necessary cycles in this case is assumed to be represented as C3. It is assumed that, during the term of C3, the data written at the address RegA of the memory address is read in, for example, the 110th cycle.
Although the processor core model PE0 is supposed to read the data D1 written at the address RegA in the memory model, the processor core model PE0 reads the data D2 written by the processor core model PE1 that has been executed earlier. Thus, incorrect simulation is executed.

Cycle simulation method, cycle simulator, and computer product


A roaster (1) and heating cover (20) thereof are disclosed. The roaster (1) includes a pot (10) and a heating cover (20) covered correspondingly thereon. An inner space of a cover body is separated into an installing chamber (2110) and a hot air chamber (2111). A first motor (22) and a second motor (24) are fixed in the installing chamber (2110). The hot air supply module (23) is disposed in the hot air chamber (2111), and a group of the reduction gears (25) is driven by the second motor (24). A stirring component (26) connecting the group of the reduction gears (25) is disposed in the hot air chamber (2111). Thus an inner space of the roaster (1) will be maintained for flipping the ingredients.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to roasters and, in particular to a roaster with stirring function and heating cover thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, heating devices of roasters on markets are usually provided on the cover body. The high-temperature airflow produced from the cover body is blown to ingredients disposed in the pot for heating continuously. Moreover, a roaster further has stirring function for flipping ingredients (such as French fries or corns) in the pot, thus ingredients in the pot can be exposed to the high-temperature airflow comprehensively to achieve uniform heating.
Stirring function of a roaster is performed through an actuating element that drives a group of reduction gears and a stirring blade to achieve flipping ingredients. According to the group of reduction gears of a roaster is mostly disposed at the bottom of the inner pot, and a linking mechanism is needed for connecting the group of reduction gears disposed at the bottom of the inner pot. At the mean time, an inner space of the roaster will be reduced.
In view of the above drawbacks, the Inventor proposes the present invention based on his expert knowledge and elaborate researches in order to solve the problems of related art.

Dry fryer with stirring function and heating cover thereof


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element having a front surface and a rear surface, a pair of heat sinks disposed facing each other so as to sandwich the semiconductor element, and attached respectively to the front surface and the rear surface, and a fastening screw fastening the pair of the heat sinks in the facing direction, the fastening screw having insulation property. Threads are arranged on at least a part of the fastening screw in an axis direction of the fastening screw between the pair of the heat sinks.

Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-056355 A) discloses a technology for transfer-molding a substrate on which electronic components have been mounted with sealing resin. A semiconductor device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of substrates, at least one of which has electronic components mounted on both surfaces thereof. The plurality of substrates is disposed in a stacked manner with a space therebetween. Further, this semiconductor device includes a supporting structure configured to keep the space between the substrates constant.


A broadband reflective display has improved reflectivity as well as a lack of haze or opaqueness when viewed from various viewing angles, a reduced drive voltage compared to conventional devices and an improved peak photopic reflectance. The broadband reflective display includes a plurality of pairs of substrates, a plurality of groups of alternating liquid crystal and polymer layers formed between each of the pairs of substrates, each of the groups of liquid crystal and polymer layers being reflective of different wavelengths of light.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a broadband reflective display and methods of forming the same. In particular, the invention relates to a broadband reflective display including a plurality of layers reflective of different wavelengths of light and methods of forming the same. 2.
Description of Related Art
Several types of reflective liquid crystal displays have recently been developed. Many of these reflective liquid crystal displays utilize liquid crystal-polymer dispersion technologies. Such displays are superior to conventional polarizer based displays for reflective mode operation.
An example of one type of such a reflective liquid crystal display is the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) display, which operates on the principle of electrically controlled light scattering. With this technology, liquid crystal droplets are embedded in a polymer matrix. In the off-state, the alignment of the liquid crystal droplets (symmetry axis) is random, resulting in an opaque, scattering film because of the mismatch between the effective refractive index of the liquid crystal with that of the polymer. Upon application of an electric field, the liquid crystal within the liquid crystal droplets aligns parallel to the electric field and the composite material becomes transparent. However, contrast ratios in the direct-view reflective mode are in the 5-10:1 range which are strongly cell thickness dependent. Further, the reflectivity of the polymer dispersed liquid crystal reflective display is only about 12 to 15%.
Another type of reflective liquid crystal display is the polymer dispersed cholesteric liquid crystal display (PDCLC), which operates on the principle of Bragg reflection. Such cholesteric liquid crystal displays have a contrast ratio approaching approximately 10:1 with a photopic reflectivity of 10-13% under ambient lighting conditions and peak reflectivity of approximately 40% at the Bragg wavelength.
Another type of reflective liquid crystal display is a polymer stabilized cholesteric texture (PSCT) reflective display. The polymer stabilized cholesteric texture reflective display uses a small amount of polymer additive in the cholesteric liquid crystal medium which assembles into a stabilizing network. Contrast ratios have been reported between 20-30:1 with 10 to 15% photopic reflection under ambient lighting conditions, and nearly 40% peak reflectivity at the Bragg wavelength. Similar displays have been demonstrated without the polymer with comparable performance.
A more recent type of reflective liquid crystal display is the holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal display. Such a display is reported in "Holographically formed liquid crystal/polymer device for reflective color displays", by Tanaka et al., as reported in the Journal of the Society for Information Display, Volume 2, No. 1, 1994, pages 37-40. Further developments by Tanaka et al. reported on optimization of such a holographic liquid crystal display in "Optimization of Holographic PDLC for Reflective Color Display Applications" in the SID '95 Digest, pages 267-270. This holographically formed polymer dispersed liquid crystal is fabricated using optical interference techniques to form planes of liquid crystal droplets at predesignated positions within the sample setting up a modulation in the liquid crystal droplet densities. The resulting optical interference reflects the Bragg wavelength in the offstate when the liquid crystal material directors encapsulated within the droplets are misaligned. Upon application of an applied voltage, the periodic refractive index modulation vanishes if the refractive index of the liquid crystal is approximately matched with the refractive index of the polymer, and all incident light is transmitted. The spectral reflectance of the display is determined during the fabrication process and can be chosen to reflect any visible wavelength. The above-described holographic liquid crystal/polymer reflective color display is formed with an isotropic polymer which results in liquid crystal droplets being formed during the phase separation. Because the polymer is isotropic, the molecules of the polymer are randomly aligned and the display device has visible opaqueness or haze when viewed from an angle due to the mismatch between the effective refractive index of the liquid crystal and that of the polymer that becomes enhanced at wide viewing angles. Additionally, this display device requires a relatively large drive voltage due to the liquid crystal spherical droplets. In particular, the voltage necessary to drive the display device is proportional to the surface-to-volume ratio of the liquid crystal droplets. Such spherical droplets have a surface-to-volume ratio of 3/R where R is the radius of the droplet.
U.S. patent application attorney docket No. JAO 34133, entitled "HOLOGRAPHICALLY FORMED REFLECTIVE DISPLAY, LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY AND PROJECTION SYSTEM AND METHODS OF FORMING THE SAME", the subject matter of which is incorporated herein in it's entirety, discloses holographically formed reflective displays and projection systems. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the full color liquid crystal display includes three holographically formed reflective displays, each being reflective of a different wavelength of light, which may be reflective of red, green and blue light, for example. These displays may typically have a 20 nm bandwidth for each color.
There is a need to provide a reflective display device that can operate at reduced drive voltages, has an improved reflectivity at relatively wide bandwidths, and a haze free appearance when viewed from different viewing angles.

Broadband reflective display, and methods of forming the same


A hand-held electric sealer having a detachable sealing module, comprises a casing having a module chamber located at the front end of the casing and a battery chamber beside the module chamber, a sealing module unitarily attached to or detached from the module chamber, and a press bar pivotally fixed at the rear end of the casing. Also disclosed is a detachable sealing module for use with the hand-held electric sealer, comprising a module cover plate and a module seat plate which form an accommodating space for receiving a heating mechanism, where the top portion of the heating mechanism protrudes from the module cover plate upon being biased by a spring secured in the module seat plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electric sealers and, more particularly, to a hand-held electric sealer having a detachable sealing module.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a hand-held electric sealer used for sealing a plastic bag, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,594 issued to Chang et al., comprises, among other elements, a casing and a sealing mechanism which produces heat for sealing plastic bags. The sealing mechanism is mounted in the casing and includes a heat-insulating base, a heating wire, two metal locating plates, a heat-resistant cover sheet, and a compression spring. The compression spring has a bottom end fixed in the spring holder located in the casing, such that the sealing mechanism is supported on the compression spring and can be moved up and down relative to the casing. However, in case the sealing mechanism needs to be removed and replaced because, for example, the heating wire has worn out, it is time consuming for the user to take away the relevant components from the casing and put them back into the casing, together with a functional heating wire. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved construction for the hand-held electric sealer so as to overcome such a disadvantage.

Hand-held electric sealer having a detachable electric sealing module