An upright space-dividing wall panel having an inner rigid frame. The frame is of an open ring-shaped construction utilizing detachable corner gusset structures for rigidly joining the transverse frame rails together, thereby providing the frame with a high degree of flexibility with respect to assembly thereof.

Prefabricated upright wall panels which serially connect in aligned and/or transverse relation for defining interior space-dividing walls are extensively utilized, particularly in offices and the like, for dividing large areas into smaller working areas. Such upright wall panels, in one conventional construction, employ an interior frame which is frequently a hollow ring-shaped rectangle which is defined by top and bottom horizontal frame elements or rails which extend between and are rigidly joined, typically by welding, to adjacent ends of a pair of upright frame rails. The interior frame is typically covered on the exterior side faces thereof by one or more cover pads, the latter being permanently or detachably carried on the frame. While panels employing a rigid interior frame defined by frame rails which are permanently fixed to one another, for example welded to one another, provide a durable construction, nevertheless such construction is suitable solely for manufacture at the factory, and is not suitable for a construction wherein the wall panels can be shipped in a knock-down condition and then assembled at the job site. Further, such rigid frame constructions do not readily permit features of the wall panel, such as the panel width, to be readily modified or adapted at the job site.
Further, in constructions involving separate corner structures for joining transverse rails or frame members together, the joining structures have lacked desired structural rigidity and/or convenience of use.
Examples of known constructions are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,280,361, 2,321,391, 3,669,479, 4,069,638, 4,072,433, 5,116,161, 5,535,898, 5,778,612 and 6,032,980.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved upright space-dividing wall panel, and specifically an inner rigid frame for such panel, which frame is of an open ring-shaped construction utilizing detachable corner gusset structures for rigidly joining the transverse frame rails together, whereby the frame provides a high degree of flexibility with respect to permitting assembly of the frame and of the wall panel either in the factory or at the job site. The frame in addition permits the panel to be more readily modified at the job site by permitting disassembly of the frame and modification thereof if desired.
In the improved wall panel frame of the present invention, the frame utilizes detachable gussets which cooperate with the joined frame rails so as to exert pressure which tends to draw the frame rails together and into engagement with the gusset during application and securement of the gusset to the rails, thereby resulting in a frame having a high degree of strength and rigidity, while at the same time avoiding the use of permanent connections such as welding and the like.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with constructions of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words "upwardly", "downwardly", "rightwardly" and "leftwardly" will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words "upward" or "top" will have reference to positions and directions associated with the upper portion of the panel frame when the wall panel is disposed in its normal upright use orientation, and similarly the words "downward" and "bottom" will have reference to locations and directions associated with the lower portion of the panel frame as normally disposed in close proximity to a supporting surface such as a floor. The words "inward" and "outward" will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the panel frame and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.


Methods and apparatus to provide per die voltage programming for energy efficient integrated circuit (IC) operation are described. In some embodiments, the voltage potential supplied to an IC component is lowered below a peak performance voltage level, e.g., to reduce power consumption by the component. Other embodiments are also described.

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of electronics. More particularly, some embodiments of the invention relate to per die voltage programming that may provide energy efficient integrated circuit (IC) operation.
As integrated circuit fabrication technology improves, manufacturers are able to integrate additional functionality onto a single silicon substrate. As the number of these functionalities increases, however, so does the number of components on a single IC chip. Additional components add additional signal switching, in turn, generating more heat. The additional heat may damage an IC chip by, for example, thermal expansion. Also, the additional heat may limit usage locations and/or applications of a computing device that includes such chips. For example, a portable computing device may solely rely on battery power. Hence, as additional functionality is integrated into portable computing devices, the need to reduce power consumption becomes increasingly important, for example, to maintain battery power for an extended period of time. Non-portable computing systems also face cooling and power generation issues as their IC components use more power and generate more heat.

Per die voltage programming for energy efficient integrated circuit (IC) operation


A process for enriching and separating polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) acyl groups in a fatty acid mixture, which mixture contains other non-PUFA fatty acid acyl groups, is disclosed.

A fatty acid glyceride is an ester of glycerol and one, two, or three fatty acids. If only one OH group of the glycerol is esterified with a fatty acid, the ester is known as a monoglyceride. If two OH groups of the glycerol are each esterified with a fatty acid, the ester is known as a diglyceride. If all three OH groups of the glycerol are each esterified with a fatty acid, the ester is known as a triglyceride.
In the context of the present invention, the initials "PUFA" stand for "polyunsaturated fatty acid", i.e. a fatty acid which is at least tri-unsaturated.
An omega-3-fatty acid is an at least tri-unsaturated fatty acid and is thus a PUFA. An omega-3-fatty acid has a double bond between the third and fourth carbon atoms counting from the methyl end, the methyl C atom being counted as the first C atom. Special omega-3-fatty acids are EPA ((all-Z)-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA ((all-Z)-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid).
In the prior art, PUFA glycerides, i.e. glycerides in which PUFA acyl groups make up a large proportion of all the fatty acyl groups present, are produced in particular by one of the following two processes:                (1) transesterification of fish oil to ethyl esters, enrichment of the PUFAs by distillation and re-synthesis to glycerides. The triglyceride synthesis is generally carried out enzymatically.        (2) selective hydrolysis to fish oils to enrich the PUFAs in the glycerides and purification of the PUFA glyceride by distillation. The selective hydrolysis is generally carried out enzymatically.
Process (1), the enzymatic triglyceride synthesis, is described, for example, in EP-A 0 528 844.
Process (2) or the selectivity of lipases for PUFAs in the hydrolysis of glycerides is disclosed in several patent applications, cf. for example WO 97/19601, WO 95/24459, WO 96/37586, WO 96/37587, EP-A 0 741 183, WO 96/26287, WO 00/73254, WO 04/043894, WO 00/49117 and WO 91/16443.
The following is known from the prior art on enzyme selectivities for PUFAs. Most lipases and phospholipases have a negative selectivity for PUFAs by comparison with other fatty acids typically present in vegetable and fish oils. By "negative selectivity" is meant that the lipases hydrolytically split off the other fatty acid groups from glycerides more rapidly than the PUFA acyl groups. Accordingly, the enzymatic enrichment of PUFAs generally proceeds via a modification of the other "non-PUFA" fatty acids. This can be done by esterification, transesterification, or hydrolysis of esters.
Negative selectivities for PUFAs are described, for example, for Candida and Mucor lipases. Some enzymes, for example, those isolated from cold water fish, have a positive selectivity for PUFAs.
The microfungus Thermomyces lanugenosus was formerly known as Humicola lanuginosa. For this reason, there are a large number of scientific treatises on lipase from Thermomyces under the name of Humicola. The lipase from Thermomyces is distinguished in particular by an activity optimum in the alkaline pH range and by high stability, even at a pH of 12 to 13. The enzyme is used in detergents. The articles Biotechnology and Bioengineering 48 (1), 1995; pages 78-88 and Biotechnology and Bioengineering 48 (3), 1995; pages 190-196 provide a good overview of the properties of Thermomyces lipase.
Lipase from Thermomyces lanugenosus is commercially obtainable, for example, as a liquid preparation with the name Lipozym® TL 100 L or Lipolase® 100 L, from Novozymes A/S, Bagsvaerd, Denmark.
The other lipases used in the following Examples are also commercially obtainable. The lipase from Geotrichum candidum was self-produced.
In the following, U stands for "unit" and is an indication of the activity of enzymes. 1 U is the reaction of 1 μmol substance per minute under certain, defined reaction conditions.
Determining the activity of lipase from Thermomyces lanugenosus is carried out as follows (for Novozymes A/S by the method for Lipozym® and Lipolase®): the release of butyric acid from glycerol tributyrate is determined at 30° C./pH 7. A 0.16 M tributyrin solution is used for this purpose and butyric acid is titrated with NaOH at a constant pH. 1 unit corresponds to the activity which releases 1 μmol butyric acid from tributyrin per minute.
Fish oils consist essentially of triglycerides containing a mixture of saturated, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, more particularly with a high proportion of 5×- and 6×-unsaturated fatty acids, which may be used as a health-promoting food supplement. Since the highly unsaturated fatty acids in particular are health-promoting, there is an advantage in enriching them. This can be done, for example, by selective removal of the non-highly unsaturated fatty acids from the triglycerides, for example through selective enzymatic hydrolysis with lipases.
TABLEtypical fatty acid compositions of various oilsTypical composition of the main constituents of food fats(1 = dairy fat; 2 = porcine tallow, 3 = bovine tallow,4 = sunflower oil, 5 = soybean oil, 6 = olive oil,7 = rapeseed oil, 8 = palm oil, 9 = sardine oil,10 = tuna oil, 11 = hydrogenatedvegetable oil (sunflower) are described as follows.Fatty acid1234567891011C4:03C6:0-C10:05C12:03C14:010341173C16:0332430410114391821<10C16:1433106C18:098224421536>90C18:126463823227559451519C18:2283645392282C18:318101C20:5177C22:6924
Owing to their large number of double bonds, PUFAs are highly temperature- and oxidation-sensitive. Isomers can easily be formed through migration of the double bonds while peroxides and polymers can easily be formed through oxidation. Where polyunsaturated fatty acids are used in food supplements and pharmaceutical products, it is important to avoid such secondary products in the production process. Particularly in the production of highly enriched PUFAs from fish oils, which are particularly interesting, for example, for administration in the form of capsules, a loss of quality of the end product rapidly occurs through thermal enrichment processes.
A typical working-up process known from the prior art is the distillation-based fractionation of, generally, PUFA ethyl esters which are obtained from the fish oils by chemical transesterification. In this process, the PUFA esters are exposed to severe heat stress by—partly—repeated fractionation.
An alternative process is urea fractionation. Although this process does not involve significant heat stress, it is attended by a serious danger in the formation of toxic secondary products which contaminate the PUFAs.
An alternative method to the enrichment of PUFAs is low-temperature enzymatic fractionation. For example, PUFAs can be enriched in the form of their glycerides or their ethyl esters. The enrichment can be carried out by selective hydrolysis, selective synthesis, or selective transesterification.
However, after the selective enzymatic reaction, there remains the problem of separating the various fractions (for example fatty acid and glycerides) which, generally, are completely soluble in one another. The reaction mixtures from the enzymatic enrichment are generally separated by distillation in a second step. This separation also exposes the PUFAs to heat stress with the risk of a loss of quality.
European patent application 06023997 discloses a single-stage process for the production of zinc ricinoleate in which castor oil is hydrolyzed in the presence of suitable enzymes, preferably lipases, and at the same time reacted with zinc oxide in aqueous solution to form zinc ricinoleate.
WO 2005/007864 discloses a process for the production of carboxylic acid salts and, more particularly, a process for the enzymatic hydrolysis of fish oils in alkaline medium in the presence of calcium salts, the calcium salts of the PUFAs present in the fish oils being obtained.
WO 2005/00784 discloses that the most suitable enzyme for the alkaline hydrolysis of esters is lipase from Thermomyces lanugenosus. This lipase was specially developed for detergent applications and shows high activity at alkaline pH values. The lipase is capable of producing soaps (i.e. metal salts) from esters in a one-step reaction in the presence of, for example, Ca(OH)2 or Mg(OH)2. The soaps can then be isolated from the reaction solution by filtration.
WO 07/119811 discloses a method for production of a condensed PUFA oil, which comprises performing an alcoholysis reaction of a PUFA-containing oil-and-fat with a lipase in the presence of at least one compound selected from magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide and a small quantity of water and separating a glyceride fraction.
In principle, most enzymes are capable of catalyzing an ester hydrolysis under alkaline conditions, at least for a short time. Thermomyces lipase has the best price/performance ratio of all commercially obtainable lipases.
By way of the present invention, it has now also been discovered that Thermomyces lipase has a negative selectivity for PUFAs.
The use of alkaline hydrolysis for enriching PUFAs is also not described in the prior art.

Process for enriching polyunsaturated fatty acids


A first query and a second query, both of which were submitted by a first user to identify information that satisfies a single information need of the first user, are received. The first query and the second query are stored in association with one another and based on a chronological order in which the first query and the second query were submitted by the first user to generate a first query reformulation path. A query is received from a user and more than one query reformulation path is accessed. The received query is compared with queries included in the accessed query reformulation paths to identify a relationship between the received query and a query included in a relevant query reformulation path. One or more prevalent end points is determined based on the relevant query reformulation path and at least one of the prevalent end points is presented to the user.

The Internet enables access to large libraries of electronic content. For example, a user with a web browser may access a news site to learn about current events, or they may access a product site to research a new product. Alternatively, or to enable such access, the user may direct their web browser to a search engine for assistance in retrieving desired content.


The present invention 10 discloses a glove 11 having an elongated elastomeric base member 34 substantially positioned over the proximal thumb phalanx 30 having a plurality of pliable blade-like elements 28 whereby the wearer 23 of the gloves can extend the thumb 30 and in a single motion using the pliable blade-like elements 28, wipe the transparent visor portions 20 of eye protection devices 24 without totally obstructing the vision of the wearer. The elongated elastomeric member 34 is comprised of a plurality of pliable blade-like elements 28 exteriorly positioned on the glove 11 extending through an aperture 38 to a planar flange element 40 located between the exterior glove material 36 and the interior glove liner 14 providing structure 46 for fixedly positioning the elongated elastomeric member 34 to the exterior 36 and/or interior layer 42 of the glove by any structure 46 known within the art, such as, bonding, sewing or riveting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to gloves and, more specifically, to gloves having an elongated elastomeric member substantially positioned over the proximal thumb phalanx having a plurality of pliable blade-like elements whereby the wearer of the gloves can extend the thumb and in a single motion using the pliable blade-like elements, wipe the transparent portions of eye protection devices without totally obstructing the vision of the wearer.
The elongated elastomeric member is comprised of a plurality of pliable blade-like elements exteriorly positioned on the glove extending through an aperture to a planar flange element located between the exterior glove material and the interior glove liner providing means for fixedly positioning said elongated elastomeric member to the exterior and/or interior layer of the glove by any means well known within the art, such as, bonding, sewing or riveting.
The glove of the present invention is designed for snowmobiles, motorcycles, skiers, ATV riders, fireman shields and other persons wearing helmeted face shields or eye protection devices that may become obstructed due to weather or environmental conditions.
The hazards for the individual are exponentially increased when motorized vehicles are considered as they will project wet particle matter for considerable trailing distance. It becomes especially hazardous for riders of open trailing vehicle where the wet particle matter will accumulate on protective eyewear or face shields. Attempts to clean the transparent elements will often result in smearing the particle matter causing poorer visual conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other gloves having special features, some of them having vision clearing device designed for clearing goggles or glasses. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,553 issues to Howard on Oct. 4, 1977.
Another patent was issued to Sundberg on Sep. 30, 1980 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,692. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,213 was issued to Trumble et al. on Apr. 10, 1984 and still yet another was issued on Jul. 19, 1988 to Girard as U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,556.
Another patent was issued to Kamenske on Nov. 29, 1988 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,113. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,915 was issued to Keene on Jul. 18, 1989. Another was issued to Swan on Nov. 21, 1989 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,276 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 15, 1998 to Pajarola as U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,440.
Another patent was issued to Lenhart on Mar. 30, 1999 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,282. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,775 was issued to Missry on Jan. 18, 2000 and still yet another was issued on Feb. 1, 2000 to Andreu as U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,837.


Disclosed are a washing machine and a control method thereof. The control method of the washing machine, including two or more balancing units which are independently movable, includes sensing the weight of laundry to be washed while identically maintaining a phase difference between the two or more balancing units and rotating a drum, and reducing eccentricity of the drum while moving at least one of the two or more balancing units simultaneously with rotation of the drum.

In general, a washing machine treats laundry to be washed by rotating a drum accommodating the laundry. As the drum is rotated, vibration and noise of the washing machine occur, and particularly, vibration and noise of the washing machine becomes serious in a spin-drying cycle in which the drum is rotated at a high velocity.

Washing machine and control method thereof


In a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus, at least one flexible printed board for driving an LCD panel has input terminals and a dummy lead as an alignment marker. An opening is perforated at an end of the flexible printed board. A printed wiring board has connection pads to be connected to the input terminals and a dummy land as an alignment marker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus, and more particularly, to the alignment of a flexible printed board with a printed wiring board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an LCD apparatus is constructed by an LCD panel, at least one flexible printed board and a printed wiring board. The flexible printed board drives the LCD panel and has leads or input terminals. The printed wiring board has leads or connection pads to be connected the input terminals of the flexible printed board.
In a first prior art LCD apparatus, alignment holes are perforated in the flexible printed board, and alignment holes are perforated in the printed board. When the flexible printed board is mounted on the printed wiring board, the alignment holes of the flexible printed board are in alignment with the corresponding alignment holes of the printed wiring board, i.e., one of the alignment holes of the flexible printed board is superposed onto one of the alignment holes of the printed wiring board. In this case, the alignment holes are used only for alignment, not for reinforcing the mounting of the flexible printed board on the printed wiring board. This will be explained later in detail.
In the first prior art LCD apparatus however, since the alignment holes of the flexible printed board are perforated independent of the leads thereof, and the alignment holes of the printed wiring board are perforated independent of the leads thereof, a relative displacement error of the alignment holes of the flexible printed board and a relative displacement error of the alignment holes of the printed wiring board are superposed onto each other to create a large error of alignment.
In addition, after the flexible printed board is mounted on the printed wiring board, bending stress is applied to the leads of the flexible printed board, so that disconnections and cracks are generated in these leads.
In a second prior art LCD apparatus (see: JP-A-5-21515), an LCD panel is mounted on a glass substrate. Also, input terminals or electrodes are formed on the glass substrate and are electrically connected to the LCD panel. Also, dummy electrodes for alignment are formed on both sides of the series of electrodes. The width of some of the dummy electrodes is half of that of the electrodes, and the width of the other dummy electrodes is twice of that of the electrodes. This will also be explained later in detail.
In the second prior art LCD apparatus, an alignment along one direction is precisely carried out; however, an alignment along the other direction is impossible.
In a third prior art LCD apparatus (see: JP-A-5-346562), T-shaped alignment marks are formed on a first transparent substrate, and reversed-T-shaped alignment marks are formed on a second transparent substrate. In this case, the spacing between the alignment marks deviates stepwise at a prescribed size, so that the two kinds of alignment marks form slide calipers. Therefore, the first transparent substrate can be precisely in alignment with the second transparent substrate. This will also be explained later in detail.
In the third prior art LCD apparatus, however, the number of alignment marks required to form the slide calipers is large, so that a large space therefor is required. Thus, the alignment system of the third prior art LCD apparatus cannot be applied to the alignment of a flexible printed board to a printed wiring board.
In a fourth prior art LCD apparatus (see: JP-A-6-51331) fixed patterns are provided on both sides of the flexible printed board, and fixed pads are provided on the printed wiring board to correspond to the fixed patterns. The fixed patterns are soldered to the fixed pads, thus reinforcing the coupling of the flexible printed board to the printed wiring board. This will also be explained later in detail.
In the fourth prior art LCD apparatus, however, the fixed patterns and the fixed pads do not serve as alignment markers, and therefore, such alignment markers need to be provided which increases the occupied space of the flexible printed boards and the spacing therebetween.
In a fifth prior art LCD apparatus (see: JP-A-3-289628), flexible printed boards are in alignment with a printed wiring board by penetrating spacer elements therethrough, which are made of plastic or like. Then, the upper and lower portions of the spacer elements are caulked so that the flexible printed board are fixed to the printed wiring board. This will also be explained later in detail.
In the fifth prior art LCD apparatus, however, the operations for penetrating and fixing the spacer elements require time, thus increasing the manufacturing cost.

Liquid crystal display apparatus having dummy lead and dummy land for alignment


The specification describes a technique for solder bump bonding IC chips or chip packages to interconnection substrates. Epoxy prepolymer underfill is applied to the surface of the interconnection substrate prior to the solder bump bonding step. The presence of the prepolymer underfill material does not interfere with effective bonding. This technique reduces substantially the potential for voids in the underfill layer that tend to occur when the underfill is applied to a bonded IC chip/substrate assembly. It also enables curing of the underfill polymer in the same heating step used to effect thermocompression bonding of the solder bumps.

Solder bonding of packaged electronic chips to interconnection substrates is prevalent in the electronics industry. The most widely used forms of solder bonds are ball or bump bonds typically in a flip-chip assembly operation. The solder bonds form as pillars or beams that offset the joined surfaces with respect to one another leaving a gap therebetween. After the chip package is bonded to an interconnection substrate the resulting assembly typically undergoes further thermal cycling during additional assembly operations. The final assembly also is exposed to wide temperature changes in the service environment. The chip package is typically plastic, the interconnection substrate may be epoxy, ceramic or silicon. Both the material of the chip package, or the material of an intermediate interconnection substrate in the case where the solder bond interconnects interconnection substrates, frequently have thermal expansion coefficients that are different from one another, and are also different from the thermal expansion coefficient of solder. The differential expansion that the assembly invariably undergoes results in stresses on the solder bonds which can cause stress cracking and ultimately failure of the electrical path through the solder bond. To avoid solder bond failures due to mechanical stress, the gap between the surfaces joined by the bond is typically filled with an underfill material. The underfill provides additional bonding for the assembly and also protects the gap from moisture and other corrosive contamination. Underfill materials are adhesive and water insoluble. They are typically epoxy materials.
The underfill is applied after completion of the solder bonding operation. The underfill material is typically a polymer and is applied as a prepolymer liquid. Consequently, the viscosity of the underfill material as it is dispensed into the gap can be relatively low. The liquid prepolymer flows freely into the gap and, due to the relatively small gap in state of the art packages, flow is aided substantially by surface tension, and the liquid prepolymer is "wicked" into the gap. However, in some cases entrapped air, or incomplete wetting of the surfaces of the space being filled, inhibits flow or prevents wicking, causing voids in the underfill. Special problems arise with some package designs, e.g. microbumped packages, in which the solder bump pitch and the bump height is so small that the small gap resulting after the bonding operation cannot be filled consistently by relying only on fluid dynamics, and voids and bond failures are frequent.


The present invention is directed to a speaker using lightweight, highly rigid diaphragm having excellent frequency characteristic and improving resistance to environment (including resistance to UV and resistance to fading). For this end, the speaker utilizes a cone-shaped diaphragm made from foamed or cellular resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) resin with 30 μm average cell size. The use of such cone-shaped diaphragm is effective to improve sound quality of the speaker.

In conventional speakers, paper pulp, metal, polypropylene, etc. are normally used as the diaphragm.
These conventional diaphragms have various drawbacks. Those made primarily from paper pulp are not moisture-resistant, fade under normal environment and degrade in aging. Those made from metal are hard on the surfaces and have high Young's modulus of elasticity but encounter harmonic distortion due to split vibrations and poor processability such as adhesiveness. Those made of synthetic resin such as polypropylene (PP) or formed polyethylene are low density, poor rigidity and poor heat-resistant.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A seal with a primary axis lying in the radial direction so that the fluid bearing is primarily extending in the axial direction between the rotating shaft and surrounding sleeve is disclosed. The capillary seal is positioned with an opening adjacent an end of the fluid bearing gap, and comprises two walls which diverge as they extend radially away from the fluid bearing so that the fluid held in the radial capillary seal is maintained adjacent an end of the gap, while the size of the reservoir defined by the diverging walls provides a large reservoir volume. The seal uses an additional capillary defined by a narrow annulus between the rotating shaft and a seal wall end. The narrow annulus establishes very high shock resistance preventing fluid loss past the outer axial wall of the radially capillary seal, and defines a small surface area from which evaporation can occur.

Disc drive memory systems have been used in computers for many years for storage of digital information. Information is recorded on concentric tracks of a magnetic disc medium, the actual information being stored in the forward magnetic transitions within the medium. The discs themselves are rotatably mounted on a spindle, while the information is accessed by read/write heads generally located on a pivoting arm which moves radially over the surface of the rotating disc. The read/write heads or transducers must be accurately aligned with the storage tracks on the disk to ensure proper reading and writing of information.
During operation, the discs are rotated at very high speeds within an enclosed housing using an electric motor generally located inside the hub or below the discs. Such known spindle motors typically have had a spindle mounted by two ball bearing systems to a motor shaft disposed in the center of the hub. The bearings are spaced apart, with one located near the top of the spindle and the other spaced a distance away. These bearings allow support of the spindle or hub about the shaft, and allow for a stable rotational relative movement between the shaft and the spindle or hub while maintaining accurate alignment of the spindle and shaft. The bearings themselves are normally lubricated by highly refined grease or oil.
The conventional ball bearing system described above is prone to several shortcomings. First is the problem of vibration generated by the balls rolling on the bearing raceways. This is one of the conditions that generally guarantee physical contact between raceways and balls, in spite of the lubrication provided by the bearing oil or grease. Hence, bearing balls running on the generally even and smooth, but microscopically uneven and rough raceways, transmit the rough surface structure as well as their imperfections in sphericity in the vibration of the rotating disc. This vibration results in misalignment between the data tracks and the read/write transducer. This source of vibration limits the data track density and the overall performance of the disc drive system. Vibration results in misalignment between the data tracks and the read/write transducer. Vibration limits therefore the data track density and the overall performance of the disc drive system.
Further, mechanical bearings are not always scalable to smaller dimensions. This is a significant drawback, since the tendency in the disc drive industry has been to continually shrink the physical dimensions of the disc drive unit.
As an alternative to conventional ball bearing spindle systems, much effort has been focused on developing a fluid dynamic bearing. In these types of systems lubricating fluid, either gas or liquid, functions as the actual bearing surface between a stationary shaft supported from the base of the housing, and the rotating spindle or hub. Liquid lubricants comprising oil, more complex fluids, or other lubricants have been utilized in such fluid dynamic bearings. The reason for the popularity of the use of such fluids is the elimination of the vibrations caused by mechanical contact in a ball bearing system, and the ability to scale the fluid dynamic bearing to smaller and smaller sizes.
It is important to the long term life and reliable operation of a fluid dynamic bearing that the fluid level be maintained over a long term. However, the fluid may in many instances be jarred out of the bearing gap by shock or vibrations; further, variations in operating an environmentals temperatures may cause some evaporation of the fluid over the long term.
Most current designs of fluid dynamic bearing motors employ a capillary seal at least at one end of the bearing to maintain the fluid in the bearing. This seal which is typically established by having one of the two walls of the fluid dynamic bearing gap diverge from the other, thereby establishing a miniscus across the end of the fluid column in the gap, the seal utilizes capillary attractive force to retain the oil or other fluid within the gap; maintaining the fluid during non-operating shock and vibration events.
Because the gap progressively widens before terminating in the miniscus within the capillary seal, the capillary seal can also serve as an oil reservoir to provide for oil lost due to evaporation. However, the two functions, providing a seal and providing a reservoir are somewhat conflicting. A large reservoir requires a wide capillary seal gap; but the wider the gap, the lower the oil retention capability. As the height of a fluid dynamic bearing motor is reduced in order to use such motors in smaller profile disc drives, less space is available for the capillary seal. Therefore, it is desirable to make the seal as short as possible so as to maximize the height available for the bearings to support the relative rotation of the shaft and the sleeve. As the capillary seal becomes shorter, its volume decreases, reducing the oil available to make up for that lost due to evaporation or shock. A desirable seal would have a relatively large reservoir volume, and high shock resistance. If the oil volume were sufficiently large, lower viscosity (implying a higher evaporation rate) oil could be used, lowering the power loss due to viscous friction. If properly chosen, the lower viscosity oil would have a flatter viscosity versus temperature curve, resulting in a more efficient fluid bearing over the temperature range. Therefore, a large volume, higher shock resistant fluid reservoir which uses minimal axial space is a highly desirable design objective.

Radial capillary seal for fluid dynamic bearing motors


In accordance with the present invention, there are provided information recording media having a substrate and thereon a recording layer and a metallic layer, wherein the metallic layer is composed of an aluminum alloy containing (i) titanium and (ii) at least one metal selected from among chromium, niobium and magnesium. The information recording media thus provided are excellent in corrosion resistance and small in dependence of the recording power on linear velocity.

In information recording media such as magnetooptical recording discs having a substrate and thereon a recording layer and a metallic layer and capable of rewriting information, it is to be desired that the dependence of the recording power on linear velocity is made small so that the recording power for reproducing information used in said media does not largely vary with the inner peripheral and outer peripheral portions of the medium.
Usually, in the information recording medium such as the magnetooptical recording disc, a metallic layer is formed, in addition to the magnetooptical recording layer, on a substrate. The metallic layers which have been used so far in the information recording media of the type such as magnetooptical recording discs are composed of nickel alloys, aluminum metal or aluminum alloys containing 0.1-10% by weight of titanium. However, the metallic layers composed of aluminum metal or aluminum-titanium alloys had such disadvantages that they are poor in corrosion resistance and cannot withstand a long-term service.
The metallic layers composed of nickel alloys had also such a serious disadvantage that the recording power required at the time of writing information in the disc largely varies with the inner peripheral and outer peripheral portions of said disc, with the result that the dependence of the recording power on linear velocity is still large.
With the view of developing information recording media which are excellent in corrosion resistance or stability and which are small in dependence of the recording power on linear velocity, the present inventors prosecuted extensive researches to find that the information recording media having a metallic layer composed of an aluminum alloy containing (i) titanium and (ii) at least one metal selected from (ii) chromium, niobium and magnesium are excellent in corrosion resistance and small in dependence of the recording power on linear velocity. Thus, the present inventors have accomplished the present invention.


Resistivity ρ values of a lubricating oil are repeatedly determined at a predetermined temperature (range) as it is in use in a working mechanism such as a vehicle engine. Such accumulated properties over operating time of the working lubricant can be plotted graphically to display a curve with, for example, a first portion where dρ/dt>0, a maximum ρmax at a time t1 where dρ/dt=0, a second portion where dρ/dt<0, a minimum ρmin at a time t2 where dρ/dt again is zero, and a third portion where dρ/dt>0. Furthermore, there can exist another time t3, where dρ/dt exhibits a discontinuous change (increase) with time. Characteristics of the ρ vs. t curve, including, the values of t1, t2, t3, ρmax, ρmin, and the ratio ρmax/ρmin can be compared with like data on like lubricant oils in estimating the remaining useful life of the present operating lubricant oil.

Oils are used as lubrication fluids in engines for land vehicles, marine and air transportation, electric power generation and other internal combustion engine applications. Oils are also used to lubricate sliding contact surfaces in machines, and they are used as heat transfer fluids in various equipment applications. In many of these engine and machine applications, the oil is heated well above ambient temperatures in an oxidizing environment and subjected to high shear stresses which chemically degrade the oil. The oil may also be subjected to contamination from combustion or other external sources. Thus, the initial composition of the oil, that provided its specified lubricating properties, is gradually altered and its lubricating characteristics degraded.
One group of lubricants includes petroleum oils which are widely used in large volumes as lubricants in automotive engines and a wide range of other engines. Such petroleum oils, produced as refined distillation products of crude petroleum, generally range from low viscosity, with molecular weights as low as 250, to very viscous lubricants, with molecular weights up to about 1000. The physical properties and performance characteristics of such engine lubricants depend on the relative distribution of parafinic, aromatic, and alicyclic (naphthenic) components. Depending upon the engine application, these refined oils are formulated to contain special additives such as oxidation inhibitors, rust inhibitors, anti-wear and extreme pressure agents, friction modifiers, detergents, pour-point depressants, viscosity-index improvers, foam inhibitors, and dispersants for contaminants. Commercial engine oils are formulated to contain representatives of most or all of these classes of additives. Apart from petroleum-based or mineral-based lubricants, synthetic molecular carbon-containing and/or silicon-containing lubricant oils have been developed for automotive applications and other machine or mechanism lubricant requiring applications.
The development of lubrication oils is a sophisticated technology, but techniques for determining when lubricating oil, in use in an engine or other mechanism, has reached the end of its useful life are not so advanced. Typically, a fixed operating mileage, time, or an algorithm based on engine operating conditions is used as an indication that the oil is approaching the end of its useful life and should be changed. These indicators are usually specified to underestimate the remaining life of the oil so as to avoid damage to the engine or other mechanism. There is a need for a more accurate method for determining the remaining useful life of lubrication oil in a mechanism. Such a method would enable the useful life of the lubricant to be utilized without discarding the material too soon, and would avoid using the fluid too long to the detriment of the host machine or engine.

Determining quality of lubricating oils in use


The present invention relates to a neutral particle beam processing apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a neutral particle beam processing apparatus comprising a plasma discharging space inside which processing gases are converted to plasma ions through a plasma discharge, a heavy metal plate which converts the plasma ions into neutral particles through collisions, a plasma limiter which prevents plasma ions and electrons from passing through and allows the neutral particles produced by collisions of the plasma ions with the heavy metal plate to pass through, and a treating housing inside which a substrate to be treated is located, wherein the plasma discharging space is sandwiched between the heavy metal plate and the plasma limiter.

Plasma is a group of charged protons and electrons generated through a discharge, and is being widely used in treating a surface of a substrate in a semiconductor manufacturing process, such as plasma etch and PECVD (Plasma Enhanced-Chemical Vapor Deposition). Nevertheless, the plasma processing method had suffered from a disadvantage that the plasma is a charged particle. For instance, use of charged particles for etching often tends to alter etch profile, damage a circuit formed on the substrate, or lead to voltage gradients which may damage the surface of a substrate.
To overcome such a problem caused by the plasma processing method, systems using neutral particles are suggested. There are two main techniques to produce neutral particles from plasma. One is a charge exchange which produces neutral particles by collisions of the plasma with gas particles. The other is to produce the neutral particles by collisions of the plasma with a heavy metal plate. As an example of the former technique, Japanese patent Nos. 2,606,551 and 2,842,344 may be mentioned as a reference. However, the neutral particles produced through the charge exchange between the plasma and the gas particles had drawbacks that the efficiency of transformation to neutral particles is low and that the directionality of neutral particles and colliding frequency are hard to control. Therefore, the technique to produce neutral particles by collisions of plasma ions with the heavy metal plate is believed to be more desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,977 discloses a neutral particle beam processing apparatus for treating a surface of a substrate, comprising a plasma gun which produces plasma and directs the produced plasma to a predetermined direction, and a heavy metal plate which converts plasma ions to neutral particles and redirects the neutral particles to the substrate. The system has an advantage of solving drawbacks of the plasma, but is not suitable for treating the surface of a substrate having a size of 8 inches or more, due to a small cross section of the incident neutral particle beams.
WO 01/84611 filed by the present inventors discloses an apparatus for treating surfaces with neutral particle beams, comprising a high frequency electric power introducing part, a plasma generating part, a neutral particle generating part and a treating part that loads the target substrate. In the apparatus, high frequency electric power is introduced through the high frequency electric power introducing part, gases introduced into the plasma generating part are converted to plasma with the high frequency electric power, the plasma generated inside the plasma generating part are transformed into neutral particles through collisions of the plasma with a heavy metal plate, and the neutral particles thus generated are used to treat the surface of a substrate. An advantage of the neutral particle beam processing apparatus is a generation of uniform plasma that enables to treat targets with comparatively larger areas. Unpublished PCT application, PCT/KR03/02146, discloses a modified neutral particle beam processing apparatus that improves the conversion performance from plasma to neutral particle beams by forming inclined slits or inclined holes within the heavy metal plate to increase the number of plasma collisions to the heavy metal plate, and thereby improving the efficiency of surface treatment of targets. Herein, the inclined slits or inclined holes formed on the heavy metal plate guarantee the collisions of the plasma with the heavy metal plate and prevent plasma and electrons to reach the substrate. The neutral particle beam processing apparatus has advantages that, for example, a plasma discharging space guarantees uniform plasma generation with wider area, and that the effects caused by plasma ions and electrons unconverted to neutral particle is minimized, and that a highly directional neutral particle beams are produced. Nevertheless, according to the neutral particle beam processing apparatus, plasma sheath occurs within the inclined slits or inclined holes and interferes with the production of neutral particles. In other words, the direction of the plasma ions is interrupted by the imperfect sheath formed at the inclined slits or inclined holes and a large number of neutral particles from plasma ions is not reachable to the target.

Neutral particle beam processing apparatus


A method for producing a multi-pole cable connection includes disposing a plurality of contact elements in respective openings of a carrier element. A free end of each contact element protrudes from the respective openings and projects from a surface of the carrier element. The method also includes applying a flat sealing element to the carrier element so as to guide the sealing element over the free ends of the contact elements projecting from the surface of the carrier element, pressing the scaling element onto the surface of the carrier element. The method includes forming a contact of a plurality of conductors of a cable and the contact elements. The conductors are clamped onto the contact elements. The method also includes coating the contact with a potting material to form a component composite.

Multi-pole cable connections normally consist of a cable, which comprises a large number of conductors, and a connector part, which is arranged directly on the cable and in which the conductors of the cable are connected to contact elements to form a contact. The contact elements are arranged inside openings of a carrier element of the connector part, the openings being formed as through-openings so that the contact elements, which are connected to the conductors to form a contact, can each be connected with a mating contact element to form a contact, which can, for example, be fitted onto a free end of a contact element within a respective opening on the carrier element. A disadvantage with these cable connections is that they are generally susceptible to moisture or dirt and therefore their service life is generally reduced.

Multi-pole cable connection and method for producing a multi-pole cable connection


A piston seal is provided in a circumferential groove formed in a cylinder body. The piston seal is capable of sealing a pressure chamber, which supplies fluid pressure to a discharge passage, from a supply passage, which communicates with a reservoir. The piston seal comprises: an annular base portion; an inner circumferential lip portion projecting from an inner circumferential side of the base portion and being in slidable contact with an outer circumferential surface of a piston; an outer circumferential lip portion projecting from an outer circumferential side of the base portion and being in abutment with the circumferential groove of the cylinder body; and an intermediate projecting portion which is formed between the inner circumferential lip portion and the outer circumferential lip portion of the base portion and which is projected beyond the outer circumferential lip portion. Cutout grooves are formed on a tip side of the intermediate projecting portion. Therefore, when releasing air, a sufficient amount of brake fluid can be supplied through a gap between the piston seal and a bottom surface of the circumferential groove, and the cutout groove. As a result, the number of repetitions of an air releasing operation can be minimized.

The present invention relates to a master cylinder for supplying brake fluid to a brake apparatus of a vehicle.
Generally, a master cylinder of this type comprises: a cylinder that has a sleeve incorporated into a cylinder body and that is also provided with a discharge passage for and a supply passage for brake fluid; a cup-shaped piston (a plunger) which is slidably disposed in the cylinder to thereby form a pressure chamber between the piston and the cylinder, the pressure chamber supplying a fluid pressure to the discharge passage; and a piston seal which is provided between the cylinder and the piston and is capable of sealing a space between the supply passage and the pressure chamber. However, a cylinder formed by combining a cylinder body and a sleeve, such as the one described above, obviously requires more parts. Further, the radial size of the cylinder becomes larger, resulting in a larger overall size of the master cylinder. Therefore, it has been proposed to use a master cylinder in which a piston is directly inserted into a cylinder body without use of a cylinder sleeve (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,585).
In this master cylinder, a cylinder body includes a communication groove which opens into a circumferential groove and extends from the circumferential groove toward a closed end of the cylinder body, to thereby allow communication between a discharge passage and the circumferential groove. When brake fluid is filled into the cylinder body, a piston seal is opened due to a pressure difference, and the brake fluid is flowed into the discharge passage through a gap between the piston seal and a bottom surface of the circumferential groove, and the communication groove. However, in this master cylinder, the communication groove is located inward of the bottom surface of the circumferential groove, relative to a radial direction of the cylinder. Therefore, when brake fluid is filled, a negative pressure in the cylinder body acts on the piston seal. This causes an end portion of an outer circumferential surface of the piston seal to rise from the bottom surface of the circumferential groove and to adhere to a side surface. Under these circumstances, a flow of brake fluid into the communication groove through the gap between the outer circumferential surface of the piston seal and the bottom surface of the circumferential groove is obstructed by the piston seal adhering to the side surface. As a result, the supply of the brake fluid is restricted and a brake-fluid filling operation sometimes has to be repeated several times.


A computer-implemented method for transforming magnetic resonance (MR) imaging across multiple vendors is provided. The method comprises: obtaining a training dataset, wherein the training dataset comprises a paired dataset and an un-paired dataset, and wherein the training dataset comprises image data acquired using two or more MR imaging devices; training a deep network model using the training dataset; obtaining an input MR image; and transforming the input MR image to a target image style using the deep network model.

A common task for radiologists is to compare sequential imaging studies acquired on different magnetic resonance (MR) hardware systems. Because each manufacturer's images show different contrast or distortions due to different design considerations, this task can be challenging. Clinical imaging trials can be more challenging if multiple vendor scanners are involved. Therefore, it is desirable to transform MR images from the appearance of one vendor to another vendor, or to a standardized MR style.

Systems and methods for magnetic resonance imaging standardization using deep learning


A semiconductor structure is provided that includes a first FinFET device for low power applications and a second FinFET device for non-low power applications. The first FinFET device has an active fin height, i.e., channel height, which is less that an active fin height of the second FinFET device. The active fin height adjustment is achieved utilizing an isolation structure that has a constant height in the region including the first FinFET device and the region including the second FinFET device.

The present application relates to a semiconductor structure and a method of forming the same. More particularly, the present application relates to a semiconductor structure including a first FinFET (FET=field effect transistor) device for low power applications having a first active fin height and a second FinFET device for non-low power applications having a second active fin height that is greater than the first active fin height and a method of forming the same.
With device architecture switching from planar to FinFET, the minimum device width (Weff) has been actually reverse scaled due to the Fin effect (i.e., minimum width (Weff)/footprint). However, a minimum width device is required for logic circuits to follow the scaling trend for power reduction. Typical examples are latches and local clock buffers.
The most promising way to reduce power consumption of an on-chip clock FinFET device is to reduce the active fin height which in turn reduces the Weff. The prior art relies on providing an isolation structure that has a dual height in order to fabricate FinFET devices with different active fin heights. Such prior art requires a complicated integration flow in order to provide the dual height isolation structure and dual punch-through stop (PTS) implants are needed so as to reduce sub-Fin leakage.
There is thus a need for a method that can provide active fin height adjustment for minimum device width applications that avoids the use of dual height isolation structures and dual PTS implants.

Semiconductor structure including first FinFET devices for low power applications and second FinFET devices for high power applications

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and device for detecting defects of an electromagnetic protection for an electric harness (H). The device (D) includes elements (M1) for generating stimulating electric signals, elements (M2) for bringing the signals up to a predetermined power level, elements (M3) for applying the signals to the harness (H) and generating an electromagnetic field, elements (M4) for converting the electromagnetic field into thermal field and elements (M5) for detecting a rise in of temperature at a point of the electromagnetic protection defect (DF).

The present invention relates to a method and to apparatus for detecting electromagnetic protection defects in electrical conductors, in particular those referred to as "harnesses", namely bundles of electrical conductors that are hardened, i.e. shielded against electromagnetic disturbances, and that are used for electrically interconnecting various devices in a complex electrical installation that needs to function properly, even in the event of electromagnetic disturbances. Naturally, each electrical conductor, constituted by at least one electrically conductive.wire contained in a tube constituting an electrical insulator, may additionally include individual shielding giving it an additional level of protection against electromagnetic disturbances. By way of example, such harnesses are used on board aircraft, ships, tanks, etc. . . . .

Method and device for detecting defects of electromagnetic protection for electric harnesses

Universite Paul Cezanne Aix-Marseille III


An RF front-end receiver comprises a low noise amplifier and a local oscillator driver, which are connected to respective input ports of a mixer which comprises a first and second transistor with gates coupled to one output terminal, a third and fourth transistor with gates coupled to the other output terminal, a fifth and sixth transistor with gates coupled to respective output terminal of the local oscillator driver, the sources of the first and third transistors coupled to the drain of the fifth transistor, the sources of the second and fourth transistor coupled to the drain of the sixth transistor, the sources of the fifth and sixth transistor coupled to ground, the drains of the first and fourth transistor coupled to one output terminal of a mixer output port, and the drains of the second and third transistor coupled to the other output terminal of the mixer output port.

As current processes and technologies used in connection with the production of semiconductor circuits scale further into deep submicron levels, the reduction in gate oxide thickness requires that the voltages around a circuit have to be reduced as well. Hence, in recent years, designing important analog building blocks for lower voltage performance has become a primary concern. Furthermore, careful design of these analog building blocks in a lower voltage environment leads to reduced power consumption, which is extremely important in hand-held and mobile devices. Designing with a lower supply voltage for RF building blocks is all the more important, since the RF front-end of mobile devices has always been the culprit in terms of supply voltage and power consumption.
FIG. 1 on the appended drawing illustrates an embodiment of a known RF front-end receiver.
In a manner known per se, the RF front-end receiver in FIG. 1 comprises a low noise amplifier LNA and a local oscillator driver LOD, which are connected to respective input ports of a mixer.
The low noise amplifier LNA receives an RF signal RF and supplies it to one mixer input port and the local oscillator driver LOD receives a local oscillator signal LO and supplies it to the other mixer input port. From the RF signal RF and the local oscillator signal LO, the mixer generates an intermediate frequency signal on its output terminals IF+, IF−.
The mixer is a variant of a standard Gilbert cell mixer and comprises a transconductance stage and a switching stage. By means of mixers of the type shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to use lower supply voltages.
The transconductance stage comprises two transistors M1 and M2. The gates of the transistors M1 and M2 form the mixer input port for the RF signal RF and are coupled to respective output terminals RF+, RF− of the low noise amplifier LNA. The sources of the transistors M1 and M2 are interconnected to ground, and the drains of the transistors M1 and M2 are coupled to respective interconnected sources of switching transistors M3, M4 and M5, M6, respectively, of the mixer switching stage.
In the switching stage of the mixer in FIG. 1, the gates of the transistors M3, M6 and M4, M5, respectively, are interconnected and form the mixer input port for the local oscillator signal, that is coupled to the output terminals of the local oscillator driver LOD.
The drains of the transistors M3, M5 and M4, M6, respectively, are interconnected and form the mixer output port IF+, IF− for the intermediate frequency signal.
The mixer in FIG. 1 will operate in a balanced manner as long as the input RF signal from the low noise amplifier LNA is differential. Since the mixer is not fully differential, it will not provide any common mode rejection. Common mode feedback can be employed at the IF output port, but nonetheless the mixer will have a lower common mode rejection ratio than a standard Gilbert cell mixer. In order to maintain reasonable common mode rejection in the RF front-end, it is important that the LNA that precedes this mixer is fully differential.


A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) may include a source node, a destination node, and a plurality of intermediate nodes. The source node may establish a plurality of routes to the destination node for transferring data therebetween, where each route passes through at least one of the intermediate nodes. The source node may also encode a plurality of data packets using a forward error correction (FEC) encoding algorithm to generate error correction data for the data packets, interleave the data packets and error correction data, and distribute and send the interleaved data packets and error correction data across the routes to the destination node. Furthermore, the destination node may receive and deinterleave the interleaved data packets and error correction data. The destination node may also decode the data packets based upon the error correction data using an FEC decoding algorithm to correct compromised data packets.

Wireless networks have experienced increased development in the past decade. One of the most rapidly developing areas is mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). Physically, a MANET includes a number of geographically-distributed, potentially mobile nodes sharing a common radio channel. Compared with other types of networks, such as cellular networks or satellite networks, the most distinctive feature of MANETs is the lack of any fixed infrastructure. The network may be formed of mobile nodes only, and a network is created "on the fly" as the nodes transmit or come within range of each other. The network does not depend on a particular node and dynamically adjusts as some nodes join or others leave the network.
Because of these unique characteristics, routing protocols for governing data flow within MANETs are required which can adapt to frequent topology changes. Two basic categories of MANET routing protocols have emerged in recent years, namely reactive or "on-demand" protocols, and proactive or table-driven protocols. Reactive protocols collect routing information when a particular route is required to a destination in response to a route request. Examples of reactive protocols include ad-hoc on demand distance vector (AODV) routing, dynamic source routing (DSR), and the temporally ordered routing algorithm (TORA).
On the other hand, proactive routing protocols attempt to maintain consistent, up-to-date routing information from each node to every other node in the network. Such protocols typically require each node to maintain one or more tables to store routing information, and they respond to changes in network topology by propagating updates throughout the network to maintain a consistent view of the network. Examples of such proactive routing protocols include destination-sequenced distance-vector (DSDV) routing, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,654 to Perkins; the wireless routing protocol (WRP); and clusterhead gateway switch routing (CGSR). A hybrid protocol which uses both proactive and reactive approaches is the zone routing protocol (ZRP), which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,556 to Haas.
Despite utilizing different approaches to discovering the available data routes between a source node and a destination node in a MANET, one common feature most MANET protocols share is the fact that they typically select a single, designated route from among the available routes over which the source and destination nodes then communicate. The selection of this designated route is typically based upon one or more quality of service (QoS) factors, such as the available bandwidth, delay, etc. associated with the route.
Of the many challenges of transmitting data in the dynamic MANET environment, reliability of the wireless communications links which form the routes between network nodes may be particularly problematic. One device which attempts to address link reliability problems is the NovaRoam Series 250 and 350 Wireless Routers from Nova Engineering, Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio, which implements forward error correction (FEC) techniques to enhance communication link reliability. These routers apply FEC at the physical network layer, as is done in most conventional communications systems and networks. The FEC operates only over a single hop, that is, the decoding is done after each hop after receiving the transmission. Then, if another hop along a route is needed, the information is again encoded and again decoded upon reception by the next node.
While such devices may provide some level of improvement, they still may not provide sufficient error correction when certain events occur. For example, such events may include dropouts due to handover problems or even the loss of a route.

Mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) including forward error correction (FEC), interleaving, and multi-route communication features and related methods


The invention relates to a motor vehicle seat comprising a seat frame; a backrest, which is pivotably mounted on the seat frame and which may be folded forward in the direction of a seating surface on the seat frame; a longitudinal guide, along which the seat frame may be moved to adjust the seat longitudinal position in the seat longitudinal direction; a fixing device for fixing the seat frame in a seat longitudinal position; an operating element for releasing the fixing device, such that the seat frame may be moved in the seat longitudinal direction to adjust the seat longitudinal position; a coupling mechanism, displaceable together with the seat frame in the seat longitudinal direction, acting on the operating element and releasing the fixing device, when the backrest is folded forward; a memory device, by means of which, during movement in the seat longitudinal direction, the seat frame can be automatically retained in a pre-determined seat longitudinal position, defined as the memory position; adjuster means for the memory device, with which the memory position may be adjusted in the seat longitudinal direction and a locking device for the memory device, for locking an adjusted memory position. According to the invention, a first catch element which may be moved by the coupling device is provided, corresponding to a second catch element, provided on the memory device whereby both catch elements engage with each other to prevent movement of the seat frame in the seat longitudinal direction, when the seat frame is in the memory position thereof, the locking device is locked and the fixing device is not completely released by means of the coupling mechanism, but is already far enough released that a movement of the seat frame in the seat longitudinal direction is possible.

Seats of this kind comprise a seat frame, a seat surface provided on the seat frame, and a backrest which is mounted for swivel movement on the seat frame and which can be folded forward toward the seat surface, and are used as front seats in motor vehicles whereby folding the backrest forward makes it easier for a passenger to climb into the back of the vehicle or to place an object in the back of the vehicle. Climbing in is made even easier, which is particularly important in the case of two-door vehicles, if after folding the backrest forward the seat can be moved forward. For this the vehicle seat has the following:                a longitudinal guide with which the seat frame can be moved in the seat longitudinal direction for adjusting the seat longitudinal position;        a fixing device for locking the seat frame in a previously set seat longitudinal position;        an operating element for releasing the fixing device so that the seat frame can be moved in the seat longitudinal direction;        a coupling mechanism for coupling the fixing device to the backrest which acts on the operating element and thereby unlocks the fixing device when the backrest is folded forward toward the seat surface;        a memory device by means of which the seat frame during movement in the seat longitudinal direction can be stopped automatically in a predeterminable seat longitudinal position defined as the memory position whereby a stop dedicated to the seat frame and movable in the seat longitudinal direction enters into engagement with a counter stop of the memory device;        adjusting means for the memory device with which the memory position can be adjusted through moving the position of the counter stop in the seat longitudinal direction;        a locking device for the memory device for locking a set memory position and switch means with which the locking device can be unlocked in order to be able to adjust the memory position.
A seat of this kind known from WO 00/55002 offers on the one hand the possibility after folding the backrest forward toward the seating surface of sliding the seat frame, and thus the entire vehicle seat, forward in order to make it easier for a passenger to climb into the back (easy-entry function). At the same time the seat can then be very easily moved again into its original seat longitudinal position when this seat longitudinal position is stored as the memory position by means of the memory device provided for this purpose. In this case the seat frame on sliding back the seat is automatically stopped in the memory position whereby a stop dedicated to the seat frame interacts with a counter stop of the memory device.

Brose Fahrzeugtelle GmbH & Co KG, Coburg


A climbing tree stand includes a detachable, reversible seat assembly suspended from the body support structural frame. The seat assembly itself has a seat bottom portion and a back support portion connected to the seat and operable to bear against a transverse portion of the structural frame. A pair of straps attached to the bottom of the seat bottom portion carry hooks at their ends which hooks engage sides of the frame assembly so as to suspend the seat assembly below the frame assembly.

The present invention relates generally to climbing tree stands for use by sportsmen. More particularly, the present invention concerns a climbing tree stand having a reversible detachable seat assembly.
Tree stands in general, and climbing tree stands in particular are known which provide portable and elevatable observations platforms for sportsmen for photography, hunting, and elevated observation of wild life in its natural habitat. Generally, some sort of seat arrangement is provided on the tree stand to permit the sportsman to assume a seated posture which is plainly more comfortable than standing for long periods. Ordinarily, the known seat arrangements dictate whether the sportsman will face the tree or vertical support or face away from the tree or vertical support.
When climbing a tree, a seat facing the tree is advantageous since it can be used by the sportsman to ease the physical effort involved in jacking the stand up the tree. On the other hand, when in the elevated position, it is advantageous to face away from the tree since the tree itself tends to obstruct the field of view. There is, therefore, a tension between the two seat possible seat orientations that must be settled by the designer of the climbing tree stand. Moreover, when the orientation is selected, the sportsman generally has little opportunity to change the orientation. Even in those arrangements where a sportsman or user can change the seat orientation, it is ordinarily necessary to disassemble the seat from the tree stand so that the seat orientation can be changed. If that task is effected in the elevated position, there is considerable risk that fasteners or parts of the seat can fall to the ground, with the possibility that small parts are lost, and with the result that reattachment of the seat is difficult if not impossible until the missing parts are retrieved.
For example, in one known device, the seat comprises a board which is attached to a frame by bolts and wing nuts. To move the seat to a different position on the frame, the bolts and wing nuts must be disassembled at one position and reassembled in a new position. When done at an elevated location, it is very easy to drop either the bolts or the wing nuts, or both. Should the seat still be used, without proper fastening, then there is a risk of injury to the sportsman or user.
In another known arrangement, a seat is fashioned from a mesh fabric and slidably attached to sides of a frame. To move the seat from one position to another, that is adjacent to the tree or remote from the tree, the sportsman or user must step up over the mesh and reposition the seat. Stepping over an elevated seat, at an elevated location, creates an awkward and potentially unsave situation--a situation which can be exacerbated when the sportsman also has binoculars and/or a firearm on the elevated platform.
A climbing tree stand which overcomes problems with the prior art devices includes a body-support assembly and foot-support assembly. The body-support assembly includes a tubular support frame and a detachable, reversible seat assembly which is removable from the tubular support frame without removal of fasteners. The tubular support frame includes a U-shaped portion which is generally planar and having a tree-engaging assembly at one end. The seat assembly is positioned at a second end of the U-shaped portion of the support frame. Furthermore, the seat assembly includes a seat bottom, a seat back attached to the seat bottom, and a pair of flexible straps which suspend the seat bottom from generally parallel sides of the tubular support frame. The flexible straps are attached to a steel hook provided for attachment to each side of the tubular frame structure.
At the first end of that tubular frame structure, a tree-engaging arrangement is provided. That tree-engaging arrangement includes a pair of generally parallel arms that extend from the planar portion of the frame structure so as to straddle the vertical support. Those arms are inclined upwardly in the direction away from the U-shaped frame structure. A locking bar is adjustably connected to the arms and extends between the arms so that the tree is positioned within the perimeter of the frame structure. In addition, the tree-engaging arrangement includes an abutment assembly that extends below the plane of the tubular frame so as to engage the tree at a position below the plane of the frame structure. Thus, a knee-accommodating space is defined below the plane of the seat assembly, the space extending from the seat assembly to the tree and being free of obstructions.
Cooperating with the body-support assembly is a foot-support assembly. Ordinarily, the foot-support assembly is disposed below the body-support assembly. Here, the foot-support assembly includes a tubular frame having a first and second ends, a tree-engaging portion being located at the first end. The foot-support assembly is described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,505, which is incorporated herein by this reference thereto. For convenient reference, the frame has a foot-support platform at the second end thereof, the foot-support platform defining a second generally horizontal plane. The tree-engaging portion of the foot-support assembly includes a pair of arms extending upwardly above the second horizontal plane so as to embrace the tree at a location above the second generally horizontal plane. In addition, the tree-engaging portion of the foot-support assembly has an abutment member positioned below the second horizontal plane.
By positioning the tree-engaging supports both above and below the generally horizontal plane of the body supporting assembly and the foot-support assembly, respectively, the supporting members are subjected to both compressive, tensile and bending forces. As a result, the combined stresses acting on the members more efficiently use material properties than structures which only subject such members to tension or compression. As a consequence, the resulting tree stand can be fabricated from steel and still be as light as a tree stand fashioned from aluminum. Furthermore by locating the abutment member below the corresponding horizontal plane, greater clearance is provided for the sportsman's knees and legs in the space between the seat and the tree.
Making the present design from steel allows the vertical spacing between the upper latch bar and lower abutment to be smaller than in the case of an aluminum design. That smaller vertical spacing is accomplished due to the material properties and further contributes to a lighter weight design than is results from an aluminum construction.
To enhance the sportsman's comfort while using the climbing tree stand, the frame structure of the body-support unit includes a transverse member which can also function as a back support bar. When the seat assembly is positioned so as to face the tree, the generally vertically extending seat back portion can rest against the transverse member. That seat back portion can be suitably padded between the user's back and the transverse back support portion of the body-support frame.
The seat assembly is attached to the body-support frame using steel hooks. Each hook is preferably coated with plastic material and is fabricated from round bar stock. The plastic coating may have a nominal thickness of about 0.050". The coating is effective to eliminate any artificial or extraneous noise from the metal hook wiggling, or otherwise intermittently contacting the metal frame. Such noise might startle, or otherwise alert game or wildlife being observed while changing the seat from the inward or tree-facing position to the outward or tree-backed seating position. This adjustment is accomplished without the use of threaded fasteners or pins to prevent the hook from becoming disengaged with the body-support frame tubing. The hooks can be arranged such that a four separate connections (one on each end of the two seat supporting straps) attach the seat assembly to the body support frame. Alternatively, two hooks may be used, each hook connected to both straps, one hook being provided on each side of the seat assembly. An intermediately extending span of the steel wire material permits the ends of the straps to be laterally spaced from one another. In the two hook arrangement, each end of the seat support strap is connected to its adjacent seat support hook. The hooks are then attached to the corresponding side of the body-support frame tubing.


A security device including a base having a plurality of holes extending therethrough. A noose cable is attached to the base and extends out of the base on one side and passes through the base on another and may be wrapped around merchandise to be secured against theft. A switch is carried by the base and depressed by a lid carried by the base so that when the lid is raised, an alarm will sound. A fastener extends through the lid of the base and secures the noose cable from removable such that when the lid is in the closed position, the head of the fastener is beneath the lid and access to the fastener is prevented. The base is electrically connected to an alarming station in order to provide power to the switch and to provide the alarming function associated with the noose cable security device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to theft deterrent devices for retail establishments. More particularly, the invention relates to a security device which may pass around or through merchandise to prevent theft thereof. Specifically, the invention relates to a theft deterrent device having a cable to be threaded through openings in an item of merchandise to be secured and which includes sensors to prevent the removal of the theft deterrent device.
2. Background Information
Retail stores have had a difficult time protecting oddly shaped merchandise which may be expensive. Customers often want to visually inspect these expensive articles before deciding to purchase them. The store is thus faced with the problem of how to protect these expensive articles from theft while displaying them for sale.
One method used to protect these packages and the articles contained therein is to enclose the article within a transparent glass display case which can only be accessed by an employee of the retail store. A customer can view the article through the glass, but is not able to handle the article or read any of the information about the article that may be printed thereon. Additionally, the customer is not able to handle the unit to determine its weight, quality or apparent fit, as in the case of a baseball mitt or the like. Much of the merchandise which needs to be secured against theft includes an aperture or hole through which a cable may be woven. Devices have existed in the past, and particularly that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,055 which was developed to secure and EAS tag to merchandise to prevent unauthorized removal while not damaging the item of merchandise. The tag also must also be readily removable by authorized personnel so that the tags do not unduly delay checkout. The prior art product disclosed in the '055 reference includes a cable which may pass through an aperture in a product and be secured to the product thereby. The cable passes into a housing which retains the EAS tag. While this device is appropriate for the purpose for which it is intended, theft deterrent devices have become more sophisticated in a variety of ways. To that end, the need existed for a cable connector which will pass through an aperture formed in merchandise to be secured, but which will electronically connect to an alarming station. Additionally, it is important that the cable connector be locked and sensored in such a way so as to prevent tampering and subsequent removal of the sensor from the merchandise to be secured.


An apparatus having a circuit is disclosed. The circuit may be configured to (i) receive an input signal from a communication channel and (ii) generate an intermediate signal by amplifying the input signal (a) by a low-frequency gain in response to an amplitude control signal and (b) by a high-frequency gain in response to a boost control signal.

Specified bandwidths of variable gain amplifiers (i.e., VGA) in serial bus applications are getting wider as data rates increase. For example, at 28 gigabits per second the bandwidth of the VGA is commonly specified to be at least 75% of a maximum data rate, which means a 21 gigahertz bandwidth. The wider bandwidths are challenging, especially when the VGA gain is high. A gain-bandwidth-product limit of semiconductor processes makes circuit implementation of the VGAs difficult. Traditional VGA designs aim to make the VGA gain as flat as possible within the specified bandwidth region. The VGAs should provide a flat gain across the entire spectrum, so in effect a received signal is scaled by a prescribed amount. In practice, the VGA bandwidth reduces as the gain increases due to the gain-bandwidth-product limit. As a result, the bandwidth of a conventional VGA is smallest at the highest gain setting.
Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram illustrating a normalized graph of a conventional unequalized channel pulse response 10 is shown. A single impulse generated by a transmitter has a normalized duration of a unit interval (i.e., 1 UI) or symbol interval, with a time zero corresponding to a current cursor 16. Samples 12-14 correspond to an inter-symbol interference (i.e., ISI) to future symbols and are called precursor ISI. Samples 18-20 correspond to the ISI of past symbols and are called postcursor ISI.
It would be desirable to implement an extended variable gain amplification bandwidth with high-frequency boost.

Extended variable gain amplification bandwidth with high-frequency boost

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


Disclosed herein are an ionic conductor including a proton conductor, a process for production thereof, and an electrochemical device (such as fuel cell) with said ionic conductor, said ionic conductor being superior in ionic conductivity, water resistance, and film forming properties. The ionic conductor is formed from a polymer in which carbon clusters having ion dissociating functional groups are bonded to each other through connecting groups. The polymer is less water-soluble and more chemically stable than a derivative composed solely of carbon clusters; therefore, it permits many ion dissociating functional group to be introduced thereinto. Moreover, if ion dissociating functional groups are introduced into also the connecting group, it is possible to prevent the concentration of ion dissociating functional groups from decreasing as the result of polymerization. The polymer can be easily synthesized by simple condensation, substitution, and hydrolysis. Therefore, the process is suitable for mass production in high yields.

The present invention relates to ionic conductors, processes of producing same and devices that include same. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ionic conductor that includes a polymer containing carbon clusters, processes for producing same, and electrochemical devices provided with the ionic conductors.
There is an increasing demand for a high-functional ion-conducting membrane. Particularly, a high-functional protonic conductor is in strong demand in the field of fuel cell.
A fuel cell with a solid electrolyte of proton-conducting membrane is constructed such that the proton-conducting membrane is held between the fuel electrode and the oxygen electrode and electromotive force resulting from reaction between fuel and oxygen is evolved across the fuel electrode and oxygen electrode.
In a fuel cell that consumes hydrogen gas as fuel, hydrogen gas fed to the fuel electrode is oxidized by the reaction shown below to give electrons to the fuel electrode:2H2→4H++4e−
The resultant hydrogen ions H+ (protons) move or migrate to the oxygen electrode through the proton conducting membrane.
The hydrogen ions that have moved to the oxygen electrode react with oxygen fed to the oxygen electrode, thereby giving rise to water and take electrons from the oxygen electrode, by the reaction shown below:O2+4H++4e−→2H2O
Fuel cells are attracting attention as a new environment-friendly electric power generator and are being developed in various fields because of their efficient energy conversion (from fuel's chemical energy to electrical energy) and their freedom from emitting environmental pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides.
The fuel cells mentioned above are roughly divided by the kind of proton conductor used therein because their performance (operating temperature and conditions) depends largely on the properties of the proton conductor. Therefore, improvement in the performance of proton conductor is essential to improvement in the performance of fuel cells.
Fuel cells designed to operate at temperatures above normal temperature and lower than 100° C. usually employ a proton-conducting polymeric membrane formed from a solid polymer. Typical examples of such a membrane are Nafion® from DUPONT and GOA membrane from GOA INC., which are made of perfluorosulfonic acid resin. They are still under development. In addition to these known membranes, new proton-conducting polymeric membranes derived from hydrocarbons have recently been reported in academic societies and journals.
Proton conductors which have become known recently are polymolybdic acid (H3M12PO40.29H2O, M=Mo or W) and metal oxides (such as Sb2O5.nH2O, n=5.4 in general), both containing water of hydration in large amount. These types of polymeric materials and hydrated compounds exhibit high proton conductivity at or near normal temperatures when they are placed in a moist environment.
In the case of water-containing polymeric material (such as perfluorosulfonic acid resin), proton conductivity manifests itself as the result of protons released from sulfonic acid groups moving through water abundantly present in the polymer matrix. Consequently, in order to maintain high proton conductivity of the perfluorosulfonic acid resin, it is necessary to continuously supply water during operation, thereby keeping the resin sufficiently wet. A proton conductor of inorganic metal oxide also decreases rapidly in proton conductivity in its less moist state.
For this reason, fuel cells that employ a proton conductor as a proton conducting membrane require a humidifier to supply water to gas being fed to fuel cells and auxiliary equipment to control the water content. This makes the system complex and large, which leads to a higher installation cost and operating cost.
Moreover, the disadvantage of the fuel cells that employ a water-containing polymeric material (such as Nafion®) is that the polymeric material keeps water therein such that the water phase is separate from the hydrophobic polymer skeletons. Water in such a state is subject to evaporation at high temperatures and freezing at low temperatures. Consequently, such fuel cells are limited in the range of their operating temperatures, because they need provisions to prevent water from boiling and freezing. In addition, the hydrated state is unstable and dependent largely on temperature, and hence the proton conductivity is greatly affected by temperature and other environmental conditions.
International Patent Publication No. WO 01/06519 A1 discloses a new material that exhibits proton conductivity in a dry state. This new material is composed mainly of carbon clusters (which have a unique molecular structure, such as C60 and C70 fullerenes and nanotubes) doped with proton-dissociating groups.
As disclosed, the term "proton-dissociating group" refers to a functional group which permits a hydrogen atom to electrolytically dissociate in the form of proton (H+) and release itself from the group. The term "functional group" refers to not only atomic groups having only one bonding hand [site] but also atomic groups having more than one bonding hand [site]. The "functional group" may be connected to the end of the molecule or present in the molecule. These definitions shall apply also to the present invention.
The above-mentioned fullerene derivative increases in proton conductivity with the increasing number of proton-dissociating groups introduced into each fullerene molecule. However, as the number of proton-dissociating groups introduced into fullerene molecules increases, the fullerene derivative becomes more water-soluble because the proton-dissociating groups are hydrophilic. When used as an electrolyte of fuel cells, such a water-soluble fullerene derivative would dissolve in water evolved by electrode reactions during power generation.
Thus, there is a tradeoff between imparting high proton conductivity to fullerene derivatives and maintaining the fullerene derivatives to be less soluble in water. Fullerene derivatives as an electrolyte of fuel cells need careful design and material selection regardless of whether or not they are used alone or in combination with other materials.
In addition, fullerene-based proton conductors are mostly in powder form. This can create problems with respect to the production of same into films.
A need therefore exists to provide improved ionic conductors.

Ionic conductor, process for production thereof, and electrochemical device


An improved pulse generator for RF pulse generation in tuned loads, employing full cycle generators formed by pairs of parallely connected half-cycle SCR-triggered capacitor-charging and discharging generators each having its own separate d.c. power supply, and wherein reverse capacitor voltages are clamped by diode connecting the capacitor of each half-cycle generator to the power supply of the other half-cycle generator.

In connection with such and related RF pulse transmitters, the art has heretofore made copious use of parallely connected half-cycle generators of the type using switching solid state SCR thyristor switching circuits as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,725, "Apparatus and Method for Radio-Frequency Pulse Generation in tuned Radio-Frequency Loads"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,334, "Magnetic Pulse Compression Radio-Frequency Generator Apparatus"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,263 "Radio Frequency Pulse Generation System and Method", of common assignee with the present invention and exemplarily applied to Loran-C type transmitters and the like.
In such and related half-cycle generation circuits, to minimize SCR losses, priming and sweep-out circuits are employed in series with the main power SCR thyristor to delay the anode current until the full SCR junction area is turned on--such delay preferably being attained by the use of square-loop saturable inductors as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,955, "Method of and Apparatus for Eliminating Priming and Carrier Sweep-Out Losses in SCR Switching Circuits and The Like", and U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,022, "Improved SCR Priming and Sweep-Out Circuit Apparatus", also of common assignee. Such circuits also require the clamping of reverse voltages on the energy-supplying capacitors to prevent excess voltage across the capacitors, and such clamping circuits have heretofore been provided in successively operated half-cycle generators, by separate clamping power supplies--quite effective, but resulting in losses of substantial output power.
It is to the substantial elimination of such losses through novel substantially lossless capacitor clamping circuits and lossless series regulation of the circuit as well, that the present invention is primarily directed and, while further providing increased immunity from the effects of the false triggering of the SCR switches caused by direct lightning strikes on the antenna and/or by other load-shorting phenomena.

Pulse generator apparatus for RF pulse generation in tuned loads including series regulation and capacitor clamping method therefor