A power processing module for supplying power to a motion control device from a power source such as a utility power line, and related method of operation, are disclosed. The power processing module includes a first power input terminal, a first power output terminal, branch circuit protection circuitry coupled at least indirectly between the first power input terminal and the first power output terminal, and at least one bus bar coupling at least two of the first power input terminal, the first power output terminal, and the branch circuit protection circuitry.

Motion control systems such as those employed in industrial environments typically require power from one or more power sources, in the form of primary and/or auxiliary power. Not uncommonly, different types or levels of power (e.g., DC or AC power), or powers having multiple different characteristics (e.g., different voltage levels, current levels, etc.) are required.
Typically, the power that is provided to the motion control systems is received from one or more power lines (e.g., a utility grid) and then converted into the desired forms of power. However, in certain embodiments, power can be received from power sources other than power lines, such as local power generation sources (e.g., local generators or batteries).
To provide the required forms of primary and/or auxiliary power to the motion control systems based upon the received power, many different front-end circuit components are often required. These front-end circuit components not only can provide power conversion, but also can serve other purposes as well, for example, circuit protection to protect against power spikes. For example, the National Electric Code requires that branch circuit protection be provided in connection with the delivery of power to motor controllers/motor drivers.
Among the many different circuit components that can be utilized in any given system are power conversion components, switching components such as contactors, protective components such as circuit breakers and fuses, filtering components and even additional power sources. Traditionally, these circuit components have been implemented on an "ad hoc" basis when motion control systems are installed.
The complexity, cost and inefficiency associated with identifying, purchasing and installing such front end components on such an ad hoc basis can be high. In particular, the installation, including wiring together, of circuit components can be difficult and costly. Further, the implementation of circuit components in this manner can result in the consumption of excessive panel space along or nearby the motion control systems. Indeed, because motor controllers/motor drivers often require high levels of power and current, the wiring used to connect the front end components must often be thick and consequently further increases the overall size of the assembly of front end components (for example, 3 gauge wire has an 8 inch bend radius).
Therefore, it would be advantageous if there was available to customers an improved mechanism or manner of implementing the power-related functionality traditionally provided by such ad hoc agglomerations of front-end circuit components. In particular, it would be advantageous if such an improved mechanism or manner of implementing such functionality was less costly and complicated to implement than existing ad hoc circuit implementations, and took up less panel space along/nearby the motion control systems.


An electronic device with a plurality of keys which correspond to a plurality of standard voltages respectively comprises a voltage generation module, a detection module, storage, an acquiring module, a comparison module, and an extraction module. The voltage generation module with an initial voltage decreases the initial voltage to the standard voltage corresponding to the pressed key. The detection module detects whether the current voltage of the voltage generation module is equal to the initial voltage. The storage stores the current voltage as a reference voltage when the current voltage is not equal to the initial voltage. The acquiring module acquires a current voltage of the voltage generation module after a predetermined time. The comparison module compares the acquired current voltage with the reference voltage. When the acquired current voltage is equal to the reference voltage, the extraction module executes an operation corresponding to the reference voltage.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electronic devices, particularly to an electronic device with a plurality of keys.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic device includes a plurality of keys and a plurality of standard voltages corresponding to the keys in a one-to-one relationship. The electronic device further presets an initial voltage. When any one of the keys is being pressed, the initial voltage decreases to the corresponding standard voltage in a linear manner for executing a corresponding operation. However, during the decreasing process, the electronic device may recognize a voltage between the initial voltage and the corresponding voltage as a standard voltage corresponding to other keys, thus a misoperation may occurred.
Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

Electronic device with keys and voltage detecting method thereof

Shenzhen Airdrawing Technology Service Co., Ltd


This application describes optical resonators substantially free of hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals and related fabrication techniques.

This application relates to optical resonators such as micro resonators and their fabrication.
Optical materials may contain certain impurities that absorb light and thus cause undesired optical losses. As an example, many compounds having the chemical group OH are optically absorbing at the optical wavelengths in the infrared region including the 1.3 microns 1.55 microns for optical communications and other applications. Examples of such compounds include water (H2O) and various hydroxyl radicals. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the OH content in optical components and devices for optical applications in the IR spectral range.

Optical resonators with reduced OH-content


A sports cap in which a visor has an intermediate support layer bonded with a bottom lining layer and sandwiched between a top layer and a bottom layer, and a positioning block with a center insertion hole selectively fastened to one of recesses on the top side of the intermediate support layer for securing a stem of a decorative item for enabling a golf counter to be detachably fastened to the decorative item by means of magnetic attraction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the sports caps and more particularly to the design of the visor of a sports cap that allows installation of decorative items and a golf counter.
2. Description of the Related Art
To modern people, enjoying the sunlight and the stunning beauty of the lush green fields is one of the best ways to release stress. Therefore, outdoor sports games are widely participated. In recent years, with the prosperity of the society and the fast growing of the industries and business, the sports population has significantly increased. Whether male or female, old or young, people enjoy sports and encourage their friends and relatives to join.
When playing an outdoor sports game in the wild open field, the body is exposed to the radiation of the sunlight. Therefore, it is necessary to wear a cap, protecting the head and the eyes from the radiation of the sunlight. Under the protection of the cap, the user can enjoy the sports game more comfortably.
However, a regular sports cap is simply a covering with a visor for protecting the user's head and eyes from the radiation of the sunlight. Modern people's requirements for products are critical. In addition to functions, people do care about quality, beauty, novelty and unique characteristic. To flourish in the market, a sports cap manufacturer needs to create unique and innovative sports caps with added features to attract consumers.


The present invention provides an element being driven by an electromagnetic device. According to the invention, the element is in mechanical communication with a noise producing device which produces noise by mechanical means. Therefore, the noise producing device produces noise indicating movement of the movable body. In another aspect of the present invention, the noise producing device may produce noise by mechanical means which indicates a position of the movable body.

This invention relates generally to feedback apparatuses and specifically to an audible feedback apparatus that employs mechanical means to indicate the operation and positioning of a movable element.
Many machines employ mechanical devices where it is important to determine whether the device is operating and what the position of the device is objectionable noise in operating electric motors has traditionally been a problem. Accordingly, many attempts have been made to reduce the noise of such electric motors. For example, reference should be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,186, entitled "Motor With Isolated Brush Card Assembly" which issued to Forsell et al. on Aug. 8, 1995, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,044, entitled "Motor With End Play Insert" which issued to Mackay et al. on Jan. 16, 1996. Accordingly, with advancing motor technology, sound generation of the motor device is becoming increasingly quieter. Therefore, a user may not be able to hear or determine whether or not a wiper is actually functioning or a lock mechanism is locking. This is problematic when remote key for door lock devices are used since the vehicle operator cannot be certain if the vehicle doors are locked. Thus, it is desirable to have some means to determine these activating characteristics.
It is sometimes important to provide a feedback system which tells a user whether the wiper is in either end of a wipe stroke or at a park position, for instance, in automobiles employing wiper systems driven by motors. Conventional technology employed electrical feedback systems which electrically fed information indicative of the position of a rotational device to a microprocessor, whereby the microprocessor would electronically supply audio sounds indicating the position of the device, such as by electronic beeps, chimes or even through visual displays. However, these electrical devices have some shortcomings.
Conventional electronic feedback systems may be unreliable and untrustworthy in harsh conditions because of the intricacy of the electrical devices. Extreme temperatures, oil or grease, and other adverse environmental conditions may wear or contaminate the electrical mechanism thereby causing the devices to fail. Furthermore, the use of an electrical system, in lieu of a mechanical system, dramatically increases the cost of components and manufacturing while also increasing the energy requirements for the system as a whole.

Audible feedback apparatus for indicating operation and position of a movable element


The red eye compensation method and the image processing apparatus are used to read out image data for outputting or corresponding original image data from among previously stored image data, subject the image data to red eye compensation and regenerates the image data for outputting. In the image processing method, a verification screen is used to designate a red eye frame and display a result of red eye compensation for confirmation. The other red eye compensation method, the other image processing method, a printing method and a printer are used to judge whether there is a possibility that image quality deterioration such as red eye occurs based on photographing information prior to compensating for specified deterioration in image quality such as red eye.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technical field of red eye compensation through image processing, and more specifically to a red eye compensation method with which it is possible to perform red eye correction with efficiency, a red eye compensation method with which it is possible to perform red eye compensation at the time of remaking or reprinting or the like with efficiency, an image processing apparatus for implementing the red eye compensation method, and an image processing method with which it is possible to perform red eye compensation processing in a process of printing with film processing.
The present invention also relates to a technical field of image quality deterioration correction such as red eye correction and aberration correction through image processing. In particular, the present invention relates to an image processing method in which image quality deterioration correction such as red eye correction is performed efficiently through preprocessing; a printing method for outputting a print subjected to image processing such as red eye correction; a printer which is adapted for implementing the printing method and has a preprocessing function; and a direct printer for directly outputting image data read out of a digital camera or its recording medium as a print without loading the data into a PC (personal computer).
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, images photographed on photographic films, such as negative films and reversal films, (hereinafter simply referred to as "films") have been commonly printed on light-sensitive materials (photographic paper) through so-called direct exposure in which the film images are projected onto the light-sensitive materials to achieve exposure.
Also, in recent years, digital photoprinters have been developed and put into practical use. Each digital photoprinter outputs images recorded on a film as prints by photoelectrically capturing the images on the film, converting the captured images into digital signals, subjecting the digital signals to various kinds of image processing to generate image data for recording, and exposing a light-sensitive material using recording light modulated in accordance with the image data for recording.
The digital photoprinter basically includes: a scanner (image reading apparatus) that brings reading light into incident on a film and reads the light projecting the film, thereby photoelectrically capturing images recorded on the film; an image processing apparatus that analyzes digital image data generated by the image capturing by the scanner (image analysis) and performs image processing corresponding to a result of the analysis on the digital image data, thereby obtaining image data for outputting; a printer (image recording apparatus) that exposes a light-sensitive material by, for instance, performing light beam scan in accordance with the image data outputted from the image processing apparatus, thereby recording a latent image; and a processor (developing apparatus) that performs development processing on the light-sensitive material exposed by the printer so as to obtain (finished) prints in which the images are reproduced. Here, an input machine is formed by the scanner and the image processing apparatus, while an output machine (printer/processor) is formed by the printer and the processor.
The digital photoprinter obtains digital image data by photoelectrically capturing images photographed on a film and performs image processing and exposure of a light-sensitive material. Therefore, the digital photoprinter is capable of creating prints not only from images photographed on a film but also from images (image data) photographed with a digital camera or the like.
Also, image processing is performed through image data processing, so that it is possible not only to very favorably correct color and density but also to obtain a high-quality image by performing image processing, such as gradation correction and sharpness processing (sharpness enhancement processing), that has been basically impossible to attain with an ordinary direct exposure printer.
Further, the digital photoprinter is not limited to the outputting of image data as prints and it is also possible to record the image data on a recording medium, such as a CD-R, as image files.
By the way, the most important factor that determines the quality of an image, such as a portrait, that contains a human subject is how the human subject appears in a finished print. Therefore, a so-called red eye phenomenon, in which the eyes (pupils) of a photographed human subject are colored in red due to the influence of light emitted from an electronic flash at the time of photographing, constitutes a serious problem.
In the direct exposure photoprinter, in order to compensate red eye, it is required to retouch a film using a color material or the like, and this film retouching is performed by a skilled operator at much expense in time and effort. Therefore, it is substantially impossible to perform the red eye compensation at the time of printing with film processing or the like.
In contrast to this, with the digital photoprinter, it is possible to perform the red eye compensation through image analysis and image data processing, meaning that the above film retouching is not required at all. For instance, each pupil colored in red is detected through cutting-out and position designation by an operator, automatic extraction utilizing image analysis, and the like. Then, the detected pupil (its image data) is subjected to color transformation in order to correct the red eye. In this manners red eye compensation processing is performed.
Such red eye compensation is time-consuming processing because a relatively large amount of calculation needs to be performed. Therefore, under the present circumstances, it is technically difficult to perform full-automatic red eye compensation with reliability on the image in every frame as a predetermined processing target. Consequently, it is required to use some kind of function for performing selection, confirmation, addition, and correction.
Thus, it is usual in a print shop using a digital photoprinter provided with a red eye compensation function that a print with red eye phenomenon which may possibly be found out at the time of inspection or the like in a process of printing with film processing is regarded as an NG print and remaking of the relevant frame (fresh printing with respect to the NG print) is performed, thereby providing a customer with a print having no red eye problem. There is another case where, when a customer requests reprinting (additional printing), he/she also requests red eye compensation.
When red eye compensation is performed in a digital photoprinter at the time of such remaking or reprinting, it is required to photoelectrically re-capture the film with the aforementioned scanner and to perform completely the same processing as at the time of printing with film processing before performing the red eye compensation processing.
That is, in the digital photoprinter, when remaking or reprinting is performed in order to perform red eye compensation processing, it is required to perform completely the same operations as in the case of ordinary print outputting or the like on frames whose prints have been outputted once. This lowers operability and efficiency and therefore constitutes a factor of reduction in productivity.
Therefore, as described above, even with the digital photoprinter having the red eye compensation function, it is difficult to carry out red eye compensation processing at the time of so-called printing with film processing or the like from the viewpoint of productivity, cost, and the like. Consequently, under the present circumstances, red eye compensation processing is mainly carried out only in a remaking process or a reprinting process.
However, it may also be possible to perform full-automatic red eye compensation in which operator's manipulations are not required.
Incidentally, as a red eye compensation method used in the digital photoprinter to make correction to the red eye, there is known a method with which the face of a human subject is extracted from an image through, for instance, edge detection, hue detection, or the like, each pupil colored in red is detected from the extracted face, and the detected pupil (its image data) is subjected to color transformation or the like, thereby performing the red eye correction.
FIG. 13 shows an exemplary flowchart of the conventional full-automatic method of red eye compensation processing to be implemented in a digital photoprinter as described above,
The conventional full-automatic method of red eye compensation processing as shown in FIG. 13 starts with the number N of processed frames equal to 1. At Step 200 of the method, image data on an image as the processing target is read out of an image data source such as a digital camera, a recording medium, a scanner, and so forth.
At Step 202, the image data on the image as the processing target is analyzed to extract the face of a human subject from the image through, for instance, edge detection, hue detection, or the like and then detect the pupil that is colored in red, as described above. If no red eye phenomenon is detected, the method is skipped to Step 208.
If the red eye is detected at Step 204, the color transformation and other processing are performed on the pupil colored in red subsequently at Step 206 so as to make correction to the red eye.
In the case of the image not only subjected to red eye correction at Step 206 but involving no red eye phenomenon to be detected at Step 204, usual image processing such as color density correction and image structure processing (including sharpness processing) is performed on the image at Step 208.
Based on the output image data obtained by performing the above image processing, the image is reproduced and outputted as a print at Step 210.
Subsequently at Step 212, it is determined whether or not the number N of processed frames has attained the number of processed frames intended for one case (one processing unit), N0, which is equal to 50, for instance (N≧N0=50). If the number N of processed frames is smaller than N0 (50), it is incremented by 1 (N=N+1) at Step 214 before the method goes back to the image reading process at Step 200. Red eye compensation (detection and correction), image processing, and print outputting are repeated until the number N becomes equal to N0 (50), that is to say, terminated when N has attained N0 (50).
Generally, red eye detection requires about 1.5 seconds per frame and red eye correction about 0.3 seconds per frame (as measured on the PC with a Pentium® 4 CPU 2 GHz on board) even when the red eye compensation processing is carried out in a large scaled digital photoprinter dedicated to photographic printing. When the full-automatic method of red eye compensation processing as above is used for outputting all the images (in the frames intended for one case, the number N0 of which is equal to 50, for instance) as prints, the red eye detection process requires 50 frames×1.5 seconds=75 seconds because the red eye detection is performed on all the images (in the 50 frames). Assuming that the red eye phenomenon has been found out in 9 out of 50 frames in the red eye detection process, it takes 77.7 seconds in total to carry out red eye compensation processing in accordance with the conventional flowchart as shown in FIG. 13 because the red eye correction time of 9 frames×0.3 seconds=2.7 seconds is added to the red eye detection time of 75 seconds.
In view of the fact that the processing time is increased by up to 77.7 seconds for just 50 frame images, it is not negligible upon outputting a large number of images as prints that an additional processing time of 1.8 seconds is required for each frame image. It can not be expected to employ such a high-performance CPU as above for printers, especially those of consumer use, because there is a severe cost reduction race with respect to printers, so that a longer processing time will practically be required.
As described above, it is possible indeed to automatically perform red eye compensation processing in digital photoprinters. In that case, however, the red eye compensation processing, as comprising the red eye detection process in which face extraction and red eye detection are performed and the red eye correction process in which correction is made to the red eye, requires a large amount of calculation. In addition, it is difficult to perform the above processes using image data for condition setting and verification image creation (so-called prescanned data) which is small in data amount, and it is required to perform the processes using image data for outputting (so-called fine scanned data) which is large in data amount.
Further, the number of human subjects in one frame (one image) is not limited to one and, when multiple human subjects exist in the same frame, it is required to perform the red eye detection and the red eye correction on every human subject.
When full-automatic red eye compensation processing is performed in the digital photoprinter, the above processes are performed on all the frames, the number of which is 24, for instance. In general, however, it is a rare case that the red eye problem occurs in every frame. Therefore, in the full-automatic red eye compensation processing, the red eye detection process is unnecessarily performed on frames having no red eye problem, so that it takes a very long time to carry out the processing (meaning that a long time is wasted). In other words, the full-automatic red eye compensation processing raises a problem of reduction in processing performance, namely productivity, of the digital photoprinter, although it saves the trouble of an operator.
There may be another problem of erroneous detection where frames having no red eye problem are mistaken as having such problem.
For this reason, it is general at present that the red eye compensation processing is performed not at the time of printing with film processing but at the time of remaking or reprinting only on the relevant frames, especially those designated or selected by a customer upon a possible request for red eye compensation. In that case, the red eye compensation processing may be carried out manually in accordance with the result of visual verification by an operator or, alternatively, in a semi-automatic manner that, for instance, the frames of interest are manually designated and the red eye detection and correction processes are automatically performed on the designated frames.
It was proposed to record various kinds of photographing information concerning photographed images, which are obtained by photographing a subject with a digital camera, in a recording medium (memory card) of the camera along with the image data on the photographed images and utilize the information at the time of print outputting. Information to be recorded along with image data at the time of photographing has been standardized as Exif (standards). Particularly, contents to be recorded are defined in detail by Exif 2.2 aiming at their plenitude and commonality so that the quality of image printing can be readily improved by utilizing the information recorded at the time of photographing.
Thus, it is possible under Exif 2.2 to carry out optimal printing on the basis of various kinds of photographing information. To be more specific: In the case of a digital still camera (DSC), various kinds of photographing information set by a photographer such as "information about photographing condition" and "information about photographed scene" are recorded along with "image data" in the camera as an Exif tag. In a printer, on the other hand, such photographing information is accurately read with certain application software so as to perform optimal printing. Thus, an image in line with the intention of the photographer can be reproduced by obtaining various kinds of photographing information, which heretofore could not but be estimated, directly from the digital camera.
The photographing condition set on the DSC is accurately transmitted to the printer and processing is carried out optimally. For instance, if the mode of exposure was set to "automatic" upon photographing and the photographed image is of underexposure or overexposure due to something not intended by the user, density correction is so performed on the image that the exposure is optimized. In the case of manual mode, no correction is made in the printer because it is indicated that the exposure of interest was set by the photographer with some intention or other. Similarly, if the white balance was set to "automatic", processing is carried out so as to remove color fog, if any. If the photographed image has a wash-out as a result of automatic light emission from an electronic flash, such processing as for the reduction in brightness of too bright areas is performed on the image so as to optimize its density.
In the printer, the information about the scene photographed with the DSC and recorded therein is utilized for printing so as to obtain a photograph suited to the photographed scene. For instance, if a photographing mode suited to the subject was selected upon photographing (from among such modes as "standard", "landscape", "person" and "night view"), the information about the mode can be exploited for the printing more suitable to the photographed scene. In the case of "landscape" mode being selected, the contrast or saturation is made higher, or color reproduction processing which is preferred by people is performed using stored colors such as blue and green. In the case of "night view" mode, bright areas are intensified, with dark areas being maintained as such. A night view is regenerated more vividly by making correction to color fog or contrast or intensifying the saturation.
When Exif information is utilized to optimize conditions for image processing as described above, printers are required to have an extremely high image processing ability in order to support Exif 2.2. For this reason, Exif 2.2-supporting printers are limited to printers each equipped with an image processing apparatus (image processor) having a high image processing speed or image processing ability, for instance, a PC (personal computer) or one or more CPUs (MPUs), especially to large-scaled digital photoprinters. Even in the case of such Exif 2.2-supporting printers with a high image processing speed or image processing ability, however, few of them can perform red eye compensation processing and, in addition, the red eye compensation processing is troublesome and time-consuming and consequently decreases productivity even in large-scaled digital photoprinters. In the present situation, therefore, the red eye compensation processing is performed on a special occasion, for instance, at the time of remaking or reprinting, in a manual or semi-automatic manner.
In direct printers which are commercially available, image data on photographed images are directly read out of a digital camera without temporary loading into a PC (personal computer) and prints of photographic quality are outputted as hardcopy images.
FIG. 14 shows a conventional direct printer. A direct printer 150 as shown comprises an image data acquiring section 152, an image processing section 154, a print output processing section 156, a printer controlling section 158 and a recording section 160.
In the direct printer 150 as shown in FIG. 14, image data is initially read out of a memory card inserted into a card slot 152a by a card reader (card drive) provided in the image data acquiring section 152 or, alternatively, read out of a memory card loaded onto a digital camera by connecting an external input terminal 152b with the digital camera via a cable and controlling the camera with an external input processing unit of the image data acquiring section 152.
The read image data is subjected to usual image processing such as color density correction processing and processing for correction to sharpness and other image structure in the image processing section 154.
Then, in the print output processing section 156, the data is subjected to the processing for conversion into image data to be outputted as a print. Using the converted data, the recording section 160 provided with an ink-jet recording head and so forth is controlled by the printer controlling section 158 to record a reproduced image on such paper as ink-jet recording paper, a hardcopy image as a print being thus outputted.
Conventional direct printers as above have only a limited image processing ability or speed and no such printer can perform the red eye compensation processing that is troublesome and time-consuming. Some direct printers have been commercialized indeed as an Exif 2.2-supporting printer which is required to have a high image processing ability or speed as described before and examples of them include BJ 895 PD with twin CPUs on board (Canon Inc.). At present, however, such direct printers are not equipped with any software or hardware for red eye compensation processing which is required to have a higher image processing ability or speed even though the printers have an image processing ability or speed allowing them to support Exif 2.2.
The respects as described above in connection with the red eye compensation processing are also true in the case of correction to image quality deterioration due to golden eye phenomenon and other defects with respect to the eyes of a subject, or even in the case of aberration correction, for instance, correction to image quality deterioration caused by an objective lens, such as distortion, lateral chromatic aberration, marginal luminosity deterioration, and defocus.

Red eye compensation method, image processing apparatus and method for implementing the red eye compensation method, as well as printing method and printer


Apparatus for estimating a drive mode of a motor vehicle desired by an operator of the motor vehicle, including a variable calculating device and a drive mode estimating device, wherein the variable calculating device calculates at least one of drive mode indicating variables such as a drive force of the vehicle desired by the operator upon starting of the vehicle, a maximum rate of increase of the drive force, a maximum deceleration of the vehicle upon operation of a manually operated member for brake application to the vehicle, a coasting run time of the vehicle and a steady run time of the vehicle, and wherein the drive mode estimating device includes a neural network which receives the drive mode indicating variable or variables calculated by the variable calculating device, so that the drive mode estimating device estimates the drive mode of the motor vehicle desired by the operator on the basis of an output of the neural network. The output of the neural network may be used to control a desired controllable system of the vehicle such as an automatic transmission and a vehicle drive force control device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive mode estimating device for a motor vehicle, which is adapted to estimate a vehicle drive mode desired by the vehicle operator, and an apparatus which uses an output of such a drive mode estimating device, for controlling a controllable system of a vehicle, such as a shift control apparatus for controlling an automatic transmission and a drive force control apparatus for controlling a drive force of the vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A motor vehicle may be equipped with various control devices, which include: a shift control device for controlling an automatic transmission having a plurality of speed ratios or gear positions, so as to automatically shift the transmission to an appropriate gear position, on the basis of currently detected engine load and vehicle running speed and according to predetermined shift patterns; a steering control device for controlling the steering force of a power steering system; a suspension control device for controlling the damping force or spring characteristics of a shock absorber in the suspension system; and a throttle valve control device for controlling a throttle valve on the basis of a currently detected amount of operation of an accelerator pedal and according to a predetermined relationship between the throttle valve opening angle and the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal. Generally, it is desirable to control these control devices so that the vehicle drive mode desired by the vehicle operator is reflected on the controlled vehicle drive torque, steering force of the steering system, damping force or spring characteristics of the shock absorber, and throttle opening angle.
There have been proposed some techniques for reflecting the vehicle operator's desired drive mode on the manner of control of an automatic transmission. An example of such techniques is disclosed in JP-A-6-221420, wherein a suitable one of different shift patterns for the automatic transmission is selected depending upon whether the vehicle operator desires to drive the vehicle in a sporty drive mode with a comparatively high degree of drivability, or in an economy drive mode with a relatively high degree of fuel economy. A determination as to whether the vehicle operator desires the sporty drive mode or the economy drive mode is based on output signals of various sensors provided on the vehicle, which signals are processed by a neural network which utilizes previously obtained data indicative of relationships between the vehicle drive modes and drive mode indicating parameters or variables detected by the sensors.
For instance, one of the different shift patterns is selected on the basis of the rate of change of the opening angle of a throttle valve of an engine, when the throttle opening angle is larger than a predetermined threshold. An example of a shift control apparatus adapted to practice this technique is disclosed in JP-B-58-31499.
The conventional shift control methods for the automatic transmission, as disclosed in JP-A-6-221420, uses a neural network which is adapted to receive signals indicative of vehicle running speed, opening angle of a throttle valve, vehicle acceleration, activation of a braking system, a currently selected gear position of the transmission, and a rate of change of the throttle valve opening. The vehicle drive mode desired by the vehicle operator is estimated on the basis of a relatively large number of outputs of the neural network which are considered to represent the operator's desired vehicle drive mode. This arrangement does not permit sufficiently high accuracy of estimation of the desired vehicle drive mode in a short time. If the number of the outputs of the neural network used to estimate the desired vehicle drive mode is increased to improve the reliability of estimation of the desired drive mode, the operating response of the neural network to the operator's manipulation to drive the vehicle is inevitably deteriorated, whereby the actual control of the vehicle does not meet the operator's desired drive mode.
In the shift control apparatus disclosed in JP-B-58-31499, one of the shift patterns is selected depending upon the rate of change of the opening angle of the throttle valve, even if the opening angle of the throttle valve is abruptly changed (abruptly increased and decreased) in a short time, as long as the throttle opening angle is larger than the threshold. The abrupt change of the throttle opening angle does not necessarily reflect the drive mode of the vehicle desired by the vehicle operator, and the transmission shift pattern selected on the basis of the abrupt change of the throttle opening angle does not necessarily meet the operator's desired drive mode of the vehicle. Thus, this conventional technique does not permit sufficiently accurate estimation of the operator's desired drive mode.
JP-A-3-204468 discloses a technique for determining a control pattern for a continuously variable transmission of a motor vehicle, on the basis of a rate of change of a drive mode index value which reflects a vehicle operator's intention regarding the vehicle drive mode, and an average value of the rate of change. This publication JP-A-3-204468 also discloses a technique for fuzzy inference of such a drive mode index value, on the basis of a difference between a maximum value of an increase rate of the opening angle of a throttle valve and an average value of the increase rate, and the opening angle of the throttle valve. JP-A-7-167272 discloses a technique for estimating a drive mode index indicative of the degree of the vehicle operator's desire to accelerate the vehicle, with improved estimation response, wherein a higher one of the engine load and the tire load is obtained, and this higher load value is filtered with a filtering constant which is changed depending upon the rate of change of the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal and a change in the load value.
In the above techniques, however, a tendency of change of the presently detected drive mode indicating variables from the drive mode indicating variables detected in the past is not taken into account to obtain the drive mode index, and therefore the obtained drive mode index does not accurately represent the vehicle operator's desired drive mode which meets the operator's manipulation of the vehicle and the running conditions such as the road condition. These conventional techniques which do not utilize the past drive mode indicating variables may suffer from erroneous estimation of the operator's desired drive mode, since a change in the operator's desired drive mode may not be reflected by the operator's manipulation of the vehicle under some operating and running conditions of the vehicle. The use of the filtering constant which varies with the variables detected for a relatively short time period is not effective enough to prevent the erroneous estimation of the operator's desired vehicle drive mode.

Vehicle drive mode estimating device, and vehicle control apparatus, transmission shift control apparatus and vehicle drive force control apparatus including drive mode estimating device


A vehicular brake assembly comprises brake shoes and a brake disc. The brake shoes are fastened to a sheet plate and mounted inside an inner drum portion of the brake disc. The brake disc is operatively connected to an axle placed within a stationary axle housing that carries a mounting flange. The sheet plate is fastened to the mounting flange. An anchor pin is attached to the mounting flange and an opening is made in the sheet plate for the anchor pin to project therethrough to thereby serve as an abutment surface for the brake shoes transferring any force exerted on the brake shoes directly to the mounting flange. The brake disc is operatively engaged with a caliper adapted to grip an outward portion of the brake disc. The caliper slides are provided on the mounting flange to receive the caliper. A method of making a flange for the braking structure comprises the steps of having a flange intended to match an axle housing and preferably made as a pre-stamped metal sheet part, the flange being provided with mounting holes; placing the prefabricated flange into a form (mold); and casting an anchor pin and caliper slides onto respective surfaces of the flange.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular brake apparatus. More particularly, the invention deals with a knuckle for a brake assembly for rear drive vehicles. Still more specifically, the present invention offers a novel rear knuckle structure with brake features.
2. Description of Related Art
The brakes are one of the most important parts of an automobile as far as its safe operation is concerned. Depicted in FIG. 1 is a view of a car with its rear left wheel taken off to show the area touched upon by the present invention, whereas FIG. 2 illustrates two types of brakes currently employed on cars: disc brakes and drum brakes. A conventional drum brake circuit comprises a hydraulic system, brake shoes, and a brake drum. The hydraulic system is actuated by a driver pressing upon a brake pedal. The driver's action forces the hydraulic fluid out of the master cylinder and into each wheel brake cylinder. The fluid entering the wheel cylinders forces the opposed pistons farther apart, thus moving the brake shoes outward against the brake drum.
A typical prior art structure of caliper disc brakes assumes the presence of a revolving wheel disc operatively connected to a drive axle. An axle housing encloses the drive axle. Secured to the drive axle housing is a brake caliper whose function is to transmit braking forces from brake pads to the housing. The caliper is comprised of a casting accommodating at least one brake cylinder in which a piston adapted for a reciprocal movement is mounted. The cylinder and piston cooperate to define a pressure chamber which is pressurized by hydraulic fluid when the brake is actuated. A brake pad (or lining) assembly is mounted on the caliper and is moved toward the revolving wheel disc when the piston is moved outwardly in the cylinder due to brake pressure in the chamber. In so doing, the piston and brake lining cooperatively exert a friction force on the disc.
It is not uncommon in vehicles having rear disc brakes to incorporate brake shoes 10 (FIG. 2) within an inner drum portion (not shown) of a wheel disc 12 to accomplish a parking brake function while a caliper 14 is used to grip a radial outward portion of the wheel disc 12 to perform normal braking. In conventional prior art designs of that kind usually referred to as disc & DiH (for Drum in Hat) brakes, a flange 16 is provided on (usually bolted to) an axle housing 18, carrying a caliper slide subassembly (not shown) for mounting the caliper 14 thereto. Also, the brake shoes 10 are typically fastened to a sheet metal face plate 20 serving as a backing plate which is also bolted to the flange 16. A pin 22 is attached to the plate 20. It serves as an abutment surface for the brake shoes 10 transferring any force exerted on the brake shoes directly to the plate 20. To transfer braking forces further to the flange 16, a substantially solid face plate 20 is required. It is desired to eliminate the caliper slide subassembly and to have the plate thinner and thus less expensive.


A tubular glove or insert having a front ring relief at one end and at an opposite end, an external ring relief. In an internal edge of the external ring relief are located two internal ring rows of teeth. A polyhedric tool is used to form a plurality of V-shaped cuttings or notches at equal distances in the internal surfaces of the external ring relief. The cuttings are then submitted to a further cutting or milling operation to form longitudinal slots centered at a vertex of the V-shaped notches at the back extremity of the V-shaped notches near the front ring relief so that the glove can be inserted into a connection body. This process allows the manufacturing of connection gloves (inserts) with a reduction in length and consequent reduction of material used and equipment used, as well as specialized manpower, while strengthening the grasping surface of the glove on a tube.

The conventional method of manufacturing a glove or insert with internal claws at an internal circumferential edge consists of the manufacture of a grasping edge and then processing by the milling of slots or longitudinal cuts in the glove, up to a certain height, to form clasps. This method leaves barbs which may damage the surface of the inserted tube and reduce its resistance to internal pressures.
By this, it is understood that the formed claws present sharp corners that may harm the efficiency and consequently the security of the equipment where the tube was placed, requiring untrustworthy additional expensive operations.
In addition, the gloves (inserts), produced thus far, are of a substantial length and require more material and equipment than desired, as well as specialized manpower

Insert for locking a tube in a connection body


A metal complex comprising a metal compound complexed to a heteroatomic ligand, the metal complex having Structure X:

Olefin oligomerization catalysts and catalyst systems are known in the art, but sometimes lack selectivity to a desired product and also have a low product yield. Enhancements in preparation methods for olefin oligomerization catalysts and catalyst systems to improve productivity and selectivity to the desired product can reduce catalyst cost and improve process economics.

Olefin oligomerization catalysts and methods of using same

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, R3, and R4 are each independently an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, a substituted cycloalkyl group, an aromatic group, or a substituted aromatic group, R1c, R2c, R3c, R4c, and R5c are each independently hydrogen or an alkyl group, and MXp comprises a group IVB, VB, or VIB metal. A metal complex comprising a metal compound complexed to a diphosphino aminyl ligand comprising at least two diphosphino aminyl moieties and a linking group linking each aminyl nitrogen atom of the diphosphino aminyl moieties.


A chemical waste collection and disposal system for fluorescent lamps that allows for the safe collection and disposal of crushed or broken fluorescent lamps, while recovering substantially 100% of the hazardous mercury vapors contained within the lamps. A fluorescent lamp is inserted within a drum and broken into fragments by one or more blades, with the fragment falling to the bottom of the drum. The mercury vapors that are emitted from the broken fluorescent lamps are forced out of the drum by negative positive pressure created by a vacuum/filter assembly. Once through the filter assembly, which includes a HEPA filter and activated carbon filter, the gases are permitted to escape into the environment virtually 100% free of mercury toxins.

This invention relates generally to the collection, storage and disposal of chemical wastes, especially upon cruise and cargo vessels, and particularly to the collection, storage and disposal of fluorescent lamps and the recovery of mercury vapors emitted from said fluorescent lamps.
There are several problems associated with the collection and disposal of fluorescent lamps, which generate waste on ships and upon large ships in general. The operators, i.e., ship employees, of on-board chemical waste collection and disposal systems are often unknowledgeable about the proper use of present-day waste collection systems. Such operators are typically not aware of procedures for safe and code compliance handling of the waste and, therefore are not able to properly handle storage, movement, leakage or spillage of chemical waste.
Further, the common practice for ship employees to dispose of fluorescent lamps does not include the use of on-board chemical waste collection and disposal systems. Instead, the common practice is to dispose the fluorescent lamps with common non-chemical waste. This procedure results in the breakage of the fluorescent lamps and allows mercury vapors to emit from the fluorescent lamps and contaminate the immediate area thereby possibly intoxicating the ship employees' work area and also possibly causing serious health and safety violations.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL) for the number of air contaminants in the Code of Federal Regulations for Labor and Industry (29 CFR 1910.1000). The PEL's are based upon an 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA) concentration. An employees' exposure to a substance for an 8-hour work shift of a 40-hour work week should not exceed the 8-hour TWA PEL for that substance. For substances with a Ceiling Limit, the concentration shall not exceed that limit at any time during the working exposure. For Mercury, the OSHA PEL is, 0.1 mg/m3 (C) pursuant to 29 C.F.R. 1910.1000 (z) (2).
As such, it is highly desirous to provide a chemical waste collection, storage and disposal system for the safe handling of fluorescent lamps upon their useful life ending.
It is therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings that the present invention is directed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Disclosed is a radiation device for the human body inspection. The device includes a X-ray generator for radiating radiation; a detector for receiving the radiation radiated from the X-ray generator; a first flexible member connected with the X-ray generator for hoisting the X-ray generator; a second flexible member connected with the detector for hosing the detector; and a driving device for synchronically driving the X-ray generator and the detector through the first and second flexible members, and at the same time, the X-ray generator and the detector are spaced from each other a predetermined distance in a horizontal direction. The radiation device for the human body inspection according to the present invention can ensure that the radiation source and the detector can be operated synchronically during the whole inspection process; thereby the quality of radiation imaging is increased. Furthermore, the radiation device for the human body inspection according to the present invention is allowed to save cost and reduce noise.

There is a higher demand on the modern security defense equipments due to that the international terrorism and criminal activities have become increasingly rampant, more particularly, the demand on the equipment for inspecting dangerous substances and weapons hidden in the cloth, body or within the body becomes more urgent.
In addition to the metal substances, if the exploder or weapons in plastic and ceramic are also listed in the investigation and scanning scope, only X-ray imaging method, that is, a modern digital X-ray imaging method can be used to satisfy the above requirements. Apparently, metal detectors for the human body inspection widely used at present are far short of the demand on fighting against terrorism, which only can detect the existence of the metal, but the location and the shape thereof are unable to determined, those plastic explosives and weapons only can be discovered by means of manual touching. Also, various types of electric "nose" are ineffective for those plastic weapon and explosives with tight package. In other words, the conventional human body inspection method is not only low in efficiency, but also having inconvenience and light disrespect for those involved people.
During the process of X-ray radiation imaging for the human body inspection, people are generally moved, but the X-ray generator and the detector are still. However, under the situation where the people being inspected are moved, collected images may become false images which will extremely affect the image quality, particularly definition of the image.

Radiation device for human body inspection


A writing instrument is provided with a barrel including a bottom opening; a partition disposed in the barrel to divide the barrel into an upper ink reservoir filled with ink and a lower storage filled with an absorbent material; a writing member partially disposed in the absorbent material and extending out of the bottom opening; and a conveying line disposed through the partition. The conveying line includes a venting channel and an ink conveying channel. Each of the venting channel and the ink conveying channel communicate with both the ink and the absorbent material. A smooth writing can be carried out.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to writing instruments and more particularly to a writing instrument comprising a mechanism including a venting channel and an ink conveying channel for reaching a balance between ink in an ink reservoir and ink in an absorbent material, thereby facilitating writing.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional writing instruments such as marker pens and highlighters have a porous tip of fibrous material for containing the ink supply (i.e., filler-type writing instrument). However, a number of drawbacks have been found in the filler-type writing instruments as detailed below. Ink flow will gradually decrease with the written characters became blurry as writing time increase. Further, there is at least 30% ink remained in the filler when the writing instrument is useless (i.e., waste).
There have been numerous prior writing instruments. For example, Japan Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2534821 discloses a writing instrument comprising an ink supply mechanism capable of mixing air and ink. However, it is disadvantageous due to complicated components, high precision requirements, and high manufacturing cost.
China Patent Publication Numbers CN1749029A and CN101032905A both disclose a writing instrument comprising a plurality of interconnected ink tubes. However, how to accommodate the ink tubes in a small interior of the writing instrument is always an issue to be solved.
U.S. Publication No. US20030068191A1 discloses a writing instrument comprising a plurality of small ink chambers in the axis direction for conveying ink to a writing element. However, it has complicated components and there is no venting mechanism. Unfortunately, its ink flow may be interrupted when writing is quick.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.

Writing instrument having an ink balance mechanism

NINGBO WUYUN PEN MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


The present disclosure relates to generating a passphrase for an encrypted volume by at least cryptographically combing the first cryptographic key and the shared secret. Where the shared secret is split into a plurality of shares and a first number of the plurality of shares is greater than a second number of the plurality of shares and the second number of the plurality of shares is required to reconstruct the shared secret.

Modern computer systems make extensive use of network computing and network data storage systems. Such use has proliferated in recent years, particularly in distributed or virtualized computer systems where multiple computer systems may share resources when performing operations and tasks associated with the computer systems. Such computer systems frequently utilize distributed data storage in multiple locations to store shared data items so that such data items may be made available to a plurality of consumers. The resources for network computing and network data storage are often provided by computing resource providers who leverage large-scale networks of computers, servers, and storage drives to enable customers to host and execute a variety of applications and web services. The usage of network computing and network data storage allows customers to efficiently and to adaptively satisfy their varying computing needs, whereby the computing and data storage resources that may be required by the customers are added or removed from a large pool provided by a computing resource provider as needed.
The proliferation of network computing and network data storage, as well as the attendant increase in the number of entities dependent on network computing and network data storage, have increased the importance of controlling access to data stored and manipulated thereon. As systems scale to meet demand, they tend to become more widely distributed, and controlling the distribution of data so as to prevent unwanted or unauthorized parties from accessing such data becomes more complex.

Securing encrypted volumes in a distributed environment


A ceramic chip antenna for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. The antenna includes a substrate and a conductor. The substrate is made of sintered ceramic material with a low dielectric loss and a high dielectric constant. A pair of concavities is cut from both longitudinal ends of the substrate. The conductor is made of metal with a high Q factor as well as a good anti-oxidization property, being formed on surfaces of the substrate by means of mask etching or printing technology. The conductor has a circuit portion disposed on surfaces of the substrate in a meandered or helical manner, and two conducting electrodes disposed at the two concavities of the substrate and connected by the circuit portion.

The present invention relates in general to a ceramic chip antenna, and more particularly, to a high efficiency, small-sized laminated ceramic antenna that is capable of improving radiating efficiency as well as being quickly and finely adjusted for applications in various different electronic products.
Electronic products such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, globe positioning systems, and wireless local area networks transmit and receive signals by means of a small-sized antenna installed therein. The communication qualities of these electronic products are decided by the design and manufacture of their antennas. A good design and manufacture method of an antenna can ensure the electronic products an enhancement of their communication quality. Accordingly, persons skilled in the art have endeavored to perfect the chip antenna and various prior art patents are granted.
Taiwan patent number 543939 discloses a miniaturized thin plate type wireless transmission antenna that comprises a ceramic substrate on which an antenna conductor is formed.
Taiwan patent number 518801 discloses a chip antenna and manufacturing method of the same. The chip antenna comprises an antenna conductor, and a dielectric chip that stacks on a portion of the antenna conductor. An exposed portion of the antenna conductor, which is not overlapped on the dielectric chip, is bent along the surface of the dielectric chip in order to improve the bandwidth of the antenna.
Taiwan patent number 513827 discloses an antenna apparatus that comprises a substrate, a chip antenna mounted on the substrate, and a ground pattern disposed on the substrate, at least a portion on the side of a power supply terminal of an antenna conductor in the chip antenna being overlapped with the ground pattern.
Taiwan published application number 200414604 discloses a chip antenna that includes a substrate, a plurality of helical conductors provided on the substrate, and a pair of terminals provided on the substrate. The chip antenna alone is capable of transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves of a plurality of frequencies.
However, accompanying their miniaturizations, all of aforementioned chip antennas have a low radiating efficiency. Besides, the manufacturing processes of aforementioned chip antennas are not flexible so that it is difficult to make modifications of aforementioned chip antennas for different applications. Furthermore, the laminated ceramics of aforementioned antennas are prone to contraction and deformation during their sintering processes, which greatly decreases the yield rates thereof.


Methods are disclosed for reducing the number of defects in a directed self-assembled structure formed on a guiding pre-pattern (e.g., a chemical pre-pattern) on a substrate. A first layer comprising a first self-assembly material is applied onto the guiding pre-pattern, with the first self-assembly material forming domains whose alignment and orientation are directed by the guiding pre-pattern; as a result, a first self-assembled structure is formed. The first self-assembled structure is washed away, and a second layer comprising a second self-assembly material is then applied. The second self-assembly material forms a second self-assembled structure having fewer defects than the first self-assembled structure.

The invention relates to methods of directed self-assembly and the layered structures formed therefrom, and more specifically, to the directed self-assembly of microdomains of block copolymers to produce self-assembled structures with fewer defects.
The ability to pattern features with smaller critical dimensions allows denser circuitry to be fabricated, thereby enabling more circuit elements within the same area and reducing the overall cost per element. Features having smaller critical dimensions and tighter pitch are needed in each technology generation. Directed self-assembly (DSA) of polymeric material is a potential candidate to extend current lithography by enhancing the spatial resolution and/or controlling the critical dimension variation of a predefined pattern on a substrate. In addition, the block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly process can improve the dimensional control due to the lower critical dimension variation (both mean critical dimension and line-edge roughness (LER) or line-width roughness (LWR)) in the final self-assembled structure compared to that in the pre-pattern. In particular, DSA of block copolymer (BCP) materials and polymer blends have been explored for this purpose.
In the graphoepitaxy method, the self-organization of block copolymers is guided by topographical features of pre-patterned substrates. With a trench of width L and BCP with a periodicity of PBCP, frequency multiplication of a factor of L/PBCP can be achieved. In practice, it is useful for the bottom of the trench to be comprised of an orientation control material in order to support perpendicularly-oriented domains.
Alternatively, in early forms of the chemical epitaxy method, the self-assembly of BCP materials to form domains is directed by dense chemical patterns. The pitch of the chemical pattern (PS) is roughly equivalent to the pitch of the BCP domain periodicity (PBCP). The preferential affinity between at least one of the chemical pattern regions and a corresponding BCP domain directs the self-assembly of the BCP domains in accordance with the underlying chemical pre-pattern. Unfortunately, current optical lithography tools do not have sufficient resolution to print these 1:1 chemical patterns. Instead, these patterns have been fabricated using lithographic techniques such as e-beam direct write or extreme-ultraviolet (EUV, 13.5 nm) interference lithography, which are not suitable for volume manufacturing.
Alternatively, chemical epitaxy on sparse chemical patterns can provide critical dimension and orientation control similar to that achieved on dense chemical patterns while also providing enhanced resolution. For example, the directed self-assembly of BCP material can form domains on a sparse chemical pattern layer comprised of alternating pinning regions having a width WP=0.5*PBCP and regions with an orientation control material having a width WCA=PS−WP. An orientation control material having an operationally equivalent affinity for both domains is used to support perpendicularly-oriented domains. The factor of frequency multiplication is determined by the ratio of the pitch of the sparse chemical patterns stripe (PS) and the pitch of BCP (PBCP). A ratio of PS/PBCP=2 would result in frequency doubling and a ratio of PS/PBCP=3 would result in frequency tripling. In practice, it has been shown that the defect levels observed in the DSA of block copolymers via chemical epitaxy on sparse chemical patterns increase with the factor of frequency multiplication.

Methods of reducing defects in directed self-assembled structures

International Business Machines Corporation


A sheet-like switch is disclosed in which the migration of silver can be prevented without requiring the provision of an overcoat. An upper electrode sheet is formed by disposing upper contacts and upper conductive patterns electrically connected to each other on an insulating sheet. A lower electrode sheet is formed by disposing lower contacts and lower conductive patterns electrically connected to each other on an insulating sheet. The upper and lower electrode sheets are stacked on each other across a spacer film provided with a hole. The upper and lower contacts are placed to opposedly face each other within the hole, and the upper and lower conductive patterns located within the hole are extended to the exterior in different directions, so that the upper and lower conductive patterns positioned on the peripheral portion of the hole can be prevented from overlapping each other across the spacer film in the upward and downward direction. Further, the length along the peripheral portion of the hole defined between the upper and lower conductive patterns positioned on the peripheral portion may preferably be 0.5 mm or greater.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet-like switch provided with a plurality of switch devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical sheet-like switch of a known type is constructed as shown in FIG. 5. Namely, an upper electrode sheet 1 is formed by printing predetermined upper contacts 2 and upper conductive patterns 3, both of which are made from a silver paste, on an insulating sheet, such as polyester film or the like. An overcoat 4 formed from resist ink, carbon ink or the like, is further disposed on the sheet 1 to cover the conductive patterns 3 except for the upper contacts 2 positioned at the ends of the respective patterns 3. A spacer film 5, formed of polyester film or the like, is provided with holes 5a in the predetermined positions. A lower electrode sheet 6, as well as the upper electrode sheet 1, is formed by printing lower contacts 7 and lower conductive patterns 8, which are made from a silver paste, on polyester film or the like. An overcoat 9 similar to the overcoat 4 is disposed on the sheet 6 to cover the lower conductive patterns 8 except for the lower contacts 7 located at the ends of the respective patterns 8.
With this construction, the upper and lower electrode sheets 1 and 6 are, as illustrated in FIG. 6, stacked on each other across the spacer film 5, and the upper and lower contacts 2 and 7 of the upper and lower conductive patterns 3 and 8, respectively, are located to opposedly face the holes 5a formed in the spacer film 5. In this manner, the sheet-like switch provided with a plurality of switch devices is constructed.
In the sheet-like switch of the above known type, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper and lower conductive patterns 3 and 8 located within the hole 5a of the spacer film 5 are extended to the exterior in the same direction and overlaid on each other across the spacer film in the upward and downward direction. Further, the thickness of the spacer film 5 is as thin as approximately 75 .mu.m, so that the upper and lower conductive patterns 3 and 8 are positioned in very close proximity to each other.
Hence, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the absence of the overcoats 4 and 9 causes silver to precipitate from the upper and lower conductive patterns 3 and 8 placed in proximity to each other in the hole 5a of the spacer film 5. This further encourages the generation of a silver-migrating portion 10 using the inner wall of the peripheral portion 5b of the hole 5a as a medium, which may establish an electrical connection between the conductive patterns 3 and 8. The provision of the overcoats 4 and 9 thus serves to prevent this electrical connection.
The switch constructed as described above is operable as follows. The upper contact 2 on the upper electrode sheet 1 is pressed by a finger or the like. This deflects the sheet 1 to connect the upper and lower contacts 2 and 7 overlaid in the holes 5a across the spacer film 5, thereby turning on the switch. On the other hand, the upper contact 2 is released to separate from the lower contact 7, thereby turning off the switch.
However, as described above, the sheet-like switch of the above conventional type is constructed in such a manner that the upper and lower conductive patterns 3 and 8 are extended to the exterior in the same direction and overlaid on each other across the spacer film in the upward and downward direction. As the switch is becoming thinner, the upper and lower conductive patterns 3 and 8 are located in closer proximity to each other, which encourages the generation of migration, which may establish an electrical connection between the conductive patterns 3 and 8.
In order to take measures against this migration, the provision of the overcoats 4 and 9 on the upper and lower conductive patterns 3 and 8, respectively, is conventionally required. This disadvantageously increases the manufacturing processes and cost.

Sheet-like switch with nonoverlapping conductive patterns


Guide grooves are formed on the inner periphery of a first lens barrel along an optical axis, and guide couplers are coupled with the guide grooves to guide the first lens barrel along the optical axis. Inclined parts are formed on both sides of the guide grooves, and inclined parts are formed on both sides of the guide couplers. Thus, the guide couplers do not easily come off from the guide grooves even if a pressure is applied to them.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a lens device, and more particularly to a lens device that can be collapsed for a camera with a zooming function.
2. Description of Related Art
A cam mechanism is used to move a lens barrel along an optical axis. The cam mechanism is composed of cam followers formed on the outer periphery of the lens barrel, cam grooves formed on the inner periphery of a rotatable barrel to couple with the cam follower, and guides that prevent rotation of the lens barrel and guide it along the optical axis. Rotation of the rotatable barrel moves the lens barrel along the optical axis due to the cam grooves.
An example of the guides is a fixed barrel with guide slits along the optical axis, and the cam followers are coupled with the guide slits. Another example of the guides is guide bars along the optical axis and sliders formed on the lens barrel, and the sliders are coupled with the guide bars. The applicant of this invention has already proposed a guide method (Japanese Patent Application No. 11-280316). In the guide method, guide grooves are formed on the inner periphery of a first lens barrel, and arms extend from the front of a second lens barrel, and couplers are arranged at the ends of the arms to couple with the guide grooves.
In the guide method, however, if the camera is dropped and a pressure is applied to the arms and the guide grooves, the couplers come off from the guide grooves. Recently, the first lens barrel became thinner and the guide grooves became shallower to make the lens device small in size. Therefore, the couplers easily come off from the guide grooves even if a slight pressure is applied to them.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lens device which can prevent a guide member from coming off from a guide groove with a simple structure.
The above object can be achieved by providing a lens device comprising: a lens barrel that holds a lens and has a guide groove formed on a periphery of the lens barrel along an optical axis, and a guide member that is coupled with the guide groove to guide the lens barrel along the optical axis; wherein a bottom part of the guide groove is wider than an opening part of the guide groove, and a top part of the guide member is wider than a base part of the guide member.
The above object can be achieved by providing a lens device comprising: a lens barrel that holds a lens, an arm member that is provided along an optical axis and has a guide groove formed on a periphery of the arm member along the optical axis, and a guide member that is coupled with the guide groove to guide the lens barrel along the optical axis; wherein a bottom part of the guide groove is wider than an opening part of the guide groove, and a top part of the guide member is wider than a base part of the guide member.
According to the present invention, the bottom part of the guide groove is wider than the opening part, and the top part of the guide member is wider than the base part. Thus, the guide member does not easily come off from the guide groove even if a pressure is applied to them.


The present invention provides a motor for a drone, comprising: a rotary shaft; a stator including a hole into which the rotary shaft is inserted; and a rotor arranged on the outer side of the stator, wherein the rotor comprises: a cover part coupled to the rotary shaft so as to cover the upper portion of the stator; a body part for covering a side portion of the stator; and a magnet coupled to the inner circumferential surface of the body part, wherein the cover part comprises: a propeller coupling part including a hole through which the rotary shaft penetrates; an upper surface part connected to the body part; a connecting part for connecting the propeller coupling part and the upper surface part; and a plurality of blades arranged in the radial direction from the lateral surface of the propeller coupling part and formed so as to be spaced apart from the upper surface part. Therefore, the present invention provides the advantageous effects of preventing water or foreign material from permeating into the motor while ensuring an air passage for heat dissipation.

A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle having a plurality of propellers mounted on a drone main body thereof to fly. The drone main body of the drone includes a motor configured to drive the propellers. In the motor, a rotor rotates due to electrical interaction with a stator to drive the propellers.
The rotor may be disposed at the outside of the stator to raise an output of the motor. In the above-described motor, a large amount of heat is generated therein. Accordingly, a heat dissipation structure in which the inside of the motor communicate with the outside thereof should be implemented. However, since the motor is exposed to the outside due to the heat dissipation structure, water or foreign substances can be introduced into the motor according to a flight environment.

Motor for drone and drone including same


A system evaluates the performance of an implantable medical device, such as by using a remote external server and a user interface and stored historical physiological data of a population of congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. A processor is coupled to a patient data storage device to apply multiple algorithm variations against the same implantable physiological data from the patient to produce corresponding resulting CHF indicators. The user interface includes a display that is configured to display to a user information allowing comparison between the resulting CHF indicators from the multiple algorithm variations. The display also includes a population data selector to permit the user to select physiological data from a population that includes a different set of one or more patients or physiological data collected over a period of time from the patient. This permits optimization of an algorithm parameter or selection of a best performing algorithm.

Implantable medical devices normally include a processor that executes an algorithm that controls the operation of the implantable medical device. For some implantable medical devices, the operation of the implantable medical device can be altered by either changing the algorithm code of the implantable medical device, or changing the values of parameters that the algorithm code uses during execution. These alterations can be performed via a telemetry link between the implantable medical device and a programmer.

System for evaluating performance of an implantable medical device


Methods and systems are provided for determining degradation of a particulate filter in an exhaust conduit. In one example, a method may include diverting exhaust gas to a secondary soot sensor assembly downstream of a first filter, comprising a filter and determining degradation based on time intervals between subsequent filter regenerations of the second filter in the secondary soot sensor assembly.

Engine combustion using diesel fuel may generate particulate matter (PM) (such as soot and aerosols) that can be exhausted to the atmosphere. To enable emissions compliance, diesel particulate filters (DPFs) may be included in the engine exhaust, to filter out exhaust PMs before releasing the exhaust. In addition, one or more soot sensors may be used to diagnose the DPFs and such soot sensors may be coupled upstream and/or downstream of the DPF.
As such, various types of soot sensors have been developed to sense soot production and release. One example approach shown by Paterson in U.S. Pat. No. 8,310,249 discloses soot sensors that collect particulate matter on charged electrodes. The soot sensor comprises opposed electrodes separated by an insulator with a gap in between to prevent current flow. When soot particles start to accumulate on the sensor, a bridge is created between the electrodes allowing for current to flow. The change in current is used as an indication for soot deposition.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential disadvantages with the above approach. As one example, non-uniform or low soot deposit on the surface can occur due to biased flow distribution across the sensor surface, resulting in inaccurate voltage and current readings across the gap. Additionally, it may be difficult to reach sensor regeneration temperatures due to large flow impingement on the surface in some sensor designs. Further still, the sensor may become contaminated due to impingement of large diesel particulates or water droplets on the surface of sensor electrodes. Contamination may also be caused by the large diesel particulates or water droplets infiltrating into the inner protection tube of the sensor.
In addition to electrode-based sensors, pressure-based soot sensors have also been developed. For example, as described by Sun et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 8,209,962, differential pressure across a particulate filter may be used for monitoring filter performance. Therein, when the differential pressure is less than a threshold, a leak in the particulate filter may be determined. However, this method may also suffer from interference from large aggregated particulates or water droplets impinging on the sensor.
The inventors herein have identified an approach by which the issues described above may be at least partly addressed. One example method includes: diverting exhaust gas from downstream of a first filter into each of parallel first and second pathways, the second pathway including a second filter coupled to an electric circuit; and indicating degradation of the first filter based on an interval between successive regenerations of the second filter. In this way, DPF diagnostics may be performed with higher accuracy and reliability without the results being corrupted by flow and soot loading distribution or impingement of droplets.
As an example, exhaust gas may be diverted from a main exhaust pipe, downstream of a DPF, into two parallel conduits (a first and a second exhaust pathway) outside of the main exhaust pipe via an inlet pipe. The inlet pipe may include perforations that allow water droplets and aggregated particulates to be trapped and released into the tailpipe. The second exhaust pathway may be fitted with a metallic particle filter (MPF) and an electric circuit may be coupled to the filter. Further, the two pathways may merge at a location downstream of the filter, wherefrom exhaust is returned to the main exhaust pipe. As exhaust gas diverted from the main exhaust pipe is received in the two parallel pathways, exhaust PMs, such as soot, may be deposited on the MPF of the second pathway, while exhaust containing soot flows unobstructed through the first pathway. As a result a pressure and/or temperature difference is generated, which is measured by a pressure or temperature sensor coupled to the two pathways. Once the pressure or temperature difference reaches a threshold, the electric circuit coy pled to the MPF is closed to initiate regeneration of the filter. Regeneration completion is indicated based on a drop in the pressure or temperature difference. Further, a time interval elapsed between successive regenerations is learned. As such, if the DPF becomes degraded (such as due to age or durability issues), an increasing amount of soot may escape from the DPF, and travel onto the metal filter. As a result, the metal filter may have to be cleaned more frequently. Thus, based on a decrease in the time interval elapsed between successive regenerations of the metal filter in the second exhaust pathway, degradation of an upstream DPF may be determined, and appropriate actions may be taken.
In this way, by diverting a portion of exhaust gas from an exhaust pipe to a soot sensor with a metal filter, located downstream of a diesel particulate filter, degradation of a particulate filter can be detected based on an amount of soot leaking from the particulate filter onto the metal filter. The technical effect of trapping soot particles on the metal filter selectively included in one of the two pathways, is that a differential pressure or differential temperature between the pathways can be advantageously used to learn the soot load of the metal filter. The technical effect of trapping aggregated particulates and water droplets in an inlet pipe of the soot sensor, and redirecting them to the exhaust tailpipe, is that impingement of aggregated particulates and water droplets on the soot sensor is reduced, allowing for more accurate and reliable soot detection. By relying on a time interval between successive regenerations of the metal filter to detect DPF degradation, is the diagnostics may be rendered more sensitive and less affected by variations in soot loading distribution on the metal filter. Overall, accuracy and reliability of soot sensing and diagnosing of an exhaust particulate filter is increased, enabling higher emissions compliance.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Method and system for diesel particulate filter diagnostics


A device for creating more natural three-dimensional image effects which may be recorded, for example, by video cameras. The device has an intermittent image pathway occluder for receiving at least two image pathways which alternately and intermittently occludes the two image pathways, a horizontal imaging-shifting component for shifting at least one of the image pathways leftward or rightward, a vertical imaging-shifting component for shifting the image pathways upward and downward, and an image pathway compositing component which forms a coincident superimposed composite three-dimensional image after the image pathways have been shifted by the horizontal and vertical imaging-shifting components, and after passing through the intermittent image pathway occluder. Also, a device for enhancing the more natural three-dimensional effect of such images which are created and which may be recorded and/or displayed.

Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics or three-dimensional (3D) imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. Originally, stereograms created by such techniques involved a pair of stereo images which could be viewed using a stereoscope. Most stereoscopic methods present two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. These two-dimensional images may then be combined in the brain to give the perception of three-dimensional depth. In other words, stereoscopy creates the illusion of three-dimensional depth from using two-dimensional images. Stereoscopy may thus be distinguished from three-dimensional displays that display an image in three full dimensions, allowing the observer to increase information about the 3-dimensional objects being displayed by head and eye movements.
To create the illusion of a three-dimensional effect, another method employs a binocular imaging technique, for example, with two cameras disposed eye distance apart. With this method, the three-dimensional impression gained by the observer may be produced by the fact that the two imaging channels work in different colors, with the observer wearing special glasses, of which one glass is tinted in one color, while the other glass is tinted with a different color. Similar techniques may use polarized light and suitably polarized glasses. Although this kind of three-dimensional imaging exhibits higher information content, it does not go beyond the sum of the information content of two two-dimensional images received from the two imaging elements. Again, the observer is offered merely a three-dimensional impression corresponding to that gained by an observer who is fixed in relation to an actual three-dimensional object.
Another method for producing images with a three-dimensional effect is based on holography. In this method, a three-dimensional object is illuminated by a viewing beam, such as a laser beam, with the light reflected by the object being mixed with a reference beam, also often generated by a laser beam. The resulting interference pattern of the two beams may be stored as a holographic recording so that, with suitable lighting, the developed holographic recording may be recovered and projected to provide images having a three-dimensional impression. With holographic imaging, the three-dimensional impression may be more complete because, due to the holographic recording technique, the observer may be able to go "round the object" since the surface of the imaged object appears to hover freely in space.
Three-dimensional effects may also be creating in moving images. A three-dimensional (3D) film or stereoscopic three-dimensional (S3D) film involves a motion picture that enhances the illusion of three-dimensional depth perception. Derived from stereoscopic photography, a regular motion picture camera system may be used to record images as seen from two perspectives, or computer-generated imagery may be used to generate the two perspectives in post-production to create the film as a series of moving images. Special projection hardware and/or eyewear may then be used to provide the illusion of three-dimensional depth when viewing the film. In addition to being used in theatrical film releases, television broadcasts and direct-to-video films may also incorporate similar methods such as in the case of three-dimensional (3D) television and Blu-ray three-dimensional (3D) video.

Device for creating and enhancing three-dimensional image effects


Methods and systems are provided for protecting a circuit design for an integrated circuit. Logic circuits are identified in at least a portion of the circuit design for replacement. The logic circuits in the circuit design are replaced with a bitstream and configurable circuits that comprise memory circuits. A transformed circuit design is generated for the integrated circuit that comprises the configurable circuits. The configurable circuits in the transformed circuit design perform logic functions of the logic circuits when the bitstream is stored in the memory circuits in the configurable circuits.

Theft, reverse engineering, and piracy of intellectual property for hardware electronic circuits is a significant issue worldwide. Hence, there is a need to protect designs for electronic circuits before and after manufacture and distribution. However, cryptographic solutions are often not used to protect the design flow of electronic circuits, because some untrusted parties (e.g., in the supply chain) may need access to the details of the designs for electronic circuits. Hardware obfuscation is a method of modifying a design for an electronic circuit to generate an obfuscated design that is substantially difficult to reverse engineer or copy. Traditional protection uses an obfuscator and a key that transforms the original design to the obfuscated design. The functionality of the original design can be determined by applying the correct key to the obfuscated design.

Systems and methods for logic circuit replacement with configurable circuits


Described is a pattern matching system for matching a test image with a 3D template. The system is initiated by generating a library of templates (each individual template is a three-dimensional array, with each pixel in the array representing a value at a particular x, y, and z coordinate). Each column of pixels along one axis (e.g., z) is converted into a neural input. Each neural input is fed through a neural network to establish a delayed connection between each neural input and output neuron and to generate a template neural network. Separately, a test image is converted into neural inputs. The neural inputs of the test image are input the template neural network to generate output neurons. The output neurons are evaluated to identify a location of the template in the test image.

Pattern matching is a technique by which a test image is matched to a template or stored image. This process is typically referred to as template matching. Normalized cross-correlation (NCC) is the standard for template matching in images. Until recently, correlations have been used in novel template-matching devices, such as those described by TI Kaneko and O Hori in U.S. Pat. No. 7,085,418, titled, "Template matching method and image processing device." NCC can find exact matches; however, its disadvantage is the computational complexity. In other words, NCC scales as the volume of the image times the volume of the template. Thus, for high-density integrated circuits (ICs), the search time can be prohibitive (e.g., greater than 1000 hours). Despite this limitation, NCC has been hardly improved upon: typical speed-ups are slightly (about 2×), as was described by L. Di Stefano and S. Mattoccia, in "A sufficient condition based on the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality for efficient Template Matching", IEEE Int. Conf on Image Processing (ICIP 2003), Sep. 14-17, 2003.
To speed up cross-correlation, Fourier transformations (FT) have been used (see L. G. Brown, "A survey of image registration techniques," ACM Comput Surv., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 325-376, 1992). FT can greatly reduce the time to compute the correlation between test image and template. However, computing the FT on the test image requires N log2(N) operations, where N is the number of pixels. Thus, for large images, which are typical for ICs, this computation alone can be more expensive than the total computation required for our invention.
Another group of methods, iterative search methods (e.g., swarm vision as described by Owechko et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 7,599,894), do not search exhaustively in the test image; instead, they iteratively move the template location within the test image until a high correlation is achieved. These methods perform well if the test image is sufficiently blurry such that a gradient exists that points in the direction of higher correlation. However, for exact matching, as in circuit leaf-cell search, such methods are not optimal.
The present invention is also related to pattern recall in recurrent neural networks (RNN), such as those described by J. J. Hopfield in "Neural networks and physical systems with emergent collective computational abilities", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 79 no. 8 pp. 2554-2558, April 1982, which is incorporated herein by reference. As in the present invention, the neural networks first store template patterns. Different from the present invention, however, these patterns are stored by adjusting weights of neural connections instead of delays. In pattern recall from RNNs, a pattern is first fed into the input neurons, and then, the network's dynamics converge to a related stored pattern. This process is also called pattern association. A disadvantage of this process is the low speed. Computing the network dynamics is an iterative process. Moreover, such networks alone do not provide an efficient mechanism to feed the whole test image into the network. Therefore, as in cross-correlation, every test image location would need to be compared with the template image. As result, using RNNs for pattern matching would be slower than using normalized cross-correlation.
As evident above, the state of the art in image template matching is normalized cross-correlation, which has not been significantly improved upon for several decades. Thus, continuing need exits for a pattern matching system with a substantial speed improvement over existing and traditional systems.

System and method for fast template matching in 3D


A multi direction switch (100) includes a first cover (2), a second cover (3), a printed circuit board (PCB) (4) positioned between the first cover and the second cover, a pair of stacked, orthogonal electrode plates (5) positioned between the second cover and the PCB, a spring member (7) positioned between the first cover and the PCB, and a button (6) for actuating the electrode plates to move on the PCB. The second cover forms a protrusion (21), the button has a radial portion (611) and a wall portion (612) extending downwardly from the radial portion, and the spring member is positioned between the protrusion and the wall portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a multi direction switch capable of outputting different signals denoting multi positions, and more particularly to a multi direction switch which includes a specially designed and positioned spring member.
2. Description of Related Arts
A multi direction switch is widely used in an electronic appliance for denoting multi positions when the electronic appliance is in use. Japanese Patent Pub. No. 2011-233435 discloses a conventional multi direction switch. The multi direction switch has a button for actuating two electrode plates thereof and a helical spring member for returning the button to its initial position. The multi direction switch is divided into two stacked upper and lower cavities by forming a block portion between a top cover and a bottom cover. The resilient spring member is positioned in the upper cavity above the block portion. The two electrode plates are positioned in the lower cavity below the block portion. The button comprises an operation portion extending out of the top cover, a widened radial portion in the upper cavity, and a narrowed actuating portion in the lower cavity. Therefore, the two electrode plates are actuated by the actuating portion to move on a printed circuit board along different directions for generating different signals. The radial portion extends inside the spring member for deflecting the spring member. Both the top cover and the block portion have ribs for confining the spring member. A gap is defined between the top cover rib and the block portion rib so that the widened radial portion can extend into and interact with the spring member.
An improved multi direction switch having a simple structure is desired.