The fiber-optic transceiver system combines EIA-232 data with IRIG-B time code information in a time multiplexing arrangement. The combined signal is transmitted to a receiver where the time code information is decombined from the data so that the two signals are replicas of their originals. The time multiplexing is accomplished by inserting a pulse into the data stream following the occurrence of a minimum time for each data bit and the coincidence of a time code pulse.

Asynchronous communication between various electronic devices, including computers and various peripheral devices, is well known. Such communication is used in a wide variety of technical fields, including specifically relative to this application, communication between two protective relays on a power transmission or distribution line.
In asynchronous communication, which typically uses the EIA-232 (previously RS-232) electrical standard involving the ASCII communication format, the transmitter produces a ground-referenced signal and the receiver measures the signal against ground. The internal clocks of the transmitter and receiver are not synchronized. Metallic cable connects the transmitter and receiver (typically this distance will be less than 50 feet), including at least one wire to transmit the data, one wire to receive data and one ground wire. The transmitted data characters are typically encoded in seven or eight bits, using the ASCII standard. The sequence of data transmission typically includes a start pulse, seven or eight data pulses and a stop pulse.
In certain circumstances, including communication of data, such as for the example given above with respect to protective relays for power systems, time code information is also transmitted between the relays so that the time clocks in the relays and peripheral devices can be synchronized. One time code which is well known and widely used is the IRIG-B time code standard. Under the IRIG-B standard, the demodulated time code is a series of pulses which occur at a 100 pulse per second rate, with the pulse widths being two, five or eight milliseconds. The widest pulses are used to indicate the start and end segments of the transmission of the code, while the narrower pulse widths represent particular binary states. The leading edges of the pulses occur in 10 millisecond intervals, so that the time can be synchronized to 10 milliseconds or better.
When both data and time code information are transmitted, a single metallic cable can be used, although two separate connectors must be used for the data and time code information In some cases, two separate cables are used.
The connecting cables are frequently metallic, which presents a hazard, particularly in high voltage situations. Accordingly, fiber-optic type transmission is being increasingly used to provide the desired electrical isolation. However, in those situations where both time code and data are to be transmitted, those two information streams must be combined in some way or separate fiber-optic cables must be used. Relative to the possibility of combining the information, it is desirable to maintain the existing EIA-232 ASCII and IRIG-B formats, because of their conventionality, and also to use only one channel, if possible.
The two information signals could be combined using conventional multiplexing; however, this would likely be too complex and would require additional hardware, adding to system expense.
The present invention is a multiplexing system sing a single fiber-optic channel, but is relatively simple to implement, without much, if any, additional hardware cost.

Fiber-optic transceiver for combined serial data and time code communication


A public policy auction system for providing a monetary incentive for the adaption of efficient public policies. The system generally comprises a series of hierarchical negotiations and auctions for the proprietary right to receive a portion of the savings generated from the efficiency of a given public policy. The method begins with a registration phase during which information is collected on the proponents of new public policies, and shares are established for a portion of the approximate distribution of savings gained by implementation of the efficient public policy. The shares are auctioned to potential constituents during an active auction. The active auction method includes penalties to force constituents to combine and pool their bids, thereby encouraging cooperation and minimizing frivolous bids. The active auction is complemented by an innovator auction in which a predetermined number of policy innovators are selected to become competing bidders, and a predetermined interval of time is established before additional innovators may participate. The initial innovators negotiate a share of research and development expense to be borne by subsequent innovators, and all subsequent innovators are required to pay their share to the existing group. Potential subscribers to the policy may bid, and if the buyer accepts the innovator's bid, the subscriber is charged the amount of the bid. The winning buyer must try to provide an acceptable profit to the competing innovators at the lowest price for the government or penalties are imposed. The entire system is administered over the internet by a series of software modules. The net result is the creation of a free market for the savings gained by more efficient public policies, the market giving an incentive for the research and development of new efficient public policies and allowing the public and the innovator to sharing the resulting economic benefit.

Since wars, alcoholism, drug addiction, corruption, unemployment, etc. are all inefficient conditions that waste resources. The inefficient use of resources causes numerous ills not the least of which is global warming. Plainly there is a great need to solve any of these enormous problems. A solution could save millions of lives, make the world a safer place, and possibly change the course of history. The advent of the internet provides a platform and present invention provides an auction exchange system of incentives to solve these problems. The prior art reflects a number of electronic commerce systems inclusive of auctions, but none so ambitious as to promote efficient public policy and the world's social welfare.
1. Systems and Methods for Electronic Commerce
The prior art is replete with descriptions of electronic systems and methods that facilitate the transfer of traditional goods and services. In an online context, U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,383 entitled Method for Carrying Out Transactions Using Electronic Title, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,031 entitled Method and Apparatus for Order Management By Market Brokers, describe means of displaying merchandise for sale to a plurality of customers connected to a server computer and means of conducting sales and order transaction. These references are directed to goods and services that presently have an analogue outside of the online context, such as the sale of cars, of clothing, of memorabilia, or of financial products.
2. Systems and Methods for Electronic Auctions
A comprehensive description of the advantages of electronic auction systems and methods over traditional live auctions is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,896 to Fisher et al., and will only be summarized here. Electronic auctions do not require the bidders, the auctioneer, the seller, or the merchandise to travel to the same location. The auctioneer can be a computer system instead of a person. Any number of auctions can occur simultaneously, limited only by computing power and communications bandwidth. Merchandise becomes available to a greater number of buyers, increasing their collective influence on price while decreasing transaction costs for the seller. Again, these references only disclose the transfer of conventional goods and services.
3. Systems and Methods for Electronic Collaboration
References that expand upon prior art electronic commerce and electronic auction systems and methods are also found in the prior art. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,219 to Brown describes an online auction that permits individual bidders to pool bids during a bidding session. Bidding groups and their constituent members are registered in the server computer. Total bids for all members of the bidding group are compared to find the winning bidder. The present invention disclosed herein is a closer cousin to these references, yet still distinct from them.
In all of the prior art references noted and in the current state of the art, no systems and methods are described that evaluate and capture the economic benefit of innovations in policy, as conceived and expressed by innovators. Despite the intangible nature of such an enterprise, there is nothing to prevent the use of electronic systems and methods to do so.
By way of example in the greater portion of the economy, the relative uniqueness of an individual's contribution and the contribution of an individual's resources are the standard of fairness in market economies. The uniqueness of an individual's contribution and the contribution of an individual's resources is referred to here as the unique marginal revenue product. In a traditional patent system, because the unique marginal revenue product is not the standard of fairness and a 20 year exclusive grant is the standard of fairness, inefficiencies result. One reason for inefficiencies is because a competing innovator may only be minutes ahead of the competition, but receives patent protection for only 20 years. Inefficiencies also arise when an individual whose contribution is truly unique might only get 20 years of protection, when that individual may be 30 or 50 years ahead of their competition. As a result, they do not get adequate reimbursement. Inadequate reimbursement is inefficient because it fails to provide the profit signals defining the importance of unique and valuable contributions. There are no proprietary rights for those who develop good policy.
By way of a more specific example, let us suppose that an economist sees that the auctioning of airwaves could bring in $3 billion per year to the U.S. treasury. As an innovator, he takes the concept to an exchange comprising an interrelated set of policy auctions. The exchange has an auction for constituents and several levels of auctions for special interest groups. The constituents bid an average of 0.00033 of the savings or $100,000 apiece, and the special interest groups at the primary, general and floor auction level bid an average of $40,000 apiece or 0.000133 of the saving from the efficient policy. If we assume that there are 350 members of Congress, but only 175 are necessary to achieve a majority, then it would take $175 million for the constituents and $21 million for the special interest groups to save the government $3 billion. Since another economist could probably have figured out the benefits in one month, the economist would only get 1/12th of the savings or $250 million and the tax payers would get $2.5 billion, instead of none, of the $3 billion in savings.
Let us assume that a politician who is reluctant to support an efficient public policy is necessary to achieve a majority for that policy. The lowest bidding constituents, and special interest groups for the primary and general election auctions would be placing enormous pressures on their lowest bidders in inferior auctions to pressure the politician to support the efficient public policy. If the lowest bidder in the primary bid $40,000 and the next highest bidder bid $60,000, then the first lowest bidder would be penalized to $16,000 with the formula and the lowest bid would now be $76,000 for the district, threatening the innovator's profit on the low bidder's bid.

Market system and method for promotion of innovations to efficient public policy


In accordance with the present invention, a bulk optic material (for example, silica) is processed to form a spatially microstructured element, such as a photonic bandgap (PBG) structure. An ultra-short laser pulse source is used as an input signal that is applied to the bulk optic PBG structure to generate an enhanced continuum output. The PBG structure may comprise any type of one-, two- or three-dimensional grating structure, where the selected structure will dictate the type(s) of enhancement(s) that are present in the generated continuum—generally in the form of a broadened continuum and/or the inclusion of one or peaks in the continuum. The use of a relatively small-dimensioned bulk material allows for the continuum to be generated without the need for any type of optical confinement (waveguide). In one embodiment, the bulk PBG structure may be is subjected to one or more additional processes (such as UV exposure, electromagnetic field application, etc.) to modify the nonlinearity of the bulk optic material, in one case resulting in the reduction of the inherent chromatic dispersion and enhancement of the generated continuum.

There are many applications in optical communication systems for a high power, low noise broadband light source. For example, efforts are now being made toward "spectral slicing", where a common light source is used to generate a large number of (independent) wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical signals. Using spectral slicing, therefore, a single light source may be employed to take the place of a multiple number of separate, narrow linewidth lasers, as was required in the prior art. Other applications for a continuum light source include, but are not limited to, frequency metrology, device characterization, dispersion measurements made on specialty fibers, and the determination of optical grating transmission characteristics. All of these various diagnostic tools may be greatly enhanced by the availability of such a broadband source.
In general, continuum generation involves the launching of relatively high power laser radiation (in most cases, pulsed radiation) into an optical material where the pulse train undergoes significant spectral broadening as a result of the nonlinearity of the material. Most prior art arrangements for providing continuum generation involve the use of highly nonlinear optical fibers, microstructured fibers and/or nonlinear planar waveguides. In each arrangement, a guiding structure is defined and used to confine the light as it passes through the nonlinear material.
Continuum light of wavelengths spanning more than one octave have been generated in microstructured and tapered optical fibers by launching light pulses having durations on the order of femtoseconds (10−15 seconds) into the endface of the fibers. The extreme spectra thus produced are useful, for example, in measuring and stabilizing pulse-to-pulse carrier envelope phase, as well as in high-precision optical frequency combs.
It is also well known that bulk optic materials (i.e., photonic crystals) can be fabricated with periodic modulations of their refractive index. Examples include photonic bandgap (PBG) structures, in which a microstructure is patterned into a bulk optic material such that two (or more) distinct refractive indexes (e.g., air and silica) yield a periodic or quasi-periodic pattern in two or three dimensions within the waveguiding layer. In such structures, therefore, a "bandgap" results where one or more frequencies of an applied optical signal will not propagate through the bulk material. A continuum of light may also be generated by launching high power pulses through bulk materials that do not contain any type of guiding refractive index structure. Similar to guided wave continua, the chromatic dispersion of the bulk material plays a significant role in determining the continuum generation properties. One problem with such structures, however, is that there is little control over the material dispersion and, as a result, little control/flexibility in the generated continuum. Thus, a means to control the dispersion of a bulk, non-guiding material would be advantageous.

Enhanced continuum generation in nonlinear bulk optic materials


A method of precision machining at least one cut into an article having a non-uniform surface, wherein the cut is of substantially constant depth relative to the non-uniform surface. One aspect of the invention is a machined optical wafer having two adjacent notches, to serve as a platform for a fiber optic pigtail, machined into the edge of the wafer. Another aspect of the invention is a method of automatically machining a plurality of notches into an optical wafer. For optical wafers having embedded light paths, light detected from these light paths may be used to compensate for the variation in embedded depth of the light paths.

The present invention relates to a precision machined article and a method of precision machining an article. More specifically, the invention relates to a precision machined optical wafer and a method of precision machining an optical wafer.
Due in large part to an increasing demand for very accurately machined parts, precise, automated machining has become a wide and diverse field of endeavor. The relationship between dimensional tolerance of machined parts and the life expectancy and performance of those parts was recognized early in the development of the art. Parts machined to tight tolerances generally offered better performance and were found to last longer. To meet the demand for precision parts, a machining art based upon sensors coupled to automatic machine controllers has developed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,022, Underwood et al., a workpiece of known shape is positioned on a moveable table beneath a movable tool. See col. 1, ll. 45-65. The tool is moved into electrical contact with the workpiece and the spatial location of the contact point relative to a reference position is recorded. The tool then bores a hole of preset depth into the workpiece. See col. 2. ll. 39-45. A computer compares the recorded point of contact to the expected point of contact. The expected point of contact is based upon the known shape of the workpiece and its known initial position on the table. The tool retracts, moves to a second point on the workpiece and makes electrical contact with the workpiece. The difference between expected point of contact is compared to the actual point of contact at each position where a hole is to be bored to insure uniform depth of the holes, ". . . the exact positions of the workpiece with respect to the expected positions of the workpiece are displayed to insure that each subsequent cut was made to the same uniform depth as the previous cuts in the workpiece." (Col. 2, ll. 21-25.) The ideal end product is a workpiece having a set of holes of uniform depth, each hole centerline having a preset angular relation to the other hole centerlines.
The machining proceeds in a stepwise way: the entire surface is not sensed and fitted prior to the start of machining operations.
Some drawbacks associated with this machining strategy are: an expected shape of the workpiece must be known and entered into the computer; precision positioning is required for both the tool and the workpiece; multiple degrees of freedom of both the tool and the workpiece are needed to complete the machining task; and, particular precautions must be taken to avoid a false electrical contact signal. These precautions include flushing the surface with a dielectric liquid, a step which is not compatible with some materials and processes. See col. 2, ll. 57-68.
An automated grinding method using sensor feedback throughout the operation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,652, Gordon et al. The method employs sensing means, a controller and a computer to determine ". . . the amount of material removed from the workpiece. " (Col. 1, l. 44). A comparison of sensor signals and D/A convertor signals yields ". . . the degree of out of round of the workpiece . . . " . (Col. 1, l. 39). Also, circuitry is in place". . . for generation of a signal representing the rate of removal of material from the workpiece." (Col. 1, ll. 46-48). This patent exemplifies a relatively complex sensing and controlling system. In general, as complexity of the automatic machining system and number of parameters controlled or monitored increases, cost and, in some cases, machine downtime may be expected to increase.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,960, McMurtry, "measuring operations are needed before machining to determine the position of a surface to be machined and after machining to check the dimensions of the machined surface." (Col.1, ll. 26-29.) The initial position of the workpiece is determined relative to, "test surfaces on the table on or adjacent to the workpiece". (Col.1, ll. 49-51.) An additional reference is required. "The workpiece has a datum bore having an axis defining the workpiece datum in the X,Y directions. The datum position of the workpiece on the table is defined by distances X,Y,Z! between the axis and the table datum surfaces TX, TY, TZ." (Col.2, ll. 29-34.) (Numbers referring to figures have been suppressed.) Before machining begins, "the work offset see col. 2, ll. 29-58! and the probe offset see col. 3, ll. 3-17! have to be taken into account." The tool can then be directed to move to a target position, taking into account the probe and workpiece offsets.
The problem of relating a probe position signal to an actual tool axis position adds appreciable complexity to the machine and complication, time and expense to its operation. Two sets of reference surfaces are required, TX,TY,TZ and the datum bore, and two sensing operations, before and after machining are stipulated. The machine is made more expensive and complicated by the requirement that position of the workpiece relative to the support table and relative to the tool be known. Furthermore, the accuracy and repeatability of machining is necessarily determined by the accuracy and repeatability of the tool moving and table moving mechanisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,224, Matsumura, et al., describes a method of detecting and reducing to numerical data a model surface through use of a stylus which contacts the model. "A method of creating NC data for performance of machining in accordance with the profile of a model is available and includes tracing the surface of the model with a stylus by means of tracer control, digitizing the model surface profile by accepting stylus position data at a predetermined period T, and creating the NC data using the digitized data." The NC data may be used subsequently to machine a workpiece in conformance with the surface acquired from the model. Both position and velocity data are taken from the stylus and digitized. (Col. 1, ll. 57-60.)
Again, in this case a separate apparatus, i.e., a stylus is used to take data on the surface. Also, the complication of using velocity data is introduced. And, the surfaced measured corresponds with the final machined surface, not a surface to be machined.
The above examples show that increased accuracy is obtained at the expense of:
(i) increased time to complete a machining operation; and, PA1 (ii) increased complexity of the equipment used to model the surface and control the actual machining step. PA1 which does not require knowledge of the workpiece surface shape prior to locating the surface with a sensor/detector arrangement; PA1 in which position data is referenced to a single reference position of the tool so that precision holding or chucking of the workpiece is not required; and, PA1 which automatically takes into account tool wear by using the tool as the probe. PA1 a) holding the article in place relative to a reference position of the cutting tool, PA1 b) moving the cutting tool into contact with the surface of the article, PA1 c) detecting the position of contact of the tool with the surface, PA1 d) recording the position of the contact of the tool with the surface, PA1 e) retracting the tool from the surface, PA1 f) moving the tool to a different position on the surface, PA1 g) repeating steps b) through f) at multiple positions on the surface, and PA1 h) machining at least one cut into the surface, wherein the machining is controlled by control means using positions recorded in the recording step. PA1 moving a detector to detect light emanating from light paths embedded in the wafer, and PA1 recording the location of the detector relative to the cutting tool reference position.
Precision machining difficulties are compounded when the shape of the workpiece is irregular or when the amount of material to be removed from the workpiece is small. For example, optical wafers, which incorporate embedded optical waveguide paths, can be machined to create a surface for securing an optical fiber pigtail whose endface is abutted to the embedded path. In a manual prior art process, labor intensive and time consuming steps are required to achieve acceptable alignment of the fiber pigtail and the embedded waveguide path. First, the wafer is cut into several pieces to reduce the deviation from datness within a wafer piece. The individual pieces are attached by means of wax to flat substrates in preparation for machining. While the wax hardens, the operator adjusts the position of the wafer piece manually in an attempt to place the piece in a horizontal plane relative to the downward direction of movement of a tool. The piece is then machined by moving the tool through the wafer piece while maintaining the vertical position of the tool. Even with exceptional care in segmenting the wafer and aligning the wafer pieces relative to a horizontal plane beneath the tool, machining results are sometimes unsatisfactory. In FIG. 8, the edge view of an optical wafer 36 shows varying distances between the machining line 40 and the location of the embedded waveguide paths 38.
There is, therefore, a need for a precision machining method which is lower in cost, simpler in concept and operation, and which is able to accept a wider range of workpiece sizes and shapes. More particularly, there is a need for a precision machining system which does not require pre-knowledge of the surface shape and which does not require precise reference points or surfaces for both tool and workpiece. Also, a precision machining strategy which automatically takes into account tool wear, is a desirable machining method enhancement.

Precision machined warped waveguide wafer


Disclosed is a planographic printing plate material comprising a hydrophilic support and provided thereon, a light sensitive layer and an overcoat layer in that order, wherein the light sensitive layer contains (a) an alkali soluble polymer, (b) a polymerizable compound having an ethylenically unsaturated bond, (c) a polymerization initiator, and (d) an anionic dye represented by the following formula (1),

In recent years, as a printing plate for off-set printing, a large number of computer to plate (CTP) systems have been developed and put into practical use, which imagewise exposes directly to a planographic printing plate material employing laser light based on digital image data to record an image on the material. As the CTP systems, there are a silver salt system, a radical polymerization system and a thermal system, which differ in characteristics.
The radical polymerization system has characteristics providing high sensitivity and high printing durability, and is widely applied in printing fields such newspaper printing. The general radical polymerization is disclosed in many literatures such as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 10-104835. A composition comprising an arene compound as a polymerization initiator is disclosed in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 1-152109. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2755723 discloses, as a composition providing high sensitivity and high printing durability, a photopolymerizable composition which comprises a polymer binder, a free-radical polymerizable compound, a photoreduction dye (photo-initiator), and a trihalomethyl compound and a metallocene compound as another photo-initiator, and discloses in the examples a composition comprising an alcohol soluble eosin, a trihalomethyltriazine, and a titanocene compound. A composition disclosed in this patent document provides excellent sensitivity and printing durability, which is preferred, however, a planographic printing plate material comprising the composition is greatly lowered in storage stability after long term storage, resulting in insufficient practical properties.
The radical polymerization system generally employs a process comprising exposure, heat treatment, water washing, alkali development, and water washing in that order. This system is a preferred one to obtain high printing durability by completing the radical polymerization. However, when printing plate materials having a different thickness were processed, the printing plate materials are heated at preheating to different temperature due to the different thickness, producing problem of causing development failure. As the countermeasure, an attempt has been made in which arrangement of rollers in an automatic processing machine (automatic processor) or pre-determination (provision) of preheating conditions to each plate thickness is examined.
As an effective method to widen the latitude as printing plate materials to various preheating conditions, there is a method which increases solubility of light sensitive layer. Typically, a resin having a high acid value or a photoinitiator system for accelerating reaction by heating has been studied. However, satisfactory preheating latitude has not yet obtained considering printing durability. Further, the above negative-working photopolymerization type printing plate material has problem in that sludge is likely to be produced in a developer, and does not have a satisfactory running property.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Planographic printing plate material and planographic printing plate preparing process


A composition of matter comprising a mixture of:. a) phenolphthaleins-s-triazines; PA0 b) phenolphthalides-s-triazines; PA0 c) 9,9-bis-(4-hydroxy phenyl)fluorene -triazines; PA0 d) 3,6-dihydroxyspiro[fluorene-9,9-xanthane]-s-triazines; PA0 e) 10,10-bis-(4-hydroxyl phenyl)anthrone-s-triazines; and PA0 f) 9,9,10,10-tetrakis-(4-hydroxylphenyl)-anthracene -s-triazines.

This invention relates to a chemical method of decreasing nitric oxide, NOx, levels, and more particularly to a composition of matter for reducing NO.sub.x levels in diesel fuels.
Nitrogen oxides are the oxidation products of elemental nitrogen, organic, or inorganic nitrogen and oxygen at elevated temperatures. Nitrogen oxides include nitric oxide, NO; nitrogen dioxide, NO.sub.2 ; nitrogen trioxide, NO.sub.3 ; dinitrogen trioxide, N.sub.2 O.sub.3 ; tetranitrogen pentaoxide, N.sub.4 O.sub.5 ; tetranitrogen hexaoxide, N.sub.4 O.sub.6 ; nitrous oxide, N.sub.2 O; and the like. Elevated temperatures required to prepare these oxidation products are routinely obtained in internal combustion engines utilizing gasoline, diesel, or aviation fuel.
There are very strong ecological and environmental reasons to reduce or ideally eliminate NOx as an internal combustion oxidation product. Once produced, NOx is directly responsible for acid rain and photochemical smog. Moreover, chronic exposure to NOx has been directly linked with restricted pulmonary compliance in non-smoking healthy males; acute respiratory disease among children living in "high exposure" towns in Czechoslovakia; and a key irritant cited for the high incidence of chronic bronchitis among Japanese postal workers servicing urban centers as outlined in Medical and Biologic Effects of Environmental Pollutants by the National Academy of Sciences, 1977.
Numerous physical methods have been suggested to reduce or eliminate NOx. Certain proposed techniques involve a great deal of capital outlay and require major consumption of additives, scrubbers, etc. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,141 proposes a reaction with liquid hydrocarbons; U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,587 proposes high temperature burning with a hydrocarbon; U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,899 proposes reacting with an iron chelate; U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,751 reacts NOx with a conjugated diolefin. U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,554 utilizes a combination of ammonia and oxygen to react with nitric oxide.
Application of these reactions discussed above imposes organic pollutant disposal problems along with the attendant problems of toxicity and malodorous environments. In addition, they require the presence of oxygen and are relatively expensive. And, all of these methods discussed must deal with the problem of the odor of ammonia and its disposal. Moreover, these methods also suffer from the drawback of requiring controlled environments which make them impossible to use in mobile vehicles.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an economical means and/or a composition of matter that effectively reduces NO.sub.x in diesel fuels.

Composition of matter for high temperature phenolphthalein-, phenolphmalide-, fluorene-, xanthane-, and anthrone-s-triazines that are soluble in diesel fuel


The digital predistortion system and method with extended correction bandwidth includes a predistortion system that uses a two-box architecture based on the cascade of a memory polynomial followed by a memoryless predistortion function. The memoryless predistorter is identified offline and used to perform a coarse linearization which cancels out most of the static nonlinearity of the device under test allowing for a reduced observation bandwidth for the synthesis of the memory polynomial predistortion sub-function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunication systems, and particularly to a digital predistortion system and method with extended correction bandwidth.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radio frequency power amplifiers (PAs) are the main cause of nonlinearities in wireless transmitters. These nonlinearities appear as a result of using spectrum efficient modulation and multiplexing techniques such as multi-level quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), respectively. These techniques widely used in modern communication systems inevitably lead to amplitude modulated time domain signals with high peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR). To ensure power efficient operation of the power amplification stage, architectures such as Doherty amplifiers and polar transmitters are adopted.
These power amplification circuits enhance the power efficiency while resulting in a substantially nonlinear behavior. In fact, the signal's amplitude modulation emulates the static nonlinear behavior of PAs. Moreover, dynamic distortions caused by the electrical memory effects will be induced due to the wide bandwidth of the signals to be transmitted. This calls for the use of linearization circuitry along with the power amplifier to reduce the spectral regrowth in the adjacent channels. Digital predistortion technique is the preferred choice for the linearization of base station power amplifiers. Several predistortion structures have been proposed to compensate for the dynamic nonlinear behavior of power amplifiers driven by wideband signals.
Digital predistortion is achieved by placing before the amplifier a complementary nonlinear function that will cancel out the distortions created by the PA. The performance of the digital predistorter heavily depends on the match between the predistortion function and the inverse characteristic of the PA. Accordingly, accurate characterization of the device under test is needed. This sets stringent bandwidth requirements since the signal at the output of a power amplifier is typically five times wider than the original signal to be transmitted. In a first attempt to address the wide bandwidth requirement of digital predistortion systems, a band-limited approach consisting of filtering the PA's output signal to limit the required observation bandwidth and applying a similar bandwidth limitation on the predistorted signal through filtering was investigated. This led to satisfactory linearization performance in the observation bandwidth but with no distortions correction beyond the observation bandwidth of the system. Recently, a DPD system was able to reduce the spectrum regrowth over a bandwidth that exceeds the observation bandwidth. This is obtained by filtering the PA's output signal to alleviate the speed requirements on the analog to digital converters (ADC). The filtered spectral components are then recovered in the digital domain by using spectral extrapolation techniques which add significant computational complexity to the predistortion system. Yet there remains the problem of how to reduce the spectral regrowth over a bandwidth that exceeds the observation bandwidth and the problem of how to avoid major additional computational overhead.
Thus, a digital predistortion system and method with extended correction bandwidth solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Digital predistortion system and method with extended correction bandwidth

KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND MINERALS


This invention pertains to methods for producing homogeneous recombinant proteins that contain polymer initiators at defined sites. The unnatural amino acid, 4-(2′-bromoisobutyramido)phenylalanine of formula 1, was designed and synthesized as a molecule comprising a functional group further comprising an initiator for an atom-transfer radical polymerization (‘ATRP”) that additionally would provide a stable linkage between the protein and growing polymer. We evolved a Methanococcus jannaschii (Mj) tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNACUA pair to genetically encode this unnatural amino acid in response to an amber codon. To demonstrate the utility of this functional amino acid, we produced Green Fluorescent Protein with the unnatural amino acid initiator of formula 1 site-specifically incorporated on its surface (GFP-1). Purified GFP-1 was then used as an initiator under standard ATRP conditions with oligo(ethylene oxide)monomethyl ether methacrylate, efficiently producing a polymer-GFP bioconjugate wherein the polymer is connected at a specifically selected site on GFP.

The wide functional diversity of proteins catalysis, regulation, transport, and structure has made them desirable bioresponsive molecules for integration into materials and medicine. Protein-polymer bioconjugates have already shown an impressive range of altered or improved properties (see Borner et al., J. Polym. Sci. Part a-Polym. Chem. 2010, 48, 1; Depp et al., Acta Biomat. 2009, 5, 560; Gao et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 2009, 106, 15231; Krishna et al., Biopolymers 2010, 94, 32; Lutz et al., Prog. Polym. Sci. 2008, 33, 1; Nicolas et al., Macromol. Rapid Comm. 2007, 28, 1083; Connor et al., Polym. Rev. 2007, 47, 9). Protein-polymer bioconjugates also have shown efficient pharmacokinetics and therapeutic potency (see Gao et al.; Krishna et al.; Lutz et al.; Nicolas et al.; Lele et al., Biomacromolecules 2005, 6, 3380).
Protein polymers bioconjugates have been prepared in two general ways: either by graft-to methods where a preformed functionalized polymer is attached to an amino acid, cofactor or end group, or by the graft-from method where a location on the purified protein is functionalized with an initiator and then the polymer is grown from that site (see Krishna et al.; Liu et al., Ang. Chem., Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 3099; Zeng et al., Chem. Comm. 2007, 1453; Heredia et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 16955. Thus far, the graft-from methods employed for residue-specific incorporation of polymerization initiators into proteins are limited to the N-terminal position or specific natural amino-acid directed linkages (see Depp et al.; Gao et al.; Le Droumaguet et al., Ang. Chem., Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 6263; Lele et al.; Canalle et al., Chem. Soc. Rev. 2010, 39, 329. Both methods suffer from challenging purification of intermediates and/or the inability to efficiently control the number or location of polymer connections to the protein, which compromises protein structural integrity. While the many graft-to and graft-from experiments using natural amino acids on proteins have illustrated the immense potential impact of well-defined protein-polymer conjugates, their application is limited by technical shortcomings associated with their synthesis and purification.
Previous protein-polymers have been prepared using an atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique (see Wang et al., Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 5614; Matyjaszewski & Xia, Chem. Rev. 2001, 101, 2921; Matyjaszewski & Tsarevsky, Nature Chem. 2009, 1, 276) wherein an ATRP initiator attached to the protein provides a linkage between the protein and growing polymer chain.
Atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and other controlled/living radical polymerization (CRP) methodologies including nitroxide mediated polymerization (NMP) and reversible addition fragmentation transfer (RAFT) systems allow unprecedented control over polymer dimensions (molecular weight), uniformity (polydispersity), topology (geometry), composition and functionality. [Matyjaszewski, K., Ed. Controlled Radical Polymerization; ACS: Washington, D.C., 1998; ACS Symposium Series 685. Matyjaszewski, K., Ed.; Controlled/Living Radical Polymerization. Progress in ATRP, NMP, and RAFT; ACS: Washington, D.C., 2000; ACS Symposium Series 768; Matyjaszewski, K., Davis, T. P., Eds. Handbook of Radical Polymerization; Wiley: Hoboken, 2002; Qiu, J.; Charleux, B.; Matyjaszewski, K. Prog. Polym. Sci. 2001, 26, 2083; Davis, K. A.; Matyjaszewski, K. Adv. Polym. Sci. 2002, 159, 1.] ATRP is a controlled radical polymerization (CRP) technique; therefore, monomers and cross-linkers may be incorporated in a predictable, controlled, and programmed manner to yield polymer chains of essentially equal length, as defined by the ratio of consumed monomer to the added initiator. Moreover, the functionality present on the introduced initiator is preserved and forms both the α- and ω-chain end functionality on the formed polymer segment. The polymers synthesized using ATRP show tolerance to many functional groups, such as hydroxy, amino, amido, esters, carboxylic acid, that can be incorporated into a copolymer then used for post-polymerization modifications including covalent linking of biomolecules and drug delivery. As disclosed below, this enables formation of bioconjugates between synthetic polymers and biomolecules. Thus, the delivery system synthesized using ATRP offer customizable and tunable structure for precise targeted delivery of biologically active molecules.
Methods for the incorporation of an unnatural amino acid by use of an orthogonal synthetase-tRNA pair wherein the gene for the synthetase is randomized for the codons corresponding to the desired active-site residues is discussed by Xie & Schultz. Alternating positive and negative selection on the resulting library of synthetases produces clones which are transformed into cells with a plasmid containing a gene interrupted with an amber codon (see Miyake-Stoner & Refakis et al., Biochemistry 2010, 49, 1667; Stokes et al., Molecular Biosystems 2009, 5, 1032).
Techniques for the characterization of the incorporation of an initiator into proteins in response to the amber codon are described by Miyake-Stoner & Refakis et al.; Stokes et al.; Miyake-Stoner & Miller et al., Biochemistry 2009, 48, 5953.
Despite the importance of protein-polymer bioconjugates, there is no general method for producing homogeneous recombinant proteins that contain polymer initiators at defined sites (see Broyer et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 1041).

Genetically encoded initiator for polymer growth from proteins


A child resistant lock for manually-operated pump dispensers such as trigger sprayers, prevents movement of the trigger and reciprocation of the sprayer pump element when the lock is engaged.

(1) Field of the invention
The present invention relates generally to a lock for manually-operated pump dispensers such as trigger sprayers, and more particularly to a lock that prevents movement of the trigger and reciprocation of the sprayer pump element when the lock is engaged.
(2) Description of Related Art
There are numerous prior art patents directed to child-resistant locking features used in fluid dispensers of the general type to which this invention relates. Generally a fluid dispenser of the type involved in the present invention is a relatively low-cost, hand-held trigger sprayer which may be manually operated by pulling a trigger to pump liquid from a container attached to the sprayer through a nozzle orifice at the front of the sprayer. Fluid dispensers of this type have a variety of features which have become well-known in the industry. For example, the dispenser may have a dedicated spray nozzle which produces a fixed spray pattern such as a narrow stream or a fine mist. Alternately, the fluid dispenser may be of the type which has a variable spray pattern. Still other fluid dispensers permit a foaming liquid to be dispensed as either a foam or a liquid spray. The child-resistant lock of the present invention is equally well-suited for use in each of these types of fluid dispensers, as well as, virtually any other type of fluid dispenser.
Regardless of the type of fluid dispenser used, the fluids dispensed could be chemicals which are harmful or fatal if swallowed. Further, the chemicals could be caustic and thus are harmful to individuals if they come in contact with the skin for any appreciable length of time. These harmful effects are frequently more pronounced in children because of their relatively small size and sensitive tissues. In addition, because children may not be able to read or understand textual or graphical warnings printed on the containers, they may not be able to appreciate the danger associated with the chemicals and thus have an increased risk of coming in contact with and being injured by these chemicals.
Although children may be more susceptible to being injured by chemicals dispensed from trigger sprayers, they are easier to protect from the harmful effects of the chemicals by physically locking the containers. Children may be prevented from accessing chemicals contained in a trigger sprayer by incorporating a lock on the trigger sprayer. Simply by requiring disengagement of a lock mechanism on a trigger sprayer before the trigger can be operated, a significant number of children may be prevented from dispensing fluid from the sprayer and others may be inhibited from dispensing fluid from the sprayer for a sufficient length of time so that an adult may be alerted to the potentially harmful acts of the child and take appropriate action.
In the past, various types of locking mechanisms have been developed for sprayers to impede children from coming into contact with potentially harmful chemicals dispensed by locking the trigger and pump elements of the sprayer against movement. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,049. This reference discloses a latch which is pivotally connected to a trigger. The trigger is connected to the housing for pivoting movement in actuating a pump to dispense a liquid from the dispenser. When in the "on" position, the latch prevents the trigger from pivoting. However, the latch is flexible and may be deflected from the "on" position so that the latch does not interfere with pivoting the trigger. Thus, when the latch is deflected to the "off" position, the trigger may be actuated and the fluid may be dispensed from the fluid dispenser. Therefore, the user must use one motion to deflect the latch upward or downward and a second motion to actuate the trigger backward and forward in order to dispense liquid. However, these two motions may be accomplished with one hand. By grasping the fluid dispenser in one hand, the latch may be disengaged with the index finger while the trigger is actuated with the remaining three fingers of the hand. Therefore, with a simple grasping motion, the latch may be unintentionally disengaged and the fluid may be dispensed. Also, in order to repeatedly pivot the trigger it is necessary to continue to hold the latch in its "off" position.
It would be desirable in a trigger sprayer having a lock that prevents the reciprocating movement of the pump element and the pivoting movement of the trigger, to position the lock on the sprayer so that it could not be inadvertently disengaged by simply grasping the sprayer and positioning the fingers of the hand over the trigger, and to construct the lock mechanism so that it would remain in its disengaged condition without the need to hold the lock in its disengaged condition while manipulating the trigger of the sprayer.

Child-resistant rotating lock for manually operated pump dispenser


Embodiments are disclosed for systems for a vehicle. An example system for a vehicle includes a central unit and an input device,

Ad hoc call redirection is a performance feature of a service, which in an ISDN system is also called call deflection or call forwarding during the calling phase. In active ad hoc call redirection, the called party can redirect the caller during the call (ring signal). The redirection occurs at the office (switching center). The caller has no effect on the redirection.
The SIM access profile (SAP, Wikipedia), as well as the remote SIM access profile (rSAP), is a Bluetooth data transmission protocol, which is used primarily in mobile telephones. It is possible for this reason that a mobile phone built into a motor vehicle provides by means of Bluetooth a connection to a SIM card (SIM: subscriber identity module) of a Bluetooth-capable mobile phone. The mobile telephone is then in the so-called standby mode, which puts only a minimal strain on the battery of the mobile telephone. Starting at this time, the access data on the SIM card (in principle the network access authorization according to the specific mobile telephone contract) are used by the car telephone with its own GSM transmitting and receiving unit. Telephone calls and messages are transmitted over the vehicle antenna of the car telephone.
The hands-free profile is installed in the overwhelming majority of hands-free kits. Here, the antenna of the mobile telephone is used when making a call with Bluetooth; this should be evaluated as disadvantageous in regard to receiving properties. Automobile manufacturers therefore offer a so-called snap-in adapter for current mobile telephones; this adapter connects the telephone to the vehicle antenna and also charges the battery.
The object of the invention is to improve a system for a vehicle.
Said object is attained by a system with the features of independent claim 1. Advantageous refinements are the subject of dependent claims and included in the description.
Accordingly, a system for a vehicle is provided. The system comprises a central unit and an input device.
The central unit has a first interface for connecting to a first mobile device. The central unit has a second interface for connecting to a second mobile device. The first mobile device may be connectable to a mobile communications network. The second mobile device may be connectable to the mobile communications network. The mobile communications network may use a communication standard, like GSM, UMTS or LTE, so that the first mobile device and the second mobile device can also be used without the central unit of the system of the vehicle.
The central unit is configured to assign the first mobile device to a driver and the second mobile device to a passenger in the vehicle.
The central unit is configured to output information on a call directed to the first mobile device at least in the calling phase.
The central unit is configured to detect an input by means of the input device during the outputting of information. The input device in this case may have one or more input elements.
The central unit is configured, based to the detection of the input, to redirect the call to the second mobile device. The redirection is therefore call-specific and may also called ad hoc call redirection.
The object of the invention further is to provide an improved communication method for a vehicle.
Said object is attained by the method with the features of independent claim 15. Advantageous refinements are included in the description.
Accordingly, a communication method for a vehicle is provided. The method has the steps:                connecting a central unit to a first mobile device via a first interface,        connecting the central unit to a second mobile device via a second interface,        assigning the first mobile device to a driver by means of the central unit,        assigning the second mobile device to a passenger by means of the central unit,        outputting information on a call directed to the first mobile device at least during the calling phase by the central unit,        detecting an input by means of the input device during the outputting of information by the central unit, and        redirecting the call to the second mobile device based on the detection of the input by the central unit.
The refinements described hereinafter refer both to the system and to the communication method. In this regard, the functions of the system can be represented in process steps.
According one embodiment, the system may have a first near field communication device and a second near field communication device. Near field communication (abbreviated as NFC) is an international transmission standard for contactless exchange of data by radio technology over short distances of a few centimeters and at a data transmission rate of a maximum of 424 kbit/s. The near field communication device may be made as an active transmitter.
The central unit may be configured to assign the first mobile device, coupled to the first near field communication device, to the driver in the vehicle. Moreover, the central unit may be configured to assign the second mobile device, coupled to the second near field communication device, to the passenger in the vehicle. An especially simple and intuitive assignment can therefore occur by the coupling. In the case of a greater number of passenger seats, a corresponding number of second near field communication devices may be provided.
The first near field communication device may be positioned toward a first retainer for the first mobile device. The second near field communication device may be positioned toward a second retainer for the second mobile device. The near field communication device may be arranged adjacent to a tray of the retainer in order to assure good coupling. The retainer may be a snap-in device which enables the charging of the mobile device in synergy.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to output a first item for the first mobile device connected via the first interface. The central unit may be configured to output a second item for the second mobile device connected via the second interface. The first mobile device may be coupled to a first Bluetooth transceiver of the central unit. The second mobile device may be coupled to a second Bluetooth transceiver of the central unit. The output first item and the output second item may be shown graphically on a display. The display may be made as a touchscreen. The central unit may be configured to detect a confirmation input of the assignment of the first item to the driver and the second item to the passenger. The confirmation input may occur by selecting the first item "driver cell phone" by touching the item on the touchscreen.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured by means of location to assign the first mobile device to the driver and the second mobile device to the passenger. By means of a transmitter in the area of the driver a transit time measurement of the radio signal may be made and the relative position of the first and second mobile device may be determined from the transit time. The first mobile device, which may be positioned closer to the driver, may be assigned to the driver in the vehicle. The second mobile device, which may positioned further away than the first mobile device, may be assigned to the passenger in the vehicle. The transit time measurement may be provided in the Bluetooth or Zigbee standard.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to assign the first mobile device to the driver by means of signaling via a first cable connection of the first interface and the second mobile device to the passenger by means of signaling via a second cable connection of the second interface. The first cable connection in this case may be run to a first retainer of the driver, for example, in the form of a charging cradle. The second cable connection in this case may be run to a second retainer of the passenger (front seat passenger), for example, in the form of a charging cradle.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to output call information to a display as graphical data. The information may include the telephone number of the caller and/or a symbol (telephone handset) for the call. In addition, a picture of the caller can be obtained from the telephone number from the digital telephone directory. The display may be configured for the graphical illustration of the information. The display may be a central display in the dashboard or a head-up display.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to output the call information to a loudspeaker as an audio signal. A call tone may be output as an audio signal. It is also possible to output the spoken name of the caller as an audio signal by speech synthesis.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to change the information after redirection of the call. The driver may be informed by the change that the redirection is successful. To change the information, an item within an image may be moved and/or its size may be changed and/or its degree of transparency may be changed and/or the color may be changed. In the case of redirection to a passenger, the item of information may be made smaller and moved within the image on the display to the right in the direction of the passenger. The redirection may be indicated by a symbol.
According to one embodiment, the input device may have a sensor for contactless input. The sensor may be an infrared sensor. The sensor may be arranged in the dashboard of the vehicle. A sensitivity of the sensor may be directed toward the steering wheel. The central unit may be configured to differentiate between a steering movement and an input gesture for redirection.
According to an alternative embodiment, the input device may have a button, and/or a microphone (voice recognition), and/or a camera (gesture recognition), and/or a touchscreen for input.
According to one embodiment, the first interface may be configured for a first wireless connection to the first mobile device. The second interface may be configured for a second wireless connection to the second mobile device. The interface may have an antenna for the wireless connection. A circuit of the central unit to form the wireless interface may have a first Bluetooth transceiver for connecting to the first mobile device and a second Bluetooth transceiver for connecting to the second mobile device.
According to an alternative embodiment, the first interface for a first cable connection may be configured for the first mobile device. The first cable connection may be a serial connection. The second interface may be configured for a second cable connection to the second mobile device. The second cable connection may be a serial connection. The cable connection may be a USB connection.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured for redirection to send a signal for activating a service of the ad hoc call redirection to the service provider. The signal for activation may be generated by the central unit based on the detection of the input. A direct input in the first mobile device is therefore not necessary.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured for call redirection to stream audio signals, associated with the call, between a transceiver and the second mobile device. Preferably, the audio signals are streamed via the second interface.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to receive the first data of a first SIM card via the first interface from the first mobile device. The central unit may be configured to receive the second data of a second SIM card via the second interface from the second mobile device. A communication can occur over an external antenna of the vehicle by means of the SIM card data and a transceiver for GSM or UMTS or LTE.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to additionally redirect the call automatically. According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to determine a workload level of the driver based on traffic conditions and/or navigation data. The central unit may be configured to estimated one element of a predetermined set of traffic conditions. The central unit may be configured to estimated one element based on measured data of the vehicle's movement. One element of the set of traffic conditions may be "strong deceleration" based on measured speed data. One element of the set of traffic conditions may be "significant steering" based on measured change of the steering angle. Navigation data may be the density of junctions within a predetermined distance in front of the vehicle. Navigation data may be a number of upcoming maneuver points along a route within a predetermined distance to the vehicle. The central unit may be configured to suppress the outputting of the information and to redirect the call automatically or to reject the call, if an exceeding is determined that the workload level exceeds a threshold.
According to one embodiment, the central unit may be configured to generate an audio message or a written message. The central unit may be configured to send the audio message or the written message to the calling party.
According to another aspect a system for a vehicle is provided. The following features may be combined with the aforementioned. The system comprises a central unit. The central unit has a first interface for connecting to a first mobile device. The central unit is configured to assign the first mobile device to a driver of the vehicle. The central unit is configured to estimate one element of a set of traffic situation based on navigation data and/or measured data of the vehicle's movement. The central unit is configured to output an audio message or a written message assigned to the one element. The central unit is configured to send the audio message or the written message to a calling party. The central unit may be configured to send the audio message or written message based on an identification of the calling party. The central unit may be configured to identify the calling party being assigned in the telephone book. The calling party may be the husband. The central unit may be configured to determine from the current position and navigation data, that the driver is heading home. An audio message may be output that the driver is on the way home. The audio message may be sent to the husband accordingly.
The previously described embodiments are especially advantageous both individually and in combination. In this regard, all embodiment features can be combined with one another. Some possible combinations are explained in the description of the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures. These possible combinations of the embodiments, depicted therein, are not definitive, however.

System for a vehicle and communication method

Abstract: wherein the central unit has a first interface for connecting to a first mobile device and a second interface for connecting to a second mobile device,

Abstract: wherein the central unit is configured to assign the first mobile device to a driver and the second mobile device to a passenger in the vehicle,

Abstract: wherein the central unit is configured to output information on a call directed to the first mobile device,

Abstract: wherein the central unit is configured to detect an input by means of the input device during the outputting of information, and

Abstract: wherein the central unit is configured, based on the detection of the input, to redirect the call to the second mobile device.


A SIM contact position tester (100) for verifying the position of SIM card contacts (c1-c8). A printed wiring board (102) is provided with traces (A-D) which correspond to the contacts (c1-c8) of the SIM card reader connector (101) and are configured to mate with the contacts of the SIM card reader connector (101) mounted within the radio telephone. A plurality of light emitting diodes (LED) (106) are coupled to the traces (A-D). The light emitting diodes (106) are configured to provide an indication of the position of the contacts (c1-c8) when the PWB (102) is positioned within the radio telephone. In one embodiment, the LEDs (106) sequentially light up as the printed wiring board (106) is moved into position over the contacts (c1-c8) of the SIM card reader connector (101).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test apparatus and, more particularly, to a test apparatus for verifying the position of electrical contacts within a sliding SIM mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some radio telephone systems, such as digital cellular phone systems, employ IC cards, known as SIM (subscriber interface module) cards, which are inserted into a radio telephone for providing subscriber identification, billing information and other information concerning the operation of the radio telephone. For example, the SIM card might record the subscriber telephone number, a personal identification number, as well as call charge information or a telephone number index.
To transfer information between the SIM card and the radio telephone, a SIM card reader and connector is provided in the body of the radio telephone. The SIM card reader generally includes two rows of either four or three SIM card contacts which correspond to the contacts on the SIM card. When the SIM card is slid into the body of the cellular telephone, the SIM card's contacts mate with the SIM card reader contacts. In particular, typical SIM cards are slid into the SIM card slot until the leading edge of the SIM card hits a hard stop. A home switch is activated at or just before the point of the stop. Typically, the electronics are activated simultaneously with activation of the home switch. Thus, when the home switch is activated, the contacts in the SIM card reader must be guaranteed to be mating with the contact on the SIM card itself. The electrical interface can lock up if a proper connection is not assured. In addition, damage to the cards can result. Such lock ups and damage can result in dissatisfied customers and high rates of returns and higher costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method for insuring that the contacts on the SIM card reader are properly configured with respect to the SIM card contacts on the SIM card itself. More particularly, there is a need for accurately measuring the position of contacts within the SIM card reader relative to the home switch during the development process.

Apparatus to verify position of electrical contacts within a sliding SIM mechanism

Siemens Information and Communication Networks, Inc.


A wiring substrate is configured such that a build-up layer is formed only on a front surface (a single side) of a core substrate and such that the distance between a semiconductor device mounted on the front surface thereof and an electronic component mounted on the back surface thereof or incorporated therein behind the back surface is reduced to thereby enhance electrical characteristics of an electrically continuous path therebetween, and whose overall strength is enhanced so as not to be prone to deflection or warpage. The wiring substrate includes a relatively thin first core substrate 2 having a front surface 3 and a back surface 4; a relatively thick second core substrate 6 superposed on the back surface 4 of the first core substrate 2 and having a through opening 9 formed therein, the first substrate 2 and the through opening 9 defining a recess 9; and a build-up layer BU formed on the front surface 3 of the first core substrate 2 and including wiring layers 16 and 25 and dielectric layers 23 and 26.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiring substrate having a build-up layer superposed on one side of a core substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7 shows a cross section of a main portion of a wiring substrate 40 including a core substrate 41, a build-up layer BU1 formed on a front surface 42 of the core substrate 41, and a build-up layer BU2 formed on a back surface 43 of the core substrate 41. The core substrate 41 is formed of a glass-epoxy resin and has a relatively small thickness of 0.2–0.4 mm. A plurality of through holes 44 are formed in the core substrate 41 so as to extend between the front surface 42 and the back surface 43. Each of the through holes 44 has a through hole conductor 45 formed therein and is filled with a filter resin 46.
As shown in FIG. 7, a predetermined pattern of a wiring layer 48 is formed on the front surface 42 of the core substrate 41 and is connected to the upper ends of the through hole conductors 45. A dielectric layer 50 formed of an epoxy resin is formed on the front surface 42 and on the wiring layer 48, and filled via conductors 52 are formed in the dielectric layer 50 at predetermined positions located on the wiring layer 48.
As shown in FIG. 7, a dielectric layer 56 and a wiring layer 54 are formed on the dielectric layer 50, and the wiring layer 54 is connected to the upper ends of the via conductors 52. Filled vias 58 are formed in the dielectric layer 56 at predetermined positions located on the wiring layer 54. A solder resist layer (a dielectric layer) 60 and a wiring layer 62 are formed on the dielectric layer 56, and the wiring layer 62 is connected to the upper ends of the via conductors 58. The wiring layers 48, 54, and 62 and the dielectric layers 50, 56, and 60 constitute the build-up layer BU1.
As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of solder bumps 66 are separately formed on the wiring layer 62 at predetermined positions so as to project upward from a first main surface 64, which is the surface of the solder resist layer 60. The bumps 66 are connected to corresponding connection terminals 70 formed on the bottom surface of an IC chip (a semiconductor device) 68 to be mounted on the first main surface 64.
A copper reinforcement (stiffener) 72, which is a frame having a substantially rectangular shape as viewed from above, is bonded onto the first main surface 64 by use of an unillustrated adhesive so as to surround the IC chip 68.
As shown in FIG. 7, a wiring layer 47 is formed on the back surface 43 of the core substrate 41 and is connected to the lower ends of the through hole conductors 45. As in the case of the build-up layer BU1, a build-up layer BU2 is formed on the wiring layer 47, build-up layer BU2 including dielectric layers 49 and 55, a solder resist layer (a dielectric layer) 63, wiring layers 53 and 59, and filled via conductors 51 and 57. A plurality of solder bumps 67 are separately formed on the wiring layer 59 at predetermined positions so as to project downward from a second main surface 65. The bumps 67 are connected to corresponding connection terminals 71 formed on chip capacitors (electronic components) 69 to be mounted on the second main surface 65.
3. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
However, in the above-described wiring substrate 40 configured such that the build-up layers BU1 and BU2 are formed on the corresponding opposite sides of the core substrate 41, the IC chip 68 is electrically connected to the chip capacitors 69 via the wiring layers 62, 54, and 48, the through hole conductors 45, the wiring layers 47, 58, 59, etc. As a result, the electrically continuous path becomes long, resulting in instability of electrical characteristics, such as an increase in loop inductance.
In order to cope with the above problem, the distance between the IC chip 68 and the chip capacitor 69 can be reduced in the following manner: the thickness of the core substrate 41 is reduced to 0.4 mm or less, and only the build-up layer BU1 on the front surface 42 is formed. However, in this case, the strength of the overall wiring substrate 40 is reduced, resulting in deflection or warpage. In order to prevent such deflection or warpage, the metallic reinforcement 72 must be disposed on the first main surface 64, resulting in increased cost.


A floor drain system includes a generally rectangular drain grate having a plurality of drain apertures, and a drain body, having a circular lower portion defining an outlet and configured to mate with an underdrain structure, and an upper portion defining an inlet configured to receive the drain grate in a frictional fit. The drain body includes an integral grout rim surrounding the inlet, having a knife-tapered top edge, configured to reduce the visibility of the grout rim between the surrounding material and the grate. The drain body further includes an undercut rim around an outer perimeter of the inlet, the undercut rim having a bottom surface angled upward toward the drain body. The drain body can also include dovetail-shaped buttresses extending outward from the drain body, having tapered surfaces angled toward the drain body, thereby to mechanically interlock the drain body with hardened grout therearound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to floor drains for tiled showers and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rectangular floor drain with a flush-fit drain grate and a knife edge rim.
2. Related Art
Floor drains for showers and the like are most commonly circular in shape. Floor drain styles generally fall into two broad categories. The first category is drains that have grates fabricated from thin metals. These can be referred to as "top-mounted" strainers. The thin top-mounted strainers allow these to be set over top of the surrounding finished floor material. Finished flooring materials are grouted or caulked directly to and flush with the body of the drain, which also supports the perimeter of the thin strainer from below. These strainers self-finish, and do not require a surrounding grout rim.
Another common category of drains incorporates grates that are "flush-mounted". These drains may have grates that are substantially thicker than top-mounted strainers. This drain style incorporates a grout rim that surrounds the grate and has an upper surface that is generally coplanar with the top surface of the grate. Flush-mounted drains are typically engineered with a controlled amount of clearance between the grate and the grout rim to allow for removal of the grate. This design also incorporates structure supporting the grate from below. The outer perimeter of the grout rim is bonded to the surrounding finished floor material with tile grout or caulking at installation.
Commonly constructed from stamped stainless steel or brass sheet material, top-mounted grates often incorporate snap features that allow them to be held in place without the use of screws. These may appear to be easy to remove without tools, but are often quite difficult to remove. Commonly available tools, i.e. a screw driver, do not adequately function as a removal tool. Due to their thin cross-sectional thickness, top-mounted drain grates are often not capable of supporting a substantial amount of weight, and are often observed having been deformed as a result. This style is not a good candidate for a square configuration because exposed corners are likely to become a hazard to bare feet. Should the grate become deformed, this problem becomes worse.
Floor drains with flush-mounted grates are commonly available with grout rim features that are formed from the same metal as the grate, or by a portion of the drain body that is allowed to be exposed. Both of these approaches have inherent design problems. Those designs that allow the drain body to be exposed are limited to having an aesthetically incompatible visual element surrounding the grate. The nature of grout rims is that they are a portion of the drain structure that are designed to be bonded into the finished floor installation, and cannot be removed.
There is a growing trend within the plumbing fixtures market to offer consumers a wider selection of metal finish styles and colors. The market is becoming much more design-conscious. Plumbing fixtures are now available in often more delicate patina finishes. Whereas the choices used to be limited to brass and chrome, now colors and finishes such as aged pewter, brushed nickel, oil rubbed bronze, gun metal black, antique copper and others have become popular and widely available.
This greater variety of colors and finishes raises maintenance concerns. Because of the harsh nature of chemicals that are used to remove water deposits, mold and other common conditions, delicate patina surfaces cannot be exposed to such substances without becoming visually altered. This is especially the case for shower floor drains which are in contact with such chemicals for a much longer duration than fixtures mounted to vertical surfaces, for example. Additionally, because of their delicate surface finish, such drains cannot incorporate a matching grout rim that has any kind of delicate surface patina without a substantial risk of damage from maintenance procedures and chemicals. The likelihood that these would exhibit any durability is questionable. Additionally, screws that are frequently used to secure the grate are difficult and time consuming to remove. Moreover, sharp burrs can easily form on brass and stainless screw heads from repeated use, and screws can be dropped and become lost down the drain if care is not taken.


A semiconductor device which is capable of operating at an operation frequency “f”, includes a substrate, a first element unit and a second element unit. The substrate has a thermal diffusion coefficient “D”. The first element unit is formed on the substrate. The first element includes a first active element. The second element unit is adjacent to the first element unit on the substrate. The second element includes a second active element. The second active element acts on a different timing from the first active element. Moreover, a distance of between a first gravity center of the first element unit and a second gravity center of the second element unit is equal to or less than twice of a thermal diffusion length (D/πf)1/2.

A semiconductor device for power conversion such as a switching element is formed by connecting active elements in parallel. The active element may be a transistor or a diode. Since each active element heats, temperature of the active element increases. Increasing the temperature causes degradation of performance and destruction of the active element. Therefore, it is important for the active element to inhibit increasing the temperature.
Some techniques to inhibit the temperature are disclosed in JP-A2008-182122(KOKAI) and JP-A2007-27440(KOKAI). These references try to uniform the temperature in a chip by providing a space having no active element on the chip.
On the other hand, the semiconductor device for power conversion is better to have high breakdown voltage and low on resistance. It may be effective to use material having high critical electric field strength in order to achieve the high breakdown voltage. A wide-gap semiconductor may be preferable as the material having high critical electric field strength. Some techniques to use the wide-gap semiconductor for the semiconductor device of the power conversion are disclosed in JP-A2003-229566 (KOKAI) and JP-A2007-180454(KOKAI). In these references, the transistor and the diode are formed by nitride semiconductors which are one of the wide-gap semiconductors. The transistor and the diode are formed on a substrate as power converting elements.
It is important for the semiconductor device of power conversion to inhibit a maximum temperature in order to reduce degradation of performance and keep reliability. However, the conventional technique that heat is dispersed spatially may not enough to inhibit increasing the temperature of the active elements. Moreover, the conventional technique that the space having no active element exists in the chip causes increasing of chip area and cost.


A plastic pipe having improved resistance to methanol-containing fuels and improved mechanical properties is provided. This is achieved by a multilayer plastic pipe consisting of at least one outer layer based on polyamide and at least one layer of a linear, crystalline polyester modified with isocyanates. With the aid of the invention it is possible to obtain plastic pipes having improved barrier properties against methanol-containing fuels and dimensional stability and mechanical load-bearing capacity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer plastic pipe and a process for using such a multilayer plastic pipe for transporting chemicals.
2. Description of the Background
Plastic pipes made of polyamide are known and are used for a variety of applications. In order to fulfil their function, the pipes must be inert to the medium flowing through them, and resistant to high and low temperatures and to mechanical loads.
Single-layer pipes are not always capable of meeting the necessary requirements. For example, for the transport of aliphatic or aromatic solvents, fuels or the like, single-layer pipes have significant disadvantages such as inadequate barrier effect against the medium, undesired dimensional changes or insufficient mechanical load-bearing capacity.
Attempts have been made to overcome these disadvantages using multilayer pipes (German Offenlegungsschriften 35 10 395; 37 15 251; 38 21 723; 40 01 125; 40 01 126). However, the practical application of these attempts shows that although individual disadvantages can be avoided, the overall spectrum of properties is still not satisfactory.
German Patent 38 27 092 discloses a multilayer plastic pipe having, from inside outwards, layers of polyamide, polyvinyl alcohol, polyamide and polyester. The polyester is used only in a thin outer layer in order to achieve a higher short-term heat resistance.
It is known that most polymers, including polyamides and polyesters, are incompatible with one another resulting in a lack of adhesion between laminate layers of multilayer composites produced from such incompatible polymers. Accordingly, it is desirable to achieve an adhesion-based bond between the individual polymer layers in a laminate.
In addition, the permeation of methanol-containing fuels through single-layer pipes can only be reduced slightly by the above-mentioned attempts using multilayer pipes. The reduction in the permeation by using novel intermediate layers is, therefore, of crucial importance because permissible emission values are being further reduced by statutory regulations.

Multilayer plastic pipe comprising an outer polyamide layer and a layer of a molding formed from a mixture of thermoplastic polyester and a compound having at least two isocyanate groups


Disclosed is a method for processing a stream of mail pieces from different sources. The steps include detecting information corresponding to the first source from at least a first mail piece of the stream, detecting information corresponding to the second source from at least a second mail piece of the stream, counting a number of mail pieces for each of the first source and the second source, and generating a report detailing a count of mail pieces for each of the first source and the second source.

Mail sorting and handling systems are commonly used in government postal facilities and by private or corporate mail handling facilities. Often, private or corporate customers receive reduced rates from the United States Postal Service (USPS) by sorting outgoing mail before sending it to the USPS. Sorters are well known in the art, and are described further herein.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate two typical prior art single and multi-tier mail handling and sorting systems 100A and 100B. The single tier handling system 100A typically comprises a front end 3 and stacker or bin section 5 comprised of a plurality of bins 10. The front end 3 accepts mail or mail pieces to be sorted and conveyed to the stacker or bin section 5 where the mail pieces are selectively directed or guided to an appropriate bin 10. The front end 3 can be comprised of a series of conveying sections 2 which use motorized rollers, transport belts and idlers to convey or transport mail pieces from the front end 3 to the stacker or bin section 5. The number of conveying sections 2 in a system can vary depending on the specific application and use of a particular mail handling facility.
The system 100A shown in FIG. 1A depicts a single tier double sided stacker section 5. The single tier double sided stacker section 5 has a standard configuration that comprises a left 13 and a right side 15. Each side 13 and 15 typically comprises a plurality of bins or pockets 10 that are operatively situated adjacent to each other. The particular bins or pockets 10 each have associated transport mechanisms 17 and 19 that will appropriately operate to selectively guide a mail piece into the appropriate bin or pocket 10 upon receipt of an appropriate computer 7 command. The series of transport mechanisms 17 and 19 can include motorized rollers, compliant rollers, transport belts and associated idlers and other components. The series of transport mechanism belts form a mail path guide channel 21 where the mail pieces will travel until they are diverted into an appropriate bin or pocket 10. The mail pieces can be diverted either left to a bin 10 on the left side 13 or diverted right to a bin 10 on the right side 15.
Another type of mail handling system 100B, shown in FIG. 1B, uses a multi-tier single sided stacker section 30 with turnaround and further includes a front end 3 and a transition or elevator section 25. The transition section 25 takes the mail pieces received from the front end 3 and feeds them to the appropriate level or tier of the multi-tier single sided stacker section 30 where the mail pieces are selectively diverted to an appropriate bin or pocket 10. The mail handling system 100B shown has a configuration that comprises a rear side 32 and front side 34 operatively connected by a turnaround section 36. The rear side 32 and front side 34 typically comprise a plurality of bins or pockets 10 that are operatively connected to each other by the turnaround section 36. The bins or pockets 10 are similar to those described above and also have associated transport mechanisms that will appropriately operate to selectively guide a mail piece into the appropriate bin or pocket 10. The transport mechanisms include motorized rollers, transport belts and associated cooperative idlers. The series of transport mechanisms on each bin 10 operate in conjunction with a system transport belt and roller mechanism that are operatively situated between the front side 34 and the rear side 32 to form a double mail path guide channel where the mail pieces will travel until they are diverted into an appropriate bin or pocket 10. Unlike the double sided system 100A of FIG. 1A, the single sided system with turnaround 30 has a separate turnaround section 36, and the mail pieces can be diverted only to one side. As the mail pieces travel down the front side 34 of the multi-tier single sided stacker section 30, they can be diverted to a bin on the front side 34. In order for the mail pieces to be diverted to a bin or pocket 10 in the rear side 32, the mail pieces must completely traverse the front side 34 and traverse the turnaround section 36. The mail pieces then enter the rear side 32 where they can be appropriately diverted to a bin or pocket 10 on the rear side 32. Alternate configurations of sorters have a single central mail transport path located between the front 34 and rear 32 sides. Mail is diverted from the central transport to either side eliminating the need for the turnaround 36.
The processing or sorting of the mail pieces is typically controlled by a computer 7 with appropriate hardware and software applications to carryout desired automated mail processing functions. The front end 3 also generally comprises various auxiliary devices that in conjunction with the computer 7 allow the computer 7 to determine which particular bin 10 will receive a mail piece. The auxiliary devices can include optical character recognition readers, ink jet printers, scales and bar code readers among others devices.
The double and single sided systems 100A and 100B briefly discussed can be expanded to increase mail handling capacity. Increasing mail handling capacity of existing mail handling systems is known to be done in a couple of ways. First, existing bin sections can be replaced with new larger sorting bins having the desired or necessary mail handling capacity. Second, the mail handling capacity of the mail handling system 100A and 100B can be increased by the addition of stacker or bin sections 5 and 30 in an outward direction only. Generally, the second expansion approach is preferable to the first and is typically less expensive.
Notwithstanding these improvements, throughput of systems 100A and 100B is limited because input mail batches must be presorted. FIG. 2 illustrates conceptually a plurality of mail batches 202, 204, 206, 208 applied to the front end 210 of document process machine 200. Each of the plurality of mail batches 202, 204, 206, 208 are processed (e.g., sorted) by customer (e.g. mailer or client), mail characteristics (e.g. mail dimensions, weight, etc) and postage type (i.e., by stamp, permit and metered postage) and postage affixed (amount of postage paid).
A reader 212, such as an optical character recognition readers and bar code readers mentioned above, detects the destination information of each mail piece as it is conveyed from the front end 210 from the plurality of batches 202, 204, 206, 208. The computer 214 then directs each mail piece to the appropriate bin 216 based the destination information detected by reader 212 as processed by computer 214. Once sorting has been completed for a job, mailing instructions or a mailing report with POSTAL AUTHORITY documentation is generated by the computer 214 typically by a count of the number of mail pieces by client for each weight or weight range and postage type and postage amount affixed.
Even with the high capacity improvements mentioned above, input mail must be pre-sorted in mail batches by weight or some other common aspect of the mail pieces including, but not limited to, postage type and postage amount affixed and customer. This presorting is required because USPS or other postal authority requires that the mailing report define how many pieces of mail are being presented for mailing by weight, client, type of postage type and postage amount affixed and by either three or five digit zipcode. As well, the POSTAL AUTHORITY may require, or the need may arise and require, the mailing report be further broken down by postage type and postage amount affixed and/or customer.
The computer 214 also must track and report the same data by client so that postage billing can be made to the correct customer. As a result, processing time is increased as a result of the time it takes to presort. Current sorters can only achieve this tracking and reporting if each batch 202, 204, 206, 208 is processed as a separate run. Throughput is lost each time a new batch is setup and run on the sorter. Especially when processing multiple small batches of mail, the cumulative downtime for each setup and run can substantially degrade sorter throughput.

Apparatus, method and program product for processing mail or documents using a mail or document processing device


A musical instrument includes a two-dimension array of note producing elements wherein the elements along one dimension of the array have three-quarter steps or increasing fundamental frequencies F.sub.n according to the equation EQU F.sub.n =F.sub.0 *2.sup.n/8. wherein F.sub.0 is the fundamental frequency of the first note producing element in the one dimension and n is the number of the note producing element in the one direction from the first note producing element. The note producing elements along a second dimension of the array have fundamental frequencies which differ by frequency differences (such as perfect fourth intervals) greater than the frequency differences between adjacent note producing elements along the one dimension of the array.

Pythagoras has been attributed with the development of a musical scale based upon harmony or consonance between two musical notes (interval) when the higher note relative to the lower note is an eighth (octave--frequency ratio 2:1), a fifth (frequency ratio 3:2) or a fourth (frequency ratio 4:3). Lesser consonant sixth (frequency ratio 5:3) and third (frequency ratio 5:4) and generally dissonant second (frequency ratio 9:8) and seventh (frequency ratio 15:8) complete the scale known as the seven note diatonic scale labeled with the seven letters A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Each eighth note or octave begins a new series. The diatonic scale evolved into the twelve note chromatic scale commonly used today wherein semitones or half steps are added between the notes with larger intervals, i.e., A#, C#, D#, F# and G#, to form a scale entirely of half steps.
Each note or music tone contains a fundamental frequency (first partial) together with a plurality of harmonic frequencies (second, third, etc., partials). The consonance or dissonance (harmony or harshness) between two simultaneous notes (interval) generally depends upon the interactions of the partials of one note with the other note. Dissonance occurs when there is a small frequency difference between two partials. Differences in the range from about three to ten hertz produce audible beats while somewhat larger frequency differences, depending upon the frequency, also produce harshness. For an octave interval, all the partials of the higher note coincide with partials of the lower note producing a high degree of consonance. For a fifth interval, the second, fourth, sixth, etc. partials of the higher note coincide with the third, fifth, seventh, etc. partials of the lower note while the differences between the other partials are sufficient to avoid dissonance thus producing consonance. For a fourth interval, the third, sixth, ninth, etc. partials of the higher note coincide with the fourth, seventh, tenth, etc. partials of the lower note while the differences between the other partials are sufficient to avoid dissonance thus producing consonance. Eighths, fifths and fourths are called perfect intervals because of their consonance.
Generally the fundamental frequencies F(n) in the twelve note chromatic scale are in accordance with the equation EQU F.sub.n =F.sub.0 *2.sup.n/12
wherein F.sub.0 is the first frequency of the scale and n is the number of the note from F.sub.0. It is noted that this equation does not give the exact relationship 3:2 for a fifth (n=7) or 4:3 for a fourth (n=5) but is sufficiently close to be considered consonant and is herein considered the same.
Musical instruments having keyboards for producing notes normally include a linear array of white keys arranged in the diatonic scale with raised black keys disposed between the rear portions of selected white keys for adding the half steps to complete the twelve note chromatic scale. One type of keyboard instrument has an electronic note generator which responds to a depressed key to produce the corresponding musical note.
String instruments, such as a guitar, violin, cello, string bass, etc., have a plurality of parallel strings with a plurality of frets extending perpendicular to the strings so that each string can be held against a fret to increase the vibration frequency of each string. The spacing of the frets is generally designed to produce half-step changes in string frequency in accordance with the chromatic scale when the string is pressed against successive frets (stopped). The masses and tensions of the different strings are selected to produce intervals such as fourths, fifths, etc. between strings. The spacing of frets on conventional string instruments with one-half step produces corresponding stopped string lengths L(n) of ##EQU1## wherein L.sub.0 is the length of the unstopped string and n is the number of the fret from the distal end of the finger board.
Another type of string instrument known as the hammer dulcimer has a plurality of parallel strings of different lengths defining half steps. Engageable left and right bridges define left and right string portions for producing intervals equal to one or two octaves.
Various scales other than the twelve note chromatic scale of half notes have been used in musical instruments. Among these are seventeen, twenty-two and twenty-four note scales. The twenty-four note scale consists of quarter steps and, if adopted, would provide musicians with many additional musical effects from intervals, chords, and other multiple note combinations. Pentatonic scales have been employed in music and include five notes per octave based upon fourth intervals.

Two dimensional musical instrument with three-quarter steps along one dimension