A plug-and-play addition to a traditional electrical outlet that upgrades it to a universally compatible charging station. The unit can be plugged directly into an ordinary electrical outlet or can be secured to the wall with a screw. A removable pod module couples to a docking module plugged into the wall. A positive interface between the two modules holds them together, and an internal battery in the pod module is automatically charged. The interface may be frictionally enhanced with rubberized contact surfaces and magnetic latches. Both modules include integrated flexible charging cables with a variety of connectors for external devices.

Consumers in 2015 typically own several electronic devices specifically designed for portability and on-the-go use, including, for example, a mobile phone or smart phone, a portable music player like an iPod® or an MP3 player, a tablet, a portable gaming unit, a camera, and the like. Each of these devices requires frequent recharging. Such electronic devices typically utilize a cable for connecting the device to a power source, such as a wall outlet, a car charger, an airplane charger, or a computer. However, a separate cable is usually required for each power source. Moreover, different electronic devices often utilize different connection ports and interfaces such that a single charging cable is not compatible with multiple devices. Accordingly, a tech-savvy consumer, with several electronic devices, will usually have multiple charging cables to keep track of. Even then, the consumer may be without sufficient power to recharge a phone due to bad weather or a power outage, or may not always be in a place where a power source is readily available, or even if so, may not have the appropriate cable or adapter available to use with a particular power source.
With traditional power sources, such as those noted above, it is often difficult to charge multiple devices at the same time, especially where each device requires a separate charging cable. For example, a car charger port may only handle a single cable at a time. Adaptor devices are available on the market for connecting multiple devices to a power source at the same time—for example, a two-to-one or three-to-one car charger splitter. However, such adapters are often only compatible with certain interfaces or device plug receptacles. Moreover, such adapters are separate from portable power sources and tend to be bulky.
Similarly, connection interface attachments are also available for adapting a charging cable for use with a variety of devices for recharging from a power source, each requiring a different interface connection. However, such attachments are usually separate small pieces, and therefore difficult to keep track of when not in use. Further, use of such attachments does not solve the problem presented by the need to charge multiple devices at the same time, from the same power source, as oftentimes, only one attachment can be used with a charging cable at a time.
Portable power chargers exist that permit recharging of electronic devices when a standard power source is not readily available. For example, portable device power chargers are illustrated and described in U.S. Patent Publications 2015/0028797, 2015/0015180, and 2013/0043827. The thingCHARGER™ and myCharge™ charging systems are available for charging a variety of portable devices. However, despite numerous such charging systems for portable devices there remains a need for a more ergonomic and versatile system for multiple purpose charging.

Versatile plug and play charging station


A method, system, and computer program product for using airport information based on the flying environment are provided. When a helicopter is determined to be approaching a runway, ground proximity warning envelopes are automatically reduced to prevent unwanted, or nuisance, terrain alerts. On the other hand, when a helicopter is flown near a runway without intent to land or when a helicopter is taking off, ground proximity warning envelopes may remain unchanged. As a result, nuisance alerts are reduced when a helicopter is approaching a runway for landing and ground proximity warnings may remain in effect to maximize protection when a helicopter is flying near a runway without an intent to land or is taking off from a runway.

Helicopters take off from and land at airports, as well as a multitude of off-airport sites. However, helicopters are often flown differently around airports than at other landing zones. This may be due to several reasons, including noise abatement or fixed-wing air traffic.
When a helicopter flies an instrument landing approach to an airport, the helicopter is typically flown like a fixed-wing aircraft; that is to say, a high speed is maintained until decision height (DH). Without knowing that the helicopter is flying an instrument approach at an airport, like a fixed-wing aircraft, a flight profile may be the same or similar to that of a typical controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accident.
On the other hand, if the helicopter's pilot is not intending to land at the airport, then an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) should warn the helicopter's pilot of the helicopter of a terrain alert situation. However, it is not known in prior art for a helicopter EGPWS to automatically make the decision of whether or not to use airport information (such as, airport location (latitude, longitude), elevation, and runway heading) to modulate EGPWS algorithms for avoiding nuisance alerts.
Therefore, there is an unmet need in the art for a helicopter EGPWS to automatically know when (and when not) to use airport information to modulate EGPWS algorithms. There is also an unmet need in the art for monitoring a takeoff of the helicopter from an airport differently than monitoring an approach by a helicopter to an airport.

System and method for using airport information based on flying environment


This invention relates to a method and apparatus for reducing adjacent channel power in wireless communication systems. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a system for digitally and adaptively pre-distorting a signal that includes applying a correction to the signal before it is applied to the input of an amplifier such that the correction is equal and opposite to anticipated distortion produced by the amplifier. Thus, the correction and the amplifier distortion cancel one another resulting in a system with an overall linear transfer characteristic. In these circumstances, the adjacent channel power is desirably reduced.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for reducing adjacent channel power in wireless communication systems. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a system for digitally and adaptively pre-distorting a signal that includes applying a correction to the signal before it is applied to the input of an amplifier such that the correction is equal and opposite to anticipated distortion produced by the amplifier. Thus, the correction and the amplifier distortion cancel one another resulting in a system with an overall linear transfer characteristic. In these circumstances, the adjacent channel power is desirably reduced.
While the invention is particularly directed to the art of reducing adjacent channel power in wireless communication systems and finds particular application in base stations, and will be thus described with specific reference thereto, it will be appreciated that the invention may have usefulness in other fields and applications. For example, the invention may be applied to wireless telephone units and other such devices.
By way of background, modern wireless communication systems require tight control of adjacent channel power (ACP) in order to avoid interference with neighboring channels. This requirement places a heavy burden on transmission power amplifiers of base stations which require a high degree of linearity to avoid generating spurious out-of-channel emissions while maintaining high power efficiency to minimize temperature rise and maximize reliability. These constraints are particularly severe for code division multiple access (CDMA) systems where the pseudo-random nature of the signal results in a peak power which exceeds the average power by a factor of ten or more.
In order to achieve reasonable power efficiency, base station amplifiers are typically designed to operate in class AB mode. Unfortunately, the transfer characteristic of the amplifier departs substantially from linear when in class AB mode. This results in unacceptably high ACP. The traditional method of linearizing the amplifier is to employ adaptive feed-forward which, while effective, results in a substantial cost increase.
The present invention contemplates a new method and apparatus for reducing adjacent channel power in wireless communication systems that resolve the above-referenced difficulties and others.

Method and apparatus for reducing adjacent channel power in wireless communication systems


A method, which may be carried through a computer and its modem, is used to minimize the telephone time necessary to establish direct voice contact with the computer technician or other service provider and to provide information to the technician about the computer system and program. When contact is made through the modem with the information provider's PBX, the caller's computer would send a signal, indicating whether this is a reconnect or a new contact. If the customer support telephone line is for a number of programs or if there are different queues for different problems, a dialog box can be used to supply the necessary information to select the appropriate queue. The telephone system would provide an indication of the current wait time for the particular product or problem taking into account not only the open lines currently in the queue, but other callers who will be calling back at an appropriate time. The caller will then be informed of length of the wait and that the caller can (1) have the caller's computer automatically call back at the appropriate time without losing the place in line if the caller has a telephone connection to his/her modem; (2) call back on a telephone not connected to the modem with a priority number which will position the caller in the queue, if a caller does not have a handset attached to his/her modem; or (3) continue to hold.

This invention relates to inbound telephone call processing and, in particular, to a method for automatically processing telephone calls to an information provider, such as computer technical support, to eliminate long hold times and to automatically provide certain information to the information provider prior to direct telephone contact between the caller and the provider.
Information, such as technical support for both computer hardware and software, is provided by telephone calls made by the caller to a technical support or communication center. There are usually long delays in which the caller is held on telephone queue awaiting the availability of a person, such as a computer technician. Depending on the company and its technical support system, this telephone time may be charged by the telephone company either to the support service or the caller. The end result is a substantial charge to one or the other. Since the information provider would not wish the caller be given a busy signal, the information provider must have a large number of lines to be held open while the caller awaits contact with the appropriate person. In addition, in the area of computer technical support, when a technician is finally reached, he must spend a substantial period of time obtaining information about the caller's hardware and software, as well as obtaining diagnostic information which would aid the technician in evaluating the problem.
Typically, hold times for technicians in the computer area are at a minimum on the order of ten to fifteen minutes and sometimes extend far beyond, especially when a new product becomes available to consumers. Busy signals and long hold times effect the caller's attitude to the service provider with a resulting negative impact on future purchases by the caller. Computer magazines frequently present articles concerning customer service which prominently feature the time the caller is kept on hold and recommend purchase based on customer service.
Some attempts have been made to eliminate this problem by use of a system which automatically obtains the caller's telephone number, disconnects and returns the call at the time when the caller would have been serviced had the caller stayed on hold, such as seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,627,884, issued May 6, 1997 to Williams et al.; 5,185,782, issued Feb. 9, 1993 to Srinivasan; 5,155,761, issued Oct. 13, 1992 to Hammond; 5,181,236, issued Jan. 19, 1993 to LaVallee et al.; and 5,185,786, issued Feb. 9, 1993 to Zwick. These systems shift the burden of the payment for the return call to the technical service department since it initiates the return call where the majority of the telephone time will be spent in aiding the caller. Since the trend is for the callers to pay for the telephone time for customer service, if not the service itself, such runs contrary to current practice. Callers also have a distrust of call-backs, in most cases, because the callers do not believe that they will, in fact, have preference over the people who have held on to the phone line and because callers are not aware of their own availability at the time the call back is actually made.

Method for eliminating telephone hold time


A method for estimating a defocus blur size (520) in a defocused blurred input image (14) includes the steps of removing at least a portion of any content correlation (464) from the input image (14) to generate a decorrelated image, and computing an autocorrelation matrix (570) from the decorrelated image. Subsequently, the method can include the steps of rotating the autocorrelation matrix (468) to a plurality of alternative angles to generate a plurality of rotated matrixes, and averaging the plurality of rotated matrixes (470) to calculate an averaged autocorrelation matrix (572). Next, the defocus blur kernel size (520) can be estimated from the averaged autocorrelation matrix (572). Additionally, the method can include the step of deblurring the input image (14) using the defocus blur size (520) to provide an adjusted image (22).

Cameras are commonly used to capture an image of a scene that includes one or more objects. Unfortunately, some of the images are blurred. For example, when the camera is not properly focused, one or more of the objects captured in the image will be blurred. Depending upon the degree of the improper focus, the resulting image may not be satisfactory.
There exists a number of deconvolution methods for reducing defocus blur in a blurry image. Typically, these methods require that a blur kernel size be estimated. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to accurately automatically estimate the size of the blur kernel.

Device and method for estimating defocus blur size in an image


A power wrench includes an output spindle and a socket member. The output spindle has an axial through hole that extends through the output spindle and that open at two axially opposite ends of the output spindle. The socket member is connected to one of the axially opposite ends and has a first socket hole aligned with the axial through hole and configured to engage a nut or the like. The axial through hole is configured to permit passage of a bolt when the nut is tightened by the socket member.

Generally, a fastener unitarily formed as one piece has a shank portion and a head portion disposed on an end of the shank portion. A conventional power wrench is usable to sleeve onto the head portion of the fastener in order to tighten or loosen the fastener during assembly/disassembly of an apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 9,592,600 discloses a power wrench that has a blind hole with a single opening, through which the power wrench can engage the head portion of the fastener. Fasteners have existed in various forms. A fastening nut is usually used in combination with a bolt to fasten an object. When the fastening nut is sleeved onto the bolt attached to the object and is rotated until the fastening nut abuts the object, the fastening nut is tightened to the object. The power wrench disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,592,600 is also suitable to rotate and tighten the fastening nut. However, if the bolt is too long, the bolt can abut a closed end of the blind hole and the fastening nut cannot be continuously rotated until it is tightened to the object. A manual operation has to be performed to complete the process of tightening the fastening nut, thereby consuming time and labor.


The invention generally relates to new materials based on C49 titanium disilicide (TiSi2) as a new, layered anode material, within which lithium ions can react with the Si-only layers. Stabilization by a coating a thin layer of oxide on the surface of TiSi2 significantly improves the charge and discharge performance.

Lithium-ion batteries are found in a fast-growing number of products, from consumer electronics, such as cell phones, PDAs and laptops, to electric vehicles, airplanes and aerospace equipment. As one of the most popular types of rechargeable battery for portable electronics, lithium-ion batteries have superior energy densities, no memory effect, and a slow loss of charge when not in use. Lithium-ion batteries are becoming a common replacement for the lead acid batteries. A lightweight lithium/carbon negative electrodes and lithium iron phosphate positive electrodes are clearly favored over the heavy lead plates and acid electrolyte.
With significant advantages such as long cycle lifetimes and relatively high specific capacities, the lithium-ion battery is becoming a prevailing energy storage technology. Its development has benefited from the discovery of key new electrode materials, including graphite and LiCO2 acting as an anode and a cathode, respectively. (Kazunori, et al. 1994 Solid State Ionics 69, 212-221.) These materials often exhibit a layered structure, which allows for Li+ insertion and extraction with minimal influence on the host structure, thereby enabling long cycle lifetimes. (Tarascon, et al. 2001 Nature 414, 359-367.) The measured specific capacities of these materials, however, are limited by their chemical nature and now fail to meet the ever-growing needs. (Armand, et al. 2008 Nature 451, 652-657.) In comparison, high-capacity materials lacking a layered structure, such as Si, Si-alloys, Sn, and SnO2, suffer from short cycle lifetimes due to structural degradations caused by Li+ insertion and extraction. (Kim, et al. 2008 Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 47, 10151-10154; Hu, et al. 2008 Angew. Chem., Int. Ed 47, 1645-1649; Chan, et al. 2008 Nat. Nanotechnol. 3, 31-35; Kasavajjula, et al. 2007 J. Power Sources 163, 1003-1039; Wolfenstine, et al. 2003 J. Power Sources 124, 241-245; Liu, et al. 2007 J. Electrochem. Soc. 154, A97-A102; Roberts, et al. 2002 J. Power Sources 110, 424-429; Deng, et al. 2009 Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 48, 1660-1663; Yu, et al. 2009 Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 48, 6485-6489; Park, et al. 2007 Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 46, 750-753; Paek, et al. 2008 Nano Lett. 9, 72-75.)
Thus, a critical unmet need remains for novel layered materials with high specific capacities should therefore be important in the development of lithium-ion battery technology.

Layered titanium disilicide, method of preparation and applications thereof


Provides is a multi-chip package including a plurality of semiconductor memory devices. Each of semiconductor memory devices includes a register and a control circuit. The register is configured to store start sequence information representing start of execution of a refresh operation in the multi-chip package. The control circuit is configured to control start of the execution of the refresh operation in response to the start sequence information stored in the register. Since the start of the execution of the refresh operation is performed in sequence of respective semiconductor memory devices according to the start sequence information stored in the register, consumption of peak current may be reduced in a power saving mode.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to semiconductor memory devices and, more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device for suitable use in a multi-chip package where a plurality of semiconductor memory devices are integrated in a single package.
When a plurality of semiconductor chips constitute a multi-chip package together with or independently of a processor, a portable device including the multi-chip package may be miniaturized or its operating performance may be enhanced.
With the advance in portable devices, semiconductor memory devices such as DRAMs typically tend to be integrated in a multi-chip package such as a dual die package (hereinafter referred to as "DDP") or a quad die package (hereinafter referred to as "QDP"), not in a single-chip package.
A predetermined operation, e.g., refresh operation may be performed in semiconductor memory devices that are present in a multi-chip package. Peak current of the multi-chip package may increase when self-refresh operations of the semiconductor memory devices are performed at the same time.
In general, set makers of portable devices give preference to multi-chip packages including a low power or peak current consumption during a self-refresh operation.

Semiconductor memory device for use in multi-chip package

Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


In the present invention, by virtue of heat buffer plates respectively located on the major surfaces of IGBT chips and FRD chips arranged in a single plane, the total thickness of each chip and a corresponding one of the heat can be set to a substantially predetermined value. A thickness-correcting member having elongated projections corresponding to the chips is provided on those surfaces of the heat buffer plates which is remote from the chips. A heat buffer disk plate is provided on those surfaces of the chips which are opposite to the major surfaces thereof. The thickness-correcting member, the heat buffer plates and the IGBT and FRD chips are held and simultaneously pressed between an emitter press-contact electrode plate and a collector press-contact electrode plate. Before using the device, a force of press, which is higher than that applied at the time of using the device and can plastically deform the thickness-correcting member, is applied to the emitter press-contact electrode plate and the collector press-contact electrode plate, thereby correcting variations in total thickness of each semiconductor chip and a corresponding one of the heat buffer plates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multichip press-contact type semiconductor device, which is used in a state where a plurality of semiconductor chips press-contact each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
A press-contact type semiconductor is broadly known which has a structure in which a single semiconductor chip is held between press-contact electrode plates. Such a press-contact type semiconductor device is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,586 (Matsuda et al.) "CRIMP-TYPE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE HAVING NON-ALLOY STRUCTURE."
However, in the above-mentioned conventional press-contact type semiconductor device, the chip size must be enlarged in order to increase the rated current. Therefore, it is highly possible that defects, which are impossible to recover, will occur as the driving ability is increased, and hence that the manufacturing yield will decrease.

Multichip press-contact type semiconductor device


An automobile communication system is provided for communicating with others by displaying operator selected or input messages on a display mounted in the rear window of a vehicle. The operator may select messages on a keypad or by voice commands received by a microphone mounted in the vehicle. The system may include predetermined messages and may be programmed to include additional messages for display.

Various systems have been proposed to display a message in a vehicle to be read by the driver of another vehicle. Typically, these systems include a static back-lit display in the rear window which is illuminated when the brake peddle is depressed or at the option of the driver. Other units allow the driver to select from a limited number of messages to be displayed or input a message, via a keyboard, into the system. To display the message, the driver's attention may be directed away from the road, possibly creating a dangerous situation. Additionally, it would be helpful to provide a message to other vehicles as to changes of direction or forewarn of road conditions up ahead.

Automobile communication courtesy display


A golf accessory has a flat, planar, disc shaped metal shield from the edge of which a pair of legs extend in generally parallel fashion. Opposite the legs there is a projection in the top of which a transverse groove is defined. The groove is of a size suitable for cradling a cigarette inserted therein. The projection may be formed as a return bent back in a loop to extend rearwardly from the metal shield to terminate in a backing plate located behind the shield. The leaf spring is secured to the surface of the backing plate facing the shield and can be resiliently deflected to receive varying thicknesses of bills or other papers. The backing plate and the shield may each also be provided with recessed regions in which magnets may be mounted to receive disc shaped ball markers thereatop. The ball markers are firmly held by magnetic attraction in the recessed regions atop the magnets, but can be readily removed therefrom. Rather than being formed as a lopped return, the projection may reside solely in the plane of the shield and form a pair of straight ears on either side of the groove. The ears are narrow enough to fit into the grooves in the face of a golf club so that the tool can be used to clean those grooves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved golf accessory which can be utilized as a divot tool and also as a cigarette holder on a golf course.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior golf accessory tools have been utilized to advantage for a number of years. One particularly useful golf accessory tool is described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,621. This patent describes a golf accessory which serves both as a divot tool and as a money clip. The clip can be used as a means of attachment of the accessory to the belt, cap, shoe or golf bag of a golfer. It can also serve as a money clip. The accessory described in my prior patent includes a looped return behind a disc shaped body which defines a saddle facing concave upwardly. The saddle serves as a stand or prop for supporting the grip of a golf club above the grass, so as to prevent the grip from becoming wet with dew or other moisture which may be on the turf.
While my prior golf accessory disclosed in the aforesaid patent is a highly useful tool, I have discovered a number of improvements which can be made to such a golf accessory to increase its versatility and to enhance its usefulness.


A backlight assembly includes a plurality of lamps, a receiving container and a conductive member. Each of the lamps includes a lamp body, a first electrode part disposed at a first end portion of the lamp body and a second electrode part disposed at a second end portion of the lamp body, the second end portion being opposite to the first end portion. The receiving container includes a bottom plate on which the lamps are disposed and a sidewall disposed at edge portions of the bottom plate to define a receiving space. The receiving container has a plurality of grounding portions formed on the bottom plate or the sidewalls. The conductive member electrically connects the second electrode part to one of the grounding portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a display device having the backlight assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly having a reduced number of elements for driving lamps, and a is display device having the backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device displays images by controlling an optical transmittance of each pixel arranged in a matrix shape. The LCD device uses light provided by a backlight assembly to display images.
The LCD device includes an LCD panel having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix shape, a driver integrated circuit (IC) that drives pixels of the LCD panel, and a backlight assembly that provides the LCD panel with light.
The backlight assembly may be classified as either a direct illumination type or an edge illumination type. According to the direct illumination type backlight assembly, a light source such as a lamp is disposed under the LCD panel to provide the liquid crystal panel with light. According to the edge illumination type backlight assembly, a light guide plate is disposed under the LCD panel and a light source such as a lamp is disposed at a side of the light guide plate, so that light generated by the light source is applied to the liquid crystal panel through the light guide plate.
The direction illumination type backlight assembly has relatively lower luminance uniformity and durability, but high light-using efficiency and luminance because a plurality of lamps is driven in parallel. Therefore, the direct illumination type backlight assembly is primarily used in large-sized LCD devices. In order to drive the lamps in parallel, a conventional LCD device includes an inverter master, an inverter slave and a return wire. The inverter master provides a hot electrode of each of the lamps with a lamp-driving voltage, and the inverter slave grounds a cold electrode of each of the lamps, and provides a conducting pattern for feeding electric current outputted from the cold electrode back to the inverter master. The return wire electrically connects the conducting pattern to the inverter master to transfer the electric current outputted from the cold electrode. The inverter includes a circuit for uniformizing deviation of the lamp-driving voltage applied to the lamps by using the feedback current.
As the inverter slave, a printed circuit board (PCB) may be employed. The lamps may be grounded directly to the inverter slave or to a receiving container via the inverter slave.
However, according to above-mentioned backlight assembly, the lamps are respectively connected to the inverter slave. As a result, a number of steps in backlight assembly process increases, the return wiring is complex, and assembling side molds with a receiving container becomes complex. Therefore, productivity is lowered.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Backlight assembly and display device having the same


A method of performing an ion implantation is provided. A workpiece is installed in the ion implanter. A wafer is provided in a receiving space within an ion implanter. An ion beam is generated by an ion source of the ion implanter. The bombard of the ion beam is blocked and particles generated during or after conducting the step of generating the ion beam are collected by the workpiece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of performing an ion implantation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of performing an ion implantation using an ion beam blocking component and an ion beam blocking device having the same to collect particles generated when an ion beam impinges on an ion beam blocking component.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of semiconductor technology, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, different specific impurities are added into a certain part or a certain film layer, and such a step is called doping and the added impurities are called dopants. Currently, the conventional doping methods can be substantially classified into a diffusion method and an ion implantation method. The diffusion method is usually called a thermal diffusion method since the impurities are self-diffused from a high concentration region to a low concentration region in a host material at high temperature (usually 800° C. or so), thereby achieving the doping purpose. With regard to the ion implantation method, the impurities are dissociated into ions firstly, and after acceleration and selection, specific ions are directly impinged into the host material, so as to achieve the doping purpose.
A common ion implanter mainly includes an ion source, an analyzer, a Faraday flag, an electron shower, and a wafer disk assembly. The ion source is used to provide ions to be implanted, and the ions include different chemical elements and pass through a magnetic field in the analyzer. The analyzer selects some ions to impinge the wafer according to a generated mass to charge ratio of the ions, so as to perform ion implantation. The Faraday flag is a monitor element used to measure and prepare before the implant of ions. The Faraday flag is usually made of graphite. Before the ion implantation, the Faraday flag is used to block an ion stream. On the contrary, when the ions are being implanted, the Faraday flag is moved to allow the ions to impinge on the wafer. When at a closed position, the Faraday flag blocks the ion beam, thereby causing a secondary electron emission. Since the secondary electrons may cause an error in measuring an ion beam current, a magnet is attached on the Faraday flag, so as to prevent the secondary electrons from flowing out. The electron shower is used to neutralize charges of the wafer. The wafer disk assembly is used to fix the wafer and scan the wafer by the use of the ion beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,798 discloses "ion dosage measurement apparatus for an ion beam implanter and method." In the ion implanter, a movable restriction plate is attached to one end of the Faraday flag, and a gap exists between the Faraday flag and the restriction plate. The restriction plate is moved relative to the Faraday flag to adjust the quantity of the ion beams passed. However, since the restriction plate is a sheet-like structure, the particles impinged on the restriction plate will contaminate a traveling path of the ion beam and a chamber where the wafer is placed, thus degrading the yield of products.


A method for performing a status report procedure in a receiver of a wireless communication system includes forming a STATUS PDU in an RLC layer, forming a Data PDU with a flexible size when a mode of flexible RLC PDU size is configured, combining the Data PDU with the STATUS PDU for forming a concatenated RLC PDU for a MAC layer, forming a MAC PDU for carrying the concatenated RLC PDU, and transmitting the MAC PDU to a peer transmitter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and related apparatus for performing status report procedure in a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for performing status report procedure in a wireless communication system when flexible PDU size is configured, so as to reduce system overhead.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The third generation (3G) mobile telecommunication system has adopted a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) wireless air interface access method for a cellular network. WCDMA provides high frequency spectrum utilization, universal coverage, and high quality, high-speed multimedia data transmission. The WCDMA method also meets all kinds of QoS requirements simultaneously, providing diverse, flexible, two-way transmission services and better communication quality to reduce transmission interruption rates.
The access stratum of the 3G mobile telecommunication system comprises a radio resource control (RRC), radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), broadcast/multicast control (BMC) and other sub-layers of different functions. The operations of the above-mentioned sub-layers are well known for those skilled in the art, and will not be further mentioned. A primary function of the RLC layer is providing different transmission quality processing, performing segmentation, reassembly, concatenation, padding, retransmission, sequence check, and duplication detection on received data or control instructions based on different transmission quality requirements. The MAC layer can match packets received from different logic channels of the RLC layer to common, shared, or dedicated transport channels according to radio resource allocation commands of the RRC layer, for performing channel mapping, multiplexing, transport format selection, or random access control.
In the RLC layer, the purpose of "padding" is to make lengths of all Protocol Data Units (PDUs) outputted from an RLC entity to be the same. That is, after the RLC entity receives a Service Data Unit (SDU) from the upper layer, if the length of the SDU is smaller than a maximum PDU payload size, the RLC entity will pad out the SDU with meaningless data, so as to form a PDU in conformation with a predefined length. Otherwise, if the length of the SDU is greater than the maximum PDU payload size, the RLC entity will segment the SDU with the maximum PDU payload size. After the segmentation, if the length of the last segment is smaller than the maximum PDU payload size, the RLC entity will pad out the last segment with meaningless data, to form a PDU in conformation with the predefined length.
In the prior art, "padding" can make the lengths of the RLC PDUs to be identical to each other. However, the prior art "padding" decreases bandwidth utility rate and data processing efficiency, especially for high data rate applications, such as High Speed Downlink Package Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Package Access (HSUPA) in the 3G mobile telecommunication system. In such a situation, a scheme of flexible RLC PDU size is proposed to eliminate padding, to enhance bandwidth utility rate and data processing efficiency, and to improve uplink and downlink (UL/DL) transmission rate.
For example, please refer to FIG. 1, which illustrates a schematic diagram of an application of the flexible RLC PDU size according to the prior art. In FIG. 1, SDU_1 and SDU_2 represent SDUs from the upper layer, PDU_1˜PDU_3 represent RLC PDUs, oblique-line parts in front of PDU_1˜PDU_3 represent PDU headers, and MPZ represents the maximum PDU payload size. As shown in FIG. 1, the total length of SDU_1 and SDU_2 is greater than two times MPZ, but smaller than three times MPZ. Therefore, the prior art uses a segmentation method to carry SDU_1 and SDU_2 with PDU_1˜PDU_3. The segmentation method is: if the length of one or concatenated SDUs is greater than one or multiple times of MPZ, the RLC entity will segment the SDU with a unit of MPZ until a last segment or SDU smaller than MPZ is left, and carry the last segment or SDU with a flexible-size RLC PDU. In other words, the lengths of PDU_1 and PDU_2 are equal to the maximum PDU size, while the length of PDU_3 is smaller than the maximum PDU size.
To support the flexible RLC PDU size feature, a segmentation function is added in the MAC layer. According to what is specified in related RLC and MAC specifications, a disadvantage, which makes radio resource usage inefficient, can be found as follows.
Firstly, a concept of Piggybacked STATUS PDU is to fully utilize the radio resources by using the padding part in an RLC AMD (Acknowledgement Mode Data) PDU. However, an AMD PDU with flexible RLC PDU size has no padding. In this case, there is no piggybacked STATUS PDU used when the flexible RLC PDU size is configured. However, lossless reconfiguration from fixed to flexible RLC PDU size is introduced recently. If an AMD PDU with fixed RLC PDU size including a piggybacked STATUS PDU is ongoing during reconfiguration, the receiver can receive this AMD PDU after changing to the flexible RLC PDU size and discard it if the receiver interprets it as an invalid PDU format.
Secondly, from the function point of view in the RLC layer, a STATUS PDU piggybacked or not does not have any impact. However, when RLC/MAC is considered together, such as in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, overhead occurs if the STATUS PDU is not piggybacked. For example, please refer to FIG. 2, which illustrates a schematic diagram of transmission of an RLC AMD PDU and an RLC STATUS PDU according to the prior art. After receiving an RLC SDU and SUFIs (Super Fields) from the upper layer, the RLC layer adds corresponding RLC headers to form the RLC AMD PDU and the RLC STATUS PDU. Then, the MAC-d (dedicated) layer forms MAC-d PDUs, or MAC-ehs SDUs, for the MAC-ehs layer, so as to form MAC-ehs PDU after adding a MAC-ehs header. As shown in FIG. 2, since no piggybacked STATUS PDU can be used due to flexible RLC PDU size, the STATUS PDU cannot be piggybacked by the RLC AMD PDU. As a result, two sets of parameters, including LCH-ID, L, TSN, SI, and F, in the MAC-ehs header are required, and thus overhead occurs. Note that, meanings of the parameters LCH-ID, L, TSN, SI, and F can be found in related specifications, and will not be narrated in detail for clarity.
Therefore, when flexible RLC PDU size is configured, an AMD PDU with flexible RLC PDU size has no padding. In such a situation, the RLC STATUS PDU cannot be piggybacked by the AMD PDU, and overhead occurs.

Method and related apparatus for performing status report procedure in a wireless communication system


An inertial gas-liquid impactor separator has a variable flow actuator for varying cumulative gas-liquid flow through acceleration nozzle structure in response to a given parameter.

The invention relates to inertial gas-liquid impactor separators for removing and coalescing liquid particles from a gas-liquid stream, including in engine crankcase ventilation separation applications, including closed crankcase ventilation (CCV) and open crankcase ventilation (OCV).
Inertial gas-liquid separators are known in the prior art. Liquid particles are removed from a gas-liquid stream by accelerating the stream or aerosol to high velocities through nozzles or orifices and directing same against an impactor, typically causing a sharp directional change, effecting the noted liquid separation. Such inertial impactors have various uses, including in oil separation applications for blow-by gases from the crankcase of an internal combustion engine.
The present invention provides improvements in inertial gas-liquid impactor separators, including variable flow.

Variable flow inertial gas-liquid impactor separator


Systems and techniques for data tagging and task dataset generation are described herein. A set of context elements may be obtained for a data element in a data source. The set of context elements may be evaluated using a machine learning processor to embed one or more tags into the data element. A task to be completed by the user may be identified. A set of task tags may be determined that correspond to the task. The data source may be searched using the set of task tags to select the data element. A task dataset may be generated that includes the data element in response to the search.

User data may be spread across a variety of data sources. A user may wish to complete a task that relies on a variety of data stored in the variety of data sources. Identifying relevant data and gathering the data from the variety of data sources may be difficult and may be prone to errors resulting from data elements that were omitted or included by mistake.

Data tagging and task dataset generation


The present invention relates to a polymeric water repellent material including novel acrylamide polymer, which can be used in various field because it demonstrates controllable and excellent water repellency together with water adhesiveness. The polymeric water repellent material comprises an acrylamide polymer including at least one repeating unit.

A surface having a water contact angle equal to or higher than 90° may be generally classified as a hydrophobic or water-repellent surface. The water contact angle on a solid surface may be defined, for example, as a contact angle appearing when a water drop of 3-20 mg is dropped onto the solid surface.
Products having such a water repellent surface may prevent water from penetrating and also show a self-cleaning property because they allow only a small contact area for foreign materials such as dirt or bacteria being placed thereon, which may therefore not be easily attached thereto but readily removed therefrom.
Thanks to such properties, such water repellent products have been widely utilized or under review for their application as water repellent fibers, water repellent coatings, stain-resistant coatings, and anti-corrosion coatings in the fiber industry, the civil engineering and construction industry, the shipbuilding industry, or other mechanical or electronic industries.
The water repellent products are frequently required to have a certain degree of water repellency controlled depending on their application or uses. However, for the water repellent products hitherto produced, controlling their water repellency often turns out to be difficult and thus different water repellent products should be designed for each and every application or use.
Meanwhile, some recent researches have been focused on products having water adhesion properties in conjunction with water repellency. Such types of products may prevent water from penetrating to their solid surface while retaining water thereon and also collect a substantial amount of water on a certain surface area thanks to their water adhesiveness. Based on such characteristics, the products demonstrating both of water repellency and water adhesiveness have been reviewed for their possibilities to be utilized as a water capturing agent or a water capturing device in a region suffering from water shortage.
According to prior arts, however, realization of such products with aforementioned characteristics has inevitably entailed forming an additional fine pattern (e.g., a fine pattern of polydopamine) that demonstrates hydrophilicity and water adhesiveness on a water repellent surface of a substrate such as an anodized aluminum oxide. Practically, such methods are too complicate to be industrially employed, and thus studies regarding the products having both of water repellency and water adhesiveness and industrial applications thereof have faced with major difficulties up to date.

IUCF-HYU (Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University)


An external fixator is provided with an antimicrobial device that greatly reduces the probability of infection around the fixator pins. The antimicrobial device comprises a sleeve that is pressed with an interference fit over each pin after the pin is installed in the patient. A cuff of Dacron felt surrounds the sleeve and is located within the subcutaneous tissue of the patient. The interference fit between the pin and the sleeve prevents entry of bacteria into the subcutaneous tissue between the sleeve and pin. The Dacron felt promotes ingrowth of scar tissue into the cuff interstices, thereby utilizing the body's natural defenses against infection. The external fixator frame is assembled to the pins after the antimicrobial devices are in place.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to medical equipment, and more particularly to apparatus used in orthopedic surgery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
External fixators for stabilizing fractured or osteotomized bones are well known. Such fixators immobilize damaged bones and thus aid natural healing processes to repair the bones.
In the use of external fixators, threaded metal pins are screwed into appropriately tapped holes located on opposite sides of the bone fracture. The pins protrude through the muscle, subcutaneous tissue, and skin. A frame is assembled to the exposed ends of the pins to join them together. The fixator frame rigidly retains the pins and thus the associated bones in place while healing occurs. Typical external fixators may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,127,119 and 4,620,533.
Because biological tissue does not adhere to the metal fixator pins, a chronic break remains in the skin around the pins. As a result, a rather common complication involving external fixators is infection that occurs around the pins. Investigations have shown that infections occur in about 10% of the pins used in external fixators. The infections range from superficial skin infection to deep bone infection, i.e., osteomyelitis.
The primary treatment for external fixator pin infections is antibiotics. However, antibiotics are often ineffective. In those situations, it is necessary to remove the pins and place them at new sites. In severe cases, use of the external fixator must be terminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,504 describes antimicrobial wound dressing and skin fixator for orthopedic pins that includes an annular patch containing an antimicrobial agent. The patch is placed over an orthopedic pin and against the skin. The patch is held in place by a pad of pressure-sensitive adhesive. A flange overlies the patch and pad, and the flange is secured to the fixator pin. Although the antimicrobial patch of the 4,856,504 patent is helpful for preventing infection around a pin, it does not contribute to the natural ingrowth of tissue around the pin so as to bring into play the natural defenses of the body to bacterial infection.
Thus, a need exists for improvements in the prevention of infections associated with external fixators.

Antimicrobial device for use in external fixators


A method and system for providing a platform with pseudo-autonomous correlation between a perspective view generated by a platform-based imaging sensor and an orthogonal photographic representation includes storing on the platform a reference perspective view and parameters of a primary mapping transformation corresponding to a mapping between the orthogonal photographic representation and the reference perspective image. The platform then derives a mapping of equivalent points between a current perspective view and the orthogonal photographic representation by onboard processing of the current perspective view relative to the reference perspective view.

The present invention relates to image correlation and, in particular, it concerns a platform with pseudo-autonomous image registration.
It is known to perform image registration between images viewed at different viewing angles. One example of particular interest is registration of a perspective image with an orthogonal photographic representation which allows features in the perspective image to be associated with their geographic locations. The techniques for performing such registration per se are well known in the art and will not be dealt with here in detail.
The following patent documents, mentioned as illustrative of applications of image registration techniques, are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. Israeli Patent No. 111069 to Sroka et al. describes a method and system for marking object images acquired at high zooming by an airborne imaging device on a reference image having a wide field of view of the scene. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0196248 to Kraus et al. describes a method for sharing visual information between a number of command and control ("C&C") base units. Co-pending, co-assigned Israeli Patent Application No. 158685, which is unpublished at the date of filing this application and does not constitute prior art, extends these concepts to bi-directional communication between platforms via geographic coordinates which are represented in the local perspective view.
Turning now to FIG. 1, this shows a typical example of a scheme for implementing image correlation for an airborne platform with an imaging system, for example an unmanned aerial vehicle ("UAV") 16. An image of a region of interest is derived from a camera having an imaging sensor 10 operated by a camera controller unit 14 and is transmitted via wireless transceivers 20, 22 to a base station 18, where it is processed by a processing system 24 and may be presented on a display 12 located at the base station or any other desired location. Camera controller unit 14 typically operates an optical zoom of imaging sensor 10 for selectively generating views with relatively wide field of view (FOV) and relatively narrow FOV. A "frozen" wide angle view is optionally displayed on a second display 26, preferably with a frame indicating the region of the zoomed view currently being displayed on display 12 to facilitate user orientation. A similar system and various additional preferred features for operation of the system are described in the aforementioned Israeli Patent No. 111069.
Each base unit 18 is also provided with reference data 30 corresponding to an orthogonal photographic representation of a region overlapping at least part of the field of view of the perspective view of imaging sensor 10. The orthogonal photographic representation is preferably associated with a defined geographic coordinate system, typically corresponding to the standard longitude-latitude or "north-south" coordinate system defined globally across the surface of the Earth. Finally in structural terms, the base unit 18 is typically in communication with other base units or other entities via a wireless data communication system, such as a data-link system, represented by transceiver 32.
FIG. 2 illustrates the relationship between the images/views received by the base unit 18. Specifically, there are shown a real-time detailed narrow FOV perspective image 40, a frozen wide-angle perspective image 42 and an orthogonal photographic representation 44. The wide-angle image is typically necessary to provide sufficient data for reliable correlation with the orthogonal photographic representation. As a result, correlation between the perspective view and the orthogonal photographic representation is performed as a two-step correlation as illustrated in FIG. 3. Specifically, the wide FOV image 42 is correlated with the orthogonal photographic representation 44 to generate a first mapping transformation T1, and the narrow FOV image 40 is correlated with the wide FOV image 42 to generate a second mapping transformation T2. The combination of mapping transformations T1 and T2 or their, inverses together fully define the mapping between the perspective image 40 and the orthogonal photographic representation 44 in both directions, for example, allowing a target 46 identified in perspective view 40 to be associated with a geographic coordinate in orthogonal representation 44 or the reverse.
It should be noted that the entire image correlation processing is performed at base unit 18 remote from the data gathering platform 16. This is necessitated by the heavy data processing and huge quantities of data typically involved in image registration of this type, rendering it impractical to perform the processing locally for each platform. Specifically, the data storage and processing requirements of correlating images to a geographical database typically require a server system with multiple parallel processors and corresponding instant-access mass-data storage systems. These requirements render it impractical for all but the most massive mobile platforms to carry a self-contained geographic-database image registration system. Furthermore, the need for continual updating of information in the geographical database encourages a centralized processing approach.
As a result of this centralized processing approach, each mobile platform is required to continuously download sampled images to the remote base unit site. This occupies a disproportionate amount of communication bandwidth, and renders the mobile platform completely dependent upon the base unit. The continuous computational load on the base unit also limits the number of such platforms which can be served by a given base unit.
There is therefore a need for a method and system which would provide pseudo-autonomous image correlation for a platform-based system.

Method and system for pseudo-autonomous image registration


Neurotransmission by excitatory amino acids (EAAS) such as glutamate is mediated via membrane-bound surface receptors. DNA coding for EAA receptors of one family of human NMDA-binding type receptors has now been isolated and receptor proteins characterized. Herein described are recombinant cell lines which produce the EAA receptor as a heterologous membrane-bound product. Also described are related aspects of the invention, which are of commercial significance. Included is use of the cell lines as a tool for discovery of compounds which modulate EAA receptor stimulation.

This invention is concerned with applications of recombinant DNA technology in the field of neurobiology. More particularly, the invention relates to the cloning and expression of DNA coding for excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors, especially human EAA receptors.
In the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), the transmission of nerve impulses is controlled by the interaction between a neurotransmitter substance released by the xe2x80x9csendingxe2x80x9d neuron which then binds to a surface receptor on the xe2x80x9creceivingxe2x80x9d neuron, to cause excitation thereof. L-glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the CNS, and mediates the major excitatory pathway in vertebrates. Glutamate is therefore referred to as an excitatory amino acid (EAA) and the receptors which respond to it are variously referred to as glutamate receptors, or more commonly as EAA receptors.
Using tissues isolated from mammalian brain, and various synthetic EAA receptor agonists, knowledge of EAA receptor pharmacology has been refined somewhat. Members of the EAA receptor family can be grouped into three main types based on differential binding to such agonists. One type of EAA receptor, which in addition to glutamate also binds the agonist NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate), is referred to as the NMDA type of EAA receptor. Two other glutamate-binding types of EAA receptor, which do not bind NMDA, are named according to their preference for binding with two other EAA receptor agonists, namely AMPA (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole-4-propionate), and kainate (2-carboxy-4-(1-methylethenyl)-3-pyrrolidineacetate). Accordingly, receptors which bind glutamate but not NMDA, and which bind with greater affinity to kainate than to AMPA, are referred to as kainate type EAA receptors. Similarly, those EAA receptors which bind glutamate but not NMDA, and which bind AMPA with greater affinity than kainate are referred to as AMPA type EAA receptors.
The glutamate-binding EAA receptor family is of great physiological and medical importance. Glutamate is involved in many aspects of long-term potentiation (learning and memory), in the development of synaptic plasticity, in epileptic seizures, in neuronal damage caused by ischemia following stroke or other hypoxic events, as well as in other forms of neurodegenerative processes. The development of therapeutics which modulate these processes has been very difficult, due to the lack of any homogeneous source of receptor material with which to discover selectively binding drug molecules, which interact specifically at the interface of the EAA receptor. The brain derived tissues currently used to screen candidate drugs are heterogeneous receptor sources, possessing on their surface many receptor types which interfere with studies of the EAA receptor/ligand interface of interest. The search for human therapeutics is further complicated by the limited availability of brain tissue of human origin. It would therefore be desirable to obtain cells that are genetically engineered to produce only the receptor of interest. With cell lines expressing cloned receptor cDNA, a substrate which is homogeneous for the desired receptor is provided, for drug screening programs.
Non-human cDNAs which appear to encode the NMDA-type of EAA receptor have recently been identified and isolated. A cDNA encoding a subunit polypeptide of an NMDA receptor in rat, designated NR1, has been isolated as described by Moriyoshi et al. in Nature 354: 31, 1991. This work has been extended to demonstrate six isoforms of NR1, presumably generated by combinations of alternative RNA splicing in the amino- and carboxy-terminal regions of NR1 (Anantharam et al. FEBS Lett. 305: 27, 1992; Durand et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 9359, 1992; Nakanishi et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 8552, 1992; Sugihara et al. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 185: 826, 1992). DNA encoding NR1 and one of its isoforms have also been cloned from mouse brain by Yamazaki et al. as described in FEBS Lett. 300: 39, 1992. Other rat NMDA receptor subunits, designated NR2A, NR2B and NR2C, have also been identified (Monyer et al. Science 256: 1217, 1992), as well as mouse NMDA receptor subunits which have been designated xcex51, xcex52 and xcex53 (Meguro et al. Nature 357: 70, 1992 and Kutsuwada et al. Nature 358: 36, 1992).
There has emerged from these molecular cloning advances, a better understanding of the structural features of NMDA receptors and their subunits, as they exist in the non-human brain. According to the current model, each NMDA receptor is heteromeric, consisting of individual membrane-anchored subunits, each with four transmembrane regions, and extracellular domains that dictate ligand-binding properties and contribute to the ion-gating function served by the receptor complex.
In the search for therapeutics useful to treat CNS disorders in humans, it is highly desirable to obtain knowledge of human NMDA-type EAA receptors. A specific understanding of these human receptors would provide a means to screen for compounds that react therewith, i.e. to stimulate or inhibit receptor activity, and thus providing a means to identify compounds having potential therapeutic utility in humans. Non-human mammalian models are not suitable for this purpose despite significant receptor sequence homology, as minute sequence discrepancies can cause dramatic pharmacological variation between species homologues of the same receptor (Oksenberg et al., Nature, 360:161, 1992). It is therefore particularly desirable to provide cloned cDNA encoding human EAA receptors, and cell lines expressing these receptors in a homogeneous fashion, in order to generate a screening method for compounds therapeutically useful in humans. These, accordingly, are objects of the present invention.
Another object of the present invention is to provide in isolated form a DNA molecule which codes for a human EAA receptor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cell that has been genetically engineered to produce an N-methyl-D-aspartate-type human EAA receptor.
Human cDNAs encoding a family of EAA receptors, which bind glutamate with an affinity typical of EAA receptors and exhibit ligand binding properties characteristic of NMDA-type EAA receptors, have been identified and characterized. A representative member of this human EAA receptor family is herein designated human NMDAR1-1. Sequence-related cDNAs encoding naturally occurring variants of the human NMDAR1-1 have also been identified, and constitute additional members of this receptor family as do fragments of NMDAR1 receptors, herein referred to as the human NMDAR1 receptor family.
The present invention thus provides, in one of its aspects, an isolated polynucleotide, consisting either of DNA or of RNA, which codes for a human NMDAR1 or for fragments thereof characterized by at least one of MK-801-binding or glutamate-binding.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cell that has been genetically engineered to produce a human EAA receptor belonging to the herein-defined NMDAR1 family. In related aspects of the present invention, there are provided recombinant DNA constructs and relevant methods useful to create such cells.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for evaluating interaction between a test ligand and a human EAA receptor, which comprises the steps of incubating the test ligand with a genetically engineered cell of the present invention, or with a membrane preparation derived therefrom, and then assessing said interaction by determining receptor/ligand binding.
Other aspects of the present invention, which encompass various applications of the discoveries herein described, will become apparent from the following detailed description, and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Human CNS receptors of the NMDA-R1 family


A lock core assembly. The assembly includes an external cylinder, an inner cylinder rotatably fitted in the external cylinder, alignment elements provided in the inner cylinder, at least a limiting element provided in the external cylinder able to engage with the alignment elements, and a key to be inserted into the inner cylinder to move the alignment elements to an unlocking state with the limiting element. When the engaging member is detached, the limiting element is separated from the external cylinder, and then the original coupling of the key and the limiting element are substituted by another coupling of a key and a limiting element, such that, when a user loses his key, he can have the lock core assembly repaired without changing the entire lock set.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a lock core assembly, and especially to a lock core assembly by which a user can make repair to substitute another couple of a limiting element and a key for the old couple without changing the entire lock set when the original key get lost, this can reduce expenditure of the user and avoid waste of resources, thus cost of production can be lowered.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional complete set of lock (such as a door lock set) is comprised at least of: a housing, a latch and a lock core assembly, wherein, the latch and the lock core assembly are provided in the housing, while a hole of the lock core assembly is exposed to the outside, when a key is inserted into the hole of the lock core assembly to form an unlocking state, and when the key is rotated to move the latch, the lock is unlocked.
The aforesaid key must match with the lock core assembly for unlocking, if it can not render the lock core assembly to form an unlocking state, the latch will not be moved by the lock core assembly to open the lock. Thereby, in a lock set, a lock core assembly may be considered as the heart of the entire lock set; once the key is lost, the lock core assembly will not be unlocked, and the whole lock set is useless.
When one loses a key for a particular lock, one may call a locksmith to make another key to open the lock. This is not ideal since if the key is found by someone with bad intentions, loss of property may follow. Therefore, in order to avoid such trouble, one generally changes a lock set which is intact and still useful after a key for the lock is lost. However, this is a waste to resources. If it is possible for only the key and the mated lock core assembly to be changed, it is not necessary to have the entire lock set discarded, thus avoiding further waste of resources.
Secondarily, a lock core assembly is comprised of: an external cylinder, an inner cylinder rotatably fitted in the external cylinder, a plurality of alignment elements provided in the inner cylinder, at least a limiting element provided in the external cylinder able to engage with the alignment elements, and a key. When the key is inserted into the inner cylinder to move the alignment elements to their positions making unlocking state with the limiting element, the inner cylinder can be rotated to open the lock.
In other words, the role that the key is to the lock core assembly mainly is to move the alignment elements to the positions to form an unlocking state with the limiting element. Different keys may move the alignment elements to different positions. If the positions after displacement can not be aligned with the limiting element, the lock will not be unlocked. That is, a key and a limiting element making a couple in a lock core assembly mate with each other; and by changing the key and the limiting element in the lock core assembly, another lock core assembly may be formed, and it forms another lock set.
The present invention developed by the inventor of the invention through the thought stated above is characterized by: the limiting element is assembled by means of an engaging member on the external cylinder in coincidence with the specification of the key; when the engaging member is detached, the limiting element can be separated from the external cylinder, then another couple of a key and a limiting element can be substituted for the original couple to form another lock core assembly.
Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is: a user can make repair to substitute another couple of a limiting element and a key for the old couple without changing the entire lock set when the original key gets lost, this can reduce expenditure of the user and avoid waste of resources.
The secondary object of the present invention is: a manufacturer can manufacture external cylinders, inner cylinders and alignment elements in the mode of mass production with the uniform specifications, then various couples of the limiting elements and the keys mating therewith are assembled with the mentioned members to form different lock core assemblies. In this way, production cost can be largely saved.
The present invention will be apparent after reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof in reference to the accompanying drawings.


The object of the present invention is to provide a novel conveying device with which it is possible to easily adjust a conveying amount of articles in a trough using a restricting plate, and a combination weighing apparatus having the conveying device.

A vibrating feeder is known as one example of a conveying device to convey articles while breaking up the articles. The vibrating feeder has a trough forming a conveyance path for the articles, and a vibrator to cause the trough to vibrate along a prescribed angle of elevation and to cause the articles in the trough to advance in jumps.
In such a vibrating feeder, a conveying amount of the articles is controlled by controlling an amplitude and vibration time of the vibrator. Various restriction members described in the patent literature below are also used.
In Patent Literature 1, a layer thickness restricting member is attached to a trough, serving as a conveyance path for articles, in a position-adjustable manner in the vertical direction so that a layer thickness of the articles in the trough is adjustable. In Patent Literature 2, one of passage width restricting members respectively having different shapes and materials is disposed in an exchangeable manner above a trough so that a conveying amount in the trough is adjusted in accordance with the articles.

Conveying device, and combination weighing apparatus having the conveying device

Abstract: A conveying device to convey articles in a trough has a restricting plate to restrict a flow of the articles in the trough and the angle at which the restricting plate faces the articles is variable. With this configuration, there is no need to prepare a plurality of restricting plates that have different shapes and materials or to exchange such a plurality of restricting plates in the same manner as in a conventional device because the conveying amount in the trough can be adjusted merely by varying the angle at which the restricting plate faces the articles.


A high-recording-density magnetic disk drive is provided which minimizes changes in the distance between a magnetic disk and a magnetic head and is reduced in size and weight. The magnetic head and a support spring which supports the magnetic head are rotated over the magnetic disk which is stationary, and a base which supports the support spring is rotated by a rotary actuator for tracking on the magnetic disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic disk drive, and more particularly to a high-recording-density magnetic disk drive in which any change in the distance between the magnetic disk and the magnetic head is minimized and which is reduced in size and weight.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in magnetic disk drives, a magnetic head is moved radially across a magnetic disk while the magnetic disk is rotating, for forming concentric recording tracks on the magnetic disk. The magnetic head is moved radially across the magnetic disk to reach and follow a desired recording track (a process known as tracking) by a linear actuator or a rotary actuator that is positioned radially outwardly of the magnetic disk.
As the recording density of magnetic disk drives increases, there is a demand for reducing the distance or spacing between the magnetic disk and the magnetic head. With the spacing reduced, however, the magnetic head tends to be unable to catch up with variations caused by oscillations of the motor which rotates the magnetic disk or undulations of the magnetic disk itself. When this happens, the magnetic head jumps off a desired recording track, with the result that spacing-induced fluctuations and output electric signals from the magnetic head are subject to large disturbances. Consequently, it has been difficult to increase recording density beyond a certain limit.
In order to reduce eccentricity of magnetic disks, it is necessary to increase the diameter of a bearing which supports the shaft of the motor. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the inside diameter of the magnetic disk, and hence the size of the magnetic head.
Because the actuator for radially moving the magnetic head is positioned radially outwardly of the magnetic disk, the support spring or arm which supports the magnetic head must be made large or long and undergoes large inertial forces. The large inertial forces pose a large burden on the servo control system, making it difficult to effect high-speed tracking.
As a result, the conventional magnetic head drives have not been easy to reduce in size.

Magnetic disk drive in which change in distance between magnetic head and disk is minimized


A hand tool for removing the stopper, foil and wire basket all together simultaneously from a bottle of champagne in a safe, quick and easy manner, the tool consisting of a first and a second half. Each half provides a handle means for grasping and manipulating the tool, an angled portion at which point the halves overlap and are pivotally secured together, and one of a pair of curved gripping heads designed to engage with the stopper. Each of the gripping heads has an in facing curved surface to accommodate the stopper therebetween and a pair of elongated pointed teeth extending inwardly therefrom. The teeth on each of the gripping heads are spaced apart a sufficient distance to straddle a wire rib of the wire basket. A concave groove is positioned between each set of teeth so as to allow the teeth to penetrate and firmly grip the stopper, penetrating to the full length of each of the teeth into a cork stopper, while accommodating the ribs within the groove. The teeth penetrate into a nylon stopper by indenting the nylon stopper for a firm grip. The teeth penetrate and firmly grip the stopper at four cardinal points around the stopper to apply a torsion force to the stopper during twisting to remove the stopper and a resisting force to retain it upon release of the stopper.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to bottle openers, and more particularly to a tool for gripping and removing champagne bottle stoppers, wire baskets, and foil simultaneously with one easy twist quickly, easily and safely in such a way as to prevent the stopper from injuring anyone or damaging anything in the vicinity combined with a corkscrew with a lever arm and a bottle cap opener, thereby enabling easily removal of the stopper from a bottle of wine and the cap from virtually any type of beverage bottle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Opening a bottle of champagne can be quite a difficult procedure, as the cork or nylon stopper in the bottle is under extreme pressure. Typically, the procedure for removing the stopper from a bottle of champagne is to remove the foil and the wire basket from around the bottle neck and then firmly grasp the stopper and force it out of the bottle with a twisting, turning or thrusting motion. Unfortunately, removing a stopper in this manner is quite difficult or even impossible for people with small hands or diminished gripping strength. More importantly, this stopper-removal procedure is also dangerous for the person removing the stopper and for any people or property nearby. Since the stopper in a properly chilled bottle of champagne is under approximately 90 pounds of pressure, when it is dislodged from the bottle neck it frequently bursts from the opener's grasp and flies erratically through the air, in some instances striking and injuring a person or damaging property. There are numerous instances in which freed stoppers have knocked out front teeth, damaged eyes and gashed foreheads so deeply that stitches were required. Stoppers have also banged up furniture and become imbedded in acoustical tile.
This problem has become so acute that most champagne bottles now contain a warning label outlining the associated dangers. In fact, many champagne makers have changed the configuration of the bottle neck and experimented with a variety of other such techniques in an attempt to reduce the dangers associated with removing the stopper. Unfortunately, these alterations have done little to reduce the danger since, no matter what the bottle configuration, the stopper is still under a great deal of pressure and thus can cause serious injury upon removal.
Not only have the difficulties in removing the stopper caused personal injury and property damage, but they have also caused an increase in the price of champagne. Because opening a bottle of champagne can cause injury, champagne makers and the restaurants that serve it face an increased chance of lawsuit, thus raising their insurance premiums and, in turn, raising the cost to the consumer. In addition, manufacturing specialty bottles or stoppers is an expensive procedure, which again translates into higher prices to the consumer.
The use of corkscrews to remove the cork in a wine bottle is well known in the art, as is the use of a bottle opener to remove the cap on beer, and soft drinks. However, corkscrews and bottle openers are not effective for use in removing champagne stoppers. Unfortunately, to date there are no tools in the prior art that are capable of easily, quickly and safely removing the stopper from a bottle of champagne.
United Kingdom Patent No. 19,945, issued in 1908 to Williams and French Patent #1,074,960, issued in 1953 to Rigolot, both provide hinged champagne openers with curved gripping heads and a top guard. The gripping jaws are jagged or roughened with undulating ridges on the curved gripping surface providing only surface texture, but they would not penetrate into the stopper for a sure-locking grip and they would not even contact the stopper surface because the ribs of the wire basket would prevent the surface of the tool from contacting the stopper, since the surface protrusions are shorter than the thickness of the ribs on a wire basket over the champagne stopper. The U.K. tool end for cutting the wire basket would produce sharp wire points which could cause injury or damage.
German Patent #655,401, issued in 1937 to Stauffer, shows a hinged gripping tool for champagne stopper removal with curved gripping heads and guards, but no protrusions on the gripping surface to penetrate the stopper for a sure grip.
French Patent #2,367,699, issued in 1978 to Ferracci and U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,308, issued in 1948 to Amigone both show hinged champagne stopper removing tools with curved gripping heads having serrations or protruding lugs. Neither patent provides a top guard to hold in the stopper at the top or long pointed teeth to penetrate the stopper. Neither patents provide sufficient length of protrusions to contact and penetrate the stopper because the ribs of the wire basket over the stopper would prevent sufficient contact of the stopper for penetration.
None of the prior art devices provide sufficiently protruding and sufficiently pointed long teeth separated by a sufficient distance with a sufficient indentation between the teeth to enable the teeth to straddle the ribs on a wire basket to permit the teeth to pierce through the foil and penetrate the stopper a sufficient distance for sure retention of the stopper afforded by such teeth in conjunction with a top guard.
None of the prior art devices provide, in combination with a champagne stopper removal device, a hook on one pivoting member which is sharp for piercing the foil to access the wire loop of the wire basket and an overlapping half of the hook on another pivoting member to close over and lock onto the wire loop in a closed ring for securing the wire loop therein enabling the twisting of the wire loop to disengage the wire basket while securely holding the wire basket and the stopper, preventing the stopper from leaving the tool should the stopper release by itself upon loosening the wire basket.
Thus there is a clear need for an inventive new tool that will allow a person to quickly remove the stopper from a bottle of champagne in such a way that the stopper remains clamped in the tool, thus preventing it from flying through the air upon removal. Such a needed device would prevent injury during stopper removal, thus making serving and drinking champagne a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Such a tool would also successfully remove the foil, basket and stopper from the bottle neck all with one easy twist. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.