A vehicle radiator air intake screen maintenance system comprising a radiator fan, a fan motor; and a control module operable to control the rotational speed and direction of the radiator fan to: periodically implement a drop cycle whereby a radiator cooling air flow generated by the fan rotating in a forward direction is slowed such debris collected on a radiator air intake screen of the vehicle is caused to fall off due to gravitational force; and periodically implement a full reverse cycle where a rotational direction of the fan is reversed and an expulsion air flow is generated whereby debris collected on vehicle radiator and the air intake screen will be blown off, whereafter reverse rotation of the fan is stopped and the fan is returned to the full forward operating speed and direction.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Commercial turf-care vehicles typically used for cutting, grooming and maintaining grass at golf courses, sporting venues, parks, etc., are generally propelled by an internal combustion engine (ICE) that is water cooled using a radiator cooling system. Additionally, such turf-care vehicles can often include hydraulic systems for driving hydraulic motors that drive rotary or reel mowers, traction systems, steering and lifting mower, that are also cooled by the radiator cooling system. As is known in the art, such radiator cooling systems typically include a coolant filled radiator fluidly connected to an engine block of the ICE and/or to the hydraulic system, and a radiator fan that is operable to draw air through the radiator to cool the coolant and hence cool the ICE and/or the hydraulic system. The ICEs, hydraulic systems and radiator cooling systems of such turf-care vehicles are typically disposed under a hood or engine housing within an engine compartment of the vehicles. The vehicle hood typically comprises one or more air intake screen disposed adjacent the radiator such that air can be drawn through the hood air intake screen(s) and through the radiator, via a cooling airflow generated by the radiator fan, in order to cool the coolant flowing through the radiator, engine block and/or hydraulic system.
Often during operation of such turf-care vehicles, debris such as dirt, dust, grass clippings, leaves, twigs, chaff, etc., (generally referred to herein as debris) gets drawn into the cooling airflow and are thereafter retained against the hood air intake screen(s) by the cooling airflow. The debris tends to collect and build-up on the hood air intake screen(s) and cause blockage or diminishment of the cooling air flow needed to dissipate heat from the ICE and/or hydraulic system, thereby decreasing the ability of the radiator to efficiently cool the engine coolant. Such a decrease in the cooling efficiency and capacity of radiator can cause the operating temperature(s) of ICE and/or hydraulic system to increase to an undesired temperature (e.g., cause the ICE and/or hydraulic system to overheat) resulting in damage to the ICE and/or hydraulic system.
At least some known turf-care vehicles include computer based controller modules that control various operations of the vehicle, including operations ICE, the hydraulic, and the cooling system. Such known vehicles program the controllers to periodically implement full reverse cycles where the rotation of the radiator fan slowed, stopped and then reversed for a period of time in order to blow, clean or clear the debris off the air intake screen(s). Thereafter, the controller slows, stops, and reverses the rotation of the radiator fan such that the fan in again rotating in an air intake/radiator cooling direction. Hence, during the debris clearing portion of full reverse cycle the radiator fan the actually blowing hot air into the radiator of the cooling system, thereby increasing the heat load in the ICE and hydraulic system.
For example, data from heat testing shows that every time the controller executed a full reverse cycle, the bulk oil temperature of the ICE and/or hydraulic system would increase 1° C. to 2° C., ultimately resulting in exceeding maximum allowed bulk oil temperatures.

Vehicle air intake screen maintenance systems and methods


Nucleic acid sequences which encode biologically active ETF, expression vectors which direct the expression of ETF, ETF polypeptides, antibodies which specifically bind ETF and processes for preparing the same are disclosed. Also disclosed are methods for treating or preventing gastrointestinal diseases and HIV or HIV-associated diseases.

T-cells, also known as T-lymphocytes, are a class of immune effector cells. In peripheral tissues, T-cells can be divided into two broad groups based on their mutually exclusive expression of CD4 and CD8 cell surface molecules. Typical CD8.sup.+ T-cells become cytotoxic T-cells after activation and destroy antigen bearing target cells through direct cell contact. Activated CD4.sup.+ T-cells generally provide positive signals, for example, "helper" function for B cells (that engages to antibody-forming cells) and, therefore, are called helper T-cells.
Six T-cell growth factors have previously been identified: Interleukin (IL) -2, -4, -7, -9, -12 and cofactor IL-10. Each of these will be discussed in turn below. Briefly, IL-2's open reading frame codes for a 15 kDa, 153-amino acid polypeptide. IL-2 is produced by certain T-cells and by large granular lymphocytes. IL-2 was originally discovered as a factor that would support long-term growth of human T-cells. In addition to T-cell growth, its effects include activation of natural killer (NK) cells and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells as well as cytotoxic T-cells ("CTL"), macrophages and promotion of B-cell growth.
IL-4 is a 15-20 kDa protein produced by activated T-cells, bone marrow stromal cells, and mast cells. The IL4 open reading frame codes for 140-amino acid murine IL-4 and 153-amino acid human IL-4. Originally, IL-4 was defined as a factor that activated B-cell growth and differentiation. Its effects also include macrophage activation and induction of class II MHC molecules, growth of some T-cell and mast cell lines, proliferation and CTL generation from human peripheral blood T-cells and enhancement of immunoglobulin production by B-cells. IL-4 also acts as a cofactor in growth of hematopoietic cells from stem cells, and plays an important role in the down-regulation of IL-2 induced NK cell and LAK cell activities. Human IL-4 is not active on murine cells.
IL-7 is a 20-25 kDa, 177 amino acid polypeptide produced by bone marrow and thymic stromal cells. Although it was originally described as a pre-B-cell growth factor, IL-7 supports the growth of pro-B-cells as well as pre-B-cells. IL-7 also induces proliferation and CTL generation from human peripheral blood T-cells, IL-2 receptor expression, IL-2 production, and proliferation in CD4.sup.+ and CD8.sup.+ cells. IL-7 also synergizes with IL-2 and increases thymic T-cell proliferation and induces proliferation of CD4.sup.- and CD8.sup.- thymocytes.
IL-9 is a 30-40 kDa, 144 amino acid polypeptide produced by activated T-lymphocytes. IL-9 was first identified as a helper T-cell growth factor. IL-9 stimulates erythroid development and enhances IL-3 induced proliferation of bone marrow-derived mast cells. It also modulates IgE and IgG production by B-cells in the presence of IL-4. Murine IL-9 is active on human cells, whereas human IL-9 does not act on murine cells.
Human IL-10 is a 16-20 kDa, 178-amino acid polypeptide produced by macrophages and TH2 but not TH1 T-helper cells. Like IL-2, IL-4 and IL-7, IL-10 has several different biological activities. IL-10 was discovered on the basis of its ability to inhibit cytokine production by activated T-cells. Both human and murine IL-10 are growth-stimulatory cofactors for thymocytes and T-cells in combination with IL-7 or IL-2 plus IL-4. IL-10 stimulates mast cell viability and growth in combination with IL-4 or IL-3 plus IL-4. IL-10 also induces the IgG secretion and expression of MHC class II molecules on B-cells and increases their viability in culture.
IL-12 is constitutive or induced by phorbol ester and calcium ionophore in lymphoblastoid cell lines and is produced by LPS stimulated macrophages. IL-12 has a molecular weight of 70 kDa and an unusual heterodimeric structure, being formed of two disulfide-bonded glycoproteins. The larger of the two glycoprotein subunits is a 40 kDa, 328-amino acid polypeptide. The smaller glycoprotein subunit is a 35 kDa, 253-amino acid polypeptide. Both glycoprotein subunits are necessary for bioactivity. IL-12 induces the proliferation of activated T-cells of both the CD4.sup.+ and CD8.sup.+ subsets independently of IL-2. IL-12 also activates NK-cell-mediated cytotoxicity and synergizes with IL-2 to generate LAK cells. Unlike IL-2 and IL-7, but similar to IL-4, IL-12 causes little or no proliferation of resting peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
The present invention provides a new, previously unidentified T-cell growth factor, designated "Epithelium-derived T-cell Factor" ("ETF"), and further provides other related advantages.

Epithelium-derived T-cell factor antibodies


A control apparatus for a cylinder-injection engine includes an electronic control unit which calculates an average effective pressure according to throttle opening and engine rotation speed, calculates an intake air amount per intake stroke according to an intake air amount detected by an airflow sensor and engine rotation speed, and calculates a volumetric efficiency based on the calculated intake air amount. A fuel injection amount is calculated according to an intake air amount and a target air-fuel ratio calculated based on a target average effective pressure when a compression-stroke injection mode is selected, and according to the intake air amount and a target air-fuel ratio calculated based on the volumetric efficiency when an intake-stroke injection mode is selected, whereby a fuel injection control is made based on the target air-fuel ratio suited to the injection mode, while managing the target air-fuel ratio, thereby always ensuring a proper combustion control and a stabilized engine operating state. During the changeover of injection mode, the target air-fuel ratio, determined for an injection mode before the changeover, is changed, at a speed which changes stepwise, to that determined for an injection mode after the changeover, whereby an engine torque change caused by a sudden change in fuel injection amount is suppressed to a minimum, thereby reducing a torque shock.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cylinder-injection spark-ignition internal combustion engine, and more particularly, to a control apparatus for controlling an automotive internal combustion engine of this kind.
2. Related Art
In a spark-ignition internal combustion engine mounted on a vehicle, various types of cylinder-injection gasoline engines, in which fuel is directly injected into a combustion chamber, have been recently proposed to reduce emission of harmful exhaust gas components and improve the fuel efficiency, instead of a conventional manifold-injection engine, in which fuel is injected into an intake pipe.
A cylinder-injection gasoline engine is arranged to inject fuel from a fuel injector into a cavity formed at a top face of a piston, to thereby supply an air-fuel mixture having an approximate stoichiometric air-fuel ratio around a spark plug at the time of ignition, whereby ignition is enabled even if a mixture as seen in the entirety of a cylinder has a lean air-fuel ratio, so that the emission of CO and HC is reduced and the fuel efficiency at the time of idle operation or low load traveling is largely improved.
In such a gasoline engine, a shift is made between a compression-stroke injection mode (second-term injection mode) and an intake-stroke injection mode (first-term injection mode) in dependence on engine operating condition or engine load. More specifically, at the time of low load operation, fuel is injected in the compression stroke so that an air-fuel mixture having an approximate stoichiometric air-fuel ratio is formed around the spark plug or in the cavity, thereby enabling excellent ignition with a mixture whose air-fuel ratio is as a whole lean. On the other hand, at the time of medium or high load operation, fuel is injected in the intake stroke so that a mixture whose air-fuel ratio is uniform in the combustion chamber is supplied, whereby a large amount of fuel is burnt to produce an engine output required at the time of acceleration or high speed traveling, as in the case of a conventional manifold-injection type gasoline engine.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-99020 discloses, at the introduction part of the specification, a 2-cycle cylinder-injection internal combustion engine, as a prior art, in which a fuel injection amount at the time of low load operation is calculated depending on a throttle valve opening and engine rotation speed and in which a fuel injection amount at the time of engine high load operation is calculated depending on intake air amount detected by an air flow meter and engine rotation speed. In this internal combustion engine, when the throttle valve opening is changed, not only the fuel injection amount is calculated and adjusted, but also the intake air amount supplied into the cylinder is adjusted. For the intake air amount adjustment, the opening degree of an air control valve is controlled, which valve is provided in a bypass line, bypassing a mechanical supercharger disposed in the intake pipe of the engine.
In this 2-cycle cylinder-injection engine, a delay occurs between when the throttle valve opening is changed and when the intake air amount supplied to the cylinder reaches a required amount, which is determined by the changed throttle valve opening and the engine rotation speed. On the other hand, the cylinder-injection internal combustion engine can supply, without a delay, the cylinder with fuel in the same amount as a calculated fuel injection amount when the calculated amount changes with a change in the throttle valve opening, as distinct from the internal combustion engine, in which fuel is injected into the intake pipe. In this regard, the aforementioned 2-cycle engine entails a problem that an actual air-fuel ratio is deviated from an optimum air-fuel ratio until the intake air amount supplied to the cylinder reaches a required amount determined by the changed throttle valve opening and the engine rotation speed.
To eliminate such a problem, the aforesaid Japanese Patent Publication proposes a technical art, in which, at the time of calculating the fuel injection amount based on throttle valve opening, a response of a fuel injection amount change to a change in throttle valve opening is retarded than a response, at the time of fuel injection amount calculation based on intake air amount, of a change in the fuel injection amount to a change in the intake air amount. More specifically, a filtering quantity for the throttle-valve-opening-based control is set to be larger than that for the intake-air-amount-based control.
In detail, according to the technical art described in the above Japanese Patent Publication, in addition to the air control valve provided in a bypass line, bypassing a mechanical supercharger disposed in the intake air pipe at a location downstream of the throttle valve, an air bypass valve is provided in another bypass line, which bypasses the throttle valve. To eliminate the problem that an optimum intake air corresponding to the fuel injection amount cannot be supplied to the cylinder, even if the intake air amount is controlled by the throttle valve, at the time of low-load operation in which the fuel injection amount increases with an increase of the accelerator pedal depressing amount, the openings of the air control valve and the air bypass valve are adjusted in the throttle-valve-opening-based fuel injection amount control to obtain an optimum intake air amount suited to the fuel injection amount and prevent an occurrence of a large difference between pressures at locations upstream and downstream of the supercharger to thereby suppress a driving loss of the mechanical supercharger. As a consequence, an amount of air returned to the upstream of the mechanical supercharger through the bypass lines is adjusted. Further, a filtering quantity is increased in the throttle-valve-opening-based fuel injection amount control, to thereby eliminate a delay in response in the air amount adjustment.
However, no clear relation is found between the fuel injection amount and the intake air amount in case that a control of the fuel injection amount is made while adjusting intake air amount, as in the case disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication. For this reason, it is difficult to obtain an intake air amount suited to the fuel injection amount, so that a sufficient engine output cannot be obtained or a combustion state can be worsened. If a deteriorated combustion state is left, resultant harmful gases are discharged from the engine to the atmosphere, and a deterioration of the engine is caused.
In a typical cylinder-injection gasoline engine, a shift is made between a first- and second-term injection modes in dependence on engine load, as described above. In the first-term injection mode, the air-fuel ratio cannot be made too lean, and hence the air-fuel ratio is set to a value of about 20 or less. On the other hand, in the second-term injection mode where the fuel is injected in a latter stage of the compression stroke, the degree of stratification of an air-fuel mixture is high and an approximate stoichiometric air-fuel mixture is formed locally around the spark plug. If the air-fuel ratio is adjusted to a value on an excessively fuel-rich side, then a misfire may be caused in the engine. Usually, therefore, the air-fuel ratio is set to a value of about 22 or more. As a result, an air-fuel ratio range in which combustion is disabled is present between the air-fuel ratio of 20 and 22.
The combustion-disabled range is inevitably passed when a changeover is made between the first- and second-term injection modes. In the combustion-disabled range, the operating state of the engine is worsened and the engine output torque temporarily decreases or increases. If even a temporal increase or decrease in the engine output torque occurs at the time of mode changeover, an undesired torque shock is caused.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-12850 states that, in case that a target air-fuel ratio for a conventional manifold-injection engine is changed in accordance with intake pipe pressure, a change rate of engine rotation speed (or change rate of vehicle speed), and throttle opening, if the same changeover speed is used between when the target ratio is switched from the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio to a lean air-fuel ratio and when the target ratio is switched from a lean air-fuel ratio to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, an undesired large shock occurs or an amount of NOx emission increases at the time of changeover of the target air-fuel ratio. To obviate this, the technical art disclosed in the just-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication causes the changeover speed, at the time of changeover to a lean air-fuel ratio, to be lowered to give a high priority to a reduction of shock in view of the fact that a large shock occurs and a NOx emission level is high when a shift is made from the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio to a lean air-fuel ratio. On the other hand, when a lean air-fuel ratio is switched to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, the changeover speed is increased to give a high priority to a reduction of NOx emission in view of the fact that a shock is relatively small and the NOx emission level is low and gradually decreases with an increase in the changeover speed.
However, it is difficult to apply the technical art, described in the above Japanese Patent Publication and constructed to meet a manifold-injection engine, to a cylinder-injection engine, in which fuel injection timing is changed upon changeover of injection mode and in which the air-fuel ratio passes through a combustion-disabled range. Moreover, even if the technical art is applicable to an cylinder-injection engine, it is impossible to ensure an appropriate combustion state and reduce a torque shock in a cylinder-injection engine, which is entirely different in engine characteristics and in control method from the intake-manifold injection engine.

Control apparatus for a cylinder-injection spark-ignition internal combustion engine

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kabushiki Kaisha


An illuminated apparatus comprises a fixedly mounted air core gage having a spindle which rotates in response to signals provided to the air core gage, a first coil fixably mounted with respect to the air core gage having a first axis coaxial with the spindle, a power source coupled to the first coil, providing power to the first coil, which responsively generates a magnetic flux, a pointer body mounted to the spindle and rotating in response to rotation of the gage spindle, a second coil mounted to the pointer body adjacent to the primary coil, a light source mounted on the pointer body, coupled to and receiving the electric current from the second coil, the electric current illuminating the light source, and a light pipe pointer arm receiving light from the light source and emitting light out of an exit surface to appear as an illuminated pointer to an observer.

Many instrumentation displays include gages and/or dials with rotatably mounted pointers. In many instances, designers desire the pointers to be illuminated. One known method for illuminating pointers is to construct the pointer out of light piping material that receives light from a fixed light source, remote from the pointer, possibly through additional light piping material.
Another known method of providing an illuminated pointer is to provide one or more light sources on the pointer, which light sources are connected to a power source through flexible contacts that allow the pointer to rotate while maintaining power supply to the light source on the pointer.
Still another attempt at providing an illuminated pointer appears in FIG. 1. The pointer 200 is back-lit by an electroluminescent lamp 202. The pointer 200 and the electroluminescent lamp 202 are connected to coil 204 which is mounted to the spindle of gage 208 so that as gage 208 causes its rotor (not shown) to rotate, the coil 204, electroluminescent lamp 202 and pointer 200 also rotate. When power is applied to primary coil 206, it is coupled to secondary coil 204, which rotates within primary coil 206, and which powers lamp 202.
The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 was disclosed in an unworkable implementation in Research Disclosure, No. 28985, May 1988. Furthermore, even if the apparatus shown were made workable, the brightness of pointer 200 would be limited because of the limited brightness of electroluminescent lamps.


A semiconductor device of the present invention includes capacitors made up of a lower electrode, a capacitive insulation film made from metal oxide material, provided on one surface of a semiconductor substrate. An ozone TEOS film is provided on these capacitors, and a protective film for covering the upper surfaces of the capacitors is then provided on this ozone TEOS film. An interlay insulation film that is thicker than the ozone TEOS film is provided on the protective film for covering the upper surfaces of the capacitors. In this way, the present invention prevents degradation in film quality of the capacitive insulation film due to mutual reaction etc. As a result, it becomes possible to provide a capacitor using an insulating film made of a metal oxide as a capacitive insulation film, having a protective film for sufficiently preventing diffusion of H2, a semiconductor device having high reliability, and a method of manufacturing such a semiconductor device, are provided.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof, and particularly to effective technology applied to a semiconductor device having capacitive elements using an insulating film made from metallic oxide as a capacitive insulation film and a manufacturing method thereof.
In the related art, DRAMs (Dynamic random access memory) provided with transistors and capacitors are a typical example of a semiconductor storage device.
Capacitors constituting a DRAM are made of an upper electrode and a lower electrode, and a capacitive insulation film provided between these two electrodes. An insulation film made from a silicon compound such as a silicon oxide film or a nitride film is generally used as this capacitive insulation film Also at the present time, the use of high dielectric film or ferroelectric films, having smaller surface area but large capacitance compared to conventional capacitive insulation film made of silicon oxide or silicon nitride, as a capacitive film of a capacitor is being investigated.
Of these films, a capacitor having a ferroelectric film as a capacitive insulation film is used in the formation of semiconductor storage devices known as FeRAM (Ferroelectric random access memory).
FeRAM are non-volatile semiconductor storage devices capable of obtaining the same read speed and write speed as for a conventional DRAM. For this reason they are being noted as future semiconductor memory devices.
Insulating film made from metallic compounds, such as bismuth strontium titanate (SrBi2Ta2O9) called SBT or zirconium lead titanate called PZT, are used in capacitive insulating films of capacitors constituting a FeRAM. Also, precious metal such as platinum (Pt) is used in upper electrodes and lower electrodes constituting the capacitors. This is exposed to a high temperature oxidizing atmosphere at the time of forming the high strength dielectric film or at the time of membrane improvement of the capacitive insulation film after forming the capacitors, and therefore requires oxidation resistance for the electrode material.
Conventionally, a semiconductor storage device using this type of high strength dielectric film is formed by forming active elements on a semiconductor substrate, and then sequentially forming capacitors having a high strength dielectric film and wiring layers for electrical interconnection, through an interlayer insulation film.
However, with a strong dielectric film made from a metal oxide material included in a semiconductor storage device, such as FeRAM, the formation energy of the oxide material is low compared to a dielectric film formed from a silicon compound included in a conventional semiconductor storage device, and has the property that reduction is easy. Because of this, with formation of a plug for electrically connecting between an inter-layer insulation film and each wiring layer after formation of a capacitor, or a step of exposing a capacitor having a strong dielectric film, for preventing damage to semiconductor elements added in each process etc., to a reducing atmosphere, it is easy for the strong dielectric film to be reduced by hydrogen (H2) or moisture (H2O) contained in the reducing atmosphere. As a result, there are critical problems like deterioration in the film quality of the strong dielectric film, and also degradation to the electrical characteristics of the capacitor.
In a semiconductor storage device including a high strength dielectric film of the related art, a capacitor is used with a protective film for preventing diffusion of H2O from the reducing atmosphere formed on the surface.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


A switchable thermal circuit breaker (10) has an automatically resettable, current carrying thermostatic disc (14) cantilever mounted in a housing (12) and carries a movable contact (14b) into and out of electrical engagement with a stationary contact (14c). A disc coupling member (16) is pivotally mounted above the disc and has fingers (16e, 16f) to capture opposed sides of the disc so that the disc coupling member pivots concomitantly with movement of the disc. A radially extending blade (18c) of a pivot member is biased by a spring (18k) into engagement with a stop surface (16k) of the disc coupling member when the contacts are in the engaged position and is movable under the stop arm (16g) when the disc moves to the contacts disengaged position to prevent reengagement of the contacts. Also, mounted on an end of the pivot body is a reset lever and indicator flag (18h) that moves to a position indicative of the contacts disengaged position and can be moved, against to the bias of the spring, to a position in which the blade is moved from under the stop arm to allow the disc to move to the contacts engaged position, assuming the disc is at a suitable temperature. According to a feature of the invention, a pushbutton (24) can be provided to apply a force to the disc coupling member causing it to pivot in a contacts opening direction to manually switch the circuit breaker to the open circuit position.

It is conventional to mount a current carrying thermostatic disc in a housing so that it will snap between contacts engaged and contacts disengaged configurations in dependence upon the temperature of the disc. Such circuit breakers are used in many applications, for example, in marine and off-load trucking. Electrical current passing through the disc generates heat thereby raising the temperature of the disc. Current levels above a selected level will raise the temperature of the disc to a preselected actuation level at which point the disc will snap to a contacts disengaged configuration thereby breaking the electrical circuit until the disc cools off to a lower, reset temperature at which point the disc will automatically snap back to a contacts engaged configuration re-energizing the electrical circuit.
Another circuit breaker in commercial use employs an automatically resettable disc along with an electrically insulative, spring loaded member which, upon opening of the contacts, moves between the contacts to thereby prevent reengagement of the contacts. The circuit breaker is manually reset by moving the member out of alignment with the contacts. This type of circuit breaker has the disadvantage that the plastic member that drags across the contacts is subjected to arcing and tends to melt and/or deteriorate and contaminate the contacts during repeated cycling thereby adversely effecting proper operation.


The invention relates to a device (10) comprising a housing wherein a communication station is accommodated, said communication station comprising an inner antenna (12), wherein the housing comprises a wall (14) which has a transversal outer communication surface (16) which is generally vertical and which is fitted close to the inner antenna (12) and which is permeable in relation to electromagnetic waves, wherein the inner antenna (12) can communicate electromagnetically (E) in a remote manner with a data medium (18), more particularly in the form of a card, when a user places the data medium (18) against the outer communication surface (16), characterized in that the communication surface (16) comprises means (22) for maintaining the data medium (18) in a pressed position in relation to the communication surface (16).

Certain devices, in particular automatic devices, are intended to be used by users possessing a specific data medium, for example an integrated circuit card.
In integrated circuit cards, a main body of the card, made from a plastics material, incorporates at least one electronic circuit, also called a microchip. Prior art cards with contactless integrated circuits, also known as transponders, include an antenna accommodated within the support card to enable the integrated circuit to communicate electromagnetically with the device.
The device comprises a communication station adapted to encrypt or decrypt data exchanged electromagnetically with the data medium. The station includes in particular an antenna for communicating with the data medium.
Because it includes vulnerable elements that may be damaged by external attack, the station is generally enclosed in a protective housing.
At least one wall of the housing includes a surface permeable to electromagnetic waves to allow communication between the data medium and the station. This surface is referred to as the communication surface in the remainder of this description.
Various standards define the type of card and the type of station to be used as a function of the maximum required communication distance between the card and the station. The present invention relates to devices of the type in which the data medium communicates with the station over a short distance (a few millimeters) and/or in the vicinity (at a distance of a few centimeters). The communication surface must therefore be situated in the vicinity of the inner antenna.
The communication surface is generally integrated into a card-receiving location. This receiving location is generally made obvious on the device to show the user where the communication surface onto which he must press the contactless card is located.
In one prior art design, devices using this type of card are equipped with a receiving location of the card reader type. The housing includes a slot, which is generally horizontal, into which the user inserts the card edge-on in order to carry out a transaction, for example to make a payment.
However, repeated contact of the card with the reader causes the card to become worn.
Moreover, the operation of inserting the card into the reader takes some time, because the user generally keeps his card in a protective case and/or in a wallet. He must therefore extract the card from its case and then insert it into the slot of the reader.
Furthermore, this type of receiving location is not suited to use "on the fly", where the user passes in front of the device without stopping, moving the card across the communication surface.
Finally, this kind of card reader is generally situated in a public place, and is therefore liable to be vandalized, for example by inserting chewing gum into the slot, which is then blocked.
Devices are also known in the art in which the receiving location is formed only by the communication surface, which is generally vertical, and against which the user presses his card. Thanks to this type of device, the user can use the card without taking it out of its case, and even without taking it out of his wallet. This type of receiving location is in particular very suitable for on the fly use.
However, this type of device is not suitable for prolonged use of the card. The user is obliged to hold the card pressed against the communication surface by hand throughout the transaction.

Device provided with means for maintenance against a communication surface of a contactless data medium


In one aspect, the present invention is directed to methods for extracting rare earth metals from ores comprising reduction of rare earth metal oxyfluorides. In another aspect, the invention relates to an apparatus for extracting rare earth metals from ores comprising reduction of rare earth metal oxyfluorides. The methods and apparatuses described herein generate rare earth metals from ores with reduced requisite pre-removal of metal oxides found as natural impurities in ores.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to production of rare earth metals and/or metal mixtures from rare earth metal compound containing mixtures.
2. Description of Related Art
Rare earth metals, comprising metals of the series in the periodic table from lanthanum to lutetium, are very costly to extract from their respective ores. In large part, the cost is due to the large amount of waste, chiefly aqueous waste, that is generated by all stages of processing mined ore into mineral concentrate, leached concentrate, and the many intermediates between this and finished metal product. This very large volume of metal-contaminated aqueous waste renders prevention of emissions according to environmental regulations prohibitively costly. For these reasons, the Mountain Pass rare earth metal mine and processing facility in California, which is the largest such facility in the United States for decades, ceased its mining and processing operations in 1998, and only resumed in 2011.
Extraction of metals from their corresponding ores can be performed either by electrochemical or pyrometallurgical processes. The most commonly used method of pyrometallurgical process is smelting, wherein the ore is heated with a reducing agent to change the oxidation state of the metal ore and thereby generate the metal. Most ores are impure, thus requiring a flux, such as limestone, to combine with the byproducts and unreacted ore in order generate slag. Slag is subsequently removed to provide the refined metal.
The most commonly used method of electrochemical extraction is electrolysis, wherein the metal-containing ore is dissolved into a solution or melted to induce dissociation into its corresponding ionic components. Application of an electric potential across electrodes in the solution/melt induces reductive deposition of the metal at the cathode. Drawbacks of conventional electrolytic refining processes include decreased efficiency of refinement of metals with multiple oxidation states, which becomes increasingly relevant with respect to rare earth metals. Rare earth metals pose additional refinement and extraction challenges due to their very close electronegativities, which can complicate the electrochemical process.
Recent development of the solid oxide membrane (SOM) electrolysis process has provided an alternative electrochemical method for refinement of metal oxides (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,976,345 and 6,299,742). The SOM process comprises a solid oxygen ion-conducting membrane (SOM) typically consisting of zirconia stabilized by yttria (YSZ) or other low valence oxide-stabilized zirconia, for example, magnesia- or calcia-stabilized zirconia (MSZ or CSZ, respectively) in physical contact with the molten salt bath, an anode in ion-conducting contact with the solid oxygen ion-conducting membrane, and a power supply for establishing a potential between the cathode and anode. The metal cations are reduced to metal at the cathode, and oxygen ions migrate through the membrane to the anode where they are oxidized to produce oxygen gas. The SOM blocks ion cycling, which is the tendency for subvalent cations to be re-oxidized at the anode, by removing the connection between the anode and the metal ion containing molten salt. The SOM also protects and enables the use of a variety of oxygen-producing inert anodes to achieve high purity oxygen by-products and prevents back reaction (oxidation of the metal deposited at the cathode) via physical separation of the cathode product from the oxygen. The first demonstration of the SOM process produced a few tenths of a gram of iron and silicon in a steelmaking slag, and the process has made progress toward the production of other metals such as magnesium, tantalum and titanium (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,742; Pal and Powell, JOM 2007, 59(5):44-49; Metall. Trans. 31B:733, August 2000; Krishnan et al, Metall. Mater. Trans. 36B:463-473 (2005); and Krishnan et al, Scand. J. Metall. 34(5): 293-301 (2005)).
In the context of rare earth metals, extraction presents unique challenges, including very close electronegativities. Although reduction of rare earth metal oxides dissolved in molten salts has been demonstrated (see, Kaneko et al, J. Alloys & Compounds 1993, 193:44-46), commercial application of such processes remains prohibitive due to at least two reasons: 1) they require expensive pure rare earth metal oxides as a starting point, and 2) with multi-valent species such as cerium (which can exist in a 3+ or 4+ ion as well as a metal), electrolysis current efficiency is typically very low. SOM electrolysis in part overcomes these limitations by producing high-purity metals from moderate-purity oxides and by blocking ion cycling (see, WO/2010/126597). However, the SOM process requires the input of a relatively pure rare earth metal oxide or mixture of oxides in lieu of mineral ores that contain metal oxyfluorides. Prior to feeding into the SOM process, the naturally impure mineral ores must be processed to separate and refine the rare earth oxyfluorides to remove non-rare earth oxides such as calcium oxide or barium oxide, followed by conversion of the oxyfluorides to rare earth oxides. The rare earth oxides can then be fed into the SOM process.
Thus, there remains a need for more efficient and scalable apparatuses and processes to directly process rare earth metal oxide containing ore into pure metals.

Methods and apparatus for processing of rare earth metal ore


A pressurized water closet operating system comprises a water vessel, an external manifold mounted directly on said vessel, and an internally mounted flush valve assembly. The manifold comprises a water pressure regulator, an air induction system, and a manually operable flush valve actuator. The manually operable flush valve actuator controls the discharge of water under pressure from the water vessel into the toilet bowl.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved pressurized water closet that minimizes water usage incident to flushing yet maximizes waste extraction propulsion energy and reliability of the system.
2. Related Art
The herein disclosed pressurized water closet is an improvement over the systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,698 issued Nov. 18, 1980 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,426 issued Nov. 8, 1994, as well as over the system disclosed in application Ser. No. 08/457,162 filed Jun. 1, 1995.
The basic components of a pressurized water closet are a water vessel, a flush valve and a flush valve actuator. The aforesaid components are generally installed internally of a conventional water closet. The pressurized water closet is energized by water pressure from a conventional fresh water supply system.
In operation, as the water level rises in the water vessel after flush, air internally of the water vessel is compressed. When water pressure in the vessel equals the supply line pressure or when it causes the pressure regulator valve to shut, in the event of supply line pressure greater than that allowed by the regulator, flow of water into the water vessel ceases and the system is conditioned for operation. When the flush valve actuator is actuated, the flush valve opens whereafter the compressed air in the water vessel pushes the water stored therein into the water closet bowl at relatively high discharge pressure and velocity, flushing waste therefrom with minimum water consumption.
Known pressurized water closet flushing systems have proved to be successful in the marketplace but generally exhibit one or more operating characteristics that can be improved upon. Specifically, propulsion energy that effects waste extraction from the toilet bowl is relatively inefficient; high or low pressure in the fresh water system may result in inconsistent operation; the volume of water discharged is inconsistent; there is no provision for internal release of water system pressure above design pressure; flush action is not independent of duration of flush valve actuator depression; closure of the flush valve upon the occurrence of low supply line pressure is not positive; the actuator valve is not self cleaning; there is no provision for varying toilet bowl refill volume, and there is no provision for the addition of disinfectant to the toilet bowl without compromise of flushing system integrity.

Pressurized water closet flushing system


A wiring repair apparatus includes an XY stage on which a substrate is placed, a laser source unit disposed above the XY stage, first and second gas windows disposed between the laser source unit and the XY stage, and first and second CVD gas units. The laser source unit emits a laser beam to a part of the substrate to be repaired. This laser beam passes through either the first or second gas window. The first CVD gas unit supplies an Al source gas (DMAH gas) to the first gas window while the second CVD gas unit supplies a Cr source gas (Cr(CO)6 gas) to the second gas window.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wiring repair apparatuses for repairing defective parts of wiring formed on a substrate and, particularly, it relates to a wiring repair apparatus for repairing breaks in wiring by laser chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDS) have become rapidly widespread over the past several years. This trend is being driven by LCDs based on semiconductor thin-film transistor (TFT) technology. There are two types of TFTs: amorphous silicon (a-Si) TFTs and polysilicon (poly-Si) TFTs. These two types of TFTs have similar principles and structures. As LCDs have recently become larger, defects such as shorts and breaks occur more frequently in the wiring of integrated circuits, including TFTs and their peripheries.
FIG. 1 is an equivalent circuit diagram of an LCD. FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a TFT in the LCD. In FIG. 1, an LCD 101 includes a first glass substrate 102 (see FIG. 2), a second glass substrate (not shown in the drawings) opposed to the first glass substrate 102, and a liquid crystal layer (not shown in the drawings) disposed between the first glass substrate 102 and the second glass substrate. A common electrode C is formed on the surface of the second glass substrate facing the first glass substrate 102. Gate lines G1 to Gm (m is a natural number) and source lines S1 to Sn (n is a natural number) are provided on the surface of the first glass substrate 102 facing the second glass substrate. The gate lines G extend in parallel in a row direction while the source lines S extend in parallel in a column direction.
In plan view, (m×n) pixels 104 are arranged in a matrix. These pixels 104 correspond to the areas where the gate lines G and the source lines S intersect each other. Each pixel 104 includes a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) 105 and a capacitor 106. The MOSFET 105 is a TFT. The source of the MOSFET 105 is connected to any source line S. The gate of the MOSFET 105 is connected to any gate line G. The drain of the MOSFET 105 is connected to one electrode of the capacitor 106. The drain of the MOSFET 105 and the common electrode C apply voltage to a liquid crystal cell 103. The other electrode of the capacitor 106 is connected to a capacitor electrode Cs. The liquid crystal cell 103 is the part of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to each pixel 104. In other words, the collection of the liquid crystal cells 103 constitutes the liquid crystal layer.
Referring to FIG. 2, a gate electrode 107 connected to any gate line G (see FIG. 1) is provided on the first glass substrate 102. A gate-insulating film 108 covering the gate electrode 107 is provided on the overall surface of the first glass substrate 102. A functional film 109 composed of amorphous silicon (a-Si) is formed on the gate-insulating film 108 above the gate electrode 107. This functional film 109 constitutes the channel region of the MOSFET 105 and includes a lower layer 109a composed of a-Si and an upper layer 109b composed of n-doped amorphous silicon (n+ a-Si). One end of the functional film 109 is covered with a source electrode 110 connected to any source line S (see FIG. 1) while another end of the functional film 109 is covered with a drain electrode 111 connected to the capacitor 106 (see FIG. 1). A protective film 112 covers the functional film 109, the source electrode 110, and the drain electrode 111.
In the manufacturing process of the LCD in FIGS. 1 and 2, defects such as breaks may occur in the source lines S, the gate lines G, the gate electrodes 107, the source electrodes 110, the drain electrodes 111, and the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as wiring) because of defective conditions in deposition, exposure, etching, and cleaning or the intrusion of airborne foreign particles in the clean room. Such defects cannot be completely avoided with any current advanced technology.
Laser repair technique has been expected to improve the yield of LCDs. In particular, techniques for breaking a short or shorting wiring between the upper and lower layers have become widespread in TFT manufacturing processes. For example, Japanese Patent Publication Laid Open No. 2000-328247 and No. hei 10-324973, to the present assignee, have disclosed a novel method for repairing breaks by laser CVD. This laser CVD technique has been put on the market to gain international recognition.
According to this laser CVD technique, tungsten (W) or chromium (Cr) is deposited on a break in wiring to repair the break. This laser CVD technique enables non-contact, non-heating repair of a defective part in a short time with the part kept in a dry state. Currently, every TFT-LCD manufacturer depends on this laser CVD technique as a wiring repair technique.
The above conventional technique, however, has the following problem. When a break in wiring is repaired by laser CVD, the material for deposition on the break is most preferably the same as that constituting the wiring. For example, an aluminum (Al) film is preferably deposited on a break in Al wiring by laser CVD, and a chromium (Cr) film is preferably deposited on a break in Cr wiring by laser CVD. Such repair provides wiring with uniform electrical conductivity. And, it provides wiring with uniform thermal expansivity, and therefore it makes heat load resistance of the wiring improve.
Most TFT-LCDs have wiring including two or more different materials. Table 1 shows materials for individual components of TFT-LCDs. This table 1 is sourced from "Liquid crystal device handbook," issued by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd. According to Table 1, typical materials for wiring and electrodes in TFT-LCDs include metals such as Al, molybdenum (Mo), and Cr. Currently, most TFT-LCDs have wiring including different materials; an example is wiring including Al gate lines and Cr source lines.
TABLE 1ComponentMaterialTFTFunctional filma-Si, n+ a-Si, poly-SiInsulating filmSi3N4Protective filmSiNxElectrode filmAl, Mo, CrMIMMetal filmTa, CrInsulating FilmTaxOyPixel electrodeITO(In2O3 + Sn), IO(In2O3)Alignment filmpolyimide, SiOx
As described above, however, normal laser CVD apparatuses can deposit only one material (for example, either W or Cr). If, for example, TFT-LCD wiring including Al gate lines and Cr source lines is repaired with a laser CVD apparatus capable of Cr deposition, the Cr source lines can be successfully repaired but the Al gate lines undesirably include parts repaired with Cr. Such repaired parts, having non-uniform electrical conductivity and non-uniform thermal expansivity, cause thermal stress when a heat load is applied. The repaired wiring therefore has the disadvantage of reliability.
An approach to the problem described above is the use of the same number of laser CVD apparatuses as the materials used for wiring. In the above example, according to this approach, the gate lines are repaired with a first laser CVD apparatus capable of Al deposition while the source lines are repaired with a second laser CVD apparatus capable of Cr deposition. This approach, however, requires a plurality of laser CVD apparatuses, thus having the problems that the equipment cost increases and the repair efficiency decreases.
Another approach is the replacement of a feedstock for CVD with another feedstock in a single laser CVD apparatus. In the above example, according to this approach, dimethylaluminum hydride (DMAH) is supplied to a laser CVD apparatus as a feedstock for Al deposition to repair the gate lines, and chromium hexacarbonyl (Cr(CO)6) is then supplied to the laser CVD apparatus as a feedstock for Cr deposition to repair the source lines.
This approach, however, encounters the problem that a single laser CVD apparatus has difficulty in processing different feedstocks because they require different processes for generating a source gas for CVD. In the above example, DMAH, which is a feedstock for Al, is normally a liquid and is therefore vaporized to generate a source gas for CVD. On the other hand, Cr(CO)6, which is a feedstock for Cr, is normally a solid and is therefore sublimated to generate a source gas for CVD. Thus, a single laser CVD apparatus has difficulty in processing both DMAH and Cr(CO)6 because they require different processes for generating a source gas.


A device for retrieving media data includes one or more processors configured to retrieve media data from a first adaptation set including media data of a first type, present media data from the first adaptation set, in response to a request to switch to a second adaptation set including media data of the first type: retrieve media data from the second adaptation set including a switch point of the second adaptation set, and present media data from the second adaptation set after an actual playout time has met or exceeded a playout time for the switch point.

Digital video capabilities can be incorporated into a wide range of devices, including digital televisions, digital direct broadcast systems, wireless broadcast systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop or desktop computers, digital cameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video gaming devices, video game consoles, cellular or satellite radio telephones, video teleconferencing devices, and the like. Digital video devices implement video compression techniques, such as those described in the standards defined by MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ITU-T H.263 or ITU-T H.264/MPEG-4. Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), and extensions of such standards, to transmit and receive digital video information more efficiently.
After video data has been encoded, the video data may be packetized for transmission or storage. The video data may be assembled into a video file conforming to any of a variety of standards, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) base media file format and extensions thereof, such as the MP4 file format and the advanced video coding (AVC) file format. Such packetized video data may be transported in a variety of ways, such as transmission over a computer network using network streaming.

Switching between adaptation sets during media streaming


A Josephson device includes a first superconducting electrode layer, a barrier layer and a second superconducting electrode layer that are successively stacked. The first and second superconducting electrode layers are made of an oxide superconductor material having (RE)1(AE)2Cu3Oy as a main component, where an element RE is at least one element selected from a group consisting of Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu, and an element AE is at least one element selected from a group consisting of Ba, Sr and Ca. The barrier layer is made of a material that includes the element RE, the element AE, Cu and oxygen, where in cations within the material forming the barrier layer, a Cu content is in a range of 35 At. % to 55 At. % and an RE content is in a range of 12 At. % to 30 At. %, and the barrier layer has a composition different from compositions of the first and second superconducting electrode layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to Josephson devices, methods of forming Josephson devices and superconductor circuits, and more particularly to a Josephson device that uses an oxide superconductor, a method of forming such a Josephson device, and a superconductor circuit having such a Josephson device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ever since the YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) copper oxide superconductor having a critical temperature of 92 K was found in 1987, active research has been made on oxide superconductors. The Josephson device using the oxide superconductor can obtain a high IcRn product and a junction that has a high superconductive transition temperature. The IcRn product is a product of a maximum superconducting current value (critical current value) Ic that can flow through the superconducting junction at a certain temperature, and a resistance value Rn that is obtained when the superconducting state breaks down and the superconducting junction assumes the normal conducting (or non-superconducting) state. This IcRn product is an index that qualitatively represents the magnitude of the signal and the magnitude of the sensitivity at the time of the switching. By use of such a Josephson device, it is possible to realize a superconductor circuit having a high-speed operation and a sensor having a high sensitivity at temperatures of 40 K or higher.
The technique for forming or fabricating the Josephson device utilizing the Josephson effect is essential in forming devices using the oxide superconductor. Various structures, such as the bi-crystal type, micro-bridge type, step-edge type and ramp-edge type, have been proposed for the Josephson device using the oxide superconductor.
The bi-crystal type junction can be formed with ease by depositing a superconductor film on a substrate which is obtained by bonding surfaces having different crystal orientations, because crystal grains that act as a barrier layer within the superconductor film are formed on the substrate interface. Devices using this bi-crystal type junction, such as the SQUID devices, have already been developed to the stage of merchandising. However, the bi-crystal type junction can only be formed at the bonding interface of the substrate, and is unsuited for application to high-performance devices that require complex structures.
On the other hand, in the case of the stacked-type Josephson device or the ramp-edge type Josephson device shown in FIG. 1A, there are no restrictions on the location where the junction is to be formed, and such devices are advantageous when realizing large-scale integration of the superconductor circuits. The ramp-edge type Josephson device shown in FIG. 1A has a substrate 101, and layers 102, 103 and 104 that are stacked on the substrate 101. The lower electrode layer 102 is made of an oxide superconductor. The insulator layer 103 is interposed between the lower electrode layer 102 and the upper electrode layer 104. A junction 105 is formed via a barrier layer 102a that is formed on a sloping surface of the lower electrode layer 102 between the upper and lower electrode layers 104 and 102. The barrier layer of the stacked-type or ramp-edge type Josephson device is made of a non-superconducting material such as PrBa2Cu3Oy, SrTiO3, PrGaO3 and CeO2 or, formed by an Interface-Engineered Junction (IEJ). The ramp-edge type Josephson device having the IEJ shown in FIG. 1B has a substrate 101, and layers 102 and 103 that are stacked on the substrate 101. In FIG. 1B, those parts that are the same as those corresponding parts in FIG. 1A are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted. The barrier layer 102a is formed to a thickness of several nm on the sloping surface of the lower electrode 102, by bombarding Ar ions on the sloping surface so as to make the barrier layer 102a amorphous and forming the upper electrode layer 103 (not shown in FIG. 1B) so as to cover the barrier layer 102a. For this reason, compared to the Josephson device having the junction made of a conductor material, the Josephson device having the IEJ can suppress inconsistencies in the junction characteristics and realize a relatively high IcRn product.
With respect to the Josephson device having the IEJ function, T. Satoh et al., "High-Temperature Superconducting Edge-Type Josephson Junctions with Modified Interfaces", IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Vol. 9, No. 2, June 1999, pp. 3141-3144 reported experimental results of 10 junctions at a temperature of 4.2 K including an IcRn product of 1.5 mV to 3 mV and a 1σ (σ denotes standard deviation) of the maximum current value Ic of approximately 8%. In addition, Y. Soutome et al., "HTS Surface-Modified Junctions with Integrated Ground-Planes for SFQ Circuits", IEICE Trans. Electron. Vol. E85-C, No. 3, March 2002, pp. 759-763 reported experimental results of 100 junctions at a temperature of 4.2 K including an IcRn product of 1.5 mV and a 1σ (σ denotes standard deviation) of the maximum superconducting current value Ic of approximately 7.9%.
When considering the application of the Josephson junction to the devices, it is desirable from the point of view of reducing the system cost to realize a Josephson device that can operate at a high speed at a high temperature and has a high sensitivity. The IcRn product must be large in order to realize such a Josephson device, but a sufficiently large IcRn product has not be obtained in T. Satoh et al. and Y. Soutome et al. referred above.

Josephson device, method of forming Josephson device and superconductor circuit

International Superconductivity Technology Center, The Juridical Foundation


Disclosed is a video encoding apparatus includes: an intra prediction unit to generate a prediction block by using adjacent pixels of a current block to be encoded; an inter prediction unit to (1) generate index information of a predictive motion vector of the current block based on motion vectors of blocks adjacent to the current block and a motion vector of a co-located block of a reference frame, (2) generate motion information of the current block including predictive motion vector index and reference frame index together with a differential motion vector obtained by subtracting the predictive motion vector from a motion vector of the current block, and (3) generate a prediction block based on the generated motion information; and an encoding unit configured to encode a residual block by using a subtraction unit and a transform and quantization unit to thereby generate a bitstream.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
The MPEG (moving picture experts group) and the VCEG (video coding experts group) have developed the H.264/AVC (advanced video coding), which is a video compression standard technology superior to the existing MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.263 standards, and the two groups are developing the HEVC (high efficiency video coding) technology. In a similar way to the known video compression technologies, the TMuC (Test Model under Consideration) by the MPEG and the VCEG divides an image into blocks, takes a motion estimation or intra prediction to frequency-transform and quantize residual blocks and then entropy-encode the same. In the TMuC of the HEVC, the motion prediction is performed by using a multi-reference frame, so as to encode a reference frame index and a motion vector as motion information and then output the encoded information into a bitstream.
TMuC of HEVC forms a set of candidate predictive motion vectors with motion vectors of peripheral blocks of the current block to encode and a motion vector of a co-located block at the same position in the reference frame as that of the current block, determine a predictive motion vector for having the lowest bit rate-distortion cost in the candidate predictive motion vector set, and encodes as motion information the index of the predictive motion vector, a differential motion vector between a current motion vector and the predictive motion vector and the reference frame index.f

Apparatus and method for generating/recovering motion information based on predictive motion vector index encoding, and apparatus and method for image encoding/decoding using same


A protocol processing system includes a plurality of communication interfaces. A control head-end is operable to receive a protocol processing engine identifier over a network through one of the communication interfaces from an external system. A plurality of optimized protocol processing engines are coupled to the control head-end, and the control head-end is operable to select a first optimized protocol processing engine from the plurality of optimized protocol processing engines that is identified by the protocol processing engine identifier. In response to being selected, the first optimized protocol processing engine handles communications between an application processing system and the external system. The first optimized protocol processing engine may be an optimized TCP/IP stack that receives operating system data through a first communication interface from the application processing system and sends network communication data over the network through the second communication interface to the external system.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a protocol processing optimization system used for information handling system network communications.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHSs communicate with each other over networks using communication protocols. The Internet protocol suite refers to the set of communications protocols used for the Internet and similar networks, and is commonly referred to as the TCP/IP stack in an IHS in reference to the first networking protocols it defined: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP). Conventionally, TCP/IP stacks have been co-resident with operating systems on any information handing system that required communication services. This intertwining of network communication protocol stacks and operating systems was a choice made by early developers working with one processing resource in the IHS (e.g., one processor and one memory device) in order to achieve desired speed and efficiency for the IHS.
Today, there are many application-specific enhancements and offloads (e.g., stateful offloads (e.g., transmission control protocol (TCP) or Internet protocol (IP) offloads that keep track of the protocol connection state) and stateless offloads (e.g. offloads that do checksumming, large segmentation handling for TCP, etc.) that offload work from the host CPU) that may be implemented in TCP/IP stacks. With conventional client/server models, a TCP/IP stack on one platform may communicate with a TCP/IP stack on any of a plurality of other platforms, ensuring that a single TCP/IP stack instance will not be fully optimized to provide superior application performance over the network using TCP/IP for every type of service and/or offload that may be desired. Enhancements that have been proposed to TCP/IP that adapt it to better performance for specific applications or application scenarios become a burden to carry over on every TCP/IP stack release or revision. No conventional IHS TCP/IP stack will have all the enhancements or implement all the TCP/IP Requests For Comment (RFCs), as it is simply not practical to provide a "super" TCP/IP on every IHS. Furthermore, some enhancements for TCP/IP may be counter-productive (e.g., a TCP stack that does small message passing will not require a large maximum transmission unit (MTU) enhancement.)
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved network communication system.

Network communication protocol processing optimization system


A method and system collects and manipulates information from various sources for the purpose of determining the location of loads of material in a bulk material storage container and tracing the number and identity of bulk material sources, such as farms or processing plants, for loads located within a bulk material storage container. Such production source information is thus uniquely associated with a particular non-liquid bulk material load. Surface mapping of a surface of bulk material stored in a storage container is performed before and after material is added to the container, and are used to determine position of loads within the storage container. Embodiments of the present invention, using knowledge of the position of loads within the container, may be used for the purposes of preplanning and enhancing blended load-out batches.

Many materials, including many commodities, are collected from numerous sources and transported to a central location or facility that may provide temporary storage before transport to another location, or that may process the material directly. Such materials include, for example, grain, grain products, animal feed, sugar, coffee, milk powders, salt, mineral ores, precious ores, and coal products, to name but a few. These materials are commonly referred to as bulk materials, or bulks, and are transported from the sources using any of a number of transport methods, such as, for example, trucks, wagons, rail cars, and ships. Whatever the method of transport, the amount of material that may be transported in a vehicle is generally referred to as a load.
Commingled storage of both liquid and non-liquid bulks is practiced worldwide because the materials are generally considered homogeneous and storage in large holding containers is in many instances the most economical method. As will be recognized, liquid bulk materials mix together when they are commingled, resulting in a liquid mixture that is generally homogeneous, and thus such bulks are generally assumed to be homogeneous. However it is not valid to assume homogeneity for non-liquid or so called dry bulks. Such dry type granular and powder bulks actually layer when added into storage. Also, the non-liquid aspect of granular bulk materials effectively prevents the self-leveling and mixing that is typically seen when storing or transporting liquid bulks. With no self-leveling, stored dry bulks also develop complex surface shapes which make accurate inventory measurement difficult.
FIG. 1 depicts a typical bulk handling facility and process. Here the practice is shown where loads of the bulk are added and stored together at the storage container and shows how bulks are typically withdrawn from the containers. The inbound and outbound diagrams depict the limits of knowledge according to current art regarding the disposition of multiple individual bulk loads stored in any particular container: this disposition is either 1.) unknown (black shading) with only a rough level measurement to indicate gross fill level or 2.) it is unknown with only an undifferentiated cross section (using state of the art surface mapping technology) available to indicate the exact fill level.
As mentioned above, the bulk material in such a facility may originate from numerous different sources, such as individual farms, separate batches or lots, or different mines. Once bulk material is commingled at bulk handling facilities, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine the source of the material. For example, one bin may receive fifty truckloads of material from fifty different sources. When material is removed from the bin, the source of the material is not generally known beyond being from among the total number of sources that were associated with each load added to the bin.
Also, at present it is generally assumed that all of the material properties, such as bulk density, for example, within the storage container or pile is homogeneous or an average of all loads previously added. Such material properties are commonly utilized when attempting to withdraw material from one or more storage containers with the intent of meeting a particular set of final load specifications. For example, an entity may desire to generate a load having a specified material property target by blending material from two storage containers with the material from the first container having a material property that exceeds the specified property target, and the material from the second container having a material property that is below the specified property target. In such a manner, the combined final load may have a higher monetary value as compared to the value of the material from the containers would have individually. However, in many instances such an assumption is erroneous because the inventory stored inside the container is actually made up of multiple layered strata of material with varying material properties (i.e. moisture content, protein content, sulfur content etc.). In the absence of a better method, batch plans are estimated for the final load from the averages data. During load-out, the accumulating batch is continuously sampled to check the actual content versus the intended content to meet the specification. Furthermore, the load-out rates/quantities are adjusted at the source discharge point with the intent of trying to adjust the blend to meet the intended specification. When the required specification is not met, the operator either attempts to re-blend to meet the specification or pays a penalty to his downstream customer (if allowed) for deviation from the specification. Blending is currently considered somewhat of an art form requiring experienced operators.

Method and apparatus for tracing and blending commingled non-liquid bulk materials


A ground engaging apparatus (10) has a support plate (50) pivotally attached to a frame (100); a pair of arms (30, 40) interconnecting the support plate (50) and a shank support (60), which supports a shank (70) and ground follower (90) and first and second biasing rams or springs (200, 300), to maintain the ground follower (90); against the ground (91) but allow controlled break out of a ground opening, or tillage, tool (81) if an obstruction is engaged.

When planting seeds, in particular for large scale applications such as a commercial farm, a ground engaging apparatus such as a planter apparatus may be towed behind a tractor to cut channels or furrows into the soil which is followed by planting of a seed within the channel. Usually, a plurality of planter units are attached to a support towing bar that aligns the planter units at selected distances apart from each and the support bar is attachable to a tractor via a tow bar.
The ground engaging unit may comprise a frame having a pivotable parallelogram arrangement that maintains a ground opening tool in the ground while traversing level and uneven ground. A spring located between two pivotable arms of the parallelogram applies a force that maintains the ground opening tool at a pre-selected depth in the soil as the ground engaging unit encounters inclines and depressions. When the ground engaging unit encounters an obstacle such as a rock or stump, the shank is pivoted upward and away from the obstacle by a break-away or breakout mechanism to thereby prevent damage to the ground opening tool. The break-away mechanism comprises a spring that applies a force independent of the parallelogram as a separate break-away unit.
A ground engaging apparatus described in Australian patent AU 1996 60854 B2 (714157) (Techsearch Incorporated) comprises a single bias means for adjusting both a downward force to maintain the ground opening tool in the soil at a selected depth and a break-away force that maintains the ground opening tool in the soil unless the planter unit encounters an obstacle. This design is limited in that adjusting the downward force on a parallelogram arrangement also adjusts the break-away force, which is undesirable in situation where a user wishes to adjust each force independently of the other. Also, a minor adjustment of the bias means to the downward force of the parallelogram has a significant affect on the break-away force, which may result in excessive break-away force applied to the ground opening tool.


Combination linear and rotary actuators are disclosed. The linear and rotary actuators have a housing defining a cylindrical interior space and a pair of pistons located inside the cylindrical interior space. An inner bearing cylinder is provided that has spaced-apart ball bearings arranged in a helical pattern on its surface that engage with a structure having an inner surface with helical grooves therein. The structure at least indirectly engages a linear drive piston that is slidably mounted in the housing, and provides rotational movement thereto. The linear drive piston has an input shaft that has ball bearings on its surface, and is inserted inside the output shaft of a revolution piston that has an inner surface with linear grooves. The actuators use hydrostatically charged integral bearing races that activate during operation to reduce friction. Combination linear and rotary actuators with double actuation output shafts are also provided.

Actuators are used in a variety of industries. Some actuators are used in conveyor systems to transport material or products across distances within a factory, others are used in construction equipment to provide the lever arm forces for earth moving scoops, dumps or blades. In the aerospace industry, actuators are used to remotely operate fluid control valves connected to fluid handling systems, provide gimbal movement to propulsion systems, and provide movement for aircraft control systems. The actuators can provide either rotary or linear motion or these motions in combination to operate valves, equipment or control surfaces.
Actuators can be configured to have a single or multiple moveable shaft ends. A double acting actuator will control pressure on both sides of the driving piston, creating a pressure differential to move the shaft for linear and/or rotary motion. A single acting actuator will use pressure on one side of the piston and a spring on the other to return the shaft to the unpressurized position.
Two examples of linear and rotary actuators are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,918,799 "Combined Linear and Rotary Actuator", Geyer, which is for aircraft control systems, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,371 "Direct Acting Rotary Actuator Cylinder", Lew, which is intended for use in the actuation of fluid handling systems.
Both of these devices use a rectangular helical groove to provide the rotary motion of the output shaft using a guide consisting of either a mating screw contact area or raised cylindrical cam rollers. A piston is typically used to create motion connected to the helical device which rotates the output shaft. A second piston is typically used to create pure linear motion of the output shaft. The linear motion piston drives a shaft which slides within a mating receptacle. These actuators are only configured for single output shafts.
The generation of the helical motion using existing methods results in higher friction leading to higher torque requirements and higher driving piston pressures. Generation of the linear motion within the sliding mating receptacle is shown to have a high contact surface area as well leading to higher friction and higher driving piston pressures to create the motion. One way to reduce friction is to have greater tolerance between helical guide pins or grooves, but this leads to increased output shaft play. Cost is proportional to pressure, and when devices require higher pressure, the costs of manufacturing, support equipment, and operations increase.
The linear actuators in the aforementioned patents are not amenable to double actuation output shafts without extensive redesign. These linear actuators are limited to single output shafts due to unsymmetrical or non-modular design. This, along with the higher torque requirements, limits the actuator's ability to be adapted for use in new innovative designs.
A need, therefore, exists for improved linear and rotary actuators.

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


An extraction method is disclosed, where organic impurities are removed from a phase essentially containing sulfuric acid, by means of supercritical or liquid carbon dioxide. In particular, the spent sulfuric acid from a process for production of alkylate fuel may be regenerated for re-introduction into the process without incineration.

The critical temperature of a material is the highest temperature, at which the material can be liquefied from a gaseous state by raising the pressure. The critical pressure is the pressure required to affect liquefaction at the critical temperature.
A material can be brought to a supercritical state by first raising its pressure above the critical pressure, and then raising the temperature above the critical temperature. The state of a material under supercritical conditions differs both from the liquid and the gaseous state. Hereinafter, reference is made to a supercritical fluid. For example, the solvent characteristics of a supercritical fluid differ from those of the liquid in a normal state. Carbon dioxide in a supercritical state functions as a very efficient organic solvent. The solvent characteristics can be utilized in supercritical extraction. Supercritical fluid is directed through a material in a pressure vessel, whereby components are leached from the material into the fluid. When the pressure of the material is lowered to below the critical pressure, the solvent power of the fluid substantially changes, and dissolved material precipitates. When the liquid is evaporated, all the dissolved material is left in the residue. Supercritical extraction has gained popularity as the use of ordinary solvents has been decreased for environmental and occupational health reasons. Supercritical extraction is suitable for, e.g. separation of environmental toxins from polluted material. The extraction may also be used for separation of aroma components from aromatic herbs.
Supercritical extraction is useful in those cases where the material to be extracted is not reactive towards the supercritical fluid, and where the solubility of some of its components in the supercritical fluid is sufficiently high. As the solubility of organic compounds in the supercritical fluid generally is remarkably higher than that of inorganic compounds, the method has proved practical in the extraction of organic compounds from their mixtures with inorganic material.
By no means, however, is the solvent power of a supercritical fluid always sufficient to dissolve the desired compounds. When purifying polluted soil, the concentration of toxins may be too high even after extraction. The solvent power can be enhanced using different additives. When carbon dioxide is used, ethanol or methanol are common additives. Despite the use of additives, a satisfactory result is not always reached. As regulations for the protection of the atmosphere are globally getting tighter, new requirements are imposed on the quality of combustion engine fuels. Volatility and aromatics content are lowered, and lead-containing anti-knocking agents are phased out. As a consequence, the use of so-called alkylate fuel is rising. The term alkylate fuel refers to a hydrocarbon product normally produced by catalytic alkylation of isobutane with butene, propene or other olefins. A composition of branched hydrocarbons is thus produced, the octane number of which is above 90 without additives. Presently, sulfuric acid or hydrogen fluoride are used as catalysts, though research efforts are directed to the development of solid catalysts.
Above all the high cost of hydrogen fluoride and the high dryness requirements of the feed streams in processes utilizing it, processes catalysed by sulfuric acid are often preferred. The major drawback of these processes, however, lies in the regeneration of spent sulfuric acid. Worldwide use of sulfuric acid in the production of alkylated fuels comprises several million metric tons. The spent sulfuric acid consists of above 70%, normally at least 85-88% sulfuric acid into which a wide range of different organic compounds have dissolved. The composition of these compounds and the requirements as to the regeneration of the acid is strongly dependant on the impurities in the feed of the alkylation unit. The main impurity of the sulfuric acid bound for regeneration is so-called Red Oil, consisting mainly of long chain C.sub.12 -C.sub.16 hydrocarbons, and organic compounds originating from olefins polymerizing due to the acid or reacting with alkylate molecules, the reaction of a feed impurity diene with an olefin, water or a hetero compound, and from the reactions between other impurities and olefins or sulfuric acid. Stable esters arising from ethene are particularly harmful components from a process point of view. Usually the process is operated at a sulfuric acid strength of about 90%, whereby the acid contains about 8% Red Oil and about 2% water. The regeneration of sulfuric acid is normally carried out by incineration at about 1200.degree. C., whereupon the organic material is pyrolyzed. The generated sulfur trioxide is absorbed to produce new acid, which is recycled to the process at a concentration of about 98,5%, while a corresponding amount of diluted acid is withdrawn. Due to the high temperature incineration, the regeneration process is energetically disadvantageous. The adverse effects involved with the transport of spent sulfuric acid are obvious, and therefore the regeneration plant must often be situated in conjunction with the alkylation unit.


An induction system for an internal combustion engine includes an upper intake for receiving air from a supply, such as a turbocharger, and a lower intake which combines a cylinder valve actuator cover, a plenum for receiving air from the upper intake, and a number of intake runners which extend across, an integrally with, the cylinder valve actuator cover to cylinder head intake ports which are configured at outboard sides of the engine cylinder head.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine having inboard exhaust ports and outboard intake ports located within cylinder heads. The engine also has a lower intake functioning not only as an intake but, also, as a valve actuator cover.
2. Related Art
Internal combustion engine induction systems have become increasingly more sophisticated during the last few decades as a result of the need for improved fuel economy and lower emissions. Particularly in the case of compression ignition engines, turbocharging has risen to the fore. Efficient turbocharging demands that exhaust gases be collected and conducted through the exhaust turbine portion of the turbocharger, which must be matched with a compressor portion providing fresh air charge to the engine cylinders. In the case of a turbocharged Vee-block engine, the task of routing the exhaust and intake is particularly daunting because, with known engines, the exhaust ports on the cylinder heads are located outboard of the engine, and this necessitates long runs of hot exhaust gases which must be gathered at a common collection point and offered to the turbocharger. This causes a great deal of heat to be released to the engine compartment of a vehicle, and such heat release is certainly not a desirable characteristic of an induction system.
It would be desirable to provide an induction system for a turbocharged internal combustion engine in which the collection of the exhaust gases is done in the vee area of the engine, while introducing the charge air to the cylinders in a different area, so as to locate the hotter portions of the turbocharger-equipped induction system away from the charge air handing portion, thereby reducing heat-driven inefficiencies, while promoting the efficiency of the induction system.

Induction system for internal combustion engine


An information recording medium (100) is provided with: a first recording layer (L0 layer) and a second recording layer (L1 layer) in each of which record information can be recorded, the information recording medium includes a plurality of block areas, each of which is a unit of recording the record information and each of which includes a partial recording area of the first recording layer (105a) and a partial recording area of the second recording layer (115a) located in a position facing the partial recording area of the first recording layer.

In an information recording medium, such as an optical disc, like a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable), and a DVD-ROM etc., for example, there has been also developed an optical disc of a multilayer type, dual layer type or multiple layer type in which a plurality of recording layers are laminated or stacked on the same substrate. More specifically, a dual-layer type optical disc has a first recording layer (referred to as a "L0 layer" in this application, as occasion demands) as a first layer, which is located on the nearest side (i.e. on the closest side to an optical pickup), viewed from the irradiation side of laser light, in recording by an information recording apparatus. Moreover, it has a semi-transparent reflective film located on the rear side of the first recording layer (i.e. on the farther side from the optical pickup). The dual-layer type optical disc has a second recording layer (referred to as a "L1 layer" in this application, as occasion demands) as a second layer, which is located on the rear side of the semi-transparent reflective film via a middle layer, such as an adhesive layer. Moreover, it has a reflective film located on the rear side of the second recording layer. Then, in preparing such a multilayer type information recording medium, the L0 layer and the L1 layer are separately formed, and bonded to each other in the end, to thereby manufacture the dual-layer type optical disc at low cost.
Then, on the information recording apparatus, such as a CD recorder, for recording information onto the dual-layer type optical disc, the information is recorded into the L0 layer in an irreversible change recording method, performed by irreversible change recording heating by heating or the like, or in a rewritable method, by focusing (or irradiating) the laser light for recording on the L0 layer. Moreover, the information is recorded into the L1 layer in the irreversible change recording method performed by irreversible change recording heating by heating or the like, or in the rewritable method, by focusing the laser light on the L1 layer.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laying Open NO. 2002-352469

Information recording medium, information recording apparatus and method, and computer program


A shoe formed by an upper and a flat sole of a type having an air chamber made up of compartments, capable of being inflated by means of valves, the flat sole of which is provided with a raised perimetral edge. The sole receives the air chamber and is connected with a rigid countersole and upper by means of stitching, gluing or the like, there being also included in such flat sole a rigid layer. This combination provides a flexible cavity capable of allowing flat and parallel movement of the arch support of the shoe in relation to the outer sole.

It is known that of all the daily activities performed by people major importance is attached to comfort during walking, which is greatly influenced by the type of shoe worn by the user; in particular such comfort in walking is determined by the degree of flexibility characteristic of the sole of the shoe, which flexibility should differ for different needs such as, for example, sporting activities which necessitate rigid soles to restore the necessary force of reaction, for example when jumping, or the normal gait of an elderly person who needs greater softness to cushion the rebound sustained by the foot with each step on the ground.
There are also known certain developments intended to provide a solution to this problem and based either on the use of different materials capable of imparting higher or lower rigidity to the sole, or on the use of insoles with air chambers of various designs.
Such air insoles include that of Patent EP O 293 034. Earlier air insoles, however, may pose major disadvantages on being applied to a shoe, either because of the difficulty of insertion therein during a normal industrial processing cycle, or because of the basic impracticability of achieving correct regulation of the pressure in the air chamber without rendering the insole uncomfortable because it is either too deflated, and therefore superfluous, or too inflated, resulting in the foot being supported on hard surfaces which soon cause aching feet and an awkward gait.

Shoe with sole including hollow space inflatable through removable bladder


A thin film thermal ink jet printhead having a compound ink feed slot that includes a trench in the top surface of a silicon substrate and a plurality of slots extending from the bottom surface of the silicon substrate to the trench. A plurality of patterned thin film layers are disposed on the top surface of the silicon substrate apart from the trench, and a patterned ink barrier layer is disposed over the plurality of patterned thin film layers. The patterned ink barrier layer includes an opening generally in alignment with the elongated trench, and a plurality of openings that form ink containing chambers which are adjacent to the trench and in communication with the opening that is generally in alignment with the elongated trench. Ink is conveyed from outside the substrate through the slots and trench, and into the ink containing chambers. The patterned thin film layers on the silicon substrate include a metallization layer and a passivation layer overlying the metallization layer, and the trench is advantageously formed by overetching of the passivation layer to remove it from the region in which the trench is to be formed.

The subject invention generally relates to thermal ink jet printheads, and is directed more particularly to a thin film thermal ink jet printhead having a compound ink feed slot.
Thin film thermal ink jet printheads commonly comprise a substrate such as silicon on which are formed various layers that form thin film ink firing resistors, interconnections between the ink firing resistors and external contacts of the printhead, an ink barrier that is configured to define ink containing regions including ink containing chambers that are disposed over associated ink firing resistors, and a nozzle plate having nozzles attached to the ink barrier. The various layers of a thin film thermal ink jet printhead are typically formed by thin film photolithographic masking and etching techniques. The ink barrier may be formed using photolithography to pattern a suitable material. An electroformed metal nozzle plate is then laminated to the ink barrier layer.
A known arrangement for feeding ink into the ink containing chambers includes the use of a relatively large ink feed slot formed through the substrate whereby ink flows, for example pursuant to capillary action, from the lower side of the substrate to the ink chambers. An important consideration with the use of a large ink feed slot formed through the substrate is the reduction in strength of the substrate resulting from the formation of the large ink feed slot. Thus, mechanical fragility is a controlling factor in determining the size of the substrate, rather than the intended functionality, which results in greater cost due to the larger substrate. Moreover, manufacturing yield may decrease when substrate size is close to the minimum limit.


A resonant motor system having a resonant circuit that includes magnetic coils and of capacitors, for generating an electric power when the resonant lot is rotated by an engine, a regenerating portion for the resonant motor, a motor driving portion, a motor control portion, and a capacitor portion for storing therein the electric power generated by the resonant motor when the resonant motor is regenerated, the resonant rotor being driven by the electric power stored in the capacitor portion when the engine is assisted by the resonant motor.

The rotary torque of an engine of a commercial car has in recent years been lowered at a low speed of the car because of the approach to reducing fuel consumption by reducing an exhaust gas and using a turbo system. Engine torque is increased when the car is started by adding an assist motor to the engine. FIG. 8 depicts the assist motor wherein a reference numeral 1 annotates a tire of a car, 2 annotates an engine, and 3 annotates the assist motor.
As shown in FIG. 8, the assist motor 3 is positioned in a limited space near the engine 2, so that it is necessary to reduce the assist motor in size. It is effective to increase the rotational speed of the motor more than 25000 rpm in order to make the motor small in size and high in power. However, in the conventional inverter, an output frequency is about 250 Hz and the maximum rotational speed is about 2500 rpm at the switching time. An object of the present invention is to obviate the above defects.