A mounting member, a rotation mechanism, and a plurality of plate-shaped members are included in a folding apparatus in order to simplify the configuration thereof, to make it easy to perform maintenance and repairs, and to reduce costs. The mounting member is a plate-shaped member wherein a foldable article can be mounted on a first surface so that part of the foldable article hangs down. The rotation mechanism rotates the first surface of the mounting member around an axis included in the first surface. The plurality of plate-shaped members are capable of moving toward the mourning member so as to hold part of the foldable article after part of the foldable article has been positioned in the vicinity of the mounting member due to the mounting member being rotated by the rotation mechanism.

In establishments such as cleaning stores whose business is cleaning, a large amount of foldable articles such as shirts must be folded. In view of this, apparatuses for folding numerous foldable articles have been considered.
For example, an existing example of an apparatus for folding shirts as foldable articles is a folding apparatus comprising a shirt-mounting base for mounting a shirt, a plurality of plate-shaped members for folding a part of a shirt, the plate-shaped members being capable of moving relative to the shirt-mounting base from a space below and to the side of the shirt-mounting base to a space below the shirt-mounting base, and a photoelectric sensor for sensing the positions of the sleeves or the like of the shirt (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 8-215500).
With this shirt-folding apparatus, an operator mounts shirts on the shirt-mounting base so that the sleeves or the like hang down from the shirt-mounting base. When a shirt is mounted on the mounting base, the positions of the sleeves or the like of the shirt are recognized by the photoelectric sensor, the plurality of plate-shaped members are moved relative to the shirt and the shirt-mounting base to a space below the mounting base so as to fold the sleeves of the shirt, and the shirt is folded.


A method and system for reducing a torsional movement and/or a torsional loading of a tower of a wind turbine is disclosed includes generating a tower torsion signal with a detection system and providing the signal to an asymmetric load control assembly. The tower torsion signal may correspond to an actual torsional movement of the tower or a torsional loading of the tower. The asymmetric load control assembly is configured to mitigate an asymmetric load acting on the wind turbine using the tower torsion signal.

Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, generator, gearbox, nacelle, and one or more rotor blades. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. The rotor blades transmit the kinetic energy in the form of rotational energy so as to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
Vertical and horizontal wind shears, yaw misalignment, and/or wind turbulence may act either collectively or individually for producing an asymmetric loading of the wind turbine. In particular, such an asymmetric loading may act across the wind turbine rotor. As a result, at least some elements of the wind turbine may be deformed. For example, the main shaft of the wind turbine may be bent (e.g., radially displaced) as a result of asymmetric rotor loading.
In order to mitigate the effect of the asymmetric loading of a wind turbine, conventional asymmetric load control (ALC) systems may use an array of sensors, such as proximity sensors, in the wind turbine to directly measure deformation of at least some elements of the wind turbine, such as a bending of the main shaft as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,083 entitled Method and Apparatus for Wind Turbine Rotor Load Control. Further, a set of sensors for ALC may be provided in the yaw system to directly measure a yaw drive signal, such as described in U.S. Pat. Application No. 2012/0027589 entitled Method and Apparatus for Control of Asymmetric Loading of a Wind Turbine. In each instance, the ALC system uses signals generated by the ALC sensors for mitigating the effect of an asymmetric load of the rotor by, for example, controlling blade pitch and/or yaw alignment of the wind turbine. Accordingly, an ALC assembly may facilitate with reducing the effects of extreme loads and fatigue cycles acting on the wind turbine.
Current ALC assemblies, however, are only configured for detecting a limited number of deflections (i.e. main shaft deflection, fore-aft and side-side tower movement, and a yaw drive deflection), though new developments in tower technology have created a need for detecting additional loading parameters. For example, lattice tower structures, also known as space frame structures, utilize a highly engineered and optimized structure capable of handling unique static and dynamic loads that occur during wind turbine operation. Such tower structures, however, have generally lower torsional stiffness and frequencies. These characteristics greatly influence design costs and may make the tower more susceptible to twisting due to torsional loads that may frequently occur from asymmetric rotor loading. It would therefore be desirable to detect torsional movement and/or torsional loading in the tower before fatigue and extreme torsion occurs, thereby increasing the life of the tower.
Thus, an improved method and system for further reducing asymmetric loading and/or increasing the reliability of current ALC assemblies is desirable. Accordingly, a method and system for detecting and reducing torsional movement and/or torsional loading of a wind turbine tower would be advantageous.

Asymmetric load control for torsion fatigue reduction in a wind turbine tower


A retaining device includes a computer cage (30), a drive bracket (20) for receiving a storage device, a displacing assembly (40) movably combining the drive bracket and the computer cage together. The displacing assembly includes a first fixing member (42) slidably attached to the bottom of the drive bracket, a second fixing member (44) secured in the computer cage, and a pair of connecting members (46) pivotably disposed between the first fixing member and the second fixing member. The connecting member comprises a first post (462), and a second post (464) parallel to the first post. The first and second fixing member each define a corresponding semicircular slot (424,442) to engagingly receiving the posts. The drive bracket is moved in and out form the computer cage, with the first and second posts of the connecting member pivotally engaging in the semicircular slots of the first and the second fixing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to retaining devices for assembling drive bracket, and more particularly to a retaining device which facilitates attachment of a storage device to a computer cage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers have been widely used in modern life. It is desirable for a user or technician to conveniently access internal devices such as storage devices, expansion cards and motherboard for purpose of service. However, storage devices, such as hard disk drives, compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) drives, digital video disc (DVD) drives, floppy disk drives, and the like are typically secured in computer chassis with screws or bolts. It is complicated and time-consuming to manipulate screws.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,483, a hard disk drive is firstly attached to a sliding box with screws, and the sliding box is inserted in a chamber attached on a computer chassis and releasably locked in a place through tenon-and-mortise joints. It is boring to manipulate screws to detach the hard disk drive from the box when in need.
Taiwan Patent Publication No. 482307 teaches another hard disk drive mounting device. A mounting device included a support bracket, and a securing plate. The hard disk drive is fixed to the support bracket with screws. The support bracket has a body with spring fingers for engaging computer chassis, and the securing plate has a base for engaging with the body of the support bracket. The securing plate includes a spring portion extending from one edge of the base for engaging the computer chassis, and a pulling portion with a slot defined therein extending from the opposite edge of the base. In spite of unduly complicated fixing structure, it is desired to reduce the use of screws.
An improved retaining device for assembling drive bracket which overcomes the above-mentioned problems is desired.

Retaining device for assembling drive bracket

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A plurality of optical transducers converts the first radiation to a first light having a first wavelength, and converts the second radiation to a second light having a second wavelength. A shielding unit is arranged between the optical transducers to shield the first radiation, the second radiation, the first light, and the second light. A plurality of first photoelectric converters that corresponds to each of the optical transducers outputs a first electrical signal based on intensity of the first light. A plurality of second photoelectric converters that corresponds to each of the optical transducers outputs a second electrical signal based on intensity of the second light.

In the field of nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) devices have been the focus of attention. A target substance having positron emission capability is introduced into a subject. The target substance emits γ-rays due to electron-positron pair annihilation. PET devices measure the spatial distribution of the concentration of the γ-rays emitted from the target substance at a specific area. The PET device then performs imaging process based on the spatial distribution of the concentration of the γ-rays and, from the image processing, detects accumulations of the target substance in the specific area.
For example, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is injected into the body of a patient and, PET devices detect a developing malignant tumor by measuring spatial distribution of the concentration of the γ-rays emitted from the FDG and perform image processing based on the measured spatial distribution of the concentration of the γ-rays. The FDG is created by binding a radio-isotope to pseudo glucose. Glucose metabolism is about three times to eight times higher in a malignant tumor, such as cancer, than a normal cell. Therefore, there is a higher concentration of the pseudo glucose at malignant tumors. Because FDG, which is injected into the subject, contains pseudo glucose, the concentration of γ-rays, which are generated due to the presence of the FDG, changes at the location of a malignant tumor. As a result, it becomes possible to detect malignant tumors with PET devices. PET devices are sensitive enough to detect a slight lesion even if the lesion cannot be found by computerized tomography (CT) devices. This is greatly contributing to the early detection of cancers.
However, the spatial resolution of PET devices is inferior to that of CT devices because of their configuration. In other words, PET devices can detect slight lesions but cannot identify the precise location of the lesions. As a countermeasure, instead of using just PET devices to capture in-vivo images, so-called PET-CT devices have already been put into practice in which a PET device and a CT device are combined to capture images of the same subject. In other words, a PET device is used to detect whether a lesion is present, and a CT device is used to capture images of an in vivo structure within the subject. The images are then superimposed to identify the location of the lesion, which has been detected by the PET device. Although CT devices are inferior to PET devices in detecting the presence of the lesion, the CT devices have excellent spatial resolution. Therefore, PET-CT devices are advantageous in that they can detect a slight lesion with high precision and identify the exact location of the lesion (see Japanese Patent KOHYO Publication No. 2003-501666).


A stereo disparity calculating unit calculates the predicted value of the stereo disparity. A line extracting unit performs line extraction in an image. A line classification unit classifies the extracted lines into different line types. A meaningless line eliminating unit eliminates lines not existing in the real world away from the following processing. A stereo disparity correcting unit corrects the predicted value of the disparity based on the line pairs determined by the line pair determining unit. A line pair clustering unit clusters all the line pairs belonging to the same feature as one cluster. A plane combining unit finds out the location relationship in the three-dimensional space among all the planes of each feature extracted by a plane extracting unit, and generates a three-dimensional model describing the overall structure for each feature.

A conventional technology of generating three-dimensional model of features (natural or artificial all the terrestrial objects) is known as the technology that takes three-dimensional point cloud data of the land surface obtained through an aerial laser scanner as the input data and classifies it into two parts, i.e. features and the ground based on their different frequency characteristics, and then calculates three-dimensional geographical coordinates of the contour polygon of each feature obtained from the classification, thereby generating three-dimensional model of all the features.
Patent Literature 1 discloses, as an example of the above stated technology, the method and system of generating three-dimensional urban spatial model by utilizing the data from laser scanner.
According to the technologies disclosed in Patent Literature 1, in general, the generated three-dimensional feature model is rough due to the limited resolution of laser data, and in this case there is a disadvantage that, in particular, the rooftop structure of a feature cannot be expressed highly precisely. For example, the rooftop part of a three-dimensional feature model generated based on laser data with the resolution of 1 m cannot express the details of the rooftop structure of an actual building.
In recent years, new technologies appear by generating digital surface model (DSM) at the same resolution as the input high-resolution stereo pair of aerial photographs, which enables the generation of finer three-dimensional data than laser data, and also finer expression of the rooftop structure of features. Moreover, the cost of aerial photogrammetry is lower than that of laser data.
Moreover, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technology of firstly taking images of buildings on the ground, while at the same time recording the longitude and latitude of the location where the images are taken, and then allowing an operator to specify the vertices of the structural planes of the building, finally calculating the three-dimensional coordinates of the specified vertices based on the images and the GPS information, thus generating a three-dimensional model of the building.
According to the technology of Patent Literature 2, a lot of manual works for each building is necessary, such as image shooting, vertices specification, etc., and thus the costs become large especially in the case of, for example, a broad residential street with high density of residential buildings. In addition, the image shooting on the ground has some limitations, such that a tall building in an urban district cannot be processed.
Under such circumstances, for example, Non-patent Literature 1 discloses a three-dimensional reconstruction technology to generate three-dimensional models of features by using the stereo pair of aerial photographs.
Non-patent Literature 1 discloses a technology of firstly detecting lines from the stereo pair of aerial photographs, secondly extracting line groups with special geometrical relationship like parallel or vertical relationship through a technology called perceptual grouping by analyzing the geometrical relationship between a line and its neighboring lines both in left and right images of the stereo pair, subsequently extracting features with rectangular contour, and thirdly obtaining the three-dimensional coordinates of the feature contour by stereo matching, thereby generating the three-dimensional model of all the features.
In addition, Non-patent Literature 2 discloses a technology similar to the technology in Non-patent Literature 1, that collects only edges associated with each feature through perceptual grouping to get the contour of each rectangular building, and obtains three-dimensional building model based on disparity map calculated in advance by stereo matching.

Device for generating three dimensional feature data, method for generating three-dimensional feature data, and recording medium on which program for generating three-dimensional feature data is recorded


Tool electrodes for and methods of electrical discharge machining are provided. In one exemplary aspect, a tool electrode for machining features into a workpiece is provided that allows for increased machining speed without sacrificing the quality of the machined features. Moreover, a tool electrode is provided that eliminates or reduces the high cost associated with customized tool electrodes. In particular, a tool electrode is provided that includes a plurality of electrode elements arranged and spaced apart in a digitized matrix representative of a tooling shape for machining features into a workpiece. The plurality of electrode elements are spaced apart from one another and arranged in the digitized matrix by digitizing an analog electrode tool configured to machine the feature into the workpiece or a volume of the feature to be machined into the workpiece.

There is increased interest in forming gas turbine or jet engine components from composite materials, such as ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials, that can withstand relatively extreme temperatures and pressures. Manufacturing components from CMC materials often presents a number of manufacturing challenges, including productivity, quality, and cost challenges.
For instance, some CMC components are formed of a SiC/SiC reinforcement/matrix material and thus typically require a diamond material to cut the CMC component to shape. As an example, an ultrasonic machining process using a diamond flow may be used to cut, e.g., seal slots in a CMC component. Although diamonds can adequately cut CMC components, the diamonds mix with the CMC fibers and matrix material such that the diamonds cannot be reused to machine further CMC components. Accordingly, such processes are expensive. Further, component seal slots typically have high aspect ratios that make machining such slots difficult. The edges and corner quality of such slots can have irregular shapes due to worn corners of the sonotrode of the ultrasonic tool. Other conventional cutting and grinding processes for seal slots are limited by tool deflection and speed as well as accessibility to tight corners and sides, while laser cutting processes are limited by the taper of the slot sides. Moreover, seal slots must have low surface roughness to ensure high sealing efficiency and structural stability. However, surface finishes of CMC components machined by ultrasonic machining processes can be relatively rough due to the coarse abrasive grit size of the diamond necessary for fast machining speed and depth, laser machining processes can generate thermal stresses and micro-cracks in CMC components, often with a slot taper that is beyond the required tolerance, and conventional grinding and machining processes typically cannot machine slot corners, much less smooth corners.
As a result, electric discharge machining (EDM) processes generally are the most appropriate processes for machining deeper features in CMC components, such as seal slots. More particularly, ram EDM is typically used for machining blind features in CMC components. Nonetheless, EDM processing of CMC components does face its own challenges. For example, EDM processing of a CMC component can be a relatively slow process compared to other processes, such as ultrasonic machining. For instance, machining seal slots in CMC components via EDM can have long cycle times due to flushing issues and dielectric flows more generally. That is, as the tool electrode advances toward a desired slot depth, dielectric flushing may become increasingly difficult and may stall, and the electrode may be damaged by arcing. Moreover, there is typically a quality penalty when high pulse energy is used to speed up the EDM process. Thus, conventionally, increased EDM speed has led to decreased part quality, such as e.g., increased surface roughness. Further, ram tool electrodes can be expensive to manufacture and utilize due to their custom designs, machining, dressing, etc., as well as associated maintenance and manufacturing set up.
Therefore, improved tool electrodes for EDM processes and improved EDM processes utilizing such electrodes that address one or more of the challenges noted above would be desirable.

Tool electrode for and methods of electrical discharge machining


A resin molded component includes a flange having a through-hole. A concave portion is formed on the surface of the flange that faces the component on which the flange is fitted. Flows of a molten resin material meet each other at a meeting portion in a region around the through-hole during a molding process, and a weld line is formed at the meeting portion. The concave portion is formed upstream of the meeting portion at which the flows of the molten resin material meet each other, and in the vicinity of the through-hole. The thickness of the resin material in the bottom portion of the concave portion is greater than the thickness of the resin material in the thinnest portion of the wall of the concave portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a resin-molded component that includes a flange having a through-hole.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 2643774 discloses a resin intake manifold for an internal combustion engine, in which concave portions may be formed in the flanges of the intake manifold by reducing the thickness of a resin material, in order to reduce the weight of the intake manifold. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing part of the intake manifold disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2643774. As shown in FIG. 9, in the intake manifold, an intake passage 110 is provided, and a through-hole 130 is formed in the flange 120.
Concave portions 140 and 145 are formed on the surface of the flange 120, the surface facing a cylinder head (not shown) when the flange 120 is fitted to the cylinder head. Each of the concave portions 140 and 145 is formed between the intake passage 110 and the through-hole 130 by reducing the thickness of the resin material. FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line X-X in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 10, the resin material in the bottom portion 142 of the concave portion 140 and the resin material in a wall 144 of the concave portion 140 are of the same thickness DS.
With this structure, it is possible to reduce the weight of the intake manifold by reducing the thickness of the resin material at portions that do not need to be thick, while maintaining rigidity of the intake manifold.
To mold a resin component, a pressurized molten resin material is injected into a die. The arrows in FIG. 11 show the direction of flow of the molten resin material during the molding of the intake manifold. A thicker arrow indicates the flow of a greater quantity of the molten resin material.
As shown in FIG. 11, the resin material in each of portions corresponding to the locations indicated by arrows a11 and a12 would be thicker relative to the other portions of the flange after molding is completed. That is, a sectional area of the flowing molten resin material is large in each of the portions indicated by the arrows a11 and a12. Therefore, a flow amount of the molten resin material is relatively large in each of the portions indicated by the arrows a11 and a12.
In contrast, the resin material in each of portions corresponding to the locations indicated by arrows b11 and b12 would be thinner relative to the portions of the flange after molding is completed. That is, a sectional area of the flowing molten resin material is small in each of the portions indicated by the arrows b11 and b12. Therefore, the flow amount of the molten resin material is relatively small in each of the portions indicated by the arrows b11 and b12. Also, as shown in FIG. 10, the resin material in the bottom portion 142 of the concave portion 140 and the resin material in the wall 144 of the concave portion 140 both have the same thickness DS. Therefore, the flow amount of the molten resin material is relatively small in each of the bottom portions of the concave portions 140 and 145 indicated by arrows c11 and c12 in FIG. 11.
As shown in FIG. 11, the flow of the molten resin material follows the paths indicated by arrows d11 and d12 and passes along the periphery of the through-hole 130 until the paths meet each other. The resin material in each of the portions indicated by arrows d11 and d12 have are relatively thin after molding is completed. Therefore, the flow amount of the molten resin material is relatively small in each of the portions indicated by the arrows d11 and d12.
FIG. 12 shows the view from the perspective indicated by the arrow A, in FIG. 11, of the portion of the flange at which the flows of molten resin material along the periphery of the through-hole meet. A weld line 150 is formed at the portion of the flange at which the flows of the molten resin material along the periphery of the through-hole meet. After the resin material has hardened, the rigidity of the resin material along the weld line tends to be reduced, as compared to other portions. Further, since the flow amount of the molten resin material is relatively small in each of the portions indicated by the arrows d11 and d12, this tendency becomes still more evident.


An auxiliary switch is provided that allows a thermostat to use full wave rectification for power while still communicating control information to the auxiliary switch over a multiplexed ground-control line to control associated equipment.

Older thermostats are effectively a switch that closes a circuit for a low-voltage AC signal, for example 24 volts historically, that operates a relay to turn on or off the HVAC equipment. These older thermostats only required two lines, or wires, to connect and control the HVAC equipment.
Thermostats requiring power are increasingly used to control heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. These thermostats may be powered by a battery or from an externally supplied alternating current (AC) source. In thermostats powered by an AC source, at least three wires are generally required for connecting and controlling the HVAC equipment. Two wires provide a path for the AC power, while a third is used as a control signal line for controlling operation of the HVAC equipment.
In order to connect a powered thermostat requiring three wires in a location that is only provided with two wires, a ground wire adapter can be used. The ground wire adapter allows a thermostat that uses half-wave rectification of the AC signal to power the thermostat to communicate the control information to the ground wire adapter over the return wire used for the AC signal. Since the thermostat uses half-wave rectification, there would normally not be any current flowing through the return wire during a negative half-cycle of the AC signal. By causing the thermostat to conduct during the negative half-cycle, the thermostat can provide control information to the ground wire adapter in each negative half-cycle of the AC signal. The ground wire adapter can detect the signal in the negative half-cycle and control the HVAC equipment accordingly.
While the use of a ground wire adapter allows a three wire thermostat to be connected over two wires, it requires that the thermostat use only half-wave rectification, limiting the possible power consumption and efficiency of the thermostat.
It is desirable to allow a thermostat to use full wave rectification while still allowing a control signal to be multiplexed on a ground line.

Auxillary switch for multiplexed control and ground signal from a thermostat


The capsule (2) for brewing food fragments comprises a filtering means (22) delimitating one filtering side of a brewing enclosure (20). It also comprises an overflow wall (3) positioned in the path of brewed liquid after the filtering means. The filtering means (22) are integral with the overflow wall (3).

The present invention relates to a capsule for preparing and delivering a beverage in a brewing device. The present invention more particularly aims at providing a capsule adapted to deliver brewed leaf tea although other beverages can be successfully brewed in the capsule.
Leaf tea ingredients are generally obtained from loose leaves that are chiselled or broken into small fragments. Brewing of these fragments can lead to the presence of large quantities of insoluble particles mixed with the infused solution. Therefore, when a capsule is designed specifically for delivering tea, it is important that it comprise filtering means. These filtering means should be adapted to let the liquid beverage freely out of the capsule, while simultaneously keeping all but a negligible amount of the undesirable ingredient particles inside the brewing enclosure.
European Patent application No. 05109566.9 describes several embodiments of a capsule adapted for brewing tea in a beverage machine. The capsule comprises a filtering wall delimiting one filtering side of the brewing enclosure. An overflow wall comprising at least one overflow aperture is positioned in the path of the brewed liquid after the filtering. In one particular embodiment, the filtering wall extends substantially from the bottom to the top of the enclosure. This arrangement provides a large filtering surface and thus favours a lower brewing pressure. Another feature of this particular embodiment is that the overflow wall is parallel to the filtering wall, and that an interstitial space separates the two walls. This configuration allows for the liquid that has gone through the filter to move upwards in the interstitial space until it reaches the overflow aperture. This aperture is sufficiently close to the top of the brewing enclosure. In this way, the beverage ingredients can be entirely submerged by the low pressure brewing fluid, while the flow rate from the capsule remains within the acceptable range.
The capsule described in European patent application No. 05109566.9 is based on a brewing principle that promotes the delivery of high quality tea. However, as previously described, the capsule comprises both a filtering wall and an overflow wall with an interstitial space between the two. It may further comprise a cover that faces the overflow wall. These features lead to a relatively complex structure that can be expensive to produce. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a capsule based on the same or similar brewing principle but with a simplified, easier to manufacture and cheaper structure.

Capsule for the preparation of a beverage


An optical transmission device using return-to-zero optical pulses as transmission optical pulses, which is capable of enhancing a transmission distance as well as a wavelength range with satisfactory transmission characteristics and enabling an easy realization of the wavelength division multiplexing optical transmission. The optical transmission device is formed by an optical transmitter for transmitting transmission optical pulses by superposing digital data signals onto return-to-zero optical pulses, and a modulator for applying one of a phase modulation and a frequency modulation in synchronization with a transmission rate of the transmission optical pulses, to the transmission optical pulses transmitted by the optical transmitter. This optical transmission device can be utilized in forming a wavelength division multiplexing optical transmission apparatus and an optical transmission system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical transmission device using return-to-zero optical pulses as transmission optical pulses, which Is capable of enhancing a transmission distance as well as a wavelength range with satisfactory transmission characteristics and enabling an easy realization of the wavelength division multiplexing optical transmission. The present invention also relates to a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical transmission apparatus and an optical transmission system formed by utilizing such an optical transmission device.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, due to the advance of the optical amplification technique, the optical fiber communication technique has been progressed to realize a very long distance communication, and it is now becoming possible to realize the transoceanic communication using optical submarine cables without requiring regenerators. As a transmission scheme for enabling a high speed, large capacity realization of such an optical communication using optical fibers, an optical soliton transmission using return-to-zero optical pulses as transmission optical pulses has been attracting much attention.
However, this optical soliton transmission is associated with a random variation of optical signal wavelength due to optical amplifier noises and a nonlinear effect of optical fibers, and a random jitter (known as Gordon Haus dynamic jitter) of pulse arrival time at a receiving terminal due to dispersion by optical fibers and there has been a problem that a transmission distance is limited because of these random timing jitters.
As a solution to resolve this problem, there has been a proposition of a scheme in which a mean dispersion of the system is made smaller by periodically compensating the accumulated dispersion of transmission fibers to a nearly zero level using dispersion compensation fibers, so that a random jitter of optical signal wavelength due to optical amplifier noises and a nonlinear effect of optical fibers will not be converted into the dynamic timing jitter.
However, according to the analysis made by the present inventors, this scheme limits the optimum wavelength range so that, in a case of multiple wavelengths transmission, the accumulated residual dispersion becomes large for long wavelength signals and it is difficult to realize a long distance transmission.
In addition, at a wavelength with the optimum dispersion compensation for which a mean dispersion is small, this scheme causes an excessive spectrum spread, so that there is a need to use a large wavelength interval in order to avoid interferences among different wavelengths, even when the dispersion slope of optical fibers is compensated to realize a nearly optimum value for the residual dispersion at each wavelength, and for this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to utilize the optical amplifier bandwidth efficiently.

Optical transmission device, WDM optical transmission apparatus, and optical transmission system using return-to-zero optical pulses


The invention relates to a method for the continuous torque monitoring of a hybrid drive composed of an internal combustion engine with an engine control unit and an inherently safe electric drive with a control unit, wherein a permissible total torque is compared with the sum of an actual torque of the electric drive and an actual torque of the internal combustion engine. If the permissible total torque is reduced by the actual torque of the electric motor and is formed by a permissible torque of the internal combustion engine, it is largely possible by means of this method for existing software to be utilized further, and said software need not be amended. In the engine controller, it is largely possible for calculations to be carried out with torques which are normalized to the maximum torque of the internal combustion engine. In the comparison stage in particular, the value range of the torques in the case of a hybrid drive in relation to that in the case of a pure internal combustion engine is maintained. Storage-space-saving and calculation-duration-saving programming is therefore possible.

Such continuous torque monitoring is used to detect a possible malfunction of a control unit for an automotive drive or of the automotive drive itself for protecting the occupants of a vehicle as well as outside traffic. If a malfunction is detected, an error response is initiated and the vehicle is converted to a safe vehicle state. For torque monitoring, an admissible total torque is ascertained continuously during operation from a vehicle driver input and is compared with a total actual torque of the drive. In the case of a hybrid drive of an internal combustion engine and an electric drive, the total actual torque is ascertained from the sum of the actual torques of the internal combustion engine and of the electric drive. If the total of the actual torques of the internal combustion engine and of the electric drive exceeds the admissible total torque, an error signal is delivered and the vehicle is converted to a safe vehicle state.
In a gasoline engine, the actual torque of the internal combustion engine is determined from measured values for the air flow rate, the lambda value and the firing angle. For a diesel engine, the actual torque is determined from the fuel pressure, valve opening time and valve closing time as injection parameters. The admissible total torque is determined from the accelerator pedal signal, data from driver assistance systems, gearing data, ESP intervention procedures and torque loss.
To improve functional reliability, the admissible torque and the actual torque of an internal combustion engine are determined by redundantly executed software from redundantly detected input signals of the engine control unit of the internal combustion engine. According to the related art, variables are stored in duplicate, there is a cyclic review of the RAM and ROM memories, and a program sequence control and a command test are provided. Because of extensive monitoring measures, software that allows a rapid program sequence to allow torque monitoring to respond rapidly to malfunctions must be implemented. This is achieved by expressing the variables for the actual torque of the internal combustion engine and for the admissible torque as relative quantities with respect to the maximum possible torque of the internal combustion engine ("standardization torque"). In this way, the ROM code required for torque monitoring is typically reduced by a factor of two to four in comparison with an implementation with absolute torques.
The actual torque of the intrinsically safe electric drive is relayed from its control unit to the engine control unit of the internal combustion engine via a secured communication. In doing so, the value of the setpoint torque of the electric drive is reported together with a diagnostic status to the engine control unit of the internal combustion engine. Since the electric drive is intrinsically safe, the setpoint torque and actual torque are the same, unless the diagnostic status indicates that there is a malfunction in the electric drive.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method which allows simple expansion of torque monitoring for an internal combustion engine to torque monitoring for a hybrid drive.


An encryption device that, when voice or image data or the like being encoded is encrypted using a one-time pad (OTP) cipher and then transmitted, reduces a period of time in which a cipher key for the OTP cipher runs out. A first terminal device determines whether to encode transmission data by a first encoding scheme or a second encoding scheme having a lower bit rate than the first encoding scheme, depending on the number of remaining bits of an OTP cipher key, and encodes the transmission data according to the determined encoding scheme, thereby generating encoded data. The first terminal device encrypts the generated encoded data with the OTP cipher using the OTP cipher key, thereby generating encrypted communication data, and transmits the generated encrypted communication data to a second terminal device.

The one-time pad cipher is a common key cryptosystem with which a key is shared between the transmission side and the reception side. With the one-time pad cipher, encryption is carried out using a cipher key of the same amount (the same bit count) as that of communication data. With the one-time pad cipher, a cipher key is used only once and will not be reused.
A typical example of the one-time pad cipher includes a Vernam cipher, with which bitwise exclusive OR of communication data and a cipher key is calculated and the calculated result is treated as encrypted data.
Cipher communication by means of a one-time pad cipher requires a cipher key of a large amount because it consumes the same amount of the cipher key as that of the communication data. With the one-time pad cipher, once the cipher key is exhausted, cipher communication can no longer be performed.
Patent Literature 1 includes a description on the choice of a cryptosystem to apply between a one-time pad cipher and a block cipher depending on the significance of the communication data to be encrypted. This reduces the consumption of the cipher key in the one-time pad cipher.
Patent Literature 2 includes a description on how the accumulated amount of the cipher key of each terminal device is monitored so that a cipher key is generated with a higher priority for a terminal device having a small accumulated amount. This is aimed at prevention of the exhaustion of the cipher key in a particular terminal device.

Encryption device, encryption method, and encryption program


A brassiere has two breast-receiving cups each having an inner breast-receiving surface and an opposing outer surface. A pocket component is affixed to the outer surface of one of the breast-receiving cups. The pocket component opposes a portion of the outer surface of the one of the breast-receiving cups. The pocket component and the portion of the outer surface of the one of the breast-receiving cups forms a storage space having a first shape and an opening into the storage space. A substrate, having a second shape, is disposed in the storage space and is capable of accepting writing applied thereto by a writing instrument, in which the substrate is removable from the storage space through the opening. The second shape of the substrate conforms substantially to the first shape of the storage space.

A brassiere or bra is a foundation garment for women consisting of shoulder straps, two cups, a center panel, an underbust band, sides, and a back. Bra types are quite varied, depending on style, function, and materials. Styles include front-closure, back-closure, strapless, convertible, push-up, demi-bra, full-cup, three-quarters cup, half-cup, longline, underwire, padded, triangle, soft-cup, shelf-bra, and T-shirt.
The concept of covering or restraining the breasts dates back to 6,500 years in Greece. Minoan women on the island of Crete 4,500 years ago wore brassieres that revealed their bare breasts. A binding known as an apodesmos or mastodeton was worn by Greek women for exercise. It is said that brassieres were invented by men so that women's breasts would be smaller, more like a man's.
A bra-like device to give a "symmetrical rotundity" to the breasts was patented in 1859 by Henry S. Lesher of Brooklyn, N.Y. Although the bra invented by Mr. Lesher is clearly a bra in design, it was uncomfortable to wear by current standards.
In 1889 Herminie Cadolle of France invented the first modern bra that was a two-piece undergarment including a corset for the waist an upper support for supporting the breasts by means of shoulder straps. By 1905 the upper half was being sold separately. In the United States, Mary Phelps Jacob was granted the first U.S. patent for the brassiere in 1913. Her invention is most widely recognized as the predecessor to the modern bra.
The history of the brassiere is indeed colorful, and numerous brassieres have been recently devised that actually provide breast enhancement. Other than this, little has been done to increase the utility of brassieres beyond their primary use as a breast support.

Brassiere having pocket with writing receiving substrate disposed therein


A power supply apparatus connected via a bus line to another power supply apparatus includes a voltage generation circuit generating a voltage, an abnormality detection circuit detecting an abnormality of the power supply apparatus including the abnormality detection circuit and outputting an abnormality detection signal, an abnormality control circuit, and an interface circuit receiving the abnormality detection signal from the abnormality detection circuit to output the signal via the bus line to another power supply apparatus, and receiving the abnormality detection signal via the bus line from another power supply apparatus to output the signal, to the abnormality control circuit and the abnormality control circuit controlling the voltage generation circuit to stop generation of the voltage in a case where receiving the abnormality detection signal from the abnormality detection circuit or in a case where receiving the abnormality detection signal from the interface circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply apparatus and a power supply system, and particularly to a power supply apparatus and a power supply system that address an output abnormality or the like of the power supply apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
A power supply system detecting an output abnormality of a power supply apparatus and managing the power supply apparatus has been developed. For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-227555 (Patent Document 1) discloses a power supply management and control apparatus for a power supply device as described below. This apparatus manages and controls electric current supplied to a plurality of loads in a load system of the power supply device. The apparatus includes a switch device including a plurality of current paths and supplying an output voltage supplied from the power supply device through different current paths to different loads respectively, a microcontroller controlling an open/close status of the switch device, a set reference value storage unit linked to the microcontroller and storing a rated total output current value of the power supply device as set in advance, and a priority sequence storage unit linked to the microcontroller and storing the number of loads in the whole system and an operational item of a sequence of priority of shutting down the loads as determined in advance. When the microcontroller detects that the actual total output current exceeds the rated total output current value as set of the power supply device, current supply to at least one load is shut down according to the sequence of priority of shutting the loads. When the actual total output current is smaller than the rated total output current value, loads for which the current supply is previously shut down are restarted according to the opposite sequence of priority of shutting down the loads.
However, the power supply management and control apparatus for the power supply device disclosed in Patent Document 1 monitors the output current of the power supply device by the microcontroller to control the power supply device, and thus the line connecting the microcontroller and the power supply device is complicated. Further, it is necessary that the microcontroller includes a terminal for receiving the output current of the power supply device and a circuit for measuring the output current value. Therefore, the power management and control apparatus for the power supply device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem of the complicated circuit configuration.

Power supply apparatus and power supply system including the same addressing abnormality


A system for notifying and/or warning of fallen or downed insulated conductor generally includes a distribution system for distributing a utility, such as power, and a sensor system for sensing whether the distribution system is properly operating. The warning system can include a support structure; an arm carried by the support structure and extending outwardly therefrom; a distribution system providing a utility via at least one wire, the wire held aloft from a below surface via the arm; a communication cable transmitting a signal; a disruption assembly carrying the communication cable and in communication with the support structure. The disruption assembly is loaded with the potential of disrupting the signal transmitted by the communication cable; and a sensor system is adapted to monitor the distribution system based on the signal transmitted by the communication cable.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a notification system and, more particularly, to a warning system that provides notification of fallen wires.
Insulated conductors are wire conductors that are covered by an insulated shell, such as rubber, and are well-known in the art. Insulated conductors, sometimes called covered conductors, were developed to reduce failure rates compared to the more conventional bare-wire conductors, and improve security and reliability of the conductors. The additional investment cost of insulated conductors over bare-wire conductors is often fully compensated by savings in: line spacing, reduced maintenance, and a better reliability of an electrical network. Typically, insulated conductors are used in distribution systems, rather than larger transmission systems, and are thus positioned throughout neighborhoods and at lower elevations.
A significant advantage of insulated conductors over bare-wire conductors is each conductor can be positioned near/close to another conductor, and yet still remains insulated from one another. This close positioning significantly reduces line spacing between or among conductors. Accordingly, insulated conductors can be weaved through a number of trees to provide electricity to tree-dense areas. Another advantage of insulated conductors is they can be in direct contact with an object, for example, a tree, and this contact will not create a short circuit or a cause a fire. Moreover, insulated conductors can eliminate the need of large, elongated, external insulators.
Insulated conductors are most often positioned between tree limbs, branches, and trunks, and thus are sometimes referred to as "tree wires." Frequently, the tree wires fall due to a tree, branch, or pole falling upon them. As a result, the insulated conductor can lie on the ground. Although a short circuit does not exist due to the insulation properties of the conductor covering, if a person were to touch the insulated conductor, the person could be severely injured, even fatally.
When insulated conductors fall, utility companies, particularly power companies, need to be notified as soon as possible. Utility companies currently have procedures in place to notify them of fallen power lines, but typically these procedures are effective only if the conductors create a short circuit condition. This notification system relies upon relays or fuses to detect the high current conditions and subsequently de-energize the line.
In order to determine whether the insulated conductor is down, the power company must send out one or more line operators to "drive the lines", or drive along the insulated conductors to visually confirm whether an insulated conductor is down. Driving the lines is an expensive task and relies on human perfection; plus, it wastes valuable time. If an insulated conductor fell, and the line operator were to arrive after a person grabbed the insulated conductor, an unfortunate, and rather serious, injury could occur.


The present disclosure relates to a drug and/or food supplement with antiviral effects, in particular for the preventive and/or therapeutic treatment of herpes labialis and/or herpes genitalis, and/or with antibacterial and/or immunomodulating and/or antiphlogistic effects and/or for the preventive and/or therapeutic treatment of affections of the prostate, containing NISYLEN® and/or Cepa and/or Euphrasia and/or Belladonna and/or Mercurius solubilis.

NISYLEN® is known as a drug for use against influenza infections, fever, sore throat, headache, and cough. It is a homeopathic drug in the form of a compound preparation comprising various active substances, which is available in the form of tablets or a solution for oral administration. The active substances include Aconitum Dil. D3, Gelsemium Dil. D3, Ipecacuanha Dil. D3, Phosphorus Dil. D5, Bryonia Dil. D2 and Eupatorium perfoliatum Dil. D1. Aconitum is an extract of Actonitum, which is a flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family. Gelsemium is an extract of Gelsemium, which is a flowering plant belonging to the family of Gelsemiaceae. Ipecacuanha is an extract of Ipecacuanha, which is a flowering plant in the family of Rubiaceae, the root of which is most commonly used to make syrup of ipecac, a powerful emetic. Phosphorus is a homeopathic remedy derived from phosphorus, such as potassium phosphate or magnesium phosphate. Bryonia is an extract from Bryony, which is a perennial, tendril-climbing flowering plant in the genus of Bryonia. Eupatorium perfoliatum is an extract of Eupatorium perfoliatum, which is a poisonous herbaceous perennial flowering plant.
Homeopathic active ingredients are often diluted with diluents, such as water and alcohol. Dil. 1D indicates that the active ingredient is diluted to 1/10 of its original strength. Dil 2D indicates that the active ingredient is diluted to 1/100 of its original strength. Dil 3D indicates that the active ingredient is diluted to 1/1000 of its original strength, and so forth. As used herein, the dilution of an active ingredient from its original strength is understood to mean the dilution of the active ingredient from its standard mother tincture that is prepared according to standardized guidelines and protocols. Such guidelines may be found in standard homeopathic textbooks or pharmacopoeia, such as the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS).
What is likewise known is the use of Cepa, Euphrasia, Belladonna and Mercurius solubilis for homeopathic drugs.
It is the object underlying the present disclosure to indicate further medical uses of one or more of the ingredients stated above.
The present disclosure is based on the knowledge that NISYLEN® and/or Cepa and/or Euphrasia and/or Belladonna and/or Mercurius solubilis have antiviral effects, in particular in the preventive and/or therapeutic treatment of herpes labialis and/or herpes genitalis, and/or antibacterial and/or immunomodulating and/or antiphlogistic, i.e. anti-inflammatory effects and/or can be used for the preventive and/or therapeutic treatment of affections of the prostate, in particular for the treatment of prostatitis or of degenerations of the prostate.
Herpes labialis is a viral disease which is caused by the type I herpes simplex virus (HSV Type I), where small, oozing vesicles are formed on the lips, which are sore, cause pain and itching, and are highly infectious. It may also be referred to as a cold sore.
Herpes genitalis is caused by the type II herpes simplex virus (HSV Type II). In the case of herpes genitalis there are also formed vesicles filled with liquid, which cause considerable pain, neuralgias and itching, and are likewise highly infectious.
Both types of virus (HSV Types I and II) affect the skin, mucous membranes, eyes, the nervous system and in rare cases also inner organs. Due to the fact that the virus is constantly present in the body, relapses, i.e. new outbreaks of the disease, can occur again and again. The medicaments known at present are virostatics (which inhibit the growth of the virus but do not necessarily kill the virus), which shorten the course of the disease and alleviate the symptoms.
It has now been found in accordance with the present disclosure that a drug or food supplement which contains NISYLEN® and/or Cepa and/or Euphrasia and/or Belladonna and/or Mercurius solubilis exhibits antiviral effects and can be used for instance for the preventive and therapeutic treatment of herpes. Furthermore, it was found in accordance with the present disclosure that a drug or food supplement which contains NISYLEN® and/or Cepa and/or Euphrasia and/or Belladonna and/or Mercurius solubilis exhibits antibacterial and/or immunomodulating and/or antiphlogistic effects. Furthermore, it was found in accordance with the present disclosure that a drug or food supplement which contains NISYLEN® and/or Cepa and/or Euphrasia and/or Belladonna and/or Mercurius solubilis can be used for the preventive and/or therapeutic treatment of affections of the prostate, such as prostatitis or degenerations of the prostate.
The explanations given below concerning the inventive drug correspondingly apply to the food supplement in accordance with the present disclosure.
The treatment of patients suffering from herpes labialis and of patients suffering from herpes genitalis with the drug in accordance with the present disclosure has shown that the course of the disease has been shortened considerably in both cases. The treatment of patients suffering of affections of the prostate with the inventive drug has shown that not only the PSA value (PSA=prostate-specific antigen), but also the PSA quotient has been improved considerably. The quotient of free PSA and total PSA value as measured in the serum of patients at the time of diagnosis is regarded as a measure for the malignancy of a tumor, the smaller the quotient, the more malignant the tumor.
In accordance with the present disclosure it can be provided that the drug contains one of the active substances NISYLEN® or Cepa or Euphrasia or Belladonna or Mercurius solubilis as main ingredient and one or more of the further ingredients as secondary ingredients, the main ingredient being present in a larger amount or concentration than any of the further ingredients.
It is conceivable in principle that the drug contains only NISYLEN®, only Cepa, only Euphrasia, only Belladonna or only Mercurius solubilis as the active substance.
The present disclosure comprises any combinations of the ingredients mentioned above, for instance a drug comprising NISYLEN® as main ingredient and all the others of said ingredients of the combinations thereof as secondary ingredients.
Preferably, it is provided that the drug contains NISYLEN®.
In accordance with a another aspect it is provided that the drug furthermore contains Cepa. Cepa is an extract from the plant Cepa (or Allium Cepa). Cepa likewise is a homeopathically active substance, which generally is used against a cold.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present disclosure, the drug furthermore contains Euphrasia. Euphrasia is an extract from the plant Euphrasia, which is herbaceous flowing plant in the family of Orobanchaceae. Euphrasia likewise is a substance known from homeopathy, which generally is used against affections of the eyes.
Additional ingredients of the drug in accordance with the present disclosure can be Belladonna and/or Mercurius solubilis. Belladonna is an extract from the plant belladonna, which is a member of the nightshade family. At present, Belladonna is used as a homeopathic medicament against various forms of inflammations. Mercurius solubilis is a homeopathic medicament which is known for the treatment of, for instance, sore throat, otitis media and hoarseness. Mercurius solubilis is the nitrate salt of mercury and can be prepared by dissolving liquid mercury in nitric acid.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present disclosure it is possible that—as far as contained in the drug—the ingredients Cepa, Euphrasia and Mercurius solubilis are present in the dilution D12 and Belladonna in the dilution D15. In principle, it is likewise possible to use the active substances in other dilutions.
It can be particularly advantageous when the ingredient NISYLEN® is present in the drug in a larger amount or concentration than the further ingredients.
Preferably, the drug contains NISYLEN®, Cepa, Euphrasia, Belladonna and Mercurius solubilis, NISYLEN® being present in the drug in a larger amount than the other ingredients mentioned above.
Particularly advantageously, the ingredient NISYLEN® is present in two to four times, preferably three times the amount of any of the further active substances of the drug.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention it is provided that the drug contains NISYLEN in a weight or in a volume of 4.0 to 4.5 g or ml, preferably in a weight or volume of 4.286 g or ml, and Cepa, Euphrasia, Belladonna and Mercurius solubilis each in a weight or in a volume of 1.2 to 1.6 g or ml, preferably in a weight or in a volume of 1.429 g or ml per 10 ml or 10 g of solution or drug or food supplement.
It is conceivable to prepare the drug for oral administration and/or for topical application. The latter can for instance be relevant in the treatment of herpes labialis.
In accordance with a preferred aspect, the drug is present in liquid form, which can be an alcoholic solution for oral administration. Other solutions than alcohol are conceivable as well. In principle it is likewise conceivable to provide the drug in solid form, for instance as powder, tablets or globuli. It is also possible to provide the drug in pasty form or as an ointment.
The drug preferably is a homeopathic drug.
The ingredient NISYLEN® can contain the following ingredients: Aconitum napellus, Gelsemium sempervirens, Cephaelis ipecacuanha, Phosphorus, Bryonia and Eupatorium perfoliatum. It is conceivable that per 1 g of NISYLEN® the ingredients are included in the following amounts: 100 mg of Aconitum napellus D3, 100 mg of Gelsemium sempervirens D3, 100 mg of Cephaelis ipecacuanha D3, 100 mg of Phosphorus D5, 100 mg of Bryonia D2, and 100 mg of Eupatorium perfoliatum D1.
Further details and advantages of the invention will be explained in detail with reference to an embodiment illustrated below. Also, the drug and/or supplement can be packaged with instructions indicating the potential uses or ailments for which it may be taken, such as one or more of those noted herein.
The drug in accordance with the embodiment described here contains the following ingredients:
NISYLEN ®:4.286 gCepa D12:1.429 gEuphrasia D12:1.429 gBelladonna D15:1.429 gMercurius solubilis D12:1.429 g
These ingredients are present in an alcoholic solution in a volume of 10 ml.
As stated above, such a solution is, among other things, excellently suited for the treatment of herpes genitalis and of herpes labialis as well as for the treatment of affections of the prostate.
It can be provided to take for instance 3×5 drops per day in the case of adults and 3×2 drops per day in the case of children. Particularly preferably, the drug should be taken regularly.
In the acute stage, or preferably in the prodromal stage, a half-hourly to hourly application is conceivable as well, i.e. per half an hour to an hour e.g. 5 drops (adults) or 2 drops (children) of the solution should be taken.
It can be advantageous not to dilute the solution and keep it in the mouth as long as possible. It furthermore turns out to be advantageous to drink much, if possible about 3 l/day.
As stated above, the above-mentioned herpes diseases frequently have relapses, which can occur once or several times a year, possibly also every month. The medicaments known so far are helpful in the acute stage by shortening the course of the disease and possibly by alleviating the symptoms, but cannot prevent the occurrence of relapses. In addition, resistances to the known medicaments have meanwhile occurred.
The present disclosure opens up the possibility to achieve an effective treatment of herpes genitalis as well as herpes labialis by means of a particularly effective medicament/food supplement. An effective treatment of affections of the prostate, in particular of prostatitis or degenerations of the prostate, is possible as well.
In principle, deviations from the embodiment of the present disclosure described above in detail are comprised as well. The solvent need not be an alcoholic solvent. In principle, other suitable solvents can be used as well. As stated above, the present disclosure furthermore is not restricted to the application as liquid medicament. It is likewise conceivable to provide the medicament in solid form (tablets, powder, globuli) or as an ointment.

Drug and/or food supplement containing NISYLEN, Cepa, Euphrasia, Belladonna and/or Mercurius solubilis


A bonding body includes: an aluminum member composed of aluminum; and a metal member composed of any one of copper, nickel, and silver, wherein the aluminum member and the metal member are bonded together. In a bonding interface between the aluminum member and the metal member, a Ti layer and an Al—Ti—Si layer are formed, the Ti layer being disposed at the metal member side in the bonding interface, and the Al—Ti—Si layer being disposed between the Ti layer and the aluminum member and containing Si which is solid-solubilized into Al3Ti. The Al—Ti—Si layer includes: a first Al—Ti—Si layer formed at the Ti layer side; and a second Al—Ti—Si layer formed at the aluminum member side and a Si concentration of which is lower than a Si concentration of the first Al—Ti—Si layer.

In the semiconductor device such as a power module and a LED, it has a structure in which the semiconductor element is bonded onto a circuit layer composed of a conductive material.
Since a power semiconductor device of high-power control that is used to control wind power, electric vehicles such as electric automobiles, and the like, generates a large amount of heat, as a substrate mounting the power semiconductor device, in the case where a metal plate having excellent conductivity is bonded to one surface of a ceramic substrate (insulation layer) composed of, for example AN (aluminum nitride), or two metal plates having excellent conductivity are bonded to respective surfaces of the ceramic substrate, a power module substrate in which the metal plate disposed on one surface of the ceramic substrate is used as a circuit layer and another metal plate disposed on the other surface of the ceramic substrate is used as a metal layer has been widely used conventionally.
For example, in the power module shown in Patent Document 1, it has a structure including: a power module substrate in which a circuit layer (aluminum member) composed of Al and disposed on one surface of a ceramic substrate, and a metal layer composed of Al and disposed on the other surface of the ceramic substrate are formed; and a semiconductor device bonded on the circuit layer with a solder material interposed therebetween. A heat sink is bonded to the downside of the power module substrate, and the power module is configured to transfer the heat generated by the semiconductor device to the power module substrate side and to dissipate the heat to the outside via the heat sink.
As in the power module described in the Patent Document 1, when the circuit layer is composed of Al, an oxidation coating film of Al is formed on a surface of the circuit layer, and therefore, the semiconductor device cannot be bonded by the solder material. Also, when the metal layer is composed of Al, an oxidation coating film of Al is formed on a surface of the metal layer, and therefore, the heat sink cannot be bonded by the solder material.
Conventionally, as shown in, for example, Patent Document 2, a Ni plating film is formed on each surface of a circuit layer, metal layer and heat sink by electroless plating or the like, and then, they are bonded together by a solder material.
In addition, in Patent Document 3, as an alternative technique using the solder material, a technique in which a semiconductor device, metal layer, heat sink and so on are bonded together using a silver oxide paste that includes silver oxide particles and a reducing agent containing an organic substance has been proposed.
Furthermore, in Patent Document 4, a power module in which each of a circuit layer and metal layer is formed by an Al layer and Cu layer has been proposed. In this case, since the Cu layer is disposed on each surface of the circuit layer and metal layer, a good bonding of the semiconductor device can be performed using the solder material. Also, since Cu has a large deformation resistance as compared with Al, when a heat cycle is applied on the power module, a great deformation of the surface of the circuit layer and the surface of the metal layer can be prevented, the occurrence of cracks in a solder layer is prevented, and the bonding reliability between the semiconductor device and the circuit layer and the bonding reliability between the metal layer and the heat sink can be improved.
In addition, in the power module described in Patent Document 4, a bonding body in which an Al layer and Cu layer are bonded together with a Ti layer interposed therebetween is used as the circuit layer and the metal layer. Here, a diffusion layer is formed between the Al layer and Ti layer, and the diffusion layer has an Al—Ti layer, an Al—Ti—Si layer, and an Al—Ti—Cu layer such that the Al—Ti layer, Al—Ti—Si layer, and Al—Ti—Cu layer are sequentially arranged from the Al layer.

Bonding body, power module substrate, and heat-sink-attached power module substrate


A pressure sensor includes a cylindrical case defining an inner space in communication with an outer space; a pressure detector provided in the inner space and configured to detect a gauge pressure of a target fluid; an atmospheric pressure detector configured to detect an atmospheric pressure; and an electronic component configured to calculate an absolute pressure of the target fluid on a basis of the gauge pressure and the atmospheric pressure. The absolute pressure is obtained without requiring airtightness of the case between the inner space and the outer space, and thus, there is no requirement for a seal member to be included between the inner space and the outer space.

Some of typically known pressure sensors are configured to measure an absolute pressure of a target fluid (see, for instance, Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent No. 4885778)).
Patent Literature 1 discloses that a pressure standard chamber is formed in an inner space of a case and a pressure sensor element is housed within the pressure standard chamber. The absolute pressure of the target fluid is thus detectable by the pressure sensor element housed within the pressure standard chamber.
The pressure standard chamber of the pressure sensor disclosed in Patent Literature 1 has to be provided in the inner space of the case in order to detect the absolute pressure by the pressure sensor element. Accordingly, it is necessary to seal a gap between the inner space and an outer space using a seal member in order to ensure airtightness of the inner space. In this case, when, for instance, the seal member is damaged by vibration, impact or the like, airtightness of the inner space cannot be ensured, so that detection accuracy for the absolute pressure by the pressure sensor element possibly deteriorates.

Pressure sensor with increased absolute pressure detection


A method and an apparatus for treating coal gasification wastewater containing selenium and ions of a metal nobler than titanium eluted from a noble metal catalyst in a catalytic wet oxidation treatment using the noble metal catalyst, the method includes a pretreatment process removing the ions of the metal nobler than titanium and a selenium reduction process contacting the coal gasification wastewater with a mixture of metallic titanium and a simple metal baser than metallic titanium whereby a portion of the simple metal baser than metallic titanium is eluted, and the selenium in the coal gasification wastewater becomes reduced.

The following method is known: a method in which selenium is treated in such a manner that selenium-containing water such as coal gasification wastewater is contacted with a mixture of metallic titanium particles and metallic aluminum particles, aluminum is eluted by lowering pH during contacting, and selenium in wastewater is removed by subjecting selenium therein to reduction treatment by local cell action (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
The following method has been proposed for treating coal gasification wastewater by comprehensively treating SS, fluoride, cyanide, ammonia, and COD components contained in wastewater together with selenium: a method in which fluorine in wastewater is removed by flocculation-settling treatment, cyanides are decomposed by wet oxidation or the like, COD components and ammonia are oxidatively decomposed by catalytic wet oxidation, and selenium is then subjected to reduction treatment by the above method (Patent Document 3).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication 2008-30020A
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication 2009-11915A
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication 2010-221151A
Studies performed by the inventors have revealed a problem that selenium-treating performance decreases with time while such a series of treatments as disclosed in Patent Document 3 are being performed. The investigation of the cause of the problem has suggested that noble metal ions are eluted from a noble metal catalyst used for the catalytic wet oxidation treatment of COD components and ammonia prior to the reduction treatment of selenium to act as an inhibitory agent.
Regarding this, Patent Document 1, which relates to the reduction treatment of selenium, discloses nothing about a decrease in treatment performance due to a coexisting substance in selenium-containing water. Patent Document 2 discloses that performance is recovered by activating metallic titanium with acid; however, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 is incapable of solving the above problem.
In Patent Document 3, a problem with the elution of the noble metal ions from the noble metal catalyst is not investigated.

Method and apparatus for treating selenium-containing water


A method and device for transmitting data are disclosed, the method comprising: mapping the data to an ODUS, and mapping the ODUS into an OTUS, wherein the rate of the ODUS and the OTUS are M*100 Gb/s, M is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, and the tributary slot size of the ODUS and the OTUS are 100 Gb/s; distributing the OTUS into M groups of electric channel signals, wherein each group of electric channel signals corresponds to N electric layer channels, N is a positive integer; and mapping all the data distributed into the electric channel signals by the OTUS into the same OChS for transmission, wherein the rate of the OChS is M*100 Gb/s, the M groups of electric channel signals are carried by a single frequency sequence or multiple non-continuous frequency sequences, each frequency sequence carries m groups of electric channel signals, 1≦m≦M, m is an integer. The disclosure improves optical fibber utilization efficiency as well as system flexibility and compatibility.

The development trend of optical transmission technology presents a single channel higher rate (e.g. single channel 400 G/1 T transmission), a higher spectrum efficiency and a high order modulation format, and therefore the most clear-cut and important direction of optical transmission development is still to continue to improve the rate. The high speed transmission faces many restrictions which mainly have two aspects: on the one hand, the optical transmission technology develops towards high spectrum efficiency convergence transmission and high speed service interface transmission; if the spectrum efficiency cannot be improved continuously, it makes little sense to aggregate low speed to high speed and then to transmit; however, since there can be still a high speed Ethernet interface at a client side, a transmission problem of a high speed interface should be still considered, and 400 G will be a critical point of spectrum efficiency limitation; on the other hand, the optical transmission technology develops towards long distance (long span and multi-span), and although a system OSNR can be improved by means such as low loss fibre, low noise amplifier and reducing span interval, the improvement is limited and is difficult to make a significant breakthrough, and it is difficult to implement in engineering.
As the increasing demand for bearer network bandwidth, beyond 100 G technology becomes a solution to the bandwidth increasing demand, and whether it is 400 G or 1 T above 100 G, wavelength division multiplexing (referred to as WDM) of a traditional 50 GHz fixed grid cannot provide an enough spectrum width to achieve the beyond 100 G technology. Because of the defect of the fixed grid, it is put forward that a wider flexible grid is needed.
In the related art, beyond 100 G multi-rate hybrid transmission and beyond 100 G modulation code pattern flexibility lead to different channel bandwidth demands, and if each channel is specified an appropriate bandwidth, the system bandwidth can be made full use of, thus producing a flexible grid system. On the basis that the demands of a superspeed WDM system for continuously increasing demand for the bandwidth, the demand for flexible grid technology is introduced; however, many problems such as how to effectively plan and manage the spectrum, and the compatibility of the current system are all to be solved.
In view of the problem of how to effectively plan and manage the spectrum after introducing the flexible grid technology in the related art, no effective solution has been proposed so far.


The present invention relates to a novel silane coupling agent represented by Formula 1 below and a method for manufacturing the same. Because the compound has urethane and pyridine functional groups, it has superior storage stability and good adhesion property to a matrix resin having hydroxy groups, and thus can be used in a variety of applications.

Because the silane coupling agent has two or more different functional groups in one molecule, it is commonly used as medium for interconnecting organic and inorganic materials, which are otherwise hard to be combined. One of the functional groups, which may be methoxy or ethoxy, binds with inorganic materials such as glass, metal, sand, etc. The other functional group, which may be vinyl, epoxy, amino, methacryl or mercapto, reacts with organic materials such as a variety of synthetic resins. With regard to these properties, a variety of silane coupling agents are used to enhance affinity of organic resins with inorganic fillers or improve adhesion property of matrix resin type coating layers to substrates. For a silane coupling agent to be able to satisfy such needs, there should be chemical bonding or physical interactions between the functional group of an organic resin and the organic functional group of the silane coupling agent. In addition, there should be chemical bonding between the alkoxysilyl group of the silane coupling agent and an inorganic filler or a substrate. Accordingly, a variety of silane coupling agents having different organic functional groups are currently used.
At present, silane coupling agents containing urethane groups are widely used. Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 10-67787 discloses a method of manufacturing a silane coupling agent by thermal treatment of isocyanate silane and diethanolamine. Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 11-335378 discloses a method of manufacturing a silane coupling agent by reacting aminosilane with vinylbenzyl chloride and isocyanate. However, silane coupling agents having organic functional groups such as suitable for the case in which hydroxy groups (—OH) are present in the matrix resin are insufficient, as yet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide novel, useful silane coupling agent capable of binding with a matrix having hydroxy groups and a method for manufacturing the same.

Silane coupling agent and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract: where each of R1 and R2 is hydrogen or C1-C3 alkyl, a is an integer from 0 to 3, each of R3, R4, R5 and R6 is hydrogen, C1-C10 alkyl, halogen, trifluoroalkyl or alkoxyalkyl and n is an integer from 1 to 3.


An embodiment of the invention provides a chip package which includes: a first substrate; a second substrate disposed thereon, wherein the second substrate includes a lower semiconductor layer, an upper semiconductor layer, and an insulating layer therebetween, and a portion of the lower semiconductor layer electrically contacts with at least one pad on the first substrate; a conducting layer disposed on the upper semiconductor layer of the second substrate and electrically connected to the portion of the lower semiconductor layer electrically contacting with the at least one pad; an opening extending from the upper semiconductor layer towards the lower semiconductor layer and extending into the lower semiconductor layer; and a protection layer disposed on the upper semiconductor layer and the conducting layer, wherein the protection layer extends onto a portion of a sidewall of the opening, and does not cover the lower semiconductor layer in the opening.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip package, and in particular, relates to a multi-chip package.
Description of the Related Art
Along with the trend towards lighter, thinner, shorter, and smaller electronic devices, current semiconductor chip package structures tend to be high performance, multi-functional multi-chip package (MCP) structures. Multi-chip package (MCP) structures integrate a variety of semiconductor chips, such as logic chips, analog chips, control chips, memory chips, or micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) chips, in a single package.
Improved multi-chip package technology is required.

Chip package and method for forming the same


A land grid array (LGA) connector (1) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an insulative housing (2), a stiffener (3) coupled to the housing, and a plurality of ribs (23) projecting from a periphery edge of the housing. The stiffener defines an opening (31) for surrounding the housing. Each of the ribs has a base defining a mating surface (2321) and a mounting surface (2312). The stiffener is coupled to the housing by the rib mating surface abutting against a wall face (32) of the stiffener opening, and the rib mounting surface resting on a peripheral edge (320) of the stiffener that defines the opening. As such, a reliable coupling between the stiffener and the housing is achieved, thereby having no possibility of releasing the housing from the stiffener by an external, improper force.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of electrical connectors, and more particularly to an land grid array (LGA) connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
One type of the LGA connectors 1′ is shown in FIG. 5 for electrically connecting an IC package (not shown) and a printed circuit board (not shown). The LGA connector 1′ typically includes an insulative housing 2′ of a generally rectangular shape, a plurality of conductive terminals 6′ held within the insulative housing 2′, a stiffener 3′ defining an opening 31′ for grasping a periphery edge of the insulative housing 2′, a pressing cover 5′ and a lever 4′ respectively attached to opposite ends of the stiffener 3′ for cooperatively providing a downward force towards the IC package on the insulative housing 2′ so as to effect a reliable interconnection between the IC package and the printed circuit board through the LGA connector 1′.
Typically, the insulative housing 2′ is attached to the stiffener 3′ by a plurality of tabs 23′ projecting out from a peripheral edge of the insulative housing 2′ that interferingly engages sidewalls of the stiffener 3′. A problem, however, with the LGA connector 1′ is that the stiffener 3′ is prone to be released from the insulative housing 2′ if an external, improper force is applied thereto. This is so because the tab 23′ of the insulative housing 2′ interferingly engages the sidewall of the stiffener 3′ by providing a planar surface, that is substantially parallel to that sidewall of the stiffener 3′. For most instances, parallel surfaces between two objects cannot form a reliable attachment therebetween. Therefore, this will often result in an un-reliable attachment between the insulative housing 2′ and the stiffener 3′. In brief, it is understood that the reason why the housing 2′ and the stiffener 3′ engage each other with interference fit in a somewhat floating manner is to allow the vertical relative movement therebetween under a condition that the housing 2′ is mounted to the printed circuit board via soldering between the contacts 6 and the printed circuit board, and the stiffener 3′ is mounted to the printed circuit board via the fastening screws (not shown) extending through the screw holes 33′. Anyhow, such a floating manner may result in drop-off of the housing from the stiffener during delivery. Thus, how to achieve a floating manner between the housing and the stiffener for not only allowing respective mounting of the housing and the stiffener to the printed circuit board but also preventing drop-off of the housing from the stiffener during shipping, is an object of the invention.


Disclosed is a flat cable wiring structure allowed to be mounted to all automobiles and corresponding to various circuits. The flat cable wiring structure is provided with a flat cable winder including a case arranged at an end of the rail, and a rotating body accommodated in the case rotatably about a virtual central axis vertical to the car body floor and configured to wind the flat cable; and a flat cable housing extending in a longitudinal direction of the rail and including a pair of walls arranged along an outside surface of the rail and parallel to a side wall vertical to the rail, and a bottom wall connecting the pair of walls.

Slide sheets (movable members) in automobiles are configured to attach electric components thereto such as sheeting sensors which detest whether passengers have sat. Therefore, for the automobiles provided with slide sheets have been employed various types of feeders for slide sheets which guide wire harness to the side sheets from car body floor (see PTL 1 or 2, for example).
A feeder for slide sheet described in the PTL 1 is provided with rail as a case including a harness housing, a movable member (slide sheet) which slides the rail, a wire harness of which one end is supported by the movable member and the other end by the rail bending in the harness housing. Since this conventional feeder for slide sheet accommodates the wire harness in the wire housing with the wire harness bent, the wire harness may become large-sized.
Thereby, in order to resolve the above problem there have been advocated a conventional feeder for slide sheet as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional plane view illustrating in part a conventional feeder for slide sheet. FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of the conventional feeder for slide sheet shown in FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 13, the conventional feeder for slide sheet 102 is provided with a rail 103 to which the slide sheet 109 is attached, a winding device 104 disposed at an end of the rail 103 around which a flat cable 102 is wound. The aforementioned rail 103 is configured to wire the flat cable 102 there within. The rail 103 and the winding device 104 is positioned on a bottom of a groove 191 recessed from a surface of the car body floor 192. Since this conventional feeder for slide sheet 101 is configured to wind an excess of the flat cable 102 with the winder 104, eliminating of the harness housing described in the PTL 1 allowed for downsizing.


A method of detecting a fault in a circuit design undergoing emulation, includes in part, computing N signatures of a corresponding reference circuit design during each of the N cycles, computing N signatures of the circuit design undergoing emulation during each of the N cycles, comparing, for each of the N cycles, the signature of the reference circuit design to the signature of the circuit design undergoing emulation, and detecting whether a mismatch exists between the reference circuit design signature and the signature of the circuit design undergoing emulation during each of the N cycles. The method further includes comparing the signatures of the submodules of the reference circuit design to the signatures of the corresponding submodules of the circuit design undergoing emulation to enable root causing submodule functional failures. Optionally, each signature may computed by performing a logic function on a multitude of output signals of the circuit design.

It often takes a considerable amount of time and effort to bring-up a hardware platform, such as field programmable gate array (FPGA) based emulator, to verify an integrated circuit (IC) design. As is well known, such systems are used for modeling the behavior of the IC logic designs and to ensure that they operate as expected. The reason the so-called bring-up of such systems is time consuming may be attributed to a number of factors such as reduced signal visibility, implementation flaws (e.g. functional issues in netlist and/or undetected timing violations), diminished ability to synthesize assertion statements, and the like.
Unlike circuit simulation which enables full visibility into a design, in FPGA based emulation or prototyping, the only way to read the value of a register is either to insert a probe in the design that allows the monitoring of the register/net, or alternatively to use other techniques, such as readback (built in hardware scan chains in commercial FPGAs) to scan the value of the registers.
In a conventional System-on-Chip (SoC) design, verification data is applied to the input terminals of the device undergoing test (DUT) or emulation. After a certain number of clock cycles elapses, the DUT output signal waveforms are analyzed to determine if they have processed the input data as expected. Simulators, emulators and FPGA-prototypes each have unique benefits and shortcomings.
FPGA-prototypes (and emulators) suffer from limited waveform visibility, which makes the debugging of the SoC difficult. Also, the prototyping/emulation engineer often has no understanding of how the SoC functions, and usually is given limited means to verify whether the prototyping run was a pass or a fail. Therefore, even if unlimited waveform visibility were to exist, it would still require the assistance of a design/verification engineer to understand why the prototype failed to function as intended.
Furthermore, it is not always clear whether the failure in an FPGA prototype was due to a functional problem in the register transfer logic (RTL), or due to a logic or timing bug introduced during the implementation flow, which is even more difficult to debug.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Generation of module and system-level waveform signatures to verify, regression test and debug SoC functionality


Targeting information (also referred to as ad “serving constraints”) or candidate targeting information for an advertisement is identified. Targeting information may be identified by extracting topics or concepts from, and/or generating topics or concepts based on, ad information, such as information from a Web page to which an ad is linked (or some other Web page of interest to the ad or advertiser). The topics or concepts may be relevant queries associated with the Web page of interest, clusters, etc.

Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns advertising, such as on-line advertising. More particularly, the present invention concerns helping on-line advertisers to target their ads.
Description of Related Art
Advertising using traditional media, such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines, is well known. Advertisers have used these types of media to reach a large audience with their advertisements ("ads"). To reach a more responsive audience, advertisers have used demographic studies. For example, advertisers may use broadcast events such as football games to advertise beer and action movies to a younger male audience. However, even with demographic studies and entirely reasonable assumptions about the typical audience of various media outlets, advertisers recognize that much of their ad budget is simply wasted because the target audience is not interested in the ad they are receiving.
Interactive media, such as the Internet, has the potential for better targeting of advertisements. For example, some websites provide an information search functionality that is based on query keywords entered by the user seeking information. This user query can be used as an indicator of the type of information of interest to the user. By comparing the user query to a list of keywords specified by an advertiser, it is possible to provide some form of targeted advertisements to these search service users. An example of such a system is the Adwords system offered by Google, Inc.
While systems such as Adwords have provided advertisers the ability to better target ads, advertisers would like to have help so that they can target their ads more effectively and/or more easily.
It would be useful, therefore, to have methods, apparatus and data structures for helping advertisers to target their ads more effectively and/or more easily.

Suggesting and/or providing ad serving constraint information


Self-supporting pleated fluid filter medium and method of making the same wherein the filter medium and accompanying flow-through border frame are of coated thermobondable materials, which are heat bonded together.

The present invention relates to a flow-through filter medium product and more particularly to a unique and novel unified filter medium, border frame therefore and method of assembling the novel filter medium to the border frame to assure a sturdy and stable unit filter arrangement for efficient treatment of a high velocity fluid stream.
It has been long known to utilize thermoplastic, melt blown materials for filtration purposes, attention being directed to U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,235, issued to C. B. Hassenboehler, Jr. et al on Jul. 2, 1996, which utilizes such an arrangement in the manufacturing of cigarette filters. Attention is further directed to the heat bonding arrangements disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,041, issued to G. K. Buerger et al on Jul. 29, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,735, issued to D. G. Midkiff et al on Jan. 20, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,318, issued to Kyung-Ju Choi on Dec. 12, 2000; and, to U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,653, issued to Kyung-Ju Choi et al on Jul. 3, 2001. In addition to the heat bondable filter medium set forth in each of these aforementioned patents, attention also is directed to the border frame support units and manufacturing processes disclosed in certain of these aforementioned patents.
Recognizing the broad features of the prior art as taught by the prior art, the present invention provides an efficient, economical, and, straight forward structure for a unique filter medium with compressed edges which enhances both binding assembly and subsequent filtration efficiency. The present invention further provides a unique and compatible unified border frame member to cooperatively receive and support such novel filter medium of the present invention and which also enhances filter unit assembly sealing operations. In addition, the present invention provides a unique and novel unified assembly arrangement requiring a minimum of efficient and economical steps to sealingly join the novel filter medium and novel border frame member to produce an efficient, sturdy and stable filter unit, capable of ready installation for the filter treatment of high velocity fluid streams.
Various other features of the structural arrangement of the novel edge treated filter medium, novel support border frame therefore and the novel method, all as disclosed in a unified manner herein, will become obvious to one skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth herein.

Thermobondable filter medium and border frame and method of making same