A virtual memory system that maintains a list of pages that are required to be resident in a frame buffer to guarantee the eventual forward progress of a graphics application context running on a graphics system composed of multiple clients. Pages that are required to be in the frame buffer memory are never swapped out of that memory. The required page list can be dynamically sized or fixed sized. A tag file is used to prevent page swapping of a page from the frame buffer that is required to make forward progress. A forward progress indicator signifies that a page faulting client has made forward progress on behalf of a context. The presence of a forward progress indicator is used to clear the tag file, thus enabling page swapping of the previously tagged pages from the frame buffer memory.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to memory management systems suitable for use with graphic systems. More particularly, this invention relates to using forward progress information to manage physical page memory to ensure that graphic system memory clients make forward progress.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems invariably include memory. In fact, most computer system have many different types and classes of memories, e.g., main memory, cache memory, read-only memory, random access memory, hard disk memory, flash memory, and so on. However, a simple reference to computer memory usually refers to the main memory that stores the program instructions that a processor executes as well as the data that those instructions use and produce.
The amount and type of main memory is very important to overall system performance. Main memory systems can be and usually are comprised of both dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and disk memory. DRAM is very fast; data reads and writes often occur in times measured in nanoseconds. Unfortunately, while fast, DRAM is also relatively expensive. That expense tends to limit the amount of DRAM that is available. To augment their DRAM, modern computers incorporate disk memory into their main memory systems. Disk memory is very slow when compared to DRAM, having read and write times measured in milliseconds. Beneficially however, disk memory is much cheaper than DRAM. While what follows often discusses disk memory, primarily because disk memory is so common, in practice when disk memory is used it should be understood that other types of memory, for example, "ram disk" memory also can be used. It should also be understood that in the context of discussing virtual memory systems, the term "physical memory" applies to the system's DRAM.
The need to integrate both physical memory and disk memory to form the illusion of an integrated main memory has lead to the development of virtual memory systems and virtual memory managers. A virtual memory manager can enable an application (computer program) running on a computer system to be able to uniformly access far more memory than the computer actually has in physical memory. The application is said to access "virtual memory" whose underlying storage is actually made up of a combination of physical and disk memory, which is managed behind the scenes (from the point of view of the software application) by the virtual memory manager.
Most virtual memory managers use the concept of pages. Programs and their associated data are stored in pages, with the frequently used pages being kept available in physical memory. Less often used pages are stored in disk memory. When a page that is not in physical memory is required by the software application, the operating system/virtual memory manager asserts a page fault exception. When a page fault exception occurs the virtual memory manager causes a requested page that is in disk memory to be inserted into physical memory and the displaced page in physical memory is moved to disk memory to make room for the incoming page. This process is called page swapping.
Virtual memory systems and virtual memory managers are implemented using a combination of hardware mechanisms and operating system software mechanisms. For performance efficiency, virtual memory systems are usually implemented in such a way that when a virtual memory access by an application would result in a physical memory access without requiring any page swap, the requisite physical access would normally be made entirely using hardware mechanisms that are much faster than software.
The page replacement algorithm, also referred to as the page manager, of the manager component of the virtual memory subsystem is responsible for deciding which page to evict from physical memory and write back to disk in order to make space for the requested page. The page manager is also responsible for initiating the associated transfers between DRAM and disk. The page manager updates various tables that the hardware and software use to keep track of the mapping between virtual pages and DRAM or disk pages. Because the page manager is usually implemented in software and because it can afford to take some time to make a decision, the page manager can use relatively sophisticated algorithms to decide which page's eviction is likely to be least detrimental to system performance.
Virtual memory systems are very useful since they allow a computer to run software applications (or programs) that require more memory than the available physical memory, while not burdening the software application (or its programmer) with any knowledge of the underlying composition of the storage that the program is running on (or will run on). Furthermore, virtual memory allows each computer program to run in a private virtual memory context, which gives a program the illusion that it can use the same virtual memory address range each time that it runs, even if other programs (or other instances of the same program) are running (or will run) on the system concurrently with that program. This per-program instance of a virtual memory context enables modern multitasking such as running a word processor, a graphics program, a spreadsheet, and a database all at the same time, and without requiring any one of those program to have knowledge that there may be other programs running concurrently.
While highly beneficial, virtual memory systems are not without problems. If a computer system has insufficient physical memory, the virtual memory manager can cause constant (or almost constant) page swapping, a condition called thrashing, which leads to poor system performance. However, this problem is generally well understood and is typically addressed by incorporating sufficient physical memory to prevent or to reduce thrashing to an acceptable level.
While prior art computer systems have benefited from virtual memory and virtual memory managers, the prior art approach to virtual memory management may be insufficient to handle the memory requirements of modern and future graphics processing units (GPUs). Over recent years graphics processing has developed into extremely high speed, parallel processing systems composed of multiple memory clients that can perform mathematical and related operations on very large amounts of data that must be read from and/or written to the GPU's main memory. It should be noted that traditionally (i.e., in GPUs that do not implement virtual memory), a GPU's main memory is often referred to as the "frame buffer."
In graphics terminology, a "memory client" is a hardware entity within the GPU that can process data that is stored in the GPU's main memory to achieve a desired result. For example, a graphical processing device produced by the assignee of the present invention includes multiple shader pipelines, each having multiple processing stations (such as texture stations), and each of which can be individually programmed to process segments of data. Each pipeline's texture station would be a memory client because it reads and operates on texture data stored in the GPU's main memory to achieve a desired result for which the pipeline is programmed. Other clients can include raster operation processors, rasterizers, geometry engines, etc.
Graphic processing programs can be divided up into groups of specific tasks that are to be accomplished. Those tasks are referred to herein as contexts. A context itself can be divided into threads, with a thread being a portion of the context that can be "completed." That is a thread produces a given result that can then be used by other threads. In doing so a thread "retires data" in that the data is no longer required by the thread.
A challenge presented by modern graphical systems is ensuring that each memory client has the information (program and data) required to perform its assigned tasks. As the number of clients increases and as the amount of data each client can process increases it becomes very important, and more difficult, to ensure that all clients are actually making progress. Page swapping, while beneficial, cannot by itself ensure that multiple clients make progress.
The underlying problem is that the multiple memory clients may be competing against each other for the same physical memory. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that all the clients may need to work cooperatively, requiring certain pages from each clients to be concurrently present in physical memory in order to finish processing some work before encountering another page fault. For example, if one client needs four pages to make progress, but one page is missing, another client might need several additional pages. Then, one of the four required pages for the first client might be swapped out of physical memory into disk memory to make room for a page required by the second client. Because of other clients causing page swaps the first client may never have access to all of the pages it needs to make progress. Likewise, the other clients may never have access to all of the pages they need to make progress. The result is excessive thrashing and possibly a frozen graphics system.
Therefore, a method of ensuring that required pages are available such that the graphical system makes progress would be beneficial. Also beneficial would be a simple hardware mechanism that can be used to ensure that forward progress is or will be made.

Memory management system having a forward progress bit


A method is provided for generating a digital signal from an analog signal generated using a frequency converter on the basis of pulse width modulation with a variable period duration, values of the digital signal corresponding to an average value of the analog signal over an associated period duration of the pulse width modulation. The method includes the acts of: generating a bit stream on the basis of the analog signal using a sigma-delta modulator, the bit stream being generated with a constant modulator clock; generating temporally successive digital samples during an associated period duration by filtering the bit stream using a number of digital filters, intervals of time between the temporally successive digital samples being multiples of the modulator clock, the digital filters being started with a time delay with respect to one another in the intervals of time of the multiples of the modulator clock, and a respective digital filter outputting an associated digital sample, and forming an average value of the digital samples generated during the associated period duration, the average value forming the value of the digital signal (DS) for the associated period duration.

The invention relates to a method and a device for generating a digital signal from an analog signal generated using a frequency converter on the basis of pulse width modulation with a variable period duration, values of the digital signal corresponding to an average value of the analog signal over an associated period duration of the pulse width modulation.
Conventional frequency converters typically output a so-called phase voltage which is generated on the basis of pulse width modulation. An effective voltage generated using the frequency converter at a winding of a multiphase electric motor is the difference between two such phase voltages. For the rest, reference is also made to the relevant specialist literature.
During the controlled driving of electric motors, it may be necessary to determine the DC voltage component of the pulse-width-modulated voltage or of the effective motor voltage.
GB 2 440 559 A describes a method in which a pulse-width-modulated voltage generated by a frequency converter is digitized using a sigma-delta modulator. In order to determine a respective digital measured voltage value, an integral is continuously formed over precisely one associated period duration of the pulse width modulation. This formation of an integral corresponds to a first-order Hogenauer filter.
Frequency converters are often operated in a group and are synchronized in this case using a superordinate controller. During synchronization, the need may arise to change the period duration on which the pulse width modulation is based.
In the method described in GB 2 440 559 A, a change in the period duration could be regenerated by accordingly taking into account more or fewer modulator clocks in the integration.
If higher-order digital filters are required on account of the demands imposed on the signal quality, a bit stream output by a sigma-delta modulator may be filtered, for example, using a higher-order, for example a second-order or third-order, Hogenauer filter.
The transfer function of such Hogenauer filters is determined by a clock of the bit stream output by the sigma-delta modulator (modulator clock), a filter order and the so-called oversampling ratio. The oversampling ratio describes the ratio between the input sampling rate and the output sampling rate generated during sampling rate conversion, that is to say the ratio between the modulator clock and the clock of the filtered values or samples output by the filter. The sampling rate consequently results from the modulator clock divided by the oversampling ratio. For the rest, reference is also made to the relevant specialist literature in this respect.
In order to be able to measure the voltage in a pulse-width-modulating system using a Hogenauer filter, the resulting sampling rate of the Hogenauer filter must be an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of the pulse width modulation as exactly as possible in order to be able to effectively suppress the switching frequency. An integral or average value can then be formed over these samples within a respective period of the pulse width modulation in order to apply the notch frequency to the switching frequency.
In order to adapt the above-mentioned method to a variable period duration of the pulse width modulation, the modulator clock can be dynamically adapted to the period duration, for example. However, jitter of the modulator clock or omission of clocks results in a considerable reduction in the maximum possible number of effective bits (ENOB). Alternatively or additionally, the oversampling ratio can be dynamically adapted to the period duration of the pulse width modulation, but this results in miscalculations during adaptation in the Hogenauer filter and also influences the frequency behavior and the gain of the Hogenauer filter.
The invention is based on the object of providing a method and a device for generating a digital signal from an analog signal generated using a frequency converter on the basis of pulse width modulation with a variable period duration, which method and device can be easily adapted to a variable period duration and can be used to implement filters with an order of greater than one.
The invention achieves this object by means of a method and a device according to embodiments of the invention.
The method is used to produce a digital signal from an analog signal which is generated using a frequency converter on the basis of pulse width modulation with a variable period duration. Values of the digital signal correspond to an average value of the analog signal over an associated period duration of the pulse width modulation.
The digital signal or its values is/are continuously generated for each period of the pulse-width-modulated analog signal. The values of the digital signal have a delimited and graduated set of values. The digital signal may also be defined, in terms of its temporal sequence, only at particular periodic times, for example at the end of a respective period of the pulse-width-modulated analog signal, or may have a change in its values. The digital signal is formed from the analog signal, which describes the temporally continuous profile of a physical variable, for example current or voltage, by means of sampling, which is carried out at defined times, and quantization. Corresponding coding can be used to convert the digital signal or its values into a binary representation, for example with a digital word length of 8, 16, 24 or 32 bits.
In the method, a bit stream (binary range of values of zero and one) is generated on the basis of the analog signal using a conventional sigma-delta modulator, the bit stream being generated with a constant modulator clock, for example in a modulator clock range of between 5 MHz and 50 MHz.
A plurality of temporally successive digital samples are generated from the bit stream generated in this manner during a respective period duration or a respective period of the pulse width modulation. The digital samples can be coded in a binary manner with a word length of 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 bits, for example.
Intervals of time between respective successive digital samples are integer multiples of the modulator clock.
The operation of generating the temporally successive digital samples comprises the following steps:
The bit stream is filtered using a number of (at least two) independent digital, in particular sampling-rate-reducing, filters for generating the digital samples, the digital filters being started with a time delay at the desired interval of time between the successive digital samples. After a respective filter has been started, the bit string can be applied to the filter in the modulator clock and the filter can process the bit values in the bit string according to its filter function, can reduce the bit rate, can output its associated digital sample after a processing period, etc.
The period duration can be represented in multiples of the modulator clock. If the period duration is k modulator clocks and a number of samples, which are generated during a respective period duration or a respective period of the pulse width modulation and are distributed over the respective period duration or respective period, is r, the intervals of time between successive digital samples are each set to k/r modulator clocks, provided that k can be divided by r without a remainder. For this situation, the digital samples are distributed in a completely equidistant manner over the period duration or period.
If k cannot be divided by r without a remainder, the intervals of time between successive samples are set in such a manner that a distribution of the samples which is as temporally equidistant as possible over the period duration or period results, in which case a sum of the intervals of time between the successive samples is equal to the period duration.
If the period duration in modulator clock units is k=31 and the number of samples is r=3 as a numerical example, the intervals of time in modulator clock units may be (11, 10, 10), (10, 11, 10) or (10, 10, 11).
If the period duration in modulator clock units is k=32 and r=3 as another numerical example, the intervals of time may be (11, 11, 10), (10, 11, 11) or (11, 10, 11).
Finally, if the period duration in modulator clock units is k=33 and r=3 as another numerical example, the intervals of time (11, 11, 11) are selected as an equidistant distribution.
The digital filters may be operated or may operate at least temporarily in a temporally overlapping manner during the period duration or period.
A respective digital filter outputs an associated digital sample, the digital samples likewise being output by the different digital filters with a temporal distance from one another.
A value of the digital signal which belongs to the respective period duration or period and represents the average value of the analog signal over the period duration or period is calculated by forming an average value of the digital samples generated during the period duration or period.
The intervals of time between the digital samples may be set or calculated on the basis of the variable period duration PD. The number of digital samples per period duration or period may be stipulated as constant irrespective of the period duration. It is only necessary to ensure that a distribution of the digital samples which is as equidistant as possible within the period duration or period results. In other words, the intervals of time between the digital samples are set or calculated on the basis of the variable period duration PD in such a manner that a distribution of the digital samples which is as temporally equidistant as possible over the period or period duration results.
A respective digital filter may have or implement a sinc3 filter function.
A respective digital filter may be designed to output an associated digital sample every n modulator clocks.
The intervals of time between the temporally successive digital samples in modulator clock units may each be smaller than n in order to avoid weighting gaps.
The number of digital filters may be selected to be equal to the number of digital samples per period duration of the pulse width modulation, that is to say each digital filter outputs precisely one associated digital sample.
Alternatively, the number of digital filters may be selected to be smaller than the number of digital samples per period duration of the pulse width modulation, that is to say a digital filter outputs more than only an individual associated digital sample in succession over the course of the period duration or period. For this situation, the digital filter is restarted immediately or after a waiting time after it has output a digital sample.
64≦n≦128 may apply.
The digital filters may each have identical weighting functions (pulse response), the digital filters being started with a time delay with respect to one another in such a manner that weighting functions of digital filters which produce temporally adjacent digital samples at least partially overlap.
The period duration of the pulse width modulation may be in a range between 62.5 μs and 1 ms.
The device for generating a digital signal from an analog signal generated using a frequency converter on the basis of pulse width modulation with a variable period duration is designed to carry out the method mentioned above. The device has: a sigma-delta modulator for generating the bit stream, a number of (at least two) digital filters for filtering the bit stream and generating the digital samples, and an averager for forming the average value of the digital samples generated during the period duration.

Method and device for producing a digital signal


According to various embodiments, a frame cassette includes a housing and a mounting structure within the housing. The mounting structure includes a plurality of tape-frame slots, each tape-frame slot configured to receive a tape-frame. The housing includes an opening configured to introduce a tape-frame into a tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots, or to remove the tape frame from the tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots. The housing also includes an electrostatic discharge protection. A corresponding automatic transportation system and method of automatic transportation of semiconductor wafers is also provided.

Generally, a wafer may be handled via a so-called tape-frame during one or more processes in semiconductor industry, e.g. during dicing processes. The wafer handling via a tape-frame may include adhering the wafer to a tape and stabilizing the tape via a tape-frame. In a dicing process, for example, a wafer may be mounted on a so-called dicing tape which has a sticky surface fixing the wafer, wherein the dicing tape may be adhered to a tape-frame, e.g. a metal frame or a plastic frame. A tape-frame may also be referred to as wafer-frame, dicing ring, metal film frame, or wafer ring. A tape may also be referred to as dicing tape, wafer tape, or back grinding tape. In general, the wafer handling using tapes and tape-frames may be performed in a so-called frame cassette in the back-end of line (BEOL), e.g. for wafer dicing processes, die-bonding process, for shipping, handling, and/or storage. Thereby, the frame cassette may be transported for example manually, e.g. via a human handle at the frame cassette.


A combustor fuel nozzle includes a center body and an inner shroud that circumferentially surrounds at least a portion of the center body. The inner shroud has a downstream surface. The fuel nozzle includes an inner passage between the center body and the inner shroud, an outer passage that circumferentially surrounds at least a portion of the inner shroud and a first plurality of fuel ports extending substantially radially outward through the center body. The first plurality of fuel ports is upstream from the downstream surface of the inner shroud. A method for supplying fuel to a combustor fuel nozzle includes flowing a working fluid through an inner passage between a center body and an inner shroud, injecting a fuel from the center body against the inner shroud, and flowing a portion of the working fluid through an outer passage that surrounds at least a portion of the inner shroud.

Gas turbines are widely used in commercial operations for power generation. Gas turbine combustors generally operate on a liquid and/or a gaseous fuel mixed with a compressed working fluid such as air. The flexibility to run a gas turbine on either fuel provides a great benefit to gas turbine operators.
It is widely known that the thermodynamic efficiency of a gas turbine increases as the operating temperature, namely the combustion gas temperature, increases. It is also known that higher combustion gas temperatures may be attained by providing a rich fuel/air mixture in the combustion zone of a combustor. However, higher combustion temperatures resulting from a rich liquid or gaseous fuel/air mixture significantly increase the generation of nitrogen oxide or NOx, which is an undesirable exhaust emission. NOx levels may be reduced by providing a lean fuel/air ratio for combustion or by injecting additives, such as water, into the combustor.
To provide a lean fuel/air mixture the fuel and air may be premixed prior to combustion. The premixing may take place in a dual-fuel combustor fuel nozzle, which includes multiple fuel injection ports, an inner flow region and an outer flow region. As the gas turbine cycles through various operating modes, fuel is injected into the inner and/or outer flow regions for premixing with the working fluid. A variety of dual-fuel nozzles exist which allow premixing of a liquid and/or gaseous fuel with a working fluid prior to combustion. However, an improved fuel nozzle and method for supplying fuel to a combustor that improves the uniformity of the fuel mixture would be useful.

Combustor fuel nozzle and method for supplying fuel to a combustor


An ignition coil includes a cylindrical portion that includes a primary coil and a secondary coil, which are coaxially wound. The cylindrical portion can be inserted into a plughole of an engine. The cylindrical portion has a tip end in an axial direction thereof. The tip end of the cylindrical portion has a plug mounting hole, into which a sparkplug is mounted. The plug mounting hole accommodates a high voltage terminal, which electrically connects with one of the secondary coil, and a coil spring, which makes contact with the high voltage terminal. The cylindrical portion has a base end portion in one axial end thereof. The base end portion of the cylindrical portion includes at least one flange portion. The at least one flange portion radially outwardly protrudes. The at least one flange portion has multiple bolt insertion holes, through which a bolt is respectively inserted.

An ignition coil is mounted to a cylinder of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle or the like. The ignition coil is electrically connected with a sparkplug to generate a spark in a combustion chamber of a cylinder. When fuel is burned in the combustion chamber, fuel is ionized, so that ion current flows between electrodes of the sparkplug. The ion current is detected to evaluate whether miss fire arises in the combustion chamber.
Ion current flowing between the electrodes of the spark plug is significantly small. Therefore, a specific condition needs to be satisfied to stably detect the ion current.
For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,303 (JP-A-2001-85139), a sparkplug is electrically connected with a secondary coil in an ignition coil. A spring member (coil spring) is interposed between a spring supporting portion of a high voltage terminal and a head portion of the sparkplug. The spring supporting portion rises from an inner wall of the high voltage terminal, which is provided to a plug mounting hole of the ignition coil. In this structure, the spring member maintains a contact condition between the spring supporting portion and the head portion of the sparkplug, so that an instantaneous disconnection is restricted thereamong.
However, when external force such as vibration is applied to the ignition coil, the spring member vibrates between the high voltage terminal and the sparkplug. Therefore, a contact condition between the high voltage terminal and the spring member varies, and a contact condition between the sparkplug and the spring member also varies. As a result, electric resistance may change among these components.
Furthermore, an ignition coil have a following problem, regardless of whether the ignition coil includes an ion current detecting function or not. When a spring member vibrates between a high voltage terminal and a sparkplug, abrasion may be caused thereamong. As a result, abrasion powder is formed thereamong, and the abrasion power is oxidized. The oxidized abrasion power may become an electrically insulative matter. When oxidized abrasion power is interposed among the spring member, the high voltage terminal, and the sparkplug, electrical conductivity may become insufficient among the components.

Ignition coil having rigid mounting structure


A tonometer tip disinfection apparatus for disinfecting and rinsing a tonometer tip includes a first basin configured to hold a disinfecting solution, a second basin configured to hold a rinsing solution, a holding platform configured to receive at least one tonometer tip, a tonometer tip support arm configured to support a tonometer tip having a tip end in an orientation allowing the tip end to reside at least in part within the first and second basins, and a transportation assembly configured to automatically move the tonometer tip support arm between the first and second basins and the holding platform.

One of the most common tools used in an eye exam is the Goldmann Applanation Tonometer, which measures the eye pressure when a small plastic tip is gently placed against the anesthetized cornea. This small plastic tip must be disinfected between patients. The current recommended method is to leave the tip in 3% peroxide for 5 to 10 minutes, followed by rinsing in water. If, however, the plastic tip is left too long in the peroxide, corrosion will occur to the plastic and require it to be replaced at substantial cost and inconvenience. In a busy office with multiple tonometers, multiple patients and multiple staff, losing track of how long the tonometer tip has been in the peroxide, or leaving the tips in the peroxide overnight, is a frequent occurrence. In addition, it is possible with this regimen that a small amount of disinfectant could remain on the tip, or that some disinfectant could accumulate in the water bath after several uses of a disinfecting solution. Accordingly, there is need for an automatic apparatus to soak the tip in peroxide for a predetermined period of time and thereafter remove the tip from the peroxide, rinse it with water one or more period of time, and dry it out.

Automatic tonometer tip disinfection apparatus


A heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system includes an enclosure that is divided by a partition extending between a first panel and a second panel of the enclosure such that the partition defines an outdoor air flow path and a return air flow path through the enclosure. The partition includes an opening extending between the outdoor airflow path and the return airflow path. The HVAC system also includes an energy recovery wheel that translatably extends through the opening and is positioned within the outdoor air flow path and the return air flow path. The energy recovery wheel is disposed within the enclosure at an oblique angle relative to the outdoor air flow path and the return air flow path.

This disclosure relates generally to heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to an energy recovery wheel assembly for HVAC units.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light and not as an admission of any kind.
A heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system may be used to thermally regulate an environment, such as a building, home, or other structure. The HVAC system generally includes a vapor compression system that includes heat exchangers, such as a condenser and an evaporator, which transfer thermal energy between the HVAC system and the environment. In many cases, the HVAC system may direct a continuous flow of fresh outdoor air into a building to provide ventilation and improved air quality within the building, while stale return air of the building is discharged into an ambient environment, such as the atmosphere. The HVAC system may include an energy recovery wheel that is configured to recover energy from the return air prior to discharging the return air into the atmosphere, thus improving an efficiency of the HVAC system.
For example, the energy recovery wheel may be situated within and configured to rotate relative to a flow path of the return air and a flow path of the outdoor air. The energy recovery wheel typically includes heat transfer elements that are configured to transition between the return air flow path and the outdoor air flow path of the HVAC system as the energy recovery wheel rotates. The heat transfer elements are generally porous and enable air flowing therethrough to absorb thermal energy from or release thermal energy to the heat transfer elements. In cases when the HVAC system is operating in a cooling mode, the return air discharging from the building may be cooler than the outdoor air entering the HVAC system. Accordingly, when the energy recovery wheel rotates, the heat transfer elements may cyclically absorb thermal energy from the warmer outdoor air and subsequently release the absorbed thermal energy to the cooler return air passing through the return air flow path. As a result, the energy recovery wheel may pre-cool the outdoor air before the outdoor air flows across the evaporator of the HVAC system. In some cases, it is desirable to access the energy recovery wheel for maintenance or other purposes. Unfortunately, energy recovery wheels of conventional HVAC systems may be difficult to access and typically involve significant disassembly of the HVAC system to enable cleaning, replacement, or other maintenance of the energy recovery wheel.

Removable energy recovery wheel assembly for an HVAC system


A monoconical antenna comprises: a substantially conical concavity formed in one end face of a dielectric; a radiation electrode provided on the surface of the concavity; and a ground conductor provided in proximity to and substantially in parallel with the other end face opposite the one end face of the dielectric. The monoconical antenna is so constituted that electrical signals are fed to between the near vertex region of the radiation electrode and the region of the ground conductor. The half-cone angle α of the substantially conical concavity formed in the one end face of the dielectric is determined by a predetermined rule corresponding to relative dielectric constant ∈r. Thus, the quality of wideband characteristics inherent in the monoconical antenna can be sufficiently maintained, and further size reduction can be accomplished by dielectric loading.

With the enhancement of speed of and the reduction in the price of wireless LAN systems, recently, the demand for them has significantly grown. Especially these days, the introduction of personal area network (PAN) has been widely considered to build a small-scale wireless network among a plurality of pieces of electronic equipment common around the house for information communication. For example, different radio communication systems have been defined using frequency bands, such as 2.4-GHz band and 5-GHz band, for which licenses from competent authorities are unnecessary.
In radio communication including wireless LAN, information is transmitted through antennas. For example, a monoconical antenna comprises a radiation electrode formed in a substantially conical concavity in a dielectric, and a ground electrode formed on the bottom face of the dielectric. Thus, a small antenna having relatively wideband characteristics can be constituted by the wavelength shortening effect from the dielectric positioned between the radiation electrode and the ground electrode.
An antenna having wideband characteristics can be used in UWB (Ultra-WideBand) communication wherein, for example, data is spread in as ultra-wide a frequency band as 3 GHz to 10 GHz for transmission and reception. A small antenna contributes to reduction in the size and weight of radio equipment.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8(1996)-139515 discloses a small dielectric vertical polarization antenna for wireless LAN. This dielectric vertical polarization antenna is constituted as follows: one base of a cylindrical dielectric is conically hollowed out, and a radiation electrode is formed there, and an earth electrode is formed on the base on the opposite side. The radiation electrode is drawn out to the earth electrode side through a conductor in a through hole. (Refer to FIG. 1 in the Unexamined Patent Publication.)
FIG. 5 in the Unexamined Patent Publication illustrates the antenna characteristics of this dielectric vertical polarization antenna. According to the figure, its operating band is approximately 100 MHz. (The center frequency is approximately 2.5 GHz; therefore, the relative bandwidth is approximately 4%.) The monoconical antenna has inherently an operating band not less than one octave; therefore, it cannot be said that the above antenna sufficiently delivers expected wideband characteristics.
The miniaturization of an antenna means reduction in, for example, its profile or width. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9(1997)-153727 presents a proposal with respect to reduction in the width of monoconical antenna. However, the proposal is such that a radiation conductor should be simply formed in the shape of semi-elliptic solid of revolution, and whether it is applicable to the structure of an antenna whose side face is covered with dielectric without any modification is unknown.
FIG. 31 schematically illustrates the constitution of a monoconical antenna having a single conical radiation electrode. The monoconical antenna illustrated in the figure comprises a radiation conductor formed in substantially conical shape, and a ground conductor formed with a gap provided between it and the radiation conductor. Electrical signals are fed to the gap.
FIG. 32 illustrates an example of the VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) characteristics of a monoconical antenna. A VSWR not more than 2 is attained over a wide range from 4 GHz to 9 GHz, and this indicates that the antenna has a wide relative bandwidth.
One of known methods for further widening the band of this monoconical antenna is loading resistance on the radiation conductor. FIG. 33 and FIG. 34 illustrate examples of the constitutions of monoconical antennas whose radiation conductor is formed of a low-conductivity member containing a resistance component, instead of high-conductivity metal. With this constitution, reflective power to a feeding portion is diminished, and this results in expanded matching band. Especially, since the lower limit frequency of the matching band is expanded (downward), the above constitutions are also utilized as means for the reduction of antenna size. As illustrated in FIG. 33, the radiation electrode may be formed of a material having a constant low conductivity. However, if the conductivity is distributed as illustrated in FIG. 34 (lower conductivity on the upper base side), the effect is produced better.
Various methods are known for loading resistance on the radiation conductor of a monoconical antenna. Concrete examples include a method of sticking a low-conductivity member formed in sheet shape to a conical insulator, and a method of applying a low-conductivity member prepared as coating material. (Refer to "Optimization of a Conical Antenna for Pulse Radiation: An Efficient Design Using Resistive Loading," written by James G. Maloney, et al. (IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 41, No. 7, July, 1993, pp. 940–947), for example.)
However, if mass production is considered, the method of sticking a sheet is indeed inferior in productivity, and is not realistic. With the method of applying coating, it is difficult to make the thickness of coating uniform to control conductivity, and this method is also unrealistic.


An inflatable bladder for use in an article of footwear including a first sheet of a flexible fluid-impervious material and a second sheet of flexible fluid-impervious material. The first sheet and the second sheet are sealed along air-tight weld lines forming at least one narrow channel. The inflatable bladder includes an air passage device for maintaining air flow within the narrow channel. In one embodiment, the first sheet has an embossed interior surface to limit the contact between the first sheet and second sheet. Another embodiment includes the use of a mechanical device to separate the first sheet and the second sheet within a narrow channel. A method of manufacturing an inflatable bladder, a method of increasing localized air flow though a narrow channel of an inflatable bladder for use in an article of footwear and an article of footwear incorporating the inflatable bladder are also described.

Inflatable bladders have been used in articles of footwear as cushioning within shoe soles and shoe uppers. When positioned within a shoe upper, an inflatable bladder may be used to provide cushioning as well as improve the fit of the article of footwear. In some cases, the bladder may be used instead of conventional lacing to hold the shoe on the foot of the user. Inflatable bladders may also be used under the foot of the wearer to cushion the impact of the foot as it moves through a gait cycle.
Inflatable bladders may be, for example, formed from two sheets of fluid-impervious thermoplastic film that have been sealed together to form an air-tight chamber. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,985 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/887,927, which are incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, disclose bladders formed from sheets of a light urethane film, a polyester film such as MYLAR®, an ethyl vinyl acetate film or another barrier film. For example, bladders for footwear have been made from a matted polyurethane film commercially available from J. P. Stevens & Co (Easthampton, Mass.) under the product number ST-1880 M2. Two sheets of thermoplastic film are sealed along various weld lines, for example by radio frequency (RF) welding, to form an air-tight inflatable bladder.
However, where weld lines are close together and form a narrow fluid channel within the bladder, air movement through the narrow channels may become restricted causing squeaking with each step taken by the wearer due to tight flow tolerances. Also, the interior surfaces of the bladder may have a tendency to temporarily adhere or stick together, due to static, friction or the nature of the materials.

Air passage device for inflatable shoe bladders


A driver's seat for a machine, in particular for an industrial truck, has a seat surface which is inclined forward, a knee rest and a back rest. In one embodiment, the driver's seat swivels and the seat also includes a heel rest and a toe rest. Control elements can be located on the swivelling driver's seat in the vicinity of the knee rest, the heel rest and/or the toe rest.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a driver's seat for a vehicle, in particular to a driver's seat for an industrial truck.
2. Background Information
The driver's seat of an industrial truck is generally located in an open or closed driver's cab. The cab comprises, in addition to the driver's seat, a number of control elements such as a steering wheel, various switches, levers and foot pedals.
During the operation of industrial trucks, situations frequently occur in which the driver's view is directed sideways or toward the rear, sometimes for an extended period. On forklift trucks, it is often necessary to travel backward for long distances, in particular when transporting large loads which obstruct the driver's view.
On large trucks which have relatively large cabs, the known driver's seat can be made to swivel around a vertical axis. At least some of the control elements are thereby moved along with the driver's seat, or are available in more than one location. Thus the driver can assume the desired seated position at any time and still have access to the control elements. In this manner, the driver is able to assume an ergonomically favorable body position even when the vehicle is traveling in reverse.
On smaller trucks, the amount of free space available inside the driver's cab is frequently not sufficient to place the driver's seat in an ergonomically efficient position, and to simultaneously make possible a swivelling of the driver's seat and control elements. The object of this invention is to make available an ergonomically favorable driver's seat which minimizes the space occupied by the driver's seat and the driver.


A process is provided for preparing poly(arylene sulfide ketone)/poly(arylene sulfide sulfone) block copolymers comprising: contacting poly(arylene sulfide ketone) prepolymer, at least one dihaloaromatic sulfone, a sulfur source, and a polar organic compound under polymerization conditions. The polymers thus produced exhibit crystalline properties and an increased glass transition temperature.

This invention relates to the preparation of poly(arylene sulfide ketone)/poly(arylene sulfide sulfone) block copolymers and the block copolymers thus produced.
Poly(arylene sulfide ketone)s are an important class of engineering thermoplastics. They are of commercial interest for film, fiber, moldings, and composite applications because of their high melting points, which increase their ability to withstand high temperatures, and crystallinity which provides good chemical resistance.
Poly(arylene sulfide sulfone)s are amorphous polymers and exhibit good impact strength, a lower processing temperature, and a high glass transition temperature which increases the temperatures at which the polymer can be used. They are useful in the such areas as electrical components, wire coatings, automotive parts, and the like.
It would be desirable to produce a polymer composition which exhibits the advantages of both poly(arylene sulfide ketone)s and poly(arylene sulfide sulfone)s i.e. heat stability, chemical resistance, crystallinity, high impact strength, reduced processing temperature, and high glass transition temperature.

Poly(arylene sulfide ketone)/poly(arylene sulfide sulfone) block copolymers and preparation thereof


Disclosed is a device for opening and closing a toilet seat hingedly attached to a toilet, which device comprises an elongated flexible cable having one end attached to the underside or outer periphery of the toilet seat at a position removed from the hinge attachment and the other end attached to an electric motor at a location remote from the toilet seat, wherein the electric motor also has a break for holding the toilet seat slightly less than full vertical or open position so that when the break is released, the toilet seat may be lowered to its horizontal or closed position. In a further embodiment of the device disclosed is a spring on the hinge which urges a seat toward the horizontal or closed position and having its greater urging force when the seat is in the vertical or open position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for opening and closing a toilet seat, more particularly this invention relates to a device for opening and closing a toilet seat in a sanitary manner and even more particularly this invention relates to a manually operated and motorized device for opening and closing a toilet seat in a versatile, simple and sanitary manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices have been disclosed to facilitate lifting and closing toilet seats and lids, thereby eliminating human contact with unsanitary surfaces, expecially the underside surface of the seat. Some of these devices reduce or eliminate the need to bend over to lift the seat. Such devices as special handles connected to the outer periphery of the toilet seat, foot operated mechanical means, automatic lowering mechanisms and motorized lifting mechanisms with a time interval before closing, have been disclosed. It is always preferred that these devices can be inexpensively and easily installed on an existing toilet, easily cleaned, easily operated and usefully practical in both public and private restrooms.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,238 to Clark discloses a combination toilet seat lifter and toilet flusher which comprises a handle that fits the flush handle and fits the side of the toilet seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,120 to Tager discloses a toilet seat closing device which comprises a DC motor in connection with a clutch mechanism that also includes a control circuit and a timer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,307 to Sato et al. discloses a device for opening and closing a toilet seat by use of foot petals which operates a mechanism that lifts and/or closes the seat and/or lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,324 to Lirette discloses a knee operated handle attached to the outside periphery of the toilet seat and which places another handle in position to be easily reached by hand to lift the seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,246 to DeVargas et al. discloses a toilet seat handle with a provision for a deodorant cake where a sanitary cover or sleeve is provided for the handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,586 to Giallourakis discloses a seat handle attachment which handle consist of a ring of small surface area that can be contaminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,062 to Gibson et al. discloses a disc shaped toilet seat lifting aid which round edge and pivital mount present little danger of abrasion to a user's leg.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,251 to Hazard discloses a device for attachment to a toilet seat as an aid to raising or lowering the seat wherein the device comprises a base and a handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,656 to Forman discloses a toilet seat handle of unitary construction leaving no creases or crevises for nesting of germs or breeding of bacteria.
Even though some of these devices provide a handle that extends horizontally from the periphery of the seat, these handles are nonetheless in the area of contamination by germs and bacteria. Further, some of these devices require bending over to lift the seat. Foot operated devices require great exertion in order to effect the lifting of the seat. The motorized devices do not provide an inexpensive, easy or smooth operation.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat opening and closing device which does not require touching on or near contaminated surfaces. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device which does not require bending over and lifting. It is an even further object of the present invention to provide a device which operates smoothly and quietly. It is an even further object of the present invention to provide a motorized powered device for raising and lowering the toilet seat.

Device for opening and closing toilet seat


A pillow optic array comprising a plurality of first order pillow optic elements arranged as a two-dimensional grid with a plurality of interstice spaces between adjacent first order pillow optic elements. Each of a plurality of second order pillow optic elements, located within respective interstice spaces. Pillow optic elements of the second order have a predetermined dimension that is less than a predetermined dimension for pillow optic elements of the first order. A ratio of a cross-sectional width of pillow optic elements to a cross-sectional height of pillow optic element is the same proportion for each order of pillow optic elements in the pillow optic array, the cross-sectional width being located in a plane along the pillow optic array and the cross-sectional height located in a plane vertical to the pillow optic array. The higher order pillow optic elements touching, about tangentially, a lower order pillow optic element.

An optical designer is often times faced with the challenge of designing an optic that receives near collimated light rays from a Fresnel lens or parabolic reflector and creating a diffuse beam that has a precisely diverging beam while maintaining a round beam shape. An efficiency requirement is specified for the output beam.
Conventionally, concave or convex spherical impressions can be milled or machined by electronic discharge into the face of an injection mold tool. Depending on the pattern of the impressions the resultant beam pattern might vary from square, diamond or hexagonal shapes. Alternatively, to create a round beam shape the designer could settle for a substantial amount of non-diffused collimated light in the resultant optical pattern. Other approaches use sandblasted, chemical and/or laser etched holographic surfaces to obtain a round beam pattern. These conventional approaches can have low efficiencies caused by over-scattering the light rays, or come at a premium cost (e.g., holographic surfaces).


An extensible support leg for a portable stand or support, in particular a tripod, comprises a plurality of pairs of parallel elongate leg members arranged in two or more planes, adapted such that the leg is extensible by relative sliding movement between pairs in respective first and second planes, and means for releasably locking the leg members in any desired position, each pair of leg members being spaced apart at their ends by rigid spacers, forming a box-sectioned portion, at least one of said spacers having through holes for slidably receiving a second pair of leg members.

This invention relates to portable stands or supports. In particular, it relates to stands or supports of the type on which a film camera, lighting or other apparatus can be mounted. Such stands are generally in the form of tripods, which provide the most stable support but may alternatively be monopods, bipods or having any other number of legs.


Systems and methods of determining wireless data usage are provided. Wireless data usage of a wireless device on a first network of a first network operator is determined. A message indicating a performance of a handover of the wireless device from the first network to a second network of a second network operator is received and the wireless data usage of the wireless device on the second network is determined based on the message received.

Wireless network operators provide access to allow wireless devices to communicate over a network. After the wireless device is authorized, the wireless device can transmit and receive information over the network. Network operators monitor data usage of the wireless device over the network for various purposes such as resource management, load balancing, billing, etc. Typically, when a wireless device changes location in the network, a location update procedure is initiated. During the location update procedure, if the wireless device has moved to a cell not included in a predetermined list of tracking areas, a tracking area update request is sent by the wireless device to the network to initiate the new tracking area procedure.

Data usage measurement over multiple networks


An alarm system employing a vocoder which enables the alarm system to emit not only a buzzing sound but also a human voice, the alarm system being composed of a microphone, a microphone amplifier, a vocoder, a memory, a preamplifier, a power amplifier and a speaker whereby the alarm system can emit the buzzing sound of a police car, whistle sound or human voice to enhance the burglarproof effect or serve as a fire alarm system for indicating the way to escape.

A conventional alarm system used indoors, outdoors or in a vehicle is designed only with a buzzing function. Such alarm system emits loud noise when activated while failing to create an effective burglarproof function.
As shown in FIG. 1, the aforesaid conventional alarm system includes a low frequency oscillator 10, an audio oscillator 11, a Darlington amplifier 12, and a speaker 13, wherein the oscillating signal of the audio oscillator is modulated by the low frequency oscillator and then amplified by the Darlington amplifier. The alarm system is us usually provided with a 1.2 V power source so that the power is quite limited and the magnitude of the emitted sound cannot be stably adjusted. Moreover, the emitted sound is constant without variation and cannot be recorded. Therefore, the range of use is restricted.


There is provided a signal processing apparatus that is capable of giving terminal names which are the most suitable for processing on signals. A plurality of kinds of signals are externally input via a plurality of input terminals of an input terminal group. Processing is performed on the plurality of kinds of signals to generate a signal for at least one channel. The signal for the at least one channel is externally output via a plurality of output terminals of an output terminal group. A plurality of effective terminals included in at least one of the input terminal group and the output terminal group are automatically numbered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus that performs signal processing on signals of a plurality of channels, which are externally input via a plurality of input terminals, and then outputs the resulting signals externally via a plurality of output terminals, a method of controlling the signal processing apparatus, and a program for implementing the method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus that is capable of giving names to the input and output terminals, a method of controlling the signal processing apparatus, and a program for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a mixing apparatus (mixer), for example, is known as a signal processing apparatus that performs signal processing on signals of a plurality of channels, which are externally input via a plurality of input terminals, and then outputs the resulting signals externally via a plurality of output terminals.
The mixing apparatus performs various kinds of signal processing, such as level adjustment and application of effects, on signals of a plurality of channels, which are externally input via a plurality of input terminals, mixes the input signals in accordance with an instruction given from the user, and outputs the resulting mixed signals externally via a plurality of output terminals.
Some mixing apparatuses of this kind are configured such that a plurality of units into which a plurality of cards each having at least one input terminal can be inserted constitute a plurality of input terminals (or a plurality of output terminals), and the number and arrangement of the input and output terminals can be freely set by arbitrarily selecting the number of units, the number of cards to be inserted into the units, and so forth.
In general, such mixing apparatuses are capable of giving names to the respective input and output terminals. The names designated by the user are given as they are to the input and output channels, or are automatically given to the input and output terminals in accordance with predetermined rules. In the latter case, i.e., in the case where the names are automatically given, the names are given based on the physical positions of the respective terminals. Specifically, in the case of giving a name to a certain terminal, information indicative of a unit and a card to which the terminal belongs as well as the position of the terminal in the card are added to the name at least indirectly.
In the conventional signal processing apparatus as above, however, in the case where names are automatically given to the respective terminals, information based on the physical positions of the respective terminals are added to the names at least indirectly, and therefore, when performing processing on signals, the user needs to correctly recognize which input signal is input via an input terminal at which position and which output signal is output via an output terminal at which position, but the user may feel it inconvenient to correctly recognize input and output terminals for the respective input signals when processing is actually performed on the signals.

Signal processing apparatus with automatic channel naming and numbering


A system and method is disclosed for converting stock MacPherson strut suspension systems for a host automobile to a double A-arm type of suspension system using only stock or pre-existing mounting locations and only ordinary hand tools. The system and method uses a lower A-arm that mounts in the stock mounting locations of the frame that held the stock lower control arm of the original MacPherson strut suspension system. A upper A-arm conversion bracket mounts to stock fastener locations on the main frame, and is configured to securely hold the replacement upper A-arm. A replacement spindle is mounted between the upper and lower A-arms, and holds the stock hub and brake assemblies. The original steering arm is coupled to the replacement spindle, and the original sway bar is coupled to the replacement lower A-arm. A coil-over shock is mounted to the lower control arm and the conversion bracket. The kit bolts in place on the host vehicle without any modification to the original frame or body work.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to automotive aftermarket equipment, and more specifically, to a kit of components making up an independent front suspension system for an automobile. Automotive suspension systems of the type using MacPherson struts may be replaced by the invention presented herein to provide an improved, fully independent, double A-arm type of front suspension.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the evolution of the modern automobile, the proper handling characteristics of the vehicle have become increasingly more important. Automobile manufacturers attempt to design the suspension system to provide predictable steering input, while at the same time recognizing that production vehicles are used by a broad range of drivers. Also important to automobile manufacturers are cost, reliability and ease of repair. Thus, manufacturers of modern automobiles attempt to balance many factors in designing suspension systems, which often results in compromises in certain areas.
One type of steerable front suspension is a "double wishbone" system. In this commonly used system, a lower A-arm, the first of the two "wishbones" comprising the "double wishbone," is pivotally connected to a suspension mounting location at the front of the vehicle. An upper A-arm forms the second "wishbone," and is connected to a second attachment point. A pivoting vertical spindle connects the upper and lower A-arms at their outboard ends, and usually includes a hub to which the wheel and brake components are attached. Typically, a steering arm controllably pivots the spindle between upper and a lower balljoints. An alternative embodiment is the use of a king pin, which is an older method of providing pivoting capability, between the upper and lower A-arms. A spring and shock absorber are associated with one or both of the A-arms to provide support for the vehicle and damping of the spring. A sway bar is also usually attached to the lower A-arm of both front wheels, and depending on its adjustment, can prevent the suspension from moving in opposite vertical directions relative to the frame.
Because of the independent adjustability of both the upper and lower A-arms, the front suspension characteristics for automobiles with wishbone-type suspension can be specifically tuned to optimize performance over a wide variety of conditions. In particular, in high-performance applications such as automobile racing, it is common to tune the camber, castor, bump-steer, Ackerman and other suspension characteristics by carefully aligning the upper and lower A-arms relative to the vehicle frame for specific race track or road conditions.
A second common type of suspension system is the "MacPherson strut" system. A MacPherson strut suspension system uses a lower control arm and a vertical strut that incorporates a spring, a shock absorber and an upper and a lower bearing assembly that allows the strut to rotate responsive to steering input. The lower control arm is typically mounted at its inboard region to the automobile frame, and the upper portion of the strut is usually mounted to a region of the automobile body above and inboard of the wheel well. The MacPherson strut suspension arrangement is generally viewed as a utility suspension that can be made inexpensively, and provides adequate handling in a "street" vehicle. It is especially useful in front-wheel drive vehicles, where its compactness allows space for drive shaft connections to the wheel assembly. It is also relatively inexpensive to manufacture in comparison to the double-wishbone system discussed above.
However, the use of the MacPherson strut suspension arrangement does not provide optimum handling characteristics for high-performance applications. In particular, it is well known that the range of adjustability for MacPherson strut suspension systems are somewhat limited, particularly in the area known as "bump steer" (i.e., change in toe or camber as the wheel travels through varying "bump" and "droop" conditions). Thus, in high-performance applications, the use of a MacPherson strut is not desirable, and is considered inferior to the double A-arm or double-wishbone type of suspension.
Unfortunately, many automobiles that are sold as "high-performance" vehicles include MacPherson strut front suspensions, primarily because the manufacturer desires to save cost. One such automobile is the late model Ford Mustang made from 1979 through to the present. The Ford Mustang is a popular, rear-drive, high-performance street vehicle that is sold in large numbers and includes the undesirable MacPherson strut front suspension. Because the Mustang is a rear-wheel drive vehicle, there is no reason other than cost-saving for including the inferior MacPherson strut front suspension instead of the double A-arm suspension.
Thus, the need exists to provide a cost-effective conversion kit that allows the MacPherson strut front suspension on rear-wheel drive vehicles, such as the late model Ford Mustang, to be easily converted to the double-wishbone A-arm type of suspension.

Adjustable front suspension replacement kit


The present disclosure relates to the field of ecological restoration of a coal gangue hill, and in particular, to a solid waste-based porous material, a method for preparing the solid waste-based porous material, and a method of ecological restoration of the coal gangue hill by applying the solid waste-based porous material. A coal-based solid waste restoration material and mycorrhizal solid bacterial agent are mixed to restore the coal gangue hill, the coal-based solid waste restoration material is prepared by mixing coal-based solid waste porous materials, low-rank coal, and waste organic matter and adding a microbial quickly decomposition agent for aerobic fermentation and standing.

Due to the rapid development of mining industry, a large number of tailings and waste residue have been produced. These waste residues are generally treated by storage of tailings pond, which not only occupies a large amount of land, but also pollutes soil, groundwater, and surface water due to acidification, rainfall leaching, and other effects. In the prior art, the ecological restoration technology of coal gangue hills mainly adopts a combination of soil matrix construction technology and vegetation planting technology. Soil matrix construction technology refers to a formation of a soil matrix easy for plant growth on the soil surface of coal gangue hill through covering the surface of coal gangue hill with soil.
Patent CN 110402635 A discloses an efficient method of ecological restoration of a coal gangue hill. The method includes preparing a cultivation layer substrate using coal gangue residue, fly ash, Chinese herbal medicine residue, edible fungus residue, and loam; arranging the coal gangue hill into a gentle slope, digging a planting pit every 3-5 m according to the terrain, laying the cultivation layer substrate on the surface of coal gangue hill with a thickness of 4-6 cm, and filling the planting pit; planting Sedum lineare Thunb on the cultivation layer substrate, and planting large-scale local plant seedlings in the planting pit; taking fern spores for sowing after the Sedum lineare Thunb basically covers the surface of the coal gangue hill; and completing the ecological restoration of coal gangue hill after the survival of ferns and local plants. However, in practice, it is difficult for fungi to continue to grow, and the whole substrate is difficult to actively form a good ecosystem, which is not conducive to plant growth.

Solid waste-based porous materials, methods for preparing the same, and methods of ecological restoration of coal gangue hills by applying the same


A circuit for indicating abnormality of a three-mode surge absorber of a public electric power is disclosed. The circuit is serially connected between the input end and output end of a public electric power supply for indicating the abnormality of a three-mode surge absorbing device of a public power supply so as to achieve the object of indicating an obvious indication to the users. The circuit includes a first surge absorbing device, a first three-end fuse, an abnormal indication circuit, a second surge absorbing device and a second two-end fuse. Other than indicating the abnormality of the L-N, L-G, N-G surge absorbing devices, the present invention can prevent current leakage as destroys occurs in the diverse modes.

The present invention relates to a power abnormality circuit, and especially to circuit for indicating abnormality of a three-mode surge absorber of a public electric power and a multiple-end fuse. Furthermore, the present invention provides a multiple-end fuse which is used to the circuit for indicating abnormality of a three-mode surge absorber of a public electric power.
The general power receptacle for surge protection use metal oxide varistors or other transient/surge absorbers for suppressing surge wave. These elements will heat while absorbing surge wave, even a large surge wave may induce a short circuit. Therefore, temperature fuses or current fuses are used to prevent abnormality.
In general, the breakage of fuses is used to determine the abnormality of a surge protection indicator. However, in order to prevent the leakage current to the ground, in general, the indicator only displays the condition of the input ends of line-neutral mode while the conditions of line-ground mode and neutral-ground mode are not displayed.
Referring to FIG. 1, a circuit for indicating abnormality of a surge absorber is illustrated, which includes two surge absorbing devices 10 and 30 and an abnormal indication circuit 20. The L-N ends in the three-mode in public power supply is connected to the surge absorbing device 10 in series. The surge absorbing device 30 is serially connected between the L-G and N-G ends. The surge absorbing device 10 has a two-end temperature sensing fuse 101 capable of severing from a temperature of 139xc2x0 C. and a metal oxide vairstor 102. When the metal oxide vairstor 102 has abnormality, it will heat gradually. Since it tightly presses against the two-end temperature sensing fuse 102, the metal oxide vairstor 102 will heat and finally burn off the two-end temperature sensing fuse 101 so that the surge protection indicator 202 will extinguish due to no current flowing therethrough.
The surge absorbing device 30 has two metal oxide vairstors 301 and 302 and a two-end temperature sensing fuse 303 capable of severing from a temperature of 139xc2x0 C. When the metal oxide vairstor 301 has abnormality, it will heat gradually. Since it tightly presses against the two-end temperature sensing fuse 303, the metal oxide vairstor 301 will heat and finally burn off the two-end temperature sensing fuse 303, but the two-end temperature sensing fuse 101 does not break off so that the surge protection indicator 202 will not extinguish. Namely, the fault of the surge absorbing device 30 of the L-G ends can not be detected. Furthermore, When the metal oxide vairstor 302 has abnormality, it will heat gradually. Since it tightly presses against the two-end temperature sensing fuse 303, the metal oxide vairstor 302 will heat and finally burn-cut the two-end temperature sensing fuse 303, but the two-end temperature sensing fuse 101 does not burn-cut so that the surge protection indicator 202 will not extinguish. Namely, the fault of the surge absorbing device 30 of the N-G ends can not be detected.
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a circuit for indicating abnormality of a three-mode surge absorber and a multiple-end fuse.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a circuit for displaying abnormality of a three-mode surge absorber of a public electric power, in which a current sufficient to cut off a third end flows through a first and a second end of a two-end fuse and at the same time, the third end is cut off so that the third end is isolated from the first and second ends completely.
To achieve above objects, the present invention provides a circuit for indicating abnormality of a three-mode surge absorber of a public electric power. The circuit is serially connected between the input end and output end of a public electric power supply for indicating the abnormality of a three-mode surge absorbing device of a public power supply so as to provide an obvious indication to the users. The circuit for indicating abnormality of a three-mode surge absorber of a public electric power of the present invention includes a first surge absorbing device coupled to the line input end and the neutral input end for absorbing a surge between the line input end and the neutral input end; a first three-end fuse coupled to the first surge absorbing device and the line input end for preventing abnormality of parts; an abnormal indication circuit coupled to the first three-end fuse for indicating the abnormality of three-mode in public power supply; a second surge absorbing device coupled to the abnormal indication circuit, the neutral input end and the ground input end for absorbing a surge between the neutral input end and the ground input end; and a second three-end fuse coupled to the neutral input end and the second surge absorbing device for preventing the abnormality of parts.
The present invention further provides a multiple-end fuse, wherein at least one end is added to a two-end fuse, when a current sufficient for the two-end fuse to break out flowing through a first end and a second end of the two-end fuse, a third end or other ends are cut off so that the third end or other ends are completely isolated with the first or the second end.

Circuit for indicating abnormality of three-mode surge absorber of public electric power and a multiple-end fuse


In a flip-flop circuit where latched complementary signals of first and second output terminals are inverted by complementary first and second input pulses, the conductivity of a first load transistor connected to the first output terminal is controlled by the signal from the second output terminal, and the conductivity of a second load transistor connected to the second output terminal is controlled by the signal from the first output terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flip-flop circuit (called "FF" below) using a semiconductor device that achieves an increase in operating speed and a reduction in power consumption and to a frequency divider using the flip-flop circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as technology relating to a frequency divider that achieves an increase in operating speed and a reduction in power consumption, there has been the frequency divider described in the following document, for example.
N. Krishnapura and Peter R. Kingget, "A 5.3 GHz Programmable Divider for HiPerLAN in 0.25 μm CMOS," IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 35, No. 7, July 2000, pp. 1019-1024.
In recent years, LSI have become increasingly integrated and sophisticated, and the applied fields thereof have expanded in a wide range. Particularly in accompaniment with the development of wireless communication systems, technological demands to reduce the power consumption of LSI and for high-speed operation of a GHz order have become stronger over the years. Among those, reducing the power consumption of PLL (Phased Locked Loop), which is an important configural circuit in wireless communication systems, has become the most critical issue. And in particular, reducing the power consumption of frequency dividers is extremely effective with respect to reducing the power consumption of PLL. The reason is because a frequency divider used in PLL requires operation of a GHz order depending on the specifications. A frequency divider that operates on a GHz order is an elemental circuit that consumes the most power, and reducing the consumption of this circuit is linked to reducing the power consumption of PLL. A configuration that uses MOS Current Mode Logic (called "MCML" below) has been proposed as a frequency divider that enables a reduction in power consumption while satisfying high-speed operation of a GHz order of a frequency divider. A paper on an applied example of a PLL-use frequency divider using MCML is described in the aforementioned document.
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a toggle FF (called "TFF" below) 10 using the conventional MCML technology described in the aforementioned document. FIG. 8 is a configural diagram showing a conventional ½ N frequency divider configured as a result of N stages of the TFF 10 of FIG. 7 being cascade-connected.
The MCML TFF 10 of FIG. 7, which is the basic configural circuit of the ½ N frequency divider shown in FIG. 8, is configured by: P-channel MOS transistors (called "PMOS" below; the ON resistance is R and the ON current is I) 11-1 to 11-4 whose input/output signals (e.g., a clock ck that is a first input pulse, an inversion clock ckb that is a second input pulse, a signal of a first output terminal out, and a signal of an inversion output terminal outb that is a second output terminal) all comprise differential complementary signals and which are first, second, third and fourth load elements for obtaining signal amplitude; and first and second latch portions 12A and 12B that comprise N-channel MOS transistors (called "NMOS" below) configuring logic.
The first and second latch portions 12A and 12B are connected to the output terminal out and the inversion output terminal outb. The output terminal out is connected to a first power supply potential VDD via a drain electrode/source electrode of the PMOS 11-1 of the first latch portion 12A, and a gate electrode of the PMOS 11-1 is connected to a ground potential VSS that is a second power supply potential. The inversion output terminal outb is connected to the power supply potential VDD via a drain electrode/source electrode of the PMOS 11-2, and a gate electrode of the PMOS 11-2 is connected to the ground potential VSS. A first output node m1 of complementary first and second output nodes m1 and m2 of the second latch portion 12B is connected to the power supply potential VDD via a drain electrode/source electrode of the PMOS 11-3, and a gate electrode of the PMOS 11-3 is connected to the ground potential VSS. The second output node m2 is connected to the power supply potential VDD via a drain electrode/source electrode of the PMOS 11-4, and a gate electrode of the PMOS 11-4 is connected to the ground potential VSS.
The first latch portion 12A is configured by first to eighth NMOS 12-1 to 12-8. The output terminal out is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the first NMOS 12-1, a first node n1, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the second NMOS 12-2, and is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the third NMOS 12-3, a second node n2, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the fourth NMOS 12-4. A gate electrode of the NMOS 12-1 is connected to the inversion output terminal outb, the inversion clock ckb is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-2, a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-3 is connected to the second output node m2, and the clock ck is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-4.
The inversion output terminal outb is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the fifth NMOS 12-5, a third node n3, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the sixth NMOS 12-6, and is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the seventh NMOS 12-7, a fourth node n4, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the eighth NMOS 12-8. A gate electrode of the NMOS 12-5 is connected to the output terminal out, the inversion clock ckb is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-6, a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-7 is connected to the first output node m1, and the clock ck is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-8.
The second latch portion 12B is configured by ninth to sixteenth NMOS 12-9 to 12-16. The first output node m1 is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the ninth NMOS 12-9, a fifth node n5, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the tenth NMOS 12-10, and is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the eleventh NMOS 12-11, a sixth node n6, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the twelfth NMOS 12-12. A gate electrode of the NMOS 12-9 is connected to the second output node m2, the clock ck is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-10, a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-11 is connected to the output terminal out, and the inversion clock signal ckb is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-12.
The second output node m2 is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the thirteenth NMOS 12-13, a seventh node n7, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the fourteenth NMOS 12-14, and is connected to the ground potential VSS via a drain electrode/source electrode of the fifteenth NMOS 12-15, an eighth node n8, and a drain electrode/source electrode of the sixteenth NMOS 12-16. A gate electrode of the NMOS 12-13 is connected to the output node m1, the clock ck is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-14, a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-15 is connected to the inversion output terminal outb, and the inversion clock ckb is applied to a gate electrode of the NMOS 12-16.
As for the operation of the MCML TFF 10 of FIG. 7, the PMOS 11-1 to 11-4 are always in an ON state, and in an initial state, when the output terminal out is "0", the inversion output terminal outb is "1", the output node m1 is "1" and the output node m2 is "0", for example, then the NMOS 12-1, 12-7, 12-13 and 12-15 are ON and the NMOS 12-3, 12-5, 12-11 and 12-9 are OFF.
When the clock ck becomes "1" and the inversion clock ckb becomes "0", then the NMOS 12-4, 12-8, 12-10 and 12-14 are switched to an ON state and the NMOS 12-2, 12-6, 12-12 and 12-16 are switched to an OFF state. Then, the inversion output terminal outb is lowered toward the ground potential VSS by the NMOS 12-7 and 12-8 in the ON state and becomes "0". At this time, the output node m2 is maintained at "0" and the output node m1 is maintained at "1" by the NMOS 12-13 and 12-14 in the ON state. When the inversion output terminal outb becomes "0", then the NMOS 12-1 is switched to an OFF state, and the output terminal out is raised in the power supply potential VDD direction via the PMOS 11-1 and becomes "1". Thus, the output terminal out and the inversion output terminal outb are inverted from "0" and "1" to "1" and "0".
When the clock ck becomes "0" and the inversion clock ckb becomes "1", then the NMOS 12-4, 12-8, 12-10 and 12-14 are switched to an OFF state and the NMOS 12-2, 12-6, 12-12 and 12-16 are switched to an ON state. Then, the inversion output terminal outb is maintained at "0" and the output terminal out is maintained at "1" by the NMOS 12-5 and 12-6 in the ON state. At this time, the output node m1 is lowered toward the ground potential VSS by the NMOS 12-11 and 12-12 in the ON state and becomes "0", and the output node m2 is raised toward the power supply potential VDD via the PMOS 11-4 by the NMOS 12-13 and 12-14 in the OFF state and becomes "1".
Next, when the clock ck becomes "1" and the inversion clock ckb becomes "0", the output terminal out is lowered toward the ground potential VSS by the NMOS 12-3 and 12-4 in the ON state and becomes "0", and the inversion output terminal outb is raised toward the power supply potential VDD by the PMOS 11-2 and becomes "1". Thus, the NMOS 12-11 is switched to an OFF state, the NMOS 12-15 is switched to an ON state, the output node m1 is raised toward the power supply potential VDD via the PMOS 11-3 and becomes "1", and the output node m2 is lowered toward the ground potential VSS by the NMOS 12-13 and 12-14 in the ON state and becomes "0". Thus, the output terminal out and the inversion output terminal outb are inverted from "1" and "0" to "0" and "1".
In this manner, in the MCML TFF 10 of FIG. 7, each time the clock ck becomes "1" and the inversion clock ckb becomes "0", the logic levels of the output terminal out and the inversion output terminal outb are inverted, and counting is performed to halve the number of inputted clocks ck (or inversion clocks ckb). For this reason, when N stages of the TFF 10 are cascade-connected as in the frequency divider of FIG. 8, the frequency of the inputted clock ck (or inversion clock ckb) becomes divided into ½ N.
Here, in the MCML TFF 10 of FIG. 7, a high level (called "H level" below) of signal is defined as the power supply potential VDD level and a low level (called "L level" below) is defined as a level that has fallen IR from the power supply potential VDD level, so the signal amplitude becomes IR.
Whereas the signal amplitude of a commonly used complementary MOS (called "CMOS" below) logic circuit is the power supply potential VDD, the signal amplitude of an MCML TFF 10 becomes IR, and this is linked to a reduction in charge and discharge time and means an improvement in operating speed. Moreover, in contrast to a CMOS logic circuit, there is no logic threshold voltage with respect to changes in the input signal, and the changing of the output signal by the input signal amplitude of about the threshold voltage of NMOS also contributes to increasing speed. Additionally, because the MCML TFF 10 operates by differential complementary signals, being resistant to common mode noise also enables high-speed operation.
From the standpoint of power consumption, in the MCML TFF 10, in contrast to a CMOS logic circuit, current always flows from the power supply potential VDD because the PMOS 11-1 to 11-4 that are loads are ON. Because the MCML TFF 10 operates at a higher speed than a CMOS logic circuit if its operating frequency is in a high range, the power supply potential VDD can be reduced, and a reduction in power consumption is possible in comparison to a CMOS circuit. In contrast, a CMOS logic circuit does not in principle consume power when the circuit is not operating because either the PMOS or the NMOS are always OFF. However, in the MCML TFF 10, current always flows from the power supply potential VDD, so that when the circuit is not operating or when the input signal frequency of the TFF 10 is slow and the operating rate of the gate is extremely low, less power is consumed when a CMOS logic circuit is used. For this reason, the MCML TFF 10 and a frequency divider using the MCML TFF 10 can be said to be circuits directed toward a GHz order.
Because the MCML TFF 10 and a frequency divider using the MCML TFF 10 operate at a high speed in comparison to when a CMOS logic circuit is used, it becomes possible to reduce the power supply potential VDD and they are suited to reducing power consumption at the time of high-speed operation at a GHz order. However, in a range where the operating frequency is low, power consumption becomes greater in comparison to a CMOS logic circuit. Because the frequency of the signal falls toward the TFF of the later stages, a method can also be considered where the MCML TFF 10 is used when it is necessary to cause the frequency divider to operate at a high speed and where a CMOS logic circuit is used when the frequency has fallen a certain extent. However, the great advantage of the MCML TFF 10 that a CMOS logic circuit does not have is that it is resistant to common mode noise because it operates by differential complementary signals. This characteristic becomes an extremely important advantage when stable operation of the frequency divider with respect to reducing the voltage of the power supply potential VDD is considered. For that reason, the MCML TFF 10 and a frequency divider using the MCML TFF 10 become extremely important circuits with respect to reducing the voltage of the power supply potential VDD in the future. Thus, reducing power consumption while preserving the differential circuit format having the characteristic that it is resistant to common mode noise becomes an issue of the MCML TFF 10 and a frequency divider using the MCML TFF 10.
As a solution therefor, when, for example, a high-frequency circuit block and a low-frequency circuit block in a frequency divider are configured using the conventional MCML TFF 10, a reduction in power consumption can be achieved when the dimensions of the PMOS 11-1 to 11-4 that are load transistors in the low-frequency circuit block are made much smaller than the dimensions of the PMOS 11-1 to 11-4 that are load transistors in the high-frequency circuit block, but on the other hand, the potential arises for the rise speed of the H level signal from the TFF 10 of the low-frequency circuit block to fall so that, as a result, the desired circuit operation can no longer be achieved. Conversely, when the dimensions of the PMOS 11-1 to 11-4 in the low-frequency circuit block are made much smaller than the dimensions of the PMOS 11-1 to 11-4 in the high-frequency circuit block, the rise speed of the H level signal from the TFF 10 of the low-frequency circuit block can be maintained at a desired level, but on the other hand, it becomes difficult to achieve a reduction in power consumption.
Consequently, there has been a strong desire to achieve an FF and a frequency divider using the FF that can reduce power consumption while maintaining the rise speed of the H level signal (or the fall speed of the L level signal) from the TFF.

Flip-flop circuit and frequency divider using the flip-flop circuit