An air infiltration system for a hydroelectric plant includes a spillway gate and a linearized cone valve coupled to the spillway gate, the linearized cone valve having a pivotable plate assembly. The spillway gate may be a tainter or Stoney gate and the pivotable plate assembly may have a deflection plate. A method of infiltrating air in water released from an impoundment may include: lifting a spillway gate from a resting position proximate a bottom of a spillway; and pivoting a deflection plate coupled to the gate proximate the bottom of the spillway; wherein water flows through an opening disposed between the deflection plate and the gate and is sprayed into an atmosphere to be oxygenated.

Hydroelectric power is an important source of renewable energy. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2016, about 6.5% of the total utility-scale electricity generation in the United States was from hydropower, corresponding to 44% of the total utility-scale electricity generation from all renewable energy sources.
The general operation of a hydroelectric dam is straightforward. To generate electrical power, water from the impoundment (e.g., the reservoir) flows through an intake proximate the bottom of the dam (near the water floor), and is conducted through a penstock (e.g., a conduit or pipe) to the blades of a turbine (e.g., the runners or propeller). As the blades are quickly turned, so too is the turbine generator shaft. That shaft is coupled to the rotor of a generator that rotates with respect to the generator's stator to produce power. Finally, as water flows past the turbine blades, it is conducted through a tailrace (e.g., a channel) so as to be carried away from the dam.
Among its many upsides, hydropower doesn't pollute the air, it promotes "energy independence" by virtue of being domestically produced, and it contributes to the stability of the grid because its inherent storage capacity can be quickly tapped to respond to increases in electricity demand.
Despite offering many advantages, however, the use of dams has raised concerns because of their potential ecological influence, specifically their potential impact on water quality. Organic materials such as algal blooms and other organic debris can become concentrated in the water confined by a dam, especially due to limited circulation of that water. While some organic debris can be removed from the impoundment, it is not practical to remove it all. As bacteria decompose the materials, the microorganisms undesirably can consume a disproportionate share of the dissolved oxygen otherwise present in the water and critical to sustaining water-based life such as fish and aquatic insects. Complicating matters, a temperature differential commonly develops between water toward the surface and water toward the floor of the impoundment. The thermal stratification is known to create a warmer region or layer toward the surface (a.k.a. the epilimnion) and a comparatively colder region or layer toward the bottom (a.k.a. the hypolimnion). It is the hypolimnion that can become particularly oxygen-deprived, with the concentration of dissolved oxygen even potentially decreasing to a level as low as 1 milligram per liter (which is 1 part per million (ppm)).
The oxygen-poor hypolimnion can present challenges to hydropower operators, for example, if the desired dissolved oxygen concentration downstream of the hydroelectric plant is at least 6.0 milligrams per liter (6 ppm). For example, Title 15A (Environmental Quality) of the North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC) assigns classifications and water quality standards to surface waters and wetlands in the state. "Class C" freshwaters are defined in 15A NCAC 02B.0101(c)(1) as "freshwaters protected for secondary recreation, fishing, aquatic life including propagation and survival, and wildlife. All freshwaters shall be classified to protect these uses at a minimum." As for "fresh surface water standards for Class C waters," 15A NCAC 02B.0211(6) requires: "Dissolved oxygen: not less than 6.0 mg/l for trout waters; for non-trout waters, not less than a daily average of 5.0 mg/l with a minimum instantaneous value of not less than 4.0 mg/l; swamp waters, lake coves, or backwaters, and lake bottom waters may have lower values if caused by natural conditions."
Because the intake of a hydroelectric dam is typically disposed in the hypolimnion, water ultimately released through the tailrace can be less oxygenated (and colder) than desired. Operators of hydroelectric plants desire to proactively mitigate any potential impacts "below the dam," such as in the tailwater immediately downstream of the dam. Thus, there exists a need to address the issue of undesirably low dissolved oxygen concentrations in water discharged from dams.
A variety of technologies exist for aerating water at a hydroelectric dam. For example, a motorized blower or air compressor may be employed to actively introduce air into water in the turbine or draft tube. Such a design, however, suffers again from a loss of efficiency (which would vary as a function of the required motor horsepower but could be in the range of 1-5%) and shear cost including maintenance.
Another known active technology employs an oxygen tank and evaporators coupled to perforated hosing disposed in the hypolimnion (upstream of the turbine). The hosing delivers oxygen gas to the water through the perforations which release oxygen bubbles.
Yet another known active design for aerating the discharge water involves the injection of liquid oxygen. The shear ongoing expense, however, prevents this option from being adopted in mainstream applications. Additionally, there are significant safety concerns associated with storing, handling, and using liquid oxygen.
As another active option, pumps may be used to transport surface water from the epilimnion down to the dam's intakes to mix with water from the hypolimnion so that water with a higher average dissolved oxygen concentration enters the turbine for subsequent discharge from the dam. Such pumps must be powerful enough to transport a substantial amount of water and the capital costs for installation are quite significant.
In contrast to the aforementioned active design modifications, numerous passive technologies are known. For example, so-called auto-venting turbine technology draws atmospheric air into the operating turbine to aerate the discharge water flow. In one design known as distributed aeration, air is drawn through pipes disposed above the turbine's head cover and flows into the water through slots on the discharge edges of hollow runner blades. In another design known as central aeration, air is drawn from above the turbine's head cover either through the hollow interior of the turbine shaft or around the sides of the turbine's deflector before being introduced into the water. In yet another design known as peripheral aeration, air is drawn through a manifold system proximate the draft tube (which is disposed at the exit of the turbine and is connected to the tailrace) and is introduced into the water through a slot or orifices on the inside surface of the cone portion of the draft tube. While certainly increasing dissolved oxygen levels, such auto-venting designs unfortunately suffer from several disadvantages including a loss of operating efficiency (for example, by 2-4%) and increased costs because they are not standard features of hydroelectric turbines.
Another option for aerating water employs the turbine's vacuum breaker system, which draws air proximate the turbine runners when a vacuum is induced. For example, baffles may be added to vacuum breaker air discharge ports in either the turbine runner's crown or nose cone and the vacuum breaker may be locked in an open state to allow air to continue to flow. Alternatively, a bypass conduit may be added to the vacuum breaker to add ventilation to the head cover. Again, however, these designs unfortunately suffer from several disadvantages including a loss of operating efficiency (for example, by 2%) and increased costs because they are not standard features of certain hydroelectric turbines.
Another passive means, an aerating weir, is used to reaerate turbine discharges that are oxygen poor. The weir essentially acts as a waterfall; water is oxygenated as it falls over the edge of the weir. Such weirs are downstream of the turbine. Unfortunately, weirs suffer from cost and safety issues. As to the latter, they present obstacles to users of the waterway.
Finally, fixed cone valves (also known as Howell-Bunger valves, free discharge valves, or ring jet valves) may be installed in dams as a means of aerating water discharged from impoundments. Because of the discharge profile of water released from such valves, in the form of an expanding conical jet, a substantial flow surface contacts surrounding atmosphere at variable but controllable rates, interacting with and entraining air to thereby oxygenate the water. In effect, an aerated spray is created, exiting the valve commonly at either 45 degrees (e.g., if a cone with a 90-degree cone angle is used) or 30 degrees as measured with respect to an axis extending perpendicular from the pipe. The body of the valve typically comprises a central, conical deflector head proximate the downstream end, internal radial ribs, and a mounting flange proximate the upstream end. A valve gate is provided in the form of a cylinder that slides over the valve body, and the valve typically is operated using a mechanical screw stem actuating system or hydraulic cylinders. The gate is a telescoping sleeve that regulates water flow. In the valve, water flows around the central cone and is discharged at high pressure.
Despite their dependable performance, retrofitting of fixed cone valves in existing dams can be especially difficult and carries the risk of potentially damaging the structure of the dam itself. In particular, a pipe must be installed through the dam to connect the impoundment to the valve on the free air side of the dam. Such pipes tend to be large and can easily be 36 inches in diameter, although the pipes coupled to the fixed cone valves can have diameters considerably larger in size. For example, the Big Tujunga Dam located in northern Los Angeles County was retrofitted with fixed cone valves having diameters of 42 inches, 56 inches, and 66 inches; yet even those sizes are modest compared to other installations. Boring through the structure of the dam can be fraught with risk. Moreover, providing the necessary structural support for the valve, and access for maintenance purposes, are not trivial considerations. Still further, the diameter of the valve limits the flow rate of water exiting the valve and thus the aeration of that water, such that it may be necessary to install more than one valve (and pipe from the impoundment) in order to meet aeration demands.
Thus, despite the aforementioned known technologies for aerating water released from an impoundment, there exists a need for other aeration solutions that carry less risk and are more cost-effective.

Dedekind cone valve and air infiltration system and method for hydroelectric plants


A method for routing analog Caller ID signals includes receiving an incoming telephone call for a first telephone extension, the incoming telephone call associated with a first set of analog Caller ID signals, asserting a ringing signal to the first telephone extension, the ringing signal including the first set of analog Caller ID signals, coupling the incoming call to the first telephone extension, receiving a request to couple the incoming call from the first telephone extension to a second telephone extension, receiving a request to send the first set of analog Caller ID signals to the second telephone extension, and asserting a ringing signal to the second telephone extension, the ringing signal including the first set of analog Caller ID signals.

The present invention relates to computer telephony. More specifically, the present invention relates to telephone servers for transferring and forwarding analog caller identification data from incoming telephone calls.
Present day analog telephone systems in the United States typically rely upon standards set by Bellcore, the standards division of the former Bell Telephone Company. These exhaustive standards detail the magnitudes of a variety of telephone related signals, the periods of signals, the timings of signals, and the like. For example, these Bellcore standards specify a range of voltages necessary to power an analog telephone, a range for voltages necessary to ring a ringer of a telephone, methods for indicating when messages are waiting in a voice mail-type system, and the like. Many other such standards are also described, including the methods for encoding analog information, and the like.
In the past, typical private branch exchange (PBX) systems for large corporations included computer systems having proprietary switching hardware and proprietary control software. These traditional PBX systems were very costly in terms of the hardware and the software required, as well as very costly in terms of the maintenance and the service required. For example, traditional PBX systems typically ranged in cost of tens of thousands of dollars for a simple PBX system to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a large PBX system and on up. Such PBX systems were thus very costly, especially for smaller to medium sized businesses.
Within the past two decades, the PBX industry has migrated from traditional analog switching to high-speed digital switching systems. As a result of the conversion to digital switching, there has been a tremendous increase in telephone and switching functionality. For example, functionality such as call forwarding, conference calling, caller identification, and the like became relatively straightforward to program, to implement, and to maintain.
In order to provide the benefits of digital PBX system to users, digital telephones were developed for use with the respective PBX systems. With such digital telephones, the telephone signals, such as ringing, and voice, are typically transmitted in a conventional manner. However, additional digital data lines were provided to allow the user to send and receive digital data to and from the PBX system. For example, typical digital data included indicator lights, such as a message indicator light, telephone numbers of internal and external callers, speed dial functionality, do not disturb requests, and the like. These digital PBX systems, however, were still very expensive for small to medium sized businesses.
Only recently have solutions been developed to reduce the cost of PBX. This was due in part to the increased processing power of personal computers and the availability of more robust real-time multi-processing, multi-threaded operating systems. Other reasons for the paradigm shift from traditional PBX systems to xe2x80x9ccomputer telephonyxe2x80x9d was the introduction of dedicated computer plug-in boards and software that provided PBX switching functionality.
The new computer telephony integration (CTI) model has drastically reduced the costs of PBX systems by providing relatively low cost hardware and open and maintainable software. One of the pioneering companies in the field of computer telephony integration was AltiGen Communications"" AltiServ(trademark) and Quantum(trademark) products.
One drawback faced by many companies installing a traditional PBX system was that it typically required the purchaser of the PBX system to buy only digital telephones compatible with that PBX system. For example, digital telephones from Siemens would be required to work with a Siemens PBX, and the like. Digital telephones very thus expensive. For example, the cost of a typical digital office telephone today approaches approximately $250. In contrast, in the home/consumer market, an analog telephone having the some of the same functionality as the digital office telephone, or additional functionality (e.g. cordless) costs approximately $100.
Additional drawbacks to digital telephones for traditional PBX systems included that there is little if any market for compatible accessories, for example, answering machines, and the like. In contrast, in the home market, users can simply mix and match components for use with their analog telephones. For example, typical components include computer modems, answering machines, head sets, extension cords, and the like. In the home market, due to the large number of vendors and interchangeable products, these market forces keep the prices of analog telephone equipment low.
Other drawbacks to having traditional digital PBX systems include that installation of the PBX systems typically required a high degree of custom wiring, equipment, interfaces, and the like for the digital telephones. Further, installation of additional telephone extension lines would be a major undertaking. Another drawback is that because there is a great amount of dedicated hardware required for a typical PBX system, users would be typically be locked into a particular vendor after initial purchase, even if the service and support received was unacceptable.
Thus, in light of the above, what is needed in the industry are improved methods and apparatus using analog telephone equipment for PBX systems providing extended functionality.
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for improved analog caller identification functionality. In particular, the present invention relates to re-generation and forwarding of analog caller identification signals using novel methods and apparatus.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for routing analog Caller ID signals includes receiving an incoming telephone call for a first telephone extension, the incoming telephone call associated with a first set of analog Caller ID signals, asserting a ringing signal to the first telephone extension, the ringing signal including the first set of analog Caller ID signals, and coupling the incoming call to the first telephone extension. The method also includes receiving a request to couple the incoming call from the first telephone extension to a second telephone extension, receiving a request to send the first set of analog Caller ID signals to the second telephone extension, and asserting a ringing signal to the second telephone extension, the ringing signal including the first set of analog Caller ID signals.
According to another embodiment, a computer program product for routing analog identification data in a telephone server including a processor includes a tangible media including software code that directs the processor to detect an incoming telephone call for a first telephone extension, the incoming telephone call associated with a first set of analog identification data, software code that directs the processor to assert a ringing signal to the first telephone extension, the ringing signal including the first set of analog identification data, and software code that directs the processor to couple the incoming call to the first telephone extension. Software code that directs the processor to detect a request to couple the incoming call from the first telephone extension to a second telephone extension, and software code that directs the processor to detect a request to transfer the first set of analog information data to the second telephone extension, are also included. The tangible media also includes software code that directs the processor to assert a ringing signal to the second telephone extension, the ringing signal including the first set of analog information data.
According to yet another embodiment, a telephone server is disclosed for routing an analog information signal. The telephone server includes a processor and a computer readable memory. The computer readable memory includes executable code that directs the processor to detect a telephone call from an external telephone for a first internal telephone, the telephone call associated with an analog information signal, executable code that directs the processor to decode the analog information signal for caller data, and executable code that directs the processor to store the caller data. Executable code that directs the processor to form a re-generated analog information signal in response to the caller data, executable code that directs the processor to provide a ringer signal to the first internal telephone, the ringer signal including the re-generated analog information signal, and executable code that directs the processor to couple the telephone call to the first internal telephone, are also included. The computer readable memory also includes executable code that directs the processor to detect a request to forward the telephone call from the first internal telephone to a second internal telephone, executable code that directs the processor to detect a request to forward the caller data to the second internal telephone, and executable code that directs the processor to assert a ringer signal to the second internal telephone, the ringer signal including the re-generated analog information signal.

Analog caller identification transmission method and apparatus


There is provided a technique in which in a development apparatus to perform replacement of developer, the amount of developer can be stably kept irrespective of a change in a physical property of the developer. There are included a development apparatus that circulates and conveys a developer supplied at a specified timing in a specified conveying chamber and causes the developer to overflow through a discharge port provided in the conveying chamber, a fluidity judgment unit to judge a degree of fluidity of the developer in the conveying chamber, and a speed control unit to control a conveying speed of the developer in a specified range near the discharge port in the conveying chamber to become low relative to an average value of a conveying speed of the developer in a conveying passage except the specified range when the fluidity judged by the fluidity judgment unit is low.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a development apparatus adopting a so-called overflow system, and particularly to a developer conveying technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, in a development technique to perform development processing with a two-component developer including carrier and toner, in order to prevent deterioration of image characteristics due to the peeling of a resin coat material of the surface of the carrier resulting from the consumption of the toner or the lowering of charging performance as the developer by the attachment of a toner component to the surface of the carrier, a system of supplying the toner and carrier into the development apparatus has been proposed. Specifically, there is known a method in which toner and carrier are separately supplied, or a method in which a toner cartridge to be replenished is mixed with a small amount of carrier and they are supplied to a development apparatus (see JP-A-62-127874).
Heretofore, when developer reaches the end of its life, a total replacement operation is performed, however, in this system, carrier is also supplied during a normal developing operation at the same time as the toner. Although the toner is consumed by the development, since the supplied carrier remains in a container of the development apparatus, when toner density in the development container is kept constant, the bulk of the developer is increased. In order to deal with the increase in the bulk of the developer as stated above, there is known a method in which the so-called overflow is used and the developer is discharged to the outside of the development container. Besides, there is also known a system in which a part of the developer is mechanically discharged by control, and a new developer is supplied, so that the developer in the development apparatus is replaced (see JP-A-6-301289).
As stated above, the developer which reaches the end of its life and is deteriorated is partially replaced by a new one, and the developer performance is kept, so that the number of times of collective replacement of the developer is reduced, and the maintenance property is improved.
In the development apparatus to perform the replacement of the developer as described above, there is known a technique in which in order to keep the amount of developer to be constant, bulk density is regulated as an index of the fluidity of the developer (JP-A-9-185177), however, since the developer is changed according to the use state, it is not practical. Besides, there is known a technique in which a low conveying unit of developer is provided by decreasing the diameter of a developer agitating wing or the pitch, and discharge of the developer is performed (JP-A-2000-81787).
However, in the above related art, it is impossible to deal with a change in a physical property of a developer resulting from a use condition, such as arrival to the end of its life due to deterioration or an environmental change, and there has been a case where the amount of developer can not be kept to be constant. That is, in the above related art, there is a case where the discharge of the developer is not sufficiently performed due to the change in the physical property of the developer, and it has not been sufficient for proper maintenance of the amount of the developer and for maintenance of the performance of the developer.

Development apparatus, image forming apparatus, and developer transfer method


An instrument panel has a base, an air bag door core, a skin, and a polyurethane foam body. The base has an opening for passing an air bag if the air bag inflates. The door core is arranged on the surface of the base, to close the opening. The skin has a breaking facility that defines an air bag door. The foam body fills a space between the base and the skin. The instrument panel is provided with a specific string member. The string member has a face made of a non-adhesive part that is non-adhesive with respect to the foam body and a face made of an adhesive part that is adhesive with respect to the foam body. The string member is arranged on the surface of the base along the breaking facility so that the foam body breaks always along the breaking facility, to surely and smoothly open the air bag door without scattering the foam body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of an air bag door of an instrument panel, and particularly, to the structure of an air bag door that is integral with an instrument panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 16 shows an instrument panel P of a car. The instrument panel is arranged inside the car under a windshield, to hold instruments and protect persons in the front seat. The instrument panel is generally made of a base, a skin, and a polyurethane foam body formed between the base and the skin. A simple way to form the instrument panel is to arrange a skin and a base in molds, inject polyurethane foam ingredient between the skin and the base, and make the foam ingredient foam and solidify with the skin and base. This technique is called a monolithic molding technique.
Recent instrument panels are usually provided with an air bag device for the seat next to the driver's seat. FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along a line a--a of FIG. 16 and shows an air bag device fitted to the instrument panel of FIG. 16. A folded air bag A and an igniter I are housed in a casing C, to form the air bag device. The air bag device is fitted to the back of the instrument panel P so that the air bag device faces the seat next to the driver's seat. The base 74 has an opening O above the casing C, to let the air bag A inflate. The opening O is covered with an air bag door D. Upon occurrence of a collision the car, the igniter I inflates the air bag A, which pushes and opens the door D from the back thereof and expands into the inside of the car.
The air bag door D may be separately prepared and fitted to the instrument panel later, or it may be integrally formed with the instrument panel.
Separately preparing the door D involves troublesome fitting work and fitting errors. On the other hand, integrally forming the door D has no such problems. The present invention relates to the latter method.
The instrument panel of the prior art of FIGS. 16 and 17 has the integral air bag door D. FIG. 18 is an enlarged view showing an encircled part of FIG. 17. The instrument panel P is formed according to the monolithic molding technique and is composed of the base 74, an air bag door core 75, the skin 72, and the foam body 71. The base 74 has the opening O for passing the air bag. The door core 75 is placed on the base 74, to close the opening O. The skin 72 has a breaking facility 73 that defines the air bag door D. The foam body 71 fills a space between the base 74 and the skin 72.
The breaking facility 73 is a notch or a V-shaped groove formed by thinning the skin 72 by high-frequency welder, hot blade, cold press cutter, etc. A reference mark T is an expected break line that is an imaginary line passing through the foam body 71.
If inflated, the air bag A pushes the air bag door D. Stress due to the inflating air bag appears at the breaking facility 73 and breaks the foam body 71 and breaking facility 73, to open the air bag door D and expand the air bag A into the inside of the car as shown in FIG. 19. In FIG. 19, the skin 72 has been broken at parts 73a and 73b, and the foam body 71 at parts Ta and Tb.
The expected break line T is a shortest ideal line achieved when the foam body 71 breaks most efficiently in a shortest time. The line T is only an imaginary line and is not a real line formed of, for example, a slit. The actual broken parts Ta and Tb are usually irregular and differ from the ideal line T. Namely, the air bag door D is irregularly opened and the foam body 71 is irregularly broken to scatter.
It is difficult to form a notch or a slit along the line T in the foam body 71 because the foam body 71 is made from polyurethane foam ingredient between the base 74 and the skin 72.
The polyurethane foam ingredient frequently leaks from between the opening O and the door core 75, to cause an underfill in the foam body 71. To prevent this, more polyurethane foam ingredient is needed. If the ingredient leaks, extra work of removing burrs formed by the leaked ingredient will be necessary.

Structure of air bag door of instrument panel


The present invention provides a low-k dielectric etching process with high etching selectivities with respect to adjacent layers of other materials, such as an overlying photoresist mask and an underlying barrier/liner layer. The process comprises the step of exposing a portion of the low-k dielectric layer to a plasma of a process gas that includes a fluorocarbon gas having a relatively low fluorine to carbon ratio, a nitrogen-containing gas, and an inert gas, wherein a volumetric flow ratio of the nitrogen-containing gas to the fluorocarbon gas is greater than about 20:1. The process can be used to over etch the low-k dielectric layer to provide improved selectivity to the photoresist mask and the barrier/liner layer, reduced striations and reduced CD loss as compared with conventional low-k dielectric etching processes.

The maximum operating speed of current semiconductor devices is limited by the time delay factor T=RC of metal layers, where the resistance R is from the metal lines and the capacitance C is from the dielectric insulating material surrounding the metal lines. As the minimum feature size on integrated circuits shrinks below 0.18 μm, the metal lines become thinner and more densely packed, resulting in greater resistance in the metal lines and larger inter-metal capacitance, and therefore a longer time delay. By changing to different materials, i.e., higher conductivity material for the metal lines and lower permittivity (low-k) dielectric for the insulating material, device geometry can continue to shrink without adversely impacting the maximum operating speed. This prompted the switch from aluminum and silicon dioxide to copper and low-k dielectrics in the backend process flow for manufacturing many current and future semiconductor devices.
The switch from aluminum/oxide to copper/low-k involves a variety of fundamental changes in the backend manufacturing process flow. Since it is difficult to etch copper, new approaches such as "damascene" or "dual damascene" processing are required. Copper damascene/dual-damascene is a process where vias and trenches are etched into the insulating material. Copper is then filled into the vias and trenches and sanded back using a process such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), so the conducting materials are only left in the vias and trenches. Among the many challenges presented by this process, etching trenches or vias in low-k dielectrics can be tricky due to the more complicated chemical composition of the dielectric material and the many different kinds of low-k dielectric materials available. The etch chemistry for etching a low-k dielectric material may have to be tailored to match up with the amount of carbon, hydrogen, silicon, fluorine and oxygen in the material.
The ratio of the rate of etching a low-k dielectric layer to the rate of etching one of adjacent layers of other materials is called etching selectivity. A photoresist layer is typically used to mask the low-k dielectric layer during the dielectric etching process. Compared with traditional dielectric etching processes, selectively etching low-k dielectric materials requires more precise tuning of the process chemistry and process parameters because like photoresist, many low-k dielectric materials also contain some carbon and hydrogen, making it harder to achieve good selectivity. Poor selectivity to photoresist has been found to contribute to striations or rough surfaces on the sidewalls of etched micro-features. Striations are not desirable for optimum performance of the integrated circuits because the rough feature surfaces make metallization difficult. Poor selectivity to photoresist also contributes to loss of critical dimensions (CD), which has become less and less tolerable with the shrink of feature sizes.


An open ear canal hearing aid system is disclosed which comprises a plurality of ear canal tubes sized for positioning in an ear canal of a user so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds. The open ear canal hearing aid system further comprises a sound processor for amplifying ambient sounds received through one of the ear canal tubes within a predetermined frequency range and to produce processed sounds and for supplying the processed sounds to the second ear canal tube. According to other embodiments of the present invention, the speaker and/or microphone can be located in the ear canal at the end of the ear canal tubes. In these embodiments, the speaker and/or microphone are electrically connected to the sound processor by wires in the ear canal tubes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an open ear canal hearing aid system, and more particularly to an open ear canal hearing aid system including a sound processor for amplifying sounds included within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range and means for transmitting sounds to the ear canal and for receiving sounds which are in the ear canal.
2. State of the Art
Present day hearing aids have been developed to correct the hearing of users having various degrees of hearing impairments. It is well known that the hearing loss of people is generally not uniform over the entire audio frequency range. For instance, hearing loss for sounds at high audio frequencies (above approximately 1000 Hz) will be more pronounced for some people with certain common hearing impairments while hearing loss for sounds at lower frequencies (below approximately 1000 Hz) will be more pronounced for people having different hearing impairments.
The largest population of people having hearing impairments includes those having mild hearing losses with normal hearing in the low frequency ranges and hearing losses in the higher frequency ranges. In particular, the most problematic sounds for people having such mild hearing losses are high frequency sounds at low amplitudes (soft sounds).
Conventional hearing aids employ electronic hearing aid devices. Through various signal processing techniques, sounds to be delivered to the ear are rebuilt and supplemented to facilitate and optimize the hearing of the user throughout the usable frequency range. However, these devices block the ear canal so that little or no sounds reach the ear in a natural, unaided manner. Furthermore, such devices have drawbacks, such as feedback, when used with communication devices such as telephones.
Conventional hearing aids generally provide adequate hearing throughout the entire speech frequency range for most hearing impairments. However, these types of devices are not optimal for people having mild hearing losses for a number of reasons. Conventional hearing aids can unnecessarily amplify loud sounds so that these sounds become uncomfortable and annoying to the mild hearing loss users. In many hearing aids, such loud sounds are also distorted by the sound processing circuitry, significantly reducing the intelligibility of speech or the quality of other sounds. In addition, these types of hearing aids introduce phase shifts to received sounds, resulting in a reduction of the user's ability to localize sound sources. These hearing aids can therefore degrade certain sounds that the mild hearing loss user could otherwise hear adequately without any aid. Additionally, these traditional hearing aids are overly complicated and burdensome to users having mild hearing losses.
Efforts have been made to provide different gains for sounds of different frequencies, depending on the hearing needs of the user. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,739 to Krokstad discloses a device which amplifies sounds with different gains according to the frequencies of the sounds. While this device provides an improved gain response, it processes sounds across the entire frequency range, including low frequency sounds. Thus, this device suffers from the same problems noted above in accommodating the mild hearing loss user.
Other attempts to provide different gains for sounds of different frequencies employ multiband compression in which sounds of different frequency bands and different amplitudes are compressed by different amounts. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,278,912 and 5,488,668 to Waldhauer disclose multiband compression for hearing aids. Such systems apply compression to the entire frequency range, including low frequency signals. In the case of a user with mild hearing loss, compression for low frequency sounds is not needed. Applying compression to low frequency sounds thus results in a waste of money and space for the circuitry required to perform such compression and unnaturally and unnecessarily increases the amplitude of low level sounds.
Conventional hearing aid systems cause an additional problem known as the occlusion effect. The occlusion effect is the increased loudness of certain sounds due to transmission of sound by tissue conduction when the ear canal is blocked and air conduction is impeded, resulting in sounds which are both unnatural and uncomfortable for the user. In particular, the user's own voice sounds different than normal when the ear is blocked.
Vents have been introduced in hearing aid systems to provide pressure relief and to shape frequency responses. The vents are not designed to let sounds into the ear canal and do little to improve the occlusion effect. The occlusion effect therefore remains another drawback to using these traditional hearing aid systems.
In an effort to alleviate some of the aforementioned problems, some behind-the-ear (BTE) aids have been designed with a special tube fitting. These types of aids include a tube that extends into the ear canal and is held in place by an ear mold that leaves the ear canal generally unobstructed. The relatively open ear canal overcomes some of the problems mentioned above. However, these types of aids suffer from a number of other significant problems.
For example, like other BTE hearing aids, the "tube fitting" aids typically employ a rigid ear hook that connects to a soft tube which in turn connects to a rigid ear mold. The tubing is straight, but has the disadvantage that the tube does not hold the device in place. The result is that this type of BTE hearing aid requires a large ear hook and a large, hard, close-fitting ear mold to maintain the position of the tube within the ear canal. The large size of these components results in a cosmetically unattractive device. Also, the ear mold has to be custom-manufactured, which adds to the cost of the device and the time needed to fit the hearing aid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,708 to Gorike discloses another type of hearing aid device in which the hearing aid is formed in a pair of eyeglasses. One drawback of this configuration is that the user is required to wear a custom made pair of eyeglasses, which adds to the cost of the device.
Another problem with these BTE devices is the fact that the microphone is located behind the ear. The microphone can have trouble picking up sounds from various directions because of being located behind the ear. In addition, the microphone can pick up too much background sound such as hair rubbing on a shirt when the user turns his/her head.
None of the above-described systems are directed to a hearing aid system which specifically solves only the hearing needs of people having mild hearing loss. Because people with mild hearing loss have normal hearing for many sounds, it is desirable to provide a hearing aid system which allows these sounds to pass through the ear canal unaided and to be heard in a natural manner and to only compensate and aid the sounds that the user has difficulty hearing. It is further desirable that such a hearing aid be cosmetically attractive and comfortable to wear while providing better sound pick-up for the microphone.


In one embodiment an controller comprises logic, at least partially including hardware logic, configured to logic, at least partially including hardware logic, configured to receive location data from a location measurement apparatus, buffer the location data in a local memory, and release the location data from the local memory to a remote processor in response to one or more trigger conditions. Other embodiments may be described.

The subject matter described herein relates generally to the field of electronic devices and more particularly to a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) services on a low power hub in electronic devices.
Location-based services and geofencing techniques commonly rely upon network-based location services, e.g., global positioning system (GPS) location services, to determine a location of a mobile computing device. Such network-based location services require consume significant amounts of power. Accordingly additional systems and techniques to provide GNSS-based services may find utility.


A press button device includes a button unit having a main body with a surrounding wall, and an actuating member protruding from an inner side of the main body for actuating a control switch. A flexible connection unit includes a button-coupling portion connected to the surrounding wall in an airtight manner, a fixed portion radially spaced apart from and surrounding the button-coupling portion, and a deformable portion interconnecting the button-coupling and fixed portions. The deformable portion is elastically displaced relative to the fixed portion when the button unit is pressed, and restores the button unit to its original position when the pressing force thereon is removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a press button device, more particularly to a press button device that is integrally formed as one piece, that has an airtight, watertight, and anti-vibration function, and that is suitable for use in an audio equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional audio equipment usually has a switch button for controlling the power on/off thereof by a user. An existing button is mostly mounted on a housing wall of a housing of the audio equipment. Since the button must be movable to facilitate a depressing stroke that will actuate a control switch, a gap is present between the button and the housing so that the button can move freely. To avoid affecting the sound quality, the housing of the audio equipment needs to be airtight and prevent vibration of the button. Currently, the most common practice is to dispose the control switch on a circuit board with a small area (hereinafter referred to as a small board) which is independent from a main circuit board. The small board and the control switch thereon are disposed in an independent space of the housing that is separated by a structure and that corresponds in position to the button. The independent space is isolated from a main space of the housing a sealant. Through this, the button is isolated from the main space during pressing, and the main space will not have air leakage caused by pressing the button.
However, such a practice not only requires constructing an additional design for an independent space, there is also a need to use sealant to isolate the independent space from the main space of the housing. Space design is susceptible to restriction, and the associated assembly process is complicated. Hence, an improvement is necessary.

Press button device and audio equipment having the press button device


A method of generating code that permits client access to a business process orchestration running on a server as a web service using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). Business process orchestrations in XLANG are converted to a web service implementation description from which the Web services code is generated. During runtime, when a SOAP request message comes into the server, it is passed to the target web method. The message is then passed to a Web services adapter that submits the request for further processing by the backend system. The response is forwarded to the Web services adapter, which returns the response as a SOAP response message to the client.

Standalone applications and Web sites create islands of functionality and data. Users are forced to navigate manually between Web sites, devices, and applications, logging in each time, and rarely being able to carry data from one site to another. This makes business tasks that ought to be simple, such as arranging a meeting with colleagues from partner companies and automatically updating every attendee's calendar, very difficult. This inefficiency is a major source for productivity loss.
As a result of the changes in how businesses and consumers use the Web, the industry is converging on a new computing model that enables a standard way of building applications and processes to connect and exchange information over the Web. This new Internet-based integration methodology, called "XML Web services," enables applications, machines, and business processes to work together. Web services describe themselves to the outside world; telling what functions they perform, how they can be accessed, and what kinds of data they require. The widespread support around XML assures that businesses will cooperate in the Internet-based economy with this XML Web services model.
The XML Web services utilize XML (extensible Markup Language), which is an open industry standard managed by the World Wide Web Consortium. It enables developers to describe data being exchanged between PCs, smart devices, applications, and Web sites, etc. Because the data is separate from the format and style definitions, it can be easily organized, programmed, edited, and exchanged between Web sites, applications, and devices. XML has transformed how applications talk to each other, thus more and more businesses are exchanging data and processing documents electronically.
However, many businesses have systems that are incompatible with XML. Thus, these systems cannot be called as Web services. A solution to this problem is found in the BizTalk Framework, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., which addresses these interoperability challenges in a platform and technology-neutral manner. It provides specifications for the design and development of XML-based messaging solutions for communication between applications and organizations. BizTalk is capable of receiving documents submitted through a wide variety of transports, such as HTTP, SMTP, and SOAP; as e-mail attachments; through the message bus; programmatically through exposed APIs; and through adapter components. The BizTalk Server receive locations monitor HTTP, MSMQ message queues, and file locations for incoming business documents. The receive locations are responsible for submitting the received documents on to a receive pipeline, the second step in the process.
A BizTalk Server receive pipeline is set up to receive incoming documents that conform to a specific XSD schema, which defines the structure of the business data within the document. When the document arrives through a receive function, a receive pipeline can log the whole document or any portion of it to the BizTalk Document Tracking database for later analysis, or transform the document to conform to the schema of the target application. After documents are received and mapped to the format of the target application, they are delivered either directly to that application or to a business process orchestration that manages delivery to multiple target applications.
However, with all the functionality that BizTalk offers, it does not provide a method of exposing backend systems and workflows (i.e., business process orchestrations) as XML Web services. The present invention provides such a solution.

Method and software for publishing a business process orchestration as a web service


There is provided a sterilization apparatus for sterilizing an object. The sterilization apparatus includes a concentration chamber configured to concentrate sterilizer, a vaporizing chamber configured to vaporize the sterilizer, a measuring pipe into which the sterilizer is introduced from the concentration chamber before being introduced into the vaporizing chamber, a vacuuming device configured to vacuum the sterilization chamber, and a first valve configured to be opened and closed to control communication between the sterilization chamber and the measuring pipe, wherein after the sterilizer is introduced from the concentration chamber into the measuring pipe, gas contained in the measuring pipe is removed from the measuring pipe by opening the first valve.

1. Field of the Invention
One disclosed aspect of the embodiments relates to a sterilization apparatus and a sterilization method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because germs may be attached to medical instruments such as syringes or operation tools if the medical instruments are not sterilized after used, the medical instruments may badly influence human bodies and thus may not be reused. For this reason, sterilization apparatuses for sterilizing an object, such as a medical instrument, which needs to be sterilized, are being used.
As an example of such a sterilization apparatus and a sterilization method, which sterilize an object by using hydrogen peroxide as a sterilizer are discussed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 08-505787.
When a sterilization object is sterilized by a sterilization apparatus, a sterilizer is concentrated in a concentration furnace, and sterilization is performed by using the concentrated sterilizer to increase a sterilizing operation. While the sterilizer concentrated in the concentration furnace passes through a chamber for gasifying the concentrated sterilizer from the concentration furnace, air in a cartridge used a plurality of times or air for exhausting vapor is mixed.
For this reason, if air is introduced into a sterilization chamber, a sterilizing operation is deteriorated.

Sterilization apparatus and sterilization method


A method of transmitting controller motion from a robotic manipulator to a surgical instrument includes rotating a plate included in the robotic manipulator. The plate has a driving surface that bears against an inner gimbal of a gimbal assembly included in the surgical instrument. The plate is rotated about a center of motion that coincides with an intersection of two rotational axes of the gimbal assembly.

1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of mechanical couplers; and more specifically, to couplers for transferring control motion from robotic manipulators.
2. Background
Minimally invasive medical techniques have been used to reduce the amount of extraneous tissue which may be damaged during diagnostic or surgical procedures, thereby reducing patient recovery time, discomfort, and deleterious side effects. Traditional forms of minimally invasive surgery include endoscopy. One of the more common forms of endoscopy is laparoscopy, which is minimally invasive inspection or surgery within the abdominal cavity. In traditional laparoscopic surgery, a patient's abdominal cavity is insufflated with gas and cannula sleeves are passed through small (approximately ½-inch) incisions in the musculature of the patient's abdomen to provide entry ports through which laparoscopic surgical instruments can be passed in a sealed fashion.
The laparoscopic surgical instruments generally include a laparoscope for viewing the surgical field and working tools defining end effectors. Typical surgical end effectors include clamps, graspers, scissors, staplers, and needle holders, for example. The working tools are similar to those used in conventional (open) surgery, except that the working end or end effector of each tool is separated from its handle by an approximately 12-inch long extension tube, for example, so as to permit the operator to introduce the end effector to the surgical site and to control movement of the end effector relative to the surgical site from outside a patient's body.
In order to provide improved control of the working tools, it may be desirable to control the instrument with a robotic manipulator. The surgeon may operate controls on a console to indirectly manipulate the instrument that is connected to the robotic manipulator. The instrument is detachably coupled to the robotic manipulator so that the instrument can be separately sterilized and selected for use as needed instrument for the surgical procedure to be performed. The instrument may be changed during the course of a surgery.
It is desirable to provide a close coupling between the surgeon's hand movement and the associated instrument movement. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism for transmitting to controlling motions of a robotic manipulator to a detachable laparoscopic surgical instrument without lost motion or hysteresis.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and means for transferring controller motion from a robotic manipulator to an attached instrument


Multiple record management functionality can be used for bulk PNR creation. The multiple record management functionality can take a structured input file containing travel requests and process the requests, such as by a set of client-specific rules, to create shell PNRs with the air segments and profile information included. The multiple record management functionality can also provide a reporting capability to detail the outcome of individual requests or a set of requests. Preference-driven bookings can be made based on a customer-defined overall value proposition. Bookings can be made for non-profiled travelers.

To facilitate creating, processing, billing, and record-keeping associated with travel reservations, information can be stored in the form of a Passenger Name Record (PNR). A PNR is an electronic record that can contain data fields comprising information used in conjunction with a travel itinerary. Such information can be grouped into a number of sets including those relating to information connected with a travel agency or other entity facilitating the reservation, with the company on whose behalf an individual may undertake a business trip, and with the individual himself or herself. PNRs can take multiple formats. For example, a certain GDS may use one format and a different GDS another one.
Typical information in a PNR comprises fields including passenger name, identity of travel agent, ticketing information, itinerary, and name of person making the booking. However, there can be many additional fields as well, such as remarks, form of payment, account numbers, frequent flyer numbers, and many more. In other words, a PNR can comprise a significant number of fields containing substantial information. In addition, in light of the fact that different GDS'es can use varying formats for PNRs—including varying field names, varying locations in a PNR where a field is located, and varying syntax within a field—this only adds to the permutations.
Given that two travellers may have significantly different travel parameters, two PNRs, even if similar in format, may be dissimilar in content. Even more, two PNRs, even if similar in format, may be different in content.
Despite the potential complexity of PNRs, however, once a PNR is created there can be powerful benefits. For example, if there is a need to exchange reservation information between parties, a PNR is an advantage. This may occur, for example, where two or more airline carriers are used in order to complete a journey. In addition, travel agencies can store profiles of their clients such as employers whose employees engage in business travel, and information related to the employees themselves, manage financial and administrative information, and conduct other activities. Generating PNRs, then, based on travel requests is an important step in reaping the benefits of the PNRs. And, of course, booking travel reservations in an optimal manner based on customer desires in light of availability flight inventory can be enhanced by efficient use and analysis of PNRs.
Moreover, a PNR may be considered not to contain enough information to be processed in a desired fashion. For example, there may be information desirable to report to a customer, or information by which to charge a customer, that may not be within the set of data from a PNR is constructed. f this is the case, it may inhibit efficient processing or even prevent travel booking entirely. Being able to define and act on a substandard information set, and still make a successful travel booking consistent with traveler and/or customer requirements, can be a benefit.
In addition, it is common, in the context of business travel, for there to be conditions specified within which the booking will take place. For example, a customer can have one or more employees engaging in business travel. The customer may seek to manage the conditions by which the employee or employees travel so as to minimize total expenses, maximize flexibility, factor in added considerations, and/or a combination of the foregoing,

Integration of multiple electronic records


Provided are various vehicular transmission combinations utilizing selectively engageable spiral-type couplings or slipper ring clutches, operable to provide smooth shifting between gear sets, in place of traditional shifting mechanisms, such as hydraulic plate-type clutches, or synchronizers.

Automobiles require shiftable transmissions as a result of the physics of the internal combustion engine. All internal combustion engines have a maximum engine rotational speed above which the internal combustion engine can not effectively operate due to limitations of various internal combustion engine components, such as the valvetrain or reciprocating components. Additionally, internal combustion engines have an engine speed range where horsepower and torque are at their maximum. The transmission, through changes in gear ratio, allows the ratio between the rotational speed of the engine and the drive wheels to change as the automobile accelerates or decelerates. By varying the gear ratios within the transmission, the internal combustion engine may operate below the maximum rotational speed and preferably near the engine speed range for best performance and/or fuel economy. The transmission provides a gear set operable to provide a reverse gear for backing the automobile. The transmission also provides a low gear, effective to allow adequate acceleration of the automobile while not sacrificing the top speed of the automobile.
Vehicular transmissions typically employ a clutch mechanism such as a hydraulically actuated plate-type clutch or a set of synchronizers in order to effect a gear selection. Engineers strive to make this gear selection as smooth and imperceptible to the driver as possible. Modern vehicular transmissions are designed with a very small footprint to allow tighter packaging within the engine bay resulting in an increased passenger cabin volume. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the usable space within the transmission housing is effectively utilized in the design of the transmission.
Automatically and manually shiftable transmissions constitute the two main varieties of vehicular transmissions. Automatically shiftable transmissions select the gear ratio with no input from the driver, whereas the manually shiftable transmissions require a gear selection input from the driver. Different gear selection techniques exist for manual transmissions such as, dual clutch shifting and synchronized shifting. The synchronized transmission designs utilize synchronizers to ensure that the drive gear rotational speed closely matches that of the input shaft during a shift to effect a smooth transition through the gear sets. The dual clutch transmission, or DCT, employs two separate input shafts, each with its own corresponding clutch, to engage and disengage the input shafts. In a 5-speed DCT, for instance, one input shaft would account for forward ranges 1, 3, and 5, and the second shaft would account for forward ranges 2 and 4 as well as a reverse range. Automatically shiftable transmissions typically employ hydraulically actuated plate-type clutches. Other variations of the automatic transmission may employ both hydraulically actuated plate-type clutches as well as one-way clutches. In this variation, the one-way clutches are used to improve shift feel and shift timing by enabling the smooth release of the off-going clutching element as the on-coming element gains torque capacity.

Vehicular transmissions utilizing slipper ring clutch control


A method for forming dual damascene features in a dielectric layer. Vias are partially etched in the dielectric layer. A trench pattern mask is formed over the dielectric layer. Trenches are partially etched in the dielectric layer. The trench pattern mask is stripped. The dielectric layer is further etched to complete etch the vias and the trenches in the dielectric layer.

The invention relates to the formation of semiconductor devices. More specifically, the invention relates to the formation of semiconductor devices using a dual damascene process.
During semiconductor wafer processing, features of the semiconductor device are defined in the wafer using well-known patterning and etching processes. In these processes, a photoresist (PR) material is deposited on the wafer and then is exposed to light filtered by a reticle. The reticle is generally a glass plate that is patterned with exemplary feature geometries that block light from propagating through the reticle.
After passing through the reticle, the light contacts the surface of the photoresist material. The light changes the chemical composition of the photoresist material such that a developer can remove a portion of the photoresist material. In the case of positive photoresist materials, the exposed regions are removed, and in the case of negative photoresist materials, the unexposed regions are removed. Thereafter, the wafer is etched to remove the underlying material from the areas that are no longer protected by the photoresist material, and thereby define the desired features in the wafer.
In semiconductor-based device (e.g., integrated circuits or flat panel displays) manufacturing, dual damascene structures may be used in conjunction with copper conductor material to reduce the RC delays associated with signal propagation in aluminum-based materials used in previous generation technologies. In dual damascene, instead of etching the conductor material, vias, and trenches may be etched into the dielectric material and filled with copper.
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a stack 100 on a wafer 110 used in the dual damascene process of the prior art. A contact 104 may be placed in a dielectric layer 108 over a wafer 110. A barrier layer 112, which may be of silicon nitride or silicon carbide, may be placed over the contact 104 to prevent the copper diffusion. A low-k dielectric layer 120 may be placed over the barrier layer 112. An antireflective layer (ARL) 116 may be placed over the low-k dielectric layer 120. A patterned resist layer 132 may be placed over the ARL 116. The ARL 116 may be formed from silicon nitride, SiON, or other material with a high refractive index and high extinction coefficient.
In a via first dual damascene process, the stack 100 may be subjected to an etch, which etches a via 140 down to the barrier layer 112, as shown in FIG. 1B. Remaining photoresist mask material is also stripped. For low-k dielectrics such as organosilicate glass (OSG), when the stripping process uses an oxygen strip, exposed portions of the low-k dielectric may be damaged, as shown by damage regions 194 in FIG. 1B. This damage may increase RC delay and parasitic capacitance. A via plug fill may provide a spin on dielectric via plug material 137 which fills the vias and forms a layer over the low-k dielectric layer 120, as shown in FIG. 1C. As feature size decreases the via plug is more susceptible to form voids 139. These voids contribute to production defects. An example of one way that such voids may increase defects is explained below.
A photoresist trench pattern 145 is formed over the via plug material 137, as shown in FIG. 1C. A trench etch is used to form a trench 147, as shown in FIG. 1D. Some of the damaged areas 194 are etched away during the trench etch. Some of the via plug material 137 remains after the trench etch. In this example, due to the presence of large voids, the trench etched has punched through the via plug material and barrier layer 112, at 147 to expose part of a copper contact 104.
A subsequent trench pattern strip is used to remove the trench pattern and the remaining via plug, as shown in FIG. 1E. An oxygen ashing may be used to accomplish the strip. Oxygen ashing or other stripping processes may cause more damage regions 194 in the low-k dielectric and corrosion/oxidation 195 in the exposed portion of the copper contact 104, as shown in FIG. 1E. As a result, this example of a via first dual damascene process may provide damaged low-k dielectric regions and corroded/oxidized contacts.

Method of forming dual damascene structure


A one-way ratchet wrench according to the present invention includes a wrench body, a ratchet wheel, a pawl, an anchor, an elastic element and the following elements. A cover is hollow and annular and is annularly provided with a groove. The cover is mounted on the first receiving recess of the wrench body and presses against engaging teeth. A clip ring is mounted between the clip groove of the wrench body and the groove of the cover. The cover and the ratchet wheel are thereby mounted in the first receiving recess of the wrench body such that the cover and the ratchet wheel would not disengage from the first receiving recess of the wrench body during rotation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a one-way ratchet wrench having a bevel groove with a specific angle to avoid the disengagement of an elastic element when the wrench is turned.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional structure as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,882 has the shortcomings:
1. The control groove 13 of the wrench body 10 makes a notch in the appearance of the wrench. This results in poor visual aesthetics of the entire assembly.
2. When a drilling tool begins to drill the hole, it is easy to make the position of the drill hole deviated due to the lateral applied force from the arcuate surface. It is more difficult to provide a precise position of the control groove 13. The deviation in the position of the drill hole causes defectives to the wrench body 10.
3. If it is desired to drill a horizontal control groove 13 from the second receiving recess 15, the processing is more inconvenient.
4. It is less easy to assemble the elastic element 70 and the anchor 60 in the narrower second receiving recess 15.
Furthermore, the shortcomings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,274 are that the elastic restoring force of the bending elastic element 13 is weakened as well as the life is shorter.
Moreover, the shortcomings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,557 are that the structure itself of the control plate 15 is complicated and has more portions to be bending processed so it requires more labor and time in manufacture and it is substantially difficult to meet the manufacture benefit.


Decreasing the speed of a pump supplying cooling water to the core in the boiling water type nuclear reactor based on a trip signal that is generated when a pump supplying feed water is tripped. This performs a first operation to decrease the nuclear reactor power to a first fixed value. A second operation lowers the nuclear reactor power to a second fixed value that is lower than the first fixed value and that prevents run-out of other first pumps in operation. The first fixed value is lower than the reactor power at the moment when the first pump is tripped. The steam flow is decreased substantially simultaneously with the decrease of the feed water flow. Thereby, the decrease of the steam flow is carried out in an early stage when the feed water pump is tripped and the possibility of nuclear reactor scram is reduced.

The present invention relates to a nuclear reactor power control method and a nuclear reactor power control device, in particular, for applying to a boiling water type nuclear reactor.
The boiling water type nuclear reactor comprises a feed water system including a turbine driven reactor feed water pump (TDRFP) and a motor driven reactor feed water pump (MD-RFP). In normal operation, with two turbine driven reactor feed water pumps, the feed water is supplied to the reactor. The motor driven reactor feed water pump is also used as a back-up for the turbine driven reactor feed water pump. When one turbine driven reactor feed water pump is abnormally tripped and the motor driven feed water pump is not started, the flow of feed water becomes short and a nuclear reactor scram is caused due to the decrease of water level of the nuclear reactor. Scram can be considered as a general plant trip.
It is known to control the power of a nuclear reactor by changing the flow of the recirculated water. This controls the amount of voids in the water between fuel elements and a void will absorb neutrons to a greater extent than water. Therefore a reduction in the recirculated water by reducing the speed of the core cooling fluid pump will increase the amount of voids and thus decrease the power.
A method for avoiding such nuclear reactor scram is explained in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55114998(1980). When both the water level of the nuclear reactor decreases below a fixed level and a mismatching between the flow of the feed water supplied to the nuclear reactor and the flow of the steam discharged from the nuclear reactor appears, the method directly controls a recirculation flow control device with the mismatched amount and thereby decreases the nuclear reactor power. Thereafter, the flow of the steam decreases and the water level of the nuclear reactor rises. Thereby the nuclear reactor scram is avoided. This method detects the shortage of feed water flow due to non-start of the motor driven reactor feed water pump by measuring the water level drop of the nuclear reactor.
Further, although different from the abnormality example of the above feed water pump trip, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 49-37094 (1974) discloses a method for avoiding the nuclear reactor scram caused by the water level decrease of the nuclear reactor due to the decrease of feed water flow. The objective deals with the problem when there is a decrease of the feed water flow due to breakage of the feed water piping. The method is to lower the nuclear reactor power when both the feed water flow decreases below the steam flow by more than a fixed value and the water level of the nuclear reactor decreases from a normal water level by more than a fixed value. As the operations for lowering the nuclear reactor power, there are decreasing the speed of the recirculation pump and the insertion of selected control rods.

Nuclear reactor power control method and device


A medical examination table which is movable between a lowered patient entry/exit position and a raised patient examination position. A scissor-lift assembly is provided to raise and lower the examination table. The examination table includes a drawer having a pivotal front panel which is adapted to support instruments or other items thereon when the drawer is folded to a downward position. The examination table further includes a storage pocket located beneath the backrest. The storage pocket and its contents are concealed when the backrest is lowered and are accessible when the backrest is inclined.

Medical examination tables are known to have a patient-supporting surface comprising a seat portion and an adjustable backrest portion. The backrest portion is movable between a horizontal position and an inclined position so that a patient is supported in an upright position during certain examination procedures. Motorized lift assemblies have been used with examination tables to vertically raise and lower the entire patient supporting surface of the table so that in a lowered position, a patient can enter or exit the examination table. The examination table can be vertically raised by the lift assembly to a height suitable for a particular medical examination or procedure.
One drawback with known medical examination tables is that the table's patient-supporting surface is spaced a significant distance above the floor even when the table is lowered to its lowest patient entry/exit position. When the patient supporting surface is spaced a significant distance above the floor, small children, elderly patients or disabled patients often require assistance in order to get on top of the supporting surface before the supporting surface is raised for the examination. Sometimes more than one assistant is required to lift a patient from a wheelchair to the patient supporting surface on top of the medical examination table even when the examination table is lowered to its lowest position.
Another drawback encountered with known medical examination tables is that the examination table lacks a surface on which the physician may conveniently place medical instruments needed during an examination. Typically, the examining physician must have an assistant hold a tray with all the instruments needed during an examination or the instruments are placed on a table located near the examination table. The instrument supporting table takes up valuable space in the examination room and may be accidentally jarred by the physician or assistant so that the instruments may become contaminated and/or difficult for the physician to reach when the instruments are needed.
Another drawback with known medical examination tables is that the examination tables lack sufficient storage space for rolls of paper towels and other bulky items required for the examination or for clean-up of the examination area. Such bulky items are typically stored in cabinets in the examination room but that storage space is generally limited.
Therefore, there is a need for a medical examination table that improves patient entry or exit while providing comfort to the patient during movement of the medical examination table between entry/exit and examination and treatment positions. There is also a need for a medical examination table that improves a physician's access to medical instruments and other items needed during an examination. There is yet also a need for an examination table that improves storage of bulky items required for the examination and clean-up of the examination area.


An example includes a compute component, a memory and a controller coupled to the memory. The controller configured to operate on a block select and a subrow select as metadata to a cache line to control placement of the cache line in the memory to allow for a compute enabled cache.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computing systems. There are many different types of memory including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain its data (e.g., host data, error data, etc.) and includes random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and thyristor random access memory (TRAM), among others. Non-volatile memory can provide persistent data by retaining stored data when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, and resistance variable memory such as phase change random access memory (PCRAM), resistive random access memory (RRAM), and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), such as spin torque transfer random access memory (STT RAM), among others.
Computing systems often include a number of processing resources (e.g., one or more processors), which may retrieve and execute instructions and store the results of the executed instructions to a suitable location. A processing resource (e.g., CPU) can comprise a number of functional units such as arithmetic logic unit (ALU) circuitry, floating point unit (FPU) circuitry, and/or a combinatorial logic block, for example, which can be used to execute instructions by performing logical operations such as AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, and XOR, and invert (e.g., inversion) logical operations on data (e.g., one or more operands). For example, functional unit circuitry may be used to perform arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and/or division on operands via a number of logical operations.
A number of components in a computing system may be involved in providing instructions to the functional unit circuitry for execution. The instructions may be executed, for instance, by a processing resource such as a controller and/or host processor. Data (e.g., the operands on which the instructions will be executed) may be stored in a memory array that is accessible by the functional unit circuitry. The instructions and/or data may be retrieved from the memory array and sequenced and/or buffered before the functional unit circuitry begins to execute instructions on the data. Furthermore, as different types of operations may be executed in one or multiple clock cycles through the functional unit circuitry, intermediate results of the instructions and/or data may also be sequenced and/or buffered.
In many instances, the processing resources (e.g., processor and/or associated functional unit circuitry) may be external to the memory array, and data is accessed via a bus between the processing resources and the memory array to execute a set of instructions. Processing performance may be improved in a processing-in-memory (PIM) device, in which a processor may be implemented internal and/or near to a memory (e.g., directly on a same chip as the memory array). A processing-in-memory (PIM) device may save time by reducing and/or eliminating external communications and may also conserve power.
A typical cache architecture (fully associative, set associative, or direct mapped) uses part of an address generated by a processing resource to locate the placement of a block in the cache and may have some metadata (e.g., valid and dirty bits) describing the state of the cache block. A last level cache architecture may be based on 3D integrated memory, with tags and metadata being stored on-chip in SRAM and the block data in quickly accessed DRAM. In such an architecture, the matching occurs using the on-chip SRAM tags and the memory access is accelerated by the relatively fast on-package DRAM (as compared to an off-package solution).

Apparatuses and methods for compute enabled cache


LED traffic light 30 having a housing 39 that holds at least three different signal lights 32, 34, and 36. The three lights 32, 34, and 36 are each embedded in an opening 50 of housing 39. The LEDs for traffic signal lights 32, 34, and 36 are arranged in symbolic shapes (i.e. universal symbols or words) that further represent one of the traffic signals. Red signal light 32 has red LEDs 31 arranged in an octagon shape (i.e. stop sign shape), and yellow or amber signal light 34 has yellow LEDs 33 arranged in a triangle shape (i.e. caution sign shape). Green signal light 36 has green LEDs 35 arranged in a circular shape. The preferred embodiment is a single lens traffic light 40 having a housing 49 that provides at least three signal lights 42, 44, and 46. The three signal lights 42, 44, and 46 are all embedded in a single opening 50 of housing 49. The LEDs for signal lights 42, 44, and 46 are arranged in a generally common area that allows activation and display of one of the signal lights in a corresponding symbolic shape (i.e. universal symbol or words). Red signal light 42 has red LEDs 41 spread out and arranged in an octagon shape (i.e. stop sign shape). Green signal light 46 has green LEDs 45 spread out and arranged in a circular shape. In the areas which red signal light 42 and green signal light 46 commonly overlap, clusters of two LEDs (i.e. red LEDs 41 and green LEDs 45) exist. Yellow signal light 44 has yellow LEDs 43 spread out and arranged mounted in a triangle shape. In the areas which the three signal lights 42, 44, and 46 commonly overlap, clusters of three LEDs (i.e. red LEDs 41, yellow LEDs 43, and green LEDs 45) exist. Also, the principle of the single lens traffic light is not limited to an LED construction but can also be made from other suitable and appropriate colored lights or light sources.

1. Fields of Invention
The present invention relates to a traffic light invention, and, more particularly, relates to a Light Emitting Diode (LED) traffic light apparatus and corresponding methods of manufacture and use thereof.
2. Discussion Of Background And Prior Art
The typical conventional traffic light has a heavy housing unit which holds a vertical or horizontal arrangement of at least three different round signal lights each having a corresponding lens (See FIG. 1--Prior Art). The three round lights are a red signal light which represents "Stop", a yellow signal light which represents "Caution", and a green signal light which represents "Go". A red arrow signal light and/or a green arrow signal light, which are used for controlling protected turns, can also be added to the arrangement. In the conventional arrangement, the red signal light is produced by using an incandescent bulb (i.e. typically 67 to 150 watts) and a red filter. Similarly, the yellow signal light is produced by using an incandescent bulb and a yellow filter, and the green signal light is produced by using an incandescent bulb and a green filter. Furthermore, the red arrow signal light is produced by using an incandescent bulb and a filter that produces a red arrow, and the green arrow signal light is produced by using an incandescent bulb and a filter that produces a green arrow.
Each incandescent lamp (i.e. single round light or single arrow light) used in the typical traffic light consumes a fair amount of power (i.e. about sixty seven (67) to one hundred fifty (150) watts) in relative to a number of other types of light bulbs or light sources. Incandescent lamps have the disadvantage of producing a lot of heat when they are being used, and they do not produce useful light efficiently (i.e. only a small amount of light produced by incandescent lamps is in the visible spectrum). For example, only the red light of the incandescent lamp passes through the red filter lens and is used to provide the red signal light for a traffic light. Therefore, a lot of energy is wasted in producing the rest of the light and heat.
Furthermore, the incandescent lamps burn out and have to be replaced periodically (i.e. at least annually to conform with the National Traffic Safety Board regulations). Since the replacement of the bulbs for the incandescent lamps has to be done on site (i.e. at the intersection), a crew is usually necessary to perform this task. Therefore, the costs of replacing the incandescent lamp parts themselves and the personnel and labor required to perform these replacing services add to the costs of using and maintaining incandescent lamps for traffic lights.
Therefore, Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are being experimented with and used to replace incandescent lamps for traffic lights (See disclosure in Tech Update by E Source, November 1995, pp. 1-16 and Chapter 13 of E Source Publication, Secs. 13.1 to 13.2.2, 1994). The LED traffic light would also include the vertical or horizontal arrangement of at least three round signal lights (i.e. red, yellow, green) and can also include the protected turn signal (i.e. red arrow, green arrow) (See FIG. 2--Prior Art). Each of the signal lights includes a number of LEDs closely arranged together in the desired round or arrow pattern. The LED traffic light provides the advantages of generally consuming less power (i.e. single round light or single arrow light consumes about nine (9) to twenty five (25) watts of power), of producing at least red light (i.e. red signal light) more efficiently and very cost effectively, and of not burning out as often as an incandescent light. However, red light producing LEDs are designed only to provide red light, and they cannot be filtered to produce other colors.
LEDs can be changed to produce other colors by changing the ratios of various trace elements. Thus, yellow (amber) and green LEDs are available. Furthermore, the conventional traffic light design has been used for the LED traffic light (i.e. at least three different round signal lights each having a lens), and therefore, the typical heavy and bulky housing is still used to hold the round or arrow patterned LED traffic signal lights. Therefore, the costs and problems associated with providing, mounting, and maintaining the typical housing still exist. Heavy duty equipment (i.e. cables or poles) is still needed to hold and maintain the LED traffic light, and necessary personnel are needed to mount the LED traffic light.
Furthermore, the conventional LED traffic light still has the problem of allowing a driver or pedestrian to distinguish one light from the other only by its position on the three (3) light array. This problem is especially evident for persons that are color blind who may not be able to easily distinguish one color light from the other.
Therefore, an LED traffic light invention that is overall more efficient and cost effective, that has a less bulky, less expensive, and easy to mount housing unit, and that is designed so that each of the lights is more easily distinguishable is needed and desired, and it is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems and limitations of the prior art that has been discussed.

LED traffic light and method of manufacture and use thereof


An object of the invention is to provide a communication apparatus connected to a plurality of circuits in which recording paper on which received image data is printed is discharged to discharge trays which are individually provided for the respective circuits, so that the discharged sheets of recording paper are easily classified. A communication apparatus used individually in connection with a plurality of circuits is constituted so that received image data is printed on recording paper and is discharged to trays which are individually provided for the respective circuits. Specifically, when the printing of the image data is instructed, the tray number which is allowed to correspond to the reference circuit identification information memorized in the table for the tray selection which coincides with the circuit identification information memorized in the control table of the received information of the parameter memory part. The recording paper on which the image data is printed is discharged to the tray having the selected number. Consequently the printed recording paper is discharged to trays which are individually provided for the respective circuits, so that the sheets of recording paper can be easily classified by circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus such as a facsimile communication apparatus or the like used in connection with a plurality of circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication apparatuses include, for example, a facsimile communication apparatus used in connection with a telephone circuit. In the case of transmitting information with a facsimile communication apparatus, the facsimile communication apparatus reads image data which is information to be transmitted, with a scanner and codes the data to transmit. Furthermore, in the case of receiving information, the facsimile communication apparatus decodes the image data received to print out from a printer. A data transmitting operation and a data receiving operation are carried out in accordance with predetermined communication control procedures, and for this purpose, the facsimile communication apparatus is provided with a communication control circuit. An art of constituting a communication system by individually connecting a plurality of communication control circuits and a plurality of telephone circuits is already well known, however, in such an art, recording paper on which the image data is printed is discharged to a predetermined discharge tray.
Furthermore, there is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 4-185071, an example of a facsimile machine which has a plurality of recording media such as, for example, a printing device, an IC memory, and a magnetic recording medium which records and outputs image data which is received information so that the recording medium is designated with an instruction from the facsimile machine.
In the communication apparatus constituted in connection with the plurality of telephone circuits, the recording paper on which the received image data is printed is discharged to a predetermined discharge tray. However, since the communication apparatus is constituted so that recording paper on which image data is printed is discharged to the same discharge tray regardless of which circuit was involved in the communication, the discharged sheets of recording paper can not be easily classified by circuit with the result that there arises a disadvantage such that the communication apparatus is inconvenient in usage.
Furthermore, in the prior art disclosed in JP-A 4-185071, the recording medium is designated by an instruction from the facsimile machine on the data transmitting side so that the image data received by the designated recording medium is recorded and outputted. However, for example, when the communication apparatus of the prior art is constituted in connection with the plurality of telephone circuits, the recording paper on which the received image data is printed is discharged to the discharge tray of the printing device when the printing device is constantly designated from the same discharge tray, for example, from the facsimile machine on the data transmitting side without depending on the circuit. Consequently, in the same manner as the prior art described above, the discharged sheets of recording paper can not be easily classified by circuit with the result that there arises a disadvantage such that the communication apparatus is inconvenient in usage.

Communication apparatus used with a plurality of different circuits