A variable volume combustion chamber system for a four-cycle internal combustion engine features an engine having a cylindrical combustion chamber inside. An intake port and an exhaust port are located on a chamber side wall. An ignition plug port and a tangentially-mounted fuel injection port are also located on the chamber side wall. A cylindrical piston is pivotally located on a connecting rod in the combustion chamber. The system features an adjustable volume head assembly located on a chamber top featuring a solenoid connected to a cylindrical head and sleeve component via a positioning shaft. The cylindrical head and sleeve component adjustably extends through the chamber top into the combustion chamber and is movable via actuation of the solenoid.

It has long been known that increasing the compression ratio of an internal combustion engine increases its thermodynamic efficiency. It has also been long known that if the geometric volume ratio remains constant (i.e., a fixed volume combustion chamber), the pressure ratio is decreased, resulting in a mixture in the combustion chamber whose pressure is below that obtained at full throttle. One approach to restoring the full pre-combustion pressure (or achieving the desired pressure ratio) is to vary the volume of the combustion chamber.
Similarly, it has been long understood that sleeve valves are more efficient and less complex than traditional "poppet" valves.
Designs for variable volume combustion chambers are numerous. Likewise there are several designs for sleeve valves. The present invention integrates both concepts into one design to realize the cumulative benefits.
Sleeve Valve:
In 1908 Charles Knight invented the sleeve valve for use in internal combustion engines. The design had two cast-iron sleeves per cylinder, one sliding inside the other, with the piston inside the inner sleeve. The sleeves were operated by small connected rods actuated by an eccentric shaft and had ports cut out at their upper ends. The cylinder head was like a fixed piston, with its own set of rings projecting down inside the inner sleeve. The heads were individually detachable for each cylinder. The design allowed a more central location for the spark plugs, large ports for better gas flow, and hemispherical combustion chambers that in turn gave increased power. In addition, the sleeve valves required much less maintenance than poppet valves, which needed adjustment, grinding, and even replacement after a few thousand miles.
The sleeve valve concept was also envisaged by Peter Burt (Letter Patent No GB 190,918,140) and James McCollum (Patent No GB 190,914,629).
There have been several variations of the Knight invention over the years. U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,172A is a typical example. It is a single-sleeve valve engine with narrow quasi-elliptic sleeve motion that improves exhaust and intake valving and permits the conversion of standard engine blocks. The sleeve is thick walled, and is molded of low density material which permits significant rounding of the sleeve apertures for better flow, and grooves and rings for oil control, gas leakage reduction, and mass reduction. The sleeve has an extension which projects above the head and is connected to a half-speed crankshaft by means of a connecting rod. This connecting rod is restrained at an intermediate point by a radius rod to obtain quasi-elliptic sleeve motion which has an amplitude approximately half as great circumferentially as axially. In order to minimize emissions, provision is made for swirl, scavenging, multiple spark plugs, and a near ideal combustion chamber shape.
Variable Volume Combustion Chamber:
U.S. Pat. No. 741,824 by Pehrsson describes a 4-stroke, internal combustion engine with a cam operated exhaust valve and a vacuum operated intake valve, and with a main cylinder-diameter auxiliary piston used to manually vary the combustion chamber volume, to obtain the maximum pre-combustion pressure. The position of the auxiliary piston defines the limits of travel of the inlet valve.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,167,023 by Schmidt, there is disclosed a conventional 4-stroke engine with an auxiliary cylinder and piston above the main cylinder, to vary the combustion chamber volume. The auxiliary piston position is controlled by a spring, and the load of combustion is taken up by hydraulic pressure. The position of the auxiliary piston is therefore dependent on the load, as the rate of supply and escape of oil from above the auxiliary piston (or the top half of it) is limited by the rate with which it can enter or escape through the oil ports. The outlet port has a valve that has a preset (and alterable) pressure relief system. If the combustion pressure exceeds this pressure, oil is forced out of the pressure chamber, and the auxiliary piston moves towards its outermost position, increasing the combustion chamber volume. When the load setting is decreased, and the combustion pressure is less than this value, oil is not released from the outlet, but still enters through the inlet check valve, resulting in the movement of the piston towards the main cylinder, and increasing the pre-combustion pressure.
Wilson discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 1,639,477 a conventional 4-stroke engine with an auxiliary cylinder and multiple crowned piston located above the working piston. The position of the auxiliary piston is controlled by the pressure in the intake manifold, via a second auxiliary piston, operated upon by hydraulic pressure. A spring is used to move the auxiliary piston to its outermost position when the engine is not running.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,142,466 by Wagner a conventional 4-stroke compression ignition engine is described, with a throttled intake system and a variable volume combustion chamber. The auxiliary piston reciprocates, driven by the camshaft, whose timing is variable angularly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,344,993 by Lysholm there is disclosed a conventional 4-stroke spark or compression ignition engine with closure of the intake valve during the intake stroke, executing the Atkinson cycle. As the piston speed is high during valve closure, at high engine speeds the volumetric efficiency of the engine is reduced. If the intake valve were to be closed on the compression stroke instead, then the volumetric efficiency at high engine speeds would be increased, necessitating reducing it at low speeds. By closing the intake valve later on the induction stroke, and opening it very briefly on the compression stroke, the patent claims to produce a nearly constant volumetric efficiency, or that almost any desired curve of volumetric efficiency with engine speed can be tailored. On the compression ignition engine, the valve opening on the compression stroke can be the exhaust valve, as the fuel has not been injected as yet. The patent indicates that this is most suited to supercharged engines, thus in effect raising the efficiency to levels at or slightly above non-forced induction engines.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,467,568 by Rosaen there is disclosed a conventional 4-stroke engine with a variable volume combustion chamber, controlled by hydraulic pressure. It appears that the auxiliary piston is filled with oil.
Humphreys discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,433 a conventional 2-stroke or 4-stroke engine with an auxiliary cylinder and piston located above the working piston. The auxiliary piston is backed by hydraulic fluid supplied by the engine's lubrication system. Oil can escape from the chamber at the back of the auxiliary piston if the maximum pressure achieved during combustion exceeds a preset value, which is enforced on the escape mechanism.
Heisling discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 2,883,974 a conventional 4-stroke engine with an auxiliary cylinder and piston located above the working piston, whose purpose is to provide a variable volume combustion chamber. The position of the auxiliary piston is controlled by hydraulic pressure, and it is also actuated by hydraulic pressure. A second embodiment utilizes a moving cylinder sleeve. Much of the emphasis of the invention is on the control mechanism to make the idea work.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,452 by Nakamura an auxiliary cylinder and piston are located above a main cylinder and piston, and may communicate with them. A spring loaded piston may slide in the auxiliary cylinder, and does so after a certain preset high pressure is achieved during combustion. The primary purpose is to limit pressures and temperatures during combustion, and therefore increase thermal efficiency while ensuring that production of NO is limited. Lean charges lead to reduced CO and HC emissions, but they may also produce misfires and combustion fluctuations.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,304 by Luria there is described an internal combustion engine that achieves constant pre-combustion pressure with a movable auxiliary piston and cylinder, wherein said piston is controlled by hydraulic means. The invention implements the Atkinson cycle with variable inlet valve timing. The inlet valve is held open past bottom dead center ("BDC") to vent the unwanted mixture back into the inlet tract. The auxiliary piston is spring loaded so that during the exhaust stroke, the auxiliary cylinder volume is at its least, thereby scavenging.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,808 by Audoux there is disclosed a conventional 4-stroke engine, with an auxiliary piston and cylinder located above the main piston. The focus is on the hydraulic valving used to reduce any loads on the mechanical actuation of the auxiliary piston. With lowered pressure in the main cylinder, the auxiliary piston is designed to move inward towards the main cylinder, decreasing the volume of the combustion chamber, and assisting in scavenging burnt gases.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,537 by Nakahara discloses a conventional 4-stroke engine with an auxiliary cylinder and piston located in the head above the main piston and cylinder. The auxiliary piston is moved by hydraulic fluid under pressure. A major thrust of the invention is to construct a feasible means of controlling the auxiliary piston position, without having the excessive pressures from combustion having an impact on the oil pressure system, yet to distribute the load uniformly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,184 by Palko discloses a 2-stroke or 4-stroke diesel engine where the intake valve is closed on the compression stroke to implement a greater expansion duration than compression. The valve actuation means is not described in any detail, and the patent indicates that it may be fixed or it may be variable during operation. The extended expansion allows combustion to occur at or after top dead center ("TDC"), reducing engine loads, and heat losses to the cooling system. The usual advantages to the expansion increase are more work produced by the expanding gases, and lower exhaust temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,936 discloses a variable volume cylinder where the cylinder head of the cylinder has arranged therein an insert whose position is hydraulically adjustable, the compression chamber being enlarged by lifting the insert, while it is reduced by lowering the insert. The position of the insert is controlled through a microprocessor in conjunction with a lambda probe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,438 discloses a floating cylinder for a two cycle internal combustion engine providing a cylinder movably held within the cylinder block. The ports operation timing is controlled by a longitudinal movement of the cylinder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,771 by Riley discloses a 2-stroke or 4-stroke engine where a hydraulically controlled auxiliary piston can be withdrawn to vary combustion chamber volume in response to engine load (idle to full). Traditional valves are used for intake and exhaust.
The present invention features a variable volume combustion chamber with an integral sleeve valve system for four-cycle combustion engines. The variable volume chamber is controlled via a microprocessor-controlled solenoid.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims.

Variable volume combustion chamber system


A method includes obtaining measurements associated with one or more controlled variables related to a structure of creped tissue paper during production of the creped tissue paper. The method also includes generating at least one control signal that adjusts one or more manipulated variables associated with the production of the creped tissue paper in order to alter the structure of the creped tissue paper. The one or more controlled variables include a number of folds per unit length of the creped tissue paper, a caliper of the creped tissue paper, a macro crepe of the creped tissue paper, and/or a micro crepe of the creped tissue paper. The manipulated variable(s) could include a crepe percentage, a creping blade angle, a flow of sizing agent, and/or a cross direction (CD) profile of nozzle positions associated with a spray boom that sprays sizing agent onto a Yankee dryer.

Various manufacturers operate systems that produce crepe paper. Crepe paper is tissue paper that has been "creped" or crinkled. Crepe paper can have various properties that are important to downstream processes and end users, such as caliper (thickness) and softness.
Conventional crepe paper manufacturing systems often lack sensors for capturing on-line measurements of a crepe paper's structure. Rather, laboratory measurements of the crepe paper's structure are typically identified after the crepe paper has been manufactured. By identifying the crepe paper's structure after the crepe paper is manufactured, adjustments based on the measurements cannot be made in an on-line or real-time manner during production of the crepe paper.

Apparatus and method for closed-loop control of creped tissue paper structure


A computer built into an automobile displays the owner's manual for the car. The user requests more information about the automobile through the computer, and the additional information is displayed to the user. Information may include a description of a specific function or device of the car, service history, and/or real time status of a component of the car.

The past few decades have witnessed an increase in the use of computers. Whereas once upon a time the only places computers could be found were in a research institutions, universities, or governmental organizations, today people interact with many computers during the day. Between home and business computers, automatic teller machines, personal digital assistants, and cell phones, the average person is in knowing contact with several computers. But computers can also be found in places where the average person might not expect. Refrigerators, toasters, and cash registers are just a few of the devices that most people do not realize include computers (typically referred to as embedded systems).
Another device that people use on a daily basis without conscious knowledge that the device includes embedded systems is the automobile. Built-in computers monitor the automobile's performance, adjusting components to keep the automobile working as smoothly as possible. For example, whereas once upon a time a backyard mechanic could adjust the idle on his carburetor, today computers automatically adjust the fuel injectors in the automobile.
The increased use of embedded systems in automobiles has had the indirect effect of increasing the complexity of the automobile. Today, the average person can add gasoline to the gas tank, check the oil level using the dipstick, verify the proper tension on the timing belt, and perhaps change a tire. Adjusting or repairing anything else is too complicated or requires specialized equipment. Specifically, accessing the built-in computer in an automobile is not a task easily accomplished by the average user. The automobile does not provide easy access to the computer.
Because there is little for the average user to do but take the car to a mechanic, automobile manufacturers are simplifying the design of the dashboard display. Many cars today include an "idiot light," which says something to the effect of "Service Car Soon." The user then takes the car to the mechanic, who figures out exactly why the "idiot light" activated and fixes the problem.

PC-based automobile owner's manual, diagnostics, and auto care


This tree stand assembly uses adjustable features for mounting a Christmas tree, other plants, bushes or a flag or similar banner pole in a vertical alignment. A pot is nailed securely to the bottom of the tree trunk. The tree is inserted into a cover, which fits over a wide bowl. The cover has a central hole with sloping inward sides to accept and guide the tree with attached pot.

1. Field of the Invention
This patent application relates to Christmas tree stands, especially by mounting the tree with a pot nailed to the trunk of the tree. The tree is then easily inserted into the stand. It is then a very simple task to adjust the stand to permit the tree to be erected to stand upright every time. One simply slides the bowl, containing the pot and the tree to an upright position. The bowl has a spherical bottom surface, and sits on a matching spherical to surface of the base. The bowl of the stand holds sufficient water to last the entire season, which keeps the tree green, reducing potential fire hazards.
It is a simple task to disassemble the tree at the end of the season and to drain the remaining water in the bowl, by simply pouring the water into a proper receptacle. The tree lot personnel can install the pot onto the tree trunk by pounding in some nails. This frees the purchaser from complex or time consuming assembly. All the purchaser is required to do is fill the bowl with water, put the cover onto the base, set the tree with the pot into the bowl, and make a final adjustment the bowl to straighten the tree.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Years ago, the tree stands consisted simply of two crossed boards. The bottom of the tree was sawed as straight as possible, and the trunk was nailed into the boards. With this simple design there were no provisions for a source of water. As time went on, a plastic bowl was placed on the boards and the tree bottom was nailed through the bowl. A soft mastic or waterproof roofing material was placed between the bowl and the boards to prevent water leakage. The tree was straightened by loosening the nails on the tilt side and the tree straightened. It was difficult to get the residual water out of the bowl at Season's end. In addition, the bowls occasionally leaked. The bowl, the cross boards and the tree were discarded at the end of the season. The cost of the bowl and boards was not recoverable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,149 by Evans, Jr. et al. describes a tree stand having four legs of rigid material and rigidly interconnected. The invention consists of three rebar welded legs with a center spike, which is inserted into the bottom of the tree. A plastic bowl is placed below the legs of the tree stand. The rebar spike is threaded into the bottom of the tree trunk. If a hole is drilled into the bottom of the cut trunk, it must be drilled absolutely in line with the centerline of a straight upright tree to accept the spike. If the hole is drilled crooked, the assembly has to be pulled, rotated, or pounded loose and that is a major chore since the spike is threaded into the base. Next, the drilled hole has to be plugged and re-drilled, or the trunk cut off, re-drilled and the rebar stand threaded back in. When it is time for the homeowner to remove the stand, that is a major problem. The task is so difficult that many just throw out the stand with the tree.
A variation of the aforementioned tree stand uses three rebar welded legs with a center spike, which is inserted into the bottom of the tree. A plastic bowl rests on top of the rebar. The plastic bowl has a center hole in the bottom with a rubber grommet attached. The rebar spike is pounded through the grommet and hole in the bottom of the trunk of the tree. The tree trunk must be cut absolutely straight across perpendicular to the centerline of an upright tree, since the trunk bottom rests on the bowl and top of the rebar. The hole that is drilled into the tree trunk must be drilled absolutely in line with the centerline of a straight upright tree to accept the spike. The spike may be partially serrated with horizontal grooves to hold the tree firmly in place. If the hole is drilled off center, the assembly has to be pulled, rotated, or pounded loose which is a makes correct orientation of the tree difficult since the serrations dig into the tree. Then, the drilled hole has to be plugged and re-drilled. If the drilled hole is not plugged, the tree trunk must be cut off above the drilled hole, re-drilled and the spike hammered back in.
When the homeowner wants to remove the stand, he encounters a major difficulty. Just removing the spike from the tree trunk is such a difficult task, many owners just throw out the stand with the tree. That expense is not recoverable. The grommet that is supposed to prevent leaking would sometimes leak damaging the floor or carpet. Removing the remaining water from the bowl at the end of the season is very difficult and time consuming. An owner has to use sponges and towels to extract the water and rinse out the bowl. Another problem with the stand is that the ends of the rebar dig into the floor or carpet causing the owner to buy plastic caps or pads to prevent the rebar from scraping over the floor. The stand cannot be conveniently moved or rotated without lifting it up. It is not uncommon for the tree stand to damage the flooring that it is placed upon.
Another design as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,913,395; 5,209,450; 5,249,772; and 5,388,799 uses a small bowl with a spike at the bottom, a metal ring went around the top of the stand and four drop hammered metal legs were held by this ring. To support the tree, four opposing screws were turned against the tree trunk. The tilt of the tree was adjusted by loosening one or two screws on one side and tightening one or two screws on the opposite side. This was extremely difficult to do since one had to be down low on the floor. It really required two people, one to hold the tree up straight and one to tighten the screws. The bowl didn't hold enough water to keep the tree from drying out during the entire Christmas/New Year's season. The screws were difficult to adjust properly and the stand could only hold small trees.
A number of tree stand designs U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,571,882; 4,408,415; and 4,156,323 use a ball and socket device to get the tree to stand up straight. All of these use complicated mechanical means of holding and adjusting the tree trunk. They work primarily for smaller type trees and all of them do not have a sufficiently large water reservoir.
Several other tree stand designs U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,381,621; 5,161,768; and 5,522,177 incorporate vertical support members with various tree trunk securing members to position and support the tree. These supports are generally adjacent to the tree and take up a wider "footprint" than the other, more traditional stands. They also do not have large water reservoirs.
Yet another popular design as seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,796,382; 5,114,113; 5,375,808; and 5,845,890 use clamping devices with or without a spike in the receiving water reservoir to position and support the weight of the tree. The orientation of the tree is dependent upon the position that the tree is in when the clamping devices are activated. Most of these designs incorporate small water basins.
A rather unique design, U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,325, uses a system of inflatable bellows together with a support spike in the water reservoir to position the tree. This design, once again, has a small water container.
The previous patent by Welzen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,108 used a sliding clip device to hold the nails. This device was not strong enough to withstand loads imposed on them when the tree was installed and positioned. The stand used a one-piece blow molded container, which was expensive to manufacture, took up a lot of space and increased the cost of shipping and storage. This design did not have a removable top for easy cleanup of water at the end of the Christmas season. Nor did it have sloping inward sides that guide the tree into the attached pot.
With the exception of the previous patent by Welzen, all previous tree stands did not hold sufficient water to keep the tree green all season long to reduce the fire hazard. All are complicated with many manufactured detailed parts. They make it difficult to set up the tree and to take it down.

Abstract: The tree with pot is placed into the bowl, which captures the lower rim of a pot. This bowl acts as a water reservoir. It has a convex spherical bottom that mates with and contacts a lower base member, which has a slightly smaller radius concave upper surface. One slides the bowl on the base to make the tree stand vertically. The pot holds the tree and transfers side loads into the cover, which in turn transfers these forces to the bowl. The bowl resists these forces by contact with the spherical surface of the base, which in turn transmits these loads unto the floor surface.


The present invention provides hemostatic compositions comprising components of the flowers of pharmaceutical chamomile (Chamomilla recutita), the leaves of dioecious nettle (Urtica dioica), kaolin, chitosan, fibrinogen and thrombin. Further inclusion of a biocompatible polymeric base, particularly an alignate, generates a composition with superior and broad spectrum hemostatic capabilities, including the ability to arrest arterial hemorrhage. The invention further provides methods of using the inventive compositions in to reduce or stop bleeding, as well as a variety of apparatuses useful in hemostatic contexts that incorporate the inventive compositions. In one particular embodiment, the invention provides hemostatic dressings in which a polymeric layer incorporating chamomile, nettle, kaolin, chitosan, fibrinogen and thrombin components is applied to a textile or fabric material, for example a non-woven viscose.

The blood coagulation cascade is an exquisite example of a responsive self-assembly process. When a wound if formed, a cascade of events is initiated. The net result of the cascade is an assembly of the globular protein fibrinogen, which is catalyzed by a second protein, thrombin, to yield chains of fibrin. A network of insoluble fibrin chains forms the hemostatic "plug" or clot, which presents a physical barrier to the loss of blood from the wound.
The coagulation cascade is a delicately balanced series of events; if it occurs too easily, blood clots may form in unwanted areas, leading to strokes or other complications. It is, however, possible to harness the clotting power of fibrin to create haemostatic dressing or bandages. There is a vital need for haemostatic dressings that can staunch the bleeding from serious trauma.
A wide variety of compositions and devices have been developed for use in controlling bleeding. However, available compositions and dressings typically have only a modest hemostatic effect, so that bleeding continues for several (e.g., 2-3 minutes or more) after application of composition or dressing. Additionally, many dressings have only modest antiseptic abilities. Also, typical dressings are prepared from materials that have a tendency to adhere to the injured surface, causing significant pain to the patient when the dressing is applied or removed. Because of the modest hemostatic and/or antiseptic activity, standard dressings often need to be changed frequently, further exacerbating adhesion problems.
Massive hemorrhaging, and particularly arterial bleeding, from severe trauma remains extremely difficult to control and treat. Advanced wound dressing are frequently employed in battlefield and emergency situations, but the results have been mixed. The HemCon® bandage, made from a chitosan derived from shrimp shells, was approved by the Pentagon's advisory committee on combat medicine in 2003 as the preferred dressing for combat. However, animal studies have shown that HemCon® is no more effective than gauze, and in certain circumstances even less effective. The bandage also proved less than effective in battlefield situations where it proved too small and rigid for battlefield injuries, rendering it extremely difficult to use on extremities.
Another advanced battlefield wound dressing, WoundStat®, has also proven inadequate, and has further been linked with potentially deadly complications in animal studies. The bandages are comprised in part of clay-like kaolin, which has been hypothesized to facilitate coagulation and clotting. However, in the particular WoundStat formulation, the kaolin can break loose and drift into veins and arteries, potentially causing deadly clots intraarterial and intravascular clots.

Hemostatic compositions and dressings for bleeding

THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK


An electronic device may have a camera module. The camera module may capture images having an initial depth of field. The electronic device may receive user input selecting a focal plane and an effective f-stop for use in producing a modified image with a reduced depth of field. The electronic device may include image processing circuitry that selectively blurs various regions of a captured image, with each region being blurred to an amount that varies with distance to the user selected focal plane and in response to the user selected effective f-stop (e.g., a user selected level of depth of field).

The present invention relates to imaging systems and, more particularly, to imaging systems in which perceived depth-of-field can be reduced by digital image processing.
Electronic devices such as cellular telephones are often provided with camera sensors. Users of these devices sometimes desire to capture images having relatively shallow depth of field. The depth of field in an image is the range of distances over which the image appears to be in focus. In an image with a shallow depth of field, only objects that are close to the plane of focus will appear sharp and in focus. Objects in an image with a shallow depth of field image that lie in front of the plane of focus or behind the plane of focus will be blurred. Images with a large depth of field appear sharp over a greater distance. In this type of scenario, even objects that lie significantly off of the plane of focus will appear to be sharp. Users may prefer images with a shallow depth of field for various artistic and functional reasons.
One way to obtain an image with a shallow depth of field involves increasing the aperture of the camera lens. This process can only be used in devices with adjustable-aperture lenses. The use of a large aperture to reduce depth of field may also require the use of a fast exposure time, which may prevent the user from intentionally incorporating motion blur into a captured image.
Another way in which to obtain images with shallow depth of field involves the use of digital image processing to reduce the depth of field of an image. Conventional digital image processing techniques for reducing the depth of field of an image involve blurring regions (i.e., kernels) that are further from the focal plane to a greater extent than regions (i.e., kernels) that are closer to the focal plane. With conventional techniques, the kernel size (e.g., width) becomes larger with increasing distance from the focal plane. As a given kernel increases in size, the total number of pixels within that kernel, all of which need to be processed to blur the given kernel, increases by the approximately the square of the kernel width. The conventional digital image processing techniques are therefore computationally inefficient, expensive, and inappropriate for many applications.

System for reducing depth of field with digital image processing

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC


A balancing circuit for balancing battery units includes balancing modules. Each of the balancing modules includes a first and a second switch unit, and a first and a second inductive device, wherein the first inductive device is coupled to the second inductive device. The balancing modules include a first and a second balancing module, respectively coupled to a first and a second battery unit of the battery units. The first inductive device of the first balancing module takes away an excess energy of the first battery unit according to a switch state of the first switch unit of the first balancing module, and stores an inductive energy corresponding to the excess energy in the second balancing module. The second inductive device of the second balancing module provides the inductive energy for the second battery unit according to a switch state of the second switch unit of the second balancing module.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to cell balancing, and more particularly, to an active balancing circuit for balancing battery units by providing the battery units with energy of battery unit(s) having higher voltage(s) in the battery units.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to supply a higher output voltage, a plurality of batteries may be coupled in series as a power supply to provide the required output voltage. However, when the power supply having the series-connected batteries is charged, voltage unbalance between the batteries will lower the total energy or damage the power supply. For example, when a part of the batteries in the power supply are fully charged and the rest of the batteries need a period of time to complete charging, continuing charging the power supply may lead to overcharging of the part of the batteries, thereby shortening the life of the part of the batteries.
A conventional power supply uses a passive battery balancing mechanism to prevent overcharging. The passive battery balancing mechanism, however, consumes excess energy (i.e. overcharge energy), resulting in energy waste and excess heat. Thus, an active balancing circuit is needed to solve the above problems.

Active balancing circuit for balancing battery units


Without using a high-level programming language source code, a set of sync points is identified in an initial binary code. The initial binary code is executed at a first system. A value of the user data is captured from a user space of a memory as a baseline of the user data. A set of comparative sync points is identified in a second binary code. During an execution of the second binary code, a second value of the user data from a second user space of a second memory is found to fail in matching the baseline of the user data. An instruction before the comparative sync point in the second binary code is identified as a location of a faulty operation due to the failing.

A traditional compiler takes source code in a high-level programming language, such as C, C++, COBOL, PL/I, or some other equivalent high level semantic representation of the source code as input. The traditional compiler compiles or converts the high-level source code into machine language code, i.e., binary code in ones and zeros that is executable on a machine (data processing system).
In contrast, 'binary optimization' or 'binary translation' is a compilation process that takes machine code in binary language as input and recompiles the machine code to a different machine code that is suitable for execution on the same or a different machine architecture. A binary optimization tool performs this binary optimization process.
Binary optimization is needed and used particularly in those cases where the binary code is machine-dependent or machine-architecture specific. For example, a twenty year old machine may have employed an instruction set for which an initial binary code may have been created. When that old machine has to be replaced by a new machine, the instruction set of the new machine may differ from the instruction set of the old machine. Accordingly, even if the new instruction set is backward compatible, the initial binary code may not execute efficiently on the new machine because the initial binary code fails to take advantage of the optimizations and efficiencies of the new architecture of the new machine, which can be exploited by the new instruction set.
In some cases, the source code from which the initial binary code was created is lost, or otherwise unavailable. Another common reason, especially in the case of COBOL, is that the appropriate skills and knowledge to modify or recompile the source code for performance improvement are not easily available. Thus, recompiling the same source code with a new complier that uses the new instruction set to produce a new binary code for the new machine is not always possible or even desirable. In these and many other circumstances, the initial binary code has to be translated, or optimized, for use on a different machine architecture, such as to use the new instruction set for a given target machine architecture. This binary-to-binary translation is interchangeably referred to hereinafter as 'binary optimization' or 'binary translation'.

Performance neutral isolation of runtime discrepancies in binary code

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present invention provides a low cost paw cleaning device, which is capable of effectively washing an animal's paws, to prevent the tracking of dirt and mud through one's home. The device includes a basin, formed of plastic or rubber, for retaining a support layer and cleaning fluid. A permeable absorbent cover retained by the rim of the basin adjoins an upper portion of the support layer. As an animal walks across the device, the animal's paws contact the cover and compress or displace the support layer, thereby causing the cover and the support layer to conform with the crevices and contours of the animal's paws and locally moisten the animal's paws to remove dirt and debris therefrom.

One major problem with owning dogs or cats is that their paws tend to carry dirt and mud into one's home. In order to prevent dirt and mud from being tracked through one's home, the animal's paws must be cleaned before permitting the animal to enter the home. A current method of cleaning an animal's paws includes manually washing each paw by hand with water and a towel.
A low cost paw cleaning device capable of passively cleaning an animal's paws before the animal is allowed to enter one's home is desired.


An intumescent fire retardant system for making polymeric moldings that is halogen-free and provides fire shielding, thermal shielding and a low heat release rate. The intumescent fire retardant system of the present invention comprises, on the basis of 100 parts by weight blended mixture, 20-45 parts of a polymeric binder based on high density polyethylene and an α-olefin-containing copolymer, such as linear low density polyethylene, and 5-25 parts of a nitrogenous gas-generating agent, 10-30 parts of a water vapor-generating agent, 1-5 parts of an antioxidant, and 0-15 parts of a reinforcing agent. The fire retardant system of the present invention is essentially halogen-free.

Intumescent materials contain ingredients that decompose on severe heating to generate gases and form an incombustible or low combustible residue. The expelled gases expand the residue to form a foam layer with improved thermal insulation properties. Materials also having a low heat release rate are advantageous in that once they are exposed to fire they release less heat to neighboring materials and diminish fire propagation. This is important because if, for example, a fire is started in a warehouse where large quantities of materials are stored, the fire will not get out of control and will be easily extinguished when fire retardant low heat release materials are used in place of ordinary polymers. Hence, major applications for low heat release polymers are for shipping pallets and shipping containers. However, such polymers can be used wherever there are fire safety concerns. The polymers can be used for automotive applications, such as for a fire shield for fuel tanks, car floors, bulk heads, wheel well covers or in other places in cars, trucks, boats, or airplanes to provide resistance to ignition or resistance to flame travel from the fire source to other areas. Applications in residential or commercial structures could help fire containment within each structure as well as slowing down the spread of fire from one structure to a neighboring structure. Hence, fire containment is more easily accomplished when flammable substrates are substituted with low heat release fire retardant polymers. Replacement of metal parts with such polymers, in applications requiring fire integrity, would also lead to appreciable weight reduction.
Shipping pallets will be used as an example to demonstrate the advantages of using polymers with low heat release rate, though the invention is not so limited. Pallets are portable platforms used for handling, storing or moving materials and heavy packages around in a warehouse or during shipping. Pallets have been traditionally made of wood. More and more plastics are being used to replace wood for the following benefits: (1) plastics maintain consistent weight and dimensions and are easy to stack; (2) plastics will not harbor bacteria and other contaminants; (3) plastics are easy to handle and clean; (4) plastics do not rot, splinter, or corrode; (5) plastics reduce transportation and disposal costs; (6) plastics are recyclable; (7) plastics perform consistently with automated equipment; (8) plastics are safe and easy to use; (9) plastics have improved toughness and stiffness; and (10) plastics lend themselves to embedding tracking devices.
As more plastic is being used in this market to replace wood pallets, fire performance becomes a concern. Plastic pallets are being required to meet or exceed the fire resistance standards for wood pallets. The standards include requirements that the material should have low heat release rate and low flame spread rate. By way of example, polyethylene, which is the preferred material for making pallets, melts, drips and burns at a relatively fast rate when exposed to fire. On the other hand, polyethylene is strong and durable, and has a low cost, high impact resistance and high chemical resistance. Thus, flame retardant systems have been developed for use with plastics, such as polyethylene, that attempt to provide intumescence, low heat release rate and low flame spread rate without decreasing the strength, durability, and impact and chemical resistance of the plastic to unacceptable levels. The same efforts have been made in other markets were flame retardant plastic materials are desirable. Invariably, however, some loss in the physical properties of the polymeric material is experienced upon addition of inorganic flame retardant materials to the polymer matrix.
The flame retardant materials must therefore provide a desired balance between physical properties, such as impact strength, tensile strength, elongation, and elasticity, and flame retardant properties, such as flame spread control, melt dripping, smoke, peak and average heat release rate, and total heat release. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,535 entitled "Moldable Intumescent Polyethylene and Chlorinated Polyethylene Compositions", and U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,269 entitled "Moldable Intumescent Materials Containing Novel Silicone Elastomers" describe flame retardant plastic systems that address the need for achieving improved resistance to fire in desirable plastics without an unacceptable decrease in physical properties. However, the materials described therein contain a halogen material, namely, chlorinated polyethylene, which may generate corrosive HX gases, such as HCl. These toxic by-products are dangerous to persons exposed thereto. Many similar efforts to develop flame retardant systems utilize halogenated components because halogens are very efficient fire retardants. However, because they are environmentally unfriendly, it is desirable to find a fire retardant system that does not use halogens.
Thus, there is a need to formulate a non-halogen polymeric material that is strong and durable, that has a low cost, high impact resistance and high chemical resistance, that burns at a slow rate, that does not melt, drip and flow, and that releases a relatively low amount of heat when exposed to fire.

Halogen-free fire retardant system for low heat release polymers


The present invention is a substantially purified sortase-transamidase enzyme from Gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus. The enzyme having a molecular weight of about 23,539 daltons and catalyzing a reaction that covalently cross-links the carboxyl terminus of a protein having a sorting signal to the peptidoglycan of a Gram-positive bacterium, the sorting signal having: (1) a motif of LPX3X4G (SEQ ID NO: 37) therein; (2) a substantially hydrophobic domain of at least 31 amino acids carboxyl to the motif; and (3) a charged tail region with at least two positively charged residues carboxyl to the substantially hydrophobic domain, at least one of the two positively charged residues being arginine, the two positively charged residues being located at residues 31-33 from the motif, wherein X3 is any of the twenty naturally-occurring L-amino acids and X4 is selected from the group consisting of alanine, serine, and threonine, and wherein sorting occurs by cleavage between the fourth and fifth residues of the LPX3X4G (SEQ ID NO: 37) motif. Variants of the enzyme, methods for cloning the gene encoding the enzyme and expressing the cloned gene, and methods of use of the enzyme, including for screening for antibiotics and for display of proteins or peptides on the surfaces of Gram-positive bacteria, are also disclosed.

This invention is directed to an enzyme from Gram-positive bacteria, designated sortase-transamidase, nucleic acid segments encoding the enzyme, and methods of use of the enzyme.
Human infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria present a medical challenge due to the dramatic increase in multiple antibiotic resistance stains in recent years. Gram-positive bacteria that can cause serious or fatal infections in humans include Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Pneumococcus, Bacillus, Actinomyces, Mycobacterium, and Listeria, as well as others. Infections caused by these pathogens are particularly severe and difficult to treat in immunologically compromised patients. These include patients suffering from infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, as well as patients given immune suppressive agents for treatment of cancer or autoimmune diseases. In particular, infections caused by various Mycobacterium species, including M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. avium, and M. intracellulare, are frequently the cause of disease in patients with AIDS.
Therefore, it is apparent that new target sites for bacterial chemotherapy are needed if such pathogenic organisms are to be controlled.
A unique characteristic of these pathogens and many Gram-positive bacteria is their surface display of proteins anchored to the cell wall. In fact, many of these molecules are known to be involved in essential cellular functions, including pathogenesis in a susceptible host. Thus, a possible disruption in this anchoring process may prove to be an effective treatment against these disease causing elements.
The anchoring of surface molecules to the cell wall in Gram-positive bacteria has been demonstrated to involve a conserved pathway, culminating in recognition of a conserved cleavage/anchoring site by some previously uncharacterized cellular machinery. Molecules whose ultimate location is the cell wall must invariably be translocated across the single cellular membrane of these organisms. This is mediated for all cell wall anchored proteins by the well studied secretory pathway, involving cleavage of an amino terminal signal peptide by a type I signal peptidase. Upon translocation of the molecule out of the cytoplasm, a mechanism must be present that extracellularly recognizes this protein as a substrate for anchoring. This process has been previously shown to involve the carboxyl terminally located cell wall sorting signal, consisting of a highly conserved motif such as LPXTG (SEQ ID NO: 1), in which X can represent any of the twenty naturally occurring L-amino acids, followed by a series of hydrophobic residues and ultimately a sequence of positively charged residues. Thus, once amino-terminally modified and successfully secreted, a polypeptide with this carboxyl terminal sequence can present itself as a substrate to be processed by the anchoring machinery. At this time, cleavage of the sorting signal after the threonine residue is coupled with covalent linkage of the remainder of the polypeptide to the free amino group of the pentaglycine crossbridge in the cell wall.
It is this transpeptidation reaction that anchors mature surface proteins to the peptidoglycan layer, from which point the molecules can serve their biological functions. Therefore, there is a need to isolate and purify the enzyme that catalyzes this reaction. There is also a need to identify the gene encoding such an enzyme in order that the enzyme can be produced by genetic engineering techniques. There is also a need to identify compounds that interfere with surface protein anchoring by inhibiting sortase.
Additionally, there is also a need to develop new methods for displaying proteins or peptides on the surfaces of bacteria. For many purposes, it is desirable to display proteins or peptides on the surfaces of bacteria so that the proteins or peptides are accessible to the surrounding solution, and can, for example, be bound by a ligand that is bound specifically by the protein or peptide. In particular, the display of proteins on the surface of bacteria is desirable for the preparation of vaccines, the linkage of molecules such as antibiotic molecules or diagnostic reagents to cells, for screening reagents such as monoclonal antibodies, and for the selection of cloned proteins by displaying the cloned proteins, then observing their reaction with specific reagents such as antibodies. One way of doing this has been with phage display (G. P. Smith, "Filamentous Fusion Phage: Novel Expression Vectors that Display Cloned Antigens on the Virion Surface," Science 228:1315-1316 (1985)). However, phage display is limited in its practicality, because it requires that the protein being displayed to be inserted into a coat protein of filamentous phage and retain its activity while not distorting the conformation of the coat protein, allowing functional virions to be formed. In general, this technique is therefore limited only to small peptide and proteins.
Therefore, there is a need for a more general method of peptide and protein display.

The Regents of the University of California


A light emitting diode is provided with a window layer of ZnSSe semiconductor material having a second conductivity type. The second conductivity type ZnSSe window layer has a low electrical resistivity so that it can be used as a current spreading layer, and a bandgap higher than that of the active layer so that it is transparent to light emitted from the active layers. The second conductivity type ZnSSe window layer can be doped with a donor concentration of more than 10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3. Furthermore, its lattice constant is close to that of the active layers and confining layers so that deterioration in optical characteristic due to lattice mismatch is minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to light emitting diodes, and more specifically, to light emitting diodes using a material of ZnSSe as a transparent layer.
2. Description of Prior Art
There are three prior art LEDs of AlGaInP system in relevance to the present invention. In FIG. 1 there is shown a conventional LED, which is disclosed in Prog. Crystal Growth and Charact', Vol. 19, pp. 97-105 by J.P. Andre et al. The LED of FIG. 1 is fabricated with a back electrode 110, a substrate of n-type GaAs 120, a double heterostructure of AlGaInP 130, which includes a layer of n-type AlGaInP 131, a layer of undoped AlGaInP 132, and a layer of p-type AlGaInP 133, and a second electrode 140. The undoped AlGaInP layer 132 is technically referred to as an active layer, and the two neighboring n-type AlGaInP layer 131 and p-type AlGaInP layer 132 are referred to as confining layers.
For efficient operation of the LED, current injected by the front electrode 140 should be spread evenly to the lateral direction so that current will cross the p-n junction of the double heterostructure of AlGaInP 130 uniformly to thereby generate light uniformly across the same. Since the p-type AlGaInP layer 133 is grown by means of the metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) process, it is very difficult to dope with acceptors with a concentration of higher than 1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3. Moreover, it is a material characteristic that hole mobility is low in p-type AlGaInP semiconductor. Due to these two factors, the electrical resistivity of the p-type AlGaInP layer 132 is comparatively high so that lateral current flow from the front electrode 140 is severely restricted. As a result, current injected by the front electrode 140 tends to flow only through the center portions of the double heterostructure of AlGaInP 130 and the n-type GaAs substrate 120 to the back electrode 110. This is often referred to as a current crowding problem.
One technique to solve the current crowding problem is disclosed by Fletcher et al in a U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,718. The proposed LED structure is shown in FIG. 2 (in this figure, layers that are not changed in view of the structure of FIG. 1 are labelled with the same reference numerals), in which a window layer 200 is grown upon the p-type AlGaInP layer 133. The window layer 200 should be selected from materials that have a low electrical resistivity so that current could be spread out laterally, and a bandgap higher than that of the AlGaInP layers so that the window layer is transparent to light emitted from the active layer of AlGaInP.
In an LED for generating light in the spectrum from red to orange, a AlGaAs material is selected to form the window layer 200. The AlGaAs material has an advantage that it has a lattice constant in match with that of the underlying GaAs substrate 120. While in an LED for generating light in the spectrum from yellow to green, a GaAsP or a GaP material is used to form the window layer 200. It is drawback of using the GaAsP or the GaP material that their lattice constants are not in match with that of the AlGaInP layers 130 and the GaAs substrate 120. The lattice mismatch causes a high dislocation density so that optical performance is still not satisfactory.
FIG. 3 shows a third prior art LED disclosed in Photonics Spectra, December 1991, pp. 64-66, by H. Kaplan. The LED of FIG. 3, in addition to the structure of FIG. 1, is fabricated with a reflector layer 310, a current-blocking layer 300, a current spreading layer 330. The current spreading layer 330 has a very low electrical electricity and the current blocking layer 300 is arranged at a position where it is in alignment with the front electrode 140. The current injected from the front electrode 140 thus is spread out laterally by the current blocking layer 300. Moreover, the reflector layer 310 can be used to prevent the light emitted by the active layers from being absorbed by the GaAs substrate.
It is a drawback of the LED of FIG. 3 that the fabricating process, in which the MOVPE procedure needs to be performed twice, is complex. Moreover, the p-type AlGaInP layer 133 is easily oxidized since it contains a large proportion of aluminum.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A method of applying a lid (1) onto a neck (9) of a container (10), the lid (1) having a side wall (3) extending around an axis and an end wall (2) extending transversely to said axis, comprises the following steps: —positioning the lid (1) onto the neck (9); —exerting on the end wall (2) a force directed towards the container (10), so as to level the lid (1) on the neck (9); —screwing the lid (1) onto the neck (9) by rotating the lid (1) in a screwing direction.

As known, many pourable food products, such as fruit juice, UHT (ultra-high-temperature treated) milk, wine, tomato sauce, etc., are sold in containers made of sterilized sheet packaging material.
A typical example of this type of containers is the parallelepiped-shaped container for liquid or pourable food products known as Tetra Brik Aseptic (registered trademark), which is made by folding and sealing laminated strip packaging material.
The packaging material has a multilayer structure substantially comprising a base layer for stiffness and strength, which may include a layer of fibrous material, e.g. paper, or mineral-filled polypropylene material, and a number of lamination layers of heat-sealable plastic material, e.g. polyethylene films, covering both sides of the base layer.
In the case of aseptic containers for long-storage products, such as UHT milk, the packaging material also comprises a layer of gas-barrier material, e.g. aluminium foil or ethyl vinyl alcohol (EVOH) film, which is superimposed on a layer of heat-sealable plastic material, and is in turn covered with another layer of heat-sealable plastic material forming the inner face of the container eventually contacting the food product.
Containers of this sort are normally produced on fully automatic packaging machines, which are fed with a web of packaging material that is sterilized on the packaging machine, e.g. by applying a chemical sterilizing agent, such as a hydrogen peroxide solution, which, once sterilization is completed, is removed from the surfaces of the packaging material, e.g. evaporated by heating. The web of packaging material so sterilized is then maintained in a closed, sterile environment, and is folded and sealed longitudinally to form a vertical tube.
The tube is filled with a sterilized or sterile-processed food product, and is sealed and subsequently cut along equally spaced cross sections to form pillow packs, which are then folded mechanically to form respective finished, e.g. substantially parallelepiped-shaped, containers.
Alternatively, the packaging material may be cut into blanks, which are formed into containers on forming spindles, and the containers are filled with the food product and sealed. One example of this type of container is the so-called "gable-top" container known by the trade name Tetra Rex (registered trademark).
To open the containers described above, various solutions have been proposed, including reclosable opening devices made of plastic material and substantially comprising a pouring spout, defining a through pouring opening and fitted to a hole in a wall of the container.
When producing the opening device, the opening of the pouring spout is sealed by a closing element connected integrally to the pouring spout and detachable from it along a normally circular tear line. The closing element extends at the same level as the packaging material, so as to seal the hole in the wall of the container. On the side facing the lid, the closing element has an integral projecting pull ring, the free end of which is pulled by the user to detach the closing element from the pouring spout along the tear line and so open the pouring opening. More specifically, the pull ring extends inside, and at a predetermined distance from, the pouring spout.
It is also possible to fix the closing element of the opening device directly over a prelaminated hole in the packaging material, i.e. a hole formed in the base layer only and covered by the other lamination layers, including the layer of gas-barrier material.
In both cases, a removable, e.g. screw or hinged, lid, is subsequently fitted to the pouring spout in order to outwardly close the latter.
According to another solution, the closing element of the opening device is formed in one piece with a protruding portion extending inside the pouring spout and welded to the lid. The latter is provided with a disk-shaped welding promoting element that is welded to the protruding portion so that, when removing the lid from the pouring spout, the protruding portion and the closing element remain attached to the lid.
In any case, the containers are formed, filled and sealed in a filling machine. When coming out from the filling machine, each container has a neck that defines the pouring spout. The neck is closed by a respective closing element, and protrudes from a top wall of the container.
Downstream of the filling machine, there is provided an applying unit for applying lids to the necks of the containers.
The applying unit comprises a conveyor along which the containers are advanced, a distribution unit that releases a lid to a respective neck, while the container is being advanced by the conveyor, and a capping unit that screws the lid onto the neck. The capping unit comprises a pair of belts. Each belt has an active branch that is substantially parallel to the active branch of the other belt. The active branches move along opposite directions and interact with diametrically opposite portions of the lid, so as to rotate the lid and screw the lid onto the neck.
The known applying units may encounter difficulties in screwing the lid onto the corresponding container neck, for reasons mainly related to the nature of the container that is being processed.
First of all, the containers at issue are made by folding a flexible sheet material and their dimensions may vary within relatively large tolerances. For example, it may occur that a container has a height that is greater than the height of an adjacent container, which determines a certain degree of variability in the position of the neck.
Furthermore, in the containers of the kind referred to above, the neck is usually moulded directly on the flexible sheet material that is intended to form the container, at a high production speed. Thus, the neck has dimensions that may vary within relatively large tolerances. Also the shape of the neck may vary between one neck and another. In particular, the neck may have a shape that, in plan view, is not perfectly circular. Instead, the shape of the neck may be slightly elliptical.
Also the lid, which has thin walls and is made of a relatively flexible material such as plastics, may have a shape and dimensions that are not exactly repeatable between different lids.
For these reasons, the lids may be released by the distribution unit in a position, relative to the neck, which is different from the theoretical position that the lid should have. For example, the lids released by the distribution unit onto subsequent necks may be so positioned that an axis of the lid is tilted relative to an axis of the neck, with an inclination that varies between subsequent lids.
This makes difficult screwing correctly the lid onto the neck, particularly if the container is produced and capped on a production line working at a high production rate.
It is further stressed that the containers made by folding a flexible sheet material have a relatively low stiffness, particularly if compared to glass jars or plastic bottles. These containers need therefore to be handled with care, in order to avoid undesired deformations or damages.

Method of, and an applying head for, applying a lid onto a container


A wireless communication apparatus includes a wireless communicator and a controller. The wireless communicator is configured to wirelessly communicate with other wireless communication apparatuses. The controller is configured to control the wireless communicator to broadcast transmission information, and when the wireless communicator receives a request corresponding on the transmission information from at least one of the other wireless communication apparatuses having received the transmission information during the broadcasting of the transmission information, control the wireless communicator to change transmission power of the transmission information to the other wireless communication apparatuses.

Some known techniques involve causing a slave device to intermittently broadcast advertising packets at a predetermined time interval so as to be found by a master device, according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) low energy (BLE) standard, which is one of the short-range wireless communication standards (for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. 2012-142877).

Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication method, and recording medium


In general, a method, apparatus, and system determine the allocation of the one or more redundant components while fault testing the memory. In an embodiment of an apparatus, one or more memories and one or more processors are located on a single chip. Each memory has one or more redundant components associated with that memory. The one or more redundant components include at least one redundant column. The one or more processors contain redundancy allocation logic having an algorithm. The algorithm determines the allocation of the one or more redundant components to repair one or more defects detected in the one or more memories while fault testing the memory.

Random defects occurring during the manufacturing of an integrated circuit with embedded memory blocks can render certain non-redundant elements of an integrated circuit memory device, such as a memory column, defective. For example, particle contamination during the manufacturing process may cause broken or shorted out columns and bit defects.
Redundant elements in an integrated circuit memory device, such as redundant columns, are used to compensate for these random defects. Initial testing of an integrated circuit memory occurs after the manufacturing process. During initial testing of an integrated circuit memory device, defective elements are replaced by non-defective elements referred to as redundant elements. Thus, redundant columns may be used in a scheme to replace defective non-redundant columns, discovered during initial testing of the integrated circuit memory device. The use of redundant elements is important in increasing the overall yield of an integrated circuit memory device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a current external test solution to test an embedded memory possessing a redundancy structure used in a system on a chip (SoC). As more memory is used on a SoC 102, the yield of the memories decreases. SoC 102 integrate on-chip memory 104 with processors and other similar components all on the same chip to decrease cost and increase performance. Redundancy techniques include adding extra memory rows and memory columns that can be substituted for defective elements. The current external test solution 106 necessitates a costly investment in external test equipment to find and fix defects. The current external test may cost companies millions of dollars. Also, four equipment insertions may be required when testing SoC memory 104. First, the external memory tester 108 tests the memory to find defective components on the SoC 102 die. The external memory tester 108 imports the failure results in order to perform redundancy analysis and allocation. The external memory tester 108 sends the repair signature, or in other words the information on how to allocate the repair elements for any defects, to the laser repair equipment 110. Second, the laser repair equipment 110 blows the fuses on the SoC 102 wafer that enable the redundant rows and memory columns to be substituted for the defective memory cells. Third, the memory tester 108 re-tests memory on the SoC 102 to ensure that the repairs were made properly. Last, the logic tester 112 analyzes the remaining non-memory components of the SoC 102.
The required external test solution 106 is expensive, time-consuming, may not achieve a dramatic increase in yield, and in the future it may not be a feasible solution for SoC testing. The memory tester 108 assumes that the memories 104 used in a SoC 102 are readily accessible directly from the I/O pins of the chip. A designer must carefully route each embedded memory 104 to enable pin access. As more embedded memories 104 are physically located onto a chip containing the entire system, more design time is required to route the embedded memories 104 and establish the pin connections. Meanwhile, the die size may increase from the extra routing, and chip packages may enlarge accordingly. The physical size and spacing requirements of SoC 102 dies may not accommodate the extra space need to test the memories. Also, memory tester 108 may not be able to test the memories at the speed of the chip.

Apparatus, method, and system to allocate redundant components


Accessing data comprises executing a set of computer instructions in a first environment, wherein the first environment has limited addressing capability to address memory up to a size limit, specifying a set of data in a memory space of a second environment, wherein the memory space has a size that exceeds the size limit, and accessing the set of data from the first environment using the limited addressing capability.

Computer systems usually have limited memory addressing capabilities. The typical processor or system is designed to allow processes to address memory in a memory space up to a certain size limit. Software applications are often compiled to operate within the limited memory space. It is often difficult or expensive to upgrade such systems when the next generation systems with increased memory size limit become available. For example, many of the existing systems support a 32-bit architecture that limits the addressable memory space of processes to approximately 232, or 4 gigabytes. As programs become more sophisticated and consume more memory, 4 gigabytes of memory space may become inadequate. The next generation 64-bit systems provide much greater memory addressing capabilities, however, migrating from 32-bit systems to 64-bit systems tend to be an expensive proposition because of the software upgrades required. Since many applications are compiled specifically for one type of system, upgrading from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system would typically require that these legacy 32-bit applications be replaced with new applications specifically compiled for the 64-bit platform, therefore increasing the cost of the upgrade.
Some systems that include multiple software components configured to collaborate in 32-bit environments face additional barrier to upgrades. For example, an application may interact with drivers or libraries to perform desired functions in a 32-bit environment. If any of the components is not available for the 64-bit platform, it is likely that the system as a whole cannot successfully migrate to a 64-bit system.
It would be desirable if legacy software can take advantage of the larger memory space supported by newer systems. It would also be desirable if software components configured to operate in environments that support different memory space sizes can interoperate transparently, without requiring recompilation.

Expanded memory space in environments including virtual machines


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method thereof. The semiconductor structure includes: a base; bit lines, located on the base, and a material of the bit line including a metal semiconductor compound; semiconductor channels, each including a first doped region, a channel region and a second doped region arranged in sequence, and the first doped region being in contact with the bit line; a first dielectric layer, covering sidewall surfaces of the first doped regions, and a first interval being provided between parts of the first dielectric layer covering sidewalls of adjacent first doped regions on a same bit line; an insulating layer, covering sidewall surfaces of the channel regions; word lines, covering a sidewall surface of the insulating layer away from the channel regions, and a second interval being provided between adjacent word lines.

With the increasing integration density of the dynamic memory, it is also necessary to consider how to improve the electrical performance of small-sized functional devices when studying the arrangement of transistors and the way to reduce the size of individual functional devices in the dynamic memory array structure.
When vertical gate-all-around (GAA) transistors are used as access transistors of the dynamic memory, the area occupied by the GAA transistors can reach 4F2 (F: the smallest pattern size available under given process conditions). In principle, this arrangement can improve the density and efficiency, but the bit lines buried at the bottom of the transistors may cause a large resistance in some sizes because their main component is silicon.


The communication method concerns two data processing apparatuss (101, 105) each having a microprocessor (201, 211) and memory (205, 215), a first one (105) at least of the data processing apparatus having and managing at least one input/output resource (106).

The present invention concerns a communication method, a sending method, a receiving method and apparatuses implementing them.
The field of communication over a network between data processing apparatuses concerns in particular communication over a network from a computer, for example, known as a xe2x80x9cPCxe2x80x9d (initials of the English words xe2x80x9cPersonal Computerxe2x80x9d), provided with a network communication interface, known as an xe2x80x9cNICxe2x80x9d (initials of the English words xe2x80x9cNetwork Interface Cardxe2x80x9d).
It should be stated here that an input/output resource, such as for example a network resource, generally consists of a network communication interface, software for controlling this interface and a control and signalling software module which controls the operation of the control software and which organises the signalling of the transmission channel followed by the transmitted data.
The invention is concerned with the case where at least two data processing apparatuses communicate with each other, the data processing apparatuses here considered to be all the data processing apparatuses capable of implementing a communication.
When two data processing apparatuses communicate with each other, and must have access to a network, each of them must have its network access card. This solution has the drawback of imposing a complexity of hardware and software architecture, and therefore also a high total cost of the data processing apparatuses.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,709 (Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha) describes an apparatus enabling the central unit of a host system to access an input/output card situated in another system, as if the input/output card were connected directly to the bus of the host system. For this purpose, the central unit has, on the host bus, a physical address and a command operating on the bus. The input/output resources are thus shared at the physical level, insofar as the bus on which the input/output card is situated is allocated to a host system throughout the transaction, the host system having its own bus in the wait state throughout this period. Thus the same input/output card cannot be used by two different host systems simultaneously. Moreover, the apparatus according to the invention merely manages the elementary reading and writing transactions in the resource without managing the communication channel (or xe2x80x9cpathxe2x80x9d).
The present invention sets out to remedy these drawbacks. To this end, according to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a communication method in a second data processing apparatus having a microprocessor and memory, said method including the steps of:
sharing a network interface driver managed by a first data processing apparatus; and
transmitting primary information to the network interface driver which accesses to a network.
According to particular characteristics of the first aspect of the present invention, the communication method further includes:
performed by the second data processing apparatus, a step of associating, with the said primary information, additional information representing:
the communication protocol from where the primary information comes in the second data processing apparatus, and
input/output resource; and
performed conjointly by the two data processing apparatuses, a step of transmitting the said primary information and the said additional information from the second data processing apparatus to the first data processing apparatus.
According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a communication method in a first data processing apparatus having a microprocessor and memory, said method including the steps of:
executing a network interface driver managed by the data processing apparatus; and
transmitting primary information coming from the network interface driver which accesses to a network to a second data processing apparatus.
According to particular characteristics of this second aspect of the present invention, the communication method further includes:
performed by the first data processing apparatus, a step of associating, with the said primary information, additional information representing:
the communication protocol for which the primary information is intended in the first data processing apparatus, and
input/output resource; and
performed conjointly by the two data processing apparatuses, a step of transmitting the said primary information and the said additional information from the first data processing apparatus to the second data processing apparatus.
By virtue of each of these provisions, the additional information enables the second data processing apparatus, which does not have the input/output resource in question:
to use the input/output resource (for example the access to the network) incorporated in the first data processing apparatus,
in order to transmit the user data by implementing the communications protocol under consideration, and
to continue a communication session which has already been opened and to transfer the user information directly by means of the said input/output resource.
The present invention therefore makes it possible to share the input/output resource between the two data processing apparatuses, although this resource is physically linked only to one of the communication apparatuses.
Finally, the duration of communication is generally reduced, since the network communication interface, for example, minimises the number of data copies.
According to particular characteristics of the first aspect of the present invention, after the operation of transmitting the sets of information, the first data processing apparatus performs an operation of dissociating the set of additional information on the one hand and the set of user information on the other hand.
By virtue of these provisions, the additional information is not transmitted to the input/output resource, and therefore, for this resource, just as for the network and the recipient of the set of user information, the latter is presented in the same way, whether it comes from the first data processing apparatus or from the second data processing apparatus.
Correlatively, according to particular characteristics of the second aspect of the present invention, after the operation of transmitting the sets of information, the second data processing apparatus performs an operation of dissociating the set of additional information on the one hand and the set of user information on the other hand.
By virtue of these provisions, the application or the protocol for which the set of user information is intended receives in the same way the sets of user information which come from, or are intended for, the second data processing apparatus for those which come from, or are intended for, the input/output resource managed by the first data processing apparatus.
According to particular characteristics of the first aspect of the present invention, during the operation of transmitting the said sets of information, the method includes:
performed by the second data processing apparatus, a step of storing in an intermediate storage means, and
performed by the first data processing apparatus, a step of reading from the said intermediate storage means.
Correlatively, according to particular characteristics of the second aspect of the present invention, during the operation of transmitting the sets of information, the method includes:
performed by the first data processing apparatus, a step of storing in an intermediate storage means, and
performed by the second data processing apparatus, in step of reading from the said intermediate storage means.
By virtue of each of these provisions, the storage means is accessed, independently, in write and read mode, by each of the data processing apparatuses, without it being necessary for these data processing apparatuses to operate either synchronously or even at the same frequency, without it being necessary for the addresses used for accessing the storage means necessarily to be identical, and without a conjoint initialisation of the different data processing apparatuses being necessary.
The architectures of the data processing apparatuses can therefore be designed independently and operate independently, for example using different operating systems, outside the phases of communication between these data processing apparatuses.
This therefore makes it possible, in particular, to choose a apparatus architecture and an operating system which is best adapted to the management of the input/output card.
According to particular characteristics of each aspect of the present invention, during the operation of associating with the said set of user information, the set of additional information also represents the type of user information, this type being able to correspond on the one hand to signalling and/or control information, intended to be interpreted for using the input/output resource or on the other hand to information to be transmitted at a distance.
By virtue of these provisions, the first data processing apparatus can easily identify whether the set of user information is intended for the driver of the input/output resource or for the signalling and/or control module of this driver.
According to particular characteristics of each aspect of the present invention, during the operation of association with the said set of user information, the set of additional information also represents the data processing apparatus from where the said set of user information comes.
According to particular characteristics of each aspect of the present invention, during the operation of association with the said set of user information, the set of additional information also represents the data processing apparatus for which the said set of user information is intended.
By virtue of each of these provisions, in the case where several data processing apparatuses can have data to transmit or to receive by means of the input/output resource managed by the first data processing apparatus, the first data processing apparatus can easily identify the data processing apparatus which is communicating.
According to a third aspect, the present invention relates to a second data processing apparatus including:
means for sharing a network interface driver managed by a first data processing apparatus; and
means for transmitting primary information to the network interface driver in order to communicate with other data processing apparatus via a network.
According to a fourth aspect, the present invention relates to a first data processing apparatus including:
means for executing a network interface driver managed by the data processing apparatus; and
means for transmitting primary information coming from the network interface driver to a second data processing apparatus.
The invention also relates to a storage means for storing instructions which, when executed by a microprocessor of a second data processing apparatus, cause the second data processing apparatus to perform the steps of:
sharing a network interface driver managed by a first data processing apparatus; and
transmitting primary information to the network interface driver which accesses to a network.
The invention also relates to a storage means for storing instructions which, when executed by a microprocessor of a first data processing apparatus, cause the first processing apparatus to perform the steps of:
executing a network interface driver managed by the data processing apparatus; and
transmitting primary information coming from the network interface driver which accesses to a network to a second data processing apparatus.
The invention also relates to:
a computer, characterised in that it has an apparatus as briefly disclosed above,
a network, characterised in that it includes an apparatus as briefly disclosed above, each input/output resource being connected to the said transmission channel,
a printer, characterised in that it includes an apparatus as briefly disclosed above,
a scanner, characterised in that it includes an apparatus as briefly disclosed above,
a facsimile machine, characterised in that it includes an apparatus as briefly disclosed above,
a photocopier, characterised in that it includes an apparatus as briefly disclosed above,
a camera, characterised in that it includes an apparatus as briefly disclosed above, and
a photographic apparatus, characterised in that it includes an apparatus as briefly disclosed above,
The apparatuses according to the third and fourth aspect of the present invention, these storage means, as well as this computer, this network, this printer, this scanner, this facsimile machine, this photocopier, this camera and this photographic apparatus, have the same particular characteristics and the advantages as the method briefly disclosed above. These advantages are therefore not restated here.

Data processing apparatus with communication feature, and communication method in a data processing apparatus

Abstract: For communicating each set of user information coming from the second data processing apparatus and intended to be transmitted to an input/output resource managed by the first of the data processing apparatuses, it includes:

Abstract: performed by the second data processing apparatus, a step of dissociating, with the said set of user information, a set of additional information representing:

Abstract: the communication protocol from which the information comes in the second data processing apparatus, and

Abstract: the said input/output resource; and

Abstract: performed conjointly by the two data processing apparatuses, a step of transmitting the said sets of information from the second data processing apparatus to the first data processing apparatus.


A method of controlling an array of pixels in an active matrix display to a predetermined emission level is provided. The pixels are arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each pixel having an active matrix element. The method makes use of a plurality of sensors each having a measurable sensor parameter and at least one pixel driver. Light emission is varied from a plurality of pixels in a first row using the pixel driver and the active matrix elements in the pixels. Light emission is received from the pixels at the sensors and a measured value of the measurable sensor parameter is obtained responsive to the received light emission. For each of the plurality of pixels, a control signal is generated for the pixel to maintain constant emission from the light source at the predetermined emission level.

Flat panel displays typically convert image data into varying voltages fed to an array of picture elements (pixels) causing the pixels to either pass light from a backlight as in a liquid crystal display (LCD), or to emit light as in for example an electroluminescent, LCD display, or organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. The image voltages determine the amount of light from the pixel. Active matrix displays generally include an array of pixels arranged in a row-and-column format, each pixel contains a sample and hold circuit plus, in the case of pixel light emission displays, a power thin film transistor (TFT). One advantage of the active matrix is that each line of the display is held on for the full frame length so that the instantaneous brightness of the pixels is close to the average brightness. This is not true of passive displays since they are on only one line at a time; therefore, each line must have an instantaneous brightness equal to the average brightness multiplied by the number of lines. The active matrix display generally has a longer life time, lower power consumption and is capable of many times the line capability of the passive display. In general all full color monitor, laptop and video flat panel displays employ the active matrix while low resolution monochromatic (area color—icons) are passive.
In the case of the active matrix OLED display, a voltage is placed on the gate of a power transistor in the pixel, which feeds current to the OLED pixel. The higher the gate voltage, the higher the current and the greater the light emission from the pixel. It is difficult to produce uniform pixels and even if such uniform pixels could be produced it is difficult to maintain uniformity during the lifetime of a display containing an array of such pixels. As a result of manufacturing tolerances, transistor current parameters typically vary from pixel to pixel. Also the amount of light emitted by the OLED material varies depending on the OLED's current-to-light conversion efficiency, the age of the OLED material, the environment to which individual pixels of the OLED-based display are exposed, and other factors. For example, the pixels at an edge of the OLED display may age differently than those in the interior near the center, and pixels that are subject to direct sunlight may age differently than those which are shaded or partially shaded. In an attempt to overcome the uniformity problem in emissive displays, several circuit schemes and methodologies are in use today. One scheme uses a current mirror at the pixel where, instead of image voltages, image currents are used to force a particular current through the power transistor feeding the OLED. Also circuits have been designed which test the power transistor threshold voltage and then add the image voltage to the threshold voltage, therefore, subtracting out the threshold voltage so that variances in threshold voltage do not vary the OLED brightness. These circuit schemes are complex, expensive to produce and have not been entirely satisfactory.
Any display that requires a large number of gray shades requires uniformity greater than one shade of gray. For example, a hundred shades of gray require a display uniformity of 1% in order to use one hundred brightness levels. For a thousand gray levels 0.1% brightness uniformity is desired. Since it is difficult, if not impossible, to have a mass production process that holds 0.1% uniformity in the thin film area, another means of forcing uniformity on the display must be found.
One previous approach was to use certain optical feed back circuits, providing a particular type of feedback from optical diodes or optical transistors in an attempt to provide data on the actual brightness of a pixel's light emission and use the fed back data to cause a storage capacitor to discharge, thus, shutting down the power transistor. This requires a photodiode placed at each pixel as well as a means of reacting to the data supplied by the photodiode. Each pixel must have the discharge circuit. Accordingly, each pixel must include a highly complex circuit. Further, the circuit elements themselves, including the photodiode all introduce variables, which introduce non-uniformity. Further this approach only tends to cause uniformity since bright pixels are shut down faster and dim pixels are left on longer, but no exact brightness level is measured or used as a reference.
A second approach added a blocking transistor to the optical diode that relied on the pixel reaching an equilibrium brightness determined by the pixel brightness, the optical response of the diode, and all the parameters that determine the current supplied by the power transistor during the write time of the image line. However, the equilibrium brightness is determined by all the parameters mentioned above and these parameters can vary from pixel to pixel. Therefore, the attempted correction was not pixel-specific and did not take into account the changes for each pixel over time. Another problem is that the particular feedback circuit and method can set the system into oscillations, which if not damped within the line write time, would leave the actual brightness and voltage undetermined at the point of write time cut off.
Accordingly, an apparatus, system. and method is needed that stabilizes a display but advantageously is not effected by variation in photodiodes or other circuit parameters. The apparatus, system, and method should preferably not allow the system to enter oscillation and should allow the full range of brightness to be used over the life of the display.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for controlling an active matrix display


A personal water sports board with a wave engager operably secured thereto for operation in a flow of water, such as a boogie board and the like, is disclosed. The wave engager has a wall shaped to allow water to flow freely thereby in one direction, but to operably engage water flowing from an opposite second direction thereby propelling the board in that opposite second direction. Disclosed embodiments include wave engagers formed of indentions and/or protrusions along the water engaging surface of the board. Preferably, a plurality of wave engagers are provided, and the height of each wave engager's wall increases the further it is positioned toward the front of the board. Wave engagers are preferably positioned on the lower surface and/or on the left and right sides of the board.

Personal water sports boards are floating boards upon which a rider travels on the water. The typical personal water sports board is not self-propelled. Rather, a rider positions themselves on top of the board and usually maneuvers the personal water sports board through a flow of water.
One known type of personal water sports board is commonly referred to as a "boogie board." Riders position themselves face down on top of the boogie board so that their torso rests on the board with their arms and legs extending into the water. While riders of boogie boards routinely use their arms and legs to propel, maneuver and "steer" the board, the primary goal is to position the board in a flow of water, such as a wave along a shoreline or the like, and ride the flow of water while on the board.
Accordingly, it is desirable for the board to easily engage and be driven by this flow of water while still allowing the rider to propel, maneuver and steer the board as needed.
To date, efforts to improve a personal water sports board's operability have had limited success. Some improvements have focused on improving the materials used to form the board. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,228 to Richardson et al. discloses forming a water sports board with a low density, high strength elongated core surrounded by an outer layer formed of soft resilient non-permeable material. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,051 to Messer discloses mounting a traction pad on top of a wakeboard to improve the engagement between the rider and board.
More recently, some inventors have attempted to modify the overall shape of the board in an effort to improve its operating characteristics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,909 to Mann discloses a gliding board having a curved lower surface defining an anticlastic shape to resemble the shape of a saddle.
Despite these improvements, none is directed to improving a personal water sports board's ability to better engage a driving flow of water in which it is being operated.


A device for moving a coupon comprising a coupon retainer for retaining a coupon on which a target solution is to be tested, a coupon manipulator for engaging the coupon retained in the coupon retainer with the target solution, and a first controller for controlling a movement of the coupon manipulator.

In the world of cleaning validation, accuracy, precision, and repeatability are critical to discerning a quantifiable value for the cleanability of a surface given a certain detergent. The proper identification of the correct cleaner becomes even more critical when dealing with pharmaceutical equipment and processes, which often produce medications and diagnostics that may prove fatal if contaminated with other medications. Current analyses in the cleaning validation realm are largely performed manually, leaving a much higher risk for variability within data and skewed results in addition to the inefficiency of manual processing.
An evaluation of a cleaning process for a pharmaceutical product typically consists of spiking a sample of material, known as a coupon, with a known amount of contaminant, cleaning it using conventional methods and various detergents, and probing the coupon for any remnants of the contaminant. Typically, without any automation, all coupons are immersed in corresponding cleaning solutions simultaneously, and removed simultaneously. However, traditionally, each of the immersions, timings, and extractions were performed by hand one at a time, allowing significant inconsistencies to appear between data sets.
Accordingly, current solutions in the field of cleaning and cleaning validation require time consuming tests, causing costly interruptions to productive manufacturing processes. Current solutions are often inaccurate, causing cleaning protocols to be excessive in most cases and insufficient in others.
Further, existing tests are difficult or complicated to set up and can only operate on one or a few coupons at a time.

CENTER FOR PHARMACEUTICAL CLEANING INNOVATION CORP