In a method and apparatus for balancing a vehicle wheel, the wheel when fixed to a main shaft of a balancing machine, after the implementation of a wheel unbalance measuring run, is stopped at a given rotational angular position for a balancing operation to be carried out on the wheel, by braking of the rotary movement of the wheel. When the wheel is in the stopped condition, a braking moment derived from the unbalance measurement result and applied by a holding brake is caused to act on the wheel so that the wheel is prevented from rotating of its own accord by virtue of its static unbalance.

In a typical method of balancing a vehicle wheel such as a motor vehicle wheel, the wheel to be balanced is fixed to the main shaft of a balancing machine and driven in rotation by the shaft to carry out an unbalance measuring run. After the unbalance measuring run is concluded, the wheel to be balanced, in dependence on measurement results supplied in the unbalance measuring run by a measuring device, is stopped in a given angular position for a balancing operation to be carried out, by suitable deceleration of the wheel. The wheel-braking operation can be effected for example by reversing the actuation of an electric motor which serves to drive the main shaft in the measuring run. Such a method and an apparatus for carrying out the method are to be found in DE 198 44 975 C2. Methods and devices for stopping a wheel to be balanced, in a given angular position, are also described for example in DE 101 60 955 A1, DE 196 36 267 C2 and DE 196 36 298 C2.
A conventional balancing machine, for stopping or locking the main shaft which carries the wheel to be balanced, together with the wheel fixed thereon, in the rotary position which is intended for carrying out the wheel balancing operation, usually has holding brakes which are actuated by a foot pedal or by hand. When the foot pedal or a hand-actuated operating button is released, for example if the operator has to move away from the balancing machine, there is then the risk that the wheel will rotate of its own accord out of the rotary position into which it has been rotated for carrying out the balancing operation, by virtue of the effect of the static unbalance of the wheel. The static unbalance forms on the wheel a heavy location which therefore tends to rotate the wheel into the 6 o'clock position. This means that, when the operator returns to the balancing machine, he is required in any case to check the position of the wheel to see whether it has rotated autonomously in the above-indicated manner, and in most cases he is required to correct the position of the wheel. In addition, when the apparatus has a mechanical holding brake which is to be operated by the operator, there is the risk of the operator actuating the holding brake during the phase in which the wheel is decelerated from the rotary speed at which it rotates in the unbalance measuring run, to the stopped condition, in order to shorten the braking time. This means that the holding brake which is not designed to carry out that deceleration operation suffers rapid wear and quickly becomes useless.

Method of and apparatus for balancing a vehicle wheel


A method displaying a theme-based push notification on a mobile device. The method includes registering a mobile device, wherein registering includes receiving, by an application backend server, a registration token from the mobile device, and storing the received registration token. The method further includes participating in dissemination of at least one theme-based push notification template, wherein participating in dissemination includes transmitting, by the application backend server, at least one theme-based push notification template to the registered mobile device. The method further includes processing a push notification together with the at least one theme-based push notification template, wherein the processing includes generating payload information, by the application backend server, and transmitting the payload information with the push notification to the registered mobile device.

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to the field of computing and more particularly to data processing and push notifications.
There are two types of restrictions on push notifications: (1) the number of characters allowed in the notification (e.g. typically ˜4 k bytes of characters), inclusive of everything that is sent as part of the payload (i.e. message identifier, URL, notification text, description, etc.); and (2) a push notification service provider cannot determine themes/profiles for how the push notifications should be displayed on the receiving computing device.
In the current state, there is no way for the push notification service providers to instruct the application, running on a user device, to display the notification in a particular fashion/style. Both the restrictions are inter-linked, as sending themes/profiles for push notifications to the user device may exceed the permissible push notification size.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

International Business Machines Corporation


A low-VOC (volatile organic compound) and/or low-toxicity coating formulation, including at least one non-halogenated solvent including terpene(s) or terpenoid(s), and at least one polymer including conducting polymers, electroactive polymers and/or conjugated polymers, wherein the polymers and non-halogenated solvent(s) are in non-aqueous form. In other embodiments, coating formulations, includes about 0.01% wt. to about 99.9% wt. of at least one non-halogenated solvent including a terpene or terpenoid, about 0.01% wt. to about 90% wt. of at least one polymer including conducting polymers, conjugated polymers, and electroactive polymers, and about 0.001% wt to about 90% wt. of at least one surfactant, wherein the polymers, solvents, and surfactants are in non-aqueous form. Also included are aqueous low VOC and/or toxicity coating formulations having at least one non-halogenated solvent including terpene(s) or terpenoid(s), and at least one conjugated, electroactive, or conductive polymer, copolymer, block polymer, and mixtures thereof.

Terpenes are natural solvents existing both in the citrus fruits and in many other plants, with extraordinary technical and chemical properties. Terpenes include any hydrocarbon of the formula C5H8 and are derivable chiefly from essential oils, resins, and other vegetable aromatic products. Many terpenes are acyclic, bicyclic, or monocyclic, and differ somewhat in physical properties. They can represent an optimal alternative to halogenated solvents in many civil and industrial applications.
Nearly all the terpenes, contained in the essential oils of many plants, are constituted by a skeleton of carbon atoms made of isoprene (C5H8) units regularly linked according with the head-tail position. Some components are shown in the following formulas. The main component of the essential citrus fruit oil is d-limonene, commonly called dipentene, a hydrocarbon insoluble in water. When the essential oils are used to flavor something, it's necessary to bring them in a very thin suspension in the aqueous product (soft drinks, juices, etc.). Terpenes are typically environmentally safe and can reduce the environmental impact in many applications related to the organic solvent use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,376 issued on Sep. 29, 1998 to Michael D. Cabelli teaches a gravure coating process for producing electroconductive polymer films. The coating is for use in sensors detecting analytes and the final product is heated. The above patent is limited to a ribbon-like or flat substrate application. The above uses a conductive polymer and exposing it to a dopant thereby changing its properties in situ. By changing it's properties they teach that it can be used as a component in a measuring device. This patent does not teach the use of terpenes with conductive polymers for corrosion inhibition. Ideally, in the present invention, once used or applied, the polymer will not be changed, modified or doped. The polymer will continue to perform (prevent corrosion) if it remains in a constant state. While the details of the mechanism for corrosion protection/inhibition has not been published for conductive polymers, it is likely to be a passivation of the metal substrate or an ability to allow electron transfer between the coating and substrate to prevent localized charge buildup at a metal surface, thereby eliminating corrosion. By preventing a localized charge buildup at a metal surface or between two surfaces that have different oxidation potentials, it's likely that the conductive polymer inhibits the oxidation of metal and therefore the formation of corrosion products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,643 issued on Aug. 3, 1999 to Frank J. Kenny teaches coating formulations and thermal transfer ribbons that form printed images containing conductive polymers. The formulations and ribbons include wax, polymer resins, a sensible material and optional solvent. The above is teaching the polymer coatings for their thermal transfer properties. They teach utilizing toxic organic solvents, which have been used for conductive polymers long before this patent was issued. However, no terpenes or terpenoids are taught for use in this patent.
If paint formulations use limonene, pinene, or other terpenes (or terpenoids), as a solvent in a non-water based coating applications instead of traditional high-VOC (volatile organic compound) solvents, it will provide a low-VOC coating application. There is currently no non-toxic, non-chrome, non-metallic, non-aqueous containing coating formulation approved for military application. From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for organic terpene non-aqueous based solvent/conducting polymer coating compositions, which is environmentally safe for various types of military and commercial applications. The present invention is directed to overcoming one, or more, of the problems set forth above.

Limonene, pinene, or other terpenes and their alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, as polymer solvents for conducting polymers in aqueous and non-aqueous coating formulations and their uses

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The present invention relates to an actuator using a photo-responsive shape-changing construct, the actuator comprising: a 1-1 polymer film and a 1-2 polymer film, configured to undergo a bending deformation in response to a light irradiation; a first restricting member provided between the 1-1 polymer film and the 1-2 polymer film so as to allow the 1-1 polymer film and the 1-2 polymer film to be connected to each other; and a rotation member configured to rotate as the rotation member, at least in part, is pushed by an end of the 1-1 polymer film along with the bending deformation of the 1-1 polymer film.

In recent years, a variety of research has been conducted to apply intelligent composite actuators that exhibit mechanical responses to external stimuli to active or passive control of structures.
An intelligent composite actuator generally uses an intelligent material such as a shape-memory alloy, a piezoelectric material and an electro-active polymer, and may be used in the form of a driver by directly attaching such an intelligent material to a structure or by inserting such an intelligent material into other materials.
In Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0011880, one example of an intelligent composite actuator is disclosed. The composite actuator disclosed in the above document includes a smart material whose shape is changeable based on an external signal, such as a current signal, and a directional material for supporting the smart material, determining an external shape, and restricting deformation in a specific direction, and deformation of the composite actuator is realized by a combination of the arrangement form of the smart material and the directionality of the directional material for deformation restriction.
In addition, in another example disclosed in Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2016-0017278, a wire is used instead of a smart material to realize deformation. As the wire is pulled by an external force, a composite actuator undergoes bending or twisting deformation.
In addition, in another example disclosed in Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0137449, deformation of a photo-responsive composite actuator that passes through a labyrinth is realized.
As described above, the known composite actuators need to supply heat or electric energy to generate heat energy in a material, or provide direct mechanical tension in order to cause deformation.
Meanwhile, in recent years, a variety of studies have been underway regarding the design of an intelligent composite actuator using an azobenzene liquid crystal polymer.
Azobenzene is composed of two benzene rings linked by an N—N double bond, and has a unique property in which two different geometric forms are interconverted by light. Benzene rings linked on both sides based on the N—N double bond of azobenzene are linked by a single bond that is able to freely rotate.
A form in which benzene rings at both ends of the N—N double bond are positioned on the same side is referred to as a cis form, and a form in which benzene rings are positioned on opposing sides is referred to as a trans form. Azobenzene undergoes photo-isomerization in which the molecular structure thereof is converted from a trans form to a cis form upon irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) rays and the molecular structure thereof is converted from a cis form to a trans form upon irradiation with visible rays.
An azobenzene liquid crystal polymer is an azobenzene-based liquid crystal polymer including azobenzene or an azobenzene derivative (hereinafter, referred to as "azobenzene"), and has a photo-responsive behavior characteristic due to photo-isomerization of azobenzene. When a liquid crystal polymer with azobenzene in a trans form is irradiated with UV rays, azobenzene is isomerized, which induces nematic-isotropic phase transition characteristics of an adjacent liquid crystal polymer, and thereby bending deformation in which a polymer material is bent in a direction of receiving light occurs. Also, such photo-responsive deformation of an azobenzene liquid crystal polymer, which is a reversible reaction, is known to return to an original form upon irradiation with visible rays.
Recently, research is being actively carried out to manufacture actuators, such as photo-responsive actuators, etc., using the photo-responsive deformation characteristics of azobenzene liquid crystal polymers. In order to use these photo-responsive deformation characteristics of azobenzene liquid crystal polymers, it is necessary to determine the directivity of photo-deformation through alignment.

Actuator using photo-responsive shape-changing construct and method of driving same

SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY R&DB FOUNDATION


A programmable finite state machine (FSM) includes, in part, first and second memories, and a selection circuit coupled to each of the memories. Upon receiving a (k+m)-bit word representative of the k-bit input symbol and the m-bit current state, the first memory supplies one ore more matching transition rules stored therein. The selection circuit selects the most specific of the supplied rules. The transition rules are stored in the first memory in a ranking order of generality. The second memory receives the selected transition rule and supplies the next state of the FSM. The first memory may be a ternary content addressable memory and the second memory may be a static random access memory. The contents of both the content addressable memory and the static random memory is determined by an algorithm which minimizes the number of terms required to represent the next-state transition functions.

Deep content inspection of network packets is driven, in large part, by the need for high performance quality-of-service (QoS) and signature-based security systems. Typically QoS systems are configured to implement intelligent management and deliver content-based services which, in turn, involve high-speed inspection of packet payloads. Likewise, signature-based security services, such as intrusion detection, virus scanning, content identification, network surveillance, spam filtering, etc., involve high-speed pattern matching on network data.
The signature databases used by these services are updated on a regular basis, such as when new viruses are found, or when operating system vulnerabilities are detected. This means that the device performing the pattern matching must be programmable.
As network speeds increase, QoS and signature-based security services are finding it increasingly more challenging to keep up with the demands of matching packet contents. The services therefore sacrifice content delivery or network security by being required to miss packets. Currently, fast programmable pattern matching machines are implemented using finite state machines (FSM). As is known, the process of mapping a regular expression, or signature database, to a FSM involves compiling the expression into a non-deterministic finite-state automaton (NFA), and then converting the NFA to a deterministic finite-state automaton (DFA).
An FSM typically starts in a given initial state, usually state zero. On receipt of each input symbol, the FSM advances to a new state determined by the current state, together with the input symbol. This operation is referred to as calculating the "next state" or "transition function" of the finite state machine. The calculation of the next state is often performed through a table lookup. The table, known as the "transition table", is arranged so as to have the row number determined by the current state and the column number by the current input symbol. Each entry in the transition table contains the value for the next state given that current state, as defined by the row, and the input symbol, as defined by the column. The transition table is commonly stored using a RAM lookup table. Data symbols received from a digital network are usually encoded as 8-bit bytes, and the number of states is determined by the complexity of the given application. The following pseudo-code illustrates the FSM. operation:
CURRENT_STATE = 0for each INPUT_SYMBOL,NEXT_STATE =TRANSITION_TABLE[CURRENT_STATE][INPUT_SYMBOL]CURRENT_STATE = NEXT_STATEnext INPUT_SYMBOL
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conventional finite state machine 10. The current state is encoded as an m-bit binary word, and the current input symbol as a k-bit binary word. These bits are concatenated together by logic block 12 to form an (m+k)-bit address to a RAM lookup table 14. RAM 14 contains the state transition table, that is, each RAM entry contains an m-bit word representing the next state given the current state and the input symbol. Look-up table 16 receives data from RAM look-up table 14 to define the action to take in each particular state. This is used to indicate terminal/accept states, etc. These actions are shown as being encoded as p-bit words.
Programmable FSMs are often expensive because of the size of the memory required to store the transition table. This problem is even more pronounced for fast FSMs which are required to compute the next state within a few and fixed number of clock cycles. For example, the state machine implementation shown in FIG. 1, having m-bit state vector and k-bit symbols, requires 2m+k entries of m-bit words for storing the full transition table. Additional memory is required for the output look-up table. For example, for an application servicing 1 Gbps network traffic, the FSM is required to compute the next state every 8 ns, for 8-bit input symbols. This poses a challenging task.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,047 describes a technique in which memory optimization is achieved through usage of stack memory allowing the state machine to repeat common sub-expressions while calculating the next state within a single clock cycle. This technique uses a large memory, and therefore limits the complexity of the FSM. This technique also suffers from the problem that the stack memory is limited.

Apparatus and method for generating state transition rules for memory efficient programmable pattern matching finite state machine hardware


A method and apparatus for automatically synchronizing the polarity of video signals generated by a graphics controller card to a display monitor is described. The present invention includes hardware circuitry comprising a storage unit, a detection unit, a selection unit that store, detect, and select input video signals, particularly a vertical and a horizontal synchronization signals, with the same or different polarity that are received from the graphics controller to a display monitor. The present invention synchronizes the polarity of input vertical and horizontal synchronization signals from the graphics controller prior to transmitting the sync signals to the display monitor. The detect and selection circuits of the present invention enable polarity of input sync signals to be synchronized without the use of software as practiced in the prior art.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of multi-media computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and circuitry for processing sync pulses in a multi-media PC wherein the circuitry automatically synchronizes the polarity of the horizontal and vertical sync pulses respectively.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal computer (PCs) systems have evolved into multi-media systems adapted to run multi-media software including video information displayed on PC monitors and other video display monitors. The introduction of multi-media computers also means that computer users may now purchase off the shelf add-on peripherals such as graphics and video cards to give their PCs multi-media capabilities.
As the use of multi-media systems has increased in popularity, so has the need to process multi-media information. To adequately handle the increased popularity of multi-media information processing, system designers must consider new techniques of controlling the simultaneous processing and displaying of video and graphics data in a multi-media system without losing display clarity, picture distinction, or over-task system resources. The need to design new video processing and display techniques may also be complicated by the need to simplify the use of such technology for less sophisticated users.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a multi-media computer system 100. System 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 110 for processing information, main memory 120 coupled to CPU 110 for storing data and instructions needed by CPU 110, system bus 105 coupled to CPU 110 for communicating information between CPU 110 and other peripheral devices in system 100. System 100 also includes video graphics adapter (VGA) controller 130 which couples to system bus 105 for processing video and graphics data in system 100, display monitor 140 including a display screen to display video and graphics data in system 100. System 100 further includes video card 150 for generating video data in system 100.
In the system shown in FIG. 1, when graphics and video data are displayed on display monitor 140, VGA controller 130 includes internal registers which store video and graphics data which may be used for display hardware control (i.e., display monitor 140). VGA controller 130 controls graphics information displayed in display monitor 140. The information controlled by VGA controller 130 may include horizontal and vertical synchronization pulses (VSYNC.+-.304 and HSYNC) and other video signals.
Horizontal and vertical sync signals dictate the scan rate of display in display monitor 140. The horizontal sync signal occurs once every horizontal line on the screen in display monitor 140; thereby synchronizing display monitor 140 to video card 150. Video card 150 sends data to display monitor 140 via a serial video bus. The serial video data stream feeding display monitor 140 from video card 150 begins at the left hand side of the screen of display monitor 140 and scans across to the right hand side of the screen. At the end of a line, a horizontal sync signal is asserted by the VGA controller 130 to indicate the end of a scan line.
After receiving the horizontal pulse, display monitor 140 sends an electronic beam back to the left border of the screen and begins scanning to the right. In order to synchronize display data, the display monitor 140 and VGA controller 130 have to be compatible. Compatibility is required because if VGA controller 130 is sending data too slowly, the screen scanning mechanism in display monitor 140 will reach the right hand side of the screen and then wait for the next horizontal sync pulse. Waiting for the next HSYNC pulse may result in the left portion of the video or graphics data being displayed without the right portion of the display. Furthermore, if the sync pulses are sent out too quickly, the screen scanning mechanism will never refresh the right portion of the screen resulting in display distortions in display monitor 140.
To prevent display distortions in display monitor 140, VGA controller 130 includes internal registers which store data which may be used to program the HSYNC and VSYNC signal as well as a field storing data indicative of the polarity of the pulses. The polarity data controls the pulse shape of the horizontal and vertical sync pulses which in turn control the vertical and horizontal sizes of the screen. The polarity of the sync pulses also alerts the screen as to how many vertical and horizontal lines should be displayed. HSYNC and VSYNC signals must possess a correct polarity corresponding to the display monitor 140. Otherwise, a reverse or negative image may be produced on the screen on display monitor 140.
Many prior art graphics and video cards are auto-synchronizing which means that the display screens in display monitor 140 must be capable of achieving vertical and horizontal synchronization. To achieve such synchronization, the display monitor 140 must also be capable of detecting the polarity of the horizontal and vertical sync pulses. After detecting the polarity of the sync pulses, display monitor 140 must be able to synchronize the polarity of the sync pulses in order to increase the number of vertical and horizontal lines that can be displayed.
To synchronize the polarity of the sync pulses, many prior art systems use computer program software stored in registers in the video card and VGA controller 130 to program the polarity of the sync signals. VGA controller 130 and video card 150 are therefore charged with synchronizing the polarity of the sync pulses by communicating with their respective registers over the system bus 105 when a program detects that display mode in display monitor 140 has changed or is about to change.
Using software to control polarity synchronization thus requires the VGA controller 130 to contend with other peripheral devices in system 100 to communicate with CPU 110. Such bus contention can be expensive and time consuming since VGA controller 130 may not always have priority over other system devices. The VGA controller 130 may then have to wait to gain control of the system bus 105 if it loses priority to other system devices. Such wait periods may result in display distortions, delay in displaying graphics and video data, etc.
Another problem with using software to perform polarity synchronization of sync pulses is the cost associated with upgradability. Anytime CPU 110 or VGA controller 130 is upgraded, the polarity synchronization software must also be upgraded to insure compatibility. Such software upgrades can be expensive and may lag behind hardware upgrades which may often result in the ability to switch the video card 150 and VGA controller 130 among different computer systems.
Yet another problem with the prior art system may be that the user of a software programmable graphics controller and video card, will have to know anytime the display mode changes, for example from 1024.times.768 pixels to 1280.times.1024 pixels, in the computer system in order to reprogram the graphics controller and the video card. This can often be a difficult task, especially if the user is not sophisticated enough or does not know how to program the different cards.
To solve the problem associated with using software to synchronize the polarity of sync pulses take to synchronize display signals, an improved and less expensive way of achieving sync signals polarity synchronization in a graphics controller and video card is desired.

Polarity synchronization method and apparatus for video signals in a computer system


An anchor system with a bridle substrate and harness configured to attach to an anchor line. An outer bladder surrounds an inner bladder for coupling on top of the bridle substrate. Water enters the anchor system through a water inlet that feeds directly to the inner bladder and fills that first. Water then overflows from the inner bladder to the outer bladder to fill that second. The inner bladder provides stability and is positioned with a majority of its volume closer to an uphill end of the anchor bladder while the outer bladder is positioned with a majority of its volume closer to a downhill end of the anchor bladder. Reinforcement connectors for each bladder resist deformation of the bladders to resist movement of the anchor bladder while filling.

Boat anchors are common devices used to connect a vessel to the bed or shoreline of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind, waves or current. Various types of anchors may be utilized to secure a vessel. For example, a heavy metallic anchor secured to a boat by a rope, such as a strong marine rope, anchor line, harness line or chain, may be positioned on the bed of a body of water. Such heavy anchors derive a significant portion of their holding power from their mass, while also often employing physical features, such as flukes or claws, which may hook or embed a distance into a pliable seabed to further secure the vessel. Other types of anchoring systems may utilize mooring of watercraft to permanent structures that are located on or near shorelines and many include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, mooring buoys and the like. Boats may be secured to a permanent mooring structure to anchor the crafts and forestall free movement of the vessels on the water. Still other anchoring systems may allow watercraft to be secured directly to a shoreline. For instance, when a vessel is near a sand or dirt shoreline, stakes may be driven into the ground on the shoreline and attached anchor lines may secure the boat preventing its movement upon the water. When a shoreline is formed of a rocky or hard material, stakes may be secured within holes driven or drilled into the rocky shoreline and a watercraft may be anchored by harness lines attached to the secured stakes.
The type of anchor a watercraft employs is often influenced by the body of water in which the vessel operates. For example, a boat operating in a reservoir or lake bordered by steep canyon walls may not successfully utilize a heavy anchor, because the abrupt pitch of the canyon wall shoreline and the corresponding depth of the lake bottom may render such a heavy anchor unsuccessful, or, at the very least, impractical because of the inability for the anchor to feasibly rest upon the bottom of the lake. Such heavy anchors might remain aweigh and simply hang on their anchor lines without effectively contacting anything solid. Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which are reservoirs along the Colorado River, are both examples of water bodies that are substantially surrounded by rocky structures. Hence, one effective method of anchoring boats in those lakes involves securing boats to stakes driven or drilled into the rocky shorelines. However, while such anchoring is effective, it can be detrimental to the shoreline, because, over time, as watercraft are anchored at various locations around the lakes, the shorelines become riddled with holes from previous anchor stakes, which holes leave the shorelines damaged and unattractive. To prevent further damage to the shorelines, laws have been enacted making it illegal to drive or drill stakes into the rocky shorelines of Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Hence, a need exists for an anchoring system that effectively secures a watercraft to a rocky shoreline without damaging the shoreline.


A high voltage, inverting, kinescope driver amplifier is coupled at the input thereof to a source of low voltage video input signals to be amplified and is coupled at the output thereof for supplying amplified video output signals to the cathode of a kinescope. The high voltage amplifier includes linear and non-linear feedback paths which, in combination, determine a nominal closed loop gain for the amplifier. The non-linear path includes amplitude and frequency dependent elements for increasing the closed loop gain of the amplifier by a given amount in low brightness areas (black to gray) displayed by the kinescope (thus improving dark picture detail) and increases the closed loop gain of the amplifier by substantially the same given amount for high frequency video detail signal components in high brightness picture areas (thus improving subjective contrast without spot blooming and avoiding the impression of "washed-out" pictures.

In an ideal television system the light output produced by a kinescope would be linearly related to the light applied to a camera pick-up tube. In practical systems, neither the camera tube or the display tube are linear devices. In other words, the signal voltage produced by a camera tube is not linearly related to the light that is detected and the light produced by a kinescope is not linearly related to the cathode drive voltage applied to it. The relationship between light input and signal output for the camera tube, and the relationships between signal input and light output of the picture tube, are both commonly expressed by the term "gamma" which, simply stated, is the exponent or "power" to which an input function (X) is raised to produce an output function (Y). If, for example, an input function X is raised to the first power (gamma=1) to produce an output function, then the two functions are said to be linearly related. If the output varies as the square of the input function, the value of the exponent (gamma) is equal to "2". If the output varies as the square root of the input function, the "gamma" or exponent equals 0.5. Gamma, in other words, is simply a measure of curvature of a transfer function,
FIG. 1 shows the gamma of various aspects of a video signal transmission system, with curve 1a representing the transfer characteristic of the transmission side, curve 1b representing the transfer characteristic of the picture tube (kinescope or "CRT"), and curve 1c representing the overall transfer characteristic.
The transmitted video signals of the NTSC, PAL and SECAM television standards have a gamma of about 0.45 to 0.5 while the picture tube (kinescope) of color television receivers have a gamma of about 2.8 to 3.1. As a result, the overall transfer curve (light into the camera to light output from the picture tube) is not linear and the overall gamma is, in practice about 1.35 instead of a unity (1.0) gamma. The implies that the exponential transfer characteristic of the picture tube is not fully compensated, leading to compression of dark picture portions of the display. Such compression causes picture details near black to be lost, and colored areas to fade to black. Concurrently, whites are excessively amplified with respect to the dark portions to the point of often reaching picture tube saturation and blooming.
A linear overall transfer characteristic avoids the problem of black compression and can be obtained by an additional gamma correction of about 0.8 in each of the red, green, and blue (R,G and B) signal processing circuits in the television receiver. However, picture tubes have a relatively small dynamic range of light output which can not be enlarged without reaching picture tube saturation causing blooming. Therefore, gamma correction to increase amplification of dark image areas can cause a signal compression of the high signal whites. This is illustrated in FIG. 2A showing a gamma corrected ramp signal. Peak white must be kept at the same level as in the uncorrected case, the dashed line, to avoid picture tube blooming. As a consequence, the upper portion of the ramp signal has a reduced slope as shown in FIG. 2B. This corrects the black compression problem while avoiding the problem of "blooming" (excessive whites).
Reducing the upper portion of the ramp signal to avoid blooming, however, can create another problem. The viewer perceives the reduced signal as a lack of contrast in grey to white picture areas resulting in "washed out" appearing pictures. In such an event, the improvement of contrast of low-brightness portions of the image by gamma correction is obtained at the expense of high brightness contrast deterioration.
A very effective solution to the problem of providing gamma correction while avoiding loss of high brightness contrast is described by Haferl et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,198 entitled NONLINEAR RGB VIDEO SIGNAL PROCESSING which issued Jan. 21, 1992.
FIG. 3 herein is an exemplary embodiment of a television receiver (indicated as 300, generally) including kinescope driver circuits 308, 310 and 312 in accordance with an embodiment of the Haferl et al. system. The receiver 300 includes an antenna input terminal 302 that supplies RF input signals to a tuner, IF amplifier and detector unit 304 which produces a baseband video signal S1. A chrominance/luminance signal processor 306, of conventional design, provides functions such as hue and tint control, brightness and contrast control, matrixing, etc., and provides red blue and green (RGB) video color component output signals for display by a kinescope 314. The R,G and B signals are applied to respective cathodes 320, 322 and 324 of the kinescope 314 by means of respective kinescope driver and contrast enhancement circuits 308, 310 and 312. The details of circuit 308 are shown in the drawing. Circuits 310 and 312 are identical to circuit 308 and so are shown in block form to simplify the drawing.
Driver apparatus 308 of the Haferl et al. system includes an inverting, high voltage, kinescope cathode driver amplifier 330 having an input 332 coupled via an input resistor R1 to input terminal 334 (to which the Red video signal is applied) and having an output 336 coupled to the red cathode 320 of kinescope 314 and coupled also back to the amplifier input 332 via a feedback resistor R2. These elements, R1, R2 and inverting amplifier 330, connected as described, provide linear amplification of the video input signal V1 at input 334 with a gain equal to the ratio of the feedback resistor R2 divided by the value of the input resistor R1.
The remaining elements of drive circuit 308 provide non-linear processing of the input signal V1. Specifically, signal V1 is applied to a non-linear signal splitter 340 which splits the input signal V1 into a low level portion V2 representative of black to grey regions of the image and into a high level portion V3 representative of gray to white portions of the image. The low level or dark portion V2 is applied via resistor 342 to the summing input 332 of amplifier 330 and so boosts the picture brightness in the black to gray region. This provides gamma correction of dark scenes and so improves the low light contrast of displayed images. The higher level signal V3 is AC coupled via resistor 346 and capacitor 344 to amplifier 330 for improving large area contrast and is also AC coupled via capacitor 348, resistor 350 and high pass filter 352 to amplifier 330 for improving small area white contrast. Blooming is prevented by the AC coupling and high pass filtering of the gray to white picture signal applied to the high voltage cathode driver amplifier 330. Advantageously, this "dual level" processing enhances detail for both bright and dim areas of displayed images, gamma is more closely corrected and spot blooming is avoided.

Kinescope driver apparatus with contrast enhancement


An implant system includes: an implant for implanting into a bone; an abutment to serve as a support for fixing a prosthesis to the bone; and a pivotal coupling between the implant and the abutment to permit, after the implant has been implanted into the bone, precise angulation in all directions of the abutment with respect to the implant before the abutment is fixed at the desired precise angulation with respect to the implant. Preferably, the pivotal coupling includes a ball-and-socket having complementary shaped contacting surfaces which are uneven to temporarily hold them in a direct pivoted position before permanently fixing them.

The present invention relates to implant systems for fixing various types of prostheses to bone. The invention is particularly useful for fixing a dental prosthesis to the lower or upper jawbone, and is therefore described below with respect to such an application, but it will be appreciated that the invention can be used in many other applications.
Implant systems are fast becoming an accepted mode for tooth replacement and/or for anchoring other types of dental prostheses to a jawbone. Such implant systems generally include an implant constructed for implanting into the bone, and an abutment constructed to serve as a support for fixing a prosthesis to the bone. A critical factor in a successful implant is the precise angulation of the abutment, which, among other factors, affects the ability of the resulting prosthesis to absorb shocks and distribute occlusal stresses to the bone/implant interface. A large number of implant systems have been developed to improve this ability, but efforts are continually being made to provide improved implant systems in this respect.

Implant system particularly useful for fixing dental prostheses to bone


A stator core is provided that can define a plurality of core slots in a surface thereof. The core slots can extend between a first and a second end portion of the stator core. A winding can be housed in the core slots. The winding can define a channel through at least a portion thereof. A cooling system can be operably coupled with the channel and can be configured to move a cooling fluid through the channel. A turbulator can be positioned within the channel. The turbulator can be within a flowpath of the cooling fluid and can be integrally formed with the winding.

Electric machines, such as generators, motors, motor/generators, starter/generators, and other electric machines can be used for a variety of purposes. In operation, the electric machine includes a rotor that can be rotated relative to the stator to generate electrical energy and/or can be rotated relative to the stator as a result of changing magnetic fields induced in windings of the stator. During the operation of the electric machines, heat is generated that may negatively affect the efficiency or output of the electric machines. Accordingly, electric machines that are capable of rejecting additional heat would be useful.


A novel bag holder is provided. In an embodiment, the bag holder includes a retaining bar that is shaped like a rectangular box. The bag holder also includes a wall bracket having a channel portion complementary to the shape of said retaining bar. The wall bracket can be mounted to vertical surface such as a wall. A portion of the rim of a plastic bag can be rolled around the retaining bar. Then, the retaining bar with the bag can be inserted into channel portion thereby securing the bag and facilitating the depositing and withdrawal of articles from the bag opening.

Plastic bags are an example of a commonly employed container. Plastic bags are inexpensive and extremely convenient. They can be stored in large quantities in a relatively small space, and can be used to hold or carry a significant volume of material.
Large plastic bags are often used for a variety of articles, including garbage, recycling, lawn clippings, leaves, and linens. Whatever the purpose, when the bag is in use it is necessary to have the opening of the bag retained in a substantially open position so that articles can be put into, or removed from the bag. Anyone who has performed lawn care will recall the frustration of trying to keep the bag open while also trying to push leaves or lawn clippings into the bag.
It is therefore known to provide apparatuses that will hold the bag, and hold the bag in the open position so that a person can deposit articles into the bag without having to hold the bag open by him. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,667 to Olsen discloses a trash bag holding and spreading device in the form of a unitary one-piece holder. The holder includes a pair of retainer halves, each of which has a respective internal face, a first adjoining edge that adjoin one another and a second remote edge. The holder can be used to both carry the bag and to hang the bag. The holder in Olsen, however, employs a complex set of retaining clips and tabs that are used to pinch the bag. This results in complex construction and, perhaps more significantly, a relatively small portion of the surface area of the bag is held within the clips and tabs, which could limit the amount of weight that the bag holder can maintain without resulting in tearing to the bag itself. Also such retaining clips and tabs are, over time, subject to wear and tear and breakage.
As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998, 694 to Barteaux discloses a bag holder for supporting a conventional plastic grocery bag in an open position for use as a waste receptacle. Barteaux is thus limited to grocery bags and is not generally suitable for other types of bags such as garbage bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,249 to Edwards discloses a trash bag holding device for holding a spreading the open end of a thin walled plastic trash bag that includes a pair of cooperating elongated spreader bar members one of which is adapted to be mounted on a supporting wall in outwardly spaced parallel relation to the wall and other of which is adapted to be releasably mounted to the first. Edwards has similar limitations to Olson, in that complex moulds are required to manufacture the device, and the clamping mechanism only retains a relatively small surface area of the bag. Also, the means of attaching the spread bar members to each other also involves detents and tabs so that the members can be snapped together. Edwards can thus be difficult to operate, and/or could result in breakage of the spreader bar members over time. Similar problems can be found the holders described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,077 to Grant, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,422 to Hobbs.


A flexible cable consists of trace conductors disposed on a first flexible insulating substrate, and a second flexible insulating upper substrate. Holes are placed on one of the substrates to expose the central conductor. The cable is then washed and sputter deposited with a thin gold film of a thickness of about 10 angstroms. Finally, an aluminum layer of thickness of more than 100 angstroms is sputtered over the cable. The aluminum sputter layer is connected to the central conductor and then they are both electrically grounded. A cost-effective method of making such cable to solve the adhesion problem of the aluminum coating in the prior art.

This invention relates generally to computer disk drives. More specifically, the invention relates to a flexible cable used in integrated lead suspension for interconnecting a read-write head to electronic circuitry in the computer hard drive and a method for making such cable.
Computer hard drives often use a flexible ribbon cable to carry signals to and from the read/write head. The cable generally comprises one or more conductors sandwiched between two layers of flexible insulating material. As the data transfer rate to and from the storage increases to the gigahertz range, the need for a durable and flexible cable carrying high frequency current with constant electrical characteristics also increases. Especially when the cable has to be twisted and bent to fit a specific physical geometry of a suspension assembly in a computer hard disk drive. Usually, the suspension assembly is made of different materials. When the flexible cable meets different materials underneath it, the characteristic impedance of the cable changes. As a result, the reflection coefficient of the flexible cable changes, creating losses and unwanted reflection at high frequency. In addition to the increase in the speed of computer""s data retrieval to and from the storage, the size of computer and hard drive are also reduced as in lap top computers. In such situation, the flexible cable needs to fit snugly with the suspension assembly more than ever before. As the flexible cable is placed on the suspension assembly to carry information to and from the hard drive, it also has to be bent around sharps turns according to the physical geometry of each type of assembly. As a result, the characteristic impedance of the cable changes and unwanted reflection along the cable increases, making impedance matching even more challenging. Moreover, in a compact hard drive environment, the temperature may be very high, and the suspension assembly moves constantly to retrieve information, shortening the lifetime of the flexible cable. Furthermore, in high frequency application, electromagnetic interference (EMI) may distort the signals that go through the cable.
One prior art solution is to electrically ground the conductors on either side of sensitive signals. This design improves the signal quality at frequencies up to a few hundred Megahertz. However, the electromagnetic (EMI) problems still persist.
One prior art solution to the EMI problem is to coat the cable with a conductive paint to prevent the electromagnetic radiation from penetrating the cable. However, if the suspension assembly moves constantly and under high temperature, the conductive paint tends to crack. Thus, the flexible cable becomes unreliable and has to be changed regularly.
In 1989, the inventor of the present application proposed a solution to the above problems. He disclosed a flexible cable comprising of a parallel conductors disposed between two flexible insulating substrates. The two flexible insulating substrates were glued together. One of the flexible insulating substrate was punched with holes along its length to expose a center conductor. A layer of aluminum was sputter deposited over the surface of the cable, making electrical contact with the center conductor. The aluminum layer and the center conductor were electrically grounded to make the flexible cable behave as a shielded coaxial cable. Although the sputter coating solution solved the cracking problem of the conductive paint coating, the sputter deposited aluminum layer did not adhere to the polymer materials used in the insulating substrates. Therefore, a need existed in the art for a flexible cable having a strongly adhering conductive coating and a method for fabricating same.
It is a principle objective of this invention is to make a flexible cable having a strongly adhering sputter deposited conductive layer. It is a further object to provide a flexible cable with a constant characteristic impedance Z0. It is an additional object to provide flexible cable that can also be used in environments with varying geometry without any unwanted reflection or changes in its electrical characteristics, or with EMI problems. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a flexible cable with a sputter deposited conductive layer that can also sustain the heat and constant motion of the suspension assembly without cracking.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention, a flexible cable comprises one or more trace conductors sandwiched between two flexible insulating substrates. An outer surface of the cable is cleaned and sputter coated with a conductive coating. The conductive coating generally comprises a thin gold layer sputter deposited on the surface of the flexible substrates and an aluminum layer sputter deposited on top of the gold layer. The gold layer acts as a seed to improve the adhesion of the aluminum coating to the material of the flexible insulating substrates. The surface of the cable is then cleaned prior to depositing the coating by washing in an alcohol, such as isopropyl alcohol. This process allows the aluminum layer to be sputtered directly to the flexible substrate. The cable may also be cleaned by a glow discharge or sputter etching process. Either or both of the substrates may include one or more holes that expose one or more trace conductors. The conductive coating may therefore make electrical contact with the trace conductors via the holes. The trace conductors and/or the conductive coating may also be electrically grounded to provide shielding against electromagnetic interference. This cable maintains all the advantages of prior art and achieves durability and flexibility. In addition, the conductive coating on the flexible cable can successfully withstand heat and the constant motion without cracking or otherwise separating from the substrates.

Conductive coating of flexible circuits for ils transmission lines

International Business Machines Corporation


Metal strips are provided which can be bent into the shape of cylindrical packing elements of the Lessing or Pall ring type. These strips have one end bent back at an acute angle to the rest of the strip and have slots cut into the strip in the vicinity of the bend. At the opposed end tabs are provided that engage with the slots when the strip is formed into a cylinder so as to hold the ends together. Such packing elements have a much greater resistance to crushing than conventional elements and can be made of much thinner metal.

This invention relates to packing elements use in mass transfer and direct heat transfer applications and specifically to packing elements of a generally cylindrical shape, such as for example Pall and Lessing rings.
Such elements are used in reactors where liquids and gases are contacted so as to bring about a reaction, heat transfer, solution or dissolution operations by intimately contacting two flowing fluids. As a consequence they have shapes designed to maximize surface area while retaining dimensional stability such they they do not collapse or become crushed during use. One means of achieving this end is to form the rings from cylindrical metal blanks, and providing internal structure by a variety of suitable techniques.
It is however desirable to have a structure that is easily produced to a standard design in large volumes. To satisfy these requirements the elements are often stamped out of a flat metal plate intended to be bent into a cylindrical shape with a plurality of flaps cut from the plate and bent inwards towards the axis of the cylinder. This is the shape of the typical Pall ring and is described for example in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,217. Another type of ring is the so-called Lessing ring in which a metal strip is bent into a cylindrical shape and one end of the strip is bent inwardly along a chord of the cross-section of the cylinder.
In order to retain the rigidity of such a ring it needs to be shaped from a relatively thick metal plate that will have be able to withstand the compressive forces encountered in use. Lacking such rigidity the rings will become compressed under the loading in the tower and more rings will be needed to fill the tower. In addition compressed rings do not have the same performance characteristics such that some predictability in operation is lost.
On the other hand it is desirable to reduce the thickness of this metal plate to save weight and to make the rings less expensive.
One solution has been to use a pair of bridging members to hold two cooperating semicylindrical pieces together as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,264. This has a significant disadvantage in that the production process requires the combination of four separate components to make the final product.
The present invention provides a metal strip that can be used to form a relatively rigid packing of the Pall or Lessing ring type while allowing the use of thinner gauge metal. The strip is so designed that it can be made into a packing element of the above type in a simple bending operation readily adapted to the use of mass production techniques.

Norton Chemical Process Products Corporation


An improved system for determining compliance between a source document structure in accordance with a source schema and a target schema includes: data storage; and a processor for executing software code. The software code causes the processor to: create a source schema description and a target schema description; receive the source document which includes an ordered tree structure with labeled elements and including a subtree; identify all corresponding element types in the source and target schemas for grouping the corresponding element types into element type pairs; classify each element type pair; and confirm compliance of the source document.

To ensure that data satisfy certain structural and non-structural constraints, it is common to use a schema, or data model, which provides a template for the data or document. One common representation for data is the Extensible Markup Language, or XML, which comprises a simplified subset of the Standardized Generalized Markup Language, or SGML. Unlike other subsets of SGML such as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), XML permits users to define new element labels and to nest XML elements within one another. Generally, schemas are used to constrain what labeled elements may appear in an XML document and how they may be arranged; an XML document conforms to a schema if the structure of the document satisfies the constraints specified by the schema. A schema for an XML document is built up out of type definitions. Together, the type definitions specify constraints on the structure of elements in an XML document such as, for example, the attributes that elements in the document may contain, the mandatory or optional nature of the elements, and the order in which the elements appear, and what other elements may be nested within an element.
One basic schema specification standard for XML is the DTD (Document Type Definition). In many XML applications, there is a DTD definition that specifies the XML format and one or more XML documents that conform to the DTD. Another common formalism for specifying the format of XML documents and data is the XML Schema. An XML Schema definition sets forth the layout format of documents that conform to the schema. This layout format includes which elements appear in each document and the data type for each element (such as whether it is numeric, binary, character, image, etc.). In addition, the XML Schema definition or DTD definition may include relational information that specifies how the various elements in conforming documents are related to each other. For example, for data that has a hierarchical structure, parent and child relationships will be described in the schema.
More generally, schemas may be any of a DTD, an XML Schema, or a string specification schema (such as a regular expression, a grammar or a finite state automaton), and documents may be either an XML document or a string.
Often documents or data objects that conform to a particular schema need to be verified as conforming with (i.e. recast into) another schema. For example, a business may have been saving and processing its customer records in accordance with a particular schema. However, the business may now desire to store its records in accordance with a new schema. In order to insure compatibility between its old and new records, the business may desire to recast the prior records into the new schema. As a further example, a program that processes documents typically expects to receive the documents in a particular format. If a business desires to process certain documents that are structured in accordance with a different schema with the program, it may be necessary to recast the documents into the appropriate schema.
Unfortunately, it is sometimes impossible to cast a particular document from one schema into another schema. For instance, the new schema may require a nonzero value for a particular element that is not present in the document in the first schema. Thus, in order to cast a document into a new schema, the document in the first schema must be valid in the second schema. The prior art method of validating a document in a schema is to examine each element that is going to be cast in the schema to determine if it is valid in the schema. Since businesses often have voluminous records, examining each individual element of each document in a particular schema to determine if it will be valid in a second schema can be a very time consuming process. Therefore, what is needed is an improved method of determining whether or not a document is valid with respect to a particular schema given that it conforms to another schema.

System for validating a document conforming to a first schema with respect to a second schema


A dual input voltage controlled oscillator ("VCO") suitable for use in clock and data recovery ("CDR") systems operating at 100s to 1,000s of MB/sec is described. When a PLL using this VCO is locked onto a data stream of a fixed bit rate, the bang/bang frequency of the VCO does not vary due to process and temperature variation occuring either during manufacture or operation. The VCO is also relatively insensitive to supply voltage variations.

In modern digital communications systems, the receiver must have a clock and data recovery ("CDR") system to decode and decipher data. Two standards for data transmission at bit rates ranging from 100s of MB/sec to more than 1 GB/sec make particular demands on the CDR system. These standards are SONET/SDH at 155 and 622 MB/sec and Fibre-Channel at 531.25 and 1062.5 MB/sec.
Earlier CDR systems have been implemented with surface acoustic wave("SAW") technology, which is difficult to use in integrated circuits("IC"s) and the resultant CDRs are therefore expensive. Recently, phase lock loop("PLL") designs have substantially reduced the cost of CDR systems. All PLL systems have a phase detector, some type of loop filter, and a voltage controlled oscillator("VCO").
For SONET/SDH data transmission environments, strict specifications are imposed on the CDR system in terms of jitter performance, including specified levels of jitter transfer, jitter tolerance, and jitter generation. These terms are defined in The International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee Recommendation G.958, "Digital Line Systems Based On The Synchronous Digital Hierarchy For Use On Optical Fibre Cables", incorporated herein for all purposes. With jitter transfer and jitter tolerance, the corner frequencies of phase modulation at the input of the CDR system are defined, and are directly related to the behavior of the PLL.
One known PLL architecture that has been successful in CDR systems operating at bit rates exceeding 1 GB/sec uses a special VCO. This architecture combines part of the loop filter function with the VCO by feeding the phase detector output directly into a "bang/bang" input of the VCO. A dual input VCO is therefore required. The first input is the commonly known analog voltage input, upon which analog voltage the VCO output frequency is monotonically dependent. The second input is a digital signal input. Depending upon a logic high or logic low signal, the VCO's output frequency alternates between two small but distinct "bang/bang"frequencies. This architecture stabilizes the overall PLL, provided that the phase change due to the bang/bang frequency loop is larger than the phase change introduced by the loop filter.
In one known dual input VCO CDR system, the VCO is realized as a ring oscillator consisting of three variable delay cells and a bang/bang modulation delay cell. The variable delay cell interpolates between two paths, each path having a different delay. The bang/bang delay is achieved by modulating the bias current of an inverting gain stage biased below the peak f.sub.T current.
This first known design has been improved by embedding the bang/bang control within the variable delay cell, which provides the VCO with a larger frequency range.
In both known designs, the bang/bang delay is dependent on the inherent delays of inverters. This makes the bang/bang frequency sensitive to the process, temperature, and supply voltage variations inherent in the fabrication and operation of inverters. In known application, the bang/bang frequency is simply designed large enough to provide loop stability with ample margin.
Unfortunately, these two approaches do not give enough control over the bang/bang frequency to comply with strict SONET/SDH jitter requirements. The dual loop PLL CDR system can be adapted to meet the SONET/SDH jitter requirements provided that the bang/bang frequency of the VCO can be set with precision and then remain constant over temperature and supply voltage variations. The bang/bang frequency directly determines the jitter transfer and jitter tolerance corner frequencies and must be set to meet the corresponding SONET/SDH requirements.

Dual input voltage controlled oscillator with compensated bang/bang frequency


A broadband active balun configuration is provided. According to embodiments, the subject active balun can include a cascade and cascade transistor pair using a shared input transistor. In a further implementation, a low-pass bias-feedback mechanism for maintaining stable bias conditions can be provided.

In general, active baluns are unidirectional converters between differential and single-ended signals, and passive baluns are bi-directional converters between differential and single-ended signals. Active baluns are typically used for applications requiring large bandwidth. The bandwidth's upper-end frequency of an active balun depends on the technology's speed, while the lower-end frequency, although limited by DC-decoupling capacitors in the ports, can potentially extend to DC. Such unbounded lower-end frequency enables active baluns to be realized in limited chip-areas, which enables the active baluns to be suitable for Built-in Self Test (BIST) applications, as well as general differential circuits requiring compact sized broadband baluns.
Of interest for radio frequency, millimeter wave and other high frequency applications are the bandwidth capabilities, size, and cost of a particular balun configuration.
In a given CMOS or Bipolar process, the distributed amplifier configuration produces the largest bandwidth. In a distributed amplifier, the gain-bandwidth product is increased by paralleling several FETs without paralleling their input or output capacitances, thus achieving operation over extremely wide bandwidths. However, the distributed amplifier configuration occupies a fairly large area of at least 1 mm×2 mm, which increases costs. A suitable approach for limited chip-areas is the differential amplifier type configuration, which is most commonly used due to its large common-mode rejection. In a differential amplifier configuration, a common input is provided to a differential amplifier, which in turn supplies two outputs. The harmonic components can be suppressed by the amplifier due to its common mode rejection characteristics. However at high frequencies, the two outputs become unbalanced because they travel through different number of stages from the common input. A series LC-network can be used to compensate for the mismatched phase and enable gain and phase adjustment, but this sacrifices the bandwidth's lower-end frequency.
Matching the number of stages of a signal path can be achieved by using a source-drain output configuration. This still has some critical inherent problems, such as low dynamic range and the requirement of a second gain stage to simultaneously fulfill the required gain and 50 Ωmatching at each port of the differential output. The more critical problem is in the relative phase of the differential output at high frequencies, because the drain's output has an additional pole and an additional negative-zero compared to that of the source's output.
One method for achieving balanced phase at high frequencies is to use common-source and common-gate pair type. In such an active balun device, an input signal is provided to sources and gates of common gate and source FETs, and an output signal is derived at drains of the FFTs, provided a phase difference of 180° at the two outputs. However, process and parasitic components can greatly affect the bandwidth. Using this configuration, the relative phase can maintain 180° at high frequencies beyond the first few poles. However, a new challenge exists for matching the input, due to its high parasitic capacitance from driving two transistors (one for common-source path and the other one for common-gate path) that in most designs are accompanied by a third transistor from a current-source for biasing the common-gate's stage.
Accordingly, active baluns continue to require additional research and improvement for high frequency and broadband applications.

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


The present invention relates to a catalyst for reduction of nitrogen oxides in exhaust gas containing oxygen by hydrocarbons, which comprises cobalt-loaded zeolite not showing a Raman spectral band assignable to cobalt oxide (Co.sub.3 O.sub.4).

Ammonia denitration has been used to remove nitrogen oxides (hereinafter referred to as "NOx") from gas containing oxygen exceeding in quantity the oxidizing capacity of the reductive gas, particularly exhaust gas from combustion at a higher air/fuel ratio than stoichiometric value. However, this process cannot be applied to small combustors, for the following two reasons. First, it requires an ammonia source. Secondly, "slip" of ammonia in excessive quantity can cause a secondary environmental pollution problem. Recently it was found, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open Sho 63-100919, that NOx can be selectively reduced by hydrocarbons on a zeolite catalyst ion-exchanged with Cu or the like metal.
However, if hydrocarbons having four or fewer carbons are used as a reducing agent, the above-mentioned catalyst provides low selectivity (molar ratio of hydrocarbons used in NOx reduction to total hydrocarbons consumed) and therefore low NOx conversion, in the presence of the water vapor always contained in ordinary exhaust gas.
Armor, et al. reported (Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 1, p. L31) that NOx can be selectively reduced by methane on Co ion-exchanged ZSM-5 (MFI zeolite). It is known, however, that the catalytic activity is also decreased in the presence of water vapor, so that the catalyst does not have a sufficient activity for practical use. Therefore, a catalyst which is effective even in the presence of water vapor is awaited.
As a solution to the above-mentioned conventional problems, Italian Patent Application No. MI93A2337 discloses a NOx reduction process which uses a BEA zeolite ion-exchanged with cobalt (Co-BEA).
The Co-BEA offers substantial improvement in catalytic activity and durability at low temperature in actual exhaust gas conditions (in the presence of water vapor etc.). However, if the concentrations of NOx and reductant hydrocarbon are low, the reaction rate decreases on this catalyst, and a sufficient NOx conversion for practical use cannot be achieved. Therefore, more active catalyst has been desired

Nitrogen oxides reduction catalyst and process for reducing nitrogen oxides in exhaust gas


The preferred embodiments described herein provide an apparatus and method for intersecting a light beam and a focal point of a detector at an object of interest. In one preferred embodiment, an apparatus is provided comprising a first support element and a first member carrying a light source and a detector. The first member is pivotable between first and second positions, and when the first member is in the first position, a light beam generated by the light source and a focal point of the detector intersect at an object of interest carried by the first support element. When the first member is in the second position, the light beam and the focal point of the detector intersect at an object of interest carried by a second support element disposed on the first support element.

In many applications, a light source and a detector are used to analyze an object of interest. With reference to FIG. 1, a housing 103 carries a light source 105 and a detector 120 and is positioned adjacent a first support element 115 (such as a glass plate). The light source 105 generates a light beam that strikes a portion of an object 110 carried by the first support element 115, and the detector 120 is positioned so that its focal point intersects the light beam at the object 110. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,523, such an analyzer can be used in DNA sequencing applications. In such an application, a plurality of DNA channels in a gel electrophoresis slab sandwiched between two glass plates are scanned with a laser that excites fluorescent markers attached to DNA strands, and a sensor is focused on the area of the gel slab excited by the laser.
When the thickness of the first support element 115 varies or when a second support element 125 (such as a cover slip or tray, see FIG. 2) is interposed between the object 110 and the first support element 115, the focal point of the detector may no longer be on the object 110. To maintain the focal point on the object 110, the housing 103 carrying the light source 105 and detector 120 can be linearly translated closer to the first support element 115, as shown in FIG. 2. While the focal point of the detector 120 is once again on the object 110, the focal point no longer intersects the light beam. This misalignment can result in a suboptimal analysis of the object 110 (e.g., a faded image or a magnitude response error). Accordingly, unless the object 110 is on the first support element 115, the light beam and the focal point do not coincide.
There is a need, therefore, for an apparatus and method for intersecting a light beam and a focal point of a detector at an object of interest that will overcome the disadvantages described above.
The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims.
By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments described below provide an apparatus and method for intersecting a light beam and a focal point of a detector at an object of interest. In one preferred embodiment, an apparatus is provided comprising a first support element and a first member carrying a light source and a detector. The first member is pivotable between first and second positions, and when the first member is in the first position, a light beam generated by the light source and a focal point of the detector intersect at an object of interest carried by the first support element. When the first member is in the second position, the light beam and the focal point of the detector intersect at an object of interest carried by a second support element disposed on the first support element.
The preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.

Apparatus and method for analyzing an object of interest having a pivotably movable source and detector


A method of wiring data transmission lines between a CPU including CPU data pins identified by a set of pin numbers and a DRAM including DRAM data pins also identified by the set of pin numbers, the method including connecting the CPU data pins to the DRAM data pins with data transmission lines including unit-bit data transmission lines so that the unit-bit data transmission lines do not cross each other and without matching the pin numbers of the CPU data pins to the pin numbers of the DRAM data pins.

1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention relates to a method of wiring data transmission lines, and more particularly to a method of wiring data transmission lines between a CPU and an SDRAM.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printed circuit boards are substrates on which chips or other electronic components are mounted. Printed circuit boards are made of reinforced fiberglass or plastic, and have a copper circuit that connects the components to each other. The printed circuit board having the most important role in a system is typically referred to as a main board or a motherboard, and other printed circuit boards having lesser roles that are inserted into slots of the main board are typically referred to as boards or cards. Although early printed circuit boards were designed for mounting individual components thereon, recent printed circuit boards have been designed for mounting very large-scale integration (VLSI) integrated circuits thereon.
When producing a printed circuit board, a thin copper film adhered to the reinforced fiberglass or plastic substrate is coated with a photoresist. The photoresist is illuminated with light through a film having a circuit pattern thereon to form a latent image of the circuit pattern on the photoresist. The latent image is developed, and the portions of the photoresist not forming part of the circuit pattern are dissolved and washed away. The substrate is immersed into an etching bath, and portions of the copper film not protected by the remaining photoresist are etched away, thereby forming the same circuit pattern on the copper film as the circuit pattern on the film.
The main board of a computer has a connector that is used to connect peripheral modules to a bus. In general, the main board has integrated circuits such as a CPU, memory devices, a system controller, and the like mounted thereon. The CPU, the memory devices, the system controller, and the like perform various data processing operations to perform commands. To enable this, data transmission lines are connected between the integrated circuits to transmit and receive large amounts of data.
Representative examples of data transmission lines include data transmission lines between the CPU and the memory devices. For serial data transmission, data can be transmitted through only one or two data transmission lines, whereas for parallel data transmission, data is generally transmitted on a byte-by-byte basis (where, for example, one byte includes eight bits) through a number of data transmission lines corresponding to the number of bits in one byte.
Because of data mapping and consistency in wiring a number of data transmission lines between the CPU and the memory devices, wiring is frequently performed to match pin numbers of data input and output terminals of the CPU to pin numbers of data input and output terminals of the memory devices.
However, when wiring the data transmission lines after matching the pin numbers, crossing of the data transmission lines inevitably occurs due to the presence of other components mounted around the CPU and the memory devices. As a result of this, the data transmission lines are bypassed to a rear side of the substrate through via holes to prevent short circuit of the data transmission lines caused by the crossing of the data transmission lines.
However, the via holes cause harmonic waves, i.e., noise, and thus negatively influence reliability of data transmission. In addition, bypassing of the data transmission lines through the via holes causes an increase in length of some unit-bit data transmission lines (i.e., data transmission lines corresponding to individual bits of a data transmission unit of one byte), resulting in non-uniform data transmission of the bits within one byte. In addition, when stacking a plurality of substrates, an impedance difference between the substrates can cause other problems.

Method of wiring data transmission lines and printed circuit board assembly wired using the method


A stent comprises a plurality of serpentine bands. Each serpentine band has alternating peak regions and trough regions and extends about substantially the entire circumference of the stent. At least one of the serpentine bands has a spline extending therefrom toward a serpentine band adjacent thereto. Serpentine bands which are adjacent one another are connected one to the other.

Stents are placed or implanted within a blood vessel for treating stenoses, strictures or aneurysms therein. They are implanted to reinforce collapsing, partially occluded, weakened, or dilated sections of a blood vessel. They have also been implanted in other bodily vessels including arteries, veins, biliary ducts, urethras, fallopian tubes, bronchial tubes, the trachea and the esophagus.
Stents are typically either self-expanding or mechanically expandable via the application of radially outward force from within the stent, as by inflation of a balloon. An example of a balloon expandable stent is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,120. An example of a self-expanding stent is described in WO 96/26689. Hybrid stents, e.g. stents which are both self-expanding and mechanically expandable are also known. Examples of hybrid stents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,621 and WO 01/08600.
Because stents are often delivered through tortuous vessels, it is important for a stent to have sufficient flexibility when in a delivery configuration. At the same time, it is desirable for a stent in an expanded configuration to exhibit sufficient scaffolding strength to maintain the patency of a vessel.
Although many stents have been designed with increased flexibility and scaffolding in mind, there remains a need for a stent which exhibits excellent flexibility and excellent scaffolding strength.
All U.S. patents and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, a brief summary of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72.


A method and system to manage items associated with different entities is provided. The items can be content and contacts. The entities can be Social Networking Sites (SNS), device, and contact groups in the device, contact groups in the SNS, content hosting servers or the like. The method provides a grid structure to display items associated with different entities. Further, the method allows a user to share items by performing one or more actions. The actions can be a voice, a gesture or a gaze. The gesture can be an emotion, a tap, a scroll, a drag, a drop, a pinch, a swipe and a hover. The method facilitates re-location and re-grouping of the items. The method allows the user to create and edit an album and a relational view with the items associated with different entities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to managing content and contacts associated with multiple platforms. More particularly, the present invention relates to sharing content and contacts in cross platform environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the popularity of social networking is increasing, people are becoming connected by sharing content with their contacts. This vast array of content is becoming unmanageable and time consuming for posting the content on social network sites and on platforms that allow content sharing. The platforms may be Social Networking Sites (SNS), discussion forums, chat session, content hosting servers, devices, and the like. The content may be multimedia content such as audio, video, images, text content such as comments, messages, files, link to content (e.g., hyperlinks) such as Uniform Resource Locator (URL), hypertext, communication content such as Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), calls, emails, and the like.
Despite the fact that content sharing represents one of the prominent features of existing social network sites, there are no effective mechanisms for cross sharing content between different platforms. In addition, according to the related art, sharing the same content across multiple platforms is difficult. For example, according to the related art, a user has to manually share the content with contacts in individual platforms. The manual sharing of content with contacts in individual platforms according to the related art is not very effective and time consuming.
Due to abovementioned reasons, there is need for an effective mechanism to share content and contacts between different entities. The entities may be SNS, relational views, content hosting servers, devices, and the like. The relational views may be contact groups in SNS, contact groups in the device, and may be formed from contacts in the device and SNS or formed based on the common information between contacts associated with the entities.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

Method and system to share, synchronize contents in cross platform environments


A method for in vitro detection of the presence of a C-terminal truncation mutation of a hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface (S) gene encoding a small S protein in an isolated nucleic acid sample is disclosed. An in vitro diagnostic kit for use in the aforementioned method is also disclosed.

Gene S of hepatitis B virus (EBV) is the gene that codes for the surface antigen (HBsAg). The HBsAg gene is one long open reading frame but contains three in frame "start" (ATG) codons that divide the gene into three sections, pre-S1, pre-S2, and S. Because of the multiple start codons, polypeptides of three different sizes called large S, middle S, and small S (pre-S1+pre-S2+S, pre-S2+S, and S, respectively) are produced. During the course of chronic hepatitis B infection, the viral genome would frequently develop mutations. These mutations represent the attempt of the virus to escape from host immune-surveillance.
Hepatocarcinogenesis of HBV-related HCC is believed to be a "hit-and-run" event as most of the surgically removed cancerous HCC tissues contain rare, if any, freely replicative viruses. Therefore, if certain viral mutations were assumed to be responsible for initiation of the oncogenic process, one could not identify them because the mutant viruses should have been lost in the subsequent steps of hepatocarcinogenesis.

Methods for detecting hepatitis B virus surface gene non-sense mutations


Several million television receive antennas installed on roof tops in the US and around the world. A method is disclosed that uses each of the millions of television receive antennas as transmitters to provide high speed wireless mobile and broadband infrastructure to send and receive internet, data, audio, video, at user locations and communication between devices and sensors securely. This is the first converged broadcast and broadband interactive wireless infrastructure utilizing the television as an interface for applications such as financial transactions, home-to-home interconnection, environmental, energy management (smart meters), social networking, streaming, gaming, and security management. A personal server connects to a television receiver and antenna which connects among them wirelessly and connect to a broadcasting site server and an electric-substation server. The invention creates wireless cloud eliminating the need of a personal computer. The method overcomes the problem of interference whist preserving latency, synchronization, and time accuracy.

Low cost universal broadband access and its coverage is a key facilitator for digital applications. However, until now broadband availability and digital applications have been elusive in its penetration in the outskirts of urban and rural areas. As a result, this presents a lost opportunity in social and economic development.
The method detailed addresses the above issues by leveraging the broadcast infrastructure and digitally connecting millions of receive only television antennas, thus providing wireless infrastructure to provide internet, data, audio and video, mobile communications, and facilitating digital applications at a fraction of a cost of known access technologies.
The method detailed is based on broadcasting standards and methodology that combines broadcast and broadband through efficient modulation, monitoring, and processing techniques and is, therefore, different from previously cited work which is based on mobile communications, and IP addressing structure based on cellular methodology. The large area coverage is achieved by transmitting high effective isotropic power from broadcasting TV sites and directing the antenna beam dependent on population density. Moreover, the personal servers (PS) with built in transmitter and receiver and yagi antennas as mobile base stations can collaboratively form mobile infrastructure for devices. Millions of base stations implemented using new addressing scheme based on yagi geo location, subscriber address and broadcast site.
The method details self organising interference mitigation mechanism whereby channels can be dynamically allocated and effective isotropic radiated power reduced. The invention preserves and provides low latency, high synchronisation, and time accuracy independent of applications, high quality video for interactive games, video streaming, social networking, real time energy monitoring using smart meters and financial transaction on television.

Method for provisioning high speed wireless infrastructure


A high linearity mixer circuit includes a commutation network comprising four switches to provide an electrical coupling between a first pair of circuit nodes and a second pair of circuit nodes, whereas the coupling has two states and is controlled by a pair of complementary logical signals. The mixer circuit further comprises a first pair of current-sourcing devices coupled to the first pair of circuit nodes and a second pair of current-sourcing devices coupled to the second pair of circuit nodes. The mixer circuit further includes a pair of capacitors to provide AC coupling, either between the first pair of circuit nodes and a first external circuit, or between the second pair of circuit nodes and a second external circuit.

Mixers are an important circuit for radio frequency (RF) transmitters and receivers. The function of a mixer is to perform a frequency translation. While the present invention is generally related to and applicable to a variety of RF transmitters and receivers, one of applications is so-called direct-conversion receiver, which is also known as a homodyne receiver. In a direct-conversion receiver, a mixer is used to convert an RF signal into a baseband signal by mixing the RF signal with a clock signal, which is usually referred to as a local oscillator (LO) signal. The frequency of the LO signal is nominally the same as the center frequency of the RF signal, and consequently the resultant baseband signal is centered at DC. In a twist known as a low-IF (intermediate frequency) receiver, which is also relevant to the present invention, the frequency of the LO signal is slightly different from the center frequency of the RF signal, and consequently the resultant baseband signal is centered at a low intermediate frequency. By way of example but not limitation, a down-conversion mixer suitable for direct-conversion receivers or low-IF receivers is used to describe the related art and to demonstrate how the present invention can be applied to improve the performance over the related art.
There are numerous topologies to construct a mixer circuit. A topology of particular relevance to the present invention is based on commutating a differential signal in a manner controlled by a differential LO signal. FIG. 1 depicts a commutation network 100. On one side, the commutation network 100 is coupled to an input differential signal comprised of VI+ and VI−; on the other side, it is coupled to an output differential signal comprised of VO+ and VO−. The commutation network 100 comprises four switches, embodied by four NMOS (N-type metal-oxide semiconductor) field-effect transistors M1, M2, M3, and M4, respectively. The commutation network 100 receives a differential LO signal comprised of VLO+ and VLO−. Each switch is controlled by either VLO+ or VLO−. Each switch is closed when its controlling signal is high, and open otherwise. Note that VLO+ and VLO− are complementary: when VLO+ is high, VLO− is low; and when VLO+ is low, VLO− is high. As a result, when VLO+ is high (and therefore VLO− is low), VI+ and VI− are coupled to VO+ and VO− via M1 and M3, respectively; when VLO+ is low (and therefore VLO− is high), VI+ and VI− are coupled to VO− and VO+ via M2 and M4, respectively. Consequently, the output differential signal (VO+-VO−) is approximately equivalent to the input differential signal (VI+-VI−) multiplied by 1 (when VLO+ is high) or −1 (when VLO+ is low). Therefore, the output either tracks the input, or tracks the inversion of the input, depending on the state of the LO signal. In a direct-down conversion application, the input differential signal represents the RF signal, and the output differential signal represents the baseband signal, which is approximately equal to the RF signal multiplied by the LO signal.
Many mixer circuits are constructed using the commutation network 100 of FIG. 1. Among them, a mixer is generally classified as "active" if there is a DC (direct current) flowing between the input side and the output side. On the other hand, a mixer is generally classified as "passive" if there is no DC flowing between the input side and the output side. FIG. 2 depicts a prior art passive mixer 200 based on using a commutation network 210. On one side, instead of directly coupling the commutation network 210 to the input differential signal comprised of VI+ and VI−, a pair of capacitors C3 and C4 are used to provide AC (alternate current) coupling. On the other side, a termination network (for examples: a pair of parallel RC networks, R1-C1 and R2-C2) is used to provide termination for the output differential signal comprised of VO+ and VO−. Here, VCM is a DC voltage provided to set the common-mode voltage for the output differential signal VO+ and VO−. Due to the AC coupling capacitors C3 and C4, there is no DC flowing between the input side and the output side. Since there is no DC flowing between the two sides of the commutation network 210, passive mixer 200 allows separate biasing conditions for both sides of networks. This offers an advantage in flexibility that is lacked in an active mixer, where both sides of networks cannot be biased separately due to the DC flowing between them.
There is a problem with the prior art passive mixer 200. Under a static bias condition, for each of the four MOS transistors (M1 to M4), both sides of its terminals are biased to the common-mode voltage VCM. A MOS transistor provides a channel for current to flow between a first terminal and a second terminal, where a third terminal (i.e. the "gate") controls the conductivity of the channel. The channel, however, is symmetrical and there is no physical difference between the first terminal and a second terminal. The current can flow from the first terminal to the second terminal, and vice versa. Between the first terminal and the second terminal, one is defined as the "source" and the other is defined as the "drain," depending on the direction of the current flow. Under a static bias condition, there is no current flowing in any of the four MOS transistors for the prior art passive mixer 200. Under a dynamic condition where an AC (alternating current) RF signal is applied to the input side, there is an AC flowing in each of the four MOS transistors whenever its respective controlling signal (VLO+ or VLO−) is high. Since the current flow is alternating in nature, the definition of source and drain is also alternating. When the current flow changes direction, the roles of the previously "source" and the previously "drain" are also reversed. This phenomenon is called drain-source reversal phenomenon, or reversal phenomenon for short. The conductivity of the channel is primarily determined by the voltage difference between the gate and the source. Whenever the reversal phenomenon takes place, there is usually an abrupt change in the conductivity of the channel. This leads to distortion to the output signal.
What is needed is a method to alleviate the adverse effect of the reversal phenomenon.

High linearity passive mixer and method thereof