Disclosed is a wood composite material comprising: upper and lower surface layers and a core layer; wherein the core layer contains at least about 85 wt % paulownia strands; and the surface layers contain at least about 85 wt % of other, higher density, non-paulownia wood strands.

Wood is a common material used to construct doors and other architectural building elements. Even today, after the development of several new species of composite materials, wood remains one of the most widely-used structural materials because of its excellent strength and stiffness, pleasing aesthetics, good insulation properties and easy workability.
However, in recent years the cost of solid timber wood has increased dramatically as its supply shrinks due to the gradual depletion of old-growth and virgin forests. It is particularly expensive to manufacture doors from such material because typically less than half of harvested timber wood is converted to natural solid wood lumber, the remainder being discarded as scrap.
Accordingly, because of both the cost of high-grade timber wood as well as a heightened emphasis on conserving natural resources, wood-based alternatives to natural solid wood lumber have been developed that make more efficient use of harvested wood and reduce the amount of wood discarded as scrap. Plywood, particle board and oriented strand board ("OSB") are examples of wood-based composite alternatives to natural solid wood lumber that have replaced natural solid wood lumber in many structural applications in the last seventy-five years. These wood-based composites not only use the available supply of timber wood more efficiently, but they can also be formed from lower-grade wood species, and even from wood wastes.
However, while the performance characteristics such as strength and insulation properties of these wood-based composites are comparable or superior to natural solid wood lumber, some users have complained that in certain high-moisture environments, such as exterior siding, the edges of the composite material experience swelling and cracking as water penetrates into the edges of the material and causes it to expand. To prevent this damage various techniques have been developed such as affixing metallic or polymeric moldings to the edges of the wood, or applying a polymer coating or film layer to the susceptible edges of the composite material. These techniques are effective to present edge swelling and cracking, but they have the disadvantage of greatly increasing the materials' cost and the complexity of the manufacturing process used to prepare it.
Given the foregoing, there is a continuing need for a wood composite material that can address these inadequacies. Notably this wood composite material would have superior or comparable performance to solid wood lumber while being lighter (lower density) than conventional OSB materials, have a better surface finish that would possibly, eliminate the need for a post-pressing sanding step, and have excellent resistance to edge-swelling and other such moisture-related defects. Additionally, this wood composite material would incorporate to some extent fibers harvested from tree species that are faster growing than those species which are conventionally used for wood composite materials.


Systems and methods for a headset charging cradle are disclosed. The system generally includes a loop for receiving a headset earbud and a cradle charging interface disposed below the loop for coupling with a headset charging interface.

Wireless headsets are battery powered such that a user can use the wireless headset or other such device without being directly connected to larger power source such as an A/C outlet or automobile battery. This allows wireless headset users flexibility and convenience to move about without being tied to a power cord. Wireless headset batteries are generally rechargeable so that the batteries can be re-used instead of being discarded after use.
Typically, a wireless headset or mobile phone includes an electrical interface such as a mating connector to transfer charging current to the battery so that charging current power can be supplied without removing the batteries from the device. In a mobile environment, such as an automobile, recharging is generally performed using a low-voltage cable connector from the cigarette lighter or other interface to the automobile battery which is plugged directly into the headset's mating connector. The cable connected to the battery supplies charging current through the coupled contacts to recharge the batteries located within the headset. The headset connected to the cable must then be placed somewhere within the automobile, such as a cup holder, the passenger seat, or other location.
However, the use of a cable connector with a headset in an automobile or other mobile environment poses several problems. Plugging the cable connector into the headset may be somewhat difficult as the charging interfaces (also referred to herein as electrical interfaces) for the cable and the headset must be aligned. Two hands are typically required to plug the cable into the headset, and visual alignment is required. Upon completion of charging, two hands are required to disconnect the cable and headset. If the user is driving the automobile, this requirement naturally poses hazards. Furthermore, the headset may be exposed to contaminants or damaged when placed randomly in the passenger compartment.
In home use, charging cradles have been used to recharge headsets and mobile phones. Charging cradles may also be referred to in the art and herein as docking stations, charging bases, or charging stations. In a typical setup, the headset is inserted into a charging station which has wiping contacts that correspond to and couple with the wiping contacts on the headset. However, as headsets become lighter, the weight of the headset maybe insufficient to provide adequate electrical contact between the headset charging contact and the cradle charging contacts when the headset is placed in the cradle. Furthermore, in a mobile environment such as an automobile, the use of a cradle may be subject to vibrations and jarring and there are limitations on placement of the cradle. If the headset is not firmly detented in the cradle, it may be dislodged from the cradle or the electrical connection may be lost.
As a result, for these and other reasons, there is a need for improved methods and apparatuses for charging wireless headsets.


A metalwood type golf club head is disclosed having a reinforced outer support system formed of elongated support bands providing additional strength and mass on the outer side walls, rear, bottom and crown areas for added overall club head strength, increased stability and control when ball contact occurs during a high velocity club head swing.

The present invention relates to a metalwood type golf club head, and in particular, to a metalwood club head having an improved reinforced outer support system.
The majority of wood type golf club heads manufactured today are made of various types of metals and other suitable materials and are formed with a hosel, a club head body formed by a metal shell having thin side walls and upper crowns, connected to a more substantial or reinforced frontal ball striking face to absorb the impact of a golf ball when it is struck by the club head. Typically, the metal shell is then interfaced or joined with a stronger sole plate to complete the club head. Normally, there is no substantial support means to reinforce the side walls and the thin upper crown sections of a club head. Thus, the overall structure of the club head, with an inner reinforced ball striking face, and thinner unreinforced surrounding outer shell sections do not minimize overall adverse club head feel or distortions that occur when off center ball contact is made.
Furthermore, metalwood club heads currently are being made larger and larger to induce a golfer to purchase a golf club in the belief that the larger heads make it easier to contact a golf ball. Such larger heads have still thinner side walls and are typically made of stronger metal such as titanium and other suitable materials. However, the larger club heads require more surrounding reinforcement means to produce a solid feel and stability at impact for greater accuracy and further distance. Various attempts have been made to reinforce metalwood type club heads, mostly to support the interior of the shell, particularly behind the club face and under the upper crown surface of the club head. Limited success has been provided by these efforts to improve club head stability at impact when a golf ball is struck.
Prior art U.S. patents disclosing various reinforcing systems. U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,399 to Raymont reinforces the rear inner surface of the ball striking face with a honeycomb structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,754 to Zebelean shows a metalwood golf club head having inner reinforcing ribs which extend internally below the top crown and form a bridge to the ball striking face. U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,145 to Schmidt shows a hollow metalwood club head reinforced by an internal metal ridge integral with the front wall and extending longitudinally and downwardly from a central region toward the heel and toe portions of the club head.
My own U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,230, reinforces the interior of a metalwood with a first mass located behind the ball striking face and a second mass under the upper or crown surface of the club head. Another of my own U.S. Patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,279 includes a peripheral weighting and reinforcement system that provides additional mass along the majority of the interface of the ball striking face and the crown of the club head. A metalwood golf club currently marketed by McHenery Metals, shows an outer reinforcing member adjacent the rear surface of the club head.

Metalwood type club head with reinforced outer support system


When an actuator is operated, an upper die is displaced downwardly, pressing a lower surface of a workpiece against a forming surface. After the upper die is displaced upwardly, an ejecting member is displaced upwardly to push the workpiece upwardly by a lower die. As the workpiece is displaced upwardly, an outer circumferential surface of the workpiece is squeezed by a squeezer projecting radially inwardly from an inner circumferential surface of an outer ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for forming a forging blank to increase the accuracy of a forged product, reduce the manufacturing cost of the forged product, and reduce the amount of chips produced when the forged product is machined.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has heretofore been known a method of forming a forging blank of metal to be forged to a desired shape under a pressure applied thereto (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-71046). When the forging blank is forged into a forged product, it is generally difficult to obtain desired dimensional accuracy. It is customary, therefore, to subsequently machine the forged product to desired dimensional accuracy.
However, the process of additionally machining the forged product to desired dimensional accuracy results in an increased number of manufacturing steps and a large amount of chips cut off from the machined product.
The machining process is time-consuming to perform and hence not efficient. Consequently, in order to increase the production efficiency, it is necessary to employ a plurality of machining tools for machining a plurality of forged products substantially at the same time. However, because the machining tools are expensive, the cost required for facility investments is increased, and the increased cost also increases the price of the final products.

Method of and apparatus for forming forging blank


A magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technique enables parallel imaging in combination with fat suppression at an increased image quality, notably in combination with EPI. The method includes acquiring reference MR signal data from the object in a pre-scan and acquiring imaging MR signal data from the object in parallel via one or more receiving coils having different spatial sensitivity profiles. The MR signal data are acquired with sub-sampling of k-space and with spectral fat suppression and an MR image is reconstructed from the imaging MR signal data. Sub-sampling artefacts are eliminated using sensitivity maps indicating the spatial sensitivity profiles of the two or more RF receiving coils. A B0 map is derived from the reference MR signal data and the spatial dependence of the effectivity of the spectral fat suppression is determined using the Bo map. In the image reconstruction step, signal contributions from water and fat are separated using regularisation taking the spatial dependence of the effectivity of the spectral fat suppression into account.

Image-forming MR methods which utilize the interaction between magnetic fields and nuclear spins in order to form two-dimensional or three-dimensional images are widely used nowadays, notably in the field of medical diagnostics, because for the imaging of soft tissue they are superior to other imaging methods in many respects, do not require ionizing radiation and are usually not invasive.
According to the MR method in general, the body of the patient to be examined is arranged in a strong, uniform magnetic field B0 whose direction at the same time defines an axis (normally the z-axis) of the co-ordinate system on which the measurement is based. The magnetic field B0 produces different energy levels for the individual nuclear spins in dependence on the magnetic field strength which can be excited (spin resonance) by application of an electromagnetic alternating field (RF field) of defined frequency (so-called Larmor frequency, or MR frequency). From a macroscopic point of view, the distribution of the individual nuclear spins produces an overall magnetization which can be deflected out of the state of equilibrium by application of an electromagnetic pulse of appropriate frequency (RF pulse) while the magnetic field B0 extends perpendicular to the z-axis, so that the magnetization performs a precessional motion about the z-axis. The precessional motion describes a surface of a cone whose angle of aperture is referred to as flip angle. The magnitude of the flip angle is dependent on the strength and the duration of the applied electromagnetic pulse. In the case of a so-called 90° pulse, the spins are deflected from the z axis to the transverse plane (flip angle 90°).
After termination of the RF pulse, the magnetization relaxes back to the original state of equilibrium, in which the magnetization in the z direction is built up again with a first time constant T1 (spin lattice or longitudinal relaxation time), and the magnetization in the direction perpendicular to the z direction relaxes with a second time constant T2 (spin-spin or transverse relaxation time). The variation of the magnetization can be detected by means of receiving RF coils which are arranged and oriented within an examination volume of the MR device in such a manner that the variation of the magnetization is measured in the direction perpendicular to the z-axis. The decay of the transverse magnetization is accompanied, after application of, for example, a 90° pulse, by a transition of the nuclear spins (induced by local magnetic field inhomogeneities) from an ordered state with the same phase to a state in which all phase angles are uniformly distributed (dephasing). The dephasing can be compensated by means of a refocusing pulse (for example a 180° pulse). This produces an echo signal (spin echo) in the receiving coils.
In order to realize spatial resolution in the body, linear magnetic field gradients extending along the three main axes are superposed on the uniform magnetic field B0, leading to a linear spatial dependency of the spin resonance frequency. The signal picked up in the receiving coils then contains components of different frequencies which can be associated with different locations in the body. The signal data obtained via the receiving coils corresponds to the spatial frequency domain and is called k-space data. The k-space data usually includes multiple lines acquired with different phase encoding. Each line is digitized by collecting a number of samples. A set of k-space data is converted to an MR image by means of Fourier transformation.
Parallel acquisition techniques for accelerating MR acquisition are well-established. Methods in this category are SENSE (Pruessmann et al., "SENSE: Sensitivity Encoding for Fast MRI", Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 1999, 42 (5), 1952-1962) and SMASH (Sodickson et al., "Simultaneous acquisition of spatial harmonics (SMASH): Fast imaging with radiofrequency coil arrays", Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 1997, 38, 591-603). SENSE and SMASH use sub-sampled k-space data acquisition obtained from multiple RF receiving coils in parallel. In these methods, the (complex) signal data from the multiple coils are combined with complex weightings in such a way as to suppress sub-sampling artefacts (aliasing) in the finally reconstructed MR images. This type of complex array combining is sometimes referred to as spatial filtering, and includes combining which is performed in the k-space domain (as in SMASH) or in the image domain (as in SENSE), as well as methods which are hybrids. In either SENSE or SMASH, it is essential to know the proper weightings or spatial sensitivities of the receiving coils with sufficient accuracy. To obtain the coil sensitivities, i.e. the spatial sensitivity profiles of the receiving coils used for signal detection, a calibration pre-scan is typically performed prior to and/or after the actual image acquisition. In the pre-scan, the MR signals are usually acquired at a resolution which is significantly lower than the resolution required for the diagnostic MR image. The low-resolution pre-scan typically consists of an interleaving of signal acquisition via the array of receiving coils and via a volume coil, for example the quadrature body coil of the MR apparatus. Low resolution MR images are reconstructed from the MR signals received via the array receiving coils and via the volume RF coil. Sensitivity maps indicating the spatial sensitivity profiles of the receiving coils can then computed, for example, by division of the receiving coil images by the volume coil image.
MR imaging is sensitive to diffusion. Known diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) techniques are commonly performed by using imaging sequences comprising diffusion gradients, wherein the diffusion of protons (of water molecules) along the direction of the diffusion gradient reduces the amplitude of the acquired MR signals. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a more sophisticated form of DWI, which allows for the determination of both the magnitude and the directionality of diffusion. Diffusion imaging is clinically used, e.g., to detect cancerous tissue. Cancerous lesions show bright signal in diffusion images because of restricted diffusion characterized by a low apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).
DWI is typically performed using an echo planar imaging (EPI) technique in combination with fat suppression. Therein, spectral fat suppression is performed, e.g., by known SPIR (spectral pre-saturation with inversion recovery) or SPAIR (spectrally attenuated inversion recovery) techniques. The combination of EPI with SENSE parallel imaging is useful to minimize geometry distortions caused by B0 field inhomogeneity (see WO 2014/195384 A1). Reliable fat suppression is of critical importance to minimize unfolding artefacts and resulting errors in the derived ADC values. However, spectral fat suppression is hampered by B0 field inhomogeneity. Inadequate fat suppression at the locations of lesions may impact lesion conspicuity and the obtained ADC values.

Parallel MR imaging with spectral fat suppression


The present invention provides an electrode assembly in which a negative electrode coated with a negative electrode active material on a surface of a negative electrode collector, a separator, and a positive electrode coated with a positive electrode active material on a surface of a positive electrode collector are repeatedly laminated, the electrode assembly comprising: monocells in which the positive electrode, the separator, the negative electrode, and the separator are laminated, wherein at least two or more monocells are laminated, wherein, in any one of the monocells, an expansion part extending lengthily to one side is formed on the separators, and the expansion part of the separator surrounds the monocells laminated to be disposed at the outermost layers to fix the laminated monocells.

Secondary batteries are rechargeable unlike primarily batteries, and also, the possibility of compact size and high capacity is high. Thus, recently, many studies on rechargeable batteries are being carried out. As technology development and demands for mobile devices increase, the demands for rechargeable batteries as energy sources are rapidly increasing.
Such a secondary battery is configured so that an electrode assembly is embedded in a battery case (for example, a pouch, a can, and the like). The electrode assembly mounted in the battery case is repeatedly chargeable and dischargeable because of a structure in which a positive electrode/a separator/a negative electrode are stacked.
FIG. 1a is a side view illustrating a process of manufacturing an electrode assembly through a lamination & stacking process among electrode assemblies according to a related art, FIG. 1b is a side view illustrating a state in which a plurality of monocells 4, in which a positive electrode 1, a separator 3, a negative electrode 2, and a separator 3 are sequentially laminated, are laminated and then fixed by a tape 5, and FIG. 1c is a plan view illustrating a state in which the electrode assembly, in which the plurality of monocells are laminated, is fixed by the tape 5.
Referring to FIGS. 1a to 1c, in the lamination & stacking manner, the positive electrode 1, the separator 3, the negative electrode 2, and the separator 3 are continuously unwound to be supplied in a state of being wound in the form of a roll. Here, each of the positive electrode and the negative electrode 2 is cut and moved by a predetermined size from the separator 3 to pass through a laminating device. As illustrated in FIG. 1b, in the positive electrode 1 and the negative electrode 2, a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode active material are applied to both surfaces of a positive electrode collector (a portion expressed as a diagonal line at a center) and a negative electrode collector (a portion expressed in an X shape at the center), respectively.
While passing through the laminating device, heat and a pressure may be applied between the positive electrode 1, the separator 3, and the negative electrode 2 to bond the positive electrode 1, the separator 3, and the negative electrode 2 to each other. In the bonded state, the positive electrode 1 and the positive electrode 1, which are adjacent to each other (the negative electrode 2 and the negative electrode 2, which are adjacent to each other), are cut therebetween to continuously manufacture one monocell 4 in which the positive electrode 1, the separator 3, the negative electrode, and the separator 3 are sequentially laminated downward.
The monocells 4 are laminated by a predetermined number and manufactured as an electrode assembly. When the lamination is completed, the monocells 4 are fixed, and ends of the tape 5 adhere to the uppermost monocell and the lowermost monocell, respectively.
However, in the manner of fixing the monocells 4 by using the tape 5 as described above, the ends of the tape 5 additionally protrude from the uppermost layer and the lowermost layer to cause a thickness difference. Also, when the tape 5 is attached, there is a problem that a portion of an edge of the negative electrode 2 (that is cut relatively larger than the positive electrode to realize stability) is folded.
As described above, internal resistance may increase due to the thickness difference and the folding of the negative electrode to accelerate degradation of the electrodes.

Abstract: Furthermore, the present invention provides an electrode assembly in which a negative electrode coated with a negative electrode active material on a surface of a negative electrode collector, a separator, and a positive electrode coated with a positive electrode active material on a surface of a positive electrode collector are repeatedly laminated, the electrode assembly comprising: monocells in which the positive electrode, the separator, the negative electrode, and the separator are sequentially laminated, wherein at least two or more monocells are laminated, wherein each of the two or more monocells of the monocells comprises a positive electrode extension part, in which a positive electrode collector extends lengthily to one side, and a negative electrode extension part, in which a negative electrode collector extends lengthily to the other side, and the positive electrode extension part and the negative electrode extension part are respectively bonded to a positive electrode extension part and a negative electrode extension part to fix the laminated monocells.


An apparatus (200) for diagnosing asthma is disclosed. The apparatus (200) comprises a data acquisition module (210) configured to acquire at least one physical deformation feature associated with at least one of nasal flaring, neck retraction and inter-coastal retraction of a subject under examination and an analysis module (220) configured to analyze the acquired at least one physical deformation feature associated with at least one of the nasal flaring, the neck retraction and the inter-coastal retraction of the subject under examination and diagnose the asthma based on the analyzed at least one physical deformation feature associated with at least one of the nasal flaring, the neck retraction and the inter-coastal retraction of the subject under examination. The disclosed apparatus (200) can be used for monitoring asthma at home, at hospital or in ambulatory patients.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,810 discloses a method for predicting an onset of clinical episode, the method including sensing breathing of a subject, determining at least one breathing pattern of the subject responsively to the sensed breathing, comparing the breathing pattern with a baseline breathing pattern and predicting the onset of the clinical episode at least in part responsively to the comparison. Predicting the onset of the clinical episode may not be reliable and there could be variations in diagnosing asthma.


This invention relates to a device for the simultaneous qualitative or quantitative determination of several analytes in a liquid sample. The device comprises a membrane with a charging zone, for the application of the liquid sample, at least two indicator zones which can interact with the analyte(s) and at least one absorption region, which accepts the fluid after passing through the indicator zones, whereby the indicator zones lie between the charging zone and an absorption region, characterized in that the flow directions (flow tracks) are essentially parallel from the application zone through each indicator zone to an absorption region and at least two different flow tracks are present. The invention further relates to a method for the determination of several analytes or derivatives thereof in a liquid sample, comprising: application of the sample to the charging zone of a membrane of the device, whereby said sample is present in sufficient amounts to permit the sample fluid to flow in the direction of the absorption region through the indicator zones and to permit the analytes or derivatives thereof in the liquid sample to form a complex in the indicator zone.

In order to prevent risks of complications, e.g. during a transfusion, in particular blood group incompatibilities, viral and/or bacterial contaminations it is known to perform a variety of laboratory tests on the donor and patient blood in order to make available components which are compatible in a blood group serological sense with the recipient and are free of known transmittable pathogens. The respective serological tests as a rule include the determination of the blood group of the donor and the recipient, in particular of blood groups of the blood group systems ABO, Rh and Kell, serum cross-checks on the donor and recipient, antibody detection tests in respect of irregular antibodies of the donor and recipient as well as antibody identifications in the case of the recipient where irregular antibodies are present. The detection of antibodies against thrombocytes and or lymphocytes is performed likewise in the context of transfusions and transplantations.
Infection serological tests on the donor include in a known manner the routine determination of antibodies, in particular against HIV-I, HIV-H, against HCV against treponema pallidum (syphilis), as well as the determination of the hepatitis B surface antigen (=HbsAg: hepatitis surface antigen).
In blood group serological diagnostics, parameters are generally tested which are of particular relevance in the context of transfusions or of morbus haemolyticus neonatorum (Mhn). This includes inter alia the detection of antigens on the surface of erythrocytes which are characteristic for the blood groups (blood group determination). Further important antigen systems are present also on thrombocytes, granulocytes, lymphocytes which likewise play a role in the context of transfusions and transplantations. In the event of thrombocytes and granulocytes antigen non-identity between mother and fetus pathological symptoms may occur with neonatants comparable with Mhn. In addition the detection of regular blood group antibodies (isoagglutinine) and of irregular blood group antibodies in serum or plasma is applicable here.
The isoagglutinines or regular antibodies are acquired particularly by humans soon after their birth and correspond to the respective blood group of the ABO system. They are directed against those blood group antigens A or B which the individual itself lacks, i.e. persons which have the blood group A have anti-B, persons of blood group B have anti-A persons of blood groups O have anti-A and anti-B; persons of blood group AB have no isoagglutinine. The regular antibodies are also known as "complete" because they are able to directly agglutinate erythrocytes in NaCl medium.
The irregular or allo-antibodies, in contrast to the isoagglutinines are acquired by immunizations in later life, in particular by transfusion or pregnancy. For that reason most humans have no irregular blood group antibodies. The transfusion relevant irregular antibodies are as a rule heat reactive and belong mostly to the IgG class. In contrast to the regular antibodies they are not able to directly agglutinize erythrocytes in a NaCl medium.
It is known that for determining blood groups the erythrocytes of the persons to be tested, (donors or recipients) are brought together with reagents which contain blood group specific antibodies. Generally these tests are performed in the liquid state, in which by mixing of an erythrocyte containing sample with a sample containing antibodies directed against a specific blood group characteristic a testing batch is produced. The testing batch is then incubated over a defined period and under defined conditions and after conclusion of the incubation, either directly or after a centrifugation step, is tested visually or by optical methods for a possible agglutination or adsorption of the erythrocytes. The predominant end point measurement in blood group serology is still the hemaglutination test. For each blood group to be determined a separate batch must be pipetted, i.e. e.g. for the determination of the nine most important blood groups A, B, D, C, c, E, e, Cw and K, nine separate batches are needed, without counting any control.
For the serum cross-check cell reagents with known ABO blood groups (A1, A2, B, 0) are used in a known manner which are incubated with the serum or plasma of the person to be tested. After a centrifugations step a possible agglutination of the erythrocytes is tested for visually or by optical methods. For a serum cross-check with the aforesaid test cells it is conventionally necessary to pipette four batches.
In order to search for irregular antibodies panels are generally used comprising two or three blood group O cells the combined antigen profile of which contains the most important antigens, in particular the blood group systems Rh, Kell, Duffy, Kidd, MNS, P, Lewis, Lutheran. The cell reagent is brought together with the serum or plasma of the person to be tested, is incubated and after a step of centrifugation is tested visually or by optical methods for any agglutination of the erythrocytes. Two to three batches must be pipetted for testing one patient sample.
In order to identify the irregular antibodies which as a rule takes place after a positive antibody detection test, panels comprising up to 16 blood group O cells are used the antigen profile of which covers the most important antigens, in particular the blood group systems Rh, Kell, Duffy, Kidd, MNS, P, Lewis, Lutheran in an exactly predetermined manner. The cell reagent is brought together with the serum or blood plasma of the person to be tested and by visual or optical methods is tested for any agglutination of the erythrocytes. For testing a patient sample up to 16 batches must be pipetted.
Because most transfusion relevant irregular antibodies are of the IgG type and are therefore incomplete the reactions for antibody detection and identification as described must as a rule be reinforced in order to be able to detect the end point of the hemaglutination. The most common reagent for this purpose is a polyclonal anti-humanglobulin reagent to which frequently anti-complement antibodies have been added (typically anti-C3d and/or anti-C3b).
A commonly used method for detecting thrombocyte antibodies is the so-called MAIPA test (monoclonal antibody immobilization of platelet antigens). In this case test thrombocytes are incubated with the serum to be tested. After a rinsing step, incubation is performed with a monoclonal, e.g. mouse antibody which is specific for a particular thrombocyte glycoprotein. The thrombocytes are thereafter subjected to lysing and the diluted lysate is introduced into a reaction vessel coated e.g. with goat anti-mouse antibodies of a microtitration panel. The goat anti-mouse antibody binds the mouse antibody and the thrombocyte glycoprotein human antibody complex attached thereto. The human antibody is tested for by the addition of an enzyme-conjugated goat anti-human IgG.
With conventional diagnostic tests it is possible only to either determine cellular or plasmatic parameters. In order to determine blood components it is invariably necessary to first separate cells from plasma.
Lateral flow tests nowadays are frequently applied as quick tests e.g. as pregnancy tests, for determining infection markers or for drug screening. A lateral flow test device in a known manner includes a rigid support on which an application zone for the sample to be tested is provided, a separating membrane, on which bonding elements, e.g. catcher antibodies or antigens are bound and on which the bonding reactions can be detected, and a suction generating absorption region which causes the sample to be tested to flow in a linear manner through the separating membrane.
Test membranes of conventional lateral flow tests are generally described involving a chromatography-like separation. The analyte in the sample binds specifically to the bonding elements fixed in a membrane which as a rule are present in consecutive or superimposed bands serving as indicator zones. The binding complex is rendered visible by indicator particles which as a rule are already present in the device in dehydrated form in a conjugate liberation pad. The conjugate liberation pad is provided between the application zone and the membrane. The pre-coated colored indicator particles are coated for example with an antibody directed against the analyte to be tested for.
The conventional lateral flow test format corresponds to a so-call "sandwich assay", in which both the indicator zone as well as the indicator particles are coated with a ligand aimed at the analyte tested for, normally an antibody. In that context the ligand (bonding element) is immobilized on the membrane. The detector reagent, normally an antibody bonded to a colored polystyrene particle or to colloidal metals, is deposited in the conjugate liberation pad in a leachable manner. This bonding complex serves as indicator particle. Once the sample to be tested has been applied it very rapidly wets the conjugate liberation pad, whereby the indicator particles are mobilized. The indicator particles migrate with the liquid front along the porous membrane. An analyte present in the sample becomes bonded by the antibody coupled to the indicator particle. As the sample passes the indicator zone, the analyte/indicator particle complex in the indicator zone is immobilized by reaction of the analyte with the antibody bonded in the indicator zone, resulting in a visible signal.
A further known test format for small analytes comprising but a single antigenic determinant, incapable of simultaneously bonding two antibodies, is the so-called "competition assay". The detector reagent bonded to the indicator particle is normally a molecule identical to or analogous with the analyte. The indicator particles are deposited in the conjugate liberation pad. The indicator particles migrate with the liquid front along the porous membrane. If the sample contains the analytes, and if the indicator particles (which effectively likewise contain analyte) pass the indicator zone, part of the analyte molecules in the sample bond to part of the indicator particles. The more analyte is present in the sample the more effective will it compete with the bonding of the indicator particle and the weaker will the signal become.
According to the prior art these indicator particles are predominantly composed of colloidal gold or of polystyrene, manufactured and coated according to methods known to the skilled person. In the typical lateral flow tests formats the analytes are determined indirectly. In this context a direct determination of an analyte denotes that the analyte is already bonded naturally to the indicator particle (e.g. erythrocyte). In the more common situation of indirect determination of the analytes the sample to be tested as a rule contains a non-cellularly bonded, e.g. plasmatic component as the analyte and, besides the sample to be tested, two reagent components are required, i.e. indicator particles and a bonding element. In the indirect determination the analyte initially bonds to the indicator particle dissolved out of the conjugate liberation pad, before this complex becomes immobilized in the indicator zones with the bonding element by way of a second reaction.
When using conventional lateral flow tests with erythrocytes as indicator particles which have been bonded to the analytes to be determined, for example blood group specific antigens, it is at present usual for antibodies to be provided in the indicator zones against corresponding blood group antigens serving as bonding elements in successive or superimposed bands in but a single flow track such as for example anti-A, anti-B against the Rh blood group system. In this context conventional lateral flow tests suffer from the disadvantage that the erythrocytes bonded to the antibodies form a flow barrier against the analytes still to be tested for, for example further cell associated antigens, in a sample. Due to agglutination or adsorption of cells in a band of bonding elements arranged proximally to the application zone, additional analytes, in particular cells or cell fragments in the sample to be tested, can no longer be separated unimpededly and visibly and can therefore not be tested for unambiguously or completely. For example in a person who is blood group AB Rh D positive this may result in a weakening or elimination of the B and the D bands, which may result in a faulty interpretation of being blood group A Rh negative. For that reason it was hitherto not possible, specifically in blood group serological diagnostics to employ a lateral flow test with more than one indicator zone. In order to determine a plurality of, in particular cellular and plasmatic blood group parameters, it is to date necessary to conduct single parameter tests separately.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Device for simultaneously carrying out blood group determination, serum cross-check and antibody detection test


A method of aligning a fixture for holding an alignment telescope with an antenna array foundation. In one embodiment, the method includes mounting a fixture for holding an alignment telescope proximate to a first location on an edge of an antenna array foundation, projecting a laser beam outwards from the fixture towards a second location on the edge of the antenna array foundation, and aligning the fixture with the edge at the second location using the laser beam. The fixture may be aligned with the edge of the foundation by adjusting the position of the fixture in relation to the foundation so that the laser beam strikes the foundation edge at the second location, thereby producing a visible laser spot on the edge. The procedure may be repeated to align a plurality of spaced-apart foundation edge locations with the fixture.

To install large, fixed phased-array antennas such as those used on naval vessels, the flatness of the foundation to which the arrays are mounted is one important factor. If the profile of the antenna array mounting flange does not match the foundation, system performance may be adversely affected. Accordingly, the foundation profile must be precisely measured at the antenna array mounting holes so that shims of proper thickness may be fabricated to achieve a proper fitment. The mounting flanges of some large antenna arrays may typically be on the order of approximately 12-14 feet across and have bolting patterns of comparable size. Foundations for these arrays typically are oriented at about 15° tilted back from vertical and comprised of heavy steel plate having a large central opening and a plurality of mounting holes for receiving bolts for mounting the array.
To take the foundation profile measurements, an optical alignment telescope is used which heretofore has been held in a fixture temporarily mounted near the center of foundation opening. This location is not generally accessible from a permanent regular access deck or walkway, and usually is approximately 10-12 feet up in the air. This requires a temporary scaffold to be erected inside the antenna array equipment room for access. Before shim measurements may be taken, however, the telescope fixture must be precisely aligned or "bucked in" with the foundation so that accurate flatness measurements can be obtained parallel to the plane or face of the foundation. Conventional fixture alignment methods have relied on complex and time-consuming optical-based procedures requiring a minimum of two technicians. One technician works the alignment telescope from the scaffold inside the antenna array equipment room while another technician is positioned on a scaffold outside the equipment room. The outside technician is equipped with a ruler or scale which alternatingly is held at a minimum of three different locations around the central foundation opening while the inside technician observes the measurements at each location. The fixture is then adjusted and measurements are repeated multiple times until the fixture is finally optically aligned with the foundation. This procedure typically takes an hour or more to buck in the fixture before shim flatness measurement can be started and is an arduous task.
Accordingly, an improved method of aligning or bucking in an alignment telescope fixture with an antenna array foundation is desired.

Fixture alignment method for antenna array foundations


A command is received from a first agent via a first predetermined memory-mapped register, the first agent being one of multiple agents representing software processes, each being executed by one of processor cores of a network processor in a network element. A first queue associated with the command is identified based on the first predetermined memory-mapped register. A pointer is atomically read from a first hardware-based queue state register associated with the first queue. Data is atomically accessed at a memory location of the memory based on the pointer. The pointer stored in the first hardware-based queue state register is atomically updated, including incrementing the pointer of the first hardware-based queue state register, reading a queue size of the queue from a first hardware-based configuration register associated with the first queue, and wrapping around the pointer if the pointer reaches an end of the first queue based on the queue size.

In a multi-processor system, it is frequently desirable to build queues, or first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffers, in memory. A queue is a data structure with FIFO properties where agents push elements onto the queue (writes) and pop elements off of the queue (reads). This in normally accomplished by allocating storage for the queue elements, and separately allocating storage for the queue state which includes read and write pointers, and any other desired information.
When software wants to read an element from the queue, or write an element to the queue, it first must ensure that it has exclusive and atomic control of the queue element and queue state storage. Then it must update the queue state and access the queue element to perform its operation. Finally, the memory that controls the ownership of the shared memory block must be updated to indicate that the operation is complete. Since there are usually multiple processors using a queue, this requires some forms of data locking of the queue states to ensure that the access to the queue states and the access to the queue element are atomic and consistent. Data locking, and particularly contention over the lock state memory locations, is often a performance-limiting operation in multi-processor systems. In particular, if there are both multiple producers and multiple consumers of queue data, the performance implications can be severe.

Programmable queue structures for multiprocessors


A spread spectrum clock generator for generating a spread spectrum clock signal is provided. The spread spectrum clock generator includes a phase-locked loop system and a random walk modulator. The random walk modulator generates a modulating signal according to a random walk model. Then, the phase-locked loop system generates a clock signal with spread spectrum in response to the modulating signal. A method for generating the spread spectrum clock signal using the spread spectrum clock generator is also provided.

Nowadays, a reliable clock generator is essential for every digital circuit to achieve precise timing of events. Such a clock generator is usually implemented by a phase-locked loop (PLL) in highly integrated circuits. For high speed data transmission application, the required clock frequency becomes higher than ever. However, high frequency signal suffers from serious electromagnetic interference (EMI). The electric field strength substantially increases at a center frequency, and this phenomenon may interrupt, obstruct, or degrade the performance of the circuit itself and other circuits. In addition, unpredictable impacts on human health may occur.
Therefore, to solve the aforementioned electromagnetic interference problems, a new clock generator which generates clock signals with reducing electromagnetic interference is needed.

Spread spectrum clock generator and method for generating spread spectrum clock signal


A belt drive comprises a first pulley and at least one additional pulley and uses an elastic belt that is engagable over the pulleys. An auxiliary unit, connected to the first pulley, has a detent. A tensioning link comprises an open-ended slot for receiving in a slidable manner the detent. In an operating position of the belt drive the detent is locatable at a closed end of the open-ended slot and to obtain a belt changing position the detent is movable along the open-ended slot towards an open end of the open-ended slot. Movement of the detent along the open-ended slot requires simultaneous rotation of the auxiliary unit.

A belt drive may be used to transfer rotary motion from a first element to a second element. For example, a belt drive may transfer rotary motion of a first pulley to a second pulley. The first pulley may be driven to rotate by an external driver, for example an internal combustion engine. The second pulley may be driven to rotate by frictional engagement of a belt that extends around the first pulley and the second pulley.
In some examples of belt drive a third pulley is provided and the belt extends around the first pulley, the second pulley and the third pulley. The belt may be a Multi-V-belt which takes is name from the shape adopted by the belt at each pulley.
For the belt drive to function correctly the belt must be tensioned correctly around the pulleys. If the belt is too loose then slippage will occur between the belt and the pulleys. If the belt is too tight then the useful life of the belt and or the bearings of the belt drive may be reduced.
Obtaining the correct tension of the belt may be achieved by choosing a specific length for the belt that matches a known geometry of the pulleys and their relative spacing. However, mounting of the belt may require the use of specialised assembly tooling or the use of multi-part pulleys that can be partially dissembled to allow the belt to be passed over the rims of the pulleys. Where the belt is an elastic belt it may be possible to stretch the belt sufficiently for it to pass over the rims of the pulleys. However, stretching of an elastic belt in this way may overstretch and damage the belt. It may also be difficult to reliably obtain the correct tension in the belt once it has been stretched over the rims of the pulleys.
DE 10 2004 006 577 A1 discloses a belt drive for an alternator of an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle. An elastic belt connects the internal combustion engine and the alternator drivingly to one another. At least one component of the alternator to which the elastic belt is applied is mounted with a changeable position. The component of changeable position permits the belt to be laid loosely over all the components of the belt drive to which it is applied and subsequently, by means of a change of position of the aforementioned component, to bring about a tensioning of the elastic belt in an operationally ready state. The alternator is rotatably mounted and provided with a stud bolt that passes through a parabolic slot in a slotted link member. The elastic belt is tensioned by rotating the alternator to move the stud bolt along the parabolic slot. A nut associated with the stud bolt is then tightened to lastingly ensure the operating position of the alternator.
While the arrangement of DE 10 2004 006 577 A1 may permit tensioning of an elastic belt without the need for specialised assembly tooling or use of multi-part pulleys it still has disadvantages, First, the arrangement requires the use of a nut associated with the stud bolt to lastingly ensure the operating position of the alternator. Secondly, the arrangement does not ensure that a pre-defined tension in the elastic belt is obtained since the stud bolt can be fixedly located at a plurality of locations along the parabolic slot.
US2016/091064 discloses an assembly comprising: a fixed support such as an engine block, a plurality of pulleys mounted rotatably on the support a belt mounted on said pulleys a tensioner comprising: a plate a rotary element mounted on the plate via a rotating shaft fixed relative to said plate, the tensioner being capable of turning relative to the support, in a predefined direction of rotation, between an idle position in which the rotary element is separated from the belt and an operating position in which the rotary element is in contact with the belt, it being specified that, in the operating position, the belt exerts a force on the rotary element, the direction of said force tending to rotate the tensioner in said same predefined direction of rotation; at least one stop for preventing the tensioner from rotating in the predefined direction of rotation beyond the operating position of same, the latter thus being defined by the stop; wherein in order to rotate the tensioner relative to the support between the idle position and the operating position of the tensioner, the assembly comprises: at least one closed port arranged on the plate of the tensioner or on the support at least one means for engaging with the or each closed port, said engaging means being fixed relative to the support when the closed port is located on the plate or fixed relative to the plate when the closed port is located on the support.
While the arrangement of US2016/091064 may permit the tensioning of a belt, it requires a relatively complicated tensioner comprising at least a plate, a rotary element and a rotating shaft. This is in part due to the arrangement being configured for use with an assembly where the plurality of pulleys are at fixed locations on the support. Consequently, the rotary element is configured in the operating position to contact the belt and rotate with the belt. In addition, the arrangement requires use of a specialised assembly tool for engaging with an orifice in the plate to facilitate the assembly of the tensioner. Further, the requirement for use of the closed port and its respective means for engaging may result in a relatively complicated assembly procedure of the tensioner to the engine block.


An adaptable wheel assembly, comprises an integral wheel and a cover member removably attached to the wheel. A disk portion of the wheel is formed without decorative openings therethrough and has an angularly uniform outer surface. The disk portion of the wheel has first threaded holes provided adjacent a rim portion of the wheel, while a hub portion thereof includes at least one second threaded hole provided adjacent a pilot bore of the wheel. The cover member has a plurality of first holes aligned with the first threaded holes and at least one second hole aligned with the at least one second threaded hole. First threaded fasteners extend through the first holes to engage the first threaded holes, while at least one second threaded fastener extends through the at least one second hole to engage the at least one second threaded hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to custom wheel and more particularly to an adaptable custom wheel assembly that may be altered and updated by affixing a cover member to a blank wheel body.
2. Background of the Invention
Automobiles have become the primary means of transportation for many people in this day and age. In addition to providing transportation, automobiles have also become a visible symbol of what type of person someone is. Some wealthy people perceive expensive automobiles as a status symbol, while a rugged individualist will often drive a sport-utility type vehicle. Other people like to express themselves by painting their automobiles bold colors, or by decorating their automobiles with a variety of custom, personalized items.
As a result of the high number of people who customize their automobiles, a large market has been created which caters exclusively to after-market automobile products. With new technology in metal production, one of the most popular items used to customize or up-grade an automobile is the wheel.
The appearance of an automobile with these custom wheels, when compared to an automobile with standard wheels, or even hubcaps, is substantially noticeable. For people who want the ultimate in high-quality and luxury, chrome-plated versions of standard alloy wheels are the wheels of choice, many luxury cars come either with chrome-plated wheels standard, or as an option. However, many have to purchase the custom wheels from an aftermarket company. Regardless of how a person may acquire chrome-plated wheels they can often be very expensive. Additionally, purchasers of these expensive custom wheels must choose a single style and look or later purchase a second set of custom wheels.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a conventional one-piece wheel 1 that includes an annular rim portion 2 concentric to a central axis 3 of the wheel 1, a hub portion 4 adapted to being fastened to a vehicle hub (not shown) through a pilot bore 5 concentric with the central axis 3 by a plurality of threaded lug fasteners (not shown), and a disk portion 6 extending radially inwardly from the rim portion 2 to the hub portion 4. Lug holes 7 are provided in the hub portion 4 around the pilot bore 5 of the wheel 1 at a certain bolt circle diameter for receiving the threaded lug fasteners, such as lug bolts or lug studs, therethrough. Typically, the annular rim portion 2 has a small ridge that holds a tire bead on the rim during a tire blow-out or flat. There is also provided a standard aperture for the known valve stem (not shown). The disk portion 6 typically includes a plurality of decoration holes 8 formed therethrough.
It is known to provide conventional wheels (e.g., custom alloy wheels) with a stylized spider section and a center cap (not shown) at the pilot bore 5 to cover the pilot bore 5 with an ornamental appearance or a company unique logo. The conventional center cap is affixed to the wheel via a snap-fit or friction-fit arrangement.
It is known to provide conventional wheels with snap-on wheel covers (known also as hub caps). Many types of wheel covers have been used to provide attractive designs and the currently popular types of wheels. For example, considerable effort has been made to simulate a cast aluminum rim by the use of a shielding disc with a cover that has individual sections such as spokes. Many other wheel covers have the capability of displaying indicia and designs that include symmetrical design arrays as well as decorative designs using irregular shaped voids. However, these conventional wheel covers are typically not durable enough to withstand the rigors of everyday use and lack the superior quality of true custom wheel.
The need exists for a system that provides custom wheels that may be altered and updated without the need to purchase an entirely new set of wheels.


Method and apparatus for automatically adjusting a parameter used in the display of a Doppler spectral image comprises acquiring a plurality of spectral lines of Doppler data. A subset of Doppler data is determined from the plurality of spectral lines of Doppler data. A noise characteristic of the subset of Doppler data is calculated, and a signal characteristic of the subset of Doppler data is identified. The noise and signal characteristics are compared, and a system parameter is adjusted based on a result of the comparing step.

This invention relates generally to ultrasonic diagnostic systems which measure the velocity of blood flow using spectral Doppler techniques, and in particular, to automatically adjusting spectral Doppler gain to provide an optimal display for an operator.
Ultrasonic scanners for detecting blood flow based on the Doppler effect are well known. An ultrasonic transducer array transmits ultrasonic waves into an object and receives backscattered ultrasonic echoes. In the measurement of blood flow characteristics, returning ultrasonic waves are compared to a frequency reference to determine the frequency shift imparted to the returning waves by flowing scatterers, such as blood cells. This frequency shift translates into the velocity of the blood flow.
Typical clinical Doppler exams can be time-consuming and involve adjustment of a variety of control keys and switches for setting and adjusting scanning parameters such as sample volume size or sampling gate, flow direction, cursor angle, velocity limits or pulse repetition frequency (PRF), baseline shift and invert, auto max/mean velocity trace, and system gain. Some automation is available, such as for detecting the noise background and signal intensity within the waveform, and for eliminating aliasing by automatically adjusting the PRF. However, there remains a need for automating other Doppler adjustments in order to improve both the speed and reliability of the Doppler exam.
The pulsed or continuous wave (CW) Doppler waveform is computed and displayed in real-time as a spectrum or spectral image of Doppler frequency (or velocity) versus time with the gray-scale intensity (or color) modulated by the spectral power. Each spectral line represents an instantaneous measurement of blood flow within the sampling gate. The data in each spectral line comprises a plurality of frequency bins for different frequency intervals and the signal strength (power) associated with each frequency bin is displayed in a corresponding pixel location on the display. All of the spectral lines taken together form a spectrogram or spectrum.
Each vertical line in the spectrum corresponds to a Doppler frequency spectrum at a given time instant. Positive Doppler frequencies correspond to flow towards the transducer, and negative frequencies correspond to flow away from the transducer, as referenced by a baseline at frequency equal to zero.
Typically, the operator has to adjust system parameters, such as the gain, to adjust the spectrum which is displayed. For example, the signal component of the spectrum may be small and thus difficult to distinguish from the noise component. Alternatively, the signal component may be very high, causing the monitor to saturate and not display the full range of data. In both cases, the system needs to be adjusted manually by the operator. This can be time consuming and can lead to error and/or difficulty in diagnosis if the system parameters are not set properly.
Therefore, a need exists for automatically adjusting system parameters of the ultrasound system during spectral Doppler imaging so that the flow signal and noise background are displayed at optimal brightness levels. Certain embodiments of the present invention are intended to meet these needs and other objectives that will become apparent from the description and drawings set forth below.

Method and apparatus for automatically adjusting spectral doppler gain


A MOSFET device with a substrate covered with dielectric material with the device including a plurality of buried conductors capacitively coupled to a polysilicon electrode, made by the steps comprising. forming between regions containing MOSFET devices a region with a plurality of bit lines in the substrate by ion implantation through the gate oxide into the substrate in a predetermined pattern and, PA1 forming a polysilicon electrode on the dielectric material crossing over the bit lines.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to MOSFET semiconductor devices and more particularly to capacitive structures therein.
2. Description of Related Art
The "neuron" MOSFET (neuMOS or nu(Greek symbol) MOS) (so named because it is considered to be analogous in function to a biological neuron) with double polysilicon utilized as coupling capacitor has the problem of polysilicon stringers which are unwanted fragments of polysilicon which can cause shorting between lines. One way of removing stringers is by overetching, but this causes a problem of a narrowing of the oxide layer which can cause short circuiting through the interpolysilicon oxide layer between the polysilicon 1 layer and the polysilicon 2 layer.
FIGS. 6A-6C show a prior art device.
FIG. 6A is a plan view with input gate lines C1, C2, C3 and C4, a V.sub.SS line, a V.sub.DD line, and a floating gate FG.
FIG. 6B is a section taken along line X-X' in FIG. 6A through floating gate FG. The substrate includes a P-silicon substrate with an N region separated by FOX regions and with a floating gate overlying the N region, the FOX regions and the P-sub. The input gate lines C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3 and C.sub.4 are located above the floating gate FG, separated by dielectric D. In the dielectric D in FIGS. 6A and 6B are stringers S, about the periphery of V.sub.SS line, a V.sub.DD line, and a floating gate FG.
The circuit of the device of FIGS. 6A and 6B is shown in FIG. 6C with conductors C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3 . . . C.sub.n connected to voltage sources V.sub.1, V.sub.2, V.sub.3 . . . V.sub.n, floating gate FG and the transistors below connected to V.sub.SS and V.sub.DD.
See Shibata et al "Functional MOS Transistor Featuring Gate-Level Weighted Sum and Threshold Operations", IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 39, No. 6, p 1444-1455 (June, 1992) which has the stringer problems described above, although they are not described there.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,934 of Tzeng shows a different thickness depending upon where the ion implantation has been applied or is absent from the silicon surface with argon, boron, antimony, arsenic, or any group III or IV dopant applied for enhancing the rate of oxidation in silicon which has been damaged by the process of implantation of such dopants. The variable thickness is employed for providing a two tiered tunnel oxide upon which a floating gate and control gate are formed across the two tiers for the purpose of as stated at Col. 7, lines 11-12 "reducing drain disturbance in EEPROM arrays . . . " It also states at Col. 2, lines 52-54 "it is also desired to thicken the gate oxide near the drain region to reduce drain disturbance phenomena . . . "
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,184 Chiang et al shows a thin film varactor structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,267 of Sano et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,000 of Yamada et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,191 of Rokos; U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,320 of Aso; U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,071 of Hutter et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,941 of Schade show processes for making capacitors. However, these processes fail to form a CMOS neuron device.


A computer system for controlling a nonlinear physical process. The computer system comprises a linear controller and a neural network. The linear controller receives a command signal for control of the nonlinear physical process and a measured output signal from the output of the nonlinear physical process. The linear controller generates a control signal based on the command signal, a measured output signal, and a fixed linear model for the process. The neural network receives the control signal from the linear controller and the measured output signal from the output of the nonlinear physical process. The neural network uses the measured output signal to modify the connection weights of the neural network. The neural network also generates a modified control signal supplied to the linear controller to iterate a fixed point solution for the modified control signal used to control the nonlinear physical process.

Many control or pattern recognition computer systems are created by designing a function to model a selected set of data or statistics. From the modeled set of data, the computer system may control, estimate, correct or identify output data based on the modeled function. Many methods exist for creating functions that model data. Recently, neural networks have been employed to identify or create functional models for various types of systems.
A neural network consists of simple interconnected processing elements. The basic operation of each processing element is the transformation of its input signals to a useful output signal. Each interconnection transmits signals from one element to another element, with a relative effect on the output signal that depends on the weight for the particular interconnection. A neural network may be trained by providing known input values and output values to the network, which causes the interconnection weights to be changed until the desired system is modeled to a specified degree of accuracy or as precisely as reasonably possible.
With statistics software or neural network software, input-output relationships during a training phase are identified or learned, and the learned input-output relationships are applied during a performance phase. For example, during the training phase a neural network adjusts connection weights until known target output values are produced from known input values. During the performance phase, the neural network uses connection weights identified during the training phase to impute unknown output values from known input values. The neural network accuracy depends on data predictability and network structure that is chosen by the system designer, for example, the number of layers and the number of processing elements in each layer.
Because the reliability of a function modeled by a neural network depends on the reliability of data that is used to model a system, large quantities of data are often required to produce a model that satisfies the desired specifications. However, it can be difficult to collect data that represents all possible outcomes of a given system and, thus, a model of the system is created based on a training subset of data from the system from which predictions or corrections can be made. Because system functions based on the model may originate from data that was not contained in the initial training set, the potential for error within the system is increased with respect to the non-modeled input data.
It is desirable to have a system that can adapt and learn to make predictions or corrections based on non modeled input data after the model has been put into action. This adaptive learning may be termed on-line learning. Due to the time that it takes to train a neural network, the use of neural networks have been limited to providing models for predictive systems when the inputs and outputs are known, such as a neural network used in predicting or recognizing a pattern based on selected inputs for which the system was trained. This type of system is not sufficient for producing accurate results in a control system environment where the model has not been trained for all possible outcomes or where nonlinearities or sudden changes may be introduced to the system under control. This is particularly true for the control of processes described by nonlinear differential equations of motion. It is well known by practitioners in the art that certain systems are difficult to control, such as systems in which the defining equations of motion for the process to be controlled are poorly known with respect to their functional forms, or in which the functional forms themselves may undergo sudden and unexpected variation, particularly when the effect of the control action enters nonlinearly. Thus, in nonlinear systems, neural networks trained off-line will not produce results that minimize the error of the control system based on data received on-line.
Because of the limitations in existing methods for training neural networks, and the general lack of a proof of stability in control applications in which the control enters nonlinearly, a technique which provides rapid on-line learning, and that insures stability for real time applications is highly desirable. Such a technique would have applicability in the field of flight control of either manned or unmanned aerial vehicles. For such applications, the dynamics are highly nonlinear and can undergo variations due to transitions in flight conditions, initiation of highly dynamic maneuvers involving large state excursions from trim flight conditions, or due to failures in actuators or due to damage to the airframe.
A number of airframes for modern aircraft, particularly high speed military fighter aircraft, are inherently unstable, and require sophisticated control electronics to translate pilot control inputs into appropriate signals to actuate control devices. Problems in the design of such control systems arise from the fact that very complex nonlinear relationships describe the physical behavior of the aircraft. The relations vary in a complex way with aircraft speed, altitude, and angle of attack. The control system is, in many respects, only as good as the model of the nonlinear physical system upon which the controller is based. Therefore, any system that can adaptively learn to correct for defects in the modeling process can provide improved stability in aircraft control systems.
Such a system is usable not only in the control of high speed military aircraft, but also for the control of other aircraft, such as helicopters. In particular, the system of the present invention is contemplated as useful in both control of high speed unstable aircraft and useful in the control of remotely controlled unmanned helicopter vehicles.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an adaptive control system that insures both the capability for real-time, on-line learning and stability of the controlled process and that has an architecture that enables adaptation to processes in which the effect of the control action on the dynamics of the system is nonlinear.

System and method for adaptive control of uncertain nonlinear processes


A phase shifter and related load device are provided. The phase shifter includes a phase shifter core and load devices. The phase shifter core has an input port for receiving an input signal, an output port for outputting an output signal, and connection ports. The load devices are coupled to the connection ports, respectively. At least one of the load devices includes first varactor units each having a first node and a second node, where first nodes of the first varactor units are coupled to a first voltage, second nodes of the first varactor units are respectively coupled to a plurality of second voltages, and the second voltages include at least two voltages different from each other. The phase shifter and related load device are capable of mitigating effects resulted from varactor's non-linear C-V curve.

Phase shifters are common components employed in a variety of wireless communication applications. For example, a phased-array receiver requires phase shifters to achieve desired beamforming. Particularly, a phase shifter is one of the key components for non-light of sight (NLOS) applications. Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram illustrating a conventional reflection-type phase shifter. The conventional reflection-type phase shifter 100 includes a quadrature coupler 102 and a plurality of load devices 104A and 104B. As shown in FIG. 1, the quadrature coupler 102 includes an input port denoted by P1, a through port denoted by P2, a coupled port denoted by P3, and an isolated port (output port) denoted by P4. The quadrature coupler 102 is also called 90 degree hybrid coupler used for dividing an input signal S_IN into two signals 90 degrees out of phase.
The load devices 104A and 104B are implemented to serve as reflection loads, respectively. Each of the conventional load devices 104A and 104B includes a transmission line L, a bypass capacitor Cbypass, and a plurality of varactors C1. The signals respectively reflected from the load devices 104A and 104B are combined at the isolated port (output port) P4, resulting in an output signal S_OUT induced at the isolated port (output port) P4. The conventionalreflection-type phase shifter 100 can be used to provide any desired phase shift through properly tuning the capacitive values (capacitance values) of the varactors C1 implemented in the load devices 104A and 104B. In other words, the conventional phase shifter 100 employs the varactors C1 to provide phase tuning functionality for steering the signal beam angle.
However, the phase tuning curve of the phase shifter 100 is non-linear due to the varactor's non-linear C-V curve, as shown in FIG. 2. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the capacitance value C is increased/decreased non-linearly when the control voltage V applied to the varactor is increased/decreased. Specifically, when the control voltage V is within a specific range, the slope of the C-V curve is sharp, implying that a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for setting the control voltage V of the varactor is generally required to have high resolution to properly set a desired capacitance value to the varactor. A digital compensation scheme is therefore proposed to apply pre-distortion to the incoming digital control value, thereby making the overall phase tuning curve become more linear, if the pre-distortion characteristic of the digital control value is taken into consideration.
Linearizing the phase-tuning curve of the phase shifter 100 can simplify the actual implementation of the digital compensation scheme, and save the digital-block area (e.g., a lookup table) accordingly. Besides, as the DAC conversion noise is severe when the control voltage of the varactor is within the aforementioned specific range, where the slope of the C-V curve is sharp, linearizing the C-V curve to reduce the slope can effective reduce the DAC conversion noise passed to the following signal processing stage(s).
Therefore, an innovative and efficient means to linearize the non-linear characteristic of an application device (e.g., the non-linear phase-tuning curve of the phase shifter) caused by the varactor's non-linear C-V curve is highly demanded.

Phase shifter and and related load device

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and system for confidentially accessing and reporting information present on global computer networks. The present invention deterministically analyzes a set of network resources over a configurable monitoring period, thereby guaranteeing that recently published information is retrieved. The present invention includes a scalable software system that can be readily executed on a stand-alone computing system or distributed across a network of computing devices. At the end of each monitoring period, the present invention balances the traversal and searching of network resources across the computing devices in the distributed system according to the previous number of pages retrieved for each network resources, thereby more accurately balancing the system.

The Internet has experienced exponential growth and the number of interconnected computers is quickly approaching one billion worldwide. As such, the Internet provides unprecedented access to massive volumes of information and resources. An entity resource, such as a company, organization, periodical, etc., presents information to the Internet by uploading the information to a server that is connected to one of the interconnected networks and has a registered Internet Protocol (IP) address. Often, an entity organizes its information on the server as a hierarchy of pages composed with hypertext markup language (HTML). Along with general information, each page may contain links to other informative items including graphics, documents or even links to other web sites. Users can easily access an entity's information using a graphical software program referred to as a browser. Because the Internet is essentially a vast web of interconnected computers, databases, systems and networks, an entity's information is often referred to as its "website". For this reason, the Internet and its interconnected web sites is often referred to as the World Wide Web. Finding relevant information on the Internet, including the millions of websites and the billions of individual web pages, is a difficult task that has been inadequately addressed.
Many companies have developed search engines in an attempt to ease the location and retrieval of information from the Internet. Examples of current search systems include the AltaVista™ search engine developed by Digital Equipment Corp., Lycos™, Infoseek™, Excite™ and Yahoo™. Most conventional search systems consist of two components. First, a data gathering component, known as a webcrawler or robot, systematically traverses the Internet and retrieves information from various websites. Often, the webcrawler moves from website to website traversing every link found. As the individual websites are accessed, each page of information is retrieved, analyzed and stored for subsequent searching and retrieval. After retrieving and examining each page of a website, the webcrawler moves on to another site on the Internet. While the webcrawler is traversing various websites and retrieving the pages of information, the webcrawler indexes the information presented by each page and stores a link to each page and the corresponding index information in a repository such as a database.
The second component of conventional search systems is the search engine. The search engine provides an interface for selecting the links stored in the repository in order to identify web pages with desired content. For example, the above mentioned search engines allow a user to enter various search criteria. The search engine probes the stored index information generated by the webcrawler according to the search criteria. The search controller presents to the user any stored links having corresponding index information that satisfies the entered search criteria. The user is able to view the actual page located on the original website by following the link to the actual website.

Method and system for gathering information resident on global computer networks


In a flyback transformer, an insulating cover is interposed between a main body casing and a focusing pack casing. A through-hole is formed through a ceramic resistor accommodated in the focusing pack casing. A fixing hole is formed through the insulating cover in a coaxial relationship with the through-hole. A slider is fixed on a rotatable knob for a variable resistor, which is supported on the focusing pack casing. One of two tongues of the slider is maintained in contact under pressure with a variable resistor of the ceramic resistor, and the other tongue is arranged coaxially with the fixing hole and is maintained in contact under pressure with a wire-shaped output terminal. The terminal is press-fitted in the fixing hole. Another flyback transformer is also disclosed, which comprises a cylindrical holder portion. An exposed portion of a conductor of a voltage output lead wire is formed in an L-shaped bent portion which is press-fitted in the holder portion, whereby the L-shaped bent portion is resiliently held at a basal portion thereof. A conductive rubber is connected to an output terminal. A free end portion of the conductor extends out from the holder portion into the conductive rubber.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a flyback transformer for applying focusing voltages and, if necessary, screen voltages to a cathode-ray tube such as a television receiver or a color display.
b) Description of Related Art
First Conventional Art
A flyback transformer which is employed in a television receiver, color display or the like generates high voltages of from 20 to 30 kV, and supplies high d.c. voltages to the anode of a cathode-ray tube and at the same time, also supplies focusing voltages of from 5 to 10 kV and screen voltages of from 100 to 1,000 V.
FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram, which shows the manner of connection of a flyback transformer, a cathode-ray tube, high-voltage coils, etc. The flyback transformer 1 is composed of a low-voltage coil 2, the high-voltage coils 3, diodes 4, and so on. The cathode-ray tube 5 is connected to electrodes 6,6',6" at an output part of the flyback transformer 1. These electrodes 6',6" are output electrodes for voltages obtained as a result of division of each input voltage by a resistor assembled in the flyback transformer 1.
This resistor is composed in combination of fixed resistors 7a,7c,7e and variable resistors 7b,7d. In general, these resistors are collectively called a "focusing pack". Numeral 8 indicates film capacitors, while numeral 9 designates a fixed resistor.
FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional flyback transformer, in which those parts of the flyback transformer which are the same as corresponding parts in FIG. 26 are indicated by the same reference numerals. A low-voltage coil 2, high-voltage coils 3 with diodes 4 mounted thereon, an insulating material 10, and the like are accommodated in a plastic-made main body casing 11 of the flyback transformer 1. Accommodated in a focusing pack casing 17 are a ceramic resistor 13 with metal terminals 12a-12d soldered thereon, conductive rubbers 14a-14d connected to the metal terminals 12a-12d, a rotatable knob 15 for variable resistors, and sliders 16. An insulating cover 18 is fitted in the focusing pack casing 17 to make up a focusing pack. When each rotatable knob 15 for the corresponding variable resistor is pressed in a direction C (in a leftward direction as viewed in the figure), external force is directly applied to the ceramic resistor 13.
FIG. 28 is a pattern diagram of the ceramic resistor 13. The ceramic resistor 13 has been formed by printing and baking a resistive layer 20 on a ceramic substrate 19. FIG. 28 illustrates fixed resistor portions 7a',7c',7e', variable resistor portions 7b',7d', and electrodes 21a-21d. The electrode 21a is a high-voltage input electrode for the resistor 13, the electrodes 21b,21c are output electrodes for focusing and screen voltages, and the electrode 21d is a ground electrode.
As is illustrated in FIG. 29, one of two tongues of each slider 16, i.e., a tongue 16a slides on the corresponding variable resistor portion 7b' or 7d' (the resistor 20) in such a state that the tongue 16a is always maintained in contact under pressure with corresponding variable resistor portion, while the other tongue 16b is always located on and maintained in contact under pressure with a corresponding movable shaft 22 or 22', whereby focusing and screen voltages are outputted. To assure the avoidance of a discharge irrespective of the position of the slider 16, distances A',A' are left out between the resistor patterns.
Second Conventional Art
FIG. 30 is a plan view of a focusing pack in another conventional flyback transformer, while FIG. 31 is a plan view of the flyback transformer formed by integrally combining the focusing pack with a flyback transformer main body. These figures show coverings 100 for focusing voltage output lead wires, a covering 101 for a screen voltage output lead wire, connections 102 formed by winding conductors of the lead wires around corresponding terminals of the focusing pack and soldering them together, a focusing pack casing 103, and a fixed resistor 104.
In this conventional flyback transformer, the focusing voltage output lead wires and screen voltage output lead wire are connected to the corresponding terminals of the focusing pack by winding the conductors of the lead wires around the corresponding terminals and soldering them together.
As has been described above in connection with the first conventional art, a ceramic resistor is accompanied by a problem in that upon proceeding with a dimensional reduction of a flyback transformer, the size of the ceramic resistor cannot be reduced because sufficient creep distances must be left out between individual resistor patterns.
Further, the flyback transformer according to the first conventional art has the construction that, when external force is applied to any one of the rotatable knobs for the corresponding variable resistors in the axial direction of the rotatable knob, the external force is directly applied to the ceramic resistor. This construction therefore involves a potential risk that the ceramic substrate may be broken.
As has been described above with respect to the second conventional art, the conductor of each lead wire is wound around and soldered on its corresponding terminal of the focusing pack. The flyback transformer according to the second conventional art is therefore accompanied by drawbacks in that automated mounting is hardly applicable, easy connection is not feasible, and the efficiency of assembling work is poor.


A merchandiser and a method of controlling a game thereof are disclosed. The merchandiser includes prize cartridges that have transparent partitions among which prizes are contained, drive parts that move the respective prize cartridges, a gaming device that executes a game provided for each of identification numbers of the prize cartridges, and a controller that controls the drive part so that the prize of the prize cartridge is dropped to a prize discharge part according to a result of playing the game. Thereby, since a designated prize can be acquired according to the result of playing a game, an interest in the game can be increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a merchandiser, and more particularly, to a merchandiser that is installed, for instance, in an amusement park arcade. The merchandiser allows people to play a game associated with a desired prize, and discharges the corresponding prize according to a result of playing the game. A method of controlling a game thereof is also described.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In general, merchandisers designed to augment a sense of fulfillment or entertainment, in addition to the purpose of playing a game in a game room or arcade, has recently become popular, and a heavy investment has been made in the development of merchandisers.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional merchandiser that is disclosed in Korean Registered Utility Model No. 20-0245379 (Titled "Prize Discharge Actuator") and provides a prize according to a result of a game. The merchandiser includes a belt frame 3 installed in the front of a body a, a belt 2 formed in the belt frame, prize hanging grooves 1 formed on the belt 2, a control unit b, and a speed reduction unit c installed in the rear of the body a. The merchandiser further includes a driving gear 4 driving the belt 2, a switch 5 stopping the discharge of a prize, and an operation control board 6 installed in the control unit b. Further, a reduction gear is installed in the speed reduction unit c and is connected to a motor 7.
FIG. 2 shows another conventional merchandiser. Prizes are hanging on a screw-shaped prize hanging assembly with strings for exhibition. A motor rotates the screw-shaped prize hanging assembly, and the prizes exhibited on the prize hanging assembly are moved forward in a rotating direction and are discharged by free fall at an end of the prize hanging assembly.
These merchandisers are developed in various well-known structures such as an inertial structure or in a rotation push-structure that are frequently used in vending machines.
These structures have problems in that they are considerably complicated, require a great deal of production costs, and are bulky. Particularly, since the machines are complicated, the exhibited prizes are slightly exposed, and an exhibition effect cannot be expected. There is additionally a problem in that an exhibition part is separately installed.
Further, when the motor is merely driven, the prize is not stopped at an accurate position and is inconsistently pushed. When the prize is hanging at a short distance, it may be prematurely discharged.
When the prizes are hung, they cannot be uniformly hung, which leads to slight inconveniences.

Merchandiser and method of controlling game thereof


A specific material for organic electroluminescence device having m-phenylene skeleton in its molecule realizes a highly heat-resistant and long lifetime organic electroluminescence device capable of driving at low voltage with high efficiency.

In recent years, many studies have been actively made on an organic thin-film light emitting device that emits light upon recombination of electrons injected from a cathode and holes injected from an anode in an organic light emitting body interposed between both the electrodes. The light emitting device has been attracting attention because the device is thin and emits light with high luminance under a low driving voltage, and multi-color emission can be obtained by selecting light emitting materials.
Since an organic thin-film light emitting device with high luminance emission has been reported by C. W. Tang of Kodak, many studies have been made by research facilities. The typical organic thin-film light emitting device reported by a Kodak research group is successively constructed by an ITO glass substrate, a hole transporting layer including an diamine compound, a light emitting layer including tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum(III), and a Mg:Ag cathode and emits green light with a luminance of 1,000 cd/m2 at a driving voltage of about 10 V (Non-Patent Document 1).
Many researches have been made on the applications of the organic thin-film light emitting device to display, etc. because of its possibility of a wide selection of emission colors by using various emitting materials in the light emitting layer. Particularly, the research on the materials which emit three primary red, green, blue colors has been made most actively, and the intensive research has been made to improve their properties.
One of the most important problems in the organic thin-film light emitting device is to achieve both high emission efficiency and low driving voltage. Patent Document 1 reports that a highly efficient light-emitting device is obtained by forming a light emitting layer wherein a several percent of a dopant material is doped to a host material. The host material is required to have a high carrier mobility and a uniform film-forming property, and the dopant material is required to have a high fluorescent quantum yield and a uniform dispersibility.
A fluorescent (emission from singlet state) material has been generally used as the dopant material. To improve the emission efficiency, the use of a phosphorescent (emission from triplet state) material has been studied, and a Princeton University group has demonstrated that the phosphorescent material drastically improved the emission efficiency as compared with the known fluorescent material (Non-Patent Document 2). As the phosphorescent dopant material, metal complexes having a central metal, such as iridium, osmium, rhodium, palladium and platinum, have been disclosed (Patent Documents 2 to 4). As the host material to be combinedly used with the phosphorescent dopant material, carbazole derivatives, aromatic amine derivatives, quinolinol metal complexes, etc. have been disclosed (Patent Documents 2 to 6). However, a device achieving both a sufficient emission efficiency and a low driving voltage is not obtained by the known host material.
The host material, the hole transporting material, and the electron transporting material existing around the phosphorescent dopant in an phosphorescent organic electroluminescence device are required to have a high triplet excited energy, i.e., have a wide gap capable of energetically confining the excitons of emitting dopant for achieving a high internal quantum efficiency; a high carrier injection and transport ability for achieving a high power conversion efficiency to allow a driving at low voltage; and a high chemical and heat stability for achieving a long lifetime. The device performance may be optimized by optimizing the chemical structure of material. If the performance (mainly carrier balance) can be simply controlled by modifying the chemical structure of material, the study on the material can be significantly facilitated.
However, the material for organic electroluminescence device, such as the host material, the hole transporting material and the electron transporting material, which meets the above requirements is not yet reported.
Patent Documents 7 to 9 disclose compounds having a carbazole ring, etc. at the terminal end.

Compound, material for organic electroluminescence device, and organic electroluminescence device