Within the field of advertising, multi-touch attribution (MTA) is the process of assigning credit at a unique identifier level to marketing activities for their contribution towards driving a desired marketing result. This invention discloses a data-driven attribution solution and optimization process for improving marketing return on investment by enabling greater speed and agility in responding to continually changing media performance. Specifically, this invention details a survival analysis based approach to attribution using parametric accelerated failure time (AFT) modeling which accommodates both the right-censored discrete time events and is well suited for media data.

Statistically driven multi-touch attribution models make it possible to understand how all media channels work together, so that it is possible to correctly attribute and strategically amplify the impact of all brand interactions, and then tactically optimize investments based on that knowledge to drive greater marketing return on investment. This invention discloses a specific approach to attribution modeling and assigning fractional credit for conversion events across media channels as well as a constrained optimization approach for acting optimally based on the fractional credits produced by the model.

Method and system for parametric survival analysis based multi-touch attribution in advertising


The present disclosure relates to an iterative method for estimating covariance matrices of communication signals comprising a) computing a reference symbol covariance matrix estimate (k,l); b) inputting said reference symbol covariance matrix estimate (k,l) to a detector or a decoder in a first iteration, and thereafter inputting the covariance matrix estimate output from e) to the detector or the decoder in subsequent iterations to obtain an updated demodulated or decoded communication signal for each iteration; c) inputting the demodulated or decoded communication signal to a symbol generator; d) computing an updated data covariance matrix estimate (k,l) for each iteration based on data symbols of said regenerated communication signal; e) combining said reference symbol covariance matrix estimate (k,l) and said updated data covariance matrix estimate (k,l); and f) forwarding said covariance matrix estimate output to the detector or decoder in b) to obtain the updated demodulated or decoded communication signal for each iteration.

In a multi-cell scenario, a network user (e.g. a UE in the 3GPP LTE system) will not only receive signal from a serving cell, but will also receive interfering signals from the other cells of the communication system. 3GPP proposes a frequency reuse factor of 1 in LTE systems which means that interference will generally be high. In the downlink, a UE will suffer from interference signals from neighboring e-NodeB(s). In the uplink, an e-NodeB will suffer from interference signals from other UEs in neighboring cells which are assigned to the same frequency radio resources. FIG. 1 illustrates the downlink interference and uplink interference in such a communication system.
The downlink/uplink interference, as illustrated in FIG. 1, will degrade the receiver performance. To achieve optimal receiver performance joint detection of the designated signal and the interference signals can be performed. However, such joint detection is usually not feasible since necessary information for decoding the interference signals with joint decoding usually is unavailable, such as rank indicator (RI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), modulation and coding scheme (MCS), radio resource allocation, etc. The lack of necessary information also makes detection and cancellation of the interference signals very difficult.
By measuring/estimating the statistics of the interferences the impact of the interference can significantly be mitigated. For example, it is well known that Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) receivers utilizing the estimated covariance matrix of the interference plus noise can significantly improve the throughput (TPUT) performance. Such MMSE receivers are e.g. called MMSE IRC (Interference Rejection Combining) receivers. The covariance matrix can also be used in other types of receivers. For example, in maximum likelihood (ML) or quasi-ML receivers, this covariance matrix is used for pre-whitening the interference plus noise.
In general, the better the statistics of the interferences can be measured/estimated, the better receiver performance can be achieved.
Several non-iterative methods for estimating the covariance matrix of interference plus noise are known in the art. However, the performance of such non-iterative methods is not satisfactory.
Another approach is to use iterative methods for estimating the covariance of the interference. For example, based on the log likelihood ratios (LLRs) output from either a turbo decoder or a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) detector, the transmitted signals from the serving cell can be regenerated, which are usually called soft-symbols. These symbols can be subtracted from the received signals for estimating the covariance matrix of the interference plus noise as,(k,l)=(y(k,l)−(k,l)(k,l))(y(k,l)−(k,l)(k,l))H,
where (k,l) is the regenerated soft symbols, and (k,l) is the covariance matrix estimate based on the data for a single data resource element (RE). However, since the (k,l) is very noisy most methods will average the above covariance matrix samples to get better estimation quality.

Method for estimating covariance matrices and use thereof


An improved safe deposit assembly including an outer housing, a removable inner container, and one or more lock devices which may be in signal communication with a time-delay device for securing valuables within. To unlock and remove the inner container from the outer housing, a separate cover is slid in to a slot on the outer housing. The cover locks a lock before releasing a latch, and neither the lock or latch are accessible until the container is removed from the housing. But a first lock must be unlocked before the cover may be slid in. The first lock may be in signal communication with a time delay to device to thwart robbery attempts. As the cover is slid in it first becomes trapped by a spring lock on the inner container and then it releases a second spring bolt lock that both seals the inner container and releases it from the outer housing. The sealed inner container may only be opened by unlocking the lock device. This may be used in conjunction with a safe enclosure and/or a cash drawer with a selectively openable bottom portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a safe deposit box for valuables including cash, and, more specifically, to such a safe deposit box including an inner security box that is selectively removable from an outer housing and that remains secure from intrusion until unlocked.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known to provide security boxes for protection of cash received in various environments including retail point of sale, vending and gaming machines, casino operations, and motels. The security boxes receive and hold cash, and then can be carried to a remote location where authorized personnel open the box and remove the cash. To prevent tampering and theft the boxes are sealed upon removal from their stationary cash-receiving positions.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,330 to McKay et al., assigned to Sigma Game, Inc. shows a currency security box that may be employed in gaming machines, bill changers and other machines. An inner box that receives currency may be removed from its housing only after a four-sided, generally open box-shaped cover has been slid over the inner box, sealing access to the cash. The box-shaped cover includes a lock which must be opened to gain access to the money. The intent of the design is to allow the inner box to be transported to authorized persons who have means to unlock the cover, for removing the cash. However, since the lock mechanism for the inner box is easily accessible from the outside before it is removed from it's housing, a thief may use force to break the lock or other more sophisticated means to defeat the lock while it is still combined with its housing. This is a problem because a security box is typically unguarded while in its housing, on the other hand, armed guards may accompany delivery of such boxes to a safe location.
In addition, it is disadvantageous that the mechanism for releasing the inner box is simply the leading edge of the cover that pushes on latches coupling the inner box to the housing. Such a mechanism may be easily defeated by a moderately sophisticated thief, who simply has to wedge a thin object between the housing wall and the nearest inner box wall to release the latch, analogous to the way that simple latch type locks on doors can be opened by wedging a credit card between the door frame and the lock latch to trip the latch. Once the box is removed without the cover its contents are freely available.
Another security box is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,736 to Roccoberton et al., and it is for operation in conjunction with a currency stacker and validation apparatus. The security box includes an open top currency receptacle having a slide-way for receiving a cover adjacent the opening. Further disclosed are means for locking the cover over the receptacle. The disclosed device is designed to work with a compatible currency validation apparatus such as a Mars Electronic Model or a Dixie Narco Upstack Acceptor. To remove the lid, a service person slides a lid through a slot and over an opening on the security box. The lid includes a strike plate for tripping a latch on the housing to release the box. The box may be removed once the latch is tripped, but the lid is retained over the box's open top, preventing access to the cash by service personnel. Unfortunately, the disclosed release mechanism has a similar shortcoming as described above with reference to the McKay patent. First of all, the lock is readily accessible when the device is in operation so that a thief may use force to defeat it. Also the slideway is open so that the release mechanism may be easily tripped by inserting something thin enough to fit through the respective openings which has a strike plate to trip the latch. Once the latch is tripped the security box may be removed. The cash in the removed uncovered security box is freely available to anyone, including thieves.
Each of the above-discussed security boxes are vulnerable to more sophisticated thieves or robbers who might devise counterfeit box covers or lids that can easily and quickly be slid into place. Such counterfeits may be designed to be intentionally weak or have open portions providing access to cash. In fact such an arrangement might be particularly popular with an armed robber because it would allow him an opportunity to rebuff an attempt to place covers or lids offsite so that attendants would not be able to release the security boxes. Of course if the intended cover is available to the attendants, they may be forced to release the box and robbers may simply take the locked box in hopes of breaking into it later. To the owner of the goods, there is little satisfaction in knowing that the box may present a formidable challenge to open once it and its valuables are stolen. Thus, it is a disadvantage of known security boxes, including the ones described above, that they can be quickly stolen.
One solution proposed is simply placing a security box inside of a combination safe, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,036 to Fee et al. However, once the safe is opened the box is readily available. Not providing the combination at the site is effective for preventing theft, but if knowledge of the combination is so restricted that normal management is unduly burdened, then the inconvenience may seriously weaken the benefit. For example, it is common at retail operations to count cash for each cashier and compare this to some accounting record for accurate accounting and to prevent short changes, etc. Thus, it would be an advantage to prevent quick theft without unduly burdening cash management activities.
Other security boxes in the prior art include one described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,977 to Gilovich et al. that includes a self-locking depository container. Feed means drive currency or an envelope containing valuable documents into a portable depositor. The Gilovich device includes a sliding door which is moved into an open position by insertion of the portable depository. The Gilovich device includes many moving parts which may make it uneconomical in terms of manufacturing and maintenance and repairs.
There are other security devices known that work with cash handling apparatus, such as currency validators including U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,746 to Ishigure, which discloses a device which opens and closes a cash container. A shutter opens only when the removable cash box is attached to a cash handling apparatus. Other such devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,605 to Mays et al. and 5,209,335 to Shuren et al., that provide general background for prior art security boxes that work with currency stacker devices and include means for automatic cover closure when the security box is removed. However, all three are considerably complex, and therefor economically disadvantageous, and none overcome the exposures to thieves and robbers discussed above in reference to the McKay and Roccoberton devices.
Additionally the art is relatively devoid of solutions for safekeeping of valuables other than cash. Most are designed to cooperate with currency validators, and while there is a need for such boxes, it would be an advantage to provide a simple security box that could work with a currency validator, but could also receive cash directly from a cash drawer, or receive other valuables, including, for example, jewelry or valuable papers. It would further be an advancement in the art to provide a simple low cost security box that could work as described above and which was not vulnerable to being easily stolen by thieves or quickly stolen by robbers.


A device for separating liquids from gases with a multiplicity of channels with inlets at an inlet plane, linear segments extending from the inlet plane to helical segments and linear outlet segments extending away from the helical segments. The channels are of uniform cross section across their entire length and in a plane perpendicular to the inlet plane for an undulating profile in projection and an undulating profile in projection in a plane perpendicular to both these latter planes and the inlet plane. The projections of the channel in these planes perpendicular to the inlet plane are offset in phase. The result is a true three-dimensional deflection of the fluid traversing each channel.

Devices of this type that provide droplet separation already exist. The flow channels in this device demonstrate a more or less weak deflection in the inlet area followed by a stronger deflection in the mid section, capable of inducing separation. This is followed by an outlet section, in which a further deflection aligns the flow of the gaseous outlet from the separator parallel to the flow of the inlet gases.
Many types of separator use this basic concept, and each of them has its own emphasis. For example, the separator patented in DE 39 01 656 C2 has zigzag channel walls to improve the primary separation. In the same way, the separator patented in DE 34 06 425 A1 has a droplet acceleration section, which raises the inlet velocity of the two-phase mixture, thereby raising the centrifugal force in the deflection. The shape of the separator patented in DE 42 14 094 C1 is such that the angle of impact of separated droplets on the separator wall is as large as possible, thus lowering the separator's tendency to reflux. There are also separators with drainage grooves that divert the all film into special zones to increase the drainage capacity and re-entrainment velocity.
The above mentioned types of separator--hereafter referred to as conventional separators--have one characteristic in common, and this is that their flow channels only provide deflection in the x, z plane. These types of separator provide no flow deflection along the y axis. Another characteristic that these separators have in common is that the most effective deflection angle in their flow channels is around 90.degree.+/-10.degree.. With these types of separator designs, this angle represents a sensible compromise between good primary separation, which is known to increase with an increasing angle of deflection, and the drainage requirements of the flow channels. As the deflection angle increases and the walls of the flow channels become more perpendicular to the direction of the gravitational force, drainage becomes more difficult. This is because the sloping force, which is the drainage driving force, becomes increasingly weaker.

Device for separating liquid droplets from a gaseous flow and/or for material and heat exchange


Various user interfaces and other technologies for interacting with devices that support multiple SIM cards can be implemented. For example, SIM-separated and SIM-aggregated user interface paradigms can be supported. Intelligent selection of an appropriate paradigm can support user preferences, conversation user interfaces, and the like. Other features such as SIM card defaults can help users deal with multiple SIM card scenarios. A consistent, compact user interface for switching SIM cards can be supported. Users can interact with their devices more efficiently and with less frustration. A wide variety of use scenarios are supported.

Mobile phones that accommodate multiple subscriber identity module (SIM) cards are becoming widespread. However, the user interfaces for such phones leave much to be desired. For example, some user interfaces were originally developed for a single SIM card and incorporate multiple SIM functionality as an afterthought. Others simply fail to easily incorporate various scenarios for multiple SIM cards. Also, different approaches by different developers has led to a fracturing of approaches and user interface paradigms. Users therefore often face complicated user interfaces and complex decision making processes when communicating via their device.
So, users currently deal with an environment where poor user interfaces can cause accidental communication on the wrong line. Such accidents can result in additional billing charges, exposing a personal phone number to a business associate, breach of company policy by using a work line for a personal call, or the like.
Because users can face frustration and inefficiencies when operating their multiple SIM devices, there remains room for improvement.

Intelligent user interfaces for multiple SIM cards


There is provided a transfer sheet for provision of a pattern on a three-dimensional object, comprising: an olefinic thermoplastic elastomer film as a substrate film; and at least a pattern layer as a transfer layer provided on the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer sheet for use in the preparation of a three-dimensional object with a pattern transferred on the surface thereof.
2. Background Art
In transferring a pattern on the surface of a three-dimensional object, such as an injection molded article of a resin or a wooden shaped object, a vinyl chloride resin film capable of being formed into a three-dimensional shape has hitherto been extensively used as a substrate for a transfer sheet. Transfer sheets of this type are disclosed in, for example, (1) Japanese Patent Publication No. 69759/1994, (2) Japanese Patent Publication No. 29518/1995, and (3) Japanese Patent Publication No. 100398/1995. The transfer sheet (1) comprises a pattern layer, formed of a releasable cellulosic ink or the like, directly provided on a substrate. The transfer sheets (2) and (3) have the same construction as the transfer sheet (1), except that the pattern layer directly provided on the substrate in the case of the transfer sheet (2) and the release layer directly provided on the substrate in the case of the transfer sheet (3) are formed of one member selected from polyvinylbutyral, a cellulose acetate propionate resin and a chlorinated polypropylene resin.
In the transfer sheet (1), however, printing for directly providing the pattern layer on the substrate causes a solvent to attack the vinyl chloride resin film as the substrate, posing a problem of unstable releasability of the substrate. In the transfer sheet (2), a plasticizer contained in the vinyl chloride resin film as the substrate bleeds out, here again posing a problem of unstable releasability of the substrate. In the transfer sheet (3), resins usable in the release layer are disadvantageously limited to specific resins, that is, polyvinyl butyral, a cellulose acetate propionate resin, and a chlorinated polypropylene resin.
Thus, in decorating the surface of a three-dimensional object, the vinyl chloride resin film has good formability but is not always satisfactory as the substrate of the transfer sheet.
In order to overcome this problem, for example, (4) Japanese Patent Publication No. 110550/1995 discloses transfer sheets using as the substrate, besides the vinyl chloride film, other plastic films, such as polystyrene resin, acrylonitrile resin, and ABS resin films. In the transfer sheet (4), however, an anchor layer should be provided on the substrate in order to improve the adhesion of the plastic film to other layer(s). Therefore, the construction of the transfer sheet is inevitably such that a release layer, a pattern layer and the like are provided on the anchor layer. The presence of the anchor layer and the release layer narrows a suitable temperature range for thermoforming of the transfer sheet.
Accordingly, the present inventor has made tests and studies on a transfer sheet using a polyethylene film or a polypropylene film as the substrate film with a view to developing a transfer sheet not using the vinyl chloride resin film substrate and not requiring the provision of any auxiliary layer such as an anchor layer, the substrate film having suitable releasability and formability to a shape conforming to the shape of the object. The transfer sheet using the polyethylene or polypropylene film is effective also as an alternative to the transfer sheet using the vinyl chloride resin film which evolves hydrochloric acid gas upon incineration. The transfer sheet using the polyethylene or polypropylene substrate film raises problems including that the polyethylene or polypropylene film has high crystallinity and rapidly softens at the melting point, narrowing the range of acceptable forming conditions, and, in addition, when stretched by heat at the time of forming, creates partial whitening due to necking, causing the elongation of the whitened portion to be rendered larger than that of the other portion, that is, the elongation to become uneven.

Transfer sheet for provision of pattern on three-dimensional object and transfer method using the same


A rocking chair provides abdominal exercise by user actuation of pivotal armrest handles that are configured to provide a crunch type exercise motion. The arrangement of internal pivot frames is such that armrest handle actuation shifts the user's center of mass both vertically and longitudinally, which in turn initiates a natural rocking motion by gravity. The inertial dynamics of the resulting motion are inherently kinesthetically pleasurable. The resistance is provided by the user's own body weight with variation through differential leverage. Alternatively, the configuration of the armrest handles is such that a user may benefit from an isometric exercise by simply holding them stationary in a conventional armrest position.

Present research in exercise physiology demonstrates the value for sedentary people in low intensity exercise undertaken for long periods of time. To this end, there is now an increase in work time at stand-up desks, and personal electronic fitness tracking devices now record cumulative hours spent walking and standing to meet motivational goals. A broad objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a comfortable means for individuals to benefit from low intensity exercise, and to provide this benefit in a way that is easily integrated into their existing lifestyles to facilitate long duration use.
Abdominal core strength is a fitness capability that is important for maintenance of mobility and prevention of back injury. A particular objective of the present objective is therefore to provide abdominal exercise while sitting, which may be combined with other long duration activities such as watching television, reading an e-book with automatic page turning, or working at a computer with voice activated commands.
In the prior art, a popular abdominal exerciser suitable for home or office use is a sit-up device such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,987 to D. Brown and U.S. Pat. No. 7,074,165 to K. Hodge et al. However, use of this type of device requires laying on a floor, which cannot be performed concurrently with other long duration activities. Other popular abdominal exercise products such as the Tony Little Ab Lounge Xtreme are effective but too intense for long duration use and are also incompatible with other user activities.
The present invention is a low elevation rocking chair that an individual may be comfortable sitting in whether or not its exercise function is used. Fitness rocking chairs in the prior art include a rocking glider disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 524,279 to J. Kottmann and U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,671 to W. McKinney and R. Barnes, but these are leg actuated, so do not engage the upper body muscles of a crunch type motion. Other non-rocking exercise chairs include U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,558 to D. Moon, U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,923 to W. Cameron et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,098 to A. Reitz et al., but these do not benefit from the inherent satisfaction of a natural rocking rhythm.
In the present invention, the armrests of the chair are configured to pivot in a way that provides a crunch type exercise motion. The resistance is provided by the user's own body weight with variation through differential leverage. A particular advantage is that armrest handle actuation also shifts the user's center of mass longitudinally, which in turn initiates a natural rocking motion by gravity. Because the seat height is low enough, this motion may also be opposed by negative leg resistance. The inertial dynamics of the resulting motion are inherently kinesthetically pleasurable. Alternatively, the configuration of the armrest handles is such that a user may benefit from an isometric exercise by simply holding them stationary in a conventional armrest position.


Apparatus for gathering a frontal facial image of an individual observing a display area includes a light-conductive waveguide, transferring the image from a first light-redirecting region to a second light-redirecting region to output the image. The element is supported at least partially in front of the display, such that the input region overlies the display area, and all portions of the element overlying the display area, including the input region, are sufficiently transparent so as not to substantially interfere with the individual's observation of the display. In a preferred embodiment, at least the input region is a holographically derived optical grating, and the element is a transparent panel constructed of glass and/or plastic. In use in a communications system, the invention would preferably further include an optoelectronic image sensor disposed to receive the image from the output region, enabling the image to be transferred, for example, to a display at a remote location, which may also incorporate the invention to facilitate two-way eye-contact communications.

In video communication systems of the type wherein an operator observes a display while being imaging by a video camera, a problem persists because the display and the camera cannot be in the same optical path. FIG. 1 illustrates the problem. An operator 102 wishes to view a display 104, creating an optical path required for an eye-contact view of the observer along line 106. At the same time, a camera 108 may be used to gather an image of the operator 102, utilizing a field of view 110. However, since the camera 108 cannot be located along path 106 without interfering with the display, the image taken of the operator 102 is typically that of an individual not looking at the camera, i.e., with his or her eyes looking slightly downwardly (or upwardly, depending upon the placement of the camera). Although a cathode-ray tube (CRT) type of display is depicted in broken-line form in FIG. 1, this problem is not limited to the use of the CRT display, but manifests itself with any type of display, including flat-panel types such as liquid-crystal displays, since the problem arises from the inability to realize a display/camera co-residency, regardless of technology.
As shown in FIG. 2, there exists one known attempt to solve this problem. In this case, a beamsplitter 202 is supported in the optical path between an operator 204 and a display apparatus 206. With this configuration, a camera 208 may be placed substantially off axis from the line of eye contact 210, including perpendicular to the line 210, as shown. With the beamsplitter 202 being positioned to substantially transmit the scene on display 206 to the operator 204 while reflecting the image of the operator 204 into the camera 208, a situation results wherein the camera 208 may effectively, at least optically, image along the line of eye-contact 210, resulting in a transmitted image of the operator 204 which is frontal, thereby facilitating eye contact.
However, serious problems exist with the use of the beamsplitter arrangement shown in FIG. 2, including the fact that beamsplitters are inefficient and bulky. The efficiency may result in the operator 204 observing a vestigial image of the camera 208, and the bulkiness precludes this arrangement from being used in compact configurations, which are becoming increasingly popular for video teleconferencing, video telephones, and so forth. The need remains, therefore, for apparatus and methods which will enable an operator viewing a display to be frontally viewed in a compact and efficient manner, thereby facilitating eye-contact in a variety of communications and conferencing-type systems.

Apparatus facilitating eye-contact video communications


Systems and methods for recommending and implementing network documents for users to offer items in a marketplace may be provided. A system can obtain user data that includes an item offered by a user in a first electronic marketplace. For example, the system can identify and catalog items offered by a particular user. The system can identify a second electronic marketplace for the user to offer the item. The system can determine implementation information for the second electronic marketplace. The system can generate a network document for the at least one item that is configured to be presented in the second electronic marketplace based at least in part on the implementation information.

Businesses and entrepreneurial minded people are typically seeking ways to display their products or services to new customers in order to garner more revenue and goodwill. Current network technology allows for these entities to reach a customer base beyond their brick and mortar store by offering, for example, items for sale via public networks (e.g., the Internet). However, despite the many advantages that selling products online has granted to business entities, there exist some implementation concerns. With the ever expanding reach of the Internet, it can be difficult for business entities to obtain or even process the information required to reach new customer bases that are made available by network technology. A lack of knowledge about emerging markets and various barriers to entering a market once identified can result in businesses refraining from attempting to reach a new customer base. Business that are unable or choose not reach new customer bases not only miss opportunities to grow their business through new revenue sources but can deprive customers from the benefits of access to different vendors.

System, manufacture, and method for auto listing creation for marketplaces


When a detection device (20) detects a TP operation (touch panel operation) with respect to an electronic apparatus (100), a display device (1) advances (accelerates) timing of a scanning period which is after and nearest to detection of the TP operation so that the timing of the scanning period comes earlier than conventional timing (a) which is predetermined for a case where the TP operation is not detected in the non-scanning period, that is, the timing of the scanning period is set to timing (b).

Recently, a larger number of electronic apparatuses such as mobile phones, smart phones, and laptop personal computers have come to mount thin, light-weighted and low-power consuming display devices typified by liquid crystal display devices.
Furthermore, it is expected that electronic paper, which is a thinner display device, will rapidly be developed and prevail in the future. Under such circumstances, nowadays, reduction of power consumption is getting to be an object common to various display devices.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for driving a display device having a low power consumption mode intended for reducing power consumption. In the low power consumption mode, there is provided a pause period which is a non-scanning period longer than a scanning period for scanning a screen once and in which all the scanning signal lines are set in a non-scanning state, thereby realizing low power consumption.

Display device, electronic apparatus, method for controlling display device, and method for controlling electronic apparatus


A bifilar helical antenna includes an output/input unit formed by disposing a hybrid on a substrate, wherein the surface of the substrate is coated with a metallic conductive layer; the hybrid is a microstrip-line pattern formed by the conductive layer, and it further comprises a ring part and a plurality of transmission ports; and an antenna unit including a shell and an impedance transformer, wherein the shell is a cylindrical hollow tube disposed on the substrate of the output/input unit, on which a first helical line and a parallel second helical line are wound and both the bottom ends of the helical lines are electrically connected together through a resistor; the impedance transformer is composed of a first transmission line and a parallel second transmission line, where both the top ends of the first and the second transmission line are electrically connected to the top end of the first and the second helical line, and both the bottom ends of the first and the second transmission line are electrically connected to different transmission ports of the hybrid, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of a bifilar helical antenna.
2. The Prior Arts
For wireless telecommunication, a bifilar helical antenna may generate a back-fire radiation suppose it is configured having a helix radius of 0.1 wavelength and a pitch angle of 10 degrees approximately, according to Nakano and Pattern. Such a back-fire beam of the bifilar helical antenna will be further split under the conditions of a helix radius of 0.1 wavelength and a pitch angle of 40 degrees according to Pattern's experiments, while the back-fire beam is circularly polarized under the conditions of a small radius and a pitch angle of 68 degrees approximately according to Nakano, in which the main beam will be moved laterally as the frequency goes higher.
Since a bifilar helical antenna resembles a single-arm helix antenna in structure, therefore, the phase difference between one arm and the next is almost constant when actuating a K-arm helix antenna, and the results of its analysis are about the same with an infinite-arm helix antenna. Based on this conclusion, a traveling-wave pattern multi-arm helix antenna can be designed by means of the same theory applied to a single-arm helix antenna.
In practical use, the frequency band of GPS is allocated at 1,575.42±1.023 MHz and 1,227.6±1.023 MHz, while that of the GLONASS is allocated at 1,598.0625 to 1,615.5 MHz and 1,242.9 to 1,256.5 MHz. For receiving satellite's signals, a receiver antenna must be an antenna having omni-directional field pattern and RHCP (Right-handed circular polarization) with respect to all possible coverage range of satellite, in which the wider the beam width of the antenna is extended, the more the number of satellite is covered.
Due to the criteria specified for minimizing volume and circular polarization, multi-channel, phase center, and antenna position are key factors to be considered when designing an antenna. The multi-channel interference is the main source of errors in GPS applications, and such interference due to low elevation angle can be minimized by using a large ground plane or introducing a null point in the field pattern of antenna at a low elevation angle. Nevertheless, as the RHCP signals coming from a GPS satellite will be changed into LHCP signals after being reflected by a ground surface or another object, it is possible for an antenna having a good axial ratio to receive the RHCP signals coming from a GPS satellite directly and receive negligible LHCP signals in case the reflected signals fall in the main beam of the GPS satellite.
Moreover, with regard to a bifilar helical antenna of U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,727, detailed instructions are required for mounting some collapsible components thereof, in which the quality of assembling and parameter trimming are extremely important to the antenna performance. Another dual-band helical antenna of U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,844 adopts multiple feed networks that results in a complicated manufacture process and an increased breakdown rate.
Besides, since the helix antenna possesses intrinsically broadband characteristics, it is necessary to take the bandwidth of input impedance of a feed network into account in the design of such antenna, so that the input impedance can be kept as almost a constant without affecting the antenna performance in the operation band. However, the operation mechanism of feed network mentioned in literature looks somewhat more complicated to increase the difficulties of fabrication process.
In addition to the feed network, a contingent design is required at a terminal of the helix antenna for the reason that a forward radiation can be generated by the reflection current to thereby affect the front-to-back ratio of the antenna field pattern. Documents have suggested some solutions, such as decreasing the reflection current by loading a resistor or improving the front-to-back ratio by providing a horn opening, in which, through the design of horn opening, the bandwidth of input impedance can also be widened in addition to the improvements of the front-to-back ratio. However, its operation mechanism is rather complicated and hence its fabrication process is more difficult, and that is the reason why the present invention is presented.


In a method for processing a baking pan, the baking pan is placed in a solution including: water, N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone, Ethoxylate of nonylphenol, Monoethanolamine, Triethanolamine and Potassium hydroxide. The solution is heated to a temperature in a predefined temperature range. The baking pan is removed from the solution after a predefined period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to deglazing and decarbonizing bakery pans and, more specifically, to a method and solution for deglazing and decarbonizing bakery pans at low temperatures using a water-based solution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A large-scale bakery typically bakes thousands of loaves of bread each day. Each loaf is typically baked in a baking pan that gives the loaf its shape. A baking pan is typically coated with a pan release coating, such as a silicone polymer, prior to the dough that becomes a loaf of bread being put in the baking pan. The baking pan and the dough are then put into an oven, which bakes the loaf for a predetermined amount of time at a predetermined temperature. After baking, the loaf is removed from the baking pan. Once the loaf is removed, the baking pan is cleaned and then reused. Some baking pans may be used to bake several different loaves per day.
After the baking pans have been through a number of baking cycles the release coating will diminish in effectiveness and the baking pans will be cycled through a reglazing process. The reglazing process entails the removal of the worn release coating and any carbonized soils on the baking pan and the application of a new glaze coating. In some cases a decarbonizing step is under taken prior to the removal of the worn glaze in an overnight dissolution process.
The current state of the art for accomplishing the removal of the worn glaze is to submerge a number of pans in an organic solution, which may include diethylene glycol and hexylene glycol supplemented with a small amount of potassium hydroxide, which is heated to about 200° F. for a period of from 1 to 2 hours. A separate decarbonizing step is used if the baking pans have a substantial carbon build-up. The baking pans are then removed, rinsed and washed in a spray cabinet, dried and recoated with a solvent based solution of the silicone polymer.
The high temperature associated with deglazing and decarbonizing results in high energy costs for a large-scale commercial bakery. Also, the use of organic solvents requires special handling and disposal.
Therefore, there is a need for a deglazing and decarbonizing system for bakery pans that deglazes and decarbonizes in a single step.
There is also a need for a deglazing and decarbonizing system for bakery pans that employs an aqueous solvent.
There is also a need for a deglazing and decarbonizing system for bakery pans that deglazes and decarbonizes at a relatively low temperature.

Method and solution for bakery pan deglazing and decarbonizing


A rotor having an axial direction includes at least a pair of rotor cores arranged in the axial direction, and a field magnet located between the rotor cores and magnetized in the axial direction. Each of the rotor cores includes a plurality of claw poles extending in the axial direction. Each of the rotor cores includes a magnetic flux controlling section, which appropriately causes a magnetic flux to flow to the claw poles.

The present invention relates to a rotor and a motor.
Conventionally, a rotor of a Lundell type structure has been known, which is of a permanent magnetic field system. See Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 5-43749, for example. The rotor includes a plurality of pairs of (e.g., two pairs of) magnetic pole plates and permanent magnets, each sandwiched between a pair of the magnetic pole plates. Each pair of magnetic pole plates includes a disk portion and a plurality of flange portions arranged in the circumferential direction of the rotor, and each pair of magnetic pole plates are combined with each other. Adjacent flange portions of the permanent magnet have different magnetic poles. The magnetic pole plates of each pair are arranged such that the disk portions of the same polarities are in contact with each other. In the case of two pairs of magnetic pole plates for example, two disk portions corresponding to north poles are located on both ends of the rotor in its axial direction, and two disk portions corresponding to south poles are located adjacent to each other in the axial direction.
A motor including the above described rotor is desired for improved performance (e.g., increased power). However, the magnetic flux density of the flange portion is affected by the position of the magnetic pole plate. Hence, the rotor is required to reduce variation in magnetic flux density.


A seal arrangement comprises an expandable inner tubular and an outer tubular. The inner tubular comprises an axially extending lip seal. Expansion of the inner tubular serves to energise the lip seal, a free end of which will be urged into contact with the outer tubular.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a seal arrangement, and in particular to a seal arrangement for provision on an expandable tubular. The invention has particular utility in downhole applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been numerous proposals, by the applicant and others, for arrangements for providing a seal between tubulars, where the diameter of an inner tubular is increased to bring the outer surface of the tubular into contact with the inner surface of a surrounding outer tubular. The seal may take the form of a metal-to-metal seal, or may utilise elastomer seal rings or bands of relatively soft metal.
It is among the objectives of embodiments of the present invention to provide a seal of this type, which is effective at high pressures and high temperatures.


An interchangeable jewelry insert having an extension formed of elastic material that can frictionally engage a surface of a receptacle for receiving the insert. The interchangeable jewelry insert may be detachably attached to any item that can be configured to have a receptacle for receiving the insert. The extension of the interchangeable jewelry insert is sized for convenience of handling and storage. The use of an elastically deformable extension extending, at two or more points having sufficient angular separation, from the periphery of the body of an insert allows for a secure fit within the receptacle, while maintaining a convenient connection system that can be manipulated by manual forces of a jewelry wearer.

Jewelry has been with humanity since the beginning as people have always felt the need to adorn themselves for a variety of reasons including a sense of individuality, beauty and simply as a means of attracting attention. Jewelry is a multi billion dollar worldwide business.
The ability to interchange, personalize and accessorize has always been a facet of the jewelry industry. It is an innate human desire to transform an item from an object one has purchased to an object that resonates with the owners personality, clothing or current moods. In modern times many different people have brought forward ideas to aid people in accomplishing this. Some of the recent ideas that are in the current market place are Italian Charm Link Bracelets and interchangeable bead bracelets. However, these items are complicated for the wearer to modify. The Italian Charm Link Bracelet, in particular, typically requires the use of a tool to force openings in the bracelet to insert or extract an interchangeable charm.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,487 (Morgan), U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,948 (Kudo), U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,067 (Efron), U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,658 (Weller), U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,470 (Isaacson), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,359 (Takessian) all disclose jewelry items with interchangeable inserts. Each of these jewelry items requires manipulation of moving or moveable parts in order to change and secure an insert. As such the act of insertion is time consuming for the jewelry wearer. Furthermore, moving parts are susceptible to break down.
Accordingly, there is a need for an interchangeable jewelry insert that can be conveniently attached to or detached from a jewelry item.

Interchangeable jewellery insert and item for receiving the insert


A disc locking device, comprising: a base, a brake clamping block, a support mechanism, a front baffle, a limiting cover plate, a needle roller slide plate and a brake triggering mechanism, and so on. The base includes a bottom plate and two side vertical plates which are integrally arranged on the bottom plate; the two side vertical plates are oppositely arranged, and the inner walls thereof are all lateral slope surfaces, so that a wedge-shaped groove having a large front opening and a small rear opening is formed between the two laterally-vertical plates; and mounting holes penetratingly connected to the brake triggering mechanism are formed on the side vertical plates. The support mechanism includes a front support mechanism and a rear support mechanism.

The applicant has previously applied a disc locking device patent (publication number CN105480890A), the disc locking device includes two frames oppositely disposed, and between the two frames is formed a gap for clamping the wheel disc, each of the frame is provided with a brake clamping block, clamping surfaces of the brake clamping blocks in the two frames are oppositely disposed, the clamping surface of the brake clamping block is provided with a friction plate; the two brake clamping blocks constitutes a combined wedge-shaped body, and the two frames constitutes a combined wedge-shaped groove for clamping the combined wedge-shaped body; a tension spring is arranged on the frame, the tension spring is connected to the brake clamping block in the frame so as to pull the brake clamping block so that its back is attached to the inner edge of the frame. The disc locking device is small in size and is easy to install on the brake wheel disc of various existing hoisting device, and depending on the wedge-shaped structure can perform emergency braking on the large torque wheel disc.
However, such a disc locking device has certain deficiencies in use, such as occasional deformation of the device during braking with a large torque, which may result in the brake disc cannot being locked, and if the brake disc is eccentrically rotated, so that the reliability of the disc locking device can be reduced due to the fact that false braking can occur.

Shijiazhuang Nuron Brake Technology Co. Ltd.


Illustrated and described are a method and a device for the simultaneous cleaning of a plurality of pipe conduits or pipe conduit systems, particularly in each case having different pipe cross sections, wherein the cleaning takes place with a liquid cleaning medium, which is taken from a reservoir by a feed pump and fed to the systems to be cleaned. The invention makes provision for the cleaning medium stream to be fed to the first system to be cleaned and after leaving the first system to be cleaned, as cleaning medium stream, to be divided into two component streams, one component stream of which is used for cleaning the second or further system and the other component stream is again fed to the reservoir. In addition the second or further system to be cleaned is assigned a feed pump, whose speed and direction of rotation are variable for determining or regulating the cleaning method.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the simultaneous cleaning of a plurality of pipe conduits or pipe conduit systems, particularly in each case having different pipe cross sections, wherein the cleaning takes place with a liquid cleaning medium, which is taken from a reservoir by means of a feed pump and fed to the systems to be cleaned, as well as to a device for carrying out such a method.
2. Description of Related Art
In this case use is made of the well-known method of "CIP", that is to say "Cleaning in Place". CIP for cleaning pipe systems has long been the prior art for several decades for cleaning food-filling equipment for example. Although food-filling equipment or filling machines for short are mentioned below, the present invention is not to be limited, in any way, to just these machines, so that any pipe conduits or pipe conduit systems can be cleaned with the method according to the invention.
It is characteristic in this case for various cleaning media from a decentralized supply unit (in brief: CIP equipment) to be mixed, maintained at the right temperature and kept at the ready, in order whenever there is a cleaning requirement to transport the required medium by means of a pump and a pipe conduit system to the system to be cleaned.
Early CIP equipment supplied the cleaning media (temperature and concentration) on demand for the system to be cleaned in a fixed sequence and duration, which was determined by a program stored in the CIP equipment.
The cleaning medium during the cleaning process was pumped through the system to be cleaned, then, however, drained into the sewers. This method is called "lost" cleaning, since the cleaning medium is not recycled.
In order to achieve environmentally friendly and economic production processes, so-called CIP re-circulation cleaning with "stacking" of cleaning solutions was developed, wherein the cleaning media (usually caustic and/or acid solutions) were returned to the CIP via pipes and re-used there for as long a time as the cleaning strength was sufficient.
The well-known methods of the CIP equipment, however, could be improved:                The flow-rate (mechanics) of the cleaning solution supplied depends on the capacity of the CIP pump, the dimension of the supply pipe and the conduit length between CIP equipment and filling machine. Therefore in practice flow-rates of between 10 and 15 m3/h are used.        This flow-mechanics factor greatly affects the cleaning result, therefore the quantity supplied is often too little, depending on the tank sizes and pipe cross sections used in filling machines, and a satisfactory cleaning result is only achieved by means of a long cleaning period, since the flow-rate (and therefore the cleaning efficiency) is greatly reduced in the case of large diameters.        Often rotating balls are used in tanks, which are designed to exert extra mechanical cleaning force on the tank surfaces. This solution, however, carries aseptic risks and cannot be used in the case of so-called reverse cleaning (reversal of the direction of flow during cleaning), since there is a danger that lumpy products will not be completely removed.        In principle only one filling system can be cleaned via a pipe system at the same time, unless two filling machines undergo the same cleaning steps simultaneously. However, if two filling systems are designed for different products (here water and products with lumps), there is the danger that lumps from the other filling system ingress the filling system, which is dimensioned (smaller) for water and clog this up.        Also, in the case of the larger dimensioned filling system higher flow-rates are needed than is the case for the water filling system, in order to achieve a similar cleaning result in the same period.        Therefore, up to now it has been necessary, when these two different filling systems are used, to connect two separate CIP pipes to two separate pumps in order to be able to clean the systems commensurate with the product at the same time.

Method and device for the simultaneous cleaning of a plurality of pipe conduits or pipe conduit systems


The present disclosure discloses a method for operating an expansion of a measuring transducer of process automation technology, comprising at least the steps: Starting the measuring transducer by starting its operating software; connecting the extension to the measuring transducer; establishing data communication between extension and measuring transducer, wherein the extension and the measuring transducer form an asymmetric cryptosystem; and the extension interacts with the measuring transducer.

Generally speaking, a measuring transducer is a device that converts an input variable into an output variable according to a fixed relationship. In process automation technology, a sensor is, for example, connected to a measuring transducer. The raw measured values of the sensor are processed in the measuring transducer, e.g., averaged or converted by means of a calibration model to another variable—for example, the process variable to be determined—and possibly transmitted—to a control system, for example.
Generally, a cable for connection to the sensor is connected to the measuring transducer. The measuring transducer is in this case a separate device with a separate housing and various interfaces. Alternatively, the measuring transducer can be integrated, e.g., in the form of a circuit—possibly as a microcontroller or something similar—into a cable or directly into a plug connection (see below).
The connection of the cable to the sensor is frequently accomplished via a plug connection, e.g., by galvanically decoupled—especially, inductive—interfaces. Thus, electrical signals can be transmitted contactlessly. Advantages with regard to corrosion protection, electrical isolation, prevention of mechanical wear of the plug, etc., are shown by this galvanic isolation. The applicant markets such systems under the name, "Memosens."
The most varied sensors can be connected to the measuring transducer. Under the aforementioned name, "Memosens," the applicant markets sensors for measuring pH value, conductivity, oxygen, turbidity, and other things.
The field device connected to the measuring transducer, i.e., the sensor, for example, is parameterized, and other settings are changed via the measuring transducer. For this purpose, the measuring transducer has a display and possibilities for making entries, e.g., via buttons, switches, touch display or via external devices that are connected to the measuring transducer via a wireless or wired interface (such as USB, serial or parallel interface, RS-232, Bluetooth, etc.).
Generally, "authenticity" means authenticity in the sense of "found as original". For the purposes of this application, authenticity means "are the data actually coming from the <<correct>>sender?" Applied to the aforementioned measuring transducer, the question is: Is the connected sensor really the sensor that it says it is?
In general, "integrity" means the correctness (integrity) of data and the correct functioning of systems. Applied to the aforementioned measuring transducer, the question is: Were the data received by the measuring transducer unaltered, and are they therefore identical to the data which were sent by the sender (here: the sensor)?

Method and system for operating an extension on a measuring transducer of process automation technology


In an AV-data transfer system, AV data stored in a RAID embedded in an AV server is supplied to a client personal computer connected to a network such as the Internet or an intranet by way of the network, and AV data output by the client personal computer is transmitted to the AV server through the network to be stored in the RAID. The AV server makes accesses to the RAID to write and read out data into and from the RAID. In addition to the AV server, the AV-data transfer system also includes another personal computer for exchanging AV data with the client personal computer and receiving a variety of commands from the client personal computer by way of the network in accordance with an FTP (File Transfer Protocol). As a result, it is possible to fast handle access requests made by a larger number of client personal computers.

In general, the present invention relates to a data communication apparatus, a data communication method, a data communication system, an information-processing apparatus, an information-processing method, recording mediums and programs. More particularly, the present invention relates to a data communication apparatus, a data communication method, a data communication system, an information-processing apparatus and an information-processing method, which are appropriate for use in communication of data through an information recording medium having a large storage capacity and through a network, relates to programs for implementing the data communication method and the information-processing method and relates to recording mediums for storing the programs.
When AV data is communicated among client personal computers 4 through a large-capacity information recording medium such as RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) 1 and through a network 3 such as the Internet and an intranet as shown in FIG. 1, there is conceived the use of a system employing a server personal computer 2 for controlling accesses to the RAID 1 and processing requests for an access to the RAID 1, which are made by the client personal computers 4.
The RAID 1 for storing AV data is connected to the network 3 through the personal computer (PC) 2. Connected to the network 3, a personal computer 4 is capable of making a request for an access to the RAID 1.
The personal computer 2 processes accesses to the RAID 1 and transfers of data through the network 3. To put it concretely, when the personal computer 4 makes a request for a transfer of AV data stored in the RAID 1 by way of the network 3, the personal computer 2 accepts the request, subsequently makes an access to the RAID 1 to acquire the requested AV data and temporarily stores the data in a memory embedded in the personal computer 2 before transferring the data to the personal computer 4 by way of the network 3.
As described above, the personal computer 2 processes accesses to the RAID 1 and transfers of data through the network 3. Thus, when requests for such an access are made by a plurality of personal computers 4 through the network 3 at the same time, it is necessary for the personal computer 2 to process the accesses to the RAID 1 and a plurality of data transfers by way of the network 3 concurrently. However, the personal computer 2 is not capable of processing both the accesses and the data transfers at the same time. As a result, there is a limit on the number of accesses that can be handled and there is thus raised a problem of a reduced processing speed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Data communication apparatus and method, data communication system, information-processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program


A laser light source unit for vehicles is provided, having a resonator containing a first end mirror and a second end mirror and an active laser medium in between. The laser light source unit has a pump device for generating a pump radiation into the resonator. The pump radiation is configured such that laser light of the first wavelength, a second wavelength, and/or a third wavelength can be radiated. An intermediate mirror is configured so that the radiation of the second wavelength is reflected, and the radiation of the third wavelength is transmitted. A third end mirror is configured so that the radiation of the second wavelength is reflected. A color control module acts on the radiation of the second wavelength and/or the third wavelength so that an intensity of the stimulated emission of the radiation of the second wavelength is adjusted to the radiation of the third wavelength.

A laser light source unit for vehicles is known from DE 10 2015 121 693 A1, which has a resonator having a first end mirror and a second end mirror, wherein an active laser medium is arranged between the two end mirrors. The active laser medium is acted upon by means of a pump radiation emitted by a pump device, wherein the pump radiation penetrates through a first end mirror into the resonator. The opposite second end mirror consists of multiple mirror segments which have such layer thicknesses that radiation of particular wavelengths is stimulated in the active laser medium. For example, three mirror segments can be provided, wherein a first mirror segment stimulates radiation of a blue wavelength, a second mirror segment stimulates radiation of a green wavelength and a third mirror segment stimulates radiation of a red wavelength, so that a white laser light can be emitted by means of additive color mixing. The emission spectrum of the radiated laser light is fixed with the selection of the mirror segments at the second end mirror. The light color cannot be varied or altered.

Laser light source unit, and method for generating laser light for vehicles


A maximum power point detecting circuit is disclosed including: a power detector for generating a power detecting signal responsive to an output voltage and an output current of a solar cell; a comparator for comparing a previous power average value with a current power average value according to the power detecting signal for a constant time; and a discriminator for latching an output signal of the comparing means immediately after a current constant time, setting an output immediately before a previous constant time, and judging that an output power of the solar cell decreases when the current power average value is smaller than the previous power average value to generate a discriminating signal.

In one aspect of utilizing solar energy, a solar cell is used to convert solar energy into electric energy. The power of the solar cell differs according to the strength of a solar light incident upon the solar cell and to an ambient temperature, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2. These variations in the power bring about a change in an output impedance of the solar cell. If a fixed load is driven by the solar cell, impedance mismatching occurs and the efficiency of the power transfer to the load is lowered. Hence, efforts have been made to maximize the power transfer efficiency.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,480, incorporated herein by reference, a cell array and an independent cell are installed in a solar cell panel, as shown in FIG. 3. A reference voltage is generated through the independent cell, and a pulse width modulation signal is generated by comparing the reference voltage with an output voltage of the cell array. The power supplied to a load is switched in response to pulse width modulation signal. Therefore, the output voltage of the solar cell is maintained at a constant voltage level irrespective of the strength of the solar light or the ambient temperature.
However, a technique such as that disclosed in the above U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,480 causes slight variations in the output voltage in order to obtain the maximum power point for the level of solar light, as indicated in FIG. 1. Although the efficiency is better than when a constant reference voltage is used, it is difficult to transfer the maximum power at every condition, and an additional independent cell should be provided.
To compensate for variations in the output voltage of a solar cell due to ambient temperature fluctuations, U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,090, incorporated herein by reference, utilizes a thermistor for detecting the output voltage of the solar cell and compensating the detected voltage for temperature, as shown in FIG. 4. However, the output voltage of the solar cell is detected by dividing the voltage through resistors, and the temperature is compensated by using the thermistor connected in series with these resistors. Therefore, if the solar light is very weak, the overall efficiency is lowered.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,382, incorporated herein by reference, the output voltage and current of the solar cell are converted to digital data through an analog-to-digital converter, as shown in FIG. 5. The digital data obtained is processed by a controller to calculate and store the maximum power point. However, such a technique requires complicated circuitry due to the input power measurement interface circuit needed for the controller, which raises the cost.


Operation data of a refrigerant circuit is acquired after an initial refrigerant charge amount of refrigerant is charged in the refrigerant circuit and operation of the refrigerant circuit is started, an internal volume of a high-pressure pipe 6 is computed from the obtained operation data and the initial refrigerant charge amount input in a input unit 112, a target refrigerant charge amount is computed from the computed internal volume of the high-pressure pipe 6 and a standard operating state acquired in advance, the standard operating state being operation data of the refrigerant circuit when the refrigerant circuit is in a standard operating state that satisfies a preset condition, and an additional refrigerant charge amount is computed from the target refrigerant charge amount and the initial refrigerant charge amount.

In an air-conditioning apparatus established by connecting a plurality of use units to at least one heat source unit via refrigerant extension pipes, a refrigerant is charged at the time of installation work of the units with the amount according to the length of the refrigerant extension pipes at the installation site. Here, if the charged refrigerant amount is not adequate, a flaw in the operating state of the air-conditioning apparatus will occur. If there is an overcharge, for example, the pressure in the refrigeration cycle apparatus during operation of the device will be high; hence, the device will be forced to be stopped due to safety reasons and will fall into a situation not allowing its operation to be performed. Conversely, if the charged refrigerant amount is insufficient, the intended cooling capacity and the heating capacity cannot be obtained. Accordingly, technological development for charging adequate amount of refrigerant in the air-conditioning apparatus has been conventionally made (see, Patent Literature 1, for example).
In the air-conditioning apparatus described in Patent Literature 1, the optimum refrigerant amount as a target charging value for the heat source unit and the use units are obtained in advance through experiments and simulations. Further, an automatic refrigerant charge operation is carried out such that refrigerant charging is carried out until the total value of the refrigerant amount in the heat source unit and the refrigerant amount in the use units, which are computed from the refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant circuit or the operation state quantity of the components, reach the target charging value. With this method, it will be possible to carry out automatic charging of the refrigerant even if the pipe length of the refrigerant communication pipe is unknown, since it only requires computation of the refrigerant amount of only the heat source unit and the use units.
Further, as a technique for calculating the refrigerant amount in the air-conditioning apparatus, there is one described in Patent Literature 2. In Patent Literature 2, a method is disclosed in which an internal volume of a refrigerant extension pipe is computed from operation data and an initial charge amount so as to compute the refrigerant amount, regardless of the difference in the pipe length of the refrigerant extension pipe that corresponds with the installation condition at the installation site. Further, in Patent Literature 2, a method is disclosed in which the internal volume of the refrigerant extension pipe is computed using two or more different sets of operation data such as operation data of different liquid refrigerant extension pipe temperatures when the initial charging amount is unknown.

Refrigerant charge assisting device, air-conditioning apparatus, and refrigerant charge assisting program


A technique facilitates splicing of a power cable including splicing of a protective lead barrier. According to the technique, the power cable comprises conductors which form individual phases of a multi-phase conductor assembly. The conductors may be individually spliced for each phase of the multi-phase conductor assembly. Subsequently, splicing of the protective lead barrier may be performed by utilizing a lead based tape which is wrapped, e.g. helically wrapped, around the conductors. The wrapping technique provides a gas seal with respect to each individual insulated conductor within the multi-phase conductor assembly. Depending on the specifics of a given application and environment, additional layers may be added to ensure formation of a desirable splice.

In many hydrocarbon well applications, power cables are employed to deliver electric power to various devices. For example, power cables are used to deliver electric power to electric submersible pumping systems which may be deployed downhole in wellbores. The power cables are subjected to harsh working environments containing corrosives, e.g. corrosive gases, elevated temperatures, high pressures, and vibrations. To protect power cable conductors from gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an extruded continuous lead barrier is provided around the conductors to block gas permeation. However, the continuous lead barrier can create difficulties with respect to splicing a power cable during repair operations or other cable related operations. Such repairs are particularly difficult if a suitable heat source and soldering capability are not available.

Lead alloy barrier tape splice for downhole power cable


A thickness analyzer unit for determining a thickness of a layer includes a temperature change device, a temperature sensor, a memory, and a controller. The temperature change device is configured to induce a temperature change of the layer from a first temperature value to a second temperature value. The temperature sensor is configured to generate first temperature data corresponding to the first temperature value and second temperature data corresponding to the second temperature value. The memory is configured to store the first and second temperature values, a thermal conductivity value, a specific thermal capacity value, and a density value. The controller is configured (i) to determine a time constant value of the layer based on the first and second temperature values, and (ii) to determine the thickness of the layer based on the time constant value, the thermal conductivity value, the specific thermal capacity value, and the density value.

Heat transfer is the study of the use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy between physical systems. Heat transfer includes thermal conduction, thermal convection, and thermal radiation. As related to the human body, heat transfer includes the exchange of thermal energy between the body and the environment. In connection with a machine, heat transfer includes the exchange of thermal energy from within a machine to the environment or to another machine.
It is sometimes desirable to determine the thickness of a layer of a system, such as a machine or a body. For example, in the fields of medicine, health, and fitness it is desirable to calculate a thickness of a person's skin. A physician may require an estimation of the thickness of the patient's hypodermis at a particular region of the patient's body. Known methods, however, produce thickness estimations that are less accurate than desired. Accordingly, further advancements in the area of heat transfer and, more particularly, the estimation, detection, and calculation of a thickness of a layer are desirable.

System and method for detecting a thickness of a layer


A porous ceramic film which is formed onto and bonded to an oxide layer provided on the surface of a porous base, the film composed of finely deposited particles comprising at least one compound including (a) at least one selected from the group consisting of Si, B and Al or the group consisting of the metals of the Groups IVa, Va and VIa and (b) at least one selected from the group consisting of C and N in which the particles are intertwined with each other and bonded to each other through the component of the oxide layer to form a three-dimensionally intertwined structure. This porous ceramic film is produced by forming the oxide layer on the base surface and then heating it to a temperature of at least of the liquid-phase formation temperature of the oxide layer in a gaseous atmosphere containing the above elements (a) and (b). The porous ceramic film has a high porosity, a good pressure resistance and a regulated pore size and is appropriate for a filter, a catalyst support, bioreactor or a structural material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a porous ceramic film which has a high porosity, a good pressure resistance and a regulated pore size, and a process for producing the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, there is a growing necessity for filters and catalyst supports having a good heat resistance, a high strength and a high thermal shock resistance. It is believed, for example, a filter or a catalyst support for eliminating CO.sub.2, NO.sub.x or black smoke from an automobile exhaust gas should withstand high temperatures exceeding 1,000.degree. C. Similarly, a high thermal resistance is required of a filter for desulfurizing an exhaust gas from a thermal power plant or a chemical plant, a filter for eliminating slugs from a molten metal, etc.
Attempts have been made to apply porous ceramic films to these filters and catalyst supports and some of them have been already put into practical use. It is expected that silicon nitride, which is excellent in strength, toughness, thermal shock resistance, chemical resistance, etc., and thus has been employed as a structural ceramic material, might be useful as a material for producing porous ceramic films.
Attempts have been also made to employ porous ceramic filters in the fields of, for example, food and drug. Namely, ceramic films have been taking the place of porous organic films which have been employed in these fields, since ceramic films are superior to the organic ones in thermal resistance, pressure resistance, chemical resistance and separative power.
Moreover, porous ceramic films have been used as catalyst supports, bioreactors and supports for microbial incubation. In these cases, it is known that the efficiency of a catalytic reaction or the efficiency of microbial incubation is elevated with an increase in the specific surface area (i.e., surface area per unit weight) of a porous ceramic film.
In order to use a porous ceramic film as the filter or catalyst support described above, it is important for the film to have such a high porosity as to suffer from little pressure loss during filtration and a regulated pore size. When used as a bioreactor, etc., a porous ceramic film is required to have a large specific surface area in addition to the abovementioned requirements.
Furthermore, the permeability, which is the most important factor of a filter, is determined fundamentally depending on the pore size and the porosity, as shown in the Hagen-Poiseuille equation of the following equation 1. That is to say, permeation flow rate at filtration is increased, or the pressure loss is decreased, with an increase in the pore size and a decrease in the thickness. EQU dQ/dt=n.pi.r.sup.4 .DELTA.P/.8.eta.l Equation 1!
wherein
n stands for the number of pores; PA1 r stands for the radius of pore; PA1 .DELTA.P stands for the differential pressure; PA1 .eta. stands for the fluid viscosity; and PA1 1 stands for the thickness.
Meanwhile commercially available conventional porous ceramic filters are composed of a film part having a small pore size for practicing filtration and a base part having a large pore size for supporting the film. Such porous ceramic filters are produced by sintering powdery materials. Therefore, the pore size thereof can be regulated to a certain extent. For example, for such porous ceramic filters, there have been produced porous ceramic bodies having a fine pore size of 5 .mu.m to 0.004 .mu.m (Nihon Gaishi K. K.'s catalog) and, especially, ones having a pore size not greater than 1 .mu.m have been extensively used. However, the maximum porosity of the film part is limited to at most about 40% by volume.
In the base part having a large pore size, the low porosity causes no pressure loss during filtration. In the film part having a small pore size, however, the low porosity results in a serious pressure loss. Moreover, the low porosity brings about another problem that the filtered matters can be hardly removed by loading back pressure thereonto, which deteriorates the regenerative characteristics of the filter.
In addition to the above-mentioned porous ceramic filters, porous glasses, etc., have been used as porous ceramic films for bioreactors (porous glass "VYCOR" mfd. by Corning Glass Works). However, these porous glasses have the problem of a low reaction efficiency because of the further lower porosity of from 20 to 30% by volume and the small specific surface area of about 200 m.sup.2 /g. In addition, a porous glass, which can be hardly processed into a thin film, has a very poor permeability.
Accordingly, there arises an idea of producing a porous ceramic film with a high porosity by depositing ceramic fibers or whiskers in the form of a film onto a base. Although a high porosity can be achieved by this method, it is highly difficult to give a pore size of 0.1 .mu.m or less thereby. This is because the pore size is determined substantially depending on the diameter of fibers or whiskers and it is very difficult to produce fibers or whiskers of a diameter of 0.1 .mu.m or less (Cer. Mat. Compon. Engines (1986), pages 101-108)
In the case of fibers having a large aspect ratio (i.e., the ratio of length to diameter), in particular, the three-dimensionally intertwined structure of the fibers results in an extremely large pore size as compared with the case of whiskers. When the aspect ratio exceeds 200, for example, it is needed to regulate the fiber diameter to 0.01 .mu.m or less in order to give a pore size of 0.1 .mu.m. However, it is impossible to produce fibers having such a small diameter.
Although fibers or whiskers once formed may be mechanically shaped (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-150275), it is obviously impossible to finely and accurately control the pore size by mechanically pressing an aggregate of fine fibers or whiskers. It is also impossible to process these fibers or whiskers into a film. Accordingly, such a mechanical means is an altogether inappropriate process for producing filters, etc.
When fibers or whiskers are merely deposited in the form of a film onto a base, the three-dimensionally intertwined structure per se has only a weak binding force and a poor adhesiveness to the base. Thus it cannot be used as a filter, etc., because of the insufficient mechanical strength and pressure resistance. Thus Japanese Patent Publication No. 31174/1994 has proposed a method for achieving a large porosity and an improved pressure resistance by depositing whiskers onto pores inside a porous ceramic. However, this method fails to sufficiently improve the pressure resistance and, furthermore, cannot be applied to thin-film filters, although this idea can be applied to bulk porous bodies.
On the other hand, the specific surface area of a fiber or a whisker is determined substantially depending on the diameter and length thereof. Supposing that a fiber or a whisker is in the form of a column of R in radius and L in length, the specific surface area S of an aggregate of a density D is determined by the following equation 2. EQU S=2(R+L)/DRL Equation 2!
Calculation in accordance with the above equation indicates that when the diameter of a fiber or a whisker is 0.1 .mu.m, then the specific surface area is less than 15 m.sup.2 /g, i.e., smaller than that of a porous glass. Accordingly, the high porosity of fibers or whiskers cannot be fully utilized merely by depositing the fibers or whiskers onto a base and thus the obtained film is unsuitable for a bioreactor.

Porous ceramic film and process for producing the same


A radiofrequency contactor includes a testing circuit board having a dielectric substrate, a lower ground conductor on a lower surface of the dielectric substrate, and a radiofrequency signal wiring conductor on an upper surface of the dielectric substrate, a radiofrequency signal pin contactor located on the upper surface of the dielectric substrate and connected to the radiofrequency signal wiring conductor, a ground block located on the upper surface of the dielectric substrate and spaced apart from the radiofrequency signal wiring conductor and the radiofrequency signal pin contactor, and a first side ground conductor and a second side ground conductor provided on the upper surface of the dielectric substrate and spaced apart from the radiofrequency signal wiring conductor and the radiofrequency signal pin contactor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiofrequency contactor which electrically connects a radiofrequency semiconductor device and a testing circuit board when electrical characteristics of the radiofrequency semiconductor device are inspected and, more particularly, to a radiofrequency contactor capable of preventing a deterioration of a radiofrequency signal.
2. Background Art
When electrical characteristics of the radiofrequency semiconductor device are inspected, sending/receiving of radiofrequency signals is performed between a testing apparatus and the radiofrequency semiconductor device through wiring on a testing circuit board. Doing so requires electrical conduction between electrodes of the radiofrequency semiconductor device and the wiring on the testing circuit board. A contactor has been used for conduction between electrodes of a radiofrequency semiconductor device and wiring on a testing circuit board (see, e.g., Patent Document 1).    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 03-125503
The above-described contactor includes a testing circuit board, a pin contactor and a ground conductor opposed to the pin contactor. The testing circuit board is constituted of a wiring conductor and a lower surface ground conductor provided on a lower surface so as to face the wiring conductor. The characteristic impedance of the wiring conductor of the testing circuit board is adjusted to a certain value. The pin contactor and the ground conductor opposed to the pin contactor are respectively connected to the wiring conductor and the lower surface ground conductor of the testing circuit board.
When electrical characteristics of a radiofrequency semiconductor device are inspected by using the contactor, sending/receiving of a radiofrequency signal between the wiring conductor of the testing circuit board and the electrode of the radiofrequency semiconductor device is performed through the pin contactor. The sizes, shapes and placed positions of the pin contactor and the ground conductor opposed to the pin contactor are determined under constraints according to the size, structure, etc., of the radiofrequency semiconductor device. There is, therefore, a possibility of failure to match the characteristic impedance of the pin contactor to the characteristic impedance of the wiring conductor of the testing circuit board. In such a case, there is a problem that the radiofrequency signal deteriorates when passing through the pin contactor.


The present invention relates to a process for securing to a metal support at least one microwave electronic module made on a substrate one of whose faces forms an earth plane. The process consists in depositing between the face forming the earth plane and the metal support, at least one strip of conducting adhesive at the level of the zones of breakage of the earth plane. The invention applies to the microwave field.

In the field of microwaves, the Fabrication of circuits carrying out electronic functions such as mixers, amplifiers or others, may be carried out on substrates of various kinds by using etched lines. The making of a microwave subassembly consists in putting several functions in series or in parallel, these functions being linked together by interconnection systems such as etched lines or wiring tracks. In general, several functions are carried out on one and the same substrate by using printed circuit type technology which has been matched to the materials and to the specific thicknesses for microwave applications. Thus, as represented schematically in FIG. 1, a microwave electronic module can consist of an etched circuit 1 made on a substrate 2 of a material such as "Teflon" glass, namely "Teflon" woven with glass fibres. This substrate, generally not very rigid and exhibiting a relatively small thickness with respect to its other dimensions, is coated on its lower face with a metal earth plane 3. These electronic modules are usually mounted on a metal package or support 4. Various types of assembly are therefore used to secure the substrate 2 to the metal package or support 4. However, the use of electronic circuits at near-millimetre frequencies, in particular at frequencies of several gigahertz, demands good electrical contact between the earth plane 3 of the substrate 2 situated on the lower face of the substrate and the metal earth of the support 4. To address this constraint, various methods can be used to assemble the substrate onto the metal package or support. Thus, it is possible to use a screwing process which has the advantage of being very simple, easily automated and inexpensive. However, this process is not applicable to millimetre frequencies, since the thickness of the substrate 2 is very slender with respect to these other dimensions, this possibly giving rise to problems of deformation of the circuits etched and/or mounted on the substrate possibly inducing cracks in the solder joints. Moreover, the contact between the earth plane of the substrate and the earth plane of the metal support is very localized. The other technique widely used in the field of microwaves is a bonding technique which makes it possible to obtain reliable transfer having good electrical characteristics. Several methods of bonding exist for assembling two materials. Thus, mention may be made of the use of a film which makes it possible to achieve assembly of very high reliability, although its material cost is relatively high and it is complex to implement since it requires the application of pressure throughout the adhesive curing cycle. Another technique consists in employing one- or two-component conducting epoxy adhesives, the conducting particles usually consisting of silver or gold. In this case, the adhesive is deposited using, for example, a syringe. Whereas this technique is less expensive than the previous one, it requires good control of the adhesive so as to deposit a layer which is quasi-uniform in terms of thickness and surface. According to another embodiment, the epoxy adhesive may be deposited by screen printing, thereby making it possible to obtain a uniform layer in terms of thickness and surface. This technique also has the advantage of being fast but uses a considerable quantity of adhesive.
In the field of microwaves, one of the abovementioned bonding techniques is used by spreading the paste over the entire surface of the circuit to be bonded so as to obtain good earth transfer, the adhesives being laden with conducting particles of the silver or gold type. The above technique has the drawback of being especially expensive owing to the appreciable quantity of adhesive required. The applicant, during studies carried out on the bonding of substrate comprising at least one microwave electronic module on a metal package or support, has noticed, contrary to the given teachings, that it was not necessary to deposit the adhesive on the entire surface of the substrate. The adhesive can be deposited at specific sites making it possible to avoid non-conductivity of the signal without giving rise to problems in the operation of the electronic module.

Process for securing a microwave module to a support