The present invention relates to an interconnect structure for coupling at least one electronic unit for outputting and/or receiving electric signals, and at least one optical unit for converting said electric signals into optical signals and/or vice versa, to a further electronic component. The interconnect structure comprises an electrically insulating substrate (102) and a plurality of signal lead pairs (104, 120) to be coupled between said electronic unit (108, 116) and a front end contact region (106) for electrically contacting said interconnect structure by said further electronic component. A ground plane layer (118) is electrically insulated from said pairs of signal leads (104, 120), wherein each pair of signal leads (104, 120) has a circuit connecting region (122) for electrically contacting respective terminals of said at least one electronic unit (108, 116), and wherein in a region adjacent to said terminals of said at least one electronic unit (108, 116) said ground plane layer (118) has a plurality of clearances (126) that are each allocated to one pair of signal leads (104, 120) and separated from a respective neighboring clearance.

In order to support the communication requirements of high-speed data transmission applications of e.g. 25, 40 or 100 Gbps, optical links are used when links via an electrical wire have a too low bandwidth. When using such an optical link for transmitting a signal from a first electronic component to a second electronic component, the electrical signal to be transmitted is first converted into an optical signal, then the optical signal is coupled into an optical fiber via an optical transmitter and transmitted to the second electronic component via the optical fiber. At the second electronic component, the optical signal is received by means of an optical receiver and converted back into an electrical signal. This converted electrical signal is further processed in the second electronic component.
Optoelectronic components that perform the transduction between the optical and electrical signals are often referred to as transceivers, E/O engines or EOE engines.
As shown in FIG. 1, such a transceiver 100 which is used for converting an electric signal into an optical signal and vice versa, includes an electrically insulating substrate 102, for instance a printed circuit board (PCB) or a flexible printed circuit (FPC). The transceiver 100 further comprises a plurality of signal input lines 104 which are arranged as differential signal pairs and end in a front end contact region for electrically contacting further electronic components, for instance via another printed circuit board.
The other peripheral end of the signal input lines being opposed to the front end contact region 106 is connected to an electronic transmission unit 108 in a circuit connecting region 110. The electronic transmission unit 108 comprises driver circuitry for driving optical senders, for instance an array of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) 112. The optical signal emitted by the laser diode array 112 is internally coupled to an optical conductor, for instance an optical fiber.
Furthermore, the transceiver unit 100 comprises a photo detector array 114, which comprises for instance photodiodes, such as so-called PIN diodes (p-intrinsic-n photodiodes). These PIN diodes are coupled to the optical fiber for receiving an optical signal and converting same into an electrical signal. The output of the PIN diodes 114 is coupled to an amplifier unit 116, which may comprise an array of transimpedance amplifiers (TIA) connected to respective outputs of the array of photodiodes 114.
A plurality of electrical signal output lines 120 are provided for connecting the front end contact region to the output terminals of the amplifier circuit 116. The signal output lines 120 are formed as differential lines analogously to the signal input lines 104.
A ground plane layer 118 is provided within the substrate 102 with a well-defined distance towards the input and output signal lines 104 and 120, respectively.
The laser diodes 112 and the driver circuit 108 as well as the PIN diodes 114 and the belonging amplifier unit 116 are all placed on the substrate 102 in a way that they are surrounded by the ground plane layer 118. As proposed in the international application PCT/EP2013/063694, the ground plane layer 118 is provided with openings 124 in the region of the front end contact region 106 in order to improve the signal quality at the transition point from the E/O engine 100 to e.g. a further printed circuit board (not shown in the figure).
The inventors of the present invention found that for the design shown in FIG. 1, due to parasitic effects of the bond pads and ESD protection devices on the chip, the impedances of the front end of the transmission unit 108 as well as the transimpedance amplifier unit 116 exhibit a capacitive nature. Therefore, significant impedance drops in the area of the circuit connection region 110 of the electronic transmission unit 108 and of the amplifier unit 116 are observed. This impairs the performance of the optoelectronic unit and makes it difficult to meet the return loss specification.
On the other hand, ideally, the interconnection system has to carry signals without distortion. One type of distortion is called crosstalk. Crosstalk occurs when one signal creates an unwanted signal on another signal line. Generally, crosstalk is caused by electromagnetic coupling between signal lines and is therefore a particular problem for high-speed, high-density interconnection systems. Electromagnetic coupling increases when signal lines are closer together or when the signals they carry are of a higher frequency. Both of these conditions are present in a high-speed, high-density interconnection system.
FIG. 2 shows the result of a time-domain reflectometry (TDR) measurement at the circuit connecting region 110 obtained with 20 ps (20 to 80%) pulses without any impedance matching measures. It can be seen from FIG. 2 that a significant pulse is reflected back indicating an undesired disturbance in this region.
Consequently, there exists the need of providing an interconnect structure and a respective optoelectronic module that has an improved signal integrity and a reduced crosstalk, at the same time maintaining a small form factor and a cost-effective construction.
This object is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Advantageous developments of the inventive interconnect structure and optical module are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
The invention is based on the finding that the impedance can be increased to an acceptable level in the region of the circuit connecting terminals by introducing clearances into the ground plane layer of the E/O engine substrate. Advantageously, this can be done below the terminals of the electronic transmission unit as well as below the terminals of the amplifier unit. By providing such a ground clearance configuration, crosstalk (XT), mode conversion and common mode return loss (CM RL) are not significantly compromised, whereas the impedance can be matched in order to meet the requirements regarding return losses.
In particular, the clearances are each allocated to one pair of differential signal leads and are separated from one or two neighboring clearances by a ground plane web of exactly defined dimensions. In order to avoid crosstalk, each of the clearances is separated from the next clearance by a web that has a width of at least 30 μm
In order to ensure that a uniform impedance matching is established for each of the signal lead pairs, the clearances have a contour that matches the contour of the respectively belonging signal leads.
When analyzing different options for the particular dimensions and the layout of the signal leads, it surprisingly turned out that a ratio between the distance of each lead of one pair towards the adjacent outer boundary of the clearance, and the distance between both leads should be approximately ½ in order to reach a sufficiently high impedance. For instance, each lead can be distanced 50 μm from the respective adjacent outer boundary of the clearance and 100 μm from the other lead of one pair.
Further, it could be shown that length of the clearance of at least 700 μm is advantageous for reaching sufficiently high impedance.
The present invention can most effectively be used with an optoelectronic module comprising at least one electronic unit for outputting and/or receiving electric signals and at least one optical unit for converting the electric signals into optical signals and/or vice versa.
In the context of the present invention, an optoelectronic module refers in general to a system comprising optoelectronic components for transmitting or receiving an optical signal connected to a driver and/or receiver electronics. Optoelectronic components in the present context are devices arranged to convert electrical energy into optical energy or optical energy into electrical energy, i.e. light sources and photo detectors, such as laser diodes and photo diodes, as mentioned above. Often, the laser diodes are vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) and as photo diodes p-intrinsic-n photo diodes may be used.
Typically, such a module will also comprise an interface allowing the module to be connected to one or more optical fibers as well as control electronics to adjust the operating parameters of the optoelectronic components. For example, the operation of a laser diode typically requires an adjustable bias current, modulations current and optionally a pre-emphasize. Often, such modules will support more than one channel, such as two, four, eight, twelve or sixteen channels, but any number of channels is conceivable depending on the application. For such a use, the light sources and photo detectors are often available in arrays, such as 1×N arrays or 2×N arrays, wherein N is a positive integer. Strictly, a 2×N array is referred to as a matrix, but in order to simplify notation, only the term "array" is used in the following. Furthermore, the embodiments shown in the present application always use a 4-channel arrangement in line with the application as a quad small form-factor pluggable (QSFP) E/O engine, but the invention is of course not limited to such an arrangement.
In order to convert an electrical data signal into a signal suitable for driving a light source to emit an optical signal comprising this data signal, a driver circuit is required. Similarly, a receiver circuit is required to convert received optical signals into an electrical signal suitable for further transmission in the system. Such driver and receiver circuits are well-known in the art and they are typically provided as integrated circuits either as transmitter chips (comprising driver circuits), receiver chips (comprising receiver circuits) or transceiver chips (comprising a driver and receiver circuit).
A receiver chip is often also referred to as a TIA chip (transimpedance amplifier chip) or an LIA chip (limiting impedance amplifier chip). These chips comprise data pins/pads for receiving/transmitting the electrical data signals to/from a host system and connecting pads for connecting to the optical devices, i.e. connecting pins/pads for connecting to the optical side of the chip, i.e. light sources or photo detectors.
The advantageous characteristics that are reached by the present invention can be exploited to a particularly high extent when using the inventive interconnect structure in an active optical cable (AOC) assembly that inputs and outputs electrical signals but conducts same by means of an optical conductor. The active optical cable assembly may be either a direct point-to-point connection or may also be structured as a fan out cable, meaning one input and a plurality of outputs. The active optical cable technology improves speed and distance performance of the cable without sacrificing compatibility with standard electrical interfaces.

Interconnect structure for E/O engines having impedance compensation at the integrated circuits' front end


A method of inhibiting sleep apnea is disclosed comprising administering an effective amount of 6-methyl-5-oxo-3-thiomorpholinylcarbonyl-L-histidine-L-prolinamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salt thereof.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a serious disorder in which normal breathing during sleep is interrupted for periods of 10 seconds to a minute or even longer as a result of obstruction of the upper airway. Sleep apnea syndrome also involves decreases in blood oxygen levels. To resume breathing and restore blood oxygen, the subject must wake up. Thus, normal sleep is interrupted. Sleep apnea may be classified as mild, five to 25 events per hour; moderate, 25 to 40 events per hour; or severe more than 40 events per hour. Persons with sleep apnea are prevented from attaining essential rest and suffer from chronic sleep fragmentation/deprivation occurring as a consequence of frequent nightly arousals brought about by critical decreases in blood oxygen levels secondary to disruptions in respiration. It has been estimated that from 1 to 3 percent of the adult population of North America suffers from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea has been associated with increased risk of heart attacks or strokes. Sleep apnea sufferers also frequently experience excessive daytime sleepiness which can result in them suddenly falling asleep while engaged in activities requiring alertness, such as driving a car.
Although consideration has been given to the possibility of treating sleep apnea with drugs such as medroxyprogesterone, protriptyline, acetazolamide, nicotine or even strychnine, there is currently no satisfactory pharmacotherapy for sleep apnea. Instead, sleep apnea is commonly treated either by throat surgery designed to maintain airway patency during sleep or with mechanical devices such as dental retainers. Surgery to remove tissues thought to contribute to obstruction of the airway is effective in only about 50 to 60% of patients. Cases of obstructive sleep apnea are generally managed with apparatus known as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. The CPAP comprises a mask that fits over the nose of the patient. The mask has an hose attached to it and a small box with a fan that blows air through the hose and into the nasal passages. The CPAP machine provides positive air pressure in the patient airway in order to prevent collapse of the airway which initiates a sleep apnea episode. While the CPAP is generally effective if used consistently, it is also expensive, cumbersome and highly inconvenient, thereby giving rise to significant patient compliance problems.
Thus, there has remained a substantial need for improved methods of treating obstructive sleep apnea, and particularly for an effective pharmacotherapy for treating this disorder.


A bucket lifting device for facilitating lifting and tipping of a bucket to empty the contents of the bucket includes a sleeve receiving a bottom end of the bucket, wherein the sleeve extends around a portion of the bucket. A handle is coupled to the sleeve. The handle is graspable to facilitate lifting and tipping of the bucket when the sleeve receives the bottom end of the bucket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bucket harness devices and more particularly pertains to a new bucket harness device for facilitating lifting and tipping of a bucket to empty the contents of the bucket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of bucket harness devices is known in the prior art. While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that has certain improved features that accommodates buckets of varying sizes. Additionally, the device should be graspable adjacent a bottom end of the bucket to facilitate tipping of the bucket.


The methods for starting a Hall-less single-phase BLDCM having an asymmetrical air gap are proposed. The provided methods are employed to input a specific amount of current impulse and stop the current impulse at a specific time such that the rotor of the single-phase BLDCM having an asymmetrical air gap can be realized to rotate in the pre-determined direction through one of the cogging torque and the rotor inertia after that specific time so as to accomplish the normal starting of a motor without the Hall-effect sensor.

The single-phase BLDCM is widely used in low starting torque and small power fields such as pumps, blowers and cooling fans. The single-phase BLDCM requires a suitable current commutation signal synchronized with the rotor position for proper operation. In most applications, a Hall-effect position sensor is used to detect the rotor position and control the motor. However, the Hall-effect sensor itself increases the size of the motor system and the manufacturing costs. Besides, the Hall-effect sensor decreases the capability of the system against the environment variation, e.g., the temperature variation. Many Hall-less BLDCM drives that detect the rotor position have been introduced.
The single-phase motors have null-points in their torque waveforms, which make them difficult to start sometimes. To overcome this problem, an asymmetrical air gap is employed to introduce a reluctance torque component. FIGS. 1(a) to 1(d) shows some typical models of this kind. A paper, S. Bentouati, Z. Q. Zhu and D. Howe, "Permanent Magnet Brushless DC Motors For Consumer Products", The European Network for Permanent Magnet Devices Report (<http://mag-net.ee.umist.ac.uk/reports/P11/p11.html>), has proved that tapered-air gap is the best configuration among the above-mentioned models according to cogging torque peak value. The motors involved in the present invention adopt this kind of asymmetrical air gap to overcome their starting null-points.
Most of these applications require the motor to rotate in one predetermined direction. But the direction control becomes very difficult when the system is running in sensorless mode, more clearly in Hall-less mode, because the controller cannot determine the rotor's initial position. During the motor's starting procedure, the controller should solve this problem firstly.
Keeping the drawbacks of the prior arts in mind, and employing experiments and research full-heartily and persistently, the applicants finally conceived a starting method for a Hall-less single-phase BLDCM. This invention is mainly about how to solve the above-mentioned problem. A novel method is introduced to make the motor start up from standstill to rotating in a preferred direction.

Starting method for Hall-less single-phase BLDCM


Disclosed is a sensor arrangement on a process installation comprising at least two sensor tiles, wherein each sensor tile comprises a support and a plurality of sensors arranged on the support for determining a physical or chemical variable of a measuring medium, a process characteristic of the measuring medium, and/or a state of the process installation. A first sensor tile comprises a control unit having a transmit and receive module for data exchange with a control unit of a second sensor tile. The first control unit of the first sensor tile and/or a second control unit allocated to the sensor arrangement is designed to weight the values determined by each sensor tile. Weighting may be a function of the measured value variations of the sensor tile, the position of the sensor tile in the process installation, and/or the function of the sensor tile.

Individual measuring devices, such as Coriolis measuring devices, which communicate with each other for the purpose of the signal adjustment of sensor parameters, are known. Such a form of communication between two measuring instruments is known from WO 2017/143576 A1, among others.
A distribution of functions of sensors in a process installation is known from DE 10 2007 024 006 A1. However, such sensors always communicate via a central evaluation unit.

Sensor arrangement for arrangement on a process installation, and method for operating the sensor arrangement and process installation


A fluid filtration unit having pleated filter media with at least one ply, and two housing parts with inlet and outlet fluid passageways and inwardly projecting ribs that accommodate the pleated filter media.

Compact filtration units are well known. One such unit is a blood filter, comprising a multi-piece, rectangular housing with coaxial fluid connections, the connections being separated from each other by a multi-layered, pleated filter element so as to permit a fluid to be filtered to pass from inlet to outlet only by flowing through the filter element. The filter element at each of the two protruding ends is clamped between two specially designed wall components of the top and bottom housing components and welded thereto. The filter element is also secured at the two outer sides by a sealant.
German Patent No. 24 44 224 C3 also discloses a filtration unit with a pleated filter element, comprising five aligned plate-shaped components. The filter element is supported on the filtrate side by means of a porous carrier that has ribs which extend into the pleat folds. The pleated filter element is further supported by sections of the central plate-shaped components, to which the filter element is cemented at its sides so as to render it fluid-tight.
The drawbacks of such prior art devices are their large number of components and the existence of areas in which the individual components of the filtration unit are so tightly bound to each other that fluid flow is restricted. In addition, such devices are difficult to fabricate because of their complex construction, and the multiplicity of fluid-tight connections present more potential leakage points, often leading to premature breakdown of the filter units during operation. A still further disadvantage is that such filter units possess a relatively large dead space between the filter element and the housing components. This is undesirable in the cases of toxic and highly refined, costly materials. Finally, the pleated filter elements, which have either no support or support on one side only, can be distorted by fluctuations in fluid pressure or by back flushing.
There is therefore a need in the art for a fluid filtration unit having a single filter element which will withstand pressure fluctuations and back flushing, that is made of a small number of components and that has a minimum amount of dead space. These needs are met by the present invention, which is summarized and described in detail below.

Filtration unit with pleated filter element


A method for forming a gate structure used in borderless contact etching is disclosed including the steps described below. Forming a conductive layer on a substrate, followed by forming a first silicon nitride layer on the conductive layer. The next step is to pattern a gate electrode by etching all the layers formed in the steps mentioned previously. The following steps is to form a second silicon nitride layer on the surface of the gate electrode and the substrate. Finally, etching the second silicon nitride layer to form a nitride spacer on the side walls of the gate electrode. The altitude of the nitride spacer is higher than the altitude of the first silicon nitride layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is relates to a method of forming a gate structure, especially relates to a method of forming a gate structure used in borderless contact etching.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the 0.3 .mu.m process, or below, used in fabricating dynamic random access memory (DRAM), the design rule is tightened due to the shrink of the contact window, and the bottle neck of exposure (I-line) is thus formed. In order to solve the problem aformentioned, the borderless contact etching process is developed.
The borderless contact etching process utilizes the etching-rate difference between two different materials to form a borderless contact, e.g., oxide to nitride, thus the borderless contact etching is achieved. The technique using borderless contact etching process is described below. Referring to FIG. 1A, the first step is to deposit a poly silicon layer 100 on a substrate 101, followed by depositing a silicon nitride layer 102 of 2000 angstroms in thickness.
The gate electrode 103 in FIG. 1B is formed by etching portions of layer 100 and layer 102. The etching process used to remove the portions of layer 100 and 102 is performed by conventional wet etching using a developed photoresist as a mask (not shown). Referring to FIG. 1C, to form a silicon nitride spacer, a layer composed of silicon nitride 104 of 1200 angstroms in thickness is formed by chemical vapor deposition on the surface of substrate 101 and gate electrode 103. The following step is to etch the silicon nitride layer 104 anisotropically to form the silicon nitride spacer 105 shown in FIG. 1D. The gate electrode and the spacers are thus formed. The following steps fabricating a DRAM is omitted. To make the metal interconnect, the contact window is formed by the following steps.
Deposit a silicon dioxide layer 106 on the topography of the wafer shown in FIG. 1E followed by etching the silicon dioxide layer 106 by an anisotropic etching to form a contact. The recipe used to make the contact is the mixture of C.sub.4 F.sub.8 /CO/Ar, the pressure is about 0.045 Torr and the power is about 1400 Watts. Due to the etching rate of the silicon dioxide is larger than that of the silicon nitride, the cross sectional view of the wafer is shown in FIG. 1E. The profile of the silicon nitride spacer 105 and the silicon nitride layer 102 shown in FIG. 1E is under the ideal condition. In fact, the silicon nitride loss in the corner of silicon nitride spacer 105 is more than that of the silicon nitride layer 102 of gate electrode 103, so the realistic cross sectional view of the wafer is shown in FIG. 1F.
To avoid the exposure of the poly silicon layer 100 during the etching step, the thickness of the silicon nitride spacer 105 must be thick enough, e.g., 2000 angstroms in thickness, to compensate the loss of the silicon nitride spacer 105. If the silicon nitride layer 102 were too thick, the step height will be worse because the thickness of the stack of the layers is increased. In addition, in the later section process, e.g., the 3C contact etching process, the control of etching is critical. The condition described above is shown in FIG. 2.
The multi-layer contact etching, etching the silicon dioxide 200 to contact first poly gate electrode 201, the bit line 202, the active region 203 and the electrode plate 204, is usually used in fabricating the stacked DRAM. The recipe etches silicon dioxide and silicon nitride, whereas it does not etch poly silicon. Thus, if the silicon nitride layer 205 on first poly gate electrode 201 is too thick, when fabricating the contact, the first poly gate electrode 201 may be open circuited or the bit line 202 and electrode plate 204 may be etched through.
It is obvious that the technique used to form the borderless contact etching is a critical process due to the thickness of the silicon nitride on the gate poly silicon. To overcome the disadvantage of the technique mentioned above, the structure of the gate electrode must be improved to avoid the affect of the thickness of the silicon nitride on the gate poly silicon.

Method for forming a gate structure used in borderless contact etching


A method for conducting finite element analysis of a component which takes into consideration the apparent rigidity of an interface structure. The method generally includes the steps of (a) providing a standard shim bar, (b) physically measuring the natural frequencies of the standard shim bar when mounted to the interface structure, (c) generating a finite element model having a shim interposed between the component and ground, (d) selecting the modulus of elasticity of the shim as a function of the measured natural frequencies of the standard test bar mounted to the interface structure, and (e) once the appropriate modulus of elasticity is selected, performing the desired finite element analysis on the finite element model.

The present invention relates to numerical techniques for modeling and solving complex system equations through the use of a finite element model and more particularly to a method for incorporating boundary conditions into a finite element model.
Finite element analysis is a computerized method widely used in industry to model and solve engineering problems relating to complex systems. A finite element model is generating by reducing the system, or domain, into a number of discretized units typically referred to as finite elements. Once reduced, the domain can be represented by a system of equations that are solved, typically by computer, to predict the response of the domain to various external influences. Finite element analysis is used in a variety of applications including solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, biomechanics, heat transfer, geomechanics, aeromechanics, coupled systems, chemical reactions, acoustics, and electric and magnetic fields.
Perhaps the most common use of finite element analysis is in the field of solid mechanics where it is used to analyze structural problems. Finite element analysis software adapted for use with solid mechanics is available from a wide variety of commercial suppliers. Finite element analysis begins by using finite element software to generating a finite element model of the system. In this model, the component is reduced into a number of finite elements. The finite element reduction is fixed to "ground" at more or more locations to simulate attachment of the component to an interface structure. In the finite element model, "ground" represents a perfectly rigid structure that will not flex or move under a load. A simulated load or other influence is applied to the system and the resulting effect is analyzed using conventional mathematical methodologies. This method is well suited when the designed component is to interface with a structure that is, like ground, perfectly rigid. In many applications, however, the structure with which the component is to interface will not have such characteristics. This poses a significant problem because the rigidity of the interface structure affects the natural frequencies of any components attached thereto. For example, automobile engine mounting bosses do not have the same rigidity characteristics as ground. Therefore, engine brackets and similar components will exhibit different natural frequencies when mounted to the engine than when modeled using conventional finite element analysis.
One method for addressing this problem is to design the component using conventional finite element analysis, manufacture a prototype based on this design, and then physically determine the natural frequencies of the prototype attached to the interface structure (i.e. the engine). Once the actual natural frequencies are determined, the boundary conditions of the finite element model are adjusted using a trial and error method until an acceptable correlation with the measured frequencies is achieved. This process is extremely time consuming and CPU intensive because it requires the design and testing of an initial prototype as well as repeated adjustment and resolution of the system equations.

Method for incorporating boundary conditions into finite element analysis


An apparatus for measuring the quantity and optical parameters of a liquid in a container using the principle of optical low coherence reflectometry is provided, the apparatus having: a source arm with a low coherence light source; a reference arm including a reference lens, a mirror, means for adjusting the distance between the reference lens and the mirror and means for measuring the distance between the reference lens and the mirror; a test arm with a test lens; means for dividing the output of the source arm between the test arm and the reference arm; means for combining light reflected back into the reference arm and the test arm to create an interference signal; and means for detecting and analyzing the interference signal.

Interferometry refers to the superposition of electromagnetic waves in order to extract information about those waves. Low-coherence interferometry (LCI) is an interferometry technique utilizing low-coherence light sources. LCI allows for precise measurement of the amplitude and the relative phase of reflected or backscattered light.
One common type of interferometer is a Michelson optical interferometer. Michelson interferometers have a light source, a beam splitter which splits the light into a reference arm and a measurement arm and a light detector. The measurement beam is reflected from the specimen being analyzed. The time required for the measurement beam to travel back along the measurement arm and arrive at the light detector depends on the various refractive indexes in the different layers of the specimen. The reference mirror is positioned on a movable delay line to allow the time delay of the reference arm to be adjusted and matched to the time delay of the light reflecting off of the specimen and travelling through the measurement arm. The light from the reference mirror and the light from the specimen, which have multiple partial reflections at multiple delay times, are then recombined and detected. The optical distance of the reflecting regions in the specimen are determined by analyzing the recombined light beam as detected by the light detector.
Optical low-coherence reflectometry (OLCR) is an interferometry technique for one-dimensional optical ranging where the amplitude and longitudinal delay of backscattering from a specimen are resolved using a Michelson interferometer incorporating a low-coherence light source. This technique can resolve surfaces spaced by less than 10 μm and can detect optical power reflectivities as low as −136 dB. OLCR Michelson interferometers can be constructed using fiber optic components, thus minimizing their size and weight, and lowering the requirements for the alignment.
Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a basic OLCR interferometer is shown. Such an interferometer includes: a low-coherence source (A); a source-to-isolator fiber (B); an isolator (C); an isolator output fiber (D); a fiber coupler (E); a test arm fiber (F); a reference arm fiber (I); a mirror (H); a detector fiber (J); and a light detector (K). Light travels from the low-coherence source (A) through the source-to-isolator fiber (B), the isolator (C) and the isolator output fiber (D) to the fiber coupler (E), which splits the beam between the test arm fiber (F) and the reference arm fiber (I). Light in the test arm fiber (F) travels to the specimen (G), and is reflected back through the test arm fiber (F). Light in the reference arm fiber (I) travels to the mirror (H) and is reflected back through the reference arm fiber (I). The reflected light from the test arm fiber (F) and the reflected light from the reference arm fiber (I) are recombined in the fiber coupler (E). The recombined light travels through the detector fiber (J) to the detector (K). The isolator (C) prevents reflected light from interfering with light from the source (A). When the optical path length to the mirror (H) is equal to the optical path length to a reflection in the specimen (G), the reflected light from the test arm (F) and the reflected light from the reference arm (I) add coherently to produce coherence fringes (known as coherence spikes) at the light detector (K). To improve the detection of the coherence signal, the reference arm (I) can include a phase modulation device. In some embodiments, the phase modulation device has a vibrating mirror; in other embodiments, the phase modulation device has an electro-optic phase modulator. The amplitude of the coherence signal is a function of the reflection coefficient of the specimen (G). In some embodiments, the amplitude of the coherence signal can be proportional to the square root of the product of the powers in the reference and signal channels. Thus, translating the mirror (H) to vary the optical path length of the reference arm (I) allows the reflectivity profile of the specimen (G) to be mapped. When the optical path length difference is larger than the coherence length of the source (A), the coherence signal no longer exists. The coherence length of a source Lc is determined by the following equation:
      L    c    =            λ      2              n                                      Δ                                      λ      In this equation, n is the refractive index of the test material, λ is the average source wavelength, and Δλ is the source spectral width.
One potential application for OLCR is in the field of hydrocarbon condensation measurement systems used in the oil and gas industry. These systems must be capable of accurately quantifying small amounts of liquids under extreme temperatures and pressures. For the purposes of chemical analysis, it is also desirable that such systems be capable of accurately measuring the refractive indices of liquids.
Fiber optic systems have a number of advantages over other types of prior art liquid measurement systems, including immunity to electromagnetic interference, the ability to operate in a wide variety of environmental conditions, high sensitivity and the potential for multiplexing.
Current fiber optic liquid measurement systems are often complex and sensitive to external disturbances. Many of these systems are designed to measure only the refractive indices of test liquids and are not capable of measuring the thickness of a liquid layer. Furthermore, they require a fiber tip to be inserted into the test liquid.
Current fiber optic liquid measurement systems capable of measuring the thickness of a liquid layer require an optical reflecting surface separate from and behind the test liquid. Such systems also require a large lens surface to collect the light reflected from the test liquid.
It is therefore desirable to provide an apparatus and method for measuring the quantity and optical parameters of a liquid in a container using the principle of optical low coherence reflectometry that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.

Apparatus and method for measuring the quantity and optical parameters of a liquid in a container using the principle of optical low coherence reflectometry

The Governors of the University of Alberta


An operating system for driver assistance systems of a motor vehicle, has a plurality of operating elements which can be assigned to at least one operating group and which are disposed solely for operating driver assistance systems that can be assigned to at least one group. A corresponding function for operating the driver assistance systems can be assigned to each of the operating elements on the basis of adjustable combinations of operating modes of the driver assistance systems. The operating elements are disposed in order to operate an adaptive cruise control system, and in order to operate a lane departure warning system.

The invention relates to an operating system for driver assistance systems of a motor vehicle and to a motor vehicle having such an operating system.
Various switches and/or levers at the driver's place are used to activate the driver assistance systems which are made available in a modern motor vehicle and to control various functions. For example, many of the driver assistance systems are controlled by switches which are mounted on a steering wheel or by what are referred to as steering column control stalks.
As a result of the increasing number of functions and new stages of automation of such driver assistance systems and the limited space available in the direct reach of the driver, the selection and activation of the driver assistance systems is becoming more and more confusing. The operating elements for controlling or operating the driver assistance systems are to a certain extent no longer directly visible to the driver. Overall, the driver can be distracted from the events on the roadway by the increasing number of driver assistance systems and the operating elements which are provided for them. Furthermore, the higher operating demands in terms of comfort and the simplest possible operation capability are met only to an insufficient degree by currently widespread operating systems for driver assistance systems.

Operating system for driver assistance systems of a motor vehicle and motor vehicle with an operating system of this kind


A rigid pack for tobacco products comprises an outer wrapper (3) furnished with a container (4) presenting an open top (5), surmounted by a lid (6) hinged to the container (4) and rotatable between a position in which the open top (5) is exposed and a position, interacting with a frame (20) anchored to the open top (5), in which the open top is closed, the tobacco products being enveloped by an inner wrapper (19). The pack (1) presents four lateral faces (16, 17, 18) arranged in two parallel pairs, also a top end face (15) and a bottom end face (11) disposed transversely to the lateral faces (16, 17, 18), which define a front, a back and two flanks. At least one of the lateral faces (16, 17, 18) presents a deformation referable to at least one bend line (21), coinciding with a crease line (3) impressed previously on the blank from which the pack is fashioned, and obtained by subjecting the flank faces (18) to compression in such a way that the bend line (21) is forced into relief.

In general, a rigid pack of the type in question is fabricated from a precreased flat diecut blank and comprises a container, also a lid hinged to a rear edge of the selfsame container and rotatable thus about a hinge line between positions in which one open end of the container is open and closed, and a reinforcing frame disposed partly inside the container, anchored to the front and two flank faces, of which the function is typically to retain the lid correctly in the closed position.
Such packs comprise an outer wrapper fashioned from the aforementioned flat blank and containing a group of cigarettes enveloped by an inner wrapper made customarily of metal foil paper. The packer machines used currently to manufacture packets of cigarettes are designed to fold the outer wrapper closely about the inner wrapper, thus producing an packet of substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape which is rendered extremely compact, with the result that any relative movement between the outer and inner wrappers and the cigarettes of the group is prevented. Conversely, this packaging solution betrays the drawback that the smoker, having opened the packet, has difficulty in removing the first few cigarettes of the group.
Moreover, once the hinged lid has been opened for the first time and removed thus from a position in which its edges were faultlessly aligned and in contact with the corresponding edges afforded by the open end of the container, it is difficult for this position to be regained when the lid is closed again, and the edges of the container and the lid remain distanced marginally from one another.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks described above.

Method of manufacturing rigid cigarette packs including deforming at least one lateral face of the wrapper


Techniques for controlling a distributed generation management system may be provided. Real-time power generation information may be collected from sensors of energy generation systems that make up a grid of controlled systems. An aggregate real-time power generation requirement may be determined for the grid based on the real-time power generation information. Using the aggregate requirements, a power profile may be calculated for the grid that indicates a level of power generation for the grid. In some examples, a control signal to control power generation may be generated and provided to the controlled systems.

In recent years, climate awareness and the cost of energy has increased to the point that many consumers have begun to install renewable energy generation systems at both residential and non-residential locations. Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, for example, have become relatively popular. Often, the PV systems will be "grid-tied," in that it is connected to the utility-maintained electrical system (i.e., "the greater grid"). In many ways, this can be a benefit to the greater grid and/or the consumer. However, this can also pose technological and/or safety challenges, for example when the output of the PV systems becomes greater than that desired by the greater grid.

Controlling a distributed generation management system


Provided is an air jet emission method used in a recording apparatus. The recording apparatus performs predetermined printing by ejecting ink droplets from a recording head provided in an apparatus body onto a medium. The medium is fed into the apparatus body while being guided by a guide and is transported from an upstream side, which is one side with respect to the apparatus body, toward a downstream side, which is an opposite side with respect to the apparatus body. The air jet emission method comprises: emitting a jet of air onto a surface of the transported medium at a predetermined area over a heating device at the upstream side, thereby blowing dust off the surface of the transported medium. The heating device is provided in the guide so as to apply heat to the transported medium.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for emitting a jet of air in a liquid ejecting apparatus, and the apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to an air jet emission technique that is useful when applied to a large format printer.
2. Related Art
A liquid ejecting apparatus is provided with a liquid ejecting head and performs predetermined printing by emitting liquid droplets from the liquid ejecting head onto a medium such as paper, cloth, a film, or the like. A typical example of such a liquid ejecting apparatus is an ink-jet recording apparatus (hereinafter may be simply referred to as "recording apparatus"), which is provided with an ink-jet recording head (hereinafter may be simply referred to as "recording head") for ejecting ink droplets. A so-called large format printer, which is a kind of such a recording apparatus, performs printing on large-sized paper. The body of such a large format printer is mounted on its stand. In such a large format printer, a medium is transported along a guide and is fed into the printer body while being guided by the guide through an opening formed at an upstream side, which is the entrance side of the printer body, and, after completion of predetermined printing by a recording head inside the printer body, is outputted through an opening formed at a downstream side, which is the exit side of the printer body. The medium is in the form of a roll and is rotatably supported by the stand. The medium is unreeled and is fed into the printer body from the upstream side. As mentioned above, the recording head performs predetermined printing, and, after that, the medium is outputted from the exit side of the printer body.
In such a large format printer, the transportation path of the medium supported in the form of a roll by the stand and transported along the guide before being fed into the printer body at the upstream side as viewed from the recording head is long. Because of the long transportation path, the probability of settlement of dust (fiber particles, etc.) drifting in the air onto the surface of the unreeled medium is high. If printing is performed on such a medium the surface of which is contaminated with dust, it causes displacement in the landing positions of ink droplets ejected, resulting in poor print quality.
A known technique for preventing the nozzles of the recording head of an ink-jet recording apparatus from being clogged with paper dust or other dust and thereby guaranteeing great reliability is disclosed in JP-A-2003-220695. In the structure disclosed in JP-A-2003-220695, an air stream is produced inside the body of the apparatus at an upstream side as viewed from the recording head so as to prevent dust, etc. from entering the body of the apparatus. In this structure, a voltage is applied between a transportation unit and the recording head to apply electric charges to dust, etc. drifting in the air, thereby causing the dust, etc. to be attracted onto a medium by static electricity.
However, in JP-A-2003-220695, there is a possibility that the air stream produced at the upstream side as viewed from the recording head will cause displacement in the landing positions of ink droplets ejected. Moreover, when the charged dust is attracted onto the medium, depending on the attitude of the dust such as fiber particles, etc., there is a risk of the re-settlement of the dust into the nozzles of the recording head and the resultant running of ink droplets down onto the medium via the fiber particles. In both of these cases, print quality will be poor.
The problems described above are not unique to an ink-jet recording apparatus. The same problems could also arise in various kinds of liquid ejecting apparatuses.

Air jet emission method used in liquid ejecting apparatus, and the apparatus


A range switching device may switch a shift range despite resetting and restarting of a controller. When the controller is reset and restarted during a switching operation of the shift range and the shift range before or after being switched is a P range, the controller controls a motor to rotate the motor until a range switching mechanism abuts against a first limit position of a movable range of the range switching mechanism and learns a rotation position of the motor as a reference position of the motor. When the shift ranges before and after being switched are the ranges other that the P range, the controller controls the motor to rotate until the range switching mechanism abuts against a second limit position of the movable range and learns the rotation position of the motor as the reference position.

In recent years, manual operations of apparatuses within vehicles, as well as in other devices, are increasingly being replaced by motor-driven operations that utilize electric motors. Motor-driven operations provide many benefits, such as space-savings, ease of assembly, improved controllability and the like. The replacement of an automatic transmission range switching mechanism within a vehicle is an example of such a replacement from manual operation to motor-driven operation. Such a mechanism is equipped with an encoder that is synchronized with the motor and outputs a pulse signal at every given angle of rotation of the motor. In operation, during a range switching (i.e., when a gear shift position of the automatic transmission is changed), the motor is driven to a target rotation position corresponding to a target shift range based on a count value (hereinafter referred to as "an encoder count value") of the pulse signal of the encoder and the automatic transmission is shifted to the target shift range.
For example, a patent document 1 (i.e., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-56858 A) discloses a system having a controller with a nonvolatile memory that stores a target rotation position. After turning on or resetting the controller, the controller sets the target rotation position stored in the memory as a start-up target rotation position. As a result, even when the controller is reset due to, for example, a momentary voltage drop, signal noise or the like, the target rotation position does not change before and after the reset of the controller.
However, when a reset of the controller occurs during the switching operation of the shift range, an encoder count value, a reference position, or the like that is stored within RAM is also reset. As such, the encoder count value for rotating the motor is no longer stored when the controller is restarted. Therefore, although the target rotation position (e.g., the start-up target rotation position) is determined at the restart of the controller, the rotation position of the motor is unknown. Thus, it may be impossible to switch the shift range and to control the motor after the reset of the controller.


An approach is provided for extending social networking to television viewing. A community of a plurality of users is created, wherein each user is logged in a device configured to present audio-video content. Presence information of one of the users in the community is determined and transmitted to a corresponding device of another one of the users.

Traditionally, the television has been the most widely used entertainment and information device for most people. Today, however, Internet use is gaining popularity over television especially among younger people, as computers, interactive electronic communications, and the Internet become integral components of daily life. At the same time, television programming choices have expanded tremendously. A viewer may have hundreds of television programs from which to choose at any given time of the day. The vast number of programming choices paradoxically makes it more difficult for viewers to find programs that they might enjoy. Viewers can look to their friends for recommendations, but the number of programming choices could easily overwhelm any manual process for receiving programming recommendations.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach that enhances the television experience to provide a more interactive and community-based experience for viewers.

Method and apparatus for providing online social networking for television viewing


In a spinning reel for fishing, there is provided a recess (1c) in the leg section (1b) having the fishing rod attaching section (1a) of the reel body (1), and also there is provided a recess (1d) in the reel body (1). The lever-shaped change-over member (4) and the spring (13) are housed in the recess (1c). The lever-shaped change-over member (4) is pivotally supported by the shaft (14) in such a manner that the lever-shaped change-over member (4) can be displaced. The operating section (4b) of the lever-shaped change-over member (4) is arranged in such a manner that it can be pressed down by a finger of the angler""s hand holding the fishing rod (15). The acting section (4c) extending forward in the recess (1d) is made to face the reverse rotation preventive claw (7) of the first reverse rotation preventive device (A), and the reverse rotation preventive claw (7) is made to face the first reverse rotation preventive ratchet (5). The reverse rotation preventive claw (9) operated by the spring (3) would round the outer circumference of the drive shaft (2a) of the drive gear (2) is made to face the second reverse rotation preventive ratchet (9) of the second reverse rotation preventive device (B).

The present invention relates to a spinning reel for fishing, the reverse rotation preventive device of which is improved.
Conventionally, when a fishline is drawn out by an angler from a spinning reel for fishing, a bail of the spinning reel is raised and the fishline wound round a spool is engaged with the forefinger of the hand holding a fishing rod, and then the fishline is cast by swinging down the fishing rod with the engagement with the forefinger released so as to draw out the fishline. In order to conduct the above series of operation easily, there is provided a spinning reel for fishing in which not only the normal reverse rotation preventive device (first reverse rotation preventive device) but also another reverse rotation preventive device (second reverse rotation preventive device) capable of engaging and holding a rotor at a constant position, at which the fishline can be engaged by the forefinger of the hand holding the fishing rod, is provided. This spinning reel is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication Nos. 52-19490 and 57-197880.
This spinning reel is composed as follows. A first and a second reverse rotation preventive device are provided in a drive shaft section rotating integrally with a rotor, and a change-over operating member for operating an engaging member, which conducts a reverse rotation preventive action when it is engaged with each of the first and the second reverse rotation preventive device, is provided in a reel body section, so that a state of preventing a reverse rotation can be kept by both the reverse rotation preventive devices.
However, the above spinning reel for fishing is composed in such a manner that the single change-over member provided in the reel body section changes over between the normal reverse rotation preventive state, and the constant position reverse rotation preventive state in which the reverse rotation of the rotor is stopped at a preferable position in the case of drawing out a fishline. Therefore, it is necessary for the angler to pass the change-over member, which is attached to a rear portion of the reel body, from one hand holding the fishing rod to the other hand holding the handle of the reel body. For the above reasons, it is difficult for the angler to operate the change-over member quickly and easily, and further the angler tends to make mistakes in the change-over operation.
Since the change-over member is arranged at the rear of the reel body, dimensions of the rear portion of the reel body tend to increase. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the dimensions of the spinning reel for fishing.
Problems to be solved by the invention are described as follows. The conventional spinning reel for fishing is composed in such a manner that the single change-over member provided in the reel body section changes over between the normal reverse rotation preventive state, and the constant position reverse rotation preventive state in which the reverse rotation of the rotor is stopped at a preferable position in the case of drawing out a fishline. Therefore, it is necessary for the angler to pass the change-over member, which is attached to a rear portion of the reel body, from one hand holding the fishing rod to the other hand holding the handle of the reel body each time. For the above reasons, it is difficult for the angler to operate the change-over member quickly and easily, and further the angler tends to make mistakes in the change-over operation.
Since the change-over member is arranged at the rear of the reel body, dimensions of the rear portion of the reel body tend to increase. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the dimensions of the spinning reel for fishing.
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has bee accomplished. It is an object of the present invention to provide a spinning reel for fishing in which a change-over operation of the rotor reverse rotation preventive device can be quickly and easily conducted and also an operation to set the rotor at a constant position can be quickly and easily conducted while the fishing rod is being held by an angler.
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides, according to a first aspect, a spinning reel for fishing comprising: a rotor rotatably supported by a reel body; a drive mechanism for driving the rotor by operating a handle provided in the reel body; a first reverse rotation preventive device for preventing a reverse rotation of the rotor when a fishline is wound; and a second reverse rotation preventive device for engaging and holding the rotor at a preferable position when the fishline is cast, wherein a change-over operating member for changing over from a normal reverse rotation preventive state made by the first reverse rotation preventive device to a predetermined position engaging state made by the second reverse rotation preventive device is displacably arranged in a leg section having a fishing rod attaching section of the reel body.
The present invention provides, according to a second aspect, a spinning reel for fishing, in which the change-over operating member is urged in one direction, and the reverse rotation preventive state made by the first reverse rotation preventive device is released and the rotor is engaged at a predetermined position by the second reverse rotation preventive device only when an operating section of the change-over operating member is operated.
According to the first aspect, the rotor (6) is set at a predetermined position, which is preferable for the operation of drawing out a fishline, as follows. When the operating section (4b) of the change-over operating member (4) is pressed down by a finger of the hand holding the fishing rod (15) and the fishing rod attaching section (1a) or when the operating section (4b) or the push button (45) of the change-over operating member (4xe2x80x2) is lifted up, the function of preventing a reverse rotation by the first reverse rotation preventive device (A) is released, and when the handle (12) is reversed, the rotor (6) can be set at a predetermined position which is preferable for the operation of drawing out a fishline. Without passing the fishing rod (15) and the fishing rod attaching section (1a) from one hand to the other and also without passing the handle (12) from one hand to the other, while the angler is holding the fishing rod 15, it is possible for him to quickly and easily change over the reverse rotation preventive state of the rotor 6.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the operating section (4b) of the change-over operating member (4) or the push button (45) is operated by the finger of the angler""s hand, the second reverse rotation preventive device B to engage the rotor 6 at a predetermined position which is preferable for the operation of drawing out a fishline functions, and when the operation to operate the change-over operating member (4, 4xe2x80x2) or the push button 45 is released, the reverse rotation preventive state is changed over to the normal reverse rotation preventative state in which the first reverse rotation preventive device A is operated. Due to the above simple structure, it is possible to quickly and simply change over between the state in which the fishline is drawn out from the spinning reel and the state in which the fishline is wound by the spinning reel in the case of actual fishing.


A controller controls a plurality of drives of a lifting device, wherein the controller is configured to perform a kinematic transformation of spatial position and orientation coordinates of a body and controls the drives based on the kinematic transformation. The drives can be electric drives. At least six drives are provided and regulated, so that their number exceeds the number of spatial position and orientation coordinates of the body. The lifting device is thus overdetermined.

The invention relates to a controller for a lifting device, in particular a lifting cable installation, and a method for operating the lifting device in particular for controlling said lifting device, wherein here the term "a control procedure" is also understood to mean "a closed-loop control procedure". The invention also relates to a computer program product that is embodied so as to implement the method and the invention likewise relates to a lifting device.
Lifting devices are by way of example cranes, portal cranes, container cranes, STS cranes, lifting installations, lifting cable installations etc. Lifting devices have in particular a lifting cable installation. Lifting devices are in particular used so as to lift and/or move bodies, which may also be referred to as a load. In this case, the body is in particular not fixedly guided but rather lifted in a freely suspended or suspended manner. The body is in particular a container and/or a spreader beam for lifting a container.
EP 2 902 356 A1 discloses a method for damping a pendulum movement of a load on a crane in which a lift drive of a cable is controlled. The load is tilted via the cable during the pendulum movement in order to produce a torque that counteracts the pendulum movement. Alternatively, the center of gravity of the load is raised and/or lowered in order to counteract the pendulum movement.
The publication DE 20 02 745 A1 discloses a method for suppressing pendulum movements of a load that is suspended on a crane. In this case, a speed of a crane trolley is adjusted to an average period duration of the swinging load. In a first range of the first period, a maximum acceleration is performed and in the last range of the last period an identically high deceleration of the crane trolley is performed.
WO 2016/161470 A1 discloses a transporting facility for transporting at least one container or another load, wherein the transporting facility has at least one crane trolley and at least one load receiving apparatus and at least eight lifting cables, and the load receiving apparatus has connecting facilities for fastening the container or the other load and said load receiving apparatus hangs by means of the lifting cables on the crane trolley in a manner in which said load may be raised and may be lowered, wherein the lifting cables may be wound onto the cable drums that are rotatably mounted on the crane trolley, wherein each lifting cable may be wound and/or is at least in part wound on a dedicated cable drum and the rotational speed and/or the rotational direction may be respectively individually set in the case of all the cable drums.
The Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Produktionsforschung [The Stuttgart Journal of Production Research] discloses an article regarding the topic "Force Control of Cable-Driven Parallel Robots" by Werner Kraus. In this dissertation, a class of robots that uses cables for transmitting force is studied. Since cables only transmit pulling forces, exacting demands are imposed on the closed-loop control procedure of the so-called parallel cable robots. The cable robots that are the foundation in this work comprise more cables than degrees of freedom of movement of the platform and therefore belong to the class of redundant robots. The redundancy renders it possible to tension the cables against one another. In this work, initially an approach is proposed for the closed-loop control procedure of the platform position and a synchronous closed-loop control procedure of the cable forces. For this purpose, dynamic models are developed on the basis of the elastic cables and the forward kinematics are also extended. It is possible using the proposed method for calculating the cable forces to set the internal tension of the cables in an infinitely variable manner. The studies show that the natural frequencies of the platform may be shifted by 15-30% by way of changing the pretension. It is possible by way of selecting a low cable tension to reduce the energy consumption in the case of the remaining power of the robot by up to 20%. In order to verify the closed-loop control concept, the positional accuracy of the robot is experimentally studied. The open-loop control procedure of the robot on the basis of a geometric model, which does not comprise closed control circuits for the platform position and the cable forces, is used as a reference. In the center of the operating space, it was possible using both approaches to achieve a comparable accuracy using a carrying capacity of 80 kg of approximately 70 mm and 2.5°. It is also possible on the edge of the operating space to achieve a comparable accuracy using the proposed method since the cables are held under stress. For operating processes such as for example hauling procedures and known hybrid position closed-loop control procedures and force closed-loop control procedures for cable robots transmit. It is possible using the closed-loop control procedure approach for the robot platform to apply a contact force in a desired direction while the platform may move in the remaining directions in a positionally-controlled manner. An admittance closed-loop control procedure is proposed for the human-robot cooperation. In this case, the platform simulates a spring mass damper system with the aid of which a virtual operating space is realized. The evaluation shows that a bandwidth up to 13 Hz may be represented.
In the field of lifting devices there is growing demand for an improved operating method by way of which by way of example an improved utilization of cables is possible. As a consequence, by way of example it is also possible to use electric drives of a lower power. During operation, the demands placed on the mechanical and/or electrical components that are used are to be reduced.
Cranes are used for transporting containers. Rapid and more precise positioning in all the spatial directions and all the directions of rotation are necessary both when the container is received using the spreader beam (suspended on cables) as well as when the container is placed on for example a truck or on a container stack. It is not possible to realize all the movement directions by way of the typical crane axis trolley, lifting installation and gantry (the latter only provided in the case of stack cranes or portal cranes). At least the rotations of the spreader beam/container are therefore not possible at this time. For this reason, cranes are fitted with additional systems in order to realize these rotational movements. In the case of STS cranes (in particular for loading and/or unloading a ship), these are hydraulic cylinders that modify the positions of individual cables of the lifting installation (lifting installation cables). In the case of stack cranes (in particular for arranging or rearranging containers in the rear region of the terminal) hydraulic cylinders are mounted on the spreader beam.
An object of the invention is to improve a lifting device, in particular an object is to improve the handling procedure using a lifting cable installation.

Controller for a lifting device, and method for operating same


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for managing underwater acoustic communications. An automatic network slicing method specifically designed for handling underwater acoustic communications is implemented to enable admission control, routing, and dynamic resource allocation based on service level agreement requirements.

The underwater environment is extremely challenging for wireless communications and networking. The main reason is related to the communication channels' characteristics in the underwater environment. Radio frequency (RF) and magnetic induction (MI) are severely absorbed in salty water, which limits transmission distance to 100 m at frequencies of about 30 Hz −300 Hz. Optical communications suffer from high scattering losses due to turbulence in the underwater environment, limiting its reliability and transmission distance. Acoustic communications technology, despite its propagation delay and multi-path fading, is the typical physical layer technology in underwater networks. Underwater acoustic communication (UAC) offers a long-range and reliable solution for low-rate wireless communications in different water environments. In addition to the harsh communication characteristics, other challenges of underwater networks include the high cost, low level of supervision, and limited power supply.
Accordingly, what is needed are systems and methods to enable efficient, reliable, and flexible network slicing of underwater acoustic communication systems (UACS).

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media of automatic network slicing of underwater acoustic communication system resources


Embodiments include antenna systems capable of producing high quality circularly, elliptically, or linearly polarized radiation. Embodiments include single feed (single-ended or differential) or multiple feed antennas. Embodiments can be electronically configured to adjust the type of polarization of the antenna system. In an embodiment, the polarization of the antenna system is adjusted by adjusting at least the position of a grounding node relative to the position of a feed node. In another embodiment, the polarization of the antenna system is adjusted by configuring one or more input nodes of the antenna between feed nodes, grounding nodes, and open nodes. In another embodiment, the polarization of the antenna system is adjusted by adjusting the phase of a single differential feed of the system.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to antennas.
2. Background Art
To produce a circularly polarized antenna, conventional approaches produce two orthogonal linearly polarized electric field components by providing two feeds to the antenna. The two feeds excite two orthogonal (e.g., X direction, Y direction) electromagnetic field modes such that one of the modes is excited with a 90 degrees phase delay relative to the other mode. Circular polarization (CP) may also be achieved using a single feed by placing the feed along one of the diagonals in a square patch, by including thin diagonal slots in a square patch, by elliptical patch shapes, or by trimming opposite corners in a square patch.
In certain conditions, conventional methods for producing CP may be inadequate. In addition, there is a need that the antenna system be re-configurable to produce as many types of polarizations as possible, to increase its utility.
The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Generally, the drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.


By the present invention, on the basis of information read from a magnetic recording section of a negative film (Step 200), when it is judged that there are a plurality of negative images to be exposed by the same exposure amount (the judgment in Step 212 is affirmative), a film type is identified to determine the film base density thereof, and a predetermined reference density value is added to the film base density so as to obtain a density control amount which controls the density of a print image (Steps 216 through 220). Thereafter, a color balance mean value of a large number of negative images of the same type is detected and a weighted mean value of a color balance mean value among a plurality of negative images to be exposed and the detected color balance value to obtain a color control amount (Step 222). Then, a common exposure amount is computed from the thus obtained density control amount and the color control amount (Step 224) for exposing the negative images to be exposed by the same exposure amount onto a printing paper by the common exposure amount (Step 278).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reproducing machine and a method of determining reproducing conditions, and more particularly to a method of determining reproducing conditions which determine conditions for reproducing images which are recorded on a photographic film having an information recording section, and to a reproducing machine to which the method of determining reproducing conditions is applicable.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a photographic film (which is referred to as an APS film hereinafter) on which a magnetic recording layer is formed by a transparent magnetic material being coated thereon has been known. Because information or the like indicating photographic conditions such as an exposure and the like at the time of photographing are recorded on the magnetic recording layer of an APS film by a camera, negative images are printed at a photo-finishing laboratory (hereinafter referred to just as a laboratory) by determining an exposure amount with respect to a negative image on the basis of information or the like indicating photographic conditions which have been recorded on the magnetic recording layer of the APS film so that in accordance with photographic conditions or the like, images with high quality can be printed. Further, for example, various instructions provided for a laboratory including a print aspect ratio, the number of prints and the like can be recorded on the magnetic recording layer of the APS film and various instructions can be transmitted to the laboratory via the magnetic recording layer of the APS film.
An FTPM (Fixed Timer Printing Method) signal may be recorded on the magnetic recording layer of the APS film. The FTPM signal is a signal which instructs a laboratory to expose all of the images recorded on the APS film by the same exposure amount. The FTPM signal is recorded on the magnetic recording layer by a user via a camera or the like especially in a case in which all of the images which have been recorded on the APS film must have a fixed finish, as is the case of a portrait photo to be attached to an identification card, a product sample photo or the like, or in a case in which an exposure amount for each of negative images at the time of photographing is deliberately changed by the photographer (user)'s intention.
In a case in which the FTPM signal is recorded on the magnetic recording layer of the APS film, at a laboratory, all of the images recorded on the APS film are exposed to a reproducing material by the same exposure amount, and images are printed. However, in a case in which all of the images are instructed to be exposed onto the APS film by the same exposure amount in accordance with the FTPM signal, no concrete method for determining an exposure amount for all of the images in order to make prints each having a proper finish among all of the images has been made apparent.
What can be generally considered as a method for controlling exposure amount for each of images which are instructed to be exposed by the same exposure amount is a so-called `timer exposure method` by which each image is exposed by a predetermined amount of exposure during a fixed period of time.
In accordance with the timer exposure, because each image is exposed by the same exposure amount regardless of the density or the like at the main or background portion of the image, the print finish does not vary due to a density or the like at a main or background portion of the image (a so-called object dependency does not exist). However, as compared to an ordinary exposure control method in which each image is metered and an exposure amount for the image is determined on the basis of a mean density of the image, in the timer exposure method, there is a drawback in that, because variation in the sensitivity of a photographic film or in a development process of the photographic film is not reflected in the exposure amount, and is not corrected therefore, the possibility for obtaining a print image having a proper finish is excessively low.
In view of the aforementioned, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 4-319933 discloses a photographic printing method in which, when the images, which are photographed and recorded on a photographic film by a camera provided with a function to meter the images by a plurality of metering elements and determine an exposure, are printed, a plurality of image frames are metered, a print exposure amount is determined on the basis of a mean value of the metered values of all of the image frames, and the plurality of image frames are printed in accordance with the thus determined print exposure amount. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 6-160996 discloses a photographic printing method in which images recorded on a photographic film are sorted into groups in accordance with photographic conditions, and the images which have been sorted into the same group are printed by the same or similar exposure amount.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 4-352148 discloses a photographic printing method in which, when the images, which have been photographed and recorded on a photographic film by a camera provided with a function to meter the images by a plurality of metering elements and determine exposure at the time of focusing, are printed, the focused metering area is made to be an area in which a main object is disposed, the area is metered for each of a plurality of image frames, a print exposure amount is determined on the basis of a mean value of the metered values, and a plurality of image frames are printed on a printing paper on the basis of the thus determined print exposure amount.
In the art of any of the above-described applications, a print exposure amount is determined on the basis of a mean value of metered values of the images which have been photographed by a camera which can determine an exposure with a high degree of accuracy.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 5-72647, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 5-72648, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 5-72649, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 5-127270, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 6-167756 disclose a method of determining a print exposure amount on the basis of a ratio of an image density value for each of image frames with respect to a mean value of metered values obtained by metering a plurality of image frames of a film, the film being photographed by a camera which can determine a proper exposure, or on the basis of an exposure correction amount which is determined by photographic conditions.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 6-208178 discloses a method of determining a print exposure amount on the basis of a print density control amount common to a plurality of image frames which have been photographed by a camera which can automatically determine an exposure amount, and a color balance control amount which is determined for each of the image frames in accordance with metered values of the image frames.
In this way, it has been conventionally proposed that, with respect to all of the images which are recorded on a photographic film, or all of the images which are selected by identifying exposure accuracy or metering accuracy of a camera, a common exposure amount is determined for each of the images on the basis of a mean value of metered values of respective images, or an exposure amount for each image is determined by further effecting various corrections on the common exposure amount.
However, as described above, assuming that a common exposure amount is determined on the basis of a mean value of metered values (a mean value of density values) and a plurality of images which are instructed by the FTPM signal to be exposed by the same exposure amount are exposed by the determined common exposure amount, even if the exposure which has been determined by a camera at the time of photographing is accurate, in a case in which all or a large number of images are those which are photographed in a relatively bright background, all of the photographic prints resulting from respective images are images having a high degree of density. Meanwhile, in a case in which all or a large number of images are those which are photographed in a relatively dark background (for example, images with a night view photographed or the like), all of the photographic prints obtained from respective images are images having a low degree of density. Accordingly, so-called density failure is caused. Or in a case in which a background against which images are photographed is restricted to a specified color, color failure is also caused.
Further, in a method of determining a common exposure amount on the basis of a mean value of metered values of respective images, even if a plurality of images which are instructed to be exposed by the same exposure amount are those which are photographed intentionally at underexposure by a photographer in order to reproduce a hi-light image portion, a problem arises in that since the common exposure amount is determined so as to maintain a mean density of the image of a photographic print substantially constant, a photographic print having a finish which meets the photographer's intention cannot be obtained. This is a problem that may be caused in a similar manner to the above-described problem when the photographer takes pictures at overexposure.
Moreover, a series scene signal may be recorded on the magnetic recording layer of an APS film. The series scene signal is a signal which instructs that a specified plurality of images among images which are recorded on the APS film are exposed by the same exposure amount. As described above, there is a problem that it can occur with a high possibility that a print image having a proper finish from each of the images which have been instructed by the FTPM signal to be exposed by the same exposure amount cannot be obtained. The problem may also cause to a specified plurality of images which are instructed by a series scene signal to be exposed by the same exposure amount.

Reproducing machine and a method of determining reproducing conditions


A glycopolymer composition is provided comprising glycopolymer molecules having a polymer backbone; a first pendent unit comprising a linking group connected to said polymer backbone and a saccharide moiety connected to said linking group, optionally a second pendent unit; a phenyl ring at a first end of the polymer backbone; and a cyanoxyl group at the second end of the polymer backbone, useful as intermediates for making bioactive glycopolymers which bind to bioactive molecules, viruses, cells and substrates for protein separation, cell culture, ad drug delivery systems, as well as in targeting for treatment of wound healing and other pathological conditions.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are naturally occurring linear polysaccharides encountered both in the extracellular matrix and on cell surfaces where they form a carbohydrate coating referred to as the glycocalyx. GAGs are involved in a wide array of physiological processes, including cell proliferation and migration, as well as modulation of angiogenesis and inflammatory responses (Clowes, A. W. and Karnovsky, M. S. (1977) Nature 265; Jackson, R. L. et al. (1991) Physiol. Rev. 71:481; Linhardt, R. J. et al. (1996) In Biomedical Functions and Biotechnology of Natural and Artificial Polymers, ATL Press, p. 45). The diverse bioactivities of GAGs are a consequence of unique binding sequences that facilitate local sequestration of biologically active proteins, such as growth factors and antithrombin III. In this manner, GAGs function as delivery vehicles for the controlled local release of a variety of proteins and; in select circumstances, potentiate the activity of the bound protein (Kjellen, L. and Lindahl, U. (1991) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 60:443; Faham, S. et al. (1996) Science 271:1116; Bitomsky, W. and Wade, R. C. (1999) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121:3004). Glycopolymers can induce affinity toward proteins such as lectins, and to viruses, due to multivalent recognition, known as the "cluster effect." (Lee, Y. C. and Lee, R. T., Eds. (1994) Neoglycoconjugates: Preparation and applications; Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.; Roy, R. (1996) Current Opinion in Structural Biology 6:692–702.)
The inability to generate GAGs through recombinant genetic engineering strategies, combined with the inherent complexity that has been associated with their direct chemical synthesis, has stimulated the development of a variety of biomimetic synthetic approaches for the generation of carbohydrate-based macromolecules (Toshima, K. and Tatsuta, K. (1993) Chem. Rev. 93:1503; Roy, R. (1996) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 6:692; and Roy, R. (1997) Topics Curren. Chem. 187:241).
Smaller oligosaccharide sequences may be responsible for the unique biological activities of the parent polysaccharides (Van Boeckel, C. A. A. et al. (1993) Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 32:1671; Westerduin, P. et al. (1996) Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 35:331; Petitou, M. et al. (1998), Chem. Int. Ed. 37:3009; Petitou, M. et al. (1999) Nature 398:417; Westman, J. et al. (1995) Carbohydr. Chem. 14:95; and Ornitz, D. M. et al. (1995) Science 268:432). While advantages of such an approach exist, an inherent limitation is the loss of spatially controlled organization of multiple target saccharide sequences. Indeed the observation of enhanced protein binding affinity derived from multivalent oligosaccharide ligands has been termed the "cluster glycoside effect" (Lee, Y. C. In Synthetic Oligosaccharides: Indispensable Probes for the Life Sciences, ACS Symposium Series 560, Washington, D.C. 1994, Chapter 1, p. 6; Dimick, S. M. et al. (1999) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121:10286; and Suda, Y. et al. (2000) Polym. Prepr. (Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Polym. Chem.) 41(2):1624).
An alternative glycomimetic strategy has consisted of the design of synthetic polymers that contain a hydrocarbon backbone with biologically active pendent saccharides. Fundamental studies on the synthesis and properties of model "glycopolymers" have proven to be useful in the characterization of specific biomolecular recognition processes (Miyata, T. and Nakamae, K. (1997) Trends Polym. Sci. 5:198).
Optimization of glycopolymer properties has required the utilization of biomolecular architectures that exhibit low fluctuations both in polymer size and in composition. A large variety of "living"/controlled polymerization techniques have recently emerged for this purpose, including ring-opening polymerization of sugar-substituted N-carboxyanhydrides (Aoi, K. et al. (1992) Macromolecules 25:7073; and Aoi, K. et al. (1994) Macromolecules 27:875); ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of sugar-derivatized norbornenes (Fraser, C. and Grubbs, R. H. (1995) Macromolecules 28:7248; Nomura, K. and Schrock, R. R. (1996) Macromolecules 29;540); cationic polymerization of saccharide-carrying vinyl ethers (Minoda, M. et al. (1995) Macromol. Symp. 99:169; Yamada, K. et al. (1997) J. Polym. Sci. Part A: Polym. Chem. 35:751; and Yamada, K. et al. (1999) Macromolecules 32:3553); anionic polymerization of styrene derivatives containing monosaccharide residues (Loykulnant, S. et al. (1998) Macromolecules 31:9121; and Loykulnant, S. and Kirao, A. (2000), Macromolecules 33:4757); nitroxide-mediated free-radical polymerization of sugar-carrying styryl (Ohno, K. et al. (1998) Macromolecules 31:1064; and Ohno, K. et al. (1998) Macromol. Chem. Phys. 199:2193); and acryloyl (Ohno, K. et al. (1999) Macromol. Chem. Phys. 200:1619); monomers, as well as Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) of carbohydrate-based methacrylates (Ohno, K. et al. (1998) J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 36:2473; Ejaz, M. et al. (2000) Macromolecules 33:2870; Bon, S. A. F. and Haddleton, D. M. (1999) Polym. Prepr. (Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Polym. Chem.) 40(2):248; and Marsh, A. et al. (1999) J. Macromolecules 32:8725). Nevertheless, due to the incompatibility of hydroxyl groups from the saccharide moieties with either initiators or controlling agents, all of these approaches require the use of protected monomers and the subsequent deprotection of polymer chains to generate the desired glycopolymers.
All publications referred to herein are incorporated herein in their entirety to the extent not inconsistent herewith.

Glycopolymers and free radical polymerization methods


In a system that reduces interference between devices that transmit infrared signals, a first device transmits a first infrared signal to a second device during a first time period. The second device determines a command encoded by the first infrared signal. When the first time period has elapsed, the first device ceases transmission during a second time period. The second device transmits the second infrared signal to a third device during the second time period. As a result, transmissions from the second device to a third device are not affected by interference from transmissions by the first device. Selected signals from the first device may be permitted during the second time period, such as signals to cancel previous commands or to queue additional commands.

Numerous types of devices, such as televisions, cable boxes, set top boxes, sound bars and other audio components, and so forth may be controlled using infrared signals, such as signals transmitted by a remote control device. When multiple devices simultaneously transmit infrared signals, the signals may interfere with one another. This interference may hinder reception of infrared signals by devices and may cause it to be impractical for certain devices to be controlled using infrared signals.
While implementations are described in this disclosure by way of example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the implementations are not limited to the examples or figures described. It should be understood that the figures and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit implementations to the particular form disclosed but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used in this disclosure are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to) rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include", "including", and "includes" mean "including, but not limited to".

Systems for coexistence of infrared communications


The invention relates to a method, a computer program product and a device for evaluating a code which is orthogonal to one or more further codes. The method comprises the steps of receiving a signal which carries a code containing a sequence of code symbols, determining for a particular symbol instant at least one channel estimate, determining for the particular symbol instant a compensation value taking into account the at least one channel estimate, compensating each code symbol using the compensation value determined for the corresponding symbol instant, wherein the compensation is performed such that an original power relationship among the individual code symbols contained in the code is restored, and evaluating the code on the basis of the sequence of compensated code symbols exploiting the orthogonality to further codes.

Modern wireless communications networks employ different access techniques when a first network component intends to access a second network component. As an example for such access techniques the so-called random access (RA) scheme can be mentioned. The name "random access" indicates that access requests are generated in a random manner from the point of view of a network component receiving the access requests.
An exemplary RA scheme is specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in section 6 of the 3GPP document TS 25.214, Version 4.4.0 (2002-03) titled "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical Layer Procedures (FDD); Release 4". Another exemplary RA scheme has been defined by standardization bodies for the Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM).
In RA schemes there may arise the situation that several network components simultaneously try to access a specific further network component, i.e. that access requests of different network components "collide". Such collisions are detrimental to the quality of service since they result in access delays, message losses, etc. Consequently, various techniques have been introduced to avoid or reduce the detrimental effects of collisions inherent in RA schemes.
For example it has been proposed to implement repetition schemes according to which a specific network component repeatedly transmits its access request. A second way of reducing collisions inherent in RA schemes is to group the network components into specific access classes. The definition of such access classes can prohibit whole populations of network components the transmission of access requests based on their membership to a specific access class. Furthermore, collisions may be avoided or reduced by differentiating between access requests of different network components. To that end each access request may comprise a particular identification code, also called "random discriminator" (GSM) or "signature" (3GPP), which allows a network component that receives two or more access requests simultanueously to discriminate between random access requests of different network components.
An exemplary scheme for random access signaling on the basis of orthogonal codes is described in Matthias Schulist, Georg Frank, "Link Level Performance Results for a WCDMA Random Access Scheme with Preamble Power Ramping and Fast Acquisition Indication", Proc. of VTC'99.-Fall. According to this random access signaling scheme a network component requesting access to a network resource randomly selects an identification code out of a set of predefined orthogonal codes and modulates the selected identification code onto a preamble signal. This preamble signal constitutes an access request that is transmitted to a further network component controlling access to the network resource. This further network component analyzes the received preamble signal with respect to the identification code modulated thereon and broadcasts an access control signal. The access control signal carries the analyzed identification code together with an indicator which indicates whether or not the access request associated with the analyzed identification code is granted.
In conjunction with the code-based signaling scheme discussed above and other signaling schemes that are based on the transmission of orthogonal codes there arises the necessity to evaluate the code that has been modulated onto a received signal. During such an evaluation the fact may be exploited that the received code is orthogonal to one or more further codes. However, due to imperfections of the transmission channel the received and demodulated code has lost its orthogonality to a certain extent. This loss of orthogonality makes the evaluation of the received and demodulated code more difficult and gives rise to evaluation errors.
There is a need for an improved mechanism which renders the evaluation of an initially orthogonal code that has been transmitted over an imperfect channel more reliable. In particular, there is a need for a method, a computer program product and a device for implementing such an evaluation mechanism.

Evaluating orthogonal codes transmitted in a wireless communications network