New ethylene/acid copolymer ionomers which contain both (meth)acrylic acid and certain dicarboxylic acid monomers are described. The polymers may be melt processed as readily as ethylene/(meth)acrylic acid dipolymer ionomers, in contrast to ethylene/acid copolymer ionomers containing only dicarboxylic acid monomer derived in-chain acid units. Polymers with typical levels of (meth)acrylic acid and low levels of diacid provide ionomers comparable to existing ionomers, but which have adhesive and polymer blend compatibilizing characteristics, while polymers with higher levels of diacid will exhibit properties which depend on in-chain diacid derived units.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ionomers which are partially neutralized metal salts of ethylene/carboxylic acid copolymers which have copolymerized comonomer units of both certain monocarboxylic acids and certain dicarboxylic acids or their derivatives. The new ionomers have many useful superior properties compared with existing conventional ionomers. In particular, the ionomers are useful when blended with polyamides to form toughened multiphase thermoplastic compositions.
2. Description of Related Art
Copolymers which are dipolymers of ethylene and the unsaturated monocarboxylic acids methacrylic or acrylic acid only, are well known. Commercially such dipolymers typically contain at least about 75 weight percent and up to about 92 weight percent ethylene. They are used for molding, packaging and some adhesive applications. Examples of such ethylene/acid copolymers include those sold under the trade name, Nucrel.RTM., which are produced by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Such ethylene/acid copolymers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,931 (Armitage), the parent disclosure of which was filed in June 1961.
Acid copolymers of this type, having monocarboxylic acid comonomers are also used to prepare ionomers, wherein the carboxylic acid units of the copolymers are partially neutralized with metal ions. Such `ionomers` are sold by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company under the trade name Surlyn.RTM.. These resins are thermoplastic in the melt. Partial neutralization is used because fully neutralized acid copolymers are known to, and are disclosed as having, intractable melts. Ionomers have separate utility and significantly different properties from the un-neutralized ethylene/carboxylic acid copolymer `precursors`. Ionomers were first disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,272 (Rees). The ions form `ionic crosslink` bonds at low temperatures, but are sufficiently labile at melt temperatures, provided there remain some un-neutralized carboxylic acid groups, that they allow typical thermoplastic melt processability.
The above Armitage patent does not disclose use of acid comonomers other than acrylic and methacrylic acid, and in practice these monocarboxylic acids are the only commercially important acid comonomers in ethylene/carboxylic acid copolymers as well as in the derived metal ion-neutralized ionomers. However, other acid comonomers which polymerize with ethylene, and the resulting copolymers have been disclosed; for example, in the above-mentioned Rees patent. In this patent, copolymers containing 0.2 to 25 mole percent of dicarboxylic acid comonomers such as itaconic, maleic, fumaric acids, their monoalkyl esters such as methyl hydrogen maleate, and anhydrides such as maleic anhydride are disclosed. Copolymers containing ethylene and 6 weight percent itaconic acid, and copolymers with 6 weight percent maleic anhydride are exemplified as are ionomers derived therefrom. The disclosure gives examples of ethylene/dicarboxylic acid dipolymers neutralized with mono- and divalent metals. In the case of monovalent metal ions, melt flow of partially neutralized copolymers is disclosed as being very low and, with divalent metal ions, flow is zero in several instances. While the degree of neutralization is not specifically stated in that disclosure, the inference is that, unlike ethylene/monocarboxylic acid ionomers, those of dicarboxylic acid copolymers are intractable, or very nearly so.
The Rees disclosure indicates that the intractable nature of ionomers of ethylene/dicarboxylic acids and divalent metal ions is believed to be because the ionic bonds are so strong that, `they act like regular cross-linked polyolefins`. In a review of ionomers by R. W. Rees, Chapter 10A--Ionomers Thermoplastic Elastomers, Early Research--Surlyn.RTM. and Related Polymers--in `Thermoplastic Elastomers--A Comprehensive Review`, ed. N. Legge et al. Publ. Hanser 1987, data are provided, and it is stated that neutralization of dipolymers of ethylene and dicarboxylic acids gives low flow materials with monvalent sodium ions and with divalent ions such as zinc and strontium, the flow is zero. The degree of neutralization is not specifically stated. The reference also suggests that ethylene/dicarboxylic acid copolymer ionomers are not outstanding in any way compared with monocarboxylic acid copolymer ionomers.
No acid copolymers, or their derived ionomers, which are terpolymers (or even higher comonomer copolymers) having both monocarboxylic acid and dicarboxylic acid comonomers (or their derivatives) are specifically disclosed in Rees. Terpolymers with non-acid termonomers such as alkyl acrylates and methacrylates and their derived ionomers are, however, disclosed. Later, ionomers of this type, specifically, partially neutralized terpolymers of ethylene, methacrylic acid and n-butyl or iso-butyl acrylate were commercialized and are also available under the trade name Surlyn.RTM.. These terpolymer ionomers are commonly referred to as `soft` ionomers, and the dipolymer ionomers, without `softening` acrylate termonomers, as `hard` ionomers.
Terpolymers of ethylene with between about 50 and 65 weight percent methyl acrylate and a low level of an alkyl monoester of maleic acid, cross-linked with a crosslinking agent which acts on the half ester, is cured with the agent to produce an elastomer, sold under the trade name Vamac.RTM. by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. In this case the crosslinking cure typically produces covalent bond crosslinks. Such cured (cross-linked) resins are elastomeric but not melt processible. Such terpolymers and cross-linked elastomers derived from them are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,588 (Green).
The terpolymers of ethylene, (meth)acrylic acid and alkyl acrylates noted above, form a class of acid copolymers with lower modulus (hence `soft`) and good low temperature properties. A method of preparing these acid copolymers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,690,981. While, as noted, they are used as the precursor acid copolymer to form `soft` ionomers by partial neutralization with metal ions, these acid copolymers with acrylates also find utility in their own right. These acrylate termonomer terpolymer ionomers, whether neutralized with mono- or divalent metals have melt flows at least as good as dipolymer ionomers, thus providing ready processability.
Polyethylenes grafted with a low level of diacid or diacid derivatives, such as maleic acid and its anhydride respectively, are well known for use in adhesives, the maleic acid or anhydride graft being specifically used to enhance adhesivity. According to (REES Chapter 10A) however, with partial neutralization of high density polyethylene grafted with either mono- or dicarboxylic acids to form ionomers, no benefits in mechanical properties were seen, and the main property change was a large reduction in melt flow.
There is a need for ionomers which are thermoplastically processible in the way that conventional ionomers are, but which have improved properties, or which provide a new range of properties when compared with the well known ethylene/monocarboxylic acid/(alkyl acrylate) dipolymer (or terpolymer) ionomers.
In addition, the use of ionomers such as the ethylene methacrylic acid neutralized ionomers sold under the trademark SURLYN.RTM. as an impact modifier for a material such as nylon is known. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,845,163 or 4,174,358. Improvement to certain impact modifying properties was achieved through use of acrylate type co-monomers such as n-butyl acrylate but this approach as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,649 leads to a trade off in certain properties such as mechanical stiffness. Other nylon modifiers are also known such as those grafted olefin rubbers such as those disclosed in Epstein, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,358. These compositions when added to polyamide provide excellent impact resistance but also causes lower mechanical strength.
The present invention additionally provides polyamide compositions containing the ionomer of the invention wherein said toughened compositions have improved impact resistance versus conventional ionomers and further provides an improved balance of properties of impact resistance and mechanical strength.

Ionomers based on copolymers of ethylene with both mono- and dicarboxylic acids and polyamide blends containing these ionomers


Apparatus and method of water absorption for generator stator winding insulator using a cross capacitance are disclosed. The apparatus includes a sensor using a cross capacitance, and a water absorption testing unit for carrying out the water absorption test of the insulator of the stator winding of the power generator using the sensor. The apparatus determines whether the insulator absorbs water, according to thickness, using the cross capacitance, such that inferior winding is detected, a power plant is prevented from being suddenly stopped, costs for the maintenance are reduced, and the lifespan of the power generator is extended.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to water absorption test for an insulator of a stator winding of a power generator, and more particularly, to a water absorption testing apparatus of an insulator of a stator winding of a power generator using a cross capacitance in which a deteriorated winding is detected by determining whether or not the insulator of the stator winding of a power generator absorbs cooling water according to thickness using the cross capacitance such that a power station is prevented from being suddenly stopped, costs for the maintenance are reduced, and the lifespan of the power generator is extended.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a high capacity power generator is a water cooling type generator, and heat generated while making electricity is cooled by water. Particularly, for the cooling of a stator winding of the generator, pure water having a high efficiency is used.
However, when an insulator of the stator winding of the generator absorbs moisture or water, insulation is broken during the operation of the generator thereby causing accident of the unwanted generator trip. Thus, the operation reliability of the generator is deteriorated, costs and time for replacing the winding with new one are increased so that the productivity of generating electricity is deteriorated.
As a conventional method of water absorption test for generator stator winding insulator, there is a tan δ test and a method of measuring general capacitance between two plates for the diagnosis.
Here, the tan δ is a dielectric tangent, while the dielectric tangent (tan δ) is a tan function of a phase difference (δ) of a dielectric substance between perfect capacitive current and measured current. Since an ideal dielectric substance has only capacitance components, δ may be 90 degrees. Thus, the tan δ may be infinite value. However, when the dielectric substance is inferior, resistance component is generated so that δ is less than 90 degrees. The dielectric tangent test uses the point that a loss is generated when an AC voltage is applied to the insulator. This loss is divided into a loss due to a leak current, a loss due to dielectric polarization, and a loss due to partial discharge. Because of these losses, overall current is delayed more than a charged current component, while this delayed angle is known as a dielectric loss angle, and the tangent thereof is known as the dielectric tangent. When an applied voltage is known, the capacitance can be known, and when the loss angle is known, the loss can be known.
However, the tan δ can determine whether or not the insulation of the phase of the winding is good, but cannot determine whether or not the water absorption has occurred in respective windings.
Moreover, in the method of measuring the general capacitance between two plates for the diagnosis, the water absorption of the insulator of the winding can be determined. However, an error with respect to variation of thickness of the winding insulator is likely to be generated in the testing apparatus during the water diagnosis. Additionally, since stray capacitance generated during the measurement cannot be removed, there is no solution of avoiding the error.
Moreover, there is no measuring information of the tan δ with respect to the respective windings, and the water absorption of the insulator of the stator winding of the generator cannot be measured in relation to the thickness.
Therefore, in order to solve the above technical problem, in the present invention, a water absorption testing apparatus is developed by applying a cross capacitance theory to the water absorption test of the insulator of the stator winding of a generator.

Apparatus and method of water absorption test for generator stator winding insulator using cross capacitance


A compressor fuel gas conditioner for a natural gas well having a compressor which utilizes natural gas from the well as a fuel. The conditioner includes a vortex tube having an inlet to receive compressed natural gas from the compressor, a warm gas outlet for gas which has been heated by circular motion in the vortex tube, and a cool gas outlet for cool gas exiting the vortex tube after passing through the tube wherein the warm gas is returned to an inlet side of the compressor. A salt dryer includes a dryer inlet to receive the cool gas exiting the cool gas outlet of the vortex tube and a dryer outlet to deliver gas from the salt dryer as fuel gas to the compressor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method to treat or condition natural gas for use as fuel gas for a compressor.
2. Prior Art
Natural gas is ordinarily gathered from subterranean wells and delivered through pipelines where it may be further treated and then distributed.
At the early stages of the life of a natural gas well, reservoir downhole pressure forces natural gas through the tubing or piping in the well and up to the surface. As a natural gas well begins to age, the reservoir or downhole pressure will tend to decline over time. In some cases, it will eventually reach the same pressure as the pressure within the gas pipeline. At this point, the natural gas well will no longer flow on its own.
A number of solutions to this problem have been devised. One solution is a compressor which is installed on the well, typically at the surface. The compressor will act to boost the gas pressure and allow the gas to continue to flow into the pipeline. It also reduces the pressure that the well has to produce against. In other words, the compressor draws gas out of the well and discharges it into the pipeline at a high enough pressure to keep the fluid flowing.
At least two different kinds of compressors exist. A reciprocating compressor uses an internal combustion engine to drive a shaft and pistons which compress gas. A helical screw compressor uses an internal combustion engine to rotate a helical rotor which turns within a stator to compress gas.
Both kinds of compressors also often include pneumatic controls and instrumentation which use natural gas from the system to operate.
The internal combustion engine of the compressor requires fuel gas to operate. Since the compressor is often at a remote location, this fuel gas is often taken from the natural gas stream from the discharge side of the compressor. The discharge is the outlet or elevated pressure side. The pressure is generally too low on the inlet side for the gas to be utilized by the compressor fuel and control system. The discharge side gas is typically warm since compressing the gas also raises its temperature and it is saturated with water vapor and heavy hydrocarbon vapor. In cold weather, these vapors tend to condense and form liquids in the fuel lines and in the control system lines. In the event that the vapors turn into liquids (or solids when subjected to freezing temperatures), the operation of the various controls and instrumentation, as well as the compressor itself, may be interrupted.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a conditioner apparatus and method to condition a portion of compressed natural gas to use as fuel gas to a compressor.

Process Equipment & Service Company, Inc.


An orthopedic distraction device is provided. The orthopedic distraction device includes a first upper paddle for engaging a first bone of a joint, a lower paddle for engaging a second bone of the joint and a displacement mechanism. The displacement mechanism includes a drive assembly operable to move the upper paddle relative to the lower paddle. The lower paddle is releasably connected to the displacement mechanism.

Joint replacement surgery is performed on patients with degenerative joint diseases, such osteoarthritis and arthrosis, with the goals of relieving pain and restoring function, thus improving the quality of life for the patient. Although joint replacement surgery is exceedingly common, with approximately 700,000 knee replacement procedures performed annually in the U.S., it has been reported that a significant portion of patients (approximately one in five) are not satisfied with the results of their surgery. While this may be due to a number of factors, such as patient expectations, it is suspected that surgical technique related factors may play an important role in the number of cases that have less than optimal outcomes. In fact, several clinical studies have indicated that soft tissue related factors, such as instability and stiffness, are the leading cause for failure of total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
The act of achieving the appropriate soft-tissue tension and balance in joint replacement surgery is still regarded as somewhat of an art form by surgeons. This is partly because the act of assessing the tension in the soft tissues that surround a joint is largely a subjective process where the surgeon manually applies forces and moments to one side of the joint and observes the opening or compliance of the joint under the applied force by feel and by eye. Thus the assessment of soft tissue tension may vary depending on the surgeon performing the assessment, how they were trained, hold the limb by hand, and this may also vary from day to day, or from their left to right hand.
The standard of care in joint replacement surgery today is to use manual instrumentation which includes alignment rods, cutting blocks, provisional trial implants, and tensioning tools such as laminar spreaders or specifically designed manual spreaders. Robot and computer-assisted surgery systems have been introduced in the late 90's and have been increasing in development and use. However, most of systems currently on the market only partially address the soft tissue tensioning and balancing problem. Moreover, these systems still require a large number of instruments and provisional trial components to be available in the operating room.


In the case of a circuit arrangement in an electronic control unit of a motor vehicle for the detection of faults in an electronically controlled drive system, which is structured in at least two levels, a first function-controlling level and a second monitoring level, both levels acquire at least the accelerator pedal position as an input signal. The first level has a driver intention determination block for determining a quantity proportional to the desired longitudinal acceleration. The first level transmits this quantity as an input signal to a plausibility block of the second level. The plausibility block has at least one fault detection program, by which a fault can be detected when a defined correct relationship does not exist for a specified time period between the accelerator pedal position and/or the accelerator pedal position change with respect to the determined quantity proportional to the desired longitudinal acceleration—and this relationship is therefore implausible.

The invention relates to a circuit arrangement in an electronic control unit of a motor vehicle for the detection of faults in an electronically controlled drive system.
As a result of standards prescribed by law (for example, ISO or CARB Standard Regulations), motor vehicle manufacturers have been required for many years to ensure that electronic control units or electronically controlled systems in motor vehicles, such as the digital engine control or the adaptive transmission control, are capable of self-diagnosing. So-called OBD (On-Board Diagnosis) systems, for example, were developed on that basis. One example of a design of an OBD system is contained in the applicant's German Patent Document DE 197 31 283 A1.
In this respect, the motor-vehicle-internal electronic control units have a large software capacity for self-diagnosis, in addition to the software capacity for the actual function control. One example of a self-diagnosis within the control unit is described in the applicant's German Patent Document DE 196 12 857 A1.
Up to now, the focus of the prescribed fault diagnosis has been the inherent security of each individual control unit or of each individual electronically controlled vehicle system separately. This results in high application expenditures. Particularly in the case of a motor or internal-combustion engine control (for spark-ignition engines or diesel engines), this results in a large number of stored characteristic diagrams when each programmed function has to be secured. One example, just of the expenditures of a function programming when inputting a desired drive power as a function of the accelerator pedal position is indicated in the applicant's German Patent Document DE 102 49 689 A1. If the characteristic diagrams illustrated there for the function programming were inherently securely diagnosed, approximately twice the programming expenditures or the storage space would be necessary because a fault recognition threshold would have to be stored for each characteristic curve of the characteristic diagrams.
Furthermore, from German Patent Document DE 44 38 714 A1, a so-called 3-level security concept currently widespread in practice is known—particularly in connection with electronic engine control units for the control of drive functions. The circuit arrangement according to the invention for the monitoring of drive functions is based on this 3-level security concept. The known 3-level security concept has a complex system architecture, which requires high development expenditures for control unit functionalities, which will become more and more complex and increasingly more cross-linked in the future.
Finally, in addition, reference is made to the applicant's German Patent Document DE 10 2011 002 805.6 (which is not a prior publication) which already contains a process for the detection of faults in an electronically controlled drive system of a motor vehicle, the system architecture for implementing the process not being addressed.
It is an object of the invention to simplify the system architecture of a security concept for the detection of faults in a drive system of a motor vehicle, particularly with the following objectives:                reducing development expenditures caused by additional functions and components,        avoiding multiple expenditures at various components,        restricting security-relevant communication between the control units,        demand addition from various components (functional and quantitative),        while ISO security evidence for cross-linked systems is to continue to be guaranteed.
According to the invention, this task is implemented by a circuit arrangement according to the invention in an electronic control unit of a motor vehicle for detecting faults in an electronically controlled drive system, which is structured in at least two levels, specifically, a first function-controlling level and a second monitoring level. The two levels acquire at least the accelerator pedal position as an input signal. The first level has a driver intention determination block for determining a quantity proportional to a desired longitudinal acceleration and transmits this quantity as an input signal to a plausibility block of the second level. The plausibility block has at least one fault detection program by which a fault can be detected when a defined (static or dynamic) correct relationship between the accelerator pedal position and/or an accelerator pedal position change with respect to a determined quantity proportional to a desired longitudinal acceleration (particularly for a specified time period) is not present, and this relationship is therefore implausible.
By way of the invention, the main security requirement is met, specifically the avoidance of an unintended acceleration and of an unintended spinning of wheels.
The invention is based on the conventional so-called 3-level security concept, which will be explained in detail below in connection with the description of the figures.
In the circuit arrangement according to the invention, a first fault detection program can preferably be run in the plausibility block, by which fault detection program a fault is detected when a defined desired longitudinal acceleration gradient dependent on an accelerator pedal position change is exceeded longer than for a specified time period (first defined correct relation is not present). For the implementation of the process according to the invention, the plausibility block of the control unit is programmed correspondingly.
The defined acceleration gradient dependent on an accelerator pedal position change is preferably limited by the maximal slope of a characteristic curve of the actual function extent of the first level by which, depending on the accelerator pedal position, a desired vehicle acceleration is specified. This maximal slope is empirically determined, particularly in driving tests, in order to determine which acceleration gradients can still just be reasonably handled or controlled by the driver. The defined acceleration gradient(s) dependent on an accelerator pedal change is/are stored in a memory of the control unit and are integrated in the plausibility block of the control unit for the implementation of the process according to the invention.
In a further development of the invention, while the accelerator pedal is not actuated, by use of the control unit, a second fault detection program can be run in the plausibility block, by which fault detection program a fault is recognized when a defined desired longitudinal acceleration threshold value preferably depending on the vehicle speed is exceeded longer than for a specified time period (second defined correct relation is not present).
In a further development of the invention, in the case of an non-activated drive slip control system, a third fault detection program can be run by the control unit in the plausibility block, by which a fault is detected if, when the accelerator pedal is not actuated or the accelerator pedal angle is decreasing, a longitudinal acceleration gradient determined from the rotational wheel speeds is positive for longer than for a specified time period, and simultaneously the desired longitudinal acceleration gradient not determined from the rotational wheels speeds is also positive (third defined correct relation is not present).
For this purpose, the plausibility block in the second level of the control unit receives, either directly or by way of a digital bus, information such as the rotational wheel speed values or the acceleration determined from the rotational wheel speeds, as input signal(s). The rotational wheel speeds are acquired by way of corresponding sensors in a known manner anyhow, for example, for a slip control.
Furthermore, a fourth fault detection program can be run in the plausibility block, by which a fault is detected when, in the case of a specified accelerator pedal position, a disproportionately high desired longitudinal acceleration is specified (fourth defined correct relation is not present).
By way of the invention, all required ISO Regulations are complied with:                the new concept permits manageable analyses and documentations;        the small number of input variables can be provided with the acquired ASIL level;        the monitoring precision is at least comparable with the actual-engine torque monitoring of the previous security concept;        the concept covers all fault mechanisms (such as spinning wheels, actuator system, etc).
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and circuit arrangement in an electronic control unit of a motor vehicle for detecting faults

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A subscription proxy receives, from an end user system, a request for a resource provided by a content delivery network, the request comprising a local credential associated with the end user system. The subscription proxy identifies a remote credential associated with the content delivery network and corresponding to the local credential. The subscription proxy replaces the local credential in the request with the corresponding remote credential and sends the request for the resource with the remote credential to the content delivery network.

A content delivery network or content distribution network (CDN) is system of one or more servers deployed in one or more data centers across the Internet. The goal of a CDN is to serve content to end user systems with high availability and high performance. CDNs serve a large portion of Internet content today, including web objects (text, graphics, URLs and scripts), downloadable objects (media files, software, documents), applications (e-commerce, portals), live streaming media, on-demand streaming media, and social networks.
In order to access content from a CDN, certain security or identity credentials may be used. One example of these security credentials is a digital certificate. The use of digital certificates using public and private key encryption methods is widely known in the field of computing, particularly in networked computing. Digital certificates generally follow the X.509 standard, developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO). These certificates create a binding between an entity's public key and its identity. The digital certificates may be issued by the CDN or by a corresponding certificate authority (CA) to a requestor, such as a customer of the CDN. In some cases, the customer may be a corporation or other organization, including multiple end user systems.

Replacement of security credentials for secure proxying


An omni-direction array 22 of wind turbine assemblies 10 is positioned upon and about the periphery of the roof of a building. Each wind turbine assembly 10 comprises a self supporting modular box-shaped housing 12 having an inlet and outlet for accelerating the flow of air therethrough. Turbine 14 comprises a hub 27, a peripheral band 28 and vanes 25 having proximal and distal ends positioned there between and having a ring gear 18 positioned on the peripheral band in mechanical communication with a plurality of generators 20 for converting wind energy into electricity. Parabolic collectors 16 are positioned and attached to the inlet and outlet of the housing 12 for collecting, concentrating, directing and accelerating wind through the turbine 14 in the throat section of the assembly. Each self supporting box-shaped modular housing 12 is structurally communicated with other housings 12 by interlocking mating surfaces 26.

This invention relates to wind turbine technology and specifically to utilization of wind energy for providing the needed electricity to power urban hi-rise buildings. The concept of direct wind to electrical conversion is well known and many prior art documents are available.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,870 (1980) to Kelly shows the concept of providing a lattice array of mini-turbo/generator modules positioned on a roof top of a building. Due to the vertical orientation of the generators and the structural limitations of the turbines set forth in Kelly, wind entering one side of the turbine counters the wind entering the other end of the turbine and therefore reduces the effectiveness of the turbines ability to generate electricity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,710,469 (2004) to McDavid, Jr. teaches a wind turbine energy conversion system utilizing a sloping parabolic floor for accelerating wind to the turbine.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,696 (2004) to Ohya et al teaches a wind power generator having a collar shaped brim formed on the outside of the outlet opening of the wind tunnel body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,430 (1999) to Forrey shows the overall combination of an installation which consists of horizontal dual turbine cells connected in tandem to drive generators. Banks of batteries are stacked vertically to form arrays which harness the wind energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,876,595 (1932) to Beldilmano shows a plurality of wind turbine devices suspended in an array between towers by wire ropes.

Parabolic bi-directional wind turbine assembly and omni-directional power array


Like a conventional one-way pager system, a two-way pager system is provided in which a message is received by paging from a base station and a message responding to the received message is returned to the base station. In this system, direct communication and peer-to-peer communication between terminals are performed. All the terminals included in the service area of the base station are always synchronized with sync signals paged from the base station. No special infrastructure is therefore required for synchronizing the terminals with the sync signals to perform the peer-to-peer communication. Furthermore, since each of the terminals receives a paging signal during the peer-to-peer communication, it can respond to a paging call.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multimode radio communication system and, more specifically, to a multimode radio communication system capable of both indirect terminal-to-terminal communication performed through a base station and direct terminal-to-terminal communication performed not through a base station, for example, peer-to-peer communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a radio communication system is a pager system wherein a base station having a transmitting antenna of 100 meters or more in height is provided within every service area whose radius is about 30 kilometers. To call a specified terminal (pager) holder in this system, a caller dials the calling number of a pager of the terminal holder by telephone. In response to the calling number, a service center of a pager service company makes all the base stations send forth the calling number at once (or page the calling number). Upon receiving the calling number, the pager gives a calling sound to inform the terminal holder of the call. Recently a pager system capable of transmitting a message as well as a calling number, has been developed, in which not only is a calling sound produced but a message is displayed on a display of a terminal.
In either case, however, since the prior art pager system is directed to one-way communication from a base station to a terminal, another communication system, such as telephone, has to be employed when a called party wishes to respond to a received calling number or a received message. To eliminate this problem, a two-way pager system (or bidirectional pager system) capable of transmitting a response message from a terminal (pager) to a base station, has recently been developed.
According to one proposal of the two-way pager system, the same communication system as that of the normal one-way pager system is used in the down link from the base station to the pager, while a communication system different from that of the one-way pager system is adopted in the up link from the pager to the base station, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,246. The two-way radio communication between two pagers is achieved as follows: A transmission message is transmitted from one of the pagers to a service center of a pager service company using an up link through a base station. The service center makes all base stations transmit the transmission message at once (or page) through the down links. Upon receiving the transmission message, the other pager transmits a response message to the base station through the up link and then to the service center, as described above. The service center returns the response message to the former pager via the base station using the down link.
Moreover, there are a portable telephone system and a mobile telephone system as other radio communication systems for achieving two-way communication.
The foregoing communication systems are all based on the premise of the use of service provider infrastructure equipment such as base stations and telephone lines. Therefore, even when two terminals for two-way communication are close to each other and no infrastructure equipment is required, a signal always has to be transmitted via both a base station and a service center, with the result that the time for communication between the two terminals is lengthened and the infrastructure equipment runs to waste.


A computer implemented method for identifying a vehicle occupant including receiving a signal from a plurality of sensors, wherein the signal indicates a measurement of cardiac activity, determining a biomarker based on biometric features of the signal and identifying the vehicle occupant based on the biomarker.

Motor vehicles utilize personal identification (i.e., driver and occupant identification) for various vehicle functions. For example, personal identification facilitates entry, access, activation, control personalization and modification of various vehicle systems and vehicle system data. Unique personal identification provides accurate and secure operation of said systems and data as well as a custom vehicle environment and tailored driving experience.

System and method for biometric identification in a vehicle


Detailed are assistive mechanisms for vehicle operators designed to reduce risks associated with degraded landing and other situations. Some mechanisms may include a display with a visual indicator located within the peripheral field of view of an operator. Aural alerts may also be employed. Information suggesting degradation of, for example, ground deceleration performance may alert the operator to perform unusual or abnormal actions to mitigate hazards produced by the performance degradation.

Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,224,507 to Edwards, et al. (the "Edwards patent"), whose contents are incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference, identifies rationales for improving information available to pilots of, for example, soon-to-land aircraft as to conditions likely to be encountered upon landing. Arguably the most famous recent circumstance in which lives were lost because of inadequate information about landing conditions delivered to a flight crew is the crash of Southwest Airlines Flight No. 1248 on Dec. 8, 2005, which flight departed the end of a runway and left the airfield boundary at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Ill. Quoting the USA Today newspaper, the Edwards patent states:
. . . the pilots "assumed the runway was in 'fair' condition, based on reports from other pilots radioed to them by air traffic controllers." However, subsequent analysis of objective data "show[ed] the conditions were 'poor' at best," with the runway "so slippery that it would have been difficult for people to walk on, providing minimal traction for the jet's tires as pilots tried to slow down."
See Edwards patent, col. 2, 11. 22-29.
The reason the pilots reporting those "fair" conditions had no manner of discerning their actual brake system performance was because the information about those systems was not designed to be measured, nor was it designed to be delivered to the flight crews. It is essentially impossible for pilots to discriminate between the aerodynamic forces acting upon an aircraft and the ground-based braking forces during a landing. As a result, the risks associated with poor ground-based braking system performance are not visible to a pilot in the act of directing his aircraft during such a maneuver.
Accordingly, detailed in the Edwards patent are systems and methods of improving or increasing (or both) the information available to operators in these and other circumstances. In some systems disclosed in the Edwards patent, objective information relating to performance of one aircraft using a runway is transmitted to an aircraft scheduled next or soon to use the runway for evaluation by the operator of that aircraft. Among many advantages of these systems are that they provide more objective information than conventional reports (which may consist of as little as a qualitative assessment of "good," "fair," or "poor"), the information may be provided in real-time (or near real-time), and the information may be generated without closing a runway to conduct conventional mechanical, ground-based friction testing.
Certain systems of the Edwards patent contemplate providing a vehicle operator with information relating to both (A) brake pressure commanded by an operator of an aircraft upon landing on a runway and (B) brake pressure delivered to the brakes of the aircraft after anti-skid control computer calculations are performed on-board that aircraft. Although other information may be provided additionally or alternatively, recently-obtained commanded and delivered brake pressure information may be especially valuable to operators of soon-to-land aircraft, as the information relates directly to what the operators will imminently experience. It thus may differ from the information most desired by engineers or regulatory authorities, for example, tasked with after-the-fact evaluation of runway conditions or an engineering analysis of aircraft performance.
Indeed, while humans are not considered "machines," they do operate under industry recognized cognitive limitations when in the process of interacting with mechanical devices. This relationship between the performance of a human and how that affects the performance of a machine is known as the field of "human factors" study. Recognizing human limitations and creating communication paths between vehicle and operator likely to overcome the limitations is thus a useful and significant goal.
As suggested by the accident at Midway Airport (among other events), unexpected degradation in ground-based deceleration systems can drastically erode safety and lead to catastrophic consequences any time a vehicle is decelerating on a surface while employing both aerodynamic and ground-based deceleration systems. For a landing aircraft, the operator must employ muscle memory techniques for engaging ailerons, rudder, elevator, and throttle while simultaneously directing his vision to the designated operating runway. While travelling down the surface of a runway and in controlling both lateral movement and longitudinal movement of the aircraft, the pilot or operator currently has no automated method of alert (other than his own qualitative "feeling") to queue an alternate sequence of actions should degraded system performance make such a decision advisable.
More specifically, a human operator of a decelerating aircraft must simultaneously control three dimensions of movement. In addition to controlling lateral and longitudinal movement of the aircraft, prior to contact with the ground he must align the flight path of the vehicle with the orientation of the surface on which he is to decelerate. This act requires the use of both feet and both hands to operate the rudder, ailerons, elevator, and throttle(s) of the aircraft. Meanwhile, the pilot's vision must be focused outside so that a continuous and speedy feedback loop develops between his visual cues and the actions of his hands and feet.
All landings involving human manipulation of controls are "visual" landings even though automation and navigational instruments may have delivered a craft to a position where such an event can take place. To this degree all such events require an operator of a craft to utilize a field of view designed specifically for viewing the environment outside the cabin or cockpit of the vehicle. However, the human mind is limited in its ability to process concurrent information at a conscious level of awareness. Attention is the cognitive mechanism in which an individual selects and processes important information while filtering and ignoring irrelevant information. Many factors can affect attention ranging from the physiological effects of stress to recognized cognitive limitations of the human brain. The concept of the "attentional blink," for instance, represents the inability to identify the second of two targets when the two are presented in close temporal succession or rapid sequence. This represents a long-lasting attentional deficit that is due to the length of time an identified object occupies attentional capacity, or remains in the person's awareness. In this case, this attentional deficit can mask important real-time deceleration system performance since current aircraft are not designed to display alerts or warnings of this nature in the visual field of view used for landing. Studies have documented, however, that perceptual, spatial and temporal cues have been found to be effective in manipulating attention during periods in which attentional blink is most likely to exist. This is but one example of a range of human factors issues that can create barriers to the effective human integration with aircraft systems designed to produce a ground deceleration during the landing maneuver.
The science of procedural memory teaches that the cognitive limitations of a pilot will not allow him to perform more than one analytical function at a time. Functions that require more than one action are employed using muscle memory as developed through repetition and training. Procedural memory is memory for how to do something. It usually resides just below a person's conscious awareness and guides the processes humans perform such as when tying shoes, riding a bicycle, or landing an airplane. Procedural memories are used without the need for conscious control or attention. For a pilot landing an airplane, the continuous analysis of where the direction his flight and ground path take him becomes his sole focus. In the study of human factors he is said to be "task saturated" because the task of controlling the flight path of the vehicle maximizes his abilities of perception and analysis at a certain level of awareness. He therefore must rely on procedural skill to accomplish any other demands he may encounter.
To acquire a procedural skill, one must pass through three phases. The first is the "cognitive" phase, which is when attention is most significant. It is the time when a person organizes and understands how parts come together as a whole. The second phase is the "associative" phase, which involves repeating the practice until patterns emerge and the skill is learned. Important stimuli are incorporated and irrelevant information is dropped, so the ability to differentiate the two is important for perfecting the skill. The third phase is the "autonomous" phase, which involves perfecting the skill so that it seems automatic. The ability to discriminate important from irrelevant information is quicker, more accurate, and requires less thought process.
The landing environment, in which a pilot is focused on using visual cues to operate the aircraft systems, relies entirely on this autonomous phase of memory. Without a cue, or signal, to do things differently due to deteriorating conditions, a pilot or operator will continue with procedural memory despite an unfavorable outcome. By contrast, a cue could provide a signal to alert and redirect the pilot's attention to implement a different set of procedural memories.
Furthermore, decisions concerning what actions are appropriate ("go around" or "continue," for example) are analyzed prior to the event so the operator need only be alerted to an expected cue to make an immediate assessment of his actions and continued techniques. This environment is classified as a "task saturated" one because there are so many actions taking place that there is very little room to employ a human function that relies upon anything but the simplest of cognitive alerts. This is an area where the possibility of errors due to perception and technique are greatly increased and where integration of man to machine is most important. It is also the state in which a pilot's vision is entirely dedicated outside the aircraft, away from his cockpit instruments.
Eye direction normally coincides with attention; however, research regarding the human detection of signals indicates that the mind processes more information peripherally than thought possible. As attention is directed across a person's field of vision (centrally and peripherally), items falling within what is referred to as the "attention spotlight" will be preferentially received, regardless of eye direction. In other words, humans can attend to something without looking directly at it, as long as it lies within the field of view being utilized.
Human visual cognition is particularly acute when a changing light source occurs within the peripheral vision of the operator. That changing light source can be either a flashing color or an alternating color(s), for example, and may (but need not necessarily) incorporate an alternating "wig wag" alert using one color or alternating two colors in the same display. Since the field of view of the pilot or operator is limited to the forward visibility above the instrument glare shield during a ground deceleration maneuver, placing a cueing or alerting device in this area would beneficially capture the operator's peripheral vision. Alternatively or additionally, including an aural alert may be advantageous.
Research performed regarding high task-loaded environments such as this indicates that the response to an alert must by necessity be a binary one, meaning that an alternate technique constituting a pre-learned muscle memory sequence is the only plausible consequence of an alert occurring during this phase of operation. Such a muscle memory response would include the necessary manipulation of the controls required to properly configure the vehicle for maximum effective deceleration and control.
Finally, the concept of "safety" is in effect the state in which exposure to risk is reduced to an acceptable level. "Risk" may be defined as the likelihood that a hazard relating to ground deceleration will result in an unwanted outcome that may produce harm to property, people, or both property and people. To have a "safe" system it is necessary to articulate the details that make up any given hazard. For the purposes of an aircraft decelerating on the surface, these hazards may include (but are not limited to) a difference between commanded and delivered wheel brake forces as the result of the actions of an anti-skid system (as noted above), the failure of a spoiler system to apply downward forces to a wheel brake system, degraded or absence of thrust reverser forces, a braking performance significantly different than selected by an automatic braking system, a failure of a pneumatic tire, the failure of a braking force delivery system such as hydraulics, or a tire to ground interaction for which an anti-skid system significantly reduces delivered braking forces. When these hazards occur during the time when a vehicle is travelling on a surface for the purpose of decelerating, the pilot flying currently has no indication of the hazards within the field of view he must use to control his vehicle while utilizing the muscle memory techniques as described above. The issue is sufficiently acute in connection with unrecognized deactivation of speedbrakes on aircraft that the National Transportation Safety Board recently recommended that warning horns be installed on jetliners to alert pilots if the speedbrakes cease functioning.

Vehicle operator display and assistive mechanisms

Engineered Arresting Systems Corporation


The invention relates to a PoE system, which comprises a powered device (2) and a power sourcing device (1). The power sourcing device comprises one or more ports (12) and the powered device is connectable to a port of the power sourcing device by an electrical conductor (13) for conveying the sourced power along with data. The powered device comprises an interface for providing a measure of its energy consumption within the PoE system and, if it does not have the ability to measure its energy consumption, is adapted to negotiate with the power sourcing device whether the power sourcing device has the ability to measure the energy consumption of the powered device and to provide the measured energy consumption to the powered device for provision via the interface. This can make the PoE system more flexible and allow for a single “point of contact” for providing energy usage feedback.

Today, many modern lighting systems make use of Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) technology (e.g., IEEE 802.3af or IEEE 802.3at), which allows a power sourcing device (power sourcing equipment; PSE) to source a power to one or several powered devices (PD) via one or several Ethernet cables. In these Lighting-over-Ethernet (LoE) systems, the powered devices can include intelligent luminaires equipped with (environmental) sensors, such as presence sensors, daylight sensors, et cetera, and logic that can be controlled by the sensor signals and through data conveyed by the power sourcing device along with the sourced power over the Ethernet cables. In larger lighting installations, for instance, in office spaces or other work places, this can provide a very granular grid of sensor information, since the luminaires may typically be installed every one to two meters.
In addition to an improved control over the luminaires, the prospect of achieving energy savings is also an important reason for customers to switch from conventional lighting solutions to LoE systems. As such, the customers expect a LoE system to provide feedback on energy usage and, possibly, realized savings. For this reason, the luminaires are often also equipped with specific circuitry for measuring their energy consumption. This specific circuitry, however, can add cost to the luminaires, resulting in an increased cost of the overall LoE system.

PoE system providing measure of energy consumption


The invention concerns a device for the regulation of a constant outflow from a liquid container, in particular from a rain reservoir, with an outflow opening for the liquid, wherein to the outflow opening is assigned a movable throttle element, which in dependence on the liquid level regulates the outflow of the liquid from the container.. According to the invention, it is proposed that a component part (2) that is form-changeable in dependence on the fluid pressure control the throttle element, wherein takes place the stopping-down movement of the throttle element against a restoring force (spring 5).. A device of this sort makes possible a regulation of a constant outflow from a fluid container, without requiring for this the use of a float.

The invention concerns a device for the regulation of a constant outflow from a liquid container, in particular from a rain reservoir, with an outflow opening for the liquid, wherein to the outflow opening is assigned a movable throttle element, which in dependence on the liquid level regulates the outflow of the liquid from the container.
Devices of this sort for the regulation of a constant outflow from a liquid container are known from the state of the technology in manifold types and styles. For the most part they make use of a float that follows the liquid level and operates the throttle element by way of a rod or the like.
In order to achieve a constant outflow from a liquid container, the outflow opening must be varied in dependence on the liquid level in the liquid container. In this the hydraulic relation governs according to the following formula: EQU Q=.mu.+A+.sqroot.(2+g+H)
in which the symbols represent:
Q outflow PA1 .mu. flow coefficient PA1 A passage area of the outflow opening PA1 g acceleration of the Earth PA1 H dammed-in height in front of the regulating element PA1 p pressure.
It is apparent from the formula that the area A, in dependence on the dammed-in height H, must be varied in order to maintain a constant outflow.
From DE 34 18 348 A1 a device is known of the type mentioned at the beginning that exhibits a regulator chamber with an inlet opening, with a first throttle element assigned to this, and also with an outflow opening, with a second throttle element assigned to this; in which device the two throttle elements are linked to each other so as to be fixed as regards rotation and are driven by a common float arranged in the regulator chamber. This sort of design of the device permits blockages in the region of the inlet opening of the regulator chamber to clear automatically.
Known from DE 39 14 702 A1 is a float-actuated device for the regulation of a constant outflow from a liquid container, in which device there is likewise present a regulator chamber with inlet- and outflow openings, with throttle elements assigned to these. A float arranged in the regulator chamber controls the course of the two throttle elements via control curves. This device is also suited for clearing blockages in the region of the inlet opening to the regulator chamber automatically. In addition, the regulator chamber is formed there as a bell. The airtight closing leads, in the event of a damming-in of liquid in the regulator chamber, to a compressing of the air found there and thus to a reduction in the maximum achievable liquid level in the outflow amount regulator, which can thereby build relatively little.
The disadvantage of the float construction for the regulation of a constant outflow from a liquid container is to be seen in the tall construction and consequent high cost, and further in the circumstance that with float constructions no high damming levels can be controlled, because the regulation of the constant outflow is limited by the maximal float position.

Device for the regulation of a constant outflow from a liquid container


In manufacturing a semiconductor device on a glass substrate, a conductive thin-film (for instance, a conductivity-imparted silicon film) is formed on the bottom surface side of the glass substrate at the initial stage of a manufacturing process. Since the conductive thin film serves as an electrostatic shield, the glass substrate is prevented from being electrified directly, whereby electrostatic breakdown of device elements as would otherwise be caused by electrification of the glass substrate can be avoided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device having a countermeasure against static electricity. In particular, the invention relates to a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device using a thin-film semiconductor such as a thin-film transistor formed on a glass substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that due to electrification with static electricity (contact electrification, triboelectrification, stripping electrification, or the like) a dielectric material, for instance, is given a very high voltage which amounts to several tens of kilovolts in some cases and a strong electromagnetic field is formed around it. If a conductor such as a metallic material is placed in such an environment, charge may be induced on its surface or polarity separation may occur in the inside thereof, possibly resulting in electrostatic discharge (ESD).
However, it is now pointed out that countermeasures against static electricity in semiconductor factories are insufficient, though the semiconductor industry is growing rapidly. The countermeasures against static electricity means countermeasures for preventing electrostatic breakdown of device elements due to ESD.
The causes of the above situation are the existence of still unclear problems associated with the countermeasures against static electricity and the fact that the countermeasures against static electricity require production of a large-scale facility (environment), an investment therefor would be a heavy economical burden to the management.
For the above reasons, the countermeasures against static electricity tend to be simple ones. In addition, it is said that in many cases effective measures are not taken due to insufficient knowledge of a manager of a manufacturing facility. Examples of commonly employed countermeasures against static electricity are generally classified into a method of grounding an electrified body to thereby quickly leak the charge to the ground and a method of neutralizing the charge of an electrified body with radiated ions.
For example, the method of grounding is effective in a case where an object of charge elimination is electrostatically a conductor (in general, the resistivity is less than 1.0.times.10.sup.6 .OMEGA.m). The method of neutralization with plus or minus ions is effective in a case where an object is moving or is a non-conductor (in general, the resistivity is greater than 1.0.times.10.sup.10 .OMEGA.m).
The reasons for the above facts will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A-3D. FIG. 3A shows a state that a conductor such as a metal is electrified. In this state, the density and the polarity of charge is uniform if there is no influence of an external electric field. In contrast, when a non-conductor such as glass is electrified, both of the density and the polarity is not uniform as shown in FIG. 3B. These phenomena result from high charge mobility of charge in a conductor and absence of charge mobility in a non-conductor.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, if an electrified conductor is grounded, it instantaneously loses its charge; that is, charge is eliminated from it. In contrast, as shown in FIG. 3D, even if a non-conductor is grounded, charge elimination takes long time or in some cases substantially no charge elimination is effected because of extremely slow movement of charge.
That is, when a non-conductor is electrified, the charge elimination by grounding is not efficient. Therefore it becomes necessary to neutralize positively electrified regions with minus ions and negatively electrified regions with plus ions.
A common neutralizing method with the use of ions is such that nitrogen molecules, for instance, included in the air are converted into plus and minus ions by changing the amount of electricity thereof by using corona discharge and ions of both polarities are uniformly dispersed in the air. An apparatus for this purpose, which is called an ionizer, is now commonly used.
In the recent semiconductor industry, the mainstream of the development is shifting from thin-film transistors (TFTs) using an amorphous silicon thin film to TFTs using a low-temperature polysilicon thin film. Accordingly, the demand for a technology for forming a semiconductor circuit on an inexpensive glass substrate is increasing further. Needless to say, a glass substrate is insulative; that is, it is a non-conductor.
In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a glass substrate is electrified in various manners, i.e., by contact electrification, triboelectrification, stripping (or separation) electrification, and the like. Charge accumulated in the glass plate forms an electromagnetic field, which in turn induces charge in a conductor such as a wiring formed on the glass plate. If a sufficient amount of charge to cause ESD is induced, resulting discharge may damage device elements.
It is therefore indispensable to eliminate charge from the glass substrate. However, since it is a non-conductor, conventionally there is no effective charge elimination method other than the method of neutralizing charge with ionizer. Actually, in semiconductor device manufacturing companies, ionizers are disposed at proper locations in the entire clean room as a countermeasure against static electricity. Or each substrate is subjected to charge elimination blowing, for instance, to eliminate charge therefrom.
However, in the above methods, it is difficult to control the balance between the amounts of generated ions of both polarities. If a balance is lost, a charge elimination object may unintentionally be electrified with an excessive part of plus or minus ions.
Further, electrode needles of an ionizer for causing corona discharge are lowered in performance due to stain or deformation by galvanic corrosion. Proper maintenance management is therefore needed for the electrode needles. For this reason, at present the use of an ionizer is not a low-cost means as a permanent countermeasure against static electricity. In addition, there is a paper stating that dust that is electrostatically collected on electrode needles may become a source of dust in a clean room.

Method for forming a thin film transistor using an electrostatic shield

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a method and a device which are used to heat materials in order to produce objects industrially, especially by mass production, and which allow a large variety of transformation methods.

The production of objects industrially, especially by mass production, is an operation of growing importance, which concerns all areas of economic activity, for example, the areas of the automobile industry, the aerospace industry, the aviation industry, acoustics, furnishing and plumbing, construction and public works, health care and also in the area of large consumer goods, such as luggage or toys.
In general, quasi any industrial activity or service requires the use of objects that, being specific to the particular activity, must be produced in large numbers, preferably at a limited cost.
The production of such objects can also involve operations whose nature is so diverse and varied as, for example, shaping, molding, molding from a casting, local consolidation, insertion, assembly, welding, cutting, protection or covering ("coating" in English) or decoration operations.
Finally, such production must be able to take into account materials as diverse as thermoplastic compositions, thermosetting compositions, cellular compositions, elastomers and/or vulcanizable compositions, glass or light alloys, which are, for example, reinforced with (glass, carbon, natural, etc.) fibers and/or have a sandwich structure and/or a honeycomb structure.
To limit the investment and operating costs of the production of a large number of objects, it is expedient to use a production method that utilizes electromagnetic induction phenomena to heat the materials for molding them or for not molding them.
According to such a method, a molding device 100 (FIG. 1) comprises inductors 102 that transmit an electric current that generates a magnetic field (not shown) such that the Foucault currents propagate in a conductor element, such as a metal, 104, located in the vicinity of the inductors 102.
These Foucault currents bring about a temperature rise of the conductor element 104, which transmits its heat, by conduction, to a material 106 to be molded, which is placed on its surface 105.
This conduction, or heat transfer, represented by arrows 103 in FIG. 1, now makes it possible to bring the material 106 to the desired temperature to carry out the molding thereof.
The present invention results from the observation that a method according to the prior art, such as that described by means of FIG. 1, has numerous drawbacks.
In fact, such a method requires the heating of the entire conductor element 104, even though only its surface 105, which is in contact with the material 106 to be molded, requires a rise in temperature.
In other words, the quantity of energy that must be supplied to raise the temperature of the material 106 corresponds to the male and/or female shapes of the objects to be produced.

Method and device for inductively heating conductive elements in order to shape objects


A multithread auto test method is disclosed for the test process of computer hardware. According to the exclusion relation among the unique IDs of the test items, a multithread executable logic is automatically generated. An appropriate parallel method is employed to find procedures for test items that do not have conflictions. Therefore, multithreads of test procedures are performed to increase the test efficiency and quality. The method includes the steps of: determining a unique ID of a test item; automatically generating a test logic table according to the exclusion relation among the unique IDs; and performing multithread test procedure according to the test logic given in the test logic table.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a test method and, in particular, to a multithread auto test method for computer hardware tests.
2. Related Art
Normally, computer hardware in a Windows environment is tested using the serial test method. As shown in FIG. 1A, hardware test items are performed one after another. Although this method has the advantage of no interference between each individual tests, it does have the following drawbacks.
(1) The test efficiency is low. A test is not started until its previous test is done. Therefore, it takes a longer time to finish all the test items of the computer. Of course, the yield efficiency of the assembly thread is seriously affected.
(2) It has potential test loopholes. The serial test method does not consider the situation of testing several hardware devices at a time.
To eliminate the drawbacks of the serial test method, a parallel test method can be used. The basic idea is to generate a test thread for each test item and, as shown in FIG. 1B, all the test items are tested together.
The problem of the parallel test method, however, is that different test items may interfere with one another. For example, it is impossible to perform the sequential seek test and the random seek test of the hard disk drive (HDD) together.
It is thus highly desirable to provide a test method that does not only have the high-efficiency, high-quality advantages of the parallel test method, but can also avoid conflictions in test items.


A method and system for identifying a fluorescence mark in a printed document includes using an image acquisition device to derive an input digital image. For each pixel of at least one of the input image color channels, the gray value is adjusted to define a filtered digital image including a plurality of pixels each defined by an adjusted gray value. A binary image is derived that that represents the filtered digital image. The binary image includes a binary representation of the fluorescence mark and a binary representation of the background. At least one morphological operation is performed on the binary image. An ASCII character for the binary representation of the fluorescence mark (or each constituent character thereof) is derived and compared to a known security code to authenticate the printed document.

Security is an important concern in the realm of documents and digital production and/or reproduction of documents. Known digital image printing/copying systems produce documents of such high quality that a need has been identified to prevent effective printing/copying of certain documents such as high-value printed items including tickets, financial instruments, security passes, and the like. Known techniques include printing the original document in a manner such that it includes a digital "watermark" using only conventional paper and toner or ink. A digital watermark is defined as information, for example one or more letters, words, symbols or patterns, that is at least partially (preferably fully or at least substantially) hidden in a printed image under normal viewing conditions but that is more clearly discernable under certain specialized viewing conditions. Unauthorized reproduction of documents including such digital watermarks typically degrades or obscures the digital watermark, which can aid in detection of counterfeit documents.
A fluorescence mark (also sometimes referred to as a "UV mark") is one example of a known digital watermark. Methods and systems are known for including fluorescence marks in printed documents using conventional papers (e.g., ordinary "copy paper" or "printer paper") and ordinary inks/toners (e.g., CMYK ink/toner), specifically by using metameric colorant mixtures. Under visible lighting conditions (e.g., electromagnetic radiation wavelengths of about 400-700 nanometers (nm), the different colorant mixtures that are printed on respective adjacent portions of the paper together define an overall printed document region that appears substantially uniform in color. Under ultraviolet (UV) lighting (e.g., electromagnetic radiation wavelengths shorter than about 400 nm), these different colorant mixtures exhibit different UV absorption and, thus, different suppression of UV fluorescence of the optical brightening agents used in conventional printing/copying papers such that the region printed with the colorant mixture that suppresses less of the substrate fluorescence appears as a lighter/brighter region while the adjacent area printed with the colorant mixture that strongly suppresses substrate fluorescence appears as a darker region. These contrast variations under UV lighting are used to create watermark patterns, e.g., numbers, letters, symbols, shapes.
An example of this is shown in FIG. 1, wherein a colorant mixture "B" is selected and applied to patch area BP which, in this example, is shaped as the alphanumeric symbol "0". Further, a colorant mixture "A" is selected and applied to patch area AP arranged in substantially close spatial proximity to patch area BP, and thereby providing a background around/adjacent patch area BP. Both colorant mixture A and colorant mixture B are comprised of a suitably selected colorant or colorant mixtures, but colorant mixtures A and B are different mixtures. Each colorant mixture A or B may be, for example, either a single CMYK colorant or any mixture of CMYK colorants. In the illustrated example, colorant mixture A will be selected so as to provide higher UV absorption (greater substrate fluorescence suppression) than that selected for colorant mixture B. The colorant mixtures A and B will also be selected to match each other closely in their average color and luminance when viewed under visible light conditions. As shown at UV in FIG. 1, under UV lighting conditions, patch BP will appear brighter as compared to patch AP, due to the relatively limited suppression of the fluorescence of the optical brightening agents in the paper substrate as compared to the patch AP, thus forming a watermark W1. In contrast, under visible light conditions as shown at VIS, patches AP,BP are at least substantially indistinguishable. By way of example, an approximate 50% grayscale gray colorant mixture may be realized with a halftone of black (K) colorant only and used for colorant mixture B to print patch BP. This may then be color-matched against a colorant mixture comprising yellow (Y) colorant mixed with enough cyan (C) and magenta (M) to yield a similar approximate 50% grayscale gray colorant mixture A which is used to print the patch AP. With the given high area coverage of colorant mixture A, this colorant mixture will provide much higher absorption of UV or suppression of native substrate fluorescence as compared to the patch BP, so that under UV lighting conditions, the patch BP will be readily apparent as a watermark W1. The two colorant mixtures will appear quite nearly identical "gray" under normal visible light viewing as shown at VIS in FIG. 1. Thus, when a document including such a fluorescence mark is subjected to UV illumination, the watermark W1 is revealed. A printed "look-alike" document or mere photocopy will not include the watermark.
It should be noted that here and in the following, we use the terms "suppress" or "selectively suppress" to indicate the property of the first colorant mixture as having a higher UV suppression than the corresponding second colorant mixture.
Additional details and variations relating to fluorescence marks are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,897 filed May 11, 2006 in the name of Raja Bala and Reiner Eschbach and entitled "Substrate Fluorescence Mask for Embedding Information in Printed Documents" and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,869 filed May 11, 2006 in the name of Raja Bala and Reiner Eschbach and entitled "Substrate Fluorescence Pattern Mask for Embedding Information in Printed Documents" and the disclosures of both these applications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present specification.
An important related aspect of the above is the ability to decode (identify and/or extract) fluorescence marks from a printed document. In a conventional method, the relevant portion of the printed document is illuminated using a UV light source so that a human observer or machine can seek to discern the presence of the fluorescence mark and confirm that the fluorescence mark matches the required/expected security mark such as a known alphanumeric code, a pattern, symbol, design or the like. A drawback of this approach is that a UV light source is required, and most conventional printed document scanners (such as those commonly used in offices to scan and store or reproduce documents) do not include the required UV light source. Also, a drawback of many prior methods is the need to use a human observer to view and decode the fluorescence mark and compare the mark to a required security mark.

Decoding of UV marks using a digital image acquisition device


A bottle holder includes an anchor arm a grip loop, and a rigid member. The anchor arm includes a plurality of bends and a plurality of segments. A segment is a portion of the anchor arm between two adjacent bends of the plurality of bends. At least two segments of the plurality of segments of the anchor arm each include a snap aperture. The grip loop forms a bottle aperture for holding a bottle disposed at a proximal end of the anchor arm. The rigid member is disposed at a distal end of the anchor arm. Each snap aperture of the at least two segments of the plurality of segments of the anchor arm are configured to receive the rigid member. In some cases, the grip loop, the anchor arm, and the rigid member are made of a single piece of elastic silicon material.

Often, babies and young children will drop their bottle or other drink container. As a result, many bottles are lost, damaged, and/or soiled. Current baby bottle holders do exist that hold the bottle and attach the bottle to a supporting structure in order to prevent spillage of bottle's contents or to prevent the bottle from being lost. However, a common problem with pre-existing baby bottle holders is that the attachment holding the bottle may not have a strong enough grip on the bottle, and consequently the bottle may slip out from the attachment. Another problem is that the length of material tethering the bottle to the supporting structure may be too long, resulting in the bottle falling to the floor, despite being held by the baby bottle holder. Ideally, the baby bottle holder should also be made of a lightweight, child-safe material for practical use. Therefore, there exists a need for a safe, lightweight baby bottle holder that is able to maintain a strong grip on the baby bottle and prevent the bottle from falling to the floor and/or being lost.


Apparatus and method for digital printing comprises placing a medium to be printed on a print table and feeding towards a print head. A finite length of the medium approaching the print head is measured for variations in thickness towards the print head. Then, the height of the print head is adjusted to maintain a predetermined printing distance. Subsequently, if the extent reaches or exceeds the printing distance then it is assumed that wrinkles are present and printing is paused for readjustment of the medium, which may be a textile and more particularly a garment.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to printing head height control and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to measurement and control of the printing head height over a textile substrate, particularly in direct to garment printing.
In the current art, control of the print head height for a given print medium height is defined, either manually or using an offline measuring device, by the printer operator as part of the predefined data of the print job. This method has many weaknesses and limitations and is very sensitive to human error, such as inaccurate input, which may reduce the overall print quality. Furthermore, even if the initial measurements are perfectly accurate, changes in the media height during the process may render the initial measurements invalid. Such changes may be due to mechanical interference—say the medium has creases or otherwise refuses to lie flat, or there may be variance in the nature of the medium, say strands or hairs sticking out from the medium, and such issues may cause contact between the nozzles of the print head and the medium itself, or the printing surface may not be exactly flat. Such contact may impede the jet of ink from the nozzle and lead to the failed jet drying on the nozzle and causing complete or partial blockage. While print heads may be designed to compensate for small numbers of known failed nozzles, the process inevitably affects more and more nozzles as time passes, shortening the lifetime of the print head and leading to increased downtime.
A known method to detect non-uniformities in the media and protect the system against collisions between the media and the printheads, is by using a laser beam in a single dimension and arranged parallel to the media. Once the media height exceeds a preset maximum limit, the system detects the interference and typically stops the sequence immediately, with all the associated disadvantages of slowing down processing. This way the collision is avoided, but the entire printing sequence is compromised since the printer stops the job mid-flow. The current print operation is rendered waste material since it is not possible to restart the printing operation at exactly the point it was interrupted. The operator needs to intervene, reset the system and restart the job, and valuable time is lost.
Currently, measuring the media height is based on offline tools and the measurement is offline and prior to the print sequence. Instead of actual measurements, manual estimations may be used or tables may be consulted for the particular media. With some machines it is possible to program in the type of media and the machine may use a look-up table to set the head height. Current methods are thus sensitive to user's errors and to variations in the media. The end result is reduced quality due to inaccurate print height or uneven surface and the current solutions do nothing to prevent collisions with the head due to unevenness in the media.
To detect wrinkles in the media there are current solutions based on mechanical modules that detect an approaching fold in the medium. In other solutions, a laser beam crosses in front of the printing area and may also detect an approaching fold.
The detector is set to a predefined value, which usually cannot be adjusted due to the binary nature of the concept, and scans the media in front of the print heads, before or during the print sequence, to sense possible bumps or folds in the media that may endanger the print heads. When such a disturbance is detected the print sequence is stopped to avoid the danger of collision between the media and the print heads or other parts of the system. The process is based on a go/no-go filter, that is either the media is below or above the maximum allowed value, and if above, interferes with the print sequence. The process is not flexible and does not respond to changes over the course of a print job and can harm the overall user experience and availability of the system.
In the DTG (direct to garment) industry, while printing with inkjet directly on garment it is thus essential to avoid physical contact of the print heads and the garment itself in order to avoid damaging the print head. While hovering above the garment, for drop placement, with a speed that can reach 1.0 m/s, physical contact with the garment can cause damage to the very expensive print heads, which in some cases may be compensated for but is generally irrecoverable.
In the DTG industry the mean time between failures (MTBF) of the system has significant value for the customer, and a "head strike" can cause significant machine down time and a long time to repair.
One of the main reasons for the head strike is garment misplacement with a "wrinkle" that is thicker than the gap between the print head and the garment itself. The gap between the print heads and the garment is preset before the print. Since there is vast variety of garment types, the print height is adjusted accordingly.
However in addition to wrinkles, there may be variation in the height of the print media that may not be enough to strike the print head, but may still alter the distance between the medium and the print head. Since there is relative motion between the print head and the medium the ink jet follows a ballistic trajectory and if the height between the medium and the print head varies then the ink jet will not land at the intended location, leading to a reduction in print quality. Thus it is desirable to keep the distance between the print head and the print medium as close to constant as possible over the course of the printing process, however there is no way in the current art that allows this if the height of the print medium changes.


An apparatus and method for capturing data packets for analysis on a network computing system includes a sending node and a receiving node connected by a bi-directional communication link. The sending node sends a data transmission to the receiving node on the bi-directional communication link, and the receiving node receives the data transmission and verifies the data transmission to determine valid data and invalid data and verify retransmissions of invalid data as corresponding valid data. A memory device communicates with the receiving node for storing the invalid data and the corresponding valid data. A computing node communicates with the memory device and receives and performs an analysis of the invalid data and the corresponding valid data received from the memory device.

High-speed digital data links are commonly used in communication networks and parallel computers. They typically consist of input/output (I/O) drivers (senders) at one end and I/O receivers at the other end, with copper or optical interconnections in between. The quality of the links are measured by the data eye size (the size of the valid data sampling window) on the receivers. There are typically a set of physical parameters, for example, the driver strength, pre-emphasis amplitude on the sender node, and termination resistor value, on the receiver node that can be optimized to achieve an optimal data eye size for a given link at a designed operating frequency. However, the data eye size parameter is a statistical average which is collected over a long period of time (relative to a data bit time on the link), and does not contain any transient properties of the link. For example, if a link error occurs, the eye size parameter does not ascertain if this is caused by a single bit error that could be the result of random link noise, or a burst of several bits that could indicate a more serious link problem.
Therefore, a need exists to capture a bad or invalid data packet for future analysis. A further need exists to capture a corresponding good or valid packet for future analysis in conjunction with the bad packet.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for making an insulation assembly is disclosed. A plurality of mineral fibers are moved along a conveyor system after having been cut to desired sizes. A section having a major surface is moved in a direction generally normal to that of following sections, while maintaining the major surface in a plane parallel to the plane of the major surfaces of the following sections. A plurality of the individual sections move through an encapsulation module where they are assembled and covered to form the insulation assembly.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for making an insulation assembly and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus for making a reoriented assembly which is used to insulate buildings including insulating floors, ceilings and walls of such buildings.
It is well known in the art to insulate buildings using various types of insulating materials including mineral fibers, such as fibrous glass wool. While the present invention may be used to make an insulation assembly which includes a mineral fiber binder, the present method and apparatus is particularly directed to a so-called binderless mineral fiber product, used in an overall insulation assembly. The mineral fibers used can be, for example, mineral wool or fibrous glass wool.

Method and apparatus for making an insulation assembly


A method identifies the cause of poor correlation between an integrated circuit model and measured integrated circuit performance. The method includes determining the propagation delays through two separate integrated circuit components. The propagation delays are then compared to each other to identify the cause of the poor correlation.

The present invention relates to simulation tools for predicting the performance of integrated circuit components. In particular, the present invention relates to improving the correlation between the predicted performance for the components and the measured performance for the components.
Integrated circuits are produced by sequentially depositing layers of material on a substrate. Before an integrated circuit can be produced, a large number of masks must be designed that will define the locations for the various material layers. The design and production of these masks represents a significant fixed cost in the production of integrated circuits. As such, it is desirable to ensure that the integrated circuit will operate properly before the masks are produced.
This is typically done by simulating the performance of the individual components of the integrated circuit using a collection of modeling tools. These modeling tools include transistor models, which are used in transistor level simulators, such as HSPICE. They also include cell level models that describe the performance of basic building blocks of logic called standard cells. In particular, the cell models provide timing models describe the propagation delay through the standard cell. During simulations, the propagation delays through the various cells are taken into consideration when performing chip-level timing analysis.
As device sizes become smaller and the speed of devices increase, even small errors in the simulation models significantly reduce the correlation between the performance predicted by the simulation model and the actual performance of the circuit. In the worst case, a circuit will appear to operate properly in simulation, but will not operate at all when it is built.
In the past, testing was done to determine if a component performed as predicted. If the testing showed that the component performance met expectations, the model for the component was accepted as being accurate. However, if the component did not perform as expected, the testing indicated that the model was inaccurate. One problem with this testing was that it did not show why the model did not correlate with the built component. In other words, prior art testing did not indicate the cause of poor correlation between the model and the built component.
A method identifies the cause of poor correlation between an integrated circuit model and measured integrated circuit performance. The method includes determining the propagation delays through two separate integrated circuit components. The propagation delays are then compared to each other to identify the cause of the poor correlation.

Method and apparatus for indentifying causes of poor silicon-to-simulation correlation