Chip sorting devices and methods of ejecting chips from chip wells are disclosed. In some embodiments, chip sorting devices may include at least one chip ejection unit including at least one finger member selectively movable between a first position outside of at least one channel of a chip conveying unit and a second position within the at least one channel. In additional embodiments, a chip sorting device may include a separating wheel comprising a plurality of chip wells, each chip well configured to hold a plurality of chips. In yet additional embodiments, methods of ejecting a chip from a chip well may include urging a selected chip out of the chip well with the at least one finger member and at least one wall segment of a trailing segmented wall of the chip well.

Given the current economic circumstances, reduced gaming revenues, and desire to improve profitability, there is a need to reduce costs through cost savings and replacement costs due to wear and tear on equipment. For example, there is a need for improved chip sorting devices, which may have the same profile as existing equipment to avoid retrofitting existing gaming tables and that have adjustable mounting structures that permit limited movement of the device adjacent the gaming table surface. Additionally, it may be desirable to develop improved chip sorting devices having reduced production cost, which may improve efficiency, improve reliability, reduce wear on chips and minimize noise to preserve the casino ambience.
In view of the foregoing, improved chip sorting devices and improved methods relating to sorting chips would be desirable.

Chip handling devices and related methods


A magnetic-inductive flowmeter for measuring the rate of flow of a flowing medium, having a measurement line, a magnetic field generating means for generating a magnetic field which at least partially penetrates the measurement line, and two measurement electrodes, and an electrically insulating cover layer provided at least partially over the inside of the measurement line, the measurement electrodes being strip-shaped having a length in a peripheral direction of the measurement line of between about just under one fourth of the periphery of the measurement line to about just over half the periphery of the measurement line and being exposed to the interior of the measurement line to be in direct, contact with the flowing medium. The measurement electrodes can be made of the same material or a similar material as the cover layer, but having a much higher electrical conductivity than the material of the cover layer.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a magnetic-inductive flowmeter for measuring the rate of flow of a flowing medium, with a measurement line, a magnetic field generating means for generating a magnetic field which at least partially penetrates the measurement line, and with two measurement electrodes for detecting and tapping a measurement voltage which has been induced in the flowing medium, the measurement line being provided at least partially with an electrically insulating cover layer inside, and the measurement voltage can be galvanically or capacitively tapped by the measurement electrodes. Here, a magnetic-inductive flowmeter is assumed whose measurement line is electrically conductive and which, therefore, has a metallic measurement line; only then is at least partially an electrically insulating cover layer necessary. This electrically insulating cover layer is provided at least in the region of the measurement electrodes. The dimension which the cover layer should at least have depends on the diameter of the measurement line. Usually the cover layer in the lengthwise direction of the measurement line has expansion which corresponds to roughly at least twice the diameter of the measurement line. However, the measurement line can, then, also partially or entirely be provided with a cover layer when it is not electrically conductive. Usually, but not functionally necessarily, does a housing which holds the measurement line, and preferably also the magnetic field generating means and the measurement electrodes, belong to the magnetic-inductive flowmeter of the type under consideration, the housing conventionally having a round cross section.
2. Description of Related Art
Magnetic-inductive flowmeters have been very widely known for decades in the prior art; in this regard, reference is made by way of example to literature citation Technical Flow Rate Measurement by Prof. Dr. Ing. K. W. Bonfig, 3rd edition, Vulkan-Verlag Essen, 2002, pages 123 to 167 (compare also, German patent applications 196 37 761, 197 52 368 and 10 2007 003 614 and European patent applications 0 274 768 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,795), 0 762 084 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,830) and 1 764 587 (U.S. Pat. No. 7,412,901)).
The underlying principle of a magnetic-inductive flowmeter for measurement of the rate of flow of a flowing medium goes back to Faraday who as early as 1832 suggested using the principle of electrodynamic induction for measurement of the flow velocity of a flowing medium. According to the Faraday Induction Law, in a flowing medium which is entraining charge carriers and flowing through a magnetic field, an electrical field intensity forms perpendicular to the flow direction and perpendicular to the magnetic field. The Faraday Induction Law is used in a magnetic-inductive flowmeter by a magnetic field being generated by a magnetic field generating means which conventionally has two energized magnet coils and being routed at least partially through a measurement line, the generated magnetic field having at least one component which runs perpendicular to the flow direction. Within the magnetic field each volumetric element of the flowing medium which has a certain number of charge carriers and which is moving through the magnetic field with the field intensity which arises in this volumetric element contributes to a measurement voltage which can be tapped galvanically or capacitively and which can be detected by the measurement electrode.
If, as stated above, magnetic-inductive flowmeters have been extensively known for decades in an almost unimaginable number of embodiments, with reference to magnetic-inductive flowmeters, as in many extensively developed areas of engineering, progress is still desirable and also possible. This also applies to a special degree to the measurement electrodes of these magnetic-inductive flowmeters.
In magnetic-inductive flowmeters of the type under consideration, the flowing medium can be a gas-free or at least largely gas-free liquid, but the flowing medium can also be a liquid which contains more or fewer portions of gas. Otherwise in the magnetic-inductive flowmeters under consideration the measurement line can be completely filled or also only partially filled according to operation.
It was stated at the beginning that the invention relates to a magnetic-inductive flowmeter for measuring the flow rate of a flowing medium. This magnetic-inductive flowmeter however allows not only measurement of the rate of flow of a flowing medium, but also measurement of conductivity and/or measurement of the liquid level, with liquid level measurement the information being available whether the measurement line is completely or partially filled. Consequently a magnetic-inductive flowmeter of the initially explained type can be used for flow rate measurement, for conductivity measurement and/or for liquid level measurement. Conventionally, magnetic-inductive flowmeters are used not only for conductivity measurement and not only for liquid level measurement. If rather there is also conductivity measurement and/or liquid level measurement, a magnetic-inductive flowmeter of the type under consideration is generally used for measurement of flow rate and measurement of conductivity, for flow rate measurement and liquid level measurement or for flow rate measurement, conductivity measurement and liquid level measurement. But it is also possible to use this magnetic-inductive flowmeter also only for conductivity measurement, only for liquid level measurement or only for conductivity measurement and liquid level measurement. But a magnetic-inductive flowmeter for measuring the flow rate of a flowing medium is always assumed below. Nevertheless, what is detailed below also always applies to a magnetic-inductive flowmeter for flow rate measurement and for conductivity measurement, for flow rate measurement and for liquid level measurement, for flow rate measurement, for conductivity measurement and for liquid level measurement, for conductivity measurement, for liquid level measurement or for conductivity measurement and liquid level measurement.
Magnetic-inductive flowmeters in which the measurement line at least partially has an electrically insulating cover layer are numerously known (compare German patent applications 10 2004 057 696 (U.S. Pat. No. 7,272,978), 10 2006 026 310, and 10 2006 026 311, German patent 43 27 826 and European patent application 0 608 793). The material for the cover layer which can have a layer thickness in the range from 0.1 to 500 microns, optionally even more, are generally plastics, for example polyurethane, polyolefin, polytetrafluorethylene or polyether ether ketone. Otherwise in magnetic-inductive flowmeters, providing between the measurement line and the cover layer, often also called a liner, a primer which imparts adhesion of the cover layer to the measurement line is also known, and the primer can also be plastic of the same or another type.


Method for gas liquefaction comprising cooling a feed gas by a first refrigeration system in a first heat exchange zone and withdrawing a substantially liquefied stream therefrom, further cooling the substantially liquefied stream by indirect heat exchange with one or more work-expanded refrigerant streams in a second heat exchange zone, and withdrawing therefrom a further cooled, substantially liquefied stream. At least one of the one or more work-expanded refrigerant streams is provided by compressing one or more refrigerant gases to provide a compressed refrigerant stream, cooling all or a portion of the compressed refrigerant stream in a third heat exchange zone to provide a cooled, compressed refrigerant stream, and work expanding the cooled, compressed refrigerant stream to provide one of the one or more work-expanded refrigerant streams. The flow rate of a work-expanded refrigerant stream in the second heat exchange zone typically is less than the total flow rate of one or more work-expanded refrigerant streams in the third heat exchange zone.

Gas liquefaction is achieved by cooling and condensing a feed gas stream against multiple refrigerant streams provided by one or more recirculating refrigeration systems. Cooling of the feed gas is accomplished by various cooling process cycles such as the well-known cascade cycle in which refrigeration is provided by three different refrigerant loops. In the liquefaction of natural gas, for example, a cascade refrigeration system may be utilized with methane, ethylene and propane cycles in sequence to produce refrigeration at three different temperature levels. Another well-known refrigeration cycle uses a propane pre-cooled, mixed refrigerant cycle in which a multicomponent refrigerant mixture generates refrigeration over a selected temperature range. The mixed refrigerant can contain hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, and other light hydrocarbons, and also may contain nitrogen. Versions of this efficient refrigeration system are used in many operating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants around the world.
Another type of refrigeration process for natural gas liquefaction utilizes a gas expansion cycle in which a refrigerant gas such as nitrogen is compressed and cooled to ambient conditions with air or water cooling and is further cooled by countercurrent heat exchange with cold low-pressure nitrogen gas. The cooled nitrogen stream then is work expanded through a turbo-expander to produce the cold low-pressure nitrogen gas, and this gas is used to cool the natural gas feed and the compressed nitrogen stream. The work produced by nitrogen expansion can be used to drive a nitrogen booster compressor connected to the shaft of the expander. In this process, the cold expanded nitrogen is used to liquefy the natural gas and also to cool the compressed nitrogen gas in the same heat exchanger. The cooled pressurized nitrogen is further cooled in the work expansion step to provide the cold nitrogen refrigerant.
Integrated refrigeration systems can be used for gas liquefaction wherein cooling of the gas from ambient to an intermediate temperature is provided by one or more vapor recompression cycles and cooling from the intermediate temperature to the final liquefaction temperature is provided by a gas expansion cycle. Examples of these combined liquefaction cycles are disclosed in German Patent DE 2440215 and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,768,912, 6,062,041, 6,308,531 B1, and 6,446,465 B1.
In the processes described in DE 2440215 and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,768,912 and 6,446,465 B1, feed gas and compressed refrigerant gas from the gas expansion cycle are cooled together in common heat exchangers using refrigeration provided by the cold work-expanded refrigerant. In an alternative method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,531 B1, feed gas and compressed refrigerant gas from the gas expansion cycle are cooled in separate heat exchangers using refrigeration provided by the cold work-expanded refrigerant. In this method, additional refrigeration from the vapor recompression cycle is used to provide additional cooling of the compressed refrigerant gas in the gas expansion cycle. This may be accomplished by passing a stream of refrigerant from the vapor recompression cycle through the heat exchanger cooling the compressed refrigerant gas. Alternatively, a portion of the gas expansion cycle compressed refrigerant gas may be cooled against vaporizing refrigerant in the vapor recompression cycle heat exchangers to provide additional refrigeration.
The liquefaction of natural gas is a very energy intensive process. Improved efficiency and operating flexibility of gas liquefaction processes using combined vapor recompression and gas expansion refrigeration cycles are highly desirable and are among the objectives for new cycles being developed in the gas liquefaction art. Embodiments of the present invention address this need by providing multiple expanders in the gas expansion cycle to reduce or eliminate the need for balance refrigeration between the vapor recompression and gas expansion cycles while allowing cooling of the feed gas and the compressed gas expansion refrigerant in separate heat exchangers and also allowing independent operation of the vapor recompression and gas expansion cycles.

Hybrid gas liquefaction cycle with multiple expanders


This invention relates in general to capacitors including one or more layers of dielectric material wherein at least one of the layers including a multiaxially oriented lyotropic liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) film. The present invention also provides lyotropic LCPs films having less than 0.5% residual ionic contaminants and a method of preparing such films and capacitors including such films. In preferred embodiments, the invention further provides a capacitor wherein the liquid crystalline polymer film has less than 0.5% residual ionic contaminants.

Improvements in capacitor design have been hampered in recent years because of the limitations in both physical and electrical properties of currently available dielectric films. These limitations reduce the thermal range, energy storage capabilities and reliability of capacitors incorporating such dielectrics, imposing particularly acute restrictions on the design and construction of high temperature, high energy density, and high repetition rate capacitors.
Polymeric materials that are used in current designs or have been tested in prototype designs include: polypropylene, PPS, PVDF, polycarbonate, polysulfone, polystyrene, Kapton, Upilex, and several other proprietary advanced polyimides. None of these materials are capable of functioning in the range of 300.degree. C. for extended periods of time without dramatic reductions in electrical integrity. Nor are they capable of meeting the energy density goals of high energy storage capacitors.
For high energy capacitor applications, the storage capacity of a given capacitor is determined primarily by the dielectric constant and the dielectric breakdown strength of the dielectric. The energy that can be stored in a capacitor comprising a dielectric medium placed between two electrodes can be represented by the equation: EQU E=1/2 CV.sup.2
where C is the capacitance of the capacitor and V is the charging voltage. For a simple parallel plate capacitor, C is given by: EQU C=K.sub.o A/t
where K.sub.o is the permittivity in free space, K is the relative permittivity, A is the area, and t is the thickness of the dielectric medium, respectively. The term dielectric constant is used instead of relative permittivity in the industry and will also be used here.
Polymers in general have relatively low dielectric constants (2 to 15), but high capacitance values can be obtained by winding thin polymer films. The energy density of a capacitor, in which most of the weight is in the polymer component, can be represented by the equation: EQU Ed=E/M=(K.sub.o) F.sup.2 /2.rho.
where F is the electric field (volts/unit thickness) and .rho. is the density of the dielectric. For practical capacitors, the energy density will be lower due to the weight of electrodes, end tabs, and the casing. But for very large capacitors, especially when metallized films are used as electrodes, this equation is a very good estimate of the energy density.
The storage capacity of a capacitor is limited by the highest electric field that can be imposed on it. This in turn is limited by the ultimate breakdown strength of the dielectric. To maximize the energy density of a capacitor, it is desirable to use lightweight materials with a high dielectric constant, e.g., 3-15, and a very high breakdown strength, e.g., 7-16 kv/mil. Because the storage capacity has a squared dependence on the electric field, the breakdown strength of the dielectric is of primary importance in high energy storage of the dielectric in this application. Polymers are generally of low density (approximately 1 to 2 grams/cm.sup.3), and tend to have high breakdown strengths, which offset their low dielectric constant values in capacitor applications.
For most materials, the dielectric breakdown values are in the 10 Kv/mil range, which can translate to potential energy densities on the order of 1 kilojoule/kilogram.
Some of the energy stored in a capacitor will be dissipated as heat due to losses in the electrode and the dielectric medium. The dissipation factor is a measure of the amount of stored energy converted to heat in the dielectric medium. In high burst mode operation, the capacitor operates essentially under adiabatic conditions, with negligible heat loss or dissipation to the surroundings. All the energy lost in the capacitor goes towards heating the capacitor. The temperature rise due to dielectric heating, under adiabatic conditions is given by: EQU VT .alpha. E.times.DF.times.P/M Cp
where E is the energy stored per pulse, DF is the dissipation factor, P is the repetition rate and M and Cp are the mass and specific heat of the capacitor, respectively. Since E/M is the energy density of the capacitor, this equation may be written as: EQU VT .alpha. Ed.times.DF.times.P/M Cp
Clearly to achieve a high energy density and high repetition rate with a low temperature increase, it is desirable to use a dielectric material which has a low dissipation factor, high breakdown strength, high thermal stability, and a low coefficient of thermal expansion. It is desirable to have such a dielectric which enables a capacitor to exhibit stable electrical properties over a wide range of temperatures and frequencies. Currently available capacitors are deficient both in terms of energy storage and repetition rate, as well as operating temperature range due to deficiencies in the available dielectric materials.


An apparatus for use with motorcycles is adapted to cooperate with an opening that is provided in a fairing, fuel tank, cowling, trunk, saddlebag or other accessory item of the motorcycle. A frame structure of the apparatus includes a front face plate and two side members that are in a parallel spaced apart relationship with respect to each other. Each of the two side members is attached to an opposite side of the face plate and perpendicular with respect thereto. The face plate includes an opening that is closed when a hinged door is pivoted into a first closed position. Various methods of securing the apparatus in the opening are disclosed, some of which do not modify, mar, or otherwise damage any portion of the motorcycle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in general relates to motorcycles and, more particularly, to a storage device for use on a motorcycle.
Motorcycles are well known devices that have, in general, a severely limited storage capacity. Certain motorcycles have a recessed opening that is provided in a fairing or in a console area where an operator of the motorcycle may place gloves or similar items. Select model Harley Davidson brand motorcycles include this type of the recessed opening. Also accessory items, like fairings, that may be purchased and then attached to the motorcycle may also include a suitable type of the recessed opening.
A problem is that during riding, wind and vibration can cause items placed therein to be expelled and lost along the highway. This tends to make the recessed opening of little practical value.
Furthermore, the opening is, of itself, unsightly.
Also, not a minor consideration is that because the appearance of a motorcycle is usually quite important to the owner, he or she may be reluctant to incorporate any accessory item that could potentially cause permanent damage or modification to the existing structures of the motorcycle.
Owners prefer to add an accessory item that is fastened in such manner that, if later removed, the appearance of the motorcycle can be returned to normal.
Accordingly, there exists today a need for a hinged glove box door for motorcycles that helps ameliorate the above-mentioned problems and difficulties.
Clearly, such an apparatus would be useful and desirable.
2. Description of Prior Art
Motorcycles and open recessed areas in motorcycles are, in general, known. While the structural arrangements of the known prior devices may, at first appearance, have similarities with the present invention, they differ in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior devices.


In a data communication network (SYS) a first and second network site (BSS), (MS) communicate by sending a first data transmission (DT1) from the first network site (BSS) to a second network site (MS) and by sending a second data transmission (DT2) from said second network site (MS) to said first network site (BSS). In accordance with the invention data transmission characteristics (DTC1) of said first data transmission (DT1) are determined and radio resources for said data transmission (DT2) are allocated based on the determined first data transmission characteristics (DTC1). Thus, the radio resources for the second data transmission (DT2) are correlated with characteristics of the first data transmission (DT1) and thus delays in the data transmission between the first and second network site (BSS, MS) can be avoided. The invention finds particular application in data transmission networks, for example in a TCP/IP network, in which a link layer protocol context, for example a Temporary Block Flow (TBF), has to be set up for the data transmissions. In such applications the invention can reduce the data packet transmission delay by avoiding unnecessary TBF setup/tearing down procedures.

One example of a data communication network in which the invention can be used is EGPRS or GPRS, in which a so-called link layer protocol context (TBF) is set up between a transmitting network site and a receiving network site and in which a further link layer protocol context (TBF) is set up for the data transmission from the second network site to the first network site. This link layer protocol context is called Temporary Block Flow (TBF) in GPRS and EGPRS.
If a TBF in EGPRS or GPRS has been set up, a scheduler assigns the necessary radio resources for transmitting a single data packet via the air interface. As will be briefly explained below, typically in TCP data transmission, each data transmission in one direction is confirmed by an acknowledgement transmission in the reverse direction and each direction needs the setting up and tearing down of a TBF. The setting up and tearing down of the TBF is conventionally controlled by the number of data packets to be transmitted.
The setting up and tearing down of a TBF requires a large amount of signalling between the two network sites and thus there may be quite a substantial delay when data packets or acknowledgement information is to be transmitted and a TBF has not been set up already. Furthermore, since the only criterion which causes the setting up of a TBF is the number of packets to be transmitted, there may occur a situation where after transmission of a few data packets the TBF is cancelled and has to be set up again if after only a short period of time a new set of data packets is pending to be transmitted. Alternatively, if the TBF was just kept open unconditionally, i.e. even in cases where no acknowledgment or data packets need to be transmitted, this would cause a substantial waste of resources. The present invention aims to reduce this waste of transmission resources and in particular the invention aims to reduce delays during the transmission due to unnecessary TBF set up and tear down procedures.
FIG. 1a shows a typical data communication network SYS comprising a first network site, for example a base station system BSS, and a plurality of second network sites, for example a plurality of mobile stations MS, MS′, MS″. As explained above, typically there is a downlink DATA-DWN, on which a data transmission from the first network site BSS to the second network site MS occurs if simultaneously the downlink layer protocol context TBF-DWN is established. Likewise, if an uplink layer protocol context TBF-UP is established, a transmission of data can occur on an uplink DATA-UP. That is, for each transmission direction a link layer protocol context TBF must be established.
A well-known protocol for such data transmissions is TCP, which provides connection-oriented services for the application layer of the Internet protocol. A transmitting network site and a receiving network site establish a connection in order to exchange data and TCP transmits data in segments, which are encased in IP datagrams. Check sums are used to detect data corruption. In addition, sequence numbers ensure an ordered byte stream.
As shown in FIG. 1b, in TCP each data transmission ST1, ST3, . . . between a TCP host and a TCP terminal requires the receiving network site, i.e. the TCP terminal, to acknowledge the receipt of data by returning acknowledgements ST2, ST4 to the transmitting site, i.e. to the TCP host. This acknowledgement confirms the receipt of data and its completeness. Since each data transmission is confirmed with an acknowledgement re-transmission TCP is considered to be a very reliable transport mechanism, in particular for large data streams. If the transmitting site does not receive an acknowledgement information from the receiving site within an expected time frame, the segment (IP datagram) is re-transmitted. It should be noted that TCP-IP as explained above is only one example of a protocol where a transmission of acknowledgments is performed. The present invention, however, is not limited to TCP-IP. For example, it may even be applicable to UDP, i.e. for constant stream arrival.
FIG. 1c in connection with FIG. 2 shows the general data transmission of FIG. 1b on a more detailed protocol layer. In FIG. 2, showing the protocol stack of a typical GPRS system, the nodes SGSN and GGSN as well as the base station system BSS can be considered to belong to the host site whereas the terminal MS can be considered to belong to the terminal site. Independently as to what kind of "data" is transmitted from the TCP host to the TCP terminal in step ST14 in FIG. 1c (it can be real user data or acknowledgement data) and independently as to what kind of data is transmitted from the TCP terminal to the TCP host in step ST24 (the data can be real user data or acknowledgement data), the downlink transmission and uplink transmission, respectively, require the set-up of a TBF in operations ST13 and ST23, respectively, after TCP packets forwarded in the respective steps ST11, ST21 have been encapsulated in LLC frames at the IP in steps S12 and S22, respectively. The TBF is set up between the respective RLC layers of host and terminal as indicated with the steps ST13, ST23. After de-encapsulation from the LLC frames in steps ST15, ST25 the TCP packets are forwarded to the receiving site in steps ST16 (to the TCP terminal) and ST26 (to the TCP host). For example, step ST11 could involve the transmission of data in the downlink direction from the host to a terminal whilst in step ST26 acknowledgement data is returned from the terminal to the host.
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 respectively show how the link layer protocol context TBF is established between the RLC layers. After steps S31, S32 (in FIG. 3) and steps S41, S42 (in FIG. 4) the respective downlink and uplink TBFs are set up. Then data transmission is possible in steps S33, S43, which is followed by acknowledgement transmissions in step S34, S44.
If after step S35 in FIG. 3 there are no more RLC segments from the transmitting site, there is the possibility that a timer keeps the TBF open for a certain time period and after step S36 the TBF is released on the transmitting site.
Similarly, during the uplink data transmission, a final acknowledgement information is returned in step S46 from the transmitting site BSS to the receiving site MS indicating that the uplink TBF should be released on the receiving site MS. Then, after step S47 the TBF is also released on the transmitting site BSS. More particularly, in FIG. 4 each uplink data transmission in step S43, S45 includes an indication CV of the number of remaining data packets to be transmitted from the terminal site MS and if there are no further data packets to be transmitted (CV=0 or CV≦15), the teardown procedure for the uplink TBF is started. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 may be respectively viewed as the "TBF-DWN establishment" and "TBF-UP establishment" in steps ST13 and ST23 in FIG. 1c.
Thus, as shown in step S1 in FIG. 5a, a transmission reception unit TR/RC of the transmitting site (BSS or MS) receives/transmits data packets (downlink data transmission: DATA in downlink/acknowledgement in uplink; uplink data transmission: DATA in uplink/acknowledgment information ACK in downlink). As explained with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the set up and teardown procedures for the respective TBF are only governed by the fact whether or not data packets are pending to be transmitted. For example, if the CV value (the value which indicates the remaining number of packets) gets smaller than 15, the TBF tear down procedure cannot be stopped any more.
Furthermore, of course a data transmission between a transmitting site and receiving site can only take place if sufficient radio blocks are available and have been assigned to the respective uplink and downlink transmission. That is, if there are packets to be transmitted, in step S2 a resource allocater ALLO (shown in FIG. 5b) assigns the necessary radio resources for the packet transmission. In GPRS, the BSS decides for the uplink as well as for the downlink direction, which control channel or data channel is used and which terminal MS (MS′, MS″) can use it. The BSS controls the access on the uplink PDCH (packet data channel) via a so-called Uplink State Flag USF and the so-called Relative Reserved Block Period RRBP in the header of the radio blocks. The USF in the downlink radio block indicates which terminal is allowed to use the corresponding radio block slot in the uplink direction. The mobile station or terminal receiving the downlink block can be different from the mobile station indicated by the USF for the uplink direction, i.e. every terminal MS listening on the PDCH reads the USF flag.
As may be understood from the above explanation, in data communication systems in which a link layer protocol context TBF needs to be established in the uplink direction and downlink direction for respectively transmitting data and acknowledgement information, a TBF has to be set up respectively in the uplink and downlink direction and resources are allocated by the first network site BSS (steps S1, S2 in FIG. 5).
However, the set up, the maintaining and the tearing down of TBFs and the allocation of radio resources (radio blocks) is only governed by the fact how many data packets are pending to be transmitted at a particular point in time from a transmitting site. For example, if in FIG. 1c a number of acknowledgment packets are pending to be transmitted from the TCP terminal to the TCP host (on the uplink direction) in response to one ore more data packets having been transmitted from the TCP host to the TCP terminal (in the downlink direction), the uplink TBF in step ST23 may be teared down after the last transmitted acknowledgement packet whilst there are still many more data packets being transmitted in the downlink direction. Thus, if a next acknowledgement data packet has to be transmitted in the uplink direction, the TBF has to be set up again, which causes an unnecessary overhead signalling and delay. The repeated set-up of a TBF could be avoided if the TBF was kept open (set-up) for a predetermined period of time to allow a transmission of acknowledgments at any time. However, this would cause an unnecessary waste of transmission resources.
As may be understood from this explanation, whilst the data packet transmission on the downlink and the downlink are quite clearly correlated, i.e. each data packet transmission in one direction is confirmed with an acknowledgement data packet transmission in the reverse direction, the actual adjustment of the radio resources is only made on the basis of pending data packets to be transmitted.


A method for fabricating alignment marks in a twin-well integrated circuit without using a zero-layer photomask is disclosed. This method involves the steps of: (a) forming a pad oxide layer on a P-type semiconductor wafer; (b) obtaining an N-well photomask containing an N-well pattern for defining an N-well region in the P-type semiconductor wafer and an alignment mark pattern for defining a plurality of alignment marks in the P-type semiconductor wafer, the N-well photomask is designed such that the alignment mark pattern and the N-well pattern can be separately exposed; (c) using a photolithography technique to expose only the alignment mark pattern to form a plurality of the alignment marks in the pad oxide layer and the P-type semiconductor wafer; (d) coating a first photoresist layer overlaying the pad oxide layer which is aligned using the alignment marks formed in step (b); (e) using the N-well photomask to pattern the first photoresist layer and define the N-well region; and (f) ion-implanting N-type impurities to form the N-well region in the P-type semiconductor wafer.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs), and more particularly it relates to the method for the fabrication method of alignment marks of a twin-well Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET).
(b) Description of The Prior Art
In order to produce all integrated circuit, the circuit layout patterns are transferred from photomasks to the surface of the silicon wafer using a photolithography process. Each layer followings the zero layer must be carefully aligned to the previous pattern on the wafer. Alignment marks are introduced on each mask and transferred to the wafer as part of the integrated circuit pattern. Computer-controlled alignment equipment called stepper has been developed to achieve the level of sub-micron VLSI process precision (typically 0.6 .mu.m with .+-.0.15 .mu.m tolerance). Various arrangements have been used to position the alignment marks on the photomask (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,883 to Waldo et al., the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,373 to Kamon, the entire disclosure of which is also herein incorporated by reference). There are two most commonly used commercial stepper alignment methods in today's VLSI industry: one is developed by ASM company which puts two alignment marks in the middle of the wafer, as shown in FIG. 1A; the other is developed by Nikon company which puts several alignment marks along the X and Y direction scribed lines, as shown in FIG. 1B. The comparisons of those two alignment methods are discussed as follows:
(1) ASM method: The advantage of this method is that it only needs to align two global photolithography alignment marks. This can save alignment operation time, thus increasing the outputs of production lines. However, it requires the fabrication of an extra zero layer mask for every single product to produce global alignment marks, that increases the manufacturing cost.
(2) Nikon method: The advantage of this method is that there are several alignment marks for each die. This can improve the alignment accuracy. On the other hand, it measures ten field positions to take the average of them to achieve better accuracy. This takes longer time for alignment, and thus reduces the outputs of the production. Furthermore, the first layer must be subject to an etching step, otherwise there are no alignment marks for succeeding layers to align.
Because the alignment methods of the ASM stepper and the Nikon stepper are different, one particular twin-well MOS product cannot use both ASM steppers and Nikon steppers for mass-production. If we want to use the ASM stepper alignment method in a Nikon stepper, it would need an extra photomask for zero layer alignment. Therefore, it will not only increase the number of manufacturing steps but also increase the production cost.

Modified zero layer align method of twin well MOS fabrication


Embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for controlling cell reselection, which relate to the field of communication terminal technologies. The method includes: when the signal strength of a current serving cell of a terminal is lower than a set value and the duration of which exceeds a first time period, acquiring signal strengths of the current serving cell and a neighboring cell within a second time period; determining signal stability of the current serving cell according to the signal strength of the current serving cell, and determining signal stability of the neighboring cell according to a signal strength of the neighboring cell; and keep the current serving cell when the signal stability of the neighboring cell is not better than the signal stability of the current serving cell. The embodiments of the present application are mainly applied to a cell reselection process.

A modem (modulator-demodulator) or a device having a modem (collectively referred to as a "modem" hereinafter) is a part of a mobile communication device. Examples of the mobile communication device include mobile phones, data cards, and tablet computers.
A mobile communication device is capable of being served by a cell of a cellular communication network. When a cell is currently serving a mobile communication device, the cell is called a current serving cell of the mobile communication device. In an area where signals of the current serving cell (referred to as a "current cell" hereinafter) are weak and unstable (such area is called a "weak field" hereinafter), parameters such as signal strength and signal quality of the current cell may have little difference from those of neighboring, non-serving cells. When the modem is standby in the weak field, signal quality factor of the current cell is poor because signals are brief and unstable. When the signal quality factor of a neighboring cell, obtained by using an R algorithm, is better than the signal quality factor of the current cell, the modem performs a cell reselection operation to change the serving cell from the current cell to the neighboring cell. However, the signal quality factor of the neighboring call might also be poor. Due to the instability of signals in the weak field, the modem needs to perform cell reselection repeatedly, so as to ensure that the serving cell is a cell with an optimal signal quality factor. However, such repeated cell reselection increases standby power consumption, and reduces standby time of the modem.

Method and apparatus for controlling cell reselection


A flat seed disk is provided with a series of circumferentially arranged seed retaining protrusions providing seed retention at locations offset axially from the remainder of the disk. The offset allows the seed to fall in the correct location of the seed tube to reduce unwanted seed bounce and provide better seed delivery to the ground and better seed spacing as compared to flat disks without the offset. In one embodiment, the protrusions have seed retaining faces opening generally in the direction of disk rotation. In other embodiments, the faces are angled away from the direction of rotation to reduce interference between released seed and adjacent protrusions, and trailing radial ledges can be provided to enhance seed retention.

Seed meters are used by agricultural seeding machines to control the rate at which seed is applied to a field. Air pressure meters use either positive or negative air pressure to direct seed to apertures formed in a rotating seed disk and to hold the seed in the apertures until a preselected release point is reached. Sealing or cut-off structure on the seed meter typically is used to isolate a portion of the rotatable seed disk from the air pressure source so that the seed is released from the apertures. The seed then follows a trajectory away from the disk into a seed tube or the like towards the ground.
Air pressure seed meters commonly utilize plastic seed disks which vary in configuration depending on the type and size of seeds being metered. For example, a vacuum meter may use either a celled seed disk or a flat seed disk installed at a given location on a driven hub. The seed trajectory off the disk in the release area typically varies with the type of seed disk being used. The trajectory off the celled disk tends to be more centered relative to the seed tube entry walls than the trajectory for the flat disk, which is closer to the proximate seed tube wall. If the trajectory for the celled disk is optimized, the seed drop will not be in the optimum location for the flat disk. As a result, the seeds released from the flat disk will be offset more from center and will tend to bounce off of the proximate wall instead of falling towards the desired location within the seed tube. The seed bounce off the proximate wall produces unwanted seed spacing variations. In commonly assigned and copending application Ser. No. 11/273,363 Flat Type Seed Meter Disk with Axially Offset Surface, a flat disk is described wherein apertures are spaced along a circumferential rim offset axially from the remainder of the disk to approximately duplicate the seed release location and characteristics of a cell type seed disk.

Flat type seed meter disk with protruded pick up orifices


A fuse-shaped fastener provides a plastic member having opposed elastically flexible wings, and a metal insert having multiple barbs. The deflectable wings homogenously extend from a molded head and are distally connected by a joining member. The barbs engage within a trim component dog-house assembly. The deflectable wings extend outwardly of the trim component to releasably connect the trim component to an automobile vehicle panel.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present invention and may not constitute prior art.
For automotive applications, fasteners are used to join trim components to sections or metal body panels of the automobile. The requirements for these fasteners are that they be insertable into apertures of the automobile and meet requirements to both retain the trim component as well as provide a minimum pullout retention force such that the trim component can be removed without damaging the vehicle panel. Common fastener designs include opposed deflectable wings which include free ends which deflect inwardly or toward each other upon insertion of the fastener and expand by spring force to hold the fastener within a rectangular slot in the automobile.
A drawback of commonly used fasteners having metal deflectable wings is the metal can damage the coating(s) applied to the vehicle panel during insertion which can lead to corrosion problems. All-plastic fasteners have therefore been developed to mitigate damage to the vehicle panel. A drawback of all plastic fasteners is the inability to match the repeated pull-out or retention force developed by metal fasteners.


A system including a mobility-assistance apparatus and a bag. The apparatus includes one or more shafts. The shaft defines a lumen, has an open end in communication with the lumen, and defines a longitudinally-extending slot in communication with the lumen. An end cap is releasably engagable with the open end to enclose the lumen of the shaft. The bag includes a body and one or more attachment members coupled to the bag via flange portion(s). The attachment member is configured for receipt within the lumen of the shaft with the flange portion extending through the slot of the shaft. The attachment member is insertable into and removable from the lumen of the shaft when the end cap is disengaged from the open end of the shaft, and is retained within the lumen of the shaft when the end cap is engaged with the open end of the shaft.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to removable bags capable of being removably secured to a support and, more particularly, to a removable bag assembly and removable bag system configured for use with a rollator, walker, or other mobility-assistance apparatus.
2. Background of Related Art
Rollators, walkers, and other mobility-assistance apparatus facilitate an individual's ability to walk and be independently mobile by providing stabilization, support, and/or reducing the burden on the individual's lower body.
In addition to the primary function of aiding mobility, rollators, walkers, and other mobility-assistance apparatus have more recently incorporated additional features that facilitate the usability, transportability, and/or convenience of such mobility-assistance apparatus. For example: a folding mechanism may be provided to facilitate the transport of the apparatus, e.g., to fit in a vehicle; a seat may be incorporated to enable the individual to be seated when stationary, e.g., to rest or once the individual's destination has been reached; and a bag may be provided to allow the user to store personal items, e.g., clothing, medication, food and drink, purchased goods, etc.

Removable bag assembly and system for rollators, walkers, and other mobility-assistance apparatus


Thermoelectric elements of a thermoelectric transducer are p-doped and n-doped and are arranged alternately, connected electrically to one another and are formed essentially in the shape of a ring.

Described below is a thermoelectric transducer having p-doped and n-doped thermoelectric elements which are arranged alternately and connected electrically to one another, and to a heat exchange pipe having at least one such thermoelectric transducer.
The efficient conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy is a central problem within energy conversion technology. Aside from improving thermal engines used on a large-scale, such as gas and steam turbines, other conversion methods are also increasingly employed in order to develop previously unused thermal sources and/or thermal flows, such as for instance the waste heat of steam-generating power plants. Of particular interest here are methods which can be integrated into the thermal flow of existing installations with a low installation and maintenance outlay. Suited to this in particular are thermoelectric transducers and/or thermoelectric generators of the type cited in the introduction, which are abbreviated below to TEGs. With the aid of such TEGs, heat can be converted directly into electrical current by using the so-called Seebeck effect. Alternatively, a thermoelectric transducer can also effect a change in the heat transport by using the thus named Peltier effect by an external current flow.
A requirement for the efficient use of TEGs is that a good thermal coupling of the TEG to the heat source and/or heat sink and thus the generation of a suitable thermal flow across the TEG heat exchange pipe into steam generators offer a good condition for the use of TEGs, since the thermal flow across the wall of the heat exchange pipe is produced during operation without any additional effort. No practical solution currently exists however for the combination of a TEG and a heat exchange pipe. Previously almost exclusively planar thermoelectric modules were used for the assembly of TEGs, since these are also only commercially available. In order to be able to couple the planar thermoelectric modules in a thermally sufficient manner, the heat exchanger must in most instances be modified with significant effort, which also involves complex assembly and high costs. This is nevertheless not an option for the large-scale use of TEGs in steam-generating power plants.

Thermoelectric transducer and heat exchange pipe


A system for providing a caption feedback service to a call center agent includes a plurality of TRS providers, a caption feedback system, and a plurality of call centers. The TRS providers provide a transcription service to TRS users during phone calls between the TRS users and peers, and the call centers connect phone calls between customers and call agents. The caption feedback system is connected to the caption feedback agents of the TRS providers and caption feedback clients of the call centers via data networks. If the caption feedback system finds that the TRS user's phone number matches the customer's phone number and the peer's phone number matches the call center's phone number, the caption feedback server connects the TRS provider to the call center via data network to enable transfer of the caption data of the call agent's voice from the TRS provider to the call center.

A telecommunications relay service, also known as TRS, is used to help a person who is deaf or hard of hearing make phone calls. A TRS provider allows a person who is deaf or hard of hearing (the TRS user) to have a phone call with another person (a peer) by receiving the peer's voice and its caption data transcribed by the TRS provider. Such transcription is usually made by a human call agent, automatic speech recognition, or both. The TRS provider includes a voice handler and a caption handler where the voice handler handles voice transfer between the TRS user, the peer, and the transcriber, and the caption handler handles transfer of the data caption transcribed from the peer's voice. The voice handler receives the peer's voice from the peer and sends it to the transcriber. In turn, the transcriber transcribes the peer's voice into the data caption which is sent to the TRS user by the caption handler.
A call center handles a large volume of phone calls with current or potential customers and includes call center agents or call agents to handle the phone calls. A call center usually utilizes a call switch or private branch exchange (PBX) to permit sharing of central office lines between internally installed telephones and provide intercommunication between these internal telephones used by the call agents. The central office lines are connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The call center uses a call center software or call agent assistant program to allow the call agents to handle the phone calls.
When a TRS user communicates with a call agent of a call center over the phone, the peer for the service of the TRS provider is the call agent and the customer of the call center is the TRS user. The TRS provider transcribes the voice of the call agent and forwards the transcribed caption data to the customer of the call center. If there is an error or inaccuracy in the transcribed caption data, miscommunication may occur or the TRS user may obtain inaccurate or incomplete information from the mistranscribed caption data. The TRS user usually reads the transcribed caption data to understand and then replies. Thus, if there is an error or inaccuracy in the transcribed caption data, the phone call may be unnecessarily prolonged.
Accordingly, if the call agent can see the caption data transcribed from his voice, he can double-check whether there is an error or inaccuracy in the transcribed caption data and if there is, he can immediately correct it.
Therefore, to solve the above problems, a system for providing a caption feedback service to a call center agent during a phone call between the call center agent and a TRS user for accurate communication is provided, as there is a need for a system that provides the transcription of the call center agent's voice not just to the TRS user but also to the call center agent. This invention is directed to solve these problems and satisfy the long-felt need.

System for providing caption feedback service to call center agent during phone call between call center agent and TRS user


A piezo-electric device type actuator of the invention is less susceptible to damage in the to joint portions of between a laminated piezo-electric device and a base member or a movable block. The piezo-electric device type actuator includes a laminated piezo-electric device having a plural number of piezo-electric ceramics laminated to a predetermined length; a stationary base member; a pair of resilient plates extended along opposite lateral side surfaces of the laminated piezo-electric device, respectively, with each plate welded at one end to the base member; and a movable block welded to the other end of each of the resilient plates while applying a predetermined compressive force to the laminated piezo-electric device. The laminated piezo-electric device is fixed to the base member and movable block by welding to provide bondage of high reliability between these parts.

1. Field of the Art
This invention relates to a piezo-electric device type actuator suitable for use on a wire dot printer or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, in step with the acceleration of the printing speed in wire dot printers, laminated piezo-electric devices are increasingly resorted to for driving printing wires on a printing head. The laminated piezo-electric devices usually contain a plural number of internal electrodes and a couple of external electrodes, which are connected to the internal electrodes, and are required to have high reliability since they are driven under high voltage and severe operating conditions.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a conventional printing element using a laminated piezo-electric device. The printing element 1 is constituted by a displacement magnifying mechanism 2, an actuator 3, a base member 4 linking the displacement magnifying mechanism 2 and the actuator 3, and a movable block 5. The displacement magnifying mechanism 2 is constituted by an armature 6, and a pair of leaf springs 7 and 8 which are disposed in parallel relation with each other to support one end of the armature 6. The leaf spring 7 is fixedly secured to the base member 4, while the other leaf spring 8 is fixedly secured to the movable block 5. A printing wire 9 is securely fixed to the other end of the armature 6.
As best shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2, the actuator 3 is constituted by a laminated piezo-electric device 10, blocks 11 and 12 which are located at the opposite ends of the laminated piezo-electric device 10 in such a manner as to sandwich the latter, and resilient plates 13a and 13b which are extended along the opposite sides of the laminated piezo-electric device 10 and welded to the latter by laser welding at the positions of points P while applying a predetermined compressive force to the laminated piezo-electric device 10.
The blocks 11 and 12 are fixedly bonded to the movable block 5 and base member 4, respectively, by the use of an adhesive. The block 11 is linked to the base member 4 through a leaf spring 15 for the purpose of stabilizing the operation of the laminated piezo-electric device 10.
The laminated piezo-electric device 10 is constituted by a plural number of laminated piezo-electric ceramics layers, a plural number of internal electrodes which are sandwiched between the respective piezo-electric ceramics layers, a couple of external electrodes which are alternately connected to every other internal electrode, and lead wires 14a and 14b which are connected to the external electrodes 13a and 13b, respectively.
Upon applying a drive voltage to the lead wires 14a and 14b, the laminated type piezo-electric device 10 is deformed to stretch by ten and several micrometers. As a result, the movable block 5 is pushed in the leftward direction in FIG. 1, and the armature 6 is turned about its lower end portion by bi-metal action of the leaf springs 7 and 8 to magnify the displacement of the movable block 5, thereby driving the printing wire 9 to protrude forward by several hundred micrometers. As a result, the wire 9 is hit against the platen, through an ink ribbon and a printing paper sheet which are not shown, to print a dot on the paper.
However, when the actuator of the above-described construction in which the blocks 11 and 12 at the opposite ends of the laminated type piezo-electric device 10 ar bonded to the movable block 5 and base member 4 by means of an adhesive, there has been a problem that, due to insufficient strength in the bondage of the adhesive, the blocks are apt to be loosened or detached in the course of printing operations, thereby failing to operate in a stable state in terms of performance quality. Damage is especially likely to occur on the part of the movable block which is subjected to bending stress in addition to tensile stress.


In a switching power supply apparatus, a main switching control circuit performs switching control of a low-side switch device and a high-side switch device based on a feedback signal corresponding to a main output voltage output from a secondary winding of a transformer, and applies and stops applying a voltage to a primary winding of the transformer. A digital signal processor, in accordance with the load status of the main load, changes set target values, performs switching control of switch devices of the sub-rectifying and smoothing circuits, and drives sub-loads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to switching power supply apparatuses each supplying power to a plurality of loads.
2. Description of the Related Art
A switching power supply apparatus which supplies power to a plurality of diode loads needs to have a configuration in which DC voltages are output from a plurality of output units. The switching power supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-28376 employs a configuration in which a plurality of DC voltages are obtained by providing a plurality of secondary windings and performing rectification and smoothing.
In the switching power supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-28376, a switch device and a capacitor are connected to one of two secondary windings and a first DC voltage is output to a first load. A diode and a capacitor are connected to the other of the two secondary windings and a second DC voltage is output to a second load. The first DC voltage which varies in accordance with the power consumption of the first load is detected, and based on the detection result, switching control of the switch device on the primary side of the transformer is performed. As a result, stabilization of the first DC voltage is realized even when the power consumption of a load significantly changes.
In the switching power supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-28376, the switching control of a switch device on the primary side of the transformer is targeted at the first DC voltage. Hence, even when the second load is constant, the second DC voltage varies due to the switching control of the switch device on the primary side of the transformer in accordance with variations in the first load. Further, for example, a surge current may be generated and flow through the second load due to a sudden change in the first load. This surge current may cause noise to be generated on the load side, whereby the characteristics on the load side may be affected or a current exceeding the rated current may flow through the second load.


An aberration correcting unit is provided for correcting an aberration of a light beam radiated onto an object to be detected and then reflected from the object. This unit comprises an aberration correcting device comprising a first corrector configured to correct the aberration of the light beam radiated onto the object; and a second corrector configured to correct the aberration of the light beam reflected from the object and to divide the reflected light beam into a plurality of light beams. The aberration correcting unit further comprises a first driver configured to drive the first corrector and a second driver configured to drive the second corrector.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to correction of an aberration of a light beam used for reading and writing bits of information from and onto a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a pickup placed in front of an optical disk, a liquid crystal layer has been used as one of conventional countermeasures for correcting aberration of a light beam, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 9 (1997)-128785.
This correcting technique is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. As shown in FIG. 1A, a liquid crystal layer 2 is placed in front of an objective lens 1 in order to obtain a high-quality spot on an optical disk DK1. The liquid crystal layer 2 is in charge of generating an appropriate optical phase distribution for canceling an aberration of light caused by both the objective lens d and the disk DK1. Since the liquid crystal layer 2 becomes active when a linearly polarized light in a particular direction enters the layer 2, the incident light should be linearly polarized in the particular direction (in this explanation, such linearly polarized light is referred to as s-polarized light). To obtain a linearly polarized light spot on the optical disk DK 1, the optical configuration shown in FIG. 1A is provided.
By contrast, if a circularly polarized spot on an optical disk is required, the optical configuration shown in FIG. 1B is provided, in which a quarter wave plate 6 to convert linearly polarized light to circularly polarized light is arranged additionally to the configuration shown in FIG. 1A.
In this optical configuration shown in 1B, the returning light from an optical disk DK2 has a polarizing direction perpendicular to that of the incident light (such polarized light is referred to as p-polarized light). To make the liquid crystal layer operative as aberration correcting means in the outward and homeward optical paths, it is required, as shown in FIG. 1B, two liquid crystal layers consisting of a liquid crystal layer 4 for s-polarized light and a further crystal layer 5 for s-polarized light. Only a difference between the two liquid crystal layers 4 and 5 is the direction of orientation of liquid crystal molecules. That is, the direction of orientation of liquid crystal molecules within one liquid crystal layer 4 is perpendicular to that within the other liquid crystal layer 5. However, the operations of both the liquid crystal layers 4 and 5 are almost similar to each other, thus being in charge of creating an approximately identical phase distribution.
For a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and a next-generation high-density disk, it has been recognized that the circularly polarized optical spot on a disk is desired to obtain an excellent playablity. Hence if such a optical spot is desired, it is required to choose the optical configuration shown in FIG. 1B.
By the way, a conventional optical pickup uses a technique of dividing a returning light beam from a disk into a plurality of light beams. This division of the returning light beam is needed to obtain means for avoiding a tracking offset.
In cases where the tracking control is performed on a push-pull technique on condition that a beam spot is divided into several spot pieces on a detector, a tracking offset will be caused due to eccentricity of an objective lens. The light beam is divided into two light fluxes at a spot on the objective lens and the light fluxes are detected by respective detectors, so that no tracking offset will be caused.
In addition, when a DPD (Differential Phase Detection) tracking technique is used, it has been known that a tilt of a disk in its tangential direction causes a tracking offset. This kind of tracking offset can be removed by dividing a light beam into four light beams at a spot on an objective lens.
However, the aberration correcting means shown in FIG. 1B uses the two liquid crystal layers 4 and 5 which operate in the same manner. That is, the liquid crystal layers 4 and 5 are dedicated to only a limited operation that gives the same phase distribution to both of the outward and homeward light beams, as follows. Light irradiated from a light source enters the liquid crystal layer 5 in the form of parallel light beams, while the light returning from the optical disk DK2 enters the liquid crystal layer 6. As a result, the light that has passed the liquid crystal layers 5 and 6 is returned to parallel-beam light beams, which is the same as the incident light.
Hence, as means for dividing the returning light from the optical disk into plural light beams, a polarizing hologram has been used additionally.
However, such a manner is obliged to add one more optical part to the optical system in which the two liquid crystal panels have already been arranged. This has faced an obstacle that the pickup becomes larger in its size and higher in its production cost.

Device and unit for correcting aberration of light beam


An infrared controller device includes an infrared detector for detecting infrared signals from a remote control infrared transmitter and microprocessor circuitry responsive to the infrared detector for producing an output and switching the output from an OFF state to an ON state if a detected infrared signal has a predetermined waveform. The microprocessor circuitry is configured to operate in a LEARNING MODE in which the microprocessor circuitry produces and stores a set of LEARNED DATA indicative of the waveform of a detected infrared signal. The microprocessor circuitry is also configured to operate in a WORKING MODE in which the microprocessor circuitry (a) produces a set of WORKING DATA for each detected infrared signal that is indicative of the waveform of the detected infrared signal, (b) compares the set of WORKING DATA for each detected infrared signal with the first set of LEARNED data, and (c) switches the output from an OFF state to an ON state if the WORKING DATA matches the LEARNED DATA. The microprocessor circuitry may be configured to learn more than one infrared signal and the controller may be combined with a rotatable TV stand to provide remote clockwise and counterclockwise control of the stand with virtually any infrared remote control transmitter.

1. Technical Field.
This invention relates generally to infrared control systems such as those used to control television sets, cable television selectors, and video cassette recorders, and more particularly to a smart infrared controller that will work with virtually any infrared remote control unit.
2. Background Information.
Recall that an infrared remote control unit such as a conventional television channel changer, often takes the form of a handheld infrared transmitter outfitted with an array of pushbuttons. An operator desiring to change channels pushes one or more of the buttons. That causes the remote control transmitter to emit an infrared signal encoded with control information. An infrared controller at the television set responds to the infrared signal by making the desired channel change.
Now consider the task of designing a motorized television stand that an operator can rotate by remote control. Preferably, the rotatable stand includes a controller that responds to the remote control transmitter the operator uses to change television channels. That way, the operator can rotate the stand and change channels using the same transmitter. But the various remote control transmitters commercially available are not always compatible because they do not all encode the infrared signals the same way. So, a controller designed to recognize signals sent with one remote control transmitter might not work with another. That problem is compounded by the ability of manufacturers to change the design of their transmitters each year for competitive or other reasons. Therefore, it is desirable to have a controller that can better accommodate differences in remote control transmitters.


A method of estimating translation probabilities includes converting a set of word alignment scores into translation probabilities and modifying the translation probabilities based on a bilingual corpus to produce modified translation probabilities. Under many embodiments, the translation probabilities are modified using an iterative training algorithm.

The present invention relates to statistical word alignment. In particular, the present invention relates to training statistical word alignment models.
In statistical machine translation, parameters are generally trained that estimate the probability of a source language word being translated into one or more target language words. This translation probability can be used to estimate the probability of a sequence of words in the target language given a sequence of words in the source language. For example, under a well known model known as the IBM Model 1, the probability of a sequence of words in the target language given the sequence of words in the source language is estimated as:
                              p                                (                          T              ❘              S                        )                          =                              ɛ                                          (                                  l                  +                  1                                )                            m                                                                    ∏                              j                =                1                            m                                                                  ∑                                  i                  =                  0                                l                                                          tr                                                  (                                                            t                      j                                        ❘                                          s                      i                                                        )                                                                                EQ        .                                          1            where p(T|S) is the probability of a sequence of words in the target language given a sequence of words in a source language, m is the number of words in the sequence of target language words, l is the number of words in the sequence of source language words, ε is the probability that a sequence of words in the target language will be m words long, and tr(tj|si) is the translation probability, which provides the probability of the jth word in the sequence of target language words given the ith word in the sequence of source language words.
The translation probabilities can also be used as part of a statistical word alignment model. Such models are used to identify an alignment between a source sentence and a target sentence, where the alignment is defined as identifying which source words and target words are translations of each other in the two sentences. If the translation model is limited such that each target word can be generated by exactly one source word (including a null word) an alignment a can be represented by a vector al, . . . , am, where each aj is the sentence position of the source word generating target word tj according to the alignment. When this is true, the most likely alignment â of a source sentence and a target sentence according to IBM Model 1 is given by:
                              a          ^                =                  arg                                                                                max              a                                                                  ∏                                  j                  =                  1                                m                                                          tr                                                  (                                                            t                      j                                        ❘                                          s                                              a                        j                                                                              )                                                                                EQ        .                                          2            where saj is the source word predicted by alignment aj for target word tj. The notation argmaxaƒ(α) means the value of α for which ƒ(α) has the maximum value.
Before a translation probability can be used in an alignment model or in a translation model, it must first be trained. Under the prior art, such translation models have typically been trained using an Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. This algorithm relies on a corpus of paired sentences, where each sentence pair consists of a sentence in the source language and a translation of that sentence in the target language. During the expectation phase of the EM algorithm, counts are developed for word pairs, where a word pair consists of one word from the source language and one word from the target language that occur together in at least one of the paired sentences. Each occurrence of the word pair receives a count depending on the probability of the source word being translated into the target word, according to the current estimate of the translation probabilities.
Initially, each translation probability is set to a uniform distribution over the target language vocabulary. During the maximization phase, the counts are normalized and a probability is re-estimated for each translation. The process is then repeated using the updated translation probability estimates. Mathematically, it has been shown that as the number of iterations of this process increases, the EM algorithm will converge on the maximum likelihood estimates for the translation probabilities.
Under the prior art, this was thought to provide the best set of model parameters for alignment and translation. However, model parameters trained in this way have been less than ideal. One reason for this is that the EM algorithm trains the parameters to best fit the training data. If the training data is not representative of the actual data encountered during translation or alignment, the algorithm will over fit the parameters to describe the training data instead of the actual data.
Thus, new techniques are needed to avoid the over-fitting of translation probability parameters during training.

Method and apparatus for initializing iterative training of translation probabilities


A low temperature GaN based super semiconductor comprising a GaN supercell having equal percentages of Cu and at least one material from the family of P, As, or Sb. The GaN supercell is doped in accordance with the formula Ga1-2xCuxAsxN, wherein x is from about 6.25% to about 25%. The supercell is deposited on GaN grown on silicon substrate.

In solid-state physics, electron mobility characterizes how quickly an electron can move through a metal or semiconductor when pulled by an electric field. In semiconductors, there is an analogous quantity for holes, called hole mobility. When an electric field E is applied across a piece of material, the electrons respond by moving with an average velocity called the drift velocity (νd). Then the electron mobility μ is defined asνd=μE
When there is no applied electric field, electrons move around randomly in a solid, or in the case of semiconductors both electrons and holes move around randomly. Therefore, on average there will be no overall motion of charge carriers in any particular direction over time.
In the electronics industry there is a strong interest in materials known as superconductors or super semiconductors that demonstrate a very high mobility at room temperature. Super conductors have a band structure that is uniquely characterized by the symmetry near Fermi level [1]. The energy gap, Eg, in superconductors is very small (Eg<3.5 kTc, where k is Boltzman constant). Superconductivity in diamond heavily doped with boron was discovered in 1994. Covalent superconductivity in diamond was investigated and hole-pairing instead of electrons was used to explain these phenomena [2]. There are two general types of superconductors known at the present time, type I superconductors and type II superconductors.
Type I superconductors are basic elements or alloys that usually have a very low critical temperature (Tc). Below Tc, ohmic resistance drops to zero and the material can carry large DC current without any conductor loss. In addition to lossless DC conduction, a superconductor also emits a magnetic field below a critical value (Hc). Superconductivity of this type has been attributed to the formation of electron-pairs (Cooper pair) [1] which can flow effortlessly in the superconducting material. This is known as BCS Theory [1].
Type II superconductors are typically ceramic insulators at room temperature that exhibit superconducting characteristics below Tc. Tc in Type II superconductors is generally higher than those in Type I and often Type II is referred to as high temperature superconductors. Examples of this type of superconductor include YBaCuO, BiSrCaCuO, and HgBaCaCuO. There is no clear explanation on how Type II superconductors work. In general, this type of material consists of three components. The first component is CaO, SrO, BaO, or a mix of these oxides. This is the base material to form the superconducting crystal. The second component is CuO. The CuO is the acceptor material that generates holes near the Fermi level. The third component is Yo, Hg, BiO, PbO, or SnO, etc., which function as donor atoms to generate electrons near the Fermi level. The list of high temperature superconductors has been steadily growing since their initial discovery in 1986. The list now includes other elements than those mentioned above, including Fe and As, but not limited to those.
In 2008, scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory confirmed the possibility of electron pairing above the critical temperature of superconductors. This means, at least in theory, that a material can have very high mobility at room temperature regardless of whether the material is in a superconducting state or not. The key features of such a material are based on their band structure as: (1) the energy gap is near zero; and (2) the band structure is symmetric around the Fermi level to suggest pairing of electrons and/or holes.
To date, the only example of material that meets the criteria of a super semiconductor is Graphene. Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms with a hexagonal crystal lattice. Because of its unique properties, Graphene recently has been the subject of extensive research. The measured mobility of doped Graphene is in the order of 10,000-20,000 cm2/Vs. The mobility of undoped Graphene is estimated at 200,000 cm2/Vs. This is more than 1000 times greater than bulk graphite, which has an electron mobility of 100 cm2/Vs. Graphene also has one of the longest known mean free paths to support ballistic electrons [4]. All of these characteristics suggest that Graphene meets the above criteria to be considered a super semiconductor.
However, graphene is difficult to grow in large wafers and the yield is low because of damage to the single layer material in the process of electronic device fabrication. Because of this, Graphene is used mainly for the fabrication of discrete devices.
GaN is gaining in popularity in high power electronic devices at microwave frequencies due to a high breakdown electric field, good thermal conductivity, and the ability to operate at high temperature without significant loss of performance. Also, the ability to grow GaN on silicon or SiC wafers promises low cost and a decent level of integration. The wide bandgap of GaN makes doping with other materials an effective tool to control the electrical properties of the lattice.
Most of the work on doping GaN focuses on acquiring conductivity. P or N type doping includes materials such as Mg and Si. Other materials such as copper (Cu) and arsenic (As) have been suggested to acquire other electrical properties. Doping GaN with copper produces magnetic properties that depend on the doping concentration [6, 7]. Doping GaN with arsenic [8] resulted in significantly shifting the emission spectrum of a GaN light emitting diode (LED) toward blue light and increasing the intensity of the emitted light by several orders of magnitude compared to undoped GaN LEDs.
Previous work on doping GaN with copper and arsenic used either copper or arsenic, but not both. Arsenic was doped into GaN at a very small percentage (<1%). Also arsenic was doped into both Ga and N sites. In previous work on doping with arsenic, the arsenic atoms mostly occupied the N sites that resulted in a downward shift in the spectrum [7].
It would be highly advantageous to enhance the mobility of electrons and holes in GaN without the deficiencies of the prior art.

High temperature GaN based super semiconductor and fabrication process


A system, method, and computer program for identifying a plurality of product representations; formulating a plurality of logical expressions from said plurality of product representations; and aligning each of said plurality of logical expressions with a variance completeness and a consistency and appropriate means and computer-readable instructions.

The computer has greatly affected essentially all forms of information management, including the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture to service and disposal. The term for this process is Product Lifecycle Management, or PLM. It is a cornerstone of a corporation's IT digital structure. One of the features of PLM is to collect knowledge that can be reused for other projects and to coordinate simultaneous concurrent development of many products. PLM can also include the coordination of and management of product definition data, including configuring product variations. The management of product definition data involves managing that product's bill of materials. The bill of materials, or BOM, describes the product in a tabular format and in terms of its assemblies, sub-assemblies, and basic components and parts. The BOM is a subset of a larger bill of information concept which can enumerate information, e.g., related to a product or a process, and provide sufficient information as it is designed, manufactured, ordered, built, maintained, and/or processed.
Referring to product design and development, when a product is designed as a generic product family, it has to be configured to a specific product variant or product variant family for almost every business process throughout the entire product life cycle. Every manufactured product instance, every physical or digital prototype, every analysis or simulation, is based on a specific product variant configuration. Throughout the product development process various disciplines produce generic product representations that model the product as a generic product family, which can be configured to a specific product variant or product variant family. However, each discipline, e.g. part BOM, CAD, or Manufacturing Engineering, uses different product representations with different level of detail with regards to variant configuration.
A part BOM usually creates variant configuration data specifying all product variants necessary for a given part usage. CAD requires additional variant data that specifies position and deformation (e.g., of a hose) of the geometry representing a given part usage in the part BOM. Manufacturing Engineering needs even more variant data, e.g., specifying the assembly process of the specific position and shape in a given part usage. For example, a robot may need to deform and position a flexible hose in many different ways, depending on product components that may cross the robot path.
Generally speaking, it is expected that, while all disciplines work with the same product variability (the set of available variant features) the domain specific product representation will contain only variance (variant condition) information that is relevant for the specific domain. In order to fully align each of these product representations in terms of variance completeness (congruent product representations) and consistency (assert non-empty intersection between domain specific variances) it is important to establish a mapping between these product representations.
The growing complexity of product configurations has made it very difficult to determine whether instances were mapped between two product representations, e.g., CAD structure and part BOM. There is a need for a solution for determining whether the instances that are mapped between different product representations completely align or show mismatches.

Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.


A stirrer having a complete enamel coating suitable for mounting in a closed coverless reaction vessel, being provided with paddles which are detachably fixed on the shaft for operation inside the vessel by an enamel to enamel coupling obtained by simple pressure without the use of gaskets.

As known, stirrers having a complete enamel coating with separable paddles are employed in completely closed (coverless) reaction vessels, provided with manholes of reduced diameter so that they can withstand elevated working pressures.
They can be employed, in particular in case one wants to exchange in the closed coverless vessel a previously used stirrer of small dimensions, e.g. a propeller type stirrer for a larger stirrer, i.e. an anchor type stirrer.
The detachable paddle system has the advantage that the paddles can be exchanged on an installed shaft, leaving the whole mechanical apparatus unchanged.
Essentially two types of enamel coated stirrers with separable paddles with direct gasket-free paddle to shaft connection are presently known. They are as follows:
1) the type described in the Sybron, U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,488, in which the connection between shaft and paddle hub is obtained by a cryogenic system on perfectly cylindrical contact surfaces machined in such a way as to have a slight dimensional interference between the inserting and the receiving member (at a same temperature); and
2) the type described in the De Dietrich, European Patent No. 145,370, in which the end of the shaft has an incorporated paddle bearing hub provided with radial cavities for the insertion of the single paddles having an insertion stem, the connection between hub and paddle taking place on slightly conical surfaces and is performed by forced insertion.

Enamel coated stirrer with paddles detachably fixed on the shaft in enamel to enamel coupling without any gasket


Energy-harvesting and -storage devices in conveyor belts and methods for molding those devices integrally into modular belt links and for enhancing energy harvesting through resonance tuning. Piezoelectric materials, electro-active polymers, thermoelectric generators, RF receivers, photovoltaic devices, linear induction generators, and inductive transformer coupling are used to harvest energy to power belt on-board devices.

The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and more particularly to instrumented conveyor belts having on-board devices powered by energy harvested from ambient sources.
Sensors, indicators, transmitters, receivers, and other electrical and electromechanical devices are being installed more often in conveyor belts. Most of these devices require electric power to operate. Individual cells or batteries also installed in the belts power the devices. But the batteries require periodic monitoring and eventually manual intervention to install fresh replacements.

Energy-harvesting conveyor belts and methods


A light therapy system that exposes specific light frequencies to specific points on a patient's body. The light varies both in frequency and in length of exposure. A broad range of light frequencies are intermittently directed to chakra points on a patient's body. Selected light frequencies are sequenced for each chakra point. An adjustable apparatus is provided which can simultaneously expose multiple locations, with the ability to align each lamp to a specific location and at a specific distance from the patient's body.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to therapeutic devices. In particular, it relates to a light therapy system which exposes the patient to a series of light frequencies, with each frequency applied to a patient for a particular time period and to a particular location on the patient's body.
2. Background
It is well-known in a variety of medical fields that light therapy can provide many therapeutic effects. For example, ultraviolet light has been used for the treatment of skin disorders such as psoriasis. Laser light has been used to treat wounds, to assist in the rapid healing of post surgical incisions, and has been found, along with non-coherent light, useful in the treatment of conditions such as alopecia. In addition, fluorescent lights are used to treat newborn infants exhibiting signs of jaundice.
It has been found that the application of light can stimulate natural processes within the body. For example, the application of light to the scalp can produce a variety of therapeutic results. There has been, for example, a substantial amount of research done on the use of laser energy to stimulate the bodies natural processes to heal wounds, apply skin therapy, etc. The advantage of using the coherent light of a laser is that coherent light tends to concentrate power such that a greater effect can result from the application of a particular energy level. However, non-coherent light will also produce therapeutic and healing results when applied to a patient. It only differs from coherent light in the sense that its energy is not concentrated in the form of laser beam.
Lasers have been widely used in the application light to the surface of a patient's body. In the case of lasers, low-power lasers may be used in a variety of therapeutic applications. For example, low-power lasers are used widely for a variety of cosmetic applications such as skin care, scar reduction, wound healing and the like. One of several factors associated with the use of lasers is that laser treatments tend to increase skin blood circulation. In fact, studies have shown that the application of laser energy to the skin of a user can increase skin blood circulation by more than fifty percent without significant changes in skin temperature. This results in the skin receiving a more abundant supply of nutrients, and in turn, the structures in the skin also receive a more abundant supply of nutrients and necessary materials from the body. Further, microscopic studies have shown laser energy increases circulation and oxygenation of the blood to the skin, and also increases cell replacement or regenerative activity. These factors help the skin to remain in a healthy condition. Research on the use of cold beam lasers indicates that application of a cold beam laser to an individual's scalp will normalize metabolism of tissues, improve trophism (blood cell nutrition), and assure a regular sebaceous secretion.
Another factor associated with the use of light therapy is "energization." Energization can be explained as follows: Light is energy. The application of high levels of light to the skin provides energy which is used by the cells in the skin to assist in the normal chemical processes performed by those cells. The scientifically agreed-upon term for this is photobiostimulation. The most common example of light converting into chemical energy is photosynthesis, where plants are fed via light converted into chemical energy. In a similar way, light penetrates into soft tissue and increases the action of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that is a major carrier of energy from one reaction site to another in all living cells. By doing so, light increases the energy available to cells so they take in nutrients faster and get rid of waste products. Because of this benefit, scientists and physicians have been using low level laser devices over the past 30 years to accelerate wound healing and regenerate tissue.
It has also been found that stimulation of the skin using non-coherent light also produces beneficial results. In particular, non-coherent light will stimulate the skin such that the ability of the skin to nourish and regenerate itself is enhanced in the same manner as was done by the laser. As can be seen, light therapy has been used to improve a variety of physical conditions. Further, different frequencies of light have been shown to have varying effects of the body.
While laser devices produce more concentrated energy, they are also limited due to their very narrow frequency bandwidth. Non-coherent light has an advantage over lasers in that it provides a broad-spectrum of light energy for use by the patient's body. The broader frequency range maximizes the stimulation of the skin tissue.
Currently available devices tend to be narrow in scope. For example, low power laser devices are typically used for localized wound treatment, or for scalp treatments to improve hair growth. In addition to laser devices, variety of other light generation devices are used to promote health. For example, infrared lamps are used to treat an extended area of surface tissue with both heat and light, LEDs are used to project pulsed light onto a patient to increase immunity, ultraviolet lamps are used to apply UV light to an individual's scalp to promote hair growth, etc. While the prior art has provided these devices or treatment of localized areas of an individual's body, it would be desirable to have a device capable of treating and rejuvenating the entire body.

Apparatus and method for applying a sequence of therapeutic lights to specific points on a patient's body


An acoustic composite comprising a plurality of discrete air flow resistive layers layered on top of each other including a top layer and one or more lofted fibrous layers produced by a lapping process, the top layer having a specific air flow resistance that is greater than a specific air flow resistance of the one or more lofted fibrous layer.

Industry is constantly seeking new and/or improved materials and methods of providing sound and noise reduction in a variety of applications. Materials that exhibit sound absorption characteristics are often employed as a way to provide noise reduction in a wide range of industrial, commercial, and domestic applications. It is often desirable to reduce noises of machinery, engines, and the like. For example, in automotive applications, it may be undesirable for a passenger to hear noises coming from the engine compartment or from other places of the vehicle.
Desired sound absorption has typically been achieved by using sound absorbing materials having a large mass and weight. These sound absorption materials may be a single layer of material. Given the large size, the sound absorbing materials are bulky and thick, so they are often be expensive to produce and/or to ship or transport after production. There is also often limited, if any, ability for customization of the materials based on the needs of the end user, customer, or installer (e.g., an automobile manufacturer), especially for single layer systems. Examples of sound absorbing materials include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,496,088; 8,469,145; and 7,226,656, all of which are incorporated by reference.
Industry is constantly seeking materials, and the methods for producing materials, having improved noise reduction characteristics in a variety of applications, such as through improved sound absorption materials for vehicles. It is further desirable to have sound absorption materials that have greater flexibility in customization based on the end use of the material. There is also a need for lighter weight materials that are easier to produce, package, and/or ship.