A system and method for protecting biological or other material from contamination through the steps of filling, freeze-drying, packaging, storing and use are disclosed. A system can include a flexible container, a membrane configured to transmit air or solvent vapor out of the flexible container, and a membrane frame supporting the membrane and engaged with at least one column member. The at least one column member can be configured to maintain the membrane and the membrane frame a spaced distance from one or more contents received within the flexible container. Upon application of a downward force, the at least one column member can assume a collapsed configuration. A method can include inserting a biological material, for example, into a flexible container, freeze-drying the biological material, moving the freeze-dried biological material to a portion of the flexible container that includes at least one port, and sealing the biological material within the portion.

Dry storage can increase the shelf life and convenience of biological material and its use. Lyophilization is a process for drying heat-sensitive substances, such as biological materials, by freezing the substances and then subliming the ice or other frozen solvent in a high vacuum.
It can be necessary to keep biological material free from micro-organisms and other contaminants to avoid decomposition of the material and to prevent possible infections when the material is used. Biological material can be exposed to contaminants during transportation to and from a freeze-dryer. As a result, the operating area in which freeze-drying is carried out can undergo sterilization treatment to minimize exposure of the biological material to contaminants. This adds to the labor and costs associated with freeze-drying.
Many freeze-drying processes involve placing open containers of biological material in the freeze-dryer. The containers remain open to the environment until the freeze-drying process is complete to allow a path for solvent vapor to be removed from the biological material. This practice exposes the biological material to potential contamination during the freeze-drying process. To minimize the opportunity for contamination during the freeze-drying process, the freeze-drying equipment can be sterilized using steam or chemicals before loading each new batch of biological material to be processed. This, too, adds to the labor and costs associated with freeze-drying.
Moreover, using existing systems and methods, freeze-dried biological material needs to be repackaged after being dried. This repackaging presents another opportunity to introduce contaminants into the biological material and further adds to the labor and costs associated with freeze-drying.

System and method for freeze-drying and packaging


A mobile saw stand brake system incorporates a pair of swing-out legs pivotally connected to a saw stand main frame. A first end of the main frame is supported on a pair of rotating wheels. A pair of brake lever arms, each having a brake shoe end and a distal actuating end, are pivotally connected to the main frame. A tension mechanism is interconnected with the pair of swing-out legs so as to actuate the brake lever arms to engage the wheels when the legs are extended in their swing-out position. The brakes are disengaged when the swing-out legs are folded into a stowed position.

Portable, wheeled tool carts have been available for some time. Once such prior art tool cart is shown and described by Wise, the inventor herein, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,898 issued Jul. 1, 1997. Additional tool carts have been described in the patent literature. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,941, issued Sep. 11, 1990, to Rousseau, describes a support table for a bench saw. U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,329, issued Oct. 28, 1980 to Johnson, describes a mobile cart. U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,590, issued Nov. 10, 1992, to Otto, describes a miter saw table apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,724; issued Oct. 26, 1993, to Butke, describes an adjustable extension assembly. A brochure showing the Rousseau SS2850 product discloses a mobile miter saw stand.
Nevertheless, a need existed for a mobile saw stand that enabled an end user to transport common electrically powered table saws and the like to the location of the project being undertaken, wherein the mobile saw stand quickly folded out into a fully supporting workbench for actual use of the saw and/or similar equipment. The inventor herein conceived the counterbalanced universal mobile saw stand disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,836 issued on May 3, 2005 to address that need, among others. The saw stand disclosed therein is currently manufactured under the brand name Ridgid® and has been commercially successful.
The counterbalanced, universal mobile saw stand disclosed in the '836 patent has a substantially handtruck-shaped main frame having a pair of wheels rotatably attached to the main frame in the vicinity of a foot portion of the main frame. The foot portion extends transversely from one end of the main frame in a fashion similar to a two-wheel hand truck. A second distal end of the main frame adjacent the user's hands has a pair of swing-out legs pivotally connected to the main frame so as to support the main frame in an extended position. A swing-out table is also pivotally attached to the main frame adjacent to the pivotal connection with respect to the swing-out support legs. The table supports a table saw, chop saw, sliding compound miter saw, jig saw, or the like at an elevated working position. The swing-out table is itself supported by a swing-out bed support that has a lower end pivotally connected to the main frame adjacent to the wheels, and an upper end that resides in a pair of tracks on the underside of the table such that, when the mobile saw stand is extended into its upright position, the table is continuously slidably supported by the movable bed support during erection so as to not endanger the user from inadvertent collapse. The saw stand is typically provided with a counterbalanced, telescoping spring to reduce the load on the table and facilitate erection of the table into the extended position.
One possible problem with saw stands of the type disclosed in the '836 patent, and other similar saw stands, is that when used with power tools employing large induction motors, such as used in some table saws, the stand may lurch in reaction to the high instantaneous torque applied by the induction motor. In addition, vibrations from a miter saw, sliding compound saw, or the like may be transmitted to the wheels of the mobile saw stand causing the saw stand to "walk" about slightly on a smooth surface, such as a hardwood floor. While these tendencies may be alleviated by placing blocks under the wheels at an unimproved construction site, such blocking frequently is ineffective on smooth surfaces, such as hardwood or tile floors. One possible solution to this problem is the use of so-called foot operated jacks in which a foot pedal activates a lever arm to lift an associated wheel off the ground. Such mechanisms are commonly found in typewriter tables. However, self-jacking apparatus are generally not well adapted for use with mobile saw stands because of the greater weight of power tools compared to typewriters.
Therefore, a need exists for a mobile saw stand system that prevents movements of the saw stand wheels while a table saw, chop saw, or other power tool is in operation on the saw stand.


A detecting device is provided. The detecting device detects target objects. The detecting device includes a transmitter configured to transmit transmission waves, a receiver configured to generate reception signals from reflection waves of the transmission waves, a target echo signal detecting module configured to detect target echo signals among the reception signals, a size calculating module configured to calculate a size of each the target objects based on the corresponding target echo signal, and a frequency index value distribution calculating module configured to calculate frequency index values for respective size ranges based on the calculated sizes, each frequency index value being an index of the number of the target objects. The frequency index value distribution calculating module has a first updating submodule configured to update the frequency index value for each size range every predetermined period of time.

Conventionally, detecting devices for detecting a plurality of target objects, dividing the plurality of detected target objects into a plurality of classes, and deriving the number (frequency) of the plurality of detected target objects per class are known. For example, JP2005-249398A discloses a measuring fish finder that creates a histogram (frequency distribution) by dividing a plurality of single fishes in a predetermined area into classes of body lengths (refer to FIG. 5A and paragraph [0038]). With the measuring fish finder, as described in the paragraph [0038], by selecting an arbitrary area on the display screen, the frequency distribution of the plurality of single fishes in the area can be created.
"Simrad ES70 Split beam fish finder" (produced by SIMRAD) also discloses that the frequency distribution of a plurality of single fishes in an arbitrary area on the display screen can be created by selecting the area, similarly to JP2005-249398A.
Incidentally, it is considered that the frequency distribution displayed on the detecting devices disclosed in JP2005-249398A and "Simrad ES70 Split beam fish finder" is created based on information regarding a plurality of single fishes stored in a memory. The information includes information regarding pings of the respective detected single fishes (positions in the horizontal axis of FIG. 5A in JP2005-249398A), depth positions of the detected single fishes (positions in the vertical axis of FIG. 5A), and echo intensities of the detected single fishes. In other words, with the detecting devices disclosed in JP2005-249398A and "Simrad ES70 Split beam fish finder," lots of information described above must be stored in the memory so as to create the frequency distribution, and thus, a large capacity memory is required.

Detecting device, fish finder and detecting method


A driver apparatus comprising a signal switching circuit coupled for receiving an actuation signal and generating a first and a second control signal in response to the actuation signal; a first control circuit and a second control circuit coupled with the signal switching circuit; the first and second control circuits generating first and second drive control signals in response to the first and second control signals; first and second current generating circuits coupled with the first and second control circuits and coupled with a lower voltage rail; the first and second current generating circuits presenting first and second drive signals at first and second output loci in response to the first and second drive control signals.

The present invention is directed to electrical driver apparatuses used for driving electronic devices, such as laser diode devices. The present invention is especially directed to driver apparatuses having low minimum driver signal voltages in high speed bipolar circuits.
In present day driver apparatuses, there is a need for providing AC (alternating current) coupling between a driver apparatus and the device that is driven by the driver apparatus. This is so in order to maintain appropriate voltage at a driver transistor in order to avoid operating the driver transistor in saturation, which would significantly slow the operation of the driver apparatus. A consequence of having to establish AC coupling in order to keep a driver transistor from operating in saturation is that extra components must be included that reduce the overall system performance and increase the overall system cost.
Prior art driver apparatuses are commonly configured to employ driving a differential pair of bipolar transistors to generate the required drive signals. Driving a differential pair of bipolar transistors with high speed switching causes a prominent overshoot in collector current of the respective transistor of the driven transistor pair that is turning on. The overshoot distorts the driver signals from the ideal step current waveform that is desired so that error rates may be minimized.
There is a need for a driver apparatus that avoids the necessity of providing AC coupling with a driven device.
There is a need for a driver apparatus that exhibits a lower minimum drive potential than is attainable by prior art drive apparatuses in order to better accommodate low supply voltage limits.
There is a need for a driver apparatus that avoids driving a differential pair of bipolar transistors with high speed switching in order to avoid overshoot in collector current of the respective transistor of the driven transistor pair that is turning on.

Driver apparatus and method of operation thereof


A flexible tracheotomy endotracheal tube comprises a short distal section of tubing, an intermediate section of tubing, a pre-formed obtuse-angle bend in the tube between the distal and intermediate sections, an elongated proximal section of tubing, a pre-formed abrupt bend in the tube between the intermediate and proximal sections, and an inflatable cuff integrated into the distal section of tubing.

The present invention relates to a tracheotomy endotracheal tube useful for delivering oxygen and anesthetic gases to a patient undergoing surgery. More particularly, the invention relates to a flexible tracheotomy endotracheal tube comprising a short distal section of tubing and an integrated cuff, a long proximal section of tubing, and an intermediate section of tubing connecting the distal and proximal sections through bends forming specified angles between the sections.
General anesthesia requires the delivery of oxygen and anesthetic gases to a patient's lungs during surgery. This may be done using a facemask, a laryngeal mask airway, or an endotracheal tube. Endotracheal tubes are available from several manufacturers, and in several styles. The tube may be cuffed or uncuffed. An inflated cuff allows a paralyzed patient to be ventilated with positive pressure without the air leaking back out the mouth. The tube may be straight or have a pre-formed bend to allow accurate placement of the tube without having to carefully measure its length below the vocal cords. A pre-formed bent tube is called an RAE tube. Both oral and nasal RAE tubes are available.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,488, Ring et al., issued Jun. 22, 1976, discloses a pre-formed, oral or nasal endotracheal tube made of flexible material having a memory such that the tube will return to its pre-formed shape following flexure. The endotracheal tube has distal and intermediate sections that merge with each other along the length of the tube, a proximal section that is substantially rectilinear, and an abrupt bend portion between the proximal and intermediate sections of the tube that forms an angle substantially no greater than ninety degrees.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,895, Heimlich, issued Jan. 29, 1991, discloses a cuffed tracheal tube that accommodates and follows the axial lengthening, shortening and translating movement of the trachea in actions such as breathing and swallowing. This minimizes relative movement between the trachea and the tube where the tube inner end engages and bears against the trachea.
While these and other endotracheal tubes are known in the art, administering anesthesia to patients via a tracheotomy, whether temporary or permanent, can still pose particular problems. Uncuffed tubes are prone to leak with positive pressure, especially if the diameter of the actual stoma is smaller than the diameter of the trachea. Straight endotracheal tubes get in the way if operating on the head and neck, and may kink if bent out of the way. Armored tubes do not kink but can be difficult to bend out of the way. Standard RAE tubes often are too long and need to be trimmed so they do not lie in a bronchus. A trimmed oral RAE tube is often used to deliver anesthesia to a patient with a tracheotomy, but it typically does not contain a cuff since any cuff would be cut off during trimming of the tube. Such a trimmed oral RAE tube may thus leak if the size of the stoma is smaller than the size of the trachea. Finally, the connection between the anesthetic tubing and the trimmed RAE tube generally lies on the patient's chest under surgical drapes, where it is difficult for the anesthesiologist to access.
Thus, there is a need for a tracheotomy endotracheal tube suitable for delivery of oxygen and anesthetic gases to a patient's lungs, which tube does not lie in a bronchus, does not leak during positive pressure ventilation, does not get in the way during surgery on the head and neck, and is readily accessible to the anesthesiologist.


The subject invention is a throttle body for an intake manifold of a spark ignition internal combustion engine. The throttle body includes a throttle plate member comprising a shaft, a throttle plate and a lever. The throttle plate member is integrally molded as one piece from an engineering resin. The throttle body also includes an air intake portion and an air discharge portion. Either the air intake or the air discharge portions may be integrally attached to the intake manifold prior to assembly of the throttle plate member.

The present application relates to throttle bodies for intake manifolds of a spark ignition internal combustion engine. More specifically, the present invention relates to an intake manifold for a spark ignition internal combustion engine that has an integrally molded plate, shaft and lever assembly.
In the past, there has been a need for easy to assemble, lightweight and more reasonably priced components for fuel injected engines which require a throttle body. In the past, throttle bodies have typically been configured as a one-piece housing in which a plate, shaft and lever assembly were assembled in separate pieces of a housing. Typically, because of the one-piece construction of the housing, a somewhat time consuming assembly process was necessary in order to pivotally secure the plate member inside of the throttle body bore and thereafter connect the peripheral portions and/or control inputs along the shaft.
Thus, in typical prior art constructions, a multi-step process was required for pressing bearings and then installing the shaft, springs, and lever assembly and the like. Typically with such constructions, the throttle control spring was inboard of the throttle lever assembly. Additionally, the throttle lever assembly, shaft and plate were all separate pieces which needed to be connected by way of rivets or the like in order to provide a finished throttle body for installation on an engine. As might be readily appreciated, most of these parts have been made from metal, which is heavy, and the steps necessary to assembly the throttle body made such units relatively expensive components of the vehicle engine.
In recent years, there have been some advances in throttle body designs, such as providing a two-piece assembly. A two-piece throttle body makes it easier to install the plate member. However, there remains a need for making an inexpensive yet reliable throttle body housing.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a throttle body assembly for an engine, which includes a throttle body housing having a central intake bore therethrough. In the present invention, a throttle plate member is rotatably disposed in said bore for metering air flow through the throttle body and to the engine. The throttle plate member of the present invention includes a shaft member, which is effective for pivoting the plate member about an axis. In the present invention, the throttle plate member and the shaft and lever assembly and the like are integrally formed by one-piece injection molding and installed in the throttle body as a single piece.
Further understanding of the present invention will be had by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiments set forth below when taken in conjunction with the examples and claims appended hereto.


The present invention teaches a paging transmitter that has an exciter that upconverts a modulated signal to an intermediate frequency (IF) above that of the transmit frequency. By so doing, the paging transmitter can broadcast a large range of transmit frequencies. Additionally, filtering of unwanted byproducts during the upconversion process is significantly simplified.

An integral part of any paging system is the paging transmitter. The paging transmitters of a paging system are located at geographically spaced apart locations to supply broadcast coverage to a wide geographic area. The details of a paging system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,258 to Fawcett et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,569 to Witsaman et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,808 to Witsaman et al., commonly assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.
A paging transmitter includes certain important primary components, such as the power amplifier, the exciter, and the transmitter controller. The present invention relates to the exciter of a paging transmitter. The exciter is the portion of the paging transmitter that receives data to be encoded (or more accurately termed modulated) onto a carrier frequency suitable for radio-frequency (RF) transmission.
For simple types of modulation, such as amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation (FM), the modulation is often applied directly to the final carrier frequency, without any intervening steps. For more complex types of modulation, however, it is often more convenient for various reasons to apply the modulation to a lower, intermediate frequency (IF). The IF is then upconverted, or shifted up to the desired transmission frequency, using a frequency mixer and a local oscillator (LO).
In the process of upconversion, several undesired frequency byproducts are created along with the desired transmission frequency of the carrier. Among these are the LO frequency, the image of the desired transmission frequency reflected about the LO frequency, and perhaps intermodulation products of these other byproducts against one another. These byproducts are generally eliminated by passing the modulated carrier transmission frequency through a frequency selective filter.
Especially in digital transmitter systems, due to limitations on how quickly the data can be processed, the first IF may be quite low compared to the desired transmit frequency. This leads to impractical filtering requirements, as the desired transmission frequency, the LO frequency, and reflected image are too close in frequency to one another. The filter requirement can be made practicable by employing an additional IF and upconversion process, using a frequency between the first IF and the desired transmission frequency. This type of system is suitable for a paging transmitter that is adapted to broadcast at transmit frequencies spanning less than an octave.
However, it is desirable that a paging transmitter have the flexibility to broadcast at carrier frequencies that span up to two octaves, for example from 130-512 MHz. A paging transmitter that is frequency agile over a wide range is important for uniformity of manufacturing purposes and for providing a paging system capable of broadcast over several bands.
The primary difficulties in designing a paging transmitter with such a wide broadcast range are twofold. First, there may be significant difficulty in filtering away the upconversion byproducts. Second, the LO must have a wide tuning range of frequencies. To illustrate, to have an exciter span the 130-512 MHz range, the LO would have to be tunable from 40-422 MHz or from 220-602 MHz (assuming that a first IF of 90 MHz is used). In the first range, the LO would have to be tunable over a decade and in the second range, the LO would have to be tunable over nearly two octaves. LO's with this frequency agility, in this frequency range, are impractical for paging transmitter applications.
One prior art attempt to solve this problem is to use multiple LO's for each of the possible broadcast carrier frequencies. However, this would typically include higher costs for the multiple LO's. Moreover, because the LO and image frequencies would sometimes fall within the desired transmit band, an output bandpass filter that is retunable on-the-fly, or a switchable bank of such filters, would also be needed if fast channel-change times are required. This too is impractical.
The present invention solves these and other problems of the present invention. In particular, an exciter design and system that is capable of supporting a wide range of carrier frequencies is disclosed.

Paging transmitter having broadband exciter using an intermediate frequency above the transmit frequency


Presenting unique search result contexts, including: receiving, by a search result presentation module, a plurality of search results generated in response to a search query, wherein each search result includes context information associated with the search result; identifying, by the search result presentation module for each search result, a displayable portion of the context information associated with the search result; determining, by the search result presentation module for each search result, whether the displayable portion of the context information is a duplicate of the displayable portion of the context information for another search result; and responsive to determining that the displayable portion of the context information is a duplicate of the displayable portion of the context information for another search result, updating, by the search result presentation module, the displayable portion of the context information for the search result.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for presenting unique search result contexts.
2. Description Of Related Art
Modern search engines enable users to submit queries to the search engine. In response to such queries, the search engine will provide a list of results to the user. The list of results may include, for example, a link to a web page that the search engine has identified as being relevant based on the terms of the search query. The list of results may include context information for each search result, where the context information is intended to provide some information about the resource pointed to by the search result.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for charging a battery is used for charging a solid secondary battery including a positive electrode active material layer, a negative electrode active material layer and a solid electrolyte layer formed between the positive electrode active material layer and the negative electrode active material layer. Specifically, the method for charging a battery includes a process for obtaining or estimating temperature of the solid secondary battery; and an over-discharge process for lowering voltage of the solid secondary battery to or below a rated voltage by performing over-discharge and/or making an external short circuit with respect to the solid secondary battery prior to a process for charging the solid secondary battery, provided that the temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature.

Along with a rapid spread of information relevant apparatuses and communication apparatuses such as a personal computer, a video camera and a portable telephone in recent years, the development of a battery to be utilized as a power source thereof has been emphasized. Also in the automobile industry, the development of a high-output and high-capacity battery for an electric automobile or a hybrid automobile has been advanced. A lithium secondary battery has been presently noticed from the viewpoint of a high energy density among various kinds of batteries.
Since liquid electrolyte containing a flammable organic solvent is used for a presently commercialized lithium secondary battery, it is necessary to install a safety device for restraining temperature rise during a short circuit and to improve the structure and the material for preventing the short circuit. On the contrary, a lithium solid secondary battery all-solidified by replacing the liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte layer is considered to have an advantage of the simplification of the safety device and to be excellent in production cost and productivity because it does not need any flammable organic solvent therein.
A secondary battery can be repeatedly charged and discharged, but it is also known that the battery performance thereof could deteriorate through over-discharge process. Thus, a normal secondary battery has a structure for measuring the voltage of the battery during the discharge in order to stop the discharge at a predetermined voltage. In the meantime, Patent Reference-1 discloses a battery module which does not have any over-discharge protecting means for preventing the over-discharge of the lithium secondary battery, and Patent Reference-2 discloses an electrical apparatus which does not have any over-discharge protecting means for preventing the over-discharge of the lithium secondary battery.

Method for charging battery and charge control device for battery


A method for testing a lithium ion battery is disclosed. An under-test lithium ion battery including a cathode active material is provided. A reference voltage value is set according to the cathode active material. The under-test lithium ion battery is over charged, while an actual voltage change of the under-test lithium ion battery is tested during the over charging. A maximum voltage value is recorded before a first decrease in the actual voltage change of the under-test lithium ion battery during the over charging. The maximum voltage value is compared with the reference voltage value. A method for evaluating a safety of a lithium ion battery is also disclosed.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to methods for testing lithium ion batteries and evaluating safety of lithium ion batteries.
2. Description of Related Art
Safety is a concern in utilizing lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Accidents are generally due to an internal short circuit which causes thermal runaway of the lithium ion battery. One reason for the internal short circuit of the lithium ion battery is over charging of the lithium ion battery, which results in the lithium ion battery being charged to a high voltage beyond the charging cut-off voltage. Therefore, evaluating the safety of the lithium ion battery, especially evaluating the over charging endurance ability of the cathode electrode, is very important.
In related art, methods for evaluating the safety of the lithium ion battery consists of evaluating the amount of heat generated during the over charging process, and the occurring time and temperature of the thermal runaway of the lithium ion battery. However, the temperature of the thermal runaway of the lithium ion battery is affected by many factors such as a battery structural design and an environmental temperature. Results may be different when testing the temperature is done on an outside surface of a battery shell, an inside surface of a battery shell, a top portion of a battery shell, or a connecting member of the battery. Different heat dissipation speeds caused by different surrounding temperatures can also affect the temperature testing result of the lithium ion battery. Thus, the temperature data of different sizes, different structural designs, or different batches of lithium ion batteries cannot be compared. Therefore, the evaluation and investigation of the safety of the lithium ion battery may be difficult and inaccurate by testing the temperature of the lithium ion battery. The temperature data cannot truly reflect the over charging endurance ability of a cathode electrode of the lithium ion battery.
What is needed, therefore, is to provide a method for testing the lithium ion battery and a method for evaluating the safety of the lithium ion battery not affected by battery structural designs and environmental conditions, accurately reflect the over charging endurance ability, and accurately evaluate the safety of the lithium ion battery.

Methods for testing lithium ion battery and evaluating safety of lithium ion battery


A method for applying solder paste on tape carrier package component sites of a printed circuit board is disclosed. In accordance with a method and system of the present invention, a stencil having multiple openings for each device pad on the printed circuit board is provided. Each of the openings is approximately 0.012".times.0.0053" in size. The stencil is then secured in a fixed position directly above a printed circuit board. Finally, solder paste is selectively applied to the printed circuit board through the stencil with an applicator.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system for processing printed circuit boards in general and, in particular, to a method and system for applying solder paste to printed circuit boards. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for applying solder paste on tape carrier package component sites of a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Solder paste printing is one of the many methods for applying solder on a printed circuit board. During solder paste printing, a reflowable conductive solder paste is selectively applied to a printed circuit board by a screen printer, prior to placement of electronic components on the printed circuit board.
Typically, a conveyor belt shuttles the printed circuit board first beneath a fixed camera, which records and transmits the position of the printed circuit board to a computer, and then beneath a frame, which holds a stencil corresponding to the printed circuit board. In response to reception of the positional information from the camera, the computer calculates alignment information, which is transmitted to a servo-motor coupled to the frame. The servo-motor subsequently makes adjustments in the x, y, and .phi. coordinates of the frame such that the stencil is properly aligned with the printed circuit board. Finally, the properly aligned stencil is dropped into contact with the printed circuit board, and a squeegee blade wipes across the stencil to push the conductive solder paste through openings in the stencil onto the printed circuit board.
At the completion of the solder paste printing process, the stencil is lifted from the printed circuit board, and the printed circuit board is conveyed from beneath the stencil by the conveyor belt.
Tape Carrier Package (TCP) devices are one of the many types of packaged electronic components that may be added to the printed circuit board after the solder paste printing process. TCP devices are characterized by their size compactness and have high-lead-count with ultra-fine pitch spacing between leads. Accordingly, it is quite difficult to apply the correct amount of solder paste onto the corresponding fine pitch pads of the printed circuit board. In fact, instead of utilizing the solder paste printing process as described above, a more common method for applying solder on a printed circuit board having such fine pitch pads is by solder plating of the entire printed circuit board during the printed circuit board manufacturing. However, this method is expensive, and costs from $4 to $25 per printed circuit board, depending on the board size and complexity.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for applying solder paste on tape carrier package component sites of a printed circuit board that is less expensive.

Method and system for applying solder paste on tape carrier package component sites

International Business Machines Corporation


A cache memory circuit for use in a cache memory system having a predetermined width is comprised of a memory array divided into a cache data memory portion and a tag memory portion. The proportion of the tag memory portion with respect to the cache data memory portion is the same as the proportion of the cache data memory portion to the width of the cache memory system. Support circuitry is provided for reading information into and out of both of the memory portions. A method for laying out such a cache memory circuit is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to memory devices and, more particularly, to memory devices of the type used to provide cache memory in computer systems.
2. Description of the Background
In developing a computer system, it is known that modern processors are capable of operating at speeds which exceed the ability of memory devices to provide data and or instructions to the processor. To overcome such problems, and allow the processor to run at or near its clock speed, it is well known to provide cache memory. Cache memory is a small amount of memory, compared to the overall memory capacity of the system, which maintains the data or instructions which the computer is most likely to need. The cache memory is typically constructed of a faster, more expensive type of memory cell than is used for the bulk of the system memory requirements. Thus, there is a tradeoff between speed and cost. The more cache memory provided, the faster the system will be, and also the more costly.
A cache memory system is comprised of two memory components. A first memory component, which is the larger of the two components, is a memory which stores the data or instructions needed by the processor so that such information need not be retrieved from the main memory. A second memory component is referred to as the tag cache. The tag cache contains an address, or a portion of an address. When that address or portion of the address matches the address of data or instructions which the processor has requested, a "hit" is generated indicating that the information requested by the processor is in the cache memory system. Complicated systems have been developed to ensure the maximum number of hits.
A typical cache memory is implemented using a plurality of data RAMs and one or more tag RAMs. Generally, the depth of the tag RAM is one quarter of the depth of the data RAM. In most cache implementations since late 1994, the individual data RAMs have been wider devices than the tag RAMs. That results in a large difference in device sizes between the tag RAM and the data RAM. For example, a 256K byte cache for an Intel Pentium.RTM. processor requires two 32K.times.32 SRAMs and one tag RAM which can range in size from 8K.times.8 to 8K.times.16 depending upon the chosen implementation, i.e., the maximum amount of main memory to be supported in the system. The result of that example is that the data RAMs have a density of one M byte whereas the tag RAM has a density which ranges from 64K byte to 128K bytes. The ratio in density of the cache data RAM divided by the cache tag ram is a factor of 16 or 8, respectively.
At any one time, there exists an optimum memory density with regard to manufacturing costs. That density becomes the highest volume available device at that time. When the one M byte RAM is the most prevalent device for use as cache data RAMs, it will be because it is the most cost effective size of device to manufacture. However, the 64K byte or 128K byte tag will still be needed. Manufacturing a separate 64K byte or 128 K byte tag memory will clearly be an inefficient use of process equipment if the 1M byte RAM is the most cost effective device to manufacture.
Aspects of this problem have been addressed by integrating the entire tag memory and the entire data RAM into one memory chip. That results in an extremely wide memory device which is more costly to test. It also results in a device which has too large a density for the optimal manufacturing cost because the highest-volume cache size is determined by the most economic basic device. Thus, if two data RAMs and one tag RAM are combined into one device, it will be more than twice the density of the economic baseline solution. Device yield deteriorates rapidly as die size is increased beyond that "most economic" size.
Another way to address the problem is to incorporate the entire tag into one data RAM. That too is less efficient. It makes that RAM excessively wide, which increases test cost and die area. It requires that the tag be wasted in a system which needs multiple such devices in parallel. The latter problem can be solved by using one device which has the tag incorporated in parallel with another device which does not have the tag incorporated. However, that then results in two different silicon implementations and the accompanying overhead costs of design, qualification, etc. Thus, the need exists for a cost effective approach to providing tag cache devices which makes maximum use of currently available fabrication processes while at the same time eliminating the need to design, verify, and qualify a separate device.

Combined cache tag and data memory architecture


A front cowl for a vehicle is a press molded product of an aluminum extrusion shaped member. The press molded product has a front flange portion extending in a vehicle width direction and located on a front side of a vehicle body, a vertical wall portion connected to a vehicle-body rear end of the front flange portion so as to extend in a vehicle-body downward direction, and a rear flange portion connected to a lower end of the vertical wall portion so as to extend to a rear side of the vehicle. The rear flange portion is formed into a gutter shape with an opening in an upper direction. A bolt joining portion for joining to another member with a bolt is formed on one region of the front flange portion. The bolt joining portion has a thickness thicker than that of the rear flange portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a front cowl member for a vehicle, and more particularly concerns a front cowl member that is excellent in the rigidity and deformation resistant strength and has a high weight reducing effect.
2. Description of Related Art
At the vehicle body of a vehicle and so on, a part referred to as a front cowl member is disposed on the underside of a hood panel rear portion on the vehicle front side of a front glass in a manner so as to extend in the vehicle width directions.
As has been conventionally well-known, this front cowl member is arranged so as to extend substantially in a horizontal direction relative to a vehicle body and in parallel with a vehicle width direction, and its end portion is connected to a suspension tower and its vehicle body rear side is connected to the vehicle body such as a dash panel, so that this arrangement exerts a function of a trough so as to prevent water such as rain water flowing down from the vehicle upper direction from invading into an engine room. Therefore, most of the front cowl members are designed into substantially a U-letter shape or L-letter shape in the cross-sectional view, with an opening being formed in an upward direction of the vehicle, and if necessary, various functional members, such as reinforcing members and wiper pivots, are coupled thereto.
This front cowl member couples suspension towers that receive input loads from the right and left tires of the vehicle to each other; therefore, it also has a function for improving the vehicle body rigidity at the time of traveling. For this reason, this part is also required for high twisting and bending rigidity relative to loads mainly applied in the vehicle longitudinal directions, as well as for high compression rigidity and strength against compression force exerted in the vehicle width directions. Moreover, from the viewpoint of reducing the weight of the vehicle, after achieving these rigidity and strength as well as further achieving functions for satisfying protective functions for pedestrians, the light weight of the vehicle is further demanded.
Since aluminum alloys are light in comparison with steel sheets that have been conventionally used, these are expected to be applied to the frame members. However, since these have problems in that material costs are high in comparison with those of the steel sheets, with low processability, and in that their joining costs are high, the practical use of these has not been progressed so much, and there are only few application cases to the cowl member.
As shown in FIG. 8, JP 9-202265 A discloses a cowl box 20 constituted by a cowl top panel 22 made of a plate member and a cowl box member 21 installed on the rear upper portion of this member. An extrusion member made of a light alloy is used as the cowl box member 21 for supporting a front glass 26. However, there are no prior arts in which a light alloy extrusion member made of an aluminum alloy or the like is applied to a front cowl member main body that has a function as a trough. A wiper pivot is coupled to the front cowl main body. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view that shows the vehicle-body cowl box unit of JP 9-202265 A when its cross section is seen in the vehicle width direction.
One of the reasons for this problem is that the fracture limit of the aluminum alloy materials is lower than that of the steel sheet. In the front cowl member, a shape drastically changing portion is formed, in particular, on each of the vehicle width direction end portions in most cases, in order to prevent it from being interfered with other members, such as suspension towers or the like, and in the case of the aluminum alloy, many limitations in the angle and height of vertical walls or the radius or the like of the corners of shoulder portions are imposed in order to suppress molding failures, such as fractures, wrinkles, or the like, with the result that a problem arises in which it is difficult to properly maintain the moldability at the shape drastically changing portion.
Moreover, in recent years, in order to ensure the protective functions for pedestrians, a breaking point or the like for use in forming a weaker portion is formed on one portion of the front cowl member in some cases as disclosed in JP 4338194 B.
However, in the case of the aluminum alloy having a small local expansion, when the breaking point or the like is locally formed, a problem tends to arise in that fractures easily occur due to concentration of distortions. Moreover, even in the case where an aluminum extrusion shaped member is adopted as the front cowl member, since its plate thickness is thicker in comparison with a thin steel member as disclosed in JP 4338194 B, and since the proof stress of material is also high, the resulting problem is that the deformation resistant strength becomes higher. For this reason, another problem is raised in that only the formation of the breaking point, such as a shelf or the like, fails to ensure predetermined functions for protecting pedestrians.
On the other hand, the front cowl member is required for bending, twisting and compression rigidity relative to load inputs from the suspension tower. In order to effectively increase the rigidity and strength while maintaining the weight reducing effect, in particular, it is most effective to increase the fastening strength and rigidity of a flange portion on the part front side to be coupled to the suspension tower. For this reason, in general-use steel sheet products, a reinforcing member is joined to the flange portion on the front side and utilized in most cases. However, even if the same effects are obtained by simply replacing the member with the aluminum alloy plate, the material costs and joining costs become higher, and another problem arises in that its merit is small from the viewpoint of manufacturing processes and so on.


The invention relates to an improved process for the production of isocyanates by the reaction of an amine or a mixture of two or more amines with phosgene, the improvement involving the phosgene containing less than about 100 ppm of sulfur in elemental or bound form. The inventive process yields light-colored isocyanates that are suitable for the production of polyurethanes or their precursors (e.g. prepolymers) without the treatment processes heretofore required.

Isocyanates and isocyanate mixtures are produced according to the prior art by phosgenation of the corresponding amines. For polyurethane foams, for example, di- or polyfunctional aromatic isocyanates of the diphenylmethane series (MDI) are employed. As a result of the production process, after phosgenation and subsequent work-up (removal of the solvent; removal of monomeric MDI) dark-colored products are often obtained, which in turn give polyurethane foams with a yellowish discoloration or other polyurethane (PUR) materials that are also discolored. This is undesirable, because this coloring adversely affects the overall visual impression and allows slight inhomogeneities to become evident, e.g. as streaks in the foams obtained. Light-colored isocyanates, or isocyanates that contain a reduced quantity of coloring components, are therefore preferred as raw materials.
There has therefore been no lack of attempts to obtain isocyanates, and particularly the di- and polyisocyanates of the diphenylmethane series (MDI), with a light color. Numerous methods for the empirical color lightening of MDI are known. However, the nature of the problematic coloring substances has hitherto been clarified only inadequately.
The previously known processes can be divided into four groups:
1. Processes in which the di- and polyamines of the diphenylmethane series (MDA) used as starting material have been subjected to a treatment and/or purification:
EP-A 0 546 398 describes a process for the production of MDI in which the MDA used as starting material is acidified prior to phosgenation.
EP-A 0 446 781 relates to a process for the production of MDI in which the MDA is first treated with hydrogen and subsequently subjected to a phosgenation, a relatively light-colored MDI being obtained.
The above-mentioned processes give only a slight improvement in the color, as the coloring substances in the MDI have been found on the basis of experience not only to consist of certain by-products from MDA production but also to result from color precursors which are formed by side-reactions during the phosgenation.
2. Process engineering solutions in the phosgenation process:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,958 relates to a process for the production of isocyanates in which, after the phosgenation, the phosgene is removed completely at low temperature and the isocyanate is subsequently treated with HCl gas at elevated temperatures.
DE-A-1981 7691 describes a process for the production of MDI having a reduced content of chlorinated by-products and a reduced iodine color value by adherence to defined parameters in the phosgenation reaction. In particular, adherence to particular phosgene/HCl ratios in the reaction step is required. This process has the disadvantage that a variation of the parameters in the phosgenation is made difficult and the quality of the phosgenation is very sensitive as a result. In addition, the lack of flexibility in the parameters in the phosgenation makes the phosgenation very difficult to carry out in practice and requires a high engineering effort.
Another way of improving the color of isocyanates is, according to EP-B 1 187 808, the use of phosgene with low bromine and/or iodine contents.
Although processes of the type mentioned attempt to remove the components causing the discoloration at the correct point, they are not efficient enough, both because of their high technical requirements and also in terms of their color-lightening effect, given that only slight degradation of color precursors occurs owing to incomplete chemical reactions.
3. Addition of color-lightening additives to the crude isocyanate product after the phosgenation and before the work-up, e.g. by distillation:
EP-A 0 581 100 relates to a process for the production of isocyanates in which a chemical reducing agent is added after the phosgenation and before the removal of solvent, which according to this document also gives light-colored products.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,639, water is added to the crude product obtained after the phosgenation in order to lighten its color. EP-A 538 500, EP-A 0 445 602 and EP-A 0 467 125 describe the addition of carboxylic acids, alkanols or polyether polyols after the phosgenation for the same purpose.
Although the methods of lightening the color described above are efficient, they have disadvantages in that the additives not only lighten the color but also undergo reactions with the isocyanates obtained as product, generally resulting, for example, in an undesirable reduction in the isocyanate content. In addition, there is the risk of formation of undesirable by-products in the MDI.
4. After-treatment of the end product:
EP-A 0 133 538 describes the purification of isocyanates by extraction, giving fractions of a light-colored MDI.
EP-A 0 561 225 relates to a process for the production of isocyanates or isocyanate mixtures which, according to this document, contain no coloring components, wherein the isocyanates are subjected to a hydrogen treatment at a pressure of 1 to 150 bar and a temperature of 100 to 180° C. after the phosgenation of the corresponding amines. According to the examples described there, isocyanate end products are hydrogenated as such or in the form of their solutions in suitable solvents.
These color-improving after-treatments of the isocyanate end products after complete removal of the solvent at elevated temperature are likewise not very efficient, because the high temperatures occurring during the work-up, in particular during the distillation of the solvent and optionally of monomeric MDI (diisocyanates), have already resulted in the formation of stable coloring substances which can be chemically degraded only with difficulty.

Process for the production of light-colored isocyanates


An actuation device uses, for the active element, a flexible bellows operated by a pressurized fluid (usually, but not necessarily, at a pressure higher than the ambient one). The bellows is housed, for the most part of its length, inside a cylindrical cavity having the inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the bellows, so that the bellows is free to vary its length, but is restrained to bend sideways and therefore can be operated by high pressure.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a bellows actuation device, especially for robotic manipulator.
2. Description of the Background Art
Industrial robotic manipulators known in the art are mainly devised to handle objects having a hard structure and usually a good resistance, therefore they are usually well suited for industrial applications where a sure hold of hard and solid objects is required (e.g., metal pipes largely used in off-shore structures).
New requests are rising for robotic devices to be used, for example for scientific research activities (e.g., for biology, archaeology, geology, etc.), for example in the underwater field. This type of use requires the ability to handle and grasp fragile, delicate, and, often, soft objects, that are likely to be damaged if handled with conventional devices.
In order to prevent the possible damaging of the fragile objects, it could be possible to provide the manipulator with tactile sensors able to measure the force actually applied to the surface of the object, but this solution provides to be highly complex; and conspicuous technical problems must be addressed for its implementation in devices for special uses, as, for example the underwater one.
For example, a robotic manipulator of the articulated jaw type is known in the art and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,998. The electrohydraulic actuation system subject of the patent is a two piston-cylinder assembly, fixed volume, hydraulic system operated by an electric motor by means of a screw device. Friction resulting from the piston seals and from the thrust bearings of the screw is necessary for the system operation, and is so tailored as to have an entity that restrains jaw motion due to applied external forces. This characteristic, while proving advantageous when the handled objects show a solid and hard structure, proves disadvantageous when the objects to be handled are fragile and soft ones, like biologic specimens, archaeological items, etc.
The object of the invention is to overcome the above drawbacks and to provide an actuation device using, for the active element, a flexible bellows operated by a pressurized fluid. The device of the invention solves also another problem in the case long and compliant bellows are used with pressures of the operating fluid of some relevance, according to the preferred embodiments of the invention. Bellows with these characteristics (i.e. usually having a high length-to-diameter ratio) have, starting from very low operating pressure, a structural instability phenomenon, named xe2x80x9cbucklingxe2x80x9d, causing an out-of-control sideways deformation and substantially reducing the useful output force as well as the range of motion, making this kind of bellows actually not suited to be used in manipulation devices.
The device of the invention comprises, in the basic embodiment, a bellows housed, for the most part of its length, inside a cavity, usually cylindrical in shape, having the inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the bellows so that the bellows is free to vary its length, but is restrained to bend sideways and therefore can be operated by a pressure fairly higher than the one that would cause the above mentioned instability phenomena in an unrestrained bellows. A specially suitable field of application of this type of actuator is the one of robotic grippers, where it provides more advantageous than solutions based on the use of other devices, like pneumatic or hydraulic piston-cylinder assemblies.
The bellows actuation device of the invention is virtually friction-free, thus allowing to obtain a relation between the operating pressure and the contact force applied to the handled object, that can be represented by a mathematical function without any discontinuity point. These characteristics make it possible to provide an accurate control of the contact force, thus allowing robotic manipulators able to handle fragile or delicate objects without damage.
The main advantage of the bellows actuator versus the piston-cylinder assembly is the absence of sliding seals and hence the absence of friction and wear.
This characteristic proves very useful for devices intended for handling fragile or delicate objects, by allowing an indirect measurement of the contact force applied to the object by means of a measurement of the operating pressure.
The manipulators that can be realized using the actuation device of the invention, characterized by being friction-free, overcome the above-said drawbacks and, when used in association to a suitable servo-control, can achieve a fine regulation of the contact force applied to the object, and hence a sure hold with no risk of damaging the object, without requiring complex tactile sensors.
Moreover, the manipulators subject of the invention have the characteristic of being very easy to implement and are suitable of being made of materials able to withstand fairly well the typical operating conditions of underwater robotics.
The main characteristics that are achieved are the followings.
No-friction: as well known, the friction-force vs. motion-speed relation is not only not-linear, but also not-continuous due to the transition between static and dynamic friction (when speed crosses the zero value). The presence of friction in a device that has to transfer force and motion between the actuating section and the actuated one of a manipulator, precludes the continuity of the relation linking the force applied to the object by the manipulator with the force produced by the driving device, and therefore does not allow to calculate the contact force applied to the object on the basis of the measurement of the force produced by the driving device.
Force Control: the feasibility to easily implement (without the use of special sensors) a force control (instead of a position control), makes it possible for the manipulator to have a degree of xe2x80x9ccompliancexe2x80x9d, that is the ability to adapt itself to the shape and to small displacements of the manipulated object with no substantial variation of the contact force.
A further advantage of the use of a bellows, is the feasibility to couple directly its ends to members of the manipulation device, each moving with respect to the others, with no need to use joints or couplings, because the bellows flexibility is usually adequate to allow the required degree of flexure.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be clearly shown in the following detailed description of an example of embodiment and from the attached drawings, given for a non limiting explanatory purpose.

Bellows actuation device, specially for robotic manipulator, and method to operate said device


A method for producing a part consisting of a polymer material involves injection-moulding said polymer material in a mould comprising a main section for forming the part and an additional section for forming an add-on for the part. The additional section is arranged between the injection point and the main section. The part and the add-on are separated by cutting.

In a conventional moulding method, the material is not injected directly into the cavity but first passes through a channel which forms a constriction with respect to the mould, since its thickness is smaller than that of the mould. The wide channels form "layers" and the narrow channels form "thresholds".
Generally, appearance defects are encountered on the first 30 millimetres (decreasing defects) of flow of material into the cavity. The main defect encountered is the hot spot related to shear and to the initial filling disturbance downstream from the constriction, generating significant shrinkage and possibly causing the part to be scrapped.
Consequently, the surfaces of the part where the injection took place have a defect which makes them unacceptable as visible surfaces. A visible surface of a part means a surface that is seen by an observer of adult height standing next to the vehicle and which meets the appearance requirements specified in the automotive field. Although these requirements may vary from one manufacturer to another, all manufacturers agree that a visible surface of a part must have as few defects as possible that can be detected with the naked eye.
There is therefore a need for parts having some surfaces which must be visible.
In the automotive field, this is for example the case of the upper region of the spoiler (without lower return forming an integrated cap) which is shown on FIG. 1B. Spoilers usually have a U-shaped portion, as shown on FIG. 1A, with a long lower return which may be up to 100 mm long. However, spoilers such as those shown on FIG. 1B have a lower return which is only a few millimetres long (3 mm to 10 mm).
A material that can be used to make parts not having such appearance defects is already known. It is ABS/PC (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/polycarbonate). This material is however characterised by the fact that it expands considerably. It also requires specific treatment (flaming operation) before bonding and requires a specific paint primer. Lastly, it is an expensive material.

Method for producing a vehicle part consisting of a polymer material


Embodiments of the present invention provide coating materials including at least one binder and at least one photocatalytically-active substance adapted to absorb light at one or more absorption wavelengths in the range of about 380 nm to about 500 nm. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

Coating compositions may be used, for example, for the manufacture of paints and plaster systems for interior and exterior applications. A special area of application of such compositions is the manufacture of thermal insulation composite systems. In these applications, these compositions can especially be used for the manufacture of a top coating for thermal insulation composite systems. Here, in some cases, algae and fungus infestation of the top coating can occur following the completion of the respective thermal insulation composite systems, particularly on the northern side of buildings.


A semi-permeable membrane based purification system expresses permeate through a membrane, and uses an air lift pump to raise the permeate. In particularly preferred embodiments, a plurality of membranes are positioned at least several hundred feet below the surface of the each, and are used to desalinate salty or brackish water. Ozone may be used to further purify the water and help maintain the integrity of the membranes.

Despite numerous advances over the years, there exists a continuing need for improved liquid purification. In my copending application, allowed U.S. Ser. No. 08/925055, which is incorporated herein by reference, I describe a novel reverse osmosis system in which a plurality of reverse osmosis membranes are placed within a well or other underground channel. The channel contains an unpurified liquid such as salty or brackish water, and is deep enough that overhead pressure cooperates with the membranes to select out a permeate. Such a system greatly reduces the amount of liquid that needs to be pumped, but still requires raising the permeate from a significant depth, which in the case of processing salt water may be approximately 1800 feet.
It is known to raise a liquid from a well or other underground channel using a series of positive pressure mechanical pumps. That solution, however, is problematic in that one or more of the pumps may fail during operation, and may therefore require raising of the entire chain of reverse osmosis membranes to the surface to effect repairs. Placing pumps below the ground also requires providing an electrical or other power line to the pumps, which adds complexity, cost, and further opportunities for failure.
It is therefore desirable to locate the pumping mechanism at or above ground level. One way of accomplishing that goal is to use an air lift pump. Air lift pumps have been known for at least 200 years. As exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,832 to Marcum et al., air lift pumps generally include a source of compressed gas such as oxygen or air, a tube which carries the compressed gas to a diffuser at a subsurface level, a means for mixing the compressed air exiting the diffuser with the liquid to be raised, and a plurality of riser pipes in which the liquid and gas are permitted to rise. It is known that the use of relatively larger bubbles, especially those which extend completely across the interior of the inner riser pipe, tends to increase the volume of liquid pumped.
Liquids rising under the force of an air lift pump may exit the riser pipes with considerable force. Such water may be deflected with a deflector, and it may also be possible to harness some of the kinetic energy contained in the rising liquid by discharging such liquid through a turbine near the top of the risers. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,364 to Busick et al.

Air lift pump for membrane separation unit


A physical uplink control channel resource determination method and a communication device are disclosed in embodiment of this disclosure. The method includes: determining a reference bit quantity of CSI-part 2 according to a preset rule; determining a sum of reference bit quantities of AN/SR and CSI according to the reference bit quantity, wherein the CSI at least includes: CSI-part 1 and the CSI-part 2; determining a target PUCCH RESET according to the sum of reference bit quantities.

In a case that there is an overlap between a time domain position of a physical uplink control channel (Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH) for transmitting HARQ-ACK/NACK (AN)/scheduling request (Scheduling Request, SR) and a time domain position of a PUCCH for transmitting channel state information (Channel State Information, CSI), if the PUCCH for transmitting AN/SR and the PUCCH for transmitting CSI have a same starting symbol, user equipment (User Equipment, UE) selects a PUCCH resource to transmit AN/SR and CSI.
In new radio (New Radio, NR) mobile communication, PUCCH resources are divided into different PUCCH resource sets (PUCCH Resource Sets, PUCCH RESETs) according to a size of uplink control information (Uplink Control Information, UCI) that a PUCCH resource can carry. For example, RESET0: a bit quantity of UCI that can be carried is greater than 0 and no greater than 2 (0<UCI<=2); RESET1: a bit quantity of UCI that can be carried is greater than 2 and no greater than N2 (2<UCI<=N2); RESET2: a bit quantity of UCI that can be carried is greater than N2 and no greater than N3 (N2<UCI<=N3); RESET3: a bit quantity of UCI that can be carried is greater than N3 and no greater than N4 (N3<UCI<=N4); wherein N4, N2, N3 are positive integers and are provided by a higher layer, and N2<N3<N4.
UE may be configured with one or more (up to 4) PUCCH RESETs and each PUCCH RESET may include multiple PUCCH resources. When a PUCCH for transmitting AN/SR and a PUCCH for transmitting CSI have a same starting symbol, UE firstly determines a PUCCH RESET according to a sum of bit quantities of the AN/SR and the CSI, and then selects one PUCCH resource from the PUCCH RESET for transmitting the AN/SR and the CSI.
However, the sum of bit quantities of AN/SR and CSI is not fixed, such that a base station does not know about the PUCCH RESET from which the UE select a PUCCH resource to transmit AN/SR and CSI, thus the base station needs to perform blind-detection on all possible PUCCH resources.

Physical uplink control channel resource determination method and communication device


A linkage mechanism for an adjustable arm assembly. The linkage assembly may be used to support an object, such as a headrest for use in connection with an examination table. The linkage mechanism provides structure to interlock or disengage two adjoining arm sections. The linkage mechanism controls relative movement of two adjoining arm sections without affecting the movement of non-adjoined sections or the headrest. The linkage mechanism further provides friction retention means so that the adjoining arms will retain their relative position to one another even if they are not in an interlocked position.

The present invention relates generally to adjustable medical equipment and, more specifically, to an adjustable head support and support arm for an adjustable table.
During many examination procedures, the patient's head and neck may be repositioned if a different area of the neck or head is to be examined. If repositioning is necessary, the movement is preferably done with as little discomfort the patient as possible. Likewise, such repositioning should be performed easily by the medical examiner.
Generally, a headrest is coupled to an extended arm that is mounted or attached to an examination table or chair. The arm typically has two or three adjustable sections, and the headrest may also be adjustable. Locking devices, such as screws, bolts, or plunger elements, have been utilized to hold the arm sections in place. However, such devices generally are cumbersome and do not afford the headrest any resistance when removed or released from the locking section.
For instance, an examiner may wish to adjust a headrest while the headrest is still supporting a patient's head. In such instances, release of the prior art locking devices completely releases support for the patient and may possibly injure the patient. Likewise, an examiner's fingers are easily pinched within these moving parts. Though the devices may be easily manipulated, safety may be compromised to achieve such manipulation.


Systems and methods for compositing image layers using a GPU shader module. Image layers may be mapped to a destination surface and tiled such that each tile has the same number and kind of mapped image layers. The mapped image layers of a tile may be provided to a shader module, such as a pixel shader, to composite the image layers into display data.

The present disclosure relates generally to rendering images on an electronic display. The present disclosure more specifically relates to utilizing a shading module on a graphics processing unit (GPU) to composite 2-dimensional (2D) layers into a single, viewable image on the electronic display.
Many forms of consumer electronic devices may include an electronic display to convey visual information to a user. For example, a computer, smartphone, tablet computer, smart television, set-top box for a television, video game console, and other types of consumer electronic devices may provide display data to one or more electronic displays. Generating display data can be a computationally-intensive process for a device's central processing unit (CPU). For example, many video games utilize rasterized wireframe models to produce realistic images that appear 3-dimensional (3D) when viewed on a display.
Modern electronic devices may include a GPU to perform many of the computationally-intensive operations associated with generating display data. For example, a desktop computer may include a GPU on a peripheral video card. In another example, a smartphone may have a GPU integrated onto its motherboard. However, even with the ability to utilize a GPU to perform graphics calculations on certain devices, which calculations are performed and how the calculations are performed is often left to the computer programmer writing the application to decide.


A method and apparatus for image coding using hierarchical sample adaptive band offset. The method includes decoding a signal of a portion of an image, determining a band offset type and offset of a portion of the image, utilizing the band offset type and offset to determine a sub-band, and reconstructing a pixel value according to the determined offset value.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and apparatus for image and video coding using hierarchical sample adaptive band offset.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sample adaptive offset (SAO) was introduced for the next generation video coding standard called high efficiency video coding (HEVC). FIG. 1 is an embodiment depicting a block diagram for decoding Architecture of high efficiency video coding with adaptive loop filtering (ALF) and sample adaptive offset. As shown in FIG. 1, SAO is applied after deblocking filtering process, usually, before adaptive loop filtering (ALF).
SAO involves adding an offset directly to the reconstructed pixel from the video decoder loop in FIG. 1. The offset value applied to each pixel depends on the local characteristics surrounding that pixel. There are two kinds of offsets, namely band offset (BO) and edge offset (EO). BO classifies pixels by intensity interval of the reconstructed pixel, while EO classifies pixels based on edge direction and structure. In certain cases, the number of pixels increases but the number of bands stays the same. As a result, the system becomes less efficient.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved method and/or apparatus for a more efficient image and video coding using hierarchical sample adaptive band offset.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for image and video coding using hierarchical sample adaptive band offset


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for allocating feedback transmission resource and a method and apparatus for providing information on values thereof. According to the method of allocating feedback transmission resource, the feedback transmission resource is divided into a plurality of resource units, and the method can comprise receiving information on values of the plurality of resource units for the mobile stations; determining values of possible resource allocation status in each bidding round for the mobile stations from the received information on the values based on the sequential second price auction; and deriving an auction process of the resource units from the determined values of possible resource allocation status in each bidding round based on the sequential second price auction, so as to obtain a final resource unit allocation result for the mobile stations. With embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to improve performance in sum channel capacity and at the same time it can achieve preservation in fairness among MSs. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the feedback transmission resource can be optimized between at least two kinds of feedback information such as channel station information and intercell interference information, which will further improve the system performance.

It has been well recognized that the capacity of a wireless system is usually limited because of intracell interference and intercell interference (ICI). To tackle with this problem, there has been proposed many technologies in the prior art. One of possible solutions is to send channel state information (CSI) to the transmitter side through a feedback channel, and with the knowledge of CSI about nearby co-channel mobile stations (MSs), it is possible to actively suppress the signal to the interfered users and maximize the effective signal power. In this case, the base station (BS) can obtain the required channel coefficients through a feedback channel from the MSs and then employ mechanisms such as multiple-antenna pre-coding to mitigate the effects of the interferences and to exploit spatial dimensions to increase the capacity of the wireless network.
However, the feedback channel has a limited capacity and thus it is important to investigate how to control the amount of the feedback overhead according to the individual requirements so as to improve quality of service (Qos) and preserve fairness among the MSs.
Additionally, in the existing wireless network, it typically treated each MS independently and researched the multi-MS CSI problem in physical layer for example from the point of view of either communication or information theory. This means that interactions among the MSs are not taken into account, whereas intercell interference (ICI) is also an important factor influencing the system performance. However, there is no any existing technique that has considered both CSI and ICI.
Therefore, there is a need for a new feedback rate control solution in the art.

Method and apparatus for allocating feedback transmission resource and method and apparatus for providing information on values thereof


An ink-jet recording apparatus of one aspect of the invention comprises nozzles are arranged on an ink ejection surface in a matrix in a first direction in which a recording medium is conveyed and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The plurality of nozzles are grouped into a plurality of nozzle sets, each of the plurality of nozzle sets includes nozzles arranged along the second direction. The plurality of nozzle sets are spaced from one another in the first direction by first distances, each of the first distances is an integral multiple of a distance that is obtained by multiplying a unit distance by 2n-1. The unit distance corresponds to a highest resolution among first resolutions with respect to the first direction of an image to be formed on the recording medium.

As ink-jet printers that eject ink droplets to a recording medium, such as a recording sheet, an ink-jet printer including a conveying mechanism that conveys a recording sheet, and an ink-jet head having an ink ejection surface in which a number of nozzles that eject ink droplets to the recording sheet conveyed by the conveying mechanism are disposed is known. A number of individual ink channels that lead from an outlet of a common ink chamber through pressure chambers to the nozzles are formed inside the ink-jet head. Further, the ink-jet head has an actuator that individually applies ejection energy to the ink within each pressure chamber according to an instruction from a control device. As such an ink-jet head, there is an ink-jet head in which a number of nozzles are disposed in a matrix in a conveying direction of a recording sheet, and in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction in the ink ejection surface in order to enhance the density of ejection channels of ink droplets. Such ink-jet printer is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2006-044113.
According to the above ink-jet printer, only from a viewpoint of the enhancement of the density of ejection channels of ink droplets, a number of nozzles are disposed in a matrix in the ink ejection surface. Therefore, the positions of the nozzles in the conveying direction of a recording sheet are determined regardless of the control period of the control device for ink ejection. For this reason, for example, when the resolution of a printing image in the conveying direction of a recording sheet is changed, the control period and the timing with which an ink droplets are ejected to positions on the recording sheet where dots are to be formed may not coincide with each other. In this case, the positions of dots to be formed on the recording sheet in the conveying direction of the recording sheet vary, and thereby printing quality deteriorates. In order to solve this problem, it is considered that the control period of the control device is further shortened. However, it is necessary to further improve the processing speed of the control device in shortening the control period, and consequently, the cost of the control device becomes high.


A non-glass reflective surface is mounted near the top of the rear seat of a motor vehicle in such a way that the driver of the vehicle, by looking in the rear view mirror, can observe an infant in a safety seat wherein the infant is positioned facing the rear of the vehicle. This mirror is attached to the rear seat my means of a large safety pin and is further secured by means of strips of Velcro.

This invention relates to device for observing an infant in a rearwardly facing safety seat located in the rear seat of a vehicle.
The "Child Passenger Protection Act" which became law in 1983, requires that an infant travelling in a vehicle be secured in a safety seat that is itself fastened to the center of the rear seat of the vehicle by means of seat belts. It has become common practice, as a result of the recommendations of child safety advocates, to position the car safety seat such that the infant faces the rear of the vehicle.
These car safety seats are often constructed with side panels that can obstruct any view of the infant when the infant is in the car seat.
This presents problems, however, when the driver or passenger in the front seat of the vehicle, wishes or needs to check on the condition of the infant in the car seat. The driver must either stop the vehicle and perhaps even get out of the vehicle. The passenger must turn her/his body and lean back over the front seat. In either case, the situation is dangerous or inconvenient.
If the infant is crying or otherwise giving indications of distress, the driver, if alone, is put in the position of having to stop the car in order to check on the infant. This can be inconvenient at best, and dangerous at worst is there is no safe roadside location to which the driver may safely drive the vehicle.
If the infant is quiet, it is important that the driver be able to monitor it to ensure that nothing untoward has happened to the infant.
Several earlier patents disclose various approaches to solving this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,572 issued Oct. 27, 1987 to Cossey discloses a rigid frame which fits over the top of the rear seat to which a mirror is attached by a rigid vertical telescoping sleeve. The rigid construction of this device presents a potential danger to the infant in the event of an accident or rapid deceleration of the vehicle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,892 issued Dec. 15, 1987 to Masucci a mirror for observing a rearwardly facing child in the rear seat of a vehicle is mounted on the rear seat back and is positioned at approximately the same height as the infant's head. Since positioning the infant facing the rear seat is intended to protect the infant in the event of an accident by insuring that the infant will be projected toward the soft seat back, the location of this mirror can present a danger in that, in the event of an accident, the infant would be projected into it rather than the soft seat back. It is possible that the infant could kick this mirror with its feet dislodging it and making it useless. If the infant's feet are bare, and the mirror is hot as a result of being in the sunlight, the infant could burn its feet. It is possible that the infant could shatter this mirror possibly causing injury to the infant. The large reflective surface of this mirror could also present a problem of glare into the infant's eyes and also glare into the driver's eyes when using it to check on the infant. The mirror in this patent also requires a car seat to hold it in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,956 issued Mar. 29, 1988 to Erickson discloses a dome-shaped mirror that is mounted by means of suction cups to the roof or at the top of the rear window of the vehicle. In a station wagon or van, the distance between this location and the driver's rear-view mirror is too great to permit viewing of the infant and presents the potential of danger to the infant if it the suction is insufficient to secure the mirror in place. The mirror also vibrates because the mirror is not braced by anything but the suction cup.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,118 issued Feb. 20, 1990 to Harris discloses a mirror that attaches to the rear seat of a vehicle by straps that surround the rear seat back. Positioning the mirror itself involved adjusting the straps both vertically and horizontally. This can be a cumbersome procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,618 discloses a mirror that is positioned on the rear shelf of an automobile in front of the third taillight. Because it is situated 51/2 inches above this rear shelf it has the potential for obstructing the driver's view. Because of it's attachment mechanism, it cannot be installed in station wagons or other vehicles with rear doors. It is requires a permanent installation.

Device for observing infant in rear seat


A wireless communication device includes a communication module including a plurality of networking units and a radiator control circuit. Each of said networking units includes at least two radiators for transmitting wireless signals, and said radiator control circuit connects to said networking units for controlling switching on and off of said radiators. The wireless communication device further includes a data processing module including a memory unit for storing a first transmission parameter, a computing unit for calculating a data transmission information of said networking units, and a control unit for controlling said control circuit of said communication module according to said data transmission information. Said communication module includes a first networking unit and a second networking unit, said radiators of said first networking unit is adjacent to said radiators of said second networking unit, and said first and second networking units utilize different transmission channels.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wireless communication device, more specifically, to a wireless communication device capable of switching antennas according to data transmission information on a network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern life, people want access to useful information regardless of time or place. A wireless communication device does not require optical fibers or cable to transmit signals; therefore, it is an attractive way to exchange information. As technology progresses, portable wireless communication devices, such as cell phones and PDAs, have become important information-exchanging tools due to their convenience and portability.
As the wireless communication technology progresses rapidly, access points (AP) are widely used in today's life. Each computer in a wireless local area network (WLAN) requires a WLAN card to transmit electromagnetic signals. The AP are capable of utilizing their antennas to receive electromagnetic signals transmitted by the WLAN station. As well the AP bridges the WLAN to the Ethernet network so that information in the network is integrated and shared. Today, in order to broaden the WLAN communication distance, many AP are positioned in the coverage range of the network or they are arranged flexibly. The corresponding building method is to utilize normal Ethernet switches and CAT-5 cables to build distributed wireless AP arrangements.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a network topology utilizing an access point 50 in a space. The access point 50 comprises a radiator 52 for receiving or emitting electromagnetic signals, and the coverage range of access point 50 is shown by the dotted lines shown in FIG. 1. When three users have to utilize the access point 50 to bridge the Ethernet network in the coverage range, the users share the data transmission bandwidth of the access point 50. For example, if the maximum bandwidth of the access point 50 is 11 Mbps, each user ideally gets 11/3 Mbps of the wireless data transmission bandwidth.
In the prior art, in order to raise the bandwidth or to broaden the coverage range, more AP 50 are positioned in the space. Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a diagram of a network topology utilizing three access points in a space. If three AP 50 are turned on simultaneously, the bandwidth is ideally 3 times to the bandwidth of using only one access point 50. In other words, if the maximum bandwidth of one access point is 11 Mbps, then three AP 50 ideally provide 11*3=33 Mbps bandwidth. Therefore, if three users utilize three AP 50 to bridge the Ethernet network, then each user is ideally capable of getting 33/3=11 Mbps.
As mentioned above, wireless data transmission bandwidth on the network can be raised by adding the number of AP 50. However a problem arises when a number of the AP 50 are added. If different AP use the same channel or adjacent channels, the main lobe of the transmission channel is overlapped by the side lobe of the adjacent channel such that interference occurs. Therefore, in FIG. 2, if three access points 50 are utilized simultaneously, under the 802.11b standard, the three AP 50 are capable of utilizing channel 1, channel 6, and channel 11 to transfer the wireless information for reduced the interference. Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a distributed diagram of transmission channels in the frequency domain of the 802.11b standard. In the frequency band 2.400 GHz-2.484 GHz, the peak of the main lobe of channel 1 falls on 2.412 GHz, the peak of the main lobe of the channel 6 falls on 2.437 GHz, and the peak of the main lobe of the channel 6 falls on 2.437 GHz. Therefore, between consecutive channels peaks there is about 25 MHz of bandwidth. In the actual implementation, in order to avoid the main lobe overlapping the side lobe, every two channels used have an interval of 5 channels.
As mentioned above, if the number of the AP 50 in a space is too many, interference occurs such that the transmission quality becomes lower. Further, the distance between two AP is limited and can not be too small, otherwise the combined coverage range of the AP is reduced. Thus making it more difficult to reach the users, and causing interference such that transmission dead angle occurs. In additional, each access point needs to be connected to the LAN through network lines, therefore, utilizing a number of AP increases the difficulty of wiring and building.
Furthermore, when utilizing normal AP, the radiation pattern of the prior art antenna cannot change according to different service demands, such as changes of coverage range or directivity. This makes the design of an antenna arrangement relatively inflexible and permanent.

Wireless communication device capable of switching antennas according to data transmission information on network


A herbicidal concentrate of a glyphosate di-salt and an enhancement agent is obtained by adjusting the pH of a concentrate containing a glyphosate salt until a single-phase concentrate is obtained. The amount of base added to the concentrate is generally the amount necessary to render a pH of about 7.0 to 8.5 to the concentrate.

One of the most popular post-emergent non-selective herbicides used around the world is glyphosate and salts of glyphosate including the monoammonium, diammonium and isopropyl ammonium salts disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,998,332; 5,994,269; 5,196,044; 4,507,250; 4,481,026; 4,405,531; 4,315,765; 4,140,513; 3,977,860; 3,799,580; 3,799,758; and 3,853,530. Of these, the most widely sold non-selective herbicide in the world is the isopropylamine salt of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine also named isopropylammonium glyphosate ("IPA glyphosate").
Like many post-emergent herbicides, glyphosates and salts of glyphosates are generally slow-acting, even with the addition of surfactants. Such slow responses of the targeted weeds to the herbicidal composition fail to provide the desired phytotoxicity of the formulation for days, sometimes even weeks. This is undesirable from the user's standpoint, especially for home and garden users where the herbicide is used for aesthetic purposes by the purchaser.
Over the years, developments have focused on alternative formulations capable of improving the rapidity of plant response to glyphosate salt formulations. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,196,044 and 6,503,869, for instance, disclose enhanced herbicidal compositions wherein an enhancer, such as pelargonic acid or salts of pelargonic acid, is added to the glyphosate salt in order to decrease the time for plant response Such developments have resulted in the commercial availability of IPA glyphosate herbicidal formulations to home owners in so-called "ready-to-use" (RTU) forms that, when sprayed on the targeted weed, causes the weed to wilt, turn color and die in short time periods, sometimes as short as 24 hours or less. Such RTU formulations containing IPA glyphosate employ between from about 0.75 to about 2% by weight of IPA glyphosate with similar amounts of enhancing agents. The balance of the formulation is inactive ingredients, such as surfactants and water.
For economic reasons, it is advantageous to package and sell post-emergent herbicides in concentrated forms, i.e., formulations having low or no solvent content. Such concentrated formulations save both sellers and buyers the cost of storing and shipping water in which the herbicide ingredients are soluble. Furthermore such concentrates allow the end-user to vary his desired herbicidal treatment by diluting the concentrate with water to the strength needed, e.g., a high water dilution for easily killed weeds and a lower dilution for larger weeds or brush.
Previously, glyphosate concentrates containing as much as 53 weight percent glyphosate have been introduced to buyers-users in place of RTU formulations. However, such concentrates are still slow acting when diluted for use unless they are combined with a bipyridilium salt such as Diquat®, an EPA restricted material undesirable for use.
Some of the most effective enhancement agents, while compatible with IPA glyphosate at dilute concentrations, are not capable of being dissolved in concentrated IPA glyphosate solutions and therefore do not offer a practical solution to manufacturers for concentrated forms of glyphosate salts. For example, commercially available unenhanced IPA glyphosate formulations typically contain from about 53.8 weight percent to as high as 62 weight percent IPA glyphosate in water. Attempts to incorporate enhancing agents, such as pelargonic acid or salts of pelargonic acid, into concentrated formulations have been unsuccessful in rendering homogeneous mixtures or solutions. This is attributable to chemical incompatibility. For example, when 18% or stronger IPA glyphosate in water is added to 40% or lower ammonium pelargonate in water, two liquid phases result, neither phase being soluble in the other. Such mixtures, having separate liquid phases, have no commercial value.

Enhanced glyphosate herbicidal concentrates