A communications apparatus includes several functional modules for implementing an application, a pair of switch modules to provide redundant switching capability for transferring frames between the functional modules. Each functional module is connected to each switch module by a frame-based communication link. A redundancy logic unit at each functional module inserts sequence numbers into outgoing frames, replicates the outgoing frames for forwarding to each of said switch modules, and monitors incoming frames from each of the switch modules to select frames for forwarding to an application based on the sequence numbers. In this way, redundancy is maintained at all times, while duplicate frames are eliminated at the receiving module.

In the field of data communications there are many examples of chassis based communication devices. A chassis based communication device features a series of modular components; typically a chassis (or enclosure), a backplane and a series of add-in circuit cards. Together chassis and backplane typically provide a series of slots into which the add-in cards can be installed. The backplane provides a series of connections between slots to allow communication between cards in different slots. The topology of the connections on the backplane varies from system to system. One common topology is referred to as a dual star. In the dual star topology, the backplane provides two links to each slot of the backplane. Each link terminates on one of two dedicated slots in the system. These slots are commonly referred to as switch or hub slots. This configuration is referred to as a dual star because there are two stars of links each centered by a switch card. The two switch cards are provided for redundancy. As an example, such a system has been standardized by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) as the PCIMG 3.0 standard, the contents of which are included by reference.
The switch slots are so called because they typically contain a series of components that logically connect the other slots in the system for the purpose of slot to slot communications, known as a switch fabric. The switch fabric may also contain components that reside on cards other than the switch card; these components are commonly known as the fabric interface. In currently existing systems the switch fabric components are typically purpose built application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or application specific standard products (ASSPs) as they are known in the art. An emerging trend is the application of standard networking technologies to the switch fabric function; technologies such as Ethernet, Infiniband or Fibre Channel but may include others. Designing a system that incorporates these technologies is desirable because they present standard interfaces to other system components; this allows for other components to be sourced from multiple vendors. Standard networking technologies also have the advantage of low cost, primarily because they are heavily mass produced. However, the advantages that these technologies enjoy compared to the purpose built switch fabrics (in the embedded data communications application) are in many cases out weighed by a lack of features; such as redundancy and switch congestion management.
Chassis based communication devices typically fall into a category of devices know as high availability systems. High availability systems are often required to be operational 99.999% of the time. In order to achieve these stringent requirements for system availability products built to these standards must feature redundancy for all components as well as the ability to repair the system without taking it offline. The switch card of a chassis based multi card communication device is an example of such a component; as such redundancy is required. Purpose built switch fabric chipsets typically support redundancy as a feature. Redundancy is typically supported by a combination of the switch fabric components residing on the switch cards as well as the fabric interface components that reside on the other cards of the system.
Methods of providing switch redundancy of similar systems using an Ethernet fabric are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,254 herein included by reference; here a method of providing redundancy by replicating frames and transporting them over parallel Ethernet switches is described. Previous methods lack a simple way for the destination to determine on a frame by frame basis which copy of each frame to receive. Higher layer protocols such as TCP employ sequence numbers to make them resilient to the reception of duplicate frames but, removing the duplicates by these methods would unnecessarily burden the application terminating TCP; a simple algorithm suitable to implementation in hardware that is able to remove the duplicate frames before they are transferred to the application is desirable.
A purpose built switch fabric for a chassis based communication device will typically implement one or more method(s) of avoiding congestion as a feature. These methods are designed to minimize the amount of data loss within the switch fabric (ideally to 0) while maximizing throughput. These methods also typically provide for some level of quality of service to prevent head of line blocking, as is known in the art, where congestion of low priority traffic impacts the performance of higher priority traffic. Standard networking technologies are less advanced with respect to congestion avoidance than switch fabrics built for the purpose of providing connectivity between cards of a chassis based communication device. Standard networking technologies have generally been built with simple congestion avoidance mechanisms designed to scale to large numbers of devices rather than provide good performance with respect to loss rate and throughput. These technologies rely on higher layer protocols to recover from data loss. For example the congestion avoidance mechanism employed by Ethernet is the pause frame. When an Ethernet switch is experiencing congestion it may issue a pause frame to endpoints (data sources) that are thought to be the cause of the congestion. Upon the reception of a pause frame an endpoint is required to stop sending data for a period of time (indicated in the pause frame) to allow time for the congestion in the switch to be relieved. The endpoint is required to stop transmitting all data even if it has data destined for endpoints not affected by the congestion of the switch. This phenomenon is referred to as head of line blocking and it represents a loss of throughput in the switch. Purpose built switch fabrics avoid head of line blocking by implementing a system of virtual output queues (VOQs); these techniques are well known in the art. Typically the VOQs are contained within a switch fabric interface device or traffic manager contained on the each card in the system (excluding the switch cards). A discussion of virtual output queuing in context of implementing networking devices using buffered crossbar switches is included in Shang-Tse Chuang, Sundar Iyer, Nick McKeown; "Practical Algorithms for Performance Guarantees in Buffered Crossbars", Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM 2005, Miami, Fla., March 2005, the contents of which are included by reference.
In a system employing virtual output queues each source of data into the switch implements a separate queue per destination endpoint; each of these queues can respond to backpressure independent of all the other queues. By this mechanism the switch fabric can assert backpressure only to the queues where the destination endpoint is congested; allowing data to continue to be transmitted to endpoints that are not currently experiencing congestion. The use of virtual output queues with backpressure (or flow control) eliminates the head of line blocking and increases throughput in the switch while limiting data loss in the switch due to congestion.
A high performance switch fabric can be constructed using standards based switching devices as a type of buffered crossbar element as they are known in the art. At each endpoint a simple distributed scheduling algorithm is implemented; backpressure (or flow control) using backward congestion notification techniques also know in the art are used to combat congestion in the crossbar element and at the destination endpoints. This invention implements hardware to interpret backward congestion notification frames reducing latency inherent to software only implementations; latency in the flow control feedback loop reduces the effectiveness of these techniques. The hardware methods described are designed to interoperate with a variety of devices such as network processors or traffic managers that are available in the marketplace; the ability to work with preexisting (building block) devices offers a great deal of design flexibility.

Communications apparatus with redundant switching or backpressure mechanism


The coil unit includes a planar coil, a magnetic body and a capacitor module, the capacitor module has a substrate, capacitor elements mounted on the substrate, and a first connecting terminal and a second connecting terminal provided outside an element region on which capacitor elements are mounted, the first connecting terminal is provided inside a winding section as viewed in a plan view, the second connecting terminal is provided outside the winding section as viewed in a plan view, a direction in which the first connecting terminal and the second connecting terminal are connected is perpendicular to a direction in which the conductor extends in the winding section of the planar coil, the coil unit in which the element region is provided in a range overlapping the winding section of the coil as viewed in a plan view is selected.

The present disclosure relates to a coil unit, a wireless power transmission device, a wireless power receiving device, and a wireless power transmission system.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-070100, filed on Mar. 30, 2018, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In recent years, when charging of a mobile device, an electric automobile, or the like, is performed, a wireless power transmission technology for transmitting electric power in a wireless manner using an electromagnetic induction mechanism between a primary (power transmission) coil and a secondary (power receiving) coil that face each other has been attracting attention.
As a device configured to perform power transmission using wireless power transmission technology, for example, a wireless power transmission device is known. A wireless power transmission device is constituted by a primary coil provided on a power transmission device and a secondary coil provided on a power receiving device, and performs transmission of electric power by linking a magnetic flux generated by the primary coil to the secondary coil.
In addition, in a wireless power transmission device, in order to perform power transmission efficiently, configuring a resonance circuit by connecting a capacitor to the primary coil and the secondary coil is known. A capacitor module (may also be referred to as "a capacitor unit") having a plurality of capacitor elements mounted on a substrate is used as the capacitor, and the capacitor module may be provided to be integrated with the coils.
Here, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2017-084865 discloses a coil unit (may also be referred to as "an LC circuit unit") used in a non-contact power supply system. In the coil unit disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2017-084865, a configuration in which a capacitor module is provided on a winding center portion of a coil has been proposed.

Coil unit, wireless power transmission device, wireless power receiving device, and wireless power transmission system


The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a polysilicon film having a grain size of 0.5 .mu.m or more by forming a nucleus site of low density at low temperature of about 450.degree. C. with Si.sub.2 H.sub.6 gas, by growing an amorphous silicon film to some degree with the nucleus site, forming an amorphous silicon film of a device to a desired thickness by carrying out a main deposition process at the temperature of 500 through 600.degree. C. with SiH.sub.4 or SiH.sub.4 containing a small amount of impurity, and carrying out a heat treatment process for a long period at the temperature range of 600 through 700.degree. C. with N.sub.2 gas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a polysilicon film of a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a polysilicon film used as a channel region of a thin film transistor.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
In general, the thin film transistor has the characteristics of high stability in data holding, high speed of operation and low consumption of current. The thin film transistor having such characteristics has been applied to highly integrated devices, such as a SRAM device and a LCD device. However, the thin film transistor has a disadvantage in that it has relatively low electrical performance since the polysilicon film is used as a channel region contrary to a general transistor which utilizes a mono crystal silicon film. To solve such disadvantage, a polysilicon film can be manufactured which has similar structure to the mono crystal silicon film. Therefore, research is being performed to increase the gain size of the polysilicon film to the maximum size.
In a method of manufacturing a polysilicon film according to a first embodiment of the prior art for forming a large grain size, an amorphous silicon film is formed in a temperature range of 450 through 550.degree. C. The amorphous silicon film is heat treated for a long period in a temperature range of 600 through 700.degree. C., whereby a solid phase growth (SPG) takes place and a polysilicon film of large grain size is manufactured.
However, since the polysilicon film manufactured according to the first embodiment has no uniformity in the size of the grains, electrical performance between dies or between cells in one wafer greatly varies. Due to the above described fact, the reliability and the mass productivity of the device is degraded. The polysilicon film manufactured by this method has a limitation in that the film can not obtain a grain diameter larger than 0.2 through 0.3 .mu.m.
In a method of manufacturing a polysilicon film according to a second embodiment of the prior art for forming a large grain size, a nucleus site is made by an ion implantation process in a surface portion of a substrate on which the polysilicon film is to be formed, the amorphous silicon film is formed by growing the amorphous silicon with the nucleus as a center, and thereafter the amorphous silicon film is heat treated, whereby a polysilicon film of large grain size is manufactured.
However, in this method, there are some difficulties in the depth control of ion implantation during the ion implantation process and in the density adjustment of the nucleus site. Furthermore, there is the possibility that the nucleus site can be lost during the cleaning treatment carried out after the ion implantation process. Due to the unstable process factors as described above, the reliability and the mass productivity of the device is degraded.

Method of manufacturing a polysilicon film of a semiconductor device

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A method for producing alkylphenol is provided. The method includes charging phenol and an olefinic compound into a reaction zone of a reactive distillation tower for a reaction; and separating a product stream containing alkylphenol from the reactive distillation tower, wherein the boiling point of the olefinic compound is lower than that of the phenol, and the phenol is charged into the reactive distillation tower at a charging position located above a position for charging the olefinic compound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing alkylphenol, and more particularly, to a method for producing alkylphenol by reactive distillation.
2. Description of Related Art
Alkylated aromatic compounds have several important commercial values. For example, nonylphenol is mainly used to produce nonylphenol polyethoxylates for use as non-ionic surfactants, and can be used as cleansing agents and emulsifiers. Nonylphenol can also be used in the productions of pulp, paint, adhesive agents, leather products, rubber and plastics.
The chemical reactions involving alkylation of aromatic compounds with olefinic compounds have been studied for a long time. Traditionally, phenol and an olefinic compound are charged into a fixed-bed reactor or a stirring reactor for a reaction. However, the temperature is high due to the exothermic reaction; therefore, heat energy needs to be removed from the reactor or the outlet of reactants. Furthermore, the generation of byproducts easily blocks the pores of a catalyst, such that the catalytic activity is decreased. Generally, the charging of an excessive amount of phenol into a reactor is needed to reduce the generation of byproducts, but the energy consumed for subsequent recycling of phenol is increased.
Recently, reactive distillation is also employed to produce an alkylated aromatic compound. For example, CN100337998C discloses the production of alkylated aromatic hydrocarbon by a continuous pressurized reactive distillation process. However, the process still requires a high molar ratio of aromatic hydrocarbon to olefine.
Accordingly, there still exists a need for a method to produce alkylphenol, while still simplifying the steps and saving the energy consumed during the method.


A display device includes a telephone communication signal reception antenna that receives radio waves utilized in telephone communication; a reception intensity measurement unit that measures an intensity of the radio waves received by the communication signal reception antenna; a determination unit that determines, based on the intensity of the radio waves measured by the reception intensity measurement unit, a display mode that displays an image at a display unit by using a representation method which is predetermined associated with the intensity of the radio waves; and a display control unit that controls the display unit based on the display mode determined by the determination unit.

A technique is known in which display data such as (static or video) image, text, or menu data is displayed on a planar display device in a three-dimensional manner (i.e., 3D display) so that a user can view the data stereoscopically.
In a known example, the 3D display is implemented utilizing disparity between a user's right and left eyes, where data for the right eye and data for the left eye, which slightly differ from each other, are prepared, and those two display data items are displayed simultaneously. In this display method, so that the data for the right eye is visible to the right eye but not visible to the left eye and the data for the left eye is visible to the left eye but not visible to the right eye, a liquid crystal panel that functions as an electronic disparity barrier that blocks specific optical paths is disposed at an appropriate position, so as to provide the display data stereoscopically. This method is generally called a "disparity barrier method".
A liquid crystal display that can perform such 3D display and ordinary 2D (two-dimensional) display is utilized for televisions or the like and has recently been built in a portable terminal device that can receive TV broadcasting such as one-segment broadcasting (see, for example, Patent-Document 1).

Display device, display control method, and program


A zoom lens comprises a plurality of lens units including a first lens unit disposed most adjacent to an enlargement side and having negative refractive power, wherein one or more lens units of the plurality of lens units are moved in the direction of the optical axis thereof during magnification change, and wherein the first lens unit includes a 1-1st lens unit comprising at least one lens of negative refractive power and moved during focusing and a 1-2nd lens unit having positive refractive power, and fixed during focusing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a zoom lens and an image projection apparatus having the same, and is suitable for a liquid crystal projector having, for example, a long back focal length, and having high optical performance at various projection magnifications.
2. Related Background Art
There have heretofore been proposed various liquid crystal projectors (image projection apparatuses) using a display element such as a liquid crystal display element to project an image formed on the display element onto a screen surface.
Characteristics mentioned below are required of a projection lens for use in these liquid crystal projectors.
In color liquid crystal projection of a three-element type using three liquid crystal display elements, generally, light from a white source is separated into red, green and blue colors by a color separating optical system, and these color lights are directed to the respective liquid crystal display elements, and the lights emerging from those liquid crystal display elements are combined by a color combining optical system and are made to be incident on a projection lens.
In that projection, the projection lens must have a back focal length of a certain constant length so as to provide a space between each liquid crystal display element and the projection lens for disposing therein a prism or the like for combining the color lights after transmitted through the liquid crystal display elements.
If the angles of the light beams incident from the liquid crystal display elements onto the color combining optical systems change, the spectral transmittance of the color combining optical system changes in conformity therewith, and the brightness of each color in the projected image is changed depending on the angle of view and the image becomes an image difficult to see. Therefore, in order to lessen the influence of the dependence on the angle, the color combining optical system must be a so-called telecentric optical system of which the pupil on the liquid crystal display element (reduction conjugate surface) side is substantially at infinity.
When the pictures (images) of the liquid crystal display elements of the three colors are combined and projected onto a screen, pixels of the respective colors must be superposed one upon another on the entire area of the screen so that high resolution feeling may not be spoiled by, for example, doubly displaying characters or the like.
Therefore, color misregistration (chromatic aberration of magnification) occurring in the projection lens must be well corrected in a visible light zone.
Distortion must be well corrected so that the projected image may not be distorted and difficult to see.
The projection lens must be a bright projection lens of small Fno (F number) so as to be capable of efficiently introducing the light from the light source.
The projector carrying a compact liquid crystal panel thereon must be compact and light in weight to attach importance to portability and mobility.
A good projected image must be obtained at various projection distances, that is, the aberration fluctuation during focusing must be small.
As a zoom lens adapted to satisfy these requirements, there has been a zoom lens for a projector of which the focusing is effected with only some of optical elements in lens units moved (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-186235, U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,564 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-226803).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-186235 discloses a five-unit zoom lens comprising, in succession from a screen side, lens units of negative, positive, positive, negative and positive refractive power and in which the rearmost (projected image side) positive lens in a first lens unit comprising four positive, negative, negative and positive lenses is fixed and three lenses on the screen side are moved to thereby effect focusing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,564 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-226803 disclose a five-unit zoom lens comprising, in succession from a screen side, lens units of negative, positive, positive, negative and positive refractive power and in which a first lens unit is composed of two lens elements having negative refractive power, and the interval between these lens elements is changed to thereby effect focusing. Both of these are such that a positive lens is included in a focusing element and weakens the refractive power of the entire focusing element.
Also, as a projection lens for a liquid crystal projector, there is proposed a six-unit zoom lens comprising, in succession from an enlargement conjugate side (this term is interchangeably used herein in the same meaning as a front side and an enlarging side), six lens units as a whole by the arrangement of first to sixth lens units of negative, positive, positive, negative, positive (or negative) and positive refractive power, and in which a predetermined lens unit of them is appropriately moved to thereby effect zooming (U.S. Publication No. US-2001-050818).
In this six-unit zoom lens, during zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end, in order that with the first and sixth lens units as being fixed, the second to fifth lens units therebetween may all be moved to a reduction conjugate side (this term is interchangeably used herein in the same meaning as a rear side and a reduction side), the full length of the lens is kept constant during zooming. Also, this zoom lens is a zoom lens in which distortion and chromatic aberration during zooming are lessened and which is telecentric on the reduction conjugate side. In the configuration disclosed in this U.S. Publication No. US-2001-050818, there is disclosed that the first lens unit is composed of three positive, negative and negative lenses from the enlargement conjugate side, and this first lens unit is driven to thereby effect focus adjustment.
Generally, as a method of suppressing the fluctuations of various aberrations when focusing is effected, there is a method of strengthening the refractive power of a focusing lens unit as far as possible, and lessening the movement amount of the focusing lens to the utmost. In the aforementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-186235, U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,564 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-226803, in the lens construction in the first lens unit, the focusing lens unit is not composed of only negative lenses and therefore, there has been the tendency that the refractive power of the focusing lens unit becomes weak, and the movement amount thereof during focusing becomes great and the fluctuations of various aberrations become great.
Further, it is often the case with the lens construction of a zoom lens used in a projector that it is made into a retrofocus type in order to obtain a long back focal length, and lens units having strong positive refractive power are disposed on a reduction side in order to make the reduction side telecentric.
The zoom lens of such a construction, however, has the tendency that the asymmetry of the entire lens system increases for example, as chromatic aberration of magnification in blue occurs more under (direction of an optical axis) than that in green.
Also, the smaller becomes the number of lenses, the more increases the refractive power of each lens and therefore, particularly a negative lens located more adjacent to the reduction side than a stop becomes liable to cause chromatic aberration of magnification of a high order in the over direction. Also, the greater becomes the zoom ratio, the greater the fluctuation of chromatic aberration of magnification from the wide angle end to the telephoto end also tends to become.

Zoom lens and image projection apparatus having the same


An expandable stent including a light and water curable resin embedded in a stent wall wherein the wall is formed to be transmissive to light for curing the resin and transmissive to fluid for further curing of the resin. A catheter delivery system may be provided for in vivo delivery, expansion, rigidization, and installation of the stent into a body lumen.

This invention relates to devices for the treatment of heart disease and particularly to endo arterial prosthesis, which are commonly called stents. More particularly, the invention relates to improved light curable stents and improved catheter assemblies to facilitate the insertion and implantation of light curable stents in a body lumen.
A focus of recent development work in the treatment of heart disease has been directed to endo-prosthetic devices called stents. Stents are generally tube shaped intravascular devices which are placed within a blood vessel to structurally hold it open. The device can be used to prevent restenosis and to maintain the patency of a blood vessel immediately after intravascular treatments.
Stents often require extreme flexibility so as to be capable of being transported through varying and tortuous turns and diameters of the vessel pathway prior to arriving at the desired stenotic site. Expandable stents are so designed. Typically, expandable stents are delivered in a collapsed form to the stenotic region, expanded from within by a dilation balloon, and the ability to remain expanded so as to continue holding open the vessel after the balloon has been withdrawn.
Many expandable stents, however, do not retain a fully expanded state after the balloon has been withdrawn. Many such stents have been known to recoil after the inflation procedure due to elastic properties of the stent and applied stenotic pressure. If the recoil is great enough, the stent may also, due to lack of frictional resistence holding it in place, become dislodged from its location, and migrate downstream. On such occasions, adequate lumenal flow can therefore be jeopardized. As a result, another procedure is needed to address a stent opening that has been so reduced.
Additionally, an expandable stent with plastic properties may be severely limited as to the degree of expandability of the stent from a deformed state into a permanently expanded configuration. It is therefore desirable for an expandable stent not to be so limited by its plastic properties and instead rely on different means for support when expanded beyond its ability to retain a plastically expanded shape.
There have been efforts to address the need to rigidize a stent after delivery and expansion. Some efforts have included, for example, the deposition of transformable materials in a stent wall. The mixing of epoxy components, for example, inside the wall of a stent has been heretofore disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,444 (Glastra), discloses a stent wall formed with breakable internal partitions separating mixable epoxy components. The stent is designed to be delivered in a non-expanded state, and is thereafter subject to expansion by the dilation balloon.
According to Glastra, the expansion of the stent breaks open the partition walls allowing the epoxy components to mix, thereby hardening the resulting composition. Such stents, however, suffer the shortcoming that performance is dependant upon satisfactory formation and breaking of the partitions and the adequate intermixing of the epoxy components after the partitions have broken down.
Glastra also discloses a stent with premixed epoxy enclosed in the stent wall. However, the pre-mixing stage takes place prior to insertion of the stent into the lumenal cavity and therefore requires the stent to not only be dispatched rapidly to the lumenal site, but also expanded before the mixed epoxy hardens.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,201 (Cowan), discloses epoxy filled stent walls where epoxy components are partially cured prior to insertion into the body lumen. Once again, the performance of the stent is dependant on the time limitation for in vivo delivery, expansion, and rigidization of stent prior to hardening of the epoxy. If hardened too soon, the stent becomes more difficult if not impossible to deliver to the lumenal location. Should the stent reach the intended location prior to curing, expansion of the stent must take place rapidly and prior to setting of the epoxy.
Cowan also discloses the use of light curable materials such as epoxies and urethanes. However, Cowan also suggests that such materials are toxic to the body and therefore pose a health hazard prior to curing. To reduce the possibility of exposure to the body of the toxic materials, Cowan also discloses a biocompatable coating to isolate the toxic materials from contact with the body lumen. The enclosure of the toxic material, however, continues to pose the risk of toxic exposure should the material not be fully cured or by mere puncture, tearing, or improper manufacturing of the stent wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,204 (Porter et al.), suggests a stent made of fibers containing light curable material. Like Cowan, Porter also discloses that the light curable material be encapsulated in a fiber, and for increased toxicity protection, be encapsulated by a biocompatable material prior to curing. Porter suggests that the encapsulating material be biodegradable. Such a device while having certain utility, suffers from the shortcoming that the fiber construction is expensive to manufacture and, once degraded may for form interstitial gaps which may provide for intrusion of stenotic material. Additionally, like Cowan, the toxic curable material poses risk of exposure by the mere puncture, tearing, or improper manufacturing of the stent wall or incomplete curing of the material therein.
There has long existed a need for a stent which can be fully collapsed for deployment to the site of the stenosis and may be then expanded into position and efficiently and more safely be rigidized at that point. The present invention satisfies this need.
Expandable light curable stents require means for deployment and expansion. Stent delivery systems have evolved from angioplasty procedures. In typical balloon angioplasty procedures, a guiding catheter having a preformed distal tip is percutaneously introduced through the femoral artery into the cardiovascular system of a patient in a conventional Seldinger technique and advanced within the cardiovascular system until the distal tip of the guiding catheter is seated in the ostium. A guide wire is positioned within an inner lumen of a dilatation catheter and then both are advanced through the guiding catheter to the distal end thereof. The guide wire is first advanced out of the distal end of the guiding catheter into the patient""s coronary vasculature until the distal end of the guide wire crosses a lesion to be dilated, then the dilatation catheter having an inflatable balloon on the distal portion thereof is advanced into the patient""s coronary anatomy over the previously introduced guide wire until the balloon of the dilatation catheter is properly positioned across the lesion.
Once in position across the lesion, the balloon, which is made of relatively inelastic materials, is inflated to a predetermined size with radiopaque inflation fluid at relatively high pressure (e.g., greater than 4 atmospheres) to compress the arteriosclerotic plaque of the lesion against the inside of the artery wall and to otherwise expand the inner lumen of the artery. The balloon is then deflated so that blood flow can be resumed through the dilated artery and the dilatation catheter can be removed therefrom. Further details of dilatation catheters, guide wires, and devices associated therewith for angioplasty procedures can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,071 (Simpson-Robert); U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,185 (Lindquist); U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,972 (Samson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,622 (Samson, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,929 (Samson, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,652 (Simpson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,805 (Powell); U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,982 (Horzewski, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,233 (Yock); U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,651 (Klemm, et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,768 (Lau, et al.) which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by reference thereto.
One problem characteristic of balloon angioplasty procedures is the large number of patients which are subject to restenosis in the treated artery. In the case of restenosis, the treated artery may again be subjected to balloon angioplasty or to other treatments such as by-pass surgery or stent insertion, if additional balloon angioplasty procedures are not warranted.
One method and system developed for delivering stents to desired locations within the patient""s body lumen involves attaching a stent about an expandable member, such as a balloon on the distal end of a catheter, advancing the catheter through the patient""s vascular system until the stent is in the desired location within a blood vessel, and then inflating the balloon to expand the stent within the blood vessel. The expandable member is then deflated and the catheter withdrawn, leaving the expanded stent within the blood vessel, holding open the passageway thereof.
In the event a light curable stent is deployed, application of light is needed to rigidize the stent prior to deflation and withdrawal of the balloon. Some means and methods to cure light curable stents can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,444 (Glastra); U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,570 (Ligtenberg); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,082 (Leone et al.).
It is desirable, however, that an apparatus used to cure light curable stents in vivo not be limited to providing multidirectional light and employing a light transmissible expansion balloon and light transmissible inflation fluid, and, alternatively not be limited to curing from within the expansion balloon. The present invention satisfies these needs.
The invention is directed to an improved stent that is deliverable in an extremely flexible state to a lumenal site and, thereafter, is expanded and transformed in vivo to a relatively more rigid state. This invention is also directed to a catheter delivery system for in vivo delivery, expansion, rigidization, and installation of expandable light curable stents into a body lumen.
The improved stent is formed to be collapsible to a low profile for ease of delivery to the lumenal site and expandable where, after delivery, it is expanded into the vessel wall. The stent is formed with a wall containing a fluid resin that is cured in two stages: first by application of light and, second, by absorption of and reaction with water. Additionally, the stent wall acts as a window for transmission of curing light to the encapsulated resin, and as a porous membrane for absorption of curing fluid for second stage hardening.
Transformation of the stent, from a flexible to a relatively rigid state, is provided by the curing, in vivo, of the photo curable resin while the stent is in an expanded state. The second stage hardening, provided by the reaction of water with the light cured resin, improves support to the stent wall and thereby its capacity to hold open the vessel. A typical lumenal environment provides adequate water for second stage curing of the encapsulated resin, the water pathway being provided to the resin by the water permeable stent wall.
In some embodiments, the stent wall chamber is small to hold only a dot of resin in a pocket, for example, and in others is essentially a tubular void to hold resin distributed thereabout to form a tubular shell. The size of the chamber and amount of resin applied is dependant on the amount and location of post-expansion wall support desired. Resin can be selectively placed where support is most needed leaving the remainder of the stent wall flexible if desired. Resin disclosed by the present invention can also be applied as a composite paste, obviating any requirement for mixing composite components inside the stent.
Before curing is started, the stent wall, including its encapsulated fluid resin, is flexible and is collapsible for ease of transport to the desired location in the vessel. The wall material possesses expandable properties to provide for expansion of the stent at the lumenal site. The wall material is also transmissive to light from at least one side, so as to facilitate exposure of the encapsulated resin fluid to application of curing light and is transmissible to water from at least one side, so as to facilitate exposure to, absorption by, and reaction with, the partially cured encapsulated resin. Once the improved stent is configured, a delivery system is needed to facilitate its delivery, expansion, rigidization, and insertion.
The improved stent is delivered to the lumenal site, expanded by the dilation balloon to engage the vessel wall, and curing light is applied hardening the resin. The light cured resin provides some support to the stent wall. The light cured resin is thereafter exposed to water from the wet lumenal environment via the permeable stent wall. The light cured resin thereafter reacts with the water thereby promoting further hardening. Once the resin has sufficiently hardened, the balloon is deflated and the catheter withdrawn leaving the hardened stent in place in the body lumen.
Stent delivery systems are typically composed of a catheter assembly encompassed at its distal end by an expandable member such as an inflatable dilation balloon. The stent is positioned about the expandable member so that the two can be transported to the lumenal site and thereafter be expanded together. Prior to deflation of the balloon, the light curable resin contained in the stent requires exposure to light to harden. The improved catheter assembly of the present invention includes a light curing apparatus for in vivo light curing of the resin. The apparatus includes at least one light emitter to be configured to project light toward the resin.
The invention can be used with the known configurations of stent delivery systems including, for example, over-the-wire (OTW) intravascular catheters and rapid exchange (Rx) intravascular catheters.

Two-stage light curable stent and delivery system


A weapons security system composed of containers for storage of warheads or warhead material. The containers are equipped to detect breaches in the enclosure walls and to transmit an alarm signal in the event of a breach. The alarm signal is received by a local control center for transmission to a central weapons command. The central weapons command may also receive the alarm directly. The central weapons command despatches forces to counter the threat identified by the alarm. Also, the central weapons command dispatches electronic authorization or opening codes to the containers or their local guardians. The containers may be equipped with entry deterrent devices and warhead destructive devices which are triggered by the detection of a breach in the enclosure.

This invention relates to security systems for warheads and warhead material. Unauthorized access and usurping of warheads and warhead material in the world's stockpile poses a significant risk to world stability and to the lives of its inhabitants. This risk extends to smaller tactical warheads as well as larger strategic warheads. The threat is three fold. First, political/military forces within a government may wish to gain control of warheads to further their political agenda. Second, foreign governments may wish to acquire warheads to intimidate their neighbors. Third, terrorists may wish to acquire warheads to conduct a terror campaign to further their goals. In some areas of the world that have warheads and warhead material, the socioeconomic climate has changed significantly. This creates the potential for local guardians of warheads and warhead material to be compromised by the large sums of money available for unauthorized warhead acquisition. Without a warhead security system that reports directly to a central weapons command center that cannot be compromised without great difficulty, warheads may be stolen and transported beyond the point of retrieval before the central weapons command center is aware of the loss. Therefore, it is extremely advantageous to create a security system that reports virtually instantaneously and directly to a central weapons command center and that is extremely difficult to deceive or disable. This security system allows the central weapons command center to dispatch mobile forces to recover and safeguard the warheads before they can be transported from their home area.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,269 discloses other security methods to counter this threat and is hereby incorporated by reference.


A tool for attaching wire to a fishing attachment having an eye loop. The tool has an opened tapered stainless steel wire hook fit into the tool's head which can rotate with respect to a hollow handle. The handle's body may have internal ridges which engage peripheral external ridges on the hook's head in a snap-on fit. Similarly, a cap may cover both the head and hook and be mounted on the tool's handle. ABS plastic and the injection molding process can be used to made the tool's head and body. Also, disclosed in a method of using the tool to attach an eyed fishing attachment to a wire in a tightly helical wrap manner.

This invention relates generally to fishing devices and more specifically to a new tool and method to secure hooks, flies and other tackle attachments to a length of stranded fishing wire. In doing so, it has proved difficult without the aid of some type of tool to assist in the attachment process. The present invention sets forth a new fishing tool and the process of using this tool to secure the desired fishing implement.


The present invention relates to a process for applying optical brightening agent (OBA) to a sheet of paper or paperboard substrate. The process comprises applying the composition comprising a cooked starch and a powdered optical brightener to at least one surface of a paper or paperboard substrate at the size press in a paper or paperboard manufacturing process to form a sized paper or paperboard substrate; and drying the sized paper or paperboard substrate to form a dried sized paper or paperboard substrate.

The brightness and whiteness of paper or paperboard can be improved by, among other ways, treating the surface of a paper or paperboard web with an optical whitener or optical brightening agent (OBA). The OBA works by absorbing UV light and re-emitting it at visible light wavelengths, measured in a specified reflective range.

Process for manufacturing paper and paperboard products


According to one exemplary embodiment, a digital phase detector includes a phase/frequency detector, where the phase/frequency detector is configured to receive a reference signal and a divided oscillator feedback signal and output a first pulse-width modulated signal and a second pulse-width modulated signal. The digital phase detector also includes a first time-to-digital converter, where the first time-to-digital converter is coupled to the phase/frequency detector. The first time-to-digital converter is configured to receive and convert the first pulse-width modulated signal to a first digital number. The digital phase detector further includes a second time-to-digital converter coupled to the phase/frequency detector and configured to receive and convert the second pulse-width modulated signal to a second digital number. The digital phase detector further includes a summation element, where the summation element is configured to subtract the second digital number from the first digital number and output a digital phase error signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally in the field of electrical circuits. More particularly, the invention is in the field of phase locked loops.
2. Related Art
Phase locked loops are often used as frequency synthesizers in applications, such as communication systems, that require a precise signal frequency. The typical components of a phase locked loop include a phase detector, a frequency-controllable oscillator, and a loop filter. Phase detectors, such as a charge pump phase detector and a sample-and-hold phase detector, are commonly implemented using analog circuitry. However analog phase detectors suffer from the traditional limitations of analog circuitry, such as variation with process, temperature dependence, sensitivity to substrate coupling, and limitations caused by parasitics.
Various approaches to digital phase detection have been attempted to overcome the above limitations of phase detectors that use analog circuitry. However, conventional digital phase detectors often require multi-Gigahertz clocks or other types of circuit blocks that are undesirable.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a digital phase detector for a phase locked loop that overcomes the deficiencies of conventional phase detectors.

Digital phase detector for a phase locked loop


A quantum dot electroluminescence display device and display apparatus are provided, and a electroluminescence structure (02) is provided in sub-pixel units of different colors of each pixel unit, a monochromatic quantum dot layer (03) is provided in at least one sub-pixel unit of a color of each pixel unit and located on a light exiting side of the electroluminescence structure of the at least one sub-pixel unit of a color, and the monochromatic quantum dot layer (03) emits monochromatic light corresponding to the color of sub-pixel unit after it is excited by light emitted from the electroluminescence structure (02).

Organic electroluminescence displays (OELDs) have been applied more and more to flat panel displays in recent years due to the merits of lightness and thinness, wide viewing angle, fast response speed, high contrast, and so on. The technology of combining a blue-emitting OELD with a color conversion material is one of the technologies for realizing full color OELD, and color conversion materials currently used are mainly inorganic doped system materials that can be excited by blue light, such as, (1) Ce doped yttrium aluminum garnet; (2) Eu doped alkaline earth metal silicate; (3) silicon-based nitride or oxynitride doped with rare earth ions. However, these color conversion materials usually have problems of lower color purity and efficiency.
Quantum Dots (QDs) can also be called as nano-crystalline, for example, and are a kind of nano particles composed of group II-VI or group III-V elements. The grain size of quantum dots generally lies between 1 nm and 20 nm; because electrons and holes contained therein are quantum-confined, a continuous energy band structure is converted into a discrete energy level structure showing molecular properties, and fluorescence can be emitted after the particles are excited.
The emission spectrum of quantum dots can be controlled by modifying the size of quantum dots. By means of modifying the size of a quantum dot and its chemical composition, its emission spectrum can be expanded to cover the whole visible region. With a CdTe quantum dot as an example, when its grain size is increased from 2.5 nm to 4.0 nm, its emission wavelength may be subjected to redshift from 510 nm to 660 nm.
Both the fluorescent intensity and stability of quantum dots are good. At present, with the light-emitting property of quantum dots, quantum dots may function as molecular probes in the application of fluorescence marking, and quantum dots may also be applied to display devices, serving as light emitting sources of a backlight module of a liquid crystal display panel. Light emitted from a quantum dot after it is excited by blue light mixes with the blue light, so as to produce white light. The white light has a larger gamut, so that the picture quality can be enhanced. However, there is still not a design in which quantum dots are applied to an electroluminescence display device in prior art.

Quantum dot electroluminescence display device and display apparatus

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method for selecting at least one channel for a network element in a shared spectrum communication system is provided. The method includes identifying a plurality of candidate channels of a frequency band of the shared spectrum communication system. For each channel of the plurality of channels, the method further includes: evaluating the channel based on one or more of a plurality of criteria for the network element; scoring the channel based on the evaluation of the channel for the network element; and ranking the plurality of candidate channels based on the assigned scores for each of the plurality of channels. The method further includes selecting at least one channel based on the ranking of the plurality of candidate channels.

The Citizens Broadband Radio System (CBRS) is a model for shared spectrum use in the 3.5 GHz band as created by the Federal Communications Commission of the United States government. The CBRS model includes three levels of access. Tier I of the CBRS model is dedicated to incumbents who currently use portions of the band. Tier II of the CBRS model is allocated for Priority Access Licenses (so-called PALs) which allow new or existing users to purchase a block of spectrum for exclusive use in a geographic area provided there is no interference with Tier I users. Finally, Tier III of the CBRS model is allocated for General Authorized Access (GAA) available to any use provided there is no interference to Tier I or Tier II users. Access across all tiers is managed by a Spectrum Access System (SAS).
The CBRS band includes 150 MHz of total bandwidth and depending on availability, users may consume from 5 MHz up to the entire 150 MHz for a given geographic area. For convenience, the CBRS band can be thought of as channels. The 150 MHz can be represented as thirty 5 MHz channels, fifteen 10 MHz channels, seven 20 MHz channels or any appropriate combination of 5, 10 and 20 MHz channels. For pedagogical purposes, this disclosure refers to a generic "channel", independent of bandwidth unless otherwise noted.
Not all channels in the CBRS band are created equal. Some CBRS channels may be more sensitive, creating interference to, or receiving interference from, users in adjacent bands. Some CBRS channels may be susceptible to a brief use suspension by the SAS due to temporal incumbent activity. Still others CRBS channels may have a higher probability of limited access due to incumbent interference caused by an aggregation of user signals. Some CBRS channels, for sites located in an Exclusion Zone, are prohibited for use all together.
For a wireless operator wishing to utilize the CBRS band, it is desired to choose channels that would provide the best desired signal coverage, and be less susceptible to suspension or power reductions by the SAS, both at site commissioning and for future use. Common methods for a system operator to choose a channel would be for a Citizens Broadband Radio System Device (CBSD) to query the SAS for available channels and optionally the maximum Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) the SAS would allocate to the channel. The CBSD could choose the available channel that meets its EIRP needs. A second method would be for a CBSD to actively scan the radio frequencies associated with channels and measure the received channel power as an indication of channel utilization. The CBSD could choose the channel with the lowest received channel power assuming this measurement indicates a lack of use by others. Both methods may give a good indication of currently available channels but may turn out to be a poor channel selection due to factors other than current availability.
This invention describes a more robust method for choosing a CBRS channel attempting to maximize near and long term objectives.

Channel selection in a shared spectrum communication network


An image formation apparatus includes an image formation apparatus body, and a replacement member detachably provided in the image formation apparatus body and configured to be used for image formation. The replacement member includes a first storage to store a life determination value used in life determination of the replacement member. The image formation apparatus body includes a connection section configured to be connected to the first storage of the replacement member, and a controller configured to operate in: a first processing mode of accessing the first storage of the replacement member to acquire the life determination value and managing the life of the replacement member based on the acquired life determination value; and a second processing mode of managing the life of the replacement member such that the quality of image formation using the replacement member is not lower than that obtained through operation in the first processing mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to an image formation apparatus and is applicable to an electrophotographic printer, for example.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional image formation apparatus such as a printer, replaceable members, including drum units and toner cartridges, (hereinafter, also referred to as replacement members) are detachably provided. Like the technique described in Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-202147), some conventional replacement members mounted on printers are provided with memory tags storing specific information including life-span values, intended uses, and the like. The conventional printers process the information of memory tags attached to replacement members for identification of the individual replacement members, management of the lives thereof, and the like. The life span set in the memory tag of a replacement member, in particular, is set to a predetermined value at the design phase so as to satisfy the quality of prints by the printer. The printer compares the life span of the replacement member with the used amount to manage the life of the replacement member.
In recent years, managed printing services (MPS) are widespread as a service to provide optimized print environments in offices of companies and the like (for example, a service to guarantee print cost and/or quality). Conventional MPSs include services (contracts) to charge based on the number of prints instead of directly charging based on toner cartridges, for example. Moreover, some conventional MPS customers place more emphasis on the print cost than on the print quality (more prints at the same cost). Accordingly, the life spans required for the replacement members such as drum units depend on MPS customers. Accordingly, conventional printers and replacement members require management necessary to implement the MPS as described above.


Disclosed herein are methods and systems for facilitating information and expertise distribution via a communication network. A method at a first computing device may include receiving a request for information from a second computing device, determining at least one third computing device based on an analysis of the request for information, communicating the request for information to the determined at least one third computing device, receiving a response corresponding to the request for information from the determined at least one third computing device, adjusting a credit level of a user associated with the determined at least one third computing device based on the received response, and communicating the response to the second computing device. The credit level of the user may indicate one or more credits earned by the user.

Use of the Internet and other communication networks to share information has increased dramatically over time. As Internet publishing and communication tools improved, more content is available and shared online. In addition, as more content is published, more services emerge to help people and businesses to find and consume that content. As the amount of content increased, search engines such as the GOOGLE® search engine available from Google Inc. and the YAHOO!® search engine available from Yahoo! Inc. became available to make it easier for users to seek, search, and consume content.
Currently, there exist many techniques for sharing or distributing information via the Internet or other communications networks. More recently, content may be shared and distributed by use of tools such as website links, text messaging, and email. In addition, social networking websites such as FACEBOOK® social network service available from Facebook, Inc., TWITTER® social network service available from Twitter, Inc., and INSTAGRAM® social network service available from Instagram, LLC have made it easier for people to share content. Further, for example, various websites can provide content via websites. Moreover, there are search engines for helping users to find websites as per his/her interests. In addition, there are many existing platforms such as blogs, webcasts, podcasts, and the like to allow the user to publish content via the Internet.
The existing techniques for sharing information suffer from multiple limitations. For example, the existing information sharing techniques are very static and do not allow a user to easily and quickly request information, knowledge, and expertise of others via a communications network. Therefore, there is a continuing need for improved techniques and systems for facilitating information and expertise distribution.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for facilitating information and expertise distribution via a communications network


A compound and method for treating tinea pedis. An antifungal agent, such as melaleuca alternifolia extract oil, is added to the ingredients of soap in a concentration that is great enough to treat tinea pedis when the skin is washed with the soap. As a result, a person is effectively applying a preventative treatment of the antifungal agent each time that person baths with the soap. The duration of the treatment is regulated by selectively altering the size and/or amount of soap. Other ingredients can also be added to the soap to increase the effectiveness of the antifungal agent. Furthermore, fragrance can be added to the soap to mask any unpleasant odor that may be associated with the antifungal agent or the other active ingredients.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to soap, such as bars of soap, that are used for personal hygiene. More particularly, the present invention relates to bars of soap containing antimicrobial compounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tines pedis, i.e. athlete's foot, is a common fungus infection that afflicts millions of people. Tines pedis is contagious and is caught when a person's skin comes into contact with a surface containing the fungus. If the skin conditions are proper, the fungus will grow and infect the surrounding skin.
The prior art is replete with pharmaceutical compositions that have be developed to treat tines pedis. Some of these prior art compounds require a prescription, while many others are commercially available over-the-counter to the general public. With either prescription treatments or over-the-counter treatments for tinea pedis, a person typically only uses the treatment for as long as symptoms exist. Prescription and over-the-shelf treatments are often expensive and a person quickly stops using the treatment as soon as the tinea pedis seems to be gone. The problem that then occurs is that the person temporarily cured of the tinea pedis reinfects himself/herself by bringing their feet back into contact with an infected surface. Tinea pedis lives in the shoes, socks, showers and bathrooms of those who have the fungus infection. After a person has successfully treated the fungus on their feet, they often reinfect their own feet by wearing infected shoes or walking on infected surfaces.
In order to prevent the reoccurrence of tinea pedis, a person must continue to medicate his/her own skin until the residual tinea pedis in the person's shoes and walking surfaces dies away. The only other option is the impractical step of replacing all footwear and sterilizing all walking surfaces. Due to the expense of many commercial antifungal treatments, prolonged use is not economical. Furthermore, many commercial antifungal treatments contain harsh ingredients that can cause skin irritation if used for prolonged periods of time. As a result, such commercial treatments can not be used as a long term preventative treatment against the reoccurrence of tinea pedis.
Additionally, commercial treatments often come in the form of powder or topical creams. In order for a person to apply such commercial treatments to the feet, the person must remove his/her socks and shoes. This adds to the inconvenience of treating the tinea pedis and further adds to the unlikelihood that people will apply preventative medicine to their feet after the initial tinea pedis infection has been cured.
A need therefore exists in the art for a treatment for tinea pedis that can be used for extended period of time without adverse effects. A need also exists for a method of applying the treatment to the feet that is not an inconvenience. These needs are provided for by the present invention as set forth in the below description and claims.

Soap composition containing antifungal agent


An injection molding apparatus is disclosed that includes a manifold having at least one manifold melt channel therethrough, a mold plate defining a gate for transmitting melt flow to a mold cavity, and at least one nozzle including a nozzle body and nozzle tip defining a nozzle melt channel in communication with the manifold melt channel. The nozzle tip includes a substantially conical forward portion having a terminal end that is aligned with and spatially offset a predetermined distance “d” from the gate, the nozzle melt channel having a discharge opening that is located rearward of the terminal end for discharging melt flow from the nozzle melt channel towards the gate.

A hot runner system is used to produce plastic parts from a mold; the hot runner delivers molten material to the mold cavity through a manifold, a nozzle, and a gate. A gate vestige mark is created on plastic parts from a hot runner system; this mark is created at the interface between the nozzle, gate and the mold cavity. In an application that requires a good esthetic appearance the size and shape of the gate vestige is important. There are many variables which can worsen the appearance of the gate vestige mark on a part, including stringing. Stringing occurs when the melt at the front of the nozzle tip and in the gate area is still relatively molten and therefore fluid or flowable when the part is ejected. The melt or molten plastic is drawn out in a line or string as the part is ejected. Stringing necessitates cleanup of the injection nozzle and tip causing downtime of the injection molding apparatus, which can be quite substantial for some applications. If the melt is sufficiently frozen at the front of the nozzle when the part is ejected, the plastic breaks or shears off, leaving behind a clean gate vestige mark on the finished plastic part.
Although the problems of stringing and gate vestige are common to many injection molding applications, these problems are a particular concern when using molding resins such as polypropylene, and when using faster cycle times. In such applications, the nozzle is generally operated at a higher temperature or does not allow for significant cooling times.
Thus, there is a need for an injection molding nozzle and tip which reduces or eliminates the problems associated with stringing and gate vestige.


A male housing (1) has a hood (5) for receiving a female housing (2) and the female housing (2) has a locking arm (9) for engaging the hood (5) when the housings (1, 2) are fit together. Protection walls (19) are formed on the female housing (2) on opposite sides of the locking arm (9). The protection walls (19) are substantially flush with the hood (5) when the housings (1, 2) are fit together. An operation portion (20) of the locking arm (9) also is substantially flush with the hood (5) when the housings (1, 2) are fit together. A predetermined interval is set between opposed ends of the protection wall (19) and the hood (5) and between the operation portion (20) and the hood (5). Thus, an operator's gloves will not be caught while fitting the male and female housing (1, 2) together.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector for connecting electric wires to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,404 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,179 disclose a connector assembly with female and male housings. The male housing has a square pillar shaped hood and the female housing can fit into the hood of the male housing. A locking arm is formed on an upper surface of the female housing and can be locked to the hood for holding the housings together in a locked state. An operation portion is formed on the lock arm and can be used to deflect the lock arm so that the housings can be separated. A protection wall is erected at both sides of the locking arm in a widthwise direction to prevent an inadvertent operation of the lock arm that could separate the housings unintentionally.
The present tendency is to make connectors compact. However, it is necessary to erect the protection wall to almost the same level as the operation portion of the locking arm. Additionally, the protection walls project out laterally from side surfaces adjacent to the surface of the female housing on which the locking arm is formed. Therefore it is difficult to achieve a specified compact width of the surface of the female housing on which the locking arm is formed.
As described above, the protection walls are project laterally out. Consequently the side surface of the hood and the side surface of the protection wall become almost flush with each other when the female housing is fit in the male housing. The above-described connector has a problem in that an operator's gloves are caught in the space between the male and female housings, namely, between an end surface of an opening of the hood and a front end of the protection wall when a fit-in operation is performed. As a result, work efficiency deteriorates. Such being the case, measures for solving the problem are demanded.


A method for improving the efficiency and usable life in a cross flow membrane filter used to remove contaminants from bilgewater. The bilgewater is passed upstream of the cross filter membrane through a fluid-pervious filtration media which has been infused with an absorbtion composition comprising a homogeneous thermal reaction product of an oil component selected from the group consisting of glycerides, fatty acids, alkenes, and alkynes, and a methacrylate or acrylate polymer component. The contaminants are thereby immobilized at the media. The purified output from the infused filtration media is then provided as input for the cross flow membrane filter.

This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for removing contaminants from aqueous systems, and more specifically relates to methods and filtration devices for removing undesired contaminants from bilgewater discharge.
Over the past two decades, U.S. regulations dealing with oily bilgewater discharge for all types of vessels have grown increasingly stringent. Even the presence of a visible oil sheen is deemed objectionable under the Uniform National Discharge Standards (xe2x80x9cUNDSxe2x80x9d). Environmental technology has struggled to keep pace, but until recently no removal method has been capable of eliminating sheen and extracting harmful contaminants from bilgewater.
The Federal Water Pollution Actxe2x80x94also known as the Clean Water Actxe2x80x94accordingly proscribes even the appearance of a visible sheen on the water, punishable by a $5,000 penalty. More specifically, the act xe2x80x9cprohibits the discharge of oil or oily waste into or upon the navigable waters of the United States or the waters of the contiguous zone if such discharge causes a film or sheen upon, or causes a sludge or emulsion beneath the surface of the water.xe2x80x9d
Further, under Sections 4301 (a) and (c) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the fine for failing to notify the appropriate federal agency of a discharge has increased from a maximum of $10,000 to a maximum of $250,000 for an individual and $500,000 for an organization. The discharge of oil regulation, or xe2x80x9csheen rule,xe2x80x9d establishes the following criteria for determining a harmful oil spill:
Discharges that cause a sheen or discoloration on the surface of a body of water;
Discharges that violate applicable water quality standards; or
Discharges that cause a sludge or emulsion to be deposited beneath the surface of the water or on adjoining shorelines.
The sheen rule applies to both petroleum and non-petroleum oilsxe2x80x94e.g., vegetable oil.
The discharge regulations also have been toughened for U.S. military vessels. The National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 amended Section 312 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Secretary of Defense and the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop UNDS for vessels of the armed forces for xe2x80x9cdischarges, other than sewage, incidental to normal operationxe2x80x9d. Previously, this section only addressed the regulation of sewage. In consequence U.S. military vessels are limited to oily bilge water discharge concentrations of 15 ppm under 40 C.F.R. part 1700, uniform national discharge standards (UNDS).
From an environmental perspective, the increased regulatory activity in bilgewater discharge limits is warranted. The cumulative effect of vessels ranging from small recreational boats to large surface ships dumping even small amounts of bilgewater could wreak damage upon fragile aquatic ecosystemsxe2x80x94and likely has already done so.
According to nature of discharge (NOD) reports obtained from the U.S. Navy, the composition of untreated bilgewater is a varying assortment of oil and grease, oxygen-demanding substances, and organic and inorganic materials. These materials, the reports say, include volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, inorganic salts and metals. Oily bilge water indeed contains bio-accumulative persistent organic pollutants (POP""s) such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons and chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) and oil, copper, iron, mercury, zinc and nickel, in addition to emulsifying agents such as detergents and solvents. The common metals collected in bilgewater samples include arsenic, copper, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium and zinc, while organics include benzene, isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane, ethyl benzene, heptachlor, heptachlor expoxide, napthalene, phenols, pthalate esters, toluene, trichlorobenzene and trichloroethane.
The primary sources of these contaminants are vessel propulsion systems and auxiliary systems that use fuels, lubricants, hydraulic fluid, antifreeze, solvents and cleaning chemicals. Certain waste streams such as steam condensate, boiler blowdown, drinking fountain water, and sink drainage located in various machinery spaces can also drain to the bilge.
In worst-case scenarios, environmentally irresponsible vessel operators have dealt with excess bilgewater by dumping it overboard. Others have tried to hide the telltale sheen with emulsifiers, though the damage is still done.
Currently, commercial and military surface ships primarily employ two different methods in dealing with bilgewater treatment and removal. Many of these vessels use oil water separator (OWS) systems to reduce the oil content of bilgewater prior to overboard discharge. Most of these large vessels also have an onboard systems for collecting and transferring bilgewater to a holding tank for later removal and disposal on shore.
In general, OWS technology is unable to meet the 15 ppm requirement. Many OWS systems on cruise and naval ships produce an effluent in the average range of 100-250 ppm. A ship equipped with an oil content monitor (OCM) has the ability to return bilge water, not meeting discharge standards to the OWS for reprocessing. The effluent concentration after OWS is more a measure of the degree of emulsification of the influent than of the efficiency of the OWS. With 100% non-aqueous phase pollutants, OWS are capable of achieving quite low effluent concentrations. All OWS systems operate on the principle of gravity separation driven by density differences. If the suspended particles or droplets have effectively neutral buoyancy, OWS ceases to be effective. Additionally, OWS systems are ineffective in removing colloidal metals and soluble compounds. By definition, these are close to or at neutral buoyancy. Accordingly there is a need to look for other properties to exploit in order to achieve the desired reduction of pollutants in bilge water.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, it has been found that the compositions disclosed in the present inventor""s U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,437,793; 5,698,139; 5,837,146; and 5,961,823 (all of which disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference) have extremely strong affinities for the aforementioned contaminants in oily bilgewater; and that when oily bilgewater streams containing these noxious contaminants are passed through filtration media incorporating these inventive compositions, the contaminants are immobilized at the media, as a result of which concentration levels of the contaminants in the filtrate may be reduced to very low values, in some instances below detectable limits in a single pass. Use of the invention not only enables ready removal from the bilgewater of oils, greases and the like, but as well removal of pernicious slightly soluble organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, xylene, halogenated hydrocarbons, ethoxylated glycols, etc. These noxious contaminants are among the more difficult compounds to remove from water, and indeed most are carcinogenic. The solubility of the foregoing substances renders most prior art physical separation methods ineffective and causes formation of stable and pseudostable oily emulsions (miscelle size of 400 micrometers or less) which also don""t respond well to gravity separation due to neutral buoyancy. Among the metal ions which additionally may be removable by the methods and apparatus of the invention are those of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, zinc, arsenic, silver, and mercury.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the oily bilgewater is passed through one or more filters incorporating the principles of the invention, prior to the bilgewater being actually discharged from the vessel. In this arrangement the filter or filters may simply be placed directly in the bilgewater discharge line, e.g. downstream of the bilgewater pump effecting the discharge flow. In a test of a typical such installation, and using a dwell time of one second and a flow rate of 20 gallons per minute, a filter in accordance with the invention reduced all contaminants to below detectable limits (BDL) at various percentages of oil contamination. The test results included removal of all sheen and visible discharge. The methods of the invention have the ability to remove from the bilgewater most mixed emulsions and lipohilic and hydrophilic organic compounds, in addition to many chelated and colloidal metals.
In another aspect of the invention; filtration media incorporating the applicant""s aforementioned compositions, may be used in conjunction with cross current flow membranes, to reduce or eliminate the known tendency of such membranes to rapidly become fouled and inefficient when used to filter bilgewater. In this arrangement the filters of the invention can be placed upstream of the membrane filter. The ability of the inventive filters to absorb concentrated slugs without breakthrough or significant pressure drop makes them ideal chemical prefilters to work in conjunction with membrane systems.
Almost half the cost of wastewater filtration utilizing membrane technologies (reverse osmosis, RO) arises from clearing clogged and fouled filtration membranes (Business Week 2/26/01). These membranes are composed of water repellant (hydrophobic), oil attracting polymers. Hydrophilic polymer membranes generally do not have the required mechanical strength for membrane filtration applications. Hydrophobic polymeric membranes are clogged easily by medium to high molecular weight proteins and oily oleophilic molecules that are suspended in water. Membrane clogging makes it necessary to use anti-clogging chemical additives. In spite of this, frequent maintenance and cleaning of the membranes is required. Chemical cleaning additives tend to denature the membrane making replacement necessary. Membranes are very expensive making this an undesirable scenario. Experimental attempts have been made to dope hydrophobic membranes with hydrophilic polymers during membrane fabrication. Although a ten fold performance improvement is anticipated, the results are experimental and doping with hydrophilic polymers could lead to unanticipated problems such as increased scaling due to inorganic pollutants which are also hydrophilic. Oleophilic pre-filters in accordance with the invention are capable of removing 100% of high molecular weight and non-aqueous phase organic compounds in one pass with close to zero pressure increase across the filter to saturation. Pre-filtration with these units eliminates organic fouling of membrane filtration devices resulting in 50% decrease in operating cost, twenty fold increase in efficiency and ten fold reduction of filter turnover.
Filter configurations incorporating the applicant""s above described compositions (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cabsorbent compositionsxe2x80x9d) may be based on various water permeable substrates, such as shredded, spun or otherwise configured polypropylene or shredded or spun cellulose, which substrates are infused or otherwise treated with the absorbent compositions, which are then cured. These substrates may then be packed or otherwise disposed in a cartridge or canister filter; or can be formed into cured and infused bag filters which can be emplaced in canisters through which the contaminated bilgewater is flowed. Similarly the said absorbent compositions can be incorporated into or upon other filtering substrates and media, such as paper, including compressed pulp materials, particulate porous foamed plastics, mineral particulates such as perlite and vermiculite, and particulate, fibrous or porous ceramic or porous (e.g. sintered) metal substrates and media. For purposes of the present specification the term xe2x80x9cchemical affinity separationxe2x80x9d may from time to time be used to refer to the use of otherwise conventional filter materials which have been infused with curable polymeric surfactant (herein xe2x80x9cPSxe2x80x9d) as discussed in the above referenced patents. The resultant filter will for convenience be referred to as a xe2x80x9cPST filterxe2x80x9d, i.e., a filter based on xe2x80x9cpolymeric surfactant technologyxe2x80x9d. Once cured into a substrate, the oleophilic properties of PS are transferred into a substrate thereby greatly enhancing its ability to attach organic compounds to its matrix. Once attached, these compounds become hydrophilic and tend not to re-release.

Protection of crossflow membranes from organic fouling


Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for transmitting data. The method comprises: a first primary network device receives measurement result information of a secondary network device sent by a terminal device during access to the first primary network device, the measurement result information being used for indicating the quality of a link between the secondary network device and the terminal device; the first primary network device determines, according to the quality of the link between the secondary network device and the terminal device, to establish a secondary connection between the secondary network device and the terminal device; the first primary network device establishes the secondary connection. Thus the transmission load of the first primary network device can be reduced.

In a deployment scenario of a non-standalone network, a terminal device may receive or transmit data through both of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and a New Radio (NR) network. Such a technology may be called a multiple (dual) connectivity technology.
A primary connection and one or more secondary connections exist in multiple (dual) connections of the terminal device. The primary connection is a network connection between the terminal device and a primary network device, and the secondary connection is a network connection between the terminal device and a secondary network device. For example, in a deployment scenario of an LTE & NR cell, the primary network device may be a network device of the LTE network, and the secondary network device may be a network device of the NR network. Control-plane data of the terminal device is transmitted through a primary link. User-plane data of the terminal device may be divided into two paths for simultaneous transmission through the primary connection and the secondary connection, so as to increase a user-plane data throughput. Or the user-plane data may also be transmitted only through the secondary connection, thereby reducing a load of the primary network device. However, offloading of the user-plane data or the control-plane data is only implemented in a data transmission process. Along with increase of a network throughput, the transmission load of the primary network device increases. Therefore, it is necessary to further improve a capability of the secondary network device in offloading data of the primary network device.

Method and apparatus for transmitting data

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


Motor vehicle battery cable having a power conductor which is in the form of a flat strip conductor and is surrounded by an insulating layer. To reduce the number of cable harnesses in motor vehicles, it is proposed that at least two further conductors be run in the insulating layer.

What are used nowadays for battery cables in motor vehicle construction are power cables which are notable for their high current carrying capacity. Particularly in vehicles in which the vehicle's battery is not arranged in the engine compartment, the battery cables are often run through the whole of the bodywork. Hence, it is often possible for tappings to be taken off the battery cables at various points within the bodywork.
Because not only the volume of data that occurs in motor vehicles is growing, power conductors are laid in motor vehicles but also a plurality of data conductors. For example, many components of vehicles that are important to their operation are nowadays addressed via the so-called CAN bus or the LIN bus. The laying of cables for transmitting data is proving to be difficult in vehicle construction because a large number of finely branched cable harnesses have to be installed in the vehicles. Because of the large number of cables, it may be a problem to keep said cables apart from one another. At the time of fitting, the fitter has to be punctilious in seeing that the cable harnesses are fitted correctly.
It is a disadvantage that, as well as the lines carrying power, data lines also have to be laid in motor vehicles, which means greater cost and complication in the fitting and a greater likelihood of errors. A large number of cables also entails a disadvantage in terms of space and weight as compared with concentrated components.
In present-day vehicles having multi-voltage 12V and 48V electrical systems, it is not only the usual battery cables but also further cables which are required as power conductors. The reduction in the space available and the automated method of fitting call for conductors which are easy to fit and which save space when fitted. This requirement is even more important with multi-voltage electrical systems because a dedicated line carrying power has to be run through the bodywork for each of the battery voltages. Tappings are required at various points in the electrical system. This can hardly be achieved with the conventional cable looms made up of round conductors.
From the disadvantages deduced above comes the object of providing an electrical cable for motor vehicles which, in a simplified way, allows a plurality of lines to be fitted at the same time.

Multi-layered electrical flat strip conductor


The invention at hand relates to a rotor disk (1) to be inserted into a receptacle (2) for the treatment of polymers, having a disk body (3) on whose top side (4) mixing and/or comminuting tools (5) are providable and on whose opposite underside (6) a number of conveying ribs (7) extending from the interior to the exterior are provided with which during operation polymer particles are transportable towards the exterior or, respectively, that during operation exert a force directed from the center (8) of the rotor disk (1) towards the exterior on the polymer particles grasped by the conveying ribs (7). In accordance with the invention it is provided that the conveying ribs (7) are curved concavely in the direction of rotation or, respectively, of movement.

The invention relates to a rotor disk (1) to be inserted into a receptacle (2) for the treatment of polymers, having a disk body (3) on whose top side (4) mixing and/or comminuting tools (5) are providable and on whose opposite underside (6) a number of conveying ribs (7) extending from the interior to the exterior are provided with which during operation polymer particles are transportable towards the exterior or, respectively, that during operation exert a force directed from the center (8) of the rotor disk (1) towards the exterior on the polymer particles grasped by the conveying ribs (7). In accordance with the invention it is provided that the conveying ribs (7) are curved concavely in the direction of rotation or, respectively, of movement.
Rotor disks in various designs have been known from the state of the art. They are most often arranged near the bottom of a receptacle or, respectively, of a cutter compactor for the processing and conditioning of thermoplastic polymers and essentially consist of a disk-shaped tool carrier at whose top side mixing or, respectively, stirring tools or comminutors are arranged. During operation, the disk revolves and the tools will grasp and, if necessary, comminute the synthetic material fed into the container while simultaneously heating it. In addition, the material is being stirred and constantly moved to the effect that a mixing vortex will form in the container.
In general, devices for the processing of polymers have also been known from the state of the art, for example from AT 375 867 B, AT 407 970 B or WO 93/18902. Due to the revolving tool carriers or, respectively, the tools, the treated synthetic material is hurled against the lateral wall of the container through the effect of centrifugal force. A portion of the synthetic material rises up along the lateral wall of the container and revolves in the form of a mixing vortex but will ultimately fall back into the center of the container. This will result in the desired retention time of the treated synthetic particles in the receptacle so that the synthetic material fed into it will be thoroughly mixed, sufficiently heated by the friction forces and, in the case of tools acting in comminuting fashion on the synthetic material, sufficiently comminuted.
However, it has shown that not the entire amount of synthetic material hurled against the lateral wall of the container rises up on said wall but that a portion will end up below the lowest tool or, respectively, below the lowest disk forming the tool carrier. There, the synthetic portion may fuse in uncontrolled fashion due to the friction effect.
Attempts have been made to avoid this disadvantage through the attachment of conveying ribs to the underside of this disk. From the state of the art, it has been known with regard thereto to attach to the underside of the disk or, respectively, of the tool carrier straight and radial ribs that serve to transport any synthetic material that ends up between the bottom of the cutter compactor and the underside of the tool carrier back towards the exterior and to remove it again from that area.
However, this measure has not been entirely satisfactory. In particular in the case of large-dimensioned receptacles and a correspondingly great filling volume of several hundred kilograms of polymer material, correspondingly large disks with large diameters must be employed. These disks must, on the one hand, be manufactured with great precision and also rotate very quietly and regularly since the distance between the disk and the bottom amounts to only a few millimeters. In such large-dimensioned cutter compactors, great demands are made on the transportation effect of the ribs since, as mentioned before, a great amount of material to be treated is present in the container that, on the one hand, is to be moved and that, on the other hand, exerts great downward pressure due its great own weight, forcing itself into the space between the disk and the bottom.
During the upscaling of such devices it has shown that the conveying capability of the known disks that work sufficiently in the case of small containers will no longer suffice in the case of large containers in order to keep the material away from the problem area. Nor can the rotational speed of the mixing tools used to give the material an upward movement and to increase the retention time be increased at will since due to the generated friction, more heat would be produced that could lead to a local fusion of the flakes.
Again and again, polymer flakes will then end up in the exterior area between the bottom and the disk and remain there permanently. This will increase the temperature in this area, the flakes will agglomerate, becoming gluey and possibly melting, leading to even more flakes accumulating. After some time, the disk will begin to rattle and ultimately jam. Therefore, it is desirable that in the event that at some time a particle does become wedged between the ribs and the container bottom, this particle will be swiftly freed and subsequently be effectively removed again from the critical area.
Moreover, not only larger flakes but also smaller dust particles end up in the critical area below the disk, with the dust particles penetrating even further in the direction of the center of the disk and remaining there. These fine polymer particles will then be heated too much as well and be isolated and caught in the critical area.
In general, this is problematic in the case of disks with a smaller diameter as well since, in particular in the case of heavy grist loads, lower rotational speeds, i.e. relatively low circumferential speeds, are being used.

EREMA ENGINEERING RECYCLING MASCHINEN UND ANLAGEN GESELLSCHAFT M.B.H.


A connector (30) that projects from a metal housing (12), is formed by molding plastic in place, and is braced to increase its strength against breakoff. A cavity (32) is formed in the housing with an undercut that forms an inwardly-facing cavity shoulder (54). A metal brace (70) projects from inside the cavity to outside the cavity, and plastic is molded to lie inside and outside the cavity and to be strengthened by the metal brace. The brace is in the form of a sleeve with a flange (74) that abuts the inwardly-facing undercut cavity shoulder (54), so forces applied to the molded connector are transmitted through the metal brace directly to the walls of the metal housing.

A new diesel fuel injection system developed by applicant required an interconnect system to be integrated with the metal injector housing. The connector had to be highly reliable, sealed from the environment, and able to withstand high impact and random vibrations that might be as high as 28 G's. One approach is to cut a cavity into a side of the metal housing, place a mold around the cavity with a contact and wire extending through the mold, and injecting or otherwise introducing a polymer into the mold to be set. However, the strength of molded polymers is about one to two orders of magnitude less than that of commonly used metals such as steel, so there is a danger that the molded plastic housing will not withstand large forces that could break it off from the housing. A connector which could be molded to a metal housing, but which had a high strength against breakoff, would be of value.