An invention for making productive uses of normally undesirable whiskers is provided. Embodiments of the invention include a variety of apparatuses and methods associated with forming and using whiskers as well as forming whisker compounds is disclosed. For example, whisker detection modules can be created which provide a whisker surveillance capability. The whisker detection modules can further be coupled with a whisker response system such as an alarm or insulating material dispersing system. Another aspect of the invention is providing a variety of environments or microenvironments with regard to a whisker forming structure to affect whisker creation such as maximizing whisker formation. Another example includes provision of a variety of embodiments for manufacturing compounds of whiskers of various metal and metal alloys, including structures and methods is provided. Whisker compounds produced using various embodiments of the invention can be used for various applications.

The invention relates to creating productive uses, e.g., detection systems or compound manufacturing, associated with formation or nucleation and growth of hair-like protrusive metal structures that have been observed to form from a variety of metals and/or alloys. These hair-like or protrusive metal structures are sometimes described as whiskers. Whiskers are normally viewed as undesirable emergent structures associated with use of a variety of compounds in electronic device manufacturing such as tin. The cause of whisker formation has been hypothesized but not clearly proven thus there is a substantial degree of uncertainty associated with whisker formation. A large number of defects are associated with whisker formation. Attempts to eliminate whisker formation have largely failed including creation of manufacturing processes where lead use is avoided. Widespread experimentation and research have failed to provide needed results or countermeasures to risks associated with whisker formation.
Disclosed embodiments of the invention include a variety of apparatuses and methods associated with forming and using whiskers as well as forming whisker compounds. For example, whisker detection modules can be created which provide a whisker surveillance capability. Exemplary whisker detection modules can further be coupled with a whisker response system such as an alarm or whisker response system such as activation of a moveable dispenser applying insulating or whisker negating reactive material on a whisker being formed. Another aspect of the invention includes providing a variety of environments or microenvironments with regard to a whisker forming structure to affect whisker creation such as mirroring an environment associated with a part under whisker surveillance or maximizing whisker formation. Another example includes provision of a variety of embodiments for manufacturing compounds of whiskers of various metal and metal alloys, including structures and methods is provided. Whisker compounds produced using various embodiments of the invention can be used for various applications.
For example, one aspect of the invention includes a method to manufacture different types of compounds of whiskers generated from the electroplated surfaces/substrates of metals and the alloys of the metals, such as Tin (Sn) and many other low melting metals such as Zinc (Zn), Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Cadmium (Cd), Aluminum (Al), Lead (Pb), Indium (In), in diameters scales ranging from nm to mm and in lengths up to 10 mm or more. Formation and occurrence of these metal whiskers protruding out of soldered areas of microelectronic devices are nuisance to electronic circuits which cause short circuit failures, but their compounds such as SnO2, ZnO, etc, in various forms and generated from non-electroplated substrates have been researched and employed in various applications such as gas sensors or anodes for lithium ion batteries, etc. These nano (nm)/micro (μm) sized needle shaped compounds are made by various non-electroplating techniques. These various techniques do not use the needle shaped whiskers generated from electroplating process to intentionally produce chemical compounds such as oxides, nitrides, carbides, sulphides, hydrides, or any complex compounds thereof such as carbonitrides, or sulphates etc. by generating the metal or metal alloy whisker and subsequently reacting them in various environment such as Carbon, (C), Nitrogen (N), Sulfur (S), Oxygen (O), Hydrogen (H) or their combinations to generate whisker compounds. Considering above the present innovation specifically focuses at intentionally creating whiskers of various metals such as Tin (Sn), Zinc (Zn), Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Cadmium (Cd), Aluminum (Al), Lead (Pb), Indium (In) and alloys of the metals, and chemically reacting the generated whiskers in various gaseous or liquidous environments with various elements such as O, C, S, N, H or their combinations, with the objective to form their whisker compounds such as SnO2, ZnO etc. or generating any organometallic compounds of the whiskers. The above said whisker compounds can be used for any suitable application such as gas sensors for SnO2 or anodes for lithium ion batteries such as SnO2, or ZnO whiskers as battery components. Thus any application that uses the whisker compounds produced by the above mentioned manufacturing procedure involving generation of whiskers from an electroplating process and subsequent/simultaneous chemical reaction of the whiskers with an exposed environment will be encompassed by aspects of exemplary embodiments of this innovation. The exemplary process stated above in this innovation does not bound the whisker compound by extent of the chemical reaction of the electroplating produced whisker with the exposed environment, or size and shape of the original pure metal or metal alloy whisker, and the whisker compound generated.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

Whisker manufacturing, detection, response, and compound manufacturing apparatus and method

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A shield connector (40) includes a housing with a base (45) to be mounted into a metallic mating member. A connector fitting (51) is formed on a top side of the base (45) and a mounting projection (100) is formed on an under side of the base (45). A shield shell (140) is mounted between an inner tube (53) and an outer tube (54) of the connector fitting (51). A nut accommodating portion (110) is formed in the mounting projection (100) of the housing (41) and a nut 160 is mounted in the nut accommodating portion (110) to be freely movable in the longitudinal direction. A connecting portion (145) extends to close an opening of the nut accommodating portion (110) while being bent sideways at a rear end of the shield shell (140) in the longitudinal direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shield connector to be mounted in a case of an electrical device and a shield connector mounting structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-41600 discloses a shield connector including a shield shell. The connector is intended to supply power to a device such as a motor housed in a metallic case in an electric vehicle or the like. The shield shell is grounded to the metal case by bringing a spring piece on the shield shell into contact with the aluminum die-cast metallic case. However, the spring contact may not stabilize a contact load and, hence, improvement has been necessary. A seal ring provides sealing (watertightness) between the shield connector and the metallic case. Thus, a grounding structure needs to be revised to satisfy a desired sealing property.
The invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to provide a shield connector and a shield connector mounting structure capable of satisfying both a sealing property and a grounding property.

Shield connector mounting structure and shield connector


An anchoring device configured for reinforcing and renovating an existing masonry wall. The anchoring device is preferable a plastic anchoring device configured to be inserted in a hole in the existing masonry wall, and then preferable expanded to securely anchor same.

Typically older brick buildings built during the past two-hundred and fifty (250) years have traditionally combined outer brick walls made of two (2) or more spaced apart brick wall layers. These wall layers are typically connected by cross-turned joining members called "headers". The spacing between the layers is typically left unfilled or filled with construction rubble or cement. The headers connect the outer brick wall layer to the inner brick wall layer(s). These walls are generally structural, and they often support a significant amount of the entire weight of the building structure. With time, the connection between the headers and the brick wall layers crack and separate or loosen significantly reducing the structural strength of the combined wall layers. Further, the cement between adjacent bricks on the outer brick wall exposed to the weather also cracks and separates from the surfaces of the bricks. Eventually, these walls will deteriorate with age to the extent that the wall or portions thereof will totally fail and collapse causing major structural failure of the building.
The deterioration of the combined outer wall can be greatly accelerated due to deteriorating footers supporting the brick walls. This creates enormous shear forces throughout the height of the combined outer wall causing splitting and separation between bricks. Further, seismic events such as earthquakes can shake apart a deteriorating wall within seconds, or even liquefy the soil supporting the footers, causing immediate catastrophic failure of the walls and potentially the entire building structure.
There exist a number of remedial devices and techniques for fixing and/or repairing these traditional brick wall structures. A number of these methods utilize mechanical wall anchors. In use, an installer drills numerous holes into the combined outer wall layers, and then installs a mechanical anchor in each hole. However, many of the mechanical anchors utilize a wedging or expanding type fastening within the hole, which can cause added damage and stresses to the combined outer wall. Specifically, the mechanical anchors are made of metals that are harder structurally than the more brittle cement and/or brick of the combined outer wall. When the mechanical fasteners are tightened, the expanding fastener can break or crack the surround cement and/or brick around the hole. The anchors are designed for mechanically rejoining the brick wall with the inner brick wall. Additionally, these anchors are stronger than the more brittle cement and/or brick construction units and when the combination of the anchoring device and the brittle construction units are exposed to wall movement, such as would occur during an earthquake or foundation settling, this disparity in strength results in additional fracturing and/or cracking of the brittle construction units.
Further, the use of mechanical anchors is expensive and time consuming for installation purposes. There exists a need for a more economical and faster anchoring device, system and method. Further, there is a need for better ways for anchoring the outer brick wall to the inner brick wall of a combined outer wall without damaging the existing wall structure further during installation.


Described herein is a coating composition suitable for application to a building panel. The coating composition includes inorganic pigment, liquid carrier, and a humectant including a first ester-containing compound. The liquid carrier may be present in an amount ranging from about 10 wt, % to about 30 wt. % based on the total weight of the coating composition. Described herein are also building panels coated with the coating composition and methods of their production.

Ceiling systems are installed into room environments to help control noise as well as enhance the aesthetic appeal of those room environments. These ceiling systems may comprise one or more building panels having specific aesthetic properties that help contribute to the appeal of the room environment. Previous attempts at improving the aesthetic properties of these building panels included applying decorative coatings to the surface of the building panel. However, such decorative coatings tend to have associated difficulties in unpredictability in pot-life and manufacturing time required for proper application and drying of the decorative coatings. Thus, a need exists for building panels comprising a decorative coating applied thereto that does not create the same difficulties with respect to manufacturing and while also not sacrificing the required aesthetic properties provided by the decorative coating.

High solids edge coatings for building panels


A network interface for a connection-based communication network has support for remote operations with reply, such as a remote read operation, that bypass host computer interaction. Such a network interface has support for general message processing operations which bypass host processor involvement. Message processing is low level processing of message between the host computer and the network. Such processing is performed on transmission in response to control information provided by the host and is performed on reception in response to control information included in incoming messages. Message processing includes low latency remote read and remote write operations, message filtering, and message demultiplexing. Such a network interface handles incoming messages containing destination control information indicating an operation to be performed, and possibly one or more operands. The network interface processes destination control information from a received message using a message coprocessor or equivalent operational logic. For such a network interface to support message processing, it includes mechanisms for extracting destination control information from a message and for inserting destination control information into a message. The network interface maintains information for each connection that indicates where the destination control information is located in any message received or transmitted over the connection. By providing for a queue of transmit requests between the receive and transmit sides on the network interface, support is provided for remote read operations or other operations invoking a reply which bypass the host processor. The queue can be appended by the receive side in response to a message processing operation performed on a received message. The queue is read by the transmit side to generate an outgoing message as if the queue provided transmit requests like the host computer.

In most commercial network interfaces, messages between computers are initiated at the operating system or application program level of the sending computer. For example, if a request to read information is received by one computer from another, the first computer processes the request and initiates a reply. It is usually the application program, or operating system, which is imaging the data requested that actually initiates the reply message.
In such systems, a received message requiring a reply requires involvement of the host computer operating system, at a minimum, to process the received message to determine what data should be sent in the reply, and to generate an appropriate transmit request to be processed by the network interface. These operations involve a substantial amount of overhead on the host computer.

Network interface having support for allowing remote operations with reply that bypass host computer interaction

Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America, Inc. (ITA)


A first link mechanism of a suspension is provided at a rear end portion of a vehicle for connecting a drive wheel to a vehicle body, so that the drive wheel performs vertical movements relative to the vehicle body via the first link mechanism. In addition, a shock absorber is attached to a lower arm of the first link mechanism for resiliently supporting the drive wheel relative to the vehicle body. Furthermore, a second link mechanism is provided on the upper arm and the lower arm of the first link mechanism which performs symmetrically vertical movements relative to the vertical movements of the first link mechanism, and a motor is integrally attached to the second link mechanism, whereby inertia energy resulting from the vertical movements of the drive wheel and inertia energy resulting from the vertical movements of the motor are made to be offset against each other.

The present invention relates to a vehicle with electric motors which has electric motors functioning at least as drive sources.
Among related vehicles with electric motors, there is a hybrid four-wheel drive vehicle, for example, which installs an engine and electric motors (hereinafter, referred to as motors). In this hybrid four-wheel drive vehicle, the engine and the electric motor are installed, for example, at a front end thereof so that front wheels are driven using the engine and the motor so installed. In addition, the other motors are installed at a rear end of the vehicle so that rear wheels are driven using these motors.
In the related hybrid four-wheel drive vehicle of this type, the front motor is allowed to function as a generator when braking. Namely, when braking, kinetic energy is converted into electric energy (regenerative energy), which can be stored (charged) in a high voltage battery which is provided separately from a low voltage battery for driving auxiliary equipment. On the other hand, when accelerating the vehicle, the stored electric energy is taken out (discharged) from the high voltage battery for use for acceleration. Due to this, with the hybrid four-wheel drive vehicle, effective use of energy can be enjoyed largely when compared with a related normal four-wheel drive vehicle which is driven only by an engine.
Incidentally, in this related art, since the rear motors are disposed by making use of a space between the left and right drive wheels, a space for disposing a fuel tank (a gasoline tank) is reduced by a space occupied by the motors, leading to a problem that disposing an enlarged fuel tank is difficult.
On the other hand, as the other related art, there is known an in-wheel motor type vehicle (for example, refer to Patent literature Nos. 1 and 2) in which a motor is placed in a drive wheel so as to rotate and drive the drive wheel.
[Patent Literature No. 1]
JP-A-2000-16040 (page 3, FIG. 1)
[Patent Literature No. 2]
JP-A-2000-343920 (page 3, FIG. 2)
Then, a related in-wheel motor type vehicle of this type will be described by reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating the overall structure of the vehicle, and FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view illustrating a suspension, a motor and the like of the vehicle. Additionally, FIG. 9 is an explanatory view illustrating the movement of the drive wheel and the motor.
Drive wheels 103 are provided at the front and rear of a vehicle body 102 (refer to FIG. 8) of an in-wheel motor type vehicle (hereinafter, referred to as a vehicle) 101 shown in FIG. 7 via suspensions 108, which will be described later on. In addition, a fuel cell 104 and a fuel tank 105 are installed at the front and rear of the vehicle 101, respectively. Then, the fuel cell generates electricity using hydrogen supplied from the fuel tank 105, and electric energy so generated is stored in a battery 106. In addition, the battery 106 is designed to drive motors 113, which will be described later, via a PDU (Power Drive Unit) 107.
In FIG. 8, the suspension 108 is provided between the vehicle body 102 and the drive wheel 103. Then, this suspension 108 includes, roughly speaking, an upper arm 109 and a lower arm 110 which are mounted between the vehicle body 102 and the drive wheel 103 in such a manner as to be vertically spaced away from each other and to oscillate, and a shock absorber 112 attached to a position along the length of the lower arm 110 via a connecting portion 111 (a connecting portion on the vehicle body 102 side is not shown). Additionally, the motor 113 is installed in a wheel 103A of the drive wheel 103, and the motor 113 includes a stator 113A and a rotor 113B.
In the related vehicle 101 constructed as is described above, the four drive wheels 103 are rotated to be driven by activating the motors 113 in the wheels 113A of the drive wheels through feeding from the battery 106. In addition, when vibrations and shocks are applied to the drive wheel 103 from the road surface while running, impacts from those vibrations and shocks are reduced by the shock absorber 112 while the drive wheel 103 is oscillating vertically relative to the vehicle body 102 via the upper arm 109 and the lower arm 110.
Additionally, in the related art like this, the motor 113 is designed to be accommodated in the wheel 103A of the drive wheel 103, when compared with the aforesaid hybrid four-wheel drive vehicle, wide spaces for mounting the fuel cell 104 and the fuel tank 105 can be secured between the left and right drive wheels 103, 103, as shown in FIG. 7, thereby making it possible to attempt to facilitate the enlargement of the fuel cell 104 and the fuel tank 105.
Incidentally, in the vehicle 101 according to the other related art, the motor 113 is designed to be accommodated in the wheel 103A of the drive wheel 103. Namely, in this related art, a construction is adopted in which, as shown in FIG. 8, both the drive wheel 103 and the motor 113 are disposed on one side which constitutes an opposite side to the vehicle body 102 across the shock absorber 112 (the connecting portion 111) (refer to FIG. 9).
Due to this, when shocks and/or vibrations are applied to the vehicle 101, the drive wheel 103 and the motor 113 move vertically together around the connecting point 111 as a fulcrum, as shown in FIG. 9, and as this occurs, inertia energy (moment) resulting from the drive wheel 103 and the motor 113 constitutes a large load which then acts on the shock absorber 112.
As a result, the weight of a lower side of the suspension 103 or a so-called unsprung weight is increased, and the follow-up properties relative to irregularities on the road surface at the time of running are deteriorated, leading to a problem that the riding comfort is deteriorated.


The game includes a gameboard, game pieces, image or face cards and a revealing device. The device includes a plurality of shutters, each slidable between open and closed positions. With a face card inserted in the device and the shutters closed, the face is covered, since each shutter covers a different portion of the face, and all portions are thereby covered. As the shutters are separately opened, the face is incrementally revealed. The opening of the shutters is determined by the movement of the game pieces on the gameboard, which can be determined by the roll of a pair of dice or by other random apparatus. Points are awarded to the player who first correctly identifies the face on the card as the shutters are slid to their open positions, and the face thereby incrementally revealed.

The present invention relates to games and particularly board games concerned with recognizing and identifying faces and/or other images. The invention is further concerned with game methods for learning and remembering new images.
We are continually being confronted with new sights--faces of people in the news, people in sports or entertainment, new products on the market and even new buildings. After seeing numerous images we will forget a good deal of and about what we see. We can retain more than just an image that we perceive, as we can also retain information about the image. Often, however, we remember only the image or its description (or title). Our ability to identify images or faces that we have previously seen and to match faces we may never have seen before, with names with which we are quite familiar, often needs to be challenged and improved. We have all heard of the noteworthy Paul Revere, but how many of us could pick his face out of a crowd? Conversely, there are many hundreds of faces which we recognize, but cannot identify immediately, if at all. This basic idea can also be used with other images, both animate or inanimate.
The popular "Trivial Pursuit" game in a sense is directed towards furthering one's foundation of factual information. That game is limited though in the variety of people who can enjoy playing it.
Other memorization, identification and/or educational game apparatuses or information systems are known. Examples thereof are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,097,435, 3,110,499, 3,224,112, 3,347,549, 3,462,154, 3,939,578, 4,089,527, 4,829,431, 4,829,686 and 4,848,771. (These and any other patents or other publications mentioned anywhere in this disclosure are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.) Many betting and wagering board games are found in the prior art. They have been defined in part as games in which "each participant indicates a selected number of chance result indicia (i.e., his selected bets or wages) and the number of contest elements he wishes to risk (i.e., the amount of his bets or wages).


A method of electronic circuit design includes performing property verification for partitions of a design of an electronic circuit, selecting an outcome for each partition from a plurality of outcome categories, and computing coverage information for each element of the design based on the outcome.

Circuit designers and verification engineers use different methods to verify circuit designs. One common verification technique is simulation. Simulation dynamically verifies a design by monitoring behaviors of the design with respect to simulation test benches. Another verification technique is model checking. Model checking statically verifies properties of a design by analyzing the state space of the design and determining whether a property holds in all reachable states. The properties to verify may be global properties involving signals in widely separated parts of the design, or they may be more local properties that pertain only to single or small number of related modules in the design.
There are two distinct classes of local properties: built-in and user-specified. The built-in properties are those that can be inferred from the structure of the design, for example, the absence of arithmetic overflow, range overflow, index overflow, bus contention, multi-driven bus, divide by zero, and combinational cycles. The user-specified properties are those that are explicitly provided by the user, for example, as synthesis programs or as assertions defined in an assertion language.
Model checking has potential advantages over simulation. For example, no simulation test bench is required to run model checking. Moreover, model checking, unlike simulation, is exhaustive. On the other hand, model checking, due to computational limitations, generally cannot handle large designs.
Hence, designs should be partitioned into sufficiently small parts in order to model check a given property. Although presently capacity is not an issue for simulation of designs, it is foreseeable that in the future designs could be of a size that cannot be handled by a simulator as a whole. The partitioning may be used in design verification if the design variables in the partitions could be covered.
To determine if the variables are covered during design verification, a number of different traditional coverage metrics may be performed. However, the traditional methods cannot be used to determine coverage of variables in a design that is partitioned because they are not based on multiple categories of outcomes of property verifications. The traditional coverage metrics are only designed for simulation runs on the entire design, and not for verification of multiple partitions of a large design.

Coverage metric and coverage computation for verification based on design partitions


An implantable infection shield and system for drug delivery in vascular tissue includes a relatively non-biodegradable porous linked fibrous biomaterial which controls and directs cell growth and angiogenesis from adjacent vascular tissue into the implant. Infection shield embodiments stimulate cell growth and angiogenesis from adjacent vascular tissue which effectively blocks passage of pathogenic microorganisms along percutaneously implanted objects. In embodiments for drug delivery, a reservoir of the same biomaterial may contain either (1) a cell culture system enclosed within a porous sealable interior chamber or (2) a biodegradable matrix in which one or more drugs are dispersed. After implantation of a reservoir of the first embodiment in an organism, cultured cells obtain food and oxygen via diffusion in tissue fluid through the porous walls of the interior chamber, while metabolic products, including drugs, diffuse away from the cell culture in an analogous manner. In a reservoir of the second embodiment, a biodegradable matrix substantially fills the pores (voids), and progressive dissolution of the matrix releases one or more drugs into surrounding tissue fluid. Reservoirs of either embodiment comprise a plurality of voids of a predetermined size effective for stimulating angiogenesis from the surrounding vascular tissue into at least a portion of the reservoir. The reservoir thus acts to couple a source of drugs to the circulatory system of the organism.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and apparatus for control of cell growth, including angiogenesis, in porous implants, produced from ceramics, of the low density type from the general family described in Banas, et al, Thermophysical and Mechanical Properties of the HTP Family of Rigid Ceramic Insulation Materials, AIAA 20th Thermophysics Conference, Jun. 19-21, 1985, Williamsburg, Va. (incorporated herein by reference), Creedon, et al., Strength and Composites, SAMPE Quarterly, October and (incorporated herein by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,962, issued to Leiser, et al. on April 1979 (incorporated herein by reference). As an example of the general family, a thermal insulation material is produced by Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., having the following properties, according to what is believed to be an Occupational Health and Safety Administration Material Data Sheet of Feb. 28, 1989, as follows:

Implantable system for cell growth control


Methods and systems are provided for a message network interface unit (a message interface unit), coupled to a processor, that is used for allowing the processor to send messages to a hardware unit. Methods and systems are also provided for a message interface unit, coupled to a processor, that is used for allowing a processor to receive messages from a hardware unit. The message network interface unit described herein may allow for the implementation data-intensive, real time applications, which require a substantially low message response latency and a substantially high message throughput.

As data-intensive electronic devices and applications proliferate, data rates continue to increase. To facilitate the use of devices such as programmable logic devices in certain data-intensive, real time applications, hierarchical specialized processing blocks, including lower level specialized processing blocks and a message passing communication structure are increasingly being used. A specialized processing block, such as an intellectual property (IP) block, is a block circuitry, that may be separate from the general-purpose programmable logic of a device on which it is implemented, that is at least partially hardwired to perform a specific function. A specialized processing block (e.g., an IP block) that is at a lower hierarchical level, in terms of the device communications structure, than other specialized processing blocks or circuitry may be referred to as a lower level specialized processing block (e.g., a lower level IP block). Lower level specialized processing blocks are best coordinated using software operating on a processor, which communicates to these specialized processing blocks using a message network. For example, a processor may read and write messages using a memory mapped protocol and messages may be transmitted to or from the lower level specialized processing blocks using a streaming packet based protocol. A very efficient interface may be used between the processor and the message network for use in data-intensive, real time applications.
Message passing networks have come into common use. Many existing message passing networks allow processors or processing blocks (e.g., IP cores) to send and receive messages in order to communicate with each other. For example, network on a chip (NoC) designs have been created and used for communication between IP cores in a system on a chip (SoC). There are also multiple existing interface designs, for use between a processor and the message passing network, that are used by the processor to communicate with specialized processing blocks. As an example of such an interface design, PicaRISC, DPX makes use of a FIFO based message passing mechanism. As another example of an interface design, a processor embedded in a programmable device can send messages by writing the messages directly into the network during a bus write cycle. However, these interface designs have drawbacks. In particular, PicaRISC, DPX tends to be inflexible because of the FIFO requirement, and a design involving writing messages directly into the network tends to be inflexible because the messages need to be contiguously grouped.

Processor to message-based network interface using speculative techniques


A method for detecting an incident on a traffic lane uses a video camera having a target constituting an optoelectronic converter of a real optical image, the target being monitored by a programmable processing member and the incident detection process being designed to be carried out by activating the programmable processing member only when the real landscape image focused on the target is stationary. The inventive method includes detecting the beginning of displacement of the real image of the landscape relative to the target, in deactivating the programmable processing member right at the beginning of the displacement of the real image of the landscape relative to the target, and reactivating the programmable processing member at the end of the displacement of the real image of the landscape relative to the target to carry out the incident detection process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of detecting changes in the occupancy state of a portion of route suitable for being traveled along by objects following its axis in a given scene, e.g. for the purpose of evaluating variations in traffic density on the portion of route, methods which find a particularly advantageous application in the field of detecting incidents of any kind that might arise on the portion of route.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traffic, in particular motor vehicle traffic, has been increasing continuously over several years, and in certain circumstances, e.g. following an incident on the road used by such vehicles, congestion occurs which undoubtedly impedes traffic flow. Proposals have therefore been made to remedy such drawbacks by detecting any incident that occurs on a portion of route (in this case a portion of road) as quickly as possible after it has occurred, and then controlling and modulating vehicle traffic on said portion of road, and regardless of whether the portion of road is used by many vehicles (a traffic lane) or by few vehicles (emergency stop lane, a zebra zone, a refuge, etc.).
In order to be able to detect such incidents, it is necessary to provide sensors capable of giving an image of vehicle traffic on a portion of road. Numerous sensors have been developed. For example, a sensor has been devised comprising photosensitive receivers associated with light rays directed towards the roads along which vehicles are traveling and returned by reflecting surfaces disposed for this purpose on the roadways, with the photosensitive receivers outputting signals each time a vehicle interrupts the light beams.
That technique gives good results. However the signals delivered are representative of traffic at a determined point only, and the sensors used are not flexible in use, since they require elements to be applied to the roadway at locations that are well defined, and to ensure that said reflecting surfaces reflect continuously by also providing artificial illumination when the lighting of the scene is low. Such elements therefore cannot be moved without difficulty, and once they have been put into place, they require frequent intervention, if only to keep their reflecting surfaces clean.
Other sensors have been made for increasing the area under surveillance. This applies to a sensor constituted by a magnetic loop embedded in the roadway. Such a sensor mitigates some of the above-mentioned drawbacks, but it remains too geographically restricted in use, specifically because it remains associated with a determined location of the roadway and requires major roadworks for installation by sawing into the roadway.
A device has also been developed for implementing the method described in EP-A-0 277 050. In that method, a main real image is initially formed of the portion of road in a plane that forms a non-zero angle with said portion of road. This main image is then subdivided into a plurality of points, and the relationship is determined between the size of a unit length taken substantially at the portion of road and the size of its image formed in the main image, as a function of the number of points covered by the image and the location of the unit length on the portion of road. A secondary image is also determined in the main image, the secondary image corresponding to a longitudinal mark associated with the vehicle on the portion of road, the different successive positions of the secondary image being defined by correlations with the number of points covered by said secondary image, it being understood that said secondary image in said relationship corresponds to a constant length on the portion of road.
The device described in that prior document gives very good results and makes it possible to determine a very large number of parameters defining traffic density on a portion of road. Nevertheless, it is very expensive or too complex for certain applications, thereby restricting use thereof.
A simpler device has also been developed such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,351. That device comprises a series of photosensitive cells distributed in the focal plane of a converging lens. Each cell is constituted by a strip, and each strip is designed so that its length is equal to the width of the image of the road formed by the lens. Said length thus complies with the perspective relationship for the road.
That technique presents the advantage of being easy to implement, but it also presents drawbacks: it requires an implementation for each road and only one signal is obtained by lines crossing the road, thus making the signals very difficult to interpret.
Other devices have been developed that give good results, constituted by a video camera having a target constituting an optoelectronic converter of an optical image, said target being controlled by a programmable processor member.
By way of example, such a device is described in FR-A-2 679 682, which discloses an implementation of a method enabling an incident to be detected on a portion of route situated in a scene when said portion of route is suitable for having objects traveling therealong.
Such a device presents advantages over the prior devices. In addition to being made out of elements that are commonly available, it enables the images of the portion of route under surveillance to be stored in a memory, where such images can be used subsequently, e.g. to determine the cause of an incident or the like that has occurred on said portion of route.
In addition, in order to be better aware of the nature and the immediate consequences of an incident, thus making it possible to study the cause thereof better, it is possible to modify at will the field of the objective lens of the camera when it is constituted by a zoom lens, and/or to modify the direction in which the optical axis of the camera is pointing by mounting the camera to co-operate with a pointer member so that the direction of its optical axis can be varied in elevation and in azimuth.
These facilities made possible by present video cameras are most advantageous for the operators of traffic routes, in particular roads, but they make it considerably more complicated to implement the method of the kind given in FR-A-2 679 682 for detecting an incident using the technique referred to as "AID".
The AID technique of Automatic Incident Detection on a portion of route can be implemented only if the image of the portion of route formed on the photosensitive target of the camera is stable for several seconds or even several minutes, which it the time needed by the processor member to execute the program for implementing the method. The method used in that technique requires a manual calibration stage on a stable image. In general, the camera is held stationary and said stage is performed when the device is put into operation. For example, maintenance operations on the camera make it necessary on each occasion to verify that the sensor is properly calibrated.
The method can therefore no longer be implemented when, for example, the direction of the optical axis of the camera changes in elevation and/or azimuth, and/or when the field of the objective lens of the camera is varied, e.g. by zooming into a particular area of the portion of route and/or the scene that includes said portion of route.
The present invention thus seeks to implement a method which makes it possible automatically to detect an incident that has occurred on a portion of route, e.g. using the AID technique described in FR-A-2 679 682, even when the field of the camera lens has been modified, e.g. by zooming, and/or when the direction of the optical axis of the camera has been changed in elevation and/or azimuth, and to do this without making it necessary for technicians to intervene manually after each such modification, for example, while also making it possible to use the devices for implementing prior art methods without needing to add additional hardware means thereto.

Method of detecting an incident or the like on a portion of a route


A fuel delivery system for an internal combustion engine. The fuel delivery system includes a carburetor housing having an air passage with a throttle valve disposed therein. The air passage has an inlet and an outlet. The outlet is in communication with the engine. Means are provided for simultaneously opening the throttle valve, restricting air flow into the air passage and injecting a predetermined volume of fuel into the air passage before the engine is started. Other means are provided for automatically adjusting the restriction of air flow and the predetermined volume of fuel to compensate for changes in ambient temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a fuel delivery system for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for improving the cold starting characteristics of an internal combustion engine having a diaphragm carburetor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hand held power devices such as chainsaws, hedge trimmers, line trimmers and edgers are often powered by small internal combustion engines outfitted with diaphragm carburetors. Generally, a diaphragm carburetor has an air passage with a venturi, a diaphragm pump, a needle valve and a metering chamber containing a spring biased diaphragm. The outlet of the air passage leads to the crankcase of the engine. A throttle valve of the butterfly type is typically mounted in the air passage to control the amount of fuel and air entering the crankcase.
Fuel is drawn into the carburetor by the diaphragm pump, which is connected to the metering chamber through the needle valve. The metering chamber, in turn, is connected to the air passage through supply passages fitted with one-way valves. The supply passages open to the air passage through a plurality of outlet ports. The opening and closing of the needle valve and, thus, the flow of fuel into the metering chamber is controlled by a spring biased diaphragm, which is mounted inside the metering chamber.
During normal operation of the engine, pulses of pressure from the engine cause the diaphragm pump to pump fuel from a storage tank up to the needle valve. Subatmospheric air pulses passing through the venturi create a negative pressure in the metering chamber, causing a displacement of the metering chamber diaphragm. The displacement of the diaphragm opens the needle valve and permits fuel to enter the metering chamber. The fuel exits the metering chamber through the outlet ports and enters the air passage where it is atomized. Eventually, the flow of fuel into the metering chamber increases the pressure in the metering chamber, causing the diaphragm to close the needle valve and stop the flow of fuel. As the fuel empties from the metering chamber, the pressure in the metering chamber drops until the diaphragm is again displaced and the needle valve opens. In this manner, the diaphragm in the metering chamber continually opens and closes the needle valve, thereby introducing metered amounts of fuel into the air passage.
Since the delivery of fuel in a diaphragm carburetor is not dependent upon gravity, the operation of a diaphragm carburetor is not affected by its spatial orientation. Accordingly, diaphragm carburetors are ideally suited for use in power devices such as chainsaws that may be held by an operator in a variety of positions. Engines utilizing diaphragm carburetors, however, tend to be difficult to start after a period of non-use because of an initial absence of fuel in the metering chamber and the diaphragm pump. Air choke mechanisms are utilized to remedy this situation. However, most air choke mechanisms are unable to quickly and efficiently establish a proper air to fuel ratio and can flood the engine by introducing excess fuel into the engine.
Air choke mechanisms are usually comprised of slide valves or butterfly valves. Typically, a butterfly valve will be rotatably mounted inside the air passage near the inlet. The butterfly valve often has a small orifice passing therethrough. Usually, the butterfly valve can be rotated between three different positions: an open position, a half-choke position and a full choke position. When the butterfly valve is in the open position, the inlet to the air passage is substantially open. In the half-choke position, the butterfly valve is partially closed and, thus, partially blocks the inlet to the air passage. In the full-choke position, the butterfly valve is closed and blocks the inlet to the air passage except for the small orifice. When the engine is cranked during starting, by a pull rope or otherwise, air is drawn out of the air passage and into the engine. If the choke mechanism is in a full-choke position or a half-choke position, the withdrawal of air creates a negative pressure condition in the air passage. Of course, the amount of pressure reduction is greater in the full-choke position than in the half-choke position. The negative pressure in the air passage creates a negative pressure in the metering chamber which displaces the diaphragm and allows fuel to enter the metering chamber and thence the air passage, where it mixes with air to create an air/fuel mixture.
During the initial cranking cycle, the choke mechanism is placed in a full-choke position to create a maximum vacuum in the air passage. In addition, the throttle valve is fully opened to permit the maximum vacuum to be applied to the outlet ports so as to create a maximum fuel draw. The opening of the throttle valve also permits a maximum amount of the air/fuel mixture to reach the crankcase of the engine. In the full-choke position, however, the air/fuel mixture is very fuel-rich since only a small quantity of air can enter the air passage through the choke mechanism. As the engine begins to fire, more air is required to provide an adequate air/fuel ratio to keep the engine running. Accordingly, the choke mechanism must be moved to the half-choke position as soon as the first internal explosion, or "pop" occurs in the engine. If the choke mechanism is left in the full-choke position for too many cranking cycles after the "pop" occurs, the engine will become flooded with fuel and will not start. The engine will have to be allowed to rest long enough to permit the excess fuel in the crankcase and/or the combustion chamber to evaporate and a proper fuel-air mixture to be restored.
In the half-choke position, the choke mechanism increases the air content in the air/fuel mixture, but still provides a rich-running condition required by the engine during warm-up. After the engine has been running for a few seconds, the choke mechanism must be moved from the half-choke position to the open position to provide a correct air/fuel ratio.
As can be appreciated, the foregoing starting procedure is cumbersome and requires a skilled operator. Accordingly, a variety of priming systems have been developed to help improve the starting characteristics of internal combustion engines with diaphragm carburetors. The object of these priming systems is to introduce fuel into the air passage as soon as the engine cranking cycles are started. One example of a priming system is the air purge system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,093 to Kobayashi, incorporated herein by reference. In Kobayashi, a manually operable resilient pressure dome is connected to the metering chamber and an opening to the atmosphere. When the pressure dome is repeatedly depressed, air from the metering chamber is pulled into the pressure dome and expelled through the atmospheric opening, thereby creating a subatmospheric pressure in the metering chamber. The negative pressure opens the needle valve, partially filling the metering chamber with fuel. When the engine cranking cycles begin, the fuel in the metering chamber is pulled into the air passage through the outlet ports. The amount of fuel in the metering chamber, however, is often insufficient to start the engine, necessitating further engine cranking cycles with the air choke mechanism at a full-choke position. Thus, the Kobayashi system does not eliminate the full-choke and half-choke starting procedure.
In a priming system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,267 to Gerhardy, incorporated herein by reference, the diaphragm in the metering chamber is mechanically deflected by a push rod prior to starting. A positioning lever is connected to both the push rod and a throttle valve. Prior to starting, the positioning lever is pivoted so as to simultaneously move the throttle and depress the push rod. The depression of the push rod deflects the diaphragm and opens the needle valve, permitting fuel to enter the metering chamber. The fuel exits the metering chamber through channels that open into the air passage. Since fuel continues to flow into the metering chamber and air passage until the push rod is manually released, the Gerhardy system is conducive to flooding.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,068 to Tuggle, incorporated herein by reference, a priming system is disclosed wherein fuel is injected directly into the air passage. In addition to a metering chamber, the Tuggle system has a reservoir chamber with a flexible diaphragm wall. The reservoir chamber has an inlet connected to a fuel line leading to a fuel tank with a manually operated plunger pump. An outlet in the reservoir chamber is connected to a flow restricting orifice that opens into an intake manifold portion of the engine downstream of the air passage and the throttling valve. When the plunger pump is depressed, fuel is drawn from the fuel tank and pumped into the reservoir chamber through the fuel line. When the engine cranking cycles begin, the fuel in the reservoir chamber is pulled into the manifold through the restricting orifice. This operation of the Tuggle system is also conducive to flooding because the plunger pump can be depressed too many times, forcing an excessive amount of fuel out of the reservoir chamber and into the manifold.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,593 to Sejimo et al, incorporated herein by reference, a direct fuel introduction system is disclosed for an internal combustion engine having an electric starter motor. In addition to having a metering chamber and other conventional diaphragm carburetor components, the Sejimo system includes a primer pump coupled to the electric starter motor, a fuel reservoir and a fuel metering device, which is separate and distinct from the metering chamber. Before the engine is started, the starter motor and, thus, the primer pump are placed into reverse. When the primer pump is reversed, a negative pressure is created in the metering chamber, causing the needle valve to open and emit fuel into the metering chamber. Fuel exits the metering chamber, fills part of the fuel metering device and then continues into the fuel reservoir. When the starter motor and, thus, the primer pump are placed into forward during starting, the primer pump draws fuel from the fuel reservoir and pumps it into the filled chamber of the metering device, causing the fuel contained therein to be ejected into the air passage.
As can be appreciated, the foregoing prior art priming systems have various drawbacks. The Kobayashi system does not eliminate the need for a full-choke/half-choke starting procedure. The Tuggle system and the Gerhardy system are conducive to over-priming, which can lead to engine flooding. The Sejimo system can only be used with engines having electric starters. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a fuel delivery system that can quickly start an internal combustion engine without requiring the use of an electric starter motor and without being susceptible to over-priming. In addition, and more specifically, there is a need in the art for a carburetor that can quickly start an internal combustion engine without being susceptible to over-priming and without requiring an electric starter motor. There is also a need in the art to have a method for preparing an internal combustion engine for starting and a method for starting an internal combustion engine that do not require the use of an electric starter motor and are not susceptible to over-priming. The present invention is directed to such a system and to such a carburetor and to such methods.

Method and apparatus for fast start fuel system for an internal combustion engine


A pot lid holder. The holder includes a main body with an outwardly opening slot located at one end of the main body through which the vertically extending handle of a lid may be extended and held. One version has a pair of walls extending upwardly from a bottom wall with the pair of walls attached to a top wall securable to a shelf. A second version has an arm extending upwardly from the bottom wall with the arm attachable to the shelf.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of brackets for holding various items.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of brackets have been designed to removably hold different types of tools, utensils and miscellaneous items. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,848 discloses a bracket mountable to a wall for holding a fishing pole. Such brackets generally are not readily available for use in holding and sorting lids for kitchen pots. Instead, kitchen pots and lids are stored in cabinets or drawers in a random manner providing a messy and cluttered appearance. I have therefore designed a bracket which may be used to removably hold a pot lid or utensil in an optimum manner. The bracket is designed to be mounted beneath a shelf or on a wall thereby allowing for storage of the lids in an area that is normally not utilized. Some of the brackets disclosed herein include a dual mounting capability for storing lids with different shaped handles.
I am aware of several U.S. patents which disclose a variety of brackets for mounting various items. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,536 issued to Meneghello and U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,945 issued to Melkonian disclose pot lid holders for holding the lid so that the longitudinal axis extending centrally through the handle extends respectively horizontally and vertically. U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,894 issued to Staver discloses a right angle bracket having a slotted concave surface, in turn, holding the vertically extending handle of a soap dispenser. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,677 issued to Pedracine discloses a holder device to both vertically and horizontally secure an object. Last, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,455 issued to Weber discloses a holding device securable by adhesive means beneath a counter with the holder having hooks for hanging hand bags and similar objects.
Despite the many prior brackets, there is still a need for providing a easy to use and inexpensive bracket for storing pot lids or utensils. Several embodiments of my bracket are disclosed herein. The mounting brackets disclosed herein provide versatility in that the bracket or pot lid holder may be mounted in any plane including the vertical or horizontal plane and can be mounted at any angle relative to these planes. That is, the pot lid holder may be mounted not only beneath a horizontal shelf but on a vertical wall, and inclined wall or any wall or mounting surface at any angle. The user may therefore determine how the pot lid holder is to be oriented or mounted to achieve its maximum effectiveness.


A method for manufacturing a lapping board having abrasive grains fixed on its surface, which is performed by the steps of: preparing a rotatable metal board having a surface of soft metal, an abrasive slurry-supplying tool arranged over the surface of the metal board, an abrasive-pressing tool which is placed on the metal board and has a hard surface, and a ultrasonic oscillation-generating tool attached to either or both of the abrasive-pressing tool and the metal board; rotating the metal board while supplying an abrasive slurry onto the surface of the metal board and while supplying electric power to the ultrasonic oscillation-generating tool to generate and apply ultrasonic oscillation to either or both of the abrasive-pressing tool and the metal board, whereby introducing the supplied abrasive slurry between the metal board and the abrasive-pressing tool and partly embedding some abrasive grains onto the metal board; and removing unfixed abrasive grains from the metal board.

A lapping machine is generally employed for lapping accurately a surface of an object such as a silicon substrate to be employed for manufacturing an integrated circuit or an alumina-titanium carbide substrate to be employed for manufacturing a magnetic head.
FIG. 4 is a front view of a typical structure of the conventionally employed lapping machine, and FIG. 5 is a top view of the lapping machine of FIG. 4. The lapping machine of FIGS. 4 and 5 comprises a lapping board 43 which is fixed to an axis of rotation 42 of a motor 41, a abrasive grain-supplying means 45 which supplies a slurry 44 containing abrasive grains on the surface of the lapping board 43, and disc means 47 for rotatably supporting an object 46 to be lapped.
The object 46 is temporarily attached to the supporting means 47 via wax or the like. The supporting means 47 is supported on its circumferential side with a pair of rollers 50. Each roller 50 is rotatably supported by a roller-supporting means 53 which is arranged on the top of a pole 22 standing on a base board 51.
The lapping board 43 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow 49 (see FIG. 5) by activating the motor 41. With the rotation of the lapping board 43, the supporting means 47 holding the object 46 rotates under guidance with the pair of rollers 50.
On the surface of the lapping board 43, the abrasive grain slurry 44 is dropwise supplied from the abrasive grain-supplying means 45. Abrasive grains generally are diamond grains, alumina grains, or silica grains. The abrasive grain slurry 44 is moved toward the object 46 and supplied between the lapping board 43 and the object 46 by the rotation of the lapping board 43.
The lapping board 43 temporarily holds abrasive grains between the object 46 and the board 43. Thus, the lapping board 43 is generally made of relatively soft material such as tin, as compared with the abrasive grains. For instance, a lapping board made of tin is slightly deformed on its surface to temporarily hold the abrasive grains.
When the lapping board 43 and the object to be lapped 46 are independently rotated with the intervening abrasive grains, the under-surface of the object 46 is polished. The polishing using abrasive grains is generally named "lapping".
JP-7-299737 A describes that the conventionally used lapping method such as that described above sometimes produces unfavorable recesses and scratches on the lapped surface of the object, particularly electric devices having a soft metal area and hard metal area on their surfaces. According to the descriptions, the recesses and scratches are produced mainly by the presence of free abrasive grains unfixed onto the lapping board. Then, this JP publication proposes a lapping method utilizing previously abrasive grain-embedded lapping board which is manufactured by the steps of supplying a slurry of abrasive grains in a liquid medium onto a lapping board, fixing some of the supplied grains onto the lapping board under the partly embedded condition, and removing unfixed abrasive grains from the lapping board.
The above-identified lapping board on which abrasive grains are previously fixed under the partly embedded condition is theoretically satisfactory because the lapping board has no unfixed abrasive grains on its surface.
The present inventor has noted that the manufacturing procedure of the lapping board described in the JP publication has a drawback in that it takes a long period of time to manufacture a lapping board onto which an appropriately great number of abrasive grains are uniformly fixed. Because of this drawbacks, the manufacturing method of JP publication is hardly applicable in industry.


Solar-powered reactor for processing of slightly absorbing and transparent gases. An obvious path to providing storable, renewable energy is through solar dissociation of gas molecules. These dissociation products are the precursors of modern liquid and gaseous fuels such as hydrogen and methanol/ethanol. An apparatus and method using a solar concentrator (such as a focusing trough or dish) directed at the receiving end of a reactor are disclosed. A range of designs of reactors for the dissociation of gases, both those that absorb slightly in the visible spectrum and those that are transparent in the visible and only absorb in the infrared, is described. For slightly-absorbing gases, a funnel-shaped reactor that preheats the gas and concentrates sunlight is the indicated embodiment. A system for dissociating CO2 using the invention is described. For transparent gases, a holraum embodiment is more appropriate for coupling solar energy into the gas. In both cases, heat from the hot stream of dissociated gas may also be used to produce electricity with a standard steam or Stirling cycle generator.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field):
The present invention relates to the use of solar energy for the processing of gases, particularly for the thermal dissociation of gases, and specifically for a method and apparatus for processing slightly-absorbing or transparent gases, including CO2, CH4, H2O and combinations thereof, and others.
2. Background Art
The industrialized world presently relies heavily on fossil fuels for its energy. The very large-scale combustion of these fuels causes a number of environmental concerns, including accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Much of the demand is for convenient-to-use liquid and gaseous fuels. The present invention is of solar reactor designs to enable the deposition of solar energy in gases, leading to their endothermic dissociation into smaller molecules that are the starting point of synthesis of convenient liquid and gaseous fuels. An example of such a process is the direct solar reduction of CO2 to carbon monoxide (CO) and molecular oxygen (O2), as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,187 and in Traynor, A., et al., "Direct Solar Reduction of CO2 to Fuel. First Prototype Results," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2002, 41, 1935–1939. In general, the process includes molecular dissociation, which can be accomplished by heating or by the absorption of a sufficiently energetic photon, followed by the extinguishing of the back reaction. At the critical point in the process, high energy products exist in reactive mixtures at high temperatures. It is necessary to arrest such reactions by suddenly dropping the temperature, diluting the mix, or both. This rapid extinguishing of the back reaction is referred to as "quenching."
Some gases absorb or have inducible absorption in the solar region of the spectrum. The gases of interest to the present invention are slightly absorbing at most, and will be referred to as such. Carbon dioxide is an example of this class of gases. Normally, it has no absorption bands in the solar ultraviolet or visible spectral regions. But if it is radically heated it does begin to absorb in these regions, as explained further in Jensen, R., et al., "The Ultraviolet Absorption Spectrum of Hot Carbon Dioxide," Chem Phys Lett. 1997, 277, 356, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,187. Other molecules of interest share this property. Almost all of these slightly absorbing molecules develop increased absorption in the visible spectrum if preheated. For these gases, strong preheating is necessary before absorption of sunlight is possible. The present invention provides an apparatus and method that preheats and then exposes the subject gas to a maximum intensity of direct solar photons to perform heating and photolysis.
Molecules that are non-absorbing in the visible spectrum and show little or no enhancement of absorption upon preheating are termed "transparent." Such gases require a specialized type of reactor. In their case, energy must be added to the molecule either by contact with a hot surface or by absorption in the infrared region of the spectrum. All of the molecules of interest have strong absorption in the infrared. For each case it is possible to heat them through infrared photon absorption. This preferably is accomplished by an apparatus we refer to as a "holraum reactor." The holraum reactor uses a process of absorbing visible light into a solid, which can then re-radiate the energy in a spectrum that is shifted toward the infrared.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,187 is useful as a description of the prior art. The '187 patent contemplates a very large funnel accepting highly focused light from thousands of square meters of mirrors with a huge focal spot. For reasons both technical and economic, there is a need for an apparatus of a much smaller size, for example 100 square meters of reflective surface with a five or six inch spot.

Reactor for solar processing of slightly-absorbing or transparent gases


A therapeutic agent eluting element includes an elongate body member and one or more therapeutic agents elutable from the body member. The elongate body member is configured to be implanted subcutaneously along side of a therapy delivery element. The elongate body member may be formed from a polymeric material, and the agent eluting element may consist essentially of the body member and the one or more therapeutic agents. The therapeutic agent eluting element may be a part of a system or kit that includes a therapy delivery element and a tunneling tool, such as a dilator, sheath, catheter passer, or the like.

Implantation of medical devices, such as pacemakers, neurostimulators, implanted drug pumps, leads, catheters, etc. has been associated with adverse consequences, such as formation of scar tissue surrounding the implant and infection due to bacteria introduced during implantation. Attempts to prevent or control such adverse reactions have included administration of drugs, completely separate from the intended primary therapy of the implanted medical device. In some cases, systemically administered drugs, e.g. orally, intravenously, or intramuscularly administered drugs, have proven effective in treating complications due to medical device implantation. In other cases, systemic delivery has been ineffective due to, e.g., pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic characteristics of the drug, the location of the implanted device, or side effects of the drug. To increase effectiveness in these situations, some implanted devices have been modified to elute the drug into the surrounding tissues.
One common way of providing local drug elution is to dispose a polymer layer on the implantable medical device and embed the drug into the polymer during manufacturing. When hydrated after implant, the drug diffuses out of the polymer into surrounding tissue. Various methods of impregnating polymers with drugs have been used, including mixing the drug into the melted polymer prior to processing (e.g. molding or extrusion), and diffusing the drug into a finished polymer component using chemicals to swell the polymer for rapid loading. In some cases, the implantable medical device (IMD) is made from a polymer that is compatible with the drug, and the drug can be loaded directly into the device. However, incorporation of a therapeutic agent into or onto polymeric material may compromise the structural integrity of the material.
Structural integrity of catheters and leads, especially those intended to be chronically or permanently implanted, are important. Such catheters and leads, which are typically made using standard polymeric tubing, such as silicone or polyurethane, are tunneled subcutaneously from a pocket into which an active device, such as a drug pump or neurostimulator, is implanted to the therapy delivery site. For neurological systems, the therapy delivery site is typically the spinal intrathecal space, the spinal epidural space, the ventricles of the brain, or brain parenchyma. For cardiac systems, the therapy delivery site is the heart. Because, the catheters and leads are implanted long term and may be tunneled through a subcutaneous path, it may not be desirable to compromise the structural integrity of such devices.
In addition, the active agent disposed on or in the structural body of a catheter or lead can diffuse inward to the catheter drug path or the lead conductors as readily as it diffuses outward to the subcutaneous tissue. Diffusion of the elutable agent into the drug flow path of a catheter may result in undesired interaction of the drug delivered by the catheter and the elutable agent or may cause the elutable agent to be delivered to an area of the body on which its effects may be undersiable. For example, the elutable agent is intended to be delivered to subcutaneous tissue, and may have deleterious effects at the site of therapy delivery, e.g. the central nervous system (CNS). For stimulation leads, the active agent could cause corrosion of the metallic conductors or electrodes. For both types of devices, adding the active agent results in an extra manufacturing process that complicates manufacturing. In addition, the shelf life of a catheter or lead having an associated therapeutic agent may be considerably less than the shelf life of a catheter or lead without an associated therapeutic agent.

Element for implantation with medical device


A display gradation number acquisition unit acquires the number of display gradations of the video data during each horizontal scanning period based on a gradation histogram. A first display gradation holding period value generator generates a first display gradation holding period value based on a gradation value difference. A second display gradation holding period value generator generates a second display gradation holding period value based on the number of pixels for each display gradation. A holding period provisional value generator selects a display gradation holding period value having a larger value to generate a holding period provisional value. A holding period total value generator generates a holding period total value that is a sum of the holding period provisional value during each horizontal scanning period. A holding period optimum value generator generates a holding period optimum value of each display gradation.

The present disclosure relates to a signal processing device, a signal processing method, and a liquid crystal display device that process video data input to a liquid crystal device.
A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal device and a signal processing device that processes video data to be input to the liquid crystal device. The signal processing device generates gradation-corrected video data by correcting a gradation of the video data, and outputs the same to the liquid crystal device. The liquid crystal device has a pixel region in which a plurality of pixels is arranged. The liquid crystal display device displays a gradation image by driving the liquid crystal device based on the gradation data of each pixel.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-178238 (Patent Document 1) teaches to compare the gradation data of each pixel for one horizontal line with an output of a counter, and to perform sampling of an analog ramp waveform at the timing when both coincide. An analog voltage of the sampled analog ramp waveform is supplied to the pixels thereby displaying the gradation image.

Signal processing device, signal processing method, and liquid crystal display device


This invention relates to mutagenized redox oxidase enzymes used to design enzyme electrodes with improved interference characteristics in the presence of mediator and oxygen in the assay. This recombinant modified enzyme has enhanced capability to transfer electrons to redox mediator instead of its natural electron acceptors such as O2, NAD, NADP, etc., which will improve the assay performance with less interference and higher sensitivity.

Enzyme electrode based biosensors cover a broad application field, including clinical diagnostics, food analysis and environmental monitoring and control. Since 1962 when the first glucose sensor was developed by Clark and Lyons, over 100 enzyme electrode based biosensor tests have been developed and made commercially available. (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 316, 85-94, 1987). By definition, biosensors are devices comprising an analyte and a selective interface in close proximity or integrated with a transducer, which relays an interaction between the interface and the analyte, directly or through a mediator. The analyte interface is a bioactive substance, e.g., an enzyme, antibody, or micro-organism, etc., that is capable of recognizing cognate analytes and configured to regulate the specificity and sensitivity of the device. The transducer converts the biochemical signal into an electrical signal, which can be suitably processed and output.
Electrochemical biosensors are a common class of enzyme electrode based biosensors, and are generally based on the fact that during the bio-interaction process, electrochemical species such as electrons are consumed or generated producing an electrochemical signal that can be measured by an electrochemical detector. An amperometric enzyme electrode is one type of an electrochemical biosensor that has been used widely as it is capable of directly transducing the rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction into a current. More specifically, amperometric biosensors function by the production of a current when a potential is applied between two electrodes.
The bioactive substances found in amperometric enzyme electrodes commonly comprise redox enzymes that oxidize substrates by accepting and transferring electrons to electron acceptors (e.g., O2). Amperometric enzyme electrodes are configured to measure a current proportional to the concentration of O2 or the rate of production of the product H2O2. However, such biosensors may be dependent on the concentration of dissolved O2 in the sample. For example, the rate of electrochemical reduction of O2 depends on the rate of diffusion of oxygen from the bulk solution, which in turn is dependent on the concentration gradient and hence the bulk oxygen concentration. Thus, such biosensors are dependent on the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the bulk solution.
In order to overcome these problems, the concept of using artificial electron acceptors evolved to avoid the reduction of oxygen. In these biosensors, all the substances having conversion potential lower than the electrode potentials contribute to the overall electrochemical signal. The most common example is that at the oxidation potential of +600 mV along with H2O2 other metabolites such as uric acid, ascorbic acid, glutathione, etc., also get oxidized and interfere with the electrochemical signal. It is therefore, important to apply an electrode potential as low as possible. In order to achieve a low electrode potential, electrochemically active electron acceptors to which the enzyme can donate electrons were investigated. In this context, some artificial electron acceptors having low oxidation potentials were discovered. These artificial electron acceptors are commonly called mediators. This approach leads to a considerable reduction of electrochemical interferences and the development of mediated biosensors. Thus, mediated biosensors can be constructed with the enzymes that can donate electrons to electrochemically active artificial electron acceptors.
Mediated biosensors typically employ a two step procedure in which the enzyme takes part in first a redox reaction with the substrate and is in turn reoxidized by a mediator and finally the mediator is oxidized by the electrode. The amperometric procedure leads to the utilization of a lower redox potential that can be used for H2O2 detection. If the fixed concentration of an electron acceptor is retained within the enzyme layer, the operational stability of the sensor can be increased. The amperometric biosensors incorporating immobilized mediators therefore provide an effective alternative to peroxide detecting systems.
Mediators are artificial electron transferring agents that can readily participate in the redox reaction with the biological component and thus help in rapid electron transfer. It is a low molecular weight redox couple, which shuttles electrons from the redox center of the enzyme to the surface of the indicator electrode. During the catalytic reaction, the mediator first reacts with the reduced enzyme and then diffuses to the electrode surface to undergo rapid electron transfer. The rate of production of the reduced mediator is measured amperometrically by oxidation at the electrode. Advantageously, mediated enzyme electrodes are known to be less susceptible to interfering substances due to lower electrode potentials.
In 1984, Cass et al. developed a biosensor using a ferrocene mediator for a glucose sensor design (Cass et al., Anal. Chem., 1984, 56, 667), which enabled lower potential detection with less interference. Therefore, choosing suitable mediators is another key component for mediator-enzyme electrode design. The most commonly used mediators are Ferrocyanide or Ferrocene and Quinone deriviatives. Osmium complexes, polypyrrole, organic dyes are also mediators considered under certain circumstances.
The typical mediator-enzyme coupling sensor involves either covalently attaching the mediator to the enzyme or enzyme immobilization. Previous studies have focused on covalently attaching different mediators to the backbone of enzymes to enhance electron transfer directly to the electrode. (Heller et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1988, 110, 2615; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1991, 113, 1394; J. Phys. Chem., 1992, 96, 3579; Bartlett et al., Talanta, 1991, 38, 57; J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., 1987, 103). However, the studies observed poor stability of the sensor due to mediator decomposition. Different mediator derivatives also play important impacts on the sensor performance. As for immobilized enzymes on the electrode, researchers have tried different materials including hydrogels (Updike et al., Nature, 1967, 214, 986; Guilbault et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1969, 91, 2164; 1970, 92, 2533; Anal. Chem., 1974, 46, 1769), conducting polymers (Foulds et al., J. Chem. Soc. Faraday trans., 1986, 82, 1259; Waller et al., J. Anal. Chem., 1986, 58, 2979; Yabuki et al., J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., 1989, 945; Bartlett et al., J. Electroanal. Chem., 1987, 224, 37; J. Chem. Soc. Faraday trans, 1992, 88, 2677), non-conducting polymers (Burno et al., J. Electrochim. Acta, 1977, 22, 451) and silane modified surfaces (Weetall et al., 1988) in analytical uses of immobilized biological compounds for detection, medical and industrial uses. However, this approach is associated with higher background and interference problems. It also requires efforts on studying and evaluating of different materials for immobilizing or entrapping enzymes on the sensor.
While many native enzymes can be used in electrochemical biosensors using mediators, several enzymes are unable to utilize mediators. Cass et al. investigated 11 different enzymes and suggested that Pyruvate oxidase, Sarcosine oxidase, Oxalate oxidase, Choline oxidase, lipoamide dehydrogenase, alcohol dehydrogenase work at least 10 times less efficiently compared to glucose oxidase using a ferrocinium ion as an electron acceptor. The study notes "glucose oxidase used a variety of electron acceptors," whereas "some (oxidases) were reported to use oxygen specifically." (Cass et al., J. Eletroanal. Chem. 190, 1985, 117-127) making them less useful for mediated electron acceptors. Ramanavicius et al. (Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 387, 1899, 2007) reported that by replacing oxygen with ferrocyanide ions, a creatine sensor was capable of design that exhibited better sensitivity, accuracy and less interference. However, the sensor is sensitive to oxygen concentration in the sample. All the measurements have to be operated in oxygen-free conditions (<5 μM of O2) using native sarcosine oxidase enzyme.
Accordingly, previous research suffered from mediator selection and the oxygen concentration in the sample using native enzymes for enzyme electrode design. The need therefore exists for biosensor designs that provide a reduced oxygen interference and sensitivity for oxidase based sensors.

Biosensor with improved interference characteristics


A hardened steel ball presses against a vibrating sample to be subject to fretting. The amplitude and frequency of vibration can be precisely controlled by a stack of piezoelectric transducers. The biasing force of the steel ball against the sample can also be precisely controlled by a pulley supported weight that pulls against a movable mass coupled to the steel ball. The movable mass has sufficient inertial mass to eliminate the movement of the ball which might otherwise be produced in reaction to the vibration of the sample, which need not be absolutely flat.

The present invention relates to the field of fretting machines. The present inventors presented a paper at The Symposium on Structural Integrity of Aging Aircraft, ASME WAM, San Francisco, on Nov. 12, 1995, entitled "Contribution of Fretting to the Fatigue and Corrosive Deterioration of a Riveted Lap Joint." As stated in the paper, the contacting parts of cyclically loaded, riveted connections present at the skin surface of an aircraft for example, are subject to fretting: small, repeated relative rubbing motions. This fretting produces wear, and can promote fatigue and corrosive damage which foreshortens riveted joint life, to in turn increase the risk of a detrimental aircraft malfunction.
In the experiments extensively described in the aforesaid paper, incorporated by reference herein, fretting of a sample riveted aluminum lap joint was produced by a novel fretting machine, also described in the paper, which is the subject of the present invention. This machine can move the sample through very small, controllable amplitudes and can accurately control rubbing forces applied to the sample.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


Different subsets of multiarray resistivity measurements are inverted using a corresponding resistivity model. The models are selected based at least in part on the resolution of the measurements. Results of the inversion are combined to give a single model consistent with the resolution and depth of penetration of each subset of the multiarray data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related generally to the field of interpretation of measurements made by well logging instruments for the purpose of determining the properties of earth formations. More specifically, the invention is related to a method for determination of formation resistivity using multi-array resistivity data.
2. Background of the Art
Electromagnetic induction, wave propagation, and galvanic logging tools are commonly used for determination of electrical properties of formations surrounding a borehole. These logging tools give measurements of apparent resistivity (or conductivity) of the formation that when properly interpreted are diagnostic of the petrophysical properties of the formation and the fluids therein.
The physical principles of electromagnetic induction resistivity well logging are described, for example, in, H. G. Doll, Introduction to Induction Logging and Application to Logging of Wells Drilled with Oil Based Mud, Journal of Petroleum Technology, vol. 1, p. 148, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson Tex. (1949). Many improvements and modifications to electromagnetic induction resistivity instruments have been devised since publication of the Doll reference, supra. Examples of such modifications and improvements can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,517; U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,605 issued to Chandler et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,761 issued to Beard et al. Other tools include the HDLL (High Definition Lateral Log) of Baker Hughes Incorporated, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,885 to Tabarovsky et al., and any generic Array Laterolog tools, e.g., the High Resolution Laterolog Array tool (HRLA) of Schlumberger Inc.
Analysis of measurements made by an array induction logging tool such as that disclosed by Beard and galvanic logging tools such as the HDLL and HRLA or any generic Array Laterolog tools are based on inversion. Prior art log inversion methods commonly use a single formation model for the entire interpretation process. This single model approach has limitations when executing either joint or sequential inversions.
One problem with inversion is that the earth is characterized by, at the very least, a 2-D model (layers with radial changes in resistivity within each layer). A rigorous 2-D inversion technique would be quite time consuming and impractical for wellsite implementation. See, for example, Mezzatesta et al., and Barber et al. Several methods have been used in the past for speeding up the inversion. One method is based on a sequential determination of the formation parameters. See, for example, Frenkel et al. (2004). Another method is to get a better initial model determination. This is discussed with reference to high definition lateral logs by Hakvoort et al. or Frenkel and Walker (2001). Yet other methods divide the multidimensional (2-D or 3-D) inversion process into a sequence of simple one-dimensional processes. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,729 issued to Frenkel et al., Frenkel et al. (1996), and Frenkel (2002) disclose a rapid inversion method that performs a sequence of 1-D iterations that converge to the true 2-D or 3-D isotropic or anisotropic solution.
The so called 1-D+1-D method of Griffiths et al. is based on sequential vertical 1-D (shoulder-bed correction) and horizontal (radial) 1-D inversions. The main shortcoming of this method, as indicated by the authors, is it may provide incorrect results for the thin invaded formations. Therefore, to complete the interpretation, an additional, time consuming rigorous 2-D inversion step is required.
It should be noted that the referenced inversion-based array log data interpretation methods use a single formation model. By not accounting for the vertical resolution differences of the input subarray data, both joint or sequential inversion procedures may lead to unstable and incorrect results in thin invaded formations. A so-called multiscale inversion approach has been used for seismic data interpretation (see, for example, Bunks et al., and Zhou), but has not been applied to join inversion of well logs with different resolution.
There is a need for a 2-D and 3-D robust methods of interpretation that addresses the instability problems associated with thin bed inversion, accounts for different resolution of different log measurements, and is still computationally fast. The present invention addresses this need.

Multiscale multidimensional well log data inversion and deep formation imaging method


In a method and apparatus used for detecting and handling a short circuit in a circuit having a plurality of power semiconductors connected in series the voltage is divided across the electrodes and each power semiconductor and the magnitude of a small proportion of the voltage is measured. The magnitude of the voltage is compared to a reference voltage at least from when the power semiconductor is turned on. The reference voltage is higher than the maximum voltage across the power semiconductor during normal operation. A short circuit is detected when the magnitude of the measured voltage exceeds the reference voltage.

The present invention relates to a method for detecting and responding to a short-circuit occurring in a circuit having a plurality of power semiconductor devices of a turn-off type connected in series after detection of the short-circuit and to devices for accommodating such situations.
Such circuits, having power semiconductor devices connected in series, may be used in voltage-stiff converters in stations of plants for transmitting electric power through High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC), or for reactive power compensation (RPC), for converting direct voltage to alternating voltage and conversely. These converters may typically have to maintain voltage within the range 10-500 kV, although other voltages are conceivable. This makes it possible to connect numerous such power semiconductor devices in series to distribute the voltage among them since they normally each may only hold 1-5 kV. However, the invention is not restricted to such so-called high voltage converter circuits, even though such a special application will be described hereinafter for illustrating the problem upon which the present invention is based.
Examples of such power semiconductor devices of turn-off type are turn-off thyristors (GTO), MOSFETs and IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors). The latter are preferable in many respects, since they combine good power handling ability with properties which make them well suited for connection in series in so-called IGBT valves in converters, for example, since they may be turned on and turned off simultaneously with high accuracy.
Short-circuit situations may, in rare cases, occur in these circuits, and it is then necessary to be able to handle these in such a way that entire IGBT valves do not break down. Such short-circuits may in such an application arise, for example, through fault of the control apparatus controlling the power semiconductor devices, which may mean that the so-called DC capacitor normally located on the direct voltage side of said station is discharged so that a short-circuit current will flow through one of the phase legs of the converter. A phase leg is formed by two IGBT valves in the same direction. Another possible short-circuit is between a phase terminal and one of the terminals of the DC capacitor or between two phase terminals, or that a ground fault occurs in a phase terminal and the DC capacitor is formed by two capacitors having a grounded midpoint.
If a short-circuit occurs in a phase leg provided with IGBT valves, the following happens: The individual IGBTs take such a voltage that the short-circuit current is limited to a value 3-10 times higher than the nominal current through the IGBT valves under normal operation. The IGBTs make this due to a current-limiting IV characteristic thereof, just as do other transistors, During the current-limiting process, the power semiconductor devices are forced to very high power dissipation. This may only exist only during a very restricted period of time, typically 10 .mu.s.
Thus, when a short-circuit occurs, it is desirable to be able to turn off the different power semiconductor devices as soon as possible to prevent the breakdown of any of them. However, there is a problem because of variations in the drive units controlling each individual power semiconductor device, which means different fast turn-off. Also, individual variations between the different power semiconductor devices results in that they take different voltage during the current-limiting process and are turned off differently. This as well as other individual variations therebetween, results in considerable problems during the current-limiting process as well as at turn-off when a short-circuit occurs.
During both the current-limiting process and the turn-off process, the entire series connection of the power semiconductor devices has to take a certain voltage, in which the voltage to be taken by a certain power semiconductor device may through such variations be too high, where it may be considerably lower and completely acceptable across other power semiconductor devices. This means a high risk of failure of any power semiconductor device, this may, for example, happen when the voltage across a power semiconductor device gets so high that the high field strength generated thereacross leads to "avalanche", meaning that nearly all the power is concentrated at a certain point. It is also possible that the high voltage, in combination with a high short-circuit current, may lead to an overheated power semiconductor device breaking down as a consequence.
The present invention relates, according to a second aspect, to a method for detecting a short-circuit in a circuit having a plurality of power semiconductor devices of turn-off type connected in series, in which the voltage across the two electrodes of each individual power semiconductor device is measured and compared with a reference voltage value which is higher than the maximum voltage level across the electrodes at a given instant at normal operation of the power semiconductor device. Also, a short-circuit may be detected when the voltage of the power semiconductor device in question exceeds the reference voltage value. A device for enabling such a detection is also disclosed.
In such described methods, according to prior art, the on-state voltage across the power semiconductor device is detected indirectly by detecting the occurrence of a current through a diode when a power semiconductor device is turned on, in which the diode has the anode thereof connected to a low voltage (typically +15V) and the cathode is connected to the collector of the power semiconductor device. The current through the diode is expected when turned on at a time when the voltage across the electrodes of the power semiconductor device has decreased under the low voltage and the detection of a short-circuit occurs when the expected current does not occur. However, this means that the short-circuit is detected after a long delay in some situations, with the result that the voltage across the power semiconductor device in question has had time to increase too much and, at the same time the current therethrough has had time to reach a very high value before a turn-off procedure is started. Thus, there is a risk that the power semiconductor device will be destroyed as a consequence of "avalanche" or too high power dissipation therein.

Method and a device for detecting and handling short-circuit phenomena for power semiconductor devices of turn-off type connected in series


A token representation of references and function arguments is disclosed. In some embodiments, an indication that a formula is being entered into a cell is received, and references and/or function arguments in the formula, if any, are represented as tokens. Each token comprises an atomic user interface object. In various embodiments, references are rendered as reference tokens and function arguments are rendered as argument tokens and/or mode tokens.

In existing spreadsheet applications, cell references in formulas and/or arguments in functions typically are represented in plain text. For example, a formula to add the value in a cell in column A, row 2 with a value in a cell located in column C, row 24 might be represented in a spreadsheet as A2+C24, with the "A2" and "C24" comprising plain text.

Token representation of references and function arguments