The present disclosure relates to an actuator for controlling a wheelset of a rail vehicle comprising: an axle casing for fastening to an undercarriage or to a wheelset bearing housing of the rail vehicle; a synchronized cylinder that is provided in the axle casing and that comprises a piston surface that has a piston rod passing through the axle casing at each of its two areal sides; and a housing that is movable in accordance with a movement of the synchronized cylinder with respect to the axle casing, wherein a piston spring element that connects a respective piston rod to the housing is arranged at the end of the respective piston rod remote from the piston surface.

Rail vehicles often pivot the wheels of a wheelset, that are typically rigidly coupled via a shaft, with respect to the undercarriage of a rail vehicle during cornering. So-called wheelset guide elements that consist of rubber metal elements as a rule are provided for this purpose in conventional rail vehicles.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the different positions of an actuator for controlling a wheelset of a rail vehicle when moving straight ahead and when cornering for a better understanding of the present subject matter.
It is of advantage for the straight ahead movement shown in FIG. 1 for the actuator to rigidly couple the wheelset to the undercarriage frame. In contrast to this, during cornering the actuator pivots the wheelset with respect to the undercarriage frame to ensure a traveling on the tracks that is as low in wear as possible.
Conventional actuators have a restricted stroke that is not sufficient for a satisfactory pivoting of a wheelset. Such actuators furthermore have high longitudinal stiffness values that have the consequence of high control forces. The coupling of longitudinal and transverse stiffness of conventional actuators also reduces the flexibility of the replication of specific undercarriage properties. The risk of a leak also increases in actuators provided with hydraulic lines. In addition, the force of such an actuator is typically limited as a consequence of the strain on the rubber parts in the actuator.
It is the aim of the present disclosure to overcome the above-listed disadvantages of an actuator for controlling a wheelset of conventional rail vehicles.
An embodiment of such an actuator comprises an axle casing for fastening to an undercarriage or to a wheelset bearing housing of the rail vehicle; a synchronized cylinder that is provided in the axle casing and that comprises a piston surface that has a piston rod passing through the axle casing at each of its two areal sides; and a housing that is movable in accordance with a movement of the synchronized cylinder with respect to the axle casing, wherein a piston spring element that connects the respective piston rod to the housing is arranged at the end of a respective piston rod remote from the piston surface.
It is accordingly possible for the actuator to cause a movement of the housing that is in turn used to cause a pivot movement of the wheelset by the adjustment of the synchronized cylinder or by the movement of the piston rods. The axle casing is fastened to a fixed position at the undercarriage so that a relative movement of the housing with respect to the axle casing is usable for a stroke for deflecting a wheelset.
In accordance with an optional modification of the present disclosure, the axle casing has a substantially elongate shape and the synchronized cylinder is arranged at the longitudinal center of the axle casing.
Provision can be made that the two piston rods are oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the axle casing.
In accordance with a further development of the present disclosure, the piston spring element arranged at a respective piston rod is a rubber laminated spring that is of cylindrical shape and/or whose layers are stacked in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the respective piston rod. Such a rubber laminated spring is adapted to replicate or determine the longitudinal stiffness of the wheelset guide. Provision can furthermore be made that such a rubber laminated spring is installed with preloading via a bearing sleeve. Furthermore, such rubber laminated springs can have a very low shear resistance so that the wheelset bearing housing can exert movements perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the piston without any substantial load on the piston rod and its guide. On a correctly oriented installation of an actuator in an undercarriage of a rail vehicle, it is accordingly possible to carry out a transverse movement of the wheelset without a substantial load on the piston rod, whereas a desired spring force acts in the longitudinal direction.
It is furthermore possible that the housing is either pressed into an axle guide or is directly connected, for example screwed, to a wheelset bearing housing. It can, however, furthermore also be integrated directly in the wheelset bearing housing.
In accordance with a further development of the present disclosure, the actuator comprises at least one axle casing spring element that is arranged between the axle casing and the housing. The main spring direction of the axle casing spring element is oriented in parallel with a longitudinal direction of the axle casing and the axle casing spring element is a rubber laminated spring whose layers are stacked in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the axle casing. Provision can be made here that the axle casing is rotationally symmetrical with respect to its longitudinal axis. The axle casing can also have mirror symmetry with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the axle casing.
In an installed state of the actuator, the axle casing spring element replicates the transverse stiffness of the wheelset guide or determines it. An axle casing spring element may be soft in a direction perpendicular to the main spring direction so that the actuator can carry out high displacements with a low power consumption.
Provision can furthermore be made here that a pair of axle casing spring elements is provided at one side of the plane defined by the piston rod and a longitudinal direction of the axle casing and is arranged such that it cushions a movement of the housing directed in the longitudinal direction of the axle casing with respect to the axle casing. In an installed state of the actuator, this corresponds to the cushioning of a transverse movement of the undercarriage with respect to the wheel set.
In accordance with a further embodiments of the present disclosure, the actuator has a sliding element for a sliding bearing of the housing at the axle casing in a plane defined by the longitudinal direction of the piston rod and a longitudinal direction of the axle casing. A first sliding element being provided at a first side of the plane defined by the longitudinal direction of the piston rod and a longitudinal direction of the axle casing and with a second sliding element being provided at the other, second side of the plane. The sliding element enables the housing to move in a longitudinal direction of the piston rod with respect to the axle casing. In an installed state of the actuator, this direction of movement corresponds to a longitudinal direction.
In accordance with an embodiment, the sliding element has a planar sliding surface to permit a movement in the longitudinal direction of the piston rod, with an element in the shape of a segment of a circle being provided to permit a rotation about a perpendicular to the plane defined by the longitudinal direction of the piston rod and the longitudinal direction of the axle casing.
It is thereby possible to obtain movements that reduce wear and with low frictional coefficients. Provision can furthermore be made that the sliding element is radially preloaded. In accordance with a version of the present disclosure, the sliding element can furthermore be designed as a rubber laminated spring in a similar manner to such a rubber laminated spring such as can also be used with the piston spring element.
The actuator furthermore comprises a position encoder that cooperates with a piston rod and the axle casing to determine the offset of the synchronized cylinder from a zero position. In accordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the actuator furthermore comprises a valve that connects the two chambers of the synchronized cylinder to one another. The actuator also includes a valve control that is adapted to achieve an adjustment of the synchronized cylinder by a closing and an opening of the valve in that the flow of a hydraulic fluid from the one chamber into the other chamber is permitted in a direction corresponding to the desired adjustment movement, with the actuator not making use of or having a hydraulic unit for the active actuation of the synchronized cylinder.
The valve can, for example, be switched such that it allows a hydraulic fluid to flow from the one chamber into the other chamber. The valve may also prevent a backflow from the other chamber into the one chamber. If external forces that generate a corresponding hydraulic fluid flow then act on the piston rod, the actuator is brought into the desired position. Forces can thus be indirectly or passively generated by the synchronized cylinder.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the valve of the actuator is coupled to a further synchronized cylinder of a leading or trailing actuator, with the valve control being adapted to utilize the hydraulic fluid flow of the trailing actuator as required for the adjustment of the leading actuator, with neither the trailing nor the leading actuator making use of or having a hydraulic unit for the active actuation of the synchronized cylinder. A plurality of wheelsets that are arranged trailing or leading with respect to one another are typically present in a rail vehicle. An actuator of an associated wheelset may also be coupled to a leading or trailing actuator.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the actuator comprises a hydraulic unit for actuating a synchronized cylinder, with the hydraulic unit being arranged at the undercarriage and/or a the front side at a longitudinal end of the axle casing.
Provision can furthermore be made that the actuator has an energy generation unit for supplying the actuator with energy. The energy generation unit generates energy while utilizing pressure changes in the synchronized cylinder or hydraulic fluid flows that occur during travel of the rail vehicle. Provision can also be made that the energy thus generated is stored in an energy storage unit and is supplied to the actuator as required.
Since the wheelset also carries out a small continuous rocking movement in the direction of travel (so-called sine movement) when a rail vehicle travels straight ahead, an actuator connected to the wheelset experiences pressure changes in its synchronized cylinder that can be used as the energy source. A battery that takes over the power supply of the actuator and of the further optional components of the actuator such as electronics, a sensor system, valves or a hydraulic unit can be charged via a generator. The generator may utilize the pressure changes or the hydraulic fluid flows based thereon for the gaining of energy. The energy generation unit is accordingly adapted to convert pressure changes in the synchronized cylinder into electrical energy.
Alternatively or additionally, the energy generation unit can be adapted to convert a hydraulic fluid flow occurring due to pressure changes in the synchronized cylinder into electrical energy. If a valve that can connect the individual chambers of the synchronized cylinder is connected between these chambers, an energy generating pressure change can be caused by a corresponding valve actuation. Provision can furthermore be made that the energy generation unit is arranged in the actuator housing itself or centrally in an undercarriage of the rail vehicle. The same applies to the energy storage unit. The energy generation unit in particular reveals its strengths and delivers convincing results at low speeds of a rail vehicle due to the pressure changes of the synchronized cylinder.
The present disclosure further relates to an undercarriage of a rail vehicle having an actuator in accordance with one of the above-listed variants, with the axle casing of the actuator being rigidly connected to the undercarriage. The housing of the actuator may also be pressed into an axle guide, be connected to a wheelset bearing housing, or be integrated into a wheel set bearing housing.
In accordance with a further development of the undercarriage, one actuator per wheelset is provided and/or the actuator has such a high inherent damping in a non-actuated state that permits an autonomous alignment of the wheelset on traveling over a straight rail section.
The actuator may also be arranged at that side of the wheelset that is remote from a drive of the shaft of the wheelset.
The present disclosure furthermore relates to a method of operating an actuator that is adapted to control a wheelset of a rail vehicle, in particular such an actuator in accordance with one of the preceding variants, wherein, in the method, the adjustment of the actuator for pivoting the wheelset is carried out on the basis of a displacement angle of the undercarriage with respect to a car body supported by the undercarriage and the adjustment of the actuator on the basis of the displacement angle takes place after exceeding a first threshold value of the displacement angle, with the adjustment of the actuator taking place proportionally to the displacement angle.
The displacement angle of the undercarriage with respect to the car body here describes an angular offset that the undercarriage adopts with respect to the car body when the rail vehicle travels through a curve. The wheelset is controlled by the actuator in dependence on this angle of rotation after exceeding a first threshold value.
This threshold may be chosen to cooperate with the rocking motion of the wheelsets, that typically occurs on a straight ahead movement, since to not to control the actuators on the basis of a displacement angle of the undercarriage. Rather, a rigid support of the wheelset in such a state may be provided. The wheelset is controlled after exceeding the threshold value so that a control of the actuator takes place during cornering.
In accordance with a further development of the method, the actuator for pivoting the wheelset is connected to a further leading or trailing actuator of the rail vehicle, with the trailing actuator being adjusted on the basis of the adjustment movements of the leading actuator to eliminate any system-induced delays in the adjustment of the trailing actuator. An even faster adjustment of the wheelset on the tracks is thus possible overall.
Further features, details and advantages of the present disclosure will be explained with reference to the following description of the Figures.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Actuator for controlling a wheelset of a rail vehicle

Liebherr-Transportation Systems GmbH & Co. KG


Hypothesis tests, such as maximum likelihood detections, are executed on symbol sequences received by, for example, a user equipment (UE) in a communication system. The hypothesis tester checks a received sequence against a group of predetermined sequences that possibly could have been sent to the UE. For received sequences that are matched or not matched by the hypothesis tester with high confidence, complete decoding, for example, with a Viterbi decoder, is not necessary. Instead, complete decoding is used as a “tie-breaker” for those sequences which the hypothesis tester cannot match or not match with desired confidence levels.

This invention relates to electronic digital communication systems and more particularly to radiotelephone systems.
Digital communication systems include time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, such as cellular radio telephone systems that comply with the GSM telecommunication standard and its enhancements like GSM/EDGE, and code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, such as cellular radio telephone systems that comply with the IS-95, cdma2000, and wideband CDMA (WCDMA) telecommunication standards. Digital communication systems also include "blended" TDMA and CDMA systems, such as cellular radio telephone systems that comply with the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) standard, which specifies a third generation (3G) mobile system being developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) within the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU's) IMT-2000 framework. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) promulgates the UMTS and WCDMA standards. This application focuses on WCDMA systems for simplicity, but it will be understood that the principles described in this application can be implemented in other digital communication systems.
WCDMA is based on direct-sequence spread-spectrum techniques, with pseudo-noise scrambling codes and orthogonal channelization codes separating base stations and physical channels (terminals or users), respectively, in the downlink (base-to-terminal) direction. Since all users share the same radio resource in CDMA systems, it is important that each physical channel does not use more power than necessary. This is achieved by a transmit power control (TPC) mechanism, in which, among other things, base stations send TPC commands to users in the downlink (DL) direction and the users implement the commands in the uplink (UL) direction and vice versa. The TPC commands cause the users to increase or decrease their transmitted power levels by increments, thereby maintaining target signal-to-interference ratios (SIRs) for the dedicated physical channels (DPCHs) between the base stations and the users. WCDMA terminology is used here, but it will be appreciated that other systems have corresponding terminology. Scrambling and channelization codes and transmit power control are well known in the art.
FIG. 1 depicts a mobile radio cellular telecommunication system 10, which may be, for example, a WCDMA communication system. Radio network controllers (RNCs) 12, 14 control various radio network functions, including for example radio access bearer setup, diversity handover, etc. More generally, each RNC directs calls to and from user equipments (UEs), such as mobile stations (MSs), via the appropriate base station(s) (BSs), which communicate with each UE through DL, or forward, and UL (i.e., mobile-to-base, or reverse) channels. RNC 12 is shown coupled to BSs 16, 18, 20, and RNC 14 is shown coupled to BSs 22, 24, 26. Each BS, which is called a Node B in 3GPP parlance, serves a geographical area that can be divided into one or more cell(s). BS 26 is shown as having five antenna sectors S1-S5, which can be said to make up the cell of the BS 26. The BSs are coupled to their corresponding RNCs by dedicated telephone lines, optical fiber links, microwave links, etc. Both RNCs 12, 14 are connected with external networks such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, etc. through one or more core network nodes, such as a mobile switching center (not shown) and/or a packet radio service node (not shown).
A BS in a WCDMA system may use a primary scrambling code and one or more so-called secondary or alternative scrambling codes, each of which can be used with several channelization codes. Orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) channelization codes are used in order to maintain link orthogonality while accommodating different user data rates. The OVSF scheme is a kind of code tree, in which each level in the tree is a set of codes that are mutually orthogonal and have the same SF. Since the chip rate in a direct-sequence CDMA system is typically constant, a higher SF, corresponding to a different level in the code tree, generally corresponds to a lower information bit-rate.
High-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) is an evolution of WCDMA communication systems that provides higher bit rates, e.g., up to more than 10 megabits per second (Mb/s), by using higher order modulation, e.g., 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM), multiple spreading codes, e.g., up to fifteen codes with SFs of 16, and DL-channel feedback information. The DL-channel feedback information is information sent by a UE to a BS through the UL channel regarding the DL channel's quality. The BS providing HSDPA service is usually called the "serving" BS or cell, and the HS-channels in the DL are transmitted only from the HSDPA serving cell. The serving BS uses the DL-channel feedback information to optimize the DL modulation and coding for throughput.
Another evolution of WCDMA is Enhanced Uplink (EUL), or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), that enables high-rate packet data to be sent in the reverse direction. Efficiency of the UL transmission and maximization of the available network capacity are achieved by carefully scheduling the UL transmissions of the usually many UEs in a cell. The serving BS informs the individual UEs of when they are allowed to transmit, and at which power level, so that the total power in the cell and the noise remain within the acceptable limits. The transmission power levels for the UEs and the permissions to transmit are transmitted from the serving BS by absolute and relative grant messages carried by enhanced absolute and relative grant channels (E-AGCH and E-RGCH). These messages and channels are described, for example, in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 25.309 V6.5.0, FDD Enhanced Uplink Overall Description Stage 2 (Release 6), December 2005, Section 9, and 3GPP TS 25.321 V6.7.0, Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Specification (Release 6), December 2005, Section 11.8.
UL absolute grant information is packaged in serving grant (SG) messages carried by the E-AGCH. According to the WCDMA standards, an SG message includes six bits sent over one transmission time interval (TTI). It will be appreciated, however, that the methods and apparatus described in this application can be used with other message formats in other types of communication system.
In a WCDMA communication system, the E-AGCH is assigned one OVSF code having SF=256, whereby 10 QPSK symbols per slot are transmitted. All SG messages are transmitted on the same channel, and individual SG messages are tagged with the signature of the targeted UE. An SG message is coded into 30 QPSK symbols, which are transmitted over 3 time slots during a TTI having a duration of 2 milliseconds (ms). If the duration of the TTI is 10 ms, the 3-slot SG message is repeated five times during the TTI.
The E-AGCH signal is generated according to 3GPP TS 25.212 V6.7.0, Multiplexing and Channel Coding (FDD) (Release 6), December 2005, Section 4.10. FIG. 2 depicts the coding process. As indicated by step 202, a UE-specific cyclic redundancy check (CRC) signature of 16 bits and 8 tail bits are appended to the 6 AG message bits xag1, xag2, . . . , xag6. In step 204, the 30-bit sequence y1, y2, . . . , y30 is then coded using a rate-⅓, constraint-length-9 convolutional code. Rate matching is applied in step 206 to the resulting 90 bits z1, z2, . . . , z90 to produce a 60-bit transmit sequence r1, r2, . . . , r60, which is mapped to the physical channel, i.e., modulated onto a sequence xk of 30 QPSK symbols spanning the 3 time slots that are transmitted as the E-AGCH in a WCDMA system.
A UE can monitor the E-AGCH for grant messages simply by reversing the coding steps depicted in FIG. 2. The UE then typically includes, among other things, a Viterbi decoder that produces a local version of the 30-bit sequence y1, y2, . . . , y30 for each TTI and a device for checking CRC bits to determine if each sequence is properly decoded and intended for the particular UE. In case of a match, the UE applies a received message as an SG command.
The UE must monitor the E-AGCH constantly for grant messages while an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) is configured. As a result, the monitoring equipment in the UE must be active during every TTI. Most of this activity conveys no useful information to the UE because the frequency of sending SG messages to any given UE is usually low, and thus the energy consumed and resources utilized during most of the decoding activity are effectively wasted.

Efficient detection of predetermined sequences


In conjunction with a so-called patterned medium comprising recording tracks each having an array of unit minute recording portions of a magnetic material separated by non-recording portions of a nonmagnetic material, the invention aims to prevent the recorded information from being disrupted by contact of a magnetic head slider with the medium. The magnetic recording medium of the invention includes recording tracks each having an array of unit minute recording portions (14) of a magnetic material separated by non-recording portions (16) of a nonmagnetic material. The surface height of the unit minute recording portions (14) is set lower than the surface height of the non-recording portions (16).

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a magnetic recording medium, more particularly, to a magnetic recording medium for use in magnetic read/write equipment such as magnetic disk equipment known as hard disk drives (HDD), and further particularly, to the structure of a magnetic recording medium having a high recording density.
2. Background Art
High-capacity storage devices, especially hard disk drives featuring a high data transfer rate, quick access, high reliability and low price have marked a significant advance toward higher capacity and higher density. An improvement in areal recording density is accomplished by miniaturizing recording magnetic domains formed in the magnetic recording layer. At present, the density has exceeded 5 gigabits per square inch, with development efforts being made with the target on 10 gigabits to 100 gigabits.
Used as the magnetic head for write and read operation is a combined magnetic head in which an inductive head as the write head is combined with a magnetoresistive head (MR head) as the read head. Since the output of the MR head is determined by a magnetic flux change per circumferential unit length, in principle, the output does not decline even when the track width is minimized. The use of the MR head thus suggests a possibility to realize narrow tracks. The same applies to a giant magnetoresistive head (GMR head) with which a higher recording density is expected.
However, if the track width is too narrow, the interference or crosstalk between magnetic signals from adjacent recording tracks increases so that the degradation of read signals becomes a problem.
The areal recording density can also be increased by reducing the recording bit length. If the recording bit length is too short, the interference or partial erasure between magnetic signals from adjacent bits increases so that the degradation of read signals becomes a problem.
JP-A 9-297918 discloses a magnetic recording medium in which a plurality of recording portions are provided in the form of rectangular regions having two side lengths equal to a track width and a minimum bit-determining length, the plurality of recording portions are separated by space areas, and information is stored in the recording portions. This medium is a so-called patterned medium. The patterned medium is effective for suppressing the degradation of read signals by crosstalk and partial erasure.
For the achievement of a high recording density, it is also requisite to reduce the flying height of a slider having a magnetic head mounted thereon. However, reducing the flying height of a slider increases the frequency at which the slider comes in contact with the magnetic recording medium by disturbances. In the event of slider rubbing, the magnetic recording layer can be flawed whereby the recorded information is disrupted. For the patterned medium, however, effective means for avoiding the disruption of recorded information by the contact of the medium with the slider has not heretofore been proposed.
In conjunction with a so-called patterned medium comprising recording tracks each having an array of unit minute recording portions of a magnetic material separated by non-recording portions of a nonmagnetic material, an object of the invention is to prevent the recorded information from being disrupted by contact of a magnetic head slider with the medium.
This and other objects are attained by the present invention which is defined below.
(1) A magnetic recording medium comprising recording tracks each having an array of unit minute recording portions of a magnetic material separated by non-recording portions of a nonmagnetic material, the unit minute recording portions having a lower surface height than the non-recording portions.
(2) The magnetic recording medium of (1) wherein the surface height of the unit minute recording portions is 5 to 30 nm lower than the surface height of the non-recording portions.
(3) The magnetic recording medium of (1) wherein each unit minute recording portion is a single magnetic domain.
(4) The magnetic recording medium of (1) wherein the unit minute recording portions are constructed of any one of Co, Coxe2x80x94Cr, Coxe2x80x94Crxe2x80x94Ta and Coxe2x80x94Crxe2x80x94Pt.
In the magnetic recording medium of the invention, the surface height of the unit minute recording portions is set lower than the surface height of the non-recording portions. Even when the slider rubs the surface of the medium during magnetic write/read operation, the slider does not contact the unit minute recording portions. Accordingly, the recorded information is not disrupted even if the flying height of the slider is reduced in order to improve the recording density.
One means employed in the prior art for preventing a slider from being stuck to the surface of a medium is to form a magnetic recording layer on a locally raised and depressed surface of a substrate so that the medium surface may become locally raised and depressed. By contrast, the medium of the invention eliminates a need for a special structure for preventing sticking because the unit minute recording portions and non-recording portions of different surface heights form depressions and protrusions.

Patterned magnetic recording medium possessing recording portions with a lower height than the surrounding non-magnetic matrix


A suspension apparatus for a vehicle includes a bar operatively connectable to driver-side and passenger-side suspension corner assemblies to extend therebetween and rotatably mountable to the vehicle body between the suspension corner assemblies. The suspension apparatus also includes a body load reaction component that is operatively connectable to at least one of the body and the bar. The body load reaction component is engaged to provide reaction force on the body to manage vertical displacement of the body.

Vehicle suspension systems are designed to manage the transmission of road forces to the vehicle body, manage vehicle ride height, and tire lateral load transfer distribution (i.e., a slight shift of the sprung mass about a longitudinal axis that may occur during relatively fast cornering). Each of these functions is managed by different components of the suspension system to meet handling and comfort objectives.

Vehicle suspension apparatus with bar and body load reaction component for ride height management


A projection screen includes a transparent substrate having a first side and a second side, a first optically clear adhesive (“OCA”) layer disposed across the first side of the transparent substrate, a first two-dimensional (“2D”) matrix of clear beads partially embedded into the first OCA layer, and a dark layer disposed across the first OCA layer filling in exposed gaps between the clear beads to block and absorb light incident upon the exposed gaps between the clear beads. The clear beads form optical paths through the dark layer.

Conventional rear projection screens use a thin diffusing layer in the form of a matte screen. An image is projected onto the back of the diffusing layer, where it is diffused and re-projected into the viewing environment. The diffusing layer provides an image surface and its diffusive nature serves to increase the viewing angles from which the image can be observed. Often these simple diffusing layer projection screens have poor contrast in well-lit rooms. This poor contrast is due, at least in part, from the scattering of ambient light back into the viewing environment, thereby deleteriously affecting the black levels and contrast of the rear projection screen.


A clamp includes a first half and a second half, which are pivotally connected semi-cylindrical halves, said semi-cylindrical halves each having a first end and a second end, each of the second ends defining a ridge; and a jaw for engaging with said two ridges for assembling the first half and the second half into a cylindrical form, said jaw has a first distal end slidably linking to the second end of the first semi-cylindrical half and a second end for engaging with the ridge of the second end of the second semi-cylindrical half.

The present invention relates to a clamp for fastening nipples to paper nursing bottles.
Most babies or young children are fed with edible fluids or suspensions, such as milk prepared by suspending commercial milk powder, by means of conventional nursing bottles made from plastic or glass, which are even useful for those preferring to feed maternal milk. Generally, each baby or young child needs several nursing bottles for desired fluids, such as milk, water, juices, nutrients supplemented flours and the suspension of medicines. Every time conventional nursing bottles have been used for feeding babies or young children, they should be subjected to a series of processes before reuse:washing, sterilizing or boiling and drying. Therefore, the multiplicity of the conventional nursing bottles causes inconvenience and additional burdens on parents. The increase in numbers of available nursing bottles makes such troubles manifest when the parents go out with their babies or young children, as it is difficult to treat used conventional nursing bottles. Accordingly, conventional nursing bottles are replaced gradually by fashionable paper nursing bottles fabricated from paper, hereinafter referred to as paper nursing bottle.
Each paper nursing bottle has an opening. Firstly, a nipple is mounted on an annular rigid neck. Then, the annular rigid neck is inserted into the paper nursing bottle. After this, a clamp is provided about the paper nursing bottle. Accordingly, the paper nursing bottle is firmly pressed against the annular rigid neck by means of the clamp.
A typical clamp for fastening the neck to the paper nursing bottle, for example, is a ring which generally has two pivotally connected half rings. Each half ring has a free end with a buckle portion formed thereon. When a user intends to engage the free ends of the half rings for fastening the annular rigid neck to the paper nursing bottle, firstly he/she must place an annular rigid neck, on which a nipple is mounted, in the opening of the paper nursing bottle and fix one of the half rings to the paper nursing bottle with one hand, and with the other hand, engage the free ends by overlapping the buckles and then use a belt for coupling the overlapped buckles. Alternatively, the tail of the belt coupling the overlapped buckles may be further fixed by a device of a hook means or a tongue-and-eyelet means.
The paper nursing bottle as described above such overcomes the aforementioned problems concerning the conventional nursing bottle, however, it inherently has at least two disadvantages. First, it requires skill and experience for coupling the belt about the buckles as the belt is separate from the clamp buckles. It is inconvenient for new users or even skilled users to use the conventional clamp in urgent conditions. Second, even skilled users tend to use both hands thereof in handling the conventional clamp means. Frequently, a user may embrace a crying baby or pull a mischievous young child with a hand and use his/her remaining hand for handling the conventional clamp. Therefore, it is very difficult to engage the half rings with each other and further fasten the annular rigid neck to the paper nursing bottle if the user needs to control various conditions simultaneously.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a clamp to avoid and overcome the aforementioned problems.

Clamp for fastening nipples to paper nursing bottles


A method and apparatus for reducing debris in a perforation in a wellbore extending from the wellbore into a subterranean formations is provided. A housing is positioned in the wellbore, and an arm is extended therefrom. One or more plugs are positionable in the perforation via the arm. The plug is adapted to block debris from formation fluid flowing into the housing via the perforation whereby the contamination in the formation fluid is reduced. The plug may be a filter positionable in the perforation, or a bit activated to dislodge debris.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the downhole investigation of subterranean formations. More particularly, this invention relates to sampling through perforations in a wellbore penetrating the subterranean formation.
2. Background Art
Historically, wells have been drilled to seek out downhole reservoirs containing highly desirable fluids, such as oil, gas or water. The wells may be located on land or over waterbeds and extend downhole into subterranean formations. In the search for oil and gas reserves, new wells are often drilled and tested. The wellbore may remain "open" after drilling, or be provided with a casing (otherwise known as a liner) to form a "cased" wellbore. A cased wellbore is created by inserting a tubular steel casing into an open wellbore and pumping cement downhole to secure the casing in place in the wellbore. The cement is employed on the outside of the casing to hold the casing in place and to provide a degree of structural integrity and a seal between the formation and the casing.
Various tests are typically performed on open wellbores to analyze surrounding formations for the presence of oil and gas. Once the casing is installed, the ability to perform tests is limited by the steel casing. It is estimated that there are approximately 200 cased wells which are considered for abandonment each year in North America, which adds to the thousands of wells that are already idle. These abandoned wells have been determined to no longer produce oil and gas in necessary quantities to be economically profitable. However, the majority of these wells were drilled in the late 1960's and 1970's and logged using techniques that are primitive by today's standards. Thus, recent research has uncovered evidence that many of these abandoned wells contain large amounts of recoverable natural gas and oil (perhaps as much as 100 to 200 trillion cubic feet) that have been missed by conventional production techniques. Because the majority of the field development costs such as drilling, casing and cementing have already been incurred for these wells, the exploitation of these wells to produce oil and natural gas resources could prove to be an inexpensive venture that would increase production of hydrocarbons and gas. It is, therefore, desirable to perform additional tests on such cased wellbores.
In order to perform various tests on a cased wellbore to determine whether the well is a good candidate for production, it is often necessary to perforate the casing to investigate the formation surrounding the wellbore. One such commercially used perforation technique employs a tool which can be lowered on a wireline to a cased section of a borehole, the tool including a shaped explosive charge for perforating the casing, and testing and sampling devices for measuring hydraulic parameters of the environment behind the casing and/or for taking samples of fluids from said environment. Perforations may also be used in open wellbores, for example, to facilitate the exploration of the surrounding formation and/or the flow of fluid from the formation into the wellbore.
Various techniques have been developed to create perforations in wellbores. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,588 issued to Dave and U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,565 issued to MacDougall et al., both assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose techniques for perforating a wellbore. These patents also provide techniques for plugging a wellbore after the perforation is created to stop the flow of fluid through the casing and into the wellbore.
While the advances in perforation techniques have assisted in the analysis of open and cased wellbores, it has been discovered that some perforations may become obstructed by debris. This debris may prevent the passage of fluids and/or tools through the perforation. Additionally, debris, such as drilling fluids, mud, dirt and other contaminants, may pollute the sampling or testing process and corrupt the test results.
Techniques have also been developed to prevent contamination of samples collected during the sampling process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,073 to Beimgraben, U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,852 to Strange, Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,750 to Arterbury each disclose filtering techniques for preventing downhole drilling fluids from contaminating samples. However, these techniques fail to address the problem of contamination and debris in the perforation.
To address problems, such as obstructions and contamination encountered with perforations, there remains a need to develop techniques to remove debris. It is desirable that such techniques reduce the contamination of fluids sampled from a perforation and/or prevent clogging of the perforation. It is also desirable that such techniques be usable in conjunction with perforating, testing, sampling and/or plugging operations. Such a technique should, among others, improve the quality of the sample, reduce the potential for debris to flow into the perforation, reduce the likelihood of clogging the perforation, reduce contamination in the sample, reduce contamination in the downhole tool and/or provide other advantages.


Embodiments of this application provide an authentication method, device, and system, to resolve problems of wastage of performance and memory resources that may be caused by remaining n−1 unused authentication vectors (AVs). The method includes: receiving, by an authentication entity, n first authentication vectors from a unified data management entity, where n is a positive integer; generating, by the authentication entity, n second authentication vectors based on the n first authentication vectors; sending, by the authentication entity, one of the n second authentication vectors to a security anchor function entity; receiving, by the authentication entity, an authentication confirmation request from the security anchor function entity, and performing authentication confirmation on the terminal according to the authentication confirmation request; and sending, by the authentication entity, the other n−1 unused second authentication vectors in the n second authentication vectors to the security anchor function entity when the authentication confirmation succeeds.

In an authentication procedure of a user registration process described in a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical standard (TS) 33.501 v0.40, if an authentication algorithm selected by a unified data management (UDM) entity in a home network is 5th generation-authentication and key agreement (5G-AKA), the UDM entity may generate n authentication vectors (AV) at a time, where n is a positive integer. Further, an authentication server function (AUSF) entity in the home network may receive the n AVs from the UDM entity. However, for security anchor function (SEAF) entities in some visited networks with relatively low trust levels, the AUSF entity may send only one AV to the SEAF entities, and when n is greater than 1, how to handle remaining n−1 unused AVs is not explicitly stated in the prior art. If the remaining n−1 unused AVs are all stored on the AUSF entity, the following problems may arise:
1. Processing performance of the AUSF entity and the UDM entity may be affected to some extent.
2. Storing the remaining n−1 unused AVs on the AUSF entity occupies memory of the AUSF entity. For example, if n is equal to 10, because an AV includes a random number (RAND), an authentication token (AUTN), an expected response (XRES*), and a key Kasme*, the AUTN and the RAND each occupies 16 bytes, the XRES* occupies 16 bytes, and the Kasme* occupies 32 bytes, for a user, 9×(16+16+16+32)=800 bytes are occupied if the n−1 AVs are stored on the AUSF entity, and for 10 million users, memory of 10 million×800=7.5 GB is occupied if the n−1 AVs are stored on the AUSF entity.
As a result, performance and memory resource waste that may be caused by remaining n−1 unused AVs are technical problems that need to be urgently resolved.

Authentication method, device, and system


A method of providing incentives to customers which involves providing customers with cards having changeable display areas. During a transaction, the cards are received from the customers and an incentive image is displayed on the display areas of the cards when they are returned to the customers. The incentive images can be coupons, discount certificates, or other marketing or promotional offerings, prize notifications, loyalty rewards, etc. The cards can be credit cards, including gift cards, debit cards, ATM cards, shoppers' cards, merchants' cards, phone cards, casino cards, or any other similar cards. A transaction card that displays updated value balances on the card and a system for performing the value updates is also disclosed.

Conventional point-of-sale computer systems, such as those used in retail stores to record transactions, are being used more and more in customer relationship management systems. The flexibility of the traditional retail applications along with the improving functionality of retail point-of-sale printers has been utilized more and more for purposes of marketing goods and developing customer incentives.
Improves to point-of-sale marketing have typically involved the issuance of promotions, often in the form of coupons, to customers in the checkout lanes. In order to increase the effectiveness of such advertising, systems identify a particular customer through a shopper's club card or other individually distinguishable indicia that is presented to the teller at the time of check out. Once a customer is identified, the system can scan a database of previous purchases made by that customer to identify purchasing habits. Based on these habits, the customer can be issued a coupon, often with the intent of getting the customer to stray from favorite brand names.
Systems such as that described may involve the use of a secondary system with a secondary printer. This secondary system operates independently of the retail system but is capable of accessing data concerning customer transactions. These systems are the subject of much criticism from retailers, however, that are concerned with the secondary hardware and applications that must reside in their stores. Many retailers also object to granting access to data regarding past purchases of their customers. Along these lines, consumers have expressed concern regarding the privacy of their transactions as many consumers feel that prior purchases are personal business and should not be used by a marketing company to derive profit.
An improved system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,894 to Turner et al. which includes a system and method for targeting marketing messages at a point-of-sale consumer by collecting current transactional receipt data, such as the time of a retail transaction, the date of the transaction, the number of items purchased the transaction, and the total dollar value of a transaction. The data collected from the receipt is then applied to one or more algorithms to determine which marketing messages are most likely to be successful. A predetermined number of marketing messages found most likely to be successful are then printed on the customer receipt in order of priority of expected effectiveness. The system is designed to be used in connection with a point-of-sale terminal without the need for additional hardware, such as a second printer, or the need to access historical customer data.
To date, marketing systems that are designed to provide incentives in the form of coupons, redeemable discounts, etc. all rely on printed materials (e.g., coupons, discount certificates, etc.) which are either printed at the point-of-sale, for example on the back of a cash register receipt, or printed and mailed to customers who participate in customer programs that require the customers to furnish their mailing addresses. Alternatively, some merchants e-mail incentive offerings to registered customers in the form of coupons, redeemable discount certificates that the registered customer prints out on his or her home computer/printer.
The present invention is directed to a promotional/marketing method that images incentives, e.g. coupons, discount certificates, etc. on a credit card, gift card, merchant card, shopper club card, or the like.


The present invention provides an improved system of stitching for forming a casing of tubular netting, in which the casing comprises circumferential elastic members formed from at least one continuous spiral or a plurality of separate circular loops, and longitudinal members formed from a plurality of chain stitches interconnecting adjacent loops of the spiral or separate loops of the circumferential elastic members, resulting in a net-like appearance, the longitudinal chain stitches being attached to the circumferential elastic members such that, at each connection point of the chain stitching to an elastic member, a first chain stitch is attached to the elastic member and a further pair of chain stitches is attached to the elastic member and spaced either side of the first chain stitch such that, when the first and further pair of chain stitches are stretched, the first chain stitch is caused to pull on the section of the elastic member located between the further pair of chain stitches such that elastic deformation of the elastic member in the direction of the stretch occurs.

This invention relates to an improved tubular net for food products, and in particular relates to an improved stitch for tubular net or netting.
The present invention may find many applications, and these applications may not be limited to the food industry. However, for easy description, the invention will be described in relation to its application for use in the food industry.
In the following description, the terms "casing", "food product" and "netting" shall have the following meanings:
______________________________________ "casing" any synthetic or natural tubular material used in the processing of food products such as meat products, "food product" any fresh or processed food products, and in particular fresh or processed meat products, and "netting" any knitted, woven, extruded or otherwise manufactured packaging netting which is elasticated, rigid or laterally extendible. ______________________________________
In the manufacture of food products, and in particular in respect of the manufacture of meat products, natural or artificial casings in the form of elongated tubes are normally either pumped full of meat from a machine specifically designed for the purpose, or have portions of meat placed within the tube prior to either a cooking or a curing process taking place.
In some cases, machines dealing with minced meat products use a feed mechanism for injecting meat through a delivery tube or injection horn where the casing is shirred onto the external surface of the delivery tube. A clip or other closure means is placed over the end of the casing, and a quantity of meat is then injected into the casing. Depending on the desired length of the meat product, the process is interrupted at various stages so that clips or twists may be applied to form separate and individual meat product portions.
In addition, whole meat portions may be inserted within tubular casing and, in this instance, stuffing tubes or horns are also used which enable the tubular casing to be stretched, whereupon meat portions can be readily introduced within the tubular casing.
In some cases, artificial skins such as collagen-based casings or fibrous casings have a tubular net or netting placed over the outside of the collagen once the food product is located within the casing. Alternatively, the food product may be inserted directly within the netting without the use of any inner casing.
In many instances, the netting is used primarily for decorative effect and remains in place prior to consumption of the food product. However, in addition to providing a decorative effect, the netting, if properly sized, can be used to produce a surface pattern effect. In this instance, the longitudinal and circumferential members of the net apply a force to the surface of the meat product and, provided that the surface of the food product is sufficiently resilient, then the netting will protrude into the surface of the food product. This results in a quilt-like surface pattern, where the circumferential and longitudinal members press into the surface of the food product so that the food product bulges outwardly within the square or rectangle formed by the longitudinal and circumferential members.
In addition to the appearance, it is also desirable, particularly in relation to the cooking or curing process, to maintain a desirable shape, and to apply constant compressive force to the meat product during the cooking or curing process. The constant pressure ensures that air pockets do not readily form within the meat, as this may lead to spoilage. It is also desirable to ensure that, particularly during a process where the meat product is hung to cure, no elongation or stretching of the meat product occurs.
In some instances, during a curing process, the weight of the meat product can cause the netting to stretch, thus resulting in a conical or tapered section from the hanging point to the beginning of the meat product. In many instances, depending on the type of the meat product, a small conical section of meat can be formed at the upper end. This particular section tends to be unsightly when the netting is removed, and is normally cut away and wasted.
This problem results from the fact that elastic netting is normally non-elastic in the longitudinal direction. Only the circumferential members, which form a continuous spiral, are normally formed from elastic material. The longitudinal members are formed from conventional chain stitching. Apart from the normal stretch which results from the knitting process, the netting is generally inextensible in the longitudinal direction. Accordingly, as there is no longitudinal elasticity, stretching and thinning at the upper end of the netting will occur during the curing process.


A network device, such as a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (PGW), may receive network traffic, determine traffic processing services associated with a subscriber corresponding to the traffic, and identify a sequence of external traffic processing components to provide traffic processing services as though the external traffic processing components where part of the core network. The network device may modify the traffic in accordance with the sequence of external traffic processing components and forward the traffic to the first external traffic processing component of the sequence. The network device may later receive the traffic from the last external traffic processing component of the sequence, process the traffic in accordance with instructions provided by the external traffic processing components, and forward the traffic in accordance with a destination address of the traffic.

Wireless telecommunication networks often include User Equipment (UE) (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc.) that communicate with Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes (e.g., base stations) to connect to, and register with, a core network. Doing so may provide UEs with access to a variety of network services, such as voice calls, text messages, Internet access, and other data services (e.g., video streaming, content filtering, etc.). These services may be provided by systems and devices located in the wireless telecommunication network itself (e.g., within the core network) or from an external device (e.g., a device accessible via the Internet).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for providing external services to core network traffic


A method of selectively operating a rotation function of an electronic device permits selective rotation of a display screen rotation function such that a terminal operation according to a user request may be supported while processing a user function may be performed based on the rotation function as needed. The method includes a receiving step of receiving a request to activate a specific user function, an application determination step of determining whether the rotation function applies to the specific user function of which activation is requested, a direction determining step of determining a rotation direction of a terminal when the specific user function is set to be applied with the rotation function, and an applying step of applying the rotation function to the specific user function according to the rotation direction of the terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to operating a rotation function of a terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus of rotating the orientation of the display of a portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
The popularity of portable terminals and their use both in various industrial fields and daily life is based in no small smart on their technological capability to support a plurality of specific user functions while being constructed with an ever-decreasing size and thickness to increase the easy of portability.
Recently, a portable terminal that integratedly supports various user functions has been constructed. Such portable terminal supports user functions while providing screens associated with each respective user function through a display unit. Accordingly, the user accesses a particular user function, while viewing a corresponding screen associated with the particular user function that is output on the display unit.
Meanwhile, a conventional portable terminal provides a function that can switch an orientation of a screen output by rotating the screen upon sensing the device has been rotated, or in the case where there is an actual keypad upon sliding out the keypad. Accordingly, the user may view the screen of the portable terminal in a vertical mode or a horizontal mode depending on a need. However, depending on the user, the user may not require a screen rotation function.
For example, a specific user may want to view a terminal screen in the vertical mode or in the horizontal mode even when the terminal was rotated. For example, the user might grip the device in a portrait position relative to his hand but still wish to see a particular object depicted in the landscape orientation. In this case, the user may set to turn off a rotation function so as not to apply the rotation function.
However, in a case where the user function provided by the terminal needs to be performed based on the rotation function, setting the device to turn off the rotation function as described above places a limitation to providing the user function in a normal manner, wherein the corresponding rotation function necessarily needs to be applied. Also, it is cumbersome for the user to go through settings to turn on or off the rotation function. Furthermore, most user's do not read through the user's manual with such detail that they even realize that the rotation function can be turned on or off.
In order to solve this problem, the terminal may be controlled to reset to turn on the rotation function; however, a rotation function setting menu requires multiple depth searches, and thus, controlling a menu setting whenever needed causes inconvenience of repeatedly performing complex multiple depth searches. Moreover, when the user does not remember where the rotation function setting menu is located, inconvenience to the user is even further increased.

Method of selectively operating a rotating function and portable terminal supporting the same


An apparatus and method for tracking inventory for goods having a variety of styles and characteristics, and which have a variety of possible shipping destinations. The apparatus of the invention includes a multi-part label that is attachable to each of the goods and has a removable portion that can be detached from the original label and reapplied to a shipping carton for a collection of goods. The method of the invention includes utilizing information from indicia applied to each of the goods in conjunction with an inventory distribution system and shipping cartons to keep track of the location of all goods at any time between sorting the goods for shipping and packing the goods for shipment, without requiring any manual steps, such as scanning, during sorting and packing of the goods.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to tracking of inventory goods that are packed into shipping cartons for a variety of shipping destinations, and in particular, to a system of labeling the boxes holding the goods and the shipping cartons to accomplish inventory control and shipping management of the goods and the shipping cartons.
2. Problems in the Art

Apparatus and method for tracking inventory of multiple goods in multiple shipping cartons


An electrical device and method of making same is provided wherein a chip or other electrical component is embedded in a substrate. The substrate may be a thermoplastic material capable of deforming around the chip and at least partially encasing the chip when heat and/or pressure is applied to the substrate. Electromagnetic radiation such a near infrared radiation can be used to heat the substrate. The substrate may include a compressible layer that can be compressed and/or crushed to form a recess into which the chip can be inserted. Once embedded, the chip or electrical component is secured by the substrate and may be coupled to another electrical component. A method of making an RFID transponder is also provided wherein an RFID chip is embedded in a substrate using heat and/or pressure, an antenna structure is applied to the substrate, and the RFID chip and antenna structure are coupled together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical devices and to the assembly of electrical devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to the assembly of radio frequency identification (RFID) interposers and/or devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pick and place techniques are often used to assemble electrical devices. Pick and place techniques typically involve complex robotic components and control systems that handle only one die at a time. Such techniques may utilize a manipulator, such as a robotic arm, to remove integrated circuit (IC) chips, or dies, from a wafer of IC chips and place them on a chip carrier, a transport, or directly to a substrate. If not directly mounted, the chips are subsequently mounted onto a substrate with other electrical components, such as antennas, capacitors, resistors, and inductors to form an electrical device.
One type of electrical device that may be assembled using pick and place techniques is a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder. RFID inlays, tags, and labels (collectively referred to herein as "transponders") are widely used to associate an object with an identification code. Inlays (or inlay transponders) are identification transponders that typically have a substantially flat shape. The antenna for an inlay transponder may be in the form of a conductive trace deposited on a non-conductive support. The antenna has a suitable shape, such as a flat coil or other geometric shape. Leads for the antenna are also deposited, with non-conductive layers interposed as necessary. Memory and any control functions are provided by a chip mounted on the support and operatively connected through the leads to the antenna. An RFID inlay may be joined or laminated to selected label or tag materials made of films, papers, laminations of films and papers, or other flexible sheet materials suitable for a particular end use. The resulting RFID label stock or RFID tag stock may then be overprinted with text and/or graphics, die-cut into specific shapes and sizes into rolls of continuous labels, or sheets of single or multiple labels, or rolls or sheets of tags.
In many RFID applications, it is desirable to reduce the size of the electrical components as small as possible. In order to interconnect very small chips with antennas in RFID inlays, it is known to use a structure variously called "interposers", "straps", and "carriers" to facilitate inlay manufacture. Interposers include conductive leads or pads that are electrically coupled to the contact pads of the chips for coupling to the antennas. These pads generally provide a larger effective electrical contact area than ICs precisely aligned for direct placement without an interposer. The larger area reduces the accuracy required for placement of ICs during manufacture while still providing effective electrical connection. IC placement and mounting are serious limitations for high-speed manufacture. The prior art discloses a variety of RFID interposer or strap structures, typically using a flexible substrate that carries the interposer's contact pads or leads.
As noted above, RFID transponders include both integrated circuits and antennas for providing radio frequency identification functionality. Interposers, on the other hand, include the integrated circuits but must be coupled to antennas in order to form complete RFID transponders. As used in the present patent application the term "device" refers both to an RFID transponder, and to an interposer that is intended to be incorporated in an RFID transponder.
RFID devices generally have a combination of antennas and analog and/or digital electronics, which may include for example communications electronics, data memory, and control logic. For example, RFID tags are used in conjunction with security-locks in cars, for access control to buildings, and for tracking inventory and parcels. Some examples of RFID tags and labels appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,107,920, 6,206,292, and 6,262,292, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
An RFID device may be affixed to an item whose presence is to be detected and/or monitored. The presence of an RFID device, and therefore the presence of the item to which the device is affixed, may be checked and monitored by devices known as "readers."
Typically, RFID devices are produced by patterning, etching or printing a conductor on a dielectric layer and coupling the conductor to a chip. As mentioned, pick and place techniques are often used for positioning a chip on the patterned conductor. Alternatively, a web containing a plurality of chips may be laminated to a web of printed conductor material. An example of such a process is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/805,938, filed on Mar. 22, 2004.
The chips may be coupled to the conductor by any of a variety of suitable connecting materials and/or methods, such as, for example, by use of a conductive or non-conductive adhesive, by use of thermoplastic bonding materials, by use of conductive inks, by use of welding and/or soldering, or by electroplating. Typically, the material used for mechanically and/or electrically coupling the chip to the conductor requires heat and/or pressure to form a final interconnect—a process, in the case of adhesives, known as curing. Conventional thermocompressive bonding methods typically use some form of press for directing pressure and heat, via conduction or convection, to an RFID device assembly or web of RFID device assemblies. For example, pressure and heat may be applied by compressing the RFID device assembly or web of RFID device assemblies between a pair of heating plates, and relying on conduction through the various media, including chip and antenna, to heat the connecting material. Alternatively, one of the heating plates may be equipped with pins for selectively applying pressure and/or heat to certain areas (e.g. only the chips), and again relying on conduction to heat the connecting material. Alternatively, and especially in the case of solder, an oven may be used wherein the whole assembly is held at elevated temperature and via convection the solder reflows. In the latter case, pressure may not be applied to the device.
However, conventional RFID inlay or interposer manufacturing techniques using flip-chip assembly are generally unable to produce devices at a rate fast enough to satisfy demand. Considerable effort is required to accurately align the chips with the antenna structures often limiting the rate at which devices may be produced. Further, conventional flip-chip manufacturing methods produce a device of varying thickness by placing the chip atop a substrate or other surface. Thus, the sides of the chips are generally exposed, making the device more vulnerable to damage. An ideal RFID tag or label would be very thin and also have a substantially uniform thickness. One of the problems with conventional RFID inlay and interposer manufacturing techniques, as well as the RFID devices themselves, is that the chip thickness is greater than the substrate thickness, frequently by a large factor. Placing the chip onto a film or web substrate creates a bump wherever the chip is located. Such a bump presents problems for printing equipment that may subsequently print text or graphics onto the label facestock. In the case of RFID labels or other devices that typically may be printed upon, the uneven surface of the device may interfere with the printing process causing distortion and/or printing errors.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a high-speed method of manufacturing electrical devices wherein the finished device has a relatively flat profile.
From the foregoing it will be seen there is room for improvement of RFID transponders and manufacturing processes relating thereto.

Electrical device and method of manufacturing electrical devices using film embossing techniques to embed integrated circuits into film


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a session management method and an apparatus. The method includes: receiving, by a first session management SM entity, first session context information from a second SM entity; further, generating, by the first SM entity, second session context information based on the first session context information; and sending the second session context information to a terminal. As can be learned, a session in a tracking area update procedure of the terminal is updated in a scenario in which an MM entity and an SM entity are separated.

As mobile communications technologies are upgraded, more innovative applications are provided for various industries, and mobile broadband, multimedia, machine type communication (MTC), industrial control, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) will become main use cases in the 5G era. To meet widely changing service requirements, a 5G network is to be constructed flexibly. A potential construction direction is network function separation, to be specific, a control plane (CP) function and a user plane UP function are separated, and a mobility management (MM) function and a session management SM function in a CP are separated. For example, a network slice technology in 5G is used to slice a physical network into a plurality of virtual end-to-end virtual networks (that is, network slices), and each network slice includes an independent network function or an instantiated function combination.
Usually, a network slice includes a control plane function (CPF) entity and a user plane function (UPF) entity. The CPF entity mainly performs mobility management (MM) functions such as device access authentication, security encryption, and location registration, and session management (SM) functions such as establishment, release, and modification of a user plane transmission path. The UPF function entity mainly performs functions such as routing and forwarding of user plane data. FIG. 1 is a schematic architectural diagram of a network slice. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of network slices (for ease of description, two network slices are used as an example in FIG. 1) share only some specific CPF function entities (for example, an MM entity), and each network slice has some independent CPF function entities (for example, an SM entity) and an independent UPF entity. In other words, the MM entity and the SM entity are separated.
However, an existing tracking area update procedure is applicable to only a scenario in which an MM entity and an SM entity are not separated (for example, the SM entity and the MM entity are integrated in a same network function node). How to perform a tracking area procedure (for example, session update) in a scenario in which an MM entity and an SM entity are separated is a technical problem that needs to be resolved in this application.


A condom comprising a continuous elastic tubular wall with a closed distal end and an open proximal end and further improving features. In one embodiment the condom further comprises a teat at the closed distal end, wherein the teat comprises a neck and a head, and wherein in use, the teat is retained partially or fully inside of the continuous elastic tubular wall, and the teat forms a chamber that is tillable with a fluid or phase change formulation which is released externally in use.

Condoms in the form of a sheath typically comprising a continuous elastic tubular wall with a closed distal end and an open proximal end, are worn over the penis to help prevent conception and pregnancy and/or transmission of sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, chlamydia infections, genital herpes and HIV, for example, during sexual intercourse. They can also be used as a hygiene barrier during use with novelty sexual lifestyle products or 'sex-toys'. Condoms are typically composed of thin elastomeric materials, such as natural rubber latex or synthetic polyisoprene, acting as a barrier membrane while for maintaining sensitivity, and sensation during intercourse. Risk slippage and/or breakage and/or tear in a condom during sexual intercourse presents a concern due to the nominal thickness, and nature of the condom design, materials and manufacturing process. Potential for slippage and/or breakage and transmission of disease and or STIs and/or bacteria can be significantly impacted by contributing factors such as incorrect fit, incorrect application and use, and poor lubrication. More broadly the decision to use, or not use a condom can be significantly impacted by a range of factors including multisensory appeal, product accessibility, usability, social and societal influences, education and information, gender bias, and cultural issues. In retail-led markets users typically have access to a wide range of options to suit personal technical and sensory preference. However in some distribution scenarios the range of options may be limited, for example in vending machines, and some developed and developing country healthcare distribution frameworks, and therefore it is recognized as advantageous if an improved universal condom product is available.
Generally, condoms are manufactured during a dipping process, whereby an appropriately dimensioned and feature-embossed/de-bossed mandrel or mould former is dipped into a latex rubber, or alternative suitable material, emulsion, for example, formulated with complimentary additives such as curing agents, antioxidants, accelerators, odour masking scent or flavours to assist with the development of required properties and specification.
Once coated with the emulsion, the mould former is withdrawn, sometimes re-dipped a number of further times, and typically dried and cured to achieve the desired physical properties. Other additional or integrated processes may take place to add features such as ribs and dots. The cured condom is then stripped from the mandrel and rolled into a toroidal configuration. Other complementary processes such as washing, powdering, lubricating and testing also take place prior to packing. The condom may be restrained and contained in a number of typically oval or toroidal shapes in final packaging.
In use, the condom is operated typically by squeezing a formed teat at the closed distal end, to remove air and provide a handling point from which to unroll it down the longitudinal axis of the penis, or novelty lifestyle device.
The mechanical properties of condoms typically have to balance a number of competing and complementary functional and multi-sensory attributes. In particular the ability to achieve manufacturing consistency, barrier integrity, shelf life, material type, material thickness, surface texture, smell, feel, sound, and level of lubrication, among others to meet some specific requirements of condom standard(s) and certain other manufacturing specifications.
Changes in each of these specification parameters may impact on increasing or lessening risk of sheath integrity, and potential damage, slippage and/or breakage.
Changes in these parameters also impact on perceived fit and sensation—for example increasing of material wall thickness is widely believed to be correlated directly to a perception of reduced sensation, and in some design embodiments a less accommodating fit. Changes to design embodiment may also contribute to correct or incorrect use, such as incorrect orientation and operation of the rolled condom.
It is known in the art to include texture in the form of ribs or other projections along internal or external surfaces of a condom for the purpose of enhancing tactile sensation and stimulation of the male and female during sexual intercourse. Typically, the ribs or projections are integrally formed on a surface of the condom during the dipping process by embossed or debossed features resulting from respective grooves, notches or protrusions created in the surface of the mould former.
It is also known in the art to have a circumferential bead that is thicker in cross section than the general thickness of the sheath at the proximal opening, an intended consequence of the mould former stripping process during manufacture, which creates a locally thicker circular bead that helps with rolling the sheath prior to packaging, and provides a tighter barrier to potential of leakage of ejaculate and reduces risk of slippage during use.
A problem to be overcome in designing and manufacturing ribbed/textured condoms, and condoms with a thicker bead or rim at the open proximal end, is to avoid discomfort caused by localised circumferential bead tension, particularly apparent in an incorrectly fitting condom, while reducing potential for slippage and breakage during use, and unwanted conception and transmission of STIs'.
It is a challenge in free healthcare distribution channels (operating in both developed markets through sexual health clinics, doctors surgeries, and in developing markets, through NGOs, health charities and other healthcare, education and outreach organisations), and to a lesser extent in the retail market, that available products generally follow the median or 'universal' model for nominal technical attributes (such as fit, and preferential attributes such as surface feature, and lubrication type) which means that through drives for commercial, supply chain, retail, and distribution efficiency, choice of solutions to meet preference and anatomical distribution is typically limited. This may lead to unintended practical consequences such as discomfort and poor fit, which may result in behavioural consequences such as incorrect use, or future rejection, with resulting potential for increased incidence of unwanted conception and transmission of STIs.
Background prior art can be found in US2016/0038334 A1; WO2014/041534 A1; US2016/0250064 A; WO2015/168722 A1; CN103096847 A; US2016/0220412 A1; U.S. Pat. No. 9,351,866 B1; WO2016/055673 A1; WO2016/043532 A1; WO2015/174712 A1; GB2524398 A; US2015/0047645 A1; WO2014/116752 A1; 202014/058930 A1; DE20 2013 009 517 U1; US2014/0076329 A1; WO2011/159399; US2013/0174852 A1; U.S. Pat. No. 8,651,110 B2; US2013/0104904 A1; US2013/0014764 A1; CA2700856 A1; US2016/0220412 A1; CN102488584 A; CN202173498 U; CN202060947 U; CN201248795 Y; CN201208328 Y; CN201157441 Y; US2004/0099274 A1; US2002/0189619 A1; U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,600; CN201157440 Y; U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,586,674; 4,881,553; IL108,250; EP0,728,453; EP0,809,989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,364; CN1,174,019; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,885,205; 6,569,083; US2004/194,786; U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,852; KR2003/0,040,750; U.S. Pat. No. 8,491,461; CN202173498; CN202184840; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,513,652; 5,622,186; WO97/32549; AU5,719,796; U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,149; WO97/34551; AU5,700,096; GB1,400,332; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,871; 6,321,751; 6,308,708; RU2,337,650; CN202654287; JPH08/299,375; CA2,170,109; CA2,171,783; U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,434,581; 5,513,652; 6,389,602; EP1,027,381; US2013/316,107; U.S. Pat. No. 8,869,799 B1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,536,438, 5,477,865, WO2002/100294 A2; U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,667.
It would therefore be a significant advance in the art of prophylactic devices to develop a condom which provides enhanced sensation to both the male and female partner while providing improved universality of fit, improved comfort, and responds to a number of the use conditions that can increase the risk of incorrect use, and barrier integrity breach, including through slippage and breakage.


The invention relates to a novel substance with activity against insect pests of the order Diptera. The invention further relates to the substance which acts together with a Bacillus related pesticide, a chemical pesticide and/or a virus with pesticidal properties. The invention further relates to a novel strain(s) of Bacillus thuringiensis which produces such a substance. The invention further relates to pesticidal compositions comprising the substance and a pesticidal carrier, or the substance and a Bacillus related pesticide, a chemical pesticide and/or a virus with pesticidal properties as well as methods of using the pesticidal compositions to control a pest.

Every year, pests detrimental to agriculture, forestry, and public health cause losses in the millions of dollars. Various strategies have been used to control such pests.
One strategy is the use of chemical pesticides with a broad range or spectrum of activity. However, there are a number of disadvantages with using chemical pesticides. Specifically, because of their broad spectrum of activity, these pesticides may destroy non-target organisms such as beneficial insects and parasites of destructive pests. Additionally, chemical pesticides are frequently toxic to animals and humans. Furthermore, targeted pests frequently develop resistance when repeatedly exposed to such substances.
Another strategy involves the use of biopesticides to control insect, fungal and weed infestations. Biopesticides are naturally occurring pathogens and/or the substances produced by these pathogens. The advantage of using biopesticides is that they are generally less harmful to non-target organisms and the environment as a whole compared to chemical pesticides.
The most widely used biopesticide is Bacillus thuringiensis. Bacillus thuringiensis is a motile, rod-shaped, gram-positive bacterium that is widely distributed in nature, especially in soil and insect-rich environments. During sporulation, Bacillus thuringiensis produces a parasporal crystal inclusion(s) which is insecticidal upon ingestion to susceptible insect larvae of the orders Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera. The inclusions may vary in shape, number, and composition. They are comprised of one or more proteins called delta-endotoxins, which may range in size from 27-140 kDa. The insecticidal delta-endotoxins are generally converted by proteases in the larval gut into smaller (truncated) toxic polypeptides, causing midgut destruction, and ultimately, death of the insect (Hofte and Whiteley, 1989, Microbiological Reviews 53:242-255).
There are several Bacillus thuringiensis strains that are widely used as biopesticides in the forestry, agricultural, and public health areas. Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai produce delta-endotoxins specific for Lepidoptera. A delta-endotoxin specific for Coleoptera is produced by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis (Krieg et al., 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,203). Furthermore, Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis produces delta-endotoxins specific for Diptera (Goldberg, 1979, U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,112).
Other Bacillus thuringiensis strains specific for dipteran pests have also been described. A Bacillus thuringiensis isolate has been disclosed which is toxic to Diptera and Lepidoptera (Hodgman et al., 1993, FEMS Microbiology Letters 114:17-22). Sodium dodecyl polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified crystal delta-endotoxin from this isolate revealed three protein species which are related to CryIA(b), CryIB, and CryIIA toxins. There has also been disclosed a Bacillus thuringiensis isolate which produces a dipteran-active crystal comprised of proteins with molecular weights of 140, 122, 76, 72, and 38 kDa (Payne, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,815). EPO 480,762 discloses five B.t. strains which are each active against dipteran pests; each also have a unique crystal delta-endotoxin pattern.
Several Bacillus thuringiensis strains have been described which have pesticidal activity against pests other then Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera. Five Bacillus thuringiensis strains have been disclosed which produce delta-endotoxins that are toxic against nematodes (Edwards, Payne, and Soares, 1988, Eur. Pat. Appl. No. 0 303 426 B1). There has also been disclosed a Bacillus thuringiensis strain, PS81F, which can be used to treat humans and animals hosting parasitic protozoans (Thompson and Gaertner, 1991, Eur. Pat. Appl. No. 0 461 799 A2). Several Bacillus thuringiensis isolates have also been disclosed with activity against acaride pests. These isolates produce crystals comprised of proteins with molecular weights in the (wide) range of 35 kDa to 155 kDa (Payne, Cannon, and Bagley, 1992, PCT Application No. WO 92/19106). There have also been disclosed Bacillus thuringiensis strains with activity against pests of the order Hymenoptera (Payne, Kennedy, Randall, Meier, and Uick, 1992, Eur. Pat. Appl. No. 0 516 306 A2); with activity against pests of the order Hemiptera (Payne and Cannon, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,159); with activity against fluke pests (Hickle, Sick, Schwab, Narva, and Payne, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,399; and with activity against pests of the order Phthiraptera (Payne and Hickle, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,746). Furthermore, another strain of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki, WB3S-16, isolated from Australian sheep wool clippings, has been disclosed that is toxic to the biting louse Damalinia ovis, a Phthiraptera pest (Drummond, Miller, and Pinnock, 1992, J. Invert. Path. 60:102-103).
The delta-endotoxins are encoded by cry (crystal protein) genes which are generally located on plasmids. The cry genes have been divided into six classes and several subclasses based on relative amino acid homology and pesticidal specificity. The major classes are Lepidoptera-specific (cryI); Lepidoptera-and Diptera-specific (cryII); Coleoptera-specific (cryIII); Diptera-specific (cryIV) (Hofte and Whiteley, 1989, Microbiological Reviews 53:242-255); Coleoptera- and Lepidoptera-specific (referred to as cryV genes by Tailor et al., 1992, Molecular Microbiology 6:1211-1217); and Nematode-specific (referred to as cryV and cryVI genes by Feitelson et al., 1992, Bio/Technology 10:271-275).
Delta-endotoxins have been produced by recombinant DNA methods. The delta-endotoxins produced by recombinant DNA methods may or may not be in crystal form.
Some strains of Bacillus thuringiensis have been shown to produce a heat-stable pesticidal adenine-nucleotide analog, known as .beta.-exotoxin type I or thuringiensin, which is pesticidal alone (Sebesta et al., in H. D. Burges (ed.), Microbial Control of Pests and Plant Diseases, Academic Press, New York, 1980, pp. 249-281). .beta.-exotoxin type I has been found in the supernatant of some Bacillus thuringiensis cultures. It has a molecular weight of 701 and is comprised of adenosine, glucose, and allaric acid (Farkas et al., 1977, Coll. Czechosslovak Chem. Comm. 42:909-929; Luthy et al., in Kurstak (ed.), Microbial and Viral Pesticides, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1982, pp. 35-72). Its host range includes, but is not limited to, Musca domestica, Mamestra configurata Walker, Tetranychus urticae, Drosophila melanogaster; and Tetranychus cinnabarinus. The toxicity of .beta.-exotoxin type I is thought to be due to inhibition of DNA-directed RNA polymerase by competition with ATP. It has been shown that .beta.-exotoxin type I is encoded by a cry plasmid in five Bacillus thuringiensis strains (Levinson et al., 1990, J. Bacteriol. 172:3172-3179). .beta.-exotoxin type I was found to be produced by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. thuringiensis serotype 1, Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tolworthi serotype 9, and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. darmstadiensis serotype 10.
Another .beta.-exotoxin classified as .beta.-exotoxin type II has been described (Levinson et al., 1990, J. Bacteriol. 172:3172-3179). .beta.-exotoxin type II was found to be produced by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. morrisoni serotype 8ab and is active against Leptinotarsa decemlineata. The structure of .beta.-exotoxin type II is not completely known, but is significantly different from that of .beta.-exotoxin type I in that a pseudouridine moiety is in the place of adenine in which attachment to the ribose ring is at a position that would otherwise be occupied by a proton (Levinson, in Hickle and Finch (eds.), Analytical Chemistry of Bacillus thuringiensis, ACS Symposium Series, Washington, D.C., 1990, pp. 114-136). Furthermore, there is only one signal in the proton NMR spectrum corresponding to the nucleoside base (at 7.95 ppm), and does not have a ribose-type anomeric protein signal (5.78 ppm).
Other water soluble substances that have been isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis include alpha-exotoxin which is toxic against the larvae of Musca domestica (Luthy, 1980, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 8:1-7); gamma-exotoxins, which are various enzymes including lecithinases, chitinases, and proteases, the toxic effects of which are expressed only in combination with beta-exotoxin or delta-endotoxin (Forsberg et al., 1976, Bacillus thuringiensis: Its Effects on Environmental Quality, National Research Council of Canada, NRC Associate Committee on Scientific Criteria for Environmental Quality, Subcomittees on Pesticides and Related Compounds and Biological Phenomena); sigma exotoxin which has a structure similar to beta-exotoxin, and is also active against Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Argauer et al., 1991, J. Entomol. Sci. 26:206-213); and anhydrothuringiensin (Prystas et al., 1975, Coll. Czechosslovak Chem. Comm. 40:1775).
WO 94/09630 discloses a factor that potentiates the pesticidal activity of B.t.. This factor is obtained from the supernatant of a B.t. culture.
The art has strived to improve the effectiveness and to broaden the host range of Bacillus thuringiensis. Means have included isolating Bacillus thuringiensis strains with improved or new pesticidal activity, engineering present Bacillus thuringiensis strains, and designing more effective formulations by combining Bacillus thuringiensis crystal delta-endotoxins and spores with new pesticidal carriers or with chemical pesticides.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel substance with activity against pests of the order Diptera.
It is also an object of the present invention to improve the pesticidal activity of known Bacillus thuringiensis formulations.
It is a further object of the present invention to enhance the pesticidal activity of pesticides.
It is advantageous to isolate new strains of Bacillus thuringiensis to produce new substances, so there exists a broader spectrum of biopesticides for use against any given insect pest.