An underwater vehicle having a hovering system using a tube type launcher. The underwater vehicle includes a streamlined body and a hovering system connected to a rear of the streamlined body to generate a kinetic force of the streamlined body. The hovering system includes an extension shaft extended to be connected to the rear, a connection assembly connected to the rear through the extension shaft, and an auxiliary propeller assembly connected to the connection assembly.

FIG. 1 illustrates a layout view of a tube type launcher for launching a small underwater vehicle such as a torpedo decoy from an underwater platform such as a submarine. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a starboard launcher illustrated in FIG. 1. Underwater vehicles such as torpedoes, torpedo decoys, and unmanned submarines mostly take a dolphin-shaped streamlined structure, that is, a torpedo-shaped structure, to reduce fluid resistance in the water. A launching device (launcher) for such a torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle takes a tube type launcher shape of a cylindrical structure.
FIG. 3 is a layout view of the tube type launcher illustrated in FIG. 1. A tube type launcher 330 uses a compressed air type launch method using a piston 320 or a ram piston type launch method using seawater, or takes a gas injection type launch method to improve the launch pressure. In the water 30, a launcher of an underwater vehicle 300, such as a torpedo or an unmanned submarine, usually employs a tube type launcher of the piston launch method. The underwater vehicle using the above-mentioned launcher is connected to a pressure head (pressure transmission unit) 310 that receives pressure transmitted from the piston of the launcher.
FIG. 4 illustrates a shape of a propeller unit of an underwater vehicle that includes a main propeller 410, a control rudder 430, and a stabilizing pin 420 to generate the kinetic force (propulsion force and control force) of a small underwater vehicle launched from a general tube type launcher. For an underwater vehicle 400 which is to be launched from the tube type launcher, in order to be mounted on the cylinder shaped launcher, a structure is not attached to the body thereof, and the control rudder and the propeller for generating the kinetic force of the underwater vehicle are attached to the tail part of the streamlined body 400.
FIG. 5 is an experimental result graph showing a fluid flow (flow characteristics) around the underwater vehicle illustrated in FIG. 4. For the underwater vehicle which is to be launched from the tube type launcher, in order to be mounted on the cylinder shaped launcher, a structure is not attached to the body thereof, and the control rudder and the propeller for generating the kinetic force of the underwater vehicle are attached to the tail part of the streamlined body.
In order to generate the kinetic force of an underwater vehicle of the torpedo shape, a propulsion force of a certain speed or higher has to be generated in the propeller. When a fluid flow (flow) is formed around the body of the underwater vehicle by the propulsion force of a certain speed or higher, drag (control force) that resist the flow is generated by operating the control rudder attached to the vehicle, which makes it possible to control the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle.
For the torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle, when the flow is not formed around the control rudder due to the low speed or the small size of the control rudder, it is difficult to control the direction of the vehicle, and thus, the underwater vehicle usually travels in the water at a certain speed or higher (vehicle speed) to obtain the control force.
In addition, for the torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle, most of the control rudders are arranged in the propeller unit at the rear of the vehicle, and accordingly, the height of the control rudder is usually adjusted depending on the radius of the vehicle. For a small underwater vehicle such as a torpedo decoy for submarines, the diameter of the vehicle is usually small, about 100 to 200 mm. Accordingly, the height of the control rudder has a small size of about 20 to 30 mm. As a result, for the small underwater vehicle ejected from the tube type launcher, such as the torpedo decoy for submarines, high-speed travelling of 15 kts (about 30 km/h) or more is usually conducted to obtain adequate control force.
In addition, since a small underwater vehicle using a tube type launcher needs to perform high-speed travelling in order to obtain the control force for the underwater movement, missions of low-speed travelling of 10 kts or less are very limited in execution, and propulsion energy source such as a battery is quickly lost due to high-speed travelling, which may result in a problem of short operating time of the vehicle. As a result, the small underwater vehicle using the tube type launcher has very limited mission performance due to problems of traveling speed and/or operating time.

Small underwater vehicle having a hovering system using the tube type launcher and method for assembling the same


A method is provided for initializing an analyte sensor, such as a glucose sensor. Where a sensor has been disconnected and reconnected, a disconnection time is determined and a sensor initialization protocol is selected based upon the disconnection time. The sensor initialization protocol may include applying a first series of voltage pulses to the sensor. A method for detecting hydration of a sensor is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
Analyte sensors (e.g. glucose sensors used in the management of diabetes) and methods and materials for making and using such sensors.
2. Description of Related Art
Analyte sensors such as biosensors include devices that use biological elements to convert a chemical analyte in a matrix into a detectable signal. There are many types of biosensors used for a wide variety of analytes. The most studied type of biosensor is the amperometric glucose sensor, which is crucial to the successful glucose level control for diabetes.
A typical glucose sensor works according to the following chemical reactions:
The glucose oxidase is used to catalyze the reaction between glucose and oxygen to yield gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide (equation 1). The H2O2 reacts electrochemically as shown in equation 2, and the current can be measured by a potentiostat. These reactions, which occur in a variety of oxidoreductases known in the art, are used in a number of amperometric sensor designs.
As analyte sensor technology matures and new applications for sensor technology are developed, there is a need for methods and materials that facilitate the use of sensors in new technological applications. For example, hospitals increasingly use continuous glucose sensors to monitor patent physiology, for example in ICU environments. In such hospital environments, situations arise where a sensor must be disconnected from, and reconnected to, sensor electronics, for example, when a patient needs to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure. Because processors are incompatible with MRI, the sensor electronics need to be disconnected from the sensor until the MRI is completed.
In conventional sensor setups, if a sensor is disconnected from and then reconnected to sensor electronics, there is a significant delay before the sensor becomes stabilized enough to start sensing again. The delay can last from several minutes to a couple of hours, thereby complicating care in clinical settings. In addition, in individuals using analyte sensors in non-hospital settings (e.g. diabetics using glucose sensors to manage their disease), relatively long sensor initialization and/or start-up periods following sensor implantation can be problematical due to both the inconvenience to the user as well as the delayed receipt of information relating to user health. Because many diabetics do not have medical training, they may forgo optimal monitoring and modulation of blood glucose levels due to complexities associated with such management, for example, a two hour start-up period which can be an inconvenience in view of a patient's active daily routine.
For the above-noted reasons, methods and sensor systems that are designed to reduce sensor initialization and/or start-up times in are desirable.

Methods and systems for optimizing sensor function by the application of voltage


An electrical connector assembly that includes a lug connector having a flat end with a flat end connector and a barreled end having a barrel connector and an angle connector that includes a body having a male pin and a compression fitting. The male pin is rotatably inserted into the barrel connector. After the orientation of the angle connector is selected, the barrel connector is compressed to mechanically and electrically engage the first male pin. The compression fittings of the angle connector can be sized to connect wires or cables from #8 AWG to 3000 kcmil in size. In preferred embodiments, the flat end and the barreled end of the lug connector are angularly disposed to each other and form an angle of between 60 and 150 degrees.

The present invention relates to connectors for heavy gauge wires and cables that are used when a confined space does not easily allow the wires/cables to be bent. The angle connectors of the present invention combine angle connectors with a variety of different lug connectors to allow wire/cable bends to be made in various orientations when space is limited.
When installing heavy gauge wires/cables, it is often necessary to bend the wires/cables to make a connection. However, the physical characteristics of heavy gauge wires/cables limit the radius of the bend that can be made. In some cases, lug connectors (also sometimes referred to as flag connectors) are used to make tight bends with heavy gauge wires/cables that cannot be easily bent. U.S. Pat. No. D302,542 to O'Loughlin and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,538 to O'Loughlin et al. provide examples of different lug connectors that are presently in use. (Both of these patents are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.) The drawback of these connectors is that they have a fixed orientation and can only accommodate wires/cables coming from a limited number of different directions. Accordingly, there is a need for a more flexible lug-type connector that can connect wires/cables that are oriented over a 360 degree range and at different angles to each other.

Compression quick connect/disconnect rotating lug terminal


A strain gauge includes a flexible substrate; a functional layer formed of a metal, an alloy, or a metal compound, on one surface of the substrate; a resistor formed of a Cr composite film, on one surface of the functional layer; and an insulating resin layer with which the resistor is coated.

A strain gauge is known to be attached to a measured object to detect strain of the measured object. The strain gauge includes a resistor that detects strain, and as resistor material, for example, material including Cr (chromium) or Ni (nickel) is used. The resistor is formed on a substrate made of, for example, an insulating resin (see, for example, Patent document 1).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Provided are an image encoding method and apparatus, and an image decoding method and apparatus. The image encoding method includes: obtaining a variation of a motion estimation error with respect to a homogeneity degree of a motion vector according to mergence, based on a motion vector of each of merged blocks obtained by merging adjacent blocks, motion vectors of the adjacent blocks included in each of the merged blocks, and motion vectors of neighboring blocks of each of the merged blocks; and determining, based on the obtained variation, a merged block having a smallest variation from among the merged blocks and whether to merge the adjacent blocks included in the determined merged block.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to encoding and decoding of an image, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for encoding an image and a method and apparatus for decoding an image by using a motion vector of a merged block obtained by merging blocks. Also, exemplary embodiments relate to a method and apparatus for encoding an image and a method and apparatus for decoding an image by splitting an image in units of objects, and performing motion estimation and compensation in the units of objects.
2. Related Art
In an image compression method, such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or H.264/MPEG-4 advanced video coding (AVC), an image is split into several regions (pixel groups) for precise motion estimation, and a motion vector is estimated for each region. A block matching algorithm (BMA) method that is most widely used defines a pixel group in a block shape with respect to a current frame, and estimates a motion vector in units of blocks by searching a previous frame for a most similar block of each block.
Since a motion estimation method, such as a BMA, estimates a motion vector that minimizes a sum of absolute difference (SAD), it is highly likely that actual motion of an object in an image is not accurately estimated. For example, while motion-estimating a block included in a homogeneous object, since it is highly likely that a plurality of blocks similar to a block that is motion-estimated may exist in a previous frame, a motion vector may not accurately reflect actual motion of an object.
Also, since motion estimation is performed in units of blocks having a predetermined size without considering an object included in an image, accuracy and precision of the motion estimation may decrease. For example, since a plurality of regions similar to a block may exist in a previous frame when a size of the block is small compared to an object, a motion vector that is not an actual motion vector may be selected as a final motion vector. Alternatively, when a size of a block is larger than an object, motion estimation may be wrongly performed since the block may include not only pixels of the object but also pixels of a background region.

Image encoding method and apparatus and image decoding method and apparatus based on motion vector normalization

KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


An industrial controller comprises a processing component and a memory that comprises logic code that is executable by the processing component. The memory further comprises documentation associated with the logic code and other control components, wherein the documentation is stored in a native form to enable individualized access to a portion of the documentation to an accessing entity. For example, the documentation can comprise one or more of descriptive text relating to a rung of ladder logic, a text box associated with a portion of the sequential function chart, a text box associated with a function block diagram, and embedded descriptive text within structured text.

Industrial controllers are special-purpose computing devices utilized to automate real-world tasks with precision and efficiency. For instance, industrial controllers are utilized on manufacturing lines to aid in creation and packaging of a product. For example, industrial controllers are utilized in the manufacture of automobiles, creation of consumables (such as pharmaceuticals, food products, etc.), bottling of beverages, and any other suitable manufacturing task. To effectuate automation of such tasks, controllers are designed to receive input from sensors that are communicatively coupled to thereto and drive actuators that are also communicatively coupled thereto. More particularly, an industrial controller executes application specific code that is contained therein, wherein decisions are made based upon contents of the code as well as status of sensors and actuators coupled to the controller. Due to time-sensitivity associated with many manufacturing environments, industrial controllers can monitor sensors, scan code, and drive actuators quite expediently (e.g., near real-time).
As stated above, an industrial controller must be associated with code that causes the controller to act in a desirable manner given certain sensor and/or actuator states. Conventionally, such application code is written by a programmer and stored within a project file on a computer. The project file includes control system hardware configuration, definitions for data variables, and executable code. In order to simplify the management of the executable code the project file generally provides a facility to break the code into smaller more manageable components and provide a scheduling mechanism to determine when each module of code is to be executed by the controller. Throughout the project the programmer can associate text or description with various project components. For example, a project to be executed within an industrial controller can include numerous data variables, I/O modules, tasks, programs, routines, instructions and the like, and descriptive text can be associated with each of the aforementioned components, such that a programmer or user who later reviews the project can determine what a portion of the project is for and how such portion is operating.
Conventionally, the descriptive text is retained within a project file on a personal computer. When it is desirable for the project to execute within the controller, the personal computer can be coupled to the industrial controller by way of any suitable communications link, and the personal computer undertakes process of compiling, linking, and loading the project's hardware configuration, data variable definitions and source code onto the controller. If a programmer does not have the project file at hand, the controller's contents can be uploaded from the controller; however, the resulting uploaded project does not include data variable names, description regarding functionality, and/or other important descriptive information. In other words, a project without descriptive information can be so cryptic that it is not readily comprehendible by a programmer.

Natively retaining project documentation in a controller


A combined cold plate for RF shield is optimized both for cooling a device and also for shielding it against RF. One embodiment uses a two-part material so that it has improved thermal characteristics from one part and RF shielding characteristics from another part.

A radiation imaging system may detect and image radiation that has interacted with a body, e.g., a human body in some way. Different kinds of radiation imaging systems are known, including systems that produce an image indicative of radiation that has been transmitted through an object, and other systems that detect radiation that is emitted from an object.
An image of the distribution of radiation absorption is obtained. That image represents information about the inside of a body that has absorbed radiation. A typical tactic may focus the radiation e.g. through a collimator array; use the radiation to induce a scintillator to emit light based on the radiation (e.g. gamma ray) particles which are received, and use a photoreceptor, e.g. photodiodes, to sense the emitted light and produce electrical signals indicative thereof.
Very often, the intensity of the radiation may be very low, and the signal-to-noise ratio becomes extremely important.

Combined cold plate and radiation shield


The disclosure provides a forming machine without pattern casting, including: a multi-axis motion system; a cutting system, connected with the multi-axis motion system; a driving system, driving the multi-axis motion system to move; and a machining base, wherein the machining base includes a fixing seat and a turnover mechanism, wherein the turnover mechanism is revolvably connected with the fixing seat. Since the forming machine without pattern casting of the disclosure adopts a tilting type and needs no working platform, most of the waste sand grains generated from cutting fall freely into the shakeout groove arranged below the fixing seat, and will not fly into the multi-axis motion system, and will not cause stop failure; thus the precision and service life of the forming machine without pattern casting are improved.

Traditional casting manufacturing process has disadvantages of long manufacturing cycle, high production cost and large consumption of resources. However, non-mold mould numerical control machining forming technology solves these problems.
The non-mold mould numerical control machining forming technology, which systematically integrates Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology, casting technology, numerical control technology, cutting technology and other technologies, is a brand new fast mould manufacturing technology. A forming machine without pattern casting employing this technology might process a sand billet to make various shapes of casting sand moulds without using a mould, and thus provides a new carrier for the trail production of single-piece or small-batch castings. The application of this device also can shorten production cycle and improve production efficiency, thus this device is particularly suitable for the machining of small-batch complex moulds.
Existing forming machine without pattern casting consists of a multi-axis (three axes or more) motion system, a general or special sand mould machining tool system, a sand discharging system main body and a special control software matched with a sand module cutting process. After a sand billet is fixed on this forming machine, the sand billet can be machined from a single side only; if the sand billet needs multi-side machining, the sand billet must be turned over for several times and then fixed; in this way, several times of positioning must lead to an error and finally seriously impact the machining quality of the casting sand mould. In addition, since the three-axis motion system of the device is arranged above a machining working platform, small part of sand grains generated from cutting can not be shielded by a baffle and are easy to enter the motion system, thereby causing the problem of waste sand contamination, even failure stop, and reducing the service life of the machine tool.

ADVANCED MANUFACTURE TECHNOLOGY CENTER, CHINA ACADEMY OF MACHINERY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY


Methods and systems are provided for producing a desired xylene isomer. The method includes adsorbing the desired xylene isomer from a mixed xylene stream in an adsorbent chamber. The desired xylene isomer is desorbed with a desorbent to produce an extract stream with the desired xylene isomer and the desorbent, where the desorbent has a lower boiling point than the desired xylene isomer. The extract stream is fractionated in an extract fractionator to produce a low pressure extract overhead stream with gaseous desorbent. The low pressure extract overhead stream is pressurized to produce a high pressure extract overhead stream with a temperature greater than an extract reboiler temperature. The high pressure extract overhead stream is condensed in an extract process reboiler, and produces a liquid extract overhead stream.

Xylene isomers are important intermediates in chemical syntheses, and specific xylene isomers are desired for different processes. Paraxylene is a feedstock for terephthalic acid, and terephthalic acid is used in the manufacture of synthetic fibers and resins. Metaxylene is used in the manufacture of certain plasticizers, azo dyes, and wood preservatives. Orthoxylene is a feedstock for phthalic anhydride production, and phthalic anhydride is used in the manufacture of certain plasticizers, dyes, and pharmaceutical products.
Desired xylene isomers typically are separated from mixed xylene streams by using an adsorbent selective to the desired isomer. The desired isomer is adsorbed, and the remaining isomers are discharged in a mixed raffinate stream. A desorbent is then used to desorb the desired xylene isomer, and the desorbent and desired xylene isomer are collected and separated by distillation (also referred to as fractionation). The desorbents are typically referred to as either heavy or light, where a heavy desorbent has a higher molecular weight and a higher boiling point than xylene and a light desorbent has a lower molecular weight and a lower boiling point than xylene. Xylene isomer recovery systems with heavy desorbents tend to use less energy than systems with light desorbents, because the desorbent does not need to be repeatedly evaporated and lifted in the fractionation step. However, heavy desorbent systems require stringent feed purity to control accumulation of undesired compounds in the recycled desorbent. The undesired compounds are impurities that reduce the desorbent effectiveness and product purity. Additional equipment is needed to maintain the heavy desorbent purity during the desorbent recycling process. The distillation columns in heavy desorbent systems have higher reboiler temperatures, which leads to higher operating pressures. The higher operating pressures require higher pressure ratings for the equipment involved, which increase the equipment capital cost.
A light desorbent system allows a relaxed feed specification relative to a heavy desorbent system. This helps to offset the increased energy costs associated with recovering light desorbent as a distillation column overhead stream. The light desorbent systems also provide substantial savings in the total equipment count for xylene recovery systems, because the additional equipment for purifying and storing the desorbent is not needed. The light desorbent xylene recovery systems also have lower distillation column operating pressures, so thinner shell thicknesses and lower pressure ratings can be used to further reduce capital costs for installing new systems. Toluene is one example of a light desorbent that can be used, and toluene is less expensive than many of the heavy desorbents available.
Energy is required to evaporate the light desorbent during distillation. Fuel is typically burned to provide the heat energy for operating the distillation columns, but in some embodiments, electrical power is less expensive than heat produced by combusting fuel. Electrical energy can be used for evaporating the light desorbent in the distillation reboiler by using a heat pump to recover heat from the overhead stream. The heat pump transfers some of the energy for distillation from the burning of fuel to the use of electrical power.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop methods and systems for producing desired xylene isomers from mixed xylene streams using a heat pump to recover energy from the distillation column overheads. In addition, it is desirable to develop methods and systems for producing desired xylene isomers while minimizing the burning of fuel for energy. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present embodiment will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

Systems and methods for producing desired xylene isomers


A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode containing a positive electrode active material; a negative electrode containing a negative electrode active material; and a non-aqueous electrolyte containing a non-aqueous solvent and an electrolyte salt. In order to improve the high-temperature storage characteristics and safety against overcharge due to high-rate charging of the battery, the positive electrode active material contains a layered lithium-transition metal composite oxide containing at least one of Mg, Al, Ti, and Zr. Furthermore, the non-aqueous electrolyte contains 3 to 80% by mass of a tertiary carboxylic acid ester expressed by Chemical Formula 2 below, based on the total mass of the non-aqueous solvent:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries having excellent high-temperature storage characteristics, high overcharge safety, and other advantageous characteristics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries have been widely used as the driving power sources of portable devices because of their high energy density and high capacity. In recent years, such batteries have also been used as the driving power sources of electric tools, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and the like. In such uses, non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries are likely to be used and stored in a hot environment and to be charged at a high rate. Therefore, these batteries are required to have excellent high-temperature storage characteristics and to ensure safety against overcharge due to high-rate charging.
Conventional non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries use as a positive electrode active material a lithium-cobalt composite oxide (a lithium cobalt oxide). The use of the lithium-cobalt composite oxide, however, has a problem that a non-aqueous solvent reacts with the positive electrode and is decomposed to generate gas, thereby reducing the safety of the battery. To solve this problem, a different element (such as Zr or Mg) is added to the lithium-cobalt composite oxide so as to improve the structure stability of the positive electrode active material. This technique, however, is not enough to solve the problem.
Such conventional techniques related to non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries are disclosed in the following Patent Documents 1 to 5.
Patent Document 1: WO05/048391
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2004-220952
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2005-340080
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2006-32301
Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2006-100262
The technique of Patent Document 1 uses a non-aqueous solvent containing a cyclic carbonate compound, a chain carbonate compound, or a cyclohexylbenzene compound in which one or two halogen atoms are bonded to a benzene ring. Patent Document 1 says this technique provides a battery having high overcharge safety and excellent cycle characteristics.
The technique of Patent Document 2 uses as a positive electrode active material a composite oxide expressed by LizCO1-x-yMgxMyO2 where M is at least one of Al, Ti, Sr, Mn, Ni, and Ca. Patent Document 2 says this technique provides a battery having excellent heat resistance during overcharge.
The technique of Patent Document 3 uses a non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing a compound expressed by Chemical Formula 1 below. Patent Document 3 says this technique provides a battery excellent in cycle characteristics, capacitance, and storage characteristics.

where R1 and R2 are independent of each other and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms and being able to be branched; R3 and R4 each represents either a non-substituted methylene group or a methylene group containing an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms; and X represents a vinylene group, a 2-butenylene group, or a 1,3-butadienylene group.
The technique of Patent Document 4 uses a non-aqueous solvent containing a carboxylic acid ester or a ketone in which a third alkyl group is directly bonded to a carbonyl group. Patent Document 4 says this technique provides a battery having excellent cycle characteristics.
The technique of Patent Document 5 uses a non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing a hydrogenated terphenyl. Patent Document 5 says this technique provides a battery having high safety against overcharge.
All these techniques, however, are still not sufficient in high-temperature storage characteristics or safety against overcharge due to high-rate charging.

Non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery

Abstract: where R1 to R4 are independent of each other and each represents an alkyl group having 4 or less carbon atoms and being able to be branched.


Pixel electrodes each include a pixel plane portion expanded along a surface of the substrate, and a pixel wall portion rising up from the pixel plane portion. Common electrodes each include a common plane portion expanded along a surface of the substrate, and a common wall portion rising up from the common plane portion so as to face the pixel wall portion. Each of the compartment areas has the pixel wall portion on one of right and left sides in the lateral direction, and has the common wall portion on the other of the right and left sides. Molecules of the liquid crystal material are tilted up from the pixel wall portions in a direction of the common wall portion by the electric field. The respective pixel wall portions of the adjacent compartment areas are positioned on opposite sides to each other in the lateral direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a horizontal electric field system (JP 2000-352713 A) which is an example of a display system of the liquid crystal display device, for the purpose of allowing a direction of a molecular axis of oriented liquid crystal molecules to rotate in a plane substantially parallel to substrates, a common electrode and pixel electrodes are disposed on one substrate, respective voltages are applied to the common electrode and the pixel electrodes, and electric field components substantially parallel to the substrates are used for display. The liquid crystal display device of the horizontal electric field system has advantages that a wide viewing angle can be obtained, and an image contrast can be improved.
In the related art liquid crystal display device of the horizontal electric field system, the horizontal electric field is generated between adjacent comb electrodes. Therefore, because a horizontal component of the electric field is small on the comb electrodes, a liquid crystal material cannot be sufficiently rotated.
FIG. 23 of JP 2012-220575 A discloses a configuration in which wall electrodes are arranged on both ends of one pixel. The respective wall electrodes are formed on both ends of one pixel, and one of the wall electrodes is each pixel electrode, and the other wall electrode is a common electrode. Also, a plane electrode is disposed for blocking an influence (signal wiring potential and a potential of an adjacent pixel) of a peripheral potential of the pixel.
As a result of evaluating the characteristic of the liquid crystal display device, it is found that an equipotential surface within one pixel is left-right asymmetric from a center of the pixel, and an orientation state of liquid crystal is also left-right asymmetric. The reason is because since the pixel electrode is surrounded by an influence of a potential around the pixel electrode, the equipotential surface is formed centered on each pixel electrode, and an electric field distribution in the vicinity of the pixel electrodes and an electric field distribution in the vicinity of the common electrode are different from each other. Also, an electric force line distribution is dense in the vicinity of the pixel electrodes and coarse in the vicinity of the common electrode, and an intense vertical electric field is generated on the plane electrode in the vicinity of the pixel electrode. For that reason, liquid crystal in the vicinity of each pixel electrode is tilted up, and the orientation state of liquid crystal is left-right asymmetric in the vicinity of the pixel electrode and the common electrode. A transmittance in a direction along which the liquid crystal in the vicinity of the pixel electrode rises up, that is, when obliquely viewing a display is lowered to degrade a viewing angle characteristic. In particular, the lowering of the transmittance is remarkable in a halftone.


A video camera comprises: a stepping motor to drive a photographing lens; a stepping motor driving circuit; and a control circuit to control the stepping motor driving circuit in correspondence to the position of the photographing lens. When the driving of the photographing lens is started, the control circuit sets a stepping motor driving frequency in correspondence to the position of the photographing lens. When the set frequency is equal to or higher than a predetermined frequency, the stepping motor driving circuit is controlled and a rectangular waveform output of a large duty ratio is supplied to the stepping motor for a predetermined period of time from the actuation of the stepping motor. After the elapse of the predetermined time, an almost smooth waveform output of the set frequency corresponding to the position of the photographing lens is supplied to the stepping motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image pickup apparatus such as a video camera having recording means or the like, in which the position of a photographing lens on the optical axis is moved by a stepping motor.
2. Related Background Art
In a recent image pickup apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a video camera) such as a video camera or the like, in order to reduce the size and weight, in place of a conventional zoom lens in which a magnification changing lens and a focusing lens are interlockingly actuated by a cam ring, there is used a zoom lens of what is called an electronic cam system in which the cam ring is omitted and the magnification changing lens and the focusing lens are respectively driven by independent motors so as to keep a predetermined relation.
Nowadays, in the video camera having such a zoom lens, generally, the magnification changing lens is driven by a DC motor and the focusing lens is driven by a stepping motor.
However, since the vibration and noises of the stepping motor are larger than those of the DC motor, in the conventional video camera using the stepping motor, there is a problem such that the driving sound of the lens by the stepping motor is recorded as noises onto the video tape through a microphone of the video camera.
One technical means for solving the drawbacks as mentioned above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-24649. The above technical means relates to what is called a microstep driving in which by controlling the power supply to a stepping motor, a rotor can be stopped at a pitch which is finer than the stop position of the rotor that is determined by the number of phases and the number of magnetizations of the rotor. Since the current supply to the coil almost smoothly changes even during the rotation, the occurrence of the harmful vibration and noises can be prevented.
However, when the lens is driven by the stepping motor using the current supplying method as mentioned above, an output torque of the stepping motor decreases as compared with that in the case where a rectangular wave shaped current is supplied. Therefore, the stepping motor of a larger electric power or a large shape is needed. There are problems such that a battery as a power source of a video camera is rapidly consumed and the realization of the small size and light weight of the video camera is obstructed.
As a technique to prevent the consumption of the battery and to drive the lens by a small motor, a combination with the means disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-25085 is also considered. According to such a combination technique, the current supply waveform is changed in accordance with whether the stepping motor is driven at a high speed or a low speed. According to such a method, however, when the stepping motor is driven at a high speed, the current is supplied by a waveform which is closer to the rectangular wave. Consequently, there is a problem such that the occurrence of the vibration and noises cannot be prevented in the high-speed driving operation in which the vibration and noises are largest.


Techniques for dynamic power control of a radio of a utility data collection device (e.g., utility meter configured for wireless communications) are described that utilize a detection scheme applied to a Front End Module (FEM) in the utility data collection device. A utility data collection device measures a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) presented to the FEM during transmission. The result of this measurement allows the utility data collection device to dynamically control the input power to a FEM transmit portion. Utilizing these techniques, the utility data collection device can adjust to environmental changes and conditions experienced in the field.

Utility service providers employ numerous radio frequency (RF) utility meters, smart meters, sensors, and/or control devices (collectively "utility data collection devices") as part of advanced metering infrastructures (AMIs) and/or automated meter reading (AMR) environments. These utility data collection devices are generally equipped with front-end modules (FEMs) that facilitate one- or two-way RF wireless communications.
To facilitate wireless communications, a utility data collection device has one or more antennas that interface to the FEM, such that each antenna is "impedance matched" to the FEM to minimize mismatch loss. Regarding transmission from a power amplifier, mismatch loss in transmission line theory is the amount of power generally expressed in decibels (dB) that will not be available on the output (e.g., a transmit antenna) due to impedance mismatches and signal reflections. A FEM that is properly terminated with the same impedance as that of the characteristic impedance of the antenna will have no reflections and therefore no mismatch loss.
In a factory setting, antennas are substantially impedance matched to their corresponding FEMs. However, after utility data collection devices are deployed in the field, numerous external influences can result is impedance mismatches between the FEM and the antenna of a utility data collection device. As an example, a utility data collection device may be located in a "non-friendly" RF enclosure, such as inside an all metal enclosure, covered with metal foil (e.g., intentional or unintentional tampering by a user), or the like. These externally induced impedance mismatches can give rise to reflections of a transmitted signal that may be strong enough to damage a power amplifier of an FEM, or cause a transmitted signal to become non-linear, degrading the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a transmitted signal and increasing the difficulty of a receiver to receive the transmitted signal. Thus, these externally induced impedance mismatches can damage the FEM of a utility data collection device and/or degrade the signal transmitted by the utility data collection device.

RF dynamic power control and radio protection in metering devices


A method for measuring overlay in semiconductor wafers includes a calibration phase in which a series of calibration samples are analyzed. Each calibration sample has an overlay that is known to be less than a predetermined limit. A difference spectrum for a pair of reflectively symmetric overlay targets is obtained for each calibration sample. The difference spectra are then combined to define a gross overlay indicator. In subsequent measurements of actual wafers, difference spectra are compared to the overlay indicator to detect cases of gross overlay.

Manufacturing semiconductor devices involves depositing and patterning several overlaying layers. A typical semiconductor wafer might include, for example, a series of gates formed on a first layer and a series of interconnects formed on a second layer. The two layers (and their structures) are formed at different lithography steps in the manufacturing process. Alignment between the two layers is critical to ensure proper connection between the gates and their interconnects. Typically, this means that the tolerance of alignment must be less than the width of a single gate.
Overlay is defined as the displacement of a patterned layer from its ideal position aligned to a layer patterned earlier on the same wafer. Overlay is a two dimensional vector (Δx, Δy) in the plane of the wafer. Overlay is a vector field, i.e., the value of the vector depends on the position on the wafer. Perfect overlay and zero-overlay are used synonymously. Overlay and overlay error are used synonymously. Depending on the context, overlay may signify a vector or one of the components of the vector.
Overlay metrology provides the information that is necessary to correct the alignment of the stepper-scanner and thereby minimize overlay error with respect to previously patterned layers. Overlay errors, detected on a wafer after exposing and developing the photoresist, can be corrected by removing the photoresist, repeating exposure on a corrected stepper-scanner, and repeating the development of the photoresist. If the measured error is acceptable but measurable, parameters of the lithography process could be adjusted based on the overlay metrology to avoid excursions for subsequent wafers.
Most prior overlay metrology methods use built-in test patterns etched or otherwise formed into or on the various layers during the same plurality of lithography steps that form the patterns for circuit elements on the wafer. One typical pattern, called "box-in-box" consists of two concentric squares, formed on a lower and an upper layer, respectively. "Bar-in-bar" is a similar pattern with just the edges of the "boxes" demarcated, and broken into disjoint line segments. The outer bars are associated with one layer and the inner bars with another. Typically one is the upper pattern and the other is the lower pattern, e.g., outer bars on a lower layer, and inner bars on the top. However, with advanced processes the topographies are complex and not truly planar so the designations "upper" and "lower" are ambiguous. Typically they correspond to earlier and later in the process. The squares or bars are formed by lithographic and other processes used to make planar structures, e.g., chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP).
In one form of the prior art, a high performance microscope imaging system combined with image processing software estimates overlay error for the two layers. The image processing software uses the intensity of light at a multitude of pixels. Obtaining the overlay error accurately requires a high quality imaging system and means of focusing the system. One requirement for the optical system is very stable positioning of the optical system with respect to the sample. Relative vibrations blur the image and degrade the performance. Reducing vibration is a difficult requirement to meet for overlay metrology systems that are integrated into a process tool, like a lithography track.
As disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002/0158193; U.S. patent application 2003/0190793 A1; and as described in Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 5038, February 2003, "Scatterometry-Based Overlay Metrology" by Huang et al., p. 126–137, and "A novel diffraction based spectroscopic method for overlay metrology" by Yang et al. p. 200–207 (all four incorporated in this document by reference) one approach to overcome these difficulties is to use overlay metrology targets that are made of a stack of two diffraction gratings as shown in FIG. 1. The grating stack 10 has one grating 20 in a lower layer and another grating 30 in an upper layer as shown in FIG. 1. The layers of 20 and 30 are to be aligned. There are two instances of the grating stack 10, one for the x-component of overlay and one for the y-component. The measurement instrument is such that it does not resolve individual grating lines. It measures overall optical properties of the entire grating. Optical properties are measured as a function of wavelength, polar or azimuthal angle of incidence, polarization states of the illumination and the detected light, or any combination of these independent variables. An alternative embodiment uses two stacks of line gratings to measure x-overlay and two stacks of line gratings to measure y-overlay (four grating stacks total). Still another embodiment uses three line grating stacks in combination to simultaneously measure both x and y alignment. (See also PCT publication WO 02/25723A2, incorporated herein by reference). Scatterometry (diffraction) is proving to be an effective tool for measuring overlay.
A shortcoming of the prior scatterometry-based art is that, diffraction gratings cannot distinguish overlay values that differ by an integer number of periods. Let R(λ,θ,ξ) denote the specular (0-th order) reflection of the grating at wavelength λ, angle of incidence θ, and offset ξ. The offset ξ is the distance between centerlines of lower and upper grating lines as shown in FIG. 1. The function R(λ,θ,ξ) is periodic with respect to the offset ξ:R(λ,θ,ξ)=R(λ,θ,ξ+P)  (1)
where P is the period of the grating. The scatterometry-based overlay measurements are even more ambiguous when the profiles of the grating lines are symmetric. Then, a consequence of reciprocity is:R(λ,θ,ξ)=R(λ,θ,−ξ)  (2)R(λ,θ,(P/2)+ξ)=R(λ,θ,(P/2)−ξ)  (3)
There are two values of offset, separated by P/2, where the optical properties become ambiguous. Optical properties are insensitive to overlay at these points. Therefore, the largest measurement range is P/2 when the grating lines have symmetric cross-sections. When overlay exceeds this range, not only is the measurement wrong, there is no indication that the overlay is out of range. FIG. 2 demonstrates this ambiguity for calculated data corresponding to near-normal incidence, unpolarized reflectance of a grating stack as a function of offset ξ.
To overcome this limitation, Huang et al., cited above, describes a means of manufacturing a grating with an asymmetric unit cell. For gratings of that type (i.e., where there is substantial asymmetry) the measurement range becomes P, a whole period. The measurement range also becomes a whole period if two grating stacks are used, the offset of each stack is biased, and the two offset biases differ by P/4 (as described in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/613,378, filed Jul. 3, 2003, incorporated in this document by reference).
When the periodic nature of overlay is accounted for, the overlay measured by the grating, ΔxGRATING, is related to the actual overlay as follows:
                    N        =                                            int                                            [                                                      Δ                                                                                x                      ACTUAL                                                                            P                    /                    2                                                  ]                                                  Δ                                                                                x              GRATING                                =                                                    (                                  -                  1                                )                            N                                                  [                                                Δ                                                                                x                    ACTUAL                                                  -                                  NP                  /                  2                                            ]                                                          (        4        )
In Equation (4), int[x] denotes the integer nearest to x. In prior art, the integer N is unknown. Therefore, ΔxGRATING represents ΔxACTUAL only when N is zero, that is, when |ΔxACTUAL|<P/4. ΔxGRATING, which is also called fine-overlay measurement, has high precision but it is only accurate when N=0. Gross overlay is defined as the condition |ΔxACTUAL|≧P/4 or |ΔyACTUAL|≧P/4, that is, any one component of overlay exceeding a quarter of the period. Gratings cannot detect gross overlay until overlay gets so large that the upper and lower gratings do not overlap in part of the measurement spot. Although gross overlay is rare in well-tuned lithography processes, alignment errors larger than 100 nm, even as large as several microns occur when a new process, a new reticle, or a new projector is introduced. In these instances, there is a need to not only detect but also to measure gross overlay.
Although increasing the period increases the measurement range, P/2, this approach is not preferred because it reduces the sensitivity of the optical response of grating stacks to overlay. As the period is increased, if the period becomes a significant fraction of the diameter of the measurement spot, the placement of the spot on the grating affects the overlay measurement and reduces its precision. For these two reasons, increasing the period to increase the measurement range is counter-productive. Using more than one grating stack, each with a different period, reduces but does not eliminate ambiguity.

Diffracting, aperiodic targets for overlay metrology and method to detect gross overlay


A high performance computing system includes one or more blade enclosures having a cooling manifold and configured to hold a plurality of computing blades, and a plurality of computing blades in each blade enclosure with at least one computing blade including two computing boards. The system further includes two or more cooling plates with each cooling plate between two corresponding computing boards within the computing blade, and a fluid connection coupled to the cooling plate(s) and in fluid communication with the fluid cooling manifold.

As high performance computing ("HPC") systems have gotten more powerful, the challenges associated with keeping the components in these more powerful systems cool have become increasingly difficult. In addition, physical constraints are driving many aspects of the high-density clustered computer configuration, which make effective and efficient cooling of the system even more demanding and an essential part of large-scale HPC installations. Standard compute rack and cooling configurations are often unable to adequately provide the cooling requirements needed for high-density clusters. Thus, new cooling designs are needed to accommodate these demanding high-density clustered computer installations.

On-blade cold sink for high-density clustered computer system


A new and distinct mango tree variety that possesses late season maturing fruits with predominately yellow and red skin, and pale yellow, firm flesh having a low amount of non-fleshy fiber attached to the stone.

This invention relates to the discovery and asexual propagation of a new variety of mango tree, as herein described and illustrated. The new variety was first hybridized by controlled pollination. The new variety is a precocious, heavy-cropping, upright tree yielding red-skinned, medium-sized, terpinolene-flavored fruit.
The seed parent is 'Sensation' and the pollen parent is 'Kensington Pride.' The new variety was selected and evaluated at the fruiting stage on the property of Mr. And Mrs. L. W. Dorrian at Childers, in Queensland, Australia.
The new mango tree variety was first asexually propagated by grafting onto seedling rootstocks in Childers, in Queensland, Australia.
The new mango tree variety cv. 'B74' has been shown to maintain its distinguishing characteristics through successive asexual propagations.


An antenna for a foldable wireless device is provided. The foldable wireless device and antenna include a first housing and a second housing pivotally connected. A printed circuit board associated with the wireless device comprises a first PCB in the first housing and a second PCB in the second housing. The first and second PCB function as first and second radiating plates respectively. A gap, generally aligned with the pivotal connection separates the first and second PCBs. A short is provided that traverses the gap and connects the first and second PCBs. Radio frequency power is connected to the first and second PCB to supply radio frequency power.

Cellular phones, PDAs, BLACKBERRYs® from Research in Motion, wireless computers, handheld computers and the like are becoming increasingly prevalent in today's society. The uses for such devices include both business uses as well as personal uses. Only a few years ago, wireless devices were relatively limited in use, but today a single wireless device may incorporate features to allow functions such as, for example, cellular communication, internet access, text messaging, credit purchases, bank account access, television viewing, computing, video gaming, navigation information, and the like.
With the increase in consumer use of wireless devices over multiple functions, the need for those devices to operate over multiple radio frequency bandwidths also has increased. Thus, it is not uncommon for wireless devices to incorporate antennas for various frequency bands such as ISM band, Bluetooth band, GPS band, 802.11 band, other cellular bands and the like.
While users of wireless devices are demanding that wireless devices be more versatile and perform more functions, they are concurrently demanding that the wireless devices become lighter, smaller, and generally more compact. Decreasing the size of the wireless device while increasing the number of functions is increasingly difficult. Moreover, to accommodate the increase in electronic components, the manufacturers are increasingly restricting the space available for radio frequency antennas. Thus, it would be desirous to develop improved antennas for one or more of the various wireless functions associated with today's wireless devices.

Internal antenna for handheld mobile phones and wireless devices


Semantically-segmented video compression includes loading a frame of video imagery, determining a context for the frame, selecting an object of interest for the context and identifying within the frame, a portion of the frame of the imagery deemed to be of greater interest than other portions of the frame of video imagery based upon the object of interest of the context determined for the video imagery, and an object, that has been pre-specified to be of importance to the context. A hybrid compression of the video imagery is then performed that includes both a higher quality compression of the portion of the video imagery determined to be a region of higher interest that produces a minimization of loss during decompression and also a compression of the other portions of the video imagery determined not to be a region of higher interest that produces more loss during decompression.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of image compression and more particularly to video compression.
Description of the Related Art
Image compression refers to the application of data compression to digital imagery. Image compression algorithms account for visual perception and the statistical properties of image data to provide superior compression as compared to generalized data compression used in the compression of non-imagery. Video compression is related to image compression in so far as video imagery is a sequence of static images that when presented in time order produce full motion video.
Generally speaking, image compression techniques as applied to static imagery are one of many approaches, typically used in combination, to compress video. Popular video compression standards include H.261, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, H.265, VP8, and AV1. Common to each of the foregoing standards is a combination of techniques for reducing information redundancies in both spatial and temporal directions. Spatial compression reduces the size of frames in video data by utilizing image compression techniques which include chroma subsampling, discrete cosine transforms, and entropy coding, among others. Temporal compression, such as inter frame compression, or motion compensation, significantly reduces the amount of data needed to store a video frame by encoding only the pixels that change between consecutive frames in a sequence, among other techniques that rely on small differences between images in a sequence.
Of note, different video compression techniques address three primary objectives of high compression efficiency, high quality, and low complexity. Each technique, however, while excelling in one of the three primary objectives may fall short in another of the three primary objectives. Thus, at the outset, a decision is to be made in video compression as to which of the three primary objectives are to be prioritized at the expense of the other primary objectives. In doing so, a principal assumption is that the video imagery is to be treated uniformly and that each portion of the video imagery is of equal importance in respect to the entirety of the video imagery--especially in so far as the contextual cues of an image recognizable by human vision are not readily understood by automated means.

Semantically segmented video image compression


An improved technique that considerably reduces required logic and computational time for determining whether the difference between two multi-bit vectors is equal to a given number or lies between given two numbers in a digital logic circuit. In one example embodiment, this is accomplished by receiving a first N-bit vector A [N−1:0] and a second N-bit vector B[N−1:0] in the digital logic circuit, where N is a non-zero positive number. A third N-bit vector is then obtained by performing a bit-wise AND (A [N−1:0] & ˜B[N−1:0]) operation using A[N−1:0] and ˜B[N−1:0]. Further, a fourth N-bit vector is obtained by performing a bit-wise XOR (A[N−1:0]^˜B[N−1:0]) operation using A[N−1:0] and ˜B[N−1:0]. The difference between the first N-bit vector A[N−1:0] and the second N-bit vector B[N−1:0] is then declared as equal to a given number or to be within a given range of two numbers (+m and +n, m<n) based on bit patterns in the third N-bit vector and the fourth N-bit vector.

Comparison of two multi-bit vectors is a common operation performed in digital logic circuits. It is also common to perform a comparison operation for equality in the digital logic circuits. In addition, sometimes it is required to determine if two multi-bit vectors differ in value by a certain amount. For example, it is often required to perform a comparison operation to find whether the difference between two multi-bit vectors is equal to +1, +2, . . . or +n. Frequently, it is also required to determine if the difference between the two multi-bit vectors A[N−1:0] and B[N−1:0] is within a range of +m to +n, m<n, when both m and n are known, i.e., to evaluate inequality +m≦A[N−1:0]−B[N−1:0]≦+n.
Traditionally, the comparison operation performed on two multi-bit vectors to check for equality, such as A[N−1:0]==B[N−1:0]+n would require an N-bit adder/subtractor followed by an N-bit comparator in a digital logic circuit. Further, conventional techniques to perform an operation to determine whether the difference between two vectors is within a certain range require at least one adder/subtractor and multiple comparators. Generally, each adder/subtractor within a digital logic circuit requires considerable number of logic gates, which requires significant silicon area. In addition, it results in significant delay.

System and method for an efficient comparison operation of multi-bit vectors in a digital logic circuit


A method and system of testing an overspeed protection system of a turbomachine. The method and system may include providing an overspeed protection system on a turbomachine that may have a single or multiple shafts; determining whether the speed the shaft or shaft(s) exceeds a shutdown value; changing an overspeed trip value of the turbomachine; and determining whether the overspeed protection system would operate to trip the turbomachine.

The present invention relates to a protection system of a turbomachine; and more particularly to a method and system for electronic overspeed protection on a turbomachine.
An overspeed condition occurs after the speed of a shaft on a turbomachine exceeds a specified range. During the overspeed condition, a turbomachine typically experiences severe mechanical and thermal stresses that can cause a catastrophic failure. An overspeed protection system protects the turbomachine by initiating an emergency shutdown (commonly called a trip) during an overspeed event.
Prior to testing the overspeed protection system, the turbomachine is customarily operating in a full-speed-no-load (FSNL) condition. FSNL is a condition where the turbomachine is at a normal operating speed and not exporting energy to a load such as a generator, compressor, or the like. An overspeed test typically involves manually raising the speed of a turbomachine above the normal operating range. For example, during an overspeed test some turbomachine operators raise the speed to 110% of the normal operating speed; thereafter the overspeed protection system should trip the turbine.
There are a few problems with the current method of overspeed testing. Manually adjusting the shaft speed introduces high thermal transients. A turbomachine trip at a speed near or above the normal operating speed can introduce large mechanical, electrical, and thermal stresses on the turbomachine components. These stresses decrease the maintenance interval and require turbomachine operators to shutdown the turbomachine for maintenance at a time sooner than planned. Moreover, after a trip, a re-start of a turbomachine is required, which delays the exporting of energy. Also, the current overspeed testing methods typically require that the turbomachine operate at FSNL, which typically does not generating revenue but consumes fuel and electricity. These problems drive turbomachine operators to avoid manual speed adjustments, trips, FSNL operation, and overspeed testing.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a method and system for testing an overspeed protection system that does not trip the turbomachine at an operating speed that will introduce high thermal transients. The method should automatically adjust the speed during testing and should not require a turbomachine re-start after testing. Furthermore, the method should not require significant FSNL operation.

Method and system for testing an overspeed protection system during a turbomachine shutdown sequence


Embodiments of a corpectomy method, comprising the steps of: providing a distractor unit comprising at least a first hydraulic cylinder configured to removably receive a piston of a predetermined length during a surgical procedure; providing the piston; providing a plurality of bone screws; affixing a first bone screw of the plurality of bone screws to a first vertebrae of a spine and a second bone screw of the plurality of bone screws to a second vertebrae of the spine; mounting the distractor unit onto the first bone screw and the second bone screw; and extending the hydraulic piston of the distractor unit to cause the first vertebrae and the second vertebrae to move away from each other are disclosed.

Surgical operations have been increasingly employed to deal with complications that arise from disc degenerations in patients. For example, fusion operations can be performed to treat such complications, resulting in an ossified connection of vertebrae. Alternatively, or in addition to fusion, disc implants can be used to replace the degenerated disc. In contrast to fusion, this approach has the advantage of preserving the movability of the vertebra adjacent to the defective disc.

Apparatus, methods and systems for spine surgery


An apparatus for reconditioning a paved surface includes a vehicle adapted to traverse the paved surface. The vehicle has a manifold with a plurality of jets disposed within a surface adjacent the paved surface and at least one of the jets has a high temperature, high pressure nozzle. The high temperature, high pressure nozzle has a hard material with a hardness of at least 2,000 HK. The jets are in fluid communication with a fluid reservoir through a fluid pathway, and the fluid pathway has a pressurizing mechanism and a heating mechanism for bringing the fluid to a high temperature and a high pressure.

Modern road surfaces typically comprise a combination of aggregate materials and binding agents processed and applied to form a smooth paved surface. The type and quality of the pavement components used, and the manner in which the pavement components are implemented or combined, may affect the durability of the paved surface. Even where a paved surface is quite durable, however, temperature fluctuations, weather, and vehicular traffic over a paved surface may result in cracks and other surface or sub-surface irregularities over time. Road salts and other corrosive chemicals applied to the paved surface, as well as accumulation of water in surface cracks, may accelerate pavement deterioration.
Road resurfacing equipment may be used to mill, remove, and/or recondition deteriorated pavement. In come cases, heat generating equipment may be used to soften the pavement, followed by equipment to mill the surface, apply pavement materials, and plane the surface. Often, new pavement materials may be combined with materials milled from an existing surface in order to recondition or recycle existing pavement. Once the new materials are added, the materials may be compacted and planed to restore a smooth paved surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,730 which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a method and apparatus for renewing the surface of asphaltic paving at low cost and for immediate reuse. The asphalt surface is heated to about 300.degree.-500.degree. F. The surface is broken to a depth of about two inches and the lower material thoroughly mixed in situ with the broken surface material. After mixing, the material is further heated to fuse the heated mixture into a homogeneous surface. The surface is screeded for leveling and compacted by a road roller. A road machine is disclosed having a steam manifold for heating the asphalt, transversely reciprocating breaker bars having teeth adjusted to the depth desired, toothed mixing cylinders for mixing the broken material, and a second steam manifold for reheating the mixed material. Reciprocating screed bars on the road machine level the mixed and heated material. Final compacting may be done with a conventional road roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,669 which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it discloses, teaches a method and apparatus for repairing asphalt concrete road surfaces wherein a tractor a steam box and a car mounted with a screw cutter are coupled in this order and a series of linearly operated equipment is used on the asphalt concrete paved road surface, including a heater car, an asphalt finisher and a road roller in this order after the car. Each of the equipment is made to advance at low speed and the asphalt concrete paved road surface is artificially heated by the steam box to impart fluidity to the road surface, after which it is cut with the screw cutter and the cut asphalt concrete is conveyed into a heating chamber of the heater car, and water content in the asphalt concrete is removed by heating and stirring. The resulting asphalt concrete is adjusted to an optimum temperature suitable for asphalt concrete paving, and then is discharged from the heating chamber, and charged onto the surface of the cut road directly and thereafter the asphalt concrete paved road surface is treated by using the asphalt finisher and the road roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,554 which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses that a low cost method for preparing foamed or aerated asphalt-rubber paving compositions is provided wherein a flowable mixture including respective quantities of asphalt and finally divided reclaimed rubber particles is first directed into a rocket-type reactor along with steam and/or water, thereby subjecting the mixture to conditions of elevated temperature, pressure and shear. Thereafter, the initially reacted mixture is passed into a pressurized, secondary reaction vessel system in order to complete the gelation reaction in a period of, e.g., 7-15 minutes. The preferred apparatus includes; a rocket-type primary reactor presenting a confined reaction zone; asphalt-rubber and water/steam conduits communicate with the zone. The output of the primary reactor feeds directly into a pressurized tank forming a part of the downstream secondary reaction and recovery system, where the gelation reaction is completed. The preferred system includes a total of five serially interconnected tanks housed within an insulative shell and heated by means of burner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,507 which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses an apparatus and a method for coating a road surface with bitumen binder material. The apparatus includes distribution conduit members for conducting bitumen material in a fluid state from a continuous source thereof and distribution conduit members for conducting gas, preferably steam, from a continuous source thereof. Pluralities of mixer housings are joined to the conduit members and receive bitumen binder material and gas. The apparatus is carried by a vehicle which travels over a road surface. The bitumen binder material and the gas are mixed and sprayed upon the road surface as the vehicle travels over the road surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,136 which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses an apparatus for spreading a fluid or similar substance, especially a bonding emulsion for road asphalt onto the surface of a road, comprising, on a movable vehicle, at least one spreading boom, along which the spreading is carried out at least partially, said boom being associated with at least one ejection nozzle and with a feed circuit and being capable of being displaced relative to the movable vehicle transversely to the direction of movement of the latter, and is associated with motor means intended for driving it in displacement, during spreading, in a to-and-fro movement. The machine of the finisher type comprises such an apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,500 which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses an apparatus for spreading a fluid or like substance, for example, an emulsion for bonding bituminous coated material on the surface of a road including a mobile machine, at least one spreading bar along which the spreading is at least partially effected, and at least one ejection nozzle associated with the at least one spreading bar. A supply circuit may supply emulsion to the nozzle. The at least one nozzle is associated with a mechanism for controlling delivery of the emulsion and a mechanism for controlling positioning of the nozzle relative to the machine. Both of the mechanisms are operated simultaneously, in dependence on the movement of the mobile machine, in such a manner that the nozzle effects spraying by sequenced jets of the substance to continuously cover the surface which is to be spread. The machine provided with this apparatus is of the finisher type.


A flexible face sign system is provided which includes a cabinet assembly mounting one or two face assemblies. The cabinet assembly includes a cabinet frame comprising upper, lower and opposite side cabinet frame sections. The cabinet assembly can receive a light fixture for providing illumination. The face assembly includes a face frame comprising upper, lower and opposite side sections. The cabinet and face upper frame sections are hingedly interconnected whereby the face assembly can be swung to an open position with respect to the cabinet assembly. Alternatively, the face assembly can be removably mounted on the cabinet assembly without providing for hinged motion therebetween. The face assembly includes a flexible face panel mounted on the face frame sections and adjustably stretched thereover by retainer clips which grip margins of the face panel and are tension-adjustably connected to the face frame sections by tension-adjusting bolts. Alternative configurations of trim covers are provided for covering the face frame sides and for providing access to the tension-adjusting bolts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sign systems, and in particular to a flexible face sign system for new signs and for retrofitting to existing signs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Signage of various types is in widespread usage for a wide variety of commercial and other purposes. For example, businesses typically employ some type of signage for identification and advertising at their places of business. Signage is used in other applications for communicating, expressing, decorating and for related purposes.
Illuminated signage is a common type used in commercial establishments. Typically a frame mounts one or two translucent faces (for one- or two-sided signage) and contains an illumination source, such as one or more fluorescent light fixtures. Such signs are thus illuminated from within and can provide very effective visual presentations. Thus, an illuminated sign, properly sized, can provide a dramatic display for drawing the attention of potential customers and for communicating therewith.
The faces of such signage can be formed of various plastic materials, including both rigid and flexible materials. Although rigid plastic face materials have several advantages, a disadvantage thereof is that they are susceptible to breakage from vandalism and other causes.
To address some of these disadvantages, flexible materials such as vinyl, plastic-coated canvas, etc. have been employed on flexible face signage. Such materials can be printed with various designs and provide sufficient weather resistance for most applications. Moreover, they are less subject to breakage than rigid plastic faces, and small punctures and tears can be sustained by flexible material faces without significantly compromising the overall appearance of the signage.
Another advantage of flexible sign faces is that they can be rolled up and more easily transported in a compact configuration than large, rigid plastic panels.
The Brooks U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,039 discloses display signs with flexible fabric display faces. However, the construction of the Brooks signage tends to be relatively complex, which complexity could result in higher costs.
The present invention addresses some of the aforementioned disadvantages with prior art signage.


A computer-implemented method for testing an operating condition of light emitting diodes (LEDs) on a motherboard includes assigning an LED identification for each LED according to positions of the LEDs on the motherboard, selecting a first LED identification for a first LED and a second LED identification for a second LED, setting the first LED in a bright state, the second LED in a dim state, and any remaining LEDs in a flicker state, and controlling the LEDs to operate. The method further includes determining whether the total count of the LEDs in the bright state is equal to one, and whether the total count of the LEDs in the dim state is equal to one, comparing the first LED identification input with the first LED identification, and comparing the second LED identification input with the LED identification, and reporting a comparison result.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to testing light emitting diodes (LEDs), and more particularly to systems and methods for testing an operating condition of LEDs on a motherboard.
2. Description of Related Art
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been used in commercial products since the 1910s, due to several favorable characteristics, such as high shock endurance, long service life, small power consumption, and low heat admittance. In recent years, a printed circuit board (PCB), such as a motherboard, may contain one or more LEDs. The one or more LEDs may be used as external visual signals, for internal surgical diagnostics, and for numerous other applications.
In order to verify whether each LED located on a PCB functions normally, it is usually necessary to power the PCB and manually test certain characteristics of the LEDs. Unfortunately, manually testing the LEDs may destroy the PCB if a voltage passing through the PCB is too high, for example. In another example, viewing a luminance of the LEDs, to verify normal operation of the LCDs, may be inaccurate and error-prone simply because of human error. Additionally, if the PCB includes multiple LEDs, then manually testing the LEDs may become problematic and highly inefficient resulting in decreased productivity in the testing process.
What is needed is a system and method for testing an operating condition of LEDs on a motherboard, wherein increased accuracy and efficiency of test results can be achieved.

System and method for testing an operating condition of LEDs on a motherboard


Disclosed is a computer system and method in which a portable portion has the capability to diagnose and perform analysis for the stationary portion and for the portable portion. The computer system includes a portable computer having a network interface circuit coupled between the portable computer and a network. The network interface circuit includes a processor and a network address logic for identifying a network address associated with the portable computer. A stationary computer includes a network interface circuit coupled between the stationary computer and the network. The network interface circuit of the stationary computer sends an instruction set to the network interface circuit of the portable computer via the network based on the network address associated with the first computer. The processor on the network interface circuit of the portable computer executes the instruction set of performed diagnoses for the portable computer.

The present invention relates to computer systems and, more particularly, to a computer system having a portable portion and a stationary portion.
To have both the portability and processing capability, a typical computer system may be divided into two portions, a portable portion and a stationary portion. Usually, the portable portion contains only a part of the hardware and software of the computer system, which are able to perform certain functions independently from the stationary portion.
The stationary portion contains the remaining part of the hardware and software of the computer system. Being connected together, the portable portion and stationary portion can perform the full functions desired by a specific user.
FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary computer system including stationary portion 100S, and portable portion 100P, which can be a notebook computer 136. Stationary portion 100S includes n input/output devices (I/O 1, I/O 2, . . . , I/O n) and docking station 108. The docking station includes interface circuit 113, and connection logic 132.
When notebook computer 136 is connected to stationary portion 100S via link 134, it can provide control signals to interface circuit 113 via connection logic 132. Thus, the notebook computer can control the operation of the docking station and input/output devices.
One disadvantage to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is that all peripherals connected to the stationary portion are unusable when the portable portion is removed from the computer system. The peripherals may represent substantial investments.
Another disadvantage to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is the processing capability of the computer system is limited by the capacity of the portable portion. For example, notebook computer 136 can be used to collect scientific or business data in a remote site from the stationary portion. When the notebook is connected to the stationary portion, docking station 108 does not provide additional processing power to the process the scientific or business data.
Still another disadvantage to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is that the connection of the portable portion is limited to the vicinity of the stationary portion.
With the development of computer systems, the structure and function of the stationary portion is becoming more and more complex.
Therefore, there is a need for a computer system whose stationary portion can independently run without the portable portion, and whose portable portion can both operate the stationary portion and perform diagnosis or performance analysis for the stationary portion.

Computer system and method including a portable portion that has a capability to diagnose and perform analysis for a stationary position and for a portable portion


A high pressure dispensing nozzle for providing fuel from an inlet reserve to a connector of an outlet receptacle, including a generally tubular nozzle construction having an outer sleeve extending from adjacent a proximal end towards a distal end of the nozzle construction, an internal passageway construction disposed within the outer sleeve, and a plurality of radially movable jaw members disposed between the internal passageway construction and the outer sleeve extending to near the distal end of the tubular construction, wherein the internal passageway construction includes interacting components responsive to insertion of the connector into the distal end and engagement thereof with the internal passageway construction to effect movement of the jaws to lock the connector in engagement and to establish a fuel passageway through the nozzle construction for the delivery of fuel therethrough and wherein the internal passageway construction components include a pistonably slideable outlet tube construction that not only serves as part of the fuel delivery passageway through the nozzle construction but also both as a control for locking the jaws and the outer sleeve in a fueling configuration and as a valve construction for allowing and preventing fuel flow through the nozzle construction. The nozzle preferably is also responsive to the introduction of fuel thereinto to pressure lock the outer sleeve in a fueling configuration and additionally operates to prevent the dispensing of fuel in the event that a proper and correct connector is not locked into engagement for fuel dispensing.

Recent years have experienced a growing desire for natural gas-powered vehicles (NGV) and advances in the design and provision of such types of vehicles. Effective use of such types of vehicles, however, requires means to safely and reliably fuel and refill fuel tanks of such vehicles as they are utilized.
Such need has resulted in the development of various standards for such means, including the standards for Type 2 and 3 nozzles as set forth in ANSI/CSA NGV1-2006 Standard for Compressed Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) Fueling Connection Devices. That standard addresses design profiles for such fueling connection devices, as well as the standardized forces associated with connection (or coupling) and disconnection (or uncoupling) of a nozzle from a receptacle at the low and high pressures encountered during fueling processes.
The result has been a continuing and ongoing desire for new and improved fuel nozzles that can comply with such standards and can be employed to safely and reliably fuel and refill fuel tanks of NGV vehicles.

Pressure-locking nozzle for dispensing gaseous fluid


The invention relates to a composite piezoelectric transducer for making an acoustic or an ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus. The transducer may be a single large-size transducer or it may be a multi-transducer device and it advantageously emits ultrasonic waves that are focused on a focal point.

The existence of composite piezoelectric transducers is quite recent. Composite piezoelectric ceramics are constituted by conventional PZT (zirconate/titanate) type piezoelectric elements included in a polymer matrix. For a detailed description of the technological principles involved in implementation, reference should be made to an article by Wallace Arden Smith published at pp. 755-766 of IEEE Ultrasonic Symposium, 1989.
The use of composite materials for making piezoelectric ceramics turns out to be advantageous since an acoustic impedance is obtained that is close to the acoustic impedance of biological tissues, and this translates into an increase in the sensitivity of the transducer and to a shorter impulse response. This enables such transducers to be used in medical echographic probes with the advantage of increasing the spatial resolution of such echographic probes.
This manufacturing technology also makes it possible to manufacture complex geometrical shapes, e.g. merely by thermoforming plane elements. Also, the use of a composite makes it possible to achieve transverse coupling that is very low such that the displacement of the sound-emitting surfaces is mainly unidirectional. This contributes to improving the electromechanical coupling and when the transducers are bar-shaped, it limits interactions between them, and this feature is particularly looked-for in echographic probes. It is also possible with composite materials to implement bar type transducers merely by integrating electrodes of the desired shape without cutting up piezoelectric elements.
As a result, composite materials are well-adapted to implementing medical echographic probes and to non-destructive monitoring where requirements are essentially centered on improving electromechanical coupling and spatial resolution for very low emission powers.
Heretofore, it has been believed that composite materials are not suitable for use in therapy (which requires high energy levels) because they suffer from a drop in performance at high excitation levels, as emphasized by Wallace Arden Smith in the above-specified article at p. 758. Mr. Smith emphasizes that at high energy levels transverse coupling increases and the piezoelectric element loses the unidirectional nature of its motion by acquiring transverse deformations that would make it impossible to use bar-type transducers, for example, even in medical echography. Further, firstly because of the increased transverse coupling and secondly because of the addition of polymer material, non-linear behavior of the transducer at high power is suggested.
Under such conditions, the person skilled in the art has had a prejudice against using composite piezoelectric elements for therapeutic treatment by means of ultrasound because high energy levels are required for that purpose.
In contrast, the present inventors have just discovered in a totally unexpected manner that composite piezoelectric elements are strong enough to enable them to emit sufficient energy to achieve therapeutic treatment, be that lithotrity (i.e. by means of a shock wave focused on a focus or target point), or for destroying or treating cells or tissue of a living being by the thermal effect that is obtained from focused ultrasound.
It is recalled here that the energy or power levels required for medical therapy are much greater than those needed for medical imaging. For example, for lithotrity, hyperthermia or tissue removal, the (pulse) energy levels are more than 10,000 times greater than those needed by medical imaging. In terms of power per pulse, these same levels are from 10 times to 1,000 times greater. For example, the energy level that needs to be transmitted for medical imaging is typically less than 1 ten thousandth of a J per pulse. For therapeutic treatment, the energy that needs to be transmitted by the piezoelectric elements is significantly greater than 0.01 J per pulse. For lithotrity the energy level required generally lies in the range 0.01 J per pulse to 1 J per pulse. For medical hyperthermia and for thermal tissue removal, the energy required is generally in the order of several tens of Joules.

Use of at least one composite piezoelectric transducer in the manufacture of an ultrasonic therapy apparatus for applying therapy, in a body zone, in particular to concretions, to tissue, or to bones, of a living being and method of ultrasonic therapy

Technomed International (Societe Anonyme)

Institut National de Recherche Meicale (Establissement Public)


A method for improving performance of a pipelined microprocessor by utilizing pipeline virtual registers allows for either decreased register spillage or decreased area and power consumption of a microprocessor. The microprocessor takes advantage of register bypass logic to write short-lived values to virtual registers, which are discarded instead of being written to the register bank, thus reducing register pressure by avoiding short-lived values being written to the register bank.

The pipeline architecture has become the typical design used in many conventional processors due to higher throughput achievements. In pipelining, a sequence of tasks is followed in order to process instructions, such as fetching instructions, decoding instructions, execution, and storing results which are connected through the means of the pipelines. As instruction flow through the pipeline their tasks are sequentially performed by each stage. Each instruction is followed by its next sequential instruction which will occupy as soon as possible the stations which it vacates the time delay between the initiation of different instructions and the completion thereof under the pipeline architecture is therefore compacted and throughout of the computer is increased. Pipelining inserts a set of 'pipeline registers' between combinational units to hold intermediate results at clock boundaries. Typical reduced instruction set computing (RISC) and very long instruction word (VLIW) processors have at least 2-4 pipeline stages between the time a computation is performed in the an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and the time the resulting value is written into a register file or flip-flop based register bank what is usually known as the write back stage. A register file is found in many data processing units and comprises a plurality of registers. A register file access time represents one of the critical delays of current microprocessors, and it is expected to become more critical as future processors increase the instruction issue width. A standard solution to increase performance in a processor is to implement what is referred to as register forwarding or register bypassing. This implementation method is a technique that compares the source register indexes of the input operands into the ALU in clock cycle n with the results of previous operations (cycles n-1, n-2, . . . ) that have not yet been committed to the register bank. If there is a match, the value 'in flight' to the register bank is used/forwarded or bypassed into the input of the ALU instead of using the value that was read from the register bank temporarily, thus the pipeline registers temporarily are holding these values. Registers are considered live if their value is still expected to be used in a future cycle and when the number of registers live is higher than the number of registers in the micro-processor, the compiler 'spills' some of the values held in those registers onto the stack or a temporary storage memory area so that the registers can be used for other purpose. These register spillages degrades performance due to store instruction and subsequent load from the memory.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel and unique approach to reduce register pressure in compilers by providing a set of short lived registers at near-zero cost. These extra registers can be beneficial to avoid register spillage that consequently result in degradation in performance. Thus this feature can effectively increase the performance per area metric on a modern micro-processor, save leakage power while reducing activity in the processor, and most importantly save cost.

Method for improving performance of a pipelined microprocessor by utilizing pipeline virtual registers


An auto-location system for auto-locating a wheel in a vehicle comprises: a sensor module which comprises a sensor adapted for sensing a physical property of the tire when mounted in a tire or on an inner surface of the tire of the wheel, an acquisition system adapted for determining when the part of the tire where the sensor is mounted hits the ground, and forms a contact patch with the ground, by analyzing data from the sensor, and a communication system adapted for transmitting a wireless message, in which a unique identifier is embedded, a transmit delay after the part of the tire where the sensor is mounted hits the ground.

Auto-location is the ability of the electronic control unit (ECU) of a car to identify which wheel is sending wireless messages through its embedded tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). To do so, the ECU of the car correlates phase angle information sent from the TPMS module with position information obtained from the ABS (anti-lock braking system).
Prior art auto-location systems usually need complex and high power consuming algorithms for retrieving angular information of the wheel.
A typical way of performing auto-location is to measure the gravitational force component (+/−1 g) with an accelerometer. This measurement allows the phase angle of the wheel to be calculated. In such systems, typically an RF message is sent at a predefined angle with a unique identifier of the wheel. The car ECU then correlates the information from each wheel with their respective positions obtained through others sensors (e.g. ABS). This method has two major drawbacks, mainly because the +/−1 g signal is quite noisy:                it requires the signal to be acquired over several rotations (e.g. between 4 and 7 rotations) and filtered in order to precisely identify the phase angle and trigger the RF message. This leads to a relatively high power consumption.        even after filtering the precision of the time at which the RF signal is sent is limited due to the intrinsic properties of the low gravitational acceleration sensed signal.
The basic principle of auto-location is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,387,733B2.
US20180244116A1 discloses a method of obtaining phase angle information from the data of an accelerometer. In this application advanced signal processing is required to exact the phase angle information from +/−1 g signals. FIG. 1 shows a graph from this patent application. A plurality of "dots" are shown as an example of actual acceleration data versus time, obtained from an acceleration sensor mounted to a wheel, including noise, mainly caused by mechanical vibrations. FIG. 1 also shows a "sinusoidal curve" as can be obtained for example by "curve fitting" techniques performed on a powerful computer. Instead of calculating this curve, in US20180244116A1 an exponential moving average filter is applied to the acceleration data in order to obtain phase angle information from the accelerometer.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,332,103B2 shows an example where the RF signal is sent at two angles with a predetermined time period between two angle measurements. The elapsed time between two angle measurements can be equivalent to several rotations of the wheel. This leads to high power consumption.
There is therefore a need for good solutions for auto-location systems and methods in view of the power consumption of these systems and methods.