A light distribution plenum includes a shell having an interior surface substantially defining a cavity. A light source receptor is configured to receive light from a light source into the cavity in use. A first optical avenue is associated with the shell and is configured to direct a portion of the light to a first control device. A second optical avenue is associated with the shell, is spaced from the first optical avenue, and is configured to direct a portion of the light to a second control device. At least one selective optic is at least partially within the light distribution plenum and is configured to interact with at least some portion of the light. An illuminated control assembly including a light distribution plenum, a motor vehicle including an illuminated control assembly, and a method of illuminating first and second control devices are also provided.

Control devices are present on nearly all electrical and mechanical equipment, including motor vehicles, to facilitate operation of the equipment by a consumer. Common examples of such control devices are switches, pushbuttons, gauges, meters, indicator lights, levers, valves, mechanical actuators, knobs, and other such devices. One common piece of equipment having a plurality of control devices is a motorcycle. A motorcycle typically includes multiple pushbuttons and/or switches on its handlebars to facilitate a driver's control of turn signals, driving lights, engine functions, accessories, gear selection, and/or other aspects of the motorcycle's operation.
Because motorcycles are often operated after dusk and prior to dawn, it is advantageous that any control devices on a motorcycle have the ability to be illuminated in order that the driver can easily locate and operate such control devices in the dark. One conventional manner by which to illuminate such control devices is through backlighting. For example, with regard to a pushbutton, a light can be disposed beneath a translucent cap whereby some of the light generated by the light source penetrates the cap and is accordingly visible to an operator, thereby enabling the operator to effectively locate and operate the pushbutton in the dark. Similarly, with regard to a switch, a light source can be disposed beneath a translucent rocker whereby a portion of the light generated by the light source is viewable to an operator through the rocker, thereby enabling the operator to effectively locate and operate the switch in the dark. However, such backlighting can dramatically increase the complexity, size and cost of the associated control devices, especially when such control devices must be water resistant or waterproof and/or when specific space or size configurations must be satisfied. Furthermore, it is difficult to achieve sufficient durability from waterproof control devices having backlights.
Accordingly, there is a need for a control assembly having illuminated control devices that do not involve conventional backlighting. In addition, there is a need in the art for a single apparatus configured to illuminate multiple control devices, even though these control devices might have different locations with respect to the apparatus and/or have different heights or levels with respect to each other. Furthermore, there is a need for such an apparatus that does not generate excessive glare-causing light and that does not cast unsatisfactory shadows upon the illuminated control devices. Still further, there is a need for such an apparatus that is less expensive, more versatile, simpler, more reliable, more aesthetically pleasing, more durable, more effective, and more energy efficient than conventional control illumination arrangements.

Light distribution plenum for an illuminated control assembly and method


A plurality of development scenarios is determined. At least a first well is drilled at a first location and trajectory that are common to the plurality of development scenarios. A result of the at least one first well is assessed. A first subset of development scenarios is selected from the plurality of development scenarios based at least on the result of the first well. A first sequence of subsequent wells, including at least one well, are drilled at a first sequence of subsequent locations and trajectories that are common to the first subset of development scenarios.

The present invention relates to subterranean fluid resources, and, more particularly, to resource field development planning and the like.
The current practice in oil companies consists of designing a single deterministic reservoir development plan, which describes a single location and trajectory for each one of the wells to be drilled. This can be achieved in many different ways: by using an expert's judgment and/or optimization algorithms; by considering a single best guess scenario and/or different scenarios to account for uncertainty. Sometimes, the deterministic plan is selected from a set of potential plans, based on comparing a statistical average of performance metrics for each plan in a variety of geological realizations. In any of these cases, the current practice still has as its goal to determine a single deterministic plan. The argument supporting this practice is that there is only one "ground truth" and, therefore, there is only one plan that can be implemented.

International Business Machines Corporation

GAZPROMNEFT SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CENTRE LLC


The invention is a novel method for the late introduction of additives into condensation polymers. The method employs a reactive carrier that functions as a delivery vehicle for one or more additives. The reactive carrier reacts with the condensation polymers, thereby binding the reactive carrier in the polymer resin and preventing the emergence of the reactive carrier from the polymer resin during subsequent thermal processing.

The present invention relates to the processing of condensation polymers. More particularly, the present invention relates to the late introduction of additives into condensation polymers via reactive carriers.
Because of their strength, heat resistance, and chemical resistance, polyester fibers and films are an integral component in numerous consumer products manufactured worldwide. Most commercial polyester used for polyester fibers and films is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester. Because polyethylene terephthalate forms a lightweight and shatterproof product, another popular use for polyethylene terephthalate is as a resin for containers, especially beverage bottles.
Before 1965, the only feasible method of producing polyethylene terephthalate polyester was to use dimethyl terephthalate (DMT). In this technique, dimethyl terephthalate and ethylene glycol are reacted in a catalyzed ester interchange reaction to form bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate monomers and oligomers, as well as a methanol byproduct that is continuously removed. These bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate monomers and oligomers are then polymerized via polycondensation to produce polyethylene terephthalate polymers.
Purer forms of terephthalic acid (TA) are now increasingly available. Consequently, terephthalic acid has become an acceptable, if not preferred, alternative to dimethyl terephthalate as a starting material for the production of polyethylene terephthalate. In this alternative technique, terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol react in a generally uncatalyzed esterification reaction to yield low molecular weight monomers and oligomers, as well as a water byproduct that is continuously removed. As with the dimethyl terephthalate technique, the monomers and oligomers are subsequently polymerized by polycondensation to form polyethylene terephthalate polyester. The resulting polyethylene terephthalate polymer is substantially identical to the polyethylene terephthalate polymer resulting from dimethyl terephthalate, albeit with some end group differences.
Polyethylene terephthalate polyester may be produced in a batch process, where the product of the ester interchange or esterification reaction is formed in one vessel and then transferred to a second vessel for polymerization. Generally, the second vessel is agitated and the polymerization reaction is continued until the power used by the agitator reaches a level indicating that the polyester melt has achieved the desired intrinsic viscosity and, thus, the desired molecular weight. More commercially practicable, however, is to carry out the esterification or ester interchange reactions, and then the polymerization reaction as a continuous process. The continuous production of polyethylene terephthalate results in greater throughput, and so is more typical in large-scale manufacturing facilities.
When the polymerization process is complete, the resulting polymer melt is typically extruded and pelletized for convenient storage and transportation before being transformed into specific polyester articles (e.g., filament, films, or bottles). The latter kinds of steps are herein referred to as xe2x80x9cpolyester processing.xe2x80x9d
In both batch and continuous processes, a high activity catalyst is often employed to increase the rate of polymerization, thereby increasing the throughput of the resulting polyethylene terephthalate polyester. The high activity catalysts that are used in the polymerization of polyethylene terephthalate polyester can be basic, acidic, or neutral, and are often metal catalysts.
Primarily, the traditional polymerization catalysts used in the formation of polyethylene terephthalate from both terephthalic acid and dimethyl terephthalate contain antimony, most commonly antimony trioxide (Sb2O3). Although increasing production rates, polymerization catalysts like antimony trioxide will eventually begin to catalyze or encourage the degradation of the polyethylene terephthalate polymer. Such polymer degradation results in the formation of acetaldehyde, the discoloration (e.g., yellowing) of the polyethylene terephthalate polyester, and reduction of polymer molecular weight.
Furthermore, the recent availability of xe2x80x9chotterxe2x80x9d catalysts that can significantly increase throughput has generated a corresponding need for better stabilization of the resulting polyester. U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,230 for a Catalyst for Preparing High Clarity, Colorless Polyethylene Terephthalate is exemplary of such an improved catalyst. To reduce the degradation and discoloration of polyethylene terephthalate polyester, stabilizing compounds are used to sequester (xe2x80x9ccoolxe2x80x9d) the catalyst, thereby reducing its effectiveness. The most commonly used stabilizers contain phosphorous, typically in the form of phosphates and phosphites. The phosphorous-containing stabilizers were first employed in batch processes to prevent degradation and discoloration of the polyethylene terephthalate polyester.
Although adding a stabilizer to the polymer melt in a batch reactor is a relatively simple process, numerous problems arise if the stabilizers are added in the continuous production of polyethylene terephthalate. For example, while early addition of the stabilizer prevents discoloration and degradation of the polyester, it also causes reduced production throughput (i.e., decreases polycondensation reaction rates). Moreover, such stabilizer is typically dissolved in ethylene glycol, the addition of which further slows the polymerization process. Consequently, early addition of the stabilizer in the polymerization process requires an undesirable choice between production throughput and thermal stability of the polymer. As used herein, xe2x80x9cthermal stabilityxe2x80x9d refers to a low rate of acetaldehyde generation, low discoloration, and retention of molecular weight following subsequent heat treatment or other processing.
Late addition of the stabilizer (e.g., after the polymerization process during polymer processing) may provide insufficient opportunity for the stabilizer to fully blend with the polymer. Consequently, the stabilizer may not prevent degradation and discoloration of the polyester. In addition, adding stabilizer during polymer processing is inconvenient and does not provide economies of scale.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,702 for a Process and Apparatus for the Direct and Continuous Modification of Polymer Melts discloses dividing a polymer melt stream into an unmodified stream and a branch stream that receives additives. In particular, a side stream takes a portion of the branch stream to an extruder, where additives are introduced. Such techniques, however, are not only complicated, but also costly, requiring a screw extruder and melt piping to process additives. Consequently, such arrangements are inconvenient and even impractical where total additive concentrations are low (e.g., less than one weight percent).
Certain problems associated with late addition of stabilizer are addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,058 for a Method of Pos-Polymerization Stabilization of High Activity Catalysts in Continuous Polyethylene Terephthalate Production, which discloses a method of stabilizing high activity polymerization catalysts in continuous polyethylene terephthalate production. This patent, which is commonly assigned with this application, is hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,058 discloses adding a stabilizer, which preferably contains phosphorous, at or after the end of the polymerization reaction and before polymer processing. This deactivates the polymerization catalyst and increases the throughput of the polyester without adversely affecting the thermal stability of the polyethylene terephthalate polyester. While a noteworthy improvement over conventional techniques, U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,058 teaches adding the stabilizer without a carrier. Consequently, the addition of solids into the polymer necessitates the costly use of an extruder.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/738,150 for Methods of Post-Polymerization Injection in Continuous Polyethylene Terephthalate Production, discloses a process for the production of high quality polyethylene terephthalate polyester that improves upon the stabilizer-addition techniques disclosed by commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,058.
More specifically, U.S. application Ser. No. 09/738,150 discloses a method for the late introduction of additives into a process for making polyethylene terephthalate. The additives are introduced during, and preferably after, the polycondensation of polyethylene terephthalate polymers. In particular, the method employs a reactive carrier that not only functions as a delivery vehicle for one or more additives, but also reacts with the polyethylene terephthalate, thereby binding the carrier in the polyethylene terephthalate resin. Moreover, U.S. application Ser. No. 09/738,150 discloses that this may be achieved using a simplified additive delivery system that does not require the use of an extruder.
The technology of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/738,150 is effectively employed in and commonly-assigned application U.S. Ser. No. 09/738,619 for Polyester Bottle Resins Having Reduced Frictional Properties and Methods for Making the Same, which was also filed Dec. 15, 2000, and which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. application Ser. No. 09/738,619, in certain preferred embodiments, likewise employs a simplified additive delivery system that does not require the use of an extruder.
Despite the preference to exclude an extruder from additive delivery systems, there are circumstances where using an extruder is advantageous. For example, introducing additives at an extruder facilitates quick formulation changes. Moreover, while introducing additives at an extruder may hinder productivity at larger-scale operations, it may be appropriate for smaller-scale operations.
Accordingly, U.S. application Ser. No. 09/932,150, for Methods of Post-Polymerization Extruder Injection in Polyethylene Terephthalate Production, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/738,150, discloses a method for late additive introduction at an extruder during a process for making polyethylene terephthalate. In particular, the method employs a reactive carrier that not only functions as a delivery vehicle for one or more additives, but also reacts with the polyethylene terephthalate to bind the carrier in the polyethylene terephthalate resin. This not only prevents the emergence of the carrier from the polyethylene terephthalate during subsequent processing (e.g., solid state polymerization, drying operations, and injection molding operations), but also improves dispersion of the additive in the polymer and reduces the tendency of the additive to emerge and deposit in polymer processing equipment during solid state polymerization.
The method of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/932,150 has application to the production of condensation polymers generally. There is, in fact, a need for a post-polymerization injection technique that ensures that the late addition of additives during polymer processes will yield condensation polymers whose additives and carriers are integral parts of the condensation polymer resin, while retaining the conveniences associated with extruder addition.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of adding additives to condensation polymers at an extruder via a reactive carrier.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of adding additives to condensation polymers via a reactive carrier in a way that permits quick formulation changes.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of adding additives to condensation polymers via a reactive carrier in order to reduce polymer transition times and eliminate process upsets resulting from changing polymer formulations.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of introducing additives into condensation polymers in a way that reduces the degradation or volatilization of such additives.

Methods of post-polymerization extruder injection in condensation polymer production


A carousel storage assembly for jars, bottles and containers, and especially baby food jars, powdered formula containers, nurser bottles and the like. The assembly includes a first tray rotatably supported on bearings on a base, and at least one of a second tray or rack removably mounted on the first tray on spaced, bendable legs engaging leg retaining clips on the perimeter of the first tray. Preferably, a pair of the second trays, and a rack with container locating apertures therein, are successively stacked one on another on the first tray. The second trays include spaced, bendable legs and leg engaging clips, while the rack includes bendable legs. The assembly may be disassembled for storage or selective use of the trays and/or rack.

This invention relates to storage and shelf assemblies for jars, bottles, containers, and the like, especially for food, such as baby food jars, nurser bottles, and formula containers and, more particularly, to a rotatable storage assembly including one or more storage trays or racks which may be selectively stacked to form a multiple level assembly, used individually or in various combinations.
Rotatable storage racks and trays for foods, containers, and other items such as screws, nails, washers, and the like, typically known as "lazy susans," are widely known. A large variety of such shelves and racks have been proposed in the past, some including multiple shelves or racks. However, these prior known racks and shelves have often been unable to hold a sufficient number of containers to make them sufficient for use in the home such as by mothers who use a large quantity of baby food or baby formula in nursing bottles everyday. In many homes with babies, as many as 50 to 70 jars of baby food are typically stored at any one time for use by a family. Prior known storage racks or shelves have typically only held between 15 and 25 jars, thereby making the selection of readily available baby food on the counter top less than adequate for mediate use and requiring more inconvenient storage in less accessible cupboards and pantries.
Another problem encountered with prior known shelves and storage rocks has been the inability to hold in a single rack both a container for powdered baby formula as well as a series of nurser bottles for use of the formula. While many prior shelves can hold either one or the other, the storage and location of both a powder formula container as well as a series of nurser bottles and even baby food jars all in one location in which all three are easily viewed and easily accessible is highly desirable.
Yet another shortcoming of the prior known shelves and racks is the lack of versatility in use of trays or racks. Typically, existing racks and shelves have a fixed number of support areas or receptacles for jars or containers. In the event a mother wishes to store only a smaller number of jars or containers, the same large-size rack or shelf had to be used leaving much of the assembly unfilled and taking up valuable space on the counter in the kitchen or other food mixing area. Therefore, the ability to tailor and modify the size of the storage assembly to the use requirements of the particular family or mother was less than adequate with the prior known devices.
In addition to the above, a shelf or rack which could be sold in knockdown, unassembled form, taking less retail shelf space for the same size assembly, or using the same amount of shelf space but providing a larger shelf or rack when assembled, was also desired, especially in an assembly where the costs were kept competitive and use of material was efficient.
Therefore, there was a need for a storage assembly for jars, bottles, and containers which could overcome the above problems and provide a versatile, inexpensive assembly which could fit the needs of modem mothers and families with young children, as well as other storage needs.


A cooling method and apparatus including a mist-generating device is configured to generate a mist of droplets from water, dielectric liquids or any cooling liquids. The mist is produced having such volume, momentum, concentration and quality of scale so as to deter or avoid impingement or deposition of the mist droplets on a surface to be cooled or on surfaces within a heat dissipating system to be cooled. Effective cooling is provided by the high latent heat of vaporization of water or other suitable fluid, while surfaces normally subject to possible damage by wetting are protected from harmful contact from the fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of cooling heat releasing devices that must be cooled for their continuous and efficient functioning. More particularly, a method is provided for cooling by flooding electronics or other high-density power dissipation systems with a fine mist without directly impacting or wetting the system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The removal of the heat load from electronic systems densely packed into ever-smaller spaces is a great challenge in thermal management, especially with the ever-increasing power of these systems. Other high-density power dissipation systems face similar challenges in heat source cooling applications. While the electronics industry strives to satisfy the increasing market demand for faster, smaller, lighter, and cheaper electronic devices through miniaturization, increasing power density in those devices tests the practical limits of traditional forced air convection cooling. Thus, the heat dissipation requirements of these electronics and high-density systems are rapidly becoming a limiting factor to their continued improvement.
Presently, thermal management of heat dissipation is accomplished by several cooling methods, both conventional and new, including natural air convection, forced air convection, conduction, heat-pipe technology, and radiation. Increasingly, these methods do not provide adequate cooling efficiency to maintain appropriate system temperatures under the extreme thermal environments being encountered. More recent research efforts have focused on dielectric liquid cooling, both by direct contact and spray technology. While more efficient in cooling power, these technologies have disadvantages associated with direct contact, sealed, wet systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,804 to Tilton, et al. discusses spray evaporative cooling of heat sources. Tilton teaches pressure atomizer nozzles arranged in arrays for deposition of a thin film of liquid onto a heat source. Upon phase change from liquid to gas, the film of liquid on the heat source cools the surface of electronics packed in an enclosure. Several references are provided in this patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,804) regarding both spray and jet impingement cooling methods, wherein droplets of liquid cool the heat source surface by the contact and subsequent vaporization of the droplets. Tilton describes the direct impingement spray cooling method with a review of various parameters of importance such as spray angle, spray momentum, nozzle array geometry, uniform versus non-uniform cooling, targeted versus uniform spray, and liquid condensation. Isothermal System Research (ISR) appears to be pursuing this technology aggressively through SBIR grants from the U.S. NAVY. ISR has contributed significantly to commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronics cooling. ISR has utilized dielectric liquids as shown in Table 1 later. ISR has not been known by the present inventor to use water as coolant or to teach the fine-mist cooling method taught herein.
The spray cooling method developed by ISR appears to stem from U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,804. The ISR methodology uses direct impingement of liquid onto a heat source and has several limiting characteristics or disadvantages thereof. First, the ISR system must be highly engineered for successful implementation. For instance, the spray cooling system in the Tilton reference has a complex infrastructure including pressure spray nozzles and complex fluid handling systems, and the system has great potential for disadvantages including nozzle corrosion, erosion due to contaminants, and liquid recovery problems. The costs associated with these direct impingement systems make these systems less attractive. Consequently, new technology is still needed to address the thermal management needs of COTS electronics packages and prevent heat sources from causing catastrophic thermal failure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,498,725 to Cole, et al. again teaches an evaporative spray cooling system using direct impingement of liquid on surfaces for removing high heat fluxes from surfaces of devices such as micro-electronic chips, metal, mirrors, and lasers. The system uses expanding two-phase flow and a method of controlling the spray for optimum heat flux removal. Controls include spray atomization, fluid-phase, mass flow, and spray temperature. A wide variety of spray atomizers exist. Cole teaches that for electronic cooling of chips with exposed leads or exposed electrical surfaces, the cooling fluid must have a high dielectric constant; otherwise the fluid may short circuit the chip causing it to fail.
Within the field of evaporative spray cooling using pressure-type atomizers, efforts have concentrated on manipulating conditions for improving deposition of the spray and the mechanics of impingement on the surface being cooled. Several atomization conditions have been explored and addressed including uniformity of spray, cooling surface coverage, momentum losses, and spray evaporation losses.
The authors of the present invention have not encountered work in patent literature or in the public domain discussing the merits of cooling electronics and/or heat dissipating systems using fine-mist flooding or circulating a fine mist within a system or electronics cabinet. The only reference found is to direct impingement spray cooling by water. According to a press release later presentation at a conference by University of California (UCLA) professors, directed spray jets were used to direct water droplets of about 35 micron diameter onto heat dissipating elements. In place of dielectric liquid spray disclosed by the above references, UCLA used pressurized water spray, while protecting electrical systems and the like with a coating. In the paper UCLA presented at the Eighth Intersociety Conference on Thermal and Thermo mechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems, the scientists describe effective cooling by direct impingement spraying of water on high power density variable speed drive motors. The work reports effective thermal management using direct water sprays of high power devices in three-phase 18 hp AC motor drives. In order to protect the system from electrical shorting, the methodology used a coating of a copolymer, referred to as parylene, on sensitive surfaces.
The above work on direct impingement spray systems differs widely from the present invention in that spray cooling with water is simply a different direct impingement coolant from the dielectric liquid that was already taught by several inventors. Although the UCLA work shows more efficient cooling compared to dielectric liquids because of the high latent heat of vaporization, the technology is still complex, particularly because of the advanced coating required, requires a huge infrastructure to implement, and involves direct wetting of the heat source. Furthermore, the 35-micron droplets are still too large to absorb energy efficiently, and existing air-cooled systems cannot be refitted to use these technologies.
Thus, a cooling method for electronics and other heat dissipating systems is still needed to absorb and carry away large amounts of heat rapidly. The preferred system would take advantage of the extensive cooling design work already incorporated into most heat producing systems, would not require the extensive infrastructure associated with wetting systems, and would not cause physical degradation or breakdown. Preferably, the mist should be produced without pressure in order to avoid having a complicated fluid handling system with pumps and pressure lines.

Cooling of electronics and high density power dissipation systems by fine-mist flooding

Abstract: Tangential flow technology and electronic ultrasonic atomizing devices may be used as one possible means to generate the required mist and control mist volume, momentum, concentration and quality. Other variables may be controlled to enhance the cooling of the mist, such as flow patterns and flow directions of the mist. Vaporized mist may be condensed and recovered. The cooling method may be used to replace or complement existing air-cooled systems.


A sensor cable for surveying. The sensor cable has a housing, which includes one of more electrodes and a conductive gel surrounding the one or more electrodes. The conductive gel is configured to conduct electrical current to the one or more electrodes and keep the one or more electrodes moist. The housing may also have a membrane surrounding the conductive gel, wherein the membrane is configured to hold the conductive gel in contact with the one or more electrodes and permit electric current to flow between a surrounding medium and the conductive gel.

1. Field of the Invention
Implementations of various technologies described herein generally relate to methods and systems for electromagnetic surveying.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
In recent years, electromagnetic surveying has been used for surveying subterranean hydrocarbon reservoirs. Typically, a number of electromagnetic sensors (receivers) are placed on a subsurface area along a tow line. A transmitter is then dragged over the receivers by a survey vessel, and the receivers record the resultant electromagnetic signal. Electric field and magnetic field information are recorded across several channels of frequency. An image of the subsurface area may then be generated based on the recorded signals. In some circumstances, it is beneficial to also tow the receivers from the survey vessel instead of placing the receivers on the subsurface area.

Sensor cable for electromagnetic surveying


A vehicle stability enhancement system that is adapted for an estimated driver workload. The system includes a driver workload estimation processor that estimates the driver workload based on certain factors, such as the vehicle speed or driver-behavior factors. The driver workload estimation is used to adjust the damping ratio and natural frequency in dynamic filters in a command interpreter to adjust a desired yaw rate signal and a desired side-slip signal. The driver workload estimation is also used to generate a yaw rate multiplication factor and a side-slip multiplication factor that modify a yaw rate stability signal and a side-slip stability signal in a feedback control processor that generates a stability control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a vehicle stability enhancement system and, more particularly, to a vehicle stability enhancement system that employs a driver workload estimator for estimating the driver workload.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Modern vehicles sometimes incorporate active vehicle control systems. One such system is known as a vehicle stability enhancement (VSE) system that assists the vehicle operator in providing vehicle handling on surfaces such as wet or uneven pavement, ice, snow or gravel. The VSE system typically senses wheel skid based on inputs from a wheel speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, a vehicle speed sensor and a vehicle yaw rate sensor. The VSE system uses these inputs to reduce engine torque and apply differential braking to help maintain the vehicle travel along the intended path.
Additionally, active chassis control systems have been emerging in the art that are used in combination with VSE systems. The chassis control systems typically include differential braking control, real-time suspension damping, rear-wheel steering and active front steering control. With the capability of controlling chassis dynamics in real time, the active chassis control systems can be used to enhance the vehicle handling performance.
Another active vehicle control system is known as an active front steering (AFS) system that provides automatic front-wheel steering. AFS systems typically employ a steering actuator system that receives an operator intended steering signal from a hand-wheel sensor, a vehicle speed signal and a vehicle yaw rate signal, and provides a correction to the operator steering signal to cause the vehicle to more closely follow the vehicle operator's intended steering path to increase vehicle stability and handling. The AFS system is able to provide steering corrections much quicker than the vehicle operator's reaction time, so that the amount of operator steering is reduced. The AFS system provides a more direct vehicle steering under normal road conditions at low and medium speeds, reducing operator steering effort. The AFS system also may help to increase vehicle agility in city traffic or during parking maneuvers. The AFS system also provides less direct vehicle steering at higher vehicle speeds.
Vehicle stability enhancement systems measure the driver's desire of vehicle maneuvers to control inputs, such as steering wheel, brake pedal, etc., and compare the vehicle response with the desired maneuver. The design of a vehicle stability enhancement system usually includes a command interpreter to determine the driver's desire, and a feedback control for vehicle yaw-rate and lateral dynamics to control the vehicle response to meet the driver's intended performance.
The known vehicle stability enhancement systems do not consider the driver's physical and mental status, and cannot identify certain situations when a driver needs additional help. A better design for a vehicle stability enhancement system may fulfill the driver's desire of performance driving. When the level of the driver's workload is recognized, the information of the workload can be used to make further adjustments in the command interpreter and the feedback control.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Driver workload-based vehicle stability enhancement system


A gage for indicating the runout condition of a valve seat edge formed by and between adjacent surfaces of a valve seat adjacent one end of a valve guide bore and concentric with the axis thereof, the valve guide bore accommodating an elongated pilot member that extends therefrom through the valve seat surfaces. The gage comprises a housing member adapted to be mounted on the pilot member in fixed spaced relationship from the valve seat and having a dial indicator mounted thereon at a location spaced radially from the pilot member, and a work engaging member mounted for rotatable and axial movement on the pilot member in the space between the housing and the valve seat. The dial indicator has a plunger member extending therefrom substantially parallel to the pilot member and an indicator needle operatively connected to the plunger member and movable in response to movements of the plunger member to produce a visual indication as to the position of the plunger member. The work engaging member includes an annular portion and an elongated member mounted thereon at an angle for slidable engagement with the valve seat edge whose runout is to be indicated, and a second portion including an end face slidably engageable with the plunger member whereby rotation of the work engaging member when the elongated member is engaged with the valve seat edge translates into movements of the plunger member to produce indications on the dial indicator as to the runout of the valve seat edge.

The present invention relates generally to a valve seat runout gage, and, more particularly, to a gaging device including means to accurately indicate the runout characteristic of a seating edge formed by the intersection of two annular tapered valve seat surfaces, which valve seats are commonly associated with the piston cylinders of internal combustion engines and the like.


A .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxy meso-substituted chlorin, bacteriochlorin or isobacteriochlorin compound having the formula (I) or (II): ##STR1## wherein M is a metal. A novel method for synthesizing the compound of formula (I) or (II) comprises the steps of:. a. osmylating a .beta...beta.'-unsubstituted, meso-substituted porphyrin to form an osmate ester at the .beta.,.beta.'-position, and PA1 b. reducing the osmate ester to form the corresponding .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxy meso-substituted chlorin, bacteriochlorin or isobacteriochlorin of formula (I) or (II).

In the field of PDT, various tetrapyrrolic macrocycles, such as purpurins, chlorins, bacteriochlorins, phthalocyanines and benzochlorins have shown the ability both to localize at a tumor site and to absorb light to form an activated state in response to the light. These macrocycles then exhibit a cytotoxic effect on the cells or other tissues in which they are localized when irradiated at the appropriate wavelength.
To cause the desired phototoxic effect deep within a subject's tissue, however, it is necessary to use photosensitizers that possess high absorption coefficients at wavelengths longer than 650 nm, where body tissues are most transparent to light. See Sternberg et al., "An Overview of Second Generation Drugs for Photodynamic Therapy Including BPD-MA (Benzoporphyrin Derivative)", Photodynamic Therapy and Biomedical Lasers, 470-4 (Spinelli et al. eds. 1992).
The reduction of a porphyrin to form a chlorin (i.e., a dihydroporphyrin) changes the optical properties in this desirable way, and reducing the chlorin further to form a bacteriochlorin (i.e., a tetrahydroporphyrin) makes the desired effect even more pronounced. There has only been one general method known to convert meso-tetraphenyl porphyrins into the corresponding chlorins, namely the diimide reduction introduced by Whitlock et al., "Diimide Reduction of Porphyrins", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 91, 7485-89 (1969). However, the product produced does not have a .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxy substitution pattern.
In addition to the desirable absorptive properties of chlorins and bacteriochlorins, the amphiphilic character of these compounds has been pointed out as being potentially beneficial with respect to the desired biodistribution of the drug. For example, Bonnett et al., "Second Generation Tumour Photosensitisers: The Synthesis and Biological Activity of Octaalkyl Chlorins and Bacteriochlorins with Graded Amphiphilic Character", J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1465-70 (1992), have suggested that meso-tetra(hydroxyphenyl)chlorins and their corresponding bacteriochlorins could be used as photosensitizers in PDT.
It is known that .beta.-substituted porphyrins can be treated with osmium tetroxide (OsO.sub.4) to oxidize one or more double bonds, thus forming an osmate ester at the .beta.,.beta.'-position, which can then be reduced with any one of a variety of reducing agents to form the corresponding vicinal-diol. For example, in Chang et al., "A Novel Method of Functionalizing the Ethyl Chain of Octaethylporphyrin", J. Org. Chem., 52, 926-29, the corresponding diol was obtained by oxidizing octaethylporphyrin with OsO.sub.4 in the presence of pyridine. ##STR2## Osmylation of a completely .beta.,.beta.'-alkyl substituted, 5,15-bis-(methylphenyl)porphyrin has similarly produced the corresponding diol. Osuka et al., "Synthesis of 5,15-Diaryl-Substituted Oxochlorins from 5,15-Diaryl-octaethylporphyrin", Bull. Chem. Soc. Jap., 66, 3837-39 (1993).
However, the diols so produced tend to undergo a pinacol-pinacolone-type rearrangement when exposed to acidic conditions, yielding oxochlorins, as shown below: ##STR3## When the migratory aptitude of various substituents was studied, it was established that, from the rearrangement of the .beta.-monoalkyl-substituted diols, hydrogen was the "substituent" with the greatest tendency to migrate in a rearrangement reaction. Chang et al., "Migratory Aptitudes in Pinacol Rearrangement of vic-Dihydroxychlorins", J. Heterocyclic Chem., 22, 1739-41 (1985).
Vicinal-dihydroxychlorins have been obtained from .beta.,.beta.'-alkyl substituted porphyrins by oxidation with osmium tetroxide in pyridine, and it has been confirmed that the product undergoes a pinacol rearrangement on treatment with sulfuric acid. See Bonnett et al., "The Oxidation of Porphyrins with Hydrogen Peroxide in Sulphuric Acid", Proc. Chem. Soc., 371-72 (1964), and Chang et al., "Differentiation of Bacteriochlorin and Isobacteriochlorin Formation by Metallation. High Yield Synthesis of Porphyrindiones via OsO.sub.4 Oxidation", J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1213-15 (1986). However, it has not been thought that the dihydroxy osmylation product of a .beta.,.beta.'-unsubstituted, meso-substituted porphyrin would be stable in view of the likelihood of rearrangement.
Further, if the starting porphyrin bears a .beta.-substitution pattern, which lowers the overall symmetry of the molecule, dihydroxylation leads to a non-statistical mixture of stereo- and regioisomers. For example, when the dimethyl ester of deuteroporphyrin-IX is osmylated, a mixture of the following regioisomers and their corresponding stereoisomers is produced. Chang et al., "C-Hydroxy- and C-Methylchlorins. A Convenient Route to Heme d and Bonellin Model Compounds", J. Org. Chem., 50, 4989-91 (1985). ##STR4## Under the best of conditions, the separation of these regioisomers and stereoisomers is cumbersome.
It has now been found that .beta.,.beta.'-unsubstituted, meso-substituted porphyrin compounds can be .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxylated via the addition of OsO.sub.4, followed by reduction to give the vic-diol, as shown below: ##STR5## The resulting meso-substituted vic-diols are unexpectedly stable. Surprisingly, dehydration and rearrangement only takes place under relatively harsh conditions, such as treatment with refluxing benzene containing catalytic amounts of HClO.sub.4. This is unexpected in view of, not only the high migratory aptitude of the .beta.-hydrogens, but also the expected tendency of the molecule to eliminate water, thus reconstituting a fully conjugated, porphyrin resonance structure as the enolic tautomer, as shown below. Crossley et al., "Tautomerism in 2-Hydroxy-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin: An Equilibrium Between Enol, Keto, and Aromatic Hydroxyl Tautomers", J. Org. Chem., 53, 1132-37 (1988). ##STR6## Such meso-phenyl oxoporphyrins have been previously prepared via a fundamentally different route. See, e.g., Catalano et al., "Efficient Synthesis of 2-Oxy-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrins from a nitroporphyrin by a Novel Multi-Step Cine-substitution Sequence", J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 1537-38 (1984).
It has been found that, when hydroxy groups are added to a pre-existing meso-substituent, for example, the phenyl substituents in meso-tetra(hydroxyphenyl)-porphyrins, chlorins and bacteriochlorins can be effective as active PDT agents. See Berenbaum et al., "Meso-Tetra(hydroxyphenyl)-porphyrins, a New Class of Potent Tumour Photosensitisers with Favourable Selectivity," Br. J. Cancer, 54, 717-25 (1986) and Ris et al., "Photodynamic Therapy with m-Tetrahydroxyphenylchlorin in vivo: Optimization of the Therapeutic Index", Int. J. Cancer, 55, 245-49 (1993). By introducing hydroxy-functionalities into the .beta.-positions, not only has a new class of photosensitizer compounds been found, but there is reason to believe that the photosensitizers of the invention are even superior to known compounds due to enhancement of amphiphilicity of the molecule.
Further, upon .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxylation, the high symmetry of the starting materials causes the formation of only one regio- and stereoisomer of the resulting chlorin. For example, the dihydroxylation of meso-tetraphenylporphyrin generates only one isomer of .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxy-meso-tetraphenylbacteriochlorin. Further still, subsequent .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxylation of the .beta.,.beta.'-hydroxychlorin generates only two, easily separable diastereomers of the tetrahydroxybacteriochlorin product. This significant reduction of isomers provides a method for obtaining PDT agents in high yields, which is of great practical, economical and medicinal importance.
Consistent with previous observations (see, e.g., Whitlock et al , "Diimide Reduction of Porphyrins" J. Am. Chem. Soc., 91, 7485-89 (1969) and Chang et al. "Differentiation of Bacteriochlorin and Isobacteriochlorin Formation by Metallation: High Yield Synthesis of Porphyrindiones via OsO.sub.4 Oxidation", J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 1213-15 (1986)), the .beta.-hydroxylation of .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxychlorins (and the diimide reduction .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxychlorins or, for that matter, the .beta.,.beta.'-dihydroxylation of tetraphenylchlorins) are susceptible to a pronounced metal-directing effect. Osmylation/reduction of metallochlorins produces a metallo-isobacteriochlorin chromophore, from which the parent isobacteriochlorin chromophore can be obtained by demetallation. In contrast, osmylation/reduction of the free base chlorins produces the corresponding bacteriochlorin chromophores.
Yet another advantage is that the meso-substituent can be widely derivatized, particularly when it is an aryl ring, such as a phenyl group. Thus, by hydroxylating .beta.,.beta.'-unsubstituted, meso-substituted porphyrins and chlorins via oxidation with OsO.sub.4, followed by reduction of the intermediate osmate ester formed at the .beta.,.beta.'-position, there can be made a number of related vic-diol substituted chlorins and bacteriochlorins exhibiting particularly desirable characteristics as PDT agents, such as intensified and bathochromically shifted Q bands and increased amphiphilicity. Moreover, due to the ability to further derivatize the meso-substituents themselves, an opportunity is provided for fine-tuning the pharmacokinetics and -dynamics of the compounds to an even greater degree.

.beta., .beta.-dihydroxy meso-substituted chlorins, isobacteriochlorins, and bacteriochlorins


Chromated or passivated (phosphated) zinc and zinc alloy coatings on workpieces are provided with a protective coating which is largely inorganic and formed from titanium or zirconium chelate and/or titanium or zirconium acid ester and an organofunctional polysiloxane applied in solution form by a post-treatment dipping.

In the metallurgical field it is not uncommon to provide steel sheets or strip, steel-workpieces generally, and finished products of steel, like fasteners and similar elements, with metal or metalizing coatings to protect the steel against corrosion. Typical of the coatings which can be applied are galvanically-deposited zinc, mechanically or dip-deposited zinc, correspondingly formed coatings of zinc alloys, or chromatized or phosphatized or passivated zinc coatings on steel or on another metal.
It is not uncommon to provide such coatings with a lacquer as an additional protection against environmental effects and in an after-treatment, usually involving a dipping of the part in the lacquer.
However, the use of a lacquer is not always desirable or advantageous as will be developed below.
Typical of the parts handled in this manner are screws, nuts, fastening elements of other types like hinges, connectors, hook-type fasteners and the like, and all kinds of hardware, fixtures and fittings, including door, cabinet, kitchen, commercial, industrial and agricultural hardware and fittings.
In a typical after-treatment following the application of the zinc coating with a passivation treatment and/or a chromate treatment (chromatizing), the part may be dipped into an organic treatment medium. A typical medium for this purpose can be an aqueous organic synthetic resin dispersion containing corrosion inhibitors or film-forming agents to provide a corrosion barrier.
This protects the zinc coating against corrosion. Prior techniques of this type, however, have not been fully satisfactory, usually because the duration of effectiveness of the after-treatment was not sufficient.
It is also known to treat the zinc coating with a chromic acid containing agent forming an inorganic post-dipping medium. This has the disadvantage that chromic acid systems are environmental pollutants.

Dip-coating method for protecting chromatized or passivated zinc coatings on steel or the like


Roaming support for wireless access subscribers over fixed IP access networks is provided herein. An authentication component can authenticate a subscription of a multi-mode device across different network architectures. A policy component can provide at least a portion of a service-level policy agreement to enable or disable services or policies associated with a multi-mode device at the fixed IP access network on a per session basis.

The mobile telephone industry has been associated with tremendous growth over the last several years. The number of consumers utilizing mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), any suitable user equipment for communication, and the like) has increased sharply, making the mobile industry a large consumer driven market, and consequently leading to competition amongst mobile service providers. One factor distinguishing the services of competing providers has been technical capabilities associated with a device. For instance, today's mobile devices have progressed in technical capabilities to a point where many can be utilized as full-service computing mechanisms. For example, applications such as word processing software, web browsing software, electronic mail software, accounting software, and various other types of software are typical on modern devices. The gap between traditional computing mechanisms and mobile communication devices has lessened with the introduction of such applications.
The advent of computing applications integrated onto mobile devices led naturally to further bridging a gap between such devices and capabilities traditional to networked personal computers (PCs). Along similar lines, networked computers began developing characteristics traditionally associated with mobile communication devices, specifically, a capability to exchange high quality voice communication, worldwide. The technology supporting voice exchange between computers integrated via fixed internet protocol (IP) networks became known as voice over internet protocol (VoIP). Moreover, the addition of wireless routing technologies with fixed IP networks enabled small, hand-held devices to carry VoIP exchange with other devices. Not long after, communication devices incorporated a dual capability to access both fixed IP networks (sometimes termed fixed IP access networks, collectively) and mobile networks (sometimes termed wireless access networks, collectively).
The trend toward integration of wireless access and fixed IP access capabilities in a single portable device has been termed the 'fixed/mobile convergence'. In essence, the fixed/mobile convergence has led to a rapid change in the communication industry as different communication architectures incorporate capabilities traditionally associated with others so that their services do not become technologically obsolete. However, some distinctions still remain amongst the disparate communication architectures, for example, in regard to network access and communication qualities of service.
A wireless access network can provide quality of service (QoS) parameters for communication through "roaming" agreements. Roaming among wireless access networks occurs when a device having a subscription with a first wireless access provider accesses and uses facilities of a second wireless access provider. The second provider has no existing agreement associated with the device, but can provide communication services to the device based on an agreement between the two providers instead. Consequently, a wireless access device can carry its service subscription information across access points, networks and even operator domains. A fixed IP access network can provide quality of service (QoS) capabilities for communication related to a fixed access billing account. Users deciding to use the access point can therefore receive such qualities of service specified in the fixed access billing account. As with most things related to fixed/mobile convergence, however, some of the remaining distinctions between fixed IP access and wireless access networks have also begun to fade as providers continue to compete for shares of the mobile communication market.

Roaming support for wireless access subscriber over fixed IP access networks


Methods and systems are provided for accurately determining the composition of a knock control fluid using sensors already present in the engine system. An intake or an exhaust oxygen sensor is used to estimate the water and the alcohol content of a knock control fluid that is direct injected into an engine cylinder responsive to an indication of abnormal combustion. A change in the pumping current of the oxygen sensor due to the water content of the knock control fluid is distinguished from a change in the pumping current of the oxygen sensor due to the alcohol content of the knock control fluid.

A variety of knock control fluids have been developed to mitigate abnormal combustion events, including various combinations of gasoline, ethanol, methanol, other alcohols, water, and other inert fluids. Water injection, for example, reduces knock, provides charge cooling, and reduces the octane requirement. In addition, since water injection can also be used for engine dilution control, the need for a dedicated knock control fluid is reduced.
Another example of a knock control fluid is shown by Surnilla in U.S. Pat. No. 7,533,651. Therein, direct injection of a washer fluid, which includes water and alcohol (e.g., engine coolant or methanol) leverages the charge cooling properties of the both the fluid and the direct injection to reduce knock. In addition to protecting the water from freezing, the inclusion of engine coolant in the composition of the injected knock control fluid offers an added advantage of having light hydrocarbons (such as methanol), which help in the combustion process. The overall approach increases engine efficiency while reducing the octane requirement of injected fuel, thereby increasing the power output of the engine. Herein, the wiper fluid can be repurposed for knock control in addition to being used for cleaning a vehicle windshield.
However, the inventors herein have recognized an issue with the approach. There may be variations in windshield wiper fluid composition. For example, there may be a wide variation in the ethanol or methanol content of the fluid, as such. In addition, when a windshield wiper fluid tank is refilled, based on an amount and composition of wiper fluid that was left over in the tank, the composition of the available wiper fluid following the refilling may vary. While this does not affect the fluid's ability to clean a windshield wiper, it may affect the knock controlling ability of the fluid. For example, the octane value of the fluid may change. As such, various engine parameters are adjusted based on the injected knock control fluid. For example, based on the alcohol content of the injected fluid, cylinder fueling may be adjusted. In addition, engine parameters may need to be adjusted based on the type of alcohol in the fluid (e.g., whether the alcohol is ethanol or methanol). As a result, errors in the estimation of a wiper fluid composition can result in significant air-fuel errors, degrading engine performance. Further, if the composition of a wiper fluid is not accurately known, use of wiper fluid as a knock control fluid may be limited. On the other hand, the addition of a sensor dedicated to estimating the alcohol content and composition of a knock control fluid may add significant cost and complexity.
In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a method for an engine comprising: injecting an amount of a water-alcohol blend into an engine intake; modulating a reference voltage applied to an exhaust gas oxygen sensor; monitoring a change in pumping current of the sensor; learning a first portion of the change in pumping current due to a water content of the blend; and learning a second portion of the change in pumping current due to an alcohol content of the blend. In this way, the composition of a knock control fluid injected into an engine can be accurately determined using existing engine sensors.
As an example, following refilling of a wiper fluid tank, a wiper fluid composition may be estimated using an exhaust gas oxygen sensor (such as a UEGO sensor). The wiper fluid may then be used as a knock control fluid. As such, the wiper fluid may include a mixture of water and alcohol but no gasoline. Further, an alcohol type in the fluid may be known a priori. For example, it may be known that the wiper fluid is a water-ethanol mixture, or a water-methanol mixture. However, a ratio of water to the specified alcohol in the fluid may not be accurately known. A controller may inject a defined mass of the knock control fluid into the engine intake, such as into the intake manifold, downstream of an intake throttle. The fluid may be injected during engine non-fueling conditions, such as while EGR, fuel vapor purge, and crankcase ventilation are disabled, to reduce interference on the results from unintended hydrocarbons. Following the injection, a reference voltage of the exhaust oxygen sensor may be modulated between a first, lower voltage (e.g., 450 mV) and a second, higher voltage (e.g., 950 mV). A change in the pumping current of the sensor may be noted. As such, the pumping current may be affected by a reduction in the oxygen concentration at the oxygen sensor due to the water content of the knock control fluid as well as due to the alcohol content of the knock control fluid. Specifically, the water in the knock control fluid may have a dilution effect on the oxygen sensor while the alcohol in the knock control fluid may combust with oxygen at the sensor, reducing the oxygen concentration at the sensor. An engine controller may then calculate the alcohol content of the knock control fluid based on a change in the pumping current, as well as the knock control fluid injection amount. For example, the engine controller may reference a 3D calibration map to estimate the alcohol content of the fluid and update the composition of the fluid. By learning the composition of the fluid, the flexibility of usage of the wiper fluid as a knock control fluid may be enhanced.
In this way, an exhaust oxygen sensor can be used to estimate the composition (including the hydrocarbon type and alcohol content) of a knock control fluid. The technical effect of applying a reference voltage to the exhaust oxygen sensor is that a portion of the pumping current of the sensor that is attributed to the water component of the knock control fluid can be better distinguished from the portion attributed to the alcohol component of the knock control fluid. This is due to the fact that the dilution effect on the oxygen sensor has a remarkably different contribution than the combustion effect of the alcohol. By better estimating the composition of an injected knock control fluid, the use of the knock control fluid may be expanded to engines of different fuel types, improving the robustness of the system. In addition, the accuracy of fuel octane estimates may be increased, which allows spark control to be improved. For example, spark retard usage for knock control may be reduced providing fuel economy benefits. By using an existing exhaust oxygen sensor to determine the composition of the knock control fluid, the need for a dedicated sensor is reduced without compromising on the accuracy of the estimation.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Method and system for determining knock control fluid composition


A sheet feeder with electrostatic dust-collecting function includes a paper path, a feeding roller, a dust-collecting passageway, an electrostatic charge generator and a dust-collecting box. The feeding roller located on the paper path feeds a sheet through the paper path. The dust-collecting passageway has an inlet connected to the paper path and an outlet located opposite to the inlet. The electrostatic charge generator disposed at the outlet of the dust-collecting passageway generates electrostatic charges to attract dust coming from the sheet through the dust-collecting passageway and the paper path. The dust-collecting box for collecting the dust is disposed at the outlet of the dust-collecting passageway and has an adhesive layer for adhering the dust.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sheet feeder with electrostatic dust-collecting function, and more particularly to a sheet feeder for attracting dust according to electrostatic charges generated by an electrostatic charge generator so as to remove the dust. The sheet feeder of the invention is suitable for various document processing devices, such as a scanner, a copier, a printer, a multi-function peripheral, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of the conventional automatic document feeders, especially the automatic document feeders for scanners, do not have the dust-removing design. Although some feeders have the dust-collecting designs, the dust including paper flakes and particles is usually collected in a dust-collecting box. However, if the rotational speed of the roller increases, the dust collected in the dust-collecting box tend to be rolled up by an air stream and then go back to a paper path, such that the scan quality or the print quality is influenced. Such a condition tends to be easily caused as the sheet feeding speed is getting higher and higher. Alternatively, the paper flakes and particles in the dust-collecting box tend to go back to the paper path as the automatic document feeder is transported, and the scan or print quality is thus influenced.
Taiwan patent publication No. 563627 discloses a dust-removing device for a sheet feeder, in which the paper flakes or particles on the sheet are blown and sucked away using a blowing and sucking mechanism. Usually, the blowing and sucking mechanism cannot completely remove the paper flakes and the particles from the sheet, and the paper flakes and particles tend to attach to the roller after the sheet contacts the roller. So, this technology cannot remove the paper flakes or particles from the roller, and the paper flakes or particles tend to influence the processing quality. In addition, this technology needs a huge blowing and sucking mechanism and an air-filtering device. So, this prior art is not suitable for the miniaturized automatic document feeder.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,009 discloses a printing device capable of removing dust. The printing device includes a dust-collecting box for collecting the dust and a sponge for scratching the paper flakes and particles from the roller. However, the paper flakes and particles are separated from the paper path due to the gravity. The size of the dust-collecting box has to be increased if it is desired to prevent the paper flakes and the particles from being blown back to the paper path due to the air stream caused by the roller rotating at the high speed. Thus, it is disadvantageous to the development of the miniaturized scanning device or printing device.

Sheet feeder with electrostatic dust-collecting function


An apparatus for uniform reactive thermal treatment of thin-film materials includes a chamber enclosing a tube shaped space filled with a work gas and heaters disposed outside the chamber. The apparatus further includes a loading configuration for subjecting a plurality of planar substrates to the work gas in the tube shaped space. Baffles are disposed above and below the loading configuration.

The present invention relates generally to photovoltaic materials and manufacturing method. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for uniform thermal treatment of thin film photovoltaic devices. Merely by way of example, embodiments of the present invention include a method and apparatus utilizing forced convection for performing efficient thermal treatment of photovoltaic thin-film material with improved temperature uniformity, but it would be recognized that the invention may have other configurations.
From the beginning of time, mankind has been challenged to find ways of harnessing energy. Energy comes in forms such as petrochemical, hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, biomass, solar, and more primitive forms such as wood and coal. Over the past century, modern civilization has relied upon petrochemical energy as an important energy source. Petrochemical energy includes gas and oil. Gas includes lighter forms such as butane and propane, commonly used to heat homes and serve as fuel for cooking. Gas also includes gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, commonly used for transportation purposes. Heavier forms of petrochemicals can also be used to heat homes in some places. Unfortunately, the supply of petrochemical fuel is limited and essentially fixed based upon the amount available on the planet Earth. Additionally, as more people use petroleum products in growing amounts, it is rapidly becoming a scarce resource, which will eventually become depleted over time.
More recently, environmentally clean and renewable source energy has been desired. An example of a clean source of energy is hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power is derived from electric generators driven by the flow of water produced by dams such as the Hoover Dam in Nevada. The electric power generated is used to power a large portion of the city of Los Angeles in California. Clean and renewable sources of energy also include wind, waves, biomass, and the like. That is, windmills convert wind energy into more useful forms of energy such as electricity. Still other types of clean energy include solar energy. Specific details of solar energy can be found throughout the present background and more particularly below.
Solar energy technology generally converts electromagnetic radiation from the sun to other useful forms of energy. These other forms of energy include thermal energy and electrical power. For electrical power applications, solar cells are often used. Although solar energy is environmentally clean and has been successful to a point, many limitations remain to be resolved before it becomes widely used throughout the world. As an example, one type of solar cell uses crystalline materials, which are derived from semiconductor material ingots. These crystalline materials can be used to fabricate optoelectronic devices that include photovoltaic and photodiode devices that convert electromagnetic radiation to electrical power. However, crystalline materials are often costly and difficult to make on a large scale. Additionally, devices made from such crystalline materials often have low energy conversion efficiencies. Other types of solar cells use "thin film" technology to form a thin film of photosensitive material to be used to convert electromagnetic radiation into electrical power. Similar limitations exist with the use of thin film technology in making solar cells. That is, efficiencies are often poor. Additionally, film reliability is often poor and cannot be used for extensive periods of time in conventional environmental applications. Often, thin films are difficult to mechanically integrate with each other. These and other limitations of these conventional technologies can be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
As an effort to improve thin film solar cell technology, one or more processes of manufacturing an advanced CIGS/CIS based photovoltaic film stack on sized substrates with planar, tubular, cylindrical, circular or other shapes are introduced. There are various manufacturing challenges in forming the photovoltaic film stack, such as maintaining structure integrity of substrates, controlling chemical compositions of the ingredients in one or more precursor layers, carrying out proper reactive thermal treatment of the one or more precursor layers within a desired gaseous environment, ensuring uniformity and granularity of the thin film materials during reactive thermal treatment, etc. Especially, when manufacturing the thin film based solar device on substrates with large form factors, temperature uniformity across whole substrate surface is desired. While conventional techniques in the past have addressed some of these issues, they are often inadequate in various situations. Therefore, it is desirable to have improved apparatus and method for processing thin film photovoltaic devices on planar or non-planar shaped, fixed or flexible substrates.

Apparatus and method utilizing forced convection for uniform thermal treatment of thin film devices


A wide dynamic range sensor employing simple sensing circuitry formed on a single chip provides accurate measurements of an incoming signal capable of varying of a wide dynamic range. Responsive to an incoming signal, the sensor generates output pulses having a frequency which is representative of a property of the incoming signal. By measuring the output pulse frequency, an accurate indication of a property of the incoming signal capable of varying over a range of 10.sup.5 or more is possible over the entire signal range. A plurality of sensors can be colocated on a single chip for providing a wide dynamic range sensor array.

Various types of sensors are known in the art for measuring physical parameters. Typically, sensors provide a variation in resistance, capacitance or other electrical characteristics as a function of a sensed physical parameter to provide an electrical current or voltage output. For example, photosensors including charge-coupled devices (CCD), photographic films and photodiodes are used for measuring electromagnetic radiation such as light energy. These photosensors can be used individually or can be employed in photosensor arrays for imaging applications.

Image sensor array with threshold voltage detectors and charged storage capacitors

President and Fellows of Harvard College


A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes a SiC semiconductor layer, a gate electrode, a gate insulating film provided between the SiC semiconductor layer and the gate electrode, and a region that is provided between the SiC semiconductor layer and the gate insulating film and includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of antimony (Sb), scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La), and lanthanoids (Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu). The concentration of the at least one element is equal to or greater than 1×1019 cm−3 and equal to or less than 2.4×1022 cm−3.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is expected to be used as a material for a next-generation semiconductor device. SiC has better physical properties than silicon (Si). For example, the bandgap of SiC is three times more than that of Si, the breakdown field strength of SiC is about ten times more than that of Si, and the thermal conductivity of SiC is about three times more than that of Si. These characteristics are used to achieve a semiconductor device which has low loss and can operate at a high temperature.
However, when SiC is used to form a metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) structure, level density, such as interface state density, between a semiconductor and an insulating film is higher than that of Si. As a result, charge mobility is reduced and the on-resistance of a metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistor (MISFET) or an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) increases.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


Electric motors and machines including such electric motors, the electric motors having improved impact resistance. Features of the electric motors minimize axial shifting of the motor shaft and other components of the electric motor, and/or minimize damage to components caused by such axial shifting occasioned by an impact force on the motor.

Direct current (DC) electric motors commonly include a housing that holds an armature surrounding a torque shaft. The shaft axially extends through front and back covers of the housing. A commutator is coupled to the wiring of the armature. A flywheel assembly can be coupled to the armature shaft to maintain rotational speed of the motor by virtue of the inertia of the flywheel. Bearings on the shaft can facilitate rotation.
When the motor is subjected to an impact force, e.g., when the motor is dropped, components of the motor can shift, causing damage to the motor.


A feed conveyor for delivering feed to poultry cages, floor animals or the like includes a continuous trough member for holding the feed; a continuous spring element which is disposed within and throughout the trough member, and a driving mechanism which moves the spring element along the trough member to move the feed through the trough member to deliver the feed to the poultry cages, floor animals or the like. The spring element is a substantially planar, tortuous member, which is made of a suitable material such as high tensile steel, and which is disposed in a lower portion of the trough member. Preferably, the spring element lays along the bottom of a generally flat-bottomed trough member. The driving mechanism, which may take the form of a mechanically driven sprocket, moves the spring element along the bottom of and through the trough member to move the feed through the trough member to the various poultry cages, floor animals or the like.

This invention is generally directed to a feed distribution apparatus for animals. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a feed conveying system for caged poultry or floor animals and/or as a feed delivery system which uses a novel spring conveyor to move the feed through the system.
Poultry are usually housed in a series of cages for the purpose of delivering eggs. These cages can be constructed as a stepped-back pyramidal array, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,055. Likewise, floor animals are usually housed in a series of cages for feeding purposes.
In order to efficiently and cost effectively feed the poultry or floor animals, mechanized conveying systems are employed. These types of conveying systems typically include a feed conveyor which has a series of troughs within which is located a feed moving element. The troughs are usually closed tube sections, or open tube-like troughs which are located adjacent to the cages. When feed is delivered to the troughs and the feed moving element is actuated by a driving mechanism, the feed is moved along the troughs by action of the feed moving element to various feed delivery locations at which poultry is located.
Some such feed conveying systems, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,894, use a continuous helical spring as the feed moving element. When the helical spring is rotated by the driving mechanism, the feed is moved along the trough with an auger motion. The helical spring is not substantially displaced in the axial direction along the trough.
In other such feed conveying systems, the feed moving element is pushed or pulled through the trough by a driving mechanism. One example of this type of a feed conveying system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,681,639 which uses a flexible, multi-link chain.
These systems, while effective for delivering feed to the various locations where poultry or floor animals are located, consume a substantial amount of energy to run. As such, thousands of dollars are used each year to run such systems. The present invention provides a novel feed conveying system used in a feed distribution apparatus which consumes substantially less power than that of prior art systems while effectively delivering feed to poultry, floor animals or the like.


A method for specifying a folding option for a print job includes displaying a file from the print job, after selection by a user for printing, the file comprising a legend, opening the file in a preview window, displaying markers in corners of the preview window, reading out a user selected marker, after selection of a displayed marker by a user, reading out a number of user set preprogrammed fold variables from a list of preprogrammed fold variables, and folding based on the user selected marker and the number of user set preprogrammed fold variables.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for specifying a fold method for a print job. The present invention also relates to a system for printing where documents for printing are uploaded to a document repository, the documents are prepared for printing, and the printed output may be ordered for distribution.
2. Description of Background Art
Such a configuration is known from, e.g. managing the distribution of design drawings. For design drawings, a fold option is an important feature. Up to now, the fold was specified by giving values to a number of parameters that specify the fold method. However, most of the time the user is not experienced enough to know the effect of the folding settings, in particular since the result is dependent on the format and the orientation of the original document. In addition, the resulting printed and folded output is not readily available for inspection, so that an erroneous folding setting may remain unperceived by the customer. In order to achieve a high accuracy folded output, no matter what paper size or rotation a given (wide format) document possesses, describing what the creator wants was difficult at best when using simple field options.

Process of specifying print time fold method, location, and orientation


An elastomeric strand supply package is provided in the form of a bundle of elastomeric strands held together by a series of connected chain stitches which extend along the length of the bundle. The chain stitches are unravelled to free the individual strands, as the strands are being fed to a textile machine.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a textile supply package for feeding a plurality of elastomeric strands to a machine for making fabrics, covered yarns or the like. More particularly, the invention concerns such a package which comprises a bundle of elastomeric strands around which is sewn a connected series of chain stitches.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In most weaving, knitting or yarn-covering operations, large numbers of strands are fed simultaneously to a textile machine. Usually, the strands are supplied from a creel frame on which numerous yarn packages are mounted. Each package contains one wound-up strand. Another conventional method involves supplying the fabric-making machine with a multiplicity of strands from one large beam. These known strand supply devices usually are very large and require much floor space. To reduce these space requirements, suggestions have been made that the required number of strands be supplied in the form of a knitted package from which the strands can be unravelled and fed to the fabric-making machine. Rupprecht, U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,261 discloses one such knit package made of spandex strands. However, the speed with which packages of spandex yarns can be fabricated is limited by the slow speed of the knitting machines on which the packages must be made. The slow speeds of fabrication add to the cost of the unravellable package, as well as to the cost of the fabrics made therefrom.
It is also known to supply strands of slitted rubber in the form of a package wherein the strands have been readhered to each other and then dusted with talc. However, this method is not generally applicable to other elastomeric yarns.


A beverage brewing system is provided that includes a brewing body defining a brew chamber and a lid that is removably attachable to the brewing body to seal the brew chamber. The brewing system further includes a vacuum pump for drawing a vacuum in the brew chamber through a vacuum line assembly. An inlet to the vacuum line assembly is positioned above a top lip of the brewing body and a baffle may extend from the lid to assist in preventing water within the brew chamber from splashing, sloshing, or otherwise entering the inlet to the vacuum line assembly.

Beverage dispensers typically mix together water and a substance for creating a beverage, such as, e.g., coffee, tea, hot chocolate, lemonade, or the like. For example, in a typical coffee brewing process, coffee grounds are steeped in, saturated, or otherwise mixed with hot water (e.g., around 200° F.) to create hot coffee. Heated water accelerates the brewing process and allows for heated coffee to be brewed in a matter of minutes. Another method of brewing coffee is a cold brew process during which coffee grounds are brewed near room temperature (e.g., around 70° F.). However, such a cold brewing process takes a significantly longer amount of time to brew, e.g., around five to twenty-four hours.
Certain cold brew beverage dispensers place a brew chamber under a vacuum, which may significantly decrease the cold brew time, e.g., down to ten minutes or less. Such beverage dispensers include a vacuum line that extends into the brew chamber and a vacuum pump which draws a vacuum within the brew chamber during the brewing process. However, the vacuum may inadvertently draw moisture in the form of liquid water or water vapor into the vacuum line, resulting in problems with the vacuum pump.
Accordingly, a beverage dispenser that includes improved features for eliminating moisture within the vacuum line would be useful. More specifically, a cold brew beverage dispenser having features for preventing liquid from entering a vacuum line would be particularly beneficial.

Beverage dispenser with a water-resistant vacuum inlet


The invention concerns a unitary wheel system for road vehicles, especially cars, in order to minimize the manufacturing costs and the expenses for piling up reserves concerning such wheels the proposed wheel system is based on a single wheel provided with less additional elements to adapt this wheel to practically each car requesting wheels having a hole circuit diameter between 98 and 120 mm independently from the fact whether the attachment of the wheel to the axle hub of the vehicle should be made by means of four or five holes and a corresponding number of screws and further independently from the fact whether or not the wheel or its rim, respectively, is to be attached by wheel screws or by a central closing nut.

The invention relates to a unitary wheel system for road vehicles, especially cars, comprising a wheel rim especially manufactured of aluminum, a hub adapter which can be applied to the hub of the vehicle axis or brake disc or brake drum, respectively, by means of screws and further comprising a centric, cylindrical portion extending through the wheel rim and provided with a thread as well as with a centric bore at least open in the direction to the hub of the vehicle axis.
Nowadays the manufacturers of wheels for cars are world-wide forced to manufacture a multiplicity of wheels and to take them in stock, which wheels differ broadly with respect to the rim sizes, especially its diameter and width, in order to satisfy multiple wishes of buyers and to fulfil technical requirements. Thus, the costs for manufacturing and especially those for wheels of aluminum which are increasingly requested because of weight saving reasons, as well as the costs for retaining those wheels in stores are substantial and increase accordingly the price of the car.
A unitary wheel system as generally described above is known from Gertran patent No. 40 23 912. Although that unitary wheel system describes the use of different adapters, one cannot derive from that disclosure that one and the same wheel rim can be fixed to wheel hubs having different diameters of hole circle or wheel hub diameters, respectively. A unitary wheel system according to the general teaching of the subject invention is also known from German utility model No. 90 05 110. According to that known unitary wheel system the wheel rim can be connected by means of a connecting part as well as an exchangeable adapter part the wheel hub.


A photosensitive organic resin layer is formed on a semiconductor substrate. The resin layer is treated with ammonia before or after the resin layer is exposed. Then, the exposed organic resin layer is easily silylated. Due to the ammonia treatment, non-exposed portions of the organic resin layer is hardly silylated so that a high aspect ratio of patterning is realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of patterning a resist during a lithography process in manufacturing a semiconductor device. Particularly, the invention relates to a patterning method employing a silylating process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recent semiconductor technologies have improved the speed and integration of semiconductor devices and elements. This has increased the necessity of minimizing patterns formed on the semiconductor devices and of improving accuracy of the patterns.
A prevalent lithography process employs a photosensitive polymer (resist) pattern as a mask to etch a base thin film according to a reactive ion etching (RIE) method. The resist pattern shall be formed accurately with high aspect ratio on the stepped surface of a semiconductor element. This requirement is hardly met with a monolayer process of optical lithography technique. This increases the importance of employing a multilayer resist method.
According to the multilayer resist method, multiple layers provide respective resist functions. Namely, a resist layer of 2 to 3 .mu.m in thickness is disposed on the surface of a semiconductor element to flatten steps formed on the surface of the element and absorb light reflected by a substrate of the element. On the resist layer, a high-resolution resist layer is disposed to form a pattern. Since the exposure and development of the pattern is carried out away from the substrate and under ideal conditions, the pattern will be of high resolution and have accurate dimensions.
The multilayer resist method is achieved in various ways depending on the number of layers and the techniques of transferring a pattern to lower layers.
A typical one of the multilayer methods is a three layer resist method which provides upper and lower resist layers and an intermediate resist layer disposed between the upper and lower resist layers. According to the three layer resist method, a pattern is transferred from the upper layer to the intermediate layer and from the intermediate layer to the lower layer with the use of a reactive ion etching (RIE) process. The intermediate layer prevents the upper and lower resist layers from interacting with each other and provides pressure resistance for the lower resist layer when the lower layer is subjected to the RIE process. To achieve this function, the intermediate layer is usually made of SOG (spin on glass, i.e., organic silicon glass) formed according to a spin coating method.
The three layer resist method is relatively stable compared to other methods. However, it involves complicated processes, including two RIE processes, so that the three layer resist method may not be practical to apply for mass production.
To simplify the processes, various techniques have been discussed. One of the more promising techniques is a silylating process. This process realizes the function of the three layer resist method, but only with monolayer resist. Therefore, the silylating process may be an ideal and ultimate resist process.
A Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. 61-107346 discloses a typical silylating process. This process will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1(a) to 1(d).
In FIG. 1(a), the surface of a substrate 1 is coated with a photosensitive resin layer 2, and a mask 3 is disposed on the resin layer 2. The resin layer 2 with the mask 3 on it is exposed against exposure rays 4 such as ultraviolet rays to form exposed portions 5 on the photosensitive resin layer 2, as shown in FIG. 1(b). Silicon compounds are applied to the exposed portions 5. The silicon compounds are selectively absorbed by the exposed portions 5 to form silylated layers 6 as shown in FIG. 1(c). Then, an etching process is carried out to remove non-exposed portions of the photosensitive resin layer 2 to form a pattern as shown in FIG. 1(d).
According to such a conventional silylating process, not only the exposed portions 5 but also the non-exposed portions are silylated to form silylated layers 6a. The layers 6a are minor if compared to the silylated layers 6, but the layers 6a deteriorate selectivity of the pattern. Therefore, the conventional silylating process is not practically applicable and, depending on conditions, it causes cracks as shown in FIG. 2.
The silylated layers 6a formed on the non-exposed portions, respectively, shall be removed. For this purpose, mixed gases such as gases of CF.sub.4 and O.sub.2 or gases of C.sub.2 F.sub.6 and O.sub.2 are used to etch the silylated layers 6a. However, when the silylated layers 6a on the non-exposed portions are etched with the mixed gases, the silylated layers 6 on the exposed portions are also etched. Since an etching speed of the exposed portions is higher than that of the non-exposed portions, the silylated layers 6 are etched more than the silylated layers 6a. Then, the pattern is not accurately formed. In addition, the reactive etching with oxygen may leave scum.

Method of forming a mask on a semiconductor substrate via photosensitive resin deposition, ammonia treatment and selective silylation


A circuit that automatically switches the power supply voltage PVDD provided to a CPU between 3.3 volts and 5 volts. The circuit detects whether the CPU installed in a socket is a 3.3-volt part or a 5-volt part by determining the state of a voltage detect sense pin provided by the socket. If the voltage detect sense pin is driven low, that indicates a 3.3-volt CPU is being used. If a 5-volt CPU is installed, the voltage detect sense pin is left floating by the CPU, which allows a pullup resistor to pull the voltage detect sense pin high. The power supply voltage provided to the CPU is regulated through a power field effect transistor (FET). The gate of the power FET is connected to the output of a voltage reference source and is coupled to a 12-volt supply signal. If the voltage detect sense pin is pulled high, the voltage reference source is turned off, allowing the 12-volt supply signal to drive the gate of the power FET. This in turn allows the power FET to pass a 5-volt supply signal to the CPU supply signal PVDD. If the voltage detect sense pin is pulled low, the voltage reference source is turned on to drive the gate of the power FET to approximately one threshold voltage above 3.3 volts. In response, the power FET passes only 3.3 volts to the CPU supply signal PVDD.

1. Field of the invention
The invention relates to controlling a power supply voltage provided to a microprocessor, and more particularly, to a circuit that automatically switches between supplying the microprocessor with a first voltage or a second voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the past decade, the performance and speed of microprocessors have improved dramatically. The number of transistors that can be fitted onto a microprocessor chip number is in the millions. Such densities are allowed primarily with the use of complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) technology, which allows for significantly lower power consumption over prior bipolar and NMOS technologies. However, even with the use of CMOS technology, power dissipation by today's high performance microprocessors is a significant problem. To reduce power consumption, microprocessors such as the 486SL and Pentium.RTM. CPUs from Intel Corporation include built-in power management functions. The energy efficient CPUs include a stop clock and auto halt mode. In stop clock mode, the clock speed of the microprocessor can be reduced or even stopped altogether, which reduces the power dissipation of the microprocessor when it is idle. The CPU enters into the auto halt mode after execution of a halt instruction. This allows the microprocessor to be placed into low power mode via software.
Neither of the above features, however, address how the power consumption of a microprocessor can be reduced while it is active. One popular method of reducing power consumption while the microprocessor is running is to reduce its power supply voltage from the industry standard 5 volts down to 3.3 volts. Lower voltages have also proved to be necessary as die sizes continue to shrink. The small dimensions that exist on a chip require a lower operating voltage to avoid problems associated with high current densities. With the trend towards 3.3 volt microprocessors chip manufacturers have had to provide both microprocessors that operate at 5 volts and 3.3 volts.
This presents the computer manufacturers with a problem, however, as the computer system must be capable of providing two different power supply voltages to the microprocessor. One solution is to include a 5-volt power supply voltage on all computer systems, adding a conventional regulator for providing a 3.3 volt power supply voltage in the 3.3-volt computer systems. However, this requires that the manufacturing process be different for 3.3-volt and 5-volt computer systems. Single-part solutions exist where the same part can be used with both 3.3-volt and 5-volt microprocessors. However, these parts include linear regulators, which are relatively expensive components. Thus the use of the separate, conventional linear regulator is undesirable, as it adds cost to the manufacture of the computer systems for several reasons.

Circuit that automatically switches between supplying a microprocessor with a first voltage and a second voltage


A vehicular resin panel structure including: an outer panel that includes an outer panel main body and an outer edge portion formed by bending an edge portion of the outer panel main body toward one side in a plate thickness direction of the outer panel main body; and a resin inner panel that includes an inner panel main body that is joined to the outer panel main body by an adhesive, and an inner edge portion that is formed by bending an edge portion of the inner panel main body toward another side in the plate thickness direction. A leading end portion of the inner edge portion abuts the outer panel main body, and a parting line during molding is formed at a location separated from the leading end portion.

Technical Field
The technology disclosed herein relates to a vehicular resin panel structure.
Related Art
Conventional back door structures are known in which an inner panel and an outer panel are joined together in a state in which a fold portion folded toward the outer panel side is formed to an edge portion of the inner panel configuring a back door, and a leading end portion of the fold portion abuts an inner face of the outer panel (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2006-298329).
However, when the inner panel is molded using a resin material and a parting line is formed at the leading end portion of the fold portion during molding, burr is liable to occur at the parting line, such that burr is sometimes present at the leading end portion. There is a concern of noise occurring due to the burr scraping against the inner face of the outer panel when burr is present at the leading end portion.