Powder coating compositions that have a low melt viscosity contain:. (1) 20 to 80 parts of a multifunctional epoxy resin component; PA1 (2) 80 to 20 parts of an essentially linear acid-terminated polyester resin component.

This invention relates to the art of powder coating resins and processes to use them.
It is well-known to use epoxy resins in powder coatings for articles. See, e.g., Tess, "Epoxy Resin Coatings", Epoxy Resins (2d Ed ) at 772-78 (Marcel-Dekker 1988); and 6 Encyclopedia of Poly. Sci. & Eng., "Epoxy Resins" at 375 (J. Wiley & Sons 1986), which are incorporated herein by reference. In summary, a solid epoxy resin is mixed with a solid curing agent, and optionally pigments, fillers, stabilizers, and the like. The composition is solid at room temperatures but has a glass transition temperature. It is applied as a powder to a cold or heated substrate, which is usually metal, by methods such as electrostatic spraying, fluidized bed or electrostatic fluidized bed. The powder is heated either by heat from the substrate or by an external heat source, to cause it to melt, flow together, fuse and cure to form a coating.
For most nonweatherable applications, the epoxy resin is a solid advanced resin of bisphenol A and either epichlorohydrin or a diglyicidyl ether of bisphenol A. The curing agent is typically dicyanodiamide, an aromatic amine, a phenoxy resin, a polyanhydride, a novolac or a carboxyl-terminated polyester. Polyester resins are particularly desirable in some applications because of their excellent appearance, resistance to overbake, and mechanical properties. Common polyesters used are relatively low molecular weight (as compared with polyesters used in fabrics) and branched to promote cross-linking. See, e.g., Verborgt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,438 (Dec. 27, 1977) and Marsiat, U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,159 (April 18, 1978), which are incorporated herein by reference.
The viscosity of the epoxy-polyester powder coating resins presents an area for improvement. The polyester resins have a relatively high viscosity (such as about 150 to 200 poise for a mixture of 70 weight percent polyester and 30 weight percent epoxy resin) under curing conditions. (Viscosity is measured using an ICI cone and plate viscometer at 175.degree. C.) Resins with a lower melt viscosity are desirable because they flow together and fuse better to provide a smoother and a more even appearance, and they are easier to process into a powder. It would be desirable to find a powder coating composition with substantially the same or better flow and/or appearance and lower viscosity under ordinary use conditions.


File distribution in wireless mesh networks of devices interconnected in the wireless communications network including a gateway device and a remote device. The gateway device may include gateway storage unit with enumerated storage blocks, together forming the file, a transmitter transmitting the enumerated storage blocks from the storage unit. The remote device may include a storage unit with allocated storage block divided into enumerated storage blocks, a first bitmap mapped to the enumerated storage blocks, a receiver receiving an enumerated block and a processing unit for correlating the received enumerated block to a correlated enumerated storage block and correlating an enumerated storage block with a correlated stored bit in the first bitmap, setting the correlated stored bit in the first bitmap, storing the received enumerated block, building a list of missing blocks, and adding to a missing blocks list, and a transmitter transmitting the missing blocks list.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments described herein generally relate to the field of wireless communication, and, more particularly, to distribution of files within wireless mesh networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Contemporary wireless communication networks (hereinafter "networks") typically allow simultaneous communication between several independently operating wireless devices. In order to provide simultaneous communication, each device on the network must not interfere with the transmissions of another device. Moreover, devices must ensure that sending and receiving messages are properly tuned and synchronized with respect to each other. Devices capable of interfering with each other's transmissions are referred to as adjacent devices.
In order for transmissions to be properly sent and received, it is important that adjacent devices do not transmit data over the same communication channel at the same time, an event referred to as a collision. Interference typically results when at least two adjacent devices transmit data over the same communication channel at the same time, making it difficult for intended recipients of the transmissions to disentangle originally transmitted data.
A common approach used in radio frequency (hereinafter "RF") communication to ensure adjacent devices do not transmit over the same communication channel at the same time is to divide the available RF spectrum into fixed quanta called "frequency channels", divide time into fixed quanta called "timeslots" which are aggregated into fixed groups called "frames", and allow transmitters to send data using different frequency channels or different timeslots. An example of this type of communication is frequency hopping spread spectrum communication.
In a wireless network where both the RF spectrum and time are divided up, each separate combination of a particular "frequency channel" and a particular "timeslot" constitutes a unique "communication mode" that does not interfere with other communication modes in the network. Where the available RF spectrum is divided into many frequency channels and time is divided into many timeslots, each device in the network has a large number of non-interfering communication modes that it can use to communicate, thus making it possible for a large number of devices to participate in the network without interference. In addition, since the transmissions of two devices can only cause interference if the two devices are within RF range of one another, the likelihood of interference between devices can be further reduced by manipulating the spacing of the devices and the power level of the transmissions within a network.
FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network including a plurality of wireless devices "A" through "R". Devices that are within RF range of each other (hereinafter referred to as "adjacent devices") have a line drawn between them. For example, devices "A", "B", and "C" are within RF range of each other. Hence, in order to ensure that transmissions involving devices "A", "B", or "C" are properly sent and received, adjacent devices may not transmit on the same frequency channel during the same timeslot. In addition, in order for device "A" to successfully transmit data to devices "B" and "C" using a particular frequency channel and a particular timeslot, devices "B" and "C" must tune into the particular frequency channel during the particular timeslot in order to receive the message.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary set of communication modes for a wireless network configuration. In FIG. 2, time is divided into sequential frames comprising 24 timeslots each, and the available RF spectrum is divided into fifty frequency channels. The beginning of a frame will be referred to as a "frame time" or a "synchronized time reference". Each box in the grid shown in FIG. 2 represents one communication mode. For a particular frame of time, the number of available communication modes is the number of timeslots multiplied by the number of frequency channels, or in this case, 50*24=1200 modes.
Although dividing time and available RF bandwidth helps limit the amount of interference in a wireless network, it creates a complication for the devices of figuring out which frequency channels and timeslots the other devices are using. In order for a communication to succeed, a device transmitting data and a device receiving the transmitted data must both use the same timeslot and frequency channel. Since wireless networks often involve a large number of frequency channels and timeslots, the likelihood that a particular pair of devices will use the same frequency channel/timeslot combination by chance alone is very slim. As a result, it is useful for devices to coordinate their communications in some structured way. For example: networks that use timeslot assignment require mechanisms to synchronize the timing of adjacent transmitters and receivers to ensure successful communication.
In order to coordinate communications between adjacent devices, each device must be aware of the devices adjacent to it; i.e., the device's "adjacencies." In some wireless networks, pre-planning may allow devices to be informed a priori of adjacent devices; however, in wireless networks where devices are added or removed dynamically, manual intervention or an automatic mechanism for discovering adjacent devices may be necessary. Automatic discovery of adjacent devices typically includes a bi-directional exchange of information between the adjacent devices that facilitates future coordinated communications.
In relatively small networks, communication of information between adjacent devices (e.g., devices A and B in FIG. 1) may be sufficient; however, in large networks, source and destination devices are often not adjacent and the information must traverse numerous intermediate devices to reach its final destination (e.g., information sent from device A to device P in FIG. 1 must traverse numerous other devices). The process of moving information across multiple devices towards a final destination is referred to as "routing".
Exemplary approaches used for routing include a priori planning (i.e., static routing), which is used when all device adjacencies within a network are fixed and known in advance, and various metric based approaches (i.e., dynamic routing), which is used in networks where device adjacencies change dynamically. The routing approach used in a particular network is generally chosen to suit the network's structure and the application performed by the network. For example, networks such as monitoring or control networks, where most information flows to or from a central point tend to use different routing approaches than networks such as peer-to-peer networks, where information flows between any two arbitrary devices.
Common properties used to characterize the performance of a routing method within a network include the method's ability to respond to dynamic changes in the network, its speed of delivery of information, the method's reliability of delivery, efficient use of network bandwidth, and efficient use of device resources (e.g., memory).
The quality of a communication link between two devices in a network may vary considerably in quality and may change abruptly. For example, a link that normally works well may become unreliable when an obstruction such as a large truck is introduced between the two devices forming the link. Moreover the quality of communication between an information source and destination separated by intermediate communication links varies with the quality of each intermediate communication link.
Certain routing methods are more reliable than others in the face of unreliable or rapidly changing intermediate links. Reliable routing methods are generally capable of quickly adapting to changing link quality and often send information along multiple simultaneous paths in order to increase the chances for proper delivery. Methods that send information along multiple simultaneous paths trade some network bandwidth and resource efficiency for increased reliability.
Network applications may attempt to compensate for lost network bandwidth and resource efficiency through efficient encoding of information. For example, the network applications may compress the information, or they may attempt to minimize the amount of overhead information sent.
For large RF monitoring and control networks, at least the above issues must be coordinated and balanced to yield a system that is reliable, efficient, and easy to maintain.
Many networks maintain a map of paths stored in the bridging device that must be updated as the quality and presence of network paths change. A central controller in the bridging device specifies an optimal path for data to traverse from each wireless device to the central controller. In networks with dynamically changing links and relatively long communication latencies, maintaining centralized path maps makes it both difficult and slow to respond to changes in the network, particularly when dealing with compromised links and large topologies.


Systems, methods and apparatus are provided for reliability testing an inkjet printing system. The invention includes a testing interface, a print head coupled to the testing interface, printer control electronics coupled to the testing interface and coupled to the print head via the testing interface, the printer control electronics adapted to transmit a firing voltage signal through the testing interface to the print head, and a measurement apparatus coupled to the testing interface. The testing interface includes an input path for receiving the firing voltage signal from the printer control electronics, the input path splitting into a first path coupled to the print head and a second path coupled to the measurement apparatus. Numerous other aspects are disclosed.

The flat panel display industry has been attempting to employ inkjet printing to manufacture display devices, in particular, color filters. When inkjet printing techniques are applied in high throughput manufacturing, it is beneficial to maximize system reliability while minimizing system down time by rapid troubleshooting. System failures can arise in one or more printing channels due to clogging, electronics malfunction and variation of printhead parameters. In the case of electronics malfunction and variation of printhead parameters, it is cumbersome to manually examine signals to isolate the location and nature of a specific failure. Accordingly, apparatus and methods are needed to efficiently acquire data, test reliability and troubleshoot failures in inkjet printer systems.

System and method for reliability testing and troubleshooting inkjet printers


A method and apparatus wherein the method comprises maintaining at least first and second Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Process Groups (HPGs), receiving a downlink control information (DCI) message, using at least one of explicit information and implicit information associated with the DCI message to identify one of the HPGs, using at least one of explicit information and implicit information associated with the DCI message to identify a first carrier and generating a transmission of at least one data packet using the identified HPG to an access device via the carrier and a first uplink sub-frame.

The present invention relates generally to data transmission in mobile communication systems and more specifically to methods for managing HARQ process numbers for downlink carrier aggregation.
As used herein, the terms "user agent" and "UA" can refer to wireless devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, handheld or laptop computers, and similar devices that have telecommunications capabilities. In some embodiments, a UA may refer to a mobile, wireless device. The term "UA" may also refer to devices that have similar capabilities but that are not transportable, such as desktop computers, set-top boxes, or network nodes.
In traditional wireless telecommunications systems, transmission equipment in a base station transmits signals throughout a geographical region known as a cell. As technology has evolved, more advanced equipment has been introduced that can provide services that were not possible previously. This advanced equipment might include, for example, an enhanced node B (eNB) rather than a base station or other systems and devices that are more highly evolved than the equivalent equipment in a traditional wireless telecommunications system. Such advanced or next generation equipment may be referred to herein as long-term evolution (LTE) equipment, and a packet-based network that uses such equipment can be referred to as an evolved packet system (EPS). additional characteristics to LTE systems/equipment will eventually result in an LTE advanced (LTE-A) system. As used herein, the term "access device" will refer to any component, such as a traditional base station or an LTE or LTE-A access device, that can provide a UA with access to other components in a telecommunications system.
In mobile communication systems such as the enhanced universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), an access device provides radio access to one or more UAs. To facilitate radio access, the access device and UA establish several communication channels including, among others, a Physical Down link Control CHannel (PDCCH), a Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH), Physical Uplink Shared CHannel (PUSCH) and a Physical Hybrid automatic repeat request Indicator CHannel (PHICH). The access device comprises a packet scheduler for dynamically scheduling downlink traffic data packet transmissions and allocating uplink traffic data packet transmission resources among all the UAs communicating to the access device. The functions of the scheduler include, among others, dividing the available air interface capacity between UAs, deciding the transport channel to be used for each UA's packet data transmissions, and monitoring packet allocation and system load. The scheduler dynamically allocates resources for PDSCH and PUSCH data transmissions, and sends scheduling information to the UAs via the PDCCH.
Several different data control information (DCI) message formats are used by LTE access devices to communicate data packet resource assignments to UAs via the PDCCH. For uplink resource grants, a DCI format 0 is employed which includes, among other information, a new data indicator (NDI) which, as the label implies, indicates if the resource grant is for new data or data that is to be retransmitted. Other DCI formats are used to schedule downlink transmissions. UAs refer to the scheduling/resource allocation information for the timing and the data rate of uplink and downlink transmissions and transmit or receive data packets accordingly.
Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) is a scheme for re-transmitting a traffic data packet to compensate for an incorrectly received traffic packet. A HARQ scheme is used both in uplink and downlink in LTE systems. In the case of uplink transmissions, for each uplink packet received, the PHICH after a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) performed by the access device indicates a successful decoding. If the CRC indicates a packet is not received correctly, the access device transmits a negative acknowledgement (NACK) in order to request a retransmission of the erroneously received packet.
In addition to monitoring the PHICH for an ACK/NACK, in the case of an uplink transmission, the UA monitors the PDCCH for a DCI message including information indicating whether or not a packet retransmission (i.e., that a packet was incorrectly received) or a new transmission (i.e., that a packet was correctly received) should occur and for a resource grant for a new transmission or a re-transmission. Where a data packet has to be retransmitted, if radio conditions have changed, an access device may identify a more optimal resource for packet retransmission and transmit a new DCI message indicating the new grant to a UA. The process of changing a resource grant for retransmission is referred to generally as adaptive retransmission. If a new resource grant is not received for retransmission, the UA simply uses the previously granted resource to retransmit.
LTE uplink transmissions are divided into eight separate 1 millisecond sub-frames. DCI messages and ACK/NACK messages are synchronized with uplink sub-frames so that they can be associated therewith implicitly as opposed to explicitly, which reduces control and HARQ overhead requirements. For instance, in LTE systems, a DCI message is associated with a sub-frame four milliseconds later so that, for example, when a DCI message is received at a first time, the UA is programmed to use the resource grant indicated therein to transmit a data packet in the sub-frame four milliseconds after the first time. As another instance, in an LTE system an ACK/NACK is associated with a sub-frame four milliseconds prior so that, for example, when an ACK/NACK is received at a first time, the UA is programmed to associate the ACK/NACK with the data packet transmitted in the sub-frame four milliseconds prior to the first time.
In many cases it is desirable for an access device to transmit a large amount of data to a UA in a short amount of time. For instance, a series of pictures may have to be transmitted to an access device over a short amount of time. As another instance, a UA may run several applications that all have to transmit data packets to an access device essentially simultaneously so that the combined data transfer is extremely large.
In the case of uplink transmissions, a separate HARQ process is maintained for each uplink sub-frame used. In the case of LTE, the access device maintains a HARQ process buffer for each of the eight uplink sub-frames and packets are retransmitted by a UA in the same sub-frame as an original packet transmission. After a packet is correctly received by an access device, a new packet uplink transmission is initiated by the access device transmitting a DCI message including an NDI to the UA. Between NDIs, the access device combines transmissions occurring in the same sub-frame. Thus, an access device can associate retransmitted packets with prior transmitted packets by simply using sub-frame numbers.
One way to increase the rate of data transmission is to use multiple carriers (i.e., multiple frequencies) to communicate between an access device and UAs. For example, a system may support five different carriers (i.e. frequencies) and eight sub-frames so that five separate eight sub-frame uplink transmission streams can be generated in parallel. In multi-carrier systems, a separate HARQ process is maintained for each sub-frame/carrier combination. For instance, in a five carrier system with eight sub-frame communications, forty different HARQ processes are maintained.
While adaptive retransmission in a single carrier system can be supported by current DCI message formats, unfortunately, in multi-carrier systems where a UA transmits packets using multiple carriers in a single sub-frame (e.g., first and second carriers may be used to simultaneously transmit first and second separate packets in sub-frame 7), currently there is no way for an access device to control UA cross carrier adaptive retransmission. For example, where first and second carriers are simultaneously used to transmit different first and second packets in sub-frame 7 to an access device and it would be optimal to retransmit the first packet using a fourth carrier, there is no way, using current DCI messaging formats, to distinguish the seventh sub-frame associated with the first carrier from the seventh sub-frame associated with the second carrier.

HARQ process number management for downlink carrier


It is an object of the invention to provide a dielectric ceramic composition which enables its firing temperature to be lowered and which has an excellent electrical properties, particularly temperature dependence of resonance frequencies. A dielectric ceramic composition according to the invention comprises an oxide of a barium titanate family having a composition formula represented as BaTixO2x+1 (3.5≦x≦5.0); a first chemical element group consisting of at least one kind of alkaline-earth metals, silicon, zinc, aluminium, titanium, copper, bismuth and molybdenum; and a second chemical element group consisting of at least one kind of alkali metals and boron. A weight ratio of a total of each chemical element in the first and second chemical element groups to the oxide (the total of each chemical element/the oxide) is between 45/55 and 65/35 inclusive when the ratio is determined by converting said each chemical element to its oxide. A weight ratio of the second chemical element group to the first chemical element group (the second chemical element group/the first chemical element group) is between 0.01 and 0.10 inclusive when the ratio is determined by converting said each chemical element to its oxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dielectric ceramic composition containing an oxide of a barium titanate family, and more particularly to a dielectric ceramic composition suitably used for materials constituting electronic components that operate in a microwave (a few GHz) region.
2. Description of Related Art
A dielectric ceramic composition has been widely used for an electronic circuit board, electronic components or the like. In recent years, as electronic equipments such as a mobile communication equipment typified by a portable telephone have been becoming more and more prevalent in the world and demand for high performance of such equipments has been enhanced, the use of dielectric ceramic composition is becoming increasingly necessary for RF (Radio Frequency) circuit components contained in such electronic equipments.
A dielectric ceramic composition used for radio frequency circuit components is desired to provide superiority in electrical properties such as dielectric characteristics and temperature dependence of the resonance frequency (electrostatic capacitance). In more detail, the following electrical properties are required for said dielectric ceramic composition. That is, for example, at 1 GHz, relative dielectric constant is about 18 to 30, Q value is as high as about 8000 or more (in other words, dielectric loss is small), and the temperature dependence of the resonance frequency satisfies NPO characteristics defined by the EIA standard while change of the resonance frequency is required to be within ±10 ppm/° C. over a temperature range from −25° C. to 85° C. centered on about 25° C. In addition, recently, the dielectric ceramic composition is in many cases sintered together with a metal wiring pattern to manufacture electronic components such as a multi-layer antenna (MLA) and a RF module, and further, demand for low-price electronic components has been growing. In order to meet such manufacture trend and address such demand, even in a case where a low-cost material such as silver (Ag: its melting point is about 961° C.) and cupper (Cu: its melting point is about 1083° C.) is used for formation of the metal wiring pattern, the dielectric ceramic composition has to be sintered at temperatures lower than melting point of such a low-cost material so as not to make the material melt.
It has been known that a dielectric ceramic composition having superior electrical properties and used for radio frequency circuit is realized by, for example, the material of the BaO—MgO—Ta2O5—MnO2 family such as Ba(Mg1/3, Ta2/3)O3 and Ba(Mn1/2, Ta1/2)O3, the material of the MgO—TiO2—CaO family such as (Mg0.95, Ca0.05)TiO3, and the material formed by substituting part of titanium (Ti) of BaTi4O9 for strontium (Sr) and then adding a predetermined amount of magnesium (Mg). However, all of those compositions include disadvantages. That is, those compositions have to be sintered at temperatures equal to or higher than 1250° C. and therefore, cannot be sintered together with the above-stated low-cost materials used for formation of metal wiring pattern.
In addition, although it is known that a material formed by adding tin (Sn), zirconium (Zr), boron (B), lithium (Li), etc., to the MgO—TiO2—CaO family can be employed as a dielectric ceramic composition used for high frequency circuit, which ceramic composition can be sintered at low temperatures, i.e., 900° C. to 1050° C., this composition is inferior in electrical properties, particularly, Q value. Furthermore, problems have been found in some compositions that can be sintered at low temperatures. That is, such compositions often include lead (Pb) and therefore, adversely affect the environment while deteriorating their electrical properties.
In consideration of those problems, a new dielectric ceramic composition has been conceived and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-281442, in which the dielectric ceramic composition is formed by substituting part of titanium (Ti) of BaTi4O9 for zirconium and adding a predetermined amount of zinc (Zn), boron, lithium, calcium (Ca), silicon (Si), silver and copper to said substituted BaTi4O9. However, the dielectric ceramic composition formed as described above cannot sufficiently satisfy the above-stated requirement for temperature dependence of the resonance frequency. In addition, since the dielectric ceramic composition includes a total of B2O3 and Li2CO3 over approximately 6 wt % and B2O3 enhances vitrification (amorphization) of compound consisting of each of the above-stated elements, lithium included in the composition in a glass state easily exhibits ion conduction, likely causing deterioration of electrical isolation necessary for the composition.
In addition to the above-mentioned problems, the dielectric ceramic composition disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-281442 indicates another problem. That is, the dielectric ceramic composition includes a large amount of B2O3 and Li2CO3, both of which are apt to react with water from the air, and therefore, exhibits low chemical durability, which property is unfavorable for reliability of dielectric ceramic composition.


The disclosure concerns matrices of photosensitive elements. To avoid the need for a resetting light source using, as a photosensitive dot, a photodiode in series with a capacitor between a row conductor and a column conductor, it is proposed, according to the invention, to provide for a photosensitive dot comprising three diodes (a photosensitive diode, a reading diode and a resetting diode) connected to a common floating node. In one embodiment, the anode of the photosensitive diode is connected to a row-addressing conductor giving a reading pulse to the selected line; the cathode of the reading diode is connected to the column conductor which collects the useful signal; and the anode of the resetting diode is connected to a second row conductor (which, besides, may be the first conductor of a neighbouring row) which receives a resetting pulse after the reading pulse. In another embodiment, the photosensitive diode is turned back, its cathode being then connected to a row conductor; the resetting diode is simply connected to a reference voltage source.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns matrices of photosensitive elements.
The standard way to make matrices of photosensitive elements is to provide for a network of conductors in rows and a network of conductors in columns with a respective photosensitive element at each intersection of a row and a column. Through the network of rows, a row of photosensitive elements is selected, for which it is desired to know the electrical output signals. Through the network of column conductors, a respective output signal is read for each of the elements of the selected row.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The French patent application No. 86 00716 describes a photosensitive matrix having a network of photosensitive dots wherein each photosensitive dot has a charge storage capacitor in series with a photosensitive element, this unit being connected between a row conductor and a column conductor. The photosensitive element may be an PIN photodiode with three layers (a P type semiconducting layer, an intrinsic layer I and an N type layer).
Charges are generated in the photodiode by the illumination of the photosensitive dot. These charges get accumulated at the (floating) node between the photodiode and the capacitor. They are read by the application, to the row conductor, of a voltage pulse in one direction which gives the photodiode a forward bias (whereas it was reverse biased during the accumulation stage). Charges, of a quantity corresponding to the accumulated charges, are then transferred from the floating node to the column (or conversely from the column to the floating node). The reading operation consists in measuring this movement of charges.
After the end of the reading pulse, the photodiode turns off for a new stage of illumination and integration of charges.
But the potential of the floating node no longer has the value that it had at the start of the integration stage. It is therefore not possible to begin a new integration stage without setting up this potential of the floating node at a well-determined starting value.
The reading stage is therefore followed by a stage for resetting the potential of the floating node.
The resetting is done by intense illumination of the photodiode. It is therefore necessary to provide for a source of intense illumination and for control means synchronized with the photosensitive matrice reading means, in order to perform a resetting operation after each reading stage.
Furthermore, the above-described matrices, in which a unit in series with a photodiode and a capacitor is used as a photosensitive dot, require that illumination should be discontinuous, namely, that the matrix should be in darkness during the time reserved for the reading of the signal given by the photosensitive dots.
The present invention proposes a new photosensitive dot structure which removes the need for a source of illumination for resetting, and which enables the acquisition of information in a continuous flow without its being necessary to place the matrix in darkness during the reading stage.

Photosensitive matrix with three diodes per dot without optical resetting


The present invention discloses a linear constant current LED driver circuit in active valley-fill circuit mode comprising a rectifier bridge, a capacitor C1, a diode D1, a diode D2, a diode D3, a diode D4, a LED string and a constant current module. The constant current module comprises a N-mosfet N1, a first operational amplifier, a N-mosfet N2 and a second operational amplifier. During a frequency circle, the LED string can be discharged by firstly charging the capacitor C1 for energy saving through the LED string in constant current and then by the energy stored in the capacitor C1 in constant current, which further ensures that the efficiency of the whole linear constant current driver circuit is improved and the current passing through the LED string has a smaller frequency ripple with a large difference between the DC input voltage and the voltage at two ends of the LED string.

Since its advantages of simple scheme, low cost, being without high frequency transformer and EMC, LED linear constant current driver circuit is widely used.
The currently used LED linear constant current driver circuit is shown in FIG. 1, wherein the input DC source is connected to the input end of a rectifier bridge 101 and the positive output end of the rectifier bridge 101 is connected to the input end of a LED string 102, the negative output end of the rectifier bridge 101 is connected to the ground. A constant current module 103 is constituted by an amplifier 104 and a N-mosfet 105. The output end of the LED string 102 is connected with the drain of the N-mosfet 105, the gate of the N-mosfet 105 is connected with the output end of the operational amplifier 104 and the source of the N-mosfet 105 is connected with one end of the current sampling resistor 106 and the negative input end of the operational amplifier 104 respectively, another end of the current sampling resistor 106 being connected with ground and the positive input end of the operational amplifier 104 being connected with the reference voltage Vref. FIG. 2 is a simplified timing view of the circuit.
Assuming that the rectified voltage is Vin and the voltage at two sides of the LED string 102 is Vled, when Vin is higher than Vled, there is current passing through the LED string 102 and into the constant current module 103 and forming a voltage signal on the current sampling resistor 106; the operational amplifier 104 inputting signal to control the gate of the N-mosfet 105 by comparing signals at positive and negative input end allows the voltage between the source and drain of the N-mosfet 105 to be dynamically adjusted and the voltage signal at the source of the N-mosfet 105 to be equal to the reference voltage Vref, thus achieving the purpose of the current passing through the LED string 102 constantly.
As such, assuming that the resistance of the current sampling resistor is Rcs and the voltage of the N-mosfet 105 is Vds, Vds=Vin−Vled and the power consumption of the N-mosfet 105 is
      P    =                            V          ds          *                                              V            ref                                R            cs                              =                        (                                    V              in                        -                          V              led                                )                *                              V            ref                                R            cs                                ;assuming that Vds=Vled, i.e. The voltage difference between the input voltage Vin and the voltage at two ends of the LED string 102 is
            1      2        *          V      in        ,the efficiency of entire driver circuit is 50%. It is shown that the larger the voltage difference between the input voltage Vin and the voltage at two ends of the LED string 102, the larger the power consumption of the N-mosfet 105, and thus the lower the efficiency of entire driver circuit.
If the number of LED lamp in the LED string 102 is increased, the voltage difference between the input voltage Vin and the voltage at two ends of the LED string 102 will decreased, however, increasing the number of LED lamp in the LED string 102 will cause the increasing cost, therefore it is a good method for improving efficiency.
Thus, the problem in prior art is that how to improve the efficient of the whole linear constant current LED driver circuit upon the larger voltage difference between the input voltage Vin and the voltage at two ends of the LED string 102.

Linear constant current LED driver circuit in active valley-fill circuit mode


A makeup assisting apparatus includes an image acquirer that acquires a captured image of a face to which makeup is applied, an applied makeup acquirer that acquires applied makeup from the image, the applied makeup being a way of applying the makeup, a makeup evaluator that evaluates the applied makeup by comparing the applied makeup with a reference makeup which is makeup to be used as a reference by a user having applied the makeup to the face; an evaluation presenter that presents a result of the evaluation to the user, and an advice information indictor that indicates how to correct the applied makeup so as to make it closer to the reference makeup.

In recent years, the way of making up the face (hereinafter, simply referred to as "makeup") has been diversified. It has become difficult, particularly for a person who has no sufficient knowledge about makeup to select appropriate makeup from countless numbers of options for makeup, because it takes an enormous amount of time and effort to actually try, judge and compare various types of makeup.
To address the above problem, for example, PTL 1 and PTL 2 disclose techniques in which makeup which suits for features of the face is selected, a simulation image of the face in a case where the selected makeup is applied is generated and presented. In the techniques described in PTL 1 and PTL 2 (hereinafter, referred to as "related art"), a captured image of the face to which makeup is to be applied (hereinafter, simply referred to as the "face") is acquired, the features of the face are extracted, and makeup which suits for the features of the face is selected based on a selection criterion determined in advance. Further, in the related art, the simulation image is generated by superimposing, on the acquired image, an image indicating a state of makeup when the selected makeup is applied to the face, and displayed.
With such related art, it is possible to judge whether or not makeup is good or bad by narrowing down a target for which the simulation image is to be generated to makeup which suits for the features of the face without actually applying makeup. That is, with the related art, it is possible to select appropriate makeup with less time and effort.

Makeup application assistance device, makeup application assistance method, and makeup application assistance program

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Described herein are digital microfluidic (DMF) devices and corresponding methods for managing reagent solution evaporation during a reaction. Reactions on the DMF devices described here are performed in an air or gas matrix. The DMF devices include a means for performing reactions at different temperatures. To address the issue of evaporation of the reaction droplet especially when the reaction is performed at higher temperatures, a means for introducing a replenishing droplet has been incorporated into the DMF device. A replenishing droplet is introduced every time when it has been determined that the reaction droplet has fallen below a threshold volume. Detection and monitoring of the reaction droplet may be through visual, optical, fluorescence, colorimetric, and/or electrical means.

In recent years, efforts have been directed toward both automating and miniaturizing chemical and biochemical reactions. The lab-on-a-chip and biochip devices have drawn much interest in both scientific research applications as well as potentially point-of-care applications because they carry out highly repetitive reaction steps with a small reaction volume, saving both materials and time. While traditional biochip type devices utilize micro- or nano-sized channels and corresponding micropumps, microvalves, and microchannels coupled to the biochip to manipulate the reaction steps, these additional components increase cost and complexity of the microfluidic device.
Digital microfluidics (DMF) has emerged as a powerful preparative technique for a broad range of biological and chemical applications. DMF enables real-time, precise, and highly flexible control over multiple samples and reagents, including solids, liquids, and harsh chemicals, without need for pumps, valves, or complex arrays of tubing. In DMF, discrete droplets of nanoliter to microliter volumes are dispensed from reservoirs onto a planar surface coated with a hydrophobic insulator, where they are manipulated (transported, split, merged, mixed) by applying a series of electrical potentials to an embedded array of electrodes. Complex reaction series can be carried out using DMF alone, or using hybrid systems in which DMF is integrated with channel-based microfluidics. Hybrid systems offer tremendous versatility; in concept, each reaction step can be executed in the microfluidics format that best accommodates it.
For many applications it is most convenient to carry out DMF on an open surface, such that the matrix surrounding the droplets is ambient air. However, use of the air-matrix format necessitates accounting for droplet evaporation, especially when the droplets are subjected to high temperatures for long periods of time. In some instances, evaporation is considered a desirable feature, as it can facilitate concentration and isolation of solutes of interest. In biochemical contexts, however, evaporation frequently limits the utility of air-matrix DMF, because enzymatic reactions are often highly sensitive to changes in reactant concentration. Largely for this reason, investigators have attempted to use oil-matrix DMF for biochemical applications, despite numerous drawbacks including: 1) the added complexity of incorporating gaskets or fabricated structures to contain the oil; 2) unwanted liquid-liquid extraction of reactants into the surrounding oil; 3) incompatibility with oil-miscible liquids (e.g., organic solvents such as alcohols); and 4) efficient dissipation of heat, which undermines localized heating and often confounds temperature-sensitive reactions.
Another strategy is to place the air-matrix DMF device in a closed humidified chamber, but this often results in unwanted condensation on the DMF surface, difficult and/or limited access to the device, and need for additional laboratory space and infrastructure. These issues may be avoided by transferring reaction droplets from the air-matrix DMF device to microcapillaries, where they can be heated in dedicated off-chip modules without evaporation problems, however, this complicates design and manufacture of the air-matrix DMF device, introducing the added microcapillary interfaces and coordination with peripheral modules.
It would be highly advantageous to have an air-matrix DMF device that avoids the difficulties of evaporation even when droplets are heated or exposed to otherwise evaporative conditions, without requiring removal of the droplets from the matrix, while ensuring that proper concentrations and overall kinetics is maintained. Described herein are methods and apparatuses, including systems and devices, that may address the issues raised above.

Evaporation management in digital microfluidic devices


Eyewear attachments are provided that can include a bridge pad having a base extending between terminal ends and defining a perimeter, and each terminal end having a tower extending normally from the base and forming at least a portion of a top opposing the base of the bridge pad. Eyewear assemblies are provided that can include a frame having a bridge extending between two lense housings, each of the lense housings have an upper portion opposing a lower portion of the housed lense, and a bridge pad coupled to the frame. Methods of affixing eyewear in useful configuration are provided that can include, providing eyewear having a bridge pad, the bridge pad extending away from the eyewear and toward the face when the eyewear is in the worn position, and aligning at least a portion of the bridge pad below an upper portion of the orbital bone of the face.

Traditionally, eyewear has been used for multiple purposes. It has been used to protect the eyes from damage in workplace situations. They are also used to correct vision inadequacies. Eyewear is also used to shade the eyes from distracting or harmful sunlight. Sometimes it becomes important for the eyewear user to tilt their head upward to more closely view subject matter above their head at that time. In some of these cases, the user's eyewear will slide toward their forehead and away from the useful protection of the eye. The present disclosure provides eyewear attachments and assemblies as well as methods of affixing eyewear in useful configurations that overcome deficiencies of previous eyewear attachments and assemblies.

Eyewear attachments, eyewear assemblies, and methods of affixing eyewear


Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method for processing network congestion. A first switch obtains total traffic that is received by a receiving port communicating with a third switch. The total traffic includes traffic that is occupied by a data flow sent by a second switch, and the first switch. When the first switch determines, according to the total traffic, that a sending port of the third switch is congested, the first switch determines a target port. The target port is another port that can receive the data flow and that is selected from receiving ports of the first switch. The first switch sends an adjustment message to the second switch. The adjustment message carries an identifier of the data flow and an identifier of the target port, and the adjustment message is used by the second switch to send the data flow to the target port.

Data centers (DC) are more widely created by cloud service providers and enterprises. A load balance effect of a network architecture (Fabric) of a data center on network traffic directly affects user experience. A poor load balance affect refers to that congestion packet loss occurs when utilization of the Fabric is still low. In contrast, a desirable load balance effect refers to that congestion packet loss occurs when utilization of the Fabric is relatively high. There are two types of Fabric congestion packet loss. One type is that local load is unbalanced, for example, an equal-cost multi-path (ECMP) manner or a random load balance manner. Specifically, multiple large flows are mapped to one same link after hash, causing that aggregated traffic exceeds a capacity of a port and leading to congestion. For the other type, because switches separately perform load balancing, multiple switches at a same level may send multiple large flows to one same switch at another level, causing that downlink traffic are aggregated and causing congestion.
There are currently two methods for resolving the foregoing two types of congestion. In a first method, for each new flow, hash is performed by using a 10-tuple. One equal-cost link is selected from all equal-cost links according to a result of the hash, and an edge switch (edge switch) detects a large flow on each link. When traffic of a link on which a large flow exists exceeds a preset threshold, reporting is performed to inform a flow scheduler (flow scheduler). The flow scheduler linearly searches, according to links collected in real time, for all possible equal-cost links to which the large flow may be scheduled. When a first matched equal-cost link is found, the large flow is scheduled to the equal-cost link. In a second method, for each new flow, a first switch selects a link with smallest load for each new flow. A load status of a link may be obtained according to the following method: In an overlay network, the first switch encapsulates a congestion field (including a port number that is of the first switch and that corresponds to each link, and a congestion metric value of each link) into an overlay header of each packet. After the congestion field is sent to a second switch, the second switch stores the congestion field, and then feeds back an updated congestion field (including a port number that is of the first switch and that corresponds to each link, and an updated congestion metric value of each link) to the first switch by using a reverse packet. The first switch stores the updated congestion field in a table. In this way, the first switch can select an optimal link according to the updated congestion field.
In the foregoing first method, a large flow and a status of each link need to be reported in real time. Consequently, in a large-scale data center, a data flow is very large, a response is slow, and network utilization of the data center is not high. In the second method, an application scenario is limited. Consequently, network utilization of a data center is not high either.

Method for processing network congestion and switch


A shift register and a driving method thereof, a gate driving circuit and a display device are provided. The shift register includes: a pre-charge module, connected to a pull-up node and configured to charge the pull-up node in a pre-charge phase; a pull-up control module, connected to the pull-up node and an output terminal and configured to pull up a potential of the pull-up node in an output phase and output a driving signal through an output terminal; a denoising module, connected to the pull-up control module and the output terminal and configured to denoise the output terminal in a touch control phase; a reset module, connected to the pre-charge module, the pull-up node, the denoising module and the output terminal and configured to reset the pull-up node and the output terminal in a reset phase and denoise the pull-up node and the output terminal in a denoising phase.

As a liquid crystal display device is widely applied in life, high resolution and narrow frame become a development trend of the liquid crystal display device at present. A driver of the liquid crystal display device comprises mainly a data driver and a gate driver, wherein the gate driver can make the liquid crystal display device realize high resolution and narrow frame display. The gate driving circuit can be disposed in a display panel in a packaging manner of a chip on film (COF) or a chip being attached to a glass substrate ChipOnGlass (COG), or can also be disposed in the display panel in a manner of thin film transistors (TFT) constituting an integrated circuit unit. The gate driving circuit is generally arranged that one electrode of a shift register is in end-to-end connection with one gate line, and signals are input to the gate line through the gate driving circuit, so that progressive scanning of pixels is realized. Compared with a conventional COF or COG design, the gate driver can enable the liquid crystal device to have a lower cost, and at the same time one piece of process is reduced, so that production capacity is increased.
Since a touch control display device (Touch Panel) has advantages of usability, multi-functionality of operation, gradually reducing price and stably increasing yield rate and so on, its application becomes increasingly popular. The touch control display device can be divided into an out-cell touch control display device and an in-cell touch control display device. Herein, the in-cell display device is divided into two types, i.e., an in-cell touch control display device and an on-cell touch control display device.
When the gate driver is applied to the in-cell touch control display device, a touch signal would be interfered by a driving signal output by the gate driver, so that the touch control function of the touch control display device is affected.

Shift register and driving method thereof, gate driving circuit and display device

HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and a device for associating a user with a group. The method includes: receiving, by a first communications device, a first association request sent by a second communications device, where the first association request includes an identifier of an MCPTT user and identifiers of N MCPTT groups, and N is a positive integer; associating the MCPTT user with M MCPTT groups of the N MCPTT groups according to association subscription information of the MCPTT user; and sending a first association response to the second communications device, where the first association response is used to indicate that the MCPTT user is successfully associated with the M MCPTT groups of the N MCPTT groups, 1≤M≤N, and M is an integer. In this way, the MCPTT user is associated with the M MCPTT groups that the MCPTT user is interested in.

A mission critical push to talk (MCPTT for short) over service is a service based on a 3GPP evolved packet system (EPS for short), and may be applied to public safety and business scenarios. The MCPTT service may support communication of multiple MCPTT users (that is, a group call), where each MCPTT user can obtain the floor by means of arbitration.
In the conventional art, MCPTT users are configured to belong to a preset MCPTT group, for example, policemen or firefighting force. Then, the MCPTT users perform group communication in the preset MCPTT group, so as to better coordinate with each other to complete a task. However, an MCPTT user cannot choose to associate with an MCPTT group that the MCPTT user is interested in.

Method and device for associating user with group


The invention relates to a sensor network in an aircraft, which comprises several sensor nodes that communicate with a central data collection and evaluation unit via a radio transmission path. Data transmission can take place in various ways. For example, different frequency ranges are provided, from which the respective frequency range enabling the best data transmission quality is selected.

Sensors in aircraft are used to detect physical measuring variables, with which conclusions can be drawn about the state of an aircraft system component, etc. These sensors are hooked up to a power supply and evaluator by means of corresponding electrical lines. In light of weight restrictions in aircraft construction along with the complexity of necessary electrical cabling for a sensor network, sensors are currently used only very sparingly, and just in places where essential.
To improve and accelerate the preventative maintenance sequence for the aircraft, it is desirable to be able to ascertain the state of all relevant system components and fixtures in a timely manner, and make it available to a central unit for acquisition and evaluation.
DE 100 04 384 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,188 B2 describe sensor arrangements for acquiring temperatures. The sensor exhibits an optical fiber, with which stresses in the material can be detected. Such sensors cannot be installed at all locations within an aircraft.

Sensor and sensor network for an aircraft


An image processing apparatus includes a moving image file storage unit operable to store a moving image file; an area selection receiving unit operable to receive a selection of a predetermined area corresponding to one of a plurality of frames forming the moving image file; a template image generating unit operable to generate as a template image an image of the selected area; an image matching unit operable to obtain the frames from the moving image file storage unit, and to match each of the frames against the template image to search for a matching frame containing an image similar to the template image; and a scene change detecting unit operable to detect a start and an end of a scene containing the matching frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus detecting a scene and, in particular, to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a computer program for detecting a scene containing a selected object.
2. Description of the Related Art
As prices of memories are reduced and technology of the memory advances, the capacity of memories in image pickup apparatuses such as digital still cameras and digital video cameras increases. The number of moving images stored on the image pickup apparatuses also increases. Under this circumference, there is a need for techniques that allow users to view a predetermined scene of a desired moving image. Known techniques cannot detect a scene centered on a subject desired by the user from the moving image captured by the image pickup apparatus such as digital still cameras and digital video cameras.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-204990 discloses a technique addressing this problem. In accordance with the disclosed technique, an area of a frame constructing a moving image is selected, the frame containing an image surrounded within the area is found, a period within which the found frames are continuous with each other is selected as one scene, and a keyword is imparted to the period to help a user search for the scene of the moving image. In accordance with this technique, a predetermined condition is set on space between partial periods where the found frames are consecutive, and when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the partial periods are linked to each other to form one scene. The predetermined condition for linking the partial periods is that the number of frames interposed between one partial period and another partial period is set to be a predetermined number or less. In another technique, an image of an object desired by the user is set to be a template image, the template image and a frame constructing the moving image are matched against each other so that a set of frames containing an image similar to the template image is handled as one scene.
In the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-204990, periods having the consecutive found frames are selected as one scene. If one condition that the number of frames interposed between one partial period and another partial period is equal to or less than a predetermined number is satisfied, the periods are linked as one scene regardless of the content consistency of the scene. A definitely unrelated scene may be contained in one scene. In the other technique, the template image and the frame constructing the moving image are matched against each other and the set of frames containing images similar to the template image are handled as one scene. A frame in which a subject temporarily happens to look to a different direction in the moving image is not handled as a frame containing the images similar to the template image. The scene that should be otherwise within one group can be split.
It is thus desirable to provide an image processing apparatus for detecting accurately a scene where a targeted object appears in a moving image.


A navigation wristwear device comprises a GPS receiver fully disposed in a wrist watch type housing. A transparent microwave patch antenna is patterned of indium-tin-oxide on sapphire in front of an LCD time, position and velocity display. A bezel provides a protective window. A low-noise amplifier, downconversion, code processing and navigation processing are all provided on a single integrated circuit. Photovoltaic solar cells to each side of the LCD help keep a battery charged.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to satellite navigation equipment and more specifically to personal navigation wristwear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Global positioning system (GPS) receivers for consumer use have dramatically decreased in size and price due to on-going developments in semiconductor fabricating technology and the manufacturing scales of economy possible for consumer products. Handheld portable GPS receivers about the size of a large candy bar are now selling for under $300. Smaller and better performing equipment is still possible.
David Gildea and Charles Trimble describe in U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,244, issued Sep. 6, 1994, a cordless SPS smart antenna device. Such patent is incorporated herein by reference. What is essentially a complete GPS receiver is partitioned into two parts, a smart part and a display part. Both the code processing for satellite tracking and the navigation processing for position and velocity solutions are done in the smart part. The device permits a user to roam in areas that would not permit direct GPS receiver operation, e.g., indoors, under tree-cover, etc. However, since the navigation processing is done in the smart part, the part not carried by the user, the manipulation of databases and other high-end functions are hindered because the display part alone is too far down the processing stream.


A system for transporting by gravity a single-file series of elongate, tapered articles along an inclined transport path for distribution into receiving slots. The system includes a hopper for holding a supply of the articles and a pair of adjacently parallel rotating cylinders for holding the articles in suspended, sliding contact therebetween. A cleated conveyor belt carries the articles from the bottom of the hopper to a point above the cylinders and drops them onto said cylinders. The base of the hopper defines an inclined movement path to thereby convey articles which might fall from the cylinders back to the conveyor belt. The articles are thus fed by the conveyor onto the cylinders and slide along the gap therebetween to an end location. A series of three gates manipulates the articles one at a time to drop in a vertical orientation into an array of narrowly-tailored receiving slots in a packing rack.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for orienting and feeding articles. More particularly, it concerns a system for orienting hollow, conical pipette tips and feeding said tips one at a time into slots narrowly tailored to receive the tips in a fitted, secured position.
2. The Background Art
Commercial packaging of large quantities of articles often involves the problem of transforming an unorganized supply of the articles into packages ready for shipping. The problem is frequently compounded by the necessity to orient the articles prior to insertion into customized packages. In the case of sterilized articles, it is necessary to package them without human handling to maintain sterilization. Manufacturers and distributors strive to achieve these process steps while maintaining overhead costs at a minimum. This has motivated the development of a number of automated apparatus and methods for packaging large quantities of manufactured articles in a short period of time.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,033 (issued Mar. 5, 1963 to G. Scott et al.) discloses a vertical sorting tube passing through guide rings and having an open lower end for dispensing articles therefrom. The articles are received at an open upper end of the tube through a funnel. The guide rings are manipulated by solenoids to thereby move the dispensing end of the tube over receiving slots of a packing crate. However, this invention fails to teach orientation of specifically shaped articles. Secondly, this invention fails to teach or suggest a method for breaking the fall of the articles to ensure reception thereof into the receiving slots.
Attempts to create handling apparatus with orientation capacity are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,467,236 (issued Sep. 16, 1969 to R. Dhanda), 2,945,335 (issued Jul. 19, 1960 to C. Nicolle) and 2,911,088 (issued Nov. 3, 1959 to R. M. Ingham, Jr., et al.). These references are directed to the handling of elongate article having a narrow end and an opposing broad end. They teach a pair of stationary, inclined parallel bars for holding the articles in suspended contact therebetween in a vertical position with the narrow end pointing downwardly. The article slide along the bar under the influence of gravity. Although these inventions have achieved orientation of the articles during handling, they introduce increased friction between the articles and the transporting apparatus which competes against gravity. This condition tends to slow transportation of the articles and thus the entire handling process. Further, there is still the problem of orienting the articles prior to positioning between the bars.
Other attempts at article orientation have been made. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,884,347 (issued on May 20, 1975 to Gallagher et al.) and 2,377,431 (issued on Jun. 5, 1945 to E. E. Lakso) teach parallel rotating cylinders for supporting articles therebetween. The cylinders include helical grooves, and helical ridges, respectively, about the exterior of the cylinders, which operate to orient the article. The Gallagher patent adds magnetization to the orientation process. The Lakso patent adds a conveyor belt below the cylinders to maintain the articles between said cylinders. Although an orienting capability is achieved by these inventions, it requires additional structure and expense.


A system for reducing overall drag of a mobile platform includes a surface on which an airflow forms a boundary layer and a generally normal shockwave. The airflow is at a first velocity that is one of transonic and supersonic. An oscillating jet injects and extracts a jet flow through the surface. The jet flow is at a second velocity that is substantially less than the first velocity. A recirculation region is upstream of the normal shockwave and is disposed at least partially in the boundary layer. The recirculation region is established at least by the oscillating jet. A generally oblique wave is established by the recirculation region and weakens the normal shockwave to reduce the overall drag experienced by the surface.

The demand for faster and more efficient aircraft is balanced with the cost of producing sufficient thrust to overcome the related drag at the desired speeds. When aircraft operate in a transonic or a supersonic regime, a flow 10 over a surface 12 of a wing 14 can form a strong normal shockwave 16 and a boundary layer 18, as shown in FIG. 1. At transonic and supersonic speeds, the strong normal shockwave 16 with its attendant wave drag being the dominant component of drag can adversely impact the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. For example, the strong normal shockwave 16 can cause the boundary layer 18 to separate from a portion of the wing 14 and can establish a separation region 20 in the flow 10. The separation of the boundary layer 18 can further increase the drag experienced by the wing 14.
Different active or passive techniques have been investigated for control of the interaction between the strong normal shockwave 16 and the boundary layer 18. With reference to FIG. 2, one passive technique can include the use of fixed physical surface bumps 22 in the flow 10 that can tailor a local curvature of the surface 12 on the wing 14. With reference to FIG. 3, and for certain values of Mach number and angle of attack, the physical surface bumps 22 can be shown to relatively weaken the strong normal shockwave 16 and the magnitude of the associated drag. The fixed physical surface bumps 22 can establish a weak oblique shockwave 24 that can interact with the strong normal shockwave 16 to reduce its strength. At different but otherwise useful values of Mach number and angles of attack, however, the fixed physical surface bumps 22 can be shown to penalize the aerodynamic performance of the wing 14.
Other passive techniques not specifically illustrated can include sub-boundary layer vortex generators (i.e., small vertical tabs that extend into the boundary layer 18 from the surface 12 of the wing 14) and streamwise surface slits (i.e., vented wells), each of which can be positioned upstream of the strong normal shockwave 16. Each technique, at certain values of Mach number and angle of attack, can be shown to reduce the strength of the strong normal shockwave 16 and the associated wave drag. In addition, use of a porous surface (e.g., a plenum) at the foot of the strong normal shockwave 16 for certain values of Mach number and angle of attack can also be shown to reduce the strength of the strong normal shockwave and the associated wave drag by reducing a pressure jump across a foot 26 of the strong normal shockwave 16.
One active flow control technique can include a steady blowing jet located just upstream of the foot 26 of the strong normal shockwave 16 to again reduce its strength. While useful in some implementations, the steady blowing jet can be shown to reduce the lifting capability of the wing because of the relatively high jet momentum and mass flow rate required. In this instance, the Mach number of the airflow from the steady blowing jet can be comparable to the Mach number of the local airflow 10 over the wing 14. While the above examples remain useful in certain instances, there remains room in the art for improvement.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dynamic bumps for drag reduction at transonic-supersonic speeds


An achromatic anamorphic prism pair for the conversion of the elliptical output beam of a tunable diode laser to a circular beam. The achromatic design prevents a directional shift in the output beam with respect to the optical axis of the system laser wavelength is varied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical devices incorporating prisms, and more particularly to an achromatic prism pair for the conversion of the elliptical beam from a tunable diode laser to a beam of circular cross section.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been recognized that the elliptically shaped output beam from a diode laser can be converted into the more desirable circular beam by the use of cylindrical lenses or, more desirably, a pair of prisms. The output beam from a diode laser, even when collimated by a lens, is generally in the form of an ellipse, typically one with an aspect ratio of 3 to 1. The elliptical shape does not lend itself to optimal performance of the associated system, which gave rise to various techniques for converting the elliptical beam into a round one. Obviously, the conversion device should not contribute to a deterioration in the other characteristics of the radiation or unduly complicate the optical system. The prism approach has been found to be a more practical approach than the use of lenses and the prism configuration may be selected to provide various fixed magnifications along one axis. Typical magnification ratios range from 2 to 6 times to accommodate lasers of various ellipticities. Such prisms are quite effective for the intended purpose at a fixed wavelength but possess serious shortcomings when the laser wavelength is varied.


A module (25) for measuring at least one parameter of a tire of a wheel of a motor vehicle, the wheel having a wheel rim (1). The measurement module (25) includes an inflation valve (30) designed to be assembled on the wheel rim (1) and including a deformable body (32) and a hollow rod (31) passing through the body (32) including an assembly notch (36) and a sensor device (40), mounted slidingly on the hollow rod (31), including at least one sensor for measuring the value of the parameter and an element (42) for immobilizing the sensor device (40) in the assembly notch (36). The assembly notch (36) has a setting range enabling the movement of the immobilizing element (42) in the assembly notch (36) between a first setting position and a second setting position to adapt to the thickness of the wheel rim (1).

A motor vehicle includes, in a known manner, a plurality of wheels each having, with reference to FIG. 1, a wheel rim 1 (shown partially), a tire (not shown) and an inflation valve 10 for said tire that is assembled on said wheel rim 1 via an orifice.
Such a valve 10 includes an inflation duct in the form of a hollow rod 11 extending along a longitudinal axis XX, on a portion of which is mounted a deformable rubber body 12 of annular section. Again with reference to FIG. 1, this body 12 includes a first shoulder 13 mounted on the outside EXT of the wheel rim 1 and a second shoulder 14 mounted on the inside INT of the wheel rim 1. Between the first shoulder 13 and the second shoulder 14 is defined a groove 15 for immobilizing the valve 10 in the wheel rim 1, the diameters of the first shoulder 13 and of the second shoulder 14 both being greater than the diameter of the orifice in the wheel rim 1 and the diameter of the immobilizing groove 15 being equal to the diameter of the orifice when the valve 10 is assembled in the wheel rim 1 so as to ensure that the join between same is sealed.
During assembly of the valve 10, same is inserted into the orifice via the inside INT of the wheel rim 1, then the body 12 is pulled or the rod 11 is pushed towards the outside EXT of the wheel rim 1 in order to temporarily deform the first shoulder 13 to enable same to pass through the orifice, thereby positioning said orifice in the immobilizing groove 15. When the body 12 is released, the first shoulder 13 substantially returns to the original shape of same and the valve 10 is assembled on the wheel rim 1, same being immobilized in the immobilizing groove 15 between the first shoulder 13 and the second shoulder 14.
Nowadays, it is known to measure different parameters of the tires of a motor vehicle, notably to inform the user of the condition of same and to warn the user of any anomalies. Such parameters may for example be the pressure inside the tire, the temperature of same, etc. For this purpose, it is known to assemble a sensor device on each valve including one or more sensors designed to measure these parameters and wireless communication means designed to send the measurements to a processor in the vehicle, to process same and, if necessary, inform the user. Such a sensor device is assembled in a known manner on the extremity of the valve rod located in the space inside the tire of each wheel.
A module 5 for measuring at least one parameter of a tire including a valve 10 (not shown) and a sensor device 20 assembled slidingly on said valve 10 before same is assembled on a wheel rim 1 are known from patent application FR 2 993 823 A1 and with reference to FIG. 2. In order to immobilize the sensor device 20 on the hollow rod 11, the rod 11 has a first notch 16 and a second notch 17 and the sensor device 20 has an immobilizing wire 21. This immobilizing wire 21 is held under tension against the rod 11 to prevent the sensor device 20 from sliding on the rod 11 when it is positioned in the first notch 16 or in the second notch 17. The first notch 16 and the second notch 17 thereby define distinct positions enabling the module 5 to be assembled on wheel rims 1 of different thicknesses, for example between 1.5 and 5 mm. In a "delivery" position, the sensor device 20 is mounted on the hollow rod 11 of the valve 10 as close as possible to the second shoulder 14 (with reference to FIG. 1) of the valve 10, without the immobilizing wire 21 being positioned in the first notch 16 or the second notch 17. Thus, when assembling the valve 10 on the wheel rim 1, when the valve 10 bearing against the wheel rim 1 is pulled, the sensor device 20 slides on the rod 11 under the effect of the stretching of the body 12 of the valve 10, until the immobilizing wire 21 is positioned in the first notch 16.
However, such a module 5 has several drawbacks. Effectively, when sliding the rod 11 into the sensor device 20, the immobilizing wire 21 of the sensor device 20 is immobilized in the first notch 16. Consequently, if the wheel rim 1 is thin, corresponding to the position of the first notch 16, the valve 10 moves directly to the assembly position of same. However, if the wheel rim 1 is thicker, the immobilizing wire 21 is immobilized in the first notch 16 before the first shoulder 13 has passed all the way through the orifice of the wheel rim 1. In this defective position, the valve 10 is not in the assembly position, notably preventing a sealed join between the valve 10 and the wheel rim 1. It is then necessary to remove the immobilizing wire 21 from the first notch 16 in order to enable the sensor device 20 to slide and to enable deformation of the body 12 of the valve 10 in order to assemble the valve 10 into the assembly position of same in the orifice. The sensor device 20 then slides until the immobilizing wire 21 is immobilized in a second notch 17, thereby enabling the valve 10 to reach the assembly position of same. Such an operation to release the immobilizing wire 21 requires a tool and operator intervention, which may be complex and time-consuming, and does not guarantee locking. Furthermore, since the first notch 16 and the second notch 17 define two distinct positions, if the wheel rim 1 is of intermediate thickness, the immobilizing wire 21 falls between the two notches 16, 17, thereby preventing immobilization of the sensor device 20 or only enabling same to be immobilized in the second notch 17.

Measurement module and assembly method for such a module on a wheel rim


An erosion control system that uses massive hollow reinforced concrete blocks that can contain bulky fill material such as sand, mud, shell or concrete rip rap. The blocks can be arranged in desired geometric patterns at coastal areas subject to erosion control.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coastal erosion control and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus of coastal erosion control wherein an array of hollow reinforced concrete blocks are positioned along vunerable coastline areas, filled with sand, water, mud, shell, or heavy refuse such as broken concrete or rip-rap, then sealed after the refuse is added so that the wave action of heavy seas cannot scatter the refuse, and wave action is dissipated.
2. General Background
Stabilization of coastal shorelines has become a major problem in many coastal areas of the country, such as, for example, the Louisiana Gulf Coast area, where many thousands of acres of wetlands are disappearing each year. The shorelines are eroding or disappearing because of a number of reasons, at least one reason being excessive wave action that eats away at the shoreline. Loss of wetlands causes a decrease in habitat for numerous marine species, such as shrimp, crabs, and fish.
Numerous devices have been patented which have attempted to solve the problem of coastal stabilization. The following are examples of U.S. Pat. Nos. that have been granted for structures that can be placed in a coastal zone or in shallow water for the purpose of stabilizing the shoreline:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor ______________________________________ 4,668,123 Larsen 4,571,121 Albert 4,483,640 Berger 4,431,337 Iwasa 4,367,984 Cartwright 4,297,052 Rankin 3,957,098 Hepworth ______________________________________
Many of these prior art systems use blocks or structures that are relatively small and that are stacked or placed side-by-side for the purpose of dissipating wave energy. The problem with such small structures is that they are only used where the water interfaces with the shoreline and thus, are of little value in deeper water to break the wave action which pounds at beaches and shorelines. Many of these smaller structures can be moved by very heavy wave action that occurs, for example, during storms such as hurricanes. It is known that hurricanes can greatly erode a shoreline in a matter of a few days when huge wave surges pound at the shoreline and when water levels rise several feet in what is commonly called a tidal surge.

Method of coastal erosion control using massive sea block system


A thermally activated ink and a thermally activated transfer ribbon, comprising a polymer, oil and oil-gelling agent, are provided. The ink may form a coating on a substrate, such as a ribbon, for use in conjunction with a thermal printer or a nonimpact typewriter, for example, for generating characters on ordinary paper. A method is also provided for generating characters on ordinary paper with a thermal print head.

Thermal printing, because of its simplicity and low-noise level, has potentially many advantages over existing printing methods as a low-cost and relatively noise-free method of printing and generating characters. However, the acceptance of thermal printing has not been rapid because of the need for special paper and the nonpermanence of the heat-sensitive paper that is required for thermal printing.
Therefore, a need exists for a thermally activated ink, transfer ribbon and printing method for generating printed characters on ordinary paper. Present commercialized thermal printing can produce only blue or blue-black dye images of low to moderate darkness and opacity. Therefore, a need also exists for a thermal printing ink and method for producing black images having improved contrast and readability qualities. A need further exists for a thermally activated ink and method for producing high-quality, non-smudgeable, permanent characters on ordinary paper which characters are flexible and elastic to avoid flaking.

Thermally activated ink and transfer method


The instant invention is directed to a process for the production of a cellular polyurethane elastomer having a density of 0.45 to 0.8 g/cm.sup.3, comprising:. (a) preparing a prepolymer having an isocyanate content of 10 to 25% by weight from aromatic polyisocyanates and a portion of one or more polyhydroxyl compounds having a molecular weight of from 400 to 6,000; and PA1 (b) reacting said prepolymer with the remainder of said polyhydroxyl compound and water;. wherein the quantity of said water is 0.3 to 1% by weight and the equivalent ratio of isocyanate groups to isocyanate reactive compounds is in the range of 0.95:1 to 1.1:1, characterized in that from 0.1 to 0.8% by weight, based on the whole reaction mixture, of aromatic diprimary diamines having a molecular weight from 108 to 500 are also used in (a) or (b).

This invention relates to an improved process for the production of cellular polyurethane elastomers from polyisocyanates, relatively high molecular weight polyhydroxyl compounds and water as chain lengthening and blowing agent. The new process makes it possible for cellular polyurethane elastomers to be produced which have a higher density and higher heat distortion temperature. The process also avoids the excessive evolution of carbon dioxide which occurs in the conventional processes and the consequent high pressure produced in the molds.
Among the polyurethane foams, cellular polyurethane elastomers are distinguished by their substantially higher densities (about 450 to 800 kg/m.sup.3) and their improved physical properties. This improves the possibilities of commercial application. Cellular polyurethanes are used, for example, for shoe soles or as buffer elements in mechanical engineering, specifically in the construction of vehicles. They are also becoming increasingly important because of their good thermal stability. The conventional technique for the production of cellular polyurethane elastomers is known from the technical literature, e.g. Kunststoff Handbuch, Volume VII (Polyurethanes), published by Vieweg and Hochtlen, pages 275 to 287). In these processes, relatively high molecular weight polyhydroxyl compounds such as polyesters or polyethers are reacted with diisocyanates to produce isocyanate prepolymers. These prepolymers are then processed into cellular materials by reaction with water to which emulsifiers and, optionally, activators have been added. The water acts as both a chain lengthening agent and a blowing agent.
In order to obtain elastomers with adequate mechanical properties by this prior art process, it is necessary to use a quantity of water as chain lengthening agent which will not result in a cellular elastomer of the desired density (about 450 to 800 kg/m.sup.3). The chain lengthening reaction is accompanied by the production of large quantities of excess carbon dioxide so that it is difficult to produce molded articles having the high densities mentioned above. In Kunststoff Handbuch, Volume VII, page 276, it is proposed to overcome this difficulty by using as cross-linking agent, mixtures of water and a conventional glycol chain lengthening agent. Although higher densities can be obtained at low foaming pressures by means of such formulations, the products are inferior in their dynamic characteristics to those foams which have been cross-linked with water alone. Consequently, they have acquired little commercial importance. When cellular polyurethanes which have been produced with such cross-linking agents (mixtures of glycol and water) are used for shoe soles, their thermal stability is insufficient to withstand the heat produced when a fast running athlete stops dead in his tracks. The reason for this is that cellular polyurethane elastomers of this type begin to soften at 65.degree. C. and sometimes soften completely at 120.degree. C. (thermomechanical analysis and torsion vibration test).
If, on the other hand, a diamine chain lengthening agent is substituted for that portion of water which is not required as blowing agent, the cross-linking reaction in the production of cellular polyurethane elastomers proceeds much too rapidly. This causes processing problems which are virtually insurmountable. Also, the products obtained have a very irregular cell structure.
It was, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a process by which cellular polyurethane elastomers having a relatively high density could be produced by modifying the usual formulations so that excessive gas pressures would not be produced in the foaming process. In addition, the problem of high heat distortion temperature is avoided.
It has now surprisingly been found that these objects can be achieved by adding very small quantities of aromatic diamines in the production of the cellular elastomers (in principle, at any stage of production). The diamines are present in substantially smaller molar quantities than the water and, therefore, make only a minor contribution to the chain lengthening reaction. Considerable improvements in the properties are nevertheless achieved.

Process for the production of cellular polyurethane elastomers


The wire saw including a rope, abrasive beads spaced longitudinally apart on the rope by elastic spacers and elastic sleeves, one for each bead, sandwiched between the respective beads and the rope. The sleeves are conveniently made of rubber which is vulconized to the rope and to the beads.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wire saw.
Discussion of the Background
Wire saws, such as are commonly used to cut concrete, stone, marble and the like, have a flexible rope on which numerous abrasive beads are mounted in regularly spaced relationship. The beads may, for instance, have diamond particles exposed at their peripheries to perform the necessary cutting action. The rope is formed into an endless loop and is driven at a high linear speed against the workpiece which is to be cut.
When the wire saw is cutting, say laterally, through a workpiece such as a lump of stone, the abrasive beads are subjected to vertical and horizontal forces transverse to the rope and also to longitudinal forces acting along the rope. Random shock fluctuations in these forces can take place as the abrasive beads encounter relatively harder inclusions in the workpiece. The shock loading on the abrasive beads can damage the beads, particularly if the beads are rigidly fixed to the rope, for instance by brazing.
In addition to the transverse and longitudinal forces, the abrasive beads are also subjected to rotational forces as a result of the tendency of the rope to rotate. If the beads are freely rotatable on the rope, as opposed to being rigidly fixed, they are prone to rapid wear as a result of vibrations. Also, a freely rotatable bead will tend at an early stage to develop a flat wear area which then presents itself continuously to the workpiece, resulting in rapid wear in a localized area of the bead surface.


A method for controlling door access in a gunshot event includes connecting door locks with a control device. Each door lock retains its unlocking authority when no gunshot event is detected. A gunshot event information containing the gunshot location is sent to the control device when the gunshot event is detected, and the control device reports the gunshot location to the police system. At least one of the door locks near the gunshot location is set to the locking state, and the unlocking authority of the at least one door lock is revoked. Furthermore, the control device simultaneously sets the door locks to a locking state or an unlocked state through physical connection with or disconnection from an unlocking device. When the unlocking device is removed, the control device enters a first priority emergency state, such that all door locks are set to the locking state and lose unlocking authority.

The present invention relates to a method for controlling door access in a gunshot event and, more particularly, to a method for simultaneously locking a plurality of door locks and simultaneously revoking the unlocking authorities of at least one of the plurality of locks in a gunshot event.
There are various types of door locks available in the market, including mechanical locks and electronic locks incorporating motors, electromagnetic valves, and electronic parts. These door locks can be locked or unlocked separately. When the door locks are operated to be in a locking state while the door is closed, the door cannot move from the closed position to the open position, achieving an anti-burglar function.
When the door locks are used in a unit having many rooms, there is no guarantee that the door locks can reliably prevent burglars from breaking into the rooms. For example, in a school having a plurality of classrooms each having its own door and its own door lock, it is difficult to make sure the door of every classroom is locked after class. Furthermore, it is impossible to lock the door of every classroom in the school immediately after a security event occurs to prevent entry of the burglars, nor can the school report to the police at the first moment. In another example of a large company having a plurality of offices each having a door and a door lock, it is difficult to lock all offices at the same time. As a result, the school or the large company has to hire a person to check whether every door is locked. Furthermore, when a fire occurs, the doors near the fire cannot be closed in time. Furthermore, in an event of a gunshot (e.g., a gunshot event in a school), it is difficult to timely control door access for delaying or stopping the gunman.

Method for controlling door access in a gunshot event


A differential assembly having a torque coupling unit and an axle disconnect. A first end portion of an intermediate portion of a differential case is integrally connected to a ring gear. Integrally connected to an inner surface of the intermediate portion of the case is a first plurality of clutch plates. Disposed within a hollow portion of the intermediate portion is a first and a second differential side gear that are meshing with one or more pinion gears. Drivingly connected to the first side gear is a first output shaft. A clutch can having a second plurality of clutch plates is drivingly connected to the first output shaft. Within the hollow portion of the intermediate portion of the case is a clutching assembly that selectively engages the second side gear. A first clutch actuator selectively engages the plurality of plates and a second clutch actuator selectively engages the clutching assembly.

When a vehicle accelerates the tractive effort of the vehicle increases. Many vehicles incorporate the use of a primary full-time driveline and one or more secondary drivelines that provide additional traction when the vehicle is accelerating or when the vehicle is in poor traction conditions. When the vehicle experiences poor traction conditions, a torque vectoring mechanism may be used to selectively limit the amount of torque flowing from the primary driveline to the one or more secondary drivelines of the vehicle.
As the vehicle gains speed and the acceleration of the vehicle declines, the overall tractive effort of the vehicle decreases. As the tractive effort of the vehicle decreases and the one or more secondary drivelines continue to rotate, energy from the system is lost due to oil churning and spinning losses in the one or more secondary drive lines. In order to improve the overall fuel economy of the vehicle, it is desirable to selectively connect and disconnect the one or more secondary drivelines to eliminate those parasitic losses.
Conventional differential assemblies having torque vectoring and axle connect and disconnect mechanisms need to be engineered and sized to handle relatively large torque loads. It would therefore be advantageous to develop a differential assembly with torque vectoring and axle connect and disconnect mechanisms where the torque vectoring mechanism only needs to be designed to handle synchronizing torque loads and the axle connect and disconnect mechanism only needs to designed to handle wheel torque loads.

Drive unit with torque vectoring and an axle disconnect and reconnect mechanism