A phased array system includes at least two traveling wave antennas arranged in parallel, and each traveling wave antenna includes at least two antenna units sequentially connected. A first end of each traveling wave antenna connects to a corresponding first radio frequency channel. The first end of each traveling wave antenna connects to a signal processing module of the phased array system by using the corresponding first radio frequency channel. A phase and/or an amplitude of a signal inputted by the signal processing module from the first end into the traveling wave antenna may be adjusted by adjusting a configuration of the first radio frequency channel.

With development of wireless communications technologies, a wireless communications system imposes a higher requirement for antenna performance. An array antenna system can implement spatial electronic scanning of an antenna beam, and therefore is more widely applied to the wireless communications system.
The array antenna system is an antenna system including multiple antenna units arranged according to a rule. A phased array system is an array antenna system that can adjust phases and/or amplitudes of antenna units. Phases and/or amplitudes of signals inputted to the antenna units of the phased array system may be adjusted, so as to change a spatial direction of an antenna beam. In this way, automatic beam tracking upon antenna shaking and automatic alignment of an antenna beam can be implemented by using the phased array system with reference to a control algorithm. Therefore, a deployment time and cost can be greatly reduced by using the phased array system as an antenna of a communications device. In addition, the phased array system can be installed in a location with a poor stability condition such as a street pole due to advantages such as windproof and shakeproof.
In a conventional phased array system, each antenna unit is an independent channel. To implement two-dimensional beam scanning in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, a corresponding radio frequency channel needs to be configured for each antenna unit. Each radio frequency channel generally includes a phase shifter and/or a variable gain amplifier. Generally, there is an interval of a half wavelength between antenna units to avoid generating a grating lobe. For an array system with m×n antenna units, m×n radio frequency channels are required. However, a relatively large quantity of radio frequency channels causes a complex phased array system, and consequently, power consumption and costs are higher.
By using an antenna unit with an increased gain, a quantity of radio frequency channels and a quantity of phase shifters can be reduced, and therefore complexity of the phased array system can be reduced. However, the antenna unit with the increased gain causes an increased interval. Consequently, a grating lobe occurs in the phased array system, and an application requirement cannot be met.

Phased array system and beam scanning method


Monoclonal antibodies to a 28-mer peptide present within A4-amyloid are described. These antibodies exhibit unexpected specificity for amyloid plaque structures previously unrecognized in Alzheimer's disease brains. These monoclonal antibodies are useful as reagents for use in assays and imaging of A4-amyloid in Alzheimer's disease patients.

Although the presence of amyloid in the plaques of Alzheimer's Disease patients was noted over 60 years ago (Divry, 1927), molecular mechanisms that produce amyloid in the aged human brain and for the increased deposition of this fibrous material in Alzheimer's Disease remain unknown. Also undescribed is the contribution, if any, of amyloid to the active process of plaque formation vis-a-vis a secondary and more passive role that indicates only the terminal stages of parenchymal deterioration.
Recently, some progress has been made in defining the partial structure of amyloid fibrillary protein. Glenner et al. (1984a) purified amyloid from meningeal vessels of an AD brain; a 4.2 kD polypeptide was isolated and shown to have a unique 24 amino acid sequence (.beta.-polypeptide, FIG. 1). A polypeptide of similar sequence was subsequently isolated from the cerebrovascular amyloid of a Down's syndrome brain (Glenner et al., 1984b); a single amino acid substitution, of glutamic acid for glutamine at position 11, distinguished the two polypeptides. Similar results were independently obtained by Masters et al. (1985a) who partly purified and analyzed amyloid plaque cores from the AD cerebral cortex; the 28 amino acid sequence of the Glu variant was obtained (A4 sequence, FIG. 1). The A4 sequence differs from the .beta.-polypeptide disclosed by Glenner et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,829) by the three amino acids at positions 11, 27 and 28. The significance of this report is that the A4 was derived from amyloid plaque cores, a hallmark feature of AD. The amino acid sequence of A4 varies from that of the .beta.-polypeptide derived from vascular amyloid (see FIG. 1).
Using polyclonal antisera to a synthetic .beta.-amyloid polypeptide containing residues 1 through 10 (FIG. 1), it was shown that neuritic plaque amyloid shares antigenic determinants with the similar fibrillary lesion of cerebral vessels (Wong et al.. 1985). The same antisera failed to detect neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). By contrast, antiserum raised against residues 1 to 11 of the A4 polypeptide failed to detect vascular amyloid or neuritic plaques but, rather, exhibited exclusive specificity for the NFT; and antisera to the A4 peptide extending from residues 11 to 23 stained both plaques and vessels (Masters et al., 1985b). Thus, there is precedent to believe that antibodies to the .eta.-peptide and the A4 peptide are not identical with regard to their specificities.
Glenner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,829 disclose the preparation of antibodies using the first 10 amino acids of the .beta.-amyloid polypeptide (FIG. 1).


Methods for extraction and recovery of rare earth elements are disclosed. In one aspect, heap leaching with a leach solution comprising sulfuric acid is used to extract rare earth elements including yttrium and light and heavy rare earth elements.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential components of current and emerging 21st century technologies. Recent concern about future supplies of all the REEs now has narrowed chiefly to the heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). Essentially, all of the world's HREEs currently are sourced from the south China ion-adsorption clay deposits. The ability of those deposits to maintain and increase production is uncertain, particularly in light of environmental degradation associated with some mining and extraction operations in the region.
As such, identification and development of processes for improved extraction and recovery of REEs is desired in order to exploit deposits in other parts of the world.

Extraction and recovery of yttrium and rare earth elements

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A light socket for engaging and energizing a light bulb is adapted for attachment to a lamp base or other light fixture and has an internal chamber in which a touch responsive control circuit is disposed. The circuit has a solid state switch element which transmits voltage to the bulb in response to a change of capacitance at an input terminal and which preferably progressively changes light output in response to successive changes of capacitance. Heat damage to the solid state switch element is avoided, enabling use of higher wattage light bulbs, by a heat sink member which extends from the switch element to a location at which it contacts the lamp or other light fixture. In the preferred form, the heat sink is electrically connected to the control circuit input terminal and, in conjunction with metallic portions of the lamp or other light fixture, further functions as a component of the touch sensing system.

A common form of electric light socket has a built in control switch to enable the lamp or light fixture to be turned on and off at the socket itself rather than by means of a remotely located switch. Traditionally, the control switch has been of the mechanical form which has a stem and rotatable knob that protrude from the side of the socket.
Rotary mechanical switches of this type wear rapidly and are notoriously prone to failure after repeated cyclings of the switch. Switch failure is particularly common in multi-level lighting fixtures which enable selection of any of a plurality of different levels of illumination as the switches for such fixtures are necessarily more complex.
Electronic switching circuits having solid state components are not subject to mechanical wear and thus can be much more durable in the absence of adverse environmental conditions. Such switching circuits are also more convenient to operate as the circuit can be controlled by simply touching an electrically conductive input component.
It has heretofore been recognized that touch operated electronic switching circuits can be substituted for the traditional mechanical switch in electric lamps or can be added on to existing lamps which have a mechanical switch by means of a supplementary socket which screws into the pre-existing socket of the lamp Such circuits operate in response to changes of capacitance at an input terminal that result from contact of an operator's finger with the terminal or with electrical conductors that are connected to the terminal. The touch controlled lamps or supplementary light sockets are usually constructed to establish an electrical connection between the switching circuit input terminal and metallic portions of the lamp base or other lighting fixture. Thus the lamp or other lighting fixture can be turned on and off by simply touching some metallic portion of the lamp or fixture.
The solid state circuit components which control the voltage that is applied to the bulb in touch operated switching circuits are susceptible to heat damage and can be unreliable or fail if subjected to overheating. Typically such components may have a maximum temperature tolerance of about 80.degree. C. Such components inherently generate heat when conducting current and this must be dissipated to avoid a damaging temperature build-up. The problem is particularly acute in the context of a light socket as the light bulb itself produces heat and the socket can become very hot. Conventional heat sink arrangements for solid state circuit components may be inadequate in this context particularly if if a very high wattage bulb is engaged in the socket.
One effect of this problem is that prior touch operated light sockets are not suitable for use with very high wattage light bulbs. Use of a 300 watt bulb, for example, will very probably cause circuit failure from overheating.
Prior touch operated lighting installations have also required that the lamp as a whole have a specialized construction to accommodate the touch control circuit or, alternately, the complication of adding a supplementary socket to the pre-existing mechanically operated socket has been necessary. Prior touch controlled lamps or lighting fixtures are also unsuitable for use at elevated locations that cannot be conveniently reached by an operator.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.

Touch controlled electric light socket with high current tolerance


A non-contact and non-disposable electric induction LED lamp includes a power source and a luminous-radiating unit combined together. The power source is formed with a power source module electrically connected with a first electric induction plate, while the luminous-radiating unit is provided with a second electric induction plate corresponding with the first electric induction plate and electrically connected with an LED module. Thus, the electricity of the power source can be transmitted to the luminous-radiating unit via electromagnetic induction produced between the first and the second electric induction plates to enable the LED module to emit light. The LED lamp of this invention can partially be replaced conveniently and has water proof and dustproof effects.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a non-contact and non-disposable electric induction LED lamp.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The inventor of this invention previously devised various kinds of non-disposable LED lamps for improving the drawbacks of a conventional LED lamp that a whole set of the conventional LED lamp must be eliminated and replaced with a new one so long as a certain component of the LED lamp is damaged. An electric bulb-shaped non-disposable LED lamp, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a base 1 provided thereon with a power module 2 connected with a first connector 3. A luminous module 4 is assembled on the base 1 and provided with a second connector 5 to be assembled with the first connector 3, and the second connector 5 is connected with an LED circuit board 6. By so designing, only the base 1 or the luminous module 4 needs to be replaced singly in accordance with the location where the component is damaged. For instance, when the LED circuit board 6 is damaged, only the luminous module 4 needs to be replaced, unnecessary to eliminate and replace a whole set of the non-disposable LED lamp, thus attaining effects of lowering selling price, elevating economic value and environmental protection.
Although foresaid non-disposable LED lamps are widely known and greatly loved by consumers after being launched to the markets, yet the inventor of this invention found that since the power module 2 is to have electricity transmitted to the luminous module 4 via the this first connector 3 and the second connector 5 that are combined together; therefore, water vapor and dust are apt to get into the power module 2 along the first connector 3 and also into the luminous module 4 along the second connector 5, thus shortening service life of both the power module 2 and luminous module 4. In addition, to replace the base 1 or the luminous module 4 and recombine them together, a user has to make the first connector 3 aligned to the second connector 5, resulting in much inconvenience. Therefore, finding the defects of foresaid non-disposable LED lamp and adhering to the spirit of endeavoring to do everything better, the inventor of this invention think that it is really necessary to ameliorate the conventional non-disposable LED lamp.

Non-contact and non-disposable electric induction LED lamp


A support and straightener for finger joint contractures comprising a thin narrow rectangular pliable sheet metal base angularly displaced at one end and having a rigid support aligned with and secured to its bottom surface. The rigid support is angularly displaced from the one end of the base with a threaded aperture extending therethrough. An adjustable screw is threaded through the aperture for engaging with the one end of the base for applying a vernierly adjustable force to the finger joint. A non stretchable strap is mounted around the joint of the finger to be straightened and the support for applying a fixed perpendicular force to the finger at the area effected by the contracture.

This invention relates to surgical supports of the type used to overcome deformities, and more particularly to a finger straightening device for finger joint contractures.
As is well known, finger joints do not always assume a normal position and range of motion after an accident which has caused damage to the tendons of the finger. The tendons and joint capsule structures may be damages or altered causing a contracture of the joint.
Heretofore, the finger supports provided the trade have been bulky and irritating to the skin where attached and some have used wire springs or rubber bands as a force generating means which can not be easily adjusted to the patient's tolerances.


A semiconductor device including a first processor having a first register, the first processor configured to perform region of interest (ROI) calculations using the first register; and a second processor having a second register, the second processor configured to perform arithmetic calculations using the second register. The first register is shared with the second processor, and the second register is shared with the first processor.

The present inventive concepts herein relate to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a semiconductor device that is performs image processing, vision processing and neural network processing on image data.
Applications related to image processing, vision processing and neural network processing may be implemented for example on or as part of a system including instructions and memory structures specialized for matrix calculation. However, although applications related to image processing, vision processing and neural network processing may use similar methods of calculation, systems which carry out such processing in many cases include multiple processors that are isolated and implemented for independently carrying out the image processing, the vision processing and the neural network processing. This is because, despite the functional similarity among the applications related to image processing, vision processing, and neural network processing, details such as data processing rate, memory bandwidth, synchronization, among other things that are necessary for the respective applications are different. It is difficult to implement a single processor that is capable of integrated image processing, vision processing and neural network processing. Accordingly, for systems in which each of image processing, vision processing and neural network processing are required, there is a need to provide an integrated processing environment and method that can satisfy the respective requirements of the applications.


A two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer array includes a plurality of transducer elements, with each element having a plurality of piezoelectric layers. The transducer elements vary in transverse areas of radiating regions. The effect of the variations in transverse areas on the electrical impedances of the elements is at least partially offset by varying the specific impedance, i.e., impedance per unit area, of the transducer elements in the array. In a preferred embodiment, the specific impedance is varied by selecting the electrical arrangements of piezoelectric layers in each element according to the transverse area of the element. Series, parallel and series-parallel arrangements are employed. This impedance normalization improves the electrical connection of the transducer elements to driving circuitry. In alternative embodiments, impedance normalization is achieved by varying element thicknesses, element materials and/or degrees of poling across the two-dimensional array.

A diagnostic ultrasonic imaging system for medical use forms images of tissues of a human body by electrically exciting a transducer element or an array of transducer elements to generate short ultrasonic pulses, which are caused to travel into the body. Echoes from the tissues are received by the transducer element or array of transducer elements and are converted into electrical signals. The electrical signals are amplified and used to form a cross sectional image of the tissues. Echographic examination is also used outside of the medical field.
While a number of advances have been made in echographic examining, further advances in optimizing acoustical properties of a transducer face the potential problem of sacrificing desired electrical properties. Initially, an imaging transducer consisted of a single transducer element. Acoustical properties were improved by providing a transducer formed by a one-dimensional array of transducer elements. Conventionally, one-dimensional transducer arrays have a rectangular or circular configuration, but this is not critical. Acoustical properties may be improved by providing a two-dimensional array in either a rectangular or annular configuration.
Focusing plays an important role in optimizing the acoustical properties of a transducer device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,783 to Glenn describes a mechanical lens used to focus acoustic energy to and from a single transducer element. Electronic focusing provides an alternative to the mechanical lens. Two-dimensional arrays can be phased by delaying signals to selected transducer elements so as to achieve a desired direction and focal range. Electronically focused transducer arrays offer the advantage that they can be held stationary during an echographic examination, potentially increasing resolution and the useful life of the device. The transducer elements are equal in size, so that a two-dimensional array can form a piecewise approximation of the desired curved delay profile. In order to reduce the total number of transducer elements, the number of transducer elements in the elevation dimension can be reduced. To obtain acceptable focusing properties, these elevation transducer elements are often different sizes to form a coarser piecewise linear approximation of the desired curved delay profile. The problem is that there are difficulties in employing the same driving circuitry to efficiently drive transducer elements of different sizes since the area of a radiating region of a transducer element is inversely proportional to the electrical impedance of that transducer element.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a transducer device having a plurality of transducer elements that can be efficiently driven using conventional driving circuitry without regard for comparative sizes of the transducer elements.

Electrical impedance normalization for an ultrasonic transducer array


A telescoping tubular body consisting of two tubular sections which are secured to each other by a simple spring and pin assembly to attain adjustable lengths between two opposing objects. Feet are located at each end of the tubular body to properly distribute pressure to a surface without disturbing same. These feet are interchangeable with other tools to make this invention flexible for a multitude of purposes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a telescoping tubular body having adjustable lengths for use as a means for holding vehicle pedals, doors, hood lids, trunk lids, other masses spaced apart and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The within described invention represents an improvement over the holding devices in the prior art because of its simple and unique construction.
One previous holding device, Hawkins U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,355 uses two extensible rods which combine with a plate and helical spring to hold two masses spaced apart. A second type of brace rod is shown in Hedeen U.S. Pat. No. 2,820,626. This invention comprises two extensible male and female rods and is secured at variable lengths by a combination of latch hooks, torsion springs and a larger compression spring that encircles a rod. Another concept is explored by Dunham U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,266 which is entitled a brake bleeding tool. This consists of the familiar two interacting tubes and is capable of exerting a force on opposing masses by use of a compression coil spring in one hollow tube and a stop collar attached to the outside of the second and male tube. A last concept is shown in Staples U.S. Pat. No. 3,355,136. This represents a different type of invention because it provides vertical support for a raised mass like a vehicle. It uses two rods and a pin mechanism for sliding into a series of holes with compressive forces exerting a force on this support device.


A power outputting apparatus determines whether a parking gear and a parking lock pole of a parking lock mechanism are engaged. When they are engaged, a second motor outputs a torque which is the sum of a pushing torque that is slightly greater than torque pulses generated in a ring gear shaft by the torque pulses of the engine during cranking, and a reaction force torque necessary for cranking so that a first motor cranks an engine. As a result, it is possible to suppress the parking gear and the parking lock pole of the parking lock mechanism from vibrating due to the torque pulses generated during cranking of the engine, and thus also minimize the contact noise resulting therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power outputting apparatus and a vehicle equipped with the power outputting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical power outputting apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-17727. This type of power outputting apparatus is mounted in a vehicle and is provided with a motor that directly drives a drive shaft coupled to driven wheels of the vehicle via a differential gear, and an internal combustion engine connected to the drive shaft via a planetary gear. This power outputting apparatus starts the internal combustion engine by cranking it with torque output from the motor while the motor is driving the drive shaft. Then, when the internal combustion engine is being started while the drive shaft is being driven by the motor with the internal combustion engine stopped, the clutch is engaged and the internal combustion engine is cranked by the torque output from the motor. At this time, a torque command value for the motor is set increased by a predetermined value so that the torque output to the drive shaft does not decrease due to the cranking.
With this power outputting apparatus, however, an abnormal noise may be generated when the internal combustion engine is started while the vehicle is stopped. When the gear is directly coupled to the output shaft of the internal combustion engine, contact noise from the gears may be generated by torque pulses and the like during startup of the internal combustion engine.
Moreover, with a power outputting apparatus which starts the internal combustion engine using a reaction force of the drive shaft, there may be contact noise from gears of a lock mechanism that locks the drive shaft either directly or indirectly by gear engagement when that lock mechanism is operated and the internal combustion engine is started.

Power outputting apparatus and vehicle equipped with same


A reluctance machine is disclosed. The reluctance machine includes a stationary member including a housing, a plurality of windings disposed in the housing, a plurality of electrical connections each electrical connection coupled to a corresponding winding of the plurality of windings, and a plurality of teeth coupled to the housing, a rotating member having a center including a mechanical coupling member formed about the center, and a plurality of outwardly protruding poles centrally located within the stationary member each outwardly protruding pole having a continuous outer surface adjacent to at least one tooth of the plurality of teeth, wherein each outer surface of each outwardly protruding pole having a first portion being a first distance away from the center and a second portion being a second distance away from the center.

Over the past few years, effort in the prior art has been expanded to develop a reluctance machine with high efficiency and high torque production capability relative to physical size. A reluctance machine is a type of magnetic device, e.g., a motor, where magnetic poles are induced in a rotating non-magnetic member (i.e., a rotor) by at least one winding in a stationary member (i.e., a stator). The rotor is typically provided with a plurality of salient (i.e., outwardly projecting) poles. The poles are induced by applying electrical current to the winding.
A reluctance machine can be constructed in the form of at least a synchronous reluctance machine, a variable reluctance machine, or a switched reluctance machine. A synchronous reluctance machine is configured to have a rotating field in the stator windings. A magnetomotive force (MMF) is thereby produced which acts upon the rotor resulting in the rotor being rotated at a synchronous speed which is substantially equal to the speed of the rotating field in the stator.
Reluctance machines can be constructed to have distributed windings or concentrated windings. In a reluctance machine with distributed windings, the windings are distributed substantially around the entire stator. A winding can be as simple as a single coil, although a single-coil winding is atypical, or generally, the winding can include multiple coils in series/parallel, where the coils are different sizes in that they have different numbers of turns and span different portions of the stator. Generally, the pattern of a distributed winding can be complicated. In either case (i.e., distributed or concentrated windings), the windings can be configured to be coupled to a voltage source with single, two, or multiple phases. Each winding is associated with one phase. For example, using a delta and wye connectivity, as is known to a person having ordinary skill in the art, three-phase power can be coupled to three windings (distributed or concentrated).
Exemplary prior art reluctance machines with distributed windings (FIG. 9A) and concentrated windings (FIG. 9B) are depicted in FIGS. 9A and 9B. A cross-sectional view of a typical reluctance machine configuration with distributed windings is shown in FIG. 9A. The reluctance machine 10 includes a stator assembly 12 and a rotor assembly 14. The stator assembly 12 includes a stator body 20 (also referred to as housing) with a plurality of stator teeth 22 coupled thereto. Windings (not shown) are provided around and about the stator teeth 22 in a distributed fashion. The rotor assembly 14 is centrally mounted within the stator assembly 12. The rotor assembly 14 includes a plurality of protruded poles 30 each having a pole face 32 that is substantially parallel with an interior surface defined by adjacent stator teeth 22. The rotor assembly 14 further includes a rotor core 26 and a shaft 24 centrally located about the rotor core 26. The reluctance machine 10 depicted in FIG. 9A includes a large number of stator teeth where many teeth are associated with a winding (not shown), and the associated phase. In the exemplary embodiment of the prior art depicted in FIG. 9A, the conventional reluctance machine may include three windings, each associated with a phase, where the windings are distributed around the teeth 22 (where a large number of teeth 22 are provided around the stator body). The rotor assembly 14, as depicted in FIG. 9A, includes four protruded poles 30, although it may include less or more poles.
Referring to FIG. 9B, another exemplary embodiment of a stator assembly 40 is depicted. Similar to the stator assembly 12, the stator assembly 40 includes a stator body 42 and a plurality of stator teeth 44. Between each set of stator teeth 44 are cavities formed within the stator body 42 to accommodate a plurality of concentrated windings 46. In the embodiment of FIG. 9B, the windings 46 are adapted to be powered by a three-phase power configuration, as identified by phase connectivity P1, P2, and P3. Application of electrical currents to the windings 46 generate a rotating field which causes a rotor assembly (e.g., the rotor assembly 14 of FIG. 9A) to rotate within the space defined by the stator assembly 40. The rotating field results in an output torque provided from the reluctance machine (e.g., the reluctance machine 10 of FIG. 9A).
Referring back to FIG. 9A, it should be noted that spacing (i.e., the air gap) between the pole face 32 of each pole 30 and the adjacent stator teeth 22 remains substantially constant. The consistency in the air gap results in the same torque output capability in either a clockwise 38 or a counter clockwise 36 rotational direction. In particular, as a leading edge 34b of a rotor pole 30 approaches the next stator tooth 22 when the rotor assembly 14 is rotating in the direction depicted by arrow 38 (i.e., clockwise directions), the output torque remains substantially the same as if a trailing edge 34a of a rotor pole 30 approaches the next stator tooth 22 when the rotor assembly 14 is rotating in the direction depicted by arrow 36 (i.e., counter clockwise) corresponding with a reversal of the rotational direction of the stator MMF.
Attempts to improve the performance of the synchronous reluctance machines are typically associated with design of the rotor assembly 14 of the reluctance machine 10 such that it will result in improved performance. One category of performance is torque density which is the amount of torque that is generated relative to the physical size or mass of the machine for a given amount of loss. The rotor assembly 14 depicted in FIG. 9A, although simple and can be manufactured at a relatively low cost, has relatively poor performance in terms of torque density, since flux density (i.e., the MMF resulting in output torque) varies considerably over the pole faces 32 of the pole 30, as discussed further below. Therefore the spatial region of high flux density is limited (which is a function of position within the rotor assembly 14), if a high degree of saturation (which leads to high loss) is avoided.
Several rotor designs can be found in the prior art. These include rotors with slits, rotors with segmentation, rotors with axial lamination, and rotors with transverse lamination. These rotor designs are generally directed at improving torque characteristics of the machine, however, the goal remains in developing a reluctance machine with further improved torque density for a given loss level over the rotor designs provided in the prior art. Furthermore, a rotor design that can improve the uniformity of the field over the rotor pole to improve torque ripple remains elusive.
Therefore, there is a need for a reluctance machine that improves output torque density based on the relationship between the rotor shape and the stator as well as providing a substantially uniform and maximized flux density over the face of the rotor pole (without a high degree of saturation and loss) thereby substantially maximizing toque density while substantially minimizing torque ripple.


Disclosed is a method for cell discovery. In a network in which a macro cell overlaps at least one small cell, when the carrier frequency used by the macro cell is different from the carrier frequency used by the small cell, the small cell transmits a discovery signal using the carrier frequency used by the macro cell, or the small cell transmits a discovery signal using a carrier frequency of the small cell that is different from the carrier frequency used by the macro cell.

Due to widespread dissemination of a mobile terminal and a tablet personal computer (PC) which are portable and rapid expansion of mobile computing based on wireless Internet technology, an epoch-making increase of a wireless network capacity is needed.
It has been estimated that traffic usage of mobile users will be abruptly increased in the future in many studies. A method of applying advanced physical layer technology or allocating an additional spectrum may be considered as a representative solution for satisfying a requirement according to the abrupt traffic increase. However, the physical layer technology is reaching a theoretical limit point and a capacity increase of a cellular network through allocation of an additional spectrum cannot become a basic solution.
Accordingly, demand for technologies of arranging small cells in multiple layers in a location in which much data is required and increasing a capacity of a wireless network through close cooperation between a macro base station and a small cell base station is being increased.
A standardization with respect to technology for small cell enhancement is being carried out in order to effectively accommodate demand for data traffic of rapidly increasing in a standardization meeting of a long term evolution (LTE)-advanced of a third generation partnership project (3GPP).
There are spectrum efficiency improvement technology, activation/deactivation of a small cell and cell discovery technology, interference control technology, wireless interface-based synchronization technology, physical layer technology for support of upper layer small cell improvement technology, etc. in technologies under consideration for the small cell enhancement. Particularly, a discovery method, a discovery signal, a discovery process, etc. are being discussed as the cell discovery technology.
However, to the present, only a discussion for the cell discovery is being performed, and a detailed and efficient method for the cell discovery is not being proposed.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Thermoplastic molding compositions comprising blends of a block polysiloxane--polycarbonate copolymer and a polyamide resin are useful for extruding articles such as films.

1. Field of The Invention
The invention relates to thermoplastic molding compositions of synthetic polymeric resins and in particular to blends of diverse resins including a polyamide and a block polysiloxane--polycarbonate copolymer.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The block polysiloxane--polycarbonate copolymers are well known structural adhesive compositions and are described, for example, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,027,072 and 4,123,588. Polyamides are also well known polymeric resins, but they are not often compatible with other resins, for example polycarbonates since they differ from polycarbonate resins in respect to structure, molecular weight, functional groups, polarity and solubility.
The present invention is based on our finding that blends of polysiloxane--polycarbonate block copolymers and polyamide resins in certain proportions are compatible and may be formed into articles which exhibit excellent mechanical properties and a resistance to delamination (an indication of phase compatibility).

Block polysiloxane-polycarbonate copolymer blends with polyamides


This endoscope image data compressing apparatus comprises a plurality of image compressing apparatus not equivalent to each other for compressing input endoscope image data and outputting the compressed data and a selecting apparatus for selecting the compressed data output from at least one of the image compressing apparatus. The selecting apparatus selects in response to the kind of the endoscope, characteristic of the image, picture quality of the compressed image, recording time intervals and others.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to an endoscope image data compressing apparatus for compressing endoscope image data.
2. Related Art Statement:
Endoscopes have recently come to be extensively used in medical and industrial fields.
In the medical field, generally, endoscope images are recorded so that an endoscope image in the case of an inspection with an endoscope may be later investigated in detail. In such a case, the endoscope image is photographed, and various electric recording and reproducing apparatus such as a VCR and photodisc apparatus, which provide an easy to record/reproduce image, are extensively used.
Generally, image information requires a recording capacity far larger than in the case of recording character information and therefore there are problems that, if an image is recorded so as to be able to be reproduced with a high fidelity, the number of recordable image sheets will become small and that, in the case of transmitting an image, the transmitting speed will be low.
Therefore, in the publication of Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 1700/1990 and others is suggested an image compressing and expanding apparatus wherein, at the time of recording, image data will be compressed and recorded but, at the time of reproducing, the compressed data will be expanded and will be displayed in a television monitor.
An example of an endoscope system including the above mentioned image compressing and expanding apparatus shall be explained in the following with reference to FIGS. 97 to 99.
FIG. 97 is a schematic view of a whole endoscope system comprising an electronic endoscope apparatus and image recording apparatus. An endoscope 891 inserted in a living body 892 is connected to an observing apparatus 893 to which are connected an observing monitor 894 and an image recording apparatus 896 including an image data compressing apparatus. A sucker 895 is connected to the endoscope 891.
FIG. 98 shows a flow of an image signal in the endoscope 891 and observing apparatus 893. The image signal from a CCD 901 in the tip of the endoscope 891 enters an amplifier 902, is amplified to a voltage level in a predetermined range, then enters a .gamma. circuit 903 and has the .gamma. corrected. In the case of an RGB frame sequential system, the signal having had the .gamma. corrected is converted from an analog to a digital signal by an A/D converter 904, then enters a selector 905 and has R, G and B recorded in respective memories 906R, 906G and 906B. The image signals having had R, G and B recorded in the respective memories 906R, 906G and 906B are called out by the timing of a TV signal and are respectively converted from digital to analog signals by D/A converters 907R, 907G and 907B. The image signals of R, G and B, having become analog signals, are transmitted to RGB output terminals R, G and B together with a synchronizing signal (SYNC) of a synchronizing signal generating circuit 913. The resulting RGB signals are displayed in a monitor 894 to make an endoscope observation. Also, these RGB signals can be recorded by an image recording apparatus 896.
When a white color light of a lamp 910 is Passed through a rotary filter 909 rotated by a motor 911, respective red, green and blue color passing filters provided in this rotary filter 909 will be interposed in the light path and lights of respective wavelengths of red, green and blue will be radiated to a light guide 903 of said endoscope 891. Therefore, image signals imaged under respective illuminating lights of red, green and blue will be written into said R, G and B memories 906R, 906G and 906B. By the way, the motor 911, A/D converter 904, selector 905, memories 906R, 906G and 906B, D/A converters 907R, 907G and 907B and synchronizing signal generating circuit 913 are controlled by a control signal generating part 912.
FIG. 99 shows a flow of an image signal in an image recording apparatus 896. The image signals from the RGB signal output terminals R, G and B are input into an input part of the image recording apparatus 897. The RGB signals are converted from an analog to a digital signal by an A/D converter part 898 through a switching and are then led to a compressing circuit 899, whose construction is based on compression theory, such as a predictive coding. The compressed image data are recorded in such recording system part 920 on a photodisc or photomagnetic disc. In the case of reproducing the images, the image data on the recording system part 920 are restored to the original image signals in a expanding circuit part 921. The image signals are then converted from a digital to an analog signal by a D/A converter part 922 and are transmitted to an output part 923. On the other hand, a control signal generating part 924 controls the destinations of the image signals and the transferring timing at the time of transferring the image signals and is connected to the A/D converter part 898, compressing circuit part 899, recording system part 920, expanding circuit part 921 and D/A converter part 922. Also, from the control signal generating part 204, a synchronizing signal (SYNC) is transmitted to the input part 897 and output part 923.
Now, an imaging device such as an imaging means of an electronic endoscope or the like comprises of various numbers of pixels and, therefore, the spatial frequency of the obtained image may be different depending on the kind of electronic endoscope or the like. Also, the size and shape of the endoscope image on a television monitor may be different depending on the kind of the unit of the electronic endoscope or the like.
One problem with a conventional image compressing apparatus is that the data obtained from an endoscope having, for example, a large number of pixels will be compressed in excess but, on the contrary, the data obtained from an endoscope having a small number of pixels have too low a compressing race to make an efficient compression.
In the picture on the monitor, there is always an unessential portion of the image corresponding to an endoscope image. If a compression is made by excluding such part not essential, a high compression will be possible but, as the size and shape of the endoscope image on the television monitor differ depending on the kind of electronic endoscope, various endoscope images can not be effectively treated with one compressing mode.
Also, the endoscope image varies in relation with the observing position and method. However, in the conventional image compressing apparatus, the compression is in only one mode and therefore an optimum compression will not be always made and the picture quality will likely deteriorate depending on the image.
Now, various compressing means exist today. Among them, there are adapted a predictive coding means whereby, in the compression of an endoscope image having no movement at all or a movement small enough, if any, on the picture, the image is digitized, the value of pixels to be coded is predicted from the nearby pixels and the predictive error is quantized using and a discrete cosine converting means. For example, in the compression of an endoscope image by said predictive coding means, the predictive error determined by the predictive coding of respective RGB is quantized as it is in an ordinary density gradation, for example, a density gradation of 5 bits. Now, in analyzing an endoscope image, it is found that there are bright parts, such as an adjacent body wall, and dark parts, such as a comparatively far body wall in or around a hole. In this endoscope image, the part to be recorded in detail for later observation and investigation is a bright part. In the dark parts, the noise level is high such that the anticipation error become large or the minute part can not be definitely observed and therefore, even if the compressing rate is elevated, there will be no trouble. If such endoscope image is uniformly compressed, in case the compressing rate is high, the picture quality of the bright part will deteriorate and, in case the compressing rate is low, the data amount of the dark part will also become large and the efficiency will be low.
Now, in an ordinary endoscope image, the image color is so reddish and the correlation between the adjacent pixels is so high that, when an ordinary compressing method is used, a high compression will be able to be made. However, an observing method wherein a part to be inspected is painted with such dyeing agent as methylene blue so that the affected part may be definitely observed has recently come to be used for the observation with an endoscope. When this observing method is used, in the observed image, a bluish color and reddish color will be present as mixed and the correlativity between the adjacent pixels will be low. Therefore, there are problems that, if such image is compressed the same as in the ordinary observed image, the picture quality will deteriorate the compressing rate will reduce.
Also, there has recently come to be used an observing method wherein such fluorescent agent as fluorescein is injected into a part to be inspected to observe a fluorescence emitted by this fluorescent agent. If this observing method is carried out in a frame sequential system in which an illuminating light is sequentially switched to R, G and B, a fluorescence will be emitted from the fluorescent agent at the time of the illumination of B and therefore the observed image will be an image in which a blue color will be present as mixed in an image based on a reddish color and which will be different from an ordinary observed image. Therefore, there are the same problems as at the time of observing the above described dyed image.
Now, there are compressing methods, for example, wherein an intra-image correlation with an adjacent pixel within the same field or frame is utilized and wherein an inter-image correlation with an image of a past field or frame is utilized. In case the correlation between the present image and former image is large as in the case of recording a moving image, if the inter-image correlation is utilized, the image will be able to be efficiently compressed. On the other hand, in case the correlation between the present image and former image is small as in the case of recording an image in some time after the former image is recorded, if said inter-image correlation is utilized, no image will be able to be efficiently compressed.
On the other hand, in case the correlation with the former recorded image is small, it will be effective to use the intra-image correlation but, in case the correlation with the former recorded image is large, the image will not be able to be compressed more efficiently than in the case of utilizing the inter-image correlation.

Endoscope image data compressing apparatus


The present disclosure relates to an equidistant object relocating system that facilitates efficiently and automatically relocating objects within a digital document to an equidistant position relative to other objects. For example, in some embodiments, the equidistant object relocating system identifies a subject object and reference objects, including their positions, within a digital document. Based on the position of the subject object, the equidistant object relocating system generates one or more sets of overlapping objects from the reference objects. In addition, the equidistant object relocating system determines an equidistant position for the subject object based on overlapping objects within the one or more sets of overlapping objects. Further, in these embodiments, the equidistant object relocating system automatically snaps the subject object to the equidistant position.

In recent years, developers have created a variety of drawing and design systems that assist individuals in creating, editing, and displaying digital documents. Indeed, most conventional drawing and design systems provide individuals with guides and/or constraint tools that assist with the precise placement and alignment of an object (e.g., a subject object) within a digital document. For example, some conventional design systems provide "smart guides," which help align a subject object to points of interest in the digital document. Some points include intersecting points of a digital document (e.g., the center or corner of a digital document) or points associated with other objects (e.g., a center or edge of another object).
In general, conventional design systems provide guides and constraint tools to help individuals achieve improved accuracy and precise alignment when creating, designing, and modifying objects within a digital document. Despite these and other advantages, there remains a number of problems with conventional design systems that provide guides and constraint tools.
For example, although conventional design systems can provide spacing guides that operate with a small number of objects, most conventional design systems are not scalable with digital documents that include a large number of objects. In particular, these conventional design systems suffer from severe performance issues as the number of objects in a digital document increases. For instance, as the number of objects increases, conventional design systems experience lag, jumpy movements, and delays. These problems are only exacerbated as a subject object moves within a digital document resulting in multiple sequential applications of a spacing guide. Indeed, although individuals and businesses frequently utilize digital documents with hundreds (or even thousands) of objects, in such circumstances many conventional design systems become bottlenecked and stop responding.
One notable reason for performance degradations in conventional design systems is that conventional design systems use algorithms having O(N2) complexity, where N represents the number of objects in a digital document. For example, in providing a spacing guide to a subject object in a digital document containing 1,000 objects, conventional design systems require approximately 106 (i.e., 1,0002 or 1,000,000) computations to determine how to evenly space the subject object with other objects within the digital document. Specifically, conventional design systems determine, for each pair of objects, whether the subject object is roughly located between the object pairing, and if so, how the subject object is to be adjusted to be equally located between the object pairing.
While the number of computations exponentially grows as the number of objects in a digital document increases, the number of computations further increases as an individual moves the subject object within a digital document (e.g., using a mouse or finger to drag the subject object). On average, a subject object moved within a digital document triggers 25 movement events, each of which corresponds to a position of the subject object. Thus, continuing the above example, as an individual moves a subject object within the digital document having 1,000 objects, conventional design systems perform 25 million (25×106) computations to provide a spacing guide for the subject object. Most modern computing devices cannot perform such massive numbers of computation in real-time without experiencing significant lag and bottlenecking.
These along with additional problems and issues exist with regard to conventional drawing and design systems and methods.

Efficiently relocating objects within a digital document to an equidistant position relative to reference objects


A golf ball has a core, an envelope layer, an intermediate layer and a cover whose respective surface hardnesses have been set so as to satisfy certain specific relationships. In addition, the respective initial velocities measured for the core, a sphere composed of the core peripherally covered by the envelope layer (envelope layer-encased sphere), a sphere composed of the core peripherally covered by the envelope layer and the intermediate layer (intermediate layer-encased sphere), and the ball itself have been set so as to satisfy certain specific relationships. This golf ball is able to exhibit an excellent flight performance not only when struck by mid head-speed golfers, but even when struck by low head-speed golfers, in addition to which it also has a good feel at impact and an excellent durability to repeated impact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core, an envelope layer, an intermediate layer and a cover. More specifically, the invention relates to a multi-piece solid golf ball which exhibits an excellent flight performance not only in the mid head-speed range, but also in the low head-speed range, and which is also endowed with a good feel at impact and an excellent durability to repeated impact.
2. Prior Art
Numerous golf balls which have an excellent flight performance and excellent spin properties when hit at high head speeds and are also capable of providing a good feel at impact have hitherto been developed in order to address the needs of professional golfers and skilled amateurs. However, because such balls are generally designed so as to achieve an optimal amount of deformation when struck at a high head speed, amateur golfers having a low head speed are often unable to impart sufficient deformation to the ball. Hence, the inherent performance of such balls cannot be manifested when played by low head-speed golfers, as a result of which the balls fail to achieve a sufficient distance and have a poor feel at impact.
Developing a golf ball to which even a low head-speed golfer can impart sufficient deformation and which has an excellent flight performance and a good feel at impact is thus important for expanding the golfer base.
Prior-art publications relating to this invention include JP-A 2011-092708, JP-A 2000-61001 and JP-A 2000-61000.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-piece solid golf ball which is capable of manifesting an excellent flight performance not only when played by mid head-speed golfers, but even when played by low head-speed golfers, and which moreover has a good feel at impact and an excellent durability to repeated impact.


The present invention provides a compound represented by the following formula 1. The compound of the present invention has high luminance, high luminous efficiency, excellent color purity and excellent high-temperature stability, and thus can provide a material for an organic electroluminescent device and an organic electroluminescent device having a long lifetime.

The present invention relates to the display field, and more particularly to a naphthalene derivative that can be used in the preparation of an organic electroluminescent device that is a kind of display, a material for an organic electroluminescent device, which includes the same, and an organic electroluminescent device including the same.
Organic semiconductors have been developed for application to various kinds of many electronic systems. Organic electroluminescent devices have a simple structure, various advantages in their preparation process, high luminance, excellent viewing angle characteristics, fast response speeds, and low driving voltages, compared to other flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs) and field emission displays (FEDs). By virtue of these advantages, organic electroluminescent devices have been actively developed for use as light sources for backlight units for displays or flat panel displays such as wall-mounted televisions, lighting devices, advertizing boards and the like.
Generally, when voltage is applied to an organic electroluminescent device, a hole injected from the anode and an electron injected from the cathode are recombined to form an exciton that is an electron-hole pair, and the energy of the exciton is transferred to the light-emitting material and converted into light.
Since a low-voltage driving organic electroluminescent device including an organic thin film laminated between two opposite electrodes in order to increase the efficiency and stability of the organic electroluminescent device was reported by C. W. Tang et al. of Eastman Kodak Company (C. W. Tang, S. A. Vanslyke, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 51, pp. 913, 1987), studies on organic materials for organic electroluminescent device having a multilayered thin film structure have been actively conducted. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1996-012600 discloses a device including a phenyl anthracene derivative as a light-emitting material. This anthracene derivative is used as a blue light-emitting material, but more highly efficient light emission has been required.
Meanwhile, the stability of thin films has been required to increase the lifetime of devices, and improvement in conventional anthracene derivatives has been required, because these derivatives are frequently crystallized so that thin films including these derivatives are broken. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 0,593,571 discloses a dinaphthyl anthracene compound. However, because this compound has a horizontally and vertically symmetrical molecular structure, it is easily aligned and crystallized during high-temperature storage and high-temperature driving. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-273056 discloses a horizontally asymmetrical allyl anthracene compound, but this compound cannot be prevented from being crystallized, because a group that is substituted with anthracenediyl is a simple phenyl or biphenyl group.
Accordingly, the present inventors have conducted studies on aromatic compounds capable of achieving a low driving voltage, excellent color purity, high luminous efficiency, high heat resistance and a long lifetime, and as a result, have found that a 1,8-substituted naphthalene derivative has such characteristics, thereby completing the present invention.

Naphthalene derivative, organic material including the same, and organic electroluminescent device including the same


The invention relates to a lighting means support (10) for a strip light luminaire, comprising: at least one spring element (20) for detachably connecting the lighting means support (10) to a strip light rail (1) of a strip light luminaire; wherein the at least one spring element (20) comprises at least one latching element (22) which can be brought into engagement with a correspondingly formed latching element or a correspondingly formed wall section (2) of the strip light rail (1) in order to latch the lighting means support (10) to the strip light rail (1) in such a way that movement of the lighting means support (10) counter to an insertion direction of the lighting means support (10) into the strip light rail (1) is prevented. The invention further relates to a strip light luminaire having at least one lighting means support (10) according to the invention.

A plurality of different strip light luminaires is known from the prior art. Above all, large areas with long light lines adapted to these areas (for example supermarkets, factory halls, office areas etc.) can be equipped with strip light luminaires or strip light systems. Ordinarily, these strip light luminaires have u-shaped strip light rails in which the cabling, the (control) electronics and the lighting sources are arranged.
To simplify assembly, it is further known to build the strip light luminaire with modular units. For example, Publication DE 20 2012 101 765 U1 discloses arranging a first module in the form of a device support and a second module in the form of a lighting means support in a u-shaped strip light rail.
The device support has, in particular, a converter unit arranged thereon for electrically coupling the lighting means to the external power supply inserted into the strip light luminaire. The lighting means support comprises in the process the actual lighting means, for example in the form of light emitting diodes or fluorescent tubes.
In practice, it turns out that in the assembly of such a strip light luminaire the arrangement of the lighting means support in the strip light rail is relatively awkward and thus time-consuming, since these components are often screwed into one another or must be attached to one another in a separate work step. In addition, the maintenance of such a strip light luminaire is likewise time-consuming, since the connection between the lighting means support and the strip light rail must first be disengaged in a separate step, in order to be able to get to the device support underneath.
Proceeding from the prior art, the present invention addresses the problem of providing a lighting means support for a strip light rail which can be easily brought into engagement with a strip light rail and which can be easily removed from the strip light rail for maintenance work.
This and other problems to be mentioned in the following description or which can be recognized by a person skilled in the art are solved with the subject matter of the independent claims.

Lighting means support for a strip light luminaire


A metal plate (52) is connected to a wall (10). Plate (42) includes a vent opening (48) that communicates with vent ducting (18) with the wall (10). A magnetic sheet body (52) is connected to a vent tube (60) located at the back of a clothes dryer (64). The clothes dryer (64) is moved towards the wall (10) and the magnetic sheet body (52) is moved against the metal plate (42). A vent opening (54) in the magnetic sheet body (52) is put into alignment with the vent opening (48) in the metal plate (42). The magnetic sheet body (52) provides a seal between the two vent openings (54, 48).

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for connecting a vent tube on a clothes dryer to a duct system for removing water vapor from the clothes dryer. More particularly, it relates to the provision of a metal plate that includes an opening that is alignable with ducting in a wall behind the clothes dryer on which the plate is mounted, and a sheet of flexible magnetic material connected to the vent tube at the rear of the clothes dryer, and extending adjacent the back of the clothes dryer, whereby the clothes dryer can be pushed towards the wall and guided to move the magnetic sheet into coupling engagement with the metal plate on the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,328, granted Jun. 7, 1994, to Hugh R. Dawson sets forth a Background of The Invention which describes the difficulty of connecting the vent tube on a clothes dryer to a conduit which carries the venting water vapor away from the clothes dryer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,328 discloses a quick connect system which includes a ring of magnetic material that magnetically engages the vent tube on the dryer. Other known vent systems are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,915, granted Apr. 4, 1978, to Gizela Maternisk Rxc3xa8el Babacerowicz and Zdzialaw Maternisk; U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,948, granted Jun. 16, 1992 to Charles V. Anderson and Charles R. Kenrick (re-examination Certification B1 5,121,948, issued Oct. 29, 1999); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,468, granted Nov. 2, 1993, to Mariel Lebrun.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved quick-connect connection between the vent tube on a clothes dryer and ducting in a wall behind the clothes dryer that vents water vapor away from the clothes dryer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dryer vent connection that eliminates the flexible plastic or metal tubing that is normally used behind the clothes dryer and permits zero clearance installation of the clothes dryer.
The present invention includes providing a clothes dryer vent connector and seal that is characterized by a flexible, magnetic sheet body including an opening that is surrounded by the magnetic sheet body. A first end of a length of cylindrical tubing is connected to the magnetic sheet body about the opening. The tubing includes an open second end that is spaced outwardly from the magnetic sheet body. The tubing extends substantially perpendicular to the magnetic sheet body and is sized at its second end to receive the vent tube on a clothes dryer.
An object of the present invention is to provide a connector and seal of the type described wherein the magnetic sheet body comprises magnetic material within a plastic matrix. In preferred form, the tubing is constructed from a flexible plastic material and its first end is bonded or otherwise secured to the magnetic sheet body.
The invention also includes providing a clothes dryer vent connection that includes a magnetic sheet body and connector tubing and a metal plate that is securable to a wall behind a dryer. The metal plate includes a vent opening that is surrounded by the metal plate. The metal plate is secured to a wall behind where the clothes dryer will set with its vent opening in alignment with vent ducting that is in the wall. The connector tubing is connected to a vent tube at the back of the clothes dryer. When it is so connected, the magnetic sheet body is in close proximity to the back of the clothes dryer. This allows the dryer to be moved towards the metal plate and the wall and guided as it is moved so as to move the magnetic sheet body into contact with the metal plate, and the opening in the magnetic sheet body into approximate alignment with a vent opening in the metal plate leading into vent ducting in the wall behind the clothes dryer. The clothes dryer is moved towards the wall until the magnetic sheet body becomes magnetically attached to the metal plate. This attachment provides a substantially sealed connection between the vent tube at the back of the clothes dryer and the opening into the vent ducting in the wall behind the clothes dryer.


A vibration damping device for mounting between two spaced portions of a vehicle for absorbing road forces exerted on the vehicle. An inner metal cylindrical housing forms an internal piston chamber and is connected at one end to one portion of the vehicle, with the outer end of the rod of a piston which is slidably mounted within the piston chamber, being connected to the other portion of the vehicle. An outer housing surrounds a portion of the inner housing and forms a fluid transfer duct between fluid chambers formed on opposite sides of the piston within the piston chamber. A plurality of spaced metal electrode bands are mounted on an inner surface of the outer housing and are electrically isolated therefrom and communicate with the fluid transfer duct for applying voltages across the duct to affect the viscosity of an electrorheological (ER) fluid flowing therethrough to increase the damping force of the device. Certain of the electrode bands may be formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced, longitudinally extending splines and intervening grooves, which grooves align with splines and grooves formed in a dielectric insulating sleeve mounted adjacent the fluid transfer duct.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to vibration damping devices which develop damping performance when being applied to a suspension member, such as for automobiles or other equipment. More particularly, the invention relates to such a damping device using an electrorheological (ER) fluid as the damping medium and having a plurality of spaced electrode bands, which device is of a relatively simple structure, easy to assemble and to apply a voltage to the ER fluid contained therein for changing the damping characteristics of the device.
2. Background Information
Vibration damping devices have been used for considerable periods of time to dampen the vibrational forces applied to the suspension system of vehicles to provide a controlled response by reducing the vibrations caused by road bumps and depressions passing from the tires to the vehicle frame by the interposing of oil-filled shock absorbers or high-pressure gas damping devices.
Although these prior art oil and high-pressure gas damping devices have proven satisfactory, a more recent development has evolved in which an electrorheological or electroviscous fluid is used within the chamber of the damping device, wherein the liquid is in contact with one or more electrodes, usually mounted in a restrictive passage, which depending upon the size of the electrodes and the amount of voltage applied to the liquid, will change the viscosity of the liquid, enabling the damping device to have a greater range of performance characteristics than those achieved by the high-pressure gas or oil-filled shock absorbers.
An example of an anti-vibration device which uses an expandable liquid chamber containing an electrorheological fluid is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,031. U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,733 discloses another damping device using electrodes in combination with an electroviscous liquid contained within closed chambers. The liquid is movable through a restricted passage where voltage is applied to the electroviscous liquid as it moves through the passage to change its viscosity to achieve various damping effects. Various other types of such ER vibration damping devices use elastomeric members or sleeves for containing the ER fluid, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,145. Although these devices have proved satisfactory, they are limited as to the amount of internal pressures available for damping, since the sleeves expand and affect the response time and peak force available.
Therefore, the use of rigid fluid chambers formed of metal have been utilized with ER fluids in order to be able to develop higher internal pressure and quicker response times. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,819,772 and 5,259,487 are believed to be the closest prior art to the vibration damping device of the present invention. The damping devices of both of these patents use an ER fluid which is contained within rigid housings to provide for increased pressures and quicker response time not believed obtainable with ER dampers using an elastomeric sleeve or bellows for the chamber-forming member.
However, the structures of both of these prior art damping devices require a complicated structure consisting of numerous parts in order to achieve the electrical isolation required for applying a voltage to the restricted orifices or ducts through which the ER fluid moves, and requires the passage of the wires applying the voltage to the electrode to pass through the ER fluid chamber. Likewise, the outer body or housing must be of a rigid metal, since this outer housing is connected at one end directly to one of the spaced vehicle components, and therefore must be of sufficient strength to support the various loads and forces applied thereto. An outer end of the piston rod is connected to the other of the spaced vehicle components for mounting the vibration damping device on the vehicle.
All of the known prior art dampers which use an ER fluid use a single continuous electrode which communicates with the ER fluid. It has been found that by providing a plurality of electrodes spaced within the damper that a greater damping force can be produced with the same equivalent electrode length than that with a continuous electrode with approximately the same electrical current and voltage.
Thus, the need exists for an improved vibration damping device, using ER fluids, which is of a simpler construction, which is able to withstand the various loads and forces exerted thereon when mounted between spaced structural components of a vehicle, and which enables a voltage to be applied to a plurality of spaced electrodes contained within the damping device in an easier manner than existing ER fluid dampers.

Vibration damping device using ER fluids having multiple electrodes


A method for controlling a high-pressure pump for the injection of fuel into a combustion engine, the high-pressure pump being connected to a camshaft of the combustion engine, wherein the high-pressure pump is controlled in a camshaft-synchronous manner by ascertaining an angular offset between the flank positions of a camshaft pulse-generating wheel and a predefinable point above the bottom dead center of a cam of the high-pressure pump on the camshaft.

High-pressure pumps for the injection of fuel into a combustion engine, such as high-pressure gasoline pumps, are positioned on one of the camshafts of the combustion engine. In conjunction with a spring, cams specially configured for the high-pressure pump ensure that a piston travel in the high-pressure pump induces a delivery of the fuel into the fuel rail via a non-return valve. The particular fuel quantity per stroke is determined by an electrical actuation of a quantity-control valve (QCV) in the high-pressure pump.
Conventionally, the actuation of the quantity-control valve and the calculation of parameters that are required in this context, such as the pressure acquisition of the rail pressure, the high-pressure control and the actuation angle of the quantity-control valve, are carried out in a time frame of 10 ms, for example. At low engine speeds, this time frame is narrow enough to execute control operations and calculations in a sufficiently precise manner. At high engine speeds, depending on the number of cams, the cam frequency becomes higher than the time frame frequency, and it is no longer possible to incorporate the most recent parameters in the control calculation for each delivery of fuel. In the event that the high-pressure fuel pump is driven by a rapidly adjusted camshaft, the execution of control calculations with old parameters leads to an error. This error is unable to be compensated for in a calculation within the time frame inasmuch as the calculation takes place in an asynchronous manner to the control operation of the high-pressure pump. The error caused by the rapid camshaft adjustment is particularly noticeable at low rotational speeds of the combustion engine. The maximum total error lies in the medium rotational speed range. It manifests itself by pressure oscillations in the fuel rail.

Method and device for controlling a high-pressure fuel pump in an internal combustion engine


A rigging cable cleaning device primarily, although not exclusively, adapted for use on sailboat rigging cables, such as main sail cables, lanyard cables, and the like. The rigging cable cleaning device comprises an outer flexible fabric cover and an inner cleaning pad which can be folded or wrapped about a sailboat rigging cable. Holes with grommets are located on the ends of the outer fabric cover for receiving a releasable locking mechanism to thereby hold the cable cleaning device on a rigging cable. In this way, the device can be physically moved up and down or along the cable for cleaning same. The cleaning pad is removably attached to the inner surface of the fabric cover so that one type of cleaning pad can be substituted for another.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in rigging cable cleaning devices generally adapted for use with cleaning sailboat rigging cables and, more particularly, to an improved rigging cable cleaning device which allows for differing types of cleaning pads to be employed and which also enables convenient attachment and removal from a sailboat rigging cable for manual cleaning thereof.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
The cleaning of rigging cables of the type normally used on sailboats is a persistent problem which continuously confronts the yachtsman. During sailing activities, a considerable amount of grime, dead insects and the like tend to accumulate on rigging cables of the type normally used on sailboats. This debris must be frequently cleaned from the rigging cable.
In addition to the foregoing, if the cables contain any metallic components or if they are formed of metal, corrosion is a constant problem and cleaning must be periodically maintained.
Cleaning of the sailboat rigging cable is important, not only for purposes of maintaining the longevity of the cable, but to prevent the falling of any components on which the cable may be wound about or retained. In addition, cleaning is desirable to present a higher aesthetic appearance of the entire sailboat.
There have been various proposals for cleaning of cables of the type used on sailboats and other types of boats. U.S. Pat. No. 1,950,959 to Winsette discloses an anchor chain cleaning device which is effectively designed to wrap about an anchor chain to be moved up and down the length of the anchor chain. U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,359 to Golden also discloses an anchor chain cleaning device similar in construction and operation to that taught in the aforesaid Winsette patent. The Golden patent also provides for a hand grip to enable movement of the anchor chain cleaning device up and down the anchor chain cable. The problems in cleaning anchor chains are totally different than the problems encountered in cleaning cables, such as halyard cables, main sail cables, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,330 to Haddad also discloses a cleaning device for wrapping about a cable and moving the device up and down the cable. However, Haddad suffers a number of disadvantages, not the least of which is the fact that it has no means for holding the device onto the cable. Moreover, Haddad proposes the use of sponges as a cleaning material and which is very limited in its cleaning ability.
There has also been a need for a device for lubricating rigging cables on sailboats and like structures. In this case, lubrication is largely provided by manual application of a lubricating oil which is applied directly to the cable. However, this is relatively inefficient inasmuch as there is no means to control the application of any lubricating oil or like lubricant to the application of any lubricating oil or like lubricant to the cable and, in addition, it is time consuming and labor intensive.
There has been a need for an effective cleaning device and a lubricating device which can be easily and quickly releasably locked to a rigging cable of a sailboat and similar devices. There has also been a need for an effective cleaning and/or lubricating device which is capable of effective movement with respect to a rigging cable by movement of the cable through the cleaning device. However, heretofore, there has not been any effective device of this type.


A system is provided for facilitating passenger pickup via telematic routing. The system includes a call center for receiving a plurality of data feeds indicative of passenger arrival time and location, a vehicle telematics unit for receiving vehicle routing instructions from the call center based at least in part on the passenger arrival time and location, the vehicle routing instructions directed to guiding a vehicle to a passenger meeting location. The system further includes a mobile device associated with the passenger, the mobile device in communication with the call center via one or more wireless networks for receiving an indicator of the passenger meeting location.

A growing number of modern vehicles incorporate telematics devices for providing navigational assistance in a mobile environment. As part of providing navigational assistance, a vehicle telematics unit typically correlates road network data with the vehicle's current location and conveys vehicle's location information and/or driving directions to the driver via a user interface.
While aiding the driver by providing routing assistance to the desired destination, conventional telematics services are limited by only assisting the driver. In a multi-party meeting scenario, for example when two or more parties need to be routed to a common meeting point, conventional telematics services guide each party independently and do not offer synchronized routing. For example, while picking up an arriving passenger at an airport, a driver is routed to the airport location, however it is up to the driver to determine which temporary parking area (e.g., a cell phone waiting area) has available parking space and is closest to the passenger's baggage claim area. Busy dynamics of large airports with multiple terminals, baggage claim areas, and waiting areas may force a driver to look for available temporary parking in multiple waiting areas, thereby making passenger pickup difficult. Likewise, the arriving passenger may have difficulty tracking the waiting area in which the pickup vehicle eventually finds available space.

Enhanced passenger pickup via telematics synchronization


A road paver or a feeder having a chassis driven by a drive unit, and a material hopper arranged in the working direction at the front of the road paver or the feeder, the material hopper having a hopper side wall extending in the working direction and a discharge flap tiltable about a pivot axis extending transversely to the working direction, the discharge flap comprising a flap base and a flap side wall which extends next to the hopper side wall and is fixed to the flap base and supported to be moveable relative to the hopper side wall, a protective cover, which at least partially engages around the edge of the flap side wall, being arranged on the hopper side wall.

In road construction, for example, generic road pavers or feeders, hereinafter summarized as road construction machines, are used for laying base layers, for example concrete or asphalt layers. If the paving material is laid using a road paver, the feeder serves as an intermediate storage and for the transfer of paving material in the paving process. During the paving process, the road paver is supplied with paving material either directly by a transport vehicle, for example a truck, or via a feeder. When a feeder is involved, this feeder is supplied with paving material from a transport vehicle, and transfers said material to the road paver via a suitable conveyor device, typically a conveyor belt. Typically, these road construction machines are self-propelled. Both the road paver and the feeder comprise a machine frame and a chassis, for example comprising crawler tracks or wheels, which is driven by a drive unit, which may be a diesel combustion engine in most cases. A material hopper is provided at the front in the working direction of the road construction machine. The working direction of the road construction machine refers to the direction in which the road construction machine travels during working or paving operation. The material hopper is a storage space for paving material, the size of which can be increased and/or decreased by displacing and/or tilting the walls of the material hopper. The paving material is conveyed by the road construction machine from the material hopper via a conveyor device, for example a scraper belt, to the rear, where, in the case of a feeder, a conveyor is arranged, which transfers the paving material from the feeder to the road paver. In the case of a road paver, the machine comprises at its rear a transverse conveyor device, for example a screw conveyor, and a screed, via which the paving material is distributed, smoothened and pre-compacted across the entire paving width. A smooth, pre-compacted layer of the paving material is left behind the road paver, which can be further compacted by means of rollers, for example, in order to achieve a finished road.
The transfer of the paving material from the transport vehicle, in particular a truck, to the generic road construction machine, whether feeder or road paver, is in each case done in the same way. A truck loaded with the paving material backs until being directly in front of the road construction machine traveling in the working direction, and stops there. Now, a controlled collision between the two vehicles is effected. To that end, collision rolls may be provided on the end of the construction machine located in the front in the working direction, the rolls getting in contact with the rear of the transport vehicle as the road construction machine advances slowly. The road construction machine then pushes along the transport vehicle via the collision rolls while the paving process of the road paver is continued. The transport vehicle can then transfer the paving material into the material hopper of the road construction machine, which is located at the front in the working direction, by tilting the loading area to the rear. Once the transfer is completed, the loading area can be lowered, and the transport vehicle drives away in the forward direction.
In order to ensure the complete emptying of the hopper, the hopper typically comprises a discharge flap. The discharge flap accounts for the main part of the hopper base and further comprises flap side walls, which are located at the periphery transversely to the working direction, the flap side walls extending next to the inner side of the hopper side wall and being fastened to the flap base. Thus, the flap side wall vertically protrudes upward from the hopper base substantially parallel to the hopper side wall extending in the working direction. Typically, it is supported to be moveable in relation to the hopper side wall. In order to put paving material located on the discharge flap completely into the conveyor device of the road paver or feeder for further processing, the discharge flap is designed to be pivotable about a pivot axis extending transversely to the working direction. The discharge flap, together with the flap base and flap side walls, can thus be pivoted vertically upward and against the working direction about the pivot axis extending transversely to the working direction. As a result of this movement, paving material located on the discharge flap is dumped into the conveyor device of the road paver or feeder, which is located behind the material hopper in the working direction. In this way, the material hopper can be completely emptied of paving material.
As already indicated above, the flap side wall extends vertically upward from the flap base next to the hopper side wall. The hopper side wall refers to the lateral boundary of the entire hopper space. The side of the hopper side wall located outward transversely to the working direction forms part of the outer contour of the road paver or feeder. In contrast, the flap side wall is located inside the material hopper next to the hopper side wall. It goes without saying that such an arrangement of hopper side wall and flap side wall is present on both sides of the material hopper. In the working mode of the road paver or feeder, the flap side wall and the hopper side wall either directly rest against one another or are spaced from one another by a narrow gap. In practice, paving material will often enter the gap between the flap side wall and the hopper side wall. The entered paving material spreads the flap side wall from the hopper side wall and increases the gap between the two side walls. In this way, the intrusion of additional paving material between the two side walls is facilitated, and the gap between the flap side wall and the hopper side wall is further increased. In this way, paving material may on the one hand fall between the hopper side wall and the flap side wall onto the ground. Moreover, paving material may jam between the hopper side wall and the flap side wall, which leads to a jamming of the flap side wall or the discharge flap per se, whereby its function is limited. Insistently jammed paving material may also result in a deformation of the discharge flap in this region, and thus in a damage.

Road construction machine of the road paver or feeder type


Provided are a paper material for fibrous casing enabling a fibrous casing to deliver favorable performance, a production method thereof, and a fibrous casing employing the paper material for fibrous casing. The paper material for fibrous casing of the present invention is used as a food packaging material in heat processing of a foodstuff, and is formed from pulp as a principal component, with one face being a glossy face and another face being a matte face. The fibrous casing of the present invention comprises: a paper layer that is arranged as an innermost layer and formed from a paper material; and a synthetic resin layer that is overlaid on an outer face of the paper layer, the paper material being the paper material for fibrous casing. The matte face of the paper material is preferably directed inward. The glossy face of the paper material is also preferably directed inward.

Conventionally, a fibrous casing for packaging a processed meat product such as ham and sausage has been known. As such a fibrous casing, a fibrous casing provided with an inner layer comprising pulp as a principal component and an outer layer overlaid on an outer face side of the inner layer has been known. Such a fibrous casing having the inner layer and the outer layer is able to retain a food modifier such as a smoke solution, a seasoning, a colorant, a preservative and the like in the inner layer, and to transfer these components to a filling during cooking and the like.
As such a fibrous casing having an inner layer and an outer layer, for example, a packaging material comprising paper (inner layer) and a heat-sealable nonwoven fabric (outer layer) being laminated has been proposed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H6-312494). The packaging material is formed by layering the paper and the nonwoven fabric and then impregnating them with a viscose solution. In such a packaging material, the viscose solution is able not only to bond the paper with the nonwoven fabric, but also to coat the paper, whereby peelability of the paper from the filling is improved.
However, such a conventional fibrous casing which employs the viscose solution as described above is costly and requires a complex production procedure.
In light of suppression of cost and simplification of the production steps, it may be contemplated not to employ the viscose solution. However, in the conventional fibrous casing, vinylon-added rayon paper or chemical fiber-blended paper are used as the paper. Therefore, in the case of these types of paper not being coated by viscose, vinylon may leak out from the rayon paper upon heating and attach to the filling. In the case of the chemical fiber-blended paper, a binder fiber may be fused and leak upon heating and attach to the filling. Furthermore, employing paper in the inner layer may cause inconveniences such as uneven transfer of the food modifier to a foodstuff and inferior adhesiveness between the inner layer (paper layer) and the outer layer (synthetic resin layer) leading to interlayer delamination during use.
Moreover, fibrous casing is required: to retain a sufficient amount of the food modifier within the inner layer; to have a function of efficiently transferring, i.e., releasing the food modifier toward a packaged foodstuff; to be superior in peelablility from the filling; not to attach a minute unwanted substance derived from the inner layer onto the filling; and the like. However, in the case of employing normal paper in the inner layer, liquid retention and releaseabilty, peelability from the filling, prevention of the minute unwanted substance derived from the inner layer from attaching onto the filling, and the like are insufficient. Given the above, a fibrous casing which is superior in these performances is desired to be developed.

Paper material for fibrous casing, production method thereof, and fibrous casing