A method, computer program and database system for use in analyzing associations in the order of transactions are disclosed. Data is loaded from the transactions into the database system. The data includes an entry for each transaction and the transactions are grouped into groups. The transactions within each group are put into an order. An analysis of the groups of transactions is performed to find associations in the order of the transactions in the groups.

In recent years, businesses have found it more and more useful to analyze the transactions they undertake with their customers. In some cases, such an analysis can provide the business with the information it needs to fine tune the transactions to shape customer behavior to improve performance of the business.
For example, an electronic commerce company may want to analyze the "clickstream" of individual customers visiting the company's web page to find associations between customer actions, such as the customer clicking on a particular image on the web page, and desired customer actions, such as the customer making a purchase. With this information, the company may tune its web page to increase the likelihood that a customer will click on the image, with the hoped-for result that sales will increase. A method and apparatus for performing this analysis, called "association" or "affinity analysis," using a massively parallel processing (MPP) computer system is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/410,528, entitled SQL-BASED ANALYTIC ALGORITHM FOR ASSOCIATION, filed on Oct. 1, 1999, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
This analytical approach can be useful in analyzing other forms of data, such as retail or financial data. The owners of a grocery store, for example, may find it useful in designing the layout of the store to know that customers are more likely to purchase cheese when they purchase grapes. Similarly, a bank may find it useful to know that customers who contract for certain banking services, such as a checking account, are more likely to acquire other banking services, such as automobile loans. The bank could use such information to design the mailing materials it includes with its statements.
It is sometimes important to isolate the actions of individual customers to properly perform affinity analysis. For example, in the web page context, in which a log is maintained containing customer transactions with the web page, it may be useful to associate transactions with individual customer "sessions" in order to allow a meaningful analysis of the transactions. A method and apparatus for performing such an analysis is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/752,355, entitled IDENTIFYING WEB-LOG DATA REPRESENTING A SINGLE USER SESSION, filed on Dec. 29, 2000, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
Understanding the order of transactions may also be important. For example, a web page owner may be interested to know that a customer that clicks on a first image on the web page followed by a second image may be more likely to make a purchase than a customer that clicks on the second image before the first image. Making such a determination adds an extra degree of complexity to an affinity analysis.

Analyzing associations in the order of transactions


An acceleration sensor comprises a vibrating element 2 formed by arranging conductor films 26 and 29 on outer main surfaces of piezoelectric substrates 21 and 22 in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and first supporting members 3a and 3b for holding a part of the vibrating element 2, the first supporting members 3a and 3b being composed of an elastic body, and a bending point of the vibrating element being positioned within a supporting region 91 held between the first supporting members 3a and 3b. This causes a region, which is distorted, in each of the piezoelectric substrates 21 and 22 to be enlarged. Therefore, the amount of charges to be generated is increased so that an output voltage is increased, which allows acceleration detection sensitivity to be further enhanced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an acceleration sensor using a piezoelectric substrate, and particularly to a small-sized and high-sensitivity acceleration sensor.
2. Description of Related Art
Acceleration sensors have been conventionally used for applications such as detection of shock applied from the exterior to electronic equipment such as hard disk drives.
For example, acceleration sensors of such a type that charge detection electrodes are arranged on both main surfaces of a piezoelectric substrate in a rectangular parallelepiped shape to produce a vibrating element, and its end is supported by a supporting member have been known (see JP 2000-321299 A, and JP 7-36064 U, for example).
In such an acceleration sensor, the vibrating element is deflected by applied acceleration so that the piezoelectric substrate is distorted, and charges are generated in the charge detection electrodes formed on both the main surfaces of the piezoelectric substrate by a piezoelectric effect.
The acceleration is detected by the charges or a voltage generated between the charge detection electrodes by the charges.
Which of the charges and the voltage should be utilized to detect the acceleration differs depending on an acceleration detection device that detects acceleration utilizing the acceleration sensor. Generally, acceleration detection sensitivity in a case where the acceleration is detected by the generated charges is referred to as "charge sensitivity", and acceleration detection sensitivity in a case where the acceleration is detected by the generated voltage is referred to as "voltage sensitivity". It is desirable that the charge sensitivity and the voltage sensitivity are higher as the acceleration sensor.
For example, an output voltage V in a case where a force F produced by acceleration is applied to an acceleration sensor in which one end in the longitudinal direction of a bimorph-type vibrating element obtained by affixing two piezoelectric substrates in a rectangular parallelepiped shape to each other in the thickness direction is as follows, letting D be the piezoelectric constant of the piezoelectric substrate, L be the length of a free vibration region, which is not held by the supporting member, in the vibrating element, letting W be the width of the vibrating element, and T be the thickness of the vibrating element:V=(3/2)·D·L·F/(W·T)The output voltage V is proportional to the length L of the free vibration region in the vibrating element, and is inversely proportional to the width W and the thickness T of the vibrating element.
Although the length L of the free vibration region in the vibrating element must be increased to reduce the width W and the thickness T of the vibrating element in order to improve the acceleration detection sensitivity of the acceleration sensor, therefore, the increase in the length L of the free vibration region in the vibrating element leads to the increase in size of the acceleration sensor, and the reduction in the width W and the thickness T of the vibrating element leads to the reduction in mechanical strength to reduce reliability.

Acceleration sensor and magnetic disk device using the same


A sound classification system for adding and correcting a sound type is disclosed. When the add/correct command processor receives a command to add or correct a sound type, the data in the first database is stored in the second database, and the type adding/correcting device adds the feature of the sound to the first database, and re-calculates the statistical values. Besides, the classifier re-classifies the sample sounds, and the precision calculator calculates a ratio of accurate classification. When the ratio is high, the type adding/correcting device stores, in the feature database, the feature of the sound for which a type is to be added or corrected. When the ratio is low, the second database restores the data back to the first database.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional sound classification system 8 is used for receiving a sound that has yet to be classified, and recognizing the sound so as to determine whether the sound belongs to a sound type that has a particular significance for the user.
The conventional sound classification system can pre-classify a plurality of sound types that have particular significance and store the same in the sound classification system 8. For instance, siren sounds, telephone ringing sounds, and sounds of breaking glass can be three main pre-classified sound types. When a sound of the aforementioned types is present in the environment, the sound classification system 8 can receive and classify the sound, and can notify the user of the occurrence of a certain type of sound. For instance, when the sound classification system 8 determines there are telephone ringing sounds, it can notify the user to answer the telephone. Alternatively, when the sound classification system 8 determines there are sounds of breaking glass, it notifies the user of the possibility of a thief breaking in through a window.
The conventional sound classification system 8 includes a sound receiver 81, a feature extractor 82, a classifier 83, a database 84, and a classification recorder 85. The database 84 stores features of a plurality of sound signals. The sound receiver 81 is any piece of equipment capable of receiving sounds, such as a microphone. The feature extractor 82 can receive the sound signal from the sound receiver 81, and can find out the feature of the sound signal.
The feature extractor 82 analyzes a feature vector of the sound signal using Mel-scale Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), and uses the feature vector as the feature of the sound signal. For the MFCC scheme, reference can be made to "Fundamentals of Speech Recognition" by L. Rabiner and B.-H. Juang, Prentice Hall, 1993. According to the MFCC scheme, the sound signal is transformed from a time domain signal to a frequency domain signal using Fourier Transform, the frequency domain signal representing the energy of the sound at each frequency. Energy values of corresponding frequency ranges are obtained from the multiplication of a plurality of triangular band-pass filters covering the different frequency ranges, each of which represents a different weight, by the energy value of each corresponding frequency, where one of the triangular band-pass filters covers a corresponding sound frequency range that is perceivable by human auditory organs. Thus, a plurality of feature values equivalent to the triangular band-pass filters in number can be obtained. The feature values can be used as a feature vector that can represent the sound.
The database 84 pre-stores the features of many sound types, e.g., siren sound, telephone ringing sound, sound of breaking glass, and door opening sound, where each sound type in general includes a plurality of sounds. For example, the door opening sound type includes a plurality of pre-recorded door opening sounds.
The classifier 83 compares the feature analyzed by the feature extractor 82 with the pre-stored features in the database 84. When the feature analyzed by the feature extractor 82 matches or is similar to the feature of one of the sound types in the database 84, the sound received by the sound receiver 81 will be regarded as an instance of said one of the sound types. The classification recorder 85 stores the classification result of each inputted sound classified by the classifier 83, as well as the feature thereof.
The classification scheme adopted by the classifier 83 can be the Mahalanobis Distance scheme described in "Pattern Recognition" written by S.-T. Bow and published by Jwang Yuan in 1984. The scheme is mainly used to calculate the distance between the feature vector of the sound signal received by the sound receiver 81 and those of all sound types stored in the database 84. When a smallest distance exists, this will indicate that the sound signal received by the sound receiver 81 matches the corresponding sound type in the database 84.
However, there are numerous sound types in real life. It is impossible for the conventional pre-constructed database 84 to contain all the sounds that may probably occur. Besides, the conventional sound classification system 8 cannot process sound types that are not stored in the database 84. Therefore, if the user is allowed to add sound types to the database 84, the practicality of the sound classification system 8 can be effectively enhanced.
Furthermore, due to differences between various environments, sounds may also exhibit different features in different environments. For instance, the same door opening sound may produce a relatively loud echo in a relatively spacious environment, but may have a completely different feature in an environment that can better absorb its sound energy. When the different types of sounds are recorded in the database 84, the environments in which the sounds are recorded are oftentimes different from the environment the user is in. If the user cannot add or correct samples of the sound types pre-constructed in the database 84 with respect to the environment of use, this may result in problems that the sound classification system 8 makes erroneous classification in a new environment, or is even unable to perform the classification.

Sound classification system and method capable of adding and correcting a sound type


A robot system of the present disclosure includes a robot and a controller configured to control motion of the robot, and the controller includes: a motion mode storage unit storing a plurality of motion modes for controlling the robot to switch a motion state of the robot from a normal motion state to a special motion state when a predetermined first condition is satisfied; and a motion mode switching unit configured to switch the motion mode of the robot to another motion mode when, while a particular motion mode stored in the motion mode storage unit is in execution, a predetermined second condition for the particular motion mode is satisfied with a first condition for the particular motion mode satisfied.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a robot system and a method for controlling the robot system.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a robot with an operable working arm has been suggested. In general, a safety fence is disposed around the working arm to separate an operation region for the working arm separated from an operation region for people. However, for example, a person may enter the safety fence to supply the work object. Further, in recent years, both the robot and the people have expanded opportunities to work together in a space where the operation regions for the working arm and the people are not separated. The use of the robot in such a circumstance may cause a risk that the robot and a person interfere with each other if the person enters the operation region for the working arm. A safety countermeasure has been built for avoiding such a risk. For example, a man•machine working system disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4219870 includes a transmitter provided for a person, a receiver attached to a device to respond to the transmitter, and a position detector. The position detector detects the position of the person relative to the device by calculating an output signal from the receiver.
In the man•machine working system disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4219870, the positional relation of the person to the device is detected by the position detector. Based on the positional relation, the operation region for people is set.
For example, a robot system according to JP-A-2010-167523 includes a human detection device for detecting the presence of a human within an operation region for an industrial robot.
The robot system according to JP-A-2010-167523 includes an electric supply adjusting device for adjusting the amount of current to be supplied to a robot control device. In this robot system, the electric supply adjusting device changes the amount of current in response to a signal output from the human detection device.

Robot system and method for controlling robot system


A fail-safe system to connect a mobile input unit with a machine control unit, implementing a redundant preprocessing of the user inputs in the mobile input unit. The signals from the input means are routed to two processors of the input unit, and both processors encode the user inputs before transmitting the signals to the control unit. In the control unit, the received and encoded user inputs are decoded by two processors and subsequently compared to one another for concordance. When concordance is given, the received data is further processed in the control. If there is no concordance, an error routine is executed, shutting down the machine tool.

The present invention relates to a method for providing fail-safe data transmission between a numerically controlled machine and a spatially separate controller unit. In particular, the invention relates to high speed fail-safe data transmission between a numerically controlled machine and a spatially separate controller unit.
It is known, for example from German Utility Model Patent G 82 36 366.8, that machine tools can be equipped not only with an operator""s panel, but also with a supplemental, mobile wrist-extension manipulator device used to remotely control certain special functions of the machine. The operator""s panel usually includes a display device from which the user is able to initiate and monitor all functions for controlling the machine. The mobile wrist-extension device can include an electronic handwheel operating a manual pulse generator, that enables the user to enter, for example, the movement commands for one or more axes of the machine not only when the user is at the operator""s panel but in a more limited manner from any other location. The mobile wrist-extension device of this patent has various keys for selecting functions, and a rotary position transducer operated by a handwheel. A cable having the requisite lines for signal transmission provides the link between the wrist-extension device and the controller of the machine, but this patent does not reveal a method for reliably transmitting input data from the wrist-extension device to the controller.
The German Patent 29710 026 describes a numerical control system having a spatially separate operator panel, which includes a handwheel for inputting position control commands. In this patent, the positioning commands are transmitted from the spatially separate operator panel to the system controller within a fixed time grid, using a wireless transmission device in accordance with the DECT standard. There is no mechanical link, such as a cable, between the system controller and the operator panel.
The drawback of this specific system is that it is easily disturbed by the electromagnetic fields present in a machine room. Therefore, when using the operator panel, there is the constant danger of the machine malfunctioning not only due to failure of electronic modules, but also due to interference with the radio transmission of commands.
Guidelines exist with respect to the requirements for fail-safe and fault-tolerant systems, in particular control systems. EN 954-1 stipulates that a category-3 fail-safe system must not enter into an unpredictable operating state because of one single fault, but rather that it continue to function as a fail-safe system in spite of the single fault. In cases where the system""s input unit is separate from the system""s control unit, the data transmission between the controller and the input unit also should include a fail-safe transmission method, to attain a fully fail-safe system. A variety of conventional transmission methods have been used toward this goal. For example, in one possible fail-safe transmission method, the input data received in the controller unit is retransmitted to the input unit, and compared there to the input data originally sent to the controller unit. If concordance between the signals is recognized, then no error has occurred during transmission, otherwise the error is communicated to the controller unit by the input unit, thereby requiring a renewed data transmission.
The disadvantage of this method is that it is necessary for data to be transmitted both by the input unit as well as by the controller, making it necessary to provide transmitting/receiving modules both in the input unit as well as in the controller. In addition, the controller must wait until it is certain that the input unit is no longer reporting any errors with respect to the input data. This leads to a delay in the processing of input data. A further disadvantage of this method is that if an error first occurs during retransmission of the input data from the controller unit to the input unit, the system will interpret the resulting lack of concordance as a faulty transmission from the input unit to the controller, and initiate an error routine.
Another approach is described in EP 182 134 BI for operating a multi-computer system which is fail-safe in terms of signal engineering, and is used in particular for railway safety installations. As soon as interferences are recognized in this multi-computer system, so-called xe2x80x9clong telegramsxe2x80x9d for the data exchange are transmitted between the computers. A feature of these long telegrams is that they are made up of two telegrams having the same content and standardized length, and that they are transmitted over transmission channels that have not been recognized as being interfered until that point in time. As a result, the data transmission is characterized by higher redundancy. In this context, one of the two customary telegrams can be transmitted as inverted telegrams. The drawback of this method is that a long telegram is produced and transmitted by one single computer. Therefore, it is not possible to detect disturbances affecting only one computer.
The present invention is directed to a method for providing fail-safe data transmission between a numerically controlled machine and a spatially separate input unit that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art, and that provides high speed transmission of data. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and obtained by the apparatus and method particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, the invention is a method for a most rapid possible data transmission between the machine controller and input unit which requires as little additional outlay as possible to render the data transmission fail-safe.
The method for providing fail-safe transmission of data between a numerically controlled device and a spatially separate input unit includes providing the data to at least two input processors of the input unit, which are independent of one another, encoding the data in the at least two input processors of the input unit using different encoding algorithms in each of the at least two input processors, and transmitting the encoded data from the least two input processors to a controller of the device. Next, the method includes providing the encoded data to at least two control processors, corresponding to each of the at least two input processors, decoding the encoded data in the at least two control processors of the controller, using different decoding algorithms that are the inverse of the different encoding algorithms, and checking the decoded data for parity, so an error routine can be executed in response to a result of non-parity.
In another embodiment, the invention further comprises transmitting the encoded data from a second input processor to a first input processor of the input unit, transmitting a unitary message containing the encoded data of the first and second input processors from the first input processor, via an interface, to a first control processor of the controller, and routing one of the encoded data of the first and second input processors to a second control processor of the controller.
An advantage of the method according to the present invention is that a fail-safe data transmission is implemented between the input unit and the machine controller in an especially simple manner. The input commands entered by the user are variably coded independently of one another by the two processors of the input unit, and are transmitted in succession to the machine controller. Existing data transmission paths are used in the controller without any danger of unauthorized altering of the transmission data. An especially high degree of fail-safeness is advantageously achieved if codes for safeguarding against errors are used to encode the messages.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Method for providing fail-safe secure data transmission between a numerical control system and a spatially separate unit


A calibration fixture for an MWD logging tool consists of a plurality of concentric co-planar conductive calibration loops are mounted around the logging tool mandrel coaxially with the usual transmitter(s) and receivers that are mounted on the tool. The calibration loops are terminated with a multiple-tap impedance quantizing means for discretely varying the impedance of the calibration loops. When a transmitter is activated to emit an electromagnetic signal, the calibration loops are excited to reradiate a portion of that signal into the receivers with an intensity that is a function of the loop impedance thereby to simulate the effects of formations having known resistivities.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for calibrating an electromagnetic logging tool such as an induction logger, that is used to measure the conductivity of the surrounding formation while a borehole is being drilled therethrough. The apparatus is particularly useful as a secondary standard for field use in testing MWD loggers.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Electromagnetic (induction) logging tools for measuring the electrical properties of subsurface earth formations are well known. The logging tool may be run into a borehole on a wireline after the hole has been drilled. Alternatively the tool may be incorporated into the lower end of the drill string, near the bit so as to log the formation parameters while the borehole is being drilled (i.e. Measurement While Drilling or MWD). The advantage of the latter method is that he tool can measure formation parameters before the borehole sidewall has become contaminated with the drilling fluids. Furthermore, the desired measurements are gathered in near real time rather than days or weeks later as is the case with wireline logging.
Typical induction tools consist essentially of a transmitter coil and two receiver coils that are mounted concentrically on a mandrel. The two receiver coils may be separated by, perhaps, 30 cm and the transmitter coil may be about 0.7 m from the nearest receiver coil. In some tools, a second transmitter is provided at the opposite end of the receiver array. The respective coils commonly consist of several turns of wire of a suitable size that are insulated from the mandrel. An electronics module is incorporated into the tool to provide power to the transmitter coil and to detect the signals in the receiver coils. Means are furnished to either store the measured formation parameters or to transmit the gathered data to surface equipment, or both.
At timed intervals such as every 100 milliseconds (ms), a 1-or 2-mHz sinusoidal signal at a potential of about 200 volts is launched into the transmitter coil. If two transmitter coils are provided, the transmitters are excited in alternative cycles and the received signals resulting alternate cycles are averaged. The electromagnetic field radiates outwardly from the transmitter, through the formation surrounding the borehole, to each of the receivers in turn. The received signals are very weak, on the order of 1 to 500 .mu.v. The phase difference between the signals received by the respective receivers, as well as the amplitude ratio are parameters that are a function of the formation resistivity which may range from about 0.1 to about 100 ohm-meters or more. Those measurements provide a penetration depth into the sidewall formation of nearly two meters.
An induction logging tool is essentially a precision voltmeter that must be calibrated with respect to a laboratory standard. Usually, the tool is calibrated in a large brine tank where the resistivity of the test medium (salt water) can be accurately controlled. The test results take the form of response curves plotted as formation resistivity vs. phase shift and amplitude ratio. See for example, FIGS. 1 and 2.
MWD logging tools must be rugged to withstand the drilling stresses. Made of conductive but non-magnetic metal such as beryllium-copper or monel metal, an MWD logging tool may be two or three meters long, 15 in diameter and is quite heavy. A secondary standard is used for field calibration of an MWD induction logging tool in the field both before and after a logging run. Of course, there is no reason why a portable secondary standard could not also be used on-site to confirm the calibration of a wireline tool.
The theory of the operation of an inductive logging tool mounted on a conductive mandrel is explained in a paper entitled The theory of 2 mHz Resistivity Tool and its Application to Measurement-While-Drilling by D. Coope et al. in The Log Analyst, v. 25, No. 3, May-June, 1984. The concepts are well known. Hence it is not considered to be necessary here to expand further upon the theory of operation. An analysis of the response of an MWD tool is presented by Q. Zhou et al. in MWD Resistivity Tool Response in a Layered Medium, published in Geophysics, v. 56, No. 11, November 1991.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,511, issued Oct. 24, 1989 to Brian Clark for a Method and Apparatus for Testing and Calibrating an Electromagnetic Logging Tool, discloses an external testing apparatus for a logging tool which includes at least a transmitting antenna and dual-channel receiving antennas. A shielded receiving device is clamped around the transmitting antenna and intercepts the transmitted signal. A shielded transmitting device is positioned around the receiving antennas of the tool and transmits to the receiving antennas a signal which has a phase and/or amplitude that is related to the signal transmitted by the tool's transmitting antenna in a known manner. It simulates the effect that a geological formation would have on the signal if it were to travel from the tool's transmitting antenna through the formation. Since the simulated effect is known, the output of the tool may be verified as being correct or it may be corrected if it is erroneous.
Another reference is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,675, issued Mar. 19, 1991 to G. H. Woodward for a Phase and Amplitude Calibration System for Electromagnetic Propagation Based on Earth Formation Evaluation Instruments. The invertor teaches an automatic calibration system which compensates for errors caused by temperature and pressure variations in a borehole. In this system, an auxiliary calibration antenna is tightly coupled physically to each of the spaced-apart receiving antennas of a dual-channel logging tool. In-phase equal-amplitude reference signals are applied to the two measurement channels from the calibration antennas to the respective receiving antennas. Each of the calibration antennas communicates with an attenuator which acts to make the calibration antennas transparent to the receiving antenna when the latter are in the measurement mode.
A Russian paper entitled Calculation of Calibration Loops for Induction Logging Tools, by V. N. Boganik et al., published in News From Colleges, 1965, No. 9, describes a single closed calibration loop that may be used with a wireline tool.
The first reference discloses a rather awkward calibration assembly that must be clamped around the logging tool mandrel. In addition, a good deal of complex circuitry is required to match the calibration antennas to the receiving and transmitting antennas that are mounted on the tool itself. The second reference is merely a relative compensation device to equalize the parameter measurements from different depths to a common base line. The device of the '675 patent is not an absolute-value calibration tool. The Russian device is a single closed loop suitable for use with a wireline logger but not with MWD equipment.
There is a need for a simple, portable secondary calibration standard that first can be exercised in the laboratory and later used for field testing of a logging tool. It is desirable that the calibration device should be passive and not dependent for its operation upon auxiliary circuitry which, itself, would require calibration.

Method and apparatus for calibrating the output measurement of a logging tool as a function of earth formation parameters


An apparatus for shearing and straining polymeric process material, such a scrap tires includes a rotor and barrel. Large material pieces are feed into a hopper and the material is warmed, pressurized and transported to a rotor--barrel transfer section to initially chop the material to reduce its size. The material then passes to a rotor barrier or refining section where the material must pass over wide top barriers that extend across extrusion grooves. The barriers included multiple ridges and the barrier to bore clearance is progressively reduced as the material passes downstream. Ramp like grooves, where rejected material can be worked further, precede the barrier ridges. A rotor to barrel transfer section, having a conical barrel that can be longitudinally shifted, follows the wide top barriers, so the size to the discharged material can be regulated.

The rubber and plastic industries use screen type straining devices with restraining holes to separate over size material from the process material. The restrictive holes progressively become plugged, requiring an increase in extrusion pressure and the resulting increase in extrusion temperature. The plastic industry developed a continuous screen changing device to obtain uniformity. The reclaim of vulcanized rubber has been and is accomplished by warming the material and passing it through a rugged refiner mill which is set at an extremely small nip. The resulting quality is such that very little vulcanized rubber is being processed by this method.


The loss in delivered capacity (capacity fade) after cycling non-aqueous rechargeable lithium manganese oxide batteries at elevated temperatures can be greatly reduced by depositing a small amount of certain foreign metal species on the surface of spinel in the cathode. In particular the foreign metal species are from compounds having either bismuth, lead, lanthanum, barium, zirconium, yttrium, strontium, zinc or magnesium. The foreign metal species are introduced to the surface of spinel by moderately heating either an aqueous treated mixture or a dry mixture of ready-made spinel and the foreign metal compound.

This invention pertains to non-aqueous rechargeable lithium manganese oxide batteries with greatly improved cycling performance at elevated temperatures, and methods of producing such batteries. Specifically, the invention pertains to using deposits of certain metal compounds, particularly ones containing Y, Bi, Pb and La, on the surface of a spinel cathode as means to stabilize the spinel surface, thereby avoiding the capacity loss.
Various types of non-aqueous rechargeable lithium ion batteries are available commercially for consumer electronics applications. Lithium ion batteries use two different insertion compounds for the active cathode and anode materials. Presently available lithium ion batteries are high voltage systems based on LiCoO2 cathode and coke or graphite anode electrochemistries. However, many other lithium transition metal oxide compounds are suitable for use as the cathode material, including LiNiO2 and LiMn2O4. Also, a wide range of carbonaceous compounds is suitable for use as the anode material. These batteries employ non-aqueous electrolytes comprising LiBF4 or LiPF6 salts and solvent mixtures of ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, diethyl carbonate, and the like. Again, numerous options for the choice of salts and/or solvents in such batteries are known to exist in the art.
The rechargeable lithium battery industry has found that LiMn2O4 can be a more desirable cathode material than LiCoO2, because of its low cost and its relative harmless effect on the environment. Therefore, research efforts to use LiMn2O4 as the cathode material of choice have increased.
Typically LiMn2O4 based batteries have good performance at room temperature. However, at elevated temperatures they suffer a gradual loss of delivered capacity with cycle number, herein referred to as capacity fade or the capacity fade rate. Researchers in the art have devoted substantial effort to reducing this loss in capacity.
There are many patents/patent applications and articles in the literature claiming that doping with a foreign metal or a combination of metals during the synthesis of LiCoO2 or LiMn2O4 improves capacity and/or capacity fade. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,738 (Yoshinori Toyoguchi) claims improved cycle life of LiCoO2 batteries by using cathode active material containing LixCo1xe2x88x92yMyO2, where Mxe2x95x90W, Mn, Ta, Ti, Nb; Japanese published application serial number 09134723 (Okada et. al.) uses LiyMn2xe2x88x92xMxO4, cathodes where Mxe2x95x90Fe, Ti, Ni, Ta, Cr, W, Pb, etc. to obtain large total discharge capacity; U.S. Pat. No.5,759,720 (Glenn Amatucci) discloses capacity and capacity fade improvement at 55xc2x0 C. for lithium rechargeable batteries using lithium aluminum manganese oxy-fluoride cathodes.
Addition of Bi is known to improve the stability of manganese oxides used in the so called RAM (Rechargeable Alkaline Manganese) battery technology. In the context of such aqueous alkaline cells, D. Larcher et. al. (J. Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 145, No.10, pp.3392-3400) study the effects of Bi, Pb and Tl doping, on the stability of xcex-MnO2 (the de-lithiated form of LiMn2O4) when stored in aqueous acidic media. Larcher et al. characterize stability by measuring the rate at which Mn is dissolved from the solid phase, and no capacity fade measurements where carried out in electrochemical cells. Brief mention is made of the storage characteristics of Bi doped LiMn2O4 in non-aqueous acidic electrolyte, and it appears from the reported X-ray data that the stability was not improved by Bi doping.
Matsushita Electric Co. Ltd.""s laid open Japanese application serial number 05047384 (Yamaura et. al.). claims improved overdischarge at high temperature by using their cathode. The cathodes here are made from powder obtained from simply mixing spinel powder with metal oxide powder. The mixed powders are not heat treated before they are made into a slurry for cathode coating. This is definitely not a surface coating technique.
Coating the surface of LiMn2O4 to obtain specific effects has been investigated. For example, in U.S. Pat. No.5,705,291 (Amatucci et al.) the self discharge rate of batteries stored at 55xc2x0 C. is reduced by treating the surface of the lithium intercalating cathode material with a passivating layer containing an annealed coating composition of boron oxide. The inventors show no evidence that capacity fade is improved by this treatment.
Thus far, the compounds and methods attempted in the prior art either give marginal improvements in capacity fade rate at elevated temperatures or attempt to solve other problems facing lithium manganese oxide batteries.
Rechargeable batteries exhibit a loss in delivered capacity as a function of the number of charge/discharge cycles. Herein, the fractional loss of capacity per cycle is referred to as the capacity fade rate. The instant invention includes non-aqueous rechargeable lithium manganese oxide batteries having greatly improved capacity fade rates at elevated temperatures and methods for achieving the improved capacity fade rate. Non-aqueous rechargeable spinel batteries generally comprise a lithium manganese oxide cathode, a lithium compound anode, a separator and a non-aqueous electrolyte comprising a lithium salt dissolved in a non-aqueous solvent and are hereinafter called spinel or Li1+xMn2xe2x88x92xO4 (0 less than =x less than 0.33) batteries. We have discovered that heating a mixture of a small amount of one or more of certain foreign metal compounds with Li1+xMn2xe2x88x92xO4 powder can result in a reduced capacity fade rate at elevated temperatures in spinel lithium ion batteries. Preferably, the temperature applied to heat the mixture is high enough so that the foreign metal compound is converted to foreign metal products, which cover the surface of the spinel and do not enter the bulk of the spinel structure. Such treated spinel powders serve to reduce the capacity fade of spinel lithium-ion batteries at elevated temperatures. Hereinafter synthesized Li1+xMn2xe2x88x92xO4 powder will be referred to as ready-made spinel. This is to distinguish it from either the actual synthesis of spinel, where precursors such as EMD-MnO2 and Li2CO3 are heated to obtain Li1+xMn2xe2x88x92xO4 or from doped spinel, where for example, EMD-MnO2, Li2CO3 and Bi2O3 are heated to obtain Li1+xMn2xe2x88x92xxe2x88x92yBiyO4.
During cycling, lithium-ion cells tend to produce alcohols such as methanol or ethanol as a result of reactions between trace amounts of H2O and the materials forming the Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI) layer on the anode (Aurbach et. al., J. Electrochem. Soc. 141, L1 (1994), ibid. 142, 1746 (1995), ibid. 142, 2873 (1995)). The alcohol in turn oxidizes on the surface of the charged or de-lithiated cathode, and produces more water. Water then reacts irreversibly with more SEI material and possibly with some intercalated lithium in the anode. Once intercalated Li has reacted with water to form LiOH, it is permanently inactive and the cell capacity decreases correspondingly. In particular, the effect is most prominent in spinel lithium ion batteries at elevated temperature as shown in Yu Wang et al., co-inventors of this invention (Poster III, The 9th International Meeting on Lithium Batteries, Edinburgh, Scotland, July 1998).
The rate of methanol reaction can be used to gauge whether specific treatments of ready-made spinel powder will improve the capacity fade of spinet batteries at elevated temperatures. That is, the charged or de-lithiated spinel, henceforth known herein as xcex-MnO2, in question can be soaked in a known amount of methanol, and then the water produced from the oxidation reaction of methanol and the cathode can be measured over time. The less water produced by a surface treated cathode relative to a reference cathode of untreated spinel, the lower the capacity fade rate is expected when the lithium-ion battery is cycled at elevated temperatures.
We have found that not all foreign metal surface treatments work to improve the capacity fade rate of spinel batteries. So far, according to our research, the foreign metal compounds that are able to achieve a significant capacity fade improvement contain either bismuth (Bi), lead (Pb), lanthanum (La), barium (Ba), zirconium (Zr), yttrium (Y), strontium (Sr), zinc (Zn) or magnesium (Mg). In particular, lead acetate, lead basic carbonate, lead stearate, lead nitrate, bismuth nitrate, bismuth hydroxide, bismuth oxycarbonate, bismuth acetate, bismuth oxide, lanthanum carbonate, lanthanum perchlorate, lanthanum nitrate, barium nitrate, zinc acetate, and zirconium di-nitrate oxide,yttrium (III) nitrate, strontium nitrate, zinc acetate and magnesium nitrate can be used to reduce the fade rate at elevated temperatures.
One of the preferred methods for obtaining the surface treated cathode powder is to dissolve. a suitable amount of one or more of certain foreign metal compounds into water and then mix it with ready-made spinel powder for less than an hour. After drying at about 95xc2x0 C. for an hour, the resulting mixture is further heated at above the decomposition temperature of the foreign metal compound, and less than or equal to 750xc2x0 C., for 2 to 4 hours. Preferably the heating temperature is 350xc2x0 C. Heating removes the moisture and forms the foreign metal product on the surface of the spinel. This method will henceforth be called aqueous treatment or aqueous treated.
To make it easier for processing large quantities of treated spinel powder, another preferred method is to dry mix the foreign metal compound with the ready-made spinel, then heat the mixture initially at above the decomposition of the foreign metal compound for about 1 hour, then further heat it at about 600xc2x0 C. and up to 750xc2x0 C. for 1.5 hours. Hereinafter this method is called dry-mix treatment. The prepared powders are then ready for cathode making and subsequently for battery assembling.
Herein the amount of foreign metals used for the surface treatment will be expressed in terms of the number of foreign metal atoms per spinel formula unit and will be referred to as mole % foreign metal:       %              xe2x80x83            M    =                    N        M                    N                              LI                          1                              +                2                                                                    Mn                          2                              -                2                                                                    O            4                                xc3x97    100        %
wherein M is the foreign metal and NM is the number of the foreign metal atoms compared to the number of spinel formula units. It has been discovered that adding an amount of one or more certain foreign metal compounds to the ready-made spinel in the range from 0.01 to less than about 5 mole % of the foreign metal, then heating the mixture, can be effective in improving capacity fade rate at elevated temperature. A preferred range is from about 0.05% to less than 2 mole % of the foreign metal. Preferably only a small amount of capacity fade reducing foreign metal compound is employed.
It has further been discovered that the inventive treatments result in the foreign metal products being distributed on the surface of the spinel structure rather than being embedded in the spinel structure, as in the case of doping. That is, the foreign metal species do not enter the bulk of the spinel particles or the crystal structure. Therefore, the spinel structure and its lattice constant remain essentially unchanged.
Aside from treating the spinel material, improved capacity fade rates at elevated temperatures can be achieved for spinel batteries by employing conventional lithium ion battery electrochemistries. Thus, the cathode comprises a surface treated spinel made by heating a mixture of one or more certain foreign metal compounds (bismuth, lead, lanthanum, barium, zirconium, yttrium, strontium, zinc or magnesium compounds) with ready-made lithium manganese oxide. The anode can be a carbonaceous insertion compound anode, in particular graphite. The electrolyte can contain LiPF6 salt dissolved in an organic carbonate solvent, in particular mixtures containing ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate, and/or diethyl carbonate solvents.
The invention is directed to a non-aqueous rechargeable lithium manganese oxide battery having reduced capacity fade rate during cycling at elevated temperature, the said battery comprising: a lithium insertion compound cathode, a lithium compound anode, a separator, and a non-aqueous electrolyte including a lithium salt dissolved in a non-aqueous solvent, wherein the cathode comprises a spinel structure composed of a mildly heated mixture of a ready-made spinel and one or more foreign metal compounds, the foreign metals having atomic number greater than 11; the foreign metal products being distributed on the surface of the spinel structure and not substantially entering the bulk of the spinel structure or substantially extracting lithium from the spinel structure, the surface distributed foreign metal compound reducing capacity fade rate of the battery during cycling at elevated temperature.
We find that the reduced capacity fade rate at elevated temperature is achieved when the ppm amount of H2O generated per gram of any charged-surface-treated spinel, k, is xe2x80x9csubstantially less thanxe2x80x9d the ppm amount of H2O generated per gram of charged-untreated spinel, ko. Here ppm of H2O generated in the methanol reaction is defined as H2O generated (xcexcg)/methanol (g), which must then be further normalized by the quantity of charged spinel. For our tests we used 1.4 g of methanol per gram of charged spinel. In this case we can quantify the meaning of xe2x80x9csubstantially less thanxe2x80x9d by looking at the statistical variance in our data. We have chosen 40 hours at 45xc2x0 C. as the standard storage condition for determining k, and find that the standard deviation in ko is about 0.1ko (i.e. 10%). Hence, we expect a substantially reduced capacity fade rate at elevated temperature when k less than 0.9ko.
The invention is also directed to a method for reducing the capacity fade rate during cycling at elevated temperature of a non-aqueous rechargeable lithium manganese oxide battery, the battery comprising a lithium insertion compound cathode, a lithium compound anode, a separator, a non-aqueous electrolyte including a lithium salt dissolved in a non-aqueous solvent, wherein the lithium insertion compound cathode is formed of a mildly heated mixture of a ready-made spinel and one or more foreign metal compounds, the foreign metals having atomic number greater than 11; the foreign metal products being distributed on the surface of the spinel structure and not entering the bulk of the spinel structure.
At this time, the reason for the capacity fade rate improvement is unclear. Without being adversely bound by theory, but wishing to enable the reader to better understand the invention, a possible explanation is that during moderate temperature heating of ready-made spinel with the foreign metal compounds, foreign metal products form and deposit on the surface of spinel to stabilize the spinel surface. The inventors believe that these foreign metal products are in the form of oxides for the examples presented herein. It is also believed that foreign metal products other than oxides, which also achieve the desired effect may also exist. For the examples that follow, the foreign metal products are hereafter called foreign metal oxides. Moderate heating is necessary to avoid diffusion of foreign metal atoms into the bulk of the spinel, thereby avoiding capacity loss. Therefore, the benefits of the invention might be expected when using certain foreign metal compounds which decompose at moderate temperatures to form foreign metal products on the surface of spinel.

Rechargeable spinel lithium batteries with greatly improved elevated temperature cycle life


Provided is a method for culturing Mycobacteria in the presence of a class A lantibiotic, thereby inhibiting or reducing bacterial contamination in the culture, without significantly disadvantageously affecting or retarding mycobacterial growth. Further provided are the Mycobacteria culture produced thereby, methods for detecting Mycobacteria in a biological sample under conditions that reduce bacterial contamination, and for diagnosing a mycobacterial infection in a biological sample from a subject suspected of having such an infection, as well as, kits useful in practicing such methods.

Mycobacteria are gram-positive, acid-fast rods that do not produce flagella, capsules or spores and do not grow on ordinary microbiological media. They are strict aerobes with nutritionally-exacting growth requirements, typically requiring an enriched medium for culturing. Mycobacteria comprise both slow-growing and fast-growing species. Fast-growing organisms, forming colonies in <7 days, are generally regarded as non-pathogenic. The slow-growing organisms, however, are those of clinical interest, as they are causal agents of some chronic infections, including human tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), non-human tuberculosis (M. bovis), leprosy (M leprae) and Johne's Disease (Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis; MAP).
Because of the slow growth rate and the need for an enriched medium for mycobacterial growth in culture, detection of Mycobacteria from clinical samples (e.g. sputum, lung fluids, tissue or feces) represents a significant biological challenge. The challenge arises from the fact that more rapidly-growing bacteria can overgrow the slow-growing mycobacterial organism of interest, thus precluding or significantly hindering Mycobacteria detection. Over the decades, several techniques have been developed to decontaminate diagnostic samples (i.e. kill or inhibit non-mycobacterial organisms) submitted for mycobacterial identification. These techniques either kill the potential contaminates or injure them to the extent that their growth is inhibited or totally prevented. For M. tuberculosis, for instance, one decontamination process involves processing the sample in 4% sodium hydroxide for several hours, then neutralizing the sodium hydroxide with oxalic acid. After neutralization, a potent cocktail of antibiotics referred to as PANTA (polymyxin B, amphotericin B, nalidixic acid, trimethoprim and azlocillin) is added to the sample to further reduce the growth of contaminating bacteria.
For MAP, one decontamination method involves a three-day protocol that includes processing samples with 0.9% hexadecylpyridinium chloride (HPC; a detergent), centrifuging them and then a double incubation with BHI (brain heart infusion) and antibiotic brew (ANV; amphotericin B, nalidixic acid and vancomycin). Unfortunately, while the MAP decontamination procedures are effective, MAP colony forming unit (cfu) counts are reduced as a result of the decontamination procedure. Most experts agree that a reduction of 1–2 logs of MAP is a typical result of such processing. This reduction potentially lengthens the duration of culturing necessary to detect mycobacterial growth, or in the worse case, renders the Mycobacteria non-detectable. Neither outcome is desirable.
Olstein et al. (U.S. patent publication 2003/0175207) disclose the use of bacteriocin-metal complexes for use in detecting bacteria, including mycobacteria, in samples. Imboden et al. (U.S. patent publication 2005/0014932) disclose the use of fusion proteins comprising a bacteriocin as biocides to kill pathogens, including mycobacteria. Neither reference discloses methods of mycobacterial cultures with reduced contamination.
In light of these findings, it is clear that, prior to the present invention, there was an unmet need in the art for a method of culturing Mycobacteria that reduces non-mycobacterial contamination, without significantly effect on the Mycobacteria. The instant invention meets this need.

Method to reduce contamination when culturing mycobacteria

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


A golf club head, in particular a golf putter head, with a striking face, which is provided on the front side of a striking part, for a golf ball, and with a device, which is fastened to the rear side of the striking part, for receiving interchangeable weights. The device has two elements which mutually intersect preferably without any contact and to the one free end sections of which weights can be fitted. As a result, a shifting of the center of gravity and distribution of the weight of the head are possible in a particularly variable manner.

1. Field
This patent disclosure relates to a golf club head, in particular a golf putter head, with a striking face, which is provided on the front side of a striking part, for a golf ball, and with a device, which is fastened to the rear side of the striking part, for arranging interchangeable weights. The invention furthermore relates to a golf club with a head of this type.
2. Related Art
The putter is used in golf in order to hole or to putt the ball on the green. The putter usually comprises a putter head and a shaft with a grip. The individual parts of the putter are connected fixedly to one another. A shifting of mass in the putter head is achieved by the putter head itself having a small mass, and as large a mass as possible being selected from one or more additional weights. The putter head itself is therefore produced from a material with a low specific weight, preferably light metal, and a metal with a higher specific weight is used for the additional weights. The additional weights are fitted to the rear part of the putter head, on the opposite side of the putter striking face or the engagement point of the shaft.
Different variant embodiments of putter heads are known which permit different weights to be fitted in an interchangeable manner. A putter head of this type is known, for example, from US 2006/0154740 A1. In this case, a variable number of weights can be fitted in a selectable longitudinal position on two bolts arranged in parallel, in order in this manner not only to be able to change or adjust the putter weight but also the center of gravity of the putter. WO 2006/071606 A2 discloses a putter head which has a base part which is manufactured from a material with a low specific weight, for example aluminum and to which different weights can be fitted, to the part furthest away from the striking face, and therefore the center of gravity of the weight can be shifted as far away as possible from the striking face.


An electronic device includes sensors configured to detect an orientation of a display, driver logic, and a speaker array. The driver logic processes the audio data received by an interface to form audio output data, and forms driver signals representing the audio output data based on the orientation of the display detected by the one or more sensors. The speaker array receives the driver signals formed orientation of the display, and renders the audio output data for playback based on the driver signals.

Video telephony technology, including video conferencing, video chat tools and services, etc. is becoming an increasingly popular way for friends, families, colleagues, and other groups of people to communicate with each other. Camera hardware, such as webcam hardware, is increasingly being added to various end-user devices, such as smartphones, head-mounted devices (HMDs), tablet computers, laptop computers, network-connected televisions (or so-called "smart TVs"), digital displays (e.g., computer displays), whether as integrated hardware or as add-on hardware. The increasing addition of camera hardware to connected devices is increasing the ability to video conference with others using any of a number of online video telephony services. In addition, video telephony services are increasingly incorporating audio communication hardware that is becoming more and more sophisticated, such as multiple loudspeakers with frequency band-specific output capabilities, multiple microphones arrayed to provide high-precision audio capture capabilities, etc.

Systems, devices, and methods of manipulating audio data based on display orientation


A computer-implemented method may include assigning an address translation table to a peripheral component interconnect host bridge and determining that an input/output adapter accessible to the peripheral component interconnect host bridge is configured as a virtualized adapter to provide a plurality of virtual functions to a plurality of logical partitions. In response to determining that the input/output adapter is configured as the virtualized adapter, the address translation table may be subdivided to enable the plurality of virtual functions to access the memory of at least one logical partition of the plurality of logical partitions.

In a logically-partitioned computer system that uses a non-virtualized input/output (I/O) adapter, an address translation table may be allocated and assigned to an IO adapter or to a logical partition. An operating system and applications executing in the logical partition may use the address translation table to enable the non-virtualized IO adapter to perform input/output operations to the memory of the logical partition.
In a computer system that uses a virtualized I/O adapter, the virtualized I/O adapter may provide multiple virtual I/O adapters to multiple logical partitions to enable the multiple logical partitions to access the virtual functions. An address translation table that is designed for use with a non-virtualized hardware I/O adapter may be unsuitable for use with a virtualized I/O adapter. Virtualized I/O adapters may be implemented in many different ways, such as a single root input/output virtualized (SR-IOV) adapter, a multi root I/O virtualized (MR-IOV) adapter, another type of adapter that may be virtualized by a software virtualization intermediary in a hypervisor or virtual I/O hosting operating system (OS) logical partition, or any combination thereof.

Address translation table to enable access to virtualized functions

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A plurality of switching modules arrayed in a plurality of columns and in at least one row switch over paths in accordance with path data contained in cells to transfer inputted data to a target line on the cell-unit. One or more path switching units are provided between two adjacent columns of switching modules among plural columns of switching modules and switch paths between the respective switching modules, disposed in a side-by-side relationship in a row direction, of one column of switching modules of the two adjacent columns of switching modules and the respective switching modules, disposed in the side-by-side relationship in the row direction, of the other column of the two adjacent columns of switching modules.

The present invention relates generally to an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) switch and a method for switching a path by the ATM switch. The present invention relates more particularly to an ATM switch and a method for switching a path by the ATM switch within an ATM switching equipment used for a broadband ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network).
The broad ISDN is capable of offering a variety of media ranging from voices to moving pictures. Further, the ATM switching equipment transfers data on a cell-unit in an asynchronous transfer mode and is applicable to communications in a broad range from a low speed to a high speed.
Constructing a network for this broadband ISDN entails the use of the above ATM switching equipment. At an early stage of introducing the ATM switching equipment, there are small number of subscribers, and a small capacity of the switching equipment may suffice.
At a spread stage of the ATM switching equipment, however, the number of subscribers increases, and, hence the switching equipment is demanded of a large capacity. In this case, for the purpose of using the same switching equipment from the early stage to the spread stage, the switching equipment has to be expanded up to a large-scale switching equipment.
A method for expanding the ATM switch involves the use of an MSSR (Multi-Stage Self-Routing Unit). The MSSR is constructed by performing multi-stage connections of the SRMs (Self-Routing Modules) composed of small-scale switching modules for switching over paths on a cell-unit. Two methods for expanding the ATM switch exist.
According to a first method, all intermediate-stage SRMs of the switch are prepared from the beginning. For example, referring to FIG. 75, four pieces of intermediate-stage SRMs 1-12 to 1-42 are prepared from the beginning with respect to one first-stage SRM 1-11 and one rear-stage SRM 1-13. Further, in FIG. 76, the four intermediate-stage SRMs 1-12 to 1-42 from the beginning with respect to two first-stage SRMs 1-11, 1-21 and two rear-stage SRMs 1-13, 1-23.
Referring to FIG. 77, the four intermediate-stage SRMs are prepared with respect to the three first-stage SRMs and the three rear-stage SRMs. Turning to FIG. 78, the four intermediate-stage SRMs are prepared with respect to the four first-stage SRMs and the four rear-stage SRMs.
Next, according to the second method, a necessary minimum number of SRMs 1 of the first- and intermediate-stages as in the case of the rear-stage SRM 1 are prepared. For example, in FIG. 79, a single piece of SRM 1 is provided at each stage. Referring to FIG. 80, two pieces of SRMs are provided at each stage. Turning to FIG. 81, four pieces of SRMs 1 are provided at each stage.
Based on the first method, however, all the intermediate-stage SRMs are prepared from the beginning. Therefore, a hardware quantity increases even when a small-scale switch is constructed.
Further, according to the second method, an SRM-to-SRM path is switched when the SRM is expanded. This path switching operation is manually done and therefore very time-consuming.

ATM switch and method for switching path by ATM switch


A silver halide color light-sensitive material is disclosed. The light-sensitive material comprises a support and a silver halide emulsion layer provided on the support. The emulsion layer comprises silver halide grains which have been formed in the presence of a complex of rhenium, molybdenum, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, cadmium, zinc, palladium, platinum, gold, iron, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, or chromium each having at least one cyanate ligand, isocyanate ligand or fluminate ligand. The light-sensitive material is high in speed, low in fog and excellent in reciprocity low failure characteristics.

In recent years, light sensitive materials for color print paper have been so demanded as to be rapidly processed for the purpose of expediting the deliveries of a large quantity of prints. As one of the techniques for accomplishing the purpose, there have been the known attempts for making a color development rapid by making use of a silver chloride emulsion or a silver chlorobromide emulsion having a high silver chloride content as a silver halide emulsion to be used in the light sensitive materials for color print paper. The above-mentioned techniques are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,183,756 and 4,225,666 and Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter abbreviated to as JP OPI Publication) Nos. 55-26589/1980, 58-91444/1983, 58-95339/1983, 58-94340/1983, 58-95736/1983, 58-106538/1983, 58-107531/1983, 58-107532/1983, 58-107533/1983, 58-108533/1983 and 58-125612/1983.
However, the above-mentioned silver chloride emulsion or silver chlorobromide emulsion having a high silver chloride content has had the defects that the photosensitive speed is low and the reciprocity law failure is large, namely, the photosensitive speed and gradation are seriously varied by exposure illuminance. For solving the above-mentioned defects, there have been various attempts. For example, JP OPI Publication Nos. 51-139323/1976 and 59-171947/1984 describe each that a processing stability and reciprocity law failure characteristics can be improved by containing the metal compounds belonging to Group VIII of Periodic Table in a light sensitive material.
In the techniques disclosed therein, however, it has been not satisfactory to solve the above-mentioned problems of the silver chloride or the silver halide having a high silver chloride content. In the meanwhile, JP OPI Publication No. 1-183647/1989 describes that, when iron ions are contained in silver halide having both of a silver bromide containing phase having a high silver bromide content and a high silver chloride content, a photosensitive speed can be increased, the reciprocity law failure characteristics can be improved, and the photosensitive speeds and gradations varied by the temperatures varied by exposing a light sensitive material to light can also be improved.
However, the technique still has another serious problem in latent image stability that a photosensitive speed is seriously varied by the intervals between an exposure and a processing treatment, though the above-mentioned problems may nearly be solved. Besides the above, JP OPI Publication No. 55-135832/1980 describes that a high-speed emulsion can be prepared by doping cadmium, lead, copper or zinc therein. According to the studies made by the present inventors, it was proved that this technique cannot make a photosensitive speed higher and improve the reciprocity law failure at the same time satisfactorily. JP OPI Publication No. 2-20852/1990 discribes on a silver halide emulsion containing the complexes of a transition metal having a nitrosyl or thionitrosyl ligand, but not particularly describes on any increase of photosensitive speeds. Further, JP OPI Publication Nos. 2-20853/1990 and 2-20855/1990 describe on the complexes having each a cyano ligand which are capable of making a photosensitive speed higher. However, when these complexes are used, there is a serious environmental problem, because the cyano ligands are severely toxic and it is further proved to be unsatisfactory to make any photosensitive speeds higher and to improve any reciprocity law failure characteristics.

Silver halide color photographic light sensitive material


Updating a spatial partitioning data structure during run-time in an efficient manner includes several pre-processing steps. Pre-processing includes generating a first spatial partitioning data structure for a model at a first resolution, generating a second spatial partitioning data structure for the model at a second resolution, analyzing the first and second spatial partitioning data structures to identify differences between spatial partitioning of the model at the first and second resolutions, and storing the differences in a spatial partitioning update data structure. This pre-processing may be repeated for one or more pairs of successive resolutions of the model. Subsequently, during run-time, the model's resolution may be changed from the first resolution to the second resolution. In response, a spatial partitioning data structure corresponding to the first resolution may be updated using the spatial partitioning update data structure to reflect the change in resolution of the model.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to computer graphics and, more specifically, to spatial partitioning of three-dimensional (3D) models.
2. Description
Multi-resolution geometric models (two-dimensional (2D) or 3D geometries) provide a way to efficiently change a model's resolution during run-time. A multi-resolution model is typically represented as a polygonal mesh. The polygons are usually triangles, and the mesh defines a plurality of triangles by specifying connecting vertices and edges. Multi-resolution models have several important applications, for example, reducing the processor usage for rendering objects at a distance without losing visual quality, application of key computational geometry algorithms at lower model resolutions, and streaming of models over the Internet. Multi-resolution is especially important for large models. Such models in common applications also typically have spatial partitioning data structures associated with them.
In 2D and 3D computer graphics, spatial partitioning typically includes the action of dividing up a space into smaller portions. The space may represent a scene in a world. The portions are sometimes called octants (for 3D), quadrants (for 2D), or gridlets (for 2D or 3D). Subdividing space is usually done during graphics pipeline processing to minimize future computation and to minimize the number of objects sent down the graphics pipeline. For example, if some objects in the scene are not currently visible based on the current camera position, then there is no need to further process these objects. Instead of examining each object submitted into the pipeline, when using spatial partitioning, graphics processing examines only the octants actually containing objects of the scene. For example, entire octants may be removed from further processing consideration if they are outside of the currently visible region of the scene, thus saving the time of transforming, rendering, and rasterizing the polygons of the objects contained in the non-visible octants.
Once a scene is partitioned and all objects in the scene are identified for a particular portion of the space, the results are typically stored in a spatial partitioning (SP) data structure for subsequent use by graphics processing components (such as a video game engine or an animation generator, for example). The SP data structure is usually generated after scene creation, but before scene visualization and user interaction with the scene (i.e., run-time). Typically, the SP data structure takes equal to or greater than O(n) time to construct, where n is the number of vertices in the model. During scene visualization, it may be necessary to find an object in the scene corresponding to a selected point. Given a point in 2D coordinates (e.g., x, y) or 3D coordinates (e.g., x, y, z), the SP data structure is typically traversed to find information about the object containing the point.
There are at least several existing techniques and corresponding data structures for spatial partitioning. These include uniform grids (also called regular grids), binary space partitioning (BSP) trees, octrees, and k-d trees.
A uniform grid is the simplest spatial partitioning scheme. A grid is uniformly subdivided and superimposed onto the scene. For example, if the space is 10 units by 10 units by 10 units, the space could be partitioned into 1 unit by 1 unit by 1 unit cubes (e.g., octants). Each cube may include zero or more polygons. A BSP tree is a data structure used when recursively dividing space into pairs of subspaces, each separated by a plane of arbitrary orientation and position. Partitions usually focus on polygons of static objects in the scene. Non-uniform partitioning is accomplished by positioning partition planes depending on where objects are located.
An octree is a data structure similar to a binary tree, but having a greater number of child nodes per parent node. Whereas a binary tree node typically has two child nodes (e.g., left and right children), an octree node has a specified number of child nodes (such as eight). Each node of the octree represents an octant of the scene. Each octant is sub-divided into a number of sub-octants (e.g., eight). Each node of the data structure contains pointers to the octants contained inside (e.g., a parent node points to child nodes). For 2D scenes, the tree is called a quadtree. For 3D scenes, the tree is a called an octree. Finer subdivision is performed in densely populated areas. If no objects are in an octant, then the octant is not subdivided further. An octree may be uniformly or non-uniformly subdivided, depending on the spatial partitioning algorithm used. The octree hierarchically partitions space up to a specified depth. An octree typically takes O(n log n) time to construct.
A k-d tree is a generalization of a binary tree where k is the dimension of the tree and d stands for dimension. For spatial partitioning, a k-d tree may be used to divide space. For example, each division of space denotes which side of a line (in 2D) or a plane (in 3D) an object may be on. Each time the left side of a line (or plane) or below a line (or plane) is considered, a left node of the k-d tree is examined. Each time the right side (or plane) or above a line (or plane) is considered, a right node of the k-d tree is examined. This process may be continued until a predetermined depth of the k-d tree is reached.
Regardless of which spatial partitioning scheme is used in a graphics application, a multi-resolution model's spatial partitioning must be recomputed every time a model's resolution changes during run-time. This can be a very expensive operation in a graphics processing system. A better multi-resolution representation and method of updating the representation are desired that minimize this computational expense.


Audio perception in local proximity to visual cues is provided. A device includes a video display, first row of audio transducers, and second row of audio transducers. The first and second rows can be vertically disposed above and below the video display. An audio transducer of the first row and an audio transducer of the second row form a column to produce, in concert, an audible signal. The perceived emanation of the audible signal is from a plane of the video display (e.g., a location of a visual cue) by weighing outputs of the audio transducers of the column. In certain embodiments, the audio transducers are spaced farther apart at a periphery for increased fidelity in a center portion of the plane and less fidelity at the periphery.

Fidelity sound systems, whether in a residential living room or a theatrical venue, approximate an actual original sound field by employing stereophonic techniques. These systems use at least two presentation channels (e.g., left and right channels, surround sound 5.1, 6.1, or 11.1, or the like), typically projected by a symmetrical arrangement of loudspeakers. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a conventional surround sound 5.1 system 100 includes: (1) front left speaker 102, (2) front right speaker 104, (3) front center speaker 106 (center channel), (4) low frequency speaker 108 (e.g., subwoofer), (5) back left speaker 110 (e.g., left surround), and (6) back right speaker 112 (e.g., right surround). In system 100, front center speaker 106, or a single center channel, carries all dialog and other audio associated with on-screen images.
However, these systems suffer from imperfections, especially in localizing sounds in some directions, and often require a fixed single listener position for best performance (e.g., sweet spot 114, a focal point between loudspeakers where an individual hears an audio mix as intended by the mixer). Many efforts for improvement to date involve increases in the number of presentation channels. Mixing a larger number of channels incurs larger time and cost penalties on content producers, and yet the resulting perception fails to localize sound in proximity to a visual cue of sound origin. In other words, reproduced sounds from these sound systems are not perceived to emanate from a video on-screen plane, and thus fall short of true realism.
From the above, it is appreciated by the inventors that techniques for localized perceptual audio associated with a video image is desirable for an improved natural hearing experience.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.

Techniques for localized perceptual audio

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


The athermal sorbent bed regeneration system of the present invention includes a main fuel supply, at least one sorbent bed, a source of microwave energy, and a secondary fuel supply. The main fuel supply has a first concentration of an impurity and the secondary fuel supply has a second concentration of the impurity that is less than the first concentration of the impurity. The sorbent bed adsorbs the impurity. The microwave energy source regenerates the sorbent bed for reuse.

The present invention relates generally to the field of purification systems. In particular, the invention relates to athermal desulfurization systems.
Most hydrocarbon or biomass derived fuels contain sulfur in excess of the level tolerable by fuel cell systems without loss in performance. This is particularly true of on-board fuel cell systems used as auxiliary power units. Most fuel cells typically give the best performance using pure hydrogen. Even a small percentage of sulfur (in the parts per million range) in the fuel gas can severely degrade the performance of the fuel cell. Solid oxide fuel cells, however, do not require pure hydrogen to operate. Solid oxide fuel cells are capable of operating on hydrocarbon fuels that produce carbon monoxide, which acts as a fuel to the electrodes in the fuel cells. While solid oxide fuel cells can run on fuel that contains hydrocarbons, the fuel must still be generally free of other contaminants, such as sulfur.
There are numerous mechanisms known in the art for removing sulfur from fuel. It is well known that certain high surface area solids can adsorb or chemisorb sulfur-containing molecules typically found in fuel including mercaptans, sulfides, thiophenes, thiophanes, and the like. Thus, one method currently being used to remove sulfur from fuel is to pass the sulfur-containing fuel through a sorbent bed. The sorbent bed adsorbs the sulfur from the fuel, resulting in a fuel that is either sulfur-free, or containing only a nominal amount of sulfur. However, sorbent beds can only adsorb a specified amount of sulfur before reaching a breakthrough point, at which time the sulfur begins to pass through the sorbent bed, making the sorbent bed less effective. Once the sorbent bed reaches the breakthrough point, it must be regenerated prior to reuse.
One of the methods currently being used to regenerate sorbent beds is to apply thermal energy to the sorbent bed in the presence of a flowing fluid in order to excite, desorb, and remove the sulfur-containing molecules from the sorbent bed. The sorbent bed is first heated to desorb the sulfur from the sorbent. After the sorbent bed has cooled down, it can be used to adsorb additional sulfur compounds. Thus, a heat exchanger is typically needed to regenerate the sorbent bed. Due to the need for high thermal energy and a bulky heat exchanger to regenerate the sorbent bed, it is often impractical to have a sorbent bed regeneration system on-board a moving vehicle, such as a jetliner or a truck. Additionally, the use of high thermal energy can often reduce the overall efficiency of the sorbent bed or significantly limit the life of the sorbent.


An optical shuttle system for routing signals in a communications system that includes a terminal connected to a power source, a shuttle that includes waveguides used for routing the signals, and a beam connected to the terminal and the shuttle so that the beam suspends the shuttle. When power from the power source is applied to the terminal, the beam drives a movement of the shuttle. Furthermore, a method of using an optical shuttle system for routing signals in a communications system, the method includes connecting a terminal to a power source, connecting a shuttle to a beam to suspend the shuttle, and applying power from the power source to the terminal so that the beam drives a movement of the shuttle in a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction of the beam.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to optical communications systems. More specifically, the systems and methods of the invention relate to an optical shuttle system that may be used in an optical switch within the optical communications systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern communication systems include optical communications systems that may utilize large amounts of bandwidth. In order to improve efficiency, many optical communications systems utilize optical switches. The optical switches may add or drop input signals from a fiber optic source to a different fiber optic output port sometimes using micro-electromechanical (MEMS) technology-based optical multiplexers. The optical switches may also include both a shuttle mechanism that holds a routing waveguide structure, and an actuator that physically moves the shuttle mechanism.
Conventional optical switches typically use separate components for the optical switch and the optical switch actuator. Moreover, the conventional shuttle mechanisms use thermally operated actuators to control the switching function within the optical communications systems. For example, when the shuttle mechanism forms the switching element, the thermal actuators are thermally driven to cause the shuttle mechanism to move between switching positions. However, this configuration requires that the thermal actuators overcome both a restoring force of the suspension arms of the shuttle mechanism, and the thermal actuator itself. Thus, high actuation forces and long displacement distances are required in order to adequately drive the shuttle mechanism. As a result, the high actuation forces demand a high power consumption, and the long displacement distances require that long thermal actuators be used with optical switch. Accordingly, increased space within the switching system is required which can subsequently cause an increased tendency toward out of plane deformation within the optical switch.

Optical shuttle system and method used in an optical switch


Disclosed is a method of sizing and desizing yarn, or more specifically to a method of coating yarn with size and removing size from yarn with liquid carbon dioxide solvent.

Modern production methods for producing woven fabrics such as high speed air jet looms often require treatment of the fibers or yarns prior to weaving. This process, wherein the yarns are coated with material known as "size" is used to strengthen the yarns and improve their resistance to abrasion, thereby allowing them to withstand the stress of the weaving process. Typically, size is applied by drawing the yarns through a mixture of water and a sizing material soluble in water such as starch or polyvinyl alcohol. The yarn is thereby wetted and coated with the size material. Typically, the yarn is then subjected to a drying or heating process to remove the water, thus leaving a yarn coated with the size material for weaving. After weaving the yarns into a fabric, the size material is typically removed by placing the fabric in water and thus dissolving the size into the water.

Method for sizing and desizing yarns with liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide solvent


A scheduling method for a multi-level class hierarchy includes inserting all queues containing at least one packet in a first scheduler and inserting into a second scheduler queues contained in the first scheduler which do not exceed their maximum rate. The first scheduler is dequeued until a queue exceeding a maximum rate of the queue is reached, at which time a queue of the second scheduler is dequeued.

The present invention relates generally to communication networks, and more specifically, to a method and system for rate-based scheduling.
High speed networks are designed to carry services with a wide range of traffic characteristics and quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. A common task for rate-based QoS enabled scheduling is ensuring that each queue is guaranteed a minimum rate, excess bandwidth is shared in a fair manner, each queue does not exceed a specified maximum rate, and the link is maximally utilized within the maximum rate constraints. While many implementations target this problem, current implementations either scale linearly with the number of queues, or result in substantial underutilization or unfairness.
As noted above, it is important for environments with large numbers of queues that its scheduling system operates in a scaleable manner. Incoming traffic streams flow through the queues (q0-qn) and a scheduler serves each queue to support a maximum rate (m0-mn). Conventional schedulers use O(n) (order (n)) algorithms to perform the scheduling and shaping of the queues. However, at some level of scalability, these algorithms become either infeasible (e.g., there is no available CPU that can process at the required rate) or cost ineffective (e.g., the amount of hardware required to perform the O(n) operation at the required performance level is too costly).
A typical approach taken by conventional scheduler implementations to ensure rate-limiting to maximum rates is to use a set of token-bucket shapers (one per queue). This typically results in an O(n) complexity, as previously described. It is possible to reduce the complexity, in cases where the total rates of all queues do not exceed the link rate, by scheduling the queue eligibility times on a real-time calendar queue. However, this approach does not work in the typical case when the maximum rates are overbooked. A rate-based scheduling system that avoids the O(n) complexity is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/243,436, filed Sep. 13, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, the system is configured for a single level class hierarchy and is not easily extended to a multi-level class hierarchy.

Scheduling system and method for multi-level class hierarchy


An improved latch assembly (14) is provided for securing a vehicle door (12) in a closed position. Specifically, in one embodiment, the improved latch assembly (14) is intended to secure a first door fastener (16) to an opposing second door fastener (18) when the vehicle door (12) is subjected to a substantial acceleration. In this embodiment, the improved latch assembly (14) includes a release lever (26) coupled to the first door fastener (16). This release lever (26) is intended to selectively disengage the first door fastener (16) from the opposing second door fastener (18) thereby releasing the vehicle door (12) from its closed position. The Improved latch assembly (14) further includes an inertia-actuated detent lever (38) that is intended to block a predetermined path of the release lever (26) and prevent the release lever (26) from unlatching the vehicle door (12) from its closed position.

The present invention relates generally to vehicle doors, and more particularly to an emergency-locking latch assembly that secures a vehicle door in a closed position when the vehicle door is subjected to a substantial acceleration.
Vehicle doors are commonly equipped with latch assemblies for securing the vehicle doors in a closed position. These latch assemblies can also be utilized for selectively releasing the vehicle doors from the closed position and allowing those doors to be swung open.
A typical latch assembly includes one or more ratchets for engaging corresponding striking pins that extend from a door jam of the vehicle. Each ratchet usually is coupled to a series of intermediate release levers for causing the ratchet to disengage from the striking pin. These intermediate release levers ordinarily are coupled to and operated by one or more actuation mechanisms, e.g. inside and outside door handles. A drawback of these latch assemblies is that they can become inoperable in a collision.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved latch assembly that secures a vehicle door in a closed position when the vehicle is subjected to a vehicle collision or various other conditions that impart a substantial acceleration upon the vehicle door.


This device reduces the size of the gap between the apex of the flap opener blade and the drive roller. The above increases the probability that the flap of the envelope would be opened. The foregoing was accomplished by removing segments of the apex of the flap opener blade to allow clearance for the envelope and/or drive roller. Thus, the nominal position of the apex of the flap opener blade was moved closer to the drive roller which reduced the gap between the apex of the flap opener blade and drive roller. Consequently, the chance that the envelope flap would be closed was reduced.

In mail production equipment, various activities take place for the purpose of producing mail pieces. Such activities include the selection of inserts, the collection and stacking of the selected inserts, the placing of the inserts into an envelope and the sealing of the envelope to form the mail piece. In order for the inserts to be stuffed into an envelope, the mouth of the envelope may be opened so as to be able to receive the inserts.
Typically, envelopes do not have uniform characteristics i.e., their flaps may be curled in different directions. Some envelopes flaps have a full curl and other envelope flaps are curled on the flap glue line. Some other envelope flaps exhibited both of the above characteristics. Before material was inserted into the envelope, the prior art moved the envelope between an idler roller and a drive roller. Then the envelope engaged a second idler roller while a flap opener blade moved towards the body of the envelope. The foregoing caused the envelope to assume the shape of the circumference of the drive roller, which caused the envelope flap to spring away from the body of the envelope. The apex of the flap opener blade was positioned close to the body of the envelope and moved towards the flap fold of the envelope. At this point the flap opener blade would be wedged between the body of the envelope and the oncoming flap. As the envelope continued to be driven, the flap of the envelope would be opened by the flap opener blade. Now the envelope would move towards an inserter station so that material may be inserted into the envelope.
Although such devices worked well with production mail equipment, sometimes the envelope flap failed to open. This was caused by the flap finding the gap between the apex of the flap opener blade and the body of the envelope. The envelope would move to the inserter station with a closed flap. A sensor may be present to detect the closed flap and cause the system to come to a temporary halt. The envelope having the closed flap would be purged and then the insertion process would continue. If, the above condition persisted then the operator of the device would have to remove the envelopes having the closed flaps. This greatly reduced the efficiency of the inserter. If, no sensor was present, a closed envelope flap would cause the inserter to jam.
A disadvantage of the prior art was that a large gap between the body of the envelope pressed against the drive roller and the apex of the flap opener blade was required to insure that the flap opener blade never engaged the body of the envelope and/or the drive roller preventing the flap opener blade from springing back to its unactuated position.


A method for forming self-cleaning coating comprising hydrophobically-modified particles. Micro- or nano-particles are treated with a hydrophobic agent and an additive to form larger particles with the hydrophobic agent and the additive bonded thereto. A binder or crosslinker is attached to the larger particles by forming chemical bonds with at least one of the additive, the hydrophobic agent, and the particles, thus forming a coating material capable of forming self-cleaning coating.

The present invention relates in general to coating technology. More particularly, it relates to a method for forming a material capable of forming a self-cleaning surface on an object.
The wettability of solid surfaces is a very important property, and is governed by both the chemical composition and geometrical microstructure of the surface. Currently, hydrophobic surfaces with water contact angle higher than 130° are arousing much interest because they will bring great convenience in daily life as well as in many industrial processes. Various phenomena, such as snow sticking, contamination or oxidation, are expected to be inhibited on such a surface.
An important application for these hydrophobic surfaces is the production of self-cleaning coatings based on their water and dirt repellency. These self-cleaning coatings not only provide value-added products with a high potential to save on cleaning and other maintenance cost, but also are good for ecobalance of the coated product, since cleaning chemicals no longer pollute the water and since energy is saved by reducing or eliminating maintenance cycles.
Conventionally, hydrophobic surfaces have been produced mainly in two ways. One is to create a rough structure on a hydrophobic surface, and the other is to modify a rough surface by materials with low surface free energy. Unfortunately, both approaches have several issues to deal with. Most hydrophobic coatings with surface roughness do not exhibit sufficient mechanical strength and adhesion, which results in short lifetimes. Others modified with low surface energy materials generally do not exhibit sufficient hydrophobicity (contact angle with water>130°) or adhesion.
Accordingly, the invention is generally directed to formation of a durable self-cleaning coating with improved mechanical strength and adhesion while maintaining a high water contact angle for the self-cleaning effect to work.

Method for forming self-cleaning coating comprising hydrophobically-modified particles

Industrial Technology Research Institute